Georgius Pachymeres, Chronicle II

perhaps has been cast as if into the sea, but from probabilities it became great and a sufficient cause for scandal. For Nicetas of Dyrrachium, having heard the statement, considered it completely unbearable to pious ears, if men, obedient to Christ and adopted as sons of God through baptism, were to be called brothers of demons who are opposed to God. Therefore, on account of these things, he could not bear to look upon the one who had said it with genuine eyes, but he reported the statement to many and judged it to be no small blasphemy. These things led many to mock and to turn away from the statement as from the poison of bitterness and of serpents; and the emperor also learned of the statement being spread abroad, and, as was likely, being greatly distressed and groaning over the state of affairs, if not only those in schism but even those who are united are mocked for their own things, he convenes a synod, and discusses with all the things that had been said up to that point, and, as was proper, he sets the statements in order, casting out a vain suspicion from the hearts of the hearers which had already been implanted against Theoleptus. But he himself, 249 having tried to harm the one who had kindled the conflagration of the scandal, is restrained by respect for the man, partly on account of his standing (for in truth the man was devout, and had been moved not by malice but by piety), and partly because he wished the great scandal to be removed by the one who had brought it up being in peril.

24. A terrible suffering then came upon the patriarch John, and he was terribly distressed out of piety for the following reason. For some of his men, who, being young, had set out to catch young pigeons being raised in the catechumena, come upon the pillar where the aforementioned written documents were lying hidden (for it was the month of Gamelion in which these things were done) in the catechumena to the left as one enters the celebrated church. And since there was a dovecote there, and it was necessary to catch the unfledged chicks not with lime-twigs and nets but with hands alone, they set up a ladder, and one of them, having climbed up, had those chicks in his hands, and immediately what was lying in the recess of the hole also appeared. This was the folded potsherd with the curses. And as they unfolded it and learned what it was, they were, as was likely, in amazement and were at a loss as to what they should do. For the time being, 250 they decided to report it to the patriarch, and to hand over both the papers and the potsherd. Therefore, when the patriarch had it in his hands and understood the matter, he decided to report the matter to the emperor also, because he suspected that no other than the one who had been led astray was the target of the curses. And so, sending his brother Methodius, he requested the emperor to come to him; for he could not go to him. And he also reported the reason, that they had unknowingly for so long been liable to the penalties of terrible