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these things also from his own study, from which, farming through experienced men, he did not cease, and furthermore caring for the various livestock on the estates themselves. Thus was their love of God, and thus was their love for the Romans known.

25. How the megas doux, by touching upon the imperial funds superficially, was acquiring goodwill for himself. But at that time, since a great deal of money was stored up in Magnesia, it was not permitted for the megas doux and regent to take and supply it very easily, wherever he wished; for the Celtic and axe-bearing corps stood by, to restrain, if anyone should try, and there was a guard for the treasuries so that it would be given out officially, where the necessity of need demanded; but it was often given to certain people as well, on his orders, under the pretext of a need which did not exist. And from this he laid 103 the foundations of goodwill for himself, with those who were not likely to forget his benefaction. And though he would have been justly excused, if he himself did not provide for someone on account of his own poverty, he nevertheless provided opportunities for some to receive, not so much out of ambition as out of foresight for the future, as he showed. And as for his poverty, the writer, being present and having heard when he once spoke of it, does not fear to be convicted of falsehood if he were to testify, since for him, when he spoke of it at that time, poverty was a boast of glory; for what was available to him for household expenses when he was emperor, as he said, was limited to just three coins. And he would call Angelos, the brother of his mother-in-law, whom he himself had appointed megas primmikerios when he became emperor, to be present, to testify in the lawsuit he himself was bringing against him over his niece's dowry; and he, standing nearby, would testify, and we would hear him speaking and adding an oath to what was said. At that time, therefore, winning over the many, and especially those of noble birth, he allowed them to benefit from the imperial funds on a supposedly reasonable pretext, while he himself for the time being kept himself, as he was, above taking bribes.

20. How, when the patriarch arrived, the megas doux showed great deference. Meanwhile, the patriarch was heard to be arriving with the chosen of the clergy and the bishops; and he, learning of it at once, went himself before the others to meet him from afar, paying the greatest honor both to the patriarch and to the entire sacred company, walking on foot and holding the reins of the prelate's mule, until he led him and established him inside the palace itself. And indeed he ordered a royal tent to be set up for his sake, at once both in honor to him, deferring in all things and serving, and at the same time as a necessary pretext for the patriarch himself to be able to approach the emperor easily, as occasion offered, and not be separated from the ruler for any time. For he had gladly conceded everything to him, saying that he would not act as regent in any other way, unless he himself commanded and the synod approved. Wherefore he also brings the young man and places him into the hands of the patriarch, so that the others too shared in the counsel, but he makes present affairs depend on him, and often 105 he leads and shows him the treasures, silently indicating that the authority hung on him and him alone, and that even if he himself gave orders, the others would have them from that source. And his clever plan, it seems, was to yield to him the rule over all, but by winning over the leader, to be able to take what he needed, as if he would provide for necessities. And since it was necessary for the patriarch's entourage, and especially the bishops, to be provided for with necessities from the common funds, he himself, taking them, would give them and generously add more, the manifest reason being on necessary pretexts, but his real endeavor being to blind the eyes of the wise with gifts and to win their goodwill. And this, being done at every turn, created the greatest goodwill for himself from them, as he was giving, and the marks of honor and deference towards each of them were such that, after a short interval, he had them all by the nose and was able to lead them wherever he wished. For there was not, there was not one of them who did not with favorable memory of him not

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ταῦτα καὶ μελέτης ἰδίας, ἐξ ὧν γεωπονῶν οὐκ ἀνίει δι' εἰδημόνων ἀνδρῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς δὴ τοῖς κτήμασι θρεμμάτων διαφόρων ἐπιμελούμενος. Οὕτως ἦν αὐτοῖς τὸ θεοφιλές, καὶ οὕτω τὸ φιλορρώμαιον ἔγνωστο.

κεʹ. Ὅπως ἐπιπολαίως ὁ μέγας δοὺξ τῶν βασιλικῶν χρημάτων ἁπτόμενος περιεποίει ἑαυτῷ τὴν εὔνοιαν. Τότε δὲ πολλοῦ τινος ἐν Μαγνησίᾳ τεθησαυρισμένου χρήματος, οὐκ ἐξὸν ἦν τῷ μεγάλῳ δουκί τε καὶ ἐπιτρόπῳ ῥᾷστα λαμβάνειν καὶ χορηγεῖν, ὅπου ἦν βουλομένῳ οἱ· ἐφειστήκει γὰρ τὸ Κελτικὸν καὶ πελεκυφόρον, ἐφέξον, ἤν τις ἐπιχειροίη, καὶ φυλακὴ ἦν τοῖς ταμείαις ὡς γνωστῶς δίδοσθαι, ὅπου τὸ ἀναγκαῖον τῆς χρείας ἀπῄτει· ἐδίδοντο δὲ πολλάκις καί τισιν, ἐπιτάττοντος, προφάσει χρείας οὐκ οὔσης. Κἀντεῦθεν ἀρχὰς ἑαυτῷ εὐμενείας προὐκατε 103 βάλλετο, οἷς οὐκ ἦν τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἐπιλελῆσθαι. Καὶ δικαίως ἂν ἀπολογη σόμενος, εἰ μή τινι παρεῖχεν αὐτὸς διὰ τὴν ἐνοῦσαν πενίαν, ὅμως ἀφορμὰς ἐδίδου λαμβάνειν τινάς, οὐ μᾶλλον κατὰ φιλοτιμίαν ἢ κατὰ πρόνοιαν τῶν μελλόντων, ὡς ἔδειξε. Τὴν δ' ἐκείνου πενίαν, εἰπόντος ἐκείνου ποτέ, παρὼν καὶ ἀκούσας ὁ γράφων, εἰ μαρτυροίη, ψεύδους ἁλῶναι οὐ δέδοικεν, ἐπεὶ κἀκείνῳ εἰς καύχημα δόξης ἦν ἡ πενία τότε λέγοντι· τρισὶ γὰρ καὶ μόνοις νομίσμασι κατὰ τὰς κατ' οἶκον χρείας τὸ προσὸν αὐτῷ, ὅτε βασιλεύοι, ὡς ἔλεγε, περιίστατο. Καὶ τὸν Ἄγγελον, ἀδελφὸν ὄντα τῆς αὐτοῦ πενθερᾶς, ὃν καὶ μέγαν πριμμικήριον αὐτὸς βασιλεύσας ἀπέδειξεν, ἐκάλει παρόντα, ὅπως αὐτὸς λαγχάνοι παρ' αὐτοῦ δίκας ὑπὲρ τῆς τῆς ἀδελφιδῆς προικὸς μαρτυρήσοντα· κἀκεῖνος ἐγγὺς παραστὰς ἐμαρτύρει, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἠκούομεν λέγοντος καὶ ὅρκον προστιθέντος τοῖς λεγομένοις. Τότε τοιγαροῦν τοὺς πολλούς, καὶ μᾶλλον οἷς εὐγενὲς τὸ γένος, ὑποποιούμενος, παρεῖχεν ἐξ εὐλόγου δῆθεν προφάσεως τῶν βασιλικῶν χρημάτων ἀπόνασθαι, αὐτὸς τέως ὡς εἶχεν συντηρῶν ἑαυτὸν τῶν λημμάτων ἀνώτερον.

κʹ. Ὅπως, ἐλθόντος τοῦ πατριάρχου, πολλὴν ὁ μέγας δοὺξ ἐπεδείξατο τὴν ὑπόπτωσιν. Ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης σύν τε τοῖς ἐκκρίτοις τοῦ κλήρου καὶ τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι παρεῖναι ἠκούετο· καὶ ὃς αὐτίκα μαθὼν πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων αὐτὸς ὑπαντᾷ μακρόθεν, τιμὴν τὴν μεγίστην ἀφοσιούμενος τῷ τε πατριάρχῃ καὶ παντὶ τῷ ἱερῷ πληρώματι, πεζῇ τε βαδίζων καὶ τὰς τῆς ἡμιόνου τοῦ ἱερέως χαλινοὺς κατέχων, ἕως καὶ αὐτῶν ἐντὸς ἀνακτόρων προηγούμενος καθιστᾷ. Καὶ δὴ σκηνὴν μὲν βασιλικὴν ἐκείνου χάριν ὑποστῆναι κελεύει, ἅμα μὲν καὶ κατὰ τὴν εἰς ἐκεῖνον τιμήν, ὑποτρέχων ἐν πᾶσι καὶ θεραπεύων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἐς πρόφασιν ἀναγκαίαν τοῦ ἔχειν ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου πλησιάζειν τῷ βασιλεῖ, τοῦ καιροῦ διδόντος, αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν πατριάρχην, μηδεμιᾶς ὥρας τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἀπολιμπάνεσθαι. Συγκεχωρήκει δέ οἱ ἀσμένως πάντα, ὡς οὐκ ἄλλως ἐπιτροπεύσων, εἰ μὴ αὐτός γε κελεύοι καὶ ἐπινεύοι ἡ σύνοδος. Ὅθεν καὶ φέρων μὲν τὸν νέον εἰς χεῖρας τῷ πατριάρχῃ ποιεῖται, οὕτω καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις μετὸν τῆς βουλῆς, ἐκείνου δ' ἐξαρτᾷ τὰ παρόντα, καὶ πολλάκις 105 ἄγει καὶ δείκνυσι τὰ κειμήλια, σιωπηλῶς τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἐμφαίνων ἐξημμένην ἐκείνου καὶ μόνου, κἂν αὐτὸς κελεύοι, ἐκεῖθεν τοὺς ἄλλους ἕξοντας. Ἦν δὲ ἄρα οἱ τὸ σοφὸν ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἐνδιδόναι τῶν ὅλων ἄρχειν, αὐτὸν δ' ὑποποι ούμενον τὸν ἐξάρχοντα, λαμβάνειν οἷόν τ' εἶναι, ὡς ἐπ' ἀναγκαίοις παρέξοντα. Καὶ ἐπεὶ ἀνάγκη ἦν ἐκ τῶν κοινῶν τοῖς περὶ τὸν πατριάρχην οἰκονο μεῖσθαι, καὶ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι, τὰ ἐπιτήδεια, αὐτὸς λαμβάνων ἐδίδου καὶ προσεπεφιλοτιμεῖτο τὰ πλείονα, τὸ μὲν πρόδηλον ἐπ' ἀναγκαίαις ταῖς προφάσεσι, τὸ δέ γε σπουδαζόμενον παρ' ἐκείνου σοφῶν ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκτυφλώττειν δώροις καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων ὑποποιεῖσθαι εὔνοιαν. Ὃ καὶ γινόμενον καθ' ἑκάστην ῥοπὴν εὐμενείας ἐνεποίει μεγίστην παρ' ἐκείνων ἑαυτῷ διδόντι, καὶ τὰ τῆς πρὸς ἕκαστον ἐκείνων τιμῆς τε καὶ ὑποπτώσεως ἦσαν ὡς, ὀλίγον τὸ μεταξὺ διελθεῖν, καὶ πάντας ἔχειν ἐκείνους ἐκ τῶν ῥινῶν καὶ ἄγειν δύνασθαι ὅπῃ βούλοιτο. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν, οὐκ ἦν ἐκείνων ὅστις οὐ δι' εὐφήμου μνήμης ἐκεῖνον μὴ