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in the evening, and thirdly, that the mystical sacrifices were neglected by those eating late. And he seemed to all ungracious and charmless, not knowing clemency concerning the laws even in a dream.

24. The emperor, however, struggling against the difficulty of affairs on all sides, sends his son-in-law Kassianos, who by rank was grand primikerios, throughout the regions of Mesothynia, in order to settle affairs there as he might. Who, after spending time in the forts there, when it was decided by the council to collect the usual taxes from the landowners, so that these might be for the wages of the soldiery there, he, either playing the demagogue with the people, or for some other reason that seemed good to him, seized Bardales, who had been sent for this purpose, and scourged him with many blows, and all the more because Bardales, arriving first, had reported the worst things against him to the emperor, 619 having received the reports from another, that he chose to form a marriage alliance with the Persian and was arranging a common enterprise with him against the imperial interests. And for this reason, being ordered to present himself, he, despairing for his own sake, postponed the journey leading to the emperor. But having associated with himself a military force, and sending and seeking pledges of safety from the emperor, he roamed about freely. But when he entrusted himself to Chele and had from there pledges of safety, as he thought, certain men of Chele, being found in the city, conspired with the emperor to certainly seize the fugitive by deceit and hand him over to those who would take him away. Which also happened very quickly. For as one of the eunuchs was sent for this purpose, he himself was hidden under the deck of the ship, but they, entering the fortress as if they were friends, secretly shared the plan with the others, and at midday after a meal, attacking together, while the guards were scattered, they surrounded him, bound him, and at once brought him as a prisoner to the emperor. The emperor, deigning to say nothing to him, imprisoned him 620 together with Kotanitzes, since he had previously written to his own kinsman by marriage, the keeper of the kanikleion, threatening a similar and the same rebellion as Kotanitzes, if he were not treated with compassion. And at that time the ruler seemed to have been deprived of the best of his generals, nevertheless, however, he did not for a moment cease to consider how he might manage his own affairs, which were in such a bad state.

25. For this reason, therefore, having long intended to send an embassy to the eastern Iberians for an alliance, he sends men to summon them, since they too were ready to respond without pay and to aid the Roman cause with only horses and sufficient expenses. Whence also, not long after, a certain Chatzikes, one of the magnates of Iberia, came to the emperor in order to establish a common enterprise with the Romans, but since the agreements did not suit them, he returns without success. And the marriage alliance with Charbandas was being very carefully prepared. And learning that the regions of Nicaea were being ravaged, he sends his own sister Maria, who was also called Despoina of the Mougoulioi, together with a sufficient force to Nicaea. And he announced that she, while staying there, would arrange the marriage alliance with 621 Charbandas and bring the affairs of the Persians into subjection as much as possible. 26. And indeed the Turks in the west were not at all negligent, but having mastered the region of Ganos, they also besieged the fortress of Saint Elias, and cutting in two the detachments near them, they harassed those within, until those men, worn down by the prolonged lack of water, so that they licked the leaves of trees and, sacrificing animals, drank their blood for many days, and many also died, they decided to surrender themselves and the fortress. But they did not trust the Persians because of the difference in religion, and sending for Romophortos, they called upon him. And he came, and his men, with force and difficulty yet nevertheless, drove out the Persian contingent, which offered many justifications to them, according to agreements

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ὀψίας, καὶ τρίτον τὸ παραθεωρεῖσθαι τὰς θυσίας τὰς μυστικὰς τοῖς ὀψὲ σιτουμέ νοις. ἀγλευκὴς δὲ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐδόκει καὶ ἄχαρις, τὸ περὶ τοὺς νόμους ἐπιεικὲς μηδ' ὄναρ εἰδώς.

