'...The Doux had thrown a banquet were he had his guests wore the guise of the ancient Olympians. Argyros himself had come clad as Aphrodite, draped in a flimsy dress and wearing the make-up of a courtesan despite his long beard for he thought it a great joke to appear in such attire. He made love to a slave girl in front of his guests all the time guzzling wine and sweetmeats as he waved on the nobles and soldiers present to follow his lead.
It was the Count of Chalcedon, a well-known friend of the Emperor clad in the vestments of Janus who slipped the poison into Argyros’s goblet and fled the palace with the aid of a servant as Argyros fell to the ground clutching his throat and gasping and none knew how long it took him to die for the guests and courtesans and slaves scattered in terror. Two days later a brave servant returned to find his master dead on the floor, hands still clutching at his throat…’