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

before the fleet arrived, with the emperor lamenting and mourning greatly. 12. And when Niketas Xylinites, the epi tes trapezes, was accused of being a favorite of the Augusta, the emperor tonsured him and made him a monk; who in the reign of Leo became the oikonomos of the great church, and after he died, he was laid in the monastery which he himself had built, and he tonsured his own sisters. 13. And the emperor broke up many bronze works for the sake of the New Church. But he also took marbles and mosaics and columns from many churches and houses for its construction. Among which stood a bronze column having the form of a bishop; and this same column held in its hand a staff with a snake entwined around it. Having taken this down, they put it away in the vestiarium. And when the emperor came down and went where the column stood upright, he put his fingers into the mouth of the snake, and inside 844 being a living snake, it bit the emperor's finger; who was healed with difficulty by antidotes, with everyone marveling at this. 14. But also having broken up the very great column of Solomon which was in the basilica, he ordered it to be stamped in his name and to be placed underneath in the foundations of the same New Church, as if offering himself as a sacrifice to God for such a building. 15. And the emperor again campaigned against Melitene, and having taken captives and won many wars, he returned. 16. And Ignatios the patriarch died, and in his place the emperor again raised Photios to patriarch for his second time. And after this, when the patriarch Photios died in exile, his body was placed in the monastery called of Jeremias in Mardosagare, which was formerly a public church, but Photios himself made it a convent for women. 17. And again the emperor campaigned to Germanikeia, and having sacked and taken captives from it, he returned. 18. And Constantine, the son of the emperor Michael by Eudokia, died, but according to rumor, he was the son of Basil; whom Basil mourned greatly, loving him very much. And his body was placed in the tombs of the emperors. 845 19. On the 1st of May the New Church was consecrated and enthroned, which the emperor built and adorned with much ornament, by Photios the patriarch, the emperor wearing the loros and giving much money and naming it the Nea. 20. And Prokopios the protovestiarios was sent by the emperor with all the western themes, with Eupraxios the stratēlatēs to Sicily, and Mousoulikes to Kephallenia, and Rabdouchos to Dyrrachion and in the Peloponnesos Oiniates and Apostyppes; which Prokopios, having accomplished many deeds and acts of bravery, was finally slain when a war occurred and he was betrayed by Apostyppes. 21. And Leo Salibaras introduced to Photios the patriarch Theodore the monk, archbishop of Euchaita, as a pious man and a worker of wonders and a prophet. And Photios mediated and introduced him to the emperor. With whom the emperor was pleased—for he was disposed towards his desires—so he held him in great honor. Who, when the emperor was despondent about his deceased son Constantine, because of the affection which he had for him, deceived him, and promised to show him alive to the emperor. Which he also did; for in a certain thicket as the emperor was passing through, a phantom met him on horseback, dressed in cloth of gold, in the form of Constantine. Which he both 846 saw with his eyes and, embracing it, kissed it. And when it had become invisible, he supposed that he had seen him, and that he had not been deceived. Therefore, having built a monastery there, he named it of Saint Constantine. 22 with these and many other things, as one precisely initiated in the things of Apollonius, the so-called Santabarenos made the emperor have great faith in him. 23. And the emperor brought to the emperor Leo the daughter of Martinakios, whom he also crowned, holding the wedding in the Magnaura and in the nineteen akoubita. 24. And Leo the emperor was accused by Santabarenos to his father that he carries a small knife, wanting to kill you with it; which very knife through deceitful counsel

