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he had a construction of more triremes and biremes made, and having gathered the naval forces at the capital, he awaited what was to come. And for the time being, so that the naval crowd, being idle, would not become more disorderly, in the rebuilding of the temple then being raised in the royal court in the name of our savior Jesus Christ and of the Arch-commanders and of Elijah the Tishbite 309 he assigned them to serve, but when the fleet from there should appear over the borders of Syria, that these too should be sent out to confront them. Therefore the spy from Syria came, and seeing both the multitude of ships and the force as being ready for dispatch, and having learned and considered everything, he reports to those who sent him, who, hearing of the emperor's preparedness against all expectation, were frightened then and loved the quiet, and they abandoned their haste for the expedition, but nevertheless the naval multitude remained in the capital, occupied with the aforementioned work. 69 But the barbarians in Carthage, because of their previous defeats, fearing that the Roman fleet might now attempt to cross over to them next, and for this reason having also themselves built a sufficient number of ships, since, after spring had passed, they learned that no force had come down from the emperor, suspecting that the emperor's army happened to be occupied with other wars, they dared to campaign against Sicily, and having come to its metropolis, Syracuse I mean, they besieged it and were plundering around it and ravaging the country and the suburbs. When the strategos of Sicily made these things clear to the emperor, immediately the force prepared against Syria is sent to Sicily, having a certain Adrian as admiral; for he happened then to be leading the naval force. Who, having set out from the 310 capital, but not being blessed with favorable and fair winds, with difficulty came down as far as the Peloponnese, and having moored the ships in Monemvasia in the harbor called Hierax, he awaited a favorable wind, being rather lazy, as it seems, and not having a zealous soul, so as to risk even contrary winds and by rowing in the intervening calms to hasten towards his objective. And while he was wasting much time in the said harbor, and the Hagarenes were pressing the siege more fiercely and moving every engine and hurrying to accomplish their goal before help could arrive for the besieged, it happened that the city was taken by storm and a great slaughter of those who resisted took place, and the entire population in the city was enslaved and the wealth within it became booty for the enemies, and the city was razed and the divine temples in it were given to the fire, and the city, until then illustrious and splendid and having many times defeated both Greek and barbarian forces that came against it, became a ruin. (70) And perception of what had happened comes to Adrian from such a cause. There is a certain place in the Peloponnese, not far distant from Monemvasia, where the Roman fleet was moored, called Helos, having received its name from the thick and overgrown woods around it. In this place, therefore, a certain demonic power lay in wait, which was also often worshipped 311 by the shepherds pasturing there, so that, supposedly, from these the pastured flocks might be kept unharmed. The shepherds heard some of these demons, as it were, conversing with one another and rejoicing that Syracuse was captured yesterday and everything in it was razed and given over to the fire. This story, being related by some of the shepherds, reached Adrian as well. And he, having summoned the shepherds themselves and investigated inquisitively, found what had been heard agreed with what was said by the shepherds.

