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Of Dominic the hetaeriarch, Zoe deposes Patriarch Nicholas along with those with him, telling him with anger to mind the affairs of his own church. [Not] long after, Constantine the parakoimomenos slanders Dominic the hetaeriarch to the Augusta as usurping the empire for his own brother. and having made him a patrician on some pretext, as he went down to the church, as was the custom, to receive the prayer, they ordered him to stay at home. And Zoe appointed John Garidas as hetaeriarch and Damian the eunuch as drungarius of the Vigla. And Dominic departed to his house, lamenting in vain. 7 And as Symeon the Bulgarian was again plundering Thrace, 387 and as the Augusta and those in authority were concerned about how they might stop him from his arrogance, John Bogas asked to be made a patrician, promising to lead the Pechenegs against him. And having obtained his request and having received gifts, he departed to the land of the Pechenegs; and indeed having made a treaty, he took hostages from there and brought them to the City, the Pechenegs having agreed to cross over and fight against Symeon. At that time Ashot also arrived in the City, a man most renowned for his strength, being the son of the archon of archons, whom they say, holding an iron rod at the ends with both hands, with his exceeding strength would bend it and change it to a circular shape, the resistant nature of the iron yielding to the force of his hands. whom, upon his arrival, the empress both received with much honor and sent him out again to his own land. 8 And in the month of September, in the third indiction, Pankratoukas the Armenian betrayed Adrianople to Symeon, which was formerly called Orestias, from Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who, having killed her along with Aegisthus out of just zeal because of the murder of his father by Clytemnestra, went exceedingly mad, and at the confluence of the three rivers, the Hebrus, Arzus, and Artacus, having washed, he was freed from the disease; having built it there, he called it by his own name; But Hadrian Caesar, having enlarged it with well-built dwellings, renamed it the City of Hadrian. It is a three-day journey from Philippopolis for a swift man, nestled by Mount Haemus, by which the 388 three rivers join their rain-fed water. Not long after, Basil the patrician and kanikles and Niketas the protospatharios, the Helladic, were sent by Zoe with many gifts, and he took it back again. 9 And Damian the emir came to the island of Strobilos with warships and a great force; and he would have taken it, had he not fallen sick and died, with the Saracens returning empty-handed. And the inhabitants of Hellas and of Athens, being constantly harassed by Chasé son of Joubé, unable to bear his debauchery and greed, stoned him and killed him miserably inside the sanctuary of the temple in Athens. 10 And Queen Zoe, seeing the arrogance of Symeon and his attack against the Christians, takes counsel with those in authority, to arrange an exchange of prisoners and peace with the Hagarenes, and to transport the entire army of the east in order to fight and annihilate Symeon. Therefore, there were sent to Syria to make the exchange of prisoners John the patrician, the Rhodinian, and Michael Toxaras; which having been done, having made the usual distribution of the roga among the tagmata, and having taken these along with the themata, they crossed over to the land of Thrace, with Leo Phokas, the magistros, being domestic of the schools, to whom courage rather than commanding intelligence was attributed. Therefore, when Constantine, protopapas 389 of the palace, called Kephalas, and Constantine of Baleleia brought out the venerable and life-giving Wood in Thrace, everyone having venerated it and having sworn to die together for one another, marched out with the whole army against the Bulgarians. And the commanders of the

