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being accused by 2.41 Theodosios, patrician of Salibaras, his faithful servant, that "everyone cries out against us, master, and in time of trial everyone will rejoice at our fall," he said to him, "If God, hardening, has hardened my heart like Pharaoh's, what good will come to those under my hand? From Nikephoros, Theodosios, expect nothing except what you see." And having gathered together the armies of the east and the west, and many poor men paid with his own money, armed with slings and clubs, blaspheming along with the armies, he marched against Bulgaria. But Krum, fearing the multitudes, while they were at Markellai, asked for peace. But he was prevented by his own evil counsels and those of his like-minded advisors. He entered Bulgaria on the 20th of the month of July. It was the utterly destructive rising of the Dog Star. And foretelling his own utter destruction, he often exclaimed, "Who will go and deceive Ahab? For whether it is God or the adversary, he drags me unwilling." Therefore, after the first engagements, seeming to be successful, he proclaimed that the victory was not due to God but to the good fortune of Staurakios. And he threatened the rulers who blocked his entrance. And he ordered every age, even to their infants, to be mercilessly slain. And he left the dead bodies of his kinsmen unburied, caring only for the collection of the spoils. And placing locks and seals on Krum's treasuries, he secured them as his own from then on. Indeed, he cut off the ears and other limbs of Christians who had touched the 2.42 spoils; and he burned the so-called court of Krum, though Krum declared very humbly, "Behold, you have conquered; take whatever is pleasing to you, and depart in peace." But the enemy of peace did not accept this. At which Krum, angered, fenced off the entrances and exits of the country with wooden fortifications. And Nikephoros, knowing this, foretold to his companions the things of destruction, "Even if we become winged, no one will escape destruction." And after two days, the barbarian, having gathered his people, came against the tent of Nikephoros. And they killed him miserably and all the rulers with him and countless multitudes of the people, and they took all the baggage. And Krum, cutting off the head of Nikephoros, hung it on a piece of wood for all to see, then, having stripped the bone and overlaid it all around with silver, he ordered the rulers of the Bulgars to drink from it, boasting against him as one who was insatiable and did not want peace. During the reign of this Nikephoros, Christians were more unfortunate than at any other time; for this man surpassed all the most savage emperors before him in inhumanity, of whom if one wished to recount his wicked practices in detail, time would fail and the hand would grow weary. Nevertheless, from the hem the fabric is manifest. And Staurakios his son was also mortally wounded in the spine. And he barely came out of the battle alive, and reaching Adrianople, he was proclaimed emperor. And being unable to be carried on horseback, he reached the city in a litter. He, on account of his wound, lying in the 2.43 palace, did not go out, and he wanted to blind the kouropalates Michael his son-in-law, and to leave the empire to his wife Theophano. But Michael, knowing this, was suddenly proclaimed emperor in the hippodrome by the senate and the regiments, as Staurakios was already despaired of. Staurakios, learning this, went out of the palace, immediately put on the monastic habit with his wife Theophano, died in the monastery of Braka, and was buried in the monastery of Satyros. The most holy Nikephoros held the throne of the high priesthood.

And Michael the kouropalates and son-in-law of the emperor Nikephoros, whose surname was Rhangabe, was shown to be master of the Roman scepters by the people and the senate, though rejecting the rule and not sufficient