πρὶν ἢ φθάσαι τὸν στό λον, τοῦ βασιλέως πολλὰ θρηνήσαντος καὶ ἀποδυραμένου. 12. Νικήτα δὲ τοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης τοῦ Ξυλινίτου κατ ηγορηθέντος ὡς φιλουμένου παρὰ τῆς Αὐγούστης, τοῦτον ὁ βα σιλεὺς ἀποκείρας μοναχὸν ἐποίησεν· ὃς ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ Λέοντος γέγο νεν οἰκονόμος τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τελευτήσας τίθεται ἐν τῇ μονῇ ἣν αὐτὸς κατεσκεύασε, καὶ ἀπέκειρε τὰς αὐτοῦ ἀδελφάς. 13. Πολλὰ δὲ χαλκουργήματα κατέαξεν ὁ βασιλεὺς λόγῳ τῆς Νέας ἐκκλησίας. ἀλλὰ καὶ μάρμαρα καὶ ψηφῖδας καὶ κίονας ἐκ πολλῶν ἐκκλησιῶν καὶ οἴκων ἀνέλαβεν εἰς κατασκευὴν αὐτῆς. ἐν οἷς στήλη ἵστατο χαλκῆ σχῆμα ἔχουσα ἐπισκόπου· ἐκράτει δὲ ἡ αὐτὴ στήλη ἐν τῇ χειρὶ ῥάβδον ἔχουσαν ὄφιν ἐντετυλιγμένον. ταύτην καταγαγόντες ἀπέθηκαν ἐν τῷ βεστιαρίῳ. κατελθόντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ἀπελθόντος ἔνθα ἵστατο ἡ στήλη ὀρθή, ἐνέ βαλε τοὺς δακτύλους αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ στόμα τοῦ ὄφεως, ὢν δὲ ἔνδον 844 ζῶν ὄφις ἔδακνε τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν δάκτυλον· ὃς μόλις δι' ἀντι φαρμάκων ἰάθη, θαυμασάντων ἐπὶ τούτῳ πάντων. 14. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν στήλην Σολομῶντος ἐν τῇ βασιλικῇ οὖσαν μεγίστην κατεάξας προσέταξεν ἐν ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἐκτυπωθῆ ναι καὶ τεθῆναι κάτωθεν ἐν τοῖς θεμελίοις τῆς αὐτῆς Νέας ἐκ κλησίας, ὡς θυσίαν ἑαυτὸν τῷ τοιούτῳ κτίσματι τῷ θεῷ προσ άγων. 15. Ἐπεστράτευσε δὲ πάλιν ὁ βασιλεὺς κατὰ Μελιτηνῆς, καὶ αἰχμαλωσίαν ποιησάμενος καὶ πολλοὺς πολέμους κατορθώσας ὑπέστρεψεν. 16. Τελευτᾷ δὲ Ἰγνάτιος ὁ πατριάρχης, καὶ ἀντ' αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἀναβιβάζει Φώτιον πατριάρχην τὸ δεύτερον αὐτοῦ ὁ βασι λεύς. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐν ἐξορίᾳ τελευτήσαντος Φωτίου πατριάρχου ἀπετέθη τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐν μονῇ τῇ λεγομένῃ τοῦ Ἰερεμίου ἐν τῷ Μαρδοσαγάρῃ, οὔσης πρότερον καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας, αὐτὸς δὲ Φώτιος ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν μονὴν γυναικείαν. 17. Πάλιν δὲ ἐκστρατεύει ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς Γερμανικίαν, καὶ ταύτην ἐκπορθήσας καὶ αἰχμαλωτίσας ὑπέστρεψε. 18. Τελευτᾷ δὲ Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ υἱὸς Μιχαὴλ βασιλέως ἐξ Εὐδοκίας, ὡς δὲ λόγος, υἱὸς Βασιλείου· ὃν πολλὰ ἐθρήνησε Βασίλειος, πολλὰ στέργων αὐτόν. καὶ ἀπετέθη τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς τάφοις τῶν βασιλέων. 845 19. Μαΐῳ αʹ ἐγκαινίζεται καὶ ἐνθρονίζεται ἡ Νέα ἐκκλησία, ἣν ἔκτισεν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἐκαλλώπισε κόσμῳ πολλῷ, παρὰ Φω τίου πατριάρχου, τοῦ βασιλέως λῶρον φορέσαντος καὶ χρήματα πολλὰ δόντος καὶ Νέαν αὐτὴν ἐπονομάσαντος. 20. Ἀπεστάλη δὲ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Προκόπιος πρωτο βεστιάριος μετὰ πάντων τῶν δυτικῶν θεμάτων, ὄντος Εὐπραξίου στρατηλάτου εἰς Σικελίαν, καὶ εἰς Κεφαληνίαν τοῦ Μουσουλίκη, εἰς δὲ τὸ ∆υρράχιον τοῦ Ῥαβδούχου καὶ ἐν τῇ Πελοποννήσῳ τοῦ Ὀνιάτου καὶ τοῦ Ἀποστύππου· ὅστις Προκόπιος πολλὰς πράξεις καὶ ἀνδραγαθίας ἐργασάμενος ἐσχάτως πολέμου γεγονότος καὶ προδοθέντος ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστύππης ἐσφάγη. 21. Λέων δὲ ὁ Σαλιβαρᾶς συνοψίζει Φωτίῳ πατριάρχῃ Θεόδωρον μοναχόν, ἀρχιεπίσκοπον Εὐχαϊτῶν, ὡς εὐλαβῆ καὶ ποιοῦντα τεράστια καὶ προορατικόν. Φώτιος δὲ τοῦτον τῷ βασι λεῖ μεσιτεύει καὶ συνοψίζει. εἰς ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀρεσθεὶς πρὸς γὰρ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτοῦ διέκειτο εἶχεν οὖν αὐτὸν ἐν τιμῇ πολλῇ. ὃς ἀθυμοῦντα τὸν βασιλέα περὶ τοῦ τελευτήσαντος υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Κωνσταντίνου, διὰ τὸ φίλτρον ὅπερ εἰς αὐτὸν εἶχεν, ἐπλάνα, καὶ ἐπηγγέλλετο δεῖξαι ζῶντα τῷ βασιλεῖ. ὃ καὶ ἐποίησεν· ἐν γὰρ λόχμῃ τινὶ διερχομένῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ φάντασμα συνήντησεν ἔφιππον, χρυσοΰφαντον ἐνδεδυμένον, ἐν εἴδει τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου. ὃ καὶ 846 ὀφθαλμοῖς εἶδεν καὶ περιπλακεὶς κατεφίλησε. καὶ γεγονότος ἀφα νοῦς, αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν ὑπελάμβανε, καὶ ὡς οὐ πεπλάνηται. διὸ καὶ μονὴν ἐκεῖσε κτίσας ἐπωνόμασεν αὐτὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Κωνσταντίνου. 22 τούτοις καὶ ἑτέροις πλείστοις, ὡς ἐκ τῶν Ἀπολλωνίου ἀκρι βῶς μεμυημένος, ὁ λεγόμενος Σανταβαρηνὸς ἐποίησε τὸν βασιλέα πίστιν πολλὴν κεκτῆσθαι πρὸς αὐτόν. 23. Ἠγάγετο δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Λέοντι τῷ βασιλεῖ θυγατέρα Μαρτινακίου, ἣν καὶ ἔστεψεν, ποιήσας τοὺς γάμους ἐν τῇ Μα γναύρᾳ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ιθʹ ἀκουβίτοις. 24. Ἐκατηγορήθη δὲ Λέων ὁ βασιλεὺς παρὰ Σανταβα ρηνοῦ εἰς τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ ὡς ὅτι μαχαίριον ἐπιφέρεται βουλό μενος ἀνελεῖν σε μετ' αὐτοῦ· ὅπερ αὐτὸς μαχαίριον διὰ δολίας συμβουλῆς