But he himself fled all alone to 344 his own people. But the other three were seized by those who were in the chelandion. And the logothete was immediately slaughtered, but Constantine and his son were captured alive. So then, when these things had happened, Krum, enraged, ordered that on the next day every place be set on fire and destroyed. And beginning to set fires, they burned down all the great churches on the opposite side of the city, which Irene and Nikephoros and Michael had restored; likewise also the monasteries and the palaces and the houses and the suburbs. And coming to Saint Mamas, they set fire to the palaces there and the two bedchambers, and they broke the columns, and they took away the lead and the statues of the hippodrome, and they slaughtered all the captives, and likewise also the cattle. And traversing the entire coastline of the Strait and the upper region, they burned down all the trading posts, and taking much booty, they departed. And seizing the right side of the city towards the east, they burned what was outside the Golden Gate as far as Rhegion; and coming to the Athyras, they destroyed the fortress there and the bridge, which was remarkable and very well fortified. And coming to Selybria they destroyed the fortress there down to the ground, and burned the churches and the houses; and after this they destroyed the existing fortress of Daonin. And coming to the city of Herakleia, not being able to enter it, they set fire to all the buildings 345 that were in the harbor and around the same city. And after this, coming to Rhaidestos, they destroyed this fortress too, setting fire to all the buildings in it and the churches, slaughtering many people there. And having no success against it, burning and destroying everything outside, they went up to Apros, which was also a fortress; and having destroyed and burned this too, and many other fortresses, they came down from there after ten days, and entered the mountains of Ganos, and finding many people hiding there and almost all the cattle of Thrace, they slaughtered the men, and capturing the cattle, which were in great numbers, they sent them to Bulgaria, and many women and children. And then they went also to the Hexamillion, and went down as far as Abydos, and turned back to the Eyrion and the upper region, and they destroyed all the fortresses from the small to the great, as far as Adrianople. And finding Adrianople being held, they besieged it; and having spent many days and having achieved nothing from the siege, they set up siege engines and warred against the fortress. And so, being hard-pressed, having no help from anywhere and dying of hunger, they surrendered themselves. And the Bulgars, taking all the captives, who were of an innumerable multitude, and all their baggage, resettled them in Bulgaria beyond the 346 Ister river. And when these things happened, Leo did not go out of the city, but held the empire tyrannically.

And so when the feasts arrived he crowned his son, who was small, and although he was named Symbates he lied, saying that he was called Constantine. And gathering the people who had survived from the various cities, he distributed donatives to them, making them acclaim Leo and Constantine, imitating the former emperors Leo and Constantine the Isaurians, whose heresy he also revived, wishing to live for many years, just as they did, and to become famous; a plan which God put to shame, cutting short his years and those of his son. And so then, when the weather became fair in the winter, and the rivers did not have much water, thirty thousand fully armed Bulgars went forth, and coming as far as Arcadiopolis, and crossing the Rhegina (for a river is so called) they found many people, and they took them captive. And before they could take the captives across, there was a great rain for eight days, and the river having swelled

