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to be guarded from Leo, just as he was, with his irons, he sat upon the imperial throne, and having been proclaimed by all those who were then in the palace, he was worshipped. And when it was already midday, the rumor having spread everywhere, his bonds having been violently shattered by a hammer, not having washed his hands, not having taken the fear of God into his mind, having done nothing else of the necessary things, he came forth to the great church of Hagia Sophia, wishing to be crowned by the hand of the patriarch, and eager also to receive the public acclamation, trusting only in those fellow conspirators who had carried out the murder. And here one might wonder at the ill-judgement of both, of the one who was gone, how he had no one to help him from among so many and such great flatterers, all of whom had sunk into holes like reptiles, and of the one after him, his shamelessness and impudence, who entered the church not as some murderer and executioner, having his hands stained with blood, but as some prize-winner and victor, rejoicing 2.69 at what had happened, having shed civil blood not in some chance place but in the divine sanctuary, where the Lord's ransom for our sins is poured out daily. This Michael was brought forth by the city in upper Phrygia, Amorion, so-called, in which a multitude of Jews and Athinganoi and other impious people have dwelt from ancient times. And a certain heresy, having a new character and strange doctrines, springs up from their association with each other and continuous intercourse, of which he himself was a participant, fulfilling a religion handed down from his fathers. This allows its initiates to partake of the divine and saving bath, but it preserves all other things, keeping the Mosaic law except for circumcision. Michael had a teacher and a sort of leader, by whom he was initiated, a certain Hebrew man or Hebrew woman in his own house, who taught him not only spiritual matters but also domestic affairs. Influenced by this person, he preserved nothing whole, but was a sort of meeting-place of unbelief, having counterfeited the things of the Christians, having debased the things of the Jews and adulterated the rest, and having become such in faith, both varied and multiform, such as they say the beasts in Libya become, which gather together and mix with one another because of the lack of water. And so when he was raised to imperial power, he put on airs and adorned himself [or] with the diadem and the purple, but reason and 2.70 learning, as things that overturned his own and were able to teach better things, he rejected and dishonored. But he honored his own skills especially; and these were, to predict of newborn pigs how many would be well-fed and not lack for size of body, and how many would be afflicted with the opposite, and to know to stand near kicking horses, but to skillfully avoid kicking donkeys as far as possible. And he was an excellent judge of mules, to distinguish which of them are suitable for carrying burdens, and which are able to carry their riders comfortably, and would not, becoming terrified by some fright, throw them off. Moreover, judging horses by the mere glance of his eyes, which were vigorous and swift for racing and which preserved their endurance for war; also the fertility of sheep and cattle, and how many of them had by nature a plentiful supply of milk; and to know how to distinguish among newborn offspring which one belongs to which mother. And these indeed were the lessons and boasts of his early life, and one might say also of his last; but when he was already in his prime, struggling with and enduring a life of poverty, he hastened to cast it off by every means. And once, standing before his own general, he made himself known, provoking the commander with the stammering of his tongue. But a certain one of the Athinganoi, who was an acquaintance of the general, declared that this Michael and a certain other would soon be famous, and would attain the imperial power itself in not a long time. to these things the general his soul

