of Oxyartes, brother of Dareios, who, having married Dionysios the tyrant of Heraclea, named the city, which was under him, after his wife. and having taken this, he held it tyrannically; when the emperor learned this, he was in great sorrow. And fearing lest they defect to the Arabs, he went as far as Paphlagonia, and having given them his word that they would suffer no harm, and taking Theophobos with him, he returned to the city, with the other Persians arriving where each had been quartered from the beginning. And Theophobos was loved by the citizens no less than by the Persians, as he was orthodox. 17. In his 10th year, a son was born to the emperor by Theodora, whom he named Michael. As the emperor was going to Blachernae, as was his custom, a certain man met him, saying "the horse which Your Majesty rides is mine." And the emperor asked the count of the stable, "Whose horse is this?" And he says, "The count of the Opsikion sent it to Your Majesty." And on the 638 morrow, bringing the count of the Opsikion (for he happened to be in the city), he said, "Whose horse is this?" And he said, "I bought it." But when the accuser resisted, saying that he had taken it by force and without payment, the emperor said, "Why did you not settle the price beforehand?" And he answered, "I was giving him 100 nomismata; but he sought to become a scholarios, and because he was a coward, having failed in this he did not even want to take the 100 nomismata." Convinced by these things that it was by force, the emperor returned the horse, having ordered also that he be made a scholarios. But he, not wishing to take the horse, received 2 pounds of gold and departed. 18. And when the Saracens came against Amorion, the emperor swiftly rode out as far as Cappadocia. And the amermoumnes, having set apart 50 thousand men, and having given them Goundees as commander, a most renowned man among the Hagarenes, sent them against the emperor. And when battle was joined, the emperor was defeated and fled, and returned in shame, having barely escaped with his life. And the Saracens, having besieged Amorion and waged many battles, when they saw those inside fighting steadfastly, wished to withdraw. But a certain disciple of Leo the philosopher, being in the fortress, informed them that if you persevere for two days, you will sack us. Which also happened; for it was betrayed by the so-called Bouditzes and by Manikophanes. And most renowned men 639 of the pious were captured, Theophilos the patrician and the generals Melissenos and Aetios, and Theodore the protospatharios and the eunuch Krateros, Kallistos the tourmarches, Konstantinos the droungarios and Basoes the dromeus and some commanders of the tagmata. Wishing to ransom them, the emperor sent envoys to the amermoumnes with two hundred centenaria. But he did not persuade him, who said that if you should provide a thousand centenaria on account of the assembled host, I will not free any of them. (19) Therefore, when the captives had been led away into Syria, being much constrained by the protosymboulos, and indeed also by Bouditzes, during their seven years' imprisonment, and not being persuaded to deny Christ, they were beheaded by the sword, loving eternal life instead of this temporary one, and after one day they were thrown into the river. And what was most paradoxical, that each head, after the cutting, was united and grew together with its own body; and just as their souls were in one place of paradise, so also the bodies of the saints received a single holy burial from the faithful. When these had been perfected, the protosymboulos ordered that Bouditzes also be beheaded, saying that this man too, if he had been an upright Christian, would not have been able to apostatize. And when this was done and his body was thrown with those of the saints, it was found outside their pile. And his head was far from his body, and not attached like those of the saints. And when they were thrown into the river, and while the 640 crowd was watching all the bodies of the saints floating well and coming to the other side, the crocodiles tore apart his body alone, and cut it to pieces and
