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Pellerigos the lord of the Bulgars to the emperor. and having made him a patrician, he joins him in marriage to the cousin of his wife Irene, and having received him from the holy font, he both greatly loved and honored him. In the 3rd year the army of the Romans, having gone to Germanicea, captured a great multitude of Syrian Jacobites; whom the emperor settled in Thrace. In the 5th year Niketas, patriarch of Constantinople, the eunuch of Slavic origin, died, and Paul the honorable reader, a Cypriot, is appointed. in the middle week of the fasts he found in the pillow of his wife Irene two icons, which having seen and investigated he found that the papias of the palace had brought them in and certain others of the primicerii; whom he subjected to very many tortures and punishments. and having severely rebuked his wife Irene, he scorned her, saying, "Is this how you swore 2.20 to my father the emperor on the awesome and pure mysteries of the faith?" But she insisted that she had not seen them. He therefore repudiated her, no longer knowing her. Being extremely mad for precious stones, he coveted the crown of the great church, which was Heraclius’s; and having taken it, he wore it and went in procession. But upon his return his head was terribly covered in carbuncles, and being seized by a most violent fever he wretchedly gave up his soul, receiving the wages of his sacrilege. Year of the world 6273, of the divine incarnation 779. Constantine with his mother Irene, orthodox, reigned for 10 years. In this year the most pious Irene, together with her son Constantine, is miraculously entrusted with the empire from God. But after 40 days some of the senate wished to proclaim Nikephoros, one of the Caesars, as emperor; whom the empress, having seized, flogged and exiled. And her brothers-in-law, being Caesars and nobilissimi, she had tonsured and made to serve as priests and to give communion to the people on the feast of Christ’s birth; on which occasion, also going in procession with her son, who was ten years old, she offered to the church the crown taken by her husband, having embellished it with pearls. At the same time the Arabs, having engaged with the Romans, are defeated. And piety begins and the word of God to spread, and every saving good was manifested. Then also the God-loving Irene brought from Lemnos the relic of the all-praised martyr Euphemia, which continually gushed 2.21 forth ever-flowing myrrh, and having cleansed her church near the Hippodrome, she deposited it there. And these things happened, so that God might be glorified, not by the power of men and abundance of intelligence, but in the weakness of a woman with an orphan child overthrowing the immeasurable impiety against him and his servants. In this year at the Long Walls of Thrace a certain man digging found a chest, and having cleaned and uncovered it, he found a large man lying there and letters inscribed on the chest, containing: "Christ is about to be born of a virgin, and I believe in him. And in the time of Constantine and Irene, O sun, you will see me again. In the 2nd year Irene sent to Charles the king of Francia, and betrothed his daughter, called Erythro, to her son Constantine. And when agreements and oaths had been made, Elissaios the eunuch and notarios was left behind to teach her both the letters and the language of the Greeks, and to instruct her in the customs of the Roman empire. In the 3rd year Irene, having made peace with the Arabs, sends Staurakios the patrician and logothete against the Sklavenoi; who also, going down, subjugated all and made them tributary to the empress. And coming to the Peloponnese and having taken many captives and spoils, he brought them to the empress. 2.22 In the 4th year Paul the pious and most holy patriarch, having fallen ill, left the throne and was tonsured in the monastery of Florus. Therefore the empress comes to him, grieving, and says, "what is this

