History

 And what i have accurately ascertained from those who saw it, these things i will also commit to writing. 2. just now in the month of november, of the

 He commanded that the triremes and the other transport ships should all be brought to anchor in a good harbor, and that they should control the sea, a

 War. therefore, having gone around and seen that it was by nature difficult to enter and hard to approach for on the one side it had the sea as a saf

 They would be frustrated. and having gone out of the camp, and having overrun a part of the country, when he learned from those who had been taken ali

 It was easy to attack by assault, being raised to the greatest possible height, and girded with two trenches dug to a corresponding depth), and the de

 Having divided his phalanx into three parts by night, he went against the scythians, and falling upon them suddenly, in a brief moment of time he wrou

 Meet them, when i give the signal with the trumpets. such was the exhortation that the general delivered and the army shouted 22 and applauded, and w

 6. but nikephoros phokas, the colleague of the aforementioned leo (for it is necessary, having summarized the account, to proceed with the history in

 The general, having seen this, spurred his horse, quickened his pace, rode in and restrained the soldiers' onslaught, persuading them not to kill the

 Having drawn up an irresistible battle-line, went through the land of the hagarenes. to them, having heard of the attack of nikephoros, it did not see

 Was dignified by his rank), was hostilely disposed towards nicephorus. 11. he decided, therefore, to attempt a revolution at once but not having at h

 , to proclaim him supreme commander, and to entrust the forces of asia to him, so that he might defend and check the assault of the foreigners. for th

 He said, if you are persuaded to take up the rule of the east, i shall quickly declare you emperor, and restore you to the imperial thrones. speak wel

 For he was gently nursing his little body), then, recovering again, he said, “speak, most brave one, what need is there to consider this?” but he said

 I have assumed the imperial office, but compelled by the necessity of you, the army, and you yourselves bear witness for me that i was both shunning s

 Before the report of his proclamation could fly abroad, to seize in advance the straits and passages of the sea. for thus he thought that matters woul

 Numbering over three thousand, attacked the house of joseph and his collaborators along with the people. and having subjected these to plunder and pil

 Especially the monks), they did not allow the man to persist in what he had decided, but urged him both to embrace marriage and not to shun meat-eatin

 Makes it flood in a single hour) emboldened by these things, the barbarians mocked the emperor and insolently hurled insults at him, and making sorti

 Having fallen upon it, accomplishing nothing noble or vigorous. and he considered the matter an outright disgrace and insult, and an indelible reproac

 Having come to the region around tarsus, there he encamped and having pitched a palisade round about, he ordered the crops and the meadows, luxuriant

 Having recovered the standards, which, crafted from gold and stones, the tarsians had captured in various battles while routing the roman force, and h

 Of the spectacle, turned to flight and ran back to their own houses. and from the pushing and disorderly rush, no little slaughter occurred, with very

 To blow favorably upon them, but blowing against them strongly and fiercely, it has sunk their affairs. but the account will now clearly reveal these

 To those acting against the divine ordinance, if somehow at least in this way people, being afraid, would abstain from evil deeds, and would cling to

 He had taken a fortress, and having crossed mount lebanon transversely, he turned his attention to tripoli, which he saw was fortified and exceptional

 Being obliged to drive them away, and to guard the flocks from harm, they, in addition to not driving them away, themselves cut them down and tear the

 Having come, and having been befriended by the ruler of the tauroi, and having corrupted him with gifts and bewitched him with persuasive words (for t

 Reconciliation and friendship might be secured. the mysians gladly received the embassy, and putting daughters of the royal blood 80 on wagons (for it

 They might do. but as they were already considering rushing to their defense, and to stoutly resist the enemy in close combat, as dawn was brightly br

 Boasting to all about his brave deeds in wars. 6. having approached the emperor with these words and, 85 as was likely, having bewitched him (for he s

 Having lowered from above, one by one they first pulled up all the conspirators, and then john himself. having come up, therefore, beyond all human su

 The vengeance for these things, and to those who were slipping he seemed relentless and burdensome, and oppressive to those wishing to lead an indiffe

 At the end of the month of december, during the thirteenth indiction of the six thousand four hundred and seventy-eighth year, a throng of select men,

 Having captured him, confines him to amaseia. having therefore from this secured sufficient safety for himself and for his affairs, and having purged

 To make amends for what nikephoros had improperly introduced. for nikephoros, whether wishing to correct divine matters that were being disturbed by s

 And having found him not very accurately versed in secular education, but most diligently trained in divine and our own, he anoints him patriarch of a

