The Alexiad

^A

7. The Saracen says: Why have you hidden the Gospel that came down from heaven, and written a new one? Euthymius says: Who testifies to this, and whence do you know it? The Saracen says: Mohammed teaches it, saying: When Christ had ascended into heaven, and his disciples were sleeping, the Gospel descended upon them, and they, upon rising, delivered it to you; but you hid it because the name of Mohammed was written therein. Euthymius says: We do not accept the scriptures of sleepers; for no man of sound mind and master of his own reason would disregard the sense and knowledge of his waking eyes to accept the phantasms of dreams. For God does not seek virtue or judgment from sleeping men, because God is not the God of sleepers, but of those who are awake. ^B

The Saracen says: How do you say that Christ, having been taken up, sent the Holy Spirit to his own disciples? Why, while present, did he not give it to them? But whereas you say that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, yet Christ ascended above, and the Spirit descended, and preached a different doctrine; and if it is so, a division occurred in the Holy Trinity. Euthymius says: A physician is not accustomed to mix salutary medicines for men who are in infirmity, unless he has first purged them; and only after the purging does he offer the medicines to be drunk. Think of Christ in this way with me, so that it may not seem to some that he teaches merely by his own capacity or even by phantasy, or as man only, and not as God; but as God, he first purged them from the material passions of their sins while he was present with them. Then, after his assumption into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit, showing his perfect divinity and that he was present also in the heavenly places. ^C

8. The Saracen says: Since Christ was circumcised, why are you not circumcised, and why do you not wash yourselves in water? Just as Isaiah says: Wash yourselves, become clean. But you enter into your churches unwashed. Euthymius says: Circumcision was given to the Jews because they were living in the midst of nations of unbelievers and idolaters, as a sign of the knowledge of God and of one flock. But as for "Wash yourselves," which Isaiah said, he once prescribed this, foretelling the grace of divine baptism; for he did not say, "Wash yourselves daily," but, "Wash yourselves once." For washing oneself daily is proper to mud-wallowers, not to rational men, but to swine; for God does not demand of men the cleansing of a sewer, but a clean heart. The Saracen says: And you, why do you confess your sins to an earthly man, and plead for forgiveness? Euthymius says: God, desiring the salvation of all, did not allow man to ^D be troubled by the evils springing up in his heart from the wicked one without confessing them to the Lord God; for the man who is dear to God will not be prosperous in his victory against the wicked one.

^A For God, desiring the salvation of all, did not allow man to be mocked by shameful thoughts, actions, and Satanic works, but by means of the present confession, he caused him to acquire strength, to restrain himself, and to abstain from evil. The Saracen says: "Why, when you communicate at the time of death, do you say that you are partakers of paradise?" Euthymius says: "No one can enter the king’s house, sit beside him, and feast with him, unless he wears the king’s garment and is his intimate friend; for the king, and not only he but even his servants, cast out a stranger."

[9.] The Saracen says: "Who is the witness that God was incarnate? And for what reason?" Euthymius says: "Let there be six credible witnesses from us: Abraham, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel." The Saracen says: "These are certainly excellent witnesses and prophets." Euthymius says: "To Abraham, God said: 'I will establish my covenant between me and thy seed' (Gen. xvii, 7). Observe the force of the word; for the covenant was the manifestation of a fearful mystery. And David says: 'God shall come manifestly; He bowed the heavens and came down' (Psal. xlix, 3). Then Jeremiah says: 'This is our God, no other shall be accounted besides Him.' After these things, He appeared on earth and lived among men. And again: 'Then will there be universal salvation, when a virgin shall bring forth, and all nations shall adore the wood' (Baruch iii, 36, 38). And Isaiah says: 'Behold a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, which is, God with us' (Isa. vii, 14). And Ezekiel, prophesying the birth of Christ which was to come from Mary, said: 'This gate shall be shut, and no one shall pass through it, except the God of Israel' (Ezech. xliv, 2). What seems to you to be the case? Are the words of the prophets true or otherwise? How was it necessary [unless] for God [to be born] without seed?"

The Saracen says: "Give us a likeness of the divinity and the humanity, so that I may understand this." Euthymius says: "From where does the nature of the pearl originate?" The Saracen says: "From lightning, the sun, and the shell." Euthymius says: "And ^B is the lightning altered by being united with the shell?" The Saracen says: "Not at all." Euthymius says: "Just as the lightning enters into the shell and is 'incarnated' without confusion, and becomes a pearl, and we say the brightness is the nature of the lightning, and the palpable part is the nature of the flesh of the shell, so also the divine nature, having been incarnated, became God and man."

[10.] The Saracen says: "If this is how it is, how do you say that Christ, the Word of God, was crucified and died?" Euthymius says: "God forbid that we should say of the Word of God that He was crucified and died. But let me tell you a likeness: when they pierce a pearl, what nature suffers? Is it that of the lightning or the shell?" The Saracen says: ^D

^A "The shell." Euthymius says: "So it happened also in the case of Christ: the flesh alone was crucified and died." The Saracen says: "And when the flesh died, was the divinity separated from the flesh, or not?" Euthymius says: "Is the nature of the lightning separated when the shell suffers?" The Saracen says: "Not at all." Euthymius says: "And if the nature of the lightning does not suffer, how was the divine nature to suffer with the body?" The Saracen says: "How then, such a mystery having taken place, and God having become man, in order that He might save man, as you say, how is it that the devil does not cease from ceaselessly warring against the human race?" Euthymius says: "Let me tell you a likeness. A certain king had a very faithful friend. An enemy, seeing the immense esteem and love which the king had for him, came and, making a crafty incursion, plundered the king's friend and destroyed his goods. ^B And the enemy, having taken the friend of the king, beat him cruelly, and binding him with heavy chains, cast him into a most deep and dark pit; and he remained there miserably, as if inconsolable. The king, therefore, mindful of the former happiness of his friend, and again of his subsequent misery, coming down through bowels of mercy, economically in royal power against the enemy, did not contend over the goods, but contended to liberate his friend from the bitter and terrible torment. Having overcome and crushed that malignant one, he delivered him to the tormentors; though even so he did not cease from vexing the king's friend. By parity of reasoning, think with me on the divine condescension: for He did not come under any pressing necessity to suppress scandals, but to liberate man. Furthermore, that we act badly or well is a matter of our own will and conscience; since He has imparted to us the knowledge of both." ^C

11. The Saracen says: "Since you say that you were bought with precious blood, tell me from whom you were sold, and for whom Christ shed His blood? And again, you say that you were formerly slaves of the devil, and that Christ coming liberated you; and if you say that He gave His blood to the devil as a price, does this not become a ruinous blasphemy?" Euthymius says: "We call the mercies of God and His ineffable compassion a 'sale' and a 'purchase': a 'sale', because, having inclined to the opposite, we were cast away from God and departed; a 'purchase', we call His immense compassion and condescension. But let me tell you a likeness, since you do not grasp this mystery; but by this recited likeness, you will be able to understand it at last. A certain king possessed a country, fine and large. But there [a disease] ^D creeping in, was utterly devastating it. The king, therefore, being sorrowful, having called his best physicians, asked their opinion; and though he sent many, the disease could not be healed. Now there were in the country of the king malicious men and sorcerers.

^A What then did the king do? Having one only-begotten son, he clothed him in a sheep's skin and sent him into his own country. But those malicious children of that country, seeing him, took him and killed him. And the king, taking with his own hands the blood of his son and giving it to the people to drink, brought his own country back from death to life. Consider, I pray you, in the same way concerning the venerable body and blood of Christ, that neither angel nor prophet was able to deliver man from the tyranny of the devil, except the Author of our life and salvation Himself, God, through His own body and blood.

12. The Saracen says: Why, when Mohamed is proclaimed a prophet by the prophet Isaiah, and is proclaimed a prophet and written of in your Scripture, do you reject him? Euthymius says: Set your mind and your conscience before God to the words of Isaiah. The Saracen says: If it is God, it will not be ambiguous. ^B Euthymius says: What do you think of this prophet Isaiah? Was he a servant of God and a true prophet, or not? The Saracen says: A very great prophet and servant of God. Euthymius says: Such a divine and great prophet as Isaiah says these things about Mohamed: "The Lord took away from Jerusalem the great and the small, the head and the tail, the lawless prophet teaching lawless things; for what is the tail? And let him be deceiving and deceived." These things Isaiah says concerning Mohamed. ^C The Saracen says: Tell us, since Divine Scripture says: "Woe to those who with timbrels and flutes drink their wine," and "Do not be drunk with wine, in which is debauchery," why do we see Christians indulging in drunkenness and diabolical dances? They act in a way totally alien to the Christian institution. Are they then to share in the kingdom of God? Euthymius says: Far be it! Do not be deceived, since Scripture says: "The Lord is righteous, and He loves righteousness." Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor drunkards, nor thieves, nor the effeminate, nor those who lie with males, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, unless one does the will of God. ^D

13. And after other things, Euthymius said to the Agarene: Tell us, O most wise of the Agarenes, you say that Mohamed is called a prophet of God and an apostle. Whence do you have this to show, and by what witnesses? For we see that you do not perform judgment, nor marriages, nor sales, nor purchases, nor dissolutions of marriage, nor any other matter whatsoever, without written testimony. But this Mohamed, whom you say is your prophet, is altogether without testimony and without foundation. For it is known to everyone that he was a mercenary, and that he spent the whole time of his life, fifty-five years, in every kind of luxury and impurity, and indeed for forty years he was an impious idolater. In the last fifteen years he began to practice a false religion, being taught by a certain astronomer monk, who himself was not right in the ortho- (dox faith...

but labored under the perverse doctrine and false dogmas of Nestorius; whom Mohamed, drunk on unmixed wine, also killed with his own sword; for which reason he forbade the drinking of wine. But after he adopted what appeared to him to be a "right" religion, his whole life was nothing else but luxury, obscene acts, adulteries, sodomy, murders, robberies, and injuries. And if the devil has produced any evil in this vain world, this Mohamed has committed it, and even surpassed his own father, Satan. And if you deny this, his doctrine nevertheless bears witness to it, and his deeds themselves cry out. But our true God of the Christians does not reside in such impure and filthy men, but remains far away from them.

14. Hear then about his conduct and the rewards of his life, and the fulfillment of his doctrine, since he says that the number of the prophets of his God was one hundred and twenty-four thousand. Now tell me: did God have a war against someone, so that He needed so many auxiliaries? Or had the angels defected from Him, and did He therefore bring in such a rampart, as it were, to set up as a barrier to the war? And yet our true Christ, the God of the Christians, strikes terror with a single tremor of the earth, and ^B both heaven and earth and all that is in the earth are shaken. It remains for you to demonstrate to me why there was a need for one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets. Furthermore, recite for us their names, and where they were from, and their homelands and stations. For after they lived religiously, or rather irreligiously, they also instructed your false prophets: the names of which prophets Mohamed found written on a certain herb. He bought that herb, which was useful to him for perverse and unbridled fornication, to such an extent that his lust and lasciviousness could never be satisfied. Why then do you say of an unclean man, a murderer, a tyrant, a plunderer, a robber, a deceiver, that he is a prophet and messenger of God? And that God sent His angel to Mohamed? Who is the witness present to prove that he was sent by God as a prophet and messenger? By what miracles do you show him to be a prophet? Where are his prophecies? ^C What kind of vision of an angel was it, through which he was taught to fornicate, and to act in a sodomitical manner, and to engage in other shameful acts, which I am forbidden to recite lest I defile the minds of my hearers? Truly, your God is vain, and so is his angel who taught you to commit every kind of luxury. ^D Truly, your God is vain and his angel, who commanded you to practice every kind of uncleanness.

15. Then again he says to you that in Paradise there are three rivers; one flows with honey, the second with milk, and the third is full of wine, but with no water at all. But drinking unmixed wine, necessarily becoming drunk and lying senseless with a heaviness of head, you will not enjoy paradise; rather, instead of a rest from labor, and instead of honor you will experience disgrace, and instead of a kingdom, punishment and the wakeful worm. Tell us also about the female camel, which

the undying worm. Tell us also about the camel, which you say feeds in Paradise, and that having been created at the beginning, it received immortality in Paradise—your prophet lying, for our God sent Adam forth into the earth from which he had been taken. From that time on, all things became subject to death, and your camel alone obtained immortality. If, therefore, your camel is immortal, as you say, and is within Paradise, and continues to grow year by year for so many ages, surely Paradise would be burdened by its bulk, and no man would be able to enter there.

16. ^B Likewise you speak also concerning Mecca, that it is the house of God. When we Christians ask you, "From where do you journey to worship for such a stretch of days? And where, then, is that place?" you say to us that it is the house of God, a larder, a kitchen, a storeroom, or a treasury. Explain to us, we pray, what this house is; and how is it that you do not know the tomb of your prophet, yet you honor his relics as those of a prophet and messenger of God? And if God truly dwells in that house and in that alone, then of necessity there would be a fearful mystery in that place, whatever you may say about the wonders that occur there through the magnet, which all proclaim. But there is also the dog itself, emerging from the lake and coming toward you, which you call the "grace of God"—O the depth of such inhumanity and ignorance! Such are the ravings of your prophet; which of those who are in their right mind could recount them? Namely, that a detestable dog is the grace of God! And again, the same Muhammad teaches, saying that inside Paradise before the sight of God, in an imbecilic and insatiable manner, sexual intercourse takes place ^C (8). Time would fail me in narrating such things, and I would pollute the very air if I were to recount the myths full of falsehood and the detestable words of Muhammad.

The Saracen says: "I am bested, I surrender. How great is the faith of the Christians! I therefore give you thanks for this knowledge of God imparted to me, O man of God. For the things that you Christians say are true. God Himself is witness. Come now, O servant of God, and administer baptism to me."

I said above that I had constructed a certain Panoply against the sect of Muhammad in this volume. However, there remains in another Vatican codex a Dialogue of a Christian man with an Ishmaelite, of which script, however, I shall offer only a brief specimen, lest I pile up more chapters which contain almost the same objections and responses, with only the words changed.

DIALOGUE OF A CHRISTIAN WITH AN ISMAELITE BY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CONCERNING THE IRREPREHENSIBLE FAITH OF THE CHRISTIANS

CHRIST. You confess that Christ is the Word and Spirit of God, whom, however, you say is created? ^D

ISMAELITE. Certainly, I speak of him so. CH. But do you call God Himself created or uncreated? J. I say God is uncreated. CH. Do you call God spiritual and rational, or otherwise? J. I say that He is spiritual and rational. CH. Come then, do you call Christ the Word and the Spirit of this same uncreated, spiritual, and rational God, or of another God? J. Indeed, I say and confess that He is of this same God. CH. It follows, therefore, that God, being uncreated, spiritual, and rational, as you say and as it is right to say, possesses an uncreated Word and Spirit. For since you confess God to be uncreated, spiritual, and rational, but afterwards say that His Word and Spirit are created, it follows that God Himself is irrational and spiritless, etc. J. You say that the Virgin gave birth to Christ without seed, and again, after she had brought him forth, she remained a virgin or not? CH. Truly I say that she was a virgin, and that she gave birth to Christ without seed, and that after the birth she remained a virgin again, etc.

EUTHYMII ZIGABENI CONFUTATIO ET EVERSIO IMPIÆ ET MULTIPLICIS EXSECRABILIUM MASSALIANORUM SECTÆ, QUI ET PHUNDAITÆ ET BOGOMILI, NEC NON EUCHITÆ, ENTHUSIASTÆ, ENCRATITÆ, ET MARCIONITÆ APPELLANTUR

THE REFUTATION AND OVERTHROW OF THE IMPIOUS AND MULTIFORM SECT OF THE ABOMINABLE MASSALIANS, WHO ARE CALLED PHUNDAITÆ AND BOGOMILS, AND ALSO EUCHITES, ENTHUSIASTS, ENCRATITES, AND MARCIONITES

Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ ^C delivered to us, most beloved brothers, through His holy disciples and apostles, the pure and sincere mystery of the faith, and at the same time He warned that in the last days many false prophets and false Christs would arise, against whom we must be exceedingly on our guard. Nor did the Apostle Paul speak otherwise in his Epistle to Timothy, foretelling: "In the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and doctrines of demons, under the guise of those acting as impostors, [l]whose own conscience is seared, obstructing marriage, and abstaining from foods, which God..."

himself provided for the human race, that the faithful and those illuminated by the light of the truth might enjoy them with thanksgiving; for every creature of God is good, provided it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God; and thus it is fit for consumption. The same also says elsewhere: "Of these are they who creep into houses and make captives of silly women loaded with various concupiscences, always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Wherefore it is right, brothers, that we should lend attentive ears to these words of our Savior and God warning us, and of the Apostle preaching. For as it was predicted to us, we are now living in those last times, and that confused and multi-named sect of the Massalians, or Bogomils, dominates, spread far and wide through all cities, and all regions and prefectures; and its leaders never cease corrupting the simpler ^B of men and bringing them over to their side. For since these enemies of Christ call themselves Christians, they mingle themselves easily with those who think rightly, being hidden by that specious name, and they are not recognized—that under a sheep’s skin rapacious wolves are hiding—and they open for themselves an opportunity and a way from the holy and venerable Scriptures to bring forth and propagate their vain and mendacious doctrine. But when once they have been admitted under this mask and have won over the minds and ears of their listeners, then at last they vomit forth their venom and, having now become familiar, they spew out the impious dogmas of Satan; which we now, together with them, as false and impious and alien to the sentiment and faith of the catholic Church, subject to anathema.

Anathematisms

Anathematism 1. To Peter, the leader of the Massalian, or ^C Lucopetrian, and Phundagiast, and Bogomil heresy, who called himself Christ and promised that he would rise again after death, and was on that account named Lucopetrus, because, when he had been justly buried under stones for his infinite impostures, his most wicked fellow-mystics, who were sitting by his abominable corpse expecting the resurrection he had promised them after three days, a wicked demon in the likeness of a wolf was seen to emerge from the heap of stones, anathema.

Anathem. 2. To Tychicus, his fellow-mystic and disciple, who corrupted and perverted the other sacred Scriptures, and especially the entire Gospel according to Matthew, and who twisted all the sayings concerning God the Father, and also those concerning the Holy Spirit, to his own spiritual Father, and explained them as such, and in this way transferred the glory of God to the authors of his abominable sect, anathema.

Anathem. 3. To Dadoes, and Sabas, and Adelphius, and Hermas, and Simeon, and the others who have drawn the venom of such a ^D

heresy, and have deceived the simpler sort of men, both men and women, and have dragged them down into the pit of destruction, anathema. ^A

Anathem. 4. To those who say that, besides the holy and life-giving Trinity—that is, the Father God of the Word who was made flesh, and the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ, and the all-holy Spirit—there is some other Trinity, or even a higher power, having its seat in the highest of the seven heavens, according to the abominable vision falsely ascribed by them to Isaiah, anathema.

Anathem. 5. To those who introduce other Scriptures or sacred books than those which the Holy Spirit has proclaimed and the holy Fathers have handed down to us, anathema. ^B

Anathem. 6. To those who say that marriage, which is contracted in the name of the Lord, and the eating of meat, which is permitted by God, are abominable to God, and who therefore reject and condemn both, anathema.

Anathem. 7. To those who reject and blame as empty loquacity of repetitive invocation all the prayers and sacred songs handed down to us—first indeed by the divine Apostles, for it says: *Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs* (Eph. v. 18, 19), ^C and then subsequently those left by the divine and blessed Fathers and doctors of the Church—and who, in the beginning of their falling away from God, teach that only the *Our Father, who art in heaven* should be prayed with adoration, without the signing of the sign of the cross on the face, pretending that our Lord Jesus Christ handed down to us that prayer, but in truth [doing so] in order to invoke their abominable father, Satan (for it is for his sake that they shrink from the sign of the cross, and they cannot even endure to hear the final doxology added by the divine luminaries and leaders of the Church to the Lord’s prayer for the glory of the consubstantial and undivided Trinity: *For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit*). To those, therefore, who think and teach in this way, and who persevere to the end in such perverse initiation, anathema. ^D

Anathem. 8. To those who turn away from the assemblies in the churches and preside in private places, and teach, under the pretext of desiring greater quiet, but in reality so that the dogmas of their profane error may not be refuted, but may remain hidden and unexamined, so that they might the more easily instill the entire poison of their sect into the souls of those led by them into error; to these, if they persevere in this error to the very end of their life, anathema.

^A Anathem. 9. To those who hold that the Churches handed down to us by the holy apostles to the honor of God ought not to be built, and who slander them as works of [human] hands and call them dwellings of demons, and who thus walk in a perverse way, and consequently reject the venerable erection and veneration of the divine and holy icons, as being altogether corrupt and putrid members, anathema.

Anathem. 10. To those who hasten to overturn the doctrine of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, which he commanded his holy disciples, that they should baptize those who believe in him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of God; to those, therefore, who are blind to all these things, and who, agitated by the diabolical efficacy working within them, dare to drivel that holy baptism is mere water, as being men alien to our faith, and remote and cut off from the Church and from God himself, anathema.

^B Anathem. 11. To those who, indulging in similar trifles and delusions, call the venerable and life-giving cross a fork, and consider holy baptism to be mere water, possessing no remission of sins, nor [being] of the Spirit, but promise that it is they themselves who confer that which is the benefit of the Holy Spirit, when they clothe their own abominable initiates in the pseudo-monastic habit, and thereupon confer upon them the name of order ^C—or rather, bring the destruction of their souls and bodies—anathema.

Anathem. 12. To those who say that the partaking of the venerable body and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ is a partaking of mere bread and wine (and for this reason, those who have transferred from the laity approach with food and partake, for the sake of pretense and to remain hidden from informers, taking it as a supper of the Spirit; but as for those who have transferred from the presbyters, they have eaten) and [who] overturn the institution of the divine and awesome sacrifice, in such a way that they are clearly enemies of Christ, even if they themselves call themselves Chrystopolites, anathema.

^D Anathem. 13. To those who, for the subversion of all faith in God, observe many other evil things in those miserably initiated by them: who, instead of the divine and holy insufflation which we received from the Lord Christ for the mystical inspiration of the Holy Spirit, spit spittle—of which they themselves are most worthy—upon those initiated by them, doing to them what we do against the demons; and who, moreover, smear them from bottom to top, or from heel to head, with defiled water using sponges, which is done for the subversion of holy baptism and the illuminating presence of the Spirit of God, anathema.

^A Anathem. 14. Anathema to all heretics together. Long may the years of the good emperors be. Long may the years of our orthodox emperor be. Long may the years of our orthodox Porphyrogenitus emperor be. May God protect their power; may God grant peace to their kingdom. O Heavenly King, protect those on earth. Long may the years of the most holy and ecumenical patriarch be. These are the seeds of wicked impiety; these are the offspring of the evil Satan, who turns away from God. But we, the people of Christ, the chosen flock, cling with all our soul to the divine and apostolic teachings and to the traditions transmitted to us by the Fathers; fleeing with our whole mind those foul dogmas of impiety, and keeping far removed from their ruinous religion, we serve God with a pure heart, Him who is known and worshipped as the Trinity of Persons, or Subsistences; to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

OF EUTHYMIUS THE MONK

FROM THE VENERABLE MONASTERY OF THE PERIBLEPTOS

AN INVECTIVE TREATISE

AGAINST THE HERESY OF THE ABOMINABLE AND IMPIOUS HERETICS WHO ARE CALLED PHUNDAGIATAE,

The heresy of the abominable Phundagiatae, who call themselves Christopolitae, but in the West are called Bogomils, is as follows. These people do not worship God the creator of heaven and earth, nor the Mother of God, nor the precious cross, nor the holy mysteries, nor icons, nor divine temples, nor holy baptism, nor anything of those things which Christians venerate and worship; but they execrate and despise all of them. They believe in and worship the prince of this world, who is Satan, and with guile they feign Christianity, and the monastic habit, and the priesthood; and they hold the divine Scriptures in their mouths like bait, not because they desire them, but in order to deceive the

the inexperienced, but to seduce the simple; for experience has taught me the impiety that lies hidden within them.

^B It happened, indeed, that I was once traveling with one of these detestable men, who went about in the habit of a monk and possessed, as he claimed, the dignity of the priesthood; and I was unaware that he was alienated from the true faith. When therefore he spoke with me, he shamelessly and unabashedly said to me this impious word: that there is no resurrection of the dead; and the deceiver brought forward a Scriptural testimony from the Epistles of the holy Apostle Paul, by which, rather, the falsity of his opinion was refuted. Thinking, therefore, that he had uttered this blasphemous word out of ignorance and simplicity, I mocked him, and after anathematizing both him and whoever had taught him this same thing, I said to him: "Truly, brother, you are neither wiser nor holier than the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers, who composed the holy Symbol and confirmed the orthodox faith, whose dogma was subscribed to even by two holy bishops who had already passed away, Chrysanthus and Musonius, at which time a great and truly wonderful miracle was performed by God for the confusion of the blasphemous heretics and for the confirmation and strengthening of the faithful and orthodox people; nor, likewise, are you wiser than the six hundred and thirty holy Fathers at Chalcedon, who confirmed this same dogma, and placed it upon the chest of the corpse of the holy martyr of Christ, Euphemia, together with the volume of the heretics. And this volume, indeed, which had been cast at the feet of the holy martyr, they could hardly find, whereas they found the book of the orthodox in her very right hand, which she was holding and guarding. And I trust that you are not ignorant of the miracle of the great Basil; for it is manifest to all how, in the church of Nicaea, when he had prayed one night, accompanied by the orthodox people, and had sealed the gates of the temple while at prayer, the bars and bolts fell asunder, and the church opened itself to them of its own accord; but the heretics, having kept watch for three whole days and nights, could accomplish nothing, but turned away with great shame. ^C In like manner have other great synods been gathered elsewhere, and all these holy and ecumenical teachers and luminaries have confirmed and ratified the holy Symbol, in which it is written: 'I confess one baptism for the remission of sins; I await the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.' ^D But the impious man answered me saying, 'But the saying of the Apostle is of great force; for he says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption' (1 Cor. xv, 50). I said to him, 'O man, I suspect that you have either fallen in with a heretic, or perhaps you yourself are one of them.' And when he could bring forward not even a word in support of such a blasphemous statement, he began to affirm and swear that he was not as I suspected, but that he was asking for the sake of edification. And I said to him, 'If you'

are ignorant and are seeking, as you say, to learn the truth, I will not be reluctant, nor will I envy your salvation, but I will teach you what God gives me to say.' For He writes in the Epistle to the Romans thus: ^A *Who is the father of many nations before God, in whom he believed, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.* And in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: *But if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?* and the rest. And in the second Epistle to the Corinthians he says: *Being made conformable unto His death, if by any means we might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.* And to the Thessalonians: *For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.* And in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: *Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?* and the rest. And, in a word, I told him everything that God suggested to me regarding the resurrection of the dead. By his mouth, indeed, that execrable man confessed that he believed, having nothing to object against these things; but he was faithless in his heart, a true infidel who, immersed in darkness, deliberately refused to see the light offered to him. For such a man was a worker of Satan, and an apostle, as I learned later from many who knew him. ^B Indeed, it befell me by divine providence to encounter such a dog, so that my mind might be roused to a keener and more perfect understanding of these impious men. For when I had departed for Jerusalem, those who held the same opinions as that previously mentioned impious man found my disciple and persuaded him, being illiterate and a simpleton, to join their opinion, and not to believe in God who is in the heavens, but in the prince of this world who is the devil.

