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church; for which reasons indeed he was friendly toward him, and when he was in the palace he gladly kept him company and conversed with him, and he himself when he was in the monastery where he lived. he spent the night with him; sending his sons, Andronikos the emperor and the Despot Manuel and many of the senators, he brought him back to the church and installed him on the patriarchal thrones; and now, like a lamp placed upon a lampstand, he leads the church entrusted to him to the true light, both nurturing it with the sound doctrines of piety and making it as healthy as possible, and ordering its morals, and, as much as possible, leading it back from an unholy life with frequent teachings and exhortations. What happened, therefore, 3.364 to the Romans in our time, both in the earlier years, when the war between the emperors Andronikos was stirred up against each other, and later when it was kindled between the Empress Anna and Kantakouzenos the emperor, and indeed these last things, all the disputes that the new emperor John had with his wife's brother Matthew and his father-in-law the emperor, are of such a kind. And concerning none of the things said have we departed from the truth, neither for favor nor for enmity, but we have recounted the actual events accurately, being present ourselves at some when they were taking place, and participating in the events, and for others, having heard it from the very men who performed them. If the history contains some of the things deliberated in secret, especially by those who stirred up the war against Kantakouzenos the emperor, it is not at all surprising. For the majority of them, surviving even after he became master of the entire empire and having enjoyed much consideration from him, related everything accurately, admiring his magnanimity and his endurance in the face of terrible things, but pitying themselves, because not only were they the cause of so many disasters for the Romans, but also against him, from whom they had enjoyed many great and wonderful benefits both before and after, they, deceived by the machinations and villainies of the megas doux, were shown to be the cause of many difficulties and acted with ultimate ingratitude. And especially John and Nikephoros, the brothers of the megas doux, reported most clearly, as indeed being more privy than the others 3.365 to his secrets. Your command, therefore, O good Nilus, has been fulfilled by us to the best of our ability, and it is for you, as you read what has been written and examine the lives and deeds and the entire character of the men, to praise the magnanimity and ambition for good works in all or most things of some, and to hate the villainy of others, as having been the cause of many evils not only for others, but also for themselves.

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ἐκκλησία· δι' ἃ δὴ καὶ φιλίως εἶχε πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ γινομένῳ τε ἐν βασιλείοις ἡδέως συνῆν καὶ συνωμίλει, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ᾗ κατῴκει μονῇ γινόμενος. συνδιενυκτέρευεν αὐτῷ· πέμψας τοὺς υἱεῖς, Ἀνδρόνικόν τε τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τὸν δεσπότην Μανουὴλ καὶ τῶν συγκλητικῶν πολλοὺς, ἐπανήγαγεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ τοῖς πατριαρχικοῖς ἐνίδρυσε θρόνοις· καὶ νῦν οἷα λύχνος ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν τεθεὶς, ἐπὶ τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς τὴν πιστευθεῖσαν ἐκκλησίαν χειραγωγεῖ, τοῖς τε ὑγιέσι τῆς εὐσεβείας δόγμασιν ἐκτρέφων καὶ εὐεκτεῖν ὡς μάλιστα ποιῶν, καὶ τὰ ἤθη ῥυθμίζων, καὶ ὡς οἷόντε τῆς ἀνιέρου ζωῆς ἐπανάγων ταῖς συχναῖς διδασκαλίαις καὶ παραινέσεσιν. ἃ μὲν οὖν συμβέ 3.364 βηκε Ῥωμαίοις ἐφ' ἡμῶν ἔν τε τοῖς ἄνω χρόνοις, ἡνίκα τῶν βασιλέων Ἀνδρονίκων ὁ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐκινήθη πόλεμος, καὶ ὕστερον ὁ μεταξὺ τῆς βασιλίδος Ἄννης καὶ Καντακουζηνοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀνεῤῥιπίσθη, καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα δὴ ταῦτα, ὅσα βασιλεὺς ὁ νέος Ἰωάννης πρός τε τὸν γυναικὸς ἀδελφὸν Ματθαῖον διηνέχθη καὶ βασιλέα τὸν κηδεστὴν, τοιαῦτά ἐστι. καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν τῶν εἰρημένων οὔτε πρὸς χάριν, οὔτε πρὸς ἀπέχθειαν ἐξέβημεν τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀλλ' αὐτὰ τὰ ὄντα ἱστορήκαμεν ἀκριβῶς, τοῖς μὲν αὐτοὶ παρόντες, ἡνίκα ἐπραγματεύοντο, καὶ μετέχοντες τῶν γιγνομένων, τῶν δ' αὐτήκοοι γεγενημένοι ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν εἰργασμένων. εἰ δέ τινα τῶν ἐν ἀποῤῥήτοις βεβουλευμένων μάλιστα τῶν πρὸς Καντακουζηνὸν τὸν βασιλέα τὸν πόλεμον κεκινηκότων ἡ ἱστορία περιέχει, θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν. οἱ πλείους γὰρ ἐκείνων καὶ μετὰ τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἁπάσης ἐκεῖνον ἐγκρατῆ γενέσθαι ἔτι περιόντες καὶ πολλῆς προνοίας ἀπολελαυκότες παρ' αὐτῷ, πάντα ἀκριβῶς ἐξεῖπον, ἐκεῖνον μὲν τῆς μεγαλοψυχίας θαυμάζοντες καὶ τῆς καρτερίας τῆς πρὸς τὰ δεινὰ, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ οἰκτείροντες, ὅτι μὴ μόνον τοσούτων αἴτιοι γεγόνασι Ῥωμαίοις συμφορῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗ πολλῶν καὶ πρότερον καὶ ὕστερον καὶ μεγάλων καὶ θαυμασίων εὐεργεσιῶν ἀπολελαύκασι, τούτῳ ταῖς μεγάλου δουκὸς ἀπατηθέντες μηχαναῖς καὶ πανουργίαις, πολλῶν ὤφθησαν αἴτιοι γεγενημένοι δυσχερῶν καὶ τὰ ἔσχατα ἠγνωμονήκασι. μάλιστα δὲ ἀπήγγειλαν σαφέστατα Ἰωάννης καὶ Νικηφόρος οἱ μεγάλου δουκὸς ἀδελφοὶ, οἷα δὴ τῶν ἄλ 3.365 λων μᾶλλον συνειδότες τὰ ἀπόῤῥητα ἐκείνῳ. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐπίταγμα τὸ σὸν, ὦ καλὲ Νεῖλε, εἰς δύναμιν ἡμῖν ἐκτετέλεσται, σοὶ δ' ἔξεστι τὰ γεγραμμένα ἀναλέγοντι καὶ βίους ἐξετάζοντι καὶ πράξεις καὶ τὸ σύμπαν ἦθος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τῶν μὲν τὴν μεγαλοψυχίαν ἐπαινεῖν καὶ τὴν ἐν ἅπασιν ἢ ἐν πλείστοις ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς φιλοτιμίαν, τῶν δὲ μισεῖν τὴν πανουργίαν, ὡς οὐ τοῖς ἄλλοις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς πολλῶν κακῶν αἰτίαν γενομένην.