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having lifted up his eyes and having said, "Glorify your holy name, Jesus Christ our God," in the eyes of this nation the book of the holy Gospel was thrown into the furnace. And after the furnace had been burning for a considerable time, and then had completely died down, the sacred book was found to have remained unharmed and undamaged, having received no injury from the fire. When the barbarians saw this, and were astonished at the magnitude of the miracle, they unhesitatingly deserted to baptism. At this time Constantine, the eldest of the emperor's sons, departed this life from a feverish illness, leaving unspeakable grief for his father. But the emperor bore this gently, and comforted his wife and children. But when the emperor was urged by the heads of the public treasury to send out inspectors to the themes, so that by this the public contributions might be increased, pretending to accept the suggestion, he ordered them to select and prepare and bring to him those who were going to perform such a task well. But when the general logothete had selected those whom he thought would serve rightly for such a task, 2.244 and had brought forth the names of those chosen, he was considered worthy of much blame, if he thought such ministers would be worthy of such a service. When he replied that he did not have better men in the whole state, the emperor responded, "The task of the proposed service is judged by me to be such that, if it were possible, I myself would go out for its administration. But since this is both unseemly and impossible, of necessity upon the two magistri of the state, who both by time and experience and by the many administrations of civil offices in their long life, in which they were tested, have produced an unadulterated and pure proof of their virtue, I anchor my hopes, and I am confident that the service will be duly accomplished by them. "Go, therefore, yourself," he said, "and announce to them the nature of the service and my will. And if they are willing to go out, I too approve." But when the men heard this, they were astonished, and they put forward their old age as a plea and their previous labors on behalf of the state, and they begged that such a service be passed over them; the one who had been sent returned unsuccessful, and reported to the emperor what had been said by them. When he heard this, [he said,] "If it seems impossible for me to go out, and the most illustrious magistri refuse the service, having no competent administrator for the matter, I wish this to be left uninspected. For it is better," he said, "for some to profit improperly from 2.245 the public funds, than to suspect some wrongly of a loss that crushes and suffocates them." And for this reason, throughout the entire time of his reign, the entire populace of all the themes under Roman authority remained un-equalized, or rather to say free and untroubled. But when the eldest of the emperor's sons, Constantine, as we have said, had departed this life, and affection and hopes had fallen upon the second son, Leo, a terrible envy armed itself against him; and how, the following will declare more clearly. There was a certain monk, one of those very much loved and trusted by the emperor Basil, and he was also a priest, whom they called Sandabarenos; who, although he was loved by the emperor, yet did not have a good reputation among others, and for this reason was often mocked by Leo, the emperor's son, as a deceiver and a sorcerer and one who led the emperor away from proper thoughts and dragged him into things he should not. Stung in his soul by these things, and hastening to take revenge on the one grieving him, he feigned friendship toward Leo, and one day says to him, "Why, O emperor, being now a young man and loved by your father, do you not carry a sword or a dagger, when you ride together with your father in the country, so that also for him, if

