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rising up, they shouted the Kyrie eleison, having counted to one hundred. And when these things were completed by the high priest, again another prayer was pronounced. As it happened in the first and in the second, so it was done until the completion of all the prayers. Since, therefore, the things of this sacred rite had been performed in this way, the emperor entered the Golden Gate in a manner befitting God rather than a king; for he walked on foot, and the icon of the Mother of God preceded him. And so going as far as the Monastery of Stoudios, and leaving the icon of the most pure Mother of God there, he mounted his horse and arrived at the sanctuary of the Wisdom of God. There, having prostrated himself before the Lord Christ and having given him fitting thanks, he arrived at the great palace. Therefore, the Roman populace at that time was filled with much gladness and delight and boundless joy; for there was no one who was not leaping and rejoicing and almost disbelieving the event because of the unexpectedness of the deed and the excess of pleasure. And since it was necessary for the patriarch also to be within Constantinople, after the passage of some days he entered with speeches and by their persuasion. And the emperor went to the sacred palace, the sanctuary of the Great Wisdom, in order to hand over the throne to the high priest. And there were gathered with the emperor all those in authority and the leaders of the rulers and the whole populace. And the emperor, taking the hand of the patriarch, said, "You have your throne, master, and what you have long been deprived of, now enjoy the cathedra." And so also in the case of the patriarch, the emperor's actions came to pass. 89 At that time something of this sort also happened, which I considered not among the unnecessary things to commit to writing. I composed a speech on the recovery of Constantinople. And the purpose of the speech at the beginning was both thanksgiving to God for his beneficence towards the Romans and for his compassionate care and help, and blended with the speech was also a eulogy of thanksgiving to the emperor; and the request at the end of the speech was that the emperor's first-born son, Andronikos Komnenos, be proclaimed co-emperor with the emperor and father. This was unknown to the many, and especially to those in power, to whom the matter was not according to their mind. The leading men of our party, both the despotes John, the emperor's own brother, and his father-in-law, the sebastokrator Tornikios—for the kaisar Strategopoulos, even if he was present at such things, had no concern for these matters—being ignorant of the purpose and the request of the proposal, compelled the emperor to be present for the hearing of the speech. The emperor was displeased, for the sun was already casting its midday rays and the time for luncheon had passed ***

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ἀναστάντες τὸ κύριε ἐλέησον, εἰς ἑκατὸν ἀριθμήσαντες, ἐπεβόησαν. καὶ τούτων τετελεσμένων πρὸς τοῦ ἀρχιερέως καὶ αὖθις ἑτέρα τις ἐξεφωνήθη εὐχή. ὡς ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ γοῦν καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ γεγένηται, καὶ οὕτω πως διαπέπρακται μέχρι καὶ συμπληρώσεως τῶν ὅλων εὐχῶν. ἐπεὶ γοῦν οὑτωσί πως τὰ τῆς ἱεροπραξίας ταύτης γεγένηται, θεοπρεπῶς μᾶλλον ἢ βασιλικῶς τὴν τῆς Χρυσείας πύλην εἰσῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεύς· πεζὸς γὰρ ἐβάδιζε, προήρχετο δὲ τούτου τῆς θεομήτορος ἡ εἰκών. μέχρι μὲν οὖν τῆς τοῦ Στουδίου μονῆς ἀπελθών, ἐκεῖσε τὴν εἰκόνα καταλιπὼν τῆς ὑπεράγνου μητρὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐπιβὰς τοῦ ἵππου περὶ τὸ τῆς Σοφίας τοῦ θεοῦ ἀφίκετο τέμενος. ἐκεῖσε γοῦν τῷ δεσπότῃ προσκυνήσας Χριστῷ καὶ τὰ εἰκότα τούτῳ εὐχαριστήσας, περὶ τὸ μέγα κατηντήκει παλάτιον. ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ γοῦν καὶ θυμηδίᾳ πολλῇ καὶ ἀπλέτῳ χαρᾷ τὸ Ῥωμαϊκὸν τῷ τότε γεγένηται πλήρωμα· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἦν ὁ μὴ σκιρτῶν τε καὶ ἀγαλλόμενος καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν τῷ πράγματι ἀπιστῶν διὰ τὸ ἀπροσδόκητον τοῦ ἔργου καὶ τὸ ὑπερβάλλον τῆς ἡδονῆς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔδει καὶ τὸν πατριάρχην ἐντὸς γενέσθαι τῆς Κωνσταντίνου, μετὰ παραδρομήν τινων ἡμερῶν λόγοις καὶ τῇ παρὰ τούτων πειθοῖ εἰσῆλθε. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἀπῆλθεν ἀνάκτορον, τὸ τῆς μεγάλης Σοφίας τέμενος, ἵν' ἐγχειρίσῃ τὴν καθέδραν τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ. καὶ συνήθροιστο μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῶν ἐν τέλει πάντες καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων οἱ πρόκριτοι καὶ πᾶσα πληθύς. ὁ βασιλεὺς δὲ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ πατριάρχου ἐπιλαβόμενος «ἔχεις,» φησί, «τὸν θρόνον σου, δέσποτα, καὶ οὗτινος ἐκ μακροῦ ἐστέρησαι, νυνὶ τῆς καθέδρας ἀπόλαυε.» καὶ οὕτω μὲν καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πατριάρχῃ τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ξυνέβη. 89 Ἐγένετο δὲ τῷ τότε καί τι τοιοῦτον, ὃ μὴ παραδοῦναι γραφῇ τῶν οὐ δεόντων ἐλογισάμην. λόγον ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναρρύσει τῆς Κωνσταντίνου συνεγραψάμην. καὶ ὁ σκοπὸς τοῦ λόγου κατὰ τὰς ἀρχὰς εὐχαριστία τε ἦν πρὸς θεὸν τῆς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους τούτου ἀγαθουργίας καὶ τῆς εὐσπλάγχνου κηδεμονίας καὶ ἀντιλήψεως, συνανεκεράννυτο δὲ τῷ λόγῳ καὶ εὐφημία πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εὐχαριστήριος· ἡ δ' ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ λόγου ἀξίωσις συναναγορευθῆναι τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ πατρὶ τὸν βασιλέως πρωτογενῆ παῖδα, τὸν Κομνηνὸν Ἀνδρόνικον. τοῦτο ἐλάνθανε τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἐν τέλει, οἷς καὶ οὐ κατὰ γνώμην ὑπῆρχε τὸ πρᾶγμα. οἱ μὲν προύχοντες τῶν ἡμετέρων, ὅ τε δεσπότης Ἰωάννης ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτάδελφος καὶ ὁ πενθερὸς τούτου ὁ σεβαστοκράτωρ Τορνίκιος-ὁ γὰρ καῖσαρ Στρατηγόπουλος, καὶ εἰ παρῆν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις, οὐδ' εἶχε περὶ τούτων φροντίδα-τὸν σκοπὸν ἀγνοοῦντες καὶ τὴν ἀξίωσιν τοῦ προβλήματος, ἠνάγκασαν τὸν βασιλέα ἐπ' ἀκροάσει γενέσθαι τοῦ λόγου. ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς ἐδυσχέραινεν, ἤδη γὰρ μεσεμβρινὰς τὰς ἀκτῖνας ὁ ἥλιος ἔβαλλε καὶ ὁ τοῦ ἀρίστου παρῄει καιρός ***