Ephraemius the Chronicler

YEAR OF OUR LORD 1313 EPHRAEM THE CHRONOGRAPHER. ANG. MAI PREFACE.

(Scriptorum Veterum nova Collectio, tom. III, pars 1.)

The history of the Roman empire—which, having perished early in the West, prolonged its life in the East for a much longer time, until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks—has certainly exercised the talents and writing capacity of many. Among these, especially the Byzantines (as we commonly call them), men of eloquent speech whose large and very useful volumes we once received from Gallican presses, and have now, through the concerted efforts of most learned German men, aided by the counsel and help of the illustrious Niebuhr, been recognized and enriched with new monuments: these are now being presented again. To me, among those who have written the history of the Caesars, Ephræmius has seemed very useful and highly desirable; his chronicle, crafted in iambic verse, extends from the founder of the empire, Julius Caesar, all the way to the recovery of Constantinople by the Greeks from the domination of the Franks—spanning, indeed, one thousand three hundred years. Now, this historian was not only unpublished, but also of such rarity that he seems to survive in only a single codex of the Vatican Library, numbered 1003. To my knowledge, the first to commemorate this author was Raphael Volaterranus in the fifteenth century, in his *Commentarii Urbani*, book XV, p. 176: "The Greek Ephræm wrote the lives of the Constantinopolitan princes in iambic verse some two hundred years ago, which work is seen in the Vatican Library." And this testimony of Volaterranus did not escape Vossius in *De hist. Gr.*, book II, 29. Furthermore, the great Allatius frequently invoked Ephræmius for parts of his work, sometimes calling him a Byzantine chronographer, sometimes a monk, but providing no further information about the man. That Vossius (*Hist. Gr.* II, 28, 29), Du Cange in his *Glossarium*, Cave in his *Ecclesiastical Writers*, Fabricius in his *Bibliotheca Graeca*, Le Quien in his *Patriarchatus Constantinopolitanus*, and finally Brucker in his *Historia Philosophica*, tom. III, p. 549, have read the fragments of Ephræmius cited by Allatius is shown time and again. For these authors have been observed by me; nor do I doubt that others also have known of Ephræmius through Allatius. Now, I would strongly affirm that Allatius used the Vatican codex 1003 to extract the fragments of Ephræmius, were it not that some variants in the text made me perplexed. Moreover, the name of Ephræmius is not read in the acephalous Vatican codex; and I would not have divined it, had it not become known to me by comparing the codex with the fragments cited by Allatius. It remains, therefore, that Allatius either had another codex in his hands, or certainly had read the Vatican codex before it became acephalous; but perhaps he had not yet done so at that time.

perhaps he, who had not yet by then perhaps read it when it was acephalous, produced a few variants himself by transcribing. Indeed, since only the first leaf is missing from the codex, in which the name of the author ought to have been, I strongly suspect that it fell out after the time of Allatius, when the codex was bound by a bookbinder during the reign of Pius VI, whose coats of arms it now bears. And indeed they tell me that many such damages have occurred to Vatican codices, especially the Greek ones, due to the ignorance of the workmen. But so much for the codex. Now, since neither Allatius, as I said, nor other scholars seem to relate anything about Ephræmius the chronographist, there occurred to me, as I was researching this man, that Ephræmius whom John XII, Patriarch of Constantinople, begat in legitimate marriage before his sacred dignity; concerning which Ephræmius Pachymeres speaks by name in the account of the aforementioned patriarch, Vol. II, book IV, when he says that the bishops, among other accusations, reproached the patriarch because he left the goods of the Church to be administered by his son Ephræmius, without having appointed an economus as the laws commanded. In fact, our chronographist also mentions the male son of John XII in the catalogue of the patriarchs, but he does not signify that he is speaking of himself in any explicit way. And yet the age coincides perfectly; for this John held the patriarchate until the year of Christ 1304; our Ephræmius, however, concludes his chronicle in the year 1313. Now I have discovered the sources of the Ephræmic chronology: Zonaras indeed up to the death of Alexius I Comnenus; Nicetas Choniates up to the emperor Baldwin I; and then George Acropolites. But let no one be greatly angered that Ephræmius wrote his history in poetic meter; first, because the iambic verse is highly suitable for the clarity of a narrative and greatly aids the memory of the readers; and second, because Pisidas also, Constantine Manasses, and Tzetzes composed their histories in verses with impunity; who are nonetheless authors, and especially Tzetzes, of great use among the learned. And I indeed have translated the History of Ephræmius, on account of its outstanding utility, into the Latin custom, yet in prose; for although I did not once neglect poetry, now, however, the leisure and the desire for composing more than ten thousand verses have been lacking to me.

EPHRÆMIUS’S CHRONICLE: THE CAESARS

CAESARS OF EPHRAEM THE CHRONICLER.

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GAIUS, 4 YEARS. Then Gaius held the empire of the Romans, in life an Epicurean or rather a Satan, exalting himself above human nature and affecting the divine, a most vile mortal, unchaste, wicked, bloodthirsty: under whom Stephen, the glory of the martyrs, first

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κλέος Μαρτυρίου στέφανον εὗρεν ἐκ λίθων· Σοφοί τε γνωρίζοντο δύο προκρίτων Ἰώσηπός τε καὶ Φίλων ἐξ Ἑβραίων.

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ΔΟΜΕΤΙΑΝΟΣ ΕΤ. ΙΕ'

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τύπος· Under him, someone discovered much gold, a vast treasure, it is understood, buried in the ground, which he dug up and brought to the judgment of Caesar. He, however, ordered him to keep it and make use of it. When the man said that the matter was too great for a private citizen, "You, on the contrary," Nerva said, "use the thing discovered or even squander it." ^A

TRAJAN, YEAR 18. When Nerva left behind the empire along with his life, Trajan, his adopted son, occupied the Roman scepter, a man illustrious for his victories and deeds. Yet, he persecuted the pious to some degree; at which time, ground by the teeth of beasts, the God-bearer Ignatius was in the city of Rome, and many other martyrs besides consumed their lives struggling for the sake of Christ. Having learned of their destruction, Trajan denied that they were worthy to suffer such things, for the reason that they worshipped Christ as the only God, and he forbade that Christians be harassed. It is said that when he handed the sword to the prefect, he said: "Take this, friend, in your hand, and if I have managed the republic well, it is to be used for my safety, but if I have ruled badly, pierce me with it." ^B

HADRIAN, YEAR 21. After he departed from life in the empire, Aelius Hadrian, a noble warrior, was designated successor to the kingdom; a man learned and magnificent in every way, who also forbade that penalties be exacted from Christians. While he was once riding on a road, a certain woman persistently beset him with prayers, but he denied that he could hear her petition. Then she replied, "Do not rule, then." Whereupon he turned and rendered justice to the woman. ^C The same man built a city in Palestine, where Zion had been utterly overturned, and called it Aelia Capitolina. He also raised a temple to Saturnian Jupiter where once Solomon had founded his own. This matter was intolerable to the Jewish race; wherefore, having gathered a number of armed men, they attacked the Roman garrison of the place and wrought a huge slaughter of them. When Caesar learned of this, he utterly cut down the forces of the confederated Hebrew army; indeed, he consigned five hundred and eighty thousand men to death. ^D He also subverted thousands of their villages along with fifty noble citadels. Furthermore, a certain man, sentenced to death by him, having thrown incense into the fire, testified that he was indeed being led to death innocent; however, he prayed against Hadrian that when he should wish to die, he might not be granted the fulfillment of his wish—which in truth happened to Hadrian at the end of his life.

He wasted away for a long time suffering from dropsy. ^A And again, in Thrace, near the fortress of Odrysus, he founded a new city named after himself.

ANTONINUS PIUS, 20 YEARS. Then came Antoninus, surnamed Pius, a most excellent man of holy character, who held those who bear the name of Christ in the highest esteem and came to the empire by a truly happy fate. Under the pressure of the necessities of war, because there was no money in the treasury, he exposed to public auction all the precious ornaments of the principate; from which, having procured sufficient funds and enrolled a vast force of soldiers, he gained victory and brought back rich spoils: for which reason he recovered the items that had been sold, having repaid the price to the citizens who had purchased them.

MARCUS ANTONINUS, 16 YEARS. Again another Antoninus, Marcus, son by adoption of the former, a philosopher in learning, ^B excellent in character, and well-disposed toward those who bear the name of Christ, took up the reins and governed the empire. Under him, the legion called the "Thunderstruck"—which was formed from a company of Christians—prayed to Christ the Lord when the army was suffering from thirst at a time of battle, and the onset of barbarian hostiles was pressing; and immediately the enemy was consumed by lightning, and the Roman army was drenched with an abundant rain. At that time flourished Hermogenes, a learned rhetorician. And for the cause of Christ, a pair of martyrs fought: Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, ^C and Justin.

COMMODUS, 12 YEARS. Then Commodus, an impure man and a worker of evil, made an ill-omened entrance into the rule of the empire. ^D Under him were Clement, the wise author of the *Stromata*, and Pantaenus, both orthodox preachers.

PERTINAX AND JULIANUS. After him Pertinax, an old man of great age, ruled, and he was slain in the midst of the palace. And Julianus Didius seized the scepter of the Ausonians for a very short time.

SEVERUS, 18 YEARS. And Severus, a most mighty tamer of enemies in battle, was a savage persecutor of the pious who bear the name of Christ; under whom, along with others, Leonidas, the father of Origen, found the crown of martyrdom.

ANTONINUS CARACALLA, 7 YEARS. Upon his death, Antoninus, surnamed Caracalla, received the monarchy; a shameful man and excessively bloodthirsty.

MACRINUS AND AVITUS, 4 YEARS. And Macrinus ruled for a very short time; thereafter, the one called Avitus, in character a Sardanapalus, danced upon the imperial power.

^A A certain slave of Priapus and Bacchus; truly another Sardanapalus in his ways, and thoroughly effeminate and luxurious.

ALEXANDER, SON OF MAMAEA, 14 YEARS. After him, Alexander, son of Mamaea, attained the imperial power, showing reverence to the Christians. For since his mother Mamaea had believed in the wise doctrines of Origen, honor began to be shown to the order of believers.

MAXIMINUS AND OTHERS, 3 YEARS. ^B After he was murdered, a certain detestable and furious Maximinus was proclaimed emperor, who, having stirred up a dire persecution against the Christians, made many martyrs. At that time also Maximus and Albinus reigned, and with Pupienus, Publius Balbinus.

GORDIANUS, 6 YEARS. When these were extinguished, the supreme power came to a certain Gordianus and his son, under whom the renowned Origen, famous for his doctrine, instructed disciples in Palestine; among whose number were two brothers, Gregory, surnamed Thaumaturgus, ^C and Athenodorus, not inferior in doctrine.

PHILIPPUS, 6 YEARS. After them followed Philippus, well-disposed toward the Christians, nay even—as fame has it—a follower of Christ, wishing to join himself to the fellowship of believers and to ascribe his own triumphs to Christ; whom, however, the holy prelates did not admit. His fatherland was Bostra; near which he founded another city, which all call the city of Philippus.

DECIUS, 1 YEAR. Afterward Decius, having obtained the empire, began to persecute the Christians without delay; to whom Cyprian, ^D Babylas, and many others resisted with remarkable fortitude. Others fell away; among these was the unhappy Origen. At that time there was Novatus, a man of malevolent spirit; who, since he was a priest of the Roman Church, refused to receive to penance those who, overcome by tortures, had sacrificed. This dogma was seen by the Fathers to be alien to the faith; to which, as he obstinately held it, the unhappy man was expelled from communion.

GALLUS AND AEMILIANUS, 1 YEAR. After Decius had lost his life with his empire, Gallus, a man endowed with an impious heart, began to rule, a grievous persecutor of the Christians; and then Aemilianus for scarcely four months. At that time Sabellius was a perverse African, who impiously confounded the divine persons in the Trinity and mingled their nature together.

^A VALERIAN AND GALLIENUS, 15 YEARS. After Aemilianus was miserably put to death, Valerian took up the rule, A grave persecutor of the pious Christians; Who, having been basely captured in battle By the barbarian Persians, ended his life among them. And his son Gallienus succeeded to the rule. A skilled man, ambitious, graceful, Who endured many dangers in the wars. CLAUDIUS, 1 YEAR. After whom came Claudius, a firm guardian of justice, A good emperor and a noble warrior, Grandfather of the greatest emperor, Constantine.

AURELIAN, 6 YEARS. ^B After this man closed his life in purple, Aurelian, imbued with hatred for the Christians, Began to wield the scepter of supreme rule. During his reign, the divine chorus of the Fathers Declared Paul of Samosata, who thought perversely, To be accursed and execrable; And because he had seized the chair of Antioch And was determined to hold it by force, The emperor, persuaded by the entreaty of the pious, Sent letters and shamefully drove him from the throne.

PROBUS, 6 YEARS. For a short time, Tacitus, an aged man, reigned. Then Florus, and soon Probus, a friend of peace and battle, Having taken up the rule, A gentle, magnanimous, and benevolent emperor. ^C While he was being delayed by long-lasting wars against his enemies, And the army was in danger from a lack of supplies, And their strength was already failing from hunger, It is said that a shower mixed with wheat fell— Like heavenly manna poured down for the multitude from above— By which the fed army recovered its former strength.

CARUS, NUMERIANUS, AND CARINUS, 2 YEARS. After whom Carus, a noble man, with his sons Was seen as emperor, having taken up the rule. Numerianus was flayed like a wineskin, Taken captive by the enemies, as the story goes; And Carinus, most base and very savage, A bane to the Christians, held the rule. In his time, the calamitous Manes, having left Persia, Crept into the Roman territories, vomiting forth The soul-destroying poison of his wickedness; ^D From him flowed the infamous name of the Manichaeans.

DIOCLETIAN, 20 YEARS. After these, the greatest madness began to rage Against Christ—that triple-wretched Fury of mortals, the bloodthirsty heart.

^A Diocletian and Maximian, 255 Indeed, ruled the royal power cruelly; For he, having sprung from ignoble parents in Dalmatia, An obscure or triple-slaved, abominable man, Obtained the sovereignty by the hidden decrees of God, Of which he takes as participant Herculius, 260 Maximian, the destroyer of the pious. Having conspired, therefore, for the evil of these two, More against their own hearts than the portion of Christ, They stoked an unbearable persecution, And throughout the jurisdictions, or by the thousands, 265 They rendered the martyrs as those who have contended, Voluntary victims, purified, Living, perfect, acceptable to the Lord. A pair of emperors took as sons-in-law ^B Into their own most beloved daughters— 270 He, indeed, Constantius Chlorus, illustrious by birth, The father of the most great Constantine; And Diocletian again, Maximin, Who was also surnamed Galerius, And him he honors with the rank of Caesar. 275 But when they could not extinguish the Christian name, Having labored much, these tyrants, They voluntarily laid aside the scepter of power, Giving the Caesars to manage the affairs of the state. To Galerius went the rule of the entire East, 280 To Constantius to reign over the West. There was also a third tyrant in Rome again, The son of Herculius, Maxentius the madman. But Constantius was gentle to all, ^C And loved the Christians more than the rest. 285 Maximin, however, was grievous to his subjects, A woman-madman, an adulterer, a public pest, And most hostile to those with a Christian name, Alas! having decreed the total destruction of them all. This one summoned to a share of his power 290 Licinius, the foul son-in-law of Constantius, An evil monster and destroyer of the pious; And Maxentius was equal to these in his ways, And a Christ-fighter and bloodthirsty man even more— A damned triad, destroyers of the pious, 295 Whom divine justice pursued with due judgment.

CONSTANTINE, 32 YEARS. Constantius, therefore, exchanging life for death, Delivered the empire to his son, Constantine, ^D Whom he had had by Helena of his previous marriage. 300 To tell of how he steered the ship of state, And how he was the first king to approach Christ the Lord, Will not, I think, be superfluous, Nor will it seem absurd to those who hear it. Therefore, he governed well the state delivered from his father, 305 With arms and counsel, While not yet initiated, but rightly disposed, As was sufficient to conjecture from himself, And as the outcome of events later showed. Now, as there were three emperors at that time,

namely Constantine, Maxentius, and Licinius, since Maximinus had already departed this life, Maxentius was burdensome to his subjects, a cruel dragon and a dog thirsting for blood. ^A Wherefore, that he might finally restrain him by arms, the oppressed peoples entreated Constantine; moved by them, his compassionate mind led his forces most swiftly to the city of Rome, and he challenged the tyrant, who was already prepared for arms. But while he was mentally revolving his anxieties about the uncertain outcome of battle, at the hour of noon he beheld a sign of the Cross, which certain stars in the heavens were forming, with these letters inscribed: "In this conquer." Immediately, therefore, creating an image of a golden cross just as it had appeared to him, he commanded it to be carried before his armies. Trusting in this, he joined battle with the enemy, and won a great victory over the tyrant, who was swallowed up in the whirlpools of a river while he was fleeing dishonorably from the battle, defeated. ^B Hence, having taken possession of the whole of Rome, he immediately offered a royal edict, that no one should henceforth demand the punishment of Christians. There is also another account of this matter: namely, that while waging battle against the enemy, the emperor saw an armed horseman who, instead of the customary military standard, carried in his hands the cross, the symbol of victory. Again, they say that two men were seen by him at the Mole of Hadrian waging battle, and inflicting wounds upon the troops of the enemy. Finally, he saw a light glittering by night while all were sunk in sleep, illuminating the rampart near Byzantium, where he had his camp. ^C Hence, acknowledging God as the giver of blessings, he began to turn to the faith and to judge rightly. Then, seeing Licinius hostile to the Christians, he seized his arms, cast him from the empire, and took just vengeance for his impiety. Wherefore Constantine was now deservedly the sole emperor of both the western and eastern world. Afterward, to him who was seeking a remedy for his severe illness, the impious priests of Jupiter and the deceitful magi offered a terrible plan, ^D namely, that he should wash away the corruption of his body for the sake of a cure with the blood of innocent children. An immense number of infants was therefore collected, and a day for the slaughter was appointed. The emperor, being present, heard the wailing of the mothers, and inquired of those standing by the cause of this lamentation; and having discovered the fact, he restored the children to their mothers, and moreover distributed money among them, which might be a solace for their former grief. After these things were rightly done, by night in a dream he saw the illustrious pair of the prince of the apostles, Peter to wit, and Paul, standing by him; and they exhorted him that he should sincerely entrust his salvation to a bishop with sweet hope, if indeed he wished to put to flight his present illness,

to attain an immortal and wondrous life. ^A After sleep had left him, he immediately summoned the holy Silvester with great reverence; and when he saw him approaching, he most willingly laid the whole matter before him. Silvester taught the king the meaning of the vision. Why should I draw out my words in long digressions? He explained to the prince the religious mystery, and baptized him, the believer, in the holy bath, and brought him forth unharmed. ^B Helena, too, instructed by the words of the great pastor Silvester, came over to the side of Christ. Afterward, she visited Sion, the city of God, searching for the sacred wood of the cross, and there built most holy temples. From this time, our religion grew magnificently, and the wholesome preaching of the apostles reached the ends of the earth; and the calm spring of orthodoxy smiled. Then temples were opened everywhere to those called by Christ’s name, through the power of Christ, Lord and King of all, ^C and through Constantine, his legate, the king. Ruling widely over countless nations, and even extending the ancient boundaries of the empire, aided by the power of the cross and the Gospel, he also founded for himself a city bearing his name, the most splendid eye of the whole world. He was called the father of pious kings, and the predecessor of the Christian emperors. The same man convoked the first synod of bishops, with whom he struck down the spurious dogma of Arius.

CONSTANTIUS, SON OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, YEAR 24

After he had departed from this earthly empire, and for it attained heavenly glory, and entered upon the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, his children—Constans, Constantius, and Constantine—divided this great bulk of empire among themselves according to the custom of heirs. Constans indeed, with his brother Constantine, took upon themselves the task of ruling the western lands, Rome itself, Africa, Italy, and whatever of the world extends as far as the ocean. ^D The East fell entirely to Constantius, and besides that, Thrace, the borders of Macedonia, and the city founded by his father, the seat of the kingdom. He, managing the empire entrusted to him in the best way, endured many labors and dangers, being always in arms and pursuing his enemies. Then, after his brothers in the West had been killed (for Constantine had provoked his brother with arms, and Constans had been ensnared by the deceits of Magnentius), Constantius held the scepter of the whole world. For he removed Magnentius by the law of war; and Vetranio, who had conducted himself unlawfully, he subdued by the fear he struck into him.

^A He was a man of easygoing character, altogether as unstable as dust exposed to the wind, and obedient to those possessed by the Arian madness, though inwardly he held an orthodox mind toward the divine. He was an excellent ruler and a noble warrior, sweet, approachable, and kind to his subjects. He was extremely temperate in food and drink, continent, master of his own passions, accustomed to pronouncing justice according to the norm of the laws, and never departing a hair's breadth from justice. He chose magistrates according to their merits, bestowing dignities upon the worthy, and doing all things in the empire with wisdom. He admitted no one into the senate who was not imbued with learned disciplines, and who could not speak and write well, whether in prose or in rhythm and meter, being himself nurtured in literature and a fosterling of the Muses. Against this king, the maniac Julian arose and seized the empire by theft. Captured by long-standing grief of heart and by a lethal fever, Constantius ended his life’s span at the springs of Mopsus, spitting out black bile from his entrails.

JULIAN THE APOSTATE, 2 YEARS, 6 MONTHS; OR, AS OTHERS SAY, 3 YEARS.

Then is revealed, clearly and openly, the ruler Julian, the Christ-hater and maniac, who departed from the Master who had saved him, and bartered the saving faith of the Christians, alas! for the craftiness of demons, casting the Christians’ faith out of his heart. And he arrays himself, the wretched man, against Christ, and wishes to remove His name entirely from the earth. And as for the rest, in what kinds of torment and in what varied punishments he crushed the pious endurance of those who bear the name of Christ, and how great a number of martyrs he created—those who resisted even to the point of bloodshed—a lover of brevity like me cannot say. ^B 455 Thereafter, setting out to war against the Persian barbarians with a vast and powerful army, and not conducting the battle as he ought, he miserably ended his life there, struck by someone in the battle—whether by a Roman or a barbarian foe, or by some other stronger hand from heaven—upon which, they say, having caught in his hollow hand the blood pouring from his pierced side, and having cast it into the air, he spoke these words: "Nazarene, be satisfied [alas, for the madness]!"

JOVIAN, 8 MONTHS; OR, AS OTHERS SAY, 1 YEAR.

When this man had ended his life, as I have said, having tyrannized impiously for two years, by the vote of the army and the leading members of the senate, Jovian, who was at that time a chiliarch, a good man and pious servant of Christ, was chosen...

^A to the dignity of the empire. He, however, was reluctant to accept the power, declaring himself to be a servant of Christ and refusing to rule over heathen soldiers. But when they shouted that they were followers of Christ, Jovian immediately assumed the imperial power. And having soon concluded a peace with the King of Persia, and having led the army back to Antioch, he recalled by edict the bishops who had long been exiles to their own flocks, among whom he brought back the divine prelate Athanasius, and displayed to all Christians a tranquil spring and the light of orthodoxy. Brought to Ancyra of Galatia, he departed from this life by an unforeseen death there, having eaten, as rumor has it, of freshly sprouted mushrooms, not having enjoyed the kingdom for more than eight months. He was, as I have said, renowned for piety, good, tranquil, benevolent toward his subjects, and shining with a tall stature of body; he was also moderately learned in letters, but prone to the allurements of wine and love. His body was buried in the city of Byzantium, in the holy temple of the Apostles.

VALENTINIAN 11 YEARS; OR, AS OTHERS SAY, 10 YEARS.

After him, Valentinian, the glory of Christians, ^B occupied the royal dignity, an exemplar of both justice and clemency, a man strenuous, spirited, and robust, drawing his lineage from Pannonia; a good prince and provident toward his subjects, who had once been driven into foreign regions—being a Christian and worshipping God and Christ—by the apostate Julian; but now, having returned to the army, he held the rank of tribune. When he came to the supreme dignity, he took as his partner in the empire his brother, the wretched Valens, a follower of Arius, to whom he handed over the regions of the East to be ruled, while he himself ruled piously over the West, where, as victor, he erected noble trophies over the barbarian nations with the help of the Divinity. Here, exhibiting all the duties of a good prince and burning especially with a love of justice, ^C a defender of orthodox dogmas, he measured out a spacious course of life, and appeared blessed both in the course of his life and in its end, having completed eighty-four years of life in the highest favor of the Divinity and beatitude; of which he had held the empire for eleven years. While he was tarrying in the Gauls, he died, leaving the empire to his son Gratian, a man and defender of the orthodox dogmas.

VALENS 3 YEARS, OR 4.

Valens, meanwhile, ruling the East and ^D given over to the madness of the Arians,

^A a fierce persecutor of the orthodox, was a cruel and horrific tormentor. The leading pastors and teachers he drove from their flocks and banished to far-off places, and he tortured them with various punishments besides; furthermore, he barred the priests of God from their holy buildings and confined them in narrow prisons; others he drowned in the depths or consumed with fire at sea in burning ships. But, cherishing the followers of Arius excessively and clinging stubbornly to his dogmas, he gave the entire government of the churches over to them, after vilely casting out the orthodox. ^B Then, as the Goths were ravaging Thrace and reducing it to a Scythian wasteland, the Emperor attacked the barbarians in war, but joining battle, was wretchedly defeated by the Scythians. The miserable man, flying from the death [threatening him] by the sword, fled to a wretched and common hay-barn, and there became fuel for the devouring fire, as the Goths set the buildings of the village ablaze. He ruled for about thirteen years, a harsh executioner of the orthodox Church, a fervent lover and defender of Arius.

GRATIAN IN ROME

Thus Valens ^C having perished miserably, Gratian, together with his brother, took hold of the empire of the East and the West. Gratian had indeed been named king by his father; however, when the father died, the army, since Gratian was not present at the funeral, acclaimed the young Valentinian, and the brother admitted him to the sharing of the kingdom. Gratian, an emperor emulating his father's piety and dogmatic rectitude, when his uncle Valens sought reinforcements from him while he was bringing arms against the Goths, did not send them, saying that one ought not to help the enemies of God. Then, too, he restored to their respective churches the holy prelates and teachers whom Valens had driven from their sheepfolds on account of their pious dogma of the orthodox faith. ^D Then, as the Goths were still infesting Thrace, and after the inhabitants had been cast out, a desolation was made, and the fields were spread wide in ruin; when the enemies could no longer be restrained by any force, the Emperor Gratian summoned the illustrious Theodosius from Spain, a man martial, strenuous, and wise, but most conspicuous in piety, whom he chose as supreme commander of the forces and sent with both a huge and most valiant army against the Scythian barbarians. He, having joined battle, was victorious, having routed the Goths with the highest force of arms and put almost all of them to the sword. Soon, having left the army there in the camps, he flew himself as a messenger to Gratian, who was at that time staying in Pannonia,

^A and informed the emperor of the victory, signifying the great slaughter of the Goths. Gratian, therefore, wishing to give a reward for the victory—and because he already considered it beneficial to the empire—created Theodosius emperor of the entire East, as well as Macedonia and Thrace, while keeping the lands of the western world for himself.

After this, while living in Gaul, he was killed by a certain general named Andragathius, who had set out to murder him by treachery, after he had reigned for about six years; he was a good emperor, and a pious servant of Christ.

VALENTINIAN THE YOUNGER IN ROME

With Gratian dead, Valentinian the younger, his brother, ruled all the western parts. He, having been deceived by the persuasions of his mother Justina, embraced the dogmas of Arius, and thenceforth ceased to love the throng of the pious. Then, as a certain general named Maximus revolted and had already gained a victory against him, he sent envoys to the illustrious prince of the East, Theodosius, and asked for help. He answered that he was not at all surprised if the servant Maximus had proven superior to his master and had recently defeated him in battle; "since you, Caesar," said he, "count your Lord, who is of the same substance as the Father, among the servants." Nevertheless, the emperor took up arms and slew Maximus, having defeated him in battle; then he also cut off the head of Andragathius, exacting from him the penalty for the kingly slaughter. Having accomplished these things, the emperor returned home.

But see, yet again, a court official named Eugenius arose as an adversary to the young Valentinian; once this was discovered, the Caesar, seized by fear, took his own life by hanging.

THEODOSIUS THE GREAT, 17 OR 16 YEARS

But Theodosius, the emperor of the Ausonians, ^B marching against Eugenius as well, having taken up arms and defeated him in battle, deprived him of life, and added the western parts to his own kingdom.

Before he accomplished these things so gloriously, the Caesar, while staying in the city of Thessalonica, faced a seditious movement that arose among the people; ^C he himself was insulted by the contumelious words of the citizens, and the prefect was killed in the tumult. The emperor, unable to bear this moderately, sent armed soldiers against the people, who cruelly cut them down with swords, so that in such a great gathered number, fifteen thousand men perished. ^D But Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, admonishing the Caesar for so great a committed crime, brought him to repentance for the deed; then, because of his weeping for the act that had been committed, [missing text/restoration note: he granted him forgiveness].

(18) The chronologist omits the years of the reign of both Gratian and Valentinian the younger; however, we know that Gratian reigned after his father for 9 years, and Valentinian for 17.

^A and brought a proper remedy for the fault. This king, on account of his piety and orthodoxy, having gathered a venerable assembly of prelates — one hundred and fifty Fathers—against Macedonius, who did not worship the divine Spirit with the required honor, caused the second synod to be celebrated. This synod, decreeing the Spirit to be equal in honor to the Father and the Word, and endowed with the same nature, rightly cursed Macedonius and drove him from the Catholic Church. He chose Nectarius as the prelate of Byzantium, a man shining in life and speech, a Christian indeed but not yet initiated; they therefore baptized him and consecrated him bishop at the same time, since Gregory, the theologian Father, had of his own will resigned that see. This king dies in the western lands, dividing the empire between his two children; to Honorius he granted the western regions, while setting Arcadius as master of the East, after he had reigned for seventeen years and five months, happily and piously: a man truly distinguished and a victorious prince, yet far more radiant in his piety. He also placed a column in the place of the Ox, bearing the statue of the king who was its creator.

ARCADIUS YEAR 14 Arcadius, then, having become heir to the empire, began to govern it poorly and sluggishly: ^B for he was dull, fickle, and lax, and, letting everything depend on the will of his wife, he overwhelmed the Church with waves of turmoil and brought upon himself just infamy. For when Nectarius had finished the course of his life, John, gifted with a golden tongue, was brought from Antioch to the royal city, that he might adorn her sacred see. But the empress Eudoxia, alas! hating those holy and free sermons against all divine law, drove the sun of souls, who was most worthy of that seat, into exile as far as the city of Comana; and she substituted for him Arsacius, already advanced in age. This king founded that city in Thrace which we see commonly called Arcadiopolis. ^C He also placed a column in the Xerolophos, with the image of its founder placed upon it. He reigned, however, for fourteen years; a man indeed pious and tenacious of orthodoxy, but otherwise light of disposition, varied, and changeable; having fallen ill, he departed from this mortal life.

THEODOSIUS THE YOUNGER YEAR 42 Theodosius, his son, succeeds to the empire, mild, affable, pious, and of agreeable character, rightly drilled in the encyclical disciplines, well versed in the four mathematical subjects, and skilled in addition in the arts of sculpture and painting. ^D

^A And a skilled archer, excellent at riding, Gentle, gracious, kind to his subjects, A most powerful defender of Orthodoxy. Yet he conducted the empire weakly, Delegating the management of public affairs to eunuchs: To Antiochus first, then to Amantius, And in addition to them, the servant of gold, Chrysaphius. While he was still a boy of tender years, He had his own sister, Pulcheria, endowed with every virtue, As his guide in life; And as guardian, by the final testament of his father, Isdigerdes, then King of Persia; Fearing him, all obeyed their master, And no one aspired to tyranny. He also summoned a maiden from Athens To be his partner in both sovereignty and bed, Shining in beauty and the art of learning, The daughter of a certain philosopher, Leontius, Eudocia, renowned in literature, Whose wisdom is displayed in the writings Constructed of Homeric centos, written with skill. She beheld Zion, the city of God, To pay homage to the holy places, Bringing deep wealth, countless gold, With which she raised temples to Christ the Master. Then she returned again to the royal city. Afterwards, when her royal husband had died, She returned again to the holy places, There she finished her life, leaving the world behind, Having lived well and in a manner pleasing to God.

^B Arsatius having departed this life, Atticus occupied the throne of the Church, Adorned more with his conduct and his speech. He instructed a certain Jew, broken by disease, Who believed, and having baptized him as was fitting, Led him forth from the waters of the bath restored by its grace. When at last Atticus had spent his life, Sisinnius took the throne. When he had finished his life’s allotted span, Nestorius occupied the throne in his stead, A cursed man, impious and of evil mind, Who in his vanity blathered a new dogma: That Christ was merely a man, And that the Virgin Mary, who bore a man, Was not Theotokos [Mother of God] but rather Christotokos [Mother of Christ]. For this reason, the Emperor gathered together The reverend assembly of God-chosen Fathers piously, Of whom Cyril, the leader of Alexandria, was the head, And deposed Nestorius, the man-worshiper. Then Maximianus, an orthodox prelate, presided over the Church of God. After his death, Proclus, Archbishop of Cyzicus, ^C was deservedly installed on the throne, An excellent shepherd and a nurturer of souls, A beloved student of Father Chrysostom. Under him, by the command of the Roman Emperor, The body of the latter returned to the royal city. As this holy Proclus led the solemn procession, With an immense crowd of the people accompanying him, ^D

^A A boy was suddenly snatched up into the air, while everyone looked on, struck with great amazement; after a short interval he returned and said that it had been revealed to him by divine power that the word "crucified" should not be added to the Trisagion hymn on our behalf. When he had departed to the divine minds, ^A a certain elder, Flavian, fittingly received the presidency of the city of Constantine, a defender of the orthodox dogmas of the Church. After his death, which Dioscorus brought about with his kicks in the robber and murderous synod, ^B Anatolius, the bishop of Alexandria, took the sacred seat of the queen city. Furthermore, that Emperor Theodosius built a terrestrial wall for the city from the Blachernae to the Golden Gate, completing the work in only two months, through the zeal and cooperation of the prefect Cyrus. The people, marveling at the speed of Cyrus and shouting these words boldly: "Constantine once founded the city, but Cyrus now renews it." Because of this applause, he was called into envy and fell from his position, and was seen as the bishop of the Church of the Smyrnaeans. The same Theodosius, having cast out his dear sister Pulcheria from the royal palace—which he ought not to have done— ^C on the advice of the envious Chrysaphius, ordered her to live shut up in the Hebdomon, abstaining from all business of the state. Having at last scarcely recognized the envy of Chrysaphius, he justly thrust him into exile, but recalled his sister and once again entrusted to her the care of all matters of the state. He, having fallen ill, departed this life, having lived, as they say, about fifty years, all of which he almost entirely spent in the empire.

MARCIAN, 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS

The scepter passes to Pulcheria, adorned with good and noble ways, but even more so with piety toward God and with virginity; she quickly calls to herself Marcian, a man of good character, modest, venerable, and now an old man, from the camps, and makes him certain of the death of the Caesar. ^D Then she says: "If indeed you firmly pledge to me that you will be the guardian of my chastity, which I have long since consecrated to Christ, I will make you master of the Roman empire." After he had offered a firm pledge to her on this matter, the queen immediately calls the archbishop, the magistrates, the senate, and the rest of the throng, and redeems Marcian with the crown of the kingdom, and creates him Emperor of the Romans. To him, while he was once a captive and sleeping with other fellow captives in the middle of a pen, with the summer sun hurling its flames, an eagle flying down provided shade; when the petty king of this man learned of it,

dismissed him to return to his homeland. Two brothers also saw the same prodigy clearly in the province of Lycia, and they foretold the empire to Marcian. Thus he received the omens of power.

^A Pulcheria, however, managing public affairs and sharing the cares of the kingdom with Marcian, raised a wondrous and incomparable temple to the Virgin Mother in Blachernae. And when Leo was Pope of Old Rome, and Anatolius was prelate of the New, the Emperor was petitioned that an abominable crime, which Dioscorus and Eutyches had perpetrated against the great Flavian, might not go unpunished. And a synod had already been ordered to be convened by the edict of Marcian and Pulcheria, the Christ-loving and pious sovereigns. Therefore, six hundred and thirty divinely inspired Fathers gathered by divine decree in the city of Chalcedon, ^B over whom presided Leo of the elder Rome, and the divine bishop of the New, Anatolius, and Juvenal of holy Zion; and they justly condemned Dioscorus, along with Eutyches, miserable against his own name, who by no means affirmed two natures of Christ, but impiously and falsely asserted only one. Then, because the opposing faction shamelessly and rashly slandered the orthodox as if they were laboring under the vice of Nestorius—while they held this opinion concerning Christ, that He possessed two perfect natures, unconfused, yet joined under one person—a double confession was immediately written down by the orthodox and heretics alike; and having properly sealed them, they enclosed them in the ark of the sacred relics of the maiden and blessed martyr Euphemia. After the third day, prayers having been finished, while all stood around the open tomb, with the Caesar also present with the Fathers (O wondrous, my Christ, and miraculous sign!), the book of the wicked heretics had been cast down at the feet of the martyr; but the manuscript of the orthodox faith the divine one held firmly in her own hands, and she offered it to the reigning sovereign and the patriarch, holding out her right hand toward them. (O miracle!)

^D After these things, the Empress Pulcheria departed from the earth to the heavenly mansions, having lived well, piously, and in the orthodox faith, serving her best spouse, Christ, in chastity and upright works, nurturing the splendid lamp of virginity. Then Marcian also met his end, an old man already full of years, a lovable king, of good mind, gentle spirit, and pleasant disposition. He had come to the empire by divine auspices, and he enjoyed it for nearly six years.

His opinion was that a king should never provoke war by brandishing arms, if he could possibly live a quiet life.

LEO THE GREAT, ALSO CALLED MACELLES. YEAR 18

When he had died and departed this life, ^A there shortly attained to the royal power a certain man named Leo, surnamed Macelles, a good man overflowing with virtues, but especially adorned with mercy, an excellent prince and a strenuous warrior, shaking the crowds of his enemies like a lion. He was of Thracian origin, or, as some prefer, of Dacia, a most valiant defender of Orthodoxy, and a generous provider of subsistence for the needy. ^B It was often his refrain to say that, just as the sun is wont to warm all upon whom it directs its splendid rays, so he believed a king ought to impart mercy and gifts to all men upon whom he might cast his gaze. Before he attained the authority and power, he had promised a certain Aspar, an illustrious and highly powerful nobleman, that he would promote one of his children to the rank of Caesar. But when Leo had obtained the empire, Aspar was violently demanding this favor, and even shamelessly touching his purple, he said, "It is not permitted to you, O king, to break your faith, since you are clothed in this splendid purple." But the emperor replied, "And it is on the other hand a crime that force be offered, as if to a servant, to me who shine in the imperial chlamys." He had been joined in marriage to Verina, who bore the king two daughters; the name of the one was Ariadne, and the second was Leontia. ^C Ariadne was joined in marriage to Zeno, a man hideous in appearance and of the worst morals, who traced his lineage from the Isaurians. Marcianus, the son of Anthemius who reigned at Rome, took Leontia as his wife. While Leo was reigning, a horrific fire occurred in the royal city, extending from the northern sea to the other side, surrounding the middle of the city with flames and plundering its splendid houses; and among other things, the merciless fire consumed sacred buildings for four days without ceasing. ^D A certain violent earthquake leveled Antioch to total destruction; and much dust rained down upon the royal city, troublesome to living beings and harmful to the crops. Greatly anxious because of these evils, the emperor left the city and moved his residence to a suburban palace, providing for his own safety. Under his reign, the garment of the Mother of God, the Virgin, was brought from the city of Zion and the land of Palestine to the royal metropolis

^A and was stored in the temple at Blachernae, which the emperor himself had built for the Mother of God, enclosed in a precious silver coffer. For this reason, that temple also began to be called the Arca [Chest] of the honorable and most praiseworthy Virgin.

When Leo was reigning, an excellent general, Rusticius, a man most skilled in the art of strategy, flourished with victories in war. Upon his death, the command of the armed forces was handed over to Basiliscus, the brother of the empress, who, having transported an army to Africa where Gizerich was master of the region, suffered a grievous defeat in battle and lost the greater part of his forces.

Now, once life had deserted Anatolius, Gennadius was chosen as the bishop of Constantinople, a defender of the correct dogmas; after he died in the honor of the see, the most wretched Acacius occupied the place. In the meantime, a grandson was born to the emperor from the marriage of Ariadne and Zeno, to whom he gave the name Leo, and he girded his head with the crown while he was still of childish age. This pious emperor Leo, seized by a disease, departed this mortal life, leaving the power of the empire to the aforementioned grandson. He himself had reigned for eighteen years, a human prince, benevolent to his subjects, affable, placid, sweet, and lovable.

LEO JUNIOR, 1 YEAR. Junior Leo, having obtained the empire, wielded the scepter at a truly infantile age; but soon, with scarcely one year passed, he departed from the earth, deprived of the light of life.

ZENO AT THE SAME TIME, 17 YEARS. Zeno was an Isaurian by race, as I have said; a most foul mortal in both mind and body, a catamite, base, a mixture of malice and a perpetrator of nefarious deeds, a baleful plague to the noble ^B of men; ruling the republic not in royal fashion, but like a tyrant inflaming and destroying all things, and ruining the affairs of his subjects as much as he could, depraved in dogma, a wretched Monophysite.

When Basiliscus, the own brother of Verina, saw that he was timid in every way, he attacked him with arms, with Verina bringing support. And having driven him out, he pushed him back to his native land; then he placed upon himself the diadem with the other insignia of the empire. ^C But indeed, he, following the heresy of the confused nature [Monophysitism], the leaven of Eutyches and Dioscorus, tortured the churches of the orthodox in bitter ways and with every kind of punishment. ^D He also annulled by a decree, set forth against right, the venerable synod of Chalcedon, and he coerced the patriarch and the pastors of the synod to confirm these things and to persist in them [his dogma].

^A But a gathered host of the orthodox struck Basiliscus with curses; they declared the synod again to be divinely congregated, holy, and venerable. For these reasons Basiliscus was deservedly abominable and detestable to all. ^B Yet he quickly sent forth military leaders against Zeno, along with forces; these defecting of their own accord to Zeno, and having joined a covenant with him, returned with Zeno to the royal city at a rapid pace. Therefore he received the empire again, with the whole multitude of the people favoring him. But Basiliscus, turning as a suppliant to the church with his wife and those dearest to him, was thereafter drawn out by oaths; shut up in a tower there with his children, he languished away miserably in famine, having held the kingdom for two years. While he was still reigning, a horrific calamity of fire occurred in the royal city, the fire having been ignited in the Chalkoprateia. By this, much else was turned to ash and destroyed, as well as the house that guarded books, amounting to twelve myriads, in which, as the story goes, the skin of a dragon also existed, enclosed in some fiery vessel by a craftsman, being of great length, stretched out for one hundred and twenty feet—a strange wonder—upon which were inscribed in golden letters the rhapsodies of the wise Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey; alas for the loss! ^C When Zeno had recovered the imperial power, he appointed Harmatius, who had brought him aid, to be leader of the regiments, and he made his son a Caesar again. Then he killed Harmatius with the sword; and having made the child Caesar a cleric, he allowed him to roam about and so live out his life; saying, "Since these men broke the faith which they had pledged to Prince Basiliscus, I fear that they will perhaps not keep it for me either." Besides these, he sent many to death, and wore others down with the torments ^D of the noble and more illustrious: for having turned to lawless obscenities, and murderous and loathsome deeds, and being further led astray by the heresy of Dioscorus, he was hated by all, and by those in authority, and even more so by his consort Ariadne. Wherefore, under the pretext of death, he was shut up in a coffin, and was forced to die there. But some say that he was accustomed to indulge in drunkenness and drink, and having suffered an ecstasy of mind, and having appeared to have piteously departed this life, he was placed in a coffin as a corpse, and a stone having been moved to the tomb as a lid, death overcame him while he was wailing most miserably. Others finally report that this had happened to him from a grave illness, and he had seemed to all to be extinguished.

^A

ANASTASIUS YEAR XXVII

When Zeno had thus shuffled off this life, by the judgment of the senate and the nobles, Queen Ariadna is joined in the bond of matrimony to Anastasius, to whom the city of Epidaurus supplied the source of his lineage. Then he is chosen Roman emperor by the powerful arts of the eunuch Urbicius, and is crowned by the prelate Euphemius. Thus did Anastasius obtain the empire; to him the surname Dicorus attached itself, because he had pupils of different colors, clearly bearing a right eye that was black, and a left eye that was remarkably gray. ^B

He piously abolished the tax of gold and silver, which was hateful and most burdensome to all his subjects, a wicked toll; for while it remained, everyone was required to pay an annual coin to the public treasury for himself and even for his brute animals. The same man also, with the abuse removed, freely bestowed upon the worthy those dignities and public administrations which were previously for sale. He also fulfilled the other parts of ruling rightly, yet being occupied by the heresy of the Synchytici [i.e., the Eutychians], he was a nuisance to the orthodox churches. ^C

Under this Anastasius a miraculous thing happened. A certain prince of the Agarenic tribes by the name of Alamundarus, a frugal man, attaching himself to Christ and being duly taught the dogmas of the faith by the orthodox arch-prelates, finally obtained the grace of baptism. Severus, having learned this, sent his profane shepherds to him without delay, by whose help he might entice the neophyte to himself. But he, steadfast in the faith and an unmoved rock of Christ, refuted those legates in this way: for he had seen to it that a familiar man should say something secret to his ear; then, with the unclean shepherds looking on, the prince pretended to be seized with sorrow. They asked the cause, to which he replied with such things: that it had been announced to him that Michael, the chief and leader of the angels, had recently died. As they rejected such discourse as a fable, the prince, having laid out the story, spoke against them thus: "Why, therefore, have you recently brought forward the dogma that the divine nature suffers with the human?" Then they, overcome with shame, departed. ^D

Anastasius, having been informed—I know not by what authority—that it was fated for him that the strike of lightning would put an end to his life and reign, built a chamber of wondrously beautiful art, to which he aptly gave the name "The Domed One"; in which, while staying, he met a sudden end to his life when lightning broke forth. He, as the lord of the Moesians, of the Goths, and of the inhabitants of the Ister,

avoiding incursive incursions and the ravages of battle, founded a wall deservedly called the Long Wall. He also beheld in a dream the terrifying appearance of a man who presented a book and said to him: "Behold, because of your perverse faith, I blot out twice seven years of your life." He placed a bronze statue upon the Column of Taurus, from which the previous one had fallen, having been cast down by the consuming passage of time.

JUSTIN THE THRACIAN, 9 YEARS

JUSTINIAN THE GREAT, 38 YEARS

JUSTINUS THE YOUNGER, YEAR 13

^D

TIBERIUS, YEAR 4

^A Wisely rendering rightful obedience to his adoptive mother, Queen Sophia, He was a man bland, amiable, and pleasant to his friends, But to his enemies a terror, whom he kept in fear 1215 By his excellent generals and the bravery of his troops; By whose valor he razed many cities of the enemy, And drove off far-reaching spoils and booty. To all he extended a munificent hand, Merciful to the destitute and generous in the giving to the poor, 1220 And in the building of churches and homes for the elderly. Those barbarian Persians, prisoners long ago Brought to this imperial city, He clothed in honorable garments And sent them back to return to their own homeland. 1225 In his reign, the leader of the Avars sent Envoys, asking that master craftsmen be sent to him For the construction of a bath. But he, taking them, built a bridge across the currents of the Ister, And from there began to ravage the borders of the Roman domains.

MAURICIUS, YEAR 20. 1230 After this man had ended his life piously, Mauricius, most excellent, seized the power, A man of great soul, of a noble nature, Another Job having appeared, a man of birth, And one who became blessed at his end. 1235 For the rest, he was beloved by all, A pleasant, cheerful, and benevolent emperor, Displaying a steady and grave character, Bearing a certain venerable look worthy of tyranny, Distinguished by the depth of his mind and the strength of his body, 1240 Understanding the end of God’s will. Yet he had something that pricked him like a rose, Or perhaps, among the wheat, some cockle; He was considered by all to be tight-fisted and a miser ^B, And this emperor was enslaved to gold and wealth, 1245 As the continuing tale will clearly reveal. The ruler of the Avars then came upon Thrace With a confederate and innumerable army; He drove off plunder and took booty, And he captured another host of ten thousand 1250 Men, women, and infants, and children, Counting them out to twelve thousand. But why need I lengthen the word in writing? The great barbarian heart, greedy for gold, 1255 Sets their price at six thousand. He asks for what was decided, and offers also violence; The emperor, alas, prefers gold! But the barbarian—may my heart not burst at the thought— Oh, the beastly, the frenzied heart! 1260 He slaughters so great a number of the crowd. A blood-stained stream of gore is drawn, Like cold water flowing down a slope; The king heard this, bearing a steady mind, Yet with a wounded heart, as a woodworm consumes 1265 The bones, through the witchcraft of an envious magician. He beseeches God for the retribution of the crime. ^D

^A Thus to demand the release and relief from evils. He saw, therefore, in a dream, something like this: A great multitude of mortals, of both genders, Standing before the image of the Master 1270 With lamentations, as the king himself Was present, standing by in trembling fear. He heard a voice issued from the image, Asking where he would prefer to pay the penalty for his sins, He who had bound himself to the stain of avarice: 1275 Here, where the torment would be more lenient, Or there, to undergo other punishments? He said that he preferred it here, having understood the word. Then he heard that he had been delivered to Phocas. When sleep was broken, he judged the vision real, not a dream, 1280 Seeing the sights and hearing the things he had observed. He summons Philippicus in all haste, Unlooses him from the unjust bonds With which he had oppressed him out of suspicion; He grants him peace and, in return, obtains forgiveness 1285 For the injuries of the past. Such was the outcome of these events. But the army, in a seditious movement, Proclaimed Phocas emperor at that time; With him they reach the royal city, 1290 And he is crowned by the hands of the high priest. He then considered it a matter of urgency To put Maurice and his entire kin to the sword. Whence he commands—alas, the murderous heart Of this tyrant Phocas, this worker of evil! 1295 For he must leave nothing in the middle: Wife and children are cut down by the sword, With Maurice standing by to watch the deeds, Bearing the slaughter heroically, And giving thanks to God for these things. 1300 He himself finally died by an unjust judgment. This man completed the temple of the forty martyrs of Christ, Adorning it exceedingly, Which Tiberius had begun to build.

PHOCAS THE TYRANT, YEAR VIII

and all the provinces they had subjected to themselves. ^A Again, the army of the Avars in the West ravaged lands and cities. Roman forces were weakened by battles, famine and pestilence afflicted the cities, with excessive cold and the loss of pack-animals—a vast and multiform cohort of evils. Then, too, the Jewish race at Antioch stirred up sedition and war against those named after Christ, and by the sword they reaped the lives of many of the pious; among them was Anastasius, the pastor of that city, whose corpse they even consigned to the fire. Thus an Iliad of evils shook everything, like a converging of waves—to say it all at once—together with a fierce gale, storm, and tempest, and a surf of contrary winds struggling to plunge into the abyss the ship of secular sovereignty that lacked a helmsman to hold the tiller. While the Roman state was suffering so wretchedly, Heraclius, the general of Africa at that time, having sailed with an armed fleet to the royal city, defeated Phocas in an engagement and, having killed him, ^B seized the authority.

HERACLIUS YEAR XXXI. After Phocas was removed, as I have said, Heraclius emerged as emperor, a great hero, another Hercules in actual strength, not clearing the earth of irrational beasts, nor acting under the compulsion of Eurystheus’ commands, but expelling and pursuing them to a great distance, removing them far from all Roman territory, by the power of Christ and the panoply of the Cross; for he drove out other fierce and bloodthirsty wild beasts, grievous wolves and rabid dogs, specifically the shameless Persians and plunderers. Being a general courageous in battle and zealous for the sake of his ancestral laws, ^C and for the glory of the earlier sovereignties of the Romans, he endured many great dangers, fought excellently to defend the Roman borders for the establishment of the faith of the pious-minded, and for the defense of the holy laws of Christ.

[Translation of the Roman inscription:] ...found in the forum, uncovered beneath a column dedicated in his honor by an admirer while he was reigning, which is of this kind:

† To the best, most clement, and most happy prince, our Lord Phocas, the emperor, perpetual, crowned by God, triumphant, ever Augustus, Smaragdus, ex-praepositus of the sacred palace, patrician and exarch of Italy, devoted to his clemency, for his numberless benefits of piety and for the peace provided to Italy and the liberty preserved, has placed this statue of his piety, shining with the splendor of gold, upon this lofty column, and dedicated it to his everlasting glory. On the first day of the month of August, in the eleventh indiction, in the fifth year of his piety.

^A And for the extending of the boundaries of the empire, And for the restoration of Roman affairs. When Chosroes, ruler of the Persians, was at that time plundering 1365 All the eastern regions, And had overrun the borders of Palestine, And had captured the city of God, Zion, A vast multitude of those named after Christ perished, 1370 Amounting to ninety thousand, Some of them mown down by the sword in battle, And others killed by the treachery of the Hebrews. For they bought the captives by fraud, 1375 And having paid the barbarians a small price for them, Straightway, alas! they finished them off with the edge of the sword. The Persians carried off Zion’s shepherd and the holy wood To Persia, their own fatherland. 1380 When the sovereign learned of these things, his heart was scorched. Possessing no sufficient army, Nor yet the wealth of necessary funds To resist the barbarian enemies, Yet, having prepared both money and a host of soldiers, 1385 And the equipment for war, Partly by borrowing for the sake of the holy houses, And partly by gathering from the provinces as was fitting, Against Chosroes—with God, the bestower of victory— He struck at Persia with his army. 1390 With God henceforth inspiring his strength, The noble trophies of a courageous victory He accomplished while present there against the barbarians. For he slew vast throngs of barbarians, 1395 He carried off spoils and booty, Laying waste, devastating, and burning the lands of the barbarians. Having accomplished these things in six years, Heraclius, Having restored also the holy wood and the chief shepherd of Zion To the city of Jerusalem, 1400 He returns to the queen of cities In the seventh year, rejoicing greatly, Celebrated by the hymns of myriad citizens, Having been seen as a noble and victorious champion. This king, bound to certain shepherds, 1405 Or rather hirelings, and indeed wolves, Drank a detestable destruction From those confused and impure fountains. ^B Under him, Mahomet, a deceiver of the people and a charlatan, A base tribal leader of the godless Agarenes, 1410 And a hierophant of illicit orgies, A man-destroying blight, appeared in life. He, being a servant of a wealthy woman of Persia, An impostor, an obscure man of ignoble birth, Had her as his partner in marriage and in malice. 1415 Thereafter he emerged as a leader and a trifling teacher, I know not by what means, among the descendants of Hagar. He, coming forth from the regions of Yathrib, Approached the victorious emperor as he was returning, 1420 Seeking a place to dwell; And having received it, he overran Syria, And began to take possession of the Roman lands. ^D CONSTANTINE, SON OF HERACLIUS, YEAR I. After Heraclius had put an end to his life,

^A Constantine, an orthodox son, held the power. After him, with his son Heraclonas, Martina; but the tongue of the mother is, most justly, cut out, and Heraclonas is foully shorn of his nose, and both are condemned to most righteous exile.

CONSTANS, SON OF CONSTANTINE, OR GRANDSON OF HERACLIUS, 27 YEARS. Thereafter, Constans obtained the empire of the Ausonians, a persecutor of the more pious party, son of Constantine, and grandson of Heraclius—in other respects, he appeared a ruler not without utility, but as a dogmatically twisted, wretched Monophysite; who, while he caused trouble for the orthodox, also drove out Maximus the theologian with his disciples, and Pope Martin. ^B Having killed his own brother, this ruler was judged hateful and abominable, and the more so because he had wickedly injured holy men. Therefore, no longer enduring to dwell in Byzantium, he sailed away to the greatest island, Sicily, and established a stable residence in Syracuse.

CONSTANTINE POGONATUS, 17 YEARS. When this man died a violent death, his son, the pious Constantine Pogonatus, having taken it over, steered the imperial authority—a good man, a friend of orthodoxy, who, dissolving the ancestral heresy, assembled a divine host of venerable Fathers, a most beautiful synod of orthodoxy, ^C who decreed that in Christ there existed simultaneously two wills and two united natures, and bade farewell to all Monophysites.

While he was reigning, a certain fleet of the Agarenes, having sailed against this royal city, ravaged the whole surrounding region; truly engaging in fierce naval battles, but in winter retreating to the naval shipyards of Cyzicus; and this he did until the seventh year. But when, through the passage of time, it was worn down, and most of the ships were laboring, shattered, it returned, now a laughingstock; then, with a heavy storm and by the cooperation of God, the whole was lost in the course. ^D Moreover, a formidable army of Avars came against this royal city, bristling with spears and armored soldiers. Yet the whole succumbed to Roman strength, with so many Barbarians falling in battle that the total amounted to thirty thousand. Also, liquid fire was discovered in these times by the Syrian artificer Callinicus.

JUSTINIAN RHINOTMETUS, 3 YEARS. Then Justinian began to reign, the son of Constantine, sincere in religion.

but most cruel. ^A Having made a selection from the Sclavonian barbarians, he enlisted young men, valid warriors breathing the bloody Mars in battles—thirty thousand, that is to say—a new army, which he called his "chosen people." Delighted by this, and trusting in them excessively, he undertook a war against the Arabs, having unjustly broken the peace with them. He attacked the barbarians with arms, who took it ill that the treaty had been abruptly broken. The Arab forces, in turn, advanced, bearing the written oath of the treaty suspended from a pike in the front ranks. Soon, a sharp and stubborn battle having been joined, the greater part of the new phalanx, namely twenty thousand, suddenly deserted and most vilely joined the enemy. Wherefore, shamefully defeated, the emperor escaped the danger with difficulty and returned. Then—oh, the inhuman soul!—he subjected the remainder of the new phalanx to the blows of the sword. The barbarians, meanwhile, with no one to stop them, raided all the provinces. He himself busied himself with the construction of houses, spending his time in the royal palaces, now burdensome and intolerable to all. ^B LEONTIUS, 3 YEARS. Therefore, hated, Justinian was cast down from the empire, Leontius rebelling and seizing power through easy treachery. For, freeing those held in prisons, he had these as aides in his crime, and many others as partners in accomplishing the deed. Wherefore, dragging the former king from the throne, and dishonorably cutting off his nose with a blade, he sent him to the city of Cherson to be guarded. Thus, the republic having been transferred to Leontius, a fleet having set out from the dominion of the Arabs ravaged the borders and cities of Africa. In return, therefore, a fleet is sent by the Caesar to oppose the enemies; but this, having joined battle with the barbarians, is defeated, and returning, it holds the shores of Crete. ^C APSIMARUS, 7 YEARS. There they proclaim a certain Apsimar, a partner in the rebellion, as Lord of the Roman empire; with whom, hurrying to the royal city, they immediately dislodge Leontius from the throne, and shut him up in a harsh prison, having first cut the nose from his face. Justinian, meanwhile, fleeing from the city of Cherson, like a hawk from a snare, ^D

^A flies quickly to the Bulgar king. Having persuaded him with generous gifts, promising him marriage alliances and the granting of lands, he arrives at the city with a barbarian army. Entering through a hidden underground aqueduct by night, he is received within the walls of Byzantium. Thus, he regains his power, having slain Leontius and Apsimar, who had previously been rulers in turn.

RHINOTMETUS AGAIN: 6 YEARS. He then put some of the senators to death. Carrying in his heart the fuel of avenging anger against Cherson and its neighbors, who had conspired to destroy him when he was an exile, he now stirred up a great and violent flame to reduce them by fire to a wasteland. Having therefore prepared a vast army, with a naval force and a heavy fleet, and placing two commanders in charge, he sent them like lightning bolts against Cherson, commanding that they spare no one at all among the citizens who dwelt in the city, but that they should slaughter them with the brutality of animals, ^B by butchering and cutting throats (alas, the tragedy!), burning them with flames, and mowing them down with the sword. Thus commanded, they filled the city with slaughter, with abominable murders, lamentations, and groans; they heaped up in the city a huge pile of corpses (what misery!), an unbearable spectacle to gentle eyes, having mercilessly slaughtered all the citizens. Only the bitter age of the infants and young boys earned mercy. But when the king learned that the children had been spared, another Phalaris, Echetus, Herod, a bloodthirsty dog indeed, he blazed with anger because this supplement to the slaughter had not been carried out. And he was already raging, and threatened that he would immediately send a new fleet for the purpose of their destruction; meanwhile, however, the remaining people of Cherson, having turned their weapons against the royal fleet then present there, with a sudden impulse proclaimed Philippicus Bardanes as emperor, ^C under whose leadership they sailed to the royal city; having seized Justinian, they cut off his cruel head with the sword, and his son’s as well.

PHILIPPICUS BARDANES: 2 YEARS, 6 MONTHS. Thus did Philippicus hold power. A man, indeed, quite rhetorical in speech, accomplished in literature and learning, abounding in all manner of counsel in meetings, and moreover quite skillful in various occasions; yet he was utterly inept at managing affairs, possessing a vain tongue not in accord with his deeds. Having quaffed the confounding fountains, ^D the wretch hastened to annul once and for all the assembly of the holy, God-inspired Fathers,

^A who had confirmed the divine sixth synod. For he had promised the reward of the aforementioned empire to a monk of a heretical sect who requested the abrogation of the sixth synod. Under his rule, the Mysian hordes invaded the borders of Thrace, carrying off countless spoils even up to the walls of the royal city itself. Then, too, the Agarenes, armed and having scraped together everything, plundered the lands facing the East. Therefore, while this Caesar wretchedly and slothfully mismanaged the empire—or rather, while he subverted the commonwealth and at the same time took care to pervert the true dogmas—he was seized by the senators at a banquet and was deservedly deprived of the light of his eyes.

ANASTASIUS, WHO IS ALSO ARTEMIUS, YEAR 1, OR AS OTHERS SAY, YEAR 2.

^B Then the highest power was entrusted, along with the royal dignity, to a wise man, a prota-secretis skilled in learning, who approved of the dogmas of the apostles and of the Fathers, loved orthodoxy above all, and was also well-trained in the administration of affairs; he was named Anastasius, but formerly Artemius. This man immediately deposed the heretical shepherd, John, and decreed that the great Germanus should be transferred to the see of Byzantium from Cyzicus, with the counsel of the shepherds. The same man also sent a fleet against the enemy fleet that was devastating ^C the coasts of Phoenicia and Syria; and he appointed as commander of the fleet a deacon of the Great Church of God, whom he had honored with the rank of general logothete. He, sailing successfully as far as Rhodes, caught a wind there in the naval docks. But when the strength of the soldiers had gathered with the tribunes who were to manage the fleet capably, then at last, as he had in his instructions from the king, the deacon began violently and angrily to force the commanders to set sail; and they all immediately conspired together and cruelly slew the deacon with a sword. Then, having set out for the city of Adramyttium, there they found a certain Theodosius, an ^D exactor of public taxes, a man clearly inept for ruling, utterly unrefined, a mere rustic, and, even though he resisted, they acclaimed him Caesar. When Anastasius realized this, he departed immediately and settled in the Bithynian city of Nicaea.

THEODOSIUS THE ADRAMYTTENE, YEAR 2.

Theodosius, however, hastening to Byzantium, was received within and created emperor. Then, having taken the select senators with whom was also the prelate Germanus, they all came together to the king at Nicaea, as the report goes, to announce the accomplished fact. He, however, having immediately changed his clothes and shorn his hair

^A consigned himself to the monastic order. Thus the new Theodosius received legitimate power, without any risk; a man of good nature, kindly to his subjects, gentle, venerable, and of chaste character; but in regarding the governing of the empire and the administration of affairs, he was utterly useless. Wherefore, voluntarily abdicating, he became a cleric after a short time spent in imperial office.

