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But the Caesar asked, and begged the emperor not to let such a fine horse be lost in vain on account of one fault. And while they were in such discussions, Basil, running up to his master, said, "If I run alongside the imperial horse and leaping from my own become its rider, will the emperor be angry with me on account of the imperial saddle-cloth and the scarlet bridle?" When his master reminded the emperor in his ear, and the emperor ordered this to be done, Basil skillfully rode his own horse alongside, and bringing it into a parallel line with the emperor's, he immediately leaped and jumped across to the imperial horse, causing great amazement in those present and watching. And the emperor, also marveling at his skillfulness combined with courage and intelligence, immediately took him away from Theophilitzes and appointed him among his own stratores. And he was especially fond of him, and with gradual promotions raised him to the rank of protostrator. And when a hunt was once held for the emperor at the Philopation, the protostrator rode ahead of him on horseback, also carrying the imperial mace on his belt. And when a clamor and shout arose from the crowd, an enormous wolf rushed out of the woods. And Basil, rushing after it, threw the imperial mace at it, and hitting the beast in the middle of the head, he split it in two. And the Caesar, following behind the emperor as was his custom, and seeing what had happened, is said to have said to one of his companions in secret, "This man, my friend, I believe will become the utter ruin of our family." And they say that Leo the Philosopher also prophesied this to him, calling the man by name and indicating certain signs and pointing him out with his finger, and foretelling that this man would be the ruin of your entire family. The Caesar therefore always plotted against him, but he accomplished nothing; for it was very difficult to annul what had once been decreed by Providence to happen. And once when the emperor had crossed over to Armamenton for the sake of a hunt, and after the hunt was feasting together with his mother Theodora and some of his relatives and closest friends, the protostrator was summoned at the emperor's command. At whom the empress stared rather intently, observing and scrutinizing his features. And recognizing some feature and sign in him, she was immediately seized by dizziness and struck by faintness, she fell to the ground. And when the emperor and those around him were alarmed by this, water and fragrant perfumes were immediately brought, with which they sprinkled the empress and revived her from her fall. And so, having with difficulty come to herself and recovered from the darkness, when she was asked by her son and emperor from what cause this affliction had come upon her, having barely regained her senses, she answered her son thus: "This man, my child, whom you call Basil, is the destroyer of our family; for I saw in him a sign long ago explained to me by your father, at which, feeling dizzy, I fell to the ground." But the emperor, partly with dissuasive words and partly with sworn assurances, led his mother away from her fear, restoring her to her normal state and comforting her, saying, "Know, my lady and mother, that this man is a noble man, irresistible in strength and incomparable in nobility of soul, and loyal to us and well-disposed, and in no way malevolent towards us." And at that time, Basil thus escaped the malice of such a fate; But when Damianus the parakoimomenos, who was a eunuch and a Scythian and had been honored with the dignity of patrician, was censuring the things done by the emperor as not being carried out as they should, and especially those by his uncle Bardas the Caesar, the emperor, being very dull and slow in understanding matters, was once provoked to a change of mind, and some of the Caesar's actions he perhaps overturned and corrected. Which the Caesar, not bearing

