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expecting the danger. And he, having lived thus, shamefully and ruinously for himself and for his affairs, received such an end, worthy of his past life. 28 But immediately Basil, who until now had been second in command, is brought forward to the rule of all, and by the honorable council and the subordinate regiments and the whole army and the city populace, he who even before this was sought after with suppliant prayers, is proclaimed emperor Basil. who, as soon as he came to the rule of all things, dedicated both himself and the reins of the state to God, praying these words verbatim: "Christ King, having received the empire by Your judgment, to You I dedicate both it and myself." And immediately summoning the leaders of the senate and those pre-eminent in dignities, with them he opened the guardian of the imperial treasures; and nothing else was found out of so great a multitude of monies except only three centenaria, as has already been said by me a little before. The emperor therefore, having sought the record of the expenditure, and having found it with a certain old eunuch, the protospatharios Basil, and having learned where these things had gone, proposed counsel on this matter to the nobles; whose vote, unanimously agreeing, was that those very men who had wrongly taken these things should return them to the public 256 treasury, the emperor, mitigating the excessive justice, ordered each to return to the imperial treasury half of what they had received. And so it happened that for them, even if they were unworthy of any generosity, no small part of the gift was still left over, and for the imperial treasury three hundred centenaria were brought in, from which the emperor began to provide for urgent needs and to govern properly. 29 On the day on which Basil came to the imperial rule, as if God were indicating the change for the better in Roman affairs, it happened that news of many victories reached this ruling city and the rescue of a multitude of Christian captives was announced. The emperor therefore, having made a procession to the great temple of God named after His wisdom, and having given thanks to Him for all things together, upon his return he held the consulship, and distributed much money to his subjects, not from the public funds (for there were none) but from his own, which he had possessed before. And his wife, the empress Eudocia, along with her sons Constantine and Leo, having held the consulship, donated much money to the state from her own funds. However, even if the emperor was still short of money at that time, as has been said, yet after this a sufficient multitude of other monies also came to him, on the one hand, because God, on account of his mercy towards the poor and his justice, was pleased for many treasures under the earth to 257 come to light in his days, and on the other hand, also from the gold found in the private treasury, which the former emperor Michael had acquired by melting down the most beautiful works, I mean that so-called golden plane tree and the two solid gold griffins and the two hammered gold lions and the solid gold organ and other various works of gold from the table and the imperial and augustal robes and the garments befitting great rulers, all of which were woven with gold; all of which, having been melted down, as has been said, he was about to use for his own pleasures; but when he was carried off beforehand, the gold was found, and having been minted, it became useful to the emperor for everything. For there is need, he says, of money, and without it nothing necessary can be done. But this was later. 30 But then, since Basil had been brought forward by providence and seated at the helm of government, straight from the starting line, as they say, he strove to appear worthy of the magnitude of the affair, and he kept vigil by night and considered by day, stirring every thought and

