Chronicon OF GEORGE THE MONK LIVES OF THE NEW EMPERORS.

 he summons to the palace Nikephoros the renowned patriarch and with him the leading bishops and priests in the presence of the senate, and says, Know

 a man-slaying fruit of a seed bitterly kept and sprouted in our generation, I know not whence this terrible condemnation was allotted to the Romans. w

 and the fool will speak foolish things. For being exceedingly ignorant and nonsensical, he did not know at all those Cherubim wrought of gold, which t

 we have recorded as being preserved. 21 And sight is a witness, a truthful teacher. Both the length of time and the building of the venerable churches

 This apostolic preaching they continue to uphold and never in another jurisdiction, where there are Christians, is that wicked and lawless and God-ha

 {THE REIGN OF MICHAEL THE STAMMERER.}

 Therefore, having plundered it moderately, but not as he had hoped, but as divine providence allowed on account of our sins, he accomplished nothing m

 {THE REIGN OF THEOPHILOS.}

 of impiety and insolence, and of tyranny and madness, the deluded and vain-minded one. Since therefore he was possessed by the same deceit and derange

 this? But the emperor, as if rebuked, forcefully dragged him from the sanctuary, and having inflicted no small number of blows upon him, exiled him,

 as was fitting, he received him, immediately making him magister and domestic of the scholae, and receiving his children from holy baptism. 14. Elated

 most lawless ones, or Pharaoh the Egyptian, or Nebuchadnezzar the Assyrian? Or should we bring all these together and name you one and the same, since

 he wished to take, but he received two pounds for him, the general having also been ordered to test him, and if he was brave, to make him a guardsman.

 Then, having impiously committed many shameful, terrible, and absurd acts, they were driven from there as apostates. But having fled to the imperial c

 having secretly brought out Theophobos through Boukoleon, they saved him near Narsou, in what is now called 'of Theophobias', and they placed this the

 and overturned every day. And so finally, through imperial commission and cooperation, the fathers in exile and bitter prisons were recalled and resto

 Theophilitzes said, My lord, 817 I have a young man, most experienced and most brave with horses, just as your majesty desires, by the name of Basil.

 church, having a warden named Nicholas. And on that night a divine voice called the warden, saying Arise, bring the emperor into the oratory. And ha

 to Bardas, Do not strike the logothete. But they slaughtered him and cut him limb from limb in the Scythian manner, showing the rawness and savagery

 having constructed it very beautifully with flowing water. And when this was completed, there was someone in the city named Peter, a man of letters an

 plotting against him. But he heard these things as nonsense. But Basil, hurrying to convince the emperor, befriends Symbatios, a patrician and logothe

 standing on a high rock, cried out loudly to the emperor, A fine journey you have made, O emperor, having slain your own kinsman and your paternal bl

 Peganes to cense him with an earthenware censer with sulfur. And they blind Symbatios in one eye, and they also cut off his right hand, and they set h

 the emperor. And John the Chaldos immediately with his sword striking the emperor cut off his hands. And Iakobitzes the apelates, the Persian, woundin

 and having been eaten by worms, he died. 3. And the emperor, having come forth on the day of Christ's nativity during the procession to the great chur

 before the fleet arrived, with the emperor lamenting and mourning greatly. 12. And when Niketas Xylinites, the epi tes trapezes, was accused of being

 he made Leo fashion and wear in his boot, saying to him that Often when your father is looking for a small knife for some need, why do you not give i

 of the drome and having gone up to the ambo of the church, having read the charges against the patriarch Photius, they brought him down from the thro

 to make war against Hagion. And when an engagement occurred, those with Constantine were defeated and slaughtered, with him barely escaping. 9. And th

 He having died, Symeon sought pretexts to break the peace for seeking other captives as well, he advanced against the Romans. And the emperor Leo app

 he having given his word to Basileios, he confided everything to him. But Samonas, entering in to the emperor, said to him that, my lord, I wish to te

 Of Nicholas the Patriarch, the monks were pardoned from death, Karamalos to the Pikridiou monastery, and Eustathios to the Stoudiou monastery. And the

 He was persuading, he fled to Siricha to the precious cross, pretending that he had come on account of faith in the cross. So Constantine, the son of

 Andronikos, learning this, despairing, along with his relatives and his children and his men, went away and seized the fortress of Kabala, having come

