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drew a rabble crowd to follow his most impious opinion. Then also the patriarch Anastasius, having impiously trampled upon the church for twenty-four years, ended his life. But Copronymus, having made a gathering of many bishops of like mind with him, whom Theodosius of Ephesus and Pastillas of Perge led, through them dogmatized what he wished, with no one being present either from elder 270 Rome. or from the other patriarchs; and he did not shrink from calling such a concourse of those unholy men an ecumenical council. With them, arriving at the church of the Theotokos in Blachernae and having ascended the ambo, he brought up a certain monk Constantine, who had been made bishop of Sylaeum, and there proclaimed, “Many years to Constantine, ecumenical patriarch.” And after a few days this tyrant, arriving in the forum with his patriarch and the bishops who agreed with him, forbade the veneration of the holy icons before all the people, calling those who revered them idolaters, and they subjected to anathema the ever-memorable Germanus and George of Cyprus who became patriarch of Constantinople and the great in wisdom and virtue John of Damascus, who had often convicted this God-fighter and his father of impiety through his letters. And Constantine, having campaigned against the Bulgars and engaged them, and having lost many not only of the common soldiers, but also of the notable men and commanders, returned in defeat. 271 From of old, Christians among the Hagarenes handled the tax codes (for those people do not know how to count, nor even to write fractions, I mean thirds and fourths and eighths and twelfths and those even smaller than these), but then through envy they were prevented from this administration. But when the people of Hagar were not able to accomplish such a task by themselves, they were again entrusted with the management of these records. The ill-omened tyrant, however, killed a certain monk Andrew, called the Calybite, a holy man who was rebuking him and calling him impious, and another Julian, and he killed Valens by scourging. The Bulgars, however, after doing away with their own leaders, who were descended from the ruling line, chose another who did not belong to the leadership, called Teletzes. But the emperor campaigned against them by both land and sea and, arriving at Anchialus and there engaging them, with the battle raging from the fifth hour of the day until evening, and with many having fallen on both sides, he nevertheless was victorious; and the leader of the Bulgars 272 fled, while a great slaughter of the barbarians occurred, and not a few were taken captive, and many also deserted to the emperor. and from there, puffed up, he celebrated a triumph for the victory, he himself marching in full armor with his armed host, leading the captives in chains, ascribing the victory to his own arms and not to the divine power. And after the triumph, he ordered all the captives to be put to death. And there was a great winter in the days of his sole rule, so that not only were the rivers completely frozen solid from the cold, but also the northern sea itself for very many stades, and the strait of the Stenon and that from the city to Chrysopolis. Then again, when snow fell on the ice and it too was compacted and frozen by the cold, people crossed on foot the strait of the Stenon and that from the city to Chrysopolis, as did pack animals carrying loads and oxen pulling wagons with heavy freight. And this is said 273 to have happened then also in other seas. Then, when the air grew warm, the continuous mass of ice was divided and was broken into pieces. And a sudden, strong and violent wind blew and drove the pieces through the sea, not unlike great hills or certain islands of many acres; on which also wild animals and