LEO THE ISAURIAN, 24 YEARS

Then did that savage Leo from Isauria seize the empire ^B in a tyrannical manner, a wicked man, a heretic and wrongdoer, a cruel beast and a bloodthirsty dragon, an asp nourishing deadly poison, a magus, a fury, a Cerberus, a pestilence of souls, or a basilisk who with a mere breath 1450 destroys mortals and sends them down to Hades, a dog filled with madness and rage, in everything living up to the name of lion, manifesting as beastly in his nature, his gaze, his movements, and his homicidal deeds. 1455 This man was the first to abolish the honor due to images, and he forbade the cross of Christ to be venerated, calling the images—alas!—idols. As the chest of most wicked heretical doctrines, he offered up his own heart: a rustic man, a digger, a muleteer, 1460 who from childhood had carried loads upon his own body, then an autocrat—oh, the judgments of God!—and was revealed as a king of the Romans, or rather, a homicidal tyrant. 1465 To him, as he once lived in Isauria, met two Jewish men, sorcerers, highly skilled in magic, who had been exiled from the territory of the prince of the Arabs; these impostors and deceivers, appearing to that 1470 raw and utterly destitute youth, predicted to him the sovereignty of the Romans. He, looking to his own fortune and the art, and not accepting the outcome of the prophecy, nevertheless [listened], while they strongly insisted that this would come to pass, and demanded a pledge—if the outcome 1475 matched their words—that they might obtain what they desired. And so the youth, moved, swore an oath to them that he would not fail them in any way should time provide the outcome of their words. When 1480 Leo had ascended to the scepter, the pair of Jews ran to the ruler, reminded him of what had been promised, and requested that he remove the venerable images. The emperor agreed to grant this favor 1485—a favor truly maleficent and most destructive to souls—to the wretched Jewish pair. And he granted this—oh, hearing of strange things!—a new and most dissonant tragedy; thus, 1490 having begun his fight against Christ, he filled everything with turmoil and confusion. For, rushing in like a roaring lion,

The Church, the clergy, and the flock of the faithful, he tore asunder the sheepfold of Christ the Shepherd, and displayed to Him many martyrs who contended valiantly even to the shedding of blood for the ^A venerable image of their Lord. Among these, he made a body of twelve wise men, set over the instruction of letters, along with their prelate and director of life, whom the dignity of ecumenical teacher adorned, to be martyrs for Christ, consumed by fire; ^B destroying them along with a most well-equipped library of books in dire and impious flames. He also expelled Germanus, the chief prelate of the throne, who did not assent to his irreligious dogma, and in his place thrust a wolf upon the flock. For this reason, the elder Rome broke the bonds of communion with the new, since the divine Gregory presided over it, who, having rebuked the iconoclast in vain, struck pacific covenants with the Franks, a people descended from German barbarians, desiring to breathe free air. While Leo reigned, an innumerable army of Arabs, transported partly by sea in a fleet and partly by land, approached Byzantium, and by plundering it, laid bare the entire vicinity. Yet that whole force perished by the power of God.

CONSTANTINE COPRONYMUS, YEAR XXXIII

Leo having died, his son, or rather his whelp, received the power, who is distinguished by the surname Copronymus: a man who was an illusionist, a magician, and a worker of evil, a master of demonic mysteries, an evil mixture and sink of heresies, a fountain or sewer of all errors; ^C he became the ill-fated heir of false dogma no less than of royal dignity from his father; a harrier of the faithful, a butcher of the pious, as many as adored the cross of Christ the Lord. This man, on account of his witchcraft and heresy and his beastly and bloodthirsty disposition, had drawn upon himself the just hatred of all, especially that of Artavasdus, the Curopalates, distinguished by military and civil dignity, [with whom he was] ^D [This text continues into the next page.]

^A And by piety, however, more adorned. Someone in the Opsician theme Plotting, while he moved an army against the Arabs, A grave ambush, with the chief of the troops Discovering Artavasdus as the prime instigator; Perceiving this, the ruler escapes death With swift-winged horses and readiness of mind. The army and the commanders of the ranks Proclaimed Artavasdus as emperor, With whom they took possession of [the city of] Constantine; 1745 He, having entered within with gladness as was right, Is celebrated by the mouths of the citizens as king, Obtaining the royal acclamation. He immediately set up the image of Christ, And gave [them] to worship it as was customary. 1750 Copronymus also stands against the city, Having previously been waiting to hold power fearlessly; But since all rejected this, He resorts to arms and civil battles, And does some harm to the citizens and the city, 1755 By preventing grain ships from sailing in; From which a famine resulted for the citizens. But when he advanced, shaking the city With an army and with engines and with guile, A battle is set between each side, 1760 With the new emperor standing in opposition. But who could sufficiently search out The abyss of the judgments of the Lord? The tyrant won the victory in the battle; Artavasdus, mindful of the truth, was shamefully defeated, 1765 And having been seized, he had the lamps of his eyes extinguished Along with his two sons—alas, the punishment! And Copronymus destroyed many other Of the notables besides with evil torments. This loathsome, impious man, having gathered together 1770 A system of unholy, mercenary wolves, Like-minded or even more evil-minded, Whom he called a synod, O laws of God! The Seventh Ecumenical, O the deception! For the abolition of the venerable icons, 1775 Takes possession of the divine house of the Blachernae. And having ascended a platform, the audacious man, With a piercing voice and a loathsome hand, Declares to be patriarch of Byzantium Constantine, the wretched wolf from Syllaeum; 1780 Performing his impious rite, Then, with him and all the unholy shepherds, While all were looking and listening in the forum, He impiously forbade the worship and honor of the icons, O the madness! 1785 Having foolishly subjected the madman, [He] with curses of anathema [subjected] the blessed men, The wise Germanus, Georgius from Cyprus, The shepherds of this city of Constantine, And furthermore also John from Damascus. 1790 This wicked man, having aroused a horrible persecution Against those who piously worship the icons, As a Christ-fighter, the wretch, Harassed all, and more so those clothed in sackcloth,

^A among whom he made Stephen and Andrew, monks, martyrs of Christ the Lord, along with a great multitude of other monks. While he was reigning tyrannically, a great earthquake and shaking of the earth befell Palestine, and Syria, and the Queen of Cities, by which it devoured a huge number of mortals. Furthermore, a pestilential and destructive disease, spreading widely through the world, afflicted the cities: nor is it possible for me, in the telling, to calculate the number 1795 of men extinguished by the plague. A winter, also, most severe and great, having 1800 fallen upon the queenly city, brought upon it much damage; for the unbearable force of the cold bound and compressed with hard ice both the sea itself and the immense rivers: wherefore even this harbor of Constantinople became traversable to every foot, 1805 for wool-bearing flocks and burden-bearing beasts of burden, and in short for all using their feet. But as the air grew warm after the melting of winter, at the coming of the breezes of spring, 1810 the icy crust began to break apart: then a violent wind drove the icy fragments, equal to broad islands and hills, against the walls and dashed them against the city, 1815 and at that time it leveled the greatest part of the walls. These events befell the city while Copronymus held the power.

LEO SON OF COPRONYMUS FROM THE CHAZAR, YEAR 5

IRENE WITH CONSTANTINE HER SON. THEN CONSTANTINE ALONE. AGAIN IRENE ALONE. SUM OF YEARS XXI.

^AAfter he had ended his life in short order, Irene reigns with her son Constantine, a woman of masculine spirit and blessed, bestowing upon all the gift of peace, herself a gift of God and the strength of the state, a second Jael and Deborah and the salvation of the empire; she who utterly destroyed everywhere the heretical error of the Iconoclast Christ-fighters ^B by the synodical judgment of the holy Fathers. Even before this, she, with her son Constantine, was rendering worship to the icons and paying them due honor as was right; and when she came to be in control of the monarchy, she united all the Churches with one another, having removed the causes of the scandal. For she raised Tarasius, one of the most illustrious defenders of the orthodox dogmas, a protoasecretis and a senator by rank, to the patriarchal throne by the election of the God-chosen Fathers and by canonical synodical judgment. In Nicaea, having gathered a universal council of theologians from everywhere, she struck those who denied worship to the icons with the just thunderbolt of anathema; and she restored to the Church the ancient institution, the light, the splendor, and the holy icons. While she was reigning, in the Long Wall of Thrace, ^C some digger, by chance, while turning over the earth, encountered a stone sarcophagus containing a body and inscriptions which said: "Christ is to be born of Mary the virgin, and one ought to worship Him as God; and under Constantine and Irene He shall see the rays of the sun again." Afterward, when a ruinous fire started, the most beautiful and splendid building of the Church in the patriarchate, called the Thomaites, was burned down; it had stored within it, like Mosaical and God-written tablets, the writings of Father Chrysostom, the excellent commentaries, that is, which wondrously explained the Holy Scriptures. The fire consumed these (alas for the loss!). Then also a seditious movement arose from the soldiers and the commanders of the ranks ^D conspiring in the royal city against Irene and Constantine. Among them was counted a certain Moselus, a military commander, skilled in war; and these were acclaiming as Caesar Nicephorus, who was the great uncle of Constantine on his father's side. The matter having been discovered, the tyranny was suppressed, and the authors of the crime and their accomplices paid the penalties due for their enterprise.

^A Mousel and Caesar Nikephoros justly lost the light of their eyes. But as time went on, Constantine, claiming the care of the republic for himself alone, removed his mother from the partnership of the empire, and became a monarch contrary to what is right: a deed which brought a host of evils into the world and an ungrateful crime to pious ears, a deed which surpassed any tragic tragedy and rendered the culprit himself bereft of sight. For Irene, stung by impatience of her grief and the desire to recover the empire, prepared for her son a cup truly bitter, and mixed a potion seasoned with death; having as accomplices and ministers of her treachery those whom she had won over with gifts and promises, the commanders of the army and the senators, by whose aid she cast her son from power and extinguished the lights of his eyes. Alas, to what do you not drive men, ambition, offering yourself as a partner and charm for evil deeds! The demons themselves have nothing more destructive than you. At that time the sun, almost unable to bear the sight of the crime, emitted only a dull and murky light, and displayed days too similar to nights; and thus the darkness remained for many days. ^B Thus, therefore, the empire and the judgment of affairs returned again to Irene, with all fear removed. Now, after Pope Hadrian had died in Rome, a venerable and honorable man, Leo, duly occupied the pontifical see; but seditious and envious men wounded his eye, though not mortally, frustrated in their hope by the will of God. He, in fact, fled to the king of the Franks, Charles, and with his aid recovered his see, inflicting the deserved penalty upon the evildoers. Wherefore he adorned Charles with a royal diadem and made him emperor of Rome. Hence, the barbarian Franks, who originated from the race of the Germans—as I remember having written above—held Rome. This race, having once abandoned its own fatherland, first entered the borders of Italy, and traversing it up and down with arms, was a nuisance especially to glorious Rome. ^C But indeed, while Leo the Isaurian was reigning and fostering heresy, as we have already said, the primate and priest of old Rome, Gregory, divinely cast off from himself the yoke of the empire and its sacred communion, and, abandoning war, entered into peace and a treaty with the foreign race of the Franks. ^D Finally, under the sovereigns Irene and Constantine, Leo brought the Franks inside the Roman walls, and, as I said, crowned Charles; who thus became masters of all Italy. This Charles, having received the royal crown, sent ambassadors to the sovereign Irene.

Seeking to secure her marriage for himself, a project which pleased the queen greatly. And the nuptials might perhaps have been accomplished, ^A had not a certain eunuch in the imperial court, by name Aetius, then especially powerful, impeded the marriage alliance with Charles, moving every stone, as the proverb says; intending, to be sure, that he might more safely thrust forward his brother Leo, as was his desire, into the empire.

NICEPHORUS THE GENERAL, 9 YEARS, OR AS OTHERS SAY, 8.

^A Therefore the queen Irene, hated by all, suffered the loss of her empire, as another, by fraud, occupied the scepter—namely, the general and logothete Nicephorus; a man abominable, endowed with evil habits, greedy for money ^B and a lover of wealth, full of every malice, most avaricious, unstable, and a perjurer in both mind and tongue. He, having pledged his faith to the empress when she revealed her hidden wealth to him—a great treasure which she had set aside—promising that she would experience no harm; after she displayed the heap of gold, he immediately drove her as an exile into an island ^C which they commonly call by the name of Principis: thence he transferred her to the island of Lesbos, having no regard for his oath, where she closed the course of her life.

The man himself, composed of all kinds of malice, but especially of pestilential avarice, emerged as the inventor of new taxes, such as the contrivance of the illegal hearth-tax, most burdensome to the subjects. Come now, I shall bring forward a sample of his wickedness, so that the drop may be a taste of the whole cask. A man who was a hoarder and very rich, ^D being summoned by the king, is compelled to declare what amount of gold he carried in his coffers. He speaks; the king denies that he has told the truth. "Come, place your hand upon my head," he says, "and swear by this how much you have." He obeyed, with fear shaking his spirit, and said that he had one hundred pounds of gold: which the king immediately ordered to be brought to him; and when ten were given, the king kept the rest, saying, "There is no need for so much gold for you."

This man, having undertaken an expedition against the Bulgarians, who were raiding the western regions, joined a heavy battle with the foes; and at first he was indeed superior to the Barbarians; but soon, defeated, he lost his life in the battle. Perished at the same time a great throng of military commanders, nobles, and senators. For no one could have numbered the multitude of the common soldiers.

STAURACIUS, SON OF NICEPHORUS, REIGNED 1 YEAR, OR AS OTHERS SAY, 1 MONTH.

MICHAEL RHANGABE, REIGNED 2 YEARS.

Sending the insignia of power to the tyrant, he withdrew, and became a black-robed monk.

LEO THE ARMENIAN: 7 YEARS

^A He casts out into exile, banishing him from the throne To the island of Proconnesus in the Hellespont; To which, while he is being led, deported by ship, A wondrous prodigy occurred on the journey. For the holy man, the divine Theophanes, who presided Over a monastery situated in the countryside, perceiving the path Spiritually, from afar, as if he were a beacon inspired by God, With incense and with burning torches Went forth to welcome him, as though greeting a great man. And he, from the ship, was bowing in turn to the friend Who was honoring his passage. ^B Therefore, the sailors rightfully marveling, And asking whom he was bowing to, he replied, prophesying, "To the glorious Theophanes, the confessor And leader of monks who inhabit the holy monastery In the great countryside." Then Leo hands over to guard in chains to prison Michael the Stammerer, a splendid man from the number of the nobility, Whom until now he had held as a friend in the palace; And soon, with a ruthless mind, he decrees for him To suffer the ultimate punishment by fire: And he would have finished this matter without delay, Had not the queen, his wife, intervened. Therefore, released from his chains, ^C he summons his coconspirators, The partners in the deed known to him, with whom He immediately weaves a plot for Leo. These men, having entered undercover at dawn Into the royal palace, by the favor of Papias, Concealed with swords underneath clerical vestments, As if intending to offer the morning chants, Drew their weapons and stabbed Leo While he was chanting in the church among the clergy; He, terrified, having fled for refuge to the divine altar, Suffered a violent death in that very place Which the unhappy heretic had defiled. Before these things came to pass, this vision occurred: The mother of Leo saw in a dream, In the Blachernae temple, a woman standing by her, ^D Adorned in royal fashion, whom A band of candidates stood around in decent order. But she saw the floor overflowing with blood. Furthermore, she heard the woman saying That a cup filled with blood should be offered To the king's mother to drink. When she utterly refused such a drink, The woman replied: "Does not your son inflict Cruel lashes, against all right, upon those who worship My divine Son and me?" She therefore begged her son the king To abandon his wickedness, lest some evil befall him; But he did not obey his mother's warnings.

MICHAEL THE STAMMERER, YEAR IX. Thus Leo having been slain, as I have said, Michael the Stammerer is proclaimed emperor, While still bearing his feet bound in irons, Having been proclaimed emperor autocrat, He then hastened to the Great Church.

^A From the chief priest he receives the diadem of the kingdom. He drew the origin of his lineage ^B from the city of Amorium, in the province of Phrygia, born of lowly, destitute parents. A wicked man, a heretic, a pestilence to the faithful, and the executioner of the orthodox party; in his sect, as varied as the skin of a leopard, another chameleon no less changing in its colors, a mixture and abominable farrago of every sort of heretical malice. Favored by the Athingani and the Christ-fighters, and most especially by the most wretched Sadducees, and by the faction of other heretics besides; he observed the Sabbaths and the new moons: he mocked the good things of the life to come, and the resurrection, and all the prophets; he thought that there were absolutely no demons; he said that Judas was worthy of praise; he prattled that the saving paschal rite was celebrated by us at a time other than its own; he denied that fornication should be set among sins, nor did he think anything to be evil, this madman; and he urged men to swear by God the Most High, as if the Trinity were not [a Trinity of] three hypostases. This man breathed heavily against the orthodox parties, ^C subjecting them to dire tortures, and also to exiles and ultimate punishments on account of the worship of the august icons. Furthermore, he seized two distinguished men, Euthymius, bishop of Sardis, and Methodius, and struck them mercilessly with the weight of many lashes; of these, Euthymius, bearing his pains with a noble soul, died in torment, having obtained a crown; while Methodius was sent away, shut up in a prison far off. While he was reigning, a certain rebel named Thomas arose as an enemy, and with arms and a heavy fleet, he began to ravage for a long time the whole neighborhood of Byzantium; and this evil lasted for a very long time: but at the extreme, the unhappy Thomas was captured and paid the double penalty for his deeds. Under this king, likewise, a certain tribe of the Hagarenes, inhabiting the western part of Iberia, was fatiguing its prince with petitions that he might lead them as a colony to other lands, ^D because they were living in a place now too narrow that could no longer contain the number of the inhabitants. The prince of the tribe obeyed their words, and having placed the people on ships, he began to plunder the islands, to set them on fire, and he filled the sea with piratical vessels. And when he had brought his triremes to anchor at Crete, and had seen the fruitful nature of the island, the temperate air, and its other advantages, having sent away witnesses, he subjected the fleet to fire. After this, when the allied crowd was burning with grief no less than the ships were burning with the blaze, on account of the memory of their wives and children: "Now," said the prince, "you must remain here, in a region that flows with milk and honey;"

which you shall inhabit, while dwelling together, O friends, and soon you shall win most beloved wives, having married them. From this time forward, the strong race of Ishmael held the island and the strongholds of the island.

THEOPHILUS, SON OF MICHAEL, YEAR 12

Michael departs this life, delivering the empire to his son Theophilus, who, being imbued with perverse religion from his youth, appeared as heir and successor to his father's power and heresy alike: nay, to a copious and royal degree, as the proverb has it, surpassing his father, breathing a fervent fury of his impiety against the venerators of the images. ^B Yet he was also a tenacious observer of uncorrupted justice and a guardian of righteous laws; of which fact I shall bring forward testimony. A certain illustrious man, brother to the Empress, by name Petronas, holding the dignity of Drungarius, was doing injury to a neighboring woman living near him, in that by constructing new upper chambers he was bringing damage to her house. The woman therefore called upon the King, who commanded that the damage be repaired by Petronas. But the latter relaxed nothing of his injustice. Therefore, the woman approached the King again, protesting against the violence of the Drungarius, and crying out in complaint of her injury. Then the King, having sent those who were to investigate the matter, and once he knew Petronas to be entangled in the crime, ^C duly punished him with lashes in accordance with law, and publicly exposed him in the city: then he razed the building from its foundations, and ordered the materials to be given to the woman. Furthermore, seeing from the royal house a cargo ship full of merchandise, which had recently returned from trading: as soon as he heard that this belonged to the Empress, his wife, he consumed it together with the goods by fire; saying that it is not fitting for kings to engage in trade, nor to pursue the life of monopolists ^D, but to leave this to the condition of private individuals, so that they might have the means of maintaining their lives. But as much as he was a fervent lover of justice, just as much was he grave and wrathful against the followers of the true religion: for, imbued with hatred of the sacred images, he afflicted those who held them in honor—men who were holy and endowed with an angelic life—as if they were enemies, impious and abominable, with every kind of annoyance, omitting no species of cruelty. He tortured them therefore, drove them into exile, burned them, kept them bound in a dark prison, submerged them in waters, oppressed them with long punishments, and branded their faces (what a novel form of torture!), all the while acting as a mad, satanic worshipper, yet thinking he was doing something acceptable to God and was offering a service pleasing to Him—his own 106

^A as Christ says in the Gospel discourse. Thus, then, did he make martyrs of very many who struggled valiantly and reproved his wicked heresy, condemning them to death. Yet, some who encouraged martyrdom survived, among whom were Methodius, and Theophanes, branded with an honorable mark, and the painter Lazarus, who, though his hands had been scorched, yet painted icons beautifully once again.

Now Theophilus, desiring a partner in life, sharer of both his empire and his bed, gathered from everywhere a choir of virgins. Among these, although not one was lacking in supreme beauty, ^B there shone forth more than the others—lovely in body, splendid in birth, and dignified in her speech—Icasia, like the full orb of the moon. The king, therefore, carrying a golden apple in his hand, walked around the choir of virgins, intending to give this as an engagement gift to the one most pleasing to him. But as he saw Icasia in passing, and marveled at the maid’s exceptional beauty, he said, "All evils have come about through woman."

She, however, answered him quietly yet with great shrewdness, "But from woman, too, better things spring forth," she said. The king, admiring the virgin, passed on; and having given the apple to the virgin Theodora, who possessed a homeland in ^C Paphlagonia but was born of patrician parents, he made her his partner in both empire and bed, passing over Icasia, as I have said. She, once she did not obtain the worldly scepter and failed to wed the earthly king, gained the spiritual Bridegroom of all and a portion of the kingdom of heaven. For, having become a nun and built a monastery, she exercised herself within it, devoting her efforts to letters; and books full of charm by her are still extant.

But the empress, that glorious gift of God, secretly honoring sacred icons, kept them reverently stored in a chest, avoiding the mad hatred of her spouse with which he pursued the worshippers ^D of icons. And when she was one day venerating these very icons, a certain little man, more misshapen than Thersites, endowed with a demented mind and witless, the plaything and mockery of the royal palace, stood by and asked, "What are these, O Mana?"—for this was the name by which he called the queen. She answered simply, "They are beautiful dolls." Immediately, that little man ran with hasty speed to the king, as was his custom. The king asked from where he was coming; the madman said he was returning from there, and that the queen possessed some beautiful dolls. The king, understanding the dolls to be icons, inflamed with anger proceeded to the queen and rebuked her, assailing her with harsh words. She, deceiving the wicked jester,

^A said that they were merely reflections in a mirror, to see the form of my face, she said, and to speak of them as mere dolls. Thus she extinguished the flame of his anger. This King Theophilus often, both through himself and through the military commanders— of whom he had many endowed with a brave spirit, especially Manuel and Theophobus— waged war successfully with the slaughter of the enemy. For both were right-handed and strong, and yielded to no one of their own times in strenuousness or the art of war. Theophilus himself offered a liberal and munificent hand to all. Wherefore, also constructing a splendid and great hospice to receive pilgrims, he gave the building his own name, though it had formerly been a den of harlots. Nor was he at all prone to venereal acts, but marveled at his own pursuit of chastity. ^B To Alexius, surnamed Moseles, of the illustrious race of the Armenian Crinitæ, a strenuous man and a magnanimous leader, adorned with beauty of countenance, he joined his daughter Mary in marriage, bestowing on him the dignity of the title of Caesar, and sent him with a fleet against the Lombards. But because of the envy of the retinue and those slandering the Caesar to the king, his wife, while she lived, dispelled the slanders. But after she departed this life, Alexius immediately renouncing the pomp of the world, his Caesarial dignity, his kinsmen, his friends, and all other things, and the turmoil of the life of the age, he put on the poor sackcloth after the example of Christ, and having shorn his hair, entered the monastery of Anthemius, which he himself had constructed, and there as a monk he finished the course of his life. Then, Amorium, the fatherland of Theophilus having been captured by the armies of the Agarenes, an innumerable crowd perished by the sword, and a mass of ten thousand was taken and driven away as war-booty to those Barbarians; among whom were the commanders of the forces there, a four-fold decade (37) with a single pair, ^C who at last found the crowns of martyrs. For their sake the Emperor sent ambassadors to the ruler of Persia, ^D signaling to him to release them, having received for their ransom four and twenty centenaria. But the barbarian ears rejected his words. Wherefore the emperor, afflicted with long sorrow, contracted a disease and miserably ended his life, earnestly beseeching his wife and the nobles that they should take care to abolish the images and that they should not allow John the wolf, not the shepherd, to occupy the chair of the Church.

^A MICHAEL, SON OF THEOPHILUS, TOGETHER WITH HIS MOTHER THEODORA, AND AGAIN ALONE. TOTAL YEARS: 25.

Thereafter Theodora holds the rule of the empire, Bestowing the gift of peace together with her child. Her first work was to bring back the exiles, And to set free those held in prisons, Putting a stop to the persecution once for all. Afterward, she hastened to bring about the restoration Of the holy and venerable icons. Then she removes John from the throne, And fittingly inducts Methodius in his place, Under whose leadership over the Orthodox host The establishment of the holy icons took place, And their veneration was made manifest to all. Then the Empress, from the multitude of bishops And likewise from the ranks of inspired monks, Earnestly asks for the sake of her spouse, So that through them as intercessors and supplicants, God might grant to the Emperor Theophilus the remission Of his sins and his Christ-hating error, ^B Having pardoned him as a compassionate Lord. And attending to the prayers of those who had besought Him, As God is loving to man and compassionate by nature, He deems him worthy of salvation, as formerly Manasses. But he who had justly suffered the loss of the throne, The sorcerer John, living somewhere in a monastery, Having taken the icons of Christ and His Mother, In his madness, gouged out their eyes. When the thrice-blessed Empress learned of this, Her heart burned with the fires of zeal, ^C And she immediately ordered that the pupils Of his very own eyes be cut out, as a just retribution. But she was diverted by the counsel of certain ones; Yet, she sent armed ministers who chastised him with a scourge, Bruising his body with many lashes. While she reigned, the ruler of the Bulgarians, Having learned that the Roman Empire was committed To a woman and a tender child, Threatened that he would greatly shatter the compacts Which he had concluded with the Emperor of the Ausonians, And would raid the borders of the Romans. To him, they say, the Empress sent this reply: “I, with God as the arbiter of battles, Will surely resist you in open warfare. Even if I should win, fighting with God, You will be a great laughingstock to all; But if, on the other hand, you should win, yours will be no great glory, For having conquered a woman of fragile nature.” When these things were reported to the chief of the Mysians, He checked his impulse and lowered his pride, ^D And renewed again the former peace. But it is good to tell in words from whence—

^A the nation of the Mysians came into the pious faith. A woman truly noble, of the Bulgarians, sister by nature to the ruler of the Mysians, was led captive to Constantinople. She, living in the royal palace, approached the saving font, having been instructed in the worship of the Christians, and she attained knowledge of Greek letters. ^A 2475 She, having been released at the plea of her brother and seen by him, being a Christian, as was fitting, would wonder at and honor [the faith], and she persuaded him by noble counsel to receive the divine grace of baptism. But he, for the time being, was stubborn, not even yielding to words. But when a plague invaded the Bulgarians and there was no release or escape from the illness, God, the deliverer, appeared as the averter of the all-consuming plague, ^B heeding the prayers of the woman named for Christ. 2485 He knew then the invincible power of God, and he requested a shepherd to be sent to him, by whom being sent, he is initiated, and he receives the baptism of incorruption. For which reason the frenzied Bulgarian people conspired to kill their prince; but he, trusting in the mighty arms of the Cross, conquering the rebels in a joined battle, ^B subdued them. Then all, in like manner imbued with the true faith, gladly received the divine baptism. 2495 As long as the glory of queens, Theodora, presided over the empire, Roman affairs proceeded happily; but after the supreme power passed to her son, ^C all things began to be turned upside down. Michael poured out heaps of money and wealth, as they say, by the wagon-load, feasting, drinking, and playing the Greek among flatterers. 2500 He foolishly melted down in a crucible, out of madness, a plane tree well-wrought of gold, two griffins, and as many lions, and much other varied equipment which was an ornament to the royal dignity, so that it might become money. King Michael, because no heir of his own lineage remained as successor to the kingdom, made Basil king of the Romans, 2510 and joined to him in the communion of marriage his own concubine Eudocia, daughter of Inger. The homeland of Basil was Macedonia, where he was born of obscure parents, who cultivated the field with their own hands: a man strong, dexterous, powerful in physique, ^D of flourishing age, well-haired, pleasant, and endowed with a good spirit and a constant mind. 2515 Many signs portended to him the empire from his earliest childhood, of which I shall say a few things in verse: In summer time, while sleeping under the sun's rays, as is the custom for the children of rustics, an eagle fluttering down (a wondrous prodigy!) provided a shadow to the child with its spread wings.

^A Trembling for her son, the mother, seeing the eagle beyond her expectation providing shade for the tender infant, kept driving the bird away from afar by throwing stones. When the mother withdrew, the eagle flew back again and offered its service to the boy. The mother drove it away again, and this happened many times throughout the day. When Basil had passed out of boyhood, being unknown to all and in extreme poverty, he traveled on foot to the city of Constantine, intending to labor for some rich man to obtain the means of sustaining his life. So, having entered the city, he slept in the evening at the gates of the temple of the martyr Diomedes, like a destitute and lowly youth. ^B But the martyr appeared by night in a dream to one of the vergers sleeping inside, ordering him to open the doors quickly and bring in the king who was sleeping outside. He went out, but having found only Basil sleeping upon the bare ground, he returned into the temple and retreated to his house, reckoning that he had seen a vain phantom in a dream, and so he returned to his bed. But lo, the vision appeared again and repeated the command. He rushed out of the door quickly, ^C and found Basil alone, sleeping. And when the dream had come a third time, and the verger did not understand the matter at all, the martyr finally said openly that he who was sleeping outside was the king. Having brought him in, as was proper, the verger refreshed him with kindly offices and hospitality; then he entrusted him to a certain nobleman, who in turn made him familiar to the king, from whom Basil received royal honor. Moreover, a certain monk, resplendent in virtues and aware of future things by the Holy Spirit, inhabiting a monastery in his native Crete, truly predicted to Basil, when he came there before his reign, that he would be made king.

BASIL THE MACEDONIAN, 12 YEARS.

This man, after he had killed Michael, his benefactor and the giver of the crown, ^D was revealed as sole monarch of all things. Wherefore, pricked by the stings of conscience as he pondered the crime of the unspeakable slaughter, he endeavored to appease the common Lord, whose mercy has no limit, with good works and by distributing to the needy. Then also, within the imperial palace, he founded a most beautiful and wonderful new temple, a spectacle pleasing to the eyes, to the prince of angels, and he called this the New Church. And again another temple to Elijah the Tishbite, whom he honored especially throughout the cycle of the year with processions and feasts, with sumptuous respect. This man, through his own generals and his army

destroying his enemies with fire, sword, and chains, and adding their cities to his kingdom. ^A This ruler restored the western apse of the Temple of Sophia, which was already suffering from the ravages of time, with the skillful hand of craftsmen, and provided fitting aid to many other sanctuaries that had been ruined by earthquake; he also enticed many of the Jews to the true faith by providing them with the means of livelihood. Moreover, he took care to bring the Rus' people, who had until then been given over to error, to the religion of Christ. For a distinguished bishop was sent to them and persuaded everyone to approach the Gospel of Christ and the miracles of Christ. The Rus' asked to see a sign that would confirm the truth of the things that were being told to them. Therefore, the bishop placed the divine book of the evangelical word into the fire with prayers; and the devouring force of the flames did not harm it. Astonished by this, the Rus' followed the Lord and accepted the gift of baptism. ^B Thereafter, Basilius, yielding to the absurd counsels of Santabarenus, an envious and wicked man, committed his son Leo to custody. Indeed, the beloved son Leo would have perhaps lost his eyes by his father's command, had the patriarch and the assembled fathers not broken the parent's resolve with their entreaties. Yet Leo still remained in chains for a long time. But lo! during a public banquet, a parrot, that loquacious and mimetic bird, began to repeat the name of Leo among the guests and brought tears to all who were feasting; they fell prostrate at their master's knees and insistently reconciled the son to his father, who restored Leo's dignity along with his favor. At one time when hunting, the king came upon a stag of extraordinary size and tall horns, which he immediately attacked at a run, armed as he was; and he was already about to slay it with his raised sword, when the animal rushed upon its enemy with its horns, lifted him up, and carried him off in flight to inaccessible places. But a young attendant, outrunning the others, saved the king from death by cutting his belt; and he, in truth, bestowed an extraordinary reward upon his savior: the cutting off of his head. O, what an injustice!

^C LEO THE WISE, 25 YEARS. When Basilius had passed away, his son and heir began to hold the reins of the empire. Leo was not ignorant of any worldly wisdom, a master of the four branches of learning, and especially skilled in the arcane art of divination, which is accomplished through incantations and the course of the stars, and which reveals all future things to those who are learned. ^D

^A In all other respects he was pious and orthodox, and he administered public affairs with just laws; yet, because he had celebrated a fourth marriage, and because he would not endure the restraint of the laws in this matter, he disturbed the guardians of the law with tumult and drove away the patriarch who opposed him, removing him from his throne. Then, in order to honor his first wife, the queen—the most blessed Theophano—who was dead, he built a temple of great size in the vicinity of the shrine of the Apostles, and he placed her remains there in a sarcophagus. And again, having restored another holy sanctuary to Christ's friend, the resurrected Lazarus, he enclosed there his body in a coffin, and also that of the blessed Mary Magdalene. ^B Furthermore, he built a monastery for Constantine the Paphlagonian in the place which is called "The Nest," a man base in character, but nonetheless beloved by him; whom, after his hair was shorn, he ordered to become a monk, moved by the words of the envious Samonas. Afterwards, having removed the monastic garment, he decorated him with the honor of a chamberlain—the very man for whom, as I said, he had built the monastery. Thereafter, while the emperor was in the temple of the Martyr Mocius, and while his royal guards were approaching the chancel of the holy house, some man struck him on the head with a staff; this would surely have crushed his skull, had not the staff, by striking a hanging lamp, lost much of its lethal force. ^C This crime greatly disturbed the nobles. But a prophet and man of renown among the monks, Marcus, who had composed the

Tetraodion for Great Saturday

ALEXANDER, BROTHER OF THE SAME, 13 MONTHS. When Leo had departed from this life and rule, his brother Alexander obtained the scepter, a man shameless and of corrupt morals, a slave to lusts, given over to incontinence, ^D a carouser, a drunkard, of brutish nature, and a follower of the secret orgies of Venus. He committed the administration of public affairs to base, wandering buffoons and men of no account. After he had rioted in the empire for no more than one year, as his brother had predicted, he died miserably in the thirteenth month.

CONSTANTINE, SON OF LEO, THE PORPHYROGENITUS, WITH HIS FATHER-IN-LAW ROMANUS LACAPENUS, 26 YEARS. When he had brought his life to a disgraceful end, behold, the messenger Apostle appears in Ephraem. Wherefore the Armenian interpreter had also read it thus in reality, as did Eusebius.

^A Constantine, the first fruit of the purple, son of Leo, receives the power while still of a very tender age. While he and his mother were presiding over public affairs, a certain Romanus from Lacapena, a leader of armies by the office of drungarios, betrayed his faith to the boy ruler. Soon, admitted to a partnership in the kingdom, not without a grave oath and a pact initiated that he would reign with the boy king, and would hold the guardianship of the empire and of the boy at once, and would preserve for him unharmed the power of which in reality his father had made him the heir. But Lacapenus did not keep the covenants; indeed, he even designated his three sons as Caesars, and claimed for himself the whole care of public affairs and the rule of the empire. Meanwhile, however, Constantine also reigned with the old man and his children. And thus a long time passed; for twenty-six years had elapsed.

CONSTANTINE ALONE, 15 YEARS.

Then at length, having captured them, Constantine, with cautious artifice and at a suitable time, stripped the father and his sons, those grafted-on kings, of their dominion, and alone held the empire. This man was pious and of an orthodox mind, and he innovated nothing in the institutions of the Church; nay, he was obedient to her as to a beloved mother, and a defender of divine dogmas, and requested the observance of the law above all. He was also gifted with wise doctrines and was excellently instructed in secular letters, the patronage of which he always carried out, and placed masters in charge of teaching them. Nevertheless, there were traits in him unworthy of the empire, for he governed the republic sluggishly; he was too angry with delinquents and was inexorable in inflicting punishments. The same man handed over magistracies and senatorial ranks and prefectures and military orders to men altogether unfit, unworthy, and laboring under every vice, exhibiting all offices as venal for gold. ^B In his time, while he was still reigning with Romanus, the image of Christ the Lord, not made by hand, painted with wondrous art in a towel, was translated from the city of Edessa to Byzantium. ^C Also, a very large Russian army, leading, as rumor has it, fifteen thousand merchant ships, and depopulating everything, directed its course to the royal city. ^D But truly, almost the whole of it was destroyed by the power of God, and by the assistance of the Virgin Mother, by the attack of the Roman fleet.

ROMANUS, SON OF CONSTANTINE, 3 YEARS.

Thereafter, the Porphyrogenitus having finished his life, his son Romanus stands forth as emperor,

to whom Theophano was joined in the rights of marriage, born of common stock. ^A She bore to her husband two male children, namely Basil and Constantine, whom their father decorated also with the kingly diadem. He was a man steeped in luxury, abandoned to vice, given too much to drinking and carousing, and devoted to pleasures, to Venus, and to banquets, associating with the basest companions and corruptors. But he entrusted the administration of public affairs to a certain Joseph, who was surnamed Bringas, occupying the office of praepositus and cubicularius. ^B Yet he, having leaders who were valiant in arms, won victories happily with a strong army and put his enemies to flight, for he had Nicephorus Phocas, a brave man, and his brother Leo as leaders; by their virtue he captured the cities of the enemy and subjected their pride to the yoke of the empire.

NICEPHORUS PHOCAS, 6 YEARS. After Romanus had shamefully ended his life, having left the empire to his wife and children, Nicephorus Phocas, breaking faith with the empire, was chosen for the royal honor by the leaders and armies of the East. He, waging war against the Syrian Cilicians, took many of their cities by martial force: Adana, Rosus, the wall of the Anazarbeans, and besides these, Tarsus and the home of Mopsus, ^C whose gates he even transported to Byzantium, finished with remarkable skill and varied work. He also transported to the royal city the divine image of Christ the Lord, not made by hand and discovered in a vessel from the Syrian city of Hierapolis, and a portion of hair matted with blood, taken from the head of the Forerunner. He also reduced many of the fortified places of the enemy to the Roman dominion.

And these things were indeed done by him in a splendid way. But this light was not without its shadows; he suffered from a lust for money, and because of this, declining from equitable right, he vexed his subjects with the burden of new taxes imposed at the hands of questors. ^D Hence he was odious to the common people and the nobility, especially since he endeavored to violate the canons of the Church through wickedness, having secured the suffrage of some bishops. For he decreed by an iniquitous law that, when a bishop had died, the wealth of the Church, which was owed to the poor, should be transferred to the royal treasury. No less did he kindle the flame of public hatred by the sea-wall, raised by his command, of notable height and great circumference, which surrounded the palace on all sides. He also brought forth a new decree in which he ordered that soldiers should be honored with the glory of martyrs, and be venerated with sacred hymns,

^A [those] who had been slaughtered in battle and had departed this life. And this [purpose of his] would quickly have been brought to completion, had not the patriarch, along with other bishops and the nobles, as was fitting, opposed it. John Tzimiskes, incensed at him for injuries unjustly received, conspired with bold associates to set a trap—a dreadful scheme, truly, and a snare of death—having the queen herself as the minion of this crime. Wherefore, hidden inside a basket which the queen had craftily prepared, he and his accomplices climbed up the impassable place by night, and after the manner of nocturnal brigands, or rather like fierce and bloodthirsty beasts, they broke into the royal bedchamber armed with swords and there butchered the king. ^B

JOHN TZIMISKES, 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS

After him, the noble John Tzimiskes was immediately proclaimed sovereign by universal acclamation. A little later, his head was girded with the royal diadem by the patriarch. He was an outstanding, incomparable leader, to whom no one of his age was superior in arms, being valiant with his own hand and [skilled in] strategy, and endowed with both boldness of spirit and sound judgment; an excellent emperor, gracious to his friends, [but] unbearable and formidable to his enemies. This man, graced by his name—a blessed grace—was mild, cheerful, and benevolent to his subjects. ^C He even submitted to being rebuked for the murder he had committed and to being excluded from the temple by the wise patriarch Polyeuctus, just as David heard Nathan rebuking him. He immediately recalled the exiles whom Nicephorus had previously driven into exile; among whom were the chief bishops who had refused to subscribe to the decree in which the emperor Nicephorus had ordained that no one should become a prelate without his advice, nor enjoy pastoral honor. Tzimiskes tore up that decree; he divided his own wealth among the destitute; and he performed penance according to the canons for the remission of his fault and the expiation of the murder. ^D Afterward, he marched out against the Rhos barbarians and overcame them in a great battle. At that time, a certain knight was seen by many, an unknown man who favored the Romans, fighting with [his] forces against the barbarians. Furthermore, it became known that this was Theodorus the Great, soldier of Christ and commander. How, however, he became known, I shall set forth in words. There was a certain pious and modest woman, frequenting a temple in the royal city, who one day before the decisive battle seemed to herself to see the Mother of God, accompanied by a great host of men, led forth as befits a queen. Moreover, she believed she heard this one saying:

^A O Lord Theodore, commander of the army, both my friend and yours, John, is engaged in a severe and most difficult struggle; therefore, hasten to bring him aid. This vision was recounted to those present, who consigned the day to memory and writing. In reality, the vision coincided with the time of battle. The same man, having undertaken a war against the Cilicians, captured many of their fortified citadels. As many as refused to submit to the empire, he compelled to obedience by force of arms. He raised a sanctuary to Christ the Lord in the Chalce, rich in resources and of wonderful workmanship.

BASILIUS BULGARICIDA, YEAR 50

John having fulfilled his destiny, Basilius obtained the ancestral scepter by right of inheritance and legitimate claim, with the royal title. The son of Romanus, born in the purple, an excellent commander of armies, he greatly expanded the boundaries of his dominion. ^B A faithful and prudent administrator, he did not look toward delights or rest of body, neither toward sloth nor ease at home, nor was he captivated by any kind of pleasure, but living his whole life under arms, he took delight in striking the enemies in battle. A good man, a guardian of sacred laws, changing nothing in the customs of the Church, shining brightly with the ornaments of virtues, ^C striving mainly to be brave and temperate. He, having obtained the nature of an eagle, possessing surely the mind and efficacy of a winged creature, now waged war in the regions of the East, now in the western lands, now under the north, now finally through the southern tracts, shaking his Barbarian adversaries with war, plundering, burning, and devastating cities and fortified citadels, as is the custom of war. The witness of the matter is the solitude of Scythia, the booty of the Moesians, as the proverb says, the slaughter of the Persians, of the Abasgi, and of the Abars, ^D whose audacity he broke in open conflict. Nor did he any less crush the tyranny of Samuel, the prince of the Bulgarians, and he slew countless numbers of his people. For in the event of a grave battle conflict, he captured such a number of Moesians that they were estimated to be fifteen thousand; upon all of these, a broad sentence was passed, and he gouged out their eyes. Having instructed these under a few leaders, whom he had blinded in only one eye, he sent the rest back as a free body to Moesia. When their king saw them thus affected, struck by the dart of grief, he died.

^A And from this time, Basil Augustus the Great began to be commonly called the "Bulgar-slayer." Having captured the western cities of the Moesians—Achris and Scopia, and the two Presthlabae, the strongholds in Sardica and Bidina, along with Pernicos and thirty-five other fortresses—he subjected them all to the Roman power.

CONSTANTINE HIS BROTHER, 2 YEARS, 6 MONTHS

After he had departed from this life in advanced age, his brother Constantine held the empire. Boasting of a vast body and strength, but altogether cowardly in heart, and lax, of a soft and indolent character, addicted to the theater and dice, to delicacies, revels, wine, and acts of lust—a slave to pleasures and gluttony, living a life rivaling Sardanapalus—he became a laughingstock to all the Barbarian enemies. ^B He deemed it best not to repel their incursions with arms or drive them back with swords, owing to his fear; but, draining his subjects with tributes, and exacting many and various payments without end, he mollified the barbarians with a heap of gifts, even bestowing upon them the highest dignities; thus he mitigated the ferocity of the Barbarians. Yet, lending an easy ear to calumnies, and being prone to anger, envy, and malice, he robbed many mortals of their life; others he deprived of the light of their eyes, driven by the slightest moment of suspicion. Finally, conflicted by old age and diseases, and seeing that the measure of his life was at hand, he adopted Romanus Argyropulus and gave him his own daughter in marriage, having driven away his lawful wife by deceit. Then he also handed over the weight of the empire; and, surviving but a short time after this, he breathed his last.

ROMANUS ARGYROPULUS, 5 YEARS, 6 MONTHS

Romanus is therefore established as emperor, a good and pious man, of noble birth, a friend of letters and all the arts, most skilled in the public laws of the right, an overthrower of usury with its mutual surety, liberal with his wealth toward all the needy, and a redeemer of countless captives. ^D He constructed with beautiful and splendid craftsmanship the great apse of the Church of Sophia, distributed a great quantity of gold to the clergy, and dissolved the public debt. The same man, having brought forces into Phoenicia against the faithless and impious Hagarenes who had seized the cities subject to the empire, engaged them in battle but fought unfortunately, escaped by flight into the city of Antioch, and from there betook himself to Byzantium. Then he showed himself endowed with a different disposition,

^A And he began to be burdensome to all his subjects through unusual exactions of taxes and duties, appearing an exactor rather than an emperor, a bitter collector of revenues and a subtle sharper. Yet all these riches, and many more besides, he poured out in magnificent expenses, while he built a new sanctuary for the Virgin Mother, the venerable Lady, to whom he assigned fertile estates, the annual revenues of many cities, ^B and very many acres of land and numerous gifts, matters which were not congruent for monks. The same man, employing valiant and wise leaders and commanders who were prudent, and flourishing in both land and naval forces, brought back happy victories. For when the Hagarenes with a huge fleet were plaguing the shores of Illyricum and causing damage to cities and villages, the Roman fleet, coming upon them, consumed the hostile vessels with fire. Again, another fleet of a thousand ships came from Africa, casting fire upon the islands. But it was only a little that the Roman fleet was not burned, for they captured five hundred soldiers and sent them to Byzantium in chains. Furthermore, a leader sent to the cities of the Euphrates captured Edessa by battle, and there, finding a letter written by Christ the Lord himself—or better, written by God—he sent this most pleasing gift to the Emperor. While he was reigning, an earthquake occurred, by which a great number of houses fell, all of which the Emperor liberally repaired. Afterward, he felt the thread of his life being cut by a wasting and multiform disease. ^C

MICHAEL THE PAPHLAGONIAN, YEAR 7

Then Queen Zoe called Caesar her lover, Michael the Paphlagonian, gifted with a beautiful and graceful face, as it were a rare product of nature; furthermore, blooming with virtues of the soul, good and kind and cheerful in his manners. To him, beauty naturally offered the royal crown; for he was of a base and plebeian lineage, ^D but excelling in comeliness and elegance, he won for himself the love of the Queen, and hence rose, to speak briefly, to such a height and the throne of rule. When Romanus had discovered this love, while still surviving and retaining the empire, he bound Michael with a solemn oath to affirm that he knew nothing of such a thing. He swore easily, not fearing God. Wherefore a demon, rushing upon him,

choked him miserably, as was commonly heard, on account of his perjury. ^A Nevertheless, he ruled the empire successfully; for he himself, or through chosen generals, repelled the enemy and brought cities that had been taken by force back under the Roman imperial power. Indeed, a fleet setting out from Africa once again, plundering islands and maritime places, was entirely sunk by Roman ships. Moreover, the energetic general Maniakes, having conquered the island of Sicily by force of arms, rendered it tributary to the Roman empire. And a certain Arab stratagem almost captured the city of Edessa, had not God immediately rendered their artifice void. For twelve Arab chieftains approached the city of Edessa, pretending to bring gifts to the Emperor, leading five hundred camels before them, each carrying a burden on either side in very large chests, with a soldier concealed within. ^B Therefore, they craftily requested to enter the city and to bring the chests in with them toward evening, so that by night they might put an end to their drama. Yet before this fraud could succeed for the Barbarians, the matter was discovered and turned into their own destruction, and the treachery fell upon the head of the treacherous: for the Roman sword slew them all. But then, Michael, troubled by a severe illness and seeing the end of his life near, despising the splendor of the royal purple and abandoning all the insignia of imperial dignity, chose to depart from the royal palace ^C and went to a suburban monastery, which he himself had built for two brothers, namely the wondrous holy Anargyri. Having been received there, with his beautiful hair shorn, he put on a poor sackcloth for the love of Christ; then, after a very short time, he departed this life, having shown signs of fervent repentance.

MICHAEL CALAPHATES, 4 MONTHS. The empire again devolves to the queen, who, beguiled by fraudulent speeches, sworn words, and the counsels of certain men, calls Michael Caesar and king, and creates him emperor of the Romans—a filthy man, of base birth, yet even worse by his character, ^D deceitful and ungrateful to his benefactors, cowardly, envious, of an angry temperament, double-tongued, and vainly boastful in his speech. As soon as he obtained the seat of the kingdom, he began to persecute his own kindred and deprived all of them of their virility, even those who were bearded and long since married. Nay, he even decreed exile for his uncle, to whose favor he owed the royal height.

^A Then with force he drove from the palace his mistress, the royal benefactress; he had her tonsured and finally shut her up on the Island of the Prince, inventing slanders. When the people learned of this, they burned with fury and, seizing various weapons, rushed swiftly to the royal palace like a swarm of bees from their hive. Thus, a civil struggle was joined, and no small number of men were slain. Meanwhile Michael, despairing of all things, miserably donned a black garment and fled as a suppliant to the monastery of Stoudios, and hid himself under the protection of the altar; from there he was dragged forth and the wretch was blinded. To his two sisters, Zoe and Theodora, was surrendered the scepter of the empire. ^B

CONSTANTINE MONOMACHUS, Year 12

^A 3135 The prince of Persia, Mahumetus by name, while waging war against the Babylonians and the Indians—very fierce enemies—conducted the affair successfully with the aid of the Turks. Therefore, as victor, having returned with them to his own principality, Mahumetus did not wish his allies to return to their own homeland, for he had found them useful. For this reason, those who had fled took to the mountains, and there they tolerated life for a time; soon, however, they began to plunder the neighboring region, the fields, cities, and villages of the Agarenes. Therefore, Mahumetus gathered twenty thousand soldiers and sent them against the Turks, but in one night they all perished at the hands of the Turks. ^B Being rendered bold by this victory, [the Turks] began to wage open war, and having joined battle with Mahumetus, they slew him, took hold of the place, despoiled the Agarenes of their power, asserted the public authority for their own people, and made the Agarenes their subjects. Monomachus, gleaming with beautiful and varied workmanship, magnificently restored the Monastery of the Manganes at great expense for the victorious martyr George; and there he poured out a vast amount of wealth, many talents, or rather, countless ones. Since he was again in need of other money, he began to gamble with a dangerous risk. For upon certain peoples, who were exempt precisely because they kept watch over the frontiers and prevented the barbarians from gaining access, he imposed a tribute and an annual tax, and thus he lost the guardians of ^C those places. From this time forward, easy passage into the Roman lands lay open to the barbarians.

THEODORA AND MICHAEL. YEAR III. After Monomachus had departed from among the living, the virgin Theodora, a flower of the purple, began to carry the scepter of the Romans, to whom it belonged by better right. From her tender years, having enclosed herself in a monastery and sheared her hair, she had preferred the sacred marriage of Christ. Now she was a splendid and most delightful queen, adorned with the ornaments of the virtues, cheerful, most glorious, a perpetual virgin. When she had attained the empire, as I have stated, she performed everything pertaining to her office zealously, displaying a masculine strength and spirit, like that famous and brave Deborah. ^D For she used to sit in the royal court, surrounded by the courtly pomp and the guards, bestowing her care upon the governing of the commonwealth with equitable laws and righteous judgments, and also usefully conferring offices,

^A rendering verdicts and administering justice according to reason, and again acting with imperial majesty toward the embassies that came from the nations. God therefore granted her glorious and prosperous rule because of her observance of the laws; and because she did not depart from divine rules, for this reason God, I say, granted her power to be prosperous, inasmuch as He is omnipotent. For while she reigned, no rebel existed, no one anywhere seized the tyranny; no incursion of conspiring nations struck the Roman Empire with arms; nothing troublesome or adverse happened to the world. But all things were favorable and full of joy, there was a temperate mingling of the seasons, fertility of fruits, ^B cheapness of grain and abundance of goods, the earth flowing with honey and milk most richly, the peace of life, and happiness of every kind. But because a supreme necessity stood imminent, the dying Roman emperor appointed a certain Michael, by surname Stratiota, an old man, or rather one of decrepit age, weak and unfit for rule, due to natural laziness and old age simultaneously, who was born in the city of Byzantium. Having tasted the empire for a very short time, he did nothing while reigning worthy of memory. Under him flourished a pair of distinguished men, in martial skill and fortitude, and at the same time in the splendor of their life and the extraction of their lineage; the one indeed celebrated ^C and most praiseworthy, who was called by the surname Catacalo; the other Isaac, of the lineage of the Comneni, who, manifestly defecting from the empire, donned the purple and encircled his head with the crown, and held a stable reign without war. Michael, however, abdicated the empire.

ISAAC COMNENUS AN. VIII, M. VI.

^A Before this, the matter used to be settled by the vote of the king. Then, marching against the Scythians and the Hungarians, he conquered them in war, crushing them in battle while granting to those who asked for it the peace they sought. As Nikephoros was returning from the battle, in a place in Mysia called Lobitzos, he pitched his tent as winter was raging. But when the snow ceased, he went out beneath an oak tree—a very large, ancient, and unusual one with many branches—advancing with his retinue of nobles from the royal tabernacle where he had disposed of affairs in council. Suddenly, a crash was heard, and a noise that drove the king and his companions from the oak, and it was torn up by the roots and fell. But the king escaped death, together with his retinue. For this reason, that he might give the due thanks to God, he raised from the foundations a most beautiful temple in the royal palace to the Apostle Thekla (for it was on her feast day that he had avoided his fate). While he was hunting in narrow places, there appeared to him a wild boar, great and horrific, with protruding tusks; and while the emperor pursued it with bared sword, it plunged into the swelling waves of the sea and vanished suddenly from the sight of those watching. ^B Then, they say that, struck as if by a bolt of lightning, the emperor fell and lay upon the ground, spewing foam from his mouth and no longer comprehending anything with his senses, until, his mind recovered a little, he handed over the empire to Constantine, born of the family of the Doukas. And he, having put on a poor tunic, betook himself to the holy monastery of Stoudios, and spent the remainder of his life there, having turned away beautifully from a depraved manner of life. To those accusing him of the crime of tyranny, he replied, "I did not wish to serve for long a fellow-servant who would not render me the gratitude that was my due." ^C CONSTANTINE DUCAS, 12 YEARS. Since Doukas, as I said, had seized the reins of empire easily and without labor, he raised many nobles and commoners alike to high offices. He was a good man, pious, of a gentle nature, mild, tranquil, benevolent to his subjects, a rule of law, and a sort of balance of justice; otherwise, however, he was slothful and sluggish. ^D And while he was indeed fond of frugal men, he labored under an absurd love of gold, being petty, sordid, and gaping after the smallest of gains. Indeed, he placed his primary study, and day after day he busied himself diligently with it, in how he might become master of more money, heaping up a splendid hoard of gold and a heavy weight of countless silver. Therefore, he insisted most earnestly, both in word and deed, on increasing the annual incomes through public tributes and taxes, and he sold these to collectors.

^A Furthermore, through negotiated payment, as we have said, he farmed out the exactions. He was not accustomed to repel the incursions of neighboring barbarians with arms or martial prowess, due to excessive fear, but rather he strove to render them well-disposed to the empire by means of money, plentiful gifts, blandishments, and supreme honors. Consequently, the Roman dominion in the East suffered greatly from barbaric incursion; once again strongholds and many locations and cities of the empire submitted to the yoke. Nor did the western world suffer lesser harm from the absence of soldiers; for the Uzi, Scythian neighbors of the Ister, ^B having crossed the river with an immense number—for rumor says they were ninety thousand—raided Thrace and Macedonia, raging with every kind of extermination, and they penetrated even into Greece itself. But at last, the Bulgarians slaughtered them all, with the Divine power assisting them from on high. In the meantime, the Emperor, driven from his house by the reproaches of all, had moved against the barbarians, taking with himself to accomplish the war no more than one hundred and fifty soldiers. Therefore, having pitched his tents in the suburban regions of Byzantium, ^C he learned there of the slaughter of the barbarians. During his reign, a horrible earthquake knocked down many shrines and houses; the Greek altar of the city of Cyzicus, a most beautiful work and a wondrous sight, fell to the ground and lay there, struck by the tremor. In fact, the temple of the divine Fathers in the city of Nicaea also shattered from the shock. Ducas, beyond all others, cherished letters, having grazed them with his topmost lips, and he held learned men in high esteem, saying that he preferred to become glorious from letters than from empire. With fate pressing upon him, he surrendered the empire to his children and his royal spouse, demanding from her a sworn oath beforehand that she would not seek a second marriage: once this document was handed to the patriarch, Caesar ^D put an end to his human life. ROMANUS DIOGENES, 4 YEARS, 6 MONTHS. When the queen had thus deceived her spouse, she then married Romanus Diogenes and conferred upon him the royal dignity. He was a supreme and invincible leader, most brave, breathing Mars in battles, powerful with great strength and audacity, endowed with severe and grave customs, also very rich in the gifts of the spirit, a man truly strenuous and of stout heart, of excellent life and most pleasing to God; and one who willingly for the sake of the subject peoples

^A and the armies went to meet dangers. To recount in a summary work his various battles with the enemy, his victories, his triumphs, his acts of vigor, and his other honorable deeds is a difficult task. Having set out against the barbarian foes—namely the Persians, who were devastating the border lands in Cilicia and Phoenicia, and were taking captive the cities of the East, and seizing them as plunder—he met them in a great and hard-fought battle. Alas, alas! The strenuous man, the man who used to lay low the enemy legions, the head and defender of the Roman Empire, was taken prisoner by the barbarians. Therefore he was led in chains to the king of the Persians, but even in his state of captivity he found much benevolence and care. Indeed, he was treated with royal honor and distinction, by a rare example on the part of the lord of the Persians, that Azan, so famous for his reputation, who was accustomed to use a moderate mind and gentle words, a lover of equity, and one desirous of a clear name. Moreover, having soon obtained a splendid return, he was honorably released along with his fellow captives. But when he reached the borders of the Roman Empire, just as one coming safely into the harbor of his own kingdom after a great storm, there he suffered shipwreck—O terrible envy of fate!—and his eyes were torn out while he was still alive. Thus, suffering, he went to the island called ^B "the First," near Byzantium, on which he had formerly built a monastery, and there, dying, he found rest from his labors. In his reign, the notable temple of the Blachernae was consumed by devouring flame.

MICHAEL, SON OF CONSTANTINE DUCAS, CALLED PARAPINACES: 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS

Then Michael, commonly called Parapinaces, son of Constantine, assumed the power. He was a man of light character, dissolute, stupid, sluggish, and inept for empire, who was not able to manage even his own private affairs, let alone the public affairs of the empire. Therefore, as he knew how to manage nothing useful, he committed the reins of the empire to others, while he occupied himself daily with books ^C and foolish, stupid pursuits. Wherefore the state began to labor, and the ship of the empire to be endangered, lest it be submerged in the abyss of Amphitrite by savage waves and tempests. For as ferocious and raging beasts, some leaders who were desirous of tyranny caused the shipwreck of the ship of the Republic. For just as a hydra that is fruitful in heads, so ^D apostate leaders appeared. First a certain Ruselius rebelled, then the Caesar, then a certain Nestor, the vestarches; after that, Nicephorus by the name of Bryennius, who was among the illustrious nobles;

^A another Nicephorus, Botaniates, Who also took hold of the Roman power. Besides these, a grievous famine and plague of mortals Afflicted the peoples of the empire, And a most unjust exacted collection of taxes. Thus, therefore, did human affairs then stand.

NICEPHORUS BOTANIATES YR. III. The Botaniates is proclaimed emperor, And is girded with the royal diadem; And at that time, for a rare display of munificence, He grants to all a remission of debts, A man cheerful, mild, and kindly in his ways, But otherwise sluggish, frivolous, and weak, Not well-disposed toward the foresight of affairs, Because of the length of his years and the diseases of old age. Whence, handing over the reins of power to others, He himself delighted in luxuries and common meals, In day-long baths and sumptuous feasts. Michael, however, is shorn as a cleric, And then becomes a primate, even bishop of Ephesus. With his wife in a communion of marriage The Botaniates was not honorably joined. As Bryennius was still rebelling, And again inauspiciously pursuing tyranny, And not persuaded to be placated by gifts, The emperor sends forces against him, Having given them to Alexius Comnenus to lead, Who, joining battle, defeated the tyrant And deprived him of the light of his eyes. Sent, moreover, against the rebel Basilaces, Comnenus, joining battle with him, Conquered him mightily and deprived him of sight. And the band of Varangians, conspirators against the emperor, Prepared themselves openly for seditious battle; But by a strong hand they were forthwith subdued, And soon obtained pardon for their attempt. Lastly, Alexius the tyrant-slayer ^B rises against the Botaniates, Who, having seized Adrian's city [Adrianople], And having gathered an army, is proclaimed emperor, And is adorned with royal symbols, With which, having departed, he reaches the city of Constantine; And having taken this by battle and strategic skill, He enters within the imperial houses. The Botaniates quickly departs from them, And having his hair shorn, he dons a monk’s coarse garment In the renowned monastery of St. Matranodorus, Where, dying, he received honorable burial.

ALEXIUS COMNENUS YR. XXXVII. Thus, therefore, Alexius obtained power, Who was also crowned by the supreme pontiff; A good emperor and a noble general, Dreaded by enemies, but benevolent to his subjects, A man very capable, keen in battles, Displaying a countenance worthy of imperial rule, And a gentle character, and virtuous ways. Of noble stock, and of graceful body, Skilled in the works of strategy and war, ^C

He was not subject to the greed for gold and silver, nor again to wrath and blood-thirsting anger, nor was he a proud man of haughty manners, ^A 3480 nor was he at all inaccessible to his subjects, nor prone to punishment in an inexorable way, but rather inclined toward humane manners, moderate, sweet, accessible, and graceful, quick in intelligence, sharp-witted, and not secretive, 3485 a most excellent defender of the Orthodox faith, not fond of banquets, nor again of luxury: he honored men of learning and those practiced in virtue, respecting them and attending to them. With him established on the seat of the empire, 3490 a messenger arrived [reporting] that a certain Italian named Robert, had landed at the Dalmatian city of Epidamnus with an army and a heavy fleet. The Emperor therefore set out on an expedition, and having approached there and engaged the adversary, 3495 the latter fled ignominiously from the battle, the Roman army having been defeated, and the Emperor withdrew to the city of Constantine; but the Barbarians, with the commander Robert, plundering Roman territories, 3500 captured the cities of Larissa and Castoria. The illustrious Emperor then set out again against Robert with a vast army, and recovered Castoria once more, and set out against Robert with a stratagem— 3505 for the drama should be told as it was composed. The Emperor bestowed his own royal regalia upon his own brother, and assigned him the army, and commanded him to draw up the phalanx, having calculated the tactics against Robert well. ^B 3510 If he should stir his forces against him, commanding him to turn his back and flee in a rout, while the Emperor himself, slipping through obscure and difficult terrain with a few soldiers, plundered the entire camp of the Barbarians, 3515 and put those he found within it to the sword. The Barbarian, having perceived this and being seized by despondency, let fall his arms, his body, and his heart, and they all departed for their own fatherland, having incurred mockery and, further, disgrace. ^C 3520 And the Turk again, called Tzachas, having seized Chios and equipped a fleet, captured the islands of Samos, Lesbos, and Rhodes, and other domains, [but] was driven out again by the Roman fleet and in naval battle. 3525 At that time Cyprus also revolted from the empire, having been seized by Rhapsommates. And again the fertile and sea-girt island of Crete a wicked rebel man, Karykes, having seized by force, occupied as his dwelling. 3530 But this pair of islands was restored again to the power of the Ausonians by the Roman fleet. While he was reigning, a convulsion of the earth also occurred, an earthquake formidable and truly terrifying, by which beautiful mansions and noble temples ^D 3535 collapsed and were violently crushed.

