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he was handed over for trial, and 1.770 having confessed the deed with all truth, he was executed, divine justice having avenged him.

In the 11th year the nation of the Bulgars, having crossed the Danube, and having been separated from its kinsmen, encamped in Varna in certain fastnesses and mountains. And when the emperor went out with ships and an army, and indeed advanced against them, the Bulgars, seeing this suddenly, despairing of their own safety, fled to a certain stronghold and secured themselves. And since the Romans were not able to join battle on account of both the marshes and the difficulty of the terrain, the vile nation grew bold. And it happened .... and having spread the rumor that the emperor was fleeing, they took to flight though no one pursued. When the Bulgars saw this, they pursued after them and killed many. And from that time they all crossed over, and having grown bold and having spread out, they took the Roman land captive. Wherefore the emperor was also compelled to make peace with them, as has been said. And having found rest from all things, he united the churches, and having convened the aforementioned holy sixth council in Constantinople, he anathematized the heresy of the Monothelites. In the 13th year he pushed his brothers from the emperorship, and he reigned alone with Justinian his son. In the 17th year the pious Constantine died, having ruled for 17 years, and Justinian his son reigned. 1.771 Justinian the son of Pogonatus, the slit-nosed, reigned for 10 years. This was a man unrestrained in impulse and thoughtless in every matter. In this year Abimelech sent to him to confirm the peace; and it was agreed that the emperor should remove the contingent of the Mardaites from Lebanon and should stop its raids, and should provide each day a thousand nomismata and a horse and a slave. And the emperor sent the magistrianos Paul to Abimelech to secure the agreements, and witnessed documents were made. Therefore the emperor, having sent, took up the 12,000 Mardaites, having crippled the Roman power; for all the places now inhabited by the Arabs, from Mopsuestia to Fourth Armenia, were weak and uninhabited because of the attack of the Mardaites, and when these were withdrawn, Roman territory suffered all kinds of evils from the Arabs until now. For Justinian, being younger, about 10 years old, managed his affairs ill-advisedly. In the 2nd year the emperor, having gone to Armenia, received the Mardaites in Lebanon, having torn down a bronze wall. And he also broke the peace with the Bulgars, upsetting the arrangements of his father, and he transferred the cavalry themes to Thrace. In the 3rd year Justinian campaigned against the Slavs and 1.772 Bulgars. And he pushed back the Bulgars who had come to meet him, and having made an expedition as far as Thessalonica, he received great multitudes of the Slavs, some by submission and others by war, and he settled them in the regions of the Opsikion. And as he was returning, he was ambushed by the Bulgars in the narrow pass, and was barely able to pass through, having lost many of his own men. In the 5th year the rule of the Arabs was freed from all war, as Abimelech had subjected all. In the 6th year Justinian foolishly broke the peace with Abimelech; for he also strove to relocate the island of the Cypriots unreasonably, and the tribute sent by Abimelech he did not accept, since it was of a new mintage. In the 7th year Justinian selected from the Slavs who had been relocated by him and levied 30,000, whom he named the chosen people. Trusting in these, he broke the agreement with the Arabs; for having taken the chosen people and the cavalry themes, he went to Sebastopolis by the sea. And while the Arabs did not wish to break the peace, but were compelled to do this by the emperor's fault and rashness, they themselves also armed and came again

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κρίσιν παρεδόθη, καὶ τὸ 1.770 πραχθὲν ὁμολογήσας μετὰ πάσης ἀληθείας ἀνῃρέθη, τῆς θείας δίκης ἀμυναμένης αὐτόν.

