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you will see them trampling one another and securing their safety by flight, and you will be delivered from the surrounding terrors. Thus the metropolitan spoke; and immediately it occurred to all to expect better things, and they were freed from their despondency; for they knew that he knew the future better than another knew the past; and they openly paid attention to him as to one prophesying. But they were at a loss as to what would be the cause of the Mysians' flight. The same hierarch also wrote to Apokaukos the megas doux to this effect, that he was at a loss as to why, having had experience of him many times in many things before, and having seen the outcome of what was said not in the distant future, nor regarding some other person, but having happened most clearly to himself, he now disbelieved completely and thought that what was said by him were words spoken in vain. But he, even though Apokaukos was unwilling to be persuaded, would nonetheless advise what he thought would be profitable for both him and all the Romans. For it had been revealed to him by God that it was not fitting for him, but rather for Kantakouzenos, who was formerly megas domestikos but was now emperor, to act as regent for the emperor's children and to be co-emperor. Therefore this had also been given by God; and that it was for him to be under him and to be occupied with the ships and to rule the sea. He advised him to hold to what was 2.342 given and not to leap over the bounds, and he begged him to be persuaded; for resisting what had been decided by God would not come to a good end for him. For he himself said that at the very beginning of the proclamation of emperor Kantakouzenos, being displeased about what was being done and considering whether what had been done was not according to the will of God, and for this reason applying himself to prayers and supplications, he was taught by God in these very words: As I will, I approve, I decree that John Kantakouzenos be emperor, and so let it be. Therefore, what God has approved, it is not right for any man to try to undo, because it is not even possible. And he asked him not to think such things a boast and otherwise a display of virtue; for he would not have been driven into such a pit of folly as to lie about such things from God. But such things had been said for the benefit of the many, who were being destroyed by the war so unjustly and contrary to every law of justice, and to deliver him from the deceit by which he was held, thinking he would overcome the emperor Kantakouzenos; if he were persuaded by these things, he would know the benefit before long, but if he were not persuaded, he would certainly know that he himself was a friend of truth and had been taught such things by it. Such things did the one of Didymoteicho write to the megas doux, expressly foretelling concerning the emperor Kantakouzenos that he would overcome those who wronged him. But when he had read the letters 2.343, he made no further reply. But he foretold many such things not only about the emperor, but also not a few things about certain private individuals. For when Michael Bryennios, the archon of Pamphylos, had been plotted against by the populace and carried off as a prisoner to Byzantium, and had been condemned by the magistrates to live in prison, when some time later for some small reason the commander of the guard, out of irrational madness and anger, tortured him so severely that he was thought to have died, and when the rumor had spread to his relatives in Didymoteicho, and they were begging the hierarch to announce the man's death to his wife, so that, restrained by her respect for him, she might not lose her life at the news, he said that Bryennios had not died, but was alive; he had been beaten, however, with such inhumanity as to need even salt to check the putrefaction and inflammations from the whips. Yet he would not die, but live, and the inhumanity of his tormentors had been inflicted on him for certain other more secret reasons, and that would be the primary cause of his return to his children and wife. For having been released from prison to heal his wounds, he will escape and arrive here. And some time later, with the emperor also present, he will fall fighting for him. All of which later turned out according to his prophecy. For having been released from the prison, the

