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
the Russian minds were lifted up in audacity and boldness. Therefore, the emperor, not enduring their overweening arrogance and their blatant insolence, hastened with all his might to check and tear it down by engaging with them in close combat. From there he ordered the fire-bearing triremes to be ballasted, and a multitude of grain to be brought to the city of Adrianople by 127 grain ships, and fodder for the baggage animals, and sufficient arms for the army, so that the Romans would not be in want of any of these things at the time of the struggles. And while these things were being prepared, John arranged a marriage with Theodora, the daughter of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos, who was not very distinguished in beauty and the bloom of her body, but in prudence and all sorts of virtues she indisputably surpassed the female sex. The month of November was at hand, in the second year of his reign, when the wedding feast was celebrated. And an inexpressible gladness possessed the people, because the emperor governed his subjects with benevolence of character and goodness of manners; being especially admired, because, being a magnificent man and possessing an imperial spirit, he showed himself affable and gentle to his subjects, readily lavishing his mercy on those in need. But at that time, showing favor to the people with drinking-bouts and contests in the theaters, he spent the winter in Byzantium and awaited the season of spring, daily training the picked troops around him in armed wheeling maneuvers against the enemy and in all the experience of war, as much as has been devised by the most valiant men in battles. LEO THE DEACON, HISTORY VIII. 1. When the winter gloom changed to spring brightness, the emperor, immediately taking up the sign of the cross, hastened against the Tauro-Scythians. And indeed, setting out from the palace, he approached the chapel honored to Christ the Savior at the Chalke, to propitiate the divinity. Seeing it to be a narrow oratory, able to hold hardly fifteen men inside, crooked and difficult to approach, having an ascent like some winding labyrinth or hiding place, he immediately 129 commands that it be rebuilt from its foundations to be more magnificent and more holy, he himself tracing the perimeter of the cornices; which his zeal and command, from some inspiration, raised to that beauty and size in which it is now seen. From there, arriving at the divine and celebrated temple of the Wisdom of God, and having requested that an angel be given to him, to go before the army and direct the way, he proceeded in a procession to the house of the Theotokos honored at Blachernae. And there too, having propitiated the divinity with supplications, as was fitting, he went up to the palace there to inspect the fire-bearing triremes, moving in formation toward the outer harbor of the Bosporus, which also stands as a well-anchored and calm port for the cargo ships, extending in a gentle curve as far as the bridge and the river that flows in under it. So when the emperor had watched the skilled and orderly rowing and racing of the triremes (and there happened to be more than three hundred of them, together with boats and light vessels, which they now commonly call galleys and monoremes), and having treated the rowers and the military force with them kindly by a distribution of silver, he sent them out to the Ister, to guard its passage, so that it might not be possible for the Scythians to sail away to their own country and the Cimmerian Bosporus, should they turn to flight. And the Ister is said to be one of the rivers flowing out of Eden, the one called Pishon, from the east indeed
αὐθάδειαν καὶ θράσος τὰ Ῥωσικὰ ἐπήρθη φρονήματα. τὴν ὑπέραυχον τοιγαροῦν ἀλαζονείαν αὐτῶν, καὶ τὸν ἀντικρὺς προπηλακισμὸν
μὴ στέγων ὁ βασιλεὺς, παντὶ σθένει κολούειν καὶ κατασπᾷν ἠπείγετο ἐκ τοῦ συστάδην τούτοις συμπλέκεσθαι. ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὰς ἐμπύρους
τριήρεις ἑρματίζειν προσέταττε, καὶ σίτου πλῆθος ἐς τὴν τοῦ Ἀδριανοῦ πόλιν διὰ τῶν σιτηγῶν 127 πλοίων κομίζειν, καὶ χορτάσματα
τῶν ὑποζυγίων, καὶ ἀποχρῶντα ὅπλα τῇ στρατιᾷ, ὡς μήτινος τούτων κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῶν ἀγώνων οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι σπανίζοιεν. ἐν ᾧ δὲ
ταῦτα παρεσκευάζετο, Θεοδώραν, τὴν τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ Πορφυρογεννήτου παῖδα, ὁ Ἰωάννης πρὸς γάμον ἡρμόσατο,
κάλλει μὲν καὶ σώματος ὥραις οὔ τι λίαν οὖσαν ἀριπρεπῆ, σωφροσύνῃ δὲ καὶ ταῖς παντοδαπαῖς ἀρεταῖς ἀδηρίτως τοῦ θήλεος ὑπεραίρουσαν.