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Λέοντος φυλάττεσθαι, οὕτως ὡς εἶχε μετὰ τῶν σιδήρων ἐπὶ τὸν βασίλειον ἐκάθισε θρόνον, καὶ παρὰ πάντων τῶν τέως ὄντων ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ ἀναγορευθεὶς προσεκυνήθη. ἤδη δὲ μεσούσης ἡμέρας, πανταχοῦ τῆς φήμης διαδραμούσης, τῶν δεσμῶν θλασθέντων ὑπὸ σφύρας βιαίως, οὐ χεῖρας ἀπονιψάμε νος, οὐ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φόβον ἐπὶ νοῦν εἰληφώς, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν τῶν δεόντων πράξας, πρὸς τὸν μέγαν τῆς ἁγίας Σοφίας ναὸν προελήλυθε, χειρὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου στεφθῆναι βουλόμενος, καὶ γλιχόμενος καὶ τῆς πανδήμου τυχεῖν ἀναρρήσεως, ἐκείνοις μόνοις τοῖς τὸν φόνον ἐξηνυκόσι συνωμόταις θαρρῶν. ἔνθα καί τις θαυ μάσειεν ἀμφοτέρων τὸ κακόγνωμον, τοῦ μὲν ἀπελθόντος, ὅπως οὐδένα ἔσχε τὸν βοηθοῦντα ἐκ τῶν τοσούτων καὶ τηλικούτων κο λάκων, ἑρπετῶν δίκην ἁπάντων καταδεδυκότων εἰς χηραμούς, τοῦ δὲ μετ' ἐκεῖνον τὸ ἀναιδὲς καὶ ἀναίσχυντον, ὃς εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσῄει οὐχ ὥς τις φονεὺς καὶ δήμιος, ᾑμαγμένας ἔχων τὰς χεῖρας, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τις ἀθλοφόρος καὶ νικητής, ἐπὶ τῷ γεγονότι γαννύ 2.69 μενος, ἐμφύλιον ἐκχέας αἷμα οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ τυχόντος τόπου ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ θείῳ θυσιαστηρίῳ, ἔνθα τὸ δεσποτικὸν καθ' ἡμέραν ἐκχέεται τῶν ἡμετέρων ἕνεκα λύτρον ἁμαρτιῶν. Τοῦτον τὸν Μιχαὴλ ἤνεγκε μὲν ἡ κατὰ τὴν ἄνω Φρυγίαν πόλις Ἀμώριον, οὕτω καλουμένη, ἐν ᾗ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Ἀθιγγάνωνκαὶ ἑτέρων ἀσεβῶν πλῆθος ἔκπαλαι τῶν χρόνων ἐγκατοικίζεται. καί τις δὲ αἵρεσις ἐκ τῆς ἀλλήλων κοινωνίας καὶ διηνεκοῦς ὁμιλίας καινὸν ἔχουσα τὸν τρόπον καὶ ἀλλόκοτα δόγματα ἐπιφύεται, ἧς καὶ αὐτὸς μέτοχος ἦν, πατροπαράδοτον θρησκείαν ἀποπληρῶν. αὕτη τοῦ μὲν θείου λουτροῦ καὶ σωτηριώδους τοὺς τελουμένους μεταλαγχάνειν ἀνίησι, τἆλλα δὲ πάντα σώζει, φυλάττουσα τὸν νόμον τὸν Μωσαϊκὸν πλὴν τῆς περιτομῆς. εἶχε δὲ διδάσκαλον ὁ Μιχαὴλ καὶ οἷον ἔξαρχον, ὑπ' αὐτοῦ μεμυσταγωγημένος, Ἑβραῖόν τινα ἢ Ἑβραΐδα κατὰ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ οἶκον, οὐ μόνον τὰ ψυχικὰ ἀλλὰ δὴ καὶ τὰς κατ' οἶκον οἰκονομίας αὐτὸν ἐκπαιδεύοντα. ὑφ' οὗ προληφθεὶς οὐδὲν ἀκέραιον ἔσωζεν, ἀλλ' ἦν ἀπιστίας τις σύνοδος, τά τε Χριστιανῶν παραχαράξας, τὰ Ἰουδαίων κιβδηλεύσας καὶ τἆλλα παρανοθεύσας, καὶ τοιοῦτος τὴν πίστιν γενόμενος, ποικί λος τε καὶ πολύμορφος, ὁποῖά φασι τὰ ἐν Λιβύῃ γίνεσθαι θηρία διὰ τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος ἔνδειαν συναγόμενα καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐπιμιγνύ μενα. ὡς δὴ καὶ εἰς τὴν βασίλειον ἀνήχθη ἀρχήν, ἐσεμνύνετό τε καὶ ὡραΐζετο [ἢ] τῷ διαδήματι καὶ τῇ ἁλουργίδι, λόγον δὲ καὶ 2.70 μάθησιν ὡς τὰ αὐτοῦ ἀνατρέποντα καὶ δυνάμενα μεταδιδάσκειν τὰ κρείττονα ἀπεβάλλετο καὶ ἠτίμαζεν. ἐτίμα δὲ τὰ οἰκεῖα δια φερόντως· τὰ δὲ ἦν, συῶν μὲν τῶν ἀρτιτόκων προλέγειν ὅσοι τε ἔσονται εὐτραφεῖς καὶ σωμάτων μεγέθους οὐκ ἀμοιρήσουσι, καὶ ὅσοι τοῖς ἐναντίοις περισχεθήσονται, καὶ ἵππων μὲν ἐγγὺς ἑστάναι τῶν λακτιζόντων εἰδέναι, ὄνους δὲ τοὺς λακτίζοντας ὡς πορρω τάτω ἐκτρέπεσθαι εὐφυῶς. ἡμιόνων τε κριτὴς ἄριστος ἦν, καὶ τούτων ὅσοι μὲν πρὸς φόρτον ἐπιτήδειοί εἰσι διακρίνειν, ὅσοι δὲ τοὺς ἐπιβάτας εὐφόρως φέρειν δύνανται, καὶ μή τινι πτοίᾳ περι δεεῖς γινόμενοι ἐκτραχηλίζοιεν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἵππους ὀφθαλμῶν μόνον κρίνων ἐπιβολαῖς, ὅσοι τε πρὸς δρόμον εὔτονοι καὶ ταχεῖς καὶ ὅσοι πρὸς πόλεμον τὸ καρτερικὸν διασώζουσι· προ βάτων τε καὶ βοῶν εὐτοκίας, καὶ τὴν τοῦ γάλακτος ὅσαι δαψί λειαν ἐκ φύσεως ἔλαχον· τῶν τε ἀρτιγενῶν γεννημάτων εἰδέναι διακρίνειν ποῖον ὁποίας ἐστὶ μητρός. καὶ τὰ μὲν τῆς πρώτης ἡλι κίας, εἰπεῖν δὲ καὶ τῆς τελευταίας, ταῦτα δὴ τὰ μαθήματα καὶ σεμνολογήματα· ὡς δὲ ἤκμαζεν ἤδη, τὸν πένητα βίον διαθλῶν καὶ καρτερῶν, ἔσπευδε τοῦτον πάσῃ ἀποτρίψασθαι μηχανῇ. καί ποτε τῷ ἑαυτοῦ παραστὰς στρατηγῷ ἑαυτὸν ὑπέφαινε, τῇ τῆς γλώττης τραυλότητι τὸν ἄρχοντα ἐκκαλούμενος. τῶν δὲ Ἀθιγγά νων τις, γνωστὸς ὑπάρχων τῷ στρατηγῷ, αὐτόν τε τοῦτον τὸν Μι χαὴλ καί τινα ἕτερον περιβοήτους ἔσεσθαι μετ' οὐ πολὺ διηγόρευε, καὶ βασιλείας αὐτῆς ἐπιτυχεῖν οὐκ ἐν μακρῷ τῷ χρόνῳ. τούτοις ὁ στρατηγὸς τὴν ψυχὴν