Τῷ ιαʹ ἔτει τὸ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἔθνος διαπερᾶσαν τὸν ∆ά νουβιν, καὶ ἀποχωρισθὲν τῶν ὁμοφύλων αὐτοῦ, ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν Βάρναις ἔν τισι ὀχμαῖς καὶ ὄρεσι. τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως ἐξελθόντος σὺν ναυσὶ καὶ στρατῷ, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐπελθόντος κατ' αὐτῶν, οἱ Βούλγαροι τοῦτο ἀθρόως θεασάμενοι, τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀπεγνωκότες σωτηρίαν, εἴς τι ὀχύρωμα καταφεύγουσι καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἀσφαλί ζονται. τῶν δὲ Ῥωμαίων μὴ δυναμένων συνάψαι πόλεμον διά τε τὰ πάλματα καὶ τὴν τοῦ τόπου δυσχωρίαν ἐθρασύνθη τὸ μια ρὸν ἔθνος. συνέβη δὲ .... καὶ τὸν βασιλέα φεύγειν διαφημί σαντες φυγῇ ἐχρήσαντο μηδενὸς διώκοντος. ὅπερ θεασάμενοι οἱ Βούλγαροι ἐδίωξαν ὄπισθεν αὐτῶν καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνεῖλον. καὶ ἔκτοτε διαπεράσαντες πάντες καὶ θρασυνθέντες καὶ ἐμπλατυν θέντες τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν χώραν ᾐχμαλώτιζον. ὅθεν καὶ ἀναγκα σθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰρήνευσε μετ' αὐτῶν, ὡς λέλεκται. ἠρεμήσας δὲ ἐκ πάντων ἥνωσε τὰς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τὴν προλεχθεῖσαν ἁγίαν ἕκτην σύνοδον συναθροίσας ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τὴν τῶν Μονο θελητῶν αἵρεσιν ἀνεθεμάτισε. Τῷ δὲ ιγʹ ἔτει ἀπώσατο τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ τῆς βασιλείας, καὶ μόνος ἐβασίλευσε σὺν Ἰουστινιανῷ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ. Τῷ ιζʹ ἔτει ἐτελεύτησεν ὁ εὐσεβὴς Κωνσταντῖνος, κρατήσας ἔτη ιζʹ, καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν Ἰουστινιανὸς ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ. 1.771 Ἰουστινιανὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Πωγωνάτου, ὁ ῥινότμητος, ἐβασί λευσεν ἔτη ιʹ. οὗτος ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἀκάθεκτος τὴν ὁρμὴν καὶ ἀσυλλόγιστος ἐν παντὶ πράγματι. Τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει ἀποστέλλει Ἀβιμέλεχ πρὸς αὐτὸν βεβαιῶσαι τὴν εἰρήνην· καὶ ἐστοιχήθη ἵνα παύσῃ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ τῶν Μαρ δαϊτῶν τάγμα ἐκ τοῦ Λιβάνου καὶ κωλύσῃ τὰς ἐπιδρομὰς αὐτοῦ, καὶ παρέχῃ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν νομίσματα χιλία καὶ ἵππον καὶ δοῦλον. καὶ ἔπεμψεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν μαγιστριανὸν Παῦλον πρὸς Ἀβιμέλεχ ἀσφαλίσασθαι τὰ στοιχηθέντα, καὶ γεγόνασιν ἔγγραφα ἐμμάρτυρα. πέμψας οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀνελάβετο τοὺς Μαρδαΐτας χιλιάδας ιβʹ, τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν δυναστείαν ἀκρωτηριάσας· πᾶσαι γὰρ αἱ νῦν οἰκούμεναι παρὰ τῶν Ἀράβων, ἀπὸ Μόψου ἑστίας ἕως τετάρτης Ἀρμενίας, ἀνίσχυροι καὶ ἀνοίκητοι ἐτύγχανον διὰ τὴν ἔφοδον τῶν Μαρδαϊτῶν, ὧν παρασταλέντων πάνδεινα κακὰ πέ πονθεν ἡ Ῥωμαίων ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀράβων μέχρι τοῦ νῦν. νεώτερος γὰρ ὢν Ἰουστινιανός, ὡς ἐτῶν ιʹ, ἀβούλως τὰ κατ' αὐτὸν διῴκει. Τῷ βʹ ἔτει ἐλθὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς Ἀρμενίαν ἐδέξατο τοὺς ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ Μαρδαΐτας, χάλκειον τεῖχος διαλύσας. παρέλυσε δὲ καὶ τὴν μετὰ τῶν Βουλγάρων εἰρήνην, διαταράξας τοὺς τοῦ πα τρὸς αὐτοῦ τύπους, καὶ διαβιβάζει ἐπὶ τὴν Θρᾴκην τὰ καβαλλα ρικὰ θέματα. Τῷ γʹ ἔτει ἐπεστράτευσεν Ἰουστινιανὸς κατὰ Σθλαβίνων καὶ 1.772 Βουλγάρων. καὶ τοὺς μὲν Βουλγάρους προσηπαντηκότας ὤθησε, μέχρι δὲ Θεσσαλονίκης ἐκδραμὼν πολλὰ πλήθη τῶν Σθλαβίνων τὰ μὲν προσρυέντα τὰ δὲ πολέμῳ παρέλαβε καὶ εἰς τὰ τοῦ Ὀψικίου κατῴκισε μέρη. ἐν δὲ τῷ ὑποστρέψαι αὐτὸν ὡδοστατήθη ὑπὸ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἐν τῷ στενῷ τῆς κλεισούρας, καὶ μόλις ἠδυνήθη παρελθεῖν, πολλοὺς τῶν οἰκείων ἀποβαλών. Τῷ εʹ ἔτει ἀπηλλάγη παντὸς πολέμου ἡ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀρχή, πάντας ὑποτάξαντος τοῦ Ἀβιμέλεχ. Τῷ ʹ ἔτει τὴν πρὸς Ἀβιμέλεχ εἰρήνην Ἰουστινιανὸς ἐξ ἀνοίας ἔλυσε· καὶ γὰρ τὴν Κυπρίνων νῆσον ἀλόγως μετοικίσαι ἐσπού δασε, καὶ τὸ σταλὲν χάραγμα παρὰ Ἀβιμέλεχ νεοφανὲς ὂν οὐ προσεδέξατο. Τῷ ζʹ ἔτει Ἰουστινιανὸς ἐπελέξατο ἐκ τῶν μετοικισθέντων ὑπ' αὐτοῦ Σθλαβίνων καὶ ἐστράτευσε χιλιάδας λʹ, οὓς ἐπωνόμασε λαὸν περιούσιον. τούτοις θαρρήσας λύει τὴν Ἀράβων συμφω νίαν· παραλαβὼν γὰρ τὸν περιούσιον λαὸν καὶ τὰ καβαλλαρικὰ θέματα ἐπορεύθη ἐν Σεβαστοπόλει τῇ παρὰ θάλασσαν. τῶν δὲ Ἀράβων μὴ βουλομένων λύειν τὴν εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ τῇ βασιλικῇ αἰτίᾳ καὶ προπετείᾳ τοῦτο πρᾶξαι ἀναγκαζομένων, ὁπλισθέντες καὶ αὐτοὶ παρεγένοντο πάλιν