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-eating as something abominable. For they feared lest, having become inclined, as was likely, to luxuries and revelries, he might slip into strange pleasures, which absolute and autonomous power, when it has seized authority, is accustomed to invent. So, having been persuaded by the suggestions of the monks, he rejected the way of life suitable for his age and to which he was accustomed; and he took in marriage the wife of Romanos, who was distinguished in beauty and in fact a Spartan woman, and from a temperate diet he was converted to the more luxurious 50 practice of feasting on meat. But it was whispered about that the union was not lawful, but somehow irregular, as Nikephoros had become godfather at the holy font to the children of the emperor Romanos and Theophano. So when the rumor with wingless speed resounded in the ears of the hierarch Polyeuktos, he tried with all his strength to bar the sovereign from the sacred precincts; for the man, being full of divine zeal, and unapproachable in all knowledge and virtue, was not ashamed to rebuke even emperors. But the emperor, partly entreating the archbishop, and partly also defending himself, that he himself was not the godfather from the baptism of the children of the Augusta Theophano, but Bardas, his own father, so put the archbishop to shame and terribly charmed him, that being appeased he managed the cohabitation of the Augusta Theophano with this man. And when matters went smoothly for him, having gathered untold imperial treasure, and having set aside many acres of fertile land, teeming with varieties of juices and an abundance of all kinds of fruits, he bestows them on Theophano his consort and empress. And he himself, wintering near Constantinople, did not cease from showing favor to those in authority with horse races and all sorts of spectacles, and with the customary friendly receptions for the emperors; and as many attendants and household members as followed him, he trained them in military affairs with daily exercises as much as possible, to draw the bow without fail, and to pull the arrow to the breast, and to shoot 51 accurately at a target, and to brandish and wheel spears easily this way and that, and to swing swords straight through the air, and to leap easily over horses; so that in time of combat he might not appear to be at a disadvantage to his opponents; especially since he had to take the lead in danger and be drawn up in the phalanx. 10. And when the changes of spring were transforming the gloom of winter to a calm cheerfulness, having ordered a campaign against the Hagarenes, he departs from Byzantium; and quartering in the country of the Cappadocians and having gathered a formidable army, he marched upon the city of the Tarsians, which was then defiant in the valor and multitude of its men and its practice of tactics, and behaving most arrogantly, and openly exacting many unexpected raids. And when he reached it, having fixed a strong palisade and having enclosed it round about, he kept watch, sitting beside it. But the Hagarenes within, being for the time over-satiated with an abundance of necessities, and confident in the security of their city (for the structure of the walls was raised to an immense height, encircling it doubly; and it was enclosed round about by a moat, reaching to the greatest possible depth, constructed of white dressed stones, and ending in battlements. The fortress also had the Kydnos, cutting through the middle of it, which from its very sources, flowing with many streams, cold and clear, proceeds around it, providing no small security to Tarsus, and being girt by three bridges inside the city; 52 but whenever war pressed upon them, they would release it against the moat and in

