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to go, having been torn away from the true fortress, which was the temple opposite; for that man had as his defense to the emperor the inviolability of the sanctuary and the patriarch's hindrance, and how it was not possible to bind them as they were rushing straight to the emperor, since their flight remained with them, partly because they were departing willingly, and partly because the patriarch, while rebuking them, was attending to them wherever they were. In addition, the manner of their approach to the emperor allows that they be kept unrestrained; for a person seeing the emperor's face is compelled to feel sympathy, at least for a time, for the condemned. 301 Saying these things and others like them, he persuaded the men to depart from the temple and go to the emperor. And indeed, having been let go by the patriarch, thinking it advantageous for them to depart—for the things that had happened to them were bitter, and as if they were being accused for an act of piety—immediately, supplied with the prayers and blessings of the priest, they set out on the road leading to Thessalonica. Now, what happened to them when they reached Thessalonica and approached the emperor is not for the present time to tell. But one might guess that they would not have fared well there, had it not happened that they suffered these things while serving the occasion; and that was that the patriarch was left alone, since they, like the others, had submitted.

25. Concerning the sultan Azatinos and concerning the Tochars. We must also take up the matter of the sultan Azatinos, who became a kind of unhappy fate for the Macedonians, and I might say for the Thracians too; and he brought the count's proclamation to a manifest conclusion. For he, having been attached for a very long time to Constantinople and expecting daily to return with the greatest possible force, since the object of his hopes was despaired of—for he knew that the emperor was occupied with other matters, and the marriage alliance with Apaga convinced him that he would no longer return—finding then a suitable opportunity which the emperor's absence afforded him, he communicates with one of his relatives, who was indeed influential in the northern parts of the Euxine Sea, entreating him to come to the aid of one imprisoned without irons by his friend the emperor, who was in no way different from an enemy; for it was possible for him, if he wished to help, to meet with Constantine and urge him on in his haste to attack the emperor; and he himself was arranging to go to him, and thus being with him it would be easier on the way to fall into their hands, if only he would march out with the Tochars along with Constantine and the Bulgarians; and if the emperor himself were captured, 303 it would be well for the attackers; but if not, they should nevertheless collect as much booty as possible, and having taken many of the emperor's possessions, return home, carrying him off as the best part of the booty; he should remember their kinship and his former