Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, De administrando Imperio

12. Περί τῆς μαύρης Βουλγαρίας και τῆς Χαζαρίας

Ὅτι καί ἡ μαύρη λεγομένη Βουλγαρία δύναται τοῖς Χαζάροις πολεμεῖν.

13. Περί τῶν πλησιαζόντων ἐθνῶν τοῖς Τούρκοις

Ὅτι τοῖς Τούρκοις τά τοιαῦτα ἔθνη παράκεινται· πρός μέν τό δυτικώτερον μέρος αὐτῶν ἡ Φραγγία, πρός δέ τό βορειότερον οἱ Πατζινακῖται, καί πρός τό μεσημβρινόν μέρος ἡ μεγάλη Μοραβία, ἤτοι ἡ χώρα τοῦ Σφενδοπλόκου, ἥτις καί παντελῶς ἠφανίσθη παρά τῶν τοίτούτων Τούρκων, καί παρ’ αὐτῶν κατεσχέθη. Οἱ δέ Χρωβάτοι πρός τά ὅρη τοῖς Τούρκοις παράκεινται.

Ὅτι δύνανται καί οἱ Πατζινακῖται τοῖς Τούρκοις ἐπιτίθεσθαι καί μεγάλως πραιδεύειν καί παραβλάπτειν αὐτούς, καθώς καί ἐν τῷ περί Πατζινακιτῶν κεφαλαίῳ προείρηται.

Ἐπίστησον, υἱέ, διανοίας ὄμμα τῆς σῆς λόγοις ἐμοῖς, καί γνώθι, ἅ σοι ἐντέλλομαι, καί ἕξεις ἐν καιρῷ ὡς ἐκ πατρικῶν θησαυρῶν προφέρειν πλούτον φρονήσεως καί ἐπιδείκνυσθαι χύμα συνέσεως. Ἴσθι οὖν, ὅτι τοῖς βορείοις ἅπασι γένεσι φύσις ὥσπερ καθέστηκεν τό ἐν χρήμασι λίχνον καί ἄπληστον καί μηδέποτε κορεννύμενον, ὅθεν πάντα ἐπιζητεῖ καί πάντων ἐφίεται, καί οὔκ ἔχει τάς ἐπιθυμίας ὅρῳ περιγραφομένας, ἀλλ’ ἀεί τοῦ πλείονος ἐπιθυμεῖ, καί ἀντί μικρᾶς ὠφελείας μεγάλα κέρδη προσπορίζεσθαι βούλεται. Διό δεῖ τάς τούτων ἀκαίρους αἰτήσεις καί παρρησιαστικάς ἀξιώσεις διά λόγων πιθανῶν καί φρονίμων καί συνετῶν ἀπολογιῶν ἀνατρέπειν καί ἀποκρούεσθαι, αἵτινες,ὅσον ἀπό τῆς πείρας ἡμεῖς καταλαβεῖν ἠδυνήθημεν, ὡς ἐν τύπῳ περιλαβεῖν, τοιαῦταί τινες ἔσονται.

