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substance. The emperor, not possessing accurate knowledge of the matters, but hoping that the Taronites held the house of Barbaros by a royal chrysobull of the blessed Leo, gave him the suburban estate of Gregoras in Keltzene, and in return, so he supposed, took the house, but he for his part made no chrysobull for him concerning the suburban estate. After this, Tornikes, the nephew of the Taronites, the son of that Apoganem, wrote to the same emperor that: "The most blessed emperor Leo gave the house of Barbaros to my father, and after my father's death, because I was still under age and an orphan, my uncle forcibly took possession of this house, always promising me that when I should reach the full age, I would get back my paternal house, and now, as I have learned, my uncle has given this house to your majesty, and has received in exchange for it the suburban estate of Gregoras in Keltzene." And from such imperial bounties to the archon of Taron, envy secretly grew and sprouted up against him on the part of Kakikios, the archon of Vaspurakan, and Adranaser, the curopalates of Iberia, and Asotikios, the archon of archons, who wrote to the emperor grumbling for what reason the Taronites alone enjoyed an imperial salary, while all of them received nothing. "For what greater service," they said, "does he render than us, or in what more than us does he benefit the Romans? Wherefore it is necessary either that we too be salaried like him, or that he should not be within such a gift." But the blessed emperor Romanos wrote back to them that the salary for the Taronites had not been established by him, so that its present cancellation should also rest with him, but by the most blessed emperor, and that it was not just for the acts of previous emperors to be overturned by later ones. He wrote nevertheless to the Taronites himself, making clear to him the distress and the scandal of the said men. But he reported that he was able to provide neither gold nor silver, but he promised, apart from the customary gifts sent, to give garments and copperware, valued up to ten pounds, which he did give for up to three or four years. After this he reported that he was not able to provide such a payment, and he demanded to receive the salary as a gift, as in the time of the most blessed emperor Leo, or for it to be cut off. Wherefore, so as not to be a scandal to Kakikios and the curopalates and the rest, the said blessed emperor Romanos cut this off. And as if to console him, after this he honored his son, Asotios, who had come to the city, among the patricians, and having treated him kindly enough, sent him away to his own lands. When the magistros Krikorikios departed this life, Tornikios, the son of Apoganem, reported that he had a heartfelt desire to come and see the emperor, whereupon the emperor sent out the protospatharios and interpreter Krenites, who also brought the said Tornikios into the city, and the emperor promoted the same Tornikios to the rank of the patricians. But he put forward legal claims on the house of Barbaros, and having heard that his uncle, having received the suburban estate in Keltzene, had ceded his authority over it, he said that his uncle could not make an exchange for his paternal inheritance, and he demanded to receive either the house or the suburban estate, and if not, he would cede both to the emperor so that his cousins would not have them. For this reason the emperor, since the old Taronites had also happened to die, took back the suburban estate, and did not give back the house either, since no chrysobull, as has been said above, was issued for either of these. After this, that Pankratios, the first son of that magistros Krikorikios the Taronites, came to the imperial city, and was promoted by the emperor to the dignity of the patricians, and he also became strategos of the

