History
And what i have accurately ascertained from those who saw it, these things i will also commit to writing. 2. just now in the month of november, of the
He commanded that the triremes and the other transport ships should all be brought to anchor in a good harbor, and that they should control the sea, a
War. therefore, having gone around and seen that it was by nature difficult to enter and hard to approach for on the one side it had the sea as a saf
They would be frustrated. and having gone out of the camp, and having overrun a part of the country, when he learned from those who had been taken ali
It was easy to attack by assault, being raised to the greatest possible height, and girded with two trenches dug to a corresponding depth), and the de
Having divided his phalanx into three parts by night, he went against the scythians, and falling upon them suddenly, in a brief moment of time he wrou
Meet them, when i give the signal with the trumpets. such was the exhortation that the general delivered and the army shouted 22 and applauded, and w
6. but nikephoros phokas, the colleague of the aforementioned leo (for it is necessary, having summarized the account, to proceed with the history in
The general, having seen this, spurred his horse, quickened his pace, rode in and restrained the soldiers' onslaught, persuading them not to kill the
Having drawn up an irresistible battle-line, went through the land of the hagarenes. to them, having heard of the attack of nikephoros, it did not see
Was dignified by his rank), was hostilely disposed towards nicephorus. 11. he decided, therefore, to attempt a revolution at once but not having at h
, to proclaim him supreme commander, and to entrust the forces of asia to him, so that he might defend and check the assault of the foreigners. for th
He said, if you are persuaded to take up the rule of the east, i shall quickly declare you emperor, and restore you to the imperial thrones. speak wel
For he was gently nursing his little body), then, recovering again, he said, “speak, most brave one, what need is there to consider this?” but he said
I have assumed the imperial office, but compelled by the necessity of you, the army, and you yourselves bear witness for me that i was both shunning s
Before the report of his proclamation could fly abroad, to seize in advance the straits and passages of the sea. for thus he thought that matters woul
Numbering over three thousand, attacked the house of joseph and his collaborators along with the people. and having subjected these to plunder and pil
Especially the monks), they did not allow the man to persist in what he had decided, but urged him both to embrace marriage and not to shun meat-eatin
Makes it flood in a single hour) emboldened by these things, the barbarians mocked the emperor and insolently hurled insults at him, and making sorti
Having fallen upon it, accomplishing nothing noble or vigorous. and he considered the matter an outright disgrace and insult, and an indelible reproac
Having come to the region around tarsus, there he encamped and having pitched a palisade round about, he ordered the crops and the meadows, luxuriant
Having recovered the standards, which, crafted from gold and stones, the tarsians had captured in various battles while routing the roman force, and h
Of the spectacle, turned to flight and ran back to their own houses. and from the pushing and disorderly rush, no little slaughter occurred, with very
To blow favorably upon them, but blowing against them strongly and fiercely, it has sunk their affairs. but the account will now clearly reveal these
To those acting against the divine ordinance, if somehow at least in this way people, being afraid, would abstain from evil deeds, and would cling to
He had taken a fortress, and having crossed mount lebanon transversely, he turned his attention to tripoli, which he saw was fortified and exceptional
Being obliged to drive them away, and to guard the flocks from harm, they, in addition to not driving them away, themselves cut them down and tear the
Having come, and having been befriended by the ruler of the tauroi, and having corrupted him with gifts and bewitched him with persuasive words (for t
Reconciliation and friendship might be secured. the mysians gladly received the embassy, and putting daughters of the royal blood 80 on wagons (for it
They might do. but as they were already considering rushing to their defense, and to stoutly resist the enemy in close combat, as dawn was brightly br
Boasting to all about his brave deeds in wars. 6. having approached the emperor with these words and, 85 as was likely, having bewitched him (for he s
