506

were perishing, and he put in to shore, and taking on board as many as the trireme was able to receive, he returned to Byzantium, having neglected the matters at hand. But Süleyman, the son of Orhan, when he learned of the situation in Thrace, while staying in Pegae, the city on the other side of the Hellespont, disregarding the treaties with the emperor, which he had made for the return of Tzympe, with great haste crossed over to Thrace, and having transported many of his countrymen along with their wives and children, he settled the cities, rebuilding what had been cast down. and he showed 3.279 the greatest zeal for Kallipolis. For he both repaired the walls from the top and worked on them to make them better than they had been, and he forced many of the notable men with him to move there, and he established a large army; and he was a nuisance to those in Mysia, attacking with large armies and enslaving cities and ravaging the entire country. But the emperor was distressed not a little by the disaster; but being unable to defend himself against the aggressors, he sent continuous embassies to Orhan his son-in-law and demanded that his son give back the seized cities. For it was among the most absurd things, not to concede to them a single fort, but to make treaties with them for a specified sum of money so that they would leave, for them now to have seized so many cities, in addition to not returning Tzympe according to the treaties, and this while there were truces and profound peace with one another. But when Süleyman insisted that he had not gained control of the cities by war nor by force, but had occupied them as uninhabited and ruined, the emperor maintained that they were committing the gravest injustice and that their excuse had no bearing on the principle of justice. For it made no difference whether he entered through the gates or from somewhere else. But this is what must be considered: whether they, having seized them during a truce, hold them justly. While the emperor was making such representations through embassies to the barbarians, Süleyman held on to the cities completely and would not endure even to hear of leaving; But Orhan, his father, being conscious 3.280 that he himself was acting unjustly and breaking the treaty, and making it of the greatest importance to appease the emperor, agreed to return the cities to the emperor at once. But since his son Süleyman was difficult to dislodge, he begged the emperor to postpone the recovery, saying that he would persuade his son to return the cities willingly after a short while; which he did a little later. For having exhorted him many times that one must not grieve the emperor, who not only was firmly abiding by the treaties with them and had done no wrong, but also on account of his kinship with them, then also having promised to provide money, he persuaded him to return the cities. But indeed the emperor also, on account of those cities, promised to provide to Süleyman forty thousand gold pieces. But Orhan, fearing that his son might lie and not return the cities to the emperor, considered that he and the emperor should come together in the same place, so that Süleyman might promise in their presence that he would at all events return the cities, and he immediately informed the emperor to come to the Astacene gulf, as the meeting would be there. And since the plan seemed best to the emperor as well, he ordered the triremes to be equipped. By such causes, then, emperor Kantakouzenos was as it were compelled to proclaim his son Matthew as emperor. But he had a plan, even after his son's proclamation, to cut off a part of the Roman dominion and give it to him, so that he might reign over that part alone for life; but that it would not be permitted for him at his death to leave a successor to the rule, but that it would revert 3.281 again to the reigning emperor of the Romans, whether emperor John his son-in-law survived, or his own son Andronikos; and to recall his son-in-law the emperor again, having ended the war against him, and to concede to him the entire Roman dominion, having himself withdrawn from affairs, and to try through the philosophy of his life to make the divine being propitious to him. These things, therefore, he planned to do later; but at that time, since the triremes were equipped, he was in Nicomedia and sent envoys to Orhan his son-in-law, as

