Nicephorus Bryennius

ANNO DOMINI MLXXXI NICEPHORUS BRYENNIUS NOTICE (FABRIC. Bibliotheca Graeca, tom. VI, page 543.)

Nicephorus Bryennius IV, Caesar, descendant of Nicephorus Bryennius II and husband of Anna Comnena, daughter of Emperor Alexius Comnenus, died circa A.D. 1137; regarding whose life one should consult Martin Hanckius, book I, *De rerum Byz. scriptoribus*, chap. 28. His "Material

*

TO THE MOST SERENE LADY CHRISTINA ALEXANDRA, QUEEN OF THE SWEDES, GOTHS AND VANDALS, PETRUS POSSINUS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS WISHES HAPPINESS.

I do not come alone, Most Serene Queen, to that most opulent and truly royal library of yours which you have recently deigned to open in your Roman residence. There accompanies me, of his own accord, a traveler from across the sea, a man of great value; whether he is to be commended more by nature, by fortune, or by virtue, is uncertain. But when I name him, I know you will immediately judge him worthy of admission and hospitality. This is Nicephorus Bryennius, Caesar by rank, husband by marriage to Anna Comnena, preeminent in the experience of governance and wisdom, excellent in military fortitude, distinguished by piety and religion; in short, a man so great that, among his illustrious gifts and most celebrated praises, it is deemed almost the least that he is considered the prince of the learned and eloquent men of his century. For such a man, and so great a one, to come before Your Majesty, there is a double cause. For he desires, having known you from afar through the clear trumpet-call of fame, to see and venerate you in person—a queen greater than royal dignity, in whom nature’s great and truly august clarity is surpassed by the gifts of mind, wisdom, and eloquence; and in whom, again, through the most sparkling lights of these very gifts, certain higher and far more splendid peaks of all Christian virtues, and especially of heroic religion, shine forth more beautifully. In such a light, I say, Bryennius desires to enjoy the spectacle of you, so great and so renowned. Moreover, he hopes that by your judgment, as you are present and knowing him face to face, he will resolve a domestic dispute which has long embroiled him with his most select and otherwise most beloved wife. For she complains, indeed...

with sharp words, that because of her husband’s excessive modesty it came to pass that the succession to the empire after the passing of Alexios the father fell rather to his brother John, although the latter was younger, and was born not only after her, but even after he had been designated for the empire; a right which, by the prerogative of age and the hope which she held certain from the zeal of her mother and the will of her relatives conspiring for her sake, was corrupted and betrayed by the intemperate philosophy of her husband. Against this accusation, it is hardly the case that Nicephorus’ own virtue can sufficiently defend him: seeing that the sympathies of the populace—whether through prejudice or through partisan interests—would incline rather to the ambition of a woman than to the moderation of a man. And it is not far from the truth that even the historians themselves, whose duty it was to undertake the cause of wisdom, might accuse Bryennios of sluggishness and stupidity on this account. He, however, not losing heart, feels fully confident that he will overcome this cause, however difficult and desperate it may be, with you as arbiter—you, of whom no one can doubt what your judgment will be in such a controversy, after the wonderful specimens of your wisdom, which scorns scepters, that you have already displayed to a world that applauded you long ago. And he relies so far upon the consciousness of his own merit, that he holds it certain he shall be absolved, with you as judge; though he is very far from daring to aspire to an equality with your praise. Truly, the son-in-law refrained from violently intercepting the empire, which was legitimately handed down to the son by the father: how far below your honor is this, Most Serene Queen! For you, having possessed a vast and flourishing kingdom for many years in the greatest tranquility, in the height of happiness in all things, and in the goodwill of the peoples that is born therefrom, most wisely abdicated it by the heroic resolve of a generous mind. A magnificent, illustrious, huge, and truly remarkable deed, towering far above the average! Which, however, is rendered more august and divine by the object for which it was undertaken. You had acknowledged the Catholic truth; and you had dispersed with the happy perspicacity of a divinely illuminated mind the clouds of heretical fraud that had long been diffused over the entire North. Did chains and diadems—a most tenacious kind of bond—restrain you from following the light offered to you? You, however, having collected into yourself alone the faith and piety of the three Oriental kings who once sought Christ, led by the star, while Herod vainly raged, you, queen of three peoples, having broken through all obstacles, fled to the Vicar of Christ, with heresy trampled underfoot; you did not buy the faculty of practicing the true religion dearly, at the rate of the loss of kingdoms. Hail to the rare glory of your most unusual virtue, by which you, first after the deadly defection of those regions, have raised the standard of a salutary example for the Northern dynasts. But these things are too broad to be confined within the narrow limits of an epistle. I return to Bryennios. Who, understanding that this, his return into the public light and his passage into Latium, would only then be auspicious if it were favored by the kindness of your grace, as if under the beneficial aspect of a natal star, seeks you, supplicates you, and implores your patronage. Furthermore, he rewards his interpreter (as he is a most grateful man), while he strives to bring him into your presence and insinuate him into your grace as a client most devoted to Your Majesty and most desirous of your greatness and glory; and by no means with a feigned testimony, seeing that he is one who will have faith and proof from deeds and solid services, whenever the opportunity for exerting his efforts shall call.

TO THE MOST SERENE QUEEN OF THE SWEDES, GOTHS, AND VANDALS, CHRISTINA, WHO HAS ABANDONED HER KINGDOM FOR THE SAKE OF PIETY AND HAS COME TO ROME.

Rome, look more festive, prepare the triumphs, And let new splendor contend with the ancient city: Here, the subduer of kingdoms, Bellona, seeks no triumphs, No spoils from the destruction of the world does she request. By a new art, piety conquers, for she rejects scepters, And she subdues kingdoms not by fighting, but by fleeing. Renowned daughter of ancestors, maiden, while you leave the scepters, Victorious, you grasp nobler scepters of your own; To subdue kingdoms to oneself is great, but to leave one’s own is greater; To conquer Christina, none but yourself is able.

^A Rejoice, O Rome, triumphing in virtue, do not spare your joy, And let the former honors be put to shame by the new; For neither does Ares bring grim songs of victory over conquered foes, Nor does he carry precious spoils from the slaughter of men. But reverence prevails, having trodden down the shining kingdoms; It was not battle that snatched this power, but flight; Maiden, having left the scepters of your ancestors behind, You bestow upon yourself scepters worthy of your defeat. It was glory to take a kingdom, a great wonder to leave it behind, And to conquer Christina herself was your only task.

^A Therefore, as victor you carry away a double triumph, and as conquered you are led as the spoil of your own victory. You are yourself your own palm as victor, and as conquered, your own trophy, and you are yourself a greater spoil than your kingdom. How great is the glory of the victor, if the glory of the conquered is so great? But yet, how great was it both to be conquered and to conquer? JOANNES BAPTISTA GIATTINUS, Of the Society of Jesus.

TO THE CITY OF ROME

^B O Rome, renowned house of the blessed, which all-powerful Mars gave to be the head of all cities. Who cast your high gables to the ground? Did the Gallic fury burn you with hostile fire? Did the fierce and swollen-spirited Hannibal, having come from Cannae, rush to burn your Dardanian homes with a Phoenician torch? Did a drunken Nero’s madness set secret fires beneath you, playing with the Trojan pyres for your funeral?

Not so; but the savage Goth people, aided by Mars, sent upon you flames from the icy north. Gothic spears shattered the Roman towers; the Gothic lance pierced the gates of Ausonia. Savage Alaric and the dire ferocity of Totila gave your citadels to the ashes, Rome. ^C Fortune wept from the summit of the Praenestine heights at this smoke, and grieved that she had done herself such harm. Even she, though hardened by the glacial cold, groans for the losses of the Romulean she-wolf. But lo, the Seven Plowmen [the Great Bear] bring to the seven ridges of Rome a recompense, late, but equal to the evils inflicted. The ruins of Alaric and Totila are compensated by the arrival of Christina; cease, Rome, to complain. Hail, lady of three realms, the wonder and love of all nations, to whom virtue is both companion and honor. Welcome, and to Alexander, who is preparing rest and aid for the weary, do you also bring help. PETRUS POSSINUS, Of the Society of Jesus.

PREFACE OF PETRUS POSSINUS

As if by some miracle of Hercules, ^A we restore to the widow Anna Comnena her lost and most pitiably mourned husband, Caesar Nicephorus Bryennius, while we append to her *Alexiad* (a work which we published some years ago, where she laments in the laments of a turtledove the bitter fate of her Caesar-spouse) these Commentaries of Bryennius, which are often, abundantly, and deservedly praised by Anna therein; they are also desirable to those of us who are students of the history of Alexius, on that account alone, because she has more than once professed that she drew from them her plan for writing, the nature of her subject matter, and the form and manner of her composition. However, I would not jealously usurp for myself, in this drama of an Alcestis, the role of a miraculous Hercules; for it is the character of Admetus that would better befit me in such a tale, I being a man made fortunate by another's favor.

There lives at Toulouse—and would that he might live long and most prosperously, as he deserves—the learned Antonius Dadinus Altaserra, a man who, by the prerogative of his excellent merits, was admitted beyond the standard expectations and the delays of comparisons to the judgment of that most illustrious Academy, into its most ample order of senior professors, and who is there a royal professor of both laws. Having learned from me—with whom he lived most amicably—in our frequent conversations with what desire I was held regarding the most ancient manuscript of the *Alexiad* of Anna Comnena, which, having been handed down long ago to a most noble and learned man, Petrus Faber Sanjorianus, by Jacobus Cujacius, the prince of jurists, in the hope of an edition, was still thought by many to be at Toulouse; but in whose hand or in what house it was, had been sought in vain up to that point. ^B When, I say, he became aware of this concern of mine, and, because of our friendship, became a participant in it, it happened by chance that he not only came to the knowledge of the person in whose possession that treasure was kept, but also won such favor from him that he could refuse him nothing. Therefore, having obtained for a few days the use of the codex I so longed for, he flew to me most eagerly and overwhelmed me with an entirely unexpected joy. The book was very ancient, on cotton paper, and of foreign hand; upon unrolling it immediately and most avidly, I found in it the fifteen books of the *Alexiad* of Anna entire, and in not a few places differing from the copy from which our edition had just at that time been produced. The preface, which we had taken from the Hoeschelian excerpts, was missing; but in its place it exhibited a long enough work, *anepeigraphon*, anonymous, *akephalon*; for its first leaf—which likely contained the title of the work, the name of the author, and the beginning of the proem—was not present. However, that not more than one leaf was missing was shown by the marking of the second number on the first of the leaves that remained. From this, the other pages, linked together one after another to the very end of the thick codex, had in a continuous series without any gap their numbers expressed in Saracen figures.

I anxiously asked what, in the end, those verbose prolegomena to the *Alexiad* might be. It was not long before I discovered, clearly and with certainty, that these were the very Commentaries of Caesar Nicephorus Bryennius, marked by such proper and illustrious characteristics by his wife Anna that they could be recognized at first sight without the need for a nomenclator. ^C Truly, we have it from the preface of Anna that Bryennius wrote the work at the request of Irene Augusta, the mother of Anna, in which he covered the origins of Alexius, and then of the Emperor; that the beginning of his writing was taken back even to the reign of Romanus Diogenes; from there, the narrative was brought down to the times of the Emperor Botaniates. How these all agree with this unique work of ours: first, addressed to Irene Augusta; then, bounding the beginning and end of the narrative within the exact limits which Anna designates; lastly, everywhere celebrating most studiously the gifts and virtues of Alexius, then a private citizen, later Emperor. Furthermore, the things which Anna affirms are present in the Bryennian commentaries all appear in these. Let it suffice to have demonstrated this with one or two examples. Book I, p. 9, regarding the causes which moved the elder Bryennius to aspire to the empire, she writes thus: *“Regarding the source and the manner, it is not necessary for us to recount: for the Caesar’s writing already suffices to relate the cause of the rebellion.”* This is: Hujus incepti quæ causa quæve rationes fuerint, mihi non est necesse diligentius exponere: quoniam istum nobis laborem accuratus ea de re nostri Cæsaris commentarius occupavit. These words clearly point the finger at the third book of these Commentaries. For there, from the second to the tenth section, the causes which moved Bryennius to attempt to usurp the empire are set forth most extensively. ^D A little later, Anna, mentioning briefly the same expedition of Alexius against Bryennius, and his defeat, captivity, and blinding, says that she does not think it necessary to pursue all those things more diligently. *“For,”* she says, *“if anyone wishes to learn the precision of the history, we refer them to the Caesar.”* This is: Nam fusius et subtilius ista descripta qui nosse cupierint, eos ad Cæsarem remittimus. Those words manifesty point to Book IV of these Commentaries, in which, from number 2 to 18, this whole history of the Bryennian war, and of the calamity of Bryennius, is treated most distinctly and minutely. Also, in Book X of the *Alexiad*, p. 271, regarding the battle committed by Isaac the Sebastocrator against the Turks near Antioch, Anna writes thus: *“But if anyone desires to learn the more detailed account, it will be possible to peruse the writings of the illustrious Caesar.”* Concerning which (wondrous battle) he who desires to know more distinctly has the Commentaries of the renowned Caesar to consult. The location indicated by these words exists in these our Bryennian Commentaries, Book II, number 29. Furthermore, that Bryennius is the author of this work, although the indication of a title was missing from the manuscript codex, as I said, is shown clearly enough in Book IV, number 15, where the writer, commending the elder Bryennius—that candidate for the empire—deprecates popular envy.

and the objection usually brought forward in trust of those who recount matters concerning their own affairs or the persons or families of their relatives. By this he sufficiently indicates that this man, whom Bryennius so highly praises, was either his father, as Zonaras holds, or, as Anna more truly affirms, his grandfather. Concerning this, see, if you like, our notes to numbers 12 and 13 of book iv of these commentaries.

Being abundantly persuaded by these things that these are indeed the commentaries of Caesar Bryennius, I applied my hand and mind to copying them out in haste, in view of the shortness of time allowed. In this, I employed the benevolent aid of my dearest brother and like-minded ^A collaborator, Father Claude Maltrait. For as often as inescapable necessity forced me from my pen and tablets, he would supply vicarious labor, so that no part of the space allotted for the precarious use of that codex would be wasted in idleness. Thus, in a short time, we copied out that entire work, and before the appointed day had passed, I returned the borrowed archetype codex to the most illustrious and obliging man, with due thanks and gratitude. Subsequently, there occurred a freer use of the same codex, through a remarkable and, in this place, memorable benefit from a man who deserves to be praised far beyond the ordinary manner. For Guillaume Puget, a great light of the Toulouse senate, met me a few months after what I just recounted; and he, taking that very manuscript book—which I had previously seen as if by stealth—from the hand of a servant who was assisting him, said: "I give you this codex, which I have understood to be useful and desired by you, at my own expense and as a gift, so that it may be yours by the best of rights." So great was the power of most generous humanity in that hero, who was otherwise miraculously cultivated in all virtues and excellent gifts. By this surprisingly opportune liberality of his, I had the abundance of comfort to collate the already edited *Alexiad* with that manuscript copy of his, written with an ancient hand; and from that collation, not only did I fill in all the lacunae of the edition, but I was also able to easily note on the margins of my edited book two thousand different readings. And that I may omit no gratitude for such a benevolent favor, I shall not conceal this: that most excellent man acted with such modesty toward me, in consciousness of such a great merit, that when a certain necessity fell upon him of reviewing the codex he had given, he could not bear, in my absence, to demand it back from our Toulouse college, where I had left it, without first asking me by most polite letters to grant him its brief use, with the understanding that he would restore it afterwards. Wherefore, let those see who, after the most bitter funeral that soon followed of that man worthy of immortality, wish to appear to have rightfully occupied that book among his ^B heirlooms by hereditary possession, by what right they detain a thing manifestly alien; since it was most certainly transferred into our possession by legitimate donation between the living and the testimony of the late, most blessed former owner, of which, indeed, we yield nothing.

But to return to our Bryennius, it must necessarily be confessed here that its writing in that archetype and unique codex was both very polluted with errors and interrupted by gaps that were not rare nor minor annoyances. Hence, I had to labor sufficiently in guessing the true reading by conjectures; even more so in declaring the true meaning of the writer by a reading at least tolerable in interpretation. Almost nothing, however, has been altered from that necessity, the reason for which is not made clear to the reader in the notes. But however much the labor, we consider the reward to be abundantly great: that we are publishing for public use a distinguished history, written clearly and sincerely by a witness who was in great part an eyewitness—and one of the highest dignity and authority, and regarded as one of the wisest of that age—which, we hope, will shed no small light on the affairs of the Byzantines of the Comnenian period.

TESTIMONIA VETERUM

OF CAESAR NICEPHORUS BRYENNIUS

Anna Comnena in the Preface to the *Alexiad*:

*Maritus mihi fuit legitimo ritu conjunctus Nicephorus Caesar, generis seriem ad Bryennios referens, vir et formae praestantia et consummatione prudentiae et perfectione doctrinae longe supra omnes, qui tunc erant, antecellens, miraculum prorsus oculis videntium auribusque auscultantium offerens, etc.*

Elsewhere, often in her *History*, the same Anna mentions this same Bryennius with the highest praise.

Zonaras, in Book III of his *Annals*, speaking of Alexius Augustus after the death of Constantine Porphyrogenitus—to whom the firstborn daughter of the same Alexius had been betrothed before the nuptials, and who was giving another bridegroom to his daughter—says:

*Sponsum alterum ei ascivit maximum natu filiorum Nicephori Bryennii, quem superius retulimus*

[in the attempt to usurp the empire taken and blinded.] Him, when he gave his daughter as a wife to him, he honored with the title of ^A panhypersebastos. A little after, the same Zonaras says: The power of Caesar Bryennius was great, and it was already common knowledge that everything in the palace was managed at his nod; wherefore all betook themselves to him, since he was endowed with the power of pronouncing judgment and giving sentences by the imperial authority. He himself, moreover, was devoted to the pursuit of learning. A little after this status of his affairs, the Caesar was celebrated by the tongues of all. ^B Nicetas Choniates, in the beginning of Book I, reporting the attempt of Irene Augusta in promoting her son-in-law Bryennius to the succession of the empire and excluding her son John, writes thus concerning the same Augusta: Sometimes also on occasion she would celebrate Bryennius with the highest praises, as being most eloquent and most apt for conducting affairs, and learned in the liberal arts, which inform the soul for virtue and are of the greatest aid for rightly conducting and defending an empire. The same Nicetas, having related the death of Alexius, reports a conspiracy of many who were eager to raise Bryennius to the empire, having rejected John, the son of Alexius: All attached themselves to Bryennius, and offered the empire to him, as one educated in the liberal disciplines and conspicuous for his royal appearance. ^C All (he says) attach themselves to Bryennius and concede the empire to him, as one who is in possession of logical discourses and shows forth a kingly form.

NICEPHORUS BRYENNIUS FOUR BOOKS OF HISTORIES

ARGUMENTA

PREFACE. The scope is to show that Alexius, when he took for himself the empire snatched from Botaniates, did so rightfully. The rebellion of Botaniates against Michael Ducas. The attempts of Alexius in promoting to the empire Constantine Ducas, the brother of Michael, and another Constantine Ducas, the son of Michael. The various machinations against Alexius. Being exposed to dangers from the evil intention of those who were then ruling, he increases his glory from these. He prevents the snares of the envious by seizing the empire. He calls the boy Constantine into a partnership of the empire and the hope of succession. By whose impulse this writing was undertaken, and what is its counsel and form.

Petrus Possinus' notes. "The [1661] Paris edition, MATERIA HISTORIAE AD IRENEM AUGUSTAM," says Petrus Possinus, "although we could not read it on the front of the book, as it is said, being acephalous, we have nevertheless fashioned this [title] ourselves, but from the author's locus."

ARGUMENTS OF THE HISTORIES

^A BOOK I. Manuel Comnenus on his deathbed commends his children to Augustus Basil. He ensures their excellent education. When they are adults, he provides them with public offices and wives. The eldest of them, Isaacius, becomes emperor. He wishes to transfer the empire to his brother John. Upon his refusal, he promotes Constantine Ducas and becomes a monk himself. Constantine Ducas administers the empire justly for seven years. His death, as well as that of John Comnenus, follows, leaving five sons and three daughters, who are married to Michael Taronites, Nicephorus Melissenus, and the son of Constantine Diogenes. The first military service of Manuel and Isaacius. The remarkable character of Alexius. Diogenes is raised to the empire. The beginning of the Turkish war. Origin of the Turks. The widely extended empire of the Saracens is troubled by discord. Muchumetes, ruling over the Persians, Medes, and Abritani, seeks the aid of the Turks. By their help, he defeats the Babylonians. But, wishing to move against the Indians, he is deserted by the Turks who rebel against him. Ten commanders sent against them are put to flight. Muchumetes himself is defeated by them in battle, in which he falls. The Turks are summoned into Persis. Strangolipes becomes their leader, [then] sultan. The patrician Stephanus, governor of Media, rashly provoking the Turks, is defeated. The Turks invade Media. Manuel is captured by the Turk Chrysosculus, but incites him to defect from the sultan. Manuel dies. Diogenes, having undertaken an expedition against the Turks, sends Alexius back to his mother. Diogenes, managing the war imprudently and deceived by flatterers, is defeated by the Turks and captured. John Caesar, hearing this, raises his brother's son, Michael Ducas, to the empire, after his mother Eudocia has been reduced to private status. The sultan releases Diogenes, who had been treated honorably, a free man. He occupies Amasea with an army. Andronicus defeats him in battle. Chutatarius assists Diogenes. Michael attempts peace with Diogenes in vain. Anna, mother of the Comneni, is sent into exile with her son. Andronicus defeats and captures Diogenes a second time and treats him honorably. But he is blinded by the order of Michael and dies shortly after.

^B BOOK II. The Comneni are recalled from exile. Promotion of Nicephorus to logothete. His hatred toward the Caesar, who withdraws from court. Isaacius Comnenus against the Turks. Urselius withdraws from the Roman camp with the Franks. Isaacius is defeated and captured by the Turks. Alexius’s breakout from the camp. Flight of the Roman soldiers. Alexius, saved by the counsel of Theodotus, prepares funds to ransom his brother. He finds him already freed at Ancyra. Isaacius and Alexius are besieged by the Turks in a country house. The wisdom and fortitude shown by Alexius on that occasion. The brave exploits of two Alans. The return to the city and the praises of Alexius. Urselius incurses into Roman regions. The plots of the logothete against John Caesar, whom he forces to undertake an expedition against Urselius, by whom he is surrounded and defeated—partly by the defection and partly by the flight of his own men—and is captured along with his son Andronicus, who is severely wounded. Two sons of Andronicus, given as hostages for him, attempt flight, of which only one escapes. The tutor of the other preserves the secret in the midst of the most severe punishments. The sudden death of the other son of Constantine, the Caesar. John Caesar aspires to the empire at the urging of Urselius. But he is prevented from occupying it by the Turks, whom the logothete had called to the aid of Michael, and by whom the Caesar and Urselius are captured. Urselius is released upon payment of a price. The Caesar, ransomed by Michael, becomes a monk out of fear. Urselius, again infesting the lands of the empire, is opposed by Palæologus and is defeated. Alexius, sent against Urselius, reduces him to poverty and, with the help of the Turks, captures him and pretends to blind him. He settles the sedition of the Amasenians. He recovers the fortresses occupied by the Urselians. He shows the unharmed Urselius to Doceanus. He is received by Maurex. He puts the Turks to flight. He is saved from shipwreck by the help of the Mother of God. He is kindly received by the emperor. He treats Urselius kindly. Isaacius, having been created dux of Antioch, by great artifice excludes Patriarch Aemilianus from Antioch and forces him to go to Constantinople. A sedition of the Antiochenes against Isaacius is suppressed by him, but he is soon defeated and captured by the Turks in battle.

^C BOOK III. Andronicus, son of the Caesar, is dying. The western regions are disturbed by Slavs, Scythians, Chorobatii, and Diocletians. Michael considers accepting Bryennius as his colleague in the empire. He is prevented from doing so by the Drungarius Constantine. Bryennius tames the Slavs, defeats the Illyrians in battle, clears the sea of pirates, and becomes odious to the emperor through the slanders of his enemies. Learning this, he is incensed. Basilacius, with the brother of Bryennius, stirred up by the emperor, foments riots. A hired assassin sent against Bryennius is caught. The Caesar offers the daughter of his son Andronicus as a wife to Alexius Comnenus. Although this matter was disturbed by many, it is brought to a conclusion. Bryennius, having resisted for a long time, finally usurps the empire. The bold and successful deed of Patricius Bryennius, his son. John Curopalata, sent by Bryennius with an army to Constantinople, loses the favor and devotion of the citizens because of the burning of a suburb. Constantinople is besieged while Alexius defends it. The Bryenniani break the siege and first join the defeated Scythians to themselves. Botaniates rebels, with Melissenus resisting in vain. He avoids the traps of the Turks hired against him, and having appeased them with money, he occupies Nicaea, and is there proclaimed emperor. A conspiracy is formed at Constantinople against the emperor. He, having rejected the counsels of Alexius, abdicates the empire, becomes a monk, and [is made] Metropolitan of Ephesus. Constantine, his brother, having refused the empire, submits himself to Botaniates. By whom also Alexius is received into friendship. Botaniates, at the urging of the Caesar, marries Maria, the wife of the living Michael, himself being a bigamist and already having a wife. The logothete, betrayed by Urselius, is surrendered to Botaniates, punished with exile, and killed.

^D BOOK IV. Botaniates exhausts the treasury with ill-considered prodigality. An artful and useless embassy to Bryennius. Alexius’s expedition against Bryennius. A doubtful battle in which Alexius makes up for the lack of troops with virtue and counsel. Bryennius is defeated and captured. His blinding. Another expedition of Alexius against Basilacius. Who invades Alexius's camp by night, but is defeated, flees, is besieged, and captured in chains the next day and blinded. The return of Isaacius Comnenus from Antioch and the favor he enjoys with the emperor. The rebellion of Nicephorus Melissenus, supported by the aid of the Turks. Alexius refuses the expedition against him offered to him. The eunuch John is sent in his place. He besieges Nicaea. He is forced to retreat. Danger to the army following the Turks. The outstanding virtue of George Palæologus on that occasion. His signal benefits toward the eunuch. The latter's most monstrous evil deeds toward him in return.

Petrus Possinus's Notes

PREFACE

^A 1-5 From the eastern frontier he too revolts against him, and feeling himself sufficiently confirmed, usurps the empire: repaying an ungrateful return to the Augustus Michael for the prefecture of the regions and the eastern armies, which had been bestowed upon him before, as has been said, with no common pledge of love and trust. And indeed, a faction led him into this, a conspiracy having been formed by certain wicked ringleaders: from whom, being utterly ignorant of what the force and reason of an honorable duty might be, you would expect in vain that they could ever bring into their own minds to maintain and represent entire the faith they owed to others. And the fickleness of the mob, in its own custom, accommodated itself not unwillingly to the desires of these men, indulging in novelty and rashness, neglecting reason and right; as human temperaments are usually prone to crime no less than to what is right and fair. Thus Botaniates is raised to the height of the empire; a man, indeed, previously prudent and most prompt in action, but at that time consumed by age and time, and having long ago abandoned the ambition concerning his dexterity, and having almost stripped himself of all his energy, and not sufficient for the height of the empire. When, therefore, he had grasped the scepters of the empire and had been preferred to him who was naturally entitled to it (this was the brother of Michael Doukas, Constantine Porphyrogenitus), the aforementioned Alexios Komnenos, perceiving the wrongness of the affair—how neither [is] the rightful heir to the empire justified in it, nor ^B [P. 1] does he, he too, revolt from the east against him, and having prevailed, he lays hold of the empire—the prefecture of the eastern forces having been entrusted to him, as has been said, he rendered a wicked return to the one who had entrusted it, having joined himself to certain base men who were totally ignorant of the nature of the good and had not even learned to preserve upright faith, to whom they owed it, having come to one mind and acted in concert, and the whole populace having foolishly followed their will. For in human affairs, vice is always accustomed to prevail more than virtue; and besides, the multitude is fond of rejoicing in such changes. Thus, therefore, Botaniates is raised to the height of the empire, a man who was wise in his prime and very capable with his hand, but otherwise worn out by age and time, and having long ago dissipated the ambition for the right-hand [of power], and having lost almost all his own activity, and not sufficient for the height of the empire. When, therefore, he had grasped the scepters of the empire and he who was by nature entitled to it had been pushed aside (this was the brother of Michael Doukas, Constantine the Porphyrogenitus), the aforementioned Alexios Komnenos, perceiving the absurdity of the matter, as neither is the ^C rightful heir to the empire justified in it, nor

Notes of Charles Du Fresne Du Cange

(1) The rightful heir to the empire. Although the glory of family and of deeds done with distinction, and the endowments of mind and body, seem to have made many [men] among the Byzantines to have taken a step toward obtaining supreme dignity, yet it is often to be read that men of mediocre or even the humblest lot and fortune, as I might say, offspring, were not once raised to that height, others being pushed aside to whom it was owed by right. And certainly it is not very easy to decide to whom the administration of the republic, or rather of the monarchy, is to be granted. For it was almost never bestowed by election or succession according to the laws or received custom, but rather it consisted of both ways of ruling, namely, the legitimate [method] which is perceived in the succession of inheritance, and [the one] which is conferred by the suffrages of the people or the nobles. There will perhaps be those who, with a happier conjecture, might think it should be ascribed to neither: which I would certainly approve of more: since almost always, either by military applause or by the unrefined tumult of the populace, with no regard for family or legitimate election, it is bestowed upon the more powerful or is handed over, having been usurped by them. But since the guarantee of high birth contributed not a little to obtaining the imperial diadem, it ought also to be confessed that it was of the greatest moment for the assertion ^D of the possession of the empire itself to the offspring and descendants. For although from the prescription there was no defined right for children and descendants to obtain their paternal, ancestral, or family dignity, yet it was not rashly departed from the Augustan root: which, besides, since the rest of the supreme authority remained with it, when those who had performed the fate of emperors had died, it was neither prompt nor safe to tear from the hands of the possessors. Thus we read that the Komnenoi ruled for a long time at Constantinople and Trebizond through a sufficiently long series of the family, whose lineage was considered so distinguished and illustrious that those who subsequently held the helm of the empire at Constantinople, the Augusti, adopted the name of Komnenos for themselves and associated it with their own surnames, by which they might strengthen the rights to the empire which they had sought from usurpation or elsewhere, as if by legitimate succession from the Komnenian family, of which it seemed to be the case from long possession. Since, therefore, the Constantinopolitan empire was conferred neither by consanguinity nor by election, but by a certain right mixed from both, yet it is agreed that it was of great moment for obtaining it or even for veiling the usurpation with the cloak of legitimate succession, the paternal and family inheritance. Certainly with the appearance and right of this, Alexios [strengthened] his father-in-law from the violent occupation of the scepter.

^A Since there has been some mention of the right to the empire of the one who had reigned before, his uncle Isaac Komnenos, to whom the wills of all had gravitated, and whom all had willingly brought to the axes of the empire, and had chosen to be ruled by him—so that one from his line, drawing on the sequence of his family, might consider himself more justly entitled to this—he was distressed, he complained, he envied that justice being violated, and he could no longer bear what had occurred. For even if those who at that time had happened to possess the power, while establishing their own will, cared nothing for the destruction of the Roman empire, but were carried along toward only their own healing, that man—stung in his heart and showing the nobility of his soul—could not endure to remain idle while such things were being perpetrated, nor to see the one entitled to the empire being subjected to another who was not entitled to it. How, indeed, the Komnenos conducted himself toward his brother the Doukas, ^B and of his establishing, by his own power and assistance, ^C [the one who]...

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange

Notes of Petrus Possinus

of the emperor Michael. ^A And how he [Botaniates] rushed to the throne, placing these [purple buskins] upon his feet and leading him [the emperor] into the palace; and how, as they passed through the public thoroughfares, the common people, becoming as one mouth, loudly cried out that they would not be ruled by him; and how even a child that was mentioned, being struck with dizziness at the sight of the throne and terrified in soul by the words of the people, shrank from such an intention (and he also implored the Komnenos to refrain from her and not to force this [child] any further)—these things lie in the mouths of all, and are acknowledged by the wise, and by all those who have not drunk of the draught of oblivion and are unmindful of what has occurred. ^B You know, O excellent emperor, that this Porphyrogenitus, while this kinsman of his was in control of the empire, received no kindness from him, but spent all his life as if imprisoned in a dark dungeon. Now, therefore, having hopes... And when a son was born to him by Maria of the Alans, whom he also crowned Augusta, he named him Constantine after his father... And how the Komnenos was brought to the brother of the emperor Michael the Doukas, and [how he] brought him and his son under his own power and...

Petrus Possinus's Notes

Eudocia, from whom the same Constantine had already begotten two other males before the empire, Michael, who later reigned, and Andronicus: this John Scylitzes ^B the Kouropalates clearly teaches in the Life of the same Constantine Augustus, page 818 of the Basel edition. Upon the death of Constantine, Eudocia, his wife, reigns together with their three sons, still small, for seven months, ibid. page 822. Hence Romanus Diogenes is chosen by Eudocia as husband and emperor, with the boys being relegated to a secondary rank. Yet of these, Andronicus (who seems to have been the second-born, since he is named in the second place by Scylitzes) Diogenes the same had designated as his successor on an expedition, should anything human happen to him, page 824. After Diogenes was cast down from the throne by the efforts of John the Caesar, who had been the brother of the Augustus Constantine Doukas, Michael Doukas, the eldest born brother of Constantine, assumed the empire, page 845. It is reported later by this our Caesar Nicephorus, in Book II, chapter 22, that he held his brother Constantine in suspicion throughout the whole time of his own reign and kept him under guard, where he introduces Alexius Komnenos speaking thus to Botaniates regarding Constantine, the brother of Michael: *Thou knowest, excellent emperor, that this Porphyrogenitus hath reaped no fruit of his brother's empire, nor indeed hath he been affected by any benefit from him; but rather, detained in a dark prison, he hath led an obscure and miserable life until now,* etc. By this commendation Constantine gained some favor with Botaniates, ^C and was appointed by him leader of the army sent against the Turks, as Scylitzes recounts in the *Botaniates*, page 866. This opportunity the ambitious youth greedily used, and caused himself to be proclaimed emperor by the army at Chrysopolis; but shortly after, betrayed by his own men, he was tonsured, became a monk, and was deported to an island. Later he is even said to have been made a priest. The authors Scylitzes and Zonaras in the *Botaniates*—the former page 867, the latter 232, edit. Bas.—and this was the end of this Constantine; nor is any further mention of him made in these histories of ours. But another Constantine was born to Michael Doukas from Maria Alana. Zonaras clearly teaches this in the *Michael*, page ^D ...He named him Constantine after his father, and adorned him with the royal diadem. Thus, Constantine is born to Michael, already reigning, from Maria Alana, whom he had also crowned, whence he himself is also called Porphyrogenitus. While he was still an infant, his father betrothed him to the daughter of Robert, Duke of Calabria, whom [the father] had already taken care to bring to Constantinople, and, having changed her previous name, called her Helena, as Zonaras records in sequence, and as Anna deplores at length in many places of the *Alexiad*, especially in Book II; finally, when Anna herself was born to Alexius, she was betrothed to this same boy Constantine, who was being nurtured in the hope of the empire, or rather as an associate thereof; and this marriage was severed before the nuptials by the premature death of the betrothed Constantine, as Nicephorus presently teaches; from whom we also have the betrothal of the same Constantine with Anna, of which she herself clearly makes no mention. Scylitzes confirms the same, as does the Royal Institution of Theophylact written to this very boy, so that there can be no doubt that there were two Porphyrogenitus Constantines of the Doukas line, whom not Nicephorus, the author of these commentaries, but a perfunctory and careless describer, here conflates into one. Wherefore we believe Bryennios wrote this passage as we have amended it, namely in this way: "How the Komnenos was brought to the brother of the emperor Michael the Doukas, and how he bound this very person's son to himself in power and..."

