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having been caught wisely, he was led to whatever might seem good to the patriarch. Therefore the emperor arrives, and meets with those around the patriarch; and we were also there with others. Then when the emperor sat down, and the holy men had also assembled, the patriarch raised to 293 the emperor the matters that seemed to him a cause of grief, on account of which he was willing to be in distress and to resign both the presidency of the church and the priesthood itself, if he were further compelled. And before the other things, he set forth the matter of the Kral, and the things that seemed to him to be objectionable were set in order, that, namely, a marriage established according to the laws had been dissolved, and that he, having rejected his own wife, had married the emperor's daughter, who was a child; and that gold and silver were being collected from everyone, with the price of necessary salt being raised, and the price of iron also being raised, and with many contributions also being made, and third, that he himself was being slighted, though he often made reports on behalf of what seemed just. Thereupon the emperor, having entered upon his defense concerning these matters, regarding the agreement with the Kral, did not blame his own desire and the benefit to himself from it; for this was far from the case, inasmuch as he himself had suffered the great loss, of a little daughter whom he loved from his soul and on whom both he and her mother had doted, and for whom he thought to prepare a timely marriage from among kings, giving her up, snatched from his own arms, to a barbarian who was in all things unloving and had nothing venerable in his rule. But for the sake of men and lands and affairs belonging to the empire, some of whom were being wretchedly carried off, others being utterly devastated, 294 and others being plundered without return, and for the sake of so great and such a captivity, he was doing these things both against his judgment and against his will; for peace accomplishes many things that the sword cannot, and establishes truces, and especially marriages which are most binding and secure, accomplish things which battles and war certainly have not. Moreover, he was not acting entirely outside the laws, as he thought. For it was clear and ordained by both canons and laws, that a man who has taken a lawful wife is not permitted to put her away without any reasonable cause and be joined to another; but if anyone should dare to, the one daring would incur the charge of adultery, and the cohabitation would be unlawful, so that while the first, who was repudiated, was still living, as many as he might marry thereafter were not approved by the laws nor counted among lawful wives. "Or is it not so also with us?" says the emperor. "Inquire therefore of those who know, and learn for certain that it was not otherwise possible for us to accept the agreement, unless we had also demanded that the ambassadors confirm with oaths, that truly his lawful wife was still alive when he was joined to the daughter of Terter, and that recently 295 she was no longer living when we accepted him as a son-in-law, so that from this it follows that the one was unlawful, but ours, even if she is a child, is nevertheless lawful. And time is also set aside, as you know, for royal marriages, which bring some certain benefit through the establishment of peace. Meanwhile, with our defense being such, it is necessary for us to do these things and more for the common good, even if some grievous things should happen, as this too is especially painful; but let it be set before you again for consideration, and whatever alone might seem good with a reasonable accusation, I permit to be done. For I do not think that an emperor has other fathers than the laws, or other children than all the Romans." The emperor said these things, and he seemed to speak persuasively, and he convinced the opinions of the many. Secondly, he defended himself concerning the salt and iron and other collections of gold, putting forward the need and the necessity for the common good, as nothing of what is needed is naturally done without money. For he himself 296 did not love gold or silver at all, unless they helped with the needs on behalf of the Romans. For which reason, since money was lacking, even the salaries usually given were being withheld, and it was necessary to find additional revenues for collection, in order that we might at least be able to move, he said. And he also brought up ancient emperors, and