^A Once again, overhanging and long colonnades, having suffered a collapse, buried an immense number of mortals. Then, the Scythian race of the Patzinaks once again laid waste to Thrace and Macedonia, having abandoned their own homelands and pastures. The Emperor, having taken up arms against them, joined battle, but was defeated by the barbarians, because our soldiers trusted in their weapons, and not in God, the giver of victory and of good things. But the Emperor marched against them a second time, and with a modest and pious army—one that placed its hopes upon divine providence—he joined battle, overcame them by his might, and harvested their multitude with the sword. Those whom he took captive in battle he sold into slavery according to the laws of war. The Emperor then selected for himself from among the Scythians young, vigorous, and warlike men, whom he settled in the region called Moglena, calling them his own peculiar band; and to this day they are commonly called Moglenopatzinaks after the place of Moglena. ^B Then, a Latin army advanced from the West, marching toward Byzantium, but directing its course toward the eastern regions. The movement of this force was clearly foreshadowed by a vast swarm of locusts from the West, which sought the eastern regions and directed its airborne flight through Thrace and the mountains of Macedonia. Nevertheless, an army of Franks crossed the strait and laid siege to the city of Nicaea, which was shamefully oppressed by the hands of the Turks. After enduring long and horrifying battles and great slaughter on both sides, the Franks took the city by main force; they sold it to the Greek Emperor for a large sum of money and proceeded further. Having arrived at the city of Antioch, they won it by mechanical engines and battle. After this, with great labor in the contests, they also captured Zion, the city of God. ^C Then Raymond, son of Robert, a noble Italian, gave a sworn oath of loyalty to our Emperor, promising to cherish perpetual friendship with him and to render the reverence of a devoted spirit and his services. For this reason, having received money from the Emperor and having been presented with gifts and unusual honors, he proceeded into Cilicia and soon after into Syria. But once he had forcefully gained possession of Antioch, he immediately broke the oath of loyalty he had pledged to the Emperor and the sacred covenant, showing himself to be a perfidious enemy to the Empire. ^D Soon, when the wicked man was about to return from the East to the West, fearing for himself, he feigned death out of cowardice. Therefore, through this deceit, he was placed into a coffin as if he were dead, or truly dying, and was thus carried by his servants back to his homeland.

^A In vain did they gossip that he was a corpse. But once he had escaped unnoticed to his homeland, he spoke much ill of the emperor without justification, and having gathered an army of Latins, he sailed to the city of Epidamnus and sought to take it by siege-engines. But being frustrated in his hopes and achieving nothing, he gave up the war, sent an embassy, and having obtained an audience with the emperor, he established a treaty and peace with him.

Under Alexios, the Bogomil heresy, hateful to God and execrable, emerged; a certain man named Basil, commonly called a physician, was its author—a minister of Satan, who secretly infected many with his plague and with his soul-destroying dogmas. For many years, traveling here and there through the countries and cities of the world, he eventually arrived at this great and imperial city. But the sovereign, a defender of Orthodoxy, attacked the man's deception with cautious artifice. For, having cleverly feigned a persona, he pretended to be trusting and kind, and often—spending time with the scoundrel and soothing him with familiar talk—he approached the thrice-accursed man, addressing him very kindly and often calling him the "savior of the misguided." ^B Being charmed by these words, the impious man vomited forth his soul-destroying poison, setting forth the dogmas of his evil doctrine. As soon as the pious emperor recognized them—the very words of the wicked teacher—he immediately wished them to be made public, and by common vote, he delivered the impostor, that enemy of Christ, to the flames.

Furthermore, the emperor brought many Manichaeans back to the true religion, both by instruction and by clever persuasion. He also assigned a house to orphaned children and allocated abundant sustenance for them, for their feeding and for their care with diligence. Moreover, he also opened a school of grammar for the youth of the world, even those born of poor stock, and provided many revenues and large expenses for both the students and the teachers.

Under the reign of Alexios Komnenos, ^C fires also broke out in the city, by which many parts were consumed. A certain violence of the spring wind also blew, a most fierce bringer of dangers, which cast down many of the buildings; along with which fell a wondrous statue, standing from above on a porphyry column whose base was set in the Placotos. As it fell, it chanced to crush many mortals who were present there by its sheer bulk. A great rain also burst from the sky ^D and flooded in great measure,

^A causing widespread destruction of buildings. Finally, there was a plague of beasts and men. The Emperor, warring against the barbarian Turks, arrived as far as the city of Philomelium; and finding it deserted of soldiers, because fear had persuaded the Barbarians to flee, he took it, and at the same time some fortresses that served as asyla and dens for the inhabitants. Claiming these captives for himself, the Emperor returned with great glory to Byzantium, intending to settle them elsewhere. Therefore, as they made this long journey on foot, those who were strong and vigorous in age walked the way on their own legs; but to the sick or those worn out by age, the Emperor—being merciful—provided beasts of burden: and those who were physically broken, he handed over to be carried on long shields, fashioned with skill by a clever invention. ^B Meanwhile, the horseman himself rode hither and thither, as a curator and guardian of their safety; and if he saw someone suffering poorly from lack of food or drink, or from the long journey, he refreshed him, as an imitator of Christ. While the Emperor was returning in this order, the Sultan, who was riding nearby, met him; and dismounting from his horse from a distance and with speed, he offered the due obsequious greeting. Then, having entered into friendly conventions, he departed with honorable gifts. Furthermore, the Emperor returned to the city of Constantine with a joyful spirit. But thereafter he lay sick in bed, while a base humor generated by the disease descended in great quantity to the soles of his feet; by which his poor body, finally corrupted, ^C not long after brought an end to his life, when, by the consulted judgment of the physicians, he had received a burning pill into his stomach.

JOANNES COMNENUS AN. XXIV

After he lost his life and empire, Joannes, his son, most worthy of his station, took up the reins—a collection of virtues, ^D truly a sweet and gracious name, being at once a good king and a strenuous warrior, a victor over enemies and a tamer of passions, a full treasury of divinely-given gifts, sweet, cheerful, benevolent to his subjects, mild, benign, generous, affable, a sea overflowing with liberality, an incomparable and blessed nature, shining afar with gifts worthy of a king, ornaments of other virtues as well, a norm of justice, a type of clemency, and in his speech, a tenet of truth. He was the first after the first Christian king, faithful, prudent, a thrifty servant.

^A 3710 Increasing the talent of his imperial rule greatly, Always acting as a general, struggling for the state, Subjugating foreign cities to his rule, By knowledge, by word, by deed, and by the experience of battle, Having been proven ten thousand times a victor, 3715 As formerly David, battling against his enemies With prayers and with strategies and with manliness— Whose struggles and victories to recount, And the host of virtues in which he was excellent, Would be a task for even a supreme orator. 3720 We must say a few things from the abundance: Having safely held imperial power, He bestowed honors upon those of his own clan, And simply gave proportionate gifts to all, Having appointed those of the state's affairs 3725 From those by blood and those made kinsmen. A conspiracy is formed against this king by those of his kin, And a death-dealing plot, After no long time of his imperial rule, Having as its ringleader and general 3730 His own sister, the Kaisarissa Anna. And the conspirators of the band having been caught, No one suffered any harm to their body, For it was only a stripping of their possessions, Which, after a little while, the king straightway 3735 Ordered to be restored to their owners, Releasing all of the guilt of the crime, Pardoning first of all the Kaisarissa, And bestowing upon her wealth worthy of her rank. How this was done must be told: 3740 The wealth in gold and silver, with bright pearls, And with diverse and precious garments, Stored in one of the houses Of his sister, the Kaisarissa, The Emperor was surveying with John Axouch, 3745 When he said these words: "How the fortune of my kin has been reversed! And how kindred is now hostile to me, And those who were once friendly are now malicious! Wherefore I command that you take these goods 3750 Present here, most dear Axouch, and keep them." He gives thanks to the generous king. But he persists in speaking his mind, And having obtained permission to speak, he says: "Even if she initiated violent and unjust deeds, 3755 O Emperor, your sister, And renounced fraternity by her deeds, Yet nature shows her to be your blood. Overcome, therefore, in a Christ-imitating manner The hostile and wicked intent of your kinswoman, 3760 And give back all that is in view as a favor; In this you will be superior, rather than [by behaving] like a father." Convinced by this exhortation, the King Readily bestows everything upon the Kaisarissa. "I would be," he said, "entirely unworthy 3765 Of the royal power, if I were to be Less kindly to my kin than you, you who are a scornful prodigal of gain."

Thus was this king free from all resentment, ^A And a fervent lover of Christ-imitating ways! His mother, Queen Irene, though previously ill-disposed to him—not justly so, deeming him unworthy of the imperial rule, and having formerly striven to entrust the affairs of state to her daughter and her son-in-law, the Caesar Bryennius—was nonetheless ignorant of the plots. But when she was later informed of the scheme, she is said to have uttered a fitting statement, a very wise and well-aimed judgment, that one should not seek out a hidden king, but love and obey the one present.

He undertook a war against the Persian barbarians, who had broken the treaty—which had once been initiated with Komnenos—and were troublesome with armed incursions against the Roman cities situated in Phrygia and on the banks of the Maeander. Therefore, having joined battle with them not once, but many times, he won glory by routing the enemy. He even captured the city of Laodicea, which he soon fortified with the protection of walls, and having arranged everything well as was necessary, he returned to the royal city, and there, as a victorious king, was received with the solemn applause of the people. ^B

At a short interval, he set out again, and proceeding with an army into Pamphylia, he captured Sozopolis by stratagem—a city exalted and fortified on all sides. He also captured many other small towns, partly by craft and partly by martial force, among which was a fortress difficult of access, by name Hieracoryphites, high-walled and impregnable. All these citadels, being situated within the borders of the Roman Empire and subject to it, had later submitted to the yoke of the Persians.

In the fifth year of John’s reign, as the Scythian nation was laying waste to Thrace, and—as the proverb goes—making it a Scythian wilderness by perpetual raids, the Caesar led out the Roman forces against them; and by the help of God, having joined battle, he scattered all the Scythian phalanxes and stood forth as a victorious emperor by counsel, by hand, and by prayers to God. ^C For the king was not only a man of counsel and a strong commander in battle, but as another new Moses, lifting his hands toward the august image of the most praised Virgin Theotokos, ^D with a supplicant gesture and flowing tears, he overcame the barbarian armies, God granting the victory from heaven, a victory altogether splendid and most famous. For such a myriad-numbered host of captured barbarians fell into the power of the victor,

^A as in the Western Roman lands villages and colonies were then formed from these Barbarians, and still remain to this day, possessing the name of the nation. Others were enrolled as auxiliaries and mingled with the Roman armies. The victorious army also sold a great force to those bidding with gold under the crown. ^B Shortly after, the Emperor again set out with arms moved against the Triballian barbarians, for perfidiously breaking their sworn faith; having defeated them in a violent war, he compelled them to make peace again. And when he had carried off the spoils from there, he replenished his own soldiers with booty, with numberless spoils and copious wealth. The captive masses he transported across the strait into Bithynia, and assigned them seats not far from the city of Nicomedia. And from these he partly enrolled soldiers, and partly made them subject to the public taxes.

The Huns, having crossed the Ister in the summer time, captured the city of Branitzoba, and having demolished all its buildings, they carried off even the stones to Zeugmium, ^C and then also raided the fields of Sardica. Therefore, the Emperor, going to meet them with a strong army among the marshes not far from the Ister, engaged the enemy and brought back a brilliant victory over the Barbarians; and he captured Chrasmus along with Francochorium, which was the most excellent part of the land of Paeonia. Then he also took by storm the walls of Zeugmium, and from there he carried off numberless booty, being himself enriched with very much plunder, and likewise the whole Roman army. Having made peace with the barbarian Huns, he transferred the army to the East; and passing through the regions of Bithynia and Paphlagonia, he arrived with a fast course at Castamon, and reclaimed this for the Roman sceptre (which the Persarmenians had held for a long time), having nimbly used ladders and battering machines to capture it. ^D After these things, leading many captives and an innumerable plunder, the King returned to the royal city, received with the applause that befits a victor: and on account of his recent victory, he led a triumph through the middle of the city. For, having adorned with unusual art a chariot shining with silver and gold, which a team of white horses, aptly and fittingly joined, was drawing, the Emperor placed upon it the venerable image of the inviolate Mother of God,

^A in which putting his trust and achieving victories as if with a fellow-commander in the struggle against the enemy, he offered the fitting thanksgiving, and led it along with the entire senate, walking on foot and carrying a cruciform scepter. But he spent only a short time at home, and the gracious Emperor again campaigned with a willing and martial army against Tanisman in Castamon, a man who, as a leader among the Persarmenians, had taken this city by siege, slaughtered the Roman guards with the sword, and had reclaimed it for the power of the Romans. ^B Additionally, he captured the city of Gangra, where he stationed, for the sake of a garrison, two thousand armed men from our army, and having pacified everything, he returned to Byzantium. Yet, having stayed here briefly, he set out with a huge army, as Levun was ruling over the Armenians and inflicting ruin on our cities. Therefore, advancing into Armeno-Cilicia, he occupied the splendid city of Tarsus, and Adana and Baca, through military skill. Then he took the fortress of Anazarbus by force, along with the cities of Colonea and Periclytum. ^C Having also subjugated the nearby towns, along with the fortified castles and whole villages, he came as far as the regions of Syria and entered the city of Antioch, where Raymond the Prince, together with all his people, received him with ready zeal and with every due honor. Having stayed in this city for a short time, and having made the prince subject to himself, and with him also the lord of Tripoli, the grace-named Emperor departed again. He went toward the cities beyond the Euphrates, which the Hagarenes were holding unjustly, and these he subdued with siege engines and arms: Pezan, Chaleb, Nistrion, Carpharan, and Pherep. ^D From the rest of the cities he carried off wondrous and many gifts, stones and pearls, a great quantity of gold, and a heap of spoils, and also a shining lychnites stone upon which the form of a cross was impressed, a thing most wondrous, astonishing, and strange; and furthermore, a table, very splendid, fashioned with inimitable art, precious, golden, and variegated; all of which the Persians had once seized when they had captured the Emperor Diogenes. The Emperor John returned to the capital city, having with him his brother, the Sebastokrator, once a fugitive, who at that time had come over in genuine love to this sovereign and loving brother. For he, having previously abandoned the domains of the Romans and the affection of his brother and the Emperor, had fled to the Persian king, stung by grief;

but at last, late, and conscious of his own evil, he returned to the Caesar with a noble plan and obtained a pledge of safety for his return. ^A For the Emperor, seeing him returned, offered thanks to the Supreme Deity, rejoicing in this as much as in a thousand trophies. Therefore, having embraced both with due ceremony, he held them as dear as he once had. Having stayed a short time in the city, to the extent that his health allowed, he crossed into Bithynia, disregarding his bodily infirmity, because the Turks were ravaging Roman lands. Having terrified them by his mere presence, he arrived at the city of Lopadium; where, while he stayed and collected his forces, the mild Caesar seemed severe to the soldiers, because he incited them to valiant battles and compelled them to endure the long delays of war. Therefore, moving the camp from Lopadium, the king crossed with an innumerable army against the Agarene barbarians who inhabited the Pontus and were oppressing Neocaesarea with a yoke, desiring also to punish Constantine Gabras, the tyrant of the Trapezuntines. ^B Therefore he advanced to Neocaesarea, which he besieged with his surrounding army. And the Emperor was about to capture it, had not an unforeseen calamity occurred to delay the soldiers in the war they had undertaken. For when the battle against the Barbarians was imminent, the Emperor, seeing a certain noble knight from Italy who lacked a horse, ordered his brother’s son, who was riding nearby, to yield his horse to the Latin. He, however, refused to do so, and only with difficulty and under compulsion did he yield the horse to the knight. Struck by great grief on account of this, this nephew of the Caesar, in a rash decision of a petty mind, in the heat of battle, suddenly fled to the Barbarians, by whom he was received with the utmost joy, and a little later he even sent away his Christian faith and, alas, was joined in marriage to the daughter of the prince of Iconium. ^C From there, the Emperor, greatly distressed in spirit, began to return gradually to Byzantium, concealing his return and at a loss for a plan. At last he was brought to the royal city, and having remained there for a short time, he soon went out again with a huge army, passing through Phrygia and Lycia, and arrived at the noble city of Attalia; and when he had set affairs in order there with the neighbors, and had also captured Lake Pasgusa, he came to the borders of Isauria and Syria and approached towards Antioch, ^D striving with burning zeal to free this city from the heavy yoke of the Latins.

^A and to restore it once again devoted to the city of Constantine. Then he thought to go to Zion, that he might adorn the sepulchre of Christ with precious and truly extraordinary gifts, and wipe out all the barbarian inhabitants around it. Therefore, having approached the city of Antioch, he laid waste to its vicinity with his soldiers; however, when the wise king perceived that his wish was not succeeding, he moved his army from there and transferred it into the lands of the Cilicians. There, in a wooded and rugged place, which is commonly called the Corvorum latibulum (the Ravens' Den), the Caesar set out to hunt according to custom ^B and encountered a wild boar in the thicket, which he at once struck lethally with his spear. But because of the resistance of the boar as it stood against him, the armed hand of the Caesar was pushed back, and being quickly forced to yield, it struck the quiver hanging at his side, which carried poisoned shafts for the destruction of beasts; these being suddenly spilled out, one, alas, pierced the Caesar's hand! And soon the deadly force of the poison, spreading little by little and corrupting his limbs, brought the divine king, the great thrice-victorious one, to the end of his mortal life.

MANUEL COMNENUS, YEAR 38. ^C Before dying, his father declared Manuel—his youngest son, who was present with him—king, and handed over to him the Roman empire. Then also the entire Roman army, with its generals and centurions of the ranks, willingly hailed him as king. Then the new Emperor Manuel proceeded to Byzantium with his forces, bringing the corpse of his father on a ship. And when he reached the royal city, he was received with the applause that befits a king, after those who were sent on ahead had properly prepared the entry of the king into the city in due order—namely, the great Axouch, the Domestic of the Schools, ^D and Basil, called Tzitziluca. Manuel, having entered the metropolis, was duly crowned by the patriarch, and was willingly hailed as king and emperor by all the citizens. This young man was valiant in battles, excellent in every way, mild, gentle, accepted by all as one who is magnanimous, intelligent besides, elegant, amiable, and prudent in the management of public affairs, endowed with a face of remarkable beauty, and flourishing in divine gifts, in strength of body, form, wisdom, a spirit prompt to undergo dangers, and a stature tall for his age.

^A And he excelled most of all in patience 4055 and in the gentleness of the sovereigns of his time; a Herculean hero, incomparable by nature, fighting most excellently for his inheritance, a good shepherd, a vigilant guardian of the flock, driving away the hostile wolves from the fold, and providing free pasture for it; 4060 an amiable king and noble fighter, a Mars, an Achilles, and a wise-counseling Nestor, a horseman more skilled than Priam himself, an Hector shattering opposing phalanxes, with pleasant manners and a winged mind, 4065 formidable to enemies but kind to his subjects, cheerful, easy of approach, a sweet grace. ^B A thrice-victorious, thrice-distinguished sovereign, a friend of Hermes and of all learning, in the battles of his opponents he was a very Mars, 4070 prompt for battles and dangers, always leading the army, brandishing his spear against enemies, and binding himself with victories over them. This man campaigned against the Turkish barbarians against the eastern lands called the 4075 Black Regions, and having driven back the Turks with weapons and cared for the guarding of the cities, he returned to the queen of cities. Then he campaigned again against the Persians, 4080 who were overrunning the cities near Pitheca and plundering the Thracesian theme. Therefore, having crossed Lydia and Phrygia, the king arrived at the beleaguered fortresses ^C and brought them strong help 4085 and drove the Persians as far away as possible. And having gone to the city of Philomelium, he encountered the barbarian Turks there too, and he was pierced in the sole of his foot by a javelin, 4090 by an Agarene who, having been prostrated by a lance, had cast his weapon upward against the sole of his foot. And from there, like a swift-winged eagle, he flew to the very city of the Iconians, 4095 and having laid waste everything around it, he returned to the royal city. He maintained the same care for the commonwealth as his father had formerly shown, ^D and he was joined in the bond of marriage 4100 with a most noble maiden from the Alamanni, adorned with the graces of virtues no less than with the beauty and form of body. During his reign, from the regions of the west, a Germanic army, like a terrible 4105 and destructive storm cloud, suddenly fell upon the Roman empire, pretexting an expedition toward Zion. Conrad was the leader of this army, a pious king and most devoted to Christ, who, having given sworn faith to the Emperor 4110 that he would pass through our borders in a friendly manner, and that neither he nor his soldiers would be harmful to us, arrived at the very city of Constantine.

^A With his army and the obedient people, having changed nothing of the established agreements. From the moment they crossed the strait in haste, they pursued the journey before them. 4115 The Emperor, having judged it necessary to bring reinforcements with a powerful and valiant army to the fortress of Corcyra, which had recently suffered a disaster from the Sicilian fleet due to an error of judgment, was devoted to this care day and night. And having gathered from everywhere an army, bristling 4125 with countless foreign blades, and a fleet of a thousand ships full of soldiers, he campaigned against the island of the Phaeacians. He hemmed in their forces from all sides, and conquered it by famine and force. 4130 Then as victor he reached Pelagonia; from where he attacked the Triballi like a lion, for they had broken the treaties previously made and were troublesome to the Roman cities. He terrified them with his roar alone; 4135 and carrying off from there countless plunder and spoils together with captives, he returned to the queen of cities; and because of the recent noble victory, he conducted a triumph in the middle of the city. 4140 Just as spring was beginning to shine again, the Emperor arrived in the regions of Pelagonia, and went again to confront the Triballian chief Uresis, the evildoer, who was wrongly moving arms against the Romans in alliance with the Paeonians, 4145 so that, having taken courage, he did not hesitate to offer battle to the ruler. For a time the Emperor, having engaged them in battle, erected a great trophy against the barbarians. 4150 And the Archizupan, who is called Bacchinus, a man alone, special to the Emperor, great in stature and a Briareus-like giant, another Goliath, proud in his ways, challenged the king, David, to battle. 4155 And the barbarian struck the iron face-guard of the helmet before the face of the Emperor with his sword; but the Emperor pierced the hand of the barbarian, and having skillfully seized him by the hair, he quickly brought him alive to the army. 4160 And with the barbarian host dissolved, the Romans once again carried off the victory. Still carrying the sweat of battle and not having yet wiped the dust from his face, Manuel moved his army from there against the Paeonians, 4165 bringing a charge against them due to the alliance which they had entered into with the Triballi against our Roman borders. Having crossed the Sava, as was fitting, he swooped down upon Francochorium and the city of Zegminum and laid waste to all the surrounding areas, 4170 and brought away from there countless spoils and seized wealth and booty and plunder. ^D

He returns to the imperial metropolis, and conducts ^A a noble triumph through the city, leading captured Triballi and Huns, dressed becomingly in splendid robes, a wonderful ornament of a magnificent procession. After tarrying a short time in the city, the Emperor again undertakes the Pæonian war, and arrives up to the city of Sardica, and there, being present, he established terms of peace for them. Proceeding thence against the satrap of the Triballi, he so terrified him on the march that he made him obedient to the empire; and thus the Caesar returned to Byzantium. But when spring had arisen, he departed again and transferred himself to the lands of Pelagonia: and there, learning that Andronicus Comnenus, who then ruled the theme of Branitzoba and Belgrade, was plotting ^B tyranny and inciting the Huns to war, he stripped him of his office, and having loaded him with chains, sent him to Byzantium, and commanded that he be guarded in the most secure prison. Meanwhile the prince of the Pæones, having violated the treaty, was raiding all the lands of Branitzoba and Belgrade: but the Emperor, being present, rendered aid with retribution to those suffering damage; soon he brought his foot back to the metropolis, with all things in the west settled. Afterward, he transferred the war to Cilicia; and having been carried to Adana and Tarsus, he duly restored the castles of these places, which were subject to the Roman empire, ^C but had recently been harassed by Toruses at that time, and he advanced as far as glorious Antioch, into which he entered with his guards and with royal standards as Emperor, the citizens having poured out to meet him outside the gates, and having provided for him a highly glorious procession with favorable plaudits. And while Emperor Manuel remained there, in a contest of games he displayed to the citizens the manly works of a vigorous hand, worthy of a heroic and noble character, ^D overcoming in jousts of spears the Italian knights—famed for the praise of their lances. Having thus given proofs of fortitude and of prudent skill in battles, and having stirred up wonder for himself, the Emperor returned home to the city of Constantine. He had taken as a partner of his bed and of his empire a girl renowned for beauty, born to the satrap of Antioch, Petebinus, a knight from Italy: for he had lost his first wife, who had been born of the princes of the Alamanne. And these matters outcomes were such as I have related.

^A Andronicus Comnenus, ^A having been held in chains for the reasons which our narrative has related, escaped from prison by a clever artifice and fled to the Russian city of Galitz. Being gladly received there by the satrap of the place, he remained with him for a very long time. He bound himself to the satrap with such great friendship and maintained such daily association that he was always present at his table and constantly shared his meal. But the Emperor, considering the flight of his cousin Andronicus and his wandering life in a foreign land to be a disgrace to himself, began to consider by what means he might bring the man back to his fatherland, ^B especially since a rumor had spread that he was inciting an army of Scythians to invade the borders of Thrace and Macedonia. Therefore, the Emperor offered him benevolent assurances and received them in return, and brought Comnenus Andronicus back to his ancestral home.

At the same time, the Pæones, having broken the faith they had pledged to Manuel, made incursions into our lands near the Ister, and, having clashed with the Roman legions, gained the victory and much spoil. For this reason the Emperor advanced to Zeugminum, a city the barbarians had recently seized, and restored it again to the Roman Empire by his victories, his counsel, and his art of war. Another distinguished and famous work of the glorious king also shone forth: the Asian cities useful to the commonwealth, Chliara, Pergamum, and several others (whose lands were wretchedly subject to the Persian barbarians and were being laid waste by fire and sword because they were inhabited in scattered villages), the Emperor surrounded with walls. ^C By protecting the province with strong forts, he prevented Persian damage. Thus the number of inhabitants grew, and the comforts of life were increased by fields, trees, and foreign goods, so that these castles and mentioned cities might vie even with great cities themselves.

With these matters thus managed, as I have said, the Pæones again broke their sworn faith. The sovereign left the royal palace and arrived at the city of Sardica, where he had arranged a meeting with the Roman legions. ^D When all the troops had gathered there according to the judgment of the prudent commanders, the Emperor appointed Andronicus Contostephanus—a martial man, invincible in battle—and entrusted to him the war against the Hungarians. He, having taken up the Roman forces, marched against the enemy with God as the giver of victory. And indeed, having crossed the Savus and the Ister rivers at the same time, he entered the city of Zeugminum, our own;

^A and having clashed with the Paeonian squadrons, he erected a splendid trophy of victory. Thence he departed as a victor and was received by the Emperor with great joy. Therefore, after some days, the Emperor, having reached the royal city with the author of the victory, conducted a most magnificent triumph, filled with dense crowds of onlookers, captives, and spoils. For there proceeded a chariot, well-crafted and adorned with silver and gold, which snow-white horses drew, offering a sight to behold. On it the sovereign had ordered to be placed the august icon of the Virgin Mother of God, as though she were an ally and guardian in war. Following this were the Emperor's kin, most beautifully adorned with their insignia. Then the Emperor, like a mighty giant—or rather, one might say, like a bridegroom coming forth from his bridal chamber, glorious and most magnificent, gleaming with light—proceeded, riding with great dignity; after him came Contostephanus, the victor, celebrated with hymns by the entire army. ^B After they had arrived at the great temple, the Emperor entered there with a joyful spirit and gave thanks to God, the author of this victory, and spoke His praises with eloquent tongue; then he betook himself to the royal palace. There Manuel, the king and Porphyrogenitus, rendered thanks to the Supreme Deity, having received a son from his second marriage; for whom, in the joy of a public feast, he entertained all the citizens lavishly, and he called his dear son Alexius. While Manuel was reigning, a colony of the Venetian race, a group of Italian citizens, came from Venice to the royal metropolis; and having been enrolled there among the native citizens, they spread thereafter into all the provinces ^C of the Roman Empire, and they amassed great treasures of wealth and ample power, and their boldness increased all the more. The Venetians did not only distrust our people, but they spurned the royal edicts and were not moved by the fear of threats. The Emperor, deeming that their pride could no longer be endured as it was incorrigible, secretly sent royal letters throughout all the provinces of the Roman Empire, commanded that the Venetians be seized, and prescribed a time for the deed to be carried out. Therefore a certain day was agreed upon, on which truly all the Latins were seized, that they might pay the penalties for their wicked ways. ^D Yet as many of the Venetians who were living at that time in the city of Constantine, having all made haste, boarded ships in the evening, and spreading their sails to the winds most zealously, they fled and arrived in their own fatherland.

^A And thus they remained for a time in Venice. But long after, having organized a fleet, they were harassing the islands with an easy voyage; however, the opposing Roman fleet restrained them from their piracy. Wherefore, having abandoned the desire to contend, and no longer harming the enemy with ships, they made a convention with the king of Sicily and struck a sworn pledge of friendship. The Caesar, guardian of the empire, having learned of the matter and having considered how to dissolve the friendship they had joined against the ruin of the Romans—which, out of a desire for vengeance, they had pledged with the king—with patience, cunning, and benevolence, led them back to their former friendship, ^B granting them amnesty for all they had done. Moreover, he bestowed upon them their ancient privileges, and whatever had been seized as Venetian property and was being kept in the imperial treasury, he returned to them with a willing heart. This Caesar, being endowed with such a noble nature, was eager to engage in battles, effective, of very constant spirit, and one who finished wars by his own hand; when the need arose, he would immediately mount his horse and stand first in the ranks in a spirited manner. Therefore, he set out again against the sultan, by whom the Roman lands were being raided, and arrived as far as the theme of Dorylaeum. There, remaining for a time, he well restored that [city], surrounding it with a strong wall and an extraordinary rampart, ^C and having fortified it well, and having provided for it a guard as potent as he could, he departed from the regions of Dorylaeum. He arrived at the fortress of Sublaeum, and having restored that likewise as was necessary, and having arranged everything well, he returned to the city. But the respite was for a short interval; for the Caesar and the sultan were mutually fanning a fire under the ashes of their hearts, a ready tinder of meditated vengeance, and one about to erupt immediately into flame. Each, of course, was blaming the other with manifest complaints and grave threats. ^D Therefore, the Caesar, gathering his forces from everywhere, and adding other supplements to these as was proper, from the Italians and the Scythians stationed by the Ister, and having assembled a countless army, set out, as if about to destroy the Persian race, and to lay Iconium level with the ground, and furthermore to capture its king, so that, according to custom, he might tread upon his neck with his foot. Therefore, having set out rapidly from Byzantium with his troops and having crossed Phrygia, he reached the elegant city of Chonae. Thence he proceeded to a certain fortress, which in olden times had the name Myriocephalon: from there he marched straight into the Persian domain.

[...tendens ad moenia inclyti Iconii, cum exercitu valido, fortissimo et cum expertis præliandi ducibus, itineris stationes prudenter metiens propter jumenta machinis onusta cum artificibus suis inermibus neque gerendi belli peritis.]

^A 4405 Proceeding toward the walls of the renowned Iconium with a strong, most valiant army and with leaders skilled in fighting, prudently measuring the stages of the journey on account of the beasts of burden laden with siege engines, together with their craftsmen, who were unarmed and unskilled in the waging of war.

Yet the Sultan did not fail to gather his forces; indeed, he summoned pagan reinforcements and strenuously prepared his defense. Nevertheless, he sent envoys to the Emperor to remind him of the sworn treaty and to demand that the pledge be kept.

But seeing that the treaties were made void, the Sultan seized the difficult spots and blocked the narrow passages of the roads, at a pass once called Tzibritzen, through which the Roman army and the Emperor were to pass, coming from Myriokephalon. ^B 4420 Thither the Sultan threw his forces, hiding in ambush in the barbarian manner, so as to attack the Romans soon by treachery.

The place is everywhere precipitous, very narrow and altogether impassable; a Tartarus of the underworld, a field of Charon, a valley leading into difficult winding paths. Since the army had slipped into the narrow straits, the skirmishers and the commanders of the ranks, whose duty it was to precede the others, passed through the place without harm and arrived safely at open ground.

But the Emperor, in the rear guard, ^C after the Barbarians had already risen from their ambush and were hurling spears and stones at him, as if from high ground on either side, could neither easily pursue his journey nor ward off the danger from himself. Nor was anyone in the army able to do anything worthy of a brave soldier, for carts, oxen, and siege engines obstructed the road like a rampart.

From the rear, the Persian army, hurling javelins like a rainstorm, rendered the retreat utterly arduous. Therefore the ox fell with its herdsman, the horseman expired miserably with his horse, pierced by the death-dealing missiles of the Persians; and all were cut down by squadrons, like a herd of brute beasts, and, hemmed in, they were all struck down in the impassable crossroads with no way out. ^D 4455 The valleys were full of corpses, and the yawning gorges of the mountains and caverns; streams of gore ran down, alas! with the blood of beasts and men mingled together; all things were full of misery and groaning. And these things were done while the Emperor looked on, unable to bring any help to his men. Indeed, he himself was in the greatest danger.

^A With difficulty, after his wounds, by the grace of God, Having nonetheless escaped the clutches of the Barbarians By the aid of God and His mighty power, Having come under the shade of a wild pear tree, the Emperor Recovered his exhausted strength a little, And was refreshing himself as best he could, Having neither bodyguard nor spearman Standing by him at that moment. Seeing the Emperor in such a state, one of the horsemen Of the Roman phalanx, of obscure lineage, Pitying him for the misfortune of that time, Approached him gladly, and as a crown-bearer He chose to serve him as best he could; And he fitted a helmet onto his head, Which had slipped from its position on his head, And he was a companion in his present fortune. Taking this man's spear into his hand, the Emperor Repelled the Persians who were streaming toward him, And who were eager to take him prisoner or kill him, By the aid of God, And he scattered one of those who were attacking, And the horseman likewise killed another with his sword. Not long after, ten of the Ausonian heavy infantry, Who had gathered around the ruler, Set out to finish the path ahead with them, Wishing to join the companies that had gone on before. But before these things could happen, while the Emperor Was still refreshing himself as he could beneath the pear tree, A Persian ran up and lunged for his bridle, But the Emperor, bringing down a mortal blow upon his head With the fragment of the spear he held in his hands, ^C Destroyed him, casting him down to the earth. But the companies suffered most miserably, As many as were hemmed in by the difficult terrain, And, except for a few, all were wretchedly destroyed. For even if they had passed through the one gorge, It was essentially impossible to escape the remaining Deep, trench-like valleys without danger, With the Persians positioned at the narrow exits. In addition to this, a powerful wind was blowing at that time, And a deep dune lying nearby, Churning up with force from the sandy ground, Carried it dreadfully to a great height, And made the day look truly like the night, So that the Roman phalanxes and those of the Barbarians, Mixed and entangled together in the battle, ^D In a night-battle, as if in darkness, Were killing and slaughtering one another with the sword, Distinguishing no one through lack of vision; A friend brought his sword against a friend, And the Barbarian slaughtered his own clansman As an opposing enemy and evildoer; So that the gorge was filled, it may be said, As someone who watched it said in another account, With the corpses and bodies of the dead, Of Romans and Barbarians mingled together,

^A And of dead animals of every kind, Of horses, oxen, asses, and mules; Making it a common tomb for all, Or rather a graveyard, if one must say so, Mixed together with those earth-born beasts. Many Romans have fallen in the fray, And more than these, of the royal kin. And these things were brought to pass in this way. But the Emperor, as I said, being eager To join the cohorts that had gone before, Was prevented by the Turks from advancing further, Though there were no fewer heaps of corpses. Yet having struggled through difficult places, And having crossed the rushing mountain torrent, And having gathered another band of Romans, Such as he had, he finished the distance ahead; Whom, as he was passing by, a Barbarian phalanx Of horsemen, splendidly adorned with Arms, Beholding, rushed upon him with a violent charge, As if eager to capture him quickly like prey. ^B But he, having emboldened the spirits of his men, Easily defeated the Barbarian troop. Advancing slowly and by degrees, Sometimes fighting a bloody battle, Sometimes even free from the enemy, at last He arrived with great joy to his own men: Who indeed grieved for nothing more heavily Than that the Caesar was not present with them, And were in extreme anxiety and fear. But before he could mingle with his own men, Manuel, having come upon the flowing streams, Desired to slake his great thirst with water; And when someone offered him water to drink, Having taken it and lightly tasted it with his lips, Immediately he spat the rest out from his mouth, As if that drink would not descend To the lowest stomach, the esophagus resisting. ^C Presently, when he recognized the water stained with gore, He groaned, saying that it did not please him To taste water defiled with Christian blood. Then indeed there was present an importunate, bold, Impudent babbler with an unbridled tongue, Accustomed to revile like Shimei, Who began to insult the Lord's Anointed, saying: "Not now for the first time, but often before, O King, Have you drunk a full cup of Christians' blood, Harrying the subject peoples; As one pressing ripe clusters of grapes, By the weight of exactions of heavy taxes, You drink their blood in great abundance." ^D But the Emperor bore this insolence patiently, And regarding it with equanimity, uttered nothing, Nor did the gentle monarch even gnash his teeth. And again, as the Caesar saw the bags That were guardians of the public money being plundered By the assault of the pursuing Barbarians, And was exhorting his men to defend them— Namely, that by driving off the foreign force, they should save The money that would be useful to them in the future—

^A Once again, that bold scoundrel stood by and berated the Emperor, like Shimei toward King David of old. For if he had needed to give this to the Romans before, it should have been done willingly, not now, when recovery is difficult. "But if you are a man of strength and resource, regain for us the plundered money." The Emperor bore the reviler in peace, and passed over his words with deaf ears. But when night brought an end to the battle, everyone sat about in deep sorrow, mentally revolving the current force of fate. Then Caesar, in a manner quite unworthy of his own dignity, put forward an opinion ^B among his standing counselors: he was the author of a secret flight by night, abandoning the rest of the multitude to a most miserable captivity. Everyone who heard this groaned greatly and took the judgment in bad heart; and, judging that plan to be that of an insane Caesar, they rejected it outright. Therefore, Manuel now changing his mind, and showing himself a shepherd and a leader, thereafter consulted for the public safety.

But God, the maker and changer of all things, who stripes and heals in turn, who deals death and gives breath again, who does not leave the rod of the wicked forever ^C against the lot of just Christians; He who once restrained the fury of the lions so that the just man might remain unharmed, He now softened the beast-like and bloodthirsty nature of the barbarian king. Accordingly, the Sultan, having sent envoys, offered a sincere treaty of friendship. Thus, peace was concluded between the Caesar and the Sultan. Departing then, Manuel gladly returned now through the ill-fated places through which he had advanced, and he beheld a mournful spectacle, a slaughter worthy of infinite tears, an ineffable tragedy of evils, ^D for which the lamenting heart of Jeremias would be required to weep as it deserved, and to match such great evil with tears. For one could see ravines, groves, valleys, fields, woods, chasms, and mountain passes filled with the bodies of the slain, whose heaps rose up here and there. Moreover, the scalp had been stripped from the heads of those lying there, and their private parts also cut away; the work of the barbarians, that the circumcised victor might not differ from the uncircumcised vanquished—since countless men had fallen on both sides. Finally, Caesar held the city of Chonae and rested there with his whole army, refreshing himself and his soldiers from their labors. Afterward, he advanced to the city of Philadelphia,

^A there he spent many days. Sending messengers from there to Byzantium, he set forth the whole order of what had transpired, and he did not diminish the weight of the dire misfortune in his account. Then, because he had not destroyed Dorylaeum, the destruction of which had been guaranteed by the treaty, the sultan sent envoys to the Caesar to remind him of his sworn faith. But the Caesar, declaring that one must not hold to promises made under duress, sent the envoys back to him with their business unaccomplished. The Persian, in a rage, once again gathered an army of twenty-four thousand armed men from the stronger number of his choice troops, and appointing a leader for them from among his noble satraps to conduct the war, he sent them into the cities of our dominion that are situated by the Maeander river. This leader claimed for himself the city of Tralles, Luma, and Antioch situated in Phrygia, as well as Pentachira ^B with several fortresses, and he ravaged the maritime villages. But the Caesar, having sent out his armies with many legions and excellent commanders, struck down the enemies with an overwhelming hand; of their great number, very few escaped the bloody fate of slaughter. This present feat brought much relief to Roman affairs, since it broke the audacity of the Persians. But at that same time, Claudiopolis was also being besieged by the Hagarene barbarians. Having learned of this, Manuel, very expeditiously and without delay, committed himself to the journey, carrying neither a royal bed nor a mattress, not even bringing his own tent, while he strove to outstrip the besiegers. Thus, he passed his nights without sleep ^C and used torches as guides for the way through the rugged regions of Bithynia, pressing on with great haste toward his intended destination. Wherever he had to grant rest to his body, the earth served as his seat and his couch, and he placed straw beneath him as a bed. Therefore, whenever rain fell, wherever the king had decided to sleep, annoying drops pelted him from above and a stream of water ran beneath his bed. Yet the Caesar rejoiced more in these things ^D than if he were lying on his back on a royal coverlet, free from cares and indulging in slumber. At length, having arrived near Claudiopolis, he put the Persian barbarians to flight and at once brought confidence and a light of joy to the citizens and the inhabitants of the countryside. Here, the Emperor built a monastery at Catascepe, right at the mouths of the Pontus, to the leader of the faithful, Michael the archangel and prince of the spiritual militia:

^A he granted them, however, nothing at all to possess, neither acres of land, nor fields, nor estates. Having gathered together the choice of the monks, he intended for them to lead a life there free from care and quiet, and he ordered that the subsidies for their annual sustenance be received from the public treasury. Now, since among the Romans and even the Barbarians a law had been in force, I believe, up to this Emperor, that the annual rations of grain should be provided for the soldiers from the treasury, and that their skill should be tested—whether they knew how to draw a bow properly in the first instance, to move and wield a spear with skill, ^B or if they possessed a firm and strong body, and also a courage daring in the face of dangers, and thus were correctly enrolled in the registers—this Emperor took away the rations for the soldiers, to the detriment of the public gain, and substituted in their place the taxes of the provincials, with which he might satisfy the gluttony of the soldiers. Hence, no one was properly enrolled as a soldier in the ranks of the forces; rather, everyone became a volunteer soldier; and thus the Roman state was brought to ruin, and it suffers the destruction that we see.

The Emperor, having been imbued from boyhood with learning, with the glory of words and the depth of concepts, not only composed with a brilliant style graces of letters as he pleased, ^C but also brought forth as genuine offspring catechetical sermons, called in the common tongue *silentia*, and very clever at that. Emboldened by this, he also wished to speak and hear concerning divine dogmas; and, introducing his mind into abstruse mysteries, he sought to solve questions concerning them as though he had been taught as an interpreter by Christ. Therefore, when a certain controversy then arose among those debating over a passage of Scripture, in which it is said that the incarnate Word of God both receives and offers, since the learned men of that time were bearing conflicting opinions on this matter, ^D words were exchanged from either side while each fought his opponent. And when the Emperor cast his vote for the better opinion—according to the judgment of the Fathers, as was fitting—men distinguished in the offices of the Church were expelled from the holy ministry, as they had remained stubborn in their opinion; a certain Soterichus, known in common as Panteugenus, the bishop-elect of Antioch;

and indeed these were different from Soterichus of Antioch. However, Allatius, against Creygh. p. 526, retains the name of the office: *hypopsephius* of Antioch, just as elsewhere it is translated by the same as *hypatus*. Moreover, that writing of Demetrius Gemistus is extant in Vatican codex 2146, p. 124.

^A item Eustathius, bishop of Epidamnus, and Michael, who was then a rhetorician of the Thessalonians, and Basilaces, the interpreter of the wise sayings of Paul, 4750 and who happened to be a teacher and a Levite. After some years, this same Emperor proposed another theme to be explained: the Lord said at the time of the passion, "My Father is greater than I" (John xiv, 28). 4755 Then, the Caesar, caring little for the already recognized opinions of the Fathers, forged his own interpretation, and stirred up a great storm for the Church and the learned bishops alike. Therefore, having gathered a synod of schismatics, the Caesar forced them, using violence as well, 4760 that every one of them should subscribe to the document as follows: "I agree with the opinions of the Fathers, which they wrote inspired by the Word, that the Father is greater than Christ. But I say this statement is made because the Word assumed created and passible flesh. ^B 4765 Thus he supposed that the Son was inferior to the Father after He had assumed flesh for our sake." Consigned to purple letters and engraved upon stone tablets 4770 with beautiful craftsmanship, he exposed this for all to see in the temple of the Holy Sophia, representing an inscription. He stirred up another controversy again, 4775 specifically that he persuaded them that the anathema against the God of Muhammad should be removed from the diptychs, lest, he said, insult be done to the God and Lord and Ruler of all. He offered the matter for judgment to the bishops, 4780 who all rejected it as a blasphemy. The enraged Caesar renewed the document, favoring the false faith of Muhammad, and castigating the former Caesars for having, as he claimed, ignorantly cursed God; and he distributed this document to be read. ^C But the patriarch resisted 4785 boldly, and all agreed with their shepherd; and especially the bishop of Thessalonica, a man celebrated for his virtue and learning, the glory of shepherds, Eustathius, his insides inflamed with divine zeal, 4790 reproved the new and spurious dogma, saying: "I would be entirely unworthy of the episcopal stole and throne, and would rightly be considered altogether insane, ^D 4795 if I were to call the pederast and camel-driver—a deceiver, a priest of every abominable act, and an initiator of wicked doctrines, who fashioned a certain solid and fabricated monster—the God of all."

^A From a base and detestable fruit of the mind, I would call Him the Creator of all. But Caesar, stung by an insane gadfly, overwhelmed the bishops with shameful words, foolishly calling them the dregs of the world; and he threatened that he would dispute the matter in an ecumenical synod, shouting furiously, with the judgment of the Pope interposed regarding these things. Soon, his anger having subsided, the gentle Caesar, through the efforts of the prelate of the city of Byzantium, made peace with the Thessalian pastor, granting him free expression of his opinion. Finally, the emperor also said that it did not befit a frugal and prudent man to speak anything harshly or dishonestly, nor to utter shameful words at all; and he ceased raging against the pastor. This was the outcome of the matter mentioned. ^B However, it was decreed in the synod that the words, "Let there be anathema to the God of Mohammed," should be utterly erased from the books, but that it should be written: "Anathema to Mohammed and to his teaching and to every error." And having ratified this decree, the Fathers made an end of the synods and the assemblies. ^C Afterwards, the Caesar, seized by a grievous illness and realizing that he was now near to death, despising the scepter and the splendor of the world, and now repenting of his past life, donned the poor tunic of a monk; and soon, with the scepter, he departed this life after thirty-eight years of reign, buried in the sacred monastery of his father, which bears the name of the Omnipotent Word, of which Emperor John was the founder. He left the empire of Manuel to his wife and his child of tender age.

ANDRONICUS COMNENUS WITH ALEXIUS, SON OF MANUEL, FOR 1 YEAR, AND ALONE FOR 2 YEARS

regarding the Protosebastos with great suspicion as a veritable tyrant, ^A based on his actions. Andronicus Comnenus, having lived for a long time now in the town of Oineion, once he learned of the emperor’s death, began to approach Byzantium from there, deceiving everyone and tricking them with his words; he addressed those present with his speech and those far away by letters, claiming that he had come for the sake of the Emperor's safety, and so that the new monarch might escape a hidden danger through his assistance; and finally, that he might uphold the pledge given to the royal house, having taken an oath when he returned from Chaldea to the court. For this Andronicus, who had been an exile and had changed his residence through many nations, and at last was staying with Altuchus, the prince of Chaldea, where he had made an end to his tiresome wandering and journeys, had been called back by the Emperor Manuel. Given a kind reception and gifts, he was ordered to reside ^B in the city of Oineion, though the Emperor had first secured a sworn promise from him that he would remain in his duty and loyalty.

He departed from Oineion after this, as I have said. Andronicus Comnenus, Sisyphian in his ways, having occupied the regions of Paphlagonia, added to himself the support of many, and made them companions of his own depravity. Surrounded by them, he threw everything into turmoil, making use of that deceit in particular: that he pretended to be doing and saying everything for the sake of the new Emperor’s safety. The Protosebastos, meanwhile, was hated and detestable ^C to the common people because of his actions, since he despised all mortals and claimed the state for himself alone; for there was nothing in the entire empire that did not submit to his power. For this reason, the whole metropolis placed its hope of salvation in Andronicus alone, and called him an avenger of tyranny, and invited him by clandestine letters to hasten to the royal city, having put aside all fear; for the citizens claimed they were ready to open the city gates to him with zeal. ^D He heard these messengers with pleasure, and already began to openly aspire to tyranny by occupying castles and provinces. He even approached Nicaea of Bithynia and tempted it with bland words; but the city did not yield at all to his words, and remained unswayed by his deceits. But when he had occupied Nicomedia and attached it to his own party, a general named Andronicus, surnamed Angelos, was sent with a fair number of troops to resist the enemy in open warfare.

^A He, having joined battle with the eunuch who served as leader of the Paphlagonian forces—troops who were farmers and utterly ignorant of war—was shamefully defeated and fled to the city. When he had returned to the city as a defeated man, the citizens immediately demanded that he deposit the money which he had spent before on waging war; and he, taking this ill, hastened his flight with his six brave and armed sons, and betook himself directly to Andronicus. He, strengthened by the presence of Angelos, leaving off the occupation of other places, directed his journey toward Byzantium together with Angelos; and when he was in the vicinity of Chalcedon, he pitched his tent there and stayed. ^B The Protosebastus Alexius, not being able to crush the rebel with a land army, decided to resist with naval forces. Having therefore equipped very many triremes, such that they filled the entire Propontis, and having appointed the great Contostephanus Ducas as commander of the fleet and supreme leader, he ordered him to engage the hated enemy, or at least to protect the Byzantine city. A little later, Xiphilinus, one of the most illustrious alumni of the Church, was sent as an envoy by the Caesar and went to Andronicus, bearing offers of much money to him and titles of the highest dignities, if, abandoning the scheme he had undertaken, he would immediately retreat without bloodshed. He refused, and answered haughtily, as rumor has it with the encouragement of Xiphilinus: "If indeed, Caesar, you desire to see Andronicus retreating peacefully, ^C drive the Protosebastus from his position and exact from him the penalties for his crimes. Furthermore, may the queen your mother, having shorn her hair like a nun, pass her life in solitude as is fitting; and do you, as is written in your father’s last will, reign as the legitimate heir to the empire." A few days later, the great duke, having taken the triremes with him, fled with a swift course to Andronicus; this event heightened the audacity of the tyrant but utterly broke the Protosebastus; the people in the city were rebelling everywhere, shamelessly assailing him with reproaches and adhering to the rebel’s party, admiring his figure and his old age. ^D Moreover, the sons of this same tyrant were liberated from prison, along with many others; but the Protosebastus is shut in, O the instability of fortune! within the royal palace, and the light of his eyes is extinguished, as decreed by the rebel Andronicus, with a crown of splendid nobles [present].

^A Then he himself approached the royal city, and offered humble obeisance to the king, prostrate on the ground, shedding tears. 4975 Having then seized the reins of the state, he began to manage all things at his own whim. The crafty man occupied the king with hunts and suitable games, keeping him surrounded by a watchful and malevolent guard: he himself took up the care of ruling the empire; 4980 that dire Fury of mortals, bloodthirsty hound, that malefactor Andronicus—oh, the calamity!—openly seized tyranny. He rewarded many others with exquisite gifts, 4985 and especially the Paphlagonians who had helped him in his rebellion, bestowing splendid and lofty dignities upon his friends and the associates of his evil. As for the illustrious men and noble stocks, some he shut away in unjust, brutal prisons, 4990 while others he drove far from their homes, their kin, and their homeland, though they were convicted of no crime; others, finally, he blinded in the light of their eyes. And everywhere there was misery, everywhere pain; 4995 everywhere sighs, tears, and lamentations. For Andronicus was hastening—to speak briefly—to remove from the midst men conspicuous by lineage, or by counsel, or endowed with a strong hand or with prudence; 5000 so that, with the obstacle removed, he might safely root out the royal line entirely. ^B But the Sultan, having learned of the death of Manuel, seized Sozopolis and other cities, and the fortress of Cotyaeum with an armed hand: 5005 moreover, he claimed for himself many of the Roman lands lying nearby, in the course of war. Nor in the meantime were the rural villages and many cities in Asia suffering any less from internal sedition and various slaughters. 5010 As for the wily Andronicus, wishing to appear devoted to the king and a great lover of him, he soon ordered the Emperor of the Romans, Alexius, to be crowned by the patriarch, he himself having lifted him 5015 high onto the dais upon his own shoulders as king, with feigned tears: for which reason he was commonly believed to be better than his father, and like a guardian to the young king; but he soon cast him into an abyss, ^C as David, the prophetic king, says somewhere. Now, after he had removed everyone from the midst, 5020 he pondered daily with diligent mind how he might seize the whole empire and carry out his own wishes and whims. First, therefore—oh, the dire sentence!—he condemns the queen to a most unjust death, concocting false crimes, and having taken her away, he despoils of life her who was strangled by a cruel noose: 5025 and, oh, your patience, my good Christ! he orders her corpse, cast out upon the seashore, to be buried in the sand without honor. ^D

^A Then, through the zeal of the faction of Andronicus, Andronicus is called a partner in the empire, in order to manage the highest affairs with the young king. Thus, advancing to the great temple, in the solemn manner, he is crowned with the diadem, and duly partakes of the heavenly bread; and there, in the formidably holy mysteries, he swears that he will keep unshaken faith to the young crowned king, and will advance his rule with all his power, as a father should. But when he had entered ^B deep into the palace, having been acclaimed king and emperor, Andronicus, using treacherous blandishments, and bearing still fresh in his memory the oath—most cunning by nature—sets upon the young king like a wild beast, and slaughters him; oh, the mournful deed! For he strangles him by night with the cord of a bow, and thus wretchedly puts an end to his current life, having made use for this purpose of the wicked duty of certain men. And as for the body, he delivers it to the depths of the sea, while the head, severed from the body, he takes care to have buried in a hidden place.

Thus, therefore, with Alexius having departed from life, Andronicus appeared as sole monarch of the state, a gray-haired man, cursed and wicked, the Fury of the citizens, a dog panting for slaughter, a bloody dragon, a deadly scorpion, a terrible monster, an insatiable Orcus, a Styx filled with miseries, groans, and tears, a deceiver, haughty, arrogant in his manners, a swindler, a flatterer, versatile, shifting, the most furious old man of his times, a hater of the light, full of rage against his subjects, the executioner of noble men in place of his own children, and finally the extinguisher of the royal lineage. Upon occupying the supreme power over all things, he joined to himself in marriage the bride of Alexius, ^C an old man and a fornicator by manifest crime. Nay, he sought from the patriarch and the bishops absolution for the oath sworn to Manuel: and they, serving grace according to the authority of binding and loosing divinely granted to them, gave pardon, releasing the old man from so grave an oath, and received a ridiculous reward, namely, that they should sometimes sit in council with him.

While he was exercising this tyranny, as the story has said, the cities of Bythinia, Prusa and Nicea, rebelled against the Roman empire, ^D because they did not wish to obey the tyrant by force. Consequently, Andronicus, having equipped an army, immediately marches toward Nicea, breathing anger, and strove to take the city by shaking its walls and with machines and various kinds of battle. Yet the siege did not succeed well, but the city stood firm and unharmed against his machines and the clouds of arrows.

^A And Nicea, beautifully walled and well-settled, was finally yielded to the king by agreement, and it regained its former order. Then Andronicus moved his camp to the city of Prusa with a mighty army; and having set up an encampment for the purpose of a siege, he strove with all his might to take the city with his machines. But the city resisted bravely, repelling both the machines and the assaults. Thus, battle was joined by both armies in engagements often repeated throughout the day, and the war was drawn out for a long time. ^B At last, when the wall had been slightly undermined and it was thought by the citizens that it would fall entirely, and that it was on the point of suffering an ultimate collapse, the hands of the defenders inside were paralyzed, and mortal fear struck their spirits. Then the besiegers, with no one resisting, broke into the city with eager zeal, and scaled the walls using ladders. Andronicus himself rushed into the city like a savage beast, like a roaring lion, and delivered almost all the citizens, alas the grief! to be consumed by his fury and his sword. Some he executed with dire torture; for others he extinguished the light of their eyes; others he ordered to have both feet severed, and others their hands—alas, the bloodthirsty soul! Some he deprived of eyes and fingers at once, others in turn of feet and eyes. ^C And Theodore Angelus, alas the terrible punishment! a noble and most beautiful youth, once his eyes were gouged out, the most cruel old man placed upon a lowly donkey without a guide and drove him far from the Roman borders. The Turks, finding him wandering, received him into their own homes and gave him hospitality, and cherished him with the care that was fitting. Likewise, he wretchedly suspended Leo, surnamed Synesius, and Manuel Lachanas—noble men—along with about forty fine men of primary nobility, from the branches of the trees that grew around the city of Prusa. ^D Thus, after inflicting punishments on very many, he moved thence to the city of Lopadium, and there he acted with equal cruelty, and even after blinding one bishop, not without cause—or rather, a manufactured cause—he directed his steps toward the queen of cities, rejoicing in his miserable Cadmean victory and exulting in the civil blood that had been shed. Andronicus had a bold servant, altogether like his master, as they say, fierce, bold, base, bloodthirsty, and one who studiously conformed himself to his lord—an instrument of evil, a bloody man, full of malice, bitterness, and bile, endowed with an unyielding and relentless nature.

^A Stephanus, that is, Crown, so called from his youth—a crown indeed of infamy and reproach; he bore the name of a martyr while performing the works of an Antichrist. Andronicus, using this man as his instrument, injured, slew, and stoned many. Through him, he also unjustly stoned Andronicus Ducas along with Macroducas, men who were excellent and noble commanders. For when the emperor was staying at the palace outside the walls called Mangana, and a vast multitude of the common people ^B had been gathered there by his order, these two aforementioned men were brought out in public from those houses to their execution, and were stoned by the hands of all, with Stephanus making the beginning of the wicked slaughter and exhorting them to the bloody deed. Then, once they were dead—O cruel deed!—they hung them on timber outside the city. In such monstrous works, in inhuman and execrable punishments, and in fatal acts, the cruel disposition of Andronicus daily delighted itself.

While he was reigning, the city of Thessalonica, that noble and glorious city, the queen of the Thessalian cities, alas! was captured by the Sicilian army and yielded to the barbarian ^C power. For a certain Alexius Comnenus, a most wicked man and the ruin of his fatherland, having been banished by Andronicus to Scythia, fled as an exile to Sicily, and meeting the Latin tyrant of that island, he was granted an audience. He inflamed the latter with such great hatred against Andronicus that the King of Sicily, having gathered countless naval and infantry forces, dispatched them against the Roman lands; he sent the horsemen toward Epidamnus, the naval forces toward Thessalonica. And indeed, the land army, by military prowess, captured Epidamnus together with its surroundings; ^D and having overrun and plundered the lands in between, he arrived by his course there to his fleet awaiting him at the borders of Thessalonica. Therefore, with both armies converging—from the continent, that is, and from the sea—and surrounding the city on all sides, alas, alas! the city of Thessalonica was captured, that city, I say, the metropolis of the Macedonians, and it bent its neck under the yoke of the Sicilians. Thereafter, what Iliads of evils, what a sea of calamities and tragedies that unhappy city suffered and saw, no one could rightly recount as it deserves. For when the Sicilians broke into the city, all the men of puberty were slaughtered by the sword,

and the remainder were miserably stripped of their goods, while matrons and virgins were dishonored. Every temple and women’s apartment was despoiled by violent hands; every street, alley, and road was filled with dead bodies and overflowed with rivers of bloody gore. Therefore, there was weeping everywhere, mourning, clamor, wailing, and a horrible tragedy; for thus it is pleasant to tell the matter in few words; and a confused shout was carried up to heaven. And with these evils the city was worn down.

^A And Andronicus, not ceasing from his malice—nay, rather, as if he were some servant of the Furies and a minister of frantic demons, indeed a cruel Echetus or Cambyses, a savage Phalaris or a Tauric Scythian—miserably devoured all his subjects. For he cruelly hanged the two Sebastian brothers and put them to death on the wood. Alexius, the bastard son of Manuel, whom he had joined in marriage to his own bastard daughter, he deprived of his eyes by an unjust sentence, and he blinded the best of his cohorts. Furthermore, he handed over a certain scribe named Mamalus to be burned with flames in the stadium. He also made Tripsychus—O just judgment of God!—who had committed very many evils unjustly against many, blind and lacking the rays of the sun.

^B And to speak in summary and briefly, during the time of this new Timon, punishment, sadness, and a cumulation of calamities held everyone, and there were constant tears, and a sort of torrent and tempest of evils. For on whatever day he had done no evil to anyone—to noble men, that is, and to the dignitaries—he did not think he had lived that day. Therefore, women and men were seized from their homes and, entirely innocent, were punished with chains, famine, death, torments, loss of eyes, and other penalties. In these actions the emperor took delight.

^C But there was something good and equitable in him as well; for he revived the poor and needy subjects with very many benefits, provided he found them truly well-disposed toward him. And by removing the unjust plunderings of the powerful, and avarice—the fountain of crimes—from the entire Roman empire, he restored the provinces to a better condition.

^D Then you would never have heard the threats of a tax collector, who would shake the patrimonies of the needy by putting forth any pretext of malice; nor would you have seen public taxes then exposed as salable commodities to tax-farmers; but he who had rendered to Caesar the things that were Caesar's lived a secure life for the rest. Now, he who collected public tributes, being himself provided with a salary, performed this justly.

^A Dignities were granted freely to each one who was best and deserving, and to no unworthy person who might buy them with money. Therefore, as the Psalmist David sang in his melodies, justice and beautiful ^B peace then kissed each other like friends joined together. Furthermore, Andronicus, by royal command, abolished a most impious, wicked, and exceedingly inhuman and unjust custom—namely, that ships shipwrecked anywhere by the violence of winds and storms, and soon cast upon the shores, should suffer the looting and destruction of their cargoes against all law by the local inhabitants. With a grave order and vehement threats, he established death as the certain punishment for those who would violate his decree, and he desired this penalty to be eternal and immutable. "If anyone," he said, "is a master of maritime lands, or holds a magistracy delegated by me, let him first establish himself, and then the crowd of his subjects, in the holy fear of God and in reverence for our empire. Then, if it shall be established by certain proof that any master of a maritime estate or governor of a province, however noble he may be, has taken anything from the cargoes of shipwrecked vessels, there awaits him, deservedly, a dire punishment; even if he himself should happen to be pure in mind ^C and his hands entirely uncontaminated, if his subjects have made themselves guilty; since all subjects are accustomed to conform themselves to their ruler and presiding officer. But any transgressor of this law will suffer an unheard-of and immediate horrible death—namely, he will experience the sad hanging and stretching upon the mast of the wrecked ship." Having struck such fear into all, he put an end to the inveterate wicked custom. From then on, it did not happen to any ship that it was despoiled of its burden by robbers if it chanced to suffer shipwreck at sea; but serenity had succeeded the storm, favoring the endangered merchant vessels.

