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of your own souls, that in my stead you may do good to my children and to my wife who hopes to receive me back; for as you do to them, from the just and good God, the rewarder, who is to judge the living and the dead, you will receive your reward." And having said these things he encouraged them, saying: "I for my part shall be destroyed by the Soldanus and my life is in danger, but you, stand firm and do not be cowardly, but endure for a little while, and in a few days the salvation sent to you by the emperor of the Romans will arrive." When he had said these things, those of the household of the Soldanus who were holding him, hearing unexpectedly what was spoken by him, gnashed their teeth at him, and they ran ahead of one another to see who might be the perpetrator of his slaughter. And when he had been slain by them, the Soldanus, fearing the approaching power of the emperor, returned to his own country. And from then until now both those of Capua and those of Benevento are under the authority of the Romans in complete servitude and subjection because of this great benefit done to them. That the fort of Ragusium is not called Ragusium in the Roman dialect, but because it stands upon the cliffs, it is called in the Roman tongue "the cliff lau"; from this they were called Lausaei, that is to say, "those who sit upon the cliff". But common usage, which often corrupts names by the alteration of letters, changed the name and called them Ragusaei. These same Ragusaei in olden times held the fort called Pitaura, and when the other forts in the theme were seized by the Slavs, this fort too was seized, and some were slaughtered, and others were taken captive, while those who were able to escape and find safety settled in the places under the cliffs where the fort is now, building it at first small, and then afterwards larger, and after that again extending its wall until †...† the fort, because they were expanding little by little and increasing in number. Among those who migrated to Ragusium are these: Gregory, Arsaphius, Victorinus, Vitalius, Valentinus the archdeacon, Valentinus the father of the protospatharios Stephen. From the time they migrated from Salona to Ragusium, it is 500 years until today, which is the 7th indiction, in the year 6457. In this same fort lies Saint Pancratius in the church of Saint Stephen, which is in the middle of the said fort. That the fort of Aspalathos, which is interpreted as "little palace", was built by the emperor Diocletian; he had it as his own residence, and built inside it a courtyard and palaces, most of which have been destroyed. But a few parts are preserved to this day, among which are the bishop's residence of the fort and the church of Saint Domnus, in which the said Saint Domnus lies, which was the bedchamber of the said emperor Diocletian. Beneath it are vaulted chambers, which were prisons, in which he mercilessly locked up the saints who were tortured by him. In this fort also lies Saint Anastasius. That the wall of this fort is built neither of tiles nor of local rubble, but of four-foot stones, having a length of one fathom each, and often two, and a width of one fathom, which are fitted and bound together to one another with iron clamps set in lead. And in this fort stand also numerous columns, having capitals on top, on which the said emperor Diocletian intended to raise vaulted chambers, and to roof over the entire fort, and to make his palaces and all the dwellings of the fort two-storied and three-storied upon those vaults, and so he did roof over a small part of the fort. But the wall of this fort has neither a parapet walk nor battlements, but only high walls and arrow-slits. That the