When, however, I was separated from that evil companion, and had returned from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem that I mentioned, I found my wretched disciple deceived in the venerable monastery of the Peribleptos. For such impious men wander about, and everywhere, both in the cities and outside, they are teaching. But my disciple, as one who was well-disposed toward me, and wanting, in his charity, to teach me the good that he had received—which the wretch supposed to be for his own benefit—so that I might not be found lacking the path that leads to salvation, as he supposed, ^C carefully instructed me in those blasphemous words of impiety which he had learned from them, for the sake of my own benefit. I, however, when I had heard these things and recognized the terror into which he had fallen—having had my mind excited to these things by the discourse of that evil companion—pretended to approve of his words, and showing him a face exultant as if over something pleasing, I begged him to point out to me clearly the teachers of that doctrine, saying that it would be much more useful for us both to be instructed by them; for it cannot be that... ^D

you, who have not yet thoroughly mastered that doctrine, should be considered a master in it. ^A And he, delaying not at all in this matter, joyfully offered them to me as a great and divine gift, those who were then dwelling in that very monastery. I for my part, also using the same simulation toward them, used to call those impious men and deceivers "fathers" and "saviors of our souls" and "teachers"; for otherwise I had no way of knowing the mysteries of their impiety. For several days, however, I held discourse with them in my cell. The first of them had always on his lips all the sayings from the Gospel and the Apostle, as well as the maxims of the Theologian and of Chrysostom, and—prepared for seduction—read passages from the books which are called the Discourses of the Holy Elders, and from the Psalter, and from all the Scriptures; yet these divine Scriptures, after they have so deceived a person that he falls away from the orthodox faith of the Christians, they teach should be held in no faith and no honor. For the holy John Chrysostom, those utterly polluted men call in derision "Chrysostomos," meaning "filthy-mouthed," and they act likewise with the other saints. And what is to be wondered at? For how, if they hold Christ our God in such contempt and dishonor, should they not also contemn the divine Scriptures? And do not marvel if those impious men carry the divine Scriptures on their lips; for this happens from diabolical cooperation, as they themselves later confessed. For it is found in the divine Scripture in many places that even Satan, tempting our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness, spoke with Him using the Scriptures; and in the Lives of the Elders it is written that, feigning the habit of a monk along with the Psalter, he held discourse with some of the holy Fathers. And such is the craftiness of the devil, that through various Scriptures he may entice some of the servants of God; for otherwise he is not able to lead anyone astray, unless he puts these forward. ^{B C} When, therefore, I had uncovered these four impious teachers, whom I found in the aforementioned monastery of the Peribleptos, and had separated them one from the other, I compelled each one of them to declare to me separately and clearly what he believed. The first of them, therefore, being asked by me whence he had such knowledge of the Scriptures, and how he could propose things for learning which he afterwards exhorted his disciples not to believe, said: "Because we cannot otherwise seduce a Christian, unless we feign the monastic habit, and call ourselves Christians, and appear to do all things that befit Christians, and set forth for study those things which the divine Scriptures contain. ^D And that we are able to carry the Scriptures on our lips is supported by Him who sends us forth to his own proclamation." The impious men, however, name as the prince of the world—who is Satan—Christ, and they refer to him the power of the holy Gospels and whatever is read in the Epistles, just as they themselves confessed, and my disciple who had been led astray

^A told me; and they call themselves true Christians.

But I do not dare, brethren, to commit to writing the blasphemies of such impious men, which they wickedly utter against the precious and life-giving Cross, and the holy and venerable icons, and against Christ our God Himself, things which not even the unbelieving Hebrews dare to say; yet these deceitful men, walking in our midst and associating with us in hypocrisy, appear to hold all our beliefs. The impious build churches, just as they all confessed, not out of faith, but to mock them and to defile them, not shrinking from performing obscene acts and shameful intercourse upon the very altar itself. They paint icons, not out of faith, but to insult and defile them. They make crosses, so that they may trample them underfoot and defile them. They openly baptize their godless infants in the churches; but when they return home, they wash them again with filthy water and urine, and wipe them with a sponge, reciting over them a Satanic incantation, and they pour this wash in a shameful and dirty place, thinking in this way to alienate them from the grace of holy baptism. They approach to receive the immaculate and life-giving mysteries without fasting; and if it happens that they can go unnoticed, these truly wicked men spit out the holy things and trample upon them, considering these to be common bread and wine.

Nor can the disciples of these execrable masters learn this foul impiety ^B quickly or easily. For they prescribe to the novice disciples an intense fast, and that they pour forth prayers for seven days and seven nights, and that they wear one tunic, and abstain entirely from their own wives by law. Thus the impious, subverting the law of God, when they see them persevering for a long time in the observance of these precepts, then they promise them also the baptism, namely the washing away and alienation of holy baptism, and the recitation of the Satanic incantation, all of which the impious call baptism. But not even then do the wicked trust to betray the mysteries of their impiety, but they diligently require certain oaths from them, so that they do not make common to the many the things which they have learned from them; then indeed they very cautiously reveal one or two things to them. When they see that they have easily accepted that, they tell them other things, and thus little by little, and only with the passage of a long time, do they with difficulty teach the disciples their impiety. Then at last they lead them out to worship the prince of darkness, the devil, visibly, from which point those wretches become masters and no longer disciples. And those who worship the devil see terrible visions of things, as if in a dream. But the masters also require subscriptions signed with their own hand, by which the disciples promise ^C that they will never again return to the faith of the Christians.

But do not, brethren, be so well-disposed towards such impious men that you believe them when they assert that they believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For all heresies profess this, both the Paulicians and all the rest say the same; yet these impious and godless ^D

^A have a certain execrable Trinity in which they believe. For they call the prince of darkness, the devil who fell from the heavens, "Father," just as they themselves have confessed; which rightly accords with what Christ said: "You are of your father the devil." They call the son of perdition "Son," and the spirit of iniquity "Spirit." This is the trinity of the impious; this they confess and worship. Yet they proclaim themselves Christians, not as stemming from the true Christ our God, but as stemming from the Antichrist. Regarding the son of perdition, whom the execrable and impious worship as the Son of God and call Christ, the Apostle, writing to the Thessalonians, says: "Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God," and the rest.

They say the "Our Father," as we have learned from them, with the following intention: for they call the devil their father. They invoke him from heaven for two reasons: one, in accordance with what is written in Job: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where have you come?' Satan answered, 'In the Lord's presence, after having traversed the region under heaven and walked about the earth, I am here.'" ^B By another intention, those filled with every impiety and blasphemy dare to say that the devil, and not God, created the heaven, the earth, and everything in them, and that he made paradise and fashioned man, and not God; saying that only two things in this world came from the operation of the supercelestial God: the sun and the soul of man. And they say that there are eight heavens: seven which the supercelestial God made, and upon which He sits, and an eighth which is beneath all the rest, which is the one seen by us, which the prince of this world fashioned....

[alt-version omitted]

ANNA COMNENA PORPHYROGENITA CAESARISSA ALEXIAS OR ON THE DEEDS OF THE EMPEROR ALEXIUS OR THOSE GESTED IN HIS TIME, FIFTEEN BOOKS. EDITED FOR THE FIRST TIME FROM THE BARBERINI LIBRARY, PRESENTED WITH A LATIN TRANSLATION, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH A GLOSSARY BY PIERRE POSSIN, PRIEST OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. TO WHICH ARE ADDED THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES OF CHARLES DUFRESNE DU CANGE. A variety of readings is submitted from the Coislinian Codex 311, described, it would seem, in the time of Anna herself.

TO THE MOST AMPLISSIMUS AND ILLUSTRIOUS MAN, LORD PIERRE SÉGUIER, CHANCELLOR OF FRANCE.

Antiquity, or the literature of the learned nations, does not need an interpreter in your presence: yet this work, the principal one of Greek eloquence, from the heights of which it now emerges from darkness into the public light, bids me be its interpreter—not, to be sure, in matters of oratory or style, where nothing is inaccessible to your erudition, but in matters of gratitude and duty, the expressions of which it thinks it can never render vast enough, or sufficiently responsive to your merit or its own desire, however many it might accumulate.

This is Anna Comnena, the tenth of the Muses, and a certain Pallas of Byzantine Greece; if anyone were to estimate the treasures of her mind, he would number her August birth and that purple of her cradle among her least ornaments, though she was a Porphyrogenita and the first-born of a prince ruling the world. She was ignorant of no learned art, and was especially skilled in eloquence; polished also in all the duties of religion and humanity; and, flourishing in that one collection of all the gifts which could perfect in every respect not just any royal matron, but that woman whom you could rightly call the miracle of her age; she had strained every nerve in the elaboration of this huge work, in which...

^A the distinguished specimens of all these graces were to appear: namely, the history of the most momentous and wondrously varied events that took place by land and sea throughout almost the whole of Asia and Europe during the long reign of her father. By including these with the most meticulous diligence in her collection, and no less with a skillful description of order and an adornment of explanation, she thought she was providing excellently for the public good by publishing a book of such utility; and at the same time, she congratulated herself—not without reason—on her private hopes for fame and everlasting memory, which she had established by this monument of her piety and of her own talent. But how truly it was written of old by someone: "However learned and eloquent works may be, they will nonetheless provide a feast for bookworms and moths if they are not looked after by the effective providence of a powerful and kindly genius"—this is proven by nothing better than the miserable and lamentable fortune of this book. It appeared at its very first birth adorned with such an exquisite flower of eloquence that, even if it were merely babbling fables and trifles with such grace, it would easily have secured for itself a place among the premier Attic writers simply by the adornment of its diction. Again, she treats and organizes a subject so grave and so necessary to know, with such art of disposition and such maturity of judgment, that even if she spoke most crudely, the splendor of her thoughts and the excellence of a history not narrated elsewhere could redeem the stain of a barbaric and stammering speech. Finally, the fact that it is established that the author of such a thick and prolix work was a woman, and one born and nurtured in the royal palace, is certainly a matter which, in any other style or genre of material, would have seemed—by the very rarity and admirability of the queen who wrote it—to promise a great enough value among fair judges of things, so that it would rightly deserve not just to be carried and read, but also to be celebrated and sought after. And yet—oh, shall I say it is more marvelous or more miserable?—that book, recommended by so many titles to fame and celebrity, lay neglected, despised, buried in the neglect of all for five hundred years in filth and darkness. And although there have long existed many men learned in both languages who ambitiously sought out Greek books to translate into Latin, the Alexiad of Anna was almost the only one of them all that its own incredible misfortune prevented from ever falling into the hands of any Greek printer, or any Latin translator. For I think no fair-minded person would believe that the Augsburg publication of the Hoeschelian excerpts was more to be congratulated by the Empress than the unhappy casting out of a monstrously mutilated and dead fetus by a woman who has suffered a miscarriage. ^B Yet there was a time when a better fortune seemed to look upon Anna. Jacques Cujas, a man by far the most famous of all for his genius, his knowledge of the law, and his acquaintance with languages, obtained a manuscript of the Alexiad, read it, admired it, and praised it. Finally—a circumstance than which nothing could have been more opportune for Anna or for the world of letters—he recommended her to that most illustrious and learned man, Pierre Pithou, from whom she might hope for an edition joined with a Latin translation. But, O deceptive faith of that grace which had been reconciled with an adverse fate! The cruelty of the fates toward Anna soon broke out more harshly than before: and we never despaired of her more justly than when we had very nearly arrived at hope. Pithou is taken from human affairs with the business unfinished. The unique copy of the Alexiad is secretly purloined from his archives and thrust into I know not what abyss or what dungeons of inexorable custody; or perhaps (as others likely think) it was completely consumed by some hostile accident. Here, however, your wisdom, most distinguished sir—greater than the fate of things—and your kindness toward the world of letters, which is to be deterred by no difficulties and checked by no bounds, arrived like a *deus ex machina*. You undertake this labor, you apply your mind, you order libraries to be searched, you turn pages, you inquire; through your great authority, you strive, you search out, you reveal, and you accomplish many things where you have power, near and far, on native and on foreign soil. After it was sufficiently established that there was no hope or help for Anna in Gaul, in Germany, or anywhere among the Cisalpine peoples, you fly to Italy, you attend to the business in Rome, and the manuscript summoned from the Barberini library—not the best or most complete, to be sure, yet such that an interpreter who is not dull or entirely unskilled could console his desire for a better one with it, with some confidence of performing the work—once brought to you from Rome, you send it to me at Toulouse to Lutèce [Paris]. I was then entirely entangled and occupied with cares—if I may say so—as different as heaven and earth; and they were neither few in number nor light in kind. Here, Mark and Luke, with Matthew already finished, were demanding the promised work. From elsewhere, the divine Scriptures were holding their professor rightly by the hand so that I would not descend to the interpretation of human history. Finally, many started works of various kinds were demanding a conclusion and a colophon. What was I to do? Your commands, my Maecenas, were not soft. Having obtained a respite somehow; and as if by

urgent entreaty of the creditors, I obtained a delay of payment, I devoted myself entirely to Anna, I spent myself upon her entirely: and the matter so demanded it that even the whole of me was insufficient. In the writing, because of the uncertain copy ^A that was everywhere put together by a tumultuous collation, I had to use much conjecture and suspicion. The gaps had to be supplied by divination. I had to take care that the most ornate speech of the Comnena not be compared to a too unequal Latin version; with no less disgust and reproach of the eyes than if a holoseric cloth, glowing with living purple, were stitched to a haircloth sack or a dark, patched garment. I had to fear (a complaint of many, which I have little avoided) lest I should make the Latin interpretation like a horsehair sieve, which, when flour is poured into the bolter, transmits the very flower and pure fine dust, but retains and exhibits mere bran and dross.

Besides these things, since I was being recorded in the name and under the authority of the Caesarissa as the interpreter, the nature of this office must be held—what it is—which can be understood from the duties of the same kind, belonging to the principal scribes and palatine clerks. Kings and queens are accustomed to use these to write letters which they send in every direction, the sentence of which, when they have indicated it by word or nod, it is already the business of these men, according to the ability of each one, having then to subscribe to the mind of the prince, to discourse as aptly and as eloquently as possible, according to his dignity and the merit of the matter.

Lastly, I had to strive that I might render not only the superficial form or the very outer features of the Greek archetype which I had undertaken to express (such as remain in a dead body, as in the living) somehow assimilated by written style, but also to plant deep within and breathe into the Latin exposition, if I could, that spirit which is alive and thriving within, and from time to time shining with living vibrations from its secret source, just as they say Prometheus mixed fire, taken down from the etherial house, into his clay work, which would otherwise be nothing ^B above a vile mass of moistened dust.

With all these cautions, all these circumspections, and so many and varied plans, I kept my mind, fortified—nay, fixed and intensely solicitous—entirely in the function of this duty assigned to me by you, of publishing this most brilliant history in Latin letters. Although the consciousness of my own weakness compels me to fear too much, not only that I might not have attained what I was following, but also that I might have incurred other criticisms of a different sort. I know, indeed I know, how exposed this sect and method of translating—which I profess, freely and politely—is to the offense of gloomy critics. There are some who wrinkle their noses, who superciliously refuse as often as a Latin phrase occurs beyond the mode of the Greek; as often as they constrain the flowing Asiatic robe, as it were, into a shorter, tighter knot of Roman neatness. Who could list all the delights of those fastidious men, whose census includes the yawns of those who are poorly occupied, and who, with supine and sometimes half-asleep reading, capture nothing but loops ^C at which to cavil? "Here, indeed," they say, "the Greek sharpness and subtlety has not pricked the dense translator." They mock other things: "Oh, how widely it wanders about the globe! It is a scandal!" They fret that, in their judgment, the author's senses are strangled, that gold is exchanged for lead, that succinct witticisms are liquefied by the overflowing flood of excessive Latin. Finally, they sometimes erupt with bile in their indignation: that to a palate dulled by barbarism, the Attic nectar has not tasted right.

These and other things of this kind, and beyond what is long, and not even easy for me, and otherwise uncertain in outcome, I shall not attempt to refute by desiring to clear myself and speak for myself. Indeed, I am never accustomed to attribute too much to myself. Nay, I am for the most part little enough fair to myself; for, being a mind conscious of how great is the thinness of my own genius and ability, I either receive the judgments of those who criticize with an easy assent, or I anticipate them by volunteering to accept the censure. Now, however, I fear more than at other times, lest in some places strength, in others art, in others happiness be lacking to me, though I am struggling and laboring in vain.

Wherefore, if I should pursue individual objections, there might perhaps be some things for the dissolving of which I would satisfy neither the crown nor the judges, and others in which, as a defendant, I would voluntarily confess my hands to the accuser. Nevertheless, in this business, my innocence and faith, of the best sort, are in no more danger from accusations than from my own fastidiousness of judgment, and lest I should abandon the cause entirely, it must be confessed here that I have studied to discharge the province undertaken by your nod and command as little poorly as possible, sparing neither time nor labor nor effort. What success will eventually have answered to my attempt—to make a summary of my apology, which is being produced for nothing and with many water-clocks, in one word—that must be a matter of your own judgment, most great man, and your own will.

There will be no one of all (I know well) so obstinate that, if not on account of your most ample magistracy, by which the moderation of law and equity is attributed to you as supreme, then certainly on account of your ^D equity, famous and venerable to all, extending even beyond the borders of the Gallic empire, and conjoined with various learning and wisdom of every kind, would not think that he must stand by your definition: I myself, whithersoever the die may fall, am so far from excepting against or provoking anything that I already [subscribe as an endorser of your every sense].

I shall look to you alone while writing, I shall imagine you present and prepared before me; if I have pleased you, that is reward in abundance. For beyond the fact that the bias of public praise receives a certain weight from authority so great, even if you alone were to approve while all others condemned, for the sake of reputation and the fruit of my spirit, you alone would justly be to me as a thousand, as all men put together. But if, on the other hand, you find fault, I shall not immediately conclude that I have wasted my effort or that my prayers have fallen utterly short. With an unturning strength of mind, from that eagle-eyed keenness of your intelligence—to which no false color can bring deception, no mendacious charm can prove itself, and which finds pleasure in nothing but life-like and native beauty—I shall take refuge in the most indulgent clemency of your most kind and humane will; and safe there in the most certain of asylums, I shall cherish the sweet hope in my breast that you will console with your pardon what you cannot reward with praise; and that, looking past the failings of an unlearned hand, having recognized and not spurned the duty of a benevolent heart, you will suffer this little gift of mine—whatever it may be, however unpolished—to remain an eternal monument of the observance and veneration with which it follows you in the highest and truest sense. ^B

TO YOUR ILLUSTRIOUS AMPLITUDE, Your most devoted PETRUS POSSINUS, of the Society of Jesus. Written at Toulouse, the 11th of the Kalends of July, in the year 1649.

TO THE READER

Even in my youth, which it fell to my lot to spend at Toulouse, I burned with a huge desire to explain the *Alexiad* of Anna Comnena in Latin letters and to give it to the public light. That wish was nourished and cradled by the sweet hope that the very city in which I lived and labored at my studies was said to possess the only, most ancient, and most complete copy of that work. I therefore bestirred myself, I labored, I exerted myself through my own means and through friends, that a copy of that codex might be made for me. ^C Admitted most kindly by the noble and most illustrious family of the Fabri Sanioriani into the museum of the late, most learned Petrus Faber, I drank in much dust in vain, though I spent all my time there most idly and curiously. I searched through every trace and sniffed out whether this rare and foreign bird had flown to any other house in the city. I made no more progress than Cadmus when he was searching for Europa. And here is the place to speak of the most official kindness of the most illustrious D. Carolus de Montchal, Archbishop of Toulouse, who, according to his customary humanity with which he has always pursued my studies, deemed it not unworthy of his height at that time to descend into this care with me; and by the interposition of his authority, he tried to bring to completion the effect of this great desire of mine. Yet some fortune or other, or the most obstinate wickedness of those who hold the illustrious captive in eternal darkness to the annoyance and groaning of the whole world, eluded all my inquiries, petitions, and machinations. Many years had then flowed on for me, thinking of other things and having already, in short, forgotten the *Alexiad*, when a man who must be mentioned for the sake of honor, Petrus Seguier, Chancellor of France—who added to his most ample dignity an excellence of religion, justice, and all virtue, but also of eloquence and learning—observing that the *Alexiad* of Anna Comnena could not be absent from the collection of Byzantine History, which he had ordered to be published by royal typographers, any more than Spring can be absent from the year, negotiated from Rome through letters and trusted men with the most eminent Cardinal Francesco Barberini, a prince born for the furthering of letters, that if he possessed any copy of the codex of Anna Comnena in his most rich store of ancient and rare books, he might not be reluctant to lend it for the royal press edition. He immediately sent the book, written on paper that was not ancient, ^D

^A but it was not complete. However, the skillful diligence of the most learned Luca Holstenius, curator of the Barberini library, had made it such that it could almost be used as if it were whole. He had collated this codex, mutilated in many places, with another very ancient one on parchment, which was itself imperfect and deformed by gaps—a codex I saw a few months ago in the Medici library in Florence—and because the two copies were not lacking in almost the same places, he had, by filling the gaps of one from the other, brought the Barberini codex to near-integrity with a labor that was not slight, nor one we should fail to praise. The most illustrious chancellor, having had it brought to him at Rome, did not search for long to find someone to whom he might entrust the task of translating it into Latin. It is the hallmark of great minds, prepared by heaven to rule the earth, to leave nothing, however obscure or humble, unknown. ^B Therefore, when a mention of my own name happened to reach that level, and when it was further recalled that I had once spent some effort in searching for the Toulouse codex of Faber and had shown a willingness to translate the Alexiad, the task was immediately given to that most honorable man, Sebastian Cramoisy, director of the royal printing office, to send to me as soon as possible the codex newly arrived from Rome; this he did with the utmost fidelity and without delay, adding a letter in which he signified that I would do a favor to the most illustrious chancellor if, as soon as the first leisure time allowed, I would apply myself to the translation of the Alexiad. I was at that time deeply immersed in various studies of Sacred Scripture, and that first youthful ardor for laboring at translating Greek had grown cold with time; furthermore, experience of the annoyance—not at all compensated by equal fruit—that is inherent in such a thorny task, had truly cooled it considerably. ^C Nevertheless, prompted by reverence for a venerable name, having suddenly put aside and laid everything I had on hand to the side, I applied myself entirely to fulfilling the mandate of such authority. From the beginning, I had determined that there were two principal things on which I ought to labor. For it was necessary to ensure that the Greek exemplar would come forth as corrected as possible, and then subsequently to strive that the Latin version expressed from it might most correctly attain to the true meaning of the author, and render it most clearly. Since the order of these matters is naturally arranged such that the former must precede the latter, when I turned my mind to the initial task and began to apply my efforts, behold, a grave species of difficulty arose, which even cast me into despair as to the completion of the undertaking. The codex, which was the only one at hand, had been, as I said, hastily gathered and sewn together from two mutilated ones, and in many places it teemed with words of uncertain and, in the meantime, openly erroneous readings; in addition to this, it gaped with lacunae scattered throughout the body of the work, the very head of which—that most elegant Preface by Anna, most worthy of the book—was entirely missing, which we supplied as best we could from the Augustan Excerpts. Furthermore, the conclusion of the History, that is to say, the final part of the fifteenth book, ^D fraying with extremely frequent cracks, appears everywhere as a patchwork pierced by ancient rot or as a collapsing and ruinous wall. What could I dare hope here? Should I approach the emendation of the archetypal text? Could I think myself able, in the absence of better exemplars, to represent it with anything other than conjectures and divinations, which would be as contentious as they would lack any authority? Or should I immediately lose courage and abandon the plan for an edition? And since David Hoeschel has earned the favor of learned men for not shrinking from publishing, under the title of the Alexiad, the incredibly erroneous and mangled fragments of Anna’s History—few in number and rashly gathered—was I to think it proper to condemn to the prison of eternal darkness, and deny the public’s desires, my own fifteen full books of that work, on account of I know not what faults that would interfere with the reader’s sense of elegance rather than subtract anything from the knowledge of events or the integrity of the History? I think no fair or learned man would have advised either; he would not even have approved it. That opinion, therefore, was necessarily left to me, by which I decided to leave the Greek text itself entirely intact—not even meddling with manifest errors—as long as I did not have a codex of greater antiquity and authority for the foundation of a true reading. But I was to expend all my industry on the elaboration of the Latin version, by which I might endeavor, with whatever judgment and diligence I had, to substitute for missing resources, to fill gaps, to correct faulty passages by conjecture, and finally, by all possible methods, to strive that the pristine radiance of such a beautiful work, as much as might be allowed by the squalor of five centuries and the ruinous injuries of every kind of catastrophe, might be restored in a modern edition. This is what I aimed for, and to what I directed my study and endeavor. For as to what I have actually accomplished, that is not for me, but for your judgment, reader. And just as I would not seek to court favor through sycophancy, so too would I not seek to deprecate severity through abject submission; but still less would I wish to resist censure with stubborn obstinacy. Use as you like the right and the choice that I would freely grant you, even if it were not already yours by right, to approve and reprehend what you deem worthy. Behold, you have me ready for either alternative, and wherever the die may fall, provided that...

it falls upon those who wish for quiet. I desired to gratify the public, to serve friends, and to comply with the wishes of great men; I have engaged in this task with the best of will and in good faith. Here, whatever else may come to pass, the result will always sustain my conscience. I ask, however, for that which is consistent with your equity: that you do not cast a dark judgment upon whatever species of fault may first present itself. It is rarely the first—or even, as often happens, the second of those thoughts which are commonly lauded—that I have set down on the page; but sometimes it is the fourth or fifth. It is possible that what first came to mind when you were turning your attention to it did not escape me either; however, I have put that aside for another, one not yet noticed by you. You will do the same if you were in my place, and would approve, I think, when you know the facts. You will be able to know them, in part from the Glossary, and to a far greater extent from the Notes; the former we give now, the latter we are still constrained to hold back, to be returned a little later with an augmentation that will be grateful to you and useful to the public at large. For when we come to our Anna, whom we set forth now alone, adorned only with her own majesty, we will add her own proper retinue in a volume of due, short length, wherein first her own life will be presented, gathered from the ancient monuments. Following this, the Panegyric of the Emperor Alexius, delivered to him in person by Theophylact—an elegant compendium of the entire Alexiad—will be added. There will be subjoined a chronological abacus, dividing in a certain order all the matters set forth in the fifteen books of the Alexiad. Lastly, those same fifteen books themselves will be reviewed, in part wholly with the help of the best codex, for which a hope, recently and quite unexpectedly, has been shown to us; and in part, in the more obscure passages, they will be illustrated by the collation of other writers and by other accurate methods of that kind, according to the measure of our ability and limited means.

TO THE NOBLE AND ILLUSTRIOUS MEN, MARK WELSER, COUNSELOR TO THE SACRED CAESARIAN MAJESTY, AND JOHN JAMES REMBOLD, DUUMVIR AND PREFECT OF AUGUSTA VINDELICORUM, AND TO THE COLLEGE OF THE SEPTEMVIRI, MY MOST OBSERVABLE LORDS AND PATRONS, GREETINGS.

That which Democritus of Abdera deemed to be desired—that images of men be presented to the eyes or the mind, which would be ministers of virtue and some advantage to them, rather than of vice and disadvantage—you might not unjustly say that he was ridiculous and superstitious in this. For as regards the manner of life, whatever it is, that is to be entered upon in a praiseworthy way, we have no need of the Democritean *phantasie eidolon*, since living examples are daily set before our eyes, and a great many can be sought from the most delightful reading of histories; from whence it may be perceived what is becoming, what unbecoming, and what will result in honor and emolument, or in ignominy and detriment.

*Alas, alas, what greater joy could you find than this?* *What more effective for the amendment of morals?*

as the philosopher of Chaeronea beautifully asserts. Let us not wander too far; even in these eight books of the Alexiad, which we now bring to light, how many examples of virtue, how many of vice occur! Why, most noble men, I dedicate these to Your Worships: I judge there to be sufficient cause in the fact that for fifty years their publication was expected in vain from elsewhere, and that once sought repeatedly by the learned, now, rescued from your library, they become public property. In which, by removing the errors of the scribe in part, by filling the lacunae in part, and sometimes by illustrating certain things with notes—as much as the meagerness of my talent and the narrowness of time have allowed—if I shall appear to have done anything worthy of the labor in the judgment of the candid, I shall regret less the labor undertaken upon the authority of a great man; and I shall be more easily invited to publish other writers, either more integrally and correctly, or even new ones, from that same most illustrious library of yours. May God, the Best and Greatest, preserve Your Worships, by whose auspices and liberality I am able to devote time to labors of this kind, blooming and safe for the longest time possible.