^A And the Komnenos, choosing yet again a second path, took the child and, bringing him, himself arrived to the presence of Botaneiates. He brought to the mind of this man the natural justice which had been allotted to this child, and suggested to him that he make more prudent use of the present, that he embrace the brother of the Doukas, as a brother of his lord and emperor, with greater favor, and that he bestow upon him the name of emperor, while he, Botaneiates, should guide the scepter of the empire until such time as those alive should come to an agreement, and then conveniently establish the heir to the empire, who [P. 5] was already fit for its administration, in his place. But, having fallen short of even this undertaking, he enjoyed that much from such frankness: namely, he was thought suspicious by Botaneiates, and those around him, and others, but especially by those two servants of his (this Borillos and Germanos), men bought with silver, base, and wholly ignorant of the good. These men, having set before themselves the goal of destroying the Komnenos—and thus, having stripped the Porphyrogennetos, the brother of the Doukas, of the one who was guarding him, and by his becoming easily exposed to the plotters, for there would be no one to defend him—they sent forth a decree ordering the exile of the Komnenos. ^B But the decree having fallen into the hands of the Komnenos, he himself personally brought the matter to the emperor. And he, at once blushing at the overwhelming nobility and wisdom of the man, and calling to mind many of his noble deeds, and being moved by these things, and expressing disapproval to those who had agreed to the decree, he brought the matter to naught; and at that time the affairs of the exile were idle. But Botaneiates, again being led astray by the aforementioned servants of his, once more being misled by their frequent suggestion and pressure, ^C devised a plan to gouge out the eyes of the Komnenos. He did not, however, judge it right to bring this to an end in so shameless a manner, fearing justice itself and the truth, but he began to consider another way to involve this man in evils, and sought a plausible pretext to cast the innocent into evils and remove from the midst of the truth the proof. Indeed, even when some [P. 6] matter or other fell in, needing much deliberation and hands and war... ^D

Petri Possini notæ. (d) [entries preserved]

^A requiring a display of a noble soul and bravery and peril hanging over the undertaking, the immediate resort was to the Comnenus above all others; and ^B the Comnenus alone of all was put forward to oversee such great and dangerous works. The intention of this plan was that, either the Comnenus, having been persuaded to what was enjoined upon him and having acted nobly and manfully—as was his custom—by engaging in one of such great works, would, in the midst of the blades, be struck mortally and fall in battle, because he was not being provided with forces proportionate to the task at hand; or, if he were not persuaded, and did not act in this way, nor yield to the things commanded of him, he would be justly accused, as if by right, and suffer legal punishment. Now, those who have been mentioned, Bryennius and Basilaces, men of noble birth and distinction, not bearing even themselves the installation of Botaneiates on the imperial throne—inasmuch as they knew him to be, along with themselves, a rebel against the emperor Michael, and equally responsible for the rebellion they had previously raised against Michael—maintained this same stance against him, and opposed him with a multitude of soldiers and no despicable force. And immediately, in memory of the emperor, the Comnenus is sent as a combatant and counter-general against such men, at that time holding the dignity of Mega Domestikos. And he takes the field against them, and joins them in most courageous battle; he clashes with them not once, but often, he throws his very soul into the war, and in the end he defeats his opponents, and sets up a brilliant trophy over them, and, having taken them prisoner, he leads them into the Queen of Cities and delivers them ^C to the emperor. Everyone knows these things, and they are on the lips of all, and there is no one who is of sound mind who is ignorant of these things. But since there was no reward or return for the Comnenus for these and many other great and truly manly and nobly accomplished works—but only an evil envy, and plots and fabrications against him, that evil might be returned to him for good, and that he himself might be blinded and perish, and the Porphyrogenitus be destroyed along with him—he no longer considered these things endurable. But seeing that matters for him were proceeding toward evil, and because his uncle, Isaac Comnenus, who recently and by the best of rights had reigned, had willingly conceded the empire to Constantine Ducas, and upon his death it was right for one of his sons or his family to rule,4 which happened otherwise—for he who was now seated on the imperial throne had nothing in common with the house of the Ducas. Wherefore, who would not see that the Comneni were called to the succession of the principate? Furthermore, what could have been done legitimately by ^D the rule of law seemed necessary to hasten because of the danger from the most monstrous ambushes and injustices; for otherwise the imminent danger was apparent, which, from the many things he knew were often being plotted against him in secret councils, would have met with success by his own destruction. Thus, having weighed the sum of his thoughts, he rushes out from the royal city and hastens to Adrianople; and there he finds the assembled great mass of the Roman forces...

^A hostile to Botaniates, but very devoted to himself, because they remembered that under his leadership they had performed great deeds. Wherefore they acclaim him Augustus with one voice and compel him, even against his will, to perceive that the inheritance of his uncle Isaac was falling to him by the exclusion of the Ducas family. He acquiesced at length, yet not in such a way as to wish that his own right should be intercepted from the Porphyrogenitus, who was by now more adult and of an age riper for empire. For how could such a suspicion be entertained of him, who—as the saying goes—had moved every stone to ensure that Constantine, the brother of Michael, should be placed upon the royal throne, so that in this way supreme power might remain in the Ducas family, while the son of Michael was not yet mature enough to manage affairs? ^B Indeed, what he thought about this boy, Alexius clearly demonstrated when he immediately betrothed his born daughter to him, and even then declared and admitted him as a consort of his sovereignty, bestowing upon him the red signature of letters. This was a pledge to him, beyond any doubt, of a full and complete succession of the empire preserved for him when he should one day have grown up, and [he hoped] that the public envy, which had flared up so violently against his father, would have cooled, either by the very passage of time or by the application of arts and a handling tempered appropriately to the occasions. And he would surely have accomplished what he had purposed, had not a grievous illness, attacking the Porphyrogenitus beforehand, rendered him unfit for managing the manifold and laborious business of the principate, and later removed him from human affairs, cut off by a bitter death. Moreover, when ^C Alexius Comnenus, now powerful in the empire, invaded the royal city, he did not find Botaniates himself protesting or resisting. And so he did not attempt to prepare arms or repel force with force, but recognizing the right by which the Comnenus was manifestly striving for the command, he could not persist in obstinacy, being deterred by the reproaches of his own conscience, which had long since been lashing his spirit with its silent whips and protesting deeply that Botaniates was alien to the royal lineage, and that the hereditary succession of his uncle Isaac descended in a straight line to Alexius Comnenus.

By this method, through a legitimate entry and not by rebellion or force, Alexius came to a principate due to him by a double right: because he was born of the Comnenian race and was linked by affinity to the family of the Ducae. ^D For, having taken a wife from the house of the Ducae, he mingled the two family rights and gathered and bound together the branches of the two genealogical trees into one trunk; this matter was of no small assistance for his attainment of the empire. For the name of the Ducae possessed a certain venerable authority of most ancient nobility among all, and when it was added to the old renown of the Comnenian race, it was truly of great moment for…

^A inclining the fluctuating scale of fortune and public favor toward Alexius. For if one should care to unfold the annals and strive upward toward the origins of things, he will find the race of the Doukai, as it were, bubbling up from the very first from the tribe of Constantine the Great, inasmuch as even that first *Dux*—one of those who migrated with Great Constantine from elder Rome and moved to the new one—was by blood and most genuinely akin to Great Constantine. For he was his cousin [(2)] and had been entrusted by him with the dignity of *Dux* of Constantinople. From that point, all who came from him were named Doukai. Thus, therefore, Emperor Alexius, by reclaiming the empire and being honored by it—and no less honoring it in return, as he filled both the East and the West with trophies through those many great deeds of his, as the facts themselves declare—at the very departure of his life transmits the scepter to his own John ^B, as being supported by a twofold right to rule; for not only was he a Comnenus by descent, to which family, as has been said, the empire belonged, but he also drew a portion of his lineage from the royal house of the Doukai, from whose stock his own mother had bloomed as a most noble shoot. For who indeed, after Constantine Porphyrogenitus had completed his life, could have been deemed more rightfully endowed for ruling than John? It is manifest, therefore, that that most famous among emperors, Alexius, in claiming the empire for himself, not only committed nothing unfair or reprehensible, but even, if one should rightly and prudently weigh the value of his actions, ^C he should be seen as worthy of special praise on that very account, and as having provided an example imitable by posterity for the use and common benefit of human affairs; imitating in this, he himself, those eminent men of previous memory who, seeing in a similar turn of times their natural lords struck down by popular fickleness and the stubbornness of seditious rebels, and having fallen from the ancestral possession of the principate, themselves... 14 ^D

Notes by Du Cange

From the Doukian race of the East

^A and who forbearingly bore the injuries inflicted upon them, and exerted every effort to avenge themselves upon their enemies and to be restored to the inheritance of their ancestors from which they had been cast out. But if, owing to the obstacle of circumstances, they were unable to do this, they at least used mutual violence to ensure that the disturbers of others might not remain undisturbed, nor allow them, through their own sloth, to hold the stolen property of others in tranquil enjoyment and reap a fruit of their villainy far different from what they deserved. Nor indeed would so many eminent men have joined themselves in consensus to Alexius Comnenus, acting on behalf of his and the Doukian family, had they not interpreted his purpose and resolve in the way we have explained. Otherwise, they would rather have opposed him, treating him as a rebel and someone taking up impious arms against him who was by nature their lord—for whom it was right and lawful that he should fight, and should fall down as a suppliant, and should attend him with all the duties of his station, unless he preferred to bind himself to the gravest penalties of all laws, consisting not only in fines and the confiscation of property, but in the deprivation of honors and of life itself through the most extreme tortures. ^B Nor would God, in the measure of His providence, have delayed in repaying those villainous attempts with a corresponding misfortune, much less would He have willed to save them from so many dangers and through a thousand hostile accidents and to lead them to victory unharmed, as He did. For He is surely accustomed to punish mercilessly those who transgress the natural law and to destroy and slay with atrocious torments those who set out with impious cruelty against their natural lords, since He deems those who nefariously attempt such things against princes to be sinning against Himself. That these things were accomplished not without the divine will and some peculiar promptings of God is more clearly shown by the state of the Roman Empire, which began to progress toward the better from that point, and the course of this prosperity has not yet been interrupted. For who does not see with joy and gladness that the Roman state, both in the Eastern and Western regions, is becoming better and more flourishing day by day, as affairs flow toward the whole by the singular benefit of God? ^C This signal happiness of success, what else, I ask, does it manifest but the most blameless innocence of undertakings worthy of heaven’s favor? You have enjoined upon me a task dense and, of all those I have known, the greatest in effort, O my most wise mind and intellect, ordering me to collect and digest into a single corpus of history the deeds of the great Alexius, who took the reigns of the Roman Empire in very difficult times, when the affairs of the Romans were falling to the ground and in danger of dissolving, and who completely restored them and brought them to the greatest glory. For by joining courage with prudence, and through the continuity of his actions, it is impossible to say how many trophies of the Romans he set up, in such a way that affairs... some he pursued, others he enslaved, and others he made tributary to the Romans. To collect the deeds of this man would therefore be laborious and beyond our strength; I would have declined the task, had not a Herculean force compelled me to it, persuading me to exchange a brief labor for the greatest of goods. ^D For what else could I return to him worthy of all that he has returned to me, if I were to pass over his deeds in silence, so that they might be darkened in the abyss of oblivion? And if my discourse cannot reach all of them, let no one find fault with it. For I have aimed neither at writing a history nor at weaving an encomium for him; for the keenness of Thucydides and the loud-voiced power of Demosthenes would barely have sufficed for such things. But wishing to provide some starting point for those who desire to write of his deeds, I have set out upon this present composition. To this end, therefore, let the name of this work be "Material for a History." We must, therefore, begin from here.

of the enemies of the Roman name, whose innumerable armies he partly routed and put to flight, partly captured and reduced to servitude, and partly joined to the Roman military as federates. It would be a laborious and arduous task to encompass the achievements of such a man in one work, and indeed it is beyond my own capacity. I would have refused the business, had not a certain Herculean force compelled me to undertake the burden; by an irresistible persuasion ^A it implored from me a small service, that I might repay him for so many and such great benefits by undergoing this brief labor at his request. For what else could I reasonably repay him for all the things he has bestowed upon me, if I were to pass over his achievements in silence, and by my own cessation and negligence allow them to be drowned in the abyss of oblivion and lie hidden in darkness? But if I should be unable to exhaust all things by speaking, or to equate the abundance and ornament of my language with the dignity of the subject, let no one on that account think that this writing of mine is a history to be hissed at and rejected. For I have not professed to write a history, nor have I undertaken to deliver a eulogy of him in a public assembly: for which tasks the gravity and subtle abundance of Thucydides ^B or that grand manner of Demosthenes, exaggerated with ornament and magnificence, would scarcely suffice. But I have set this goal for myself alone: that for those who, gifted with ability and talent, may wish to approach the task of composing this most beautiful history, I might suggest in these commentaries certain abridgments as a guide and an aid to memory, for which reason I wish them to be called the material of history: but now it is time to lead the beginning of the work, such as it is, from this point.

BOOK ONE

1. ^A That Manuel of the illustrious and ancient family of the Comneni, who, in the reign of Basil, was a serviceable mediator of peace between the Augustus and that Bardas Sclerus, the formidable tyrant of many years and the ravager and subverter of almost the entire East—having, by joining senile prudence with youthful fortitude, achieved so much for the common good through that embassy and negotiation that he did not seem to have undertaken the work in vain when he tried to rejoin and mend the torn limbs of the Roman empire—this Manuel, I say, had two sons, of whom the elder was named Isaac, and the younger was called John. Since they were still at a tender age, the father, seeing that a grave illness warned him of impending death, conceived the plan of commending both to the Emperor; for he was leaving them no mother at his death to care for them, as she had long since departed this life. And he carried out the matter, which he had prudently deliberated, with success. For when he had commended the boys to the special tutelage ^B and patronage of Basil, it is not easy to say with what benevolent and generous spirit that mild and wise prince, who was accustomed to honor nobility as much as was fitting, embraced the care and education of the orphans. He immediately appointed for them the best pedagogues and tutors, who were ordered to mold the character of the youths toward every virtue, and to train their tender bodies, as far as their age allowed, in the meditation and practice of military arts. Teaching them to arm themselves with haste, to put on their helmets fitly against the hostile volleys of the enemy, to brandish the spear, to ride skillfully, to shoot an arrow at the mark, and to say what is most important, to study the science of tactics—so that they might know how it is necessary to draw up a phalanx, to muster companies, to encamp at the opportune moment, to pitch a camp, and all the other things that formal tactical instruction teaches. Their place of sojourn was the monastery of the Stou-

Stoudios, assigned for two reasons: ^A first, that they might be shaped toward virtue by the examples of excellent men; and second, that they might have an easy exit from the city whenever they needed to go out for hunting or exercise.

2. When both had already reached the age of maturity, they were immediately enrolled in the imperial companies. For it was a custom among the Roman emperors to enroll ^B the children of outstanding and most noble men into their own familiar service for the sake of honor. Hence, in a short time, great honors were eagerly conferred upon them; they received the administration of provinces, the command of military forces, and even the leadership of entire armies. Since, however, wives had to be sought for these young men of age—wives whose illustrious nobility would correspond to the splendor of their own lineage—Isaac wed the eldest of the daughters of Samuel, the king of the Bulgarians, whose name was ^C Catherine. John married the daughter of Alexius Charon, to whom the emperor had entrusted affairs in Italy; he was a man outstanding in counsel and judgment, no less ready in hand and bold in spirit for undertaking any arduous task. To him, the name was owed to the proof of his bravery; for since it was often observed that whoever he struck among the enemies fell dead at once, he was called Charon from this. John, having married his daughter, Anna—who drew her maternal lineage from the Dalassenoi and those famous ^D Adriani and Theophylactoi—became the happy father of excellent children. Of these, there were five males: Manuel, Isaac, Alexius, Adrian, and Nicephorus; and three females: Maria, Eudocia, and Theodora, who survived until his death. But these things shall be discussed later. Now, let the narrative follow its path.

3. Proceeding, then, from glory to glory, both brothers maintained their harmony to the end, the younger yielding to the elder in all things, and the latter in turn bestowing upon his younger brother the honor that was due. When Isaac was raised to the sovereign's height, he honored his brother with the dignity of curopalates and declared him commander of the armies of the West—whom they formerly called domestic of the schools, but today it is the custom to call the grand domestic. Now, how Isaac seized the imperial scepter, and in what manner and for how long he governed, it would be superfluous for me to set forth. For it will be possible for those who wish to learn these things to seek them more conveniently...

from the publicly available histories of those times. John, moreover, having taken upon himself the care of the Western regions, as we have said, left behind an immortal monument to his virtue through his distinguished and most praiseworthy deeds among the Thracians, Macedonians, Illyrians, and Bulgarians, proving himself equal to both the highest and lowest, private citizens and magistrates alike, and allowing no one of any class or station to be without a share of his humanity and fairness. No one was more accessible, more moderate, or more beloved by all than he, being most prompt in doing good, and in this pursuit of deserving well of everyone, most diligent and constant. In punishing, he was slow and moved with great difficulty. There are indeed many proofs of this man’s virtue, but none more illustrious than his refusal of the empire, of which I shall speak shortly.

4. ^B While completing his third year in the empire, the brother and emperor, having crossed the strait of the Propontis, was staying in the suburbs near the small town of Onoraton, going out continuously for the hunt and exercising his body. But this exercise profited him not at all; for he was seized by a pleuritic disease, and having held out in that place for three days, since he perceived that he was not in good health, he boarded the imperial dromon and was carried to the palace. He was immediately seized by a concern to designate a successor for himself, and for this matter, he preferred his brother above all others, whom he knew to be kind and in all respects by far the most suitable for the administration of public affairs. Having been summoned, therefore, he straightway heard this exhortation from the emperor to take up the burden: "For me, indeed, dearest brother, the end of this life draws near in no obscure way; for I feel that I am being pressed toward the final exit. But it is necessary for you to take up the administration of public affairs in my place and to take the helm of the empire into your hands; for I judge this to be advantageous, not only to those related to us by blood, but to all who are under the Roman sway. Therefore, I advise you to take the diadem now, while I still breathe, and take up the administration of the commonwealth; for you know how many cast eyes of desire upon the Roman empire." ^C Upon hearing these words, he drew into himself and wrapped himself in his virtue, showing that he would sooner endure any evil or danger than sustain the administration of the commonwealth that was being urged upon him. His wife, having learned of this intention, bore the loss of such a high honor heavily and approached her husband with almost these words: "Why, I beseech you, my lord, do you draw the sword against yourself and your shared pledges, neither taking thought for us nor having pity on the immature age of these children? Do you not see that it will certainly come to pass that whoever else seizes the Roman empire will strive with all zeal and effort to destroy our entire race, thinking that only in this way will he firmly establish for himself and his own family the possession of the empire? What kind of madness is this, then, to cast ourselves and our kin headlong into most certain danger rather than to accept the office that offers itself of its own accord to everyone... ^D

^A who believes me? Do, I beg you, as quickly as possible: obey the counsels of the Emperor and your brother, and take hold of the affairs of state.

5. Having spoken these words and more—for she was a woman of singular ability both in speech and in action—when she failed to persuade him, she turned to supplication, presenting her pleas with frequent sighs and copious tears to a man who listened to all this with a dry face and an unmoved spirit. When she sufficiently perceived that he remained unconquered by any impulse and stood rigid in his hardness, despairing of the success of her persuasion, she gave herself over to silence and grief, accusing her husband much and pitying herself. Thus did John refuse the principate. But the Emperor, ^B seeing his illness intensifying and not hoping that his brother could be induced to rule, turned his eyes toward Constantine Ducas, a man adorned with many excellent gifts. Having therefore shared the matter with his brother, and acting upon his judgment, he summoned Constantine, crowned him with the diadem of the supreme principate, and thus entrusted the administration of the Roman state to him, having himself first exchanged the royal purple for the angelic habit of a monk. After these things were done, Isaac was carried to the monastery of Studium; but Ducas, having seized the reins of the empire, at once applied himself with great zeal to removing violence and greed, seeking to introduce moderation and justice into the customs and practices of the age, in which he also exerted his efforts. Perceiving, indeed, that most people were rampant everywhere with great license through acts of injustice, he diligently resolved to devote himself to the administration of law, not accepting the person in judgment ^C (as the Prophet forbids), nor turning to the right or to the left, but walking the royal road; to the unjust, he appeared severe and fierce—severing the impulses of injustice—but to those who were wronged, he was most affectionate and charming. And he did not prove ungrateful toward the man who had reigned before him; for when the latter, having undertaken the profession and attire of the monastic life and been carried to the Studite monastery, had unexpectedly begun to be relieved of his illness there—indeed, from having been previously believed to be at the point of death, he now seemed clearly to have recovered—he was always honored by Ducas with the highest esteem, with Ducas calling him lord and emperor, and not suffering him to sit except after himself whenever he used to approach him; and he used to approach him very frequently. Nor did he show honor only to him, but also to his entire house and kinsmen, his wife, his daughter, his brother, and others. But Comnenus, ^D after a year had passed since the inauguration of Constantine, departed from the living.

6. Ducas, however, having administered the Roman state according to the prescription of law and reason for seven full years, he too departed from this life; the empire was succeeded to by his consort Eudocia, with their children Michael, Andronicus, and Constantine. Not long after the death of Ducas, John Comnenus, the Curopalates, also paid the debt of nature.

^A Having ended his life, he left behind eight children, as the account has already shown: five males and three females, all of whom their mother reared well, proving them worthy of their lineage. Two of the daughters were betrothed to well-born and wealthy men while their father was still living: the elder, Maria, to Michael Taronites, and the one after her, Eudocia, to Nicephorus Melissenus, a prudent and admirable man who traced his paternal ancestry back to the Mortii. The mother later betrothed the youngest of all, Theodora, after the death of her father, to Constantine, the son of Diogenes—who was then reigning—a man who was indeed of noble birth and ready for action, but who, as later events showed, was not particularly praiseworthy in his character. But that is how matters stood regarding the regions.

As for the sons, the eldest, Manuel, had already begun to serve in the army while his father was still alive, and in imitation of the deeds that had been performed, he exerted himself to become worthy of them. ^B Isaac, who was born after him, followed in the footsteps of his elder brother. The third, Alexius, was a boy overflowing with every kind of grace; for a charm blossomed upon his face such as no one had ever beheld in another, and he was always cheerful and filled with goodness. And what could one say about him that would be able to match his eloquence with the beauties of his character and the virtues of his soul? He was a creature of every kind of natural and cultivated refinement, and like an ornament most beautiful to life, composed of two opposites; for being the keenest of all of us and the most energetic, he yet showed his soul to be so mild that he was all but immovable toward anger. Not yet having passed his youth, he pressed his mother to let him go with his brother; indeed, he followed him as he led the army and, before reaching maturity, demonstrated the marks of virtue, carrying his shield skillfully and brandishing his spear with strength and expertise, ^C and through his tongue, he was immediately on everyone's lips. But let the matters concerning him wait a little while; let the account keep to the sequence from the beginning, for in this way, by proceeding according to order, it will arrive at his own actions, having first mentioned the remaining brothers. These were Hadrian and Nicephorus, whom their mother, while they were still very young, placed under the charge of the most learned tutors and commanded that they be educated in liberal studies.

7. Now when Romanus Diogenes had seized the reins of the empire, Manuel, the eldest of the brothers, was immediately found to be acceptable to the emperor, and he was appointed by him as Protostrator. ^D No long time had passed before he was appointed supreme commander of the Eastern forces. Having crossed the Propontis, he encamped near Galatia, as the Turks had already begun to plunder the regions of the East. But who they were and whence...

from the territories of the earth they first set out for the Roman borders, and later moved against us in war, ^A I deem it necessary to recount, having begun the narrative a little further back. Their original homeland was the northern tract beyond the Tanais and the Bosphorus, not far from the Caucasian mountains. A self-governing nation from the beginning, nourished by milk, extremely populous and bellicose, it never succumbed to the yoke of any foreign power. But when the Persian empire passed to the descendants of Agar, and the Saracen dominion ^B increased to such an extent that they ruled not only over Persia, Media, Babylon, and Assyria, but were now governing even Egypt, Africa, and no small part of Europe, such a great kingdom was ruined by discord and divided into many minute principalities, as the more powerful among them invaded one another during the tumults of sedition and the furies of civil wars, which—

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange

^C Regarding the origin of the Turks and their first settlements, various writers have hitherto gathered much. It is generally agreed, on the authority of Bryennius, Scylitzes, and Zonaras, with whom Porphyrogenitus concurs, that they dwelt in the northern parts of the Caucasus mountains toward the Tanais and Bosphorus. Indeed, he relates in *De administrando imperio*, c. 3, that the Turks were neighbors to the Patzinacites; and in c. 12, the author asserts that they inhabited the province bordering on Francia to the west, the Patzinacites to the north, and Great Moravia to the south. Finally, in c. 40, he claims they were conterminous with the Chazari. And so that the regions they inhabited may be more easily understood, it should be observed from the same writer, c. 1 and 37, that the Patzinacites were a nation bordering on the Russians, and lived toward the Tauric Chersonese near the most famous rivers, the Dnieper and the Dniester. By the name of Francia are understood the regions to the north which were subject to the Franks or the German Emperors in the age of Porphyrogenitus—namely, the Poles and the nations neighboring them. Great Moravia, which is called the region of Sphendoplocus, is also mentioned by the same Porphyrogenitus, c. 12, and it seems to be the same which today is called Moldavia. Finally, the Chazari, frequent mention of whom is made by Byzantine writers, were neighbors to the Uz, the Alani, the Chersonites, the Bulgarians, and the Turks themselves. Therefore, ancient Turkey is conjectured from the aforementioned to have existed in the provinces of Lithuania which turn toward the Euxine Sea. But Scylitzes and Zonaras also teach that the Turks lived as far as the Ister in the time of Leo the Philosopher and Constantine Monomachus. Furthermore, one must be careful not to suppose that the name of the Turks was heard in Asia for the first time, or that the Turks crossed from the north into the East when Monomachus was emperor, which at first glance Bryennius, Scylitzes, and Zonaras seem to suggest. Certainly, Theodore Gaza of Thessalonica falls into this error in the treatise which he entitled *On the Antiquity of the Turks*, misled by the words of Scylitzes, or—as he calls him—Scylax, from whom he took most of the material he has in this compilation, about which author he appends this judgment, etc.

I maintain that the Turks were not summoned as auxiliaries by Muchemetes from the Hunnic or northern regions, but from that area which they inhabited in this age, beyond the Araxides river, in a province bordering on Chorosana or Persia, to which they had retreated from the North long before, as can be learned from Porphyrogenitus, c. [blank]. For when they were defeated by the Patzinacites and ejected from their own seats, one part of them went toward the West, while the other passed into Persia and there inhabited the region which, from their name, they still call Turquestana. Indeed, Aithon reports, c. [blank], that the Turks inhabited Persia long before the Persian empire was destroyed by the Saracens. But Theophylactus Simocatta also writes, lib. I, c. [blank], that they waged wars in the time of Emperor Maurice himself, when they were bordering on the Persians themselves, and imposed tribute upon them, where he has these things regarding the Oriental Turks. He treats them further, lib. II, c. 6; lib. IV, c. 10; El-Macinus, in the *History of the Arabs* under the year of Christ 701, 720, 724, 731, etc., mentions the Persian Turks who were then obeying their own kings. From which place also the same writer recounts the first origin of the Turkish sultans. He relates that Decacus, the great-grandfather of Tangrolipecis, was most pleasing to the King of the Turks, so much so that he used his counsel. From which it is evident that even in those times the Turks obeyed their own kings. Furthermore, Theophanes, describing the Arab expedition against the Turks, says that Masalmanes, brother of the Caliph Hasciam, had led an army into Turkey, and when he had reached the Caspian Gates, seized with fear, he retreated. It is certain, indeed, that the Caspian Gates are placed by Pliny and the geographers in Asia, between Media and Parthia, and therefore not far from the Oxus river, where we shall presently show the Turks to have inhabited, in the extreme borders of the Persians, where Acropolita places the Turcomans, c. 65. See Albericus, A. 1059.

^D regarding the Turcomans. The nation of the Turks, or Turcomans (for they had their origin from the same), was from the beginning northern, entirely uncultured, and having no fixed abode. For they wandered and were carried about everywhere, following the convenience of pastures, having no cities, or towns, or any permanent society anywhere. And below: Migrating, however, they carried with them all their substance, horses, flocks, and herds, menservants and maidservants, for in these consisted all their wealth, never giving any effort to agriculture, etc. Jacob of Vitry has points consistent with this, lib. I, c. 11, author of the *History of Jerusalem*, p. 1161, the author of the *Asian Expedition of Frederick* I, p. [blank], and Aithon, c. 2. The Saracen caliph Othman, who is called Vhemen in Tyrius, lib. XIX, c. 20, completely destroyed the Persian empire after the death of King Islegerda, A. Chr. 649, Theophanes, El-Macin, Aithon, Bizarrus, etc.

^A Muchumet, the son of Jambral, in the times of the Emperor Basil, while ruling over the Persians, Medes, and Abrilani, and waging war against the Indians and Babylonians, because he saw that affairs were going against him, decided that he must send an embassy to the prince of the Huns and seek an alliance from there. The embassy having been successfully dispatched, he sent along with the envoys some very rich gifts. The envoys then returned bringing allies to the number of three thousand, under two leaders, Tangrolipes and Mucalet, the son of Macael, who, having crossed the Araxes by a bridge fortified with towers on both sides, entered Persis. Mucumet, having joined [P. 22] his army with these newly arrived Turkish mercenaries, attacked Pissarius, the prince of the Babylonians, and easily routed and put him to flight. Having returned home as victor to his own lands, he prepared an expedition against the Indians, confident that he would subdue these enemies too, having now experienced the valor of the Turks. But as they refused to endure a longer campaign and wished to be sent back to their homeland, and since the guard of the bridge over the ^B Araxis (9) had been relaxed—for he pressed upon them and [resorted to] force—the Turks, fearing that they might suffer some harm in their desire for defection…

Caroli Du Fresne Du Cange notes

We hear from Bryennius, Scylitzes, and Zonaras about Persis, Chorosana, and Media; but El-Macinus, lib. III, c. 7, reports that he was the king of India, and makes him the son of Sebuctakin, not of Jambral. But it is better to listen to El-Macinus himself, as he relates the matter a little differently, discoursing more fully on the origin of the Iconian sultans, from the version of Thomas Erpenius: in the year of the Hegira 420 (A.D. 1038), the Salghucid princes began. And the first of them to be inaugurated was Muhammed Abutalib Togrulbec (called Tegralbec by Vaterius, Dogrissa by Aithon, Belphet by the Tyrian, and finally Tangrolipex by the Greeks), whose brothers were David Ghacarbec, Firus, and Arselanus; and these were the sons of Michael (Macael, according to Bryennius), son of Salghuc, son of Dacacus (or Dagacus). This Dacacus was a Turk, spirited, of good counsel and government. He was the first of them to embrace Islam (see Aithon, c. 15), and the king of the Turks used his counsel and took him to himself in his war among the Turks; but dying, he left a son, Sulghuc (Sadok, according to Aithon), already an adult, to whom the king of the Turks committed the command of his armies; but when he later feared for himself due to his cunning, he decided to kill him. When this became known to Salghuc, he fled to the king of Ghabia, Haron Sahabuddawa, and ^C sought from him aid to attack the region of the infidel Turks, from whom he helped with a numerous army. But Salghuc was killed by an infidel in battle, being then one hundred and seven years old. He left behind a son, Michael, to whom were born the children whose names we mentioned above. They dwelt in Mauranuhara (1. the region beyond the river) and many Turks obeyed this Michael, acknowledging no emperor other than him. And when it happened that Prince Mahmud, son of Sebuctakin, king of India, crossed the river Ghaihon, intending to bring aid to Wararchan, the king of Mauranuhara, he saluted King Michael, who marveled at his spirit and strenuousness, and because his family behaved with decorum toward him: and he asked him to remain with him, saying that when he returned, he would entrust him with the defense of Chorosana against enemies. But he refused this. Whereupon, angered, Mahmud threw him into chains, and on returning held him in them. Whereupon the soldiers of Michael and his family followed him, and settled on the plain of Chorosana.

Later, King Mahmud passed from life, led by repentance that he had left the Turks, the soldiers of the son of Salghuc, in his region, fearing lest they occupy his place. But upon the death of King Mahmud, son of Sebuctakin, his son Masud Abusaid, son of Mahmud, received the kingdom, who sent an army from his own ranks against the soldiers of the son of Salghuc. This army fought and routed them, with some even being captured. Hence also Michael, son of Salghuc, died, and the Salghucid Turks joined themselves to his son, Muhammed Abutalibi, surnamed Togrulbec, who, attacking the army of Masud, son of Mahmud, routed it, with some captured and some killed: and he pursued them as far as Tus, which city, having stormed it, he captured. And that was the first city that came into the power of the Salghucids: and having gathered in it, Togrulbec and his soldiers fortified it. Thence they went out to Naisabur, and took possession of it as well. But King Masud fled into India, and penetrated into his region, and remained in it for a long time, the Chorosana territory being deserted: which the Salghucids, behaving themselves gravely therein, subjugated and despoiled of its riches. When Prince Masud understood this, he returned, but the Salghucids attacked him in war, and turned him to flight. Whereupon Caiimus Biamrilla (the Baldacensian caliph) warned and exhorted them to guard the region of the Moslims. Thence Masud attacked them again, but they again turned him to a shameful flight for the second time, and the empire was stabilized for them. We thought it worthwhile to insert these things here, even if they are somewhat wordy, to illustrate what the Greek historians have to say about the origin of the Turkish Sultans. Add Petrus Texera, l. II, *Rer. Persic.*, c. 43.

(9) *Arraxidos*. The same name is given to it by Scylitzes, which is entirely different and distinct from the Araxes river of Greater Armenia, which flows into the Caspian Sea. For the Araxes, although it flows likewise into the same sea, was altogether opposite to the Arax, as one that separated Persis from the region of the Asiatic Turks, over which the Turks—who in that age inhabited the region which is still called Turquestan from their primary seat—crossed and penetrated into that province via a bridge built over it. Whence it appears that the Araxes is that river which the ancients called the Oxus, which flows into the Caspian Sea and is nearer to Persis than the other great river of the same kind, which rolls toward the north into the same sea, [called] the Iaxartes by Ptolemy, Strabo, [and] Ammianus, l. xxiii.

