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to them as king. And there were agreements: if they should be successful, to advance on Ternovos together with the forces from the emperor, but if not, to still be honored again as despots of the Roman land. For some, therefore, the marriages were concluded, and continuous deliberations were being proposed, so that matters might proceed further with ease. But against the marriage of Michael and the emperor's second daughter Anna stood one of the church canons, which Sisinnius, having established long ago, had strengthened with sure excommunications. Now, Anna, the wife of the despot Nikephoros, was the first cousin of the emperor's daughter Anna, and Nikephoros and Michael were full brothers. Since, therefore, their cohabitation fell to the sixth degree of kinship, composed 561 of four on the one side and two on the other, there was need of a synod to consider these matters and for a dispensation from it. But since they were considering also the emperor's compacts, as they were being made for the sake of peace, they seemed to have more leeway than those of others, it was commonly agreed that what was supposedly being done contrary to the canons should be counterbalanced by mercy toward those in need; and in this way, the impediment having been removed, Michael was appointed among the despots, and was joined in marriage to Anna, who was, in fact, an empress. And from this, Michael was a servant to the emperors under oath, while John was completely bound by treaty, if he should become king of the Bulgarians, under oath to the Romans, but if not, he too, under oath, would faithfully serve the emperors, being appointed despot under them.

7. The affairs of Maria and how she came to cohabit with Lachanas. The emperor wished to forestall Maria, lest she manage to settle her affairs well and foil the emperor's plan, and he hastened, sending many men against her, not so much to conquer the region as to handle it gently, on the condition that they hand over Maria and receive the emperor's sons. Maria, however, realized she was in an inescapable situation and threatened between two evils: for on the one side was the recently appeared evil, Lachanas pressing on, who was devastating the country and acquiring the surrounding areas, just by attacking, and on the other were the emperor's forces, advancing in greater numbers, which were clearly harming the lowly and outlying parts, while trying to win over by every means the inner and prominent parts. Therefore, as she trembled both for herself and for her child, terrible anxieties troubled her soul, and, not being strong enough to stand against both sides, she decided to pacify one, except insofar as she might also reap the greater benefits from the acts of pacification. She judged, therefore, that to incline toward the emperor was both reasonable and otherwise proper for herself, preserving her modesty and her duties toward the departed—duties indeed by all means not