CHRONOGRAPHIA COMPENDIARIA

224Be it known that Adam gave names to his children and to all the animals, of the land and of the sea alike; but his own name, and his wife's, an angel of the Lord told them. And Cain took to wife his first sister, Azoura; Seth the second, Asouam; but Abel remained a virgin and a just man. Cain died when his house fell upon him. Seth was the first to discover Hebrew letters, and wisdom, and the signs of heaven, the turnings of the years, the months, and the weeks; and he gave names to the stars, and to the five planets, that they might be known by men and by them alone.

The first planet he called Kronos, the 225second Zeus, the third Ares, the fourth Aphrodite, and the fifth Hermes.

After the flood Kainan the son of Arphaxad composed the astronomy, having found the naming of Seth and of his children, with that of the stars, engraved on a tablet of stone. For the descendants of Seth, forewarned from above of the destruction of mankind that was to come, made two pillars, one of stone and the other [P. 150] of brick, reasoning that if the flood came by water, the stone pillar would remain, and what was engraved upon it; but if by fire, the brick one would be preserved. From the Magusaeans, that is, the Persians, began astrology and magic, taking their beginnings from Nimrod, who founded Babylon.

After Ninus there reigned over the Assyrians a certain Thyrras by name, for thirty years, whom they renamed Ares after the name of the planet-star; to this Ares the Assyrians raised the first pillar, and worshipping him as a god down to this day they call him in the Persian tongue Baal the god, which is Ares, god of wars — of whom Daniel also makes mention.

In the times of the reign of Phoinix there lived Heracles the philosopher, the Tyrian, the discoverer of the purple-shell. For while wandering along the seaward part of Tyre he saw a shepherd's dog eating the shellfish called the purple-shell; and when the shepherd, thinking the dog was bleeding, took a lock of wool from the sheep and wiped away what was running down from the dog's mouth, and the wool was dyed, Heracles observed that this was not blood, but the maker of a dye; and marvelling at it as a great gift he brought it to king Phoinix, who, more astonished still, commanded wool to be dyed from the purple-shell and a mantle made for himself; and thus he was the first to wear a garment of purple.

After Nebuchadnezzar and Balthasar his son, Cyrus the Persian reigned over the Persians thirty-two years. He, being about to join battle with Croesus the king of the Lydians, and being afraid, sent from the land of India for the prophet Daniel, who, on being asked, said to Cyrus: Take courage — you conquer your enemy. For concerning you the prophet Isaiah said: Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held: nations shall hearken before him, and the strength of the king I will break asunder. He shall build my city, and shall turn back the captivity of my people, said the Lord Sabaoth. And Cyrus, hearing this, fell at the feet of Daniel and said: As the Lord your God lives, I will release Israel from my land, that they may serve their God in Jerusalem. So, drawing up his line against Croesus, he defeated him utterly, destroying four hundred thousand, took the rest captive together with him, and completely dissolved the kingdom of the Lydians; and all the sons of Israel he straightway released, with Zorobabel, to Jerusalem. After Cyrus reigned Darius his son, who was also called Cambyses, eight years; and after Cambyses, Artaxerxes Mnemon, twenty years.

And be it known that Romus, who reigned over Rome, devised the so-called Brumalia for a cause such as this.

They say that he and his brother, begotten 228of fornication, were cast out in a wooded place, and, found by a certain rustic woman, were reared by her. Now it was a reproach among the Romans to be fed from what belonged to others, and to be called eaters of other men's bread. So Romus, wishing to wipe out his own reproach, devised the Brumalia, declaring it necessary that the king should feed his own senate in the season of winter, as men held in honor, when they were at rest from war, and that the senate in turn should feed the army. And from that occasion he called the name of the banquet Broumalium, which in the Roman tongue means to be fed from what belongs to others.

After Romus, when Rome was being governed by consuls and generals, of whom one was Malius, Februarius, who was a senator and envied Malius, contrived that the senators should drive him out of the city. When therefore the Gauls came upon the city by night on the twentieth of the month Sextilis, took it, and wrought great slaughter, the senators in their flight called Malius back again; and he, coming with an army and catching the Gauls, slew them all; and having gained mastery of Rome once more, he cut short the days of the month Sextilis, as one that had proved unlucky for Rome, because her capture had taken place within it. As for Februarius, he stripped him of his possessions, cast him out of the city in dishonor, and made away with him, calling the month Sextilis Februarius, as worthy of the name.

After the aforesaid Artaxerxes reigned Ochus his son, who also took Egypt and destroyed it, Nectanebo being then its king; who, fleeing, and by certain phantasms and Egyptian sorceries foretelling things to come, became known to Philip and to Olympias his wife — of whom he begot Alexander. Philip reigned over Macedonia twenty years; having subdued Thessaly, he founded the city of Thessalonica. After Philip, Alexander reigned over the Macedonians, at the time when Darius the son of Arsames, reigning after Ochus, had made himself lord of all; whom Alexander overpowered, and took over his whole kingdom, and all the land of the Persians and Medes and Parthians and Babylonians, and all the parts of India. He also founded great Alexandria after his own name, and returned to Babylon, where he died, being thirty-two years old, having reigned twelve years.

Be it known that Scripture makes mention of two Lamechs: one of the line of Cain, who slew both a man and a young man — for he killed the two brothers of the just Enoch and took the wives of the two; the other, the father of Noah, who was both the later of the two and descended from Seth.

Tharra begot Abraham, Nahor, and Aram the father of Lot; and Aram died before his father Tharra.

For when Abraham had set a fire so as to burn up the idols of his father, Aram, going in to pull them out, died in the house before the eyes of his father. 229From the race of Sidos, son of Aigyptos king of the Egyptians, was descended Melchi, the father of Sedek; who, having become a priest of God and king of the Canaanites, was surnamed Melchisedek after his father's name; and having founded a city on Mount Sion he named it Salem, which is, city of peace; in which also, having reigned thirteen years, he died, a just man and a virgin, as Josephus says.

And the great Cyril also says: Melchisedek is called "without genealogy" because he was not of the seed of Abraham at all, nor was his genealogy recorded by Moses, but he was a Canaanite by race and sprang from the accursed stock; whence he was not even counted worthy of a genealogy, for it was in no way most fitting that the man who had laid hold of the height of righteousness should be entwined with the race of the height of unrighteousness. And Jerusalem, by the addition of the syllable of "the holy" joined together with Salem, was named — bearing its name fittingly — Jerusalem, partly because of the priestly service of Melchisedek, partly because of the construction of the holy temple; for formerly it was called Jebus.

Lot, the nephew of Abraham, begot of his two daughters two sons, Moab and Amman, from whom are the Moabites and the Ammanites. And Abraham begot of his Egyptian slave-girl Hagar Ishmael, and of Sarah, Isaac. And Isaac begot Esau and Jacob of Rebecca. And of Esau was born Edom, a son bearing the same name as his father, and Amalek, from whom are the Idumaeans and the Amalekites; and of Jacob, who is also Israel, Judah, from whom all the Jews — even those sprung from the rest — were named: Israelites from their father Jacob, but Jews from the more eminent of their brothers. And of Ishmael came princes and their six nations, the Ishmaelites, now called both Hagarenes and Saracens. And the godly Abraham begot of his last wife Keturah five sons, among whom is Midian, from whom the Midianites, and Apher, from whom Africa.

And Isaac died, having lived in all one hundred and eighty years. And Jacob, having lived one hundred and fifty-four years, died in Egypt, having spent seventeen years there. He, when he was seventy-five years old, fleeing his brother Esau, came to Charran of Mesopotamia, to Laban the brother of his mother Rebecca; and having become the shepherd of his flocks for twenty years, and having taken his two daughters Leah and Rachel to wife, he had sons, and one daughter, from the free wives alike and from the handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah. And after the twentieth year, upon his return from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan, he saw a vision at Bethel; and having tithed everything that he possessed, last of all he brings his children under the tithe, and beginning from Benjamin and counting backward, and coming to Levi, he offered him to God.

So then Isaac and Rebecca, after Jacob's return, calling to them both Jacob and Esau, and exhorting them and at the same time putting them under oath to keep peace with one another and to embrace brotherly kinship, die — first Rebecca, then Isaac also — leaving to 232Jacob the prerogatives of the birthright. After this Esau, incited against Jacob by Amalek his son, and having gathered nations, rushed upon him, as Josephus says. But he, having shut the gates of the city into which he had fled, from the wall called upon Esau to remember the commands of their parents. And when he would not endure it, but rather both insulted him and threatened to destroy him utterly, Jacob, bending his bow and striking him upon the right breast, brought Esau down. And thus was fulfilled the prediction of Isaac, saying to Esau: If you cast off the yoke of your brother from your neck, you will sin a sin of death.

And Levi begot Kaath, and Kaath begot Abraham, and Abraham begot Aaron and Moses. And in the eightieth year of Moses the sons of Israel went forth out of Egypt, carrying with them also the bones of Joseph. And they spent forty years in the wilderness. After Moses, Jesus the son of Nave received the leadership, and having spent thirty-two years in the land of promise he died, having lived one hundred and ten years.

After Jesus, God kept saving the people through the judges. And first Judah judged the people seven years, having subdued also Adonibezek, king of the foreigners, and cut off the extremities of his hands and feet; who also said: Kings, with the extremities of their hands and their feet cut off, were gathering the things beneath my table. As I have done, then, so also have I received from God. After Judah, Gothoniel became judge, fifty years; and after Gothoniel, Aod, eighty years; and after Aod, Sagamar, seven years; and after Sagamar, Barak, with whom also was Deborah the prophetess, when Jael also, the wife of Chamer the Kenite, slew Sisera with a peg. In his time Prometheus and Orpheus the Thracian, the wisest men among the Greeks, and Asklepios the physician, and Lykourgos the Spartan, the lawgiver of the Greeks, were known.

After Barak, Gideon, forty years — he who smote Midian with the three hundred who shone in the drinking, and Oreb and Zeb and Zebee and Salmana, their princes. And after Gideon, Abimelech his son, three years, who also smote his brothers, seventy men, upon one stone; wherefore also he perished afterward, by a woman, from a tower, through the cast of a stone that shattered his skull. And he said to the one who bore his armor: Draw your sword and put me to death, lest ever they say that a woman killed him. And so the lad dispatched him.

After Abimelech, Thola judged, twenty-three years; and after Thola, Jephthae, six years; and after Jephthae, Abesa, seven years; and after Abesa, Elom, ten years; and after Elom, Samson, twenty years, in whose time also Heracles, renowned among the Greeks, was known.

After Samson there was anarchy for forty years.

233And after the judges, the high priest Eli judged the people twenty years; and for the drunken insolence and disorder of his sons Ophni and Phinees in the matter of the sacrifices, divine justice came upon them: for they were dreadfully slain in the war, and he, falling backward from his seat and having his back broken, died at ninety years.

And after Eli, Samuel the prophet and priest, thirty years. And the people gathers to him at Armatham, asking for a king. And to him, exceedingly grieved, God said: Hear the voice of the people, for it is not you they will set at naught, but me, that I should not be king over them. And he gave them Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, anointing him for king. After Samuel, then, Saul reigned forty years — he who, having dared first to offer incense to God, then having transgressed the commandment of God in the matter of the Amalekites, keeping alive Agag their king, heard from the prophet: It has become a vain thing for you, because you did not keep my commandment, which the Lord commanded you — and what follows.

And after Saul, David reigned, of the tribe of Judah, forty years, who also did all the wishes of the Lord. And having smitten also Melcho, the king of the Syrians, and taken the great golden crown that was upon his head, set with precious stones, he wore it, and it was a most seemly adornment upon his head; which he made plain when he said:

O Lord, in your power the king shall be glad — and the rest of the psalm. So having become old and full of days, and having made his son Solomon king, he said to him: And now, Solomon, know the God of your fathers, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing soul; for the Lord searches all hearts and knows every thought. And if you seek him, he will be found by you; and if you forsake him, he will forsake you unto the end. And he gave him the pattern of the whole temple in writing, saying: Be strong and act the man, for the Lord my God is with you. And after this he died, in a good old age, in wealth and glory and piety, at seventy years. Now David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. But he had first been counted worthy of the royal anointing through Samuel; for the history has named the acclamations of the people as the several anointings. Having died, then, he is buried in the city of Jerusalem, in the greatest tomb, which his most wise son Solomon constructed, in which he also buried together with his father many myriads of talents of gold, as Josephus says. And this is clear from what came about afterward; for the high priest Hyrkanos, when the city was being besieged by Antiochos the son of Demetrios, opening the tomb carried out from it three thousand talents. And the talent contains one hundred and twenty-five coins. After him Herod, learning that Hyrkanos had done this, himself also opened the grave, and money indeed he did not find, but he took away ornament and very many golden treasures.

But when he attempted to pass further in, where the bodies of David and Solomon had been laid, fire came forth and destroyed two of his bodyguards.

236After David, then, reigned Solomon his son, forty years, who, having received the all-marvelous and God-given wisdom surpassing man, built both the city and the temple of the Lord in seven years — sixty cubits in length, twenty cubits in breadth, and one hundred and twenty cubits in height; for it was of two stories, as Josephus says. And the table of Solomon was, each day: thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of pounded meal, ten choice calves, twenty pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, apart from harts and gazelles and choice fattened fowl. And the kor made thirty modii — coming together to two thousand seven hundred modii. And Solomon died at seventy-three years, and was buried with his father. In his time were Homer and Hesiod.

And after Solomon reigned Roboam his son, seventeen years, who did what was evil before the Lord, as his father had, and died in his sins. In his time Sousakeim, king of Egypt, having taken Jerusalem, carried off the money that was in the temple and in the palace, and the golden spears and the golden shields, in place of which bronze ones were made. And after Roboam reigned Abias his son, and he did what was evil before the Lord, and died, having reigned six years. And after Abias reigned Asa his son, and he did what was evil before the Lord, and died, having reigned sixteen years. And after Asa reigned Josaphat his son, and he did what was right before the Lord, and died, having reigned twenty-five years. And after Josaphat reigned Joram his son, and he did what was evil before the Lord, and died of dysentery, having reigned eight years. And after Joram reigned Ochozias his son one year, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Jehu.

And after Ochozias reigned Gotholia his mother, six years, and she killed all the sons of Ochozias except one infant, saved beyond all expectation by the wife of Jodae the priest; and he was suddenly proclaimed king by Jodae the priest, being seven years old. And Gotholia was killed in the house of the king. After Gotholia, then, Joas the son of Ochozias, made king at seven years old, reigned forty years; he kept doing what was right before the Lord, then, having turned aside, was slain in his own house. He also killed Zacharias the prophet, the son of his teacher. In his time the Sibyl was known. And after Joas reigned Amasias his son, twenty-nine years, and he did what was right before the Lord; but he was slain in the war.

And after Amasias reigned Ozias, who is also Azarias, his son, fifty-two years, and he did what was right before the Lord; and prospering in his ways he was lifted up, and indeed, having wished to offer incense to God himself, of his own accord, and 237having offered it, he was straightway struck with leprosy, and so he died. And after Ozias reigned Joatham his son, sixteen years, and he did what was right before the Lord, and died. And after Joatham reigned Achaz his son, sixteen years, and having done what was evil before the Lord he died.

And after Achaz reigned Ezekias his son, twenty-nine years, and he did what was right before the Lord, and died. In his time the Mosaic bronze serpent was still venerated by the Jews, which Ezekias destroyed, as indeed also the books of Solomon. In those times Romus and Remus were reigning in Rome, and the Erythraean Sibyl was known. In his time also Sennacherim, having come up against Jerusalem, and having lost through a divine angel in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand men, turned back with shame.

And after Ezekias reigned Manasses his son, fifty-five years, he who also sawed the great Isaiah asunder and filled Jerusalem with innocent blood and did what was evil before the Lord. But later, after his capture and captivity, having set himself right by repentance, he died. And after Manasses reigned Amos his son, two years, and he did what was evil before the Lord, and was slain in his own house. And after Amos reigned Josias, being his son, thirty-one years, being eight years old, and he did what was right before the Lord, and died, shot with an arrow in the war. In those times Byzantion also was founded by Byzas, king of Thrace.

And after Josias reigned Joachaz his son three months, and he did what was evil before the Lord, and, taken by Nechao king of Egypt, was carried off to Egypt, in which also he died. And after Joachaz reigned Joakim, who is also Eliakim, his brother, eleven years, and he did what was evil before the Lord. And Nebuchadnezzar, having come, made the whole of Judaea tributary. And when Joakim repudiated the payment of tribute, Nebuchadnezzar came again to Jerusalem, and having overpowered and slain him he ordered him to be thrown from the wall, and left him unburied for a long time. And after Joakim reigned Jechonias his son, who is also Joakim, by order of Nebuchadnezzar, three months, and he did what was evil before the Lord. And when he proved faithless concerning the tribute, Nebuchadnezzar came once more to Jerusalem, and having set up Sedekias in his place, he carried away to Babylon Jechonias and his mother and his princes. And he carried out also the treasures of the Lord and of the king, and all the golden vessels which Solomon had made in the temple of the Lord.

And after Jechonias reigned Sedekias, his father's brother, three years, and he did what was evil before the Lord; and when he likewise broke faith concerning the payment of tribute, 240Nebuchadnezzar came again, and taking the whole city he burned it; and having overpowered Sedekias, he slew his wife and his children before his eyes, and having blinded him and shut him up in fetters he led him away captive to Babylon.

After the division of the ten scepters, Jeroboam the son of Nabat, of the tribe of Ephraim, the servant of Solomon and a rebel, reigned forty-two years, and he did what was evil before the Lord; wherefore God also smote him, and he died in his sins. And after Jeroboam reigned Nabat his son, two years, and he did what was evil before the Lord, and was slain by Baasa. And after Nabat reigned Baasa, twenty-four years, and he did what was evil, and was slain in war. And after Baasa reigned Ela his son, two years, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Zambri. And after Ela reigned Zambri, twelve years, and he did what was evil, and was burned by his enemies, having fled for refuge to a house. And after Zambri reigned Achab his son, twenty-two years, and he did what was evil, and was slain, and died in his sins. And after Achab reigned Ochozias his son, two years, and he did what was evil, and, falling from the upper story of his house, he died. And after Ochozias reigned Joram his brother, two years, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Jehu. In his time the great Elias was taken up; and Elisha healed the water of Jericho, which was bitter by nature and hard to drink.

