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
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 battle was still joined, Leo Kouropalates, the kinsman of the emperor Nikephoros, being guarded at Methymna on Lesbos along with his son Nikephoros, as has already been related by me, having corrupted the guards with gold, turned to revolt, having the pupils of his eyes unharmed. For the one who had previously been incited to blind him, whether he had done this by order of the emperor (for this is also suspected; and the proof is that after the discovery of the deed the man remained unharmed), or was swayed by pity for so great a misfortune, burned his eyelids, but left the pupils unharmed and sound. Then, at any rate, the Kouropalates, embarking in a small boat, secretly put in to shore on the land opposite Byzantium, hiding at a certain monastery called Pelamys. And from there, through one of his servants, he announced his own arrival to his friends and acquaintances. They swore to assist him with all their strength, and to gather a multitude of 146 armed men, and to steal the keys of the imperial residence, by which an easy entrance into the palace might be made for him. And indeed they set to work, and attempted to fulfill by deeds the promise made in words, without any delay. Then, having won over one of the imperial key-keepers with gifts, they persuaded him to make an impression of the keys in wax, and to give the wax to them. And he, without any hesitation, made the impression in the wax and handed it over; and they, having hired an artisan, had the keys forged in a hearth as quickly as possible. 4. And when everything was proceeding for them according to plan, as it seemed, they summoned the Kouropalates to cross the Bosphorus, and to land at Byzantium. But he, in the dead of night, embarking on a ship and putting in at the acropolis, from there through a certain small gate situated under the residence of Saint Phokas, entered inside the city, dreaming that he already held the supreme power in his hands. But for him, instead of a splendid purple robe, and golden sceptres, and the tyranny, which he had plotted (would that he had not!), fortune was perversely contriving a bitter blinding and a long exile, and the confiscation of his property, somehow laughing at the man's hopes, as if they were not placed on a secure foundation, but were being turned around against him, and rolling on a harsh disaster of misfortunes. For just as he was sitting in the house of one of his servants in the district of Sphorakion, waiting for the conspirators to assemble, one of his followers, slipping out of the residence, approached a certain one of his acquaintances, who was a curator of the imperial sail-making establishment, informing him of the 147 arrival of the Kouropalates, and revealing the plot, and begging him to assist them with the body of men working in the sail-making establishment. And he promised to help most swiftly, and rising up as if to summon the crowd around him, he went away. But arriving at the house of Leo the Patrician and Drungarius of the Fleet, who at that time had been entrusted by the emperor with the care of Byzantium, he revealed everything to him; how the Kouropalates, having returned from exile, being an interloper, and staying in a certain residence, was on the very point of attempting a usurpation. But he, struck by the suddenness of the news, then recovering himself (for he was steady in crises, and vigorous in finding the necessary course in difficulties), having taken up the troop around him, immediately attacked the house in which the Kouropalates was staying. But when the Kouropalates realized that his plot had been detected and made public, slipping out through a certain window with his son Nikephoros, into the
δώροις καὶ προπόσεσιν ἐθεράπευε, προθυμοποιῶν, ῥωμαλέως ἐπὶ τοὺς πολέμους χωρεῖν. γʹ. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων ᾐωρημένων,
καὶ τῆς μάχης ἔτι συνεστηκυίας, Λέων Κουροπαλάτης, ὁ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος Νικηφόρου ὁμαίμων, ἐπὶ τὴν κατὰ Λέσβον Μήθυμναν ἅμα
Νικηφόρῳ τῷ υἱῷ φρουρούμενος, ὥς μοι ἤδη δεδήλωται, χρυσῷ τοὺς φρουροὺς διαφθείρας, ἐς ἀποστασίαν ἀπέκλινεν, ἀσινεῖς ἔχων
τὰς κόρας τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. ὁ γὰρ ἐκτυφλοῦν τὸ πρόσθεν αὐτὸν προτραπεὶς, εἴτε κατ' ἐντολὴν τοῦ βασιλέως τοῦτο πεποιηκὼς (ὑπονοεῖται
γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο· τεκμήριον δὲ, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν τοῦ δράματος διάγνωσιν κακῶν ἀπαθὴς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἔμεινεν), εἴτε καὶ οἴκτῳ τῆς τοσαύτης
ἐπικαμφθεὶς συμφορᾶς, τὰς μὲν βλεφαρίδας ἐκείνου κατέκαυσεν, ἀσινεῖς δὲ καὶ ἀκηράτους τὰς κόρας παρέλιπε. τότε γοῦν εἰς ἀκάτιον
ὁ Κουροπαλάτης ἐμβὰς, τῇ κατ' ἀντιπέρας Βυζαντίου χθονὶ λεληθότως προσώρμισεν, ἐπί τι φροντιστήριον, ὃ Πηλαμὺς κέκληται, κρυπτόμενος.