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συμπατοῦντας ὄψεσθε ἀλλήλους καὶ φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν ποριζομένους καὶ τῶν περισχόντων ἀπαλλάξεσθε δεινῶν. ὁ μὲν οὖν μητροπολίτης τοιαῦτα εἶπε· πᾶσι δὲ εὐθὺς ἐπῆλθε βελτίω προσδοκᾷν καὶ τῆς ἀθυμίας ἀπηλλάττοντο· ᾔδεσαν γὰρ αὐτὸν τὰ μέλλοντα εἰδέναι μᾶλλον, ἢ τὰ παρεληλυθότα ἕτερον· καὶ ὡς προφητεύοντι προσεῖχον φανερῶς. διηπόρουν δὲ ὅ, τι ἂν εἴη τὸ Μυσοῖς αἴτιον ἐσόμενον φυγῆς. ὁ δ' αὐτὸς ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ Ἀποκαύκῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ δουκὶ ἔγραψε τοιαῦτα, ὡς ἀποροίη, ὅτου ἕνεκα πεῖραν αὐτοῦ πολλάκις ἐν πολλοῖς πρότερον ἐσχηκὼς, καὶ τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν ἔκβασιν οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν, οὐδ' εἰς ἕτερόν τινα, ἀλλ' εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἰδὼν σαφέστατα γεγενημένην, νῦν ἀπιστοίη παντάπασι καὶ λόγους οἴοιτο εἰκῇ λεγομένους τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. αὐτὸς δὲ καίτοι μὴ βουλομένῳ πείθεσθαι, οὐδὲν ἧττον συμβουλεύσειν, ἃ αὐτῷ τε καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἅπασι λυσιτελήσειν οἴεται. ἐκκαλυφθῆναι γὰρ αὐτῷ παρὰ θεοῦ, ὡς οὐκ ἐκείνῳ μᾶλλον, ἀλλὰ Καντακουζηνῷ, τῷ πρὶν μὲν μεγάλῳ δομεστίκῳ, νυνὶ δὲ βασιλεῖ γεγενημένῳ, τὸ τοῖς βασιλέως παισὶν ἐπιτροπεύειν καὶ συμβασιλεύειν προσήκει. διὸ καὶ δεδόσθαι παρὰ θεοῦ· ἐκείνῳ δὲ ὑπ' ἐκεῖνον εἶναι καὶ περὶ ναῦς ἀσχολεῖσθαι καὶ θαλασσοκρατεῖν. συνεβούλευέ τε ἔχεσθαι τῶν 2.342 δεδομένων καὶ μὴ ὑπὲρ τὰ ἐσκαμμένα πηδᾷν, καὶ ἐδεῖτο πείθεσθαι· μηδὲ γὰρ ἂν εἰς τέλος ἥξειν ἀγαθὸν αὐτῷ τὸ τοῖς βεβουλευμένοις ἀνθίστασθαι θεῷ. καὶ αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐν ἀρχῇ μάλιστα ἔφασκε τῆς ἀναῤῥήσεως Καντακουζηνοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως περὶ τῶν πραττομένων δυσχεραίνων καὶ ἀναλογιζόμενος, εἰ μὴ κατὰ γνώμην εἴη θεῷ τὰ εἰργασμένα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δεήσεσι προσκείμενος καὶ ἱκεσίαις, ἐκδιδαχθῆναι παρὰ θεοῦ αὐταῖς λέξεσιν· ὡς θέλω, εὐδοκῶ, ὁρίζω βασιλεύειν Ἰωάννην τὸν Καντακουζηνὸν, καὶ γενέσθω. ἃ τοίνυν ὁ θεὸς εὐδόκησεν, οὐδένα δίκαιον ἀνθρώπων πειρᾶσθαι καταλύειν, ὅτι μηδὲ δυνατόν. ἠξίου τε μὴ κόμπον τὰ τοιαῦτα οἴεσθαι καὶ ἄλλως ἐπίδειξιν ἀρετῆς· μηδὲ γὰρ ἂν εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀπονοίας βάραθρον ἐληλακέναι, ὡς τοιαῦτα καταψεύδεσθαι θεοῦ. ἀλλὰ τῆς τε ὠφελείας τῶν πολλῶν, ἀδίκως οὕτω καὶ παρὰ πάντα τοῦ δικαίου νόμον ἀπολλυμένων ὑπὸ τοῦ πολέμου, καὶ τοῦ αὐτὸν ἐξελέσθαι ὑφ' ἧς κατέχεται ἀπάτης, οἰόμενον Καντακουζηνοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως περιγενήσεσθαι, εἰρῆσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα· οἷς εἰ πεισθείη, εἴσεται τὴν ὠφέλειαν οὐκ ἐν μακρῷ, εἰ δ' οὐ πεισθείη, πάντως εἴσεται ὡς ἀληθείας φίλος αὐτὸς καὶ παρ' ἐκείνης τὰ τοιαῦτα δεδιδαγμένος. τοιαῦτα μὲν ὁ ∆ιδυμοτείχου ἔγραφε πρὸς μέγαν δοῦκα διαῤῥήδην περὶ Καντακουζηνοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως προλέγων, ὡς τῶν ἀδικούντων περιέσται. ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἐπεὶ τὰ γράμματα 2.343 ἀνέγνω, οὐδὲν πλέον ἀπεκρίνατο. οὐ περὶ βασιλέως δὲ μόνον ἐκεῖνος πολλὰ τοιαῦτα προηγόρευεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ἰδιωτῶν τινων οὐκ ὀλίγα. Βρυεννίου γὰρ τοῦ Μιχαὴλ, Παμφίλου ἄρχοντος, ἐπιβουλευθέντος τε ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου καὶ δεσμώτου εἰς Βυζάντιον ἀπαχθέντος, δεσμωτήριόν τε ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων οἰκεῖν κατεψηφισμένου, ἐπεὶ χρόνῳ ὕστερον μικρᾶς τινος ἕνεκα αἰτίας ὁ τῆς φρουρᾶς ἄρχων ὑπὸ μανίας ἀλόγου καὶ θυμοῦ εἰς τοσοῦτον ᾐκίσατο σφοδρῶς, ὡς νομισθῆναι καὶ ἀποθανεῖν, πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους ἐν ∆ιδυμοτείχῳ τῆς φήμης διαδραμούσης, κἀκείνων τοῦ ἀρχιερέως δεομένων ἀπαγγέλλειν τῇ γυναικὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν τελευτὴν, ἵν' ὑπὸ τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον αἰδοῦς κατεχομένη, μὴ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀποῤῥήξῃ πρὸς τὴν ἀγγελίαν, ἐκεῖνος οὐ τετελευτηκέναι ἔφασκε Βρυέννιον, ἀλλὰ ζῇν· τετύφθαι μέντοι εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀπανθρωπίας, ὡς καὶ ἁλῶν δεηθῆναι, τὰς σηπεδόνας καὶ φλεγμονὰς τὰς ἐκ τῶν μαστίγων καταστελούντων. μὴ μέντοι γε ἀποθανεῖν, ἀλλὰ ζῇν καὶ τὴν ἀπανθρωπίαν τῶν αἰκισαμένων ἄλλων τέ τινων ἀποῤῥητοτέρων ἕνεκα αὐτῷ ἐπενεχθῆναι, καὶ τῆς εἰς παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκα ἐπανόδου αἰτία μάλιστα ἐκείνη ἔσται. τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου γὰρ ἀπολυθεὶς ἐπὶ τῷ ἰᾶσθαι τὰς πληγὰς, διαδρὰς ἀφίξεται ἐνθάδε. χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον καὶ βασιλέως παρόντος, πεσεῖται μαχόμενος ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. ἃ πάντα ὕστερον κατὰ τὴν ἐκείνου πρόῤῥησιν ἀπέβαινεν. ἀφεθεὶς γὰρ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου ὁ