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of the army to fall in the battle, and the rest to be captured, and that the general himself was barely able 492 to flee with a few men. And Leo, upon returning, was both magnificently received and honored with a victory triumph. But a plot by some against the emperor was discovered, and those who had contrived it and their accomplices were arrested, but they were not punished harshly. The magistros Nikephoros Phokas, having been recalled from Crete, was not allowed to return to Byzantium, but was ordered to proceed to the east with the entire army; for it was expected that Hamdan would again march against the Romans. Indeed, Phokas, arriving in Syria and fighting him hand-to-hand, both defeated him spectacularly and sacked Beroia, except for its acropolis, and gathered very great wealth from there and drove off no small number of captives, and he released many Christian prisoners from captivity. It is said, at least, at the beginning of the reign of Romanos, when the Hagarenes were plundering every land, that the emperor fell into despair, and summoning Nikephoros Phokas, asked 493 him how affairs for the Romans had come to such a pass. And he, shrinking back from nothing, said with a free spirit, “Because you rule as emperor, while my father commands the army; you have not taken up your rule as is proper, and he is avaricious. But if you wish, both the morale and the affairs of the Romans will be changed, but do not think the change will be sudden.” And the emperor, having heard these things, permitted him to handle the matter as he wished; and he immediately took charge of the soldiery, organizing the existing force and enrolling another and training it in every military practice. And so, having filled the ranks and armed the clod-breakers, and making the prophetic saying counterbalance for them, that is, by beating their sickles into swords and their plows into spears, he easily set up the famed trophies with them. Having reigned for three years and a little beyond, Romanos departed from this life, either by a deadly poison according to some, or by exhausting himself with pleasures and unions 494 and by these things wasting the strength of his flesh, leaving the empire to both his sons and to their mother Theophano. When Romanos died, Nikephoros Phokas, at the command of the empress, came to Byzantium and celebrated a triumph for the spoils brought from Beroia, from which he also brought a part of the precious garment of John the Baptist. And he outwitted Bringas, who was suspicious of him as aspiring to the throne, in this way. With one of his servants, he came to his residence in the evening, and taking Bringas aside very privately, he affirmed with oaths and most solemn curses that for a long time the monastic life had been his desire. And “long ago,” he said, “I would have rushed to it, if the good disposition of the emperors had not restrained me. Do not, therefore, suspect me in vain of nursing a desire for the empire; for I shall soon even withdraw from affairs.” And he gave credence to his words by showing him a certain hair-shirt, which he wore next to his skin, covered by his outer garment. With these words and the hair-shirt, Phokas completely won over the parakoimomenos 495 and had him rolling at his feet and asking for forgiveness. And the emperor Stephen, son of Lakapenos, being guarded on Lesbos near Methymna, was under suspicion; and dying suddenly and from no apparent cause, he gave rise to the suspicion that he had been done away with by the empress Theophano. However, Peter, the ruler of the Bulgarians, upon the death of his wife, renewing the treaties with the Romans, gave as hostages his two sons, Boris and Romanos; And he died, but his children were allowed to depart to their own country and to acquire their paternal rule. For the four sons of one of the comites among the Bulgarians, David, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, having revolted, were stirring up the Bulgarians. But when Nikephoros Phokas to

