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having seen and been astonished and become amazed at the mighty assault against them of the invincible and unconquerable hoplite and general and commander and trophy-bearer and victory-bringer, the first-called apostle Andrew, they were disturbed, they were shaken, trembling seized them, and they fled for refuge to his all-holy church. When, therefore, the general arrived on the third day after the victory and learned of the apostle's triumph, he reported to the emperor Nikephoros the assault of the Sklavenoi and the plunder and captivity and annihilation and the pillaging and the other terrible things, which they did in their raid into the parts of Achaia, and moreover the siege of many days and the continuous attack against the inhabitants of the fortress, likewise also the visitation and alliance and the trophy and the decisive victory, which came from the apostle, and how he was seen with their own eyes running upon and pursuing the enemy from the rear and routing them, so that even the barbarians themselves perceived the apostle's visitation and alliance with us, and for this reason they fled for refuge to his venerable church. And the emperor, having learned these things, commanded thus: "Since both the trophy and the decisive victory have come from the apostle, it is fitting that the entire expedition of the enemy and the booty and the spoils be given over to him." And he decreed that the enemies themselves, with all their family and kin and all their relatives, and moreover all their substance, be set apart for the church of the apostle in the metropolis of Patras, in which the first-called disciple of Christ completed the contest of his martyrdom, having also issued a sigillion concerning them in the same metropolis. These things the elders and ancients announced, having handed them down unwritten by time and life to those who came after, so that, according to the prophet, the coming generation might know the miracle that happened through the intercessions of the apostle, and they will arise and declare it to their sons, that they may not forget the benefactions which God wrought through the intercessions of the apostle. And from that time, the Sklavenoi set apart in the metropolis support the generals and the imperial officials and all the envoys sent from the nations as hostages, having their own table-setters and cooks and all those who prepare the food for the table, the metropolis innovating nothing in these matters, but the Sklavenoi themselves gather such necessities from the distribution and contribution of their group. And Leo, the ever-memorable and most wise emperor, also made a sigillion, containing in detail what those enrolled ought to provide to the metropolitan, and that they should not be extorted for money by him or be otherwise unjustly penalized by some evil design. 50 Concerning the Slavs in the theme of the Peloponnese, both the Melingoi and the Ezeritai, and concerning the pacts fulfilled by them, likewise also concerning the inhabitants of the fortress of Maina and the pact fulfilled by them. It must be known that the Slavs of the theme of the Peloponnese, in the days of the emperor Theophilos and his son, Michael, having revolted, became autonomous, working pillage and enslavement and raids and arsons and thefts. But in the reign of Michael, the son of Theophilos, the protospatharios Theoktistos, whose surname was Bryennios, was sent as general in the theme of the Peloponnese with great power and strength, that is, of Thracians and Macedonians and of the other western themes, to war against and subdue them. And he subdued and subjugated all the Slavs and other insubordinates of the theme of the Peloponnese, but only the Ezeritai and the Melingoi were left near Lakedaimonia and Helos. And since there is a great and very high mountain there, called Pentadaktylos, and it enters like a neck into the sea for a great distance, and because of the