 Samonas said, Against whom is the affliction? The metropolitan said to him, Against you and if you get past the 13th of June, from then on you wil

 he dressed it and made an illumination for the animals. For this reason the hand of God was lifted from him, as one who attached the honor of God to i

 of the detachments fell, and so many that the place was flooded with blood pouring down like a river. And Gregoras the son of the Doux was also killed

 879 of Domenikos the Hetaeriarch. Zoe deposes Patriarch Nicholas along with those with him in anger, telling him to look after and care for the affair

 others in the engagement of the war, 882 both Constantine Lips and John Grapson and a sufficient number of other commanders. 17. And at some point Rom

 These things came to pass. 23 But the emperor took Nicholas the patriarch and Stephen the magister to be with him in the palace, drawing the authority

 the basileopator, having made signed golden bulls as if from the person of the emperor Constantine, containing the overthrow of such a plot, and that

 they came forth in a procession. 2. In the month of June, of the 8th indiction, on a Sunday, the union of the church took place under Romanos, with al

 and many others. Therefore, having barely been saved, he entered into the dromon. And Alexios Mouseles the droungarios also came fleeing, armed, with

 is deprived. They tonsured Bardas Boilas as a monk, since the emperor pitied him as he was a friend. 15. When the patrician nicknamed Moroleon, who wa

 of silver-shielded and silver-speared men, and of those adorned with every color of arms, all of them fenced in with 900 iron, who, having taken Symeo

 Stephen the metropolitan of Amaseia being a eunuch. 903 26. In the month of October, the mystikos John, the paradynasteuon, was accused of aspiring to

 and with Maria the daughter of Christopher and with the whole senate to the church of the most holy Theotokos of the Spring, and they blessed both Pet

 son of the emperor Romanos, whom they were about to ordain patriarch of Constantinople. 38. On the twenty-fifth of the same month an unbearable winter

 he having already reached old age and his sons being still infants. and his remains were placed in the aforementioned monastery of his father. 43. And

 Consequently, the rest of the dromons and the triremes, having sallied forth, worked a complete rout, and they sank many ships with their crews, and w

 a military force being besieged and coming into the greatest necessity, its inhabitants sent an embassy to the emperor Romanos to have the siege lifte

 a monk. 1 Constantine, his son-in-law, was therefore left as sole emperor who, having immediately honored Bardas, the son of Phokas, with the dignity

and having been eaten by worms, he died. 3. And the emperor, having come forth on the day of Christ's nativity during the procession to the great church, baptized Stephen his son. And bringing white horses with chariots, he sat down together with the Augusta. and the praepositus Baanes with them, carrying the child as far as the palace, while the emperor was scattering consular gifts on the way. 4. And there was a very great earthquake on the feast of Saint Polyeuctus, so that the earth shook for forty days. And then fell also the sphere of the statue of the forum, and the church of the most-holy Theotokos which is called the Sigma, so that all those singing there died. But Leo the philosopher, being there, told the singers and all who were there to go out of the church; but they, not being persuaded, all perished. But the philosopher himself, being placed against a column by a group of people, was saved along with two others, and only five others under the ambo. 841 5. And Photius the patriarch, when the emperor came into the church and was about to receive communion, called him a robber and a murderer and unworthy of the divine communion. But he, angered, sent to Rome, and brought back a tome with Roman bishops, and drove him from the throne, and appointed Ignatius, the patriarch among the saints, for the second time. And Alexander the emperor was born of Eudocia Ingerina, he being the legitimate child of Basil. 6. And the emperor campaigned against the Hagarenes of Tephrike, and having joined battles was defeated, and having often engaged the Hagarenes he lost many of the Romans. And in such a flight of the emperor, Theophylact the Abastaktos, the father of Romanus who later became emperor, saved the emperor who was on the verge of being captured by the Hagarenes. whom the emperor sought afterwards and found and recognized—for many were saying to the emperor, "It is I..."—but he, setting aside the honor, asked for an imperial estate, which he also obtained. And the emperor, having returned to the city, sent Christopher his son-in-law to Tephrike, and he achieved a very great victory, and sacked it, razing it to the ground. 7. And Ignatius the patriarch built a most beautiful church in the emporium of Satyros, in the name of the Archistrategos 842 of the Rising Sun, and made a monastery for men, where also his body is laid. 8. When Thekla, the emperor's sister, sent her servant, who was of modest station, to the emperor for some reminder, the emperor asked, "Who is having your mistress?" And he said, "Neatokometes." And immediately the emperor sent and brought him and, after beating him, tonsured him and clothed him in the monastic habit. And likewise, sending Prokopios his protovestiarios, he had Thekla beaten; who also, taking all her possessions, brought them in to the emperor. And afterwards he made Neatokometes oikonomos in the great church. 9. The same emperor baptized all the Jews who at that time were under his authority, with all those in high office acting as sponsors, as the emperor treated all the Jews kindly, and provided them with much support and gifts. 10. And the aforementioned Nicholas Androsalites, also the paramonarios of Saint Diomedes, to whom the martyr had appeared, as was said before, concerning the emperor, he honored him as synkellos and oikonomos, and his other brother John as droungarios of the vigla, and their other brother Paul as sakellarios, and the other, Constantine, as logothete of the genikon. And when Nicholas the synkellos died, they buried him in the Arcadianae, 843 his own house, where the metochion of Saint Constantine is now. 11. And the emperor began to clear ground near the palace in order to build the Nea, having purchased very many dwellings. And it was reported to the emperor that Syracuse was being sacked by the Hagarenes. But as the sailors were occupied with the construction of the Nea church, there was a delay of the fleet and the people, and the said Syracuse was surrendered a short while before