^A intending to wage war, the Turks, fearing to suffer some harm, moved toward apostasy. And having entered the Carbonite desert, because they did not trust that a small number could draw up against such myriads of armies, they made incursions from there, plundering and laying waste to the regions of the Saracens.

8. Muchumet, ^B indignant at what had happened, assembled an army of about twenty thousand and sent them against the Turks, placing over it ten Saracen generals who were well-known and attested for their bravery and wisdom. These men set out and hastened toward the Carbonite [desert]. But although they thought it disadvantageous to enter the desert because of the scarcity of water and lack of provisions, they encamped near the mouth of the desert and kept watch for opportunities for war. Strangolipes, ^C who was staying in the depths of the desert, as soon as he learned of the expedition undertaken against him, consulted with his own men and, having decided that it was advantageous to attack the Agarenes and Persians by night, used great speed for two days and attacked them on the third night while they were encamped carelessly and expecting no harm, and he routed them easily. From then on, having become master of very much booty and having seized many wagons and horses, he no longer hid in the Carbonite [desert], nor did he make furtive attacks like a fugitive and a robber; ^D but he openly laid claim to the open country, and those who at that time feared death due to their crimes, as well as many slaves and those who delighted in plunder, flocked to him, so that in a short time there gathered around him a force not less than fifty thousand; these were the matters concerning him. Muchumet, not bearing these events with moderation, [threatened/punished] the ten generals who had returned…

Notes by Charles Du Fresne Du Cange

of Gregoras l. 1 and others, both having set out from the west. Nor does El-Macinus depart from this opinion, who relates that at that time the Asiatic Turks inhabited a tract which Arab geographers call Mauranahar, or as Joannes Gravius renders it, Mawaradnaharam; [this is what] the geographical tables call Maurenaher, a word which denotes the region lying beyond the river, as Petrus Valerius is the author in his preface to the same writer: this province indeed was illustrated by a special commentary and described by the Arab Abulfeda Ismael. The same Vaterius judges that the nomenclature of the river should be understood as the Ghaion, or Gichon, or, as others finally express this word, Iihun, which separates Mauranahar toward the South from Chorosana, or interior Persis. Which Achamed Guerapsi F. also clearly hands down in his *History of Temir*, b. 1, n. 5, while he says that the peoples of Mauranahare, because of fear of Temir, or Tambersanus, who had invaded the province, crossed the Gichon and came into Chorosana. Therefore, Paulus Rhamnusius correctly said in his *Geography* that the Oxus is the same river which the Arabs call the Gichon, which, as Abulfeda is the author, flows for the most part from east to west. The metropolis of Mauranahara was Samerkanda, the royal residence of the sultans and of Temir himself, and that province extended to another river, which we said flows toward the north into the Caspian Sea, [called] Sichon by the Arabs, and Chezel in the geographical tables. Furthermore, where the river Ghaion or Gichon flows into the Caspian Sea, there extends the province which Abulfeda calls Chowaresma, Achamed n. and elsewhere, Chowarsam; El-Macinus and Alderisius [call it] in the 8th part, clim. 4, from whose name the Caspian Sea, which is called the Calzam sea by the same Achamed l. III, n. 11, is called the lake of Chowarazmia by Abulfeda and the aforementioned writers. But the river Gichon itself is also called Cobar or Cowar by Tyrius l. 1, c. 7. Therefore, it will be the Gichon, Gihon and Ghaion for the Arabs, who [call it] to the Greeks [text obscured]; and concerning its course and magnitude Benjamin of Tudela and Alderisius have [information] on p. 158 and 213, and Masudo or Masgudo, whom the Greek writers commonly call by the name of his father, in the year of the Hegira 432, of Christ 1040, as El-Macinus is the author.

(10) *Dυσανασχετῶν*. It happened [that there was a] battle with Masudo or Masgudo, whom the Greek writers commonly call by the name of his father, in the year of the Hegira 432, of Christ 1040, as El-Macinus is the author.

^A he put out their eyes, and threatened the soldiers who had fled from the danger that he would lead them in disgrace, clothed in women's garments, to be mocked. He himself, meanwhile, was arming and preparing to engage in the matter personally with Strangolipes.

9. Moreover, the soldiers who had been preserved from the previous battle, out of fear of the ignominy and threats ^B of Muchumet, were deserting everywhere to Strangolipes, who, relying on such a reinforcement, gathered all his forces into one, and occupied [the time] to invade Muchemet himself, to fight with him in a pitched battle, and to cast the die of the highest matter with all his might and in a decisive struggle. But he too, trusting in a most well-equipped army, which he had gathered from the Saracens, Persians, Cabiri, and Arabs—numbering some five hundred thousand—and leading with him at the same time a hundred turreted elephants, hastened to stand face to face with Strangolipes. He encountered him, then, at the place called Aspacha, and a very intense battle occurring, many fell on both sides; and Muchumet himself also fell, not pierced by an arrow from afar, nor by a spear at close quarters. But as he stood high upon his horse, urging his men to act bravely, it slipped, and he, falling with it to the ground, broke his neck and his life was taken away. When the death of their leader was discovered, the remaining multitude of Persians surrendered to Strangolipes. And so, he, being acclaimed king of Persia by the unanimous consent of all, immediately removed the garrison soldiers who were guarding the bridge of the Araxes, and called the nation of the Turks into Persia. This passage being opened freely to them by the bridge ^C of the Araxes, they eagerly made use of that opportunity and emigrated in crowds, leaving behind only a few, whom the sweetness of their native heaven and love for their fatherland kept. Nor indeed could the Persians and Saracens, when the Araxes was opened, obtain their lands or status against those streaming in everywhere, being conquered and despoiled by their new guests, so that the Turks were now clearly the masters of Persia. By the common decree of the nation, it pleased them to call Strangolipes "Sultan," which word among them signifies king of kings and emperor. He therefore took all the magistracies and prefectures from the Persians and subjected the whole of Persia to the Turks, having transferred the Persians and Saracens to his own [rule].

10. Thus indeed the Turks became neighbors to the Romans, having seized the Persian realm. But it will perhaps be no less necessary to set forth on what occasion or for what cause they began ^D to wage war against the Romans, though they were accustomed previously to dread the Roman power, and indeed to tremble at the fame and memory alone of those three emperors of whose deeds they had heard: namely, Nicephorus Phocas, John, and Basil Porphyrogenitus. For they suspected that their virtue and power still survived and flourished among the Romans. Of Strangol-

^Aipes, as the narrative has set forth, having secured the Persian kingdom and having become master of both much wealth and many armies, and having humbled the power of the Saracens, the Persians who formerly both bordered on and warred with them began, after making a truce with each other, to plot a war against the Persians ^B. But he [Togrulbec], having foreseen this, confronted Pissasyrius, the ruler of Babylon, in person; and having defeated him in various battles and slain him, he became master also of the power of the Babylonians. Against Carmesen, however, the leader of the Arabs, he sent Cutlumus, the son of his own paternal uncle, having given him a heavy force. He, having departed and engaged with the Arabs, was defeated and fled most disgracefully. Returning from there, and intending to pass through the land of the Medes, he desired to encamp near Baasum. But fearing the Romans who were at that time in possession of Media, he sent an embassy to the ruler of the region (the ruler of Media was ^C at that time Stephanus, the son of Constantine who was a *paradynasteuōn* to the then-emperor, whom they also called Lichudias, his uncle), asking that he be granted passage and promising to keep the land untouched and unharmed. But he [Stephanus], having encountered the envoys and having misunderstood their request as cowardice, gathered the local army and engaged the Turks, being himself inexperienced in war against those experienced in it. And having accomplished nothing worth speaking of, he was defeated at the very onset, and many of the Romans fell, and he himself was captured. But Cutlumus, having brought him to Brisios, sold him there, and having returned to... ^D

Caroli Du Fresne Du Cange notes

Petri Possini notes

^A regarding Brises, he himself returned to the sultan and offered an apology for the expedition, while mentioning in passing things concerning Media, saying that it was a region rich in all fruits and goods, but occupied by women—thereby obliquely stinging the cowardice of the Roman soldiers residing there. Confirmed by these words, the sultan sent an army of about twenty thousand against the Romans, having appointed as its leader his brother's son, Azan, ^B surnamed the Deaf, giving him instructions to reach Media as quickly as possible, and, if it did not surrender of its own accord, to subdue it by force. Thus the Turks began to fight with the Romans, and enticed by the success of their initial engagements, they have continued to make war upon the Romans unto this very day. But let my narrative return to the original sequence of events.

11. Manuel, as has been mentioned, having been declared by Diogenes as Curopalates and commander-in-chief of the Eastern forces, while tarrying near Chaltice, was keeping watch over the incursions of the Turks. But when it was reported to him by scouts that a multitude of Turks, led by Chrysoscules ^C of the sultan's lineage—who was aspiring to the principality of Persia, which he thought was owed to him—was attacking the villages of the Armenian frontier with the intention of ravaging them, he took up his forces and marched against the Turks. Finding them dispersed, as they were out foraging, he easily put them to flight. However, as he pursued the fugitives too eagerly toward the nearby vicinity of the Turkish camp, he encountered Turkish ambushes from previously occupied places, which then proved useful as artfully laid traps for them; he resisted and fought bravely for a long time. But when the Roman phalanx was turned to flight and dispersed, and he ^D himself could no longer hold out alone, he fled in desperation—too late—and was surrounded and captured by the Turks together with the husbands of two of his sisters, Melissenus and Taronites. A few of the remaining Romans also fell.

Being led thus to Chrysoscules, he thought it a grave matter if he did not perform some deed worthy of his lineage, and he did indeed perform a deed worthy of being recounted among the first. For, having learned that his captor had defected from the sultan and was harboring ambitious hopes of seizing the Persian principality, he decided to test the man. Having obtained the opportunity for a private conversation, he examined his mind, and when he perceived that he was oppressed by great fear because he felt himself unequal to the sultan's forces, which were soon to move against him, he began to soothe him with blandishing words. Having thus first softened the barbarian's hardness with that soothing remedy, he applied this second composition, as though it were the more effective medicine he had prepared, saying to him, "Since you are aiming at the empire of the Persians, [...] and lack the forces worthy ❐

^A of praise, you will never achieve your purpose unless you defect to the Roman emperor and gain him as your ally and partner for the task at hand." Upon hearing this, he accepted him as an advisor and guide for the journey; he wanted him to be with him and immediately set out for the Queen of Cities. Thus, he who had been victorious in arms was in turn conquered and captured by the skill of his words. This feat brought great glory to the Curopalates; and indeed it was truly worthy of praise. The emperor received them both in a friendly manner and honored them with great gifts.

12. ^B At the beginning of spring (17) he undertook a campaign against the Turks, taking Chrysoscules with him. When he had reached Bithynia, the Curopalates was seized by an ear infection and died, leaving the emperor in great mourning; for he loved the man very much. Chrysoscules came very close to dying with him. He was so overcome by his grief that he wished to yield up his own life. But while these things were happening, the mother of the Curopalates, who was staying in the Queen of Cities, having learned of her son's illness, guessed that it was something serious and difficult to treat; having crossed the strait, she quickly arrived at the metropolis of the Bithynians. Learning that her son's ^C condition was worsening, she crossed the mountain known locally as Azalas and found him in the foothills at a monastery dedicated to the Mother of God (the monastery is called Alypus), as he was on the point of death. When a cry went up upon the matron's arrival among those attending the Curopalates, the sick man was stirred; when he saw his mother coming toward him, his affection overcoming his illness, he leaped from his bed, embraced and kissed his parent, though he was able to utter only a few words, in which he begged her to arrange that he might be deemed worthy of a burial for them both together. Reclining once more, he died shortly thereafter. The noble and magnanimous mother, having duly fulfilled the pious duties owed to her son and having mourned as much as was fitting for one who had lost such a son, a soldier and a general at once, ^D after recovering somewhat from her grief, sent off the illustrious Alexius to serve as a soldier with the emperor. He said farewell to his mother and, shedding torrents of tears, was divided by two affections: maternal love and the desire for military service. For he was, if anyone was, both a lover of war and a lover of his mother. Departing, he set off on the road leading to the emperor, and indeed he caught up with him while he was encamped at Dorylaeum and gathering his army. Seeing him, the emperor was reminded of the tragic event, began to weep, and asked after his mother. Finally, he compelled him to return to his mother, saying this: that it is not right to leave her inconsolable in such a great grief, adding pain upon pain to her sorrow at his death by your long absence. Thus, the emperor spoke.

The emperor did not persuade him; for, even against his will, he arranged for him to return to his mother. He then departed, while the emperor, proceeding forward, gathered the Roman forces and made ready for war. ^A And he strove to remain and follow him against the barbarians. ^B

13. Having arrived near the lands of the Cappadocians, he called the principal commanders to an assembly and consulted as to the general conduct of the war, asking whether it were better to break into the territories of Persia and engage the Turks there, or to stay within the boundaries of his own dominion and await their arrival; for it was reported that the sultan had already emerged from Persia and was advancing with a slow and steady pace against the Romans. To those, then, who were more recklessly disposed and whose custom it was to flatter the prince, it seemed right not to wait, but to go forth and engage the sultan as he moved to enter Batana in Media. However, to the Magister Joseph Tarchaniotes, who was at that time commander of a large portion of the forces, and to the Duke of the entire West, Nicephorus Bryennius, it seemed that such counsels were utterly ruinous and erroneous. They entreated the emperor, if it were possible, to wait and draw the enemy towards himself, having fortified the surrounding cities of the Roman dominion and laid waste the plains, so that the enemy might be in want of necessities; but if not this, then at least to take Theodosiopolis and, having encamped there, await the enemy, so that the sultan, through the lack of provisions, might be forced to join battle with the Romans where it was advantageous for the Romans to fight. But they seemed to be singing to a deaf man, and the words of the flatterers prevailed. And whereas he ought to have listened to men who had demonstrated their own virtue, he paid more heed to the flatterers than to those who gave upright counsel, puffed up as he was by his previous trophies and feeling very proud on account of them. For he had captured the fortress of Mempet and had encountered bands of Turks who were plundering, and he had routed them, killing many and taking not a few prisoner. ^C Elated by these events, and having become more confident than he ought, and bringing with him a greater force and alliance than before, he set out with the entire army and marched directly against Persia and advanced toward his opponents.

14. When he had arrived near Manzikert, Basilacius met him, bringing a force—not small—from Syria and Armenia; a man who was fierce and strong in battle, and accustomed to rush with a headlong and irreversible impetus toward whatever objective he had set himself. ^D As he was eager to flatter the emperor, he gave no sensible reply when questioned. For he was being questioned by the Vestarch Leo Diabatenus

^A regarding the letter sent to the emperor, which stated that the Sultan, upon hearing of his arrival and fearing his power, had abandoned Persia and fled to Babylon. The emperor, persuaded by these reports, divided his army in two. He kept one part of his forces with him and sent another toward Chleat, placing in command of it the most great Joseph Trachaniota, a man keen both in military deliberations and in battle maneuvers, but one who at that time was most unwilling and had been urging the emperor to keep all his forces together within the boundary and not to divide the army while the enemy was encamped so nearby. Because his words did not persuade the emperor, he took the forces and hurried toward Chleat. [P. 28] ^B Chleat is a city subject to the Turks and held an adequate garrison of Turks within it. But not three days had passed before the Turks attacked those who were out gathering fodder, killing some and taking others captive. When the event was reported to the emperor, Basilakes was immediately called and questioned closely about the Turks, who those were who were making these attacks and from where in the land they had come. He, using his customary boldness once again, insisted that they had come from Chleat for the sake of plunder. Thus, the emperor remained ignorant of the Sultan’s assault, even though the Sultan was not far from the camp and was preparing his war strategy well. ^C For the Sultan, wishing to lure the emperor further forward and draw him within his snare, kept sending out advance parties. These would gallop with their horses around the Roman camp and then retreat again, as if in flight. By doing this many times, they ensnared some of the generals, the first of whom was Basilakes. For he, hastening to convince the emperor that the ones making the raids were not from the Persian army but from the inhabitants of Chleat, requested permission to go out from the camp; and drawing his sword and spurring his horse, he charged in disarray against the enemy. Those with him followed, not in order but as each happened to be. The enemy, having observed this disorderly charge, pretended to flee. But when they saw that they had driven them far from the camp, they turned their bridles, charged the straggling Romans, and defeated them soundly. ^D Many of the soldiers were killed, so that, as the saying goes, not even a messenger remained of the disaster; and Basilakes himself was captured.

15. When it was reported to the emperor that Basilakes had ridden out in disarray from the camp against the enemy, he summoned Bryennius, the Duke of all the West, who was at that time in command of the left wing, and ordered him to go out at once with his own forces, instructing him to leave as quickly as possible, so that if anything should happen to Basilakes, it would be possible to assist him or otherwise to avenge or check these importunate excursions.

^A For the emperor had already begun to perceive some sense of the evil and the danger he was in. Bryennius did as he was ordered, leading the cohorts out of the camp and advancing some distance, but he saw no one, friend or foe, across the plain; he only glimpsed Turks standing far off on certain mounds. Advancing a little further, he found the corpses of the slain, and he was anxious about what might have happened to Basilakes. Chancing upon a soldier who was still breathing, he inquired where Basilakes might be, and what was the situation regarding them. The man reported everything. Meanwhile, the Turks were running together from every direction [P. 29] and attempting to encircle the phalanx. Perceiving this, the commander encouraged the soldiers to prove themselves brave men, and not to do anything unworthy of the Roman nobility. Turning the phalanx, he withdrew in good order towards the camp, paying no heed to those who were attacking. As he came very close to the camp, he took a portion of the phalanx and, ordering the others to wait, suddenly charged against the attackers and easily put them to flight. But when he saw the rest of them gathering together in a throng, he took his own men and ^B returned to the phalanx. Since the Turks were pressing upon him and surrounding him, he was wounded in the chest by a spear-point and in the back by two arrows. Having struggled heroically, he saved himself by reaching the phalanx, and together with it he gained the camp. Having gone to the emperor and recounted what had happened, he was ordered to remain in his tent and treat his wounds.

16. At that time he stayed by the tent; but when the day had already dawned and the sun was crossing the horizon, he was soon summoned back by the emperor. He went, making light of his wounds. When the council was proposed—whether to march in and fight, or to keep the forces inside the ramparts—it seemed to the wise that it was best to remain in the camp and quickly summon back the forces that had been rashly sent toward Chleat. ^C But whether the flatterers—if they were indeed wise in reality, or were merely serving the known will of the ruler against their own judgment—I cannot say, yet the contrary opinion prevailed, and the very worst plan was adopted: to lead the armies out to battle. The Turks were not lacking, but rather attacked in an even more equipped and numerous battle line, and a clash ensued. Many of the Turks fell, but so too did many of the Romans. Bryennius himself was wounded in many parts of the body, yet being expert in military matters, he saved the greater part of the phalanx unharmed. Seeing the Turks coming against him, the emperor himself led out his forces as if for battle and drew up a line before the ramparts. ^D The right wing was led by Alyattes, a man who was a Cappadocian and known to the emperor; the left by himself.

the emperor regulated the center of the phalanx; the care of the rear guard was entrusted to the Caesar's son, the president Andronicus, who held the ranks of the companions ^C and of the commanders—a man of illustrious lineage and gifted with every virtue. For he was superior in judgment to all his peers, and as brave as any other, and nurtured in the exercises of military strategy, yet he was not very kindly disposed toward the emperor.

17. Moreover, when the Turks saw the emperor advancing against them and already holding the interior of the empire, and having progressed further inward, they met him with a strong hand, yet lacking divine favor. They fought on both sides most bitterly, with forces nearly equal, but with greater hatred, such as the pain of sacrilege and the zeal for the faith are wont to suggest. What more is there to say? The Christian army falls, the ranks of the faithful are slaughtered, the blood of those redeemed by Christ's blood is poured out by the impious, and, what is more miserable, the emperor is captured. The remnant of the army that had escaped returns, announcing the confusion that had occurred. Those who heard this were dismayed, giving themselves over to grievous lamentations, and despairing of life and safety. In the meantime, the infidel man, but a magnificent one, elated by such a success and made loftier by the victory achieved, ordered the emperor to be brought before him, and in insult to the Christian name and faith, sitting upon the royal throne, he commanded him to be laid beneath his feet, and as a stool, as he ascended and descended before the assembled princes, he used the imperial body. At length, for such service, he restored him to liberty and permitted him to depart with a few of his magnates who had been captured with him. When the princes of the empire heard this, they appointed another to govern them, deeming it unworthy that he who had endured such indignities in his own person should act in the scepter and fulfill the Augustan dignity. Moreover, they barely permitted him to live a private life, deprived of his eyes and treated ignominiously. What Tyrius says in this place regarding the body of Diogenes being used as a stool for the sultan, Scylitzes also records, who writes that this was wont to be done by these barbarians, namely the princes: "He leaped up in a frenzy from the throne and stood upright. For having trampled upon him as he fell before his feet, as was the custom," etc. Famous are the accounts the writers have concerning Temir. Furthermore, the Latin writers Ordericus Vitalis in books V and VI, Albericus in the year 1059, Aithonus in chapter 15, and Sanutus in book III, part 3, chapter 8, have touched upon this history of the Diogenian disaster, but above all William of Apulia in book II of the *De Rebus Normannicis* has described in no slight verse this entire fortune of Romanus Diogenes, his various successes, the slaughters inflicted upon the Greeks by the Turks under his reign, and finally the disastrous end of the illustrious man. From this verse, we present these things—even if they are rather lengthy—the more willingly because that writer was nearly contemporary with the emperor Alexius, and therefore closer to the times of Romanus Diogenes, and otherwise does not appear common to everyone everywhere.

Meanwhile, Michael was ruling the rights of the Roman Empire with his brother, who was named Constantine, whose domination was pernicious to the Greeks, because they always neglected wars to follow leisure, and base sloth had stained those ensnared by the deceits of luxury. In their times, the terrified race of Christians, who inhabited the delightful regions of Romania, fled the Turks who had entered from the shores of the East.

^A They did not remain to draw up their army in phalanxes or companies, for they did not wish to come to hand-to-hand combat with the Romans. But the Sultan, positioning himself some distance away, made preparations for war, and having handed over the majority of his forces to a certain eunuch of his, a man of the greatest influence with him, by the name of Taranges, he declared him commander of the war. He, having divided the army into many parts, began to make diversions and lay ambushes, and ordered them to circle the Roman ranks and use their arrows from every side. The Romans, seeing their horses being struck, were forced to follow them. And they did indeed follow, as those men feigned flight. Falling into the companies and the ambushes, they were greatly harmed.

The Emperor, wishing to face the danger for the sake of all, followed at a walking pace, expecting to find the phalanx of the Turks so as to join battle with it and thus have the outcome of the war decided; but the Turks were scattering in all directions. ^B Having returned with great violence and shouts, they attacked the Romans and put the right wing to flight. Immediately those in the rearguard also retreated, and the Turks, surrounding the Emperor, shot at him from every side. As the left wing rushed forward to aid him, the Turks prevented them; for by appearing at their rear and surrounding them, they forced them to flee. The Emperor, left entirely bereft of aid, drew his sword against the enemies and slew many, and forced some to flee. But being surrounded by the multitude of the enemy, he was wounded in the hand, and having been recognized by them for who he was, he was encircled on all sides. His horse was shot, and having slipped, it fell, bringing its rider down with it. In this way, the Emperor of the Romans was taken prisoner of war and led away in chains to the Sultan—I do not know by what reasoning Divine Providence ordained this. A not insignificant portion of the other commanders was also captured. As for the rest, some were ^C the work of the sword.

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange

The greatest part of these fell, slaughtered by the impious swords of the Turks, and the whole population, subjugated to them, fled, paying tribute. Against us, however, no sloth of the rulers sent knights, wherefore, by decree of the senate, Eudokia, mother of them all, was wedded to that distinguished Roman knight, a heart loving her husband more than his birth. Diogenes was his surname, because of his forked beard. Taking on the rule and every concern of war, he chose to enter an untroubled life for his stepsons, prepared to stand against the Persians who were ravaging wretched Argos. He was experienced in war against them with varied outcomes: often did he as victor put the Persians to flight in battle, often did each people fight with equal fortune. Finally, while he himself was directing his comrades in the defense of cities, whose service had passed over to him, his reputation for integrity confirmed everywhere, he remained in the camp with a few of the best men. Driven by the hope of breaking the camp, the multitude of the Persians with their king suddenly hemmed him in; they engaged in immense battles while they eagerly sought to capture the imperial camp, but, repulsed in the first and second ^D attack, they withdrew. Finally, the Roman [army], anxious and despairing of holding the camp, more concerned for the lives of its men than for itself, seeing them heavily exhausted by war and hunger, commanded that whatever solid assets were in the camp, and every precious garment and all vessels of gold or silver, be scattered in the camp: so that if it happened that the Turks broke into the camp, they would cease from harming the Greeks at the sight of these. The gathered money, unwillingly, serves the fugitives; the Greeks are forced to spend a sleepless night. At the arrival of the day, that innumerable multitude of Persians came, surrounding the camp on every side: darts fly from everywhere, a hail of arrows covered the whole sky; not able to endure this, the Argives, the Turks burst in, the entire fortification is broken, but the Persians, intent on plunder more than on striking the soldiers, allow many to escape. By the mark of the eagle (which, more than all weapons, shone conspicuously upon his gilded breastplate), the lord of the Greeks was recognized, cutting down enemy spears with his sword, and ceasing not to defend himself. By chance, a flying arrow wounded his unwary limbs: thus finally he is captured with a portion of his men.

And the entire camp was taken, along with the emperor’s tent and his wealth and the most beautiful of the imperial insignia, among which was that highly celebrated pearl which they called "the orphan." Those who survived the battle were dispersed, each of them hastening to reach their own home.

^B 18. Not many days had passed, and one of those who had fled the battle arrived at Constantinople, being the first to bring the news of the bitter event, though he hardly gained belief; yet immediately a second, a third, and a fourth followed to confirm it. Their reports were varied and not coherent, as each related different things that they had presumably seen and felt, though they agreed in the single point of the great defeat that had been sustained. But to those who compared the individual accounts, the sequence of the misfortune became clear, and the various narrators seemed to interpret each other and to concur without difficulty into a single, consistent narrative: for one, by way of example, said the emperor had been killed, another that he was captured, and still another that he had seen him wounded and thrown to the ground. Finally, others affirmed with eyewitness testimony that they had been present and seen the emperor being led away into the enemy's camp by the victors themselves. ^C This situation presented the empress with a difficult matter for deliberation. The Caesar was immediately summoned from Bithynia, where he had been residing and indulging in hunting, as he was under suspicion by the emperor. While he was still on his journey, the Augusta convened an assembly of the nobles at the city to inquire what needed to be done. The consensus of all was that, for the present, less concern should be shown for the emperor, and there was no need to investigate anxiously whether he was dead or merely a captive; rather, the sole concern of the Augusta should be to secure the empire as best as possible for herself and her children. While this deliberation was still pending, the Caesar arrived, and when asked for his opinion, he did not hesitate to counsel that the leadership should be held in common by mother and son, and he greatly urged that Eudocia be proclaimed empress along with Michael, her firstborn, so that Michael might call his parent "Augusta," while she, for her part, would administer the state in common with her son. Michael agreed to his uncle’s advice, ^D and the matter was thus arranged, however much those who sought their own gain—hoping they might divert the public fortune to the profitable ends of private interests if the supreme power resided in a single head—might cause trouble. For some of them were inciting Eudocia to claim the empire for herself alone, while others, conversely, were arming Michael against his mother.

19. Now this wave had not yet subsided when another arose and raged more fiercely. For when the leader of the Persians saw the emperor of the Romans as his captive, he was not puffed up with insolence by such a success, but, as if he thought he had found an opportunity to demonstrate his own virtue now that he was so exalted by fortune, he used his victory much more moderately than anyone could have ever hoped. For he comforted the captive, shared his table, released such of the prisoners as he had wished, and finally [translated fragment concludes here]

^A restored him to liberty as well, having first bound him by a solemn treaty of friendship, with the terms duly written down, and having exacted from him, by the intervention of an oath, promises in no way unworthy of the Roman majesty. For had he demanded anything else, the Emperor was prepared to die rather than accept anything dishonorable or stoop to conditions unworthy either of the Roman name or his own nobility. He then sent him back to his empire, equipped with an escort and bodyguard as ornate and magnificent as possible. This affair was the beginning and cause of great evils. For the Emperor, having unexpectedly obtained his former liberty much more easily than he could have ever hoped, thought that he would recover the power over the Roman empire which he had previously held without any difficulty. Therefore, he himself, as the messenger of his own prosperity, sent letters written in his own hand to the Empress, in which he indicated how great a happiness had suddenly succeeded his misfortune. From this, a tumult immediately arose and a gathering in the palace, some marvelling at what had happened, others refusing to believe the account. The Empress herself, uncertain in spirit and bereft of counsel, having called together those she knew to be loyal to her, anxiously deliberated on what she should do, and could not find an outcome for her perplexed reasoning.

^B 20. But Caesar, believing that the situation would be secured more certainly by action than by deliberation, and fearing that if Diogenes regained the empire, the position of his brother's sons would be endangered, immediately attached to himself the guards of the royal palace, who had been accustomed by an unusual custom to be entrusted with the faith formerly proven toward the emperors. This race had migrated from a barbarian island situated far away in the Ocean, ^C and had been faithful to the Roman emperors from the beginning; they were all shield-bearers and carried a certain axe hanging from their shoulders. Having divided their body into two parts, he ordered some to follow his sons and go where they led, and to do what they ordered; the others he took to be led by himself, wherever he judged it expedient for his intended enterprise. ^D Andronicus and Constantine (for so both sons of Caesar were named), having surrounded the Emperor and formed a circle around him, quickly led him to the upper part of the palace, and there, with the sons of Caesar leading the acclamation, Michael was hailed as Emperor. But those who were with the Caesar himself, beating their shields all together and shouting with a barbarian cry, and clashing their swords against one another around…

the pavilion of the Augusta, gathered there, making a terrifying noise. Hearing this tumult and clamor, she was no longer able to remain calm, but tore the veil from her head and rushed into an inaccessible apartment that resembled a cave. And she had hidden herself in this den, while soldiers surrounded the entrance, howling and striking the greatest fear into her. She would have died of fright in a moment, had not the Caesar entered and dispelled much of her fear. He advised her to leave the palace, lest she suffer some irreparable harm at the hands of the guards. She obeyed him and descended toward the sea, and having entered the imperial dromon, departed for where she had been condemned to live—to that place, indeed, which she herself had founded and dedicated to the Theotokos at the Stenos by the sea. Not much time had passed when a second decree was issued against her, that she should transition to the monastic life. And this, too, was immediately carried into effect. Thus was the decision made regarding the empress by the masters of the new regime. ^B

21. But Emperor Diogenes, having been released from captivity, considered it a terrible thing if he did not again seize power. And indeed, sending to cities and regions everywhere, he began to gather troops and collect money. Now that a strategic phalanx of a multitude had flocked to him, he seized the city renowned in every tongue—I speak of Amaseia—along with the entire army. When those around the Emperor and the Caesar learned of this, they deliberated on whom they should appoint as his opponent. It was decided, therefore, that the younger of the Caesar's sons, a man vigorous in hand, quick and ready, and of no less sound counsel, should be entrusted with the Roman army. Having taken the forces with him, he set out against Diogenes, and having advanced into the vicinity of the city of Amaseia, he gathered his army into one body and began to harass the enemy with skirmishes, attempting in every way to either capture Diogenes or drive him from the city. Being hard-pressed, he was forced to bring his forces out and join battle against the Doukas. Both armies engaged, and many from both sides fell, for both leaders fought bravely. ^C Eventually, however, the followers of Diogenes fled, driven to do so by the particularly violent assault with which Constantine Doukas charged their front, which shifted their phalanx from its position. Many of those with Diogenes fell, but he himself escaped and shut himself up with a few of his men in a certain fortress. This provided the first cause for hope for those on the side of Emperor Michael, and from this point Diogenes began his ruin. And he would have been destroyed at once, had not something else occurred. For there was a certain man, by birth of Armenia, deep in counsel, brave in hand, named Cutatarius; he, having been honored by Diogenes—who was then administering the empire—with one of the greatest magistracies, [P. 34] ^D was well disposed toward his benefactor.

^A Since he remembered the kindness shown to him during his own misfortunes, he marched to him with a large force of soldiers, and after encouraging him to be of good cheer and promising him the greatest things, he did not permit him to remain idle any longer, but led him to the territory of the Cilicians. There, having consigned to him the mountain passes of Cilicia [(20)], he furnished him with an army and gave him money; he also provided him with weapons at first, and then, at the opportune moment, kept the army in reserve to fight against the opposing force.

22. Therefore, matters concerning the Emperor Michael and the Caesar were again called into deliberation, and the notable men of the senate were gathered together. ^B To some it seemed correct to make peace with Diogenes and to concede to him a portion of the authority, while others were firmly of the opinion that they should wage war and not, in any way, furnish him with an excuse or means to gain entry into the empire. At first, however, they attempted the path of peace, and letters from the Emperor Michael, together with envoys, were sent to him, proposing an amnesty for all past evils. But Diogenes, quite rightly—for as if he were being insulted by the report of this, though he had committed absolutely no evil at all—and being called upon to provide answers, neither refrained from the demands for the empire nor could he bear to be treated so unjustly. ^C But things concerning Diogenes proceeded in this way. Yet he who was always envious of good men stirred up a great storm against the Comneni, and it must be said who this person was. Having found a man of bold speech and having sharpened his tongue like a serpent's, he armed him against their noble mother, a most excellent woman. He forged a false accusation against her with fabricated letters, as if written by her to Diogenes, and carried these to the emperor. ^D When the emperor did not see who the accuser was, nor did he [P. 55] consider the standing of the person being accused, he immediately became enraged. From this, judicial proceedings were set in motion, and the noble, excellent, and prudent lady was summoned to the palace. She came. But the emperor was pleased to become a participant in the plot, and those assembled for the judgment of the lady were present [(j)] and the heralds toward the...

^A palace. The noble and high-spirited woman entered with a bright face, and as she brought out the icon of the Judge of all—which she had been keeping hidden under her cloak—suddenly, with a dignified demeanor and fixing her gaze upon the judges, she said: “Consider this one, whom I set before you today as Judge, and looking upon Him, pronounce your sentences concerning me, not unworthy of a Judge who sees hidden things.” Those who heard these forceful words were filled with awe, and some began to refuse the judgment, loathing the slander; for the truth had already begun to shine forth like a spark previously hidden under ash. ^B But while some were nourishing the divine fear in their hearts and bringing forth a spirit of salvation in this way, others, being severe judges who wished to gratify those in power in all things, persisted. Since, however, it was impossible to prove the slander, and they feared the ruler, or rather the one who had woven the plot, they did not reach a verdict, but referred the matter to a presumption. O the stupidity! What presumption, O thunderstruck ones, one might say boldly to those unjust judges, when the accuser speaks shamelessly, while the accused bravely refutes the accusations; and while the one is a charlatan and ready to sell the validity of the judgment for an obol, the other is above every suspicion and, I might almost say, blushes at the truth itself? This council was thus dissolved, being not unlike that of Caiaphas in which he condemned Christ. ^C Anna, however, was ordered to go into exile to the island named after the Prince.