to cohabit with his murderer, and seeking to be saved by a kinsman, from whom she had also obtained her honor. For these reasons, therefore, she judged it was of the 563 just things to send to the emperor and to supplicate him. But as for what would be advantageous for her according to her own desire, she knew it was altogether discordant: for her own concern was to secure the honor for herself and her son Michael, but the emperor would not be willing even in his dreams, having set aside his sons whom he had begun to establish, to procure the rule for them. Thus, therefore, she despaired rather sufficiently of any help from the emperor, and she judged that to send to the barbarian and demand to continue ruling the nation on her own under a truce had no reason to the claim; for it is impossible for one who lays claim to this rule to make a truce with the one who holds it. And considering the situation with the emperor made her worry: for the emperor would not be at rest, once he had begun to contend for the rule on behalf of his sons. She decided, therefore, to overlook her duties to the departed, and to overlook also the indignation of men, if, being such as she was, she should give herself to such a man, and to look only to what seemed advantageous for herself and her child. And this was, as it seemed, to throw herself completely upon the swineherd and to open the gates to him of both the kingdom and the city, and to be with him and cohabit with him as empress to an emperor. Having considered these things, she immediately sends—for the ... of the

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αὐτοῖς βασιλεῖ. Καὶ συνθεσίαι ἦσαν· εἰ μὲν εὐοδοῖντο, ἐπιβαίνειν Τερνόβου συνάμα καὶ ταῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως δυνάμεσιν, εἰ δ' οὖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὖθις εἰς δεσπότας τῆς Ῥωμαΐδος σεμνύνεσθαι. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν τετελεσμένοι ἦσαν οἱ γάμοι, καὶ βουλαὶ προὐτίθεντο συνεχεῖς, ὅπως ἂν καὶ τὰ πρόσω κατ' εὐμάρειαν προχωροῖεν. Τοῖς δὲ τοῦ Μιχαὴλ γάμοις καὶ τῆς δευτέρας τῶν βασιλέως θυγατέρων Ἄννης προσίστατό τι τῶν τῆς ἐκκλησίας κανόνων, οὓς δὴ Σισίνιος, πάλαι θείς, ἀφορισμοῖς ἐκράτυνεν ἀσφαλέσιν. Ἡ μὲν οὖν τοῦ δεσπότου Νικηφόρου Ἄννα τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως θυγατρὸς Ἄννης αὐτανεψία ἦν, Νικηφόρος δὲ καὶ Μιχαὴλ αὐτάδελφοι πάντως. Περιισταμένου γοῦν τοῦ κατ' αὐτοὺς συνοικε σίου εἰς ἕκτον βαθμόν, τὸν ἔνθεν μὲν ἐκ τεσσάρων, ἐκεῖθεν δ' ἐκ δύο συγκεί 561 μενον, ἔδει συνόδου περὶ τούτων σκεψομένης καὶ τῆς παρ' αὐτῆς λύσεως. Ἐπεὶ δ' ἐσκέπτοντο καὶ τὰ τῶν βασιλέων συναλλάγματα, ὡς εἰς εἰρήνην γινόμενα, ἐδόκουν πλείω τὴν ἄνεσιν ἔχειν ἢ δὴ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, ἀντισηκοῦσθαι τὸ ὡς δῆθεν παρὰ κανόνας γιγνόμενον τῷ πρὸς τοὺς δεομένους ἐλέει κοινῶς ἐδόκει· καὶ τόνδε τὸν τρόπον τοῦ προσισταμένου λυθέντος, ἐτάττετο μὲν εἰς δεσπότας ὁ Μιχαήλ, τῇ Ἄννῃ δέ, βασιλίδι οὔσῃ γε, συνεζεύγνυτο. Καὶ ἦν ἐντεῦθεν ὁ μὲν Μιχαὴλ βασιλεῦσι δοῦλος ἐν ὅρκοις, ὁ δ' Ἰωάννης ἔνσπονδος διόλου, εἰ βασιλεύσοι Βουλγάρων, Ῥωμαίοις ἐν ὅρκοις, εἰ δ' οὖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ὅρκοις πιστῶς δουλεύσων τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν, ὑπὸ τούτοις δεσπότης ταττόμενος.