Ὀξυάρτου ἀδελφοῦ ∆αρείου, ἥτις συνοικήσασα ∆ιονυσίῳ τῷ Ἡρακλείας τυράννῳ, ὑπ' ἐκείνῳ οὖσαν τὴν πόλιν ἀπὸ τῆς συζύγου ὠνομακέναι. καὶ ταύτην παραλαβὼν κατεῖχε τυραννικῶς· ὅπερ γνοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν μεγάλῃ λύπῃ γέγονε. φοβούμενος δὲ μὴ παραρρυῶσι τοῖς Ἄραψι, μέχρι Παφλαγονίας ἀπῄει, καὶ λόγους αὐτοῖς ὡς οὐδὲν πείσονται δεδωκὼς καὶ τὸν Θεόφοβον ἀναλαβόμενος ὑπέστρεψεν ἐν τῇ πόλει, τῶν ἄλλων Περσῶν παραγενομένων οὗπερ ἕκαστος κατεσκήνωσεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς. ἠγαπᾶτο δὲ ὁ Θεόφοβος παρὰ τῶν πολιτῶν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τῶν Περσῶν ὡς ὀρθόδοξος. 17. Τῷ ιʹ αὐτοῦ ἔτει γίνεται τῷ βασιλεῖ παῖς ἐκ Θεοδώρας, ὃν ἐπωνόμασεν Μιχαήλ. ἀπερχομένῳ δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ πρὸς Βλαχέρνας, καθὼς εἴθιστο, ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ τις λέγων "ὁ ἵππος ᾧ ἐποχεῖται ἡ βασιλεία σου ἐμός ἐστιν." ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὸν κόμητα τοῦ στάβλου ἐπηρώτησεν "τίνος ἐστὶν ὁ ἵππος;" ὁ δέ φησιν "ὁ κόμης τοῦ Ὀψικίου ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου." τῇ δὲ 638 ἐπαύριον τὸν κόμητα τοῦ Ὀψικίου ἀγαγών (ἔτυχε γὰρ ἐν τῇ πόλει αὐτὸν εἶναι) ἔφη "τίνος ἐστὶν ὁ ἵππος;" ὁ δὲ ἔφη "ἠγόρασα αὐτόν." τοῦ δὲ ἐγκαλοῦντος ἀνθισταμένου καὶ λέγοντος μετὰ βίας ἀφελέσθαι αὐτὸν καὶ χωρὶς τιμήματος, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔφη "διὰ τί μὴ πρότερον τὴν τιμὴν ἀπέκοψας;" ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθείς "ρʹ νομίσματα ἐδίδουν αὐτῷ· αὐτὸς δὲ ἐζήτει γενέσθαι σχολάριος, καὶ διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν δειλὸν τούτου ἀποτυχὼν οὐδὲ τὰ ρʹ νομίσματα ἠθέλησε λαβεῖν." ἐπὶ τούτοις βεβαιωθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ὅτι βίᾳ, τὸν ἵππον ἀποδέδωκεν, ὁρίσας καὶ σχολάριον αὐτὸν ποιῆσαι. ὁ δὲ τὸν ἵππον μὴ βουληθεὶς λαβεῖν, ἔλαβεν χρυσίου λίτρας βʹ καὶ ἀπῆλθεν. 18. Τῶν δὲ Σαρακηνῶν ἐπὶ τὸ Ἀμόριον ἐλθόντων ὁ βασιλεὺς συντόμως μέχρι Καππαδοκίας ἐξήλασεν. ὁ δὲ ἀμερμουμνὴς νʹ χιλιάδας λαὸν ἀφορίσας, δεδωκὼς αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸν Γουνδεῆ ἄρχοντα ὀνομαστότατον ὄντα ἐν τοῖς Ἀγαρηνοῖς, ἀπέστειλε κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως. καὶ πολέμου γενομένου ἡττηθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔφυγε, καὶ μετ' αἰσχύνης ὑπέστρεψε μόλις διασωθείς. οἱ δὲ Σαρακηνοὶ περιχαρακώσαντες τὸ Ἀμόριον καὶ πολλοὺς πολέμους ποιήσαντες, ἐπεὶ σταθερῶς τοὺς ἔνδον ἀγωνιζομένους ἑώρων, ἠβουλήθησαν ὑποχωρῆσαι. μαθητὴς δέ τις Λέοντος τοῦ φιλοσόφου ἐν τῷ κάστρῳ ὢν μηνύει τούτους ὅτι εἰ προσκαρτερήσετε δύο ἡμέρας, ἐκπορθεῖτε ἡμᾶς. ὃ καὶ γέγονεν· προεδόθη γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ λεγομένου Βουδίτζη καὶ τοῦ Μανικοφάνους. κατεσχέθησαν δὲ ἄνδρες ὀνομαστότατοι 639 τῶν εὐσεβῶν, Θεόφιλος πατρίκιος καὶ στρατηγοὶ ὅ τε Μελισσηνὸς καὶ ὁ Ἀέτιος, καὶ Θεόδωρος πρωτοσπαθάριος καὶ εὐνοῦχος ὁ Κρατερός, Κάλλιστος τουρμάρχης, Κωνσταντῖνος δρουγγάριος καὶ Βασόης ὁ δρομεὺς καί τινες ἄρχοντες τῶν ταγμάτων. οὓς ἐξωνήσασθαι βουλόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀποστέλλει πρέσβεις πρὸς τὸν ἀμερμουμνῆ μετὰ κεντηναρίων διακοσίων. ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔπεισεν εἰπόντα ὅτι χίλια κεντηνάρια ἐὰν παράσχῃς λόγῳ τοῦ συνειλεγμένου λαοῦ, οὐκ ἐλευθερώνω οὐδένα τούτων. (19) τῶν αἰχμαλώτων οὖν ἐν Συρίᾳ ἀπαχθέντων, πολλὰ παρὰ τοῦ πρωτοσυμβούλου ἀναγκασθέντες, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τοῦ Βουδίτζη, τῇ τῶν ἑπτὰ χρόνων καθείρξει, καὶ μὴ πεισθέντες ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν Χριστόν, ξίφει ἀπετμήθησαν, ἀντὶ τῆς προσκαίρου ζωῆς τὴν αἰώνιον ἀγαπήσαντες, καὶ μετὰ μίαν ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ ἐρρίφησαν. τὸ δὲ παραδοξότατον, ὅτι ἑκάστη κεφαλὴ μετὰ τὴν ἐκτομὴν τῷ ἰδίῳ σώματι ἡνώθη καὶ συνεφύη· καὶ ὥσπερ αἱ ψυχαὶ ἐν ἑνὶ τόπῳ τοῦ παραδείσου, οὕτω καὶ τῶν ἁγίων τὰ σώματα μιᾶς ὁσίας παρὰ τῶν πιστῶν ἔλαχον. τούτων τελειωθέντων ἐκέλευσεν ὁ πρωτοσύμβουλος καὶ τὸν Βουδίτζην ἀποκεφαλισθῆναι εἰπὼν ὅτι καὶ οὗτος, εἰ ἦν ὀρθὸς Χριστιανός, οὐκ εἶχε μαγαρίσαι. καὶ τούτου γενομένου καὶ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ῥιφέντος μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων, ἔξω τῆς στοιβῆς τούτων ηὑρίσκετο. καὶ ἡ κεφαλὴ δὲ αὐτοῦ πόρρω τοῦ σώματος ἦν, καὶ οὐχ ὡς τῶν ἁγίων συγκεκολλημένη. καὶ εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ῥιφέντων, καὶ πάντων τῶν σωμάτων τῶν ἁγίων βλέποντος τοῦ 640 ὄχλου εὐπλοησάντων καὶ εἰς τὸ πέραν ἐλθόντων, αὐτοῦ μόνον τὸ σῶμα οἱ κροκόδειλοι διασύραντες κατέκοψαν καὶ