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will be filled up, as men choose a city instead of towns, one that has a name instead of those that are anonymous and mean. But nevertheless, these places here must not be despised; for the greatest security of those within is if the surrounding areas escape disturbance; and these will escape disturbance, if the inhabitants take great care along with the rulers sent to them. But these things will be both spoken of and done at the proper time, with God helping through His mercy; but now come, let us write what is fitting to those through whom grace was measured out to us—for this is just—and show that we are grateful to them, after God.” For that reason he also immediately orders the letters of thanks to be written, and he chooses from the magnates those to whom, when sent, he would entrust the bestowing of inheritances; for he postponed giving to the many, and his pretext was that, since he had taken it by the sword, there was no one in the city who could justly lay claim to his own property, if any were present; for not a few things even of the common people still survived, though the city had been occupied by the enemy for only fifty-eight years; during which time everything would have survived, if indeed the emperors had kept the peace with them 215; for if they had not run short of necessities from the frequent battles, they would not have touched even the wondrous temples. But holding foreign property and being always in fear of being driven out of what did not belong to them, each man who had another’s property in his hands hastened to carry off and steal it away, as if he would not possess it for long. The emperor, therefore, having said and done these things, quickly sent men to the Caesar, neither one at a time nor all at once, but frequently day after day, one group after another, at the same time very often seeking to learn from him about each matter, and at the same time commanding him to set things in order there, since not long after he too would arrive with his retinue; for he ordered that the palaces also be made ready. And the magnates themselves also sent their own men one by one, to ask for and receive their residences; for they too could not delay, once the emperor had set out. So when they arrived, each attended to what had been commanded, as he was able. And the Caesar distributed the houses fittingly according to both the persons and their ranks; and at the same time he was constantly busy, not even allowed to catch his breath from his cares, by day organizing the populace, trusting the Romans but suspecting the Italians; for a mass of people had been heaped together, a mixed crowd and unwarlike men, attending to manual labors. Nevertheless, he was persuaded to fear their impulse to attack—for their foreignness of race, the fact that they had been suddenly stripped of their possessions and would be ready to revolt, since there were not many to oppose them, and at the same time they were not yet quiet. Bearing these things in mind, by day he made it his business to keep the populace in check, inspiring a raw fear, and by night stationing men to run through the streets and, in the manner of a night-watch prefect, searching every street, lest some evildoer wander about outside; for the wall was broken down everywhere, and it was easy to enter and exit, even with the gates closed, for anyone who wished to do such things. But as more people crowded in from outside day by day, they shared his cares with him, and set our people free from fear. 217

31. How the emperor enters the city with the rulers around him. And the emperor, having arranged all his retinue, having with him the Augusta, and also the newborn shoot, Andronicus, born of her, by whose name indeed he honored his father who was no more, whose memory, as a lover of his father, he held as a sacred oath in every matter, bearing the Grand Domestic's name on his tongue, and the mother of the Augusta, whom the many called Grand Lady as a title of honor, together with the entire council of elders and the senate, was journeying to the city and indeed, having crossed the Hellespont, from there proceeded towards Byzantium. And having come and occupied the Golden Gate, sitting there for some days, he considered and arranged the entrance into the city, how it might happen in a manner both pleasing to God and magnificent. And indeed

