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by the wickedness of his ways and the failure of what he had hoped for, having spared not even his own soul, so that he might only take vengeance on those who seemed to have grieved him, he brings the same charges against me, it is no wonder. For he who did not spare God, but through hatred for certain persons spoke many falsehoods against him, would scarcely 3.183 have kept his hands off the emperor, and that one too seeming to have grieved him. But that I am pious and adhere strictly to the right and ancestral faith, the entire orthodox church would bear witness with me, by the grace of God firmly established in the truth and adhering strictly to the apostolic traditions; and no less Gregoras himself, who now brings such charges, throughout the entire time of the war not only composed many encomia for me, but had even chosen to endure the ultimate for his good will toward me, when I held the same opinions as I do now. For I myself also voted in favor of the condemnation of Barlaam issued by the emperor, and after his death I again condemned Akindynos, when Patriarch John was then convening the synod and was not moderately indignant at the things of which Akindynos, in support of Barlaam, unjustly accused Palamas and the other monks. 25. Such things did the emperor Kantakouzenos later make in defense of himself, when the writings of Gregoras came into his hands, and he proved that that man had written things false and incredible. Then, having deliberately summoned the most eloquent and distinguished of the Romans, he had them read aloud for all to hear, and all condemned his great mendacity and shamelessness and levity, because concerning public affairs, which many, or rather all, knew, he chose to write things that were not true, for which 3.184 he was most easily to be convicted of falsehood. But when Gregoras learned what the emperor had done, triumphing over his fabrications, he was not moderately distressed, whence, when he met him later, he reproached him for the triumph, as having been done to his shame. And he said that the refutation of the tome was his own, but as for the things written against him, he did not know whose they were; and that he himself, having come upon them, wished to destroy them; which, if they had been sent to him earlier, he would have committed to the fire before they came to the ears of others. But the emperor said that he did not see to what his words tended. For if he did not want the writings to be known, but to be kept in great obscurity for all time, why did he undertake so much labor in composing them? But if, as is just, he rather wished them to be known, he ought to be very grateful that he provided for them to be read before so many, and especially the most distinguished and those who know how to admire the power of words, so that he might be praised and reap the fruits of his labors while alive, especially while being sensible of the praise. For neither praise nor blame knows how to please or pain the dead. But if he is pained because the falsehoods have been detected, which he himself fabricates out of nothing, he himself would not be the cause of the pain for him, if he has not himself persuaded him to be base and to lie against the truth. However it is necessary not to be too vexed at this either. For a little later, having left this 3.185 life, he will be sensible of neither those who praise nor those who insult, whether the reproaches be just and true, or not, just like those whom he himself has accused, telling many lies. But that ought rather to grieve him and cause no little concern, lest in the future tribunal, just as for the other crimes of his life, we should pay the penalty for falsehood and slander, and especially if he has no other pretext than unjust hatred. These things, then, were later done and said by the emperor Kantakouzenos after he had ceded the rule to the emperor his son-in-law and was living in tranquility, having put on the habit of a monk. But at that time, since all the business of the synod had been completed and had come to an end, and those who had chosen the side of Akindynos were convicted of manifest impiety, he turned again to political affairs; and he was preparing to march against the Triballians. But in the meantime to those in