Εἰ ἀξιώσουσί ποτε καί αἰτήσονται εἴτε Χάζαροι, εἴτε Τούρκοι, εἴτε καί Ρώς, ἤ ἕτερόν τι ἔθνος τῶν βορείων καί Σκυθικών, οἷα πολλά : συμβαίνει, ἐκ τῶν βασιλείων ἐσθήτων ἤ στεμμάτων ἤ στολῶν ἕνεκά τινος δουλείας καί ὑπουργίας αὐτῶν ἀποσταλῆναι αὐτοῖς, οὕτως χρή σε ἀπολογήσασθαι, ὅτι· «Αἱ τοιαῦται στολαί καί τά στέμματα, ἅ παρ’ ὑμῶν καμελαύκια ὀνομάζεται, οὔτε παρά ἀνθρώπων κατεσκευάσθησαν, οὔτε ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνων τεχνῶν ἐπενοήθησαν ἤ ἐξηργάσθησαν, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἀπό παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας ἐν ἀπορρήτοις λόγοις γεγραμμένον εὑρίσκομεν, ἡνίκα ὁ Θεός βασιλέα ἐποίησεν Κωνσταντῖνον ἐκεῖνον τόν μέγαν, τόν πρῶτον Χριστιανόν βασιλεύσαντα, δι’ ἀγγέλου αὐτῷ τάς τοιαύτας στολάς ἐξαπέστειλεν καί τά στέμματα, ἅπερ ὑμεῖς καμελαύκια λέγετε, καί διωρίσατο αὐτῷ θεῖναι ταῦτα ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἁγίᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἥτις ἐπ’ ὀνόματι αὐτῆς τῆς ἐνυποστάτου σοφίας Θεοῦ Ἁγία Σοφία κατονομάζεται, καί μή καθ’ ἑκάστην αὐτά ἀμφιέννυσθαι, ἀλλ’ ὅτε δημοτελής καί μεγάλη τυγχάνῃ δεσποτική ἑορτή. Διό δή Θεοῦ προστάγματι ταῦτα ἀπέθετο, ἅτινα καί ἄνωθεν τῆς ἁγίας τραπέζης ἐν τῷ θυσίαστηρίῳ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ναοῦ ἀποκρέμαται, καί εἰς κόσμον τῆς ἐκκλησίας καθέστηκεν. Τά δέ λοιπά ἱμάτια καί σαγία βασιλικά τῆς ἱερᾶς ταύτης τραπέζης ἄνωθεν ἐπίκεινται ἐφαπλούμενα. Ἡνίκα δέ καταλάβη τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν καί Θεοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἑορτή, ἀναλαμβάνεται ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων στολῶν καί στεμμάτων τά πρός τόν καιρόν ἐπιτήδεια καί ἁρμόζοντα ὁ πατριάρχης, καί ἀποστέλλει πρός τόν βασιλέα, καί ἀμφιέννυται αὐτά ἐκεῖνος, ὡς ὑπηρέτης Θεοῦ καί διάκονος, ἐν τῇ προελεύσει καί μόνον, καί πάλιν μετά τήν χρείαν ἀντιστρέφει αὐτά πρός τήν ἐκκλησίαν, καί ἀπόκεινται ἐν αὐτῇ. Ἀλλά καί κατάρα τοῦ ἁγίου καί μεγάλου βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου ἐστίν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ ταύτῃ τραπέζῃ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας ἐγγεγραμμένη, καθώς αὐτῷ διά τοῦ ἀγγέλου ὁ Θεός διωρίσατο, ἵνα, ἐάν βουληθῇ βασιλεύς διά τινα χρείαν ἤ περίστασιν ἤ ἐπιθυμίαν ἄκαιρον ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπᾶραι καί ἤ αὐτός καταχρήσασθαι ἤ ἑτέροις χαρίσασθαι, ὡς πολέμιος καί τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσταγμάτων ἐχθρός, ἀναθεματίζεται καί τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀποκηρύττεται- εἰ δέ καί αὐτός ἕτερα ὅμοια καμεῖν βουληθῇ, ἵνα καί αὐτά ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησία ἀναλαμβάνηται, τῶν ἀρχιερέων πάντων εἰς ταῦτα παρρησιαζομένων καί τῆς συγκλήτου· καί μή ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν μήτε τόν βασιλέα, μήτε τόν πατριάρχην, μήτε ἕτερόν τινα τάς τοιαύτας ἀναλαμβάνεσθαι στολάς ἤ τά στέμματα ἀπό τῆς ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας. Καί φόβος μέγας ἐπήρτηται τοῖς βουλομένοις ἀνατρέπειν τι τῶν τοιούτων θεϊκών διατάξεων. Εἷς γάρ τις τῶν βασιλέων, Λέων ὀνόματί, ὅς καί ἀπό Χαζαρίας γυναίκα ἠγάγετο, ἀβούλῳ τόλμῃ χρησάμενος ἕν τῶν τοιούτων ἀνελάβετο στεμμάτων, δεσποτικῆς μή παρούσης  ἑορτῆς, καί δίχα γνώμης τοῦ πατριάρχου τοῦτο περιεβάλετο. Καί εὐθέως ἄνθρακα ἐπί τοῦ μετώπου ἐκβαλών καί ταῖς ἐκ τούτου ὀδύναις κατατρυχόμενος κακιγκάκως ἀπέρρηξεν τό ζῆν, καί πρό καιροῦ τόν θάνατον ἐπεσπάσατο. Καί τοῦ τοιούτου συντόμως ἐκδικηθέντος τολμήματος, ἔκτοτε τύπος ἐγένετο, ὥστε ἐν τῷ μέλλειν στέφεσθαι τόν βασιλέα πρότερον ὀμνύειν καί ἀσφαλίζεσθαι, ὅτι οὐδέν ἐναντίον τῶν προστεταγμένων καί ἐκ παλαιοῦ φυλαττομένων τολμήσει ποιήσειν ἤ ἐννοήσασθαι καί οὕτως ὑπό τοῦ πατριάρχου στέφεσθαι καί τά ἁρμόζοντα τῇ καθεστώςῃ ἑορτῇ ἐπιτελεῖν τε καί διαπράττεσθαι.»