Having lowered from above, one by one they first pulled up all the conspirators, and then john himself. having come up, therefore, beyond all human su
The vengeance for these things, and to those who were slipping he seemed relentless and burdensome, and oppressive to those wishing to lead an indiffe
At the end of the month of december, during the thirteenth indiction of the six thousand four hundred and seventy-eighth year, a throng of select men,
Having captured him, confines him to amaseia. having therefore from this secured sufficient safety for himself and for his affairs, and having purged
To make amends for what nikephoros had improperly introduced. for nikephoros, whether wishing to correct divine matters that were being disturbed by s
And having found him not very accurately versed in secular education, but most diligently trained in divine and our own, he anoints him patriarch of a
The bosporus, but to pass by moesia, which belongs to the romans, and has from of old been a part of macedonia. for it is said that the moesians, bein
To make replies. for we trust in christ, the immortal god, that if you do not depart from this land, you will be driven from it by us even against you
A disgrace by the raids of the scythians to send out bilingual men dressed in scythian attire into the homesteads and customs of the enemy, so that t
The romans on the one hand shouted for joy, and were strengthened for valor but the scythians, growing cowardly at the new and strange nature of the
2. the emperor, when he learned of such a revolt, was disturbed, as was likely, and having brought up bishop stephen from abydos with wingless speed,
He saw that murders along with the ensuing conspirators were proceeding harshly and inhumanely, he decided to no longer delay or be slothful, so that
Considering into what fortunes the unholy and blood-guilty john has enclosed my family, having mercilessly slain the emperor and my uncle, who was his
Eye, and to learn that these things were red, just as they had been from of old. phocas, considering this prodigy a second evil omen, and seeing also
Immediately, lest it be some ill-omened thing, and destruction befall the pursuing mysians but learning they were fleeing at full speed, he both purs
The russian minds were lifted up in audacity and boldness. therefore, the emperor, not enduring their overweening arrogance and their blatant insolenc
Being given out, and going under the earth by the inscrutable wisdom of the creator and again from the 130 celtic mountains gushing up, and winding t
Should set a phalanx against us, things will not end well for us, but in dreadful perplexity and helplessness. therefore, having strengthened your spi
Is called drista) lingering with his whole force. but in this way kalokyres escaped, and night coming on stopped the romans from battle. and just on t
And they killed up to one hundred and fifty vigorous men. but the emperor, learning of such an event, quickly mounted his horse and urged his follower
But the rest of the multitude he bound in fetters and shut up in prisons. he himself, having gathered the entire host of the tauro-scythians, numberin
1. and just as day was dawning, the emperor fortified the camp with a strong palisade in this manner. a certain low hill of dorystolon rises at a dist
He was courting them with gifts and toasts, encouraging them to proceed vigorously to the wars. 3. while these matters were in suspense, and the battl
He flees to a divine and great sanctuary, seen as a pitiful supplicant instead of a haughty and boastful tyrant. whom the men of the drungarius dragge
Having drowned. for it is said that, being possessed by greek 150 orgies, they perform sacrifices and libations for the dead in the greek manner, havi
On the next day (it was the sixth day of the week, and the twenty-fourth day of the month of july), when the sun was setting, the tauro-scythians, hav
Was being concluded. 10. but the romans, following the divine man who went before, 155 engage with the enemy, and a fierce battle having commenced, th
With purity. at any rate, having conferred a few things about a truce with the emperor, seated beside the rowing-bench of the skiff, he departed. but
Was crossed over. this is the greatest of the rivers cutting through asia, 161 and one of those that flow from eden, as we have learned from the divin
The emperor, as one who abused the power of his leadership for certain powerful men, and did not direct the affairs of the church as was established b
