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repentance was available to these. But to those already beyond help with their wicked hopes and bearing a manifest condemnation, we are not able to absolve their offenses." (6) And the empress, whether truly or otherwise having been rekindled by love for her husband (which is the case, and we agree), indeed assured that holy company under oath that she was lamenting greatly and bewailing and exaggerating everything at the time of his departure, and describing what sorts of things would befall us, being hated in so great a city on account of such a heresy: deprivation of prayers, extension of curses, uprising of the people; regret for the heresy came to him. And having at the same time both requested and kissed these things with a fervent soul, while I placed them in his hands, he delivered his spirit to the angels who were carrying him away. When they had heard this voice, and being in awe of the character of the Augusta (for she was, if anyone ever was, a lover of Christ), and at the same time seeking the honor of the holy icons, by a common vote and judgment they said that for this sin, if indeed it is so, he would find pardon from God, and at the same time 154 they gave his pledge to the empress through a written assurance. Whereupon, having received back the church, and having restored the honor of the high priesthood to the most holy Methodios, on the first Sunday of the holy fasts, with the empress herself, they celebrated an all-night hymnody in the sacred precinct of our most holy lady and Theotokos at Blachernae, and in the morning they proceed with a litany to the great precinct of the Word of God; and the church again takes up its adornment, the holy mystery having been purely accomplished. And so the orthodox church prospered, being renewed like an eagle, as the scripture says, with all the heretics under the whole sun and their high priest having been subjected to deposition; this was John, who on account of his own impiety was named Iannes by the pious, not a newcomer and a foreigner, but a native and an offspring of this queen of cities (for we have heard that bramble also grows in a vineyard), descending not from some obscure but from a very noble line, that so-called of the Morocharzamians. 7 This man, therefore, so that history may declare the facts concerning him, was from of old the abbot of the monastery of the martyrs Sergius and Bacchus located in the quarter of Hormisdas and was numbered among the imperial clergy, and was especially beloved by Michael the Stammerer, whether for this reason alone that he was a partaker in his heresy, or because he had a certain reputation for being distinguished in learning. Nevertheless, he was beloved 155 and was appointed tutor of Theophilos. And when this man took the reins of the empire, he first honors him as *synkellos*, and then later appoints him patriarch of Constantinople, as he announced to him certain predictions through lecanomancy and sorcery. And the sorcery was of this sort. When a certain faithless and harsh nation, led by three commanders, was overrunning and plundering the land of the Romans, and Theophilos and all his subjects were, as was likely, despondent over this, this man advises to put aside their despondency somewhere and to be filled with courage and joy, if only he would follow his counsel. And it was of this sort. Among the bronze statues set up on the spina of the hippodrome, there was said to be a certain statue fashioned with three heads, which he related by some elemental correspondence to the leaders of the nation. He therefore ordered that very large iron hammers, equal in number to the heads, be made, and that they be entrusted to three men, who were distinguished for the strength of their hands; and at a certain hour of the night, standing near the aforementioned statue, and holding the hammers aloft in their hands, when he should command them, they were to bring them down together with surpassing strength, so as to cut off the said heads with a single stroke and blow. having been at once cheered by these words

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μετάνοια τούτοις προσῆν. τοῖς δ' ηδη μετὰ πονηρῶν ἐλπίδων ἀπάρασι καὶ πρόδηλον φέρουσι τὴν κατάγνωσιν οὐχ οιοί τε τὰς εὐθύνας διαλύειν τούτοις ἡμεῖς." (6) καὶ ἡ δέσποινα, ειτ' ἀλη- θῶς ειτε καὶ αλλως τῷ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀναθερμανθεῖσα φίλτρῳ (οπερ εστι, καὶ ἡμεῖς συγκατατιθέμεθα), η μὴν ἐνωμότως τὸν ἱερὸν ἐκεῖνον θίασον ἐβεβαίου ὡς μεγάλα τραγῳδούσης καὶ κατολοφυρο- μένης καὶ πάντα ἐκτραγῳδούσης κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἐξόδου τούτου και- ρόν, καὶ διαγραφούσης ὡς οια ἐπακολουθήσει ἡμῖν μεμισημένοις ἐν τηλικαύτῃ πόλει περὶ τῆς τοιαύτης αἱρέσεως, εὐχῶν στέρησις, ἀρῶν ἐπέκτασις, λαοῦ ἐπανάστασις, εἰσῄει τούτῳ μετάμελος τῆς αἱρέσεως. καὶ ταύτας αμα αἰτησάμενός τε καὶ κατασπασάμενος ζεούσῃ ψυχῇ, ἐμοῦ ἐν χερσὶ καθυποβαλούσης, τοῖς ἀπάγουσιν ἀγγέλοις τὸ πνεῦμα παρέδωκεν. ταύτης ἐκεῖνοι ἀκηκοότες δὴ τῆς φωνῆς, καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς Αὐγούστης εὐλαβηθέντες (ην γάρ, εἰ καί τις, φιλόχριστος), καὶ αμα τὴν τῶν ἁγίων εἰκόνων ζητοῦντες τιμήν, κοινῇ ψήφῳ καὶ γνώμῃ τῆς μὲν ἁμαρτίας ταύτης, εἰ ου- τως τοῦτ' εστιν, συγγνώμην εφασαν εὑρήσειν παρὰ θεῷ, καὶ αμα 154 δι' ἐγγράφου ἀσφαλείας τὴν πίστιν τούτου τῇ δεσποίνῃ ἐδίδοσαν. ἐφ' οις τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀπολαβόντες, καὶ τῷ Μεθοδίῳ ἁγιωτάτῳ τὴν τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης ἀποδεδωκότες τιμήν, τῇ πρώτῃ τῶν ἁγίων νηστειῶν κυριακῇ σὺν αὐτῇ τῇ δεσποίνῃ πάννυχον ὑμνῳδίαν ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὰς Βλαχέρνας ἱερῷ τεμένει τῆς ὑπεραγίας ἡμῶν δεσποίνης καὶ θεοτόκου τετελεκότες, τῇ εωθεν μετὰ λιτῆς τῷ μεγάλῳ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου τεμένει καταλαμβάνουσι· καὶ τὸν κόσμον αὐτῆς αυθις ἀναλαμβάνει ἡ ἐκκλησία, τῆς ἁγίας μυσταγωγίας τελειωθείσης ἁγνῶς. καὶ ἡ μὲν ὀρθόδοξος ουτω προέκοπτεν ἐκκλησία, ἀνα- καινιζομένη ὡς ἀετός, τὸ τῆς γραφῆς, πάντων τῶν αἱρεσιωτῶν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ ὑφ' ἡλίῳ καθαιρέσει ὑποβληθέντων καὶ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως αὐτῶν· ̓Ιωάννης ουτος ην, ὁ διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσέβειαν ̓Ιαννὴς παρὰ τῶν εὐσεβῶν ὀνομασθείς, οὐκ ἐπηλύτης καὶ ξένος, αὐτόχθων δὲ καὶ τῆς βασιλίδος ταύτης τῶν πόλεων βλάστημα (φύεσθαι δὲ καὶ ἐν ἀμπέλῳ βάτον ἠκούσαμεν), οὐδ' ἐξ ἀσήμου τινὸς ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν εὐγενοῦς καταγόμενος σειρᾶς, τῆς ουτω τῶν Μοροχαρζαμίων λεγομένης. 7 Ουτος ουν, ινα καὶ τὰ κατ' αὐτὸν ἡ ἱστορία δηλώσῃ, τῆς μονῆς τῶν μαρτύρων Σεργίου καὶ Βάκχου τῆς ἐν τοῖς ̔Ορμίσ- δου διακειμένης ἡγούμενος ανωθεν καὶ τῷ βασιλικῷ κλήρῳ κατα- ριθμούμενος, διαφερόντως παρὰ Μιχαὴλ ἠγάπητο τοῦ Τραυλοῦ, ειτε μόνῳ τούτῳ τῷ κοινωνὸς ειναι τῆς τούτου αἱρέσεως, ειτε καὶ τῷ διαφέρειν ἐπὶ λογιότητι δόξαν τινὰ ἐσχηκώς. πλὴν ἠγάπητο 155 καὶ τοῦ Θεοφίλου διδάσκαλος ἐγκαθίστατο. καὶ ουτος ἐπεὶ τὰς τῆς βασιλείας εσχεν ἡνίας, σύγκελλον μὲν πρότερον τοῦτον τιμᾷ, ειθ' υστερον καὶ πατριάρχην καθίστησι Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, προγνώσεις τινὰς διὰ λεκανομαντείας καὶ γοητείας αὐτῷ ἀπαγγέλ- λοντα. καὶ ἡ γοητεία τοιαύτη. εθνους ποτὲ τρισὶν ὑφ' ἡγεμόσι στρατηγουμένου ἀπίστου τε καὶ σκληροῦ τὴν τῶν ̔Ρωμαίων χώραν κατατρέχοντός τε καὶ καταληϊζομένου, καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς ἀθυμοῦντος ἐπὶ τούτῳ τοῦ Θεοφίλου καὶ τοῦ ὑπηκόου παντός, ἀποσκευάζεσθαί που τὴν ἀθυμίαν ουτος συμβουλεύει καὶ θάρρους πληρωθῆναί τε καὶ χαρᾶς, ειγε μόνον τῇ τούτου ἐπακολουθοίη βουλῇ. ἡ δὲ ην τοιαύτη. ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὸν ευριπον τοῦ ἱπποδρομίου ἱδρυμένοις χαλκοῖς ἀνδριᾶσιν ἐλέγετό τις ειναι ἀνδριὰς τρισὶ διαμορφούμενος κεφαλαῖς, ας κατά τινα στοιχείωσιν πρὸς τοὺς τοῦ εθνους ἀρ- χηγοὺς ἀνῆγεν. σφύρας ουν μεγίστας σιδηρᾶς ἰσαρίθμους ταῖς κεφαλαῖς προσέταττε γενέσθαι, καὶ ἀνδράσιν ἐγχειρισθῆναι αὐτὰς τρισίν, ἐπὶ χειρῶν γενναιότητι διαφέροντας· κατὰ δέ τινα ωραν νυκτερινὴν πρὸς τὸν εἰρημένον ἀνδριάντα πλησίον στάντας αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰς σφύρας ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἐν μετεώρῳ εχοντας, ἡνίκα τούτοις κελεύσειεν, μεθ' ὑπερβαλλούσης δυνάμεως ὁμοῦ ταύτας κατενεγ- κεῖν, ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς κρούσματός τε καὶ πλήξεως τὰς τοιαύτας ἀποτε- μεῖν κεφαλάς. τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις εὐφρανθείς τε αμα