tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16545665329322825622024-03-05T17:48:11.223-08:00Speculum Linguarum et Litterarum'A Mirror of Languages and Letters' dedicated to the study of language, literature, and translations.Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-76427267507942039782021-12-15T02:36:00.004-08:002021-12-15T02:38:16.475-08:00Transcription of Manuscript W<center><span style="font-family: arial;">Transcription of Manuscript W</span></center><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a transcription of manuscript W. It is only complete up to section 5. <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Highlighting</span> indicates areas where the text differs from the edited text. </span><center><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></center><center><span style="font-family: arial;">Τὰ θέατρα καὶ διδασκαλεῖα τῶν Ἀθηνῶν <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0037"><i>W 29v</i></a></span></center><span style="font-family: arial;">
(1) <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Πρῶτη</span> ἡ ἀκαδημία εἰς χωρίον τῶν βασιλικῶν· δεύτερον ἡ Ἐλαιατικὴ εἰς τοὺς ἀμπελοκήπους· τρίτον τοῦ Πλάτωνος διδασκαλεῖον εἰς τὸ παραδείσιον· τέταρτον τὸ τοῦ Πολυζήλου ἐν ὄρει τῷ Ἠμιτίῳ· πέμπτον τὸ τοῦ Διοδώρου πλησίον τούτου· (2) ἐντὸς δὲ τῆς πολέως ἐστὶν τὸ διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σωκράτους, ἐν ᾧ εἰσὶ κύκλῳ οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι ἱστορισμένοι· κατὰ δύσιν δὲ τούτου ἵσταντο τὰ παλάτια τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους· (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0038"><i>W 30r</i></a>) καὶ πλησίον τούτων οἱ λαμπροὶ οἶκοι τοῦ πολεμάρχου· <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ἵσταντο δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα τοῦ Διὸς ἔγγυς τούτων</span>· ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων ἐστὶ βωμὸς εἰς ὅν ταφῆς ἠξιοῦντο οἱ παγκρατιστοὶ καὶ οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι, ἐν ᾧ φοιτῶντες οἱ ῥήτορες <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">τοὺς ἐπιταφίους λόγους ἀνεγίγνωσκον</span>. (3) κατὰ ἄρκτον δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν ἡ πρώτη ἀγορὰ τῆς πόλεως· εἰς ἥν ὁ ἀπόστολος Φίλιππος τὸν γραμματέα <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ἐβύθησεν</span>, ἔνθα ὑπῆρχον καὶ οἱ λάμπροὶ οἶκοι φυλῆς τῆς <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Πανδιονίδος</span>· κατὰ δὲ τὸ νότιον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ κυνικῶν φιλοσόφων, καὶ πλησίον τούτου τῶν τραγικῶν· ἐκτὸς δὲ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ὀλίγον πρὸς δύσιν κατῴκουν οἱ θαλαμ……. καὶ πλησίον τούτου ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σοφοκλέους· καὶ πρὸς <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">νώτον</span> τούτου <strike>ὑπῆρχε</strike> ἵστατο ὁ Ἄρειος πάγος, ἔνθα ὁ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος υἵος Λυρόθιος ὑπὸ Ἄρεως ἐθανατώθη· (4) κατὰ ἀνατολὰς δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν τὰ παλάτια Κλεονίδους καὶ Μελιτιάδος· Καὶ πλησίον τούτου ἀκμὴν ἵστατο διδασκαλεῖον <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">λεγόμενον</span> τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους· ὕπερθεν δὲ (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0039"><i>W 30v</i></a>) τούτου ἵσταντο δύο κίονες· καὶ εἰς μὲν τὸ ἀνατολικὸν ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῆς Ἀθήνας ἄγαλμα, εἰς δὲ τὸ δυσικὸν τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος· μέσον δὲ τούτου λέγουσιν εἶναι ποτὲ γοργόνης κεφαλὴν ἔνδον κουβουκλείου σιδηροῦ· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὡρολόγιον τῆς ἡμέρας <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">μαρμαριτικόν</span>· (5) ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">λέγομενον</span> τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους· καὶ ἀνατολικὰ ἀκμὴν ἵστατο ὁ λύχνος τοῦ Δημοσθένους· πλησίον τούτου ἦν τότε καὶ τοῦ Θουκυδίδους οἴκημα καὶ Σώλονος· ἀγορά τε δευτέρα καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Ἀλκμαίονος καὶ βαλανείον μέγιστον· καὶ πρὸς νῶτον τούτων ἡ μεγάλη ἀγορὰ τῆς πολέως καὶ τεμένη πλεῖστα καὶ ἀξιάγαστα· ἕως τῆς πύλης τῆς <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">νοτίδος</span> ἧς πρὸς τῆς φλιὰς ἱστόρηνται ἐννεακαίδεκα ἄνδρες τὸν ἕνα διώκοντες· Ἑκεῖ ὑπῆρχε καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν λουτρὸν ἐν’ ᾧ τὸν μέγαν Βασίλειον διὰ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">πατάγων</span> φοβῆσαι ἠθέλησαν· καὶ ὁ τοῦ Μνηστάρχου οἶκος· (6) ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἵσταται καμάρα μεγίστη καὶ ὡραῖα· ἐστὶν γεγραμμένα τὰ ὀνόματα Ἀδριάνου καὶ <strike>Θυσέως</strike>Θησέως · εὐρίσκεται δὲ ἔνδον ταύτης αὐλῆ μεγίστη (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0040"><i>(W 31r</i></a>) <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ἐτύγχανεν εἰς ἥν οἶκος βασιλικὸς ὑπῆρχε</span>, πλείστοις δὲ κίωσιν ὑποκάτωθεν στηρίζομενος· ὅστις ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη τῶν τὴν ἄκραν οἰκοδομησάντων· πρὸς δὲ νότον τούτου ἐστὶν οἶκος μικρὸς πλὴν ὡραῖος εἰς ὅν κατερχόμενος ὁ δοῦξ κατὰ καιρὸν εἰς εὐωχίαν ἐκινεῖτο· ἐκεῖ ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ἐννεάκρουνος πηγὴ ἡ Καλλιῤῥόη εἰς ἥν λουόμενος ἀνήρχετο εἰς τέμενος τὸ τῆς Ἧρας γενόμενος καὶ προσηύχετο· νῦν δὲ μετεποιήθη είς ναὸν τῆς ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου ὑπὸ τῶν εὐσεβῶν· ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἐστὶν τὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν θέατρον κύκλῳ περιεχόμενον ὡσεὶ μηλίου διάστημα δύο εἰσόδους κεκτημένον· ἡ βορεινὴ εἴσοδος πλουτεῖ ἕτερον δέντι τιμαχαίτατον ἡ νοτινὴ ἐπικέκτηται· ἑκατὸν δὲ ζώναις κυκλωερῶς ἐκοσμεῖτο τὸ θέατρον ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένας λεύκου ἐν αἷς ὁ λαὸς καθεζόμενος ἐθεώρει τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων τὴν πάλην· ἐκ τούτου οὖν εἰσερχόμενοι τὴν ἀνατολικὴν πύλην εὐρίσκομεν ἄλλην ἀγορὰν καὶ ἀγωγοὺς ὑδάτων δύο οὕσπερ Ἰουλιος Καίσαρ Ἀθηναίος (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0041"><i>W 31v</i></a>) χαριζόμενος κατεσκεύασεν· καὶ ὕδωρ μήκοθεν τούτοις ἐκόμισεν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερος ἀγωγὸς κατὰ τὴν βόριον πύλην φερόμενος, ὅν ὁ Θυσεὺς ἐλεπτούργησεν καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν τῆς πολέως τῶν Ἀθηνῶν τυραννίδαν ὡς φησιν Ἅβαρις καὶ Ἠρώδοτος, ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη· Κέκρωψ δὲ ὁ διφυὴς μέγαλως ἐφαίδρυνεν ἐν ποικίλῃ δόξῃ ταύτην ὡραίσας· τὰ μὲν τείχη πρὸς ὕψος ἐγεῖρας, τὸ δὲ ἔδαφος διαφόροις μαρμάροις καταστρώσας· καὶ τὰ τεμένη ἔνδοθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν καταχρυσώσας, διὰ τοῦτο χρύσας Ἀθήνας ταύτην ἐπονόμασαν· εἰς γοῦν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἡμῶν εἰσερχομένων εὐρίσκομεν ἕνα μικρὸν διδασκαλεῖον ὅπερ ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῶν Μουσικῶν ὅπερ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος συνεστήσατο· κατέναντι δὲ τοῦτου ἔστιν παλάτιον μέγιστον καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν τούτου κίονας φέρειν πλείονας· λευκῶν δὲ μαρμάρων πλουτεῖ σὺν τῇ ὀροφῇ καὶ τὰ τείχη· πρὸς δὲ τὸ βόρειον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν πᾶσα ἡ καγκελαρία ἐκ μαρμάρου (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0041"><i>W 32r</i></a>) καὶ κιόνων πεποιημένην λευκῶν· νοτινὰ δὲ ταύτης ὑπῆρχεν ἡ στοᾶ ἐν ποικίλῃ ὡραιοτήτι περιχρυσομένη γύρωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν λίθοις τιμίοις κεκοσμένη· διὰ ταύτην καὶ στοικοὶ φιλοσόφοι ἐλέγοντο οἱ ἐν ταύτῃ μαθητευθέντες· ἄντικρυς δὲ ταύτης τὸ τῶν ἐπικουρίων ἤκμαζε διδασκαλεῖον· περὶ δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς θεομήτορος ὅν ᾠκοδομησαν Ἀπολλὼς καὶ Εὐλόγιος ἐπ’ ὀνόματι ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ ἔχει οὕτως· ἔστιν ὁ ναὸς δρομικώτατος καὶ εὐρυχωρος εἰς μήκος πολὺ ἐπεκτεινόμενος καὶ τὰ τείχη τούτου ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένα λευκοῦ· τετράγωνος δὴ τούτου ἡ θέσις καθέστηκεν πηλοῦ καὶ ἀσβέστου χωρὶς, διὰ σιδηροῦ δὲ καὶ μολύβδου πᾶς τοῖχος εἰς ὕψος ἀνάγεται· ἐκτὸς δὲ τοῦ τoίχου πλουτεῖ κίωνας παμμεγέθεις κυκλικῶς τὸν ναὸν περιέχοντας· μεταξὺ δὲ τῶν δύο κιόνων περιέχει παγίωσιν· πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὡραίαν πύλην καὶ τὸ ἅγιον βῆμα, ἅπερ εἰσὶ κατὰ λίβαν καὶ θρασκιὰν διπλὴν τῶν κιόνων ἐπικέκτηνται στάσιν· μέχρι δὲ πολλοῦ προϊοῦσα (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0042"><i>W 32v</i></a>) εἰς ὕψος· κεφαλαὶ δὲ τῶν κιόνων κεκολυμέναι διὰ γλυφῆς σιδήρου εἰς σχῆμα φοίνικος μεταποιημέναι καὶ τούτου ὕπερθεν δοκοῖ ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένοι λευκοῦ τοῖς κίωσιν καὶ τῷ τοίχῳ προσκολλώμενοι πλάκας κεκολαυμένας ὑπεράνωθεν ἔχοντες καὶ εἰς ὀροφῆς ὁμοιῶμα τι· ἡ τούτων ἐπιφάνεται κίρτωσις· στηρίζεται δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν κιόνων καὶ τοίχος ὡραιότατο</span>ς. Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-42793873691558903042021-12-15T01:51:00.001-08:002021-12-15T01:51:06.429-08:00Transcription of Manuscrit V (Test Version)</span></p><center><span style="font-family: arial;">Transcription of Manuscript V</span></center><center><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></center><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a transcription of manuscript V. It is only partially complete up to section 5. <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Highlighting</span> indicates variants with the edited text.</span><center><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></center><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;">Ταῦτα εἰσὶν τὰ διδασκαλεῖα καὶ τὰ θέατρα τῶν Ἀθηνῶν <b><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">V 228r</a></b> </div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">(1) Πρῶτον ἡ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ἀκαδδήμια</span> εἰς χωρίον τῶν βασιλικῶν· δεύτερον ἡ Ἐλαιατικὴ εἰς τοὺς ἀμπελοκήπους· τρίτον τοῦ Πλάτωνος διδασκαλεῖον εἰς τὸ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">παραδίση</span>· τέταρτον τὸ τοῦ Πολυζήλου ἐν <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ὄρη τὸ Εἰμιτίῳ</span>· πέμπτον τὸ τοῦ Διοδώρου πλησίον τούτου· (2) ἐντὸς τῆς πολέως ἐστὶν τὸ διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σωκράτους, (<a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896"><b>V 228v</b></a>) ἐν ᾧ ἐστὶν κύκλῳ οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι ἱστορισμένοι· δυσικὰ δὲ τούτου ἵσταντο τὰ παλάτια τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους· καὶ πλησίον τούτων οἱ λαμπροὶ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">οἴκοι</span> τοῦ πολεμάρχου· ἵσταται δὲ καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Διὸς· ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων ἐστὶ βωμὸς εἰς ὅν <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ταφεὶς</span> ἠξιοῦντο οἱ παγκρατιστοὶ καὶ οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι, ἐν ᾧ φοιτῶντες οἱ ῥήτορες τοὺς (<a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896"><b>V 229r</b></a>) ἐπιταφίους <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ἐπιοῦντο</span> λόγους· (3) βορρινὰ δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν ἡ πρώτη ἀγορὰ τῆς πόλεως· <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">εἰς οὖν</span> ὁ ἀπόστολος Φίλιππος τὸν <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">γραμματίαν</span> ἐβύθισεν, ἔνθα ὑπῆρχον καὶ οἱ λάμπροὶ οἶκοι φυλῆς τῆς Πανδιόνιδος· κατὰ δὲ τὸ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">νώτιον</span> μέρος ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">κινικῶν</span> φιλοσόφων· καὶ πλησίον τούτου τῶν τραγικῶν· ἐκτὸς δὲ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ὀλῖγον πρὸς δύσιν (<a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896"><b>V 229v</b></a>) κατῴκουν οἱ θαλαμπῖοι· καὶ πλησίον τούτων ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σοφοκλέους· καὶ πρὸς <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">νώτον</span> τούτου ἵστατο ὁ Ἄρειος πάγος, ἔνθα ὁ τοῦ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Ποσινδῶνος </span>υἵος Λυρόθιος ὑπὸ Ἄρεως <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ἐθανατώθην</span>· ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν τὰ παλάτια Κλεονίδους καὶ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Μελτιάδος</span>· Καὶ πλησίον τούτου <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">ἀκμὴ</span> ἵστατο διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους· ὕπερθεν δὲ τούτου (<a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896"><b>V 230r</b></a>) ἵσταντο δύο κίονες· καὶ εἰς μὲν τὸ ἀνατολικὸν ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῆς Ἀθήνας ἄγαλμα, εἰς δὲ τὸ δυσικὸν τοῦ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Ποσινδῶνος</span>· μέσον δὲ τούτων λέγουσιν εἶναι ποτὲ γοργόνης κεφαλὴν ἔνδοθεν κουβουκλίου <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">σιδηρροῦ</span>· ἔστι καὶ <span style="background-color: white;">ὠρολόγιον τῆς ἡμέρας </span></span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">μαρμάρινον</span><span style="font-family: arial;">· (5) ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ὑπῆρχεν (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 230v</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους· καὶ ἀνατολικὰ ἀκμὴν ἵστατο ὁ λύχνος τοῦ Δημοσθένους· πλησίον τούτου ἦν τότε καὶ τοῦ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Θουκίδους</span> οἴκημα καὶ <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Σώλονος</span>· ἀγορά τε δευτέρα καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Ἀλκμαίονος καὶ βαλανείον μέγιστον· καὶ πρὸς νῶτον τούτων ἡ μεγάλη ἀγορὰ τῆς πολέως καὶ τεμένη πλεῖστα καὶ ἀξιάγαστα· ἕως τῆς πύλης (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 231r</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) τῆς λεγομένης νοτίδος ἧς πρὸς τῆς φλιὰς ἱστόρηνται ἐννεακαίδεκα ἄνδρες τὸν ἕνα διώκοντες· Ἑκεῖ ὑπῆρχε καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν λουτρὸν ἐν’ ᾧ τὸν μέγαν Βασίλειον διὰ πατάγου φοβῆσαι ἠθέλησαν· καὶ ὁ τοῦ Μνηστάρχου οἶκος· (6) ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἵσταται καμάρα μεγίστη καὶ ὡραῖα· ἐστὶν γεγραμμένα (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 231v</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) τὰ ὀνόματα Ἀδριάνου καὶ Θησέως· εὐρίσκεται δὲ ἔνδον ταύτης αὐλῆ μεγίστη καὶ οἶκος βασιλικὸς, πλείστοις δὲ κίωσιν ὑποκάτωθεν στηρίζομενος· ὅστις ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη τῶν τὴν ἄκραν οἰκοδομησάντων· πρὸς δὲ νότον τούτου ἐστὶν οἶκος μικρὸς πλὴν ὡραῖος εἰς ὅν κατερχόμενος ὁ δοῦξ (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 232r</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) κατὰ καιρὸν εἰς εὐωχίαν ἐκινεῖτο· ἐκεῖ ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ἐννεάκρουνος πηγὴ ἡ Καλλιῤῥόη εἰς ἥν λουόμενος ἀνήρχετο εἰς τέμενος τὸ τῆς Ἧρας γενόμενος καὶ προσηύχετο· νῦν δὲ μετεποιήθη είς ναὸν τῆς ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου ὑπὸ τῶν εὐσεβῶν· ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἐστὶν τὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν θέατρον (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 232v</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) κύκλῳ περιεχόμενον ὡσεὶ μηλίου διάστημα δύο εἰσόδους κεκτημένον· ἡ βορεινὴ εἴσοδος πλουτεῖ ἕτερον δέντι τιμαχαίτατον ἡ νοτινὴ ἐπικέκτηται· ἑκατὸν δὲ ζώναις κυκλωερῶς ἐκοσμεῖτο τὸ θέατρον ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένας λεύκου ἐν αἷς ὁ λαὸς καθεζόμενος (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 233r</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) ἐθεώρει τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων τὴν πάλην· ἐκ τούτου οὖν εἰσερχόμενοι τὴν ἀνατολικὴν πύλην εὐρίσκομεν ἄλλην ἀγορὰν καὶ ἀγωγοὺς ὑδάτων δύο οὕσπερ Ἰουλιος Καίσαρ Ἀθηναίος χαριζόμενος κατεσκεύασεν· καὶ ὕδωρ μήκοθεν τούτοις ἐκόμισεν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερος ἀγωγὸς κατὰ τὴν βόριον (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 233v</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) πύλην φερόμενος, ὅν ὁ Θυσεὺς ἐλεπτούργησεν καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν τῆς πολέως τῶν Ἀθηνῶν τυραννίδαν ὡς φησιν Ἅβαρις καὶ Ἠρώδοτος, ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη· Κέκρωψ δὲ ὁ διφυὴς μέγαλως ἐφαίδρυνεν ἐν ποικίλῃ δόξῃ ταύτην ὡραίσας· τὰ μὲν τείχη πρὸς ὕψος ἐγεῖρας, τὸ δὲ ἔδαφος διαφόροις (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 234r</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) μαρμάροις καταστρώσας· καὶ τὰ τεμένη ἔνδοθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν καταχρυσώσας, διὰ τοῦτο χρύσας Ἀθήνας ταύτην ἐπονόμασαν· εἰς γοῦν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἡμῶν εἰσερχομένων εὐρίσκομεν ἕνα μικρὸν διδασκαλεῖον ὅπερ ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῶν Μουσικῶν ὅπερ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος συνεστήσατο· κατέναντι δὲ τοῦτου ἔστιν παλάτιον μέγιστον (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 234v</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν τούτου κίονας φέρειν πλείονας· λευκῶν δὲ μαρμάρων πλουτεῖ σὺν τῇ ὀροφῇ καὶ τὰ τείχη· πρὸς δὲ τὸ βόρειον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν πᾶσα ἡ καγκελαρία ἐκ μαρμάρου καὶ κιόνων πεποιημένην λευκῶν· νοτινὰ δὲ ταύτης ὑπῆρχεν ἡ στοᾶ ἐν ποικίλῃ ὡραιοτήτι περιχρυσομένη γύρωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν λίθοις (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 235r</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) τιμίοις κεκοσμένη· διὰ ταύτην καὶ στοικοὶ φιλοσόφοι ἐλέγοντο οἱ ἐν ταύτῃ μαθητευθέντες· ἄντικρυς δὲ ταύτης τὸ τῶν ἐπικουρίων ἤκμαζε διδασκαλεῖον· περὶ δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς θεομήτορος ὅν ᾠκοδομησαν Ἀπολλὼς καὶ Εὐλόγιος ἐπ’ ὀνόματι ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ ἔχει οὕτως· ἔστιν ὁ ναὸς δρομικώτατος καὶ εὐρυχωρος εἰς μήκος πολὺ ἐπεκτεινόμενος καὶ τὰ (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 235v</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) τείχη τούτου ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένα λευκοῦ· τετράγωνος δὴ τούτου ἡ θέσις καθέστηκεν πηλοῦ καὶ ἀσβέστου χωρὶς, διὰ σιδηροῦ δὲ καὶ μολύβδου πᾶς τοῖχος εἰς ὕψος ἀνάγεται· ἐκτὸς δὲ τοῦ τoίχου πλουτεῖ κίωνας παμμεγέθεις κυκλικῶς τὸν ναὸν περιέχοντας· μεταξὺ δὲ τῶν δύο κιόνων περιέχει παγίωσιν· (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 236r</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὡραίαν πύλην καὶ τὸ ἅγιον βῆμα, ἅπερ εἰσὶ κατὰ λίβαν καὶ θρασκιὰν διπλὴν τῶν κιόνων ἐπικέκτηνται στάσιν· μέχρι δὲ πολλοῦ προϊοῦσα εἰς ὕψος· κεφαλαὶ δὲ τῶν κιόνων κεκολυμέναι διὰ γλυφῆς σιδήρου εἰς σχῆμα φοίνικος μεταποιημέναι καὶ τούτου ὕπερθεν δοκοῖ ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένοι λευκοῦ τοῖς κίωσιν καὶ (</span><a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896" style="font-family: arial;"><b>V 236v</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) τῷ τοίχῳ προσκολλώμενοι πλάκας κεκολαυμένας ὑπεράνωθεν ἔχοντες καὶ εἰς ὀροφῆς ὁμοιῶμα τι· ἡ τούτων ἐπιφάνεται κίρτωσις· στηρίζεται δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν κιόνων καὶ τοίχος ὡραιότατος.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-80874347106274811132021-12-14T14:29:00.083-08:002021-12-15T08:34:42.274-08:00The Theaters and Schools of Athens: A Digital Edition (Test Version) <html>
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<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">After it flourished as a center of learning and culture in antiquity, the city of Athens gradually became a cultural backwater in the Byzantine era. Sites such as the Parthenon continued to draw visitors to the city ranging from emperors to regular pilgrims from throughout the Byzantine world, come to see the now Church of the Mother of God.<a href="#fn1" id="r1"><sup>1</sup></a> However, our knowledge of the monuments of the city is quite spotty aside from a few monuments such as the so-called Lantern of Demosthenes (now correctly identified as the Lysicrates choragic monument).<a href="#fn2" id="r2"><sup>2</sup></a> One curious text that testifies to how people thought about their city and the local myths of Athens during the medieval period is an anonymous text called <i>On the theaters and schools of Athens</i>. The text is essentially a tour guide to ancient Athens, taking the reader through the city and sometimes briefly discussing the monuments described. <p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">The text has long been believed to date from around 1460,<a href="#fn3" id="r3"><sup>3</sup></a> when the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Athens">Florentine dukedom of Athens</a> was absorbed by the Ottoman sultan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_the_Conqueror">Mehmet II</a>. As it speaks of a dux coming down to the lower city for banquets and then ascending to pray at the temple of Hera, which "has been converted into the temple of the most holy Mother of God by the pious" (7). This assumption is understandable, but problematic because we know so little about the lore of local Athenians. For example, the text implies that the dux in question prayed at the pagan temple of Hera, not the later church. From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicephorus_Gregoras">Nikephoros Gregoras</a>, we learn that some locals invented complex genealogies explaining why the position of dux existed. Some alleged that Constantine the Great had nominated a grand dux who later became simply the dux of the city. Could locals have remembered a pagan phase in the ducate before it became fully Christian? Further, the text also mentions the city's first forum where Philip supposedly cast a pharisee come to debate him into the abyss (3). During the Middle Byzantine period, we know that there was a church of Saint Philip here. The fact that the guide to Athens does not mention the church is curious, as it does mention other churches connected with distant memories of the city.<a href="#fn4" id="r4"><sup>4</sup></a></span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">This webpage presents a digital edition of this tour guide. It is only a test edition designed to see what technological capabilities can be employed to create a digital edition of this text. As such, I do not attempt to include all the variants in the manuscript. Only a select few are noted below. <p font-size:16px=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The manuscripts consulted for this edition are the following:</span></span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">W Wien, Österreischische Nationalbibliothek, cod. gr. 252 f. 29v-32v (16-17th c.)</span></span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span></span></span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>I have consulted the manuscript images via digital scans. For readers of this edition to easily access the edition, I have linked references to a facsimile of the manuscript in L. Laborde, </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Athènes aux XVe, XVIe et XVIIe siècles</i> (P<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">aris, 1854), pp. 16-17.</span> </span></span></blockquote><p></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">V<span> The Vatican Library vat. gr. 1896, ff. 228r-236v (16th c.)</span></span></span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">In reconstructing the text of the original tour guide, I have generally followed the text of V. V as any reader of the <a href="https://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2021/12/transcription-of-manuscrit-v-test.html">transcription</a> will note is filled with errors and issues of orthography, but it overall offers a much superior copy of the text and fills in gaps in the previously studied manuscript W, as Mercati noted.<a href="#fn5" id="r5"><sup>5</sup></a> W appears to be an improved copy of the original text. The reader of this text occasionally improved the grammar of the original in a number of instances, changing directions from the colloquial neuter plural to a preposition followed by the name of the direction (e.g., section 4 V</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Ἀνατολικὰ; W Κατὰ ἀνατολὰς). In addition, the person who modified their exemplar was cautious about contemporary identifications of the places in the text, often adding λεγόμενον to the text. For example, the school of Aristophanes in section 5 is the 'so called' school (W </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">διδασκαλεῖον λεγόμενον</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span>τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους; <span style="background-color: white;">V </span>διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους).</span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">As the text of the respective texts of these 2 versions may offer key insight into the Athenian dialect being used by the educated class during the Middle Ages, something for which we have little evidence, I offer transcriptions of V and W here, so that it is easier to perform future research on the dialect. </span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2021/12/transcription-of-manuscrit-v-test.html">Transcription of V</a></span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2021/12/transcription-of-manuscript-w-this-is.html">Transcription of W</a></span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="#fn6" id="r6">Translation</a>
<br /><center>Edition</center>
<p font-size:16px=""></p><center><span style="font-family: arial;"> Ταῦτα εἰσὶν τὰ διδασκαλεῖα καὶ τὰ θέατρα τῶν Ἀθηνῶν<a href="#fn7" id="r7"><sup>1</a></sup> <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0037">W 29v</a> <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">V 228r</a></span></center>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(1) Πρῶτον<a href="#fn8" id="r8"><sup>2</a></sup> ἡ ἀκαδημία<a href="#fn9" id="r9"><sup>3</a></sup> εἰς χωρίον τῶν βασιλικῶν· δεύτερον ἡ Ἐλαιατικὴ εἰς τοὺς ἀμπελοκήπους· τρίτον τοῦ Πλάτωνος διδασκαλεῖον εἰς τὸ παραδείσιον<a href="#fn10" id="r10"><sup>4</a></sup>· τέταρτον τὸ τοῦ Πολυζήλου ἐν ὄρει τῷ Ὑμηττίῳ·<a href="#fn11" id="r11"><sup>5</a></sup> πέμπτον τὸ τοῦ Διοδώρου πλησίον τούτου </span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(2) Ἐντὸς δὲ<a href="#fn12" id="r12"><sup>6</a></sup> τῆς πολέως ἐστὶν τὸ διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σωκράτους, <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 228v)</a> ἐν ᾧ εἰσὶ<a href="#fn13" id="r13"><sup>7</a></sup> κύκλῳ οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι ἱστορισμένοι· κατὰ δύσιν<a href="#fn14" id="r14"><sup>8</a></sup> δὲ τούτου ἵσταντο τὰ παλάτια τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους· <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0038">(W 30r)</a> καὶ πλησίον τούτων οἱ λαμπροὶ οἶκοι<a href="#fn15" id="r15"><sup>9</a></sup> τοῦ πολεμάρχου· ἵσταται δὲ καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Διὸς·<a href="#fn16" id="r16"><sup>10</a></sup> ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων ἐστὶ βωμὸς εἰς ὅν ταφῆς ἠξιοῦντο οἱ παγκρατιστοὶ καὶ οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι, ἐν ᾧ φοιτῶντες οἱ ῥήτορες τοὺς <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 229r)</a> ἐπιταφίους ἐποιοῦντο λόγους. </span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"> (3) Κατὰ ἄρκτον δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν ἡ πρώτη ἀγορὰ τῆς πόλεως· εἰς ἥν ὁ ἀπόστολος Φίλιππος τὸν γραμματέα ἐβύθισεν, ἔνθα ὑπῆρχον καὶ οἱ λάμπροὶ οἶκοι φυλῆς τῆς Πανδιόνιδος· κατὰ δὲ τὸ νότιον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ κυνικῶν φιλοσόφων, καὶ πλησίον τούτου τῶν τραγικῶν· ἐκτὸς δὲ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ὀλίγον πρὸς δύσιν <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 229v)</a> κατῴκουν οἱ θαλαμίοι. Καὶ πλησίον τούτων ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σοφοκλέους· καὶ πρὸς νώτον τούτου ἵστατο ὁ Ἄρειος πάγος, ἔνθα ὁ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος υἵος Λυρόθιος ὑπὸ Ἄρεως ἐθανατώθη. </span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(4) Ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν τὰ παλάτια Κλεονίδους καὶ Μελιτιάδος· Καὶ πλησίον τούτου ἀκμὴν ἵστατο διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους· ὕπερθεν δὲ <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0039">(W 30v)</a> τούτου <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 230r)</a> ἵσταντο δύο κίονες· καὶ εἰς μὲν τὸ ἀνατολικὸν ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῆς Ἀθήνας ἄγαλμα, εἰς δὲ τὸ δυσικὸν τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος· μέσον δὲ τούτων λέγουσιν εἶναι ποτὲ γοργόνης κεφαλὴν ἔνδοθεν κουβουκλίου σιδηροῦ· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὡρολόγιον τῆς ἡμέρας μαρμαριτικόν.</span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(5) Ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ὑπῆρχεν <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 230v)</a> διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους· καὶ ἀνατολικὰ ἀκμὴν ἵστατο ὁ λύχνος τοῦ Δημοσθένους· πλησίον τούτου ἦν τότε καὶ τοῦ Θουκυδίδους οἴκημα καὶ Σόλωνος· ἀγορά τε δευτέρα καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Ἀλκμαίονος καὶ βαλανείον μέγιστον· καὶ πρὸς νῶτον τούτων ἡ μεγάλη ἀγορὰ τῆς πολέως καὶ τεμένη πλεῖστα καὶ ἀξιάγαστα· ἕως τῆς πύλης <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 231r)</a> τῆς λεγομένης νοτίδος ἧς πρὸς τῆς φλιὰς ἱστόρηνται ἐννεακαίδεκα ἄνδρες τὸν ἕνα διώκοντες· Ἑκεῖ ὑπῆρχε καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν λουτρὸν ἐν’ ᾧ τὸν μέγαν Βασίλειον διὰ πατάγου φοβῆσαι ἠθέλησαν· καὶ ὁ τοῦ Μνηστάρχου οἶκος. </span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(6) Ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἵσταται καμάρα μεγίστη καὶ ὡραῖα· ἐστὶν γεγραμμένα <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 231v)</a> τὰ ὀνόματα Ἀδριάνου καὶ Θησέως· εὐρίσκεται δὲ ἔνδον ταύτης αὐλῆ μεγίστη <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0040">(W 31r)</a> καὶ οἶκος βασιλικὸς, πλείστοις δὲ κίωσιν ὑποκάτωθεν στηρίζομενος· ὅστις ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη τῶν τὴν ἄκραν οἰκοδομησάντων.</span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(7) Πρὸς δὲ νότον τούτου ἐστὶν οἶκος μικρὸς πλὴν ὡραῖος εἰς ὅν κατερχόμενος ὁ δοῦξ <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 232r)</a> κατὰ καιρὸν εἰς εὐωχίαν ἐκινεῖτο· ἐκεῖ ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ἐννεάκρουνος πηγὴ ἡ Καλλιῤῥόη εἰς ἥν λουόμενος ἀνήρχετο εἰς τέμενος τὸ τῆς Ἧρας γενόμενος καὶ προσηύχετο· νῦν δὲ μετεποιήθη είς ναὸν τῆς ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου ὑπὸ τῶν εὐσεβῶν. </span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(8) Ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἐστὶν τὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν θέατρον <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 232v)</a> κύκλῳ περιεχόμενον ὡσεὶ μηλίου διάστημα δύο εἰσόδους κεκτημένον· ἡ βορεινὴ εἴσοδος πλουτεῖ ἕτερον δέντι τιμαχαίτατον ἡ νοτινὴ ἐπικέκτηται· ἑκατὸν δὲ ζώναις κυκλωερῶς ἐκοσμεῖτο τὸ θέατρον ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένας λεύκου ἐν αἷς ὁ λαὸς καθεζόμενος <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 233r)</a> ἐθεώρει τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων τὴν πάλην. </span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(9) Ἐκ τούτου οὖν εἰσερχόμενοι τὴν ἀνατολικὴν πύλην εὐρίσκομεν ἄλλην ἀγορὰν καὶ ἀγωγοὺς ὑδάτων δύο οὕσπερ Ἰουλιος Καίσαρ Ἀθηναίος <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0041">(W 31v)</a> χαριζόμενος κατεσκεύασεν· καὶ ὕδωρ μήκοθεν τούτοις ἐκόμισεν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερος ἀγωγὸς κατὰ τὴν βόριον <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 233v)</a> πύλην φερόμενος, ὅν ὁ Θυσεὺς ἐλεπτούργησεν καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν τῆς πολέως τῶν Ἀθηνῶν τυραννίδαν ὡς φησιν Ἅβαρις καὶ Ἠρώδοτος, ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη· Κέκρωψ δὲ ὁ διφυὴς μέγαλως ἐφαίδρυνεν ἐν ποικίλῃ δόξῃ ταύτην ὡραίσας· τὰ μὲν τείχη πρὸς ὕψος ἐγεῖρας, τὸ δὲ ἔδαφος διαφόροις <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 234r)</a> μαρμάροις καταστρώσας· καὶ τὰ τεμένη ἔνδοθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν καταχρυσώσας, διὰ τοῦτο χρύσας Ἀθήνας ταύτην ἐπονόμασαν.</span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(10) Εἰς γοῦν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἡμῶν εἰσερχομένων εὐρίσκομεν ἕνα μικρὸν διδασκαλεῖον ὅπερ ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῶν Μουσικῶν ὅπερ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος συνεστήσατο· κατέναντι δὲ τοῦτου ἔστιν παλάτιον μέγιστον <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 234v)</a> καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν τούτου κίονας φέρειν πλείονας· λευκῶν δὲ μαρμάρων πλουτεῖ σὺν τῇ ὀροφῇ καὶ τὰ τείχη· πρὸς δὲ τὸ βόρειον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν πᾶσα ἡ καγκελαρία ἐκ μαρμάρου <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0042">(W 32r)</a> καὶ κιόνων πεποιημένην λευκῶν· νοτινὰ δὲ ταύτης ὑπῆρχεν ἡ στοᾶ ἐν ποικίλῃ ὡραιοτήτι περιχρυσομένη γύρωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν λίθοις <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 235r)</a> τιμίοις κεκοσμένη· διὰ ταύτην καὶ στοικοὶ φιλοσόφοι ἐλέγοντο οἱ ἐν ταύτῃ μαθητευθέντες· ἄντικρυς δὲ ταύτης τὸ τῶν ἐπικουρίων ἤκμαζε διδασκαλεῖον.</span></p><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(11) Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς θεομήτορος ὅν ᾠκοδομησαν Ἀπολλὼς καὶ Εὐλόγιος ἐπ’ ὀνόματι ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ ἔχει οὕτως· ἔστιν ὁ ναὸς δρομικώτατος καὶ εὐρυχωρος εἰς μήκος πολὺ ἐπεκτεινόμενος καὶ τὰ <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 235v)</a> τείχη τούτου ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένα λευκοῦ· τετράγωνος δὴ τούτου ἡ θέσις καθέστηκεν πηλοῦ καὶ ἀσβέστου χωρὶς, διὰ σιδηροῦ δὲ καὶ μολύβδου πᾶς τοῖχος εἰς ὕψος ἀνάγεται· ἐκτὸς δὲ τοῦ τoίχου πλουτεῖ κίωνας παμμεγέθεις κυκλικῶς τὸν ναὸν περιέχοντας· μεταξὺ δὲ τῶν δύο κιόνων περιέχει παγίωσιν· <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 236r)</a> πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὡραίαν πύλην καὶ τὸ ἅγιον βῆμα, ἅπερ εἰσὶ κατὰ λίβαν καὶ θρασκιὰν διπλὴν τῶν κιόνων ἐπικέκτηνται στάσιν· μέχρι δὲ πολλοῦ προϊοῦσα <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/laborde1854bd1/0043">(W 32v)</a> εἰς ὕψος· κεφαλαὶ δὲ τῶν κιόνων κεκολυμέναι διὰ γλυφῆς σιδήρου εἰς σχῆμα φοίνικος μεταποιημέναι καὶ τούτου ὕπερθεν δοκοῖ ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένοι λευκοῦ τοῖς κίωσιν καὶ <a href="https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1896">(V 236v)</a> τῷ τοίχῳ προσκολλώμενοι πλάκας κεκολαυμένας ὑπεράνωθεν ἔχοντες καὶ εἰς ὀροφῆς ὁμοιῶμα τι· ἡ τούτων ἐπιφάνεται κίρτωσις· στηρίζεται δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν κιόνων καὶ τοίχος ὡραιότατος.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><center><a href="#fn6" id="r6">Translation</a></center></p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><center>These are the theaters and schools of Athens</center></p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(1) First in the academy in the village of the imperial buildings. Second is the Elaeatic school in the vineyards. Third is the school of Plato in the park area. Fourth is the school of Polyzelus on Mount Hymettus. Fifth is the school of Diodorus next to it.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(2) Within the city is the school of Socrates on which men and the winds are depicted in a circle.<a href="#fn17" id="r17"><sup>1</a></sup> To the west of it stood the mansions of Themistocles. Next to them are the resplendent homes of the Polemarch. There also stands the statue of Zeus.<a href="#fn18" id="r18"><sup>2</a></sup> Close to them is the altar where boxers and Olympian victors were deemed worthy of burial. Orators used to come here and read their funeral orations.<a href="#fn19" id="r19"><sup>3</a></sup> To the north of this, there once was the first agora of the city, where the apostle Philip plunged the scribe into the abyss.<a href="#fn20" id="r20"><sup>4</a></sup></p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(3) There also were the resplendent homes of the Pandionis tribe. In the southern part of them, there was the school of Cynic philosophers and next to it that of the tragedians. A little to the west outside the acropolis, there lived the rowers.<a href="#fn21" id="r21"><sup>5</a></sup> Nearby them was the school of Sophocles. To the south of it stood the Areopagus, where Lyrothios the son of Poseidon was killed by Ares.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(4) To the east of this, stood the mansions of Kleonides and Melitias. Near this also stood the school of Aristotle. Above this stood two columns. On the eastern one, there was a statue of Athena, while on the western one stood one of Poseidon. They say that between once was the head of a gorgon inside an iron enclosure. There was also a marble solar clock.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(5) Near them to the east stood the school of Aristophanes. And further to the east stood the lamp of Demosthenes.<a href="#fn22" id="r22"><sup>6</a></sup> Near to this was also the house of Thucydides and Solon as well as the second agora, the house of Alcmaeon, and a very large bathhouse. To the south of them is the main agora in the city and many, wondrous temples. Until the so-called Notis gate, by whose lintel are depicted nineteen men pursuing one. There also was the royal bath where they wanted to scare Saint Basil with clamor as well as the house of Mnestarchus.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(6) To the east of this stands a very large and beautiful vaulted building where the names of Hadrian and Theseus are written.<a href="#fn25" id="r25"><sup>7</a></sup> Within it, there is a very large courtyard and a royal house, supported from below by many columns. It was adorned by twelve kings who also built the acropolis.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(7) To the south of this is a small but beautiful house to which the dux would come down sometimes and hold feasts. There also is the Henneacrunus spring, the Callirhoe, in which he would bathe and then go up to the so-called temple of Hera and pray. Now the temple has been converted into the temple of the most holy Mother of God by the pious.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(8) To the east of it is also the theater of Athens<a href="#fn28" id="r28"><sup>8</a> which encloses a space of nearly a mile and had two entrances. The northern entrance…the southern entrance possesses…in addition. The theater is adorned with one hundred rows of seats made out of white marble in which the people used to sit and watch the struggle of the competitors.<a href="#fn24" id="r24"><sup>9</a></sup></p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(9) Going out from it and entering the eastern gate, we find another agora and two aqueducts, which Julius Caesar constructed as a gift for the Athenians. He brought water from faraway to them. There is also another aqueduct which goes by the northern gate which Theseus constructed. This is and all this was constructed by the twelve kings after the tyranny of Athens, as Abaris and Herodotus say. Cecrops the dual-natured<a href="#fn23" id="r23"><sup>10</a></sup> was highly reputed and adorned Athens, building high walls, decking the base level with different marbles, and covering the temples within and without the city with gold. For this reason, they thereafter called it golden Athens.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(10) When we enter the acropolis, we find a small school, which was the school of the Muses, which Pythagoras the Samian established. Opposite of it is a large mansion and below it are many columns. Its walls as well as its roof are replete with white marbles. Toward the northern part of the building was the entire chancellery made out of white marble and columns. To the north of this was a stoa of varied beauty covered with gold all around with precious stones on the outside. Because of this, the people who took lessons here were called the stoic philosophers. Near to it also flourished the school of the Epicureans.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">(11) Concerning the temple of the Mother of God, which Apollo and Eulogius built in the name of the unknown god, the following is the case. The temple and its marble walls stretch out for a great distance. Its structure is a rectangle and it rises up to a great height without any clay or lime, but with iron and lead. Outside the walls stand very large columns surrounding the temple. Between the columns, it has supports. Toward the beautiful gate and the chancel, which face the southwest and northwest, it also possess a double row of columns. It advances to a great height. The capitals of the columns are held in place with an iron sculpture in the form of a phoenix.<a href="#fn26" id="r26"><sup>11</a></sup> Above this are the main beams made of white marble which hold together the columns and wall and have plates engraved on top of them giving off the appearance of a roof, as they appear convex. A most beautiful wall is also supported by the columns.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><center>A GPS Map Showing a Rough Outline of How the Guidebook's Route through Athens</center></p></span>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m64!1m12!1m3!1d6290.334030947794!2d23.72520782924442!3d37.9732314644874!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m49!3e2!4m5!1s0x14a1bd22af00b175%3A0x2600bd2df93b4ed2!2sTower%20of%20the%20Winds%2C%20Athens%2C%20Greece!3m2!1d37.9745002!2d23.7270431!4m5!1s0x14a1bd223f7582d9%3A0x729340342a444ee5!2sChurch%20of%20the%20Apostle%20Phillip!3m2!1d37.9761022!2d23.7233165!4m5!1s0x14a1bd1972fd320f%3A0x673dac60a01f1e34!2sAreopagus%20Hill%2C%20Theorias%2C%20Athens%2C%20Greece!3m2!1d37.972365499999995!2d23.723232199999998!4m5!1s0x14a1bd17a8ce9793%3A0x35ddd4c138417009!2sChoragic%20Monument%20of%20Lysicrates!3m2!1d37.971088099999996!2d23.7299467!4m5!1s0x14a1bd15e3c43eaf%3A0x7cd916231c2620f0!2sRoman%20Baths!3m2!1d37.9715895!2d23.7337489!4m5!1s0x14a1bd16f4fbb951%3A0x6339c0db9c5ce1b8!2sHadrian's%20Arch!3m2!1d37.9702185!2d23.7320426!4m5!1s0x14a1bd17583561d5%3A0x1cdd86cfb17e15cc!2sTheater%20of%20Dionysus%20Eleuthereus%2C%20Mitseon%2C%20Athens%2C%20Greece!3m2!1d37.970326!2d23.7277147!4m5!1s0x14a1bd19ca39ee61%3A0x1b3fa079b878a218!2sParthenon%2C%20Athens%2C%20Greece!3m2!1d37.9715285!2d23.7267166!5e0!3m2!1sen!2str!4v1639579331622!5m2!1sen!2str" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<center><p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">Notes to the Introduction</span></center></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn1">
<a href="#r1">1</a> </sup></span>On Athens during this period, see Charalambos Bouras, <i>Byzantine Athens, 10th - 12th Centuries</i> (New York City: Routledge, 2018); Anthony Kaldellis, <i>The Christian Parthenon: Classicism and Pilgrimage in Byzantine Athens</i> (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). </span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn2">
<a href="#r2">2</a> </sup>On the Lantern of Demosthenes, see Kaldellis, <i>The Christian Parthenon</i>, 181–84; J. R. Mccredie, “The ‘Lantern of Demosthenes’ and Lysikrates, Son of Lysitheides, of Kikynna,” in <i>Studies Presented to Sterling Dow on His Eightieth Birthday</i>, ed. Alan L. Boegehold and Kent J. Rigsby (Durham, N.C: Duke University, 1984), 181–83; Lya Matton and Raymond Matton, <i>Athènes et ses monuments du XVIIe siècle à nos jours</i> (Athens: Institut français d’Athènes, 1963), 141–44. </span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn3"><a href="#r3">3</a> </sup>For a convenient summary of previous arguments: Silvio Mercati, “Noterella sulla tradizione manoscritta dei ‘Mirabilia urbis Athenarum,’” in <i>Mélanges Eugène Tisserant</i>, vol. 3 (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1963), 77–78.</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn4"><a href="#r4">4</a></sup> For Gregoras' account of the dux of Athens: Ludwig Schopen, <i>Nicephori Gregorae Byzantina Historia</i>, vol. 1 (Bonn: Weber, 1829), 239. On the date of the church of Saint Philip: Bouras, <i>Byzantine Athens</i>, 277-9.</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn5"><a href="#r5">5</a> </sup>Mercati, "Noterella", 82-3.</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><center>Notes to the Greek</center></p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn7">
<a href="#r7">1</sup></a>W τὰ θέατρα καὶ διδασκαλεῖα τῶν Ἀθηνῶν</p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"> <sup id="fn8">
<a href="#r8">2</sup></a>W Πρῶτη</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn9">
<a href="#r9">3</sup></a>V ἀκαδδήμια</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn10">
<a href="#r10">4</sup></a>V παραδίση</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn11">
<a href="#r11">5</sup></a>V ὄρη τὸ Εἰμιτίῳ; W ἐν ὄρει τῷ Ἠμιτίῳ</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn12">
<a href="#r12">6</sup></a>V omits δὲ</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn13">
<a href="#r13">7</sup></a>V ἐστὶν</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn14">
<a href="#r14">8</sup></a>V δυσικὰ</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn15">
<a href="#r15">9</sup></a>W οἶκοι</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><sup id="fn16">
<a href="#r16">10</sup></a>W ἵσταντο δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα τοῦ Διὸς ἔγγυς τούτων</span></p>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><center>Notes to the Translation</center></p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn17">
<a href="#r17">1</sup></a> <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/Vm3whMf76HZFrgQv9">The so-called Tower of the Winds</a>, the Horologion of Andronicus of Cyrrhus, in modern day Athens.</p></span><p><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Torre_dels_Vents_d%27Atenes.JPG#/media/File:Torre_dels_Vents_d'Atenes.JPG"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Torre_dels_Vents_d%27Atenes.JPG" alt="Torre dels Vents d'Atenes.JPG" height="720" width="540"></a></p><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3145.1205453763087!2d23.724700315323403!3d37.97431602972355!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x14a1bd22a8e079a1%3A0x2fc9a337388e502!2sHorologion%20of%20Andronikos%20Kyrrhestes!5e0!3m2!1sen!2str!4v1639574636625!5m2!1sen!2str" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn18">
<a href="#r18">2</sup></a> For this sentence, W has, “statues of Zeus stood next to them.”</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn19">
<a href="#r19">3</sup></a> W “Orators used to come here and read their funeral orations.”</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn20">
<a href="#r20">4</sup></a> According to the apocryphal Acts of Philip, Philip debated before an assembled group of philosophers with a Jewish archpriest come from Jerusalem. When the archpriest refused to concede, Philip caused the earth to open up and swallow the archpriest whole. See Acts of Philip 19. In the first century A.D., scribes were often figures vested with authority in the study of the Torah and held high public status so they could function as a knowledgeable figure such as an archpriest. After the ninth century, a <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/fh8c7ft9Bc7XyQW4A">church dedicated to Saint Philip</a> was constructed in the agora</p></span><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m8!1m3!1d6290.240013548372!2d23.7225116!3d37.9743286!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x14a1bd223f7582d9%3A0x729340342a444ee5!2sChurch%20of%20the%20Apostle%20Phillip!5e0!3m2!1sen!2str!4v1639574753714!5m2!1sen!2str" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn21">
<a href="#r21">5</sup></a> The θάλαμιος or θαλαμίτης was a rower seated on the lowest benches near the oar port.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn22">
<a href="#r22">6</sup></a> The lamp or lantern of Demosthenes was the Byzantine name for <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/FA4z7Phi5e1YHtTdA">choragic monument of Lysicrates</a>, as its shape resembles a lantern. For an account of its possible origin in the minds of locals: Kaldellis, <i>The Christian Parthenon</i>, 181–84.</p></span>
<p><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%CE%9C%CE%BD%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF_%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%9B%CF%85%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B7_6122.jpg#/media/File:Μνημείο_του_Λυσικράτη_6122.jpg"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/%CE%9C%CE%BD%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF_%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%9B%CF%85%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B7_6122.jpg" alt="Μνημείο του Λυσικράτη 6122.jpg" height="720" width="538"></a></p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3145.258849234743!2d23.727758015323335!3d37.9710880797242!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x14a1bd17a8ce9793%3A0x35ddd4c138417009!2sChoragic%20Monument%20of%20Lysicrates!5e0!3m2!1sen!2str!4v1639574788707!5m2!1sen!2str" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn25">
<a href="#r25">7</sup></a>This monument is the <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/E36TjCMemZycJLXH8">arch of Hadrian</a>. According to the inscription on the monument, Theseus built the old city, while Hadrian built the new.</p></span><p><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hadrian_Arch_(Athens)_02.JPG#/media/File:Hadrian_Arch_(Athens)_02.JPG"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Hadrian_Arch_%28Athens%29_02.JPG" alt="Hadrian Arch (Athens) 02.JPG" height="720" width="393"></a></p><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3145.297001596082!2d23.729839415323276!3d37.970197579724385!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x14a1bd16f4fbb951%3A0x6339c0db9c5ce1b8!2sHadrian's%20Arch!5e0!3m2!1sen!2str!4v1639574817896!5m2!1sen!2str" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<sup id="fn28">
<a href="#r28">8</sup></a> This is none other than the theater of Dionysius easily visible today from the acropolis.</p></span><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3145.289614152948!2d23.72566661444295!3d37.970370008656644!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x14a1bd17583561d5%3A0x1cdd86cfb17e15cc!2sTheatre%20of%20Dionysus!5e0!3m2!1sen!2str!4v1639579902414!5m2!1sen!2str" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<sup id="fn24">
<a href="#r24">9</sup></a> W “the competitor fighting in the struggle.”</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn23">
<a href="#r23">10</sup></a> Cecrops was the mythical founding king of Athens, who was believed to have been dual natured, that is half man and half snake. In addition to this text, we know from Michael Choniates that medieval Athenians claimed descent from him. In his epitaph for the archimandrite of the monasteries in Athens, Neophytos, Michael Choniates praised Neophytos for serving as an antidote to the arrogance of local elites, substituting “unadulterated integrity for their serpent-like wickedness, which they proudly boast about when they ought to conceal it, believing, as I know, that their race descends from ancient Athenian nobility, some autochthonous dragons and dual nature sons of Cecrops, a mix of man and serpent.” See Spyridon Lambros, <i>Μιχαήλ Ακομινάτου του Χωνιάτου : τα σωζόμενα</i>, vol. 1 (Athens: Parnassos, 1879), 268.</p></span>
<p font-size:16px=""><span style="font-family: arial;">
<sup id="fn26">
<a href="#r265">11</sup></a> W adds “These were made later.”</p></span>
</span></div></span></div></div></span></p></span></p></span></p></body></html>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-70126760176216128082013-07-26T02:21:00.000-07:002015-04-14T17:49:24.391-07:00Bessarion to Bessarion: The Cardinal's Disillusionment with the West<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><i>Imagine you thought you'd spent your entire life in the service of others trying to save your country from the threat of annihilation and slavery. Believing cooperation with an enemy you share religion with was preferable to the one you don't, you had labored to unite your coreligionists in the West to work together and crusade against your enemies before it was too late. However, all your efforts were for naught when the capital of your country and your adopted home was seized and enslaved by your enemies without hardly any of your coreligionists you've been cooperating with blinking an eye. Because of the strategic importance of your country's capital, the enemy can now spread quicker and quicker with fewer impediments. Like dominoes, successive kingdoms fall to your enemy and your attempts to warn your coreligionists in the West of the dangers have been mocked and ridiculed. Even though you once were a candidate for Pope, people call you crazy for your attempts to mobilize an army against your enemy and stem their spread. Now years later, in spite of your efforts your most prominent ally has suffered a major setback at the hands of the enemy in Greece leaving the door wide open for him to invade Italy. And yet few people seem to care.<br />
</i></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This is the story of the cardinal Bessarion, a Greek scholar from Trebizond, who spent his life trying to save the decaying Byzantine Empire from the onslaught of the burgeoning Ottoman state. He was a key scholar and patron at the beginning of the Renaissance, who taught Greek to Westerners when that language was still seldom known in Western Europe, and assembled one of the world's largest collections of Greek manuscripts. The debt that Western society owes him intellectually is great because without his efforts and inspiration, a great number of the Greek works Western society loves and cherishes might otherwise have perished.<br />
</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This letter that follows is a unique piece of Bessarion's correspondence with his friend Bessarion. Unlike much of the published Greek correspondence we have from the time, this is a relatively unpolished Latin piece detailing Bessarion's disillusionment with the Western world he came to live in to facilitate Greek and Western cooperation. In fact, Bessarion's Latin ghostwriter would not only improve the style and organization of the letter but also deleted its more questionable content before the letter was included in a collection meant to convince Westerners to join a Crusade against the Turks. The letter was published in John Monfasani, “Bessarion Latinus” Rinascimento 2.21 (1981) 196-201. Republished as item II in Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal
Bessarion and Other Emigrés (Aldershot: Variorum Reprints, 1995).</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Stylistically, I have tried to render idiomatic English above all. Because this letter was sent to a friend, I have also tried for a more familiar style. And now the letter!</i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilios_Bessarion">The
cardinal Bessarion</a>
sends his greetings to the venerable father, the
master Bessarion of the Benedictine order, the company of Saint Justina, and
abbot of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Severino_e_Sossio,_Naples">San
Severino in <st1:city w:st="on">Naples</st1:city>.</a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. I was in the middle of lamenting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Negropont">the
misfortune of Christianity and the cruel rout at Negropont</a>
, when your
letter was delivered. Reading what his Royal Majesty says about his favorable
disposition toward maintaining the Christian faith, as you write, I breathed a
sigh of relief for a little bit. I sincerely hope he does what he says. However,
I’m afraid that if we are left to our own vices, we will suffer even worse and
crueler things by delaying, waiting on each other, and casting the blame on
other until we face the final onslaught. Wretched Christians! Blind Italians!