Having assembled forces, and having meticulously armed them, departing from the reigning city, he advanced through palestine, a prosperous land, flowi
The mainland is enclosed by strongholds, stretching upon a certain steep hill on the other side it is surrounded by the sea, putting forth a well-hav
Before until fire-bearing ships were secretly sent out from byzantium by those in power. which bardas parsakoutenos the magistros was leading, and ha
I would have been destroyed, if some divine providence had not led me out of that very danger, which caused me to ride out with speed, before the ravi
Furthermore, the star rising in the west at the setting of the morning star, which, making its risings in the evening, kept no fixed position at one c
Of the city, but already becoming feeble, and suffering from a deep and intractable panting. and having just come to the royal hearth, he was shown to
was dignified by his rank), was hostilely disposed towards Nicephorus. 11. He decided, therefore, to attempt a revolution at once; but not having at hand a sufficient force from what was available (for the armies, as he had ordered, were departing to their own native lands), he was afraid to undertake so great a contest for the time being. 32 It seemed best, therefore, to postpone the revolution; but upon entering Byzantium and celebrating his triumph, if indeed the rulers would entrust the army to him (for he knew that while he was around no one else would endure to be drawn up in resistance against the barbarians); to take back the forces, and to contend for the whole affair with calculation and without risk. And so, having formed this opinion and plan, he proceeds to Byzantium and having been received most gladly by the people and the senate, and having celebrated a triumph for all the booty he brought, and having deposited the barbarian wealth in the public treasury, he remained quietly at home. But Joseph (for he feared Nicephorus’s stay in Byzantium, lest he might plot some revolution against the government, especially since the military loved him exceedingly and the people admired him, both for his trophies and his deeds of valor in wars) summoned him to the palace, to see if somehow, having taken him stripped of his power, he might both deprive him of his sight and send him into exile. But the general, understanding the malevolent and exceedingly wicked nature of Joseph (for he was efficient to a precise degree, and most ready to perceive a man’s evil character), goes to the great church, and coming into conversation with the hierarch Polyeuctus, a man who had practiced both divine and human philosophy to the highest degree, and had chosen from his youth a monastic and unencumbered life, and possessed a frankness of speech beyond human measure, which not only nature produced in him, being a eunuch and having reached extreme old age, but also his lack of possessions, and his irreproachable, 33 and the simple and unsuperfluous manner of his life; with this Polyeuctus, then, when Nicephorus came into conversation, "Fine rewards indeed," he said, "do I reap from the ruler of the palace for so many contests and labors; who, thinking to escape the notice of the great and unfailing eye, while I was extending the Roman borders by the good fortunes of the Almighty, was not slow to contrive death, for one who has not yet done any wrong against the state, but rather has contributed more than any man serving now, having ravaged so great a land of the Hagarenes with fire and sword, and having destroyed so many great cities from their foundations. But I expected the man of senatorial rank to be both fair and moderate, and not to bear any hostility, and this in vain, without end. 12. The patriarch, having heard these words, and being inflamed with zeal, enters the palace, having Nicephorus accompanying him; and having summoned the senate, "It is not just," he said, "to mistreat and dishonor those who have been unsparing of themselves for the prosperity of the Roman state, and have endured labors and dangers, and show themselves to be well-disposed and moderate towards their own people, but rather to honor and adorn them with fillets. If, therefore, you will be persuaded by me as I advise what is best, I will state my opinion at once. It is necessary for us, being Romans and regulated by divine precepts, the young children of the emperor Romanus, since they were proclaimed emperors by us and all the people, to preserve them in their ancestral honor and to pay them reverence, 34 just as to their ancestors. But since the barbarian tribes do not refrain from plundering Roman land, I advise that this man here (pointing to Nicephorus), who is both shrewd and good at matters of war, and has won very many victories, which you yourselves also acknowledge, and you deify this man above all others, having secured him by oaths that he will not plot anything unwelcome against the government and the senate