Αὐτὸς δὲ μονώτατος ἔφυγεν εἰς 344 τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι τρεῖς ἐπιάσθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν ὄντων ἐν τῷ χελανδίῳ. καὶ ὁ μὲν λογοθέτης παραυτὰ ἐσφάγη, Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ζῶντες ἐπιάσθησαν. λοιπὸν οὖν τούτων γενομένων θυμωθεὶς ὁ Κροῦμος ἐκέλευσεν ἐπαύριον ἐμπυρίσαι καὶ καταστρέψαι πάντα τόπον. καὶ ἀρξάμενοι ἐμπυρίζειν κατέκαυσαν πάσας τὰς ἐκκλησίας τὰς ἀντίπεραν τῆς πόλεως μεγάλας οὔσας, ἃς ἀνεκαίνισεν Εἰρήνη καὶ Νικηφόρος καὶ Μιχαήλ· ὁμοίως καὶ τὰ μοναστήρια καὶ τὰ παλάτια καὶ τοὺς οἴκους καὶ τὰ προάστεια. καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Μάμαντα ἐνεπύρισαν τὰ ἐκεῖσε παλάτια καὶ τοὺς δύο κοιτῶνας, καὶ τοὺς κίονας κατέκλασαν, καὶ τοὺς μολύβδους ἐπῆραν καὶ τὰ ζωδία τοῦ ἱπποδρομίου, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν κατέσφαξαν, καὶ ὁμοίως καὶ τὰ κτήνη. καὶ διελθόντες πᾶσαν τὴν παραθαλασσίαν τοῦ Στενοῦ καὶ τὴν ἄνω, πάντα τὰ ἐμπόρια κατέκαυσαν, καὶ ἄραντες σκῦλα πολλὰ ᾤχοντο. καὶ πιάσαντες τὸ δεξιὸν μέρος τῆς πόλεως πρὸς ἀνατολάς, κατέκαυσαν τὸ ἔξωθεν τῆς Χρυσῆς πόρτης ἕως τοῦ Ῥηγίου· καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὸν Ἀθύρα κατέστρεψαν τὸ ἐκεῖσε κάστρον καὶ τὴν γέφυραν, παράξενον οὖσαν καὶ πάνυ ὀχυρωτάτην. καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς Σηλυβρίαν κατέστρεψαν τὸ αὐτόθι κάστρον ἕως τοῦ ἐδάφους, καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας καὶ τοὺς οἴκους κατέκαυσαν· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο τὸ ∆αόνιν κάστρον ὑπάρχον κατέστρεψαν. καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν πόλιν Ἡρακλείας, μὴ δυνάμενοι εἰς αὐτὴν εἰσελθεῖν, ἐνεπύρισαν πάντα τὰ οἰκήματα 345 τὰ ὄντα εἰς τὸν λιμένα καὶ τὰ πέριξ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως. καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐλθόντες εἰς Ῥαίδεστον κατέστρεψαν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ κάστρον, ἐμπυρίσαντες πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ οἰκήματα καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας, κατασφάξαντες αὐτόθι λαὸν πολύν. καὶ μηδὲν ἰσχύσαντες εἰς αὐτό, τὰ ἔξω πάντα ἐμπυρίσαντες καὶ καταστρέψαντες, ἀνῆλθον εἰς τὸν Ἄπρον, κάστρον ὂν καὶ αὐτό· καὶ καταστρέψαντες καὶ τοῦτο καὶ ἐμπυρίσαντες, καὶ ἕτερα πλεῖστα κάστρα, κατῆλθον ἐκεῖθεν δι' ἡμερῶν δέκα, καὶ εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὰ ὄρη τοῦ Γάνου, καὶ εὑρόντες ἐκεῖ λαὸν πολὺν κρυπτόμενον καὶ σχεδὸν πάντα τὰ κτήνη τῆς Θρᾴκης κατέσφαξαν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ τὰ κτήνη ὄντα εἰς πλήθη αἰχμαλωτεύσαντες ἀπέστειλαν εἰς Βουλγαρίαν, καὶ γυναικόπαιδα πολλά. καὶ λοιπὸν ἀπῆλθον καὶ εἰς τὸ Ἑξάμιλιν, καὶ κατῆλθον ἕως Ἄβυδον, καὶ ἀνέκαμψαν ἐπὶ τὸ Εὔριον καὶ τὴν ἄνω, καὶ πάντα τὰ κάστρα κατέστρεψαν ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου, ἕως τῆς Ἀδριανουπόλεως. καὶ εὑρόντες τὴν Ἀδριανούπολιν κρατουμένην παρεκάθισαν· καὶ ποιήσαντες ἡμέρας πολλὰς καὶ μηδὲν ἰσχύσαντες ἀπὸ τοῦ παρακαθισμοῦ, στήσαντες μαγγανικὰ ἐπολέμουν τὸ κάστρον. καὶ δὴ στενωθέντες, μὴ ἔχοντες βοήθειάν ποθεν καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντες τοῦ λιμοῦ, παρέδωκαν ἑαυτούς. καὶ λαβόντες οἱ Βούλγαροι τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν πᾶσαν εἰς πλῆθος οὖσαν ἀναρίθμητον, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀποσκευὴν αὐτῶν, μετῴκισαν αὐτοὺς εἰς Βουλγαρίαν ἐκεῖθεν τοῦ Ἴστρου 346 ποταμοῦ. καὶ τούτων γενομένων ὁ Λέων τῆς πόλεως οὐκ ἐξῆλθεν, ἀλλ' ἐκράτει τῆς βασιλείας τυραννικῶς.

Καὶ λοιπὸν φθασάντων τῶν ἑορτῶν ἔστεψεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ μικρὸν ὄντα, καὶ ἐπονομαζόμενον Συμβάτην ἐψεύσατο λέγων ὅτι Κωνσταντῖνος καλεῖται. καὶ σωρεύσας τὸν περισωθέντα λαὸν ἐκ τῶν διαφόρων πόλεων ἐρόγευσεν αὐτούς, ποιήσας αὐτοὺς εὐφημῆσαι Λέοντα καὶ Κωνσταντῖνον, μιμούμενος τοὺς πρώην βασιλεύσαντας Λέοντα καὶ Κωνσταντῖνον τοὺς Ἰσαύρους, ὧν καὶ τὴν αἵρεσιν ἀνενεώσατο, βουλόμενος ζῆσαι ἔτη πολλά, ὡς καὶ αὐτοί, καὶ γενέσθαι περίφημον· οὗ τινὸς τὴν βουλὴν θεὸς κατῄσχυνεν, κόψας τοὺς χρόνους αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. καὶ δὴ λοιπὸν γεγονότος εὐδίου τοῦ ἀέρος τῷ χειμῶνι, καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν μὴ ἐχόντων ὕδωρ πολύ, ἐξῆλθον οἱ Βούλγαροι χιλιάδες τριάκοντα ὁλοσίδηροι, καὶ ἐλθόντες ἕως Ἀρκαδιουπόλεως, καὶ περάσαντες τὴν Ῥηγῖναν (ποταμὸς δὲ οὕτως ἐστὶ λεγόμενος) εὗρον λαὸν πολύν, καὶ ᾐχμαλώτευσαν αὐτούς. καὶ πρὸ τοῦ περᾶσαι αὐτοὺς τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἐγένετο ὑετὸς πολὺς ἡμέρας ὀκτώ, καὶ ὀγκωθεὶς ὁ ποταμὸς