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to use them also for his own guard, so that he might not be plotted against, and to neglect the mainland entirely, but to hold on to the islands and the sea, and to arrange for the Byzantines to be fed from the sea by trading with their ships; in addition to these things, also to lock up in prisons those in Byzantium who had money and as many of the senators as still remained, so that he might both be rid of his fear—for he was afraid they might wish to make peace with the emperor Kantakouzenos—and that he might have an abundance of money for both the army and the triremes, by taking away their property. And not only these, but also to confiscate the property of all the others who, having previously mentioned peace, had been confined by him in their houses or were held incommunicado in monasteries, after bringing them to prison; for previously he had deprived them of only a few things from their property; then also to impose annual taxes on all the others, from which he would raise money to maintain the navy. And he intended to make a common prison in the palace of Constantine the Great. For since there was a great house there called the Justinianeion 2.538, its roof having been ruined by time, having blocked up every entrance, to divide up very many small cells inside it on either side, and in these to lock up the prisoners, lowering them with ropes from above, so that at night they would use the small cells, and by day they would have moderate relief in the space left in between; and for the guard, stationed above on the walls, to keep watch over the prisoners throughout every night and day, and if they needed anything, to speak their words openly from below to the guards, so that all might know, in order that they might not secretly contrive some plot, having spoken to some of the guards in secret. After this, those in the know said that he was intending to go to the empress and to ask, if she wished to join his daughter in marriage to her son the emperor, if indeed she wished him, fighting as if for his own children, to spend all his wealth on the war against Kantakouzenos. For previously he had lacked no enthusiasm and had shown all diligence towards his overthrow, and had spent all the public funds and what he took from those who sided with him; but now that affairs had completely reversed and he had taken all his mainland, he himself would control the sea, spending from his own funds, and would securely hold the rule of Byzantium and the islands; and if she were persuaded to fit his daughter to her 2.539 son the emperor, he himself would be the father of emperors and would hold all power and do whatever he pleased; but if she should refuse on account of his low birth, he would move against her. For it was already clear that she was planning evil against him. And he contrived such a plot against her. He wrote letters to the Pope as if from her. The letters indicated that she had been brought up in the customs and laws of the Romans, and held the dogmas which the church of the Romans also held; but having been given to the emperor by her family, she was forced to feign his beliefs. Nevertheless, she preserved her original reverence and faith and concord with the church of the Romans and considered him a father and teacher and guide in the faith. And that she wished, immediately after her husband's death, to make everything clear to him, and to try, either by persuasion or by force, to make the entire empire think the same as her concerning the dogmas of the faith. But she was prevented by the surrounding wars, since the most powerful among the Romans warred against her for the empire and are still pressing her even now. Therefore she begged him, first to propitiate the divine for her on account of her seeming choice of the perverse dogmas; and then also to help against her enemies, in whatever way he could, so that, if they were overthrown, she would at once openly profess the doctrines of the apostolic church of the Romans and teach them to the others. Such things, then, did the supposedly 2.540 letters of the empress to the Pope indicate. And Clement was of the Roman church