And after Joram reigned Jehu the son of Amesias, twenty-eight years; and entering into the city of Samaria he saw Jezebel leaning out through the window, adorned, and he ordered her eunuchs to hurl her down; and she was trampled by the horses and devoured by the dogs. And he smote also the sons of Achab, and, having with cunning gathered together all the priests and prophets of Baal, he ordered them all to be slain, and burned Baal and all that was his. Yet he did not take care to walk in the law of the Lord unto the end, and he was slain in the war. And after Jehu reigned Joachaz his son, twenty-seven years, and he did what was evil before the Lord, and died. And after Joachaz reigned Joas his son, fourteen years, and he did what was evil, and died. In his time Elisha died, having prophesied through symbols his former victory over the Syrians.

And as the prophet was being buried, a certain dead man in the same tomb, coming near to his blessed bones, arose.

241And after Joas reigned Jeroboam his son, thirty-four years, and he did what was evil, and died. And after Jeroboam reigned Azarias his son, six months, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Seloum. And after Azarias reigned Seloum, one month, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Manaim. And after Seloum reigned Manaim, three years, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Phakesias. And after Manaim reigned Phakesias his son, two years, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Phakee. And after Phakesias reigned Phakee, twenty years, and he did what was evil, and was slain by Osee. And after Phakee reigned Osee, nine years, and, doing what was evil, he died.

After the aforesaid kings of the Assyrians there reigned, as has been said, Nebuchadnezzar, twenty-seven years. And because he was lifted up, by divine wrath he was driven out from among men, and dwelt with the beasts and ate grass; later, having come to know the God of all things, he returned again to his own kingdom and became more illustrious. And after Nebuchadnezzar reigned Oulemarodach his son, five years. And after Oulemarodach reigned Balthasar his brother, three years, who, having defiled the sacred vessels of God at his banquet — those which his father Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem — was slain by divine wrath, and Darius received the kingdom.

And after Balthasar reigned Darius the Mede, who is also Astyages and Artaxerxes, seventeen years. In his time the visions that came through the angel were seen by Daniel, and the time of the coming of Christ was made known; and he, being envied by the magnates because he was greatly honored by the king, was cast into the den of the lions. And after Darius reigned Cyrus the Persian, thirty years, who, having slain Darius, mastered all the land of the Chaldaeans and Assyrians and Persians, and Palestine, and all Asia, and along with these he subdued the kingdom of the Lydians, having slain Croesus, as was said before. In his time Daniel, being yet more illustrious, having both shattered Bel and killed the dragon — the objects of the Persians' worship — was thrown into the den of the lions, and was there six days.

And after Cyrus reigned Cambyses his son, who was also surnamed Nebuchadnezzar, eighteen years. In his time Judith, by the help of God and by her own wisdom, having deceived and beheaded Holophernes as he was ravaging the city of Betoulia, procured a great victory for the sons of Israel; and she died a widow, at one hundred and five years.

And after Cambyses reigned Smerdios the Magus, seven months.

244And after Smerdios reigned Darius the son of Hystaspes, twenty years. In his time Zorobabel and Jesus, once more given the commission, completed the building of the temple, when Zorobabel, having won in the contest of the riddle and being permitted to ask for whatever he wished, requested that the captivity be released and that Jerusalem be built; which also came to pass, and then the seventy years of the captivity and of the wrath were fulfilled to the end. And the high priest and scribe Esdras kept teaching the law of God and interpreting it, as the most gifted of all; who also restored the sacred books that had been destroyed by the enemies — for indeed the Chaldaeans, after the capture of Jerusalem, burned them all. Wherefore God also breathed into him, so that he set them forth.

And after Darius reigned Artabanes, seven months. And after Artabanes reigned Artaxerxes Macrocheir, forty-one years. In his time Sophocles, Heraclitus and Anaxagoras and Pythagoras and Thucydides and Euripides and Herodotus and Empedocles and Diogenes and Zeno, Pherecydes too and Aristarchus and Hippocrates, Parmenides, Plato and Aristotle and Demosthenes and Socrates were known. And after Artaxerxes reigned another Artaxerxes, and those who followed in succession down to Darius, whom Alexander slew; and when he had destroyed the kingdom of the Persians and mastered all the earth and died in Babylon, his servants divided the kingdom, as was said before, thus. Over Egypt reigned Ptolemy the son of Lagos, and the thirteen Ptolemies in succession down to Cleopatra, daughter of Dionysios; over all Asia, Antigonos; over Syria and Babylonia and Palestine, Seleukos Nikanor, who also, having founded two cities in the parts of Cilicia and another in Syria, called the one Seleukeia, the other Antioch, and the third Laodikeia, after his own name and that of his son and of his daughter Laodike. In his time the Rhodians, having gained mastery of the sea, set up in the city — that is, in the island there — a bronze statue of the sun, which because of its size they called the Colossus, and they themselves were named Colossians.

And after Seleukos reigned Antiochos his son, and five others. Then reigned Antiochos Epiphanes, the son of Seleukos Philopator, in whose time came the second capture of Jerusalem, and the things concerning the Maccabees were done, and the temple was defiled, according to the prophecy of Daniel.

And he, for the many evils that he wrought, ended his life by a most shameful death in a foreign land. And after Antiochos reigned his son Eupator.

And after these things reigned Julius Caesar, he who was not born; for when his mother died in the ninth month, they cut her open and brought him out.

Whence also he is called Caesar; from whom the kings of the Romans were styled Caesars — which is "a cutting" 245in the tongue of the Romans. He first and alone held the Roman scepters, with great pride; whence also he was called dictator, which is "monarch." And having mastered all things in ruthlessness and tyranny for eighteen years, he was slain in the senate. He gave laws to the Romans, and invented the bissextile day, and renamed the month July, formerly called Quintilis. In his time also was Judas the Galilean, who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, and Antipater the father of Herod was established as king of Judaea.

And after Julius Caesar reigned Augustus Caesar, the son of Octavius, who is also Sebastos, fifty-six years; from whom the kings of the Romans were styled Sebastoi and Augusti, and the month was called August, formerly named Sextilis. In the forty-second year of his reign was born our Lord Jesus Christ. And in the forty-first year of his reign — in the year five thousand five hundred from the creation of the world — Herod also, a man of the Gentiles, was now proclaimed king of Judaea. And when our Lord Jesus Christ had been born according to the flesh, and Herod had evilly departed this life, that word was fulfilled: A ruler shall not fail from Judah, until he come for whom it is laid up — who is the Christ.

Now Herod had for himself three sons of the same name, each bearing a double name: Herod Antipas, who also cut off the head of the Forerunner, under whom also the Lord was crucified; Herod Philip, to whom Herodias, joined to him first, bore a daughter, Salome, the one who danced; and Herod Antipater, who also slew James the son of Zebedee — the same who, as he was making a public speech, when the people cried out, The voice of God and not of a man, straightway paid the penalty; for an angel of the Lord at once smote him suddenly, and he leapt up from his seat as his belly was terribly torn. As for the divine James, his accuser, seeing him led along the road to death, and repenting, fell at the feet of the apostle, saying: Forgive me, O man of God, for I repent of the things I spoke against you. And the blessed one, kissing him, said to him: Peace to you, child, peace to you, and forgiveness of your fault. And he straightway with a loud voice proclaimed himself a Christian before all, and thus, numbered together with the man he had accused, together with him he also bore off the prize of martyrdom. And the wretched Herod, rotting for days on end and casting up worms, pitiably ended his life, as also did his father, who was more impious still.

And after Augustus reigned Tiberius his son, twenty-three years, who, having founded a city in Judaea, called it after his own name, Tiberias. In the fifteenth year of his reign our Lord, having been baptized, began the preaching of the Gospel. And in the eighteenth, having been crucified, he rose on the twenty-fifth of the month Phamenoth, that is, of March, the first-created month, called Nisan among the Hebrews, as the Lord's day was dawning. And why has the resurrection of the Lord been named the eighth? Because we find seven times a raising of the dead in the divine Scripture, and after the seven the Lord rose from the dead as the eighth.

For before the resurrection of Christ, in the Old Testament 248the first was that of the son of the widow, whom Elias raised in Sarephtha; the second, that of the son of the Shunammite, whom Elisha raised; the third, that of the soldier, who, buried near Elisha and coming close to the bones of the prophet, leapt up as if from fire; the fourth, in the New, that of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue; the fifth, that of the son of the widow; the sixth, that of Lazarus; the seventh, when many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and the eighth, the resurrection of the Lord after the saving Passion.

This man, taking thought for justice, used always to write to the cities under him, saying: If I write anything contrary to the laws, commanding that it be done, you must pay it no heed; for I did so unawares. But later — alas! — suddenly changed to the worse disposition, he turned to every unholy work, to bloodguilt and to frenzied lust, and so ended his life.

And after Tiberius reigned Gaius his son, four years, who at first managed the affairs of the empire high-mindedly and treated his subjects as was fitting, but afterward, after two years, departing from human sense, in imitation of his father he deified himself and set up statues of himself in the temples city by city. Him the soldiers dispatched as he was bathing in a bath-house, not enduring to look upon the utterly shameful things done by him. In his time Theudas, who is mentioned in the Acts, having promised to cleave the Jordan and having failed, was slain; and the tower of Siloam fell upon the eighteen men; and Stephen the protomartyr bore his witness; and Paul believed; and Philo and Josephus, the wise men from among the Hebrews, were known.

And after Gaius reigned Claudius, thirteen years, in whose time Mark the evangelist, having first planted a Church in Egypt, established many monasteries, which at that time were styled houses of reverence, and composed the holy Gospel, and in Alexandria itself first established a Church.

