Constantine, the son of Michael by Eudokia, died, but according to rumor, the son of Basil; whom, after mourning greatly, he laid in the tombs of the emperors. 16. In his 14th year, on the 1st of the month of May, the New Church is dedicated and consecrated by Patriarch Photios. 17. In his 15th year, Leo Salibaras introduces to Patriarch Photios the monk Theodore Santabarenos, who after this was made archbishop of Euchaïta by Photios, as a pious man, 693 a worker of wonders, and a seer. And Photios mediated on his behalf with Emperor Basil; the emperor, being pleased with him (for he was disposed towards his desires), held him in great honor. He deceived the emperor, who was despondent over his deceased son Constantine, because of the affection he had for him, he deceived him and promised to show him alive. which he also did; for as the emperor was passing through a certain thicket, he was met by a phantom on horseback, clothed in gold-woven fabric, in the likeness of Constantine; whom he saw with his own eyes and embracing, kissed. And when it disappeared, he supposed he had seen him, and that he had not been deceived. Therefore, having founded a monastery there, he named it for Saint Constantine. 18. Santabarenos, having been accurately initiated in these and many other things from the arts of Apollonius, made the emperor have great faith in him. This infamous Santabarenos, who during Photios's second usurpation was made bishop of Euchaïta by him, being the son of a Manichaean and a Manichaean himself, and as a youth having escaped capital punishment through Bardas the Caesar, was given over to the monastery of Stoudios for correction. But he, having put on the monastic habit, did not at all turn away from his wickedness. Indeed, during the first usurpation of Photios, he also became abbot in that monastery; on whose account all the pious monks of the monastery fled, not accepting communion with Photios. 694 However, when Photios was driven from the patriarchate, that one named for Satan was also driven from the monastery. Then he is brought into Photios's house, and he says, "Make use of one of the emperor's chamberlains, and having taken these waters which I have prepared, let him sprinkle them upon the bedchamber; and you will immediately see the emperor enslaved by love for you. And after this, strive so that I may see him once, and I will make you return to your former honor." When this, then, was done, very early in the morning, he sent his sons to Photios for a blessing and with gold, and housed him in the Magnaura, and spoke with him continually, and granted him so much freedom of speech that all his intimates were appointed to offices in the palace. From this he introduces and makes an intimate of the arch-magician Santabarenos as a holy, pious, and most clairvoyant man. 19. In his 10th year, the emperor took for the emperor Leo a wife, Theophano the daughter of Martinakios, and having crowned them, he performed the wedding in the Magnaura. 20. In his 17th year, the Saracen fleets attacked Italy, Sicily, and the other regions; by whom something of this sort happened. Saldanos, the chief of the Hagarenes, having seized Bari, which is a great city of the Ragusans, and having settled in it, ravaged many other cities and lands. The emperor therefore writes to the king of Francia to assist the fleet sent by him 695 against the Hagarenes. And indeed, when war was joined, the fortress and the country were captured, but also Saldanos himself and the people under him. The king leads this Saldanos away to Capua, and for two years, being with the king, he enjoyed freedom of speech and shared his table. But he, being cunning, through the slander of others, contrived to procure his own safety. For he says in secret to the rulers of Capua and Benevento, "I wish to tell you a secret plan of the king, but I fear the danger from its disclosure." And when they swore an oath to keep secret what was said, he says, "The king will soon send you all in iron chains to his own country of Francia." But when they did not believe, but sought still clearer proof, again Saldanos says to the king that
