Georgius Pachymeres, Chronicle II

to the emperor, dismounting from his horse as she approached, he cordially received her as a master, supposedly, and not as a spouse.

(5) Then the emperor in the city of Thessalonica, treated him magnificently and for days honored him with gifts and dignities, and he royally bestowed greater gifts on his magnates. Then again he sends him away, having poured out gifts of many talents, because his brother Stephen had been stirred up (for he already suspected his own peril since his brother, as was likely, would presently think more highly of himself than before, and for this reason he hastened to arrange his own affairs as he could) the emperor, by sending an allied force, as much as was possible, checked the impulses of Stephen.

6. Then also the Venetians from nearby sent an embassy to the emperor, and sought to renew peace with the Romans. The emperor, however, was willing to receive them, but nevertheless, between the two willing parties stood the pledges which the emperor had previously seized from the Venetians on account of the arson, which they demanded back and on that condition were willing to accept, but the emperor was disdainful and held on to what had been taken as just. But the Venetians, 287 desiring peace with the emperor, were willing to give up most of the pledges, if the emperor would consent to make a treaty even on these terms. And now the emperor was kindly inclined to yield on that point, and they would have thus established peace, had not the counsel of certain men around him intervened (for the fact that matters had turned out badly for them suggested to these men a greater hope of being content with the treaty even if they received none of the pledges) and prevented the advance of peace. And so from there, not having consented to make the treaty on these terms, they returned without success.

7. The emperor, wishing to honor Choumnos, the keeper of the imperial inkstand, as a faithful servant and most proven in his duties, and especially since he had prepared a dowry of many talents for his daughter, wished to join the daughter of Choumnos in marriage to the boy Alexios, ruler over the Laz, of whom he was in fact the nephew and guardian according to his father's will, while his mother was still in Constantinople. For he thought this was no less advantageous for him than for the affairs of the Romans, and he also honored his kinsman with the marriage by affinity, as he was himself reckoned among the most loyal. And he so fitted the plan to the deed, that he straightaway adorned 288 the maiden with the despotic insignia and called her bride. And his mother, having heard of the contract, also approved, and she consented to the imperial decision, and wished to come and prepare the wedding for her son. But he, whether he was persuaded and deemed the marriage unworthy, or whether it simply occurred to him otherwise, pre-emptively takes as his wife a woman from one of the powerful Iberian families. When the emperor learned of this, he was insistent, putting forward the laws and asserting the right of his guardianship; for since he held the position of a father over him, both because of the will and also because of the right from his lineage along with the imperial power, he wished to dissolve the union. However, he did not wish to act despotically by command alone, but no less also with the opinion and vote of the church. Therefore, sending to both the patriarch and the synod around him, putting forward his right over the youth as at once emperor and father and also guardian, he tried to show the marriage to be invalid according to the laws, and demanded that it be dissolved as having been contracted against his will. When the arguments were therefore being moved in the synod, some of the bishops, cleaving supposedly to the strictness of the laws, decided to yield to the emperor's will, but the patriarch and with 289 him the majority firmly resisted; for it was reported, as they heard, that the Iberian woman was pregnant by Alexios. However, his mother, desiring to return, gave hope to the party of the keeper of the inkstand, that when she arrived she would bring about the dissolution of the contract rather than just announcing it; for she would be able to persuade her son in person and not by letters, and thus

πρὸς βασιλέα, ἀποβὰς τοῦ ἵππου προσερχομένην, ὡς δεσπό συνον δῆθεν καὶ οὐχ ὡς σύζυγον, φιλοφρονούμενος ὑπεδέχετο.

(5) τότε καὶ βασιλεὺς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν Θεσσαλονίκην, ἐκεῖνον μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἐθεράπευεν καὶ δώροις καὶ τιμαῖς ἐφ' ἡμέραις ἤγαλλε, καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ μεγιστᾶνας βασιλικῶς ἐδωρεῖτο τοῖς μεί ζοσιν. εἶτ' αὖθις καὶ ἀποπέμπει πολυταλάντους ἐκχέας τὰς δόσεις, παρακεκινημένου τἀδελφοῦ Στεφάνου (ὑπενόει γὰρ κἀ κεῖνος ἤδη τὴν ἰδίαν παρακινδύνευσιν ὡς αὐτίκα τἀδελφοῦ μεῖζον ἢ πρότερον κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς φρονήσαντος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἔσπευδε προκαθιστᾶν ὡς εἶχε τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν) πέμπων συμμαχικὸν βα σιλεύς, ὡς οἷόν τ' ἦν, ὑπέθραυε τὰς ὁρμὰς τῷ Στεφάνῳ.