glory; and if not for both reasons—to hasten as a kinsman and to be confident in hoping to obtain again greater things—then at least for one of these reasons he should think it worthwhile to cooperate, either helping him as a kinsman or taking pity on him as one he knew. Having secretly revealed these things to his uncle and having received assurances from him by letters, he pretended that the sight of the emperor was desirable to him and he declared to the emperor in letters and begged to be allowed to come to him; for it was unbearable for him to be deprived for so long of the imperial presence. If he would so command; but if not, he would come anyway, since desire urged and compelled him. Learning this, the emperor—for how could he have suspected the deceit?—allows him by letter to come to him; for it would be possible for him to see the western regions, which he could not see while living in the east. So the sultan, having been granted his departure, hastened and, leaving behind a quantity of money, and also his wives and children and sister and mother, partly to allay suspicion, and partly knowing it best to cut away impediments, went out of the city with his household and hurried to overtake the emperor. But his aforementioned uncle, having come to the king of the Bulgarians, Constantine, or rather to his wife, proposed the plots against the emperor, and persuaded them who had long been stirred up. And indeed, sending for them, he summoned a multitude of Tochars, on the grounds that they would profit immediately if they would march out with

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χωρεῖν, τοῦ ἀληθῶς φρουρίου ἀποσπασθέντας, ὃς ἦν ὁ ναὸς ἄντικρυς· ἀπολογίαν γὰρ ἐκεῖνον ἔχειν πρὸς βασιλέα τὴν ἀσυλίαν τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ τὴν τοῦ πατριάρχου κώλυσιν, καὶ ὡς αὐτούς, εὐθὺ τοῦ βασιλέως ὁρμῶντας, δεσμεύειν οὐκ ἦν, ὡς παρ' αὐτοῖς μενούσης τῆς προσφυγῆς τοῦτο μὲν τῷ ἑκόντας ἀποφοιτᾶν, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τῷ τὸν πατριάρχην ἐπιτιμῶντα ἀμφέπειν πανταχοῦ διάγοντας. Προσέτι δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς εἰς βασιλέα προσόδου σχῆμα τὸ ἀνέτους σφᾶς διατηρεῖσθαι δίδωσι· πρόσωπον γὰρ βασιλέως θεώμενον συμπαθείας ἀνάγκην ἔχειν, κἂν γοῦν πρὸς ὥραν τοῖς κατακρίτοις. 301 Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια λέγων, ἔπειθέ τε τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀποφοιτᾶν τε τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ πρὸς βασιλέα χωρεῖν. Καὶ δὴ παρὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου ἐκχωρη θέντες, δόξαν συνοῖσον σφίσι τὸ ἀπελθεῖντὰ γὰρ συμβάντα τούτοις πικρά, καὶ ὡς εἰ ἐπὶ καθοσιώσει ηὐθύνοντο, εὐθύς, ταῖς τοῦ ἱερέως ἐφοδιασθέντες εὐχαῖς τε καὶ εὐλογίαις, τῆς πρὸς τὴν Θεσσαλονίκην φερούσης ἅπτονται. Ἃ μὲν οὖν ἐπιμίξασιν ἐκείνοις Θεσσαλονίκῃ καὶ βασιλεῖ προσελθοῦσι συνέβη, οὐ τοῦ παρόντος λέγειν καιροῦ. Πλὴν εἰκάσαιτ' ἄν τις ὡς οὐκ ἂν εὖ ἐκεῖθεν ἔπαθον, εἰ μή γε θεραπεύουσι τὸν καιρὸν συνέβη ταῦτα παθεῖν· τὸ δ' ἦν μεμονῶσθαι τὸν πατριάρχην, ὑποκλιθέντων, ὡς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ἐκείνων.

