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received from the enemy. Having therefore fought bravely and killed many of the enemy, when he was being overpowered, he let go the horse's reins, and turning his back he fled. And having come to a certain river and while crossing it, with his horse stuck in the mud, he is caught by the Bulgarians and receives a fatal blow on his rump and thigh. And when his horse was pulled out of the mud with the haste and help of his own attendants, now fleeing, now turning back with those under him and cutting down the pursuing Bulgarians, he made it safely as far as Blachernae, and 2.302 having been placed in the church of the holy reliquary, he died on the following night, leaving great grief not only to the emperor but also to the army and all the people of the Romans. And there was also another rebellion against the emperor in Chaldia, at the instigation of its strategos, Bardas, the patrician, son of Boilas. The leaders of the revolt were a certain Adrianos the Chaldian and Tatzates the Armenian, who were very wealthy. Therefore, having seized the fortress called Paiperte, they armed themselves against the emperor. But appearing swiftly (for he happened to be staying in Caesarea), the commander of the Scholae, John Kourkouas, scattered the conspiracy, having blinded the most prominent of those who had been seized and confiscating their property, but ordering the poor and insignificant to go unpunished wherever they wished. But Tatzates alone, having seized a fortress built upon a certain high hill, and having received and accepted an assurance from the domestikos of the scholae that he would suffer no harm, entered the capital, and having been honored with the rank of manglabites, he was kept under guard in the house of the Mangana. But having planned an escape, he is caught and deprived of his eyes. But Bardas Boilas, since the emperor was friendly disposed towards him, was tonsured a monk, having suffered nothing else unpleasant. And Symeon, the ruler of the Bulgarians, having seized Adrianople and surrounded it with palisades and trenches, diligently besieged it. The strategos of the city was the patrician Leo, whom on account of 2.303 his impetuous rush to wars they called Moroleon. He withstood the siege courageously, and most bravely at times he defended against the approaching Bulgarians from the wall, and at other times opening the posterns he would attack with irresistible force and easily put them to flight. But when the grain for those in the city had run out and a mighty famine oppressed those within, having no hope of provisions from anywhere, persuaded by their want they betrayed the city and themselves and their general to the Bulgarians; whom Symeon, having taken him captive, and remembering the evils he had inflicted on the Bulgarians, after punishing him with countless tortures, finally killed with a bitter death. Therefore, having set Bulgarian guards over the city, he withdrew; who, having heard that a Roman army was coming against them, abandoned the city and fled, and Adrianople was again under the Romans. And then also Leo of Tripoli came out against the Romans with a great force and warships; whom, as he was lying in wait at the island of Lemnos, John the patrician and droungarios of the fleet, Radenos, appearing suddenly, easily put to flight, with almost all the Agarenes being killed, and Tripolites alone procuring his safety by flight. And in the month of September, in the 2nd indiction, the ruler of Bulgaria, Symeon, campaigns with his entire army against Constantinople, and he plunders Macedonia, and burns the places in Thrace, and destroys everything in his path. And having pitched his camp very near 2.304 Blachernae, he requested that the patriarch Nicholas and some of the officials be sent to him in order to discuss peace. Therefore, having taken hostages from each other that no treachery would ensue, and when the patriarch took courage from the oaths, there was discussion as to which of the senators should go out with him. At any rate, the patrician Michael Stypeiotes and John the mystikos and

