114

of the *excubitores*, along with the *curator* of Caesarius's property, to go down and separate the parties. But those who went were not able to separate them. And many died from both parties, and many were also wounded. And the Blues, entering the seats of the Greens, shouted: "Set it alight here, set it alight there; no Green is to be seen here." And again the Greens shouted: "Woe, woe, all of them, all of them." They came to the Mese, to the neighborhoods of the Blues, and they stoned those whom they found and shouted: "Set it alight, set it alight; no Blue is to be seen here." And they entered the neighborhoods at daybreak on Sunday and seized their properties. And the emperor ordered the Greens to be arrested, and they were punished with many tortures. The Blues, however, took refuge in the church of the Theotokos of Blachernae. But the Greens who had been driven out took refuge in Saint Euphemia in Chalcedon; the prefect expelled and punished them. And their wives and mothers began to cry out in the churches to the emperor, that he grant the Greens an indulgence; and they were driven out with clubs, and the emperor was not reconciled with them until the Nativity of Christ. In the month of February, the emperor ordered those of the seven *scholae* stationed in Nicomedia and Cius and Prousa and Cyzicus and Cotyaeum and Dorylaeum to depart and be stationed in Thrace, in both Heraclea and the cities around it. In the month of March, the *scholae* rose up against their count over certain customary payments, which they were receiving, and which were cut off. and they attacked him. And Theodore, the son of Peter the *magister*, called Condocheres, was found there, and by using threatening words he was able to calm them down. In the same year *Obaisipolis was taken by the Huns; and the emperor sent Marcellus the *stratelates* and his own cousin with a multitude of troops, to rescue the city and *Persis. In the month of April, Anastasiopolis in Thrace 237 was also taken by the same Huns. And on the 3rd of the month of May, Zemarchus, the *curator* of Placidia's property, was accused of having said many and terrible things against the emperor, by George, *curator* of Marina's property, and by John the ex-consul, relatives of the empress Theodora. 36. 38. 2. 11. 18. 14. 4. In this year in the month of October, a popular riot occurred in the Pittacia, and the emperor punished many. In the month of November, a great drought occurred and a shortage of water, so that many fights broke out at the public fountains. A north wind also blew from the month of August, and nowhere a south wind, and the ships did not come to the city, so that Eutychius the patriarch even held litanies to Jerusalem, that is, to Saint Diomedes. In the same month, a victory announcement came from Rome from Narses the patrician, declaring that he had taken two strong cities of the Goths, Beroea and Brincas. On the 25th of the same month, a Saturday, in the evening, certain men plotted to murder the emperor, as he was sitting in the palace. They were Ablabius, of the honey-dealers, and Marcellus, a silversmith, and Sergius, the cousin of the *curator* Aetherius. Their plot was this: as he was sitting in the triclinium in the evening before departing, they would rush in and slaughter him, having their own men helping them, Indians hidden in the Selentiaricin and in the Archangel and in the Harma, so that when the plot occurred they would create a disturbance. And the same Ablabius also received gold from Marcellus the silversmith, 50 pounds, for helping him. And with God's good will, Ablabius confided in Eusebius, the ex-consul who was count of the *foederati*, and in John the *logothete*, the one under Domentziolus, saying: "This evening we intend to attack the emperor." He, however, informed the emperor and arrested them and found them wearing concealed swords. And the silversmith Marcellus, having failed in his expectation, drawing the sword he was wearing, gave himself three wounds in the triclinium

