157

approaching and flattering those whom they call *freres*, brothers so to speak, he was insistent in entreating the high priest of Rome and beseeching him not to permit Charles to do what he had in mind, nor to allow Christians to campaign against Christians; for the Romans, whom they themselves call Greeks, belonged to the same Christ and the same church as the 463 Italians, and that he himself also had him as a spiritual father and considered him to be the first of high priests. And he already was promising him better things; these were that the church of God would become one fold and the scandal in between, which had uselessly crept into the churches from of old, would be removed; for there was no longer any impediment to these things happening, since the city had been restored to the exiles. These things he frequently communicated, and, by sending gold to the cardinals—the Greek might say *strophinx*—as being the doors of the pope in imitation of Christ, and to other friends he trusted, he made the path of his supplication to the pope successful, and Charles was hindered. And the emperor, further cementing peace with the church, kindly received those coming from there, and especially if they were of that church, as once he did the bishop of Crotone, an eloquent man and bilingual in divine knowledge, whom he sent to the patriarch and directed, and after a time had him change his vestments to the more Hellenic style; and he both wished and arranged to give him a church by way of a grant, as he was vacant from the one allotted to him; and this would have happened, had he not been detected in disloyalty and to the harm of our people; although he was again attired in the Greek fashion, having lost the imperial favor, he was exiled somewhere around Pontoheraclea. For the time being, however, there was no impediment for the church to associate with him in every way, since he was so disposed. And he received many others, very many *freres*, and sent them to the church, to the high priests and the patriarch, through communion with them in psalms, in the entrances and standings in the sanctuary, in the partaking of the divine bread, which they call *antidoron*, from all other things, except communion for they did not need it, thus both strengthening and securing in advance the peace of the churches that was held as a pledge.

9. How the emperor sent ambassadors to the king of Francia. And he sent ecclesiastical men, having great dignity from both their character and offices, to the king of Francia, who was Charles’ own brother by birth, but least of all like a brother in character. And 465 they were the chartophylax of the church, Bekkos, and the archdeacon of the imperial clergy, Meliteniotes; and since it was not possible for them to cross to Brentesion and travel by land, he allowed them to journey on horseback as far as Aulon, and from there, embarking on a ship and cutting through the sea, to make the crossing to the king, wherever he might be found staying. The purpose of the embassy was to placate him as much as possible with gifts and words and to prepare him, being peaceful by reputation, to write what was fitting to his brother and to soften his audacity and restrain his impulses; for it was easier, as one might think, for the one who was first and honored as king from the beginning and esteemed for the greatness of his authority, and also upright in character, to persuade the second, honored as king only yesterday, and furthermore inferior in authority and crooked; for the straight is never straightened by the crooked, nor becomes crooked, but the crooked by the straight, from which the designation of the quality is also taken. If then he could be persuaded; but if not, then to appeal to the pope on behalf of the Greeks, who were also brothers and deemed worthy of the same name, and so to try to cut short his brother’s machinations against the Romans. When the emperor had committed these things to the ambassadors, they set out with a great retinue of people and imperial icons and drinking cups and heavy expense, so as to astound merely by their appearance. And having reached Aulon and embarked on a ship, at the Pachynus cape of Sicily

157

φρερίους αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν, ἀδελφοὺς δῆθεν, ὑπερχόμενος καὶ θωπεύων, πολὺς ἦν δυσωπῶν τὸν Ῥώμης ἀρχιερέα καὶ καταποτνιώμενος μὴ ἐφεῖναι Καρούλῳ τὰ κατὰ νοῦν πράττειν, μηδὲ συγχωρεῖν χριστιανοῖς ἐπὶ χριστιανοὺς στρατεύεσθαι· εἶναι γὰρ καὶ Ῥωμαίους, οὓς αὐτοὶ Γραικοὺς ὀνομάζουσι, τοῦ αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῖς 463 Ἰταλοῖς, ἔχειν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τοῦτον πατέρα πνευματικὸν καὶ λογίζεσθαι ἀρχιερέων ὄντα τὸν πρώτιστον. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ ὑπισχνεῖτό οἱ τὰ χρηστότερα· τὰ δ' ἦν τὸ μίαν μάνδραν γενέσθαι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Θεοῦ καὶ ἀρθῆναι τὸ μέσον σκάνδαλον, ἀνόνητα ἐπεισφρῆσαν ἐκ παλαιτέρου ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις· μηδὲ γὰρ εἶναι λοιπὸν ἐμποδὼν τοῦ μὴ ταῦτα γίνεσθαι, ἀποκατασταθείσης τοῖς ἐξορίστοις τῆς πόλεως. Ταῦτά τε συχνάκις διεμήνυε καί, χρυσὸν πέμπων καδδηναλίοιςστρό φιγξιν ὁ Ἕλλην εἴποι, ὡς θύρας οὔσης τοῦ πάπα κατὰ τὴν Χριστοῦ μίμησιν καὶ οἷς ἄλλοις ἐπίστευε φίλοις, εὔοδα τὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸν πάπαν ἱκετείας καθίστα, καὶ ὁ Κάρουλος ἐκωλύετο. Αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ πλέον ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰρήνην ἐπισυνδέων, τοὺς μὲν ἐκεῖθεν ἐρχομένους, καὶ μᾶλλον εἰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐκείνης εἶεν, φιλοφρόνως προσίετο, ὡς καί ποτε τὸν Κροτώνης ἐπίσκοπον, ἄνδρα λόγιον ὄντα καὶ διγλωσσοῦντα κατ' ἐπιστή μην τὴν θείαν, ὃν καὶ τῷ πατριάρχῃ πέμπων καὶ κυβερνῶν, μετὰ καιρὸν μετημφίαζε πρὸς τὸ Ἑλληνικώτερον· καὶ ἐκκλησίαν διδόναι οἱ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἐπιδόσεως, ὡς σχολάζοντι τῆς λαχούσης, ἤθελέ τε καὶ ᾠκονόμει· κἂν ἐγένετο, εἰ μή γε φωραθεὶς ἐκεῖνος εἰς δύσνοιαν καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων βλάβην, τὸ μὲν καθ' Ἕλληνας ἐστολίσθαι καὶ πάλιν εἶχε, τὴν δὲ βασιλικὴν εὐμένειαν ἀπολωλεκώς, περί που τὴν Ποντοηράκλειαν ἐξωρίζετο. Τέως δ' οὖν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ οὐκ ἦν ἐμποδὼν κατὰ πᾶν ἐκείνῳ συγχρᾶσθαι, οὕτως ἔχοντι. Ἄλλους δὲ καὶ πολλούς, πλείστους φρερίους, ἐδέχετο καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἔπεμπεν ἀρχιερεῦσι καὶ πατριάρχῃ, ἐκ τῆς πρὸς σφᾶς αὐτῶν κοινωνίας ἐν ψαλμοῖς, ἐν ταῖς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδύτων εἰσαγωγαῖς τε καὶ στάσεσιν, ἐν μεταλήψει τοῦ θείου ἄρτου, ὃν ἀντίδωρον λέγουσιν, ἐκ πάντων ἄλλων, πλὴν μεταλήψεως οὐ γὰρ ἔχρῃζον, τὴν εἰς ἐγγύας κειμένην τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν εἰρήνην κατεμ πεδῶν τε καὶ προασφαλιζόμενος.

