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of sympathy; for disaster loves to 1.1.22 impart its suffering even to the spectator. The emperor, taking up the crown <δὲ> and the purple mantle, clothed the Caesar. And a great shout of acclamations from the subjects was poured forth. For some marveled at the one who had appointed him, admiring the emperor for his good counsel, others at the one proclaimed and deemed worthy of so great a rule, and all at God, the cause of all these things, who had brought both these things well together. 1.1.23 And when this great and final aim of the emperor had been accomplished and was completed, and the customs of the proclamation had been fulfilled according to the imperial laws, Tiberius the emperor returned to his own bed. 1.2.1 There is also a story that Tiberius the emperor was instructed by a divine voice a short time before his illness. For it seemed that in a dream there stood by him a man most beautiful in appearance, bearing the image of a certain divine beauty, inexpressible in word, and inimitable in depiction. And the young man’s garment was white, illuminating both the place and the spectator with the 1.2.2 gleams of its radiance. And he said to the Caesar, his hand seconding his speech with its gesture, "These things the Thrice-Holy says to you, Tiberius: the tyrants of impiety will not come in the times of your reign." Then the emperor, having awakened, was disturbed by the vision, and rising at dawn, he related the sights of the dreams to those around him. 1.2.3 On the next day (for I return to the narrative), Tiberius, although he happened to be emperor, obeyed the common law of nature and departed from things here, and as though it were a tent of the soul, he had taken down this burdensome and earthly little tunic. And a great lamentation surged through the city; for it opened a stream from many eyes and cut the veins of tears, and a great sorrow visited the souls of the many. 1.2.4 The bright garment was torn, and mournful clothing was taken up instead. The news summoned everyone to that grim spectacle. The crowds streamed into the royal court; the antechambers had no guards, with the many curtains barely granting entry to those of rank who vied for it. A mournful hymnody lasted all night, presenting a gloomy 1.2.5 sight with the light-bearing torches. And so, after dawn, as the sun cast its rays and traversed the hemisphere above the earth, everyone escorted the dead emperor and with acclamations shed a shower of tears, and great was the funeral eulogy, one pouring forth from many mouths like a river divided into many sources, or a tall and leafy tree divided into many and of great branches 1.2.6 outgrowths. For the subject people are accustomed to grieve at the untimely departures of those who have attained power, if indeed they have begun their rule persuasively and in a more popular manner. 1.2.7 But when the tomb of the emperors had received him, everyone turned to the bodyguard of Maurice the emperor, and the weeping came to an end that very day; for men do not have such a memory for things past as they have a zealous care for present ones. 1.3.1 Now, beginning to weave the web of history and to make a record of the barbarian wars, I will first make mention of the movement of the Avars, both because of the immediate relevance of the events and the most suitable ordering. 1.3.2 Not a few things, therefore, were rather daringly attempted by them at that time. These are Huns, living near the Ister, a most faithless and insatiable nation of those who live as nomads. 1.3.3 These men send an embassy to the emperor Maurice, having not least become masters of the greatest city. This was named Sirmium, and it was a very famous city, spoken of and sung about by the Romans living throughout Europe. 1.3.4 This was captured a very short time before the emperor Maurice put on 1.3.5 the Roman cares with the purple of the