Come on, Bessarion, let’s get out of this time,<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
God willing, or let’s fly away from this area to another. Let’s not just wait
for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_II">the Turk</a> to invade <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region>.
He has it in sight, believe me. He’s doing it. He’s striving after it. He
desires it. How I wish I was a false prophet! But, as painful as it is, he will
take Italy unless the Italians get their act together >sometime soon, unless
they join together and bravely resist him with all their forces under one
banner and put aside all their fictions and excuses that they claim are just
along with all the inane banter, to be honest, and attack the enemies of the
Cross with their forces.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. Some time ago, <st1:place w:st="on">Byzantium</st1:place>
stood upon the edge of a knife.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
None of the Italians sent aid.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
They thought it was somebody else’s problem. They wrongly believed that it did
not pose any danger to themselves. But there were those who realized after suffering
so many misfortunes because Christian dominions were reduced to Turkish
domination, such as the people of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Trebizond">Trebizond</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jandarids">Sinope</a>,
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattilusio">Mitylene</a>,
the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Despotate_of_Morea">Peloponnese</a>,
Mysia, lower Pannonia, Epirus, and the best part of Illyria. And now even the
dominion of <st1:place w:st="on">Euboea</st1:place><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karamanid">Karamanids</a>.
Why? Because they didn’t want to help <st1:place w:st="on">Constantinople</st1:place>
out with fifty thousand gold pieces and keep it safe. Because it was lost, all
of these places have been lost, which are worth one hundred million of them,
though the real number is infinite.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3. What do we care about the Greeks? What do we care about
the Mysians, the Illyrians, or the Pannonians? Let them die, they say. What do
they have to do with us? It’s fine with us if other people die. Thus, good man,
can your liberty be saved. But don’t you see, I say, how when your forces are
exhausted (all Christians are your forces) the more feeble and weaker you are,
the stronger your enemy will be? And when you finally at some point fight them,
it will be a poor person versus the richest, a weak person versus the
strongest, an incapacitated person versus the most robust, so that you succumb
to them and suffer disgusting slavery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. <st1:city w:st="on">Chalcis</st1:city> in <st1:place w:st="on">Euboea</st1:place> was besieged, and was taken by force, thrown into
upheaval, and wasted by the sword and fire. A massive Turkish fleet wanders the
whole <st1:place w:st="on">Hellespont</st1:place><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
freely. A Venetian naval force was defeated. It is fleeing, hiding, and giving
way. The Turks are ravaging all of the islands there in a frenzy over their
victory. They are plundering everything. They are wasting it. They are
devastating it. What do they have to do with us? That’s the Venetians’ problem.
That’s good what happened to them. It’d be advantageous if they have even worse
things happen to them. The rest of us ought to live more peacefully and
securely. If anybody is upset over these misfortunes, it’s a Venetian. If
anybody favor’s the Venetians, he isn’t anywhere to be heard. Nobody cares at
all about it. What disgusting human ignorance! What stupid enmities, which are
eating away at their innards, although they seem to be doing that to someone
else.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5. Come on, Bessarion, let’s both run away. You are closest
to the danger and I am closest. In just a bit, the Turkish navy will be at <st1:city w:st="on">Brindisi</st1:city> close to <st1:city w:st="on">Naples</st1:city>
and close to <st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city>.
With the Venetians defeated, any land whatsoever can be dominated by sea. They
can transport over into <st1:place w:st="on">Apulia</st1:place> many thousands
of soldiers, which they have lots of. They will make incursions into the
Neapolitan and Roman countryside. Let’s get out of here, I say, before they seize
you and me both. They hate my name and yours because of me, even though I have
been responsible for no injury to them (not that I don’t want to, but I haven’t
had been able to). I’ve said a lot against them. I’ve explained the danger they
pose to us. I’ve foretold it, I’ve begged them, I’ve predicted it, but my words
have fallen on deaf ears. It’s not like they lacked the desire to, since they
are very much their enemies. They ought to make good on it. Come on, let’s go
somewhere else.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
6. Wow. Bessarion’s delirious. He’s going crazy. He’s a
frigid, cowardly old man. Of course, Bessarion’s not going crazy, Bessarion. You
are my witness. You were there with me at <st1:city w:st="on">Bologna</st1:city>
during Easter when that most unlucky messenger brought word of the fall of <st1:city w:st="on">Byzantium</st1:city>. Everything that
followed subsequently I predicted not because of any great intelligence of mine
or art of divination, but because it all was obvious to anyone free from
private cares and concerns. However, they thought I was crazy and given to
flights of fancy. I was the butt of a good number of jokes at that point, as
you know. But nevertheless, as painful as it was, everything I predicted
happened. Let the people who hear these words beware so the same thing doesn’t
happen in the future.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
7. But Bessarion is not as cowardly, as some people would
like to think. In spite of his lack of weapons, status as monk, and age, he
could still exhibit and show greater sprit than some people would believe. Christian
princes just have to want to do what they can, what they ought to. Bessarion himself
would take the field without arms along with soldiers and well armed fighters
for the Cross to seek out hostile forces, and he would take you along with him,
Bessarion. But why are they all asleep and fighting among themselves, each
wishing for the other’s destruction, laboring for it, and meditating it? Should
one Bessarion with another, both physically infirm old men whose strength is
broken, resist the Turk, whose power and fury are great, and who hungers for
Christian blood?<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> That
would be pointless, stupid, and useless.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
8. Come on, let’s go somewhere else. Let’s let the princes
of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region>
take care of it. They have both abandoned us and don’t listen to us at all,
even though it’s as if we’re screaming, predicting, and reporting the dangers
in front of our eyes from a lookout post. Let’s let the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_II">Pope</a>
take care of his
affairs and the defense of temporal affairs (The faith is after all something Christ,
as its founder and propagator, promised he would preserve, which would not be
lacking until the end of times). Let’s let the most serene <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II_of_Aragon">king of <st1:state w:st="on">Sicily</st1:state></a> care for and
defend his realm. Their affair will be with a nearby, most powerful enemy. Let
the people of <st1:state w:st="on">Tuscany</st1:state>, <st1:state w:st="on">Liguria</st1:state>,
<st1:city w:st="on">Milan</st1:city>, and <st1:city w:st="on">Venice</st1:city>
see how they are taken care of. There is no love between sheep and wolves.
There is no law of friendship between wicked men and Christians. This is not an
enemy who can be pacified with gifts, presents, or treaties. He desires to
dominate, rule, and command. He desires to subjugate everyone to himself. The
enemy will overrun every kingdom. He will easily come to <st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city>. Blast <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region>, blast all you Christians,
blast you blind men!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
9. Come on, Bessarion, let’s seek out solitude and deserted places.
We’ve seen enough of this world. You and I have little time left to live as I’m
the older one and you’re the more handicapped. If there way any way whatsoever
we could still be of service to the Christian commonwealth, we should obviously
stay and keep working for it. But as for me, I have done no good in spite of
all the years I’ve spent trying the best I could and my position as cardinal.
Although you profit from the sanctity of the regulated life<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>, you
would profit more from the contemplative life with me in some deserted place, if
Christians persist in their fighting. Come on, let’s only live for God and
ourselves. He who satisfies the winged creatures of the sky and the beasts of
the countryside with his clemency will feed us. It wouldn’t be hard or
difficult for divine liberality to satisfy two men for the short time that we
have left.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
10. Godspeed and pray for the salvation of Christians and
myself. <st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city>,
August 5, 1470.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
11. The Cardinal Bessarion, bishop of <st1:city w:st="on">Nicaea</st1:city> with his own hand.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title="">[8]</a></span></span></span></div>
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><!--[endif]--></a>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The
point isn’t clear in this version of the letter, but in his revised official
version this phrase was clarified to say “Accelerandum est, Bessario, ut vel ex
hoc saeculo Deo volente migremus in aevum illud sempiternum… [Bessarion, let’s
hurry up and either get out of this time, God willing, to that eternal time…]</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The
Byzantine capital in <st1:place w:st="on">Constantinople</st1:place> was seized
in May 1453 as one of the initial conquests of the Turkish sultan Mehmed II. </div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This is
actually not true. The Venetians were sending aid, but the city fell before the
aid could arrive.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <st1:place w:st="on">Euboea</st1:place> was the island Negropont was located on before it
was seized by the Turks from the Venetians as described in section 1 as well as
section 4.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The
straight between Europe and Asia near Gallipolli and what is believed to be the
ancient site of <st1:city w:st="on">Troy</st1:city>.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The
Latin has sanguinem Christianorum anhelanti, lit. ‘panting for Christian
blood.’ The metaphor I believe is recalling how a dog pants for food. </div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> That is,
living in a monastery and following the rule of the monastery.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Bessarion%20to%20Bessarion.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Bessarion signs signifying he wrote this himself and didn’t have some
transcribe his words.</div>
</div>
</div>
Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-84522438786752727892012-11-06T09:06:00.002-08:002012-11-07T16:02:29.507-08:00John Tzetzes and Dream Interpretation<br />
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For this post, I decided to publish an old translation and commentary of mine, which I made while working on a project on the reception of the historian Dexippus in Byzantium. The letter is one of a series of letters that the twelfth century
logophile John Tzetzes wrote to real and fictional characters. This one is to the emperor Manuel Komnenos (1154-1180A.D.) about his visions and prophecies for the emperor. In this
letter, Tzetzes reports and interprets one of his dreams saying that the
emperor must hire Scythian (Cuman) mercenaries to gain victory.<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Tzetzes, John. Epistolae. ed. Theodore Pressel. Letter
52</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>To our mighty and holy emperor Manuel the
pophyrogennetos</b></div>
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As your unworthy servant, I salute your holy and
mighty Imperial Highness, mighty emperor, and I will become a herald of victorious
good news for you using well sent dreams if you will accept a Scythian horse as
an ally of your Majesty. I, your Majesty’s unworthy servant, am “neither a
diviner, nor a reader of omens” nor am I a holy father, priest, or any other
position of virtue, but I sometimes have dreams almost like divinations and
prophecies whose endings I know. I don’t get my dreams when I’ve eaten a lot,
gotten drunk, or when I’m deep in sleep, but when I haven’t touched anything
and I remain sober hardly asleep. As many people are aware of our mode of life
and condition, I will proceed to explain what happened to on this present bright
and shining Sunday. [Saturday nights] I usually keep to myself and don’t go
walking through the forums or the highways, I fell upon my bed to go to sleep,
but like always I was not permitted to fall asleep because I was being attacked
and under siege from a hoard of fleas outnumbering the immeasurable army of
Xerxes. Trapped in the net of such an evil, I rolled around all night long more
than Ixion’s wheel until daybreak, hardly shutting my eyes due to the pain and
aggravation remaining almost still without sleep, when I had a vision I was
walking to the Forum of Leomacellum where I met Basil, a goldsmith, reading a
book near the workshop of perfumer named Victor Short, reading a book. At first
I thought the book was none other than a cheap copy of the Holy Scripture, but
since I heard him reading, I said, “Basil, is that not <i>The Scythian
Wars</i> by Dexippus?”</div>
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He told me, “Yes”</div>
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And I said, “Who gave you it?”</div>
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He told me, “The keeper of the seal.”</div>
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There are two keepers of the seal, a father named
Theodore and his son the deacon Constantine. I decided it must have been his
son who gave him the book. I was thrice surprised that a person with so little
education like Basil, who had only learned his rudimentary letters, would be
reading such a book as well as by the fact that it appeared to me that he lives
close to Victor’s workshop when he lives much further south, and I was also
surprised that the book I wanted to read, the keeper of the seal had given to
the gold smith to read. The book’s binding is coming undone and it has been
shriveled up by fire. And yet, although it is in such a state, there is a good
work inside and the pages and binding don’t really matter. So I decided that
the goldsmith Basil was Your Imperial Majesty who lived farther to the south of
Victor’s workshop than he seemed to. I also thought the fact that he would come
into the workshop of Short Victor worked with gold and received the Scythian
horse to his aid by means of the seal keeper and general Theodore or
Constantine his elder, ordained son, who seal and bind what opposes, meant that
with the aid God and the saints by those names as well as with Scythian
horsemen as your ally paid with gold, you shall shortly and concisely win
victory and its spoils. I wrote this as your unworthy servant, but also as
someone who loves his emperor and his country.<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Commentary to the Letter </i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<b>To the emperor
Manuel: </b>This is none other than Manuel I Komnenos (1154-1180) who had a
penchant for prophecies and dream interpretation something Tzetzes could
provide him. Manuel was so superstitious that at one point that if his dynasty
followed the order of the letters of the Greek word for blood AIMA (Alexios,
Ioannes (John), Manuel), it would rule forever. That was why he named his son
and successor Alexios in opposition to the traditional Greek practice of naming
a son after his grandfather.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>A Scythian horse: </b>This
is the first of the many ways that Tzetzes uses the term. In this context, he
is referring to his ancestry. Tzetzes was half Georgian on his mother’s side.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Neither…omens: </b>This
is quoted from Homer’s Odyssey line 203. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Ixion’s wheel: </b>Ixion
was a mythical figure who was expelled from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Olympus</st1:country-region>
by Zeus after trying to have sex with Hera. In punishment for this, he was
bound to an ever turning wheel of fire.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: bottom;">
<b>Had a vision: </b>The use of <span class="txt"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph.jsp?l=e)do/khsa&la=greek" target="morph"><span class="primaryw1"><span style="color: windowtext;">ἐδόκησα</span></span></a>
for ‘I had a vision’ is not a standard use of the word which usually would mean
‘I decided’, but the use makes sense when one considers that the noun </span><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph.jsp?l=do/khsis&la=greek" target="morph">δόκησις</a> can mean ‘vision.’ Tzetzes simply has altered the
verbs meaning based on a noun.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: bottom;">
<b>The forum of Leomacellum: </b>This was the forum built by the emperor
Leo Macellus ‘the Butcher’ (457-474A.D.), which was located on the northern
side of the city.</div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>The Scythian Wars</i>:</b> This was a work by Publius Herennius
Dexippus written in the late third century A.D describing the wars of the Roman
Emperors with the Goths, the Scythians in the classicizing language of
Dexippus. The work does not survive in full.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>To be your Imperial
Majesty:</b> From here on the interpretation of the dream becomes clear. Basil
the goldsmith is the <u>basil</u>eus (emperor) Manuel who will have to use gold
to hire the Scythian <u>horse</u>men i.e. foreign mercenaries so that in the
near future he will come to Short Victor’s place which we have used instead of
the Greek name Kontos Stratonikos meaning ‘short victory of the army.’ Theodore
the keeper of the seal represents the martial saint, the general Theodore,
while his elder son Constantine represents the saint and emperor Constantine
the Great. </div>
Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-26568655864756837632012-10-29T23:02:00.001-07:002012-10-29T23:02:15.092-07:00The Proclamation of Theodore Komnenos Doukas<i>What follows below is the proclamation of the emperor Thedore Komnenos Doukas to the high rank of emperor of the Romans by a synod of bishops further in 1224. This event caused there now to be two major claimants for the imperial throne after 1204: John Vatatzes at Nikaia and now Theodore based out of Thessalonike. The document is very much of interest for how it makes the argument of what makes a person worthy of imperial rule after 1204. Driving out the Latins and restoring the Church is the main reason for these churchmen to see fit to proclaim Theodore emperor in addition to his royal background, though that would be more slim than the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>It's an interesting letter! Enjoy!</i><br />
<br />
<br />
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Apokaukos, John. In <i>Noctes
Petropolitanae</i>. Ed. Athanasios Papadopoulos-Kerameus. <st1:place w:st="on">St. Petersburg</st1:place>, 1913. pp.<i> </i>258-9</div>
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<br /></div>
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Translation by Scott Kennedy</div>
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<br /></div>
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[Action of the synod regarding the coronation of the despot
Theodore as emperor]</div>
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<br /></div>
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The divine apostle when discussing belief in Christ says “with
the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he
confesses, resulting in salvation.” We the bishops over this western part, who
occupy higher and lower seats, embrace this apostolic maxim, which we believe
resulting in righteousness of the heart, that is to say the proclamation,
crowning, and anointment of our mighty and holy lord emperor, lord [for kyr]
Theodore Doukas, while we confess this with our mouths and write this with our
hands. This is because he has become our deliverer behind God, our savior, and
salvation in and of itself. He has borne many labors for the Christians here.
He has perspired sweat many times on our behalf. It is appropriate to quote the
poet [Homer] here, “passing sleepless nights and blood-filled days” he divvied
them up with contests of war and conflicts for the extinction of the godless
Latins who fought against us and furthermore the Scythians from Aimos. Common
usage call him the “Yolk.” On account of this exertion, this sweat, this
struggle, and he has restored all at once all western areas pertaining to us,
which were held captive and destroyed, by his boundless sweat and excessive
labor to their ancient Christian manner of life and state, and he has cleared
them completely of the hard-to-number Latin and Scythian mobs, and he has won
back many bishoprics of God and holy monasteries from Latin and Scythian pollution
taking care to adorn the former refugee bishops of God with their own bishoprics
and restoring the latter abbots again [to their monasteries], such that the
former and latter again lead their own flocks of sheep. Better yet and and what
is agreed upon by everyone is that he is the descendant of diverse emperors and
justified in being elevated to the imperial honor as a fiery soldier and as a
sleepless guardian. He has assumed the throne as recompense on agreement with
bishops and judgment of priests, monks, soldiers, and the rest of all the
Christians here. Thus he has assumed the rank of emperor and we confess that he
alone is emperor and we crown him and anoint him and certify with our
signatures below what is believed and confessed by us resulting in
righteousness and salvation. In the month… [No month is given in the text]</div>
Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-49551016585939550532012-09-13T21:43:00.002-07:002012-10-29T18:52:00.611-07:00Cyriacus of Ancona to Sparta<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<i>Below follows a short poem by Cyriacus of Ancona who was a visitor to Greece and Byzantium in the first half of the fifteenth century. Cyriacus was a famous Renaissance scholar of Ancient Greece and part of the effort to revive the Greek classics in Italy. It is very interesting to note in this poem, a Greek translation of the original, his passion for Sparta, which he had the opportunity of visiting while staying at the court of Byzantine despot of Morea, Constantine Palaiologos, in Mystras, which overlooks ancient <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sparta</st1:place></st1:city> from the hill of Myzithra, from which the city takes its name. </i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Like many subsequent visitors to Greece fascinated by visions of Ancient Greece, Cyriacus's disdain is evident for the Byzantines, whom he views as responsible for the devolution of Sparta into the city of Mystras because of their 'cowardice and laziness.' Particularly disdainfully, Cyriacus distances himself from the Byzantines by stating that it was their generations who were responsible for the disappearance of all the great virtues and figures of Sparta.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>However, what is particularly interesting about this poem is that it was translated into Greek at all because of its condescending tone towards the Greeks. It certainly warrants further investigation (I have not been able to consult <b>Peloponnesiaka</b> by Spyridon Lampros where the text is printed) into why this took place. Certainly, the 'he said' interjected into the poem would imply that this is a translation to report to the Greeks what Cyriacus was disdainfully saying about them after he had stayed with them.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Cyriacus of <st1:city w:st="on">Ancona</st1:city></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Epigram to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sparta</st1:place></st1:city>
under Constantine Palaiologos<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>in plain Greek translation<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
O famous Laconian city of Sparta, glory of Greece, model for the entire world, gymnasium and sacred precinct of arms
and temperance, and mirror and source of all other divine virtue. If I examine
your state, ethics, human law, with your other ethical virtues, and then I look
at you, I suddenly cry out to Eurotes, to the chorus of your most glorious
Artemis. Where is your good Lykourgos, where are the Dioskouroi, the twin gods
Kastor and Polydeukes, where is Anaxandridas, Orthryadas, and Gylippos. O
Eurysthenes and Leonidas, where are you staying? Where are you, Atreides and
Pausanias, o most excellent ruler Lysander, o Ariston, Agesilaos and
Xanthippos. Not <st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city>, Not Phillip, said, but time, as
well as the unmanliness and laziness of your generations made the city change into
Mysithra under <st1:city w:st="on">Constantine</st1:city>.<br />
<br />
[Update: I recently came across the original Italian poem Cyriacus wrote in <span style="line-height: 200%;">D’Ancona, Cyriaco (2003) </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">Later Travels</i><span style="line-height: 200%;">. Ed. and trans. Edward W.
Bognar. </span><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Cambridge</span></st1:city><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, <st1:state w:st="on">MA</st1:state></span></st1:place><span style="font-size: 12pt;">: I Tatti Renaissance Library. 332, which I reproduce with translation here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Alma città laconica spartana,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">gloria de Grecia, già del mondo exemplo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">d'arme e de castità, gymnasio e templo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">e d'ogni alma virtù specchio e fontana</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">se politia, costumi, e legge humana</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">con l'altre tue moral virtù contemplo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">poi te remiro in Eurota, extemplo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">exclamo al chor del'alma tua Diana</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dove è 'l tuo bon Lycurgo, ove Dioscori,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">diri gemelli, Castore e Polluce?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Anaxandrida, Orythyada, e Gylippo,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Euriste e Leonida? Ove demori</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Atride e Pausania? O chiaro duce</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lysandro, Aristo, Agesilao e Xanthippo?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Non Roma, non Phillipo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">dixe: "Ma è 'l saecol vil vostro. Adconfino</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">la volta in Mysithra sub Constantino</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Translated that is:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Great Laconian city of Sparta,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">glory of Greece, once example to the world</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">of arms, chastity, gymnasium and temple</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">and mirror and font of every noble virtue</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
If I contemplate your constitution, customs, and human law<br />
with your other moral virtues<br />
then I marvel again at Eurotas; suddenly<br />
I exclaim to the chorus of your great Diana<br />
<br />
Where is your good Lycurgus, where are the Dioscori,<br />
the dire twins, Castor and Pollux?<br />
Anaxandrides, Orythyades, and Gylippus,<br />
<br />
Eurystus and Leonidas? Where do you dwell<br />
son of Atreas and Pausanias? O famous leader<br />
Lysander, Aristo, Agesilaus, and Xanthippus?<br />
<br />
Not Rome, not Phillip<br />
said, "This is your wretched age. I assign<br />
the turn to Mistra under Constantine.]<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-63193944168107355022012-01-10T12:36:00.000-08:002012-01-31T17:00:06.779-08:00Katakalon Kekaumenos: Admonition to the Emperor<i>[This post has variously been delayed by a mix of factors such as grad school applications, the computer-restarting horrors of Microsoft update, and the Christmas season. However, in spite of these travails, here is presented a most interesting text in the genre of kingly instruction literature. This work by the Byzantine general and official Katakalon Kekaumenos seeks to spell out for Byzantine emperor of the eleventh century how he should rule over his subjects and administer the empire. While unfortunately time precludes me from examining the text in greater detail than this preliminary summary, I would hope to return to this text in a future post on the relationship between the Byzantine fiscal system and imperial military policy discussed to some extent in the text. Until then...]</i><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">ADMONITION TO THE EMPEROR<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">by Katakalon Kekaumenos<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">When some say that the emperor is not below the law, but is the law, I agree with them. However, As long as he acts and makes laws justly, we obey him. Were he to say, "Drink poison", then absolutely don't do it. If he says, "Get in the sea and swim across it", you do not have to do this. Recognize that the emperor is a man who is below divine law. On this account, we are creating this writing for our pious and Christ-loving emperors who come after.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Holy lord, God has raised you on high to the imperial throne and made you by his favor, as it is said, into God on earth to do and act as he wills. Hence, let your deeds and doings be filled with wisdom and truth and let righteousness be in your heat. Look and act eye to eye with everyone, those in office and those otherwise, and do not abuse some freely and show favor to some contrary to what is right, but treat everyone equally. Let he who errs be compensated measurably for his errors even if you sympathize with him and forgive him his failing as it befits God and an emperor. Don't get angry at someone who has done you no wrong, but rather you should be glad, since he who does not wrong you is better above all than he who has. And if you show favor to he who has wronged you...and you should do good to bad and bad to good.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Don't pay attention to false accusers. I'm not saying you should completely ignore them; there are some tattle-tales who do tell the truth. Put both's story to the test and send away the false accuser empty-handed, but not in an insulting manner, while you do good for the person telling the truth. If you hear people accuse an official of yours of plotting against you, don't let evil get the better of your soul and try to kill him, but conduct a thorough investigation first secretly, then if you find there's some truth to it put him on trial openly, freely...hence you'll make an enemy out of him and many other people on account of him.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Let your benefactions be accounted and let the people you deemed worthy attend to them...benefactions by the emperors to the people not worthy. If you want to help out mimes and the people they call ‘politicians’, help them out with a few coins and not with honors, since by definition an honor goes to someone honorable. If you honor a mime as protospatharios or a dishonorable man, likewise if you honor your notary or secretary as patrician, then your soldier who wants to spill his blood for you will think the honor is worthless. I have seen much of this. I have seen judges worthy of ridicule prosper while the wisest and the best of men are held in contempt by the emperors including even good soldiers for the gain of liars and fortune-hunters to my utter despair unable to bear it in my heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Take care especially of your soldiers. Do not reduce their pay, since when a soldier receives this from you, he is selling his blood. Give them honors, but not all of them, just those who have distinguished themselves. Foreign </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:FR">forces</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> in imperial service and Roman reserves [</span><span lang="EL" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EL">Ῥωμαῖοι οἱ φυλάσσοντες] </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:FR">should not be denied, but should receive their grain each month without hassle as well as their fodder and pay for upkeep [</span><span lang="EL" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EL">τὰς ρόγας αὐτῶν σώας].</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> Honor them and </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:FR">they will </span><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">not</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> conspire against you. If they are denied these items, they will naturally want to leave for where they can get them and become your implacable enemies, and from that day forward they will not come back over to your side remembering that nothing good was done to them by you, rather that they were taken advantage of and will separate people favorable to you from you. And then without any aid, you will truly regret it.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">For you foreign forces, if they not are not of the royal line of their country, do not elevate them to high honors or entrust them with high offices, since you will so be diminishing your own importance and that of your Roman officials. When you honor a foreign soldier from <st1:place st="on">Anglia</st1:place><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> as primikerios or general, then what war office do you have to give to a Roman soldier? You'll just succeed in making him your enemy. Besides that, people in his own country, hearing the guy went to your country and got such an honor and command, will all laugh and say, "Well, what do we have here? That good-for-nothing who went to <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Romania</st1:country-region></st1:place> and got such an honor. It seems people in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Romania</st1:place></st1:country-region> aren't very capable and because of it our guy got promoted. If the Romans were energetic, they would not have raised him up to such an honor. Please don't say, your Majesty, that, "I gave him these benefits so that other people will notice and come here. This is not a noble aim. If you want to bring them over, then do so by giving them things such as food and clothing. It is very much in Romania's best interests, my Lord, that you don't give foreign soldiers high offices, since if they'll serve you for food and clothes, then they’ll serve you faithfully and wholeheartedly looking to your hands to receive a couple of coins and bread. Yet if you honor a foreign soldier beyond the rank of spatharokanditatos, then they'll become contemptuous and won't serve you properly. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Ask and learn, your Lordship, how [foreigners] came in many circumstance to prior emperors such as the Lord Basil the Porphyrogennetos (976-1025), his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, and even further back. And why am I even talking about emperors back then. Neither the lord Romanos Argyropolos (1025-1034), nor any of those blessed emperors appointed a Frank or Varangian to the honor of patrician or would even make him a consul or a commander of soldiers and would just barely make them a spatharios. Yet all of them worked for food and clothes while Romans received high offices and did great deeds with <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Romania</st1:country-region></st1:place> at the cutting edge of it all. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I cite for your Imperial Majesty the example of my grandfather Nikoulitzes, who after many labors for <st1:country-region st="on">Romania</st1:country-region> was honored as duke of <st1:place st="on">Hellas</st1:place> for his loyalty by the emperors. He was given this authority non-transferrable by chrysobull and likewise the domesticate of the excubites of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Greece</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Yet then Peter the nephew of the king of Francia came to the late emperor lord Basil in the fourth year of his reign. He honored him as spatharios appointing him domestic of the excubites of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Greece</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> He wrote to my grandfather, "We are writing to inform you that Peter the legitimate nephew of the king of <st1:place st="on">Germania</st1:place> has entered the service of the empire and, so he says, he plans to be and die a servant of my Imperial Majesty. Having received this pledge, my Imperial Majesty made him spatharios in the chrysotriklinos.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> As he is foreign, my Imperial Majesty did not appoint him commander so that we should not make useless the Romans, but appointed him domestic of the excubites beneath you. My Imperial Majesty knowing that this is yours by chrysobull of my late father, instead of command over the excubites of Greece, is giving you command over the Vlachs.” Observe the meticulous care that porphyrogennetos had of the foreigner, even though he was still newly emperor then.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I cite for you another example, my holy lord. Senachyreim, as you know, was the descendant of ancient kings who wanted to give his lands to the emperor lord Basil the porphrogennetos and become his servant. The emperor receiving his show of affection honored him as magister and nothing more, even when he was the descendant of ancient kings and a king himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I have one last example for your Imperial Majesty before I stop in this vein. Harald was the son of the king of the Varangia, who had a brother Olaf, who after the death of their father took their father’s throne appointing his brother Harald his successor to the throne.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> As he was young, he wanted to come and pay homage to the emperor Michael the Paphlagonian (1034-1041), which he did coming in sight of the Roman state. He brought with him also a group of five hundred noble men. When he came, the emperor received as it was possible and sent him with his people to <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Sicily</st1:place></st1:state> as the Roman army was there waging war on the island. He performed great deeds there. With <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Sicily</st1:place></st1:state> subdued, he returned with his people to the emperor who honored him as manglavittes. After that, it so happened then that Delianos revolted in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bulgaria</st1:place></st1:country-region>. And so he accompanied the emperor along with his group and did deeds worthy of his noble birth and nobility. The emperor having subdued <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bulgaria</st1:place></st1:country-region> returned to the capital. I myself was there then fighting for the emperor according to my ability. When we reached Mesinopolis, the emperor rewarded him for all of his deeds with the rank of spatharokandidatos. After the death of the emperor Michael and his nephew and successor, Harald asked permission to return to his land under the emperor Monomachos (1042-1055), but was not granted it, with his road home being narrow. Nevertheless, he secretly returned home and ruled over his land in the place of his brother Olaf. And he did not mutter about how he was honored manglavittes and spatharokandidatos, but rather as king maintained loyalty and love for the Romans. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> <br />And do not overburden your city, the countries under you, or the army, but always be a father to everyone and they will serve you conscientiously. Some time ago, a mischievous man gave different advice to the porphyrogennetos Lord Basil desiring for Basil’s destruction. He said, “Make poor your people.” Do that, and they will hate you and especially rise up against you. Don’t treat horses like that and don’t treat like that sentient people who consider and think about whether they are treated well or badly. Your Majesty must do and act according to your fear of god. And as for your soldiers, do not deny them their pay or likewise the senators and citizens, and each of them according to their duty, as it was first noted, will serve you and will not mutter. And as for the countries under your rule, do not put upon them daily increases, appearances, and foreign and new fangled notions, and they will not revolt from you, but they will serve you whole-heartedly if they provide according to their ability yearly taxes to the treasury.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">And as for the foreign countries beneath you, do not weigh them down. Command your generals to practice moderation and piety and to not act rashly or bear a grudge against anyone, but to protect judges so that they can judge with fear of God and justice. And what is the sight which we see now? It is the drawing of soldiers in battle lines more than necessary not only in demanded debts, but also in pointless marches. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Command the familiars of Your Majesty not to anyone, nor to put in power bad men and enemies of the truth, but rather if someone comes to them who has been wronged, to put him in power. And give them permission to remind Your Imperial Majesty of the people who are wronged. Your relatives should fear you and not have the go-ahead to wrong people. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I cite for you, my lord, the disaster that happened in the Paphlagonian's reign. This blessed emperor did not have noteworthy parents, but and obscure and utterly base parents, though he still had great virtues. Some without learning say that he was well-born and from a great race, but really he was ill-born and base. I say that all men are children of one man, Adam, whether they are emperors, nobles, or beggars. I have seen those of great descent fall on deceit, divination, and magic, and I say that it is them who are ill-born. For a sentient man can, if he wants, become divine by the grace of God.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></a></span> The emperor lord Michael, as it was said, had great virtues though he had legitimate kinsmen who were many and poor, who were looked after by the orphanotrophos. He was the emperor's brother who was in charge of the palace. He wanted to enrich them and gave them permission to steal from other people, of which the emperor knew nothing. Message-bearers and imperial men sent in his service wherever they met a man on horseback whether in a hotel or on an abandoned road, they threw him from his horse or mule, took possession of it, and departed. On this account, this wonderful and conspicuous emperor became hated for the most part because of the injustices of his kinsmen and everyone was ready to be rid of his family. Not much later he died. Having died in peace and repentance, his nephew became emperor only to be risen up against by the entire city and those from outside found within using as a pretext against him his exiling of the empress. He and entire family were expelled in a single day. In his place, Monomachos became emperor who wasted and destroyed the <st1:place st="on">Roman Empire</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Your Majesty should remember this. The chief man of your Imperial Majesty who handles everything should remind you of every subject and things should come to your attention, of which you have knowledge. If you follow my meager and humble words, you end your life in utter peace. If you give yourself up to frivolous pleasures, then many things in life shall impede you. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Indeed, the emperor is the pattern and model of conduct for everyone who look to him and imitate his conduct. If it is good, they are eager to adopt and imitate it. If it is bad and condemnable, they do likewise. Hold and keep the four virtues: courage, justice, restraint, and prudence. There is prudence for the good and prudence for the bad. It is the same with courage, restraint, and justice where one would not find action for the bad. Possessing these virtues, as it was said, raises you up from earth to the heavens with your praise being great and the Lord bestowing on you many days as justice and truth flowers both on your face and in your heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Let many products be deposited at your disposal for you, the imperial court, and your capital. Let arrows, many arms, spears, breast plates, helmets, shields, swords, and anything else needed for war be at your side. Let siege machinery and caltrops be at your side. You do not know what bad people want. I have seen something of the following sort and life altered. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I have seen the former emperor Michael who was Caesar (1041-1042) being the mighty emperor with the sun's rising and at the third hour of the day have become piteous, alone, and blind. You should not become arrogant, my Lord, of the glory of your Imperial Majesty, but rather take pride in your power and say, “What is able to bring me down from the height of my glory? A single change of fate says the greatly wise theologian Gregory and a change of many matters. Let your hope be in God and security. As God made us capable of thinking, we must keep ourselves in his favor looking ahead and after our salvation trusting in him.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">You should not accept flattery from anyone, but rather keep friends who embarrass you. I cite for your Imperial Majesty this example. Augustus, Caesar's son, was arrogant, cruel, and immoral with contempt-worthy and evil purposes yet with natural intelligence, he said, “I’m no good without an instructor.” And so he sent for in Alexandria Athenodoros a poor man lacking in much honor, but prudent and very wise nonetheless as attested to by some of those in the palace who said he was very prudent and wise. To him, Augustus said, "Do you know why Athenodoros I have brought you here with such honor?" He replied that he did not know. Caesar said, "I have habits that go against my office, so having heard that you are a good man in counsel and action, I wanted to have you as my friend and counselor so that when you see me doing things and saying things that are not good and are contemptible in nature you might tell me I am wrong in private. And if I do not accept your correction, openly do it to me." Athenodoros replied, “Okay, but as for you, my lord, do not turn you face away when you are rebuked or belittled me, and I will be a doctor for you in this way." He did not cease to tell him what he was doing wrong every day until finally he made him virtuous. When he asked permission to return to him homeland, he was not given permission by Caesar, who said to him, "My dearest friend, I am yet incomplete.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Then he wanted to meet Abgar, the king of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Edessa</st1:place></st1:city>, who was very prudent, wise, and decorated with all manner of virtues. When he met him, he had an interview with him in which he said, “I place myself in your hands and you will take the place of Athenodoros (Athenodoros had previously died).” And he held Abgar in much honor not only as a friend, but also as a father being corrected by him for many years. Thus was how Augustus acted and was corrected by his friends and has been celebrated from then on until now as good.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">You should have a man like this who you give permission to tell you what you are saying and doing wrong every day. You should not say that, "I am wise and I know everything." To this I say to you, "There are many things you know, but greater still is what you don't know. God alone does not forget, while man, whoever he is, is fallible. As the angel said to Zosimas, "No man is everything."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">As for your army, you should not disband it and make it poor, since you are really only making yourself poor and weaken yourself, since the army is the glory of the emperor and the strength of the palace. Indeed, without an army, your public servants do not stand by you, but anyone will oppose you.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Endeavor likewise to always keep the fleet in top shape and without any shortages as the fleet is the glory of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Romania</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Endeavor likewise to have commanders of the fleet who are above any bribery and personal gain. If the commanders of the fleet are corrupt and bribeable, then listen to what they do. At first, they allow expeditions to go tax-free receiving from them money, which is not as much as they wanted to give for the threat of the fleet, but in double the quantity, and a war ship becomes deficient.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Just as an eagle flying in the air, if it is missing a wing, does not fly well, so the long boats, if they are missing oars, do not sail well. Naval commanders also do further damage when accept gifts from soldiers. By letting them go unarmed, the soldiers henceforth turn in flight when confronted by the enemy. Even then ‘confronted’ might be too much. They don’t even come into their sight before they flee bring dishonor to the Romans.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">When the long boats head for the islands on the pretext of patrolling, they do nothing else except collect grain, barley, pulses, cheese, wine, meat, olives, much money, and whatever else the islands have from the <st1:place st="on">Cyclades</st1:place> and both continents. They do likewise with <st1:country-region st="on">Cyprus</st1:country-region> and <st1:place st="on">Crete</st1:place>. You must, my lord, be knowledgeable about all of this and keep your fleet in good shape and free from deficiency not muttering about anything whatsoever. So much for your sailors and soldiers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Follow this same injunction for the officials of the fleet and let them be without deficiencies in the things they need. And if they are corrupt, teach them a lesson through flogging, tonsure, and monetary punishment. Naval officials after having stayed in the fleet for many years are in the habit of possessing laziness, rest, and luxury, in which total complacency emerges. You must keep the fleet on its toes and if you see them carrying on and acting as such, you must expel them from the fleet and put others in charge in their place.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">If I might say something to your pious Majesty, there is something which if you do it, will not be harmful, but will bring you much security. If you see naval officials disposed as it was said above, do not replace them in their rank with other naval officials, but find old counts and droungarioi, who you ought to expel from the ranks because of their lack of activity or whom you have already expelled, and make them commanders of the fleet. Address them as such, “You know that you are old, inactive, and fit to rest in your homes, but My Imperial Majesty realizing that, returning home you would be deprived of necessities for which you have labored, cannot tolerate to deprive you of them. For this reason, I have appointed you commanders of the fleet so that you will be self sufficient and not be neglected, but dedicated so to speak you will be able to win victories God willing. Recognize that if you do this, you will not fall short of your aim, but your fleet will be in perfect condition. Also keep archers on board your long boats. Let the droungarios and the protonotarios of the fleet be pious, active, capable, wise, fearing God and your Imperial Majesty. They should pay attention to and search for with precision the slightest thing which is done in the fleet. If the fleet falls into nothingness, you will fall.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I am aware, Your Majesty, that it is human nature to be inclined to laziness. This tendency above is made even more harmful should the emperor not visit the lands subject to him in the east and west, but instead remain bound as though in prison in Constantinople. Indeed if someone restrained you to one city, you would not put up with it and depart, but it is you have done this to yourself. What need be said? Go, visit the lands under you and go to the themes and see the wrongs that the poor suffer and what the agents sent by you have done. And if the poor have been wronged, fix it. Then the Roman themes and the lands under you will know that they have a emperor and lord who is looking after them and you will make known in every theme, city, and land your might and how things are to be done, what is to be punished, and what must be done, and there will be no insurrections, no revolts against you. Your lands will be in peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I know that those you serve you will advise you that this is not good because of the expense and that you will weary the lands and themes by passing through them with your retinue and the imperial bodyguard. They will say as well that if you leave <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Byzantium</st1:place></st1:city>, another will become emperor instead of you. Yet, I laugh at this. The person left by you in the palace in charge of the subject nations and the Romans, will be utterly energetic and capable of doing in all haste what should be done. What other proof do I have for you? The emperors and the Augusti of the Romans had the same situation I say that you have ruling not only in Rome, but also those in Byzantium such as Constantine the Great (306-337), his son Constantius (337-361), Julian (361-363), Jovian (363-364), and Theodosius (379-395). They were always in the east and west spending little time in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Byzantium</st1:place></st1:city>. In those times are of the lands were quiet including all of Europe, Libya, and the most beautiful part of Asia until the Euphrates and the lands of the Adiabeni, Armenia, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Egypt, and the great and much talked about land of Babylon were all subject to the Romans. But when men were overcome by foolishness, which came as though a disease, then nothing good happened to the <st1:place st="on">Roman Empire</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all"> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"> <!--[endif]--> <div id="ftn1"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> That is to say, <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>. These troops were Anglo-Saxons who left <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> following the Norman Conquest.<span style="color:blue"> </span></p> </div> <div id="ftn2"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The title of domestic of excubites is something of a mystery as to how this military function worked. For discussion of the title and its various holders, see Hans Joachim Kühn, <i>Die byzantinishe Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert</i>, (<st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Vienna</st1:place></st1:city>, 1991), 93-104.</p> </div> <div id="ftn3"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> A major hall used for audiences, etc.</p> </div> <div id="ftn4"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The Harald referred to here is Harald III of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Norway</st1:place></st1:country-region> (1047-1066). </p> </div> <div id="ftn5"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/ADMONITION%20TO%20THE%20EMPEROR.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The text here may require some emendation. The word used for what a man might become is θε<span lang="EL">ός ‘</span>god.’ While it is possible for that to be the meaning<span lang="EL"> in Kekaumenos</span> (it is reminiscent of the Modern Greek expression θε<span lang="EL">ός είναι)</span>, I prefer an emendation here to <span lang="EL">θείος, which fits nicely in opposition to the unsacred a</span>cts being perpetrated by nobles. </p> </div> </div>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-68691545555382814722011-12-10T19:28:00.000-08:002011-12-10T19:42:07.178-08:00John of Epiphania's History<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"><i>[Note: I am republishing here an old translation and introduction that I finished a few years ago to a piece on the historian John of Epiphania, whose history is not very well known and for that purpose hopefully this extract will help give his words life.]</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">JOHN OF EPIPHANIA: PREFACE TO HIS HISTORY</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Very few details have been preserved for us of the writer of this history. Our only sources for information about him and his life derive from a short reference to him in the Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Book V Chapter 42 and what few details he provides about himself in his short preface. All that we can say is that he was somehow related to Evagrius with whom he shared the similar titles of <span lang="EL">σχολαστικοῦ </span><span lang="FR">and </span><span lang="EL">ἀπὸ ὑπάρχων/ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων, </span><span lang="FR">and that he also served as a legal advisor to Gregory, the Patriarch of Antioch, therefore being present at his meeting and trips involving the Persians from which he learned what he wrote. <b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span lang="FR">Of John’s history, only a fragment remains containing the first five chapters in the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1056 of which it occupies folio 94 until the manuscript breaks off six folios later from there being too badly mutilated. What happened to the rest of the work is a mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span lang="FR">John’s history seems to have found a small audience in its time. Written perhaps a year or two after the restoration of Chosroës in 591 A.D., it was made use of in certainty by Evagrius Scholasticus before he finished in 593/4 A.D. and Theophylact Simocatta, whose work the Whitby’s date to the reign of Heraclius (1). After this century, subsequent writers seem to have made little use or none of it. Theophanes the Confessor writing in the early ninth century apparently makes use only of Theophylact Simocatta and Evagrius for the information he reproduces concerning the submission of Chosroës. In addition, Photius in his great <i>Library </i>makes no mention of John though he does of Evagrius with whom (perhaps) he confused John because of their similar titles, but this seems quite unlikely given that subsequently the great compiler of histories, John Zonaras, in the mid-twelfth century makes no use of him, but of almost exclusively Simocatta in his account (2). Furthermore, the fact that his history was apparently unknown to the extractors of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (945-959 A.D.) who extracted many other works of the sixth century now lost also shows the small breadth of his readership and almost suggests that he may never have published the work, of which we possess this small fragment.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span lang="FR"> However, because his work was made use of by Evagrius and Theophylact, we can at least construct and suggest what his history must of looked like. We have the beginning and that allows us to see where to begin reconstructing. Evagrius V.6-14 obviously derive from John with a few of Evagrius’s own digressions into the ancient history and characteristics of some of the places such as that of Nisibis V.9 and Apamea V.10 as well as some ecclesiastical events and the madness of Justin II, which he considerably elaborates V.11. From his text we can also see what was present in the lacunae of our text. However, after this point where the manuscript breaks off, what came next is open to conjecture, but probably Evagrius follows it in summary continuing to add his own comments in chapters 14-15 and 19-22. As Evagrius ends his fifth book with the accession of Maurice, we can suppose that there too was where John ended his first part before proceeding on to what he knew.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span lang="FR">Of Book VI by Evagrius, Chapters 1-16 probably follow John’s work more or less. The speech given by Gregory to the soldiers in 12 is probably taken word for word from John’s history and therefore should be viewed as an example of John’s style of writing speeches, which becomes useful for dealing with Theophylact Simocatta's long and tiresome discourses. Whatever the case, the letters provided in Simocatta as having passed between Varam and Chosroës almost certainly derive from John who would have had a chance to get his hands on the originals while in Persia. The subsequent information on the cross and the inscription on it as it appears in both histories also derives from John. Finally, in all probability we can say that John’s history ended where his Evagrius’s did with the death of Gregory while returning from Persia, since this would seem the ideal place.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span lang="FR">The text below was translated from </span><span lang="EL">K. Muller, <u><span style="color:blue"><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=lz0OAAAAYAAJ&dq=Epiphaniensis&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0">Fragmenta historicorum graecorum, vol. 4 (1851)</a></span></u>, p.272f.</span><span lang="FR"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span lang="FR">Endnotes<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">1. </span><span lang="EL">Michael and Mary Whitby (trans.), <i>The History of Theophylact Simocatta: An English Translation with Introduction</i>, Oxford University Press, (1986) </span><span lang="FR">pg. xiii<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">2. This is evidenced by the language and the rewording of Theophylact v.15.5-8 in Zonaras pg. 189<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><u><br /></u></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;page-break-after:avoid"><b><span lang="FR">History of</span></b><b><span lang="EL"> the submission of Chosroes the Younger to Maurice the Roman Emperor<br />By John of Epiphania the Scholastic and </span></b><b><span lang="FR">the Expraefectus</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL">1. What the Romans and Medians suffered</span><span lang="EL"> and did making war on each other during the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian has been described by Agathias of Myrina, a preeminent man amongst the rhetors of Byzantium recording after Procopius of Caesarea the events happening involving the barbarians. As </span><span lang="FR">it is of great importance</span><span lang="EL"> that which we have witnessed (the king of the Persians taking flight from his own land after having been deposed </span><span lang="FR">and submitting</span><span lang="EL"> to the Roman State </span><span lang="FR">in order to gain the</span><span lang="EL"> aid of the emperor Maurice in restoring himself to the throne), I have embarked upon this work not given confidence to do </span><span lang="FR">so</span><span lang="EL"> by any particular eloquence on my part, nor by any previous study, but so that such a thing as this should not be left unspoken for posterity, since </span><span lang="FR">if the greatest deeds</span><span lang="EL"> are not preserved in words and committed to memory, they will be extinguished by the darkness of silence. For words provide life as things wear away. </span><span lang="FR">Having been involved in some of these events and spoken with Chosroës and other particularly mentionable Medians </span><span lang="EL">(I was previously an advisor to Gregory, the archpriest of the city of Antioch, accompanying him </span><span lang="FR">frequently</span><span lang="FR"> </span><span lang="FR">to</span><span lang="EL"> meetings with them, and after the end of the war, </span><span lang="FR">I</span><span lang="EL"> went with Gregory </span><span lang="FR">to Persia when he was promoting concord amongst them</span><span lang="EL">), I do not believe it is misplaced for me to narrate these events, as I am able </span><span lang="FR">to</span><span lang="EL">, to those who do not know about them. As it is necessary to know precisely about important previous events to learn about what follows, I feel I must make mention of the events that took place prior to me in brief including the revolt that took place against Hormisdas the father of Chosroes before proceeding to the rest of the work reminding those who know about these things of the actions taken and giving a starting point for those who have not heard anything at all of them to learn clearly before proceeding to subsequent events. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL">2. When Justinian after reigning for thirty nine years ended his life, he died </span><span lang="FR">in</span><span lang="EL"> peace with other nations including the Medians and was succeeded by his nephew Justin the younger under whom the peace treaties Justinian had made with Chosroes, the Persian king, for a period of fifty five years after having waged war on another, which were in their twentieth year during the seventh year of Justin’s reign and would reach their end in the ninth year of the emperor Maurice, broke down. The causes of their strife with one another were as such: the Romans were </span><span lang="FR">displeased that the Persians intending to </span><span lang="EL"> Homerites (an Indic race allied and subject to them), with them having no choice, had made an attack on them in the present period of peace. Besides this, as the Turks had sent envoys to the Romans to which the emperor Justin had responded sending Zemarchus, a member of the Senate, back with them again, the Persians planned to bribe the Alans through whose lands they were about to make their passage to become an obstruct Zemarchus and the Romans and Turks with him. The Medians had a similar way about it finding causes for war with the Romans as the Armenians, their vassals, had risen up in revolt, killed their ruler by the name of Surenes, and gone over to the Roman Empire </span><span lang="FR">with</span><span lang="EL"> the Romans welcoming them and offering them an alliance. Their contentiousness increased even further (for whoever wishes to learn the most disgraceful reason, though true) when Justin did not deem to pay the Medians the five hundred pounds of gold each year previously agreed to under the peace treaties and let the Roman State remain forever a tributary of the Persians.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL">3. As the time drew near for the previously agreed sums of money to be taken to Chosroes (</span><span lang="FR">it had been agreed to pay the amount for ten years time</span><span lang="EL">), nothing was done as had been agreed and instead Justin, the Roman emperor, sent in haste to the east his general Marcian, who </span><span lang="FR">was</span><span lang="EL"> amongst the patricians of the Senate and was related to him being not unskilled in war and exceptionally brave. Crossing the Euphrates River, Marcian came to Osro</span><span lang="FR">ë</span><span lang="EL">ne already when the summer was underway, and with the barbarians having no forewarning of war </span><span lang="FR">he</span><span lang="EL"> sent a contingent of three thousand men to Arzanene entrusting Theodore and Sergius, who were descended from the family of Rabdios, with command of them as well as sending Juventinus, the commander of the legions in Chalkis. They invaded </span><span lang="FR">suddenly </span><span lang="EL">ravaging Persian land and returned carrying off a considerable amount of plunder in all haste. After the winter season, Marcian gathered together his forces again and set out from Dara meeting with the barbarians in front of the city of Nisibis led by Varaman, who was in command of the companies stationed them. A fierce battle followed in which the Romans turned to the barbarians to flight vigorously near the Persian place called Sarmathon bringing down many of them then making an attempt at the fortress of Thebython where they spent ten days. Unable to seize it, they returned to the city of Dara </span><span lang="FR">while it was still spring and again invaded enemy land planning to besiege Nisibis with the approval of the emperor Justin.</span><span lang="EL"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL">4. While they were encamped near the city, King Chosroes set out from Babylon with an army of Medians crossing the Tigris River and passing over </span><span lang="FR">empty</span><span lang="EL"> land, as the Roman had not heard of the king‘s movements, </span><span lang="FR">and came</span><span lang="FR"> </span><span lang="FR">upon</span><span lang="EL"> the Persian fortress of Amvaron (it is five days distant from the city of Circesion), where he dispatched Adaarman, as the general was called, to cross the Euphrates River there </span><span lang="FR">and </span><span lang="EL">plunder Roman territory with thousands of his own Medians and nomadic barbarians. At the same time, he urged Avorras on to the Romans besieging Nisibis. When Adaarman reached the city of Circesion, he crossed the Euphrates and began to forage Roman lands without any restraint. For due to the previous peace and quiet that they had enjoyed during the reign of Justinian, their war time preparation had receded and their virility completely vanished. As no one dared to come to blows with the barbarians, Adaarman was able to come as </span><span lang="FR">far</span><span lang="EL"> as the city of Antioch ravaging the </span><span lang="FR">sites</span><span lang="EL"> and </span><span lang="FR">fields</span><span lang="EL"> near the city and then advancing on Coele Syria. He made camp not far from the great city of Apamea, to whose citizens’ embassies he promised to enter the city and leave it unharmed, </span><span lang="FR">but </span><span lang="EL">then actually entering it where the Persians seized their possessions, enslaved its inhabitants, and put the entire city to the flame then returning in all haste to their own land. As a result of these actions, the emperor Justin dispatched Acacius (the Romans are accustomed to add the name of Archelaus) removing Marcian, who was still besieging Nisibis, from office </span><span lang="FR">because he had doubts about his loyalty as the city had not yet been taken control of.</span><span lang="EL"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EL">5. As the Romans were retreating, they came to a fortress on the border named Mardes by its inhabitants where </span><span lang="FR">K</span><span lang="EL">ing </span><span lang="FR">Chosroës</span><span lang="EL"> suddenly...laying siege himself...and the water of the city...constructing great (the word is unclear -????) by the city wall and making use of projectile launching machines against it, and because no </span><span lang="FR">external aid</span><span lang="EL"> came for </span><span lang="FR">its</span><span lang="EL"> inhabitants, he captured the city </span><span lang="FR">with the Medians violently mounting onto the city walls.</span><span lang="EL"> He plundered the entire city and enslaved its inhabitants including even John the son of Timostratus, a man </span><span lang="FR">of </span><span lang="EL">surpassing strength and honor who had been entrusted with </span><span lang="FR">the </span><span lang="EL">rule and administration of the city, </span><span lang="FR">and then </span><span lang="EL">le</span><span lang="FR">ft</span><span lang="EL"> behind a </span><span lang="FR">considerable</span><span lang="EL"> garrison and </span><span lang="FR">returned</span><span lang="EL"> home while the Romans were still holed up at the fortress of Mardes with Magnus </span><span lang="FR">in command</span><span lang="EL">, who also was in charge of imperial monies. Not many days later, Justin came down suddenly with a physical ailment and fearing for it all made a truce in that year with the Persians. </span><span lang="FR">As</span><span lang="EL"> his ailment grew worse, he decided to announce his adoption of Tiberius, who commanded his bodyguards (Romans call this person the comes excubitorum) and proclaimed him Caesar handing over to him the cares of government. Of all of Justin's actions, this one, besides providing a good and indeed salutary period of rule, </span><span lang="FR">proved</span><span lang="FR"> </span><span lang="EL">responsible for a great number of fair things for Roman affairs. When it happened that Tiberius took charge in the</span><span lang="FR">se</span><span lang="EL"> present circumstances, lest some terrible harm befall...to save and the starting points... seemed...Theodore who was in charge of the affairs of Armenia holding many other not ignoble offices being very learned and quite well able to see to what was necessary, so he sent off the barbarians revealing the things being done about him according to his arrangement and charging Chosroes to make a truce. A short while later, he sent off in haste to the east likewise Justinian, the son of Germanus, who numbered amongst the patricians of the Senate, entrusting him with charge of the war as he had been a man raised in the ways of war coming to maturity in it being subject neither to the rashness of youth, nor the frailty of age. Justinian came in all haste to the east taking care for the good conduct and order of his soldiers. Tiberius the Caesar then sent an army not small in number off in speed taking great care for its preparation for war by allocating a boundless sum of money and raising a mighty and war-like number from the nations taking great care for the coming war. As the duration of the truce was nearing its end, the Persians gathered themselves near Dara and came upon the city of Constantina, which Dara is four hundred and ninety stades to the west of (</span><span lang="FR">1</span><span lang="EL">).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Endnotes</p><p class="MsoNormal">1. Unfortunately, most of this passage must derive from the <i>History</i> of Theophanes of Byzantium who covered the reigns of Justin and Tiberius, which is summarized by Photius in Codex 64 and also the fragments preserved of Menander the Guardsmen 14-20 who covered the same period of time. </p>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-28953164045398939462011-12-10T16:17:00.000-08:002011-12-10T17:47:10.004-08:00Michael Psellos between War and Cruelty: Two Letters to Andronikos Doukas and Romanos Diogenes<div style="text-align: left;">Presented below are two letters from the Byzantine intellectual, historian, and politician Michael Psellos, which offer very different, but interesting perspectives on the capture and subsequent blinding of Romanos Diogenes as well as the fickle nature of Byzantine court rhetoric. Much to Psellos' civilian dislike, the militarily inclined emperor Romanos Diogenes (1068-1071) had succeeded to the throne following the Turkish inroads and disasters of 1067. While Romanos had reigned, Psellos had written beautiful encomia almost as a form of lip service lavishing praise upon Romanos as the shining sun (<a href="http://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2011/01/notes-and-bibliography-to-michael.html" style="text-align: left; ">http://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2011/01/notes-and-bibliography-to-michael.html</a> note 19). However, as these two documents show, his opinions quickly changed with the fall of Romanos, whom he addresses as a serpent in document 1. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The second letter is most interesting because it was sent by Psellos to Romanos after he was blinded by what all accounts was a most barbaric manner, perhaps even at Psellos's order (Vryonis 13). It practically half-mocks, half-praises Romanos calling him the most unfortunate man out there, but reveres him almost as a martyr of Psellos's own actions, who though he will no longer see the light as the sun will one day see the divine light. It is a uniquely bizarre message from the victor to the defeated, though perhaps we may seem some of the spirit behind in in Psellos's twisted subordination of religion to the needs of the state in his <i>Chronographia </i>(Kaldellis 47). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Particularly worth noting in connection with the <i>Chronographia </i>and this letter is the amount of effort which Psellos puts forward to exculpate his pupil and Romanos's successor Michael Doukas from involvement in the crime. In the letter below, he practically begs to be believed by Romanos. He writes, "He was distressed on hearing it wailing, grieving, beating his breast in anguish, weeping torrents of tears, wishing to die many times, and utterly agape. Put faith in what I write. It is not false, nor for the sake of favor, but true and far-shining with light. He cannot be comforted and is giving up on this life." From a cynical perspective, it almost seems that Psellos was attempting push blame for the act away from Michael, though interestingly in our records of the time, there is no scapegoat implicated in the act or reprimands as far as we know. Key figures in Michael's government continued to hold power such as Psellos or the Caesar John Doukas who is implicated by Pseudo-Skylitzes (Vryonis 13). While it is possible given the emperor Michael's weak character that he was innocent of the crime and refused to reprimand his powerful ministers, there remains the question of who ordered the blinding of Romanos Diogenes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bibliography</div><div style="text-align: left;">Kaldellis, Anthony. 1999. <i>The Argument of Psellos' Chronographia</i>. Leiden: Brill</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Vryonis, Speros. 2003. "Michael Psellus, Michael Attaleiates: The Blinding of Romanus IV at Kotyaion (29 June 1072) and His Death on Proti (4 August 1072)." in <i>Porphyrogenita: Essays in honour of Julian Chrystostomides. </i>Burlington: Ashgate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>I. </i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="text-align:justify;background:white"><b>145. To Andronikos Doukas while on campaign against Romanus Diogenes </b>(transl. from <i>Bibliotheca graeca Medii Aevi</i>. ed. Constantine Sathas. <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Venice</st1:city></st1:place>, 1876. v <span style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">pp. 392-4)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;background:white">I am not amazed that you have conquered and taken hold of the enemy by your superiority, most noble and martial man, my dearest friend, because of your so great honor, strategic sagacity, and your cunning in war. I praise you for your marches, advances, stratagems, devices, thoughtful invention, and embellished change of scale. I amazed with you for your struggles, presence in the battle, phalanx, the appearances before the routs, the division on both in columns…and of the opponent, either crosswise or on each sides, one of them in columns, the other in the cycles that men cunning in this name them. For it does not thus happen either with great fear or from the first vestibule, resplendent with victory and victories you may be received again by us, but from martial plans, from tactical movements, from lines and divisions, and noble fights and such things as the head of a general is crowned by.<span style="color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;background:white">For some time, we all were midair divided in our opinions on both sides and very joyous for any news from where you were. The greater part of us and more divine voices were pleased, thrice-beloved and most magnificent man, to hear from your messengers of your rout and victory. It has thus been written in the above books, or rather from above you have received these noble deeds as gifts.<span style="color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;background:white">You, although the head of the serpent has not yet removed, have announced this good news. It has already been lost on us, since the full length of the serpent has not yet been taken care of, while the arch-evil head has not yet been broken, though may the beast may be struck down by your lightning bolt and this, not deep below nor unseen, but high up and manifest as you come upon the den, strip down the remaining parts, and inflict a terrible poison throughout it for the righteous.<span style="color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#333333">You, with hands of gold, arms of steel, and a chest of bronze, when you have completed it, please send news. For I am already devising words of praise for you for when there is final victory and I shall place an uncontaminated laurel gathered from Attic meadows upon your head.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">However, there is still the basilisk upon my mind! Of whom do I speak? The most wily Chatatourios (Romanos Diogenes' commander who had eluded capture unlike the emperor), who please do not let escape and slip through your hands. Let the beast be captured at once by your hands, since he is not a part of length of the serpent, but at the same level with the head of the serpent.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">After all of this, shall I pour [kisses] around your neck, shall I caress your right hand stained with righteous blood seeing with my own eyes the fair sight, and shall I proclaim you in the middle of the City climbing upon the highest surface so that my voice may be heard throughout the world, if it is possible, to make it heard the furthest away?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">What is there for me to make famous of you, most sagacious of all men? For not, if you prescribe it shall it be of a contrary nature, since the memory should not be from set purpose, not from commandment, but bubbling up from below gushing forth in noble substance. I will make you famous even in Hades if indeed that is where spirits are left to remembrance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">You need craft no message about yourself, since this happening suffices for you in the place of any, even this one of mine, even if it will shortly be said that you gave life to the dead empire of the Romans.</p> <p style="text-align:justify"><i>II. </i></p><p style="text-align:justify"><b>82. To the emperor Diogenes when he was blinded (</b>trans. from<b> </b><i>Bibliotheca graeca Medii Aevi</i>. ed. Constantine Sathas. <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Venice</st1:city></st1:place>, 1876. v pp. 316-318)</p> <p style="text-align:justify">I am completely at a loss, most noble and miraculous man, whether I should cry for you as a most unfortunate man, or I should be amazed at you a most glorious martyr. When I behold your sufferings surpassing in number and intensity, I count you among the most unfortunate. When I reflect upon your so blameless conscious and your desire for good, I reckon you among the martyrs. Even after myriads of evils, still you remain upright and grateful to God, so I place you above the ranks of the martyrs.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="text-align:justify">I know not whether any other person has been tried by so many evils and yet been so completely blameless. Know this from me, most divine man: every thing in life happens out of divine providence and reason. There is nothing unaccounted for, nothing unforeseen; the sleepless eye sees all and rewards the patient for their earthly anguish and misery.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="text-align:justify">I know that it is bitter to be deprived of the light, and this grievously after so many prior evils, but again I am sure that enjoyment of divine light previously readied awaits you to comfort your heart because God will light undefiled light in your spirit, and the day of salvation shall light up for you and the holy sun shall dawn for you so that you shall hate this fresh light and love that recognized and unspeakable light.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="text-align:justify">Give praise to God that you are a man whom he made his messenger, esteemed worthy to deprive of the better light of sight, and ranked amongst his sufferers [i.e. martyrs] and in depriving you of the mortal adorned you with the heaven-weaved garland.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="text-align:justify">Reflect on the coming day of judgment when either the good fortuned here will go almost entirely unnoticed on account of this, or will received paltry honor, while you shall stand on the right of just radiantly crowned with the martyr's diadem, eyes opened, inspecting the mysteries and marvels of the divine. The martyrs will caress your pained eyes, the angels will kiss them, and boldly I venture even God himself.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="text-align:justify">Reflecting upon this joy, be of good cheer, be glad at your sufferings after the divine Apostle: a man on the face of it, who God regarding your heart recognizes the divine part of it in your soul, not choking at earthly wounds body broken but look after the good seed unseen with unseen forces.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="text-align:justify">Above all and before all, I swear to you by God whom the true Logos serves that the emperor's soul is innocent and completely blameless. When it seemed not evil would happen to you, then this tribulation happened to you. He was distressed on hearing it wailing, grieving, beating his breast in anguish, weeping torrents of tears, wishing to die many times, and utterly agape. Put faith in what I write. It is not false, nor for the sake of favor, but true and far-shining with light. He cannot be comforted and is giving up on this life. You have this fine comfort, you have a lord you loves you, or rather might I say a legitimate and beloved son, and you have him to comfort you, to cry for you, to care for you, to embrace you, and to honor you.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">I wanted to inscribe this letter with my very blood or tears, but since this was not possible, I wrote as such, I wrote, wailing and lamenting, that I eagerly desired and wanted to preserve you and was not able to save you from this calamity.</p>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-41184357393769443232011-11-09T17:27:00.000-08:002011-11-09T17:38:53.558-08:00An Itinerary to Uzun Hasan<div></div><div></div><div><center>An Fifteenth Century Itinerary of the Journey from Cyprus to Tabriz</center></div><div><p>The following itinerary I translate from the text produced by Jean Ebersolt in his article that appeared in <i>Byzantinische Zeitschrift</i> over a century ago drawing it from Parisinus 1712 in the Bibliothèque Nationale in France (1). The text is not without interest because it gives us an idea of how long it might have taken a person in the fifteenth century to travel from Cyprus to Iran. Below we reproduce the Greek names in the text followed by the modern names of the cities.</p></div><div><ol><li>Un itinéraire de Chypre en Perse d’après le Parisinus 1712. BZ, 15 (1906) pgs. 223-6.</li></ol></div><div><p><span></span></p><center><span><b>For those who desire to travel to the place of Ουζούχασαν (Uzun Hassan).</b></span></center><p></p></div><div><p><span>If one desire to go to the place of Uzun Hassan, chiefly his seat (σκαμνίν), where his throne is, that is Ταβρής (Tabriz), one should know how many days it takes one by foot and horseback, so I shall write this for you very precisely.</span></p></div><div><p><span>First you go to Cyprus by vessel and then from the <i>cavo</i> (κάβον) of the island of Cyprus to Τρίπολιν (Tripoli) the crossing is 60 miles. So you cross by a sailing (αρμενισίαν). From there, a man on foot setting out from Tripoli takes three days to get to Χάμα (Hama), while a man on horseback takes one and a half days. From Hama, it takes a man on foot two days and a one on horseback one day to get to Χαλέπιν (Aleppo).</span></p></div><div><p><span>From Aleppo, a man on foot takes two days and a man on horseback one day to get to Μαλατίαν (Malatya).</span></p></div><div><p><span>From Malatya, a man on foot takes two days and a man on horseback one day to get to Τραπυρίαν (?).</span></p></div><div><p><span>From Τραπυρίαν, a man on foot takes three days and a man on horseback a day and a half to get to Χαμίτι (Diarbekir).</span></p></div><div><p><span>From Diarbekir, a man on foot takes sixteen days and a man on horseback 12 days to get to Tabriz, where the seat of Uzun Hassan is.</span></p></div><div><p><span>And so, from Tripoli to the seat of Uzun Hassan, it takes a man on foot 28 days and a man on horseback 18 days to get there.</span></p></div><div><center><span>End</span></center></div><div><center>Commentary</center></div><div><p>Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the manuscript’s full description, but according to Ebersolt, this work is contained on four folios of paper appended to the Parisinus 1712, so it may seem likely that perhaps a person on Cyprus or Italy wrote this itinerary though it is an open question (1). It is a well known fact that many Venetians were traveling to Persia to see Uzun Hassan, the chief of the Ak-koyunlu, in the early 1470’s (2). A further point in favor of this is that the author uses κάβον deriving from the Italian <i>cavo</i> meaning the indented part of the island.</p></div><div><p>As to the voyage itself, it must be remembered that the miles referred to here are Roman miles 4884 feet in length which changes the distance to 55.5 modern miles. It should be noted that the writer seems to lack knowledge of the actual distances he describes. Traveling between Hama and Aleppo is a distance of around 75 miles, so doing it in two days on foot or a single day on horseback is an astonishing feat. The traveler would have been booking it!</p></div><div><ol><li>H. Omont, <i>Inventaire sommaire des Mss. Gr. De la Bibl. Nat.</i>, II, 128.</li></div><div><li>See among others Giosafat Barbaro <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/kerr/vol01chap19.html">here</a>.</ol></li></div><div></div><div> </div><div><br /></div>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-66653129180478294532011-10-30T23:12:00.000-07:002011-11-10T21:00:32.452-08:00Michael Attaleiates History: The Reign of Michael VII Doukas<p class="MsoNormal"><i>This next post continues my translation of Michael Attaleiates' History on the reign of Romanos Diogenes (<a href="http://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2011/01/extract-from-history-of-michael.html">http://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2011/01/extract-from-history-of-michael.html</a>) with the reign of Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078). All paragraph numbers that follow are my own addition to the text in the interests of making it more accessible and easier to reference. </i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Of all the sections of Attaleiates' history, this section is the most remarkable. It provides interesting and intriguing remarks on a wonderful series of topics from the potential equivalence of all religions (v. 15-18 and for a discussion of it, Kaldellis, Anthony.<span class="Apple-style-span"> ‘A Byzantine Argument for the Equivalence of All Religions: Michael Attaleiates on Ancient and Modern Romans,’ <span style="text-align: -webkit-auto; ">International Journal of the Classical Tradition</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "> 14 (2007) 1-22</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">)</span><i> to the ways in which a prosperous economy should function and the effects of oligopolistic policies on it (v. 24-7 and for discussion of the text, G.I. Bratianu. "Une expérience d'économie dirigée: le monopole du blé à Byzance au Xe siècle.' Byzantion 9 (1934): pp. 643-6). These sections particularly reveal Attaleiates' intelligence and insight into politics and economics as a career politician.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>1. As administrator of public affairs, he took a man far above many others in sense and practical ability having a gracious sentiment and fine virtues bringing mirth to everyone, the archbishop of Side who held first place amongst protoproedri, John by name, eunuch by constitution, who outshone eunuchs in goodness, statecraft, gentleness, strength, and approachableness. Consequently, the addition of his own virtues to the simplicity and plainness of the emperor made the emperor pleasing and well-liked to his subjects as he came during those times.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>2. However, then with the prosperity of the plant there came a weed as with the coming of night, day must depart. For there was a eunuch named Nikephoros hailing from the Boukellaroi, a crafty man, one to contrive and plot to bring chaos to order, who served Michael’s father Constantine Doukas in the role of secretary where he showed himself to be treacherous, slanderous, and practiced in foul deeds even murmuring a charge of adultery against the Augusta to the emperor out of envy of his fellow servant and co-worker Michael of Nicomedia so that he was sent away from the imperial presence being made dux of Antioch in Coele Syria. However, he did not stop there in those parts in his meddlesome and mutinous conduct stringing together pretexts for war by building fortresses and holding aloof from the Saracens to keep the heights from attack. As he was not able to make war on them or fight against them, he instead aroused himself to wage war on the Romans instead and to set in opposition the cities bordering on the Roman border. Even then, he did not leave the local people of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Antioch</st1:place></st1:city> undisturbed and unvexed, here taking their property from them, there crushing them down with demands beyond calculation and horrid demands for additional payment. When he was removed from this office, for such were the sudden and ungovernable whims of the emperor then, he was again sent to a second governorship to which he brought hardship no less than the previous one.</p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>3. When the emperor died and the empress assumed the office of emperor, a turn of fate proved obdurate and unjust for him. For an imperial ordinance reached him in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Antioch</st1:place></st1:city> ordering him to be shut up in the prison of Haima and was kept under guard there for a time in the place where he had previously been recognized for his high reputation having gone from good fortune to bad. He was freed on the proclamation of Diogenes and was exiled to an island, but later with promises of money sent off as judge of the Peloponnese and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Greece</st1:place></st1:country-region> where he was in charge of the province's monies. For the worse of the <st1:place st="on">Roman Empire</st1:place>, Michael summoned him when he came to the throne and put him in charge of the public affairs appointing him logothetes tou dromos<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> having fallen prey to his charms and his devices as he was devoid of a firm personality and did not lack in the playthings of boys. Having worn a mask a friendship, Nikephoros pushed the most moderate and learned metropolitan of Side out of the administration by treacherously having his agents bring charges against him elbowing aside as well the emperor's uncle the Caesar by painting him as contemptuous of the emperor,<span> </span>subject to suspicion. He falsely slandered all of those closest to him as belligerent towards him and robbed the emperor of those closest to him so putting the stripling lord completely under his authority. What was imperial command and undertaking, the villainous Nikephoros was more often than not behind. Henceforth, accusations and demands were made of the innocent, demands for payment of the debtless, and judgments were more in favor of the treasury than justice on account of which there were entire and partial confiscations, endless accusations, many demands for the payment of interest, and no small of grief of and misery for the sufferers of these acts.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>4. However, while all these things were happening and so turning for the worse, divine wrath visited itself upon the east. The Turks, come from <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Persia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, attacked the Roman themes devastating and plundering them dreadfully with their never ending raids. On this account, the emperor planned to send a considerable army against them and raised an expeditionary force appointing over them a young commander. He banded together with him a Latin named Russell handing over to him a body of Franks numbering no less than four hundred. When the army got to Ikonion, a quarrel broke out and Russell openly mutinied taking a different road with the Franks at his command and doing as he pleased.<span> </span>On coming to Melitene he met with some Turks with whom he fought nobly fall upon them with a charge. Meanwhile, the remainder of the Roman army came to <st1:place st="on">Caesarea</st1:place> and set up camp there. The commander of the army (Isaac Komnenos that is) thought to take the Turks against him by surprise, so he advanced in the night with a contingent of his army to attack them, but failed his design and suffered his own intent as his opponents were prepared when he fell upon them unprepared and fought an involuntary battle in which he was defeated being overcome by the multitude of his opponents. He himself was taken captive because he had boldly fought with his own hands and had not given way to flight, while the camp itself was lost along with all the baggage with many Romans falling in battle and being taken captive though the greater part of them took flight looking to their own salvation.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>5. When report of this came upon the emperor, he seemed to be angry about it, though he did not stay himself from the injustices of the city having been won over by the vile counsels of Nikephoros, since he apparently was not able to resist the will of his counselors. The Turks consequently overran his lands fearlessly thereafter. Consequently, he bought Komnenos's freedom for a large sum of money and began raising and fitting out another army to be sent against his opponents. As commander-in-chief, he appointed the Caesar John, the uncle of the emperor Michael. He then crossed the strait and came until Dorylaion with his entire army and set up camp there before setting forth from there to march onward until the bridge called Zombos, which is situated on the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Sangarios</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place> and also separates the theme of the Anatolics and from that of the Cappadocians. Before he was about to cross it, he learned that Russell was encamped on the opposite side having set out from the Armeniacs with a large and restless gathering of cavalry and infantry men under his command. The Caesar naturally sent men to open discussions about coming to some sort of agreement and peace. The Caesar did not deign to treat Russell on equal footing in sending the deputation, nor did he try to entice him with generous promises and gifts, but in a belittling and almost advising manner warned him against being seized cruelly and hostilely. Russell, however, putting trust in his own prowess and endowed with a war-like personality and nobility, did not accept the deputation’s message because it dishonored his might and was threatening him not greeting him with promises.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>6. Consequently, both sides were out for war. The Caesar tried to cross the bridge, though his fellow commander (that is the kouropalates<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Nikephoros Botaneiates, a reputable man of ancestral soldierly nobility surpassing all others in strength of hand and mind from an illustrious family preeminent over all the East) advised him not to cross the river, but hold off and wait for the rest of the army when he could either soften the barbarian with his superior position with promises, or cross the river by the bridge unprepared, or after the arrival of the rest of the army attack him with a greater force.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>7. However, the Caesar did not listen to this fine counsel and crossed the bridge with difficulty because of how easy it was to slip from the bridge. Then in a bewildered state, he stumbled upon battle ordering his battle lines to resist their opponents, subdue them, and rout them, falling unexpectedly into a fierce fight, since Russell attacked him with his elite troops and defeated him by force taking him captive with his very own hands. The rest of the army took flight ignobly scattering about. Thus Russell won the fights, while the said fellow commander by his fearlessness and inability to be taken by surprise returned with his train to his own abode.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>8. What then? Russell having become great and infamous by the extent of his victory then advanced forthwith on <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Byzantium</st1:city></st1:place> with the Caesar in irons inspiring much distress. When report of this misfortune was brought to the emperor and the people, it filled them all with anxiety with the emperor himself suspecting that the Frank might try to enter within the city by treachery. On this account, seated on the imperial throne, he spoke thus to the men present with great dejection: "Citizens and men of the Senate, I have just learned of melancholy news such as no other person can countenance that makes me nearly want to die. I am Jonas. So take me and throw me into the sea because it is through my deeds that these melancholy and terrible things have happened." His message was filled with his repentance for his wrong-doings, but there was no deed to back it and so no solution came about as he had enslaved himself ungovernably to bad counsels.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>9. While Russell was advancing, letters were sent to him by the emperor promising him of the honor of kouropalates and lavish gifts if he would renounce his rebellion and make peace with the emperor. However, he did not listen to any of these messages and so headed for the capital with greater speed. He had with him as his captive Basil Maleses the svestes<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>, who he had taken captive along with the Caesar during the flight and who had returned from captivity in Persia not long before having been taken into the Caesar's service because of his clear sense and knowledge. Even though Russell had taken him captive he showed him the greatest honor as a experienced and skilled man who had gotten his experience from previous campaigns and made him one of his counselors even as one of his primary ones making use of his tongue and hand in civil matters. Maleses advised Russell to agree to the peace terms even though he hated Michael's tyranny having been persecuted by him as now a prisoner instead of receiving the emperor's mercy, he had gotten the gift of confiscation and the inhuman deprivation of his own children, since such was were the most unlawful punishments of the emperor then that shirk peace in order to punish the guilty, personally I do not know, though many people say it is so, but he as my good friend swore that it was for this reason. If he desired to become a tyrant-slayer, then this is truly a sign of his nobleness.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>10. In the meantime, Russell accomplished his passage to Byzantium and set up his tents in Chrysopolis opposite the capital, the emperor was seized with fear and the city of Byzantium was rocking here and there in the waves, since with all of the Franks that had gathered there and come with him, he had all together a considerable army numbering nearly three thousand Franks. After he had been staying some days in Chrysopolis with the Caesar in fetters, fire broke out in the homes in Chrysopolis. As the flames spread, tons of noise and shrieking broke out as the wind spread the flames and the flames consumed the wooden buildings in the city leaving only an astonished clamor in the city. Wanting to lessen the audacity of the barbarian, the emperor set his own wife to him along with his children. Yet he also summoned the Turks secretly, who were already approaching the Roman dominion, and convinced them to fight Russell with ample promises.</p> <o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>11. Russell then set out from Chrysopolis and retreated back to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Nicomedia</st1:place></st1:city> in haste. It was his purpose to add Roman soldiers to his army and enlarge his army to great size. For this reason, he released the Caesar of his bonds and forgave him contrary to all expectation his previous wrongs with compassionate words raising him up as Roman emperor and acclaiming him and investing him with the imperial insignia. After his proclamation, word reached them of the Turks, so the entire army passed over the mountain named Sophon and made their camp near the fortress of Metabole. When some scouts reported that some of the enemy, no more than five or six thousand, had appeared before them, Russell straightaway ordered the war trumpet to be sounded and his troops made ready for war. The Franks with him numbered two thousand seven hundred in all, since no Roman had yet deserted to them because word of the proclamation of the Caesar had not yet spread and come to the ears of the Romans, so Caesar along with some of the more important men present justly perceiving the number of their opponents said in an attempt to restrain his impulsiveness because Russell's numbers did not suffice to permit him to join battle with six thousand Turks. As a result of this, he swiftly put his troops in order and attacked them. The Franks took their opponents by surprise fighting with force and a cry and the Turks bore down their assault intending to resist, but they were unable to bear the ferocity and the vehemence of their attack with some of them falling in battle being put to the sword such that no Frank did not have a hand in the slaughter, while the rest took flight. As the Franks pursued them hard on their heels, still more men were put to the sword. As the pursuit went on for a great distance, the Turks advanced prolonging their flight, while Russell let the Franks pursue unchecked and so came to a place no small distance away. As he was went up and down the heights of many places, he lost the greater part of his troops in the pursuit. Accompanied by only a few men including the Caesar with his horses spent after the long pursuit, he came upon the main body of the Turks and looked down upon their boundless numbers that imitated the waves of the vast sea as there was more than one hundred thousand barbarians there. Since he had been seen, he realized that he could not take flight in the opposite direction without peril as his horses were spent and his opponents could grow bold by his retreat and decided to join battle with them.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>12. As his enemies had learned of the cutting down of their own, they fell into fear and tumult nearly would have taken flight themselves had not some of the Franks descended from their horses and gave them spirit tumbling here and there with bow legs. Seeing them exhausted by their efforts, they made their stand. Although Russell and his men assaulted them with terrible ferocity, the Turks did not give way though tons of them fell in battle. They surrounded the few men with Russell, for such was the degree of their numbers, and rained down constant streams of arrows on them ever using long range bowmen. Having all too evidently slaughtered their horses with these and having them surrounded with men and bowmen in an unbreakable and almighty circle, they added the men on foot to the slaughter of the horses. And thus many Franks fell in battle taking with them a greater number of Turks, while the Caesar and Russell were captured. As for the remaining Franks, they fled back to fortress of Metabole, where the wife of Russell was, and strengthened its garrison and its protection. Meanwhile, the Turks threw Russell in unbreakable fetters and kept him under sure guard; while they treated the Caesar with honor leaving him unbound and paid him the honor of keeping his own clothes. Nevertheless, they announced they would free both for considerable sums of gold.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>13. When his rout and capture was announced to the emperor, he convened all of the Senate in the palace and revealed to them what had occurred. With the price sought by the Turks for the ransom of the captured men, the emperor was eager to get his hands on them by ransoming them. For the protosvestes Basil Maleses, of first rank with the Caesar for his education and great experience, had reached him having been freed by the Turks with great honor some before having been taken along with his commander the Caesar in the battle, he now counseled the emperor to ransom them swiftly so that they should not do as they had been advised and make the Caesar Roman emperor and be able to therein attain great aid from Roman cities, villages, and<span> </span>powerful men without a fight, since he had learned they were plotting this. Although he gave him good advice, he did not take such good advice and instead condemned him to exile and the confiscation of his property, for such were the actions of that terrible and awful belligerent man.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>14. And so the emperor gathered together a large and extensive quantity of gold and sent men along with it to purchase them from the Turks. As Russell's wife was in the city of Metabole and had a small fortune, she ransomed her husband first and saved him from both enemies so that the emissaries sent by the emperor failed and were able only to ransom the Caesar and bring him back to the capital, When they got to the Propontis, the Caesar was perhaps overcome by piety lest he be condemned as a traitor or be subject to suspicion and inquiry on this account or even cast away and so decided not to meet his nephew the emperor in a worldly habit, but was tonsured and became a monk adopting a paltry habit when he entered into the palace. At this time, prudent men were come upon by astonishment and surprise, since there was no reckoning about those senseless men with out discrimination.</p><span> </span><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>15. These people were astonished to see how Roman commanders could go off against their own compatriots with such show and magnificence, and then return so dishonorably and lamentably with such squalidness and despondency; instead of the previously magnificent and victorious triumph held by previous Romans, they presented a laughable and base sight celebrating the triumph not only of the defeat of their comrades-in-arms, but also their own suffering and misery. What could be a more obvious example of divine offence? I am compelled to be amazed herein by how the Roman emperors having the testimonies of so many histories, the observances of so many deeds, and the fortunes both good and bad of all too evident reasons where in some Divine Wrath visits itself severely on sinners, while in others cowardly, ignoble, and inharmonious intents are the cause, since they put no store in them or deem to learn the reasons for which misfortunes befell the Roman Empire. Instead, with no regard for piety, the service of the Divine, and the laws of their fathers, they brought Roman forces into great wars and perils ill-advisedly and rashly before having appeased God, and so they suffered terribly and were brutally defeated setting no store in the wrath of the Divine.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>16. The ancient Romans did not act in such a way; they won their awesome battles and campaigns even though they had not yet received the laws of the Word of God laid out during his unutterable and marvelous incarnation and his time on earth to revere the sacred, strive after virtue, and to keep zealously the laws of good-doing, piety, they nevertheless with great inborn character attended their devotions sensibly. If ever some inauspicious defeat befell Rome or some ill omen appeared, it was a matter of great concern for them to discover and seek the cause, whether something necessary and fitting had been left out, a virgin guarding the undying fire<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> had surrendered her virginity, or some outrageous illegal act had been committed, lest Divine Wrath come upon the Romans. Oftentimes after thorough investigation, they would discover the causes of the outrages and put them right in order to dispose the Divine well towards them, and then with such preparation and confidence march forth to war only to win them and celebrate their conquests after their victories. For generals, it was their concern and disquiet first to purify their army of all wrong and stain, and then after purifying it to fight for their homeland.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>17. With present Romans, this is not the case, but instead our commanders and emperors under the pretext of helping the State commit the worst of outrages and God-abominated unlawful acts with the commander of the army not so much interested in war or filial acts for his fatherland, but only the glory to be gained from victory and the gains to be gotten for himself as well as the wealth to be gained, esteeming nothing the success and glory of his own nation. The masses follow their leaders’ example, irrestrainable injustices...pursuing their own compatriots vilely and inhumanly with shameless attacks seizing and violating their own, committing the acts of an enemy in their own dwelling place and land, while of course not permitting their said enemies vile acts and the seizing of plunder. Moreover, they deserve the most vicious curses from their compatriots as their defeat permits such deeds to be committed against all Roman villages, lands, and cities.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>18. Again I am amazed by how when the chiefs of the Romans put confidence in a person to make the wars of which God is the impartial judge, they turn against him. They may think they are avoiding the ceaseless eye and seizing victory covertly like a master of the house not brooding over only a piece of his own property, but in doing so, they disappoint not only their expectations of battle, but also doom themselves to infamy and throw away public funds collect by both unjust and just means. I myself having taken part in many campaigns and practically lived in the palace have not yet seen a will pleasing to God or a persuasion or sensitivity in martial and civil matters blending itself with piety that does not appear unlawful to the Council<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> and repulsive to God. Instead, everything is done is to the greater advantage of themselves whether it means the sacred places being profaned or the people injured so long as those gathered in the palace can wickedly use it as a pretext for unjust and God-abominated gain. Consequently, I attribute the turn for the worse of Roman affairs to Divine Vengeance and the response of impartial favor as those foreign nations honor the right and keep their ancestral customs untampered with, which bring them prosperity from their Creator and which all men share in common and are asked for by every religion. As ours is the true and blameless Christian faith, when we fall from virtuous conduct, our condemnation and sentencing follows according to the law of God when it says, “The servant who knows the will of his master and does not act on it will suffer many lashes of the whip.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></p><span> </span><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>19. Let no one censure me for such an inroad on our affairs. I have not written this deceitfully simply to revile them or dishonor them, but to lay the blame for foul doings so that perhaps respect and fear of the Divine may beset the rulers, generals, and subjects and they put them aside returning to the previous good will and succor of Him setting right their wretched fortunes. For we were at the throes of death with both East and West seized by Goths<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> and other blood-stained nations profiting from our simplicity or neglect, or rather more truthfully the offence and wrath of God because we were struggling against ourselves, fighting our compatriots without check, and looking with contempt on death, while in wars with other races we appear cowardly and feeble giving way to flight before even the battle. Yet let this be enough for men able to deduce many things from a few and look after our interests.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>20. And so the Caesar entered into the capital and submitted to the emperor so that peace came over the palace as the emperor seemed to have been utterly victorious, except that he had failed to get Russell in his clutches and punish him. For he merited only secondly the assault of the Turks on the Romans and their slaughter of the Christian race plundering their villages and lands such that the east was utterly in chaos with an uncountable number of men slaughtered here and taken captive there. Russell, even though the Turks had reached all of the Roman themes, he set out from the fortress of Metabole with his remaining Frankish soldiers, wife, children, and property and marched through the middle of the country without fear coming to the Armeniac theme where he again recovered the castles that had previously been in his power and thus caused the people of the theme to make attacks against the Turks and hazard the evils of war.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>21. Yet the emperor having been stirred into a fury against him by the admonition of the said eunuch Nikephoros, choose to rather let the Turks take Roman lands than permit this Latin one place and let him make his raids on them. Consequently, he contrived many devices, made many agreements, and made many promises to the Turks were they to capture him, and so sent off the protoproedrus Alexios Komnenos, one of those in high honors as well as a soldiers being youthful and second to none in intelligence and second to none vigorousness, who came to Amaseia where he began to make plans for the things to come. As Russell had made an alliance and come to terms with the commander of the Turks, he frequently went about with them without any soldiers about him. One day, he was with them at a feast when he was betrayed by treachery as the Turks betray all friendship for money, seizing him and making him their prisoner having a legitimate mandate to betray the Romans, slaughter them, betray them, not give their word with them, as it is with them. With him as their prisoner, the proedros Alexios won them over from them possession of him with gifts in midst of which the emperor was look to make peace, since he reckoned the merciless taking over of the Turks as nothing through his senselessness and hate for the Romans, it seems.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>22. At the same time, the Lord meted out many a time, as it happens, punishments out of proportion with the wrong and unbefitting an emperor unpraisably condemning men at the instigation of advocates of the worst, while reports kept coming saying that the Turks were moving against Chalcedon and Chrysopolis and had already reached the surrounding countryside, yet this caused him no dismay or bewilderment, but as though it was a foreign country suffering he remained unmoved. With him so disposed, Nikephorus, the logothete of the dromos, whom he held in the highest regard, believing himself to enjoy the emperor’s favor in every respect, did as he wanted prying away the emperor's affection for his mother, his brothers, and relatives convincing him that they wanted to rule and did not have his interests in mind, while he, and only he, had his interests in mind.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>23. On this account, the emperor let him do what he wanted with the empire with Nikephoros entrusting the emperor with carrying out what he wanted done and bestowing honors and grants<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> on whoever he wanted for no small amount of profits. For he was besides his other vices demonically greedy for money and avariciously acquired immovable property.<span> </span>As his center and treasury of his insatiable greed, he made use of the Hebdomos Monastery. Having received it as a gift, he contrived to make the emperor confirm on him many properties daily and make over to him unending revenues as though he was struggling in this respect to surpass the emperor in his rich lifestyle thinking viciously to makes his own and gain even further profits and add wealth beyond measure to the name of the monastery so that in the future its fame would be unspeakable. In all of this, he took no fill though he had been given as gifts by all of those in office, the soldiers, the tax collectors, and practors and taken into his possession both many and great special properties and houses not even abstaining from gaining by sycophancy nor contriving against prosperity making the distress and destitution of the world his own mandate for avarice.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>24. Once on learning that whole wagon loads of grain were being brought into the city of Rhaedestos where they were would be bought and distributed to the guest houses of the monasteries there and to the stores of both the main church itself and many local ones and that they were freely being sold to purchasers and cellarers alike so bringing prosperity to everyone, this vile knave, jealous of their prosperity, built a fundax (a granary) outside the city thinking to gather together the wagon loads effecting this by imperial mandate. The plan was to make the granary the only seller of grain, that necessary of life, allowing no one else if he was not associated with the granary to sell it so giving the granary a treacherous and demonic repute. Hence, that man grew prosperous, the cities’ prosperity diminished, and the wrath of the Divine came down upon the lands held by the Romans.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>25. It was not as before where a potential buyer of grain would buy it from the seller and if he did not like it he would go to another seller and another after that and so buy from the wagons. Instead, the incoming grain was stored in the granary’s enclosure having grain sellers nearby the granary and many grain peddlers who would pick up the grain, sell it, and deposit the money of which they would struggle to get three coins more than a coin. No one was to buy from the wagons: not a sailor heading for the capital, a city person, a farmer, nor anyone else. Instead, they had to buy from the granary at the pleasure of them and their destructive chief of the granary who stopped the people bringing down grain and foully took the grain from them imposing grave demands on them for public places forcing them to buy grain contriving in many ways to make it more destitute. With the granary so set up, the previous prosperity fell due to the unspeakable injustice and the price of grain went from eight or ten modia of grain a nomisma to a single modius.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> For not only then were grain-bearing wagons, alas the avariceness of it, charged a tax, but also all other goods for sale which were near it. Eventually, the inhabitants of countryside and Rhaedestus started to sell their own agricultural products in their own homes.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>26. And so, the loads of grain were taken and the granary alone was master of the grain. Nothing of this sort had ever happened and never had such an injustice been committed. For if one was caught selling grain at home that he/she had grown, like a common murderer, bandit, or some who had committed some unspeakable deed, his property was seized and confiscated by the agent in charge of the granary. For the chief of the granary had with him nearly a hundred knaves at his command with whom he subjected the wretched sellers and farmers to much abuse as there was no one capable of resisting them who had the sheer force of numbers and the might of the logothetes behind them filling them with irrestrainable audacity. Being paid a sum of 60 pounds from the granary, he was more than content with its means of procurement, while a want not only of grain, but also other commodities gripped everyone else.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>27. With the price of grain having risen, the price of everything else rose, and because now it cost more for purchases, workingmen demanded higher wages because of the lack of food.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Prominent persons and those near the granary recognized what problems it was causing and hence this terrible destitution unpleasantly gripped the world as this unjust profit like a drug mixed with honey sated the terrible lasciviousness of those in power until with his profit they lost all their property and salvation.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>28. Meanwhile, imperial affairs took a turn for the worse as Nikephoros' terrible counsels especially were carried out and the grain started to diminish and prosperity give way to hardship, so the murmur of the people increased such that of the previous this was judged the most outrageous and set far above those previous evils. The mix of barbarians living by the Ister also joined in this murmur. For there are a great many cities by its banks having a body of people gathered together from every part and one raised in war. Besides them, there are the Scythians who having crossed the river continue to live the Scythian life. The cities being plundered by them furthermore had the annual grants sent from the imperial treasury cut down at the instigation of Nikephoros.</p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>29. Because of this, some of these cities began to rebel and turned to the Pecheneg nation. As the emperor’s officials wanted to appoint a governor from amongst those close to him, they decided to appoint as catepan of Dristra, Nestor, who had been honored with honor of vestarch and been born in Illyricum with his father having served the emperor's father. The present emperor having bestowed that office upon him sent him with some men from Dristra who had promised the emperor they would turn the city over to him. On reaching there, however, and spending some time there, he found that the locals were little or not at all inclined to submit to the authority of the Roman emperor having entrusted full authority over their height to their chief (Tatrys was his name<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>). Either because Nestor was seized by fear of him, or (Nikephoros was hostile towards him and had done this not preferring the public's best interests to envy and wickedness and punished wrongly the unjudged while there matters were in such utter confusion before even giving a thought to the government), he so joined with them by agreement and oath in their intentions and even made treaties with the Pecheneg race that he would join them making war without peace on the Romans. This done, he began his preparations for war and the raiding of Roman lands.</p><span> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>30. Meanwhile, when Russell was taken captive by the Turks, the proedros Alexios staying in Amaseia did all that he could to get his hands on him. Even though the Turks thought Russell was worth of the price of many pounds of gold, he managed to get them to lower what they were asking for him and so got his hands on him putting him in chains and keeping a sleepless watch over him. Then he sent a letter to the emperor and returned to him traveling by way of the <st1:place st="on">Black Sea</st1:place> leading Russell into the capital with his feet bound. The emperor did not even deign to let him come into his sight or think him worthy of imperial forbearance and magnanimity, instead putting on a trial against him in which after his case was decided he condemned him to be put to death resisting any just inclination of moderation and philanthropy and so preserving an experienced solder and general for the Roman Empire capable of curing the east of the many evils plaguing it as he would attribute his deliverance to the emperor’s favor and be boundlessly grateful (it would have been necessary for a man such as him to do so being vested with logic and not without his fair share of solid prudence) taking command of the war to deliver the east from the pressing advance of the enemy when one remembers his previous successes and bold deeds, but the emperor did not act in such a way and letting his anger get the better of him so deprived the Roman Empire of its greatest possibility for might and success as things turned out after this. He so handed him over to the torturers who tied his feet to an impossibly heavy ball and chain like a run-away slave and shut him up in a tower, where he kept him bound with iron chains in darkness inhumanely forgotten.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>31. It soon happened that Nestor went through with his plans and invaded the land of Macedonia with the Pechenegs treating it cruelly and malevolently as the soldiers assembled at Adrianople would not even dare to attack him in battle. Thus the lands of <st1:country-region st="on">Thrace</st1:country-region>...