6. Τότε καὶ Βενετικοὶ ἐκ τοῦ παρασχεδὸν πρὸς βασιλέα διεπρεσβεύοντο, καὶ τὴν μετὰ Ῥωμαίων εἰρήνην ἐζήτουν ἀνα νεοῦν. ἤθελε μέντοι καὶ βασιλεὺς αὐτοὺς δέχεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὅμως μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν βουλομένοιν προσίσταντο τὰ ἐνέχυρα ἅπερ φθά σας βασιλεὺς ἐκ Βενετικῶν τῆς πυρπολήσεως ἕνεκα προσαφῄρει, ἃ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἀπῄτουν καὶ οὕτως ἤθελον δέχεσθαι, βασιλεὺς δὲ περιεώρα καὶ ὡς δικαίων τῶν ἀφαιρεθέντων ἀντείχετο. Βενετι 287 κοῖς δ' ἦν ὀρεγομένοις τῆς μετὰ βασιλέως εἰρήνης καὶ πλεῖστον ἀφεῖναι τῶν ἐνεχύρων, εἰ βασιλεὺς καὶ οὕτως σπένδεσθαι κατα νεύοι. ἤδη δὲ καὶ βασιλεὺς ἀγαθοθελῶς ὑπεκλίνετο κἂν ἐκεῖσε, καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην οὕτω καθίστων, εἰ μήγε βουλή τινων τῶν ἀμφ' αὐτὸν μεσολαβήσασα (καὶ γὰρ τὸ κακῶς ἔχειν ξυμπεσεῖν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκείνοις ὑπέτεινε τούτοις ἐλπίδα μείζω τοῦ καὶ οὕτω μηδὲν λαβόντας τῶν ἐνεχύρων τὰς σπονδὰς ἀγαπᾶν) τὴν τῆς εἰ ρήνης πρόβασιν διεκώλυε. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐντεῦθεν μὴ οὕτω κατα δεξάμενοι ποιεῖν τὰς σπονδὰς ἄπρακτοι καθυπέστρεφον.

7. Βασιλεὺς δὲ τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ κανικλείου Χοῦμνον θέλων ἀγάλλειν ὡς πιστὸν ὑπηρέτην καὶ ἐφ' οἷς ὑπούργει τὸν δοκιμώ τατον, ἄλλως τε καὶ πολυταλάντους τὰς προῖκας τῇ θυγατρὶ ἑτοιμάσαντα, τῷ κατὰ Λαζοὺς παιδὶ Ἀλεξίῳ, οὗ δὴ καὶ ἀδελ φιδοῦ γε ὄντος ἀπὸ πατρῴων διαθηκῶν ἐπετρόπευεν, ἔτ' οὔσης ἐν Κωνσταντίνου καὶ τῆς μητρός, ξυναρμόζειν ἤθελε τὴν τοῦ Χούμνου· συμφέρειν γὰρ ᾤετο οὐχ ἧττον ἐκείνῳ ἢ τοῖς Ῥωμαίων πράγμασιν, ἐθεράπευε δὲ καὶ τὸν οἰκεῖον τῷ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους κή δει τιμῶν ὡς καὶ αὐτὸν τοῖς εὐνουστάτοις ἐξεταζόμενον. ἐς τό σον δ' ἐφήρμοττε τὴν βουλὴν τῇ πράξει, ὥστε καὶ αὐτόθεν δε 288 σποτικοῖς παρασήμοις τὴν κόρην ἐκόσμει καὶ νύμφην ὠνόμαζε. προσαπεδέχετο δὲ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ ἀκούσασα τὸ συνάλλαγμα, καὶ τῇ βασιλικῇ ψήφῳ συγκάταινος ἦν, καὶ τοὺς γάμους ἐλθοῦσα ἑτοι μάζειν ἤθελε τῷ παιδί. ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος ἢ πειθόμενος καὶ τοὺς γά μους ἀπαξιῶν, ἢ μὴν καὶ ἄλλως ἐπελθὸν αὐτῷ, φθάσας ἔκ τι νος τῶν ἐπ' ἐξουσίας Ἰβήρων τὴν συνοικήσουσαν ἄγεται. ὃ δὴ καὶ μαθὼν βασιλεὺς πολὺς ἦν τοὺς νόμους προτείνων καὶ τὸ τῆς ἐπιτροπείας δίκαιον προβαλλόμενος· ὡς γὰρ πατρὸς ἐπ' ἐκείνῳ τάξιν ἐπέχων, ἅμα μὲν καὶ τῶν διαθηκῶν ἅμα δὲ καὶ τοῦ σὺν τῇ βασιλείᾳ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους δικαίου χάριν, ἠβούλετο διιστάναι τὴν συζυγίαν. οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ δεσποτικῶς ἐξ ἐπιτάγματος ἄλλως ἤθελε πράττειν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἧττον καὶ γνώμῃ καὶ ψήφῳ τῆς ἐκκλη σίας. ὅθεν καὶ πέμπων πρός τε πατριάρχην καὶ τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν σύνοδον, τὸ ἅμα μὲν βασιλέως καὶ πατρὸς ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἐπιτρόπου ἐπὶ τῷ νέῳ προτείνων δίκαιον, ἄκυρον ἀπὸ νόμων ἐπείρα δει κνύειν τὸ συνοικέσιον, καὶ διαλύειν ἠξίου ὡς παρὰ βουλὴν τὴν αὐτοῦ συνεστώς. τῶν γοῦν λόγων συνοδικῶς κινουμένων, τινὲς μὲν τῶν ἀρχιερέων νόμων ἀκριβείας ἡμμένοι δῆθεν τῇ τοῦ βασι λέως θελήσει ἔγνωσαν ἐνδιδόναι, ὁ δέ γε πατριάρχης καὶ μετ' 289 αὐτοῦ οἱ πλείους ἀπρὶξ ἀντέτεινον· καὶ γὰρ καὶ κατὰ γαστρὸς ἔχειν τὴν ἐξ Ἰβήρων ἐξ Ἀλεξίου, ὡς ἤκουον, κατηγγέλλετο. ἡ μέντοι γε μήτηρ ἐκείνου ἐπανακάμπτειν ὀρεγομένη ἐλπίδας τοῖς τοῦ κανικλείου ὑπέτεινεν, ὡς ἥκουσα καταπράξεται μᾶλλον τὴν λύσιν τοῦ συναλλάγματος ἢ μηνύουσα· αὐτῷ γὰρ προσώπῳ καὶ μὴ γραφαῖς ἔχειν ἀναπείθειν τὸν παῖδα, καὶ οὕτω