24. Ὁ μέντοι γε βασιλεὺς τῷ δυσχερεῖ πανταχόθεν τῶν πραγμάτων ἀντιπαλαμώμενος πέμπει μὲν τὸν γαμβρὸν αὐτοῦ Κασσιανὸν καὶ ἐξ ἀξιώματος μέγαν πριμικήριον ἀνὰ τὰ μέρη τῆς Μεσοθινίας, ἐφ' ᾧπερ καὶ ὡς ἔχοι ἂν τἀκεῖ καθιστᾶν· ὃς καὶ καιρὸν διατρίψας ἐν τοῖς ἐκεῖ φρουρίοις, ἐπεὶ ἔδοξε τῇ βουλῇ φό ρους ἐκλέγειν ἐκ τῶν κτηματικῶν τοὺς συνήθεις, ἵν' εἶεν οὗτοι τῷ ἐκεῖ στρατιωτικῷ εἰς μισθούς, ἐκεῖνος ἢ καταδημαγωγῶν τὸν λαόν, ἢ καὶ ἄλλο τί οἱ δόξαν, τὸν εἰς τοῦτο πεμφθέντα Βαρ δαλῆν κατασχὼν πολλαῖς ταῖς πληγαῖς ἱμάσσει, καὶ μᾶλλον ὅτι φθάσας Βαρδαλῆς προσήγγειλε βασιλεῖ τὰ χείριστα κατ' ἐκείνου, 619 δεξάμενος τοὺς λόγους παρ' ἄλλου, ὡς κῆδος πρὸς τὸν Πέρσην συνιστᾶν αἱρεῖται καὶ κοινοπραγίαν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον κατὰ τῶν βασι λικῶν πραγμάτων συντίθεται. ταύτῃ τοι καὶ προσταττόμενος ἀπαντᾶν, ὁ δὲ δυσελπιστῶν περὶ οὗ τὴν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα φέ ρουσαν ἀναβάλλεται. προσεταιρισάμενος δὲ καὶ λαὸν στρατιω τικόν, πέμπων καὶ ζητῶν ἀσφαλείας πίστεις πρὸς βασιλέως, ἄνε τος ἠλᾶτο. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῇ Χηλῇ ἑαυτὸν ἐνεπίστευε καὶ τὰ πιστὰ τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἐκεῖθεν εἶχεν, ὡς ᾤετο, Χηλῖταί τινες κατὰ πόλιν εὑρεθέντες συντάττονται βασιλεῖ ἦ μὴν κατασχεῖν ἐκ δόλου τὸν φυγαδίαν καὶ παραδοῦναι τοῖς ἄξουσιν. ὃ καὶ γίνεται τὴν ταχί στην· ὡς γάρ τις τῶν εὐνούχων ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἐπέμπετο, αὐτὸς μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν καταστρωμάτων τῆς νηὸς ἐκρύπτετο, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἅτε συνήθεις εἰσελθόντες τὸ φρούριον κοινοῦνται τὸν λόγον κρυφη δὸν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις, καὶ μεσούσης ἡμέρας μετὰ δεῖπνον ἐπιστάν τες ἅμα, τῶν συντηρούντων διεσπαρμένων, περισχόντες δε σμοῦσι καὶ ἅμα παρὰ τὸν βασιλέα φέρουσι δέσμιον. βασιλεὺς δὲ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον μηδὲν ἀξιώσας εἰπεῖν, συνάμα τῷ Κοτανίτζῃ τοῦτον 620 καθείργνυσιν, ἐπεὶ ἔφθασεν ἐκεῖνος γράψας πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον συμ πένθερον τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ κανικλείου, ὁμοίαν ἀποστασίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν τῷ Κοτανίτζῃ, εἰ μὴ συμπαθοῖτο, προσαπειλούμενος. καὶ ἔδοξε μὲν τότε ζημιωθεὶς ὁ κρατῶν τῶν στρατηγῶν τὸν κρά τιστον, ὅμως γε μέντοι φροντίζων οὐκ ἀνίει οὐδ' ἐς βραχὺ πῶς ἂν διοικοίη τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν οὕτω πονήρως ἔχοντα.

25. Ἔνθεν τοι καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἑῴους Ἴβηρας πρεσβείαν στείλασθαι κατὰ συμμαχίαν ἐκ πλείστου διανοούμενος, πέμπει τοὺς συγκαλέσοντας, ἐπεὶ κἀκεῖνοι ἕτοιμοι ἀπαντᾶν ἦσαν ἀμισθὶ καὶ ἐπὶ μόνοις ἵπποις καὶ δαπάναις ταῖς ἀρκούσαις προσαμύνειν τοῖς Ῥωμαίων πράγμασιν. ὅθεν καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ Χατζίκης τις τῶν τῆς Ἰβηρίας μεγιστάνων προσελθὼν βασιλεῖ ἐφ' ᾧπερ καὶ τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους καταστήσαιτο κοινοπραγίαν, ἐπείπερ οὐ συνέβαινον σφίσιν αἱ συμφωνίαι, ἄπρακτος ὑποστρέφει. τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὸν Χαρμπαντᾶν κῆδος καὶ λίαν ἐξητοιμάζετο. καὶ τὰ τῆς Νικαίας μέρη κακούμενα πυνθανόμενος, τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτα δέλφην Μαρίαν, τὴν καὶ δέσποιναν τῶν Μουγουλίων θρυλλου μένην, συνάμα λαῷ τῷ ἀρκοῦντι πέμπει πρὸς Νίκαιαν. ἀπήγ γειλε δὲ καὶ αὐτὴν καθημένην τῇδε καθιστάνειν τὸ πρὸς τὸν 621 Χαρμπαντᾶν κῆδος καὶ τὰ τῶν Περσῶν δουλαγωγεῖν ὡς οἷόν τε πράγματα. 26. Οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ οἱ ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν Τοῦρκοι τὸ παράπαν ἠμέλουν, ἀλλὰ τὸν τοῦ Γάνου κυριεύσαντες τόπον καὶ τὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἠλιοῦ περικαθίζουσι φρούριον, καὶ τοὺς κατ' αὐτοὺς οὐ λαμοὺς δίχα τεμόντες ἐκεῖ τοὺς ἐντὸς ἐκάκουν, ἕως οὗ συντακέν τες ἐκεῖνοι τῇ πολυημέρῳ λειψυδρίᾳ, ὡς καὶ τὰ φύλλα τῶν δέν δρων λείχειν καὶ θύοντες ζῶα ἀπορροφᾶν τοῦ αἵματος ἐπὶ πλεί σταις ἡμέραις, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν, ἔγνωσαν ἑαυτοὺς προ διδόναι καὶ φρούριον. πλὴν οὐκ ἐθάρρουν τοῖς Πέρσαις διὰ τὴν ἀλλοτρίωσιν τοῦ σεβάσματος, καὶ πέμψαντες Ῥομοφόρτον ἐπε καλοῦντο. καὶ ὃς παρῆν, καὶ βίᾳ μὲν μόλις δ' ὅμως οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν τὸ Περσικὸν ἐξελάσαντες, τὰ πολλὰ δικαιολογούμενον πρὸς αὐτούς, καθ' ὁμολογίας