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ἐναντίων δεξάμενον. γενναίως οὖν ἀγωνισάμενος καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνελὼν τῶν πολεμίων, ἐπειδὴ κατισχύετο, μεθίησι τοῦ ἵππου τὸν χαλινόν, καὶ νῶτα δοὺς ἔφυγεν. ἔν τινι δὲ ποταμῷ γενόμενος καὶ τοῦτον διαπερῶν, καὶ τῇ ἰλύϊ τοῦ ἵππου ἐμπαγέντος, καταλαμβάνεται παρὰ τῶν Βουλγάρων καὶ δέχεται πληγὴν καιρίαν κατὰ τῆς ἕδρας καὶ τοῦ μηροῦ. καὶ τοῦ ἵππου δὲ ἀνασπασθέντος ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος σπουδῇ καὶ συνεργίᾳ τῶν αὐτοῦ θεραπόντων, νῦν μὲν φεύγων, νῦν δ' ὑποστρέφων μετὰ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐπιόντας ἀνα κόπτων Βουλγάρους, διασώζεται μέχρι τῶν Βλαχερνῶν, καὶ 2.302 ἐν τῷ ναῷ τῆς ἁγίας σοροῦ τεθεὶς τῇ ἐπιούσῃ νυκτὶ ἐτελεύτησε, μέγα πένθος οὐ τῷ βασιλεῖ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ στρατῷ καὶ παντὶ τῷ πλήθει Ῥωμαίων ἀπολιπών. Ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ ἑτέρα τις ἀποστασία κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν Χαλδίᾳ, ὑποθήκῃ τοῦ στρατηγοῦντος αὐτῆς Βάρδα πατρικίου τοῦ Βοΐλα. ἐξῆρχον δὲ τοῦ νεωτερισμοῦ Ἀδριανός τις Χαλδαῖος καὶ Τατζάτης ὁ Ἀρμένιος, πλούσιοι σφόδρα. κατασχόντες οὖν οὗτοι φρούριον τὸ λεγόμενον Παΐπερτε κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ὡπλίζοντο. ἀλλ' ὀξὺς ἐπιφανεὶς (ἔτυχε γὰρ ἐνδημῶν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ) ὁ τῶν σχολῶν ἐξηγούμενος Ἰωάννης ὁ Κουρκούας τὴν σύστασιν διεσκέ δασε, τοὺς ἐμφανεστέρους τῶν κατασχεθέντων ἀποτυφλώσας καὶ τὰς οὐσίας αὐτῶν δημεύσας, τοὺς δὲ πενιχροὺς καὶ ἀσήμους ἀθῴους κελεύσας ὅπῃ βούλονται ἀπιέναι. μόνος δὲ ὁ Τατζάτης φρούριον ἐπί τινος ὑψηλοῦ λόφου κατεσκευασμένον κατεσχηκώς, καὶ λόγον τοῦ μή τι κακὸν παθεῖν δεξάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ δομεστίκου τῶν σχολῶν καὶ λαβών, εἰσῆλθεν ἐν τῇ βασιλίδι, καὶ τῇ τοῦ μαγκλαβίτου ἀξίᾳ τιμηθεὶς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τῶν μαγγάνων ἐτηρεῖτο. δρασμὸν δὲ βουλευσάμενος ἁλίσκεται καὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν στερεῖται. Βάρδας δὲ ὁ Βοΐλας φιλίως πρὸς αὐτὸν διακειμένου τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπεκάρη μοναχός, μηδὲν ἄλλο πεπονθὼς ἀνιαρόν. Συμεὼν δὲ ὁ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἄρχων τὴν Ἀδριανούπολιν καταλαβὼν καὶ ταύτην χάραξι καὶ τάφροις περιστοιχίσας ἐπιμελῶς ἐπολιόρκει. ἐστρατήγει δὲ τῆς πόλεως ὁ πατρίκιος Λέων, ὃν διὰ 2.303 τὴν ὀξύρροπον πρὸς τοὺς πολέμους ὁρμὴν Μωρολέοντα ἐκάλουν. οὗτος εὐψύχως τὴν πολιορκίαν ἐδέξατο, καὶ γενναιοτάτως ποτὲ μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους τοὺς προσιόντας τῶν Βουλγάρων ἠμύνετο, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς πυλίδας ἀναπεταννὺς ἐπετίθετο σὺν ῥύμῃ ἀνυποστάτῳ καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἐτρέπετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ σῖτος τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐπιλελοί πει καὶ λιμὸς ἐπίεζε τοὺς ἔνδοθεν κραταιός, μηδαμόθεν ἐλπίδα ἔχοντες ἐπισιτισμοῦ, τῇ ἐνδείᾳ πεισθέντες προδεδώκασι τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τὸν στρατηγὸν τοῖς Βουλγάροις· ὃν χειρωσάμενος ὁ Συμεών, καὶ ὧν εἰς τοὺς Βουλγάρους ἐνεδείξατο μεμνημένος κακῶν, μυρίαις αἰκίαις τιμωρησάμενος τελευταῖον ἀπέκτεινε θα νάτῳ πικρῷ. Βουλγάρους οὖν ἐπιστήσας φύλακας τῇ πόλει ὑπεχώρησεν· οἵτινες Ῥωμαϊκὸν στρατόπεδον ἀκηκοότες ἥκειν κατ' αὐτῶν καταλιπόντες τὴν πόλιν ἔφυγον, καὶ πάλιν ἡ Ἀδριανούπο λις ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους ἐγένετο. Τότε δὲ καὶ Λέων ὁ Τριπολίτης μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς καὶ πλοίων πολεμικῶν ἐξῆλθε κατὰ Ῥωμαίων· ὃν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ Λήμνῳ ναυλοχοῦντα Ἰωάννης πατρίκιος καὶ δρουγγάριος τῶν πλωΐμων ὁ Ῥαδηνὸς αἰφνίδιον ἐπιφανεὶς ῥᾳδίως ἐτρέψατο, τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν σχεδὸν πάντων ἀνῃρημένων, τοῦ δὲ Τριπολίτου μόνου φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν πορισαμένου. Σεπτεμβρίῳ δὲ μηνί, ἰνδικτιῶνος βʹ, ὁ ἄρχων Βουλγαρίας Συμεὼν πανστρατὶ κατὰ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπό λεως ἐκστρατεύει, καὶ ληΐζεται μὲν Μακεδονίαν, ἐμπιπρᾷ δὲ τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης χωρία, καὶ πάντα καταστρέφει τὰ ἐν ποσί. ἔγγιστα 2.304 δὲ Βλαχερνῶν στρατόπεδον πήξας ἐπεζήτησεν ἀποσταλῆναι αὐτῷ τὸν πατριάρχην Νικόλαον καί τινας τῶν ἐν τέλει ὥστε περὶ εἰρή νης διαλεχθῆναι. λαβόντες οὖν ὁμήρους παρ' ἀλλήλων ὡς οὐδε μία τις ἐπακολουθήσει ἐπιβουλή, καὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου τοῖς ὅρκοις ἀναθαρρήσαντος, γέγονε λόγος ὁποίους δεῖ τῶν συγκλητικῶν τούτῳ συνεξελθεῖν. προεκρίθη γοῦν ὁ πατρίκιος Μιχαὴλ ὁ Στυ πειώτης καὶ Ἰωάννης ὁ μυστικὸς καὶ