<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[13]</span></span></span></span></a> and set up camp near the city of <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Byzantium</st1:city></st1:place> with a considerable army. As for the remaining body of his army, he left it to pillage and plunder the remaining cities and lands. When summer came with produce lost, the capital and the remaining cities of the west were gripped by shortages of the necessaries for life as nourishment failed the flocks and everywhere scarcity caused everyone gloom, since there was not an army considerable enough in the capital capable of repelling the enemy and since there was no means to bolster the citizens moral enough to deliver themselves of the foreign people surrounding them. Not even did the emperor who was so distinguished for his learning, intelligence, and great experience manage to find some way by his own cleverness to bring an end to this misfortune. There seemed to be only one means of delivering themselves of these evils to everyone: the surrender of the logothete Nikephoros to the enemy.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>32. Public opinion held him responsible for all of the misfortunes, so there was a great call seeking to punish him and take hold of him, and then with the capital free restore things back to normal for the Romans. However, the emperor proved averse to what they sought ready instead to let things be and suffer. In consequence, this caused a great debate and struggle for the greater part of people as to whether instead of handing him over to the enemy they should remove him from his office of logothetes, make him a private citizen, and send him home as futile and removed by all in order to make the enemy think this was enough for his punishment and break up their camp. As the emperor would not give his consent to this being unwilling to sacrifice one useless man for the salvation of the entire Roman race, divine aid from on high came to help them through the unbending intercession of Our Immaculate Lady, the Mother of God.</p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>33. The ambassadors sent by the Pechenegs as they were returning back to them for some unclear reason fell suspect to Nestor who thought they were going to put their hands on him their chief advisor and co-commander, and so fearing the danger of some device, he in all haste left the army and went back the way he came. As he was passing through the <st1:placetype st="on">land</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Macedonia</st1:placename>, he fought some Pechenegs who were pillaging and plundering the countryside, and so came to the villages and defenses by the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Ister</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place> leading behind him a large train of men, herds, and baggage. With his precipitous retreat, there was a respite as both agricultural goods and other supplies flowed back into the city with the greater part of people celebrating wonderfully giving thanks to God and to his much-revered mother.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>34. In addition, a contingent of western soldiers set out from Adrianople to see the emperor hastening to hear from him his response to their requests as they had charged him with depriving them of their pay as soldiers and with their sufferings due to the lack of foresight and insatiability of people in power. Those about the emperor tried to unjustly overcome by setting a body of soldiers in ambush for them, and when he saw them getting down from their horses to make the accusation let the ambushers go against them. And so they surrounded their countrymen and vehemently and as though in war attacked them with some hitting them with iron fasces, others killing some with ceremonial swords, and still others seizing their tents and their horses along with them. As a result of this happening, the Byzantines felt great pity for the soldiers who had blamelessly suffered and condemned the emperor and those about him for their utter mindlessness as though he repented and restored to them some of what was seized, he did not do anything to comfort them or give the soldiers any promotions or pay raises. Instead, they returned home filled with no small amount of grief not wanting to remain there, but intending to revenge themselves on their enemies.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>35. In that year, some portents appeared in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Byzantium</st1:city></st1:place>. A three-footed bird was born and a baby goat legged too having one eye only on its forehead; furthermore during the public procession of the Virgin it was held out and let out a gasp resembling that of a child. Two of the Immortal soldiers were also struck by thunder near the western wall of the city in a public place. In addition, comets appeared in the sky.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p>36. As the east was being ravaged, plundered, and subdued by the barbarians, a multitude of people fled daily to the capital such that famine ensued gripping everyone and putting them in need of the necessaries of life. When winter came, since the emperor was uncaring and clung to parsimony providing nothing from the imperial treasury or any other providence to either the men in power or any comfort to the people, each person was forced to worry about him/herself since they were not rich enough to suffice for their needs and provide the necessaries of life and a great and unspeakable number of people not only of foreigners, but also of people of the city died daily such that their corpses were piled in heaps in the so-called rostra<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[14]</span></span></span></span></a> and the fields with five or six corpses being carried piled up in a single bier unceremoniously and suffering spread all about such that the capital was filled with melancholy dejection. The emperor took no reproof from these daily and wretched happenings, but carried on committing God-hated tyrannical acts as though there was no foreign war disquieting the Romans, divine wrath, or need, or the vehemence of life assaulting persons. Any imperial device was only to wrong his own, outwit them, and seek after their very lives.</p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p><p>37. What happened then? Everyone was taken with gall, angry, and angry with God entreating him to pay full attention to his succession [on earth] and appoint them a man capable of conquering those tyrants as well as hearten the fortunes of the Romans again with his sense, nobleness, and generous and philanthropic soul. Yet they did not stray far from the mark. For the Lord immeasurable in his pity answered their request and raised up a man better than their expectations as such in virtue, magnanimity, nobleness, and soldierly glory when the previous emperor had been in evil, cheapness, and ignoble state. It was him, who was chosen and selected for rule by the heavenly king, the kouropalates Nikephoros Botaneiates, who we have mentioned many times in our work as being thrice noble and esteemed. He was amongst the noble men of the east and was the top man in the province of the Anatolics for wealth, birth, and reputation in deeds both old and new, so having command of that theme then he was filled with grief seeing all of this take place, since he could not bear it having a pious and God-loving nature to live to see such impious acts committed and all of the east in chaos at the hands of the enemy as well as the city of Constantinople injured without check by the misdeeds of the emperor and the western lands laid waste to by foreign nations and injurious devices.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:22.5pt"></p><p>38. As he was well aware by the preeminence of his family exactly how Roman lands had enjoyed many and great noble deeds during many times and periods by his ancestors, he reckoned it unworthy of himself and second to them should he not help the Orthodox in need for whom Christ our God shed his own blood, so he became a fiery avenger and set forth his soul to the flock of Christ and his holy nation. Although the Turks were still advancing and waging terrible war on all sides, he boldly and nobly resisted them fighting them mightily not with arms and a multitude of soldiers (They were all devastated and dejected by the constant raids, slaughters, and defeats such that they were afraid and would not join with him), but buoyed with hope by divine might and armed with just zeal, he spoke the truth against all the forces standing against him and the emperor himself saying that he did not rule like an emperor, but like a tyrant and a lawless and improvident man brining ruinous evil on the Ausonians<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[15]</span></span></span></span></a> [the Romans]. As he had written to him telling him what must be done and advising the emperor to change for the better and as such march against his opponents with the arms of justice, the devices of soldiers, and the prominence of weapons, but the emperor had not been amenable and agreeable to it, hostile and hateful to him because of this well-conceived counsel, Botaneiates himself came forward and took up those fights and struggles against the foreign peoples and care of the Christians advancing his fair choice to God and man as well as his pious aim for his compatriots and so taking command of the Romans zealously putting far off the terrible folly of the emperor. Even then the men with him refused to serve him if he did not adopt the insignia of imperial rule, make great use of his great mindedness and universal obedience, and adopt the linen purple dyed cloak and receive the proclamation of everyone, and so on July 2 of the first indiction it was done so, when the eastern sun goes in its equal daily cycle purely and radiantly over the world gracing men with favor of day and benefiting them filling the entire world with its unutterable grace.</p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"> <!--[endif]--> <div id="ftn1"> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Scylitzes Continuatus was more cynical of this arrangement. He writes, “Hence, the emperor being naturally feminine and stilted with government, power passed to him.”</p> </div> <div id="ftn2"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> That is the minister entrusted with the financial affairs of the empire.</p> </div> <div id="ftn3"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> a senatorial rank of prestige and honor often awarded to military commanders</p> </div> <div id="ftn4"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""></a><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <div id="ftn5"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> i.e. the Vestal Virgins </p> </div> <div id="ftn6"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> The Greek boule is a curious word choice here because it echoes how decisions of the Athenian government would be formulated (edoxe tei boulei…). Potentially, boule is meant to refer to the general masses of<span> </span><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Byzantium</st1:city></st1:place> as Attaleiates has referenced multiple times in this passage, but the word with its democratic connotations is a strange choice here.</p> </div> <div id="ftn7"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Luke 12:47</p> </div> <div id="ftn8"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> i.e. the Turks</p> </div> <div id="ftn9"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> The word used is pronoia, a grant which allowed the holder to farm the taxes of the locations specified in the grant.</p> </div> <div id="ftn10"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> A single modius corresponded to about 2 gallons or a peck. For a single nomisma (that is a Byzantine gold coin) people used to be able to obtain a bushel of wheat, but with Nikephros’ new changes they got only a peck. Talk about inflation in a short space of time!</p> </div> <div id="ftn11"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> At this point, I find it is appropriate to cite what the Byzantine historian John Zonaras writing half a century later says of the reign of Michael VII, “This universal misfortune caused the emperor to gain the nickname by which even now men still refer to him because nobody recognize him unless to the person says Parapinakios [Minus-a-Quarter]</p> </div> <div id="ftn12"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Scylitzes has instead the name Tatous</p> </div> <div id="ftn13"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Here the lacuna stands for that which is in the text, which would have told what happened to <st1:country-region st="on">Thrace</st1:country-region> and how Nestor divided the army before he attacked <st1:place st="on">Constantinople</st1:place>.</p> </div> <div id="ftn14"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> public platform for speaking</p> </div> <div id="ftn15"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/As%20administrator%20of%20public%20affairs.doc#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>i.e. the Romans</p> </div></div>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-51140752879561055422011-09-07T13:42:00.000-07:002011-09-07T17:18:55.234-07:00Le voile se lève: epistemological trends and perceptions of pre-Napoleonic Egypt<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><i><span lang="FR" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-language:FR">Je suis tout ce qui a été et qui sera ; nul mortel ne pourra lever mon voile.</span></i><span lang="FR" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-language:FR"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt">[I am everything that has been and will be; no mortal shall be able to raise my veil]—Voltaire<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">In the minds of the writers of the famous <i>Description de l’Egypte</i> published after the Napoleonic conquest of <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> in the early 1800’s, the destinies of <st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> had long been interlinked. Had not, after all, the conquest of the nation been proposed from the time of the Crusades to that of Louis XIV?<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region> had united all of its best efforts for the conquest of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place> and all of its best artistic efforts for the description of it, which the writers now stated had at last produced a precise knowledge.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Yet in this post factum approach to the epistemological revolution of sorts, much has been obscured and misconstrued about how this fusion of knowledge and conquest came to pass.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><br />Some such as Maya Jasanoff have made the argument that <st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region>’s entrance into <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> was driven by a desire primarily by imperialist competition with <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> and that consequently the birth of Egyptology was largely driven by imperialism. While I do not contest the validity of this argument as a narrative for these historical phenomena, here I will trace another narrative of knowledge about <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> over the course of the century prior to the Napoleonic conquest and how this knowledge shaped and altered French conceptions and biases about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> ultimately ending in conquest. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><br />While it is true that the first manifestation of the idea of conquering <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place> made its appearance more than one hundred years before the Napoleonic conquest to Louis XIV, we should not forget that this idea was not a French one. In fact, the proposal for the conquest of <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> was presented to Louis by none other than the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz, who acting in the interests of his country sought to divert French ambitions from <st1:city st="on">Holland</st1:city> and the Holy Roman Empire and focus them instead on a military venture far away from Europe in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>. To this end, he applied all of his cunning in drafting the proposal to play upon Louis XIV’s ambition and Catholicism. In conquering <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Leibniz said, Louis would be following in the footsteps of Alexander the Great creating an empire of the East, while at the same time winning a great victory for Christendom as a neo-Crusader.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">While Louis may have been flattered by this proposal, he recognized it for what it was: a contrived plan of conquest whose author had no first hand knowledge of <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> and used ancient and modern travel sources to discuss rather preposterously things such as the fortifications of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Louis’s reply was diplomatic: Crusades had been ‘out of fashion’ since Louis IX (1226-1270).<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> With that, the proposal passed out of knowledge until it was rediscovered and sent to Napoleon after the conquest of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> was well under way in September 1798.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Yet, the lack of first hand knowledge behind this proposal is precisely what is most interesting about it because it characterizes the state of knowledge about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>, or rather the dearth of it. For a long time, <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> seems to have remained quite an obscure topic for individuals seeking to learn more about this mysterious, eastern land. In France, there had only been a precious few travelers’ accounts and remarks to be gleaned from classical texts, when Benoît de Maillet first sat down to write his memoires which would later become his <i>Description de l’Égypte </i>in 1735.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn8" name="_ednref8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[viii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> For him, many questions remained unanswered on the origins of the Nile, the nature of the <st1:place st="on">Nile</st1:place>, the country’s climate, the country’s productions, the country’s mores, the country’s religion, the nature of the ancient monuments, and finally the secrets that the country’s monuments held.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn9" name="_ednref9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[ix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> It was a strange paradox that so little was known about a country which had such rich commerce and could control the Red Sea route to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[x]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Yet, this lack of knowledge and interest in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> were soon to change. De Maillet’s original publication seems to have had quite the salutary effect of propagating the study of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> as his description was later republished five years later in 1740. Some years later, another writer Pierre d’Origny took up de Maillet’s mantel and went on to publish a history of Ancient Egypt where he continued to lament the dearth of sources and knowledge about <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>, while simultaneously attempting to establish a chronology of the Pharaohs.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn11" name="_ednref11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Again, though, the problem endemic to his studies was a need for d’Origny to make history of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> better known and relevant to his readers.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn12" name="_ednref12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Yet, the man who perhaps had an even greater impact on the growing interest in Egypt in light of future events was none other than Voltaire whose <span class="apple-style-span"><i><a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essai_sur_les_m%C5%93urs_et_l%27esprit_des_nations" title="Essai sur les mœurs et l'esprit des nations">Essai sur les mœurs et l'esprit des nations</a> </i><span>appearing in 1756 attempted to sum up knowledge known on Egypt and answer several of the questions posed by his predecessors. <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> was still a mysterious place religiously, geographically, linguistically etc. Perhaps, the best image of this mystery that Voltaire presents and the one that gained currency afterwards was a statue of Isis, which he reports quoting Plutarch as bearing the following inscription, “</span></span>I am everything that has been and will be; no mortal shall be able to raise my veil.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn13" name="_ednref13" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xiii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> While the French philosopher does commit several schoolboy howlers in his translation of Plutarch’s Greek translating veil for π<span lang="EL">έπλος (</span>peplos, a Greek full body garment with a hood) where the correct word for <span lang="EL">‘</span>veil<span lang="EL">’</span> would have been <span lang="EL">κάλυμμα, what is more interesting is that he does.</span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EL"> </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn14" name="_ednref14" title=""><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xiv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">The image of Isis, who as the best known Ancient Egyptian god to Westerners at this time metonymically speaks for <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> in the inscription, is subtly altered by this mistranslation. Where raising the peplos of the goddess would have revealed her nude body and the secrets of the <st1:place st="on">Isis</st1:place> cult, raising the veil of the goddess makes her essentially an image of the Orient, whose women are hidden jealously by their husbands in the eyes of the West from antiquity onwards.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn15" name="_ednref15" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>, as grammatically feminine in the French language (l’Égypte), was soon naturally conceived as a feminine country masked beneath a veil imposed by its tyrannical government in French minds from this time onwards. This veil soon became a French trope for talking about Westerners’ lack of knowledge about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> and also the tyranny of its masters, as it will be clearer later on.<span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>For Voltaire, interested in how the development of the human spirit, the Egyptians dominated by such tyranny were hardly an appealing people. They had once perhaps been great and built great monuments, but those monuments were the product of slavery, despotism, and vanity.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn16" name="_ednref16" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xvi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> They were also a weak and easily conquerable people. As he writes, “Never in known history were the Egyptians strong; never did an enemy enter their land and not subjugate them.”</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn17" name="_ednref17" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xvii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> In this negative portrayal of the Egyptians, Voltaire further created the notion of the inferiority of the Egyptians, whom he elsewhere labels ‘the most cowardly of peoples.’</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn18" name="_ednref18" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xviii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>These notions of Egyptian inferiority stuck and were only reinforced by the descriptions brought back by travelers in the next couple of decades. As excitement for <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> grew, the search for knowledge on the country and also ideas of its vulnerability and value were inextricably linked. About fifteen years prior to the Napoleonic invasion in 1798, Frenchman Claude Savary traveled to the Orient where he spent several years exploring and learning about Egypt and the Orient even learning to speak Arabic fluently. His series of letters to a friend back home were subsequently published under the royal seal of approval in a work entitled <i>Lettres sur l’Égypte</i>. In this work, he explored all sorts of topics about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> seeking to fill the void and raise the veil of mystery all the while discussing the riches of the country.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn19" name="_ednref19" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> Savary’s work soon met with success at home with the public, who began clamoring to learn more on <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> via more letters.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn20" name="_ednref20" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xx]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>Yet the picture that Savary paints of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> is like Voltaire’s before him quite bleak. The Egyptian government is tyrannical. The women of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>, to whom Savary pays special attention, unlike their free Western counterparts are masked beneath veils and the tyranny of their husband.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn21" name="_ednref21" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> Especially troubling for Savary is what he views as a backward land is the superstition, mistrust, and ignorance of the Egyptians.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn22" name="_ednref22" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> For Egyptians, Westerners are magicians and thieves as Savary writes citing an incident that befell a Westerner trying to explore and draw an ancient monument:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">“Don’t light up your censer”, said gravely the Arab who was guiding him, “for fear that we might be caught immediately and something bad happen to us.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">“What do you mean? I don’t have a censer, fire, or incense.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">“Are you being funny? A foreigner like you does not come here out of pure curiosity.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">“Why’s that?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">“I know that you know by your science the place where is hidden the large chest full of gold that our fathers left us. If people see your censer, they’ll think that you’ve come here to open our casket by virtue of your magic spells and steal our treasure.”</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn23" name="_ednref23" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxiii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:.5in;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>The Egyptians then for Savary are an ignorant, superstitious people who fear Westerners are sorcerers and try to obstruct them in their quest for knowledge about the antiquities and monuments of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn24" name="_ednref24" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxiv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> At another point in his letters, Savary further bemoans the situation of knowledge in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> in connection with antiquities. Confronted by a great labyrinth buried beneath the sands, Savary wishes that perhaps one day when Europe will give Egypt the sciences it received from it, the sands will be cleared away to reveal precious antiquities.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn25" name="_ednref25" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> The past then in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> is neglected by the Egyptians, who know no better. They lack a proper education and hence it is the role of Europe to return to the East what the East gave to the West, though Savary does not say precisely how Europe would go about educating <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:.5in;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>Similarly, Savary’s fellow travel writer, Constantin Volney had little good to say about the Egyptians publishing his narrative shortly after Savary in 1786. As a fellow traveler who adapted to the people and learned the language, Volney exposed the terrible state of political affairs in <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> and paid particular attention to the state of the army in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The army of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> according to Volney knew nothing of modern military formations and was completely without order. The kind of war it waged was little more than brigandage.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn26" name="_ednref26" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxvi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>Back in <st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region>, for readers of Savary and Volney along with <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Voltaire</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place> must have seemed like a far off backward land that was undoubtedly inferior to Westerners militarily, governmentally, educationally, etc. hidden beneath a veil of uncertainty. However, it was art that first put into words the idea of conquest and colonialism, which came to later be espoused by the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">French</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Republic</st1:placetype></st1:place>. In 1790, the Royal Academy of Music staged an opera entitled <i>Louis IX en Égypte</i> to public acclaim winning the Prix 12 Sols. While opera is not traditionally known for being historically accurate, this opera has only the slimmest pretence of it, expressing in harmonies and arias a story of French moral dominance over <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> with another story of Louis XVI’s ancestor and namesake’s accomplishments.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>The story begins with the Soudan (sultan) of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> who has just concluded a peace treaty with Louis IX and is treacherously plotting to kill Louis. But the sultan’s wife, the sultana, who believes her husband has killed their son, has fallen in love with Louis’s irresistible virtue and vows to thwart her husband’s plan. Yet, Louis’s virtue and care for his people is unparalleled. He is a good king, who stands in sharp contrast to the tyrannical sultan in the eyes of even his soldiers. Singing in harmony, the Mameluke troops expound their loyalty to the French king:</span></span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn27" name="_ednref27" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxvii]</span></span></a></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; "><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The King (to his French troops) //</span></b></span><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The Mamelukes</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">Your love is my recompense. //What kindness! What clemency!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; "></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Oh my children! Oh my friends! //</span>What! His subjects are his friends!</p><span style="font-size: 11pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Ah! For the good of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>! //And us, slaves since childhood, </span></p></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; ">May the people and their king always be united! //Under the yoke of a Tyrant we grovel enslaved.</span></p></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; "><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Everyone in Unison</span></b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Long live the King! Long live our father!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size:11.0pt">We will follow him to the end of the earth!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size:11.0pt">He can count on our loyalty!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Long live the King! Long live the King!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>In the end of this opera, Louis wins over the men sent to kill him and the Mamelukes kill the sultan. Louis then sets Almodan, the sultan’s lost son miraculously reappearing, on the throne and marries him to his daughter. Louis then gives Almodan some precious counsel on how to rule.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn28" name="_ednref28" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxviii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 117pt; margin-left: 99pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">The King<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 117pt; margin-left: 99pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">May your happiness be the measure of the public’s<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 117pt; margin-left: 99pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Sultan, may this day be cited with joy;<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 117pt; margin-left: 99pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">your subjects enfranchised from the yoke of slavery<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 117pt; margin-left: 99pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Give liberty to all immediately. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:81.0pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>The opera ends with the Sultan giving liberty to all of his slaves and to the women in his court. While this opera undoubtedly carried with it the ideas of liberty inherent to the French Revolution, the stage was nevertheless set for new ways of thinking about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> in this opera becomes a land in which <st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region> has an almost colonialist role playing the role of civilizer, bringer of liberties, and institutor of good government in the backward lands of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>This rhetoric is not unfamiliar because it would find its place in the justifications and proposals put forth by the Minister of the Exterior, Charles Talleyrand, when justifying the Egyptian campaign. It was to be a venture not only to strike the English and seize an important trade route to <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region>, but also a colonial venture for the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">French</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Republic</st1:placetype></st1:place>.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn29" name="_ednref29" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> The stage was now set for Napoleon’s invasion of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>Of this invasion, I will say little because it has already been amply detailed elsewhere except for where the ideas of conquest pertain to French knowledge of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Napoleon, it should not go unnoticed, was well steeped in the ideas expounded by his predecessors about Egypt having met Savary earlier in his life and even traveled to Egypt with a copy of Voltaire’s <i>Essai sur les moeurs et l’esprit des nations</i> in his personal library.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn30" name="_ednref30" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxx]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>When the situation in Egypt was falling apart and he needed a way to distract his people from how bad the situation was, the researches and explorations of the savants were an ideal solution with Napoleon going so far as to even found the National Institute of Egypt comprised of his savants and even himself.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn31" name="_ednref31" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxxi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> The research of the savants then in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place> was inextricably tied to the political and ideological needs of the French occupation with, for example, Napoleon’s research questions posed to the Institute seeking means to make bread or produce gunpowder.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn32" name="_ednref32" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxxii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> While most of Napoleon’s questions were preoccupied with establishing and searching for knowledge related to the welfare of the army and understanding the political state of Egypt, the rhetoric of the savants about Egypt morphed to fit into this colonial paradigm with the Institute being seen by some as a means through which the ignorance of Egyptians could be amended by the French.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn33" name="_ednref33" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxxiii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>Egypt</span></span></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span>, the savants might have thought was well underway being studied and the veil that had long hidden it from the Western view had been removed until political forces forced the evacuation of the French from <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>. In the eyes of one prominent savant, Vivant Denon, who published an account of his travels to <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> in 1802 after the withdrawal, the door had swung shut again on <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place> and the country was veiled again from Western eyes.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_edn34" name="_ednref34" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">[xxxiv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>However, <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> did not retreat again under a veil, as Denon thought it would. The <i>Description de l’Égypte</i>—perhaps named in tribute after de Maillet’s own work—published by his fellow savants as well as the subsequent decipherment of hieroglyphs instead opened up <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> more than ever to the West. New issues were to emerge in subsequent years, but many of the original themes first raised by travelers and savants of the time prior to the Napoleonic conquest such as antiquities and the epistemological superiority of the French over the Egyptians continued to remain prevalent into the 1800’s. The story of the development of French knowledge about <st1:country-region st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> then is history of how an original lack of knowledge and a quest for information on this mysterious land developed and shaped early conceptions and biases about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>, which stuck and influenced conceptions of that mysterious veiled land.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"> <!--[endif]--> <div id="edn1"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Voltaire. <i>Essai sur les Moeurs et l’Esprit des Nations</i>. p. 100</p> </div> <div id="edn2"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span> <i><span lang="FR">Description de l’Égypte</span></i><span lang="FR">. p. iii<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </div> <div id="edn3"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="FR"> ibidem. Prefatory Letter<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div id="edn4"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <i>Oeuvres de Leibniz</i> p. 315, 319</p> </div> <div id="edn5"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> ibidem p. 81</p> </div> <div id="edn6"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> ibidem p. 359: Je ne vous dis rien sur les projets d’une guerre sainte: mais vous savez qu’ils ont cessé d’être à la mode depuis saint Louis.</p> </div> <div id="edn7"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> ibidem. p. xv</p> </div> <div id="edn8"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref8" name="_edn8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[viii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="FR"> de Maillet p. iii<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div id="edn9"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref9" name="_edn9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[ix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> de Maillet p. iv-v</p> </div> <div id="edn10"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref10" name="_edn10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[x]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> de Maillet p. 187*</p> </div> <div id="edn11"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref11" name="_edn11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> d’Origny p. xii</p> </div> <div id="edn12"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref12" name="_edn12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> d’Origny p. xiv</p> </div> <div id="edn13"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref13" name="_edn13" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xiii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Voltaire. <i>Essai sur les Moeurs et l’Esprit des Nations</i>. p. 100</p> </div> <div id="edn14"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;vertical-align: bottom; "><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref14" name="_edn14" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xiv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span class="txt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Plutarch <i>De Iside et Osiride</i> p. 354C: τὸ δ’ ἐν Σάι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"> </span></span><span class="txt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><a href="http://www.tlg.uci.edu.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/help/BetaManual/online/SB.html" target="morph"><span style="color:green">[</span></a>ὃ<a href="http://www.tlg.uci.edu.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/help/BetaManual/online/SB.html" target="morph"><span style="color:green">]</span></a> ἣν καὶ Ἶσιν νομίζουσιν, ἕδος ἐπιγραφὴν εἶχε τοιαύτην</span></span><span class="rmargin"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:olive"> </span></i></span><span class="txt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><a href="http://www.tlg.uci.edu.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/help/BetaManual/online/Q3.html" target="morph"><span style="color:green">‘</span></a>ἐγώ εἰμι πᾶν τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ ὂν καὶ ἐσόμενον καὶ τὸν</span></span> <span class="txt"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;color:black">ἐμὸν πέπλον οὐδείς πω θνητὸς ἀπεκάλυψεν.<a href="http://www.tlg.uci.edu.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/help/BetaManual/online/Q3.html" target="morph"><span style="color:green">’</span></a> [The seated statue in Sai of Athena, which they believe to be <st1:place st="on">Isis</st1:place>, has the following inscription, ‘I am everything that was and will be, and no mortal has ever lifted up my peplos.] </span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt; color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div id="edn15"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;vertical-align: bottom; "><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref15" name="_edn15" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size:10.0pt">For the first perceptions of women behind the veil as a Western trope of women in the Orient, there is Plutarch’s remarks on barbarous nations in Plutarch<i> Themistocles </i>26: <span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span class="txt"><span style="color:black">τοῦ βαρβαρικοῦ γένους τὸ πολὺ καὶ μάλιστα</span></span><span style="color:black"> <span class="txt">τὸ Περσικὸν εἰς ζηλοτυπίαν τὴν περὶ τὰς γυναῖκας</span></span><span class="txt"><b><span style="color:olive"> </span></b><span style="color:black">ἄγριον φύσει καὶ χαλεπόν ἐστιν. οὐ γὰρ μόνον τὰς γαμετάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἀργυρωνήτους καὶ παλλακευομένας</span></span><span style="color:black"> <span class="txt">ἰσχυρῶς παραφυλάττουσιν, ὡς ὑπὸ μηδενὸς ὁρᾶσθαι τῶν</span> <span class="txt">ἐκτός, ἀλλ’ οἴκοι μὲν διαιτᾶσθαι κατακεκλειμένας, ἐν</span> <span class="txt">δὲ ταῖς ὁδοιπορίαις ὑπὸ σκηναῖς κύκλῳ περιπεφραγμένας</span></span><span class="txt"><b><span style="color:olive"> </span></b><span style="color:black">ἐπὶ τῶν ἁρμαμαξῶν ὀχεῖσθαι. [</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">The barbarous nations, and amongst them the Persians especially, are extremely</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">jealous, severe, and suspicious about their women, not only their wives,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">but also their bought slaves and concubines, whom they keep so strictly</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">that no one ever sees them abroad; they spend their lives shut up within</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">doors, and, when they take a journey, are carried in close tents, curtained</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">in on all sides, and set upon a wagon.]</span></span></span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div id="edn16"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref16" name="_edn16" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xvi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Voltaire p. 97</p> </div> <div id="edn17"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref17" name="_edn17" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xvii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Voltaire p. 92</p> </div> <div id="edn18"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref18" name="_edn18" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xviii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Voltaire p. 93</p> </div> <div id="edn19"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref19" name="_edn19" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Savary vol. I p. iv</p> </div> <div id="edn20"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref20" name="_edn20" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xx]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="FR"> Savary<span> </span>vol II. p. i<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div id="edn21"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref21" name="_edn21" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Savary I p. 116</p> </div> <div id="edn22"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref22" name="_edn22" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Savary II p. 114-5</p> </div> <div id="edn23"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref23" name="_edn23" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxiii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Savary II p. 71: “N’allume pas ton ensensoir, lui dit gravement l’Arabe qui le conduisoit, de peur que nous ne soyons surpris sur le fait, et qu’il nous arrive malheur.—Que veux-tu dire? Je n’ai ni ensensoir, ni feu, ni encens.-- Tu te moques; un étranger comme toi ne vient point ici par pure curiosité.—Et pourquoi donc?—Je sais que tu connois par ta science l’endroit où est cache le grand coffre plein d’or que nos pères nous ont laissé. Si l’on voyait ton encensoir, l’on croirait bientôt que tu serois venu ici pour ouvrir notre coffer par la vertu de tes paroles magiques, et enlever notre trésor.”</p> </div> <div id="edn24"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref24" name="_edn24" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxiv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Savary II p. 71</p> </div> <div id="edn25"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref25" name="_edn25" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Savary II p. 29</p> </div> <div id="edn26"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref26" name="_edn26" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxvi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Volney p. 130, 163</p> </div> <div id="edn27"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref27" name="_edn27" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxvii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <i>Louis IX en Égypte</i> p. 22</p> </div> <div id="edn28"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref28" name="_edn28" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxviii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> ibidem p. 31</p> </div> <div id="edn29"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref29" name="_edn29" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Allonville pp. 109-112</p> </div> <div id="edn30"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref30" name="_edn30" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxx]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Bonaparte. <i>Correspondance</i> IV p. 27-8 n. 4</p> </div> <div id="edn31"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref31" name="_edn31" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxxi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> idem. <i>Mémoires</i> p. 24; idem. <i>Correspondance</i> IV p. 383</p> </div> <div id="edn32"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref32" name="_edn32" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxxii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> idem. <i>Correspondance</i> IV p. 390</p> </div> <div id="edn33"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref33" name="_edn33" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxxiii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Herbin de Halle p. 182; Denon ‘Rapport’ p. 132</p> </div> <div id="edn34"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Scott/Documents/Kennedy-Le%20Voile%20se%20Leve.doc#_ednref34" name="_edn34" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[xxxiv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Denon. <i>Voyages</i>. p. viii</p> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">Works Cited</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Allonville, Armand François. <i>Mémoires tirés d’un homme d’État</i>. vol. 2. Brussels: 1839<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Bonaparte, Napoleon I. <i>Correspondance de Napoléon Ier</i>. 30 vol. Paris: (1858-1870)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">-----------------------. <i>Mémoires de Napoléon Bonaparte</i>. Paris: 1821<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Champollion, Jean François. <i>L’Égypte sous les Pharaons</i>. Grenoble: 1811<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Denon, Vivant. </span>“Rapport au nom d’une commission charge d’examiner un monument près du grand aqueduct du Caire.’ in <i><span lang="FR">Mémoires sur l’Égypte publiés pendants les campagnes du </span></i><i><span lang="FR">général Bonaparte</span></i><span lang="FR">. vol I (1799)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">---------------. <i>Voyages dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte</i>. 2 vol. London: 1807</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="FR">Description de l’Égypte</span></i><span lang="FR">. 2<sup>nd</sup> ed. vol I. Paris: 1821 <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Guillard, François and Andrieux, Jean. <i>Louis IX en Égypte</i>. Avignon: 1790<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Herbin de Halle, P.E. <i>Conquêtes des Français en Égypte</i>. Paris : 1799<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Leibniz, Gottfried. <i>Œuvres de Leibniz</i>. ed. A. Foucher de Careil. vol. 5. Paris: 1864 <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">de Maillot, Benoît. <i>Description de l’Égypte</i>. Paris : 1735<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">d’Origny, Pierre. <i>L’Égypte Ancienne</i>. 2 vol. Paris : 1762<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Savary, Claude. <i>Lettres sur l’Égypte.</i> 2 vol. Paris: 1785-6<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Volney, Constantin. <i>Voyage en Syrie et en Égypte</i>. 2nd Ed. 2 vol. Paris : 1787<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Voltaire, Hilaire. <i>Œuvres completes de Voltaire</i>. vol. 16. Paris : 1784<o:p></o:p></span></p>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-49646812466661733482011-01-23T10:49:00.000-08:002011-03-18T18:02:52.864-07:00John Zonaras: Alexander Severus to Diocletian 222-284<p><i>Here I am republishing a work that I originally put online elsewhere detailing the period of the Barracks Emperors from the death of the emperor Elagabalus until the accession of the emperor Diocletian. I originally chose to work on this period and translate texts associated with the time of the Barracks Emperors because our primary sources for the period are so poor and fragmentary at times that we often have to look to later historians for the information that we might have culled from primary sources. The following extract comes from the long world history of the Byzantine historian John Zonaras who wrote in the twelfth century A.D. Zonaras writing at that time in history had access to more primary sources than we do now, so his history is of great use to us as it provides us with some of the information we have lost from other sources.</p><br /><br /><p>While his sources sometimes remain a mystery because Zonaras does not usually mention from whom he obtained the information, we can with some certainty say that he gained much of his information from historians that are known to us such as Dio Cassius, Herodian, Eusebius, and others, but also from others who are not as well known to us such as Dexippus and other fragmentary historians.</p><br /><br /><p>As far as I know, no one has really published or translated this section of Zonaras' history, so I hope that this is a useful contribution to students of the Barracks Emperor period which will supplement our Latin and Greek sources for the period. For those interested in reading more, the original Greek text with a Latin translation is available through Google Books, which is where I found the text translated below. You can find it <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=-es8AAAAcAAJ&dq=Joannes+Zonaras&source=gbs_navlinks_s">here</a></p></i><br /><br /><p>With the false Antoninus slain, Alexander, the son of Mamaea, his nephew as the ancients called the cousins, succeeded to the throne. Immediately, he proclaimed his mother Mamaea Augusta, who then took over the administration of affairs and gathered about her son wise men to teach him ethics, as well as selecting the Senate’s best men to act as her counselors with whom she shared in all of the administration of the state. In addition, Domitius Ulpianus was entrusted with command of the Praetorian Guard and the administration of public affairs and he set right many of Sardanapalus’s deeds. He killed Flavian and Chrestus to succeed them, though not much later he was slain by the bodyguards when they attacked him in the night. Ulpianus was also still alive a short time before when a conflict broke out between the people and the Praetorian Guard where they fought each other for three days. The soldiers were defeated and set fire to the houses, so the people fearing for the city unwillingly reconciled themselves with them. Many other such rebellions happened that were stopped.</p><br /><p>Alexander’s mother was a slave to money and gathered it up from all over. She also got her son a wife, who she did not permit to be proclaimed Augusta and after a short time separated from her son and sent off in exile to Libya, even though he loved her. He was not able to speak up to his mother, she ruled him.</p><br /><p>In the meantime, the Persian Artaxerxes, who was [descended] from ignoble and disreputable men, converted the Parthian kingdom into a Persian one and made himself their king. It is said from him the family of Chosroes is descended. For after the death of Alexander of Macedon, his successors the Macedonians had ruled over the greater part of the Persians and the Parthians as well as other peoples, and then started fighting amongst themselves and so destroyed themselves. And so as they were weakened, Arsacides the first Parthian ruler revolted against them and took rule over the Parthians leaving it to his own descendants of whom the last was Artabanus. The said Artaxerxes defeated him in man three battles finally capturing and killing him. Then he marched on Armenia and was defeated by the Armenians and the Medians who attacked him with the sons of Artabanus. Recovering from the previous defeat, he then laid siege to Mesopotamia and Syria with a greater force threatening to recover all that had belonged to the Persians his ancestors. Then Artaxerxes overran Cappadocia with his Persians and laid siege to Nisibis. In the meantime, Alexander sent ambassadors to him asking for peace. However, the barbarian did not receive the embassy and instead sent four hundred of his greatest men clothing them with expensive robes, seating them upon the finest horses, and adorning them with superb arms to Alexander aiming to astonish him and the Romans. When they had arrived and come before Alexander, they said, “The Great King Artaxerxes commands the Romans leave Syria and all Asia adjacent to Europe and permit the Persians to rule until the sea.” Alexander arrested them, confiscated their arms and robes, took from them their horses, and spread them out over many villages and forced them to farm because he did not think it pious to kill them. He himself then gathered together his own troops and divided them into three parts and attacked the Persians. A great scourge broke out in the Persian camp and many Romans died not so much by the hand of the enemy but from the march home through the mountains of Armenia. It was freezing cold for the feet of the travelers, while some men were so unfortunate as to have their hands blacken and go frostbitten from the cold. For this misfortune the Romans held Alexander accountable. Accordingly, either from discouragement or a conjunction of the humors he fell very ill. When he had recovered, he made war on the Germans and did them grievous harm with javelin-men and archers. He also sent them ambassadors to reach an accord for sums of money. On this account, the soldiers were not too happy and rebelled. One Maximinus, a Thracian by birth, who had a child been a shepherd and later become a soldier, they took hold of and though he was unwilling named emperor. Taking command of his proclaimers, he then departed straightaway for where Alexander was staying. Informed of this, he called upon the soldiers around him to defend him and they responded. And when Maximinus was upon them, Alexander gathered together his army and ordered them to attack Maximinus’s men. However, they reviled his mother and abused her for her miserliness as well as mocking him as a coward, and then withdrew leaving him behind. Seeing himself deprived of any aid, he returned to his tent and got with his mother and wept. Maximinus then sent a decurion to them and so killed him, his mother, the people about them and took in hand the empire.</p><br /><p>Mamaea, Alexander’s mother was repute for her virtue and reverent life. While she was staying in Antioch with her son on hearing about Origen she summoned him from Alexandria and made a profession of faith to him becoming very pious as Eusebius says and other writers. On this account, not only did he halt the persecution of Christians then, but also conferred honors on many Christians.</p><br /><p>At that time, when Urban was bishop of Rome, Ippolutes, a most pious and wise man, flourished and became bishop of the portus in Rome and wrote many works discussing especially the Holy Bible. Asclepiades was at that time as well appointed over Antioch and directed the church of the faithful there, as well as Sardianus over Jerusalem.</p> <br /><p>With Alexander dead in the aforementioned way after a reign of ten years, Maximinus succeeded to the throne. Immediately, he instituted a persecution against Christians and ordered that the primates of the churches be slain as teachers and heralds of the mystery of Christ. He is said to have been driven by hatred of Alexander, who honored Christians. For he was filled with hatred for that emperor when appointed to the rank of commander by him, he marched off against the Persians and was disgracefully defeated so incurring imperial wrath. A second cause of the persecution was that there was many in Alexander’s household who recognized Christ Our God. At this time as well, Ambrosius, a learned man, who urged Origen on to write an explanation of the Holy Bible and amply supplied his expenses as well as supplying with seven shorthand writers who took turns writing down the work in order as well as no small number of scribes trained in calligraphy, who is said to have received the crown of martyrdom along with Protoctetus a presbyter.</p> <br /><p>Maximinus on learning this set out for Italy hurling many threats at the Senate. He, on learning that Maximus was advancing on him, while Albinus was staying behind to guard Rome, turned aside towards Aquileia with his Moors anxious to take possession of it beforehand. Aquileia is now said to be Venice. However, he was repelled from there since its defenders proved the better of him. Repelled from there he attacked Maximus’s forces and was defeated. He then retreated back to his own tent, while his soldiers and his bodyguard have risen up came before his tent with his own son as he had ordered them to. They then immediately came upon both of them and killed them. Maximinus was sixty five-years-old, of which he had reigned for six. The corpses were then beheaded and the heads received by the people of Aquileia first and then sent to Rome. The people of Rome fixed Maximinus’s head on a pole near the market so it should be visible to everybody.</p><br /><p>Then Maximus returned to Rome where he was met by Albinus and the people and the Senate welcomed him with acclamations and applause. Both of them ruled together and ruled well. Yet the soldiers were not content because not they, but the Senate and the people had chosen their emperors. Then since the emperors had their differences with one another, this became the reason for their destruction. Since the soldiers had learned of their differences they came upon them and lead them both in chains through all the city not only abusing them like drunkards and mocking them, but also torturing them. Then informed that the Germans wanted to carry them off and save them, they killed lest this happen. Maximus was seventy four years-old, while Albinus was sixty. They reigned some thirty two days, with the others, not three whole months.</p><br /><p>After them, they write that one Pompeianus took the throne and then very swiftly was deposed from it enjoying only a dream of authority before two months passed and he was deprived of it and slain. In others for some reason he is not found, but passed over in silence, while they have another one. After him, they go on instead to tell of Puplius Balbinus, they write out as having had only a taste of sole rule ruling for three months before he was killed, just when Gordian arrived from Libya , where as I have already said he was proclaimed emperor. On coming to Rome, Gordian fell ill, first because he was extremely old, having reached the age of seventy-nine, and secondly because he had been worn out by the long time he had spent in the boat, and died from this illness having been there only twenty two days. He was succeeded on the throne by his son called Gordian like his father.</p><br /><p>Some tell that this was thus how things fell out, while others says that at the proclamation of the elder Gordian, some soldiers in Libya revolted, and after fighting a battle Gordian’s men were defeated and not only a great number of them were slain but also his own son. Suffering because of this, he hung himself and ended his life.</p><br /><p>Others claim that his son the younger Gordian, after the elder Gordian died from disease, succeeded to the throne and also that he marched off against the Persians and met with them in battle and was pushing his horse on and urging his men on to battle, when his horse slipped and fell with him on it, his thigh being broken and him having to be carried back to Rome where he died from his injury after ruling six years.</p><br /><p>Urban the archbishop of Rome was archbishop for eight years dieing during the reign of Maximinus being succeeded by Pontianus. The primate of the church of Antioch was Zebinus after Philetus. Under Gordian the younger the chief of the faithful in Rome, Pontianus, ended his life and was succeeded by Anteros who had devoted himself to the service of God for six years. Anteros was head of the church for the very shortest of times before passing on to the next life. After him, Flavian by divine selection became archbishop as Eusebius tells. It is said that when the faithful were gathered together to select who to elect to primacy Flavian was present having just come from the country and though there had been no mention of him for the primacy of the church, but others instead was busied with whether they would be preferred. In the middle of it, a dove flew in and landed on Flavian's head. Because of this, everyone assembled there had one voice in saying almost in agreement, "He is worthy," and elevated to the archbishop's throne having no qualms about it. At that time at as well, the primate of the church of the faithful at Antioch, Zebinus, died and was succeeded by Babylas. In addition, Origen was then staying at Caesaria in Palestine acquiring himself many students from all over including the great Gregory the Miracle-Worker and his brother Athenodorus. At that time as well Africanus [the African writer Julius Africanus] flourished.