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ἀναπληρωθήσεται, πόλιν ἀντὶ πολιχνίων αἱρουμένων, τὴν ὄνομα ἔχουσαν τῶν ἀνωνύμων καὶ εὐτελῶν. Οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ καταφρονητέον τῶν τῇδε· ἀσφάλεια γὰρ τῶν ἐντὸς μεγίστη, εἰ τὰ κύκλῳ φεύγοι τὸν σάλον· ταῦτα δὲ τὸν σάλον φευξοῦνται, πολυωρούντων τῶν οἰκητόρων ἅμα τοῖς πεμπομένοις ἄρχουσιν. Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν κατὰ καιρὸν καὶ λεχθήσονται καὶ πραχθήσονται, Θεοῦ συναιρομένου δι' ἔλεος· νῦν δ' ἄγε κἀκείνοις δι' ὧν ἐπεμετρήθη ἡμῖν ἡ χάριςκαὶ γὰρ δίκαιονγράφοντες τὰ εἰκότα δείξωμεν, χάριν σφίσιν εἰδότες μετὰ Θεόν.» Τῷ τοι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα κελεύει γραφῆναι τὰ χαριστήρια, ἐκλέγεται δὲ καὶ οἷς ἂν πεμφθεῖσι τὴν κληροδότησιν ἐπιτρέψοι τῶν μεγιστάνων· τοῖς γὰρ πολλοῖς γε καὶ ἀνεβάλλετο τὸ διδόναι, καὶ πρόφασις ἐκείνῳ τό, διὰ σπάθης ἑλόντος, μηδένα εἶναι τὸν δικαίως ἂν τῶν ἰδίων, εἴ που παρεῖεν, ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως ἀνθεξόμενον· περιῆσαν γὰρ ἔτι οὐκ ὀλίγα καὶ τῶν τυχόντων, ἐν ὀκτὼ μόνοις πρὸς τοῖς πεντήκοντα ἔτεσι κατεχομένης τοῖς ἐχθροῖς τῆς πόλεως· ἐν οἷς καὶ πάντα ἂν περιῆσαν, εἴ γε εἰρήνην εἶχον πρὸς ἐκείνους 215 οἱ βασιλεῖς· εἰ γὰρ μὴ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἐκ τῶν συχνῶν μαχῶν ἐν σπάνει ἐγένοντο, οὐκ ἂν καὶ τῶν θαυμαστῶν ναῶν ἥπτοντο. Πλὴν τὰ ξένα κατέχοντες καὶ αἰὲν ἐν δειλίᾳ ὄντες τοῦ ἐξωσθῆναι τῶν μὴ σφίσι προσηκόντων, ἔσπευδον ἄλλος ἄλλο τι εἰς χεῖρας τὸ ἀλλότριον ἔχων ὑποσπᾶν τε καὶ ὑποκλέπτειν, ὡς ἐπὶ πολὺ μὴ ἕξων. Ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεύς, ταῦτ' εἰπών τε καὶ πράξας, διὰ ταχέων ἀπέστελλε πρὸς τὸν καίσαρα, οὔθ' ἅπαξ ἕνα οὔτε τοὺς πάντας ἅμα, ἀλλὰ συχνοὺς καθ' ἡμέραν ἄλλους ἐπ' ἄλλοις, ἅμα μὲν πλειστάκις πρὸς ἐκείνου ζητῶν μανθάνειν περὶ ἑκάστων, ἅμα δ' ἐπιτάττων καὶ καθιστάναι τἀκεῖ, ὡς μετ' οὐ πολὺ κἀκεῖνος σὺν τοῖς ἀμφ' αὑτὸν ἐπιδημήσων· εὐτρεπίζεσθαι γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῶν παλατίων προσέταττεν. Οἱ δέ γε μεγιστᾶνες καὶ αὐτοὶ καθ' ἕνα τὸν οἰκεῖον ἀπέστελλον, ὡς αἰτήσοντάς τε καὶ ληψομένους τὰς κατοικίας· μηδὲ γὰρ καὶ αὐτοῖς εἶναι βραδύνειν, βασιλέως κινηθέντος. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἐπιστάντες, καθὼς ἕκαστος εἶχε, τοῖς προστεταγμένοις προσεῖχον. Ὁ καῖσάρ τε διένεμε τοὺς οἴκους τοῖς τε προσώποις καὶ ταῖς ἀξίαις προσηκόντως· ἅμα δὲ καὶ διὰ σπουδῆς συνεχοῦς εἶχε, μηδ' ἀναπνεῖν ἐώμενος ταῖς φροντίσιν, ἡμέρας μὲν καθιστᾶν τὸ πλῆθος, Ῥωμαίοις μὲν πιστεύων, Ἰταλοὺς δ' ὑποπτεύων· ἦν γὰρ ἐνσεσωρευμένον πλῆθος, ξύγκλυδες ἄλλως καὶ ἀπόλεμοι ἄνδρες, ταῖς χειρὸς ἐργασίαις προσέχον. Ὅμως δὲ καὶ τὴν τούτων ὁρμήν, ὡς ἐπιθησο μένωντὸ γὰρ τοῦ γένους ἀλλότριον, τό τ' ἐξ ὑπογύου γυμνωθῆναι τῶν ὄντων καὶ πρὸς τὸ νεωτερίσειν ἑτοίμως ἂν ἔχειν, ὡς οὐ πολλῶν τῶν ἀντι στησομένων ὄντων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ μὴ ἀτρεμούντων ἔτι, ἔπειθε δεδιέναι. Ταῦτ' ἐν νῷ βαλλόμενος, ἡμέρας μὲν διὰ μελέτης εἶχε καταστέλλειν τὸ πλῆθος, φόβον ἐμποιῶν ὠμμένος, νυκτὸς δὲ διατάττων τοὺς διατρέχοντας καὶ νυκτεπάρχου τρόπον ἀγυιὰν ἑκάστην προσερευνῶν, μὴ κακὸς ἔξω πλανῷτο· πανταχοῦ γὰρ ἐκέκλαστο καὶ τὸ τεῖχος, καὶ ἦν ῥᾳδίως εἰσελθεῖν τε καὶ ἐξελθεῖν, καὶ πυλῶν κεκλεισμένων, ᾧ δὴ τοιαῦτα πράττειν ἦν βουλομένῳ. Ἀλλὰ καθ' ἡμέραν ἐπισωρευόμενοι πλείους ἔξωθεν, ξυνδιέφερον μὲν τὰς φροντίδας ἐκείνῳ, ἐν ἀφοβίᾳ δὲ τοὺς ἡμετέρους καθίστων. 217

λαʹ. Ὅπως ὁ βασιλεὺς εἴσεισιν εἰς τὴν πόλιν μετὰ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἀρχόντων. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεύς, συνταξάμενος ὅσον ἦν τὸ περὶ αὐτόν, ἔχων μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν αὐγούσταν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ νεογιλὸν θάλος τὸν ἐξ ἐκείνης Ἀνδρόνικον, οὗ δὴ καὶ τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τὸν πατέρα οὐκέτ' ὄντα ἐτίμα, οὗ τὴν μνήμην ὡς φιλοπάτωρ καὶ ἐνόρκιον ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ ἐτίθει, τὸν μέγαν ἐπὶ γλώσσης φέρων δομέστικον, καὶ τὴν τῆς αὐγούστης μητέρα, ἣν μεγάλην κυρίαν κατὰ τιμὴν ὠνόμαζον οἱ πολλοί, συνάμα τῇ γερουσίᾳ πάσῃ καὶ τῇ συγκλήτῳ τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως ὥδευε καὶ δή, περαιωσάμενος τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, ἐκεῖθεν ἐχώρει πρὸς τὸ Βυζάντιον. Ἐλθὼν δὲ καὶ τὴν Χρυσέαν πύλην κατειληφώς, ἐκεῖ καθήμενος ἐφ' ἡμέραις, τὴν ἐς πόλιν εἴσοδον, ὅπως θεοφιλῶς ἅμα καὶ μεγα λοπρεπῶς γένοιτο, ἀνεσκόπει τε καὶ συνέταττε. Καὶ δὴ