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
reconciliation and friendship might be secured. The Mysians gladly received the embassy, and putting daughters of the royal blood 80 on wagons (for it was customary for Mysian women to ride on wagons), they sent them to the emperor Nikephoros, beseeching that he help them as quickly as possible, and to turn away and render void the axe of the Tauroi that was hanging over their necks. And he would have helped them, and set up trophies against the Tauroi, as he did against all against whom he brought the Roman power. But human affairs, suspended from a slight inclination, and hanging, so to speak, from a thin thread, are accustomed to turn to the contrary. For some think that a certain divine nemesis and human envy stand against the most distinguished and valiant men, tripping them, and overturning them, and reducing them to nothing. Just as then happened to the emperor Nikephoros, when his affairs were flowing along favorably for him, as for no other of the rulers before him. But I say this, that by the inscrutable providence of the Almighty, affairs already flowing well for men are turned around to the contrary, so that by this they might be taught that they are mortal and ephemeral, and not be puffed up beyond what is proper. For some men, having mounted upon successes and gained renown in battles, did not shrink from proclaiming themselves gods, committing outrage against Providence itself. An example of these are the sons of Aloeus, Otos and Ephialtes, who according to the myth tried to ascend to heaven, and Nebuchadnezzar the 81 Babylonian, who set up an image of himself, and Alexander son of Philip, who deemed it worthy to be called son of Ammon. Rightly, therefore, are human affairs established as changeable and reversible, just as then happened to the Romans, who shortly after lost their leader, the like of whom the Roman empire had not had before. For if fortune had not turned against them with his destruction, there would have been nothing to prevent them, had he lived on, from setting the boundaries of their dominion towards the rising sun in India, and again towards the setting sun at the very ends of the inhabited world. But the account must be brought back to where it diverged from its course. IV. The Mysians, then, were extending their suppliant hands, imploring the emperor to help them. And while he was preparing for the expedition, the capture of great Antioch was announced, just now captured according to his instructions, which he had enjoined upon the soldiers left behind by him to plunder it. For it is said that, since by daily raids it was driven to utter helplessness and the most extreme want of necessities, the Patrician Peter and Stratopedarch, who was an eunuch but otherwise active and most robust, raiding Syria, arrived there with his force, and sent out that Michael, serving among the taxiarchs, whose surname was Bourtzes, to reconnoiter the city. And he, having come near it with other chosen men, looked all around for an assailable part of the wall, 82 and departed back to the camp, and had ladders built proportional to the height of the towers; and loaded these on the beasts of burden, and with a legion of the bravest soldiers, already in the middle of the night, again reached the circuit wall of Antioch, and quietly leaned these against the wall and went up by the ladders; and the guards of the Agarenes, sleeping in a deep sleep, they dispatched with their swords. The Romans, having become masters of the walls in this manner, both came down from the towers, and set fire to the city in four places; and the Antiochenes, stunned by the unexpected event, turned to wailing and lamentation and terrible helplessness, considering what also
καταλλαγὴ καὶ φιλία ἐμπεδωθῇ. οἱ δὲ Μυσοὶ ἄσμενοι τὴν πρεσβείαν ἐδέχοντο, καὶ κόρας ἐξ αἵματος τοῦ βασιλικοῦ 80 ἐπὶ ἁμαξῶν
ἀναβιβάσαντες (εἰθισμένον δὲ γυναιξὶ Μυσῶν, ἐφ' ἁμαξῶν ὀχεῖσθαι), τῷ αὐτοκράτορι Νικηφόρῳ ἐξέπεμπον, ἀπαμῦναι σφίσιν ὅτι τάχιστα
ποτνιώμενοι, καὶ τὸν τοῖς αὐχέσιν αὐτῶν ἐπικείμενον πέλεκυν τῶν Ταύρων ἀποτρέψαι καὶ κενὸν ἀπεργάσασθαι. καὶ κἂν ἐπήμυνε τούτοις,
καὶ τρόπαια κατὰ τῶν Ταύρων ἐστήσατο, ἐπεὶ καὶ κατὰ πάντων, πρὸς οὓς ἂν τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ἀντεπήνεγκε δύναμιν. ἀλλ' ἀπὸ μικρᾶς
ῥοπῆς αἰωρούμενα τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, καὶ ὡς ἔκ τινος εἰπεῖν λεπτῆς κρόκης ἐκκρεμαννύμενα, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον εἴωθε περιχωρεῖν.
