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to stare and look at him and to study and observe him more accurately. Recognizing certain signs in him, she gradually fainted, so that water was poured on her and with a drop of rosewater her spirit was with difficulty recalled, at which point those present withdrew. But when she came to herself and recovered, she was questioned by her son, the emperor, what indeed had happened to her, and from where this trance had so suddenly befallen her. And she, having with difficulty gathered herself from the turmoil of her mind, said that 'the one whom I heard from your father, my lord and son, was destined to destroy our family, this is the one you call Basil; for the signs which he said the one destined to succeed us would have, this man possesses. Wherefore, taking the whole matter into my mind, and as if seeing the destruction before my eyes, I was disturbed and fainted.' But the emperor, removing his mother's fear, and restoring her to a calm state and consoling her, said, "You have supposed wrongly, 234 O mother; for this man is a commoner and very simple, having only a manliness like that of the Samson of old, and nothing else, but like some Anak or Nimrod who has appeared in our days. Therefore, have no fear of him, nor possess any evil suspicion." And so at that time Basil, being guarded by God, escaped such a wave. 16 During those times the emperor had as *parakoimomenos* the eunuch Damian, the patrician, a Slav by race, who, on account of his passion for his master, often told the emperor about certain other affairs not being managed as they should be, and especially about his uncle Bardas the Caesar, how he had transferred the greater part of the power to himself and often exceeded his proper station, and he subverted some of the Caesar's administrations by teaching the emperor that matters were otherwise. Because of these things, the Caesar, being persuaded by his own friends and genuine counselors and advisers, plotted against Damian, and using many slanders against him to the emperor, and plausibly composing the accusations, he changed the emperor's mind and turned him from his favor toward Damian, so that he even persuaded him to deprive him of his proper dignity. So when he was driven out, that office then remained vacant for some time. But when providence drives matters toward what it wishes, both prudence is ineffective and villainy is ensnared by its own 235 sophisms. For while the Caesar and many others were putting about stories and secretly pressing for this or that person to be elevated to such an office, contrary to all their hope, after no long time the emperor appointed Basil as *parakoimomenos*, honoring him also as patrician, and joining him to a wife who was first among almost all noblewomen in beauty of body and grace and modesty, who happened to be the daughter of Inger, who was then spoken of by all for his nobility and wisdom. When this had been done, and the emperor's love for Basil increased daily, the Caesar, seeing this and being stung with envy and fearing for the future, often reviled and blamed those who had advised and incited him to the slander of Damian, calling them senseless and evil-counselling, 'to whom,' he said, 'being unduly persuaded, and having driven out a fox, I have brought in a lion in its place, so that he may plunder and devour us all.' 17 Just as the emperor Michael was campaigning against Crete with his uncle Bardas the Caesar, and the Caesar was handling matters more arrogantly and issuing his commands more authoritatively, frequent and continuous slanders against him began to be reported daily to the emperor Michael. When they were at Kepoi (this is a place towards