 The bosporus, but to pass by moesia, which belongs to the romans, and has from of old been a part of macedonia. for it is said that the moesians, bein

 To make replies. for we trust in christ, the immortal god, that if you do not depart from this land, you will be driven from it by us even against you

 A disgrace by the raids of the scythians to send out bilingual men dressed in scythian attire into the homesteads and customs of the enemy, so that t

 The romans on the one hand shouted for joy, and were strengthened for valor but the scythians, growing cowardly at the new and strange nature of the

 2. the emperor, when he learned of such a revolt, was disturbed, as was likely, and having brought up bishop stephen from abydos with wingless speed,

 He saw that murders along with the ensuing conspirators were proceeding harshly and inhumanely, he decided to no longer delay or be slothful, so that

 Considering into what fortunes the unholy and blood-guilty john has enclosed my family, having mercilessly slain the emperor and my uncle, who was his

 Eye, and to learn that these things were red, just as they had been from of old. phocas, considering this prodigy a second evil omen, and seeing also

 Immediately, lest it be some ill-omened thing, and destruction befall the pursuing mysians but learning they were fleeing at full speed, he both purs

 The russian minds were lifted up in audacity and boldness. therefore, the emperor, not enduring their overweening arrogance and their blatant insolenc

 Being given out, and going under the earth by the inscrutable wisdom of the creator and again from the 130 celtic mountains gushing up, and winding t

 Should set a phalanx against us, things will not end well for us, but in dreadful perplexity and helplessness. therefore, having strengthened your spi

 Is called drista) lingering with his whole force. but in this way kalokyres escaped, and night coming on stopped the romans from battle. and just on t

 And they killed up to one hundred and fifty vigorous men. but the emperor, learning of such an event, quickly mounted his horse and urged his follower

 But the rest of the multitude he bound in fetters and shut up in prisons. he himself, having gathered the entire host of the tauro-scythians, numberin

 1. and just as day was dawning, the emperor fortified the camp with a strong palisade in this manner. a certain low hill of dorystolon rises at a dist

 He was courting them with gifts and toasts, encouraging them to proceed vigorously to the wars. 3. while these matters were in suspense, and the battl

 He flees to a divine and great sanctuary, seen as a pitiful supplicant instead of a haughty and boastful tyrant. whom the men of the drungarius dragge

 Having drowned. for it is said that, being possessed by greek 150 orgies, they perform sacrifices and libations for the dead in the greek manner, havi

 On the next day (it was the sixth day of the week, and the twenty-fourth day of the month of july), when the sun was setting, the tauro-scythians, hav

 Was being concluded. 10. but the romans, following the divine man who went before, 155 engage with the enemy, and a fierce battle having commenced, th

 With purity. at any rate, having conferred a few things about a truce with the emperor, seated beside the rowing-bench of the skiff, he departed. but

 Was crossed over. this is the greatest of the rivers cutting through asia, 161 and one of those that flow from eden, as we have learned from the divin

 The emperor, as one who abused the power of his leadership for certain powerful men, and did not direct the affairs of the church as was established b

 Having assembled forces, and having meticulously armed them, departing from the reigning city, he advanced through palestine, a prosperous land, flowi

 The mainland is enclosed by strongholds, stretching upon a certain steep hill on the other side it is surrounded by the sea, putting forth a well-hav

 Before until fire-bearing ships were secretly sent out from byzantium by those in power. which bardas parsakoutenos the magistros was leading, and ha

 I would have been destroyed, if some divine providence had not led me out of that very danger, which caused me to ride out with speed, before the ravi

 Furthermore, the star rising in the west at the setting of the morning star, which, making its risings in the evening, kept no fixed position at one c

 Of the city, but already becoming feeble, and suffering from a deep and intractable panting. and having just come to the royal hearth, he was shown to