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∆ομινίκου ἑταιρειάρχου καταβιβάζει Ζωὴ Νικόλαον πατριάρχην αμα τοῖς μετ' αὐτοῦ, μετ' ὀργῆς τὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἐκκλησίας φροντίζειν εἰποῦσα. [οὐ] μετ' οὐ πολὺ Κων- σταντῖνος παρακοιμώμενος διαβάλλει τῇ Αὐγούστῃ ∆ομίνικον ἑταιρειάρχην ὡς τὴν βασιλείαν σφετεριζόμενον εἰς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφόν. καὶ τοῦτον ἐν προφάσει πατρίκιον ποιήσαντες, κατελ- θόντα εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ὡς εθος, εὐχὴν λαβεῖν, οικοι μένειν παρεκελεύσαντο, προεβάλετο δὲ Ζωὴ ̓Ιωάννην τὸν Γαριδᾶν ἑται- ρειάρχην καὶ ∆αμιανὸν εὐνοῦχον τῆς βίγλης δρουγγάριον. ∆ομί- νικος δὲ ἀπῆλθεν ἐν τῷ οικῳ αὐτοῦ ἀνόνητα ὀλοφυρόμενος. 7 Τοῦ δὲ Βουλγάρου Συμεὼν τὴν Θρᾴκην πάλιν ληϊζο- 387 μένου, ἐν φροντίδι ουσης τῆς Αὐγούστης καὶ τῶν ἐν τέλει οπως αὐτὸν τῆς ἀλαζονείας παύσωσιν, ᾐτήσατο ̓Ιωάννης ὁ Βογᾶς γενέ- σθαι πατρίκιος, ὑποσχόμενος κατ' αὐτοῦ ἀγαγεῖν Πατζινάκας. τῆς αἰτήσεως δὲ τυχὼν δῶρά τε λαβὼν εἰς τὴν Πατζινάκων ἀπῄει χώραν· καὶ δὴ σπεισάμενος, ὁμήρους ἐκεῖθεν λαβὼν ηγαγεν ἐν τῇ πόλει, συνθεμένων Πατζινάκων διαπερᾶσαι καὶ τὸν Συμεὼν καταπολεμῆσαι. παρεγένετο δὲ τότε ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ ̓Ασώτιος, ἀνὴρ ἐπὶ ῥώμῃ ὀνομαστότατος, υἱὸς ων τοῦ αρχοντος τῶν ἀρχόν- των, ον φασι σιδηρᾶν ῥάβδον ἐκ τῶν ακρων ἑκατέραις κρατοῦντα χερσὶ τῇ ὑπερβαλλούσῃ δυνάμει διακάμπτειν καὶ πρὸς τὸ κυκλικὸν σχῆμα μετάγειν, τῆς ἀντιτύπου τῆς σιδήρου φύσεως τῇ βίᾳ τῶν χειρῶν ὑπεικούσης. ον παραγενόμενον ἡ δέσποινα καὶ μετὰ πολ- λῆς τιμῆς ὑπεδέξατο καὶ πάλιν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν χώραν ἐξέπεμψεν. 8 Σεπτεμβρίῳ δὲ μηνί, ἰνδικτιῶνος τρίτης, Παγκρα- τούκας ὁ ̓Αρμένης τὴν ̓Αδριανούπολιν τῷ Συμεὼν προδέδωκεν, ητις τὸ πρὶν μὲν ̓Ορεστιὰς ἐκαλεῖτο, ἐξ ̓Ορέστου υἱοῦ ̓Αγαμέμνονος, ος ζήλῳ δικαίῳ διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα Κλυταιμνήστρας δολοφονίαν ταύτην σὺν Αἰγίσθῳ ἀποκτείνας λίαν ἐκμέμηνεν καὶ ἐν τῇ συνελεύσει Εβρου Αρζου τε καὶ ̓Αρτάκου τῶν τριῶν ποταμῶν γε λουσάμενος τῆς νόσου ἀπήλλακτο· ενθα ταύτην οἰκοδο- μήσας ἐπὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀνόματι κέκληκεν· ̓Αδριανὸς δὲ Καῖσαρ εὐκτί- στοις οἰκήμασιν αὐτὴν μεγαλύνας πόλιν ̓Αδριανοῦ μετακέκληκεν. αυτη τρίτης ἡμέρας παρὰ ἀνδρὸς εὐπετοῦς ἐν διόδῳ Φιλιππουπό- λεως σταδιάζεται, ἠγκαλισμένη τῷ ορει τῷ Αιμῳ, παρ' ῳ οἱ 388 τρεῖς ποταμοὶ συμβάλλονται τὸ ὀμβρινὸν υδωρ. μετ' οὐ πολὺ ἀπεστάλη Βασίλειος πατρίκιος καὶ κανίκλης καὶ Νικήτας πρωτο- σπαθάριος ὁ ̓Ελαδικὸς παρὰ Ζωῆς μετὰ δώρων πολλῶν, καὶ ἀντ- επαρέλαβεν πάλιν αὐτήν. 9 Ηλθεν δὲ ὁ ∆αμιανὸς ἀμηρὰς εἰς Στρόβηλον νῆσον μετὰ πλοίων πολεμικῶν καὶ πολλῆς τῆς δυνάμεως· καὶ ταύτην παρέλαβεν αν, εἰ μὴ νοσήσας ἐτελεύτησεν, ὑποστρεψάντων διὰ κενῆς τῶν Σαρακηνῶν. οἱ δὲ τῆς ̔Ελλάδος καὶ τῶν ̓Αθηνῶν οἱ-κήτορες συνεχῶς ἐπηρεαζόμενοι παρὰ Χασὲ υἱοῦ τοῦ ̓Ιούβη, τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀσωτίαν καὶ ἀπληστίαν μὴ ἐνεγκόντες, λίθοις τοῦτον βάλ- λοντες ἀνεῖλον κακῶς ενδοθεν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ ἐν ̓Αθήναις ναοῦ. 10 Βλέπουσα δὲ Ζωὴ βασίλισσα τὴν επαρσιν Συμεὼν καὶ τὴν κατὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπίθεσιν, βουλὴν μετὰ τῶν ἐν τέλει βουλεύεται, ἀλλάγιον καὶ εἰρήνην μετὰ τῶν ̓Αγαρηνῶν διαπράξασθαι, διαπερᾶσαι δὲ πάντα τὸν τῆς ἀνατολῆς στρατὸν πρὸς τὸ καταπολεμῆσαι καὶ ἀφανίσαι τὸν Συμεών. ἀπεστάλη ουν ἐν Συρίᾳ ἐπὶ τὸ ποιῆσαι ἀλλάγιον ̓Ιωάννης πατρίκιος ὁ ̔Ρωδι-νὸς καὶ Μιχαὴλ ὁ Τοξαρᾶς· ου γεγονότος τὴν συνήθη τῆς ῥόγας διανομὴν ποιησάμενοι ἐν τοῖς τάγμασι, ταῦτα δὲ ἀναλαβόμενοι σὺν τοῖς θέμασι πρὸς τὴν Θρᾳκῴαν γῆν διεπέρασαν, Λέοντος μαγίστρου τοῦ Φωκᾶ δομεστίκου τῶν σχολῶν τυγχάνοντος, ῳ ἀν- δρία μᾶλλον η ἐπιστατικὴ φρόνησις προσανέκειτο. ἐξαγαγόντων ουν τὰ σεβάσμια καὶ ζῳοποιὰ ξύλα Κωνσταντίνου πρωτοπαπᾶ 389 τοῦ παλατίου, τοῦ Κεφαλᾶ λεγομένου, καὶ Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ Βαλελίας ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ, απαντες προσκυνήσαντες καὶ ἐπομοσά- μενοι συναποθνήσκειν ἀλλήλοις, πανστρατὶ κατὰ Βουλγάρων ἐξώρμησαν. ηρχον δὲ τοῦ