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the ruler of the land is ordered to receive the Scythians. And Kegenes, having gone to the queen of cities, came into the presence 642 of the emperor, and having received saving baptism, was honored as a patrician. He persuaded, moreover, the Scythians with him to partake of this divine bath. And while spending time along the Danubian regions and crossing the river suddenly, he harassed those of Tyrach, killing and plundering. Tyrach, therefore, having sent an embassy to the emperor, accused him of receiving the apostate of the nation, and that if he would not prevent the refugee from harming the nation, he would have the whole nation as an enemy. To these things the emperor said, "Neither shall I become a betrayer of one who has come to me, nor shall I prevent him from defending himself against those who have plotted against him." When these messages were brought to Tyrach, since winter had set in and the Ister had frozen solid from one bank to the other with the cold, he crossed the river on foot with his whole nation and, having seized the Roman territory, ravaged everything in his path. But the emperor, learning this, immediately sent an army as reinforcements to the ruler of the land and to Kegenes. The Patzinaks, however, finding an abundance of food and wine and other drinks prepared from honey, and having been insatiable with these things, fell into an intestinal disease. And learning this from a deserter, 643 Kegenes persuaded the Roman forces also to attack the enemy. So when the barbarians saw the attack of the Romans against them, being worn down by the disease, they grew dizzy and, becoming cowardly, they threw down their weapons and became suppliants and surrendered themselves to their enemies. Of these, as many as came under Kegenes, some were put to the sword, and others were sold for gold into slavery. But the remaining multitude was considered useful to the Romans, if, stripped of their weapons, they were settled in the land of the Bulgars, the greater part of which was desolate, that nation having been destroyed a short time before; which also happened by the emperor's command. And Tyrach, with the chief men of the nation, was brought to the ruler, and having been deemed worthy of divine baptism, they were honored with splendid dignities. And since at that time the Romans were at war with the Turks in the east, the emperor selected fifteen thousand Patzinaks and, having armed them and provided them with horses and appointed commanders for them from their own people, he sent them across at Chrysopolis, ordering them to go to Iberia, having assigned them also a guide for the journey. But when they came near Damatrys, they stopped and were unwilling to advance further; but having moved 644 backward and reached the strait, they crossed the sea with their horses near the monastery of Saint Tarasios, and at once making a forced march, they joined their kinsmen; and when they were gathered together, they departed and pitched their tents in the Danubian plains, and sallying forth from there, they overran the Thracian lands. And though the emperor often sent armies against them, the barbarians were superior, so that they scattered fearlessly over all of Thrace and Macedonia and made everything booty, not only the distant parts, but also those near the city. Finally they made a thirty-year truce with the Romans. And so the war of the Patzinaks ended. But the sultan did not cease from attacking the lands and cities under the Romans, plundering some, and sacking and appropriating others. During these times the emperor also discovered a plot, which Romanos Boilas had organized. This was 645 an obscure man and he had a half-articulate tongue, unable to speak correctly, but slipping in conversation and speaking imperceptibly to his listeners. This defect was partly natural, and partly pretense and a show, with the hypocrisy of the stage-player intensifying the defect of nature. Therefore, the emperor was pleased with such a man as with no other, and even if he heard him speak incorrectly and inarticulately, he considered his nonsense to be the greatest delight. and

