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oaths were made to him, and those of the church. And the high priests signed a sworn statement, placing under excommunication anyone who might rise up against the emperor; for he still held his brothers in suspicion, and especially the Despot John, seeing in him a great passion for battles and the goodwill of all toward him because of his beneficence and readiness with gifts for those who asked; for nothing so enslaves the souls of men as kind beneficence. And if you were to take away beneficence from rulers, you will find them to be clanging drums, which make a sound the more they are empty. Thus also is an unfulfilled word from rulers, it being better for the one who is able to do good to have his word be an action than, by only speaking, for the ruler to be false; and a true testimony are the beneficial herbs useful to the life of men, which silently offer their benefit. But if the absence of money meanly grieves some, let them show what contribution its presence makes to pleasure; and if they should seek pleasure, it is far better to have it in the present and to hope for it in the future, with all praising the benefactor, and God promising what is to come. But let them know that of Ptolemy and of Alexander and of the one who defined his reign by beneficence—for I cannot say his name, but I think it was Titus—these were their funds, through which, having acquired for themselves immortal glory, they left them to us as well, having spent nothing. And thus beneficence is a wealth 417 that costs nothing, which he, possessing it towards all, was glorified more than emperors. Suspecting these things, then, he took away many of his possessions; for at first it was permitted to him not only to have Vardariots and cortinarii and those of the bedchamber and indeed those in charge of introductions, whom they even call hetaireiarchs, but also to bring with him something more of the imperial retinue. But as time went on he grew weaker, having things taken away, some willingly, some unwillingly. For indeed the greater part of his estate had been taken away; for previously all the islands, I mean Mytilene and Rhodes, and on land very many and very great properties were his for a self-sufficient providence. But then, also displaying his servitude to the new emperor, if ever on account of honor he received a cloak from the emperor, being a great man, he was wrapped in small garments that hardly reached his knee, and that hero in the palace was adorned much more by the childish robes than by his own which were suited to his body. Thus he, by his external appearance and by what he did, indicated his inner disposition and what he was thinking, so that he even cast off the headdress of pearls and the brilliant white insignia, in a manner which will be related shortly, contriving humility for himself for the sake of the security from it and for being above all suspicion.

30. The desertion of the great konostaulos Tarchaneiotes to his father-in-law John. But before this is related, let the story concerning the great konostaulos Andronikos Tarchaneiotes, the cousin of the emperor, be told. The account has already shown him to be the son-in-law of John Doukas, the sebastokrator by rank. To him, therefore, the affairs concerning Orestias and the regions within the Haemus had been entrusted, and Adrianople was his seat, together with his wife. As, then, a great deal of time was spent by him there, 419 I know not what came over him, but as the common report has it, being exceedingly resentful of his brother Michael, who although his junior had been appointed great domestikos, and on his account resentful also of the one who had honored him, he devised a plan most shameful and unworthy of his family; for taking it into his mind to desert to his father-in-law, since, with the affairs there being in a settled state, he determined that his desertion could not be accomplished, he imitated the cuttlefish on the rock. For that creature—and I pass over the natural explanation which holds the black substance not as vomit, but as an involuntary discharge, suddenly flowing out in fear as the retentive power is contracted—that creature, as it happens, uses this for its aid and for the escape of those