And after Claudius reigned Nero his son, fourteen years, in whose time Simon the Magus was performing by sorcery many signs and phantasms in Rome and naming himself a god. And once, at midday, coming forth into the theater, he promised to fly up through the air. When this took place, Peter, having prayed and having fixed his gaze upon him, said to Simon: If I am an apostle of Jesus Christ, and not a deceiver, as you are, Simon, I command the evil powers to let go their hold of you. And when the apostle had said this, straightway he was borne down with a great crash and was shattered. But Nero, hearing that Simon had been killed by Peter, and being indignant, ordered him to be crucified. And he, having entreated the prefect that he might not be crucified upright, was crucified by command just as he had asked, out of great humility. And after him Paul also bound on the crown of the martyrdom that comes by the sword.

But Nero, 249as the rule grew strong upon him, ran aground into unholy deeds and bloodguilt and fightings against God; and so, driven wild by his excessive madness, going out into a suburb he laid hands upon himself. In like manner Pilate also, having fallen into manifold calamities, made away with himself.

And after Nero reigned Galbas, seven months; and after Galbas reigned Lucibius, three months; and after Lucibius reigned Vitellius, two months, and he was slain in the midst of Rome by the populace. And after Vitellius reigned Vespasian, the son of Nero, nine years. And after Vespasian reigned Titus his son, three years. And having journeyed a whole day long in the summer season, and bleeding from the nostrils, scorched through by the sun and having fainted utterly, still breathing he was put into the tomb by Domitian his brother, at the direction of this man's wife; and so he died, adorned with every good work and with temperance, leaving great mourning to those in Rome, so that in their houses and in public all wept and lamented.

And after Titus reigned Domitian his brother, fifteen years, and he was slain in the temple of Rome by the plot of his own wife. For having become his brother's successor, he did not emulate the excellent way of life of his father and of his brother, but the unholy conduct of Tiberius and Nero; for having run through every form of vice and of mad lust for women and for men, and at the last having deified himself and shown himself most hateful to all, he ends by a most shameful death his foul and profane life. In his time Timothy the apostle and Onesimus bore their witness, and John the Theologian and evangelist was banished to the island of Patmos, and Apollonius of Tyana was known.

And after Domitian reigned Nerva, one year, who, recalling John from the island, released him to dwell in Ephesus, at that time the only one of the twelve disciples surviving in life; who also, having composed the Gospel that bears his name, rested in peace. And Philip, one of the seven deacons, is made perfect in Hierapolis, and is buried with his daughters.

And after Nerva reigned Trajan, nine years, and he died of dropsy — a man so good, so hating of evil and loving of justice, that once, having bared a sword before the magnates, he gave it to the prefect and said: Receive this sword, and if I rule well, use it for me; but if not, use it against me. And having no children as heirs of the empire, he was about, at the prompting of certain men, to put away his wife and take another in order to beget children; but she, being prudent, counseled him that, if he wished to be remembered by all in all generations, he should pave with marble the entrances and exits of all the great cities; which indeed he did.

In his time also Symeon the son of Klopas 252and Ignatius the God-bearer bore their witness, and Basilides and Kerinthos and Nikolaos and Ebionaios, the heresiarchs and enemies of the truth, were known.

And after Trajan reigned Hadrian, who is also Aelius, twenty-four years, and he died of dropsy. He, having built a temple in Kyzikos and a city in Thrace, styled it Hadrianople. In his time Kerdon and Valentinus and Marcion and Montanus and Satorninos and Karpokrates, the heresiarchs, and Aquila were known. And after Hadrian reigned Antoninus, twenty-two years. In his time Polycarp, the disciple of John the evangelist, and Justin the philosopher and Dionysius bishop of Corinth bore their witness; and Tatian and Bardesanes, the heresiarchs, and Priscilla and Maximilla, the false prophetesses of the sect of the Phrygians, were known.

And after Antoninus reigned Marcus his son, eleven years. In his time fire from heaven was seen borne from the west toward the east. And after Marcus reigned Severus his son, eight years, and he was slain in Prokonnesos. And after Severus reigned Komodos his brother, twelve years, and he died suddenly from a bringing-up of blood and bile. In his time Theodotos — he who also first began the error that was later that of Paul the Samosatene and of Nestorius — and Theodotion were known.

And after Komodos reigned Pertinax, two months, and he was slain by the soldiers. And after Pertinax reigned Didius, four months, who is also called Julianus, and he was slain by the chamberlain at the fountain of the palace, as he was watching the fish. And after Didius reigned Severus, eighteen years. In his time Leonides the bishop, the father of Origen, bore his witness; and Clement the Stromatist and Symmachus and Origen were known. And after Severus reigned Antoninus, and Getas his brother, two months. And having slain his brother, and having ruled alone six years, he is slain by his own men. And after Antoninus reigned Antoninus Karakalos, twenty-six years, and he was slain in war. In his time was Galen the physician. And after Antoninus reigned Makrinos, four years, and he was slain by Antoninus. And after Makrinos reigned Antoninus Galbas, and he was slain by Alexander. And after Antoninus reigned Alexander the son of Mamaia, thirteen years, and he was slain together with his mother Mamaia by the plot of Maximinus the general.

In his time Narkissos, bishop of Jerusalem, while baptizing, when the oil of the chrism ran short, commanded water to be put into the vessel, and having prayed he changed it into oil.

253After Alexander reigned Maximinus, three years, and he was slain by his own army. In his time Laurentius and Cyprian bore their witness. And after Maximinus reigned Pouplianos, two months, and he was slain in war. And after Pouplianos reigned Junor, six months. And after Junor reigned Gordianos his son, four years, and, falling together with his horse in war, he died. And after Gordianos reigned Philip, the father of the holy Eugenia, five years, who also founded Philippopolis. And he was slain together with his son by Decius, because he contended on behalf of the Christians. And after Philip reigned Junor, the son of Gordianos, two years, and he died of dropsy. In his time Sabellius the heresiarch was known. And after Junor reigned Marcus, three years. And after Marcus reigned Justinian, two years, and, having been bled, since his blood poured out while he slept, he fainted and died. And after Justinian reigned Philip, twenty-six years, and he was slain in the palace. And after Philip reigned Valerian, one year, and he was slain by his own people. And after Valerian reigned Gallus, one month, and he was slain in his sleep by his own wife. And after Gallus reigned Decius, one year, and he was slain in the war. In his time Babylas of Antioch and Flavianus of Rome and Alexander of Jerusalem and Dionysius of Alexandria bore their witness, and Navatus withdrew from the Church, and Kelsaios the heresiarch was known.

And after Decius reigned Aimilianos, one year, and he was slain in the palace. And after Aimilianos reigned Gallianos, three years, and he was slain in war. In his time Artemios and Synepon, the heresiarchs, were known, and Gregory the Wonderworker, who was also a disciple of Origen, was distinguished. And after Gallianos reigned Claudius, two years. And after Claudius reigned Kyntilianos, seven days. And after Kyntilianos reigned Aurelian, five years, and he was slain by the chamberlain. In his time also the holy Chariton made his confession, and Manes the foul and thrice-accursed sprang up, that demon-ridden man fashioning himself as Christ and as the Holy Spirit.

And a certain Paul, who lived at the same time as this Manes, a Samosatene by race, and president of Antioch the great, blasphemed that the Lord was a mere man. Then a certain Apollinarios sprang up, president of Laodicea of Syria, who said that the Lord had taken flesh ensouled with a living soul, but without a mind.

After him there appears a certain Theodore, who had obtained the governance of Mopsuestia, a city in Cilicia, who called the Master Christ one 256of the common men such as we are, and said that by advancement he received also his being named god by grace, and that from the baptism in the river Jordan he was counted worthy of the grace of the Holy Spirit — as though, forsooth, God the Word, having dwelt in him because of his surpassing virtue, imparted to him the divine dignity and worship at the last, after his perfecting. And after this one, Nestorios, from Germanikeia of Syria, having grasped the throne of Constantinople, who, following his own forebears (for he was a son of the Cilician, and a descendant of the Samosatene), refused to call our most holy Lady Theotokos, teaching as doctrine, according to the error of his father, that the Christ is one, and God the Word another.

Then Eutyches, who refused to say that two natures are preserved in Christ after their union. Then a certain man called Severus, who seized the throne of Antioch. And after them, others.

After Aurelian reigned Tacitus, six months, and he was slain by friends of Aurelian. After Tacitus reigned Florian, two months, and he was slain by Probus. After Florian reigned Probus, six years, and he was slain by Carus. After Probus reigned Carus, one year, and he was slain by Carinus. After Carus reigned Carinus his son, two years, and he was slain by Numerian. After Carinus reigned Numerian his brother, one year, and, captured by the Persians, he was flayed while still alive.

After Numerian there reigned jointly Diocletian and Maximian his son-in-law, twenty-two years. By them a great persecution was set in motion against the Christians, when Peter of Alexandria and Anthimus of Nicomedia, and Procopius and Theodore the far-famed, bore their witness, and very many others; and Sabbatius, who upheld the heresy of the Tessareskaidekatitai, became known. These men divine justice, pursuing them with justice, righteously cut off: Diocletian, his tongue rotting away together with his throat, and seething over with a multitude of worms, wretchedly and violently burst from life; and Maximian hanged himself.

After Diocletian and Maximian there reigned in the same times Constantius and Severus, Maximinus and Maxentius. And Constantius with his son Constantine held Gaul and Britain, Severus and Maxentius Rome, and Maximinus the East — who, having wrought many foul and monstrous things, displayed a harsh and inhuman persecution against the Christians, in which very many men of good repute bore their witness.

