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
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, passing through the streets of the city 94, proclaimed John emperor of the Romans, along with the sons of the already reigned Romanos. These were followed at a distance by Basil the Bastard, son of the former emperor Romanos by a Scythian woman, distinguished by the dignity of proedros. Nikephoros, alone of the other augusti, had innovated this honor as a reward for the man. And he, although he happened to be a eunuch, was otherwise an energetic and shrewd man, skillfully adapting to matters in circumstances. Being a conspirator with John, and exceedingly friendly towards him, he first pretended to be ill, and then was in a bad way, and was bedridden. Having learned, therefore, of the killing of Nikephoros during the night, following the aforementioned throng with a company of brave young men, he proclaimed John august emperor of the Romans. He then went up again to the palace, and collaborated with John on public affairs, having received from him the honor of parakoimomenos. Having therefore deliberated on what would be advantageous for them, they immediately sent orders and commands throughout the whole city, that it was not permitted for anyone to start a revolution, or to turn to plunder. For there was the danger for anyone daring such a thing, to be deprived of his head. This command sufficiently terrified the Byzantines, and no one dared to innovate anything contrary to what was ordered. For in such changes of regime, the idle and destitute of the populace were accustomed to turn to the plundering of property and the demolition of houses, and sometimes even to the slaughter of their 95 fellow countrymen, as indeed happened at the proclamation of the emperor Nikephoros. But the proclamation of John, by anticipating it, checked such an irrepressible impulse of the marketplace mob. 2. While these matters were in suspense, Leo Kouropalates, the brother of Nikephoros, sleeping at home, having been informed of his brother's murder, it being necessary for him, possessing treasures of gold worth many talents, to scatter it street by street, and by these means winning over the citizens, to summon them to vengeance against the tyrants (for if he had so intended, he might have quickly dragged John from the government offices without bloodshed; because those entrusted with the offices of the state had received them from Nikephoros; and because a considerable military force of those stationed under him was resident in Byzantium; all of whom, had he wished and rushed to arms and revolution, would have assisted him); but in fact, having been driven out of his mind by the magnitude of the disaster, he did not even take this into consideration, but just as he was, he ran and took refuge in the famous sanctuary of the Wisdom of God, leaving these things to chance and the course of events. But John, before the sun could spread its far-shining rays upon the earth, appointed his own men to the greatest offices of the state, the Praetor, and the Droungarios of the fleet, of the Vigla, and the one they call the Nykteparchos, having dismissed those of Nikephoros; 96 whom, together with those related to him by blood, he sent away to live on their own estates. And having given assurances concerning the immunity of their persons to Leo the Kouropalates, the brother of the emperor Nikephoros, and to Nikephoros the Patrikios, the son of this Leo, he confined them to Methymna, which is situated on the island of Lesbos. And he replaced all the toparchs of the regions, and appointed his own men in their place. Then indeed also Bardas, the son of Leo the Kouropalates, who was a patrikios and girt with the dignity of Dux, and who was staying in the regions of Chaldia, from his command
