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the murderers of Nikephoros, and for the tome which Nikephoros had issued for the confusion of ecclesiastical affairs to be torn up. Immediately, therefore, John expelled them from the city and exiled Theophano to Proikonnesos. She later secretly fled from there and took refuge in the great church, but having been thrown out through the *parakoimomenos* Basil, was exiled in the theme of the Armeniakon to the monastery of 2.381 Damis, newly built by the emperor, after first heaping many insults upon the emperor and upon Basil, calling him a Scythian and a barbarian and punching him on the temple with her fists. Her mother was also exiled with her to Mantineion. And the tome was brought and torn up, and its former freedom was restored to the church. When these things were done, and John had promised to distribute the property he had as a private citizen to the poor as an atonement for his sin, Polyeuktos permitted his entry, and on the feast of the nativity of Christ our God, crowned him upon his entrance with the diadem of the empire. But since the empire was in great commotion and turmoil in both the east and the west (for the cities of the Hagarenes that had been taken in Cilicia and Phoenicia and Coele-Syria, since Nikephoros did not have the time to arrange their affairs well and secure them, were looking to revolt, and the movement of the Rus, not well planned previously against the Bulgarians, was threatening the state with the greatest danger, and a famine spreading over the Romans' [land] for five whole years was severely oppressing the cities) he considered and was concerned how such evils might be cured and the anticipated fear arising from them might be averted. Meanwhile, since Antioch on the Orontes was lacking a high priest, he appointed a certain monk Theodore, 2.382 abounding in all virtues, who had prophesied his accession to him, and had warned him not to be hasty, as God was about to raise him to the height of the empire, but to know for sure that if he were careless and hastened to seize the empire, he would be a plotter against his own soul; and who had demanded that the Manichaeans, who were overrunning all the east and causing ruin with the transmission of their abominable religion, be moved to the west and settled in some remote and completely deserted place, which he also did later, moving them and settling them in Philippopolis. Polyeuktos, having survived for only thirty-five days after the proclamation, ended his life. And in his place was appointed as patriarch the monk Basil Skamandrenos, attested for the perfection of his virtue. And so political matters proceeded in this way.

At the capture of Antioch and the other cities, which we enumerated above, the Hagarenes throughout the world and the other nations who worship the same religion as them, having become greatly distressed, Egyptians, Persians, Arabs, Elamites and those who inhabit what is called Arabia Felix and Saba, having agreed and made an alliance, gathered a great force from all quarters, and they appointed Carthaginians to lead it, having Zochar as commander, a man of action and skilled in warfare, as they were precise and knowledgeable in matters both on land and sea, 2.383 they came out against the Romans, having united all their forces into one, numbering one hundred thousand fighting men, and having occupied Antioch near Daphne, they besieged it diligently. But since those within were enduring the siege nobly and courageously, the siege was extended for a long time. When the gathering of the nations was announced to the emperor, letters were quickly sent to the general of Mesopotamia, ordering him to gather the forces there and quickly help the besieged; and he also sent as commander of the whole army, along with other forces, the patrician Nicholas, one of his intimate eunuchs, who

