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he made these full of money; at least they say that twenty myriads of talents of gold were stored up by him. For no one could possibly bring under a number the other wealth, who, when his treasuries were filled, hoarded the rest under the ground, having dug labyrinthine spirals. And his chests were overflowing with precious stones, both the other kinds and the white ones, whose special name is pearls. But they were not for his use, but a few of them adorned his purple robe, so that he might have his insignia, which he used in processions and when he gave audience to ambassadors and when he celebrated some other public festival. But the rest, lying in the treasuries, were a useless burden. In times of war he was a certain variable and multifaceted person in his disposition toward his subordinates, but in periods of calm and peaceful conditions he was more imperious and stored up his anger, and holding it within himself he made it public at the right times and paid it back to those who had erred. And being firm of purpose he did not easily alter his decisions. For this reason also, toward those against whom he happened to be nurturing some wrath, he did not quickly change his disposition. But these things are illustrative of the character of this emperor, and let the history proceed with the things done under him and narrate what follows. The ruler of Egypt, having broken the treaties with the Romans, demolished the temple in Jerusalem, in which is the tomb of the Lord, and the monasteries there. But the emperor, continuously attacking Bulgaria, was harming it and laying it waste. But Samuel, not being able to draw up in battle against the army of the Romans, attempted to block the entrances to him with trenches, having walled off the difficult passes with constructions and having set guards over them. So the emperor came again and tried to force the passage, but was driven back by the guards who resisted more strongly; however, he did not desist from the attempt, but he himself remained, still testing the fortification, and he sent out one of the generals with the tagma under him from somewhere else, to see if he could go around and devise some means for the passage. And he, having passed through many mountains and difficult places and having eluded the Bulgarians, falls upon the guards of the fortification from the rear, who, becoming terrified at the suddenness, no longer took thought for the guarding of the barrier, but made it their chief concern how they themselves might escape destruction. Then indeed the Roman army, seizing the opportunity, breaks the barrier and passes through and pursues, and kills many, and takes even more alive, while Samuel barely escaped. The emperor, at any rate, gouged out the eyes of all the prisoners of war, numbering up to fifteen thousand, for every hundred men leaving one one-eyed man, that he might be a guide for them, and so he orders them to go away to their own leader. When he saw them and could not bear the sight, he became dizzy and falls to the ground fainting, and having recovered a little, he suffers a heart attack and dies. And the leadership of the Bulgarians came to his son Gabriel, also called Romanos, whom, when he had not yet ruled for a year, the son of his paternal uncle Aaron, Vladislav, also called John (for he too had two names), killed. And the emperor, having passed through the fortification in the difficult terrain, as has been said, also captured other strong fortresses and the Bulgarians in them, and he came to Mosynopolis, where the death of Samuel was reported to him. Setting out at once, therefore, he attacks Bulgaria and takes both its cities and fortresses. And the son of Samuel, Romanos and Gabriel (for he had not yet been killed), sent to the emperor promising submission; and after some time a servant of John Vladislav, the one who had killed Gabriel, arrived, bringing the good news of the slaying of Samuel's son and carrying letters promising submission to the emperor, and many of the notables among the Bulgarians also flocked to him. However, the emperor, knowing that Vladislav was not thinking in accordance with his promises, again attacked Bulgaria and many of its