τελούσης τοῦ ∆εκεμβρίου μηνὸς, κατὰ τὴν τρισκαιδεκάτην ἴνδικτον τοῦ ἑξακισχιλιοστοῦ τετρακοσιοστοῦ ἑβδομηκοστοῦ ὀγδόου ἔτους,
λογάδων ἀνδρῶν στίφος, διὰ τῶν ἀγυιῶν τοῦ ἄστεος 94 διερχόμενον, αὐτοκράτορα Ῥωμαίων τὸν Ἰωάννην σὺν τοῖς τοῦ ἤδη βασιλεύσαντος
Ῥωμανοῦ παισὶν ἀνηγόρευον· οἷς ἐκ διαστήματος ἐφείπετο Βασίλειος ὁ Νόθος, Ῥωμανοῦ τοῦ πάλαι αὐτοκράτορος ἐκ Σκυθίδος υἱὸς,
τῷ τοῦ προέδρου ἐκδιαπρέπων ἀξιώματι. Νικηφόρος δὲ, μόνος τῶν λοιπῶν σεβαστῶν, ἐς γέρας τῷ ἀνδρὶ ταύτην ἐκαινοτόμησε τὴν τιμήν·
ὅσπερ, εἰ καὶ ἐκτομίας ἐτύγχανεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἄλλως δραστήριός τε καὶ ἀγχίνους ὑπῆρχεν ἀνὴρ, εὐφυῶς τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐν περιστάσεσιν
ἁρμοττόμενος. συνωμότης δὲ ὢν Ἰωάννῃ, καὶ λίαν ἐκτόπως αὐτῷ φιλικῶς διακείμενος, ἐσκήπτετο πρότερον νοσεῖν, κἄπειτα πονήρως
εἶχε, καὶ κλινοπετὴς ἦν. νύχιον οὖν τὴν τοῦ Νικηφόρου μεμαθηκὼς ἀναίρεσιν, τῷ προειληφότι στίφει μετὰ σπείρας γενναίων νεανίσκων
ἐπισπόμενος, σεβαστὸν βασιλέα Ῥωμαίων τὸν Ἰωάννην ἀνεκήρυττεν· εἰς τὰ βασίλειά τε αὖθις ἀνῄει, καὶ περὶ τῶν κοινῶν Ἰωάννῃ
συνέπραττε, τὴν τοῦ παρακοιμωμένου πρὸς ἐκείνου τιμὴν εἰληφώς. περὶ τῶν ξυνοισόντων οὖν αὑτοῖς βουλευσάμενοι, ἐντάλματα καὶ
προστάγματα διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ἄστεος αὐθωρὸν ἔστελλον, μὴ ἐξεῖναί τινι νεωτεριεῖν, ἢ ἐπὶ διαρπαγὰς ἀποκλίνειν· κίνδυνον γὰρ εἶναι
τῷ τοιουτότροπόν τι τολμήσαντι, ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τῆς κεφαλῆς. τοῦτο τὸ παράγγελμα ἐπιεικῶς Βυζαντίους ἐξεδειμάτωσε, καὶ οὐδεὶς
ἐτόλμα νεοχμῶσαί τι παρὰ τὸ προσταχθέν. εἰώθεσαν γὰρ ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις μεταβολαῖς οἱ ἀργοὶ τοῦ δήμου, καὶ ἄποροι, ἐς διαρπαγὰς
χρημάτων καὶ κατασκαφὰς οἴκων, ἔσθ' ὅτε καὶ τῶν 95 ὁμοφύλων σφαγὰς τρέπεσθαι, καθά που καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀναῤῥήσει τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος
Νικηφόρου συμβέβηκεν. ἀλλὰ τὴν τοιαύτην ἀκάθεκτον τοῦ ἀγοραίου ὄχλου φορὰν προφθάσας ἀνέστειλε τὸ τοῦ Ἰωάννου διάγγελμα. βʹ.
Ἐν τούτοις τῶν πραγμάτων ᾐωρημένων, Λέων Κουροπαλάτης, ὁ τοῦ Νικηφόρου σύναιμος, ἐφ' ἑστίας καθεύδων, τὴν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σφαγὴν
διενηχηθεὶς, δέον αὐτῷ, χρυσοῦ θησαυροὺς κεκτημένῳ πολυταλάντους, κατὰ ἄμφοδον διασπείρειν, καὶ τούτοις τοὺς ἀστικοὺς δεξιούμενον,
εἰς ἐκδίκησιν κατὰ τῶν τυράννων παρακαλεῖν (εἰ γὰρ οὕτω διενοήθη, τάχ' ἂν ἀναιμωτὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην τῶν ἀρχείων κατέσπασεν· ὅτι
τε οἱ τὰς τῆς πολιτείας ἐγκεχειρισμένοι ἀρχὰς πρὸς τοῦ Νικηφόρου ταύτας εἰλήφεσαν· καὶ ὅτι στρατιωτικὸν ἀξιόχρεων τῶν ὑπ'
ἐκείνῳ τεταγμένων τῷ Βυζαντίῳ ἐπεχωρίαζεν· οἳ πάντες αὐτῷ βουληθέντι, καὶ πρὸς ἀλκὴν καὶ νεωτερισμὸν ὡρμηκότι, συνήραντο ἄν)·
ἀλλὰ γὰρ, τῷ μεγέθει τοῦ πάθους τὰς φρένας ἐκθροηθεὶς, τοῦτο μὲν οὐδ' ἐπὶ νοῦν ἔλαβεν, ὡς εἶχε δὲ δρόμων τὸν περίπυστον τῆς
τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας καταλαμβάνει σηκὸν, τῇ τύχῃ καὶ τῇ φορᾷ τῶν πραγμάτων ταῦτα καταλιπών. ὁ δέ γε Ἰωάννης, πρὶν τηλαυγῶς τῇ γῇ
τὰς ἀκτῖνας προσυφαπλῶσαι τὸν ἥλιον, ταῖς μεγίσταις τῆς πολιτείας ἀρχαῖς οἰκείους ἄνδρας ἀποκαθίστησι, Πραίτωρα, καὶ τοῦ πλωΐμου
∆ρουγγάριον, τῆς τε βίγλης, καὶ ὃν καλοῦσι νυκτέπαρχον, τοὺς τοῦ Νικηφόρου, 96 παραιτησάμενος· οὓς ἅμα τοῖς ἐξ αἵματος ἐκείνου
ἀνήκουσιν ἐν τοῖς σφετέροις ἀγροῖς διατρίβειν παρέπεμψε. πίστεις τε τῷ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος Νικηφόρου ὁμαίμονι Λέοντι τῷ Κουροπαλάτῃ,
καὶ Νικηφόρῳ Πατρικίῳ, τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ τοιούτου Λέοντος, περὶ τῶν σφῶν σωμάτων ἀπαθείας δοὺς, ἐς Μήθυμναν, τὴν ἐν Λέσβῳ τῇ νήσῳ
κατῳκισμένην, περιορίζει· τούς τε τοπάρχας τῶν χώρων ἁπάντων μεθίστησι, καὶ οἰκείους ἀντ' ἐκείνων ἀποκαθίστησι. τότε δὴ καὶ
Βάρδαν, τὸν τοῦ Κουροπαλάτου Λέοντος υἱὸν, ἐν πατρικίοις τελοῦντα, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ∆ουκὸς ἀξίαν ὑπεζωσμένον, κἀν τοῖς τῆς Χαλδαίας
ὁρίοις διατρίβοντα, τῆς ἀρχῆς
