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unseemly things against him, calling him an avenging spirit and a murderer, and one defiled with the blood of his kin, and they threw dust and stones at him as far as the forum of the great Constantine. And he would have been frozen with fear, had not some of the more honorable citizens intervened, restrained the rioters, and escorted him with acclamations as far as the palace. Because of all this, knowing that he was hated by the citizens and suspecting an attack, he built the acropolis. But he was not able to escape his fate, and when 2.372 he thought all was well with him, his life was cut short. And how, will be told at the proper time. In the fourth year of his reign, in the month of June, of the 10th indiction, he went out to inspect the cities in Thrace, and having come as far as the so-called great pass, he wrote to Peter, the ruler of Bulgaria, not to allow the Turks to cross the Ister and ravage the Roman territories. But as Peter paid no attention, putting him off with all sorts of pretexts, Nikephoros honored Kalokyros, the son of the proteuon of Cherson, with the rank of patrikios and sent him to the ruler of Russia, Sviatoslav, persuading him with promises of gifts and not a few honors to campaign against the Bulgarians. So the Rus, having been persuaded, attacked Bulgaria in the month of August, of the 11th indiction, in the fifth year of the reign of Nikephoros, razed many cities and regions of the Bulgarians, and having gathered as much booty as possible, returned to their own lands. And again in the sixth year of his reign they campaigned against Bulgaria, and perpetrated similar or even worse deeds than before. On the second of the month of September, at the second hour of the night, in the 11th indiction, there occurred a heaving and extraordinary tremor of the earth, and Honoria and Paphlagonia suffered badly. And there were also harsh and scorching winds in the month of May of the same indiction, which destroyed the crops 2.373 along with the vines and trees themselves, so that from this a most severe famine followed in the 12th indiction. And while the emperor ought to have taken thought for the welfare of his subjects, he, greedily selling the imperial grain and profiting from the misfortune of those under his authority, boasted as if he had accomplished something great, that whereas a modios was being sold for one nomisma, he ordered it to be sold for two, not imitating the Macedonian emperor Basil. For he, on his way to the church of the great apostles on New Sunday, saw some citizens who were venerable and dignified in appearance but otherwise gloomy and downcast; having them stand near him, he asked why they were not also present in bright clothes for the feast, but were looking sad, as if the city were in great distress. To whom one of the citizens answered, "To you, O master, and to those standing nearest you it is fitting to wear bright clothes and to rejoice; but for those who face the prospect of death, such things are unsuitable. Or do you not know that two medimnoi of grain are sold for one nomisma on account of the harshness of the winds?" At this, the emperor groaned from the depths of his being and shed a tear of sympathy; and he comforted these men lavishly, and returning to the palace he gathered those who managed civic and imperial affairs and subjected them to countless insults and curses because they had not informed him about the grain shortage, and at once putting forth the imperial 2.374 and public grain, he commanded that twelve be given for a nomisma; God, approving his resolve, granted great abundance to mankind. But these things were said in praise of that man; Nikephoros, however, rejoiced rather than helped when he saw his subjects in distress. And not only he, but also Leo his brother, being devoted to the petty trade of commodities, filled the world with many and various evils. The citizens wittily satirized their sordid avarice. For once when the emperor went out to the plain to exercise the army, when someone came, gray of hair

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κατ' αὐ τοῦ ἀπρεπεῖς, ἀλάστορα καὶ παλαμναῖον ἀποκαλοῦντες καὶ ὁμο φύλοις αἵμασι μιαρόν, καὶ κόνιν καὶ λίθους ἔπεμπον εἰς αὐτὸν ἄχρι τῆς ἀγορᾶς τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου. καὶ ἀπεπάγη μὲν ἂν τῷ δέει, εἰ μή τινες ἐντιμότεροι τῶν πολιτῶν προλαβόντες τοὺς μὲν ἀτακτοῦντας ἀνέστειλαν, αὐτὸν δὲ εὐφημοῦντες ἄχρι τοῦ πα λατίου προέπεμψαν. διὰ ταῦτα πάντα ἀπηχθῆσθαι παρὰ τῶν πολιτῶν ἐπιστάμενος καὶ ἐπίθεσιν ὑφορώμενος τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἐδο μήσατο. ἀλλ' οὐκ ἠδυνήθη διαφυγεῖν τὸ χρεών, ἀλλ' ὅτε καλῶς 2.372 ἔχειν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ᾠήθη, ἀπέρρηξε τὴν ζωήν. καὶ ὅπως, ἐν τῷ πρέποντι καιρῷ ῥηθήσεται. Τετάρτῳ δὲ τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας ἔτει, μηνὶ Ἰουνίῳ, τῆς ιʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος, τὰς ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ πόλεις ἐξῄει ἐπισκεψόμενος, καὶ γενόμενος ἄχρι τῆς λεγομένης μεγάλης σούδας ἔγραψε Πέτρῳ τῷ Βουλγαρίας ἄρχοντι μὴ ἐᾶν τοὺς Τούρκους διαπερᾶν τὸν Ἴστρον καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων λυμαίνεσθαι. τούτου δὲ μὴ προσέχοντος ἀλλὰ παντοίαις ἀφορμαῖς παρακρούοντος, τὸν τοῦ ἐκ Χερσῶνος πρω τεύοντος υἱὸν ὁ Νικηφόρος τὸν Καλοκυρὸν πατρικιότητι τιμήσας πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα Ῥωσίας ἐκπέμπει Σφενδοσθλάβον, δωρεῶν ὑποσχέσεσι καὶ φιλοτιμιῶν οὐκ ὀλίγων ἀναπείθων ἐκστρατεῦσαι κατὰ Βουλγάρων. πεισθέντες οὖν οἱ Ῥὼς καὶ ἐπελθόντες τῇ Βουλγαρίᾳ κατὰ τὸν Αὔγουστον μῆνα, τῆς ιαʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος, πέμπτῳ τῆς βασιλείας ἔτει τοῦ Νικηφόρου, πολλὰς πόλεις καὶ χώρας ἠδάφισαν τῶν Βουλγάρων, καὶ λείαν ὅτι πλείστην περι βαλόμενοι ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὰ ἴδια. καὶ τῷ ἕκτῳ δὲ πάλιν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ χρόνῳ ἐπεστράτευσαν κατὰ Βουλγαρίας, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια τῶν προτέρων ἢ καὶ χείρονα διεπράξαντο. δευτέρᾳ δὲ Σεπτεμβρίου μηνός, ὥρᾳ τῆς νυκτὸς βʹ, ἰνδικτιῶνος ιαʹ, γέγονε βρασμὸς καὶ κλόνος γῆς ἐξαίσιος, καὶ ἔπαθε κακῶς Ὁνωριὰς καὶ Παφλαγονία. ἐγένοντο δὲ καὶ ἄνεμοι κατὰ τὸν Μάϊον μῆνα τῆς αὐτῆς ἰνδικτιῶνος σκληροὶ καὶ καυματώδεις, οἵτινες τοὺς καρποὺς 2.373 διέφθειραν αὐταῖς ἀμπέλοις καὶ δένδρεσιν, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν κατὰ τὴν ιβʹ ἰνδικτιῶνα σφοδρότατον ἐπενεχθῆναι λιμόν. καὶ δέον τὸν βασιλέα τῆς τῶν ὑπηκόων φροντίσαι σωτηρίας, ὁ δὲ τὸν βασιλι κὸν σῖτον γλίσχρως πωλῶν, καὶ καταπραγματευόμενος τὴν συμ φορὰν τῶν ὑπὸ χεῖρα, ηὔχει ὥς τι μέγα κατωρθωκὼς ὅτι μοδίου τῷ νομίσματι πιπρασκομένου αὐτὸς δύο πωλεῖσθαι τοῦτον ἐπέ ταξε, μὴ τὸν Μακεδόνα μιμησάμενος βασιλέα Βασίλειον· οὗτος γὰρ κατὰ τὴν καινὴν κυριακὴν ἀπερχόμενος ἐν τῷ τῶν μεγάλων ἀποστόλων ναῷ, καὶ θεασάμενος πολίτας τινὰς ἱεροπρεπεῖς μὲν καὶ σεμνούς, ἄλλως δὲ σκυθρωποὺς καὶ κατηφιῶντας, ἐγγὺς ἑαυτοῦ παραστησάμενος διά τι μὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ λαμπροφοροῦντες ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ πάρεισιν ἀνηρώτα, ἀλλ' ὡς ἂν ἐν μεγάλῃ συμφορᾷ τῆς πόλεως οὔσης στυγνάζουσι. πρὸς ὃν ἀπεκρίνατό τις τῶν πολιτῶν "σοί, ὦ δέσποτα, καὶ τοῖς ἑστῶσιν ἔγγιστα σοῦ πρέπει τὸ λαμ προφορεῖν καὶ χαίρειν· οἷς δὲ τοῦ θανάτου πρόσεστι προσδοκία, τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀπεοίκασιν. ἢ ἀγνοεῖς ὅτι δύο μέδιμνοι σίτου τῷ νο μίσματι πιπράσκονται διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνέμων τραχύτητα;" πρὸς ταῦτα βύθιον ἀνοιμώξας ὁ βασιλεὺς συμπαθείας ἀπέσταξε δά κρυον, καὶ τούτους μὲν παρεμυθήσατο δαψιλῶς, ἐπανελθὼν δ' εἰς τὰ βασίλεια τοὺς τὰς πολιτικὰς καὶ βασιλικὰς συναγαγὼν μετερχομένους φροντίδας μυρίαις ὕβρεσι καὶ ἀραῖς καθυπέβαλεν ὅτι μὴ αὐτῷ περὶ τῆς σιτοδείας ἐμήνυσαν, καὶ εὐθὺς τὸν βασι 2.374 λικὸν καὶ δημόσιον σῖτον προθέμενος δώδεκα τοῦ νομίσματος δίδοσθαι παρεκελεύσατο· οὗ τὴν προαίρεσιν ἀποδεξάμενος ὁ θεὸς εὐθηνίαν πολλὴν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρέσχετο. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν εἰς ἔπαινον ἐκείνου ἐρρέθη· ὁ δὲ Νικηφόρος ἔχαιρε μᾶλλον ἢ ἐβοήθει θλιβομένους ὁρῶν τοὺς ὑπηκόους. καὶ οὐχ οὗτος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ Λέων ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ, ταῖς καπηλείαις προσκείμενος τῶν εἰδῶν, πολλῶν καὶ ποικίλων δεινῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐνέπλησεν. ὧν τὴν αἰσχροκέρδειαν εὐτραπέλως οἱ πολῖται διεκωμῴδουν. ἐξελθόντος γάρ ποτε τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ ὥστε γυμνάσαι τὸν στρατόν, ἐπεί τις ἦλθε πολιὸς τὴν τρίχα