And he suffered things worthy of his impiety; for he fell into a most terrible disease, so that his flesh melted like wax and his bones were scorched up, and 257the very stamp of his human form was blotted out and dreadfully rotted away, and he gave off so great a stench as to differ in nothing from the dead lying in tombs. Amid these things, then, the wretch, being tormented, spoke as follows: Woe is me, pitiable and worthy of laments! What punishment do I undergo for the things dared against the Christians! And having said this with great pain, he died.

When Constantius, surnamed Chlorus for the pallor of his face, had died, his son Constantine, who had been born to him of Helen near the city of Dacia, succeeded to the rule. Likewise, Severus also having died, Licinius the son-in-law of Constantine is brought in in his place. When Constantine, then, had been baptized and had found that wondrous deliverance from the disease that held him, straightway his mother Helen too, and his kinsfolk and friends, are baptized. Then, hearing the grievous and monstrous things done by Maxentius in Rome, and receiving an embassy from the Romans, he took the field against him, bearing before his army the sign of the cross that had been shown him in heaven, by which also he routed Maxentius. And so he drives on to Rome, and all, together with women and infants and the whole people of the Romans, receive him with acclamation and insatiable joy.

After Maxentius reigned Constantine the Great, the first among emperors to be most Christian, thirty-two years, who strengthened piety and orthodoxy through all things. In the twenty-fifth year of his reign was convened the synod at Nicaea of the three hundred and eighteen God-bearing Fathers against Arius the vain-minded. His mother died at eighty years, and was buried by him in the church of the Holy Apostles. And when he himself had died in Nicomedia at sixty-five years, his three sons held power: Constantius the East, Constantine and Constans the West — which Constans, having slain his brother Constantine and reigned alone sixteen years, was himself also slain by the people.

After Constantine the Great reigned Constantius his son, eleven years, who, having after the death of his father been swept away into the Arian mind, tried to force the divine Alexander to receive Arius into communion. And when he would not endure it, but entreated God with tears, the thrice-wretched man ended his life by a most shameful death.

After Constantius reigned Julian, two years — and he had been Caesar four years and six months — who, having displayed many evils against the Christians, is destroyed in Persia by divine justice, being thirty years old.

After Julian reigned Jovian, eight months, who, when he was constrained by the army to receive the symbols of empire, is said to have told the 260camp that he could not reign over them, as men who had been defiled by Julian. Then all, it is said, answered with one voice: We are Christians — and so he received the empire. But this pious and admirable man, after eight months of his reign, died on his return from Persia, leaving behind great mourning to the Church and to all the peoples.

After Jovian reigned Valentinian, twelve years, who, thirty days after his proclamation, sending for his own brother Valens from Paeonia, took him to himself as partner of the empire — who, siding with the heretics, did not cease banishing bishops and presbyters and deacons and peoples, and contriving very many lawless and most savage things against the Church of God. Later, joining battle with the Goths and defeated utterly, he flees with a few men into a house, in which the enemy burned him up together with those who were with him and with the house itself, he having reigned unholily fourteen years.

But Valentinian the Great, coming from the parts of Gaul, ended his days, leaving as heirs of his own empire Gratian his son, who was Augustus and residing in Rome, and Valentinian, who was still quite young — whom the pressure of those attempting to snatch away the place of the empire made ready, even in his brother's absence, to bind on the purple. And Gratian, bringing the great Theodosius from Spain, appointed him emperor — he being his kinsman by marriage — to make war on the Scythians who were plundering Thrace. But Gratian, by the plot of a certain Maximus, was slain through Andragathius, and by Theodosius was transferred to the imperial tombs.

After Gratian reigned Theodosius the Great, seventeen years, who confirmed to Gregory the Theologian the bishopric of Constantinople, constraining him though he was unwilling, as one who had toiled much and had freed the city from the error of the heresies. But the divine Gregory, learning that a few of the Egyptians grudged him on this account, composed the Syntakterion and withdrew from the episcopal administration. In his place the emperor and the synod appoint Nectarius, at which time also the second synod took place in Constantinople, of the one hundred and fifty holy Fathers, against Macedonius the Spirit-fighter, who had been bishop of Constantinople. Under Theodosius also the precious head of the Forerunner was conveyed to Constantinople. In the meantime Valentinian, in the parts of the West, found the end of his life by means of a noose — for what cause we know not to the present day. And Theodosius charged Arcadius in the East to guard the empire that had been delivered over to him, and, honoring Honorius with his own dignity, charged him to come quickly to the empire of the West.

And when he came, he embraced and kissed him, and, delivering over 261to him the scepters of the empire of the West, he himself passed over to the better life, having administered the empire prosperously for seventeen years.

After Theodosius reigned Arcadius his son, twenty-two years, who, setting up the column of the Xerolophos, established upon it his own statue, and, founding a city in Thrace, named it Arcadiopolis; at which time also, Nectarius having died, Arcadius by common vote, sending for John Chrysostom from the city of the Antiochenes, caused him to be ordained bishop of Constantinople.

After Arcadius reigned Theodosius his son, who was also called Kalligraphos, thirty-two years, who built the church of the Theotokos in the Chalkoprateia, which had formerly been a synagogue of the Jews. Under him also the seven children in Ephesus who had fallen asleep under Decius arose after three hundred and two years. He sent and brought in the relic of Chrysostom, and laid it up in the sanctuary of the Holy Apostles, at which time also the third synod took place, of the two hundred Fathers, in Ephesus, against Nestorius. But the emperor Theodosius after a certain time went out to ride, and, his horse falling with him, he was injured and was brought in on a litter; and calling his sister Pulcheria he spoke to her concerning Marcian, who reigned after him: For this, he said, John the Theologian revealed to me when I was in Ephesus. And after two days he died.

After Theodosius reigned Marcian, six years and five months, crowned by Anatolius the patriarch. For when Theodosius had died, and this was not yet known to anyone, Pulcheria, sending for this man, who was a soldier and an old man, distinguished in temperance and dignity of life, says to him: Since the emperor has died, and I have singled you out from all the senate as a man of virtue, give me your word that you will keep my virginity inviolate, which I have dedicated to God, and I proclaim you emperor. And when he had agreed to this with an oath, she summons the patriarch and the senate, and proclaims him emperor. Under him also the fourth synod took place, in Chalcedon, of the six hundred and thirty Fathers, against Eutyches and Dioscorus. But the emperor Marcian, having been crowned … the feet, and having fallen ill, died after five months.

After Marcian reigned Leo the Great, called Makel, eighteen years, put forward on account of his virtue and orthodoxy by Aspar and Ardabourios, whom he himself later did away with, as being Arians, and as neither holding right faith nor being true toward him, and as wishing to administer affairs ill. And writing a letter to Anthemius, emperor of Rome, he set this also in it: I have slain Aspar and Ardabourios, that no one may oppose me. For Makel in the Roman tongue means the slaughterer. Under him also the great fire took place, from the Neorion as far as Saint Thomas.

And the robe of the Theotokos, found in Jerusalem in the keeping of a certain most devout woman, 264a Hebrew and a virgin, by whom it was sacredly guarded, and conveyed to Constantinople, was laid up in Blachernai; where the emperor built a church of the Mother of God, and, fashioning a coffer of gold and silver, deposited it therein — which robe, woven of easily perishable wool and of threads of like kind and like color, is incorrupt and undissolved to this day, clearly proclaiming the wonder of the Ever-Virgin. But the emperor Leo died of dysentery.

After Leo reigned Leo the Small, his grandson, the son of Zeno and Ariadne, one year.

After Leo the Small reigned Zeno the Isaurian, his father, eleven years, and he died of dysentery. He, as soon as he became emperor, being plotted against by Verina his mother-in-law, the wife of Leo the Great, on the ground that he had become emperor against her judgment, fled for refuge to his own homeland. And Verina crowned Basiliskos her brother. After this Zeno, returning to Constantinople and overpowering him, banished him — though he had fled for refuge to the church together with his wife and children — to the fortress of Cappadocia, in which, cast into a tower, the door being walled up, they died. Under him also Martyrius of Antioch, renouncing the episcopate because of Zeno's perversion concerning the orthodox faith, withdrew; and upon his withdrawal Peter the Fuller tyrannically leapt upon the throne. This Martyrius first devised that the myron be hallowed in the church in the presence of all the people, and that the Theotokos be named in every prayer, and that in every synaxis the symbol of the faith be said, which formerly was not said except once a year, on Great Friday. And the relic of Barnabas the apostle was found under a cherry tree, having upon the breast the Gospel according to Matthew, written in Barnabas's own hand. From this occasion it came about for the Cypriots that their metropolis is not subject to Antioch. Which Gospel, laid up by Zeno in the palace in the church of Saint Stephen, is read every year on the holy Great Thursday.

After Zeno reigned Anastasios the Dikoros, from the silentiaries, being himself also one of the Akephaloi, thirteen years; who saw in his sleep a fearful man holding in his hand a written book and saying to him: Behold, because of your unbelief I blot out fourteen years of your life. And when thunders and lightnings had come about the palace, and the emperor had been left utterly alone and was fleeing from place to place, in one of the bedchambers — it was called Oaton — the wrath overtook him, so that he was suddenly found dead. And they say that after he was buried, after some days he cried out: Have mercy on me, and open! And when the tomb-keepers said, Another is reigning, he said: It is nothing to me; lead me away to a monastery, and make me a monk. But they left him.

