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at once, if anyone present there should be suspected of saying anything other than what had been said. For this reason each man anticipated the other in speaking words of favor and in showing that he considered it of greater importance to be under his command than to rule him himself. But these were otherwise a pretext and a boast, as was shown. So then, when the assembly was dissolved, the protovestiarios, having received these pledges and with the magnates supposedly willing, that he and he alone was pre-eminently the guardian of the emperor and of the state, taking up all his power, marched upon Magnesia. And so, having entrusted the emperor’s guards to faithful men, and those of the imperial treasury to others likewise faithful and worthy, who had security from many, among whom at that time the logothete of the herds, Hagiotheodorites, was in charge, he himself was busily engaged with the rest in the administration of common affairs. 79 Accordingly, commands were drawn up to be sent to all the cities of the Roman land, for other various needs, but for the most part and most importantly for the announcement of the emperor's death, and at the same time for the proclamation of the new emperor, and for attaching them to him by treaties of oaths, according to custom. And the commands were issued in great numbers, but they allowed the aforementioned logothete of the herds to make the imperial signatures in red, since the new emperor was not able to move his hand and sign. The protovestiarios, therefore, was occupied with the care of everything and was busy, using his free spirit in what he did, as if suspecting nothing.

18. Attack of the army against the Mouzalons. But in fact the envy against him was swelling, grievous and terrible, creeping up on him, though he was not at all aware of it. And the pretext of secret matters against him seemed plausible to those who were angry; for they seemed to be zealous on behalf of the emperors, on the one hand that he was sick because of enchantments concocted by them and that he would meet a bad end prematurely, on the other that he was aspiring to the throne and plotting to usurp power and that he thought more highly of himself than was his due, despising the emperor and speciously appropriating the imperial power. For the Italian mercenaries, whom the Grand Constable had under his command, there were also other particular accusations for the attack against him, such as that by the Mouzalons, and especially by the first of them, they were being deprived, while the emperor was alive, of the salaries assigned to them, that they were despised in matters where they thought they deserved to be honored, that they were excluded from freedom of speech with the emperor by his proposals, that they were dishonored by the command of the protovestiarios. Stirred up by these and similar things, the blond and warlike race was ready to slaughter them, if only someone would urge them on. The blame for this, as the common report has it, was held by the commander of their phalanx, who incited them, who had long been eager, but were then more inflamed, released from fear and ready to commit irreparable deeds, to dare the murder, as they had the opportunity. And the account from later events lends it plausibility; for 81 they would not have dared, if they had not had some encouragement, being foreigners and for the most part newcomers. And if they were so bold on their own, it is all the more necessary to suspect their leader.

19. How the murder of the Mouzalons was dared by the army. Meanwhile, the ninth day after the departed was laid to rest had come, and it was necessary to hold a memorial for him according to custom. Therefore, as many of the clergy as were present there went up to the monastery of Sosandra, where the body of the emperor was buried next to his father; all the officials also went up, and apart from them the leading women and matrons, and all the servants of the rulers. The soldiery, however, by design all the more, had been left below around the emperor. So when the Mouzalons went with their entire household, displaying a particular affection for the deceased beyond the others, then the soldiery, and especially the Italian and foreign contingent, seizing the opportunity, some eager to avenge themselves on those who had grieved them, others