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ἰδόντες καὶ καταπλαγέντες καὶ ἔκθαμβοι γεγονότες ἐπὶ τῇ κατ' αὐτῶν κραταιᾷ ἐπελεύσει τοῦ ἀηττήτου καὶ ἀκαταγωνίστου ὁπλίτου καὶ στρατηγοῦ καὶ ταξιάρχου καὶ τροπαιούχου καὶ νικηφόρου πρωτοκλήτου ἀποστόλου Ἀνδρέου, ἐταράχθησαν, ἐσαλεύθησαν, τρόμος ἐπελάβετο αὐτούς, καὶ προσέφυγον εἰς τὸν πάνσεπτον ναὸν αὐτοῦ. Τοῦ οὖν στρατηγοῦ μετὰ τὸ τρόπαιον ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ καταλαβόντος καὶ τὴν νίκην τοῦ ἀποστόλου μαθόντος, κατεμήνυσεν τῷ βασιλεῖ Νικηφόρῳ τήν τε ἔφοδον τῶν Σκλαβήνων καὶ τὴν προνομὴν καὶ αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ ἀφανισμὸν καὶ τὴν λεηλασίαν καὶ τἄλλα δεινά, ὅσα καταδραμόντες ἐποίησαν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς Ἀχαΐας, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὴν πολυήμερον πολιορκίαν καὶ τὴν κατὰ τῶν οἰκητόρων τοῦ κάστρου διηνεκῆ ἐπίθεσιν, ὡσαύτως καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν καὶ συμμαχίαν καὶ τὸ τρόπαιον καὶ τὴν κατὰ κράτος νίκην, τὴν γενομένην παρὰ τοῦ ἀποστόλου, καὶ ὡς ὀφθαλμοφανῶς ὡράθη ἐπιτρέχων καὶ διώκων τοὺς πολεμίους κατὰ νῶτον καὶ τροπούμενος αὐτούς, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς βαρβάρους αἰσθέσθαι τὴν τοῦ ἀποστόλου πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπισκοπὴν καὶ συμμαχίαν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προσφυγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν σεβάσμιον ναὸν αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ταῦτα ἀναμαθὼν παρεκελεύσατο οὕτως· "Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ τρόπαιον καὶ ἡ κατὰ κράτος νίκη παρὰ τοῦ ἀποστόλου γέγονεν, ὀφειλόμενον καθέστηκεν πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκστρατείαν τῶν πολεμίων καὶ τὰ λάφυρα καὶ τὰ σκῦλα αὐτῷ ἀποδοθῆναι." Καὶ διωρίσατο αὐτούς τε τοὺς πολεμίους μετὰ πάσης τῆς φαμιλίας καὶ συγγενείας καὶ πάντων τῶν προσηκόντων αὐτοῖς, ἔτι δὲ καὶ πάσης τῆς ὑπάρξεως αὐτῶν, ἀφορισθῆναι εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἐν τῇ μητροπόλει Πατρῶν, ἐν ᾗ ὁ πρωτόκλητος καὶ μαθητὴς τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸν τῆς ἀθλήσεως διήνυσεν ἀγῶνα, δεδωκὼς περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ σιγίλλιον ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ μητροπόλει. Ταῦτα οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ ἀρχαιότεροι ἀνήγγειλαν, παραδόντες ἀγράφως χρόνῳ τε καὶ βίῳ τοῖς ὕστερον, ὅπως ἂν κατὰ τὸν προφήτην γνῷ γενεὰ ἡ ἐρχομένη τὸ γεγονὸς θαῦμα διὰ πρεσβειῶν τοῦ ἀποστόλου, καὶ ἀναστήσονται καὶ ἀπαγγελοῦσιν αὐτὸ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλάθωνται τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, ὧν ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς διὰ πρεσβειῶν τοῦ ἀποστόλου. Ἔκτοτε δὲ οἱ ἀφορισθέντες Σκλαβῆνοι ἐν τῇ μητροπόλει καὶ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς καὶ τοὺς βασιλικοὺς καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀποστελλομένους πρέσβεις ὡς ὁμήρους διατρέφουσιν, ἔχοντες ἰδίους καὶ τραπεζοποιοὺς καὶ μαγείρους καὶ πάντας τοὺς παρασκευάζοντας τὰ τῆς τραπέζης βρώματα, τῆς μητροπόλεως εἰς ταῦτα μηδὲν καινοτομουμένης, ἀλλ' αὐτοὶ οἱ Σκλαβῆνοι ἀπὸ διανομῆς καὶ συνδοσίας τῆς ὁμάδος αὐτῶν ἐπισυνάγουσιν τὰς τοιαύτας χρείας. Ἐποίησεν δὲ καὶ σιγίλλιον Λέων, ὁ ἀείμνηστος καὶ σοφώτατος βασιλεύς, λεπτομερῶς περιέχον τό, τί ὀφείλουσιν παρέχειν οἱ αὐτοὶ ἐναπογραφόμενοι τῷ μητροπολίτῃ, καὶ μὴ ἀπαργυρίζεσθαι παρ' αὐτοῦ ἢ ἄλλως πως κατ' ἐπίνοιαν ἄδικον ζημιοῦσθαι αὐτούς. 50 Περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ θέματι Πελοποννήσου Σκλάβων, τῶν τε Μηλιγγῶν καὶ Ἐζεριτῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν τελουμένων παρ' αὐτῶν πάκτων, ὁμοίως καὶ περὶ τῶν οἰκητόρων τοῦ κάστρου Μαΐνης καὶ τοῦ παρ' αὐτῶν τελουμένου πάκτου. Ἰστέον, ὅτι οἱ τοῦ θέματος Πελοποννήσου Σκλάβοι ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοφίλου καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, Μιχαήλ, ἀποστατήσαντες γεγόνασιν ἰδιόρρυθμοι, λεηλασίας καὶ ἀνδραποδισμοὺς καὶ πραίδας καὶ ἐμπρησμοὺς καὶ κλοπὰς ἐργαζόμενοι. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς βασιλείας Μιχαήλ, τοῦ υἱοῦ Θεοφίλου, ἀπεστάλη ὁ πρωτοσπαθάριος Θεόκτιστος, οὗ τὸ ἐπίκλην ὁ τῶν Βρυεννίων, στρατηγὸς ἐν τῷ θέματι Πελοποννήσου μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ ἰσχύος πολλῆς, ἤγουν Θρᾳκῶν καὶ Μακεδόνων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν δυτικῶν θεμάτων τοῦ πολεμῆσαι καὶ καθυποτάξαι αὐτούς. Καὶ πάντας μὲν τοὺς Σκλάβους καὶ λοιποὺς ἀνυποτάκτους τοῦ θέματος Πελοποννήσου ὑπέταξε καὶ ἐχειρώσατο, μόνοι δὲ οἱ Ἐζερῖται καὶ οἱ Μηλιγγοὶ κατελείφθησαν ὑπὸ τὴν Λακεδαιμονίαν καὶ τὸ Ἕλος. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐκεῖσε μέγα καὶ ὑψηλότατον, καλούμενον Πενταδάκτυλος, καὶ εἰσέρχεται ὥσπερ τράχηλος εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἕως πολλοῦ διαστήματος, διὰ δὲ τὸ