63

but of her loving not to waste and squander it. 21 But although the imperial treasury was so great, it came to nothing at all through the folly and untimely ambition of Michael. For, delighting in horse races more than anyone else, and not refusing to be a charioteer himself (O, the then-humbled empire of the Romans), by adopting as sons from holy baptism the children of those who played and drove chariots with him, he emptied the imperial wealth, granting to each one fifty, and forty, and at the very least thirty pounds of gold. And once to a certain patrician (this one was called Himerios the Pig, so named on account of the brutishness of his face), who was speaking obscenely at table for no reason and letting out a sound from his profane stomach in the face of the emperor and his fellow-diners, such that the candelabrum that lit them was extinguished by so great a sound, for the marvel of such a wonder he gave one hundred pounds of gold. And another time, having received from the holy font the son of Cheilas, who drove chariots with him, he likewise gave one hundred pounds of gold. Thus he consumed the public funds for 173 no need. Since within a short time, being a terrible lover of the hippodrome, he had consumed such great wealth on such theatrical and lawless actions, and the time came for the distribution of the imperial donatives, and there was no supply of money by which the armies, being honored, repel the battle-lines of the enemy, that famous and much-storied golden plane tree and the two golden lions, and in addition the two griffins, being of solid gold and wrought by the hammer, and the solid gold organ, but also other works of the imperial display, having a weight of no less than two hundred centenaria, he melted them down and gave them to be struck in the imperial mint. And some imperial and augustal robes, and also those of the senatorial council, some being of solid gold and others woven with gold, he gave over to the special treasury at the end, being in want, so that they might be minted. However, they were not melted down in time, and he departed from men, but these Basil of famous memory, having taken the empire and found them still intact, recovered, and he ordered what is now called the senzaton to be minted, having found from so much wealth nothing other than three centenaria of gold, and nine sacks of miliaresia, which he made public and showed to all, and lamented before the senate from where he was to carry on the administration of the state. 174 22 But these things happened as time went on; but at that time Theodora was accustomed to visit the divine church in Blachernae rather frequently, at once to render certain prayers to God, and at the same time to partake of the bath. When, therefore, she arrived late one time, Michael and Bardas, having sent Petronas, who was her brother, tonsured her along with her daughters, and confined them for the time being in the palaces of Karianos; but later, having sent not only once but twice, they brought in the wealth belonging to them, and they allowed them to live in a common and private way, but not in an imperial one. But she, not long after, departed from here, and the emperor Basil of famous memory sent both her corpse and her daughters to her maternal grandmother's monastery, to dwell there, so called that of Gastria, and to live and conduct themselves piously. Thus she died, leaving to her son a name, not, as they did, wicked, but good and venerable. And the book before this one made clear whence and from whom she came and how she came to the palace, and how many daughters were born to her from her womb; and this one will declare the rest of her kindred. There were, then, the aforementioned two male brothers, Petronas the general of the Thracesian theme and patrician

