170

the end of the Pontic sea near the Necropylae at the promontory called the Ram's Head. From the aforementioned lake the sea is like a river, and it is brought into the sea of the Euxine Pontus through the land of the Cimmerian Bosporus, from which river is caught the so-called mourzoulin and the like, and in the parts to the east of the aforesaid lake towards Phanagoria and the Hebrews dwelling there lie very many nations; and from the same lake up to the so-called Kouphis river, where the scraped Bulgarian fish is caught, is Old Great Bulgaria, and the so-called Kotrags, who are their kinsmen. In the time of Constantine, who was in the west, when Krovatos the lord of the said Bulgaria and of the Kotrags died, he left five sons and instructed that they should in no way be separated from living with one another, so that they might be dominant in all things and not be enslaved by another nation, but a short time after his death, his five sons, having come to a division, separated from one another with the people subject to the authority of each of them. And the first son, the one called Batbaian, observing the command of his own father, remained in his ancestral land until now. But his second brother, the one called Kotragos, having crossed the river Tanais, dwelt opposite his first brother. And the fourth and the fifth, having crossed the river Ister, that is, the Danube, the one, having subjected himself to the Chagan of the Avars in Pannonia of Avaria, remained there with his force, while the other, having occupied the Pentapolis near Ravenna, came under the rule of the Christians. After these, the third, called Asparoukh, having crossed the Danapris and Danastris and occupied the 358 Oglos, more northerly rivers than the Danube, dwelt between it and them, reckoning the place to be safe and difficult to attack from every side; for it was marshy in front, and on other sides crowned by the rivers, it offered great respite from enemies to the nation, which had been humbled by the division. And when these had been thus divided into five parts and had come to be in a weakened state, the great nation of the Khazars came out from the innermost depths of Berzilia of the first Sarmatia and became master of all the land beyond, as far as the Pontic sea; and having made the first brother Batbaian, ruler of the first Bulgaria, a tributary, they collect tribute from him to this day. But the emperor Constantine, having learned that a foul and unclean nation had suddenly encamped beyond the Danube in the Oglos, and was overrunning and ravaging the areas near the Danube, that is, the country now held by them, which was then held by Christians, was greatly vexed; and he orders all the themata in Thrace to cross over. And having fitted out a force by both land and sea, he set out against them, attempting to drive them out by war, and he drew up the infantry forces on the mainland near the so-called Oglos and the Danube, and brought the ships to anchor at the nearby coast. But the Bulgars, seeing this sudden and very numerous battle array, despairing of their own safety, flee to the aforementioned fortification and secure themselves. For three or four days, since they did not dare to come out from such a fortification, and since the Romans did not join battle on account of the afore-mentioned marshland, the foul nation, observing the slackness of the Romans, recovered itself and became more eager. But the emperor, suffering from a sharp attack of gout and being forced to return to Mesembria for his customary bath with five dromons and his own men, left behind the generals and the people 359