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πλειόνων τριήρων καὶ διήρων κατασκευὴν ἐποιήσατο, καὶ τὰς ναυτικὰς δυνάμεις κατὰ τὴν βασιλίδα συναγαγὼν ἐκαρα- δόκει τὸ μέλλον. καὶ τέως μέν, ὡς αν μὴ σχολάζων ὁ ναυτικὸς οχλος ἀτακτότερος γένοιτο, ἐν τῇ ἀνοικοδομῇ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν βασί- λειον αὐλὴν ἐγειρομένου τότε ναοῦ εἰς ονομα τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀρχιστρατήγων καὶ ̓Ηλιοὺ τοῦ Θεσβίτου 309 διωρίσατο αὐτοὺς ὑπουργεῖν, οτε δὲ τῶν ὁρίων Συρίας ὁ ἐκεῖθεν στόλος ὑπερκύπτων φανῇ, ἀποσταλῆναι καὶ τούτους πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων ἀντιπαράταξιν. ἐλθὼν ουν ὁ ἀπὸ Συρίας κατάσκοπος, καὶ τό τε πλῆθος ἰδὼν τῶν νεῶν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ὡς ἑτοίμη πάρεστι πρὸς τὴν εκπεμψιν, καὶ πάντα καταμαθών τε καὶ στοχα- σάμενος, ἀπαγγέλλει τοῖς ἀποστείλασιν, οι παρ' ἐλπίδα τὸ ἐμπα- ράσκευον βασιλέως ἀκούσαντες, τότε μὲν πτήξαντες τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἠγάπησαν καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν εκπλουν σπουδὴν διελύσαντο, εμενε δὲ ομως κατὰ τὴν βασιλεύουσαν ἡ ναυτικὴ πληθὺς εἰς τὸ εἰρημέ- νον εργον ἀσχολουμένη. 69 Οἱ δὲ ἐν Καρχηδόνι βάρβαροι διὰ τὰς προγεγενημένας ηττας δείσαντες μὴ πρὸς τὴν αὐτῶν ηδη πρὸς τὸ ἑξῆς διαπερᾶσαι ὁ στόλος ὁ ̔Ρωμαϊκὸς πειρασθῇ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ναῦς ἱκανὰς καὶ αὐτοὶ τεκτηνάμενοι, ἐπεὶ τοῦ ηρος διεληλυθότος οὐδεμίαν ἐκ βα- σιλέως δύναμιν κατελθοῦσαν ἐπύθοντο, ὑποτοπήσαντες πρὸς αλ- λοις πολέμοις ασχολον τυγχάνειν τὸν βασιλέως στρατὸν ἐκστρα- τεύεσθαι κατὰ Σικελίας ἐθάρρησαν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ταύτης ἐλθόν- τες μητρόπολιν, τὰς Συρακούσας φημί, ταύτην ἐπολιόρκουν καὶ περὶ αὐτὴν ἐληΐζοντο καὶ κατεδῄουν τὴν χώραν καὶ τὰ προάστεια. τοῦ δὲ στρατηγοῦ τῆς Σικελίας δῆλα ταῦτα τῷ βασιλεῖ καταστή- σαντος, εὐθέως ἡ κατὰ Συρίας εὐτρεπισθεῖσα δύναμις πρὸς Σι- κελίαν ἐκπέμπεται, ̓Αδριανόν τινα ναύαρχον εχουσα· ουτος γὰρ ετυχε τότε τῆς ναυτικῆς δυνάμεως ἐξηγούμενος. ος ἀπὸ τῆς βα- 310 σιλίδος ἐξορμισάμενος, πνευμάτων δὲ μὴ εὐμοιρήσας ἐπιτηδείων καὶ δεξιῶν, μόλις κατῆλθεν αχρι Πελοποννήσου, ἐν Μονεμβασίᾳ δὲ ἐν τῷ λιμένι τῷ καλουμένῳ ̔Ιέρακος προσορμίσας τὰς ναῦς ἐπί- φορον πνεῦμα ἀνέμενε, ῥαθυμότερος, ὡς εοικεν, ων καὶ μὴ εχων ζέουσαν τὴν ψυχήν, ωστε καὶ πρὸς ἐναντία παραβάλλεσθαι πνεύ- ματα καὶ δι' εἰρεσίας ἐν ταῖς διὰ μέσου γαλήναις πρὸς τὸ προκεί- μενον κατεπείγεσθαι. ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ χρονοτριβοῦντος αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸν εἰρημένον λιμένα, καὶ τῶν ̓Αγαρηνῶν σφοδρότερον τῇ πολιορ- κίᾳ ἐπικειμένων καὶ πᾶσαν μηχανὴν κινούντων καὶ σπευδόντων πρὸ τοῦ ἐπιστῆναι τοῖς πολιορκουμένοις βοήθειαν ἀνύσαι τὸ σπου- δαζόμενον, συνέβη τὴν πόλιν κατὰ κράτος ἁλῶναι καὶ τῶν ἀντι- ταττομένων φόνον γενέσθαι πολύν, ἐξανδραποδισθῆναι δὲ πᾶσαν τὴν κατὰ τὸ αστυ πληθὺν καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτῇ πλοῦτον λάφυρα τοῖς πολεμίοις γενέσθαι, κατασκαφῆναι δὲ τὴν πόλιν καὶ πυρὶ δοθῆναι τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ θείους ναούς, καὶ ἐρείπιον χρηματίσαι τὴν μέχρι τότε πόλιν περιφανῆ καὶ λαμπρὰν καὶ πολλὰς πολλάκις ̔Ελληνικάς τε καὶ βαρβαρικὰς δυνάμεις ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἐλθούσας καταβαλοῦσαν, (70) τοῦ δὲ συμβάντος αισθησις ἀπὸ τοιαύτης αἰτίας γίνεται τῷ ̓Αδριανῷ. τόπος τις εστι κατὰ Πελοπόννησον οὐ μακρὰν Μονεμβασίας διεστηκώς, καθ' ην ὁ ̔Ρωμαϊκὸς στόλος ηὐλίζετο, Ελος προσαγορευόμενος, ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν δασείας καὶ συνηρε- φοῦς υλης τὸ ονομα κληρωσάμενος. ἐν τούτῳ τοίνυν δαιμονία τις ἐφήδρευε δύναμις, η καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκεῖσε νεμόντων ποιμένων πολ- 311 λάκις ἐθεραπεύετο, ὡς αν ἀσινῆ δῆθεν ἐκ τούτων τὰ νεμόμενα διαφυλάττοιτο θρέμματα. ων τινῶν δαιμόνων οἱονεὶ πρὸς ἀλλή- λους διαλεγομένων καὶ ἐπιχαιρόντων ηκουσαν οἱ νομεῖς ὡς ἑάλω τῇ χθὲς ἡμέρᾳ Συράκουσα καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ πάντα κατέσκαπται καὶ πυρὶ παραδέδοται. απερ πρός τινας τῶν νομέων ἐξηγουμένων εφθασε καὶ πρὸς τὸν ̓Αδριανὸν τὸ διήγημα. ὁ δὲ τοὺς ποιμένας αὐτοὺς μετακαλεσάμενος καὶ πολυπραγμόνως ἀναζητήσας, ευρε τοῖς ἀκουσθεῖσι συμβαίνοντα καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν ποιμένων λεγό-