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
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 the whole Scythian race is exceedingly fond of gain, and most gluttonous, and prone to the promise and receipt of profits) he persuaded him, having gathered a heavy army, to march against the Mysians; and after having subdued them, to make the country his own and to hold it as his own dwelling place; and to help him against the Romans, so that he might take possession of the empire, and obtain the Roman dominion. And he promised to bring him great and indescribable benefits, carrying them out together from the imperial treasuries. 2. When Sphendoslavos heard these words (for that was his name among the Tauroi) he was not able to restrain his impulse; but, being buoyed up by the hopes of wealth, and dreaming of the seizure of the country of the Mysians, and being otherwise a hot-headed and bold, valiant and active man, he urged every age of the Tauroi from puberty onwards to the campaign. Therefore, having gathered an army of sixty thousand men in their prime, besides the menial staff, along with the Patrician Kalokyres, 78 whom he had also made a blood-brother by the rites of friendship, he marched against the Mysians. But as he was just sailing past the Ister, and hurrying to disembark on the mainland, the Mysians, perceiving what was being done, formed a phalanx gathered of thirty thousand men and went to meet them. But the Tauroi, disembarking most vigorously from the ferries, putting forward their shields, and drawing their swords, struck the Mysians, turning them about. And they, not even withstanding the first assault, were turned to flight and were ignobly shut up in Dorystolon (this is a strong fortress of the Mysians). Then indeed it is said that Peter, the leader of the Mysians, a God-loving and venerable man, grieving greatly at the unexpected rout, fell into an epileptic fit, and surviving for a short time, departed from this life. But these things were done later in Mysia; and Nikephoros, the emperor of the Romans, having learned the matters concerning the Tauroi, and being otherwise throughout his whole life a man full of cares, and watchful, and not nodding off, nor enslaved at all to any pleasures (for no one could say that he had seen him revelling even in his youth), was then a man of all sorts, and he equipped the infantry army, and armed the companies, and arranged the cavalry phalanx in depth, and made the horsemen fully clad in iron. And constructing the missile engines he set them up on the towers of the city, and having fastened a very heavy chain made of iron to 79 the tower which they are accustomed to call Kentenarion, and having fitted it on the largest logs, he stretched it across the Bosporos, and fastened it to the tower of the Kastellion opposite. And being an active and profound man, if any other that we know, he reasoned that it would be disadvantageous for him if he were to take up the fight against both nations. Therefore it seemed to him to be advantageous if he should make one of the nations his own. For thus it seemed he would most easily get the better of the one, and conquer it the more quickly. 3. From this, since he despaired of negotiating with the Tauroi (for he knew that the Patrician Kalokyres, having once deviated from the straight path and broken away from his lordship, and having gained great influence with Sphendoslavos, would not readily make peace according to his will), he decided rather to send an embassy to the Mysians, who were of the same religion. And indeed he sent ambassadors to them, both the Patrician Nikephoros, whose surname was Erotikos, and Philotheos, the prelate of Euchaita, and he reminded them of their religion (for the Mysians indisputably hold the Christian faith), and he asked for maidens of the royal family, so that he might join them to the sons of the emperor Romanos, and unbreakable from the marriage alliance both towards the Romans and the Mysians
