535

the brother as ruler, he would not be contentious at all, but would do everything most readily, whatever he himself might command. And the emperor, having spent over a year in the Peloponnese with his sons, and having brought to a successful conclusion the matters for which he had come, returned to Byzantium. 50. And around the same time also Callistus the patriarch was sent as an ambassador by the emperor to Elizabeth, the wife of the Kral, who was residing in Pherae after his 3.361 death. For they had been at war with each other even while the Kral was still alive. And the embassy was for the purpose that, laying aside their war against each other and coming to an agreement, they should attack the barbarians in Thrace, who were harming both the land of the Romans and of the Triballi and plundering it daily. The wife of the Kral, therefore, received the embassy eagerly, and not only she but also all the officials of the Triballi; and it seemed good to all alike that war should be waged against the barbarians, and they treated the patriarch with acclaim and great respect. And Elizabeth especially showed great friendliness and thought that she had received one of the greater ones as a guest in her home. And as it so happened, the patriarch himself had fallen into a severe illness, from which he also died, and the others with him, except for a few. And he was leading those of most account of those enrolled in the clergy of the church; whence also a rumor was spread among the many that they had died by poison, plotted against by the Triballi. But it was in fact clearly a falsehood and a slander. For not only the reasonableness of the Kral's wife and her respect and honor and eagerness toward the patriarch, both while he was alive and after his death, but also the illness, from which each one died, having been overcome, in no way allows for such suspicions about her. For they happened to have been seized by different ailments, and not even two at the least by the same ones. And when the patriarch died, Elizabeth buried him magnificently in the metropolis 3.362 of Pherae and honored him exceptionally. And when there came to her also from the monasteries on Athos the more zealous monks who lay claim to virtue, especially from the holy Lavra, and they asked for permission to transport the patriarch's body to Athos and bury it among them, she did not give in, she herself saying especially that she needed his protection, and that it was necessary to keep him with her. And at the time when these things were happening, the emperor also campaigned against the Mysian cities subject to him along the Pontus; for some dispute arose for him with Alexander, the king of the Mysians. And he took Anchialus by assault, having won in battle, but Mesembria he besieged both from the mainland, having built a tower at the narrow place where the entrance is, and from the sea with his ships. And he pressed the inhabitants not a little, especially by lack of water, for they used to draw water not far from the city from a certain spring, but then, being cut off by the army, they used the water within, which was both little and of poor quality. But Alexander, the king of the Mysians, used many methods to make the emperor raise the siege. For he both sent allies to the city from his own army, and persuaded some from the barbarians in Thrace with money, but when they returned having accomplished nothing, as the emperor was both besieging those within strongly and fighting steadfastly against those outside, when he had entirely given up on the war, having sent ambassadors and having promised to do all things according to 3.363 the emperor's will, he persuaded him to choose peace instead, and he paid back the money which had been spent on the war, and no small amount besides. And the emperor, having demolished the tower, returned to Byzantium. And having learned about the patriarch, that he had died during the embassy, he himself both considered whom it was necessary to install on the patriarchal throne, and he permitted the bishops, having come together according to custom and having deliberated, to declare to him the one who would preside over the church. And since it seemed right to all that it was just to restore Patriarch Philotheos, since the same also seemed right to the emperor—for he was aware that he had not withdrawn from his office through wickedness, but had yielded willingly, so that not through contention the [church] might be filled with much turmoil and dissension.