curses, and that contrary to the dove of old, which proclaimed release from the flood, that one on the pillar appears, inasmuch as it has become a messenger not of blessings but of curses and excommunications. And worst of all, whereas then the one who bound was the patriarch and bore the authority of the Spirit to bind, now the one who is perhaps to loose, if he should loose at all, is found to be deprived of the authority to loose. And because of these things, since the difficulty was great, it was necessary to labor, he said, and to take counsel on what must be done, as delaying was perhaps not without danger for them. When the emperor heard these things, he was for the time being apprehensive of the deed and was troubled by the report, and just as he was, he immediately goes to the patriarch. And when he saw the documents, and learned where 251 they were lying and how they had been found, he was at a loss and considered what must be done; for to demand that Patriarch Athanasius, who had bound, loose them after he had become a private citizen, they did not find sufficient. Therefore, by his command, the patriarch of Alexandria comes to them, and John of Ephesus comes, thus being inactive in his office, and those of the high priests who were present were also there, and they submitted the matter to common deliberation. Therefore, they all commonly abhorred it, and they held the perpetrator of the deed in no good suspicion; for it was nothing other than to secure the office for himself again, in this inescapable way, and this by binding one whom he ought not. For the time being, however, it seemed to some

τυχὸν τῷ εἰ πόντι παρέρριπται, ἐξ εἰκότων δὲ γέγονε μέγα καὶ εἰς σκανδάλου πρόφασιν ἱκανόν. ὁ γὰρ ∆υρραχίου Νικήτας τὸν λόγον ἀκούσας οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν ἀκοαῖς εὐσεβέσιν ἡγήσατο πάμπαν, εἰ δαιμόνων ἀν τικειμένων θεῷ ἄνθρωποι ὑπήκοοι τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ υἱοθετηθέντες θεῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀδελφοὶ λέγοιντο. γνησίοις γοῦν διὰ ταῦτα τὸν εἰπόντα βλέπειν ὄμμασιν οὐκ ἠνέσχετο, ἀλλὰ πολλοῖς διελάλει τὸν λόγον καὶ βλασφημίαν τοῦτον οὐ μετρίαν ἔκρινε. ταῦτα πολλοῖς μὲν ἐπῄει χλευάζειν καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐπιεικῶς ὡς ἰὸν πικρίας καὶ ὄφεων ἀποστρέφεσθαι· ἐπέπυστο δὲ καὶ βασιλεὺς πλατυνομένου τοῦ λόγου, καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς περιαλγήσας καὶ τῶν πρα γμάτων καταστενάξας, εἰ μὴ μόνον τοῖς σχιζομένοις ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοῖς δὴ τοῖς ἡνωμένοις τὰ τῶν ἰδίων χλευάζονται, σύνοδον συγκροτεῖ, καὶ διαλαλεῖ πᾶσι τὰ τέως λεχθέντα, καὶ ὡς ἦν κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς τοὺς λόγους διευθετεῖ, ἐκβάλλων ὑποψίαν ματαίαν ἐκ καρδιῶν ἀκουόντων ἐνσκιρρουμένην ἤδη τῷ Θεολήπτῳ. αὐτὸς 249 δὲ πειράσας κακοῦν τὸν τὴν τοῦ σκανδάλου πυρκαϊὰν ὑπανά ψαντα αἰδοῖ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εἴργεται, τὸ μὲν διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου κατά στασιν (ἦν γὰρ ταῖς ἀληθείαις εὐλαβὴς ὁ ἀνήρ, καὶ οὐ κακουρ γίᾳ ἀλλ' εὐλαβείᾳ παρακεκίνητο), τὸ δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀρθῆναι θέ λειν μέγα τὸ σκάνδαλον ἐκ τοῦ τὸν ὑπομνήσαντα κινδυνεῦσαι.

