523

they were withdrawing from the camp. But this did not escape Tyrach, but having learned that they wanted to flee, he led out as many people as possible from the stockade and sent them out into the passes, where the Romans were about to pass through. 2.608 And he himself immediately attacks them as they came out. And there was a terrible rout of the Romans, and some, being overtaken by those from behind, were slaughtered, while others, being blocked by those who had previously occupied the difficult terrain, were destroyed. Therefore, a great multitude fell, and the syncellus himself also fell, and the rest with Michael were saved in Adrianople. Therefore the emperor, being deeply grieved at the misfortune, was taking up those who had been saved from the rout and was levying another army and gathering mercenaries, and he considered life unlivable, unless he utterly destroyed the race of the Patzinaks. But they, having learned this from a deserter, sent an embassy to the emperor, asking for peace. And he, having received the embassy, made a truce with them, establishing a thirty-year treaty. And the emperor, building the monastery in the so-called Mangana in the name of the holy great martyr George, and lavishly spending public funds on the buildings, now building, now demolishing, drove the empire into great poverty, so as to devise for this reason every kind of trafficking and to invent improper and contrived exactions; for he appointed impious and wicked public administrators, and through them he collected money from unjust sources. He also disbanded the Iberian army, numbering about fifty thousand, through Leo Servlias, and instead of soldiers he procured great taxes from those regions; and he devised many other wicked and unlawful exactions, which it is a shame even to enumerate. But what is necessary to say, 2.609 this indeed I will say, that from that emperor and his profligacy and extravagance the affairs of the Romans began to decline, and from that time until the present, gradually regressing, they have arrived at complete weakness; for in unskillfully pursuing liberality, he had driven it to the extreme of profligacy. However, he was not entirely deprived of good deeds, but some of his works are also reported as worthy of historical memory. For both the aforementioned monastery and the homes for the aged, the hostels, and the poorhouses in it are not without praise, and the work done for the great church of God is not lacking in commendations. For until his time the bloodless sacrifice to God was performed in it only on the solemn feasts, and also on Saturdays and the Lord's days, but not at all on the other days. This happened due to a lack of revenue, which he, having lavishly and sufficiently set aside, arranged for the holy liturgy to be performed every day; which practice prevails even to our time. And he also dedicated vessels to such a church, dedicated to the holy libation, fashioned from gold and precious pearls and stones, far surpassing the others in size and beauty and value. And he adorned it with not a few other treasures. And such were his deeds. And a plague also struck the capital during the 7th and 8th indictions, so that the living were not strong enough to carry out the dead. And in the summer of the 7th indiction, a very great 2.610 quantity of hail fell, and by it many not only animals but also people were killed. And the emperor, being afflicted by his usual disease of gout, lay in the monastery of the Mangana newly built by him. And when another symptom followed and death was now approaching, those who held the first positions in the palace were considering, the logothete John, whom the emperor had as his chief minister, having pushed aside Leichoudes, the protonotary of the dromos Constantine, the epi tou kanikleiou Basil, and the rest who were otherwise close to him, who indeed they would establish on the imperial throne. It seemed best, therefore, to all

