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of Maurice his own 8.13.2 general he cuts off with the sword. And that Comentiolus is slain, whom the account has often shown as general of Europe, yes, and also George, the lieutenant-general of Philippicus, and moreover also Praesentinus, who was entrusted with the cares of Peter, whom the Ro8.13.3 mans are accustomed to call a domesticus. So Theodosius, having departed, the son of Maurice the emperor, takes refuge in the church of Autonomus the martyr. When the tyrant heard this, therefore, he sent Alexander to slay the boy. Alexander accordingly kills Theodosius, and having led the one called Lardys by the populace to the so-called Diadromoi, 8.13.4 he destroys him with the sword. But there is a story by some that Alexander was bribed by Germanus out of fear for the dangers. For this reason, they say Alexander refrained from the destruction of Theodosius, but killed another who resembled him, and that this Theodosius himself, having escaped this extraordinary danger, changed many places in the East, then later came to be near Colchis, and after this, having moved to the deserts of the barbarians, his body having grown weak, he ended 8.13.5 his life. Now this story resounded throughout the whole inhabited world; but some barbarian deceit gave birth to it. For as we were able, having labored in the investigation concerning this, we found that Theodosius also had a share in the execution. 8.13.6 For those who proclaim that the boy is not dead boast with faint proof; for their story is that only the head of Theodosius the emperor among the slain was not displayed. 8.13.7 But we shall not overlook the things worthy of the remarkable narrative. For on the day of the execution of Maurice the emperor, a most memora8.13.8 ble event happens in Alexandria, very worthy of being recorded on tablets. For it was necessary for a certain man among those who write beautifully, whom the crowds in a compound word call a calligrapher, who was also known to us, to stay all night until the fourth watch of the night in the house of someone. 8.13. For this merchant, the festival was all-night; for his wife was celebrating the seventh day, having given birth to a male child for her husband. It is customary, at any rate, for the locals, on the seventh day for children who have been born, to stay up all night with feasts of banquets. Since, therefore, the dinner was being drawn out to satiety for the [merchant], the banquet is broken up, and from the merchant's house the beautiful writer 8.13.10 departs. In the middle of the night, therefore, having come to the so-called Tychaion of the city (this is a famous place of Alexandria), he sees the most notable of the statues having crept down from their bases and uttering a very great sound to him, addressing the man by name and relating in a loud and intense voice the misfortunes that had befallen Maurice the em8.13.11 peror on that day. The man therefore, constricted by much fear at the strange sight, goes home, and at dawn he goes through these terrible 8.13.12 narratives to those around the so-called Augustalis. And when the report came to the prefect of Egypt (Peter at that time directed the reins of the Egyptian government, who was also related to us by birth), the one who had been the hearer of the 8.13.13 statues is summoned in secret. And the governor, having examined his words and having marveled at the exposition of the things narrated, admonished the beautiful writer not to communicate to another these mystic and secret narratives. Therefore, having recorded that day, the governor of Egypt 8.13.14 awaited the outcome. It was the ninth day, and a messenger arrives in Alexandria, parading, so to speak, the murder of Maurice the emperor. Of the things therefore foretold through the statues, or more properly to say, demons, as he discerned