Augusta Vindelicorum, the day before the Nones of September, A. S. N. MDCX. D. V. O. DAVID HOESCHELIUS.

TO THE READER

^A From the fifteen books of the *Alexiad* of Anna Comnena Porphyrogenita, which the catalogues of illustrious libraries have long boasted of, we provide here eight books, almost always incomplete: provided as they were and in the form in which it was possible to represent them from the Augsburg autograph. For it seemed better that we should owe the republic of letters this half-measure now, than to be forever deprived of the whole. May the owners of more complete and better exemplars, I pray, not bear us ill-will, and may they open them to our eyes as soon as possible. We name specifically the most excellent Faber, a senator of Toulouse, in whose possession they say the manuscript of the great Cujacius remains.

Furthermore, I do not take the risk of vouching for the trustworthiness of Anna. I remember reading in Vopiscus that there is no writer, as far as history is concerned, who has not lied about something; when minds have become heated with contentions, it is difficult for them to view the truth with an objective eye, and there is scarcely anyone who does not concede something to their country and kin—among whom the father takes first place—especially if a woman’s hand holds the pen. This is the source of the most foul revilings with which Anna sometimes indulges herself in a womanly fashion against the Latins, the Pope, and other princes. A prudent reader should weigh history by its own merits, not by the sentiments of the authors: nevertheless, we do not allow Tacitus or Suetonius to be cast aside, though they were injurious toward Christ and the Christians. By this order, we judge all the Romans among the later Greeks; moreover, Anna thought that she had her own causes for hatred, because Pope Gregory had received into his friendship Robert Guiscard, the father of Bohemund—whom she also wondrously attacks and harasses—the most bitter enemy of Alexius. ^B Berthold of Constance, for the year 1084, has this: "In those times, the Constantinopolitan [Emperor] sent a great sum of money to the formerly King Henry, so that he might attack Robert Wiscard, Duke of Calabria and Apulia, a soldier allied to the lord Pope, in retaliation for the same King. For Robert had long ago invaded the borders of the Constantinopolitans, and again he prepared to set in motion that expedition: but Henry, having received the money, did not spend it on the preparations against Robert, which he had promised by oath, but rather to win over the Roman populace to himself." Then, later, Alexius returned to grace with Pope Urban in the year 1089, as the same Berthold has it. The lord Pope absolved the Constantinopolitan from excommunication through his legates: indeed, we gather from the Cassinese Chronicle, IV, c. 48, that he subsequently dared to hope for the empire of the West from Pope Paschal. Emperor Alexius sent very strenuous men from his empire to Rome with his letters, by which, signifying that he had felt sorrow upon hearing of the injury brought upon the Pontiff and the Romans by the Emperor, he offered thanks afterward and praised them because they had manfully resisted him. And for that reason, if he had sensed their minds to be ready and prepared (as had long ago been reported to him), he wished that either he or his son John, according to the custom of the ancient faithful emperors, might receive the crown of the empire at Rome from the Supreme Pontiff. But let us return to our subject; just as I am not willing to vouch for the trustworthiness of Anna in those things which she left written against our people, so too do I shun the authority of those things which our writers penned against Alexius in full measure: for they have repaid this Comnena with ample gratitude, as the following few passages will show; it seemed too long to transcribe them all.

SOME TESTIMONIES OF THE LATINS CONCERNING ALEXIUS COMNENUS

^C William of Tyre, *De bello sacro*, lib. II, cap. 5: "At that time, a worthless and deceitful man presided over the empire of the Greeks, by the name of Alexius, surnamed Comutio (Comnenus). When he was most highly honored in the imperial palace by the lord Nicephorus, surnamed Bothomath (Botaniates), who was then reigning, wielding the scepter, and was serving in the office of megadomestic (whom we are accustomed to call the grand seneschal), he was [promoted] by the Emperor...

^A the second, maliciously rebelling against his lord and benefactor, in the fifth or sixth year before our people arrived, having deposed his lord, had seized the empire and presumed to retain what he had violently occupied. — CAP. 10. While these things were being transacted in the camp, behold, a messenger of the lord Bohemond stood present before the Duke, bringing the aforesaid prince’s letters in these words: Know, best of men, that you are engaged in business against a most wicked beast and a base man (Alexius), whose purpose is always to deceive and to pursue the whole nation of the Latins unto death by every means; and that I judge correctly concerning him will one day be approved by your own judgment, for I know the malice of the Greeks and their persistent and stubborn hatred against the name of the Latins. — CAP. 13. Nevertheless, just as the man (Alexius) was deceitful, able to feign and dissimulate his purpose, having sent certain nobles from his own household to that same excellent man, he spoke to him in deceit with peaceful words, attempting to see if he could in any way deceive him. — CAP. 14. Here it finally became more fully known that whatever the Emperor (Alexius) said to them was fraud and circumvention. — CAP. 19. And what (Alexius) had liberally bestowed upon the princes was neither of liberality nor of grace, but of desperate fear and fraudulent artifice. To our people, however, who walked in simplicity of spirit and sincere faith, the malice of the Greeks and the persistent fraud and circumvention of their wicked prince could scarcely be persuaded, especially when it abounded toward them with such liberality and feigned grace. — CAP. 20. And so, day by day, the deceit of the Greeks and the fraud of the Emperor (Alexius) were being revealed more and more, so that there was already no one among the princes to whom it was not manifest, and clearer than the midday light, with what hatred he pursued our people and held the whole race of the Latins in contempt. — CAP. 21. Whatever (Alexius) said, however, was deceit and circumvention. — LIB. VII, CAP. 20. For they judged it more convenient to decline the frauds of the Emperor (Alexius) and his artifice, which they had frequently experienced, lest they become entangled again in his labyrinths and ambushes from which they could not afterwards be extricated easily enough. — LIB. X, CAP. 12. But indeed the same Emperor (Alexius) [^B], according to the old custom of the Greeks, envying our successes, although, as we have said before, he had treated them quite kindly while they were with him, he secretly incited enemies to their destruction through frequent intermediaries, and from the time of their arrival, by frequent letters and the movements of messengers, he made them more informed, warning them not to allow such a great people to pass freely for the sake of their own danger. He acted the part of a scorpion, which, since it is not something you fear in its face, you would act prudently if you could avoid the mischief of its rear tail. — LIB. XII, CAP. 5. During the same time (the year 1118) the Constantinopolitan Emperor Alexius, the greatest persecutor of the Latins, was taken from human affairs. — Robert the Monk, *On the Expedition of Christian Princes to Syria*, lib. II. The deceitful Emperor (Alexius) therefore, seeing the camp of God growing and increasing from day to day, destitute of spirit, devoid of sense, poor in counsel, began to be anxious with vehement anger. For a mind full of fraud is always anxious and solicitous, and what it schemes for another it always fears will be schemed for itself. A fraudulent fiction always remained in the mind of the Emperor. He made void everything he swore, because he preferred to incur the guilt of perjury rather than that the race of the Franks should not be removed from his borders. — Conrad, Abbot of Ursperg, *Chronicle*, year 1101. Behold, suddenly a murmur arises, that the odious Emperor (Alexius) favored the side of the Turks rather than that of the Christians, and having explored what was around us, was encouraging them against us by frequent messengers. This, they say, is that perfidious Alexius who, after his lord Nicephorus was deposed through the aid of certain hired Alamanni, usurped his empire and had them—the collaborators in his own crime—condemned to exile and killed; and now he said he valued the Franks fighting with the Turks as much as dogs biting each other. Furthermore, when anyone attempted to charter ships, he heard that the Caesar had placed traps for the pilgrims even on the sea, and that he had long ago caused many ships to be sunk by the same crime. Therefore all cursed and anathematized him, all with one tongue called him not an emperor, but a traitor. YEAR 1106, the envious and until then secret persecutor of the Church, Alexius, unsheathes the long-hidden, toxic rabies of his perfidy: he reconciles himself most safely with the Turks, to whom already no or rare hope of ruling in the East remained, and—O most shameful crime!—he returned Nicaea, which we once described as the tower of our faith, and which had long ago been purchased with much Christian blood, to the sons of the tyrant Soliman: he established guards to prohibit the passage of the pilgrims by land and sea. His fleets, directed against the Antiochenes, they themselves captured in the war, and, for the confusion of Alexius, their noses and thumbs all [were]

cut off; and having loaded one of the ships with them, they sent this sort of stew to the same man, guilty of the slaughter of many thousands. — Albert of Stade has this nearly word for word. — Otto of Freising, *Chronica*, book VII, ch. 10. The most perfidious Emperor Alexius, no longer able to conceal the malice long conceived in his heart, entered into a most shameful alliance with the Turks, who were now almost in despair, and most impiously surrendered to them Nicaea, which had been acquired at the cost of much of our blood. Geoffrey of Viterbo, *Chronica*, part XVIII. They arrived at Constantinople, where they suffered much deceit and hindrance from King Alexius. Then Alexius, King of Constantinople, an adversary to Christian prosperity, united the Turks, who were already in despair, into his own friendship and granted them the tower of Nicaea, which had been won by the blood of Christians. — Matthew Paris in *Historia major*, year 1096. But Alexius, Emperor of the Greeks, a wicked and deceitful man, when he was in the palace of his predecessor Nicephorus and leader of the army, maliciously rebelling against his lord, had seized the empire five or six years before this expedition, after deposing his lord, and wickedly held it once seized. He, always having the intention of deceiving, often spoke peaceful words in deceit to the pilgrims, constantly holding the multitude of crusaders and the integrity of the army in suspicion. Whence, if he ever stopped doing harm, it arose not from virtue, but from fear. — YEAR 1108. Then Emperor Alexius, that most wicked traitor, envious of our successes, sent frequent letters to the infidel Turks, through whose lands the pilgrims were to pass, exhorting them attentively not to allow such a great population of Christians to pass freely to their own ruin. Matthew of Westminster, *Flores historiarum*, year 1095. At that time Alexius ruled the Greeks, a man indeed deceitful, and always preparing harm for our people with traps. And such is the opinion about the customs of Alexius that has generally prevailed among the Latins: one whom I have read, Albert, Canon of Aachen, published by Reineccius under the title of the Jerusalem Chronicle, without naming the author, felt more favorably toward him in more than one place. As if in some places he acted almost expressly as his apologist. BOOK VIII, CHAP. 46. For rumor had it among the Catholic people that, by the secret and perfidious counsels of the emperor (Alexius) himself, the army of the Lombards was led by Count Raymond and the Turcopole soldiers through the deserts, trackless places, and wildernesses of Phrygia, so that there, easily exhausted by hunger and thirst, it might be defeated and killed by the Turks. Truly, as it was reported by truthful and noble men, he was by no means to be blamed for this heinous crime. For he frequently warned the army and taught them of the wildernesses and lack of supplies and the traps of the Turks in the trackless parts of Phrygia, and that therefore they could not proceed safely and securely along that path. CHAP. 47. The Emperor (Alexius) accepted the entire petition of the king, along with the gifts presented to him, in good faith, and regarding every suspicion of the death of the Lombards, which the Christians held against him, he cleared himself by taking an oath in the name of God, promising henceforth to be merciful to all, and that he wished to honor and love King Baldwin. In the same legation, it was decreed by the emperor that the Bishop of Barcelona should excuse him regarding the betrayal imputed to him before the Roman Pontiff, Paschal. But that suspicions prevailed, appears from what follows. — CHAP. 48. Engelrad, however, a certain soldier found in Jerusalem, honored with great gifts by the emperor, brought back good news, and [reported] that the emperor wished to keep friendship and faith with King Baldwin, and not to offend the pilgrims any further. But the bishop resisted the emperor somewhat, on account of the infidelity toward the Gauls, which he extorted from him. Wherefore, in bitterness of spirit, he went to Rome and accused the emperor himself in the church of Benevento, and therefore, having taken letters from the Apostle himself, a grave complaint was made before all the princes of Gaul against the emperor himself.

ELOGIUM OF ANNA COMNENA, HEROINE, INCOMPARABLE AND MOST LEARNED

Taken from the library of illustrious women who excelled in their writings, by the Reverend Father Ludovicus Jacob of St. Charles, of Chalon-sur-Saône, Carmelite, councillor and ordinary almoner to the king; as well as the most illustrious and most reverend Lord, John Paul Francis Gondi, Archbishop of Corinth and Coadjutor of Paris, Librarian. Anna Comnena, Greek, daughter of Alexius, Emperor of the Greeks, and Irene, and the most august wife of Nicephorus Melissenus. By manifold praise, indeed, did Anna render her name immortal.

She distinguished herself among the most learned women of her age by both manifold erudition and acuteness of judgment. This incomparable heroine was not only most learned in the Greek languages, but also highly versed in domestic history, and, as John Zonaras attests, being devoted to study, she both wrote in an exquisitely Attic style and possessed the sharpest intellect for the most abstruse contemplations. She wrote in Greek this vast delight of the Muses and the Graces—the fifteen books concerning the deeds of her father, Alexius, which she called the *Alexiad*. This is the history of the Constantinopolitan Church and of the religious controversies that arose in the Eastern churches. Manuscripts exist in Rome in the most celebrated library of the most eminent prince Francis Barberini, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church; in the public library of Augsburg; in the San Lorenzo library in Florence; and also in various libraries of Italy. The first eight books were published at Augsburg in 1618, in quarto, with the notes of David Hoeschel. But all of them now appear from the Barberini library, in Paris, from the royal press, 1651, in folio, with an elegant Latin version, glossary, and preface by the Reverend Father Peter Possinus, a Jesuit of great name. But as Gerard John Vossius says (in the second book of *De historicis Graecis*, ch. 27), she narrates many things about her father far differently than the Latins are accustomed to do, who almost all—if you except one, Albert, Canon of Aachen—describe the Emperor as a fraudulent and perfidious man. But it is sufficiently probable that, both because of the hatred the Latins held toward the Greek Emperor, and because of the daughter Comnena's love for her father, they both indulged themselves somewhat more than the laws of history permit. John Kinnamos, the royal grammarian, continued this *Alexiad*; it has now seen the light from Vatican codex 319, with the version and notes of P. Possinus. She flourished about the year of the Lord’s Incarnation 1130.

Distinguished testimonials to the praises and writings of Anna Comnena are rendered by John Zonaras, a Greek monk, in volume III of his *History of the Catholic Church*, page 242 of my copy; Conrad Gesner, a physician of Zurich, in the *Bibliotheca universalis*; Anthony Possevino, of Mantua, S.J., in *Apparatus sacer*; James Gretser, S.J., in his *Refutation of Anna Comnena’s Alogiae in the Alexiad against Gregory VII, Roman Pontiff*; Gerard John Vossius, in *De quatuor artibus* and his book *De historicis Graecis*; Leo Allatius, of Chios, in his book *De Psellis et eorum scriptis*, and in his book on the perpetual consensus of the Western and Eastern Church; Gilbert Gaumin, of Moulins, Master of Petitions, in his notes to Michael Psellus’s *Dialogue on the Operation of Demons*; Francis Baldwin, J.C., in *De institutione historiae universalis*; James Gaffarel, provincial, in his very erudite book *De curiositatibus inauditis*; Elias Ehinger, of Augsburg, in the *Bibliotheca Augustana*; Augustine Mascardi, in *Tractatus II De arte poetica*; Paul Bolduanus, in *Bibliotheca historica*; Simon Scardius, J.C., a German, in his preface to the *Four German Writers*; Remaclus Mosi, in *Museum historiale*, published at Liège in 1610 in quarto; Aubert le Mire, in *Bibliothecae ecclesiasticae Auctarium*; Francis Augustine ab Ecclesia, Bishop of Saluzzo, in *Theatrum illustrium doctrina mulierum*; John Meursius, in his *Glossarium Graeco-Barbarum*, and in his notes to the *Expositions on the Song of Songs* by Psellus, page 174; Philip Glasser, of Strasbourg, in *Syngramma historicum*; Martin Crusius, in his prolegomena to the *Commentaries on the first book of Homer’s Iliad*; John Selden, an Englishman, in his *Commentary on the Origins of Eutychius*; Joseph Maria Suarez, of Avignon, Bishop of Vaison, in his first diatribe *De universalis historiae syntaxi*; Gabriel Naudé, of Paris, in his *Dialogus politicus*; Father Philip Labbe, of Bourges, S.J., in his *Protrepticus and Delineation of the Byzantine Apparatus of History*; James Cujas, of Toulouse, in his *Works on Law*; Nicetas Acominatus Choniates in his *Historia Graeca*; an anonymous author of the *Synopsis of the Life of Anna Comnena*, which we expect shortly, by the care and study of the Reverend Father Peter Possinus.

A COMPENDIUM, WITH GOD'S HELP, OF THE DEEDS OF THE EMPEROR LORD ALEXIOS KOMNENOS, COMPOSED BY HIS DAUGHTER, THE LADY ANNA, PORPHYROGENITA AND EMPRESS, WHICH SHE HERSELF CALLED THE ALEXIAD.

^A Time, flowing forward with irresistible force and always in motion, carries along and sweeps away everything that comes into being, plunging it into the deep abyss of oblivion; where things of no account are found, and where great things worthy of memory lie, bringing hidden things to light (according to the tragedy) and covering things that have appeared. But the account of history stands as a most mighty rampart against the current of time; it stays, in a certain way, its irresistible flow, and gathers up and binds fast all the things that have occurred within it, as many as it has overtaken, not allowing them to slip away into the depths of forgetfulness. Knowing this, I, Anna, daughter of the emperors Alexios and Irene, born and reared in the purple, and not unversed in literature—yet endowed with a keen appreciation for the structure of the Greek language— ^{B C D} [alt-version omitted]

^A and being in no way neglectful of rhetoric, having gathered well the Aristotelian arts, and having thoroughly grasped the dialogues of Plato and the intellect from the quadrivium of the sciences (for it is necessary to start from the beginning in these matters, even if the subject is a tautology, or if it be called self-praise—whatever nature and exertion in the sciences has granted, and God has bestowed from above, and time has brought together)—I desire through this writing of mine to recount the deeds of my father, which are not worthy of being consigned to silence, nor of being swept away by the current of time into an ocean of forgetfulness; both all those things which he achieved after having assumed the scepter, and all those things which he did before the diadem, while serving other emperors. ^B Having spoken of these I proceed, not as a display of any exercise in discourse that I have made, but so that a matter of such magnitude might not be left without testimony for those who are to be born hereafter. For even the greatest of deeds, if they are not somehow guarded by words and handed down to memory, are extinguished by the darkness of silence. For my father was, as events themselves have shown, a man who knew how to rule and how to submit, to the extent that is necessary, to those in command. But even in choosing to write of his deeds, I fear what lies in wait and runs beneath—lest someone might reckon that, in writing of the deeds of my father, I am praising my own, and that the whole matter of history might appear to be a falsehood. And it would be a eulogy outright, if I were to admire anything of his; yet if elsewhere he himself were to act and the matter were to force it, such that I might touch upon something even of his [shortcomings]—not on account of him, [but] on account of the [truth] of the facts...

Notes of Du Cange

^C Junior. He held the scepter of the empire, not the offspring of the purple, but the Macedonian. See note on page 166.

(4) Not unversed in literature. This is the concern of all the sciences in which she was shown to be skilled, and she was ordered toward every kind of learning. For the man was also given to letters, and his wife, nothing less—if not even more than he—held fast to the education found in letters, and her tongue expressed [her thoughts] accurately, and her mind was most sharp toward the heights of contemplation. And these things were added by the sharpness of nature and by study. For she had added to books and to learned men, and did not converse with them as a secondary matter. ^D Mathematics. The quadrivium of the virtues, the mathematical quadrivium... [This] is what the deacon Ignatius in the *Life of St. Nikephoros* Patriarch of Constantinople, chap. 15, or the four mathematical parts, understands, which Anna professes not lightly in more than one place that she had pursued—astrology, geometry, arithmetic, and music, which the ancient Greeks call [the mathematical sciences], as A. Gellius is the author, lib. 1, c. 9. Panegyric of St. Panteleemon: He gives joy, etc. Poem about Charlemagne in Canisius: And dialectic in art surpasses the ancient masters, And four other arts which rightly follow, Distinguishes by a similar method of things as mistress. And thence, the quadrivial letters are called mathematical sciences. Thomas of Cantimpré, *Quadriviale* in the Charter of the R. Cardinal in the year 1215, for the reformation of the Academy of Paris: Let them not read on feast days except the philosophers, and the rhetoricians, and the quadrivialia, and barbarism, and ethics, and the fourth [book] of the Topics. *Quadrivium* [is mentioned] by other writers of the Middle Ages passim. Hugo of Flavigny, abbot, in the year [1102]: From this he enters the quadrivium, where he perceives with a sharp mind the cubes of arithmetic, the sounds of music, the modes of geometry, the rays of astronomy, and proceeds to the perfection of a double thesis, that is, of theory and practice. Wibertus on Leo IX PP.: For they, investigating by natural talent, tasted the quadrivium. Matthew Paris in the year [1252]: A man truly most excellent in the trivium and quadrivium: And soon after, he knew the whole difficulty of both trivium and quadrivium. Where by trivium he understands grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. Wibertus in the place cited, namely, as first it befits the novices, having run through the trivium of the arts, not only did they shine in prose and meter, etc. Epitaph of Gilbert Crispin, Abbot of Westminster in the year 1114: You were mild, just, prudent, brave, moderate, Learned in the quadrivium, and no less in the trivium. See J. Tzetzes, *Chil.* II, cap. 377, and Senator, lib. 1, epist. 45.

^A If, however, the facts themselves should force me to mention something not worthy of approval, may no one from among those prone to slander, who casts the example of Ham—that betrayer of his father’s shame—back upon me, all the way from Noah, strike at me. For my part, I shall proceed with my mind so prepared against these snares laid on both sides, that I shall hold in contempt the impotence of those blind and malefic minds which, driven by envy and a lust for detraction, rush headlong into everything alike, and blame hearts that are free from fault (as Homer has it). I shall hold to the duty of the historian’s profession, which forbids one who professes to commit the memory of past events to writing, to be swayed by favor or by hatred; it commands that one must dispense blame and even the greatest praise to those who deserve it, without any distinction of friendship, necessity, hostility, or rivalry. And so I bid friends and foes alike to have hope or fear, for each shall hear from me what he has earned according to his own decisions and deeds, whether righteous or otherwise. ^B Let neither group—both those whom I may offend by recording their reproaches and those whom I may perhaps win over by sounding their praises—seek the causes of their joy or sorrow in my own judgment rather than in the truth and fidelity of the facts themselves; nor let them think it a charge against me—the interpreter of public memory, and one who has as a support and firm foundation for my assertions the conscience of eyewitnesses, some of whom are alive today, while others were the fathers or grandfathers of those now living—in whichever direction my narrative may incline, since it corresponds exactly to the truth of the events.

^C Now, I must explain the occasion that provided me with a more precise knowledge of my father’s deeds. My husband, united to me by lawful rite, was the Caesar Nicephorus, tracing his lineage to the Bryennii, a man excelling all who were then living by the elegance of his form, the perfection of his prudence, and the excellence of his learning. He was truly a miracle to the eyes of those who saw him and to the ears of those who listened to him. But lest my digression lead me away from the beaten path, let us return to the task at hand. ^D This most illustrious man, while serving in the military under my brother, the Emperor John, both in other wars against the Barbarians and in that which he waged against those who held Antioch, was unable to be without books even among the toils of the expedition; he inserted opportunities for study as the confusion of affairs permitted. With this diligence he performed many other things worthy of light and praise, but he especially focused upon a work that would encompass the *Acts* of the Roman Emperor Alexius, my father, at the urging of my mother the Augusta. [E] Therefore, as often as his military labor gave him any relaxation or space, he devoted all that rare leisure of his spare time, at intervals and with constant perseverance, to working by lamplight on books in which he might set down for memory the deeds performed by Alexius, especially when he was already emperor, having begun his writing as far back as the age of Romanus Diogenes (just as our mistress, the initiator of this plan, had insisted he do); thence in a second flow of time he brought the matter to

^A the years of the Emperor Nicephorus Botaniates and there he ceased his writing, as further time did not allow him to advance the work, thus bringing loss to the events encompassed by the history and robbing the readers of their pleasure. For this reason, I chose to compose an account of everything that was achieved by my father, so that such deeds might not escape those of a later age. For all who have encountered the writings of the Caesar know what harmony, and what grace, his words possessed. But, as I said, arriving at that point and having drafted the work, he brought it to us from abroad in an unfinished state; and alas! he also brought back with it a deadly malady, perhaps from the infinite hardship, perhaps from frequent military campaigns, perhaps from his ineffable concern for us. For an innate concern, and unyielding labors—along with the irregularities ^B and miseries [7] of the climates—mixed a deadly cup for him. For he was out on campaign against the Syrians and Cilicians, though terribly ill; then Syria gave him back to us ailing, and the Cilicians passed him to the Pamphylians, the Pamphylians to the Lydians, and Lydia to Bithynia, and Bithynia to the Queen of Cities, and to us, with his inward parts already swollen from the great hardship. Though he was in such a state of weakness and wished to recount in tragic style the events that had befallen him, he could not, partly because of his illness and partly because he was forbidden by us, as we feared lest by narrating them he might tear open his wound.

And I, while remembering these things here, am filled with gloom in my soul and drench my eyes with rivers of tears. Oh, what a counselor the Romans have lost! Oh, one who was a most accurate judge of matters, and how much he had gathered! And of knowledge of words, and of varied wisdom, I mean both that which is external and that of our own court! ^C But to me, as I read over the memory of that funereal time, my soul is wrapped in darkness and gloom, and my eyes overflow with torrents of tears. O, how much the state of the Romans has lost, having lost the Caesar Bryennius, the author of its councils! Who had ever prepared for himself greater experience in the conducting of affairs through the very practice and handling of matters already performed? Who likewise

Notes by Charles du Fresne du Cange

^A And with grace running through my limbs, and a beauty not unworthy of the tyranny [as some say], but even more divine and superior! I, for my part, have had dealings with many other terrors, from the very swaddling clothes of the purple, so to speak, and I have experienced fortunes that were not good—unless one were to count as "not good" the very fortune that smiled upon the one who bore me and the one who begat the emperors, and the purple in which I blossomed. For as for the rest, alas for the waves! alas for the upheavals! Orpheus, they say, by his singing set stones and woods and nature devoid of sense in motion; and Timotheus the flute-player, once when playing the *Orthian* mode before Alexander, so stirred the Macedonian to his very depths that he instantly rushed to arms and his sword. But my own tale is not one that would move the listener to local movement, nor to arms and battle, but to tears; and not only that which is sentient, but even nature devoid of sense it would compel to passion. ^B Yet the passion regarding the Caesar, and the unexpected death that befell him, reached into my very soul and inflicted a wound in the depths. And I think that the calamities I had previously endured were, in comparison to this insatiable calamity, but a mere drop compared to the whole Atlantic Sea, or the waves of the Adriatic. Nay, it seems they were but the prelude to these things, and the smoke of this furnace-like fire was already pre-empting me, and that heat of this ineffable conflagration, and the daily fire of that unspeakable holocaust. O fire that burns without fuel! Fire ignited in the secret places! And burning, yet not consuming; scorching the heart, but providing the appearance that we are not scorched—even though we had received its heat to our very bones and marrow and the division of soul and spirit. ^C But indeed, I feel I have been carried away by my own feelings outside the subject at hand. And the Caesar standing by me, and the mourning for the Caesar, instilled in me a long and lingering mourning. Having therefore wiped the tear from my eyes, and having pulled myself together from the passion, I shall proceed to what follows, deriving double tears [according to the tragedy], as if remembering calamity upon calamity. For to put forth the subject of such an emperor, and one so great in virtue, is a remembrance of the wonders that belonged to him, which brings even me to the hottest tears, weeping alongside the whole inhabited world. ^D For to remember him, and to bring his reign into the middle, is for me a subject of lamentation, but for others, a reminder of their loss. We must therefore begin from this point in the history of my father, from where it is better to begin; and it is better to begin from where the account will become clearer and more historical.