Ὡσαύτως χρή σε καί περί τοῦ ὑγροῦ πυρός, τοῦ διά τῶν σιφώνων ἐκφερομένου μεριμνᾶν τε καί μελετᾶν, ὡς εἴπερ ποτέ τολμήσωσί τινες καί αὐτό ἐπιζητῆσαι, καθώς καί παρ’ ἡμῶν πολλάκις ἐζήτησαν, τοιούτοις αὐτούς ἔχεις ἀποκρούεσθαι καί ἀποπέμπεσθαι ρήμασιν, ὅτι· «Καί αὐτό ἀπό τοῦ <(Θεοῦ)> δι’ ἀγγέλου τῷ μεγάλῳ καί πρώτῳ βασιλεῖ Χριστιανῷ, ἁγίῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ ἐφανερώθη καί ἐδιδάχθη. Παραγγελίας δέ μεγάλας καί περί τούτου παρά τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀγγέλου ἐδέξατο, ὡς παρά πατέρων καί πάππων πιστωθέντες πληροφορούμεθα, ἵνα ἐν μόνοις τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς καί τῇ ὑπ’ αὐτῶν βασίλευομένη πόλει κατασκευάζηται, ἀλλαχοῦ δέ μηδαμῶς, μήτε εἰς ἕτερον ἔθνος τό οἱανδήποτε παραπέμπηται, μήτε διδάσκηται. Ὅθεν καί τοῖς μετ’ αὐτόν ὁ μέγας οὗτος βασιλεύς ἐξασφαλιζομένος περί τούτου ἐν τῇ ἁγιᾳ τραπέζῃ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας ἀράς ἐγγραφῆναι πεποίηκεν, ἵνα ὁ ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου πυρός εἰς ἕτερον ἔθνος δοῦναι τολμήσας μήτε Χριστιανός ὀνομάζεται, μήτε ἀξίας τινός ἤ ἀρχῆς ἀξιοῦται· ἀλλ’ εἴ τινα καί ἔχων τύχη, καί ἀπό ταύτης ἐκβάληται καί εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων ἀναθεματίζηται καί παραδειγματίζηται, εἴτε βασιλεύς, εἲτε πατριάρχης, εἲτε τις ἄλλος ὁ οἱοσοῦν ἄνθρωπος, εἲτε ἄρχων, εἲτε ἀρχόμενος τυγχάνοι ὁ τήν τοιαύτην ἐντολήν παραβαίνειν πειρώμενος. Καί προετρέψατο πάντας τούς ζῆλον καί φόβον Θεοῦ ἔχοντας, ώς κοινόν ἐχθρόν καί παραβάτην τῆς μεγάλης ταύτης ἐντολῆς, τόν τοιοῦτον ἐπιχειροῦντα ποιεῖν ἀναιρεῖν σπουδάζειν, καί ἐχθίστῳ (καί) χαλεπῷ παραπέμπεσθαι θανάτῳ. Συνέβη δέ ποτε, τῆς κακίας ἀεί χώραν εὑρισκούσης, τινά τῶν ἡμετέρων στρατηγῶν δῶρα παρά τινων ἐθνικῶν πάμπολλα εἰληφότα μεταδοῦναι αὐτοῖς ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου πυρός, καί μή ἀνεχομένου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνεκδίκητον καταλιπεῖν τήν παράβασιν, ἐν τῷ μέλλειν αὐτόν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσιέναι ἐκκλησία πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατελθόν τοῦτον κατέφαγε καί ἀνάλωσεν. Καί ἀπό τότε φόβος μέγας καί τρόμος ἐν ταῖς ἁπάντων ἐνετέθη ψυχαῖς, καί οὐκέτι οὐδείς τοῦ λοιποῦ, οὔτε βασιλεύς, οὔτε ἄρχων, οὔτε ἰδιώτης, οὔτε στρατηγός, οὔτε ὁ οἱοσοῦν ὅλως ἄνθρωπος κατετόλμησέ τι τοιοῦτον ἐνθυμηθῆναι, μήτι γε καί ἔργῳ ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιῆσαι ἤ διαπράξασθαι.»

