Georgius Pachymeres, Chronicle II

and his thanksgiving with warm submission, saying that after God he was placing into her hands both the empire and the church, and that from her and her alone he hoped for a worthy administration for both. Having supplicated these things and given fitting thanks, mounting his horse he returned to the palace. And for the protovestiarios a gratulatory edict was drafted, bearing also a promise of the highest honor on top of many other things. Which indeed not long after he fulfilled when Constantine arrived, honoring him as megas stratopedarches, and he exalted him with honors in gratitude for his zeal on his behalf. 232 14. From this point, the complete loss of their property was a grief to the Persians; whom he had led from the East as deserters, while those who came later, together with them, were treating the country badly. But I am considering whether it did not happen that the eastern regions were later completely desolated on account of this, with those people on the one hand suffering for what they had endured, and on the other hand having learned the places precisely, and in addition, with that which they formerly held in fear and wonder having vanished, so that others in contempt could freely make incursions and inflict the greatest damages, and with them others, like dogs having tasted bones, would lick them clean, and so little by little occupying the Roman lands, they would render another desert, that which extends in length and breadth from the Euxine Pontus all the way to the sea off Rhodes. But these things later.

15. At that time a very great dispute arose between the Genoese and the Venetians, so that they were all enemies to each other and became a misfortune to one another when they met, whether sailing in ships or traveling on foot, there was no time at all when one did not hear either that the Genoese had treated the Venetians very badly or the Venetians the Genoese, 233 sinking whole ships with their crews, and plundering some goods and destroying others, so that even every mediation of their own church leading them to peace was completely ineffective, and the words of those who proposed peace to them were empty. So it was the first of Maimakterion, and the emperor, having set out three days before from Constantinople, was marching toward Chele, the fortress by the sea, but was still encamped at Damatrys, waiting for his attendants and for as many as were to follow him. And on the evening of the first of the month, at about midnight, a great earthquake struck, like the pulsations of living bodies; which those who have written about these things say are more terrible, as they pass through from below and tear up foundations. So great, at any rate, was the one at that time that no one, neither old nor young, could know of one not only greater, but not even equal to it ever. Some of the old men compared it to that one called 'the great one' par excellence; for so this one also continued to occur for many days, and many times a day or even a night the residual effects of the blast would manifest themselves slightly, so that on the seventeenth of Anthesterion the duration of the time was longer here, but weaker in force, while in the 234 East it was both greater than the previous one and more terrible. The terrible thing then struck from the region of Pergamon through the middle of Chliara and into parts of Persia itself, so that in many places the earth was split apart, and in some places waters gushed forth, and the foundations of the fortress at Chliara were overturned, and famous temples and houses collapsed. At any rate, when the first great earthquake struck among us, many buildings in the city collapsed, which had stood firm from of old, and many of the new houses were also ruined. And the copings of the courtyard walls, which were made of dry stones, one could see each one lying in a heap, as if a craftsman were about to construct the walls with stones piled up from elsewhere. And two of the great structures which fell signified the violence of the movement. For the church of All Saints, which had stood until then, and lacking nothing necessary, suffered a pitiful shattering and the collapse of the

καὶ τὴν εὐχαριστίαν μετὰ θερμῆς ὑποπτώσεως, αὐτῇ γε μετὰ θεὸν λέγων καὶ βασιλείαν καὶ ἐκκλησίαν εἰς χέρας τιθέ ναι, καὶ παρ' αὐτῆς καὶ μόνης ἐλπίζειν ἀξίαν γε τὴν διοίκησιν καὶ ἐπ' ἀμφοτέραις. ταῦτα ποτνιασάμενος καὶ τὰ εἰκότα εὐχα ριστήσας, ἐπιβὰς ἵππου ἐπανεζεύγνυ πρὸς τὰ ἀνάκτορα. τῷ δέ γε πρωτοβεστιαρίτῃ πρόσταγμα χαριστήριον σχεδιάζεται, καὶ τιμῆς ὑπερτάτης ἐπὶ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις φέρον ὑπόσχεσιν. ὃ δὴ καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ ἀπεπλήρου τῇ Κωνσταντίνου ἐπιδημήσαντι, μέγαν στρατοπε δάρχην ἐτίμα, καὶ τιμαῖς τῆς ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ σπουδῆς χάριν ἤγαλλεν. 232 14. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ πόνος ἦν Πέρσαις ἡ τῶν ἰδίων παντε λὴς ἐξαπώλεια· οὓς δὴ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἐπ' ἀνατολῆς ἦγεν αὐτομο λήσαντας, οἱ δ' ὕστερον ἐλθόντες συνάμ' ἐκείνοις κακῶς διετί θουν τὴν χώραν. σκοπῶ δὲ εἰ καὶ μὴ παρὰ τὴν τοιαύτην παντε λῶς ἐρημωθῆναι τὰ κατ' ἀνατολὴν ξυμβέβηκεν ὕστερον, ἐκείνων τοῦτο μὲν πονούντων ἐφ' οἷς ἔπαθον, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἀκριβῶς τοὺς τόπους μαθόντων, προσέτι δ' ἐκλελοιπότος καὶ ὃν εἶχον διὰ φόβου τὸ πάλαι καὶ θαύματος, ὡς καὶ ἄλλους καταφρονοῦν τας ἀνέδην ἔχειν ἐκθέειν καὶ τὰ μέγιστα ζημιοῦν, καὶ σὺν αὐ τοῖς ἄλλους ὥσπερ κύνας ὠστοτραγηκότας λιχνεύσασθαι, καὶ οὕτω κατ' ὀλίγον τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐπέχοντας ἄλλην ἐρήμην δεῖξαι τὴν ἀπ' Εὐξείνου Πόντου μέχρι καὶ τῆς κατὰ Ῥόδον θαλάσσης κατά τε μῆκος καὶ πλάτος διέχουσαν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὕστερον.

