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Persuaded by Himerios, he gave the authority of such a katepano to the protospatharios Eustathios, and as his personal representative. But when the blessed emperor had exchanged his life from things below for those above, Alexander, his brother, having become master of the imperial power, persuaded by malicious and ill-counselling men, as he replaced all those who had been appointed to certain offices by the blessed emperor and his brother, so too he replaced the aforementioned Eustathios, and appointed another in his place. For that Chase, who was of Saracen origin, and indeed remained a Saracen in mind and manner and worship, the slave of the patrikios Damian, since this protospatharios Chase had great influence at that time with the lord Alexander, the emperor, and likewise the protospatharios Niketas, the brother of Chase, who had also been made strategos of the Cibyrrhaeots by this same lord Emperor Alexander, this Niketas, then, the brother of the aforementioned Chase, petitioned the emperor, saying: "It is fitting for you to benefit me as your old friend, and I have one request for your majesty, and it is just that you hear me." And while the emperor was at a loss and was asking in return what this request might be, and promising to grant it whatever it was, the aforementioned Niketas made his request, saying: "My son, I ask that your majesty make him katepano of the Mardaites of Attaleia," persuaded by his request, the emperor, bringing the son of the protospatharios Niketas, the spatharokandidatos Aberkios, into the Chrysotriklinos during a procession, appointed him katepano of the Mardaites of Attaleia, just as the blessed Emperor Leo had previously done with Staurakios, surnamed the Broad. And the old custom from the beginning holds, as has been said in the beginning, that the katepano of the Mardaites is appointed by the emperor. It should be known that in the reign of Emperor Theophilos, Scholastikios the ostiarios became parakoimomenos, and in the reign of Michael, son of Theophilos, Damian the patrikios was parakoimomenos, and after him, in the reign of the same, Basil, the Christ-loving emperor, became parakoimomenos. But in the reign of Basil, the Christ-loving master, there was no parakoimomenos for his entire reign. In the reign of Leo, the Christ-loving master, Samonas the patrikios became parakoimomenos, and after him, in the reign of the same emperor, Konstantinos the patrikios was made so. In the reign of Emperor Alexander, Barbatus the patrikios became parakoimomenos, and in the reign of Constantine, the Christ-loving master, Konstantinos the patrikios, the one mentioned in the reign of the master Leo, became so again, and in the reign of the master Romanos, Theophanes the patrikios, and in the reign of Constantine again for the second time, Basil the patrikios was made so. It should be known that in the reign of Leo, the Christ-loving and ever-memorable emperor, there was that old man Ktenas, a very wealthy cleric, who was also domestikos in the Nea Ekklesia, and was a master of chant, such as there was no other at that time. This same Ktenas importuned the patrikios Samonas, who was at that time the parakoimomenos, to intercede for him with the emperor to be made a protospatharios and to wear an epikoutzoulon and to enter into the Lausiakos and to sit as a protospatharios and to receive a salary of one litra, and for such patronage to give the emperor forty litras. But the emperor did not tolerate to do this, saying that it was among the impossibilities, and: "It is a great dishonor to my reign for a cleric to become a protospatharios." But when this same Ktenas heard these things from the patrikios Samonas, he added to the forty litras also one set of scholaria, valued at ten litras, and a silver table service with gilded figures in relief, itself also valued at ten litras. And the emperor, being importuned by the entreaty of the patrikios and parakoimomenos Samonas, accepted the forty litras of gold and the set of scholaria and the

