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having gathered companions, he came into the regions of Thrace and, ravaging and plundering the country, demanded that those in the cities both receive him and acclaim him emperor. Then having gone to a certain Thracian town, and having been deceived by those in it and proclaimed, and having entered inside with a few men, he was seized and had his eyes put out. And thus the tyranny attempted by him was dissolved, with the Cumans, as many as had not been destroyed, returning to their own haunts. This emperor, since the orphanage was vacant, and indeed many other homes for the aged, having assigned all their properties to the orphanage and having set aside others himself, 745 both renovated and restored it at great expense and established in it a multitude of people to be cared for in their old age. But indeed he also built dwellings in it for monks and nuns; and in addition to these things also a school of letters, so that in it orphan children or those of poor parents might be taught, having appointed teachers and tutors for it and having assigned rations both to those teaching and those learning. And so it was with these matters, and they have been preserved until now; but again certain men formed another plot against the emperor, of which Michael Anemas was the leader, and the accomplices were many of those holding the first ranks in the military division. But before they attempted the deed they were both discovered and arrested, and for the conspirators the removal of the hair of the head and of the beard was imposed, not with a razor, but with a depilatory pitch. But for Anemas, his head and beard were kept untouched, but the blinding of his eyes had been decreed. And while they were still being paraded in triumph, an imperial decree arrived, exempting Anemas from the punishment and remitting for him the gouging out of his eyes. And having been deprived of their properties, they were condemned to exile, each to a different place. 746 And the mother of this emperor, having undertaken the administration of the affairs of the empire, as has been said, handled it for a long time, whence also the things done at that time to the detriment of the subjects were attributed to her by most people. The emperor was therefore vexed, as enjoying the empire in name only for the most part, but he respected his mother and did not wish to take away her power against her will. But when she understood that her son was vexed, fearing that she might be forced and seem to make the transfer unwillingly, she yielded everything to her son and emperor and withdrew from the palace, making her dwelling the monastery of the Pantepoptes, which she herself had built, where, having also resided for some years honorably and imperially and having reached a ripe old age, she passed away. And having outlived his mother by one year and a little more, the sebastokrator also paid the debt of nature, having shorn his hair and changed his dress to that of a monk when he knew that his life was failing him. And he died leaving many children, whom, since their mother also, not surviving her husband for even a whole year, departed from earthly things, the emperor took under his care; and the 747 males he joined to wives, and the females he gave to husbands, and he loved and benefited his nephews and nieces. And towards the partner of his life, this emperor was at first neither averse nor was he overly attached to her, but being overcome by venereal pleasures, he happened not to be very just in matters of the marriage-bed, whence the Augusta was also struck by the arrows of jealousy. But when advancing time blunted the fire-bearing arrows of love for the emperor, then, turning his love toward the Augusta, he was wholly given to affection for her and wished to be almost inseparable from her. Such, then, was the disposition toward the empress later on, and she was very powerful then and it was so as long as the emperor's body was strong. But when he was in pain in his feet and his gait was impaired and flows of noxious matter had collected about his joints and he was bedridden from this, the empress took charge, and the emperor generally submitted to her will, and it was planned for all authority and the administration of the empire to be entrusted to her after the passing of her husband, so that even her son

