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
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 his own army divided and rebellious, decided to save himself by any means. And so, in the middle of the night, having taken three hundred 122 of his most loyal men, armed for safety, he secretly went out of the camp, and went on the road leading to the fort of the Tyrants, which is called Antigous; which, suspecting the fickle nature of fortune, he had long before fortified, having abundantly supplied it with grain and every kind of fodder. And the place where Bardas Phocas's army was disbanded was from of old called Bardaetta. But Bardas the general, having learned of Phocas's flight, rode out with his chosen men and went in pursuit. But he missed him, as he had already escaped to the fortress; but he deprived of their eyes as many of his co-conspirators as he took alive, having been so ordered by the emperor. And the place where this misfortune befell the wretched men is said to be named Typhlobibaria. It therefore occurs to me to marvel how men of old, moved by some inspiration, gave names to places fittingly and appropriately from the outcome of events. Since it is said also that Leo Phocas, the paternal uncle of Bardas, had his eyes mercilessly put out, and that the place where he suffered such a punishment was named Oeleon, but in the rustic idiom was called Goleon. But indeed, the places of punishments had received such names from of old. And perhaps it will not seem superfluous to also relate in passing the manner of Leo’s blinding. 7. When the emperor Leo had just departed from here 123 with a consumptive disease, and Alexander, his brother, had followed him in death, and the Roman Empire was precariously managed by both Constantine, his infant son, and the Augusta Zoe, Symeon, the chief of the Mysians, a rash man and ardent in war, who had long been restless and in travail with war against the Romans, seizing the opportunity, did not cease plundering Macedonia and Thrace; and being raised to Scythian and customary desperation, he commanded that he be proclaimed emperor of the Romans. But they, not bearing the rustic arrogance and insolence of the Scythian, decided to take up arms against him. And so they appointed Leo Phocas, who at that time surpassed the other generals in courage and victories, as commander of the army and proclaimed him Domestic of the Schools; and they appointed Romanus as admiral of the fire-ships (they call the one who has reached such an office Drungarius of the Fleet); they sent the one to attack the Mysians by land, the other by sea. And they say that Leo, having crossed over and seized Mysia, fought extraordinarily, and cut down innumerable multitudes of the enemy, so that Symeon was driven into a terrible plight, and was at a loss as to what to do, and how to escape so bold and unconquerable a man. And when the other Mysians were already exhausted and turning to flight, it is said that a message was brought to Leo by one of his shield-bearers, that the Drungarius Romanus, having set sail with all 124 his canvas, with the wind standing astern, was sailing away to Byzantium out of a desire for tyranny. And he, greatly distressed by the ill-omened message, both disbanded his army and, turning his back on the Mysians, hastened towards the imperial city, to see if he might somehow forestall the arrival of Romanus and gain control of the Roman empire. But Symeon, seeing the unprovoked and strange flight of the Romans, was in doubt as to
ὀφθαλμὸν, καὶ ἐρυθρὰ ταῦτα καταμαθεῖν, καθάπερ ἐτέλουν ἀνέκαθεν. τοῦτο δεύτερον ἀπαίσιον οἰωνὸν ὁ Φωκᾶς λογισάμενος τὸ τεράστιον,
ὁρῶν δὲ καὶ τὴν στρατιὰν αὑτοῦ διϊσταμένην καὶ ἀφηνιάζουσαν, ἔγνω παντὶ τρόπῳ διασώζειν ἑαυτόν. μέσων οὖν τῶν νυκτῶν τῶν οἰκειοτάτων
τριακοσίους 122 ἐς τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ὡπλισμένους ἀνειληφώς, λάθρα τοῦ χάρακος ἔξεισι, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν Τυράννων φρούριον ἄγουσαν,
ὃ Ἀντιγοὺς κέκληται, ᾔει· ὅπερ, τὸ τῆς τύχης παλίμβολον ὑφορώμενος, ἐκ πολλοῦ ἐκρατύνατο, σῖτον ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ παντοδαπὴν χιλὸν
ἐπιδαψιλευσάμενος. ὁ δὲ χῶρος, ἵνα τῷ Φωκᾷ Βάρδᾳ ὁ συνασπισμὸς διαλέλυτο, Βαρδάηττα ἐκαλεῖτο ἀνέκαθεν. Βάρδας δὲ ὁ στρατηλάτης,
τὸν δρασμὸν διαγνοὺς τοῦ Φωκᾶ, συνάμα λογάσιν ἐξιππασάμενος, ἔθει διώκων. ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ μὲν διήμαρτεν, ἤδη τῷ φρουρίῳ ἀνασωθέντος·
τῶν δὲ τούτου συνωμοτῶν ὅσους ζωγρίας εἴληφε, τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀπεστέρησε, προστεταγμένον πρὸς βασιλέως ἔχων αὐτό. λέγεται δὲ
τὸ χωρίον, ἵνα τοῖς ἀθλίοις τὸ τοιοῦτον συνέβη ἀτύχημα, Τυφλοβιβάρια ὀνομάζεσθαι. ἔμοιγε οὖν ἔπεισι θαυμάζειν, ὅπως ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας
τινὸς οἱ πάλαι κινούμενοι ἄνθρωποι ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάσεως προσηκόντως καὶ καταλλήλως τὰς προσηγορίας τοῖς τόποις ἐτίθεσαν.