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ὁ τῆς χώρας ἄρχων κελεύεται δέξασθαι τοὺς Σκύθας. ὁ δὲ Κεγένης εἰς τὴν βασιλίδα τῶν πόλεων φοιτήσας ἐς ὄψιν ἦλθε 642 τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τὸ σωτήριον δεξάμενος βάπτισμα ἐτιμήθη πατρίκιος. ἔπεισε μέντοι καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ Σκύθας τοῦ θείου τούτου λουτροῦ μετασχεῖν. ποιούμενος δὲ τὰς διατριβὰς κατὰ τὰ παρίστρια καὶ διαβαίνων τὸν ποταμὸν ἀθρόον ἐκάκου τοὺς τοῦ Τυράχ, ἀναιρῶν τε καὶ ληιζόμενος. πρεσβείαν τοίνυν ὁ Τυρὰχ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἀπεσταλκὼς ᾐτιᾶτο ὅτι τὸν ἀποστάτην τοῦ ἔθνους ἐδέξατο, καὶ εἰ μὴ κωλύσει κακοῦν τὸ ἔθνος τὸν πρόσφυγα, τὸ ἔθνος ὅλον ἕξει πολέμιον. πρὸς ταῦτα δ' ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ "οὔτε. προδότης" ἔφη "τοῦ προσελθόντος γενήσομαι οὔτε κωλύσω μὴ ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύσαντας." τούτων τῶν μηνυμάτων τῷ Τυρὰχ κομισθέντων, ἐπεὶ χειμὼν ἐπέστη καὶ ὁ Ἴστρος ἐξ ὄχθης εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν τῷ κρύει πηγνύμενος κεκρυστάλλωτο, πεζῇ διέβη τὸν ποταμὸν σὺν τῷ ἔθνει παντὶ καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαΐδα χώραν καταλαβὼν τὰ ἐν ποσὶν ἐκεράϊζεν. ὁ δέ γε βασιλεὺς τοῦτο μαθὼν στρατιὰν αὐτίκα τῷ τῆς χώρας ἄρχοντι καὶ τῷ Κεγένῃ ἐπίκουρον ἔπεμψεν. οἱ μέντοι Πατζινάκαι τροφῶν ἀφθονίαν εὑρόντες καὶ οἴνου καὶ ἄλλων πομάτων ἐσκευασμένων ἐκ μέλιτος καὶ περὶ ταῦτα ἀπληστευσάμενοι, νοσήματι κοιλιακῷ περιέπεσον. καὶ τοῦτο ἐξ αὐτομόλου γνοὺς ὁ 643 Κεγένης ἀναπείθει καὶ τὰς Ῥωμαϊκὰς δυνάμεις ἐπιθέσθαι τοῖς ἐναντίοις. ὡς γοῦν εἶδον οἱ βάρβαροι τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπέλευσιν, κατειργασμένοι τῇ νόσῳ τυγχάνοντες ἰλιγγίασαν καὶ ἀποδειλιάσαντες μεθῆκαν τὰ ὅπλα καὶ ἱκέται γεγόνασι καὶ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς παρέδωκαν ἑαυτούς. τούτων ὅσοι μὲν ὑπὸ τὸν Κεγένην γεγόνασιν, οἱ μὲν ξίφεσι παρεδόθησαν, οἱ δὲ πρὸς δουλείαν χρυσοῦ ἀπεδόθησαν. τὸ πλῆθος δὲ τὸ λοιπὸν χρήσιμον ἐνομίσθη γενέσθαι Ῥωμαίοις, εἰ τὰ ὅπλα ἀφαιρεθὲν εἰς τὴν τῶν Βουλγάρων χώραν κατοικισθείη, ἔρημον οὖσαν τὴν πλείονα, πρὸ μικροῦ τοῦ ἔθνους ἐκείνου καταλυθέντος· ὃ καὶ γέγονε τοῦ βασιλέως κελεύσαντος. ὁ δέ γε Τυρὰχ σὺν τοῖς ἐξόχοις τοῦ ἔθνους ἤχθη πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα καὶ τοῦ θείου καταξιωθέντες βαπτίσματος ἀξιώμασι λαμπροῖς ἐτιμήθησαν. ὡς δὲ μάχαι τότε Ῥωμαίοις μετὰ τῶν Τούρκων ἦσαν κατὰ τὴν ἑῴαν, πεντεκαίδεκα χιλιάδας Πατζινάκων ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ ἐπιλεξάμενος καὶ καθοπλίσας αὐτοὺς ἵππους τε παρασχόμενος καὶ ἐπιστήσας στρατάρχας αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν ὁμογενῶν ἐν Χρυσοπόλει διεπέρασεν, εἰς Ἰβηρίαν κελεύσας ἀπελθεῖν, τάξας αὐτοῖς καὶ προηγήτορα τῆς ὁδοῦ. ὡς δ' οὖν περὶ τὸν ∆αματρὺν ἥκασιν, ἔστησαν καὶ πρόσω προβαίνειν οὐκ ἤθελον· εἰς 644 τοὐπίσω δὲ χωρήσαντες καὶ ἄχρι τοῦ πορθμοῦ ἐφθακότες σὺν τοῖς ἵπποις τὴν θάλασσαν διαπορθμευσάμενοι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Ταρασίου μονήν, αὐτίκα συντεταμένην ποιησάμενοι τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν τοῖς ὁμογενέσι προσήνωντο· καὶ ἐπεὶ ὁμοῦ συνηθροίσθησαν, ἀπῆλθον καὶ ἐν τοῖς παριστρίοις πεδίοις ἐπήξαντο τὰς σκηνάς, ἐκεῖθεν δ' ὁρμώμενοι τὰ Θρᾳκῷα κατέτρεχον. πολλάκις δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως κατ' αὐτῶν στρατεύματα πέμψαντος, ἐπικρατέστεροι ἦσαν οἱ βάρβαροι, ὥστε καὶ ἀδεῶς κατὰ πάσης τῆς Θρᾴκης καὶ Μακεδονίας σκεδάννυσθαι καὶ λείαν ἅπαντα τίθεσθαι καὶ οὐ τὰ πόρρω μόνον, ἀλλὰ μέντοι καὶ τὰ τῇ πόλει ἀγχίθυρα. τέλος δὲ σπένδονται Ῥωμαίοις τριακοντούτεις σπονδάς. καὶ οὕτως ὁ τῶν Πατζινάκων ἔληξε πόλεμος. Ὁ δὲ σουλτὰν οὐκ ἔληγεν ἐπιὼν τὰς ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους χώρας καὶ πόλεις καὶ τὰς μὲν ληιζόμενος, τὰς δ' ἐκπορθῶν τε καὶ οἰκειούμενος. Κατὰ τούτους τοὺς χρόνους καὶ ἐπιβουλὴν ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ ἐφώρασεν, ἣν Ῥωμανὸς ὁ Βοΐλας συνεστήσατο. ἦν δ' οὗτος 645 τῶν ἀσήμων ἀνὴρ καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν εἶχεν ἡμίφωνον μηδ' οἵαν ὀρθοεπεῖν, ὀλισθαίνουσαν δ' ἐν ταῖς ὁμιλίαις καὶ ἀνεπαίσθητα τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς φθεγγομένην. τοῦτο δὲ ἦν τὸ μὲν ἐλάττωμα φυσικόν, τὸ δὲ προσποίησις καὶ σκηνὴ τὴν τῆς φύσεως διαμαρτίαν τῇ ὑποκρίσει τοῦ σκηνουργοῦ ἐπιτείνοντος. τῷ τοιούτῳ τοίνυν ἀνδρὶ ὡς οὐδενί τῳ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἥδετο, καὶ εἰ διημαρτημένα καὶ ἀδιάρθρωτα ἤκουε φθεγγομένου αὐτοῦ, ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἡγεῖτο τὰς ἐκείνου φλυαρίας γλυκυθυμίαν. καὶ