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he therefore undertakes a Tartar battle and is defeated. Being in quite a tight spot in his affairs, he therefore sends envoys to the emperor John, asking to receive the best counsel from him, so that he might ward off his opponent and be a little relieved of his burden, saying that this happened to be a salvation for both; for with the race of the Muslims having been destroyed by the Tartars, the attack against the Roman lands is left unhindered for the enemy. And this was very true indeed. The emperor John, therefore, being as he was skilled in such matters, gladly accepts the embassy and chose to come into union with the sultan, so that this might become a deterrent to the enemy; for with two such great powers united, it was likely that terror would befall the enemies, who had one goal in mind, but found themselves against two at once. And so, having prepared for such things, they both came together, both the emperor John and the sultan Iathatines, in the city of Tripolis, where the Maeander river also flows. The sultan's men, therefore, having built an impromptu bridge of wood, made the crossing easy for those who wished it. The rulers therefore, having greeted each other kindly, and furthermore each side greeting the prominent men under the other, and having confirmed even better the treaties which they had before, so that they might fight jointly against the enemy, they parted, the emperor returning to Philadelphia, and the sultan to Iconium, where he also had his palace. Then indeed the matters of war became quiet for both. For the Tartar army remained by itself and had not moved as was its custom; for they were occupied with their own affairs.

42 Not long after, the aforementioned John, who had been made despot by the emperor John, met his fate. He had a brother, Demetrius, who, having sent an embassy to the emperor, both inherited the despotic dignity of his brother and was ordered to rule over all who were under him. But this man was not of a like mind with his brother John, but was separated by a great measure. For while the one delighted in piety and reverence and prudence—for those who knew his affairs said that he would never miss a single day of the year from hearing the divine liturgy, unless some illness prevented it; he also attended to all-night prayers, and fulfilled the daily hymns of the hours. He also conversed continually with Nazirites, and it was a matter of his greatest concern to attain the solitary life and to experience its tranquility or at least to be on friendly terms with those who lived thus. But his brother Demetrius was of the opposite character. For he associated with rather foolish youths and shared in their feelings for the most part, and he was licentious in amorous affairs and frequented married women, so that once a terrible accident befell him. For when the husband of the adulteress suddenly came in, wishing to flee from a window, he fell from a very high place and injured his buttock; and having been nursed for a good number of days he was healed, but he limped on one of his feet and did not walk evenly. But this man did not long enjoy his rule. For the emperor John, seizing the opportunity of the moment, since, as we have said, the race of the Tartars was occupied with other nations, having abandoned the war against the sultan of Iconium—for it was waging war against the Babylonian and those around him, whom the tribes of the Muslims are accustomed to call Caliph—when summer time came, he crosses the Hellespont, leaving his son Theodore in the east. It happened some time before that the patriarch Germanus, having left things here, had departed for the divine tabernacles, having lived well and piously and having shepherded his flock well; and after him came a certain monk called Methodius, abbot of the Hyacinth monastery in Nicaea

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ραται γοῦν μάχης Ταχαρικῆς καὶ ἥττηται. ἐν στενῷ γοῦν τῶν πραγμάτων κομιδῇ γεγονὼς πρέσβεις ἐκπέμπει πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Ἰωάννην βουλῆς τε ἀξιῶν ἀρίστης ἐξ αὐτοῦ τυχεῖν, ὡς ἂν ἀποτρέψαιτο τὸν ἀντίπαλον καὶ μικρὸν κου φισθείη τοῦ βάρους αὐτοῦ, σωτηριῶδες τοῦτο φάσκων τυγ χάνον ἀμφοῖν· τοῦ γὰρ γένους τῶν Μουσουλμάνων παρὰ τῶν Ταχαρίων ἀπολωλότος ἄνετος λείπεται τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἡ κατὰ τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν χωρῶν ἔφοδος. καὶ ἦν τοῦτο πάνυ γε ἀληθές. ὁ γοῦν βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννης, οἷα ἐκεῖνος δεινὸς ἐν τοιούτοις πράγμασιν, ἀποδέχεται ἄσμενος τὴν πρεσβείαν καὶ εἰς ἕνωσιν συνελθεῖν ᾑρετίσατο τῷ σουλτάν, ὡς ἂν τοῦτο τοῖς ἐναντίοις εἰς ἀποτροπὴν γένοιτο· ἡνωμένων γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων δύο ἀρχῶν μεγίστων εἰκὸς πτοίαν γενέσθαι τοῖς πολεμίοις, πρὸς ἕνα μὲν ἔχουσι τὸν σκοπόν, πρὸς δὲ δύο ἀθρόον εὑρισκομένοις. καὶ γοῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις συσκευασάμενοι συνηλθέτην καὶ ἄμφω, ὅ τε βασιλεὺς Ἰωάν νης καὶ ὁ σουλτὰν Ἰαθατίνης, ἐν τῷ ἄστει τῆς Τριπόλεως, ὅπου καὶ ὁ Μαίανδρος ῥεῖ ποταμός. γέφυραν γοῦν ἐξ αὐτοσχεδίου ἐκ ξύλων οἱ τοῦ σουλτὰν ἐργασάμενοι, εὐχερῆ τοῖς βουλομένοις πεποιήκασι τὴν περαίωσιν. ἀλλήλους γοῦν οἱ ἀρχοὶ φιλοφρόνως δεξιωσάμενοι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὑφ' ἑκάτερον ἑκάτεροι προύχοντας, καὶ συνθήκας, ἃς καὶ πρὸ τοῦ εἶχον, κρειττόνως βεβαιωσάμενοι, ὡς ἂν μάχοιντο συν ημμένως τοῖς ἐναντίοις, διελύθησαν, ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς ὑπο στρέψας εἰς τὴν Φιλαδέλφου, ὁ δὲ σουλτὰν εἰς τὴν Ἰκονιέων, ἔνθα εἶχε καὶ τὰ βασίλεια. τότε μὲν καὶ ἀμφοῖν τὰ τῆς μάχης ἠρέμησαν. καὶ γὰρ ἡ τῶν Ταχάρων στρατιὰ καθ' ἑαυτὴν ἔμενε καὶ οὐ κεκίνητο ὡς ἔθος· ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτῶν καὶ γὰρ ἠσχολοῦντο πράγμασι.