Ἀλλ’ ἄγε δή μετάβηθι, καί πρός ἕτερον εἶδος αἰτήσεως παραλόγου καί ἀπρεποῦς εὐπρεπεῖς καί ἁρμόζοντας λόγους ἀναζήτει καί ἀναμάνθανε. Εἰ γάρ ποτε ἔθνος τι ἀπό τῶν ἀπίστων τούτων καί ἀτίμων βορείων γενῶν αἰτήσηται συμπενθεριάσαι μετά τοῦ βασιλέως Ρωμαίων καί ἡ θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ εἰς νύμφην λαβεῖν ἤ ἐπιδοῦναι οἰκείαν θυγατέρα εἰς γυναῖκα χρηματίσαι βασιλέως ἤ βασιλέως υἱοῦ, χρή σε τοιούτοις ρήμασι καί τήν τοιαύτην αὐτῶν παράλογον ἀποκρούσασθαι αἴτησιν, λέγοντα, ὅτι- «Καί περί ταύτης τῆς ὑποθέσεως παραγγελία καί διάταξις φοβερά καί ἀπαραποίητος τοῦ μεγάλου καί ἁγίου Κωνσταντίνου ἐναπογέγραπται ἐν τῇ ἱερᾷ τραπέζῃ τῆς καθολικῆς τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐκκλησίας τῆς Ἁγίας Σοφίας· τοῦ μηδεποτε βασιλέα Ρωμαίων συμπενθεριάσαι μετά ἔθνους παρηλλαγμένοις καί ξένοις ἔθεσι χρωμένου τῆς Ρωμαϊκῆς καταστάσεως, μάλιστα δέ ἀλλοπίστου καί ἀβαπτίστου, εἰ μή μετά μόνων τῶν Φράγγων· τούτους γάρ μόνους ὑπεξείλετο ὁ μέγας ἐκεῖνος ἀνήρ, Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ ἅγιος, ὅτι καί αὐτός τήν γένεσιν ἀπό τῶν τοιούτων ἔσχε μερῶν, ὡς συγγενείας καί ἐπιμιξίας πολλῆς τυγχανούσης Φράγγοις τε καί Ρωμαίοις. Καί διά τί μετά τούτων μόνων προετρέψατο συνιστᾶν γαμικά συναλλάγια τούς βασιλεῖς Ρωμαίων; Διά τήν ἄνωθεν τῶν μερῶν ἐκείνων καί γενῶν περιφάνειαν καί εὐγένειαν. Μετ’ ἄλλου δέ τοῦ οἱουδήποτε ἔθνους μή δυναμένους τοῦτο ποιεῖν, ἀλλ’ ὁ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι τολμήσας ἵνα, ὡς παραβάτης πατρικῶν εἰσηγήσεων καί βασιλείων θεσμῶν, ἀλλότριος κρίνοιτο τῶν Χριστιανῶν καταλόγων καί τῷ ἀναθέματι παραδίδοιτο. Ὁ δέ προμνημονευθείς Λέων ἐκεῖνος ὁ βασιλεύς, ὁ καί τό στέμμα, καθώς ἀνωτέρω προείρηται, παρανόμως καί τολμηρῶς ἀπό τῆς ἐκκλησίας δίχα γνώμης τοῦ τότε πατριαρχοῦντος λαβών καί περιθέμενος καί τήν δίκην συντόμως δούς ἀξίαν τῆς αὐτοῦ πονηρᾶς ἐγχειρήσεως, ἐτόλμησε καί τήν τοιαύτην ἐντολήν τοῦ ἁγίου βασιλέως ἐκείνου, ἥτις, ὡς ἤδη δεδήλωται, ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τραπέζῃ ἀναγεγραμμένη καθέστηκεν, παρά φαῦλον θέσθαι καί ὡς μηδέν λογίσασθαι, καί ὡς ἅπαξ ἔξω τοῦ θείου φόβου καί τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ πεποίηκεν ἑαυτόν, συνεστήσατο καί μετά τοῦ χαγάνου Χαζαρίας γαμικόν συναλλάγιον, καί τήν θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ εἰς γυναῖκα ἐδέξατο, καί μέγα ἐκ τούτου ὄνειδος καί τῇ Ρωμαίων ἀρχῇ καί ἑαυτῷ προσετρίψατο, ὡς τά προγονικά παραγγέλματα ἀκυρώσας καί παρ’ οὐδέν λογισάμενος· πλήν οὐδέ ὀρθόδοξος ἐκεῖνος Χριστιανός ἦν, ἀλλ’ αἱρετικός καί εἰκονομάχος. Διό χάριν τῶν τοιούτων αὐτοῦ παρανόμων ἀσεβημάτων ἐν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ διηνεκῶς ἀποκηρύττεται καί ἀναθεματίζεται, ὡς καί τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου καί μεγάλου βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου διατάξεως παραβάτης καί ἀνατροπεύς. Πῶς γάρ ἐστιν τῶν ἐνδεχομένων Χριστιανούς μετά ἀπίστων γαμικάς κοινωνίας ποιεῖν καί συμπενθεριάζειν, τοῦ κανόνος τοῦτο κωλύοντος καί τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἁπάσης ἀλλότριον αὐτό λογιζομένης καί ἔξω τῆς Χριστιανικῆς καταστάσεως; Ἤ τίς τῶν ἐγκρίτων καί εὐγενῶν καί σοφῶν βασιλέων Ρωμαίων κατεδέξατο;» Εἰ δέ ἀντείπωσιν «Πῶς ὁ κύρις Ρωμανός ὁ βασιλεύς μετά Βουλγάρων συνεπενθερίασεν, καί τήν ἰδίαν ἐκγόνην δέδωκεν τῷ κυρῷ Πέτρῳ τῷ Βουλγάρῳ;», δεῖ ἀπολογήσασθαι, ὅτι· «Ὁ κύρις Ρωμανός, ὁ βασιλεύς, ἰδιώτης καί ἀγράμματος ἄνθρωπος ἦν, καί οὔτε τῶν ἄνωθεν ἐν βασιλείοις τεθραμμένων, οὔτε τῶν παρηκολουθηκότων ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῖς Ρωμαϊκοῖς ἐθισμοῖς, οὔτε ἀπό γένους βασιλείου καί εὐγενοῦς, καί διά τοῦτο αὐθαδέστερον καί ἐξουσιαστικώτερον τά πολλά κατεπράττετο, καί ἐν τούτῳ οὔτε τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀπαγορευούσῃ ὑπήκουσεν, οὔτε τῇ ἐντολῇ καί διαταγῇ τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου κατηκολούθησεν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ γνώμης αὐθάδους καί αὐτοβούλου καί τῶν καλῶν ἀμαθοῦς καί μή βουλομένης ἕπεσθαι τῷ πρέποντι καί καλῷ, μηδέ ταῖς πατροπαραδότοις στοιχεῖν διατάξεσιν τοῦτο ποιῆσαι τετόλμηκεν, ταύτην μόνην εὔλογον δηλονότι προβαλλόμενος πρόφασιν, τοσοῦτον πλῆθος αἰχμαλώτων Χριστιανῶν διά τῆς τοιαύτης πράξεως ἀναρρύεσθαι, καί τό Χριστιανούς εἶναι καί τούς Βουλγάρους <καί> ὁμοπίστους ἡμῶν, ἄλλως τε καί ὅτι οὐδέ αὐτοκράτορος καί ἐνθέσμου βασιλέως θυγάτηρ ἡ ἐκδιδομένη ἐτύγχανεν, ἀλλά τρίτου καί ἐσχάτου καί ἔτι ὑποχειρίου καί μηδεμίαν ἐξουσίαν ἐν τοῖς τῆς ἀρχῆς μετέχοντος πράγμασι· καί οὐδέν διέφερεν τό τοιοῦτον τοῦ καί ἄλλην τινά τῶν βασιλικῶν συγγενίδων, τῶν πορρωτέρω τε καί ἐγγύς τῆς βασιλείας εὐγενείας τυγχανουσῶν, καί διά τινα κοινωφελῆ δουλείαν, καί τοῦ ἐσχάτου καί μηδέν σχεδόν ἐξουσιάζοντος. Ἐπεί ἔξω τοῦ κανόνος καί τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς παραδόσεως καί τῆς τοῦ μεγάλου καί ἁγίου βασιλέως, Κωνσταντίνου διαταγῆς τε καί ἐντολῆς τοῦτο πεποίηκεν, πολλά καί ζῶν ὠνειδίσθη ὁ προρρηθείς κύρις Ρωμανός, καί διεβλήθη καί ἐμισήθη παρά τε τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς καί τοῦ δήμου παντός καί τῆς ἐκκλησίας αὐτῆς, ὡς καί τό μῖσος ἀπό τοῦ τέλους γενέσθαι καταφανές, καί μετά θάνατον ὁμοίως ἐξουθενεῖται καί διαβάλλεται καί ὑπό καταγνώμην τίθεται καί οὗτος, ἀνάξιον πρᾶγμα καί ἀπρεπες εἰς τήν εὐγενῆ πολιτείαν Ρωμαίων καινοτομήσας.» Ἕκαστον γάρ ἔθνος διάφορα ἔχον ἔθη καί διαλλάττοντας νόμους τε καί θεσμούς ὀφείλει τά οἰκεῖα κρατύνειν καί ἀπό τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔθνους τάς πρός ἀνάκρασιν βίου κοινωνίας ποιεῖσθαι καί ἐνεργεῖν. Ὥσπερ γάρ ἕκαστον ζῶον μετά τῶν ὁμογενῶν τάς μίξεις ἐργάζεται, οὕτω καί ἕκαστον ἔθνος οὐκ ἐξ ἀλλοφύλων καί ἀλλογλώσσων, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν ὁμογενῶν τε καί ὁμοφώνων τά συνοικέσια τῶν γάμων ποιεῖσθαι καθέστηκεν δίκαιον. Ἐντεῦθεν γάρ καί ἡ πρός ἀλλήλους ὁμοφροσύνη καί συνομιλία καί προσφιλής συνδιατριβή καί συμβίωσις περιγίνεσθαι πέφυκεν τά δέ ἀλλότρια ἔθη καί διαλλάττοντα νόμιμα ἀπεχθείας μᾶλλον καί προσκρούσεις καί μίση καί στάσεις εἴωθεν ἀπο γεννᾶν, ἅπερ οὐ φιλίας καί κοινωνίας, ἀλλ’ ἔχθρας καί διαστάσεις φιλεῖ ἀπεργάζεσθαι. Καί ὅτι μή δεῖ τά κακῶς παρά τινων ἐξ ἀμαθείας ἤ αὐθαδείας καταπραχθέντα τούς ἐννόμως ἄρχειν βουλομένους μιμεῖσθαί τε καί ζηλοῦν, ἀλλά τῶν ἐννόμως καί δικαίως βεβασιλευκότων τάς ἀοιδίμους πράξεις ἔχειν, ὡς εἰκόνας ἀγαθάς εἰς παράδειγμα προκειμένας μιμήσεως, καί κατ’ ἐκείνας πειρᾶσθαι καί αὐτόν ἀπευθύνειν πάντα τά παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἐνεργούμενα, ἐπεί καί τό διά τάς τοιαύτας αὐτοβούλους πράξεις αὐτοῦ ἐπελθόν αὐτῷ τέλος, φημί δή τῷ κυρῷ Ρωμανῷ, ἱκανόν ἐστιν πρός σωφρονισμόν παράδειγμα τῷ βουλομένῳ τά κακῶς παρ’ ἐκείνου πραχθέντα ζηλοῦν.