Moreover, Andronicus punished unjust men with due vengeance, however noble and illustrious the culprit might be; ^D for he judged not according to person, but justly, valuing the humble and the great alike. He also restored, in the best manner and at great expense, that very famous and most highly adorned temple of the forty martyrs of Christ, which at that time was suffering from the injury of time; and there he built dwellings for habitation, so that if ever he himself should approach the said temple, he could find there marvels of varied and expensive craftsmanship. Furthermore, this emperor valued literature and its professors most highly.

with generous gifts as was proper. ^A But when he was truly a butcher of men, or rather another Satanic murderer, who, as David says, having conceived pain, brought forth iniquities, alas, death. A decree was made, O inhuman deed! that all who were in prison or in exile by sea, should, by sword or some other means of death, none excepted, see the end of their life, they themselves and all their kin by right of birth. For why, he says, when one head is cut off, should many others and worse ones arise? O cursed, horrible sentence! O cursed Satanic decree, by which so many men were destined for slaughter! And this decree, written in books and accepted by the most iniquitous judges, the Emperor Andronicus kept: and he was about to execute it, alas, as quickly as possible, butchering so many men like cattle, as many as were in chains throughout the empire, along with all their blood relatives and kinsmen, had not the Creator of the human race and Lord forestalled him by destroying Andronicus, and rendering such plans vain.

Meanwhile Andronicus, seeing everything happening against him and difficult because of the victorious Sicilian armies, who had occupied Thessalonica, ^B as the previous history narrated, and now had already arrived at Serres and Boleron; furthermore, aware that he was hated by his subjects, he turned his mind to divining the events of the future, employing an abominable hydromancy. And he did not wish to be present himself with the diviners, fearing ridicule; but he entrusted the performance of these sacred rites in the night time to his minister Stephen: who, calling to himself a certain blind man named Seth, but a diviner by art, and on that account long ago deprived of his eyes by just sentence by Manuel, the flower of the purple, began to interrogate the evil demons by the incantations of his nefarious art: who would be emperor after Andronicus? Or who would seize his empire? The demon from the basin reported ambiguous things, and while speaking very obscurely through the water, it delineated with fallacious letters, as much as could be conjectured, Isaacius. ^C And it did not write all the elements of the name, but offered as a half-moon a figure half-complete, and ambiguously placed the letter iota before that moon. ^D Which, being placed before [it], sufficiently portended the name of Isaacius. But Nicetas Choniates, in his history, Book 11, chapter 9, says that the letter was not prefixed, but suffixed, to increase the ambiguity.

5325 He pampered them with delicate gifts as was right; But being in truth a butcher of men, Or rather another Satanic murderer, Who, as David says, having conceived pain, Brings forth lawlessness—alas!—death. 5330 It was decreed, then—O inhuman manner!— That all who were imprisoned or in exile Should be brought to their end, totally By the deep, by the sword, and by death, Both they themselves and those kin to them by birth. 5335 For why, if one head is cut off, Should heads worse and more numerous sprout forth? O the all-polluted and God-hated justice, And the detestable Satanic plot, Condemning to death every single person! 5340 This wicked plot, written in volumes By those judges who decree lawlessly, Andronicus the emperor had taken to observe, Which would soon, alas! alas! have reached the end, 5345 And all would have been slaughtered like sheep, Those captives everywhere on earth who were of the Autonous [lineage], Together with those related by blood and those kin by birth, Had not the man-slaying Creator of all and Master Placed Andronicus aside beforehand, 5350 And shown these plots to be no longer valid; Viewing as he did from everywhere the narrow And indeed very difficult circumstances occurring, From the hostile Sicilian armies Which had occupied Thessalonica, 5355 As the story previously told has narrated, And had arrived as far as Serres and Boleron; And furthermore, since he was hated by his own subjects, He sought the outcome of the time to come Through the art of hydromancy, which should be avoided. 5360 But, avoiding reproach, he himself Refused to be present at the rites performed at that time; He entrusted the night-work to a servant of his, Christophorites, Who took a certain man named Seth, Blind in his eyes, but practiced in divination, 5365 For which reason he had once had his pupils cut out By the purple-born Manuel, very justly, And he inquired of the evil spirits, Through the divinatory incantation of the base art, Who would happen to be the ruler after Andronicus, 5370 Or who would release this man from his empire. Then the Spirit, taken from the murky basin, Or rather speaking dimly as if in water, Traced with deceptive letters Isaacius, as well as it could be conjectured; 5375 It did not compose all the letters of the name, But showed a shape like a half-moon, And a certain semi-formed and fashioned sign, And before this type he writes the iota obliquely.

^A Andronicus heard the words of the inquiry, and requested a time to be told when these things would come to pass. Once again the oracle is asked, and then the demon speaks in a composed verse: ^B "These things are destined to have their outcome within the day on which the venerable wood is accustomed to be exalted." Now, it was already the eleventh day of September when this mysterious divination took place. The Emperor believed these to be trifles. For he said, "How could Isaac, by sailing from Cyprus, be able to arrive here in so short a time, and overturn my royal throne?" For he believed that the tyrant of Cyprus, a man sprung from the Comnenian race, who had shown himself a rebel to the empire and had seized for himself the governorship of the island, where he was exercising a cruel tyranny, and who was called by the name of Isaac, was about to come to overthrow his throne. ^C Thinking and saying such things, Andronicus went to the royal dwellings which are at Anaplus, in order to enjoy himself in that lodging. Meanwhile, however, the wicked Stephanus, the Antichrist-bearer, came in haste with a few attendants to the fair house of Isaac Angelus, and bade him come out of his home and follow him as his leader wherever he might be headed. He, struck with alarm at the threatening voice, prayed to God that he might be delivered from death. Stephanus, with savage eyes, shouted again and commanded him to follow without delay. But when he saw him still lingering, he raised his voice to his henchmen, that they should seize him and drag him out of the house. ^D Then at last, forced by such violence, Isaac Angelus mounted a horse that was well-equipped and standing by, and taking courage, he drew a sharpened sword from its scabbard. He rushed with an impetuous attack against the impious Stephanus, and having struck him a mortal blow, he cleft his head in two with the edge of the blade. Leaving the man as prey for the dogs, he ran in a full gallop to the great church, through the public road and the middle of the forum. Still carrying the bare sword in his hand, he shouted to all, "With this sword I have cut off the head of the wicked Stephanus." And when he had run into the great church, he took his place on the pulpit of the suppliants. Thereafter, as a vast crowd and an innumerable multitude of people flocked to Isaac, he implored them to bring him aid and a strong defense, cast as he was at the very gates of death.

^A And there were many others besides, and kinsmen by birth. For when no one from the king came forward to disturb these proceedings with threats, the aforementioned supporters, having taken courage, were now shouting with free voices and pledging firm aid to Isaac. So, when that first day passed and another arrived, at early morning the whole populace of the city of Byzantium, rushing rapidly like the currents of a river, flowed into the great temple of God. And why need I lengthen my discourse by writing? They assailed Andronicus with curses and proclaimed Isaac worthy of the crown. Furthermore, they released everyone who was shut up in prisons, and gathered a very great multitude. ^B Then indeed one might have seen countless swordsmen, girded with breastplates and shields and arms, and others equipped with clubs and staves; and as this motley assembly gathered, Isaac is proclaimed king and emperor by all lips, while someone placed upon his head the crown of the greatest emperor Constantine, which hung above the sacred table. Because Isaac, fearing Andronicus, still reluctantly accepted the crown, his paternal uncle John Ducas, who was present—a man hoary, nay bald, and an old man—uncovered his head of his cap and implored them to deck his own brow with the diadem. ^C But the people, seeing his bald head, refused to bestow the crown upon him, saying they would not have an old man as king, because of Andronicus, from whom they had recently suffered such a gathering of evils. Then therefore, Isaac, elected emperor by the people as my poem has hitherto said, went slowly to the royal palace with the patriarch and a very great entourage. But Andronicus, staying in the palace of Meludion, when he heard how the thing had been done, came by trireme to the great palace, traversing the strait with truly bird-like speed. ^D As the new emperor then approached, the old master began to fight back with arms, hurling weapons from above with a few men against all those approaching, and against the Caesar. But when the old man felt he was working in vain, he threw off his purple sandals and the crown, and the wretched man removed the cross from his neck; having placed a barbarian cap upon his head, he boarded a trireme and fled toward the Taurians. Isaac, however, having entered the palace, was immediately proclaimed master and emperor of the whole Roman empire, and sent men to quickly drag back Andronicus; whom they seized near the city of Chelen,

^A as we said, as he was fleeing to the Tauric Scythians, they presented to the emperor Isaac. And afterward, with what tortures and with what punishments Emperor Isaac crushed this wretched old man, and with what violence, no one could easily say; yet I will tell it briefly as I am able. ^B First he is shut away in a common prison, bound at the neck and feet with iron chains; and then, presented in this wretched state to the emperor, the miserable man is pelted with insults and overwhelmed by endless clouds of abuse: his loins and buttocks are lacerated with lashes, his head and beard are plucked of their hair, and his teeth are knocked out by the blows; he is surrendered as a toy, a plaything, a laughingstock, to those who hate him and have chosen to do him evil. He bears insolence, insults, and blows; his face is struck with palms, he is afflicted in diverse ways, he suffers an Iliad and a tragedy of evils, and a sea of miseries that cannot be measured; and he is vexed all the more by the women ^C from whom this most wicked of mortals had previously snatched away the light of their eyes, or had taken away their husbands, partly by death and partly by blinding them by plucking out their eyes, owing to his own cruelty. Finally, he is placed—oh, a thing horrible to hear!—on a scabby and miserable camel; he who was recently emperor of the Romans, around whom royal applause used to resound, is led through the forum and the public streets in a most shameful triumph before the sight of the crowd, himself hardly clothed in a vile tunic, exposing his naked skull to view; a mournful sight, horrible to recount, doubtlessly drawing abundant tears from gentle eyes, which are accustomed, as is right, to behold the wretched and those who are companions by nature. But the vilest dregs of the common people—sausage-makers, tanners, and cobblers, the stupid guilds of retailers—leading a procession and a triumph of this kind, ^D or rather a mockery and a derision, left behind no species of punishment, of insult, of wickedness, of contumely, which they did not impiously inflict upon Andronicus. For some, oh the insane fury! were lacerating his head and back, which had been struck, with wooden clubs unsparingly; others were piercing his side, kidneys, and anus with knives and awls; others were befouling his nostrils with ox dung; others were frequently throwing on his face the filth of bodies squeezed out of sponges; but some who were bolder and more ferocious were pelting him with stones, calling him a dog and a Cerberus and a bloodthirsty beast, and things similar to these in their extreme madness!

^A Verily, that I may bring my words to a brief compass, there was no one in that vast spectacle who did not strike the unhappy old man with painful blows and insults. A certain most impudent prostitute, snatching a pot from the kitchen, carried it out into the way and furiously poured it, full of very hot water, upon the cheeks of Andronicus. Yet, enduring these and many more, for he was a magnanimous man holding out against so many evils, struggling against the waves and storms of so many pains and such a sea of miseries, even though pressed by a storm of evils, he nevertheless gave thanks to the Lord, keeping his mind constant in his punishments.

Thus, therefore, led in ignominy into the stadium and still breathing a little, he was hung by his feet from the columns standing there. ^B Yet the furious populace, not yet satisfied with devouring his flesh, insulted even the genital members of the wretched man as he hung, drawing up his tunic—alas for the shame! One drove a sharp sword through his throat; a certain Latin pierced his seat with a blade; the rest of the Latins who were standing around hacked at his miserable little body with swords, with incessant and redoubled blows, as if by a mutual wager testing which of their scimitars would cut more sharply. ^C Thus Andronicus, struggling in his punishments and shipwrecked in such a sea of torments, shamefully poured out his life, violently snatched from him, while hanging upon those columns. And the wretched man had this end to his empire and his life, after he had ruled for nearly two years wearing the diadem, and for one year more had held dominion without the crown and the adornment of the purple. He was of excellent bodily form, endowed with heroic stature, with an august and truly admirable face, and enjoying quite robust health.

After some days, his body was taken down from the gallows and lay thrown without care in a certain archway of the stadium, until at last some people placed it in a small coffin at the monastery of Ephorus, where the body is still looked upon by the curious, retaining its integrity entirely. ^D Now he wasted away his whole soul on the divine epistles of the apostle Paul, from which, as from a wondrous fountain, he drew rivulets into his own prayers and writings, which he composed with noble art. Indeed, Andronicus was greatly devoted to a sacred image of Paul—the heaven-surveyer—adorned with gold and silver, which he had himself dedicated in the shrine of the Forty Martyrs, and which he worshipped and revered. And this image shed tears from its eyes as the fate of Andronicus drew near.

^A Andronicus, having learned of this, quickly sent off a man to verify the report—a man faithful to him, Stephen by name, along with companions. Therefore, that impious Stephen set out and applied himself diligently to learning the truth of the matter, so that he might accurately report it to the one who had sent him. Consequently, he wiped the eyes of Paul with a clean cloth out of reverence; but they, like a spring, poured forth a cold stream of tears. When Andronicus learned of this from the spectators, he groaned, marveling greatly, and shaking his head this way and that, he said that Paul poured forth those tears on his own account, perhaps portending some evil. ^B For he said that he loved Paul desperately and prized his most precious words highly; wherefore it was fair that he should be loved by him in return. But as for what evil the tears might foretell, what I have said above makes it clear.

ISAAC ANGELUS, 9 YEARS, 6 MONTHS

^B When, therefore, Isaac had so easily obtained the throne of the Roman empire, ^C he was cheerful, accessible to his subjects, sweet, mild, and merciful toward all. Those who had been ill-treated by Andronicus, or who had been unjustly driven from their own property, or who had been maimed in some member of their body, he refreshed with lavish benefits, restoring to all the patrimonies that had been taken away. For this Emperor, to speak briefly, was born of a noble and illustrious lineage, the Comnenian kin, surnamed Angelus; he was a very handsome and beautiful youth, flourishing, strong, of tall stature, excelling in strength and mighty of hand, affable, benevolent, and exceedingly pious; harboring a wonderful confidence in the Theotokos, and honoring her with the highest devotion; a lover of letters, graceful, learned, honoring both letters and men of letters; of a merciful disposition toward the needy, inclined to bestow benefits, ^D liberal with his wealth, cherishing the indigent with charity, and finally assisting all in their necessities—the destitute, the beggars, the widows, the orphans, and the strangers. He also provided dowries for virgins for their weddings; he renovated and diligently embellished public inns and infirmaries for the rest of men’s bodies and the care of their infirmities; and to whomsoever of the sick, the poor, or the strangers were gathered there, he provided all things necessary for their sustenance in abundance. But he was soft in his character, slothful, sluggish, and very extravagant in his manner of living and in his clothing, always preparing a Solomonic banquet, and adorning himself daily with new robes, and bestowing sumptuous feasts upon his servants. He used baths several times in the week,

^A fragrant always with the scent of perfumes, and a lover of finery like a peacock or a bridegroom; he used to proceed from the royal apartments. He was a man prone to anger, and more inclined to wrath, yet he mingled compassion with his anger. He did not, however, administer the empire in the best way, but was rather an ill-advised innovator of affairs, founding dining halls, baths, and splendid houses, building and restoring them sumptuously; innovating and disturbing the statutes of the Church; establishing some as pastors in the see, and removing others by his own will alone. To him, now that he had attained the throne, came an innumerable band of brave men from all the Roman cities, and from other lands, both of the East and of the West, from whom, having conscribed a proper army, he enrolled them in the Roman legions. Towards the soldiers, even those outside the metropolis, he sent rations and abundant payments, so as to make them ready for repelling the enemy, sending them a sum of gold that weighed in total forty centenaria, in order to encourage them for the coming battle against the foe. Now, as I said, the Sicilian army was above, ravaging the Roman cities and laying them waste. ^B It had darkened Serres and the regions of the Strymon, and had already taken the city of Amphipolis by siege, along with the places nearby. They had occupied Boleron and the city of Mosynopolis, and were thinking that they would capture the imperial city itself, as if it were a deserted nest, surrounding its walls with their forces. And now the Sicilian fleet had also taken up its station in the islands around the city, having arrived there. But the brave and sagacious commander of the Roman army, Branas, having joined battle with the Italian foe, and with the help of the Divinity who inclines the outcome of wars, carried back a great trophy over the barbarians and caused a great slaughter of the Sicilians. ^C He took alive their regimental commanders, Richard and the Count Baldwin, whom he sent to the Emperor at the queen of cities. He took captive, along with the aforementioned commanders, Alexius Comnenus, the ruin of his country, the cause of evils, and the bellows of the storm, and he deprived him of the light of his eyes. As for the Italians who escaped the slaughter, they hurried to the city of Thessalonica, and by ship they departed for their own land. ^D But those who remained in that city, the wicked men were destroyed, as was just, by the evil weapon of the sword, when the Roman army arrived. Therefore, all the Sicilians perished by the sword, overcome by the hands of the brave, especially by the Alans who were auxiliary troops at that time; for these were paying back the Latins with a requital, remembering the recent savagery which they had displayed when they captured Thessalonica.

They immediately brought down their swords upon their heads, crying out, "Where is your kinsman or fellow-tribesman, whom you killed in the city but a short while ago?" And those who had fled to the temples for sanctuary, these men slaughtered, shouting aloud, "Where now is the priest who was slain by you?" For they had polluted themselves with sacred slaughters. ^A Then a strange and marvelous thing could be seen: the dogs did not touch the bodies of the citizens that lay cast about in the streets, but they vied with one another in devouring the corpses of the Italians with ravenous hunger, and often even dragged them from their graves. Thus was the Sicilian army driven from the lands of Thessaly with ignominy.

The triremes, fleeing far from the city of Byzantium, as we have said before, were poorly handled by the Roman soldiery and lost a vast number of their sailors. Although there were two hundred or more of them, they fled base and defeated to their homeland. It is said that very many of these, having encountered the violence of winds and storms during their voyage, were shipwrecked and perished in the middle of the sea. Thus, in these battles, nearly ten thousand of the warlike Italian soldiers fighting against the Romans fell dead, and four thousand Sicilians were captured in the land and sea battles, who, shut away in public prisons, perished from cold, disease, and starvation. ^B

Isaacius took as his second wife, after the first had died, the daughter of the King of Hungary. Unwilling to spend money from the public treasury on the pomp of these wedding nuptials—for he spared these out of avarice—he began to exact money from his subject cities and other fortresses. Whence the peoples of the Moesians, inhabitants of the Haemus who are called Vlachs, were stirred up and denied allegiance to the Roman Empire, for the reason that they were being despoiled of their own flocks; the "Patroclus" excuse, as the proverb has it. ^C

Furthermore, they were urged on to this outrage by two brothers, Asan and Peter, who were Moesians by both birth and character. These men spurred on their own people—who were hesitant about defecting from the Roman cause—by cunning artifice, or, to speak more correctly, by demonic fraud. ^D They built a splendid temple to the myrrh-streaming martyr Demetrius. This flask carries holy myrrh, drawn from the well in which the body of the divine myrrh-streaming Demetrius lies gushing forth.

^A Into this place they craftily introduced certain companions of demons, men possessed, with eyes rolling and hair loose, and ordered them to speak as if inspired before the multitude; namely, that God wished to vindicate the Bulgarians and Moesians and liberate them from the yoke. That for this reason even the great Demetrius had abandoned Thessalonica and his own distinguished temple and the Roman seats, and had migrated thither to bring them aid. Wherefore, with delay immediately cast aside, they should attack the Romans with weapons in hand, and kill them without mercy in battle, leaving no one alive and releasing no one for ransom. Shouting such things, these so-called prophets persuaded the barbarians to take up arms, and they overran all the Roman territories situated near the Haemus, pillaging everything. ^B Petrus even bound his head with a golden crown and wrapped his feet in purple buskins. The Emperor, having attacked them with arms, defeated them in battle and put them to flight. However, Asan and Petrus, the authors of the crime, crossed the Ister with their rebels and joined themselves to the barbarians dwelling nearby. Although the Emperor could have traversed all of Moesia and properly settled it, since no one offered resistance anywhere, he accomplished nothing of the sort for its protection; but having set the grain piles on fire, and simultaneously having been deceived by the frauds of the Vlachs, he took his foot back from there toward the Queen City, having left matters there in a state of crisis. ^C Then Asan and Petrus, having taken the Scythians, returned to their homeland with no one to stop them, and having again entered the Roman regions, they practiced a robbery worthy of the Moesians. Against them came with an innumerable army the Duke Alexius, by surname Branas, who, having long coveted the royal crown and now possessing the conspiring legions, defecting from the Caesar, assumed the purple and coming with a swift course to Byzantium, halted unexpectedly before the walls; and there, more by words than by arms, he daily greatly agitated the spirits of the citizens. But the Emperor, having gathered an army from military men of foreign stock—namely, Italians, Scythians, Iberians, Turcs—and spurred on by the counsel of the Italian Conrad, ^D dared to resist the tyrant in battle. Conrad had been born of the noble lineage of the Italian princes, a famous man, flourishing with every praise and endowed with excellent natural gifts, of wisdom of mind and strength of body, strenuous and very powerful in performing battles, and having the sister of the Caesar in marriage.

^A A gift truly heavenly, granted to the King for that time because of the imminent danger. For he collected more than two hundred Latin knights, breathing Mars, and five hundred heavy-armed infantry, and he himself showed himself their leader—and carried off the victory. The Caesar himself was also present, armored, along with his generals and brave ranks. And when the battle lines were already in readiness, Cammytzes, the protostrator and noble counselor, led the left wing; the Caesar himself directed the right wing; Corradus held the center of the army. Branas also arranged his own battle line, occupying the middle of the phalanx himself, and assigning the wings to be commanded by the tribunes. ^B Soon, as the battle lines clashed from both sides, to encompass such a great affair in a few words, Branas falls shamefully by the sword of Corradus, and his head is immediately cut off, and at the same time an end is put to the battle and the tyranny. Then the nobles, who had been rebels, sent an embassy to the Caesar, begging for pardon for their crime. The Caesar showed himself indulgent to all, and receiving those who approached him benevolently, he prudently urged upon all the true repentance for their violated oaths, ^C and that they should seek to be released from the bonds of the sacred anathema by the patriarch of the city of Byzantium, by whom they had been duly bound three days before, while they stood on the highest walls and towers, watching the evil deeds of the rebels. And among these, many, touched by repentance, went fervently to the great prelate; but others, feigning a vain appearance of agreement merely with a nod of the head, mocked the exhortation of the Caesar. He, having departed again into Moesia, checked for a little while the loose, widespread raids of the enemies with arms, advancing as far as the city of Hadrian. ^D Meanwhile, the Mysians were again devastating the villages around the city of Philippi. When the King went to help the part that was suffering, the contumacious Mysian race immediately occupied the place which he had left empty when he departed. Seeking, therefore, to war down the barbarians, he betook himself to the borders of Triaditza; but when he could achieve nothing in the freezing winter, he himself, light-armed, came to Byzantium; and while the soldier remained there under the cold sky, he watched the games and contests of the circus. Yet in the spring time, departing again from Byzantium, he attacked the Mysians with arms; and when he had labored for a long time to capture Lobitzum, a certain fortress of Moesia,

^A leaving the work unfinished, he returned again to the queen of cities. For the charms of the lovely Propontis, and the beauties of this place and the splendor of its houses, the pleasant hunting along with the riding, and the taking of fish with gladness, did not suffer the Emperor to remain for a long time away, but compelled him to come and enjoy them. At that time the Emperor also took as his wife [the daughter of] Asan, and he received John, one of his brothers, handed over as a hostage. Yet this man, by his own base wickedness, later did no less harm to the cities of the Romans.

While Isaac was still holding the imperial power, a certain man named Theodorus Mancaphas, a citizen of Philadelphia by birth, revolted and seized the tyranny of his homeland and of Lydia; and he inflicted very many evils upon the cities and the remaining villages which he overran with arms. The Emperor, arriving at the borders of Philadelphia, shut the rebel up in his own homeland—a man who then, quite justly in light of his actions, was nicknamed "Fool-Theodorus." But since the Emperor could not capture the city of Philadelphia by force or military skill, he offered what remained: namely, that Mancaphas should lay aside the insignia of his power and lead a private life; ^B the city, however, would receive back its old order and submit itself to its former master.

Mancaphas, however, fled to the Sultan, and taking Turks with him as allies, he incurred upon the borders of the Roman Empire and ravaged the lands. But an envoy was sent to the Sultan with gifts, and with the Sultan’s consent, he brought back Mancaphas to the imperial city, and there the Emperor consigned him to shackles and perpetual imprisonment. When this affair became known, it sharpened the Sultan’s brothers to great anger and arms, as they accused the Emperor of treachery, because he had betrayed for the sake of gifts a refugee who had sought protection with them. And they would soon have attacked him with arms, had he not, by putting forward a plausible excuse, claimed that he had restored the man to his homeland under a pledged faith that he would neither die ^C nor suffer any harm in his person.

At that time the King of Germany also sent envoys who asked the Emperor to grant him and his army safe passage through Roman territory, as he was setting out for the lands of Palestine. The Emperor, having sent ahead the grand logothete to the King, arranged the pacts. And having received and in turn given pledges that the friendship with the King would be stable, the logothete returned to the Emperor. Now the King, having entered the borders of the empire, moved his camp as far as the city of Philippi. ^D

^A And indeed, after their relations and contentious disputes and battles, the troops of the Emperor and of the King of the Alamanni crossed the strait, and reached the city of Philadelphia. Passing through Phrygia and Laodicea, the King with rapid movement reached Philomelium, where he joined battle with the Sultan; having conquered him, he took the little town, and having plundered it, he consumed it with fire. Then, having arrived at the city of Iconium and taken it by force of arms and the custom of war, he proceeded on his intended path. But as he hurried toward the city of Antioch, he was suffocated—O judgments of God!—having been caught in the whirlpools of the waters. His son, having received the empire, advanced as far as the city of Antioch, and from there proceeding to the Syrian cities, he drove off the yoke of the Hagarenes from them; having labored much for the sake of Christ, he too met the end of his life there. The Alamanni, having boarded ships, were carried back safely to their homeland.

^B The King of France and the lord of Britain also arrived with armed fleets; and since they attempted in vain to drive the Hagarenes from the holy city so as to hand it over to Christians, they returned again by the sea route to their homeland. Before this, however, the King of the English had landed in Cyprus, and having taken possession of the island, he handed over its tyrant, Isaac Comnenus—a new Echetus—in chains. Then, sailing toward the lands of Palestine, the King of the English had left behind his guard in Cyprus, and he behaved as the master of that island, and from there he conveyed supplies to his military forces. But intending later to return to his homeland, he gifted Cyprus to the King of Palestine, so that he might spend his life there in time of peace and rule over the Cypriots, because he had bestowed the kingdom upon him with pious affection, on account of the life-giving sepulcher of the Lord, inasmuch as it was near the borders of Palestine.

^D Meanwhile, the Emperor, relying on his absolute power, was agitating everything, carrying and snatching away, changing both human and divine affairs, as if in a stage play, according to his own whim. By an unjust sentence, he deposed the patriarch, Basil Camaterus, from his throne, and in his place he introduced Nicetas Montanus—or rather Depontanus—who was worn out with old age;

^A whom he soon after despised for his ineptitude and stripped, against his will, of his pontifical honor. Furthermore, he placed a certain monk in the seat, a man diligent in virtue, whom he claimed in a public assembly to have had revealed to him by the holy Virgin during the night; he asserted that his name, his virtue, and his appearance had been described to him from heaven as if on a tablet. Yet, he pushed even this man from the throne, having no regard for what he had previously said.

Following this, he preferred to transfer a pastor; indeed, the arch-prelate of holy Sion, named Theodosius, a Latin by birth, familiar to him and a seer of the empire, he raised to the highest honor of the patriarchate. But the novelty of this act profited him nothing; for he fell from both priesthoods, that of Sion and that of the imperial metropolis, having been admitted rashly and ejected shamefully. Finally, George Xiphilinus was given as pastor to the city of Constantine.

The Emperor had two daughters of fair appearance born to him of his first marriage; the elder of whom, having duly shorn her hair like a lamb, he offered up to the Lord; and for this reason, he converted a palace—previously called Joannitze—into a monastery and a nunnery at great expense: this, I say, he assigned as a lodging for his daughter. The second, however, he gave in marriage to the son of the King of Sicily, named Tancred.

At his own side, he was rearing as heir to his paternal empire his youngest son, Alexius, who oppressed his country with a heap of evils. Nor was it only Branas and Theodore Lydus who kicked against the Emperor; but after them, also two Alexii, who boasted with a fictitious title that they were born of the Emperor Manuel. One of these, equipped by the Sultan with a huge number of Persian soldiers, was plundering the Roman towns; a certain priest, finding him sleeping at night near Harmala, cut off his head and brought it to the leader of the imperial army. The other, however, was killed in battle by Basil the chartulary Chumnus.

A certain Basil, too, commonly called Chotzas, rebelling against the Emperor in the city of Tarsia, was troublesome to Roman rule: but at last he was captured and the wretch was blinded. And again another, and after that another still, as a fable brings forth giants from the earth—indeed very many stood against Isaac, but all, by God's will, perished. Because this prince was too much in love with himself, irascible, suspicious for an insignificant reason, and also burning with envy against his subjects, he punished many of the nobility by maiming their limbs: ^{B C D}

6005 Whom he condemned and immediately took down From the holy throne, unwillingly, And established a certain Leontius, A man of the monastery, a worker of virtue, Whom he said was pointed out to him that night by the holy Virgin, 6010 Being gathered with the assembly at night, Who had described his name, his virtue, and his manner Clearly, as if in an image. But he drives even this man from the throne, Overlooking all that he had previously said. 6015 He performs a dramatic change of shepherd; For he brought the High Priest of holy Sion, Named Theodosius, born of Latins, A dweller there and an advocate of the state, To the patriarchal seat. 6020 But he gained nothing from this innovation; For he fell from both hierarchies, From Sion's of old and the Queen's once again, And the man promoted without trial was also disgraced. 6025 Then George Xiphilinus Was shown as pastor of the city of Constantine. For from his former seed the autocrat Had planted two daughters of fair beauty; Of whom he shorn the elder, according to custom, 6030 Having consecrated her as a lamb to the Lord; And having turned into a monastery of ascetics And a nunnery, with abundant expenses, The house called Joannitze, He assigns her to dwell and live there. 6035 And [he] wed the second to the son Of Sicily, called Tancred. Raising as heir of his paternal power His son Alexius, the last in time, Who brought a weight of calamities to the fatherland. 6040 Neither Branas nor Theodore Lydus alone Raised a heel against the crown-bearer, But with them also two Alexii, Who named themselves sons Of the purple-born Emperor Manuel; 6045 Of whom the one, having taken from the Sultan A large auxiliary contingent of Persians, Was raiding and ravaging cities of the Romans; Who at night, sleeping somewhere near Harmala, A priest killed, and having cut off his head, 6050 Brought it to the general of the regiments. And another was killed in battle By Basil the chartulary Chumnus. And a certain Basil, by nickname Chotzas, Having revolted against the city of Tarsia, Was harming Roman lands and cities, 6055 Who, being captured, is blinded, the wretch. And again another, and after this another again, As a myth brings forth giants from the earth, And a multitude stood against Isaac, And all perished by the judgment of God. 6060 This emperor, being irascible and self-loving, And from suspicion and the slightest handle, And being jealous and envious of his subjects, Wounded many of the best in their bodies.

^A He deprived Andronicus Comnenus, though innocent, of the light of his eyes, and likewise Constantine by the name of Aspietes. Others he condemned, shorn, to monasteries. When the Vlachs and Cumans were plundering the Roman lands situated to the west, the Caesar again took up arms against them. Therefore, having passed by the city of Anchialus, he entered the Haemus, the settlement of the Vlachs. Finding all the fortresses and small towns there protected by strong garrisons, and covered with walls and towers, he beheld the Moesians like wild goats occupying the rugged and inaccessible places, fearing a set battle with the Romans, and also dreading the incursion of the Scythians; ^B he began to devise a return to the royal city through narrow defiles and impassable places—through a valley practically resembling, if I may so call it, an impenetrable chasm—he directed the march of the soldiers toward Beroea, of which he lost, in truth, the greatest part; and he himself was not far from supreme destruction, had not God, the Savior, brought aid. For when the Caesar and his army cast themselves into the midst of the jaws of such a narrow path, the front of the army passed through without the troubles of battle and unharmed; but the middle phalanx, in which the Caesar was, began to suffer an incursion of the barbarians, ^C who attacked him and his troop from both sides with missiles, spears, and stones. Wherefore he barely avoided his final fate, with many strenuous soldiers lost. But nevertheless, having traversed such a difficult place, he reached Beroea safely, though with a great company, where he found his own soldiers anxious and greatly disturbed by a sad rumor. Therefore the emperor hastened to Byzantium, bringing back the fame of an expedition that was not beautiful, and thus with the brow of his pride lowered, he entered the metropolis of the empire, ^D bearing a soul pierced by the stings of sorrow on account of the defeat he had received. For previously, with raised eyebrow, inflated with pride and a swelling spirit, he had proceeded against the Moesian barbarians, revolving in his mind prophetic sayings, to the effect that his departure would surely be with joy, and his return even more joyful; and that the hills would receive him exulting, and the very trees of the forest would rejoice at his proceeding from the city or returning. Delighting himself in these prophetic songs, and flattering himself, he reasoned thus with himself: that by no means, on account of the common sins that happen among mortals, by the lofty judgment of God, were we to pay the due penalties of malice, when we are delivered to a frantic, barbarous people.

^A O, the wicked counsels and seeds! If any have supposed these things, believing that God delivers up myriads of pious people to destruction at the hands of a barbarian nation, in order to pay the ransom for the wantonness of anyone among us who has suffered evil—furthermore, he used to prophesy that he would assume the monarchy, and that he would restore Palestine, having freed it from the yoke, to the Empire; and that he would drink the milk of peoples to his fill, and consume their wealth and suck out the fat from their marrow, as the prophet says.

He even uttered openly in an assembly, in eloquent words, that Andronikos would preside over the Roman Empire for nine years; but God had reduced it to three years from the time that Andronikos had begun to abuse the scepter: the six years subtracted from Andronikos, as if a piece of purple were torn away by force, had been added to the duration of his own reign: and for that reason, perhaps, he would not be altogether perfect during that six-year period. ^B Yet not even when the aforementioned years had elapsed did he seem to improve his character.

The tribe of the Vlachs was now intolerable, rich with Roman spoils and booty, and equipped with extraordinary wealth for war: wherefore, invading the Roman province, it took the town of Varna along with Anchialos; it also invaded the territory of Triaditza, and finally destroyed Naissos along with Stumpio, having led away from there innumerable spoils: men with women, and flocks of every kind. ^C The Emperor, therefore, being hemmed in by enemies on every side and no longer able to protect the defeated, divided his army for the commanders, ordering part to go to the western regions, and part to the lands recently afflicted by war. He refounded Varna along with Anchialos and placed a sufficient garrison in them.

He himself, having set out again to Philippopolis, repressed the onslaught of the Moesians and Scythians, both by his own presence and by his warlike commanders. And when the Triballian prince was ravaging the city of Skopje with its entire territory, the Emperor launched an attack against him with his army, ^D and joining battle, he struck him down in a triumphal encounter. Then, passing by the entire territory of Naissos, and having advanced to the streams of the broad Sava, he came there to a meeting with his dear father-in-law, whose name was Béla, the King of Hungary; having enjoyed his conversation, and having exchanged tokens of affection as was fitting, he returned from there, as duty called.

After a few days he arrived at Philippopolis, and thence departed for Constantinople. But because the fierce tribe of the Mysians and Scythians was once again molesting the Roman territories, ^A having reached Arcadiopolis as marauders, and because the Roman army, which had dared to march out to engage them in battle, had been shamefully defeated, the Caesar determined to wage war in person. An army was therefore enrolled daily, and the Roman ranks were organized into centuries; a multitude of foreign mercenaries was also recruited from the entire empire. When a countless host had thus been gathered, the Caesar set out from Byzantium as spring began, carrying with him fifteen centenaries of gold ^B and sixty of silver. Having arrived at the city of Rhadestus, he there celebrated the mystical Pasch, observing the solemnity of the Resurrection of Christ on the first Lord’s Day, according to the Christian custom. Whilst there, he came into contact with Basilacius, a man living an unnatural way of life, professing customs familiar to no one, who was famous for his glory in foretelling the future, with all coming to him as if to Loxias. Yet he spoke nothing clearly, nor anything sound or well-defined, but all his utterances were riddling and deceptive. In truth, his words were for the most part scurrilously poured out and worthy of laughter. Fondling the breasts of women with his hands ^C and looking at their ankles as well, he would then at last weave long, foolish songs. Nevertheless, he had enticed a crowd of the rabble, who offered him their ears as if to a prophet. He was accompanied by certain old women, goaded by a frenzied sting and quite mad, who explained all his gestures and words to the surrounding crowd. The common folk, therefore, who knew him, held him in the place of a prophet and a man dear to God; but those who were prudent and endowed with sound judgment considered the old man a ridiculous trifler; others finally believed him to be possessed by a Pythonic spirit. When the emperor approached at that time and greeted him kindly and benevolently, he deemed him worthy of neither attention nor a hearing; ^D instead, running hither and thither like a bacchante, he heaped insults upon those standing around, especially the prefects and senators; nor did he refrain from cursing the Caesar himself; indeed, he even attempted to snatch the crown from his head. Finally, ceasing his equine gambols, with the cheap staff which he happened to be carrying in his hand, he violated the eyes of the royal image which stood painted there upon a panel. Then, having disregarded the man as one of deranged mind, the Caesar turned his attention to other cares. Having moved his camp from there to the fortress of Cypsella,

the occasion of hunting, [he] went out, and invited his brother to go with him. The latter, however, feigning the need for venesection, declined the hunting excursion; wherefore the emperor went out alone. Then the conspirators, having found a suitable time, carried off his brother Alexios with haste into the royal tent and placed him on the throne, and hailed him as Roman emperor, making noise with the applause customary for kings. ^A Having heard the matter, Isaacios prayed to God that He might deliver him from the present danger. Then, seeing the cavalry sent to seize him approaching at a swift gallop, he too, with loosened reins, began to throw himself into flight; and having crossed the currents of an intervening river, he urged the pace of his horse with spurs. But nonetheless, being captured in the town of Stagira, he was deprived of the light of his eyes in the venerable monastery of Bera, ^B of which the founder had been the sebastocrator, father of the Emperor Andronikos. Thus Isaacios, bereft of his sight, was confined in the royal palace as if in a prison, where, because of the bitterness of his pain, he tasted no food for several days. Thereafter, he was assigned a house at the "Two Columns" (as the place is called) on the Propontis, after the master had ruled the Roman empire for nine years and seven months.

ALEXIUS ANGELUS, YEAR VIII, MONTHS VI. ^C And so, having obtained the empire and managing the sum of affairs alone, Alexios did not, however, hasten to Byzantium immediately, but decided that aid and concern should be given to the western parts suffering on account of the troublesome princes of the Mysians, Asan and Peter, those ill-starred brothers. He communicated, however, his dignity to his spouse, to the part of the senate that was in the city, and to the whole clergy and the citizens at the same time. And no one did not gladly drink in with their ears this news of the new situation. While the Empress Euphrosyne Doukaina was nonetheless proceeding ^D to the great temple, a conspiracy of the common crowd—hand in hand—led a man by the name of Contostephanus, called Alexios, into the great and venerable temple of God, and hailed him as emperor of the Romans. But he, being captured immediately by the nobles, received the fitting custody of a prison. Then the entire populace, running to the temple, hailed the Empress Euphrosyne.

^A After some days, the Caesar also came into the city, although he was not welcome to everyone because of his wicked deed against his own brother and master. And someone, chiding him, spoke by chance in this way: “If water indeed chokes those who drink it, who then could sustain life with some other drink? And if a brother does not rescue his own brother from danger, nature itself is lost.” Nevertheless, having gone into the great temple of God and having been crowned by the hands of the patriarch, he went forth to the procession customary for Caesars. A horse—an Arab, from the stalls and well-trained—was brought to him, noble and ready for riding. But when the Caesar went up to seat himself on the saddle, the horse, rearing up and acting strangely ferocious, ^B and lifting its front hooves high in the air, and glaring with a look that was harsh and even frenzied, and striking the ground repeatedly with its hooves, resisted its rider with amazing effort. But when, having suddenly seized the saddle, the Emperor took hold of the reins, the horse nonetheless continued to act with no less ferocity, ^C prancing and beating the earth, and filling the air with sonorous neighing. Nor did it cease from such madness until it had shaken the crown from the head of the ruler, causing it to fall to the ground, where its parts were broken in an ominous and unseemly way; the rider himself meanwhile fell upon the purple trappings. For this reason, having mounted another horse, the Caesar finished the remaining procession, although his crown was broken and fallen—an event which seemed an evil omen to those observing.

This Caesar was endowed with a good disposition, mild, peaceable, of a gentle nature, bearing a cheerful and approachable character, ^D liberal and more than usually compassionate, accessible to all, benevolent to his subjects, sweet, graceful, exceedingly handsome in appearance, upright, in the flower of his youth, a new Nireus. He harmed no one’s body or property, nor did he innovate anything in the Church, nor did he abrogate the laws of the empire; he was a hater alike of sycophancy and slander. And although he was endowed with a tender heart, the crime against his brother, like rot in his bones, pressed fixedly upon his ulcerated mind, and he sought to expiate it with groans and tears. During his reign, no woman ever lacerated her cheeks or tore her hair on account of a husband’s mutilated body, nor was anyone driven from his fatherland into exile. However, he was sluggish and soft in his nature, and not fit for governing the state because of a natural-born sloth and because he was also hindered by his feet. Quietly, therefore, moderating the empire

^A and remaining in the royal palace, he enriched many with gifts and increased them with eminent dignities. Afterwards, he crossed into the East with his forces; for he heard that a certain rebel, Alexius, in the province of Cilicia—having adopted the name of Alexius (who was, in fact, the son of the Emperor Manuel)—was 6355 scouring the villages and disturbing the cities with his incursion. Moving, therefore, to the forts of the Melangians, and being hailed there as lord, the emperor returned to the city. 6360 Then there arose for the Roman empire a baneful and unexpected monster: that tyrant of the Cypriots, Isaac, who suddenly fled to the Sultan and, having obtained auxiliary forces from there, was ravaging the Roman lands and cities. 6365 But death eventually overtook both. The Emperor, being anxious about western lands, sent an experienced general named Aspietas with a numerous and strong army against the Mysian barbarian enemies; 6370 but in the unhappy battle that ensued, Aspietas was captured by the Mysian barbarians. 6375 Again, showing great care for the afflicted western cities, the Emperor sent Isaac—the man to whom he had given his daughter in marriage, and whom he had honored with the dignity of sebastokrator—a second time with a very strong and large army. 6380 But he, too, was captured by the barbarian Asan and endured long chains and imprisonment, in which he died a violent death. 6385 But yet, even the barbarian Asan himself perished, overcome by the hand of a certain Mysian named Ibancus; and Peter obtained the principate of Mysia. 6390 But when he also had been cut down by the sword, there emerged as prince of the Mysians Johannes, brother of Peter and Asan, a man of base character and the bane of the Roman cities. 6395 Ibancus, however, fleeing to the Emperor and received with a willing mind, proved himself useful to the Roman cause, being a flourishing youth, strong of hand, but most prone to taking up anger. ^D To him, as he came into the court, the Emperor gave his granddaughter in marriage 6400 and entrusted him with the prefecture of Philippopolis, which was a wall of defense against the Mysians and Scythians, and a fortification for the portion of the Ausonian lands. llbracket6405 When Sicily had been shamefully conquered by the Alamannic barbarians, at that time the daughter of the Emperor Isaac was also carried off by force into Italy as spoils of war, and was joined in a nuptial bond to Philip, the own brother of the king of Alamannia,

^A Since death had previously carried off her own husband, once the son of the King of Sicily. This woman served to her fatherland a cup, steeped in bitter wormwood and as if full of the Lord’s wrath. The Emperor, suffering from arthritis in his feet and legs, not indeed without respite or interval, but at fixed times and periods, endured intolerable pains because of a vicious humor in his body, while the disease circulated through his frame. Therefore, when the spring season arrived and he was vexed by his customary pains, he boldly attempted a new remedy, which brought him into extreme danger: for, applying white-hot iron plates to both his shins and feet, he burned a grievous cautery into his flesh. And when the pains were quieted for a little while, the Emperor commanded all the physicians to depart far from him, not without insults. But after this, the inflammation of the cautery and the pain in his feet tormented the Emperor; and the physicians were quickly recalled. They were all overcome by a fear that was not vain, lest the customary humor of blood and sanies, blocked from flowing into his feet, might stagnate in the vital parts of his body, and by a sudden death might crush the ailing man, and the ^B scepter might pass to foreign hands. This discourse was held especially before the Queen, who had borne no male heir to the throne, but only a pair of daughters, both of whom were already widowed of their husbands. Irene, the elder by birth, had been joined in truly splendid wedlock to Andronicus, who drew his lineage from the Contostephani; but he cut his life short because of his own softness. The younger, Anna, had likewise been married to the scion of the Comneni, Isaac, who died in chains among the Mysians, as our history has told above. And such was the state of the Emperor’s affairs: ^C he, still being in poor health, left Byzantium and betook himself to the city of Thessalonica. Thence he marched against Chrysum Blachus, who, having occupied Strummitza and its vicinity, was holding a certain place—like his own royal seat—a very fitting, most fortified, and lofty place, a vast castle named Prosacon, which art, vieing with nature, had made inaccessible and impregnable to combatants, and he was threatening the Roman borders in those parts with grave evil and destruction. Therefore, the Emperor approached Prosacon ^D with a flourishing and most admirable army,

^A and having joined a fierce battle with the Mysians, he strove to overcome Chrysus, and to capture his fortress by force of arms. But after much slaughter and infinite toil, looking towards terms of peace, Chrysus agreed to submit to the Emperor for the rest of his life, provided that he be allowed to hold the fortress, and that he be given a wife of royal lineage. With the matter thus concluded, the Emperor left Prosacon and returned to the city of Constantine.

Thenceforth, the fugitive Ibanes broke his faith to the Roman Empire in the city of Philippopolis, and inflicted many losses upon our people; for he often departed the battle a victor, having also captured the protostrator Cammytzes in combat, and he made incursions into the cities of our dominion that lie toward Boleron as far as Xantheia, plundering everywhere, and driving off and carrying away booty. He was a man undoubtedly possessed of a savage heart, barking at the Romans like a rabid dog; and he reached such a pitch of madness and fury that, having captured Roman soldiers in battle, he would cut them to pieces with his sword at his banquets. ^B Wherefore the Emperor, departing Byzantium, betook himself to the city of Orestias; and seeing the rebel to be very strong, and that the Romans accompanying him were terrified of the battle and faint of heart, he was consumed with anxiety, being at a loss for a plan. Yet he offered terms to the rebel, while not meanwhile forgetting the engagement of arms; and drawing his whole army with him, he betook himself into the province of Philippopolis, and there captured the fortress of Stenimachus by force, where there was a huge number of barbarians, whom he enslaved after having sacked the city. Then, having taken the cruel Ibanes, an exceedingly wicked adversary, by false promises, he returned victorious to Constantinople.

When Alexius of the Comnenian Angeloi was reigning, and John Camaterus was holding the sacred throne of the Byzantine Church, ^C a new and spurious dogma emerged, the master and creator of which was a certain monk called Sicidites, truly a babbler of low things and a ventriloquist. For a controversy had arisen as to whether we ought to say and explicitly believe that the Lord’s body which is received in the mysteries is incorruptible, as it is after the passion and the divine resurrection; or whether it is corruptible, such as it was before his death and the passion. ^D One party maintained that it was incorruptible, relying on the teachings and testimonies of the holy Cyril, and of Father Chrysostom, and of Eutychius, the prelate of Byzantium, and of Gregory of Nyssa, the light-bringer, who by their own written magisterium urge that this [body] which is taken by us in the mysteries is such a body of the Lord...

as He received after victory over death and passion, unto the life eternal for the sake of us mortals: we do not partake of a mere portion, but of the entire body of Christ the Lord, from which we who partake are wondrously sanctified.^A But the defenders of the opposite side argued that it did not even offer a type of the sacred and blessed resurrection of the Lord, but that it was made a sacrifice solely as a mystery; hence, that it was corruptible, without sense, and inanimate. Further, that we receive only a portion and not the entire body of Christ the Lord: for if this were entirely incorruptible, it would be neither palpable nor visible. By babbling such things with a false mouth, these men cast a veil over the more ignorant crowd; yet the Emperor, yielding to the better dogma, allowed those who held the contrary view to labor in vain.

The worst race of the Moesians, with the allied band of the Comans neighboring the Danube, was invading the Roman lands, laying them waste, and carrying off much booty and many captives, with which, enriched, they would return to their own country. And they would have continued to do this forever, had not the pious Christian nation of the Russes held back the Barbarians from their evil-doing. For the Prince Galitza, at the urging of the chief pastor of the Russian Church, with a great multitude of soldiers gathered, suddenly burst into the land of the Comans and visited it with total devastation: having done this many times with a friendly spirit for the comfort of the pious Christians, he took away the Comanic aid from the Moesians.

A certain one, born of the Comneni, named John—in the bulk of his body bearing the form of deceit, with a protruding belly and most fat flesh, and by his very appearance aptly called in the common tongue "Crassus"—showed himself a rebel to the Emperor in the city. ^C For having entered the great temple of God, with a wicked daring he placed upon his own head a crown from among those that hung from the holy table, and thus crowned he went out of the temple: and with a favoring crowd of conspirators of men splendid and of noble class, he proceeded straight to the great palace, with applause resounding in the royal manner; ^D soon, when he had sat upon the royal throne, he endowed some with splendid dignities. But the mixed rabble of the people and those of the dregs, running through the narrow streets, ways, and quarters of the city and through the docks, proclaimed this John as Roman Emperor with unrestrained tongue, and at the same time they were plundering the opulent houses. But on the following night, this Crassus—a tyrant in mind and name—being weighed down by wine, with the gates of the palace standing open through negligence,

^A when his band had slipped away through the city, was suddenly captured by the soldiers of the Caesar and offered his wretched head to the sword.

Cammytzes also, the protostrator whom I mentioned above as being held in bonds among the Moesians, having had his prison broken open by the hand of Chrysus, conspired with him, defected from the Caesar, and occupied all of Pelagonia. Then he also took Prilapus with light effort and acted as master of Thessaly; with no one opposing him, he finally moved Hellas and made the Peloponnese rebellious.

Then, too, another rebel suddenly appeared (as if those giants sown of old) ^B, John the Cyprian, by common name Spyridonakes, having this surname from his paternal home; a man foul to behold, in manners and in body, cross-eyed, a craftsman by trade, born of humble lot and a son of the earth, once a palace servant of the Caesar, placed in charge of the inner treasury. Having then obtained the prefecture of Smolena, and elated by unexpected dignity, he rushed toward the madness of apostasy.

The Caesar then had a third misery, the pains of podagra to which he was accustomed. Having therefore divided his army in two, he entrusted the part to be led against Spyridonakes to his son-in-law Alexios Palaiologos; the other, however, he gave to the Oinopolites ^C and sent him to fight Cammytzes. When battle was joined, he conquered both rebels and cast them from the empire by the aid of God; and Chrysus also he drove from the region of Stroummitza.

While Alexios was still holding the command, John, the brother of Asan and Peter of the Moesians, the successor to the rule of his fatherland, raised arms against the empire. Immediately advancing with a very great army upon the Rhodopeian ridges, he won for himself in an easy battle the city of Constantia, well-fortified and set upon heights. Having cast down its walls, the wicked man proceeded to Varna, a city situated by the sea, which, after assaulting it continuously for three days, he finally captured and razed to the ground; ^D and he buried the citizens alive in the trench beneath it—alas for the sorrow!—on the great and blessed day of the Sabbath, not revering at all the holy passion of Christ. Only then did he return to his own fatherland.

Now there would be need of no inept tragedian, such as I happen to be, so that there might be sung worthily the sea and abyss of calamities, the Iliad and tragedy of evils, I say, which happened at once to the city of Constantine; indeed, there would be need of a supreme poet.

^A To overcome all with tragic lament and the drama of human miseries, such as were those eminent ones, Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides! Yet I too, trusting in the power of speech, will endeavor with its aid to recount something.

The Caesar Alexius Comnenus had thrust his kinsman Isaac from the royal throne; and perhaps that had been useful for the empire, had he not neglected the custody of the expelled man. Now, while Isaac was dwelling in the house situated by the two pillars on the Propontis, it was free for any to approach, to hold discourse, and to transact business boldly. Therefore, Isaac, using Italian ministers—men who were friends to him—sent secret letters to his daughter, then the wife of Philip, who was at that time happily ruling the Germans. In these he signified his fortune: and having received letters in return from there, he decided to send his son Alexius to her (whom he also hoped to leave as heir to the kingdom), unknown to those who were watching the youth.

But how he escaped, it must be told. He had recently set out with the Caesar to wage war against Cammytzes, as we have said; but when there was a delay at Democrania, the young man took flight to Athyra. And when a small boat, a tender for a great ship whose captain was a Pisan citizen, having proceeded to the head of the Hellespont, was prepared indeed to receive the fugitive, it was suddenly moved to the shores of Athyra, and having received the youth, it held the deep and transferred him to the Pisan’s ship. But soon as the flight of the youth became known, the Caesar ordered his great ship to be searched by ministers sent by him; yet they returned to him with their business unfinished. For the youth, having had his hair well-trimmed ^B and disguising himself in the clothing of the Latins, and having mixed himself into the nautical crowd, was unknown to all, ^C even to his own acquaintances.

Thus having escaped by flight, as I said, Alexius sails to his sister in Sicily, and having been seen by her, he laments his tragedies and household disasters. She entreats her husband to become an avenger for her father, oppressed by such heavy evils, and for her brother, stripped, exiled, and homeless. While these things were being transacted, another Fury, ruinous to the city of Byzantium, was the Duke of the Venetians, Enrico Dandolo, a fraudulent man and most wretched trickster, ^D a detestable creature, a pest of the empire, who, nursing an arcane flame of envy and long carrying the tinder of hatred buried within, as if under the ashes of his own mind, because of the losses and injuries inflicted—as he said—upon his fellow-citizens by us,

^A he awaited a favorable breeze to light his flagrant, sevenfold great torch of malice against the pillar of the Roman empire. Having thus seized the opportunity, he raised the firebrand of mighty wrath, while time itself supplied the fuel for the flames. He had conspirators in this crime—noble Latin toparchs, who were soon to sail for Palestine for the liberation of the Lord’s Sepulchre—and with these he conspired against our ruin.

These men were renowned for their martial prowess: of the dignity of Montferrat, a marquess named Boniface, a most valiant man; Baldwin, count of the province of Flanders; furthermore, Eric, count of Saint Paul; and also the count of the territory of Blois, ^B along with very many other bold men. Nearly all the naval vessels of the fleet were constructed at Venice over three years: one hundred and ten swift ships, designed for transporting horses, excellently built, and sixty, furthermore, of triremes. ^C Then, too, round ships were gathered from every side from the shores of Italy, numbering more than seventy, of vast size; among them was a certain ship, a prodigy, the greatest that had ever been seen, which they called "The World." This fleet was filled by a thousand horsemen, all of them armed—nay, cuirassed; and there were thousands upon thousands of shielded soldiers, divided into various ranks of armament, though the majority were crossbowmen.

Now when the fleet was prepared for the voyage, ^D then the abyss of evil dilated its jaws, the stormy sea of misery bristled, and a heap of calamities settled upon the city. For the ill-fated Alexius, son of Isaac, the former Byzantine emperor—he who had previously fled the city in secret, armed with letters from the pope of older Rome and the king of the Germans—presented himself to those sailing to Palestine. He sought to return to his fatherland with them, aided by the favor, I say, of both pope and king, who declared that they would hold the aforementioned men in grace if they would restore the youth to his father's empire; beyond the fact that he promised, by means of an immense sum of money, to show himself grateful for their service if he were to regain his empire through their aid. The cunning men, seasoned in various affairs, having then welcomed the simple youth, exposed to their deceits,

^A they bound him with oaths to promise things that could by no means achieve their end. For he did not promise to provide them with such vast seas of wealth, but rather fifty triremes with auxiliary soldiers for the war of routing the Hagarenes. Besides these things, he promised—alas for such folly!—that he would restore the ancient rights of the Pope, that he would reform the rituals of our Church, and finally that he would restore throughout Greece such a faith as the Latins profess. After the fleet at last weighed anchor and reached the small city of Iadara, he captured it at the urging of Dandolo; and when he had taken that fortress, the fleet moved on and turned its prows toward the city of Epidamnus [Durazzo]. ^B And there, the youth Alexius, who was sailing with the Italians, was proclaimed Roman Caesar.

When the ruler of the Ausonians clearly understood these things, he began with ingenuity to renovate the rotting and time-worn triremes, which were barely twenty in number. The fleet, having departed from the port of Epidamnus, utilizing favorable winds to a miraculous degree—for a sea breeze was pressing upon the sterns—reached the city of Constantine most rapidly, with almost none of the citizens as yet aware of the arrival of the Italian enemies. ^C But I need not prolong my account with elaborate digressions; the Latins, knowing how great was the fear of the citizens, by which they saw all men rendered inanimate, steered their fleet securely and easily toward the shores. They themselves leaped onto the land with their horses: all the vessels of different sorts were moved forward into the further gulf as far as the castle which is called "of the Chain." Thus, besieging the city by land and sea, they were partly routing the guards of the walls and partly drowning the sailors in the sea, and the battle was stained with slaughter. But when the middle of the chain was broken, the entire fleet entered immediately, and there was a misery immense and unspeakable. ^D The remaining infantry and cavalry together with the entire fleet then proceeded to the Cosmidium. There the infantry soldiers built a camp on the site of an elevated position (opposite the royal palace), which they fortified in part by surrounding it with a trench, and in part with wooden stakes fixed in a crosswise fashion; likewise, the entire fleet took up its station on the shore. Then indeed, one could have seen the heavy work of Mars being carried out frequently throughout the day on both sides. The high-minded commanders, having snatched up their arms, well-disposed toward the Caesar or closely related by lineage, with the infantry and cavalry together

^A engaged the Latins with stout hearts. They were showing that, within the city, a martial spirit—strong and capable—persisted, and they displayed their own bravery in the fighting. It was possible to see that the Ausonians were not cowardly, nor strangers to valor and brave deeds, especially where the emperor’s son-in-law, Theodore Laskaris—a lion in battle—directed the fighting and managed the wars in a wondrous way. For he, organizing the battles most excellently, would strike and strike down his adversaries.

The Latin army, having gathered, both on land and at sea—oh, the terrible madness!—resolved to capture Byzantium by assault, if they should prevail; but if not, then to depart from there upon offered terms. Therefore, the Latin enemies marched into battle and moved their ships as far as Petrion, carrying large ladders upon the yardarms, fastened with wondrous skill by ropes. ^B Others set an engine against the wall, that accustomed scourge of city ramparts, and placed around it armed men, specifically crossbowmen, to strike the enemy. Then the savage war flared up against the walls, full of terror and exertion. With the ram as attacker, they easily broke the wall facing the sea, but were repelled by our auxiliaries who were in the city. From up on the ladders, the marines struck with stones, spears, and swords the guards of the towers and the defenders of the walls, and quickly put them to flight.

Then the enemies, gaining control of the city’s ramparts, began to set fire to the houses from the Blachernae to the temple of Evergetes. ^C When the emperor saw this terrible disaster, and the trembling and tears of the citizens, and fearing greatly their outcry, he was at length and with difficulty forced to take up arms. Clad in armor, he went forth from the palace, drawing with him a company of noble horsemen and a brave band of young infantry. And perhaps he might have performed some deed useful to the city and the empire, if he had engaged the enemy hand-to-hand, or at least had permitted the fight to his son-in-law Laskaris, who desired the struggle greatly; but now, while he was intent on preserving his own life, he accelerated the ultimate danger for the city. ^D For the emperor, having put on his arms only for show, after he appeared briefly in armor to the citizens, withdrew immediately without having accomplished any worthy deed. And he who had recently come into the battle with a cheerful air, soon departed from it full of ignominy, with the boldness of the Latin enemies increased. When, therefore, the Roman Caesar Alexios Komnenos had retreated into the palace, he judged it useful and necessary for himself[.]

^A to offer no resistance to the impending danger for long. Secretly, therefore, during the night, he slipped out of his quarters and departed for Debeltos, a fortress of Thrace, where he had already prepared a lodging for himself, having held the throne for eight years, three months, and ten days.

ALEXIOS SON OF ISAAC, MONTHS 6

Then once again Isaac possessed the crown along with his beloved little son Alexios. For after the elder Alexios had resigned the power and fled to Debeltos, as I said, the blind Isaac was immediately proclaimed emperor by the senate, released from his prison contrary to his hopes. In turn, Queen Euphrosyne was committed to custody. When he had regained the command, he made entirely clear to the Latins all that had occurred. They, ^B quickly sending his son back to him, as he had requested, so that he might sit with his parent as lord and obtain a share in the dignity of the royal power. Then the entire populace, along with the officials, offered allegiance to both lords at once.

Shortly after, the leaders of the Latins, when they had betaken themselves to the royal palace, having received honors and abundant gifts, departed again with appropriate order. To them, the emperor was handing over seas of money in abundance every day, although these things seemed to them but a drop. Being in need of further money for expenses, he began to plunder the sacred ^C treasures, the divine vessels, the venerable statues, and, having illicitly stripped the ornaments from these, melting down silver and gold coins, he poured them out liberally upon the Italian enemies. He also sought to unite in friendship the Pisans, who were dwellers in the city and had previously been at odds with the Venetians, with the result—alas!—of the ruin of the whole Empire. They, having been reconciled with their former adversaries, afterwards shared daily banquets with them. Then also the Franks, with a combined cohort of Pisans and Venetians who came along voluntarily, suddenly ferried into the city by small boats, ^D made an attack together with armed hand upon the synagogue of those of Hagar, and plundered all its contents; but they were finally driven back by the Turks, with the citizens of Byzantium bringing aid. Enraged, they threw torches at the houses of the citizens, and with that all-consuming fire they burned up most of the best buildings of the city of Constantine. The beginning of the great conflagration was, as I said, from the synagogue of the Agarenes, which place is commonly called Mitaton; and that building pertains to the sea, where also the temple of holy Irene arises: proceeding from there and burning everything, it spread with heavy destruction.

It was not safe at that time to visit one’s friends, unless one were carried about in a boat. Isaac ^A heard these things with sadness; but his son, the ruin of his fatherland, rejoiced in such destruction of the city. As Roman affairs were thus situated, the Caesar recently ejected, coming from Develtus, occupied the city of Hadrian with his arms. The wretched youth Alexios, having learned of the matter, went out from Constantinople with an army, having in his company the Latin leader Boniface, Marquess of Montferrat, whom he had hired for the war with the payment of sixteen hundred units ^B of gold. Having therefore traveled through the cities of Thrace, and having finished the business according to his heart's desire, he advanced as far as the small town of Cypsella, and soon retraced his steps to the metropolis. Then he attached himself to those wicked factions of men who had blinded his parent and tumbled him from the throne, favoring his uncle; a thing the blind king bore with the greatest difficulty, for he had long been planning to extract punishment from the men who had visited such a great evil upon him. Hence, he kept assailing his son with curses, because he heard that he was associating with the worst of men, delighting ^C greatly in such company; that he played dice daily with the Italians, caroused, and disgraced the royal dignity with every action. Therefore, the people and the nobles hated him; nor was the father less worthy of hatred, who, having fabricated ridiculous oracles which promised him a universal kingdom, judged—like one with a damaged brain—that it was foolish, blathering that the Western world would be joined to the Eastern by his own hand, and that he would be lord of the whole world: and that, moreover, both the blindness he suffered, and the disease of arthritis and gout, he would put aside like a cast-off skin. These things his sycophant monks persuaded him of, ^D accustomed to both speak and do everything for the sake of their bellies at the emperor’s banquet; men who, while promising him monarchy with their words, were in the meantime gorging themselves with undiluted wine; and, kissing his infirm hands, they predicted that they would soon receive strength. The gullible old man offered his ears to these delirious ravings and prophecies, and he went about in all manner of joy. He was, moreover, deeply devoted to astrologers, and he delighted in their folly and leaped with great excitement; and he was very much given to those who talked of the stars.