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Πελλέριγος ὁ κύριος τῶν Βουλγάρων τῷ βασιλεῖ. καὶ ποιήσας αὐτὸν πατρίκιον ζεύγνυσι τῇ τῆς γυναι κὸς αὐτοῦ Εἰρήνης ἐξαδέλφῃ, καὶ δεξάμενος αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας κολυμβήθρας μεγάλως καὶ ἠγάπησε καὶ ἐδόξασε. Τῷ γʹ ἔτει ὁ στρατὸς τῶν Ῥωμαίων εἰς Γερμανίκειαν ἀπελ θὼν αἰχμαλώτευσε Σύρους Ἰακωβίτας πλῆθος πολύ· οὓς ἐνῴκι σεν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν Θρᾴκην. Τῷ εʹ ἔτει τέθνηκε Νικήτας πατριάρχης Κωνσταντινουπό λεως, ὁ ἀπὸ Σθλάβων εὐνοῦχος, καὶ προχειρίζεται Παῦλος ὁ τίμιος ἀναγνώστης Κύπριος. τῇ δὲ μέσῃ ἑβδομάδι τῶν νηστειῶν εὗρεν ἐν τῷ προσκεφαλαίῳ Εἰρήνης τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ εἰκόνας δύο, ἃς θεωρήσας καὶ ἀνακρίνας εὗρεν ὅτι ὁ παπίας τοῦ παλα τίου εἰσεκόμισεν αὐτὰς καί τινες ἄλλοι τῶν πριμικηρίων· οὓς βα σάνοις πλείσταις καὶ τιμωρίαις καθυπέβαλε. τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα αὐ τοῦ Εἰρήνην σφοδρῶς ἐπιπλήξας ἐξουδένωσεν εἰπών "οὕτως ὤμο 2.20 σας τῷ πατρί μου τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐπὶ τῶν φρικτῶν καὶ ἀχράντων τῆς πίστεως μυστηρίων;" αὐτὴ δὲ διισχυρίσατο μὴ ἑωρακέναι αὐτάς. αὐτὸς οὖν ἀπώσατο αὐτήν, μὴ ἐγνωκὼς αὐτὴν ἔτι. λιθομανὴς δὲ λίαν ὑπάρχων ἠράσθη τοῦ στέμματος τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας, ὅπερ ἦν Ἡρακλείου· καὶ λαβὼν ἐφόρεσεν αὐτὸ καὶ προῆλθεν. ὑποστραφέντος δὲ ἀπηνθρακώθη δεινῶς ἡ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σφοδροτάτῳ πυρετῷ συνεχόμενος κακὴν κακῶς τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπέρ ρηξε, τῆς ἱεροσυλίας κομισάμενος τὰ ἐπίχειρα. Κόσμου ἔτος #22σογʹ, τῆς θείας σαρκώσεως ψοθʹ. Κων σταντῖνος σὺν τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ Εἰρήνῃ ὀρθόδοξοι ἐβασίλευσαν ἔτη ιʹ. τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει ἡ εὐσεβεστάτη Εἰρήνη ἅμα τῷ υἱῷ Κωνσταν τίνῳ θεόθεν παραδόξως τὴν βασιλείαν ἐγχειρίζεται. μετὰ δὲ μʹ ἡμέρας τινὲς τῆς συγκλήτου ἠθέλησαν προβαλέσθαι Νικηφόρον τὸν ἀπὸ Καισάρων εἰς βασιλέα· οὓς κρατήσασα ἡ βασιλὶς ἔτυψε καὶ ἐξώρισε. τοὺς δὲ ἀνδραδέλφους αὐτῆς Καίσαρας καὶ νωβε λισσίμους ὄντας ἀποκείρασα ἱερατεῦσαι καὶ μεταδοῦναι τῷ λαῷ πεποίηκε τῇ ἑορτῇ τῆς Χριστοῦ γεννήσεως· ἐν ᾗ καὶ προελθοῦσα σὺν τῷ υἱῷ δεκαετεῖ ὑπάρχοντι προσήνεγκε τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς ἀρθὲν στέμμα, ἐπικαλλωπίσασα διὰ μαργάρων. τῷ αὐτῷ χρόνῳ οἱ Ἄραβες μετὰ Ῥωμαίων συμβαλόντες ἡττῶνται. ἄρχεται δὲ ἡ εὐσέβεια καὶ ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ πλατύνεσθαι, καὶ πᾶν ἀγαθὸν σωτηριῶδες ἐφανεροῦτο. τότε καὶ τῆς πανευφήμου μάρ τυρος Εὐφημίας τὸ λείψανον, ὅπερ ἀένναον μύρον βλύζον διετέ 2.21 λει, ἀπὸ τῆς Λήμνου ἡ θεοφιλὴς Εἰρήνη ἐκόμισε, καὶ τὸν πλη σίον τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου ναὸν αὐτῆς περικαθάρασα ἐκεῖ αὐτὸ κατέ θετο. ταῦτα δὲ γέγονεν, ὡς ἂν θαυμαστωθῇ ὁ θεός, οὐκ ἐν δυνάμει ἀνδρῶν καὶ συνέσεως περιουσίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ γυναι κὸς μετὰ παιδὸς ὀρφανοῦ καθαιρούσης τὴν ἄμετρον κατ' αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ δυσσέβειαν. τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει ἐν τοῖς μακροῖς τείχεσι τῆς Θρᾴκης ἄνθρωπός τις ὀρύσσων εὗρε λάρνακα, καὶ ταύτην ἀποκαθάρας καὶ ἀποσκεπάσας εὗρεν ἄνδρα κείμενον μέγαν καὶ γράμματα ἐγκεκολαμμένα ἐν τῇ λάρνακι περιέχοντα "Χριστὸς μέλλει γεννᾶσθαι ἐκ παρθένου, καὶ πιστεύω εἰς αὐτόν. ἐπὶ δὲ Κωνσταντίνου καὶ Εἰρήνης πάλιν, ὦ ἥλιε, ὄψει με. Τῷ βʹ ἔτει ἀπέστειλεν Εἰρήνη πρὸς Κάρουλον τὸν ῥῆγα Φραγγίας, καὶ ἐνυμφεύσατο τὴν θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ Ἐρυθρὼ λεγομένην Κωνσταντίνῳ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτῆς. καὶ γενομένων συμφώνων καὶ ὅρκων κατελείφθη Ἐλισσαῖος ὁ εὐνοῦχος καὶ νοτάριος εἰς τὸ διδάξαι αὐτὴν τά τε τῶν Γραικῶν γράμματα καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν, καὶ παιδεῦσαι αὐτὴν τὰ ἤθη τῆς Ῥωμαίων βασιλείας. Τῷ γʹ ἔτει εἰρηνεύσασα Εἰρήνη μετὰ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀποστέλ λει Σταυράκιον πατρίκιον καὶ λογοθέτην κατὰ τῶν Σθλαβίνων· ὃς καὶ κατελθὼν ὑπέταξε πάντας καὶ ὑποφόρους ἐποίησε τῆς βασι λίδος. ἐλθὼν δὲ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ καὶ πολλὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ λάφυρα λαβὼν ἤγαγε τῇ βασιλίδι. 2.22 Τῷ δʹ ἔτει Παῦλος ὁ ὅσιος καὶ ἁγιώτατος πατριάρχης ἀσθε νήσας κατέλιπε τὸν θρόνον καὶ ἐν τῇ μονῇ τῶν Φλώρου ἀπεκάρη. ἔρχεται οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν βασίλισσα λυπουμένη, καὶ φησί "τί τοῦτο