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τεῖτο δὲ ὁ Καῖσαρ, καὶ ἐδεῖτο τοῦ βασιλέως μὴ διὰ μίαν κακίαν τοσαύτην ἀρετὴν ἵππου μάτην παραπολέσθαι. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἦσαν ἐν διαλογισμοῖς τοιούτοις, ὁ δὲ Βασίλειος παραδραμὼν τῷ κυρίῳ αὐτοῦ, "εἰ περιδράμω τὸν βασιλικὸν ἵππον" ἔφη "καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἐκτιναχθεὶς ἔποχος αὐτῷ γένωμαι, ἆρά γε διὰ τὴν βασιλικὴν ἐφεστρίδα καὶ τὸν κοκκοβαφῆ χαλινὸν ἀγανακτήσει ὁ βασιλεὺς κατ' ἐμοῦ;" τοῦ δὲ πρὸς οὖς ὑπομνήσαντος τὸν βασιλέα, κἀκείνου κελεύσαντος τοῦτο γενέσθαι, εὐφυῶς ὁ Βασίλειος τὸν ἑαυτοῦ παρελάσας ἵππον, καὶ τῷ τοῦ βασιλέως κατὰ παράλληλον ἐξισώ σας γραμμήν, ἥλατό τε εὐθέως καὶ πρὸς τὸν βασιλικὸν ἀπεπήδη σεν ἵππον, μέγα θαῦμα ἐνεὶς τοῖς παρατυχοῦσι καὶ θεωμένοις. θαυμάσας δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν μετ' ἀνδρίας εὐφυΐαν αὐτοῦ καὶ σύνεσιν, εὐθέως ἀποσπάσας αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοφιλίτζη ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ προσέταξε στράτορσιν. ἠγάπα δὲ διαφερόντως αὐτόν, καὶ ταῖς κατὰ μικρὸν προόδοις εἰς τὴν τοῦ πρωτοστράτωρος τάξιν ἀνήγαγε. κυνηγεσίας δέ ποτε γενομένης τῷ βασιλεῖ κατὰ τὸ Φι λοπάτιον προεπορεύετο τούτου ὁ πρωτοστράτωρ ἔφιππος, ἐπιφε ρόμενος ἐπὶ ζώνης καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν βαρδούκιον. θορύβου δὲ καὶ 2.196 βοῆς γενομένης ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους λύκος τῆς ὕλης ἐξέθορε παμμε γέθης. ὁρμήσας δὲ κατόπιν αὐτοῦ ὁ Βασίλειος ἔρριψε κατ' αὐτοῦ τὸ βασιλικὸν βαρδούκιον, καὶ τυχὼν τοῦ θηρίου κατὰ τὸ μέσον τῆς κεφαλῆς ταύτην ἐδιχοτόμησεν. ὄπισθεν δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες ἑπόμενος ὁ Καῖσαρ, καὶ τὸ γεγονὸς θεασάμενος, εἰπεῖν λέγεται πρός τινα τῶν συνήθων ἐν μυστηρίῳ "τοῦτον, ὦ τᾶν, ἡγοῦμαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὄλεθρον γενήσεσθαι ἄρδην τῆς ἡμῶν γε νεᾶς." φασὶ δ' ὅτι καὶ Λέων αὐτῷ τοῦτο προεθέσπισεν ὁ φιλό σοφος, ὀνομαστὶ τὸν ἄνδρα καλέσας καὶ σημεῖα ὑποφήνας τινὰ καὶ τῷ δακτύλῳ δείξας, καὶ τοῦτον ἔσεσθαι προειπὼν τῆς συμ πάσης ὑμῶν γενεᾶς τὸν ὄλεθρον. ἐνήδρευσεν οὖν ἀεὶ ὁ Καῖσαρ, ἤνυε δὲ οὐδέν· ἀκυρῶσαι γὰρ παγχάλεπον ἦν ὅπερ ἅπαξ τῇ προ νοίᾳ γενέσθαι ἐδόκει. Περάσαντος δέ ποτε τοῦ βασιλέως κυνηγεσίου χάριν εἰς τὸ Ἀρμαμέντον, καὶ μετὰ τὴν κυνηγεσίαν εὐωχουμένου συνάμα τῇ μητρὶ Θεοδώρᾳ καί τισι τῶν συγγενῶν καὶ οἰκειοτάτων, εἰσεκλήθη ὁ πρωτοστράτωρ τοῦ βασιλέως κελεύσαντος. πρὸς ὃν ἡ βασιλὶς πυκνότερον ἐνητένιζε, κατανοοῦσα καὶ παρεπισκοποῦσα τὰ κατ' αὐτόν. ἐπιγνοῦσα δέ τι γνώρισμα καὶ σημεῖον ἐν αὐτῷ, εὐθέως ἰλίγγῳ κατασχεθεῖσα καὶ λειποθυμίᾳ βληθεῖσα εἰς γῆν κατέπεσε. θορυβηθέντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ τῶν περὶ τὸν βασι λέα, ὕδωρ τε εὐθὺς ἐκομίζετο καὶ μύρα τῶν εὐωδῶν, οἷς ἐπιρ ραίνοντες τὴν δέσποιναν ἀνεκαλοῦντο τοῦ πτώματος. μόλις δ' οὖν εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἐλθοῦσα καὶ τοῦ σκότους ἀνενεγκοῦσα, ὡς ἠρωτᾶτο 2.197 παρὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ βασιλέως ἐκ ποίας αἰτίας ἐπενεχθείη αὐτῇ τουτὶ τὸ πάθος, μόλις ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς γενομένη τάδε πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν ἀπε κρίνατο "ὅν, ὦ τέκνον, τοῦτον λέγεις Βασίλειον, ὁ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐστὶν ἀφανισμὸς γενεᾶς· εἶδον γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ σημεῖον πάλαι μοι παρὰ τοῦ σοῦ ἐξηγηθὲν πατρός, πρὸς ὅπερ ἰλιγγιάσασα εἰς γῆν κατ ώλισθον." ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τοῦτο μὲν λόγοις ἀποτρεπτικοῖς τοῦτο δὲ καὶ πληροφορίαις ἐνωμότοις ἀπῆγε τὴν μητέρα τοῦ δέους, εἰς τὸ καθεστὼς ἐπανάγων καὶ παραμυθούμενος, "τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον" λέγων "ἴσθι, ὦ δέσποινα καὶ μῆτερ ἐμή, ἄνδρα μὲν εἶναι γενναῖον, ῥώμῃ τε ἀνυπόστατον καὶ ψυχῆς εὐγενείᾳ ἀσύγκρι τον, πιστὸν δὲ τὰ εἰς ἡμᾶς καὶ εὔνουν καὶ κατ' οὐδὲν ἡμῖν κακο νούστατον." καὶ τότε μὲν τῆς τοιαύτης τύχης ἐπήρειαν οὕτω παρέδραμεν ὁ Βασίλειος· ∆αμιανοῦ δὲ τοῦ παρακοιμωμένου, ὃς εὐνοῦχός τε ἦν καὶ Σκύθης καὶ τῇ τῶν πατρικίων ἀξίᾳ τετίμητο, τὰ πραττόμενα παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως κακίζοντος ὡς οὐ κατὰ τὸ δέον τελούμενα, ἐξαιρέτως δὲ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ θείου αὐτοῦ Βάρδα τοῦ Καίσαρος, ἀνηρεθίσθη ποτὲ πρὸς ἐπιστροφὴν ὁ βασιλεύς, λίαν ἀμβλὺς καὶ νωχελὴς πρὸς ἀντίληψιν πραγμάτων ὑπάρχων, καὶ ἐνίας τῶν τοῦ Καίσαρος πράξεων ἀνέτρεπε τάχα καὶ διωρθοῦτο. ὅπερ μὴ φέρων ὁ Καῖσαρ