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τοὺς τοῦ Νικηφόρου αὐτόχειρας, διαρραγῆναι δὲ καὶ τὸν τόμον ὃν ἐπὶ συγ χύσει τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν πραγμάτων ὁ Νικηφόρος ἐξέθετο. εὐ θέως οὖν ὁ Ἰωάννης ἐκείνους τε ἐξῶσε τῆς πόλεως καὶ τὴν Θεοφανὼ ἐν Προικοννήσῳ ἐξώρισεν. ἥτις ἐκεῖθεν ὕστερον λάθρᾳ φυγοῦσα καὶ τῇ μεγάλῃ προσφυγοῦσα ἐκκλησίᾳ, διὰ τοῦ παρακοι μωμένου Βασιλείου ἐκβληθεῖσα ἐν τῷ θέματι τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν ἐξωρίσθη εἰς τὴν παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως νεουργηθεῖσαν μονὴν τὴν 2.381 ∆άμιδος, ἐνυβρίσασα πρότερον εἰς τὸν βασιλέα πολλὰ καὶ εἰς τὸν Βασίλειον, Σκύθην καὶ βάρβαρον ἀποκαλέσασα καὶ κατὰ κόρρης αὐτῷ κονδύλους ἐπιτρίψασα. ἐξωρίσθη δὲ σὺν αὐτῇ καὶ ἡ ταύ της μήτηρ ἐν Μαντινείῳ. ἐνεχθεὶς δὲ ὁ τόμος ἐρράγη, καὶ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐχαρίσθη ἡ προτέρα ἐλευθερία. Τούτων οὖν πραχθέντων, ὑποσχομένου δὲ τοῦ Ἰωάννου καὶ εἰς ἐξίλασμα τῆς ἁμαρτάδος πένησι διανεῖμαι ἣν ἰδιωτεύων εἶχε περιουσίαν, ὁ Πολύευκτος ἐπιτρέπει τὴν εἴσοδον, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν τῆς Χριστοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν γεννήσεως εἰσελθόντα τοῦτον τῷ τῆς βασιλείας ἀναδεῖ διαδήματι. πολὺν δὲ σάλον καὶ ταρα χὴν ἐχούσης τῆς βασιλείας ἔν τε τῇ ἕῳ καὶ τῇ ἑσπέρᾳ (αἵ τε γὰρ ληφθεῖσαι κατὰ τὴν Κιλικίαν καὶ Φοινίκην καὶ Κοίλην Συρίαν πόλεις τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν, μὴ σχόντος τοῦ Νικηφόρου καιρὸν τὰ κατ' αὐτὰς διαθέσθαι καλῶς καὶ ἀσφαλίσασθαι, πρὸς ἀποστα σίαν ἀπέβλεπον, καὶ ἡ τῶν Ῥὼς κίνησις οὐ καλῶς πρότερον ἐπὶ Βουλγάρους μελετηθεῖσα μέγιστον ἐπέσειε τοῖς πράγμασι κίνδυ νον, καὶ λιμὸς ἐπὶ πέντε ὅλους ἐνιαυτοὺς τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἐπινεμό μενος σφόδρα τὰς πόλεις ἐπίεζε) διεσκοπεῖτο καὶ ἐμερίμνα πῶς ἂν τὰ τοιαῦτα θεραπευθείη κακὰ καὶ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποσκευασθείη ἐλπιζόμενον δέος. τέως δὲ τῆς πρὸς τῷ Ὀρόντῃ Ἀντιοχείας χηρευούσης ἀρχιερέως, Θεόδωρόν τινα προχειρίζεται μοναχόν, πᾶσι 2.382 κομῶντα τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς καὶ αὐτῷ προθεσπίσαντα τὴν ἀνάρρησιν, καὶ παρεγγυησάμενον μὴ ἐπισπεῦσαι ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ μέλλοντος αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ τῆς βασιλείας ὕψος ἀναβιβάσαι, ἢ μὴν γινώσκειν ὡς εἰ ὀλι γώρως διατεθεὶς ἐπιταχύνῃ τὴν τῆς βασιλείας κατάσχεσιν, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἐπίβουλος ἔσται· ἀξιώσαντα δὲ καὶ τοὺς Μανι χαίους, τὴν ἑῴαν πᾶσαν ἐπινεμομένους καὶ λυμαινομένους τῇ με ταδόσει τῆς μυσαρᾶς αὐτῶν θρησκείας, πρὸς τὴν ἑσπέραν ἀποι κίσαι καὶ εἴς τινα ἐσχατιὰν ἐγκατοικίσαι πανέρημον, ὃ καὶ πεποίη κεν ὕστερον, ἀπαναστήσας τούτους καὶ τῇ Φιλιππουπόλει ἐγκατ οικίσας. ἐπὶ λʹ δὲ καὶ εʹ μόνας ἡμέρας μετὰ τὴν ἀναγόρευσιν καὶ ὁ Πολύευκτος ἐπιβιοὺς κατέλυσε τὴν ζωήν. καὶ προχειρίζεται ἀντ' αὐτοῦ πατριάρχης Βασίλειος μοναχὸς ὁ Σκαμανδρηνός, ἐπ' ἀρετῆς τελειότητι μαρτυρούμενος. καὶ τὰ μὲν πολιτικὰ ἐφέρετο τῇδε.

Τῇ ἁλώσει δὲ τῆς Ἀντιοχείας καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν πόλεων, ἃς ἄνωθεν ἀπηριθμησάμεθα, περιαλγεῖας γεγονότες οἱ ἁπανταχοῦ γῆς ὄντες Ἀγαρηνοὶ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἔθνη τὰ τὴν ὁμοίαν αὐτοῖς σέβοντα θρησκείαν, Αἰγύπτιοι Πέρσαι Ἄραβες Ἐλαμῖται καὶ οἱ τὴν Εὐδαίμονα λεγομένην οἰκοῦντες καὶ τὸ Σαβᾶ, συμφωνήσαντες καὶ ὁμαιχμίαν θέμενοι, δύναμιν πανταχόθεν ἠθροικότες μεγάλην καὶ ἡγεμονεύειν αὐτῆς τάξαντες Καρχηδονίους, Ζώχαρ ἔχοντας ἄρ χοντα, πρακτικὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὰ εἰς πολέμους δεινόν, ὡς ἂν ἀκρι βεῖς καὶ ἐπιστήμονας τῶν τε κατὰ γῆν καὶ θάλατταν ἔργων, ἐξ 2.383 ῆλθον κατὰ Ῥωμαίων, ὑφ' ἓν τὰς πάσας συναγαγόντες δυνάμεις, εἰς ἑκατὸν μαχίμων ἀνδρῶν χιλιάδας ἀριθμουμένας, καὶ τὴν κατὰ ∆άφνην Ἀντιόχειαν καταλαβόντες ἐπολιόρκουν ἐπιμελῶς. γενναίως δὲ τῶν ἔνδον καὶ εὐψύχως τὴν πολιορκίαν ὑφισταμένων ἐπὶ μακρὸν ἐπετείνετο ἡ πολιορκία. ἀγγελθείσης δὲ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν συνόδου τῷ βασιλεῖ γράμματα ταχέως ἐπέμποντο πρὸς τὸν στρα τηγὸν Μεσοποταμίας, τὰς ἐκεῖσε κελεύοντα δυνάμεις ἀθροῖσαι καὶ βοηθῆσαι ταχὺ τοῖς πολιορκουμένοις· ἔπεμψε δὲ καὶ ἄρχοντα τοῦ ὅλου στρατοῦ μετὰ καὶ δυνάμεων ἄλλων τὸν πατρίκιον Νικό λαον, ἕνα ὄντα τῶν ᾠκειωμένων αὐτῷ εὐνούχων, ὃς