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they threw into the field of the tribunal. After they began to stink, he permitted those who wished to take them; which the Christ-loving people mixed with their own bodies, burying them in the church of Saint Mamas, near the Xylokerkos gate. They inscribed on their tomb this elegy. Here I, thrice-wretched, and of two emperors, daughter of Tiberius and wife of Maurice, the queen of many children, who showed that childbirth is a good thing, as is a large household, I lie with my children and our consort by the wickedness of the people and the madness of the army. I endured much worse than Hecuba, than Jocasta, alas, alas, I am a breathing corpse of Niobe. Yes, yes, by the father; why did they kill the newborns in vain, who knew nothing of the evil of men? 1.708 No longer is Rome shaded by our petals; for the root was broken off by the Thracian winds. And Philippicus, having been tonsured and taken holy orders, living peacefully in Chrysopolis, died. From that time, therefore, various and extraordinary misfortunes did not cease for the Roman empire. For the king of the Persians, Chosroes, broke the peace, and the Avars destroyed Thrace, and both armies of the Romans were annihilated, so that when Heraclius became emperor and made a precise examination of the military, from the whole multitude that Maurice had had, during the tyranny of Phocas he did not find more than two men; thus those who had appointed the tyrant were consumed under him.

Year of the world 6105, of the divine incarnation 595. Phocas the tyrant reigned for 8 years. He was a kenterion or centurion, of average stature, misshapen, having a frightening appearance, with reddish hair, eyebrows that met, and a shaven beard, having a scar on his cheek, which would turn black when he grew angry, a drunkard, bloodthirsty and crazed for women, violent and bold in speech, unsympathetic and bestial in character, and a heretic. His wife Leonto was of like character. In his days all evils abounded for mankind, death of men and beasts, 1.709 great and innumerable, barrenness of the earth, and most grievous famines and plagues, and winters so severe that the sea froze and the fish died. When he held horse races, and in the evening drank much wine and was slow to appear, the people shouted, "Rise up, Phocas." When he did not come out quickly for the spectacle, the people said, "Have you drunk the wine again, have you lost your mind again?" At this, enraged, he mutilated many and killed many. And when the mob threw fire into the praetorium, all the prisoners escaped. This same Phocas built the armory near the Magnaura, setting up his column upon it. As for Theodosius, the son of Maurice, who, as the story goes, had been sent to Chosroes, Phocas sent men and seized him in Nicaea, and when he came to Leukakte, ordered him to be executed; who first begged to partake of the divine mysteries, and then to be executed. When he had partaken, he gave thanks to God, took a stone from the ground, and striking his breast a third time, he prayed, saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, you know that I have wronged no man on earth. Now, as your might commands, let it be done to me." And having said these things, he was beheaded. But some say that this Theodosius, having been sent by his father Maurice to Chosroes, the king of the Persians, with letters, disappeared. 1.710 In Alexandria a pious calligrapher, going home from an all-night vigil in the middle of the night, heard from the pedestals of the statues that Maurice and his children had been killed, and all the events that had taken place in Byzantium. In the morning, he went to the Augustalis and recounted it. But he ordered him to be silent, and having noted the day, he awaited the outcome, which was heard nine days later. In the second year there came

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κάμπῳ τοῦ τριβουναλίου ἔρριψαν. μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἐποζέσαι αὐτάς, ὥρισε τοῖς θέλουσι λαβεῖν αὐτάς· ἃς καὶ τοῖς σώμασιν αὐτῶν προσέμιξαν οἱ φιλόχριστοι, θάψαντες ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ ἁγίου Μάμαντος, πλησίον τῆς ξυλοκέρκου πόρτης. ἐπέγραψαν δὲ τῷ τάφῳ αὐτῶν ἐλε γεῖον τόδε. ἅδ' ἐγὼ ἡ τριτάλαινα, καὶ ἀμφοτέρων βασιλήων, Τιβερίου θυγάτηρ Μαυρικίου τε δάμαρ, ἡ πολύπαις βασίλεια, καὶ ἡ δείξασα λοχείην, ὡς ἀγαθὸν τελέθει καὶ πολυκοιρανίη, κεῖμαι σὺν τεκέεσσι καὶ ἡμετέρῳ παρακοίτῃ δήμου ἀτασθαλίῃ καὶ μανίῃ στρατιῆς. τῆς Ἑκάβης ἔτλην πολὺ χείρονα, τῆς Ἰοκάστης, αἲ αἲ τῆς Νιόβης ἔμπνοός εἰμι νέκυς. ναὶ ναὶ τὸν γενέταν· τί μάτην τὰ νεογνὰ ἔκτειναν, ἀνθρώπων κακίης μηδὲν ἐπιστάμενα; 1.708 ἡμετέροις πετάλοισι κατάσκιος οὐκέτι Ῥώμη· ῥίζα γὰρ ἐκκλάσθη Θρηϊκίοις ἀνέμοις. ὁ δὲ Φιλιππικὸς ἀποκειράμενος καὶ ἱερωσύνην λαβών, ἐν Χρυσουπόλει διατελῶν ἡσύχως ἐτελεύτησεν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου οὖν τοῦ καιροῦ οὐ διέλιπε τὴν Ῥωμανίαν δυστυ χήματα ποικίλα καὶ ἐξαίσια. ὁ γὰρ τῶν Περσῶν βασιλεὺς Χοσ ρόης τὴν εἰρήνην διέλυσε, καὶ οἱ Ἄβαρες τὴν Θρᾴκην διώλεσαν, καὶ ἄμφω τὰ στρατόπεδα τῶν Ῥωμαίων διεφθάρησαν, ὥστε ὁπη νίκα Ἡράκλειος ἐβασίλευσε καὶ ἐξέτασιν ἐποιήσατο εἰς ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ ὁπλιτικοῦ, ἐκ πάσης τῆς πληθύος τῆς εὑρεθείσης τῷ Μαυρικίῳ ἐπὶ τῆς τυραννίδος Φωκᾶ οὐχ εὗρε περαιτέρω δύο ἀν δρῶν· οὕτως οἱ τὸν τύραννον προστησάμενοι ἐπὶ αὐτοῦ ἀνηλώ θησαν.