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ἐγκαλούμενος ὑπὸ 2.41 Θεοδοσίου πατρικίου τοῦ Σαλιβαρᾶ, τοῦ γνησίου αὐτοῦ θεράπον τος, ὅτι πάντες καταβοῶσιν ἡμῶν, δέσποτα, καὶ ἐν καιρῷ πει ρασμοῦ πάντες ἐπιχαρήσονται τῇ πτώσει ἡμῶν, ἔφη πρὸς αὐτόν "εἰ ὁ θεὸς σκληρύνων ἐσκλήρυνε τὴν καρδίαν μου ὡς τοῦ Φαραώ, τί ἀγαθὸν ἔσται τοῖς ὑπὸ χεῖρά μου; παρὰ Νικηφόρου, Θεοδόσιε, μὴ ἐκδέχου πλὴν τῶν ὁρωμένων σοι." ἐπισυνάξας δὲ τὰ στρα τόπεδα ἀνατολῆς καὶ δύσεως, καὶ πολλοὺς πένητας ἰδίοις ὀψω νίοις, σφενδόναις καὶ ῥάβδοις ὡπλισμένους, βλασφημοῦντας ἅμα τοῖς στρατεύμασιν, ἤλασε κατὰ Βουλγαρίας. Κροῦμος δὲ τὰ πλήθη φοβηθείς, ὄντων αὐτῶν ἐν Μαρκέλλῃ, ᾐτεῖτο εἰρήνην. ὁ δὲ ταῖς οἰκείαις κακοβουλίαις καὶ ταῖς τῶν ὁμοφρόνων αὐτοῦ συμ βούλων διεκωλύθη. εἰσέρχεται δὲ εἰς Βουλγαρίαν τῇ κʹ τοῦ Ἰουλίου μηνός. κυνὸς ἦν ἐπιτολὴ πανωλέθριος. καὶ προλέγων τὴν αὐτοῦ πανωλεθρίαν συχνῶς ἐπεφθέγγετο "τίς πορεύεται καὶ ἀπα τήσει τὸν Ἀχαάβ; ὅτι κἂν ὁ θεὸς κἂν ὁ ἀντικείμενος, ἕλκει με ἄκοντα." μετὰ γοῦν τὰς πρώτας συμβολὰς δόξας κατευοδοῦσθαι οὐ τῷ θεῷ τὰ τῆς νίκης ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ Σταυρακίου εὐτυχίᾳ ἐκή ρυττε. καὶ τοῖς κωλύουσι τὴν εἴσοδον ἄρχουσιν ἠπείλει. πᾶσαν δὲ ἡλικίαν, ἕως καὶ βρεφῶν αὐτῶν, ἀνηλεῶς φονεύεσθαι προσ έταξε. καὶ τὰ τῶν ὁμοφύλων νεκρὰ σώματα ἄταφα εἴα, μόνης ἐπιμελούμενος τῆς τῶν σκύλων συλλογῆς. κλεῖθρα δὲ καὶ σφρα γῖδας τοῖς ταμείοις Κρούμου ἐπιθεὶς ὡς ἴδια λοιπὸν ἠσφαλίσατο. ὦτα γοῦν καὶ ἕτερα μέλη Χριστιανῶν ἀπέτεμεν ἁψαμένων τῶν 2.42 σκύλων· καὶ τὴν λεγομένην αὐλὴν τοῦ Κρούμου ἐνέπρησεν, ἐκείνου σφόδρα τεταπεινωμένως δηλοῦντος ὅτι ἰδοὺ νενίκηκας· λάβε εἴ τί σοι ἀρεστόν ἐστι, καὶ ἔξελθε ἐν εἰρήνῃ. ὁ δὲ τῆς εἰρήνης ἐχθρὸς ταύτην οὐ προσήκατο. ἐφ' οἷς χαλεπήνας ὁ Κροῦμος τὰ τῆς χώρας εἰσόδους καὶ ἐξόδους περιέφραξεν ὀχυρώμασι ξυλίνοις. ὁ δὲ Νικηφόρος τοῦτο γνοὺς τοῖς συνοῦσι τὰ τῆς ἀπωλείας προέλε γεν, ὅτι κἂν πτερωτοὶ γενώμεθα, οὐδεὶς ἐκφύγῃ τὸν ὄλεθρον. καὶ μεθ' ἡμέρας δύο συναθροίσας λαὸν ὁ βάρβαρος ἐπῆλθε κατὰ τῆς τοῦ Νικηφόρου σκηνῆς. καὶ τοῦτον ἀναιροῦσιν οἰκτρῶς καὶ πάντας τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἄρχοντας καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ πλήθη ἄπειρα, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀποσκευὴν ἀνελάβοντο. τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν τοῦ Νικηφό ρου ὁ Κροῦμος ἐκκόψας ἐπὶ ξύλου ἀνήρτησεν εἰς ἐπίδειξιν πάντων, εἶθ' οὕτως γυμνώσας τὸ ὀστοῦν καὶ περιαργυρώσας πέριξ πίνειν εἰς αὐτὸ τοὺς Βουλγάρων ἄρχοντας ἐκέλευσεν, ἐγκαυχωμένους κατ' αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀπλήστου καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην μὴ θελήσαντος. τούτου τοῦ Νικηφόρου τῆς ἀρχῆς Χριστιανοὶ βαρύτερον οὐδενὶ χρόνῳ ἠτύχησαν· πάντας γὰρ τοὺς πρὸ αὐτοῦ ὠμοτάτους βασιλεῖς τῇ ἀπανθρωπίᾳ ὑπερηκόντισεν οὗτος, οὗπερ εἰ κατὰ μέρος τις βου ληθῇ διεξιέναι τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα, ὁ χρόνος ἐπιλείψει καὶ ἡ χεὶρ ἀτονήσει. πλὴν ἐκ τοῦ κρασπέδου τὸ ὕφασμα πρόδηλον. Τιτρώσκεται δὲ καὶ Σταυράκιος ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καιρίως κατὰ τοῦ σπονδύλου. καὶ μόλις τῆς μάχης ἐξῆλθε ζῶν, καὶ καταλα βὼν τὴν Ἀδριανούπολιν ἀναγορεύεται. καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος ἐποχεῖ σθαι φορείῳ τὴν πόλιν κατέλαβεν. ὃς διὰ τὴν πληγὴν ἐν τῷ πα 2.43 λατίῳ κείμενος ἀπρόϊτος ἦν, ἐβούλετο δὲ τὸν κουροπαλάτην Μι χαὴλ τὸν γαμβρὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκτυφλῶσαι, τῇ δὲ γαμετῇ Θεοφανοῖ τὴν βασιλείαν καταλιπεῖν. γνοὺς δὲ τοῦτο ὁ Μιχαὴλ ἐξαίφνης ἀνα γορεύεται βασιλεὺς ἐν τῷ ἱπποδρομίῳ παρὰ τῆς συγκλήτου καὶ τῶν ταγμάτων ὡς ἤδη ἀπεγνωσμένου τοῦ Σταυρακίου. ὅπερ μα θὼν Σταυράκιος τοῦ παλατίου ἐξελθών, τὸ μοναδικὸν αὐτίκα σὺν τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ Θεοφανοῖ περιθέμενος, εἰς τὰ Βρακᾶ μοναστή ριον ἐτελεύτησε, καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν τῇ μονῇ τοῦ Σατύρου. τὸν δὲ τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης θρόνον κατεῖχεν ὁ ἁγιώτατος Νικηφόρος.

Μιχαὴλ δὲ ὁ κουροπαλάτης καὶ γαμβρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως Νι κηφόρου, ᾧ Ῥαγκαβὲ ἦν ἡ προσηγορία, ἐγκρατὴς τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν διὰ τοῦ δήμου καὶ τῆς συγκλήτου ἀναδείκνυται σκήπτρων, ἀπω θούμενος μὲν τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ μὴ ἱκανὸς