ἐκεῖθέν τε διά τινος τῶν οἰκείων τοῖς φίλοις καὶ γνωστοῖς τὴν αὑτοῦ καταμηνύει ἄφιξιν. οἱ δὲ παντὶ σθένει συνάρασθαί οἱ διωμολόγουν,
καὶ πλῆθος συναθροίσειν ἐνόπλων 146 ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τὰς τῆς βασιλικῆς ἑστίας κλεῖς ὑφελέσθαι, δι' ὧν αὐτῷ εὐπετῶς ἡ ἐς τὰ βασίλεια
γένοιτο πάροδος. καὶ δῆτα ἔργου εἴχοντο, καὶ τὴν διὰ λόγων ὑπόσχεσιν καὶ δι' ἔργων ἀνύττειν ἐπεχείρουν, μηδόλως μελλήσαντες.
ἐντεῦθεν δή τινα τῶν βασιλικῶν κλειδούχων δωρεαῖς ὑποποιησάμενοι, κηρῷ τὰς κλεῖς ἐκτυποῦν ἔπεισαν, καὶ αὑτοῖς ἐπιδοῦναι τὸν
κηρόν. καὶ ὃς, οὐδὲν ἀναδὺς, τυπώσας τὸν κηρὸν ἐπεδίδου· οἱ δὲ, βάναυσον μισθωσάμενοι, τὰς κλεῖς ἐφ' ἑστίας ὡς τάχος ἐχάλκευσαν.
δʹ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντα τούτοις κατὰ γνώμην, ὥς γε ἐδόκει, ἐχώρει, τὸν Κουροπαλάτην ἐκάλουν περαιοῦσθαι τὸν Βόσπορον, καὶ καταίρειν
ἐπὶ τὸ Βυζάντιον. ὁ δὲ, τῶν νυκτῶν ἀωρὶ νεὼς ἐπιβὰς καὶ τῇ ἀκροπόλει προσσχὼν, ἐκεῖθεν διά τινος πυλίδος ὑπὸ τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου
Φωκᾶ τελεθούσης ἑστίαν, ἔνδον εἰσῄει τοῦ ἄστεος, τὴν τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἀρχὴν ἤδη κατέχειν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ὀνειροπολῶν. τῷ δὲ, ἀντὶ
πορφυρίδος λαμπρᾶς, καὶ σκήπτρων χρυσῶν, καὶ τυραννίδος, ἣν ὡς μὴ ὤφελεν ἐμελέτησεν, ἐκτύφλωσιν πικρὰν καὶ ὑπερορίαν μακρὰν,
καὶ δήμευσιν τῶν οἰκείων ἡ τύχη ἐσκαιωρεῖτο, ἐπιγελῶσά που τοῖς ἐλπιζομένοις τἀνδρὶ, ὡς οὐκ ἐν ἐχυρῷ κειμένοις, ἀλλ' εἰς τοὔμπαλιν
αὐτῷ περιτρεπομένοις, καὶ χαλεπὴν τῶν ἀτυχημάτων ἐπικυλίνδουσι συμφοράν. ἄρτι γὰρ, ἐπείπερ κατ' οἶκόν τινος τῶν ὑπηρετουμένων
αὐτῷ ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Σφορακίου μέρεσι καθῆστο, τοὺς συνωμότας συνελθεῖν ἐκδεχόμενος, εἷς τῶν ἐφεπομένων αὐτῷ, τῆς ἑστίας ὑπεξελθὼν,
πρόσεισι τῶν συνήθων τινὶ, βασιλικῆς ἱστουργίας ὄντι μελεδωνῷ, τὴν 147 τοῦ Κουροπαλάτου ἐνδημίαν μηνύων αὐτῷ, καὶ τὸ δρᾶμα
ἀνακαλύπτων, καὶ προσλιπαρῶν συνάρασθαι αὑτοῖς μετὰ τοῦ τὴν ἱστουργικὴν αὐτουργοῦντος συστήματος. ὁ δὲ τὴν ταχίστην βοηθεῖν
ἐπηγγέλλετο, καὶ ἀναστὰς ὡς τὸ περὶ αὑτὸν πλῆθος καλέσας ἀπῄει. παρὰ Λέοντα δὲ τὸν Πατρίκιον καὶ πλωΐμου ∆ρουγγάριον ἀφικόμενος,
ὃς τότε παρὰ βασιλέως τὴν τοῦ Βυζαντίου ἐκεχείριστο πρόνοιαν, πάντα τούτῳ δηλοῖ· καὶ ὡς ὁ Κουροπαλάτης ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας ἀναχθεὶς,
ἐπηλύτης τε ὢν, καὶ κατά τινα οἰκουρῶν ἑστίαν, ὅσον οὔπω βούλεται τυραννεῖν. ὁ δὲ τῷ ἀθρόῳ τῆς ἀγγελίας καταπλαγεὶς, εἶτ'
αὖθις ἀνενεγκὼν (ἦν δὲ σταθηρὸς ἐν περιστάσεσι, καὶ τὸ δέον δραστήριος ἐν ἀπόροις ἐξευρεῖν), τὸ περὶ αὑτὸν στῖφος ἀνειληφώς,
ἐξαυτῆς τῇ οἰκίᾳ, καθ' ἣν ὁ Κουροπαλάτης κατήγετο, ἐπιτίθεται. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔγνω τὸ καθ' αὑτὸν δρᾶμα κατάφωρον ὁ Κουροπαλάτης καὶ
ἔκδηλον γεγονὸς, διά τινος παραθύρου μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ ὑπεκδὺς Νικηφόρου, ἐς τὸν
