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running away from what was proper with moving and swift feet, he stopped his ears with the ear-flaps hanging from the hood on either side of his ears, so as not even to hear the letter being read. Finally, despondent, he called heaven and earth to witness with the loudest voice what he was suffering; and he demanded they should not only pay attention to what his accusers said, but also to consider at all what they would have heard in reply from him, if they had reported it, if they were not gravely pressed, if they were not greatly threatened with punishment by God, for attempting it at all. And he said: “Finely would we have served as high priests, conspiring in murder against the emperor, we who, cast aside in this remote place, supplicate God to have taken his soul for the good, even if he is destroying us like condemned men in the wilderness with hunger and thirst.” Having uttered these and other such things in anguish and bitterness of soul, reproaching partly the emperor himself, and partly the one established on the throne, or rather pitying them, he sent them away. But we, having approached again on the following day and, having carried out what was additionally assigned as far as possible, we set sail from the harbor immediately and, as a bright north wind was blowing down, we thought it more tolerable to sail through the parts to the west of the island, sheltered by the mountains. But rather the surge rose to its greatest, and the sea travailed more, and, having with difficulty brought the ship to the Fair-Harbor, which the locals in their dialect corruptly call Gagilolimen, there we encountered great terrors, as a penalty, I think, for not being dismissed with the patriarch's blessing; 377 which indeed each one wished for in turn, as they later confessed to one another repentantly, but nevertheless, suspecting the accusation from this, they neglected it. For in the middle of the night a heavy earthquake struck, and the mountain, breaking off and falling into the sea, flooded the place there, and gave the impression that we too were flooded, staying along the shore. But with difficulty, after enduring much hardship on the sea, we set foot in the city of Constantine, on the sixteenth of the month of Poseideon, and, having first gone to the reigning patriarch and announced everything, we were met with a fervent demand from him to remove everything painful from the report, in speaking to the emperor, if anything had been said. By whom it was then managed with the emperor, so that upon hearing he understood the defense, that it was also likely that upon hearing it they restrained themselves, but not wishing to reveal those against us, he remained silent, and considering it terrible that that man should suffer hardship, so that he immediately ordered that he and those around him be provided for with three hundred annual nomismata, defending himself and with an oath that he had ordered it thus before and that it was because of that man not wanting to receive that it was not given, and for the time being fearing again that he might not receive it, he entrusted the provision to the empress, on the condition that he himself should send again men considered friends to him, as a certain consolation and goodwill from him, and that the empress should send the nomismata with them as if from herself. Which indeed was done not long after, and Gemistos, the hypomnematographos of the church, Oinaiotes, the lampadarios of the imperial clergy, and third, Markos, the hieromonk of the Hiera, were sent, men who had been his greatest friends of old, with whom indeed the necessary things were also sent by the empress. 379

17. How the emperor deliberated about his own absolution and by whom. For the emperor, then, the matter was not of such great urgency, but he sought something more, or rather even that for the sake of which these things were done; and this was, it seems, as much a matter of urgency for him to accomplish, as it was a matter of perplexity how it might be accomplished and by whom. He wished, then, for the absolution from his bond to be granted by the patriarch and the synod, but he suspected that the one who granted absolution might seem to be absolving the unabsolvable out of disregard for the people concerning that man, partly because he was not fully assured about him, and partly because of the apparent transfer of the throne. But the one suggesting such thoughts to the

