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while staying there, he laid claim to astronomy or rather a certain kind of astrology. This man, having written on a fabric dipped in black, had sent this to the logothete Thomas; when this was dipped in water by Manuel, the interpreter of the Agarenes, the letters on it were revealed, "Fear not the red cock of Doukas; for he will start a rebellion foolishly, and immediately will be destroyed." 4 When these things were thus accomplished, Gregoras, his father-in-law, with Leo, whom they called Choirosphaktes, took refuge in the church of the Holy Wisdom of God; whom they forcibly dragged from there and tonsured as monks in the monastery of Stoudios. And Constantine Eladikos they flogged with ox-hide whips, and clothed him in rags, and seated him on a donkey, and paraded him in triumph through the middle of the city; and having led him away to the monastery of Dalmatos, they had him imprisoned under sentence. Leo Katakalites and Abessalom, the son of Arotras, they blinded and sent into exile. And Constantine the son of Eulampios and others with him Philotheos the eparch, the son of Lampoudes, beheaded in the sphendone of the hippodrome. And having searched not a little for Niketas the asekretis and Constantine Libos, they did not find them, as they had taken to flight. But that Aigides and the many brave men with him, from the Damalis in Chrysopolis all the way to Leukates, he impaled them all on twin stakes. And many of those in office at that time these so-called regents would have pitilessly and without cause killed, had not some of the judges restrained them from their unjust impulse, saying to them, "Since the emperor is a child, how do you dare to do such things without his command?" Therefore, the wife of Doukas they tonsured and sent away to her house in Paphlagonia, having also castrated her son Stephen. 5 In the month of August, Symeon, the ruler of Bulgaria, marching out against the Romans with a heavy force, reached Constantinople, and indeed, having encamped beside it, surrounded it with a palisade from Blachernae to the so-called Golden Gate, and was buoyed up by the hopes of taking it without a struggle. But when he learned of the strength of the walls and the security from the multitude of both hoplites and of stone-throwing and arrow-shooting machines, disappointed in his hopes, he returned to the place called Hebdomon, having asked for a peace treaty. Since the regents most gladly accepted, Symeon sent Theodore, his magistros, to discuss the terms of peace. And the patriarch Nicholas and Stephen and John the magistros, taking the emperor, came as far as Blachernae, and they brought in the two sons of Symeon, and they dined with the emperor in the palace. But Nicholas the patriarch went out to Symeon, to whom Symeon bowed his head. Then the patriarch, having made a prayer, instead of a crown, as they say, placed his own epirrhiptarion on his head. Having been honored with immeasurable and very great gifts, both Symeon and his sons returned to their own land, having parted without agreeing on the aforementioned peace. 6 Since the emperor Constantine was a child and was asking for his own mother (for the emperor Alexander had already sent her away), they bring her up again. She therefore, having gained control of the empire, brings up to the palace Constantine the parakoimomenos and the brothers Constantine and Anastasios, called the Gongylioi; and on the advice of John Eladas, they bring down the intimates of the emperor Alexander, John the rhaiktor and the so-called Gabrilopoulos and Basilitzes and the rest. And the Augusta appoints Domninikos as hetaireiarches. But the magistros Eladas, having fallen ill and having been given up by the physicians, having come down from the palace and arrived at Blachernae, weighed down by the illness, died. by the advice