τελευτᾷ δὲ Κωνσταντῖνος υἱὸς Μιχαὴλ ὁ ἐξ Εὐδοκίας, ὡς δὲ λόγος, υἱὸς Βασιλείου· ὃν πολλὰ θρηνήσας ἀπέθετο ἐν τοῖς τάφοις τῶν βασιλέων. 16. Τῷ ιδʹ αὐτοῦ ἔτει, μηνὶ Μαΐῳ αʹ, ἐγκαινίζεται καὶ ἐνθρονίζεται ἡ Νέα ἐκκλησία παρὰ Φωτίου πατριάρχου. 17. Τῷ ιεʹ αὐτοῦ ἔτει Λέων ὁ Σαλιβαρᾶς συνοψίζει Φωτίῳ πατριάρχῃ Θεόδωρον μοναχὸν τὸν Σανταβαρηνόν, ὃς ὑπὸ Φωτίου μετὰ τοῦτο γέγονεν ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Εὐχαΐτων, ὡς εὐλαβῆ 693 καὶ ποιοῦντα τεράστια καὶ προορατικόν. Φώτιος δὲ τοῦτον Βασιλείῳ βασιλεῖ μεσιτεύει· εἰς ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀρεσθείς (πρὸς γὰρ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτοῦ διέκειτο) εἶχεν ἐν τιμῇ πολλῇ. ὃς ἀθυμοῦντα τὸν βασιλέα περὶ τοῦ τελευτήσαντος υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Κωνστανίνου, διὰ τὸ φίλτρον ὅπερ εἰς αὐτὸν εἶχεν, ἐπλάνα, καὶ ἐπηγγέλλετο δεῖξαι ζῶντα. ὃ καὶ ἐποίησεν· ἐν γὰρ λόχμῃ τινὶ διερχομένῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ φάντασμα συνηντήθη ἔφιππον, χρυσοΰφαντον ἐνδεδυμένον, ἐν τῷ εἴδει τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου· ὃ καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς ἰδὼν καὶ περιπλακεὶς κατεφίλησεν. καὶ γεγονότος ἀφανοῦς, αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν ὑπελάμβανε, καὶ ὡς οὐ πεπλάνητο. διὸ καὶ μονὴν ἐκεῖσε τίσας ἐπωνόμασεν αὐτὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Κωνσταντίνου. 18. Τούτοις καὶ ἑτέροις πλείστοις ἐκ τῶν Ἀπολλωνίου ἀκριβῶς μεμυημένος ὁ Σανταβαρηνὸς ἐποίησε τὸν βασιλέα πίστιν κεκτῆσθαι εἰς ἑαυτὸν πολλήν. οὗτος ὁ περιώνυμος Σανταβαρηνός, ὃς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Φωτίου κατὰ δευτέραν αὐτοῦ τυραννίδα ἐπίσκοπος Εὐχαΐτων ἐγένετο, Μανιχαίου υἱὸς καὶ Μανιχαῖος ὤν, καὶ ὡς νεώτερος διὰ Βάρδα τοῦ Καίσαρος τὴν κεφαλικὴν τιμωρίαν διαφυγὼν τῇ τῶν Στουδίου μονῇ ἐπὶ διορθώσει ἀπεδόθη· ὁ δὲ καὶ μοναχῶν σχῆμα περιβαλόμενος οὐδ' ὅλως τῆς κακίας, ἀνένευσεν. κατὰ μέντοι τὴν πρώτην τυραννίδα Φωτίου καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ μονῇ γίνεται· ὑφ' οὗ καὶ πάντες οἱ εὐλαβεῖς τῆς μονῆς ἔφυγον, τὴν κοινωνίαν Φωτίου μὴ καταδεχόμενοι. τοῦ 694 μέντοι Φωτίου τῆς πατριαρχίας διωχθέντος καὶ ὁ Σατανώνυμος ἐκεῖνος τῆς μονῆς ἀπηλάθη. εἶτα εἰσοικίζεται Φωτίῳ, καὶ φησὶ "χρῆσαί τινι τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ λαβὼν ταῦτα τὰ ὕδατα ἃ ἐσκεύασα ῥανάτω ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος· καὶ ὄψει αὐτίκα τὸν βασιλέα καταδεδουλωμένον τῇ ἀγάπῃ σου. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀγώνισαι ὅπως ἴδω αὐτὸν ἅπαξ, καὶ ποιήσω σε ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὴν προτέραν σου τιμήν." τούτου οὖν γενομένου, πρωῒ πρωῒ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ εὐχῆς χάριν καὶ χρυσίον ἀπέστειλεν Φωτίῳ, καὶ εἰς τὴν Μαγναύραν κατῴκισε, καὶ συνεχῶς ὡμίλει, καὶ παρρησίας τοσαύτης μετέδωκεν ὡς καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους αὐτῷ πάντας ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ ἐπιστῆναι ὀφφικίοις. ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὸν ἀρχιμάγον Σανταβαρηνὸν ὡς ἅγιον καὶ εὐλαβῆ καὶ διορατικώτατον συνοψίζει καὶ προσοικειοῖ. 19. Τῷ ιʹ αὐτοῦ ἔτει ἠγάγετο ὁ βασιλεὺς γυναῖκα Λέοντι τῷ βασιλεῖ Θεοφανὼ τὴν θυγατέρα Μαρτινακίου, καὶ στέψας τοὺς γάμους ἐποίησε ἐν τῇ Μαγναύρᾳ. 20. Τῷ ιζʹ αὐτοῦ ἔτει αἱ τῶν Σαρακηνῶν ναυστολίαι καὶ Ἰταλίας καὶ Σικελίας καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν χωρῶν ἐπῆλθον· ὑφ' ὧν συνέβη τι τοιοῦτον. Σαλδανὸς ὁ τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν ἀρχηγὸς τὴν Βάρην κρατήσας, ἥτις ἐστὶ πόλις μεγάλη τῶν Ῥαουσαίων, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ κατοικήσας πολλὰς ἑτέρας πόλεις καὶ χώρας κατελυμήνατο. γράφει οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ ῥηγὶ Φραγγίας ἐπικουρῆσαι τῷ ὑπ' αὐ 695 τοῦ ἀποσταλέντι στόλῳ κατὰ τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν. καὶ δὴ πολέμου κροτηθέντος ἁλίσκεται μὲν τὸ κάστρον καὶ ἡ χώρα, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σαλδανὸς καὶ ὁ ὑπ' αὐτὸν λαός. τοῦτον τὸν Σαλδανὸν ὁ ῥὴξ ἐν Καπύῃ ἀπάγει, καὶ ἐπὶ διετίαν τῷ ῥηγὶ συνὼν παρρησίας καὶ συνδιαιτήσεως ἐπέλαχε. ὁ δὲ πανοῦργος ὢν ἐκ τῆς ἑτέρων διαβολῆς ἔγνω σωτηρίαν ἑαυτῷ πραγματεύσασθαι. τοῖς γὰρ ἄρχουσι Καπύης καὶ Βενεβενδοῦ λέγει ἐν μυστηρίῳ "βούλομαι ὑμῖν εἰπεῖν ἀπόρρητον βούλευμα τοῦ ῥηγός, δέδοικα δὲ τὸν ἐκ μηνύσεως κίνδυνον." τῶν δὲ διομοσαμένων ἀνέκφορον ποιήσασθαι τὸ λαλούμενον, φησὶ "πάντας ὑμᾶς πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χώραν Φραγγίας ὁ ῥὴξ σιδηροδεσμίους συντόμως ἀποστέλλει." τῶν δὲ μὴ πιστευσάντων ἀλλὰ ζητούντων ἔτι σαφεστέραν κατάληψιν, αὖθις ὁ Σαλδανὸς πρὸς τὸν ῥῆγά φησιν ὡς