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is handed over with great honor, in which his first wife, named Helena, lay. But Constantine Porphyrogenitus, having taken away the imperial sandals from Michael, the son of the emperor Christopher, made him a cleric and *magistros* and *rhaiktor*. And as many as laid hands upon the deposition of the emperor Romanos, suffered these things. Basil the *magistros* was brought in and paraded and exiled, and groaning and trembling he ended his life in exile; as for Marianos, a woman, having thrown a slab from a height upon his head, brought him to the fate of Judas; and Diogenes the *strategos*, having been speared by two *atzypades* of Maleleinos, was given an evil death; and Kourtikes, going to Crete with the dromon, was drowned at sea; and Kladon was found in Moulton, his nose cut off and his ears cut off; likewise also Philip and the rest. 4 And the emperor Romanos sees in a dream two eunuchs dressed in white, and taking him by the hands they led him into the Trikybalon stark naked. And the *tzykanisterion* was 439 filled with fire, and was being stoked by many *atzypades*. and he sees the Theotokos coming to him and speaking to the eunuchs because of his almsgiving. The Theotokos, having clothed them, led him into Tropike. And there passed by, in chains, the lord Constantine who was slain and the metropolitan Anastasios of Herakleia, being led by *atzypades*; and they handed them over and cast them into that fire. And on the day on which the emperor saw the dream, on that very day both of them died. And the emperor Romanos, having sent to all the monasteries and the *lauras*, and likewise to the holy city and to Rome, summoned three hundred holy monks; and on Great Thursday, taking off the tunic and the robe in which he was clad, he stood before all in the church, when the priest was about to elevate the divine and holy bread, and holding in a paper all his own sins written down, he publicly denounced them before all. And as the monks were crying 'Lord, have mercy' and weeping, making a prostration to each one, he asked for forgiveness. And when all the monks had given him forgiveness, and having received communion, as they were going up to the refectory, giving a rope and a staff to a boy, he would strike his own feet, saying thus, "Enter the refectory, you wretched old man." And when all were seated, the emperor sat down, weeping and lamenting. And the tablet on which 440 his sins were written, having sealed it, he sent to the monks who had been left behind, and likewise to the holy Dermokaites, having also sent two *kentenaria* to the monks on Olympus, so that they might pray for the salvation of his soul. Dermokaites, taking both the paper and the message, ordered all the monks to fast for two weeks and to pray for his sins. And as Dermokaites was standing one night and praying, a voice came to him invisibly, "God's love for mankind has conquered." And having heard this voice for a third time, taking the paper and unsealing it, he found it clean, not having even a single letter. And having summoned all the monks and shown it to them, they all glorified God. And all the monks, having made a document of absolution, sent it to the emperor Romanos, and it was buried with him. 5 While the emperor Romanos was on the island, the patriarch Theophylaktos and Theophanes the *patrikios* and *parakoimomenos* took counsel so as to bring him back again to the palace; which they also communicated to him and, having persuaded him, they were watching for an opportunity when they might bring such a plan to its conclusion. But when the matters of the plot were discovered and reported to the emperor Constantine, he took vengeance on its collaborators; for the *patrikios*