^A

ANNA COMNENA'S ALEXIAD, BOOK I.

Anna Comnena's Alexiad, Book I.

1 ARGUMENT. The deeds of Alexius before his reign: and the causes of the war he later waged with Robert, Duke of Calabria.

PERIOCHE. The beginnings of Alexius’s military career under the Emperor Romanus Diogenes, whom he followed on a campaign against the Persians, but was sent back from the road to his mother, who was mourning at the news of the recent death of Manuel Comnenus. Urselius, formidable under the reign of Michael Ducas, a man who rose from humble fortune to power, vigorous in hand, defeats many commanders. Alexius, having proved his courage while conducting affairs under his brother’s auspices, is placed in command of his own army and drives Urselius into a narrow strait. The latter attempts to join the barbarian Tutach to himself. But Tutach, forestalled by Alexius, sells Urselius, receiving the agreed-upon money and hostages. Alexius, lacking money, asks the Amaseni to pay it. They are stirred to sedition, which is calmed by Alexius’s prudence. The blinding of Urselius is feigned. The Amaseni contribute the money. Alexius’s return to the city, where the war with Urselius was fought. The admiration of the Docean upon seeing Urselius’s eyes. Nicephorus Bryennius seizes the empire. He holds the entire western frontier subject to himself. His appearance, character, fortitude. The most wretched state of the Roman military. Alexius is sent against Nicephorus with meager forces, the scarcity of which he supplies with counsel. A comparison of Alexius and Bryennius. How each army was drawn up. The battle is joined. The men of Bryennius rush into an ambush. The fortitude of John Bryennius. Alexius’s phalanx is broken. Alexius’s rash plan is corrected by Theodotus. The Scythians, having conquered, turn to plunder. The causes of the destruction of the Bryennians. Alexius persuades [his own] that Bryennius, whom he had captured on his own royal steed, had fallen. This contributes greatly to the victory. Excessive security harms the Bryennians. The Franks cross over to Bryennius. The Turks attack the Bryennians—who were insufficiently cautious after their success—with great slaughter of them. A sample of Bryennius’s strength. The Bryennians are routed. Bryennius is captured. Alexius’s clemency, dangerous to himself. The blinding of Bryennius not to be imputed to Alexius. Who Basilacius is and how powerful he is. He holds everything from Dyrrachium to Thessalonica. His gifts of mind and body. The camp ingeniously [placed] by Alexius at the Bardarus River. Basilacius’s night-time irruption into Alexius’s camp. Why Alexius is called "Blæsus" (the Lisping). By his mother's command, he had an elderly monk in his bedchamber until he took a wife. Alexius’s successful nocturnal battle against Basilacius. Alexius’s wondrously tranquil presence of mind during the height of battle. Manuel, the brother of Basilacius, is captured by Curtricius. The Basilacians flee to Thessalonica with their leader. Which city shortly opens its gates to Alexius. Basilacius flees to the citadel. There, betrayed by his own men, he is captured and handed over to Alexius.

[Heading:

Book I

^A My father, the Emperor Alexius, even before he took up the scepter of the empire, was a great ornament and mainstay to the Roman empire. For he began his military service under Romanos Diogenes; and he proved himself an extraordinary young man in the circumstances around him, and most courageous. For, being then in his fourteenth year, he eagerly joined himself to the Emperor Diogenes, who was leading a very weighty army against the Persians, and by his very expression he manifested a marvelous aptitude for warlike matters even then, for he was most prompt in facing dangers, and by his strength in other matters easily showed that, whenever the opportunity for battle with the barbarians should arise, he would with his sword bring great slaughter upon them; to such an extent was the young man a lover of war.

^B But at that time the Emperor Diogenes did not allow him to accompany him, since a most heavy grief had seized his mother. For she was then mourning the death of her firstborn son, Manuel, a man who had displayed great and admirable deeds for the Roman state; and she sought to ensure that she would not be left without consolation, no longer knowing where she might bury one of her sons, while sending the other into the wars, fearing lest some misfortune might befall the young man, and she would not even know where he had fallen. For these reasons she compelled the youth Alexius to return to his mother, and at that time he was left behind, even against his will, and he tore himself away from the companionship of his fellow soldiers with difficulty. But the time that followed abundantly opened up a vast sea of warlike exploits for him. For when Mikhail Doukas was reigning shortly after the abdication of the Emperor Diogenes, Alexius proved of how great a fortitude he was by the things he accomplished against Urselios. ^C This man, a Celt by birth, having formerly been enrolled in the Roman military, had grown great through the indulgence of fortune, both in wealth and in a measure of insolence, and having gathered power to himself, and a significant army, partly of those from that region whence he himself had sprung, and partly of those from other races...

collected, he conducted himself as if aspiring to nothing lower than the imperial throne. And he found a fitting time for establishing a tyranny, when the Roman state was leaning toward ruin with no uncertain trends, as the fortune of the Turks, fierce from their recent victory, pressed heavily, and, just as a pugilist whose footing is slipping on the sand, and being pushed by an opposing momentum, could scarcely sustain himself in his fall. By such a turmoil of affairs, the man’s innate ambition, provoked by the invitation of the opportunity, erupted into an open audacity of usurping the kingdom.

^B 4. He ranged about with a fast-moving band, plunder-seeking, threatening here and there, holding the eastern regions almost entirely infested, carrying force and terror everywhere. Against him were sent men celebrated for military praise, who did nothing but increase his confidence by their own defeats: for some he struck with the sudden speed of a fiery whirlwind, while others, having added Turkish auxiliaries to his own, he dared to meet in just battle and routed; and he even captured some; for those phalanxes of his were truly inescapable, while he, putting up resistance, could not provide sufficient stability. During that time, the prefecture of the armies of the eastern and western frontiers having been entrusted to my uncle, Alexius my father fought under his brother’s auspices and leadership. But the Emperor Michael, when he perceived that all things were plunging to ruin, as this Barbarian darted everywhere with total swiftness and lightning-like destructiveness, laying waste far and wide, ordered him to take command ^C of the army himself with supreme authority, so that, if possible, he might withstand the advancing pestilence. Having accepted these forces and mandates, Alexius applied the full strength and industry of his resourceful mind and brave heart to conducting the matter well: already in those first experiments of his warrior youth—his cheeks scarcely yet marked by the first down of manhood—he displayed an undoubted likeness to those praised men of old, to the Roman Aemilius, to Scipio, and to the Carthaginian Hannibal, whose most brave endurance of labors and never-drowsing, watchful providence he emulated with such success that he, one man, checked Urselius, who was then precipitous in his torrent of victories, and the Roman state, which was rushing to ruin under his impulse, in the labor of a few days. For he was then wonderfully sharp at seeing at once what needed to be done, and even sharper at carrying it out. Caesar explains in the second book of his History more fully in what manner he captured him; we, too, will relate it, in so far as it pertains also to our own history.

For the Barbarian Tutach had recently moved his hostile standards from the more remote parts of the East against the Roman borders with a strong and plunder-greedy army: at which time Alexius, through his own industry no less than that of the legions entrusted to his leadership, approached Urselius—who was equipped with large and magnificently and robustly armed forces—and gradually reduced him to great straits, by taking away, one after another, his garrisons, until there was scarcely any room left for further retreat. Thus he, caught and devoid of counsel, finally went to Tutach: and having been deluded by him, and...

^A besought to join him in alliance. But the commander of the army, Alexios, maneuvers against these things; and he wins over the Barbarian more quickly, and draws him to himself both with words and gifts, and with all manners and devices. For he was, if anyone else ever was, an inventor, and one who contrived ways in the most impossible situations. The most effective of his ways was, to speak in outline, this: to greet Tutach, and he says: "Both your sultan and my emperor are friends to each other. But this Barbarian Urselius raises his hands against both, and stands as a most fearsome enemy to both, ravaging the one, and always drawing away a little of the Roman portion, while depriving ^B the Persians of what was permitted, and even over that he prevails. He achieves the entire thing by craft: now overshadowing me by means of your power, and later, when the time has conspired with him, he abandons me as if he were already positioned free of danger, and again, out of a retreat, raises his hands against you. But if you are persuaded by me, when he comes to you again, seize the money from Urselius, and send him to us as a captive. For from this, you will gain, he says, three things: first, an abundance of money, greater and of such a quality as no one has ever gained before; second, you will draw to yourself the goodwill of the emperor, from which you will reach the height of prosperity; and third, the sultan will also be greatly pleased that such a great enemy has been removed, and who acts against both Romans and Turks."

Having negotiated these things through intermediaries with the aforementioned Tutach, my father, both the leader of the Roman army ^C at that time and at the same time having sent hostages from among those of the most noble for the agreed-upon time, by an amount of money persuades the Barbarians around Tutach to seize Urselius, and once this was quickly done, he is sent to the commander in Amaseia. But from then on the money delayed. For he himself did not have from where he might pay it, and the matters from the emperor had been neglected, and it was not proceeding with a slow foot as the tragedy says, but the money was nowhere to be seen at all. For those around Tutach insisted, demanding the mass of money, or to take back the one who had been bought and to allow him to return to where he had been captured; and he ^D...

had no means of paying the price of the one purchased. ^A Being, therefore, in straits for the whole night, he pondered how to raise the price from the inhabitants of Amaseia. At the break of day, although it seemed a grievous thing, he summoned everyone, and especially those who were considered the leaders of the city and were well-provided with money, and looking at them primarily, he said: "You all know, for certain, how this barbarian behaved toward all the cities of the Armeniac region, ^B how many towns he sacked, and how many he maligned, subjecting them to unbearable calamities, and how much money he extorted from you. But the time is now at hand to free you from the evils caused by him, if you wish. You must not, therefore, let him go; for you see how, by the will of God and our own zeal, the barbarian is our prisoner. ^C Tutach, who captured him, demands the price from us. We are entirely at a loss, being in a foreign land and having been fighting against the barbarians for a long time, and we have spent all that we brought with us. If the Emperor were not so far away, or if the barbarian were granting a stay of time, I would have hurried to bring the price from there. But since, as you yourselves know, it is not possible to do any of this, it is necessary for you to contribute the price, and you will receive back through us from the Emperor whatever you provide."

Having said this, he was instantly rebuffed and stirred up a most violent commotion among the Amasenes, who were set on deserting. For there were some very wicked men, who stirred these people to anger and uproar, and were receivers of stolen goods, knowing how to incite the populace to disturbance. ^D A great uproar was therefore raised, with some wishing to save Urselius and urging the crowd to take him back, and others being disturbed—for such is the riffraff crowd—and wishing to snatch Urselius and release him from his chains. The Commander-in-Chief, seeing the populace so maddened that he saw his affairs were in a very tight spot, yet in no way did he collapse; but by strengthening himself and rising up, he commanded silence with his hand, and when this was, though belatedly, with difficulty obtained, he directed his speech to the crowd, saying: "It is a wonder to me, men of Amaseia, that you have not yet at all understood the scheme of those who are deceiving you, buying their own safety with your blood, and..."

^A causing you the greatest harm. For what benefit is the tyranny of Urselius to you, if not slaughters, and mutilations, and the maiming of limbs? These men, the instigators of such things among you, from one side preserve their own matters unharmed by currying favor with the Barbarian; from the other side, they again reap the rewards of the emperors, granting this to him—that they did not yield up you and the city of Amaseia to the Barbarian. And yet, the majority of you have never done any such thing. For this reason, also, desiring to establish the tyranny, while they fawn upon the tyrant with fair hopes that they will keep their own matters unharmed, they again demand honors and gifts from the emperors; and if any new revolt occurs, they themselves withdraw from the drama, but kindle the anger of the emperor against you. Therefore, if you are persuaded by me, bid farewell to these men who are inciting you to riot; let each of you go home and ponder what has been said, and you will know who is suggesting the more beneficial counsel to you: the authors of the tumult, or I."

Having heard these words, just as with a ^B potsherd that has fallen the other way, they changed their opinion and withdrew to their homes. But the *stratopedarches*, knowing that the common people are accustomed to changing their minds in an instant, and more so when instigated by the malicious, fearing that they might deliberate on it during the night and attack him, and having brought Urselius out from the guard and freed him from his bonds, let him go—since he did not have sufficient forces to stand against so many—devised thereupon a Palamedean ^C scheme. To the public eye, he pretends to blind Urselius, and he was laid upon the ground, and the executioner brought the iron, and he was lamenting and groaning like a roaring lion; and everything was a pretense for the deprivation of his eyes. Indeed, it was commanded to the one being blinded to suffer and to cry out, and to the one supposedly gouging out his eyes to look sharply toward the one lying there, and to do everything in a frenzied manner, or rather to act out the blinding. And he was being blinded without being blinded. And the people were exultant, and everywhere spread the news of the blinding of Urselius. These things, performed as if on a stage, persuaded the whole crowd, both the locals and as many as were gathered from outside like bees for a collection. For this was entirely the scheme of Alexius's prudence, so that those who were disinclined to give money, and who were plotting to take Urselius ^D from the hands of Alexius my father, might wait in expectation, as from there his plot...

^A proved to be useless; and they quickly turned to the will of the camp-commander, those who had previously been failing in their purpose, making him their friend, and avoiding the wrath of the emperor. The amazing general, having captured Urselius in this manner, kept him like a lion in a cage, wearing bandages over his eyes which were the symbols of his supposed blinding. He was not satisfied, however, with what he had achieved, nor did he rest, having gained glory, for the sake of other matters. But he captured many other cities and fortresses, and he brought them under the authority of the empire, as many as had acted wickedly during the times of Urselius. From there, therefore, he turned his reins and drove [his army] directly toward the Queen of Cities. Having arrived in the city of Pappa ^B and resting for a little while from his many labors, both himself and his entire army, he appeared to have performed a deed from there like that which that Hercules performed for Alcestis, the wife of Admetus; for when that Doceanus, that nephew of the former Emperor Isaac Comnenus, and cousin to this man—a man himself noted both for his lineage and rank—saw Urselius wearing the symbols of blinding, and being led by the hand, he heaved a deep sigh and wept over Urselius, accusing the general of cruelty, and he brought a rebuke against him, crying out that he had taken the eyes from such a man, a nobleman and a hero in the direct sense, whom he ought to have preserved without harm. But he [Alexius] at that time said, "You shall hear the reasons for the blinding on another occasion, my dearest," and led him and Urselius into a small house ^C, removed the bandages from his face, and showed him the eyes of Urselius flashing with fiery light. Doceanus was astonished when he saw this and marveled, and he did not know what to make of the magnitude of the wonder, and he repeatedly put his hands to his sights, [wondering] if perhaps what was being seen was a dream, or some magical illusion, or something of that sort recently invented for the first time. But when he studied the kindness of the cousin toward the man, and along with the kindness, the craft [used], he became overjoyed, embraced him, and kissed his face many times, having changed the wonder into pleasure. The same thing was experienced by those around the Emperor Michael, and the Emperor himself, and everyone. Then again, toward the West, he is sent by the Emperor Nicephorus, who already held the Roman scepter, against Nicephorus the Bryennius, who was shaking the whole West and had put the imperial diadem upon himself...

and was proclaiming himself Emperor of the Romans. ^B For as soon as the Emperor Michael Ducas was deposed from the throne, and had put on the long robe and the priestly ephod instead of the purple fillet and crown, Botaniates sat upon the imperial throne and, having betrothed to himself the Empress Maria, as the story will more clearly show later, began to direct the affairs of the empire. But Nicephorus Bryennius, having been invested with the ducal authority of Dyrrachium under the Emperor Michael, had begun both a reign and a revolt against Michael even before Nicephorus [Botaniates] became emperor. As to the origin of this attempt and what the reasons for it were, it is not necessary for me to describe in detail, for the historical commentary of our Caesar suffices to recount the cause of the revolt; but that from there, as from some base of operations—the city of Dyrrachium—he ran over everything in the West and brought it under his own control, and how he was eventually captured, this is most necessary to describe briefly. For those who wish to learn the precise details of the history, we refer them to the Caesar. For the man in question, Nicephorus Bryennius, was a premier warrior, being of most illustrious birth, adorned with tallness of body ^C and beauty of face, and possessed of a grave mind, and in the strength of his arms he surpassed the men of his time; he was a person worthy of the empire. He possessed such power of persuasion, and was so able to attract everyone at first sight and with a single conversation, that all people, both soldiers and civilians, were in universal agreement that he should have the prize, and they considered him worthy to reign over the whole of the East and the West. For as he advanced, all the cities received him with open arms, and one city would hand him over to another with acclamation. These things disturbed Botaniates, and he threw the army around him into confusion, and cast the entire empire into helplessness. They had decided, therefore, to send my father, the Comnenus Alexius, against Bryennius, having just appointed him Domestic of the Schools.

^A For the Roman empire had reached the ultimate extremity. The eastern armies had been scattered in various directions, since the Turks had spread out and taken possession of almost everything between the Euxine Sea and the Hellespont, and the Aegean and Syrian seas, as well as the other gulfs, and especially those passing by Pamphylia and Cilicia, they pour out into the Egyptian sea. The eastern forces were in such a state, while those of the west, having all rallied to Bryennius, had left the Roman empire to a very confined and small force. For some "Immortals" 17 were left to it, who had only recently and yesterday taken up sword and spear, and some few soldiers from the "Earth" 18, and a certain Celtic force reduced to a few men.

These men they gave to my father, Alexius, and at the same time, having summoned allies from the Turks, they commanded him ^B to advance and engage Bryennius, trusting not so much in the army that followed him as in the spirit of the man and his skill in wars and battles. He, however, not waiting for the alliance, hearing that the enemy was approaching rapidly—and having from that time well secured both himself and those accompanying him—goes forth from the Queen of Cities, and reaching Thrace, camps near the Almyros River, without trench or rampart. For learning that Bryennius was encamped in the plains of Cedoctus 19, he wished both his own army and that of his opponents to be at a significant distance from each other. For he did not wish to stand face to face with Bryennius, so that the state of his forces should not become manifest, and he might not give the enemy an impression of how great his army was. For he was about to engage with a few against many, and inexperienced against experienced, and abandoning the idea of open confidence, he wished instead to "steal" the victory 20 by an open strike. ^C

^D [index: entries preserved]

^A Since our narrative has now positioned both men, both noble, in the lists—Bryennios and my father, the Komnenos Alexios (for neither was lacking in bravery compared to the other, nor was one inferior to the other in experience)—it is fitting that, once we have arranged them into phalanxes and set their lines of battle against each other, we should from there observe the fortune of the war. For these two men were both handsome and noble, and in hand-to-hand combat and trial, they stood as if weighed in a balance; it remains for us to see where the fortune of war inclined. Bryennios, while relying on the strength of his forces, also prided himself on his experience and on the good order of his battle array. Alexios, on the other hand, though he had few and very slight hopes in terms of his army, countered with the strength derived from his skill and his strategic maneuvers.

For having now become aware of each other, and knowing that the time for war had arrived, ^B Bryennios, having learned that the Komnenos Alexios was accustomed to preempt his forward movements and that he was camping near Calaura, arranged his forces and moved to meet him. For he had organized his army into a right wing and a left wing; over the right, consisting of five thousand men—Italians and that detachment of the Maniakes—he placed his own brother John ^C in command. Added to these were cavalrymen from Thessaly and a certain division of the *hetairia*, not of low extraction. The other wing, the left, was held by Tarchaneiotes Catacalo, leading Macedonians and Thracians, heavily armed, numbering in total three thousand. Bryennios himself held the center of the phalanx, composed of Macedonians and Thracians, and all the elite of his retinue. All were mounted on Thessalian horses ^D and were glittering with iron breastplates and helms upon their heads; as the horses moved with ears pricked high and their shields clashed against one another, a great brilliance of them

^A shone forth from their helms with terrifying effect upon the beholders. Bryenius himself, in the midst, stood like some Mars or giant, towering over the whole crowd by a cubit at the shoulder; it was uncertain whether he was more wonderful to behold or more formidable to terrify. Outside the whole line of battle, at a distance of about two stades, were certain Scythian auxiliary forces, equipped with barbarian arms. Orders had been given that as soon as the enemy appeared and the trumpet sounded for battle, these barbarians were to ride around to the rear and throw themselves upon the enemy, to harass them as much as they could with a constant rain of arrows, while in the meantime the phalanx in front, with shields locked and ^B forces combined, should press forward as vehemently as possible against the opposing side. In this way, then, did the other marshal his forces for battle. But my father, the Komnenos Alexios, having surveyed the position of the place, stationed a portion of his army in some hollows, and positioned the rest in the front line against the army of Bryenius. Having drawn up both the concealed and the exposed forces, and having spurred each man on with his words, and raised them to bravery, he gave instructions to the vanguard to fall upon the enemy unexpectedly when they were at their rear, and with great and violent force to break the right wing. He kept the so-called Immortals and some of the Celts, ^C with himself, and placed himself at their head; but over the Chomatenoi and the Turks he set Catacalon as leader, and gave orders that he should keep his attention on the whole Scythian force and repel their incursions. These things were thus: and when the army of Bryenius had come straight into those hollow places, at a signal given by my father Alexios, our men, with shouts and yells, burst forth from their ambush, and by the suddenness of the event, and partly by the violent assault, and by the slaughter of those they encountered, first threw the enemy into confusion, and then forced them to flight. But John Bryenius, the brother of the commander, mindful then ^D of furious courage and spirit, wheeled his horse around with the bit, and with a single blow struck down the Immortal soldier who was attacking him, and made the wavering phalanx stand firm, and thus, having rallied them, he drove back the enemy. And in turn the Immortals were fleeing not very honorably from the Bryenians who were smiting their backs. But my father, having already cast himself into the midst of the enemy, had been making a path with brave deeds in whatever part of the battle line he had fallen upon, striking down each one who came against him and bringing them immediately to the ground; hoping, however, that some soldiers were following him to assist, he persisted in the struggle with unrestrained fury. But realizing that his own phalanx had been broken, and was already scattered in many places, having gathered together the most courageous—and they were all of them—he decided that, drawing their swords, when they got near to Bryenius, they should charge against him shamelessly, even if it meant that they would also perish with him. But Theodotos opposed such a resolve

an individual who had served my father from childhood, and who judged the undertaking to be sheer madness. Alexios, therefore, changing his course, wished to withdraw himself slightly from Bryenius's army, having gathered together some of the acquaintances who had been scattered; and having re-established order, he again applied himself to the task. Before my father had yet withdrawn himself from thence, the Scythians were shaking those around Chomathenos and Catacalon with great shouting and clamor; and since they repulsed these as well and easily put them to flight, they turned their eyes toward plunder and flight, seeking their own quarters. For such is the Scythian race: not having yet purely routed the adversary and secured the victory, they ruin success with plundering. ^B For the entire rabble, having overtaken the rearguard of Bryenius’s army, mingled with their ranks, for fear of the Scythians, so that they might not suffer some harm at their hands; and since some were always streaming toward them—as many as had escaped the Scythian hands—this caused no small confusion in the ranks, as the standards became intermingled with one another. While my father Alexios was caught in the midst of these, as we mentioned before, circling within the Bryenian army, he catches sight of one of the grooms of Bryenius leading one of the imperial horses ^C adorned with a purple cloth and having gilded cheek-pieces, and indeed, also those holding the swords—which are by custom wont to follow the emperors—running nearby him. Having seen this, therefore, he covers his face with the little breastplate which was hung around the helmet.

^A Alexius, fighting and bearing down upon them with the six soldiers whom the narrative mentioned above, strikes down the groom, captures the imperial horse, and also seizes the [romphaiae] (those two-handed swords), and then secretly withdraws from the army. Once he has settled in safety, he sends out that horse with its gold-studded trappings and those [romphaiae] which were wont to move constantly on either side of the emperor’s body, and, having commanded a certain very loud-voiced herald to run throughout the whole army and cry out that Bryennius had fallen. ^B This act gathered together from all sides many of the soldiers of the Great Domestic of the Schools—my father—who had been scattered, and made them turn back; it even persuaded some to stand their ground. Others, however, stood there motionless, just as each had happened to be, and turning their faces backward, were astonished at what they saw beyond their expectation. And one could see a strange thing happening to them: the horses on which they were riding had their heads turned toward the front, while their own faces were turned backward, and they were neither moving forward nor willing to turn the reins backward, but were struck with wonder and at a loss as to what had happened. For the Scythians, remembering their return and heading home, were no longer intending to pursue, but having moved far away from both armies, they were wandering somewhere with their plunder. ^C But the proclamation that Bryennius had been captured and struck down encouraged those who were until then cowardly and fugitives; and the declaration carried its own conviction from the fact that the horse with the imperial insignia and the [romphaiae]—which were as good as crying out that the Bryennius who was guarded by them had become the prize of a hostile hand—were being shown everywhere. Then fortune brought about something like this: a detachment from the alliance of the Turks happens upon the Domestic of the Schools, Alexius, and having learned how the war had progressed, and having inquired where the enemies were, they gathered with Comnenus Alexius, my father, on a certain hill, and he, pointing out the army with his hand, showed it to them as if from a watchtower. ^D The state of affairs regarding the enemies was as follows: they were in confusion, not yet having organized themselves, and, as if they had already won the victory, they were disdainful and thought themselves out of danger. Most of all, they had become dispirited because the Franks who accompanied my father had gone over to Bryennius on account of the previous rout.

Notes by Charles Du Fresne du Cange

[i]Parapetasma[/i]: Bacchus, having brought down his sword upon the emperor’s cheek, struck it, but did not succeed in cutting through the [parapetasma]—the hanging usually attached to the helmet that covers the face. [i]Thorakidion[/i]: Concerning the [phlamoula], which have small tufts, and the [phlamouliskion]. Concerning the [kassidia]: helmet; having small crests and [phlamoula] over the cheek-guards. But there are not wanting those who think that by this word a [lemniscus] is meant, or a veil which hung over the helmet, of the kind frequently displayed on the seals of ancient soldiers. It is called [phlamouliskion] by Maurice, in [Strategicon], book 1, chapter 2, and in Leo’s [Tactics], chapter 5, §5. An ancient vernacular poet in the poem entitled [Le Roman de Guiteclin]: *Li gonfanon de soie sor hiaume li vantele.* But the opinion of Possinus seems better. A stratagem to be used in time of battle is ordered by Leo Augustus in [Tactics], chapter 14, §111.

^A This sight restored the spirits of the allies; for they had been wonderfully dismayed, as much by other adverse circumstances as especially by the defection of the Franks. For those very Franks, whom Alexius had ordered to be with him in the battle and to accompany him, after that first flight of our men which we have mentioned, had passed over desultorily to Bryennius, and, having offered their right hands (as is their ancestral custom) and having received and given faith, first a few, then others from other quarters, had flocked after the rest to the Bryennians, to see what would happen. The rumor of this evil spreading strenuously through the army had done much worse. For from this the impetus of the Alexian fighting men was languishing, and a creeping desperation was undermining the fortitude of each of the best men. But when they saw that the enemy's affairs were thus, both those who had long been with Alexius and those who had recently joined, the Turks, by an improvised plan of which Alexius was the author, formed three squadrons; it seemed best for two to remain in place and for the third to advance against the enemy. Now the Turks did not advance all together in a closed or dense battle line, but rather separately, spread out in certain groups, standing apart from one another everywhere. Then each detachment was to drive its horses against them and employ dense volleys of arrows. Alexius, my father, who had taken charge of the entire strategy, followed them, having collected as many soldiers from the dispersed units as the occasion allowed. Here, one of the Immortals who was around Alexius, a man of bold heart and confident even to the point of rashness, spurring his horse, rode out beyond the lines and, dashing ahead of the others, bore down straight toward Bryennius himself, his reins completely slack. He drove his spear very forcefully against Bryennius’s chest; but he, quickly drawing his sword from its scabbard before the spear could strike home with greater force, immediately severed it and, striking the attacker on the clavicle with his whole arm, brought the blow down, at the same time severing his entire hand at the breastplate. The Turks, meanwhile, one after another, were shading the army with continuous clouds of arrows. Those around Bryennius, ^B though struck by the suddenness, nevertheless rallied themselves and, forming into ranks, bore the weight of the war, encouraging one another to act strenuously. But the Turks and my father, after the charge, retreated for a short time, feigning ^C flight according to a prearranged plan, little by little drawing the enemy into the ambush and cleverly pulling them back; and when they were at the first ambush, they stood back to face them in a counter-maneuver. And as soon as a signal was given, like a swarm of wasps, they galloped about from all sides from those who were lying in wait, and with great shouting and clamor and the hail of arrows they made the ears of those around Bryennius deafened ^D and darkened the bodies of all, as the javelins were shot through from every direction.