ἀξιώματι ἐσεμνύνετο), δυσμενῶς τῷ Νικηφόρῳ διέκειτο. ιαʹ. Ἔγνω γοῦν αὐτίκα νεωτερίζειν· ἀλλὰ δύναμιν ἐκ τοῦ παρατυχόντος ἀποχρῶσαν
οὐκ ἐπαγόμενος (τὰ γὰρ στρατεύματα πρὸς τὰς σφῶν ἐνεγκαμένας αὐτοῦ προστεταχότος ἀπῄεσαν), ἐδεδοίκει τὸν τοσοῦτον ἀγῶνα τέως
ἐπαποδύσασθαι. ἔδοξεν 32 οὖν ὑπερθέσθαι τὸν νεωτερισμόν· εἰσελάσαντι δὲ εἰς τὸ Βυζάντιον, καὶ κατάγοντι τὸν θρίαμβον, εἴγε
τὴν στρατιὰν οἱ κρατοῦντες αὑτῷ ἐγχειρίσοιεν (ᾔδει γὰρ αὐτοῦ περιόντος μὴ ἂν ἄλλον καρτερῆσαι πρὸς τὴν τῶν βαρβάρων ἀντίστασιν
παρατάττεσθαι)· ἀναλαβεῖν τε τὰς δυνάμεις, καὶ λελογισμένως καὶ ἀνεπισφαλῶς ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων διαγωνίσασθαι. οὕτω δὴ γνωματεύσας
καὶ βουλευσάμενος πρὸς τὸ Βυζάντιον ἴεται ἀσμενέστατά τε ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου καὶ τῆς συγκλήτου δεχθεὶς, καὶ ὅσην ἐπήγετο λείαν θριαμβεύσας,
καὶ τῷ δημοσίῳ ταμείῳ τὸν βαρβαρικὸν πλοῦτον καταθέμενος, ἐφ' ἑστίας ἡσύχαζεν. ὁ δὲ Ἰωσὴφ (ἐδεδοίκει γὰρ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ Βυζάντιον
τοῦ Νικηφόρου διατριβὴν, μή τι κατὰ τοῦ κράτους νεωτερίσειε, μάλιστα τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ ἐκτόπως αὐτὸν στέργοντος καὶ τοῦ δήμου
θαυμάζοντος, διά τε τὰ τρόπαια καὶ τὰ κατὰ πολέμους ἀνδραγαθήματα) ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνάκτορον τοῦτον ἐκαλεῖτο, εἴ πως αὐτὸν ψιλὸν τῆς
δυνάμεως ἀπειληφὼς τῶν τε ὄψεων στερήσῃ καὶ ὑπερορίᾳ παραπέμψῃ. ἀλλὰ τὸ κακοῦργον καὶ περιπόνηρον τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ὁ στρατηγὸς συνιεὶς
(δραστήριος γὰρ ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἦν, καὶ καταστοχάσασθαι κακοτροπίαν ἀνδρὸς προχειρότατος), ἐς τὴν μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν φοιτᾷ, καὶ
τῷ ἱεραρχοῦντι Πολυεύκτῳ εἰς λόγους ἐλθὼν, ἀνδρὶ τήν τε θείαν καὶ ἀνθρωπίνην φιλοσοφίαν εἰς ἄκρον ἐκμελετήσαντι, καὶ βίον
αἱρετισαμένῳ ἐκ νεότητος μοναδικόν τε καὶ ἄσκευον, καὶ παῤῥησίαν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον κεκτημένῳ, ἣν οὐχ ἡ φύσις ἐνεποίει αὐτῷ μόνον,
τομίᾳ γε ὄντι καὶ ἐς ἔσχατον γῆρας ἐλάσαντι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ἀκτησία, καὶ τὸ ἀνεπίληπτον, 33 καὶ τὸ λιτὸν τοῦ βίου καὶ ἀπέριττον·
τούτῳ δὴ τῷ Πολυεύκτῳ, ἐπεὶ εἰς λόγους ἦλθεν ὁ Νικηφόρος, καλάς γε, ἔφη, παρὰ τοῦ τῶν βασιλείων κατάρχοντος τῶν τοσούτων ἀγώνων
καὶ πόνων καρποῦμαι τὰς ἀμοιβάς· ὅς γε τὸν ἀλάθητον καὶ μέγαν ὀφθαλμὸν λήσειν οἰόμενος, τὰ Ῥωμαϊκά μοι πλατύνοντι ὅρια ταῖς
τοῦ κρείττονος εὐοδώσεσιν, οὐκ ἐνάρκησε σκαιωρήσασθαι θάνατον, μηδέπω μηδὲν εἰς τὸ κοινὸν πλημμελήσαντι, συνεισενεγκόντι δὲ
μᾶλλον ὅσα μή τις τῶν νῦν τελούντων ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τοσαύτην μὲν χώραν τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν πυρὶ καὶ μαχαίρᾳ δῃωσαμένῳ, τηλικαύτας δὲ
πόλεις ἐκ βάθρων κατεριπώσαντι. ἐγὼ δὲ ἠξίουν, τὸν συγκλητικὸν ἄνδρα ἐπιεικῆ τε εἶναι καὶ μέτριον, καὶ μή τινα δυσμεναίνειν,
καὶ ταῦτα μάτην, ἀπέραντα. ιβʹ. Τούτων τῶν ῥημάτων ὁ πατριάρχης ἐνωτισθεὶς, καὶ τὴν προθυμίαν ἀναφλεχθεὶς, εἰς τὰ βασίλεια
εἰσελαύνει, τὸν Νικηφόρον ἔχων συνεφεπόμενον· καὶ τὴν σύγκλητον εἰσκαλέσας, οὐ δίκαιον, ἔφη , τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς εὐετηρίας
ἑαυτῶν ἀφειδήσαντας, καὶ πόνους καὶ κινδύνους καθυπομείναντας, εὐγνώμονάς τε καὶ μετρίους ἑαυτοὺς παρεχομένους πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον,
προπηλακίζειν καὶ ἀτιμοῦν, κυδαίνειν δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ ταινιοῦν. εἰ οὖν πείθεσθέ μοι τὰ λῴονα συμβουλεύσοντι, τὴν ἐμὴν αὐτίκα
γνώμην ἐρῶ. δεῖ Ῥωμαίους ὄντας ἡμᾶς, καὶ θείοις ῥυθμιζομένους προστάγμασι, τὰ νεογνὰ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος Ῥωμανοῦ τέκνα, ἐπεὶ
πρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ δήμου παντὸς ἀνεῤῥέθησαν αὐτοκράτορες, εἰς τὴν προγονικὴν τιμὴν συντηρεῖν καὶ σέβας ἀπονέμειν, 34 οἷον καὶ
τοῖς προγόνοις αὐτῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τὰ βαρβαρικὰ φῦλα ληΐζεσθαι τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν οὐκ ἀπέχονται γῆν, συμβουλεύω, τὸν ἄνδρα τουτονὶ
(τὸν Νικηφόρον ὑποδεικνὺς), ἀγχίνουν τε ὄντα καὶ ἀγαθὸν τὰ πολέμια, καὶ νίκας ὅτι πλείστας ἐπανῃρημένον, ὃ καὶ αὐτοὶ συνομολογεῖτε,
καὶ τοῦτον τῶν ἄλλων ἐκθειάζετε μάλιστα, ὅρκοις κατασφαλισαμένους μή τι κατὰ τοῦ κράτους καὶ τῆς βουλῆς μελετῆσαι ἀβούλητον
