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his father and we two were friends; and let not some failure happen, and we be suspected as traitors. And the emperor, becoming indignant at them, threw them out of the palace, and ordered Marinus the Syrian to take the dromons and the divine unburnt sulphur and the armed military assistance, and to go out against the same Vitalian. But Vitalian, hearing that Marinus was coming out against him with much assistance, seized as many ships as he found and filled them with an armed force of Huns and Goths. And he rushed to enter Constantinople, confident that he would certainly take it, and that he would destroy Marinus who was coming to meet him along with the assistance he had. But Marinus distributed the divine unburnt sulphur, which the philosopher had given him, to all the ships of the dromons, having said to the sailors and the soldiers that there was no need of weapons, but that you should throw this at the ships coming against you and they would be burned. And if we cross over to the houses, where the enemies of the emperor are, throw it there. And Marinus, as the philosopher had told him that the ships would be set on fire 405 by the fire and sunk with all hands, ordered them to throw it; and he rushed to the other side against Vitalian and his men. And the ships of Vitalian also arrived, and they found themselves very near one another opposite Saint Thekla in Sycae, at the place in the current which is called the Deep. And the sea-battle took place there at the third hour of the day; and suddenly all the ships of Vitalian the tyrant were set on fire and were sunk to the bottom of the current with the Gothic, Hunnic, and Scythian soldiers they had accompanying him. But Vitalian and those in the other ships, having observed the event, that their own ships were suddenly being set on fire, fled and turned back on the retreat. And Marinus, the former prefect, having crossed over to Sycae, killed as many of Vitalian’s men as he found in the suburbs or in houses, pursuing them as far as Saint Mamas; and when evening came, Marinus and his assistance force remained, guarding those parts. But Vitalian fled by night with those who remained to him from the retreat, traveling in the same night 60 miles; and when morning came, no one from the party of that Vitalian was found on the other side, and Christ the Savior and the emperor's fortune were victorious. And the emperor Anastasius made a procession to Sosthenion, giving thanks in the church of the archangel Michael for many days. But the philosopher Proclus the Athenian, having asked 406 the emperor, was dismissed, not deigning to receive anything from the said emperor; for he had ordered him to receive four centenaria; which philosopher, having gone away to Athens to his own city, died straightaway. And some in Constantinople said that from the heat of the sun, being a very fine substance, the divine unburnt sulphur, being thrown into the air, ignites, and that this is natural. But Vitalian, having gone away to Anchialus, sat there living quietly. And in the times of the same emperor Anastasius, the Sabir Huns, having crossed the Caspian Gates, a most warlike nation, came as far as Cappadocia, and having plundered it and as many lands of the Romans as they passed through, they also killed many and burned the properties and taking many captives they withdrew. And those who had been plundered into captivity came, and the emperor provided much to the plundered people of each city. And he also built walls for the large villages of Cappadocia and secured the two Cappadocias; and he remitted completely the taxes for all the plundered provinces for 3 years. And during his reign the island of Rhodes suffered its third disaster from the wrath of God by night; and he granted many things to those who were left and to the city in the way of buildings. And in his reign