^A Since the army of Bryennius could no longer stand its ground—for already everyone was wounded, both horse and man—they inclined toward a rout, offering their flags and their backs to the enemy. But Bryennius, although greatly distressed by the battle and violently pushed, showed his brave and spirited nature, always striking in retreat at the one attacking him, and always managing the flight beautifully and bravely. Both his brother and his son helped him on either side, and at that time they appeared a wonder to the enemies, having contended heroically. ^B When his horse became exhausted and could no longer flee or pursue—for it was near to expiring due to the repeated gallops—Bryennius reined it in and, like a noble athlete standing at his grips, challenged two of the valiant Turks to himself. One of them struck him with a spear, but before he could deal a heavy blow, he received a heavier one from the man’s right hand; for Bryennius succeeded in cutting off his hand with his sword, and it fell to the ground along with the spear. The other one jumped from his own horse and, like a leopard, leapt upon Bryennius, securing himself on his waist. And while he held onto him tightly and attempted to climb onto his back, the other, like a wild beast, turning himself, wished to pierce him with his sword. Things did not, however, go according to his mind, as the Turk at his back was always calculating and avoiding the wounds. But since his right hand had also failed him from striking at thin air and the athlete had given up, he then surrendered himself to the whole band of the enemy. ^C They, having seized him and considering it a great prize, brought him to Alexios Komnenos, who was not stationed very far from the capture of Bryennius, but was arranging the phalanxes of the Barbarians and his own. He had already sent word of the man’s capture through some heralds. Afterward, they also presented him to the general, a sight that was formidable, both the fighting and being captured. Thus, having Bryennius in his hands, Alexios Komnenos sent him, caught by the spear, to the Emperor Botaneiates, without the man harming his eyes at all. For Komnenos was not the kind of person who, after a victory, would attack those who had stood against him, but he considered the capture of the enemy to be sufficient punishment. ^D What followed were acts of philanthropy, kindness, and great generosity, which he also showed to Bryennius. For after having traveled a fair distance with him after the capture, when he reached the place called . . . , wishing to restore the man from his grief with good hopes, he said to him: "Let us dismount from our horses and sit for a little while to rest ourselves." But he, in the fear for his life . . .

seemed like one who had lost his mind, and neither in his need did he desire any ease. For how could he, who was renouncing life itself? Nevertheless, he immediately submitted to the general's will; for such is the nature of a servant, easily yielding to everything that is commanded, and ^A even more so if he were being led away as a prisoner of war. Thus, the leaders of the horses having dismounted, the one immediately lay down on the green grass as if upon a bed, whereas Bryennius, resting his head beneath a high-branched oak, lay there; but sweet sleep did not take hold of him—that of which the poet speaks so beautifully—but instead, raising his eyes and observing the sword hanging from the branches, and seeing that no one was present anywhere at that moment, he recovered from his dejection and became master of his own resolve, and contemplated killing my father. And the plan might perhaps have been put into action, had not some divine power from above prevented him, softening the savagery of his anger and preparing him to look mildly upon the general. I heard my father recount these things many times. It is possible for anyone who desires to understand from this how God preserved Comnenus for a greater dignity, as if he were some precious vessel, wishing to restore the scepter of the Romans through him. But if anything happened to Bryennius afterwards, unwelcome to him, because of certain men around the emperor, my father was innocent. ^B Such then was the conclusion of the Bryennian expedition, which my father, the great domestic, having completed—not indeed born under such a fate as to be allowed to remain at rest—was immediately sent from one danger to another. For Borilus, the barbarian who was the most intimate of those around Botaniates, having gone out from the city and met the great domestic, my father, and having received Bryennius from his hands (for he was hurrying and already at that time did what he soon accomplished, blinding such a man), brought an order from the emperor to set out against Basilacius, who also had assumed the diadem of the empire and was agitating the West with no less violent or dangerous commotions than Bryennius had shortly before. Now this Basilacius was a man at that time excelling all others in strenuousness, presence of mind, audacity, and courage; but he was a man of a tyrannical soul, ^C as for the rest, [a nature]...

[Verse Section] And the affairs indeed he entrusted to the hands of men Barbarian in their speech, not speaking rightly, Eating and drinking as lords all day long. To whom their race was one of triple-wretchedness, and their grandfathers and fathers. Triple-barbarians, and barbarian in their soul, and barbarian in their mind, And babbling Scythian-tongued languages with difficulty understood.

^D [alt-version omitted]

^A He drew towards himself prestigious honors and acclamations, some of which he devised, others which he commanded. For when Bryennius was removed, this man, having become as it were his successor, took upon himself the entire cause of the tyranny. Starting from Epidamnus—this is the principal city of Illyricum—he came as far as the city of the Thessalians, having laid everything waste, and having himself proclaimed king and acclaimed, and leading that vagrant army of his wherever he wished. For the man was besides also admired for his great size of body and the strength of his arms and the dignity of his countenance, things by which this rustic and military nation is more easily captivated. For it does not see into the soul, nor does it look toward virtue, but stops at the virtues of the body, judging daring and strength worthy of the purple robe and the diadem. But this man, having these qualities, was not ignoble, and he also possessed a soul that was brave and undaunted. And in all things, this Basilacius both breathed and looked like a tyrant; for his voice was thunderous and such as to terrify an entire army, and his roar was enough to strike down the courage of a soul, and he was irresistible in words, attempting equally to rouse and to restrain the soldier for battle and for flight. ^B With such advantages the man was campaigning, and having gathered around him an invincible army, he occupied the city of the Thessalians, as we have said. But my father, the Comnenus Alexius, having arrayed himself against him as if against a great Typhon or a hundred-handed giant [(38)], and having raised up for himself every strategic device and noble spirit, prepared himself as against a worthy adversary. And not yet having shaken off the dust from his previous labors, and not having washed the gore from his sword and his hands, he rushed like a fierce lion toward this Basilacius, who was showing his teeth, having aroused his wrath. And he finally reached the river of the Bardarus [(39)], for so they call it in the local tongue. For it flows from above, from the nearby mountains of Mysia, and passing by many places in between, and separating to the east and to the west the lands belonging to Berrhoea [(40)] and to Thessalonica, it discharges into the sea that is to our south. But such is the case with the greatest rivers, when, through constant alluvion, they raise—

^A considerable amounts of earth, and thus ^B overflow into different channels, abandoning their original beds, leaving the old passage empty of liquid and bereft of water, and filling with many currents whichever one they now traverse. Having observed the space between these two passages—both the old ravine and the course newly formed—that most strategic man, Alexius, in fact my own father, took the tract of the river as a safeguard on one side, and made use of the old ravine (now quite a deep gorge due to the influx of the current) as a natural trench, and encamped there, with the distance between the two being no more than two or three stades.

^B And at once it was the order that all should rest during the day, refreshing the body with sleep and giving the horses sufficient fodder. For they had to remain awake when evening fell, in anticipation of some unexpected strike from the enemy. This, I believe, my father had managed, fearing for that evening a danger from the enemy. He expected that they would attack him, whether by divining this from his vast experience or by some other conjecture; yet his prophecy did not long remain unfulfilled, nor did he neglect to manage what was necessary. For, having departed from his tent along with his soldiers, carrying their arms, horses, and everything suitable for battle, he moved away from the tent, leaving lamps behind that shone from every direction, and entrusted the tent, along with everything carried into it for his table's needs and other provisions, to one of his own intimates, a certain Joannicius who had long since chosen the monastic life. He himself, meanwhile, went very far away and sat down with his armed army, watching for what was to come, having devised this ^C trick so that Basilacius, seeing fires lit everywhere and my father's tent illuminated, might think that he was resting there, and that he would thus be easily captured and fall into his power.

The intuition of my father, Alexius, was not in vain, as we said. For Basilacius came upon the camp that was expected, suddenly leading a ten-thousand-strong army of cavalry and infantry, and having found the tents everywhere ^D glowing with fire, and seeing the tent of the general—which he had already spotted—shining brightly, he rushed into it with all the speed he had, shouting something tumultuous and confused. But when the man he expected was nowhere to be found, nor was there any soldier or commander rising from there at all, save for a few of the low-born and contemptible servants who had been left behind, he shouted and cried out all the more: "Where is the stammering man (41)?"

^D (41) 'The stammerer.' Bryennius, bk. IV, no. 22, refers to the same thing, and to Alexius, because he stammered, as a surname, or rather a jocular name, as in the word of Ausonius, given by the spiteful, etc., as we are taught from the letter of Pope Honorius III, bk. VI; because he would pour out words inarticulately, and like a croaking raven, which is what those do who rather click their teeth than speak. Gloss. Graecol. Vambal: Adamantus the martyr among the Senatores, *De Orthogr.* cap. 5, 'Bambalo, Bambalio, perhaps: thus he calls a certain M. Fundus, father-in-law of the triumvir Antony, because of a hesitation of the tongue, Cicero, *Philippics* III.

^A loudly inquiring where on earth that "Blæsus" (the stammerer) was—for this was the mocking nickname he gave the Grand Domestic. My father Alexios was in all other respects articulate, and there was no one who surpassed his natural eloquence in thought and expression; only regarding the sound of the letter "rho," his tongue would trip slightly and imperceptibly, even though it flowed quite freely and unrestrainedly in every other letter. Basilakios, therefore, seizing this opportunity for insult, shouted for the "Blæsus," searching, investigating, and turning over everything—chests, tables, utensils, and even my father's own bed—lest the commander were hiding beneath it. While doing this, he kept glancing at the monk called Ioannikios; for my mother had made it a point of anxious concern that on all his expeditions he should have one of the more venerable monks as a tent-mate, ^B and this devoted son yielded to his mother's desire not only during childhood but also upon reaching adolescence and even until he took a wife. Basilakios, therefore, while pestering this Ioannikios with constant questions about the Grand Domestic and while he searched his tent, overturning, rummaging through, and shaking out all his belongings—searching, as the saying of Aristophanes (42) has it, for someone hiding in Erebus as if he would never cease—was at last, as Ioannikios persisted in asserting that the Grand Domestic had departed the camp with the entire army before the hour, persuaded belatedly that he had been laboring under a great delusion. Changing his tone suddenly, he said, "Fellow soldiers, we have been deceived. The war is outside." He had not yet finished speaking, ^C and when they were exiting the camp with the army, my father, Comnenos Alexios, met and charged them, having ridden ahead of his force with a few of his men with great intensity. Observing someone arranging the phalanxes into order—for the majority of the soldiers around Basilakios had abandoned themselves to plunder and booty (a trick my father had also devised long ago; they had not yet had time to assemble and draw up into battle formation before the Grand Domestic suddenly descended upon them like a disaster)—he saw the man who was setting the phalanxes in array. Thinking, either from his stature or from the brightness of his armor (for his arms shone brilliantly ^D against the starlight, reflecting its soft gleam), that this was Basilakios himself, he met him swiftly and struck him on the arm. The arm, together with the sword, immediately fell to the ground, which greatly threw the phalanx into confusion. It was not, however, Basilakios, but one of those around Basilakios, a man of great courage who was in no way inferior to Basilakios in bravery. My father, then, henceforth falling heavily upon them, striking with arrows, wounding with his spear, shouting with an awful roar, causing confusion in the night, seizing upon everything—place, time, and instrument—to achieve victory, and utilizing these things skillfully, with an unshakable spirit and a mind free of confusion, overtaking now this one and now that one as they fled, discerned everything clearly, both the enemy and the friend. But a certain man, a Cappadocian named Goulis, a loyal attendant of my father, *his hand…*

^A a man prompt of hand and daring in the perils of war, caught sight of Basilacius; and not recognizing him, he struck him a powerful blow upon the helmet. But to him befell that which happened to Menelaus when fighting against Paris; for his sword shattered into three or four pieces and fell from his hand, leaving only the hilt remaining in his grasp. Alexius, seeing him in such a state, scolded him not lightly, and condemned him for cowardice, as if he had allowed his sword to be wrenched from him: but he cleared himself and appeased his lord by showing the hilt which he still held. In the meantime, another man, a Macedonian, Peter by name, surnamed Tornicius, had fallen into the midst of the enemy and was slaying many of them; for their phalanx followed along unaware of what was happening, since the night and the confusion of battle made it impossible for everyone to see events as they unfolded. Then Comnenus ^B charged straight at the part of the phalanx that had not yet broken, striking those who stood against him, then wheeling back again to his own men, hastening to break apart also that which still remained of Basilacius’s phalanx, sending messengers to those in the rear and urging them not to delay in following him and catching up with all due speed. Meanwhile, a certain Celt among those with the Domestic—to recount everything briefly, a brave soldier and full of the spirit of Ares—seeing my father emerging from the midst of the enemy, his sword drawn and still sending up steam because it was hot with blood, and taking him for one of the enemy, fell upon him with a sudden rush, striking him in the breast with his spear. And he would have easily unhorsed the General had he not firmly braced himself in his saddle ^C and, calling the man by name, checked him, threatening that he would immediately cut off his head with his sword. The man, since he had attacked him knowing not who he was, and because of the night and the confusion of the battle, was spared and reckoned among the living. These were the deeds of the Domestic of the Schools with his few men during the night. ^D When day finally began to break and the sun had climbed above the horizon, the tribunes and leaders of Basilacius’s phalanx were hastening with one mind to gather together those…

^A dispersed in the plunder and left behind by the battle. The Great Domestic, on the other hand, having set his own troops in order, marched once more against Basilacius. From a distance, some of the Domestic’s men caught sight of them and, charging vehemently, put them to flight; they returned bringing several captives to the Great Domestic. In the meantime, Basilacius’s brother, Manuel, ascended a certain hill and began to hearten his men with a loud voice, crying out in this manner: “This day, this victory, is Basilacius’s!” But a certain man named Basil, surnamed Curtricius, familiar and recently a companion of that Nicephorus Bryennius of whom the narrative has made mention, and a man fearless and undaunted in daring, ran out from the line of Comnenus and ascended the hill. Against him Manuel Basilacius, drawn sword in hand, rushed fiercely with the horse at full gallop. But Curtricius, not with his sword, but by pulling a staff suspended from his saddle, struck him violently upon the helmet, immediately cast him from his horse, and dragging him off as a prisoner, presented him to my father as a trophy. ^B And then, the portion of Basilacius’s army that remained, after a brief show of constancy, turned their backs, with Basilacius himself leading the flight. While Alexius Comnenus pursued them as far as Thessalonica, the Thessalonians, having admitted Basilacius, shut the gates against Alexius. This event did not break my father's spirit: he did not doff his breastplate, nor did he put aside his helmet, nor uncover his shoulders from his shield, nor throw away his sword; but, having immediately set up camp, he threatened the city with siege and outright plunder. But because he preferred to save Basilacius and take him alive, he undertook to negotiate regarding peace with him through a monk named Joannicius (a man renowned for his virtue), ^C giving his word that if he should surrender himself together with the city, he would suffer no harm. To this Basilacius turned a deaf ear; but the Thessalonians, looking to their own interests and fearing the plunder of the city, permitted Comnenus to enter. Upon noticing this, Basilacius escaped from the city into the citadel, where, being approached once again by the Great Domestic on the same conditions—that he would suffer no harm if he would surrender—he would respond with nothing peaceful; rather, he meditated on sorties and battles, in no way relaxing the erect state of his mind or the brave counsel of his intrepid heart due to the unfairness of the location or his luck, until the inhabitants and guards of that very ^D citadel conspired, and having used force, ejected him; and despite his struggling in vain, they surrendered him to the Great Domestic. Having immediately announced his capture to the Emperor, Alexius stayed for a short time in Thessalonica, and having set everything there in order, he returned to the City, crowned with glorious victory. When those who had been sent out by the Emperor’s order to meet him encountered my father between Philippi and Amphipolis, and had delivered into his hands the written commands of the sovereign, he received Basilacius as was instructed in them, and around a certain place called Chlempina, near a spring which is there, they gouged out his eyes—from which time it has prevailed that that fountain is called Basilacius’s. This was his third labor before the empire, as if...

performed by a certain Hercules, the great Alexius. For if anyone were to call this Basilacius the Erymanthian Boar, and my father Alexius a certain Hercules most noble among us, he would not miss the truth. Let these, then, be his merits and accomplishments before the throne for the Comnenian Alexius, for all of which he received as a reward from the emperor the dignity of *sebastos*, being proclaimed *sebastos* in the midst of the senate. ^B

As I suppose the ailments of bodies are caused not only by external factors, but sometimes the causes of diseases bubble up from within themselves—and we often blame the conditions of the surrounding environment, or the quality of certain foods, the generation of fevers, and sometimes the putrefaction of humors—so, too, the Roman state in those times now indeed brought forth lethal sicknesses from within itself, such as those I mentioned: the Urselii, the Basilacii, and as many others as are to be reckoned among the swarm of tyrants that boiled up at that time. And now, besides these internal disorders, it suffered calamities rushing in from outside, and by the unworthy mockery of fortune perceived that it was being harassed by barbarian tyrants brought in from elsewhere. I would call that famous example of tyrannical madness, the arrogant and impotent Robert, an incurable and inescapable evil of this kind, for whom Normandy was the mother, and for whom the midwife and nurse was every kind of craftiness and malice. ^C The Roman commonwealth armed this man against itself and provoked him by an untimely and imprudent affinity—a thing which, attempting to connect by nature dissociable things—the Greek with the Barbarian, our own with the foreign—brought forth a test of internecine and destructive war, the offspring of an unwed and ill-fated marriage. This contract of evil is entirely the fault of the imprudence of him who then held the reins of power, Michael, of the family of the Ducas who propagated that lineage, whence also my own maternal line flows. But I ask here for indulgence, or rather I take it for myself by my own right, that I should not be obliged, even toward those who are joined to me by however much relationship or consanguinity, to refrain from censure at the proper time; ^D especially as long as I perform this duty of declaring and publishing the truth without deceit. For that aforementioned emperor, Michael Ducas, betrothed the daughter of this barbarian to his own son Constantine, and from this the war of the enemies broke out. Concerning the son of this emperor, Constantine, and the marriage alliance regarding him,

and with what beauty and stature that youth flourished, and what his character and country were, we shall speak in due time: namely, when I shall lament my own miseries, after the narration is completed both of this alliance and of all the evils which resulted from it, and of the final destruction of the barbarian army, with the supreme ruin of the Norman tyrants, whose force and impotent audacity Michael Ducas ^A foolishly turned against the Roman Empire by contracting such an alliance. But first it is necessary, having resumed the discourse from further back, to set forth the origins of this Robert: from what family he sprang, by what fortune, and to what power and height the course of events carried him—or rather, that I may speak more piously, to what height Providence allowed him to proceed, by yielding to his evil-minded impulses and contrivances. This Robert was a Norman by birth, obscure in fortune 49, tyrannical in judgment, most crafty in soul 50, and valiant in hand. He was most formidable in setting himself against the wealth and resources of great men, and most inescapable in carrying ^B through his targets to an indisputable conclusion. And as to his body 51, he was of such a size that...

Dufresne du Cange's Notes

49 "Of obscure fortune." Below, "from extreme poverty and obscure fortune." 50 "Most crafty in soul." Robert was of very versatile mind, and by his brother Humphrey, prince of Apulia, he was surnamed Guiscard on account of his craftiness, as William of Jumièges relates, lib. VII, cap. 30; and Robert de Monte in the year 1129, Leo of Ostia, lib. III of his Chronicle, cap. 15, recounts that he was so named in jest by Gerard, whose aunt he had married. Gunther expressed the force of the word in lib. II of his *Ligurinus*: "For his agile senses and the vigor of his mind, / Guiscard was his surname." And William of Apulia, lib. I of his *Gesta Normannorum*: "The surname Guiscard was his, because for cunning / Neither Cicero nor the wily Ulysses was his equal." John Tyremæus, editor of William of Apulia, testifies that even in our time, among the Normans, cautious and astute men are commonly called "Guiscards." 51 "And as to his body." It is customary for almost all writers to attribute a tall stature of body to heroic men, as Anna attributes to Nicephorus Bryennius, above, and to Bohemond in lib. XIII, and...

^A blond hair, broad shoulders, and eyes from which fire almost struck sparks. Where ^B nature required breadth, he was well constructed, and where it required narrowing, he was smoothed into balanced symmetry. Thus, from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, the man was proportioned, as I have often heard many say. Regarding the sound of his voice: Homer wrote of Achilles that his cry was such that it produced in his listeners the semblance of a vast multitude clamoring; it is said that the shout of this man would put vast myriads to flight. Possessing such qualities of fortune, nature, and spirit, he was, as one might expect, unenslaved, submitting to no one at all. For such are great natures, as they say, even if their fortune is lowly.

Being such a man, and one who would not endure to be led at all, he set out from Normandy with five horsemen and thirty foot soldiers—all that he had. Having departed his homeland ^C, he frequented the ridges, caves, and mountains of Lombardy, acting as the head of a band of robbers, attacking travelers, and seizing horses, money, and weapons for himself and his men. These were the beginnings of his life, stained with slaughter and human blood. While he was there for some time, he came to the attention of William Mascabelus, who, at that time, held authority over a large part of the regions bordering Lombardy. From there, collecting great annual revenues, he maintained a proper army; which ^D

^A made him a distinguished leader. Having learned what sort of man Robert was, both in soul and body, he readily accepted him and betrothed one of his daughters (56) to him. Having fulfilled the request, he admired him for his nature and his experience in military affairs, and he did not fail to succeed according to his wishes; for he even gave him a city, as if it were a dowry, and bestowed other honors upon him. But Robert, becoming ill-disposed toward him and plotting a revolt against him, at first feigned goodwill and added to his forces, making his cavalry three times as many and his infantry twice as many. And from that point on, ^B the goodwill surpassed its limits, and little by little the malice was laid bare. And he did not cease to provide and seize pretexts for trouble every day, devising continuous methods from which quarrels, battles, and wars are accustomed to be born. Since the aforementioned William Mascabelus far exceeded him in wealth and power, Robert, despairing of a direct fight with him, devised an evil plan, feigning goodwill and pretending remorse, while undermining him with something terrible and unbearable, intending to seize his cities and become master of all that belonged to Mascabelus. First, he makes inquiries regarding peace and sends ambassadors to meet personally for discussions. He gladly welcomes the peace offered to him, as he loved his daughter exceedingly, and agrees to the meeting for another day. Robert then designated a place for him where they should meet to converse and draw up treaties with one another. There were two ridges of equal height rising up from the plain, situated diametrically opposite each other; the space between them was marshy and shaded by all sorts of trees and plants, where that terrible leader Robert set an ambush. ^C

Notes of Charles Dufresne Du Cange.

1 cap. 30; Leo IX PP. in Epist. et Leo Ost. do not mention it once; whom William of Jumièges, lib. VII, cap. 30, and Orderic Vitalis, lib. III and IV, call Wailmachus and Gailmachus, a name, ^D as it seems, moving closer to the William Mascabelus identified by Anna. But she is mistaken when she writes that the marriage was contracted with his daughter while Gaimar was still alive: since long before, Gaimar had been taken away by his own people through treachery, while Leo IX, Pope, was governing the Church. Guill. Apul. lib. 1. This Norman Drogo, and Gaymarius previously, Had died in that time, killed by the deception of citizens Otherwise through blood-relations: one for the Salernitans, The other by the natives, surely because he was too trusting of them, Having fallen at Montilar. And lib. II clearly says that Robert obtained Sigelgaita, daughter of Gaimar, as his wife, which Leo Ost. also relates, lib. III, cap. 15. And when he began to grow in power and In his virtue, he began to send envoys, Who would bring his words to the noble Gisulf, Or Gaymarius's son, asking for his sister In marriage, for he himself was then without a wife, The first wife having been cast off for consanguinity, From whom Bohemond had been born, a vigorous offspring, Destined to be famous for extreme virtue and power. (56) The daughter of Gaimar, prince of Salerno, sister of Gisulf and of Prince Siconulf, is called Gaita by Anna and Scylitzes, Malaterra, lib. I, cap. 3; Sigelgaita, as also by William of Jumièges, lib. VII, cap. 43; Siguelgaita by Orderic, lib. IV; Sicelgaita by Leo Ost., lib. III, cap. 57; Sichelgaita by Guill. Apul., lib. I. And the same Sihulgaita, in an old diploma of Duke Roger and Bohemond, apud Baron. an. 1090, n. 19. She died in the year 1090, as is the author Peter the Deacon, lib. IV Chron. Cassin. cap. 8. He notes the day of the Kalends of St. Maurice of Anjou: She died on the Kalends of May, Sichelgaita, Duchess of Apulia. V. Baron. an. 1090, n. 18. Furthermore, Malaterra, lib. I, cap. 51, places the marriage of Robert in the year.

^A This interval, marshy and dense with shrubs and trees, appeared to Robert suitable for an ambush. There he stationed four very brave men, armed and instructed to keep watch in every direction, and as soon as they perceived him engaging in battle with Mascabeles, immediately to run to his aid, fearing nothing from anyone. These things being thus arranged, the most fraudulent Robert left the other hill, which he had chosen for the conversation, unoccupied by any troops, but he secured the other for himself with fifteen horsemen and fifty-six foot soldiers, whom he ordered to ascend it and take their positions. He communicated the sum of the plan only to a few of their leaders, and specifically charged one of them with the task of carrying his own weapons—shield, helmet, and sword—so that he could easily arm himself when the need arose, and he instructed the four who were waiting below that as soon as they saw him joined in battle with Mascabeles, they should quickly run toward him. ^B And William, on the appointed day, came to the place designated for him by Robert, and seeing Robert himself also arriving there from afar, he rode most benevolently to meet him, and deigned to greet and embrace his son-in-law most amicably. They arrived at the meeting spot, which was on the slope of the hill just below the summit. There, some time was consumed in polite conversation. "Why," says Robert, "should we be wearied by riding our horses? Let us dismount and sit on the grass for a while, and converse more comfortably about what we must." The simple Mascabeles, unaware of the trap and what evil was being brought upon him, consented. Seeing Robert dismounting from his horse, he also stood on foot and, planting himself securely on the ground, began his discussion again. ^C Robert now doubled his feigned show of words to Mascabeles, promising eternal fidelity, frequently calling him his father-in-law, his benefactor, and his lord. Seeing them acting toward each other so familiarly and lovingly, the companions of Mascabeles, suspecting that because of this chosen session their conversation would be long, also dismounted from their horses. Since they were now suffering from the midday heat, and from hunger and thirst—as it was summer time, when the sun is accustomed to strike with its rays at its zenith—and the heat was becoming unbearable, some were descending from the summit where they had settled into the shaded valley, and indeed some were tying the bridles of their horses to the branches of trees and lying down on the ground to catch the cool; some, finally, were even returning home. So much for them. But Robert, in all things cunning, having prepared these things thus, suddenly and violently attacks Mascabeles; and, letting go of his gentle gaze, he turns toward a more wrathful one and lays a murderous hand upon his father-in-law. ^D When he also defended himself with his hand, the battle was joined, through which, by the varied efforts of both, they were at last both rolled down the decline into the precipice. This having been observed, those who...

four men who were lying in ambush emerged from the marsh and ^A ran immediately to William, and having bound him, they ran back from every side toward the horsemen of Robert who were stationed on the other height, as they themselves were already also descending the slope toward them; while those of William pursued from the rear. But Robert, having mounted his horse, donned his helmet and took his spear, and having grasped it fiercely and shielded himself with his buckler, turned and struck one of William’s men with his spear; that man, at the very moment of the blow, was deprived of his soul. In the meantime, having checked the charge of the horsemen around his father-in-law and cut off the help from them (for the rest, seeing the horsemen of Robert descending from above and being aided by the terrain, immediately turned their backs), Robert having thus broken the charge of the horsemen of Mascabeles, Mascabeles was led away at that time bound and as a prisoner into the garrison which he had given to him as a dowry when he betrothed his daughter to him; and the city held its own lord at that time under the custody of a garrison, and was thus with good reason called Phrurium, that is, a fortress. ^B There is nothing worse than to recount the cruelty of Robert. For when he had once become master of Mascabeles, he deprived him of all his teeth, one by one, demanding for each one a massive weight of coins, and inquiring where he had deposited these. And when he did not speak, he continued to extract them until he had taken them all; and at the same time as the teeth were gone, so was the money, and then Robert turned his eyes upon the eyes of William, and coveting his sight, he deprived him of his eyes.