Νοέμβριος μὴν ἐνειστήκει, ἔτει δευτέρῳ τῆς τούτου ἡγεμονίας, ὅτε ἡ γαμήλιος ἐτελεῖτο ἑστίασις. καὶ θυμηδία τις κατεῖχε τὸν
δῆμον ἄῤῥητος, ἀνθ' ὧν ἤθους εὐμενείᾳ καὶ τρόπων χρηστότητι τὸ ὑπήκοον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἴθυνε· θαυμαζόμενος μάλιστα, ὅτε μεγαλοπρεπής
τις ὢν καὶ ἀρχικὸν κεκτημένος τὸ φρόνημα, προσηνής τε καὶ ἐπιεικὴς τοῖς ὑπηκόοις ἐδείκνυτο, προχείρως τοῖς χρῄζουσιν ἐπιδαψιλεύων
τὸν ἔλεον. ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν, φιλοτησίαις καὶ θεάτρων ἁμίλλαις τὸν δῆμον φιλοφρονούμενος, κατὰ τὸ Βυζάντιον διεχείμαζε καὶ τὸν
τοῦ ἦρος καιρὸν ἐξεδέχετο, τοὺς ἀμφ' αὑτὸν ἐξασκῶν ὁσημέραι λογάδας τὴν ἐνόπλιον κατὰ θάτερα δίνησιν καὶ τὴν παντοδαπὴν τοῦ
πολεμεῖν ἐμπειρίαν, ὁπόση παρὰ τὰς μάχας τοῖς ἀλκιμωτάτοις ἀνδράσιν ἐπινενόηται. ΛΕΟΝΤΟΣ ∆ΙΑΚΟΝΟΥ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ Η. αʹ. Τῆς δὲ χειμερινῆς
κατηφείας εἰς ἐαρινὴν αἰθρίαν μεταβαλούσης, τὸ σταυρικὸν σημεῖον εὐθὺς ἄρας ὁ βασιλεὺς, κατὰ τῶν Ταυροσκυθῶν ἠπείγετο. καὶ
δῆτα τῶν ἀνακτόρων ἐξαναστὰς, τῷ τοῦ Σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ κατὰ τὴν Χαλκῆν τιμωμένῳ σηκῷ πρόσεισι, τὸ θεῖον ἐξευμενισόμενος. ὅνπερ
ἀθρήσας ἐστενωμένον εὐκτήριον, μόλις που πεντεκαίδεκα χωρεῖν ἔνδον ἄνδρας δυνάμενον, σκολιάν τε καὶ δυσπρόσοδον, ὡσεί τινα
ἑλικοειδῆ λαβύρινθον ἢ κρησφύγετον κεκτημένον τὴν ἄνοδον, ἐξαυτῆς 129 ἐγκελεύεται ἐς τὸ μεγαλειότερον καὶ εὐαγέστερον ἐκ βάθρων
τοῦτον οἰκοδομεῖν, τῶν γείσων αὐτὸς σχηματίσας τὸν περίμετρον· ὃν εἰς τοῦτο κάλλος, εἰς ὃ νῦν ὁρᾶται, καὶ μέγεθος ἡ ἐκείνου
ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας τινὸς σπουδὴ καὶ ἐπίσκηψις ἤγειρεν. ἐντεῦθεν εἰς τὸν θεῖον καὶ περίπυστον νεὼν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας ἀφικόμενος,
ἄγγελόν τε αὑτῷ δοθῆναι ἐξαιτησάμενος, προπορευόμενον τοῦ στρατοῦ, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν κατευθύνοντα, εἰς τὸν ἐν Βλαχέρναις τιμώμενον
τῆς Θεομήτορος οἶκον λιτανεύων ἐπιφοιτᾷ. κἀνταῦθα δὲ ἱκετηρίαις τὸ θεῖον, ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς, ἐξιλεωσάμενος, ἄνεισιν ἐς τὰ ἐκεῖσε
ἀνάκτορα, τὰς πυρφόρους τριήρεις ὀψόμενος, τακτικῶς πρὸς τὸ τοῦ Βοσπόρου σαλευούσας προκόλπιον, ᾧ καὶ ἐπίνειον ταῖς φορτίσι
καθέστηκεν εὔορμον καὶ εὐγάληνον, ἐς καμπὴν ἠρέμα μέχρι τῆς γεφύρας καὶ τοῦ κατ' αὐτῆς εἰσβάλλοντος ποταμοῦ ἐκτεινόμενον.
τὴν γοῦν μετ' ἐμπειρίας καὶ κόσμου τῶν τριηρῶν εἰρεσίαν καὶ ἅμιλλαν ὁ βασιλεὺς θεασάμενος (ἐτύγχανον δὲ ὑπὲρ τὰς τριακοσίας,
συνάμα λέμβοις καὶ ἀκατίοις, ἃ νῦν γαλέας καὶ μονήρια κοινῶς ὀνομάζουσι), φιλοφρονησάμενός τε τοὺς ἐρέτας καὶ τὸ περὶ αὐτὰς
στρατιωτικὸν ἀργυρίου διανομῇ, ἐς τὸν Ἴστρον ἐκπέμπει, τὸν τούτου πόρον φρουρήσοντας, ὡς μὴ ἐνὸν εἴη τοῖς Σκύθαις, ἐς τὴν
σφῶν πατρίδα ἐκπλεῖν καὶ τὸν Κιμμέριον Βόσπορον, εἴγε πρὸς φυγὴν ἀποκλίνοιεν. λέγεται δὲ τὸν Ἴστρον ἕνα τῶν ἐξ Ἐδὲμ ἐκπορευομένων
εἶναι ποταμῶν, τὸν ἐπικεκλημένον Φισῶν, ἐκ τῆς ἕω μὲν
