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having used countless perjuries, dear to you, against the elder emperor Andronikos, you yourself were appointed ruler of the saltworks. And up to this point your good fortune lasted. But when you were already in danger of being destroyed because of the awkwardness and wickedness of your ways and because you owed countless sums to the public treasury, our emperor Kantakouzenos, at the request of Syrgiannes, took you in and, from being dishonored and despised, he made you renowned in no long time; for which reason not a few of the more noble men were justly annoyed and displeased, that he had deemed one worthy of nothing worthy of great and marvelous things. Unable even yourself to bear the excess of these things, against the one who after God fashioned you and raised you from the dunghill, just as Satan did against God, you have stirred up war, making his subjects hostile, on the pretext, just like him, of taking some care for them, but in truth envying them their salvation. And now it is possible to see that you have filled all the cities of the Romans with human blood; and the prisons, although built by you to be many 2.280 times larger than the existing ones, are nevertheless crowded by the multitude of prisoners. And robberies and plunderings and countless other terrible things are dared daily in the cities, and everywhere there are tears and lamentations, and there is no one who spares. But just as Satan has deemed it necessary to make war on those most intimate with God and better than the others, while neglecting the rest, so also you, inhumanly corrupting and slaughtering the best men of the cities everywhere and those able to understand what is necessary, take no account of the many, as if they are worthy of nothing, intending either to hand them over later to the barbarians through their cowardice and inexperience in war, or to destroy them yourself at your leisure; and in short you intend a common, utter destruction of the Roman race, unless God, abhorring your misanthropy, should prevent it. But the emperor Kantakouzenos, our lord and yours, even if you should show yet more and more terrible ingratitude, like the most wicked of slaves, preserves to this day the good repute from his ancestors and the equity and dignity of his ways, and being ruler of all the Romans, even while the emperor is still alive, he is no less an emperor now. And if anything difficult has befallen him, it is not surprising; for past time has held many such examples. But we will keep our faith to him unadulterated and pure, not only while he lives, but also to his children after his death, 2.281 and neither promises of good things, nor the infliction of terrible things, nor anything else that exists, will be able to turn us from our faith and love for him. But your trouble will return upon your own head, and your injustice will descend upon your own crown. Therefore you now have from us the defense that your letter deserves. As for those who brought the letters, for now we have sent them away unharmed, respecting the established laws concerning such matters, which forbid doing harm to those who come to deliver messages; but if any others should arrive after them, let them know that they will not depart without blows and the punishment they deserve.” Such things did the men in Didymoteichon write in reply to Apokaukos the megas doux. And he, when he had read the letter, having threatened the writers with many things, sailed away to Byzantium, and he was received by both the patriarch and the conspiracy with much applause and praise, as one who had campaigned well and conquered Kantakouzenos. And he himself, already being full of pride because of the generalship, assumed for himself unaccountable command of affairs and did and managed everything as seemed best to him, having now cast aside hypocrisy and deliberation as unprofitable. But the empress Eirene Kantakouzene, together with her brother Manuel Asan, when those who came from the megas doux Apokaukos reported what things were happening to the emperor at Gynaikokastron, suspected that they were not entirely true, yet they were severely disturbed and agitated. For they feared, lest some of those with them, 2.282 secretly acting for the empress Anna, seizing the opportunity and the emperor's misfortune as a godsend,