γενόμενος, καὶ τῷ τῶν Ταύρων κατάρχοντι φιλιωθεὶς, δώροις τε τοῦτον διαφθείρας καὶ λόγοις καταγοητεύσας ἐπαγωγοῖς (φιλοκερδὲς
δὲ ἅπαν ἐκτόπως τὸ Σκυθικὸν, καὶ λίχνον ὅτι μάλιστα, καὶ ἐπιῤῥεπὲς πρὸς λημμάτων ὑπόσχεσιν καὶ ἀνάληψιν) ἐνέπεισε στρατιὰν
συναγηοχότα βαρεῖαν, ἐλαύνειν κατὰ Μυσῶν· τούτους δὲ καταγωνισάμενον ὑποποιήσασθαι μὲν τὴν χώραν καὶ ταύτην παρακατέχειν εἰς
ἴδιον ἐνδιαίτημα· αὑτῷ δὲ κατὰ Ῥωμαίων συνάρασθαι, ὅπως κατάσχοι τὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἡγεμονίας ἐπιτεύξοιτο. μεγάλας
δὲ καὶ ἀνεκδιηγήτους τὰς ὠφελείας αὐτῷ πράξειν καθυπισχνεῖτο, ἐκ τῶν βασιλικῶν ταμείων συνεκφορήσαντα. βʹ. Τούτων τῶν λόγων
ὁ Σφενδοσλάβος ἀκουτισθεὶς (τοῦτο γὰρ πρὸς τῶν Ταύρων κατωνομάζετο) οὐχ οἷός τε ἦν ἐπισχεῖν τὴν ὁρμήν· ἀλλὰ, μετέωρος ταῖς
ἐλπίσι τοῦ πλούτου γενόμενος, ὀνειροπολῶν τε τὴν τῆς χώρας κατάσχεσιν τῶν Μυσῶν, καὶ ἄλλως δὲ θερμουργός τε ὢν καὶ θρασὺς,
ἄλκιμός τε καὶ ῥέκτης ἀνὴρ, πᾶσαν ἡβηδὸν ἡλικίαν τῶν Ταύρων πρὸς τὴν ἐκστρατείαν κατήπειγεν. ἑξήκοντα τοιγαροῦν χιλιαδῶν ἀκμαίων
ἀνδρῶν στρατιὰν συναγείρας, ἐκτὸς τοῦ θητικοῦ, ἅμα τῷ Πατρικίῳ Καλοκύρῃ, 78 ὃν καὶ ὁμαίμονα προσήκατο φιλίας θεσμοῖς, ἐχώρει
κατὰ Μυσῶν. ἄρτι δὲ παραπλέοντος τὸν Ἴστρον, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς ἠπείρου ἀπόβασιν ἐπειγομένου, αἰσθόμενοι τὸ δρώμενον οἱ
Μυσοὶ, εἰς τρισμυρίων ἀνδρῶν συναγομένην φάλαγγα συνασπίσαντες ὑπηντίαζον. ἀλλ' ἐῤῥωμενέστατα τῶν πορθμείων ἀποβάντες οἱ Ταῦροι,
τά τε σάκη προβαλόντες, καὶ τὰ ξίφη σπασάμενοι, ἐπιστροφάδην ἔπληττον τοὺς Μυσούς. οἱ δὲ, μηδὲ τὴν πρώτην ῥοπὴν ἐνεγκόντες,
εἰς φυγαδείαν ἐτράποντο καὶ πρὸς τὸ ∆ορύστολον (ἐχυρὸν δὲ φρούριον τοῦτο Μυσῶν) ἀγεννῶς συνεκλείοντο. τηνικαῦτα δὴ λέγεται
καὶ Πέτρον, τὸν ἡγήτορα τῶν Μυσῶν, ἄνδρα θεοφιλῆ καὶ σεβάσμιον, τῷ ἀπροσδοκήτῳ τῆς τροπῆς περιαλγήσαντα, ἐπιληψίας πάθος περιπεσεῖν,
καὶ ὀλίγον ἐπιβιώσαντα, τῶν τῇδε ὑπαπελθεῖν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν κατὰ τὴν Μυσίαν ἐπράττετο ὕστερον· ὁ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτωρ
Νικηφόρος, τὰ περὶ τῶν Ταύρων διαγνοὺς, καὶ ἄλλως δὲ παρὰ πᾶσαν αὑτοῦ τὴν βιοτὴν μεμεριμνημένος τις ὢν, καὶ ἐγρηγορὼς, καὶ
μὴ νευστάζων, μηδέ τισιν ἡδοναῖς ὅλως δουλούμενος (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχοι τις λέγειν, ὡς ἴδοι τοῦτον κωμάσαντα κἂν ἐν νεότητι), τότε
παντοδαπός τις ἦν, καὶ τὴν πεζικὴν στρατιὰν ἐξήρτυε, καὶ τοὺς λόχους καθώπλιζε, καὶ τὴν ἱππικὴν φάλαγγα ἐς βάθος διέταττε,
καὶ πανσιδήρους ἱππότας ἀπέφαινε. τάς τε μηχανὰς τὰς ἐφετηρίους τεκταινόμενος ἐπὶ τῶν τῆς πόλεως πυργωμάτων καθίδρυε, καὶ
σειρὰν βαρυτάλαντον ἐκ σιδήρου πεποιημένην ἐπὶ 79 τὸν πύργον ἐνδησάμενος, ὃν Κεντηνάριον κικλήσκειν εἰώθασιν, ἐπὶ φιτρῶν τε
μεγίστων ἐφαρμοσάμενος, κατὰ τὸν Βόσπορον ἔτεινε, καὶ πρὸς τὸ τοῦ καταντιπέρας Καστελλίου πύργωμα ἀνῆψε. δραστήριος δὲ ὢν,
καὶ βαθυγνώμων, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος, ὧν ἴσμεν, ἀνὴρ, ἀξύμφορον εἶναί οἱ διελογίζετο, εἰ πρὸς ἀμφότερα τὰ ἔθνη τὴν διαμάχην ἄροιτο.
ξυνοῖσον οὖν ἐδόκει εἶναι αὐτῷ, εἰ τὸ ἓν ὑποποιήσῃ τῶν ἐθνῶν. οὕτω γὰρ ἐδόκει ῥᾷστα περιέσεσθαι τοῦ ἑνὸς, καὶ αὐτὸ θᾶττον
καταγωνίσασθαι. γʹ. Ἐντεῦθεν, ἐπεὶ τὸ παρὰ τῶν Ταύρων ἀπεγνώκει διακηρυκεύεσθαι (ᾔδει γὰρ τὸν Πατρίκιον Καλοκύρην ἅπαξ τῆς
εὐθείας ἐκκλίναντα καὶ τῆς τούτου κυρίας ἀφηνιάσαντα, καὶ μέγα παρὰ τῷ Σφενδοσλάβῳ δυνηθέντα, μὴ εὐείκτως τῷ τούτου θελήματι
σπείσασθαι), πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοθρήσκους Μυσοὺς ἐβουλεύσατο μᾶλλον πρεσβείαν στείλασθαι. καὶ δῆτα πρέσβεις ὡς αὐτοὺς ἔστελλε, τόν
τε Πατρίκιον Νικηφόρον, ᾧ τὸ ἐπώνυμον Ἐρωτικὸς, καὶ Φιλόθεον, τὸν τῶν Εὐχαΐτων πρόεδρον, καὶ τῆς τε θρησκείας αὐτοὺς ὑπεμίμνησκε
(τὰ Χριστιανῶν γὰρ ἀναντιῤῥήτως πρεσβεύουσιν οἱ Μυσοὶ), καὶ παρθένους τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γένους ἐξῄτει, ὡς συνάψῃ ταύτας τοῖς τοῦ
αὐτοκράτορος Ῥωμανοῦ παισὶ, καὶ ἀδιάῤῥηκτος ἐκ τοῦ κήδους ἥ τε πρὸς Ῥωμαίους καὶ τοὺς Μυσοὺς
