was there. And when
the guards learned of the death of Gontharis, straightway many arrayed
themselves with the Armenians; for the most of them were of the
household of Areobindus. With one accord, therefore, they proclaimed the
Emperor Justinian triumphant. And the cry, coming forth from a multitude
of men, and being, therefore, an exceedingly mighty sound, was strong
enough to reach the greater part of the city. Wherefore those who were
well-disposed to the emperor leaped into the houses of the mutineers and
straightway killed them, some while enjoying sleep, others while taking
food, and still others while they were awe-struck with fear and in
terrible perplexity. And among these was Pasiphilus, but not John, for
he with some of the Vandals fled to the sanctuary. To these Artabanes
gave pledges, and making them rise from there, sent them to Byzantium,
and having thus recovered the city for the emperor, he continued to
guard it. And the murder of the tyrant took place on the thirty-sixth
day of the tyranny, in the nineteenth year of the reign of the Emperor
Justinian. [545-546 A.D.]

And Artabanes won great fame for himself from this deed among all men.
And straightway Prejecta, the wife of Areobindus, rewarded him with
great sums of money, and the emperor appointed him general of all Libya.
But not long after this Artabanes entreated the emperor to summon him to
Byzantium, and the emperor fulfilled his request. And having summoned
Artabanes, he appointed John, the brother of Pappus, sole general of
Libya. And this John, immediately upon arriving in Libya, had an
engagement with Antalas and the Moors in Byzacium, and conquering them
in battle, slew many; and he wrested from these barbarians all the
standards of Solomon, and sent them to the emperor--standards which they
had previously secured as plunder, when Solomon had been taken from the
world.[75] And the rest of the Moors he drove as far as possible from
the Roman territory. But at a later time the Leuathae came again with a
great army from the country about Tripolis to Byzacium, and united with
the forces of Antalas. And when John went to meet this army, he was
defeated in the engagement, and losing many of his men, fled to Laribus.
And then indeed the enemy, overrunning the whole country there as far as
Carthage, treated in a terrible manner those Libyans who fell in their
way. But not long afterward John collected those of the soldiers who had
survived, and dra