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of the senatorial council and of the common multitude he promoted to greater degrees of dignities. And as many as Komnenos had deprived of their own honors (and these were many), he himself restored them to these again. But when a plot was contrived against him, he almost was submerged. For he was in the palace of the Manganes, and the conspirators considered that if a disturbance which had occurred in the city's forum were reported to him, he would immediately depart by sea for the great palace. 675 And it had been arranged by them that the imperial trireme not be there, nor its helmsmen, whom the common tongue calls protokaravoi. So the emperor, when he heard the disturbance, judged it necessary to depart straight from the palace. But since the imperial trireme was not found there, he had embarked on a random small boat; and as he was departing, the imperial ship also appeared, and with much rowing and violent impetus, cutting the dashing waves, it was steered by the helmsmen toward the little boat on which the emperor had embarked. And their intention was to ram the trireme into the little boat, so that it might sink it and make it go under along with the emperor. But when those sailing with the emperor saw the attack of the trireme, they both cried out and shouted loudly to hold back and to turn the rudders. Indeed at their shouts, as if thunderstruck, those at the rudders (and the whole thing was of divine providence) became afraid. And so the emperor, having escaped the danger, learned both how and by whom the plot had been contrived and punished the guilty ones only by the confiscation of their properties. This emperor boasted of ancestors of old called by the surname of the Doukai, namely Andronikos and Pantherios and after these, Constantine. But 676 since their family had long ago been utterly destroyed, when Constantine attempted a usurpation, as was said before, when Constantine Porphyrogennetos, the son of the emperor Leo, I mean the Philosopher, was reigning and was still under regents on account of his infancy, and with no male having been left, his ancestors were descended from a female line, for which reason he was not considered a pure Doukas, but mixed and having a debased relationship to the Doukai. The man was pious towards God, gentle in character, a lover of justice, but sluggish and dull in judgment, delighting in those attested for the dignity of their life, but excessively fond of money and devising ways by which he might have many treasures. For which reason, also, above all he directed his effort to these two things: both to the increase of the public taxes (for which reason he also offered for sale to those who wanted them the offices which audited the tax-collectors, and he entrusted the collection of taxes to publicans under 677 contract) and to the hearing of court cases. But he did not pay very close attention to accuracy when judging, but in some places he even acted autocratically and changed the verdicts, making his decisions according to the persons involved. And being stingy and parsimonious, he determined within himself not to engage in battles with the foreign nations, but with gifts and other friendly overtures to win them over and reconcile them to the Roman empire, contriving for himself two things from this: both not spending more on military expeditions and that he himself be at rest and generally have leisure for the collection of money; for which reason he also neglected the military registers or rather, erased many, and the more noble, from the muster-rolls on account of their high pay; so that it happened that the barbarian element grew bold, while the Roman armies were contracted and humbled and the Roman dominion was diminished. For at that time many of the eastern lands were being plundered and proceeded to devastation, while others were coming under the control of the enemy. 678 And matters in the direction of the rising sun were thus in a bad state, and the western regions also suffered badly on account of both a scarcity and uselessness of soldiers. For the nation of the Ouzes (this is a Scythian people of the Patzinaks, held in higher honor among the Scythian nations both for superiority of race and for excess of numbers) the Ister with their whole people