42 Μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ καὶ ὃν προειρήκειμεν Ἰωάννην τὸν δεσπότην γεγενημένον παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἰωάννου τὸ χρεὼν εἰλήφει. ὑπῆρχε δὲ αὐτῷ ἀδελφὸς ∆ημήτριος, ὃς μεταστειλάμενος πρεσβείαν εἰς τὸν βασιλέα τοῦ τε δεσποτι κοῦ ἀξιώματος ἐκεκληρονομήκει τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ καὶ δεσπόζειν πάντων τῶν ὑπ' ἐκεῖνον προστέτακται. ἀλλ' ἦν οὗτος οὐκ ἀδελφὰ φρονῶν Ἰωάννῃ τῷ ἀδελφῷ, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ τῷ μέτρῳ διέζευκτο. ἐκείνου μὲν γὰρ εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ εὐλαβείᾳ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ χαίροντος-καὶ γὰρ ἔλεγον οἱ τὰ αὐτοῦ εἰ δότες μὴ ἄν ποτε ἀπολειφθῆναι μηδεμιᾶς ἡμέρας τοῦ ἔτους τοῦ μὴ τῆς θείας ἱεροτελεστίας ἐπακροάσασθαι, εἰ μή τις ἐκώλυε νόσος· προσεῖχε δὲ παννυχίσιν εὐχαῖς, καὶ τὰς καθ' ὥραν ὑμνῳδίας ὁσημέραι ἐπλήρου. ὡμίλει δὲ καὶ διηνεκῶς Ναζιραίοις, καὶ ἦν αὐτῷ διὰ σπουδάσματος ὅτι πλείστου τὸ τοῦ μονήρους βίου τυχεῖν καὶ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἡσυχίας ἐν πείρᾳ γενέσθαι ἢ κἂν προσφιλῶς διακεῖσθαι τοῖς οὕτως ἔχουσιν. ὁ δὲ ἀδελφὸς ∆ημήτριος ἐξ ἐναντίας εἶχε τοῦ τρόπου. μειρακίοις γὰρ ἀβελτέροις ὡμίλει καὶ τούτοις τὰ πλεῖστα συνῄσθετο, καὶ τοῖς ἀφροδισίοις ἠσέλγαινε καὶ παρὰ ταῖς ὑπὸ ζυγὸν ἐφοίτα, ὥστε ποτὲ καὶ σύμπτωμα συνέβη τούτῳ δεινόν. ἐκ γὰρ θυρίδος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τῆς μοιχευομένης ἀθρόον ἐπεισελθόντος βουληθεὶς ἀποδρᾶσαι, ὡς ἐξ ὑπερυψήλου τοῦ τόπου πεσών, τὸν γλουτὸν ἐπλήγη· ἱκανὰς δὲ ἡμέρας νοσηλευθεὶς ἰάθη μέν, ὑπέσκαζε δὲ τῶν ποδῶν θάτερον καὶ οὐκ ἐβημάτιζεν ὁμαλῶς. ἀλλ' οὗτος οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἀπώνατο τῆς ἀρχῆς. ὁ γὰρ βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννης ἀδείας δραξάμενος τῷ τότε καιροῦ, ἐπείπερ, ὡς ἔφημεν, τὸ τῶν Ταχαρίων γένος ἐνησχολεῖτο ἑτέροις ἔθνεσι, καταλιπὸν τὴν πρὸς τοῦ σουλτὰν τοῦ Ἰκονίου μάχην- τῷ γὰρ Βαβυλωνίῳ καὶ τοῖς πέριξ τούτου τὰ τῆς μάχης ἐπῆγεν, ὃν Χαλιφᾶν εἰώθασι καλεῖν τὰ τῶν Μουσουλμάνων φῦλα-θέρους ὥρας γενομένης διαπεραιοῦται τὸν Ἑλλή σποντον, καταλιπὼν εἰς τὴν ἕω τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Θεόδωρον. Ἔτυχε μὲν πρὸ καιροῦ τὸν πατριάρχην Γερμανὸν τὰ τῇδε καταλιπόντα πρὸς τὰς θείας ἀπᾶραι σκηνάς, καλῶς καὶ ὁσίως βιώσαντα καὶ καλῶς τὴν αὐτοῦ ποιμάναντα ποίμνην· ἐγένετο δὲ μετ' αὐτὸν Μεθόδιός τις καλούμενος μοναχός, ἡγούμενος τῆς κατὰ Νίκαιαν Ὑακίνθου