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ἀτενίζειν καὶ ἀφορᾶν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ κατανοεῖν καὶ παρεπισκοπεῖν αὐτὸν ἀκριβέστερον. ἐπιγνοῦσα δέ τινα σύσσημα ἐν αὐτῷ κατ' ὀλίγον ἐλιποψύχησεν, ωστε καὶ υδωρ ἐπιχεθῆναι αὐτῇ καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἀπὸ ῥόδων στάγματος τὸ πνεῦ- μα μόλις ἀνακαλέσασθαι, οτεπερ οἱ παρόντες ὑπανεχώρησαν. εἰς ἑαυτὴν δὲ ἐλθοῦσα καὶ ἀναλάμψασα παρὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ βασιλέως ἐπηρωτᾶτο, τί αρα τὸ γεγονὸς ἐπ' αὐτῇ, καὶ πόθεν ουτως ἀθρόως ἐπισυνέβη αὐτῇ ἡ εκστασις. ἡ δὲ μόλις ἑαυτὴν ἐκ τῶν θορύβων τῶν φρενῶν συναθροίσασα ελεγεν οτι ον ηκουον παρὰ τοῦ πατρός σου, δέσποτα καὶ τέκνον ἐμόν, μέλλειν ἐξολοθρεῦσαι τὴν γενεὰν ἡμῶν, ουτός ἐστιν ον λέγεις Βασίλειον· τὰ σύμβολα γάρ, απερ ελεγεν εχειν τὸν ἡμᾶς διαδέχεσθαι μέλλοντα, ουτος ὁ ανθρωπος κέκτηται. οθεν τὸ πρᾶγμα ολον τῇ διανοίᾳ παραλαβοῦσα, καὶ ωσπερ κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς τὸν ολεθρον βλέπουσα, διαταραχθεῖσα ἐξέλιπον. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὸ δέος ἀφαιρῶν τῆς μητρός, καὶ εἰς τὸ καθεστὸς ἐπανάγων καὶ παραμυθούμενος, "κακῶς ὑπέλαβες" 234 ειπεν, "ω μῆτερ· ὁ γὰρ ανθρωπος ουτος ἰδιώτης ἐστὶ καὶ πάνυ ἀφελής, ἀνδρίαν μόνον εχων, οιαν ὁ πάλαι Σαμψών, καὶ οὐδὲν ετερον, ἀλλ' ως τις ̓Ενὰκ η Νεμβρὼδ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἡμῶν ἀνα- φανείς. ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοίνυν μηδένα φόβον εχε, μηδ' ὑπόνοιάν τινα κεκτήσῃ πονηράν." καὶ τότε μὲν ουτως τὸ τοιοῦτον κῦμα ὑπὸ θεοῦ φρουρούμενος παρέδραμεν ὁ Βασίλειος. 16 Ειχε δὲ κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους ἐκείνους παρακοιμώμενον ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν εὐνοῦχον ∆αμιανὸν τὸν πατρίκιον, τῷ γένει Σκλά- βον, ος διὰ φιλοδέσποτον πάθος ελεγε πολλάκις τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ περὶ αλλων μέν τινων ὡς μὴ κατὰ τὸ δέον τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξη- γουμένων, ἐξαιρέτως δὲ περὶ τοῦ θείου αὐτοῦ Βάρδα τοῦ Καίσα- ρος, ὡς τὸ πλεῖστον τοῦ κράτους εἰς ἑαυτὸν μετηγάγετο καὶ πολ- λάκις ἐκφέρεται τοῦ καθήκοντος, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐνίας τῶν τοῦ Καί- σαρος ἀνέτρεπεν διοικήσεων ἑτέρως εχειν τὰ πράγματα ἀναδιδά- σκων τῷ βασιλεῖ. δι' α συμπεισθεὶς ὁ Καῖσαρ ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων φίλων καὶ γνησίων παραινετῶν καὶ συμβούλων κατὰ τοῦ ∆αμιανοῦ συσκευάζεται, καὶ πολλαῖς διαβολαῖς κατ' αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα χρησάμενος, καὶ πιθανῶς συνθεὶς τὰ κατηγορούμενα, μετεκίνησε τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως γνώμην καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὸν ∆αμιανὸν εὐνοίας μετέστησεν, ωστε καὶ διαδέξασθαι πεῖσαι τῆς οἰκείας ἀξίας αὐτόν. ἐξωσθέντος ουν ἐκείνου ἐχήρευε λοιπὸν ἐπὶ χρόνον τινὰ τὸ τοιοῦ- τον ἀξίωμα. ἀλλ' οταν ἡ πρόνοια πρὸς ο βούλεται συνελαύνῃ τὰ πράγματα, καὶ φρόνησις ἀπρακτεῖ καὶ πανουργία τοῖς οἰκείοις 235 σοφίσμασι περιδράσσεται. τοῦ γὰρ Καίσαρος καὶ πολλῶν αλλων ἐκεῖ- νόν τε καὶ τοῦτον εἰς τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐπαναβιβασθῆναι ἀξίωμα λογο- ποιούντων καὶ λεληθότως ἐπισπευδόντων, παρὰ πᾶσαν αὐτῶν ἐλπίδα μετὰ καιρὸν οὐ πολὺν προβάλλεται παρακοιμώμενον ὁ βα- σιλεὺς τὸν Βασίλειον, τιμήσας αὐτὸν καὶ πατρίκιον, καὶ γυναικὶ συζεύξας εὐμορφίᾳ σώματος καὶ κάλλει καὶ κοσμιότητι πρωτευούσῃ πασῶν τῶν εὐγενίδων σχεδόν, η θυγάτηρ ἐτύγχανε τοῦ παρὰ πάν- των ἐπ' εὐγενείᾳ καὶ φρονήσει λαλουμένου τότε τοῦ Ιγγερος. τού- του δὲ γενομένου, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπιδιδούσης τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως ἀγάπης πρὸς τὸν Βασίλειον, ὁρῶν ὁ Καῖσαρ καὶ τῷ φθόνῳ δακνό- μενος καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μέλλοντος ὀρρωδῶν πολλάκις τοὺς ἐπὶ διαβολῇ τοῦ ∆αμιανοῦ γενέσθαι αὐτὸν βουλευσαμένους καὶ παρορμήσαν- τας ἐλοιδορεῖτο καὶ κατεμέμφετο, αφρονας αὐτοὺς καὶ κακοβού- λους ἀποκαλῶν, "οις" φησίν "ἐγὼ παρὰ τὸ δέον πεισθείς, καὶ ἐξεώσας ἀλώπεκα, λέοντα ἀντεισήγαγον, ινα πάντας ἡμᾶς λαφύξῃ καὶ καταβρώξηται." 17 Αρτι δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως Μιχαὴλ μετὰ Βάρδα τοῦ θείου Καίσαρος κατὰ Κρήτης ἐκστρατεύοντος, καὶ σοβαρώτερον τοῦ Καίσαρος χρωμένου τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ ἐξουσιαστικώτερον ἐκφέ- ροντος τὰ προστάγματα, ηρξαντο πυκναὶ καὶ συνεχεῖς αἱ κατ' αὐτοῦ διαβολαὶ καθ' ἑκάστην τῷ βασιλεῖ Μιχαὴλ διαγγέλλεσθαι. ἐν Κήποις δὲ γενομένων αὐτῶν (τόπος δὲ ουτος κατὰ τὴν πρὸς