τῆς συμπαθείας· φιλεῖ γὰρ ἡ συμφορὰ καὶ τῷ θεατῇ μετα1.1.22 διδόναι τοῦ πάθους. τὴν στεφάνην <δὲ> ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀράμενος τήν τε πορφυρᾶν διπλοΐδα, ἀμπεῖχε τὸν Καίσαρα. διεχεῖτο δὲ πολλὴ ταῖς εὐφημίαις παρὰ τῶν ὑπηκόων βοή. ἔνιοι γὰρ τὸν προστησάμενον ἀπεθαύμαζον ἀγάμενοι τῆς εὐβουλίας τὸν αὐτοκράτορα, ἕτεροι τὸν ἀναρρηθέντα καὶ τηλικαύτης ἡγεμονίας ἑαυτὸν παραθέμενον ἄξιον, ἅπαντες δὲ τὸν αἴτιον τούτων ἁπάντων θεὸν ἄμφω ταῦτα καλῶς συμβιβάσαντα. 1.1.23 ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ μέγας οὗτος καὶ ὕστατος τοῦ βασιλέως σκοπὸς διανυσθεὶς ἐτετέλεστο, τά τε τῆς ἀναγορεύσεως ἔθη κατὰ τοὺς βασιλικοὺς θεσμοὺς ἐπεπλήρωτο, ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κλίνην Τιβέριος ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ ἀνέζευξεν. 1.2.1 Λόγος δὲ καὶ θείαν ὀμφὴν πρό τινος βραχέος τῆς νόσου καιροῦ κατηχηθῆναι Τιβερίῳ τῷ αὐτοκράτορι. ἔδοξε γὰρ ἐν ὕπνοις παρεστάναι αὐτῷ πάγκαλος τὴν θέαν ἀνὴρ ἐνθέου τινὸς ὡραιότητος εἰκόνα φερόμενος, τῷ μὲν λόγῳ τὸ ἄρρητον, τῇ δὲ γραφῇ τὸ ἀμίμητον. ἐσθὴς δὲ τῷ νεανίᾳ λευκή, τόν τε τόπον καὶ τὸν θεατὴν καταυγάζουσα ταῖς 1.2.2 μαρμαρυγαῖς τῆς ἐλλάμψεως. φῆσαι δὲ πρὸς τὸν Καίσαρα, συνδημηγορούσης αὐτῷ τῆς χειρὸς ἐν τῷ σχήματι, "τάδε σοι, Τιβέριε, τὸ τρισάγιον λέγει· οἱ τύραννοι τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐπὶ τῆς σῆς βασιλείας οὐ φοιτήσουσι χρόνοι." εἶτα τὸν βασιλέα διανήψαντα τεταράχθαι τῇ φαντασίᾳ, ὄρθριόν τε διανίστασθαι καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν διεξιέναι τὰ τῶν ὀνειράτων θεάματα. 1.2.3 Τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ (πρὸς γὰρ τὸν λόγον ἐπάνειμι) τῷ κοινῷ τῆς φύσεως νόμῳ Τιβέριος, εἰ καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐτύγχανεν ὤν, ἐπειθάρχησεν ἀπέστη τε τῶν τῇδε, καὶ οἷα σκηνὴν τῆς ψυχῆς καταλελύκει τὸ ἀχθοφόρον τουτὶ καὶ γήϊνον χιτωνίσκιον. καὶ πολὺς ἀνὰ τὸ ἄστυ ἐπεκύμαινε θρῆνος· πολλῶν γὰρ ὀφθαλμῶν ῥεῖθρον διήνοιξε καὶ φλέβας δακρύων ἀνέτεμεν, καὶ μέγα ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν ψυχαῖς ἐνεφοίτα τὸ 1.2.4 πένθος. τὸ φαιδρὸν τῆς στολῆς διερρήγνυτο τό τε κατηφὲς τῆς ἐσθῆτος ἀντελαμβάνετο. ἅπαντας ἐπὶ τὸ στυγνὸν ἐκεῖνο θέατρον συνεκάλει τὸ ἄκουσμα. εἰσήρρει τὰ πλήθη τῇ βασιλίδι αὐλῇ· οὐκ εἶχε τὰ προαύλια φύλακας τοῖς πολλοῖς προπετάσμασι μόλις τοῖς ἐν ἀξίᾳ φιλοτιμουμένοις τὴν εἴσοδον. κατηφὴς ὑμνῳδία πάννυχος ἦν ταῖς φωταγωγοῖς λαμπάσι σκυθρωπὸν 1.2.5 ὄψιν παρέχουσα. καὶ δῆτα μετὰ τὸν ὄρθρον τὰς ἀκτῖνας προσβάλλοντος ἡλίου καὶ τὸ ὑπέργειον διατρέχοντος ἡμισφαίριον, προύπεμπεν ἅπας τεθνηκότα τὸν βασιλέα καὶ μετ' εὐφημίας εἶχεν ἐπομβρῆσαν τὸ δάκρυον, πολύς τε ἦν ὁ ἐπιτάφιος ἔπαινος, εἷς ἀπὸ στομάτων πολλῶν προχεόμενος οἷά τις ποταμὸς εἰς πολλὰς ἀρχὰς μεριζόμενος, ἢ δένδρον ὑψιτενές τε καὶ εὔκομον πολλαῖς τε καὶ μεγάλων κλάδων 1.2.6 ἐκφύσεσι διαιρούμενον. εἴωθε γὰρ δεινοπαθεῖν τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐπὶ ταῖς ἀώροις μεταστάσεσι τῶν ἐπιβεβηκότων δυνάμεως, εἴγε πιθανῶς καὶ δημοτικώτερον τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἀπάρξαιντο. 1.2.7 ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτον ὁ τῶν βασιλέων ὑπεδέξατο τάφος, ἐπὶ τὴν ἐς Μαυρίκιον τὸν αὐτοκράτορα δορυφορίαν ἅπας ἐτέτραπτο, καὶ πέρας αὐθήμερον εἶχε τὸ δάκρυον· οὐχ οὕτω γὰρ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τῶν παρῳχημένων ἐστὶν ἀνάμνησις ὡς ἡ περὶ τὰ παρόντα μετὰ σπουδῆς ἐπιμέλεια. 1.3.1 ῎Ηδη δὲ τὸν τῆς ἱστορίας ὑφαίνειν ἱστὸν ἀπαρχόμενος τούς τε βαρβαρικοὺς πολέμους ἀναγράπτους ποιούμενος, τῆς κατὰ τοὺς ᾿Αβάρους κινήσεως πρῶτα μνησθήσομαι διά τε τὸ τῶν πράξεων προσεχέστατον τῆς τε τάξεως τὸ προσφορώτατον. 1.3.2 οὐκ ὀλίγα τοίνυν νεανικώτερον παρ' ἐκείνων τὸ τηνικαῦτα τετόλμηται. Οὖννοι δ' οὗτοι, προσοικοῦντες τῷ ῎Ιστρῳ, ἀπιστότατον ἔθνος καὶ ἀπληστότατον τῶν νομάδην βιούντων. 1.3.3 οὗτοι πρεσβεύονται πρὸς τὸν αὐτοκράτορα Μαυρίκιον οὐχ ἥκιστα τοῦ μεγίστου πολίσματος γενόμενοι κάτοχοι. Σίρμιον δὲ τοῦτο ὠνόμαστο, ἄστυ τε περίδοξον ἦν, τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην οἰκοῦσι ῾Ρωμαίοις περιλαλούμενον καὶ ᾀδόμενον. 1.3.4 τοῦτο ἥλω πρό τινος βραχυτάτου καιροῦ τοῦ τὸν αὐτοκράτορα Μαυρίκιον τὰς ῾Ρωμαϊκὰς μετὰ τῆς πορφύρας ἐνδύντα 1.3.5 φροντίδας τῆς τῶν