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στρατιᾶς ἐν τῇ μάχῃ πεσεῖν, τὸ δ' ἄλλο γενέσθαι ἁλώσιμον, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν στρατάρχην μόλις σὺν εὐαριθμήτοις 492 δυνηθῆναι φυγεῖν. καὶ ὁ μὲν Λέων ἐπανελθὼν καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ὑπεδέχθη καὶ ἐπινικίῳ θριάμβῳ τετίμητο. μελέτη δέ τινων κατὰ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος ἐφωράθη καὶ οἱ ταύτην συρράψαντες καὶ οἱ τούτων συνίστορες συνεσχέθησαν, πλὴν οὐκ ἀπηνῶς ἐκολάσθησαν. Ὁ μάγιστρος δὲ Νικηφόρος ὁ Φωκᾶς ἐκ τῆς Κρήτης μετακληθεὶς οὐκ εἰάθη πρὸς τὸ Βυζάντιον ἐπαναδραμεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐκελεύσθη πρὸς τὴν ἑῴαν μετὰ πάσης χωρῆσαι τῆς στρατιᾶς· ὁ γὰρ Χαμδὰν αὖθις κατὰ Ῥωμαίων χωρήσειν ἠλπίζετο. ἐν γοῦν Συρίᾳ γενόμενος ὁ Φωκᾶς καὶ τούτῳ κατὰ συστάδην μαχεσάμενος, καὶ ἥττησε περιφανῶς καὶ τὴν Βέρροιαν ἄτερ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ἐξεπόρθησε καὶ πλοῦτον ἐκεῖθεν πλεῖστον συνήγαγε καὶ δορυαλώτους ἤλασεν οὐκ εὐαριθμήτους καὶ πολλοὺς δεσμίους χριστιανοὺς τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἀπέλυσε. Λέγεται γοῦν ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς αὐταρχίας τοῦ Ῥωμανοῦ τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν πᾶσαν χώραν λεηλατούντων εἰς ἀπορίαν περιστῆναι τὸν αὐτοκράτορα, καὶ τὸν Φωκᾶν Νικηφόρον προσκαλεσάμενον ἔρεσθαι 493 τοῦτον πῶς εἰς τὸ κατόπιν Ῥωμαίοις περιηνέχθη τὰ πράγματα. τὸν δὲ μηδὲν ὑποστειλάμενον ἐλευθέρῳ φάναι φρονήματι "διότι σὺ μὲν βασιλεύεις, ὁ δ' ἐμὸς πατὴρ στραταρχεῖ, σὺ μὲν τῆς ἀρχῆς οὐχ ὡς δέον ἐπειλημμένος, ἐκεῖνος δὲ φιλοχρηματῶν. εἰ βούλοιο δέ, μεταβληθήσονται Ῥωμαίοις καὶ τὰ φρονήματα καὶ τὰ πράγματα, πλὴν μὴ ἀθρόαν οἴου ἔσεσθαι τὴν μεταβολήν." ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τούτων ἀκούσας ἐπέτρεπεν αὐτῷ μεταχειρίσασθαι τὴν πρᾶξιν ὡς βούλεται· καὶ ὃς αὐτίκα ἐπεμελεῖτο τοῦ ὁπλιτικοῦ τό τε ὂν διατάσσων καὶ ἄλλο ἐγκαταλέγων καὶ γυμνάζων εἰς ἅπαν στρατιωτικὸν ἐπιτήδευμα. καὶ οὕτως τὰς τάξεις ἀναπληρώσας καὶ καθοπλίσας τοὺς βωλοκόπους καὶ τὸ προφητικὸν αὐτοῖς ἀντίρροπον θέμενος, εἰς μαχαίρας αὐτοῖς δηλαδὴ συγκόψας τὰ δρέπανα καὶ εἰς ζιβύνας τὰ ἄροτρα σὺν αὐτοῖς τὰ θρυλλούμενα ῥᾳδίως ἔστησε τρόπαια. Τρισὶ δ' ἔτεσι διαπεττεύσας τὴν βασιλείαν ὁ Ῥωμανὸς καὶ μικρὸν ἐπέκεινα μετέστη τῆς ἐνταῦθα ζωῆς, ἢ φαρμάκῳ δηλητηρίῳ κατά τινας ἢ φιληδονίαις καὶ μίξεσιν ἑαυτὸν κατατείνας 494 καὶ ταύταις δαπανήσας τὴν ἰσχὺν τοῦ σαρκίου, τὴν βασιλείαν λιπὼν τοῖς υἱοῖς ἀμφοῖν καὶ τῇ τούτων μητρὶ Θεοφανοῖ. Τοῦ δὲ Ῥωμανοῦ θανόντος ὁ Φωκᾶς Νικηφόρος κελεύσει τῆς βασιλίσσης ἧκεν εἰς τὸ Βυζάντιον καὶ κατήγαγε θρίαμβον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐκ Βερροίας κεκομισμένοις λαφύροις, ὅθεν καί τι μέρος τῆς τιμίας ἐσθῆτος τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου ἐκόμισε. τὸν Βρίγγαν δὲ αὐτὸν ὑφορώμενον ὡς βασιλειῶντα κατεσοφίσατο οὕτως. σὺν ἑνὶ τῶν θεραπόντων ἑσπέρας κατέλαβε τὴν κατοικίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰδιαίτατα τὸν Βρίγγαν παραλαβὼν δι' ἔρωτος εἶναι αὐτῷ πρὸ μακροῦ τὴν μοναδικὴν βιοτὴν ὅρκοις ἐβεβαίου καὶ παλαμναιοτάταις ἀραῖς. καί "πάλαι ἄν" ἔλεγε "πρὸς ταύτην ὡρμήκειν, εἰ μή με τῶν βασιλέων ἡ χρηστὴ ἐπέσχε διάθεσις. μὴ οὖν μάτην ὑπόπτευε κατ' ἐμοῦ ὡς τῆς βασιλείας ἔρωτα τρέφοντος· ἐγὼ γὰρ ὅσον ἤδη καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκστήσομαι." καὶ τοῖς λόγοις πίστιν ἐδίδου, δείξας αὐτῷ ῥάκος τι τρίχινον, ὃ ἐν χρῷ περιέκειτο, τῇ ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ περιβολῇ καλυπτόμενον. τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις καὶ τῷ τριχίνῳ ἐσθήματι τὸν παρακοιμώ495 μενον συναρπάσας ἔσχε τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ προκυλινδούμενον ὁ Φωκᾶς καὶ συγγνώμην αἰτοῦντα. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς δὲ Στέφανος ὁ τοῦ Λακαπηνοῦ ἐν Λέσβῳ τηρούμενος κατὰ Μήθυμναν ὕποπτος ἦν· αἰφνίδιον δὲ καὶ ἐξ οὐδεμιᾶς φανερᾶς αἰτίας θανὼν ὑποψίαν δέδωκε παρὰ τῆς βασιλίσσης κατεργασθῆναι Θεοφανοῦς. Ὁ μέντοι τῶν Βουλγάρων ἀρχηγετῶν Πέτρος, τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ θανούσης, τὰς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἀνακαινίζων σπονδὰς ὁμήρους παρέσχε δύο οἰκείους υἱοὺς Βορίσην καὶ Ῥωμανόν· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀπεβίω, οἱ δ' ἐκείνου παῖδες ἀπελθεῖν εἰάθησαν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα καὶ τὴν πατρῴαν ἀρχὴν κατακτήσασθαι. ἑνὸς γὰρ τῶν κομήτων τῶν ἐν Βουλγάροις τέσσαρες παῖδες, ∆αβίδ, Μωσῆς, Ἀαρών, Σαμουήλ, ἀποστατήσαντες τοὺς Βουλγάρους ἀνέσειον. τοῦ Φωκᾶ δὲ Νικηφόρου εἰς