87

to be fed, and he also laid down necessary conditions for those who would acquire them, so that everything superfluous would be lacking to them; for he ordered that after the venerable image, the weapons should be registered as a dowry; for they did not even know what nation had burst forth from its lairs and what customs it followed, whether it wished to live in peace or to fight. So unknown until then was the nation; by many they were called dog-headed, and they were heard to follow forbidden diets, so that they were even believed to be cannibals. But when Theodore first became emperor, since it was said that they were sending an embassy to him through Persia—and the report was true—there was fear and confusion. Nevertheless, the emperor decided to outwit them by contriving a terrifying display. And first he sent ahead messengers, ostensibly to Persia, to announce that he was preparing against them, and couriers were dispatched; the reward for those who announced these things, if they should be in danger while resisting and confessing to all nations that the Roman empire was irresistible, was abundant rations for their children and wives. Then, when the ambassadors were approaching, he sent men to meet them, ostensibly to guide their way, but he ordered them to lead them deliberately through 189 difficult places, and if anyone, growing weary, should ask about the difficult terrain, they were to answer that the entire Roman land was thus, so that those who did not know would be ready to believe. And when, after much toil, they arrived before the emperor, then he devised other terrifying things, so as to frighten them at once even by the spectacle. For he ordered the forces to assemble in the same place and, armed according to brotherhoods and tribes and ranks, standing at certain intervals along the roads, fully clad in iron, to inspire fear as if in a game; and the senate and all those in authority and related to the emperor by blood, all dressed for greater magnificence with robes and a noble bearing of soul, as if ready to pounce on what was before their feet, passing by many times from unseen places, to come together at the same point, so that while in truth they were the same men, they appeared to be different men each time and never the same, in the manner of a ring without a bezel, if one wished to observe the before and after on it, so that the same thing is perceived many times, but seems different with the change; and he himself, royally attired, lacking none of the terrifying elements, was to sit somewhere on high, holding a sword in his hands, enclosed by costly curtains, with other terrifying figures standing around, who were also sufficient in themselves to strike the viewer with awe; thus he was to give audience to the ambassadors, who were to stand far off, enough to make out the emperor and see what was being done, and suddenly, when the curtains were opened from an unseen quarter, they were thus able to see the one on the throne behaving very majestically, to speak and hear a few words, with some people speaking in between, and these words also seeming terrifying, so as to strike awe merely by being spoken; and so, after concluding the audience briefly, he would send them away, led back by the guides through the same difficult terrain again. These things, at least, were done before, and so it happened that he intelligently inspired counter-fear in those who were feared. But at that time they proceeded very smoothly and gently to send embassies to them, and to receive embassies from them, so that they were soon planning to make treaties through marriage alliances. And so, while the eastern parts were being strengthened and were in good hopes, the affairs in the west were again in turmoil. 191

20. Concerning the affairs in the west and how Caesar attacked the city in passing. For the despot Michael, not bearing easily being deprived of the fortresses and driven from the land which his uncle and father Theodore—who was also deemed worthy of a royal proclamation in the west, when Jacob of Achrida crowned him—had snatched from the Italians with great sweat and by the sword and had made his own, Michael, not bearing to be deprived of these things, broke the treaties with the emperor and, winning over those in the west, easily to himself because also otherwise of the

