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Thus these things were. But the emperor, thinking to be rid of troubles, believed he was setting everything right. But it was, in fact, a dream.

(12) For the Arsenites, they too having taken hold of impunity as the opportunity 37 persuaded them, and emerging from their dens from all quarters, as the emperor was relaxing, hoping to bring them also to peace, were winning over the majority, and having more confidence in Andronicus of Sardis, whom they were expecting to arrive at any moment, they were affirming that Joseph was under excommunication from the patriarch Arsenius, and they not only avoided his communion as a pollution, but also persuaded many to flee it, so that daily more were being added to them, and from being few at first they became many. But for as long as Joseph, being sick in body, held the patriarchate, they had little opportunity with the emperor; for Joseph's party, knowing for a long time their irreconcilability, and that they themselves had Joseph as patriarch, while the others judged him not even worthy of Christian discourse, and for these reasons judging an agreement impossible, they would get to the emperor first, testifying the worst things against them, and saying that they were schisming the church for no good purpose for him as emperor, they gave him no ordinary cares. But when the patriarch's illness grew stronger, and he was now completely weakened so as even to expect death, and for these reasons resigned the leadership, and a letter 38 of resignation was put forth, his supporters dwindled, while they gathered in a multitude, so that even the very bold were afraid and considered their conciliation necessary, they were deemed worthy of greater consideration, as the emperor inclined towards them, and they surpassed Joseph's party by a great number. So on the one side, their leaders were John Tarchaneiotes, the emperor's own cousin (for he was the youngest of Martha's three sons), and with him also his sisters, Theodosia and Nostongissa, and on the other side, the aforesaid Hyacinthus. They also had the one who formerly presided over Sardis, who indeed made frequent approaches to the emperor—for John, though being a relative, yet practicing the works of zeal with the greatest exactitude, as he thought, condemned most of the things concerning Hyacinthus and for the most part even separated himself from them. For these reasons, he paved the way for them to speak freely, so that they would have security in what they might say.

13. Meanwhile, at the beginning of the month of Cronius, Joseph, worn out by sickness and old age, departed this life, and his body was given for burial to the monastery of Saint Basil. The emperor, however, having been rid of him, tried with the greatest eagerness 39 to win over the Arsenites, and indeed, having allowed them access to him, he attempted it with all sorts of words. For the goads from the Josephites, striking even when they were not present, produced scars of both fear and suspicion, and for these reasons, more than anything, he for the time being investigated their affairs for his own sake, and Joseph seemed a Patroclus, on the surface, he having been disregarded for fear that his followers might create a schism, but as some suspected, out of the greatest concern for himself, lest the circumstances of his coronation be criticized, since he was considered altogether unholy and indeed bore the pollution of excommunication. Nevertheless, he was much engaged in winning over their opinions, on the one hand being friendly in his words, and on the other hand also gifting them sufficiently with provisions for themselves. And they, on the one hand, cured the emperor's suspicions as best they could, but on the other, defending their own position that they were in schism justly and in ways connected to the divine will, they looked to divine signs and wonders. And indeed, when they sought a church for prayer, if only somewhere from ancient times the customary rites for priests had not been practiced there, 40 so that none of the pollution, as they thought, of the things done later after the patriarch Arsenius would be attached to it, the church of All Saints was given, being of fine size and beauty both for the reception of those who arrived and also for no small comfort and delight, and it had been closed from of old, so that not many remembered if anything at all had ever been celebrated in

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οὕτω ταῦτα, βασιλεὺς δ' οἰόμενος πραγμάτων ἀπαλλαγῆναι τὸ πᾶν κατορθοῦν ἐνόμιζε. τὸ δ' ἄρα ἦν ὄνειρος.