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τοῦ Μαυρικίου τὸν ἑαυτοῦ στρα8.13.2 τηγὸν ἀποτέμνει τῷ ξίφει. ἀναιρεῖταί τε καὶ Κομεντίολος ἐκεῖνος, ὃν πολλάκις ὁ λόγος στρατηγὸν τῆς Εὐρώπης ἀνέδειξεν, ναὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ Γεώργιος, ὁ τοῦ Φιλιππικοῦ ὑποστράτηγος, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ὁ Πραισεντῖνος ὁ τὰς τοῦ Πέτρου πεπιστευμένος φροντίδας, ὃν δομέστικον εἰώθασιν οἱ ῾Ρω8.13.3 μαῖοι ἀποκαλεῖν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Θεοδόσιος ἀναζεύξας, ὁ Μαυρικίου παῖς τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος, εἰς τὸν ναὸν καταφεύγει Αὐτονόμου τοῦ μάρτυρος. ἀκηκοὼς τοίνυν τοῦτο ὁ τύραννος τὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον πέπομφεν ἀποσφάξαι τὸν παῖδα. τοιγαροῦν ὁ ᾿Αλέξανδρος ἀναιρεῖ Θεοδόσιον, τόν τε λεγόμενον παρὰ τῷ πλήθει Λαρδῦν εἰς τοὺς λεγομένους ∆ιαδρόμους μετα8.13.4 γαγὼν διαφθείρει τῷ ξίφει. λόγος δὲ ὑπό τινων τὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον ὑπὸ Γερμανοῦ χρηματίσασθαι φειδοῖ τῶν κινδύνων. διά τοι τοῦτο ἀποσχέσθαι φασὶ τὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον τῆς Θεοδοσίου φθορᾶς, ἕτερον δὲ προσεοικότα αὐτῷ ἀνελεῖν, καὶ τοῦτον αὐτὸν τὸν Θεοδόσιον τὸν παράδοξον τοῦτον κίνδυνον πεφευγότα τῆς ἑῴας τόπους ἀμεῖψαι πολλούς, εἶτα ἐς ὕστερον πρὸς τῇ Κολχίδι γενέσθαι, μετὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὰς ἐρήμους τῶν βαρβάρων μεταχωρήσαντος, μαλακισθέντα τὸ σῶμα κατα8.13.5 στρέψαι τὸν βίον. ὁ μὲν οὖν λόγος οὗτος ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην διήχησεν· πλάνη δέ τις αὐτὸν βαρβαρικὴ ἀπεκύησεν. ὡς γὰρ οἷόν τε ἦν τὴν περὶ τούτου ταλαιπωρήσαντες ζήτησιν μετεσχηκότα τῆς ἀναιρέσεως καὶ τὸν Θεοδόσιον 8.13.6 εὕρομεν. ἐξιτήλῳ γὰρ τεκμηρίῳ νεανιεύονται οἱ μὴ τεθνάναι τὸν παῖδα ἐπαγγελλόμενοι· λόγος γὰρ αὐτοῖς μόνην ἀνεπίδεικτον τῶν ἀνῃρημένων τὴν κεφαλὴν γεγενῆσθαι Θεοδοσίου τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος. 8.13.7 Οὐκ ἂν δὲ περιοψόμεθα τὰ τῆς παραδόξου διηγήσεως ἄξια. κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ἀναιρέσεως Μαυρικίου τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος συμβαίνει κατὰ τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν ἀξιαφηγητό8.13.8 τατον ἔργον, πινάκων συγγραφῆς λίαν ἐπάξιον. ἐδέησε γὰρ ἄνδρα τινὰ τῶν ἐς κάλλος γραφόντων, ὃν ἐν συνθέσει φωνῆς καλλιγράφον ὀνομάζει τὰ πλήθη, γνώριμον καὶ ἡμῖν καθεστῶτα, μέχρι τετάρτης φυλακῆς τῆς νυκτὸς εἰς οἰκίαν τινὸς 8.13. καταπαννυχίζεσθαι. τούτῳ γὰρ δὴ τῷ ἐμπόρῳ πάννυχος ἦν ἡ πανήγυρις· ἑβδομαίαν γὰρ ἡμέραν ἦγε τὸ γύναιον ἄρσεν παιδίον τῷ ἀνδρὶ λοχευσάμενον. σύνηθες γοῦν τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις ἐπὶ τοῖς λοχευομένοις παιδίοις ἑβδομαίαν ἄγουσι τὴν ἡμέραν συμποσίων ἑορταῖς καταπαννυχίζεσθαι. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τὰ τοῦ δείπνου τῷ [ἐμπόρῳ] κόρῳ καθυπεβάλλετο, διαλύεται ἡ ἑστίασις, καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἐμπόρου οἰκίας ὁ εἰς κάλλος γράφων 8.13.10 ἀποφοιτᾷ. μεσούσης τοίνυν νυκτός, καὶ γενόμενος κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον τῆς πόλεως Τύχαιον (χῶρος δ' οὗτος τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσημος) ὁρᾷ τοὺς ἐπισημοτέρους τῶν ἀνδριάντων ἐκ τῶν βωμῶν καθερπύσαντας καὶ μεγίστην αὐτῷ ἀφιέντας φωνήν, ἐξονομακλήδην τὸν ἄνδρα προσαγορεύσαντας διηγουμένους τε μεγάλῃ καὶ συντόνῳ φωνῇ τὰ κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν παρηκολουθηκότα συμπτώματα Μαυρικίῳ τῷ αὐτο8.13.11 κράτορι. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἀνὴρ τῷ παραδόξῳ τῆς θέας φόβῳ πολλῷ συσταλεὶς οἴκαδε γίνεται, ὄρθριός τε γενόμενος τοῖς περὶ τὸν λεγόμενον Αὐγουστάλιον ταῦτα δὴ τὰ φοβερὰ 8.13.12 διέξεισιν ἀφηγήματα. ἐπεὶ δ' ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἔπαρχον τὸ ἄκουσμα γέγονε (Πέτρος δὲ κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ τῆς Αἰγυπτιακῆς ἡγεμονίας τὰς ἡνίας διίθυνεν, ὃς καὶ συνήπτετο πρὸς γένος ἡμῖν), μετάκλητος γίνεται ἐν παραβύστῳ ὁ τῶν 8.13.13 ἀνδριάντων γενόμενος ἀκουστής. ὁ δ' ἡγεμὼν ἀνετάσας τούτου τὰ ῥήματα καὶ θαυμάσας τῶν ἀφηγηθέντων τὴν ἔκθεσιν, τῷ εἰς κάλλος γράφοντι ἐπετίμησε μὴ μεταθεῖναι ἐφ' ἕτερον τὰ μυστικὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἀπόρρητα διηγήματα. τὴν ἡμέραν τοίνυν ἀπογραψάμενος ἐκείνην ὁ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἡγε8.13.14 μὼν ἐκαραδόκει τὴν ἔκβασιν. ἐνάτη δὲ ἡμέρα, καὶ ἄγγελος εἰς τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν παραγίνεται πομπεύων ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τὴν ἀναίρεσιν Μαυρικίου τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος. τῶν τοίνυν προμεμηνυμένων διὰ τῶν ἀνδριάντων, ἢ δαιμόνων εἰπεῖν οἰκειότερον, ὡς διέγνω