63

δὲ αὐτὴν μὴ καταναλίσκειν φιλούσης καὶ κατασπαταλᾶν. 21 ̓Αλλὰ καίτοι τοσοῦτος ὁ βασιλικὸς ων θησαυρὸς εἰς οὐδὲν ἐχώρησε παντελῶς τῇ ἀπονοίᾳ τοῦ Μιχαὴλ καὶ ἀκαίρῳ φι- λοτιμίᾳ. ταῖς γὰρ τῶν ιππων ἁμίλλαις, ειπερ τις ετερος, ἀγαλ- λόμενος, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἡνιοχεῖν (ω  τῆς τότε ταπεινωθείσης τῶν ̔Ρωμαίων βασιλείας) οὐ παραιτούμενος, τῶν συμπαιζόντων αὐτῷ καὶ συνηνιοχούντων ἐκ τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος τὰ τέκνα υἱο- θετούμενος τὸν βασίλειον ἐξεκένου πλοῦτον, πεντήκοντα δὴ καὶ τεσσαράκοντα καὶ τὸ ἐλάχιστον ἑκάστῳ τριάκοντα χρυσίου λίτρας ἐπιχορηγῶν. ποτὲ δέ τινι πατρικίῳ ( ̔Ιμέριος ουτος ἐκαλεῖτο ὁ Χοῖρος, διὰ τὴν τοῦ προσώπου ουτω κατονομαζόμενος ἀγριότητα) αλλως αἰσχρολογοῦντι κατὰ τὴν τράπεζαν καὶ ψόφον ἐκ τῆς βεβή- λου αὐτοῦ γαστρὸς κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῶν συν- δειπνούντων ἀφιέντι, ὡς καὶ τὸ φατλίον τὸ τούτους φωταγωγοῦν ἐκ τοῦ τηλικούτου ψόφου κατασβέσαι, τῷ παραδόξῳ τοῦ τοιούτου θαύματος χρυσίου λίτρας εδωκεν ἑκατόν. καὶ Χειλᾶ δὲ αλλοτε τοῦ σὺν αὐτῷ ἡνιοχοῦντος τὸν υἱὸν ἐκ τοῦ θείου λουτροῦ ἀναδεξά- μενος ὁμοίως χρυσίου λίτρας δέδωκεν ἑκατόν. ουτως ἐκεῖνος εἰς 173 οὐδὲν δέον τὰ δημόσια κατανάλισκεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐντὸς ὀλίγου και- ροῦ τὸν τοσοῦτον πλοῦτον ταῖς τοιαύταις σκηνικαῖς καὶ ἀθέσμοις κατανάλωσε πράξεσι, δεινὸς ἐραστὴς ων ἱπποδρομίας, ηλθεν δὲ ὁ τῆς διανομῆς τῶν βασιλικῶν δωρεῶν καιρός, καὶ χρημάτων πόρος οὐκ ην δι' ων τὰ στρατεύματα φιλοτιμούμενα τὰς τῶν ἐχθρῶν παρατάξεις ἀμύνονται, τήν τε χρυσῆν ἐκείνην καὶ πολυ- θρύλητον πλάτανον καὶ τοὺς δύο χρυσοῦς λέοντας, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τοὺς δύο γρῦπας ὁλοχρύσους οντας καὶ σφυρηλάτους, καὶ τὸ ὁλό- χρυσον οργανον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ετερα εργα τῆς βασιλικῆς ἐκθέσεως, ὁλκὴν εχοντα τῶν διακοσίων οὐκ ελαττον κεντηναρίων, χωνεύσας, χαράξαι δέδωκεν ἐν τῷ βασιλικῷ ταμιείῳ. καὶ στολὰς δέ τινας βασιλικὰς καὶ αὐγουστιακάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς, τὰς μὲν ὁλοχρύσους τὰς δὲ χρυσοϋφάντους ουσας ἐν τῷ εἰδικῷ, πρὸς τῷ τέλει, ἐκδέδωκεν ἐξαπορῶν, ὡς αν χαραχθῶσι. πλὴν οὐκ εφθασαν χωνευθῆναι, καὶ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο, ταύτας δὲ Βασίλειος ὁ ἀοίδιμος τὴν βασιλείαν λαβὼν καὶ καταλα- βὼν ετι ἀλυμάντους ἀνεκαλέσατο, καὶ τὸ νῦν σενζάτον καλούμενον χαραχθῆναι ἐκελεύσατο, ἐκ τοσούτου πλούτου μηδὲν ετερον εὑρη- κὼς η  χρυσίου κεντηνάρια τρία, μιλιαρίσια δὲ σακκία ἐννέα, α  καὶ δημοσιεύσας καὶ πᾶσι δῆλα ποιήσας ἀπωδύρετο τῆς συγκλή- του ἐνώπιον τὴν οθεν εμελλε ποιήσεσθαι τῆς πολιτείας διοί- κησιν. 174 22 ̓Αλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν προϊόντος τοῦ χρόνου γεγόνασιν· τότε δὲ ειθιστο Θεοδώρα κατὰ τὸν ἐν Βλαχέρναις θεῖον συχνῶς πως ἐπιφοιτᾶν ναόν, ὁμοῦ μὲν εὐχάς τινας ἀποδιδοῦσα θεῷ, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τοῦ λουτροῦ μετέχουσα. ὡς γοῦν ὀψέ ποτε ἀφίκετο, τὸν Πετρωνᾶν ἀδελφὸν αὐτῆς οντα πέμψαντες ὁ Μιχαήλ τε καὶ Βάρ- δας ἀποκείρουσί τε ταύτην μετὰ τὰς θυγατέρας ὁμοῦ, καὶ τοῖς κατὰ τὰ Καριανοῦ ἀνακτόροις τότε μὲν περιορίζουσιν· υστερον δὲ οὐχ απαξ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ δὶς ἀποστείλαντες εἰσεκόμισαν τὸν ἐνόντα πλοῦτον αὐταῖς, καὶ κοινῶς πως καὶ ἰδιωτικῶς ἀλλ' οὐ βασιλικῶς ειασαν ζῆν. ἀλλ' ἐκείνη μὲν μετ' οὐ πολὺ τῶν τῇδε μεθίστατο, καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ ἀοίδιμος Βασίλειος αὐτῆς τε τὸν νεκρὸν καὶ τὰς αὐτῆς θυγατέρας πρὸς τὸ τῆς μάμμης επεμπε μοναστήριον ἐνδιαι- τᾶσθαι, ουτω τῶν Γαστρίων κατονομαζόμενον, καὶ ὁσίως ζῆν τε καὶ πολιτεύεσθαι. αυτη μὲν ουτως ἀπεβίω, ονομα τῷ υἱῷ, οὐχ ὡς ἐκεῖνοι, πονηρὸν ἀλλ' ἀγαθὸν ἀπολιποῦσά τε καὶ σεμνόν. ἐδήλου δὲ καὶ ἡ πρὸ ταύτης βίβλος οθεν τε κἀκ τίνων ἐξέφυ καὶ οπως ηλθεν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ τὰς αὐτῇ οσαι δὴ θυγατέρες ἐκ κοιλίας γεγέννηνται· δηλώσει δὲ αυτη συγγένειαν αὐτῆς τὴν λοι- πήν. ησαν ουν οἱ δηλωθέντες αρρενες δύο ἀδελφοί, ο τε Πε- τρωνᾶς στρατηγὸς κατὰ τὸ Θρᾳκήσιον καὶ πατρίκιος