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with all hands, along with the flagship, and all those in them were slaughtered, but the remaining Roman ships were cast upon shoals and shores and reefs; of which having been wrecked, some of those in them drowned in the sea, while others were captured by the barbarians and delivered to the sword and to slavery, and those who were saved returned safely on foot and naked to their own camp. But the Scythians, since their hopes did not come to fruition, bethought themselves of the journey home. As they were returning by both land and sea (for the ships were not sufficient for all, some having been sunk and captured in the preceding naval battle, and others dashed to pieces by the surge and 2.555 the great waves, and for this reason the majority made the journey on foot), Katakalon Vestes Kekaumenos, being governor of the cities and regions around the Ister, met them on the shore of the so-called Varna, and joining battle, routed them; he killed many, and having taken eight hundred captives, sent them in fetters to the emperor. For this man, also when the Scythians, having first departed from their own haunts, were hastening towards the capital, and disembarking in the province allotted to him, were making raids, having gathered the people around him, attacked them, and fighting bravely, completely routed them and forced them to flee to their own ships; and again, while guarding the coastal regions of his province and awaiting the outcome, he received them as they were returning, and steadfastly resisting them, he accomplished the aforesaid deeds. But in the month of September, of the 12th indiction, in the year #22φνβʹ, a strong wind blew, so that the fruit of the vines was almost destroyed.

At this time, as the feast of the forty holy martyrs was being celebrated, on the 9th of the month of March, when the emperor was about to go in a public procession to 2.556 venerate the saints, a sedition was raised against him by the people. For when he went out on foot from the palace with a great bodyguard and with acclamations, and reached the church of the Savior in the Chalke, and was about to mount his horse from there and arrive at the shrine of the martyrs, suddenly a voice rang out from the midst of the crowd, "We do not want Scleraina as empress, nor on her account will our mammas, the porphyrogenitae Zoe and Theodora, die." And immediately everything was thrown into confusion, and a tumult seized the crowd, and they sought to lay hands on the emperor. And if the empresses had not quickly appeared from above and calmed the crowd, not a few would have perished, and perhaps even the emperor himself. When the tumult had been calmed, he returned to the palace, having abandoned his visit to the martyrs. And in the 13th indiction the war against Ani began. But it must be told from the beginning how and for what reason the emperor Constantine undertook to make war on the toparch of Ani, who was living at peace and doing nothing untoward. When George the ruler of the Abasgians 2.557 took up arms against the Romans, allied with him was also Iovanesikes who ruled the land of Ani. But since, as was said before, the emperor Basil went up into Iberia and fought in battles against George and routed and crushed him, Iovanesikes, fearing that the emperor, being angry because of the alliance, might inflict some irreparable harm upon him, having taken the keys of the city, deserted to the emperor and voluntarily surrendered himself and handed over the keys. And he, approving his prudence, both honored him as magistros and appointed him ruler for life of Ani and of so-called Greater Armenia, having demanded from him a written document that after his death all such dominion would revert to his right and would become a part of the Roman empire. These things came to pass. And the emperor died, and after a considerable time Iovanesikes also died; and upon his death, Kakikios his son

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αὔτανδροι σὺν τῇ ναυαρχίδι, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀπεσφάγησαν, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ Ῥωμαϊκὰ πλοῖα ἐν βράχεσι καὶ ἀκταῖς καὶ σκοπέλοις ἀπερρίφησαν· ὧν συν τριβέντων οἱ μὲν τῶν ἐν αὐταῖς ὑποβρύχιοι γεγόνασι τῇ θαλάσσῃ, ἄλλοι δὲ ἑάλωσαν ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων καὶ μαχαίρᾳ παρεδόθησαν καὶ δουλείᾳ, οἱ δὲ διασωθέντες πεζοὶ καὶ γυμνοὶ εἰς τὸ οἰκεῖον στρατόπεδον ἀνεσώθησαν. οἱ δὲ Σκύθαι ὡς οὐκ εἰς ἔργον ἐχώρει αὐτοῖς τὰ τῶν ἐλπίδων, τῆς ἐπ' οἴκου πορείας ἐμνήσθησαν. ὑπο στρέφουσι δὲ τούτοις διά τε γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐξήρ κουν τοῖς πᾶσι τὰ σκάφη, τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς προηγησαμένης ναυαρ χίας καταποντισθέντα τε καὶ ληφθέντα, τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ κλύδωνος καὶ 2.555 τρικυμίας θλασθέντα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οἱ πλείους πεζῇ τὴν ὁδοιπο ρίαν ἐποιοῦντο) συναντήσας Κατακαλὼν Βέστης ὁ κεκαυμένος, ἄρχων ὢν τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον πόλεων καὶ χωρίων, κατὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν τῆς λεγομένης Βάρνας, καὶ συμβαλὼν ἐτρέψατο, καὶ ἀπέκτεινε μὲν πολλούς, ὀκτακοσίους δὲ ζωγρίας λαβὼν πεπεδη μένους ἐκπέμπει τῷ βασιλεῖ. οὗτος γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ ὅτε πρώτως τῶν οἰκείων ἠθῶν ἀπαναστάντες οἱ Σκύθαι πρὸς τὴν βασιλίδα ἠπείγοντο καὶ ἐς τὴν λαχοῦσαν αὐτὸν ἀρχὴν ἀποβάντες προνομὰς ἐποιοῦντο, τὸν ἀμφ' αὑτὸν ἀθροίσας λαὸν προσέρραξε τούτοις, καὶ γενναίως ἀγωνισάμενος ἐτρέψατό τε κατὰ κράτος καὶ εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα σκάφη φυγεῖν ἠνάγκασε· καὶ πάλιν δὲ τὰ ἀγχίαλα τῆς ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἀρχῆς φυλάττων χωρία, καὶ προσμένων τὸ τέλος, ὑπο στρέφοντας δεξάμενος καὶ καρτερῶς ὑποστὰς εἰργάσατο τὰ εἰρη μένα. Σεπτεμβρίῳ δὲ μηνί, ἰνδικτιῶνος ιβʹ, ἔτους #22φνβʹ, ἔπνευ σεν ἄνεμος σφοδρός, ὡς διαφθαρῆναι σχεδὸν τοὺς τῶν ἀμπέλων καρπούς.

Κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἑορτῆς ἀγομένης τῶν ἁγίων μʹ μαρτύρων, ἐν τῇ θʹ τοῦ Μαρτίου μηνός, μέλλων ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς 2.556 προσκύνησιν ἀπελθεῖν τῶν ἁγίων δημοσίᾳ προόδῳ κατεστασιάσθη παρὰ τοῦ δήμου. ἐξελθόντος γὰρ τούτου πεζῇ μετὰ πολλῆς δορυ φορίας ἀπὸ τοῦ παλατίου καὶ εὐφημίας, καὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ Χαλκῇ καταλαβόντος ναὸν τοῦ σωτῆρος, καὶ μέλλοντος ἐκεῖθεν ἐξιππά σασθαι καὶ πρὸς τὸν τῶν μαρτύρων ἀφικέσθαι σηκόν, ἐξαίφνης ἐξηχήθη φωνὴ ἀπὸ μέσου τοῦ πλήθους "ἡμεῖς τὴν Σκλήραιναν βασιλίσσαν οὐ θέλομεν, οὐδὲ δι' αὐτὴν αἱ μάνναι ἡμῶν αἱ πορ φυρογέννητοι Ζωή τε καὶ Θεοδώρα θανοῦνται." καὶ εὐθὺς συνεχύθη τὰ πάντα, καὶ ταραχὴ κατέσχε τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ ἐζήτουν τὸν βασιλέα διαχειρίσασθαι. καὶ εἰ μὴ τάχιον αἱ βασιλίδες προ κύψασαι ἄνωθεν κατεστόρεσαν τὸ πλῆθος, ἀπολώλεισαν ἂν οὐκ ὀλίγοι, ἴσως δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεύς. κατευνασθείσης δὲ τῆς ταραχῆς ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, τὴν εἰς τοὺς μάρτυρας ἄφι ξιν παραιτησάμενος. Ἰνδικτιῶνος δὲ ιγʹ ὁ κατὰ τοῦ Ἀνίου ἀρχὴν ἐλάμβανε πόλε μος. ἀλλὰ ῥητέον ἄνωθεν πῶς καὶ διὰ τίνα τρόπον ἡσυχίαν ἄγοντι τῷ τοῦ Ἀνίου τοπάρχῃ καὶ μηδὲν ἀπαίσιον διαπραττομένῳ Κων σταντῖνος ὁ βασιλεὺς πολεμεῖν ἐπεχείρησεν. ὅτε Γεώργιος ὁ Ἀβασ 2.557 γῶν ἀρχηγὸς ὅπλα κατὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐκίνησε, συμμαχῶν ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ Ἰωβανεσίκης ὁ τῆς τοῦ Ἀνίου κυριεύων χώρας. ἐπεὶ δέ, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται, Βασίλειος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀνελθὼν ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ πα ρατάξεσιν ἠγωνίσατο κατὰ τοῦ Γεωργίου καὶ τοῦτον ἐτρέψατο καὶ συνέτριψε, φοβηθεὶς ὁ Ἰωβανεσίκης μή πως ὁ βασιλεὺς μηνιῶν διὰ τὴν συμμαχίαν ἀνήκεστόν τι ἐς αὐτὸν διαπράξηται, τὰς κλεῖς τῆς πόλεως εἰληφὼς αὐτομολεῖ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐγχειρίζει ἐθελοντὴς καὶ τὰς κλεῖς παραδίδωσιν. ὁ δὲ τῆς συνέσεως τοῦτον ἀποδεξάμενος μάγιστρόν τε τιμᾷ καὶ ἄρχοντα διὰ βίου τοῦ Ἀνίου καὶ τῆς λεγομένης μεγάλης Ἀρμενίας προβάλλεται, ἔγγραφον ἀπαιτήσας ἀπ' αὐτοῦ γραμματεῖον ὡς μετὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τελευτὴν ἐπανήξει πᾶσα ἡ τοιαύτη ἀρχὴ εἰς τὸ δίκαιον αὐτοῦ καὶ μέρος ἔσεται τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς. ἐγένετο ταῦτα. καὶ θνήσκει μὲν ὁ βασι λεύς, θνήσκει δὲ μετὰ χρόνους ἱκανοὺς καὶ ὁ Ἰωβανεσίκης· καὶ θανόντος αὐτοῦ Κακίκιος ὁ τούτου υἱὸς