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destruction. Giving him money, he ordered him to place this into the hands of Ouzer. And he went away and did this. And Andronikos was seized and bound along with all his relatives; and learning that these things had happened through the deceit of Samonas, he was compelled, both he and those with him, to renounce their own faith. But Constantine his son, knowing that it was impossible to get out of there, by his own counsel resorted to flight and came out of Syria, and returned to the emperor with those who were with him, whom the emperor, having lavishly bestowed with very many gifts, says these things to him, standing before the eastward-facing icon of our Lord and Savior, "Do not be deceived in yourself by the report sung by many that a Constantine will rule the Romans. I swear to you by all-seeing Justice and by the icon of our Lord that the imperial power is not yours because you were named Constantine, but it has been granted from God through his ancestors to my dearest son, as I have been fully informed by many holy men. For if you should try to do away with him, your head will enter this gate without its body." Which also happened; for after he 374 tyrannically raised his hands, his head, darkened with blood and gore and dust, entered through the same gates. 27 And the emperor dismissed Eustathios, surnamed Argyros, from the drungariate of the watch because of some suspicion, and sent him to his estate in Charsianon. But on the way to Aran, having taken poison from one of his own men, he died, and is buried at Spynin, the peak of Ara. Then his sons Pothos and Leo, who had been honored with the dignity of manglabites, taking him up, bury him in their ancestral monastery of Saint Elizabeth, which is in the theme of Charsianon, consecrated by Leo the tourmarch, their grandfather; who also received the name of Argyros, either on account of the purity and chastity of his body, or on account of the beauty and nobility of his appearance, or because of a certain manner of his lineage and manliness; for such a man was he that no other soldier like him was found in the time of Emperor Michael, so that he often, mingling with his men against the Hagarenes of Tephrike, brought about rout and ruin and destruction, and his renowned name made them cower and tremble. 28 For the sake of an exchange, that Abel-bakes and the father of Samonas came from Tarsus; and the emperor received them, having decorated the Magnaura with much adornment. 375 He also completely beautified the great church, and showed all the precious vessels to the Hagarenes; which was unworthy of the Christian state, to display the vessels of the liturgy of God to lawless men and foreigners. But the father of Samonas wished to be with his son; but he did not accept this, but rather advised him to return to his own home and to hold fast to his own faith. "And I too," he says, "if I am able, will return to you more quickly." 29 On the day of Pentecost, Leo the emperor crowns his son Constantine through Euthymius the patriarch. And Samonas gave Constantine, his own man, who had formerly served Basil the magistros and kanikleios, to the Augusta to serve her; who was so beloved by both Leo and the empress herself that even Samonas was jealous of him and slandered him as being intimate with the Augusta; which the emperor, suspecting it to be true, sending for him, had him tonsured in the monastery of Saint Tarasios, entrusting it to Samonas himself to do this. But after a little while, wishing to restore him, he ordered Samonas to take him away to the monastery of the Speirai. So the emperor, going out to Damatrys, and having had lunch at the monastery of Samonas, saw Constantine, and immediately gave orders, and they dressed him in secular clothes, and they placed into his hands the emperor's cup in the

