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to the emperor. Saying these things and adding more, Eulogia seemed persuasive to her brother; for the emperor had also long since heard such things about that man. The man's achievements also supported the accusations, as it was likely that one so successful would have suborned that prince and contrived such things with him. And believing that the marriage tie to the emperor’s daughter was very capable of persuading that man, as he was about to become an in-law to the greatest, it greatly provoked him to anger because of the suspicion of his wife’s hatred. Wherefore, accepting the plausible as true, he wished to punish the man immediately, who was held in prison by the enemy. And sending for him, he exchanges him for some very important Italian personages and almost deprives him of his eyes, giving a worthy requital for the deeds of valor which that man had performed in war, nobly and manfully resisting the enemy. But thus these things also happened. But the protostrator Alexios Philanthropenos, bringing the ships to the islands—for he had the Gasmoulikon force ready for battles, so that they were for fighting, while those called proselontes were assigned to rowing alone, and in addition having the Laconian contingent, whom the emperor had relocated from the Peloponnese, carrying all these on ships, he ravaged the islands and brought the wealth of the enemy to the emperor.

18. How the emperor arranged the affairs around the Haemus, himself giving orders to the generals of the forces while sitting at home. But indeed the emperor, sitting at home, was not inactive and did not neglect affairs; whence so? Far from it. For in truth the man had an imperial mindset and did not suffer to be scorned. Wherefore he frequently sent out envoys to the pope and won him over with gifts; for he always suspected danger from that quarter, as the Italians would by no means be at peace; by which means, securing matters there as much as possible, he proceeded against the 279 others with confidence. Therefore, with frequent embassies and receptions, he appeased not only the pope, but also many of the cardinals and the powerful men with him. As for the Bulgarians, he did not allow them to be at peace either, but provoked them from nearby; for Constantine's enmity towards him was otherwise manifest, being urged on by his wife Irene for the sake of their son John, who was his brother, and for what he had recently suffered unjustly, o Justice. And it was necessary for the emperor, being an object of their enmity, to be hostile himself and to scratch back at the one who scratched him. Therefore, with the Roman territory formerly bounded by and barely reaching Orestias, as the lands beyond were under the Bulgarians, he himself, sending frequent expeditions of troops, giving orders from here—a wondrous thing—for knowing the things he happened to have seen, he would command those who were sent where they should encamp and how they should engage and from where they should set out, whether from ambush or openly, by day or by night, arranging everything from here; but if he had not seen the place, ordering those who knew it to draw it, he himself established the orders, and judgment hung over anyone who disobeyed, so he himself, sending the forces at that time, brought many of the places there under his control, and Philippopolis was taken, and the fortress of Stenimachos was seized, and the whole of the Outer Haemus range was held. And Mesembria, a great city, was taken, with Mytzes surrendering it, as will be told, and Anchialus was also captured; and indeed the surrounding areas, having once tasted the change, were content to be administered under the emperor. But because of these things, astonishment fell upon Constantine, and while he was unable to defend himself at that time, he nevertheless harbored resentment for what had been done and sought an opportunity, which they call the soul of action, to retaliate worthily. 281

19. How the emperor, circumventing the patriarch, sought the lifting of the excommunication. However, for the emperor, even while doing these things, his thoughts were disturbed daily; for his conscience did not allow him to be at peace; for by such bonds

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βασιλεῖ. Ταῦτα λέγουσα καί γε προστιθεῖσα, ἡ Εὐλογία πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν πιθανὴ ἐδόκει· ἦν γὰρ ἐκ πολλοῦ τοιαῦτα ἀκούσας περὶ ἐκείνου καὶ ὁ βασιλεύς. Συνίστα δὲ τὰς κατηγορίας καὶ τὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς κατορθώματα, ὡς εἰκὸς εἶναι οὕτως εὐδοκιμοῦντα ὑπελθεῖν ἐκεῖνον τὸν πρίντζην καὶ τοιαῦτα μετ' αὐτοῦ συσκευάζεσθαι. Τὸ δέ γε πρὸς τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ βασιλέως κῆδος καὶ λίαν ἱκανὸν οἰόμενος πείθειν ἐκεῖνον, ὡς μεγίστοις ἐπιγαμβρευσόμενον, καὶ λίαν παρέκνιζεν εἰς ὀργὴν διὰ τὴν τοῦ μίσους τῆς γυναικὸς ὑποψίαν. Ὅθεν καὶ ὡς ἀληθινὰ τὰ πιθανὰ δεξάμενος, τιμωρεῖν ἤθελε παραυτίκα καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ συνισχημένον τὸν ἄνδρα. Καὶ πέμψας αὐτὸν ἀνταλλάττει μεγίστων προσώπων Ἰταλικῶν καὶ παρασχεδὸν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀφαιρεῖται, ἀξίας ἀντιδόσεις διδοὺς τῶν ἀνδραγαθημάτων ὧν ἐκεῖνος εἰργάζετο κατὰ πόλεμον, τοῖς ἐχθροῖς γενναίως καὶ ἀνδρικῶς ἀνθιστάμενος. Ἀλλ' οὕτω μὲν καὶ ταῦτα συνέβη. Ὁ δέ γε πρωτοστράτωρ Φιλανθρωπηνὸς Ἀλέξιος, ταῖς νήσοις προσ ίσχων τὰς ναῦςτὸ γὰρ Γασμουλικὸν θαρρούντως εἶχε πρὸς μάχας, ὡς αὐτοὺς μὲν πρὸς μάχην, τοὺς δέ γε λεγομένους προσελῶντας εἰς ἐλασίαν καὶ μόνην τάττεσθαι, προσέτι δὲ καὶ Λακωνικὸν ἔχων, οὓς δὴ ἀπὸ Πελοπονήσου μετῴκιζεν ὁ κρατῶν, τούτους πάντας ἐπὶ νηῶν φέρων, ἐκάκου τὰς νήσους καὶ τὸν τῶν ἐχθρῶν πλοῦτον προσῆγε τῷ βασιλεῖ.