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ἐκεῖσε διατρίβων ἀστρονομίας η ἀστρολογίας τινὸς μᾶλλον μετεποιεῖτο. ουτος ἐν μελανεμβαφεῖ γράψας ὑφάσματι ἀπεστάλκει τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν λογοθέτην Θωμᾶν, ου δὴ ῥυφθέντος ἐν υδατι παρὰ Μανουὴλ τοῦ τῶν ̓Αγαρηνῶν ἑρ- 384 μηνέως τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ πεφανέρωται γράμματα, "μὴ φοβήθητε ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρροῦ πετεινοῦ τοῦ ∆ουκός· νεωτερισθήσεται γὰρ ἀφρόνως, καὶ εὐθέως ὀλοθρευθήσεται. 4 Τούτων ουν ουτω τελεσθέντων, Γρηγορᾶς τούτου πεν- θερὸς μετὰ Λέοντος, ον Χοιροσφάκτην ὠνόμαζον, τῇ ἁγίᾳ σοφίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ προσέφυγον· ους καὶ βίᾳ ἐκεῖσε ἀποσπάσαντες ἀπέκειραν μοναχοὺς ἐν τῇ τῶν Στουδίου μονῇ. Κωνσταντῖνον δὲ τὸν ̓Ελαδικὸν βουνεύροις τύψαντες ῥάκη τε περιβαλόντες καὶ ονῳ καθίσαντες διὰ μέσης τῆς πόλεως ἐθριάμβευσαν, καὶ ἐν τῇ τοῦ ∆αλμάτου ἀπαγαγόντες μονῇ ἐγκατάκλειστον τῇ καταδίκῃ πεποιή- κασιν. Λέοντα δὲ τὸν Κατακαλίτην καὶ ̓Αβεσσαλὼμ τὸν τοῦ ̓Αροτρᾶ ἐκτυφλώσαντες ἐν ἐξορίᾳ παρέπεμψαν. Κωνσταντῖνον δὲ τὸν τοῦ Εὐλαμπίου υἱὸν καὶ ἑτέρους σὺν αὐτῷ Φιλόθεος υπαρ- χος ὁ τοῦ Λαμπούδη ἐν τῇ τοῦ ἱππικοῦ σφενδόνῃ ἀπέτεμεν. οὐ μικρὸν δὲ διερευνησάμενοι περὶ Νικήτα ἀσηκρῆτις καὶ Κωνσταν- τίνου τοῦ Λιβὸς οὐχ ευρον αὐτοὺς ὡς χρησαμένους φυγῇ. τὸν δὲ Αἰγίδην ἐκεῖνον καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ πολλοὺς καὶ ἀνδρείους ον- τας ἀπό τε τῆς ἐν Χρυσοπόλει δαμάλεως καὶ μέχρι τοῦ Λευκάτου διδύμοις ξύλοις πάντας ἀνεσκολόπισεν. καὶ πολλοὺς αν τῶν ἐν τέλει τότε ἀνηλεῶς καὶ ἀναιτίως οἱ λεγόμενοι ουτοι ἐπίτροποι ἀπέ- κτειναν, εἰ μή τινες τῶν δικαστῶν τούτους τῆς ἀδίκου ὁρμῆς ἀνε- χαίτισαν, εἰπόντες αὐτοῖς ὡς παιδὸς οντος τοῦ βασιλέως, πῶς 385 αν ανευ τῆς αὐτοῦ κελεύσεως τοιαῦτα τολμᾶτε διαπράττεσθαι; τὴν τῶν ∆ουκὸς ουν γυναῖκα ἀποκείραντες εἰς τὸν ἐν Παφλαγονίᾳ οικον αὐτῆς ἐξαπέστειλαν, εὐνουχίσαντες καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς Στέ- φανον. 5 Αὐγούστῳ δὲ μηνὶ Συμεὼν ὁ Βουλγαρίας αρχων ἐκ- στρατεύσας κατὰ ̔Ρωμαίων σὺν οχλῳ βαρεῖ κατέλαβεν τὴν Κων- σταντινούπολιν, καὶ δὴ παρακαθίσας αὐτῇ χάρακα περιέβαλεν ἀπό τε Βλαχερνῶν καὶ μέχρι τῆς λεγομένης Χρυσῆς πόρτης, ἐλ- πίσι μετέωρος ην ὡς ἀπονητὶ ταύτην ἑλεῖν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τήν τε τῶν ταχῶν κατέμαθεν ὀχυρότητα τήν τε ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους καὶ τῶν ὁπλι- τῶν καὶ τῶν πετροβόλων καὶ τοξοβόλων ὀργάνων ἀσφάλειαν, τῶν ἐλπίδων σφαλεὶς ἐν τῷ λεγομένῳ ̔Εβδόμῳ ὑπέστρεψεν, εἰρηνικὰς σπονδὰς αἰτησάμενος. τῶν δὲ ἐπιτρόπων ἀσμενέστατα ἀποδεξα- μένων, ἀποστέλλει Συμεὼν Θεόδωρον μάγιστρον αὐτοῦ συλλαλῆ- σαι τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης. ἀναλαβόμενοί τε ο τε πατριάρχης Νικόλαος καὶ Στέφανος καὶ ̓Ιωάννης ὁ μάγιστρος τὸν βασιλέα ηλθον μέχρι τῶν Βλαχερνῶν, καὶ εἰσήγαγον τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς τοῦ Συμεών, καὶ συνεστιάθησαν τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ. Νικόλαος δὲ ὁ πα- τριάρχης ἐξῆλθε πρὸς Συμεών, ῳ τινὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ὑπέκλινε Συ- μεών. εὐχὴν ουν ὁ πατριάρχης ποιήσας ἀντὶ στέμματος, ὡς φασί, τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιρριπτάριον τῇ αὐτοῦ ἐπέθετο κεφαλῇ. δώ- ροις ουν ἀμέτροις καὶ μεγίστοις φιλοφρονηθέντες ο τε Συμεὼν καὶ οἱ τούτου υἱοὶ εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν χώραν ὑπέστρεψαν, ἀσύμφωνοι ἐπὶ τῇ εἰρημένῃ εἰρήνῃ διαλυθέντες. 386 6 Τοῦ βασιλέως ουν Κωνσταντίνου ατε παιδὸς οντος καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν μητέρα ἐπιζητοῦντος (ηδη γὰρ ταύτην κατήγαγεν ̓Αλέ- ξανδρος ὁ βασιλεὺς) ἀναβιβάζουσιν αὐτὴν πάλιν. αυτη ουν περικρατὴς γενομένη τῆς βασιλείας ἀναβιβάζει εἰς τὸ παλάτιον Κωνσταντῖνον παρακοιμώμενον καὶ Κωνσταντῖνον καὶ ̓Αναστάσιον αὐταδέλφους τοὺς Γογγυλίους λεγομένους· καὶ τῇ βουλῇ ̓Ιωάννου τοῦ ̓Ελαδᾶ καταβιβάζουσι τοὺς οἰκείους τοῦ ̓Αλεξάνδρου βασι-λέως, ̓Ιωάννην τὸν ῥαίκτωρα καὶ τὸν λεγόμενον Γαβριλόπουλον καὶ Βασιλίτζην καὶ τοὺς λοιπούς. προχειρίζεται δὲ ἡ Αὐγοῦστα ∆ομίνικον ἑταιρειάρχην. μάγιστρος δὲ ὁ ̓Ελαδᾶς νόσῳ προσπεσὼν καὶ ἀπαγορευθεὶς παρὰ τῶν ἰατρῶν, κατελθὼν ἐκ τοῦ παλατίου καὶ ἐν ταῖς Βλαχέρναις παραγενόμενος, ὑπὸ τῆς νόσου βαρυνθεὶς τελευτᾷ. συμβουλῇ