And not long after, when the tomb was opened, he was found to have eaten his own arms and the boots which he had been wearing.

265After Anastasios reigned Justin the Thracian, great among emperors, nine years, most excellent in wars and a zealot of the orthodox faith, under whom also the things concerning Saint Arethas and those in the city of Negra were done, and the things against the Homerites through Elesbaas the king of the Ethiopians. And dying, the emperor Justin left as emperor Justinian his nephew.

After Justin reigned Justinian his nephew, thirty-nine years, who made the Novel constitutions. He renewed also the Great Church of God, in beauty and greatness beyond what it was before, delivering also a troparion to be sung in it: The Only-begotten Son and Word of God. And the Hypapante took its beginning of being celebrated, not being numbered before among the feasts of the Lord. There took place also the fifth synod, of the one hundred and sixty-five holy Fathers, against Origen and those who had inherited his impious doctrines, Didymus and Evagrius, and against the chapters set forth by them. But toward his end the emperor, stirring the doctrine concerning the corruptible and the incorruptible, died a stranger to piety, putting forward Justin his nephew as emperor, who was then kouropalates.

After Justinian reigned Justin his nephew, thirteen years, being most munificent and a lover of building. He built a palace outside the city and a harbor in the city.

And the one he called Sophianai, and the other Sophia, after the name of his own wife. He built also the church in the orphanage, of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. Then, seized by disease and being about to die, summoning the patriarch and the whole senate, he put forward Tiberius as emperor.

After Justin reigned Tiberius the Thracian, four years, who, proclaiming his own wife Anastasia, and ordering that Sophia the wife of Justin be conducted away to the palace in the harbor of Julian, gave cubicularii and certain others to be at her service; and he honored her as a mother, rendering her every care. And being about to die, he proclaimed as emperor Maurice, his son-in-law by his daughter.

After Tiberius reigned Maurice, an Armenian and his son-in-law, twenty years. This man had a son-in-law by the name of Philippikos, who built a monastery in Chrysopolis in his own name. But Maurice, learning of the tyranny of Phokas and fleeing the uprising of the people, at midnight, putting off the imperial robe and putting on that of a private man, entered a dromon together with his wife and his children, and, having come safely with danger to Saint Autonomos, and hastening to flee for refuge to some strong fortress, he had not the strength; for suddenly most violent pains set upon him, and arthritic aches of the feet and of the hands, so that he lay unable to move. And Phokas, received by the people, entered the palace.

After Maurice reigned Phokas the Cappa- 268docian, a tyrant, eight years. But his son-in-law Priskos, not bearing to look upon the unjust murders and the terrible things being done by him, writes to Herakleios, who was then general in Africa, that he should come up with a fleet against the tyrant; and when he had come up and battle had been joined, Phokas the wretch is defeated, and, being seized, and having his hands and feet and shoulders lopped off and his genitals cut out and hung upon a pole, and then his head also cut off, the remainder of his body was given over to fire in the forum called "of the Ox."

After Phokas reigned Herakleios, thirty years, whom Sergios crowned in the church of Saint Stephen in the palace. And there was crowned together with him his betrothed, Eudokia Augusta, with the crowns of marriage, they being shown forth at once emperors and bridal pair. Under him also Chosroes the Persian sacked Jerusalem, and burned the venerable places, and took captive a multitude of peoples, together with the patriarch Zacharias and the precious wood, and carried them up into Persia. But when Chosroes after some years had been slain, the captivity was recalled again, and the life-giving cross was restored to its own place. This man, then, later, deceived by Athanasios the patriarch of the Jacobites and by Sergios of Constantinople, the Syrian, was rolled down into the heresy of the Monothelites; and indeed, falling into a dropsical disease and terribly punished, he died.

After Herakleios reigned Constantine his son, one year, who is destroyed by poison at the hands of his own stepmother Martina.

After Constantine reigned Heraklonas, together with Martina his mother, four months, whom the senate thrust out, cutting off his nose, cutting out the tongue of Martina, and banishing them both.

After Heraklonas reigned Konstas, son of Constantine, grandson of Herakleios, twenty-seven years, who, bringing Martin the most holy pope of Rome dishonorably to Constantinople, because his Monothelete doctrine was being refuted by him, banished him to Cherson; and he cut off the tongue and the right hand of Maximus the Confessor, and condemned many others of the orthodox to torments and confiscations and banishments for the same cause. Then, leaving Constantinople because he was vehemently hated by the Byzantines, he removed to Syracuse in Sicily, where, while being scrubbed in a bath, receiving a blow upon the crown of the head with a bucket from a certain Andrew, he died.

After Konstas reigned Constantine his son, seventeen years, who also made a eunuch of Germanos, who later became patriarch, having done away with his father. And he was called Pogonatos because he went off beardless to Sicily for the avenging of his father and came back with a beard.

His two brothers, Herakleios and Tiberius, he nose-slit, because they were being proclaimed by the people, he himself not willing this; and he crowned his son Justinian, to reign together 269with him. And in the thirteenth year of his reign he assembled an ecumenical synod in Constantinople, of the one hundred and seventy holy Fathers, against Theodore the bishop of Pharan, Honorius of Rome and Cyrus of Alexandria, and Sergius and Pyrrhus and Paul and Peter, who had been bishops of Constantinople, and against others who asserted one will and one energy concerning our Savior Christ; and, anathematizing them, it proclaimed that two natural wills, that is to say willings, and two natural energies are displayed in the one Christ our God. But the emperor, seized with dysentery, passed away.

After Constantine reigned Justinian his son, ten years, who built the triklinos called "of Justinian" in the palace. But later, nose-cut by Leontios, he was banished to Cherson.

After Justinian reigned Leontios, three years, who sends out the patrician John with a Roman fleet against the Hagarenes in Africa; who, having routed the enemies and freed Africa, was making his way back to the emperor. But the army, turned aside by its own commanders into an evil counsel, both murdering the patrician John and anathematizing the emperor, proclaimed as emperor Apsimaros, droungarios of the Kibyrrhaiotai, renaming him Tiberius; who, through the gate of Blachernai, treachery having been wrought, entering into the city, and overpowering Leontios and cutting off his nose, confined him in the monastery of the Dalmatians.

After Leontios reigned Apsimaros, also called Tiberius, seven years. But Justinian, who had been nose-cut by Leontios, secretly taking up certain men from Cherson, sailed away to the mouth of the Ister, and, having come through safely, sent to Terbelis the Bulgarian, that he should give him an alliance for the mastering of his ancestral kingdom. And he gave not only an alliance, but even his own self, coming with him to the reigning city. Justinian therefore entered with a few men of his own people through the aqueduct, by the treachery of certain men from the city, and came out at Saint Anna, which because of him is called "the Second," and encamped in the palaces of Blachernai; learning which, Apsimaros flees to Apollonias, taking with himself much money. So Justinian, bringing out both Leontios and Apsimaros — the one from the empire, the other from the prison — and setting them both beneath his feet, punished them capitally in the Hippodrome.

After Apsimaros there reigned again Justinian, seven years, giving many gifts to Terbelis, and Roman territory, that which is now called Zagoria. And Herakleios his brother, and those who had fought at his side, he impaled.

And Kallinikos the patriarch, having blinded him, he banished to Rome; in whose stead he put forward Kyriakos, who was in the island of Amastris, as having foretold to him the restoration of his kingdom. 272And bearing a grudge from his exile against the Chersonites, he fitted out a fleet against them, and sent it forth, entrusting it to the patrician Maurus. But they heaped insult upon Justinian, and quickly proclaimed as emperor Philippikos, son of the patrician Nikephoros, who had been banished there by Apsimaros. Learning this, the tyrant Justinian, both enraged the more and afraid, went up as far as Sinope, to learn more exactly concerning this.

But when Philippikos arrived with the fleet, Justinian, abandoned by all, fled off to Demetrios; whom Philippikos, straightway overpowering, did away with shamefully, and sent his head to the Scythians. And he slays Tiberius his son as well.

After Justinian reigned Philippikos, also called Bardanes, two years; whom George the patrician, whose surname was Boraphos, and Theodore the patrician, Myxes, with soldiers of the ranks, coming suddenly out of Thrace and bursting in, seize and straightway blind; and on the morrow, the people having been gathered in the Great Church, they crowned Artemios the protasekretis.

After Philippikos reigned Artemios, also called Anastasios, two years, under whom also Germanos was translated from the metropolis of Kyzikos to Constantinople as patriarch. But the fleet sent out by him against the Hagarenes, mutinying, and having overthrown the emperor and done away with its own commander, came up against the queen city. And coming to Adramyttion, they found there Theodosios, a collector of the public taxes, a man impious and retiring, and proclaimed him emperor; who, crossing over to the Thracian parts, seizes the city with a heavy throng, and entered in through the gate of Blachernai. But Artemios, fleeing to Nicaea, and receiving a pledge of immunity, put about himself the monastic habit; and him Theodosios banished to Thessalonica. But Leo, the Isaurian, general of the Eastern forces, fighting for Artemios, did not submit to Theodosios.

After Artemios reigned Theodosios the Adramyttene, two years, under whom Leo the Isaurian, supported by Malsabas the chief of the Saracens, and acclaimed by all, seizes Chrysopolis with a very great army. And Theodosios, receiving from him a pledge of immunity, yielded the empire to him, becoming a cleric together with his son. And the historians say that this same man was also a writer in gold, and that he was made bishop of Ephesus by him.

