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to suggest a way, by which he would be able to escape the expected dangers. And he said that it was not difficult for him himself to perceive from the present circumstances what was necessary, since he was not one of the many and foolish, but one who in experience of affairs and intelligence vied with the first of the Romans. And that he himself would advise what he thought would be advantageous, or rather, those things without which it is impossible to attain safety. And he thought that nothing else would be advantageous for him and the others, than by taking up war against that man, to try with all might to destroy that man's power. And this will be easy, if, having approached the empress and feigned goodwill toward her and the emperor her son, you persuade her to consider him an enemy and one plotting against her for the rule, saying that you have been accurately convinced of such things concerning him and could not bear the injustice, but 2.123 considered it more preferable for yourself and your children, if need be, to die fighting against him on their behalf, than to stand by while they were unjustly deprived of their rule or even killed. By which things she, as is likely, persuaded by fear, will most easily be separated from him and will entrust to us the war against him. And when this has happened, there is nothing to prevent not only being delivered from the expected dangers, but also making the war against him an opportunity for good fortune. And that what has been said is not true, one must not consider, concerning him. For our struggle now is not about truth and falsehood, but whether to live gloriously, having brought down his arrogance, or to die like those caught in some terrible circumstances, if that man still rules affairs. Therefore every device must be used and every type of war must rather be attended to, than to quibble about such things, which have no harm, whether they are this way or otherwise.” With these words, then, he persuaded him. And the plot was now reaching its conclusion. And it seemed necessary to win over some of those closest to the empress, considering that the empress might perhaps suspect the others of having contrived such things out of fear or envy, but she would accuse those closest to her of nothing of the sort. And to the son of Zampeas, who had followed the empress from Savoy, one who enjoyed great favor from the emperor while he was still living, both for other reasons and on account of his courage in 2.124 battles, and after his death both he and his mother being held in esteem by the empress, named Artôt; having met this very man, he inquired if he knew anything concerning him. And when that man said nothing; "But I," he said, "have heard with my own ears the Grand Domestic speaking many things against you and your mother and condemning the great foolishness of the Romans, because, while it is necessary to employ their countrymen for the care of common affairs, both men and women, who are many and good, they, I know not what has come over them, make use of Artôt and his mother, foreign people and in no way better disposed than the common folk, to serve the empress. But as long as the emperor was still alive, there was no gainsaying, since he did everything that came to hand by his own authority. but now that the rule of affairs has devolved upon me, I will not overlook the common property of the Romans being consumed by such people, like drones, but after my return I shall put them on a trireme and send them away to their own country. And besides other things, he also accused you of cowardice and unmanliness in battles. But I, vexed at so great an injustice, and knowing you to be worthy of greater things than you receive from the Romans, am ready to give my daughter to you in marriage eagerly and to do everything on your behalf, not only on account of our former friendship, but also on account of our kinship by marriage. And straightway he added oaths to his words and offered an encolpion 2.125 as a sure pledge of what was said. And when he had the Latin agreeing with him, he advised him, after reporting what was said to his mother, to persuade her to use every device and zeal, so as to make the empress hostile to the Grand Domestic, and he added the other things which had been said by him to the others. And such things were being plotted by him on the fourth day from which he had come to Byzantium. And since he had those who have been mentioned one by one