Having thus become master of everything, he grew ^C from that day forward, and inclining more and more toward tyranny, he added city to city and money to money. And within a short time, having risen to the ducal rank, he was called Duke of all Longobardia [(58)]. From that point, therefore, the envy of all was stirred up against him. But this man, being mad-minded, where he used flattery against those who stood against him, and where he smoothed over the uprisings of the masses with gifts, and cleverly suppressed the envy of the nobles against him, and in some places overcame them with weapons, he brought under his own control the entire power of Longobardia and the surrounding country. And Robert, always devising something more tyrannical and imagining the Empire ^D of the Romans, having, as I said, grasped the pretext of his affinity with the Emperor Michael, stirred up war against the Romans. For we have said before, that the Emperor Michael did not know how the daughter of this tyrant (Helena,

^A as she was called), was betrothed to his son Constantine. Yet, as I mention this young man again, my spirit is stirred by great emotions, and my reason is confounded. I check my narrative regarding him, however, keeping it for the proper time. This much, at least, I cannot refrain from saying, even if it be out of season: that the young man was an image of Nature, and a piece of work of God’s hands, if one may truly say so. For if anyone but looked upon him, he would have said that he was an offshoot of the golden race of which the Greeks tell myths; such was the irresistible beauty he possessed. As for me, remembering this youth after so many years, I am filled with tears; yet I restrain the tear and store it up for the appropriate places, so that, by mingling the laments of my own grief with historical accounts, I might not confuse the history. For this young man, of whom we have spoken here and elsewhere, ^B having lived long before us and even before we saw the sun, had become the betrothed of Robert’s daughter Helena, pure and undefiled, and the marriage contracts for her had been inscribed, although they remained unfulfilled and were in promises only, as the young man was of an immature age; and they were torn asunder as soon as the Emperor Nicephorus Botaniates ascended the throne. But I have strayed from the discourse, yet I shall return again to where I strayed from. For that Robert, having risen from base fortune to the summit of prominence, and having gathered a great force about himself, also set out to become Emperor of the Romans, and feigned, as it were, plausible excuses for his enmity and wars against the Romans. A twofold account is current regarding this. For one report is bruited about ^C and spread abroad, and has even reached our ears, that a certain monk named Raictor 60 impersonated the Emperor Michael and, having defected to this Robert—who was his affine 61—bewailed his own misfortunes. For he, after Diogenes had been deprived of the Roman sceptre and had flourished for a short time,

was deposed from power by Botaneiates ^A, who had risen up against him; and he slipped into the monastic life. Thereafter, he donned the episcopal robe and the miter—and indeed, if you will, the epomis as well. This, Caesar John 63—his paternal uncle—had advised, since he knew the fickleness of the man then in power and feared that he might suffer something more grievous. The aforementioned monk pretended to be this person, and was a "Rector"—or, if one were to put it that way, a ^B *rektēs* 64—the most daring of all men anywhere. He approached Robert as if he were a relation by marriage and spun a tragic tale of injustice: how he had been stripped of the royal thrones and brought into the state in which he was now seen. Through all these means, he summoned the barbarian to his defense. For, he said, he had left behind his own beautiful daughter, his bride Helena 65, in a state of abandonment and utterly widowed of her husband. He cried out that his son Constantine and the Empress Maria 66 had been forced ^C to defect to Botaneiates against their will, because of the tyranny. Saying these things, he stirred up the barbarian’s anger and armed him for war against the Romans. Such a story reaches my ears, and I do not find it a wonder if certain most insignificant people disguise themselves as those of high repute and noble birth. Yet another, more plausible story echoes to me from elsewhere, namely that no monk pretended to be the Emperor Michael, nor did any such thing incite Robert to war against the Romans, but rather the barbarian himself, being most wily, easily invented such things. ^D For matters happened thus: It is said that Robert, being most cunning and having long been in labor with the battle against the Romans and preparing for the war, was restrained—as he was starting unjust wars and preparing against Christians—by some of the most noble men around him, and by his own wife, Gaita; and he was often checked when he attempted such an impulse. But wanting to make the pretext for the war plausible, he sent some men to Cotrone, having entrusted to them the secrets of his deliberations, and he gave instructions such as these: that if they should find any monk desiring to come from there to here...

for the sake of venerating the temple of the ^A chief and guardian apostles of Rome, and if from his very appearance he did not seem altogether ignoble, they should gladly embrace him and, having made him their own, bring him to him. When they discovered the aforementioned Rector—a man versatile and of matchless craftiness—they signified to Robert, who was passing his time at Salerno ^B by letter, that "your relative by marriage, Michael, having been thrust out of his kingdom, has arrived and is asking for the help that comes from you." For in this way Robert had instructed them to frame the missives to him. Upon receiving these in his hands, he straightway reads them to his spouse, then gathers all the counts together and shows them the letters, that he might seize upon a plausible pretext for no longer being hindered by them. They all quickly agree with Robert's plan, and so he received him and entered into conversation. ^C Henceforth he dramatizes everything and contrives a theatrical scene: he pretends that the monk is indeed the emperor Michael, that he had been cast down from his throne, that he had been despoiled of his wife and child and all else by the tyrant Botaneiates, that he had been unjustly and contrary to all right reason deprived of his purple and diadem and forced into the monastic habit, and that he has now come to us as a suppliant. Robert harangued the crowd with these things, pretending that he was preparing to restore the empire to him on account of the kinship, and daily honoring that monk—ostensibly the emperor Michael—with precedence ^D and higher thrones and preeminent honor. And in different ways he fashioned his harangues: sometimes lamenting the things he had suffered regarding his daughter, sometimes showing pity for his fellow-father-in-law for the evils into which he had fallen, and sometimes inciting and stirring up the barbarian host around him to war, promising them in various ways the heaps of gold which he declared he would take for them from the Romans. Henceforth, having led them all by the nose, both the richer and the poorer, having removed them from Lombardy—or rather, having led all of it away—he occupies the metropolis of Salerno, which was Melfi, in which, having managed all affairs relating to his other daughters well, from there the matters concerning...

^A the war are prepared. And he had two 69; for the Queen of Cities held the third from his own household in misery. For that young man from the beginning, not yet being a youth, used to turn away from this marriage as infants do from bogeymen. And of these, he betrothed the one to Raymond 70, the son of Count Brakenos, and the other he joined to Ebalus 71, a most illustrious man and likewise a count. Nor did Robert see these arrangements as disadvantageous; rather, he was gathering strength from every quarter, from his lineage, from tyranny, from affinity, and from other manifold ways of which one would not even conceive.

^B

^C

^D

^A

Now, a certain event occurred in the meantime which is worth recounting, as it serves to illustrate his fame and good fortune. For I believe that the smooth progress of affairs in the barbarian’s favor worked strongly to check all the leaders of the West from advancing against him, as fortune in every way collaborated with him, lifting him toward tyranny and accomplishing everything to his advantage. The Pope of Rome (that truly noble power, fortified by armies of every kind) had fallen into a dispute with Henry, the King of Alemannia, and wished to draw Robert—who had already become vastly famous and was at the height of his power—into an alliance.

The point of contention between the King and the Pope was as follows: The Roman Pontiff accused King Henry of not bestowing churches freely, as was fitting, but of selling them through the intervention of gifts, and furthermore, of entrusting the high priesthood to unworthy men. For these and similar crimes, he prosecuted him. The King of Alemannia, for his part, accused the Pope of having snatched the apostolic throne without his consent. He had even treated the Pope with shamelessness and used most insolent language, threatening that if he did not retire from the throne he had seized, he would be driven out from there with insult. ^B Hearing these words, the Pope... ^D

^A vented all his wrath upon the envoys of Henry, who were the messengers of such threats. For he had them inhumanely scourged with whips, and their heads were ridiculously shaven with shears, and their beards with razors; besides this, he dishonored them with another kind of cruel and beyond-measure barbaric mockery, so unclean and foul to name that shame prevents me from recounting it; and with that modesty which becomes a woman and a princess, I abominate such an immense crime—I will not say in a Pontiff, but altogether in anyone who calls himself a Christian—as being most unworthy, and I am no less indignant at the Barbarian who could devise and decree it; for if I wished to relate these things more distinctly, I would defile this pen and paper. ^B Yet it was necessary to mention, at least in general terms, such an absurd act here, either as a record of to what lengths barbaric impotence can go, or for the sake of the faith and duty of history, which ought not to pass over in silence such acts or consultations of monstrous audacity, such as the malice of men may perhaps have produced, like prodigies and unusual events. A Pontiff did these things, oh the customs! and indeed the Supreme Pontiff, and the universal Vicar of Christ throughout the whole world.

^C For the Latins, according to their usual insolence, falsely claim these titles for themselves. For when the scepters were transferred from ancient Rome to our royal city, and the senate and all the honors and orders of the Empire were moved hither, the primary dignity of the pontificate also failed there: and the primacy of the Church had long ago been adjudicated by the princes who reigned here to the throne of Constantinople. The synod of Chalcedon especially followed the prejudice of these, and ordered the Constantinopolitan see to stand at the supreme pinnacle of the churches, and decreed that all dioceses and provinces throughout the whole Christian world were to be subject to it. ^D The Pontiff seems to have studied to avoid that such an insult to the envoys should be referred back to him who sent them, not only because he punished them, but because he was the first to invent a new kind of insult against them; for he hinted through what he did that the King—as I suppose— was contemptible, just as though some demigod were conversing with a mule through these maltreated envoys. The Pope, therefore, after he had done these things and had dismissed the envoys in the manner I have described, incited a very great war against the King; but lest the King, joining himself to Robert, should become more unendurable, he hastens to signal peace to Robert, even though he was not previously well-disposed towards him. For having learned that Duke Robert had taken Salerno, he himself departed from Rome for Bene-

could be understood, he desired it to be understood by the king himself; for over and above the other bitterness with which he cruelly afflicted these miserable men, he was the first to devise a strange kind of insult—meaning thereby to signify in what base position and estimation he held the king, whom indeed he despised as a half-mule, or rather as a mule, showing this by the most injurious disgrace with which he had behaved toward his legates. Having excited against himself by such great contempt for the king a great and formidable war, the pontiff, fearing that if Henry were to join with Robert—who was not previously well-disposed toward the pope—the force of both combined could not be withstood, decided entirely to forestall this with a timely reconciliation. Having heard, therefore, that Duke Robert was at Salerno, he departed from Rome and set out for Benevento. From there, having met the duke through legates, he obtained from him that both should come to a parley. To this, when the pope had indeed arrived from Benevento with his own forces, and the Duke of Salerno likewise with his military retinue, so that both armies were within mutual sight, the princes themselves ordered their armed men to stand fast and, meeting alone, concluded a pact, which was confirmed on both sides by the pledge of faith that they gave and received under oath. The gist of the terms was roughly this: that the pontiff should bestow upon the duke the royal name and dignity, and should submit auxiliary troops to him whenever there was need against the Eastern Romans. The duke, for his part, would assist the pontiff in all things whenever he desired and wherever he wished. They took such oaths indeed, but each with an evil mind and without any intention of fulfilling them. For ^A he arrives at Benevento. And having conversed with one another through legates, they then met in person; for the one, from Benevento, departed with his own force, and the other, from Salerno, with his army. When the armies had reached a sufficient distance, each detached himself from his own regiment and the two men met and, having received oaths and pledges of faith from one another, they returned. These oaths were such that the Pope would confer upon him the dignity of king and give him an alliance at a convenient time against the Romans. And the duke, for his part, took a counter-oath to assist the pope wherever he might desire. But the oaths performed by both were in vain. For the pope was very much embittered against the king, and his labor against him was pressing, and the Duke Robert kept his eyes fixed upon the Romans, sharpening his teeth against them like a wild boar and whetting his anger, so that their oaths reached only as far as words. And the barbarians, swearing instantly to one another, presently broke their word. Duke Robert, gathering his reins, hastened toward Salerno. But that detestable pope (for I cannot find any other name for him, reflecting upon that inhuman insult to the legates)—this master went forth to war with spiritual grace and evangelical peace, with all his mind and with all his hands the peaceful man [was] the author of civil war and a disciple of peace. For he immediately summoned the Saxons and the leaders of the Saxons, Lantulph [79] and Welf [80], and having offered them many things in promises, and having sworn to make them kings of all the West, he [himself] took the dignity of king.

Notes by Car. Dufresni du Cange

[79] Lantulph, chosen king by the German princes in the year 1077, the chief instigator of the Saxon war against Henry, as Bruno, *De bello Saxon*., p. 135; Lamb. Schafnab. a. 1076, *Chron. Weingartense*, cap. 8; and Otho Frising. lib. *De gest. Frider*., cap. 6, have it; therefore I would suggest substituting this in Anna, unless I were taught by the monk of Hegau in the *History of Wibert of Groitz* that Wif and Wolf are used interchangeably among the Germans. For he says thus: "The city which is called Poduwlc, that is, the city of Wolf in the barbarian tongue." Where by barbarian tongue is understood German, as Goldast had previously noted in his commentary on Walafrid Strabo, lib. 1, *De vita S. Galli*. Moreover, Wolf and Guelf are the same. Concerning the meaning of the word among the Germans, Aventinus says thus, lib. VI *Annal. Boic.*: "He who first bore the name of Welf drew it from the omen of military affairs and a good auspice. For dogs, wolves, and foxes, whose whelps the Teutons call *welphones*, are animals peculiar to the Germanic race, warlike and dedicated to Mars." To this points the author of the *Life of St. Alto*, abbot in Upper Bavaria, in Wiguleius Hundius, *Metrop. Salisburg*., lib. 1, concerning Welf, Duke of Bavaria: ^D "Certain from Alamannia, that is to say, a relative of that count who has commonally obtained a certain name, which is expressed in Latin as 'whelp'." Certainly it is established among the Germans that *Welf*, whence the Belgians formed *Welp* and *Wlp*, signifies a whelp. In Mauro Orbini, *Hist. Slavor*., p. 100, *Wolk* among the Vandals and *Wlk* among the Slavs sounds like 'wolf', just as it does among the Anglo-Saxons. Moreover, William of Apulia, lib. IV, also writes that the Bavarian duke was stirred up by Gregory against Henry.

These vices are contrary to the virtue of the holy Pope Gregory, and he judges that he should be deposed from the kingdom. He commands the Saxons that the king among them should cease any further, and that they should resist with all their might. And he encourages the summoned leaders, both Welf and Duke Rudolf, to resist Henry the father for their part, and Simon of Paul [i.e., the simoniacs], against whom another had risen up; the crown was thought to have been conceded to Rudolf.

^A And the Pope had no wish to reach an agreement with him, but was driven by great force and the imminent fear of the war from the King: and Robert, who had cast the eyes of his greed upon the affairs of Constantinople; and like a wild boar whetting his teeth and his rage against us, he thought that—while it was indeed useful for him to have peace with the Pope, who could have caused him some business and delay, pressing from the rear—still, he would not be willing to purchase it at such a price as to embroil himself for that reason in his controversies with Henry, and allow the forces prepared for the aggrandizement of his own dignity to be assigned to the defense of another’s. Thus, only by words was he sworn by the Barbarians who were soon to perjure themselves: for while Robert himself was withdrawing to Salerno, this Pope—who is despicable (for I cannot call him otherwise when I remember the atrocious and inhuman injury with which he deformed the legates)—was carried into war, with spiritual grace and evangelical peace, in his whole heart and with all his strength; a man of peace, and a disciple of the peaceful, yet stirring up and provoking civil discord. For having suddenly summoned the Saxons, and their leaders Lantulph and Welco, he joined them to himself and his own factions, both with many promises and by promising that he would make them kings of the entire West. Thus he had a hand ready for inaugurating kings, neglecting Paul, who insists that hands should not be laid upon anyone hastily. Yet he so easily placed a band upon the Duke of Lombardy, and a crown upon the Saxons. ^B When, therefore, both Henry and the Pope had gathered their forces opposite each other, and the signal of the trumpets was given on both sides, a mighty and constant battle was joined; each side struggled equally for its own cause, with spears hand-to-hand and arrows shot from afar, with such force that in a short time the plain below was turned into a kind of sea of blood; and those who survived fought drenched in slaughter, sweat, and bloody mud. Some of them, stumbling with their feet against the corpses, fell and were suffocated in the deluge of blood drawn from them. Such a flood of human gore had overflowed across the widest expanse of the field. And thus far the fortune of the battle stood balanced in the moments of hope for the leaders on both sides, as long as Lantulph, the Duke of the Saxons, led his party; but when he fell, killed by a lethal wound, the phalanx of the Pope declined into flight and turned its back to the enemy—a great slaughter would have followed, had Henry permitted it. But though he saw that, with the leader removed, the victory was easy and safe, ^C he restrained his advance and commanded his troops to take breath. And having armed himself again, he hastened towards Rome, eager to besiege it. ^D Here, the Pope takes account of the agreements and oaths of Robert, and sends an embassy to him, attempting to secure an alliance. And indeed, at the same time, Henry also sought an alliance, having sent a message while rushing against the most venerable Rome. But to Robert, each of them seemed to be talking nonsense in requesting such things. He replied to the King in one way, and without writing, but he drafted a letter to the Pope. The contents of the letter were something like this:

Notes of Du Cange

(81) And he crowned these Saxons. Rudolf, to be chosen as king without his [the Pope's] counsel, Gregory PP. asserts in his Decree of Excommunication, which exists in book VII, after epistle 14, and in Hugo of Flavigny in his Chronicle, page 223. The same Hugo, a contemporary writer, testifies to the same thing in quite explicit words: "The Ultramontanes, hearing that he [Henry] was not keeping what he had promised, as if in despair of him, without the counsel of the Lord Pope, chose for themselves Rudolf the Duke as king." The author of the Life of Henry, concerning Rudolf: "There were then those who said that he was incited by the Apostolic See, and never was a man of such virtue more... [lacking] of avarice than of counsel." And as proof of this they assumed for themselves that which the Apostolic See kept silent about, while after the absolution of the King, Rudolf invaded the kingdom. Others write that Rudolf rebelled at the persuasion of Gregory, to whom he later sent the imperial diadem, and among these are Leo of Ostia, lib. III, cap. 48; Otto of Freising, lib. De gestis Friderici, cap. VIII; Helmold, lib. I, cap. 28; Fragment of History in the volume of the History of France, p. 89.

(82) And the battle. Concerning the battle in which Rudolf was slain, all German writers treat it under the year 1080.

^A pursuing them to their total destruction and consumption; yet he checked and turned back the force of his men, and, having refreshed them with a brief respite from toil, led them straight to the assault of Rome. Terrified by this danger, the Pope sent to Robert to demand the auxiliary forces stipulated by the treaty; the envoys of Henry had also arrived, and they too, in the name of their king, were requesting auxiliary troops from the Duke for the purpose of besieging ancient Rome. But the Norman, mocking both parties, replied to the king in a different manner and without a letter, while to the Pope he wrote this epistle:

To the Supreme Pontiff and my Lord, Robert, Duke, in God.

Hearing of the incursion of enemies made against you, I for a long time refused to believe the report, being thoroughly persuaded that no one would dare to rise up against you. For who, unless he were deranged by madness, would take up arms against such a Father, and so great a Father? But know that I am arming myself for a most heavy war, to be waged against a most warlike nation: to wit, the Romans, who have filled all lands and seas with their trophies. As for myself, I profess that I owe you loyalty from the depths of my soul, which I shall indeed render when the time comes. By means of this letter, and in part by other evasions, he mocked them and dismissed both parties.

^B But let us not omit what he did in Lombardy before he moved from thence with his army towards Aulon; for the man, being otherwise unendurable by reason of the cruelty of his life and his tyrannical commands, then also vied with the inhumanity of Herod raging against infants; for not being content with the men who had been serving from of old and were skilled in battle, he made a new levy of troops, sparing absolutely no age, but dragging off into military service—without distinction between those who had earned their discharge and those who were not yet mature—men from the whole of Lombardy and Apulia. And it was a pitiable sight to see little boys, unwarlike and feeble old men who had not even in their dreams imagined weapons, suddenly burdened with a breastplate and encumbered by a shield, men who knew not how to string or loosen a bow with skill, and who, when they had to march, would fall on their faces out of weakness. This state of affairs filled Lombardy with the complaints and lamentations of men and women everywhere, who were variously bewailing their own personal losses: one wife complaining that her veteran husband was being forced into service, a mother that her raw boy was being dragged to the standards, another sister that her brother or adolescent relative, or one occupied in other labors, was being violently abducted. This madness of the tyrant was even greater than Herod’s; for the latter, as we have said, had been content to rage only against infants, whereas the insanity of this man spread over every age. Yet, through all this envy and grief, he persisted in his purpose, having no care to stifle the desire of his impotent spirit by any calamity of others or public evil, collecting and training the new levies of recruits at Salerno every day with no less intensity, before he betook himself to Hydrus. ^C For he had sent forward to that place a great part of his forces to await his arrival until he himself had settled all things in the land of Lombardy and had given the appropriate replies to the embassies. ^D

^A The Pope, however, only concerned himself with the matter insofar as he instructed his son Roger, whom he had appointed over all of Apulia, and his brother Borylas, that if the Roman See should ever seek their assistance against King Henry, they should set out to him most promptly and help him with all their power. For he had sent his son Bohemond, who was younger than these, but in every way similar to his father in daring, strength, courage, and irresistible spirit—for this man was in all respects the seal of his father and a natural imprint of his character—with a very heavy army into our territories, specifically to the regions around Aulon, that he might pounce upon them. ^B And he, immediately, with threats and an irresistible rush, like some lightning bolt, seized Canina, Jericho, and the whole of Aulon; and he kept taking all the surrounding places and burning them as he fought, and he was indeed, as it were, the most bitter smoke before the fire, and before the great siege, a prelude to the siege.

Notes of Du Cange

(84) *Roger*. Malaterra records (bk. I, ch. 15, 23, and 24) that he was Count of Capitanata, and he further mentions Ranulph of Loritello, or Loracellus, under the year 1086, who, along with Count Roger, son of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, staunchly defended the party of the latter against Bohemond, with whom he was contending for his paternal inheritance (bk. IV, ch. 11). Whether this is the man whom Anna and Ordericus mention, I do not rashly define, even though Malaterra calls him Ranulph twice or thrice and Robert once. Furthermore, Robert, Count of Loritello, son of Robert, is read to have accompanied William, Duke of Apulia, in the year 1120. Pope Callistus met him at Benevento, where, after he had taken an oath of fealty, he was confirmed by him in the duchy. Another Robert, Count of Loritello, also occurs, a kinsman of King William I of Sicily, and a nephew of King Roger through his brother, concerning whom we have written in our notes on Cinnamus and in the *Familiae Normannicae*. But Philadelphus Mugnos, in his *Theatrum genealogicum familiarum Sicularum*, discusses the sons of Geoffrey, Guiscard’s brother, in a way far different from what holds true.

(85) *Borylas*. There is no doubt this is a mistake for Loritella, whom writers commonly call Count Robert of Loritello. He was a nephew of Guiscard through his brother; hence, it is certain that *adelphon* (brother) in Anna should be corrected to *adelphidoun* (nephew). Ordericus Vitalis mentions this Robert, Count of Loritello, nephew of Guiscard through his brother, not once (bk. I and VI), describing him as the Count who was his uncle's constant companion in battle, and who was held to be among the primary leaders of the war in the year that he died. Anna relates that when Guiscard was preparing the expedition to Dalmatia, he had enjoined Roger, his son, whom he had set over Apulia, and Loritella, who had remained in Italy with Roger, to provide aid to the Roman pontiff Gregory against the Emperor Henry.

(86) *Bohemond*. Anna makes Bohemond the son of Robert, a manifest error, as also below on page 131, since he was born solely from Alberada, Robert's first wife, as Malaterra writes (bk. I, ch. 30). Although it is clear from the diplomas that he signed after his brother Roger in the year 1090 (Baronius, ibid. no. 19), that he did not easily grant the first place to Roger, because of the ducal title with which he had been adorned: which fact perhaps led Anna and the other historians into error. Bohemond crossed into Illyricum, his father remaining in Apulia, in the month of May, 1081. See the same Malaterra (bk. II, ch. 24). But why Anna attributes the surname Sanisces to Bohemond on page 131, I confess is hidden from me until now.

(87) *Canina*. According to Cantacuzenus (bk. III, ch. 33), a city situated above Aulon, formerly the royal seat of the Arianitae Comneni; see Laonicus (bk. V). It is Canna in Malaterra (bk. II, ch. 23) and in William of Apulia (bk. IV), mentioned more than once, where he records the city of the Caninians taken by Robert. It defected later, was again taken by Robert, and was razed to the ground at about the time he last returned to Italy. See the notes on page 95, and Lennel in *Pandectae Turcicae*, ch. 142.

(88) *Jericho*. Malaterra calls it a port, which is called Herico. Concerning this port, see Anna again on page 107.

^A regarding the prologue of the oath. One might compare the father and the son to the bruchus and the locust. For what the bruchus left behind, the locust consumed; and in the same way, what Bohemond, the son, had left untouched, Robert, who followed him, devoured. But let us not yet ferry him across to Aulon; let us first examine what he had accomplished in the opposite continent.

For, having departed from there, he arrived at Otranto. After remaining there for a few days and awaiting his wife, Gaita (for she accompanied her husband on the expedition, and when she donned her armor, the woman was truly a fearsome thing), once he had embraced her upon her arrival, he departed from there again with his entire army and seized Brindisi. This is the most sheltered and convenient port of all Iapygia. Having landed there, he waited for the entire army to assemble and for all the ships—both the cargo vessels and the long ships equipped for war—to be brought together; for he intended to make the crossing from there to this side. And at the time when he was at Salerno, he had sent an envoy, one of the magnates who were with him, by the name of Raoul, to the Emperor Botaneiates. He was already awaiting the replies from him, now that the emperor had taken hold of the scepter from Michael Ducas; for he had sent him certain grievances and alleged reasonable pretexts for the war he was planning, claiming that the daughter who had been betrothed to the Emperor Constantine—as the narrative has previously explained—had been separated by the emperor from her bridegroom, and that he had been deprived of the empire in which he had a share, and that he was making preparations to defend himself against these injuries. To the Great Domestic, who was at that time the commander of the Western armies—this was my father, Alexios—he had also sent certain gifts and letters offering friendship. He was waiting in Brindisi, anticipating the outcome of these matters.

But when, before all the forces had been gathered and while most of the ships had not yet been launched into the sea, Raoul returned from Byzantium carrying no reply to the messages delivered, the barbarian was stirred to an even greater rage at being held in such contempt; and this was further inflamed by the unexpected speech of Raoul, who strongly dissuaded him from a war against the Romans. First, because he asserted that the monk who was following him—whom he was keeping with him in the guise of Michael Ducas—was nothing but a deceptive impostor and a sorcerer, and that he was personating the Emperor Michael, and that the whole thing was a fabrication.