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ἀπώλεια. δοὺς αὐτῷ χρή- ματα παρήγγειλεν τοῦτο εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ Οὐζὴρ ἐμβαλεῖν. ὁ δὲ ἀπελθὼν τοῦτο πεποίηκεν. ἐκρατήθη δὲ ̓Ανδρόνικος καὶ ἐδεσμήθη μετὰ πάντων τῶν αὐτοῦ συγγενῶν· καὶ μαθὼν διὰ δόλου τοῦ Σαμωνᾶ ταῦτα γεγονέναι, ἀναγκασθεὶς τὴν ἰδίαν πίστιν αὐτός τε καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ ἐξωμόσαντο. Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, εἰδὼς ὡς ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἐκεῖθεν ἐξελθεῖν, βουλῇ αὐτοῦ φυγῇ χρησάμενος ἀπὸ Συρίας ἐξῆλθεν, καὶ πρὸς βασιλέα ἐπάνεισι σὺν τοῖς μετ' αὐτοῦ, ον δώροις πλείστοις ὁ βασιλεὺς δαψιλευσάμενος τάδε φησὶ πρὸς αὐτόν, στὰς ἐν τῇ πρὸς ἀνατολὰς τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εἰκόνι, "μὴ πεπλάνησο καθ' ἑαυτὸν τῷ παρὰ πολ- λοῖς ειναι ᾀδόμενον Κωνσταντῖνον βασιλεύσοντα ̔Ρωμαίων. ομνυμί σοι εἰς τὴν παντέφορον δίκην καὶ εἰς τὴν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν εἰκόνα οτι οὐκ εστι σὸν τὸ βασίλειον διὰ τὸ κατονομασθῆναί σε Κωνσταν- τῖνον, ἀλλὰ τῷ φιλτάτῳ μου υἱῷ θεόθεν διὰ προγόνων δεδώρηται, καθὼς παρὰ πολλῶν ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν πεπληροφόρημαι. εἰ γὰρ πειραθείης τοῦτον διαχειρίσασθαι, τῇ πύλῃ ταύτῃ ἡ κεφαλή σου σώματος ἐκτὸς εἰσελεύσεται." ο καὶ γέγονεν· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ αραι 374 αὐτὸν τυραννικῶς χεῖρας ἡ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ αιματι καὶ λύθρῳ καὶ κόνει ἀμαυρωθεῖσα διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν πυλῶν εἰσελήλυθεν. 27 ̔Ο δὲ βασιλεὺς διεδέξατο τὸν Εὐστάθιον ἐπονομαζό- μενον Ἀργυρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ δρουγγαράτου τῆς βίγλης δι' ὑπόνοιάν τινα, καὶ τοῦτον εἰς τὸν οικον αὐτοῦ ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὸ Χαρσια- νόν. καθ' ὁδοῦ δὲ εἰς τὸ Αραν φάρμακον παρὰ ἀνθρώπου αὐτοῦ λαβὼν τέθνηκεν, καὶ θάπτεται εἰς τὸ Σπυνὶν τοῦ Αρα τὴν κορυ- φήν. ειθ' ουτω οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ Πόθος καὶ Λέων, οἱ τῇ τοῦ μαγ- γλαβίτου ἀξίᾳ τετιμημένοι, αραντες αὐτὸν θάπτουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ γονικὸν αὐτῶν μοναστήριον τὸ ον εἰς τὸ θέμα τοῦ Χαρσιανοῦ τῆς ἁγίας ̓Ελιζάβετ, τὸ ἀνιερωθὲν παρὰ Λέοντος τουρμάρχου τοῦ πάππου αὐτῶν· ος καὶ τὸ ονομα τῶν ̓Αργυρῶν ειληφεν, ειτε διὰ τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ ἁγνὸν τοῦ σώματος, ειτε διὰ τὸ κάλλος καὶ γεν- ναῖον τῆς οψεως, ειτε διά τινα τρόπον τῆς γενεᾶς καὶ ἀνδρίας αὐτοῦ· καὶ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ην ὁ ἀνὴρ οιος ετερος ἐπὶ Μιχαὴλ βασι- λέως οὐχ εὑρέθη στρατιώτης, ὡς πολλάκις τοῖς ̓Αγαρηνοῖς τῆς Τεφρικῆς μετὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους αὐτοῦ μιγνύμενον εἰς τροπὴν καὶ φροῦδον καὶ ἀπώλειαν παρέχειν, καὶ τὸ ονομα αὐτοῦ φημιζόμενον καταπτήσσειν καὶ τρέμειν. 28 ̓Αλλαγίου δὲ ενεκεν ἀπὸ Ταρσοῦ ἐξῆλθεν ο τε ̓Αβελ-βάκης ἐκεῖνος καὶ ὁ τοῦ Σαμωνᾶ πατήρ· καὶ τούτους ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐδέξατο, κόσμῳ πολλῷ τὴν Μαγναῦραν κατακοσμήσας. ἐκαλλώ- 375 πισεν δὲ καὶ τὴν μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν παντελῶς, καὶ ὑπέδειξεν απαντα τὰ τίμια σκεύη τοῖς ̓Αγαρηνοῖς· οπερ ἀνάξιον ην Χριστια- νικῆς καταστάσεως, ἀθεμίτοις καὶ ἀλλοεθνέσιν τὰ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ λειτουργίας σκεύη καταθέσθαι. ὁ δὲ τοῦ Σαμωνᾶ πατὴρ ἠθέλη- σεν συνεῖναι τῷ υἱῷ· ὁ δὲ οὐ κατεδέξατο τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον παρῄνει εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα ὑποστρέφειν καὶ τῆς ἰδίας ἀντέχεσθαι πί- στεως. "κἀγὼ δέ" φησιν, "ειπερ δυνηθῶ, τάχιον πρὸς σὲ ἐπαν- ελεύσομαι." 29 Τῇ δὲ τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ἡμέρᾳ στέφει ὁ Λέων ὁ βασι- λεὺς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Κωνσταντῖνον διὰ Εὐθυμίου πατριάρχου. ὁ δὲ Σαμωνᾶς Κωνσταντῖνον ανθρωπον αὐτοῦ, τὸν πρότερον Βασι- λείῳ μαγίστρῳ καὶ κανικλείῳ δουλεύσαντα, τῇ Αὐγούστῃ ἐπιδέ- δωκεν πρὸς τὸ ταύτῃ ὑπηρετεῖσθαι· ος τοσοῦτον ἠγαπήθη παρά τε τοῦ Λέοντος καὶ τῆς βασιλίσσης αὐτῆς ωστε καὶ τὸν Σαμωνᾶν διαφθονεῖσθαι αὐτὸν καὶ λοιδορεῖσθαι τοῦτον ὡς τῇ Αὐγούστῃ στνόντα· οπερ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀληθὲς ειναι ὑπονοήσας, ἀποστείλας ἀπέκειρεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ τοῦ ἁγίου Ταρασίου μονῇ, αὐτῷ τῷ Σα- μωνᾷ ἐπιτρέψας τοῦτο ποιῆσαι. μετ' ὀλίγον δὲ βουλόμενος τοῦ- τον ἀναλαβέσθαι, ἐκέλευσεν τῷ Σαμωνᾷ ἐν τῇ τῶν Σπειρῶν μονῇ τοῦτον ἀπαγαγεῖν. ἐν τῷ ∆αματρὺ ουν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐξελθών, καὶ ἐν τῇ τοῦ Σαμωνᾶ ἀριστήσαντος μονῇ, ειδεν Κωνσταντῖνον, καὶ παρευθὺ διεκελεύσατο, καὶ ἐνέδυσαν αὐτὸν ἱμάτια κοσμικά, καὶ ἐπέδωκαν εἰς χεῖρας τὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ποτήριον ἐν τῷ