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χρῆσθαι καὶ πρὸς φρουρὰν οἰκείαν, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιβουλεύηται, καὶ ἀμελεῖν μὲν παντάπασι τῆς ἠπείρου, νήσων δὲ ἔχεσθαι καὶ θαλάσσης, καὶ Βυζαντίους ἐκ θαλάττης τρέφεσθαι καθιστᾷν ἐμπορευομένους ταῖς ναυσί· πρὸς τούτοις δὲ καὶ τοὺς χρήματα ἔχοντας ἐν Βυζαντίῳ καὶ τῶν συγκλητικῶν, ὅσοι ἔτι ὑπελείποντο, ἐν δεσμωτηρίοις κατακλείειν, ἵν' ὁμοῦ τε ἀπαλλάττοιτο τοῦ δέους, ἐδεδίει γὰρ μὴ ἐθελήσωσιν εἰρήνην τίθεσθαι πρὸς Καντακουζηνὸν τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ χρημάτων εὐποροίη πρός τε τὸ ὁπλιτικὸν καὶ τὰς τριήρεις, τὰ ἐκείνων ἀφελόμενος. οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ὅσοι μνησθέντες πρότερον εἰρήνης, ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις ὑπ' ἐκείνου κατεκλείσθησαν, ἢ ἐν φροντιστηρίοις ἀπρόϊτοι καθείργνυντο, πάντων τὰς οὐσίας ἀφελέσθαι μετὰ τὸ εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἀγαγεῖν· πρότερον γὰρ ἐκείνους ὀλίγων τινῶν ἀπεστέρησεν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας· εἶτα καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασι φόρους τάξαι ἐτησίους, ἐξ ὧν χρηματιζόμενος διαθρέψει τὸ ναυτικόν. δεσμωτήριον δὲ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ μεγάλου κοινὸν ποιεῖν διενοεῖτο. οἴκου γὰρ ὄντος ἐκεῖ μεγάλου Ἰουστινιανείου 2.538 προσαγορευομένου, τὴν στέγην ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου διεφθαρμένου, πᾶσαν εἴσοδον ἀναφράξας, οἰκίσκους ἔνδον ἐκείνου πλείστους διελεῖν ἐφ' ἑκατέρῳ μέρει, καὶ τούτοις κατακλεῖσαι τοὺς δεσμώτας ἄνωθεν καλωδίοις καθιεὶς, ὥστε νυκτὸς μὲν τοῖς οἰκίσκοις χρῆσθαι, ἡμέρας δὲ πρὸς μετρίαν ἄνεσιν τῷ ὑπολελειμμένῳ μεταξὺ χωρίῳ· τὴν δὲ φρουρὰν ἄνωθεν ἐγκαθιδρυμένην ἐπὶ τῶν τειχῶν διὰ πάσης νυκτός τε καὶ ἡμέρας τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν δεσμωτῶν ποιεῖσθαι, κἄν τινος δέοιντο, κάτωθεν πρὸς τοὺς φρουροὺς ποιεῖσθαι τοὺς λόγους φανερῶς, ὥστε ἅπαντας εἰδέναι, ἵνα μὴ λάθοιεν ἐπιβουλήν τινα συσκευασάμενοι, κρύφα τῶν φυλάκων τισὶ διαλεχθέντες. μετὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἔφασαν οἱ συνειδότες καὶ ἐπὶ βασιλίδα χωρεῖν διανοεῖσθαι καὶ ἀπορειρᾷν, εἰ βούλοιτο τὴν ἐκείνου θυγατέρα βασιλεῖ τῷ υἱῷ πρὸς γάμον συνάπτειν, εἴγε βούλοιτο αὐτὸν ὡς ὑπὲρ τέκνων ἀγωνιζόμενον, πάντα πλοῦτον τὸν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ Καντακουζηνὸν ἀναλίσκειν πόλεμον. καὶ πρότερον μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐλλελοιπέναι προθυμίας καὶ πᾶσαν σπουδὴν πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου κατάλυσιν ἐπιδεδεῖχθαι, καὶ πάντα ἀναλωκέναι τὰ κοινὰ καὶ ἃ ἀφείλετο ἐκ τῶν ἐκείνῳ προσεχόντων· νυνὶ δὲ εἰς τοὐναντίον ἅπαν τῶν πραγμάτων περιελθόντων καὶ πᾶσαν ἐκείνου τὴν ἤπειρον ἀφελομένου, αὐτὸν κρατήσειν τῆς θαλάσσης, ἀναλίσκοντα ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων, καὶ Βυζαντίου καὶ τῶν νήσων ἀσφαλῶς καθέξειν τὴν ἀρχήν· κἂν μὲν ἐκείνη πείθοιτο τὴν θυγατέρα προσαρμόζειν βασιλεῖ τῷ 2.539 υἱῷ, καὶ αὐτὸν εἶναι πατέρα βασιλέων καὶ πᾶσαν ἔχειν ἀρχὴν καὶ πράττειν, ἅττα ἂν δοκῇ· ἂν δ' ἀπαναίνηται τὴν δυσγένειαν, ἐπ' αὐτὴν χωρεῖν. δήλην γὰρ ἤδη εἶναι κακὰ βουλευομένην περὶ αὐτοῦ. συνεσκεύακε δὲ καὶ κατ' αὐτῆς ἐπιβουλὴν τοιαύτην. γράμματα πρὸς Πάπαν ἔγραφεν ὡς ἐξ αὐτῆς. ἐδήλου δὲ τὰ γράμματα, ὡς αὐτὴ μὲν ἐντραφείη ἔθεσι καὶ νόμοις τοῖς Ῥωμαίων, καὶ δόγματα πρεσβεύοι, ἃ καὶ ἡ Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησία· βασιλεῖ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων ἐκδοθεῖσα, ἀνάγκῃ τὰ ἐκείνου ὑποκρίνεσθαι. τὴν μέντοι πρώτην εὐλάβειαν καὶ πίστιν καὶ ὁμόνοιαν τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίᾳ περισώζειν καὶ αὐτὸν ἡγεῖσθαι πατέρα καὶ διδάσκαλον καὶ πρὸς τὴν πίστιν ὁδηγόν. καὶ βούλεσθαι μὲν καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνδρὸς αὐτίκα τελευτὴν δῆλα πάντα καθιστᾷν αὐτῷ, καὶ πειρᾶσθαι, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀρχὴν τὰ ἴσα ἢ πείθειν ἢ καταναγκάζειν περὶ τῶν τῆς πίστεως δογμάτων αὐτῇ φρονεῖν. κωλυθῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν περισχόντων πολέμων, τῶν μάλιστα παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις δυνατωτάτων πρὸς αὐτὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀρχῆς πολεμησάντων καὶ ἔτι μέχρι νῦν ἐπικειμένων. ὅθεν αὐτοῦ δεῖσθαι, πρῶτα μὲν αὐτῇ τὸ θεῖον ἱλεοῦσθαι διὰ τὴν δοκοῦσαν τῶν διεστραμμένων δογμάτων αἵρεσιν· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ βοηθεῖν ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμοῦντας, ὅπως ἂν δύναιτο, ὡς, εἰ ἐκεῖνοι καταστραφεῖεν, αὐτῆς αὐτίκα τὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀποστολικῆς ἐκκλησίας πρεσβευσούσης φανερῶς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὑφηγησομένης. τοιαῦτα μὲν τὰ πρὸς Πάπαν τῆς βασιλίδος 2.540 δῆθεν γράμματα ἐδήλου. ἦν δὲ Κλήμης τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίας