Furthermore, the star rising in the west at the setting of the morning star, which, making its risings in the evening, kept no fixed position at one center, but sending forth brilliant and far-shining rays, made frequent movements, seen now more to the north, now more to the south, and sometimes even at its single rising it would change its celestial position, and making its movement clear and swift; so that those who saw it were amazed and astonished, and thought that the strange movement of the comet would not end well. Which indeed also came to pass according to the suspicion of the many. For as evening was falling, on which custom had handed down to celebrate the memory of the great Demetrius the Martyr, a dreadful earthquake struck, and such as no other had happened in these generations, it cast down the towers of Byzantium to the ground 176, and overturned most of the houses, making them a tomb for their inhabitants, and razed to the ground the regions near Byzantium, and caused great destruction of the country-folk; and not only that, but it also brought down the semi-dome of the gallery of the great church along with the western apse and dashed it to the ground; which the emperor Basil again rebuilt in six years. And the most grievous famines, and plagues, and droughts, and floods, and assaults of monstrous winds; at which time also the column in the quarter of Eutropius was brought down by the violence of the waves, and the monk on it was terribly drowned in the surges of the sea; and the barrenness of the earth, and the grievous things that befell after the rising of the star, all came to pass. But the history will make these things clear in part at their own times. 11. But the emperor John, then departing from the regions of Syria (for I return to the point from which I digressed), was proceeding to Byzantium. And seeing along the way both Longias and Driza, lands both fertile and prosperous, which the Roman army had previously recovered for the empire with much sweat and blood, but were then held by the president Basil the parakoimomenos, he was vexed, as was likely, and annoyed, and he reproached that man's rapacious violence. But he could not oppose him openly, fearing the indignation of the sovereign; but secretly he sneered at his words, and was contriving somehow to get rid of this man, who had already become a burdensome master to him. 177 And when the emperor had just arrived at the plain of Atroa lying near Olympus, he was lodged at the house of the patrician Romanus, who was also distinguished by the dignity of Sebastosforos. Here it is said that a certain eunuch from among the servants of the emperor, whether being hostilely disposed towards him on his own account, or having been suborned by those who envy good things and desire to see changes in affairs, and enticed by promises of gifts (which indeed is said and believed more than the former), having mixed a poison, gave it to the emperor with his drink; and that he, suspecting nothing of the sort, drank down the poison as if it were a wholesome beverage. On the next day, at any rate, a numbness of the limbs and a paralysis of his whole body came upon him, and the skill of the physicians, because of the suddenness of the affliction, was proved to be empty and useless, not being able to diagnose such a symptom accurately. And the emperor, perceiving that the gigantic strength that was formerly in him had been suddenly cast down, hastened to reach Byzantium; and he also urged that the sarcophagus being prepared for his little body in the church of the Savior, which he himself had built, be completed as quickly as possible. And having pressed on with the journey, he came to the imperial city, being kindly received by the

ἔτι δὲ ὁ πρὸς δύσιν ἐπὶ καταφορὰν τοῦ φωσφόρου ἀνίσχων ἀστὴρ, ὃς ἑσπερίους ποιούμενος τὰς ἐπιτολὰς, οὐδένα στηριγμὸν ἐφ' ἑνὸς διεφύλαττε κέντρου, λαμπρὰς δὲ καὶ τηλαυγεῖς τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἐπαφιεὶς, μεταβάσεις ἐποιεῖτο συχνὰς, πῆ μὲν βορειότερος ὁρώμενος, πῆ δὲ νοτιώτερος, ἔστι δ' ὅτε καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν μίαν ἐπιτολὴν καὶ μεταμείβων τὸν αἰθέριον τόπον, καὶ ποιούμενος ἐναργῆ καὶ σύντομον τὴν μετάβασιν· ὡς θαυμάζειν τοὺς ὁρῶντας καὶ καταπλήττεσθαι, καὶ οὐκ εἰς καλὸν τελευτήσειν οἴεσθαι τὴν τοῦ κομήτου ἀλλόκοτον κίνησιν. ὃ δὴ καὶ συνέβαινε κατὰ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ὑπόνοιαν. καὶ γὰρ ἑσπέρας ἐνισταμένης, ἐν ᾗ μνήμην τοῦ μεγάλου ∆ημητρίου καὶ Μάρτυρος τελεῖν παρέλαβεν ἡ συνήθεια, φρικώδης ἐπενεχθεὶς σεισμὸς, καὶ οἷος οὐκ ἄλλος κατὰ ταύτας δὴ συνέβη τὰς γενεὰς, τά τε πυργώματα τοῦ Βυζαντίου πρὸς γῆν 176 κατερίπωσε, καὶ τὰς πλείους ἑστίας ἀνέτρεψε, τάφον αὐτὰς τοῖς οἰκοῦσιν ἀπεργασάμενος, τά τε προσέγγια τοῦ Βυζαντίου χωρία μέχρις ἐδάφους κατέβαλε, καὶ πολὺν τῶν ἀγροίκων φθόρον ἐποίησεν· οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἡμισφαίριον τῆς ὑπερῴας τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας σὺν τῇ πρὸς δύσιν ἀψίδι κατέβαλε καὶ εἰς γῆν κατερίπωσεν· ἅπερ αὖθις ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ Βασίλειος ἐν ἓξ ἐνιαυτοῖς ἐδομήσατο. καὶ οἱ παγχάλεποι δὲ λιμοὶ, καὶ λοιμοὶ, αὐχμοί τε, καὶ ἐπικλύσεις, καὶ ἀνέμων ἐξαισίων ἐπιφοραί· ὁπηνίκα καὶ ὁ ἐν τοῖς Εὐτροπίου στύλος τῇ βίᾳ τῶν κυμάτων κατηνέχθη, καὶ ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ μοναστὴς ἐναπεπνίγη τοῖς θαλασσίοις ῥοθίοις δεινῶς· καὶ ἡ ἀφορία δὲ τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὰ ἐπισκήψαντα χαλεπὰ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀστέρος ἐπιτολὴν, ἅπαντα ἐξεγένοντο. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν κατὰ μέρος εἰς τοὺς ἑαυτῶν καιροὺς ἡ ἱστορία παραδηλώσει. ιαʹ. Ὁ δὲ αὐτοκράτωρ Ἰωάννης, τότε τῶν τῆς Συρίας ἀπάρας (ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ, ὅθεν ἐξέβην, ἐπάνειμι), ἐπὶ τὸ Βυζάντιον ἴετο. ὁρῶν δὲ κατὰ πάροδον τήν τε Λογγιάδα καὶ τὸν ∆ριζῆν, χώρας εὐγείους τε καὶ εὐδαίμονας, ἃς πολλοῖς ἱδρῶσι καὶ αἵμασιν ἡ Ῥωμαϊκὴ στρατιὰ τῇ βασιλείᾳ τὸ πρότερον ἀνεσώσατο, τότε δὲ παρὰ τοῦ προέδρου Βασιλείου καὶ παρακοιμωμένου κατεχομένας, ἤσχαλλεν, ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς, καὶ ἠνιᾶτο, καὶ τὴν πλεονεκτικὴν ἐκείνου βίαν ὠνείδιζεν. ὁ δὲ ἀναφανδὸν μὲν οὐκ εἶχεν ἀντιβαίνειν, τὴν τοῦ ἄνακτος δεδιὼς ἀγανάκτησιν· λαθραίως δὲ τὰ ἐκείνου ἐμυκτήριζε λόγια, καὶ τοῦτον, ἤδη βαρὺν αὑτῷ γεγενημένον δεσπότην, ἀμωσγέπως διενοεῖτο ἀποσκευάσασθαι. 177 ἄρτι δὲ κατὰ τὴν τῷ Ὀλύμπῳ παρακειμένην τῆς Ἀτρώας πεδιάδα ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀφικόμενος, πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πατρικίου Ῥωμανοῦ καὶ τῷ τοῦ Σεβαστοφόρου διαπρέποντος ἀξιώματι ἑστίαν κατήγετο. ἐνταῦθα λέγεταί τινα τῶν ἐξυπηρετουμένων ἐκτομίαν τῷ αὐτοκράτορι, εἴτε οἴκοθεν δυσμενῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν διακείμενον, εἴτε καὶ πρὸς τούτων, τοῖς καλοῖς βασκαινόντων καὶ μεταβολὰς τῶν πραγμάτων ἱμειρομένων ὁρᾷν, ὑπαχθέντα, καὶ ὑποσχέσεσι δωρεῶν παρακλαπέντα (ὅπερ δὴ τοῦ προτέρου μᾶλλον καὶ λέγεται καὶ πιστεύεται), δηλητήριον κερασάμενον παρὰ τὸν πότον ἐπιδοῦναι τῷ βασιλεῖ· τὸν δὲ, μηδέν τι τοιοῦτον φρασάμενον, ὡς σωτήριον πόμα τὸ δηλητήριον ἐκπιεῖν. τῇ γοῦν ὑστεραίᾳ νάρκη τε τῶν μελῶν καὶ πάρεσις τοῦ παντὸς σώματος αὐτῷ ἐξεγένετο, καὶ ἡ τῶν ἰατρῶν ἐπιστήμη τῷ ἀθρόῳ τοῦ πάθους κενή τις καὶ ἄπρακτος ἀπηλέγχετο, μὴ ἀκριβοῦσα διάγνωσιν τοῦ τοιούτου συμπτώματος. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, τὴν πρότερον ἐνοῦσαν αὑτῷ γιγαντώδη ῥώμην αἰφνίδιον καταβληθεῖσαν αἰσθόμενος, ἠπείγετο καταλαβεῖν τὸ Βυζάντιον· ἐπέσπευδε δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ τοῦ Σωτῆρος νεῷ, ὃν αὐτὸς ἐδείματο , κατασκευαζομένην τῷ σωματίῳ τούτου σορὸν ἀπαρτισθῆναι ὡς τάχιστα. συντείνας δὲ τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν, ἐς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν ἧκε, φιλοφρόνως μὲν ὑποδεχθεὶς πρὸς τῶν