24. ∆εινὸν δὲ πάθος ἐντεῦθεν εἰσῄει τὸν πατριάρχην Ἰωάννην, καὶ ἤλυε δεινῶς δι' εὐλάβειαν ἐξ αἰτίας τοιᾶσδε. τινὲς γὰρ τῶν ἐκείνου, οἷς νέοις οὖσι ζωγρεῖν ἐπῄει περιστερῶν νεοσσοὺς νεοκομουμένους ἐν τοῖς κατηχουμενείοις, ἐφίστανται καὶ τῷ κίονι ἔνθα τὰ δηλωθέντα τῶν γραμμάτων ἐκπώματα ἐν κρυφῇ κείμενα ἦσαν (Γαμηλιὼν δ' ἐνειστήκει μὴν καθ' ὃν ταῦτ' ἐπράττετο) ἐν ἀριστεροῖς τοῖς εἰσιοῦσι κατηχουμενείοις τοῦ πε ριωνύμου ναοῦ. καὶ ἐπεὶ περιστερεὼν ἦν τῇδε, καὶ ἔδει οὐκ ἰξοῖς καὶ λίνοις ἀλλὰ χερσὶ καὶ μόναις νεοσσοὺς ἀπτῆνας αἱρεῖν, κλίμακά τε ἐπιτιθεῖσι, καὶ εἷς ἀναβὰς ἐκείνων νεοσσοὺς μὲν ἐκεί νους ὑπὸ χεῖρας εἶχεν, ὑπεφαίνετο δ' εὐθέως καὶ τὸ ἐν μυχῷ τῆς ὀπῆς κείμενον. τὸ δ' ἦν τὸ συνεπτυγμένον τῶν ἀρῶν ὄστρακον. ὡς δ' ἀναπτύσσοντες κατεμάνθανον ὅ τι ποτ' ἦν ἐκεῖνο, ἐν θαύ ματι ὡς εἰκὸς ἦσαν καὶ διηπόρουν ὅ τι καὶ δράσουσι. τέως δ' 250 ἀπαγγέλλειν μὲν πατριάρχῃ, ἐγχειρίζειν δὲ καὶ χάρτας καὶ ὄστρα κα ἔγνωσαν. ὡς γοῦν εἰς χεῖρας ὁ πατριάρχης εἶχε καὶ κατενόει τὸ δρᾶμα, προσαναφέρειν ἔγνω τὰ περὶ τούτου καὶ βασιλεῖ, ὅτι καὶ οὐδένα ἄλλον ἢ αὐτὸν ὑπενόει τὸν παρασυρέντα καθ' οὗπερ ἦσαν καὶ αἱ ἀραί. καὶ δὴ τὸν ἀδελφὸν πέμψας Μεθόδιον, ἠξίου βασιλέα παραγενέσθαι οἱ· μηδὲ γὰρ ἔχειν ἀπαντᾶν παρ' ἐκεῖνον. ἀπήγγελε δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν, ὡς ἔλαθον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον φρικτῶν ἀρῶν εὐθύναις ὡς οὐκ οἴδασιν ἐνεχόμενοι, καὶ ὡς ἀπεναντίας τῆς πάλαι περιστερᾶς, λύσιν εὐαγγελιζομένης κατακλυσμοῦ, ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ κίονος ἐκείνη φαίνεται, παρ' ὅσον οὐκ εὐλογίας ἀλλὰ κα τάρας καὶ ἀφορισμῶν μηνύτρια γέγονε. καὶ τὸ χείριστον, ὡς τότε μὲν ὁ δέων πατριάρχης ἦν καὶ τὴν τοῦ δεῖν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ πνεύματος ἔφερε, νῦν δ' ὁ καὶ ἴσως λύειν μέλλων, εἰ τέως καὶ λύοι, ἐστερημένος τῆς τοῦ λύειν ἐξουσίας εὑρίσκεται. καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ὡς πολλῆς τῆς δυσκολίας οὔσης χρὴ κοπιᾶν, ἔλεγε, καὶ συμβουλεύειν τὸ ποιητέον, ὡς ἐμβραδύνουσιν ἴσως μὴ σφίσιν ἀκίνδυνον ὄν. ταῦτα βασιλεὺς ἀκούσας διευλαβήθη τέως τὴν πρᾶξιν καὶ πρὸς τὸν λόγον ἐθορυβήθη, καὶ ὡς εἶχεν εὐθέως παρὰ τὸν πατριάρχην γίνεται. ὡς δὲ τὰ γράμματα εἶδε, καὶ ὅπου κεί 251 μενα καὶ ὅπως εὑρέθησαν πέπυστο, ἐν ἀπόρῳ ἦν καὶ τὸ ποιητέον ἐσκόπει· τὸ γὰρ πατριάρχην Ἀθανάσιον δέοντα ἀξιοῦν ἰδιωτεύ σαντα λύειν, οὐχ εὕρισκον αὔταρκες. ὅθεν καὶ συνέρχεται μὲν σφίσιν ἐκ προσταγῆς ὁ Ἀλεξανδρείας, συνέρχεται δὲ ὁ τῆς Ἐφέσου Ἰωάννης, οὕτως ἀργῶς τῆς τιμῆς ἔχων, συνῆσαν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀρχιερέων οἱ παρευρεθέντες, καὶ κοινῇ σκέψει τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐδίδο σαν. κοινῶς οὖν κατεστύγουν ἅπαντες, καὶ τῆς πράξεως τὸν πράξαντα ἐν οὐ καλαῖς ὑπονοίαις ἦγον· οὐ γὰρ ἄλλο τι ἀλλ' ἑαυ τῷ καὶ πάλιν περιποιεῖν τὴν τιμήν, ἀφύκτως οὕτω καὶ ταῦτα ὃν οὐκ ἐχρῆν δεσμοῦντα. τέως γε μέντοι τοῖς μὲν ἐδόκει