After Theodosios reigned Leo the Isaurian, also called Konon, twenty-five years, displaying many evils to the Christians through the pulling down of the holy icons. And he crowned his son Constantine.

And falling into a disease of dysentery, the all-defiled and accursed man shamefully burst forth his soul.

273After Leo reigned Constantine his son, thirty-four years — out of a most dread lion a most dappled leopard, out of the seed of the serpent a dread asp and a flying serpent, the Antichrist out of Dan. This man, inheriting his father's empire and his impiety together, stood apart more and yet more from God and the Mother of God and all the saints. But he too, shamefully bursting forth his soul, dies in soul and in body, crying out in anguish and saying: Living, I have been given over to fire because of the Theotokos Mary. But from now on let her be honored and hymned, as being truly Theotokos.

After Constantine reigned his son by the Khazar woman, Leo, five years. And he crowned his son Constantine. Now this Leo, being mad for precious stones, conceived a passion for the crown of Maurice, and taking it he wore it and went forth in procession. Whence his head was dreadfully turned to burning coals, and, gripped by a most violent fever, he died, having reaped the wages of his sacrilege.

After Leo reigned Constantine his son, seventeen years, under whom the doctrine of piety received the beginning of speaking openly, and the word of God of being spread abroad. And he reigned with his mother Irene, who also brought back to the church the crown that had been taken by her husband, having adorned it with pearls. Under them Tarasios, he of the asekretis, is ordained patriarch. And there took place also the seventh synod, of the three hundred and fifty holy Fathers who came together at Nicaea for the second time, against the one that had before been lawlessly gathered by Constantine for the insult and overthrow of the holy icons. And anathematizing the leaders of that gathering, and renewing the ancient honor of the venerable icons handed down to the Church, it decreed that they be venerated in like manner with the cross. But Constantine, having gone out against the Arabs and returned, being seized in the palace by the magnates, is blinded by the counsel of his own mother Irene, who after this held the empire five years.

After Irene reigned Nikephoros, he of the genikon, eight years; and he crowned his son Staurakios. Under him, Tarasios having died, Nikephoros the most holy is ordained. But the emperor Nikephoros, marching out against the Bulgarians, is destroyed by them.

After Nikephoros reigned Staurakios his son, one year and two months.

After Staurakios reigned the most pious Michael, his son-in-law, whose appellation was Rangabe, one year and nine months, crowned by Nikephoros the patriarch.

After Michael reigned Leo the Armenian, who also later became an apostate, seven years and five months, crowned by Nikephoros the patriarch, having first confirmed in writing his own orthodoxy — which afterwards setting at naught, and raging against the holy icons, 276the all-profane man both banished the most holy Nikephoros and wrapped many others of the champions of piety in countless woes. Him divine justice pursued at the feast of the Nativity of our Savior: cut down limb by limb inside the church, and thus bursting forth his unholy and wretched soul.

After these things reigned Michael the Amorian, eight years and nine months; and he crowned his son Theophilos. He later, from difficulty of urine and pain of the kidneys, was evilly released from living. And Theophilos his son held the rule in his stead, with his mother Euphrosyne.

After Michael, then, reigned Theophilos his son, the new Balthasar, an insulter and puller-down of holy things, and profane, twelve years and three months; and he died of dysentery. And his mother Euphrosyne, willingly going down from the palace into her monastery, whose name was Gastria, kept her quiet. He himself crowns his son Michael in the Great Church; and when he, by the disease of dysentery, as has been said, had evilly and miserably burst forth his soul, his wretched body was carried away to the church of the Holy Apostles.

After Theophilos reigned Michael his son, called Methystes, together with his mother Theodora fourteen years, alone ten years, and with Basil one year and four months; who, succeeding to his father's empire, and shaking off his God-hated heresy, proclaimed the God-beloved and right faith of old, and put forward Methodios, who is among the saints, as patriarch. And when he had departed to the Lord, Ignatios, son of Michael the kouropalates, is ordained in his stead; whom the Caesar Bardas, since he was being reproved by him for a certain defilement being committed by him, thrust out of the church by force; and in his stead he ordains Photios patriarch. But Michael is done away with by the counsel of Basil.

Basil the Macedonian, called Kephalas, reigned with Michael one year and four months, and alone nineteen years. This man, having thrust Photios from the throne, as having been reproved by him for the murder of Michael, appointed Ignatios, who is among the saints, patriarch for the second time. And when he died, Photios is appointed again. This emperor, having gone out to hunt, and pursuing a stag of enormous size that had appeared from somewhere, it turned upon him and lifted him with its horn from the horse by his girdle; but a certain man, coming up in time and cutting through the girdle with a sword, rescued him.

From this mauling by the stag, then, falling sick, he dies, leaving behind Leo as emperor, and his brother Alexander. And Leo reigned twenty-five years and eight months. Now Stephen his brother, being a cleric, was also synkellos with Photios the patriarch, being brought up at his side and educated.

The emperor, then, bringing Photios down from the throne for certain causes, puts forward Stephen his own brother as patriarch. 277And when he had passed over from the things here, in his stead is ordained Antonios, surnamed Kauleas. And the Augusta Theophano dies, having reigned twelve years; and in her stead the emperor crowns Zoe the daughter of Tzautzes, and receives the marriage blessing with her. And when Antonios the patriarch had died, Nicholas is ordained patriarch, having served as mystikos of the emperor. And when he, for not consenting to the emperor's polygamy, had been forced down from the throne, there is ordained patriarch in his stead Euthymios the synkellos — who, they say, received this by divine revelation, since the emperor was purposing to establish a heresy, and to lay down a law that marriage might take place up to three husbands and four wives. The emperor Leo, then, crowns his son Constantine. And falling into a disease of the bowels he dies, having appointed Alexander his brother, and begged him earnestly to guard his son Constantine.

Alexander, then, reigned one year and twenty-nine days, together with Constantine the son of Leo; who, struck by a God-driven sword, much blood being carried forth both from his nostrils and from his genitals, after two days died evilly, leaving the empire to Constantine the son of Leo, and leaving behind guardians for him.

And Constantine, the first Porphyrogennetos, his father Leo having died, being still a child — for it was the seventh year of his age — had been left in the empire under Alexander his uncle, being subject to guardians. He reigned, then, with his mother Zoe the Karbonopsina seven years, and together with Romanos his father-in-law, being in subjection, twenty-five years, and as sole ruler forty years, so that all the years of his reign were sixty-five. He, detecting his own mother as plotting against Romanos by means of poisoned foods, brings her down from the palace, and honors Romanos Lekapenos, who was also called Abastaktos, with the dignity of Caesar, and then crowns him with the diadem of empire; who, not long after, learning that the emperor Constantine through certain men was contriving a plot against him, and laying hold of the pretext, demotes him and sets him second, and brings himself forward to the front; and after this he also seats his son Theophylaktos upon the patriarchal throne. In his reign also the holy imprint of Christ was conveyed from Edessa to Constantinople. But later his sons, bringing the emperor Romanos down from the palace, banished him in the island Prote, where he also dies. And these in their turn his son-in-law Constantine — reckoning lest they should also work the like against him — carrying them off by force from the palace and confining them in the neighboring islands, sheared as clerics, having reigned together with them forty-three days.

Constantine, the son of Leo, the first Porphyrogennetos, having removed the treacherous elements from the midst, and having alone girded on the imperial rule for the second time, at the divine Pascha sets the diadem also upon 280his son Romanos, Theophylaktos the patriarch performing the prayers. And he made a eunuch of Romanos the son of Stephen, and moreover of Basil, who had been born to Romanos the elder of a Bulgarian slave woman; and Michael, the son of Christopher the emperor, he sheared as a cleric. Now Theophylaktos the patriarch was thirteen years old when he was ordained deacon, and sixteen when he was raised up to the patriarchal throne; and having for twenty-three years and twenty-five days exercised the high-priesthood badly and unworthily, he left this life; and in his stead is put forward the monk Polyeuktos. In this man's reign there was brought from Antioch both the precious hand of the Forerunner and the relic of Saint Gregory the Theologian. This emperor Constantine, then, having ruled alone, as we have said, fifteen years, falling into disease, dies.

After Constantine reigned Romanos his son, the one called "the child," who, falling into disease, died, being twenty-four years old, having reigned three years, four months, five days.

After Romanos, Basil and Constantine his children succeed to the empire, with Theophano their mother, reigning five months, with Joseph Bringas then wielding power at their side.

After these, Nikephoros Phokas reigns, crowned by Polyeuktos the patriarch. Then he also takes Theophano as his lawful wedded wife. He also brought into the city a certain part of the garment of John the Baptist, which he found in Berrhoia. And he brought also the tile bearing the impress, not wrought by hand, of the form of Christ our God, which he found in Hierapolis when he had sacked it, and one lock of the hair of John the Baptist, matted with blood. This man, having reigned six years, is murdered in the palace, by the counsel of the empress Theophano, at the hands of Tzimiskes and his fellow conspirators.

