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having reckoned it, as was likely, a summons, for they themselves were not unaware of the plots being devised against the young emperor, they came to the young emperor and after reporting what had happened, they begged him to do what he might think necessary for himself. The emperor sent them away with praise, and after deliberating with his friends, it seemed necessary, since not long after it was time to arrive at the palace for the sake of the festival, for otherwise the arrival would have aroused suspicion, to go even before the appointed time. «And if the deliberation is about other matters, we will seem to have arrived for the sake of the festival; but if it is about us, the council will be stopped, with us being present.» Which indeed is what happened. For while the elder emperor was conversing with the great logothete about what he requested, saying only this, that he sought counsel as to what way it should be done, but did not seek it as to whether it should be done or not, as it was later possible to learn accurately from those present there in service to the emperor, the young emperor arrived, and the council was dissolved; whether it was about the matters at hand or some others was in no way made clear. The emperor, then recalling this at that time, said to 1.64 his companions, that perhaps just as then with the council, so now the emperor would postpone the trial. But it was not so; rather, the preparations for the trial had undoubtedly been made. For while the emperor was still conversing with the great domestic and seeking to learn the number of the men gathered, and the latter replied to him, that «now there are one hundred, but after a short time has passed up to three hundred will assemble, all brave and practiced in fighting; and if it should be necessary to depart, many others will also run together, even those whom we do not know;» While they were discussing these things and praying to God that the hour of the trial be prolonged, so that those expected to fight for them might be gathered, Michael Kallikrenites, a eunuch, arrived, sent from the elder emperor to the younger; and before he could speak, with tears and groans he signified that he had come as a messenger of bad news, saying first that it would be more tolerable for the earth to gape open for him and to be deprived of his sweetest life, than to come as a messenger of such evils; «The lord,» he said, «and emperor your grandfather, O emperor, summons you to trial.» And when the emperor said upon this, «Your tears are a worthy witness of your goodwill toward me; but why do you lament so, when the outcome of the trial lies in uncertainty? For it is possible that I may even carry off the victory and depart.» Kallikrenites said, «The facts themselves persuade me to lament, O emperor; for with the emperor your grandfather seated on the throne, as is custom, and the pa- 1.65 triarch beside him on a chair, and with those who were to hear the trial on either side, for you alone, by order of the emperor, a stool was placed opposite the emperor, and this at a distance. Seeing this, I prayed for what I said, that the earth might gape open for me today, having reckoned the seat to be a place of condemnation. But may God, who saved his prophet Daniel unharmed from the lions' den, and showed the three youths to be superior to the Babylonian furnace, and exposed the slander of the unjust judges against Susanna, Himself now show you too to be superior to the present necessity, and send His angel to go before you, and grant you wisdom and understanding, so that you may easily resolve the charges brought against you like spiders' webs.» When the eunuch had prayed thus, the emperor said, «Let Christ's will be done», and having indicated to his grandfather that he was ready to carry out what was commanded, he turned to his friends and said, «Now is the time for us to show courage along with zeal and intelligence and endurance in terrible things. And yet many, often fewer in number, and inferior to us in other respects, having acquired unanimity, have accomplished certain wonderful things that astound the ear; it is surely much more right for us, being so many and of such quality, to appear worthy of ourselves in our deeds as well, by doing something worthy of praise and noble, so as either to live well or to die with good repute; and this