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συγκλήτου βουλῆς καὶ τοῦ δημώδους πλήθους εἰς μείζονας ἀξιωμάτων βαθμοὺς προεβίβασε. καὶ ὅσους δ' ὁ Κομνηνὸς ἀφείλετο τὰς οἰκείας τιμάς (πολλοὶ δ' ἦσαν καὶ οὗτοι), εἰς ταύτας αὖθις αὐτὸς ἐκείνους ἀποκατέστησεν. Ἐπιβουλῆς δὲ κατ' αὐτοῦ συσκευασθείσης, μικροῦ δεῖν ἐγένετο ἂν ὑποβρύχιος. ἦν μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις τῶν Μαγγάνων, ἐσκέψαντο δὲ οἱ συνομοσάμενοι ὡς εἰ θόρυβος ἐν τῇ τῆς πόλεως γεγονὼς ἀγγελθείη αὐτῷ ἀγορᾷ, αὐτίκα διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκεῖνος ἀπελεύσεται πρὸς τὸ μέγα ἀνάκτορον. προ675 ῳκονόμητο δ' αὐτοῖς μὴ εἶναι τὴν βασιλικὴν τριήρη ἐκεῖ καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνης οἰακοστρόφους, οὓς πρωτοκαράβους ἡ δημώδης λέγει φωνή. ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς ὡς τὸν θόρυβον ἠνωτίσατο, ἀπιέναι δεῖν ἔκρινε τῶν ἀνακτόρων εὐθύ. ἐπεὶ δ' οὐχ εὕρηται ἡ βασιλικὴ τριήρης ἐκεῖ, εἰς τὸ τυχὸν ἐμβεβήκει ἀκάτιον· ἀπιόντος δὲ ἀνεφάνη καὶ ἡ ναῦς ἡ βασίλειος καὶ εἰρεσίᾳ πολλῇ σὺν ῥύμῃ σφοδρὰ τὸ ῥόθιον τέμνουσα πρὸς τὸ πλοιάριον, ὅπερ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐμβεβήκει, πρὸς τῶν πηδαλιούχων ἰθύνετο. ἦν δ' αὐτοῖς τὸ βουλόμενον ἐπιβιβάσαι τὴν τριήρη τοῦ πλοιαρίου, ἵν' αὐτὸ καταδύσῃ καὶ σὺν τῷ βασιλεῖ ποιήσηται ὑποβρύχιον. ὡς δ' εἶδον τὴν τῆς τριήρους ἐπιφορὰν οἱ τῷ κρατοῦντι συμπλέοντες, ἀνέκραξάν τε καὶ ἐπέχειν θρασύτερον ἐξεβόησαν καὶ μετατρέπειν τοὺς οἴακας. ταῖς γοῦν ἐκείνων βοαῖς ὥσπερ ἐμβροντηθέντες οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν οἰάκων (θείας δ' ἦν τὸ ξύμπαν προμηθείας) ἀπεδειλίασαν. καὶ οὕτως τὸν κίνδυνον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκφυγὼν ὅπως τε καὶ παρ' ὧν ἡ ἐπιβουλὴ συνεσκεύαστο ἔγνω καὶ τοὺς αἰτίους ἠμύνατο στερήσει μόνῃ τῶν οὐσιῶν. Οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς ηὔχει μὲν ὡς ἐπὶ προγόνοις τοῖς πάλαι τῇ τῶν δουκῶν κεκλημένοις ἐπωνυμίᾳ, τῷ Ἀνδρονίκῳ δηλαδὴ καὶ τῷ Πανθηρίῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις τῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ. ἀλλὰ 676 τοῦ γένους ἐκείνων πάλαι πανοικὶ ἐξολοθρευθέντος, ὅτε Κωνσταντῖνος τυραννίδι ἐπικεχείρηκεν, ὡς ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται, τοῦ πορφυρογεννήτου Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ παιδὸς τοῦ ἄνακτος Λέοντος, τοῦ φιλοσόφου φημί, βασιλεύοντος καὶ ὑπὸ ἐπιτρόπους τελοῦντος ἔτι διὰ τὴν νηπιότητα, καὶ μηδενὸς ἄρρενος περιλειφθέντος, ἐκ θηλείας οἱ τούτου κατήγοντο πρόγονοι, ὅθεν οὐδὲ ∆οῦκας λελόγιστο καθαρός, ἀλλ' ἐπίμικτος καὶ κεκιβδηλευμένην ἔχων τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ∆ούκας συγγένειαν. Ἦν δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ τὰ πρὸς θεὸν εὐσεβής, τὸ ἦθος ἐπιεικής, δικαιοσύνης ἐραστής, τὴν γνώμην δὲ νωθρὸς καὶ ἀμβλύς, χαίρων τοῖς ἐπὶ βίου μαρτυρουμένοις σεμνότητι, ἐκτόπως δ' ἐρασιχρήματος καὶ πόρους ἐπινοῶν ὅπως αὐτῷ γένοιντο πολλοὶ θησαυροί. ὅθεν καὶ πρὸ πάντων εἰς δύο ταῦτα κατέτεινε τὴν σπουδήν, εἴς τε τὴν τῶν δημοσίων φόρων ἐπαύξησιν (διὸ καὶ τὰ ἀρχεῖα τὰ τοὺς φορολόγους λογοπραγοῦντα ὠνητὰ παρεῖχε τοῖς βουλομένοις καὶ τελώναις τὴν συλλογὴν τῶν φόρων ἐπὶ 677 συνθήκαις ἐπίστευε) καὶ εἰς ἀκροάσεις δικῶν. οὐ πάνυ δὲ τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ προσεῖχε δικάζων, ἀλλ' ἐνιαχοῦ καὶ ἐνηυθέντει καὶ τὰς ψήφους ὑπήλλαττε, πρὸς τὰ πρόσωπα τὰς ἀποφάσεις τιθέμενος. γλίσχρος δὲ τυγχάνων καὶ φειδωλὸς ἔθετο παρ' ἑαυτῷ μὴ μάχαις πρὸς τὰ ἔθνη συρρήγνυσθαι, ἀλλὰ δώροις καὶ φιλοφροσύναις ἄλλαις αὐτὰ οἰκειοῦσθαι καὶ καταλλάττειν τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῇ, δύο ταῦτα ἐντεῦθεν μνώμενος ἑαυτῷ, τό τε μὴ πλείω δαπανῶν ἐν ἐκστρατείαις καὶ τὸ αὐτὸς ἠρεμεῖν καὶ σχολάζειν ὡς ἐπίπαν τῇ τῶν χρημάτων συλλογῇ· διὸ καὶ τῶν στρατιωτικῶν καταλόγων ἠμέλησεν ἢ μᾶλλον πολλοὺς καὶ τοὺς γενναιοτέρους τῶν ἀπογραφῶν ἀπήλειψε διὰ τὸ βαρύμισθον· ὥστε συμβαίνειν θρασύνεσθαι μὲν τὸ βαρβαρικόν, συστέλλεσθαι δὲ καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι τὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατεύματα καὶ μειοῦσθαι τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τὴν Ῥωμαϊκήν. πολλαὶ γὰρ τότε τῶν ἑῴων χωρῶν αἱ μὲν ἐληίζοντο καὶ εἰς ἀφανισμὸν προεχώρουν, αἱ δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐγίνοντο. 678 Καὶ τὰ μὲν πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον οὕτως εἶχον κακῶς, τὰ δ' ἑσπέρια καὶ ταῦτα κακῶς ἔπασχε διὰ στρατιωτῶν καὶ σπάνιν καὶ ἀχρειότητα. τοῦ γὰρ τῶν Οὔζων ἔθνους (Σκύθαι δὲ τοῦτό ἐστι τῶν Πατζινάκων καὶ κατὰ γένους ὑπεροχὴν καὶ κατὰ πλήθους ὑπερβολὴν παρὰ τοῖς Σκυθικοῖς προτιμώμενον ἔθνεσι) τὸν Ἴστρον παγγενῆ