{THE REIGN OF MICHAEL THE STAMMERER.}

In the #22 310th year from the world, and in the 810th from the incarnate economy, Michael the Stammerer, the Amorian, reigned for 8 years and 9 months, and 783 died from dysuria and a most severe pain of the kidneys; He, having yielded a little of the preceding evil, so much so that those in prisons and toils and exiles imagined a dream-like freedom and relief, rekindled the god-hated sentiment of his ill-omened and impious predecessor, and likewise was snared by the same hook of the dreadful heresy out of extreme irrationality and ignorance. Wherefore at a silentium he said, "Those before us who investigated the accuracy of the dogmas will be called to account for them, whether they decreed well or badly; but we prefer to remain in that state in which we found the church proceeding." 2. He had a son by Euphrosyne named Theophilos, whom he also crowned in the great church. And he decreed that no one should have permission to raise a discussion about icons, but let the synod of Constantine and that of Tarasios and the one now held under Leo concerning such questions be removed and gone, and let a deep silence fall upon the memory of icons. 784 3. In his reign Thomas the rebel, having now set out from the eastern parts, and having gathered and drawn after him a vagabond and mixed crowd, moved upon Byzantium, aspiring undeservedly to the empire; for starting from Roman land, being low-born and obscure, he arrived in the parts of Syria, renaming himself Constantine and son of the empress Irene. And from there, having deceived many of the barbarians and Christians, and having gathered a countless host from various nations, he advanced upon Constantinople with a heavy multitude and a great fleet, like some strange and multiform, diverse and many-headed beast, having assembled the manifold races of the nations, and like another Sennacherib arming himself against the new Jerusalem, he boasted in the multitude of his followers and was vainglorious, not at all, as it seems, understanding that a king is not saved through great power and a giant will not be saved by the abundance of his strength, and a horse is a false thing for safety and the Lord scatters the counsels of nations, and so forth. For even though the city did not have a Hezekiah, a pious and virtuous king, I mean, yet the ruler of all 785 and man-loving Lord did not overlook His city and His people being besieged, but on account of the misery of the poor and the groaning of the needy He said then too, "Now I will arise and I will defend my city and my people," not "for my own sake and for my servant David's sake," as He said then and now, but "for my own sake and for my son who was born of the seed of David and for the new Jerusalem, which I have chosen." 4 For also in the time of the impious Ahab, when the Syrian had gathered many myriads against him and was boasting and saying, "If Samaria will suffice for every one of my foot soldiers," the compassionate God immediately and easily dissolved the reproach of the thrice-wretched king, saying, "Behold, I give him into your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord." Which also came to pass, and indeed He immediately showed both to his own people and to foreigners His own strength, and David speaking truth, "the Lord is strong and mighty, the Lord is mighty in battle;" for when the engagement occurred, Israel struck down twelve myriads of the opponents. And so that both those and these might learn that the blow was sent by God, as for those who had escaped to a certain city, the wall fell and buried twenty-seven thousand. 786 5. Therefore, the vain-minded Thomas, displaying this arrogance of the Syrian and the Assyrian, besieged Constantinople, or rather Theoupolis, for one year, with the citizens bravely arraying themselves for battle and fighting from the walls and at sea; for they burned most of their ships, and they routed the picked troops of their enemies. But he, seized with helplessness, leaving the city, proceeded to Thrace, plundering it.

{ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ ΜΙΧΑΗΛ ΤΟΥ ΤΡΑΥΛΟΥ.}

Τῷ #22τιʹ ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἐνσάρκου οἰκονομίας ωιʹ, ἐβασίλευσε Μιχαὴλ ὁ τραυλὸς ὁ Ἀμοραῖος, ἔτη ηʹ μῆνας θʹ, καὶ 783 ἀπέθανεν ἐκ δυσουρίας καὶ τῆς τῶν νέφρων σφοδροτάτης ἀλγηδό νος· ὃς μικρόν τι τῆς προκατασχούσης κακίας ὑπενδούς, ὅσον τοὺς ἐν εἱρκταῖς καὶ πόνοις καὶ ἐξορίαις ἐλευθερίαν τε καὶ ἄνεσιν ὀνειρώδη φαντάζεσθαι, τὸ τοῦ προηγησαμένου δυσωνύμου καὶ δυσσεβοῦς ὑπέθαλπε θεοστυγὲς φρόνημα, καὶ ὁμοίως τῷ αὐτῷ περιεπάρη τῆς δεινῆς αἱρέσεως ἀγκίστρῳ ἐξ ἀκροτάτης ἀλογίας καὶ ἀπαιδευσίας. ὅθεν ἐπὶ σελεντίου ἔφη "οἱ μὲν πρὸ ἡμῶν ἐρευνη σάμενοι τῶν δογμάτων τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τὸν περὶ αὐτῶν εἰσπραχθή σονται λόγον, εἰ καλῶς ἢ κακῶς ἐθέσπισαν· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐν ᾧ εὕρο μεν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν βαδίζουσαν, ἐν τούτῳ καὶ διαμένειν προκρί νομεν." 2. Ἦν δὲ αὐτῷ παῖς ἐξ Εὐφροσύνης ὀνόματι Θεόφιλος, ὃν καὶ ἔστεψεν ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ. ἐθέσπισε δὲ ὡς μὴ ἔχειν τινὰ ἐπ' ἀδείας κινεῖν λόγον περὶ εἰκόνων, ἀλλ' ἐκποδὼν γενέσθω καὶ οἰχέσθω καὶ ἡ Κωνσταντίνου σύνοδος καὶ ἡ Ταρασίου καὶ ἡ νῦν ἐπὶ Λέοντος γενομένη περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ζητημάτων, καὶ σιγὴ βαθεῖα τῆς τῶν εἰκόνων μνήμης γενέσθω. 784 3. Ἐφ' οὗ Θωμᾶς ὁ ἀντάρτης ἐκ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν μερῶν ἀπάρας ἤδη, καὶ λαὸν ἀγυρτώδη καὶ ἐπίμικτον προσυλλεξάμενος καὶ ἐπισυρόμενος, ἐπὶ τὸ Βυζάντιον ἐκίνησεν, τῆς βασιλείας παρ' ἀξίαν ἐφιέμενος· ἐκ γὰρ τῆς Ῥωμαίων γῆς ὁρμώμενος, δυσγενής τε καὶ ἀφανὴς ὤν, πρὸς τὰ μέρη τῆς Συρίας ἀφίκετο, Κων σταντῖνον ἑαυτὸν μετονομάσας καὶ υἱὸν Εἰρήνης τῆς βασιλίσσης. κἀντεῦθέν γέ τοι πολλοὺς τῶν βαρβάρων καὶ Χριστιανῶν ἀπατή σας, καὶ λαὸν ἄπειρον ἐκ διαφόρων ἐθνῶν συναθροίσας ἐπὶ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐπῄει ἐν ὄχλῳ βαρεῖ καὶ στόλῳ μεγάλῳ, καθά περ τι θηρίον ἀλλόκοτον καὶ πολύμορφον ποικίλον τε καὶ πολυκέ φαλον τὰ πολυειδῆ γένη τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀθροίσας καὶ οἷά τις ἄλλος Σεναχηρεὶμ κατὰ τῆς νέας Ἱερουσαλὴμ καθοπλισάμενος, ἐμεγαλαύχει τῶν ἑπομένων τῷ πλήθει καὶ κατηλαζονεύετο, μὴ πάμπαν, ὡς ἔοικε, νοήσας ὅτι οὐ σώζεται βασιλεὺς διὰ πολλὴν δύναμιν καὶ γίγας οὐ σωθήσεται ἐν πλήθει ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ψυεδὴς ἵππος εἰς σωτηρίαν καὶ κύριος διασκεδάζει βουλὰς ἐθνῶν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἡ πόλις οὐκ εἶχεν Ἐζεκίαν, εὐσεβῆ φημὶ καὶ ἐνάρετον βασιλέα, ἀλλ' οὐ παρεῖδεν ὁ τοῦ παντὸς πρύτανις 785 καὶ φιλάνθρωπος κύριος πολιορκουμένην τὴν πόλιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἕνεκεν τῆς ταλαιπωρίας τῶν πτωχῶν καὶ τοῦ στεναγμοῦ τῶν πενήτων ἔφη καὶ τότε "νῦν ἀναστήσομαι καὶ ὑπερασπιῶ τῆς πόλεώς μου καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ," οὐ δι' ἐμὲ καὶ διὰ ∆αβὶδ τὸν δοῦλόν μου, ὥσπερ τότε καὶ νῦν φησίν, ἀλλὰ δι' ἐμὲ καὶ διὰ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ φύντα υἱόν μου καὶ διὰ τὴν νέαν Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἣν ἐξελεξάμην. 4 καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς Ἀχαάβ, τοῦ Σύρου πολλὰς μυριάδας κατ' αὐτοῦ συνειληχότος καὶ βρενθυομένου καὶ λέγοντος "εἰ ἐκποιήσει Σαμαρία παντὶ τῷ λαῷ τοῖς πεζοῖς μου," διέλυσε ῥᾳδίως εὐθὺς τοῦ τρισαθλίου βα σιλέως ὁ φιλοικτίρμων θεὸς τὸ ὄνειδος, "ἰδοὺ" λέγων, "ἐγὼ δί δωμι αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς χεῖράς σου, καὶ γνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος." ὅπερ καὶ γέγονεν, καὶ δὴ παραυτίκα δέδειχε καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις τὴν ἰδίαν ἰσχὺν καὶ τὸν ∆αβὶδ ἀληθεύοντα "κύριος κραταιὸς καὶ δυνατός, κύριος δυνατὸς ἐν πολέμῳ·" τῆς γὰρ συμ πλοκῆς γενομένης δυοκαίδεκα τῶν ἀντιπάλων μυριάδας ὁ Ἰσραὴλ κατηκόντισεν. ἵνα δὲ κἀκεῖνοι καὶ οὗτοι μάθωσιν ὡς θεήλατος ἡ πληγή, τῶν διαπεφευγότων εἴς τινα πόλιν καταπεσὸν τὸ τεῖχος κατέχωσε χιλιάδας εἰκοσιεπτά. 786 5. Ταύτην τοίνυν τὴν ἀλαζονείαν τοῦ Σύρου καὶ τοῦ Ἀσ συρίου χρησάμενος καὶ ὁ ματαιόφρων Θωμᾶς τὴν Κωνσταντινού πολιν, μᾶλλον δὲ Θεούπολιν, ἐφ' ἕνα χρόνον ἐπόρθει, τῶν πολι τῶν ἀνδρείως παραταττομένων καὶ τειχομαχούντων καὶ ναυμαχούν των· τὰς γὰρ πλείστας αὐτῶν ναῦς ἐπυρπόλησαν, καὶ τοὺς λογά δας τῶν πολεμίων αὐτῶν ἐτροπώσαντο. ὁ δὲ ἀμηχανίᾳ ληφθείς, τὴν πόλιν ἀφεὶς ἐπὶ τὴν Θρᾴκην ἐχώρει, ταύτην ληϊζόμενος.