23. While matters of the Comneni were in this state, Duke Constantine—that other son of the Caesar whom we mentioned above, who had clashed with Diogenes and defeated him—having now returned to Byzantium, the Emperor Michael and the Caesar, having despaired of peace, considering whom they might oppose to Diogenes, ^D [Caroli Du Fresne Du Cange notes: ...traverit, absque regia bulla exire non possit, etc. Atque inde satis colligitur cur primi Armeniæ, seu Ciliciæ toparchæ, qui præsidiis circa Taurum montem imperitabant, de Montanis, cognomine donentur passim a scriptoribus.] [Petri Possini notes: ...]

^A they were hesitant, for fear that if they gave him safe space to consolidate himself, he might assemble an army more numerous than before, and by extorting funds from the areas and cities near Antioch, might strengthen his position so that he could not easily be defeated. Therefore, Caesar immediately summoned his son Constantine, and ordered him again to take charge of the forces and proceed against Diogenes. But when he declined, the elder of the Caesar's sons, Andronicus, was called and ordered to go. He, being if any others were, obedient to his father, was immediately ready for the task. Having taken leave of the Emperor and the Caesar on that very day, he crossed the Chalcedonian strait. Having spent six days near Chalcedon to provide himself with the things necessary for the expedition, he departed from there, went around the East, and collected his forces. Moving with all of them together, he set out for the Cilicians. His first goal was to bring the camp into one and the same mind; and when he had achieved this, by treating each one kindly and adjusting himself in all things in a friendly manner, his second goal was to evade the enemies and pass through the mountain passes of Cilicia before Diogenes became aware of his approach. And so this also happened according to the plan, and having passed through the narrow and steep defiles, Andronicus and his men appeared suddenly to the men of the Emperor Diogenes, who had not expected anything of the kind.

24. When Emperor Diogenes perceived their approach, he too led out his own forces, having given the ^B authority for the war and almost absolute power over the entire army to the Armenian Chutatarius, whom the narrative mentioned earlier, ^C and having handed over almost the entire army to him. So he, bringing with him both infantry and cavalry, hastened to occupy the strategic locations. But he was disappointed in his hopes, as the Domestic of the Schools, Andronicus, had already forestalled them. Despairing therefore of that, ^D Heracleam, he is taken, deprived of his sight, he whose name was so noble in the empire, and becomes a monk. The two brothers now hold securely the reins of the tranquil kingdom; yet their tyranny does not remain entirely unavenged; for the Roman son, adding to himself the Armenians and Persians as allies, detaches the lands of their Orient from the empire, devastating them with sword and fire. In the time of the Persians, the treacherous nation began to arise against Romania with slaughter and plunder, and the nation could not yet be reduced under the laws of the empire, if not for the nation of the Gauls, which, more powerful than every nation in the strength of arms, stimulated by a command from above, rendered this to freedom once the enemy was overcome, and which, with God whispering, was animated to open the holy ways of the sepulcher that had been closed for a long time. They by whose counsel the blinding of such a great man was perpetrated, are wretchedly captured, and driven from the court are forced to pay fitting penalties. Those who advised that the innocent be punished, command that the guilty be punished with various torments.

^A Andronicus opposes his own phalanx to the battle line of the enemy; he makes a stand against him. Andronicus himself was leading the center of the phalanx, the Frank Crispinus 23 the left wing, and another of the leaders subject to Andronicus the right. Before the phalanx was fully formed,

Notes of Charles Du Fresne Du Cange

23 The Frank Crispinus. He was born of a very illustrious Norman family, still in existence, from which in a long and continuous series of descendants the modern barons of Bec and marquises of Vardy have sprung. Indeed, he whom Bryennius mentions in this place was called Robert Crispinus, whose eulogy and deeds performed brilliantly in wars I have, from the same Bryennius, Scylitzes, Zonaras, and others, briefly gathered here for the glory of that most noble and ancient race—especially since it is the plan of this work of mine to pursue among the Greek writers chiefly those things that seem to contribute something toward illustrating our own history and uncovering the origins of the Frankish families, so that those who either set their hand to writing such history or apply their mind to reading it may finally realize that the Byzantines are by no means to be neglected.

But before I approach the subject, it seems worthwhile to transcribe from an ancient writer what he holds concerning the antiquity of the race and its first progenitors, since he lists Robert among them. Thus, therefore, he writes: Before the Normans under Duke William conquered England, there was in Neustria (which is now called Normandy) an eminent man named Gislebert, renowned for his birth and nobility, who was first marked with the surname Crispinus because of the way his hair grew. For in his early youth he had hair that was curly, stiff, and standing upward, and, if I may so say, "rebursed" in the manner of the branches of a pine tree, which always tend upward; for this reason he was nicknamed Crispinus, as if "Curly Pine." We see this "rebursion" of hair in those who descend from Gislebert's own lineage; hence they are set apart from other Norman families by this same surname.

This Gislebert, who, as we have said, was the first to obtain the surname Crispinus, took as his wife the sister of the elder Fulco de Alnou, named Gonnor, by whom he fathered three sons—Gislebert Crispinus, William, and Robert—and two daughters: Emma, the mother of Peter de Condeto, and Elisia, the mother of William Malet; this man, a strenuous knight, became a monk at Bec in his old age, and after some years had passed, he rested in a good end, having lived honorably in monastic observance, as became such a man.

Robert Crispinus, the younger brother, having left Normandy, traveled through many regions until he came to Constantinople; received with honor by the emperor and becoming a man of great name among all, he died there, as it is said, by the poison of Greek envy. Gislebert Crispinus, the eldest of these three brothers, received from the Duke of the Normans the castle of Tegularia (in French, Tillières) to be held in inheritance, which his heirs hold to this very day.

The aforementioned William Crispinus, the middle brother, most famous for the nobility of his lineage, the uprightness of his character, and his military service, was considered to be among the foremost of the Normans; he, who as we have said was the best son of Gislebert, the first father of the Crispini, blossomed under happy auspices to the glory of his entire race. And just as among the Romans of old the Fabii, the Anicii, or the Manlii were held in high regard, so the Crispini were reputed to be the most honorable among the Normans and Franks. But this William is said to have been the most renowned of all, who in his time was distinguished by the titles of chivalry and shone almost above all men of that same period. Whence his illustrious probity had made many envious of him, and had rendered his enemies most atrocious.

At that time, the Franks, at the instigation of Walterius Vetulus, Count of Pontoise—who said that the whole land between the Itta, the Andelle, and the Seine ought to be his—made frequent incursions across the Itta and carried off spoils from the Vexin. And for that reason Duke William of the Normans, who later was King of the English, placed the aforesaid William Crispinus (because he was most proven in military matters) in the castle of Melfia [/b/] against the incursions of the Franks, in order to restrain their presumptions, giving him the castle itself and the viscountcy of the Vexin to be held by hereditary right, for him and his sons after him, as we see to this day. But he established his residence there, and placed his household and soldiers in the place against the incursions of the Franks. For which reason the Franks, vehemently angered, burned with such hatred against him that they sought his death with every eagerness.

Although these matters seemed too expansive to be prefixed for the sake of that most illustrious race—to whom the deeds performed by Robert in the war in Greece, which I have decided to briefly outline here in a short eulogy to illustrate Bryennius, have brought no small splendor—nevertheless, our Normans at that time first set out for Apulia for the sake of seeking martial glory, while Richard II and Robert II were ruling in Neustria. And the first of them, Turstinus, surnamed Scitellus, Arnolinus, and Ranulfus, driven from their seats (or, as others will have it, in order to pursue glory in battles), set out for that place. While they were fighting keenly against the Sicilian Saracens for the Greeks, under whom Basilius was reigning at that age, and then also against the Greeks on behalf of the rebelling Italians, such a desire for military fame seized the pagan Normans that they were eager to traverse those same provinces and pursue battles there.

And while these men were present there in numbers, and flocked together in multitude, they finally subjected Apulia itself, Calabria, and the neighboring regions to their own law, dividing the provinces and towns among themselves. Some of them, due to peaceful circumstances—or, what is most likely the truth, because they had not come for a share of the spoils of war—indignantly proceeded to Constantinople in order to offer their services to the Greeks, who were then at war with the Turks. There they were kindly received by the emperors, since at that time there was the highest esteem for Norman valor and military skill among them. Among these, around this time, the Byzantine writers note especially three or four (for there will be another place to speak of the others who served under Alexius): namely, Ralph, honored with the rank of patrician by Michael Stratioticus, to whom he performed remarkable service in those wars against Isaac Comnenus; Goscelinus de Orencho, who obtained the first place in the palace under Romanus Diogenes; our Crispinus of Bryennius; and finally Ursellus de Balliolo, who performed great deeds under Michael Ducas. Robert and Ursellus came to Constantinople from Italy to Diogenes at nearly the same years. And Robert, indeed, was sent toward the parts of the East with the Norman troops over whom he held command, so that he might winter there—whether because he was naturally greedy for gain, which the Greek writers claim, or, what is more probable, because his sti-

-^Apends were not paid, he pillaged the inhabitants of their goods, and despoiled the tax-collectors of public revenues and monies; he plundered everything in his path and put those who resisted to flight, even if he spared them from slaughter. When this was reported to the emperor, he immediately sent Samuel Alusianus, a Bulgarian nobleman and his kinsman by some unknown bond of affinity, with five legions to bring Robert to order. Being attacked by Robert on the very day of Easter, Samuel was defeated, and though not a few of his men were killed, many more were captured. Robert treated them most humanely, and after having their wounds cured, permitted them to leave, having meanwhile sent envoys to Diogenes to clear himself of the crime brought against him regarding the slaughter he had caused, and to obtain—having sought pardon for what he had unwillingly perpetrated—a promise of faithful service in his name for the future. The emperor readily agreed, said Scylitzes, on account of the man's nobility, the glory he had obtained in wars, and his strength of spirit, of which he had given no small proofs in the war against the Turks. Crispinus, therefore, taking some of his own men, came to Diogenes, leaving the others in Armenia at Maurocastrum, a town he had previously occupied. But soon, having been denounced to the emperor by certain of those who detracted from Robert's command and refused to obey him, as though he had conspired some harsh act against them, even if he was not clearly convicted, he was stripped of the prefecture of the troops which he held, and relegated to Abydos. His associates, taking this badly, burst forth into open rebellion, and leaving Maurocastrum, where they did not deem themselves safe, they poured into Mesopotamia and inflicted many damages upon the inhabitants, while other Normans, under Ursellus, were meanwhile serving Diogenes against the Turks. However, a few months passed, when a suitable occasion presented itself to Robert to avenge the insult he had received. For when Diogenes had been destroyed and captured in battle by the Turks, and soon after being set at liberty by them was rejected by the Greeks as emperor, Crispinus left Abydos and joined with Constantine Ducas, who had been sent with an army against Diogenes, and fought fiercely in those battles in which he at last was captured. Finally, having attained the highest fame of military glory among the Greeks through his illustrious deeds, he stirred up such envy against himself from so many prosperously managed affairs that he was killed by them with poisoned wine, by which they also say that the great Ursellus, Robert’s associate, perished. And this was the fortune of a man renowned in war, which I would have considered it a crime to have suppressed, since he has been little known to our people thus far, and even Charles Venascus himself, in the pedigree of the Crispini which he attached to the ancestral tree of the Grimaldi family, does not even mention Robert.

^A of those appointed to Andronicus. But before the forming of the shield-wall and before they engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the Frank, having long been ill-disposed toward the emperor Romanus and nursing a grudge against him, seeing the opposing cavalry and having proclaimed to Andronicus the charge against them, spurred his horse along with those around him. A powerful attack therefore took place, and those around Chutatarius fled. Those who pursued them from the rear killed many and also captured many. The cavalry being scattered in this way, the infantry phalanx, fearing that it would be surrounded and broken, turned its back and also retreated in flight. As many as slipped into the ravines and thickets saved themselves, but of the rest, some fell and others were taken alive. Thus the phalanx of Diogenes was broken and scattered. And to Andronicus, returning to his tent as a victor with great applause and rejoicing, and duly offering thanks to God for the victory, another stroke of good fortune followed. For an equestrian came as quickly as possible to him, leading one of the enemies, and asked to see the general. He, looking out from the tent, saw a sight which gave him much joy: Chutatarius being led to him in chains. For he, when his horse tripped during the flight, as he said, had entered a certain thicket and hastened to lie hidden. When he became visible to the pursuers and, having been seized, was about to be killed, he pleaded with the one who captured him. When he saw the man weeping, he took off his attire, and leaving him naked at the thicket, went away. Then another, seeing him naked hidden under the thicket, rushed to kill him, but he cried out who he was and begged to be brought to the general. And he, having quickly placed him upon a horse, brought him to Andronicus. When he saw him being led from the tent naked, he went out from the tent and looked down upon him with a gracious eye. Having therefore rearranged his nakedness with a garment befitting a noble general, he kept him in custody unfettered. ^{B C D}

^A Andronicus, having been told by the Choutatourios that when he was captured he had hidden a stone of great value, which he wished to offer to him, in a certain place in the forest where he was seized, he requested permission to be sent back with guards to retrieve the gem. With Andronicus's consent, he soon returned with a stone wonderful to behold, exceeding all other gems in size, and in brilliance outshining every other transparent stone, which Andronicus later presented as a gift to the Empress Maria.

25. But Diogenes, not broken by such ill success, still persisted in his mood of hope, and strove to console his companions in his final fortune with the trust of help soon to arrive from Persia. He even sent certain men to Crispin, intending to stir up the irritable temperament of the ^B angry barbarian against Andronicus. But Andronicus, having learned of this, and having treated Crispin with more flattering words and services than ever before, mollified him in such a way that he sent the Diogenians away empty-handed. When news of this matter was spread through the retinue of Diogenes, and the forces expected from Persia were delayed too long, Diogenes was betrayed by his own men, who bargained with Andronicus for his personal safety and for the surrender of the fortress in which they were. Thus, when those sent by Andronicus to demand the fulfillment of the terms were admitted into the fortress, Diogenes was handed over, stripped of his purple, and covered in a monastic habit; ^C and in this guise he was led out of the fortress and brought before Andronicus, to the joy of such a victory in which the soldiers were everywhere exulting, though he repressed it with a modest sympathy. Indeed, he indulged this praiseworthy feeling so much that he even shed tears for the misfortune of the deposed and captive prince. With a corresponding humanity in all other respects, he embraced the illustrious captive as worthy, received him into his own tent, and admitted him to his table. This ought to have been the end of the wretched man’s troubles, but he could not escape the shafts of envy shooting from afar. For there were some in the palace who, under the pretext of their own hatred or fear for the prince's sake, suggested to Michael that his possession of the empire would never be secure as long as Diogenes was healthy, ^D since he himself would plot something and others desirous of revolutionary change would seek from him a cause for disturbance. Thus, with express approval, they greedily wrote to a man at that time most powerful in the army to gouge out Diogenes's eyes. Andronicus bore this deed most inequitably, especially because his attempt to prevent it had achieved nothing, while those who were beginning to incline the easy-going Michael toward this were only pressing their plan more and more. Andronicus had also written on this matter to his father, the Caesar, imploring him in the strongest terms not to permit such a heinous crime to be committed; otherwise, he should await the force of divine vengeance, the penalty for which would not long delay. As he struggled in vain to prevent this, those who had received the letters blinded Diogenes and sent him to the monastery he had founded on the island of Proti. Shortly after the loss of his eyes, he died, having guided the Roman empire for three years. Such was the end of the events concerning Diogenes.

sterium, which he himself had constructed on the island of Prota, he relegated him; there, not long outliving his blindness, he died, after the Roman Empire had been administered for three years. Such was the end of the affairs of Diogenes.

BOOK SECOND

^A 1. In this way the Roman Emperor Diogenes, though indeed with a generous spirit he undertook to restore the Roman state, which was beginning to decline, back to its pristine dignity, because he did not join to this excellent purpose an equal dexterity in action and skill in administration, he both destroyed himself and involved the Roman state in his own ruin, just as has been partly narrated by us, and will be more fully understood from what is to be said hereafter. ^B But the Emperor Michael, having now been delivered from the fear of Diogenes, recalled the Curopalatiss Anna—about whom we spoke earlier, the mother of the Comneni—from exile, together with her sons, whom he also wished to bring close to himself by affinity. For since he himself had shortly before taken as his wife Maria, the daughter of the powerful prince of the Iberians, he joined her cousin Irene, the daughter of the ruler of Alania, to the eldest son of the Curopalatiss in the bond of marriage. ^C But the Caesar, when he saw the Augustus, his brother's son, to be not very apt for the administration of public affairs, both applied himself more attentively to the dispatch of business and, having commended a certain eunuch, Nicephorus—whom they called by the diminutive name Nicephoritzes—to the Emperor, he appointed him Logothete of the Dromos. He was a man industrious and endowed with an efficacious intellect, adorned with learning, eloquence, and experience in many matters; ^D but in other respects he was a man of a profound mind and a dissimulator of his designs, which he devised and turned over in his mind, for the most part tumultuous, no less than that Pericles of old, a man born and made for the stirring up of all Greece. And so, the Caesar, by promoting this man, later felt—which he then by no means suspected—that he had armed against himself a sharp and grave enemy.

2. This man, applying craft to the Caesar’s conciliation, [Note by Charles du Fresne du Cange: [index: entries preserved]]

^A indeed, once he had fundamentally insinuated himself into the possession of the light and pliant mind of Michael, first of all persuaded him to grant his uncle, the Caesar, the least possible trust. Although the Caesar quickly sensed this, he thought it best to conceal it for a time, continuing to attend to affairs in the customary manner. But when he saw the Emperor daily becoming more and more exposed, and realized that he held him in contempt and that he hung entirely upon the logothete—so that it was clear no remnant of authority or favor remained for himself—he determined to put the mind of Michael toward him to the test in this way. Under a feigned desire for hunting, he asked permission of the Emperor to cross over into Asia Minor. Having obtained this without difficulty, about the time of the autumnal equinox he crossed the strait into Asia, taking his son Andronicus with him, while his other son, Constantine, remained at the court. For the Emperor had appointed him *protostrator*, an office which has always been of great dignity among emperors and given only to the highest personages. ^B By remaining there, he was anxious to handle the fickle nature of the Emperor; for it was composed of two contrary things: levity and craft.

3. The Caesar, therefore, having reached Asia, pretended to be intent upon hunting. But the Emperor Michael, with matters closing in upon him from both the East and the West—for the Turks, having learned of the events concerning Diogenes and having dissolved the treaties and agreements which they had made with the Romans through his mediation, were ravaging and plundering the entire East; while the Scythians besides had risen up and were overrunning Thrace and Macedonia, so that both Asia and Europe were all but being destroyed by these two enemies—seeing that his affairs were thus constrained, ^C he appointed Isaac Comnenus, whom he had made his own kinsman through marriage, Domestikos of the Schools of the East, and sent him forth as the supreme general in the war against the Turks. He, having taken up the forces, marched toward Cappadocia. His brother Alexius accompanied him—he who was even then the great hope of the Romans, clearly and not falsely believed to be such; for later, as his merits grew in accordance with the omens, he represented the greatest happiness and fruit for the State, but at that time he was still a youth, his cheeks just beginning to show the first down. Although, by an abundance of military prowess, he easily [surpassed] those of a greater age ^D [alt-version omitted]

^A in the discharge of duty, such as those who have recorded the history of ancient Rome tell of Scipio when he was a companion on the expedition of Aemilius leading the consular army against the Macedonian Perseus. Nor did Alexius serve his brother any less zealously in setting up the ranks, drawing up the companies, and showing his skill in commanding the phalanx, proving himself most skilled in military matters even before the test of battle. When they reached the capital of the Cappadocians—I refer to the renowned Caesarea—they encamped near the ancient city, using its dilapidated walls as a replacement for a ditch and rampart; for, having long ago suffered an earthquake, almost everything had fallen, leaving but a few towers as a testament to the ancient splendor of the city. There, then, having pitched their camp, they deliberated on how they might drive off the Turks who were invading and plundering the nearby towns.

4. While they were considering these matters, the Frank Urselius ^B, whom they had in the army from the company of Crispinus, was also being crushed by these things.

Notes of Charles Du Fresne Du Cange

^C The Frank Urselius. Among the illustrious Norman leaders who, having set out from Italy—where they attained no small glory from their feats of war—joined the forces of the Byzantine princes in Thrace, Urselius deserves special commendation along with Robert Crispinus, whose eulogy we have recently touched upon. But since, as far as I know, none of our historical writers has touched upon the praise of such a preeminent man, nor indeed even mentioned him, I judge that it will not be unpleasant for the reader if, having already done what I could for Crispinus, I digress slightly beyond the boundaries of this commentary and identify the founder of a most splendid family, still surviving, whose name has hitherto been barely known, and whom it is in our interest not to deprive of his credit. Ursellus, or, as Bryennius and Anna prefer, Urselius—whom Scylitzes and Zonaras mistakenly call Russelius—was born of the illustrious house of Balliol. Having set out for Apulia with Robert Guiscard and the other sons of Tancred, he followed Roger, the brother of Robert in particular, in the expedition he undertook against the Saracen Sicilians. In this, he gained such estimation for his skill in military affairs and greatness of spirit that Gaufredus Malaterra, a contemporary writer, ascribes the chief glory of the victories that the Normans achieved in those wars to him ^D, 1. 1, c. 55, where he provides a proof of this man's spirit and noble birth in Ursellus. For he reports that when Roger was hesitating to pursue the enemy, who had been routed and destroyed by his nephew Serlo, lest something worse happen to him if he pursued, and was content with the victories already gained, Ursellus de Baillol threatened him, saying that neither there nor anywhere else would he bring him aid again unless he engaged the enemy in battle. Inflamed by this forceful exhortation, Roger, recovering his spirit, attacked the enemy bravely along with his nephew Serlo, Ursellus, and Arisgotus de Puteolis. But Ursellus, when he saw his men hesitating and more sluggish than usual due to the sheer number of the enemy, ignited them with an acerbic and vivid oration, and once battle was joined, he utterly destroyed and routed the Saracens. Gaufredus is the author who claims these deeds took place in the year 1069; we owe to him not only the name of this most outstanding man but also the preservation of the memory of other things admirably performed by him in Greece. For we should hardly have been held by the desire to investigate the deeds of Ursellus in Greece more curiously, had Gaufredus not pointed out his family and name as if with a finger. Ursellus therefore, for the same reasons as one might believe influenced Crispinus, left Apulia and the children of Tancred—who, having become more powerful than their associates, arrogated to themselves alone all the territories acquired by their common arms—and crossed into Thrace to the Emperor Romanus Diogenes and joined himself to Crispinus, who was campaigning there and serving the Greeks in the year of Christ 1069 or 1070, immediately following that Sicilian expedition of which I have just made mention. Not long after Diogenes was deposed and Crispinus himself was removed by a poisoned draught by envious Greeks, Ursellus is placed in command of all the troops who were serving the Byzantines at that time, under the Emperor Michael Ducas. But having grasped at the occasion of a slight offense after these events, he attempted rebellion with 400 of his own men and harassed Lycaonia and Galatia, captured towns and camps, and laid waste the fields; he routed and captured Joannes Ducas the Caesar, whom the Emperor Michael—his brother's nephew—had sent against him with a suitable army, along with his son Andronicus. Meanwhile, others of the Franks who were serving the Caesar went over to his side; having grown more powerful and elated by his recent victory, he went around the neighboring cities of the Sangarius and subdued all of them for himself. But the Emperor, who had no trust in the Greek forces, invited the Turks to a social pact and persuaded them to undertake a war against Ursellus. When Ursellus saw that he was no match for the strength of the Turks, he called the Caesar, whom he held in chains, from prison and named him Emperor, hoping that by this act he would reconcile the goodwill of the Byzantine nobles to his cause. Meanwhile, when battle was joined with the Turks, Ursellus and the Caesar were captured, though the army was destroyed, with a victory that was not bloodless for the enemy. But Ursellus, having immediately paid the price of his ransom through his wife, was restored to liberty and set out for Armenia and toward Pontus: gathering new forces, he again sparked a war and occupied certain fortresses, from which he raided the fields of Amaseia and Neocaesarea. Then, having defeated and routed Nicephorus Palaeologus, when he recognized that Alexius Comnenus, the Great Domestic, was approaching with suitable forces, he sent a prior legation to the Turks, who were close by, and withdrew to their camp, striving to draw them to his side and win them over to himself. But the Turks, enticed by huge gifts and greater promises, handed over Ursellus in chains to Alexius, by whom he was led to Constantinople and committed to prison. After the defection of Nicephorus Bryennius was announced, Michael, as his own men were deserting him on every side, had Ursellus—who had already previously intended to go to Botaniates, who was rebelling as well—taken from prison and, having showered him with various honors, sent him against Bryennius. In this expedition, Ursellus rendered exceptional service to the Emperor. Finally, with Michael reduced to the ranks, Nicephorus

^A Logothete, who had hitherto held power in the palace, came to Selybria—or, as Scylitzes writes, to Heraclea—to Ursellus, so that by his aid he might cross into the camp of Bryennius; Ursellus immediately seized him and brought him in chains to Botaniates, who had by then been proclaimed emperor. Thus Bryennius. But Scylitzes narrates the affair somewhat differently. He says indeed that the Logothete fled to Ursellus, and having been concealed by him for some time, with his hair shorn, he was spared by him, but that Ursellus himself was put to death by poison and brought to Botaniates by the wife and children of Ursellus. Zonaras, however, does not agree with Scylitzes and Bryennius at all. For he relates that the Logothete, who had betaken himself to Ursellus, was kept by him in chains, and upon Ursellus being cut off by a sudden death, he came under suspicion of having administered poison to him, and for that reason was handed over to Botaniates by the kinsmen of Ursellus. The death of Ursellus, therefore, occurred in the year of Christ 1078.

Now, since many families of the name of Balliol occur in Neustria, that is, Normandy and the neighboring provinces of Neustria, it is by no means easy to define to which of them Ursellus should be ascribed. Writers ^B note two in the Caux region, which is a part of Normandy, and another in the Vimeu district, which is adjacent to Caux. For although the St. Pol and Flemish families were held to be very noble in that age, I can hardly believe that they concern Ursellus. The old Fontenelle Chronicle lists two estates or castles by the name of Balliol, of which it places one in ch. 12, in the Tellao or Talogie district, adjacent to Vimeu, and another in ch. 9, in the Vimeu district itself. The former is one and a half miles from Neufchâtel, the latter one mile from Abbeville: each gave a very noble surname to two families. That the Talogie line was a very ancient family of Balliols is attested by the diploma of Robert, Count of Eu, in the year 1056, in which Geoffrey de Balliol is mentioned. There exists, moreover, another Balliol in the Caux region itself, at the mouth of the Seine, which gave its name to a family that is equally noble and still extant. Finally, writers possess many other illustrious men of the same surname, whom most count among the later Balliol clan. Among these appears in Orderic Vitalis, book v, in the year 1082, Raynald de Baillol, whose wife was Aimeria, niece of Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury in England and Ponthieu in France, who fought in Spain against the Saracens. Furthermore, Henry, King of England, besieged his castle, which had renounced its due allegiance, in the year 1119. The name of the castle was Manerium Renwardi, which remained for a long time among the Baillols of the Caux region on the Seine. There are recorded, besides, many others, namely William and Henry de Baillol in the Caux region under King Philip Augustus: another Henry in the year 1271, and finally Enguerrand de Baillol, Admiral of France under King Philip III, whom Bellorest wrongly ascribes to the Coudichiens. But let this be sufficient to have noted for the commendation of the Balliol lineage, whose genealogy, moreover, although not from its primal origin, has been compiled with sufficient accuracy by Francis Blanchard for the Parisian Balliols, who, having recently laid aside the military cloak, have passed to the toga of the more illustrious honors of the courts and the royal palace.

Notes of Charles Du Fresne Du Cange

The first, however, of the most illustrious Norman family of Balliol to give his name to the forum was NICOLAUS DE BAILLEUL, who, having laid down his novice military studies under Henry IV and abandoned martial pursuits, became a senator in the highest court of Paris, then Master of Requests, and after various embassies obtained a praetorship; finally, having been appointed third in command of the city and its civic affairs, he was such a man everywhere that he left everyone with admiration for him. Finally, named a presiding officer in the senate by the King and admitted into the sacred palatine order of those administering affairs under the auspices of the King, he was placed in charge of the treasury with supreme power. In which office, seeking the advantages of fame, he neglected the accumulation of wealth; and—which is a rare example of virtue—he kept himself temperate in those times when the crime of avarice was not present. Finally, when he saw the kingdom divided into factions and everything ablaze with cruel war, and the senate itself, over which he presided, distracted into parties, consumed by grief, cares, and labors, he laid down his life for the King and country, to which he had long been devoted, on September 17, A. Chr. 1652, at the age of 66. The most excellent son of so great a father, the V.C. LUDOVICUS DE BAILLEUL, an equally robed president, not only equals the praise gained by his ancestors today, but also so accumulatedly adorns the nobility and glory of his race with the incredible company of all the virtues in which he excels, that he will be an example to his descendants.

The Balliol house of Vimeu has proven itself in no way inferior to the Norman families of the Balliols in antiquity and in the fame of its exploits, since it has produced not a few men illustrious in honors and martial glory, and has given several kings to Scotland. Since its origin is hitherto scarcely known, not just to the Scots and English but even to our own people, it is worth the effort—not ungratefully, perhaps—to insert what I have long since noted on this matter into these Grecian commentaries, and also so that the error which has prevailed among many—that the Scottish kings of the Balliols took their lineage from the Norman Balliol family—may at last be thoroughly rooted out of their minds. The first of that family which fixed its seat in England is recorded by historians as Bernard de Bailleul, a man most experienced in military exercises, says John of Hexham, who served King Stephen against the Scots in that battle which writers call the Standard, in the year 1138, and in another was captured in the year 1142 against Ranulf, Earl of Chester. It is said by Camden that a castle was built by this Bernard in the Brigantes country, in the diocese of Durham, by the River Tees, which was named by its founder Bernard's Castle, and in the vernacular, Bernard-Castle. Bernard's wife was Mathilda, by whom he had children: Enguerrand, Guy, Eustace, and Bernard, besides a daughter, Hatwisia, as is evident from the diploma of Warin, Bishop of Amiens, in the year 1158, by which that prelate approves the donation made to the Cluniac monastery by Bernard de Balliol, a hardy soldier, with the assent of Bernard's brothers, Mathilda his spouse herself, and the aforesaid children. There exists, moreover, another diploma of the same Bernard, written in Paris under Pope Eugenius and King

^D of France, in the house of the Temple, A. 1146, wherein he assigns certain revenues in England to the brethren of the knighthood of the Temple, with his son Ingerram consenting and granting it. I find no further mention made of Ingerram. Wido, however, the other son of Bernard, subscribes to a diploma of Henry I, King of England, for the monastery of St. Vulmar in the county of Boulogne. Eustace, another son of Bernard, is mentioned in a charter of King John of England in the *Monasticon Anglicanum*. Finally, Bernard, the last son of Bernard, fought against the same Scots for Henry II, King of England, in the year A. 1174, as Roger Hoveden and John Brompton relate, who accord Bernard the tribute of being a noble and magnanimous man. The ratio of the times persuades us that this Bernard is different from the former, which is also argued by Bernard's diploma, in which he grants the churches of Castle Barnard and of Mideltun to the monastery of St. Mary of York, which he says were merely chapels in the time of his father. For it is clear from these that the castle of Barnard was not founded by him, but by his parent, whom Camden calls the great-grandfather of John, King of the Scots. Furthermore, there flourished in England at nearly that same time, as did Bernard II, several distinguished men of the Balliol clan, who may be conjectured to have sprung from the same stock—that is, from Bernard I or rather from Bernard's parent: Osbert, namely, who flourished under Roger, Earl of Warwick; William, under Turstin, Archbishop of York; and finally Joscelin and Odo of Bailleul. Joscelin, along with the other magnates of England who were defending the ancestral customs of the English, as they called them, was excommunicated by St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury. He is mentioned in some registers of King Henry II in the *Monasticon Anglicanum*. Odo is also recounted among the benefactors of the monastery of Byland, as they call it, at that time.

The sons of Bernard II were Hugh and Bernard. Matthew Paris mentions Hugh of Bailleul more than once, under the year A. 1216, and says explicitly that the Castle of Barnard was of his fief. To him, King John of England entrusted the guarding of the borders of the kingdom against Alexander, King of the Scots, who had of his own accord defected to the side of Louis, the son of the King of France. From Hugh came Alexander of Bailleul, lord of Chilham, Henry, and Guy. Henry, whose passing is noted under the year A. 1246 by Paris and Matthew of Westminster, had as his wife Agnes, daughter of William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, from which union no offspring survived. Guy, however, fighting bravely against the King of England, Henry, with Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, fell in the year A. 1265. There also existed for Hugh a daughter, Lora, married to Gilbert de Gand, who traced his lineage from the Counts of Flanders. Perhaps Ada of Bailleul was also a sister of Lora, the wife of Roger Fitz-John or Fitz-Jean, who, according to Paris, died in the year A. 1249. Alexander of Bailleul, the firstborn son of Hugh, by Isabella of Dover, who is designated as Countess of Assolin in an ancient diploma, begat two sons: namely, John, King of Scotland, and Thomas of Bailleul, father of Christine of Bailleul, who married Ingerram of Guînes, the lord of Coucy in France.

John, Lord of Bailleul, having taken as his wife Dervorguilla, the firstborn daughter of Alan, Constable of Scotland, by Margaret, daughter of David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, was by her right the lord of Galloway; and this title and appellation occurs frequently among English writers from the year 1236. Finally, on the death of Alexander, King of the Scots, without offspring, when a grave contention arose concerning the succession to the kingdom among his heirs—chiefly between John Balliol and Robert Bruce—their respective rights were weighed and discussed, and the kingdom of Scotland was adjudged to John by Edward I, King of the English, who had been chosen as arbiter of the controversy, in the year A. 1293. But soon, conflicts having arisen between the English and the Scots, John came under the power of Edward and, having been deprived of his kingdom by the same, was sent away to the Balliol estate in France and entrusted to the care and custody of certain prelates. In that place, he spent the remainder of his life and died at last after the year 1327, in extreme old age as Buchanan says, and over a hundred years old, having taken up arms from the year 1236 and conducted various affairs, as Paris is the author. Meanwhile, all the estates that he possessed in England were added to the exchequer, except for a few that were devolved by right of escheat to Antony, Bishop of Durham, as a palatine county, among which was the Castle of Barnard, which he enlarged with a new addition of buildings and structures. A controversy then arising between the king and the bishop, it was granted to the Earl of Warwick.