506

ἀπόλλυσθαι, προσέσχε τε τῇ γῇ, καὶ ἀναλαμβάνων ὅσους ἦν ὑποδέχεσθαι ἡ τριήρης δυνατὴ, ἀνέστρεφεν εἰς Βυζάντιον, τῶν προκειμένων ἀμελήσας. Σουλιμὰν δὲ ὁ τοῦ Ὀρχάνη παῖς ἐπεὶ πύθετο τὰ κατὰ Θρᾴκην, ἐν Πηγαῖς τῇ κατὰ τὴν περαίαν τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου πόλει διατρίβων, τὰς πρὸς βασιλέα συνθήκας παριδὼν, ἃς ἔθετο ἐπὶ τῷ Τζύμπην ἀποδιδόναι, σπουδῇ πολλῇ ἐπεραιοῦτο πρὸς τὴν Θρᾴκην, καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν ὁμοφύλων διαβιβάσας ἅμα γυναιξὶ καὶ τέκνοις, κατῴκιζε τὰς πόλεις, τὰ καταβεβλημένα ἀνορθῶν. τὴν πλείστην δὲ ἐπεδεί 3.279 ξατο περὶ Καλλιούπολιν σπουδήν. τά τε γὰρ τείχη ἄνωθεν ἐπεσκεύασε καὶ προσεξειργάσατο βελτίω, ἤπερ ἦσαν, καὶ τῶν ἐπιφανῶν παρ' αὐτῷ πολλοὺς ἠνάγκασεν εἰς ἐκείνην μετοικίζεσθαι, καὶ στρατιὰν ἐγκαθίδρυσε πολλήν· καὶ τοῖς κατὰ Μυσίαν λυπηρὸς ἦν, μεγάλοις στρατοπέδοις ἐπιὼν καὶ πόλεις ἐξανδραποδιζόμενος καὶ τὴν χώραν ἅπασαν πορθῶν. βασιλεὺς δὲ ἠνιᾶτο μὲν οὐκ ὀλίγα πρὸς τὴν συμφοράν· ἀμύνεσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας ἀδυνάτως ἔχων, πρεσβείας συνεχεῖς ἐποιεῖτο πρὸς Ὀρχάνην τὸν γαμβρὸν καὶ τὰς ἡρπασμένας πόλεις ἠξίου τὸν υἱὸν ἀποδιδόναι. τῶν γὰρ ἀτοπωτάτων εἶναι, ἑνὸς μὲν αὐτοῖς φρουρίου μὴ παραχωρεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ χρήμασι ῥητοῖς συνθήκας θέσθαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ὥστε ἐκλιπεῖν, αὐτοὺς δὲ νυνὶ τοσαύτας πόλεις κατασχεῖν πρὸς τῷ μηδὲ Τζύμπην κατὰ τὰς συνθήκας ἀποδοῦναι, καὶ ταῦτα σπονδῶν οὐσῶν καὶ βαθείας εἰρήνης πρὸς ἀλλήλους. Σουλιμὰν δὲ ἰσχυριζομένου μὴ πολέμῳ, μηδὲ βίᾳ τῶν πόλεων κεκρατηκέναι, ἀλλ' ἀοικήτους καὶ καταβεβλημένας κατασχεῖν, ἀδικεῖν αὐτοὺς τὰ ἔσχατα διετείνετο ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ μηδὲν εἶναι τὴν σκῆψιν πρὸς τὸν τοῦ δικαίου λόγον. διενηνοχέναι γὰρ οὐδὲν, εἰ διὰ τῶν πυλῶν εἰσῄει, ἢ ἄλλοθέν ποθεν. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο χρὴ σκοπεῖν, εἰ δικαίως ἐν σπονδαῖς κατασχόντες ἔχουσι. τοιαῦτα βασιλέως πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους διαπρεσβευομένου, Σουλιμὰν μὲν εἴχετο τῶν πόλεων καθάπαξ καὶ οὐδ' ἄχρις ἀκοῆς ὑπέμενεν ἀπολιπεῖν· Ὀρχάνης δὲ ὁ πατὴρ ἑαυτῷ τε συνειδὼς 3.280 ἀδικοῦντι καὶ παρασπονδοῦντι, καὶ ποιούμενος περὶ πλείστου τὸ βασιλέα θεραπεύειν, συνετίθετο μὲν αὐτίκα τὰς πόλεις ἀποδιδόναι βασιλεῖ. Σουλιμὰν δὲ τοῦ υἱοῦ δυσαπαλλάκτως ἔχοντος, ἐδεῖτο βασιλέως ὑπερθέσθαι τὴν ἀπόληψιν, ὡς πείσοντος αὐτοῦ τὸν υἱὸν μετὰ μικρὸν ἑκοντὶ τὰς πόλεις ἀποδοῦναι· ὃ καὶ ἔπραττεν ὀλίγῳ ὕστερον. πολλὰ γὰρ πολλάκις παραινέσας, ὡς χρὴ βασιλέα μὴ λυπεῖν, οὐ μόνον βεβαίως ἐμμένοντα ταῖς πρὸς αὐτοὺς σπονδαῖς καὶ μηδὲν ἠδικηκότα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς συγγενείας ἕνεκα τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ἔπειτα καὶ χρήματα ἐπαγγειλάμενος παρέξειν, ἔπεισε τὰς πόλεις ἀποδοῦναι. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ βασιλεὺς τῶν πόλεων ἐκείνων ἕνεκα Σουλιμὰν ἐπηγγείλατο παρέξειν μυριάδας χρυσίου τέτταρας. δείσας δὲ Ὀρχάνης, μὴ ψευσάμενος ὁ παῖς οὐκ ἀποδῷ τὰς πόλεις βασιλεῖ, ἐσκέψατο συνελθόντας ἐν ταὐτῷ βασιλέα καὶ αὐτὸν, οὕτω Σουλιμὰν ὑποσχέσθαι ἐπ' αὐτῶν, ὡς ἀποδώσει πάντως γε τὰς πόλεις, αὐτίκα τε ἐδήλου βασιλεῖ πρὸς τὸν Ἀστακηνὸν γενέσθαι κόλπον, ὡς ἐνταυθοῖ τῆς συντυχίας ἐσομένης. δόξαν δὲ καὶ βασιλεῖ βελτίστην εἶναι τὴν βουλὴν, ἐκέλευε τριήρεις ἐφοπλίζεσθαι. ὑπὸ τοιούτων μὲν αἰτίων Ματθαῖον τὸν υἱὸν ἀποδεικνύειν βασιλέα ὥσπερ συνηλάθη Καντακουζηνὸς ὁ βασιλεύς. γνώμην δὲ εἶχε, καὶ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ υἱοῦ ἀνάῤῥησιν μέρος μὲν τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀποτεμὼν ἡγεμονίας, ἐκείνῳ παρασχεῖν, ὥστ' ἐκείνου μόνου βασιλεύειν διὰ βίου· διάδοχον δὲ μὴ ἐξεῖναι καταλείπειν τελευτῶντα τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τὸν ὄντα βασιλέα Ῥωμαίων αὖθις ἀναστρέ 3.281 φειν, ἄντε Ἰωάννης βασιλεὺς ὁ γαμβρὸς περιῇ, ἄντε Ἀνδρόνικος ὁ υἱὸς αὐτῷ· βασιλέα δὲ τὸν γαμβρὸν ἀνακαλεῖσθαι αὖθις, τὸν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον καταλύσας πόλεμον καὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς ἁπάσης αὐτῷ παραχωρεῖν, τῶν πραγμάτων ἀποστὰς αὐτὸς, καὶ πειρᾶσθαι διὰ τῆς κατὰ τὸν βίον φιλοσοφίας ἵλεων αὐτῷ ποιεῖν τὸ θεῖον. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐν ὑστέρῳ πράττειν ἐβουλεύετο· τότε δὲ ἐπεὶ ἦσαν ὡπλισμέναι αἱ τριήρεις, ἐν Νικομηδείᾳ τε ἐγένετο καὶ πρέσβεις ἔπεμπε πρὸς Ὀρχάνην τὸν γαμβρὸν, ὡς