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delights. When, therefore, such a desire came upon him, he summons a certain monk from among us Romans, a painter; Methodios was the man's name. Therefore, when this man stood before him, by some divine providence he did not command him to paint scenes of slaughter in war or the slaying of animals and beasts, but whatever he wished, saying only this, that he wanted those who saw it to be led into fear by the sight and at the same time to be moved to astonishment by the painting. This man, therefore, knowing nothing else that would lead to fear more than the second coming of God, depicted this there, on the one hand the righteous receiving the prizes for their labors, and on the other the sinners reaping the fruits of their lives and being driven away and violently sent off to the threatened punishment. Therefore, when the painting was finished, upon seeing these things, and conceiving the fear of God in himself through them, and having been instructed in our divine mysteries, in the dead of night he partakes of holy baptism. When this became known, he endures an uprising from his entire nation, whom he defeated with a few men, carrying the sign of the divine cross on his breast, and as for the rest, he no longer acted in secret but openly made them Christians, as they themselves desired. Therefore, when he was converted to the worship of God, he writes to the empress about land, being hard-pressed by the size of his own population, and he asks of her more boldly, as they were now one and not two, bound by unbroken faith and 165 friendship, and he promised to put himself at her service and to work for an eternal and unbreachable peace. And she heard him kindly, and gave him the land that was at that time deserted, from Sidera—which was then the border between the Romans and them—as far as Debeltos, which is thus called Zagora among them. In this way, therefore, all of Bulgaria was reformed to piety, God having called them to the knowledge of himself, and thus from small sparks and blows; and thus having been deemed worthy of Roman land as of some other promise, they submitted themselves to an unbreakable communion. 16 So matters in the west were thus proceeding brilliantly and were being talked about everywhere. Delighting in these things, and having a desire to add greater trophies, as it were, she tried either to convert the Paulicians in the east to piety as she wished, or to eliminate them and make them disappear from mankind; which also filled our land with many evils. For having sent some of those in authority (the son of Argyros and the son of Doukas and Soudales were said to be the ones sent), some they hanged on a tree, others they delivered to the sword, and others to the depth of the sea. The people thus perishing were numbered at about ten myriads, and their property was brought and carried into the imperial treasury ... Now there was with the strategos of the Anatolics (this was Theodotos, the son-in-law of 166 Melissenos) a certain man numbered in his service, named Karbeas, who held the office of protomandator, boasting and priding himself in the faith of these said Paulicians. When, therefore, this man heard that his own father had been hanged on the tree, considering this beyond terrible and arranging for his own flight, with five thousand others who shared in this heresy, he goes to the then-ruler of Melitene, Amer, and from there they go to the amir al-mu'minin. And having been received with much honor, and having given and likewise received a word of safety, after not long they set out against the land of the Romans, and for the sake of trophies, since they were growing in numbers, they attempted to build cities for them, the one so-called Argaoun and Amara, and again, as many were flocking there who were held by the same wickedness, they begin to build another, this one Tephrike