John, King of the Scots, had one surviving son, Edward, to whom, while he still held the kingdom, his parent had betrothed Joan, the firstborn daughter of Charles, Count of Valois, under the year A. 1295, with 1500 pounds sterling in dowry or dotalitium, as they call it, to be received from the Balliol estates in France, namely in Bailleul, Dampierre, Hélicourt, and Hornoy, and other estates in Scotland. These aforementioned estates in France are located in the region of Vimeu and the county of Ponthieu, separated by only a few intervals from one another. However, his parent being reduced to order, the marriage pacts remained unfulfilled. King Bruce having died after this on the 7th of November, A. 1327, leaving his son David heir to the crown, Edward, with the help of some Scottish nobles and bolstered by the support of the very King of England, invaded the Scottish kingdom in the month of August A. 1332; and, crowned on the 5th of the Kalends of October of the next year, he thereafter rendered to King Edward III of England, on the 14th of the Kalends of July A. 1334, the faith of a count in public at York. But having held the dignity obtained for a short time, he was driven from the kingdom, and every right he held in that realm was transferred to the same Edward, King of England, or, as others wish, to Lionel, the son of Edward, on the 8th of the Kalends of February, or, as it pleases some, on the feast of the Epiphany in the year A. 1356; and he finally died at Doncaster in A. 1363. Furthermore, out of the same English Balliol family, there is mentioned a Ralph, who lived under John, Earl of Warenne, about A. 1300. Simon, Sheriff of Glamorgan, lived at the same time, as did Edward, whom Edward, King of England, appointed over the town of Warwick in A. 1333. Moreover, on the death without offspring

^A of one from the phalanx, having grievously wronged one of the locals, the man approached the general and cried out about the injustice; the general requested that the offender be brought into the midst. This became a pretext for Urselius’s rebellion. He encamped outside the lines, promising to go to the camp the next day, but at midnight, having struck the camp of the Celts, he fled and headed straight for Sebastia. When the flight was made known to Isaac Comnenus at dawn, he judged it necessary to entrust a portion of the army to his brother Alexius and send him in pursuit of Urselius. While the plan was still being weighed and the army was assembling (for it was reported by scouts that a large multitude of Turks was marching against the Romans and encamping somewhere near), Isaac Comnenus, having therefore checked the pursuit of Urselius, was ^B preparing for battle; he urged his brother to remain within the palisade and keep the army together. He, however, took the order with heavy heart. But he promised to persevere, if only he might later lead many phalanxes of Romans out against the Turks.

5. He, then, having been persuaded, remained at the camp, while the other took the forces and marched against the Turks. He encountered them at the borders of Cappadocia; and when the engagement occurred, the Romans were put to flight, but he fought bravely and, having been surrounded by the enemy, when his horse was wounded and threw its rider along with it, he was captured. When the Roman army scattered, the Turks marched toward the camp. As the Turks were pressing on, ^C Alexius attempted to bring aid with a few of those who were with him. And indeed he did bring aid and saved nearly everyone. He himself, having taken upon himself the danger for the sake of all, was nearly captured; for, having pushed himself into the middle of ^D of the Balliol heirs, having previously purchased the fort, Edward, King of England, and the County of Ponthieu had been conjoined. But it must also be noted that from the same estate of Hellicourt the symbol or war-cry, as they call it, of the Balliol family originated, which is generally ascribed by our heralds to the Scottish kings in general, and which was proper to John and Edward Balliol—namely, *Hellicourt en Pontieu*. From which Vignerius (under the year 1286), Crucimanius in *Bibl. script. Gallic.*, p. 328, and Sauvagius in the vernacular *Chronicle of Flanders* have quite erroneously and unhappily conjectured that the Balliols were lords of Haricuria. Various books, which are called Provincials, differently report the arms and insignia of the Balliol family of Vinemac. A Scottish manuscript which I possess designates a small silver shield on a crimson field. Another, Gallic, makes it a small silver shield, a third distinguishes it with an Armenian fur. Duchenius, finally, attributes a red shield on an Armenian field. For, when Edward was King of the Scots, a controversy arose concerning his goods in France, and especially concerning Balliol, between Radulphus de Codiciaco, toparch of Montmirail, Catherine of Arras, Countess of Alba-Marka, and Hugo de Meleduno, Lord of Antoninus, in right of his wife; and at length the barony of Balliol yielded to Radulphus, as the grandson of the uncle of Edward by his son, which he possessed in the year 1370. From the aforesaid, I think it sufficiently and more than sufficiently established that the English and Scottish Balliols did not descend from the Norman family of the same name, but from that which flourished in the region of Vinemac and Picardy, where it possessed the estates of Bailleul, de Dampierre, de Hellicourt, and de Hornay. Balliol, which gave the name to the family, is held today by the house of Melun; Dampierre and Hornai by Rambure; Hellicourt, finally, by Roubalda or Gamachia, by the gift of Charles VII, King of France, to Joachim Roubald, Marshal of France, made under an annual census. Which, indeed, Duchenius in his *Hist. Codic.*

^A dared to approach with a great thrust of his spear, and having struck the assailant first, he immediately rendered him a corpse. Since he was surrounded by them on all sides and missiles were being sent at him from every direction, he himself remained unharmed, preserved by the hand from above; but the horse he was riding received most of the arrows and fell to the ground with its rider. At that time his companions, to whom he was very dear—as he was worthy of the love of all—leaped down from their horses and, running to him and surrounding him while fighting most bravely alongside him, finally rescued him from the danger. There were fifteen of them in all, of whom only five returned safely to the camp with Alexius; the rest were partly killed and partly captured. But upon his return from such toil, he did not give himself to rest, but by going around the camp he strengthened the spirits of the soldiers, strictly exhorting them not to commit any act unworthy of the Roman nobility. As long as it was day, they stood firm, wondering at and praising the spirit of the youth, and stretching forth suppliant hands, they acclaimed him their savior and benefactor. "Well done," they said, "O youth, O savior, O guide, O liberator of this miraculously saved Roman army. Well done, O man who scarce feels the encumbrance of the body within one's own body. May we long enjoy these heroic deeds of yours, and may you be preserved for us for a very long time as the common glory and protection of the state." While the soldiers were amplifying the nobility of the new leader with these applauses, they kept themselves within the rampart, while he kept rushing out, killing many of the rushing enemies and putting others to flight. But when night came, as Alexius observed all the soldiers preparing themselves here and there, he was very pleased, thinking that they were preparing themselves for battle, and he revealed to his own servants and familiar friends what was happening. ^B

3. The opinion of Theodotus; the secret flight of the army; Alexius’s struggle and his rescue by Theodotus.

^C Now, the others were silent, but one of them, a man brave in hand and excelling the others in experience, Theodotus by name, said that the things being done were not of good omen; for when night advanced, they would immediately flee. Upon this being said, the youth was filled with grief, for he had deemed them all to be of his own nobility. He departed nonetheless to his tent to dine, for he had passed the entire day without food. Moreover, while he was eating, armored as he was, the soldiers were secretly leaving the ramparts and fleeing. When the trembling message was brought to him that the whole army was fleeing and that he alone was left with a few, he asked for a horse to rush to their aid and hold them together. Having with difficulty found a mule, he mounted it and proceeded toward the exit, wishing to stop it and lock inside those who remained within the ramparts. ^D But all had already almost fled. Therefore he also went out, just as the Turks realized the flight of the Romans and were hastening with the greatest vehemence and a strong force to overtake those who were fleeing; and he would have been captured, had not Theodotus, of whom mention was made before, having heard the noise of the following horses and discerning that a great multitude of Turks was advancing upon them, arranged for him to turn aside a little from the road. Having turned aside from the road and to a certain

out-of-the-way place covered with thickets, they remained hidden until the entire multitude of Turks had passed by. Then, setting off from there, they hastened straight towards the mountain named Didymi. But as they were traveling, they encountered a band of Turks; when they charged against them, they were scattered and separated, and since night was falling, they were unable to come together and regather. Thus, each went wherever chance led him. The illustrious Alexius, left alone, had by then reached the foothills of the Didymi mountains with difficulty, his mule being so exhausted that it could no longer proceed; he dismounted and continued to ascend the mountain road on foot, still wearing his breastplate. ^A For the ardor of his youth prevented him from removing it, as did a certain thought that kept recurring to his mind, as he himself used to relate, of a certain saying. He claimed, that is, to have heard his father once sharply rebuking a man for abandoning his arms while traveling on foot. This was the reason for his keeping up his resolve to endure such great labor and to complete the steep and long journey under the burden of the breastplate. And in this context, it will seem all the more surprising that, although blood began to flow profusely from his nostrils the moment he dismounted from his beast, he nonetheless neither laid aside his arms nor ceased his running throughout the entire night, until he arrived at the small town which is in Gabadonia.

7. When he arrived there, all the local inhabitants gathered, and seeing his deathly shroud stained with the gore of blood, they sighed and wept, as was to be expected. When rumor conveyed the news of his arrival to the local notables, they came to him and led him to their homes with the greatest honor, having received him with kindness. They brought garments fitting for such a man and were eager to care for the young man’s body in every way, to the point that they even brought a mirror to him, according to their local custom, inviting him to gaze into it. ^B Seeing this, he smiled, though he was also astonished at what was happening. He said that it was not the custom for men, let alone soldiers, to gaze into a mirror. “For this,” he said, “has been practiced only by women who are anxious to please their own husbands. For a soldier, his armor is his ornament, as is a life that is simple and unsoftened.” Hearing these things, they were struck with wonder at the young man’s sobriety and wisdom.

Having been a guest among them for three days, once his servants had arrived, he set off for Ancyra. For someone who had been saved from the battle had, upon being questioned by him regarding his brother, pointed out a small town to which he asserted that his brother had escaped while fleeing from his pursuers. Believing, therefore, that the report was true, he hastened to reunite with his brother. But while the one had indeed escaped, the other, as he departed, ^C was fully convinced regarding his brother. Thus, deceived in his expectations, he was pained, disheartened, sighed and wept; yet he did not cease from his journey forward. But as he went, the falsity of the report was exposed, and by certain proofs, he was persuaded that his brother had been captured, the sense of his misfortune being made yet more bitter by the preceding error of a hope conceived in vain. And so, in sorrow, he... ^D

bore it in his mind and testified to it with true tears and sighs. Yet he did not interrupt or delay the necessary journey because of his grief.

^A Having sent out those who were to scout and bring back certain news about his brother, when he discovered from them that the barbarians who held him were prepared to sell his release for many thousands of gold pieces, he began to breathe again at such news. Greatly relieved of the heavy sorrow that had arisen from the loss of his beloved kinsman by the opportunity offered to recover him, he traveled at speed to the royal city, intending to obtain funds there with which to ransom his brother. After a few days, the business was finished, and he hastened back toward Ancyra, riding day and night. Exhausted by the continuous journey, he arrived at the city gates late at night, only to find them closed. He shouted and demanded that they be opened to him. The guards within, fearing that they might be ambushed by enemies—for the Turkish camps were situated not far off—thought it dangerous to do so at such an hour. They asked in turn who they were, and those in the company of Alexios immediately made known who he was. From this there followed an incident that provided delight to the listeners, not only then, but also now.

^B For while the Comnenian Alexios was traveling to bring the ransom for his brother, Isaac the Comnenian, while considering his own affairs, was overcome by the anxiety to avoid—if at all possible—the barbarians receding any further from the borders of the Roman Empire before his own liberation was settled, for the business would then become more difficult. Therefore, he sent messengers to the surrounding cities, and having made it known that he was a captive and that his captors were prepared to strike a bargain for his life, he requested that, so that they might not be burdened, each of his friends should contribute as much money as they were able toward his ransom before the barbarians moved further away from the Roman frontier. He solemnly promised to return everything to them quickly with interest. Many of the wealthy sent him a large sum of gold, and having paid part of the price and given hostages for the remainder, he was released from his chains and reached Ancyra, the metropolis of the Galatians.

^C It so happened that both brothers reached the city on the same day. But he [Isaac], having arrived first, was resting in a dwelling located above the gates, having locked them and keeping the keys himself. When he heard his brother crying out from outside, he leaped from his bed, took the keys, and ran to the gates. Having opened them, he brought everyone inside the city. The most wondrous Alexios, catching sight of him unexpectedly (for he had not yet heard about his release), leaped from his horse and, embracing him, kissed him. Filled with the greatest joy, they climbed up to the chamber. And Alexios, who had not yet tasted food that day, ate supper, while Isaac recounted what he had suffered in captivity. And so the meal was passed with sweet tears on both sides.

^D 9. After resting themselves and their pack animals for three days, since they heard that the Turks had drawn back far from the Roman borders, they set out from there and continued their journey toward the Queen of Cities. Having crossed the Sangarios and while making for Nicomedia, behold, as they passed by...

^A a not insignificant town called Decten, a man known to them from former acquaintance begged them to turn aside to his house, situated nearby, to rest for a short while. Yielding to the man's entreaties, they departed from the road, dismounted from their horses, and went up to the upper room. And while they were resting, the host set about preparing a meal with great joy, for he was delighted to have such guests.

While this was taking place, it happened that about two hundred Turks, who were roaming about for the purpose of plundering, chanced to come down that way. As they were passing by innocently, intending to go further on, a rustic plowman caught sight of them and, thinking they belonged to the retinue of the Comneni whom he had just seen passing by, called out in a loud voice and promised to show them where the Great Domestic was. When they reached the man and learned from him that the Domestic was being entertained in the house he pointed out, with only a few men, they immediately surrounded the house on all sides and guarded every exit. They refrained from an open attack for a time, fearing that the fierce onset of the besieged would burst forth if they were openly assaulted.

But when the danger was realized by those inside, those who possessed courage and strength immediately armed themselves, while others, being a mixed and mostly servile crowd, began looking for a way to escape. To some, moreover—those who were superior in size and who boasted greatly of their courage in the army—it seemed better not to come to blows with the enemy at all, but rather to throw down their arms and surrender to ^B the barbarians, having first received oaths from them that they would not be killed. A great clamor arose over this proposal, with some praising the plan and others being undecided. But the noble Alexius, having silenced the tumult, began his discourse to them in this manner:

"For my part, men, it appears to be both full of cowardice and the height of folly to refuse to engage the enemy at all, and instead to surrender ourselves to servitude and face an obvious danger. For I believe that not only would no Roman of noble birth ever do such a thing, but not even women of noble and modest character would. For in doing so, we are ensuring that, in the midst of servile torments and other evils of captivity, we leave ourselves no comfort, neither from the pity nor the praise and commendation of men. Truly, those who succumb to the adversity of war after having engaged in a noble struggle bear the fruit of their own generosity, in that they are deemed worthy of commiseration by the unlearned, of praise by the wise, and are indeed pronounced happy by all. But those who ignobly surrender themselves to servitude or danger cut off for themselves every hope of pardon, and, unpraised and wretched, are held up to public ignominy. It must be our concern, therefore, in accordance with what is often in the mouths of honorable men, that we either live honorably or die honorably. If, then, you trust me, let those who have spears and swords at hand take them up and stand by the gate; let those who are equipped with bows and arrows ^C go up to the roofs. As for the entire remaining servile and unwarlike crowd, and those who are fit for war but lack horses and are riding on mules, let them stand behind us. Then, let those above shoot their arrows at the enemy, while we, throwing open the gates, rush upon them with the greatest force." ^D

^A When those [enemies] who were fleeing at a distance from the exits have gone, let those who are above descend and mount their horses, and let the rest of the multitude follow them. Let them stand off from the road, forming into a phalanx. However, let the goal for all be not to break the formation nor to become scattered. But when we move against the enemies, let them move at a walking pace; and when the enemies rush against us, let them stand still. When we are near the narrow passages, once we are all inside them, let us dismount from our horses. And I am convinced that the enemies would not dare to come near us.

11. ^B He said these things, and all were persuaded. And some ascended to the roofs and sent forth their arrows, while others threw open the gates and rushed upon the enemies with great force. The enemies, therefore, struck by the sudden surprise, forgot their valor and turned to flight. Having seized upon this security, all those who were inside went out and set foot upon the road, forming into a military phalanx, although they made their advance faster than discipline and the danger required. But the Barbarians, having placed themselves far from the danger, remembered their valor again, and encouraged one another to turn back and move against their pursuers, especially as they saw that there were no more than twenty of them. Turning back, therefore, they were eager to surround them. But our men, fleeing at a run and looking back, as soon as they were near their own side, moved forward again with great force, and the Barbarians fled. Again, the latter would turn back. And in this way, for a long time, they tested one another. But the Turks, seeing that they were all few, while they themselves were far more numerous (for the number forming into a phalanx was short by fifty horsemen), leaving those against whom they had been skirmishing in vain thus far, moved against the phalanx itself with a great rush, and with great shouts, and a dense shower of arrows. Here, our men, losing all concern for maintaining their formation in their fear, were already undoubtedly giving way and tending toward flight with certain destruction for all, had not both brothers quickly run up with a few others to provide timely assistance, and had they not already recalled those who were leaning toward flight and ordered them to stand their ground, if they did not wish to be left behind by them without help.

12. ^C For then it happened that something miraculous occurred. ^D For there was a certain man, tall and strong, who was looked upon with admiration by the eunuchs in the palace. For when they saw him, one would say to another: "Who, indeed, could withstand the force of such a man as this if he were to attack? For by his mere appearance and roar, everyone will flee." He was present then among those being formed into the phalanx when the Turks rushed against them. When, therefore, all had rushed into flight,

^A for he was a large man and had donned a cuirass, he thought to goad his horse, and he alone of the others was left behind. When, therefore, the Turks again came on, and those around Isaac and the renowned Alexios were attempting to bring aid, he called out to the renowned Alexios by name and implored him to help. Alexios immediately turned back and, having pursued those he encountered, rescued him from the danger, providing both to him and to those who were admiring him with a proof that it is not the size of the body, nor the strength of might, nor the harshness and gravity of one's voice that show the best soldier, but the nobility of soul and endurance in the face of terrible things. Thus, then, was he rescued by Alexios. ^B But a certain Alan, one of those serving for pay with noble Isaac, Arabates by name, seeing the very great onrush of the barbarians and how they were attacking with fierce force, and that the brothers were in danger alone with but few, fearing that some irreparable harm might befall one of them, called upon his companion, Chascares by name—who was ranked under Alexios Komnenos—to join him, and for both to dismount from their horses and shoot arrows at the enemy. "For it is disgraceful," he said, "if, while Alans are present here, noble and excellent men should be in danger; for it would be a reproach upon the entire race of the Alans." Thus, then, did he speak, but he dismissed the counsel as being not so much prudent as reckless. For they themselves would risk coming into immediate danger if they were to do this, and yet they would be of no help to those they were going to save, since in an even and level place, as they then were, it was not advisable for foot soldiers to shoot against cavalry. "But if you will believe me," he said, ^C «since we have now arrived almost near the mountain passes, when we reach them, let us dismount from our horses and hasten to fight bravely; and thus we shall both honor our race and aid our masters.» ^D 13. Thus Chascares spoke. But Arabates, having insulted him in a barbarian manner, immediately leapt from his horse and, having struck it with a whip so that it would flee toward those departing, he himself stood to defend them in the plain. The Turks, astonished at the paradoxical sight, were puzzled as to what this that was happening might be. He had, at any rate, a short javelin in his hand. The first one to advance against him he struck in the chest with the javelin and immediately cast him down from his horse. Someone else having released an arrow struck his right hand; but he, having pulled the arrow from the wound, with this very weapon avenged himself upon the barbarian, just as Brasidas did of old. The barbarians, therefore, fearing his nobility, stood back a little from him. Taking advantage of his security, he climbed into a small building and from there was shooting at them with his arrows, and the others had by now reached the narrow mountain passes. The barbarians, therefore, leaving him behind, attacked the others with the fiercest force. But Alexios Komnenos, having turned back with a few of those around him, was the first to strike down one of them. And Chascares, of whom the account first made mention, against

those who were fleeing struck the back of another with a spear. Being seized with great fear, they let them go ^A and withdrew. But our men, having marched a little further, dismounted from their horses and pitched their camp in a naturally fortified spot. And when night came on, the Alan who had previously been separated from his horse caught up with them safely. Thus all were saved together, with no one being captured or killed; and all who were saved proclaimed the noble Alexios the author and provider of the safety of the group and each individual. ^B Having arrived at the imperial city on the fourth day from there, they made known everything that had happened throughout the city, mingling congratulations for their unexpected deliverance with the highest praises for the golden youth Alexios, to whom they attributed the whole thing. Hence it happened that when he soon showed himself, everyone ran together everywhere with astonishing exultation, and they could not get their fill of looking at and applauding him: so great was the admiration with which they were seized for the heroic nature and the outstanding gifts of the excellent youth.

14. How these matters were accomplished in this manner

^Api, where, having fortified their camps, they prepared for battle. Early the next morning, they led out their forces and drew up their battle line in the following manner. Caesar held the center of the Roman array, having with him the shield-bearing and axe-bearing Barbarians, to whom the guarding of the palaces had long been entrusted. The right wing was committed to the mercenary Celts, commanded by a certain Celt named Papa. The Domestic of the Schools, Andronikos, held the left wing. The command of the rearguard was assigned to ^B Nikephoros Botaneiates, who later became Emperor of the Romans, having with him the phalanx of Phrygians and Lykaonians, and furthermore that of the Asians. Seeing the Roman phalanx thus drawn up, Urselius also divided his own forces into two, and taking the phalanx to himself, he followed at a moderate pace, while he ordered the remaining forces to go straight toward the mercenary Celts. Since they were not far from one another, the mercenaries and the enemy were already beginning to engage; and at once, all the mercenary ^C force under Papa passed over to the enemy, and having joined shields, both began to attempt to surround Caesar’s men. And Urselius, having with him the elite of his phalanx... as the Barbarians pressed home their attack, a fierce battle ensued, and many fell on both sides; and when the spears of both sides had been broken, they drew their swords and wounded one another in close combat.

15. But while these things were happening, he who had been entrusted with the rearguard, seeing the mercenaries pass over to the enemy and eagerly strive to surround the phalanx which Caesar was leading—though he ought to have come to their aid—instead took his forces and retreated, notwithstanding that he was a brave man, as he demonstrated on many other occasions. The Barbarians, having seized the opportunity, fearlessly surrounded Caesar’s men. The ^D barbarian force around him for a time stood firm, launching and receiving missiles; but when he saw the enemy some meeting them face-to-face and others getting at their rear, he was already gripped by distress. Yet Caesar, standing unmoved, strengthened their resolve. So long as they had any strength remaining, they held out; but when the one side was exhausted and they were no longer able to defend themselves against those attacking them, and the greater part of them had been destroyed, Caesar, not having attempted to flee in the least, was captured. Now also those with Andronikos [p. 53] were overcome by the enemy and turned to flight. But he, although covered in wounds (for he had been struck with deadly blows), went about looking for his father.

^A Having learned that he had been captured, although he could easily have escaped—since he was already outside the range of arrows and in safety—he chose instead to attempt the liberation of his father at the risk of his own life, and turned back and thrust himself into the midst of the enemy. Having struck down many of them with his sword, when he had come near the Caesar, he was no longer to be restrained, and he seemed not like a mortal man, but like some immortal and incorporeal being. For, though assailed by spears, he stood undaunted, breaking some and pushing others away, always thrusting himself toward where his father was held captive. The barbarians, amazed by this young man’s courage—a courage greater than human power—ran together against him from all sides. Some with darts, others with spears, they struck at both him and his horse, until the horse, weakened by its wounds, fell to the ground with its rider. Then the barbarians, surrounding him as he lay there, tried to tear off his helmet and cut off the head of this noble man with their swords. But the Caesar, breaking through those who were holding him, rushed forward at a run, and fell upon his brave son, who was already fainting from the multitude of his wounds; he made known to them who he was, and thus rescued his son from the danger immediately pressing upon him.

16. Such was the end of the battle that took place between the Romans and the apostate Celts around the bridge of the Sangarius. The barbarian, elated by his victory, went around the cities near the Sangarius river and subjugated them all to himself. ^B Having arrived in Bithynia, where the Caesar’s palaces were located and a sufficiently fortified stronghold had been built on the slopes above the Sophon mountain, he pitched camp in the plains below, deliberating by what means he might subjugate the Roman empire to himself. Furthermore, he held the Caesar in honor, and seeing his noble son Andronikos suffering severely from his wounds, he ordered that he be treated with the greatest possible care. The Caesar, however, seeing his son suffering in this way, was stung with sharp pain and bore it very heavily. Therefore, he asked Urselius to allow him to be carried to Constantinople for treatment. He consented, but on the condition that the seniors among his sons be given as hostages in his stead; once these had been given, Andronikos was released and, returning home, was restored there by appropriate treatment. ^C Meanwhile, the boys were kept in the stronghold in his place, and there something was attempted by the boys’ tutors that is not unworthy of being recounted. A certain peasant of the local people used to frequent them often. They, having won him over, questioned him whether he knew the way by which one might reach Nicomedia from there. And when they had learned that he was so skilled in the paths of that region, that he knew how to travel even by night and through trackless paths, over mountains lying between them, so as to reach Nicomedia—being well-versed, through much frequent coming and going, in all the bends of the roads and all the shortcuts—they hatched a clever and bold plan to lead the boys out of the fortress, at night when the guards were asleep, and by such a flight to secure the safety and liberty of the princes. ^D They negotiated, therefore, with the peasant and easily persuaded him, by the promise of money, to be their guide. Therefore, having observed a night that was dark and moonless, and having stolen the key of the gate from the peasant...

^A they left him outside the perimeter, with instructions not to stray far from the gate, while they themselves, remaining inside, watched the guards. When everyone had already fallen asleep, the pedagogue of the eldest of the boys, the most delightful Michael—the pedagogue’s name was Leontacius, a man who was an eunuch and most prudent—awakened the boy and explained the plan, having first unlocked the gate. He immediately led him out and instructed the other pedagogue to hasten the awakening and exit of the other. The latter indeed hastened to act, but with unhappy success; for as he was descending, some noise of a rather sharp clatter sounded on the ladder, at which the guards, hearing the noise, jumped up and began searching out whoever was going. He, having anticipated, set the boy down ^B as if he were going out of the chamber merely for the sake of passing urine. But they, having been moved once into suspicion, inquired more curiously about everything and kept asking about Michael. The pedagogue who had remained inside was perturbed by that mention, and fearing that he who had already escaped might be dragged back, he used a somewhat louder voice in his replies, so that, warned by the sound, those who were outside might retreat to safety. And that is what happened. For when the pedagogue and the rustic guide of the way understood that the matter had been detected, they carried the boy by turns upon their shoulders—for he was still of a very tender age—and ran as far away as possible. Meanwhile, the guards, having sought a light, went to the room where the boys' beds were, and when they saw empty the bed of him who had departed, they each in turn fell upon the miserable ^C pedagogue, and striking him with their fists and clubs, commanded him to tell what had happened to the other boy and his pedagogue. He indeed bore the blows heroically, and revealed nothing of the plans. The Barbarians advanced to such a degree of cruelty that they even crushed the man’s legs with cudgels. And one could see the endurance of the eunuch, weak in body but strong in soul, as it showed, worthy of praise and beyond description. The Barbarians, therefore, despairing of learning the truth from the confession of one so pertinaciously silent, prepared their horses and sent out those who would pursue the fugitives. But while these things were being carried out, the faithful guide of the way—imitating him who leads like a sheep the new Joseph, the boy Michael, placed upon his shoulders, with the most prudent pedagogue following—turned far away from ^D the road and, ascending a leafy mountain, kept watch on the pursuers, seeing them, yet not being seen by them. And when they, having crossed the Sophon and having reached as far as the gates of Nicomedia, were returning, the fugitives, seeing them going back, emerged at night from the thickets, and with the day already smiling, they laid hold of Nicomedia; and thus it happened that one of the hostages, a grandson of the Caesar, was saved. But these things [happened] later.

17. Emperor Michael, when he had learned of the defeat of the Roman army and that both his uncle, the Caesar, and his son, the leader of the armies, Andronicus, had been captured, was cast into the greatest anxieties, and he summoned the Duke, Constantine, the last of the Caesar’s sons

ris, whose name we have mentioned before, a man of daring and brave spirit, he ordered to cross the Propontis immediately and to gather the remnants of the destroyed army, if he could. ^A He, bearing with great impatience what had befallen his father and brother, roared like a lion and showed that he was ready to undertake such a task. Having taken leave of the Emperor in the evening, he returned home to prepare for the journey. But as he was struck around midnight by the sudden pain of some unknown illness, the best of the physicians were summoned, yet they were able to help the sufferer with none of the remedies of their art, nor could they prevent him from dying in the morning. This was an addition to the calamities of the Caesar. But Urselius, having conceived a plan based on the confidence of his success, devised a crafty and profound scheme, though not one from the Lord. ^B It was to make the man whom he held captive, the Caesar, Emperor of the Romans, and thus to pass through the cities and subdue them to himself; for he thought that by this means he would also win over the goodwill of the prominent men of the city of Constantine. The illustrious Caesar at first took this ill and indignantly rejected the proposal, and, as they say, left no stone unturned to avoid the necessity of sustaining the role assigned to him in this play. But when the barbarian, serving his own purposes, forced him by necessity and threw him, most unwilling, into the middle of this, as it were, stage, the Caesar, thinking that he must act vigorously in the situation to which he was compelled, sent secretly into the city to canvass for support, and drew the opinion of almost everyone over to his own side. ^C For this man was by far the dearest of all to everyone, since he was the only one excelling in all virtues, and in uprightness and fairness he surpassed all who were then present. Therefore the business would have easily succeeded, and he would have most gladly taken on the full imperial power of the Augustus from the Caesar, had not Divine Providence shown itself opposed to such a business. For it moved the eunuch Nicephorus to enter into a method of serving the Roman cause which struck a lethal blow to the hopes of Urselius and the Caesar. Indeed, seeing that no part of his confidence remained in the Roman armies, he turned his mind to imploring the aid of the Turks. There was a leader of the Turks on the eastern border at that time, Artuch. Him he induced by an embassy and ^D gifts and a promise of money to undertake the war against Urselius. He, being a sharp warrior, undertook the expedition with a very large army against them.

18. When the Caesar and Urselius learned that infinite forces of the Turks were moving in an infested manner against them, having climbed the ridge on which the fortress was built, which we said was near the praetorium of the Caesar (that place was called Metabole), they fortified a camp on a plain lying long and wide at the foothills of Mount Sophon. They arranged this in fear that, being few in number, they would be surrounded and destroyed by the multitude of the enemy, for they saw that the narrowness of the oblong plain upon which they had settled their camp would prevent this, which camp as it was fortified...

by the river flowing down from Sophon instead of an earthwork, they used as a protection. ^A But Artuch, having crossed the Sangarius and reached Metabolē, when he did not find the Caesar and Urselius, crossed the mountain passes himself; and having arrived at the top of the mountain, which is called Maroxus, he pitched his camp and from there kept watch on the enemy, who were encamped near a place called Trisea. He immediately attacked them, and at first he made use of skirmishing from the heights, then, having divided his army into three bodies, he attempted to surround those with Urselius and the Caesar. But the enemy could not be taken from the rear, as the mountain protected them; yet from three sides the Turks pressed forward fiercely, and thus they attempted to break the continuous formation of the Latin phalanx. ^B But the few, being pressed by the many and their horses being struck by arrows from all sides, thought they must engage the enemy hand-to-hand, so as to strike terror into them with the violent [impact of their] horses. Having therefore encouraged one another, and locked their shields, they charged fiercely. From this it happened that many of the enemy fell, but they themselves, being surrounded by the multitude, had many killed and the majority taken prisoner. The Caesar and Urselius were captured along with them. Now Artuch, gladdened by the victory, took a ransom for Urselius and returned him to his own people, but he took the Caesar with him and departed for Upper Phrygia. ^C The Emperor Michael, having learned what had happened, sent those who would ransom the Caesar. The barbarian released him also, having received a substantial sum of money. But the Caesar, on approaching the Queen of Cities and fearing that he might suffer some worse fate there, crossed over to Trachonesium, where he donned the monastic habit after having his hair shorn, and in this way he presented himself to the Emperor Michael, who, seeing him, feigned to be troubled.

19. And while the matters concerning the most admirable Caesar came to such an end, Urselius, having been freed from captivity, departed again in the direction of the Pontus and seized certain fortresses, from which he harassed the cities of the Pontus, Amasea and New Caesarea. ^D For he was devastating the surrounding regions, the suburban fields, and compelling them to pay tribute. When the Emperor Michael learned of this, he sent Nicephorus Palaeologus to the ruler of Alania to lead a mercenary army. Having gone there and taken up an army of about six thousand men, he arrived in the Pontus and attempted to restrain the incursions of Urselius. But because the Alans were demanding their promised pay, and he had no means of paying them, he adopted the necessary plan of fighting with Urselius before the Alans could withdraw, as they were threatening to do. But they insisted more vehemently that the agreed-upon wages be paid to them; and since Palaeologus, lacking the money, could not do this, the Alans all departed, with a few exceptions. Urselius, having engaged with those who remained, routed them and killed not a few of them, while the rest were scattered into the cities of the Pontus. When these things were reported to the Emperor...

Michael, ^A the excellent youth Alexius was summoned by him, for divine providence now willed that his virtue become manifest. Having been summoned, he was appointed [στρατοπεδάρχης] (commander of the camp) and commander-in-chief for the war against Urselius.

20. He himself gladly accepted what had been ordained by the Emperor; but his mother, having learned of this, tried in every way to persuade him to refuse the commission, saying that the matter of Urselius was not a task for a youthful mind and hand, but for a man of courage who was experienced in many things and who had performed many deeds. She spoke thus, but he, having used gentle persuasions and convinced her, departed, provided with her prayers, having received from the Emperor neither money for the expenses of the war nor a sufficient army. Having crossed the Pontus in Paphlagonia, he arrived at Amaseia, and finding the survivors of the Alans—no more than one hundred and fifty in number—he joined them to his own meager forces and began to restrain the enemy, ^B engaging them often and defeating them just as often. When, however, he had restrained their incursions, he no longer waited for their attacks, but would approach the fortresses occupied by him and set ambushes, sending some to forage in the vicinity of the fortresses. When the enemy would emerge and pursue the foragers, he himself would rise from ambush, occupy the roads leading to the fortress, and prevent the pursuers from entering it. As a result, it happened that almost all of them were captured alive, since the roads leading to the fortresses were preemptively occupied. As these things happened frequently, he brought the barbarian into a state of helplessness. For the latter, having a sufficient force, wished to be decided by a single battle, but the commander of the camp, lacking a sufficient force, was eager to outmaneuver the barbarian. And whenever the other would gather his own army, he would pretend to keep quiet, and after waiting for some days, would go out secretly and, not being far from him, would set up companies, lay many ambushes, and capture those who were transporting provisions to the army. ^C When these things were reported to the barbarian, soldiers would be sent from there to assist. But falling into these companies and ambushes, almost all were captured alive; for the commander of the camp did not think it holy to slay them, as they were Christians.