being obliged to drive them away, and to guard the flocks from harm, they, in addition to not driving them away, themselves cut them down and tear them to pieces more than the wild beasts. If, therefore, it seems good and you obey me, since this hill here appears to be most defensible, and is well-watered, as you see, we must fortify it immediately, and a squadron of horsemen and a cohort of foot soldiers must be left on it; so that every day by sorties and raids, and by plundering of provisions, they may humble Antioch, and having confined it in dire straits, they may force it, even against its will, to become a tributary of the Romans. The emperor spoke, and shouldering a stone (for in such matters he was both moderate and humble), he went up to the hill, having commanded the whole army to do likewise. It was possible, then, to see in three days a city built up on the hill, well-fenced and most defensible. Therefore, leaving a phalanx of five hundred horsemen and a cohort of a thousand foot soldiers in the fortress, and having set aside sufficient fodder for them, and having commanded them to make daily raids against Antioch, and to accomplish whatever work of the sword and of plunder came to hand, he himself departed from there and returned to the imperial city, and being magnificently received by the citizens, he tarried there. HISTORY OF LEO THE DEACON V. a'. But thus, as has already been related by me, the emperor Nikephoros, having overrun Syria and its coastal regions, and having removed all opposition from his path, and having taken Mysian booty, and having overthrown very many towns, and in the most opportune places of great Antioch having built a strong fortress in three days and populated it, returned to Byzantium. From there he sent a message to the leader of the Carthaginians, and sent as a gift the sword of the most accursed 76 and most impious Mohammed, which he had taken as spoil from one of the captured fortresses in Palestine, and he demanded the Patrician Niketas, who, as it happened, having been taken captive in the previous defeat of the Romans around Sicily, had been sent to this ruler of the Africans, as the account has shown. Therefore, he enjoined by letters that, if he should hesitate about the return of the Patrician, and should not immediately release him from his bonds, and send him to him, let him expect an undeclared war, and that all his territory would be utterly destroyed, ravaged by the Roman armies. The Carthaginian, therefore, being terrified by such messages, as by some other, according to the proverb, "sayings from the Scythians," sent the Patrician Niketas and the captives taken with him, and as many Romans from various places as he held in fetters in prisons, as a gift to the emperor Nikephoros; for fear came over him, having heard of his expedition and naval force. For the invincible nature of the man, and his irresistible and unapproachable character in battles, and how easily he subdued all opposition, as if by some divine influence, all nations shuddered and were amazed, and they were eager not to have him as an enemy, but as a friend and master. Thus indeed the Patrician Niketas and the rest of the Roman captives, having been delivered from their bonds and prison, returned to Byzantium. And the emperor Nikephoros was pleased, 77 as was likely, and kept a day of festival, and offered prayers of thanksgiving to God for the redemption of his countrymen. And while these things were being accomplished by the emperor in Syria and in Byzantium, the Patrician Kalokyres, sent to the Tauroscythians by imperial command, in Scythia