κεʹ. Τὰ περὶ τοῦ σουλτὰν Ἀζατίνου καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν Τοχάρων. Ἀναληπτέον καὶ τὸ τοῦ σουλτὰν Ἀζατίνου, ὃς μοῖρά τις γέγονε δυστυχὴς Μακεδόσιν, εἴπω δὲ καὶ Θρᾳξί· καὶ τὸ τοῦ κομήτου προάγγελμα εἰς ἔκβασιν ἔθετο προφανῆ. Ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τῇ Κωνσταντίνου προστετηκὼς καὶ ὁσημέραι προσδοκῶν ἐπανήξειν μεθ' ὅτι πλείστης ἰσχύος, ἐπεὶ τὸ ἐν ἐλπίσιν ἀπέγνωστοᾔδει γὰρ ἄλλα τὸν βασιλέα πραγματευόμενον, καὶ τὸ κῆδος ἔπειθε τὸ πρὸς τὸν Ἀπαγᾶν ὡς οὐκέθ' ὑποστρέψειεν, εὑρὼν καιρὸν τῷ τότε ὃν ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπουσία δέοντά οἱ παρεῖχεν, διαμηνύεται τῶν τινι συγγενῶν, ἐπιδόξῳ γε ὄντι κατὰ τὰ πρὸς ἄρκτον μέρη τοῦ Εὐξείνου πόντου, δυσωπῶν ἐπαμῦναί οἱ ἀσιδήρως πεφυλακισμένῳ παρὰ φίλῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ, οὐδὲν ἐχθροῦ διαφέροντι· εἶναι γὰρ ἐκείνῳ, εἰ βούλοιτο βοηθεῖν, συνελθεῖν Κωνσταντίνῳ καὶ σπεύδοντα παροτρῦναι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπίθεσιν· καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ οἰκονομεῖν παρ' ἐκεῖνον ἰέναι, καὶ οὕτως ἐκείνῳ συνόντα ῥᾷον καθ' ὁδὸν ἐκπεσεῖν εἰς χεῖρας ἐκείνοις, εἰ μόνον Τοχάροις συν εξίοι ἅμα Κωνσταντίνῳ μετὰ Βουλγάρων· καὶ εἰ μὲν ἁλῷ καὶ αὐτὸς βασιλεύς, 303 εὖ εἶναι τοῖς ἐπιθησομένοις· εἰ δ' οὖν, ἀλλὰ λείαν περιβαλλομένους πλείστην ὅσην, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως πολλὰ λαβόντας ἐπαναζευγνύειν, τὸ κρεῖττον τῆς λείας διαφερόντως καὶ αὐτὸν ἀγομένους· μεμνῆσθαί τε συγγενείας καὶ δόξης προτέρας· καὶ εἰ μὴ δι' ἄμφω, καὶ ὡς συγγενῆ σπεύδειν καὶ ὡς ἐλπίζοντα μεταλαμβάνειν πάλιν τὰ μείζω θαρρεῖν, ἀλλ' οὖν δι' ἓν τούτων ἄξιον συμπράττειν οἴεσθαι, ἢ ὡς συγγενῆ βοηθοῦντα ἢ ὡς εἰδότα κατελεοῦντα. Ταῦτα δηλώσας τῷ θείῳ δι' ἀπορρήτων, τὰ πιστὰ λαβὼν ἐκεῖθεν διὰ γραμμάτων, προσεποιεῖτο ἐφετὴν εἶναί οἱ τὴν βασιλέως θέαν καὶ γράμμασιν ἐδήλου τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ ἱκέτευεν ἐφεῖναι παρ' ἐκεῖνον γενέσθαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνεκτά οἱ εἶναι ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐστερῆσθαι τῆς βασιλικῆς ὄψεως. Εἰ γοῦν προστάσσοι· εἰ δ' οὖν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸν ἥξειν καὶ οὕτως, ἐπεὶ πόθος ἐπείγει καὶ τυραννεῖ. Ταῦτα μαθών, ὁ βασιλεύςκαὶ ποῦ γὰρ τὸν δόλον εἶχεν ὑπονοεῖν; διὰ γραμμάτων ἐφίησιν ἀφικέσθαι παρ' ἐκεῖνον· ἰδεῖν γὰρ καὶ δυτικοὺς τόπους ἐγγενέσθαι οἱ, οὓς οὐκ ἦν ὁρᾶν, κατ' ἀνατολὰς διάγοντα. Ὁ μὲν οὖν σουλτὰν ἐκχωρηθεὶς τὴν ἔξοδον ἐπετάχυνε καί, πλῆθος χρημάτων ἀφείς, ἔτι δὲ καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ τέκνα καὶ ἀδελφὴν καὶ μητέρα, τὸ μὲν ἐπιλύων τὴν ὑποψίαν, τὸ δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐμποδὼν ὑποτεμεῖν ἄριστον γνούς, ἔξεισι σὺν τοῖς οἰκείοις τῆς πόλεως καὶ καταλαβεῖν τὸν βασιλέα ἠπείγετο. Ὁ δέ γε ῥηθεὶς θεῖος ἐκείνου, παρὰ τὸν βασιλέα Βουλγάρων τὸν Κωνσταντῖνον γεγονώς, ἢ μᾶλλον τὴν ἐκεί νου σύζυγον, τὰς κατὰ βασιλέως ὑποθήκας προτείνων, καὶ πάλαι παρακε κινημένους ἔπειθε. Καὶ δὴ πέμψας μετακαλεῖται πλῆθος Τοχάρων, ὡς κερδανοῦντας αὐτίκα, εἰ ἐπεξίοιεν ἅμ'