Χρεών δέ μετά τῶν ἄλλων καί ταῦτά σε γινώσκειν, υἱέ πολυέραστε, ἅτε τῆς τούτων γνώσεως μεγάλα σοι συμβαλέσθαι δυναμένης καί θαυμαστότερον ἀποδεῖξαι. Τά δέ ἐστιν περί διαφορᾶς πάλιν ἑτέρων ἐθνῶν, γενεαλογίας τε αὐτῶν καί ἐθῶν καί βίου διαγωγῆς καί θέσεως καί κράσεως τῆς παρ’ αὐτῶν κατοικουμένης γῆς καί περιηγήσεως αὐτῆς καί σταδιασμοῦ, καθώς ἑξῆς πλατύτερον διηρμήνευται.

12. Of black Bulgaria and Chazaria. The so-called black Bulgaria can also attack the Chazars.

13. Of the nations that are neighbours to the Turks.

These nations are adjacent to the Turks: on their western side Francia; on their northern the Pechenegs;  and on the south side great Moravia, the country of Sphendoplokos, which has now been totally devastated by these Turks, and occupied by them. On the side of the mountains the Croats are adjacent to the Turks.

The Pechenegs too can attack the Turks, and plunder and harm them greatly, as has been said above in the chapter on the Pechenegs.

Fix, my son, your minds’ eye upon my words, and learn those things which I command you, and you will be able in due season as from ancestral treasures to bring forth the wealth of wisdom, and to display the abundance of wit. Know therefore that all the tribes of the north have, as it were implanted in them by nature, a ravening greed of money, never satiated, and so they demand everything and hanker after everything and have desires that know no limit or circumscription, but are always eager for more, and desirous to acquire great profits in exchange for a small service. And so these importunate demands and brazenly submitted claims must be turned back and rebutted by plausible speeches and prudent and clever excuses, which, in so far as our experience has enabled us to arrive at them, will, to speak summarily, run more or less as follows:

Should they ever require and demand, whether they be Chazars, or Turks, or again Russians, or any other nation of the northerners and Scythians, as frequently happens, that some of the imperial vesture or diadems or state robes should be sent to them in return for some service or office performed by them, then thus you shall excuse yourself: «These robes of state and the diadems, which you call ‘kamelaukia’, were not fashioned by men, nor by human arts devised or elaborated, but, as we find it written in secret stories of old history, when God made emperor the former Constantine the great, who was the first Christian emperor, He sent him these robes of state by the hand of His angel, and the diadems which you call ‘kamelaukia3, and charged him to lay them in the great and holy church of God, which, after the name of that very wisdom which is the property of God, is called St.Sophia; and not to clothe himself in them every day, but only when it is a great public festival of the Lord. And so by God’s command he laid them up, and they hang above the holy table in the sanctuary of this same church, and are for the ornament of the church. And the rest of the imperial vestments and cloaks lie spread out upon this holy table. And when a festival of our Lord and God Jesus Christ comes round, the patriarch takes up such of these robes of state and diadems as are suitable and appropriated to that occasion, and sends them to the emperor, and he wears them in the procession, and only in it, as the servant and minister of God, and after use returns them again to the church, and they are laid up in it. Moreover, there is a curse of the holy and great emperor Constantine engraved upon this holy table of the church of God, according as he was charged by God through the angel, that if an emperor for any use or occasion or unseasonable desire be minded to take of them and either himself misuse them or give them to others, he shall be anathematized as the foe and enemy of the commands of God, and shall be excommunicated from the church; moreover if he himself be minded to make others like them, these too the church of God must take, with the freely expressed approval of all the archbishops and of the senate; and it shall not be in the authority either of the emperor or of the patriarch, or of any other, to take these robes oi state or the diadems from the holy church of God. And mighty dread hangs over them who are minded to transgress any of these divine ordinances. For one of the emperors, Leo by name, who also married a wife from Chazaria out of his folly and rashness took up one of these diadems when no festival of the Lord was toward, and without the approval of the patriarch put it about his head. And straightway a carbuncle came forth upon his forehead so that m torment at the pains of it he evilly departed his evil life and ran upon death untimely. And, this rash act being summarily avenged’ thereafter a rule was made, that when he is about to be crowned the emperor must first swear and give surety that he will neither do nor conceive anything against what has been ordained and kept from ancient times, and then may he be crowned by the patriarch and perform and execute the rites appropriate to the established festival.»

Similar care and thought you must take in the matter of the liquid fire which is discharged through tubes, so that if any shall ever venture to demand this too, as they have often made demands of us also, you may rebut and dismiss them in words like these: «This too was revealed and taught y (rod through an angel to the great and holy Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and concerning this too he received great charges from the same angel, as we are assured by the faithful witness of our fathers and grandfathers that it should be manufactured among the Christians only and in the city ruled by them, and nowhere else at all, nor should it be sent nor taught to any other nation whatsoever. And so, for the confirmation of this among those who should come after him, this great emperor caused curses to be inscribed on the holy table of the church of God, that he who should dare to give of this fire to another nation should neither be called a Christian, not be held worthy of any rank or office; and if he should be the holder of any such, he should be expelled there from and be anathematized and made an example for ever and ever, whether he were emperor, or patriarch, or any other man whatever, either ruler or subject, who should seek to transgress this commandment. And he adjured all who had the zeal and fear of God to be prompt to make away with him who attempted to do this, as a common enemy and a transgressor of this great commandment, and to dismiss him to a death most hateful and cruel. And it happened once, as wickedness will still find room, that one of our military governors, who had been most heavily bribed by certain foreigners, handed over some of this fire to them; and, since God could not endure to leave unavenged this transgression, as he was about to enter the holy church of God, fire came down out of heaven and devoured and consumed him utterly. And thereafter mighty dread and terror were implanted in the hearts of all men, and never since then has anyone, whether emperor, or noble, or private citizen, or military governor, or any man of any sort whatever, ventured to think of such a thing, far less to attempt to do it or bring it to pass.»