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ὀφθαλ μοὺς ἐπάραντος καὶ "δόξασόν σου τὸ ἅγιον ὄνομα, Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν" εἰπόντος, ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ ἔθνους τουτουῒ ἐρρίφη εἰς τὴν κάμινον ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου εὐαγγελίου βίβλος. ἐφ' ὥρας δὲ ἱκα νὰς τῆς καμίνου ἐκκαιομένης, εἶτα καὶ τέλεον μαρανθείσης, εὑ ρέθη τὸ ἱερὸν πυκτίον ἀπαθὲς καὶ ἀλώβητον διαμεῖναι, μηδεμίαν ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς δεξάμενον λύμην. ὅπερ ἰδόντες οἱ βάρβαροι, καὶ τῷ μεγέθει καταπλαγέντες τοῦ θαύματος, ἀνενδοιάστως πρὸς τὸ βάπτισμα ηὐτομόλουν. Κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ πρεσβύτερος τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως υἱῶν τὸν βίον ἐξέλιπε νόσῳ πυρετικῇ, πένθος ἀμύ θητον καταλιπὼν τῷ πατρί. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς πράως ἤνεγκε, παρεμυθήσατο δὲ τὴν σύζυγον καὶ τὰ τέκνα. ἐναγόμενος δὲ παρὰ τῶν προϊσταμένων τοῦ δημοσίου ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπόπτας εἰς τὰ θέματα ἐκπέμψαι, ὡς ἂν δυναμένων ἐκ τούτου τῶν δημοσίων συντελειῶν ἐπιδοῦναι, προσποιησάμενος ἀποδέχεσθαι τὴν ὑπόμνη σιν, ἐκλέξασθαι καὶ εὐτρεπίσαι προσέταξε καὶ αὐτῷ προσαγαγεῖν τοὺς μέλλοντας τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔργον ἐπιτελέσαι καλῶς. ἐπιλεξάμενος δ' ὁ γενικὸς οὓς ἐδόκει διακονῆσαι πρὸς τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔργον ὀρθῶς, 2.244 καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐκλεγέντων προσηγορίας προσαγαγών, πολλῆς ἐνομί σθη μέμψεως ἄξιος, εἰ τοιούτους οἴοιτο λειτουργοὺς ἔσεσθαι ἀξίους πρὸς τὸ τοιοῦτον λειτούργημα. τοῦ δὲ μὴ ἔχειν κρείττονας ἀνθυπενεγκόντος ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ πολιτεύματι, ὑπολαβὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς "τὸ τῆς προκειμένης διακονίας ἔργον τοιοῦτον παρ' ἐμοὶ κρίνεται ὥστε, εἴπερ οἷόν τε ἦν, αὐτὸν ἐμὲ πρὸς τὴν τούτου διοίκησιν ἐξελθεῖν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτό ἐστι καὶ ἀπρεπὲς καὶ ἀδύνατον, ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἐπὶ τοῖς δυσὶ τῆς πολιτείας μαγίστροις, οἳ καὶ χρόνῳ καὶ πείρᾳ καὶ ταῖς πολλαῖς ἐν τῷ μακρῷ βίῳ τῶν πολιτικῶν ἀρχῶν διοικήσεσιν, ἐν αἷς ἐξητάσθησαν, ἀκίβδηλον καὶ καθαρὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐξενηνόχασι τὸ δοκίμιον, τὰς ἐλπίδας σαλεύω, καὶ τὴν διακονίαν ὑπὸ τούτων ἀνυσθῆναι δεόντως θαρρῶ. ἀπελθὼν οὖν αὐτὸς σὺ" φησίν "ἀπάγγειλον αὐτοῖς τὸ τῆς διακονίας εἶδος καὶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμόν. καὶ βουλομένων ἐξελθεῖν ἐπευδοκῶ καὶ αὐ τός." ὡς δ' ἀκούσαντες οἱ ἄνδρες ἦλθον εἰς ἔκπληξιν, καὶ τὸ γῆρας ἀνθ' ἱκετηρίας προυβάλλοντο καὶ τοὺς προηγησαμένους ὑπὲρ τοῦ πολιτεύματος κόπους, καὶ παρενεχθῆναι ἐξ αὐτῶν τὴν τοιαύτην ὑπηρεσίαν ἱκέτευσαν, ὑπέστρεψεν ἄπρακτος ὁ πεμφθείς, καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὰ παρ' ἐκείνων λαληθέντα ἀπήγγειλεν. ἅπερ ἀκούσας "εἰ τὸ ἐμὲ ἐξελθεῖν δοκεῖ εἶναι ἀδύνατον, παραιτοῦνται δὲ τὴν λειτουργίαν οἱ λαμπρότατοι μάγιστροι, οὐδένα ἔχων τοῦ πράγματος διοικητὴν ἀξιόχρεων καταλειφθῆναι τοῦτο ἀνεπίσκε πτον βούλομαι. κρεῖττον γὰρ" φησί "παρακερδαίνειν τινὰς ἀπὸ 2.245 τῶν τοῦ δημοσίου μὴ καλῶς, ἢ κακῶς ὑποπτεύειν ζημίαν τινὰς συντρίβουσαν αὐτοὺς καὶ συμπνίγουσαν." Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παρὰ πάντα τὸν τῆς αὐτοκρατορίας αὐτοῦ χρόνον ἔμεινεν ἀνεξίσωτος ἢ φάναι μᾶλλον ἐλεύθερος καὶ ἀδιάπρακτος ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ἐξουσίαν ἅπας τῶν ὅλων θεμάτων λαός. Τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου δὲ τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ βασιλέως, Κωνσταντίνου, ὡς εἴπομεν, τὸν βίον μετημειφότος, καὶ τοῦ φίλτρου καὶ τῶν ἐλπί δων ἐπὶ τὸν δεύτερον υἱὸν Λέοντα μεταπεσόντων, δεινὸς ὁ φθόνος ὁπλίζεται κατ' αὐτοῦ· καὶ ὅπως, τὰ ἑπόμενα δηλώσει τρανότερον. μοναχὸς ἦν τις τῶν πάνυ φιλουμένων καὶ πιστευομένων Βασιλείῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἦν δὲ καὶ ἱερεύς, ὃν Σανδαβαρηνὸν κατωνόμαζον· ὃς εἰ καὶ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐστέργετο, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἶχε παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις δόξαν χρηστήν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πολλάκις παρὰ Λέοντος τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως διεκωμῳδεῖτο ὡς ἀπατεὼν καὶ γόης καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν καθηκόντων ἐξάγων λογισμῶν καὶ εἰς ἃ μὴ δεῖ παρα σύρων. ὑφ' ὧν δακνόμενος ἐκεῖνος τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ ἀνταμύνα σθαι σπεύδων τὸν λυποῦντα, φιλίαν ὑποκρίνεται πρὸς τὸν Λέοντα, καί ποτέ φησι πρὸς αὐτόν "ἵνα τί, ὦ βασιλεῦ, νεανίας ἤδη ὢν καὶ παρὰ τῷ πατρί σου φιλούμενος, μὴ ἐπιφέρῃ ῥομφαίαν ἢ μά χαιραν, ὅταν κατ' ἀγροὺς συνιππάζῃ σου τῷ πατρί, ἵνα καὶ αὐτῷ, εἰ