After him reigns John Tzimiskes, having as fellow emperors with him Basil and Constantine, the sons of Romanos. And he takes to wife Theodora the sister of Romanos, daughter of Constantine the Porphyrogennetos. And he is crowned with the diadem of empire by Polyeuktos the patriarch, having first obeyed him, and removed from the midst the men whose own hands had slain Nikephoros, and brought Theophano down from the palace and banished her, and torn up the tome which Nikephoros Phokas had set forth to the confounding of the affairs of the Church. And after his proclamation Polyeuktos, surviving only thirty-five days, ended his life; and there is appointed patriarch in his stead Basil the Skamandrenos, who, accused upon certain charges, was synodically deposed. And in his stead was put forward Antonios the Stoudite. And Tzimiskes, having reigned six years and thirty days, wrought upon by poison at the hands of Basil the parakoimomenos, dies, leaving as successors Basil and Constantine, the children of Romanos.

After Tzimiskes, then, Basil and Constantine the Porphyrogennetos hold the empire, fifty years, of whom Basil was completing the twentieth 281year of his age, and Constantine the seventeenth. Wherefore, they having only the name of the empire, Basil the parakoimomenos wrought the whole handling of affairs, who also, sending, brings their mother from beyond the border into the palace. And when Nicholas Chrysoberges, having guided the Church for twelve years and eight months, had ended his life, Sisinnios the magistros is ordained, a man of learning, come to the very summit of both the medical and the legal art. And this man too, having shepherded the Church for only three years, departed from life, and Sergios was put forward, being hegumen of the monastery of Manuel and tracing his descent to Photios the patriarch, who, having shepherded the Church of God for twenty whole years, departed to the Lord; and Eustathios was put forward as patriarch, being first of the presbyters of the church in the palace. And the emperor Basil renewed also the aqueduct of Valens the emperor, that those in Byzantion might have abundance of water.

This man, seized by a sudden disease, passed away, Eustathios the patriarch having also died some days before his death, whose successor the emperor made Alexios, a monk, being ekklesiarch in the monastery of Stoudios. When, then, the emperor Basil had died and been buried in the church of the Evangelist and Theologian at the Hebdomon, his brother Constantine alone bound upon himself the might of the empire; who, having lived the whole time of his life seventy years, and having been sole emperor for three years less one month, seized by a sudden disease and given up by the physicians, appoints in his stead as emperor Romanos Argyros, having first yoked to him his own daughter Zoe — since his wife had willingly shorn her hair, because her husband Romanos was in danger of being maimed by the emperor, and for this reason had granted to her consort, together with his eyesight, the empire as well. Thus, beyond all hope escaping the danger of maiming, the emperor Romanos is proclaimed autokrator together with Zoe the daughter of Constantine, having done not a few good works at the very time of his becoming emperor. And he cut off the allelengyon, which, laid down by Basil, Constantine had purposed to cut off, but did not come to it in time. In this man's reign also George Maniakes, having taken Edessa, finding in it the letter of our Lord Jesus Christ, written in his own hand, that had been sent to Abgar, dispatched it to the emperor Romanos in Byzantion.

Then he is struck by a lingering disease and sheds the hair of both beard and head, wrought upon, as they say, by John the orphanotrophos; for the empress Zoe, having conceived a demonic passion for this man's brother Michael, and secretly mingling with him, wore down the emperor with poisons bringing on not a swift-fated death, but a most slow and lingering one; and he, on Great Thursday, bathing in the bath in the great palace, was piteously drowned by Michael's men in the basin of the bath, having reigned five years and six months; 284and he is buried in that monastery of the Peribleptos newly built by himself, on that very holy Great Friday.

But Zoe, having seated Michael the Paphlagonian upon the imperial throne, thought that in place of a husband and an emperor she would have a slave and a servant; but everything turned out for her to the contrary. For the emperor, seized by a demon and racked by it, and doing everything so as to find freedom from it, profited nothing; rather the evil was intensified, a dropsical disease also taking hold together with it. Worn down, then, by the disease that held him, and despairing on every side of his own salvation, he is shorn a monk by the monk Kosmas Tzintziloukios, who was with him continually and admonished him of the things needful, and he dies in repentance and confession, bewailing his sin against the emperor Romanos, having reigned seven years and eight months.

And when Michael the Paphlagonian had died, the whole power came round to the empress Zoe as heir, who takes as adopted son the emperor's nephew and namesake, being Caesar, and seeming energetic and dexterous in affairs, having first bound him by most dreadful oaths that he would hold her through life as his lady and mistress and mother, and proclaims him emperor of the Romans; who, setting at naught his covenants with her, and for this reason hated by all the multitude of the city, and dreading the unrestrainable movement of the people, went off a fugitive to the monastery of Stoudios, and straightway puts about himself the monastic habit. But he did not escape; for the multitude of the people, aroused, snatching this man also from the monastery, they lead him to the place called Sigma, and straightway blind him. Blinded, then, he is banished to the monastery of the Elegmoi, having reigned four months and five days.

The rule, then, having rolled back again to Zoe, who had as co-empress her sister Theodora as well, Constantine the Monomachos is sent for from banishment, to whom the empress is also joined in the fellowship of marriage, the sacred rite being performed by the first of the presbyters of the Nea. And he is crowned on the morrow by the patriarch Alexios, who dies in this man's reign. And Michael Keroularios is raised up to the throne, on the day of the Annunciation. But the emperor, having become gripped by his habitual disease of gout in the feet, another affliction also following upon it, lying in the monastery of the Mangana newly built by himself, dies, and in it is buried, having reigned thirteen years, Zoe having already died before him.

And when this man had died, Theodora the Porphyrogennetos takes up the ancestral empire, and having reigned two years and seven months, falling into a disease of the ileus, dies.

And her eunuchs, together with the synkellos Leo, while she was still breathing her last, raise up to the imperial throne Michael the patrician, the Stratiotikos, 285and he, having reigned one year, unwillingly withdraws from the empire in favor of the Komnenos.

The Komnenos, then, Isaakios, having girded on the empire, straightway is engraved upon the imperial coin bearing a sword, as one ascribing the whole not to God, but to his own strength and his experience concerning wars. And he brought also his own wife Aikaterina from the East, and proclaimed her. And since the patriarch Michael Keroularios also passed away, there is appointed patriarch in his stead Constantine Leichoudes. But the emperor, having gone out to the hunt and been struck by a lightning-hurled light, was both flung from his horse and rolled foaming upon the ground. Debating with himself, then, for some days whether he might in any way be released from the disease, since he knew that he had been utterly conquered by it, laying aside the empire, he takes himself to the monastery of Stoudios and embraces the monastic life, the Augusta Aikaterina also contributing much to him toward his purpose — having reigned two years and three months, and having survived these by a lesser span in the monastic state, displaying all obedience toward the ruler of the monastery, so that he even became doorkeeper and accepted serving in the other ministries, through great lowliness of mind. And there is appointed in his stead as emperor Constantine Doukas.

After the Komnenos, Constantine Doukas lays hold of the scepters bloodlessly, apart from troubles and tumult. And when the patriarch Constantine Leichoudes had died, John, a monk, surnamed Xiphilinos, is appointed. But a disease falling upon the emperor wore him down not a little. And when he knew that he was now finally wrought down by the disease, he proclaimed his three sons by Eudokia his empress — Michael, Andronikos, and Constantine, of whom Constantine was Porphyrogennetos — all of them emperors, and his own brother John, Caesar. And he had also three daughters, Anna and Theodora and Zoe. And being about to die, he demanded a writing from all, that they would never accept another emperor besides his own children; in which all subscribed — nay more, the empress Eudokia too, that neither would she herself come to a second marriage. And this, completed, they gave to the patriarch to keep. So the emperor dies at sixty years of age and a little more, having reigned seven years and a half, buried at the Molibotos.

So then his consort Eudokia and the children held the scepters of the empire. Having reigned with them, then, seven months and a little more, she brings Romanos Diogenes up into the palace, and is yoked to him, and straightway proclaims him emperor. Diogenes, then, having received the empire, then afterwards, plotted against by his own people, is blinded, and so dies, and is buried in the island Prote, having reigned three years and eight months.

There succeeded to the empire the son of Doukas, Michael, the one called Parapinakes.

And when the patriarch John Xiphilinos had fallen asleep, the emperor appointed a certain other, 288Kosmas, a monk, who had come from the holy city, and was honored with the greatest honor by the emperor for his virtue. But the citizens, because Botaneiates had already been proclaimed from the East, both seizing the palace and setting guards over it, and deposing the reigning Michael, send him off to the monastery of Stoudios with a cheap beast of burden, together with the Augusta Maria, her of the Alans, and his child Constantine the Porphyrogennetos, and change them over to the solitary life, on the Saturday of holy Lazarus, he having reigned seven years. Thus, then, Nikephoros Botaneiates, beyond all expectation, received the imperial rule bloodless, on that very Great Tuesday, and is wreathed with the imperial diadem by the hands of the patriarch, and is yoked in marriage to Maria, her of the Alamanni, the consort of Michael. And he reigned three years.

Alexios the Komnenos reigned thirty-seven years, four months; John his son, twenty-four years; Manuel his son, thirty-eight years; Alexios his son, a lad, one year. Him Andronikos, his uncle on the father's side, having murdered, played the tyrant three years. Him his nephew Isaakios the Angelos, having slain, held power nine years. Him his own brother Alexios, having blinded, held power himself also nine years. Him his nephew Alexios, being a lad, the son of that Isaakios, having driven out of the empire and out of Constantinople, held power six months. Him his cousin Alexios Doukas, who was also called Mourtzouphlos, having slain, held power two months. Alas! and these things Christians did to Christians! And how was justice to remain at rest, and not give us over to captivity and utter destruction? Which indeed came to pass, and the far-famed city of Constantine, for such unhallowed deeds, was given over to the Italians.