But come, now, turn, and to meet another sort of demand, monstrous and unseemly, seemly and appropriate words discover and seek out. For if any nation of these infidel and dishonorable tribes of the north shall ever demand a marriage alliance with the emperor of the Romans, and either to take his daughter to wife, or to give a daughter of their own to be wife to the emperor or to the emperor’s son, this monstrous demand of theirs also you 3haU rebut with these words, saying: «Concerning this matter also a dread and authentic charge and ordinance of the great and holy Constantine is engraved upon the sacred table of the universal church of the Christians, St. Sophia, t never shall an emperor of the Romans ally himself in marriage with i nation of customs differing from and alien to those of the Roman order, especially with one that is infidel and unbaptized, unless it be with the Franks alone; for they alone were excepted by that great man, the holy Constantine, because he himself drew his origin from those parts; for there s much relationship and converse between Franks and Romans. And why lid he order that with them alone the emperors of the Romans should intermarry ? Because of the traditional fame and nobility of those lands and races. But with any other nation whatsoever it was not to be in their power to do this, and he who dared to do it was to be condemned as an alien from the ranks of the Christians and subject to the anathema, as a transgressor of ancestral laws and imperial ordinances. And that emperor Leo aforesaid, who also, as has been described above, unlawfully and rashly, without the consent of him who was then patriarch, took from the church the diadem and put it about his head and was summarily, punished in full for his wicked attempt, dared to make light of and to disregard this commandment also of that holy emperor, which, as has already been made clear, is engraved on the holy table; and as he had once put himself outside the fear of God and His commandments, so also he contracted an alliance in marriage with the chagan of Chazaria, and received his daughter to be his wife, and thereby attached great shame to the empire of the Romans and to himself, because he annulled and disregarded the ancestral injunctions; yet he, however, was not even an orthodox Christian, but an heretic and a destroyer of images. And so for these his unlawful impieties he is continually excommunicated and anathematized in the church of God, as a transgressor and perverted of the ordinance of God and of the holy and great emperor Constantine. For how can it be admissible that Christians should form marriage associations and ally themselves by marriage with infidels, when the canon forbids it and the whole church regards it as alien to and outside the Christian order ? Or which of the illustrious or noble or wise emperors of the Romans has admitted it?» But if they reply: «How then did the lord Romanus, the emperor, ally himself in marriage with the Bulgarians, and give his grand-daughter to the lord Peter the Bulgarian?», this must be the defence: «The lord Romanus, the emperor, was a common, illiterate fellow, and not from among those who have been bred up in the palace, and have followed the Roman national customs from the beginning; nor was he of imperial and noble stock, and for this reason in most of his actions he was too arrogant and despotic, and in this instance he neither heeded the prohibition of the church, nor followed the commandment and ordinance of the great Constantine, but out of a temper arrogant and self-willed and untaught in virtue and refusing to follow what was right and good, Qr to submit to the ordinances handed down by our fore-fathers, he dared to do this thing; offering, that is, this alone by way of specious excuse, that by this action so many Christian prisoners were ransomed, and that the Bulgarians too are Christians and of like faith with us, and that in any case she who was given in marriage was not daughter of the chief and lawful emperor, but of the third and most junior, who was still subordinate and had no share of authority in matters of government; but this was no different from giving any other of the ladies of the imperial family, whether more distantly or closely related to the imperial nobility, nor did it make any difference that she was given for some service to the commonweal, or was daughter of the most junior, who had no authority to speak of. And because he did this thing contrary to the canon and to ecclesiastical tradition and the ordinance and commandment of the great and holy emperor Constantine, the aforesaid lord Romanus was in his lifetime much abused, and was slandered and hated by the senatorial council and all the commons and the church herself, so that their hatred became abundantly clear in the end to which he came; and after his death he is in the same way vilified and slandered and condemned inasmuch as he too introduced an unworthy and unseemly innovation into the noble polity of the Romans.» For each nation has different customs and divergent laws and institutions, and should consolidate those things that are proper to it, and should form and develop out of the same nation the associations for the fusion of its life. For just as each animal mates with its own tribe, so it is right that each nation also should marry and cohabit not with those of other race and tongue but of the same tribe and speech. For hence arise naturally harmony of thought and intercourse among one another and friendly converse and living together; but alien customs and divergent laws are likely on the contrary to engender enmities and quarrels and hatreds and broils, which tend to beget not friendship and association but spite and division. Mark, too, that it is not for those who wish to govern lawfully to copy and emulate what has been ill done by some out of ignorance or arrogance, but rather to have the glorious deeds of those who have ruled lawfully and righteously as noble pictures set up for an example to be copied, and after their pattern to strive himself also to direct all that he does; since the end which came upon him, I mean, the lord Romanus, through these his headstrong acts in a sufficient warning to restrain anyone who is minded to emulate his evil deeds.

But now, with the rest, you must know also what follows, my well- loved son, since knowledge of it may greatly advantage you and render you the object of grater admiration. That is, once again, knowledge of the difference between the nations, their origins and customs and manner of life, and the position and climate of the land they dwell in, and its geographical description and measurement, as they are more and widely expounded hereafter.