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ἀποδιδράσκοντα παρὰ τὸ καθῆκον κινου μένοις καὶ ταχέσι ποσί, ἐπέβυε τὰ ὦτα τοῖς παρηρτημένοις τῆς καλύπτρας ἑκατέρωθεν τῶν ὤτων ὠτίοις, ὡς μηδ' ἐπαΐειν ἀναγινωσκομένου τοῦ γράμ ματος. Τέλος δυσθυμήσας οὐρανόν τε καὶ γῆν ἐπεμαρτύρετο μεγίστῃ φωνῇ ὦν δὴ καὶ πάσχοι· καὶ μὴ μόνον οἷς εἶπον οἱ κατειπόντες ἠξίου προσέχειν, ἀλλ' ἃ καὶ ἀντήκουον ἂν παρ' αὐτοῦ, εἴπερ ἀνέφερον, ὅλως προσηξίου σκοπεῖν, εἰ μὴ ἐπείχοντο ἐμβριθῶς, εἰ μὴ καὶ μεγάλως ἠπειλοῦντο κολά ζεσθαι πρὸς Θεοῦ, ἐπιχειροῦντες ὅλως. Καὶ ὡς· «Καλῶς ἄν, ἔλεγεν, ἠρχιερατεύσαμεν, φόνον τῷ βασιλεῖ συνυφαίνοντες, οἳ δὴ καί, ἐν ἐσχατιᾷ ταύτῃ παραρριφθέντες, Θεὸν εἰς καλὸν ἐπειλῆφθαι τῆς ἐκείνου ψυχῆς ἱκε τεύομεν, κἂν ἐκεῖνος λιμῷ καὶ δίψει ἐπ' ἐρημίας ὡς καταδίκους ἀπόλλυσι.» Ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦθ' ἕτερα ἐν ὀδύνῃ ψυχῆς καὶ πικρίᾳ ἐξενεγκών, τὰ μὲν αὐτῷ βασιλεῖ, τὰ δὲ καὶ τῷ ἐς τὸν θρόνον καταστάντι προσονειδίσας, ἢ ἐποικτι σάμενος μᾶλλον, ἀπέπεμπεν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ αὖθις τῆς ἐπελθούσης ἡμέρας προσελθόντες καί, ὅσον ἦν τὰ προσανακείμενα ἐκτελέσαντες, ἀφωρμοῦμεν τοῦ λιμένος αὐτίκα καί, τοῦ βορέου λαμπροῦ καταβαίνοντος, διὰ τῶν κατὰ δύσιν τῆς νήσου μερῶν ἀνεκτότερον ἡγούμεθα πλέειν, ἐπισκεπομένους τοῖς ὄρεσιν. Ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὁ κλύδων μέγιστος ἐπηγείρετο, καὶ ὤδινεν ἡ θάλασσα πλέον, καί, τῷ Γαληνολιμένι μόλις προσσχόντες τὴν ναῦν, ὃν δὴ καὶ Γαγιλολιμὴν ἰδιωτικῶς οἱ ἐπιχώριοι παραφθείροντες λέγουσι, μεγάλοις ἐκεῖσε φοβεροῖς ἐνετύχομεν, κατ' εἴσπραξιν, οἶμαι, τοῦ μὴ μετ' εὐλογίας 377 ἀπολυθῆναι τοῦ πατριάρχου· ὃ δὴ καὶ ἤθελε μὲν ἕκαστος ἀνὰ μέρος, ὡς ὕστερον ὡμολόγουν πρὸς ἀλλήλους μεταμελόμενοι, ὅμως δὲ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν κατηγορίαν ὑφορώμενοι κατημέλουν. Νυκτὸς γὰρ μέσης σεισμὸς ἐπεισπίπτει βαρύς, καὶ τὸ ὄρος, θραυσθὲν καὶ πεσὸν εἰς θάλασσαν, τὸν ἐκεῖσε τόπον κατέκλυσε, δόκησίν τε καὶ ἡμᾶς κατακλυσθῆναι παρέσχε, κατ' αἰγιαλὸν μένοντας. Ἀλλὰ μόλις, πολλὰ τῇ θαλάσσῃ προσταλαιπωρήσαντες, τῆς Κωνσταντίνου ἐπέβημεν, μηνὸς ἑξκαι δεκάτῃ ποσειδεῶνος, καί, τῷ πατριαρχοῦντι πρότερον προσελθόντες καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἀναγγείλαντες, θερμὴν ἀξίωσιν οἷον ἠξιούμεθα παρ' ἐκείνου πᾶν λυπηρὸν τῆς ἀπαγγελίας ὑπεξελέσθαι, πρὸς βασιλέα λέγοντας, καὶ εἴ τι λέλεκται. Ὅτῳ δ' ᾠκονόμηται τὰ τότε πρὸς βασιλέα, ὥστ' ἀκούσαντα δια γνῶναι μὲν τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ὅτι καὶ εἰκὸς ἀκούσαντα ἐπισχεῖν ἐκείνους, μὴ θέλοντα δὲ τοὺς καθ' ἡμῶν ἐμφανίζειν σιγᾶν, δεινὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ κακοπαθεῖν ἐκεῖνον ἡγήσασθαι, ὥστ' αὐτίκ' ἐπιτάξαι τριακοσίοις ἐτησίοις νομίσμασιν ἐκεῖνόν τε καὶ τοὺς περὶ ἐκεῖνον καθικανοῦν, ὑπεραπολογούμενον καὶ μεθ' ὅρκου ὡς καὶ πρότερον ἐπιτάξοι οὕτως καὶ ὡς παρ' ἐκεῖνον μὴ θέλοντα δέχεσθαι τὸ μὴ δίδοσθαι ἦν, τέως δὲ καὶ αὖθις δεδιότα μὴ ὅπως δέχοιτο, προσανατιθέναι τῇ δεσποίνῃ τὴν χορηγίαν, ἐφ' ᾧ αὐτὸν μὲν ἀποστεῖλαι καὶ αὖθις φίλους ἐκείνῳ νομιζομένους κατά τινα τὴν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ παραμυ θίαν τε καὶ εὐμένειαν, τὴν δὲ δέσποιναν μετ' ἐκείνων πέμπειν ὡς ἀφ' ἑαυτῆς τὰ νομίσματα. Ὃ δὴ καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ πέπρακται, καὶ ἀποστέλλονται ὁ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὑπομνηματογράφος Γεμιστός, ὁ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ κλήρου λαμπαδάριος ὁ Οἰναιώτης καὶ τρίτος ὁ τῆς Ἱερᾶς ἱερομόναχος Μάρκος, ἄνδρες ἐκ παλαιοῦ φίλοι ἐκείνῳ τὰ μάλιστα, οἷς δὴ καὶ παρὰ τῆς δεσποίνης τὰ εἰς χρείαν συναπεστέλλοντο. 379

ιζʹ. Ὅπως ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐβουλεύετο τὰ περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ λύσεως καὶ πρὸς τίνος. Τῷ μὲν οὖν βασιλεῖ οὐκ ἦν ἐς τοσοῦτον τὰ τῆς σπουδῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ πλέον προσεπεζήτει, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ οὗ χάριν ταῦτ' ἐπράττετο· τὸ δ' ἦν ἄρα ὅσον ἐν σπουδῇ ἐκείνῳ τοῦ ἀνυσθῆναι, τόσον ἐν ἀπορίᾳ τοῦ πῶς ἂν ἀνυσθείη καὶ παρὰ τίνος. Ἤθελε μὲν οὖν τὴν τοῦ δεσμοῦ λύσιν γενέσθαι παρά τε τοῦ πατριάρχου καὶ τῆς συνόδου, τὸν δὲ λύσαντα ὑφωρᾶτο μὴ καὶ δόξοι ἄλυτα λύων ἐκ τοῦ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον τὸν λαὸν ὀλιγώρως ἔχειν, τοῦτο μὲν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐπ' ἐκείνῳ πληροφορεῖσθαι, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐμφαινο μένην τοῦ θρόνου μετάθεσιν. Ὁ δ' ἐννοίας τοιαύτας ὑποβάλλων τῷ