^A For he says that after his deposition from the throne, he saw him in the imperial city wearing a shabby tunic, and being careful even while living in a monastery to look with his own eyes upon the fallen emperor. He then added this, which he had heard happened during his return journey: for my father, as I shall relate later, having laid hands on the sovereignty, expelled Botaniates from the palace, and taking that most illustrious of all those whom the sun beholds, Constantine, the son of Michael Ducas, restored him to the throne and honored him once again with royal insignia. Raul, having heard this on the way, brought these things forward to persuade him, trying to undermine the preparations for the war. "For with what just argument," he says, "shall we war against Alexius, when he has delivered the rule of Botaniates from injustice, and has taken back your daughter Helen, who was deprived of the Roman scepter? For what is done to us by others would not rightly bring war against those who have done no wrong." And if the war lacks a just pretext, all things crumble: the ships, the weapons, the men, and all the military equipment. ^B These things being said, they angered Robert all the more, for he was raging and was about to lay hands on this man. Moreover, on the other side, that counterfeit Ducas—the false emperor Michael, whom we have called Raictor—was fuming and distressed, and he could not conceal his anger at being so clearly exposed as not being that Emperor Ducas, but a pseudo-impostor emperor. And the tyrant, being already incensed against Raul because his brother Roger had deserted to the Romans and had revealed all the plans for the war being prepared, wished to do some evil to Raul, threatening him with immediate death. Raul, not at all slack in fleeing, escaped to Bohemond, finding him as a safe refuge close at hand. The Raictor-monk, for his part, was in an incredible rage to have been so openly caught by the testimony of Raul in his most impudent theft; therefore, he pressed Robert most impotently, pouring oil on the flame, augmenting his wrath against Raul with most artificial complaints. ^C Against the deserter Roger he was even more violently agitated, shouting in a most disturbed voice while striking his thigh, and entreating Robert again and again, and saying that he asked this one thing alone: that as soon as he had returned to his own throne and empire, he should hand over Roger to him; for then, unless he could immediately hang him from a high gibbet in the middle of Constantinople and destroy him with a horrible death, he would choose to suffer any evils from God. ^D I myself, writing and telling this seriously, am moved to laughter at these men, both for their madness and for their levity, or rather for their arrogance toward one another. For Robert took this swindler as a pretext, a bait, and as it were a mask for his son-in-law and the emperor, and showed him to the cities and urged those to whom he might come and could persuade toward revolt, having in mind that once the affairs of war and fortune had flowed his way for him, he would slap him on the neck and send him away with laughter; for after the hunt, the bait is laughed at. But he, too, having been deceived by hopes

if peradventure it might come to pass, and he should share in some power, as often happens unexpectedly—would fiercely seize upon the empire, as if the Roman people and the army would not themselves have accepted the barbarian Robert as emperor, but he himself in the meantime would serve them as an instrument for the whole economy of the plot. While I think of these things, a smile creeps ^A over my lips as I draw the pen to the lamp.

Robert, however, having gathered all his forces at Brundusium—both the ships and the soldiers (the ships numbered one hundred and fifty, and the soldiers amounted to thirty thousand in all, each ship taking on two hundred men with armor and horses)—and having prepared matters in this way, intended, whenever he should encounter those whom he had armed, to set sail for the city of Epidamnus, which we are accustomed to call Dyrrachium by the custom now prevailing. For it had seemed best to steer the fleet directly from Hydruntum to Nicopolis, and first to occupy Naupactus and the neighboring areas and fortresses all around. ^B But because the sea there is much wider than that which lies between Brundusium and Dyrrachium, he preferred this crossing to the other, both because he chose the quickest path and because he provided ease for the fleet. For the season was wintry, and the sun, being driven toward the southern circles and approaching Capricorn, was shortening the days. Therefore, fearing that so great a fleet might be exposed to the danger of night navigation during the wintry storm, he ordered them to sail from Hydruntum to Brundusium, and from there to cross through the narrower part of the Adriatic strait. Nor did he, as he had intended before, leave his son Roger behind in Italy, whom he had appointed Prince of Apulia when he departed; but later, I know not by what chance or for what reason, he changed his mind and took him as a companion of the expedition. Meanwhile, aiming at Dyrrachium, he seized the well-fortified city of Coryphus and several others of our fortresses by putting a garrison into them, ^C and then, having received...

hostages from both Lombardy and Apulia, and having fleeced the whole country with taxes and tributes, he was expected to have approached Dyrrachium. At that time, George Monomachatus ^A commanded all of Illyricum, having been sent by the Emperor Botaniates. Although he had previously been sent out on this commission—and was not at all obedient to this service, but the barbarian servants, slaves of the Scythian race of the Emperor, Borilus and Germanus, envying him and attempting to ruin him with daily denunciations before the Emperor, [succeeded to such an extent that] Botaniates…

Variae lectiones ex cod. Coislin.

* μεταδίξαν.

Notes of Charles Dufresne Du Cange.

(92) ^B *Koryphus*, or Corcyra, a very celebrated island, so named because it is built upon the summit of a high crag, from which later the name remained for the whole island. For Malaterra writes erroneously, composing his account of Robert’s expedition (lib. III, cap. 24), that he gave the name of the island to the fortress or town. Another fortress, which took the name of *Carofium* from the name of the island, when it enslaves the whole island to its service. William of Apulia continues this account of Robert’s expedition to Corcyra in these words (lib. IV):

The Duke, wishing to cross the sea, commands his arms to be readied. He orders his soldiers to wait for him at Hydruntum, He makes ships ready; he himself stays at Salerno, Seeking gifts and supplies from every side; he does not cease To send missives hither and thither, and with armed ships He urges his faithful cohorts to depart. That journey seems unusual and harsh to many, Especially to those who have left their wives and dear pledges In their homes; they did not wish to exercise Such warfare; but the Duke, adding threatening words to gentle Entreaties, compelled many to hasten. They all gather, as ordered, at Hydruntum, The Duke chooses ships fit for the burden, the Dalmatian ones, Which that nation had sent to his aid upon request. These, filled with arms and horses, and with expense, and men, He sends to *Coryphus*: this island lies not far from the city Of Hydruntum, with gentle breezes blowing, It is quickly crossed to, and with the ships dismissed, he 241 Attacks it sharply with the Duke’s cavalry, and spreads fear In all who dwell round about.

Concerning the capture of Corcyra, the anonymous Barensis also writes thus in his *Chronicle*: "In the year 1081, indiction 4, in the month of March, the Duke Robert himself sent his fleet, and besieged Corfo, and afterwards he went there with many men. And on the tenth day of the *stans* of May, he captured Corfo and Boronto." Where "tenth day of the *stans*, or *stantis* of May," is the 22nd day of the same month. Indeed, the Italian writers of that age, and sometimes the French as well, cut and divide the month into two parts, whereof the first is called "entering," and the other "exiting" and "stans" (standing). For as the Greeks called the first part of the Attic months *hryomenon mena*, so the Latins called it the "entering." Octavius Horatianus, lib. IV, *Rerum Medicarum*, page 107: "He who receives the figure of a human on the fortieth day in the ninth month entering (intrantem), it is born on the tenth day." But the method of counting each part was different; for the first part of the month was counted in the usual order, taking the beginning from the first day of that month up to the fifteenth; but the beginning of the other part is taken from the last day of the month, in reverse order, not from the Kalends nor from the first of the following month, as with the Latins, so that the sixteenth day of the month would be the last of the second part. For example, in Rollandinus, lib. VI *Chron.*, cap. 10, the Emperor Frederick is said to have died in the year 1250 on the feast of St. Lucia, namely on the 13th day of December "entering" (intrantem); which feast day of St. Lucia falls on the 13th of the same month. There exists in the palace of the Bishop of Verona an ancient inscription, whose memory... (further notes omitted)

(93) George Monomachatus succeeded Nicephorus Basilacius in the prefecture of Dyrrachium.

^A And he was not at all compliant regarding this service; but those barbarian slaves of the emperor (for they were Scythians, Borilus and Germanus), standing by Monomachatus and always contemplating something more severe against him, sowed accusations against him to the emperor, concocting them wherever and however they wished, and they so inflamed the emperor’s anger against him that he turned one day to the empress Maria and said, "I suspect this Monomachatus of being an enemy to the Roman power." Upon hearing this, John the Alan, who was standing as a friend to Monomachatus, and knowing both the Scythians' rage towards him and their frequent insinuations against him, went to Monomachatus ^B and revealed all both the emperor's words and the Scythians' machinations, and advised him to deliberate about what was in his interest. And he—being sagacious—sought an audience with the emperor and requested the position. He snatched up the service to Dyrrachium by charming him with flatteries, and as if having made arrangements for Epidamnus, and having received the commands regarding the servile belt in writing, and as those Scythians, Borilus and Germanus, were very eagerly pressing for this, he departs the imperial city on the second day, looking toward Epidamnus and the Illyrian region. But he happens upon the area of the so-called Spring ^C (94), where a temple has been built to my Mistress, the Virgin and Mother of God, which is famous among the temples in the city of Byzantium, [and which was] to my father, Alexius. They were already together, and Monomachatus begins to speak to the great domestic, deeply distressed, and [how he] had been sent away beyond the border because of him, and [about] their friendship, and that the Scythians, Borilus and Germanus, who cast an envious eye upon everyone, had rolled the whole wheel of envy against him, and were driving him out, under a fair pretext, from his own circle and from this most beloved city. And having recounted in detail all the slander directed against him to the emperor, and all he had suffered at the hands of the slaves, he ^D deemed himself worthy of the greatest possible consolation from the domestic of the West, as such a man would lighten a soul weighed down by misfortunes. And finally, upon declaring that God would be the avenger of such things, and having reminded him to remember their friendship, he set off for Dyrrachium, and he let him enter the queen of cities. But Monomachatus, after arriving at Dyrrachium and having heard of the preparations of both the tyrant Robert and the revolt of Alexius, began to view his own affairs with balance and measure. And outwardly, at least, he acted as if he were on neither side. Yet this outward display was not without signs of a mind concealing something deeper. For since Alexius had written to him that he had been driven by great injuries and the present danger of blinding to rise up against tyrants, and in that noble and no less necessary endeavor was imploring with great hope the assistance of an old friend, and that it was fitting that he should collect the largest sum of money he could from wherever he was able and send it to him as soon as possible, for he had nothing sufficient for the accomplishment of such a great undertaking—he had attacked, to these requests Monomachatus [sent] no money, nor any further word or service.

^A For the Great Domestic had informed him by letter of the events that had occurred, and that the loss of his eyesight was threatened, and that it was because of this necessity and the tyranny being plotted that he was opposing the tyrants. And he urged him to arise for the sake of his friend and to be willing to send to him whatever money he had gathered—for he said that money was necessary, and without it nothing of what was required could be done. ^B But he did not send money; instead, he treated the envoys with kindness and gave them a letter in place of money, containing the following sense: that, although he still preserved his ancient friendship towards him and would continue to preserve it in the future, as for the requested gold, although he personally desired to send as much as he wished, a certain right and just cause held him back. For, having been sent by the Emperor Botaniates and having given him pledges of servitude, he would not appear honorable or well-disposed to him in matters concerning emperors, if he were to yield to his commands at that time. But if divine providence should grant him the imperial throne, then, just as he was first a faithful friend, so after that he would be a most faithful slave. By drafting this to my father, Monomachatus showed that he was wavering between Botaniates and Alexius, pandering to both but adhering to neither. ^C But he committed a greater outrage by openly promising defection to the barbarian Robert. Such indeed is the class and nature of the cunning and versatile, who follow fortune with a shifting levity and change their colors according to the variety of circumstances or times into which they have fallen—a sect entirely useless to the common weal. For they yearn only for their own private hopes and advantages, from which, however, they often fall, even when they seem to themselves to be cautious and astute. But my discourse, having wandered outside the circuits of historical affairs, must now be pulled back as if by reins into the circle. For Robert, already burning with incredible desire to gain Dyrrhachium, and now further inflamed by the promises of Monomachatus, could no longer be restrained from the crossing, and he had neither limit nor measure in urging both sailors and soldiers ^D to hasten that same passage. And Monomachatus, having contrived these things, was building up for himself another kind of security. For he attached to himself Bodinus and Michaelas by means of letters and gifts. [index: entries preserved]

enticing them and widening various doors of opportunity for himself. For if he were to fail in his schemes regarding both Robert and Alexius, and were to be rejected by both, he would immediately make for Dalmatia, intending to become a deserter to Bodinus and Michaelas. For once these enemies had appeared, Michaelas—and from the other side Bodinus—would be the one on whom he placed his hopes, to whom he had prepared to flee, since those of Robert and Alexius were blowing against him. ^A Let these matters, then, be as they are. It is now time to turn to the empire of my father and to recount how and from what causes he was raised to the purple. For this is the purpose of this writing; I have never cared to commit to memory the private life of Alexius, but rather I have proposed as the subject of my labor those things which he performed—well or otherwise—while in power. I say "well or otherwise," for even if he should have faltered in some point, I will not spare him as a father, nor will I allow myself to be carried away by a sense of piety to the point of sullying and doing injury to the truth. ^B Having, therefore, left Robert there for the time being, to the point we have brought him, and having reserved the narrative of the subsequent war for another book, let us spend the present one in crowning Alexius. For if I should happen upon anything in his actions not performed well, I will not pass over it, nor will I—due to the underlying suspicion that he is my father—conceal the deeds for which I am writing, as this would be to wrong the truth in both respects. For having this goal from the outset, as has often been said, my father and emperor has been set before me as my subject. Leaving, therefore, Robert there, where the narrative has ^C led him, let us now consider the matters pertaining to the emperor, and we shall store the wars and the battles against Robert in another discourse.

THE ANNAE COMNENAE ALEXIAD

BOOK II

ARGUMENT. The Comneni rebel against Botaniates. Their army captures Constantinople and plunders it.

PERIOCHE. The affairs of Botaniates are described at length by Caesar Bryennius. There are three Comneni: Manuel, Isaacius, and Alexius, the sons of Joannes. Isaacius and Alexius, especially the latter, are dear to the emperors, particularly to Botaniates. Borilus and Germanus, who are in favor with Botaniates, are envious of the Comneni. Courtly machinations against the Comneni. They rely upon the favor of the Augusta Maria against these. Isaacius marries the kinswoman of the Augusta.

BOOK II

^A From what source, therefore, the Emperor Alexius was sprung, and from what kind of lineage, those who wish to know may be referred to the Commentaries of my Caesar. From the same place, one will also draw a full knowledge regarding the affairs of the Emperor Nicephorus Botaniates. It is sufficient for me here to recall from earlier memory: that my paternal grandfather, John Comnenus, gave to the state other sons, but three especially illustrious ones: Manuel, Isaacius, and Alexius. The first-born, Manuel, was entrusted by the Emperor Romanus Diogenes, who at that time held the reins of the empire, with the management of the entire war in Asia, under the authority and name of supreme commander. Subsequently, he also received Antioch^B as his lot, which, having been laid waste previously by Chosroes, King of the Persians, was shortly thereafter taken from the Saracens during the reign of Heraclius, and later, under the auspices of Nicephorus Phocas, was restored to the Romans by Michael Burzes; it remained in their possession, administered by them, until the incursion of the Turks. Many Byzantine writers record the Dukes of Antioch: first, Michael Burzes, the *magistros*, perhaps the son of the former; then Damianus and Nicephorus Uranus, during the reign of Basil Porphyrogenitus; and Michael Spondyles, a eunuch, under...

^A whom the prefecture was demanded. Isaac, who followed him, having been made Duke of Antioch, shared this office with his elder brother, so that both, by their heroic deeds, victories, and numerous trophies, might distinguish the Roman name and their own. After them, my father Alexius was appointed with supreme power to the expedition against Urselius, by a decree of the emperor then reigning, Michael Ducas. But when the Emperor Nicephorus also saw that he was gifted in military matters, having heard how, when he was in the East with his brother Isaac, he had shone as a champion in various contests beyond his years, and how he had routed Urselius, he loved him remarkably well, no less than he loved Isaac. And, embracing both brothers, he would look at them with a cheerful countenance, and sometimes even deigned to have them dine at his own table. This ignited envy against them, and above all that of the two barbarians previously mentioned, of Slavonic descent, whom I call Borilus and Germanus ^B. For, seeing the benevolence of the emperor toward them, and that, although they were struck at every hour by the arrows of envy, they remained unwounded, they were consumed. For the emperor, seeing that Alexius—on whose cheeks the down (1) had not yet flowered—was excelling in all things, appointed him commander-in-chief of the West, having honored him with the title of *proedros* (1*). Now, whatever trophies this man raised in the West, and how many rebels he defeated and brought alive to the emperor, has been sufficiently spoken of beforehand. But these things did not please those who envied him; rather, it burned more, inflaming their envy. These men would murmur much, plotting against them, and would say many things secretly to the emperor, some even openly, while others used various other schemes, striving in every way to get them out of the way. Therefore, the Comneni, being held in difficulty, considered it necessary to ^C...

induce the women's quarters ^A to be well-disposed to them, and through them to attract to themselves a greater measure of the Empress's favor. For men are persuasive, and able to soften even a heart of stone by all sorts of undertakings. Isaac had already accomplished this some time ago, having been received by her as a relative—for he had been taken into affinity with her own niece ^B—being a man of the greatest nobility in words and deeds, and for the most part resembling my father. But once his own affairs had proceeded favorably, he was much concerned for his brother; and as much as that brother had assisted in his own undertaking of kinship at that time, just so much did he strive not to let him remain any further removed from the Empress. They say that Orestes and Pylades, being friends, had such a desire for one another that, in the time of battle, each would neglect his own personal enemies and defend those attacking the other, ^C and would snatch away the arrows sped by the archers toward the other, baring his own breast. Such a thing was likewise to be seen in these men. For both brothers wished to ward off dangers, and to snatch up distinctions and honors, and simply, whatever good belonged to the one, the other accounted as his own, and vice versa. Such desire did they have for one another. The affairs concerning Isaac, then, were regulated by divine providence in this way. Not long after, those in the women's quarters, acting on the suggestions of Isaac, persuade the Empress to adopt Alexios. She yields to these, and since both had happened to be at the palace on a certain appointed day, the Empress adopts Alexios ^D.

^B By this action, already secure and relieved of great anxiety, he frequented the palace with his brother, and rendered the customary offices of greeting to the Augustus and his consort, being free from the fear of envious persons, although each of them was more assiduous in their attendance upon the Empress; and they established this almost as their fixed routine, once they had sufficiently waited upon the Emperor. This great familiarity of the Komnenoi with the reigning monarchs became new fodder for envy; and when they sensed its smoke, fearing as was reasonable that the flame might suddenly flare up and consume them both at the same time, they began to consult more intensely how they might find a way to safety with God’s help amidst such great treachery. To those viewing the matter according to human judgment, the most direct path to that goal seemed to be to approach the Empress, seizing a suitable opportunity, and to disclose to her the entire mystery of the counsel they were turning over in their minds; this was to flee from the Emperor’s retinue—a plan they kept deeply buried in their hearts—taking the utmost care, like fishermen who do not wish to frighten their prey prematurely, that they themselves might not have the perpetrators of this treachery scent their counsel of a planned flight, which they would anticipate by the deed itself. But it seemed a matter full of peril to tell this to the Empress. For what if she were to report it to the Emperor, thinking she was acting out of a desire to look out for both sides; for her husband, I mean, and for the Komnenoi in that matter? Therefore, having judged such a plan to be of this sort, they turn their counsel to another path; for they were clever at making use of the circumstances as they fell.

^C For since the Emperor, due to his old age, was unable to father children, and being fearful of the inescapable stroke of death, he was considering whom to designate as his successor. At that time there was a certain Synadenos who had come from the East, of illustrious lineage, elegant in appearance, profound in mind, strong in hand, and in age just passing out of boyhood. And because he was otherwise related to him by blood, Botaneiates was inclined to transmit the inheritance of the empire to him. He was acting imprudently, for he had at home his stepson Constantine, born of a father and grandfather who were Augusti; if he had shown favor to him, besides doing what was just and fair, he would have gained for himself the benevolence of Maria the Augusta, the boy’s mother.

^A To leave the imperial power to the Augusta’s son, Constantine, and to treat it, as it were, as an inheritance belonging to him from his grandfather and father, and for this reason the Augusta for her part was more confident in him and increased her goodwill towards him—the old man, considering unjust and inexpedient things, was unaware that he was forging evils for his own head. The Augusta became aware of these things being whispered about and was deeply grieved, anticipating the danger to the child; and although she was despondent, she did not reveal her distress to anyone. This did not escape the notice of the Comneni. Having thus found the opportunity they were seeking, they decided to approach the Augusta. The mother of the Comneni had decreed that the beginning of the conversation with her should be entrusted to Isaac, in the presence of his brother Alexius. ^B And Isaac, when they had gone to the Augusta, says to her: "Not as we saw you yesterday and the day before, my lady, do we see you now, but rather as one gnawed and pensive, weighed down by unspoken thoughts, as if you have no one sufficiently trustworthy to whom you might properly communicate the secret." For a time she did not wish to reveal it. But fetching a deep sigh, she says, "It is not right to question those who live in a foreign land, for this very thing is a sufficient cause of sorrow for them. But as for me, alas! what things have overtaken me, and from whom, and what, as it seems, is being stored up for me before long!" They, having taken no further steps, but fixing their eyes on the ground and holding both hands in a state of mourning, stood silent for a short time, then, having performed the customary prostration, they departed homeward, feeling distressed. ^C But on the next day, they came again to pay their respects. Seeing the Augusta looking at them more cheerfully than before, ^D they approach and say: "You are our mistress, and we are your most loyal servants, ready to suffer anything for your empire; let no thought, therefore, disturb you or lead you into total hesitation." From these words, having given pledges of fidelity to the Augusta and having freed themselves of all suspicion, they now understood the secret. Being sharp-witted and quick to grasp the deeply-hidden intention of men from a few words, they immediately laid that secret before the Augusta, and having made their goodwill toward her manifest in many ways. And they promised enthusiastically to defend her in everything to which she might summon them. They agreed very eagerly to "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep," precisely in the Apostolic fashion. And they demanded that she consider them as though they were indigenous and familiar to her, and from that point forward, they were so insistent, saying that if anyone among those who envied her, the mistress, and the emperor, should suggest anything against them, this should not for a moment escape their notice, so that they might not fall into the traps of their enemies. They demanded this, and urged her to be confident that, with God's help, they would be ready to bring such assistance as...

would ensure she might not lose her empire, nor her son Constantine his rightful hope and succession to the throne. ^A Since long conversations would surely have been observed by the sidelong glances of their enemies, these matters were settled between them in a few words and confirmed by the solemnity of oaths. Relieved of a great weight of anxiety by this pact, the Comnenoi approached the emperor with a more cheerful countenance. Although both were supreme masters of dissimulation regarding their hidden pain (with Alexios even surpassing his brother in this), the constancy of their faces could scarce suffice to cover the wounds of their souls. When their enemies’ hatred grew, and their secret detraction did not cease, and they had confirmed that it had been decided by two servants who abused the emperor's ease to remove the Comnenoi, they resolved no longer to approach the palace together every day as they had been accustomed, but each to go on alternate days. The reason for this clever plan was that if by chance one of them were caught by the iniquities of those Scythians who had such power, the other might at least make a timely escape, so that the family would not be utterly destroyed. But their affairs were in a better state than their suspicions threatened, and both were in reality held in higher regard by the emperor than their enemies, however powerful they appeared, and this was easily shown by the occasion I shall now explain.

When the city of Cyzicus ^C was occupied by the Turks, the emperor received the news and suddenly sent for Alexios. That was the day on which, according to their agreement, Isaac was supposed to appear at the palace alone; for this reason, he was not a little surprised at his brother’s encounter and, having asked him the cause, briefly heard the explanation. Then both were admitted, and after they had performed the customary obeisance, the emperor bade them wait a little while, and since it was already the hour for lunch, he invited them to dine with him. The brothers were divided on either side of the table, one on the right and the other on the left, facing each other. Seeing the mournful faces of those standing around and their hushed whisperings, both were moved by an equal fear that they had been brought together by the guile of the conspirators for immediate exile. Therefore, as best they could with furtive glances of their eyes, they watched the faces of those standing around and saw them whispering.