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ἑταιρισάμενος εἰς τἀπὶ Θρᾴκης τε χωρία γενόμενος καὶ τὴν χώραν κεραΐζων καὶ ληιζόμενος ἀπῄτει τοὺς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι δέχεσθαί τε αὐτὸν καὶ ἀξιοῦν βασιλικῆς ἀναρρήσεως. εἶτα εἴς τι πολίχνιον τῶν Θρᾳκικῶν ἀπελθὼν ἀπατηθείς τε παρὰ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀναρρηθεὶς εἰσελθών τε μετ' ὀλίγων ἐντὸς συνεσχέθη καὶ ἐξεκόπη τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. καὶ οὕτως ἡ ἐπιχειρηθεῖσα παρ' αὐτοῦ τυραννὶς διελέλυτο, τῶν Κομάνων, ὅσοι μὴ διεφθάρησαν, εἰς τὰ ἤθη παλινοστησάντων τὰ σφέτερα. Οὗτος ὁ βασιλεύς, τοῦ ὀρφανοτροφείου ἐσχολακότος, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ἄλλων γηρωκομείων πολλῶν, τὰς πάντων κτήσεις τῷ ὀρφανοτροφείῳ προσνείμας καὶ αὐτὸς ἑτέρας προσαφορίσας 745 ἀνεκαίνισέ τε αὐτὸ καὶ ἀνενέωσε πολλοῖς ἀναλώμασι καὶ πλῆθος γηρωκομουμένων αὐτῷ ἐγκατέστησεν. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ μοναζόντων καὶ μοναζουσῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἐδείματο καταγώγια· πρὸς δὲ τοῖς καὶ διδασκαλεῖον γραμματικῶν, ἵν' ἐν αὐτῷ διδάσκοιντο παῖδες ὀρφανοὶ ἢ γονέων ἀπόρων, διδασκάλους ἐντάξας αὐτῷ καὶ παιδαγωγοὺς καὶ σιτήσεις ἀποτάξας τοῖς διδάσκουσί τε καὶ τοῖς μανθάνουσι. Καὶ τὰ μὲν οὕτως ἔσχε καὶ μέχρι τοῦδε διατετήρηται· ἄλλο δ' αὖθις κατὰ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος συνεστήσαντό τινες διαβούλιον, οὗ κορυφαῖος μὲν ἦν ὁ Ἀνεμᾶς Μιχαήλ, συνίστορες δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν τὰ πρῶτα πραττομένων ἐν τῇ μοίρᾳ τῇ στρατιώτιδι. ἀλλὰ μήπω τῷ ἔργῳ ἐπιχειρήσαντες ἐγνώσθησάν τε καὶ συνελήφθησαν, καὶ τοῖς μὲν συνωμόταις ψίλωσις ἐπήχθη τῶν τριχῶν καὶ τοῦ πώγωνος, οὐ ξυρῷ, ἀλλὰ δρώπακι. τῷ δ' Ἀνεμᾷ ἄψαυστος μὲν ἡ κεφαλὴ καὶ ὁ πώγων τετήρητο, πήρωσις δὲ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ κατεψήφιστο. ἔτι δὲ θριαμβευομένων αὐτῶν ἐπικαταλαμβάνει βασίλειον θέσπισμα τῆς ποινῆς τὸν Ἀνεμᾶν ἐξαιρούμενον καί οἱ συγχωροῦν τῶν ὀμμάτων τὴν ἐκκοπήν. ἀφαιρεθέντες δὲ τὰς οὐσίας ὑπερορίαν ἄλλος ἀλλαχόθι κατεδικάσθησαν. 746 Ἡ μήτηρ δὲ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος τούτου τῶν τῆς βασιλείας πραγμάτων ἀναδεξαμένη, ὡς εἴρηται, τὴν διοίκησιν, μέχρι πολλοῦ ταύτην μετεχειρίζετο, ὅθεν καὶ τὰ πρὸς κάκωσιν τῶν ὑπηκόων τότε γινόμενα ἐκείνῃ οἱ πλείονες ἐπεγράφοντο. ἤχθετο μὲν οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὡς ἐν μόνῳ σχεδὸν τῆς βασιλείας ἀπολαύων ὀνόματι, ᾐδεῖτο δὲ τὴν μητέρα καὶ ἀκούσης ἐκείνης ἀφελέσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν οὐκ ἤθελεν. ἐπεὶ δ' ἐκείνη συνῆκεν ἀχθόμενον τὸν υἱόν, πτοηθεῖσα μὴ βιασθείη καὶ ἀθέλητον δόξῃ ποιήσασθαι τὴν μετάστασιν, παρακεχωρήκει πάντων τῷ υἱῷ τε καὶ αὐτοκράτορι καὶ τῶν βασιλείων ὑπανεχώρησε, τὴν τοῦ Παντεπόπτου μονήν, ἣν ἐκείνη ἐδείματο, κατοικίαν ποιησαμένη, παρ' ᾗ καί τινας ἐνιαυτοὺς παροικήσασα ἐντίμως τε καὶ βασιλικῶς ἐς γῆράς τε βαθὺ καταντήσασα μετήλλαξε τὴν ζωήν. ἕνα δ' ἐνιαυτὸν καὶ μικρόν τι πρὸς ὁ σεβαστοκράτωρ ἐπιβιοὺς τῇ μητρὶ κἀκεῖνος ἀπέτισε τὸ χρεών, κειράμενος τὴν τρίχα καὶ μεταμφιασάμενος κατὰ μοναχούς, ὡς ἔγνω ἐπιλείπειν αὐτῷ τὸ βιώσιμον. ἀπεβίω δ' ἐπὶ παισὶ πολλοῖς, οὕς, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῶν οὐδ' ὅλον ἐνιαυτὸν ἐπιζήσασα τῷ ἀνδρὶ μετέστη τῶν γεηρῶν, ὁ βασιλεὺς προσελάβετο καὶ τοὺς μὲν 747 ἄρρενας συνῴκισε γυναιξί, τὰς δέ γε θηλείας ἀνδράσιν ἐξέδοτο καὶ ἔστεργε καὶ εὐηργέτει τοὺς ἀδελφόπαιδας. πρὸς δὲ τὴν κοινωνὸν τοῦ βίου ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος οὔτ' ἀποστρόφως εἶχε τὸ πρότερον οὔτε λίαν ἐκείνῃ προσέκειτο, ἀφροδισίων δ' ἡττώμενος οὐ πάνυ τὰ ἐς εὐνὴν ἐτύγχανε δίκαιος, ὅθεν καὶ βέλεσιν ἡ Αὐγούστα ζηλοτυπίας ἐβέβλητο. ἐπεὶ δ' ὁ χρόνος προήκων τῷ αὐτοκράτορι τὰ πυρφόρα βέλη τοῦ ἔρωτος ἤμβλυνε, τότε πρὸς τὴν Αὐγούσταν τρέψας τὸν ἔρωτα ὅλος ἦν τῆς πρὸς ἐκείνην στοργῆς καὶ ἤθελεν εἶναι σχεδὸν αὐτῆς ἀδιάσπαστος. τοιαύτη μὲν οὖν τῇ βασιλίσσῃ ἐς ὕστερον ἡ διάθεσις, καὶ μεγάλα τότε ἠδύνατο καὶ εἶχεν οὕτω μέχρις ἂν ἔρρωτο τὸ σῶμα τῷ βασιλεῖ. ἐπεὶ δ' ἐκεῖνος τοὺς πόδας ἤλγει καὶ τὰς βάσεις ἐβέβλαπτο καὶ περὶ τὰ ἄρθρα τούτῳ μοχθηρᾶς ὕλης συνερρυήκεσαν ῥεύματα καὶ ἦν ἐντεῦθεν κλινοπετής, κατῆρχεν ἡ βασιλίς, καὶ τῷ ταύτης ἦν ὡς ἐπίπαν τιθέμενος ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ θελήματι, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ ἐξουσία καὶ ἡ τῆς βασιλείας διοίκησις ἀνατεθῆναι αὐτῇ μετὰ παρέλευσιν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς μεμελέτητο, ὡς καὶ τὸν υἱὸν