they came here and were deemed worthy of senatorial and brilliant offices. It was then the sixth year of the reign of Doukas, the 3rd indiction, in the year 6573 of the creation of the world. Before this year, in the month of September of the second indiction, on the twenty-third day of the same month, around the second watch of the night, a tremendous earthquake occurred, more terrifying than any that had ever happened, beginning from the western parts. So great was its magnitude that it overturned many houses and temples and columns. Rhaidestos and Panion and Myriophyton suffered things similar to what has been described, so that even parts of walls were overturned right down to their very foundations and most houses, and a great slaughter occurred. Moreover, also Cyzicus, where the Greek temple in it was shaken down and for the most part collapsed, being a very great thing to behold on account of its strength and the harmony and construction of the most beautiful and largest stone and the endurance of its height and size. And for up to two years from then, sporadic earthquakes frequented, in no way remembered by later times. And Nicaea also suffered the same things; for both the temple in the name of Saint Sophia and the so-called shrine of the Holy Fathers were shaken down, and the walls together with the 117 civic dwellings collapsed, at which point the tremors completely ceased. These events were both a punishment for sins and divine wrath in every way, and they also hinted at the invasion and destruction by the aforementioned nation.

For in divine signs, not only the present, but also something of the future is foreseen and foreshadowed. And in the month of May of the 4th indiction, a comet appeared after the setting of the sun, having the size of the moon when it becomes nearly full. And at that time it seemed to emit smoke and mist, but on the next day it began to show certain hairs, and as much as these spread out, the size of the star diminished. It extended its rays as if toward the east and proceeded toward it and was dominant for up to forty days. When Constantine the patriarch died, John, a monk surnamed Xiphilinos, was appointed, who came from Trapezous, a wise man and one who had reached the pinnacle of education and had become distinguished in civic affairs and who cheerfully cultivated virtue, so that in the prime of his prosperity and his age he embraced the monastic life and chose the life of a hermit for no short time near Mount Olympus. Wherefore no one except him was considered worthy for the high rank of the patriarchate, even though he refused and, fleeing, was pursued by the honor. Moreover, when Theodoulos, the archbishop of Bulgaria, fell asleep, the emperor appointed a certain monk John, who came from Lampe, a fellow ascetic and fellow laborer of Xiphilinos. From the month of October a disease attacked the emperor and wore him 118 down terribly until the following month of May; in it, it finished him and led him away from life here. His burial, however, did not take place where he expected, but having been carried across the sea, he was laid to rest in the monastery of Saint Nicholas, which is called Molyboton. He lived in the emperorship for seven years and six months. He had children by the empress Eudokia, whom he had married while still a private citizen: three males, Michael, Andronikos and Konstantios—of these Konstantios was porphyrogennetos, and he proclaimed all of them emperors—and three females, Anna, Theodora and Zoe. And having appointed his own brother Caesar, he made him a partner in his secret counsels and deliberations. When he was about to die, he demanded a written document from everyone that they would never accept another emperor besides his sons; to which everyone subscribed, and moreover the empress Eudokia as well, that she would not enter into a second marriage; and having completed it, they gave it to the patriarch to keep. Whence also with his wife and

δεῦρο γεγόνασι καὶ ἀξιωμάτων συγκλητικῶν καὶ λαμπρῶν ἠξιώθησαν. Ἦν δὲ τὸ τηνικαῦτα ἔτος μὲν ἕκτον βασιλεύοντι τῷ ∆ούκᾳ, ἰνδικτιὼν γʹ, ἐν τῷ φογʹ ἔτει τῆς κοσμικῆς κτίσεως. Πρὸ δὲ τούτου τοῦ ἔτους κατὰ τὸν Σεπτέμβριον μῆνα τῆς δευτέρας ἐπινεμήσεως, εἰκοστὴν τρίτην ἄγοντος τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνός, περὶ δευτέραν νυκτὸς φυλακὴν σεισμὸς ἐξαίσιος γέγονε τῶν πώποτε γενομένων ἐκπληκτικώτερος ἐκ τῶν ἑσπερίων μερῶν ἀρξάμενος. Τοσοῦτος δὲ ἦν τὸ μέγεθος, ὡς καὶ οἰκίας ἀνατρέψαι πολλὰς καὶ ναοὺς καὶ κίονας. Τὰ ὅμοια δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις πεπόνθασι Ῥαιδεστός τε καὶ Πάνιον καὶ τὸ Μυριόφυτον, ὡς καὶ μέρη τειχῶν ἀνατραπῆναι ἄχρις ὑποβάθρας αὐτῆς καὶ πλείστας οἰκίας καὶ φόνον γενέσθαι πολύν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ἡ Κύζικος, ὁπότε καὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ ἑλληνικὸν ἱερὸν κατεσείσθη καὶ τῷ πλείστῳ μέρει κατέπεσε, μέγιστον ὂν χρῆμα πρὸς θέαν δι' ὀχυρότητα καὶ λίθου τοῦ καλλίστου τε καὶ μεγίστου ἁρμονίαν καὶ ἀνοικοδομὴν καὶ ὕψους καὶ μεγέθους διάρκειαν. Καὶ μέχρι δὲ δύο ἐνιαυτῶν ἔκτοτε σποράδες ἐπεφοίτων σεισμοὶ μηδαμῇ τοῖς ἐξωροτέροις μνημονευόμενοι. Τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ καὶ ἡ Νίκαια πέπονθε· κατεσείσθησαν γὰρ καὶ ταύτης ὅ τε ἐπ' ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας Σοφίας ναὸς καὶ ὁ λεγόμενος τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων σηκός, καὶ τὰ τείχη δὲ σὺν τοῖς 117 πολιτικοῖς οἰκήμασι καταπεπτώκασιν, ὅτε δὴ καὶ τὰ τοῦ τρόμου κατέληξε τέλεον. Ἦσαν δὲ ταῦτα καὶ εἴσπραξις μὲν ἁμαρτημάτων καὶ χόλος θεῖος ἐξ ἅπαντος, ᾐνίττοντο δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ ῥηθέντος ἔθνους ἐπέλευσιν καὶ κατάλυσιν.