καὶ ὑπὸ σκωλήκων καταβρωθεὶς τελευτᾷ. 3. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς προελθὼν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν Χριστοῦ γενεθλίων ἐν τῇ προελεύσει εἰς τὴν μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν ἐβάπτισε Στέφανον τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ. ἀγαγὼν δὲ ἵππους λευκοὺς μετὰ ἁρμά των ἐκάθισεν ἅμα τῇ Αὐγούστῃ. καὶ ὁ πραιπόσιτος Βαάνης σὺν αὐτοῖς βαστάζων τὸ παιδίον μέχρι τοῦ παλατίου, τοῦ βασιλέως ῥίπτοντος ὑπατείαν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ. 4. Ἐγένετο δὲ σεισμὸς τῇ ἑορτῇ τοῦ ἁγίου Πολυεύκτου μέγιστος, ὥστε τὴν γῆν σείεσθαι ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα. ἔπεσε δὲ τότε καὶ ἡ σφαῖρα τοῦ ζῴδου τοῦ φόρου, καὶ τῆς ὑπεραγίας θεοτόκου ἡ ἐκκλησία ἣ λέγεται τὸ Σίγμα, ὥστε πάντας τοὺς ψάλ λοντας ἐκεῖσε τελευτῆσαι. Λέων δὲ ὁ φιλόσοφος τυχὼν ἐκεῖσε ἔλεγε τοῖς ψάλλουσι καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ἐκεῖσε ἐξελθεῖν τῆς ἐκ κλησίας· οἱ δὲ μὴ πεισθέντες συνετελέσθησαν ἅπαντες. αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ φιλόσοφος εἰς κίονα ὑπὸ συστημάτων σταθεὶς μετὰ ἑτέρων δύο ἐσώθη, καὶ ἕτεροι πέντε μόνοι ὑποκάτω τοῦ ἄμβωνος. 841 5. Φώτιος δὲ ὁ πατριάρχης ἐλθόντος τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ μέλλοντος αὐτοῦ κοινωνεῖν, τοῦτον λῃστὴν καὶ φονέα ἔλεγε καὶ ἀνάξιον τῆς θείας κοινωνίας. ὁ δὲ θυμωθεὶς ἀπέστειλεν ἐν Ῥώμῃ, καὶ ἤγαγε τόμον μετὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπων, καὶ τοῦτον τοῦ θρόνου ἐξέωσεν, καὶ προεχειρίσατο Ἰγνάτιον τὸν ἐν ἁγίοις πατριάρχην τὸ δεύτερον. ἐγεννήθη δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Ἴγγηρος Εὐδοκίας, οὗτος παῖς γνήσιος ὢν Βασι λείου. 6. Ἐστράτευσε δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς κατὰ τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν τῶν εἰς Τεφρικήν, καὶ πολέμους συνάψας ἡττήθη, καὶ πολλάκις συμβα λὼν Ἀγαρηνοῖς πολλοὺς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀπεβάλετο. ἐν δὲ τῇ τοιαύτῃ φυγῇ τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοφύλακτος ὁ Ἀβάστακτος, ὁ πατὴρ Ῥωμανοῦ τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα βασιλεύσαντος, διέσωσε τὸν βασιλέα παρὰ μικρὸν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν κρατούμενον. ὃν ἐπιζητήσας ὁ βασιλεὺς μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ εὑρὼν καὶ γνωρίσας πολλοὶ γὰρ ἔλεγον τῷ βασιλεῖ ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ... ὁ δὲ τὴν τιμὴν ἀφεὶς τόπονβασιλικὸν ᾐτήσατο, οὗ καὶ τετύχηκεν. ὑποστρέψας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἀπέστειλε Χριστοφόρον γαμβρὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν Τεφρικῇ, καὶ νίκην ἐποίησε μεγίστην, καὶ ἐπόρθησε ταύτην καταστρέψας ἕως ἐδά φους. 7. Ἰγνάτιος δὲ ὁ πατριάρχης ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκκλησίαν εἰς τὸ ἐμπόριον Σατύρου περικαλλῆ, ἐπ' ὀνόματι τοῦ ἀρχιστρατήγου 842 τοῦ Ἀνατέλλοντος, καὶ μονὴν πεποίηκεν ἀνδρείαν, ἔνθα καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἀπόκειται. 