Κόσμου ἔτος #22εʹ, τῆς θείας σαρκώσεως φεʹ. Φωκᾶς ὁ τύραννος ἐβασίλευσεν ἔτη ηʹ. οὗτος κεντηρίων ἤτοι κένταρχος, τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀναδρομὴν μέσος, δύσμορφος, ἐκπληκτικὴν ἔχων τὴν ὄψιν, τὴν τρίχα πυρρίζουσαν, σύνοφρύς τε καὶ τὸ γέ νειον κειρόμενος, ἔχων οὐλὴν ἐπὶ τῆς παρειᾶς αὐτοῦ, ἥτις ἐν τῷ θυμοῦσθαι αὐτὸν ἐμελαίνετο, οἰνοβαρής, αἱμοχαρὴς καὶ πρὸς γυναῖκας ἐπτοημένος, βριαρὸς καὶ θρασὺς ἐν τῷ φθέγγεσθαι, ἀσυμπαθὴς καὶ θηριώδης τὸν τρόπον καὶ αἱρετικός. τούτου γυνὴ Λεοντὼ ὁμότροπος αὐτῷ. ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ πάντα ἐπερίσ σευσε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ κακά, θνῆσις ἀνθρώπων καὶ κτηνῶν 1.709 πολλὴ καὶ ἀναρίθμητος, ἀφορίαι τῆς γῆς, καὶ λιμοὶ καὶ λοιμοὶ χαλεπώτατοι, καὶ χειμῶνες τηλικοῦτοι ὡς παγῆναι τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τεθνάναι τοὺς ἰχθύας. ποιήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἱππικόν, καὶ τῇ ἑσπέρᾳ πολλῷ τῷ οἴνῳ χρησαμένου καὶ βραδεύσαντος ἀνελθεῖν, ἔκραξεν ὁ δῆμος "ἀνάτειλον Φωκᾶ." μὴ ἐξερχομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ τάχιον πρὸς τὴν θέαν ἔφη ὁ δῆμος "πάλιν τὸν οἶνον ἔπιες, πάλιν τὸν νοῦν ἀπώλεσας;" ἐφ' οἷς μανεὶς πολλοὺς ἠκρωτηρίασε καὶ πολλοὺς ἐφόνευσε. τοῦ ὄχλου δὲ πῦρ εἰς τὸ πραιτώριον βαλόν τος ἔφυγον πάντες οἱ δέσμιοι. ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς Φωκᾶς κτίζει ἀρμα μέντον τὸ πλησίον τῆς Μαγναύρας, στήσας τὴν στήλην ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ. Θεοδόσιον δὲ τὸν τοῦ Μαυρικίου υἱόν, ὡς λόγος κρατεῖ, πρὸς Χοσρόην ἀποσταλέντα, ἀποστείλας ὁ Φωκᾶς κατέλαβεν ἐν Νικαίᾳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ Λευκάκτῃ ἐλθόντα ἐκέλευσεν ἀναιρεθῆναι· ὃς καὶ παρεκάλεσε πρότερον μεταλαβεῖν τῶν θείων μυστηρίων, εἶθ' οὕτως ἀναιρεθῆναι. ὡς δὲ μετέλαβεν, εὐχαριστήσας τῷ θεῷ ἔλαβε λίθον ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ τύψας τρίτον εἰς τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ ηὔξατο λέγων "κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, σὺ ἐπίστασαι ὅτι οὐκ ἠδί κησα ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. νῦν ὡς κελεύει τὸ κράτος σου, γε νέσθω ἐπ' ἐμοί." καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἀπετμήθη. οἱ δέ φασιν ὅτι οὗτος ὁ Θεοδόσιος ἀποσταλεὶς παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Μαυρικίου πρὸς Χοσρόην τὸν βασιλέα Περσῶν μετὰ γραμμάτων ἀφανὴς γέγονεν. 1.710 Ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ καλλιγράφος εὐλαβής, ἐκ παννυχίδος οἴκαδε πορευόμενος μεσούσης νυκτός, ἀκούει ἐκ τῶν βωμῶν τῶν ἀνδριάντων λεγόντων ἀναιρεθῆναι Μαυρίκιον καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ πραχθέντα συμπτώματα. πρωΐας δὲ ἐπανελθὼν τῷ Αὐγουσταλίῳ διηγήσατο. ὁ δὲ παρήγγειλεν αὐτῷ σιωπῆσαι, σημειωσάμενος δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν ἀπεκαραδόκει τὴν ἔκβα σιν, ἥτις μετὰ θʹ ἡμέρας ἠκούσθη. Τῷ βʹ ἔτει προσῆλθε