^A Yielding to these [pressures], while seemingly doing so for the public good, he performed many unlawful acts senselessly; ^B for instance, he wished to move the wonderful Calydonian work from its base, where it had originally stood, and transfer it to the Great Palace, as if by this action he could restrain the ferocity and petulance of the raging populace. Meanwhile, the Latin army was lying in wait for the royal city by land and by sea, always given over to a bottomless greed, a truly insatiable vessel, as the proverb says. ^C Constantly raiding throughout the Propontis and all the suburbs of Byzantium, they were plundering and setting fire to holy temples and noble houses alike. Wherefore the gathering multitude of citizens demanded an army from the emperors, that it might offer them support against the enemy. But these prayers were sung to deaf ears; and the rulers themselves, in their folly, refused, being unable even to bear the mention of warring against the Latins. ^D Only Ducas Murtzuflus, having taken up arms, fought with the Italians on one occasion; but because no one brought him support—for the Emperor in his envy wished it so—he was in the greatest danger, had not the archers aided him from afar with their volleys of arrows. Therefore the entire populace of Byzantium, murmuring seditiously, attacked both emperors with base insults and were eagerly seeking another master. In fact, the citizens chose as Emperor a certain youth named Nicholas, who bore the cognomen Canabus, against his will. Then indeed, Alexius, together with the Marquis (for Isaacius was breathing his last, no longer sensing any earthly things), decided that Latin soldiers should be brought to the palace guard without delay. But when the matter reached the ears of the people, it immediately gave birth to tumult and sedition. Ducas, judging this an opportune time to carry out the plans of his own mind, came fraudulently to Alexius at night, and frightened him with false reports, namely that the people were standing at the gates with drawn swords, ready to kill him immediately because he favored the Latin cause. Then the youth fervently begged Ducas to be his rescuer in his peril; and he, having covered him with a cloak, led him secretly through a hidden postern into a deep, obscured tent, where he bound him and handed him over to guard, and shortly thereafter extinguished the miserable man with a noose. And he himself was proclaimed Emperor of the Romans, having adorned himself with the royal insignia.

ALEXIUS MURTZUFLUS, MONTH 2, [small-letter D, 6]

^A As Ducas thus held power, finding the fiscus destitute of money, he summoned the tax collectors of preceding times by law and exacted much gold, and he applied this to the governing of the commonwealth. Then, taking up arms and resisting the Italians, he easily checked their incursions; for which reason he was quite acceptable to the citizens, and especially to the military cohorts. ^B And because Baldwin, Count of Flanders, was devastating the regions of Philea with his soldiers, the Emperor went out against him quickly; but, when the work of Mars was performed, the Roman army turned its back, and the Emperor was not far from destruction; and the holy image of the Mother-of-God, which our kings call an ally in war, was captured by the enemies in the heat of the battle. Then, the concern for conciliating peace having been abandoned, the Latin army prepared itself to capture the city and plunder it. Therefore, having weighed anchors, the ships, in which there were siege engines with ladders, sailed from the shore of the Evergetis monastery ^C all the way to the Blachernae. In turn, Ducas moved his tent, setting it on a nearby hill at a lookout point, from where the enemy fleet was visible, already approaching the walls with soldiers. Soon, the Latins joined with the defenders of the urban wall and the keepers of the towers, and launched a powerful battle; but they were the losers on that day. Afterward, the entire army returned; and two men, crawling up a ladder which they had fixed among others at the Petria, leapt into the captured tower, and having routed the garrison with their swords, they raised a signal of joy to their own men: then the entire cohort of the Italians rushed in. ^D Those courtiers and commanders of the Roman army who stood around the Emperor all threw themselves on foot, and one fled from a thousand in fear; when they reached the Golden Gate, having hastily broken down a new wall, they wretchedly rushed themselves out. But the enemies, alas, a mournful tragedy! roaming far and wide through Byzantium, plundering the houses of the nobility, committed every unspeakable act against the city; and having also occupied the royal palace, they thoroughly plundered the treasures contained within. The Emperor, running through the squares and crossroads, strove to organize the people into squadrons and persuaded them to resist the enemies; but no one would listen to better advice that would at all have been profitable to the city and to themselves:

^A And each one was hastily busy with his possessions, shifting and burying them all the more. But seeing Ducas that no benefit was to be had, and fearing also for himself all the more, lest he be caught and pay a miserable price to the enemy, he rushed into the bright royal palaces, ^B and taking Queen Euphrosyne, he placed her with his daughters—one of whom he himself loved to distraction—in a small boat, and fled as an exile from his fatherland, Byzantium.

A man indeed brave in battles, a constant warrior, magnanimous, strong, crafty, and accustomed to hiding his plans, boasting himself fit for all affairs; lacking a well-proportioned body, always carrying his eyebrows knitted, with a hoarse throat and rough speech, of medium stature and crippled by nature, lascivious, woman-crazy, and an adulterer, he was Protovestiarius in rank when he seized the royal power: the reins of which he held for two months and sixteen days.

THEODORUS LASCARIS, AN. XVIII

After the flight of the Caesar, as I have said, Lascaris and the other Ducas struggled for the empire, both having gone into the great church of God; both were warriors and noble young men. ^C But lot—by which Lascaris obtained the leadership—for the time being caused him to decline the emblems of power; yet, setting out from the church with the patriarch to the Milion and other parts of Byzantium, he graciously entreated the assembled crowds and exhorted them to withstand the enemies, especially those royal guards who carried great battle-axes on their shoulders; he urged the Celts with persistent prayers. But when no one would listen to his flattering words or heed his exhortations, and the cohort of the Latins already appeared, Lascaris, as was fitting, departed from there, deeming it necessary to consult his own safety by flight. ^D Meanwhile, the enemies, with no one standing in their way to restrain their unrestrained incursions, were mercilessly sending the souls of the slaughtered citizens to Orcus, carrying off wealth, and ravaging the city with fire and robbery. O intolerable, mournful spectacle! The sacred ornamentation of the temples is torn away, and the venerable treasures and holy vestments, the icons of Christ and of His most pure Mother, and of other saints, are cast to the ground; and the apostates, in their impiety, claim for themselves the precious metal stripped therefrom with violence. [They assault] venerable matrons and holy virgins.

to the departure. A cry was immediately raised as if he were departing, and they suggested it with great zeal. They gave thought to the emperor, and at the same time they poured out in great numbers, and every one vied to be an avenger of the imperial safety, even to the point of risking danger if necessary. While holding one another back in the tumult, they hastened to the monastery of the Sosandra, [A] intending to inflict the ultimate evils upon those whom they called ill-disposed toward the imperial power. There were also some who remained and did not go along, acting more cautiously than boldly, hoping at the same time that if those against whom the others were rushing were removed, they might more audaciously move upon the tents to carry off the treasures; for there would be no one to hinder them, since the owners would have been destroyed. Therefore, while some stood together with certain of the officials inside the temple where the hymnody was being performed, others rushed in a body, making a clamor contrary to custom. They were already visible to those inside as they went directly toward the monastery. Some of the servants who were on the outside, guessing the cause of their disturbance—fearing lest they might commit some prohibited act, being almost independent, and at the same time suspecting an insurrection—revealed it with pale faces to those within. [B] Those within told the news in haste to their masters, and though they heard them suggesting with the greatest ardor that the gates of the monastery be locked against the ones approaching (for they could not even conjecture why the rushing crowd would be coming to their own detriment), they supposed that they were also coming for those common rites. But when those same servants went out again and, as the crowd approached, suspected that the tumult and disorder were even greater, they reported what was happening with even more haste, and others came running after them, and then others again; for there was no one then who was watching who did not suppose that their arrival was not for some great calamity. [C] Whence many, fearing for themselves because of those unfavorable suspicions, hid themselves in various places. But those who cared more for the Mouzalones than did the others, approaching again in disorderly fashion and with troubled countenances, reminded them of the invasion of the men, and said that they must restrain the speed of those who were rushing by closing the gates, lest they succeed in entering; for such a great tumult, they said, was not for anything good, but would end in some evil. [D] Those who spoke of these fears were not heeded at all; for destiny, I think, was leading them, and the saying is true, that God deprives of their senses those whom he intends to destroy. Yet, furthermore, none of the great men present cared about what was being done, hearing

^A Thessalonica, he afterward conceded; all the people of which went out to meet him joyfully with applause and praises, and readily offered themselves and their city as subjects to King Baldwin, though they asked with earnest prayers that he himself and his army might be willing to abstain from entering the city. Baldwin kindly agreed to this, and soon returned and betook himself to Byzantium.

Thereupon, obeying the counsels of Dandolo, he was reconciled to the Marquis who was angry—indeed, who was standing with his arms at a distance from the city. He, immediately and willingly coming from Didymoteichon to Thessalonica, betook himself into the city and obtained it with no one resisting. He treated the citizens with many injustices, stripping them of their money and their principal houses. Leaving behind there his wife Maria, who had formerly been the wife of Caesar Isaac, he departed thence with his army accompanying him, traversing the lands lying to the West. He gained possession of Serres, and also of Berrhoea. He occupied Larissa and all of Hellas, ^B and likewise the Peloponnese, and other cities and provinces bordering upon these; and he brought almost the entire western region into subjection to the empire of the Latins.

Meanwhile, Baldwin, residing in the city, sent his brother Henry to the East with Peter, a brave and magnanimous man, endowed with heroic strength and stature. Henry, having been strengthened by the help of the Armenians, the inhabitants of the Troad, was laying waste the lands and plundering the cities, whatever ones refused obedience to the Italians. Then, through the narrow passes of Mount Ida, he advanced to the city of Adramyttion. Peter, however, departing from the city of Pegai, was proceeding on an easy journey to Lopadion, where he first encountered the Roman forces under Prince Theodore Lascaris, drawn up well for battle not far from the town called Poemanenum. ^C These, however, being no match for the strength of the Latins, having been driven from their camp, took to flight; and Peter easily took possession of Lopadion and other cities neighboring to it.

But when he had also attempted the city of Prusa, he found that he was laboring in vain; nor was he troublesome to the city for any longer. The city of Philadelphia, the rival of Prusa, did not submit to Latin servitude. Theodore Mancaphas, by name, tracing his lineage from this city, having joined battle with the Latin Henry in a certain place not far from Atramyttion, ^D barely escaped death himself, yet nonetheless the city itself

^A remained free of Latin dominion. Meanwhile, the marquis, making war upon the western cities, was subjecting them to the Latin name, using certain of our own people as guides for the way. Leo Sgouros, however, having stationed a troop at the famous place in Attica, Thermopylae, pretending to offer battle to the Italians, yet having accomplished nothing courageous or noteworthy at all, fled from there in a rush to Corinth. 7280 He was a man sprung from the region of Nauplion, having received from his father a modest principality: but through the reciprocal current of the times and the inverted and shifting course of fortune, he progressed steadily, becoming great from small beginnings. 7285 He plundered the city of the Corinthians, and took Argos for himself with like banditry. Finally, he invaded Athens as well, but being repulsed by the words of the most wise archbishop, Michael Choniates, he quickly ran off to the seven-gated Thebes, 7290 and having secured it most easily by the law of battle, he came out to the passes of Larissa, where he met with the emperor Alexios, who, having departed from northern parts, wandering here and there in the manner of an exile, 7295 had now arrived at the Thessalian Tempe, having in his company his daughter Eudokia, whom he then betrothed to Sgouros. She had been previously united in marriage 7300 to Stephen, the chieftain of the Triballi, who repudiated her and sent her back to her fatherland. The same woman later wed Murtzuphlos Doukas, after he had lost both his empire and fatherland. 7305 But him, Alexios later captured by guile—an emperor of wandering catching a wandering emperor 7310 —and made him blind, extinguishing the lanterns of his eyes. Afterwards, having fallen into the cruel hands of the Latins and being led as a prisoner to the city of the empire, he suffered the penalty for having broken the throat of Alexios Angelos with a deadly noose: 7315 for he was cast down from high upon the column of the Bull—alas for justice!—and being dashed on the ground, he perished by a violent death. 7320 The marquis, having reached Boeotia, brought it under his sway by war; he also took Attica, together with Euboea. And, to explain the matter in few words, before a full year had passed, the eastern and western lands of ours 7325 alike succumbed to the dominion of the Latins. The emperor Alexios, henceforth an exile, having come face to face with the Latin marquis, was unwillingly stripped of the insignia of empire: then he was sent to a western region of the salt sea, 7330 to end his life there with the empress Euphrosyne, his spouse, having been allotted a place in keeping with his fortune. As for the royal guards of the Caesar, sturdy men and of noble lineage,

^A they chose rather to be with the Marquis, offering him their own valiant assistance, and desiring to be subject to his command; but he absolutely rejected their prayers, declaring that he had no need of Roman soldiers, nor did he seek their aid. They then became suppliants to Baldwin, if by chance they might attain their desire; but seeing themselves cheated of their hope for these matters, they came to John, the prince of Moesia, brother of Peter and Asan, born in Haemus, a bold man, a strenuous warrior, and the destruction of the Roman cities which he was devastating along the Western regions, relying on the alliance and aid of the Scythians. ^B He, that he might cause detriment to the Latins, gladly received those suppliants and sent them back one by one to their own country, ordering them to inflict damages upon the Latins, whom he knew had long been hostile to him, and who were threatening him with the terror of war, the plundering of his country, and the loss of his principality, unless he served the Latin masters and performed their commands with prompt obedience. When the soldiers whom we have mentioned returned to their country, they persuaded the cities of the West, of Thrace, and likewise of Macedonia, to revolt from the Latin empire, ^C with God favoring and the Moesians assisting. They sent many Italians down to Orcus, especially the inhabitants of Didymoteichon; others they forced to flee to Byzantium. And this slaughter freed the Eastern lands from the Latin scourge, while further heavy disasters crowded upon the Italians; it simultaneously made more modest those who, puffed up with pride, held the great province of Pelops and Hellas by force of arms. They were holding Didymoteichon and Adrianople, having established an excellent Roman garrison with the help of the Vlachs. John, however, was collecting forces and summoning Scythian subsidies, and he saw to it that this was done secretly from the Latins. ^D But the king of the Italians, Baldwin, having learned of the movements of the conspiring Romans, sent soldiers to the rebellious cities, by whom Tzurulus was captured with Byzia, and both were subjected to the Latin yoke. All the citizens, distinguished by wealth or lineage, had deserted the city of Arcadius; the remaining population, however, having gone out through the gates, chose to do battle with the Italians; but they were all put to flight and cut down by the sword, while the fury of the Latins spared no one, and did not even grant the favor of a grave. The remaining Latin army, however, which Baldwin the Caesar himself was leading,

^A betook itself to the city of Orestias, for, having constructed siege-works, it was striving with the utmost effort to seize it. Then the city, being in peril, sent an embassy to the Bulgarian prince, John, seeking the support of effective soldiers to rescue it from the imminent danger. He listened to the embassy willingly, and having taken a Scythian auxiliary force, he suddenly attacked the Latin army, put it to flight, completely defeated it, and took alive the Emperor Baldwin, a young man adorned with many virtues, but especially with temperance and justice, as my previous history has related. Having kept him imprisoned for a long time at Trnovo and having subjected his army to many cruel torments, he finally inflicted upon him a piteous punishment, casting him down from very high cliffs. ^B After him, Baldwin’s brother, by the name of Henry, ruled over the Latins in the city; a man of pleasant aspect, benevolent to his subjects, and at the same time a strong and courageous leader, and very ready to incite battle. He had very brave Greek soldiers, whom he led in a well-ordered line, a triumphal and select phalanx. He often played the grave gamble of war with the Roman prince, Laskaris, and captured our cities and provinces through the strength of his spirit and the abundance of his soldiers; namely the city of Lentiana and Poemanenum, and he also overcame Ochyras with arms. In these struggles, three men perished who were distinguished by nobility and wealth: Dermocaites, who was a leader of the army; Andronicus of the family of the Palaiologoi, to whom the Caesar had given in marriage his eldest and most beloved daughter, Irene; and finally one of the Caesar's brothers. ^C While Henry was holding the empire of Byzantium, a certain Latin cardinal named Pelagius, a rash man and a scorner of laws, was sent by the Pope to the royal metropolis as his legate and supreme prelate. Proceeding to commit deeds worthy of the one who sent him, he began to harass all the monks and priests who dwelt in Constantinople and to imprison them on account of controversial dogmas and rites. ^D The citizens bore this matter heavily and with bitterness, especially the notables and senators, who approached the Emperor Henry to plead for the evils of their kin, speaking to him confidently in this way: "We, Emperor, are of a foreign race,

^A and born of a free flock, differing from your customs and holding to our own rites; yet we submit ourselves willingly to your rule. We are prepared to offer you the service of our bodies, but not to share with you in spiritual communion. Either, then, put an end to these evils immediately, or set us free, that we may return as free men to the pastures of our own race." The Emperor heard these things gladly, and though the legate Pelagius was unwilling, he broke their bonds, resolved their troubles, and willed that the holy temples be open to all. Such things happened in the regal city.

Now I proceed to the Roman princes, and I shall recount their affairs in historical succession. After the royal metropolis was captured by the Italians, Theodore, known by the surname Lascaris—whom we recognize as the son-in-law of the Emperor Alexius—departed from there, hastening with his spouse. And when he reached the city of Nicaea, ^B he left his beloved wife there; but he himself, traveling through Prusa and the surrounding regions, and to other villages and cities, conciliated the peoples with suitable words, so that they might acknowledge him as their sole king and lord; nor was he disappointed in his aim. For after no long time had passed, he was in fact created king and emperor, and Michael, who had recently obtained the title of Patriarch of the city of Byzantium, duly crowned him with the royal diadem.

Lascaris, therefore, having been created emperor, bore the burden of the empire very virilely—or rather, royally indeed—constantly exposing himself to dangers and engaging in grave battles with the Latins; an excellent king and brave emperor, very well prepared for the hard work of Mars, and struggling vigorously for the republic, ^C warding off the wolves from the sheepfold with all his might; fearsome to enemies, but mild toward his subjects; small in body, yet lively for battle, always brandishing his spear against the enemy, extending the frontiers of the Roman empire, and freeing Latin cities from tyranny and recalling them to their ancient dominion by arms and various stratagems of war. He was also clement, merciful, and courteous, and of a liberal and munificent hand; wearing a beard flowing down to his chest, with a pointed head and somewhat swarthy complexion, prone to love and to anger. For a long time he endured heavy labors, struggling in hard contests with the enemy for his subjects and for the republic. To him, truly, we all owe gratitude, because he caused the Roman empire, already quite extinguished, to revive greatly by his own work. ^D

^A For this man, who had firmly taken power, there was an infinite concern to expel the Latins from the East, and to bring those territories back under Roman rule. Since no one was restraining the Latins, they held not only the western lands, but also a very large part of the East. For they had occupied the province of Bithynia, Lentiana, Poemanenum, and Baris, Lopadium, and Ochyra with their neighborhoods. Indeed, they had gone as far as the regions of Adramyttium, and had taken all the coastal places and cities, having despoiled them and made them subject to themselves.

No less did the tyrannies arising within his own domain gnaw at the spirit of the Caesar. For in the small city of Sampson and its villages, Sabas held sway; and in Philadelphia, Theodorus the Fool; and David Comnenus held all of Paphlagonia, the brother of that Alexios who some time before had brought the city of the Trapezuntines under his yoke, he who was called the Great Comnenus. Both of these men traced the origin of their lineage from the Caesar Andronicus, being begotten of his son Manuel. But the Emperor, with God’s help, easily overcame Theodorus and Sabas at once, and from there made himself lord of Celbianum, Philadelphia on the Meander, and the Neocastra. ^B But he obtained Paphlagonia with greater difficulty, after David Comnenus had been defeated in battle; and from there he acquired, along with Heraclea, the cities of Amastris, Cytorum, and Cromna, with their surrounding fields and small towns, and he became lord of the Paphlagonians. ^C And indeed, though surely with difficulty, he overcame the Turks and the Italians through perpetual battles, yet he did overcome them, since God provided his strength.

But the exiled Alexios, once emperor and father-in-law to the one now holding the scepter, troubled the spirit of the Lascarid. For he, after losing his kingdom—as my previous history has recounted—had come wandering to Thessalonica, and having been received with great love and honor by Maria, who was of the German race—she who had been the wife of his brother Isaacius, and then had entered into marriage with the Marquis—he was dwelling there with his wife. But when he was found attempting the spirits of the citizens, he was soon cast out with his wife and children. ^D Going straight to Sgurus, the tyrant of the Corinthians, he gave his daughter in marriage to him, and thus joined him to himself by a marriage alliance. Soon he sailed from there to Aetolia, to Michael who was dominant there at the time, and who was also ruler of what is called Old Epirus (for he was the nephew of Alexios by his brother). However, having been intercepted by Longobard pirates, they sent him to Michael for a price in gold.

^A Having spent a sufficient time in the domains of Michael, Alexios, Queen Euphrosyne dies of a disease and is buried in the small town of Arta. He himself sailed to the city of Attaleia, where he was received with a willing heart by the Turkish Sultan Iathatines, whom he had formerly welcomed as a guest at Constantinople when he was a fugitive from his brother, and had adopted as a son in baptism, with whom he had even abandoned Byzantium. But afterwards, Iathatines—I know not how—happily returned to his ^B own country and emerged as the king of the Turks and Sultan of Iconium. This man, therefore, became at that time a refuge and consolation for the wretched Alexios. For, returning the favor to the petitioner, he sent an envoy to the new Caesar and urged him to cede the empire to his father-in-law, his former master. Then, having taken up arms against our people and set out with an innumerable army, having Alexios in his retinue as an exile, he seized the city of Antioch ^C situated, namely, on the Meander River. But neither did Lascaris neglect his own affairs; for, having gathered together as many forces as he had, and placing his hope in Christ the Lord, he went out boldly against the Sultan. But soon, after a very grave battle had been joined, the greatest part of the imperial army was cut down, consisting of Latin mercenaries, after they had performed strenuous deeds; but our Roman phalanx fled in confusion from the battle line, with the exception of a few who awaited the final outcome of the fight. While victory thus smiled upon the Barbarians, the Sultan, wandering here and there on horseback, was hunting for the Roman Emperor. When he saw him on horseback in the crowd, trusting in the strength of his own arm, he struck the Caesar on the head with a mace, and he fell to the ground with his saddle, suffering ^D from the blow dizziness and darkness. Yet, while Lascaris was in such danger, he immediately recovered his breath, and being filled with strength through divine inspiration, standing on his feet with great courage, he drew his sword and bravely cut the legs of the mare that was carrying the Sultan, and brought him headlong to the ground. Then, unexpectedly and by the hand of an unknown person, the Sultan’s bloodthirsty head was severed, and the victory immediately passed to our side. And this triumphal success made the Caesar terrible to the barbarian enemies and pleasant and most welcome to his subjects; furthermore, it refreshed the spirits of the people and filled them with appropriate confidence.

^A From that point the haughty nation of the Turks willingly made peace with the Roman empire. Consequently, the emperor was later more free to conduct wars against the Latins. Now, having received his father-in-law from the midst of the battle, he showed him the honor he deserved, though quite unexpectedly, and moving him to the city of Nicaea, and stripping him only of the emblems of imperial power, he granted him the monastery of Hyacinth as a dwelling, in which, having died, he was buried with magnificence. And thus the affairs of Lascaris stood.

Now our history turns again to Michael, nicknamed Angelus, who held, as we said above, the subject territory of Old Epirus together with Aetolia. ^B This Michael had three brothers dear to him: Manuel, Theodore, and Constantine; of whom Theodore was staying in the city of Nicaea with the Roman emperor. Now, since Michael lacked a legitimate son as heir to his principality (for the one he had, named Michael, was a bastard he had conceived from a forbidden union), he begged the emperor to release that Theodore from his court and send him back to him. The emperor, consenting, immediately sent the man, after he had promised him under oath that he would maintain a friendly disposition and sincere loyalty, for as long as he lived, to him and certainly to the successors of his empire. Thus Theodore, coming to the West, was with his brother Michael, who, as I said, was prince of Aetolia and Epirus.

But after Michael was cruelly cut down by the sword during the night by a man who was, in name, a Roman, while he was asleep at Bellegradum, and thus suddenly exchanged his life for death, ^C Theodore took up his brother's principality—a warlike leader, a strenuous fighter, a second Briareus, a giant in battles; who, having taken over his brother’s patrimony, which was previously a small and strictly bounded domain, increased it, widened its borders, and made it great and spacious. ^D By the cities of the Bulgarians and Italians, by the towns of the Illyrians and the regions of the Triballi, he made it wealthy and expansive. For, to speak in few words, he subjected to himself Achrida, Prilapum, and Pelagonia, together with their lands and neighboring towns. He occupied Thessaly along with Achaia and Macedonia, with a portion of Thrace; he acquired Dalmatia along with Epidauros, the Illyrian tract, and the mountain-dwelling Albanians. But nothing brought him as much glory as the splendid slaughter of Peter the Latin. For this man, since he had as wife the sister of the emperors Henry and Baldwin, and was crowned Latin Caesar by the Pope,

^A when Henry had died, he was sent to Byzantium; and being carried to the city of Dyrrhachium, he made his way through the Albanians on foot toward Byzantium with an equipped army. But Theodore, a vigorous man, forestalling him, defeated Peter with a notable victory and destroyed him along with his entire army. He even seized the city of Dyrrhachium and enriched his army with plunder, and he himself put on the royal crown, for Peter had been slain in battle, as I have said. For having fortunately increased his domain and being elated by successive victories, ^B he was not content with the wealth he had acquired, but, panting after greater things beyond what was lawful, he called himself Emperor and Caesar of that which was subject to him, and was crowned with a royal diadem by Demetrius, the chief bishop of the Bulgarians. But God did not at all approve of this deed, for He hates the proud minds of men; wherefore Michael later paid the penalty, being deprived of the light of both his eyes. Peter, having been stripped of life in the battle, left behind four surviving children: Robert and Philip and Baldwin, and furthermore a daughter, the woman Mary. Of these, Robert ruled in Byzantium, but managed the commonwealth sluggishly ^C after the life of Caesar Henry—a vigorous man and truly most brave—had ended. After him his brother Baldwin reigned, a modest, temperate, and gracious man, during whose rule the city of Constantine returned to the Roman empire. Mary, the daughter of Peter, was joined by a nuptial bond to the Emperor Lascaris, who had mourned his first wife as dead, while the second, born of the Cilician race, he had sent back to her homeland out of some hatred, I know not what. He desired Robert, his wife’s brother, as a son-in-law, joining him to his third daughter, Eudocia, against the prohibition of the Church. A dispute with Patriarch Manuel, who was called the Philosopher, ^D arose from this, as he forbade such nuptials from taking place. But God broke off the unlawful marriage, for before it happened, the Caesar himself put an end to his human life. Nevertheless, while Lascaris was still reigning, Henry, lord of Byzantium, caused many troubles and long wars, as he brought Roman towns under his own control, and plundered and ran through the cities. For he was an effective man, with a strong hand, always eager for battles, and the equal of Mars; and when he perceived that the Romans were struggling—especially because Lascaris the Emperor had lost his knights while defeating the sultan—

^A regarding the Italian men, brave and valorous, 7740 he constantly raided the Roman borders. Since no one was seen to restrain them, he reached such a pitch of audacity as to overrun even as far as Ionia, plundering the lands in between, destroying and laying waste by the laws of war, and pitching his tents near the region of Nymphaeum; then, having turned back, he reached the city. Such, therefore, were the affairs of Lascaris and Henry, [and] they arrived at mutual agreements for peace. 7750 The conditions and terms of the agreement were these: that the city of Ochyra with its territory and the villages situated around Mount Cymino (which mountain is not far from the city of Ochyra) should be yielded to the Latin masters and inhabitants. But the village of Calamus, from where the so-called province of the Neocastra begins, was to belong to neither side and to remain deserted. The regions lying to the East, namely the Neocastra and the city of Pergamus, 7760 Celbianum, Chliara, and Smyrna, along with the territory lying directly and obliquely beside them, were all to be surrendered to the Emperor Lascaris. Now my spirit moves me to reveal in the remainder of this history all that the Bulgarians did against us during that time. While the Byzantine Empire was still flourishing, the Bulgarian nation was the cause of many evils to our commonwealth. For they defeated Isaac, surnamed Angelus, 7770 in a great slaughter at Beroea, so that when they took other spoils, they also plundered the sacrosanct wood of the Lord’s Cross, which was like a leader for our kings in battles, a strength, and an omen of victory. It was a case of excellent and ineffable appearance, shining with gold and precious gems, and by the art of the sophisticated workmanship, containing in its bosom the venerable wood which the Lord, having had his body formerly nailed to it, 7780 sanctified, perfusing it with his blood. There were also other cases on either side, fashioned most beautifully by a goldsmith, containing the relics of Christ’s martyrs and the holy milk of the Theotokos and Mother of God, together with a segment of her venerable girdle, and many other most religious ^D items. They offered many battles and struggles to Alexios as well, who succeeded Isaac 7785 and was equally sprung from the Comnenian and Angelian stock. And when Byzantium had been seized by the Italians and its empire reduced to nothing, John, the ruler of the Bulgarians, a man inhuman or a bloodthirsty dog, the brother of the detestable Peter and Asan, 7795 while he was besieging the Latins at Adrianople and striving with all his might to capture it,

he attacked with a Scythian army, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and even captured their leader Baldwin alive, as we said above. Afterwards, he tried to add the city of Orestias to the towns under his own rule, but he gaped in vain like a wolf. ^A Hence, moved by wicked fury and puffed up with pride like another Sennacherib, since nothing at all resisted him, he overran Macedonia and Thrace, laying waste to villages and destroying cities, plundering, ravaging, and shaking them to their foundations. First of all, he overturned the famous and most noble city of Philippopolis; then he laid low other cities: the glorious Heraclea and Selybria, Rhaedestus and Panium with Daonium, Maronea, and also Traianopolis, as well as Mosynopolis and Stagira, and very many others, this vilest of mortals. Thus indulging in devastation and banditry, he finally arrived at famous Thessalonica, where he met an untimely end of his life, by pleurisy, as was the rumor, ^B or, as those who know better rightly admit, and as is commonly believed, it was Christ’s martyr Demetrius, the protector of Thessalonica, who struck him down. When the tyrant had been removed from the living, a nephew of his, a son of his brother named Borilas, having unlawfully wed his Scythian aunt in an incestuous marriage, took over the rule of the Bulgarian people. But the tutor of the young Asanis, ^C secretly planning for his life, took the boy and carried him off to the Scythians for safety. Queen Anna, having borne three daughters to her husband Laskaris, departed this life: namely, Irene, Maria, and Eudocia. The King, her father, gave the second daughter by birth, Maria, in marriage to the son of the King of the Paeones, as he was returning to his own country. He gave the eldest, Irene, in marriage to Andronikos of the stock of the Palaiologoi, whom he also honored with the dignity of Despot. When he died, ^D as the narrative mentioned beforehand, he gave her in second marriage to a man full of graces and graced by his name, Vatatzes, sprung from the line of the Doukai and native to the city of Didymoteichon, honored with the rank of protovestiarios. And his father-in-law, as he was dying, handed over the empire to him; he was buried in the monastery of Hyacinth at about the fiftieth year of his age, having ruled for eighteen years.

JOANNES DUCAS VATATZES, YEAR 33

^A Of Manuel, called the Philosopher, 7855 Who after Maximus held the throne, And then took hold of the rule of the empire, And of the common affairs of men with manly vigor. For he was a prudent general, and a counselor, With a disposition of soul combined with daring, With the strength of his arms and the vigor of his other limbs, 7860 Adorned above all by prudence, And steadfast in the battles of his rivals; A good king and a noble fighter, Beneficent and very compassionate, 7865 To his subjects mild, and very sweet, But to his enemies terrible and a sight hard to face, Courageously risking himself for his inheritance, Truly a treasury of good deeds, Truly grace-named, a divine grace, 7870 Increasing and widening the borders of the Romans, With arms, and strategies, and good counsels, Often leading the army, steadfast in battles, Recovering the cities for the Roman Empire, With knowledge, word, deed, and experience of war, 7875 Which the Latins had subjected to themselves, And the deserters of the Ausonians, not rightly. Showing a mild and approachable character, Moderate, upright, accessible, gracious, Honoring monks and the ministers of God, 7880 Holding the high priests as equal to the angels, Not overturning the customs of the Church, A praiser of the apostolic dogmas, And of the laws established by the Fathers, Having a magnanimous mind in good things; 7885 A clear proof of this magnanimity Is the much-heralded monastery of the Sosandroi, Or rather, one might say, a wonder of the world. Yet it had a small cloud briefly obscuring The sun of his virtues, 7890 For he was conquered briefly by the allurements of love. There was for him also a glorious partner of his bed, Irene, the renowned glory of queens, A good portion and an exceptional nature, A helper rivaling him in deeds, 7895 A woman of virile mind and fearing God, Modest, magnanimous, a second Deborah, Governing the power no less than her husband, And sharing with him the anxieties, Very pious and seemly, a strange nature, 7900 A horn of Amalthea clearly, as the saying goes, Which is a task impossible to describe as to beauty, For the skill and variety of the marbles, The most beautiful house of the Forerunner in Prusa, Which she founded as a holy sanctuary, 7905 And entrusted it to be inhabited by monks and servants of God. She loved the fathers of words very much, Both monks and priests of God, And she was a great provider for the needy. But it was not bearable for the crown-bearer 7910 To see the Roman borders so restricted, And the vineyard of the whole empire

^A devastated by the Italians as if by swine. Wherefore, trusting in the Arbiter of battles, the victorious and omnipotent Lord, he joined a terrifying battle with the Latins in the territory of the town called Poimanenon, where a temple rises to Michael the archangel, the tribune of the heavenly orders. Leading the Roman army, therefore, were many others, as well as the Caesar, excelling all the brave ones, as if in heroic ranks, like Achilles of old, brilliant in arms and arrayed in the glory of victories. Leading the numberless Latin host, ^B besides others, were two brothers of Theodore Lascaris, who had reigned recently, and who, having earlier defected from the Emperor John, had betaken themselves to the side of the Italians; and now, conspiring with the hostile army, they had marched against us into the battle line. Therefore, as the armies clashed on both sides, the Roman Emperor brought back the victory, and the strength of the Latins was laid low. Then the Emperor was seen breaking through and putting to flight the columns of the enemy with divine power, ruling all by his command, filling them with courage, mounted, armored, bearing a spear as well, ^C running up and down, surveying the ranks, striking down enemies with a lethal lance, fighting the war with his own hand; and with but a few to accompany him, like a new Gideon, he crushed the great throngs of the enemy, whom he partially slaughtered in the battle line with the sword, and partially led away in chains as captives; and he also blinded those Lascarids. And this triumph crushed the audacity and the arrogant spirits of the Latins; but it exalted the fortune of our people and restored great confidence. Then another Latin army, which was shaking the city of Serres with war, ^D known for the slaughter of its kin, quickly retreated from there in a tumultuous flight; naturally fearing lest it might see the army of Theodore Angelos, of whom our history has already made mention, rushing upon it. For this man, as we have said, the lord of the cities of Orestias, Serres, Thessalonica, and other small towns with their lands, and having already assumed royal insignia, was sustaining the Latin wars remarkably. But he was resisting our Emperor, too, who certainly bore with equanimity Angelos being second in the empire and conducting himself as lord of his own cities; but the latter held fast to the crown with all his might, and absurdly designated sebastokrators, despots, and domestics, and other names of dignities of this sort, as if he were Emperor. But the Emperor, after that victory,

^A having forcefully struck down the Latin army and crushed their haughty pride, he straightway occupied cities with their territories, including Lentiana, Pœmanenum, and then Charioron and Vervenicum. Having also equipped a fleet of long ships, he caused many troubles for the Latins, attacking them often by land and sea, carrying off spoils, and wearing them down as best he could, seizing their cities by force, among which were Madytus and the city of Calliopolis, with all the surrounding villages and lands. While the Caesar was engaged in these wars, he suffered treachery from his cousin, the son of his uncle, named Nestongus, who had as fellow conspirators noble men: his brother Isaac, Tarchaniotes, Synadenus, and Phlamulius, and the great hetaireiarches, Macrinus, and others besides. When the Emperor learned of this, he burned the fleet and fled with swift haste to Ochyras; there he instituted an inquiry into the matter, and found the aforementioned men guilty of the crime. Therefore, he punished Nestongus—the brother of the prime minister—and likewise Macrinus, by depriving them of their eyes; he imprisoned others, and he likewise handed over Andronicus to be kept in chains in Magnesia, from which he escaped and fled to the Turks. From that time on, the Emperor surrounded himself with armed guards for the protection and safety of his body, having abandoned his previous ease of simple life and his freedom from suspicion. ^B And for this, he also had an assistant and companion in life, a helper in his affairs, one who shared his bed: Queen Irene, who possessed a masculine spirit and a royal temperament for conducting affairs, worthy of her name, the author of peace. ^C When the Italians perceived that the war they had undertaken against the Emperor was useless, they made a treaty of peace with him. They departed from the city of Pegasus and from other towns and territories, as many as were located to the south, but they retained the northern vicinity of Byzantium, along with parts of Bithynia. Thereafter, there was a respite from wars. In this state of affairs, the citizens of Orestiadas sent a suppliant embassy to the Emperor, earnestly begging that he might send an army to deliver their city from the heavy yoke of the Latins and restore it to liberty. ^D He therefore sent an army immediately under the protostrator Isem and Cammytzes, who arrived at the city and, being gladly welcomed by those within the walls, entered inside.

^A Now Theodore, of the line of the Angeli, was master of almost all of Macedonia and neighboring Thrace, with the surrounding regions, except for Rhodope, Achris, and Melenikos, for a man named Sthlabus ruled those lands, whose own affairs my story shall soon relate. Setting out from Thessaly with his arms, he arrived at the city of Hadrian, which he took, the inhabitants favoring him. Wherefore the imperial forces were expelled from there and returned unscathed to the East. Having thus taken possession of the city, Theodore was constantly a nuisance to the Latins, pillaging their cities and making incursions. He attacked Byzia, a city of the Latins, and Brysis, along with its subject villages, and he ravaged and plundered everything in the vicinity. He even advanced as far as the walls of Byzantium, ^B and struck great terror into the Italians.

With Asan, the ruler of the Bulgarians, this man concluded an oath-bound treaty. This Asan was the son of that Asan who had ruled the Bulgarians in earlier times. When his father departed this life and Borilas seized the Bulgarian kingdom—as my narrative has already related—he had fled across the Ister into Scythian territory. Afterward, taking with him a Scythian and Russian host, and waging war against the usurper Borilas, he recovered his paternal empire; for he routed his rival in battle, ^C took him captive, blinded him, and held the kingdom himself.

With this John Asan, then, the usurper of the imperial dignity, Theodore established a peaceful treaty, as I have said; and he formed an alliance, for he took Maria, the illegitimate daughter of this man, and lawfully joined her in marriage to his own brother Manuel. But a short time later, having scorned the treaty and gathered a most numerous host of troops, he made war upon the Bulgarian ruler. When the forces of both sides clashed, Theodore suffered an utter defeat, and his army was disgracefully dissolved. ^D Being captured in shameful fashion by the Moesian barbarians, the wretch was led in chains to Asan, along with the chosen nobles and key men, and with a vast multitude of the common people.

But Asan treated the captured Theodore with much kindness and honor, and allowed the captive multitude of soldiers to return to their own countries on free feet and without fear, because of his merciful spirit—and perhaps also for his own advantage. For immediately after letting them go from their shackles, he [Asan] ran through the cities with his own army; he took them easily and without battle, and attached them to the towns of his own domain. He occupied the city of Hadrian,

After he took the safe city of Didymotichus, then all of Thrace and Macedonia, he captured Boleron, Xanthia, and Serras, the city of Prilap, the broad plains of Pelagonia, along with all the surrounding villages and places. He also took Prespa, Deabolin, Achris, all of Albania, the province of Illyria, and traversed the borders of Vlachia; finally, he returned home. Some of the cities he ceded to us, while others he kept in his own power.

Because of these achievements, Asanes appeared a marvelous man, praiseworthy to all. He was truly gentle and very mild; he did not indulge in the slaughter of his subjects, nor did he labor under the cruelty innate to Barbarians—a trait like a native growth of their race—nor, again, did he rejoice in our blood, as the impious Bulgar kings before him had done. But he was of a good and clement nature, and was equally pleasing to our people as he was to the Bulgars.

But the captive Theodore, as I have said, having now for a long time experienced his benevolence, was later caught plotting treacheries and, as a deserved punishment, suffered blinding. His brother, the Despot Manuel, withdrawing himself by flight from the aforementioned battle, sought the city of Thessalonica by haste, and with no one resisting him, acted as its master, as well as of the other remaining cities that were left to him in the west. Although this man wished to be called Despot, he nonetheless usurped royal tokens, namely by using red ink in his subscriptions; at whom someone mocked quite acutely, saying: "It is fitting for you to be called, as it is in the Psalm, both king and despot."

That man Sthlabus also, whom I mentioned earlier—born of the Bulgars and a kinsman to Asanes—had occupied the garrison of Melenikon, and possessed the Rhodope along with its fortresses and the villages within it firmly. He had also received the dignity of Despot from the Byzantine Emperor Henry, whose illegitimate daughter he also had as his wife. He now followed the Latin party, now favored his fellow tribesmen the Bulgars, and often [favored] Theodore Comnenus; yet he kept firm faith with no one, being a deserter and a shifty man.

Now when Robert, the Italian Emperor, had made an end of his life in Boeotia, John, a decrepit man who was king of Sion, took up the scepter of Byzantium. And he brought war upon our Caesar, having sailed his ships to the east and occupied the naval base of Lampsacus. But having ventured nothing further, he retreated. ^{A B C D}

^A For the emperor of the Ausonians, John, was a brave antagonist and a staunch opponent, even if he had just returned from the war against the rebel Caesar Gabalas; and even if he had handed over triremes and forces again to Andronikos Palaiologos, whom he had as Great Domestic at that time, and sent him to Rhodes against the rebel. For with a small band of troops that he took with him, he kept the Latins off by force from their incursions. Furthermore, the battle against the rebel had a favorable outcome for Palaiologos, and one according to the mind of the Emperor John.

When the leader of the Latins ended his life, Baldwin became the heir to the rule, a mild man, temperate and refined. ^B But our Caesar, having increased the strength of his subjects, and with the gift of secure peace flourishing throughout all the towns of the empire, and with the enemies struck with terror and repressed, also established an alliance by seeking a marriage with the ruler of the Bulgarians, Asanes. He offered sworn oaths again, and treaties of union and agreement, so that if the need arose, there would be a fitting assembly and he would be an ally for the battles against adversaries; and again, if he should need the hand of the Ausonians, the leader of the Bulgarians would not seek in vain. When these things had been done in the way I have said, Asanes set out to the city of Calliopolis with his wife and his daughter, Helena, ^C to the Caesar and the Queen, who were present there, and they celebrated the wedding of the children. Asanes' daughter, Helena, was given to Theodore Laskaris in matrimony, and the venerable patriarch Germanus, who was present at the events, blessed the wedding rituals. At that time, the arch-prelate of Trinovos, who was subject to the Bulgarian throne, obtained the patriarchal title—I do not know by what judgment of the holy synod or by what decree of the ruler of the Ausonians—as a favor for those who were joining in affinity.

When the marriage rites were completed, the Queen Irene returned home to the eastern regions with the newlywed couple, ^D and the Bulgarian Queen returned to Moesia. But the two kings, accompanied by their armies, traversed Thrace and Macedonia, and divided among themselves without the labor of war the Latin forts and cities that had been captured. The region of Madytos and the tongue of the Chersonese, as well as the mountain of Ganos and Calliopolis, our Caesar had captured earlier in war, and he had also built a town at the foot of the mountain; and he pushed the borders of the empire as far as the Maritsa.

^A The king of the Bulgarians claimed for himself the regions lying toward the north. And both kings approached with their armies as far as the very walls of Byzantium, striking no small fear into the Latins; but when winter set in, each king returned to his own empire.

Now Theodore, the son of the emperor, being still a boy of tender age, although not yet fit for a maiden, nevertheless spent his time with his betrothed, Helena, at the side of his most loving mother, the empress. But Asan, as was to be expected, repenting of what he had done to our Caesar, sent an envoy with deceitful pleas, requesting that his daughter be sent back to him, so that he might enjoy her conversation and company while he remained in the city of Hadrian, dwelling with his beloved spouse and his army, and that she would afterwards return to her bridegroom.

The treacherous parent, therefore, once she was sent to him, did not send her back, even though she was weeping, nor did he grant her promised return; but as he departed for Moesia, he took her with him, ordering only her attendants to turn back.

Soon an infinite multitude of Scythians, having crossed the Ister with their wives and children, against the will of Asan, poured through the Haemus and Rhodope mountains into the territory of Macedonia, depopulating it along with the whole of Thrace. The Scythians reached as far as the city of Aenus ^B and the regions lying toward the west. Some of them wandered in free tribes where the river Hebrus empties into the sea; others, having occupied small villages on both sides and in this area, pitched camp and frequented the plains and maritime regions, from which they rushed forth to indulge in plunder, taking cities, burning villages, and everywhere creating a Scythian wasteland.

Finally, they sold the captive throng in the Greek cities, trading them for silver and gold. And the shameless, treaty-breaking race of the Italians, burning with great anger against our people because of the various defeats inflicted upon them by the Caesar, made a pact with the Scythians and Asan; and thus, with Scythian and Bulgarian arms, they stirred up war against the Roman Caesar.

Therefore, they approached the fortress of Tzurulum, and surrounding it on all sides with engines of war, they assaulted it with all their might, hurling javelins and stones from the opposite side, and, by undermining the walls with siege-instruments, they omitted nothing suitable for its destruction. ^C But all the engines, bows, and missiles fell into ruin and were a mockery; for the commander of the fortress and leader of the war was Nicephorus, a victor both in name and in deed, born of the family of the Tarchaniotae, ^D

^A the bridegroom of the great domestic, of the family of the Andronici Palaeologi; he had taken as his wife the eldest daughter, Maria, and was himself the steward of the royal table, and was soon created grand domestic: a man truly brave, prudent, and magnanimous, a very religious servant of God, and renowned for both fortune and military deeds. ^B Because of the noble victories he reported, he was a firm adversary to the enemies, whose phalanxes he repelled courageously, relying on divine aid and the art of war. But behold, while things were in this state, there came to Asan, who, as I said, was intent on war, a message full of bitterness, that his wife and little son, and the archbishop of Trnovo, had suddenly departed this life and exchanged it for death. Hearing these things, he abandoned the war and immediately hastened his return to Moesia, having consumed his war engines with fire. Then the Latin phalanx also, left behind, determined that they must return to Byzantium, and thus Tzurulum remained unharmed. ^C But then Asan, understanding his misfortune to be a just penalty for his perjury, immediately sent envoys to the Caesar to restore peace and the alliance which he had formerly established but soon broken. The Caesar heard the embassy willingly, and renewed the pact, and offered pardon to the repentant king of the Bulgarians for the violated right of sworn faith; who soon sent back his daughter to her betrothed and confirmed the pact of friendship. And so, once again, the gift of benevolence and peace flourished between us and the Bulgarians. But Baldwin, despairing of his affairs, because he was completely shut up in the city of Constantinople by our Caesar, sailed to the king of the Franks, from whom he was provided with very great aid, and having traveled through the Gauls and Italy, he arrived at the rich soil of the Paeonians; where, having crossed the great Danube, he approached the mountainous seats of the Moesians, who had granted passage to the Latins, contrary to the conditions promised to the Caesar. ^D Then the Italians also took Tzurulum, with the help of the Scythians living by the Ister; although the custody of that fortress had been entrusted to the noble commander Petraliphas, who was within it. The Emperor, having attacked the regions of Nicomedia with a strong and powerful army, overcame the fortress of Dacibyza in battle, and another fortress called Nicetiata, and carried off a great quantity of plunder from there. But he suffered a setback at sea; for as Manuel, called Contophreus,

a wise leader and skilled in naval affairs, had commanded, the fleet fared well; but after Iaphreus obtained that office from the Emperor, and engaged in battle with the Italians, he suffered a total defeat at their hands, having lost thirteen ships in the battle. And this was the outcome of the aforementioned affair. ^A

Asanes, however, remained in the alliance, though not entirely, yet for the most part. After his Hungarian consort died to him, as we mentioned above, for a second marriage he took a wife, against canon law, the daughter of Theodore Comnenangelos—whom he himself had once blinded—by name Irene, very beautiful in appearance, not at all respecting the affinity of her brother. ^B This Theodore had four children: John, and Demetrius, and Anna, and finally Irene, the wife of Asanes of Bulgaria; who birthed three children to him, in good time, Michael, Maria, and Theodora.

The aforementioned Theodore, having been released from the constraints of his imprisonment for the sake of this marriage, came to the city of Thessalonica, not without guile; for having entered within the walls of the city in secret, wearing a hood and tattered garments, with the conspiratorial forces of the plotters, to speak briefly, he cast his brother into chains and himself took back his former rule. ^C Soon he wished one of his children, John, to be adorned with royal insignia, and ordered him to be called King, while he himself undertook the care of the state. Furthermore, he expelled his own brother into exile to the city of Attaleia, and sent away his wife—O, the inconstancy of fortune!—to her father, Asanes.

Otherwise, Manuel, having set out from Pergamum, came as a suppliant to the Emperor John, and having obtained his pious patronage—and being treated with as much affection as was appropriate—being furnished with money and also six triremes, with which he could safely land on the shore, he directed his course to the regions of Vlachia. ^D And having brought his ships to port in Demetrias, he occupied Pharsala, Platamon, and Larissa, having mustered his forces in a short time. Soon he came to a colloquy with his two brothers, Theodore the blind and Constantine; and yielding to them, he violated the oath he had recently given to our Emperor, willing or unwilling, as the proverb says, and entered into an alliance with the Germans. But indeed, a little later, this Manuel, dying, showed bitter repentance for the violated bond of his faith. The Queen, Irene, also departed this life and passed to the heavenly stations.

A merciful, modest, and imperial woman, ^A wonderful and abounding in virtue. A little later, the lord of the Bulgarians, Asanes, also departed from mortal life, a man gentle and merciful by nature, who among the barbarian Moesians appeared as the best, beneficent both to our people and to his own citizens, distributing the necessities of life to all, and laying up a portion for himself for the life to come. This man having finished his life, his son Callimanus received and held the kingdom of the Bulgarians, whom he had begotten by the Queen Maria, who drew her lineage from the people of the Paeonians. He also had a sister, Thamar, while Irene, of the line of the Angeloi, bore to Asanes Michael, Maria, and Anna. Callimanus, indeed, having girded himself with power, renewed the treaties with our Caesar; and again there was a certain peace between both peoples. But Theodore, being blind, along with John, ^B ruled Thessalonica and the surrounding lands, and under them the blind man’s brother, the Despot Constantine, and finally Michael, the nephew of Manuel, held a portion of Moesia. With matters in this state, our Caesar, the best of emperors and the glory of kings, determined to strip that John of Thessalonica of the imperial rank, which he possessed by no right. Wherefore, with prudent counsel, he summoned John’s father, Theodore, to the east, and received him with benevolent attentions. Then, with his own forces and with the Scythian troops, a select band of whom he had secured for himself, he marched ^C with alacrity into Macedonia against John; and having passed by the Strymon and Christopolis, he transferred his camps to the fortress of Rhentina, which he found indeed deserted by its inhabitants, its guards having fled out of fear, and he himself occupied and fortified it with a garrison. Thence, with a powerful army, he hastened speedily to Thessalonica, and near the walls the Caesar pitched his royal tents and displayed all his warlike equipment. Dispersed detachments of his troops were laying waste the entire surrounding territory, ^D taking plunder from the nearby villages; but the Scythians were especially troublesome, as they made the whole region a Scythian wasteland with their constant incursions across the fields. Meanwhile, the fleet harassed the shores, the admiral of which was the brave Contophreus. Following the Caesar's camp were the commanders, men of distinction, valiant and fierce in war: the illustrious Andronicus Palaeologus, an experienced commander and Grand Domestic; likewise Raulus, the Protovestiarius; and the excellent Demetrius Tornices,

^A managing common affairs and concerned for the state, was Nicephorus of the line of Tarchaniotes; again, the Protosebastus Contostephanus; and Petraliphas, the Grand Chartularius, together with many other illustrious senators. While the army was occupied there with the war, behold, a messenger was brought to the Emperor, reporting that the nation known as the Tacharii, having engaged in battle, had completely broken the strength of the Turks. The Emperor, unable to delay there, abandoned the siege and turned his attention to terms of settlement, choosing as a mediator for these negotiations Theodore, the father of John. The provisions of the oath were that John should relinquish all the insignia of the empire, ^B the red buskins and the stone of the pyramid, and should possess the name and dignity of Despot, and remain a kind and well-disposed friend to the Emperor. These things being done, the Emperor departed once the treaty had been confirmed by an oath, and he entrusted Theodore Angelus to his son. But when the Emperor had returned to the East, Iathatines, the Sultan of Iconium, sent legates and with earnest entreaties begged from him aid and alliance, having been severely handled, as I have said, by the Tacharii, and being now in danger of losing everything. The Emperor, realizing that it would be to his advantage if he were to assist the struggling Sultan, gladly accepted the embassy; and he came to a conference with the Sultan in the city of Tripolis by the Meander, ^C where, having firmly written down the conditions for providing mutual aid, each returned to his own empire. Shortly after that time, in Thessaly, the Despot John departed this life—a good man, pious, a scrupulous guardian of the laws, temperate, pleasant, merciful toward his subjects, always devoted to sacred hymnody, and living in the company of the most excellent monks. Upon his death, his brother Demetrius received the position and the dignity of Despot from the Emperor, a man of unrefined character, prone to love, a slave to pleasures, for the most part associating with the worst of men ^D and familiar with corrupt youth. But the Emperor, now idle from the wars, accompanied by few men, crossed the Hellespont and directed his arms toward the western lands. He passed the fortress of Cissus in Thrace and, having crossed the stream of the Hebrus on horseback, he arrived straightway at the small town of Zichni. There he learned that the king of the Bulgarians, Callimanus, had been deprived of the light of life. Yet he continued his journey and came as far as the city of Serres, which he also secured by sagacious counsel, as the town was surrendered by the Moesian Dragotas, to whose guard and care it had been entrusted.

^A Having been treated with kindness by the Emperor, this man was dispatched to the city of Melenikon. Then (why must I extend the account with many words?), conspiring with Nicholas the Manglabites—a man of sagacious mind and very capable—they delivered the city to the commander, having first had the golden letters, which the Emperor had duly signed in vermilion, sent ahead to promise the city generous largess.

When matters had finally been settled in this way, behold, the nobles and those of illustrious birth among the city's inhabitants came to the Emperor; and even more so those to whom Ares and battle were dear—men strong, noble-spirited, and vigorous—to the number of about five hundred, and they offered the Emperor the fitting homage due to him. Then, without a battle, the crown-bearer took possession of the small towns of Stenimachos and Tzopaena, and all the lands lying toward Rhodope, and Belesbus, and Dium with the entire surrounding territory. He also occupied Belessos along with Skopje; he secured Prilapon together with the surrounding areas, the mountains and plains of Pelagonia, and the fortress of Prosakos along with the town of Eutza. These things, I say, the emperor John subjected to his empire without bloodshed. To the Bulgarians, who requested it, he promised that he would remain satisfied with these borders.

Afterward, he set out for the borders of Thessalonica, and with God’s help, he took possession of it. But how it was captured, I shall briefly summarize. As I have said, while Demetrios, a wicked and depraved youth, ^C who was forever enslaved to gluttony and debauchery and negligent of public affairs, was holding the city, a faction was formed against him by citizens of no small standing in their native land: Iatropoulos, Spartenos, and Kunsoulatos, with whom was Campanus, another Sisyphus in his ways; there were also two nobles, Laskaris and Tzirithon. These men fraudulently sent to the Emperor, who was then tarrying in the fields of Melenikon, that very Campanus, who, as I have said, was a conspirator; under the pretext of public business, but in truth so that he might obtain a golden bull, signed in vermilion, for the safety of their city. The Emperor willingly granted everything to them; and they set to work to deliver the city. For Campanus, having gone into the city, revealed the whole affair to his associates. Presently, the Emperor signaled to Demetrios that he should come to him to perform the homage that he had bound himself by oath to do when he had obtained the rank of Despot. The youth did not comply with the order. Therefore, the Emperor, arriving at Thessalonica, again made this command known to Demetrios, who once more passed it by with deaf ears. As these matters stood thus, ^D suddenly

^A a rumor and a clamor erupted throughout the city: that the gate facing the sea had been opened by some men, and that a phalanx of armed soldiers, received within the walls, was already breaking in. A great tumult arose there, and once the doors were unlocked, the army entered, and the Emperor with them. Demetrios, however, fled into the acropolis; and, having soon been given a pledge of safety, he surrendered himself and the citadel to the Emperor. Thus the city of Thessalonica was captured. The Emperor remained there for a short time, and having arranged affairs to his liking, he returned joyfully to the eastern provinces, celebrated by all as a victor.

He left behind as general of the western armies and governor of all the cities the Great Domestic Palaiologos, a man most skilled in leading and in battle, and endowed with every excellence. This man’s son, Michael Komnenos—who later held the Roman empire—he set over Serres and Melenikon, and all the surrounding regions. He appointed other governors, moreover, to rule the various cities and provinces. Demetrios, however, he kept long imprisoned in the city of the Lentiani.

Now, as the patriarch of Byzantium, Germanos, had departed this life and his seat, passing into the eternal abodes, a certain Methodios from the monastery of Hyacinthus occupied the throne for a very short time. ^B Upon his death, the Byzantine see long lacked a presiding shepherd. A little later, the Great Domestic Palaiologos also departed this mortal life, having been duly vested in the habit of a monk, as is the custom. ^C Theodorus Philes was sent to receive the command of the troops. At that time, the city of Thessalonica and Berrhoea had the Emperor himself as their lord. But the blind Theodorus, of the name of Angelos, ruled over Bodenon and Staridolon, along with the province of Ostrobus and its confines. ^D And from Platamona and further down in the parts turned toward the west, as well as Vlachia, Achaia and the vicinity, and ancient Epirus with Aetolia, and Illyricum and the city of Dyrrachium, and also Prilapos, all of Pelagonia, the noble Achris, and splendid Prespa—these were ruled with the rank of Despot by Michael, the brother of Theodorus Komnenangelos, whom Michael had begotten from a clandestine union, as our history has already mentioned. Such was the state of affairs in the west. The Emperor, having left his palace at Nymphaion as spring approached, crossed the Hellespont.

^A And he reached the fortress of Tzurulum, and promptly surrounded it with a palisade. By applying the art of siege engines according to the law of war, he easily brought this fortress under his command. Finding there the sister of the Queen, Eudokia—who had married an Italian ruler, Aseldecas—he placed her on a swift horse and sent her to Byzantium, stripping her of all her possessions, as well as her attendants and guards. Her spouse, overcome by fear and struck with anxiety, had fled and hidden himself before the Emperor could besiege the fortress. Not long after, the Emperor, having sent hostile forces, also captured Bizye.

At that same time, through treachery, the island of Rhodes was captured by the Genoese Italians. For when the governor of Rhodes, John Gabalas ^B (the brother of the Caesar who had been prince of Rhodes), was abroad in foreign lands following the camp of his lord the Emperor, the aforementioned enemies had secretly seized the island. When the Emperor, residing in Thrace, learned of this, he sent John Cantacuzenos with a force to the city of Rhodes. Having sailed there and landed in Rhodes, John captured the city of Phileremos in battle; from there, advancing courageously against the enemy, he easily crushed their arrogance and daring. And he would soon have captured the metropolis by force, had not the Prince of Achaea opposed him ^C by granting armed knights to the enemy as allies.

So when the Emperor returned from the war, he prepared horse-transport ships and a fleet, upon which he loaded three hundred horses. He then appointed a commander of the fleet, a certain valiant man named Contostephanus, who held the dignity of Protosebastos, and ordered him to go to the island of Rhodes. Having engaged the Genoese in battle, he powerfully defeated and crushed them, and thus restored the island to the Empire.

The Emperor formed a bond of kinship and friendship with the Despot Michael. ^D For the son of the Despot, Nicephorus, took as his bride Maria, the daughter of the Emperor’s son Theodore, born of Michael’s wife, Theodora. She had traveled through the Hellespont to the eastern regions with her beloved son Nicephorus to perform the aforementioned marriage, and afterwards returned to her homeland with him. But Michael, being an "Ethiopian" and a "crab"—neither able to walk straight nor to become white—broke the agreed-upon conditions of peace and revealed himself as a hostile rebel, having found as an accomplice in this his uncle, the wily Theodorus Angelos. When the Emperor learned of these things,

Chronography of Ephraim

^A He gathered the Roman forces ^A And the valiant commanders under him: Nicephorus of the line of the Tarchaneiotes, Possessing a name that truly suits him well, And the dignity of cupbearer; Fulfilling the duties of the great domestic, Alexios Strategopoulos, the noble man, And the dear son of the great domestic, Michael Palaiologos, glory of the young, And Makrenos and the tyrant Boudelos. Taking these, and the forces with them, 8680 He seizes the city of Thessalonica. Departing from there, in the fortress of Vodena, He pitches the royal tents, And after a long time, he reduces it with engines. But Theodore had fled the fortress, 8685 And had flowed toward the Despot Michael. Then the Emperor reaches the lake of Ostrovo, And has sent an army against the Despot. But after a little while, beyond all hope, Glabas approaches the King, 8690 Coming from Kastoria, a messenger of better things, And Petraliphas, of the nobles in office, A son-in-law of Demetrios Tornikes, And brother-in-law of the Despot Michael. When Petraliphas, therefore, approached the Emperor, 8695 He filled him and the army with joy; For Kastoria immediately revolted And all the surrounding regions to Deabolis. And Goleamos, a noble of the Albanians, 8700 Who had the niece of Queen Irene Betrothed in marriage, persuaded by letters, And acting on his own initiative, arrives. The Emperor, having received them kindly, Adorned them with many benefits. 8705 When Despot Michael learned these things, He sent emissaries: the bishop of Naupaktos, The noble Maliasenos, and Lampetes, To the sovereign, and they establish terms, And Michael cedes Prilapos, 8710 Belesos, and Kroai to the crown-wearer. Then he sets down secure oaths in writing, And the Emperor sends to the Despot Through the high priest Phokas of Philadelphia, Isaakios Doukas, and Hyaleas; 8715 These, finding Michael at Larissa, Completed the treaties as was fitting. Then, taking the young Nicephorus, Son of the latter, and with him again, The Angelos, who had rebelled, as a prisoner, 8720 A wrongdoer, they return once again to the Emperor. The ruler honors with the dignity of Despot The son of Michael, this Nicephorus. Thus the Emperor, having ordered affairs in the West, 8725 And having wintered in the regions of Vodena, When spring appeared, leaving behind there A large part of the army with moderate hoplites, He departed to visit the fortresses that had surrendered, And finally arrived at the city of Lychnidos.