ἐπεὶ λέγεται καὶ Λέοντα τὸν Φωκᾶν, τὸν πρὸς πάππου θεῖον τοῦ Βάρδα, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκκοπῆναι ἀνηλεῶς, ὀνομάζεσθαι δὲ τὸν χῶρον,
καθ' ὃν τὴν τοιαύτην ὑπέστη ποινὴν, Ὠηλέοντα, πρὸς δὲ τῆς ἀγροικικῆς ἰδιωτείας κεκλῆσθαι Γωλέοντα. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν τῶν τίσεων
χωρία τοιαύτας ἀνέκαθεν τὰς ἐπωνυμίας εἰλήφεσαν. οὐ παρέλκον δὲ ἴσως δόξει τὸ καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς τοῦ Λέοντος ἐκτυφλώσεως κατὰ
παραδρομὴν ἐξειπεῖν. ζʹ. Ἄρτι τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος Λέοντος φθινάδι νόσῳ τῶν ἔνθεν 123 μεταναστάντος, καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου, τοῦ αὐτοῦ
συναίμου, κατόπιν ἐκείνῳ συναπελθόντος, τῆς δὲ Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἀρχῆς πρός τε Κωνσταντίνου, τοῦ τιθηνουμένου παιδὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς
Αὐγούστης Ζωῆς, ἐπισφαλῶς φερομένης, Συμεὼν, ὁ τῶν Μυσῶν ἀρχηγὸς, ἀνὴρ τολμητίας καὶ θερμουργὸς τὰ πολεμικὰ, πάλαι σφαδάζων,
καὶ τὴν κατὰ Ῥωμαίων μάχην ὠδίνων, εὐκαιρίας δραξάμενος, λεηλατῶν οὐκ ἀνίη Μακεδονίαν καὶ Θρᾴκην· εἰς ἀπόνοιάν τε τὴν Σκυθικὴν
καὶ συνήθη ἐπαρθεὶς, αὐτοκράτορα ἑαυτὸν ἀνακηρύττειν Ῥωμαίοις ἐκέλευεν. οἱ δὲ, τὴν ὕπαιθρον ἀλαζονείαν καὶ ὕβριν τοῦ Σκύθου
μὴ φέροντες, τὰ ὅπλα κινεῖν κατ' αὐτοῦ ἔγνωσαν. καὶ δὴ Λέοντα τὸν Φωκᾶν, ἀνδρείᾳ καὶ τροπαίοις τηνικαῦτα τῶν λοιπῶν στρατηγῶν
ὑπερφέροντα, ἀρχηγὸν τῆς στρατιᾶς προστησάμενοι καὶ ∆ομέστικον τῶν σχολῶν ἀνειπόντες· Ῥωμανὸν δὲ, τῶν ἐμπύρων νεῶν προχειρισάμενοι
ναύαρχον (∆ρουγγάριον τῶν πλωΐμων τὸν εἰς τὴν τοιαύτην ἀφιγμένον ἀρχὴν ὀνομάζουσι)· τὸν μὲν ἐκ γῆς, τὸν δὲ ἐκ θαλάσσης, Μυσοῖς
ἐπιτίθεσθαι προὔπεμψαν. περαιωθέντα δὲ τὸν Λέοντα καὶ τὴν Μυσίαν κατειληφότα φασὶ ἐκτόπως διαγωνίσασθαι, καὶ ἀναρίθμητα πλήθη
κατακόψαι τῶν δυσμενῶν, ὡς τὸν Συμεὼν εἰς ἀπορίαν συνελαθῆναι δεινὴν, καὶ ἀμηχανεῖν ὅ,τι καὶ δράσῃ, καὶ ὅπως ἐκφύγῃ οὕτω θρασὺν
ἄνδρα καὶ ἀκαταγώνιστον. ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀπειρηκότων Μυσῶν καὶ πρὸς φυγαδείαν τρεπομένων, ἀγγελίαν πρός τινος λέγεται
τῶν ὑπασπιστῶν ἀνενεχθῆναι τῷ Λέοντι, ὡς ὁ ∆ρουγγάριος Ῥωμανὸς αὐτοῖς ἱστίοις 124 ἀπάρας, κατὰ πρύμναν ἱσταμένου τοῦ πνεύματος,
ἔρωτι τυραννίδος ἀποπλέει εἰς τὸ Βυζάντιον. τὸν δὲ, τῷ ἀπαισίῳ τῆς ἀγγελίας περιαλγήσαντα, διαλῦσαί τε τὸν συνασπισμὸν, καὶ,
νῶτα τοῖς Μυσοῖς δόντα, ἐπείγεσθαι πρὸς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν, εἴ πως τὸν τοῦ Ῥωμανοῦ προτερήσοι ἐπίπλουν, καὶ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἡγεμονίας
ἐγκρατὴς γένοιτο. τὸν δὲ Συμεὼν, τὴν ἀπροφάσιστον καὶ ἀλλόκοτον ἰδόντα Ῥωμαίων φυγὴν, ἐνδοιάσαι μὲν ἐς τὸ