15. Τότε δὲ διαφορᾶς ἐνστάσης μεγίστης μεταξὺ Γεν νουϊτῶν καὶ Βενετικῶν, ὡς πᾶσι πάντας δι' ἔχθρας εἶναι καὶ κα κὸν ἀλλήλοις ἀπάντημα γίνεσθαι καὶ ναυσὶ πλέοντας καὶ ὁδοιπο ροῦντας πεζῇ, οὐκ ἦν ὅλως καιρὸς καθ' ὃν οὐκ ἠκούοντο ἢ Γεν νουῗται τὰ χείριστα διατεθεικότες Βενετικοὺς ἢ Γεννουΐτας Βενε 233 τικοί, ὅλας ναῦς αὐτάνδρους καταποντίζοντες, καὶ χρήματα τὰ μὲν ἀφαρπάζοντες τὰ δ' ἀφανίζοντες, ὡς καὶ πᾶσαν μεσι τείαν καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς κατ' αὐτοὺς ἐκκλησίας εἰς εἰρήνην ἀγούσης ἀπρακτεῖν τὸ παράπαν, καὶ λόγους κενοὺς εἶναι τοὺς σφίσι τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης εἰσηγουμένους. πρώτην μὲν οὖν ἦγε Μαιμακτη ριών, καὶ βασιλεὺς τρισὶν ἡμέραις πρότερον τῆς Κωνσταντίνου ἐξεληλακὼς πρὸς τὴν Χηλὴν τὸ ἀμφιθαλασσίδιον φρούριον ἤλαυ νεν, ἔτι δὲ πρὸς τῷ ∆αματρύϊ ἐσκήνου τὸ ὑπηρετικὸν προσμέ νων, καὶ ὅσοις ἦν αὐτῷ ἕπεσθαι. καὶ τῆς πρώτης τοῦ μηνὸς ἑσπέρας περί που τὸ μεσονύκτιον σεισμὸς ἐμπίπτει μέγας, κατὰ τοὺς τῶν ζώντων σωμάτων σφυγμούς· οὓς μᾶλλον καὶ δεινοὺς οἱ περὶ τούτων γράψαντες λέγουσιν ὡς κάτωθεν διιέντας καὶ ὑπο σπῶντας θεμέλια. τόσος γοῦν ὁ τότε ὥστε καὶ μηδένα ἔχειν μὴ παλαιὸν μὴ νέον εἰδέναι, μὴ ὅτι γε μείζω, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἴσον πώ ποτε. τινὲς δὲ τῶν ἤδη γεγηρακότων τῷ κατ' ἐξοχὴν λεγομένῳ μεγάλῳ ἐκεῖνον παρείκαζον· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τοῦτον ἐφ' ἡμέραις πλείσταις ἐπισυμβαίνειν, καὶ πλειστάκις τῆς ἡμέρας ἢ καὶ νυκτὸς προφαίνειν κατὰ μικρὸν τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐγκαταλείμματα, ὥστε καὶ Ἀνθεστηριῶνος ἑπτακαιδεκάτῃ ἐνταῦθα μὲν πλείω τὸ τοῦ χρόνου μῆκος γενέσθαι, μαλακώτερον δὲ τῇ δυνάμει, ἐν δὲ τῇ 234 ἀνατολῇ καὶ μείζω τοῦ φθάσαντος καὶ δεινότερον. ἐνέσκηψε δὲ τὸ δεινὸν τότε ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ Πέργαμον διὰ Χλιαρῶν μέσων καὶ ἐς αὐτῆς Περσίδος μέρη, ὡς διαστῆναι μὲν πολλαχοῦ τὴν γῆν, ἐκ βλύσαι δ' ἐνιαχοῦ καὶ ὕδατα, ἀνατραπῆναι δὲ καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὰ Χλιαρὰ φρουρίου θεμέλια, καὶ ναοὺς καὶ οἴκους τῶν περιπύστων καταπεσεῖν. τοῦ γοῦν πρώτου σεισμοῦ καὶ καθ' ἡμᾶς μεγάλου ἐνσκήψαντος πολλὰ μὲν ἀναστήματα τῶν κατὰ τὴν πόλιν κατέ πιπτον, ἐκ παλαιοῦ τὸν ἑδρασμὸν ἔχοντα πολλαὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν νέων οἰκιῶν κατηρείποντο. τοὺς δέ γε τῶν αὐλαιῶν θριγκούς, οἳ καὶ ἐκ ξηρῶν συνίσταντο λίθων, κατὰ σωρείαν ἕκαστον εἶδέ τις κεί μενον, ὅμοιον ὡς ἂν ἐπισωρευθέντων ἄλλοθεν ὁ τεχνίτης τοὺς τοίχους ἔμελλε συνιστᾶν. δύο δ' ἔργα τῶν μεγάλων πεσόντα τὴν βίαν ἐσήμηνε τοῦ κινήματος. ὁ γὰρ τῶν ἁγίων ἁπάντων ναὸς ἐς τότε συνεστηκώς, καὶ μηδενὸς τῶν ἀναγκαίων λειπόμενος, ἐλεεινὴν θραῦσιν πάσχει καὶ πτῶσιν τῆς