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τρόπον ὑποθέσθαι, δι' οὗ τὰ προσδοκώμενα δεινὰ δυνήσεται διαφυγεῖν. ὁ δ' ἔφασκεν, οὐ χαλεπὸν μὲν εἶναι καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν παρόντων τὸ δέον συνιδεῖν, οὐ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ ἀνοήτων ὄντα, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐμπειρίᾳ πραγμάτων καὶ συνέσει τοῖς πρώτοις ἁμιλλώμενον Ῥωμαίων. παραινέσειν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν, ἃ οἴεται λυσιτελήσειν, μᾶλλον δ', ὧν χωρὶς σωτηρίας ἀδύνατον τυχεῖν. οἴεσθαι δὲ μηδὲν ἕτερον αὐτῷ λυσιτελήσειν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἢ πόλεμον ἀραμένῳ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον, παντὶ σθένει πειρᾶσθαι καταλύειν τὴν ἐκείνου δύναμιν. τοῦτο δ' ἔσται ῥᾴδιον, ἂν βασιλίδι προσελθὼν καὶ τὴν εἰς ἐκείνην εὔνοιαν καὶ βασιλέα τὸν υἱὸν ὑποκριθεὶς, ἀναπείσῃς ἐκεῖνον πολέμιον νομίσαι καὶ ἐπιβουλεύοντα αὐτῇ πρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν, φάσκων περὶ ἐκείνου ἀκριβῶς πεπεῖσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ τὴν ἀδικίαν μὴ ἐνεγκεῖν, ἀλλὰ 2.123 μᾶλλον αἱρετώτερον ἡγήσασθαι, αὐτὸν καὶ παῖδας ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, εἰ δέοι, πολεμοῦντας ἐκείνῳ ἀποθνήσκειν, ἢ αὐτοὺς ἀδίκως τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀφαιρουμένους ἢ καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντας περιιδεῖν. οἷς ἐκείνην, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς, πεισθεῖσαν ὑπὸ δέους ῥᾷστά τε ἐκείνου διαστήσεσθαι καὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἡμῖν τὸν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐπιτρέψειν. τούτου δὲ γεγενημένου, οὐδὲν ἔστι τὸ κωλῦον, οὐ τῶν προσδοκωμένων δεινῶν ἀπηλλάχθαι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τύχης ἀγαθῆς ἀφορμὴν τὸν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον πόλεμον ποιήσασθαι. ὅτι δὲ οὐκ ἀληθῆ τὰ εἰρημένα, οὐ χρὴ σκοπεῖν, περὶ ἐκείνου. οὐ γὰρ περὶ ἀληθείας καὶ ψεύδους ἡμῖν πρόκειται νῦν ἀγὼν, ἀλλ' εἴτε ζῇν εὐκλεῶς, καθῃρηκότας ἐκείνου τὴν ὀφρὺν, εἴτε ἀποθνήσκειν ὁμοίως τοῖς ἐπὶ δεινοῖς τισιν ἑαλωκόσιν, ἐὰν ἐκεῖνος ἔτι τῶν πραγμάτων ἄρχῃ. διὸ πάσῃ χρηστέον μηχανῇ καὶ παντὶ πολέμου εἴδει προσεκτέον μᾶλλον, ἢ περὶ τοιούτων μικρολογητέον, ἃ μηδεμίαν βλάβην ἔχει, ἂν ὧδε ἢ ἑτέρως ἔχωσι.» τούτοις μὲν οὖν ἔπειθε κἀκεῖνον. καὶ πέρας ἤδη εἶχεν ἡ ἐπιβουλή. ἐδόκει δὲ δεῖν καὶ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων βασιλίδι τινὰς προσεταιρίσασθαι, ἐκεῖνο ἐννοῶν, ὡς τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἴσως ἂν ὑποπτεύσειεν ἡ βασιλὶς, ἢ φόβῳ ἢ φθόνῳ τοιαῦτα ἐσκαιωρηκέναι, τῶν οἰκειοτάτων δὲ μηδὲν καταγνοίη ἂν τοιοῦτον. καὶ τῷ Ζαμπέας υἱῷ, ἣ ἐκ Σαβωΐας βασιλίδι εἵπετο, πολλῆς καὶ παρὰ βασιλέως ἔτι ζῶντος ἀπολαύοντι τῆς εὐμενείας τά τε ἄλλα καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐν ταῖς μά 2.124 χαις εὐψυχίαν, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν βασιλίδι σπουδαζομένων ἐκείνου τε καὶ τῆς μητρὸς, Ἀρτώτῳ προσαγορευομένῳ· τούτῳ δὴ ἐντυχὼν, εἴ τι περὶ ἑαυτοῦ εἰδείη, ἐπυνθάνετο. ὡς δὲ ἐκεῖνος ἔφασκε μηδέν· «ἀλλ' ἐγὼ» εἶπεν «αὐτοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκήκοα τοῦ μεγάλου δομεστίκου πολλὰ σοῦ καὶ τῆς μητρὸς καταφερομένου καὶ πολλὴν εὐήθειαν καταγινώσκοντος Ῥωμαίων, ὅτι δέον πρὸς τῶν κοινῶν τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις χρῆσθαι, καὶ ἀνδράσι καὶ γυναιξὶ πολλοῖς τε καὶ ἀγαθοῖς οὖσιν, οἱ δ' οὐκ οἶδ' ὅ,τι παθόντες, Ἀρτώτῳ χρῶνται καὶ μητρὶ, ἀνθρώποις ἀλλοφύλοις καὶ οὐδὲν ἄμεινον διακειμένοις τῶν πολλῶν, βασιλίδα θεραπεύοντες. ἀλλ' ἕως μὲν ἔτι περιῆν ὁ βασιλεὺς, οὐδὲν ἀντιλέγειν ἦν, πᾶν τὸ περιστάμενον κατ' ἐξουσίαν πράττοντι. νυνὶ δὲ εἰς ἐμὲ τῶν πραγμάτων τῆς ἀρχῆς περιηκούσης, οὐ περιόψομαι ὑπὸ τοιούτων, ὥσπερ κηφήνων, τὰ Ῥωμαίων καταναλισκόμενα κοινὰ, ἀλλ' ἐνθέμενος τριήρει μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον, πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀποπέμψω. πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις δὲ καὶ δειλίαν σοῦ κατηγόρει καὶ ἀνανδρίαν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις. ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τὴν τοσαύτην ἀδικίαν ἀχθεσθεὶς, μειζόνων τε ἄξιον ἢ ὧν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις τυγχάνειν εἰδὼς, καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα προθύμως σοὶ πρὸς γάμον ἐκδιδόναι ἔχω καὶ πάντα πράττειν ὑπὲρ σοῦ οὐ διὰ τὴν προτέραν φιλίαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ κήδους ἕνεκα. καὶ εὐθέως ὅρκους τε τοῖς λεγομένοις προσετίθει καὶ ἐγκόλπιον 2.125 παρεῖχεν εἰς ἀσφαλῆ τῶν λεγομένων πίστιν. ὡς δὲ συνθέμενον τὸν Λατῖνον εἶχε, παρῄνει, τῇ μητρὶ τὰ εἰρημένα ἀπαγγείλαντα, πείθειν αὐτὴν, πάσῃ χρήσασθαι καὶ ἐπινοίᾳ καὶ σπουδῇ, ὥστε ἐκπολεμῶσαι βασιλίδα τῷ μεγάλῳ δομεστίκῳ, καὶ τἄλλα προσετίθει, ἃ τοῖς ἄλλοις εἴρητο αὐτῷ. τὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα εἰς τετάρτην ἡμέραν, ἐξ ἧς ἧκεν εἰς Βυζάντιον, αὐτῷ συνεσκευάζετο. καὶ ἐπεὶ καθ' ἕνα τοὺς εἰρημένους εἶχε