διαφερόντως τοὺς μοναστὰς), οὐκ εἴων τὸν ἄνδρα ἐμμένειν οἷς ἔκρινε , προὐτρέποντο δὲ καὶ συζυγίαν ἀσπάσασθαι καὶ κρεωφαγίαν μὴ ὥς τι ἀπαίσιον ἀποφυγεῖν. Ἐδεδίεισαν γὰρ, μὴ τρυφαῖς καὶ κώμοις ἐπικλινὴς, ὡς εἰκὸς, γεγονὼς εἰς ἀλλοκότους ὑπολισθήσειεν ἡδονὰς, ἃς εἴωθεν αὐτοσχεδιάζειν τὸ αὐτοδέσποτον καὶ αὐτόνομον, ἐπειλημμένον δυνάμεως. ταῖς τῶν μοναστῶν οὖν καταπειθὴς γεγονὼς εἰσηγήσεσι, τὸν ἡλικιώτην μὲν καὶ συνειθισμένον βίον ἀπώσατο· τὴν δὲ τοῦ Ῥωμανοῦ ὁμευνέτιν, ἀριπρεπῆ ταῖς ὥραις καὶ αὐτόχρημα τυγχάνουσαν Λάκαιναν , πρὸς γάμον ἠγάγετο, καὶ πρὸς τὸ τῆς κρεωδαισίας ἀπὸ τῆς κεκολασμένης διαίτης μετεσκεύαστο 50 τρυφηλότερον. ὑπεψιθυρίζετο δὲ, μὴ ἔννομον συνδραμεῖν , παράλογον δέ πως τὸ συνοικέσιον, ὡς ἀνάδοχον ἐκ τοῦ θείου λουτροῦ γεγονότα τὸν Νικηφόρον τῶν τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος Ῥωμανοῦ καὶ τῆς Θεοφανοῦς παίδων. τῆς οὖν φήμης ἀπτέρῳ τάχει εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς τοῦ ἱεραρχοῦντος Πολυεύκτου ἐνηχηθείσης , ἀπείργειν παντὶ σθένει τῶν ἱερῶν περιβόλων ἐπειρᾶτο τὸν ἄνακτα· ζήλου γὰρ θείου περίπλεως ὢν ὁ ἀνήρ, καὶ τὴν παντοδαπὴν γνῶσιν καὶ ἀρετὴν ἀπρόσιτος , διελέγχειν καὶ βασιλεῖς οὐκ ᾐσχύνετο. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, τὰ μὲν τὸν ἀρχιερέα παραιτούμενος, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἀπολογούμενος, μὴ ἀνάδοχον αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ βαπτίσματος τῶν παίδων εἶναι τῆς Αὐγούστης Θεοφανοῦς, ἀλλὰ Βάρδαν, τὸν αὑτοῦ γενέτην , οὕτω κατεδυσώπησε τὸν ἀρχιερέα καὶ δεινῶς κατεκήλησεν, ὡς καθιλαρευσάμενος οἰκονομῆσαι τὴν τῆς Αὐγούστης Θεοφανοῦς μετὰ τούτου συνοίκησιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ κατὰ ῥοῦν ἐχώρησε τούτῳ τὰ πράγματα, κόσμον βασιλικὸν συμφορήσας ἀμύθητον , τεμένη τε γῆς εὐδαίμονος πολύπλεθρα, χυμῶν ἰδέαις καὶ καρπῶν πλήθει παντοδαπῶν περιβρίθοντα ἀφορίσας, Θεοφανοῖ τῇ ὁμευνέτιδι καὶ βασιλίδι χαρίζεται. αὐτὸς δὲ παρὰ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν διαχειμάζων, ἀγῶσιν ἱππικοῖς καὶ παντοδαποῖς θεωρίοις, φιλοτησίαις τε τοῖς αὐτοκράτορσιν εἰθισμέναις, τοὺς ἐν τέλει φιλοφρονούμενος οὐκ ἀνίη· ὅσον τε θεραπευτικὸν καὶ οἰκίδιον τούτῳ παρείπετο , ἐξήσκει τὰ πολεμικὰ ταῖς καθ' ἡμέραν μελέταις ὡς μάλιστα, τόξον τε ἀνεπισφαλῶς ἐκτείνειν, καὶ τὸν ὀϊστὸν τῷ μαζῷ ἐρύειν, εὐστόχως 51 τε βάλλειν κατὰ σκοπὸν, καὶ δόρατα κραδαίνειν καὶ περιελίσσειν εὐπετῶς τῇδε κἀκεῖσε, ξίφη τε εὐθυβόλως κατὰ τὸν ἀέρα περιστρέφειν, καὶ ἵππων κούφως ὑπεράλλεσθαι· ὡς ἐν καιρῷ τῶν ἀγώνων μὴ φαίνοιτο τῶν ἐναντίων μειονεκτοῦν· καὶ μάλιστα προκινδυνεύειν ὀφεῖλον καὶ παρατάττεσθαι κατὰ φάλαγγα. ιʹ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν τοῦ χειμῶνος κατήφειαν ἐαριναὶ τροπαὶ πρὸς γαληνιῶσαν μετεσκεύαζον ἱλαρότητα, ἐκστρατείαν κατὰ τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν παραγγείλας, τοῦ Βυζαντίου ἀπαίρει· καὶ τῇ Καππαδοκῶν ἐναυλιζόμενος χώρᾳ καὶ στρατιὰν συνειλοχὼς ἀξιόμαχον, ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν Ταρσέων ἤλαυνεν, ἀνδρῶν ἀρετῇ καὶ πλήθει καὶ μελέτῃ τῶν τακτικῶν τραχηλιῶσαν τότε καὶ νεανιευομένην ὑπέραυχα, καὶ πλείστας ἀναφανδὸν ἐκδρομὰς ἀνελπίστους εἰσπράττουσαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ταύτῃ προσέσχε, καρτερὸν πηξάμενος χάρακα καὶ κυκλόθεν διειληφώς, ἐφρούρει παρακαθήμενος. οἱ δὲ ἔνδον Ἀγαρηνοὶ, δαψιλείᾳ τέως τῶν ἀναγκαίων ὄντες ὑπερκορεῖς, καὶ τῇ τοῦ πολίσματος τεθαῤῥηκότες ἐρυμνότητι (ἐς ὕψος γὰρ ἀμήχανον ᾐωρεῖτο τῶν περιβόλων τὸ δόμημα, διπλῇ περιελισσόντων αὐτό· καὶ ταφρείᾳ κυκλόθεν διείληπτο, ἐς βάθος ὅτι πλεῖστον καθικνουμένῃ, λίθων λευκῶν κατεσκευασμένῃ ξεστῶν, καὶ ἐς προμαχεῶνας συμπεραινομένῃ. εἶχε μὲν καὶ τὸν Κύδνον τὸ ἔρυμα, κατὰ μέσον αὐτὸ διατέμνοντα, ὃς ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πηγῶν πολυχεύμων τις, ψυχρός τε καὶ διειδὴς περινάων πρόεισιν, ἀσφάλειαν οὐ μικρὰν τῇ Ταρσῷ παρεχόμενος, καὶ γεφύραις τρισὶν ἔνδον τοῦ ἄστεος δια 52 ζωννύμενος· ὅτε δὲ πόλεμος αὐτοῖς ἐπιβρίθει, κατὰ τῆς τάφρου αὐτὸν ἀφιᾶσι καὶ ἐν