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χρημάτων ταῦτα πλήρη πεποίηκε· φασὶ γοῦν ἐς εἴκοσι μυριάδας ταλάντων χρυσοῦ ἐν562 αποτεθησαυρίσθαι αὐτῷ. τὸν γὰρ ἄλλον χρηματισμὸν οὐκ ἄν τις ὑπ' ἀριθμὸν δύναιτο ἀγαγεῖν, ὃς τῶν ταμείων αὐτῷ πληρωθέντων ὑπὸ γῆν τὰ λοιπὰ ἐθησαύρισεν, ἕλικας ὀρύξας λαβυρινθώδεις. καὶ ὑπερχειλῆ μὲν ἦσαν λίθων πολυτελῶν τῶν τε ἄλλων καὶ τῶν λευκῶν, οἷς ἰδιάζουσα κλῆσις οἱ μάργαροι, τὰ κιβώτια. τῷ δὲ εἰς χρῆσιν οὐκ ἦσαν, ἀλλὰ βραχεῖς τινες αὐτῷ τὴν πορφύραν ἐκόσμουν, ἵν' ἔχοι τοὐπίσημον, ᾗπερ ἐν προόδοις ἐκέχρητο καὶ ὅτ' ἐχρημάτιζε πρέσβεσι καὶ ὅτε τινὰ ἄλλην δημοτελῆ ἐτέλει πανήγυριν. οἱ δ' ἄλλοι τοῖς ταμείοις ἐναποκείμενοι ἄχθος ἦσαν ἐτώσιον. ἦν δ' ἐν μὲν πολέμων καιροῖς ποικίλος τις καὶ τὴν γνώμην πρὸς τοὺς ὑπὸ χεῖρα πολυειδής, ἐν δ' ἠρεμίαις καὶ εἰρηνικαῖς καταστάσεσιν ἀρχικώτερος καὶ τὰς ὀργὰς ἐταμίευε καὶ ταύτας συνέχων παρ' ἑαυτῷ ἐδημοσίευεν ἐν καιροῖς καὶ ἀνταπεδίδου τοῖς ἁμαρτήσασιν. ὢν δὲ τὴν γνώμην στερρὸς οὐ ῥᾳδίως ἠλλοίου τὰ δόξαντα. διὸ καὶ πρὸς οὓς ἂν ἔτυχε μήνιμά τι τρέφων, οὐ ταχὺ μετήλλαττε τὸ ἦθος αὐτοῖς. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν παραστατικὰ τοῦ ἤθους τούτου τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος, ἡ δ' ἱστορία ἐχέσθω τῶν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ πεπραγμένων καὶ διηγείσθω τὰ ἐφεξῆς. Ὁ τῆς Αἰγύπτου κατάρχων τὰς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους λύσας 563 σπονδὰς τόν τε ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ναόν, ἐν ᾧ τὸ τοῦ κυρίου μνῆμα, κατηρείπωσε καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ μοναστήρια. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς συνεχῶς τῇ Βουλγαρίᾳ προσβάλλων ἐκάκου ταύτην καὶ ἐκεράϊζε. μὴ δυνάμενος δέ γε ὁ Σαμουὴλ ἀντιπαρατάξασθαι τῷ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατεύματι τάφροις τὰς εἰσόδους ἀποκλεῖσαι αὐτῷ ἐπεχείρησε, τὰς δυσχωρίας ἀποφράξας οἰκοδομαῖς καὶ φύλακας ἐπιστήσας αὐταῖς. ἧκεν οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς αὖθις καὶ ἐβιάσατο μὲν τὴν πάροδον, ἀπεκρούσθη δὲ τῶν φυλάκων ἀνθισταμένων ἐρρωμενέστερον· πλὴν οὐκ ἀπέστη τῆς ἐγχειρήσεως, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς μὲν προσέμενεν ἔτι πειρώμενος τοῦ ἐρύματος, ἐκπέπομφε δὲ τῶν στρατηγῶν ἕνα μετὰ τοῦ ὑπ' αὐτὸν τάγματος ἑτέρωθέν ποθεν, εἰ δύναιτο περιελθεῖν καὶ μηχανήσασθαί τι πρὸς τὴν διέλευσιν. ὁ δὲ δι' ὀρῶν καὶ δυσχωριῶν πολλῶν διελθὼν καὶ τοὺς Βουλγάρους λαθὼν ἐμπίπτει κατὰ νώτου τοῖς τοῦ ἐρύματος φύλαξιν, οἳ τῷ ἀθρόῳ περιδεεῖς γεγονότες οὐκέτι τῆς φυλακῆς ἐφρόντιζον τοῦ φραγμοῦ, ἀλλ' ὅπως αὐτοὶ τὸν ὄλεθρον φυλάξωνται περὶ πλείστου ἐτίθεντο. τότε δὴ ἀδείας τὸ Ῥωμαϊκὸν δραξάμενον στράτευμα ῥήγνυσι τὸν φραγμὸν καὶ δίεισι καὶ διώκει καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν 564 ἀναιρεῖ, πλείονας δέ γε ζωγρεῖ μόλις διαδράντος τοῦ Σαμουήλ. ὅ γε μὴν βασιλεὺς τοῖς δορυαλώτοις εἰς πεντεκαίδεκα χιλιάδας ἀριθμουμένοις ἐξέκοψε πᾶσι τὰ ὄμματα, ἐφ' ἑκάστῃ ἑκατοστύϊ ἕνα καταλιπὼν ἑτερόφθαλμον, ἵν' εἴη τούτοις χειραγωγός, καὶ οὕτως αὐτοὺς ἀπιέναι κελεύει πρὸς τὸν σφέτερον ἀρχηγόν. οὓς ἐκεῖνος ἰδὼν καὶ τὸ πάθος μὴ ἐνεγκὼν ἰλλιγγιᾷ τε καὶ εἰς γῆν λειποθυμῶν καταβάλλεται, μικρὸν δέ τι ἀνενεγκὼν καρδιωγμῷ περιπίπτει καὶ θνήσκει. ἡ δὲ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἡγεμονία τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ τῷ Γαβριὴλ τῷ καὶ Ῥωμανῷ περιῆλθεν, ὃν οὔπω ἐνιαυτὸν ἄρξαντα ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ πατραδέλφου αὐτοῦ Ἀαρὼν ὁ Βλαδισθλάβος καὶ Ἰωάννης (διώνυμος γὰρ καὶ οὗτος ἦν) ἀπέκτεινε. διελθὼν δὲ τὸ ἐν ταῖς δυσχωρίαις ἔρυμα ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ, ὡς εἴρηται, ἄλλα τε φρούρια ἐχειρώσατο ἐρυμνὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς Βουλγάρους καὶ ἧκεν εἰς Μοσυνούπολιν, ὅπου αὐτῷ ἡ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ τελευτὴ ἀπηγγέλη. ἄρας οὖν αὐτίκα προσβάλλει τῇ Βουλγαρίᾳ καὶ πόλεις τε αὐτῆς αἱρεῖ καὶ φρούρια. ὁ δέ γε τοῦ Σαμουὴλ υἱὸς ὁ Ῥωμανός τε καὶ Γαβριήλ (οὔπω γὰρ ἀνῄρητο) πέμψας πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα δούλωσιν ὑπισχνεῖται· μετὰ δέ τινα καιρὸν τοῦ τὸν Γαβριὴλ ἀνελόντος Ἰωάννου τοῦ 565 Βλαδισθλάβου θεράπων ἀφίκετο, εὐαγγελιζόμενος τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ καὶ γράμματα κομίζων ἐπαγγελλόμενα τῷ βασιλεῖ δούλωσιν, προσερρύησαν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐπισήμων παρὰ Βουλγάροις. γνοὺς μέντοι τὸν Βλαδισθλάβον ὁ βασιλεὺς οὐ κατὰ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας διανοούμενον, ἐπῆλθεν αὖθις τῇ Βουλγαρίᾳ καὶ πολλὰς μὲν αὐτῆς