θʹ. Ὅπως πρέσβεις ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς τὸν ῥῆγα Φραγγίας ἀπέστελλεν. Ἔπεμπε δὲ καὶ ἄνδρας ἐκκλησιαστικούς, πολὺ τὸ ἀξιοπρεπὲς ἔκ τε τοῦ τρόπου καὶ ὀφφικίων ἔχοντας, πρὸς τὸν ῥῆγα Φραγγίας, αὐτάδελφον μὲν τοῦ Καρούλου τὸ γένος ὄντα, τοὺς τρόπους δὲ ἥκιστα ἀδελφίζοντα. Οἱ 465 δ' ἦσαν ὅ τε τῆς ἐκκλησίας χαρτοφύλαξ ὁ Βέκκος καὶ ὁ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ ἀρχιδιάκονος κλήρου Μελιτηνιώτης· οἷς δὴ καὶ οὐκ ἐκχωροῦν εἰς Βρεντήσιον διαπεραιοῦσθαι καὶ γῇ χρωμένους βαδίζειν, τὴν μὲν μέχρι καὶ Αὐλῶνος ὁδόν, ἵπποις χρωμένους, ὁδεύειν παρεῖχεν, ἐκεῖθεν δέ, νηὸς ἐπιβάντας καὶ θάλασσαν τέμνοντας, τὴν ἐς τὸν ῥῆγα, ὅπου ποτ' ἂν εὑρεθείη διάγων, ποιεῖσθαι διαπεραίωσιν. Ἦν δέ οἱ ὁ τῆς πρεσβείας σκοπὸς κἀκεῖνον δώροις καὶ λόγοις ὡς δυνατὸν ἐκμειλίσσεσθαι καὶ παρασκευάζειν, εἰρηνικὸν ὄντα ταῖς φήμαις, γράφειν μὲν καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν τὰ εἰκότα καὶ τὸ θράσος ἐκμαλάττειν καὶ τὰς ὁρμὰς ἐκείνου ἀνέχειν· ῥᾷον γάρ, ὡς καί τινα οἴεσθαι, πρῶτον ὄντα καὶ ῥῆγα τετιμημένον ἀρχῆθεν καὶ ἐπὶ μεγαλειότητι ἐξουσίας τιμώμενον, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τοὺς τρόπους εὐθύν, τὸν δεύτερον καὶ χθὲς εἰς ῥῆγα τετιμημένον, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ λειπόμενον καί γε σκολιὸν πείθειν· μηδὲ γὰρ ἀπευθύνεσθαί ποτε τὸ ὀρθὸν πρὸς τὸ σκολιόν, μηδ' ἀποσκολιοῦσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὸ σκολιὸν πρὸς τὸ εὐθύ, παρ' ὃ καὶ ἡ προσηγορία τῆς ποιότητος εἴληπται. Εἰ μὲν οὖν πείθοι· εἰ δ' οὖν, ἀλλ' οὖν ἐντυγχάνειν τῷ πάπᾳ ὑπὲρ Γραικῶν, ἀδελφῶν καὶ αὐτῶν ὄντων καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἠξιωμένων ὀνόματος, καὶ οὕτως ἐκκόπτειν πειρᾶσθαι τὰ κατὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μηχανήματα. Ταῦτα τοῦ βασιλέως ἀναθεμένου τοῖς πρέσβεσιν, ὑπὸ μεγάλῃ θεραπείᾳ λαοῦ τε καὶ βασιλικῶν εἰκόνων καὶ ἐκπωμάτων καὶ βαρείας ἐξόδου, ὡς καὶ φανέντας μόνον ἐκπλῆξαι, ἐξῄεσαν. Ὡς δ' Αὐλῶνα φθάσαντες καὶ νηὸς ἐπιβάντες, Παχύνῳ ἄκρᾳ Σικελίας