21. These things, happening often, greatly grieved the barbarian. For all the cities that had previously favored him—either out of fear or affection—and paid him tribute, once they began to despair of his aid or not to fear his attacks, began to hold back the expense of the tribute, whether as useless or unnecessary. ^D As these contributions ceased, Urselius, suffering from a great lack of funds, formed a plan—astute, to be sure, but not, however, successful in its outcome. For when he had received word that Tutach had burst forth from Persia to ravage the lands of the Empire with a great army of Turks, he thought it best to join himself to him and to acquire such an ally against the commander of the camp. Therefore, having first sent envoys, he himself also later arrived at the camp of the Turks

^A and, having joined himself to Tutach and received pledges, he departed for the fortress, promising to return the following year. The commander of the camp, learning of Urselius' arrival to Tutach, himself also sent envoys and costly gifts to Tutach; he reminded him of the friendship between the Roman Empire and the ruler of the Persians, ^B and he also requested that the most trustworthy of his envoys be sent back to him, as he had something to communicate secretly which would bring him no small benefit. Tutach, delighted by the gifts and having learned who he was, immediately sent him his most trusted man. When he had come to Amasea, the commander of the camp received him hospitably ^C and so won him over by giving gifts and speaking often (for he was, if anyone was, pleasant in speech), that he gained the greatest goodwill from the barbarian toward himself. This having been done, he began such words to him: "Friend," he said, "O dear companion, both the Emperor of the Romans and the Sultan are at peace with one another, but Urselius is an enemy to both. For he ravages the lands of the Romans, and he attacks the Turks as well. And now, seeing your amyr having gone forth, as if fearing that he might be consumed by both, he has put on a mask of friendship and has come to him, buying for himself time. But when he is beyond this, he will again be an enemy to the Turks, just as he was before. But if he heeds me, let him hand him over to me once he has returned, having received much money; for from this he will gain three greatest things: a quantity of money, friendship with the Roman Emperor, from which he will have great benefits, and thirdly, that the Sultan will be delighted at the removal of an enemy of the Turks." ^D 22. The envoy is persuaded by the words of the commander of the camp and promises to persuade the amyr to accomplish what seemed good to the commander of the camp. He is sent back with gifts and reports everything to Tutach; he presents the intention of the commander of the camp and his sweetness in speech and his generosity in money. Indeed, the barbarian is captivated by what was reported, and he becomes entirely obedient to the words and the intention of the commander of the camp. Therefore, he pretends to welcome Urselius hospitably when he arrives, and having dined with him, he finally captures him, and having shown him as a prisoner, he sends him to the commander of the camp, having taken hostages so that the agreed-upon money might be paid to him. The commander of the camp, then, delighted at what had happened, since he lacked money, was in a quandary as to what he should do; and immediately he gathered an assembly and called those in the city who were able [to advise] to a council; and when everyone had gathered, he began his words to them from there: "Men...

^A "Men, you who have been called by me today to this council, listen to what is said to you. You know how the barbarian treated all the cities of the Armeniac theme, and how much money he extorted from you, and how many small towns he ravaged, and how he treated the bodies of men [P. 60] badly, submitting them to unbearable punishments for the most trifling of causes. Since, therefore, the time has come to deliver us from the suffering caused by him, it is necessary that we do not let him go, nor that, while fleeing the smoke, we fall into the furnace. For since, by the nod of God and our diligence, you see here now the barbarian in chains, and he who captured him demands the price for his deed, and we are ourselves short of money, it is necessary for each of you to contribute to the extent of your ability. For ^B if I were not so far from the Emperor, or if the barbarian allowed time for delay, I would have hastened to obtain the price from there. But since, as you see, none of this is possible, and the Turkish host is doing great damage to the country while the emir remains waiting for his price, it is necessary, as I said, for all of you—I address myself to the princes and notables—to contribute; and you shall receive everything back from the Emperor that you provide."

23. Hearing these words, they began to incite the crowd, and a great tumult and outcry arose, some shouting indistinctly, others clearly demanding that Urselius be set free, for they said they had suffered nothing grave from him; at the same time they strove to snatch him from custody and set him free. ^C And perhaps another man might have been disturbed to see such a vast populace raging and a very great city in tumult. But the noble youth, that commander-in-chief, I say, not fearing at all, began to silence the tumult with his hand. And when, late and with difficulty, silence was established, he began to speak to the crowd to this effect: "It is a source of wonder to me, men of Amaseia, how easily you are being deceived by those who plot against you, buying their own advantage with your blood, while being the cause of the greatest harm to you. For what gain was there for you ^D while the tyranny was established, if not slaughters, captivities, maimings, and amputations of limbs? But while you suffered so badly, those who are now stirring you up to anger and tumult kept their own possessions safe by courting the barbarian, and also received gifts from the Emperor because they had not handed themselves and the city over to the barbarian. But of you [P. 61] they took no notice whatsoever. For this reason, they want to establish the tyranny again, so that, by fawning with good hopes upon the tyrant, they may keep their own property unharmed, and again demand honors and gifts from the Emperor. And if any insurrection should occur, they will try to distance themselves from the drama,

to the extent that they might inflame the Emperor's wrath against you. But if you will listen to me, as for those who have stirred you up to riot, leave them to their own devices; let everyone depart to his own house and consider what has been said, and you will know who it is that schemes for your advantage.” ^A Having heard these words, the multitude praised what was spoken, and all withdrew.

24. But Alexius, fearing that the nobles might again incite the multitude and seize Urselius, devised a plan that was very prudent and no less humane. What, then, was the plan? He summoned the executioner. A fire was kindled. Iron was heated to a glow. Urselius was stretched upon the ground, shouting and wailing loudly, as if in truth his eyes were being burned out by the heated iron, which the apparatus made it seem would soon be done. Wherefore the whole house rang with his frantic laments. This was useful for the rumor of the deed to be spread into the neighborhood and soon through the city. Then he applied an innocent ointment to his eyes, and over the ointment a bandage. The next day, he brought Urselius forth into the public assembly with his eyes thus covered and bandaged, so that everyone, by that sight, would be convinced that he had truly been blinded. This fiction completely quelled the tumult. ^C Alexius, being freed from that care, considered by what means he might, having destroyed the rest of Urselius's forces, recover the fortresses which he had seized and still held through his men. But those who had been sent by the Emperor and were present with Alexius—counsellors from the prince's inner circle—urged that, taking Urselius with them, he should immediately return to Constantinople. To them he said that it would be a shameful thing, since under one tyrant there were many tyrants, if, once that primary one was removed, they were to leave the lesser ones to easily step into his place and thus depart as if the business were finished, only to hear immediately that a successor had been raised up, who would invade the cities with forces no less prepared than the former. "To me, therefore," he said, "it seems best not only to remove the tyrant, but also to destroy his tyranny, and to strive, if we can, to restore his fortresses and garrisons to the Empire." And with these words he set about the task. ^D And first he blockaded the roads, so that no provisions could be brought into the fortresses and camps of the Urselians. If any, however, had gone forth from there for the sake of foraging or seeking another necessary thing, he would drive them back after having severely punished them. He also set ambushes in suitable places, and, having soon sent men to openly provoke the garrison soldiers by plundering, he drew them out of the fortress by this artifice and pulled them into his ambushes, in which

^A they were captured. This maneuver, often and successfully attempted in various ways, plunged the Franks into a great shortage not so much of grain as of counsel, for our commander used these uncertain and unobservable movements against them, sometimes attacking them on alternate days, sometimes on the third day, and at other times with four or five days intervening. Pressed by need and uncertain where to turn, most of those who were in the garrisons surrendered themselves and their fortresses to Alexios, the commander of the Roman army; others, abandoning the fortresses exhausted of all supplies, fled. Thus it came about that Alexios became master of them all. Having stayed there for a few days in Amaseia, and having settled the affairs of the neighboring cities and left behind a deep peace in those regions, he departed, carrying with him the love of all, accompanied by applause and the acclamations of everyone, and taking Urselios with him.

^B 25. Passing through Paphlagonia, when he came very close to the house of Theodorus Doceanos, a man of noble birth and wealthy, and related by blood to the commander (for he was the son of his father’s sister), as soon as Doceanos learned that Alexios was approaching, he met him from afar and greeted him with great affection. But when he looked at Urselios, and saw the bandage placed over his eyes, he was struck with great grief and could not restrain himself from blaming Alexios for having deprived of his eyes so brave a man, who could have greatly benefited the Roman cause. But he, being otherwise prudent and moderate in speech and capable of concealing his intentions, for he did not yet think it the right time to reveal them, answered him thus with a gentle and smiling face: "The reasons, cousin, for which this man has been deprived of his eyes, this is not the time to explain; but when we have reached the house and we are alone together, you shall hear them all, and I hope you will absolve me of this charge." ^C When, therefore, they had arrived at the house shortly after, they dismounted from their horses, shook off the dust, and sat down to dine, the host having prepared the banquet generously. After the meal, the commander took Doceanos by the hand and led him into the room where Urselios had been shut up, and ordered him to remove the bandage and uncover his eyes. He suddenly arose, and being seen with the veil removed, he appeared to see perfectly and greeted Doceanos. The latter was struck by the utterly unexpected event and, full of joy, shouted aloud, and embracing the illustrious Alexios, he kissed his lips and cheeks and those charming eyes, and cried out with a loud voice, "Well done! Worthy indeed of the glory of your parents who raised you is the noble spirit of this young man," and he praised the stratagem and wondered at the scene.

26. Having been hospitably entertained by him for three days, the commander departed and went down toward the Pontic Sea. Having arrived near Kastamon, he desired to see his grandfather’s house. Having therefore requested everyone to continue ahead, he himself with a few men turned aside from the road. ^D Entering the house, when he saw it empty of its inhabitants, he was filled with tears and sighs, recalling the memory of his progenitors; nor would he have departed had he not been torn away by force by his companions, at a time when he had nearly fallen into an ambush of the Turks. But those who were with him urged him to hasten so that he could join his column in good time. Having crossed the passes and descending toward the sea

Heraclea, Maurex ^A met him—a man who was not of noble birth, but who was nonetheless skillful and energetic, and possessed vast experience in maritime matters. For this reason, he seemed necessary to the Roman emperors, and he was enriched by many of their gifts, so that he was able to acquire great wealth, a multitude of slaves and others who served him in military matters, and to build a splendid house. Having met him, this man asked Alexius to be pleased to stay with him, and he agreed. When they had arrived at Heraclea, Alexius first of all betook himself to the hand-made-not-by-man temple of the Theotokos, where he offered thanks to the Savior of all and to His Mother. Then he was entertained with hospitality by Maurex.

^B 27. While his preparations for departure were being made, a report came that the Turks were descending for plunder. He was moved at once by this word to arms, more so, it is said, than Alexander of old by the flute-playing of Timotheus. Having armed himself, therefore, and mounted his horse, he set out with those around him. The men of Maurex also accompanied him—soldiers experienced in war and brave, at the head of whom was Michael Butumites, a man small indeed in body, as Homer says, but a warrior. But the Turks, seeing these from afar, and unnerved by the flash of their weapons, the rhythmic order of their formation, and the irresistible force of their charge, fled in disorder. Our men pursued them far beyond those borders, striking down some of them, and then returned. The commander of the army was pleased by the taste of this victory snatched in passing, and he wished to remain in the territories ^C of Heraclea, in case he might encounter Turks who had descended for plunder; for he wished to increase his trophies and thus, as a five-fold champion, to enter the great city crowned. But letters sent from the emperor and a ship with oarsmen of a single bank prevented him from his resolve; for the letters commanded him to embark upon the ship with Urselius and quickly to reach the Queen of Cities, as the Turks were lying in ambush around the passes. He therefore did what was commanded and hastened by ship toward the Propontis. But a sudden and fierce Thracian wind blowing, he was in small danger of being shipwrecked, had the Theotokos not clearly rescued him from this; for as soon as he invoked her help, ^D the sea was immediately calmed, and thus he escaped that storm.

28. When he reached the Queen of Cities, the emperor received him kindly and embraced him warmly, and, to use his own words, said, "Well has come the right hand which, after God, is our own." But this first reward for his labors—the emperor's gratitude—he received from the emperor, being the first to meet him; after this, he honored him also with tokens of favor. He also had Urselius kept in prison under secure guard,

^A providing him with every duty of humanity, Alexius made haste to pursue him with every manner of kindness, supplying most of what was necessary for him from his own house and mitigating the emperor’s anger against him. Such were the affairs regarding the illustrious Alexius. Emperor Michael, however, since the proto-proedros Joseph Trachaneiotes, the duke of Antioch, was dead, and because affairs there were being carried off into riots and seditions with such an impetus that it could hardly be feared that tranquility could be restored—especially as long as the inciter of the riots, his son the magister Catacalo, could achieve anything there, and especially because at the same time the tyranny of Philaretus was already beginning to grow—appointed Isaac Comnenus, the brother of Alexius, as duke of Antioch. But since he thought the cause of the disturbances was the patriarch Aemilianus, he ordered him to be sent off to Constantinople as quickly and as diligently as possible. Now the logothete, that ^B good man Alexius, who had long been hostile to the patriarch, promised Isaac great rewards from the emperor if he would only remove the patriarch from the city of Antioch. Comnenus, having set out for Antioch with these mandates, was received with the greatest honor both by the notables of the city and by the patriarch himself, who was then governing the patriarchal throne. Upon entering the city, he strove to win over the patriarch with every kind of obsequiousness, fearing the goodwill of the populace toward him. For the city was divided in two: one faction favored the patriarch, and the other supported the emperors. Fearing sedition, therefore, the new duke neither delivered to the patriarch the emperor’s letters ordering his departure, nor did he reveal any sign of the mandates secretly received from the emperor. But what did he contrive? He feigned an illness, and with both his hands bound at the arms, he pretended to be sick and called physicians together. Upon learning this, the patriarch arrives with great solicitude and demonstrates true concern. Discussing the cause of the illness familiarly with the patient, they reached a consensus that this malady seemed to arise from an obstruction stuck in a smooth artery. When ^C the physicians further counseled that it would be opportune for dissipating the illness if the duke were transferred for a while from the city to a suburban house of purer air and of such pleasantness as could refresh the spirit of the sufferer, the patriarch generously offered a villa of that sort which he possessed, and immediately he himself of his own accord insisted to the duke that he use it. He, allowing himself to be persuaded, left the city, escorted by the patriarch, who, after leaving him there, returned to the city. What next? Two days had passed when, behold, the patriarch was present again to see his sick guest. Upon his asking whether he was well enough and how things stood, the duke said, “Through your prayers, I have begun to feel the fruit of the healthfulness of this air,” and the patriarch congratulated him in turn. During these obliging conversations, someone arrived to report that he had spotted a hare’s den not far from the villa. And so the physicians who were present remarked: “It is of great importance for resolving the remains of the illness to make use of moderate exercise, such as will be easy in the vicinity of the hunt.” The duke pretended to be brought to this plan only with difficulty. When the patriarch, ignorant of what was being plotted, insisted again and again that he should comply with the physicians and, having mounted his horse, go ^D to the hunt, he pretended to obey. Forcibly mounting his horse, he made for Antioch, and having entered within the city and closed the gates, he sent letters to the patriarch—the imperial letters summoning him to the queen of cities—and [ordered him] to go out

to the sea as quickly as possible. He was annoyed and threatened to act ruthlessly, but he was not able to do so. But having arrived at Laodicea, even if against his will, and having spent a few days there so that provisions could be brought to him from Antioch, he departed for Byzantium.

^B 29. Duke Isaac, having been relieved of the fear regarding the patriarch, busied himself with public affairs and attempted to dissolve the insurrections arising in the cities. But the ancient enemy of Christians could not remain quiet; and so, for a slight reason, he stirred up the seditious again. For some of those who had recently begun to rise in prominence, inflamed by envy against the magistrates and the duke, armed the populace. And having shut the duke within the citadel, they guarded the entrances, but against the other magistrates they made an assault and killed some; meanwhile, another band of the seditious busied themselves with plundering the houses of the officials that were near the citadel, and seizing their wealth. The duke, therefore, having been placed in manifest danger, sent off to the surrounding cities to summon troops. And in a short time, a sufficient force having assembled, he managed the war against the seditious with tactical skill. For he divided the army into many parts and ordered them to go into the side streets and seize those who were met, so that they might not come together and bring aid to one another. Once this was done, it happened that a great slaughter of the Antiochian seditious occurred, and thus the tumult was with difficulty quieted. ^C When this had just been calmed, he was eager to appease the Antiochians. Then, after a few days had passed, it was announced that no small force of Turks was moving through Syria. He, taking up his forces, went out. And with him went also his brother-in-law, Constantine, the son of the emperor Diogenes. Having encountered the Turks and joined battle with them, he was defeated; and though he fought bravely and received significant wounds from them, he himself was captured, and Diogenes was killed. The Antiochians, therefore, immediately having sent twenty thousand pieces of gold, redeemed the duke and were eager to treat the wounds from the war; and he himself still felt kindly toward them and strove as best he could to repay them with favors. But while matters regarding Antioch remained thus, the following narrative will also show what happened in the West. ^D

BOOK THREE

1. ^A Whatever occurrences took place throughout the East following the deposition of the Emperor Diogenes, the troubles, the defections, and the seditions that were stirred up and subsequently extinguished, and how the greatest tyranny of all—I mean that of Ursellius—which had risen to great heights and had become the cause of the greatest evils for the Roman Empire, was destroyed by Alexius Comnenus, who was still just a youth and had been appointed commander of the Eastern armies, the preceding book explains. Now, however, it is necessary to cross over from Eastern affairs to the West and to narrate certain events that took place there, so that our account, proceeding in a continuous chain and an order nowhere interrupted, may return again to the deeds of Alexius Comnenus. After the youngest of the most excellent Caesar’s sons, Constantine—a brave man—had suddenly passed away, and the eldest, Andronicus, having proven the nobility of his soul, especially in the war against Ursellius, where, devoting himself for his father’s safety, he was so grievously wounded that he returned to Byzantium nearly drained of blood—and there, though he was treated most diligently and freed from the pains of his wounds, he was seized by a malady of the vitals and judged by the physicians to be suffering from dropsy, and being in a state more severe than could be helped by the aid of art, he was given up and declared beyond hope; after these things, I say, had thus come to pass, and the Caesar had exchanged his illustrious life for the monastic profession, the Emperor Michael was plagued by countless cares. The Scythians were raiding Thrace and Macedonia, while the nation of the Slavs was casting off the yoke of Roman rule and ravaging and plundering Bulgaria. ^B Scupi and Naissus were being devastated, and indeed Sirmium itself, and the towns situated around the river Savus, and the cities lying along the Ister as far as Vidin were suffering grievously. Then, from there, the ^C Chorobati and the Dioclenses rose in rebellion and were infesting all of Illyricum.

2. Moved by these events and brought into deep anxiety, the Emperor Michael was considering taking on a partner in the empire, upon whom he might confer the second dignity, that is to say, that of Caesar. But because his own family and kin had been exhausted, with most having been consumed by various disasters, he looked about among those who held honors; and, applying his own keen consideration, together with that of his most intimate household familiars, ^D and seeking one who, in his own person as well as among his neighbors, was experienced in affairs and surpassed others in prudence and virtue.

^A Since it seemed to all those around him, as well as to the logothete himself, that Nicephorus Bryennius—of whom this history has already made mention—was such a man, one faithful toward God, steadfast in friendship, skilled at perceiving the future and taking precautions, and of proven mettle in maneuvering armies against enemies, he was immediately summoned by imperial letters from the Odrysae. But before this man could return to the Queen of Cities, the emperor communicated the matter to one of the senators who was related to him by blood on his mother's side. This drungary was Constantine, the nephew of that Michael who had formerly held the patriarchal throne, and who was surnamed Cerullarius. ^B Hearing this, he took the news ill; for long had he been dreaming of the imperial throne. When asked, therefore, for his opinion on bringing the man in, he said that he indeed knew and praised the man, but he did not at all praise the counsel and plan concerning him. "Unless, perhaps," he said, "you wish to surrender the imperial power voluntarily to this man, who is heroic, active, and accomplished, and who—given his other industry and fortitude—will not be content to remain in second place. And if you have not decided upon this and wish to avoid being bound against your will to that which you dread, revoke this ill-formed and overly dangerous counsel of admitting such a man to share in the empire." With these words he struck great fear into the emperor, who was timid by nature and accustomed, as the saying goes, to fear even his own shadow.

3. The Transfer to Illyricum and the Campaign against the Dioclenses

^C When Bryennius had arrived, the Emperor Michael changed his original plan and wished to appoint him as Doux of the entire region of the Bulgarians, so that through him the tribes of the Slavs that had gained the upper hand might be restrained. And indeed, having arrived in Bulgaria, in a short time he humbled the tribe of the Slavs to such a degree that he compelled them once again to place their necks under the Roman yoke and to be content to be ruled by him as the affairs of Bulgaria were managed. ^D Yet since the Chorobati and the Dioclenses were disturbing Illyricum, and the tribe of the Franks, having occupied Italy and Sicily, were devising terrible things against the Romans, Michael Augustus thought it would be to his advantage if he were to transfer Bryennius from Bulgaria to Dyrrachium, which is the metropolis of Illyricum. Straightway, therefore, letters were sent to him, not so much commanding as requesting that he cross over into Illyricum. He arrived, and all the locals received him gladly; for the man was most charming and most generous. Having spent a short time there to prepare for the war, he marched against the Dioclenses and the Chorobati. And when they had pitched their camp in their most fortified places, he himself began to clear the difficult terrain, note: the provided source material ends abruptly here; the next page continues the narrative of these military operations

^A in order to prepare the way. Having first armed the soldiers, he led them through the narrow passes. But fearing the toil of the present difficulty on the return journey, which would have to be undergone by those returning through such obstructed paths, the leader ordered a large number of the local inhabitants, armed with axes, to follow behind the rear guard and, through every narrow defile that the soldiers had managed to force their way through, to clear the brush and to level and widen the roads. Seeing this, the soldiers advanced against the enemy with confident spirits. When he had thus proceeded to the place where the hostile camp was, he drew up his battle line and, joining in a fierce battle, won a brilliant victory. Having thus brought all the cities of that region under the Roman treaty as before, and having taken hostages and left behind sufficient garrisons in each place, he returned to Dyrrhachium. Since, however, piratical ships from Italy were plundering the merchant vessels of our people, he decided to provide a remedy for this evil as well, and truly, as he had decided, he did. For he armed and sent out triremes against the piratical fleet, which sank many of the Italian ships and captured not a few, so that the entire fleet in Italy was struck with terror and drew back. ^C

4. These things thus done were worthy of honor and rewards. But envy could not endure such deeds of an excellent man; rather, it stirred up the tongues of calumniators who "speak peace with their neighbor," as the divine David says, "but evil is in their hearts." Creeping in, therefore, they insidiously disparaged the Emperor's levity, whispering that Bryennius was aspiring to the throne. ^D Moved by their words, he sent one of those most trusted by him (this person was Eustathius the Cappadocian) to Illyricum, having given him a secret mandate to inquire into the matters brought to him. Bryennius received him very gladly upon his arrival, and he so won him over that he opened his heart to him and revealed the reason why he had been sent by the Emperor. Hearing this, he was stung in his soul and fell into no small fear. He was not, however, moved to anger, but kept himself in check for the time being, considering what he should do. While he was in this state, his brother returned to Constantinople, having shortly before performed well against the Scythians. He therefore begged the Emperor for the reward for his service, frequently urging this with the logothete. But as he was disregarded and sent away empty-handed, he was not a little indignant and took it ill. ^D After Basilaces, the son of Florus, also arrived from Paphlagonia, hoping that he too would receive some gifts from the Emperor (for he was a man brave in war), and he too was frustrated in his hope and did not bear the rejection patiently, the two met and murmured to each other about the illiberality of the Emperor and the harshness of the logothete. They were so carried away by this meeting that they mutually swore to consider what would be useful for themselves and the Roman Empire, while keeping what they were planning a secret. These things, moreover, were: to remove from the throne such an ungenerous prince who mismanaged the resources of the Empire, and to place upon the Roman Empire some man worthy of it by his virtues and deeds, and no longer to suffer a half-man, a eunuch, to thus [rule over] the Roman military.

^A It seemed best to both, therefore, to summon Bryennius with all speed from Illyricum and to make him the leader of the scheme.

5. These things having been resolved upon, John Bryennius departed for home, while Basilaces remained in Byzantium. Not long after, one of the axe-bearing Barbarians, to whom the keeping of the imperial palace had been entrusted, came to the Odrysians, to the city once called Orestiades but now known as Adrianople. Having put up at a public inn and gorged himself with much wine, he openly revealed the secrets he had received, proclaiming that he had been sent by the logothete to kill Bryennius by means of a trap. When these things were reported to Bryennius, the Barbarian was immediately seized and brought to the question, and, whether willingly or unwillingly, he was forced to confess that the matter was so. John Bryennius therefore ordered his nose to be cut off ^B and immediately sent letters to his brother urging him to rebel. When these letters were carried to him at Dyrrachium, the man was full of anxiety, not knowing what he ought to do. For he thought that to rebel was a serious and grave matter, a cause of the greatest evils; yet, on the contrary, he did not judge it to be the act of a brave and prudent man to deliver himself into manifest danger, ignoring the counsels and evidence being brought from every side. He remained long in suspense, struggling with these thoughts, although frequently incited by his brother’s letters. ^C

6. But matters concerning this man stood thus. The Caesar, seeing his son dying of an incurable disease and leaving behind many children of a very tender age, was anxious, as it seems, to introduce a helper into that house, and he was being urged to this by the man himself and by his wife, the most beautiful of all women, [the Caesar's] daughter-in-law. Her inner beauty shone forth with her outer beauty, and the splendor of her virtues accompanied the magnificence of her lineage; the grace of her character also shone forth. For on her father’s side she traced her descent back to Samuel, the king of the Bulgarians, being the daughter of his son Tranos, ^D while on her mother’s side she was descended from the Kontostephanoi, the Aballantai, and the Phokadai, families of old most illustrious and abounding in great wealth. This woman, therefore, surpassing all women in wisdom, did not cease to urge her husband to introduce some defender of his children, and she also brought forward a plan which was most wise and most profitable. This was to unite Alexios Komnenos to their eldest daughter. For the parents, having been blessed with three daughters, had dedicated the younger one, Theodora, to God from her infancy, and had betrothed her to the pure bridegroom through [the practice of] passionlessness, [making] both [index: entries preserved]

^A of the other two their concern, and especially that of Irene, who has already been mentioned; for the young woman was overflowing with graces, shining both in the beauty of her body and in the splendor of her character. When her mother proposed the idea, the Caesar praised it, and the celebrated protovestiarius, I mean Andronicus, was delighted, and almost forgot his illness. And when Alexios Komnenos, who had come to him on official business, visited him, he took him aside and asked whether he wished to take a wife; for the daughter of that noble man Argyros, who was overflowing with wealth and master of very extensive property, and who had recently been betrothed to him, had died a short time before. When he found that Alexios was willing, he immediately spoke of the marriage. But [Alexios], being more prudent than any other young man, was pleased by what he heard, but none the less suspended his consent to the matter until his mother’s will was known.

Thus, there was immediately great agitation in the entire house of the Caesar, and the most beautiful wife of Andronicus, ^B stirring up all the household and family servants, ^C for neither was the Emperor keen for the Komnenos to be joined by marriage to his kin, nor was his mother, who harbored an ancient grudge against the Caesar and the house of the Caesar, disposed towards it. Furthermore, the Emperor’s brother, the Porphyrogennetos Constantine, who greatly loved the noble Alexios, did not permit him to consent to a marriage with the niece of his brother the Caesar: for he had an older sister named Zoe, whom he wished to join with him in marriage. Faced with so many obstacles, this woman, the most prudent of all women, did not slacken, nor did she give sleep to her eyes or slumber to her eyelids, nor did she spare any money until she had betrothed the most beautiful of virgins to the most beautiful of young men. The father of the virgin, indeed, having lived but a short time after the betrothal, died, leaving behind his dearest daughter with happy expectations. But again, the wicked seemed to prevail, and the marriage was well-nigh abandoned, as the ancient evils began to assail the Emperor’s simplicity—for that is how I call his fickleness. Yet Providence overcame once more, and the machinations of envy receded and dissolved like a swarm of bees from smoke, and those who had been so finely betrothed were, before long, also demonstrated to be the most beautiful of spouses. We shall tell the manner of this when we return to the sequence of the narrative from the beginning.

7. John Bryennios, who was mentioned a little earlier, ^D seeing that his brother was still hesitating and shirking, and wishing with all his might to avoid being entangled in defection and rebellion, decided to prepare him

^A to be forced to take up the matter entirely against his will. Having therefore persuaded all the leading men of the city to share his counsel, and having brought the whole of Adrianople over to his side, he frequently called for his brother. But since Tarachaniotes—a man who was still young, yet as wise and prudent as any other—opposed his actions and sent letters to the emperor and the logothete asking for troops to be dispatched so that he might be able to crush the rebellion that was already kindling and on the verge of erupting, they, whether because they lacked soldiers or were acting carelessly toward the matter, sent him no aid at all. ^B Yet, though abandoned, he persisted in his loyalty for some days. But then, when he finally saw that all were in agreement against him and that he stood in clear danger, he relaxed somewhat from the vehemence of his earlier resolve, and allowed himself to be treated with concerning a settlement, insomuch that he even listened to the Bryennios’ mother, the curopalatissa Anna, and consented to her request that he be joined to her children by affinity, which he had previously refused. And so he betrothed his sister Helena—who shone with beauty and surpassed all her peers in modesty and ^C the reputation of her virtue—to the son of his brother Nicephorus, and thus he openly crossed over to their side.

8. But Emperor Michael, being ignorant, I suppose, of the agreements and oaths between Bryennios and Basilaces, sent Basilaces as doux of the Illyrians, commanding him if possible to seize Bryennios and have him brought in chains to Constantinople. When this was made known to Bryennios, he did not think he should hesitate any longer, but rather set out at once and head for home. He went out, therefore, taking with him but a small force. Now, as Basilaces was hastening toward Dyrrachium, wishing to find Bryennios there, it happened that they met one another near Thessalonica, Basilaces having already occupied the city. When he saw that Bryennios was carrying only a small force and one far inferior to his own, he suddenly forgot the oaths and the treaties he had struck with his brother, and engaged him hostily. But as Bryennios resisted his assault ^D bravely and struck down many of his men, Basilaces in the end turned to flight and was shut up inside the city. From there, he sent envoys to ask for peace and pardon, and requested that the peace agreements which he had formerly confirmed by oath with his brother be renewed. Bryennios very willingly assented and ratified the treaty with Basilaces.

And so he resumed his journey toward Adrianople, on which route he had his brother meet him with a very great army. For he had with him all the legions of the Macedonians and Thracians, along with their centurions, tribunes, and the generals themselves. The leaders of the cities, too, were all with him, and he received them all with kindness; for the man was affable and as sociable as any other. At that time, then, they were encamped and preparing to perform feats of valor. But to John Bryennios it did not seem right to remain idle or to let the opportunity slip. Therefore, carrying with him the imperial insignia

he urged him to put them on. ^A Since he was still stalling and asking for time to deliberate, John persuaded all the soldiers and officers to push him and force him to agree by every means in their power. Yet the man’s steadfastness of mind won out against the impetuous pressure of those urging him, and he gained a delay until the following day, during which, as he said, he would assemble the officers, generals, and captains, propose a council, and seek what was in the common interest of all. In this way, for that day, he calmed the zeal of his brother and the commanders. But something happened that, on the following day, compelled him, however unwilling, to yield to their will.

^B 9. For those in Trajanopolis, wishing to maintain their duty and loyalty to the Emperor, closed the gates of the city and took up their stations upon the battlements, as if intending to defend the city. Hearing this, many of the soldiers of Bryennios ran up unarmed, as if to view the novel sight; but the soldiers of the city cast insults at those approaching, taunting them with infidelity, and those outside hurled insults back. Then they began to skirmish with slings at one another. When this was reported to the camp, more soldiers flocked there, and some even gathered ladders, threatening to take the city by main force. When word of this reached Bryennios, it seemed grievous and intolerable to him that, while he himself was still wavering and hesitating about assuming the imperial power, his soldiers should fight as if for an Emperor already proclaimed, and that they should fight against a city fertile in brave men, and thus, as they say, from the very starting-gates, stain their hands with civil blood. He immediately sent men to restrain the impetus of the soldiers, and those sent arrived in sufficient time; ^C for the struggle had not yet heated up too much, and they restrained those rushing in. When this was done, it seemed to the followers of Bryennios that it would be enough if military guards were placed near the city walls, lest by chance some should sally forth from Trajanopolis during the night and stir up a tumult in the camp.

At this point in the events, the son of Nicephorus, who was already aspiring to the throne, the patrician Bryennios—a youth who had just surpassed the age of childhood, who was by nature ardent and breathed a noble spirit—took with him boys of his own age (these were Catzamuntes and Basil Curtices, whom they also called Joannikios) and went out, ostensibly for play, to the guards who had been stationed against the city as mentioned above. ^D Finding them all awake, he praised them and, proceeding further, drew near the walls of the city, circling around to observe from close by what guard was being kept for the city. When he perceived by clear evidence that all the guards who occupied the wall had fallen asleep, he returned to his own men and, taking up the ladders that had been prepared and left at random, he ordered them to be raised.

^A Having drawn their swords, they stood around them, and ordered them to awaken and acclaim Nicephorus as Emperor of the Romans. Astonished by this sudden event and realizing their dire situation, some threw themselves headlong from the walls, while others did as they were ordered, though with thin and broken voices; for fear, by which they were agitated, did not allow them to speak firmly and boldly. But the citizens of the city, alerted by the noise and assuming that the whole city had already been taken, all ran together—not taking up arms, nor with any desire to defend themselves, for they judged that the time for that had passed and that no hope remained; but believing that the only way of salvation was to acclaim Bryennius as Emperor of the Romans. This was done immediately, and all were shouting acclamations and, stretching their hands toward those above the walls, were begging that the city be saved. So, when the shouting had become strong, the whole military force gathered toward the city and tried to ascend the walls with ladders. But the son of Bryennius stopped their rush, ordering those standing below to join their voices with those inside in acclaiming Bryennius as Emperor.

10. How Trajanopolis First Acclaimed Bryennius as Emperor

In this way, Trajanopolis was the first to acclaim Bryennius as Emperor of the Romans. At dawn on the following day, the entire military, together with the generals and commanders, gathered around his tent and forced him to put on the purple and to don the red boots, the insignia of princely power. He, late and with difficulty finally yielding to their insistence, complied and allowed himself to be hailed as emperor, and conducted himself as such. ^B Therefore, he set out from there and journeyed toward Adrianople, and as he passed, all the cities and villages acclaimed him. They reached the city, and all its inhabitants welcomed him with great joy. He went straight to the temple of the Mother of God, and after giving thanks abundantly to the Mother of God, he returned to his residence and took counsel concerning what was to be done next; he called all the generals and magistrates to an assembly and proposed the question of whether it was necessary to make a trial against the great city. It seemed to all that he should not immediately advance against Byzantium with his entire army, but that he should send one of the generals with an sufficient force, and at the same time envoys to the one in power concerning peace and a fair settlement; and also to send to all those in authority, documents stamped with gold, full of promises of greatest honors and gifts, and thus test their resolve.