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μυρίοις καὶ ἐπιορκίαις ταῖς φίλαις χρησάμενος πρὸς βασιλέα τὸν πρεσβύτερον Ἀνδρόνικον, αὐτὸς ἄρχων ἀπεδείχθης τῶν ἁλῶν. καὶ μέχρι τούτου σοι τὰ τῆς εὐημερίας ἔστη. κινδυνεύοντι δὲ ἤδη ἀπολέσθαι διὰ τῶν τρόπων τὴν σκαιότητα καὶ μοχθηρίαν καὶ τὸ χρήματα μυρία τῷ δημοσίῳ ὄφλειν, ὁ ἡμέτερος βασιλεὺς ὁ Καντακουζηνὸς Συργιάννη δεηθέντος παραλαβὼν, ἐξ ἀτίμου καὶ καταφρονουμένου περίβλεπτον πεποίηκεν οὐκ ἐν μακρῷ· δι' ἃ καὶ τῶν εὐγενεστέρων οὐκ ὀλίγοι ἤχθοντο δικαίως καὶ ἐδυσχέραινον, ὅτι τὸν μηδενὸς ἄξιον μεγάλων τινῶν ἠξίωσε καὶ θαυμασίων. ὧν τὴν ὑπερβολὴν οὐδὲ αὐτὸς φέρειν δυνηθεὶς, κατὰ τοῦ μετὰ θεὸν πλάσαντος καὶ ἐκ κοπρίας ἀναγαγόντος, ὥσπερ ὁ Σατὰν κατὰ θεοῦ πόλεμον κεκίνηκας, τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐκπολεμώσας, προφάσει μὲν, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος, τοῦ πρόνοιάν τινα αὐτῶν ποιεῖσθαι, τῇ δ' ἀληθείᾳ φθονῶν αὐτοῖς τῆς σωτηρίας. καὶ νῦν ἔξεστιν ὁρᾷν, ὡς αἱμάτων μὲν ἀνθρωπίνων ἐνέπλησας τὰς πόλεις πάσας Ῥωμαίων· δεσμωτήρια δὲ, καίτοι πρὸς τοῖς οὖσι πολ 2.280 λαπλασίω κατεσκευασμένα ὑπὸ σοῦ, ὅμως ὑπὸ πλήθους τῶν δεσμωτῶν στενοχωροῦνται. ἁρπαγαὶ δὲ καὶ λεηλασίαι καὶ μυρία ἕτερα δεινὰ ὁσημέραι ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι τολμῶνται, καὶ δάκρυα πανταχοῦ καὶ κωκυτοὶ, καὶ ὁ φειδόμενος οὐδὲ εἷς. ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ὁ Σατανᾶς τοῖς μάλιστα θεῷ προσῳκειωμένοις καὶ βελτίοσι τῶν ἄλλων δεῖν ἔγνωκε πολεμεῖν, τῶν ἄλλων ἀμελῶν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ σὺ τοὺς ἀρίστους τῶν ἑκασταχοῦ πόλεων καὶ δυναμένους τὰ δέοντα συνορᾷν διαφθείρων καὶ κατακόπτων ἀπανθρώπως, τῶν πολλῶν, ὡς οὐδενὸς ἀξίων, οὐδένα λόγον ποιῇ, ὡς ὕστερον ἢ δειλίᾳ καὶ ἀπειρίᾳ τῇ πρὸς τοὺς πολέμους βαρβάροις παραδώσων ἢ αὐτὸς κατὰ σχολὴν διαφθερῶν· καὶ ὅλως κοινὴν πανωλεθρίαν τοῦ Ῥωμαίων γένους διανοῇ, εἰ μὴ θεὸς κωλύσειε, τὴν μισανθρωπίαν βδελυξάμενος. βασιλεὺς δὲ Καντακουζηνὸς ὁ ἡμέτερος καὶ σὸς δεσπότης, κἂν ἔτι πλείω καὶ δεινότερα ἀγνωμονήσῃς, ὥσπερ τῶν δούλων οἱ κακοτροπώτατοι, τὴν ἐκ προγόνων εὔκλειαν ἄχρι νῦν διασώζει καὶ τὴν ἐπιείκειαν καὶ τὴν σεμνότητα τῶν τρόπων, καὶ Ῥωμαίων συμπάντων ἄρχων, καὶ βασιλέως ἔτι περιόντος, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ νῦν ἐστι βασιλεύς. εἰ δέ τι περὶ αὐτὸν συμβέβηκε καὶ δυσχερὲς, θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν· πολλὰ γὰρ ὁ παρεληλυθὼς τοιαῦτα χρόνος ἔσχηκε παραδείγματα. ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐκείνῳ τὴν πίστιν ἄδολον φυλάξομεν καὶ καθαρὰν, οὐ μόνον περιόντι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς παισὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν, 2.281 καὶ οὔτε ἀγαθῶν ἐπαγγελίαι, οὔτε δεινῶν ἐπαγωγαὶ, οὔθ' ἕτερον τῶν ὄντων τι, τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον πίστεως δυνήσεται ἀποστῆσαι καὶ ἀγάπης. σοῦ δὲ ἐπιστρέψει ὁ πόνος ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ ἐπὶ κορυφὴν ἡ ἀδικία σου καταβήσεται. τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀπολογίαν ἔχεις ἤδη παρ' ἡμῶν ἀξίαν τῶν γεγραμμένων. τοὺς κεκομικότας δὲ τὰ γράμματα νῦν μὲν ἀπαθεῖς ἀπεπέμψαμεν κακῶν, τοὺς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα κειμένους αἰδούμενοι νόμους, οἳ κακῶς ποιεῖν ἀπαγορεύουσι τοὺς πρὸς ἀπαγγελίας ἥκοντας· ἂν δὲ μετ' αὐτοὺς ἕτεροί τινες ἀφίκωνται, ἴστωσαν μὴ ἄνευ πληγῶν καὶ τιμωρίας τῆς δεούσης ἀπαλλάξοντες.» τοιαῦτα μὲν οἱ ἐν ∆ιδυμοτείχῳ ἀντέγραψαν Ἀποκαύκῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ δουκί. ὁ δὲ, ἐπεὶ τὰ γράμματα ἀνέγνω, πολλὰ τοῖς γεγραφόσιν ἀπειλήσας, ἀπέπλευσεν εἰς Βυζάντιον καὶ ἐδέξαντο αὐτὸν ὅ,τε πατριάρχης καὶ ἡ συνωμοσία μετὰ πολλῶν τῶν κρότων καὶ ἐπαίνων, ὡς καλῶς ἐστρατηγηκότα καὶ νενικηκότα Καντακουζηνόν. καὶ αὐτὸς ἤδη φρονήματος ὢν ἀνάπλεως διὰ τὴν στρατηγίαν, ἀνυπεύθυνον ἑαυτῷ παρείχετο τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ πάντα ἔπραττε καὶ διῴκει, ᾗ αὐτῷ ἐδόκει, τὴν ὑπόκρισιν καὶ τὸ βουλεύεσθαι ἤδη ὡς ἀνόνητον ἀποῤῥίψας. Εἰρήνη δὲ βασιλὶς ἡ Καντακουζηνὴ ἅμα Μανουὴλ Ἀσάνῃ τῷ ἀδελφῷ, ἐπεὶ οἱ παρὰ Ἀποκαύκου τοῦ μεγάλου ἥκοντες δουκὸς ἀπήγγελλον τὰ περὶ βασιλέως οἷα συμβαίη ἐν Γυναικοκάστρῳ, ὑπώπτευον μὲν καὶ μὴ παντάπασιν εἶναι ἀληθῆ, πλὴν ἐθορυβοῦντο σφοδρῶς καὶ ἐκυμαίνοντο. ἐδεδοίκεσαν γὰρ, μὴ τῶν αὐ 2.282 τοῖς τινες συνόντων κρύφα τὰ βασιλίδος Ἄννης πράττοντες, ὥσπερ ἑρμαίου λαβόμενοι τοῦ καιροῦ καὶ τῆς δυσπραγίας βασιλέως,