ἀποσοβεῖν ἐποφείλοντες, καὶ τὰ βοσκήματα φυλάττειν ἀνεπιβούλευτον, οἱ δὲ, πρὸς τῷ μὴ ἀποσοβεῖν, μᾶλλον τῶν θηρίων αὐτοὶ διακόπτουσι καὶ διασπαράττουσιν. εἰ οὖν δοκεῖ καὶ πείθεσθέ μοι, ἐπείπερ ὁ λόφος ὀχυρώτατος οὑτοσὶ καταφαίνεται, καὶ κατάῤῥυτός ἐστιν ὕδασιν, ὡς ὁρᾶτε, τοῦτον δὴ τειχιστέον ἐξαυτῆς, καὶ ἴλην ἱππέων καὶ σπεῖραν πεζῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἐατέον· ὥστε καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπεξελάσεσι καὶ καταδρομαῖς, καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων διαρπαγαῖς τὴν Ἀντιόχου ταπεινώσωσι, καὶ εἰς ἀμηχανίαν δεινὴν κατακλείσαντες καὶ ἄκουσαν ἀναγκάσωσι, Ῥωμαίοις γενέσθαι ὑπόσπονδον. εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ λίθον ἐπωμισάμενος (ἦν γὰρ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα μετριοπαθής τε καὶ ταπεινὸς), ἄνεισι ἐπὶ τὸν λόφον, πάσῃ τῇ στρατιᾷ οὕτω ποιεῖν διακελευσάμενος. ἦν οὖν ἰδεῖν ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἄστυ ἀνῳκισμένον ἐπὶ τὸν λόφον, εὐερκές τε καὶ ὀχυρώτατον. φάλαγγα τοιγαροῦν πεντακοσίων ἱππέων, καὶ σπεῖραν χιλίων πεζῶν ἐν τῷ φρουρίῳ καταλιπὼν, καὶ ἀποχρῶσαν χιλὸν αὐτοῖς ἀποσιτισάμενος, ἐντειλάμενός τε ὁσημέραι ἐκδρομὰς κατὰ τῆς Ἀντιοχείας ποιεῖν, καὶ τὸ παρατυχὸν μαχαίρας ἔργον καὶ προνομῆς ἀπεργάζεσθαι, αὐτὸς ἐκεῖθεν ἀπάρας πρὸς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν ἐπανέζευξε, καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς πρὸς τῶν ἀστικῶν ὑποδεχθεὶς ἐκεῖσε διέτριβεν. ΛΕΟΝΤΟΣ ∆ΙΑΚΟΝΟΥ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ Ε. αʹ. Ἀλλ' οὕτω μὲν, ᾗπέρ μοι ἤδη ἐῤῥήθη, ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ Νικηφόρος Συρίαν καὶ τὰ παράκτια ταύτης καταδραμὼν, καὶ τὸ ἀντίξουν ἅπαν ἐκποδὼν ποιησάμενος, καὶ λείαν Μυσῶν θέμενος, καὶ πλεῖστα πτολίσματα καθελὼν, κἀν τοῖς ἐπικαιροτάτοις τῆς μεγάλης Ἀντιοχείας φρούριον ἐρυμνὸν δομησάμενος ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις καὶ πολίσας, ἐς τὸ Βυζάντιον ἐπανέζευξεν. Ἐντεῦθεν παρὰ τὸν τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἀγὸν διεκηρυκεύετο , καὶ τὸ τοῦ ἐναγεστά 76 του καὶ ἀσεβεστάτου Μωάμεδ ξίφος δῶρον ἐξέπεμπεν, ὅπερ λάφυρον ἔκ τινος τῶν κατὰ Παλαιστίνην ἁλόντων φρουρίων ἀνείληφε, καὶ τὸν Πατρίκιον ἐξῄτει Νικήταν, ὃν συνέβη τὸ πρότερον ἐν τῷ περὶ Σικελίαν τῶν Ῥωμαίων πταίσματι δορυάλωτον ληφθέντα, τῷ τοιούτῳ τῶν Ἄφρων παραπεμφθῆναι κατάρχοντι, ὡς ὁ λόγος ἐδήλωσε. διὰ γραμμάτων οὖν ἐπέσκηπτεν, ὡς, εἰ ἐνδοιάσῃ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Πατρικίου ἀπόδοσιν, καὶ οὐκ ἐξαυτῆς τοῦτον ἀνήσοι τε τῶν δεσμῶν, καὶ ὡς αὐτὸν παραπέμψῃ, πόλεμον ἀκήρυκτον ἤτω προσδοκῶν, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπικράτειαν ἀνεκτριβῆναι, τοῖς Ῥωμαϊκοῖς δηϊουμένην στρατεύμασι. ταῖς τοιαύταις οὖν ὁ Καρχηδόνιος ἐκδειματωθεὶς ἀγγελίαις, ὡς ἄλλαις τισὶ, κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, ἀπὸ Σκυθῶν ῥήσεσι, τόν τε Πατρίκιον Νικήταν καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ληφθέντας δορυαλώτους, καὶ ὅσους Ῥωμαίων ἐκ διαφόρων χώρων ἐν εἱρκταῖς πεδήτας παρακατεῖχε, δῶρον τῷ βασιλεῖ Νικηφόρῳ ἐξέπεμπε· δέος γὰρ αὐτὸν ὑπεισῄει, ἐκστρατείαν καὶ ἔκπλουν τούτου ἐνωτισάμενον. τὸ γὰρ ἀκαταγώνιστον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, κἀν ταῖς μάχαις ἀνυπόστατον καὶ ἀπρόσιτον, καὶ ὅπως εὐπετῶς τὸ ἀντίπαλον ἅπαν ὡς ἔκ τινος θείας ῥοπῆς εὐείκτως κατεστρέφετο, ἔφριττόν τε πάντα ἔθνη καὶ ἐτεθήπεσαν, καὶ οὐ πολέμιον ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ φίλον καὶ δεσπότην ἠπείγοντο. οὕτω μὲν δὴ ὁ Πατρίκιος Νικήτας καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων αἰχμάλωτοι τῶν δεσμῶν ῥυσθέντες καὶ τῆς εἱρκτῆς, πρὸς τὸ Βυζάντιον ἐπανῄεσαν. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Νικηφόρος ἥσθητε, 77 ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς, καὶ ἡμέραν ἦγεν ἑόρτιον, καὶ τὰς εὐχαριστηρίους τῷ Θεῷ ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ὁμοφύλων ἀπολυτρώσει ἀπεδίδου εὐχάς. ἐν ᾧ δὲ ταῦτα κατά τε τὴν Συρίαν καὶ τὸ Βυζάντιον τῷ βασιλεῖ διεπράττετο, ὁ πρὸς τοὺς Ταυροσκύθας σταλεὶς βασιλικῷ νεύματι Καλοκύρης ὁ Πατρίκιος, κατὰ τὴν Σκυθίαν