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προσδοκῶντες τὸν κίνδυνον. καὶ ουτος μὲν ουτω βιούς, αἰσχρῶς τε καὶ ὀλεθρίως ἑαυτῷ καὶ τοῖς πρά- γμασι, τοιοῦτον καὶ τὸ τέλος ἐδέξατο, τῶν προβεβιωμένων ἐπά- ξιον. 28 Προάγεται δὲ εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὴν πάντων ἀρχὴν ὁ μέχρι τοῦδε δευτερεύων ταύτης Βασίλειος, καὶ παρά τε τῆς ἐντίμου βου- λῆς καὶ τῶν ὑποβεβηκότων ταγμάτων καὶ παντὸς τοῦ στρατεύμα- τος καὶ τοῦ οχλου τοῦ ἀστικοῦ ὁ καὶ πρὸ τούτου δι' ἱκετηρικῶν εὐχῶν ἐπιζητούμενος ἀναγορεύεται αὐτοκράτωρ Βασίλειος. ος αμα τῷ παρελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ολων ἀρχὴν καὶ ἑαυτὸν καὶ τὰς τοῦ κράτους ἡνίας θεῷ ἀνατέθεικεν, εὐξάμενος ἐπὶ λέξεως τάδε "Χρι- στὲ βασιλεῦ, τῇ σῇ κρίσει τὴν βασιλείαν δεξάμενος σοὶ καὶ ταύ- την καὶ ἐμαυτὸν ἀνατίθημι." προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ αὐτίκα τοὺς τῆς γερουσίας προκρίτους καὶ ἐν ἀξιώμασι προύχοντας, μετ' αὐ- τῶν τὸν τῶν βασιλείων θησαυρῶν ἀνέῳξε φύλακα· καὶ οὐδὲν ετε- ρον ἐκ τοῦ τοσούτου τῶν χρημάτων πλήθους εὑρέθη πλὴν τρία καὶ μόνα, καθὼς ηδη καὶ πρὸ ὀλίγου μοι ειρηται, κεντηνάρια. ζητήσας ουν ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν τῆς ἐξόδου καταγραφήν, καὶ ταύτην εὑρὼν παρά τινι τῶν εὐνούχων γέροντι τῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ Βασι- λείῳ, καὶ γνοὺς οπου ταῦτα ἐχώρησε, βουλὴν περὶ τούτου τοῖς ἀρίστοις προύθηκεν· ων ἡ ψῆφος ὁμοφώνως συνᾴδουσα αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους τοὺς κακῶς ταῦτα λαβόντας ἀντιστρέψαι πρὸς τὸ δημό- 256 σιον, ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ αγαν ὑποθραύων δίκαιον τὰς ἡμισείας ωνπερ ελαβον εκαστοι ἀντιστρέψαι πρὸς τὸ βασιλικὸν ταμιεῖον ἐκέλευσε. καὶ ουτως συνέβη κἀκείνοις, εἰ καὶ ἀνάξιοι πάσης φιλοτιμίας ἐτύγχανον, οὐκ ὀλίγον ετι περιλειφθῆναι τῆς δωρεᾶς, καὶ τῷ βασιλικῷ θησαυροφυλακίῳ τριακόσια ἐπεισαχθῆναι κεντηνάρια, ἀφ' ων ἐν τοῖς ἐπείγουσιν ηρξατο χορηγεῖν καὶ δεόντως ὁ βασιλεὺς διοικεῖν. 29 Κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν καθ' ην ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτοκράτορα ηλθεν ἀρχὴν ὁ Βασίλειος, ωσπερ ἐνδεικνυμένου θεοῦ τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττω τῶν ̔Ρωμαϊκῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολήν, συνέβη πολλῶν ἐπινικίων ἀγγελίαν τὴν βασιλεύουσαν ταύτην καταλαβεῖν καὶ ἀνάρ- ρυσιν πλήθους αἰχμαλώτων Χριστιανῶν ἀγγελθῆναι. πρόοδον ουν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τὸν μέγαν τοῦ θεοῦ ναὸν τὸν τῆς ἐκείνου σο- φίας ἐπώνυμον ποιησάμενος, καὶ τὰς περὶ πάντων ὁμοῦ εὐχαρι- στίας αὐτῷ ἀποδούς, ἐν τῷ ὑποστρέφειν ὑπάτευσεν, καὶ χρήματα πολλά, οὐκ ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων (οὐδὲ γὰρ ην) ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων, α ἐκέκτητο πρότερον, τοῖς ὑπηκόοις διένειμεν. καὶ ἡ τούτου δὲ σύζυγος Εὐδοκία ἡ βασιλὶς αμα τοῖς υἱοῖς Κωνσταντίνῳ καὶ Λέοντι ὑπατεύσασα πολλὰ τῇ πολιτείᾳ χρήματα ἀπὸ τῶν ἑαυτῆς ἐδωρή- σατο. πλὴν εἰ καὶ τότε ετι ἐσπάνιζε χρημάτων ὁ βασιλεύς, ωσπερ ειρηται, ἀλλὰ μετὰ ταῦτα προσεγένετο καὶ ἑτέρων χρημάτων πλῆ- θος αὐτῷ ἱκανόν, τοῦτο μὲν θεοῦ διὰ τὸν πρὸς τοὺς πένητας ελεον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην πολλοὺς τῶν ὑπὸ γῆν θησαυρῶν ἐν 257 ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ εἰς φῶς εὐδοκήσαντος προελθεῖν, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν τῷ εἰδικῷ εὑρεθέντος χρυσοῦ, ον ὁ προβεβασιλευκὼς Μιχαὴλ τὰ κάλλιστα τῶν εργων συγχωνεύσας, λέγω δὴ τὴν χρυ- σῆν ἐκείνην καλουμένην πλάτανον καὶ τοὺς δύο ὁλοχρύσους γρῦπας καὶ τοὺς δύο χρυσοῦς σφυρηλάτους λέοντας καὶ τὸ ὁλόχρυσον οργανον καὶ ετερα τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης χρυσωμάτων εργα διά- φορα καὶ τὰς βασιλικάς τε καὶ αὐγουστιακὰς στολὰς καὶ τὰς αρ- χουσι μεγάλοις ἁρμοζούσας ἐσθῆτας, πάσας τυγχανούσας χρυ- σοϋφεῖς· α δὴ πάντα συγχωνεύσας, ὡς λέλεκται, εἰς τὰ καθ' ἡδονὴν αὐτῷ εμελλεν ἀποχρήσασθαι· προαναρπασθέντος δὲ ἐκεί- νου εὑρέθη ὁ χρυσός, καὶ χαραχθεὶς εἰς απαντα γέγονε χρήσιμος τῷ βασιλεῖ. δεῖ γάρ, φησί, χρημάτων, καὶ ανευ τούτων οὐδὲν εστι γενέσθαι τῶν δεόντων. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν υστερον. 30 Τότε δέ, ἐπείπερ ἐπὶ τῶν τῆς ἀρχῆς οἰάκων ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας προβιβασθεὶς ἐκάθισεν ὁ Βασίλειος, εὐθὺς ἀπὸ γραμ- μῆς, φασίν, αξιος ἐσπούδαζε φανῆναι τοῦ μεγέθους τοῦ πράγμα- τος, καὶ νύκτωρ διηγρύπνει καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν διεσκόπει, πάντα κινῶν λογισμὸν καὶ