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Ἡμερίου πεισθείς, δέδωκεν τὴν τοῦ τοιούτου κατεπάνω ἐξουσίαν τῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ Εὐσταθίῳ καὶ ἐκ προσώπου. Τοῦ δὲ μακαρίου βασιλέως τὸν βίον ἀπὸ τῶν κάτω πρὸς τὰ ἄνω μετηλλαχότος, Ἀλέξανδρος, ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ, τῆς αὐτοκράτορος ἀρχῆς ἐγκρατὴς γεγονώς, ὡς πάντας τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ μακαρίου βασιλέως καὶ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ προβληθέντας ἔν τισιν ἀρχαῖς διεδέξατο, χαιρεκάκοις καὶ κακοβούλοις ἀνδράσιν πεισθείς, οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὸν προρρηθέντα Εὐστάθιον διεδέξατο, καὶ ἀντ' αὐτοῦ πεποίηκεν ἕτερον. Ὁ γὰρ Χασὲ ἐκεῖνος, ὁ ἐκ Σαρακηνῶν τῷ γένει ὁρμώμενος, Σαρακηνὸς δὲ τῷ ὄντι τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ τῷ τρόπῳ καὶ τῇ λατρείᾳ διατελῶν, ὁ τοῦ πατρικίου ∆αμιανοῦ δοῦλος, ἐπεὶ πολλὴν παρρησίαν εἶχεν τῷ τότε καιρῷ ὁ πρωτοσπαθάριος οὗτος Χασὲ πρὸς τὸν κύριν Ἀλέξανδρον, τὸν βασιλέα, ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ πρωτοσπαθάριος Νικήτας, ὁ ἀδελφὸς τοῦ Χασέ, ὁ καὶ τῶν Κιβυρραιωτῶν στρατηγὸς γεγονὼς παρὰ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κυροῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου βασιλέως, ὁ Νικήτας οὖν οὗτος, ὁ ἀδελφὸς τοῦ προρρηθέντος Χασέ, τὸν βασιλέα ᾐτήσατο, ὅτι· "Ὡς ἀρχαῖόν σου φίλον εὐεργετεῖν με πρέπον ἐστίν, ἓν δὲ πρὸς τὴν βασιλείαν σου αἴτημα ἔχω, καὶ δίκαιόν ἐστιν εἰσακοῦσαί μου". Τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως διαπορουμένου καὶ ἀντερωτῶντος, τί ἂν εἴη τοῦτο τὸ αἴτημα, καὶ ὅπερ ἐάν ἐστιν, ὑπακοῦσαι ὑποσχομένου, ὁ προρρηθεὶς Νικήτας ᾐτήσατο, ὅτι· "Τὸν υἱόν μου, αἰτοῦμαι, ἵνα ποιήσῃ ἡ βασιλεία σου κατεπάνω τῶν Μαρδαϊτῶν Ἀτταλείας", οὕτινος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῇ αἰτήσει πεισθείς, ἐπὶ προελεύσεως εἰσαγαγὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ πρωτοσπαθαρίου Νικήτα, τὸν σπαθαροκανδιδᾶτον Ἀβέρκιον, προεβάλετο αὐτὸν κατεπάνω τῶν Μαρδαϊτῶν Ἀτταλείας, καθὼς καὶ ὁ μακάριος Λέων ὁ βασιλεὺς πρότερον Σταυράκιον τὸν Πλατὺν ἐπονομαζόμενον. Καὶ ὁ ἐξ ἀρχῆθεν παλαιὸς ἔχων τύπος, καθὼς ἐν ἀρχαῖς εἴρηται, ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως προβάλλεσθαι τὸν κατεπάνω Μαρδαϊτῶν. Ἰστέον, ὅτι ἐπὶ βασιλέως τοῦ Θεοφίλου παρακοιμώμενος γέγονεν Σχολαστίκιος ὀστιάριος, ἐπὶ δὲ Μιχαήλ, υἱοῦ Θεοφίλου, παρακοιμώμενος ∆αμιανὸς πατρίκιος, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ γέγονεν παρακοιμώμενος Βασίλειος, ὁ φιλόχριστος βασιλεύς. Ἐπὶ δὲ Βασιλείου, τοῦ φιλοχρίστου δεσπότου, παρακοιμώμενος οὐ γέγονεν δι' ὅλης τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας. Ἐπὶ δὲ Λέοντος, τοῦ φιλοχρίστου δεσπότου, παρακοιμώμενος γέγονεν Σαμωνᾶς ὁ πατρίκιος, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ βασιλέως γέγονεν Κωνσταντῖνος πατρίκιος. Ἐπὶ δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρου βασιλέως γέγονεν παρακοιμώμενος πατρίκιος Βαρβᾶτος, ἐπὶ δὲ Κωνσταντίνου, τοῦ φιλοχρίστου δεσπότου, γέγονεν πάλιν Κωνσταντῖνος πατρίκιος, ὁ προρρηθεὶς ἐπὶ Λέοντος δεσπότου, ἐπὶ δὲ Ῥωμανοῦ δεσπότου Θεοφάνης πατρίκιος, ἐπὶ δὲ Κωνσταντίνου πάλιν τὸ δεύτερον γέγονεν Βασίλειος πατρίκιος. Ἰστέον, ὅτι ἐπὶ Λέοντος, τοῦ φιλοχρίστου καὶ ἀειμνήστου βασιλέως, ἦν ὁ Κτενᾶς ἐκεῖνος γέρων, κληρικὸς πάνυ πλούσιος, ὅστις ἦν καὶ δομέστικος εἰς τὴν Νέαν Ἐκκλησίαν, ὑπῆρχεν δὲ τεχνίτης εἰς τὸ ᾆσμα, οἷος τῷ τότε καιρῷ ἕτερος οὐκ ἦν. Ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς Κτενᾶς τὸν πατρίκιον Σαμωνᾶν ἐδυσώπησεν, τῷ τότε καιρῷ παρακοιμωμένου αὐτοῦ ὄντος, μεσιτεῦσαι αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν βασιλέα τοῦ γενέσθαι πρωτοσπαθάριον καὶ φορεῖν ἐπικούτζουλον καὶ προέρχεσθαι εἰς τὸν Λαυσιακὸν καὶ καθέζεσθαι ὡς πρωτοσπαθάριον καὶ ῥογεύεσθαι αὐτὸν λίτραν μίαν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀντιλήψεως δοῦναι τῷ βασιλεῖ λίτρας τεσσαράκοντα. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς οὐκ ἠνέσχετο τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, λέγων τῶν ἀδυνάτων τυγχάνειν, καί· "Εἰς μεγάλην ἀδοξίαν τῆς βασιλείας μου κληρικὸν γενέσθαι πρωτοσπαθάριον." Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς Κτενᾶς παρὰ τοῦ πατρικίου Σαμωνᾶ ταῦτα, προσέθηκεν εἰς τὰς τεσσαράκοντα λίτρας καὶ σχολαρίκια ζυγὴν μίαν, ἐκτιμηθεῖσαν λίτρας δέκα καὶ τραπεζίου ἀσήμιν ἔνζῳδον διάχρυσον ἀνάγλυφον, ἐκτιμηθὲν καὶ αὐτὸ λίτρας δέκα. Καὶ δυσωπηθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς τῇ παρακλήσει τοῦ πατρικίου Σαμωνᾶ καὶ παρακοιμωμένου, ἀνελάβετο τὰς τεσσαράκοντα τοῦ χρυσίου λίτρας καὶ τὴν ζυγὴν τὰ σχολαρίκια καὶ τοῦ τραπεζίου τὸ