ἀνεπισφαλῶς γάρ τινες οἴονται νέμεσίν τινα θείαν καὶ φθόνον ἀνθρώπινον τοῖς ἐπισήμοις καὶ ἀλκιμωτάτοις ἀνδράσι προσίστασθαι,
σφάλλοντα τούτους, καὶ περιτρέποντα, καὶ εἰς τὸ μηδὲν συνελαύνοντα. οἷα δὴ καὶ τότε τῷ αὐτοκράτορι Νικηφόρῳ, κατὰ ῥοῦν αὐτῷ
φερομένων τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἄλλῳ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἡγεμονευσάντων, συμβέβηκεν. ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτό φημι, ὅτι ἀμηχάνῳ τοῦ κρείττονος
προμηθείᾳ ἤδη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εὐροοῦντα τὰ πράγματα εἰς τοὐναντίον ἀντιπεριΐσταται, ὡς ταύτῃ παιδευθεῖεν θνητοὶ ὄντες καὶ πρόσκαιροι,
καὶ μὴ περαιτέρω φυσῷεν τοῦ προσήκοντος. ἤδη γάρ τινες εὐπραγίαις ἐπιβάντες καὶ κατὰ τὰς μάχας εὐδοκιμήσαντες, θεοὺς ἀνειπεῖν
αὑτοὺς οὐκ ἐνάρκησαν, εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν πρόνοιαν ἐξυβρίσαντες. παράδειγμα τούτων οἱ τοῦ Ἀλωέως παῖδες Ὦτος καὶ Ἐφιάλτης, εἰς οὐρανοὺς
κατὰτὸν μῦθον πειρώμενοι ἀνελθεῖν, καὶ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ὁ 81 Βαβυλώνιος, εἰκόνα στησάμενος ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ὁ Φιλίππου Ἀλέξανδρος,
Ἄμμωνος υἱὸς ἀξιῶν ὀνομάζεσθαι. εἰκότως οὖν τρεπτὰ καὶ παλίντροπα καθέστηκε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ πράγματα, οἷα δὴ καὶ τότε Ῥωμαίοις
συνέβαινεν, ἀποβαλοῦσι μετὰ μικρὸν ἡγεμόνα τὸν ἑαυτῶν, οἷον οὐκ ἔσχεν ἄλλον ἡ Ῥωμαϊκὴ δυναστεία τὸ πρότερον. εἰ γὰρ μὴ τῇ
τούτου ἀναιρέσει εἰς τὸ ἔμπαλιν ἡ τύχη τούτοις ἀπέτρεχεν, οὐδὲν ἐνέδει, ἐπιβιοῦντος ἐκείνου, μὴ τὰ ὅρια πήξασθαι τῆς σφῶν
ἐπικρατείας πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον κατὰ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν, καὶ αὖθις ἐπὶ δυόμενον πρὸς αὐτὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ τέρματα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπανακτέον
τὸν λόγον, ὅθεν ἀπέκλινε τοῦ εἱρμοῦ. δʹ. Οἱ μὲν δὴ Μυσοὶ χεῖρας ἱκέτιδας ἐφήπλουν, ἐπαμῦναι σφίσι δυσωποῦντες τὸν αὐτοκράτορα.
ἐν ᾧ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἐκστρατείαν διεσκευάζετο, ἡ τῆς μεγάλης Ἀντιοχείας ἅλωσις ἐπηγγέλλετο, ἄρτι κατὰ τὰς ἐκείνου ὑποθήκας ἁλοῦσα,
ἃς δὴ τοῖς καταλειφθεῖσι πρὸς αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ ταύτην λεηλατεῖν στρατιώταις ἐπέσκηπτε. λέγεται γὰρ, ὡς, ἐπείπερ ταῖς καθ' ἡμέραν
καταδρομαῖς εἰς ἀμηχανίαν καὶ σπάνιν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐσχάτην συνηλαύνετο, τὸν Πατρίκιον Πέτρον καὶ στρατοπεδάρχην, τομίαν μὲν
ὄντα, ῥέκτην δὲ τὴν ἄλλως καὶ ῥωμαλεώτατον, κατατρέχοντα Συρίαν, ἐκεῖσε μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ἀφικέσθαι, καὶ Μιχαὴλ ἐκεῖνον, ἐν
ταξιάρχοις τελοῦντα, ᾧ Βούρτζης ἐπώνυμον, ἐπὶ κατασκοπὴν ἐκπέμψαι τῆς πόλεως. τὸν δὲ μετὰ καὶ ἄλλων λογάδων ἀγχοῦ ταύτης γενόμενον,
τὸν ἐπίβατον τοῦ τείχους περισκοπῆσαι, 82 καὶ ὀπισθόρμητον ἀπαλλαγῆναι πρὸς τὸ στρατόπεδον, κλίμακάς τε ἀναλόγους τῷ ὕψει
τῶν πύργων τεκτήνασθαι· κἀν τοῖς ἀχθοφόροις ζώοις ταύτας ἐπιφορτίσασθαι, καὶ μετὰ λεγεῶνος γενναιοτάτων στρατιωτῶν ἤδη μέσων
νυκτῶν τὸν τῆς Ἀντιοχείας περίβολον αὖθις καταλαβεῖν, ἤρεμά τε ταύτας προσερεῖσαι τῷ τείχει καὶ ἀνιέναι διὰ τῶν κλιμάκων·
τοὺς δὲ φύλακας τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν, βαθεῖ τῷ ὕπνῳ καθεύδοντας, τοῖς ξίφεσι διαχρήσασθαι. ἐγκρατεῖς δὲ τῶν τειχῶν τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον
Ῥωμαίους γεγενημένους καταβῆναί τε τῶν πύργων, καὶ τετραχῶς τὸ ἄστυ πυρπολεῖν· Ἀντιοχεῖς δὲ, τῷ ἀπροσδοκήτῳ καταπλαγέντας,
εἰς οἰμωγὰς καὶ θρήνους τραπῆναι καὶ ἀμηχανίαν δεινὴν, διενθυμουμένους ὅ,τι καὶ