Ἐν γὰρ ταῖς θεοσημίαις οὐ τὸ ἐνεστὸς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καί τι μέλλον προτεθεώρηται καὶ προσημαίνεται. Καὶ Μαΐῳ δὲ μηνὶ τῆς δʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος ἐφάνη κομήτης κατόπιν τοῦ ἡλίου δύνοντος τὸ μέγεθος σεληναῖον φέρων, ὅταν ἥδε πλησιφαὴς γένηται. Καὶ ἐῴκει μὲν τηνικαῦτα ἐκπέμπειν καπνὸν καὶ ὀμίχλην, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐπιούσῃ ἤρξατο παραδεικνύειν βοστρύχους τινάς, καὶ ὅσον οὗτοι προεπετάννυντο τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ ἀστέρος ὑπέληγεν. Ἀπέτεινε δὲ τὰς ἀκτῖνας ὡς πρὸς ἑῴαν καὶ πρὸς ἐκείνην προήρχετο καὶ ἦν ἐπικρατῶν ἄχρις ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα. Κωνσταντίνου δὲ τοῦ πατριάρχου θανόντος Ἰωάννης μοναχὸς ὁ ἐπίκλην Ξιφιλῖνος προχειρίζεται, ἐκ Τραπεζοῦντος μὲν ὡρμημένος, ἀνὴρ δὲ σοφὸς καὶ παιδεύσεως εἰς ἄκρον ἐληλακὼς κἀν τοῖς πολιτικοῖς περίβλεπτος γεγονὼς καὶ ἀρετῆς εὐφρόνως ἐπιμελούμενος, ὥστε ἐν ἀκμῇ τῆς εὐημερίας καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας τὴν μοναχικὴν πολιτείαν ἀσπάσασθαι καὶ τὸν ἀναχωρητικὸν ἑλέσθαι βίον χρόνον οὐκ ἐπὶ μικρὸν παρὰ τὸ τοῦ Ὀλύμπου ὄρος. Ὅθεν οὐδεὶς ἄξιος πλὴν αὐτοῦ ἐνομίσθη πρὸς τὸν ὑψηλὸν τῆς πατριαρχίας βαθμόν, εἰ καὶ ἀπαναινόμενος καὶ φεύγων ἐδιώχθη πρὸς τῆς τιμῆς. Ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ Θεοδούλου τοῦ Βουλγαρίας ἀρχιερέως κοιμηθέντος προχειρίζεται ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννην τινὰ μοναχὸν ἐκ τῆς Λάμπης μὲν ὡρμημένον, συνασκητὴν δὲ καὶ σύμπονον τοῦ Ξιφιλίνου. Ἀπὸ δὲ μηνὸς Ὀκτωβρίου νόσος ἐνσκήψασα τῷ βασιλεῖ κατέτρυχεν 118 αὐτὸν δεινῶς ἄχρι τοῦ ἐπιόντος Μαΐου μηνός· ἐν αὐτῷ δὲ κατειργάσατο τοῦτον καὶ τῆς ἐνταῦθα ζωῆς ἀπήγαγεν. Ἡ δὲ ὁσία τούτου οὐκ ἔνθα προσεδόκησε γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ διαπόντιος ἀχθεὶς ἐν τῇ μονῇ τοῦ ἁγίου Νικολάου, ἣ καλεῖται Μολυβωτόν, ἐναπετέθη. Ἔζησε δὲ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ χρόνους ἑπτὰ καὶ μῆνας ἕξ. Ἦσαν δὲ αὐτῷ παῖδες ἐξ Εὐδοκίας τῆς βασιλίδος, ἣν ἔτι ἰδιωτεύων ἠγάγετο, ἄρρενες μὲν τρεῖς, Μιχαὴλ, Ἀνδρόνικος καὶ Κωνστάντιος τούτων πορφυρογέννητος ἦν ὁ Κωνστάντιος, πάντας δὲ βασιλεῖς ἀνηγόρευσε θήλειαι δὲ τρεῖς, Ἄννα, Θεοδώρα καὶ Ζωή. Καίσαρα δὲ τὸν αὑτοῦ ἀδελφὸν προχειρισάμενος κοινωνὸν βουλευμάτων μυστηριωδῶν καὶ σκεμμάτων ἐτίθετο. Μέλλων δὲ τελευτᾶν ἔγγραφον ἀπῄτησεν ἐκ πάντων ὡς οὐκ ἄν ποτε παρὰ τοὺς αὐτοῦ παῖδας βασιλέα ἕτερον δέξαιντο· ἐν ᾧ καθυπέγραψαν ἅπαντες, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς Εὐδοκία ὡς οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ αὐτὴ πρὸς δεύτερον ἐλεύσοιτο συνοικέσιον· καὶ ἀπαρτισθὲν τῷ πατριάρχῃ φυλάττειν δεδώκασιν. Ὅθεν καὶ παρὰ τῇ γυναικὶ καὶ