523

τῆς παρεμβολῆς ὑπεχώρουν. τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἔλαθε τὸν Τυράχ, ἀλλὰ μαθὼν ὡς βούλονται φεύγειν, λαὸν ὅτι πλεῖστον τοῦ χάρακος ἐξαγαγὼν ἐν ταῖς διόδοις ἐκπέμπει, ὅπου περ ἔμελλον οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι διέρχεσθαι. 2.608 αὐτὸς δὲ ἐξελθοῦσιν εὐθὺς ἐπιτίθεται. καὶ γίνεται τροπὴ τῶν Ῥωμαίων φρικτή, καὶ οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν κατόπιν καταλαμβανόμενοι ἀπεσφάττοντο, οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν προκατειληφότων τὰς δυσχωρίας εἰργόμενοι ἀνηλίσκοντο. ἔπεσεν οὖν πλῆθος πολύ, πίπτει δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ σύγκελλος, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ σὺν τῷ Μιχαὴλ ἐν Ἀδριανουπόλει διασώζονται. περιαλγὴς οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς γενόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ ἀτυχή ματι τούς τε ἐκ τῆς τροπῆς διασωθέντας ἀνελάμβανε καὶ λαὸν ἕτερον ἐστρατολόγει καὶ μισθοφόρους συνέλεγε, καὶ ἀβίωτον ἡγεῖτο τὸν βίον, εἰ μὴ ἄρδην ἀφανίσει τὸ γένος τῶν Πατζινάκων. ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι δι' αὐτομόλου τοῦτο πυθόμενοι διαπρεσβεύονται πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, εἰρήνην αἰτοῦντες. καὶ προσδεξάμενος οὗτος τὴν πρεσβείαν σπένδεται μετ' αὐτῶν τριακοντούτεις σπονδὰς θέμενος. Μοναστήριον δὲ οἰκοδομῶν ὁ βασιλεὺς κατὰ τὰ λεγόμενα Μάγγανα ἐπ' ὀνόματι τοῦ ἁγίου μεγάλου μάρτυρος Γεωργίου, καὶ ἀφειδῶς τὰ δημόσια καταναλίσκων ἐν ταῖς οἰκοδομαῖς χρήματα, νῦν μὲν οἰκοδομῶν νῦν δὲ καταστρέφων, εἰς μεγάλην ἤλασεν ἔν δειαν, ὡς πᾶσαν ἐπινοῆσαι διὰ τοῦτο καπηλείαν καὶ ἀτόπους καὶ σεσοφισμένας εἰσπράξεις ἐφευρηκέναι· δημοσίους τε γὰρ προεχει ρίζετο φροντιστὰς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἀλάστορας, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν χρήματα ἐξ ἀδίκων πόρων συνήθροιζε. κατέλυσε δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἰβηρικὸν στρα τὸν ἀμφὶ τὰς πεντήκοντα χιλιάδας ἀριθμούμενον διὰ Λέοντος τοῦ Σερβλίου, καὶ ἀντὶ στρατιωτῶν φόρους πολλοὺς ἐπορίζετο ἀπὸ τῶν χωρίων ἐκείνων· καὶ ἄλλας πλείους εἰσπράξεις ἐπενοήσατο πονηρὰς καὶ ἀθέσμους, ἃς καὶ καταλέγειν αἰσχύνη. ὃ δὲ εἰπεῖν 2.609 ἐστὶν ἀναγκαῖον, τοῦτο δὴ λέξω, ὅτι περ ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου ἀσωτίας καὶ σαλακωνίας τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἤρξατο φθίνειν πράγματα, καὶ ἔκτοτε καὶ μέχρι τῆς δεῦρο κατὰ μικρὸν εἰς τὸ κατόπιν χωροῦντα ἐς παντελῆ κατήντησε τὴν ἀσθένειαν· τὸ γὰρ ἐλευθέριον ἀτέχνως διώκων εἰς ἄκραν ἐληλάκει τὴν ἀσωτίαν. οὐ μήν γε καὶ παντάπασι πράξεων ἀγαθῶν ἐστέρητο, ἀλλὰ φέρον ται καί τινα ἔργα αὐτοῦ ἱστορικῆς μνήμης ἐπάξια. τό τε γὰρ ῥηθὲν μοναστήριον καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ γηρωτροφεῖα καὶ οἱ ξενῶνες καὶ τὰ πτωχοτροφεῖα ἐπαίνων οὐκ ἀμοιροῦσι, καὶ τὸ γενόμενον ἔργον εἰς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν ἐγκωμίων οὐκ ἀπολείπεται. ἕως ἐκείνου γὰρ ἐν μόναις ταῖς ἐπισήμοις ἑορταῖς ἐν ταύτῃ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῖς σάββασι καὶ ταῖς κυριακαῖς ἡμέραις ἡ ἀναίμακτος τῷ θεῷ ἐπετελεῖτο ἱερουργία, ἐν δὲ ταῖς λοιπαῖς οὐδαμῶς ἡμέραις. τοῦτο δὲ ἐγίνετο διὰ προσόδου ἔνδειαν, ἣν οὗτος δαψιλῶς ἀφορίσας καὶ ἀποχρώντως καθ' ἑκάστην τελεῖσθαι τὴν ἱερὰν παρεσκεύασε λει τουργίαν· ὃ καὶ κρατεῖ γινόμενον μέχρις ἡμῶν. καὶ σκεύη δὲ τὰ τῇ ἱερᾷ ἀνειμένα σπονδείᾳ τῇ τοιαύτῃ ἀνέθετο ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἐκ χρυ σοῦ καὶ πολυτίμων μαργάρων καὶ λίθων κατεσκευασμένα, μακρῷ παρελάσαντα τὰ λοιπὰ μεγέθει καὶ κάλλει καὶ τιμαῖς. καὶ λοιποῖς ἄλλοις κειμηλίοις οὐκ ὀλίγοις ταύτην ἐφαίδρυνε. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐκεί νου ταῦτα. Ἐνέσκηψε δὲ καὶ λοιμικὴ νόσος τῇ βασιλίδι κατά τε τὴν ζʹ καὶ ηʹ ἰνδικτιῶνα, ὡς μὴ ἐξισχύειν τοὺς ζῶντας ἐκφέρειν τοὺς τεθνεῶτας. ἠνέχθη δὲ κατὰ τὸ θέρος τῆς ζʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος μέγιστόν 2.610 τι χρῆμα χαλάζης, καὶ πολλὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ οὐ ζῷα μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνθρωποι διεφθάρησαν. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς κατεχόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς συνήθους νόσου τῆς ποδάγρας ἔκειτο ἐν τῇ παρ' αὐτοῦ νεουργη θείσῃ μονῇ τῶν Μαγγάνων. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἕτερον ἐπηκολούθησε σύμπτωμα καὶ ἤδη ὁ θάνατος ἤγγιζεν, ἐσκέπτοντο οἱ τὰ πρῶτα ἐν βασιλείοις φέροντες, ὁ λογοθέτης Ἰωάννης, ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς παραδυναστεύοντα εἶχε, παρωσάμενος τὸν Λειχούδην, ὁ πρωτο νοτάριος τοῦ δρόμου ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος, ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κανικλείου Βασί λειος, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ ἄλλως αὐτῷ προσῳκειωμένοι, τίνα δὴ ἐς τὸν βασίλειον καθιδρύσουσι θρόνον. ἔδοξεν οὖν ἅπασιν