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197

of the city that had fallen he announced to the people, saying, "You are not able to build the walls, but we have ordered the administrators, and they are demanding for the tax-canon a miliarision per solidus, and the imperial treasury takes it and builds the walls." From this, therefore, the custom of giving the dikeraton to the administrators prevailed. The year from the creation of the world according to the Romans was 6248 from Adam, and according to the Egyptians or Alexandrians 6232, and from Philip of the Macedonians 1063. Leo therefore reigned from the 25th of the month of March of the 15th indiction until the 18th of the month of June of the 9th indiction, having reigned for 24 years, 2 months, 25 days. Likewise also Constantine, his son and successor to his impiety and his reign, from the same 18th of the month of June of the 9th indiction until the 14th of the month of September of the 14th indiction, having also himself reigned, by God's permission, for 34 years, 3 months, 2 days. Thus therefore, as we said before, in the same year of the 9th indiction, on the 18th of June, Leo died both the spiritual and the bodily death, and Constantine, his son, became sole emperor. And whatever evils befell the Christians under the impious Leo concerning both the orthodox faith and concerning the civil administrations, by his devising for shameful gain and avarice, in Sicily and Calabria and Crete, and the apostasy of Italy on account of his evil doctrine, and earthquakes and famines and plagues and rebellions of nations, to pass over the details, has been set forth in the preceding chapters. It is worthwhile, then, to narrate in order also the lawless deeds of his most impious and all-wretched son, which were more unholy and God-hated, yet truthfully nonetheless, as in the sight of the all-seeing God, and without excess, for the benefit of those who come after and of the wretched and reckless little men now being led astray into the abominable evil doctrine of that most lawless one, telling of the things impiously done from the 10th indiction, the first year of his reign, until the 14th indiction, the year of his destruction. For this all-destructive and thunderstruck, bloodthirsty and most savage beast, using his power tyrannically and not lawfully, first of all stood apart from our God and Savior Jesus Christ and his immaculate and all-holy mother and all the saints, but being deceived by magic and licentiousness and blood-sacrifices and horse-manure and urine, and indeed delighting in effeminacies and invocations of demons, [and] he lived together from a young age with simply all soul-destroying practices. But when he took on his father's rule along with his wickedness, what need is there to say how much wickedness the all-defiled one belched forth from the start, and fanned it into a conspicuous and towering flame? For no small despondency seized the Christians seeing this, so that all from the very start hated him for his audacity, and they sided with Artabasdos, the kouropalates and count of the Opsikion, who was his brother-in-law by his sister Anna, and handed the empire over to him as an orthodox man. In the same year Hisham, the ruler of the Arabs, put to death the Christian captives in every city of his domain, among whom also was Eustathios, the blessed son of Marianos the most notable patrician, who after being much constrained and not denying his sincere faith was revealed a true martyr in Harran, a famous city of Mesopotamia, where also his precious and holy relics perform all kinds of cures by divine grace; and many others also were perfected in Christ through martyrdom and blood. Years of the world 6233. Years of the divine incarnation 733. Emperor of the Romans, Constantine, for 35 years. 1st. Ruler of the Arabs, Hisham, for 19 years. 18th. Bishop of Rome, Zacharias, for 21 years. 8th. Bishop of Constantinople, Anastasios, for 24 years. 12th. In this year Constantine, the persecutor of the traditions handed down from the fathers, became emperor by divine judgments and the multitude of our sins. So on the 27th of the month of June of the following 10th indiction, having set out into the regions of the Opsikion