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πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅρκοι καὶ οἱ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐγίνοντο. Ἐτομογράφουν δὲ καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς, ὑπ' ἀφορισμὸν ποιοῦντες τὸν ὃς καὶ ἐπανασταίη τῷ βασιλεῖ· εἶχε γὰρ εἰς ὑποψίαν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἔτι, καὶ μᾶλλον τὸν δεσπότην Ἰωάννην, πολὺ τὸ θερμὸν παρ' ἐκείνῳ βλέπων εἰς μάχας καὶ τὴν παρὰ πάντων πρὸς ἐκεῖνον διὰ τὸ εὐεργετικὸν καὶ πρὸς τὰς δόσεις πρόχειρον τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν ἀγαθοθέλειαν· οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω δουλοῖ τὰς ψυχὰς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὡς ἡ μετὰ χάριτος εὐποιία. Κἂν ἀφέλοιο τὸ εὐεργετικὸν τῶν ἀρχόντων, εὑρήσεις ἐκείνους ἀλαλάζοντα τύμπανα, ἃ κτύπον ἔχουσι ἐν τῷ μᾶλλον εἶναι κενά. Οὕτω καὶ λόγος παρ' ἄρχουσιν ἄπρακτος, κρεῖττον ὂν τὸν δυνάμενον εὖ ποιεῖν πρᾶξιν ἔχειν τὸν λόγον ἤ, λέγοντα μόνον, τὸν ἄρχοντα ψεύδεσθαι· καὶ μαρτύριον ἀληθὲς αἱ ὠφελοῦσαι βοτάναι καὶ τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων χρήσιμοι, αἳ δὴ σιγηλῶς τὸ ὠφελοῦν προΐσχονται. Εἰ δέ τινας μικρολόγως ἡ τῶν χρημάτων ἀπουσία λυπεῖ, δειξά τωσαν ἐκεῖνοι τὴν παρουσίαν τί πρὸς ἡδονὴν συμβάλλεται· καὶ εἰ ἡδονὴν ζητοῖεν, πολλῷ κάλλιον τήν τ' ἐνεστῶσαν ἔχειν καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐλπίζειν, ἁπάντων μὲν εὐφημούντων τὸν εὐεργέτην, Θεοῦ δ' ὑπισχνουμένου τὸ μέλλον. Ἴστωσαν δ' ὅτι Πτολεμαίου μὲν καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ τοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν τῇ εὐεργεσίᾳ ὁρίζοντοςοὐ γὰρ ἔχω λέγειν τοὔνομα, οἶμαι δέ, Τίτος ἦν ταῦτα τὰ χρήματα, δι' ὧν ἑαυτοῖς προσποιήσαντες τὴν ἀθάνατον εὔκλειαν, ἡμῖν καὶ αὖθις ἀφῆκαν, μηδὲν δαπανήσαντες. Καὶ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀδαπάνητος 417 πλοῦτος ἡ εὐποιία, ἣν ἐκεῖνος ἔχων πρὸς πάντας καὶ ὑπὲρ βασιλεῖς ἐκλεΐζετο. Ταῦτ' ἄρα καὶ ὑποπτευόμενος πολλὰ παρῃρεῖτο τῶν ὄντων· τὴν γὰρ ἀρχὴν ἐνεχωρεῖτο τούτῳ μὴ ὅτι βαρδαρειώτας καὶ κορτιναρίους μόνον καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος ἔχειν καί γε τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς εἰσαγωγῆς, οὓς δὴ καὶ ἑται ρειάρχους λέγουσιν, ἀλλά τι καὶ πλέον τῶν τῆς βασιλικῆς θεραπείας συνεπιφέρεσθαι. Ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν ἰὼν ἐξησθένει, τὰ μὲν ἑκών, τὰ δ' ἄκων προσαφαιρούμενος. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς οἰκονομίας ἀφῄρητο· νῆσοι γὰρ πᾶσαι τὸ πρότερον, Μιτυλήνη λέγω καὶ Ῥόδος, καὶ κατὰ γῆν πλεῖστά τε καὶ μέγιστά οἱ εἰς αὐτάρκη πρόνοιαν ἦσαν. Τότε δὲ καὶ τὴν δουλείαν ἐμφαίνων πρὸς τὸν νεωστὶ βασιλεύοντα, εἴ πού τι καὶ εἰς φιλοτιμίας λόγον χλαμύδα παρὰ βασιλέως ἐλάμβανε, μέγας ὤν, μικροῖς ἱματίοις καὶ ἐς γόνυ μόλις περιεστέλλετο, καὶ ὁ ἥρως ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνακτόρων πολὺ πλέον ταῖς παιδικαῖς ἀμπεχόναις ἐνηγλαΐζετο ἢ τοῖς ἰδίοις καὶ κατὰ τρόπον τοῦ σώματος ἔχουσιν. Οὕτως ἐκεῖνος, ἐκ τῶν ἔξω καὶ οἷς ἐποίει, τὴν ἔνδον διάθεσιν καὶ ἃ ἐλογίζετο παρενέφαινεν, ὅπου καὶ αὐτὴν δὴ τὴν διὰ μαργάρων καλύπτραν καὶ τὰ ὀξύλευκα παράσημα ἀπεβάλετο, κατὰ τρόπον ὃς καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ ῥηθήσεται, τὸ ταπεινὸν ἑαυτῷ προνοῶν διὰ τὸ ἐκεῖθεν ἀσφαλὲς καὶ πάσης καχυποψίας ἀνώτερον.

λʹ. Τοῦ μεγάλου κονοσταύλου τοῦ Ταρχανειώτου πρὸς τὸν πενθερὸν αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννην αὐτομόλησις. Ἀλλὰ πρότερον ἢ τοῦτο ῥηθῆναι, τὸ κατὰ τὸν μέγαν κονοσταῦλον τὸν Ταρχανειώτην Ἀνδρόνικον καὶ ἀνεψιὸν τοῦ κρατοῦντος λεγέσθω. Ἔφθασεμὲν ὁ λόγος καὶ γαμβρὸν ἀπέδειξε τοῦτον τοῦ ∆ούκα Ἰωάννου καὶ ἐξ ἀξιωμάτων σεβαστοκράτορος. Τούτῳ τοίνυν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ὀρεστιάδα τε καὶ τὰ ἐνδότερα τοῦ Αἵμου ἐπιτετράφατο, καὶ ἦν αὐτῷ συνάμα τῇ γυναικὶ κάθισμα ἡ Ἀδριανούπολις. Ὡς γοῦν ἐκεῖσε ὄντι χρόνος ἐτρίβετο πλεῖστος, 419 οὐκ οἶδ' ὅ τι παθών, ὡς δ' ὁ τῶν πολλῶν λόγος ἔχει, τῷ ἀδελφῷ Μιχαήλ, ὑστέρῳ γε ὄντι αὐτοῦ, εἰς μέγαν δομέστικον καταστάντι, ἐγκοτῶν ἐκτόπως, δι' αὐτὸν δὲ καὶ τῷ τιμήσαντι, βουλὴν βουλεύεται λίαν αἰσχρὰν καὶ τοῦ γένους ἀναξίαν· εἰς νοῦν γὰρ βαλλόμενος αὐτομολεῖν πρὸς τὸν πενθερόν, ἐπεί, ἐν καταστάσει τῶν ἐκεῖ πραγμάτων ὄντων, οὐκ ἀνυστά οἱ τὰ τῆς αὐτομολίας διέγνω γίγνεσθαι, τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας σηπίην μιμεῖται. Ἐκείνη γάρκαὶ σιωπῶ τὸν φυσικὸν λόγον οὐχ ὡς ἐξέρασμα τὸ μέλαν δεχόμενον, ἀλλ' ἀκούσιον διαχώρημα, ῥυὲν ἐξαίφνης τῷ φόβῳ, συστελλομένης τῆς καθεκτικῆς δυνάμεως, ᾧ δὴ καὶ συμβεβηκότως τὸ ζῷον εἰς βοήθειαν χρᾶται καὶ ἀποφυγὴν τῶν