^{C D} 11. Having thus decided, Bryennius adorned his kinsman, the Magister John the Curopalates, and, declaring him domestic of the schools, sent him out with a sufficient force, adding to him no small part of the commanders. He sent their forces

^A away and set out for Constantinople. A force of Scythians, not the smallest, followed him—not of those who were foreigners and mercenaries, but of those who had long ago deserted to the Roman Empire. The domestic of the schools, therefore, having arrived near Constantinople, encamped and attempted the city. And those within, being both angry with the one reigning and knowing the noble and steadfast character of Bryennios, were beginning to reveal the goodwill toward him which they had hidden inside. But the divine power, acting in opposition, quickly turned the goodwill of all into ill-will by a certain turn of events. ^B For while the domestic of the schools had his camp in the region of the Blachernae palace, near the place they call Cosmidion—where there is also a church built in the name of the wonder-working Anargyroi (the Unmercenaries), most great and beautiful, and an adjacent fort (45)—certain men of the camp followers, and indeed also of the rank-and-file soldiers, running out from the palisade, crossed the bridge (44) and, roaming in the parts of the Strait opposite the city, under the pretext of collecting provisions, sought to plunder whatever they came upon. But the inhabitants had already brought all their belongings inside the city; when those who had run out saw the houses stripped of plunder, they were filled with rage and attempted to set them on fire. But the domestic of the schools, perceiving this, sent men with all speed to call them back from their senseless undertaking and extinguish the fire. But his efforts to stop their rush came to nothing, as the fire rose high and consumed everything in its path. Thus it happened that many of the most beautiful suburbs were burned down. This act stirred the citizens to anger and ^C turned their goodwill away. The leader of the regiments, therefore, despairing of being able to win over the city by persuasion, proceeded to a siege. 12. While the domestic of the schools was ^D opposite to the... [missing text bridge], he assigned guards to the wall defenses on the land side: his own kinsman, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, and Alexios Komnenos. Because of the shortage of soldiers, they took some of those who were at hand, set them upon the walls, and having armed their own men, they themselves ran about guarding the city. At one of the hours, Alexios Komnenos, while observing from the watchtowers, saw that the bands from the camp of Bryennios, having descended to the coastal areas for the sake of foraging and then returning to the camp, had left behind a very small number; he ordered the gates to be thrown open, sallied out with his retinue, and, setting upon them, took men captive up to the...

^A number of twenty, and made his way back into the city before others were aware of the drama. Once this was done, the fame of the man immediately spread throughout the city, and all were sounding his praises. Thence envy so burned in Constantine that he even reproached the man to his face, for not having invited him to be a partner in the deed. The Emperor, however, approved of the act and openly rendered him thanks. Finding in this success of the Comnenus, and the resulting offense of Constantine, an opportune occasion, the Caesar pressed for the marriage of his niece to Alexius, which was duly celebrated after the lifting of the siege. Thus did these matters come to pass.

14. But the commander of the troops of Bryennius, seeing the time of the siege being wasted in vain, and fearing that the useless frustration of the army might grow, considered lifting the siege; he was held back, however, by a certain sense of shame and fear, lest some discord should arise among troops that were not well-cohered, and some desertion or secession occur upon the departure. He sought, therefore, a way to find some pretext so as to lift the siege and ensure that no harm should come of it. As he was thus deliberating, word came to him that a certain multitude of Scythians had crossed the Haemus and were raiding and ravaging the fields and villages around Chersonesus. Finding this as a pretext, the commander lifts the siege, having set out against the Scythians; encountering them on their return, he routed them forcefully and made a very great slaughter, and having taken a great many captive, he returned to his brother. The captives thus became for him an occasion for peace and an agreement with the Scythians; for by giving hostages from among their nobles, they received back their own prisoners and became his allies.

15. While these things were being done, Nicephorus Botaniates, ^B one of the most noble of the East, whom the Emperor had long made commander of all the forces in the Oriental region, finally brought into the open the rebellion he had long been pregnant with. For, learning that matters in the West were in turmoil, as all the cities had come under Bryennius, he himself gathered the soldiers who were scattered throughout the Oriental provinces and took with him Chrysosculus, who was at that time setting out for the Western parts (for he had long ago joined the Romans, from the time when Romanus Diogenes was administering the empire, as we have already related in this history), and going about, he brought the cities under his own power. ^C When all had gone over to him, Nicephorus Melissenus, who traced his lineage to the Burtzes and the Melisseni and kept his faith to the reigning Emperor, turned his arms against Botaniates. To Melissenus there was joined, with equal zeal for maintaining faithfulness to Michael, George Palaeologus, a man brave and distinguished in martial deeds, having recently come from Mesopotamia (for he had been there with his own father who was governing that province), wishing to keep his faith to the ruler unshaken.

16. Botaniates, therefore, now that all others had gone over to him, set out from Phrygia and hastened toward Bithynia; he sent men secretly into the city to promise the highest honors and gifts to those

^A officials who would act as his collaborators in gaining control of the Roman Empire. Since many members of the senate and the court were hostile both to the emperor and to the logothete—especially the patriarch of Antioch, Æmilianus, whom we have mentioned before—they were all waiting for an opportunity to act in their own interest. The emperor and the logothete, however, ignorant of the internal insurrection, were preparing for war against external enemies; they sent an embassy to the Turkish chieftain (at that time, the ruler of these was Solyman, son of Cutulmus) urging him to take up arms against Botaniates. He made a pact with them and accepted the obligation to wage war against him, and from that time he guarded the roads, held the mountain passes, and watched for Botaniates’ army and its passage.

When Botaniates reached Cotyaeum and learned the truth about Solyman, seeing that he was short of troops and had insufficient strength to overcome the massive number of his enemies in open battle, he adopted a very prudent plan of warfare. Shunning the direct public roads where he knew he would be awaited, he set out by night, managed to evade the guards, and arrived at a small fortress very close to the Sangarius river called Atzula, which is about two hundred miles from Nicaea. ^B From there he moved out again and hastened toward Nicaea before the Turks could become aware of his advance. But the Turks, having learned of his secret passage and the size of his forces, came at him in battle array; and, having dispatched a small detachment of cavalry to delay him and hinder his march, they were not entirely successful in their plan. The men who had been sent ahead caught up with him not far from Nicaea and, raising a war cry, attempted to hinder his progress with their arrows. His men, however, being brave, although few in number, nonetheless set out ^C to attack the Turkish leaders who were residing in Nicaea.

Notes of Caroli Du Fresne Du Cange

(15) Solyman, son of Cutulmus. The origin of the sultans of Nicaea, until now uncertain and barely known to us, is at last revealed by Bryennius. He explains that the elder Solyman, as he is called by Tyrius—from whom it is established that the other Turkish toparchs who ruled in Lycaonia, Cappadocia, and other provinces of Asia were derived—sprang from the same family as the supreme sultans of the Turks, and he also shows the degree of consanguinity they had. For he reports that Solyman, sultan of Nicaea, was the offspring of Cutlum, whom he also calls (along with Scylitzes and Zonaras) Cutulmus. Indeed, Cutlum was the cousin of the sultan Tangrolbec, or, as he writes in Book 1, no. 10 (and as Scylitzes writes from him), the son of Tangrolbec’s paternal uncle, and thus the grandson of Salgeucus through his son. Scylitzes confirms this further when he says that Ibrahim, brother of Tagrolbec, was the brother or cousin of Cutlum. Furthermore, Cutlum is called El Macinus in the year of the Hegira 477 (A.D. 1084) and in the next year he is called Ptolemaeus—names which do not differ much if the first letter is changed—where he clearly calls him the parent of Solyman. Through these, Zonaras, Tyrius, and Anthonus are discovered to be not inconsiderably mistaken. And Zonaras indeed makes Cutlum the cousin ^D of Tagrolbec; but Tyrius writes that he was the grandson of Guedadolduli, sultan of Alba Arsenali, to whom Tyrius gives the name Belsetofi and Aithonus gives the name Aspasalemi. But since Cutlum and his five sons (for Scylitzes assigns that many children to Cutlum, among whom Bryennius counts Solyman and Masouria) occupied Lycaonia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia, this is narrated with sufficient detail by Zonaras under Romanus Diogenes and by the same Scylitzes under Botaniates. Yet it remains entirely uncertain when and under which emperor Nicaea, the metropolis of Bithynia—where the writers testify here and there that Solyman had established the seat of his kingdom, or as Anna says in Book 1, p. 95—passed into the power of the Turks, since no one has revealed this until now. Certainly, although that which is handed down by Bryennius in Book 3, nos. 16, 17, 18, and by Scylitzes, Zonaras, and others, that the people of Nicaea received Botaniates and acclaimed him emperor, clearly proves that at that time (that is, under Christ in the year 1078) Nicaea obeyed the Greeks, nevertheless the same Bryennius appears to indicate that the Turks were recognized as masters while he was emperor, when he writes that Botaniates, having been made emperor, sent envoys to Solyman and Masouras, who were then residing in Nicaea. Since that city stood as the capital of the elder Solyman, Nicaea must have come into the possession of the Turks before his death, which occurred in the year 1085.

^A Having made an attack upon the Turks, they checked their violence. Botaniates, however, fearing that the small number of his men might eventually be surrounded by the multitude of the barbarians, sent Chrysosculus to them; having spoken with them, he easily persuaded them to accept money and return, and thus the Romans had a secure journey as far as Nicaea.

17. ^B Advancing to the suburbs of that city, they saw a very large host drawn up in phalanxes. Thinking that these were enemies and about to charge against them, they were almost frozen with fear, despairing of their safety; for fighting against such a multitude when they were so few seemed to them impossible, and turning back was also very dangerous. Therefore, they sent messengers to ask who they were and what they wanted. They all cried out with one voice, acclaiming Botaniates as emperor of the Romans. Upon hearing this, he was freed from his fear and entered Nicaea, having been saved from present danger in a marvelous way. For those who had joined him in his revolt were no more than three hundred men who, having traversed the midst of many snares laid for them by those watching, were safe through divine providence, showing here too that God—when He gives—envy cannot prevail; and where He does not give, these are vain, as are the multitudes of armies, the companies, and the phalanxes drawn up in the best manner, while the dire stratagems, counsels, and plans are altogether ^C ineffective.

18. Once news of the arrival of Botaniates was spread to those in the city, and how the people of Nicaea had received him with open arms, there was at once much speech and deliberation among the members of the senate and many of the court, and they were considering how they might get rid of the ruler and make Botaniates emperor for themselves; for most of them had already secretly sent embassies to him and received golden-sealed letters. They decided, therefore, to gather at the famous church of the Wisdom of God, to arm those around them, to release the prisoners from custody, and thus to send out to those in authority who were not privy to the plot, calling them to act in concert. The leaders of the plot were ^D Aemilianus, a man both crafty and energetic, and if anyone else could, he was able and willing to incite the people to disorder, and with him were many of the senate. It seemed best to them, before the deed, to enlist the Caesar in the plot as well, and they sent to him Michael Varus, a man distinguished for his prudence and experience in affairs. At that time, the Caesar was staying at the church of the Blachernae, for the emperor himself happened to be there as well. Varus met with him toward late evening, reported the matters of the project, and showed him a certain golden-sealed letter sent to him by Botaniates, promising the Caesar very many gifts and high honors. Having heard these things,

^A he waited not even a moment, but replied to the man that he would by no means willingly betray the interests of his nephew and emperor. And he sent him away to the logothete, ordering him to hear the man and, having heard him, to report to the Emperor and arrange what was necessary.

19. [19.] The man, upon leaving, called one of those around him and sent him to the conspirators, informing them that since he had been caught and was unable to bear either scourges or the torments of torture, he was prepared to reveal what he knew; "It is for you," he said, "to deliberate quickly concerning your advantage." He, having said these things, was led away to the logothete and revealed everything he knew. The latter reported it all to the sovereign. Alexios Komnenos happened to be present at that time, and being bidden to offer his opinion, he gave the best advice, saying that one ought to send soldiers quickly and seize the leaders of the plot. This counsel appeared best of all to the Caesar and the logothete, but it did not please the sovereign; for, since the hour was already late, he feared that some tumult and confusion might arise in the city, which some might exploit. Since Providence, therefore, allowed the judgment of the sovereign to err and postponed the imprisonment of them and their adherents until the following day, the conspirators, left unmolested that night, ^B early the next morning gathered in the temple of St. Sophia. Having opened the city guards, and having armed those who had previously been bound and condemned, and, moreover, having armed as many slaves and household servants as each had, they sent out a strong force from these against the powerful men who were estranged from the conspiracy, with threats of burning their houses if they did not join them and partake in the plot. They provided those carrying out these mandates with letters inscribed as follows: "The most holy patriarchs, the synod, and the senate summon you to the famous temple of St. Sophia." And to this summons, they gathered from all sides, some willingly, some by constraint.

20. [20.] These things having been reported to the Emperor, Alexios Komnenos was summoned in haste, and the Emperor asked him what ought to be done in such a crisis of affairs. His counsel was indeed most excellent and most advantageous. For he said that the greater part of the multitude gathered among the conspirators was unwarlike and of base condition, and that they would by no means stand their ground if they saw armed men approaching them who were determined to fight. "It is necessary, therefore," he said, "to arm the axe-bearing guards of the emperors and send them against them under some brave commander." The sovereign, having heard these things, rejected the counsel; whether he was seized by cowardice or whether, through an excess of virtue, he possessed a spirit superior to human crises, I do not know. This, however, is certain: that when he could have suppressed the sedition and extinguished the rising flame before it grew into a most violent conflagration, he did not wish to do so.

21. [21.] Yet Komnenos even then compelled him

^A to undertake what befitted his own great peril; and finally, when he was weary of being importuned in vain, and had been severely rebuked by him as if he were counseling cruelties, the Emperor replied to him with these words: "It had long since been determined by me to lay down the empire. That which I was therefore contemplating of my own accord, since divine Providence brings it about against my will, I willingly accept. Do you, however, if you wish, establish my brother Constantine as Emperor in my stead." When he had said this, Alexios asked that what had been stated be committed to writing. Michael did not refuse, and at once a diploma, duly signed and sealed with a bull, was drawn up, designating Constantine as Emperor. Having received the document, Michael immediately retired to the church of the Mother of God in Blachernae. Alexios, moreover, ^B hastened with the diploma to Constantine, urging him to follow himself to the palace to enter into possession of the empire. But he refused, having been deceived by youthful judgment and thinking that his affairs would be in an excellent position under the new Emperor who was coming, and before he could cross the strait, he was anxious to be among the first to meet Botaneiates and go to him. Thus were things situated in the city.

[P. 83] 22. But Botaneiates, having learned of the dissension in the city, moved from Nicaea and was hastening to the great city, and when he had arrived at Praenetus, he sent from there those who were to occupy the palace, having placed over them a leader most faithful of his servants, whose name was Borillius. Following them shortly after, he himself took up residence in the palaces of the Ruffiani, ^C awaiting the royal ship and other preparations. Thither came to him both the Porphyrogenitus Constantine and Alexios Komnenos, the former ignorant of what was to happen to him before experiencing it, the latter having foreseen and announced everything before it transpired. Since, therefore, the new Emperor had neither given his right hand to the greeting Constantine nor deemed him worthy of an embrace, Komnenos spoke thus to Botaneiates: "You know, best Emperor, that this Porphyrogenitus has derived no benefit from the empire of his brother. For he was not treated with any kindness by him, but rather was kept in dark custody, dragging out his whole life until now in misery and shadow; now, with a new light having arisen for him from you, he hopes that his darkness will be dispelled by the dawning of your principate, and that ^D with you favoring him and taking a fatherly care of him, he will see serene and tranquil days."

23. Alexios, when he had agreed to the arguments on his behalf, began again, saying: "You are not unaware, O Emperor, how constant I have remained in my faith toward him who reigned before you, so that while all had turned to obey you, I almost alone have persisted until now, having sent neither legates nor letters to you. You have in another the example of what you yourself may expect from me. For as toward...

^A I have kept faith unfeigned, so too will I keep it unshaken toward you." With these words, the Emperor having praised him, Alexius departed. Botaniates, therefore, having learned that those who had been sent ahead had become masters of the palace, set out to cross over to the imperial residence. When he had come to the shore opposite the city, where the stone cow ^B stands upon a column, the imperial ship, which is called a dromon, took him on board, and immediately, with acclamations and varied applause, ferried him to the palace.

24. Emperor Michael immediately cut his hair and put on the monastic habit, in the presence and by the persuasion of his uncle the Caesar, who, considering the levity of him who had prevailed and the audacity of those who were with him (for he saw that he was being governed by the counsel of servants), and fearing for his brother's son lest some sad and wicked example be made of him, was the author for him that he should consecrate himself to God. He who then occupied the throne of the patriarchate, that great and celebrated Thomas, knowing the purity of the man, elected him into the clergy, and a little later ordained him metropolitan of Ephesus.

25. But Botaniates, having become master of the imperial scepter, although he was on the threshold of old age—or rather, had already entered into it—and although he had previously taken a wife twice, nonetheless married the Empress Maria again. For as soon as Maria Augusta saw Botaniates in full possession of the empire, she withdrew and took up residence in a monastery located near Sidera, or "the Iron," which is called Petrium. After Botaniates, persuaded by the Caesar, as we shall relate more clearly later, determined to take her as his wife, the Caesar summoned her from there and brought her into the palace. Then, when matters for the celebration of the nuptials had been prepared, and when the Emperor Botaniates and Maria Augusta, the new bride and groom, were already standing before the doors of the temple, the priest who was to perform the sacred ceremony, considering what he was about to do, began to fear that he would be deposed from the priesthood if he joined to Botaniates, who was already reigning, a woman whose husband, namely Michael Ducas the recent emperor, was still alive, and whose wife, whom he had taken in a second marriage before his reign, was also still alive and among the living; gathering himself, and knowing to what evil he was being carried, he [intended to commit] adultery at once... ^{C D}

blessing a third marriage ^A, he delayed for the time being his departure from the sanctuary, and perceiving this, and guessing the priest's state of mind, he was in agony lest the patriarch, having heard of this, should dissolve the betrothal being performed and incline again towards Eudokia. Not wanting to speak his will plainly because of those standing around, he looked intently at his grandson, Michael Doukas, and wished to signal the secret thing through his gaze. The youth, seeing the priest's hesitation and the Caesar's gaze upon himself, quickly grasped the fear; and having at once made ready another priest who would perform the betrothal and kept him hidden meanwhile, he himself approached closer to the altar and called for the priest who was refusing the duty. When the latter asked for what reason he was being called, he (Michael), grasping his vestments, quietly and gently led him away from the sanctuary and introduced the other, already prepared in secret, who immediately performed the ceremony of the marriage rite without any scruple. Hence the Caesar found access to the Augusta’s favor. ^B

25. Following these things, the logothete who was among those attendant upon the emperor, despairing of all hope that he had in the customary defenses by which he was previously protected, or in the emperor, decided to flee to Bryennios. And having come to Selymbria and conferred with Urselius, he wished to set out toward Bryennios with him, along with some cohorts sent by himself and the emperor Michael. But the latter, having seized him and bound him, brought him to Botaneiates, by whom he was sent into exile to the island called Oxeia, and a little while later, having been ^C inhumanely and cruelly tortured, he died. Such was the end of the things concerning the reign of the Doukas, Michael.

Caroli Du Fresne Du Cange notes. (50) A third marriage is forbidden by the canons of the councils. V. can. 3 and 7 of the Caesar. syn., Leo, Nov. 90, Constant. Porphyr. Nov. atam A. 920, Balsam. In Epist. Basil. ad Amphit. c. 4 and in Nomoc. Photii, Jus Graeco-Rom. l. 1, p. 497. That saying of Nazianzen or Clement is known: The first union is law, the second is concession, the third is lawlessness, the fourth is a swine’s life. Furthermore, Athena- ^D goras even called these second marriages decent adultery. V. the epistle of Nicolaus Patr. Cp. in Baron. A. 912, in the Appendix to tom. X, and Guidon. Carmelit. De hæresib. Graecor., c. 8.

BOOK FOURTH.

1. Since Nicephorus Botaneiates, having grasped the scepter of the empire in this way, was hastening as best he could to attract the goodwill of the citizens, perceiving especially the situation concerning Bryennios and the forces gathered around him; for he knew him to be not only a very strategic man and extremely liberal, but also more energetic—

^A seeking therefore to win over the favor of the citizens, he courted it, and strove to show himself more liberal than anyone else, though not with sound judgment. Wherefore he became the cause of great confusion to the Roman state. For since there were two fountains from which the Roman empire derived prestige and derived the means to provide rewards for those who excelled and those who otherwise contributed their goodwill, he stopped up both of these and granted them freely to everyone to lavishly drain at will. For the greatest dignities were bestowed not upon those who were excellent and soldiers and those descended from the senatorial council, nor even upon those who contributed some goodwill, but upon everyone who asked; and the same was done with offices as they are called among the Romans, so that it came about that the expenditures were many times greater than the revenues. And for this reason, after a short time, when money had run out, the coinage was debased, and the gifts from the emperor belonging to the dignities and offices were henceforth obstructed by the scarcity of money. For the influx of funds from Asia, which used to be provided to the treasury, had vanished—as the Turks had taken control of all of Asia—and the revenues from Europe had completely dried up, as the previous emperors had squandered them; and as those that previously existed were being badly consumed, it happened that there was the greatest scarcity of money in the imperial treasuries. But thus did he, wishing to be shown as liberal, overreach in his liberality, desiring, as has been said, to make the city well-disposed toward himself.

^B § 2. Bryennios, staying at Hydrus, hearing of the situation concerning the emperor Michael and the revolt of the city against him, gathered the entire Macedonian and Thracian army, and bringing along allies, set out against Byzantium. But Botaniates, having learned this and fearing that, should such a man approach the city with so great a force, he might cause his nascent and still poorly grounded power to collapse, first decided to send legates to him to talk about terms and agreements, in order to delay him for a while. Then, having declared Alexios Komnenos, who had been adopted by the Augusta Maria, as Domestic of the Schools of the West, he determined to equip him with forces and an army, so that he might wage war against him. But since Roman soldiers were lacking for this, he sent to the leaders of the Turks who were staying in Nicaea of Bithynia; these were Masurus and Solyman, the sons of Cutlumusi. And they immediately sent auxiliary forces of two thousand Turks, and were making ready more behind them. Yet, before the expected allies had arrived, it seemed necessary that the legates should depart; and there were sent Choerosphactes Constantine, who at that time held the rank of president, a man prudent and learned and adorned with all ^C qualities.

^A fitting a statesman: and with him, Straboromanus, who hailed from Pentapolis in Phrygia, a man keen and industrious, a kinsman of the Emperor Nicephorus himself. Having departed, they encountered Bryennius near Theodoropolis, as he was drawing up the phalanx and marching at a measured pace. While they were still at a distance, observing the ranks and the phalanx drawn up in an orderly fashion, they were amazed at the number and at the order, and they silently praised the leader. When they arrived near, those stationed over the retinue reported these things to the commander-in-chief. He ordered the ranks to halt and, taking his chosen men—the commander of the Macedonians, the generals of the Thracians, and the tribunes and the commanders of the wings—he advanced a little from the phalanx; there, while everyone ^B around them had dismounted from their horses and stood in continuous order on either side, he alone was on horseback, his needs being met by a white horse. He stood not in armor but in majestic, imperial attire, which seemed actually to add grace to one who was already a man of noble appearance and most skilled in discourse. Upon the approach of the legates, who performed the customary greeting due to ambassadors, and the ruler himself having returned the salutation, and also treating them mildly, he tried to learn from them for what reason they had performed this arrival. When they said they had been sent by the ruler for the sake of peace, and treaties, and common action, he asked again on what terms they sought the agreements. They recounted all that the Emperor had [P. 89] commanded, with Straboromanus leading the speech: for he, as a kinsman to the Emperor, had the authority of the embassy. The other was sent for the sake of persuasion, due to his ^C affinity with the commander-in-chief through kinship.

3. The content of the embassy was as follows: "I," says the ruler, "long ago knew your father, a man skilled in generalship and who raised many trophies against the Scythians; and furthermore, I was his fellow-campaigner, having been his companion in the retinue in times past, and I know you no less to be a worthy son of such a father. Because of these things, since God has raised me to the imperial height, I wish to be a loving father to you. May you, therefore, be a grateful son to me instead of an ungrateful one, overlooking the weakness that comes with old age. And now receive the second honor after the imperial, I mean that of Caesar, and not long after you shall become our successor ^D to the empire of the Romans." When the ambassadors had finished these things, he did not hesitate at all (for he was, if anyone else, quick to understand matters at hand immediately and thoroughly) and answered straightaway that he was willing to accept the agreements, to embrace peace, to dissolve the civil war, and to accept the honor from the Emperor. Yet he wished that not only he should obtain the good things of peace, but also those who had shared the work with him—the generals, the soldiers, and the commanders—for whom to betray their advantage he considered as equal to committing impiety: for it would be of the utmost selfishness, or rather to speak more plainly, of inhumanity, seeking one's own advantage while betraying that of others. Not otherwise, therefore, would he [accept] the adoption

^A the receiving of the honor, unless he had first secured the interests of those [men]. He desires, therefore, that the emperor first confirm to them those [things] promised by him, and that in this way he should go forth from the city with the patriarch and arrive at the church of the commander of the heavenly hosts, Michael, which is situated in the Thracian village of Damocranea (51); and there [he desires] that the matters of adoption to the dignity of Caesar should take place, and that he should be girded with the crown in the customary manner. When the envoys asked why he did not wish for the ceremony of his adoption to take place in the Queen of Cities, he replied that he feared no one but God, but that he distrusted many of those who were about the emperor. They departed. It happened that they nearly came into danger, having fallen in with scouts; however, they were saved by the prudence of the one who was in command of the scouts. When they had departed and reported to the emperor the terms of the agreement, it seemed best not to waste time, but to send out the Domestic of the Schools with the army; for it was deemed that an agreement was hopeless as long as Bryennius insisted [on these things]. Comnenus went forth, therefore, having with him the allied Turks and those called Chomateni (52), who had come with the Emperor Botaniates, and a certain portion of the Franks who had arrived from Italy, and taking with him ^B the phalanx of those called the Immortals. It is necessary to explain briefly who these Immortals were. Emperor Michael, or rather, to speak the truth, the eunuch Nicephorus the Logothete, seeing that the army of the East had almost entirely failed, having been subjugated by the Turks, took care to provide other forces through new levies. Wherefore, collecting certain of those who were wandering through Asia serving for hire, he clothed them in corslets and gave them shields, helmets to wear, and spears. And having placed over them one of the generals, a man naturally and skillfully gifted for the training of them—this was Constantine the Cappadocian, a man by family related to the Emperor Michael and raised together with him—he trained them in military matters, so that they could ride horses quite well and use their weapons skillfully. Since he seemed sufficiently to have exercised and armed their bodies for war, he also applied his mind to training their spirits so as to be intrepid, rendering them pugnacious ^C and preparing them to be armed.

He would remove the iron points from their lances, and dividing them into companies, he would stand them facing one another. Then he would order them to drive their horses at full speed against each other and to strike one another with their lances as best they could; and in this way, he would rank those who advanced to the task with more boldness among the first. Those, therefore, who repeatedly appeared the most excellent in such combat against one another he called "Immortals," and in this way it happened that all those who filled out the gathered phalanx were named Immortals.

5. Alexios Komnenos, having taken these men and gone off with the others, encamped beside a river whose ancient name I do not know—since most such names have happened to be changed—though at present it is called the Halmyros by the local inhabitants, flowing down from the Thracian mountains. Upon it, a fortress is founded on a hill, called Kalobrya. Having encamped there, he neither dug a trench nor set up a palisade; for he wished to observe the coming of the enemy’s assault and the victory, if it were possible, right then and there. For he was destined to fight with a few men against many, and against generals who were at once noble and most experienced, among whom, like the sun among the stars, shone the candidate for the empire, Bryennios. For this reason, the Domestic of the Schools, being inferior in number and in forces, wished to overcome the enemy not only with boldness, but also with training and shrewdness in generalship. Through scouts he sent, he learned that those around Bryennios were encamped in the plains near Kedoktos. ^{A B}

6. Bryennios, having arrived in the evening at the shrine of the Mother of the Word of God located there, and having performed the appropriate devotions, since he had learned that his adversaries were encamped near Kalobrya (for some Turks from the army of Alexios Komnenos, having gone out by night to scout the Bryennian army, had fallen upon the sentries, were captured, and when brought to him told him everything), arose at dawn and ordered the entire army to arm itself, and he arranged it by companies. His manner of arrangement was as follows: The right wing was commanded by his brother, the Curopalates John, whom he himself had created Domestic of the Schools. This phalanx was comprised of the Franks who had been brought from Italy by that Maniakes, and of many horsemen from Thessaly; in addition, a not inconsiderable portion of those called the "Companies." All these, easily filling the number of five thousand, formed the right wing. The left wing was led by Tarchaneiotes Catacalo, a man distinguished in character, eloquence, and martial glory, and this phalanx was filled by the wings of the Macedonians and Thracians, totaling three thousand. ^C The center of the battle line was commanded by Bryennios himself, in which were the entire Praetorian guard and all the Thracians and Macedonians, as well as the cavalry of Thessaly. ^D

^A Outside the left wing, the Scythian auxiliary force was drawn up, advancing two stades ahead. ^B Now, he had arranged his army in this way, extending the phalanx in length, and had given orders that as soon as the enemy appeared and the trumpet sounded the war-signal, the Scythians should attempt to get behind the enemy’s back with shouting and clamor. This is the command he had given to his leaders.

7. ^C But Alexios Komnenos, having learned through his scouts that the enemy was already approaching, hid his entire army in a valley. He himself, having ascended a hill, kept watch on them. When he saw their host and considered that, lest those under his command take to flight before engaging the enemy, it would be the best and wisest counsel to ensure the enemy did not see his men at all. He was further troubled by the fact that he was to fight that day contrary to the Emperor’s will; for on the previous evening he had received letters from the Emperor commanding him not to fight, but to await the arrival of the Turkish allies who were said to be on their way. It was impossible for him to remain without engaging in battle, as the enemy was already coming to close quarters, and to retreat without a fight seemed to him unworthy. He therefore resolved either to conquer, or to die fighting, or else to return in such a shameful and cowardly manner owing to his fear of the Emperor. Having surveyed the terrain, and seeing that while some of it was open, other parts had hills and valleys—such that part of Bryennios’ phalanx could be hidden while another part remained in full view—he armed his army and divided it into two. He himself took command of the Immortals and the Franks, while he appointed Constantine Catacalon to command the Chomatenees and the Turks, arranging them opposite the Scythian phalanx.

8. When, therefore, Bryennios’ army had reached the concave terrain, he revealed his right wing to his men and commanded them to charge against them with great force. ^D They leaped out, therefore, as if from an ambush, and by the suddenness of their assault terrified their opponents so that they were very nearly thrown into flight, until their leader, John Bryennios, drawing his sword, charged with a few men and struck down the first of the Immortals to approach, as others did to others, and steadied the whole phalanx so that they turned their opponents to flight. So indeed the Immortals all went off in this manner, while Alexios Komnenos, having got behind the backs of the enemy and thinking that his own phalanx was following him, fought most bravely, striking down all whom he encountered. But when he noticed his own phalanx had turned in flight, having called for his own

^A companions who were with him—good soldiers, six in number—he proposed the daring plan of attacking Bryennius from the rear, advancing quietly toward his forces until he was near, and then, drawing their swords, to slay him. Even if it should happen that they themselves fell with him, he considered that fate preferable to returning to the Emperor when defeated, and undoubtedly suffering severe punishment at his discretion for having disobeyed his command, by which he had forbidden the battle to be joined that day. Theodotus, whom we mentioned above, dissuaded him from this plan, saying that it was not only rash but also foolish. For who, he asked, does not see that the primary care of those who have been cut off from their own side and find themselves, though very few, mixed into a multitude of enemies, must be to return as quickly as possible to their own men, and once they have joined them, to attach to themselves as many as they can from them, and then, if they like, proceed against the enemy and undergo the danger afresh. Such was the outcome of the battle on the right wing.

9. On the left wing, however, the Scythians under Constantine Catacalo, seeing the Chomateni, immediately rushed against them with great clamor and shouting; and before the word was out, they had put them to flight. Having ceased their pursuit, they were returning in good order when the desire seized them to charge with great force upon those who were guarding the rear of the Bryennian army; where, having easily scattered that entire mercenary band, they gathered a great booty of horses and spoils and departed for home. ^B Hence, confusion arose in the military ranks, because terror was carried into that crowd of baggage animals, which the Romans in the vulgar tongue call *tuldum*, and many of them, in their panic, rushed blindly into the lines of the armed men who were fleeing from the Scythians, whence it came about that the standards were mingled. Alexius Comnenus, who had observed this—for he was still intermingled with the army of Bryennius—covered his face with the visor of his helmet so that he might not be recognized. He had seized a certain groom of Bryennius who happened to be nearby, leading one of the horses adorned with imperial purple and golden trappings, and he had also seized the broadswords which, by custom, are carried behind emperors. ^C And so, stealing out of the Bryennian line with these, when he had reached a safe place, he sent a herald who, showing the horse, cried out loudly that Bryennius had fallen. That voice and appearance held back many of the Alexians who were already looking to flee, and recalled others who had already begun to flee. For since the Scythians, who ought to have been pursuing the fugitives, had turned their attack instead upon the rear guard of Bryennius, it happened that the Alexians—inasmuch as no one was pressing them from the rear—did not flee far, but waited nearby to see how matters would fall out, in order to form a plan based on the outcome. Therefore, as they saw that the Bryennians were fleeing... ^D [Notes of Carolus Du Fresne Du Cange on the *tuldum*. That this... that many... Rigaltius and Meursius in the *Glossarium* and Fabrotus on Cedrenus, which I do not transcribe. I only advise that ours seems to be derived from *toudis* or *taudis*, in that for an unordered heap of things, such as are usually the impediments of armies, which lie in the camp in no order, Monstrelet uses... vol. i, p. 238; vol. ii, p. 38, 58; Grnellus (Grnel) in *History of Arthur, Duke of Brittany*, p. 92, 94; Philippus Ravestanus in *Tactics*, and others passim.]

^A gentes (for as we said, the Scythians were throwing them into confusion), and seeing the horse which the imperial cult of Bryennios suggested was his, surrounded by rhomphaiai and empty of its rider, hearing at this the voice clearly announcing that Bryennios had been killed, they were restored in spirit and, finding encouragement, they gathered together again.