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πόλεως πτωθέντα διελάλησε τῷ λαῷ λέγων, ὅτι "ὑμεῖς οὐκ εὐπορεῖτε κτίσαι τὰ τείχη, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς προσετάξαμεν τοῖς διοικηταῖς, καὶ ἀπαιτοῦσιν εἰς τὸν κανόνα κατὰ ὁλοκοτίνιν μιλιαρίσιν, καὶ λαμβάνει αὐτὸ ἡ βασιλεία καὶ κτίζει τὰ τείχη." ἐντεῦθεν οὖν ἐπεκράτησεν ἡ συνήθεια δίδειν τὰ δικέρατα τοῖς διοικηταῖς. ἔτος ἦν ἀπὸ μὲν κτίσεως κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους σμηʹ ἀπὸ Ἀδάμ, κατὰ δὲ Αἰγυπτίους ἤγουν Ἀλεξανδρεῖς σλβʹ, ἀπὸ δὲ Φιλίππου τοῦ κατὰ Μακεδόνας αξγʹ. ἐβασίλευσεν οὖν Λέων ἀπὸ κεʹ τοῦ Μαρτίου μηνὸς τῆς ιεʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος ἕως μηνὸς Ἰουνίου ιηʹ τῆς θʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος, βασιλεύσας ἔτη κδʹ, μῆνας βʹ, ἡμέρας κεʹ. ὁμοίως καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος, ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας αὐτοῦ καὶ βασιλείας διάδοχος, ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς ιηʹ τοῦ Ἰουνίου μηνὸς τῆς θʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος ἕως τῆς ιδʹ τοῦ Σεπτεμβρίου μηνὸς τῆς ιδʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος, βασιλεύσας καὶ αὐτός, παραχωρή413 σαντος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἔτη λδʹ, μῆνας γʹ, ἡμέρας βʹ. οὕτως οὖν, ὡς προέφημεν, τῷ αὐτῷ ἔτει τῆς θʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος μηνὶ Ἰουνίῳ ιηʹ τέθνηκε Λέων σὺν τῷ ψυχικῷ καὶ τὸν σωματικὸν θάνατον, καὶ αὐτοκρατορεῖ Κωνσταντῖνος, ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ. καὶ ὅσα μὲν ἐπὶ Λέοντος τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς κακὰ Χριστιανοῖς συνέβη περί τε τὴν ὀρθόδοξον πίστιν καὶ περὶ τῶν πολιτικῶν διοικήσεων αἰσχροῦ κέρδους καὶ φιλαργυρίας ἐπινοίᾳ κατά τε Σικελίαν καὶ Καλαβρίαν καὶ Κρήτην, ἥ τε τῆς Ἰταλίας ἀποστασία διὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ κακοδοξίαν, σεισμοί τε καὶ λιμοὶ καὶ λοιμοὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν ἐπαναστάσεις, ἵνα τὰ κατὰ μέρος σιγήσω, ἐν τοῖς προλαβοῦσι δεδήλωται κεφαλαίοις. ἄξιον δὲ λοιπὸν ἐφεξῆς καὶ τοῦ δυσσεβεστάτου καὶ παναθλίου παιδὸς αὐτοῦ τὰς ἀθεμίτους διεξελθεῖν πράξεις ἀνοσιουργοτέρας καὶ θεομισήτους οὔσας, φιλαλήθως δὲ ὅμως, ὡς ἐφορῶντος τοῦ παντεπόπτου θεοῦ, καὶ ἀπερίττως εἰς ὠφέλειαν τοῖς μετέπειτα καὶ τοῖς νῦν πλανωμένοις ἀθλίοις καὶ ἀτασθάλοις ἀνδραρίοις εἰς τὴν τοῦ παρανομωτάτου βδελυρὰν κακοδοξίαν, τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς ιʹ λέγοντας ἰνδικτιῶνος, ἔτους πρώτου τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας, δυσσεβῶς πεπραγμένα ἕως τῆς ιδʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος, ἔτους τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀπωλείας. αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ πανώλης καὶ ἐμβρόντητος αἱμοβόρος τε καὶ ἀγριώτατος θὴρ τυραννικῶς καὶ οὐκ ἐννόμως τῷ κράτει χρησάμενος πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀχράντου καὶ παναγίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων διΐσταται, μαγείαις δὲ καὶ ἀσελγείαις καὶ αἱμοθυσίαις καβαλλίαις τε κόπροις καὶ οὔροις ἀπατώμενος, μαλακίαις τε μὴν καὶ δαιμόνων ἐπικλήσεσι χαίρων, [καὶ] πᾶσιν ἁπλῶς ψυχοφθόροις ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἐκ νεαρᾶς ἡλικίας συνέζησεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν πατρικὴν ἀρχὴν σὺν τῇ κακίᾳ προσέλαβεν, τί δεῖ λέγειν, ὅσην ἐκ προοιμίων ὁ παμμίαρος τὴν κακίαν ἐκίσσησεν, καὶ εἰς προῦπτον ταύτην καὶ ἐναέριον ἀνερρίπισε φλόγα; οὐ μικρὰ γὰρ ταύτην βλέποντας τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς κατέλαβεν ἀθυμία, ὥστε πάντας ἐκ προοιμίων εὐθὺς δι' ἰταμότητα μισῆσαι αὐτόν, καὶ Ἀρταυάσδῳ κουροπαλάτῃ καὶ κόμητι τοῦ Ὀψικίου προστεθῆναι γαμ414 βρῷ τε αὐτοῦ ὄντι ἐπ' ἀδελφῇ Ἄννῃ, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῷ ὡς ὀρθοδόξῳ παραδοῦναι. Τῷ δ' αὐτῷ ἔτει ἀνεῖλεν Ἰσάμ, ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀρχηγός, τοὺςκατὰ πᾶσαν πόλιν τῆς ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἀρχῆς αἰχμαλώτους Χριστιανούς, ἐν οἷς καὶ Εὐστάθιος, ὁ μακάριος υἱὸς Μαριανοῦ τοῦ περιβλέπτου πατρικίου, πολλὰ βιασθεὶς καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ εἰλικρινῆ πίστιν μὴ ἀρνησάμενος μάρτυς ἀληθὴς ἀνεδείχθη εἰς Χαρράν, πόλιν οὖσαν τῆς Μεσοποταμίας ἐπίσημον, ἔνθα καὶ τὰ τίμια αὐτοῦ καὶ ἅγια λείψανα ἰάσεις παντοίας ἐπιτελοῦσι θείᾳ χάριτι· καὶ πολλοὶ δὲ ἕτεροι διὰ μαρτυρίου καὶ αἵματος ἐν Χριστῷ ἐτελειώθησαν. Κόσμου ἔτη σλγʹ. Τῆς θείας σαρκώσεως ἔτη ψλγʹ. Ῥωμαίων βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντῖνος ἔτη λεʹ. αʹ. Ἀράβων ἀρχηγὸς Ἰσὰμ ἔτη ιθʹ. ιηʹ. Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπος Ζαχαρίας ἔτη καʹ. ηʹ. Κωνσταντ. ἐπίσκοπος Ἀναστάσιος ἔτη κδʹ. ιβʹ. Τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει ὁ διώκτης τῶν πατροπαραδότων θεσμῶν Κωνσταντῖνος ἐβασίλευσε θείοις κρίμασι καὶ πλήθει πταισμάτων ἡμῶν. τῷ οὖν Ἰουνίῳ μηνὶ κζʹ τῆς ἐπέκεινα ιʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος ἐξελθὼν ἐν τοῖς μέρεσι τοῦ Ὀψικίου