535

ἀρχὴν τὸν ἀδελφὸν, οὐδὲν αὐτὸν φιλονεικήσειν, ἀλλὰ πάντα πράξειν ἑτοιμότατα, ἅττα ἂν αὐτὸς κελεύοι. βασιλεὺς δὲ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ ὑπὲρ ἐνιαυτὸν συνδιατρίψας τοῖς υἱέσι, καὶ ὧν ἕνεκα ἀφῖκτο δεξιὸν τέλος ἐπιθεὶς, εἰς Βυζάντιον ἐπανῆκεν. νʹ. Ὑπὸ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους καὶ Κάλλιστος ὁ πατριάρχης παρὰ βασιλέως ἐπέμφθη πρέσβυς πρὸς Ἐλισάβετ τὴν Κράλη γαμετὴν, Φέραις ἐνδιατρίβουσαν μετὰ τὴν ἐκεί 3.361 νου τελευτήν. ἐκπεπολέμωντο γὰρ ἀλλήλοις καὶ ἔτι Κράλη περιόντος. ἡ πρεσβεία δὲ ἦν, ὥστε τὸν πρὸς ἀλλήλους πόλεμον καταθεμένους καὶ συμφρονήσαντας, τοῖς ἐν Θρᾴκῃ βαρβάροις ἐπιθέσθαι, κακῶς καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων καὶ Τριβαλῶν ποιοῦσι καὶ ληϊζομένοις ὁσημέραι. ἡ μὲν οὖν Κράλη γαμετὴ τὴν πρεσβείαν ἐδέξατο προθύμως, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἐν τέλει πάντες Τριβαλῶν· καὶ πᾶσιν ἔδοξεν ὁμοίως πολεμητέα εἶναι πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους, καὶ τὸν πατριάρχην ἦγον δι' εὐφημίας καὶ αἰδοῦς πολλῆς. Ἐλισάβετ δὲ μάλιστα πολλὴν ἐπεδείκνυτο φιλοφροσύνην καὶ τῶν κρειττόνων ᾤετό τινα ὑποδεδέχθαι ξενισθέντα παρ' αὐτῇ. οὕτω δὲ συμβὰν, αὐτός τε ὁ πατριάρχης ἐνεπεπτώκει νόσῳ χαλεπῇ, ὑφ' ἧς καὶ ἐτελεύτησε, καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι οἱ συνόντες, πλὴν ὀλίγων. ἦν δὲ ἄγων τοὺς μάλιστα ἐν λόγῳ τῶν ἐν τῷ κλήρῳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας κατειλεγμένων· ὅθεν καὶ φήμη διεδόθη παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς φαρμάκῳ αὐτοὺς ἀποθανεῖν ἐπιβουλευθέντας ὑπὸ Τριβαλῶν. ἦν δὲ ἄρα ψεῦδος καὶ συκοφαντία ἐναργῶς. οὐ γὰρ τὸ τῆς Κράλη γαμετῆς ἐπιεικὲς μόνον καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν πατριάρχην αἰδὼς καὶ φιλοτιμία καὶ σπουδὴ, καὶ περιόντος καὶ μετὰ τελευτὴν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ νόσος, ὑφ' ἧς ἕκαστος ἐτελεύτησε κατεργασθεὶς, οὐδαμῶς τοιαῦτα δίδωσιν ὑπονοεῖν περὶ αὐτῆς. διαφόροις γὰρ ἔτυχον νοσήμασι κατασχεθέντες, καὶ οὐδὲ δύο τοὐλάχιστον τοῖς ἴσοις. ἀποθανόντα δὲ τὸν πατριάρχην ἔθαψέ τε μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἡ Ἐλισάβετ ἐν τῇ μητροπό 3.362 λει Φερῶν καὶ ἐτίμησε διαφερόντως, ἀφικομένων δὲ παρ' αὐτὴν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐν Ἄθῳ φροντιστηρίων τῶν σπουδαιοτέρων καὶ ἀντιποιουμένων ἀρετῆς, μάλιστα δὲ Λαύρας τῆς ἱερᾶς, καὶ δεηθέντων ἐφεῖναι τὸν πατριάρχου νεκρὸν ἐν Ἄθῳ μεταγαγεῖν καὶ θάψαι παρὰ σφίσιν, οὐκ ἐνέδωκεν, αὐτὴ μάλιστα εἰποῦσα δεῖσθαι τῆς ἐκείνου προστασίας, καὶ δεῖν εἶναι κατέχειν παρ' ἑαυτῇ. ἐν ᾧ δὲ χρόνῳ ταῦτα ἐτελεῖτο, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπεστράτευσε ταῖς κατὰ τὸν πόντον ὑπηκόοις πόλεσι Μυσοῖς· ἐγένετο γάρ τις αὐτῷ διαφορὰ πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Μυσῶν βασιλέα. καὶ Ἀγχίαλον μὲν εἷλεν ἐξ ἐφόδου μάχῃ κρατήσας, Μεσημβρίαν δὲ ἔκ τε τῆς ἠπείρου πύργον οἰκοδομήσας κατὰ τὸ στενὸν, ἐν ᾧ ἡ εἰσβολὴ, καὶ ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης ταῖς ναυσὶν ἐπολιόρκει. καὶ ἐπίεσε τοὺς κατοικοῦντας οὐκ ὀλίγα ὕδατος ἀπορία μάλιστα, ὑδρεύοντο γὰρ οὐ πολὺ ἄποθεν τῆς πόλεως ἔκ τινος πηγῆς, τότε δὲ εἰργόμενοι ὑπὸ τῆς στρατιᾶς, τοῖς ἔνδον ὕδασιν ἐχρῶντο, ὀλίγοις τε καὶ φαύλοις οὖσιν. Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ὁ τῶν Μυσῶν βασιλεὺς πολλαῖς μὲν ἐχρήσατο μεθόδοις, ἀναστῆσαι βασιλέα τῆς πολιορκίας, ἔκ τε γὰρ τῆς οἰκείας στρατιᾶς τῇ πόλει ἔπεμψε συμμάχους, καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἐν Θρᾴκῃ βαρβάρων πείσας χρήμασιν, ἀπράκτων δὲ ἐπανελθόντων, βασιλέως τούς τε ἔνδον ἰσχυρῶς πολιορκοῦντος καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω μαχομένου καρτερῶς, ἐπεὶ παντάπασι πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἀπηγορεύκει, πρέσβεις πέμψας καὶ ἐπαγγειλάμενος πάνθ', ὅσα κατὰ 3.363 γνώμην βασιλεῖ ποιήσειν, ἔπεισεν ἀνθελέσθαι τὴν εἰρήνην, καὶ τά τε χρήματα ἐξέτισεν, ὅσα πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἀνάλωτο, καὶ ἕτερα οὐκ ὀλίγα. βασιλεύς τε τὸν πύργον καταστρεψάμενος, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Βυζάντιον. πυθόμενος δὲ περὶ πατριάρχου, ὅτι τελευτήσοι κατὰ τὴν πρεσβείαν, αὐτός τε ἐσκέπτετο, ὅντινα δεῖ τοῖς πατριαρχικοῖς θρόνοις ἐγκαθιδρύειν, καὶ τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν ἐπέτρεπε συνελθοῦσι κατὰ τὸ ἔθος καὶ διασκεψαμένοις τὸν προστησόμενον τῆς ἐκκλησίας αὐτῷ δηλοῦν. δόξαν δὲ πᾶσι τὸν πατριάρχην Φιλόθεον ἐπανάγειν εἶναι δίκαιον, ἐπεὶ καὶ βασιλεῖ τὰ ἴσα συνεδόκει, συνῄδει γὰρ αὐτῷ μὴ διὰ κακίαν ἀποστάντι τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἀλλ' ἑκοντὶ παραχωροῦντι, ἵνα μὴ διὰ φιλονεικίαν ταραχῆς πολλῆς καὶ διχοστασίας ἐμπλησθῇ ἡ