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casting them upon the land, so that she might reap a manifold harvest at the proper time; for she gave him sufficient gold and thirty slaves for service and great wealth in clothing and various other things, having sought nothing else from him before than to make a bond of spiritual brotherhood with John, her son. But he, as if she were much above him, rejected the meeting because of the woman's apparent eminence and his own visible lowliness. However, having received greater entreaty from her, he did this. And then, as if growing more confident, she said openly to him that God holds you as a great man and is about to raise you to great honor, and I seek or demand nothing else from you except that you love and have mercy on us. And he promised to declare her mistress of all that land, if possible, if this should come to pass. And so departing from there he himself went up to the reigning city and to his own master. And from the money that had come to him from there, after his return he bought large estates in Macedonia, and he established all his relatives in sufficient prosperity, and he himself became rich, just as in virtues, so also in estates and money. Yet he was with his master and served him. 229 12 On one of those days, Antigonus the patrician and domestic of the schools built and sumptuously furnished a dining hall in the imperial houses, which are in the court adjoining the palace, making his own father Bardas the host and feast-master. The Caesar, taking along the greater men of the senate and his own relatives and associates, went to the feast, taking along also his friends from Bulgaria, who were as usual at that time staying in the reigning city. Present at the feast was also Theophilos, Basil's master, as he too was a kinsman of the Caesar, and also Constantine the patrician, the father of our own logothete of the drome and of Thomas, the famously incorruptible patrician pre-eminent in philosophy. The Bulgarians, being ever somehow conceited and boastful, since they happened to have with them at that time a Bulgarian who prided himself on his bodily strength and was supreme in wrestling, whom almost no one who had wrestled with him until then had thrown, seemed to think unbearably proud thoughts about him, but boasted beyond measure. As the drinking went on and good cheer danced around the table, that Theophilos the younger said to the Caesar that "I have, master, a man who, if you command it, will wrestle with this famous Bulgarian. For this is the greatest reproach to the Romans, and no one will bear their arrogance if this man returns to Bulgaria undefeated." When the Caesar ordered it to be done, 230 the aforementioned patrician Constantine, being very friendly toward Basil as he himself also drew his lineage from the Armenians, since he saw that the place where they were about to compete was damp, and he feared that Basil might perchance slip, asked for a proposal to be made by the Caesar that sawdust from wood be sprinkled on the ground. When this was done, Basil grappled with the Bulgarian, and quickly squeezing and clasping him tight, as if he were some light and lifeless bundle of hay or a dry and light fleece of wool, so easily he lifted him up over the table and threw him down. And when this happened there was no one present who did not talk about and admire Basil. And the Bulgarians, astonished at the abundance of his ease and power, remained speechless. From that day the fame of Basil began to spread more and more throughout the whole city, and was carried on the lips of all, having now become a conspicuous man. 13 There was with the emperor Michael an unruly and disorderly horse, stiff-necked and proud,