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πατρὸς αὐτοῦ οἱ δύο ἡμεῖς φίλοι ἤμεθα· καὶ μὴ συμβῇ τινα ἀποτυχίαν γενέσθαι, καὶ ὑπονοηθῶμεν ὡς προδόται. καὶ ἀγανακτήσας κατ' αὐτῶν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς ἔξω τοῦ παλατίου, καὶ κελεύσας Μαρίνῳ τῷ Σύρῳ λαβεῖν τοὺς δρόμωνας καὶ τὸ θεῖον ἄπυρον καὶ τὴν στρατιωτικὴν βοήθειαν ὁπλισαμένην, καὶ ἐξελθεῖν κατὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Βιταλιανοῦ. ἀκούσας δὲ Βιταλιανὸς ὅτι μετὰ πολλῆς βοηθείας ἐξέρχεται ὁ Μαρῖνος κατ' αὐτοῦ, ὅσα εὗρε πλοῖα ἐκράτησε καὶ ἐγόμωσεν αὐτὰ Οὑννικὴν καὶ Γοτθικὴν χεῖρα ὡπλισμένους. καὶ ὥρμησεν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν, θαῤῥῶν ὅτι πάντως αὐτὴν λαμβάνει, καὶ Μαρῖνον δὲ ἀπαντῶντα ἀναλίσκει μεθ' ἧς ἔχει βοηθείας. ὁ δὲ Μαρῖνος ἐῤῥόγευσε τὸ θεῖον ἄπυρον, ὃ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ φιλόσοφος, εἰς ὅλα τὰ πλοῖα τῶν δρομώνων, εἰρηκὼς τοῖς ναύταις καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις ὅτι οὐ χρεία ὅπλων, ἀλλ' ἵνα ῥίπτετε ἐκ τούτου εἰς τὰ ἐρχόμενα κατέναντι ὑμῶν πλοῖα καὶ καίονται. εἰ δὲ πέραν ἀπέλθωμεν εἰς τοὺς οἴκους, ἔνθα εἰσὶν οἱ ἐχθροὶ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐκεῖ ῥίψατε. ὁ δὲ Μαρῖνος, καθὼς εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ φιλόσοφος ὅτι ἀνάπτονται ὑπὸ 405 τοῦ πυρὸς τὰ πλοῖα καὶ ποντίζονται αὔτανδρα, παρήγγειλεν αὐτοῖς ῥίπτειν· καὶ ὥρμησεν εἰς τὸ πέραν κατὰ Βιταλιανοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων αὐτοῦ. καὶ κατήντησαν καὶ τὰ πλοῖα Βιταλιανοῦ, καὶ εὑρέθησαν ἔγγιστα ἀλλήλων κατέναντι τῆς ἁγίας Θέκλης τῆς ἐν Σύκαις εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦ ῥεύματος ὅπου λέγεται τὸ βυθάριν. καὶ γίνεται ἐκεῖ ἡ ναυμαχία ὥραν τρίτην τῆς ἡμέρας· καὶ ἀνήφθησαν ἐξαίφνης ὑπὸ πυρὸς τὰ πλοῖα ἅπαντα Βιταλιανοῦ τοῦ τυράννου καὶ ἐποντίσθησαν εἰς τὸν βυθὸν τοῦ ῥεύματος μεθ' ὧν εἶχον Γότθων καὶ Οὕννων καὶ Σκυθῶν στρατιωτῶν συνεπομένων αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ Βιταλιανὸς καὶ οἱ εἰς τὰ ἄλλα πλοῖα προσεσχηκότες τὸ γεγονός, ὅτι ὑπὸ πυρὸς αἰφνίδιον ἀνάπτονται τὰ ἑαυτῶν πλοῖα, ἔφυγον καὶ ὑπέστρεψαν ἐπὶ τὸν ἀνάπλουν. Μαρῖνος δὲ ὁ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων περάσας ἐν Σύκαις, ὅσους εὗρε τῶν Βιταλιανοῦ εἰς τὰ προάστεια ἢ εἰς οἴκους, ἀνεῖλε, καταδιώκων αὐτοὺς ἕως τοῦ ἁγίου Μάμαντος· καὶ γενομένης ἑσπέρας ἔμεινε Μαρῖνος καὶ ἡ βοήθεια αὐτοῦ φυλάττουσα τὰ ἐκεῖ. ὁ δὲ Βιταλιανὸς ἔφυγε νυκτὸς μετὰ τῶν ὑπολειφθέντων αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ ἀνάπλου, ὁδεύσας ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ νυκτὶ μίλια ξʹ· καὶ πρωίας γενομένης οὐδεὶς εὑρέθη εἰς τὸ πέραν ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Βιταλιανοῦ, καὶ ἐνίκησεν ὁ σωτὴρ Χριστὸς καὶ ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως τύχη. καὶ ἐποίησε πρόκεσσον ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀναστάσιος εἰς τὸ Σωσθένιν, ἐν τῷ ἀρχαγγέλῳ Μιχαὴλ εὐχαριστῶν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας πολλάς. ὁ δὲ φιλόσοφος Πρόκλος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος αἰ 406 τήσας τὸν βασιλέα ἀπελύθη, μηδὲν ἀνασχόμενος λαβεῖν παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ βασιλέως· ἦν γὰρ κελεύσας αὐτὸν λαβεῖν κεντηνάρια τέσσαρα· ὅστις φιλόσοφος ἀπελθὼν ἐν Ἀθήναις εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν πόλιν εὐθέως ἐτελεύτησεν. ἔλεγον δέ τινες ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει ὅτι ἀπὸ τῆς θέρμης τοῦ ἡλίου, ὡς λεπτότατον ὄντα, τὸ θεῖον ἄπυρον ῥιπτόμενον εἰς τὸν ἀέρα ἅπτεται καὶ φυσικόν ἐστι τοῦτο. ὁ δὲ Βιταλιανὸς ἀπελθὼν ἐν Ἀγχιάλῳ ἐκάθητο ἐκεῖ ἡσυχάζων. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς χρόνοις τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἀναστασίου βασιλέως οἱ Οὗννοι Σάβειροι περάσαντες τὰς Κασπίας πύλας, ἔθνος πολεμικώτατον, ἦλθον ἕως Καππαδοκίας, καὶ πραιδεύσαντες αὐτὴν καὶ ὅσας παρῆλθον χώρας Ῥωμαίων, καὶ ἐφόνευσαν πολλοὺς καὶ ἔκαυσαν τὰ κτήματα καὶ λαβόντες αἰχμαλωσίαν πολλὴν ἀνεχώρησαν. ἦλθον δὲ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας πραιδευθέντες, καὶ πολλὰ παρέσχεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς πραιδευθεῖσιν ἑκάστης πόλεως. ἔκτισε δὲ καὶ τείχη ταῖς μεγάλαις κώμαις Καππαδοκίας καὶ ἠσφαλίσατο τὰς δύο Καππαδοκίας· καὶ συνεχώρησε πάσαις ταῖς πραιδευθείσαις ἐπαρχίαις τὰς συντελείας εἰς τέλειον ἐπὶ ἔτη γʹ. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας ἔπαθεν ὑπὸ θεομηνίας ἡ Ῥόδος νῆσος τὸ τρίτον αὐτῆς πάθος νυκτός· καὶ πολλὰ αὐτοῖς τοῖς περιλειφθεῖσιν ἐχαρίσατο καὶ τῇ πόλει λόγῳ κτισμάτων. Ἐν δὲ τῇ αὐτοῦ βασιλείᾳ