</p><br /><p>After the younger Gordian died, yet another Gordian succeeded to the throne being in birth, as the saying goes, related to the departed Gordiani. He campaigned and made war on the Persians when Shapur the son of Artaxerxes was ruling that nation and defeated his opponents recovering Nisibis and Karas for the Romans, which had been seized by the Persians during Maximinus’s reign. Then as he was going towards Ctesiphon , he was slain by the treachery of Phillip, the prefect of his bodyguard. When Gordian first came to throne he made his father-in-law, called Timesocles, prefect of it. As long as he was there, his authority as emperor was fine and things went alright, but when Timescles died, he made Phillip its commander. He then wanting to make the soldiers revolt lessened their food supplies as though it had been commanded by the emperor. They say that he restricted the flow in of grain into the camp so as to lay low the soldiers with their want and so stir them to revolt. And so the soldiers revolted against the emperor rising up holding him responsible for their starvation and killed him after a reign of six years. Phillip then immediately seized his opportunity to take power. When the Senate was informed of the slaughter of Gordian, it decided to appoint another emperor. Immediately it proclaimed Marcus a philosopher emperor. However, he, before he could really do much, died suddenly in the palace. With his death Severus Hostilianus succeeded to the throne. However, he had barely taken up power before he payed his dues. For he fell ill and slit his wrist and died.</p><br /><p>On returning to Rome, Phillip took hold of the Roman Empire. On the way home, he made his son Phillip his co-ruler. In addition, he made peace with Shapur the King of the Persians thereby ending the war with the Persians by conceding to them Mesopotamia and Armenia. Because he found the Romans displeased by the concession of these places to them, a short while later he set aside his accords and seized the places. Shapur was, as it is told, so massive such as no man had yet appeared.</p><br /><p>On returning home, Phillip was well-disposed towards Christians, according to some he even converted to the Christian faith, so much so he even join in praying in churches with Christians and gladly confessed his sins. For the primate of the church refused to give him communion unless he confessed his sins and recounted his repentance, which he is said to have obeyed. Some say moreover that he was the father of martyr Eugenia, but here they make a mistake. For he is said to have become a prefect, but of Egypt and not the bodyguard, and for his faith in Christ he turned down the office and was arrested and martyred for it.</p><br /><p>The emperor Phillip also waged war against the Scythians and the returned to Rome. In addition, one Marinus, a commander of a squadron in Mysia, was raised up by his soldiers to become emperor. For this reason, Phillip was confounded and discussed the rebellion with the Senate. While the others stood by in silence, Decius said to him that he should not be greatly concerned as Marinus would be killed by his own soldiers since he was unworthy of the throne. A short while later, his utterance came to pass. Phillip was consequently amazed with Decius and charge him to set out for Mysia and punish those responsible for the rebellion. Decius begged him not to send him saying that it was not in his own interests or the sender's to dispatch him. Yet Phillip was not to be put off. And so, Decius unwillingly departed and straightaway his soldiers proclaimed him emperor. He tried to reject it, but his soldiers drew their swords and forced him to accept it. He then wrote to Phillip telling him not to cause trouble because if he could get to Rome he would set aside the insignia of imperial rule. However, Phillip did not believe him and marched off against him joining battle with Decius's men being among the first to fall in the combat. Along with him, his son Phillip was slain. With them dead, everyone submitted to Decius. He had reigned some five years, while others say six by a couple of months. He came from Bostri where during his reign he built a city bearing his name naming it Phillipopolis.</p><br /><p>Decius then with all of the troops in submittance to him, as it was said, returned to Rome and was invested with the imperial office. He was attentive to respect for his authority and the management of [public] affairs, so some say, appointing Valerian to manage them. Immediately, they commenced a battle of gods [or 'with God] instituting a vehement persecution of Christians. There are some who say that due to his hatred for Phillip, Decius attacked the Christians since he had held them in awe and so he was wrathful towards the faithful. At this time, Flavian, the chief of the church in Rome met the end of a martyr, while Babylas the chief of the church of the faithful in Antioch as well as Alexander bishop of Jerusalem, who did not suffer the ultimate fate for the Christian faith on the first day, but on the day after, as it has already been said, and died confined to a prison. In addition, Cyprianus the Great, bishop of Carthage, suffered the ultimate fate for Christian faith. With the said archpriests dead, Cornelius became bishop of Rome in place of Flavian, while Flavian in place of Babylas in Antich, Dionysius in Alexandria, Mazabanes in Jerusalem in place of Alexander. Many others suffered martyrdom at that time.</p><br /><p>Then as well Origen came before the tyrannical bench as one of the faithful, but did not meet with martyrdom, I believe, because God did not think him worthy of this on account of the wretched man's distortion of the teachings of the true faith. And so he was reprieved from them after torture. He had, as it was already said, become very learned becoming arrogant and pretentious on account of this not following the dogma of the fathers before him but becoming the introducer of his own new dogma uttering blasphemy on the Holy Trinity and the divine incarnation from the painful treasure-house of his heart and became the head of this heresy. He taught that God's only born son was different in glory and substance than the father and placed the Holy Spirit beneath the honor of the father and that of the son saying that the Son was not able to his Father, nor the Spirit the Son as though neither the Spirit the angels nor the angels humans. These were Origen's blasphemies pertaining to the holy and one-substanced Triad. As for his blasphemies pertaining to the incarnation of the Son of God, he impiously maintained that Christ was not put into the flesh through the Holy Virgin. For he fancied that the only born son of God was united with the Mind before the creation of the world, which he formed anew from selections and unsettled turmoil [dust?], and along with this that he was incarnated at the furthest and took to the flesh to the flesh without a reckonable and perceivable spirit. He taught as well that the Lord set aside the flesh again and left for his kingdom. As for the spirits, he maintained that there would be punishment for a time, but not forever, only to purify the person of their sins so that once purified both all men and spirits returns to the Union. Concerning this Union, it requires talk at length to expose its nonsense, so it was passed over here along with his other blasphemies.</p> <br /><p>Such is what they say about Origen, who they used to call Adamantius. Then Nauatus became head of the Roman Church as the head of the heretics who called themselves the Cathars denying entry to those who had submitted during the persecution and sacrificed to the idols even if they had turned away from them and confessed or permit those who had fallen seeking a cure for their error from the depths of their heart. Under him, a synod was convened in Rome with Cornelius as its head. During it, it was decided that they must accept those who had fallen away during the time of the persecution who wished to return healing them with the drugs of conversion. When Nautus did not yield to the synod's decrees, those holy fathers of the Church were alienated from him and denounced him as a hater of his brothers.</p><br /><p>Eusebius mentions the following story from the letter of Dionysius, the bishop of Alexandria. He says Dionysius put this to writing, "There was one Sarapion, a faithful old man amongst us living blamelessly, who fell during the trial. He asked many a time, but no one would go near him, since he had sacrificed. Then he became ill and for three successive days he continued speechless and senseless, but on the fourth recovering somewhat, he called his daughter's son saying to him, 'Hurry, fetch me a priest', and then again fell mute. The boy ran to get a priest, but the priest was not able to come to him and he was sick, but as I had issued an injunction that those who were about to die if they needed it and had previously been begging to be released should receive remission and that they might depart in good hope, he gave the boy a small part of the Eucharist instructing him to soak it and let the drops fall into the old man's mouth. The boy returned carrying it. As he drew near before entering, rousing himself again Sarapion said, 'Have you come, my child? As the priest was not able to come, do quickly what was commanded and release me.' The boy soaked it and dropped it into the mouth of his elder, who a short while after he had swallowed it gave up the ghost. Is it not evident that he was preserved and his life continued until he was absolved and his sin having been blotted out, that he could be acknowledged for the many good deeds he had done?" Such what Dionysius relates.</p><br />Decius thus disposed towards the faithful did not last two whole years on the throne of the Romans before he was slain most shamefully. As barbarians were plundering the Bosporus, Decius went and fought killing many of them. As they were in hard pressed, they promised to leave behind all the plunder if they were permitted to depart, but Decius did not give into them and instead charged Gallus, one of the senators, to not permit them to make their crossing . Yet Gallus secretly, plotting against Decius, came to an agreement with them for them to form their lines next to a deep nearby marsh. When the barbarians thus arranged gave flight, Decius pursued and fell into the marsh along with his son and a number of Romans, where they were all lost, such that not even their bodies could be found, which were covered up by the mud of the marsh.</p><br /><p>Thus Gallus took power, who some of the writers say was called Volusian, while others have written that Volusian was his son who ruled with him. So Gallus took over the dominion of the Romans and made peace with the barbarians on the conditions that the Romans would pay a yearly tribute and in return they would not ravage Roman possessions. Having made peace in this way, he returned to Rome and proclaimed his son, Volusian, Caesar. He also became severe towards Christians no less than Decius before him instituting a persecution of them in which he killed many of them. Under him, the Persians took action again and seized Armenia, since it king, Tiridates, had fled and his sons were loyal to loyal to the Persians. In addition, Scythians nearly beyond numbering invaded Italy and overran Macedonia, Thessaly, and Greece as well. It was said that a contingent of them passed by the Bosporus, marched beyond the Maeotian Lake and came upon the Black Sea ravaging many lands. Many other nations attacked the Roman Empire at that time. However, plague at that time also broke out starting from Ethiopia and encroached on all the land to the east and west emptying many cities of their inhabitants lasting for nearly fifteen years. Furthermore, when the Scythians, to whom an annual tribute specified by agreements with the Romans, came to take it, they said it was less than what had been promised to them and departed holding out threats. Aemilianus, a Libyan man, commander of the army in Mysia, was then sent along with his soldiers to give the Scythians all that they were due, rather to attack the barbarians. They came upon the Scythians unaware and apart from a few killed all of them and took the greater part of their plunder from them and overran their lands. For this reason, Aemilianus was puffed up with his success and persuaded the soldiers under him to proclaim him emperor of the Romans. He then immediately gathered together his forces and set out in haste to seize Italy. When knowledge of this reached Gallus he fitted out another force and aligned himself against Aemilianus. Both armies clashed and Gallus's men were defeated, so they attacked their emperor and killed him along with his son, after a reign of two years and eight months, and declared themselves for Aemilianus and chose him for rule.</p><br /><p>Aemilianus was in this way proclaimed emperor and sent [messengers] to the Senate announcing that he was going to deliver Thrace from the barbarians, march off against the Persians, and doing everything and fight as their general leaving to the Senate rule. However, before he could do any of this, Valerian rose up against him, who as commander of the forces beyond the Alps on learning of Aemilianus, usurped the throne for himself. He hastened then [from there] and lead his forces on Rome. Aemilianus's men, deciding that they were not equal of Valerian's army, since they did not want to kill and be killed by Romans and fight their own people, and especially because they did not reckon Aemilianus worthy of the throne, inglorious and vile, believing that Valerian was more appropriate for power and certainly more fit to take over matters, they killed Aemilianus who had lead not more than four months aged forty years-old. They declared themselves to Valerian and delivered up to him the Roman Empire without a fight.</p><br /><p>After Flavian had been martyred in Decius's reign, as it was said, Cornelius succeeded to the archbishopric of Rome and after an illustrious three years he ended his life and Lucius ascended the archbishopric throne, who after not quite eight years died in the bishopric of Rome. Then Stephan succeeded to the bishopric, who issued an order not to baptize Christians lapsing into heresy, but purify them with a prayer through the application of the hands. His letter about this is recorded by Cyprianus the holy martyr. When Stephan died two years later, Xystus succeeded to the archbishopric of Rome. Then also the heresy of Savellius was moved to Ptolomais in Pentapolis.</p><br /><p>Such was that about the archbishops of Rome. Valerian then with his son Galienus took over the Roman Empire and persecuted Christians more violently. Many of them in diverse countries became martyrs suffering in many ways for their faith in Christ. In his reign, foreign nations rose in revolt and the Romans fared badly. For the Scyths crossed the Ister and again enslaved the land of Thrace besieging the illustrious city of Thessalonica, though they did not conquer it. Everyone was inspired with fear of them, such that the Athenians rebuilt their own city wall in ruins since the days of Sulla, while the Peloponnesians walled off the Isthmus from sea to sea. In addition, the Persians, when Shapur was king, overran Syria, ravaged Cappadocia, and besieged Edessa. Valerian hesitated to fight his enemies. However, on learning that soldiers in Edessa had sallied forth from the city and attacked the barbarians slaying many of them and taking a great number of spoils, he took heart and left with the army loyal to him and fought the Persians. They encircled the Romans all in their squares and the greater part fell, some fled, and Valerian along with the men about him was taken captive by his enemies and bore off to Shapur, who on taking hold of the emperor, supposed himself to rule over all. Cruel he was before, afterwards he became much worse.</p><br /><p>Thus is how they have told the story of how Valerian was captured by the Persians. They are willing to say that Valerian submitted to the Persians because as he was fleeing to Edessa, starvation broke out among his soldiers, who because of this rebelled and sought to kill the emperor. Fearing the rebellion of his soldiers, he fled to the Shapur, so that he would not be killed by his own men, and surrendered himself up to his enemy as well as the Roman troops under him. However, the soldiers were not lost, but learning of this treachery fled, only a few being slain. Whether the emperor was taken in war by the Persians or he willingly handed himself over to them, he was treated dishonorably by Shapur.</p><br /><p>The Persians then fearlessly attacked and seized the cities of Antioch by the Orontes, the most illustrious of the cities Tarsus, and Caesarea in Cappadocia. And as for the multitude of captives lead off, they did not give them food unless they were about to die, nor did they permit them their fill of water, but only once a day their captors drove them to water like sheep. Caesarea, which was well populated said to have 400,000 inhabitants and had not previously been conquered, nobly had its inhabitants resist them led by Demosthenes, a brave and wise man, before a doctor was taken captive, who unable to bear the tortures inflicted on him revealed a place from which the Persians entered and killed everyone. Their commander Demosthenes surrounded by many Persians ordered to take him alive, got on his horse with his sword out charged into the midst of the enemy. He cut down many of them before got out of the city and was able to flee.<p><br /><p>Thus was how things came about with the Persians, as they scattered about the Roman land in the east and pillaged fearlessly. The Romans who took flight, as it was said, declared themselves to their commander one Callistus, who on seeing the Persians scatter about and attacking the lands thoughtlessly not supposing anyone would stand against them, he attacked a mob of them killing a great number of barbarians and conquered Shapur's brave young men along with much riches, who much pained for them returned home leading along Valerian, who died in Persia, a prisoner abused and mocked.<p><br /><p>Not only did Callistus do fine work against the Persians then, but also a Palmyrene man called Odenathus, who allied with the Romans killed many Persians who he attacked as they were returning home near the land along the Euphrates. Galienus in exchange for this act of generalship made him commander of the east.<p><br /><p>Amongst the fallen spoils of the Persian army are said to have been found women dressed and armed as men as well as some still living who were taken captive by the Romans. As he was coming home, Shapur came across a deep ditch, which his beasts of burden were unable to cross, so he ordered the captives to be slain and thrown and thrown down in the ditch so that its depth might be filled with their corpses and his beasts of burden able to cross. Thus is told how he crossed the ditch.</p><br /><p>When all of this happened to Valerian, the Roman church was lead by Xystus, while Demetrianus succeeded Flavian to that of Antioch, Hymnaeus to that Jerusalem when Mazavanus died, while Dionysius was elevated to that of Alexandria.</p><br /><p>After Valerian, his son Galienus, his son, took over the Roman Empire, who his father when he went off against the Persians let stay behind in the west and oppose the men who were dug into Italy and ravaging Thrace. Near Mediolanum [Milan] he met up with about 300,000 Alamans and defeated with myriads of them. Then he came upon and seized Aerulois [Aerulius?], a Scythian by birth and a Goth. He also made war on the Franks.<p><br /><p>Auriolus was from the land of Getica later called Dacia descended from an insignificant family, having been a shepherd before, though Fortune wanted to set him on high, so he went on campaigns and became very experienced [such that] he was made in charge of the imperial cavalry. Since he was very good at this, he earned his master’s favor. When the soldiers in Mysia revolted and proclaimed Ingenuus emperor and Galienus went to resist him near Sirmium with the others bringing along Maurousii [Moors?], who were said to have been descended from the Medians, Auriolus bravely acted as commander of the cavalry fighting with his horsemen and killing many of Ingenuus’s supporters, while turning the rest to flight, such that Ingenuus himself decided to flee and was killed while he was fleeing by his bodyguards.</p><br /><p>Again Postumus rose up against Galienus. Since the emperor had a child by the same name clever and fair of face who was his successor to the throne, he left him in the city of Agrippina to help the Gauls who were being ravaged by the Scyths. He entrusted him to one man called Albanus because of his son’s youth. Postumus was left in the fortress on the Rhine River to stop the barbarians living beyond it from crossing onto Roman land, though secretly some of them did cross the river and carry off a lot of plunder, so he attacked them on their way home slaying many of them and seizing all of their plunder, which he immediately distributed to his soldiers. On learning of this, Albanus sent [someone] to request and carry back to him and younger Galienus the plunder. Postumus then called his soldiers together to appropriate from them their shares of the plunder contriving to get them to revolt. This happened and so he attacked the city of Agrippina with them. The people of the city handed over the emperor’s [note: basileus] son and Albanus, whom he both killed.</p><br /><p>When Galienus found this out, he departed against Postumus and after fighting with him he was defeated, and then seized the upper hand as Postumus turned to flight. He then sent Auriolus to pursue him. But he, although he was able to take hold of him, did not want to pursue him that far, but said on returning that he had not been able to take hold of him. Postumus thus having fled banded together his army again. And again Galienus marched on him and in a city in Gaul he locked in the besieged the usurper. During the siege the emperor was wounded with an arrow in the midriff and fell sick because of it, so he dissolved the siege.<p><br /><p>In addition, further conflict came on Galienus from Macrinus, who with his two sons Macrianus and Quintus tried to seize power. And he, because his legs were maimed, could not cloth himself with the imperial raiment, so he stretched it around his sons. The people of Asia warmly received him, who after shortly spending time with the Persians got ready and marched off against Galienus putting Ballistas in charge of resisting the Persians, who he appointed commander of the cavalry and left behind with his son Quintus. Then the emperor sent Auriolus against his son and emperor with some other soldiers. Battling with them they surrounded them and killed some of them sparing them since they were their own people and hoping that they would declare themselves for the emperor. However, they did not give in. By some chance happening everyone declared to the emperor. As they were coming near the usurpers they held their standards up straight, but one of the standard bearers as they were going out got his feet caught in it and fell while his standard fell down when he fell. The remaining men who were carrying the standards, on seeing the fallen standard and not knowing how it had fallen, assumed that its bearer had lain it down to desert to the emperor. Immediately, they laid them all down, dashed them to the ground, and praised the emperor, while only the Paeonians remained of Macrinus's men. Then since they wanted to get rid of them, Macrinus and his son, who had not paid them what they were due, they killed them and thus submitted to the emperor. Having done this the Paeonians surrendered themselves.</p><br /><p>As for Quintus, Macrinus's younger son, who was in the east with Ballistas, he had nearly subjugated all of it. Because of this, Galienus sent Odenathus, ruler of the Palmyreni. When news of the defeat of the Macrini in Paeonia was announced to Quintus and Ballistas, many of the cities under them deserted them. Then they went to Emesa. When Odenathus got there, he fought them and defeated them slaying Ballistas himself, while the people of the city killed Quintus. The emperor rewarded Odenathus for this brave deed by appointed him commander of all the east.</p><br /><p>As for Odenathus, who was great, faithful to the Romans, and had acted finely in many ways against diverse nations and against the Persians, he was slain by his own nephew, the son of his brother. This man, when he was hunting with his uncle his uncle, when a wild beast leapt out he killed it with arrows before [Odenathus could do anything about it]. So Odenathus became indignant at and threatened his nephew. He would not cease, but both two times and then three times he did this. Odenathus became angry and took away his horse, since this is reckoned a great insult by barbarians. Accordingly the youth was furious and threatened his uncle, who because of this clapped him in irons. Then the elder of Odenathus’s sons asked him to release him from the bonds. And so he was freed and banqueted with Odenathus coming upon him with a sword killed him and his own son, by whom he had been freed. He himself was slain when some people attacked him.</p><br /><p>Again another rebellion took place against Galienus, which Auriolus raised, archon of all the horses who was very powerful. He took the city of Mediolanum [Milan] and got ready to fight the emperor. He came forth with a great force and opposed the upstart slaying many of his supporters. At this time as well Auriolus was founded and shut up inside Mediolanum while being besieged by the emperor. When Galienus made raids [ἐπεκδρομὰς] against some of his enemy, the empress once fell into danger, since she had accompanied him there. While the emperor went on the raids with the greater part of the soldiers, a few of them were left behind near the palisade. The enemy on seeing this, came upon the emperor’s tent intending to seize the empress. One of the soldiers left behind was seated in front of the tent with his sandal of his foot stitching it. When he saw the approach of the enemy, he seized a shield and a dagger and angrily charged them. He dealt one a blow and a second one and drove off the others who took fright at his charge. Thus the greater part of the soldiers fled and the emperor’s wife was saved.</p><br /><p>While the emperor was still besieging Mediolanum, Aurelian with some horsemen came to him with whom the great men [of the empire] had plotted to kill him, though they were holding off on it until Mediolanum had been taken. On learning that their scheme had been found out, they hastened their treacherous plot. They then sent some men announcing that the enemy was coming upon Galienus, who at once set out against them, since time was nigh though few of them joined in the attack with him. While he was marching off, he met with horsemen who did not keep far away from him, go away, or do anything else which is customarily done towards the emperor, so he asked the men present, “What do they want?” They replied, “To remove you from office.” He immediately reined his horse and turned to flight. He would have escaped the plotters by the swiftness of his horse, had not he gone in to a stream of water. His horse was afraid to pass over it and so his pursuers caught up with him and one threw his spear at him. Hit by it, he fell from his horse and after a little while died by bleeding to death, having reigned fifteen years including those with his father. He was lavish minded and wished to please everyone; there was no one who had anything to find fault with him for. He took no vengeance on his enemies or on upstarts.<p><br /><p>Thus is how they tell that Galienus was slain, while some others say he was slaughtered by the governor Heracleianus. When Auriolus was commander of the Celts and rose up against him coming on Italy with his forces, Galienus went off against him. One night, Heracleianus came before him while he was sleeping in his tent sharing in the plot with Claudius a very good general announcing to him that Auriolus was already on him with a mighty force. He was befuddled by this sudden announcement and got up from his bed and half-naked asked for his arms. Heracleianus dealt him a fatal blow and killed him.</p><br /><p>In those times, Xystus was in charge of the Roman Church dying after eleven years and being succeeded by Dionysius. Paul the Samosatian then took over the Church, who wrote treaties humbly about Christ that his nature was that of a normal man and not of God. The heads of the remaining churches sat together in synod against this during which Gregory the Miracle-Worker and his brother Athenodorus accused him of erring about Christ and condemned him. As he could not be persuaded to give up his position in the Church, Aurelian who was then ruling was delivered a petition concerning him by the Orthodox and so issued an order that the Church belonged to those who the bishops in Rome and Italy should appoint. For this reason, Paul was driven from the Church in dishonor and in his place was installed Domnus. </p><br /><p>After Galienus's murder, Claudius was proclaimed Caesar. Auriolus then set down his arms and submitted to him, though he tried to usurp the throne again only to be slain by the soldiers. Claudius was a good man abounding in justness, so he forbid everyone to seek unlawful things from the emperor. For emperors before had been accustomed to be able to give unlawful things, so that due to this the laws still standing got their start from the state. There was a woman, whose village he had received as an imperial gift before he became emperor, who came before him and said, "Claudius the commander of the cavalry wronged me." He replied, "What Claudius took from you whilst a private citizen with no concern for the laws, he will now make amends as emperor."</p><br /><p>In Rome, the Senate on learning of the murder of Galienus put to death his brother and his son. While Postumus was still usurping and the barbarians having crossed by the Maeotian Lake to Asia and Europe were ravaging them, a session of the Senate was held to decide on whom war must be undertaken during which Claudius said, “War with the usurper is for my good, but war with the barbarians is for that of the state and so that one for the state must be preferred.”</p><br /><p>The barbarians overran many countries and laid siege to Thessalonica, which of old is said to have been called Emathia and later named Thessalonica after the daughter of Phillip, Casandrus's wife Thessalonica. However, they were repelled from this city so they marched on Athens capturing the city. They then gathered together all the books in the city planning to burn them. Yet one of their wise men stopped them from doing so, saying that through them the Greeks who had been unschooled in the essays of war had become in this way skilled. Cleodemus, an Athenian man, then was able to escape and gathered together an army and came upon then by boat from the sea killing many of them such that the remaining men took flight from there. Claudius then set out against them scattered about many countries and defeated them some times in sea battles and sometimes by land battles. The winters also took a toll on them and famine ensued devastating them. While staying in Sirmium, Claudius fell ill and called together the most erudite body of his troops discussing with them who the next emperor should be and saying that Aurelian was worthy of imperial rule. There are those who say that he immediately proclaimed him emperor. Others say that the Senate in Rome on learning of the death of Claudius elevated his brother Quintilian to imperial rule through its love for Claudius, while the body of soldiers proclaimed Aurelian. Quintilian, a plain man on whom administration had been thrust, on learning of the proclamation of Aurelian killed himself slitting the vein of his own hand and letting the blood flow from there having had but a dream of imperial rule for seventeen days. However, writers do not agree with each other as to the duration of Claudius's reign. Some tell that he reigned for one year, while others say two, among whom are Eusebius.</p> <br /><p>The son of the emperor Claudius's daughter was Constantius the Pale, the father of Constantine the Great.<p><br /><p>And so Aurelian succeeded to the Roman Empire and asked those in power how he should rule. One of them said to him that, “If you want to rule well, you must protect yourself with gold and steel making use of steel against those who vex you and rewarding those who serve you with gold.” He first, it is said, rebuked this counsel, though not much later he made a trial of steel.</p><br /><p>This emperor although he at first conducted himself moderately towards Christians, later as time went by under his sole rule changed and he himself planned to start a persecution of the faithful having already written the edicts. However, divine justice stopped him from going through with his malevolence against the Christians by ending his life.</p><br /><p>However, before telling of his end we must first talk about his deeds during his reign. He was a superb general who won many wars. He defeated the Palmyrians by making war and subduing their queen Zenobia who had held Egypt and even captured Probus, the commander there at that time. Some say she was brought to Rome and married to one of their most eminent men, while others say she died en route grieved at her change of fortune though one of her daughters Aurelian took as his wife, while the rest were married to eminent Romans.</p><br /><p>He also recovered for the Roman Empire the Gauls after they had been possessed by usurpers for many years and installed commanders in them before returning to Rome which he entered triumphantly upon a chariot drawn by four elephants. He also fought with the Gauls then rebelling. When he was on campaign on against the Scyths, he was slain coming to Thracian Heracleia. For there was a man called Eros who acted as a conveyor of external responses and, as some tell, a spy for the emperor reporting to him what was being said about him, who, when Aurelian got mad at him began plotting against him. In imitation of Aurelian's letters, he composed a letter containing the names of some powerful men and ordering them to be put to death, which he showed to them and so convinced them to murder the emperor. For they were afraid for their lives and so came upon Aurelian and murdered him after six years of rule short only a couple of months.</p> <br /><p>He was succeeded by Tacitus, an elderly man recorded to have been seventy-five years old when he was chosen for sole rule. The body of soldiers assembled proclaimed him and then departed since it was still then in Campania. There after making his choice, he came to Rome in a private citizen's clothing and was adorned with the imperial garb with the approval of the Senate and the people. The Scyths then crossed the Maeotian Lake and the Phasis River into the Pontus and Cappadocia marching until Galatia and Cilicia. There Tacitus and the governor Florianus fought them and killed many, while the rest effected their salvation through flight. In the meantime, Maximinus his kinsmen who he had entrusted with command of Syria had ruled badly and so was slain by his soldiers. His murders then fearing that the emperor would not grant them amnesty pursued and killed him too, such that he not yet reached the seventh month of his reign or, according to others, not two whole years.</p><br /><p>With him dead, two men were proclaimed emperor: Probus in the East by his soldiers and Florianus in Rome by the Senate. They both ruled with Probus in Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine and Florianus from Cilicia until Italy and the Western Provinces. However, he did not last three months on the throne before he ended his life and reign slain by soldiers sent by Probus. With his death, it is said, Probus took full authority. He is told to have been very famous and won many victories over many nations even gathering together, pouring abuse on, and killing the soldiers who killed Aurelian and Tacitus.</p><br /><p>When Saturninus the Moor, who was very dear to him, rose up in revolt he punished the man who informed him of it putting no faith in the report though Saturninus was slain by his soldiers. Another man also began plotting rebellion in Britain who the emperor had bestowed the office on, Victorinus the Moor, who was dear to him and blamed him for it. On learning of this, Probus blamed Victorinus for it. He was asked by him to be sent, so he left as though truly fleeing the emperor and was received warmly by the usurper. He killed him during the night and returned to Probus. Probus was loved by everyone for his gentleness, kindness, and generousness with gifts.</p><br /><p>When the Germans attacked cities subject to the Romans, he met them in a war which lasted for a great period of time in duration with famine breaking out in his camp. A violent thunderstorm is said to have come upon his camp and caused it to rain lots of grain if one is to believe such things. With the army's trust restored in him in this way, he was able to escape the peril and rout his opponents.</p><br /><p>Another rebellion also broke out against him. For Carus the commander of the region of Europe had troops under him desirous of proclaiming him emperor, so he notified Probus of this begging to be recalled. However, he did not want to remove him from the command. And so the soldiers under Carus forced him to accept the office of Roman emperor and set off with him at once for Italy. Probus on learning of this sent an army under a commander to resist him. Yet the soldiers dispatched on approaching Carus put their own commander in chains and handed him along with themselves over to Carus. Probus was then slain by his own bodyguard when they learned of the soldiers defection to Probus. The period of Probus's reign was not six whole years.</p><br /><p>When Carus came to power, he crowned his sons Carinus and Numerianus with the imperial diadem. Then he set out at once on campaign against the Persians along with his son Numerianus and seized Ctesiphon and Seleucia. The Roman army was nearly imperiled during the course of it. For it set up camp in a valley, which the Persians on seeing moved along the river flowing beside it and came to the valley by a passage. Carus, fortunately, attacked the Persians and routed them returning to Rome leading a great number of captives and a good deal of plunder. Then when the nation of the Sarmati rose up, he fought and subdued that nation. He was by birth a Galatian and brave and shrewd in wars. The story of his end is not agreed upon by historians. Some say he was campaigning against the Huns and was slain there, while others say that while he was encamped by the Tigris River where his army had set up camp, his tent was hit by a thunderbolt and they tell that he died in it.</p><br /><p>When he had died in either this way or that way, his son Numerianus was left behind as the only emperor in the camp. He immediately marched off against the Persians and battle broke out in which the Persians gained the upper hand and the Romans were turned to flight. Some tell that he was taken captive in the flight and had his skin pulled off his whole body and thus died, while some historians write that he fell ill with ophthalmia on his way back from Persia and was slain by his own father-in-law, eparch of the camp, who was greedily eying imperial rule though he did not get it. The army chose instead Diocletian as emperor since he was there and had proven his courage by many deeds in the Persian war.</p><br /><p>Meanwhile, Carus's other son Carinus, who was staying in Rome, proved himself antagonistic to the Romans becoming brutal, cruel, and begrudging and so was slain when Diocletian reached Rome. The period of their rule was not a full three years.<p><br /><p>In those days, Manes thrice-be-cursed came from Persia to our region of the world and spread his own disease here. On this account the Manicheans have not died out until now. He named himself the Intercessor and the Holy Sprit being clearly the spirit of knavery, even calling himself Christ. He was anointed by the demons to act in their service even assembling his own twelve disciples who was privy to and heralds of his nonsense which he came up with out of many godless doctrines of already extinguished heresies.</p><br /><p>Dionysius was shepherd of the faithful in Rome for nine years before he accomplished his purpose and died with Felix ascending the priestly throne of Rome. He died after a period of fifteen years and was succeeded by Eutychianus on the episcopate of Rome. He had not been bishop for ten months before he died and was succeeded in the service of shepherd by Gaius. He after heading the Church for near fifteen years was succeeded by Marcellinus. Throughout these times there were persecutions. For the Church of Antioch, Timaeus became bishop after Domnus, then Timaeus was succeeded by Cyril, while Cyril was succeeded by Tyrannus, under whom the siege of the Church reached its climax and the tyranny became unbearable. For the Church of Jerusalem, Zabdas became its head after Hymenaeus, after whose death Hermon succeeded to the throne. In Alexandria, Maximus acted in the service of the Divine for eighteen years after Dionysius before with his debt paid Theonas became bishop. Peter succeeded him and met with martyrdom having his head chopped off.</p><br /><p>Such were the successions of the chief priests. And so Diocletian took the throne, who was Dalmatian by birth of undistinguished parentage and some say an emancipated slave of the senator Anulinus becoming dux of Mysia from the rank of simple soldier. Still others say he became cometus of the domestics, some reckoning domestics as cavalrymen. Talking with the soldiers, he affirmed he had not been privy to the murder of Numerian and while saying this turned toward Aprus praefectus of the army and said, “Here is his murderer”, who they immediately put to the sword violently. On reaching Rome, he laid claim to and came into the management of the affairs of the empire.</p>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-3497349459821668572011-01-16T18:21:00.000-08:002011-01-16T18:26:28.462-08:00Notes and Bibliography to Michael AttaleiatesThese notes accompany my translation from the history of Michael Attaleiates on the reign of Romanos Diogenes, which is available <a href="http://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2011/01/extract-from-history-of-michael.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><p><center>Notes</center></p><br /><ol><li>The actual text of document by which she swore not to make a second marriage still survives. For this document, see N. Oikonomides, “Le serment de l’imperatrice Eudocie: un episode de l’histoire dynastique de Byzance” , Revue des Etudes Byzantines 21 (1963) 105-108</li><br /><li>John Xiphilinus was patriarch from 1064-1075.</li><br /><li>Melitene was on the border of Byzantine Mesopotamia part of its own theme.</li><br /><li>A reference to Michael VI the Old (1056-1057)</li><br /><li>Attaliates’ actual phrase is that they whipped them manless.</li><br /><li>PS pgs. 121-2: On this account, the vestarch Romanus, son of Constantine Diogenes was brought in to rule. The way in which he was brought in, I shall tell here. When Diogenes was appointed dux of Sardica, being a patrician, he asked the emperor Constantine Ducas to give him the honor of vestarch. The emperor though replied to him, "Show me deeds then ask payments", and sent him away empty-handed not giving in to his request. And so Diogenes left and came to Sardica coming upon the Pechenegs plundering the land and caused a great rout of them capturing many of them alive and sending the heads of the slain off to the emperor who gave him the honor of vestarch writing to him, "This is not my gift, Diogenes, but rather that of your own valor and bravery.” While he was staying there, he started to plot against the emperor, but he ceased in the plot fearing it come to light. Yet because the emperor died and the empire was being ravaged, he started conspiring with one of his most faithful men on it to join with the neighboring nations in it, who had been amicably disposed towards him since the time he had ruled over the lands by them giving them ample example of his nobleness.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 122 adds the following after ‘suffering’: for the body of Christian’s suffering ravaged almost daily by the Agarenes| after the rest is as follows in the translation.</li> <br /><li><font face=Palatino Linotype>διογενές</font> ‘Zeus sprung’ is meant to be simply as clever praise based on his surname</li><br /><li>Compare Attaliates’ description with that of Psellus in the following oration, the first of five to the emperor Romanus Diogenes:<br /><p><b>18. To the emperor Diogenes when he was emperor</b></p><br /><p>Now is a day of salvation, freedom from evils, now strength and might of New Rome, now an unshakeable tower of rule, a wall unagitable, a column unshaken, a foundation erected by the lands of the Lord. Now the Lord has looked into his heritage and stooped down from heaven and saw it, so he has sent from on high his angel to save us from present evils, future terrors, a mass of clouds [of men], and the leasing of arrows.</p><br /><p>Where now is the pride of the Persians? Where is the insolence of the Medians? Where is the Scythians' fearful attack? Where is boastful scorn of the of the Turks and irresistible attack of the barbarian?</p> <br /><p>Now as though upon a scale everything is counterpoised and the scales turned. Now everything is anew, that of the enemy has changed and ours has changed as well. Now we behold a emperor, neither by call, nor scheme false, great as a giant, long of arm, mighty of strength, awesome unarmed, mighty and irresistible armed, in form worthy of rule, and in heart rivaling the prophet David.</p><br /><p>In you, divine emperor, a mass of everything is run together, awesomeness, brightness, and wonder; by birth unrivalled in nobility, in motherland the most beautiful of cities, in which there are noble natures, undefeatable strength, and unbearable might against barbarians. Such is the nature of your body that the barbarian can not bear it, while such is the nature of your spirit that we are gladdened at seeing it, irresistible base against enemies, which shines forth to us calmly and tamely. Diogenes [Zeus sprung] above, divine of form beneath; august in show, bright in thought, well-established in mind, noble in argument, sharp minded, swift-tongued, a rhetor as well as a soldier. Oh what an unexpected wonder to see the divides of words and arms, arrows and meters, verbs and charges, wisdom and panoply all gathered together paradoxically in your soul. You make war with a long arm, while you freely and tersely consort with your tongue, so that your are like a river as well as an aqueduct. The mind pours forth with thoughts, while the tongue overflows gently with the fineness of the words. You, emperor, speak as a rhetorician amongst the army, while you bring an attack on the word and sally forth with them on the matter. And when it is time to loose the arrows, you then stretch the bow tight, put the javelin in your arm, and mightily throw down the spear on the men arrayed against you. And where there is need of speaking, you gives speeches radiantly not adapting the cleverness of Demosthenes, but kindling the glories of Nestor of Pylius. When there is need of standing together with shields in rows and columns, you extend the phalanx, you wind it around, you turn the soldiers about, you change the arrangement, and astound the barbarian with martial rebuke.</p><br /><p>But now the speech is getting me to the empress, who I could not only enconomize, but also marvel at. Oh she ponders on so much good, minded to so much better. You defended our cities, you tore down the wall of the barbarians, you decorated the empire of Rome, you elevated yourself on high, your defended imperial rule for your sons, and with one thought and one deed brought all of this to the better. I almost want to dance with zeal and joy.</p><br /><p>Now a synod of lights, now heaven and earth are made merry, and all is glorified to the heights, and the hour truly that for panegyric. Since comparison is needed in a speech, I shall say something paradoxical, though it is very true. You, oh emperor, possess the tokens of victory against everyone only less than the empress, the despotess. While you, oh empress, appear without comparison amongst all women, I should not say all men as well, bearing second place, though content of this, to the emperor. Oh he is victorious over all men and she is victorious over all women, victorious over each other and defeated by one another. Oh, you are a an idol of males and you are the pride of females.</p></li><br /><li>Z pgs. 683-4:<p>When these tidings reached the empress, they provided her with consternation. Many people were saying that an emperor was needed, so the empress afraid lest the common people make someone emperor and thus depose her and her children, decided to bring someone into to rule so that she might keep power for herself and her children and keep it from being taken away from them. They say it was not licentiousness, nor being overcome by Diogenes' handsomeness to suit herself, but the fact he was an energetic man, experienced in war, and incomparable in strength that made her elevate him to the imperial rule so that the advance of the barbarians be measurably checked with him resisting them.</p> <br /><p>He was a man descended from a brilliant family and from men famous for their bravery. His father was the son-in-law of the child of the emperor Romanos Argyros' brother, who when he was accused of treason, committed suicide throwing himself down from a precipice</p></li><br /><li>PS pg. 123-4: Because the empress was afraid of the Senate, the Patriarch, the people who signed her oath, and those who witnessed it, she did not dare to marry anyone important and proclaim him emperor, so she decided to think beyond a woman and overcome by the patriarch by knavery and trickery and thus accomplish her desire and force back the attacking nations. Therefore she made one of the men in the gynaecium her ally in this. The man promised to by any means necessary accomplish her desire, razor sharp, the plan was this. The Patriarch had a brother named Bardas who was very lustful and inclined towards pleasures having no other merits in life. So the eunuch went to the patriarch and told him secretly about this, and that if he wanted it he had only to agree to overlook her terrible handwritten oath and the empress would marry his own brother and he would be immediately proclaimed emperor. Like the tuna [greedy man] he was the Patriarch took the bate and was soon each for the union deciding to inform the Senate about it. One by one, he called each of them to him constructing the necessity of the matter ridiculing the oath as unlawful and made for the jealousy of one man and not for the public interest, which, if the empress marry a noble and courageous men, it would be, since Romans might sprout afresh and expected already to be ready to be emasculated and extinguished. He brought them all around to it by persuading some with punishment an some with propitiations with bags of money and ripe atonements though he did not even abstain from fear of what might happen, And so, Diogenes was lead into palace all-in-arms and married to the empress. He was proclaimed emperor on the first of January of the sixth indiction in 6576 (1068) secretly meeting the empress’s sons. Immediately, the Varangian guard started to cause a stir because they held of proclaiming him contrary to public decree. Her son Michael appeared before them with his brothers announcing that they were in agreement with what had taken place and immediately started proclaiming him emperor in loud and piercing voices.</li><br /><li>basileus autocrator</li> <br /><li>This incident is well attested to by Michael Psellos in his own history in the following words:<br /><p>6. In the meantime there had been whispered rumours, and the court got to know of the affair. The future emperor had already been chosen by her, and according to the arrangements they had made, this was the very day on which the prospective bridegroom was expected to arrive in the city. On the morrow the ceremony of coronation was to be performed. That evening the empress sent for me. When we were alone, she spoke to me with tears in her eyes. 'You must be aware,' she said, 'of our loss in prestige and of the declining fortunes of our Empire, with wars constantly springing up and barbarian hordes ravaging the whole of the east. How can our country possibly escape disaster?' I knew nothing of the things that had been going on, nor that the future emperor was already standing at the palace doors, so I replied that it was no easy matter to decide. 'It requires careful consideration,' I said. 'Better propose today and listen tomorrow, as the proverb says.' With a little laugh she went on, 'But deliberation is superfluous now. The matter has been considered already and the decision is made. Romanus, the son of Diogenes, has been invited to rule as emperor, in preference to all others.'</p><br /><p>7. These words filled me with instant consternation. I could not conceive what would become of me. 'Well then,' I said, 'tomorrow I too will give my advice on the matter.' -- 'Not tomorrow,' she replied 'but now. Give me your support.' I returned to the attack, with just one question: 'But your son, the emperor, who will presumably one day govern the Empire alone -- does he know what has happened too?' -- 'He is not entirely in the dark, although he does not yet know all the details,' she said. 'However, I am glad you mention my son. Let us go up to him together, and explain how things stand. He is sleeping above in one of the imperial apartments.'</p><br /><p>8. So we went up to him. How she felt about it I do not know, but I was most agitated. A sudden fit of trembling shook me through and through. She sat down on her son's bed, called him 'her emperor', 'her best of sons'. 'Rise up,' she said, 'and receive your step-father. Although he takes the place of your father, he will be a subject, not a ruler. I, your mother, have bound him in writing to observe this arrangement.' Well, the young man got up from his bed at once, and although he looked at me suspiciously I have no idea what he was thinking. Together with his mother he left the room in which he had been sleeping, and immediately came face to face with the new emperor. Without the slightest trace of emotion, his visage quite expressionless, he embraced Romanus, becoming at once his colleague on the throne and his friend.</p><br /><p>9. Thereupon the Caesar was also summoned. Never were his diplomatic qualities seen to better advantage. First he made some tactful inquiries about his nephew the emperor, then added a few words of commendation in praise of Romanus. This was followed by congratulations for all the imperial party. One could almost hear him singing the wedding song and see him taking his fill from the nuptial drinking-bowl. And that is how the government of the Empire passed into the hands of the next sovereign, Romanus.</p><br />Excerpted from E.R.A. Sewter's translation of Michael Psellos's Chronographia accessed online at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/psellus-chrono00.html</li><br /><li>PS pg. 124: The empress ruled along with her sons for seven months and a little bit more.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 124 adds: who proved a obstacle for him from the beginning until the end and poorly dealt with Roman affairs leaving them in their current state.</li><br /><li>PS pg 125: after the passage of two months</li><br /><li>The word here is <font face="Palatino Linotype">νεοπαγὴς</font>, which is being used metaphorically. In Galen, the word used with cheese can mean 'newly curdled cheese', while with blood it can mean 'newly congealed.'</li><br /><li>This next oration of Michael Psellus seems to have been delivered right before Romanus Diogenes left on his first campaign.<br /><p><b>19. To same man in the form of an encomium</b></p><br /><p>Where ever are you going, most radiant sun, great light of truth? How also patiently you bear leaving behind the moon of the world, under which you are shown and which you shine brighter than? Was it love for us and desire to keep the Queen of Cities free of all vassalage and attack from barbarians that persuaded you to disdain you body, spirit, and dearest ones? O vivacious soul, o flaming heart, o noble sentiment, the luxury and enjoyment of imperial rule did not enchant you; nor did the decorum of rule and the remaining adornments of it as well as the beauty of the diadem overcome you. But as though God had raised you upon the throne, so we might revel and enjoy ourselves, while you look after us with many labors and plague yourself with many anxious thoughts as well as adorning your head with the diadem and the point of your spear against your enemies. O brave deed, o high state of mind, you did not stay here for the change of season, but in the middle of winter, when the sun is hidden beneath the clouds, when it is the most dim in the sky, as though hard steel capable of sustaining all [sorts of] blows and broken apart by nothing, not the terrible winter, not a great storm, and not the terrible cold, you set out from the Queen of Cities and advanced against the kingdom [τυραννίδος] of the enemy.</p><br /><p>Such a course for an emperor to take at the beginning shows for us thus a good, thus a noble, thus a gentle, thus full of audacity emperor. Also that everything about you is beyond noble: birth, manner, life, the adornment of the body, the greatness of spirit, desire for God, the awesome love for us, the noble mind, the generous hand, free rightness, and spring of favors. O how sweet it is for us they we should have the good fortune to have you as emperor. O the pain of our opponent when we see you as though our sun advance on another world.</p><br /><p>May you overpower completely the enemy and opponent in combat, may you crown your head with radiant routs. May you adorn yourself with noble deeds against the barbarians and may you render for your spear many victories. May the sun not burn during the day and the moon at night, but a column of light guide you, and the sea part for you, the rivers give way, and the angels sent forth light over all the land. May we behold you return with routs to us adorned with noble laurels, o imperial wonder, sight most worthy of the state, and most noble light of our moon.</p></li> <br /><li>PS pg. 125 adds to composition of army: from Macedonian, Bulgarians, Cappadocians, Uz, and other nations, as well as the Franks and Varrangians</li><br /><li>PS pg. 125: There was a paradox sight: the famous champions of the Romans, who had enslaved the east and west standing all together numbering only a few men born into poverty and lacking in complete armament, in place of blades and other weapons, as the Bible says, carrying hunting spears and scythes bereft of war mounts and other war items...</li><br /><li>district between Libanus and Anti-libanus</li><br /><li>PS pg. 126 changes statement: he left the road for the theme of Lycandus during the summer planning to...</li><br /><li>PS pg. 127 adds: and Argaos for the mountains he marched through</li><br /><li>PS pg. 128: Apsinalios</li><br /><li>PS pg. 128 adds: The ancients had a maxim for this: it is better for a lion to rule deer than a deer to rule lions.| I think here the writer did what I did the first time reading through the text and took the <font face=“Palatino Linotype”>ἐκεῖνοι</font> to mean Romanus‘s own soldiers, but there he might for fall from right and truthful understanding. I am not even sure as to the meaning of this phrase.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 129: Libellisius</li><br /><li>PS pg. 129 adds: or Berroea</li><br /><li>PS pg. 129: Turks</li><br /><li>PS pg. 130: It was worthy of astonishment that this disaster and defeat of the Romans should causes not one of the remaining soldiers and officers to rise to avenge themselves, but instead all of them remain sitting down as though encamped on allied land desiring to keep to themselves stirred to no zeal or desire to fight.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 131: Pharasmanes</li><br /><li>PS pg. 132: Terchola</li><br /><li>Z pg. 692: Angered that he was not able to do anything about it, he put his army in order so that they could pass the winter with any deficiencies and returned to the Queen of Cities feeling boastful that he had done much not only for others, but also for the empress. She on the contrary perceiving her expectations defeated was displeased and had her heart swollen up unable to bear the afflictions.</li><br /><li>This next oration of Psellus does not have any clear place so I place it here after his first victory:<br /><b><p>20. A declamation to the emperor Romanus Diogenes before the citizens in the cletorium.</b></p><br /><p>Now first I behold an soldier emperor, now first a see a general and emperor. Your head flashes with a golden crown, while no less in your right hand there is an awesome spear. With a gentle eye you regard us citizens, while with a piercing stare you strike fear into the barbarians. Your voice is sweet towards us, while it is a piercing cry to your opponents. Your face is joyous to us, while to your opponents it is an awesome, martial rebuke.</p><br /><p>O emperor, soldier, and general, and any other resplendent noun. O holder of all merit, whether of the city, or of the commander. O universal benefit to soldiers and citizens, great advantage to the Queen of Cities, which was lowered to its knees, but now against hope is recovering and greatly concerned for you, lord and emperor, crowning you with your victories, proclaiming your routs, and speaking about them to not only you. O torch-bearing light, you shine down on me with boundless light. O radiant sun, returning from the east, you have come to the center of the day covering all the earth with your sparkling light.</p><br /><p>Where were once and again you, the blush of imperial rule were away from me? You saw me an old woman, but now you have made me a young woman again and returned to the old beauty and strength of youth. Besides this, I kiss you on the eyes which have gone many time without sleep for me, caress your hands which you have covered many times with the slaughter of barbarians, and cling to your chest prominent with the scars of wounds which you received thrown at you. I bring to you them people I have given me names and fed, the citizens, who I put before and bring them forward before you as suppliants and dear ones. Embrace them for me kindly, be generous to them abundantly. They loves you and praise you , since you return to them many more times that.</p><br /><p>This, most divine emperor, the city declaims to you. Let you rise up and change its standing changed for the worse to the better. Put away the beautiful and become beautiful with your struggles. It was a fading light, but its most divine lover and beloved, the man who showed the might of the Romans mightier than the barbarians, the man previously having the fact of imperial rule, not having the name as well, emperor of emperors, commander of commanders is truly the most marvelous fact and name of this great and most famous of cities.</p></li> <br /><li>PS pg. 134 adds: the Bulgarian, brother of the emperor's wife, who he married while he was still a private citizen</li><br /><li><font face=“Palatino Linotype”>ἐπισκέψει</font> is something of a mystery to me. It appears in numerous monastic documents, but I cannot quite get the sense for what it is exactly. It would seem almost to refer to a suburb since there is the walled city (<font face=“Palatino Linotype”>κάστρον</font>) and also the <font face=“Palatino Linotype”>ἐπισκέψις</font> At least perhaps it means the area around the walled part of the city. Melangeia means in modern terms ‘Black Lands’, so-named for the dark color of the soil.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 135 adds: namely the Uz</li><br /><li>PS pg. 136 adds: from the Brachami family</li><br /><li>PS pg. 137: Munzarum</li><br /><li>PS pg. 137: Celtzena| probably a scribal error.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 137: The soldiers left behind with Philaretus, filled by abject fear of their opponents and seized by it, started to march behind the emperor leaving the places they had been entrusted to guard until they got to Anthiae. There the enemy suddenly appeared from behind took to flight without even a battle and came to the emperor in Celtzena by foot.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 139 is more direct: When the emperor was informed of this he only seemed to be pleased hiding his envy.</li><br /><li>PS pgs. 140-2 inserts the following paragraph: Previously, the attack and destruction of the nations subject to the Romans seemed to manifest divine anger against heretics such as the Armenians living in Iberia and Mesopotamia until Lycandus, Melitene, and the adjacent lands, as well as those worshiping after the Judaic mode of Nestorius and the heresy of the bishopless, since the lands of this heresy are numerous. However, when the orthodox suffered this misfortune, everybody worshipping after the mode of the Romans was stuck dumb and forced to examine what had happened and especially what happened to Amorium and to reckon and believe that only was their faith not correct, but also that their lifestyle did not compare to their faith. Because of this both the man erring in his faith and that imperfect in his life were receiving their punishment, while the doer and teacher was praised and blessed. When he heard this, the emperor had been eager to start off and help his own land, but he was prevented from doing so by his counselors and ignorance of the number of his opponents. They were Nicephorus Palaeologus, the most honored and counsel of philosopher Constantine Psellus, and above all the Caesar the brother of the previous emperor, who wanted him dead after this because oppressive to them and very beholden. They hated him for being a noble and courageous man and for dealing with the sons of Ducas as successors to the throne. Yet so they openly began to form a conspiracy against him.