(12) οἱ γὰρ Ἀρσενιᾶται ἀδείας κἀκεῖνοι λαβόμενοι πείθοντος 37 τοῦ καιροῦ, καὶ πανταχόθεν ὑπεξαναδύντες τῶν φωλεῶν, τοῦ βασιλέως ἀνιέντος ὡς κἀκείνους εἰς εἰρήνην ἄγειν ἐλπίζοντος, ὑπέ τρεχον τοὺς πολλούς, καὶ μᾶλλον θαρροῦντες ἐπ' Ἀνδρονίκῳ τῷ ἀπὸ Σάρδεων, ὃν ὅσον οὔπω ἤξαντα προσεδέχοντο, εἶναί τε τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ὑπ' ἀφορισμὸν ἐκ τοῦ πατριάρχου Ἀρσενίου διεβεβαίουν, καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου κοινωνίαν μὴ ὅτι γ' ἐκεῖνοι ὡς ἄγος ἐξέκλινον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλοὺς ἔπειθον φεύγειν, ὥστε καὶ ὁσημέραι πλείους ἐκείνοις προστίθεσθαι, κἀξ ὀλίγων τῶν πρώτων πολλοὺς γίνε σθαι. ἀλλ' ἐφ' ὅσον μὲν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἀρρώστως ἔχων τοῦ σώματος τῆς πατριαρχείας ἐπείληπτο, καιρὸν ἥκιστ' εἶχον ἐκεῖνοι πρὸς βα σιλέα· τὸ γὰρ σφῶν ἀκατάλλακτον οἱ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἐκ πλείστου εἰ δότες, καὶ ὅτι αὐτοὶ μὲν πατριάρχην τὸν Ἰωσὴφ εἶχον, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οὐδ' ἄξιον Χριστιανικῆς ὁμιλίας ἔκρινον, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ἀδύ νατον τὴν ξύμβασιν κρίνοντες προκατελάμβανον βασιλέα, μαρ τυροῦντες σφίσι τὰ χείριστα, καὶ ὡς οὐδ' ἐπ' ἀγαθοῖς αὐτῷ βα σιλεύοντι ἐκεῖνοι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν σχίζουσι λέγοντες φροντίσιν οὐ ταῖς τυχούσαις ἐδίδουν. ἐπεὶ δ' ἐκραταιοῦτο τῷ πατριάρχῃ ἡ νόσος, καὶ ἤδη ἐς ἅπαν ἐκλελυμένος ἦν ὡς καὶ τὸν θάνατον ἀπεκ δέχεσθαι, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα παρῃτεῖτο τὴν προστασίαν, καὶ γράμμα 38 προύβαινε παραιτήσεως, ὑπορρέουσι μὲν οἱ τούτου, εἰς πλῆθος δὲ ξυστάντες ἐκεῖνοι, ὡς καὶ τὸν πάνυ θαρραλέον δεδιέναι καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων ὑποποίησιν ἀναγκαίαν ἡγεῖσθαι, λόγου μείζονος ἀξιοῦσθαι, νεύσαντος ἐπὶ τούτους τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ πολλῷ τινὶ νικῶνται τὸ πλῆθος τοὺς τοῦ Ἰωσήφ. ἐξῆρχε μὲν οὖν ἐκείνων ἔνθεν μὲν ὁ Ταρχανειώτης Ἰωάννης καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτανέψιος (τῆς γὰρ Μάρθας τῶν τριῶν υἱέων ὕστερος ἦν), σὺν ᾧ δὴ καὶ αἱ ἀδελφαὶ τούτου, ἥ τε Θεοδοσία καὶ ἡ Νοστόγγισσα, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ὁ προδηλωθεὶς Ὑάκινθος. εἶχον δὲ καὶ τὸν ποτὲ Σάρδεων προηγούμενον, ὃς δὴ καὶ πρὸς βασιλέα συχνὰς προσόδους ποιού μενοςὁ γὰρ Ἰωάννης καὶ προσγενὴς ὤν, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐπ' ἀκρι βείᾳ μεγίστῃ κατορθῶν τὰ τοῦ ζήλου, ὡς ᾤετο, πλεῖστα τῶν περὶ τὸν Ὑάκινθον κατεγίνωσκε καὶ τὰ πολλὰ καὶ αὐτῶν ἀπεσχίζετο. διὰ ταῦτ' ἐκεῖνος τὰ τῆς παρρησίας σφίσι προωδοποίει, ὡς ἀσφαλὲς εἰς ὃ καὶ λέγοιεν ἕξουσιν.

13. Ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ καὶ μηνὸς ἐνισταμένου Κρονίου νόσῳ τε καὶ γήρᾳ τρυχωθεὶς Ἰωσὴφ ἐκδημεῖ, καὶ ὁ νεκρὸς ἐκείνου τῇ μονῇ τοῦ ἁγίου Βασιλείου εἰς ταφὴν δίδοται. ὁ μέντοι γε βασι λεὺς ἀπαλλαγεὶς ἐκείνου τοὺς Ἀρσενιάτας ὁρμῇ μεγίστῃ ἐπειρᾶτο 39 καταλαβέσθαι, καὶ δὴ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνεικὼς πρόσοδον λόγοις ἐπείρα παντοίοις. τὰ γὰρ παρὰ τῶν Ἰωσηφιτῶν κέντρα, καὶ μὴ παρόντων πλήξαντα, οὐλὰς ἐνεποίει καὶ φόβου καὶ ὑπονοίας, καὶ παντός γε μᾶλλον διὰ ταῦτα τέως αὑτοῦ γε χάριν τὰ κατὰ σφᾶς ἀνέκρινε, Πάτροκλος δ' ἔδοξεν Ἰωσήφ, τῷ μὲν φαινομένῳ, δέει τοῦ μὴ σχισθῆναι τοὺς ἀμφ' ἐκεῖνον παροραθέντος ἐκείνου, ὡς δέ τινες ὑπενόουν, μερίμνῃ τῇ περὶ αὐτοῦ μεγίστῃ, μὴ τὰ τῆς στεφηφορίας ἐκείνου μωμεύοιντο δόξαντος ἀνιέρου ὅλως ἐκεί νου καί γε φέροντος ἄγος ἀφορισμοῦ. ὅμως πολὺς ἦν τὰς γνώ μας ἐκείνων ὑποποιούμενος, τοῦτο μὲν φιλοφρονούμενος λόγοις, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τοῖς κατὰ σφᾶς ἐδωδίμοις ἀρκούντως δωρούμενος. οἱ δὲ τὰ μὲν τῆς ὑπονοίας τοῦ βασιλέως ὡς εἶχον ἐξεθεράπευον, τὰ δὲ καθ' αὐτοὺς συνιστῶντες ὡς ἐνδίκως καὶ τρόποις θείας βουλῆς ἐξημμένοις σχίζονται, πρὸς θεοσημείας ἀπεῖδον καὶ τέ ρατα. καὶ δὴ σφίσι ναὸν εἰς προσευχὴν ζητήσασιν, εἴ που μό νον ἐκ παλαιτάτου τὰ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν νομιζόμενα ἠπράκτουν ἐκεῖ, 40 ὡς μηδὲν ἐπιφέρεσθαι τῶν ἐσύστερον μετὰ τὸν πατριάρχην πρα χθέντων Ἀρσένιον ἄγος, ὡς ᾤοντο, ὁ τῶν ἁγίων πάντων ναὸς ἐδίδοτο, εὖ μὲν μεγέθους καὶ κάλλους ἔχων ἅμα μὲν εἰς ὑποδο χὴν τῶν ἀφικνουμένων ἅμα δὲ καὶ εἰς οὐ μετρίαν παραψυχὴν καὶ τέρψιν, ἐκ παλαιοῦ δὲ κεκλεισμένος, ὡς μηδὲ πολλοὺς μεμνῆ σθαι ἤν τί που καὶ ἐτελέσθη ἐν