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συρφετώδη ὄχλον ὑπέσυρεν ἕπεσθαι τῷ αὐτοῦ ἀσεβεστάτῳ φρονήματι. τότε καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης Ἀναστάσιος ἀσεβῶς τῆς ἐκκλησίας κατορχησάμενος ἐπὶ χρόνους εἴκοσι πρὸς τοῖς τέσσαρσι κατέστρεψε τὴν ζωήν. ὁ δὲ Κοπρώνυμος ἐπισκόπων ὁμοφρόνων αὐτῷ πολλῶν συναγωγὴν ποιησάμενος, ὧν κατῆρχε Θεοδόσιος ὁ Ἐφέσου καὶ Παστιλᾶς ὁ Πέργης, δι' αὐτῶν ἃ ἐβούλετο ἐδογμάτισε, μή τινος ἢ ἐκ Ῥώμης τῆς πρε270 σβυτέρας. ἢ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων παρόντος πατριαρχῶν· καὶ τὴν τοιαύτην συνδρομὴν τῶν ἀνιέρων ἐκείνων σύνοδον οἰκουμενικὴν καλέσαι οὐκ ἀπενάρκησε. μεθ' ὧν εἰς τὸν ἐν Βλαχέρναις τῆς θεοτόκου ναὸν ἀφικόμενος καὶ ἐν τῷ ἄμβωνι ἀναβεβηκὼς Κωνσταντῖνόν τινα μοναχόν, ἐπίσκοπον Συλαίου γενόμενον, ἀναβιβάσας ἐκεῖ ἐξεφώνησε "Κωνσταντίνου οἰκουμενικοῦ πατριάρχου πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη." καὶ μετ' ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἐν τῷ φόρῳ παραγενόμενος ὁ τύραννος οὗτος μετὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ὁμογνωμονούντων αὐτῷ ἐπισκόπων, ἐνώπιον παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ τὴν τῶν σεπτῶν εἰκόνων προσκύνησιν ἀπηγόρευσαν, εἰδωλολάτρας τοὺς ταύτας σεβομένους καλέσαντες, καὶ ἀναθέματι καθυπέβαλον τόν τε ἀοίδιμον Γερμανὸν καὶ τὸν ἐκ Κύπρου Γεώργιον πατριάρχην τῆς Κωνσταντίνου γενόμενον καὶ τὸν μέγαν ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἀρετῇ Ἰωάννην τὸν ∆αμασκηνόν, ὃς πολλάκις τὸν θεομάχον ἤλεγξε τοῦτον καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ πατέρα δι' ἐπιστολῶν ἀσεβεῖν. Ἐκστρατεύσας δὲ κατὰ Βουλγάρων ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος καὶ συμβαλὼν αὐτοῖς καὶ πολλοὺς ἀποβαλὼν οὐ τῶν τυχόντων μόνον στρατιωτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐπισήμων καὶ στραταρχῶν, μεθ' ἥττης ἐπανέζευξεν. 271 Ἀνέκαθεν δὲ χριστιανοὶ παρὰ τοῖς Ἀγαρηνοῖς τοὺς τῶν δασμῶν μεταχειριζόμενοι κώδικας (οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν ἀριθμεῖν ἐκεῖνοι, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ γράφειν ψήφους λεπτάς, τρίτα φημὶ καὶ τέταρτα καὶ ὄγδοα καὶ δωδέκατα καὶ τὰ τούτων ἔτι λεπτότερα), φθόνῳ τότε τὴν τούτων μεταχείρισιν ἐκωλύθησαν. μὴ δυνηθέντων δὲ τῶν τῆς Ἄγαρ δι' ἑαυτῶν τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀνύειν ἔργον, αὖθις τὴν τῶν γραφῶν τούτων οἰκονομίαν ἐνεχειρίσθησαν. Ὁ μέντοι δυσώνυμος τύραννος Ἀνδρέαν τινὰ μοναχόν, Καλυβίτην λεγόμενον, ὅσιον ἄνδρα, ἐλέγχοντα αὐτὸν καὶ ἀσεβῆ καλοῦντα, καὶ ἄλλον Ἰουλιανὸν καὶ Οὐάλεντα μαστιζόμενον ἔκτεινεν. Οἱ Βούλγαροι δὲ τοὺς αὐτῶν ἀρχηγούς, οἳ ἐκ σειρᾶς κατήγοντο ἡγεμονικῆς, ἀνελόντες ἕτερον εἵλοντο μὴ τῇ ἡγεμονίᾳ προσήκοντα, Τελέτζην καλούμενον. ἐπιστρατεύσας δὲ κατ' αὐτῶν ὁ βασιλεὺς διά τε γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης καὶ γενόμενος κατὰ τὴν Ἀγχίαλον κἀκεῖ συμβαλὼν αὐτοῖς, τοῦ πολέμου ἐξ ὥρας πέμπτης τῆς ἡμέρας ἕως ἑσπέρας ἐπικρατήσαντος, καὶ πεσόντων πολλῶν ἑκατέρωθεν, ὅμως μέντοι νικᾷ· καὶ ὁ μὲν τῶν Βουλγάρων 272 ἀρχηγὸς ἀπέδρα, φόνος δὲ πολὺς τῶν βαρβάρων ἐγένετο, καὶ οὐ μείους ἐλήφθησαν δορυάλωτοι, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ προσεχώρησαν. κἀντεῦθεν ἐπαρθεὶς θρίαμβον ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ κατήγαγεν, αὐτὸς μὲν πανοπλίτης διιὼν μεθ' ὡπλισμένης τῆς στρατιᾶς, τοὺς δὲ αἰχμαλώτους δεσμίους ἄγων, τοῖς ὅπλοις αὐτοῦ τὴν νίκην, ἀλλ' οὐ τῇ θείᾳ δυνάμει ἐπιγραφόμενος. καὶ μετὰ τὸν θρίαμβον τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους πάντας ἀναιρεθῆναι προσέταξε. Γέγονε δὲ χειμὼν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς αὐταρχίας αὐτοῦ μέγας, ὥστε μὴ μόνον τοὺς ποταμοὺς ἐκ τοῦ ψύχους κρυσταλλωθῆναι διόλου, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν ἀρκτῴαν ἐπὶ στάδια πάνυ πολλὰ καὶ τὸν τοῦ Στενοῦ πορθμὸν καὶ τὸν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως πρὸς Χρυσόπολιν. εἶτ' αὖθις τῷ κρυστάλλῳ χιόνος ἐπιπεσούσης κἀκείνης ἐκ τοῦ κρύους συμπιληθείσης καὶ κρυσταλλωθείσης, πεζοποροῦντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι διῄεσαν τὸν πορθμὸν τοῦ Στενοῦ καὶ τὸν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως πρὸς Χρυσόπολιν, ἀχθοφοροῦντά τε ὑποζύγια καὶ βόες ἁμάξας ἕλκοντες σὺν φόρτῳ πολλῷ. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις θαλάσσαις τότε γενέσθαι 273 λέγεται. εἶτα τοῦ ἀέρος θαλφθέντος διῄρητο τῶν κρυστάλλων τὸ συνεχὲς καὶ εἰς τμήματα διακέκοπτο. πνεῦμα δὲ πνεῦσαν ἀθρόον σφοδρόν τε καὶ βίαιον ἤλαυνε διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης τὰ τμήματα οὐδὲν ἀπεοικότα βουνῶν μεγάλων ἢ νήσων πολυπλέθρων τινῶν· οἷς καὶ ζῷα ἄγριά τε καὶ