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παραδίδοται μεγαλοτίμως, ἐν ῃ περὶ τούτῳ ἡ πρώτη αὐτοῦ σύμβιος ἀπέκειτο ̔Ελένη τουνομα. Μιχαὴλ δὲ τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως Χριστοφόρου υἱόν, τὰ βασιλικὰ πέδιλα Κωνσταν- τῖνος ὁ πορφυρογέννητος ἀφελόμενος, κληρικὸν καὶ μάγιστρον καὶ ῥαίκτωρα πεποίηκεν. οσοι δὲ ἐπέβαλον χεῖρας ἐπὶ τῇ καταβάσει ̔Ρωμανοῦ βασιλέως, ταῦτα πεπόνθασιν. ὁ μὲν Βασίλειος μάγι- στρος εἰσκομισθεὶς καὶ πομπευθεὶς καὶ ἐξορισθεὶς στένων καὶ τρέ- μων τὸν βίον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐξορίᾳ ἐτέλεσεν· τὸν Μαριανὸν γυνὴ ἀπὸ υψους ῥίψασα πλάκα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κεφαλήν, τὸν μόρον ̓Ιούδα ἐχρή- σατο· ὁ δὲ ∆ιογένης καὶ στρατηγὸς λογχευθεὶς παρὰ δύο ἀτζυ- πάδων τοῦ Μαλελεΐνου κακὸν θάνατον εδωκεν· ὁ δὲ Κουρτίκης ἀπερχόμενος εἰς Κρήτην μετὰ τοῦ δρομωνίου ἐποντίσθη· ὁ δὲ Κλάδων εὑρεθεὶς εἰς μοῦλτον ῥινοτομηθεὶς καὶ τὰ ωτα αὐτοῦ ἐκ- τμηθείς· ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ Φίλιππος καὶ οἱ λοιποί. 4 ̔Ο δὲ βασιλεὺς ̔Ρωμανὸς ὁρᾷ κατ' οναρ δύο εὐνούχους λευκοφοροῦντας, καὶ κρατήσαντες αὐτὸν τῶν χειρῶν ηγαγον αὐ- τὸν εἰς τὴν Τρικύμβαλον ὁλόγυμνον. τὸ δὲ τζυκανιστῆριν ην 439 πεπληρωμένον πυρός, συνεδαβελίζετο δὲ ὑπὸ ἀτζυπάδων πολλῶν. καὶ ὁρᾷ τὴν θεοτόκον ἐλθοῦσαν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ λαλήσασαν τοῖς εὐνούχοις διὰ τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην αὐτοῦ. ἐνδύσασα αὐτῶν ἡ θεοτό- κος εἰσήγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς Τροπικήν. διῆλθεν δὲ δεδεμένος ὁ κῦρ Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ σφαγεὶς καὶ ὁ μητροπολίτης ̓Αναστάσιος ̔Ηρακλείας, ἀγόμενοι παρὰ ἀτζυπάδων· καὶ παρέδωκαν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐνέβαλον εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο. τῇ ἡμέρᾳ δὲ ἐν ῃ ἐθεάσατο ὁ βασι- λεὺς τὸ οναρ, τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐτελεύτησαν καὶ οἱ δύο. ὁ δὲ βα- σιλεὺς ̔Ρωμανὸς ἀποστείλας εἰς πάντα τὰ μοναστήρια καὶ τὰς λαύ- ρας, ὡσαύτως καὶ εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν καὶ εἰς ̔Ρώμην, προσεκα- λίσατο μοναχοὺς ἁγίους τὸν ἀριθμὸν τριακοσίους· καὶ τῇ μεγάλῃ πέμπτῃ ἐκδυσάμενος τὸν χιτῶνα καὶ τὴν στολήν, ην περιεβέβλητο, ἐνώπιον πάντων σταθεὶς εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, οτε εμελλεν ὁ πρεσβύ- τερος ὑψώσειν τὸν θεῖον καὶ αγιον αρτον, εχων ἐν χαρτίῳ γε- γραμμένας τὰς ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίας πάσας ἐστηλίτευσεν αὐτὰς κατε- νώπιον πάντων. τῶν δὲ μοναχῶν κραζόντων τὸ κύριε ἐλέησον καὶ δακρυρροούντων, ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ βαλὼν μετάνοιαν συγχώρησιν ῃτει. καὶ πάντων τῶν μοναχῶν συγχώρησιν δόντων αὐτῷ, καὶ κοινωνίας τυχών, ἀνερχομένων αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ τραπέζῃ δοὺς σχοινίον μειρακίῳ καὶ ῥέκαν, ετυπτεν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ λέγων ουτως "εισελθε κακό- γηρε ἐν τῇ τραπέζῃ." καὶ πάντων καθεσθέντων ἐκαθέσθη ὁ βα- σιλεὺς κλαίων καὶ ὀδυρόμενος. τὸ δὲ πιττάκιον ο ην γεγραμμένον 440 εχον τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, βουλλώσας ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τοὺς καλο- γήρους τοὺς ἀπολειφθέντας, ὡσαύτως καὶ εἰς τὸν ἐν ἁγίοις ∆ερ- μοκαΐτην, ἀποστείλας καὶ δύο κεντηνάρια εἰς τοὺς μοναχοὺς ἐν τῷ ̓Ολύμπῳ, ινα ευξωνται ὑπὲρ ψυχικῆς αὐτοῦ σωτηρίας. ὁ ∆ερμοκαΐτης ἀναλαβόμενος τό τε χαρτίον καὶ λογάριον ωρισε πάν- τας τοὺς μοναχοὺς τοῦ νηστεῦσαι δύο ἑβδομάδας καὶ ευξασθαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτοῦ. τοῦ ∆ερμοκαΐτου δὲ ἱσταμένου ἐν μιᾷ νυκτὶ καὶ εὐχομένου φωνὴ ἐγένετο πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀοράτως, "ἐνίκησεν ἡ φιλανθρωπία τοῦ θεοῦ." ταύτης δὲ φωνῆς ἐκ τρίτου ἀκούσας, τὸ χαρτίον λαβὼν καὶ λύσας ευρεν αὐτὸν καθαρὸν μὴ εχον γράμ- μα εν καὶ μόνον. προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ πάντας τοὺς μοναχοὺς καὶ ὑποδείξας αὐτό, ἐδόξασαν τὸν θεὸν πάντες. καὶ ποιήσαντες ἀφέ- σιμον πάντες οἱ μοναχοὶ ἀπέστειλαν αὐτὸ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ̔Ρωμα- νόν, καὶ συνετάφη μετ' αὐτοῦ. 5 Οντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ̔Ρωμανοῦ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ, ὁ πα- τριάρχης Θεοφύλακτος καὶ Θεοφάνης πατρίκιος καὶ παρακοιμώ- μενος βουλὴν ἐβουλεύσαντο ωστε τοῦτον πάλιν ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ ἀγαγεῖν· ην καὶ αὐτῷ ἀνακοινωνησάμενοι καὶ παραπείσαντες τοῦ- τον ἐκαιροσκόπουν πότε τὸ πέρας τῇ τοιαύτῃ βουλῇ ἐπιθήσουσιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ τῆς βουλῆς ἐφωράθη καὶ κατεμηνύθη τῷ βασιλεῖ Κων- σταντίνῳ, τοὺς συνεργοὺς αὐτῆς ἠμύνατο· τὸν μὲν γὰρ πατρίκιον