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παραχρῆμα, εἰ ἄλλο τι παρὰ τὰ λεχθέντα λέγειν ὑπονοοῖτό τις ἐκεῖσε παρών. Ὅθεν καὶ προὐλάμβανεν ἄλλος ἄλλον λέξων τὰ πρὸς χάριν καὶ δείξων ὡς τὸ ὑπ' ἐκείνῳ τάττεσθαι τοῦ ἄρχειν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον περὶ πλείονος ἄγοι. Τὰ δ' ἦσαν σκῆψις καὶ κόμπος ἄλλως, ὡς ἔδειξε. Τότε γοῦν τοῦ συλλόγου διαλυθέντος, τὰ πιστὰ λαβὼν ἐντεῦθεν ὁ πρωτο βεστιάριος τοῦ, καὶ ἑκόντων δῆθεν τῶν μεγιστάνων, βασιλέως καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτὸν καὶ μόνον ἐκεῖνον εἶναι διαφερόντως τὸν φροντιστήν, ἀναλαβὼν τὴν πᾶσαν δύναμιν, ἐπὶ Μαγνησίας ἐχώρει. Καὶ δὴ τὰς φυλακὰς τὴν μὲν βασιλέως ἀνδράσι πιστοῖς ἐγχειρίσας, τὴν δὲ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ ταμιείου ἑτέροις ὁμοίως πιστοῖς καὶ ἀξίοις, ἀπὸ πολλῶν τὸ ἐχέγγυον ἔχουσιν, ὧν δὴ ὁ λογοθέτης τότε τῶν ἀγελῶν ὁ Ἁγιοθεοδωρίτης ἐξηγεῖτο, αὐτὸς ἐπὶ ταῖς τῶν κοινῶν διοικήσεσι μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐσπουδαιοτρίβει. Συνετάττοντο 79 τοίνυν προστάγματα πανταχοῦ πόλεων τῆς Ῥωμαίων γῆς ἀποσταλησόμενα, καὶ κατ' ἄλλας μὲν χρείας ἑτέρας, τὸ δὲ πλεῖστον καὶ μέγιστον κατά τε δήλωσιν τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ βασιλέως, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῆς τοῦ νέου βασιλέως ἀναρρήσεως, καὶ τοῦ εἰς ἐκεῖνον προστίθεσθαι χάριν συνθήκαις ὅρκων κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες. Καὶ ἐξετίθεντο μὲν τὰ προσταττόμενα παμπληθεί, τὰς δὲ δι' ἐρυθρῶν βασιλικὰς ὑποσημάνσεις, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἦν τὸν νέον βασιλέα χεῖρα κινεῖν καὶ ὑποσημαίνεσθαι, τῷ δηλωθέντι λογοθέτῃ τῶν ἀγελῶν ποιεῖν ἐνεδίδοσαν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν πρωτοβεστιάριος πρὸς ταῖς περὶ τῶν ὅλων φροντίσιν ἦν καὶ ἀσχόλως εἶχεν, ἐλευθέρῳ χρώμενος, ὡς μηδὲν ὑπειδόμενος, τῷ φρονήματι ἐφ' οἷς ἔπραττεν.