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αὐτὰ καταβαλλομένη χώραν, ινα ἀμήσῃ παμπολλαπλασίονα ἐν εὐθέτῳ καιρῷ· δέδωκε γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ χρυ- σὸν ἱκανὸν καὶ ἀνδράποδα πρὸς ὑπηρεσίαν τριάκοντα καὶ ἐν ἱμα- τισμῷ καὶ διαφόροις ειδεσι πλοῦτον πολύν, μηδὲν ετερον ἐπιζητή- σασα τὸ πρότερον παρ' αὐτοῦ η τὸ ποιήσασθαι πνευματικῆς ἀδελ- φότητος σύνδεσμον πρὸς ̓Ιωάννην τὸν ταύτης υἱόν. ὁ δὲ ὡς ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν μᾶλλον ουσαν διωθεῖτο τὴν εντευξιν διὰ τὸ δοκοῦν τῆς γυ- ναικὸς περιφανὲς καὶ τὸ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸ ὁρώμενον εὐτελές. ομως πλείονα παράκλησιν δεξάμενος ὑπ' αὐτῆς τοῦτο πεποίηκε. καὶ τότε οἱονεὶ ἐπὶ πλέον θαρρήσασα ειπε φανερῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν οτι σε ὁ θεὸς μέγαν ανθρωπον εχει καὶ ἐπὶ μεγάλης μέλλει τιμῆς ἀν- υψοῦν, καὶ οὐδὲν ετερον ἐπιζητῶ η ἀπαιτῶ παρὰ σοῦ πλὴν ινα ἀγαπᾷς καὶ ἐλεῇς ἡμᾶς. ὁ δὲ τῆς γῆς ἐκείνης ἁπάσης, εἰ δυνατόν, κυρίαν αὐτὴν ἀποφῆναι, εἰ τοῦτο εσται, κατεπηγγείλατο. καὶ ουτως ἐκεῖθεν ἀπάρας ἀνῄει καὶ αὐτὸς πρὸς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ κύριον. ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἐντεῦθεν αὐτῷ προσγεγονότων χρημάτων μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον ἐξωνήσατο κτήματα κατὰ Μακεδο- νίαν μεγάλα, καὶ κατέστησεν ἐπ' εὐπορίας απαντας τοὺς προσή- κοντας ἱκανῆς, καὶ γέγονε πλούσιος καὶ αὐτός, ωσπερ ταῖς ἀρε- ταῖς, ουτω δὴ καὶ τοῖς κτήμασι καὶ τοῖς χρήμασι. συνῆν δὲ ομως τῷ κυρίῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ διηκόνει αὐτῷ. 229 12 Κατὰ δέ τινα τῶν ἡμερῶν ̓Αντίγονος ὁ πατρίκιος καὶ δομέστικος τῶν σχολῶν κλητόριον ἐν ταῖς βασιλικαῖς οἰκίαις, αι κατὰ τὴν πλησιάζουσαν τοῖς βασιλείοις αὐλήν, ᾠκοδόμησε καὶ πο- λυτελὲς ἐσκευάσατο, ἑστιάτορα καὶ δαιτυμόνα τὸν οἰκεῖον πατέρα Βάρδαν ποιούμενος. ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ τοὺς μείζονας τῆς συγκλήτου καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους παραλαβὼν καὶ τοὺς συνήθεις πρὸς τὴν εὐωχίαν ἀπῄει, συμπαραλαβὼν καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Βουλγαρίας φίλους, συνήθως κατὰ τὸν τότε καιρὸν τῇ βασιλευούσῃ ἐνδιατρίβοντας. παρῆν δὲ τῇ ἑστιάσει καὶ Θεόφιλος ὁ τοῦ Βασιλείου κύριος οια συγγενὴς καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ Καίσαρος, ἀλλὰ καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ πατρίκιος, ὁ τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς λογοθέτου τοῦ δρόμου καὶ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ ακρου καὶ ἀδωροτάτου περιφανῶς πατρικίου Θωμᾶ πατήρ. οἱ δὲ Βούλγα- ροι ἀεί πως οἰηματίαι καὶ καυχηματίαι τυγχάνοντες, ἐπεὶ ετυχον τότε μεθ' ἑαυτῶν εχοντες Βούλγαρον ἐπ' ἀνδρίᾳ σεμνυνόμενον σώματος καὶ ακρον ἐν παλαισμοσύνῃ ὑπάρχοντα, ον οὐδεὶς σχεδὸν μέχρι τότε τῶν προσπαλαιόντων κατέβαλεν, οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν ἐδόκουν ἐπ' αὐτῷ φρονεῖν ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτρον ἠλαζονεύοντο. τοῦ δὲ πότου προϊόντος καὶ θυμηδίας χορευούσης κατὰ τὴν τράπεζαν, λέγει ὁ μικρὸς ἐκεῖνος Θεόφιλος πρὸς τὸν Καίσαρα οτι εχω, δέ- σποτα, ανθρωπον ος ἐὰν κελεύῃς ινα παλαίσῃ μετὰ τοῦ περιβοή- του τούτου Βουλγάρου. μέγιστον γὰρ ονειδος τοῦτο ̔Ρωμαίοις, καὶ οὐδεὶς ὑποίσει τὴν ἀλαζονείαν αὐτῶν, εἰ ουτος ἀκαταγώνιστος ἐν Βουλγαρίᾳ παραγένηται. τοῦ δὲ Καίσαρος γενέσθαι προστά- 230 ξαντος, ὁ προμνημονευθεὶς Κωνσταντῖνος πατρίκιος, σφόδρα φι- λίως πρὸς τὸν Βασίλειον διακείμενος ατε καὶ αὐτὸς ἐξ ̓Αρμενίων ελκων τὸ γένος, ἐπεὶ δίυγρον ειδε τὸν τόπον ἐν ῳ διαγωνίζεσθαι εμελλον, καὶ ἐδεδοίκει μή πως ὀλισθήσῃ τυχὸν ὁ Βασίλειος, αἰτεῖ προτροπὴν γενέσθαι παρὰ τοῦ Καίσαρος ἐκ ξύλων ἐπιρρανθῆναι πρίσμα κατὰ τὸ εδαφος. ου γενομένου συμπλακεὶς τῷ Βουλγάρῳ ὁ Βασίλειος, καὶ θᾶττον συμπιέσας καὶ περισφίγξας αὐτόν, ὡσεὶ δεσμόν τινα χόρτου κοῦφον καὶ αψυχον η ἐξ ἐρίου πόκον ξηρόν τε καὶ ἐλαφρόν, ουτω ῥᾳδίως αὐτὸν ἐπάνω τῆς τραπέζης μετεωρίσας ἀπέρριψεν. τοῦ δὲ γεγονότος οὐδεὶς τῶν παρόντων ην ος οὐ πε- ριεῖπε καὶ ἐθαύμαζε τὸν Βασίλειον. ἐκπλαγέντες δὲ καὶ οἱ Βούλ- γαροι τὴν περιουσίαν τῆς εὐχερείας τε καὶ δυνάμεως εμειναν ἐνεοί. ἀπ' ἐκείνης δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας ηρξατο ἐπὶ πλέον ἡ τοῦ Βασιλείου φήμη εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν διαφοιτᾶν, καὶ τοῖς ἁπάντων διεφέρετο στό- μασιν, ἀπόβλεπτος ηδη καθεστηκώς. 13 Ην δὲ παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ Μιχαὴλ ιππος ἀφηνιαστὴς καὶ ατακτος σκληραύχην τε καὶ ἀγέρωχος,