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ὑπόστασιν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὴν ἀκριβῆ γνῶσιν τῶν πραγμάτων μὴ κεκτημένος, ἐλπίζων δὲ ἀπὸ βασιλικοῦ χρυσοβουλλίου τοῦ μακαρίου Λέοντος ἔχειν τὸν Ταρωνίτην τὸν τοῦ Βαρβάρου οἶκον, δέδωκεν αὐτῷ τὸ προάστειον τοῦ Γρηγορᾶ ἐν Κελτζηνῇ, καὶ τὸν οἶκον δῆθεν ἀντέλαβεν, χρυσοβούλλιον δὲ οὐδὲ οὗτος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῷ προαστείῳ ἐποιήσατο. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἔγραψε πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν βασιλέα ὁ Τορνίκης, ὁ τοῦ Ταρωνίτου ἀνεψιός, ὁ τοῦ Ἀπογάνεμ ἐκείνου υἱός, ὅτι· "Τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Βαρβάρου ὁ μακαριώτατος βασιλεὺς Λέων τῷ ἐμῷ πατρὶ ἐδωρήσατο, μετὰ δὲ τὸν τοῦ πατρός μου θάνατονδιὰ τὸ ἔτι ἀνήλικον καὶ ὀρφανὸν τυγχάνειν ἐμέκατ' ἐξουσίαν ὁ θεῖός μου τὸν τούτου οἶκον κατεκράτησεν, ἀεὶ καθυπισχνούμενός μοι, ὅταν εἰς τὸν τέλειον τῆς ἡλικίας ἔλθω χρόνον, ἀπολαβεῖν τὸν οἶκον τὸν πατρικόν, καὶ νῦν, ὡς ἔμαθον, δέδωκεν τὸν τοιοῦτον οἶκον ὁ ἐμὸς θεῖος τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου, καὶ ἔλαβεν εἰς ἀντισήκωσιν αὐτοῦ τὸ προάστειον τοῦ Γρηγορᾶ ἐν Κελτζηνῇ." Ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων βασιλικῶν φιλοτιμιῶν, τῶν πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ Ταρών, φθόνος ὑπεφύη καὶ ἀνεβλάστησεν πρὸς αὐτὸν παρά τε τοῦ Κακικίου, τοῦ ἄρχοντος Βασπαρακά, καὶ Ἀδρανασὴρ, τοῦ κουροπαλάτου Ἰβηρίας, καὶ Ἀσωτικίου, τοῦ ἄρχοντος τῶν ἀρχόντων, οἵτινες ἔγραψαν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα διαγογγύζοντες, δι' ἣν αἰτίαν ὁ Ταρωνίτης μόνος ῥόγας ἀπολαύει βασιλικῆς, αὐτῶν ἁπάντων λαμβανόντων οὐδέν. "Τίνα γάρἔλεγονπερισσοτέραν δουλείαν ἡμῶν ποιεῖται, ἢ τί πλέον ἡμῶν τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἐπωφελεῖ; Ὅθεν χρὴ ἢ καὶ ἡμᾶς ὡς ἐκεῖνον ῥογεύεσθαι, ἢ μηδ' ἐκεῖνον ἐντὸς τῆς τοιαύτης τυγχάνειν δωρεᾶς." Ὁ δὲ μακάριος βασιλεὺς Ῥωμανὸς ἀντέγραψεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς μὴ παρ' αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ Ταρωνίτῃ γενέσθαι ῥόγαν, ἵνα ἐπ' αὐτῷ κεῖται καὶ ἡ ταύτης νῦν ἐκκοπή, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοῦ μακαριωτάτου βασιλέως, καὶ μὴ δίκαιον εἶναι τὰ τῶν προβεβασιλευκότων παρὰ τῶν ὕστερον ἀνατρέπεσθαι. Ἔγραψε δ' ὅμως πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν Ταρωνίτην, δηλοποιῶν αὐτὸν τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων ἀνδρῶν λύπην καὶ τὸ σκάνδαλον. Ὁ δὲ ἀνήγαγεν μήτε χρυσόν, μήτε ἄργυρον παρέχειν δύνασθαι, ὑπισχνεῖτο δὲ ἔξωθεν τῶν κατὰ τύπον ἀποστελλομένων ξενίων διδόναι ἱμάτια καὶ χαλκώματα, μέχρι τῶν δέκα λιτρῶν συντιμώμενα, ἃ καὶ δέδωκεν μέχρι τριῶν ἢ τεσσάρων ἐνιαυτῶν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀνήγαγεν μὴ δύνασθαι παρέχειν τὸ τοιοῦτον πάκτον, τὴν δὲ ῥόγαν ἢ προῖκα λαμβάνειν ἠξίου, καθὼς ἐπὶ τοῦ μακαριωτάτου βασιλέως Λέοντος, ἢ ἐκκοπῆναι αὐτήν. Ὅθεν διὰ τὸ μὴ εἰς σκάνδαλον εἶναι τοῦ Κακικίου καὶ τοῦ κουροπαλάτου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐξέκοψεν ταύτην ὁ εἰρημένος μακάριος βασιλεὺς Ῥωμανός. Παραμυθούμενος δὲ ὥσπερ αὐτόν, μετὰ ταῦτα τὸν τούτου υἱόν, Ἀσώτιον, ἐν τῇ πόλει παραγεγονότα, εἰς πατρικίους ἐτίμησεν, καὶ φιλοφρονησάμενος αὐτάρκως πρὸς τὰ ἴδια ἐξαπέστειλεν. Τοῦ δὲ μαγίστρου Κρικορικίου τὸν βίον ἀπολιπόντος, ἀνήγαγεν Τορνίκιος, ὁ τοῦ Ἀπογάνεμ υἱός, ἔρωτα ἔχειν ἐγκάρδιον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ τὸν βασιλέα θεάσασθαι, ἐφ' ᾧ τὸν πρωτοσπαθάριον Κρινίτην καὶ ἑρμηνευτὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐξαπέστειλεν, ὃς καὶ εἰσήγαγεν ἐν τῇ πόλει τὸν εἰρημένον Τορνίκιον, καὶ προήγαγεν τὸν αὐτὸν Τορνίκιον ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν τῶν πατρικίων τιμήν. Προετείνετο δὲ δικαιολογίας ἐπὶ τῷ τοῦ Βαρβάρου οἴκῳ, καὶ ἀκούσας, ὅτι προάστειον λαβὼν ὁ θεῖος αὐτοῦ ἐν Κελτζηνῇ, τὴν τούτου παρεχώρησεν ἐξουσίαν, ἔλεγε μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν θεῖον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ πατρικῇ κληρονομίᾳ αὐτοῦ ποιεῖσθαι ἀνταλλαγήν, καὶ ἠξίου ἢ τὸν οἶκον λαβεῖν ἢ τὸ προάστειον, εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ ἀμφότερα παρεχώρει τῷ βασιλεῖ πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἔχειν αὐτὰ τοὺς ἐξαδέλφους αὐτοῦ. Τούτου ἕνεκεν ὁ βασιλεύς, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ γέρων ὁ Ταρωνίτης ἐτύγχανεν ἀποθανών, ἀνελάβετο τὸ προάστειον, καὶ οὐδὲ τὸν οἶκον ἀντέδωκεν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ χρυσοβούλλιον, καθὼς ἀνωτέρω προείρηται, ἐπί τινι τούτων ἐξετέθη. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν Παγκράτιος ἐκεῖνος, ὁ πρῶτος υἱὸς τοῦ μαγίστρου ἐκίνου Κρικορικίου τοῦ Ταρωνίτου, καὶ προεβιβάσθη παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὸ τῶν πατρικίων ἀξίωμα, καὶ γέγονεν καὶ στρατηγὸς τοῦ