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αὐτῶν τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, ἵνα ἀντὶ ἐμοῦ εὐεργετή σητε τὰ τέκνα μου καὶ τὴν ἐλπίζουσαν ἀπολαβεῖν με σύμβιόν μου· ὡς γὰρ ποιήσητε μετὰ αὐτῶν, παρὰ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ μισθαποδότου ἀγαθοῦ Θεοῦ, μέλλοντος κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, τὸν μισθὸν ἀπολήψεσθε." Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν παρεθάρρυνεν αὐτοὺς λέγων· "Ἐγὼ μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ Σολδανοῦ ἀπολοῦμαι καὶ περὶ τὴν ζωὴν κινδυνεύω, ὑμεῖς δὲ στῆτε ἑδραῖοι καὶ μὴ δειλανδρήσητε, ἀλλ' ὑπομείνατε μικρόν, καὶ εἰς ὀλίγον ἡμερῶν φθάζει ἡ ἀποσταλεῖσα ὑμῖν σωτηρία παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Ῥωμαίων". Ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰπόντος, οἱ κατέχοντες αὐτὸν οἰκεῖοι τοῦ Σολδανοῦ παρὰ προσδοκίαν τὰ παρ' αὐτοῦ λαληθέντα ἀκούσαντες, ἔβρυξαν ἐπ' αὐτὸν τοὺς ὀδόντας, καὶ εἷς τοῦ ἑτέρου προέτρεχον, τίς ἄρα τῆς σφαγῆς αὐτοῦ γέγονεν αὐτουργός. Τοῦ δὲ παρ' αὐτῶν ἀναιρεθέντος, πτοηθεὶς ὁ Σολδανὸς τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως κατερχομένην δυναστείαν, ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν χώραν. Καὶ ἔκτοτε καὶ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν καὶ οἱ τῆς Καπύης καὶ οἱ τῆς Βενεβενδοῦ εἰσὶν ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῶν Ῥωμαίων εἰς τελείαν δούλωσιν καὶ ὑποταγὴν διὰ τὴν εἰς αὐτοὺς γενομένην μεγάλην ταύτην εὐεργεσίαν. Ὅτι τὸ κάστρον τοῦ Ῥαουσίου οὐ καλεῖται Ῥαούσι τῇ Ῥωμαίωδιαλέκτῳ, ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ ἐπάνω τῶν κρημνῶν ἵσταται, λέγεται ῥωμαϊστὶ "ὁ κρημνὸς λαῦ"· ἐκλήθησαν δὲ ἐκ τούτου Λαυσαῖοι, ἤγουν "οἱ καθεζόμενοι εἰς τὸν κρημνόν". Ἡ δὲ κοινὴ συνήθεια, ἡ πολλάκις μεταφθείρουσα τὰ ὀνόματα τῇ ἐναλλαγῇ τῶν γραμμάτων, μεταβαλοῦσα τὴν κλῆσιν Ῥαουσαίους τούτους ἐκάλεσεν. Οἱ δὲ αὐτοὶ Ῥαουσαῖοι τὸ παλαιὸν ἐκράτουν τὸ κάστρον τὸ ἐπιλεγόμενον Πίταυρα, καὶ ἐπειδή, ἡνίκα τὰ λοιπὰ ἐκρατήθησαν κάστρα παρὰ τῶν Σκλάβων τῶν ὄντων ἐν τῷ θέματι, ἐκρατήθη καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον κάστρον, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐσφάγησαν, οἱ δὲ ᾐχμαλωτίσθησαν, οἱ δὲ δυνηθέντες ἐκφυγεῖν καὶ διασωθῆναι εἰς τοὺς ὑποκρήμνους τόπους κατῴκησαν, ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀρτίως τὸ κάστρον, οἰκοδομήσαντες αὐτὸ πρότερον μικρόν, καὶ πάλιν μετὰ ταῦτα μεῖζον, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο πάλιν τὸ τεῖχος αὐτοῦ αὐξήσαντες μέχρι † δʹ ἔχειν † τὸ κάστρον διὰ τὸ πλατύνεσθαι αὐτοὺς κατ' ὀλίγον καὶ πληθύνεσθαι. Ἐκ δὲ τῶν μετοικησάντων εἰς τὸ Ῥαούσιον εἰσὶν οὗτοι· Γρηγόριος, Ἀρσάφιος, Βικτωρῖνος, Βιτάλιος, Βαλεντῖνος, ὁ ἀρχιδιάκων, Βαλεντῖνος, ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ πρωτοσπαθαρίου Στεφάνου. Ἀφ' οὗ δὲ ἀπὸ Σαλῶνα μετῴκησαν εἰς τὸ Ῥαούσιον, εἰσὶν ἔτη φʹ μέχρι τῆς σήμερον, ἥτις ἰνδικτιὼν ζʹ ἔτους υνζʹ. Ἐν δὲ τῷ αὐτῷ κάστρῳ κεῖται ὁ ἅγιος Παγκράτιος ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ ἁγίου Στεφάνου, τῷ ὄντι μέσον τοῦ αὐτοῦ κάστρου. Ὅτι τοῦ Ἀσπαλάθου κάστρον, ὅπερ "παλάτιον μικρόν" ἑρμηνεύεται, ὁ βασιλεὺς ∆ιοκλητιανὸς τοῦτο ἔκτισεν· εἶχεν δὲ αὐτὸ ὡς ἴδιον οἶκον, καὶ αὐλὴν οἰκοδομήσας ἔνδοθεν καὶ παλάτια, ἐξ ὧν τὰ πλείονα κατελύθησαν. Σώζεται δὲ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ὀλίγα, ἐξ ὧν ἐστιν τὸ ἐπισκοπεῖον τοῦ κάστρου καὶ ὁ ναὸς τοῦ ἁγίου ∆όμνου, ἐν ᾧ κατάκειται ὁ αὐτὸς ἅγιος ∆όμνος, ὅπερ ἦν κοιτὼν τοῦ αὐτοῦ βασιλέως ∆ιοκλητιανοῦ. Ὑποκάτω δὲ αὐτοῦ ὑπάρχουσιν εἰληματικαὶ καμάραι, αἵτινες ὑπῆρχον φυλακαί, ἐν αἷς τοὺς παρ' αὐτοῦ βασανιζομένους ἁγίους ἐναπέκλειεν ἀπηνῶς. Ἀπόκειται δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ κάστρῳ καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Ἀναστάσιος. Ὅτι τὸ τεῖχος τοῦ τοιούτου κάστρου οὔτε ἀπὸ βησσάλων ἐστὶν ἐκτισμένον, οὔτε ἀπὸ ἐγχορήγου, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ λίθων τετραπεδίκων, ἐχόντων εἰς μῆκος ἀνὰ ὀργυιᾶς μιᾶς, πολλάκις καὶ ἀνὰ δύο, καὶ τὸ πλάτος ἀνὰ ὀργυιᾶς μιᾶς, οἵτινές εἰσιν συνηρμοσμένοι καὶ συνδεδεμένοι εἰς ἀλλήλους μετὰ σιδήρων ἐν μολύβδῳ ἐγχυλιασμένων. Ἵστανται δὲ εἰς τὸ τοιοῦτον κάστρον καὶ κίονες πυκνοί, ἔχοντες ἐπάνω κοσμήτας, ἐν οἷς ἔμελλεν ὁ αὐτὸς βασιλεὺς ∆ιοκλητιανὸς εἰληματικὰς ἐγεῖραι καμάρας, καὶ σκεπάσαι τὸ κάστρον ὅλον, καὶ ποιῆσαι τὰ παλάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντα τὰ οἰκήματα τοῦ κάστρου ἐπάνω τῶν εἰλημάτων ἐκείνων διώροφα καὶ τριώροφα, ὥστε καὶ ὀλίγον ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κάστρου ἐσκέπασεν. Τοῦ δὲ τοιούτου κάστρου τὸ τεῖχος οὔτε περίπατον ἔχει, οὔτε προμαχῶνας, ἀλλὰ τοίχους μόνους ὑψηλοὺς καὶ τοξικὰς φωταγωγούς. Ὅτι τὸ