170

τέλος τῆς Ποντικῆς θαλάσσης πλησίον τῶν Νεκροπήλων εἰς τὸ ἄκρωμα τὸ λεγόμενον Κριοῦ Πρόσωπον. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς προσημανθείσης λίμνης ἴσα ποταμῷ θάλασσα, καὶ εἰσάγεται εἰς τὴν τοῦ Εὐξείνου πόντου θάλασσαν διὰ τῆς γῆς Βοσφόρου καὶ Κιμμερίου, ἐξ οὗ ποταμοῦ ἀγρεύεται τὸ λεγόμενον μουρζοῦλιν καὶ τὰ τούτου ὅμοια, καὶ εἰς μὲν τὰ πρὸς ἀνατολὴν μέρη τῆς προκειμένης λίμνης ἐπὶ Φαναγουρίαν καὶ τοὺς ἐκεῖσε οἰκοῦντας Ἑβραίους παράκεινται ἔθνη πλεῖστα· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς λίμνης ἐπὶ τὸν λεγόμενον Κοῦφιν ποταμόν, ἔνθα τὸ ξυστὸν ἀγρεύεται Βουλγαρικὸν ὀψάριν, ἡ παλαιὰ Βουλγαρία ἐστὶν ἡ μεγάλη, καὶ οἱ λεγόμενοι Κότραγοι ὁμόφυλοι αὐτῶν καὶ οὗτοι τυγχάνοντες. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν χρόνων Κωνσταντίνου, τοῦ εἰς τὴν δύσιν, Κροβάτου τοῦ κυροῦ τῆς λεχθείσης Βουλγαρίας καὶ τῶν Κοτράγων τὸν βίον μεταλλάξαντος καὶ πέντε καταλιπόντος υἱοὺς καὶ διατυπώσαντος μηδαμῶς τούτους ἀποχωρισθῆναι ἐκ τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαίτης, διὰ τὸ πάντη κυριεύειν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἑτέρῳ μὴ δουλωθῆναι ἔθνει, μετ' ὀλίγον δὲ χρόνον τῆς ἐκείνου τελευτῆς εἰς διαίρεσιν ἐληλυθότες οἱ αὐτοῦ πέντε υἱοὶ διέστησαν ἀπ' ἀλλήλων μετὰ τοῦ ἐν ὑπεξουσιότητι ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ὑποκειμένου λαοῦ. καὶ ὁ μὲν πρῶτος υἱὸς ὁ λεγόμενος Βατβαιᾶν τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ οἰκείου φυλάξας πατρὸς διέμεινεν ἐν τῇ προγονικῇ αὐτοῦ γῇ μέχρι τῆς δεῦρο. ὁ δὲ δεύτερος τούτου ἀδελφός, ὁ λεγόμενος Κότραγος, τὸν Τάναϊν διαβὰς ποταμὸν ἀπέναντι τοῦ πρώτου ᾤκησεν ἀδελφοῦ. ὁ δὲ τέταρτος καὶ ὁ πέμπτος τὸν Ἴστρον ἤτοι ∆ανοῦβιν λεγόμενον περαιωθέντες ποταμόν, ὁ μὲν εἰς Πανονίαν τῆς Ἀβαρίας ὑποταγεὶς τῷ Χαγάνῳ τῶν Ἀβάρων ἔμεινεν ἐκεῖ μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, ὁ δὲ τὴν πρὸς τῇ Ῥαβέννῃ Πεντάπολιν καταλαβὼν ὑπὸ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν Χριστιανῶν γέγονεν. ἔπειτα τούτων ὁ τρίτος, Ἀσπαροὺχ λεγόμενος, τὸν ∆άναπριν καὶ ∆άναστριν περάσας καὶ τὸν 358 Ὄγλον καταλαβὼν βορειοτέρους τοῦ ∆ανουβίου ποταμοὺς μεταξὺ τούτου κἀκείνων ᾤκησεν, ἀσφαλῆ καὶ δυσμάχητον εἶναι τὸν τόπον στοχασάμενος ἐξ ἑκάστου μέρους· τελματώδης γὰρ ἔμπροσθεν, καὶ ἄλλοθεν τοῖς ποταμοῖς στεφανούμενος, πολλὴν τῷ ἔθνει τεταπεινωμένῳ διὰ τὸν μερισμὸν τὴν ἐκ τῶν πολεμίων παρεῖχεν ἄνεσιν. τούτων δὲ οὕτως εἰς πέντε μέρη διαιρεθέντων καὶ ἐν βραχύτητι καταντησάντων, ἐξῆλθε τὸ μέγα ἔθνος τῶν Χαζάρων ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνδοτέρου βάθους Βερζιλίας τῆς πρώτης Σαρματίας καὶ ἐδέσποσε πάσης τῆς περατικῆς γῆς μέχρι τῆς Ποντικῆς θαλάσσης· καὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἀδελφὸν Βατβαιᾶν, τῆς πρώτης Βουλγαρίας ἄρχοντα, ὑποτελῆς καταστήσας φόρους παρ' αὐτοῦ κομίζεται μέχρι τοῦ νῦν. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντῖνος μεμαθηκώς, ὅτι ἐξάπινα ἔθνος ῥυπαρὸν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον ἐκεῖθεν τοῦ ∆ανουβίου εἰς τὸν Ὄγλον ἐσκήνωσεν, καὶ τὰ πλησιάζοντα τῷ ∆ανουβίῳ ἐκτρέχει καὶ λυμαίνεται, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὴν νῦν κρατουμένην ὑπ' αὐτῶν χώραν, ὑπὸ Χριστιανῶν τότε κρατουμένην, ἠνιάθη σφόδρα· καὶ κελεύει περᾶσαι πάντα τὰ θέματα ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ. καὶ ἐξοπλίσας στόλον διά τε γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης κατ' αὐτῶν ἀπεκίνησε πολέμῳ τούτους ἐκδιῶξαι πειρώμενος, καὶ διὰ μὲν τῆς πρὸς τῷ Ὄγλῳ καλουμένῳ καὶ ∆ανουβίῳ ἠπείρου τὰ πεζικὰ παρατάξας, διὰ δὲ τῆς πλησιαζούσης ἀκτῆς τὰς ναῦς προσορμίσας. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἀθρόον καὶ παμπληθὲς τῆς παρατάξεως οἱ Βούλγαροι θεασάμενοι, τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀπεγνωκότες σωτηρίας εἰς τὸ προλεχθὲν ὀχύρωμα καταφεύγουσι καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἀσφαλίζονται. ἐν τρισὶ δὲ καὶ τέτρασιν ἡμέραις ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου ὀχυρώματος αὐτῶν μὲν ἐξελθεῖν μὴ τολμησάντων, τῶν δὲ Ῥωμαίων πόλεμον μὴ συναψάντων διὰ τὴν προκειμένην τῶν τελμάτων πρόφασιν, στοχασάμενον τὸ μιαρὸν ἔθνος τὴν χαυνότητα τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀνελάβετο καὶ προθυμότερον γέγονεν. τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως ἐν ποδαλγίᾳ ὀξυπαθήσαντος καὶ ἐπὶ Μεσημβρίαν βιασθέντος ὑποστρέψαι διὰ συνήθειαν λουτροῦ ἅμα πέντε δρομώνων καὶ τῶν οἰκείων αὐτοῦ ἀνθρώπων, κατέλιπε τοὺς στρατηγοὺς καὶ τὸν λαὸν 359