^A He surveyed Deabolis and Castoria. Having returned from there and taken up his forces, he passed by the city of Thessalonica again, ^B where, having summoned a great assembly and seated questors and judges in it, he set forth an examination of an uncertain report which Nicholas the Manclavites, out of envy, had secretly reported to the Caesar at Bodena against the Comneniades, Michael of the family of the Palaiologoi: the series of which affair I shall briefly evolve. After Tornikes departed this life, who was related to Michael by blood, the latter was downcast and of sad countenance, grieving for the loss of his kinsman. But as it happens not rarely in these matters, someone asked, “Why does our leader groan?” Furthermore, he who heard answered truly that the cause of the sorrow was the fate of Tornikes. The former, denying it, gives birth to malice, and says things against Palaiologos which he had not even turned over in his mind at all, let alone touched upon with words or knowledge. Hence the envious accuser plotted that Palaiologos was turning over in his mind evil counsels and an apostate intent, ^C and that furthermore he requested to take Thamar, the sister of Kallimanos, in marriage, and then to occupy also the city of Melenikon with its surrounding district and fortified places; and if this happens, he said, woe to our lands which have only recently been settled in peace. Another, answering, spoke thus: “O friend, even if these things should happen, our public affairs will not be the worse; for at Thessalonica the great domestic, Palaiologos, is in command, and here among us his son Michael governs the land and its affairs, wherefore our affairs, with such leaders, will not be able to be cast about by great hardships.” Now this conversation another of those conversing carried to the notice ^D of the Manclavites, and he made the Caesar privy to the matter. Wherefore, the two men were seized whom we have written held the conversation, and they were interrogated as to what they had said between themselves. And one of them confessed that they had spoken thus, but he added, on his own, that it was without his knowledge. But the accuser affirmed that these things were said with the knowledge of Michael Palaiologos; he, however, constantly denied it in opposition. Then, by military custom, it was decreed that the matter should be investigated by duel. Therefore, both men, having been shown as hoplites, entered the stadium as horsemen carrying spears; and soon both having clashed in battle, victory smiled upon the accuser, who threw his adversary down from his horse.

^A

And he was again asked concerning the matter. But he remained in the same position as before, no less in his words, affirming that Michael was innocent of the charge. Whence he was condemned to die by the sword. Bound therefore and with his eyes covered, he was led to death by an unjust judgment; but when he was already offering his neck to the blow, he was interrogated again by the executioner. The man, still consistently and piously swearing, said that Michael was innocent of the crime. He was then withdrawn from the unjust punishment, but was delivered into the custody of a prison. ^B

The investigation and trial of the accusation was then turned towards Michael Comnenus; he was ordered to touch a red-hot iron, and thus to resolve the ambiguous controversy. But he answered the judges confidently: "If anyone were perhaps speaking against me, I would have contended against him with arms; but with no accuser present to me for the moment, against whom ought I to stand trial? And if I am ordered by someone to perform miracles, I, being a sinful man, shall not be able to do this. For if someone places an iron, already heated by fire, into the naked hands of a living man, I know not how it would not burn his hands." ^C

The bishop of Philadelphia, who was sitting among the judges at that time, wishing to curry favor, took this Michael aside privately and spoke to him foolishly in this manner: "Since you are a man of noble status and born of noble parents, it is right for you to consider and act in a manner worthy of your rank. Since, therefore, there are no witnesses to the crime, I would wish that you commit yourself to divine judgment and make your trial by fire."

But he answered boldly and aptly: "I marvel why a glowing bar is called a sacred thing, which, by heavens, my hand fears to touch, as I am a sinner, as I said before. You, however, are a holy and divine priest of God, accustomed to holding the sacrifice for the Lord with your hands; if, therefore, it pleases you, go, and having donned the episcopal vestments and the full stole, as is the custom, make the bar white-hot in the furnace, and having taken it with your pure hands, transfer it to my defiled hands. ^D Then, indeed, I hope that the omnipotent God will perform a miracle for the sake of your virtue, overlooking for the meantime my sins."

Thus Michael. But the high priest replied: "This, my good sir, is a rite of the Barbarians, not at all inscribed in Roman laws, nor ever received by the sacred canons of the Church or by the holy Fathers; wherefore this barbarous custom is unfamiliar to us."

Michael replied rightly and quite shrewdly:

"Therefore, O greatest pontiff of the Lord, it is proper that my own affairs be concluded ^A as the Roman laws decree. For if I had been born of barbarians, and reared according to barbarous laws, I might well have been rightfully subjected to your judgments; but since I am a Roman and of this lineage, I shall be held accountable to Roman laws." ^B To Michael thus stating his case, the Emperor granted release, yet he was not entirely free of grave suspicion. The sovereign, whose name means 'full of grace', finally sent him to his son and heir to the empire, and to the prelate of Byzantium, Manuel (for he presided over the Church at that time), who compelled Michael with most severe threats and canonical mandates to swear that he was truly well-disposed toward his lord the Emperor and would serve him throughout his life, and that he would remain utterly alien to any apostasy. ^C When these things had been accomplished, the Emperor John joined this Michael, of the Palaiologos lineage, in marital union with Theodora, the granddaughter of his brother, the sebastokrator Isaac; and he continued to look upon him with a kindly countenance, numbering him among his friends. This was the outcome of the said affair. Afterward, the Emperor went to Nicaea, ^D near the end of the month of February. In the evening, while lying on his bed, he was indulging his body in rest; a little later, he was suddenly found prone upon his mattress, mute and hearing nothing. Wherefore, the Asclepiads [physicians] ran up and applied various remedies for the malady, and even pricked his feet, bringing forth the entire mastery of their art. Nevertheless, on the second day, the Emperor lay immobile and speechless, all his senses lulled by the disease. Soon he revived somewhat, although all color had drained from his small body. Wherefore he was carried to the royal palace at Nymphaion, where, surviving for a short time, he subsequently passed away and went to the Lord; a truly good king and brave emperor, who lived for sixty-two years, having reigned for thirty-three of them. After he had fallen into a grave malady, he was lodging in the region of Nymphaion, failing in spirit at intervals. For sometimes, while staying in the palace, he would lie on his bed lacking speech; but at other times, while riding in public, he would have fallen forward from his saddle had not the youths riding alongside him come to his aid: and soon, having been set upright and having recovered his breath, he would return on foot to the palace,

^A or carried in a chair by his attendants.

THEODORE DUCAS LASCARIS. A FEW MONTHS.

Thus, when John had reached the end of his life, he left as heir to his dignity and empire his son Theodore, bearing the surname Lascaris from his ancestors, at the time thirty-three years of age, as those skilled in the times have reported. Upon him, according to the customary manner, the people raised upon a shield 8910 and hailed as emperor; and he, having immediately set out from the region of Nymphaeum, reached the city of Philadelphia, whence he confirmed the pacts with the sultan. Arriving thence at the city of Nicaea, he received the royal acclamation. ^B Soon, having gathered the patriarchs from everywhere, and the chosen ones of the entire clergy as was fitting, he deliberated with them concerning a chief prelate, since the shepherd-ruler Manuel had died two months before the Caesar. And he was pressing matters, so that, having received the diadem, he might march west with an army, as affairs there were being disturbed by Michael of Bulgaria, whom the daughter of the Angelus [family], Asana, had borne. For the latter, having heard of the death of the Caesar, was fiercely attacking our fortresses and harming the western provinces. ^C When, therefore, others were naming different candidates for the supreme dignity of the patriarchate, the common opinion finally deemed Nicephorus Blemmydes worthy of the honor, a man most preeminent in virtue and mind, adorned with every kind of learning, and second to no one of his age, a master of all disciplines, and bound by the greatest love to the Caesar, whose tutor he had been while he was learning letters, as well as other noble disciplines. The Caesar therefore was wonderfully pleased with the choice, and kept calling him to the sacred throne, using not only entreaties but also force. But seeing him resisting the office, and in no way allowing himself to be swayed, he turned his suffrage to the monk Arsenius, who was living near the lake of Apolloniatis, endowed with almost no learning, ^D scarcely cognizant of grammar, and entirely lacking in serious sciences. Him the emperor summoned in haste, and, once he was present, appointed him patriarch; and he commanded the shepherd-rulers to initiate him swiftly into the sacred orders: and within a space of three days they consecrated him deacon, priest, and bishop, and by him the emperor, having been crowned with the diadem, [was confirmed].

^A As he was, he set out at once toward the west, Crossing the Hellespontine strait by ships; And having reached the city of Hadrian, He spent but a single day there; Then he campaigned toward the parts of Rhodope Against Michael, the leader of the Bulgarians, Who was encamped with an army by the Hebrus— He who had seized Stenimachus, Tzepaena, Ustra, Cribos, Perperacium, and Peristitza, Ephræmum, Critzimum, and all the region of Achris, Fortresses that previously obeyed the Romans. ^B Thus, as the sovereign was advancing at speed, Michael, having learned of the maneuver from scouts, Departed in flight, making for his fatherland, Both he and his army, through difficult, Thickly-wooded paths and trackless passes. Finding the place empty at dawn, the sovereign Arrived at Berrhoen, the neighbor city; And having taken this and plundered the surroundings, He returned to the city of Hadrian With spoils and countless booty. From there, having dispatched an army with all haste, He reclaimed the cities that had revolted; And the emperor himself marched against Rhodope, And Stenimachus, Critzimum, and Peristitza He brought back under the power of the Romans. Only Tzepaena remained unconquered, Because of the cold and the ruggedness of the place. But once spring had dawned, the sovereign immediately wrote Instructions to the generals stationed at the city of Serres, To Strategopulos and Tornicius, That they should march with an army against Tzepaena. They, therefore, proceeded toward this place; But then, not seeing an opposing army, Nor any soldiers armed for battle at all, But startled merely by the rustling and noise of leaves, They fled ignominiously in a rout, having abandoned Horses, panoplies, and all their gear To the Bulgarian herdsmen and swineherds; And the emperor was exceedingly angered by what was learned. No less did he feel the sting, ^C upon its recurrence, Of another evil, the Bulgarian Dragotas, Commanding the army at Melenicon, Who, having revolted and gathered an army, Was raiding the environs of Melenicon And had besieged the city, wishing to sack it. ^D The emperor heard these things in camp, And, emulating the flight of an eagle, He flew with extreme speed to the regions of Melenicon, With his army and the officers of his regiments; And having struck terror into the opposing army By his sudden arrival and the numbers of his host, He drove them into flight, utterly prevailing, Slaughtering, pursuing, and taking captives, So that few of so many escaped destruction, Or managed to save themselves by fleeing into the parts of Moesia. But Dragotas himself, unhappily trampled underfoot, Died by the feet of horses, breaking the thread of his life. Thus the emperor, having arranged all things as was proper,

and having placed the wives and children of the rebels far away, far from Melenikon, he returned from there to Thessalonica; from whence, having crossed the deep-flowing Axius, he arrived at the city of Vodena, abundant in waters: where, suffering from abdominal pains, he remained for a short while for this reason. Soon, having recovered, he visited the city of Prilep, where he stayed for not a few days. Then he crossed over to the town of Veles; against which, having directed siege engines, he soon received the citizens into surrender, who, having obtained a pledge that they would suffer no harm, committed themselves and the town to the Emperor. Wherefore, having placed a garrison in the citadel, passing through the arid region of Nautzapolis, suffering as to both water and supplies, he nevertheless with difficulty arrived at the city of Serres; where, letters having been brought from the East, he understood that the Turks of the Tacharion tribe were again in danger and in turmoil. ^B When the Emperor learned this, he proceeded with a rapid course without delay to the Hebrus river: where, realizing that the rumor was false, deviating somewhat from the journey he had undertaken, he betook himself to the city called Didymoteichon; then to the glorious city of Hadrianople, and returned to besiege Tzepaina; but since he accomplished nothing, he returned to the fortified city of Didymoteichon: where, having left no small army with the leaders and guards of the town, Manuel Lascaris and Margaret, a rustic man and bred on porridge, tracing his origin to the Neocastra; and furthermore, having prescribed the order of battle, departing from there he crossed the Hellespont, and established his stations at Lampsacus: ^C where he honored, adorned, and distributed rewards to his leaders with high dignities. George, surnamed Muzalon, he elevated with the titles of protovestiarius and at once of protosebastost and stratopedarch; his brother Andronicus, moreover, he gifted with the great office of domestic; and finally, he made Angelus the protostrator. These things done, the emperor returned to his royal palace at Nymphaeum; where, having spent the winter seasons, ^D when spring appeared he gathered a numberless army, infantry and cavalry, composed of Moesians, Italics, and Scythians, but especially of men of our own race: and directing his path to the West, he arrived at Hellespontian Lampsacus: where he learned of the disaster of the army and the leaders left at Didymoteichon. For, while the Emperor was absent in distant regions, the king of the Bulgarians, having conscripted the Scythians...

^A of some four thousand men, or even more, he sent them into the lands and cities of Thrace; and those who were scattered near the river called Regina were ravaging all things as they wandered. Then our commanders, having by some misfortune forgotten the Emperor's command, engaged the Scythians with their own forces. When arms were clashed on both sides, the barbarian phalanx carried off the victory, and our army was slaughtered by the sword; even Margarites himself was captured along with many others, and sold by the Scythians. The Emperor, having learned of this, and spurring on his horse, ran at once to the fortress of Bulgarophygon; and having found some of the barbarians at Byzia, he put them all to the sword. But, having advanced to the river Regina, he pitched his tent there and stayed. ^B And the Bulgarian king sent thither to the Roman Emperor Theodore, Urum, surnamed Rosus, the king of Paeonia, so that he might speak of peace being restored. Rosus, therefore, meeting with the Emperor—who was the father-in-law of the Bulgarian ruler—was received lovingly and with honor, and the conditions of the sworn peace were established, namely, that the Bulgarian king would again cede Tzepaena to the Roman Empire.

This matter having been concluded according to his desire, the Emperor came from there to Thessalonica, having in his company ^C the wife of the Despot Michael along with his son, for the purpose of carrying out the nuptials for Nicephorus. Therefore the rite of marriage is celebrated, and Nicephorus joins to himself in lawful wedlock the Emperor’s daughter, Maria. Previously, however, this Despot had ceded Dyrrachium and the fortress of the Servians to our Empire, fearing for his wife and son.

While the Emperor was engaged in this business, he received letters sent from Bithynia signifying that the governor of Bithynia, Michael Palaeologus, a descendant of the Comneni, had fled to the Turks. This matter disturbed the mind of the Emperor. ^D Yet, while he was fleeing to the Turks, he wrote a missive to the magistrates of Bithynia, which he confirmed by signing it with his own hand; he signified that he was indeed going into exile, lest he suffer the loss of his eyes, but that they should govern the matter prudently, and guard the cities diligently, and rule the province and the soldiers rightly. When this matter was reported, it pleased the Emperor; and with affairs now settled in the west, he marched out to the east with his army, having left a commander at Thessalonica.

(85) Ephraemius seems in error here; for Acropolita calls this Urum the son-in-law of the king of Hungary, not the king.

^A Michael Lascaris, a spirited man, he appointed to Prilapos, and Xyleas to Scuterion, bearing a surname appropriate to him. He placed Theodore Calampaces as guardian over Belessos and the surrounding territory, and finally he entrusted the Illyrians to Chabaron. ^B Furthermore, at the highest pinnacle of dignity, he designated George Acropolita, having previously adorned him with the title of praetor. This George betook himself to Beroea, where the legates of the Pope were awaiting him; having conducted business with them according to their judgment, he sent them off to their homeland. Then he approached the fortress of the Serbians, and passing by the city of Castoria, traveling through Achris, he came to the Albanian territory; and from there he arrived at the city of Epidamnos. Having arranged matters there as he saw fit, he traversed the way through the regions of Chunabia and Maten, and the small towns of Citzabes and Debren, and as he was able, arrived at the city of Prilapos.

And as Acropolita made his stay there, a sad rumor was suddenly understood: namely, that Constantine Chabaron had been shut up in the castle of Canina, having been deceived by the marriage and love of Maria, sister-in-law of the Despot Michael, and was being held bound in iron fetters. ^C Meanwhile, the Despot Michael, violating the laws of peace with the Caesar, was invading our dominion with arms; and had already invaded all of Pelagonia and the entire territory of Prilapos, with the sole exception of the garrison of Prilapos, which, however, he captured by treachery. Acropolita, however, dwelling in the citadel, having climbed a certain small tower of the castle, persevered there until the Despot offered him a sworn oath that he would be safe and would be sent away to his Caesar. Upon this, he surrendered himself to the enemy along with the small tower. Nevertheless, the perjured Despot Michael bound him in solid chains.

^D Behold, moreover, that Michael Comnenus, whom our history has often mentioned, having been received back under the faith of the Caesar not without a sacred oath, returns from the Turks; and with an army of Macedonian soldiers, he is sent into the west against the Despot. He therefore betook himself to Thessalonica; and soon, having joined Michael Lascaris, he simultaneously made an incursion into the territory of Beroea, and from there dragged off countless spoils. With the state of public affairs thus perturbed, the most wicked prince of the Triballians—a perjured man, cruel, and reckless—having gathered one thousand and more soldiers, was wandering about and infesting Roman lands. Nor did Michael cease in the west

^A from causing destructions and desolations, and from adding to the power he already held. Wherefore, 9195 having selected a sufficient army, whose leader was a certain bastard son of Theodore, he sent him to the parts of Bodena. The Roman force, chancing upon him somewhere, defeated and scattered him with ease. 9200 Michael Palaiologos, learning of this—he was a fighting man, noble, and robust—as soon as he could, set out against the opponents; and, having struck a certain horseman with his spear (who was, in fact, Theodore, the son of the rebel), he cast him to the ground, unhorsed. He, falling at the knees of the Comnenos, begged that he might spare his life, and at that moment he obtained a merciful pardon, although his identity was unknown; 9210 he was then handed over to a Turk to be guarded, but he put the wretched captive to death with the sword. Michael achieved this victory by employing the labors of the martial soldiers he led, who claimed Paphlagonia as their fatherland. 9215 He worked the execution of the sword upon many, and took twenty alive, who were men of honor and of high standing in the rebel host. These things, as I have said, happened in this way. Michael, the leader of the Bulgarians, who was the brother-in-law of the Caesar, and a 9220 relentless enemy of the Autones’ authority, was suddenly struck by a deadly wound from his cousin Callimanus, who was also his kinsman, and ended his life, leaving the light of day. Callimanus, taking his wife, seemed to seize the rule of the Bulgarians. 9225 But the Russian Urus, having descended with an army, takes back his daughter; and Callimanus is killed by the Bulgarians. 9230 The throne, therefore, being empty of a legitimate successor, the state of the Bulgarians was left in ruins; but the distinguished councilors among them summoned Tich’s good son, Constantine, to lead the Bulgarian government. 9235 And that he might also appear to be installed on the Bulgarian throne by right of inheritance, the noblemen of the Bulgarians sent an embassy to the ruler of the Autones, Theodore, so that Irene, the Caesar’s eldest daughter, who was the granddaughter of Asan, king of the Bulgarians, might be joined to Tich’s son, Constantine. 9240 And the ruler agrees to this with alacrity. But since Constantine already had a wife, they illegally separated her from her husband and sent her to the emperor to be kept in custody. After these events, the ruler was seized by a very severe illness and lay in bed; 9245 it was incurable by the sons of Asclepius, and his arts unyielding and yielding to nothing. Therefore, having lost hope and understanding what was proper,

^A casting aside the splendors of the realm and the crown, the Caesar donned the monk’s tunic, confessing all his deeds before men and even more so before God (for the allurements and the love of a noble, not yet worn-out harlot had led him astray).

Approaching, therefore, the bishop of Mitylene, to whom he had been accustomed to confess his sins, he fell prostrate upon the ground at his feet and bathed them with hot tears, as once did the sinful woman of Christ our Master; wherefore the pavement also became wet with weeping. And these words he reiterated in his confession: "Thee, O Christ, have I abandoned; be Thou propitious." Thus, the good Caesar, repeating this continuously, passed to the heavenly stations, leaving the kingdom to his son John, who was of about seven years of age, or perhaps a little more. He himself had directed the Roman empire with his scepter for not yet four full years: a man truly good, a religious ruler, pleasant, cheerful, benevolent to his subjects, adorned with every learning and literature; a faithful and prudent servant of the Lord, who increased and expanded the talent of the kingdom, and strenuously protected his inheritance: a benign prince, a brave emperor, who altered nothing in the Church, praiseworthy both in his life ^B and in his rule, and happy in the end with a glorious departure from this earth and a salutary repentance! His corpse was carried to the monastery of the salutary martyrs, built by his father, where the founder himself also lies in honor.

JOHN, SON OF THEODORE, AND MICHAEL PALAEOLOGUS.

Dying, Theodore left at home three children: the little John, whom I mentioned earlier, the heir of his dignity and empire, and besides him, two unmarried maidens, namely Eudocia and Theodora. ^C Irene, the elder, had married Ticho, and Nicephorus, the son of Michael Despotes, as I have said, had married the younger, Maria. John was clearly of a very tender age; wherefore the king, the father, concerned for his little son, had left him the empire in his final testament, after first having bound all his subjects and magistrates with a fearful oath that they would faithfully preserve the empire for the child: whom he afterwards entrusted to tutors, ^D

^A of whom Georgius Muzalo was the first, then holding the office of protovestiarios. But not yet three days had passed since the emperor lay in the tomb, and already everything was turbulent like the sea. For when the magistrates and the ranks of the army advanced to the monastery of the wonder-working martyrs to perform the funeral rites for the departed prince, Muzalo also came with his brothers. While the holy liturgy was being celebrated, ^B and Muzalo was standing there with his kin, behold, the senators and other magistrates, having conspired together in a unanimous plot, like wild beasts and murderers, charged into the venerable monastery, seeking to tear the protovestiarios and his kin to pieces with violent talons. He, having perceived the situation, fled inside the most holy table of asylum. But those wicked and bloodthirsty men, having entered the inner sanctuary with polluted feet, right up to the holy table of the altar of peace, swollen with fury with drawn swords—oh, the foul crime! oh, the barbaric madness!—they hacked the innocent to pieces with their swords, ^C although the final testament and the formula of the oath had been read clearly and openly three times before the senate and the armies, all of whom had declared that they would be in submission to it. After this wicked slaughter had been perpetrated, the civil magistrates and the military leaders, the clergy, the patriarch, and the other bishops, gathering as if for a national assembly, deliberated on the highest affairs of state, namely, who would steer the ship of the Roman empire in the place of the deceased; and the opinions of the nobles were asked for, family by family and rank by rank. And indeed, the greater number of votes ^D designated Michael Comnenus. Why, then, should I prolong the matter with long words? The governance of the entire commonwealth and the care of the Roman empire was handed over to this Michael of the race of the Palaeologi, a man effective and suited for the matter, bearing a bodily form worthy of the realm, with a severe manner and a formidable countenance; to be feared by enemies, but kind to his subjects; an excellent prince and a brave emperor. He first received the dignity of despot, and a little later, in the city of Nicaea, was crowned with the diadem by the patriarch. It is he who drove the Latins from our fatherland and the queen of cities, Constantinople, having delivered it from the Latin yoke. He immediately created his brother, John Comnenus, sebastokrator, although he was absent in the Western regions, and furthermore, Alexius Strategopulus

^A he advanced to the high office of domestic. Again, he invested another brother, Constantine, with the dignity of Caesar and sent him to guard Paphlagonia. And he dispatched Philen Theodorus to the despot Michael to seek peace and to strengthen the bond of friendship, and to demand back several fortresses for the empire; and at the same time, that he might rescue two captives, Acropolites and Chabaron, from their wretched prison. But the despot, being harsh and refractory, heard the emperor’s embassy and granted nothing at all of what was requested. Wherefore the emperor, incited by anger, wrote to his brother the sebastokrator, who, as I said, was occupied in the West with select leaders and an army, that he should wage war upon the despot Michael.

^B The despot, perceiving that he was already being stirred [to war], and who was sitting armed in Kastoria, took to flight through rugged places. But when the opposing military force of Michael had thus scattered, the sebastokrator made an assault against the cities of the despot, taking with him the patriarch of the Bulgarians, the holy Constantine Cabasilas, by whose excellent admonitions and counsels he acquired the famous city of Achris; and then, by means of war machines and force of arms, he took Deabolis, another fortress. Then Michael, anxious for his total state, having gathered all the forces he had, and also having taken on Latin auxiliaries from the prince of Achaea and the king of Sicily, both of whom were sons-in-law to the despot, came out ^C to engage in battle with us. He passed by the fortresses of Stani and Soskos, and the low-lying plains of Pelagonia, and took a stand near the garrison of Prilapos; where, seeing himself in straitened circumstances and the gamble of fortune perilous, he fled by night with his son Nicephorus, abandoning his army there in the camp. But on the following morning, the night’s activity became known to us from what followed. For that part of the despot’s forces, which was composed of soldiers of our own race, surrendered itself with its noble men and leaders to the sebastokrator John; and among these was a certain illegitimate son of the fleeing despot, John. Then the entire Latin auxiliary force was shackled with bonds, and sent away captive to the Caesar along with the prince of Achaea. The whole province with its small towns ^D passed under our dominion. Afterward, the grand domestic Alexius, John Raul, and Strategopulus ran as far as the city of Arta,

^A plundering and laying waste the territory of the despot Michael, along with his fortresses. Then the sebastocrator John led an army to New Patras, having in his company the son of the despot, that bastard of whom we spoke before, who, having escaped with a few companions, had fled back in haste to his father—who was wandering in boats around the islands of Cephalonia, an unhappy exile robbed of his ancestral kingdom. But when he had returned to his father, and having gathered a not insignificant army with him, he drove our Roman forces far away, having overcome them by the laws of ancient battle in Epirus. But the sebastocrator John, blessed in name, accompanied by his father-in-law Constantine Tornikes, approached the emperor at Lampsacus; he honored his brother with the sublime dignity of despot for his accomplishments, and simultaneously promoted Constantine Tornikes to the office of sebastocrator; and he also raised Alexius Strategopulus to the brilliant rank of Caesar, and conferred upon his brother Constantine, who was Caesar, the honor of sebastocrator, and besides this, allowed him to wear golden eagles on his buskins as a mark of dignity. ^B When spring had arisen, departing from Lampsacus with all his forces, the emperor Michael directed his march toward Constantinople, wondering if by the art of war he might take it from the Latin yoke. This he attempted, too, relying on the promises—no less than on military strength—of a Latin man named Aseldecae, who guaranteed he would betray the city to us. But when he approached the walls of Byzantium and the emperor realized he had been deceived, he turned his course toward the east again. ^C There, in the city of Nicaea, he encountered Tornikes, who was urgently begging that Arsenius might recover the patriarchal throne. For the Church had been left bereft of a pastor after the recent death of Nicephorus of Ephesus, who had been transferred to the Byzantine throne; and since Arsenius had abandoned it of his own accord, he now wished to be restored to it again. But Michael, rejecting the disgruntled patriarch as being forced upon him, refused. ^D For this man, Arsenius, while he was high priest, had placed the royal crown upon Michael and had made him Emperor of the Romans. Soon after, angry with Michael I know not why, along with Andronicus, the high priest of Sardis, and Manuel of Thessalonica, he had betaken himself to the quiet of a monastery, having of his own accord resigned the Byzantine see. Therefore, the emperor, in accordance with the judgment of the synod...

had translated Nicephorus, Metropolitan of Ephesus, to the Byzantine see. ^A Now, as necessity demanded once again, the emperor, willing or unwilling—as the saying goes—at the entreaty of Tornikes, returned the see to Arsenius. Such was the outcome of the matter mentioned.

Subsequently, having gathered a suitable army and entrusted it to Caesar Strategopoulos, he sent it to wage war against the Western foes. He ordered them, however, as they passed by, to visit Byzantium and display threats to them. The affair turned out as follows: the Caesar, arriving there with his armed forces, found the city empty of soldiers, because a short time before the fleet had set out to plunder the island of Daphnusia. ^B When, therefore, the Caesar arrived at the walls by night, having with him certain fugitives from the city as companions, he was informed by them that there was a certain opening in the city wall, dating from ancient times. He went immediately to that place; and once a soldier had entered through the opening, he greatly increased the boldness of the rest of his comrades, and then another soldier crawled in, and then another, and then a group of fifteen; these, having quickly broken the gates from the inside, gave open access to all the forces. The citizens, struck by the unforeseen event, hid themselves in subterranean vaults and secret cellars, in dark corners and sacred temples, or in monasteries. ^C But the Latin emperor, Baldwin, rushed to the royal palace, from which he fled by a swift ship to his own country. Meanwhile, our soldiers were plundering the city, running through the streets, wards, and alleyways.

The fleet that had sailed to Daphnusia, having learned of the city's fall while at Anaplus, flew back in haste to protect it. But our soldiers had already set fire to the Latin houses and were burning them all down; this sight, viewed by the Italians from afar, checked their assault and scattered the fleet. Thus, Constantinople, the queen of cities, returned to the Roman empire, ^D on the twenty-fifth day of the month of July, in the fourth indiction, in the year from the creation of the world by God, six thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine. It had been under the dominion of the Italian enemies for fifty-eight years. It indeed pleased God that the city of Constantine, celebrated in all tongues, truly a wonder of the world and a great glory, should be liberated from the tyranny of the Latins and returned to the dominion of our empire. Emperor Michael, at that time staying near Meteorium, suddenly heard a report full of joy.

^A By the intimation of his beloved sister Eulogia, / That the armies of the Ausonians had already occupied the most famous city of the world. / Then a messenger, who had been an eyewitness, / Came forth, clearly reporting the events. / And shortly thereafter the regalia of the Latin Emperor, / The red buskins, and the royal sword / Were brought to the Emperor of the Ausonians. / Who, having hastened, arrives at the city / 9545 And encamped somewhere near it. / Then, as the Prelate of Cyzicus had ascended / To one of the towers of the Golden Gate, / Accompanied by the venerable icon / Of the Mother of the Lord, all-praised, / 9550 Because the Shepherd of Byzantium was absent, / Sending up prayers to the God and Master, / The Emperor fell prostrate to the ground with uncovered head, / And all fell down behind him. / After the completion of the thanksgiving, / 9555 The crowned victor entered the Golden Gate / Walking on foot toward the monastery of Stoudios, / Having the venerable icon of the Theotokos / Carried before him and honored. / And having left the venerable icon there, / 9560 He came on horseback to the great temple of God; / And having worshipped, and at the same time given thanks / To the all-powerful and wonder-working Master, / With imperial procession and applause / He entered, rejoicing, into the great palace.

^C Now examine the list of the patriarchs of the New Rome, / O best of men, of the city of Constantine. / 9565 Andrew, the first-called of the apostles, / Sowing the seed of piety / In the regions of Pontus and Bithynia, / Proceeding on his way, arrives at Byzantium; / Having brightened it with the dogmas of the divine Word, / 9570 And having gathered for Christ a flock of believers, / And having built a house of prayer for the faithful / In the city which is called Chrysopolis, / He appoints as bishop there Stachys (87), / One of the seventy disciples of the Word, / 9575 Who, having shepherded the flock of the Master well,

[from earth passed to the stations of heaven. ^A After whom pastors were given to the faithful, Onesimus, fruitful in deed and name; Polycarpus, Plutarch, and Sedecion, Diogenes, Eleutherius, and Felix; then another holy Polycarpus. And all these, fearing the heathens, attended to their pastoral care across the strait. After them, the divine priest Athenodorus ruled the Church of the Byzantine city: he also, having founded a new prayer house in the region which is called Olea, piously celebrated synaxes there; which building the great Constantine afterwards restored and greatly adorned. Thenceforth, Zoilus, Laurentius, and Alypius held the pontificate, and Pertinax, a consular man and noble senator, who built a wondrous and splendid temple in a certain place the name of which is Sycae. ^B There follow Olympianus and the divine Marcus. Then Cyrillianus and Castinus, by whom was the first shrine in Byzantium at the place rightly named Petrium, founded from the foundations for the martyr Euphemia, who had recently won the stadium of martyrdom. Then Titus presided over the flock of Christ. Henceforth, Domitianus, brother of the emperor Probus, noble no less in spirit than in lineage, and his sons Probus and Metrophanes: under whom the last, the pious Constantine, transferring himself to the Byzantine city, extended its boundaries most amply and commanded it to be called New Rome. ^C After Metrophanes departed this life, the divine Alexander occupied the seat, endowed more with eloquence and holy morals, under whom the first synod of the Fathers was gathered at Nicaea for the condemnation of Arius; whom he himself, having struck him with the spear of holy prayers, delivered up, brought to his death. Then Paul, the pillar of orthodoxy, who had been a pupil, a presbyter of the Church and a disciple of the holy bishop Alexander, and guided the flock to salutary pastures. He was driven out an exile to Cucusus on account of his defense of the true dogmas, where he also found a violent end of life, suffocated by his adversaries with a noose. ^D After him Eusebius of Nicomedia held the pontificate of Byzantium, a fervent defender of the Arian madness; who had formerly been bishop of Berytus and from there was translated afterwards to Nicomedia, until finally, by the command of Caesar Constantius, he is placed upon the lofty Byzantine seat. Afterwards the elder Macedonius, a wolf]

^A A voracious beast, not a shepherd, that Pneumatomachus, broke stealthily into the flock of the Lord: until Constantius drove him from the throne on account of the murders he had committed, and especially for having transferred the holy corpse of his father Constantine from the Church of the Apostles to the holy house of the martyr Acacius; and he substituted in his place Eudoxius, infamous and a partisan of Arius, a wolf instead of a shepherd; who, having been bishop of Germanicia, had afterward held the see of Antioch, and eventually iniquitously invaded the Byzantine throne. Demophilus, a disciple of Arius, followed him, who, translated from the bishopric of Berrhoea in Thrace, adorned this primacy: when fate had cut short his life, Evagrius, a tenacious adherent of the orthodox faith ^B by the bishop Eustathius of blessed memory, was established in the Byzantine see; he was immediately driven into exile by Valens, without having even tasted the honor to any small degree. Since then, the Church was magnificently presided over by Gregory, a lyre and a theologian at heart, promoted by God to the governance of the see: he who exposed himself to countless dangers while defending the Church with a brave hand. Under him gathered the venerable second synod of the Fathers in the royal city of Constantine against Macedonius. As he voluntarily left the see, the synod appointed as pastor to the city Nectarius, radiant in life and letters, a noble senator and an aristocrat, a follower of Christ, but not yet initiated: wherefore they baptized him and at once anointed the initiate. And when he had holily concluded his life, that ornament of monks and the presbyterate, the golden mouth, grace given from heaven, ^C the sea of eloquence, that wondrous genius, shining with the light of virtues like a lamp, shone forth divinely from Antioch to illuminate the Byzantine see; or rather, he shone upon the whole world, which he illuminated daily by his teaching, being truly the life-giving sun of the whole earth. And when he was driven from the seat by envious men and terrified into foreign regions, namely to the Comanian solitude of Pontus, where he also had the blessed end of his life; the decrepit Arsacius, and scarcely breathing, was installed in the pastoral see (what a successor to such a man!) by the command of the empress Eudoxia; ^D indeed, after the sun comes darkness and confusion. When he had simultaneously left life and the see, Atticus, flourishing in morals and letters, who was a pious presbyter of the Church, adorned the sacred chair of Byzantium. After him, Sisinnius, advanced in age, a priest of the church situated at Elaea,

^A a gentle, venerable and life-nourishing shepherd. Upon his death, a certain Nestorius, a priest of the Church of Antioch, of impious dogma, a forward mouth and profane spirit, and a destructive wolf, leapt into the see. Yet he, being stripped of his dignity because he was the author of spurious dogmas, was driven into exile by a just judgment by the third council of Ephesus, over which Cyril of Alexandria presided. Then a Roman man, a priest of the Church, Maximianus, a pillar of orthodoxy, sat in the Byzantine chair. After he exchanged earth for heaven, the beloved disciple of Father Chrysostom, Proclus, was created holy patriarch: who, having been ordained formerly as pastor of Cyzicus by the blessed patriarch Sisinnius, but excluded by the Cyzicenians—I know not why—and having remained for the time being without an office, was then promoted to the chair of Byzantium. He correctly pastured the Lord's flock and cared for the mortal remains of his master to be fittingly transported to the metropolis. ^B With Proclus removed from the assembly of men, Flavianus, a defender of true dogma, a presbyter and alumnus of our Church, attained the pontificate most worthily. After he was extinguished by the heel of Dioscorus in the brigand-synod of Ephesus, where he was a protector of right dogmas, Anatolius of Alexandria, a priest, was created pastor of Constantinople; a good shepherd and a tower of true faith, under whom the holy band of the fourth council, having been gathered profitably at Chalcedon, declared the miserable Dioscorus of Alexandria, ^C along with Eutyches and others of the same chaff, to be alien to the Church. Afterward Gennadius, an excellent man, a type of faith and of all honesty, an alumnus of the Church and at the same time a priest, took up the rudder to steer the Church. After whom Acacius, prefect of orphans and a presbyter of the Church, but most wicked in sect, knavishly stole the patriarchate. He also, wretched man, abolished the fourth venerable synod, as much as lay in his power. ^D After the death of this one, who was truly extinguished by a double death, Flavitas, a presbyter attached to the ministry in the temple of the martyr Thecla at Sycae, a profane and blasphemous Monophysite and follower of the Acacian dogma, obtained the patriarchate against the law. He, however, having died after a short time, Euphemius, a presbyter of old in the Church of God and prefect of orphans at Neapolis, worthy of so great a priesthood, was most excellently chosen for the high chair:

^A A holy man and protector of the orthodox: whom, refusing to subject to anathema that blessed assembly of bishops which had formerly been gathered at Chalcedon, the Emperor Anastasius drove from the see and made an exile by an iniquitous edict. In his place, he raised to the chair of Byzantium the great *skeuophylax* of the Church, the divine Macedonius, then a presbyter; but when he also refused to renounce the aforementioned noble council of the Fathers, the Emperor drove him to the city of Euchaita. He thrust in the ignoble Timotheus—a man who had been a priest and *skeuophylax* of the Church formerly, but was polluted by heresy, and appeared as a great burden to the orthodox. After he had ended his life miserably, Joannes, a syncellus and priest, a Cappadocian by race, took the throne. ^B After whom, having finished his duties as shepherd, Epiphanius, endowed with splendid character, a presbyter and syncellus, came to the see. Upon his death, Anthimus of Trapezunt was commanded to ascend the most holy see, although he was devoted to Severus and Dioscorus. Pope Agapetus of Rome, however, deposed him and made patriarch Mennas of Alexandria, a man illustrious in eloquence and even more so in character, an alumnus and priest of the Church, and prefect of the xenodochium of Samson. ^C When he piously departed this mortal life, Eutychius, a certain monk and priest from the most holy monastery at Amaseia, a friend of letters and producer of virtue, appeared as a good shepherd of Christ’s flock. Under him, the divine assembly of the Fifth Synod, rightly gathered in the royal city, insisting on the canons of the Fourth Synod and its very formulas, cast Origen out of the Church, and along with him Didymus, and Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia. Eutychius was later driven from the chair because he had reproved the Emperor, who was cherishing a false and most evil dogma regarding the incorruptible flesh of Christ on earth; Joannes the Scholasticus, a pious man and then a priest from the city of Antioch, approached the patriarchate of Byzantium. ^D But when he also reached the end of his life, Eutychius was again established in the see. After him, a second Joannes shone upon the Church, a most blessed man, called by the truthful title of the Faster, who had been a foster-child and Levite of the Church, and by office a syncellus in that home of the Spirit. He crowned Mauricius with a diadem. When he had departed to the heavenly realms, Cyriacus, a certain oikonomos and priest of the great and holy Church of God,

received the sacred hierarchy, a divine man, a pillar of orthodoxy. ^A When he had left this earthly primacy, the sacred leadership of the people was entrusted to Thomas, the sakellarios and priest, an apostolic man of great piety. When he had departed from this solar light, there was given to him as successor a levite of the Church, the prefect of the poor-house at the harbor of Phrixus, Sergius, defiled by the monophysite dogma. Upon his death, Pyrrhus was substituted, no less corrupted by the heresy than Sergius. He was a presbyter of the great Church, prefect of the monks, and abbot of the monastery ^B which is situated across the strait in the city of Chrysopolis, dedicated to the Mother of the divine Word, and founded in ancient times by Philippicus. After Pyrrhus had been expelled from the Church, Paulus, the oikonomos and priest of the Church, set over the guards, perverse in dogma, thrust himself into the sheepfold like a wolf. After he had died impiously in his ministry, Pyrrhus once again recovered the seat. Then the most wicked Peter came to the seat, a levite of the Church, prefect of the poor-house, referendary, and curator of the elders in that poor-house which is at Neapolis, following the heresy of Sergius, Pyrrhus, and Paul. With this having happened—to speak truly, a twofold death—another Thomas, a lover of orthodoxy, who was a foster-child of the Church and a levite, governed the Church of Christ most excellently. And when he had piously concluded his life, John entered upon the pontificate, a priest and protekdikos of the Church, ^C skeuophylax, syncellus, and oikonomos, and prefect of the gerokomeion of the Dexiocrates; a useful shepherd for the flock. When he had died, Constantine, a levite and guardian of the vessels in the Church of God, periodeuta of Thrace and Macedonia, was advanced to the summit of the Church; a proven man and an ornament of the orthodox. When he had died in the supreme cathedra, the holy Theodore, a priest of Christ God and guardian of the holy vessels in the Church, syncellus in dignity, and prefect of the monks, presided over the Church with the highest praise, ^D and defended the orthodox dogmas. But yet, when he had been unjustly driven from his seat, George, a religious presbyter of Christ, who was the chief skeuophylax of the Church and also syncellus to the patriarch, began to perform the office of the pontificate, a good shepherd and guardian of the divine law: under whom, by the command of the Emperor Constantine the orthodox prince Pogonatus, a divine assembly of an august synod was duly gathered in the royal city,

^A regarding the theanthropic essence of Christ the Word, He put forth a right and catholic opinion, Establishing two wills and two natures United, and condemning all Monophysites. When George had soon passed to the spheres above, Theodore took up the shepherd's staff again. When he had passed to the Lord by death, Paul, who was secret ^B secretary in the palace, Was honored with the patriarchal dignity, Being truly worthy of the pastoral office. And after he had measured out his life by fate, A certain noble priest, Callinicus, And steward of the church of Blachernae, A man highly distinguished in learning and morals, Took charge and governed the Church, Whom the Emperor Rhinotmetus by an unjust command Drove from the throne, having blinded his eyes. He brought in Cyrus, a priest from Amastris, ^C Who was a recluse, and made him shepherd of the flock, Whom Philippicus Bardanes, having gained the scepter, Because he defended the divine dogmas, Drove unjustly from the throne and the flock, And installed in his place the Levite John, Who was chartulary of the oikonomion, An abominable man, devoted to Eutyches And Dioscorus, a wolf among the flock, Who was at length driven from the throne most justly. But the priest of Christ and soul-nurturing shepherd, Divine Germanus, shining in virtues and words, ^D Placed upon the lampstand as a certain lamp On the conspicuous throne of Constantine, Illumined the world with the instruction of his words. He had been chosen pastor of the Cyzicenians, But for some reason not being received by them, He remained for the intermediate time without a ministry; But being transferred to the Byzantine throne, He guided the Christian flock in righteous paths. But this man was wickedly dragged from the throne By the Emperor Leo the Isaurian, The first destroyer of sacred images, Whom Germanus rebuked by divine inspiration. There succeeded him, false in name, Anastasius, Presbyter and syncellus in the Church, But an iconoclast and tyrant of the flock, A wretched hireling, a destructive wolf, Who was the first to abolish the honor of images. When this man had undergone a temporal and eternal death, The unhappy Constantine, the wolf of Sylaeum, Equal to Anastasius in impiety of dogma, Being devoid of his own function, usurped the throne, Whom Copronymus, I applaud you, O Justice, Having dragged from the throne most justly (Not, however, for the sake of faith or dogmas), Set in exile far away in a foreign land.

^A And having brought him back again to the city, and having mounted him upon an ass and triumphed over him, he led him through the hippodrome in the stadium, and he cut off his most wretched head. Yet before he expired by the sword, he asked him whether he approved of the Iconoclast synod. And although he said that the synod had dogmatized rightly, he nonetheless cut off his head. Successor to him was Nicetas, a eunuch slave, or rather a base and most ignorant serf, presbyter in the Church of the Apostles, and sacristan of the temple of the Chalcopratii, advocate of the Church and monastic superior, a destroyer of the sacred images of Christ, who crept into the fold like a plague. ^B After this man died in office, Paul, a native of Cyprus and a layman, who was not a venerator of sacred images, came to the hierarchal principate. Seized by disease, he deserted the cathedra, and having donned black, he made himself a monk, grieving and mourning that he had been prelate while the Church was most miserably vexed, and that he had wished for the images to be worshipped. Sending a messenger, the rulers asked him what ought to be done; he replied that an ecumenical synod must be convened to confront the evils and to procure the unity of the Church, and that no other hope of salvation remained. Sending a messenger back to him, they asked again: “Why then, when you were ascending the cathedra, did you forbid the veneration of images?” He blamed the madness of the princes. ^C “And now, fleeing to God with tears, I entreat the universal Judge that I be not judged as a patriarch.” And a little later he reached the end of his life. After him, Tarasius, a defender of the true faith, illuminated the sacred see, distinguished equally by his letters and his morals, protasecretis, noble in lineage and spirit: under whom there convened at the city of Nicaea the seventh council of the venerable Fathers, who decreed that the honor due to sacred images ought rightfully to be rendered as before: and Nicetas, Anastasius, and Constantine—hirelings in truth, not pastors—they struck with a just anathema. ^D Now when Tarasius had brought the ship of his life from the tempest into a secure harbor, Nicephorus, protasecretis, was chosen as successor to his see and his virtues, a man truly of noble lineage and a patrician, bearing the protection of divine dogmas, and, as was fitting, protecting the flock of Christ. But this man did that beast-named Leo, the Armenian, drive from the fold and the see, because he saw him as dissenting in dogma—not having any reverence for the things in which he held the same opinion.

^A And furthermore, he does not suffer him who mocks the image of Christ to remain, But casts him as an exile into a certain island. In his place he installs Theodotus, known by the nickname Casiteras, Or Melissenus, in the throne, A profane man, a hater of icons, And a wolf in reality among the flock of Christ, An evil shoot of the city of Nacolia. After him, having died in his office, Antonius, a certain one, called Cassimatas, The impious bishop of Silae, held the throne, Hating the theandric image of the Master. Then Jannas the wretch, the base sorcerer, The most wicked teacher of the anti-Christian Emperor Theophilus, a destroyer of icons, Whom the rulers Michael and Theodora Cast down from the throne as a deceiver, And by the vote and agreement of the high priests, They lead up the monk and divine priest of God, Methodius, a fellow-soldier of orthodoxy, Bearing on his flesh the stigmata of the Master To the throne of the Royal City, Having placed the lamp upon a lampstand. After him, having departed to the Master, The radiant shepherd of the Royal City appeared, Ignatius, son of the Emperor Michael, An exact rule of virtues and dogmas, A cultivation of learning and power of words. Whom the beast-named Leo, after seizing power, Had made a eunuch by force. Then, having become a monk as the divine law of God commands, He held the throne of Constantine at last. Him Michael cast down from the throne, Or rather, Caesar Bardas, by an unjust judgment; A crafty man, and exceedingly wise, Photius, the protasecretis from among the laity, He unjustly installs as chief shepherd. With him being driven out from the presidency, Ignatius held the throne again. When he had departed from earth to the breadth of the heavens, Photius is led up again to the throne. From which, being cast down from the throne again, The two-fold Stephen, offspring of the king Basil, a Levite by rank, Took the presidency of Constantinople. After whom, a certain Antonius, a great ascetic, Boasting the Royal City as his fatherland, A holy man, crowned with virtue, A shrine of mercy, and straightforward goodness. When this man left behind his earthly substance, And had departed to the divine minds, A monk was shown to be the high priest of Byzantium, A man, pious, wise, and great, By name Nicolaus, worthy of the throne, Who previously held the office of the Mystikos, Born of the Italians, and well-versed in letters. ^D

^A Leo the Wise, having despoiled him of his honor—for he forbade the celebration of a fourth marriage—installed Euthymius the Syncellus in his place. But when he was himself stripped of this dignity, Nicolaus again received the see. Upon his death, Stephanus of Amasea, a frugal eunuch, having been ordained priest, obtained the pontificate of New Rome. ^B When Stephanus had been extinguished by the power of the common fate, the monk Tryphon, a religious old man, became patriarch of Constantinople. After they had deposed him from the throne by guile, they presented the eunuch son of the Emperor Romanus, by name Theophylact, to the throne. He lived neither holily nor pastorally, but was always absurdly devoted to hunting, to the raising of horses, and to racing them. When his life and dignity were brought to an end, Polyeuctus was promoted to be a pontiff worthy of God’s high priesthood; a truly distinguished man and beloved by all, the glory of monks, a model of every virtue, clear in the light of doctrine, but even more so in his morals. ^C When he also left behind this fleeting life, the monk Basil, called "Scamandrenus" by the people from his homeland, sat upon the throne. After his pontificate was subsequently revoked, the pious Antony from the Studite monastery became patriarch of the city of Byzantium. Thereafter, upon Antony abdicating the honor, Nicolaus, surnamed Chrysoberges, was raised to that most famous throne. Upon his departing to the sight of the Lord, Sisinnius the Magister filled the chair, a man learned in letters, medicine, and the laws, who wrote the just degrees of affinity. After he departed this life, Sergius, an alumnus of the monastery called that of Manuel, received the sacred dignity. ^D After his death, Eustathius, the chief of the presbyters who oversee sacred matters in the palace church, was appointed prelate. When he also reached the end of his life, the monk Alexius, the ecclesiarch of the Studite monastery, attained the honor—a man generous and a magnificent priest. After this holy man concluded his life with his passing, Michael, surnamed Cerularius, a noble man and a monk by profession, was constituted prelate of the bishops; a turbulent man and a contemner of the laws, whom Isaac the Caesar, having deposed from his throne, sent into exile, not without guile. After his death, the throne is held and a great patriarch is constituted, the eunuch Constantine Lichudes, who was in dignity a Protovestiarius; a proven man, pious, and beloved by God, in the care of public affairs

^A found blameless and irreproachable, and even more so in the ministry of holy matters. And when he too departed this life, the gracious John Xiphilinus began to govern the primacy of the Church, being exceedingly distinguished in birth, life, and learning, and formerly a noble among the senators; then, having left the world, he became a monk, and finally emerged as patriarch of Byzantium. 10105 When he too had departed from human affairs, the monk Cosmas the Hierosolymite, a good man and a wondrous treasury of virtues, received the sacred primacy of the people. But he, 10110 loathing the confusion of affairs, voluntarily abdicated the sacred ministry, worthily withdrawing from both the seat and the flock. Then there was established upon the lofty throne the monk Eustratius, surnamed Garidas, 10115 by nature not suited for any noble undertaking, lacking all learning and letters, far more fit for corners and silence than for dignity and the primacy of the people. Therefore, after he was expelled from the ministry, 10120 a holy man, religious, of gentle character, elected by the will of God, Nicholas, a learned monk worthy of the throne, directed the affairs of the Church as was pleasing to God. When Nicholas passed to the heavenly hosts, 10125 John, flourishing in the praise of learning, an hieromnemon and levite of the Church, ^B joined in rights of blood and kinship to the contemporary prelate of Chalcedon, and being called "Beloved" as his name implies, was raised to the throne of Byzantium. 10130 When he had abandoned the current life, Leo Styppes took the primacy, being an oikonomos and levite of the Church. And when he too had departed this life in the seat, there appeared as a great high priest and primate, 10135 illustrious in virtues and letters, Michael, the head of the holy monastery of Oxeia, who nevertheless voluntarily abdicated the hierarchy and, returning to the islet and the monastery of Oxeia, bared his neck 10140 at the gates of the temple, O! such was his gentle manner! permitting all who entered the house of God to tread upon him, because, having left his monastery, he had accepted an useless honor. ^C So, Michael having deserted the seat, 10145 Cosmas the Attican, an ornament of the hierarchy, a chariot of virtues, a hearth of good things, and possessing a prophetic spirit to foresee the future, was shown to be Chief Priest of Constantinople, a good shepherd and nourisher of souls; 10150 whom, however, Manuel the Caesar deposed from the throne, having concocted false pretexts and accusations; ^D wherefore, being brought to judgment, the patriarch spoke, prophesying that the womb of the queen would be sterile of male offspring.

^A And this came to pass in later time. 10155 To the Grand Duke and son-in-law of the Emperor, Contostephanos, who had threatened this regarding him and had set upon him to do some dire deed, he foretold that he himself would perish by a stone; 10160 and both the predicted things met their end. After him, Nicholas Muzalon, having been translated from Cyprus, governed the Church; he was a nursling of this same Church and a levite, an interpreter of the sacred Pauline writings, 10165 and was then declared high-priest of the Cypriots. But being troubled by the confusion of affairs, he resigned the throne and the presidency. Being then idle in the Queen of Cities and overseer of the monastery of Cosmidion, 10170 he took the throne of Byzantium at that time. He having left the throne of his own accord, a certain Theodotus, both monk and priest, the head of the monastery of the Resurrection of the Word, which now is enclosed within the walls of the metropolis, 10175 was seen as president of the throne of Constantine. Upon his death, Constantine, a levite and prepositor of the sacred chapel of God’s Church, ^B the Chliarenus, takes up the throne. And when he had measured out his life by fate, 10180 Lucas, a pious monk, Chrysoberges by name, having performed an excellent ascetic life, attained to the mitre according to his merits. After Lucas, Michael, a levite and sacellarius, the hypatus of the philosophers of Anchialus, 10185 adorned the Byzantine tiara most excellently. Upon his passing to the heavenly spheres, a priest-monk, Eugeniota-born, then overseer of the monastery of the Mangana, Chariton by name, occupied the throne. 10190 Upon his leaving this earthly dwelling, Theodosius, who had lived in the monastery of Boradius, a truly good man and an ornament of monks, governed the Church of Christ laudably. Upon his leaving the throne of the hierarchy, 10195 and voluntarily having abandoned the throne, a certain Basil, Camaterus by surname, a learned man, a chartophylax and levite, replaced him on the venerable throne, whom Isaac Angelus, having seized power, 10200 brought down from throne and presidency, having concocted altogether groundless pretexts. A levite and sacellarius of the Church, of the name Nicetas, Muntanes by surname, older than Tithonus and Thucritus, 10205 he appoints as high-priest of Constantinople; but after a little while, having deposed him from the throne as being simple and worn out by time, he places Leontius, a monk and one who was a worker of virtue, 10210 who was mild, having led him from the hills of Auxentius into the city, that he might show him to be—through the Virgin Mother of God—

^A a person who said to the crowd standing by, that it was shown to him by night, and clearly described the bodily appearance along with the virtue and the name. Nevertheless, he drove him from the throne afterwards, being heedless of his own words. For he wished to transfer the bishop. Indeed, he promoted the patriarch of holy Sion, of Latin stock, Theodosius by name, known to him and a seer of the empire, to the Byzantine vestments. But the novelty of the act profited the man nothing, for both priesthoods he lost with ignominy, having been wickedly elected. ^B There followed Georgius Xiphilinus, who from being a skeuophylax in the Church of God was raised to the pastoral chair. When this man had finished his life, John Camaterus, of eloquent speech, occupied the station, being heaped with all manner of wisdom and learning, and most skilled in divine dogmas, having previously been a levite of the Church and chartophylax. Under him, the Latins stormed the metropolis. Wherefore, unhappily expelled by them from his seat and his cherishing fatherland of Constantinople, he transferred his station to the city of Didymoteichon, and there closed his eyes to the light of life. After him, these shepherds of the city of Byzantium were created in the town of Nicaea. The first is Michael, called Autorianus, ^C of the Church a sacellarius and levite, ^D abundant in worldly and divine learning. After whom, when he had died in the seat, Theodorus approached the honor of the sacred primacy, previously a levite of the Church and chartophylax, drawing the cognomen Irenicus from his father, in philosophical studies at the rank of hypatos. Upon his dying, Maximus claimed the primacy of the sacred matter, a monk and priest, the overseer of the monastery of the Acoemetae. After him, the philosopher in speech, Manuel, a zealous defender of laws and canons. Upon his abandoning this earthly habitation, Germanus, famous for doctrine and character, is created prelate of Constantinople, a man professing the monastic life, a priest of God, born in the town of Anaplus on the Propontis, from childhood an alumnus of the Church in the city, then having become a monk and minister of God, especially dear to the martyr George; finally he emerged as the Byzantine pastor.

^A When he had passed to the Lord and been numbered among the holy patriarchs, Methodius, a monk and priest, who was at that time the head of the Hyacinth monastery, held the throne for a very short time. Upon his death, as he left this life, Manuel, the archpriest of the clergy who oversaw the holy church of the palace—an old man, kindly and gentle in his ways—took the throne. ^B And when he too ended his life, Arsenius, a man shining in piety among monks, an excellent personification of virtues and a living throne, was chosen as the shepherd of Byzantium. Although he was born in the royal city, he had later tonsured his head in the monasteries of Nicaea and had become an abbot there; at this time, he was living in solitude, devoted to God, in the ascetic dwellings of the city of Apolloniades. It was at this time that he was called to the city of Nicaea by the emperor Theodore Lascaris. Having completed all the degrees of the Church, he arrived at the great height of the pastorate. ^C But when he voluntarily left the throne, having given his pastoral staff over to the monastery in a holy manner, Nicephorus, who was the prelate of the Ephesians and had formerly been the archpriest of the palace—an innocent man, a virgin throughout his life—took over the leadership of Constantinople. When he, too, departed this life while in office, Arsenius for the first time recovered the sacred leadership of the imperial city. But after he was subsequently deposed by the sentence of the bishops and the judges of that time, ^D and was forced to depart from the Church and was sent into exile to the island of Proconnesus, Germanus, the prelate of Hadrianopolis, was transferred to the city of Constantine. But when Germanus abdicated his honor, Joseph, a pillar of the true faith, the glory of monks and priests, who was the head of the holy monastery of Galesius, a man gentle, kindly, reverent of divine law, a feeder of the poor, and merciful by nature, was elevated to the famous throne of the patriarchs, chosen worthily and according to canonical rules. Previously he had been a priest amongst the royal clergy, and had lawfully begotten a daughter in holy wedlock; but later, bereaved of his wife, he willingly embraced the monastic life and appeared as a treasury of divine virtues; after that, he became the abbot of the Galesius monastery, and finally a bishop and great pontiff. But when the dogma of the Italians was introduced into our Church not in a praiseworthy manner, by order of the Emperor Michael Palaeologus, he was ejected from his seat because he refused to subscribe to the concord with the Roman Church, which the aforementioned emperor had brought about.

^A While he was piously governing the throne, and some were violently compelling him to approve these things, he stood unmoved, fixed on the foundation of dogmas. He is driven from the throne very unjustly, because he fought for the right dogma, and is deported to a foreign land, after the chief shepherds had passed a sentence of deposition against the innocent man. 10325 After he was removed from the supreme government, a certain John, by surname Veccus, was substituted, agreeing with the Latins, a deacon and chartophylax of the Church, a man indeed wise and nurtured in letters. 10330 But the zeal of the faithful and the nod of the pious ruling Andronicus [(4)] drove him from the Church, as being a champion of the Latin parties; and Joseph received back his chair. 10335 When he left life and the throne, a certain wise man, Gregory, from Cyprus, a training-ground of wise discourses, a hearth of the Muses, was raised to the patriarchal throne. 10340 This man, having been a fugitive from his fatherland and paternal home while still a child, desiring education and learning, came and settled at the city of Constantine. Having surrendered himself to learning and labors, he attained to a great depth of education. Then, having become known to the reigning Caesar, he was enrolled in the palatine clergy, 10345 and finally was created bishop of Constantinople, having first assumed the habit of monks, as is the custom. ^C But when he of his own accord laid down this honor, holy Athanasius, coming from a good solitude, an ascetic and priest among the monks, a magnanimous man, most patient of labors, proceeded as bishop of the city of Byzantium. 10350 When he, by his own resignation, left the throne, a holy and pious man, John, serene, easily approached, a throne of virtues, 10355 an ornament of monks and of presbyters alike, but even more abounding in the meekness of his heart, worthily attained the precedence. He was sprung from the parts of Mesembria [(6)], having in his life contracted a holy marriage, 10360 and having been seen as the procreator of a male child.

^D His defenders were indeed men of merit and infinite learning: Allatius, then Arculius, Caryophilus, Caleca, Papadopulus, Baronius, Natalis Alexander, Lequinius in his *Dissertations* and *Panoplia*, and very many others. Concerning the Greek defenders of these things, see Allatius, *De synodo Ephesinâ*, ch. 57, p. 371. From among those, however, who at that time maintained the concord with Latin dogmas, that is, with orthodoxy, it is enough to mention two; the first of whom is Nicephorus Blemmydes, described by our Ephraemius at v. 8939 sqq. as a coryphaeus of wisdom and highly worthy of the patriarchate; the other is John Veccus, whose wisdom is likewise praised by Ephraemius at v. 10346, who, having read the writings of Blemmydes, passed from schism to orthodoxy, and as Pachymeres says (*Hist.* V, 15), he governed the patriarchate quite catholically, and defended the concord with the Roman Church with most learned writings, and maintained it even until his imprisonment and death. See the testament of Veccus in Allatius, *Gr. orth.*, T. I, p. 378. He was forced to that by the faction of the schismatics, as very well-known history relates.

(4) Andronicus II, when he came to the reign, was even brought to the gathering of the schismatics, as history well known relates. (5) From here up to v. 10363 Allatius edited the verses in his work *De Cons.*, p. 776, and in the dissertation *De Georgiis*, where he deals with the patriarch George the Cypriot, who is also called Gregory. Allatius, however, read "he would read," or at any rate "he would edit," for "when he was giving," or "when he was giving birth." (6) Lequinius says he was born in Sozopolis. But both cities, Mesembria and Sozopolis, belong to Haemimontus, and are not very far from each other.

having voluntarily renounced marriage, he preferred the divine life of an ascetic: and having long persisted in this purpose of life, he finally becomes patriarch of New Rome. But after he himself also voluntarily resigned the see, Athanasius came to the seat again: and when he also again had wearied of the burden, Niphon, translated from the diocese of Cyzicus, ruled as patriarch over the queen of cities; a man of the monastic life, sagacious in practical affairs, devoid of common education, but prudent in matters and teeming with talent, born in Berrhoea in the western regions, having been superior of a laura on Mount Athos, subsequently made metropolitan of Cyzicus, he finally held the pontificate of Constantinople. But he too resigned the honor by petition. ^B John, however, by surname Glycas, a man of senatorial rank and logothete of the course, one of the nobles and the most learned, approached the sacred presidency of the people. ^C When he likewise resigned the dignity, Gerasimus, a man monastic and a priest, who had been born in the city of Philadelphia and had governed the monastery of the Sosandra, held the pontificate of Byzantium. And when he had died in the see, the monk Isaiah, distinguished by piety, a benign, venerable, and modest elder, having his natal land in ancient Epirus, the glory of the monks living on Mount Athos, attained the highest summit of the patriarchate.

THEOLEPTUS METROPOLITAN OF PHILADELPHIA

NOTICE

^D Theoleptus, that great light of the Philadelphians, flourished in the reign of Andronicus the Second of the Palaeologi, about the year one thousand three hundred and twenty-five. At first he led an anchoritic life on the Holy Mountain; then, having accepted the presidency of Philadelphia, [he became guide and mystagogue…]

Then, having accepted the leadership of Philadelphia, ^A he became a guide and initiator into the finest teachings of Saint Gregory of Thessalonica. For he initiated the young man—who was still living in the world, as is described in the Life of the same Gregory, which the Patriarch Philotheus wrote—into the sacred sobriety and that intellectual prayer. ^B The present treatise, composed by him, being an excellent demonstration and an accurate rule for the hidden study in Christ, together with the chapters accompanying it, which are set together in the best way through divine thoughts and purity of expression, has been arranged herewith along with the rest. For this is useful, if anything is, and noteworthy for those desiring to gather in a short space the divine wisdom of spiritual philosophy.