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μετάκλησιν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ὑπολογισάμενοι, οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδ' αὐτοὶ τῶν μελετωμένων κατὰ τοῦ νέου βασιλέως ἀνήκοοι ἦσαν, ἥκουσι πρὸς βασιλέα τὸν νέον καὶ τὸ συμβὰν ἀπαγγείλαντες, ἃ δέοντα ἂν νομίζοι περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἐδέοντο δρᾷν. ὁ βασιλεὺς δὲ τούτους μὲν ἀπέπεμψεν ἐπαινέσας, μετὰ δὲ τῶν φίλων διασκεψάμενος, ἐδόκει δεῖν, ἐπεὶ καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ τῆς ἑορτῆς χάριν καιρὸς ἀφικέσθαι πρὸς τὰ βασίλεια, ἄλλως γὰρ εἶχεν ἂν ὑποψίαν ἡ ἄφιξις, ἐλθεῖν καὶ πρὸ τοῦ καιροῦ. «κἂν μὲν περί τινων ἄλλων ἡ διάσκεψις ᾖ, τῆς ἑορτῆς χάριν δόξομεν ἀφικέσθαι· ἂν δὲ περὶ ἡμῶν, παυθήσεσθαι τὴν βουλὴν, ἡμῶν παρόντων.» ὃ δὴ καὶ συμβέβηκε. τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου γὰρ βασιλέως πρὸς τὸν μέγαν λογοθέτην περὶ ὧν ἐδεῖτο διαλεγομένου καὶ τοῦτο μόνον εἰπόντος, περὶ μὲν τοῦ τίνα χρὴ τρόπον γενέσθαι βουλὴν ζητεῖν, περὶ δὲ τοῦ γενέσθαι ἢ μὴ, οὐ ζητεῖν, ὡς ὕστερον ἐκ τῶν ἐκεῖ παρόντων πρὸς ὑπηρεσίαν τῷ βασιλεῖ μαθεῖν ἀκριβῶς ἐξεγένετο, καὶ ὁ νέος παρῆν βασιλεὺς, καὶ ἡ βουλὴ διελέλυτο· εἴτε περὶ τῶν προκειμένων ἤ τινων ἄλλων ἦν, οὐδαμῶς φανεροῦ γεγενημένου. τούτου δὴ τότε καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς μνήμην ἐλθὼν, ἔλεγε πρὸς 1.64 τοὺς ἑταίρους, ὡς ἴσως ὥσπερ τότε τὰ τῆς βουλῆς, οὕτω δὴ καὶ νῦν τὰ τῆς δίκης ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπερθήσεται. τὸ δ' οὐκ εἶχεν οὕτως· ἀλλ' ἀναμφιβόλως ἡτοίμαστο τὰ τῆς δίκης. ἔτι γὰρ δομεστίκῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ διαλεγομένου βασιλέως καὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ζητοῦντος μαθεῖν τῶν συνηγμένων ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τούτου πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀποκριναμένου, ὡς «νῦν μέν εἰσιν ἑκατὸν, μικρᾶς δὲ παρελθούσης ὥρας συνελεύσονται καὶ μέχρι τριακοσίων, πάντες ἀνδρεῖοι καὶ μάχεσθαι ἠσκημένοι· εἰ δεήσει δὲ ἀπέρχεσθαι, καὶ ἄλλοι πλείονες συνδραμοῦνται καὶ οὓς οὐκ ἴσμεν·» περὶ τούτων δὴ διαλεγομένων καὶ θεοῦ δεομένων τὴν τῆς δίκης ὥραν παραταθῆναι, ὥστε συναθροισθῆναι τοὺς ἐλπιζομένους ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν μαχεῖσθαι, ἧκεν ἐκ βασιλέως τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου πρὸς τὸν νέον ἀπεσταλμένος ὁ Καλλικρηνίτης Μιχαὴλ ἐκτομίας· καὶ πρὶν φθέγξασθαι τοῖς δάκρυσι καὶ τοῖς στεναγμοῖς κακῶν ἄγγελος ἥκειν σημαίνων, πρότερον δ' ἑαυτῷ τὴν γῆν χανεῖν μᾶλλον καὶ τῆς ἡδίστης ἀπεστερῆσθαι ζωῆς ἀνεκτότερον εἶναι, ἢ τοιούτων κακῶν ἄγγελος ἥκειν εἰπών· «ὁ κύριος» ἔφη «καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ σὸς πάππος, ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἐπὶ δίκην καλεῖ.» τοῦ βασιλέως δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις εἰπόντος, ὡς «τῆς μὲν εἰς ἐμέ σου εὐνοίας ἀξιόχρεως τὰ δάκρυα μάρτυς· ἀνθ' ὅτου δ' οὕτω θρηνεῖς, ἐν ἀδήλῳ κειμένης τῆς δίκης; ἐνδέχεται γάρ με καὶ τὴν νικῶσαν ἐνεγκάμενον ἀπελθεῖν·» ὁ Καλλικρηνίτης «αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα θρηνεῖν πείθουσιν» εἶπεν «ὦ βασιλεῦ· τοῦ γὰρ βασιλέως καὶ πάππου τοῦ σοῦ ἐπὶ θρόνου καθεσθέντος, ὡς ἔθος, καὶ τοῦ πα 1.65 τριάρχου παρ' αὐτῷ ἐπὶ δίφρου, τῶν δ' ἀκροασομένων τὴν δίκην ἐξ ἑκατέρων μερῶν, σοὶ μόνῳ, τοῦ βασιλέως προστεταχότος, σκίμπους ἐτέθη κατὰ πρόσωπον βασιλέως, καὶ οὗτος ἀπωτέρω. ὅπερ ἰδὼν ηὐξάμην, ὅπερ εἶπον, σήμερον τὴν γῆν χανεῖν μοι, καταδίκης τόπον τὴν καθέδραν λογισαμένῳ. ἀλλ' ὁ ∆ανιὴλ τὸν αὑτοῦ προφήτην ἐκ τοῦ λάκκου τῶν λεόντων ἀβλαβῆ διασώσας, καὶ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας καμίνου τοὺς τρεῖς παῖδας κρείττονας ἀποδείξας θεὸς, καὶ Σωσάνναν τῶν ἀδίκων κριτῶν τὴν συκοφαντίαν ἐλέγξας, αὑτὸς τῆς ἐφεστώσης ἀνάγκης κρείττονα καὶ σὲ νῦν ἀποδείξαι, καὶ ἀποστείλαι τὸν ἄγγελον αὑτοῦ προπορεύεσθαί σου, καὶ σοφίαν παράσχοι καὶ σύνεσιν, ὥστε τὰ προβαλλόμενα λύειν εὐκόλως ὡς ἀράχνης ἱστούς.» Οὕτως εὐξαμένου τοῦ ἐκτομίου, ὁ βασιλεὺς «τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ θέλημα γενέσθω» εἰπὼν, καὶ τῷ πάππῳ μηνύσας, ὡς ἕτοιμός ἐστι τὸ προσταττόμενον ἐκπληροῦν, πρὸς τοὺς φίλους ἐπιστραφεὶς, «νῦν καιρὸς» ἔφη «ἀνδρίαν ἅμα καὶ σπουδὴν καὶ σύνεσιν καὶ καρτερίαν ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς ἐπιδείξασθαι ἡμᾶς. καίτοι γε πολλοὶ πολλάκις καὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐλάσσους, καὶ τἄλλα ἡμῶν ἡττώμενοι, ὁμόνοιαν κτησάμενοι, θαυμάσιά τε καὶ ἀκοὴν ἐκπλήττοντα κατώρθωσάν τινα· ἡμᾶς δὲ τοσούτους ὄντας καὶ τοιούτους πολὺ δήπου δικαιότερον ἀξίους ἑαυτῶν κἀπὶ τῶν ἔργων φανῆναι, ἐγκωμίων ἄξια δράσαντάς τινα καὶ γενναῖα, ὡς ἢ καλῶς ζῆν ἢ ἀποθανεῖν εὐκλεῶς· καὶ ταύτην