114

ἐκσκουβιτόρων, σὺν τῷ κουράτορι τῶν Καισαρίου κατ236 ελθεῖν καὶ χωρίσαι τὰ μέρη. οἱ δὲ ἀπελθόντες οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν χωρίσαι αὐτούς. καὶ πολλοὶ μὲν ἀπέθανον ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν μερῶν, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπληγώθησαν. εἰσελθόντες δὲ οἱ Βένετοι εἰς τὰ βάθρα τῶν Πρασίνων ἔκραζον· "ἅψον ὧδε, ἅψον ἐκεῖ· ὧδε Πράσινος οὐ φαίνεται." καὶ πάλιν οἱ Πράσινοι ἔκραζον· "αἴ, αἴ, ὅλοι, ὅλοι." εἰς τὴν Μέσην ἦλθον, εἰς τὰς γειτονίας τῶν Βενέτων, καὶ ἐλίθαζον οὓς εὕρισκον καὶ ἔκραζον· "ἅψον, ἅψον· ὧδε Βένετος οὐ φαίνεται." καὶ εἰσήρχοντο εἰς τὰς γειτονίας διαφαυούσης κυριακῆς καὶ ἥρπαζον τὰς ὑποστάσεις. καὶ ἐκέλευσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς συσχεθῆναι τοὺς Πρασίνους, καὶ πολλαῖς βασάνοις ἐκολάσθησαν. οἱ δὲ Βένετοι προσέφυγον τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῆς θεοτόκου τῶν Βλαχερνῶν. οἱ δὲ ἐξειλήσαντες Πράσινοι προσέφυγον εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν Εὐφημίαν ἐν Χαλκηδόνι· οὓς ἐκβαλὼν ὁ ἔπαρχος ἐτιμωρήσατο. ἤρξαντο δὲ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν καὶ αἱ μητέρες κράζειν εἰς τὰς ἐκκλησίας τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἵνα παράσχῃ τοῖς Πρασίνοις ἰνδουλγεντίας· καὶ ἐδιώχθησαν μετὰ βάκλων, καὶ οὐ διηλλάγη αὐτοῖς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἕως τῆς Χριστοῦ γεννήσεως. τῷ δὲ Φεβρουαρίῳ μηνὶ ἐκέλευσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἑπτὰ σχολαρίων τοὺς καθεζομένους ἐν τῇ Νικομηδείᾳ καὶ Κίῳ καὶ Προύσῃ καὶ Κυζίκῳ καὶ Κοτυαείῳ καὶ ∆ορυλαίῳ ἀπελθεῖν καὶ καθίσαι ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ, ἔν τε Ἡρακλείᾳ καὶ ταῖς πέριξ αὐτῆς πόλεσιν. τῷ δὲ Μαρτίῳ μηνὶ ἐπανέστησαν αἱ σχολαὶ τῷ κόμητι αὐτῶν διά τινας συνηθείας, ἃς ἐλάμβανον· καὶ ἀπέκοψαν αὐτάς. καὶ ἐπῆλθον αὐτῷ. εὑρέθη δὲ ἐκεῖ Θεόδωρος, ὁ υἱὸς Πέτρου τοῦ μαγίστρου, ὁ Κονδοχέρης, καὶ ἀπειλητικοῖς λόγοις χρησάμενος ἠδυνήθη αὐτοὺς καταπραΰναι. τῷ δ' αὐτῷ ἔτει παρελήφθη * Ὁβαισίπολις ὑπὸ τῶν Οὔννων· καὶ ἔπεμψεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Μάρκελλον τὸν στρατηλάτην καὶ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ ἀνεψιὸν μετὰ πλήθους στρατοῦ, τοῦ ἀναρρύσασθαι τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν * Περσίδα. τῷ δὲ Ἀπριλλίῳ μηνὶ παρελήφθη καὶ ἡ Ἀναστασιούπολις τῆς Θρᾴκης 237 ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν Οὔννων. καὶ τῷ Μαίῳ μηνὶ γʹ κατηγορήθη Ζήμαρχος, ὁ κουράτωρ τῶν Πλακιδίας, ὡς κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως πολλὰ λαλήσας καὶ δεινά, ὑπὸ Γεωργίου, κουράτορος τῶν Μαρίνης, καὶ Ἰωάννου ἀπὸ ὑπάτων, συγγενῶν Θεοδώρας τῆς βασιλίσσης. λϛʹ. ληʹ. βʹ. ιαʹ. ιηʹ. ιδʹ. δʹ. Τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει μηνὶ Ὀκτωβρίῳ γέγονε στάσις δημοτικὴ ἐν τοῖς Πιττακίοις, καὶ πολλοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐτιμωρήσατο. τῷ δὲ Νοεμβρίῳ μηνὶ ἀβροχία πολλὴ ἐγένετο καὶ λεῖψις ὑδάτων, ὥστε γενέσθαι μάχας πολλὰς ἐν τοῖς ὑδρείοις. ἐφύσησε δὲ καὶ βορρᾶς ἄνεμος ἀπὸ Αὐγούστου μηνός, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ νότος, καὶ οὐκ ἤρχοντο τὰ πλοῖα ἐν τῇ πόλει, ὥστε καὶ λιτὰς ἐκβαλεῖν Εὐτύχιον τὸν πατριάρχην εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν εἰς τὸν ἅγιον ∆ιομήδην. τῷ δ' αὐτῷ μηνὶ ἐπινίκια ἦλθον ἀπὸ Ῥώμης Ναρσοῦ τοῦ πατρικίου δηλοῦντα παραλαβεῖν αὐτὸν πόλεις ὀχυρὰς τῶν Γότθων δύο, Βηρωΐαν καὶ Βρίγκας. τῇ δὲ κεʹ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνὸς ἡμέρᾳ σαββάτῳ ἑσπέρας ἐπιβουλὴν ἐμελέτησάν τινες τοῦ φονεῦσαι τὸν βασιλέα, ὡς κάθηται ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ. ἦσαν δὲ Ἀβλάβιος ἀπὸ μελιστῶν καὶ Μάρκελλος ἀργυροπράτης καὶ Σέργιος, ὁ ἀνεψιὸς τοῦ κουράτορος Αἰθερίου. ἡ δὲ μελέτη αὐτῶν ἦν αὕτη· ὡς κάθηται ἐν τῷ τρικλίνῳ ἑσπέρας πρὸ τοῦ μισεῦσαι, εἰσπηδήσαντες σφάξωσιν αὐτόν, ἔχοντες ἰδίους ἀνθρώπους συνεργοῦντας αὐτοῖς Ἰνδοὺς κρυπτομένους εἰς τὸ Σελεντιαρίκιν καὶ εἰς τὸν Ἀρχάγγελον καὶ εἰς τὸ Ἅρμα, ἵνα γενομένης τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ταραχὴν ποιήσωσιν. ὁ δ' αὐτὸς Ἀβλάβιος καὶ χρυσίον ἔλαβε παρὰ Μαρκέλλου τοῦ ἀργυροπράτου λίτρας νʹ εἰς τὸ συνεργῆσαι αὐτῷ. καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐδοκήσαντος ἐθάρρησεν ὁ Ἀβλάβιος Εὐσεβίῳ, τῷ ἀπὸ ὑπάτων ὄντι κόμητι φοιδεράτων, καὶ Ἰωάννῃ τῷ λογοθέτῃ, τῷ κατὰ ∆ομεντζίολον, λέγων, ὅτι "ἐν τῇ ἑσπέρᾳ ταύτῃ βουλόμεθα ἐπελθεῖν τῷ βασιλεῖ." ὁ δὲ μηνύσας τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐκρά238 τησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ εὗρεν αὐτοὺς φοροῦντας κρυπτὰ ξίφη. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀργυροπράτης Μάρκελλος ἀστοχήσας τοῦ προσδοκωμένου, σύρας ὃ ἐφόρει ξίφος δέδωκεν ἑαυτῷ τρεῖς πληγὰς ἐν τῷ τρικλίνῳ