87

σιτίζεσθαι, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἀναγκαῖα ἐτίθει τοῖς κτησομένοις, ὡς ἐκείνων πᾶν τὸ εἰς περιουσίαν ὂν ὑστερεῖν· προικοδοτοῦντας γὰρ μετὰ τὴν σεβασμίαν εἰκόνα τὰ ὅπλα προσέταττε καταγράφεσθαι· μηδὲ γὰρ ἔχειν εἰδέναι τί τὸ ἐξορμῆσαν τῶν σφῶν φωλεῶν ἔθνος καὶ ὁποίοις τοῖς ἤθεσι χρᾶται, κἂν εἰρηνεύειν θέλοι, κἂν μάχεσθαι. Τόσον ἦν ἄδηλον ἕως τότε τὸ ἔθνος· παρὰ πολλοῖς δ' ἐλέγοντο κυνοκέφαλοι καί γε διαίταις ἀπειρημέ ναις ἠκούοντο χρώμενοι, ὥστε καὶ ἀνθρωποφαγεῖν ἐπιστεύοντο. Θεοδώρου δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν βασιλεύσαντος, ἐπεὶ ἐλέγοντο διὰ Περσίδος πρὸς ἐκεῖνον πρεσβεύεσθαικαὶ ἦν ὁ λόγος ἀληθινός, φόβος καὶ τάραχος ἦν. Ἔγνω δ' ὅμως ὁ βασιλεύς, τὸ φοβερὸν πλασάμενος, ἐκείνους κατασοφίσα σθαι. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν προαπέστελλεν ὡς δῆθεν ἀγγελοῦντας ἐπὶ Περσίδος ὡς ἐπ' αὐτοὺς εὐτρεπίζοιτο, καὶ οἱ ταχυδρομοῦντες ἐπέμποντο· μισθὸς δ' ἦν τοῖς ἀγγελοῦσι ταῦτα, εἰ κινδυνεύοιεν ἐνιστάμενοι καὶ τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν ἀνυπόστατον πᾶσιν ὁμολογοῦντες ἔθνεσι, δαψιλῆ τέκνοις σφετέροις καὶ γυναιξὶ σιτηρέσια. Εἶτα δὲ τοῖς πρέσβεσι προσελαύνουσι πέμψας τοὺς ὑπαντήσοντας, ὡς δῆθεν καὶ σφίσι τὰς ὁδοὺς ὁδηγῆσαι, δι' ὅτι δυσχώρων 189 ἐξεπίτηδες τόπων ἐκείνους διαβιβάζειν προσέταττε, κἄν τις ἀποκναίων ἐρωτῴη τὴν δυσχωρίαν, οὕτω πᾶσαν ἔχειν τὴν τῆς Ῥωμαΐδος γῆν ἀποκρί νεσθαι, ὡς ἑτοίμως ἐχόντων τῷ μὴ εἰδέναι πιστεύειν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ πρὸς βασιλέα πολλὰ πονέσαντες παραγένοιντο, τηνίκα καὶ ἄλλ' ἄττα φοβερὰ ὑπενόει, ὡς αὐτίκα καὶ ἐκ τῆς θέας φοβήσων. Ἐπέταττε γὰρ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐν ταὐτῷ συνελθεῖν καί, ὁπλισθέντας κατὰ φρήτρας καὶ φῦλα καὶ τάξεις, ἐν ποσοῖς τισι τῶν ὁδῶν διαστήμασιν ἱσταμένους, καταφράκτους σιδήρῳ, φόβον κατὰ παιδιὰς ἐμποιεῖν· τὸ δέ γε τῆς γερουσίας καὶ ὅσον ἦν τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ πρὸς αἵματος, πάντας πρὸς τὸ μεγαλειότερον ἐσκευασμένους καὶ στολαῖς καὶ γενναίῳ τῆς ψυχῆς παραστήματι, ὡς αὐτίκα τὸ κατὰ πόδας λαπάξοντας, πολλάκις διιόντας ἐξ ἀφανῶν, ἐς ταὐτὸ ξυμπίπτειν, ὡς τοὺς αὐτοὺς μὲν εἶναι ταῖς ἀληθείαις, δοκεῖν δ' ἄλλους καὶ ἄλλους καὶ μηδέποτε τοὺς αὐτούς, τρόπον δακτυλιδίου σφενδόνην μὴ ἔχοντος, ἤν τις βούλοιτο ἐπ' ἐκείνου τὸ πρότερον καὶ τὸ ὕστερον θεωρεῖν, ὡς τὸ αὐτὸ μὲν πολλάκις λαμβανόμενον εἶναι, δοκεῖν δ' ἕτερον τῇ μεταλλαγῇ· αὐτὸν δὲ βασιλικῶς ἐσταλμένον, μηδὲν τῶν φοβερῶν ἐλλείποντα, ἄνω που καθῆσθαι, σπάθην φέροντα ταῖς χερσί, βήλοις τε πολυτελέσι περικεκλεισμένον, ἄλλων καὶ αὐτῶν φοβερῶν περιισταμένων, ἱκανῶν ὄντων καὶ τούτων καταπλῆξαι τὸν ὁρῶντα καθ' ἑαυτούς· οὕτως ποιεῖν χρηματίζειν τοῖς πρέσβεσι, μακρὰν μὲν ἱσταμέ νοις, ὅσον εἰκάζειν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ὁρᾶν τὰ δρώμενα, ἐξαίφνης δ' ἐξ ἀδήλου τῶν παραπετασμάτων διανοιχθέντων, οὕτως ἐγγενέσθαι σφίσι βλέπειν τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου μάλα σοβαρευόμενον, ὀλίγα τε εἰπεῖν καὶ ἀκοῦσαι, μεταξυ λογούντων τινῶν, φοβερὰ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα δοκοῦντα, ὡς μόνον λεγόμενα κατα πλῆξαι· καὶ οὕτως ἐπ' ὀλίγον ἀφοσιωσάμενον τὸν χρηματισμόν, ἀποπέμπειν διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν καὶ πάλιν δυσχωριῶν τοῖς ὁδηγοῖς ἐπαναγομένους. Τὰ γοῦν πρότερα ταῦτ' ἦσαν, καὶ οὕτω δεδιότας ξυνέβαινεν ἀντιφοβεῖν ἐκ συνέσεως. Τότε δ' ὁμαλῶς καὶ ἠπίως πάνυ ἐπεχείρουν πρεσβεύεσθαι μὲν ἐπ' ἐκείνους, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ πρέσβεις δέχεσθαι, ὡς αὐτίκα καὶ κατὰ κήδη σπένδεσθαι μελετᾶν. Οὕτω δὲ τῶν τῆς ἀνατολῆς μερῶν κρατυνομένων καὶ κατ' ἐλπίδας ἀγαθὰς ὄντων, τὰ κατὰ δύσιν καὶ αὖθις ἐκύμαινον. 191

κʹ. Περὶ τῶν κατὰ δύσιν καὶ ὅπως καῖσαρ προσέβαλεν ἐκ παρόδου τῇ πόλει. Ὁ γὰρ δεσπότης Μιχαήλ, μὴ εὐχερῶς φέρων στερούμενος τῶν φρουρίων καὶ τῆς χώρας ἀπεληλαμένος ἣν ὁ θεῖος αὐτοῦ καὶ πατὴρ ὁ Θεόδωρος, ὃς καὶ βασιλικῆς ἀναρρήσεως κατὰ δύσιν ἠξιώθη, τοῦ Ἀχριδῶν ταινιώσαντος Ἰακώβου, ἱδρῶσι πλείστοις καὶ σπάθῃ ἐκσπάσας τῶν Ἰταλῶν, τοῖς ἰδίοις προσεποιήσατο, τούτων μὴ φέρων ὁ Μιχαὴλ στερούμενος ἀνελάμβανέ τε τὰς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα συνθήκας καί, τοὺς κατὰ δύσιν ὑποποιούμενος, εὐχερῶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν διὰ τὸ καὶ ἄλλως τῶν