ιηʹ. Ὅπως ὁ βασιλεὺς τὰ περὶ τὸν Αἷμον διατεθείκει, αὐτὸς ἐπιτάττων τοῖς στρατηγοῖς τῶν δυνάμεων, οἴκοι καθήμενος. Οὐ μὴν δ' ἀλλ' οὐδὲ βασιλεὺς οἴκοι καθήμενος ἠπράκτει καὶ τῶν πραγμά των κατερρᾳθύμει· πόθεν; Πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ. Εἶχε γὰρ ταῖς ἀληθείαις καὶ βασιλικὸν φρόνημα ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ οὐ κατεδέχετο περιφρονούμενος. Ὅθεν καὶ συχνάκις μὲν πρὸς τὸν πάπαν πρέσβεις ἐξῆγε καὶ δώροις ὑπήρχετο· αἰὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν τὸν κίνδυνον καθυπώπτευεν, ὡς μηδ' ὁπωσοῦν ἠρεμησόντων τῶν Ἰταλῶν· δι' ὧν καὶ τἀκεῖθι ὡς ἐνὸν κατασφαλιζόμενος, ἐπεχείρει τοῖς 279 ἄλλοις θαρρούντως. Συχναῖς οὖν πρεσβείαις καὶ δεξιώσεσι μὴ μόνον πάπαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν καδδηναλίων καὶ τῶν παρ' ἐκείνῳ δυναμένων ἐξεμειλίσσετο. Πρὸς δέ γε τοὺς Βουλγάρους, οὐδ' ἐκείνους ἠρεμεῖν εἴα, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ σύνεγγυς παρεκίνει· ἦν γὰρ καὶ ἄλλως προφανὲς τὸ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἔχθος τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου, ἐξοτρυνομένου παρὰ τῆς γυναικὸς Εἰρήνης τοῦ παιδὸς χάριν Ἰωάννου, ἀδελφοῦ γε ὄντος, καὶ ὧν ἐξ ὑπογύου οὐκ ἐνδίκως, ὦ ∆ίκη, πέπονθεν. Ἀνάγκη δ' ἦν ἔχθος ἔχοντα παρ' ἐκείνων τὸν βασιλέα καὶ αὐτὸν ἐχθραίνειν καὶ ἀντιξύειν τὸν ξύοντα. Μέχρις οὖν Ὀρεστιάδος ὁριζομένης τῆς Ῥωμαΐδος καὶ μόλις πρότερον, ὡς τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ὑπὸ Βουλγάροις ὄντων, πέμπων αὐτὸς συχνὰς ἀποστολὰς στρατευμάτων, αὐτὸς ἐντεῦθεν διαταττό μενος, τὸ θαυμάσιονκαὶ γὰρ ἃ μὲν ξυνέβη ἰδεῖν, τούτοις γινώσκων, τοὺς πεμπομένους ἐπέταττε καὶ ὅπου προσκαθίσαιντ' ἂν καὶ ὅπως ξυμβαλοῖεν καὶ ὅθεν ὁρμήσαιντ' ἄν, ἢ ἐκ λόχων ἢ φανεροί, ἡμέρας ἢ καὶ νυκτός, τάττων ἐντεῦθεν τὰ πάντα· εἰ δ' οὐκ εἶδε τὸν τόπον, κελεύων διαγράφειν τοὺς εἰδό τας, αὐτὸς καθίστα προστάττων, καὶ ἦν ἐπηρτημένη κρίσις τῷ παρακού σαντι, αὐτὸς τοίνυν, πέμπων τὰς δυνάμεις τῷ τότε, συχνὰ τῶν ἐκεῖ ὑφ' αὑτῷ ἐποίει, καὶ ἡλίσκετο μὲν Φιλιππούπολις, ἐκρατεῖτο δὲ Στενίμαχος φρούριον, καὶ ἅπας ὁ Ἔξω τοῦ Αἵμου Ζυγὸς συγκατείχετο. Ἑάλω δέ, τοῦ Μυτζῆ διδόντος, ὡς λεχθήσεται, καὶ Μεσέμβρεια μεγάλη πόλις, καὶ Ἀγχίαλος συνηλίσκετο· καί γε τὰ πέριξ ἐκείνων, ἅπαξ γευσάμενα τῆς μεταβολῆς, ἠγάπων ὑπὸ βασιλεῖ διοικούμενα. Κωνσταντίνῳ δὲ διὰ ταῦτα ἔκπληξις ἐμπίπτει, καὶ ἀμύνεσθαι μὲν οὐκ εἶχε τὸ τηνικάδε, ὅμως δ' ἐνεκότει τοῖς πεπραγμένοις καὶ καιρὸν ἐζήτει, ὃν δὴ καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ψυχὴν λέγουσιν, ἀξίως ἀμυνεῖσθαι. 281

ιθʹ. Ὅπως, ὑπερχόμενος τὸν πατριάρχην, ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν τοῦ ἀφορισμοῦ λύσιν ἐζήτει. Τῷ μέντοι γε βασιλεῖ καὶ ταῦτα πράττοντι οἱ λογισμοὶ ὁσημέραι διετα ράσσοντο· οὐ γὰρ ἠρεμεῖν ἐκεῖνον εἴα τὸ συνειδός· τὸ γὰρ τοιούτοις δεσμοῖς