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ἐντρυφήματα. ὡς γοῦν ὁ τοιοῦτος αὐτὸν ερως ἐπεισῆλθεν, μετακαλεῖται μοναχόν τινα τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς ̔Ρωμαίων ζωγράφον· Μεθόδιος ονομα τῷ ἀνδρί. τοῦ- τον ουν στάντα κατὰ πρόσωπον εκ τινος θείας προνοίας οὐ τὰς ἐν πολέμῳ ἀνδροκτασίας η  τὰς ζῴων καὶ θηρίων ἐπικελεῦσαι γράψειν σφαγάς, ἀλλ' α  βούλοιτο, τοῦτο μόνον ἐπειπὼν ὡς εἰς φόβον τοὺς ὁρῶντας ἐκ τῆς θέας ἐνάγεσθαι βούλοιτο καὶ αμα παρακαλεῖσθαι πρὸς εκπληξιν ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς. μηδὲν γοῦν ουτος πρὸς φόβον ετερον ἐνάγειν η  τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δευτέραν εἰδὼς παρουσίαν, ταύτην ἐκεῖσε καθυπέγραψεν, καὶ τοὺς δικαίους ἐντεῦθεν τὰ βραβεῖα τῶν πόνων ἀπολαμβάνοντας, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ τοὺς πεπλημμεληκότας τοὺς τῶν βεβιωμένων δρεπομένους καρποὺς καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἠπειλημένην κόλασιν ἀπελαυνομένους τε καὶ ἀποπεμπομένους σφοδρῶς. ταῦτ' ουν, ἐπειδὴ πέρας ειχεν ἡ γραφή, κατιδών, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φόβον ἐν ἑαυτῷ συλλαβών, καὶ κατηχηθεὶς τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς θεῖα μυστήρια, νυκτῶν ἀωρὶ τοῦ θείου μεταλαγχάνει βαπτίσ- ματος. ἐφ' ῳ  καταφανὴς γεγονὼς τὴν ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ εθνους αὐ- τοῦ καθυφίσταται ἐπανάστασιν, ους καὶ μετά τινων ὀλίγων κατα- πολεμήσας, τὸν τοῦ θείου τύπον σταυροῦ ἐν κόλποις περιάγων αὐτοῦ, τοὺς καταλοίπους οὐκέτι κρύφα, πάντα δὲ ἀναφανδὸν ἐποίησε καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐπιθυμοῦντας Χριστιανούς. ἐπεὶ γοῦν μετε- τέθη πρὸς θεοσέβειαν, γράφει δὴ πρὸς τὴν δέσποιναν περὶ γῆς, πλήθει στενούμενος τῷ ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ἀξιοῖ παρὰ ταύτης παρρησια- στικώτερον ὡς ηδη εν ἀλλ' οὐ δύο οντων αὐτῶν, πίστει τε καὶ φι- 165 λίᾳ συνδεθέντων τῇ ἀρραγεῖ, καὶ ἑαυτὸν ὑποθήσειν καθυπισχνεῖτο καὶ εἰρήνην ἐργάσασθαι ἀΐδιόν τε καὶ ἀδιάπτωτον. ἡ δὲ εὐμε- νῶς τε ηκουσεν αὐτοῦ, καὶ δέδωκεν ἐρήμην ουσαν τηνικαῦτα τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Σιδηρᾶς, ταύτης δὴ τότε οριον τυγχανούσης ̔Ρωμαίων τε καὶ αὐτῶν, αχρι τῆς ∆εβελτοῦ, ητις ουτω καλεῖται Ζάγορα παρ' αὐτοῖς. ουτω μὲν ουν απασα ἡ Βουλγαρία πρὸς εὐσέβειαν μετ- ερρυθμίσθη, θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν μετακαλεσαμένου γνῶσιν αὐ- τούς, καὶ ουτως ἐκ μικρῶν σπινθήρων τε καὶ πληγῶν· καὶ ουτω γῆς τῆς τῶν ̔Ρωμαίων ὡς αλλης τινὸς ἐπαγγελίας ἀξιωθέντες πρὸς κοινωνίαν αρρηκτον καθυπέβαλον ἑαυτούς. 16 Ειχε μὲν ουν ουτω τὰ κατὰ τὴν δύσιν λαμπρῶς τε καὶ ἐτεθρύλητο πανταχοῦ. ἐφ' οις ἀγαλλομένη ἐκείνη, καὶ οιον τρόπαια ἐπιθεῖναι μείζω δι' ἐφέσεως εχουσα, καὶ τοὺς κατὰ τὴν ἀνατολὴν Παυλικιανοὺς ἐπειρᾶτο μετάγειν ὡς βούλοιτο πρὸς εὐσέ- βειαν η  ἐξαιρεῖν καὶ ἀπ' ἀνθρώπων ποιεῖν· ο  καὶ πολλῶν κακῶν τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐνέπλησεν. ἡ μὲν γὰρ πέμψασά τινας τῶν ἐπ' ἐξ- ουσίας (ὁ τοῦ ̓Αργυροῦ καὶ ὁ τοῦ ∆ουκὸς καὶ ὁ Σουδάλης οἱ ἀπο- σταλέντες ἐλέγοντο) τοὺς μὲν ξύλῳ ἀνήρτων, τοὺς δὲ ξίφει παρε- δίδουν, τοὺς δὲ τῷ τῆς θαλάσσης βυθῷ. ὡσεὶ δέκα μυριάδες ὁ ουτως ἀπολλύμενος ἠριθμεῖτο λαός, καὶ ἡ υπαρξις αὐτῶν τῷ βασιλικῷ ταμιείῳ ... ηγετο καὶ εἰσεκομίζετο. ὑπῆρχεν ουν τῷ στρατηγῷ τῶν ̓Ανατολικῶν (Θεόδοτος ουτος ην ὁ κατὰ τὸν Με- 166 λισσηνὸν) ἀνήρ τις εἰς τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν καταριθμούμενος, Καρβέας ὀνόματι, τὴν τοῦ πρωτομανδάτωρος πληρῶν ἀρχήν, τῇ πίστει τῶν εἰρημένων τούτων Παυλικιανῶν ἐγκαυχώμενός τε καὶ σεμνυνόμενος. ὡς ουν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ουτος ἀκήκοε πατέρα ἀνηρτῆσθαι τῷ ξύλῳ, πέρα δεινῶν τοῦθ' ἡγησάμενος καὶ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ προσοικονομῶν φυ- γὰς μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πέντε χιλιάδων τῆς τοιαύτης κεκοινωνηκότων αἱρέσεως πρὸς τὸν τῆς Μελιτινῆς τηνικαῦτα κατάρχονταΑμερα γίνεται, κἀκεῖθεν πρὸς τὸν ἀμεραμνουνῆ παραγίνονται. μετὰ δὲ πολλῆς ἀποδεχθέντες τιμῆς, καὶ λόγον ἀσφαλείας δόντες τε καὶ λαβόντες ὁμοίως, ἐξέρχονται μετ' οὐ πολὺ κατὰ τῆς ̔Ρωμαίων γῆς, καὶ τῶν τροπαίων ενεκεν, ἐπεὶ πρὸς πολυπληθίαν ἐνεδίδοσαν, πόλεις τε κτίζειν ἐπιχειροῦσιν αὐτοῖς, τὴν ουτω καλουμένην ̓Αρ- γαοῦν καὶ τὴν ̓Αμάραν, καὶ αυθις πολλῶν ἐκεῖσε ἐπιρρεόντων τῇ αὐτῇ κακίᾳ ἐνισχημένων καὶ ἑτέραν κτίζειν κατάρχουσι, Τεφρικὴν ταύτην