THEOLEPTOS, METROPOLITAN OF PHILADELPHIA, TREATISE DEFINING THE HIDDEN WORK IN CHRIST, AND SHOWING IN BRIEF THE LABOR OF THE MONASTIC PROFESSION

^B The monastic profession is like a tree, high-branched and most fruitful; its root is the alienation from all bodily things, its branches are the dispassion of the soul and the having of no relationship to the things from which it has made its retreat; its fruit is the acquisition of virtues, and god-making love, and the joy from these that is not interrupted. For the fruit, he says, of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and the rest. The flight from the world grants the refuge unto Christ. By "world" I mean the friendship of sensible things and of the flesh. He who is alienated from these through the knowledge of the truth is joined to Christ, acquiring His love, for the sake of which he has renounced all the things of the world and "bought" the precious pearl, Christ. ^C You have put on Christ through the saving baptism, you have cast off the filth through the divine washing, you have brought back the splendor of spiritual grace, and the nobility of your creation; but what has come to pass? Or rather, what has man suffered through his own thoughtlessness? On account of his love for worldly things, he has changed in himself the divine lineaments...

and through his sympathy for the flesh, he has rendered the image useless; the mist of impassioned thoughts has darkened the mirror of the soul, through which Christ, the ^A intelligible sun, appears. You have nailed your soul fast with the fear of God; you have recognized the darkness of worldly confusion; you have apprehended the fragmentation of your mind caused by noise; you have seen the vain distraction that meets men in their tumultuous life; you have been wounded by the arrow of desire for stillness; you have sought the peace of your thoughts. For you learned: “Seek peace and pursue it.” You desired the repose found therein, since you heard: “Return, O my soul, to your rest.” ^B Therefore, having pondered this nobility which you received by grace in baptism—but which you cast away by your own will through the passions in the world—you did not neglect to call it back through a good intent. You put it into action by betaking yourself to the sacred monastery, clothing yourself in the precious garments of repentance, and courageously promising to remain in the monastery until death. Now I shall add a second motivation, which tends toward the end of this present life; for the first looked to the present life itself. Initially, you drew near to Christ out of piety, but now, through the conversion of the senses, you are joined to Christ; there you found grace, here you have entered into an obligation; then you were younger and ignorant of the dignity you received, although later, having grown, you recognized the value of the gift and placed a bridle upon your mouth; now, standing in perfect consideration, you perceive the power of your commitment. See that you do not violate this state, lest, like an utterly broken vessel, you be cast into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth; for outside the way of repentance, ^C there is no other path that leads to salvation. Hear what David declares to you: “You have made the Most High your refuge.” And if you have chosen the life of affliction in Christ, the evils that were expected to come to you from worldly association will not approach you. For one who chooses to repent, love of money, luxury, honor, vanity, and incontinence of the senses will not pursue you; there will not remain against you the illegal agitations of the mind, the captivity of the intellect, the weakening caused by successive thoughts, and every other voluntary perversion and confusion. Nor will the friendship of parents, brothers, relatives, friends, and acquaintances disturb you; nor will untimely and useless association and conversation with them dwell within you. If you will love this renunciation with body and soul, the scourge of pain will not draw near to your soul, the arrow of sorrow will not pierce your heart, nor will it darken your countenance. For those who withdraw themselves from pleasurable habits and cast off all affection for the things mentioned above, blunt the stings of grief; for Christ stands by ^D souls in their struggles and pours into their hearts an ineffable and spiritual joy, so that they can be fettered neither by the things of this world that please, nor by those that afflict. Christ, to the holy...

^A soul that is being exercised, appears and provides the heart with unspeakable joy, and no joy from the things of the world, whether pleasant or painful, can ever take it away. For holy meditations, and memories that bring salvation, and divine thoughts, and words of wisdom ministering to the combatant, keep guard over him in all the paths of his works in God. Hence he treads upon every irrational desire and headlong anger, just as if upon an asp and a basilisk, and he tramples down wrath like a lion and pleasure like a dragon. The reason is that he has withdrawn all his hope from men and from the aforementioned things and has bound it to God, and he grows rich in the knowledge of God, and ever mentally calls upon God for his own help. "For because he has hoped in me," He says, "I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he has known my name; he shall cry out to me, and I will hear him, and I will not only deliver him from those who afflict him, but I will also glorify him."

Do you see the struggles of those who are trained in God, and the rewards that come from them? Make haste, therefore, to translate your calling into action; and just as you have become solitary in body, casting aside the thoughts of things, change your appearance, make yourself a stranger, put away also the words and associations that belong to your kin. For if you do not cease from wandering after external things, you will never arrive at those who lie in wait within. If you do not conquer those who fight against you through visible things, how will you overcome the invisible plotters?

When, however, you have brought to naught the external distractions and have left behind the internal reasonings, then the ^C mind is raised up in the works and words of the Spirit; and instead of the familiarity of relatives and acquaintances, you perform the ways of the virtues; and instead of the vain words born of worldly conversation, study, and the manifestation of divine words moving according to the intellect, illuminates and gives understanding to the soul. The loosening of the senses becomes a bond for the soul, but the binding of the senses results in the soul's liberation. The setting of the sun brings night; and Christ departs from the soul, and the darkness of passions overtakes it, and the intelligible beasts tear it apart. When the sensible sun has risen, the beasts gather into their dens; and Christ also rises in the firmament of the praying mind, and all the familiarity of the world passes away, and the love of the flesh vanishes, and the mind proceeds to its work, that is, the meditation on divine things, until evening, not limiting the performance of the spiritual law by a temporal interval, and performing it by measure, but ^D even until the end, when the present life shall conclude the departure of the soul from the body. This is what the prophet also signifies when he says: "How I have loved thy law, O Lord! All the day it is my meditation." He calls the fleeting life of each person "the day." Therefore, curb external associations and turn yourself to internal conversations, while you find a place for pure prayer and...

^A the house in which Christ dwells, illuminating and sweetening you by his knowledge and visitation, and preparing you to consider tribulations endured for his sake as joy, and to reject worldly pleasures as if they were wormwood. The spirits of the sea raise up the waves, and if the winds do not cease, the waves do not subside, nor does the sea become calm. So too, the spirits of wickedness stir up in the soul of the slothful a memory of parents, brothers, relatives, acquaintances, banquets, festivals, theaters, and all other phantasms of pleasure, and they whisper to the eyes, the tongue, and the body to engage in these encounters, so that the present hour is spent in vain, and the next, when you remain alone inside your cell, is consumed in memories of what was seen and said. Thus, the life of the monk is brought to an end without profit; worldly operations pass through the memory and leave their marks in the mind, just as the feet of a man walking through snow leave their footprints there. If we provide food for wild beasts, shall we destroy them? If we indulge in foolish friendships and habits by words and deeds, shall we mortify the appetite of the flesh? When, then, shall we examine the life that we have professed according to Christ? The footprints that remain in the snow from one’s feet are destroyed either by the rays of the sun or by falling rain; and the images impressed upon the memory by the pleasurable habit of words and deeds are brought to nothing if Christ arises in the mind through prayer and if rivulets of tears flow from a contrite heart.

If a monk does not conduct himself in a rational manner, how shall he pluck out from his soul the opinions that are ingrained and impressed upon it? You will fulfill the virtues in your body if you lay aside secular commerce. Good thoughts are formed, and divine discourses dwell in the mind, if by constant prayers, poured forth with fervent compunction, you erase from your mind the memories of former actions. For the illumination of faith that works through the remembrance of God, and the contrition of the heart, cut away evil thoughts like a razor. Make the bees your pattern. When they feel the swarms of wasps flying about them, they remain in their hives and avoid their snares. Consider worldly encounters to be like wasps; if you flee these with great zeal, you will retreat to the inner harbor of the monastery, namely, your cell, and there you will attempt to go into your inmost soul, in which Christ dwells, and with Him there is present peace, joy, and firm ^D tranquility. These are the gifts of Christ, the sun of the spirit; just as he emits light, he sends them forth from himself, and bestows them as a reward upon the soul that receives him with faith and love. When, therefore, you are in your dwelling, think of God, withdraw your mind from all things, and without voice refer it to God; open all the dispositions of your heart to him and adhere to him through love. For this remembrance of God is as it were an intuition: God draws the senses and eyes of the soul to himself, who with his own light considers the mind of the one contemplating him

^A For when the mind turns to God, while resting from all the formative notions of existing things, it sees without images; and through an ignorance that surpasses understanding, because of the inaccessibility of the glory, it illumines its own vision. And while it does not know through the incomprehensibility of the object seen, it knows through the truth of the One who is truly Being and who alone possesses the quality of being beyond; and by the plenitude of the goodness gushing forth from there, it nourishes its own love, and fulfilling its own impulse, it is deemed worthy of an unceasing and blessed rest.

These then are the marks of exact remembrance. Prayer is a dialogue of the mind with the Lord, traversing the steps of supplication with the total attentive gaze of the mind toward God. For while the mind is constantly uttering the name of the Lord, and the intellect is clearly attending to the invocation of the divine name, the light of the knowledge of God overshadows the whole soul like a luminous cloud. For both love and joy accompany an exact remembrance of God: "I remembered God," he says, "and I rejoiced" (Ps. LXXVI, 4). And with pure prayer come knowledge and compunction: "In whatever day I call upon you, behold I know that you are my God" (Ps. LV, 10). And again: "A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit" (Ps. L, 19). For the temple and those of the mind standing before God through active attentiveness and fervent supplication, ^B the compunction of the soul follows. And as the intellect, the word, and the spirit fall before God—the one through attention, the other through invocation, and the other through compunction and love—the whole inward man ministers to the Lord. "For you shall love," he says, "the Lord your God with all your heart" (in other codices, "with all your mind").

I wish you to know this also, lest, thinking you are praying, you might wander far from prayer and labor uselessly and run in vain. Just as this occurs in the psalmody of the mouth, while the mind is carried elsewhere, being divided among passions and affairs of the world, so that from this the understanding of the psalmody is also harmed, so too does this happen in the mind. For often, while the words of prayer go forth, the mind does not accompany them, and it does not fix its gaze on ^C God, toward whom the dialogue is directed in prayer; but it is secretly turned aside by certain thoughts. And while the intellect habitually speaks the words, the mind slips away from the knowledge of God. Hence, at that time, the soul appears uncomprehending and undisposed, as the mind is scattered into certain fantasies and becomes distracted toward things to which it is stolen or by which it is desired. For when the prayerful knowledge is not present, nor is the one who is praying standing before the one to whom he is praying, how will the soul be sweetened? How will a heart that pretends to pray, but does not provide true prayer, rejoice? "The heart of those who seek the Lord shall rejoice." Now he seeks the Lord who, with a totally fervent disposition ^D of mind, falls before God, all worldly...

^A thought being banished by reason of the knowledge and love of God which are supplied by continuous and pure prayer.

I, however, for the sake of clarity regarding the intuition in the mind according to divine remembrance, and the dignity according to pure prayer in the intellect, put forward the bodily eye and the tongue as an image. For that which the pupil is to the eye, and the utterance of the word is to the tongue, that is remembrance to the mind, and prayer to the intellect. For as the eye, having received by its visual sense the visible object set before it, makes no sound, but by the experience of sight receives the knowledge of what is seen; so also the intellect, through remembrance, drawing near to God with desire, ^B by the attachment of the constant disposition and by the silence of the most simple intuition, is illuminated by the divine radiance, receiving a pledge of future brightness. And just as again the tongue, producing the words of speech, manifests the hidden will of the mind to the listener; so also the intellect, by frequently and fervently announcing the short-syllabled words of prayer, reveals the soul’s petition to the God who knows all things, and by the beseeching assiduity and persistent contrition of the heart, the contrition opens the merciful bowels of the compassionate One, and receives abundant salvation. "For a contrite and humbled heart," He says, "God will not despise." ^C He will guide you into pure prayer, as is done toward a king on earth. For when you approach a king, you stand before him with your body, you beseech him with your tongue, and you gaze at him with your eye, and thus you draw royal favor to yourself. Do this also when you are in the assembly of the Church, or alone in your house. For when you are gathered in the Lord with your brothers, just as you present yourself to God by the posture of your body and the psalmody of your tongue, so too keep your mind attentive to the words and to God, knowing to whom you are speaking and addressing. For when the intellect is occupied intently and purely with prayer, the heart is deemed worthy of ineffable joy ^D and peace. When you are alone again in your house, waiting faithfully, the prayer of the intellect will come forth with a sober mind and a contrite spirit, and your contemplation will dwell within you on account of your sobriety, and knowledge will dwell within you on account of your contrition; irrational pleasure will be destroyed, and divine love will enter into you.

Trust me when I tell you the truth: if in all your works you take as a companion the mother of good things, namely prayer, you shall not fall asleep until He shows you the Bridegroom, brings you in, and fills your heart with unspeakable glory and joy. For when all obstacles are removed, He renders the path of virtue smooth and makes it easy for the seeker.

Consider also the manner of mental prayer. A settled conversation removes the dissipation of the passions; the conversion of the mind to God flees the thoughts of the world; the contrition of the soul wards off carnal...

appetites; and prayer is seen in the silent dictation of the divine name, a harmony and union of mind, word, and soul. "For where," he says, "two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." ^A Thus, then, prayer, by recalling the faculties of the soul from the dispersion of the passions, and binding them both to one another and to itself, unites the tripartite soul to the one God in three hypostases. For, first, by the modes of virtue, it scrapes away the defilement of sin from the soul, then, by painting the beauty of the divine characters through the holy knowledge acquired by itself, it presents the soul to God. For the soul immediately recognizes its own Maker. "In the day," he says, "that I shall call upon you, behold I have known that you are my God." And it is known by him. "For the Lord," he says, "has known those who are his." It is known because of the purity of the image—for every image has its referral to the prototype—and it is known through the likeness according to the virtues, through which it also has knowledge of God, and is known by God. ^B One who seeks to obtain royal favor employs a threefold method: he either supplicates with his voice, or stands in silence, or casts himself before the feet of the one who can help. And pure prayer, joining the mind, the word, and the spirit to itself, by means of the word, it proffers the name; by means of the mind, it gazes unswervingly at the God who is entreated; and by means of the spirit, it makes manifest contrition, humility, and love, and in this way it entreats the unoriginate Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God.

^C As the variety of foods arouses the appetite for their consumption, so the diverse types of virtues awaken the readiness of the mind. For this reason, as you travel the path of thought, gather the words of prayer; and converse with the Lord always, crying out and not giving up; praying frequently, and imitating the shamelessness of the widow who persuaded the implacable judge. Then you walk in the spirit, and you do not attend to carnal desires, nor do you interrupt the continuity of prayer with worldly thoughts. You become a temple of God, singing hymns to God without distraction. Thus, as you advance toward the memory of God, and enter into the inmost parts of the mind, and contemplate the invisible in mystical visions, ^D and solely with God alone, in conscious outpourings, you celebrate the liturgy [index: entries preserved].

When, therefore, you see a book, take it in hand, and as you read it attentively, bring in knowledge, not passing over the words cursorily, but observing and storing them up in the mind. Then perform the meditation on what has been read, so that your intellect may be sweetened by the understanding, and that the readings may remain unforgotten, and from this, your soul rises up...

^A with warmth in regard to divine thoughts. "For in my meditation," it says, "a fire shall be kindled." For just as food delights the sense of taste when it is chewed by the teeth, so divine words, when turned over in the soul, fatten the intellect and gladden it. "For how sweet," it says, "are your words to my throat!" Commit to memory both the words of the Gospel and the sayings of the blessed Fathers, and search out their lives, so that you may have these as subject matter for meditation in the night.

So that you may refresh the intellect when it has grown faint from prayer, through the reading and meditation of the divine words, and so that you may prepare it more readily for prayer, perform the singing of psalms with your mouth; yet with a very quiet voice, and with an attentive mind, not allowing yourself to leave any of the words ungrasped. But if at any time the mind wanders, repeat the verse as often as is necessary, until you have your mind following what is being said. For the mind is able both to sing with the mouth and to remember God. And learn this from natural experience. For as one who meets someone and converses with him also gives attention to him with his eyes, so also he who sings with his lips is able to gaze upon God through the power of memory ^B. Do not neglect the bending of the knees. For by bending the knee, the fall of sin is symbolized, providing a manifestation of confession; and by rising up, repentance is signified, hinting at a life that returns to virtue. And let each genuflection be completed with the mental invocation of Christ, so that by falling down before the Lord in soul and body, you may render the God of souls and bodies merciful. And if you also perform some quiet task with your hands alongside prayer, so as to banish sleep and listlessness, this too strengthens the ascetic struggle. For all the stated activities, when performed with prayer, sharpen the mind, banish listlessness, render the soul fresher, and make the mind more acute and fervent in busying itself with mental activity.

At the striking of the wood, go out from your cell, looking with the eyes of the body toward the ground, but with your mind and memory ascending to God. When you have entered ^C the temple and reached the choir, do not engage in inept chatter with the monk standing near you, nor let your spirit run off into vain digressions; but turn your tongue solely to psalmody and your spirit to prayer. When the dismissal has taken place, return to your dwelling and attend to the things established for you by the rule.

When you go to the table, do not look around at the portions of the brethren, nor divide your soul with unworthy suspicions; but look at and touch what is set before you. Then offer food to your mouth, but to your ears the hearing of the readings ^D

^A and to your soul offer prayer, so that, nourished in body and spirit, you may praise with all your might Him who has fulfilled your desire with good things. Rising from there, enter your cell with dignity and silence, and like a diligent bee, labor at the virtues.

When you perform a service together with the brethren, let your hands work, but let your lips be silent, and let your mind remember God. And if at any time someone is moved to idle talk, to cut off the disorder, rise up and perform a penance. Turn away from thoughts and do not allow them to run through your heart and linger there; for the lingering of passionate thoughts brings the passions to life, but puts the mind to death. Rather, as soon as they strike, hasten to kill them with the dart of prayer. But if they persist in knocking, and confuse the mind, and sometimes recede and sometimes approach, know that they are fortified by a previous consent of your will. Therefore, because you have what is just in your soul ^B by reason of the defeat of your intention, they disturb and trouble you. It is necessary, then, to brand them by means of confession; for when wicked thoughts are triumphed over, they are put to flight. For just as light shining causes darkness to recede, so too the light of confession causes the thoughts of the passions—which are themselves a darkness—to vanish, since vainglory and ease, which gave those thoughts room, have been destroyed by the shame of confession and the hardship according to the rule. Whence, finding the mind now become free from the passions through continuous and compunctionate prayer, they flee away in shame.

For when the combatant attempts to cut off with prayer the thoughts that disturb him, he cuts them off for a moment and restrains their wordiness, as if wrestling and contending, but he is not delivered once and for all; because he cherishes the causes of the troublesome thoughts—the rest of the flesh, and worldly ambition—for which he does not even make an effort toward confession. Whence he has no peace, ^C because he holds the arguments of his enemies. For who that possesses the goods of others is not required by their owners to return them? And who, being asked to return what he unjustly holds, is delivered from his adversaries if he does not give them up? But when the combatant, having been enabled by the memory of God, loves the renunciation and the maltreatment of the flesh, and performs the confession of his thoughts without shame, immediately the enemies withdraw, and the mind, being free, has the continuity of prayer and the study of divine things without interruption.

Completely reject every suspicion rising in your heart against anyone, as it dissolves love and peace. But accept every calamity approaching from outside with nobility, as it brings about saving patience; patience, which grants a dwelling and rest in the heavens. Finishing your days in this way, in the present life you will live with joy, rejoicing in blessed hopes; and at your departure you will ^D pass over with confidence, and you will enter the places of refreshment which the Lord has prepared for you upon your arrival, and will repay you for the labors you have undertaken here. You will reign with Him, to whom belongs all glory, honor, and adoration, together with the Father without beginning, with the holy and

good, and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

OF THE SAME THEOLEPTOS

1. ^B The mind, fleeing things external and gathering itself inward, returns to itself—or rather, it communes with the word that is congenitally present to the intellect—and through the word that is essentially present with it, it is united to prayer; and through prayer, it ascends to the knowledge of God with its entire affective power and disposition. Then the desire of the flesh departs, all sense-perception that seeks pleasure becomes idle, and the beautiful things of the earth appear distasteful. For the soul, having placed behind itself all things belonging to the body and concerning the body, comes to be behind the beauty of Christ, following Him with works of dignity and with purity of intellect, and singing: "The virgins shall be brought to the king after her." ^C Imagining Christ to herself, and seeing Him before her, she says: "I beheld the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand." By love she is securely glued to Christ, and cries out: "Lord, all my desire is before thee." Always gazing toward Christ, she cries: "My eyes are always toward the Lord." Speaking with Christ through pure prayer, she finds sweetness and is gladdened, singing: "May my discourse be pleasing to Him; and I will rejoice in the Lord." For God receives the discourse from prayer, and as He is loved, and as He is invoked, and as He is sought for help, He grants ineffable joy to the soul that prays. For, remembering God through the discourse in prayer, it is gladdened by the Lord, as it says: "I remembered God, and I was glad."

2. ^D Flee the senses, and you have rendered the pleasure of sensible things idle. Flee also the images within the mind of pleasant things, and you have rendered the voluptuousness of thoughts idle. The mind, remaining without images, as it does not accept being molded or stamped under the influence of modes of pleasure or of thoughts of desire, is found in simplicity. Rising above all sensible and intelligible things, it raises its awareness to God, uttering nothing else, but deeply and continuously whispering the name of the Lord through constant remembrance, as an infant calls to his father: "I will call…

^A unto thee." For just as Adam, fashioned by the hand of God from the earth, became a living soul through the divine breath, so too the spirit, which is formed by the virtues, frequently invokes God with a pure mind and great fervor, is changed by the divine operation, is vivified and deified, so that it might know and love God.

3. If you persist in continuous and sincere prayer, and cast aside the desire for earthly things and raise all your thoughts to God even during sleep itself, and if you become entirely established in the sole remembrance of God, the love of God will dwell within you as another helper. For the crying out from prayer according to one’s disposition brings forth divine love, and divine love awakens and stirs the spirit to manifest ^B hidden things. Then the spirit, joined to love, reaps wisdom and through wisdom proclaims ineffable things. For God the Word, being named through the crying out in prayer according to one’s disposition, receives the perception of the mind, grants knowledge as if it were a rib, and instead of this, filling up the good disposition, bestows virtue, builds up light-giving love, and leads the mind that has stood outside itself, and is sleeping, and resting from all earthly desire. And love is found to be another helper of the mind that has rested from the irrational attachment to sensible things. Whence it also awakens the mind, as one who is pure, to the words of wisdom. Then the mind, loving this [love] and finding sweetness in it, makes known to others the hidden dispositions of the virtues and the invisible operations of knowledge, through the extension of words.

4. Withdraw from all things perceived by the senses, and abandon the law of the flesh; then the law of the Spirit will be written upon your heart. For as one who walks in the Spirit does not fulfill the desire of the flesh, as the Apostle says, so also he who withdraws from senses and sensible things—that is, from the flesh and the world—comes to walk in the Spirit and to mind the things of the Spirit. Learn this, too, from what God brought to pass in Adam before the transgression.

5. Him who strives for the keeping of the commandments, ^D and persists in the paradise of prayer, and stands before the Lord through constant remembrance, God delivers from the pleasurable operations of the flesh, and from all motions according to the senses, and from all phantasms according to the mind; and making him dead to the passions and to sin, He makes him a participant in the divine life. For as one who sleeps is likened to the dead, yet exists as living—the one through the operation of the body, the other through the cooperation of the soul—so also he who remains in the Spirit is dead to the flesh and the world, but lives by the mindset of the Spirit.

6. If you know what you are chanting, you receive recognition. From recognition you acquire understanding. From understanding...

[403] arrival at the fruit of knowledge, that is, at activity. Through habitual activity, you perceive knowledge, by which, if you have employed it, you rise to true meditation; thence, through the illuminating words of grace, wisdom arises, which fills the mind with its light and explains hidden things to those on the outside.

7. First, the mind seeks and finds; then it is united to that which is found. The investigation is performed through the word, but the unification through charity. The investigation of the word is founded in truth, while the unification of charity is for the sake of the good.

8. He who ascends above the fluctuating nature of present things, and passes by the desire for passing things, does not look down to the lowest things nor does he desire the beautiful things of this world. Rather, he lifts his eyes upward, gazes upon the beauty of the heavens, and contemplates a happiness subject to no change. ^B For as for him who gapes at the matter of the earth and bends down toward the pleasures of the flesh, the heavens are closed, as he has the eyes of his mind darkened; thus, he who scorns lower things and turns away from them keeps his mind uplifted and sees the glory of eternity, and perceives the brightness reserved for the saints. Such a one also receives the love of God descending upon him from above, and becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, and seeks the divine commands, and is led by the Spirit of God, and passes into the adoption of sons; he pleases God and has God well-pleased with him, as it is written: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom. 8:14)

Never, not even for a single day while you draw breath, should you omit prayer on account of infirmity; hear him who says: "When I am weak, then I am powerful." (2 Cor. 12:10) If you do this, you will receive great benefit, for prayer will lift you up in a short time, with divine grace cooperating; for where there is the consolation ^C of the Spirit, there infirmity or weariness will not remain.

THE THEOLEPTUS, METROPOLITAN OF PHILADELPHIA CANTICUM COMPUNCTIONIS

ODE I. Agedum, anima miserrima, seclusis hujus vitæ curis, et vitiorum cogitationibus, carnisque voluptatibus, futuri status hominum horribilia considera. ^D Angor ingens et timor plurimus, animam omnem

^A invadet, quando mortalium ossa omnia concursantia, suas quæque coagmentationes, et juncturas diligenter requirent.

Universa terra, velut mulier prægnans, cum tremore mortuos suos ad unum edet. Tuba quippe horrendum insonante, illico unusquisque de loco, redivivus prodibit.

Ad opem tuam, ceu ad petram tutamque anchoram, immaculata Virgo, confugio. Ne me repelle, sed toties in peccata lapsum erige.

ODE II

Flebis affatim, et gemitus dabis altos, anima mea, quando omnium sæculorum mortales nudos resurgere, et ante judicem, qui muneribus non corrumpitur, stare videbis.

In novissimo et terrifico illo die, fratres mei, omnes illic sistemur, in ictu oculi. Nam et feræ bestiæ, et volucres, et pisces quos devoraverint reddent.

Rapidus ignis fluvius, colles, montes et opera hominum per terras furenter absumet. Flammæ universa depascentis impetum et minas quis non perhorrescet?

Non est fidelibus portus alius, Virgo sanctissima, præter te, quæ Christum, tranquillitatem securitatemque nostram, genuisti. Quæ omnes vexationibus, et injuriis inimici dæmonis ceu tempestate jactatos, quieti ac saluti restituis.

Tria ista timeo, o anima: egressum e corpore, in hora mortis occursum veniente communi omnium judice: et quam idem pronuntiabit justam incorruptam sententiam.

ODE III

Terra inflammabitur, mare subsidet ac decrescet; aer concutietur, et totum cœlum involvetur, lumina et astra ejus decident. Quomodo hæc, anima, sustinebis?

Lamentaberis vehementer, anima mea, cum missos festinato angelos, a quatuor terrarum finibus Deo placitos congregare cernes.

En, totum genus humanum attonitum stupebit, cum judicem illum formidandum in duas partes quidquid est hominum secernentem, et actionum trutinæ subjicientem intuebitur.

Dies retributionis veniet, sicut fur in nocte, peccatores omnes exterrens. Tum tu, casta Mater, miserta mei, a supplicio me vindica.

ODE IV

Pudor et confusio operiet facies eorum qui sibi verbo et opere commissorum conscii fuerint. Etenim actiones suas omnes vultu ipso inseparabiliter præ se ferens unusquisque resurget.

A rea et flagellante conscientia liberi, fiducia pleni et hilares apparebunt justi omnes. Suorum quippe laborum multorumque certaminum quæ subierunt mercedem exspectabunt.

Clarisonus tum clamor dicet: Ecce judex venit, ut populos omnes judicet, et pro dignitate quilibet suorum laborum præmia juste accipiat.

Divina luce tua, o bona, animam meam affectionum malarum tenebris offusam illumina: quo tanquam filius lucis opera lucis faciens, a tenebris exterioribus liberer.

ODE V

Mens et renes contremiscent, ubi terribilem illius tubæ clangorem clamoremque audierint. Abyssi ingemiscent, et virtutes cœlorum commovebuntur.

Invenient quo divertant, qui lugent, quique pauperes sunt secundum Deum, et castitatem colunt, et qui per viam angustam ambulant, atque Eden hæreditatem habent, in mansionibus intemeratis permanentes.

Divites ardebunt igne inhumanitatis, et pauperes in tabernaculis, atque in sinu Abrahæ conspicientes, guttam aquæ rogabunt, nec erit qui illis tribuat. Formidemus omnes.

Da mihi, Virgo, pedicas et laqueos vitæ hujus vanæ, ac perituræ effugere, et vires suffice, quibus ad vitam futuram curram, et a stridore dentium me libera.

ODE VI

Judex est incorruptus, judicium imprimis formidabile, ira intolerabilis, et tribunal hoc nulla potest calliditate versutiaque circumveniri. Angeli cum timore et tremore ministrant; libri occulta mortalium produnt. De cætero depone mores improbos, anima, et amaras funde lacrymas.

Cum hinc emigravero, ne, Virgo, me deseras. ^C Tunc enim nequam spiritus animam meam captabunt. Heu me! qua ratione effugiam illos, aut quid faciam? Heu me! quomodo horribiles locos pertransibo? Tu spes mea, tu portus meus, et ante te ego famulus tuus me prosterno.

ODE VII

Quis erit sensus animæ, cum positi fuerint throni, et ad judicandum judex ille integerrimus consederit, et libri exhibebunt hominum actiones, cogitationes et consilia? Væ tibi tum, o vilis anima et miserrima!

Oratorum ad persuasionem accommodatæ argumentationes, et orationis ornamenta, artificia, verborum strophæ ac fallaciæ desinent; sapientes omnes obmutescent, libri operum loquentur, hominibus angelisque simul audientibus.

Innumerabilium angelorum exercitus astabit ac thronum circumdabit. Homines autem universi stabunt tristes, necessitatem horriferam videntes, et sententiam justissimam metuentes. ^D

Aspersione roris tui, intacta Virgo, ardorem libidinis meæ restingue. Nam in te Verbum Dei sicut pluvia in vellus descendit, fidelibus gehennæ rogum exstinguens.

ODE VIII

Tunc ordines fidelium examinabuntur, episcopi quoque, sacerdotes, levitæ, monachi: nam in ordine suo quisque resurget, ut quisque actorum suorum rationem reddat.

Trepidabunt omnes principes, opulenti, reges et

dynasts, consuls, and governors. Every Christian shall be asked how he has kept the covenants made at baptism. When the actions of all have been revealed and made manifest, the Judge shall pronounce a terrifying sentence; He shall place the just on His right hand, and send the sinners into punishment.

Free me, O Virgin, from the flame of Gehenna, from the darkness and the worm, from the gnashing of teeth and Tartarus, from the lake of fire and every kind of torment, as I praise you in faith.

ODE IX.

Every mortal, given over to fleeting things, shall then laugh at and despise his pleasures and, weeping bitterly, will say: "Where is father, where is mother, where are children, where are kinsmen, where are friends, where are relations, where is the idle fancy of honor?" All have vanished.

There souls shall lament and gnash their teeth, suffering separation from kinsmen and friends. For brothers shall be pulled apart, father from son, friend from friend, spouses shall be cruelly parted and severed from their spouses in the places of torment.

Kings shall weep like infants, and princes shall be expelled from Eden and shall be cast into the fire of Gehenna: seeing angels from here and there, by whom they are being driven thither, and supplicating them, but profiting nothing.

O friends, you have all heard the necessity of that terrible day. Let us anticipate the face of Christ with psalms and prayers. Pray for us, O Virgin; may the angels pray, the Forerunner, the choir of the holy apostles, and finally all the saints. Amen.

ANNO DOMINI MCCCXXX

GEORGIUS PACHYMERES

NOTITIA

—

Georgius Pachymeres, born in Constantinople but born and raised in Nicaea, was admitted into the ranks of the clergy and was promoted to the honor of *hieromnemon*, *protecdicus* (a), and *dicaeophylax*, and flourished under Michael and the Andronici Palaeologi (b). He says of himself at the beginning of his *History*: "George, a Constantinopolitan from the beginning, but born and raised in Nicaea, and having returned to [the city of] Constantine, at the time when, by the nod of God, it was recovered by the Romans—being at that time twenty-one years of age—having been given to the divine lot, and having excelled in ecclesiastical dignities, and having attained the honor of *protecdicus*, and having also been honored in the palace as *dicaeophylax*, wrote these things." Georgius, born in Constantinople, but born and raised in Nicaea and returned again to Constantinople, when it returned to the power of the Romans by the nod of God, being at that time nineteen years of age [sic], was inscribed among the divine clergy, and was decorated with ecclesiastical dignities, and was promoted unto the dignity of *protecdicus*, and indeed was distinguished with the office of *dicaeophylax* in the palace; he wrote these things. *Protecdicus* is wrongly changed to *protecdicum* in the Gesnerian epitome, and to *probectitum* in the supplement to the epitome of Antonius Verderius; which is of no value.

[He wrote] nearly the entire philosophy of Aristotle, which, having been translated into the Latin tongue by Philip Bechius, a philosopher and physician, was published at Basel in 1569 by Froben in folio, together with the orations of Synesius. In this compendium, Pachymeres explains the more obscure places of Aristotle—not only from his own mind but from the sentences and expositions of others—quite elegantly; thus, starting the work from Porphyry's *Isagoge* itself, and running through philosophy in all its parts, he brings it to an end in a compendious epitome of his own metaphysics. Bechius writes that he received this work from a Basel copy that was very lacunose, faulty, and as it were indistinct; and another from the Fugger library that was corrupt in many places; and that he was assisted in the most difficult places by Joannes Hospinianus and Gulielmus Xylander; so that he arrived at the good hope that this author is not put forth by him again into the light in a bad state. In the rest, where Pachymeres, says Bechius, brings forward either his own meditations or those of others, I have labored with even greater difficulty because of his obscurity. For sometimes he uses words not so trite or common, and sometimes he begins sentences and completes them only with difficulty after very long inserted parentheses. One complete work, because of its bulk, is rarely contained in one volume, and therefore it is divided into parts under different titles, and they are proposed as different treatises. I shall record here its parts, both published and manuscript, as they are found dispersed in various libraries, now here, now there. From this, therefore...

(a) Pachymeres is called a "notary" (hypomnematographos) in a manuscript at Lambecius VIII, p. 385. (b) Andronicus Palaeologus succeeded his father Michael in the empire in the year of Christ 1282. (c) The manuscript survives in Greek in various libraries, such as the Coislinian, as Montfaucon attests, p. 222. The verses that Pachymeres himself prefixed to this epitome of his are exhibited by Allatius below.

NOTITIA

^A ...were published in compendium, *by George the Deacon and Dicaeophylax, of Pachymeres, Concerning the Six Definitions of Philosophy, and the Five Voices, and the Ten Categories*. This was translated from Greek into Latin by Jacobus Foscarinus at Venice, through Stephanus and the brothers de Sabio in 1532, along with the compendia of Psellus and Nicephorus Blemmydes on the Logic of Aristotle. Later, at Paris in the year 1548, in octavo, it was published in a more complete Greek edition by Vascosanus, together with a compendium of the remaining books of the Aristotelian Organon—namely, *De Interpretatione*, the *Prior and Posterior Analytics*, the *Topics*, and the *Sophistical Elenchi* (d); which the same Vascosanus had previously published in Latin in the same place in 1547, in the translation of Joannes Baptista Rasarius. Now that most weighty author and master, because of his excessive verbosity and a subtlety of discourse remote from practical use, condensed it into an epitome, yet in such a way, while comprising its individual parts, that he omitted nothing pertaining to the knowledge of the best things and to the exercise therein; a work which seems to have been divinely bestowed upon us at this particular time, when everyone complains about the prolixity of studies in philosophy. And Rasarius writes that a copy of that codex had been provided to him by Joannes Baptista Specianus; and although in it all the works of Aristotle were contained, contracted by a certain brief method and reduced into a narrow compass, yet he himself, who had previously read through all the books of Aristotle that pertain to the art of discourse, read through that epitome and translated and published that part which treated of the art of eloquence. Furthermore, the *Six Definitions of Philosophy, the Division of Philosophy, the Five Voices, and the Ten Categories* were printed in Latin at Basel by Joannes Oporinus, translated by Joachim Perionius, along with Porphyry's *Five Voices* and Aristotle's *Categories*, etc. The Gesnerian Epitome. And the *Six Definitions and Division of Philosophy* were published in Greek with Archytas's *Categories* at Leipzig in octavo (e). Antonius Verderius, in his supplement, doubted—though without any real cause—whether the author of this epitome is the same as George Pachymeres. George the Deacon and Protecdicus wrote a Greek epitome of the *Logic of Aristotle* at Paris, in octavo, at the press of Vascosanus in 1546. I do not know if he is the same author as George Pachymeres, whose Greek works are contained in the *Bibliotheca* of Gesner. For the same person is one and the same: George, the author of the *Logic* epitome, and of the other works which are attributed to Pachymeres by the Gesnerian epitomizers.

^B ...was published at Basel in 1531, in folio, and later elsewhere, in the translation of Jacobus Schenck (f). It was restored to George in both Greek and Latin in the Casaubon edition, in the year 1597 in octavo, and in 1646 in folio at Colomes Allobrogum, where it is added that, in the opinion of some, that *Paraphrase* is attributed to George: yet whosesoever it is, it is worthy of George, and worthy to be counted among the works of Aristotle, though unworthy to be attributed to Aristotle. Henricus Stephanus saw this in a letter to Petrus Victorius, which he prefixed to certain writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus (g), yet he detracts too much from the writing: "It is indeed a wonder that there have existed any men so thick-witted (*παχεῖς*), as to possess the paraphrase of Pachymeres on the book of Aristotle *On Indivisible Lines* (περὶ ἀτόμων γραμμῶν), and to persuade themselves that they have the book of Aristotle himself. For how many things are found even at the very threshold, from which that could have been easily detected by a reader even while asleep? These things, certainly, among men so thick-witted as I have said, I am ashamed to explain in detail (*λεπτομερῶς*)."

^C ...the library of Antonius Augustinus, codex 206. *George Pachymeres, 11 Books on Philosophy.* The first corresponds to the *Organon* of Aristotle; the second to the *Physics* books; the third to the books *On the Heavens*; the fourth to the books *On Generation and Corruption*; the fifth to the *Meteorology*; the sixth to the book *On the Parts of Animals*; the seventh to the books *On the Movement and Progression of Animals*; the eighth to the book *On Sense and Sensibles*; the ninth to the books *On the Generation of Animals*; the tenth to the *Metaphysics* books; the eleventh to the *Nicomachean Ethics*. In the library of the King of the Gauls, *George Pachymeres, Synopsis of Aristotelian Philosophy. Philosophical, book 12.* On sleep and waking, on food, on dreams, on divination by dreams, on the movement of animals, on youth and old age, on respiration. In the Bavarian library, codex 170 and codex 171, *George Pachymeres, Epitome on the Metaphysics of Aristotle.* A philosophical book of D. George Pachymeres, which is an *Epitome on the Metaphysics of Aristotle*, chapter 13. In the catalogue exhibited by the Grammarian in Verderius’s supplement; which was also found, according to the same authority, at Joannes Suzius. The Gesnerian Epitomizers: *Georgius Protectius (i), Commentaries on the Entire Organon of Aristotle with diagrams and figures*, in 4to ms. in the Imperial Library at Vienna; and George Pachymerius, who is surnamed Hieromnemon, wrote a compendium of philosophy which...

^A exists in the Medicean Library. An epitome of his whole physical treatise, perhaps the same book as the former, exists in the Vatican Library at Rome, as does his exposition on Logic and History. Commentaries on the books of the *Physics* are preserved there, and at Venice with Diego Hurtado, who also possesses a Paraphrase by this author on the *Mechanics* of Aristotle. His Commentaries or Paraphrase on the books of the *Ethics* exist in Greek with Hurtado Mendoza. It is reported, further, that he wrote a Paraphrase on almost all the works of Aristotle. Pachymerius’s copious expositions on the *Organon* of Aristotle exist in Greek manuscript in the library of Sambucus. His Paraphrase of the whole of Aristotelian philosophy, in 12 Greek manuscript books, is in the Augustan library; in the library catalogue he is named Thergius (j). His history and logical problems are preserved in Greek in the library of the King of the French. Likewise, *On the Soul, On Sense, Memory, Sleep, Waking, Dreams*, etc., are there as well. And in another Greek manuscript index, there is: *Georgii Pachymerii Synopsis universae Aristotelis naturalis philosophiae* [George Pachymerius’s Synopsis of Universal Aristotelian Natural Philosophy]. Also at Milan in the Ambrosiana, and in the Index of the King of Spain’s library, which is at the Escorial, are noted: *George Pachymerius on Logic, and an Epitome of the same* ^B. *An Explanation of the Physics of Aristotle. As some say, by the Emperor John Cantacuzenus. 7. A Paraphrase of the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. 11. 2. George Pachymerius on Logic, and an Epitome of the same. A Narration on the Physics of Aristotle, but as others hold, by the Emperor John Cantacuzenus. A Paraphrase of the Ethics of Aristotle to Nicomachus.* Many of these, Joannes Schenchius (k) in his *Bibliotheca Medica* and Israel Spachius in his *Nomenclator Philosophicus* have reported as being preserved in the library of the King of France. And moreover the Augustan index records: *An Epitome of Philosophy by Blemmydes and George Pachymerius, encompassing logic, ethics, and physics.* What this compendium of philosophy contains, I know not who has noted: "One must know, therefore, that the present treatise contains twelve books, bearing forty-seven titles, and two hundred thirty-five chapters, providing as in a sketch the theorems of the whole of Aristotelian philosophy." It should be noted that the present work contains twelve books, concludes with forty-seven titles, and is divided into 235 chapters, which very concisely encompass the speculations of the whole of Aristotelian philosophy.

^C ...Guillaume Morel in 1561, in 8vo, with the works of Dionysius, and again with Claude Morel in 1615, in-folio. Now at last in Greek and Latin from the translation of Balthasar Cordier in the Plantin workshop of Balthasar Moretus, 1634, in-folio. He inscribed the work to Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria (l), at whose urging he had commenced the labor when he had arrived at Constantinople. Nor do I see any reason why the inscription prefixed to the Paraphrase should be deleted, by which it is said that the author applied his hand to the work at the urging of Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, then living, as Possevinus wishes, and before Possevinus, Baronius in his *Praetermissa* to the second volume, writes of him: "Wherefore that fictitious title is to be rejected, which is affixed to the same Paraphrase on the same epistles of Dionysius, by which it is said that the author undertook that work at the urging of St. Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, then acting at Constantinople." I have indeed wondered at that learned man Godefridus Tilmannus, who published the same Paraphrase in Latin and elaborated a long dispute on behalf of the same writings, for not knowing these things which are so manifest, ^D nor even correcting them. How, I ask, could George have written those things in the time of St. Athanasius, if the author in those Commentaries mentions the heresies of Nestorius and Eutyches, which arose many years after the death of Athanasius? Nor is there cause for those things to have been understood of a second Athanasius, likewise bishop of Alexandria, who began to sit in the year of our Lord 489, long even before Pachymerius lived, and he was not a saint, but a heretic, and a patron of the Acephali. And he who transcribed Baronius, Vincentius Riccardus in his *Commentary on the 6th Oration of Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople*: "And there George Pachymerius, who indeed by no means flourished in the time of St. Athanasius the Great, bishop of Alexandria, as is wrongly pre-noted in his Commentaries. For in the commentary on Epistles 3 and 1 to Gaius, he inveighs against Nestorius and the Nestorians, and in Epistle 6 against Nestorius, Apollinaris, Eutyches, and Dioscorus, who certainly were long after St. Athanasius. Eutyches and Dioscorus were condemned in the 4th universal Council of Chalcedon, but St. Athanasius flourished in the time of the 1st Council of Nicaea." For in those same times in which Pachymerius flourished, an Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, was living, who had stimulated him to the interpretation of the divine work. Is it because an Athanasius by name had once sat on that throne that no other, in subsequent times, could preside over that Church by the same name? But let them know that besides this contemporary of Pachymerius, others also, different from that Athanasius the Great (m) — as is gathered from the catalogue of those patriarchs, which even Baronius does not deny — have ruled. And that he ruled at that very time is clearly evident from the *History* of the same Pachymerius, in many places. Nor does the title "Saint" prefixed to the name stand in the way. For in that Church, even to the most wicked, the title of holiness was attributed, as I noted in Eustathius of Antioch regarding Eusebius of Caesarea (n), and elsewhere; which I have observed later even among the Westerners. That this Paraphrase is held in manuscript in the library...

^B of the Vatican is reported by Gesner; and in the Medici library by Possevin in his Index; and in the Gallic library, the manuscript indices attest. Vincentius Marinerius Valentinus, in an epistle to Franciscus Daza edited in the year 1636, writes that he translated the Commentaries of Pachymeres on Dionysius the Areopagite into the Latin tongue.

5. He wrote, besides the aforementioned History of his own time, which he begins from the times of Michael Palaeologus, under whom he lived. This is preserved, albeit mutilated, in the Augustan library, codex 19, shelf 5, from which codex, consumed by decay and mutilated, Wolfius exhibited certain excerpts after Nicephorus Gregoras. A portion of these, which Wolf had noted as missing in the Augustan manuscript codex in the synopsis of the fifth book, along with the Historical Breviary of the Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople from the death of Maurice to Constantine Copronymus, was recently published in Greek by Dionysius Petavius, at Paris in 1616, in 8vo. However, the complete work was transferred from the Lollian library to the Vatican, and one that is more emended, and in an older and thus more elegant script, is preserved in the Barberina library; these are the ^C Historical Discourses, 13 books. Cod. 163 and 164. Between the Vatican and Barberina codices, reader—so that you may not be ignorant of this—there is a great difference, not only in words and manner of speaking, but sometimes also in the order of the things narrated. I recorded this myself, though not by running through every single item, for time did not permit; to such a degree that I have easily persuaded myself that Pachymeres, as we have said above regarding Acropolita, and as we shall say below regarding Phrantza, wrote two editions of his History, serving the time and spirit of the age. And therefore, I judge that from both, many errors may be corrected, obscure passages illuminated, mutilated ones supplied, and finally, one perfect and complete body of history may be finished. The style is accurate, formed according to the ancient sap and blood, and—beyond the grasp of history—more turgid, and ambiguous and obscure due to a confused connection of names; yet for that age, in which it was a frenzy to be wise, it is mild and prudent. The author, while he wishes to seem a seeker of truth, sharpens his tongue too much against ecclesiastics, and especially supporters of the Latin name, being too propense toward his own Greeks. He also constantly twists the deeds of emperors and princes into a worse light. Nevertheless, he constructs the credibility of his History thus: ^D *These things he wrote, not having taken accounts from witnesses above, nor believing merely by hearsay—what someone says having seen, or having heard himself—but he deems his accounts trustworthy if only he says that he calculates, as a witness who has seen most of these things himself, having thus transpired, and even if having learned accurately from those by whom it was first seen to happen; furthermore, not un-witnessed, but confirmed by many others also, so that the whole of time, having a nature to conceal most things in frequent cyclic periods, might not destroy these things, having become gradually effaced by the passage of time; because it is necessary that all things that have appeared should be hidden, as some one of the wise men said, and truly judged.* He composed this not by gathering rumors scattered of old without testimony, nor trusting only in hearing if someone says he has seen or heard. Furthermore, he senses that those accounts are worthy of faith, of which he himself, for the most part, if it so happened to occur, was an ocular spectator, or learned accurately from those who saw them when they were first performed: nor do I put them forward rashly, but confirmed also by the testimony of many others; lest time, concealing most things by its own nature, through its frequent circuit, should destroy these things as well, which gradually perish in continuous passage. For whatever has once appeared, it is necessary that it be covered and hidden, as I know not who among the wise men said, and truly declared. This same History of Pachymeres, although it is held in a mutilated state in the Venetian library of St. Mark, Shelf 21, no. 12, and at the Escorial in the library of the Catholic King. Possevinus, in the Index of the library of the island of Patmos: *History written by a certain Gregory, of Constantinopolitan ancestry and raised in Nicaea: and the acts of the Palaeologus kings are written up to John Palaeologus.* There is a mistake in the name of the author, for it is Georgius Pachymeres. In the library of the King of the Gauls also, *Georgius Pachymeres' Constantinopolitan History, book XIII*. I also possess it complete and of the best quality.

6. Gesner reports that his Greek Epistles exist somewhere in the libraries of Italy, which, though I have searched for them anxiously to this day, I have found none. I suspect, however, that they will be most elegant and, besides what writers of that age were accustomed to, full of the ancient nectar of speech; since Pachymeres, in the eloquence of his other treatises—which can be gathered from his History and others—is less inept.

7. More experiments of his genius in Rhetoric lie hidden, not known to all, but worthy to be published for the public good, and especially for the youth preparing a path to eloquence for themselves; I shall insert here their Index, which I received from the most human and well-lettered Puteani, from cod. 883 of the Royal Library of the Gauls.

...[his] status exercises. a) *Mythos*. Fabula. P. *It was the season of harvest, and the farmers...* b) *Narrative concerning Ulysses*. P. *It happened once also the one concerning Ilium.* c) *Narrative concerning the torrid zone*. P. *He who wishes [to know] about the heavenly zone...* d) *Logical Chria. Chria which consists only of a sentence.* P. *Chaeremon said: All good things are in wisdom alone.* e) *Maxim of Demosthenes. There is need of money, and without these nothing that is necessary can happen. Sententia Demosthenis. It is necessary to have money, and without this nothing that requires doing can be done. P. Thus therefore the saying was sufficient for Demosthenes.* ...to be. P. *If there is nothing safer than truth.*

^A ζ) Construction from the contrary of the narrative concerning the rose. Assertio: That the narrative is plausible. P. For my part, I choose to love. η) Commonplace against a slanderer. Locus communis contra Maledicum. P. Men, judges, a man of few and learned words. θ) Encomium of Ajax, son of Telamon. Laudatio Ajacis Telamonii. P. If he had for his whole life. ι) Vituperation of Paris Alexander. Vituperatio Paridis Alexandri. P. Does anyone know also of profit from vice? ια) Comparison of the olive and the vine. Comparatio olivæ, et vitis. P. And the plants to resemble one another. ιβ) Characterization. What words a miser says when forced to entertain those who had previously invited him. Ethopœia. Quæ dixerit avarus, cum cogeretur eos in convivium vocare, qui eumdem prius convivio exceperant. P. Alas! how brilliant a host am I, and regarding the dinners. ιγ) Ekphrasis of the Augusteon. Descriptio Augusteonis. (o) P. The sanctuary of God, Hagia Sophia, with many and all manner of [perfections]. ιδ) Thesis: whether one should set sail. Propositum, an navigandum. P. Noble indeed are the gifts of the cities to their colonists. ιε) Accusation of the law ordering that those arriving from a shipwreck be despoiled by those there. Accusatio legis præcipientis, naufragium passos, et appellentes in aliquem locum, ab iis, qui inibi sunt, spoliandos esse. P. But I embrace the law that establishes the state. ις) To the contrary, concerning such a law and such a composition. Oppositum de eadem lege, et compositione. ^B ιζ) A thunderbolt having fallen, a thousand sets of armor are found in the house of Pericles, and he is judged for an attempt at tyranny. We declaim for the defendant, who speaks both as a general and as an orator, and who insists. The status is conjectural. Ictu fulminis in Periclis domo mille armaturæ adinventa sunt, et in judicium vocatur de tentata tyrannide. Declamat reus, qui ut exercituum dux sermonem concipit, et ut orator contentionem init. Status est conjecturalis. P. Nothing, as it seems, is more burdensome than a slandering man. ιη) A philosopher persuaded a tyrant to lay down his tyranny, and he asks for the reward of tyrannicides. It is countered by some. And we declaim for the philosopher. Philosophus suasit tyranno tyrannidem deponere. Et præmium postulat tyrannicidarum: denegatur illi ab aliquibus. Declamat philosophus. ιθ) A painter having painted shipwrecks and set them up in the ports is judged for public crimes because sailors did not put in. Pictor naufragii a se depictas tabulas in portibus appinxerat; cum nautæ non appellerent, publicorum criminum reus fit. P. Ought a painter some day to have come here accused of public crimes? κ) A general having burned his ships, thinking them to be of no use, and having conquered through these things, is judged for public crimes. We declaim for the defendant. Dux exercitus concrematis navibus tum inutilibus, et hostibus postmodum debellatis, publicorum criminum reus fit. Declamat reus. P. I, for my part, men, expected even to receive a reward for the things done. κα) In three days a law ordered that one should deliberate about war. Philip having seized Elateia, Demosthenes advised that they go out that very day and fight. Status is negotiational. Tribus diebus ex præcepto legis de bello faciendo consulendum erat. Cum Philippus Elatiam occupasset, Demosthenes hortatur eodem die urbe exire, et pugnam experiri. Status negotialis. P. Concerning many things, O men of Athens, I consider it incumbent upon you to struggle against Philip. κβ) One who had distinguished himself in battle asked for the head of a citizen as his reward. The city granted it. He is found to have slain him beforehand, and is judged for homicide. We declaim for the accuser. Cum in bello quispiam optime se gessisset, præmium sibi dari postulavit, civis caput. Urbs concessit. Cum ante impetratum præmium occidisset, de homicidio postulatur. Declamet accusator. P. For the valor, O young man, I have much to say, and you must blame the whole thing. κγ) It being wartime and a siege, a stranger went up upon the wall and performed a feat of valor, while the law ordered that no stranger should go up in such a time; and he is brought under the law. Premente bello atque obsidione, advena quidam ascenso muro prima præmia meretur. Verumtamen cum lex prohiberet, ne quis advena tempore belli murum ascenderet, de violatione legis postulatur. P. I, for my part, O men, even before arriving at a defense. κδ) A law says that the disinherited shall not share in the ancestral estate, and another says that he who persists on a ship in a storm is the master of the ship. A disinherited man persisted on his father's ship in a storm and is kept from it as being ancestral. We declaim for the disinherited. Lex est, abdicatus in paternis partem non habeat. Et alia, qui in navi tempestate jactata perstiterit, dominus navis est. Abdicatus in paterna navi procellis obruta perse- ^{C D}

^Avered; he is, however, driven from its possession because it is paternal property. Let the disinherited man declaim. [P.] If I, being the younger, wish to do the same as the others.

κε) The law states that he who is born of a harlot shall not speak from the rostrum. Someone born of a harlot is forbidden to speak. We are practicing upon him who is born of a harlot. [P.] If I am forbidden to speak in the assembly by this wonderful and persuasive orator.

κς) If a harlot wears gold, let her be public property. A certain harlot has been detected wearing gold, and someone says that according to the laws she is public property. But this person here, whom we are practicing upon, says that she herself is not public property, but the gold is, reading it with the acute accent on the antepenult [meaning "public things"]. [P.] It was not for pay, nor for the sake of gifts, that I undertook this accusation on behalf of one who has hitherto been deemed disgraced.

κζ) The remaining three states after the opposition of the counter-pleas are the counter-charge, the shifting of the charge, and the plea for pardon. And the first question is the counter-charge: a man of merit killed his son who was fornicating, and is prosecuted for murder. We are practicing upon the man of merit. [P.] Many and great are the proofs of my merit.

κη) Three hundred of the enemy fled at night, and having reached the gates of the city, they entreated the general to open the city gates that they might enter and be saved. Since there was a law that the gates should not be opened at night, the general did not open them. Their pursuers overtook them and killed them. The general is brought to trial for public crimes. We are practicing upon the accuser. [P.] Let no one, O those present, think that I am acting out of jealousy towards the general’s glory.

^B A general was captured by the enemies and tortured for a long time to tell the secrets of the city; having been forced, he spoke and was released from both the tortures and the captivity. Upon returning to his own people, he is brought to trial for public crimes. We are practicing upon the general. [P.] I should have died at the hands of the enemy under those tortures, men, before being forced to give an account of wrongdoing before you.

And then a comet star shone forth from the evening, concerning which I also made mention in the poems regarding my own life, writing thus:

1. Now the autumnal equinox was advancing, 2. And the sun held the desirable face of the Virgin, 3. And then a brilliant comet shone from Thrace, 4. Having an extended mane and leaning towards the east, 5. It flourished in the evening during so much of the night 6. Always rising higher now than it had before 7. As much as it was said to differ in its upward changes. 8. For it did not cut a path among the stationaries, 9. But came on every night with higher tracks, 10. Until it walked above the feet, ascending higher, 11. Where the tips of the hair first take root, 12. Slowly fading, become stunted, and then ceased.

^C And chapter 15: even if we, in composing poetry according to them, have followed their explanation. And below, and we have written thus in our own works:

1. The first foundation of the month stood in the month of Lenaion, 2. It was the time of the half-moon, and already its beautiful face was waning, 3. And then at the third hour of the night, almost from the evening, 4. It shone beside the chariot, and suddenly it became dark.

^A It is permitted for us in these matters, which we have explained in verse about ourselves, to go into their exposition. And below. And we have written in this way in our own works. I have not translated the poems; for it did not seem worth the effort. But so that you may pass a more secure judgment on such poems of Pachymeres, here are another twelve verses which he prefixed to his epitome of philosophy, as yet unpublished:

Accept the wool-bearing style of my labor, O Eumores, most glorious among all my servants and cities. Except that I brought threads of fine texture from Stageira, I wished to weave them in skilfully and naturally, So that not even a little of the fine weaving should be left out, Nor should the futile threads of ugliness be entirely lost. Yet, nevertheless, it did not escape our mind, How I might cover up the work with a labor superior to that. Within the faith of sacred forms brought to completion, By this first and quite unskilled page of transcription. Therefore, as much as has happened to the completion, let the gift be from above. And as much as has fallen away, let the fault be mine.

I am essentially iron, if anything in all antiquity is harder than these verses. Steel itself, and the anvil, and if there is anything in the nature of things rough and perverse, is softer and more tractable than these verses. It is well done that we have lost them, for in reading them we would learn nothing but iron; I now admit that the Muses of the later Greeks had no graces, no charms, and often spoke of everything except what pertains to human speech. Philippus Bechius translated these last verses as follows:

Eumores, and among those related and sacred ministers, My greatest care, reap the harvest of our labors Take the web, not lacking in utility, Rightly woven, though not containing all the threads of Stageira; I wished, however, to weave with my own wit According to my reason, lest from such clear warp Perhaps something be omitted, and the fragile threads perish Of an unlike web. Nevertheless, so that the meaning for us Stands firm, nothing at all shall be left behind, nor shall it perish. Certainly, that they might prepare a distinguished work for your studies, Completed through the pious fasts of sacred light, Which, inscribed on this fragile tablet, first Transcribe, and then deign also to note my errors. As far as it is perfect, may heavenly gifts be given to you; As far as it is the judge's, let that whole fault be imputed to me.

9. Of the same, on four mathematical sciences. In the library of the French king. Is it the same work as the one published by Psellus, or different?

10. Furthermore, there is preserved with me a small work of his in Greek, *On the preparation and construction of arguments*. It is all constructed by means of six [books/sections]. It is brief indeed, but full of pith.

11. Also the same, *Against those who say that for this reason the Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son, because it is of the same substance with him, or because it is presented by him to those who are worthy*. Read that, translated by me into Greek and Latin in my treatise on the perpetual consensus of both the Western and Eastern churches.

Whether he judged correctly regarding the faith? Possevinus reports that he was not well-disposed toward the Roman Church, and therefore he must be read circumspectly, and this is gathered from the Latin chapters and the History of Gregoras added to his own. Petrus Hallois, in question 2 concerning the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, calls him truly catholic; an appellation that is certainly false. For he could not have been a catholic who defended the schism [r] and even defended it in writing against the Roman Church, and barked at her often, as is clear from his History. Manuel Phile lamented the death of Pachymeres in poems not inelegantly:

* The rhythm of the verse requires another word. The meaning is: If there has been any mistake.

(p) As Labbé mentions it, p. 417, Bibl. nova mss.

(q) Lib. II, ch. 2, § 13, pp. 516-522, and in Allatius, *Græcia Orthodoxa*, vol. I, pp. 390-395.

(r) Allatius inveighs against Pachymeres on this account, as in *De consensu*, lib. II, ch. 15, § 15, p. 781, and lib. II, ch. 2, § 11, p. 509. He indeed favors the schismatics, by speech undermining the cause of those who believe rightly everywhere, although there is no occasion, nor is he obscure. Yet the same man is called a sincere and most accurate writer of the Byzantine affairs of his age by Stephanus de Altimura, or Michael le Quien, in his *Panoplia contra schisma Græcorum*, p. 369. Nic. Comnenus, p. 257 of his *Prænot. mystagog.*, cites George Pachymeres' response to the calumnies of George of Cyprus; and his suggestion concerning the office of a patriarchal deacon, p. 398.

[As a man wishing perhaps to paint another, and to show him to the neighborly spectator, secretly hidden within a sage, I would have had the words themselves as immediate advocates, as though they were breathing life and strength into the forms. But since you have died, O teacher, the very pages of your words seem dead. I fear lest I bring a confused clamor to a man who is a sophist and free from passions. Yet if, while living, you prevailed in your writings from a heart devoid of pride, as nature has its eager course, now that you dwell in the tomb and cover the stone of silence, and have found an exhausted abyss of books, how can you count my words as nothing, and this when they contribute little for the sake of grace? But, O cities, you mourn the laws in common. For the pious Demosthenes among you does not stir the flame of rhetoric, lest the throne of the judges be seen as dry land, providing a goad of thorny testimonies. Homer, how is it that you are tranquil for so long? One ought to be writing a second Iliad, and weeping for the ancient one that is faring so ill. For if he were not among the teachers, he who now is silent and sleeping in the tomb, what would he have done? Having loosened the deep cloud of the weaving, he would have sent forth the bright clarity of writing. Now even you are dead, O old man Plato; for there is no transmigration of souls, nor is there a Socrates. But the identity of tongue and the power of art were purely and breathingly organizing the text. Aristotle, do you still boast? Yet it is necessary for you to be hidden and to keep silence, having heard of your own disastrous books. For the technical teacher according to you acquired the best and a friendly end, being analytically published to the Fathers. Rome reborn, groan and weave laments. For the world of words has been hidden in the earth. But if you have awareness again in words, Pachymeres, come forth and write, and overcome those who have composed the teachings, by lecturing on new discoveries for them. But that I may speak the appropriate things in summary, let the whole assembly of the wise be cut down for me. For the ark of our books has been overturned into the ark of corruption. Guardian of the laws, if it is still within your power, guard the statutes and be the arbiter in trials.]

NOTITIA

^A Proclaim, define dogmas, dissolve the conflicts, bringing forth an impartial judgment. For the zeal of before did not die with you. Could it be that even while living you looked toward the end, and well dramatized this life? O white swan, befitting the time, this man, alas, out of so many labors, has stolen for himself the three-foot grave of his end. O tongue skilled and divine mouth of the Scriptures, and mind pure, where have you hidden yourself? Tell me. Seeing it, I say, this mortal life, as it is nothing but an image of shadow, and a drifting specter in the lifting of the Euripus, and a bubble, and ash and a pouring of smoke, or an astragalos played with by youths, or a die standing on an unstable base: I entered into the place of burial here, awaiting the sound of the final trumpet, by which, being raised, I shall reach the meeting of Him who judges creation with a just word. Writing the unostentatious here, the solemn trinkets of the race fall silent. For the base and trodden dust, even if it be shaken and run toward the ether, yet it will descend again as dust, when the spindle of life has run its course. And all books, and words, and schemes, and syllogisms, and propositions, and positions, fall into nothingness, as a dream only. For the end brings the life to a close in the indemonstrable prosperity. But do not you wonder more than the others at the chosen poverty, the moderate character, the harmonious music of his entire life, and the voice of the soul, if you wish, stranger, through which he led the terrible boldness of the passions, imitating the tones of a musical lyre. How well it might be for you, and for the current words, O initiate of the sage teachings. For he does not keep silent, but even here he shows the matter of virtue all the more. So that you almost live, and seem to be writing something, dwelling, establishing, in the final stoa and the much-pursued departure or the previous Athens-like academy. But I myself, having learned now, know most of all that the just man, if he manages to die, will be toward rest, as the Scripture says, and lives a pure and strange life, having passed into the light happily as if toward evening.