</li><br /><li>For a more detailed account of this episode, see the following except of Nicephorus Bryennius pgs 10-12 <br /><p>Encouraged by these words, the sultan sent a force of nearly twenty thousand men against the Romans making its commander the son of his brother Asan [Hasan], called Kophos, urging him to go in all haste to the land of Media and take possession of it if it would not submit to him. From there, the Turks initiated the war against the Romans, which they have continued to carry out until the present day. However, here let us return to the original track of my narrative. Manuel, as it was said, the curopalates, was appointed commander of the eastern legions by Diogenes and was staying near the lead of Chaldia guarding it against the raids of the Turks. When Turkish plans were announced to him for an army of Turks under the command of Chrysosculus, who was descended from the sultan, to seize and pillage the village-towns of the Armeniac theme, he took his forces and advanced against the Turks scattering them and routing them easily when he met them going on a foraging expedition. He got very close to the Turkish camp while pursuing them and fell into a sudden ambush resisting valiantly, while he was still able to, before the Roman phalanx was turned to flight and scattered him included being surrounded by the Turks and captured along with his two brother-in-laws Melissenus and Taronites. A few Romans also fell. Lead before Chrysosculus, he thought himself to have done nothing worthy of his race having taken flight. On this account when he decided to rebel against the sultan having won victory over him and desiring power over the Persians, Manuel decided he ought to make a trial of him. Coming before him all alone and having examined his position, he decided that this man was very afraid that he did not have a force worthy of the sultan, so he spoke to him with soft words softening his harsh resolution pushing him with energetic words towards a second essay. He said that since he was lacking in sufficient force it was impossible for him to resist the master of Persia, he would never succeed in his plans unless he desert to the emperor of the Romans and make him his ally in his venture. He took his counsel and made his guide swiftly coming to the capital prevailed over and conquered by the arms and cleverness of these words. This deed brought the curopalates great glory and was very praiseworthy. The emperor received them both warmly and honored them with many gifts.</p><br /><p>When spring was starting, he marched off against the Turks accompanied by Chrysosculus. When he reached Bithynia, the curopalates caught an ear-infection and died causing great grief to the emperor.</p></li><br /><li>PS pg. 142: the day of Orthodoxy</li><br /><li>For this rhetorical work see none other Michael Psellus's twenty-first and last public oration for Romanos Diogenes translated below: <br /><b><p>21. A Syntacterius Oration to the emperor.</p></b><br /><p>Let a syntacterius oration here be spoken about your most kind soul both as such for leaving and thus marvelous. It is thus a commingling of prayers and tears by us to you, our most excellent lord and emperor.</p><br /><p>May you return from the east to the east again and again like lightning as the sun in its unending cycle does, a rich light shining down on your subjects and scorching the barbarians. Besides this, may you extinguish Babylonian fire, rein in the impulses of lions, and draw fire down from the sky against the hostile phalanx. May you split the sea asunder, drive back the river, and make war on Amalek.</p><br /><p>A cloud may cast a shadow over your head stripping you of your burn, but a pillar of light goes before your shield guiding you. May the Lord smooth away any high and rough mountain, fill the ravines for you, and make the curves straight. May you don up your head with wreaths of victory and may you return to us with with myriads of victories gloried with many routs. May the angels fight alongside you and God act as your fellow general and cover the new Pharaoh with the sea for you.</p><br /><p>Further, may you reconcile the chasms and cut down the wall of the palisade, making a hostile enemy into a friendly one by your might, most imperial and victorious.</p><br /><p>I speak with one voice for the voices of many when I say this to you last: may you not stay long from us who wish to see you, but may you return in haste more bright with victories and more radiant, o most excellent of all emperors incomparable in clandestine beauty and greatness of nature.</p></li><br /><li>PS pg. 142: ...but at Helenopolis, which the locals call more rurally Eleeinopolis, which did not seem a good omen.</li><br /><li>Yet the stupidity of men, so to say poor habits, lack in faith in obvious proof, and the unintelligible did not put trust in one of them, but the obvious was ignored and no sense was given to what was come hurled from above.</li> <br /><li>PS pg. 143: Tzombus</li><br /><li>PS pg. 143: the attack</li><br /><li>When he perceived it, the emperor mounted his horse and called his soldiers together astounding his foreign men and again subordinating them, ordering this only as punishment: that they put in the furthest away parts for his own security.</li> <br /><li>Here it would seem there was a Byzantine word for the agent who took control of the city that Attaliates considered too barbaric to be used in his narrative because he replaced it with a participle meaning 'he who takes over.' I would suspect that it is Latin in origin</li><br /><li>The practice of Bible divination, <i>sors evangelica</i>, is a long Byzantine tradition. We find Heraclius doing the same thing at challenging junctions in his war with the Persians. The priest would open the Bible and turn to the random page to a random verse that would then be interpreted for what it boded for the future.</li><br /><li>The full quotation which the priest turned to was John 15.20-16.3</li><br /><li>PS pg. 145 adds to divination: god sent</li><br /><li>PS pg. 146: And so the enemy surrounded him and took him captive leading him off to the sultan in chains. On coming before his sight, he did not stand a slave nor as a captive taken to the sultan. Nor did the sultan treat him like a slave or a captive, but had him constantly in his presence asking about the emperor showing him his own might and filling him with terror and fear. The man praised all of this and counseled him taking liberty that the Roman emperor's force standing against him was at a disadvantage.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 147: When morning came, a contingent of Uzes, having a commander Tamin thus called a Scythian appointed by Tornicus Cotertzes, deserted to the enemy.</li><br /><li>PS pg 147: He was ignorant that Tarchaniotes persuaded as well Ruselius, who was minded to come aid the emperor, learning of the arrival of sultan and his approach on the emperor had set out with his men and fled ignobly through Mesopotamia to Roman territory, the cowardly man not even sending a message to his master or doing any befitting.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 147-8: Yet he assented and gave them a cross so that by this sign they could return to him unharmed bearing carrying tidings which they might learn from the sultan. For what he sent, induced by the hopelessness of the situation was that the sultan would leave the place and make camp further away from his encampment, while the emperor would set up camp at that place where the Turks had had their encampment and would come to terms with him. He was offering victory to the enemy high-mindedly just as those in the know had agreed, the most victorious symbol, the cross being sent to him.</li><br /><li>Z pg. 700: In the midst of this, ambassadors came from the sultan to discuss peace. The emperor did not altogether warmly receive them he gave them messages and permitted them to return to their lord and say that, "If you want to discuss peace, leave behind the place in which you are encamped move camp to somewhere far away so I can set up camp with the Roman army where the barbarian encampment now is." With this said boastfully to the ambassadors, he commanded them to go back shortly. They reported the emperor's words to the sultan and he with the men about him were [still] desirous of peace agreement. As the emperor was arrogant, he was persuaded by some of the men about him who said that the sultan was afraid that he did not have sufficient enough an army and was therefore seeking peace so that battle should be avoided and he could bring in another force, so neither waiting for the return of the ambassadors nor thinking of anything else he ordered the war trumpets to be sounded.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 149 adds: Andronicus, the son of the Caesar</li><br /><li>PS pg. 150 testifies sultan named Axan<br /><li>PS pg. 150-1: When he was assured by the ambassadors and Basiliacus that the man thrown before his feet was him giving off a pitiful lament, he straightaway as though a mad man sprung up from his throne and put it right. He put his foot on the man before his foot as customary and rose up him embracing him saying to him, "Do not fear, o emperor, but be of good cheer, since you will suffer no bodily harm and shall be honored worthy of the excellence of your majesty. Foolish is he who does not reverence the unexpected fortunes he is given."</li><br /><li>Z pg. 703: He said, "Do not grieve, emperor, for such it is to be human. I will conduct myself towards you not a as a captive, but as an emperor."</li><br /><li>The long lasting memory of Mantzikiert even lived on as a major down turn in Byzantium's decline in the following excerpt from Bessarion's encomium to Trebizond:<p>Bessarion: Encomium to Trebizond pgs. 182-3:<br />From Egypt, the Saracens, from Persia again, the Turks came as well as lands below, the former putting Palestine, Syria, and Pamphylia beneath them, while the latter put everything in between up until Bithynia under them and enslaved them including even taking the Roman emperor Romanus surnamed Diogenes captive, while the Romans held Europe and everything towards the dawning sun in word, while the Scythians, Huns, and the Pecheneg race and I know not who else attacked it on all sides and plundered all of the Mysians.</p><br /><li>Z pg. 703: He then came to Theodosiopolis clothed barbarically (the sultan had provided him his own vestments)...| Zonaras confuses the Greek word στολή 'vestment/army', which actually based on context refers to the Turkish army with him. Even Greek writers of the age make mistakes!</li> <br /><li>Z pg. 704: When news of his capture reached the capital, people were split amongst themselves by it. Some were in favor of giving the empress power again, others giving the whole thing to the elder of his sons, and still others working out joint rule between the empress and her sons.</li><br /><li>PS pg. 152: One of the first to rise up to his proclamation was the counsel of philosophers Psellus just as he boasts in his books. It is said that the empress was of this persuasion not to receive Diogenes in return</li><br /><li>These two lacunae are in the text as published by Bekker.</li><br /><li>Attaliates in his account understandably forgets that Andronicus received Diogenes like a gentleman feting his return with a lavish banquet, as Psellus tells us (Chapter 49). Attaliates understandably 'forgets' this event since the irony of it would have been more than most men could handle. The man who had betrayed him at Mantzikiert, now received him generously.</li><br /><li><p><b>Bibliotheca graeca Medii Aevi by Constantine Sathas. Tomos V. 1876, pgs. 392-4</b></p> <br /><p>145. To Andronicus Ducas while on campaign against Romanus Diogenes</p><br /><p>I am not amazed that you have conquered and taken hold of the enemy by your superiority, most noble and martial man, my dearest friend, because of as such your honor, strategic sagacity, and your cunning in war. I praise you for your marches, advances, stratagems [here word also carries negative connotation of thievery and fraud], devices, thoughtful invention, and embellished change of scale. I amazed with you for your struggles, presence in the battle, phalanx, the appearances before the routs, the division on both in columns…and of the opponent, either crosswise or on each sides, one of them in columns, the other in the cycles that men cunning in this name them. For it does not thus happen either with great fear or from the first vestibule, resplendent with victory and victories you may be received again by us, but from martial plans, from tactical movements, from lines and divisions, and noble fights and such things as the head of a general is crowned by.</p><br /><p>At that moment, we all stood midway in the air divided in our opinions on both sides and very joyous for any news from where you were. The greater part of us and more divine voices were pleased, thrice-beloved and most magnificent man, to hear from your messengers of your rout by name and victory. It has thus been written in the above books, or rather from above you have received these noble deeds as gifts.</p><br /><p>You, although the head of the serpent is not yet broken, have announced this good news. It has already been lost on us, since the full length of the serpent has not yet been taken care of, while the arch-evil head has not yet been broken, though may the beast may be struck down by your lightning bolt and this, not deep below nor unseen, but high up and manifest as you come upon the den, strip down the remaining parts, and inflict a terrible poison throughout it for the righteous.</p><br /><p>You, with a hand of gold, arms of steel, and a chest of bronze, when you have completed it, please send news. For I am already devising words of praise for you for when there is final victory and I shall place an uncontaminated laurel gathered from Attic meadows upon your head.</p><br /><p>However, there is still the basilisk upon my mind! Of whom do I speak? The most wily Chataturius, who please do not let escape and slip through your hands. Let the beast be captured at once by your hands, since he is not a part of length of the serpent, but at the same level with the head of the serpent.</p><br /><p>After all of this, shall I pour [kisses] around your neck, shall I caress your right hand stained with righteous blood seeing with my own eyes the fair sight, and shall I proclaim you in the middle of the City climbing upon the highest surface so that my voice may be heard throughout the world, if it is possible, to make it heard the furthest away?</p><br /><p>What is there for me to make famous of you, most sagacious of all men? For not, if you prescribe it shall it be of a contrary nature, since the memory should not be from set purpose, not from commandment, but bubbling up from below gushing forth in noble substance. I will make you famous even in Hades if indeed that is where spirits are left to remembrance.</p><br /><p>You need craft no message about yourself, since this happening suffices for you in the place of any, even this one of mine, although it shall shortly be said, that you have caused the death of the empire of the Romans.</p></li><br /><li>Romanus Diogenes had two sons by the Augusta Eudocia, Nicephorus and Leo, who Anna Comnena attests to, without whom this reference might be lost on us.</li><br /><li>I think this speech might need some explanation with all of Attaliates’ rhetoric and unending sentences in a paraphrase and explanation. As he says in the paragraph following this speech is meant to be like something you would find in Sophocles, a dramatic speech delivered at that very moment to Michael Parapinaces, clothed both in pagan and Christian language:<br /><p>O emperor, what do you think should be done with this man. Has he wronged anyone by sacrificing himself for the Roman Empire when he could have sat around in the palace and been lazy? He has been recognized and well treated by his enemy who recognize their victory comes from God. How can you order his eyes put out when he no longer poses any threat to you having renounced the empire, renounced public life, and become a monk? He poses no threat, yet you are insatiable in your lust for power and so you order this respecting nothing not even kin. Woe be upon you, o emperor, and may fortune curse you for ambition.</p></li><br /><li>PS pg. 154 adds after Colonia the name Theophilus</li><br /><li>Z pg. 706 adds the following explanation: His eyes were very cruelly put out and because no care was given his head swelled up and the wounds caused it to become infested with worms, while the air about him was rank with the foul smell of rot.</li> <br /><li><font face="Palatino Linotype"> καὶ πρὸ τῆς τελευτῆς ὀδωδώς </font></li><br /><li>PS pg. 154-5: It is said these things were done without the knowledge of the emperor Michael, who later confirmed them, the Caesar conceiving them and arranging them secretly.</li><br /><li>Here I think is the appropriate place to add a short excerpt from the <i>Timarion</i>, the Byzantine equivalent of Dante's <i>Inferno</i>, written in the eleventh to twelfth century in which Romanus Diogenes figures. The narrator has recently died and like any good Greek gone to Hades not Hell where he is escorted about and meets a man who he asks about a tent he keeps hearing moans from: <p>As I had told him all about things in life, I asked him who was the man living in that tent and who the elder was beside it and the reasons for bellowing.</p><br /><p>The vulgar man said:</p><br /><p>The man living in the tent whose who innermost laments you have heard is the famous Diogenes from Cappadocia. Chiefly what I know about his life is that he was brought in to rule, that he marched against the eastern Scythians, and that he was taken captive. Then he was freed and tried to return to Byzantium and was not permitted to continue ruling, but was taken hold of by war and oath and treacherously, as you see, blinded being brought to these things by a trick of mischievous terror [or 'cunning man'].</p></li> <br /></ol><br /><p><center>Bibliography</center></p><br /><ul><li>Attaliates, Michael. ed. Immanuel Bekker. Historia. Corpus Scriptorium Historiae Byzantinae. Bonn, 1853.</li><br /><li>Bessarion. ed S, Lambros. Εγκώμιον εις Τραπεζούντα. Νέος Ελληνομνήμων 13. 1918.</li><br /><li>Bryennius, Nichephorus. ed. Augustus Meinecke, Corpus Scriptorium Historiae Byzantinae. Bonn. 1836.</li><br /><li>Psellus, Michael. ed. Constantine Sathas. Bibliotheca graeca Medii Aevi. Tomos V. 1876.</li><br /><li>Psellus, Michael. Fourteen Byzantine Rulers, trans. E.R.A. Sewter, rev. ed., (New York: Penguin, 1966).</li><br /><li>Pseudo, Scylitzes. ed. E.T. Tsolakes. Ἡ συνέχεια τῆς χρονογραφίας τοῦ Ἰωάννου Σκυλίτση Ἑταιρεία Μακεδονικῶν Σπουδῶν. Ἵδρυμα Μελετῶν Χερσονήσου τοῦ Αἵμου 105. Thessalonica, 1968.</li><br /><li>Timarion. R. Romano, Pseudo-Luciano, Timarione. Byzantina et neo-hellenica neapolitana 2. Naples: Università di Napoli. Cattedra di filologia bizantina, 1974.</li><br /><li>Zonaras, John. ed. L. Dindorf. Ioannis Zonarae epitome historiarum, vol. 3. Leipzig: Teubner, 1870.</li></ul>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-68452643250975142992011-01-16T17:55:00.001-08:002011-10-02T11:37:47.583-07:00Extract from the History of Michael Attaleiates: The Reign of Romanos Diogenes<em>Translators Note:A few words need only delay us here pertaining to the form and structure of this translation. I am republishing a translation I originally made of the work of Michael Attaleiates several years ago. I have tried to correct as many errors as I can in the original translation, but it seems it is not always possible to get everything. The translation is based on Bonn's edition (the full citation is listed in the bibliography at the end) from the nineteenth century to avoid any copyright issues. I welcome any comments, corrections, or improvements to the translation that you the reader may have. </em><br /><em></em><br /><em>I have not had the time to create as detailed or copious of notes as it would take to adequately expand and improve this translation, but in the notes I have tried to reference and translate as many original documents as possible. In addition, I have made extensive use of Pseudo-Scylitzes (abbreviated PS in the notes), a writer who copied the work of Attaleiates almost word for word adding in his own commentary at times as well as differentiations in names and place names which are useful to account for perhaps what they might have been originally in Attaleiates' work before it was handed over to the copyists. I have also made use of the Byzantine chronicler John Zonaras (Z), writing under Manuel I (1143-1180), for the insight he adds some of the time and explanation.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>The road of history marches ever on, so I hope that this work may remove the pebbles and smooth away the road for eager feet, which might enjoy that same course that my eager feet ran.</em><br /><br /><br />[This large extract starts at the death of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Doukas in 1067. Doukas after a rather unsuccessful reign was succeeded by his wife Eudokia who was left to deal with the aftermath of his reign and the general apathy and disorganization of the army that ran rampant at a time when the Byzantine Empire was faced by the menace of ever approaching Turkish armies.]<br /><br />And so his spouse Eudocia and their sons succeeded to the throne. Previously the Augusta had been made to swear to a gathering of ecclesiasts and senators not to make a second marriage (1). The head of the synod and patriarch at this time was John surnamed Xiphilinus, who came from Trebizond, a wise man, who was well-educated and had made himself conspicuous in the affairs of the city acting wisely with honor such that he would fondly dwell in the palace and bear first rank alongside the emperor bringing the ecclesiastical state to heights of prosperity and its prime. Previously he had elected the monastic life about Mount Olympus and had lived there a long time shining forth resplendent with virtue and fear of God. Consequently, when the patriarch died and thorough investigation was made, no one save him was reckoned worthy of this office. Despite rejecting it, he was compelled to take up the honor and proclaimed the Light of the Church and Ecumenical Patriarch (2).<br /><br /><br /><p>After the emperor died, the Huns again overran the east and came close to Mesopotamia attacking the Roman legions encamped near Melitene (3), who having not received their pay were dejected and irascible because of the fact and could not be prevailed upon to join the Roman soldiers in Mesopotamia because they did not wish to cross the Euphrates River. When the barbarians came upon them, they made their stand along the river scattering about its outlets. The barbarians with their long-range bowmen easily devastated them from afar, though they remained indifferent until they were forced to plunge into the river and join battle with them. Positioned over them on the riverbanks they fired down upon the Romans and wreaked havoc upon them compelling them to flee. In the flight that followed, many Romans fell in battle, others were taken captive, and the survivors sought refuge in the city of Melitene. The barbarians disdaining them as already being destroyed and conquered then passed as far as Caesarea, despoiling, destroying, and setting fire to everything in their way. They descended upon the holy shrine of the famous Saint Basil and ravaged everything seizing the holy relics even breaking open the saint’s coffin with nothing stopping them from committing outrages upon his remains (Before it was watched over and guarded by strong buildings which were for a long time in need of demolition). The doors that guarded the opening, which were wrought at great expense with an abundance of gold, pearls, and precious stones, they carried off. Piling up the loot they set out from there after having slaughtering many people in the capital of Caesarea and defiling the church. On their way home, they passed through the narrows ways leading to Cilicia, where no one perceived of their coming, and appeared to the Cilician’s great astonishment doing terrible things and murdering those who fell in their path. They stayed in that land a while and destroyed it sating their lust for plunder. They were also joined there by one of their distinguished countrymen who had previously deserted them, called Amertikes, who was hostile to Romans since they had broken their word to him. Previously he had come to the emperor who was called the “Old (4)” and been warmly welcomed and received by him into the palace. However, he was accused by the emperor Constantine Ducas as plotting to put him to the death and was condemned to exile. When he was returned from exile, he was sent off to fight on the Romans' behalf against the Huns, though because of his lack of provisions he deserted to the ruler of Aleppo. Whether the barbarian was happy to be sent against his own people or was against it and did not wish to obtain the promised provisions, I will let my readers decide. The Huns then on reaching Aleppo were joined by him and the neighboring Arabs and made Antioch in Syria and the cities and villages around it into no-man’s lands (5). The depopulation by the barbarians’ raids was accompanied by massacres, conflagrations, enslavement, and plundering. Since a force had to be sent against them, an army was gathered and it leaders were chosen, but here again parsimony rendered it ineffective and robbed it of success. The emperors, since they did not want to give their men-at-arms their full pay, they condemned themselves to faring badly in battles hoping to make their men risk their lives for the smallest bit of their pay. Instead, they failed completely. For the soldiers, although they had received their pay, did not march off against the enemy reckoning that a part of it was long over due. Raising an inarticulate voice, they scattered about to their homes. And again, the barbarians overran the Roman Empire with impunity. Then those near the emperors entrusted the commander of Antioch with a band of youths that they had gathered at little expense. Yet they were unable to do anything noble because they were nearly all without war-experience, poorly mounted, and without weaponless, and after suffering many casualties, they returned disgracefully to their land. They were finally conquered by the duke (the magister Nicephorus Botaniates) who through his own prowess, bravery, and prudence along with the locals and his own bodyguard turned back and defeated their advance. He was then removed from the office and from then on the barbarians were emboldened more and the cities were in hard straits with food running low and all other provisions lacking.</p><br /><br /><p>Since it was necessary in those times to have an emperor able to manage the affairs of state and go upon his enemies in war, the most valorous Botaniates was chosen as the sun outshines the stars, but ill will and unjust judgment caused that need to be delayed and one of his kinsmen be chosen instead for reasons perhaps unknown to men save only the will of God.(6) The devastation and destruction of the nations subject to the Romans seemed to manifest divine anger against heretics such as the Armenians living in Iberia and Mesopotamia until Lycandus, Melitene, and the adjacent lands, as well as those worshiping after the Judaic mode of Nestorius and the heresy of the bishop-less (<span style="font-family:Palatino Linotype;">τὴν τῶν ἀκεφάλων θρησκεύοντες αἵρεσιν</span>), since the lands of this heresy are numerous. However, when the orthodox suffered this misfortune, everybody worshipping after the mode of the Romans was stuck dumb.</p><br /><br /><p>Yet then, one of the patricians, the vestarch Romanus surnamed Diogenes, rose up in revolt. On seeing how the emperors were to blame for the deficiencies of the soldiers, which had played into the enemies’ hands permitting them to become great due to Roman frivolity, he was loud with lamentations and greatly vexed, so he began to labor to raise a revolt, not out of greed and enjoyment of power, as it was affirmed later, but to avenge the fortunes of the Romans already fallen in battle because affairs were out of joint. At the end of the emperor Ducas’s reign, while he was entrusted with the governorship of Sardica, he started to intrigue to make the Sauromatae his accomplices in his plot and bring it to fruition. They had been impressed with this man when he had campaigned against them as governor of the cities near the Ister. During that expedition, as he was waging war on them, he might have fallen in battle, had not the magister Nicephorus Botaniates saved him by an incontestable charge and his own might (this I heard admitted by the lips of Diogenes himself). When the letters were sent out to accomplish this aim with a oath, one of his co-conspirators, an Armenian by birth, was roused to anger by this act and began plotting against him and persuaded him to send off the men privy to his designs to bring around some commanders and subjects to his design, and then since he knew him bare of aid, he spoke out against him to the local inhabitants as having plotted revolt only to betray them to the Sauromatae. Having stirred them to rage, he then attacked him suddenly and finding him all alone arrested him and lead him off to the capital in chains to stand trial for his deeds. Furthermore, when he was tried by the chief men of the Senate, he was found guilty of treason and condemned to die, he did not refute it, venture any counter arguments, or deny it, but, instead, put himself at blame in a confession. That I was one of the judges present, many people know. This sentence was then commuted to one of exile to an island as everyone present at the trial was stirred by anguish at his youth and/or nobleness. The people who were ignorant of him beforehand soon heard about him from the people who knew of him and became his admirers, so that it became a lot of people’s wish that he escape punishment and that something be done in favor of the Roman Empire. Since her conception of the man not as one of self-ambition, had changed to one of brotherhood and filial piety(7), as we have said before, grieved by the suffering of the orthodox thereby acquiring many well-wishers, the Augusta was overcome by pity as he stood before the imperial throne with tears running down her cheeks. For he was a man excelling not only in those qualities, but also one extremely pleasing to behold with broad shoulders, a truly noble and Zeus sprung soul (8), with flashing eyes and skin that shone not exactly white or black, but somewhere in between...with a crafted form and mixed with blush and a sweetness all round, boasting a form worthy of sovereignty after the comic(9). Since the assembled body of elders felt the same thing as her, sympathy soon followed causing him to be saved and meet with imperial dignities, and once freed, be welcomed by everyone, praised, and hearkened to as the stuff of prayers as each person reckoned his own deliverance as his own. As he was on his way to Cappadocia, where he was born, he received summons and returned to the capital where he was appointed to the rank of magister and general by the empress as she was coming before her sons in the imperial procession, as it is a custom for emperors, on Christmas to the Great Church of the Divine Wisdom.</p><br /><br /><p>Because of the great anguish and consternation that had arisen from the foreign nations' extremely cruel raid were so severe (In the southern parts, as far as Antioch and Cilicia, the cities were in extreme danger of falling to the aforesaid raids, while in the north the sultan had come forth with all of his army, an irresistible force, and dug in by the Roman border in the autumn, planning to spend the winter there and, come spring, invade the bordering land, lay waste to Roman land, and subdue it), the Augusta and the senators as well as the patriarch included, started examine things to find a way to avoid such a catastrophe(10). It was agreed that since it was for everyone's good and preferred the public good to his own special and at death's breath injunction that the special contracts concerned with public provision should be overturned. The fact that there was no emperor because of his jealousy was reckoned a universal calamity and disaster for the Roman Empire. So it was that this opinion took hold: the times needed absolutely needed an emperor if the empire was to escape disaster, yet there was still some fight over who was the most worthy both of the times and of this honor with Nicephorus Botaniates off away at Antioch, until Diogenes came into the mind of one of the most eminent senators(10). Or rather, the Augusta had already made up her mind beforehand on him since he was immediately present and unmarried. When he was mentioned, everyone agreed with the empress on his merits and chose him out of fear of appearing out of line(11). And so, on the first of January of the sixth indiction, when the sun always departs from its winter ways and begins to warm and light up the world marking the start of better winter weather, and when the saint day of the great archbishop and priest Saint Basil, who the lands of Cappadocia bear as its most resplendent star of the Church, was being celebrated, he was proclaimed emperor imperator(12) in the morning, after having entered into the Capitol during the night in arms by means of the empress and secretly met the empress’s sons (13).</p><br /><br /><p>As things turned out, the masses had not hoped in vain(14). When he succeeded to the throne, he took less care for the affairs of the city but for the good order and constitution of his soldiers because he had step-sons and co-rulers, more like successors, as well as their father's brother, the Caesar John (15). He began at once in these same city regiments to converse with notable experienced soldiers, to long for the contests of war, to make ready agents, and to get ready to halt the enemies advance on all sides. For this reason, he did not stay long in the palace, but after the passage of two lunar cycles (16), the Propontis in the east received him, and the imperial badge of the imperial tent was brought forth from the Queen of Cities for the eastern expedition for everyone to see that zeal for revenge had defeated the daintiness and the pleasures of the Queen of Cities, and that eternal glory and a chance to end their pains had persuaded the emperor to march out. It astonished everyone because they thought that for just arranging the baggage to be made ready and the baggage train, not a period of three months sufficed(16). But he was resolved(17) and set the rest in order and besides the baggage, assembled a body of soldiers from the west and the land of Cappadocia as well as Scythians, and before their departure selected a body of men from those only at the imperial court who were eager for the road(18)(19). Since the person who is writing this followed along with them by choice dealing with the army’s cases in judgments, what follows after will be written completely not from hearsay, but from his own eyes.</p><br /><br /><p>First the emperor came to the province of Bithynia and after that Phrygia, the Anatolic theme. There gathered together by decrees that had been sent out earlier were the commanders of the legions and the men who filled each legion. Before one’s eyes were the famous companies standing all together numbering only a few men born into poverty and lacking in complete armament and warhorses (20). For the most part they had been neglected, because no emperor had marched east for many years and they had not received their due pay having been subdued and turned to flight little by little by their opponents due to their wretchedness and ill preparedness for attack, and thus fallen into cowardice and impotency, of no good use. To put it plainly, their standards were dirty as if from smoke with easily countable, wretched attendants beneath them. They were greatly discouraged when reckoning how they would return to the old days of their former martial honor and get it back after so much time, since the men who remained in the legions were few and lacking in arms and mounts, a band of inexperienced youths with the most warlike and war-experienced opponents arraigned against them.</p><br /><br /><p>However, the emperor was not surprised by this occurrence. On the contrary, rather his sudden attack and advance on his opponents made them think, as we later learned, that this man had no regard for danger, but was a student of Ares who would revive the Romans and chastise his enemies for their impudence. For this reason, the sultan started to retreat dividing of a great part of it, making his camp in upper Asia, while the northern part was put in the south. The emperor, after enlisting soldiers, collecting the youth of every country and city, giving out honors and gifts to them to reinvigorate them, in a short time filled the ranks of the legions setting up fine officers in charge of each of them and intermixing them with the men come from the west, such that in a short period of time he made a battle-ready army and marched on the Persians with this force as its commander. Since the northern Persian camp had previously given the illusion of attacking, it expected to get the brunt of the emperor's attack, so Diogenes decided therefore to attack the southern forces who were ravaging Coele Syria(21), Cilicia, and Antioch. For this reason, he left the road leading straight to Sebastia and Colonia and advanced on the Lycandus theme (22) intending to spend the summer there and invade the Syrian districts in autumn when the degree of the sun's burning heat would be lessened so that the army did not suffer from unaccustomedness to the heat and become susceptible to disease.</p><br /><br /><p>In the meantime, while he was staying there, the Persians (now they will be called Turks) invaded Neocaesarea unexpectedly and overran it starting the march home with many people and objects in their possession leading away a huge train of plunder not at all small. When word of this reached the emperor and his men, it caused them a great upset considering the device of their opponents that they had brought about by deceit. Many people blamed the emperor because, although he was off on an expedition, the enemy had still nonetheless carried out their own designs while he, the emperor, had not been able to do anything to stop it. Therefore, he quickly took up his forces again and marched through impassable and inaccessible ways at full gallop in the reverse. On nearing the capital of Sebastia, he ordered his soldiers get ready to move and all the infantry to depart with his step-son Andronicus who had accompanied him and the emperor appointed as a security, fellow commander to compensate for him, since at any time as he went forth and attacked his enemies he might receive a mortal blow. He then along with all the cavalry drove behind the enemy. On passing through the highest mountains of Tephrice (23), eager to attack his opponent, he moved in an oblique line and thus made to overpower their army, and yet on coming close enough for the enemy to see them, he was not able to make his men charge them with their horses and make amends worthy of remembrance. However, their opponent was seized through by fear since their had not expected it and went pale at mention of the presence of the emperor, and straightaway a massacre of them took place as they turned about and started to flee. Some of them were taken captive, while other, those who did not take their own lives, were put by the sword. However, all the booty from man until animal, the emperor freed and won praise at this marvel. It was fantastic and worthy of note to see that an emperor of the Romans should advance without check without even his own baggage with only his own soldiery for eight days through places unknown and impassible and not fail in the attempt. </p><br /><br /><p>When he got back from there to the capital of Sebastea, it was the first of October, and after only resting his army there three days, he set out from there for Syria and advanced on to Germanicea through the defiles of Cucusus and impassable places to the theme called Teluch by the Armenians, having previously detached a not small phalanx of soldiers from the army and sent them along with their commander to Melitene to guard the eastern themes and repel the enemy's forces attacking there, who were commanded by a knave and belligerent man named Ausinalius(24). The emperor therefore along with these soldiers and commanders, handed over all the Franks, warlike men delighting in blood, to this commander in order that he might subdue the foreign enemy with a mighty force. However, this man was not very courageous and so unambitiously made use of his time and assets making things two times worse for the emperor, since he was deprived of this belligerent contingent. Many times the enemy called upon him to fight, but he did not try to leave the city of Melitene even though his soldiers made known their willingness to go at them, and since they knew of his unwillingness, fearfulness, and unwarlikeness, they [the enemy] marched through places unknown and attacked a contingent of the imperial army going off to buy supplies. Had the emperor not quickly taken action at news of this and set out against them, who give way and took flight, then a contingent of soldiers not easily missed might have been lost. Hence, if one might at all ascribe the outcome of such things to commanders resulting for better or worse, he/she would not fall far from a right and true conclusion (25).</p><br /><br /><p>However, the emperor was thus saved and saved the camp having been encamped with all his army before the land of Chalep [Aleppo]. Before dismounting from his horse, he sent the Scythians and not a numerous Romans off on a foraging expedition to plunder the enemy’s land, which it succeeded in doing taking no small number of men, women, and food captive. From there, he pushed the army on through the enemy land and spent two days passing through their land, which he spent making foraging expeditions. On the third day, he came to Hierapolis and caught sight of the Arabs encircling them showing up out of nowhere. However, they were not bold enough to come to blows and fight the Romans, except for some skirmishing that took place when some of them ran forth and broke rank. As the Romans advanced all in order in their lines and phalanxes, the Arabs along with their numerous Turkish allies, commanded over by a vigorous man boasting regal descent from Persia, named Amertikes, started following them from afar and as such keeping guard over them or appearing for display. Towards the afternoon, the emperor set up came before the city of Hierapolis erecting a trench and palisade there in the usual manner. The Romans certainly had not finished unloading their luggage into their tents, nor spent very long in them, when those in their service and the Armenian contingent started to attack the city. They found it not very well defended by those within (the Saracens were seized by fear of the imperial advance and elected to flee beyond the Euphrates River) and so they quickly forced their way through the gates within. They took their fill of food and other sustenance within (they found no lack of them there as well as both a bit of wine and lavish items) but missed out on the more valuable part of the booty because the enemy had taken it with them when they took flight.</p><br /><br /><p>And so, the outer city was taken without a fight and afforded much ease to the soldiers to stay there, except for three or four of the highest towers into which the Saracens had ascended and were holding the narrow way up obstinately after the custom of their fathers willing to die for their religion and city. However, they were unable to hold out forever, since the Romans outflanked them in many places and attacked them with great boldness, long-range bowmen, and a line of shields all together, and so they made them their prisoners-of-war. As for the acropolis, (it is level and in line with the city walls thickly covered by extremely tall walls and towers reaching into the air it is such impregnable) it was not as easy for the Romans to take, since a number of Saracens within it not easily countable was defending it stoutly. However, the garrison could not hold the height for long, since the emperor encircled it with men-at-arms and machines firing down on them with catapults and showers of arrows also erecting a mound to take the city by siege and so made them come to terms. They sent ambassadors to him asking for pardon and also setting forth their suppliant request of the ransom of their wives, children, and remaining property, making the emperor blush and not failing in what they aimed. And so the Romans became masters of the acropolis through the mediation of an Assyrian man by race, who was born in Antioch and had gotten a very good Roman education as well as an Arabic one through his well-endowed intelligent nature. He entered skillfully into the acropolis and took possession of the gates with Russian men-at-war (Peter was the name of the man and Libellius (26) his surname, who had been honored as magister) thus ending the siege, even though they had seized cities not so, but some small, some large, by war and violence.</p><br /><br /><p>The imperial camp went through further martial contests. The reason being that the emir of Aleppo (27) after gathering a mighty force with a contingent of Huns (28) intended to come to blows and give combat to the emperor. The emperor, within the captured city of Hierapolis and still dealing with the acropolis, left behind only a remnant to continue the siege and arranged his forces into two lines of soldiers between the walled city and the encampment to divide his opponent as though by a wall. Why this was, was that some Saracens had appeared in the distance riding their horses along the plain. Near the city of Hierapolis, there are plains that are easy to ride a horse upon extending over a great distance and with the exception of some hills, there is nothing jutting up to a great height or extending into the air. The place is scorching hot as the sun comes down there more warmly at lunchtime. There are meadows towards the western part of the city with warm water, which is carried in through aqueducts to counter the scorching heat. Then, little by little, the enemy came face to face with the two lines of soldiers standing there (the emir of Aleppo named Machmoutios [Mahmud] was still away) and started skirmishing them forcing some of the Romans to rush towards them doing it two or three times clashing with them and then retreating back the other way. In another clash, they put to flight the men rushing at them and did not retreat like they had in previous attacks, but drove forward without check until the phalanx of soldiers joined battle with them and was turned to flight killing many and forcing the rest to take flight leaving behind the legion of the Schools on the right, which on seeing the defeat of the others, cared neither to help, nor do anything like a soldier would do, but stood there fixed upon the spot, as though they were intending to join their opponents by a secret sedition. When the enemy returned, they found only this legion standing there ignobly and swiftly defeated it slaying many of them and shutting the rest of them up in the encampment depriving them of their standards such that some of the Saracens descended from their horses, slit many of the soldiers’ throats, and sent them off to Aleppo as a token of their victory (29). Then moreover even I myself did not despair of my own salvation regarding the cowardice, spinelessness, and baseness of the Romans, since after the disaster and defeat of the Romans, not one soldier and officer were roused to avenge the defeat, but all of them remained seated keeping to himself as though encamped in allied land not stirred to fight at all.</p><br /><br /><p>The emperor on learning of this within the city, returned out of it greatly vexed towards the palisade with his Cappadocian followers, recognizing on their stupidity as well as that of the Romans. That night, everybody did not have high expectations, since all of the Armenian infantry, which had been ordered to pass the night near the trench before the palisade was feeling rebellious and might refused to obey his orders. That night was a bitter and hard night for the Romans. Day had not yet come when the enemy surrounded the palisade with all of their army. For the ruler of Aleppo, on learning of his army’s victory, had left with all of his own force to take the emperor along with all his allied army without a blow. For this reason, they did not cease to ride around us with their horses and strike fear into us wildly with their barbaric howls. The emperor within his tent decided to end the conflict and so rode out on his horse around three o’clock suddenly (It was the twenty first of November of indiction 7) without crying out or the trumpets of war announcing his advance. The standards were raised and as the army was exiting in their ranks, a section of the enemy army started at them, when they saw the Romans marching out and gathering together. The conflict as well the outcome of the future urged their spirits on. Yet the men who were in the front lines of the conflict behind their shields raised the war cry and the Romans prevailed taking captive many of the enemy. As for the rest of the Roman army, it was spurred on to the attack them, who then took flight unexpectedly. The men pursuing the fleeing slew many men and took captive no small number of them. The pursuit went on for a long while until the Romans had made for themselves a great victory and matter for boasting. Although the Arab's horse could gallop swiftly for a while, they were not up to such a large distance, the Romans could have pulled strength and good fortune out of their exhaustion, but then they reined in their horses and returned at imperial command rendering for themselves a dull victory, satisfied only with their opponent’s rout.</p><br /><br /><p>Thus, I saw that the Romans then neither seize the opportunity they could have had, nor set ambushes, nor rightly take any decisive action in a bitter war, nor distinguish the forces of their opponents, who instead they left all as one category: the mighty, the greedy, and the commanders or rulers over a place. What was to fear from pursuing the ruler of Aleppo without check after the rout while the emperor along with the rest of the army stayed behind guarding the rear and permitting them to follow them from the encampment and come upon Aleppo and instill those within the city with fear and force their city to come to terms, since the greater part of their soldiers had been cut down in flight? As we learned later, the people of Aleppo were eager for their city to surrender to the emperor under acceptable terms, even through all their youth wanted to fight, if the pursuing soldiers advanced. The soldiers were advancing in infantry order in hopes of pressing their just recent advantage over the Saracens to rid themselves of attack on the Roman palisade. Now by the indecision of the commanders of the army and the might of those Romans, the emperors and the commanders of the army got themselves greatly the worse, having sent their victories to ignoble ends and permitted the enemy to reach greater glory, since those in command at the time of the victories were not want to continue the pursuit of the enemy who made the lands of the Romans into their tributary and their grazing land so satisfying for their wants through our deficiencies.</p><br /><br /><p>Such was how these things came about. On returning to the palisade after the enemy had been staved off, the emperor decided to make Hierapolis into a theme and appoint it a strategos so that bit by bit it would become another Roman city and abode for Armenians, and so because of this he stayed there a while so as to little by little make it into just another Roman city and a dwelling place for Armenians so it would guard itself and also appointed as strategos Pharasmatius(30) Apokapes the bestes, who was from Armenia, and handed over the command of the land in order to follow up his opponents’ defeat and continue the contest. For as long as the Roman army had been encamped there, the Arabs had seemed to stay in their own land, but after it marched off straightaway against the fortress of Azas, they started to appear sporadically from a distance as is their custom attacking the rear of it many times or the beasts carrying food supplies, thereby aggravating the Romans by their raids and ambushes. Yet the emperor protected his camp with long-rang bowmen and targeteers and so in this way believed he could keep it defended and easily ward off the enemy’s advances until he could score another victory over them in open battle and so he set forth for the fortress of Azas with all his army and baggage, having learned from some people that that place had lots of water and was quite able to sustain his army’s water needs. As he drew near the place, at not a half an arrow’s shot from it, he saw that it was very strongly fortified standing upon the edge of a mountain surrounded by a pair of walls and rocks as though it had been fastened together by the hand of men with an impassable, rocky way up and little water there. What was there was not sufficient for a thousandth of the army. And so, he gave up on camping there and shifted his quarters to a place where he set up his encampment and water flowed more freely. On examining it, since he found it was not good to advance on the city from such a distance and set up his machines-of-war (night was about to fall and they needed to set up a palisade so that their standing structures should not be burned by the enemy) and seeing that winter was near its end and his opponents were fortified by boldness of virtue on their mounts, he got up and started to march from their to the boundaries of Ausonitis. In addition, he set fire to a large village called Katma, which had for a long time paid homage to the emir of Aleppo and made camp in another village called Terchala(31), where while the palisade was being set up with the emperor standing on the right on the riverbank shielded by companies of soldiers (The place offered regularity of rushing water, enclosed on each side by hills, the left of which the enemy was standing on the crest in safety) while the rest of the army was busy unburdening the beasts of burden and the rear of the army was sent out to wage war on the Saracens above them, two Arabs secretly came behind the crest riding their horses at full gallop and rushed up to the top of the hill where the encampment was and killed two infantrymen with their lances. The emperor was the first person of all to see them and called out ordering his soldiers to pursue, but they managed to make it back safely to their own camp due to their horses’ extraordinary fleetness.</p><br /><br /><p>Then after spending the night there not without conflict (The Arabs were loud unintelligible howls from outside the camp), we set out for Roman land, which was thus patterned after the frontiers having been previously ravaged and laid waste, though perhaps at one time it was fair and laden with a beautiful and great number of trees and olive trees, except if lest perchance we came upon some refuges very seldom remnants still guarding over that land, very few remnants guarding. We passed through many of these such places as we marched straight to Artach. This city was governed by a commander and guarded by a garrison and great number [κόμῃ] of many good men, and was not without its share in the raids. Having been taken beforehand by the Saracens, it had a garrison of them, who had kept them enslaved until then. Since it was very near Antioch, it permitted them to do it great and all sorts of harm and as such be a rival city and a place of opposition. Just as the emperor was getting ready to besiege it, the Saracens who had been entrusted with the garrison were seized with fear and escaped from there during the night. The emperor then stayed their a time directing works, erecting about it a palisade, setting its affairs in order, leaving it a commander and a garrison, setting aside provisions, and arranging for it to get all of the things it needed. Accordingly, the Romans began to see eye to eye with the enemy, recover their esteem, and unite in resistance, since the previous emperors since the wars from the time of Monomachos and those after him had been nothing other than show and mass gatherings, with this clear proof that on the whole the emperor was working to fix matters.</p><br /><br /><p>Since Antioch had been ravaged by raids and was gripped by a lack of food, fearing lest he get there and have to replenish it with his own food supplies, he decided not to go there. Then disregarding his own luxury, he marched through desolate places and got through the defiles and the passes by which Coele Syria is divided. With much toil he came to a city in Cilicia called Alexandron (This made it very difficult for the army to make camp in those places because of their narrowness, the cut of the rocks, and the continuousness of the cliffs) where he set up his encampment and the palisade. And so in this way he passed through that country, passed beyond the Taurus Mountains with all of his army, and came to Roman land. The soldiers that had gone on the expedition in general then met with iciness and an extremely cold storm, since they were coming out of warm places (It was around the end of the month of December), they felt its great bitterness, and at this time as well the horses, mules, and men who were not fleshy or well clothed died [also possibly 'froze'] from the freezing cold and cut a sorry figure on the road.</p><br /><br /><p>Then I myself escaped an inescapable peril near a narrow defile of the Taurus Mountains. The horse upon which I was riding exhausted by a lycoenteric illness [an intestinal illness] buckled down a little on his front legs caused me to get off him on the right side. I could not get off on the left because a great crag cut it off. As I was getting down from him, I jerked his rein so he spontaneously moved and darted off down the crag. Since I had remained on the right, I gave thanks to God for my deliverance from the peril and reported the miracle to many people since by some divine providence I did not remain at the back of the horse (he buckled down a little, though it would have been very easy to get back up), but got off quickly and did not go off with him over the cliff and get injured. Everyone stood divinely amazed at the news though I did not permit those men behind to pass any further, since that road permitted one person by its extreme narrowness to pass until another beast of burden was loaded down with me and the march went on.</p><br /><br /><p>While we were going to a village outside the pass of Podantus, called Typsarium, report surfaced that the strategos left in Melitene to guard Roman territory, who was cowardly and loath to administer the army, had let the enemy pass through the theme [<span style="font-family:Palatino Linotype;">πολιτείαν</span>] of Amorium seizing, enslaving its inhabitants, and murdering an unspeakable number of men. Although their encampment was set up at the site of Chalke and he had his army gathered only a short distance at the fort of Tzamantus, he did not dare take it, attack it, or come to the aid of Amorium, because the Turks had come near Tzamantus as they were going home slaying many Romans who had gone out against them, while they shut up the others one most fortified parts of the city (32). The emperor was furious, since he could do nothing further about it because of the unfortunate bite of the winter, and so he left his mercenaries and his western troops to winter there and went with his body guards, Byzantines, and palace guards to the palace and entered into the capital near the end of the winter, since it was near the end of January then (33).</p><br /><br /><p>After spending some time dealing with city matters, conferring honors on some of the senators, dealing out the yearly gifts [i.e. philotimia] in senatorial honors and not even spending the Easter season in Byzantium, he crossed the straight and set sail to an imperial house called Erion feeling the urge to go on another campaign in the east and attack the Turks. Something unprecedented then happened, which made the emperor depart in haste. There was a Latin man who had come from Italy to the emperor, Crispinus by the name, who had been dispatched to the east to spend the winter there with the men of his race who had sailed and come with him. Deciding that the he had not been honored, as he desired by the emperor and gotten enough gifts, he decided to revolt and started to strip and rob the tax collectors he met with and other men and commit outrageous acts loathsome of a despot. He did not slaughter any Romans. On this account, by imperial injunction (the emperor had learned everything) many soldiers joined battle with him. Many men were killed by his sword. In the end, Samuel the vestarch called Alousianus(34) marched against him with a great army of the five western legions from the Armeniac themes, where they were spending the winter, and in the morning he attacked him while he was resting and relaxing as usual on Easter Sunday, but did nothing valorous and suffered very much. The soldiers fell upon their tents and fought with them teaching the Franks a lesson in treachery. The Franks steadfastly gathered themselves together and tried to defend themselves straightaway repelling the Romans from their encampment with not too much suffering. Then they swiftly mounted their horses since each of them were driven to and ready to and followed behind them killing many and taking others captive. And then the commander of the Latins sat down and delivered a not untimely or poorly said speech in which he condemned the Roman's impiety since on that great and wonderful day, which is the holiday of holidays, they had armed themselves against Christians, although the orthodox can not attack another nation on this day and insulted the sanctity of the resurrection. Yet he softly dealt with them and released deeming them worthy of sympathy. He even deposited the wounded in villages providing for their care reasonably.</p><br /><br /><p>When the emperor learned about these things, they made him eager to depart. At the time, he happened at the suburb of Melangeia (35), where little by little he was gathering together the army and went to Dorylaeum, while at the same time he forced me into his service though I did not want to come by honoring me with the honor of patrician. There in the course of his three-day stay, ambassadors came from Crispinus bring news of his profession of loyalty and his explanation for why he had resisted. He sought simply amnesty for what had happened since he had not wanted to go to war, but the Romans had forced him to by treacherously attacking him. He got his request since the emperor received this profession very graciously because of the nobleness of the man and his prospective usefulness in deeds of war and the battles. Before he had chanced on a great multitude of Turks and done great deeds by his hand. As the emperor was advancing from there after several days Crispinus met with him did many things befitting a servant and spoke with the emperor having brought only a couple of his own soldiers. The others he had left behind in the fortress he held of Maurocastrum [Black Castle], which is in a place in the Armeniacs situated high on a hill that is hard to take. He was then slandered to the emperor as plotting again something cruel and faithless after his own race (the Frankish race is faithless by nature) and that it was not by his choice, but due to his lack of companions he held back from attacking the emperor, so he was judged in all as ungracious and God-hating and sent away from the camp, unjustly accused, suspected due to his previous ill faith and his vehement accusation by an eminent Nemitzan. His companions on learning of this happening, set out from the fortress and marched on Mesopotamia wreaking much havoc there in raids.</p><br /><br /><p>After the emperor came to Caesarea with the army, he then went to Larissa, where report preceding report came that a body of Turks was pillaging and overrunning the land some distance from there, so he sent a part of the army against them accomplishing nothing only to welcome back the dispatched men in flight, as he was traveling the road in good order. On they reached a place to camp and for the emperor to set up the imperial tent, they did not place around themselves a trench or a palisade, but in the mass unpacking of luggage while the army was settling down, the enemy showed up holding the most defensible locations and the crests of the hills. Thus was what that place was like: the Romans held the flat land while the enemy surrounded them on the surrounding hills having secretly gotten there behind them. A cry went out and the emperor did not give himself up to rest, but ordered the war trumpet to be sounded and the soldiers were gotten in battle order though the rear had not yet arrived due its leisurely march in safety and protection bearing the supplies. When the standards were gotten ready, the army gathered together into phalanxes, and the emperor advanced with it, many of his opponents emerged, so the legions at the front, one legion called the Lycaonians and another from the western number, both of whom bolder than usual drove forward and forced the enemy to flight. As the emperor was advancing, the remainder of the army and the remaining body of the enemy gave way to flight like their comrades. When the Romans marched on at the backs of the enemy led on by mercenary unit of Scythians(36) and passed by those crescent-shaped bends [of the hills?], a company of Turks not few in number, which had been lying in wait unseen to the Roman camp, advanced. The Romans soldiers and the Franks above all left behind to guard the camp then met with them and fought in close combat and overcame them mightily turning them to flight, though not one the Roman legions came to the aid of the Franks until it was nearly over. In the meantime, the emperor returned from the pursuit, since evening was getting on and the battle had been joined in the afternoon, while the army quietly marched back and cared to the wounded foot soldiers because they expected further battle, since it had been announced by the scouts. On the following day, seated in public, the emperor looked down on the conquered enemy men and ordered them to be surrendered up to their final judgment, sparing absolutely no one not even the fine man who boasted command of them (his arms and baggage were very fine), although he announced he would put many of them up for ransom and give many in exchange for Roman captives.