ζʹ. Τὰ κατὰ τὴν Μαρίαν καὶ ὅπως τῷ Λαχανᾷ συνῴκησεν. Ἠβούλετο δὲ βασιλεὺς προλαμβάνειν Μαρίαν, μὴ καὶ φθάσῃ τὰ καθ' αὑτὴν εὖ θεμένη ἁλιώσῃ τε τὴν βασιλέως βουλήν, καὶ κατέσπευδε συχνοὺς ἐπ' ἐκείνην πέμπων, οὐ τόσον τἀκεῖ καταστρέψοντας ὅσον ἡμέρως μεταχει ριουμένους, ἐφ' ᾧ παραδοῖεν Μαρίαν καὶ τοὺς τοῦ βασιλέως δέχοιντο παῖδας. Ἡ μέντοι γε Μαρία ἐν ἀφύκτοις ἔγνω γενομένη καὶ δυοῖν μέσον ἐναπειλημ μένη κακοῖν· ἔνθεν μὲν γὰρ τὸ φανὲν ἐκ νέου κακόν, ὁ Λαχανᾶς προσκείμε νος, ἠρήμου τὴν χώραν καὶ προσεκτᾶτο τὰ πέριξ, προσβάλλων μόνον, ἐκεῖθεν δ' αἱ δυνάμεις τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐπιοῦσαι πλείονες, δῆλαι ἦσαν τὸ μὲν ταπεινὸν καὶ ὅσον ἐκτὸς ζημιοῦντες, τὸ δ' ἐντὸς καὶ περιφανὲς ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου ὑποποιούμενοι. Ὅθεν καὶ περὶ ἑαυτῇ τε καὶ τῷ παιδὶ τετρεμαινούσῃ δειναὶ φροντίδες ἐτάραττον τὴν ψυχήν, καί, πρὸς ἀμφότερα μέρη μὴ σθένουσα ἵστασθαι, θάτερον ἐξημεροῦν ἔγνω, πλὴν ὅσον καὶ ταύτην ἀπόνασθαι τῶν καθ' ἡμέρωσιν πραχθέντων τὰ μείζω. Τὸ μὲν οὖν πρὸς βασιλέα κλίνειν τῶν εἰκότων μὲν ἔκρινε καὶ ἄλλως εὐπρεπὲς ἑαυτῇ, σωζούσῃ μὲν τὰ τῆς σωφρο σύνης καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν ἀποιχόμενον δίκαιαδίκαια δὲ πάντως μὴ συνοικεῖν τῷ σφαγεῖ, ζητούσῃ δὲ παρ' οἰκείου σῴζεσθαι, παρ' οὗ δὴ καὶ τὴν τιμὴν ἐκτήσατο. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα γοῦν τὸ πρὸς βασιλέα πέμπειν καὶ ἱκετεύειν τῶν 563 δικαίων ἔκρινεν. Ὅσον δὲ τὸ καθ' αὑτὴν συνοῖσον καθ' ὃ ἦν βουλομένη, καὶ λίαν ἀπᾷδον ἐγίνωσκεν· αὐτῇ μὲν γὰρ τὴν τιμὴν κατοχυροῦν αὐτῇ τε καὶ παιδὶ Μιχαὴλ διὰ σπουδῆς εἶναι, βασιλέα δὲ μηδ' ἂν ἐν ὕπνοις θελῆσαι, ἀφέντα τοὺς παῖδας, οὓς δὴ καὶ ἤρξατο καθιστᾶν, ἐκείνοις περιποιεῖν τὴν ἀρχήν. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν τῶν ἀπὸ βασιλέως καὶ μᾶλλον ἱκανῶς ἀπεγίνωσκε, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὸν βάρβαρον πέμπειν καὶ ἀξιοῦν σπενδομένην καθ' αὑτὴν διατελεῖν τοῦ ἔθνους ἄρχουσαν, οὔτ' ἔχειν λόγον τὴν ἀξίωσιν ἔκρινε· τὸν γὰρ τῆς ἀρχῆς ταύτης ἀντιποιούμενον σπένδεσθαι πρὸς τὴν κατέχουσαν ταύτην ἀδύνατον. Καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ βασιλέως συννοοῦσαν φροντίζειν ἐποίει· μηδὲ γὰρ ἠρεμεῖν βασιλέα, ἅπαξ ὑπὲρ παίδων περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀρξάμενον διαφέρεσθαι. Ἔγνω τοίνυν παριδεῖν μὲν τὰ τοῦ ἀποιχομένου δίκαια, παριδεῖν δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώ πων νέμεσιν, εἰ, τοιαύτη τις οὖσα, τοιούτῳ ἑαυτὴν ἐκδοίη, πρὸς μόνον δὲ τὸ δοκοῦν συνοῖσον αὐτῇ τε καὶ παιδὶ κατιδεῖν. Τὸ δ' ἦν, ὡς ἐδόκει, ὅλην ἑαυτὴν ἐπιρρῖψαι τῷ συφορβῷ καὶ ὑπανοῖξαι θύρας αὐτῷ καὶ βασιλείας καὶ πόλεως, αὐτῷ τε συνεῖναι καὶ συνοικεῖν ὡς βασιλεῖ δέσποινα. Ταῦτα διανοησαμένη, αὐτίκα πέμπειοὐδὲ γὰρ ἠρεμεῖν εἴων αἱ τοῦ