Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/569

 [^.D. 748- 753.] [a.d. 753- 760.] [a.d. 760- 763.] [a.d. 764 ■'] APPENDIX 547 "Sevar 5 years ; he was of the race of Dulo ; his years were tocluil'tom. " Kormisoi 17 years ; - he was of the race of Vokil ; his j-ears were segor tvirim. [Kopfitffios.} " This prince changed the race of Dulo — that is to say Vich- tun (?). ' ' Vinech [?] 7 j-ears ; he was of the race of Ukil ; his name was mjoralem (?). " Telec 3 years ; he was of the race of Ugain ; and his years were somor altem. He too was of another race, [TeXer^ilj. j " Umor 40 days ; he was of the race of Ugil ; his (years were) dilomtutom." [Ou/xapos.] Various attempts have been made to explain the Bulgarian words (which ought to be numerals, 3 but which clearly do not correspond in all cases to the Slavonic numbers) from Turkish dialects, or even from the Hungarian language, by Hil- ferding, Kunik and Radio v ; ■* but none of these attempts are convincing.^ The last three reigns cause a difficulty, when we compare them with the notices of Nicephorus (p. 69 and p. 70, ed. de Boor) and Theophanes (a.m. 6254 and 6256). There seems to be no room for a reign of 7 years between KormisoS and Telec ; it is indeed considered uncertain whether viiiech represents the name of a prince or belongs closely to the preceding vichtun. The murder of Telec hap- pened, according to Nicephorus and Theophanes, in a.d. 762 (after his defeat by Constantine V. in June of that year) ; but Theophanes relates the elevation of Telec under the same year. Then, according to the Greek historians, Sabinos, son-in-law of Kormisos, is elected prince ; he makes peace with Constantine, but is presently deposed and flies to Constantinople, Paganos (= Baian) being ele- vated in his place. We then find Umar set up bj' Sabinos, as a rival of Baian apparently, and deposed by the Bulgarians, who set up in his stead Toktu, brother of Baian, in a.d. 764 — Baian being apparently ;dead ; this is the account of Ni- cephorus. But Theophanes says nothing of Umar ; but brings Baian i Paganos) to Constantinople, where Constantine and Sabinos receive him. Both the Greek writers agree that Constantine invaded Bulgaria in this year, but Nicephorus im- plies that it was in the interests of Sabinos and Umar. Now in the Bulgarian list Sabinos and Baian do not appear. The Greek historians are far more likely to have made a mistake in regard to these events than the Bulgarian list. The confusion probably arises from the simultaneous reigns of rival princes. If Vinech was the natural successor of Kormisos, his reign, lasting seven years from the death of Kormisos, was mainly titular ; and the three years of Telec were synchronous with part of the seven j-ears of Vinech, and also ■with the reign of Baian, an usurper whom the list entirely omits. It would then turn out that Sabinos of the Greek historians corresponds to Vinech of the list. As Sabinos raised up Umar (of his own Ukil familj-) to take his place as prince in a.d. 764, the seven years of Sabinos would come to an end in that year and we should place the death of KormisoS in 758. As the years of the Bulgarian list need not all be full years, and as Tervel may have died in 719 (he was still alive in 718-19, see Theophanes, stib ann.), there is no difficulty in this supposition. "We thus get : — Kormiso?, c. a.d. 751-758. Vinech (Savinos), a.d. 758-764. Telec, A.D. 759-760 to 762. [Baian, a.d. 762 to 764.] Umar, a.d. 764. Toktu, a.d. 764. ' Mistake for 7 (Jirecek, p. 140 note). rorum Hist. Antiquiss. ii. p. 12 sqq.
 * Certainly leiem, altem, docks suggest the Turkish numerals ut, alti, dokuz.
 * Tomaschek suggested that they might be epithcta ornantia.
 * The various suggestions are put together by Jireiek apud Kuun, Relationum Hunga-