</p><br /><br /><p>The emperor spent three days in the encampment either because he was either truly satisfied or because he was getting cocky, thereby permitting the enemy great ease in their flight, so that they did not have to part with their plunder and were able to travel painlessly and in the open. When the emperor got up from there again, he started to pursue but the enemy crossed the Euphrates River. Since the emperor was encamped a distance of a day or more from Melitene, he began devising dishonorable and steep plans and revealed them to the army who were in agreement with them because it would mean the end of the expedition and the announcement of the march home. The emperor's designs held that since the enemy had gone too far and were able no longer to come to blows with the Romans and were completely uncatchable, it would be pointless to pursue, and so for that reason it was necessary to leave behind a part of the army to resist mightily, while the emperor returned home with the remaining force and sent each of them home while he returned to the capital so that the army could rest and recuperate to make war more fiercely the following year while the enemy commander was away.</p><br /><br /><p>When this decision was proclaimed, the emperor decided to consult the judges of the army. Summoning us alone before him in the afternoon, he shared with us his intent and sought our opinion of it. The other judges, truth as my witness (since what I am about to say I am neither softening nor am I elevating myself, while nor am I chasing after any praise from men since I am not conscious of any need for attention, need to be right, or any need for superiority, since I reckon my need to be amongst the most sensible men), those of my rank and association or rather company assented and agreed with his plans, while only I stood by in silence. The emperor noticing my silence asked of me how I stood with this. I did not want to give my opinion because, even should I give it, it would completely reject the decision agreed to by the greater part of them, though the emperor now with great persistence and unshakeable conviction exhorted me to speak my mind without fear taking God as my witness. So I set aside that and revealed straightaway to start with that this plan did not please me and proceeded to say that the enemy had not actually really suffered misfortune or change of the tide in the war. When night had swiftly fallen, it had save them, while halting the pursuit for three days had instilled them with fear. This was evident from the fact that there was no plunder left behind and that they had fought with us in the road, while the number of our prisoners-of war numbering about one hundred indicated that their army had not been visibly injured and so this defeat meant nothing to that nation and they could still enslave the neighboring cities. Quickly their soldiers would gather themselves and restore themselves in battle. And for this reason, if a contingent of Romans was to stay behind, it would be overcome at once by ignoble reasons and dispositions once separated from the emperor and the remaining soldiers, while the enemy would be awesomely emboldened. Furthermore, the Romans left behind would be infested with cowardice, outrage would follow, and the enemy would prevail over our lands, since the Romans had been instilled with fear, finding only them when they had seen the courage of their leader with them. Even if, they would be turned to flight be them, inescapable danger would overcome us, since the Turks would have no care to not overrun our lands and wreak an infamous victory finding our lines broken and scattered by concern for our own affairs. "And at the same time," I said, "O Emperor, to leave the enemy behind on Roman land while it is near the end of summer, would be to permit them the luxury and pleasure [to do as they wish], and though we might not suffer now, would we be able to prosper in the future? Why don’t we take the city of Chliat and the towns beneath by siege so that the soldiers can satisfy their want of plunder and take heart and instill the enemy with fear, while in addition these cities will enrich the Roman Empire instead of the enemy, the forces of the enemy will be mightily beaten back, the coming of Turks from distances will be halted, and they will find not a base there and provisioning station, but a fortress and as such the road through Mesopotamia become impassable for them."</p><br /><br /><p>After I said this to the emperor, it as though a seed in lush and fertile soil took hold and he abandoned his previous course and took that leading forward just until the Euphrates which he crossed over and forced the enemy to go back to their own lands. It seems they had been encamped about the banks of the Euphrates eagerly awaiting the emperor's retreat with hopes of a great expedition and plunder taking from the fall and capture of the said cities, but fate was not permitted to bring the Romans back to their previous misfortune by a prudent command. The emperor marched straight from there and came to Romanopolis from which the road leads towards Chliat through narrow mountain passes, but changed his mind and put his standards on the left, leaving the army wandering about, which advanced up the ordered road on the right until report making it go over to the road cut into by the emperor. Descending down some rough and precipitous roads we found the emperor encamped in a high up place ingloriously renewing his first plans to the worse of the Romans. He divided the army in two and gave the stronger portion to Philaretus(37), a man boasting in soldierly fame who lived a wretched and slandered life having fought that nation exceptionally, greatly made war on it, and disdained it naturally, not even keeping himself far from them, but taking command due to his love for gain and glory.</p><br /><br /><p>With this done, the emperor set out for the northern parts because there was found snow and freezing water, since by taking hold of them immoderately he might warm his body up a lot. For these reasons, he was forced to make his attack elsewhere and install a guard with the aim of resisting the enemy. He then left the war at hand to Philaretus, while he himself along with the men with him encountered no less difficulty. He passed through many narrow and impassible hills and brought the army remaining to him down to a place called Anthiae. This place is on a well-watered plain at the feet of great mountains enwrapped by hard spots and the way plunging down into the valley no less; it grows grass as well as grain and is as such a center rather a treasure of that land and a luxurious plain. After spending several days encamped there, the emperor he passed over the Taurus mountain range, called Muzurus(38) by the locals and came down into the land of Celesina(39) and crossed the second Euphrates River flowing by the part near the northern feet of the Taurus mountains, which divides the mountain range and Celesina as though a frontier(40). Here, after camping there some days, a report came in saying that the part of the army that had stayed behind had been utterly defeated by the opposing Turkish force in battle and lost many men, while what was left of them had sought refuge in the Taurus mountain range near where the battle had taken place and some men were wandering towards the camp, while no small number of others were to be expected. It was not false and Hesiod was true in saying, “Talk never wholly dies away when many people voice her: even Talk is in some ways divine." The Romans had been terrified by fear of the Turks and since they were cut off from the emperor and the rest of the army and weighed down by the enemy assaults and the tricks of war time display, so filled with terror, they uncourageously went off behind the emperor leaving the places that they had been entrusted to guard until little by little they came down to the said Anthiae where the enemy appeared from behind. With nothing brave or worthy of mention in mind, they took to disgraceful flight without even a fight and spread out all around the Taurus Mountains some by foot, others by horse coming to Celesina scattered with the enemy having taking hold of their baggage and a few of them who did not take flight as quickly(41).</p><br /><br /><p>All of these happenings thus caused a great stir in the imperial camp and for the emperor, first because of not a little melancholy at the defeat of their fellow soldiers and then because they expected their opponents to advance puffed up with pride at their victory able to make war on the remaining portion of the army having destroyed the mightier part. Their expectation was not far off the mark. It would have come to pass, had not they met with the extremely high, narrow, difficult to cross, precipitous, and army-scattering road, rendering it orderless ruining their horses’ hoofs. Such is what had happened to us. In addition, report of the emperor riddled them with fear. For these reasons, the attack of the enemy was halted and they started to retreat with their plunder towards the west passing above Melitene and crossing the Euphrates heading straight for the Cappadocian theme without check as they were accustomed to plundering anything they met with on the road and then attacking the city of Iconium with all of their forces. At that time, the city was very numerous and sizable with men, houses, great virtues, blessings, abounding as well in all sorts of animals.</p><br /><br /><p>The emperor remained in Celesina a while to receive the refugees into the encampment so the scattered men should not fall prey to the Armenians, since they had come up behind the enemy while they were turning back. Then something of a decision was reached between the soldiers and the commanders, although nothing was manifested against anyone, some of them fell at odds and made up their minds including myself due to my rashness and weakness that, except for the emperor, no Roman stood by the war, unless perhaps they had to fight amongst one another.</p><br /><br /><p>As the emperor was about to march his army through the town called Ceramum to the banks of the Euphrates until Melitene, I spoke out rashly against this as inadvisable, since it was not necessary for us to look after those parts which were already devastated and stripped of all their virtues by divers raids because of which we would meet with disastrous shortages of food and supplies. At the same time, it would take time to go through its narrow defiles, which one by one the men and beasts of burden would be forced to pass. I also said we should have a care for state of the themes that had not yet been ravaged and protect them from the outrages of the enemy. Having taken this advice, the emperor along with the army passed through Colonia, the Armenian themes, until Sebastea. There having learned that the Turks had advanced on Pisidia and Lycaonia and were planning to march on Iconium; he started to advance on their rear until the village-town of Heracleus. There on learning that the Turks had overrun the city, but had not dared to tarry there fearing the pursuit of the emperor, he sent a division of legions to Cilicia, which would be thrust at by the dux of Antioch Chataturius, a brave man who had made many previous examples of his valor, who the emperor instructed to go to Mopsuestia in haste and fight with the Turks passing through there, since the Armenians living in the mountainous areas of Seleucia had been ordered to assault the Turks and injure them after the local way in the narrow wars. Since the enemy was afraid to go home because the emperor was on campaign, they marched through the mountains of Seleucia and were cut down on the plain of Tarsus. There attacked by the Armenians they abandoned nearly all their plunder. However, the survivors though in a sorry state continued along the road trying to pass through all of Cilicia and come to the borders of Aleppo. Since the men sent by the emperor and the army of Antioch with their said commander had already joined together, they saw their opponents advancing in measurable numbers and decided to lie in wait for them near the city of Mopsuestia. As the time for their attack approached, on the pretext that they would not be scattered, they remained there gathered together near the encampment and failed to render for themselves a great victory. The enemy then, on learning from some prisoners of the gathering of Roman troops at Mopsuestia, did not tarry long and rest long in their encampment at Blatibadi, passed in the night beyond the Sarbandicus mountain, and approached the boundaries of Aleppo. So they remained without anything to do at Mopsuestia since they did not encounter the flow of the enemy they expected and the emperor was greatly angered when informed of this. Since he was dug in a little bit away from Claudiopolis in Seleucia having learned of the flight of the enemy, he started to retreat pressing on straight for the capital since fall was approaching leaving behind another body of men because other Turks were pillaging Roman territory divided in tribes and divisions assaulting and destroying what they met with. When the emperor went to Constantinople, the rest of the army went home. And so that year, the 8th indiction of 6578 (1069) ended during which the great church of Blachernae was burned to the ground.</p><br /><br /><p>When spring was about to start, the emperor planned to stay in the Queen of Cities and so he entrusted command of the army in the east to one of the most eminent of the Romans. Having decided beforehand on the protoproedrus Manuel Komnenos and honored him with the rank of curopalates, he made him general and commander of the army. This decision proved adverse and misfortunate for the Roman Empire.</p><br /><br /><p>And so, Manuel once appointed went off to perform his command and although he was young he did nothing immature or puerile. He made a great deal over the provisions of his army gathering together his forces and coming to Caesarea very mightily not only setting the affairs of the army in order but also looking after the war appropriately such that he would punish soldiers who had committed foul deeds and deal out fines for recklessness. In some battles, he proved victorious only extending and increasing his reputation. However, emperor when informed of this victory seemed to be pleased with it, but only pleased because no one could say anything against it (41). Yet, so that the siege of Hierapolis be relieved along with the lack of supplies, gripping the people within, he divided a large contingent of the army off from the rest, ordered it to head for Syria, and so in this way deprived the commander of his might. Next Manuel came to Sebastea along with his remaining forces and made camp near the city, when a mass of Huns came upon him and joined battle with him. There was a mighty battle in which the enemy gave only the illusion of fleeing, since such are their stratagems and battle methods and when the Romans had scattered in pursuit of them they suddenly flipped around and attacked capturing many of them and putting an even larger number to the sword, even capturing Manuel, the commander of the army himself. In addition, their camp was captured and plundered. If the nearby city had not saved the majority of them, then all of Roman youth as had gone on the expedition might have been lost.</p><br /><br /><p>When report of this reached the emperor, he was overcome by grief as well as those people who cared for Romans’ situation. The news of this first report had not yet sunk in, when another came announcing that the Turks had seized the city of Chonae and its famous temple [i.e. church] of the Arch-general famous for its wonder and its offerings and sated themselves with the murder and ransom of everything there drunkenly defiling the church, such that not even the caves, which the rivers flowing through carved out by means of the ancient stay of the Arch-general and a divine sign so that the flow of it became gentle and very smooth flowing, could protect and contrive to save the refugees from the danger, since the water rose pulling down and roaring covering utterly all of the refugees seizing even those on land. When this was reported, it caused us much dejection as though these misfortunes had happened due out of divine wrath, since it was not only the enemy but also the elements fighting against us. The emperor tried and struggled to set out with the soldiers about him, but he was prevented from doing so by his counselors, ignorance of the number of his opponents, and the confusion of the forces with the curopalates On this account, he remained unwillingly in the palace(42).</p><br /><br /><p>After some days had passed, another report reached the emperor and the Roman body. It said that the commander of the Turks, after waging war on our troops and seizing the army underhand, which had been bought for sums of money by people of that same race, was coming to the emperor only with the commander, more a dear friend to the emperor, than a commander of the Huns. What the report held then came to pass, since he went off taking with him the said commander of the army, who came to live in the capital abandoning his own people and chosen desertion without any set purpose. The cause of it was that the sultan, the ruler of the Persians, was hostile towards him as a deserter sent an army and a commander against him by whom he was seized by fear and made up his mind not so much to fly from danger than to flee to the Roman emperor. Such was what went through his mind as he was received and welcomed unharmed into the house of the curopalates saved by him (43). The emperor was not so easily disposed and would not have an audience with him only many days later. It was only with a gathering of senators beside him and the usual show of pomp that he received him in the <i>chrysotriclinus</i> one morning with the rising of the sun. At this time, everyone assembled with intelligence or greater sense raised his or her voices higher and starting saying what had happened to him was fitting. He was young, nearly dwarfish for his age, a Scythian by sight and graceless because this race is descended from the Scythians inheriting their poor habits and ugliness. The emperor bestowed upon him the honor of proedrus aiming to make him join in the expedition against the Turks.</p><br /><br /><p>While he was spending the winter in the capital, he enlisted soldiers. Just as spring was starting, he crossed the strait around about the day called the marking of Orthodoxy (44), during which heretics are distinguished as a race from the orthodox and the heterodox are place under anathema by the church, and came to the palace of Erion as it is a custom, having made the yearly philotimia called the <i>roga</i> to the great men of the Senate the day before this one.</p><br />When he was crossing the strait of Chalcedon, a dove not totally white but more black in appearance flew overhead the boat the emperor was crossing in and landed in his hands, though and he sent it back to the empress to remain about the lordly dwellings there contrary to custom. This seemed to be a symbol of departing, which did not give much unity and concord to those witnessing it, since some of them interpreted this as a sign for the better while others took it for the worse. In addition, the empress was been doubtful and in disagreement with the emperor while escorting him off and as such feuding with him from some spousal quarrels in addition to the pain due to her love for her husband who had crossed to make war. She spent some days more restraining him by glorifying him with a syntacterius oration and a trope of return before she finally let him go to the east with the customary sending off ceremony(45).<br /><p></p><br /><br /><p>The emperor's crossing happened in a new and contrary to custom way, since the emperor did not lay anchor at the gates or an imperial dwelling, nor at Neacoma [New Village] or a spot for the imperial bodyguard or consulship, but instead disembarked at Helenopolis, where the imperial tent had been carried and sent up beforehand causing people to jest off the name of Helenopolis that it should be called to Eleeinopolis [piteous city] (46). For this, the emperor's way of going east from Erion to Helenopolis did not seem a good omen to the people practiced in such things. For what could seem less out of agreement with the name of the place than when imperial tent, after it had been set up, suddenly fell down lacking a wooden pole? However, men's usual stupidity then and poor practices prevented them from putting faith in what was evident and comprehending, instead letting them go on senseless of its meaning without taking action (47).</p><br /><br /><p>And so the emperor advanced and went further on east until he reached the so-called province of the Anatolics [the Anatolic theme] now rather than before treating the men about him with parsimony. He made them to camp on wheat fields, which were flowed along by a river choosing and instead stayed on an uphill and narrow village gladdened by homes with roofs over them and escaped having to set up a tent There a bad omen took place no less than the previous ones. Fire started somewhere in those houses where the emperor was settled and with a great bit of clamor burst out. Many people ran up together to extinguish the flames coming to the aid of the emperor's belongings including the emperor's horses, which had the finest things including precious arms, reins, and saddles and were becoming food and drink to the fire. They scarcely able to save one from fury of the flames. Other horses and mules half-burned rode up to the army providing nothing profitable, only testimony to the evil that happened at the capital and its symbolic meaning in it all.</p><br /><br /><p>However, the result of all this later came to pass. The emperor then crossed the Sangarius River by the bridge called Zombus(48) and began to gather together the rest of his forces who had been left behind and were all scattered about in the hills, tunnels, refuges, and in caves due to the already-said vehemence(49) of the barbarians. He selected the men as he wanted and sent off a great number of them then taking the road forward with better spirit again separating himself from his army enjoying the hospitality of his own homes, the welcomes of his own properties, and the arrangements of lavish houses. When the army crossed the Halys River, he himself did not cross with them then, but instead remained behind at a newly built fortress constructed at his command where he stayed for several days. Then he crossed to the province of Charsianum and ended his division from the army on his own properties. From here on, he was indivisible from the army, not going into Caesarea, but camping out with the army at the spring called Crya [Cold, i.e. Cold Spring]. This place is on the whole of great service to an army because its water is clear, drinkable, and very cold while it yields up thick forestry along with abundant grass convenient for a camp. It is covered by roses and lilies, with hills that calmly transition to one another such that it is a city-village so to speak and is recognized as a city of the fields through the multiple uses that can be made of it. There the emperor remained encamped several days since he had seen the country mercilessly ravaged by the soldiers and especially the mercenaries and foreigners with all of the plunder untimely seized and the food plundered as well, so stung at the heart, he dealt harshly with some of the so-called Nemitzi, who were previously called by in our narrative the Sauromati. However, they with their boldness, anger, and barbarian lunacy did not accept this and arose to avenge their own and agreed to at the best moment to drive off [or 'kill'] the horses carrying the imperial tent and the emperor himself. When their attack was perceived, a cry went up in the camp, which with the clamor of it all caused the emperor to make ready for war mounting upon his horse and trying to get the army ready for battle only to be astounded to find his own foreigners coming on the scene all in battle order. He made them subservient to him assigning them to the furthest away country for his own security giving them only this in retribution (50).</p><br /><br /><p>From there, he came to Sebastea and the areas before it pressing on eagerly to come to Iberia when he came upon two roads leading away to the theme of Colonia, so he decided to take the one on the left only to encounter the sight of many human corpses. For it was here the previous year the battle had taken place between the Romans lead by Manuel Komnenos, the curopalates, and the Turks in which the Roman army had been defeated. For the soldiers encamped there, this provided a compelling sight.</p><br /><br /><p>Passing day by day on that road, he came to Theodosiopolis, which had been abandoned and become inhabitant-less previously due to its nearness to the city of Artze, but whose city's good placement had caused its people to immigrate and settle there a great city for all sorts of business with Persia, India, and the rest of Asia, boasting a population not easily numbered. Theodosioupolis was resettled and fortified with a trench around it and walls due to un-hoped for Turkish neighbors due to whose raids the city of Artze had been massacred and captured. The emperor therefore remained there no small number of days ordering everyone to pile up provisions for two months since they were about to pass through an uninhabited country which had been trampled by those nations. Everyone did as they were ordered with especial zeal, while the emperor sent some Scythian mercenaries on a foraging and plundering expedition of Chliat having done this previously, then sending off some Germans called Franks along with their commander, a mighty man in battle, Russell by name. He then with the rest of the army marched up behind them and did not meet with the soldiers he had sent as he was approaching Chliat. However, since the year before the ruler of the Persians (sultan as he is called in their tongue) had taken the Roman city called Mantzikiert and garrisoned it with a fair amount of Turks along with Dilimiti [?], the emperor had decided therefore previously to besiege this city, strengthen it, and recover it for the Romans and then attack the other cities meaning Chliat lying not a very great distance away. Supposing that the enemy garrisoned at Mantzikiert was not capable of withstanding his assault, he divided off another large part of the army and entrusted command of it to one of his most eminent commanders, the magister Joseph Tarchaniotes giving him a body of foot soldiers not easily reckoned. The body of soldiers handed over to him was elite and unconquerable having hazarded and fought many battles and wars claiming victory, while in number they much outdid the soldiers under the emperor's command. In the preceding battles no such need had arisen for the Romans stationed with the emperor for his contingent so-called customarily the allagion to hazard and fight a battle; however, whereas the others had seized victory before, the companies hanging about the emperor remained devoid of battle glory trying to forget a flight from raging battle.</p><br /><br /><p>Tarchaniotes then taking command of those elite solders, as it was said, set out from there and got on the road for Chliat to aid the previously dispatched Scythians and Franks (it was reported that they had been beset with myriads of enemy soldiers) and at the same time protect the produce outside of the city so that it should not be seized by the Chliatians within and carried in so that when the emperor arrived their his army should encounter want of supplies spending time there besieging the city and the action take double the time since they would encounter starvation. This was what the emperor was concerned with when he divided his army up hoping to capture Mantzikiert quickly, as it happened, and set it in order in a short amount of time and then meet up again with his forces, while if they met with a battle inconceivably, he could easily summon them with speed runners since they were not a great distance away. His plans were drive the sultan back to Persia. For this purpose, his division of the army was not unreasonable and it was not devoid of strategic reasoning, unless something happened, or rather some divine, secret reason should make things turn out contrary and bring about an end to his plans, a withdrawal, and the sultan waylay the divided army in a short space of time unannounced and so foil his plans. Many people ignorant of the reason for the division of the army blame him, not for dividing the army out of fear, but they have some cause for it beyond us in their minds with no thought behind it.</p><br /><br /><p>When the emperor got to Mantzikiert, he ordered the encampment to be set up with nearly all of the baggage and a palisade to be erected as it is a custom, while he went with a select body of the army to espy the city for where it would be easy to make their assaults against the wall and bring up the siege towers. These were made from all sorts of and great wooden beams and could carry thousands of men no problem. He also corralled myriads of herds of cattle to feed the army. The enemy within the city raised the alarm, unsheathed their swords, and made ready their catapults, while the emperor riding along the wall with his shield returned to the encampment. The Armenian infantrymen then approached the acropolis wall making many assaults on it and seized it with a single shout of victory when the sun was setting in the west. The emperor was pleased with the happening though the ambassadors came from the enemy asking for sympathy, the concession of their own property, and to surrender the city to the emperor. He agreed to this and honored the ambassadors with gifts then sending an agent/man to take control of the city (51). However, the people within the city did not welcome them inside at that time lest something misfortunate befall their opponents during the night, so they decided to disregard and ignore the agreements they had made. For this reason, the emperor sounded the war horn and came forth from the encampment with all of the army and approached the city walls. The Turks were astonished by this and tried to make peace again pledging an even greater ransom sum and came forth from the city with their own baggage and bowed down on their knees before the emperor not with empty hands but with their swords in hand and the greater part of them approached him naked of all panoply. At this time, I myself was present and did not advise the emperor to appear so simple without even a breast plate when he met them between the dead men and those filled with boldness and stupidity.</p><br /><br /><p>Something else happened as well, which revealed the emperor's justice since he meted out unequal and unsightly punishment. One of the soldiers was accused of having stolen a Turkish mule and was brought before the emperor in bonds, who meted him out punishment beyond his crime ordering that he was not to suffer a monetary penalty but the cutting off of his nose. The man begged and begged, he offered up everything of his, and even called on the revered icon of much revered Virgin Mother of God of Blachernae, which usually accustoms pious emperors on campaign as an unconquerable weapon, but the emperor could not be swayed by pity even by the inviolability of the divine image, which saw everything and was taken away when the poor wretch had his nose cut off letting out a great cry and gasping deeply. From this moment on, I knew great divine retribution was in store for us.</p><br />And so he lead the Roman army into the city, installed a commander there, and then returned to the encampment honored with triumphal and victorious acclamations. On the following day, as he was about to ratify the treaty, provide the people within the fortress with support, and head off for Chliat, a report came announcing that the enemy had attacked the servants carrying out the soldiers’ plunder throwing them into utter confusion and overpowering them. In addition to this, another report had preceded that making the emperor think that one of the sultan's commanders had been entrusted with only a section of a force and had attacked the herdsmen in Roman service, so he dispatched the magister Nicephorus Bryennius to repel them with an ample force, who standing at the front of his army engaged in skirmishes and combat on horseback without much precision (they fought with each other in small parties). In the chaos which followed, many Romans were wounded due the Turk's long shooting range, while others fell in battle (including even the ones more strong than others who gave us our edge when they boldly clashed with the Turks and stood against the men coming upon them in close combat) until the said commander seized by fear sought out another force from the emperor. The emperor condemned his cowardice (he did not actually know the truth) and did nothing to aid him instead assembling his soldiers together and publicly speaking to them about the war contrary to custom speaking with rough words. In the midst of his declamation, a priest interpreted the Bible (52). In regards to it, some people had it in their hearts that what was revealed to him would shed some light on what wag going on. That I myself was in that boat, it need not be said. What the Bible revealed here in short was, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you, because they do not know I was sent...However, a time is coming when every person who kills you will worship God (53)." Almost immediately, we started interpreting this to mean a struggle, which turned out not to be false interpretation of the divination (54). While the battle was still in progress, the emperor sent off Basiliaces, the magister and catepan of Theodosiopolis, along with some local soldiers since the rest were with Tarchaneiotes at Chliat. He himself took part in the skirmishing aiding Bryennius for a while. With his soldiers gathered together behind him following, he undertook to be among the first in battle and so started off pursuing his opponents who gave flight. Bryennius followed him with the army, then turned off by pre-concerted signal ordering the men about him to halt in Basiliaces’ folly and left him with his followers to pursue them without check a great distance. When he got to the enemy palisade toting his arms on foot since his horse had been seized, he was surrounded and they took him captive (55).<br /><p></p><br /><br /><p>When this news reached the emperor and the army, they were instilled with fear and foreboding of danger since the wounded had to be brought back in litters and were afflicted with grievous wounds. The emperor was forced to march out with the rest of the army into plain sight of their attackers ready to fight should battle be given. He stood upon the crests of the tall hills until the late afternoon though he did not see any opposition on the Turks' part (the Turks with knavery and inventiveness by design and fabrication for victory were keeping away), so he returned to the encampment just as the sun was setting. However, then in a stratagem the Turks came up from behind and surrounded the Scythians and the vendors outside the encampment attacking furiously letting off intelligible cries and showers of arrows bearing down upon them with their horses slaughtering numerous men and causing peril. At this, the men bearing down their attack were forced to go inside the palisade. They forcefully entered in en masse fleeing from the pursuit each man for himself thereby causing the men within the camp to fall into confusion supposing that their opponents had fallen upon them and that the entire encampment along with their baggage had fallen prey to them. It was a moonless night not permitting any distinction between the fleeing and the pursuing, while some joined with the opposing army and the Scythian mercenaries, who resemble overall the Turks, had their loyalty put it doubt. Then it was truly terrible all of the terrible fright, ill-boding talk, indeterminate noise, unintelligible sound of striking, and all of the confusion and peril. Anyone would long to die rather than see such a moment as this. That one not witness it, one would reckon it fortunate and deem fortunate he/she did not see such a moment.</p><br /><br /><p>However, while the Romans were in all of this distress, the enemy was not able to break within the palisade because they were hesitant, the danger of it, and because they were fighting amongst themselves over it. They did not retreat, but remained all night long surrounding the roads into and around the Roman encampment loosing arrows and vexations making their howls heard in every quarter instilling fear of them making us spend all night with open and sleepless eyes. For who could go to sleep with danger just a scimitar away?</p><br /><br /><p>Not on the following day did the enemy stop riding about and their call to battle in addition to eagerly taking possession of the river flowing out of the camp to beat the Romans with thirst. On that same day, a Scythian contingent under its commander named Tamin deserted to the enemy(56) causing no small upheaval to the Romans as all the remaining soldiers of that nation became subject to suspicion since they because of this seemed in cahoots with the enemy and about to join with them on their side of the battle. Some of the foot soldiers also marched out with some archers and killed many Turks causing them to leave the encampment alone. The emperor wanted then and there to end the battle with hand-to-hand combat and resistance, but since he was waiting on his soldiers away at Chliat, who were not easily numbered and practiced in the pyrrhic dance [i.e. experienced in war], he had to forego this combat. When he realized that something was stopping them from coming, in despair of their aid, he decided therefore on the following day to march out with his men and zealously give battle. His hope was that they would just be late coming on the following day(57), since he was ignorant that their commander on learning the sultan was approaching the emperor had set out with his men and fled ignobly through Mesopotamia to Roman territory, the cowardly man not even sending a message to his master or doing any befitting.</p><br /><br /><p>At any rate, the emperor made ready his troops for battle on the morrow and arranged their positions about him and was still seated in the imperial tent when I gave counsel to him to put aside his suspicion of the Scythians and bind them under oath to himself. He took my counsel and immediately put me in charge of doing so. My plans were to bind them under the rule of their fathers making them keep to their pledges to the emperor and the Romans without treachery. I did not fail to hit the mark with my plans, because none of them was associated with the enemy in this war.</p><br /><br /><p>In the midst of all this, while the soldiers were being arranged in their ranks and lines and mounting upon their horses, ambassadors came from the sultan seeking peace between the two of them. The emperor welcomed them and spoke to them after the manner of ambassadors, though he did altogether receive them very warmly (58). Yet he did assent to them and give them the sign of obeisance so that by his exhibition they might return to the sultan unharmed carrying tidings that the sultan might assent to. For what he sent, induced by the hopelessness of the situation was that the sultan would leave the place and make camp further away from his encampment, while the emperor would set up camp at that place where the Turks had had their encampment and would come to terms with him. He would secretly through a token of victory give victory to his opponents, as those in the know had agreed to, since it ought not take a battle to remove the token from himself to the enemy(59).</p><br /><br /><p>From here, our account becomes adverse because of the irksomeness and exceedingly shamefulness of the misfortunes as well as the most terrible fortune that befell the Romans.</p><br /><br /><p>The ambassadors had not yet departed when some of the men closest to the emperor persuaded him to renounce the truce since it wronged their work and betrayed rather than helped their interests. They said the sultan was afraid that he did not have a force sufficient enough and to wait for the men coming up behind him and seized the moment with the pretence of peace and so defeat the force. This caused the emperor to go through with the war. The Turks were to effect peace, but the emperor sounded the war trumpet and so marched out to battle miscalculating. Report of this astonished his opponents. They put on their arms and drove the worst part of the army to the back while they at the front gave only an illusion of resistance. For the most part, they took flight that the Romans all-arranged in their lines, order, war positions took note of. They were pulling back, so the emperor pursued behind them with all the army until it was late in the afternoon, when since the emperor could not catch the opposing force and he realized that the encampment was bare of soldiers and defenders because there were not enough troops to leave behind there with the most part of his men already out in the field, as it was said, he decided not to continue the pursuit any further lest the Turks should form their lines and attack his unguarded camp. Furthermore, he perceived that if he continued the pursuit any further, night would fall upon him while he was heading back and then the Turks might backpedal and begin shooting on them from behind. For these reasons, he ordered the imperial standard to be turned signaling to return home. However, the soldiers at the front of the phalanxes seeing the turning of the imperial standard took it to mean the emperor had fallen in defeat. Many of them readily believed what one of his kinsmen, the cousin of his step-son Michael(60), who was involved in a plot against him beforehand, spread amongst them swiftly taking his own men (by the magnanimity of the emperor he had been entrusted with no small number of soldiers) and fleeing back to the encampment. The soldiers nearby imitated him taking flight one after the other. And so, the emperor seeing the unexpected flight from the battle of those men including even his own men, as natural, started trying to call them back. Nobody was there to hear him. The enemy soldiers standing upon the crests of the hills witnessing the Roman’s sudden mischance sent word to the sultan of the happening and urged him to turn about. Then and there he turned about and gave battle to the emperor suddenly who commanded the men about him not to give way or get soft and defended himself mightily for a long time. There was noise all around, aimless running about, and no one could say precisely what was happening. Some people were saying that the emperor was resisting mightily with the soldiers who remained behind with him and turning the barbarians to flight, some people announced he had been killed or captured, while others said other things and pronounced a victory averted on both sides until many of the Cappadocians started to come up there in bands of men. Even that I myself amongst the fleeing had to fight many opponents yielding in retreat of the defeat, let other people remark. After that, many of the imperial cavalry returned with the cavalry having not seen the emperor only to be asked what had happened. It was almost like an earthquake, the lamenting, the grief, the irrestrainable fear, and the clouds of dirt until in the end the Turks surrounded us all over and each took flight thinking only to save himself trusting in his own impulse, zeal, or strength. Our opponents pursued us killing some, taking some captive, and trampling others underfoot. It was incredibly painful and beyond all grief and lamentation. What could be more piteous than the flight and defeat of the entire imperial army by inhuman and harsh barbarians, the emperor surrounded by barbarian soldiers, and the seizure of the emperor’s, his generals’ and the soldiers’ tents by those men while witnessing the entire Roman army in chaos and realizing that the empire had fallen in a moment?</p><br /><br /><p>Such was what happened to the rest of the army. As for the emperor beset by enemy soldiers having no easy lot but experienced as a soldier and a warrior facing many perils, he mightily fought the soldiers closing in about him and killed many of them until in the end he was wounded by a blade in the hand and toppled from his horse by arrows though still he fought on on foot. Yet towards the evening, he was captured and taken prisoner, alas the grief of it! That night, the same as many others he slept on the earth dishonorably and in agonizing pain, washed all around with tens of thousands of unbearable swells of men by the considerations and the vexations before his eyes. On the following day, the capture of the emperor was announced to the sultan (61) providing him immense joy and inspiring him with distrust, thinking how truly great and beyond measurement it was to have defeated the emperor and taken him captive. Thus the Turks with humanity and with good sense received their victory neither boasting as men are want to when coming upon good fortune, nor attributing it to their own might but offering it all up to God since they had received a victory greater than their own strength. For this reason, when the emperor was brought before the sultan in the cheap garb of a soldier, he again was in doubt and sought testimony if it was him, but when he was informed by other men and the ambassadors that had gone to him that it was the emperor of the Romans standing before him(62), he rose up straightaway and embraced him, "Do not fear", he said, "O emperor, but be of good cheer, since you will suffer no bodily harm and shall be honored worthy of the excellence of your majesty. Foolish is he who does not reverence the unexpected fortunes he is given (63)." Then he ordered a tent be allotted for him and the appropriate care and immediately made him a companion at his table and one of his intimates, not seated at beside him the table, but a next to him enthroned at the head of the table and honored him as though he was of the same faith. He spent two days in this way chatting with him comforting him on his change of fate in life with words and distractions. In all, he spent eight days like that exchanging many words with him, not even using a single cutting word on him only reminding him of errors in advancing his army, when the judgment of God justly and impartially decides between men. For not only others, but also a conquered emperor, he can decide might be conquered, if he does not respect the law of God with his enemies using a natural and fair disposition, since the all-seeing eye does not lend its might to the arrogant, but to the humble and sympathetic, since lacking respect for other people is as Saint Paul says contrary to God. In a discussion with the emperor, the sultan the sultan asked him, "What would you have done if you had taken me prisoner?" Without any dissimulation or flattery, he replied, "Know that I would have inflicted many blows to your body." "However", he said, "I will not imitate your harshness and severity." They stayed there together for the said number of days and drew up treaties and terms of peace and even agreed on a marriage between their own children with the sultan showing great parting pomp when they took leave of one another and freeing him with a great embrace and appropriate honor to return to his own empire with as many Romans as he asked for and ambassadors from amongst his own men (64).</p><br /><br /><p>Many of the Romans first started to flee to the walled city of Mantzikiert and occupied it. As the emperor was beginning his march home, some of them fled leaving it by another road in the night. Of them, some of them fell to the enemy, while others sought refuge on their own property. The emperor first went down with the army to Theodosiopolis(65), where he was received very generously, and after spent several days there nursing his hand, resting, recuperating, renewing the Roman train, and manufacturing success for the coming march on Roman lands. Setting out from their with the imperial train and escort, he passed through Iberian villages catching up with a couple of soldiers fleeing from the battle, who he joined with him and the soldiers that had been free with him. The rest of the number with him was collected from local people neighboring the villages and cities there. He was also accompanied by the sultan’s ambassadors who provided him with supplies.</p><br /><br /><p>We heard this report with our own ears when we had gotten to Trebizond planning to make the sea passage, believing it at the time to be impossible and unbelievable, so we took the sea road without turning back, having hired out several local skiffs. At the imperial court were gathered together some of the chief men of Senate, who had unexpectedly fled the danger like us. Others of them had been cut down in the course of the war and the flight among whom were Leo the <span style="font-family:“Palatino;">ὁ ἐπὶ δεήσεων</span>, a most illustrious man in both reason and judgment, the magister Eustathius, and the first asecretis Choirosphaktus. The protosvestes Basil Maleses, who bore news to the emperor and was in the office of logothetes of the waters, who excelled before many people in reason and experience, was also taken.</p><br /><br /><p>Up until here our account has been unconfused and without any, one part sticking out but gone on fairly evenly, even if there have been difficult, wretched explanations. From here, who would wish to narrate the multitude of difficulties that came to pass? The matters at hand were not only not easy for us, but also exceedingly difficult because of the great distastefulness of the happenings.</p><br /><br /><p>And so, the emperor marched from the east to the west until Colonia. Then after he had gotten within Melissopetrius, which is a castle situated upon a hill, he began to meet with misfortune. Since his counselor and first in the commanding of armies, the proedrus Paul, who the emperor had summoned from the catepanate of Edessa in the war against the Persians, he found in Theodosiopolis acting as its governor because the duke had been taken along with the emperor, and since everything seemed in order to him, Paul had shirked his duties and went to the Queen of Cities in the night learning of happenings and the Augusta’s decision (66). For she, on giving up on the release of the emperor from captivity, had sent for the brother of her first husband and emperor, the Caesar John, and his two sons, one of whom, Andronicus, was newly come in flight from the expedition, and dispatched orders to all the provinces commanding them to have absolutely no recourse with Diogenes or give him any of the imperial obeisance and honor due. However, the Caesar, on coming to the city along with his two sons and meeting with the empress in the palace, found her will turned against the disinheriting and pursuit of her husband. Because of this, they proclaimed her first-born son, whom she had had through her union with Ducas, emperor and despot, enthroning him on the imperial throne in the <i>chrysotriclinus</i> and handing over to him the office of monarch. As for the empress his mother, they deposed her with great vehemence and put her in a boat and sent her off in exile near the eastern strait, which the people of the city call Stenos [Narrow Way] because of its characteristics, installing her in the monastery she founded there called Piperude adorned in black with shorn hair enrolled in the monastic legion [i.e. she became a nun]. (67)</p><br /><br /><p>Diogenes advanced until the Armeniac theme, where he was informed of the orders about him, and that he had been disinherited by the citizens of the city and the emperors, so he set up camp there near a place called Docia. The Caesar and his newly enthroned nephew then set everything about as they wanted it bringing over to his cause the senators with honors and publicly speaking to the people in the forum [<span style="font-family:Palatino Linotype;">τοὺς τῆς ἀγορᾶς</span>] saying that by God’s choice his father‘s empire belonged to himself and giving them high hopes with philanthropic promises, and so thus it was that they planned to send an expedition against Diogenes. As commander-and-chief of the army, they selected one of the Caesar’s sons, Constantine by name and protoproedrus by rank, and handed over to him experienced soldiers and sent him away from the city in haste. He also collected other soldiers from the provinces and added them to his own army by imperial letters, and thereby made a formidable force with which he set up camp next to Diogenes’ refuge of Docia. The greater part of the Franks then deserted to Diogenes because they expected him to prevail. After that, there were some transitory clashes between the two sides, so Diogenes decided to fight them man to man and free himself of the opposing soldiers thinking it would do him no harm. Since the emperor had summoned many Cappadocians with heralds and letters, who were commanded by the proedrus Theodore Alyates, a man distinguished in wars and fantastic to behold, who stood out from many by his height and bulk and had served capably in many wars, Diogenes seemed to have the upper hand over his opponents and would soon be able to set out swiftly from the fortress of Docia and march for the land of Cappadocia, where he had originated from. However, the soldiers of the emperor in Constantinople had unexpectedly received a contingent in the night and so they did not discern themselves to be much the less in superiority. For an allied force had reached dispatched from the Queen of Cities commanded by that Frankish ally, Crispinus, who Diogenes had removed from the expedition for mutiny and sent in exile to Abydus, but whom the emperor in his place, Michael, had summoned from exile and showered with beneficence and honors so making him loyal to him. This man was very skillful in battle and very stout, if ever there was a man, as shown by the trial of his own reputation by his past brave deeds, so he instilled the soldiers with heart at the hour of war’s advance. For this reason when Diogenes set out from Docia, they appeared before him bearing their standards held aloft. Alyates charged, having gathered together many of his soldiers, and joined battle with them. However, the soldiers assembled against them were mightier, especially after Crispinus called out that he was there to the Franks in their mother tongue, and so Alyates’ men started to flee in disorder. Some of them died by arrows, while tons of them had their eyes put out by him in an excruciatingly painful manner by which their faculties of sight were put out with iron tent poles. What pained the soldiers so much about this were the notability of the man’s family and his nobleness of birth. </p><br /><br /><p>Diogenes when he got wind of this was deeply distressed, yet he led the rest of the army off to the land of Cappadocia. He ascended into a fortress thus named Tyropoeum, situated upon a defensible hill, and sent out summons to soldiers in all parts to come to his aid. When the catepan of Antioch, named Chataturius who was descended from Armenians, was dispatched by the emperor of Byzantium and ordered to make war on Diogenes, he came to Tyropoeum with a great force of cavalry and infantry men, but he felt pity for Diogenes’ plight, since he had received favors from him in the form of rule over Antioch, so he united with him and joined his side, depriving the soldiers, who had been ordered by the emperor to join with him in the fights against Diogenes, of their horses and other equipment and driving them away from there naked. After remaining there with the emperor and his soldiers a short time, he set off through the land of Cilicia, there to pass the winter, since fall was nearly over, and also to collect another force of men sent by the sultan, and then return after the appointed time.</p><br /><br /><p>In actuality, they chose the inferior course and ended up only hurting themselves. After the flight of Diogenes in the first battle with Alyates, Constantine returned to the capital and all of his army was scattered about as winter was nearing, and so it would have been easy for Diogenes’ men to invade Roman land with his army as far as Pisidia, Isauria, and Lycaonia, and also the land of Paphlagonia and Onoriada, and force all of them to submit to him, and then advance on Bithynia, and so hinder very easily the soldiers from Byzantium coming to assemble against him and make war against worthy of mention and deed. For the western soldiers had sworn a faithless oath against him because of how they had previously made oaths that they would never agree with the people against him…[he] now not having planned well by boundless evils and dolorous...(68) matters. And so, he invaded the land of Cilicia, which has very difficult passes due to the Taurus mountains, and remained in the land as though imprisoning himself by remaining there and not proceeding forth, since in doing so he provided ease for the soldiers arrayed against him to assemble and enlist. In addition, another of the Caesar’s sons, the protoproedrus Andronicus, was sent off against him and appointed domestic of the East, who got all of his soldiers all-equipped and armed and gave them their pay making them his men through and through being joined by Crispinus. Thus having united all of his forces together, he started to advance against Diogenes marching through the land of Cilicia and avoiding the usual pass called Podantus invading that the land through that of Isauria, which is not very far distant from the city of Tarsus. The defiles of the mountains in Cilicia are very defensible since they are difficult to pass, rough, uphill, and very narrow, so they make it for no good road for an advancing army. Because of this, if some of Diogenes’ men would have held the high ground and archers been set atop them, Andronicus’s army would never have been able to get through these, if not fear had caused the soldiers to flee. With this neglected, Diogenes’ situation became perilous. When Andronicus’s army descended into the plain, Chataturius attacked them. Not for many an hour had it happened that the Roman forces had outdone themselves in magnitude and valor. But then Chataturius fell from his horse and was taken captive while fighting on foot and brought before Andronicus naked and pitiful in his present fate expecting further evils. As for the others, they fled all together to the walled city of Adana, in which Diogenes was dug in, and so a siege followed for that city. The Romans with Andronicus soon set siege to the city and put those within it in no little agony due to a lack of supplies. In time, they began to discuss terms with one another until it was agreed that Diogenes would to renounce the throne, to renounce his hair, and thus spend the rest of his life as a monk.</p><br /><br /><p>With this agreed, a short time later he emerged from the city clad in black and weeping at his plight, coming across to many as bitter and ungovernable and to those who saw him as fearful and pitiful, reckoning the uneasiness of his situation, which had changed so suddenly and turned so quickly to the opposite. Everyone there had gone on campaign with him many times and been a soldier celebrating his great might and hoping to approach him, accompanying him from Syria to Adana at his side as imperial servants. They were mute with grief and seemed struck dumb standing there recounting their previous good fortune, their present ill fortune, and how it had come to this. After the return of their commander had passed their minds(69), the army began the march home, and Diogenes was sent off in the paltry attire of a monk, through those villages and cities through which he had once gone with recognized as equal of the gods with imperial armies. He made the march up to Cotyaeum in agony (he was ill with intestinal troubles, which were said to have been slipped him by his enemies with hemlock) where he was held prisoner by his escort, until word came as to was be done with him from the emperor (70). However, several days later, a decision more cruel and more shameful than all of them came for the man, who had been so misfortunate, commanding that his eyes be put out immediately.</p><br /><br /><p>What say you, Your Majesty and those men with you furnished with profane will? Did the man wrong any eyes by giving his own soul for the good of the Romans and opposing the most war-like nations with a stout force, when he could have remained in the palace free from danger and put off the fears and burdens of a soldier? He who even his enemy paid respect to by receiving him warmly and giving him words and distractions and as though he was a legitimate brother setting him, this captive, beside him on a throne and as though a good doctor allayed his pains and put to the burning flame the grief with these consolations, that the sultan recognized his victory has been gotten justly by a testing God and received this man and showed to him a bounty of prudence and forbearance. What have you ordered, Your Majesty? That he be deprived of the light and God-given perception of sight? Even after he has taken up the power of your father in law and fact, renounced imperial rule and given it to you, taken up ragged garments instead of the purple, adopted the solitary life and assigned himself to everything earthly, bound himself to the spiritual persuasion, the alleviation of pain, and the weak, renounced it all, weakened and maltreated, been broken as the reed and covered his eyes and face with showers of tears? In this and that, might you not be persuaded especially by the greater part of them and the angelic habit be of some intercession to you, but, you, with anger and lust for imperial rule are lusty and insatiable of the changes in the scale not even paying any respect to the [angelic] habit, nor the tit of your mother which his sons and your brothers have shared in (71). The eyes of the Titans and Cronus are on you and will render your fortunes the same evil.</p><br /><br /><p>So much we have said in a divergence from our main narrative out of woe as a morsel of a tragedy (72). When that horribly evil and profane order came, a second struggle again about his soul, fear, and inconsolable turmoil overtook him in these misfortunes. He groveled prayers of penitence at the feet of the archbishops and asked them to help, as was their ability, calling out rashly with distressed and unbearable contrition. The archbishops assembled there, Chalcedon, Heraclea, and Colonia (73) tried to assuage him. He reminded them of their oaths and the retributions of the divine. But they, even though they wanted to help him, weakly as cruel, savage, and unswayable men took him and lead him as though a sacrificial offering on to the slaughter. They shut themselves up within the city, which caught many people's attention and caused them to utter continuous prayers seeing the openness of the archbishops, and sent him off into a small room entrusting a Jew unschooled in such things to put out his eyes. They bound him in four parts, and had many men lean upon a shield on top of his chest and belly, bringing forth the Jew to attack his eyes with an iron rod in an excruciatingly painful and cruel manner, while he let out a gasping cry from below and roared like a bull with no one to pity him. Not just once did he have to endure this punishment being carried out, but three times did he, the murderer of God’s sire, dip the iron rod into his eyes his health was broken and his own faculties of sight were gone forever. His eyes became soaked with blood, a piteous, moving, uncontrollable, and sad sight to those who saw it, laying there half-dead, already sick with disease. Then he proclaimed to everyone that he had acted, not for imperial glory or eternal fame, but rather for the good of the Romans. From there he was lead in a paltry habit to the Propontis, dragged along as though he was some putrid corpse with his eyes gouged out, his head and face swollen, and worms falling off from thence(74). A couple of days later, he ended his life in excruciating pain, having confessed his sins before the end (75), and was buried on the height of the island of Proti, where he had built a new monastery. He was extravagantly buried by his wife, the previous empress Eudocia, the mother of the emperor, (She had asked her son’s permission to go to that island and spend an appropriate amount on his burial). He left behind a memory for posterity beyond the bounds of Job’s misery. That marvelous story has been left behind for everyone of how, when he went through so many trials and unparalleled evils, he did not utter any curse or mean-spirited thing, but gave thanks constantly even asking for more time of misfortunes and said he would be happy in so suffering them having taken the course of worship more arduous.</p><br /><br /><p>Having as such grievously ended his life and provided great consolation to people undergoing trials (how that person would be tried could never equal his sufferings), he was succeeded on the throne by his stepson Michael, who proved a moderate ruler and was reckoned an old man before his years because of how laid back and gentle he was(76)(77)</p><p>Note: The notes for this text as well as the bibliography due to the constraints of Blogger are available through a separate post <a href="http://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2011/01/notes-and-bibliography-to-michael.html">here</a>.</p>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-87309671537725140552010-12-29T10:01:00.000-08:002011-01-05T22:58:02.363-08:00The Megollo Lercari Incident post-Senarega<p>These next two texts follow along the same lines as my <a href="http://speculumlinguarumetlitterarum.blogspot.com/2010/12/megollo-lercari-vendetta-of-ears-and.html">previous one</a> on the letter by Bartholomeo Senarega to Giovanni Pontano on the Megollo Lercari incident. While that letter is the earliest recorded copy we have of the story, the two accounts that follow by Agostino Giustiniani (1537) and Uberto Foglietta (1585) were the two most often consulted and best known accounts of the story by later historian. Senarega’s letter was not even known until 1879 when Cornelio Desmoni discovered and published it, so almost all of the later artistic and dramatic representations of Megollo Lercari in the centuries to come were based on one or both of these accounts. Both of the original texts are now available via Google books unlike when I first went in search of them a couple years ago. Giustiniani can be found <a href=" “http://books.google.com/books?id="X70O38FhZdwC&dq="Agostino+Giustiniani&source="gbs_navlinks_s”">here</a>, while Foglietta can be found <a href=" “http://books.google.com/books?id="OV6LT8Tw-AUC&dq="Uberto+Foglietta&source="gbs_navlinks_s”">here</a>. Enjoy!!