ιηʹ. Ἐπίθεσις τοῦ στρατοῦ κατὰ τῶν Μουζαλώνων. Ἦν δὲ ἄρα ὁ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον φθόνος οἰδαίνων βαρὺς καὶ δεινὸς ὑφεῖρπεν ἐκείνῳ, μὴ τὸ σύνολον ἐπαΐοντι. Καὶ ἡ σκῆψις τῶν ἀπορρήτων κατ' ἐκείνου τοῖς ὀργιζομένοις ὡς πιθανή· ἐδόκουν γὰρ καὶ ὑπὲρ βασιλέων ζηλοῦν, τοῦ μὲν ὅτι μαγγανείαις ταῖς παρ' ἐκείνων συσκευασθείσαις νοσοίη καὶ ὡς κακῶς ἀπαλλάξειε πρόωρος, τοῦ δὲ ὅτι βασιλειᾷ καὶ ὑφαρπάζειν τὴν ἀρχὴν μελετᾷ καὶ μεῖζον ἢ καθ' αὑτὸν φρονεῖ, περιφρονῶν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν εὐπροσώπως ὑποποιούμενος. Τοῖς δὲ τῶν ξενικῶν Ἰταλοῖς, οὓς δὴ καὶ ὑπὸ χεῖρα εἶχεν ὁ μέγας κονοσταῦλος, καὶ ἄλλα ἴδι' ἄττα ἦσαν τῆς κατ' ἐκεῖνον ὁρμῆς αἰτιάματα, ὡς παρὰ Μουζαλώνων, καὶ μᾶλλον ἑνὸς τοῦ πρώτου, στεροῖντο, ζῶντος βασιλέως, τῶν εἰς ῥόγας αὐτοῖς ἀποτεταγ μένων, ὡς καταφρονοῖντο ἐφ' οἷς ἐδικαίουν ἑαυτοὺς τετιμῆσθαι, ὡς τῆς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἀποκλείοιντο παρρησίας εἰσηγήσεσι ταῖς ἐκείνου, ὡς ἀτιμοῖντο, τοῦ πρωτοβεστιαρίου προστάσσοντος. Τούτοις καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις τὸ ξανθόν τε καὶ ἀριμάνιον γένος ἐρεθιζόμενοι ἕτοιμοι ἦσαν κατασφάττειν ἐκείνους, εἰ μόνον τις παρορμῴη. Αἰτίαν δ' ἔσχεν εἰς τοῦτο, ὡς ὁ τῶν πολλῶν λόγος ἔχει, ὁ τούτων τῆς φάλαγγος ἐξηγούμενος, ὃς καὶ πάλαι μὲν ὡρμημένους αὐτούς, τότε δ' ἐξαφθέντας πλέον, ἀνεθέντας τοῦ φόβου καὶ δρασείοντας τὰ ἀνήκεστα ἐξ ἑτοίμου, ἠρέθισε τὸν φόνον ἐπιτολμῆσαι, καιρὸν ἔχοντας. Καὶ ὁ λόγος ἐκ τῶν ὑστέρων φέρει τὸ πιθανόν· οὐδὲ γὰρ 81 ἂν ἐτόλμων, εἰ μή τινας προβιβάσεις εἶχον, ἀλλοεθνεῖς ὄντες καὶ τὸ πλέον ἐπήλυδες. Καὶ εἰ οὕτως εἶχον καὶ μόνως θαρρεῖν, ἀνάγκη παντὸς μᾶλλον τὸν ἄγοντα ὑποπτεύεσθαι.

ιθʹ. Ὅπως παρὰ τοῦ στρατοῦ ἐτολμήθη ὁ φόνος τοῖς Μουζάλωσιν. Τέως δ' οὖν ἡ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀποιχομένῳ ἐννάτη κειμένῳ παρῆν, καὶ ἔδει τὴν μνήμην ἄγειν ἐκείνῳ κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες. Ἀνέρχονται τοίνυν εἰς τὴν τῶν Σωσάνδρων μονήν, ὅπου καὶ ὁ νεκρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως ἐχόμενα τοῦ πατρὸς τέθαπτο, τῶν ἱερωμένων ὅσοι παρῆσαν ἐκεῖσε· ἀνέρχονται δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐν τέλει πάντες, χωρὶς δ' ἐκείνων καὶ τῶν γυναικῶν αἱ προὔχουσαι καὶ ματρῶναι, καὶ πᾶν ὅσον ἦν ὑπηρετικὸν τοῖς κρατοῦσι. Τὸ μέντοι γε στρατιωτικόν, ἐκ προνοίας καὶ μᾶλλον, κάτω περὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἐγκαταλέλειπτο. Ὡς γοῦν πανοικὶ καὶ οἱ Μουζάλωνες ᾔεσαν, ἰδίαν παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους στοργὴν πρὸς τὸν θανόντα ἐπιδεικνύμενοι, τότε τὸ στρατιωτικόν, διαφερόντως δὲ τὸ Ἰταλικόν τε καὶ ξενικόν, ἁρπάσαντες τὸν καιρόν, οἱ μὲν ἀμύνεσθαι τοὺς λυπήσαντας ὀρεγόμενοι, οἱ