8. Θέκλας δὲ τῆς ἀδελφῆς τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποστειλάσης πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα δι' ὑπόμνησίν τινα μέτριον ὄντα αὐτῆς τὸν ἄν θρωπον, ἠρώτησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὅτι τίς ἔχει τὴν κυρίαν σου; ὁ δὲ εἶπεν "ὁ Νεατοκωμήτης." παρευθὺς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀποστείλας ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν καὶ τύψας ἀπέκειρε καὶ τὸ μοναχικὸν σχῆμα ἐνέδυσε αὐτόν. ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ Προκόπιον τὸν πρωτοβεστιάριον αὐτοῦ ἀποστείλας ἔτυψε τὴν Θέκλαν· ὃς καὶ ἄρας πάντα τὰ χρήματα αὐτῆς εἰσεκόμισε τῷ βασιλεῖ. τὸν δὲ Νεατοκωμήτην μετὰ ταῦτα ἐποίησεν οἰκονόμον ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ. 9. Ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς βασιλεὺς ἐβάπτισε τοὺς Ἑβραίους πάντας ὅσοι τότε τῷ χρόνῳ ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῦ ὑπῆρχον, ἀναδεξαμέ νων πάντων τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἀξίαις, φιλοφρονησαμένου τοῦ βασιλέως πάντας τοὺς Ἑβραίους, καὶ ἀντιλήψεις καὶ δῶρα πολλὰ παρασχόν τος αὐτοῖς. 10. Τὸν δὲ προειρημένον Νικόλαον τὸν Ἀνδροσαλίτην τὸν καὶ προσμονάριον τοῦ ἁγίου ∆ιομήδους, ᾧ τινὶ ὁ μάρτυς ἐπε φάνη, ὡς προείρηται, περὶ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐτίμησεν αὐτὸν σύγ κελλον καὶ οἰκονόμον, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννην δρουγ γάριον τῆς βίγλης, καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀδελφὸν αὐτῶν Παῦλον τοῦ σακελλίου, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον Κωνσταντῖνον γενικὸν λογοθέτην. τελευ τήσαντος δὲ Νικολάου τοῦ συγκέλλου, θάπτουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς Ἀρκα 843 διανὰς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ οἶκον, ἔνθα ἐστὶ νῦν τοῦ ἁγίου Κωνσταντίνου τὸ μετόχιον. 11. Ἤρξατο δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκχοΐζειν πλησίον τοῦ παλα τίου πρὸς τὸ κτίσαι τὴν Νέαν, οἰκήματα πάμπολλα ἐξωνησάμενος. ἐμηνύθη δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ ὡς ἡ Συράκουσα παρὰ τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν ἐκπορθεῖται. ἀσχολουμένων δὲ τῶν πλωΐμων ἐν τοῖς κτίσμασι τῆς Νέας ἐκκλησίας ἐγένετο βραδύτης τοῦ στόλου καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ παρεδόθη ἡ αὐτὴ Συράκουσα πρὸ ὀλίγου