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ἐναποληφθεὶς συνετῶς ὑπήγετο πρὸς ὅ τι καὶ δόξοι πατριάρχῃ. παραγίνεται τοιγαροῦν βασι λεύς, καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὸν πατριάρχην συγγίνεται· ἦμεν δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς σὺν ἄλλοις ἐκεῖ. τότε καθίσαντος μὲν βασιλέως, συνε δριασάντων δὲ καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἐκίνει πατριάρχης πρὸς 293 βασιλέα τὰ δοκοῦντά οἱ πρὸς παραλύπησιν, δι' ἃ καὶ ἐγγωνιά ζειν ἐθέλει καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι καὶ ἐκκλησίας προεδρίαν καὶ ἱερω σύνην αὐτήν, εἰ πλέον συναναγκάζοιτο. καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων τὸ τοῦ κράλη προετίθει, καὶ τὰ δοκοῦντά οἱ προσίστασθαι ἀνε τάττετο, ὅτι δηλαδὴ συνεστὼς κατὰ νόμους γάμος διαλυθείη καὶ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἐκεῖνος, ἠθετηκὼς τὴν ἰδίαν, νηπίαν οὖ σαν ἀγάγοιτο· καὶ ὅτι χρυσολογεῖταί τε καὶ ἀργυρολογεῖται τὸ πᾶν, τετιμιουλκημένου μὲν τοῦ χρειώδους ἅλατος τετιμιουλκημέ νου δὲ καὶ σιδήρου, συχνῶν δὲ καὶ συνδοσιῶν γινομένων, καὶ τρίτον ὡς καταφρονεῖται αὐτὸς ἀναφορὰς πολλάκις ὑπὲρ τοῦ δο κοῦντος δικαίου ποιούμενος. ἐντεῦθεν δὲ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν ὑπὲρ τούτων ἀπολογίαν καταστὰς ἐπὶ μὲν τῷ τοῦ κράλη συναλλάγματι οὐκ ὄρεξιν ἰδίαν καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἑαυτῷ ὄνησιν ᾐτιᾶτο· πολλῷ γὰρ ἥκιστα τοῦτο, ὅσῳ καὶ προσζημιωθείη αὐτὸς τὰ μεγάλα, κόριον ὃ ἐκ ψυχῆς ἔστεργε καὶ ᾧ προσετετήκει καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ μή τηρ καὶ γάμους ἑτοιμάζειν ἐγκαίρους τοὺς ἐκ ῥηγῶν ᾤετο, ἐξ ἀγκαλῶν οἰκείων ἀναρπασθὲν βαρβάρῳ τε καὶ τὰ πάντα ἀστόργῳ καὶ μηδὲν σεμνὸν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἔχοντι καταπροϊέμενος. ἀλλ' ἀνδρῶν καὶ χωρῶν καὶ πραγμάτων προσηκόντων τῇ βασιλείᾳ, τῶν μὲν ἀπαγομένων ἀθλίως, τῶν δ' ἐρημουμένων ἐσχάτως, 294 τῶν δὲ σκυλευομένων ἀναποδότως, καὶ αἰχμαλωσίας τοσαύτης τε καὶ τοιαύτης χάριν ταῦτα πράττοι καὶ παρὰ γνώμην καὶ παρὰ θέλησιν· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ εἰρήνην ἀνύτειν ὅσα σίδηρος οὐκ ἰσχύει, καὶ σπονδὰς καταπράττειν, καὶ μόλις τὰς ἐκ τῶν γάμων συντα κτικωτάτας οὔσας καὶ ἀσφαλεῖς, ὅσα μὴ μάχαι καὶ πόλεμος οὔ μενουν κατεπράξαντο. οὐ μὴν δ' αὖθις καὶ νόμων ἐς ἅπαν ἐκ τός, ὡς αὐτὸν οἴεσθαι, πράττειν. δῆλον γὰρ εἶναι καὶ κανόσι καὶ νόμοις προστεταγμένον, μὴ ἂν ἐκχωρεῖσθαι τὸν νόμιμον ἀγα γόμενον ταύτην μὲν ἀφεῖναι παρὰ μηδεμίαν αἰτίαν εὔλογον, συμ πλέκεσθαι δ' ἄλλῃ· εἰ δέ τις τολμώῃ, αἰτίαν μὲν μοιχείας ἀποί σεσθαι τὸν τολμῶντα, τὴν δὲ συνοίκησιν εἶναι παράνομον, ὥστε τῆς πρώτης ἠθετημένης καὶ ζώσης, ὁπόσας τοὐντεῦθεν ἠγάγετο, μὴ ἐγκεκριμένας τοῖς νόμοις μηδ' ἐν γυναιξὶ νομίμοις τάττεσθαι. "ἢ οὐ ταῦθ' οὕτω καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἔχει;" φησὶν ὁ κρατῶν. "πυν θάνου τοιγαροῦν τῶν εἰδότων, καὶ πιστῶς μάνθανε ὡς οὐκ ἄλ λως ἡμῖν ἐγένετο καταδέξασθαι τὸ συνάλλαγμα, εἰ μὴ καὶ ὅρ κους τοὺς πρέσβεις προσαπῃτήσαμεν βεβαιοῦν, ἦ μὴν καὶ ἔτι περιεῖναι τὴν νόμιμον ὅτε τῇ τοῦ Τερτερῆ συνεπλέκετο, καὶ ἄρτι 295 μὴ ζῆν ὅθ' ἡμεῖς εἰς γαμβρὸν ἐτάττομεν, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν τὴν μὲν συμβαίνειν εἶναι παράνομον, τὴν δ' ἡμετέραν, εἰ καὶ νηπίαν, ἀλλ' οὖν ἔννομον. καινοτομεῖσθαι δὲ καὶ χρόνον, ὡς οἴδατε, ἐπὶ τοῖς βασιλικοῖς κήδεσι, φέρουσι καί τι συνοῖσον πάντως διὰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς εἰρήνης κατάστασιν. τέως δὲ καὶ οὕτως ἐχόντων ἡμῶν τῆς ἀπολογίας ἡμῖν μὲν καὶ ταῦτα καὶ πλείω πράττειν ἀνάγκη πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον κοινόν, εἰ καὶ λυπήρ' ἄττα ξυμ πίπτοιεν, ὡς ἀλγεινὸν καὶ τόδε διαφερόντως· ὑμῖν δὲ προκείσθω καὶ αὖθις εἰς σκέψιν, καὶ ὃ δόξειεν ἂν μόνον μετ' εὐλόγου τοῦ αἰτιάματος, συγχωρῶ γίνεσθαι. βασιλεῖ γὰρ εἶναι ἢ πατέρας ἑτέρους τῶν νόμων ἢ παῖδας ἄλλους Ῥωμαίων ἁπάντων οὐκ οἶ μαι." ταῦτ' ἔλεγε βασιλεύς, καὶ ἐδόκει πιθανά τε λέγων, καὶ τὰς γνώμας τῶν πολλῶν ἔπειθε. δεύτερον τὰ περί τε τοῦ ἅλα τος καὶ σιδήρου καὶ χρυσολογιῶν ἑτέρων ἀπελογεῖτο, τὴν χρείαν προβαλλόμενος καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς κοινοῖς ἀνάγκην, ὡς οὐδὲν τῶν δεόντων ἄνευ χρημάτων πεφυκὸς ὂν γίνεσθαι. μηδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς 296 χρυσὸν ἀγαπᾶν μηδ' ἄργυρον τὸ παράπαν, εἰ μὴ βοηθοῖεν χρείαις ταῖς ὑπὲρ τῶν Ῥωμαίων. παρ' ἣν αἰτίαν ἐκλελοιπότων χρημά των καὶ ῥόγας συνήθως διδομένας παρακατέχεσθαι, καὶ προσεξ ευρίσκειν ἀνάγκη πόρους εἰς συλλογήν, ἵνα γοῦν καὶ κινοίμεθα ἔλεγεν. ἐπῆγε δὲ καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀρχαίους, καὶ