De Leone Armenio (e cod. Vat. gr. 2014)

Concerning Nikephoros the emperor and how he leaves his limbs in Bulgaria.

In the 9th year of the reign of Nikephoros the emperor, this same Nikephoros the emperor entered into Bulgaria, wishing to destroy it, as he thought, taking with him Staurakios his son and Michael his son-in-law, who was also called Rangabe, and all the patricians and rulers and officials, and all the regiments, and the children of the rulers being from fifteen years and older, whom he also made the company of his son, naming them the Hikanatoi.

And as he was entering into the mountain passes, the Bulgars, hearing the multitude of the army which he brought against them, as if supposedly unable to resist, left behind everything they had and fled to the mountains. And he, entering, encamped in the court of the first man of Bulgaria, named Krum, and finding a certain army of elite, armed Bulgars, who had remained to guard the place, up to twelve thousand, he joined battle with them and killed them all; and likewise again, another fifty thousand who met him, clashing with them, he destroyed them all. Therefore, the wretch, puffed up in spirit and in heart, as if he had already done this through his own righteousness, which he indeed also said to those who were with him: 'Behold,' he said, 'what righteousness accomplishes.' Entering then into the court of Krum, he searched his treasuries and found very many spoils, and he began to distribute to his army, according to a list, bronze and garments and certain other various items, and opening his wine cellars, he distributed to all his men, so that they drank to satiety. And going up to the upper floors of the court, passing through the sun-chambers of the buildings, he exulted and said: 'Behold, God has handed all these things over to me, and I wish to found a city here in my own name, so that I may become renowned in all generations to come'.

And having spent some days, he departed from the court of the godless Krum, and as he was leaving he set fire to all the buildings along with the palisade made of wood. And thereafter, no longer caring to depart with haste, he passed through the middle of Bulgaria, wishing to go as far as Sardica, thinking that he had wiped out all of Bulgaria. And having spent 15 days, he became completely heedless of his own affairs, and having lost his mind and become like one who is out of his senses, he was no longer in his right mind, but was always agitated, overcome by the torpor of arrogance, and not coming out of his tent, nor giving anyone word or command. And when some cried out against him and sent his son to speak to him about departing from there, he paid no attention at all, but rather he even dishonored his son, wishing even to strike him. The army therefore, finding an opportunity, plundered without restraint, setting fire to the unharvested fields, and hamstringing the oxen and tearing strips from their loins, while the animals cried out with a loud voice and writhed, and slaughtering the sheep, and the pigs, and doing things which are not lawful. Therefore some, seeing the disorder and instability of Nikephoros and that no one dared to speak to him, began little by little to desert and to depart by some contrivance. And the Bulgars had made a fearful and impassable barrier of great timbers in the manner of a wall.

The Bulgars therefore, taking the opportunity and seeing from the mountains that they were wandering about lost, having hired Avars and the surrounding Sclaviniae, and

De Leone Armenio (e cod. Vat. gr. 2014)

Περὶ Νικηφόρου τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ πῶς ἀφίησιν τὰ κῶλα ἐν Βουλγαρίᾳ.

Ἐν τῷ θʹ ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας Νικηφόρου τοῦ βασιλέως, οὗτος αὐτὸς Νικηφόρος ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς Βουλγαρίαν, βουλόμενος αὐτήν, ὡς ᾤετο, ἀφανίσαι, ἄρας μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ Σταυράκιον τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ Μιχαὴλ τὸν γαμβρὸν αὐτοῦ, τὸν καὶ Ῥαγγαβὲ ἐπονομαζόμενον, καὶ πάντας τοὺς πατρικίους καὶ ἄρχοντας καὶ ἀξιωματικούς, καὶ ὅλα τὰ τάγματα, καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων τὰ τέκνα ἀπὸ δεκαπέντε τυγχάνοντα ἐτῶν καὶ ἐπάνω, οὓς καὶ ἐποίησεν ἑταιρείαν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἐπονομάσας αὐτοὺς ἱκανάτους.

Εἰσερχομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς κλεισούρας, ἀκούσαντες οἱ Βούλγαροι τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ λαοῦ ὅπερ ἐπεφέροντο, ὡς δῆθεν μὴ δυνάμενοι ἀντιστῆναι, καταλιπόντες πάντα ἅπερ εἶχον, ἔφυγον εἰς τὰ ὄρη. Αὐτὸς δὲ εἰσελθὼν ἐσκήνωσεν εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν τοῦ πρώτου τῆς Βουλγαρίας, ὀνόματι Κρούμου, καὶ εὑρών τινα στρατὸν τῶν Βουλγάρων ἐπιλέκτων ἐνωπλισμένων, ἀπομεινάντων πρὸς φυλακὴν τοῦ τόπου, ἕως δώδεκα χιλιάδας, συμβαλὼν μετ' αὐτῶν πόλεμον, πάντας ἀπέκτεινεν· ὁμοίως δὲ πάλιν καὶ ἄλλας πεντήκοντα χιλιάδας συναντήσαντας αὐτῷ, συμπλακεὶς αὐτοῖς, πάντας ἀπώλεσεν. Λοιπὸν οὖν ἐπαρθεὶς τῷ φρονήματι καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ ὁ ταλαίπωρος, ὡς ἤδη διὰ τὰς δικαιοσύνας αὐτοῦ τοῦτο πεποιηκώς ὃ δὴ καὶ ἔλεγε πρὸς τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ὄντας· ἰδού, ἔφη, ἡ δικαιοσύνη τί κατεργάζεταιεἰσελθὼν τοίνυν εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν τοῦ Κρούμου, ἐρευνήσας τὰ ταμιεῖα αὐτοῦ καὶ εὑρὼν σκῦλα πλεῖστα, ἤρξατο διαμερίζειν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ ἐν καταγραφῇ χαλκόν τε καὶ ἐσθῆτας καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ εἴδη διάφορα, ἀνοίξας τε τὰς ἀποθήκας τῶν οἴνων αὐτοῦ, διένειμε πᾶσι τοῖς αὐτοῦ, ὥστε πιεῖν εἰς κόρον. Καὶ ἀνελθὼν εἰς τὰ ἄμφοδα τῆς αὐλῆς, διακινῶν εἰς τὰ ἡλιακὰ τῶν οἰκημάτων, ἠγάλλετο καὶ ἔλεγεν· ἰδού, ταῦτα πάντα ὁ Θεὸς παρέδωκέν μοι, καὶ βούλομαι κτίσαι ἐνταῦθα πόλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἵνα γίνωμαι ὀνομαστὸς εἰς πάσας τὰς ἔμπροσθεν γενεάς.

Καὶ ποιήσας ἡμέρας τινάς, ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τῆς αὐλῆς τοῦ ἀθέου Κρούμου, καὶ ἐξερχόμενος ἐνεπύρισε τὰ οἰκήματα πάντα σὺν τῷ περικλείσματι ἐκ ξύλων συγκειμένων. Καὶ λοιπὸν μηκέτι φροντίσας τοῦ ἐξελθεῖν διὰ τάχους, διήρχετο διὰ μέσου τῆς Βουλγαρίας, βουλόμενος ἀπελθεῖν ἕως Σαρδικῆς, νομίσας ὅτι ἐξήλειψεν πᾶσαν τὴν Βουλγαρίαν. Καὶ ποιήσας ἡμέρας ιεʹ ἠλόγησε τῶν κατ' αὐτοῦ πραγμάτων παντελῶς καὶ τραπεὶς τὰς φρένας καὶ δίκην ἐξεστηκότος γεγονώς, οὐκ ἔτι ἦν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ἀλλ' ἦν πεφυρμένος διὰ παντός, κατεχόμενος τῷ κάρῳ τῆς ἀλαζονείας, καὶ μὴ ἐξερχόμενος ἐκ τῆς σκηνῆς αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ διδούς τινι λόγον ἢ διαταγήν. Καί τινων καταβοώντων αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἀποστειλάντων τοῦ λαλῆσαι αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ ἐξελθεῖν ἐκεῖθεν, οὐδ' ὅλως προσέσχεν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ ἠτίμασε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, βουλόμενος αὐτὸν καὶ τύψαι. Ὁ οὖν λαὸς εὑρὼν εὐκαιρίαν ἐπραίδευεν ἀφειδῶς, ἐμπυρίζων τὰς χώρας ἀθερίστους οὖσας, καὶ νευροκοποῦντες τοὺς βόας καὶ λώρους ἐκ τῶν ψυῶν αὐτῶν ἀποσπῶντες, βοῶντα τὰ ζῶα φωνῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ ἀποσπαίροντα, καὶ τὰ πρόβατα κατασφάττοντες, καὶ τοὺς χοίρους καὶ ἃ μὴ θέμις πράττοντες. Λοιπὸν οὖν ἰδόντες τὸ ἀδιάτακτον καὶ ἀσύστατον τοῦ Νικηφόρου τινὲς καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς τολμᾷ αὐτῷ λαλῆσαι, κατὰ μικρὸν ἤρξαντο ἀποδιδράσκειν καὶ διὰ μηχανῆς τινος ἐξέρχεσθαι. Ἦσαν δὲ οἱ Βούλγαροι φραγμὸν πεποιηκότες φοβερὸν καὶ δυσδιέξοδον ἀπὸ ξύλων μεγάλων δίκην τείχους.

Λαβόντες οὖν οἱ Βούλγαροι εὐκαιρίαν καὶ θεασάμενοι ἐκ τῶν ὀρέων ὅτι περιεφέροντο πλανώμενοι, μισθωσάμενοι Ἀβάρους καὶ τὰς πέριξ Σκλαβηνίας, καὶ