SECOND NOTITIA

^A He seems not to have prolonged his life much beyond A.D. 1310 (although Lambecius in vol. III, p. 237 (c), and in vol. VII, p. 71 (d), followed by Neselius, says that he died in the year 1340). For he is not mentioned in the History of Constantinople after that time, and he would have continued his history at least until the end of the reign of Andronikos, who died in 1332; nor would he have stopped in his twenty-sixth year, A.D. 1308, if he had lived so long beyond his own age, and not just his own, but also had extended his years close to the centennial of the reign of the younger Andronikos, who was in his eleventh year of rule. There exist his *Byzantine History* books XIII, concerning events that occurred over forty-nine years, from the time of the birth of Michael Palaiologos, A.D. 1258, of Andronikos Palaiologos (the elder) up to A.D. 1308, which was the forty-ninth year of the same Andronikos’s life and the twenty-sixth of his reign. ^B The work is bipartite; for the first six books cover the affairs of Michael Palaiologos before the empire and during the time he was emperor; the subsequent seven books report what happened during the twenty-six years of Andronikos’s reign. Jerome Wolfius ^C prefaced to his *Nicephorus Gregoras* (Basel, 1502, fol.; reprinted Paris, 1567, fol.; Frankfurt, 1568, fol.) portraits of Pachymeres and the emperors, Michael and Andronikos, as well as Theodore Laskaris the younger (whose affairs Pachymeres also touches upon in the first part of his history), expressed from a manuscript codex. The same man, at the end of the volume, exhibits in Latin—translated by himself from the same manuscript codex of the Augsburg library—the arguments of the chapters of Pachymeres’s History. Certain fragments which Wolfius had noted as missing in the Augsburg manuscript codex were published in Greek by Dionysius Petavius in the *Synopsis of book V*, at the end of his *Historical Breviary of Nicephorus, Patriarch* (Paris, 1616, 8vo). ^D Many more places of Pachymeres's History, then still unpublished, were produced in Greek by Allatius in his writings, especially in his notes to *Acropolita*, printed at Paris in 1651. Peter Possinus, S.J., was the first to bring the entire work to light from the Barberini library codices 163 and 164; he translated it into Latin and published it with his own version and three books of observations at Rome in 1666 and 1669, in folio, in two volumes. These occur more rarely than other Byzantine writers printed in Paris and are sold for more than a hundred Lübeck marks. The first volume contains the six books on Michael Palaiologos, the second the seven on Andronikos. Of the three books of Possinus's observations, the first exhibits a glossary of more obscure words, the second notes and emendations, and the third a chronology. To this, one must attach the chronological observations on Pachymeres's *Michael Palaiologos* by Mauritius David, a presbyter of Dijon, which are also very rarely found, and which I have seen lauded in Boivin's notes to Gregoras, but have not yet come upon myself. [Rec. Venice in the *Corp. Byzant. Script.* vol. XIII and XIV, see above, p. 524]. The same Boivin notes on p. 760 that it would be worth the effort if one were to compare the Roman edition of Pachymeres with the royal manuscript codex 2548, written in A.D. 1448 (f), which Possinus did not see, just as he did not see the incomplete Augsburg codex, from which Jerome Wolfius brought forth the arguments of which I spoke above. I do not know if what Latinius the Latinist says in vol. II, epist. p. 102, should be understood of this Pachymeres: "Sirletus," he says, "stated that a certain George, a writer of various matters, had also recently been brought to light, who, while pronouncing judgment on philosophers of the first rank, also illuminated many obscure passages of Aristotle." Since he does not favor the Latins, he is called a rather unfair historian by Allatius in his book *On Consent*, p. 759, who nevertheless elsewhere (g) praises Pachymeres’s style; he notes furthermore that between the Lollian codex in the Vatican library and the Barberini codex, which he attests was transcribed more correctly and in an earlier, more elegant hand, there exists a great discrepancy not just in words and mode of expression, but also at times in the order of the narrated events, so that it is likely that Pachymeres wrote two editions of his History, tailoring them to his time and spirit, and therefore from both many errors are corrected, obscure things are illuminated, missing pieces are filled in, and finally the body of the history can be completed as one perfect and entire work. Since he [Possinus/Allatius] had commemorated the same manuscript codices of the same History—the mutilated Venetian one in the Library of St. Mark, the Escorial one, and from Possevino (who wrongly calls him Gregory instead of George), a third in the library of the island of Patmos, and a fourth of the most Christian King—he says, "I also have in my possession an integral copy of excellent quality (Fabr.)." In the Escorial codex (testified by Pluer in his *Journey through Spain*, p. 170), in [...] The index is said to have been written in A.D. 1443. Lambecius also, in *Comment.* vol. VIII, p. 1087, laments that Possinus lacked the *Codex Caesar* 67 (which Lambecius reviews copiously on p. 1066), in which are the letters of Gregory Cyprius, from which much that is necessary could have been drawn to illuminate the obscurity of the work of George Pachymeres, a difficult work. From the same codex he published on p. 1089 sqq., to supplement the History of George Pachymeres, book II, chapter 9, the formal formula by which the patriarchs promised to Gregory Cyprius’s adversaries that he would be publicly declared orthodox and entirely free from every stain and suspicion of heretical doctrine, if he would first promise in writing that, after receiving that public testimony of his innocence, he would without delay resign from the patriarchal dignity. In codex 39, vol. VIII, p. 819, there is a philosophical fragment of George Pachymeres, *on matter and form*, ch. 2, at the beginning of which George is called "philosopher and deacon, cleric, recorder, and *protodikios* of the great catholic Church of Christ." (HARL.)

Venetian manuscript Marc. 404 (according to the catalogue of Greek manuscripts, p. 196, although the latter book is mutilated) contains the first twelve books of Pachymeres' *Roman History*. According to Montfaucon, the *Bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum*, Rome in the Vatican Library, contains Georgius Pachymeres' *Chronicle*. (I, p. 10. A.) Paris, in the Coislin Library, manuscripts 138-143, which were once joined together and inscribed as CII, are thirteen books. In the first manuscript, there are the first three books up to the end of chapter 16; on the opposite page there is a Latin version, different from the one which Petrus Possinus prepared and edited; there are also some scholia in the margin which do not appear in the edited version. How the numbering of the books differs from the edition, Montfaucon teaches in the *Bibliotheca Coisliniana*, p. 209 sq. Matthias Berneggerus was going to edit Georgius Pachymeres' *History* with a Latin version and notes, and had completed the greater part of the work; but, moved by the vain clamor of Tarinus, who was also attempting a new edition, by the authority of Rigaltius, and finally by the vehemence of illness, he abandoned his plan: concerning which he wrote more to various friends in his letters, published by Heumannus in *Poecile*, vol. II, p. 219, sqq. Especially p. 240 sq. (HARL.)

Concerning the Wisdom of the Indians, which Possinus translated from the Greek into Latin and placed under Pachymeres' first volume, or rather, dedicated to Michael Palaeologus

The *Specimen of the Wisdom of the Indians*, or the dialogue between Absalon, king of the Indians, and a certain gymnosophist, who, through skillfully crafted fables, revealed to him the thoughts of his soul and instructed him in morals—which Possinus, inasmuch as he was singularly commended by Michael Palaeologus in the presence of Pachymeres, appended in Latin to the first volume of Pachymeres—was translated by the same (Possinus) from the Greek codex of Allatius, which Simeon Seth translated into Greek from the Arabic around the year 1100, for the favor of the emperor Alexius Comnenus; afterwards, Sebastian Gottfried Starck [i] published this same book in Berlin in 1697, in Greek, from the Holstein codex, which exists in Hamburg in the Bibliotheca Johannea, though it differs here and there from the Possinian version. The title in Arabic is *Calila and Dimna* [j], whose edition was long ago promised by Tho. Hyde in his preface to the book *On the Games of the Orientals*. In Greek it is *Stephanites and Ichnelates*, as if you were to say 'the crowned one' and 'the investigator.' It is a book pleasant and useful to read, and stuffed with gracefully and ingeniously devised fables, by which the malice, frauds, and stupidity of men, frequent in common life and in courts, are painted to the life. It is said to have been written more than two thousand years ago in the Indian language [k], and then, for the sake of Chosroes, King of the Persians (by his true name Nouschiruan, or [l] Nuschi-rauan, contemporary with the emperor Justinian), it was translated into Persian [m] by Peroze, or Perzoc, a physician (others call him Stephanus of Edessa). It was no less translated into Syriac [n], and also into Arabic [o], and again into Persian [p] from the Arabic, then from the Arabic into Turkish [q], and, as I said, into Greek, which interpretation is in the codex referred to under the second (r), concerning which see the Bibliotheca Vindobonensis.

It is ascribed to Secundus the philosopher, though other codices, such as the Augustan, Florentine, Bodleian, Leidan, Holstenian, and Allatian [Paris. n. 2231, in the public library], and others, refer it, as I have already said, to Simeon Seth. Rabbi Joel mentions the Hebrew version (t) in German and Italian; and I know not who had given Starckius the hope of it, a membrane elegantly described some centuries ago and conspicuous for many ornaments of images. I saw the Latin [version] from the Hebrew at the home of Jo. Philippus Palthenius, of the Academy of Greifswald, when he was alive, an ornament to his field and for many years joined to me in friendship, who was preparing an edition of it, and without doubt would have given it [to the public], had he not been excluded from this and other more important and brilliant efforts by death, or rather had he not been snatched away by the many and great calamities which have afflicted his country since that time. I saw a printed copy without the year in folio format, with this title: *Directorium humanæ vitæ*, translated by John of Capua. I also saw a double Italian (u) version, printed at different times, and differing wonderfully both from each other and from the Greek. The French version of Gilbert Gaulmin, composed from the Persian of Nasrallah Ben Muhammed in 1644 and [printed at] Paris in 1698 in 12mo, and reprinted in Belgium under the title *Les fables de Pilpay* (x), an Indian philosopher, likewise differs greatly from the Greek, although it contains many of the same fables and apologues, and from there in this city [it was brought by] Christian Ravius, among whose collection of the Orient, Cent. I, num. 20, is the Ethical and Political book titled *Clile et Dimne*, in Persian. Starckius, in his preface to the *Wisdom of the Indians*, testifies that the codex of Ravius exists in the Berlin library; he notes besides that a Persian manuscript occurs at Vienna in the Imperial library, n. 137, and at Breslau and Leiden, and that it was among the Golius books. Huetius also mentions another Persian interpretation in *De fabulis Romanensibus*, page 22. It is said that Caliph Abiafar Almanzor then ordered this book to be rendered from the Persian idiom into Arabic; that someone else subsequently translated it from Arabic into Persian again, and that these Persian interpretations are another work, different from the former, yet to which the French translation (Gaulmin, under the title of the fables of Pilpay) is exactly conformed. Herbelot, in his *Bibliothèque Orientale*, p. 118, [writes regarding] *Anuar Sohaili*, the lights of Canopus: "This is the title of a very famous book throughout the Orient, which Hassan ben Sohail, Vizir of the Caliph Almanion, translated from the Persian into Arabic; that is why he gave it his name: for *Sohail*, in Arabic, signifies the star of Canopus. This work is originally written in Indian, and first bore the name of the *Testament of Houschenk*, ancient king of Persia of the first dynasty, and that of *Glavidan Kird*, that is to say, the wisdom of all the centuries. It was first translated from the Indian language into the Pahlavi language, which is that of the ancient Persians, by Buzruvieh, physician of the King Chosroes, surnamed Nouschirvan, whom this prince had sent expressly to the Indies to recover this book. This translation bore the Persian name of *Humaioun Nameh*, the august book. Aboul Mauli put this translation into the modern Persian language: but his work was retouched and enriched by Haussain Kaschesi, and bore from then on the title of *Calilah u Damna*, as well as that [one] which was made in the Turkish language for the Sultan Soliman. For it is a dialogue between two animals, to whom these two proper names have been given. These animals are called by the name of their species, jackal, and we have nothing in these countries that approaches it more than the fox, either for its figure or for its instinct." The same, p. 245: "Kondemir says that the book *Calilah u Damna* was composed in favor of Baharam Schah, the penultimate sultan of the Gaznevide dynasty, a prince of very great merit, and who favored men of letters very much. The author of the *Lebtarikh* (compare Schickardi *Tarich*, p. 144 seq.) writes in the Life of this same prince that he loved letters and those who made them their profession extremely: that many beautiful works were dedicated to him, and among others that of *Kalilah et Damnah*, composed by Nusvallah, son of Abdelhamid, in the state that we see it today in the Persian language in prose, and that it was the poet Roudeki who put it into verse later. This is the same book which was translated into the Turkish language, and which bears the title of *Anvar Sohaili*, the lights of Sohail, or of the star which bears the name of Canopus."

^C also at Hamburg in 1707, in 12mo, put to press with the Fables of Aesop. In these later editions, in the judgment of a most learned man, while they wished to provide more elegant French, they took away not a little from the excellence of the old: *on a gâté l'ancienne version en la mettant en meilleur françois* [one has spoiled the ancient version by putting it into better French]. Moreover, long ago Antoine Galland gave hope of seeing a much fuller French edition, if indeed he had obtained the Turkish version, which was more than four times as large as the published Fables of Pilpay, and thus a complete version of the same book made from the Persian, which bears the title *Humaioun Nameh*, that is, the imperial or royal book, because the Orientals are persuaded that the art of governing is contained in that book. A Castilian or Spanish version is mentioned in the preface to the Italian version; but the German, which is said to have been composed from the Latin of John of Capua under the auspices of Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg, saw the light more frequently, and Starekio mentions the editions of Ulm, 1483, folio (y). *Beyspiel der alten Weisen von Geschlecht zu Geschlecht*, [Example of the ancient sages from generation to generation] et Argent. 1525, folio, *das Buch Weisheit, darin erlernet wird der Welt Lauff*, [the Book of Wisdom, in which is learned the course of the world] and without place notation 1548, 4to, *der alten Weisen Exempel, Sprüche und Unterweisungen*: [Examples, proverbs and instructions of the ancient sages] and Frankfurt 1565, 8vo, *das Buch der Weisheit der alten Weisen von Anbeginn der Welt von Geschlecht zu Geschlecht*. [The Book of Wisdom of the ancient sages from the beginning of the world from generation to generation.] Finally, the Belgic [edition] of Zacharias Heins, Zwolle, 1623, 8vo, *woorbelsels de oude wysen uyt d'lüdische spraacke in d'Arabische*, etc. [Regarding this entire passage, cf. the preface to the booklet inscribed *Stephánités kai Ichnélátés* [The Crowned One and the Tracker], edited and translated into Latin from a manuscript in the library of the Academy of Uppsala, in an academic dissertation which Petr. Fabian Aurivillius submitted for public examination under the presidency of Jo. Floderus, Prof., etc. - Upsalla, 1780, 4to. Beck.]

^D Other published writings of Pachymeres. Beyond the *Byzantine History*, of which I have spoken, and for whose Possinian edition one may also consult Jo. Gallæsius in the *Ephemerides eruditorum*, Paris, Dec. 6, 1666 and March 2, 1671, there exist other works likewise brought to print, by the same author, Georgius Pachymeres: 1. A paraphrase of the works of Dionysius the Areopagite to the Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria, in which he has followed Maximus almost always, so that one would not consider Pachymeres to be more the faithful follower of Dionysius than of Maximus.

^A Combefisius calls him a paraphrast in vol. I of his *Auctarium novissimum*, p. 496. And when he praises the ancients, he especially means Maximus, who is called "one of the ancients" by Pachymeres, vol. II, in the edition of Dionysius by Corderius, p. 64. It was first published in Greek at Paris by Guillaume Morel in 1561, 8vo, under this title: *Of the most learned and wisest hieromnemon of the Most Holy Great Church of God, Georgios Pachymeres, Paraphrase on St. Dionysius the Areopagite, at the request of the most holy Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, Kyrios Athanasios, who was visiting Constantinople*, to whom the preface is also addressed. Besides that edition (not printed collectively with the works of Dionysius, as Allatius writes from Simler, p. 367, concerning the Georges, but printed separately), this paraphrase also appeared in Greek, appended to the writings of St. Dionysius in the Greco-Latin edition of his works by Lansselius, Paris 1615, fol., except that Petrus Lansselius S.J. added his own translation to the paraphrase of Dionysius's epistles. Balthasar Corderius S.J. edited the whole work in Latin, and in Greek and Latin with the works of Dionysius and the scholia of Maximus, Antwerp 1634, fol. Possevinus also mentions a translation by the Carthusian Godfredus Tilmannus (z), and Allatius mentions another by Vincentius Marinerius, but they were not put into print. (FABR.) Compare above, in this volume, pages 9, 12, and 13, and regarding the codices, pages 14 and 15 (where the edition of Dionysius the Areopagite with the paraphrase of Georgios Pachymeres, Venice 1755, fol., vol. I, pp. 6-152 is also cited), and p. 17, see Jo. Fabricius, *Hist. bibl. Fabric.*, part i, pp. 112-116. Item, a fragment of Dionysius the Areopagite's *Celestial Hierarchy* with the paraphrase of Pachymeres exists in cod. Barocci in the Bodleian library, no. 65; the paraphrase, etc., exists in cod. Escorial, as witnessed by Pluer in his *Itinerary through Spain*, p. 170. The works of Dionysius the Areopagite with the paraphrase of Georgios Pachymeres exist in cod. Coislin 85, as witnessed by Montfaucon in *Bibl. Coisl.*, p. 140; add Bandini's catalog of Greek manuscripts in the Laurentian Library, vol. I, p. 289. (HARL.)

^B "...of the same essence, or because it is supplied to the worthy by him," against those who say that the Spirit is therefore called the Son's because He is of the same substance with Him, or because He is supplied to the worthy by Him, exists in Greek and Latin in vol. I of *Græcia orthodoxa*, together with the translation of the editor, Allatius, Rome 1652, 4to, pp. 390-399. Add the same author's *De Consensu utriusque Ecclesiæ*, p. 517, seq. (FABR.) Add below in vol. X, p. 384. (HARL.) Boivin to Gregoras, p. 764, vol. II, from the royal codex 3119. On the Augusteon, see Codinus, *Origines CPol.*, no. 32, Goar on Codinus, p. 150.

^C ...or rather 238, see Buhle in the edition of Aristotle's works, vol. I, p. 166, and Lambeck VII, p. 234, Bandini III, p. 285, note] comprised in certain libraries, where it is still preserved in its entirety in Greek; it was published (a), (b) *Epitome of the Logic of Aristotle*: "By the Deacon, Protecdikos, and Dikaiophylax of the Church, Georgios Pachymeres, an Epitome of Aristotelian Logic," in Latin, translated by Jo. Baptista Rasarius, Paris, at Vascosan's, 1547, 8vo, and in Greek ibid., 1548, 8vo, and in Greek and Latin, edited by Bernhard, Oxford 1666, 8vo. In this epitome, at the very beginning, one reads the work that Joachim Camerarius published in Greek at Leipzig, in 8vo, without a date (b), *On the Six Definitions and the Division of Philosophy*, along with Archytas's treatise *On the Ten Categories* and other works.

^D Pachymeres wrote that he was a contemporary of Athanasius. And indeed, he was not the same person as that ancient Athanasius, the hammer of the Arians in the fourth century; however, it is no less certain that in the age of Pachymeres there was a Patriarch of Alexandria named Athanasius, whom he mentions more than once in his *Byzantine History*, and to whom he inscribed his Dionysian paraphrase, composed at his own urging. (FABR.) In codex 996 of the Paris Public Library exists Georgios Pachymeres's letter to Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, Libya, Pentapolis, and all of Egypt and Ethiopia. (HARL.)

(a) See Allatius above. (b) Jo. Camerarius, in his index of writers, not only gave this fuller inscription: "Archytas's Ten Predicaments: Anonymous on Logic: What and of what sort, how it seems one ought to define: Another's method *On the ways of philosophy*; Georgios Pachymeres *On the six definitions of philosophy*: all in Greek: with a preliminary Greek epistle of Joachim Camerarius to Michael Sophianus. Leipzig, at the press of Ernst Voegelin, 8vo," but he also asserts an edition in the year 1564; see the following note. Concerning very many codices, mention was already made supra in vol. III, in the chapter on Aristotle, p. 209, note oo: Georgios Pachymeres's *Exposition of the whole Organon of Aristotle* and *Epitome of all Aristotelian philosophy*; p. 210, Pachymeres's *Books XI on Philosophy* in cod. Bavar. 170 (of which some, e.g. *On the Heavens*, on *Aristotelian Ethics*, etc., are found separately in other codices): in cod. Bavar. 171 is Pachymeres's *Epitome on the Metaphysics of Aristotle* and other things, pp. 216, 220, 227, 229, 258, and more often. — In the Escorial Library there are in some codices Pachymeres's: 1) Epitome on all of Aristotle's Logic and both philosophies; 2) Logic and philosophy; 3) Paraphrase on the books of *Ethics to Nicomachus*; 4) *On Physics*, ch. 20; 5) On certain works of Aristotle, as witnessed by Pluer, l.c., p. 170. — At Florence in cod. Laur. Medic. II, plut. 86, Georgios Pachymeres's *Compendium of philosophy according to the mind of Aristotle*, consisting of 12 books, 47 titles, 258 chapters. See more in Bandini's *Cat. codd. Gr.* III, p. 285 sq. Add the following note. At Paris in the public library, codd. 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1935, exists Pachymeres's *Paraphrase on all of Aristotelian philosophy*; in cod. 2136, the opuscule *On the Soul*. At Vienna in cod. Caes. 67, nr. 1, Pachymeres's *some fragments on the Heavens*; in cod. 42 nr. 1, and cod. 44 nr. 2, and cod. 95 nr. 2, Pachymeres's *Prolegomena to Aristotle's eight books of Physics*, and nr. 18, cod. 44, excerpts from Georgios Pachymeres on the heavens, the sun, solar eclipse, days and nights, and the four seasons of the year; in cod. 43, Pachymeres's *Exposition on Aristotle's eight books of Physics*, see Lambeck, *Comm.* VII, pp. 237, 397, 173, 177, 178, 181, 182. At Turin in the Royal Library, cod. 365, Georgios Pachymeres's *Synopsis and compendious exposition of Aristotle's books on Physics*, not yet edited; in cod. 262, prolegomena to the eight books of Aristotle's physics, see *Cat. codd. Taur. Gr.* pp. 485 and 372. — At Venice in the Marciana library, cod. 203, an index of Pachymerian philosophy; in cod. 212, Aristotelian...

^A philosophy, which I reviewed above in lib. 2, cap. 13 (vol. 1, p. 834), in Archytas. In Latin, however, Oporinus [published it] at Basel in 8vo, with Porphyry's *Five Voices* and Aristotle's *Categories* translated by Joach. Perionius. And those which came forth in Greek and Latin with the version of Jacobus Foscaremus, *On the Definitions of Philosophy and the Five Voices and the Ten Categories* of Pachymeres, Venice, 1532, 8vo, with the addition of the manuals of Psellus and Nicephorus Blemmydes on Aristotelian Logic. ¸) *On Indivisible Lines*, a little book often published in both languages among the works of Aristotle and wrongly ascribed to Aristotle himself by many, before Camotius and H. Stephanus noted the error. Jacob Schegkius translated it into Latin. See, if you like, what I said in lib. 2, cap. 5, § 28 (vol. 3, p. 261). ¸) Finally, the Epitome of philosophy itself, in Latin, translated by Philippus Bechius, philosopher and physician, Basel, 1560, fol., with the orations of Synesius. The author dedicated this epitome to a certain Eumorus, as is evident from Pachymeres' verses to him (edited above, col. 419).

In the *Casauboniana*, p. 24, mention is made of Georgius Pachymeres' *Life of Chrysostom*, about which I do not recall reading anything anywhere. For the *Life* of Chrysostom which we possess, written by Georgius, is—as Casaubon could by no means have been ignorant—far older, and belongs to the Georgius, Bishop of Alexandria, already praised by Photius, about whom Hanckius writes at length in *De scriptoribus Byz.* part 1, cap. 10. But I shall transcribe the words of Casaubon: "Georgius Pachymeres' book on the *Life of Chrysostom* is excellent, both because of its subject matter and, in some measure, because of the writer himself: his style is pure (whereas Photius finds fault with the style of Georgius of Alexandria), and not devoid of all artifice, and [shows] care in diction: accusative constructions, such as we used to observe frequently in the historians."

*Unpublished writings of Pachymeres.* Besides the *Paraphrase on the Entire Philosophy of Aristotle*, about which I have already spoken, and the greater part of which still lies hidden in Greek in the libraries, and is preserved complete in the Vienna codex, [copies] are also kept in the Royal Library of France, cod. 3119. Pachymeres' *Exercises on the Progymnasmata and Status*. Allatius shows their individual titles and beginnings in *De Georgiis*, p. 369, 370, 371 (above, col. 413), among which is also the *Ecphrasis of the Augustae*, which I have already noted we possess through the kindness of Boivin. Regarding the *Letters*, which Gesner wrote were hiding in the libraries of Italy, the same Allatius testifies that he could never find them, though he sought them anxiously, and laments it: "For I suspect," he says, "that those would have been most elegant and full of ancient nectar of speech, beyond what the writers of that age were accustomed to; since there was less [skill] in others in composing..."

^B Nicomachean Ethics, 10 books, with the marginal paraphrase of Georgius Pachymeres not yet edited. See *Cat. codd. Gr.* p. 112 and 114, and above, vol. 3, p. 264. — In cod. Coislin. 164, Georgius Pachymeres' *Philosophy*, 12 books; see Montfaucon, *Bibl. Coisl.* p. 222.

...Regarding the codex at Vienna, the Emperor's codex 67, containing Georgius Pachymeres' *Epitome of all Aristotelian Philosophy*, divided into 12 books, 47 titles, and 238 chapters, V. Lambecius, *Comm.* VII, page 234 sqq., where among other things, he says: "which epitome was translated into Latin first by Phil. Bechius, philosopher, physician, and dialectic professor at the Basel Academy, from two other manuscripts, which, as he himself testifies, were very lacunose, faulty, and corrupt, and was published in Latin only in 1560 at Basel by the Froben press; but through the benefit of this third codex, the imperial manuscript, it will be possible for [the work] to be edited anew, much better and more accurately in both Greek and Latin." Sambucus himself indicates this in the same place with this inscription in his own hand: "Philippus Bechius, physician of Basel, translated this at Basel, and Episcopius printed it with Froben in the year 1560. But this codex is much more complete and sound than the two which the translator was able to use at the time. Bechius often neither grasped the words nor rendered the meanings." Sambucus bought this in 1583 with eight crowns, sent from Italy. In that codex, the preface is followed by an index of the whole work, which indeed Leo Allatius in his *Diatribe de Georgiis*, p. 367, falsely thought had been composed by someone else; whereas Lambecius contends that it was composed by Georgius Pachymeres himself, which is manifest from its connection with the preface. What Lambecius and Sambucus stated about the Vienna codex, [Bandinus] affirms also about the Florentine Medicis codex XXII, plut. 86, which contains Pachymeres' *Compendium of Philosophy* (as in cod. 2, praised in the previous note), *Bandin.* II, p. 365 sq., [maintaining that] with the help of that excellent and integral Medicis codex, a much better and more accurate edition could be prepared in both Greek and Latin. That codex, however, besides having the *dieresis* etc. from the beginning; the division of the dialectical topics, just as a certain Italian named Boethius divided them, which indeed were translated into the Greek language. Then, at the end, are added 100 sepulchral iambic verses by Manuel Philes on Pachymeres, in which he deplores the death of his teacher. In cod. 1, nr. 3, plut. 86, three excerpts from Georgius Pachymeres' *Paraphrase on the entire Aristotelian philosophy*. See Bandin. III, p. 281 sq. In the Caesarean codex 95, nr. 4, in the *Logical Syntagma* of Arsenius, Archbishop of Monembasia in the Peloponnese, are included various short works of Michael Psellus, Nicephorus Blemmydes, and Georgius Pachymeres pertaining to logic, and indeed Pachymeres' little book *On the Six Definitions of Philosophy*; the same author's *Division of Philosophy*, his little book *On the Five Voices*, and his little book *On the Ten Categories*. V. Lamb. VII, p. 380 sqq., who also noted that the same *Logical Syntagma* of Arsenius was edited in Greek at Paris, 1540, 12mo, and in Latin, translated by Jacob Foscaremus, ibid. 1541, 12mo. In cod. 39, nr. 6, is a fragment *on matter*, etc., as I have already noted above. In the Leiden Academy library are Hermias Ammonius on Porphyry's *Isagoge*, Magentinus on Aristotle's *On Interpretation* and *Prior Analytics*, and Nilus' little book *On Reasonings*. Also, Georgius Pachymeres' *Epitome of the Entire Aristotelian Art of Reasoning*, translated by Jo. Baptista Rasarius. Lyon 1547, fol. Psellus' *Introduction to the Six Modes of Philosophy*, etc.—Nicephorus Blemmydes *On the Five Voices*. Georgius Pachymeres *On the Six Definitions of Philosophy*, etc. Greek at Venice (as it seems), some things are inscribed in Greek: in *Cat. B. Leid.* p. 155, 163 and 165. Georgius Pachymeres' *Epitome of the Entire Aristotelian Art of Reasoning*, in Latin, translated by Jo. Baptista Rasarius. Paris, at Michael Vascosanus' 1545, 8vo. (Maittaire A. T. III, p. 379).

Pachymeres, as can be gathered from history and other treatises of his, may be playing the fool ^A (g). He reports, however, that he had found a short work of Pachymeres, *De apparatu et constructione argumentorum* (On the Apparatus and Construction of Arguments), the beginning of which is: Πᾶν κατασκευάζεται δ'. He also states that Pachymeres' short book *De quatuor mathematicis scientiis* (On the Four Mathematical Sciences) exists in manuscript in the royal library of France, but he doubts whether it is the same one that was published under the name of Psellus, and about which Allatius writes in his book on Psellus, ch. 37. Indeed, Arsenius himself, when he first published it in Rome, doubted whether it had Euthymius or Psellus as its author, although it is attributed to Psellus by many. Labbe, however, in his *Bibliotheca nova ms.*, page 147, mentions as distinct works Georgius Pachymeres' *On the Four Mathematical Sciences*—arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy (in which very order those disciplines are also treated in the Psellian book)—in royal codex 859, and those of Euthymius Psellus in codex 891. Concerning those of the same [author], [they are found in] the uncertain codex 581. (FABR.) According to the catalog of Paris codices, vol. II, in codices 2338, 2339, and 2340 are the institutions by Georgius Pachymeres or Michael Psellus on arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy; in codex 2511, Georgius Pachymeres' arithmetic (where the first chapter is missing), geometry, and stereometry. In codex 2458 (copied from a Vatican codex in 1594), no. 3, a description of Pachymeres' arithmetic begun four times by the hand of two different scribes; no. 4, a description of his harmonical studies begun. In codex 2536, a short work on Music, collected from the writings of the ancients and moderns by Georgius Pachymeres for the benefit of those who devote themselves to the musical art, an unpublished work, which begins: δευτέραν ἔχει τάξιν. In the Nanian codex 255 at Venice, *The Four-Book Work of Pachymeres*—then *Of the most wise Lord George the chief advocate*—*of Pachymeres, a system of the four mathematical sciences: arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy*. Thirty iambic trimeter verses follow: after these the work begins. The author of the Nanian codex catalog gave more [details] from that codex on page 448. At Leiden, among the Vossian codices, *Harmonical Music of Pachymeres*. See the catalog of the Leiden library, 394, no. 62. Whether those which are in the Augustan Vindelician codex (Reiser. cat. p. 87) also pertain to Pachymeres, namely an epitome of logic, mutilated at the beginning, with the remaining pages also largely eaten away; another epitome of arithmetic, etc., and another epitome of music, geometry, astronomy, etc., will be more certainly defined by collation with other codices. (HARL.)

Pachymeres mentions his ^B *Ta kath’ heauton* (Poems on his own life), and from them he brings forward certain hexameter verses in book X of his *Byzantine History*, chapters 14 and 15. (FABR.) In Florence, in the Laurentian Medicis codex V, plut. 87, which contains Aristotle’s *Physics*, books VIII, with a marginal exposition by Georgius Pachymeres; at the end are read certain heroic verses in praise of the book, with the name *tou Pachymerē* inscribed, which Bandini made public in his *Catalogus Græcus* III, p. 385 sq. In the Venetian Marcian codex, which contains Macarius Chrysocephales' *Podōn ōn* (?), fol. 231, there are cited excerpts from the poems which Georgius Pachymeres wrote about his own life, *From the heroic poems of the Lord George Pachymeres, through which he narrates his own affairs in nine parts*, and fol. 253 recto, *Of the same (Pachymeres) woven verses; the woven verse is, from above downward, and from below upward*. See the esteemed Villoison’s *Anecdota Graeca*, vol. II, page 7, especially page 76 sqq., where he published in Greek those verses, however barbarous and inept they may be. In the heroic verses praised, however, Pachymeres, according to Villoison, imitated the ancient poets, especially Homer and Gregory Nazianzen, not unsuccessfully. (HARL.)

(g) Add. supra, vol. I, p. 703. (HARL.)

GEORGIUS PACHYMERES ON MICHAEL AND ANDRONICUS PALAEOLOGUS: THIRTEEN BOOKS.

DEDICATION OF PETRUS POSSINUS.

TO THE HOLY MEMORY OF URBAN VIII, SUPREME PONTIFF, GEORGIUS PACHYMERES, REVIVED BY HIS BENEFIT, [OFFERS] IMMORTAL THANKS.

The holy Scriptures recall that a singular privilege was granted to the pontiffs of the old synagogue, that by their death they might manifest the return to the exiles. I experience happily today that the pontiffs of the new law and of the Church of Christ have more power, thanks to you, by whose grace I, who had long since died and was myself dead, have [received] light.

I had thought to extend my brief life into the perennial state of posthumous immortality, by writing while I lived the history of my own time, and of deeds not unworthy of being known that had been done under two princes, in whose service I too had borne some measure of name and honor, publishing them in a double volume from eyewitness knowledge. But I learned too late how uncertain are human expectation and foresight, realizing only after my death that these two works, labored over by me through long vigils but under ill-fated auspices, had found nothing at the citadel of Minerva, to which I had dedicated them, but a dungeon of Latona, where, bound in shadowy chains, they kept my fame buried with them in a kind of tomb of oblivion. Indeed, that Ottoman storm, which, upon the destruction of the Eastern Empire and the subjugation of Constantinople, submerged the wealth of learned Greece in a fatal shipwreck, also swallowed up most of the examples of my history in its barbarian floods, leaving behind only tattered remnants and wretched relics cast out as if upon certain shores and harbors of libraries. A heap of these was once seen at Augsburg by Wolfius, but he, like that evangelical Levite who encountered the traveler to Jericho wounded by the injury of robbers, being beside the place and seeing him, passed on. For what else was it, if not an abandoning of the duty of editing and translating, for him to be finished with the easy task of copying out lemmas and titles? The priest, the most learned Petavius, did somewhat more, for, descending by the path of searching out the monuments of the ancients, he chanced upon some fragments of my narratives, which, such as he found them, he published with Parisian presses. But he too kept his distance, rightly refusing the work of translating them, since they would certainly be wasted in such a corrupt exemplar as he had obtained. Truly (for it must be confessed) I was in a far worse state than the traveler wounded by brigands besetting the road to Jericho; for although the latter was mangled, he still breathed, whereas I had exhaled my soul, bereft of sense and spirit, little different from that man mentioned in the books of Kings, whom those who were about to bury him, hasteful on account of the fear of imminent brigands, threw into the sepulcher of Elisha—fortunate by chance for them: for by the touch of the prophet's bones the dead man revived. A like good fortune fell to me from you. Your mouth and your flesh, the most eminent Cardinal Francesco Barberini, taking me up—cried out for and abandoned and lifeless—lifting me, embracing me, at length brought it about that I should live, following your wishes and commands, that is: for you had received the complete copy of my work, brought thither from some corner of that Greece, and had urged and pressed that he should at length see it published. In this, he spared no exertion, contention, or expense. He sent, acted, and moved many things over a long time, until, by long-suffering and efficacious perseverance, the obstacles broken through and the goal desired, he stood forth as a true, beneficent, protective Samaritan to me who was abandoned and rejected. He raised me from the soil and dust, commended me as if to an innkeeper to this interpreter by whom I have been gifted with Latinity, and redeemed the work for publishing with money far beyond what was necessary for two transcriptions and the printing by scriveners and engravers; and then, instructed not only munificently but also magnificently with all other subsidies for emerging into the light, he brought me to this meridian of literary celebrity, where my History, like that statue of Memnon struck now for the first time by the rays of a sun it had not known, may break forth into voices that will proclaim your merit and that of your house, most holy Pontiff, in me and in the cause of letters, far and wide throughout the whole world. ^A

PETRUS POSSINUS TO THE READER.

I. That now for the first time Georgios Pachymeres, a historian no less worthy of the light of the Latin tongue than many of his peers and successors already long since published by our presses and letters, emerges, is due not only to his misfortune, but also to a certain fault of his own. A reclusive and antiquarian writer, whom it displeases to speak at all with the common crowd, and besides a composer of convoluted and disjointed sentences, he wrapped his vigils in such darkness that he deterred the cares and efforts of the most learned interpreters, to whom he was known, from attempting his edition; he suffered the same fate as they say of cuttlefish and torpedoes, which, because they are rarely deemed worthy of the honor of the table, use the darkness they pour forth and the numbness they shed—the one to repel the eyes of those fishing, the other their hands and arms—from the effort of lifting them from their native gulf.

II. Yet there was no doubt that it was worth the labor to publish his history, which records great and memorable things over nearly eighty years of an obscure century and one destitute of witnesses—if not always in eloquent, at least in prudent, diligent, moral, and generally faithful narration; which exhibits the beginnings of the final "scenes" of the Eastern Empire under the Palaiologan house in such a way that a prudent reader can perceive in them the manifest causes of the tragic catastrophe by which the royal city of Constantine succumbed to the Turks and Muhammad; which teaches many things mentioned nowhere else; which, filling a certain gap in public memory from Niketas and Akropolites to Kantakouzenos, lays a royal road, as it were, with the white chariot-team of historical truth, by which the pageant of triumph might be carried on even to our own times, without anywhere faltering or breaking off; and which finally unfolds the greatest and most celebrated affair of all time—the conciliation of the Greek and Latin churches—so from its earliest origins, and so from the secrets of deliberations and true arguments, through the mazes of devious arts on one side and sincere faith on the other, leads it to its results, that I do not hesitate to assert that this immense subject receives more light from no other Greek writer. ^B

^A

III. It does not escape me that a plausible objection may deservedly be raised against this, that I am publishing Pachymeres’ history, which not infrequently favors the schism of the Greeks, disparages the affairs and rights of the Latins in its narrative, and shows in many ways the author’s bias toward the worse side. I do not deny it, I do not excuse it; it is so, and I confess that in this regard our author has sinned greatly. Yet I contend that the publication of such a book is useful to the public, and indeed desirable even for the sake of the wounded truth and the orthodox faith. And to prove this, I shall not utilize the prejudices of the Church, which permits the reading and approves the histories of Eusebius of Caesarea, held by many to be an Arian; of Socrates and Sozomen, openly Novatians; of Nicephorus Callistus, who occasionally draws from the dregs of heresies; and of other writers who are likewise suspect. I say that, even if all whom I have named were to be exterminated, it is of peculiar importance to the Apostolic See and the universal Roman communion that this work of Pachymeres be placed before the eyes and handled by the hands of all. For in it, the soundness of the doctrine concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, concerning the primacy of the Pope and the right of appeal to the Roman See from every patriarchate whatsoever; the sincere charity and true sanctity of Gregory X and other Roman pontiffs of those times; [and the integrity of] John Veccus, Patriarch of Constantinople, who most zealously embraced the side of the Latins and defended it most constantly—his immense erudition, his most free and most penetrating genius, his intrepid veracity, his blameless life, and his holy character, verified even by divine illuminations—are openly and magnificently proclaimed. And this is done by an eyewitness, and, which is the chief point, one produced from the very house of the adversaries, who himself does not conceal his sympathy for them; so that what he says in our favor should be understood as expressed by the evidence of truth, while what he introduces to the contrary must be recognized as ingrained by the vice of his upbringing, adorned by adulation, [prompted] by ambitious hopes, and extorted by the fear of tyrannical power against the conscience of duty. I dare say: if Pachymeres were entirely orthodox, he would be less helpful. There are snakes that are venomous-free and entirely harmless: but they do not make theriac. Vipers are needed, swollen with deadly juice and infested with a lethal tooth, from which a salutary antidote can be derived; so great is the utility that sometimes resides even in evils and pests! You have the reason why an edition of a schismatic writer is not only tolerable, but even desirable. Furthermore, although I see no more danger that a Catholic might learn schism from reading Pachymeres than that a Christian might be dragged into idolatry through the frequent mention of false gods encountered everywhere in the works of ancient Greeks and Latins commonly in use, I have nevertheless taken diligent pains in the notes on every tainted passage, so that the calumnies and falsehoods might not be to the author’s gain and to the reader’s detriment. ^B

IV. As for the rest, I pray, reader, do not begrudge me the space to set forth briefly the intentions, causes, means, and the whole plan of this edition. The Supreme Pontiff Urban of holy memory, the eighth of that name, preserved in his library treasury two historical works of Pachymeres, transcribed in as many distinct volumes of transmarine and very ancient hand, which were complete and not a little sounder than the codex which the Augsburgher [Wolf] had seen. The former volume, divided into six books, recounts the deeds of Michael Palaeologus before and during his empire; the latter, in seven books, exhibits a great part of the acts of the long principate of Andronicus the Elder. That most learned pontiff, having read through both commentaries, judged them to be worthy of being read in Latin according to the skill in the Greek language that he possessed; and he often and strenuously recommended to his most familiar and trusted associate, the most eminent Cardinal Francesco Barberini, his nephew, that he should procure this. How much diligence he has applied to this over the past twenty years and more, it would be endless to detail. Suffice it to say that nothing in this kind that could in any way be attempted has ever or anywhere been omitted by him. He offered, invited, asked, promised; he acted in person by voice, by written letters, and through friends who met with learned men; in short, he did everything possible so that a supply of a Latin interpreter for Pachymeres might be obtained from somewhere, even sending the very original codices far outside of Italy, as if they themselves could plead their own cause and move one to pity by their presence and supplications: many know that these had lain for many years in the desks of a most learned man on such an occasion. The result was such as the sacred fable of the assembly concerning the kingdom of the trees relates; for as the vine, the olive, and the fig refused, all being happy with their own status, the matter devolved upon the bramble. Although I was conscious of my own meager resources, lesser capacity, and time addicted to most diverse occupations, yet, having learned of the desires of one so eminent to whom Iowe so much, and as they exerted force upon my modesty and performed the role of imperial commands, I did not hesitate to dare beyond my strength, and to undertake the burden of the business, in the sustaining and finishing of which my whole effort and obedience had to be my rest and my genius. ^C

V. Thus, approaching this labor, in reviewing and translating, I had as a foundation the Barberini codex—the one about which I have said much, which I believe is the most complete and best of any that exist anywhere—on transmarine paper, of an antiquity equal to the author Pachymeres, in a hand not indeed the most beautiful or the easiest to read, but learned and exact. I consulted two others in doubtful places, the Vatican and the Allatian. I named the former from the pontifical library, where it is kept. It was formerly [the property] of the man of distinguished C. Aloysius Lollinus, Bishop of Belluno, who, when dying, bequeathed it along with other manuscripts, which he had collected in large numbers, to the Vatican library. In order that I might take it from there to my home and keep it for many months for continuous and freer use, the most illustrious Leo Allatius, prefect of the Vatican library, [offered it] from his private library holdings. It boasts an antiquity of easily four hundred years in the style of its paper and script, but it is [original-script column: see facsimile], mutilated by about ten introductory chapters, and similarly the end is lacunose.

The Vatican manuscript is of a much later hand. In the Barberini codex, two leaves having been accidentally torn out in chapters 5 and 6 of book 1, there were as many lacunae, which I could not fill from Allatius, who lacks the first ten chapters as I said, nor from the Vatican, which is not so much a copy of Pachymeres’ history as it is a compendium, expressing most things in different words and omitting not a few. Therefore I had recourse to the exemplar preserved in the library of the most Christian King at Paris, whence at my request the Rev. Father Philippe Labbe diligently transcribed and sent what was needed to patch up both lacunae.

VI. This is the peculiar excuse for that interpretation of mine, which is not anxiously rigid but sometimes even redundant in paraphrase, concerning this writer, who is the most obscure of all those who have published histories in Greek: some readers know Greek, others (who are the greater crowd) do not. I thought a version scrupulously painstaking, stuttering, and unrefined—which would make the jejune into the squalid, the intricate into the perplexed, and the ambiguous into the confusing—would be suitable for the needs of neither. For those learned in Greek, if indeed any have a desire to know the nature of Pachymerian diction, will attain that far more easily by immediately viewing the Greek context itself than by gazing at it as if in some mirror of a semi-barbarous interpretation, crawling with the most unwilling Latinity along a muddy path through all the traces of Greek style. As for the others, who might take up this history relying entirely on their knowledge of the Latin language, it is manifest that their wish or intent is not to undergo the experiment of passing through the nights and labyrinths of an ambiguous text, but rather to be taught the truth of the events hidden and buried there through clear and pellucid testimony. I have therefore striven, in order to accommodate them, to set forth the meaning of this writer, which I have for the most part investigated with great labor, as clearly as possible, and where the matter required, to render the distinct from the confused, the refined from the horrid, the plain from the twisted, and the open from the enigmatic.

VII. There will indeed be some (I know) to whom neither the work nor the defense of the work will find favor. Such men may even exterminate me with ostracism, provided they ascribe the reason to the shard: "We have proscribed you because you have made a most tenebrous writer intelligible at first glance." But may the Venusian—answering from the opposite direction—augur better things: [i]Solventur risu tabulæ, tu missus abibis.[/i] Truly, if an interpreter does not grasp the mind of the writing, if he invents alien things, if he does not represent whatever lies beneath it, he should by right be thrashed; until, however, he brings forth what is hidden, draws out the involved, digs up what is buried, and while he brings the heart, the innermost juice, and the pure marrow of the abstruse sentence extracted from the broken husk—like a dish of cooked and seasoned food ready for the reader—let those peevish men allow themselves to be served for their own profit, and let them fear to condemn that from which, unless they are dissembling, they feel they themselves are being helped. And yet I would not wish this to be taken as if I arrogantly assert that I have nowhere committed an offense, or that I deny the places where I might deserve to be blamed. One thing I beg: let not judgment be precipitated, and let not the long-suffering critic produce his sharp and black theta at the first sight of a blemish. Let him not be annoyed to learn first in the glossary and the notes what caused me to interpret thus. He will either acquit, or forgive, or perhaps judge more mildly once he has seen what the case is. Why should I demand that the printer’s errors not be imputed to me, when equity herself freely grants it? Every effort has been made with no small struggle that many and grave errors might not intervene: to avoid every light one was beyond human capacity. An index of the principal matters is appended at the end of the observations, by whose admonition the reader who has noticed something may help with his own hand and occupy the place of a good deed. We have set aside the chronological controversies (for there were also knots of that kind here worthy of a corrector) into a separate book, to which the title *Epimetron* has been applied. *The Specimen of the Wisdom of the Ancient Indians*, a book made Greek from the Indian, Persian, and Arabic through the third stage of successive translations, and as it was then most famous in Constantinople and praised by the Emperor who was lecturing there, imposed the necessity of searching for it on those who would otherwise not understand the place in which it is mentioned. Found in the rich storehouse of such things, the museum of the most illustrious Allatius, it has been seen by me through his kind favor, rendered into Latin, and at his judgment and encouragement it is published here in its entirety, likely to find favor, unless I am mistaken, for its not-unpleasant exoticism. Farewell.

GEORGIUS PACHYMERES: MICHAEL PALAEOLOGUS

OR HISTORY OF EVENTS PERFORMED BY MICHAEL PALAEOLOGUS BEFORE AND DURING HIS EMPIRE

^A 1. Prooemium of the author, and concerning the truth of the things narrated.

Georgius, a Constantinopolitan by origin, born and raised in Nicaea, and later having returned to Constantinople when it came under the Roman [dominion] by the providence of God, having reached the age of twenty less one, at that time preserved by the divine lot and having distinguished himself with ecclesiastical dignities, and having reached the honor of *protecdicus*, and having also been honored in the palace with the office of *dicaeophylax*, wrote these things. He did not receive reports from above without witnesses, nor did he believe by hearsay alone, as often happens to one wishing to write, if someone were to say that he had seen or heard it himself, and were to deem the accounts worthy of belief, if he only spoke, to compute them, but rather, as an eyewitness of most things and having seen them happen thus, or having learned accurately from those by whom the things were first seen as they occurred, and yet not without witnesses but rather supported by many others, so that the total time, having a nature to conceal most things through frequent cyclic periods, might not destroy these things, which gradually become evanescent in the passage of time because it is necessary that all things that have appeared should be hidden, as some one of the wise said and truly judged. ^B Yet it is not such that one should make the truth of less account than falsehood when speaking of such things; for history, as one might say, has truth as its soul, and the matter of truth is surely a sacred thing, and he who brings falsehood before it is, outright, a sacrilegious person. Furthermore, it is least of all our intent to add magnitude to things done, as if we were moved by hatred or indeed by goodwill, so that the more

^A likely it is that what has occurred badly should be disparaged, or what has occurred well should be praised, as the discourse charms the ears. For since the things that have taken place anywhere exist to be explained—which is indeed for those who wish to speak, though it is also permissible not to do so if there is no necessity—I am of the opinion that it is better to be silent than to speak otherwise than as they happened. And it is certainly better for the listeners not to know them at all than to learn them otherwise than as history truly desires. For from the former comes that simple ignorance which brings no disgrace, whereas from the latter comes the double kind, in which a person thinks he knows what he is in fact entirely ignorant of; and surely there is nothing worse than this. ^B However, I would not myself have undertaken to write had I not been led to hope that as time proceeds, worse things shall yet occur, and I have been conjecturing what is to come from present events, or rather calculating what will happen from what has already happened. For it is surely far more amazing to the ear that affairs should have progressed, from such a calm and stability as we indeed have tasted, into such a disaster, or that they should have appeared so and fallen from their former flourishing state, when a terrible storm had rushed in, until they withered at their peak, so that they not only failed to bring forth fruit, but did not even possess the breath of vital motion.

2. Why the deeds of those who reigned before are not recorded here.

As for looking back at those who held power before our time, and beginning from there to go through their deeds ^C in order to narrate as we now intend, although for those seeking subjects for speech, it is permissible to omit them and pass them over in silence, with no necessity compelling one to write—since it is indeed better, in my opinion, to pass over in silence than to report otherwise than as things were done (it is better for readers to know nothing of these things than to be taught contrary to how they were truly done, for from the one, a certain simple ignorance arises which carries no shame, but from the other, a double ignorance arises, in that a person thinks he knows what he is entirely ignorant of, than which there is certainly nothing worse). But indeed, even I would not have set out upon the task of writing, had I not been fearing ^D greatly, while estimating the future from the past, that more difficult and harsher times were impending for the future. For it is naturally much more wondrous to the hearing that our affairs should have fallen from such a tranquility as we have tasted into this final calamity, than that matters once composed as we now see them should, upon the encroachment of a new storm, be disturbed from that prosperity into a state of confusion so wretched that the fierce, oncoming tempest leaves hardly enough of the field—though it was but just now flourishing—as would be necessary, I will not say to bring fruit to maturity, but even to preserve, with the hope of shoots eventually emerging again, that vegetative life within, which is maintained with difficulty and wretchedly.

But it would not be easy, I think, even if one were most desirous, to return to those earlier times and [C (cont)] to the deeds of those who presided over affairs before our age, to lead the beginning of our history from there, explaining how they governed the republic securely and with the utmost prudence—for there is nothing better—securing their rule, even though it was confined within narrow limits, namely those of the three remaining cities: Nicaea, Prusa, and thirdly Philadelphia, into which, having been cast out of their fatherland for reasons we have learned, they were compelled to flee and remain. Truly, great things and such as are worthy of no brief writing happened under those rulers; but as I said, it is a very difficult matter for us to narrate, both because the exact and certain memory of the events of that time has not been carried down to us, especially regarding the plans and causes from which each thing then done came to be—for this subject was already occupied by others who, as I judge, applied themselves to it in good faith, not [D (cont)] with a view to present knowledge, but following the history of the events as they lived through them and saw them occur, which, as things were being done, committed them to writing immediately from sight and experience, thus eluding the contrivances of time, which always attempts to obscure the truth and, wrapped in the coils of its own lapses, to bury it as if it did not exist, setting things at odds with one another and, as the Greeks say, as if hurling arrows against those who oppose it—Mercury against Latona, or rather, the former anticipating the arts and strength of the latter and, as it were, breaking the machine. Wherefore the deeds of that time are left to us unsaid and unattempted, as not pertaining to the matter we are engaged in.

If I am not mistaken, one thing from that past memory is worth recalling here, not uselessly; for it is such a thing to which some attribute both the security and tranquility of affairs that existed then, and the perversion and confusion now seen, as one cause producing opposite effects—not in the same state or manner, but indeed working tranquility as long as it was present and applied, and after it was neglected and abandoned (which it should never have been), inducing the disturbance from which we now suffer.

3. How the ancients fortified the frontiers.

They, therefore, being besieged on both sides by two kinds of enemies—by the Persians on the East, and by the Italians on the West, who occupied not only the maritime coast but also the highlands—and being pressed into tight straits from both sides so as hardly to be allowed to breathe freely, would sometimes attack the Persians using the Italians as allies, and at other times, aided by the Scythians, who had newly appeared in these parts and begun to join in alliance with us, they would repel the Italians. Their goal in those circumstances was to fortify the middle ground with secure defenses. As for the part towards the sea, they could not strengthen it with any other fortification than the sea itself; for it was not possible, with the Italians holding the sea and also occupying the approaches, to secure the border so that nothing would be feared from that side. The boundary of the Eastern parts was of a different nature. For since high and craggy mountains stretched along that side, there was great hope of blocking the transit of the enemy, if the ridges and narrow defiles of the valleys beneath were occupied in advance. ^A Wherefore, since they were not equal to sustaining enemies from two different sides, they decided to remove them from those parts for the time being by placing castles and garrisons there, so that at least there might be peace from the Persians. And this was not very difficult, because the tract of rugged mountains there was long, and the guarding of the valleys, through which the passage was narrow, was generally neglected by the Easterners, who were intent on other things. Having therefore deferred the plan of fortifying the maritime towns until such time as they had ejected the Italians from the continent—a matter in which the chief effort was then being expended—they meanwhile purchased peace from the Persians by a pact of annual tribute, which they paid them in no small amount. Thus, rushing with all their force against the Italians, and sweating through persistent labors and most difficult wars, they finally drove them out and transported them across the sea in their own ships, ^B and thus established great tranquillity for the Romans living there. Then, regardless of whether the Persians willed it or not, they resumed the care of fortifying the mountains; and having summoned many robust newcomers from everywhere, they assigned them permanent settlements in those places, and committed the most strongly fortified castles, which they had built with most solid workmanship and which were almost impregnable, to their keeping. In this way, they placed the affairs of the Romans in a position that was indeed most excellent.

4. How they took care of the men and affairs at the frontiers.

Nor, indeed, did they leave those living by the mountains ^C uncared for, as if they were ready to migrate if the enemy should anywhere attack them, having nothing to persuade them to remain and to show valor against them beyond their strength if the situation allowed; but rather, they granted all of them exemption from taxes, and through the foresight of these men, ^D especially the more illustrious ones and those whose courage was bold, they provided for them through letters

^A of those who were dwelling in a state of pride, and having no other sign than that of wealth, and thenceforth keeping watch less sluggishly, but making incursions and resisting, if they were able, those who were doing harm to our affairs.

5.

How, the city having been captured of old by the Italians, affairs in the East were weakened; and concerning Chadenos.

And once approved, ^A he himself was sent to execute what he had previously advised. And indeed, having quickly reached those places (for he could not at all delay concerning the orders he had received), and having found men who were exceedingly wealthy and abounding in both property and flocks, he enrolled them from their own private resources—those upon which each man's livelihood was built—and, having assessed a sum of forty *nomismata* for each, he ordered the greater part of this, along with the remainder of the established tax, which was not small, to be brought into the imperial treasury. This, once done, since the men had first experienced what they had never hoped for, broke their spirit and discouraged their willingness to serve, and they grew lax in their efforts. ^B

5.

How the Persians occupied the Roman mountains.

From that time on, it seemed advantageous to those among the Persians who were warlike and lived by the sword—the others having submitted to the Tocharoi who had recently seized the rule of Persis—to flee to the more fortified heights of the mountains and, by raiding the neighboring areas in the manner of brigands, to eke out a living. And this having come to pass, very many joined together against them, and they often attacked our men, who had become weak, and by gradually overcoming them, they rendered them unable to yield. And they would perhaps have retreated every day to the ramparts of our forces, had it not been for the wages that were paid—for they did not have their own means—upon which the commanders of the armies from time to time also exacted shares from the thefts of the soldiers. But when the commanders became penurious even with these, and ^C the greater number of these men perished—some becoming slaves to the sword, others going over to the enemy, and still others moving elsewhere, since there was no escaping the dire events awaiting them there—and having lived as they could, the enemies occupied the fortifications during the great abandonment by the force that should have stood in their way. From these they were able to raid just as often as they wished and to do harm, not only to those in the neighboring areas (for they already had possession of these), but even to those who were far off. And they provided no small occupation to the Roman armies; those who had once stood firm, ^D resisting for a time, were scarcely able to maintain their positions, largely by their own resolve, though also by the help of many of the enemy frequently coming in, clearly revealing them to our army and often rendering the enemy's concentration ineffective. And these things continued as long as wages were paid at the appointed times, according to custom. They were restricted only from doing evil, and from advancing further or prevailing, and from seeking to injure those they had plundered; rather, they kept themselves to their own territory, remaining as if ready to fight whenever the enemy brought the war into the middle of our territory, but not fighting if the enemy did not wish to wage war. But when the commanders became penurious even about these things, and the multitude of these men was dispersed and consumed, with most being killed and many being subjected to the enemy either by force or by compelled surrender, then finally the fortresses in the Persian...

region were handed over; and those who were released from their other duties, lacking support—and especially those in the western parts, which were indeed depleted of eastern forces before this collapse occurred—not only brought losses to the eastern territories but were themselves in a helpless state, shifting from us to the others ^A and back again, and by this inconsistency of mind causing strain for both sides; for, when the armies were present without being forced to yield, upon a short truce being made, they would again easily defect to the other side if they only came against them with arms. With the affairs of the East in this state ^B and such difficulties arising, we shall speak later of how the situation there progressed according to fortune, having added the reasons; for now, however, we shall resume the narrative and restart at the beginning, from whence it is no worse to begin.

7. How Michael Palaiologos was verified in his loyalty towards the emperors under King John.

Already, while Theodore Laskaris was reigning after his father, Michael Palaiologos, a son-in-law by marriage to the ^C daughter of that man’s cousin, was distinguished by the dignity of Grand Conostaulos (which dignity held all the Italian military force and subjects under its control). He was always regarded with suspicion regarding the kingship, and it was evident from the things he was suppressing that he would attempt a revolution if he found an opportunity. Yet, having given the father of the ruler firm oaths of loyalty, and having further fortified himself with hierarchical curses ^D of excommunication against the faithful if he should ever choose to defect or act deviously towards the emperors at all—this was done at the time when he, having been entrusted with the command of the Westerners by the Emperor, had reason to make secret agreements with the Despot of the Westerners, Michael Angelos, on the condition that the Despot would pledge his own daughter to him in marriage, and he would hand over the Emperor’s territory and, being under him, would assist—as is natural—in the rule of the Despot and father-in-law. Having been reported for this to the Emperor by a servant—to whom he had even confided the details of the plan, as the accuser claimed—he was immediately seized, stripped of his command, and cast into prison in iron chains. As the accusation could not be made clear, it remained uncertain whether the accuser was speaking the truth, as he claimed, or was slandering him, as Palaiologos, while offering to fight a duel for the truth, maintained in his defense.

^A Although it was an ancient custom for emperors to yield to the bishops regarding the dubious accusations of the accusers, the emperor still had not let the suspicion slip away, nor had he cast off the reproach of his disbelief entirely. He kept him bound in prison for a sufficient time, and the suspicion remained. But since there was no one else who dared to intercede with the emperor on his behalf, the patriarch at that time, Manuel, who was staying with the emperor for several months in Lydia, because he was ready for a fight and it was clear that the emperor was inclined to grant the priest some favor, he released his other concerns and brought forward a petition on behalf of the man in shackles, imploring the emperor to take pity on him as he was being slandered. "If, however," he said, "you do not completely set aside the suspicion, O Emperor, he will give you a pledge of fidelity for the future, accepting upon himself the censures of the Church, by which he will not only be thoroughly established, but by the very fear of which, the unyielding thought of rebellion will not enter his mind, but, being a Christian, he will fear God's judgment and will keep his oaths regarding his fidelity to you and your kin without deceit." Speaking thus, he persuaded the emperor to hear the request, and he inclined toward compassion for the condemned man, pledging his own soul that he would be entirely ^B benevolent toward him if he, for his part, would make his future loyalty to him firm, as the priest promised. And indeed, the priest having arrived around Achyraous, along with several other archbishops, he sent to the emperor—just as the emperor had instructed him upon his departure—one of his own intimates, a man adorned with the priesthood. The emperor, having received him and heard him, immediately released Palaiologos from his chains and willingly sent him to the patriarch himself, along with the companions who had been liberated with him. When he had arrived, and after he had heard the grave warnings and threatenings of the Fathers, adapted to the case and the occasion in the synod, having humbly professed that he would refuse nothing of the canonical discipline and penalties if he should henceforth sin, he gave a new oath of inviolable fidelity with the emperor; and, being about to return, he appeared to the emperor to be so affected toward him that he would not have grudgingly granted it, if he had asked for any favor. Setting aside all else, he offered prayers for Palaiologos, and he prayed that he might take pity on him as one who had suffered calumny. "But if," he was saying, "you do not fully lay aside suspicion of him, O Emperor, he will certainly take precautions for you for the future by whatever pledge of faith you wish, and he will subject himself to the censures of the Church, for fear of incurring which he would altogether avert even the shadow of defection. For a Christian man will certainly fear the judgment of God, and will stand firm by promises sanctioned by His threatening; nor will he ever induce his soul to betray the pledge given to you and your kin, bound by such a ceremony." The emperor, having revered him while he was saying these things, ^C assented to his liberation from the wretched prison, promising moreover with a mind clearly benevolent toward him that he would be such, if he too, for his own part, as the patriarch guaranteed, would show his zeal and fidelity toward the prince. Hence, when the patriarch was present at Achyraous with many other bishops together, he sent to the emperor, just as he himself had prescribed to him upon his departure, one from his intimates who was endowed with the priesthood, by whom the emperor, having received him and listened to him, immediately loosed Palaiologos from his bonds and very willingly sent him to the patriarch himself, along with those who had been liberated with him. When he had arrived there, after he heard the grave admonitions and comminations of the Fathers in the synod, adapted to the case and to the time, he submissively professed that he would refuse nothing of the canonical animadversions and penalties if he should thereafter return to the prince, and he was honored with great benevolence and a manifestation of favor. He kept a sharp watch upon the state of his own affairs, looking about on all sides and observing most solicitously how he might keep himself superior to any evil suspicion. And in this care and custody he persevered all the more intently, as he perceived himself to be more exposed to envy and to the displeasure of those in power, especially at the pinnacle of the greatest dignity, and especially the suspicion of the younger of them, the successor designated in the principate, from whose suspicious mind he both feared for himself and took as much precaution as he could.

8. How the younger Laskaris, slighting many of those in office, replaces them with others.

But since he was of an ardent nature, and, while headlong in all other things, he was also very prone to think that he was being held in contempt (for the disease by which he was held and was much ^D oppressed made him an opportune and ready man to believe such things and to interpret the things he heard or perceived for the worse), he deprived Raoul Alexios, decorated with the dignity of protovestiarios, of his magistracy, and in his place he promoted George Mouzalon of Adramyttion, to whom he also gave in marriage Theodora, of the family of the Kantakouzenoi, niece of Palaiologos on his sister's side. He also made his younger brother, Andronikos, the grand domestic, having placed in marriage to him Cloista, the daughter of Raoul. Finally, the third of these brothers, the prothierakarios, or supreme head of the hawking ...