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ὑπὸ μοχθηρίας τρόπων καὶ ἀποτυχίας, ὧνπερ ἤλπισεν, ἀφειδήσας καὶ ψυχῆς αὐτῆς, ἵνα μόνον ἀμύνηται τοὺς δόξαντας λελυπηκέναι, ἐμοὶ τὰ ἴσα ἐγκαλεῖ, θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν. ὃς γὰρ οὐκ ἐφείσατο θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν πρός τινας ἀπέχθειαν ἐκείνου ψευδῆ πολλὰ κατεῖπε, σχολῇ 3.183 γ' ἂν ἀπέσχετο βασιλέως, καὶ ταῦτα δόξαντος λελυπηκέναι. 3.183 ὅτι δ' εὐσεβὴς ἐγὼ καὶ τῆς ὀρθῆς καὶ πατρίου δόξης ἐξεχόμενος ἀκριβῶς, καὶ πᾶσα μὲν ἡ τῶν ὀρθοδόξων ἐκκλησία συμμαρτυρήσειε, χάριτι θεοῦ βεβαίως ἡδρασμένη περὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν παραδόσεων ἐχομένη ἀκριβῶς· οὐχ ἧττον δὲ καὶ Γρηγορᾶς αὐτὸς ὁ νυνὶ τοιαῦτα ἐγκαλῶν, παρὰ πάντα τὸν τοῦ πολέμου χρόνον οὐ μόνον ἐγκώμια πολλὰ διεξιὼν ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἔσχατα ὑπομένειν ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς ἐμὲ εὐνοίας ᾑρημένος, ὅτε τὰ αὐτὰ ἐφρόνουν οἷα καὶ νυνί. τῇ γὰρ ὑπὸ βασιλέως ἐξενηνεγμένῃ καταδίκῃ Βαρλαὰμ καὶ αὐτὸς συνεπεψηφισάμην, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν αὖθις Ἀκίνδυνον κατεδίκασα, Ἰωάννου τότε πατριάρχου τὴν σύνοδον συγκροτοῦντος καὶ οὐ μέτρια ἀγανακτοῦντος, ἐφ' οἷς Ἀκίνδυνος Παλαμᾶ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μοναχῶν ἀδίκως κατηγόρει, Βαρλαὰμ συνηγορῶν. κεʹ. Τοιαῦτα μὲν βασιλεὺς ὁ Καντακουζηνὸς ὕστερον, ἐπεὶ εἰς χεῖρας αὐτῷ τὰ Γρηγορᾶ συγγράμματα ἥκει, ἀπελογεῖτο περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ψευδῆ καὶ ἀπίθανα συγγεγραφέναι ἀπεδείκνυεν ἐκεῖνον. ἔπειτα καὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων τοὺς ἐν λόγῳ μάλιστα καὶ ἐπιφανεστέρους ἐξεπίτηδες συγκαλεσάμενος, εἰς ἐπήκοον ἀναγινώσκεσθαι παρεῖχε πάντων, καὶ πολλὴν αὐτοῦ πάντες κατεγίνωσκον ψευδολογίαν καὶ ἀναίδειαν καὶ κουφότητα, ὅτι περὶ δημοσίων πραγμάτων, ἃ πολλοὶ, μᾶλλον δ' ἅπαντες συνίσασι, γράφειν προείλετο οὐκ ἀληθῆ, ἐφ' οἷς 3.184 ἔμελλε ῥᾷστα ἀπελέγχεσθαι ψευδόμενος. πυθόμενος δὲ ὁ Γρηγορᾶς ἃ δράσειε βασιλεὺς τὰ ἐκείνου θριαμβεύσας πλάσματα, οὐ μετρίως ἠνιάθη, ὅθεν καὶ συντυχὼν ὕστερον, ὠνείδιζε τὸν θρίαμβον, ὡς ἐπ' ἐκείνου τῇ αἰσχύνῃ εἰργασμένον. ἔφασκέ τε τὴν μὲν πρὸς τὸν τόμον ἀντιλογίαν ἰδίαν εἶναι, τὰ δὲ κατ' αὐτοῦ συγγεγραμμένα, ὅτου εἴη, ἀγνοεῖν· βούλεσθαι δὲ ἀφανίζειν ἐντυχόντα καὶ αὐτόν· ἃ εἰ καὶ πρότερον ἐπέμφθη πρὸς αὐτὸν, πυρὶ παρεδίδου ἂν πρὶν εἰς ἑτέρας ἥκειν ἀκοάς. βασιλεὺς δ' ἔφασκεν, οὐ συνορᾷν αὐτῷ τοὺς λόγους εἰς ὅ,τι τείνει. εἰ μὲν γὰρ μὴ τὰ συγγεγραμμένα ἤθελεν εἶναι φανερὰ, ἀλλ' ἀφανείᾳ πολλῇ κατέχεσθαι τὸν πάντα χρόνον, ἀνθ' ὅτου συντιθεὶς τοσοῦτον πόνον ἤνεγκεν; εἰ δ' ὅπερ δίκαιον, μᾶλλον εἶναι φανερὰ ἐβούλετο, καὶ μεγάλας ἂν εἴη χάριτας εἰδέναι δίκαιος, ὅτι ἐπὶ τοσούτων καὶ τῶν ἐπιφανεστέρων μάλιστα καὶ θαυμάζειν λόγων δύναμιν εἰδότων παρέσχετο ἀναγινώσκεσθαι, ἵν' ἐπαινοῖτό τε καὶ τὰς ἐπικαρπίας κομίζοιτο τῶν πόνων ζῶν, μάλιστα καὶ τῶν ἐπαίνων αἰσθανόμενος. νεκροὺς γὰρ οὔτ' ἔπαινος, οὔτε ψόγος ἡδύνειν ἢ ἀλγύνειν οἶδεν. εἰ δὲ διὰ τὸ πεφωρᾶσθαι τὰ ψευδῆ, ἃ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων αὐτὸς παρ' ἑαυτοῦ πλάττεται, ἀλγεῖ, οὐκ αὐτὸς ἂν εἴη τῆς ἀλγηδόνος αἴτιος αὐτῷ, εἴπερ μηδὲ πέπεικεν αὐτὸς φαῦλον εἶναι καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας καταψεύδεσθαι. δέον μέντοι καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο μὴ πάνυ δάκνεσθαι. ὀλίγῳ γὰρ ὕστερον ἀπολιπὼν τὸν 3.185 βίον, οὔτε τῶν ἐπαινούντων αἰσθήσεται, ἢ τῶν ὑβριζόντων, ἄν τε δίκαιοι καὶ ἀληθεῖς αἱ μέμψεις ὦσιν, ἄν τε μὴ, ὥσπερ καὶ ὧν αὐτὸς κατηγόρηκε πολλὰ καταψευδόμενος. ἐκεῖνο δὲ μᾶλλον δίκαιον λυπεῖν καὶ οὐκ ὀλίγην ἐμποιεῖν φροντίδα, μὴ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι δικαστηρίῳ, ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐγκλημάτων τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον καὶ τοῦ ψεύδους καὶ τῆς συκοφαντίας δίκας δῶμεν, καὶ μάλιστα εἰ μηδεμίαν πρόφασιν ἑτέραν ἔχοι, ἢ ἄδικον ἀπέχθειαν. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὕστερον βασιλεῖ τῷ Καντακουζηνῷ ἐπράχθη τε καὶ εἴρητο μετὰ τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς βασιλεῖ τῷ γαμβρῷ παρακεχωρηκέναι καὶ καθ' ἡσυχίαν βιοτεύειν, ὑποδύντα σχῆμα μοναχῶν. τότε δὲ ἐπεὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν σύνοδον ἀπήρτιστο πάντα καὶ τέλος εἶχε, καὶ οἱ τὰ Ἀκινδύνου ᾑρημένοι ἠλέγχοντο ἀσεβοῦντες φανερῶς, ἐπὶ τὰς πολιτικὰς ἐτρέπετο πάλιν πράξεις· καὶ παρεσκευάζετο ὡς ἐπιστρατεύσων Τριβαλοῖς. ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τοῖς ἐν