10. A moment of great importance arose with the arrival of no small band of Turks, from those whom we have already said had been sent by the emperor to the aid of Alexios. Seeing the battle joined and the enemies in disarray and fleeing, they sought out the Domestikos of the Schools, and having found him, they offered their services most generously, encouraging him to be confident and to allow them to see the enemy. He took their leaders and went up onto a hill from which he knew the enemy line could be seen, and pointed them out to them from there. ^B They, seeing the phalanx in confusion, moving without any order, but rather aimlessly as if moving and perishing (for they were all distracted, as they already considered themselves victorious and thought they had routed the enemy), since the Franks of Botaneiates had all gone over to Bryennios and, dismounting from their horses, had joined hands with his men, which is their ancestral custom for pledging faith; all the men of the phalanx ran together, becoming spectators of what was happening—seeing this, the leaders of the Turks, having descended from there, divided their own phalanx into three parts. Two parts they sent off to lie in ambush, and the third they ordered to advance against the enemy, no longer in the manner of a phalanx, but in small, scattered groups, and to spur their horses and use their bows and shower many arrows upon them.

11. Alexios Komnenos also joined these, having gathered as many as the speed of the moment allowed from those who had turned back from the flight. ^C While matters were in this state, some of the Immortals outstripped the Turks and penetrated deep into the line of Bryennios, so much so that one of them struck Bryennios himself in the chest with a lance at close quarters. But he, having strenuously drawn his sword from its scabbard, broke the lance in two with the blow of his hand, and striking the man who had struck him at the joint of the collarbone, he completely severed his shoulder along with his breastplate. The Turks, with a sudden, loud shout, let fly a hail of arrows, and the leaders of the phalanx were struck with amazement at the suddenness of the event. Nevertheless, being men skilled in war, they strove to bring the phalanx back into good order, encouraging their soldiers to prove themselves brave men and to maintain the glory of such a victory ^D... and as the pressure of time allowed, having re-formed their ranks, they charged against the Turks.

12. The fugitives fled precipitately toward the ambushes, until they were near the first one. When they were close, those who were...

lying in wait ^A leapt out swiftly from every direction and showered them with arrows, cruelly wounding both horses and men. As those men were already inclining toward flight, the curopalates John, of the scholae, belonging to the army of Bryennius—whom the narrative previously identified as his brother—came to their aid with great speed. Seeing him, those around Bryennius began to resist the Turks more courageously and charged against them of their own accord. But the latter again withdrew in a feigned flight, nor did they cease to retreat until they had drawn their pursuers into a second ambush. When this had occurred, and all were now indeed turning to flight, many of those around Bryennius fell. Observing this, he attempted to hasten to their aid; for he was encountering many of the pursuers and striking them down, and he was exhorting the fugitives to stand their ground. But his efforts were in vain; for all abandoned him, and withdrew alongside his son and his brother. They themselves, however, having fought with distinction and having struck down many of the Turks, once they saw the entire phalanx scattered, they too began to retreat, with the Turks pressing upon them from the rear. They therefore turned back frequently to check the force of the assault, until the horse that he was riding, ^B exhausted, was no longer able to proceed further. This being the case, he himself proceeded at a walk, while his brother and son kept turning back frequently to hold off the Turks.

13. As long as the number of their pursuers was not very great, they managed their retreat quite comfortably. But when many gathered, and his horse, worn out, was useless for running, the enemy attempted to circle around them and confront them from the front. But both men, with great force, charged against the enemies, struck down two of them, and compelled the others to flee far away, and in this manner, having obtained a brief security, they made progress. But again the Turks, along with many others, returned and pressed upon them vehemently. The others once more did as they had done before, and with great eagerness pressed against the Turks. ^C But their eagerness did not have the same outcome as before; rather, John, having struck down one of the Turks, collided with another, and the horses of both, along with their riders, fell. The son of the emperor-to-be, having been carried too far in the pursuit and having struck down one of the Turks, was cut off in the midst of the Turks and was no longer able to rejoin his father, although he tried many times to reach them. [P. 96] Having therefore obtained an opening, the Turks attacked Bryennius more fiercely. One of them, having drawn his sword, charged against him more audaciously; but he, turning, struck him with his sword and severed his hand, causing it to fall to the ground along with his scimitar. ^D The others attempted to circle around him. But he defended himself valiantly. He charged against those who were coming from the front and was struck by a spear. As he was occupied with breaking the spear, the first one, whose hand had been cut off by him

leapt from his horse and jumped onto Bryennios’s back. He, turning, was unable to strike him with his scimitar because the man was hiding behind his ^A back. The rest of the Turks, therefore, dismounting from their horses, begged him not to wish to die, but to surrender to what had befallen him. So long as his hand was not exhausted, he did not give in, striking and being struck; but when he had become utterly fatigued, he yielded, even against his will, to the entreaties of the enemies, and thus it happened that he was captured.

14. The barbarians, therefore, taking him with the greatest respect, went to Alexios Komnenos, having sent heralds ahead to announce his capture. These things, then, were done in this manner. But someone among the Franks, having chanced upon his own brother after the collapse and seeing him on foot, lifted him onto his own horse and brought him safely to Adrianople. The son of Nicephorus Bryennios was also saved; having broken through those who were surrounding him and thus having gotten beyond the range of arrows, in his flight he remembered what his father had instructed him: that if he should arrive at Adrianople, he should say to his grandmother and mother—if his brother should not be saved—to gather those who had been saved from the battle and to persuade them not to make terms with the Emperor before he had made written agreements that he would deprive no one of the honor he already possessed, nor would he allow any of their belongings to be taken away. This was indeed carried out afterward.

15. Alexios Komnenos, seeing Bryennios who was brought to him, marveled ^C at the appearance and stature of the man; for he was truly worthy of imperial rule. He rejoiced to see what manner of general he had defeated, one whose hand was noble, and whose soul was bold, and who possessed a stable character; for he bore a heroic soul. And let no one think that I am boasting in saying and writing these things. But let everything be seen as surpassed by the achievements of the man.

Petri Possini’s notes

(p-q) These matters are quite intricate. For they seem to make this young man the son of the brother of Bryennios who was aspiring to the kingdom, of which the direct opposite is clearly stated a little above, where he is called ^D the son of the one reigning. There is therefore some error in our codex, which, like many other things, is difficult to amend without the help of a better manuscript. I will add this here in passing: if Zonaras wrote truly when he asserts that the husband of Anna was the firstborn son of the Bryennios defeated by Alexios, then the one about whom this discussion is concerned ought to have been the author of this work himself. But if this were the case, he himself would have indicated it in some way, which he does not. Moreover, the age differs too much; for the young man who is discussed in this place was already many years older and mature in war at the beginning of the reign of Botaneiates, that is, about eight years before Anna was born, who was born to Alexios only after the death of Robert Guiscard, as she herself narrates in book VI of the *Alexiad*, p. 166. That was the fifth year of the reign of Alexios. At which time, this blind Bryennios’s son could not have been much younger than thirty. If to his age we add nearly twenty, the number of years Anna had reached when she married Bryennios, it is likely that she ought to have been given as a bride to Alexios’s beloved daughter as a fifty-year-old, which is little credible. Therefore, it is better to believe Anna herself, when she calls her husband not a son of Bryennios Botaneiates, whom she calls an emulator in the empire, but a grandson, born of the firstborn of the very one whose history here remembers.

(r) *Who would think I am boasting.* This is barbarous in the MS, for which we have substituted *περιαυτολογοῦντα*. For this Bryennios here excuses himself and deprecates the suspicion of adulation because he celebrates the praises of his paternal grandfather. We could have explained the causes of this and similar emendations more minutely and supported them with the testimonies of suitable authors, if time allowed or if I had believed it necessary. An accurate and skilled reader will easily deduce for himself from the first sight of the passage, while he recognizes our corrections, what has impelled us to them. We supersede confidence in this matter.

^A And, in truth, if the narrative had not looked toward another goal, but had wished to recount separately his accomplishments, it would have required another Iliad. Therefore, Alexius Comnenus—who was a man ^B shrewd in discovering what was necessary in a moment of crisis, and shrewd in drawing up a battle line and out-maneuvering enemies, already possessing a character mature beyond his years, yet still having the light down of youth upon his cheeks, golden and blooming (for he was at that age...)—after that clash and those noble struggles, vanquished the defeat, not by numerical strength, but by endurance and boldness and strategic training, while taking as an ally the Providence from above, through which the ends of endeavors are achieved.

15. Having thus captured him, he himself departed toward ^B Constantinople, while he sent off to the Emperor the purple footwear, studded with pearls and stones, which he [Bryennius] was wearing as the insignia of his usurped principate, signaling to him his capture. The Emperor, gladdened by the news—which had been brought by the man he held most faithful and intimate, a Scythian or a Mysian (Borilas was his name), whom he had honored with the rank of protoproedros and the title of ethnarches—sent him to the Domestic of the Schools, Comnenus, with orders that he should deliver Bryennius into his hands, but that the Domestic himself should refrain from entering the city of Constantinople; instead, he should go on with the army toward Adrianople and wage war against Basilaces. For he too had managed to become powerful, all the army in Illyricum and in Bulgaria having gone over to him. Furthermore, he also had with him the Varangians, all those who had been sent down to Dyrrhachium by Emperor Michael together with Basilaces. He had also seized the metropolis in Thessaly, which they call Thessalonica. Now, Comnenus bore the order aggrievedly, ^C for he had expected to receive from the Emperor honors and rewards worthy of such an achievement, as he had not merely quelled a minor rebellion, but a very great principate, fortified by such and so great an army and a commander so renowned, and one which had reduced and subjected so many tax-paying lands and cities. Nevertheless, although bearing it grievously, he did what was commanded.

[P. 98] 17. ^D Borilas, taking Bryennius, led him to the place called Philopatium.

He blinded him, depriving the Roman Empire and the Republic of a man to whom it possessed no other peer than the one by whom he had been defeated and captured. Comnenus, however, having stayed no more than three days in the camp outside Constantinople, and having been refreshed in the meantime by the conversations and greetings of friends and kinsmen who vied with one another to visit him, said farewell to them and set out for Adrianople. He had received from the emperor documents written in red ink and duly fortified with a royal subscription and a golden bull, by which faith was pledged to each of the leaders who had followed Bryennius’s side but had not yet laid down their arms, that each would retain the honor he had previously held—provided they renounced their rebellion—and that nothing would be snatched away from those goods of which they had previously been the legitimate possessors.

18. A few days later, the emperor summoned Bryennius, who had recently been blinded, and consoled him with a compassionate concern for his bitter misfortune. And beyond restoring everything to him, he also enriched him, increasing his wealth with new honors and gifts. Meanwhile, the leaders frequently sent word to him, and they all entered the Queen of Cities. The emperor gladly welcomed them all, as Alexius Comnenus had already arrived and delivered the gold-embroidered [imperial] writs to them. Having taken all the others with him, he proceeded against Basilacius to do what had been commanded by the emperor. They, indeed, arrived at the great city with their wives and children, as has been recounted above. But Comnenus, having passed through Macedonia and Bulerum, reached the Strymon; and having crossed it ^A and passed through the narrow defiles of the mountain which is called the Black Mountain (55) ^B, he arrived at a certain town situated on a river which is commonly called the Bardarius in the language of the natives. The Bardarius flows down from the ranges of the new Moesia, and passing through Scupi ^C, it descends between Stroumitza and Stip, dividing the mountains; proceeding a little further from there, it separates the territories of Beroea and Thessalonica, flowing between them, and descends into the sea. In times past, it had diverted slightly from its original path and turned elsewhere, not very far from its former passage by two or three stadia, such that it happened that the former bed was a natural trench. Between the two, then, Alexius Comnenus pitched his camp, ^D having ordered everyone, after they had eaten, to rest for the remainder of the day as...

Caroli Du Fresne Du Cange notes

(55) *Black Mountain*: Thus the Greeks call the near part of the Taurus mountain in Cilicia and Armenia, as Phocas is the author in the *Description of the Holy Land*, c. 11, and Scylitzes in [the life of] Nicephorus Phocas. Anna also mentions the Black Mountain, book xi, p. 412, Pachymeres, book iv, c. 12, book v, c. 24, and Phrantzes, book iii, c. 27. They say it is called Montenegro today.

^A he encamped, having ordered everyone, after they had eaten, to rest for the remainder of the day, as they would have to spend the night keeping watch or sleeping in arms.

99 19. For Alexius, being sagacious and having gained sufficient experience from what he had previously done, hunted out the enemy's intention, surmising that he would attack that very night, which is exactly what happened. For this reason, he had made preparations and sent out scouts in every direction. But so much for that. A certain man, one of those with the Comnenus, deserted to Basilakes and told him that if he wished to attack him, he would deliver him into his hands while he was sleeping in his tent. Basilakes, without any hesitation, ordered everyone to arm themselves, and they were immediately in arms. When the sun was near the western horizon, he signaled the departure with the sound of trumpets and set out from the city. Leaving the direct road, so that he might better deceive him who could scarcely be deceived, he passed through the place called Lite, and when he arrived at the river which the locals call the Galicus, he crossed it near the fortress which is called Aquila, and having crossed the valley there, he proceeded through the plain.

20. ^B But he did not escape the scouts. For as soon as he had set out from the city and the scouts had inferred his departure from the large amount of dust, they reported these things to the Domestic of the Schools. He ordered everyone to take up their arms and prepare their horses, and to await the signal, and he sent one man after another to learn what was happening regarding the enemy. When one of his own household came to him—a man who was trustworthy and a contemporary and foster-brother (Taticius was the man's name)—reporting that the enemy was not far off, he asked him if he knew for certain that Basilakes himself was coming with them, and whether he had seen him there. Taticius affirmed that he had heard Basilakes' voice with his own ears, as he was drawing up the phalanx and ordering them to follow him; indeed, he added that he had shot an arrow at him from his bow. Immediately upon hearing this, Alexius ordered the trumpets to sound the signal for departure, and commanded those around his camp to light lamps and torches at once.

21. ^C Within his own tent, he left the monk, a eunuch whom his mother had assigned to him as a companion and constant tent-mate, having chosen him well for this purpose, for he was diligent and experienced in his duties—I say he left this monk in the tent, with orders to keep the lamp burning throughout the night. He gave the same instruction to all others in their own tents, to light lamps and torches and to keep them burning until dawn. ^D He himself, meanwhile, with all the armed men from the camp, went out and took up a position in a certain wooded and shady place, and there he remained.

22. But Basilakes, having come near the camp, since he saw it being plundered by his own men, and having seized the tent of the Domestic himself, thought that he had achieved everything and that he would catch and capture him right there. But when he had looked all around and saw no one except the monk I mentioned and the lamp burning, puffed up with arrogance

^A,

Book Four

23. Straight away, therefore, he shouted in a loud voice and said: "Commanders and tribunes, get out of the camp; the battle is outside." ^B For his voice was so wide and loud that it could throw entire phalanxes into confusion with a single shout. Now, as Basilakios was leaving the camp, while most of his soldiers were still busy gathering whatever plunder they could find scattered about, the noble Alexius, who was marching before his own phalanx with a few men, met him. He caught sight of the one leading the enemy army, and thinking it was Basilakios himself, he immediately charged against him, and drawing his sword, struck him on the right hand which was still holding the spear; ^C and having cut off three of his fingers, he caused the spear to fall along with them. This greatly threw the phalanx into confusion, and one man hastened to outstrip another in fleeing. As they moved in a circle, they hindered one another.

Charles Du Fresne Du Cange's notes

Caeterum Alexii Commeni... [Note: Verse omitted as per instructions: original Latin text preserved in the facsimile, not translated here].

^D Proxima castra die cedente locantur utrinque, Nocte fugam prudens simulavit Alexius illa. Castris dimissis, neque tota remota supellex Ejus erat, quadam tentoria fixa manebunt. Hæc dimissa fuga, jumentaque luce sequenti Effere fidem, castrique relicta supellex. Contra se nullos ubi vidit adesse paratus Hostilis belli, castris sine gente relictis Circumquaque suis Basilachius imperat ire, Si quos excipiunt ab equis vel gente tumultus, Ut sibi notificent. Mussantis nulla cohortis Vox, nullus potuit sonus, aut hinnitus equorum Audiri : sperat Basilachius omnia tuta, Atque suis hostem pro viribus expavefactum Credit inisse fugam. Cœnantem crapula somno Aggravat et castris gens tota quieta jacebat. Callibus occultis advectus Alexius hostes Irrumpens subito perterruit. His quia noctis Obstabant tenebræ, nusquam loca tuta patebant, Spes est nulla fugæ, capiuntur et interimuntur. His sopor et vini dederat violentia multam Segnitiem, nec abire valent, nec ad arma reverti. Lumine privatus Basilachius et tibi captus Legatur, nihil ipse videns, Nicephore, videndus, Imperio cujus præsumpserat esse rebellis. Impiger et cautus sic victor Alexius hostes Imperii multos armis superavit et arte.

^A 24. One of those under the command of Alexius, a man from Cappadocia nicknamed Gules, having recognized Basilaces, struck him with his sword upon his helmet. But since the sword broke near his hand and fell, Comnenus reproached him, thinking he had let the sword slip from his hand through negligence. He, however, immediately showed the hilt of the broken sword and cleared himself of the blame. And a certain Macedonian, by the name of Peter, surnamed Tornicius, charging into the midst of the enemies, struck down many of them. The phalanx meanwhile, as it was ignorant of what was happening (for the battle having been joined in darkness, it was not possible for everyone to see what was being done), remained unmoved. Then Comnenus again rushed toward that part of the enemy that still held its ground and stood in arms, striking and casting down whoever came to hand, and again retreating toward his own men. A Frank, observing him from his own phalanx as he was just coming out from the midst of the enemies, and thinking him to be one of the enemies, charged and struck him with his spear, and he would have nearly cast him down, had he not sat most steadily upon his horse. He therefore turned around with his drawn sword and attacked him. But he, ^B recognizing him, begged piteously for forgiveness, affirming that it was not with any evil intent, but out of sheer imprudence that he had struck him. To this, that noble man Alexius easily forgave the offense out of his customary generosity.

25. But while a portion of the enemies still stood in order, Alexius hastened to every part to break those remnants of the battle line, and sent to his own phalanx, ordering them not to delay, but to follow him as quickly as possible. These things were done by Alexius during the night with a few men. But when the sun had risen, Basilaces and those who were with him were attempting to organize their men and were strengthening them as much as they could. While these things were being done, some from his phalanx, whom the sweetness of plundering had kept separated in the camp from the rest of the battle line, were following behind, observing what was taking place. When some from the phalanx of the Domestic of the Schools, Alexius, saw them, they turned and charged against them, and easily routed them ^C in flight before they could come to hand, and returned with many of them taken alive.

26. When Manuel, the nephew of Basilaces, had ascended a certain hill, he was encouraging what remained of the phalanx, clearly shouting that this day and the victory belonged to Basilaces. Basilius Curtices, a Macedonian man from the household of Bryennius, seeing this, urged on his horse and ascended the hill toward him. And while he [Manuel] was drawing his sword against him, he [Curtices] struck him upon his helmet with a mace, cast the man from his horse, and led him away as a captive to the Domestic of the Schools, the noble Alexius. This having happened, when the phalanx of Comnenus also appeared, whatever was still standing around Basilaces was turned by terror into flight. Among them Basilaces himself was making for the city from which he had emerged at top speed, with Alexius vigorously pursuing him. To whom

one might not unfairly apply that Homeric verse written about Achilles and Hector: ^A

155 *The brave man fled before, the braver followed hard behind.*

For Alexius was indeed brave in both hand and spirit, born of noble stock and raised to the lofty heights of glory by heroic deeds.

27. Now, as Basilaces was shut up within the city, Alexius, having encamped round it with his army and wishing to preserve the man, sent an embassy to him so that, having received assurances that he would suffer no harm, he might surrender both himself and the city. The man who performed this embassy was a good and respectable man, renowned for his profession of the religious life, the superior of the monastery of Xenophon on Mount Athos, the most excellent and praiseworthy Symeon; yet, though he urged many things upon Basilaces, he achieved nothing. Alexius dealt more successfully with the soldiers of Basilaces and the citizens. For they themselves handed over the city, while Basilaces fled into the acropolis and resisted obstinately there, until those who were with him, compelled by their misfortunes, handed him over bound to Comnenus. Upon this, Alexius entered the city and, as victor, seized much of Basilaces' wealth. Then, having sent messengers to the Emperor to announce the capture of Basilaces, he remained in the city for some days, and soon, having settled affairs there, he returned with splendid trophies. ^B

28. Thus, the events brought about by him demonstrated how little one should trust in fortune, especially when she flatters most. Moreover, how rightly Euripides said: *One wise counsel overcomes many hands*. There is no more effective proof of this maxim than these very deeds of Alexius; for in them one sees a single man, endowed with one wise mind and plan, defeat in a very short time the most keen and glorious generals of the Romans, surrounded by the strongest and most numerous forces, and excite and raise up for the better the commonwealth, which by the confession of all had collapsed, as well as the dejected spirits of the soldiers following the Emperor. As for Basilaces,, as we have said, he was met after his capture by certain men sent by the Emperor between Philippi and Amphipolis. When they had delivered the letters from the Emperor to Comnenus, and had received what was commanded them therein, they took Basilaces aside to a certain village called Chempina, where there is a spring of clear water. There they gouged out his eyes; from which miserable calamity the spring that rises there was subsequently distinguished by the addition of the name of Basilaces. When Comnenus reached Constantinople, the Emperor received him most honorably, decorated him with the rank of *sebastos*, and enriched him most liberally with gifts and possessions. ^{C D}

29. At this time, Isaacius Comnenus, the brother of this man, also returned from Antioch; he, having recognized the Emperor's simplicity, and having frequently sent him gifts of cloths and fabrics woven in Syria, had attracted such favor toward himself that he also [received] from him many

possessions, was honored with the title of Sebastus in a short time, and besides, received the right of residence in the royal halls and a portion of the palace in which to dwell. The emperor employed his services both in judgments and in responses; for he was keen in investigating the truth and was most experienced in announcing clearly and neatly what was required. Dwellng in the palace, he easily beguiled the simple mind of the emperor with arts known to himself, keeping the emperor’s attention hanging upon his lips.

^B 30. Meanwhile, Alexius Comnenus set out again to inspect the affairs of his own province. Having come to the city of Adrianople and stayed there for a few days, he learned that the Scythian race was arming itself against the Romans and that the borders of Bulgaria were already being ravaged and pillaged by them. Having learned this, he quickly gathered whatever forces were at hand, especially the commanders and tribunes, and with all of them he repaired to the city of Philippopolis. There, having been more distinctly informed about the affairs of the Scythians, and having discovered that they were raiding and devastating the towns which lie between Naissus and Scupi, he marched strenuously against them. But once he had passed Sardica, the Scythians, having learned of his arrival, gave themselves over to headlong flight, abandoning their plunder. Having driven them out from there, Alexius returned again to Philippopolis, and having arranged the affairs of the region well and organized the cities, he won the goodwill of all in a short time; for besides being liberal, he conducted himself with such general courtesy that he was amazingly alluring, and was the most pleasant of all men in the sweetness of his speech. Having accomplished these things according to his intention, he returned to Byzantium and was received graciously and kindly by the emperor.

^C 31. While these things were being done, Nicephorus Melissenus, a noble man, ^D as the account has informed us from above, being related by marriage to the Comneni (for he had previously married their sister Eudocia), was staying around the island of Cos. Having attracted to himself the Turkish forces and the Turkish chieftains, he went around the cities of Asia, having put on red buskins. Consequently, the citizens, as if he were the Emperor of the Romans, surrendered both themselves and their cities to him. He, although against his will, surrendered them to the Turks, so that in this way it happened in a short time that all the cities in Asia, Phrygia, and Galatia fell into the power of the Turks. Furthermore, having occupied Nicaea in Bithynia with a great army, he stood poised from there against the Roman Empire. Botaniates, having learned these things, summoned Alexius Comnenus and ordered him, having crossed the Chalcedonian strait with his forces, to undertake an expedition against Melissenus. But he declined that campaign, indeed with wise counsel; for he feared the levity of the emperor and the frauds, wickedness, and not-obscure envy of those who had the most influence with him. He feared, therefore, lest if by chance he happened to fail in that war, which was likely given the much larger Turkish army, the malevolent, having seized a pretext for doing harm, might slander him before the emperor as having intentionally mismanaged the affair out of friendship for his relative Melissenus. The emperor, therefore, after having wasted many words in trying to persuade Alexius to that expedition, and not

^A gifts, and amazed by his steadfast disposition, he ordered him finally to hand over the forces to the protovestiarites. This was the eunuch John, who had long served him before his reign. He was as ambitious as any man could be, and possessed a character that was far from steady. ^B 32. Comnenus, therefore, having crossed over to Chrysopolis, handed the army and most of the commanders over to him. But they, taking this heavily, once again called upon Comnenus, as they had been familiar with him for a long time. He, however, restrained them, not wishing to undertake such a task for the reason already mentioned. Having eventually handed over the troops to the aforementioned eunuch, and having then taken leave of him—as he was about to withdraw, in the manner of his youth—he wished to perform a departing ride before the soldiers. Giving his horse full rein, he galloped along covering as much distance as is customary in such equestrian displays, and then stood his ground. The eunuch John, seeing this, and forgetting his own condition, also gave his steed its head in the sight of all. Immediately, a great laugh arose from everyone, and having mocked him in the way usually directed at eunuchs, they cried out, “Clu, clu” (57) ^C at him. Those around Comnenus diligently restrained them.

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange

(57) *Klou, klou.* That the Byzantines would mock such people with this expression, as Bryennius sufficiently indicates, must have been a peculiar and distinctive habit related specifically to this class of men, through which they would reproach the vices and defects of those who were no longer virile, by which they are distinguished from other men—namely, their emasculation, or beardless chin, or finally their thin and shrill voice. But I do not believe that the Byzantines used this to designate some fault of the castrated ones. Nor does their opinion please me, who think they hissed with this mockery—not so much due to the actual vein, if I may use the word of Martial for the passage of urine, which in those who are castrated and completely excised, especially when worn by age, would be emitted in a familiar manner—where they say that with the sphincter dilated and relaxed by age, the urine emitted drop by drop makes a sound, just as they are accustomed to elicit from an inverted flask, which in other men, as they claim, is different, because in them it is emitted further through the very passage of the vein and the canal. An old epigram about a drunken rustic who had broken a wine jug, 1. IV, Vet. Epigr.:

He strikes and breaks the vessel, the wine flows out; the handle Was tight, *glut glut* the murmur, the wave resounding.

But whether the matter is thus, let the sons of physicians inquire. What if this *klou, klou* of the later Greeks, a word perhaps accepted by the vulgar, was used as a reproach to spadones and eunuchs, since their primary duty was to spend time with women, and to keep watch over the guarding of girls and brides, as Corippus says:

To preserve the house and enter the sacred bedchamber,

so that the Byzantines would relegate this unwarlike and effeminate leader to spinning wool, as befitted a eunuch, just as once Empress Sophia [religated] Narses, the prefect of Italy, or Claudius [relegated] Rufinus the eunuch, with these verses:

...Why, most shameful one, do you insert yourself into wars, Or attempt the fierce Pallas of the field? You might occupy yourself with the studies of another Minerva, You should know of threads, not of weapons; you should know of warp, You are skilled at urging on the young women at their works, And to wrap the snowy wool of the mistress into skeins. Leave arms to men.

But there is no reason for us to recur to conjectures, when the word itself offers them to us—*caporum*, that is, *gallorum* (capons/chickens), or *semimarium* (castrated), as they are called by Varro, *glocitus*, which they use mostly when he...

Notes of Peter Possinus

By common usage among the Greeks, there was a word to be hissed, which Hesychius notes in his lexicon with the word *klou*, and he records it thus: *Klouzein* is to cast out from the theaters. For they said *klougmous* in imitation of the sounds made in the mouths, which [they] used for the rejection of poets. And *klougmos* is the sound made through the tongue, a clicking against the palate, which some call *krakesin*, while others call it the sound of those driven away. And from this it appears that by this sound, with the tongue clicked against the palate, the Greeks were accustomed to signify contempt for poets, flute players, or that sort of performer who, produced upon the stage in public contests, did not satisfy, and who, therefore, deserved the popular resentment for whatever cause. But because in these latter times of the aging Eastern Empire such spectacles of games and stages are rarely seen performed at Constantinople, and, for the most part, the eunuchs who were powerful with the masters of affairs incurred public offense, it often happened that men of this kind in particular were traduced by this mockery, so much so that this explosion seemed to be their own unique property, as Bryennius indicates in this place.

BOOK IV

^A 33. Alexius, then, departed to the emperor who was residing in the palace, while the eunuch, with all his forces, moved against Melissenus. Having crossed the borders of Bithynia, he pitched his camp near a certain small fortress named Basilea, which is more than forty stades distant from Nicaea. Upon his arrival there, George Palaeologus and his cousin Curtikes advised him to plunder the surrounding territory up to Nicaea, and, having returned by way of the lake-side, to lay siege to the fortress of the lord George. They immediately occupied and seized this place. Then, since the situation was critical [p. 405]—hanging, as it were, by a razor's edge—and required careful deliberation, all the commanders of the army gathered in the eunuch’s tent to consider whether they ought to besiege Nicaea or depart for Dorylaeum and engage in battle with the Sultan. ^B Because George Palaeologus and his cousin Curtikes were arguing that a war at Nicaea was disadvantageous, some of the eunuch John’s intimates observed this, and began to whisper against them, alleging various other things to render them suspicious. The eunuch thereupon declared with a loud voice and raised eyebrows to all present: "The emperor entrusted the command of the army to me, and whatever I myself judge to be necessary, that must be done."

^C 34. When Palaeologus saw that the war against Nicaea was preferred and that everyone was already arming for the fray, he, having been considered a man of great experience in military matters, began to foresee what would happen. Speaking out boldly, he and Curtikes said: "We ourselves are not unaware that the emperor appointed you commander of the army, and for that reason we remained silent on many points. But now, foreseeing the impending danger and fearing the anger that the emperor will later inflict upon us if the matter is badly mismanaged, we can no longer remain silent. Know, then, that when we approach Nicaea and attempt to lay siege to it, the boldest of our soldiers will be wounded, and some will be killed; for combat from the ramparts against those outside is terrible. Furthermore, the Turks who are encamped outside the city, perceiving that Nicaea is being besieged, will immediately rush upon us. ^D We, unable to resist those who attack us from the walls, those who sally forth from the gates, and those who finally assault us from the rear, will be forced to flee by necessity. And while some, taking up their own wounded to treat them...

will be of no use to us, others will be rendered useless to us by grief over the death of their loved ones.

35. But they were like those singing to the deaf. For that eunuch, paying no heed to any of these things, took up his forces and marched straight for Nicaea, and upon reaching the walls, he demanded that all surrender. Those inside, expecting that forces would come to their aid from outside, deceived him with beguiling words and put him off from day to day. George Palaiologos, who could not approve of this imprudent plan, and who, with his excellent knowledge of military affairs, could see the impending danger as if with his own eyes, counseled him to withdraw to safety. But the eunuch, regarding his words as trifles, insisted on remaining more out of ignorance of what was proper than from constancy of purpose, until, learning that the Turks were coming, he was forced against his will and not without shame to retreat. ^{A B}

36. Once again, George Palaiologos, being an extremely experienced commander and valiant in both hand and spirit, spoke freely and advised him not to retreat in a disorderly fashion, but with the order and discipline that was fitting. The other acquiesced to this, and entrusted the command of the whole enterprise to him. Having therefore drawn the army into ranks and ordered the cavalry to ride on the flanks—except for a few whom he intended to set as an ambush—he ordered the heavy infantry and the foot soldiers to follow behind and march at a slow pace. He himself, riding around with a few men, would appear now at the rear guard, now at the right wing (for the left flank was secure, being protected by the lake), holding back the Turks who were making sorties, until they reached the vicinity of the fortress known as Basilea, where they had decided to pitch camp.

37. When they approached it, there appeared a plain, wide open and surrounded by a brick wall that was crumbling in many places. Here, the cavalry, compelled by the nature of the terrain, began to break out of their ranks in order to find access through the gaps in the wall where the decay of the masonry provided a way. The Turks who were following from behind noticed this, and raising a great shout, they launched an attack against the foot soldiers, ^C assailing them from all sides with javelins and shots from bows. The men turned to flight. In the ensuing rout, the eunuch alone was left behind, and, gripped by fear, he was unable to flee with the others. When Curticius and Palaiologos happened upon him, the former did not even deem the man worthy of a look and advised Palaiologos to ignore him as well; but Palaiologos approached the eunuch and rebuked him thus: "See to what a pass you have brought us and the army! Did we not foretell this to you?" But the eunuch, suppliant and trembling, said, "Have mercy on me, and do not allow me to be delivered into the hands of the Hagarenes." George at once, encouraging him, said, "Follow me from now on." But as the Turks pressed their attack more heavily upon them, the eunuch almost lost his wits. ^D

^A Then Palaeologus, turning the reins of his horse and meeting the Turks, struck one of those who were coming against them, and he was thrown dead to the ground; seeing this spectacle, the others drew back a little. But George, having turned again toward his own people, saw the eunuch frozen with consternation and struck dumb by fear, and striking him lightly on the cheek with his hand, he said, "Do not be afraid," and having taken him with him, he rejoined the rest of the column.

38. Soon, when the pursuing Turks had caught up with them again, Palaeologus turned back once more with not many horsemen—for the narrowness of the place could not accommodate many—and he encouraged the heavy-armed troop that was struggling, and he himself, leading the horsemen, broke into the Turks, ^B and the barbarians fled at once. Since many of them had fallen, the rest were now more cautious about engaging in hand-to-hand combat, but stood at a distance and watched. Palaeologus therefore ordered the heavy-armed soldiers to advance and set up camp. He himself remained last with the horsemen until all had crossed the walls I mentioned and encamped. While he was fighting bravely, he lost his helmet and was wounded in the forehead by an arrow. But he ignored the wound entirely; for when he saw the eunuch, who had been consumed by thirst and was unable to move his tongue, but was begging with gestures for help, he ordered him to remain there, entrusting his protection to four of his own servants, while he himself, descending a slope, brought him water that he had drawn in his hollow helmet. ^C When he had sipped it and recovered his breath, the eunuch called him a god and another saviour, and promised that if he were saved, he would adopt him as his son, and he asserted that he would not merely use the title of this relationship in word, but would actually make him the heir of all that he possessed, and would treat him and his affairs with all the affection and care with which a parent is bound to treat a son. Palaeologus, however, said to him, "I have for my part fulfilled all that lay in my power to ensure your safety; it will be yours from now on, if you wish, to fulfill what you promise."

39. Then it happened that a certain Isaac Contostephanus slipped from his horse and was calling for Palaeologus with a loud voice. ^D As soon as he learned of this from someone, having entrusted the eunuch to his own servants, he went off with another one of his own attendants to where they said Contostephanus was. Seeing him crying out from a distance with his head uncovered, he pretended not to see him, testing him as it were. But since the man recognized Palaeologus and called out to him even more, when he saw the Turks approaching, he realized it was no longer the time to play at appearances; and approaching him, looking elsewhere, he asked who had seen Contostephanus. But the man shouted all the more urgently, calling upon Palaeologus. He therefore went to him and, having ordered him to mount the horse he was leading, returned with him. And when they had arrived where Palaeologus had left the eunuch, having committed him to his own servants, they took him up and traveled down together.