</p><br /><br /><center>1. Annals of the Republic of Genoa by Agostino Giustianiani, Book 4</center><br /><p> There was in those times at the court of the Emperor of Trebizond a Genoese Megollo Lercari, a man without compare, very ardent for his honor and endowed with greatness and magnanimity for which noble qualities he was very dear to the Emperor and envied by the chief men of the court. It happened that a courtier high in favor, who it had not gone unnoted was shown unseemly favor by the Emperor, spoke words of great insolence to Megollo while playing chess with him though Megollo remained impassive to the insult patiently bearing it. Seeing then that he had not taken offense, the courtier continued to hurl abuse at him. Finally, he responded by seeking an apology for his honor for all that the courtier had said had greatly troubled him. Much more than before the courtir without the least consideration continued sparing contempt not even for the Genoese name, at which Megollo became angry and responded to him that he was lying, so the courtier slapped him on the face and Megollo unable to satisfy his honor being held back by those around him sought it out from the Emperor for whom alone he had fair words. Unable to obtain remedy for what had so enraged him, with the permission of the Emperor, Megollo departed and came to Genoa clothed in red with his beard and hair long (which at that time did not mean anything good) set completely on revenge.<br /><br /><p>There he assembled the Lercari family along with his relatives and friends and revealed to them the injury he had received and his intention to avenge himself asking them both by the affection they bore him and their honor to help in this venture. In this terrible case, they came together and helped him fit out two galleys with which Megollo set sail for Trebizond and coasting along the sea did a great amount of damage both by land and sea. Any person that fell into his hands he ordered to have their nose and ears cut off, salted, and conserved in a jar. Hearing of this, the Emperor many times fitted out lots of vessels not inferior to the great speed and valor of the Genoese, though always his forces suffered losses or remained without any profit, while Megollo and his companions sometimes increasing in boldness set fire to the galleys and other vessels on land and other times took them by force on the sea. One of these days, with just his two galleys, he took four of them, to which Megollo cunningly gave the illusion of fleeing, so they split into two parts to box him in. Cunningly, Megollo stopped them from coming together so that he had time to fight two of them before the others could come to their aid so that he was able to take them in succession.</p><br /><p>After his victory, it happened that there was an old man before Megollo with his two young sons and the old man seeing that Megollo was going to have his nose cut off and his sons ears, he fell to his feet in tears and with entreaties earnestly and humbly begged Megollo to content himself with putting him to death and spare his sons' noses and ears. The tears and entreaties of the old man extinguished Megollo's rancor and the father's love moved him with compassion, so much so placated he responded that the Emperor was the cause of their misfortunes and losses because, he, Megollo had been unjustly treated and dishonored in his house as well as the Genoese name. He had not wanted make this display, so, nonetheless, he was content to pardon him and his sons on the condition that he bring that vase already full of noses and ears to the Emperor and explain to him that there would be no end to this destruction of his country unless he, by whom he had been injured was surrendered to him. Once freed, the old man carried out diligently his charge.</p> <br /><br /><p>Seeing this and hearing this, the Emperor both due to the great amount of damage that had come of this and out of fear that the people would rise up, he decided to give satisfaction to Megollo and to better give satisfaction to him he resolved to personally to the sea shore to speak with him bringing with him the offending courtier, who he made go into the water up to the waist and ask Megollo's pardon. Then the Emperor said after a couple of words, "Megollo, let this be enough for you." To this, Megollo replied that he wanted his offender in his hands, and so without much resistance he got him. The man on mounting the galley's ladder was given a kick in the face by Megollo with his foot and flung at Megollo's feet he begged him for his life. Megollo stood him up on his feet and said to him, "Don't you know? Genoese men never act cruelly towards women." It was alluding not so much to his tears so much as what he had just said. And so he sent him back again free to his kin, who were all grieving thinking that he would be put cruelly to death. The Emperor sent many gifts to Megollo and made him great offers, which Megollo declined saying that neither for bloodlust nor material gain he had come from distant lands, but only to satisfy his honor and the Genoese name, and that having satisfied it he had no need of such offers. Yet, the Emperor continued insistently making offers, so Megollo asked that the Emperor have a warehouse built at Trebizond for the Genoese for their benefit along with ample privileges. On the gate of the warehouse was to be both written and engraved all that had happened in this affair. All of this was peremptorily promised by the Emperor and fully carried out. Besides that, that the emperor always keep the Genoese as his dear friends and keep optimal relations with the Genoese consul at Caffa.</p><br /><br /><center>2. Uberto Foglietta’s History of the Genoese Book VIII pp 159-160</center><br /><p>At this point, we introduce into our annals a deed of bravery and boldness, as well as of singular magnanimity, accomplished by private Genoese citizen on private initiatives with private arms. Although it had nothing to do with the Commune, nevertheless, because it brought glory to our city to have produced such citizens who were strong enough to bear enmity and wage war with kings themselves and sovereign princes, I could by no means omit it.</p><br /><p>There was one Megollo Lercari living at the court of the Emperor of Trebizond, who on account of his rare virtues, his fine manners, and pleasant temperament was extremely dear to the Emperor as well as to many chief men at the court. One day, he was playing chess by chance with a youth, who (so it was said) in the flower of his youth had obtained a position of favor and authority with the Emperor for the foul and obscene services he rendered him. An argument broke out between the two of them and after exchanging many heated words, they started to fight. The youth in a moment of arrogance and anger slapped Megollo on the face. At that moment, many people there jumped up and interjected themselves in the fight. A large part of the lords and courtiers present held back the youth (as it was necessary). Megollo could not avenge the insult, since the Emperor did not offer Megollo any redress for this injury. So Megollo, with his wrath now turned on the emperor, was possessed by such animosity against the emperor that he decided to take his revenge through difficult and precipitous endeavors.</p><br /><br /><p>And so, he returned immediately to Genoa in dirty and gloomy dress with his beard and hair unkempt showing his great melancholy. He gathered together his relatives and extended family as well as any one that was in any way connected with him and revealed to them what had happened to him. He asked them to stand by him in so pious and just a business. They did not hesitate to provide him with two galleys, which were suitably armed for war.</p><br /><br /><p>Megollo, without losing a moment, set out for the Black Sea over so great an expanse of water until he reached the shores of the Empire of Trebizond, which he ravaged in land and sea raids producing wonderful examples of his implacable spirit and inhuman cruelty by cutting off the noses and ears of his captives and then releasing them as his desire for revenge was fixed in his mind and would not tolerate any other thought. Since Megollo would not stop, the Emperor armed four galleys and sent them against Megollo to put an end to such a disgrace and arrest the constant damages being done to him. When Megollo caught sight of them sailing towards him from afar, he employed a stratagem to strengthen his forces and pretended to take flight. Two of the Trapezuntine ships followed him with a great flurry of rowing. When Megollo caught sight of this, he noticed that two enemy vessels were separated from the rest by a large distance. He then, just as he had planned to get them away from the rest to fight them, roused his ships to turn around and attack the two closest ships, which he took with hardly any effort. Then hastening to go forward so that the remaining ships which had rushed up to help the other ships and had come upon him would be unable to get away. He took them without a fight and began mutilating his captives in the usual horrible manner. Among the captives, there was a venerable old man, who had brought his two innocent and handsome young sons along with him, who flung himself at Megollo’s knees and said, “I beg you, Megollo, by your faith to spare these two sons of mine and direct all your anger at me. Take not only my ears and nose from me, but also my life.” Megollo was moved by the prayers of the old man and by sympathy for the innocent youths. He not only spared the boys, but also the old man, to whom he gave a barrel full of salted noses to bring them before the Emperor and instructed him to tell the Emperor that Megollo would never stop or leave his shores in peace until the man that had so atrociously injured him was handed over to him.</p><br /><p>The Emperor sighed and sadly was forced to do it. When the youth having mounted Megollo’s ship stood before Megollo, he fell at his feet in tears and said, “I beg you, Megollo, to not torture me before you kill me.” Megollo responded to him, “Don’t you know that brave men are not wont to torture women.” Then, after such a careful response, he rebuked not so much the young man’s tears as his reputation. He then sent him away unharmed and ordered him to tell the Emperor that his private injury had been satisfied, but that he had not yet been consoled of the glory of his home city and the Genoese name. He would not for this reason go away until the Emperor promised in his own hand-writing to build at Trebizond an large warehouse for the Genoese nation and to give them certain privileges and rights. Having had this story painted on the walls [of the warehouse], the emperor issued a new treaty. Peace was made between the two parties and the warehouse was built.</p>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-44815265873259174602010-12-27T10:41:00.001-08:002011-01-16T19:28:42.738-08:00Megollo Lercari: A Vendetta of Ears and Noses<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOcgJz2uKs6A0rPQPPq9XVbvrRTnAR0IQwH-51p7nusFZdJDr3DVzdbjLn6UVavxHR1R1CsiXGBZT7sr6BVBFYKyxnnWihcg8SioCXuFB8-cnFFchz1wMI1fzQzwS9I5r88ii4vyddjuXV/s1600/lercari_02_ic.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555434713283839906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 162px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 145px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOcgJz2uKs6A0rPQPPq9XVbvrRTnAR0IQwH-51p7nusFZdJDr3DVzdbjLn6UVavxHR1R1CsiXGBZT7sr6BVBFYKyxnnWihcg8SioCXuFB8-cnFFchz1wMI1fzQzwS9I5r88ii4vyddjuXV/s400/lercari_02_ic.png" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;">Detail of a telamon from the Palazzo Parodi </span><span style="font-size:78%;">(once Lercari)</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">in Genoa with the nose deliberately removed<br /></div></span><div align="center"></div><div align="left"><p>In the history of the commercial relations between the Orient and the great medieval Italian maritime republic of Genoa, there is no story more colorful and more stained by ethnic pride than the story of the vendetta of the Genoese citizen Megollo Lercari in the first half of the fourteenth century. Having been forced to listen to insults to the Genoese and then by slapped by an impudent courtier of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Trebizond">Emperor of Trebizond</a> (modern Trabzon in Turkey), Megollo found no redress from the Emperor of Trebizond and returned home to Genoa where with the aid of family he equiped two war vessels and set sail again for Trebizond. Returned there, he enacted his horrible vengeance for the insults inflicted upon raiding the coasts of the Empire and cutting the ears and noses off of those that he captured. His terror and vengeance were such that he brought the Emperor of Trebizond to his knees. </p></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><p>The story is both fabulous and terrible and has exercised an influence over the Genoese and Italians throughout the centuries that my current research is about. As I have been working through our sources for the period, I decided to translate the earliest and fullest version of the story that we possess, which you can find below. The source for the story is a letter written by the Genoese historian Bartholomeo Senarega to the famous humanist and scholar of the Italian Renaisscance, Giovanni Pontano. The text of which can be found <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=cv5AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA506&dq=Megolio&hl=en&ei=H-cYTdCTKY66sAOy3byeDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Megolio&f=false">here</a>. Enjoy!</p></div><div align="left"></div><p><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">To the great and preeminent sir Giovanni Pontano, chief secretary for the Serenissimo King<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> <p></p><br /><br />You asked me in all of your great wisdom, Pontano, when we were both at Capua last year and I told you all about our Megollo, to write out the story in Latin so that sometime amidst all the great cares that you have you might read it and lift your spirits. I have done as you asked and I am sending you the story following the conscript of some uneducated man, though he is nonetheless trustworthy set in my own humble manner of expression. And if my account is not ornate, it is at least a little bit less barbaric. You will see some things herein for which you will praise the man’s magnanimity, his severity, his persistence, and last of all you will admire his humanity. And so you do not think our city was so barren that he was alone among its famous men, it produced many men in peace and war…reputed for their study of letters, whose illustrious deeds, if I ever have the time, I will send you all gathered together so that with your exceptional humanity you may work in favor of the Genoese and may also have…[and so that] you may commend them in the circles of preeminent men of which the royal court is full.<br /><br />Megollo was a Genoese citizen that came from the well to do Lercari family. When he was a teenager, as is the custom of the merchant class, he devoted himself to business and he always seemed to have something greater mind. On account of this, he left Genoa and came to our former colony at Pera, where he stayed for some years before he decided to go to Trebizond.<br /><br />Trebizond at this time was ruled by an emperor descended from the Komnenos family which once ruled over the empire at Constantinople for many years<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a>. In our time, it is well known there were three emperors in the world, but since we have just made mention of the fact, it will not be without point to discuss where this third one came from. As the origins of the Latin and Greek emperors are quite clear enough to everybody, although I have heard some well educated men cast doubts upon the document, which is believed to have been written by the emperor Constantine I<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3">[3]</a>, I would not totally oppose their view unless what is read about it was confirmed by the Bible, which I do not think it is totally out of the question to believe. In any case, this family produced quite a few emperors famous for their deeds on land and sea until finally a man of preeminent wit succeeded to throne who was devoted to peace and religion.<br /><br />The Emperor had a man from the Palaiologos stock in his attendance who was accomplished in war and well known for his bodily virtue and intelligence, in whom the emperor often confided, who persuaded him, as he was so not at ease, that he could easily pacify those people who are between the regions of Boristenus and Taurica, and that he could make those that are nomadic surrender to him if he founded a city in the plain on higher ground. And so, Palaiologos set out for there with an army and founded the city of Cherson, whose ruins still survive, and not long after subdued almost all the neighboring peoples.<br /><br />On returning home, he expelled the Emperor, who was devoted to religion rather than arms, from the palace by force. Then after most of his opponents had either been killed or sent into exile, he was made emperor helped by the favor of the army and his popularity with very little opposition.<br /><br />Komnenos then fled to Trebizond in a small boat with as many treasures as he could take away amidst the upheaval. He was well received there and they as well as their descendants all venerated him as their true emperor until the Turk took possession of the entire Pontus region and subdued it<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4">[4]</a>.<br /><br />Megollo stayed here a few days and became quite dear to the emperor. Among Megollo’s great virtues, his ability to win over rulers was quite marvelous and in a short time he soon was reckoned as one of the chief courtiers. When border disputes broke out with the Persians who live nearby or a quarrel broke out with our city of Caffa, which we built in the Tauric Chersonesus and held for many years until the year of Our Lord 1475 when Mehmed the Turkish sultan seized it with a huge fleet and the help of the Siths, the Emperor relied on none other than Megollo to resolve it. However, one of the Emperor’s satraps, Andronikos, to whom the Empire’s revenue was entrusted and who more or less acted as treasurer, was rumored to have been in his flower of youth beloved to the Emperor. Andronikos was enraged at Megollo’s glory and conceived of a secret hatred for him until finally he was unable to conceal his hatred any longer spewing forth poison. Finally, he made the move to openly provoke Megollo and said many impudent things about the Genoese and hit Megollo on the face with his hand. Megollo put up with this abuse, but he asked the Emperor to let Andronikos be punished according to the laws as his imperial majesty had been insulted since it was in his house that the rash man had perpetrated the crime and the Genoese name did not deserve an insult of this nature. As he was unable to pursue his case with the Emperor, Megollo dissimulated his feelings until he had collected his dispersed wares as is the custom of merchants and unknown to everyone he embarked on a ship that had been long prepared for this purpose and returned home to Genoa after a safe trip.<br /><br />To some of his kinsmen who were marveling as what his so unexpected return and his unkempt hair and beard meant, he told them what happened to him and exhorted them to join his cause of revenge against the Emperor. Two galleys would be more than enough to avenge his injury. They praised Megollo and with the help of the Lercari clan he fitted out two galleys. With the Senate permitting, he then sailed out of Genoa in the start of spring and with favorable winds came to Pera, where he stayed for a very short while to have his boats maintained and buy supplies for food before he laid anchor outside of Trebizond’s harbor.<br /><br />He then sent word to the Greeks who were clueless wondering why he had come that he was openly after Andronikos, whom he had sought satisfaction from. But when he tried for the third time in vain and was held almost in contempt by the Emperor, then he said that it has been amply shown that the Genoese fear nothing and do nothing rashly and that the Greeks should know that they would not be allowed to abuse a Genoese citizen. He then went around pillaging many Trapezuntine maritime cities. Since he did not want to leave anything or anyone untouched, he cut off the nose and ears of whoever he caught and sent them away ordering their cut off parts to be salted and kept in jars.<br /><br />In rage at this and prompted by the tears of his people, he ordered four galleys to be made ready in great speed. In the meanwhile, Megollo had gone to Caffa and moved into his winter quarters since it was wintertime. Then when spring came, he set sail with his prepared ships and supplies and due to a favorable north wind he came in sight of the city the day after he left Caffa. Panic then reached the emperor that Megollo was there and that the galleys must be boarded, the villain must be fought. Then you would have seen the entire city aloud with shouts, one person preoccupied with one thing …while the youths, old men, and women all cursed Megollo.<br /><br />The galleys were just ready when Megollo who had approached the land from the sea and unaware of everything that was going on came closer until he was within the range of scorpion before he began to feign flight. <br /><br />The Greeks enraged at their recent disgrace and seeking vengeance thought that Megollo really was fleeing and so they raised anchor and pursued him, who was able quite easily in a short time to get far away from them though his rowers had already rowed so much. He retreated no more than three times an arrow shot. Two of the Greek galleys advanced rapidly, while the other ones moved more slowly along. The first group was five thousand paces away from the others, when Megollo exhorted his men to reach the end and announced to his longtime companions that the galleys of their enemies were covered not with arms, but with gold and expensive decorations and that they would soon have the Trapezuntine nobility totally in their grasp. They would soon fight with women and catamites<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5">[5]</a>. He turned the ship around and moved upon the first ship that was coming at him and he turned to the captain of his other ship and said, “You get side by side with the other ship” and he ordered iron hooks and barbs to be thrown not wanting to be pushed away.<br /><br />Both sides fought fiercely. Our side fought for booty and glory, while they fought to avenge the disgrace inflicted upon them. Both sides shot at each other with arrows. They used bows, while our side used scorpions. However their arrows were easy for our side to avoid because of the size of the barriers which our galleys had on their sides. Their shields were so small that that it hardly protected their forearms where they held their bows, while the rest of their bodies were uncovered.<br /><br />Even if anybody was wearing a coat of mail, they were not protected from force of the arrows.<br /><br />Soon the remaining two ships approached and he decided to try getting side by side with them like before and soon a clamor went up and the fight was renewed. He was the first to board the enemy vessels with his men following him. He took the first one with the Greeks resisting only a short time; while the other one was captured after a short fight. As the remaining vessels came near, since it could not be known how fortunate fortune had been, they soon fell to his power before they could turn around. Some of the Greeks surrendered themselves during the battle, while the greater part of them jumped in the sea, while our galley attacked the Greek one.<br /><br />Exalted with this victory, he towed the galleys in view of the city and again bid via messenger Andronikos, whom he had previously called upon to give satisfaction, to come to him. And when it seemed a response was not forthcoming, he got angry and ordered all of his prisoners’ noses and ears to be cut off. On one of the vessels, two brothers were serving as rowers on the fifth bench with their father, whom their old father had followed as they were still teenagers in order to protect their incautious youth from danger as much as he could. When he saw Megollo with a savage look standing near and having a servant about to cut off his sons’ noses, he burst into tears and said, “Please, good hearted sir, on the Genoese name, I beg and implore you to cut off my hands and head before my sons’, whom I raised with so much pain. Take pity! I ask this one comfort in my old age that you send them away intact.”<br /><br />Megollo came to his senses and said to him, “Your tears have moved me and your beautiful concern for your sons so that I have tempered my indignation. But take these vases which I have saved for your Emperor. When you deliver them, add that I will send him more soon unless he orders Andronikos to come to me immediately.<br /><br />He took the gifts and came to the Emperor and prostrating himself in the manner of his people he said, “Accept these gifts of your Megollo, Caesar, which though they are few now, you will soon receive more unless you surrender to him forthwith the man he seeks.”<br /><br />They say that the Emperor did not respond to this, but let out a great sigh and said in Greek what in our language means “That is enough.” Then he summoned Andronikos and said, “If you wanted to test how much I esteem you and how immense my love is for you, you should have done so in some other way. You have stood by and watched my people be disfigured, our galleys captured. I cannot any longer take your side without danger to my throne. Megollo is seeking you and if he gets what he wants, he promises to make peace with me and my kingdom.” Andronikos replied, “I know how much you esteemed me and still esteem me. I owe much to your kindness and you have stood by me enough. Let Megollo have me and let you and your people, who do not deserve it, be delivered of him. Yet I ask this one last thing of you that you let me set my affairs in order.<br /><br />The Emperor consented, and after he had set his affairs in order as though he was about to go to the gallows and be put to the rack, he pulled himself out of his wife’s and children’s embrace with floods of tears and sobbing. He then made his way to the sea accompanied by several people as though he was going to the grave and took a skiff to Megollo. He fell to Megollo’s feet with tears in his tears. “I do not ask you, Megollo, to forgive me. I do not dare hope for this or think that you would grant me this. I ask this you and I pray by immortal God, who granted you this fortunate outcome, and by the Mother of Our Savior, in the name of the Genoese, whose glory you will increase with this egregious crime. It has always refrained from cruelty and please do not subject me to prolonged torture. Let it be enough for you that you will no longer see me living.<br /><br />In reply, Megollo said, “Get up! Genoese citizens are not in the habit of abusing women. It is enough that you have been given me. Your death was not so important to me that I deserved to be called cruel by the inhabitants of the Pontus. What I have done, it was the injustice of the Emperor that caused it. It is enough for us to have conquered you and demonstrated to whoever will abuse a Genoese citizen what are the consequences. And so that the monkey that you are you will not be ignorant, there are many men in our city whom I am not at all the equal of. If I had died midway through my work, they would have done more than I have done. But so you do not take pride that you have the smallest part of my things, I had a horse, which the emperor gave to me, and a monkey which wonderfully imitated people. As I have heard, you got these animals, so see to it that they are returned to me or return to me.<br /><br />The Greek, though he knew the horse had been taken away to greater Persia, he nevertheless said that he would do it. He sent agents to buy back the animals with a large sum of gold and bring them back and they were returned to him in the allotted time.<br /><br />All that remained was for the business to be taken up with the Emperor by whom he and wounded dignity of the Genoese people were made amends. It was agreed first so that in the future the Genoese could not be oppressed in memory of this indignation, and that each year a man should be sent from Caffa whom they called consul who would decide their legal matters, and that a large residence would be constructed at the Emperor’s expense for the consul to live in as well as a hall for our merchants, which we call a fundicum, built in a more frequented part of the city, as well as a bakery and a bath assigned specifically for the Genoese to wash in. Also they were to be granted immunity from many things. Although these concessions were more than enough, he nevertheless forced the emperor to promise by swearing on the Bible during Mass that he would not seek revenge on Megollo. All of this, he bore witness to in a treaty which was sealed with his signet ring<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6">[6]</a>. And so that time might not wipe away the memory of so great a deed, he had a rich picture painted of what had happened in the residence [of the consul]. Many of our citizens have seen the painting, from whom I was able to gather diligently some details, while I learned of the picture and the story, which I have written to you, above all from the man who was consul there.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><p>Notes<br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Ferdinand I King of Naples (1454-1494)<br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> Here Senarega refers to the Komnenos dynasty which ruled over the Byzantine empire (the Constantinople empire) from 1081-1185). After their deposition, Alexios Komnenos and his brother David founded the empire of Trebizond in 1204.<br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> Senarega here is referring to the so-called Donation of Constantine, a medieval forgery, in which the emperor Constantine supposedly granted the Pope authority over Rome and the Western Roman Empire. It was later invented to justify the position and power of the Pope as well as the German Holy Roman Emperor. It was believed to be truthful until it was proved a forgery by Lorenzo Valla in 1440 in his work De falso credita et ementita Constantini donatio declamatio, though this reference by Senarega shows that Valla’s and others’ objections were not fully accepted even in the late fifthteenth century due to Papal pressure. See Fubini, Riccardo (January 1996). "Humanism and Truth: Valla Writes Against the Donation of Constantine". Journal of the History of Ideas 57 (1):<br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> This story of the downfall of the Komnenos family and the rise of the Palaiologos family is total fiction. The Komnenos family ruled from 1081 until 1185 when Andronikos I was deposed after he had spilled many people’s blood. The Angeloi family then replaced the Komnenoi and it was not until 1259 that a member of the Palaiologos family succeeded to the throne. In wake of the succession of the Angeloi, Alexios and David Komnenos, grandsons of Andronikos I, founded the Empire of Trebizond in 1204.<br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5">[5]</a> Chachamitis in the Desimoni’s Latin text poses quite a problem and even Desimoni has no idea what the word is as he indicates with a (?) in the text. Chachamitis appears to be a deformation of what in Classical Latin would have been written as catamitis, which we have translated as Catamite, a young boy lover for an older man in the tradition of Greek paederasty.<br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1654566532932282562#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6">[6]</a> What Senarega is undoubtedly referring here to is an imperial chrysobull (chyrographo), which were imperial grants and documents sealed with the a golden seal.</p></div>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-71350702231871653662010-05-13T20:17:00.000-07:002010-07-24T16:02:01.292-07:00Clitophon and Leucippe<em>The romance of Clitophon and Leucippe is set in Tyre, a city in modern Lebanon. The tale is narrated by Cleitophon, a youth who had always laughed and ridiculed people who fell in love, until that fateful day when Leucippe and her mother came to live with Clitophon and his family. It was love at first sight. </em><br /><br />Thus congratulating each other, Satyrus and I walked to the girl’s room to hear her play the harp. I couldn’t bear even for a little while to let the girl out of my sight. She first sang Homer’s fight between the lion and the boar, and then she changed to a more tender strain, her song celebrating the praises of roses. The song’s theme was along the following lines. If Zeus had wished to name a king of the flowers, that king of the flowers would have been the rose. It is the jewel of the earth, the glory of the plants, the eye of flowers, the blush of the meadow, dazzling beauty itself. Its breath is of Love, it is the go-between of Aphrodite, its hair is its sweet smelling leaves, and its glory is its easily rustled petals which seem to laugh at the breeze. As she was singing, I thought I saw a rose upon her lips like the round shape of the rose closed into the shape of her mouth.<br /><br />She had just put down the harp, when it was time for dinner again. At that time, it was the festival of Dionysus Lord of the Vintage, whom the Tyrians reckon to be one of them, since they sing about the myth of Cadmus, which is the origin of the festival, so they relate. Originally, men didn’t have wine. They didn’t have the dark, fragrant kind, nor the kind from Byblos, nor Maron’s Thracian sort, nor the white kind from Chios. Rather, all of these came about from the wines of Tyros, since the mother of wines, the grape vine, is native to their country. They say that once there was a shepherd who was kind to strangers. Dionysus came upon the shepherd. The shepherd offered him all that the land and cows’ udders provide. Their drink was just milk and water, since wine did not exist yet. Dionysus praised the shepherd for his hospitality and his friendliness and offered him a cup. Inside the cup, the drink was wine. The shepherd drank it and was ecstatic with pleasure and said to the god, “Stranger, where did you get this crimson water from? Where did you find such sweet blood? There isn’t anything on earth like it! It goes down the throat and has a quaint pleasure. It pleases the nose and is cold to touch, yet it leaps down into the stomach and there from down below fans the flame of delight.”<br /><br />Dionysus said, “It is the water of the summer’s fruit, the blood of the grape.” The god led the shepherd to the grape vine and picked a few grapes, squeezed them, and pointed at the grapevine. “This is the water and this is its source”, he said. And such is how wine first was introduced, so the Tyrians say. <br /><br />The Tyrians were celebrating the god’s festival on that day, so Father was in a festive mood and ordered more expensive food for dinner, but especially a precious cup to be used for libations to the god, second only to that belonging Glaucus of Chios. As the wine went around the table, I began to look at the girl more and more brazenly. Love and Dionysus are two fiery gods. They possess the soul and drive it mad into a state of shamelessness. Love burns it with his fire and Dionysus uses wine as timber since wine is Love’s food. Even she started to look at me more openly and rashly. Yet, for ten days, we did nothing more than look at each other.<br /> <br />Finally, I told my entire story to Satyrus and asked him for his help. He replied that he had guessed what was going on before, but that he had shrunk from questioning me and had preferred to seem to remain ignorant because a person who loves in secret, when questioned, often will grow to hate the person questioning him as though the very questioning was a personal insult. “However”, he said, “Things seem to have had a way of working themselves out on their own. Clio, the servant girl entrusted with her bedchamber, confides in me and regards me as her lover. I’ll try to wheedle her little by little and make her so favorably disposed towards us that she’ll help out. As for you, you need to do more than just look at her. You need to start talking to her! Then, you should apply your next device. Touch her hand, squeeze her finger and while you’re squeezing it, sigh. If she lets you do this and seems to approve, your next step is to call her your mistress and kiss her neck.”<br /><br />“You’re a great trainer, by Athena, but I’m afraid that I’ll prove a gutless and cowardly athlete of the god Love.”<br /><br />“Love tolerates no cowardice. Just look at how warlike his appearance is. He has a bow, a quiver, arrows, and fire, all of them manly and full of daring. How can you cower and be afraid when you have a god like him within you? Don’t try to fight the god. Still, I’ll help you out and give you an opening. I’ll distract Clio when I see the best opportunity for you to be alone with the girl and talk to her.”<br /><br />This said, he left the room. I found myself alone and spurned by Satyrus’s words, I began to train myself to be brave towards the girl. “How long, you coward, are you going to keep silent? Why are you afraid when you’re the soldier of so brave a god? Are you waiting for the girl to make the first move?” But then I thought. “You fool, come to your senses. You should love the girl that duty bids you to. There’s still the other beautiful girl. Love her, look at her. She’s the one you are betrothed to marry.” I thought that I had gotten a hold of myself, but then deep down Love answered as though speaking from my heart. “Ha, are you really going to fight back against me? I can fly, I can shoot, I can burn. How can you escape me? Even if you can avoid my arrow, you can’t avoid my fire. Even if you can quench my fire with self control, I shall yet overtake you with my wings.” <br /> <br />While I was still going back and forth in my head, I unexpectedly walked right into the girl’s presence and I went pale at the sudden sight of her and then I blushed. She was alone and not even Clio was there. Shocked, I was at a loss for words, but I did my best with, “Greetings, mistress.” <br /><br />She smiled sweetly showing through her smile that she understood why I said, “Greetings, mistress”, and said, “Me, your mistress? You shouldn’t call me that.”<br /><br />“But, one of the gods has sold me into slavery to you, as he did Hercules to Omphale.”<br /><br />“Is it Hermes you mean, who Zeus sent to carry out the sale?” she said and burst out laughing.<br /><br />“Hermes, indeed!” I answered, “How you can you talk such nonsense when you know full well what I mean?”<br /><br />One response lead to another and my good luck helped me.<br /><br />Now it happened on the following day that during the afternoon that the girl was playing her harp and Clio was keeping her company, and I was walking around the room. Suddenly, a bee flew in from somewhere and stung Clio on the hand. Clio yelped and the girl set down her harp and came over to look at the wound. She did her best trying to comfort her getting her to calm down by chanting two magic words she had learned from an Egyptian sorceress to cure wounds from bees and wasps. Clio felt much better. It just so happened at that moment that a bee or a wasp was buzzing and flying around my head, so I seized the opportunity and put my hand on my face pretending that I had been stung and was in pain. The girl came over to me and pulled my hand away and asked me where I had been stung.<br /><br />“On the lip”, I said, “Why don’t you repeat the spell, my dearest?”<br /><br />She came closer to me and put her mouth close to mine so as to work the spell and as she was muttering something she touched the tip of my lips and I gently kissed her avoiding making too much noise until by the opening and shutting of hers as she murmured the charm, she turned the charm into a series of kisses. Then at last I actually threw my arms around her and kissed her without any further pretence. “What are you doing”, she said, “Are you chanting a charm too?”<br /><br />“No, I’m kissing the sorceress who has cured me of my pain.” As she understood what I meant and smiled, I plucked up the courage and said, “Ah, my dear, I just got stung again far worse. This time the wound has gone straight to my heart and needs your spell again. You must have a bee on your lips as you are full of honey and your kisses sting. I beg you to repeat your charm once more and to not hurry over it and make the wound worse again. So speaking, I threw my arms around her and I kissed her more freely than before. She let me do it though she pretended to resist. At that moment, we saw her maid servant approaching from a distance and sprang apart. I did so unwillingly and resentfully. What her feelings were I don’t know. <br /><br />This made me feel uplifted and full of hope. I felt the kiss still upon my lips and like a precious treasure I guarded the kiss jealously, which is a lover’s first sweet. Indeed, it is born from the most beautiful part of the body-the mouth, which is the instrument of speech and speech a reflection of the soul. When two people’s lips touch, they send a stream of pleasure down beneath the chest and draw the soul up to the lips. Never before this, I know, had I ever felt such a pleasure in my innermost heart. It was then for the first time I learned that there is no pleasure on earth like a lover’s kiss.Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-4342922996045046442010-03-13T19:38:00.000-08:002010-03-13T19:39:18.958-08:00How Jean de Briennes became Latin emperor of Constantinople<p>Extract from the Chronicle of Bernard the Treasurer accessed and translated from the original Old French text on Google books http://books.google.com/books?id=f-BAAAAAYAAJ&dq=Chronique+d'Ernoul&source=gbs_navlinks_s pp 469-472.</p><br /><center>CHAPTER XLI</center><br /><center><i>How King Jean conquered Constantinople</i></center><br /><p>After having told you so much about the land of Outremer, now let us tell you about Constantinople.</p><br /><br /><p>The Christians within Constantinople had lost all of their lands except for the city and a little bit of land outside it. They got together and said that a large part of them would abandon the city and go away. Others said that couldn’t bear to do it because of the great shame and the great reproach they would get wherever they went. They would leave such a rich city for nothing. And so, they would send for aid to the Pope and let him know about the state of the land and beg him, by God, to help them and to get them King Jean as their lord. If they could get him, they would get a good grip over their lands with the aid of God. And they would also send messengers to King Jean asking that he come to their land and as soon as he came, they would make him their lord. Everybody agreed to this plan of action. They got their messengers ready and sent them to the Pope and King Jean.</p><br /><br /><p>When their messengers got to the Pope and conveyed to him their message, the Pope sent King Jean a message to come talk to him. He came and the Pope told him what people in Constantinople had told him and begged him to do it and agree. The king said that he wouldn’t go. The land already had an heir and he didn’t want to disinherit him. Also he didn’t want to put himself in great danger to save somebody else’s land. The pope begged him to go and promised him lots aid in the form of money and troops. The king said that he wouldn’t go for such a promise, but he wouldn’t refuse the promise if he did go on an adventure. He thanked him.</p><br /><br /><p>In the end, King Jean, because he saw how the land needed him and because the Pope was begging him to, said he would go on the condition that the heir-apparent who should be emperor marry his daughter by his Spanish wife wear the crown, if the knights of the land would grant him it and the Pope would bless it. Later, after he would marry his daughter, he would swear on the saints that as long as he lived he would be subject to him and have no power over him. Also, all the knights of his land would pay him homage all his life and any land he would conquer that the emperor’s ancestors had held, would belong to the emperor. As for any land he would conquer, if the emperor’s ancestors hadn’t held it, it would belong to his heirs who would hold it as a fief from the emperor. “If they’ll do that”, said King Jean to the Pope, “I’ll go by the prayer and aid that you’ve promised me. Otherwise, I won’t.” The Pope blessed it. The messengers returned back to Constantinople and said what they heard from the Pope and King Jean. The knights talked together and agreed readily to what the Pope had reported to them.</p><br /><br /><p>The people of Constantinople sent messengers again to King Jean and asked that he come to Constantinople. They would do what he had devised. The king, when he heard their message, he went to the Pope and said goodbye to him. The Pope then gave him some money and promised him that he would help him with money and troops if he needed it. Then, the king departed and went to Venice where he embarked and came to Constantinople.</p><br /><br /><p>When King Jean arrived in Constantinople, the knights of the land came to meet him and received him very warmly. After he had stayed little bit in Constantinople, he sent for all the knights of the land and he had the young man, who was supposed to be emperor, married to his daughter and made him wear the crown. The emperor and the knights of the land did gladly what King Jean required as they had agreed and the king held them to it. </p>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-27912410855549244272010-03-07T19:30:00.000-08:002010-03-08T11:38:00.257-08:00Life of Basil I Part 1<font color="red">Note: this is only a very, very preliminary draft which I haven't corrected yet.</font><br /><center>AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND DEEDS</center><br /><center>OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS EMPEROR BASIL</center><br /><center>THAT CONSTANTINE BY THE GRACE OF GOD EMPEROR OF THE ROMANS,</center><br /><center>HIS GRANDSON, DILIGENTLY GATHERED FROM DIVERS</center><br /><center>ACCOUNTS CONTRIBUTING TO THE WRITING</center><br /><p>1. It has been my desire and yearning for a long time to impart experience and knowledge to the minds of the studious through the ever-remembering and immortal mouth of history and I wanted to, if I could, record the entire period of Roman rule in Byzantium as well as its emperors, their officials, their generals, their subordinates, and one by one their more noteworthy deeds. But since such an undertaking would require a long time, constant labor, an endless supply of books, and free time from business, it was not possible for us to make such an undertaking and so I had to take the second course and record the story of a single emperor who raised the empire on high, who was named after empire (1), and who greatly benefited the Roman State and the empire. It will be my task to recount how he was brought up and what he accomplished so that posterity shall not be ignorant of the first source and root from which sprung this imperial tree which has lasted so long and so that his descendants shall have a guide, an image, and archetype of virtue worthy of imitation. If we are granted more time to live and we are not impeded by outside affairs, perhaps we will add an account of what happened down to our own generation.</p><br /><p>2. It is our proposition to show that though the emperor Basil came from Macedonia, he was descended from the Armenian line of Arsakes. Arsakes, who ruled the Parthians, rose to such a height of glory and virtue that is became a tradition later on for the Parthians, Armenians, and Medes to be ruled by no one not descended from Arsakes and his family. And so, later on, when the Armenian ruler died, there arouse a dispute among the royal line of these nations over the throne and who had the right to rule. Artabanus and Kleienes not only lost their ancestral right, but also were in danger of their lives, so they fled to the capital of Constantinople. Leo the elder, Zeno’s father-in-law was emperor at that time. He made them welcome and kindly granted them housing and a pension worthy of their nobility in the capital. When the Persian king at that time learned of their flight from their country to the capital and of how kindly they were received by the emperor, he sent them letters summoning them back with the promise that he would gladly restore them to their paternal throne seeking for himself the resulting subdual of their people. They got the letters and were still considering what to do, when one of their servants informed on them to the emperor and presented him with them. It was then realized that the Persian king wanted to take over the kingdom not on their behalf, but his own and so he was summoning them for this purpose, which would not benefit them or the Roman State, so action was take to prevent from Persian king’s scheme from coming to pass. Consequently, the emperor reduced them ease through which they could act under the guise of consideration by moving them to Nike in Macedonia along with their wives (they were later betrayed by them) and their children so that they would have more space and freedom. As time went by and the Saracens increased their power, the amir mnun at that time tempted Arsakos’s descendants in the same way. He sent them letters calling upon them to return to their ancestral heritage and rule. When this action was discovered by the emperor at that time, Heracleios, and the letters were seized. Since he decided that the Saracens were doing this not out of any love on their part for them, but their own ambition for power hoping to subdue easily the race because of its affection for Arsakes, if they had them with them, the emperor consequently moved them again to Philippi, a city in Macedonia for greater security. Then he moved them again from there to Adrianople on the pretext of improving their state. They found the spot quite accommodating and mingled amongst themselves prospering quite well, all the while preserving their fathers’ nobility and their line unmixed.</p> <br /><p>3. Years later, during the reign of Constantine with his mother Irene, Maiktes, who was himself descended from Arsakes, came on some business or other to the preeminent city of Constantinople. There he met by chance a kinsman named Leo recognizing him from his outward appearance and his peculiar clothing which was not like other people or humble, but noble and flashy. He struck up a conversation with him and found out that he was from the same race and location. He preferred this similarity because of the man’s virtue and so he married one of his daughters by which the father of our subject was born, who was brought up well with praiseworthy raising and nourishing and reached manhood. He was very healthy and strong with all sorts of other good qualities for which he made many men want to make him their son-in-law. Yet there was a noble woman who lived in Adrianople and after her husband died lived modestly as a widow (there was a not entirely dim rumor going around that she was related to Constantine I), who he thought was more preferable to the others who lived around him and consequently he married her noble and beautiful as well as modest daughter. It was from them that the very root of the imperial family, Basil, sprung with Arsakes’ blood in him on his father’s side, as it has already been said, and with the blood of Constantine I on his mother’s side as well as some glorious blood from Alexander. Descended from parents such as these, Basil had foreboding signs of his later glory straightaway. He had a crimson headband on when his hair first came in and purple dyed swaddling clothes when he was baptized.</p><br /><p>4. Up until this point, the descendants of Arsakes had remained cut off on their own living in Adrianople, although they frequently intermarried with locals. But then Krum, the Bulgarian ruler, broke his treaty with the Romans and laid siege to Adrianople, of which he obtained the surrender after a long time because it was running out of supplies. He took everybody in it with its archbishop Manuel back to Bulgaria. Amongst those deported, were Basil’s parents who had him still in swaddling cloths. There by maintaining their own Christian faith without renouncing it, the marvelous archbishop and the people with him managed to convert many Bulgarians to the true faith (this nation had not yet been converted to piety) and they laid the seeds of Christ’s teaching all over drawing the Scythians away from their national error and bring in the light which is knowledge of God. For this reason, Mutrag, Krum’s son, was moved to anger against them and because he could not convince holy Manuel and many of his supporters to renounce Christ, he subjected them to torture and gave them a martyr’s death. Thus many of Basil’s kinsmen won a martyr’s glory such that he was not even without his part of people’s reverence for them. Nevertheless God visited his people and led their exodus (the Bulgarian ruler was unable to hold off Roman forces for long and so he had to give in). While the Christians about to be released were being gathered together, he noticed young Basil laughing slyly at something funny and skipping around as though he were free and pulled him aside and gave him an enormous apple. The child bravely then leaned on the ruler’s knees with no ill intention showing his nobility in his unaffected manner so much so that the ruler was taken aback and his bodyguard was slightly irritated.</p><br /><p>5. But to make a long story short, every Christian who had been deported as a prisoner left for home by the grace of God as well as Basil’s parents who brought along the beloved son. While he was still a young child, something happened that revealed his later fortune, which I think must not be passed over in silence. One summer, his parents went out to their farm to oversee their laborers and wake them up to work. Since the day was getting hot and the sun was beating down already on them with afternoon intensity, they put their son to sleep fashioning a shelter of a sort from wheat stocks for him so that he sleep protected from the sun’s scorching heat. While they were busy with the workers harvesting, an eagle swooped down and sat down above their son with its wings spread out casting its shadow over him. A shout went up that among the bystanders that the eagle would hurt the child and his mother, just like any mother who loves her children, sprinted to him. Seeing the eagle casting a shadow over the child with its wings and unafraid of her approach, rather at ease with it, since she was not able to come up with any better impromptu plan, she threw a stone at it. And so the eagle took off and appeared to have gone away. But when she returned to her husband and the workers, the eagle returned to its old spot cast a shadow over her child and again people cried out seeing it, she rushed to her child and the eagle went away when she threw a stone at it, and then returned to the workers. It is quite clear that what happened did happen by any workings of chance, but divine providence since the same thing happened a third time. Such is how God always gives some of omens of greatness and signs of what it to come. It happened to him not just a few times as he got older, but many times he was found sleeping shaded by an eagle. However, he did not make a big deal out of it … even if he neglected and ignored the great signs that presented themselves to him. No one, in the religious houses or public houses he went to, could get him to reckon it at all. Anyway, since spending any more time here would seem like flattery and like we had nothing better to say about him since we are so set on dwelling on this part of his story, we will present everything of the same nature that happened and his childhood. Yet let us move on and avoid giving too much praise here which is not at all praiseworthy.</p> <br /><br />1. Note in Greek basileia here refers to the empire from which we get the name BasilScott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-1352325022773655432010-02-20T21:24:00.000-08:002010-02-20T21:25:55.557-08:00I WILL YOU READThe verb will in English is probably one of the most amazing in the entire language in my opinion, not just because I will it to be that way. It has absolutely so many uses and derivations within English.<br /><br />For example, it can be used to express want. In the sentence above, I said ‘I will it to be that way’ where I could easily have said ‘I want it to be that way.’ Yet in this example, will seems out of place to a native English ear and seems archaic or quite rude. In English, there is a strange dichotomy between will and want, which have similar meanings, but very different usages.<br /><br />It wasn’t always this way. In Old English, the verb willan (will) was used where we would use want. For example, here’s a sentence from the medieval romance Apollonios of Tyre.<br /><br /><em>Forðam gif hit gewurðan maeg, ic wille me bedihlian on eowrum eðle.<br />And so if it may come about, I want to hide myself in your country.</em><br /><br />So then, this begs the question of when want came on the scene. It comes from the Old English verb wanian (lessen, diminish, wane) which had the original sense to lack and be in want of. Later it came to be used in the place of will. I would like to suggest that willan and wanian come from the same root in Proto-Indo-European meaning ‘to lack’ or ‘to be in want of.’ Similarly we might attribute the case of the verb wish which comes from Old English wiscan. This is no more than will plus the verb suffix –sc which acts as an intensifier signifying repeated action (cf. Latin –sco and Greek –σκω). When you wish for something, you want it multiple times after all.<br /><br />And so, to return to our discussion of will and want, when did this distinction between the two arise? Probably, most likely when the verb will started to be used to express the future, the difference arose as people looked for a way to avoid confusion. And so the verb want mostly replaced will when it came to expressing volition.Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-41082581361327488862010-02-05T20:12:00.001-08:002010-07-24T17:10:06.712-07:00Anna Vissi - To parelthon mou<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/5TIf3hvgaHg' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/5TIf3hvgaHg'/> </object></p><p>Μ΄αρεσεί παρά πολύ αυτό το τραγουδί. Η Βίσση είναι απολυτή θεά στο βίδεο! Το ποστάρω εδώ με τη δική μου αγγλική μετάφραση. Υπάρχουν μερικοί στίχοι με ομοιοκαταληξία και άλλοι χωρίς ομοιοκαταληξία γιατί δεν είμαι ποιητής, αλλά φοιτητής. Απολαύστε το!
<br />
<br />I really love this song! Vissi is a total diva in the video! I’ve posted it here with my own English translation. Some of the lines are in rhyme and others aren’t. I’m not a poet, after all, but a student.
<br />
<br />Το πάρελθον μου της Άννας Βίσσης (My Past by Anna Vissi)
<br />Με γεματές μπαταρίες
<br />ξεκινάω απ’το μηδέν
<br />Οι παλιές μου ιστορίες
<br />είναι στάχτες που δεν καιν’
<br />
<br />Να πετάξω θέλω μόνο
<br />Και να πιάσω ούρανο
<br />Για τα δυο σου μάτια λιώνω
<br />Παραδίνομαι εν ψύχρω
<br />
<br />Το πάρελθον μου απόψε διαγράφω
<br />Και πετάω και φεύγω ψηλά
<br />Τώρα ζω αναπνέω υπάρχω
<br />Και γεννιέμαι μαζί σου ξάνα
<br />
<br />Με γεματές μπαταρίες
<br />Με γκάζια δύνατα
<br />Λογική και θεωρίες
<br />Δεν αντέχει η καρδιά
<br />
<br />Έλα, πάμε ν’αναβούμε
<br />Σε σύννεφο λευκό
<br />Αγκαλιά να ονειρευτούμε
<br />Σ’ένα σώμα εμείς οι δυο
<br />
<br />Το πάρελθον μου απόψε διαγράφω
<br />Και πετάω και φεύγω ψηλά
<br />Τώρα ζω αναπνέω υπάρχω
<br />Και γεννιέμαι μαζί σου ξάνα
<br />
<br />Το πάρελθον μου απόψε διαγράφω
<br />Το πάρον μόναχα μ’αφορά
<br />Σ’αγαπώ τρελά και υπογράφω
<br />Λέω ναι στα καινουριά φιλιά
<br />
<br />Άκου την καρδιά πως χτυπάει δυνατά
<br />Λες και το κορμί θα το σπάσει
<br />Άκου την καρδιά σαν τρελή πως χτυπά
<br />Θέλει να εκραγεί να φωνάξει
<br />
<br />Το πάρελθον μου απόψε διαγράφω
<br />Και πετάω και φτάνω ψηλά
<br />Τώρα ζω αναπνέω υπάρχω
<br />Και γεννιέμαι μαζί σου ξάνα
<br />
<br />Το πάρελθον μου απόψε διαγράφω
<br />Το πάρον μόναχα μ’αφορά
<br />Σ’αγαπώ τρελά και υπογράφω
<br />Λέω ναι στα καινουριά φιλιά
<br />
<br />In English/Στα αγγλικά
<br />With full batteries,
<br />I accelerate from nothing
<br />My old stories
<br />Are ashes that aren’t burning
<br />
<br />I only want to fly
<br />To touch the sky
<br />I yearn for your eyes
<br />I turn myself over in cold blood.
<br />
<br />Tonight I’m crossing out my past
<br />And flying where I’ve never been
<br />Now I live, breath, exist
<br />And I’m born with you again.
<br />
<br />With full batteries
<br />And the pedal to the metal
<br />For logic and theories
<br />The heart doesn’t settle.
<br />
<br />Let’s go rise up
<br />in a white cloud
<br />And dream of embraces
<br />The two of us in one
<br />
<br />Tonight I'm crossing out my past
<br />And flying where I’ve never been
<br />Now I live, breath, exist
<br />And I’m born with you again.
<br />
<br />Tonight I’m crossing out my past
<br />The present alone concerns me
<br />I love you and I’ll sign
<br />I’ll say yes to new kisses
<br />
<br />Listen to how the heart's thumping
<br />As though it’s going to burst
<br />Listen to the heart beat crazy
<br />Ready to explode and shout:
<br />
<br />Tonight I’m crossing out my past
<br />And flying where I’ve never been
<br />Now I live, breath, exist
<br />And I’m born with you again.
<br />
<br />Tonight I’m crossing out my past
<br />The present alone concerns me
<br />I’m crazy in love with you and I’ll sign
<br />I’ll say yes to new kisses
<br /></p></div>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-36025452009354951542010-01-26T10:57:00.000-08:002010-01-26T11:38:27.159-08:00The -ty suffix in twenty, thirty, etcToday I was in German class and I had an epiphany when it comes to the -ty suffix we use with our numbers from twenty on. Here was my thought.<br /><br />In German, they take the number such as zwei (two), drei (three), vier (four), etc and they add -zig resulting in zwanzig (twenty), dreissig (thirty), vierzig (forty), etc. The -zig/ suffix is really quite interesting because it must come from the word zehn and a temporal indicator -ig, identical to the Greek -ακις which tell you how many times. To use an example from Greek where this temporal indicator was common πέντακις (five times). Originally, the -zig suffix must have been a longer form such zehnzig (ten times) to which you tacked on a number. So, for example, zwanzig (twenty) must have originally been zweizehnzig (ten times two) which is simple multiplication, just in terms of language.<br /><br />So, to return to English from German and the -ty suffix inherent in our numbers, it's helpful to consider the old English twentig (twenty), þritig (thirty), etc. It is the same case as in German. At one time, people might have said twotenig for twentig. As time went by, the velar consonant g disappeared leaving us with the -ty suffix.Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1654566532932282562.post-86770782627927390722009-12-29T15:19:00.000-08:002009-12-29T15:23:34.595-08:00To wit, that is to say to knowThe verb know serves to express many different states of knowledge in English which other languages use multiple verbs to express. For example, the French language uses two different verbs <em>savoir</em> and <em>connaître</em> to express two different states of knowledge. <em>Savoir</em> expresses knowledge of facts and figures, whereas connaître expresses knowledge of people.<br /><br />However, this all purpose verb in English was not always as such. If we trace the verb back to Old English and Anglo-Saxon literature, we meet know in the form <em>cnawan</em> and also another verb <em>witan</em> from which is derived the words wit, nitwit, dimwit, outwit, and wise. Witan seems to assume most of the functions of know. <br /><br />For example, in the Old English translation of Apollonius of Tyre, we read:<br /><br /><em>“Nate ic hwæt he is ne hwanon he is, ac gif ðu wille witan hwæt he is, axsa hine, forðam þe gedafenað þæt þu wite (1).”<br /><br />“I don’t know who he is or where he’s from, but if you want to know who he is, ask him, since you have a right to know.”</em><br /><br />In this quotation, <em>witan</em> signifies knowledge of a person and facts about them such as where they are from. It is an interesting example of this word. An interesting study would be to look for when cnawan began to replace witan in English and finally end up surpressing it to become the modern know, but that is a study for another day, though my inclination is to say the change took place mostly in the late 1400’s and early 1500’s when wit meaning a clever or funny saying first came into currency.<br /><br />As to the origins of these two words, let us deal with them separately. <em>Cnawan</em> is related to French <em>connaître</em>, Latin <em>gnoscere</em>, and Greek <em>γιγνώσκω</em> from a Proto-Indo-European root in <em>gno-.</em><br /><br /><em>Witan</em> is more interesting. It is related to Afrikaans <em>weet</em> and Ancient Greek <em>οίδα</em>. <em>Οίδα</em> is the perfect form of <em>wίδω</em> (hence Latin <em>video</em>) meaning ‘I see.’ So to know in Ancient Greek is to have seen. This makes a lot of sense because that is really what knowledge and science is: having seen things and having made observations. The Proto-Indo-European root for this word is <em>wit/d-</em>. <br /><br />Notes<br />1. The Old English Apollonius of Tyre. ed. Peter Goolden. Oxford University Press 1958. p. 24 sect. XV 2-5.<br /><em></em>Scott Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15595532215451093087noreply@blogger.com0