περ- ^A ιεστῶσιν ἐνατενίσαντες μετὰ σκυθρωπότητος ψιθυρίζοντας ἑώρων. Δείσαντες οὖν μή τι κατ' αὐτῶν ὀξὺ μελετῶσιν οἱ δοῦλοι, καὶ ὑπόγυιος αὐτοῖς ὁ κίνδυνος εἴη, λαθριδίοις βλέμμασιν ἀλλήλοις ἐνητένιζον, μὴ ἔχοντες ὅ τι καὶ δράσαιεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πρὸ πολλοῦ τοὺς περὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἅπαντας μειλιχίοις λόγοις, προπομπαῖς τε καὶ παντοίαις δεξιώσεσιν ἐσφετερίζοντο, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ὀψοποιὸν δεξιωσάμενοι, ἱλαρὸν αὐτοῖς προσβλέπειν ἀνέπεισαν, τούτῳ προσελθών τις τῶν θεραπόντων Ἰσαακίου τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ φησιν· Ἀπάγγειλον τῷ κυρίῳ μου τὴν τῆς Κυζίκου ἅλωσιν καὶ κατάσχεσιν. Γράμμα γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν ἥκει τοῦτο μηνύον. Ὁ δ᾽ εὐθὺς ἅμα τε ἅμα τῇ τραπέζῃ παρετίθει, καὶ ἅπερ παρὰ τοῦ ὑπηρέτου ἀνεδιδάχθη, ἀνεδίδασκε τὸν Ἰσαάκιον ἠρεμαίᾳ φωνῇ. Ὁ δὲ μικρὸν ὑποκινήσας τὰ χείλη ἐσήμανε τῷ ἀδελφῷ τὸ λεχθέν. Ὀξὺς δὲ ὧν περὶ τὸ νοεῖν καὶ πυρὸς θερμότερος ὁ Ἀλέξιος, αὐτίκα προήρπασε τὸ λεγόμενον. Ἀνέπνευσαν οὖν καὶ ἄμφω τῆς κατασχούσης αὐτοὺς ἐνοίας. Καὶ γεγονότες ἑαυτῶν ἐσκοποῦντο ἵν᾽ εἴ που τις αὐτοὺς ἔροιτο περὶ τούτου ἑτοίμως ἀποκριθήσονται, εἰ δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτοὺς εἰς βουλὴν ἀγάγοι προσηκόντως αὐτῷ βουλεύσοιντο. Τοιαῦτα τούτων λογιζομένων, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπιδὼν πρὸς τοὺς ἄνδρας, ὡς δὴ ἀγνοοῦντας αὐτοὺς τὰ κατὰ τὴν Κύζικον, τὴν ἅλωσιν αὐτῆς ἔλεγεν. Οἱ δὲ (καὶ γὰρ ἦσαν ἕτοιμοι ψυχὴν θεραπεῦσαι κυμαινομένην βασιλέως ἐπὶ πορθήσεσι πόλεων) ἀνήγειραν τὸ πεπτωκὸς τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος φρόνημα, καὶ πρὸς ἐλπίδας ἀγαθὰς ἀνεθέρμηναν, ῥᾳδίως τὴν πόλιν ἐπανασωθῆναι κατεγγυώμενοι. Μόνον, φησί, τὸ σὸν κράτος ἐχέτω καλῶς· οἱ δέ γε πολιορκηταὶ τῆς πόλεως ἑπταπλάσιον εἰς τὸν κόλπον αὐτῶν ἀπολήψονται ὧν εἰργάσαντο. Τότε μὲν οὖν ἠγάσατο τούτους ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ τῆς εὐωχίας ἀπολύσας τὸ ἑξῆς τῆς ἡμέρας ἀπεριμερίμνως ἔσχε. ^B Τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦδε τοίνυν ἐπιμελὲς ἔσχον οἱ Κομνηνοὶ τοῖς βασιλείοις προσιέναι, καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐναγκαλίζεσθαι, καὶ αὐτοὺς μὲν μὴ διδόναι λαβὴν τὸ παράπαν τοῖς αὐτῶν, μηδ' ἣν τινα οὖν πρόφασιν ἀπεχθείας αὐτοῖς ὑπανοίγειν· πάντας δὲ ἀναπείθειν στέργειν αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν φρονεῖν τε καὶ λέγειν. Προσεποιοῦντο δὲ πλέον ὑποποιεῖσθαι καὶ τὴν βασιλίδα Μαρίαν, καὶ ὅλους αὐτοὺς ἐκείνην καὶ βλέπειν καὶ ἀναπνεῖν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἰσαάκιος καὶ τὸ κῆδος τὸ ἐπὶ τῇ ἐξαδέλφῃ αὐτῆς προβαλλόμενος τὴν παρρησίαν ξυνέτεινεν· ὁ δὲ ἐμὸς πατὴρ οὐχ ἧττον μὲν καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀγχιστείας συγγένειαν, πλέον δὲ τὴν υἱοθεσίαν λαμπρὸν ὑπόθεσιν τῶν πρὸς τὴν βασιλίδα εἰσόδων ποιούμενος, ^C παντάπασιν ἀνέμφαντος ἦν καὶ τὴν φθόνον τῶν πονηρευομένων αὐτῷ συνεσκίαζεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐλάνθανεν αὐτὸν τὸ βαρύμηνι τῶν βαρβάρων ἐκείνων δούλων καὶ τὸ τοῦ βασιλέως κουφότατον. Καὶ εἰκότως μὴ ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς ἐκείνης εὐνοίας ἐφρόντιζον, ἵνα μὴ ἐντεῦθεν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς παρανάλωμα γένοιντο. Τὰ γάρ τοι κουφότατα ἤθη ^D sese mutuo consulebant confirmabantque. Profuit hic illis humanitas sua qua ex longo tempore erant soliti omnes aulæ ministros blandis verbis, honorificis assectationibus, et omni genere officiorum demereri. Dapiferum in primis hac sibi arte devinxerant, qui cum idcirco læto ipsos et benevolo aspectu intueretur, accedens ad eum quidam famulus Isaacii, ait: Nuntia, quæso, domino meo captam Cyzicum; id enim affirmant allatæ inde litteræ. Ille autem statim inter imponendum mensæ fercula submissa voce quæ acceperat Isaacio reddidit, qui exiguo motu labiorum continuo idipsum indicavit fratri. Erat Alexius ingenio promptissimo, qui ex signo quamlibet parvo sententiam raperet. Ignea igitur velocitate prævolans, omnia uno nutu percepta habuit. Nec jam vocationis aut silentii mæstitiæve causas ignorabant: et quod erat consequens cura inde orta solvebantur, comparabantque tranquille animum ad ea quæ respondenda imperatori essent, mox interrogaturo consulturoque ipsos quid tali tempore opus facto foret? Talis illis cogitantibus intuens Comnenos imperator Cyzici cladem, ipsis, ut putabat, adhuc ignotam exposuit. Illi autem quibus nec esset improvisa res et locum haberent consolationis paratum in jacturis et expugnationibus urbium, facile afflictum Augusti animum apposito et copioso sermone recrearunt, et excitarunt in meliorem spem: cum disputarent curabile id vulnus esse valeret, modo salvumque ac florens vigeret imperii caput, Augustus nempe ipse, brevi profecto deprædatores barbaros septuplum in sinum ipsorum recepturos. Delectatus imperator et verbis et viris dimisso convivio reliquum diem illum secure transegit. Hinc jam Comneni quem locum obtinerent gratiæ non ignari, assidue frequentare aulam et familiares imperatoris diligentioribus officiis delinire: cavereque instantius ne adversariis ullam ansam capiendi sui, aut etiam odii prætextum darent: omnem autem adhibere industriam ut favorem sibi amoremque omnium allicerent. Præcipue in eo perseverandum decreverunt, in idque incumbendum, ut Augustam Mariam plane suam facerent, seque ipsam totos spirare atque intueri unam ipsi persuaderent. Et habebat ad illam magnos accessus Isaacius ob conjugium patruelis ejus; Alexius præter inde contractam affinitatem, etiam adoptionis necessitudinem, qua maxime nitens sine admiratione aut suspicione cujusquam velut ad matrem libere itabat, invidiam malignantium obruens. Non enim eum latebat implacabilis ira barbarorum duum, et imperatoris facilitas nimia, quam illi pro sua libidine quocunque verterent. Unde ambo fratres merito timebant ne non tantum imperatoris amicitia exciderent, verum illius fiducia illecti hostilis servorum duorum odii præda victimaque fierent.

^A For what can be settled with any certainty regarding the volition of minds so mobile, and which, after the manner of the Euripus, heave with the ceaseless reciprocation of the fickle passions' ebbing and flowing?

In the meantime, the servants, seeing these things, were not themselves lacking in a purpose conceived for their own ends. But considering that their machinations were in vain and that the Comneni were growing and gaining strength daily, after many discussions given and received, they resolved to shorten a long path. And how? By having both Comneni summoned in the dead of night in the emperor’s name, however unaware they might be, and, having thus seized them, to put out their eyes under a false charge. This was the sum of their plan. When this was reported with certainty to the Comneni, and after anxious deliberation, it seemed to them both that the one way of securing their safety lay in defection, as they were being driven to extremities by necessity; for who could endure to wait until the white-hot iron was applied to his eyes, depriving him of the enjoyment of light and the sun itself? They therefore kept this determination buried in their souls. ^B Now when, not long after, the command was given to Alexius, as he was at that time the Grand Domestic of the West, to bring into the city a certain portion of the army to be equipped against the Agarenes who had plundered the city of Cyzicus, he seized upon this as a reasonable pretext and summoned by letter those commanders of the army who were most loyal to him along with their troops. As they were all hastening to the city with great zeal from every direction, there approached the emperor a certain man, suborned by one of the servants, Borilus, who asked him if it was by his command that the Grand Domestic was bringing all his forces into the royal city. The emperor immediately summoned the Grand Domestic and asked him if what was reported was true. And he, on the spot, did not deny that some army was being brought in by his order, ^C but, concerning the claim that all were gathering there from everywhere, he skillfully parried the charge. For the army, he said, being scattered from all directions, was arriving from here and there as they received the signal. And those who saw them arriving in large numbers from different parts of the Roman domains thought, by the sight alone, that the whole army was assembling there by pre-arranged signal, being deceived by mere appearances. Although Borilus argued much against these words (for Germanus, the other conspirator, being by nature simpler, did not press Alexius as hard at that time), the authority of Alexius in denying the matter prevailed, and the accusation was rejected by the opinions of all. ^D Confounded by this success, the two barbarians, seeing that so credible a report had failed to move the emperor’s mind against the Grand Domestic, reckoned that all was lost for them and their hopes unless they acted quickly; and so they decreed the destruction of the Comneni for that very night, the evening of which had just begun to shine. Every servile class is hostile to its masters; and failing to harm their masters, they turn against their fellow servants if fortune has made any of them vulnerable to their injuries.

^A Alexius Comnenus experienced such a character and disposition in the aforementioned servants. Hence, those already mentioned were not angry against the Emperor on behalf of the Comneni, but—as some said—Borilus was aiming at the throne, and Germanus, being a partner in his plot, was diligently crafting an ambush with him. And they discussed their plans with each other, and how the matter might result according to their wishes. ^B And they now brought into the open what had until then been spoken only under their breath. Someone of Alan origin, a magistrate by rank, who had long been attached to the Emperor and lived among his household, heard what was being said. At that time, as midnight had already arrived, he ran out to the Comneni, reporting everything to the Great Domestic. Some say that the Empress was not entirely ignorant of the magistrate’s arrival to the Comneni; but however that may be, Alexius brought him in to his mother and brother. ^C Having listened to that unwelcome news, they deemed it necessary to bring what had hitherto been hidden into the light and, with God’s help, to secure their own salvation. When the Domestic learned that the army would reach Tzurulum (a small town situated roughly in Thrace) after the following day, he went at the first watch of the night to Pacurianus. This man was short of stature, as the poet says, yet a warrior, of illustrious birth, hailing from the Armenians. He communicated everything to him: the anger of the servants, the envy, their long-standing malice toward them, ^D and the recently plotted blinding of their eyes; he said that they ought not to suffer like slaves, but to do something noble and die, if it should come to that—and that this, he said, was a mark of greatness of soul. The other, having heard all this and seeing that there was no room for delay in such matters, but that one must act quickly as a man of great nobility— if you leave at the first light of dawn, I will be with you and follow

^A you with zeal. But if you put off this decision until tomorrow, know this: I myself will approach the emperor and immediately report both on you and those with you without the slightest delay.” Alexius replied, “Since I see that you care for my safety—which surely is the work of God—I will not depart from your counsel. However, it is necessary to secure both sides by an oath.” And so it was that they pledged their faith to one another by oaths, that if God should lead him to the imperial throne, he would advance that man to the dignity of Domestic which he himself currently held. Then, the Comnenus Alexius, having left that place and parted from Pacurianus, went to another man, also a martial figure, Umbertopulus, and reported his own purpose to him, explaining the reason for his wish to escape, and invited him to join in his alliance. He immediately agreed: “Me, too,” he said, “you shall surely have as a courageous fellow-combatant and a most zealous one.” These men were attached to Alexius for many reasons, but especially because he surpassed others in courage and wisdom. They admired him greatly for being most generous and always ready to give, if anyone ever was, even though he was not overflowing with wealth. For he was not one of those who plunder or gape after riches. True generosity is not usually judged by the quantity of the gift, but is disposed by the intent of the mind. For it is possible for one possessing only a little to be generous by giving in proportion to what he has, while one who possesses great wealth and buries it in the earth, or does not give it in proportion to his means, ^B might rightly be called another Croesus or gold-mad Midas, stingy and grasping—one of those who would split a cumin seed, as one might say without missing the mark. Therefore, because the aforementioned men had known Alexius for a long time as one adorned with every virtue, they welcomed his promotion and prayed for it. Alexius, having requested and received the oath from him as well, hurried home and shared everything with his own people. It was the night of Tyrophagus Sunday, during which your father was contemplating these things. At the earliest dawn of the following day, he and those with him went forth from the city.

[Note on the textual variations of the Coislin codex and notes by Charles du Fresne du Cange omitted]

^A Hence it was that the multitude, also, approving the impetus of Alexios and his keenness of mind from the very deeds themselves, wove a little song for him, composed of the vulgar tongue, and signifying both the preconception of the treachery against him and the things contrived by him. The little song in these very words ran thus: "On the Saturday of Cheese-week, you rejoiced, Alexios; you understood it; and on the Monday morning, you said, 'Well done, my hawk.'" The meaning of that song, which was being noised abroad, was something like this: "Since, on the Saturday named after cheese, you truly excelled in keenness of mind, Alexios; but on the Monday after [the Sunday of] the Cheese-week ^B you flew away from the treacherous barbarians like a high-flying hawk."

But since Anna Dalassene, the mother of the Comneni, had already managed to secure the nephew of Botaneiates as a son-in-law for her daughter, the wife of Manuel, the first-born of her sons, she, fearing lest his tutor, having learned of the treachery, might announce it to the emperor, devised an excellent plan. And indeed, for the sake of veneration of the holy churches of God, she ordered everyone to be gathered in the evening; for it was customary for her to visit the sacred shrines. This was done. And indeed everyone was present, as was the custom, and they brought the horses out of the stables, pretending to harness them carefully with the veils becoming to women. But the nephew of Botaneiates was sleeping with his tutor, for a separate ^C room had been allotted to them.

About the first watch, the Comneni, having closed the gates, being already ready to arm themselves and to fly from the ruling city, handed the keys to their mother, and they locked even the doors of the chamber in which her granddaughter's betrothed, the Botaneiates, was sleeping; they did not, however, fasten them precisely, so as to fit them together, so that no noise might be made to wake him up. While these things were being done, the greater part of the night had passed. Therefore, before the first cock-crow, having opened the gates, and having taken their mother and their sisters and their own wives and children, they proceeded on foot together as far as the Forum of Constantine. And having there said farewell to them, they ran very swiftly toward the palaces at Blachernae; while as for that ^D market in the place where the gate was of old, [Constantine] having built it in a circular shape and having surrounded it with double-roofed stoas, he fashioned two arches of Proconnesian marble, facing one another, through which it is possible to go out to the stoas of Severus and to the old city. The market is not outside the square named for the emperor [the Plakoton].

^A They ran with haste. The women, for their part, hurried to the temple of the Great Sophia. But the pedagogue of Botaneiates, having awakened and learned what had happened, came out toward them holding a torch in his hands, and he overtook them quickly before they had reached the vicinity of the sanctuary of the holy Forty Martyrs. As soon as Dalassena, the mother of those young heroes, caught sight of him, she said: "Some have denounced us, I hear, to the emperor. I am going, therefore, to the holy churches, availing myself of their protection, such as I may find, until the dawn of day, when I shall proceed to the palace. Go you, therefore, ahead; so that when the gatekeepers open the gates, you may announce our arrival to them." He immediately hastened to carry out what was commanded. The women, indeed, came to the temple of the holy pontiff Nicholas, which they are still accustomed to call a refuge; it is situated near the Greater Church and was established long ago for the salvation and protection of those who are caught in offenses, ^B being, as it were, a part of the great sanctuary itself, and, I believe, constructed purposely by the ancients, so that everyone who is taken in an offense, and is able to reach and get inside this place, might be able to escape the penalty of the laws.

VARIOUS READINGS FROM CODEX COISLIN.

Notes of Charles Dufresne Du Cange.

(19) The sanctuary of the holy Forty Martyrs, near the Constantinian baths, whose foundations Tiberius Augustus had laid with his wife Anastasia, and which Maurice completed in the 8th year, as Theophanes, Cedrenus, Glycas, Manasses, Paul the Deacon (lib. xvii), Codinus in his *De Originibus*, and others relate at length. Basil Porphyrogenitus rebuilt its dome, which had collapsed in an earthquake, as Scylitzes is our authority. Nicetas in his *Life of Andronicus* (lib. ii) relates that Andronicus Comnenus restored the temple itself from the ground up and built magnificent dwellings nearby. Finally, Emperor John Palaeologus razed it and built two towers at the Golden Gate from its ruins, as Ducas reports, cap. 13. Near the temple of the XL Martyrs, Phocas erected a column in the year... on which a cross was later placed during the reign of Heraclius; this fell in an earthquake under Andronicus the Elder, as is found in the Alexandrian Chronicle and in Nicephorus Gregoras, lib. ix. The author of the same Alexandrian Chronicle further states that the temple of the SS. XL Martyrs existed near the bronze Tetrapylum. Pope Innocent III (lib. xiv, ep. 84), Pachymeres (lib. iv, cap. 18), and Bondelmontius also mention this temple. ^C

(20) The temple of D. Nicholas existed near the Great Church, within the enclosure of the great palace, or at any rate near the palace itself: which Anna also seems to indicate with these words, ^D ...or if he might have meant *archia*, for *archia* is a palace, according to Nicetas, Cinnamus, and others. Basil the Macedonian founded this, as Scylitzes writes, *in the Barbare*, as the same Pachymeres is the authority (lib. iv, cap. 8), that is, in the region in which the holy temple of D. Barbara was, toward the Acropolis—from which the Gate of St. Barbara, being near the citadel, takes its name. See Codinus in his *Origines*, p. 61 (ed. Meursius); Suidas under *Berne*; and Theuetus, lib. xix, cap. 3. There existed another temple in Constantinople sacred to D. Nicholas at the Blachernae, about which Anna speaks in lib. x; this is perhaps the same one that Codinus relates was built in the house of Basilides, who was a patrician and quaestor during the reign of Emperor Justinian. Furthermore, Goscelinus (in his book on the miracles of the blessed Augustine, cap. 26) has another temple in Constantinople dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Augustine, Bishop of Canterbury, founded by a noble Englishman who had passed into Constantinople after England was conquered by William the Bastard. Finally, Scylitzes commemorates another one outside the city, called Motibotus, in which Constantine Ducas was buried. See Leo Allatius, lib. ii, *De Ecclesiarum Orientis et Occidentis consensione*, cap. 2, p. 645; and the notes on p. 294. Anna says the temple of D. Nicholas was endowed with the right of asylum because it was, in a way, an appendix to the Great Church, which its founder Justinian had adorned with this privilege. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, *Nov. 12*, *peri ton phoneuo*, etc. on Justinian. By which right also the earlier Constantinopolitan church, or rather the Constantinian one, was enjoyed before Justinian, as Zosimus is the authority (lib. v). See Pachymeres, lib. iii, cap. 14; Cantacuzene, lib. i, cap. 15, lib. iii, caps 2, 50, 80, 88; *Jus Græco-Romanum*, lib. ii, pp. 72, 73, etc.

At that time one is freed from punishment. For the emperors and Caesars of old deemed the subjects worthy of much care. But he who was waiting in such a sanctuary did not immediately unlock the doors for them, but inquired who they were and whence they came. And one of those with them said, "We are women from the East. having exhausted everything for our needs, we are hastening our worship, wishing to return home." He, having immediately unbarred the doors, allowed them entry. The next day, the emperor having assembled the senate, since he had learned about the men, made an appropriate speech to them, launching an attack upon the domesticus. He sent at that time to the women him who was called Straboromanus ^A and one named Euphemianus, calling them to the palace. But Dalassena said to them, "Say to the emperor, 'My children are faithful servants of your majesty, and zealously serving it in all things, they have spared neither their lives nor their bodies, always eagerly standing in danger for your power. But envy against them, not bearing the goodwill and care of your majesty towards them, was hour by hour devising great danger for them. As they even meditated putting out their eyes, perceiving this and not bearing such an unjust danger, they did not go forth from the city as rebels, but as faithful servants, at once escaping from the imminent danger, and at the same time informing your power of what was being plotted against them, and requesting help from your majesty.'" But they insisted strongly, calling for her. The woman, having become indignant, said to them, "Allow me to enter the church of God to worship. For it is absurd, having arrived at its portals, not to enter and use the all-undefiled Lady and Mother of God as a mediatrix both to God and to the soul of the emperor." The envoys, having respected the reasonable request of the woman, allowed her entry. She, walking with a slow step as if weary from grief and old age—or rather also feigning to be weary—at about the very entrances of the holy sanctuary ^B having advanced, with two genuflections...

^A performed, she sat down on the ground at the third, and laid hold of the holy gates, loudly swearing that if her hands were not to be cut off, she would not depart from the holy sanctuary, unless she received the cross of the emperor as a pledge of her safety. ^B Straboromanus, hearing these things, brought forth the cross which he carried hanging from his neck and offered it. But she said: "It is not from you that I seek the assurance of these things, but from the emperor himself I demand the mentioned aid. And I would not accept the cross being given even simply in small size, but one having a significant size." This she demanded, so that the oath to her might become manifest; for if the promise were made on a small cross, the many would perhaps not notice what was being confirmed. "Therefore, I call upon his judgment and mercy. Go, announce to him." But one of her daughters-in-law, the wife of Isaac (for she had managed to enter the temple at the same time as the gates were opened for the morning hymn) ^C having removed the veil covering her face, said to them: "As for her, if she wishes, let her go away. We, however, do not leave the sanctuary without a suitable assurance, even if it is proposed that we should die." Those men, therefore, having seen the determination of the women, and how they were behaving toward them more shamelessly than before, and fearing lest a riot might occur, went away and reported everything to the emperor. He, being by nature good, and moved by the words of the woman, sends the requested cross to her, granting her complete freedom from care. And thus he orders that she, having departed from the holy church of God, should be confined ^D with her daughters and daughters-in-law in the women’s quarters of the Petria near the Iron Gate. These things having been settled by them, and their having exchanged the holy ornaments for their oaths, a great battle breaks out.

^A she called also her co-mother-in-law, the bride of Caesar John (she held the rank of *protovestiaria*), from the temple in Blachernae ^B, which had been built in the name of our Sovereign, the Mother of God, and ordered her also to be included in the said Convent of the Petria ^C. And she commanded that their store-chests and granaries, and all their treasuries, be kept undisturbed. Thus, every morning, both would approach the guards and inquire whether they had learned anything about their children. The latter, suspecting them of nothing, told them simply everything they had heard. To win them over even more, the *protovestiaria*, being liberal in hand and mind, allowed them to take food and similar things in abundance from her own supplies; whence $[$she rendered$]$ them more... ^D

reports, and from then on, because they brought everything out, nothing escaped her notice. Such, then, were the affairs concerning the women. But the Comneni, having forestalled the gate situated near the *brachionion* [(31)] of the Blachernae [(32)], and having broken the locks, had safely and securely made their exit into the royal stables [(33)]. There, the horses that they left behind they first hamstrung with the sword, cutting them from the thighs down to the heels; but the best ones, those they deemed would be more useful to them, they took with them and at once made for the monastery situated near the great city, which is called Cosmidion [(34)]. For—in order that I may digress slightly so that our narrative may proceed more clearly—they bade farewell to the aforementioned *protovestiaria* before setting out (for she was there before she was summoned by the emperor, as our account has already indicated), and they ^B drew George Palaeologus over to their side. For they had not previously dared...

to reveal their intention to the man, on account of a plausible suspicion. For the father of this George was most devoted to the emperor, and the exposure of such a design to him was not without danger. At first, then, Palaeologus was not easily moved by them, resisting them much and reproaching them for that plan of theirs toward him, and that later, as the proverb goes, they would come to their senses and call him back. But when the protovestiaria, the mother-in-law of Palaeologus, also weighed heavily upon him to depart with them, threatening him with the direst consequences, he became softer. From that point, he was anxious about the women: his own wife, Anna, and Mary, his mother-in-law, who was of the highest nobility among the Bulgarians, and was possessed of such beauty and such harmony of limbs and body that no one was seen at that time more beautiful than she. Therefore, the situation regarding her was not without concern for Palaeologus, nor for Alexius. For this reason, those around Alexius came to a decision: to take these women from there, some suggesting to lead them to a fortress, but Palaeologus to the temple of the Mother of God in the Blachernae. And George's opinion prevailed. Without delay, they went and committed them to the all-pure Mother of the Word who sustains all things. ^A They themselves returned to where they had set out, considering what indeed they should do. But Palaeologus said, "You must go on; I will overtake you shortly, bringing with me the property that belongs to me." For it happened that he had all his wealth, which was of a movable nature, deposited there. Without delaying, they continued on their proposed journey; he, however, loaded his possessions onto the monks' beasts of burden and drove behind them. And having reached with them Tzurulum (which is still a Thracian village), they were all united there with the army that had been gathered by the order of the Domestic. Having decided that it was necessary to inform John Ducas the Caesar, who was lodging in his own estates of Morobundus, about what had happened to them, they sent a messenger to report the action to him. The one bringing that report arrived toward evening, and stood outside the threshold of the courtyard, not yet having been allowed to take in… ^{B C D}

^A his message. His grandson, John, however, seeing him—he was still young, not yet a stripling, and for this reason inseparable from the Caesar—ran in, woke his grandfather from his sleep, and announced the defection taking place on the part of the Comneni. He, immediately struck by the news, struck the youth on the head, and saying that he should not chatter such nonsense, drove him away. But he, after a short while, entered again and brought the same announcement, adding also the specific message shot forth toward him from the Comneni. Now the message contained between its lines something quite clever, hinting at such a deed of usurpation: "We," it said, "have prepared a very fine dish, and not without seasoning; if you wish to share in the feast, come as quickly as possible to participate in the banquet."

Raising himself up and leaning on his right elbow, he ordered the one who had come from them to be brought in. When the man had narrated everything concerning the Comneni, "Alas for me!" said the Caesar, and immediately put his hands to his eyes, ^B and having grasped his beard—as if in that time turning over many calculations—he finally settled on this: that he too would follow their will. Immediately, therefore, he called the grooms, and having mounted his horse, set out on the road leading to the Comneni. On the way, he encountered a certain Byzantine man carrying a significant purse of gold, who was going toward the great city. He asked him that Homeric question, "Who of men are you, and whence do you come?" And when he learned from him that he was carrying much gold from some collections and that he was transporting it to the imperial chamber [(37)], he compelled him to lodge with him, promising that at daybreak he would go wherever he might wish. ^C When the man objected and took this heavily, the Caesar pressed him more strongly and persuaded him by his words, being such a man as he was—quick in speech, keen in thought, and carrying such powers of persuasion on his tongue that he was an Aeschines or a Demosthenes reborn. Having taken such a man with him, he stayed for the night in a certain inn, sparing no effort to win the man’s favor, honoring him with a table, and seeing to it that a comfortable bed was provided for him.

At sunrise, the Byzantine, having saddled his horse, was being carried into the city. The Caesar, observing him looming on the road, said, "Stop, and come with us." But the man, ignorant of where his leader was heading and already suspicious of what those exquisite flatteries might pertain to, kept refusing. The Caesar, on the other hand, prayed and sought to entice him with words; and when these less gentle means did not succeed, he came to harsher ones. Since the Byzantine still did not yield, the Caesar ordered his packs and money to be added to his own, then indulged him lavishly, saying that he might now go wherever his mind led. But the man, fearing the wrath of the royal treasurers if he presented himself to them empty-handed, indeed did not wish to go to the emperor. Nor did he think it safe to return to where he might become a prisoner, because he would be seen by those around the royal chamber with empty hands. ^D [index: entries preserved]

And in every way he treated him with kindness, considered him worthy of his table, and after giving him a suitable rest, held the man there. ^A At the very first light of dawn, when the sun is already hastening to reach the eastern horizon, the Byzantine, having placed the saddles on the horses, was eager to drive straight for Byzantium. Seeing this, the Caesar said: "Come, travel with us." He, not knowing where he was going, nor altogether understanding the reason for which he had been deemed worthy of such friendship, was again troubled and was suspicious of the Caesar and his demonstrations of friendship. But the Caesar kept on pulling him along; and when he did not obey, he changed his tone and used harsher language, threatening him if he did not do as ordered. When he still did not obey, he commanded that all the things belonging to him be attached to his own pack animals and that he should continue on the journey set before him, giving him leave to go wherever he wished. He, having ruled out entry to the palace entirely—as he feared being imprisoned on account of being seen with empty hands by those around the royal chamber—and not wishing to return for fear of the instability and confusion that had fallen upon affairs from the rising attempt of the Comneni, and not wanting to, followed the Caesar. ^B It happened, however, by some chance, that as the Caesar was departing, he ran into Turks who were just crossing the river called the Hebrus. Having therefore pulled on the reins, he inquired whence and whither they were journeying; but he also promised that he would give them much money and deem them worthy of every kind of benefit if they would come with him to the Comnenus. They agreed at that moment. And he asked for one of their leaders, wishing to affirm the compacts for this reason. They immediately, according to their custom, performed the oath, assuring him quite readily that they would fight on the side of the Comnenus. He therefore went on, having taken the Turks along to the Comneni. When they saw him from afar, and were amazed at this new prize, and especially my father Alexius, they were almost beside themselves with joy. Having gone out to meet him and embraced him, he kissed the Caesar. What followed? They took the road leading to the queen of cities, the Caesar having proposed this and being insistent. ^C Therefore, all the runaways from the towns and small cities approaching him proclaimed him emperor, except for those at Orestiada. For those, having long been resentful toward him because of the capture of Bryennius, were inclined toward the party of Botaniates. Having reached Athyra and rested there, after setting out from there afterward, they reached Schiza (this is also a Thracian village), where they pitched their camp. All were in suspense, watching for what was to come and longing to see the expected emperor announced. The majority prayed for the power for Alexius, but not even those around Isaac had grown sluggish, since they were maneuvering everyone as best they could. The discord appeared irreconcilable, as some yearned for this man, others for that one, to be the helmsman of the imperial height. At that time there were also present those related to Alexius by marriage: the aforementioned ^D Caesar, John Doukas, a man capable of planning and skilled in execution, whom I too have seen briefly; and Michael and John, his grandsons; then, the man who had their sister in marriage

George Palaiologos, ^A all of them present and in anxiety, twisting everyone’s opinions toward their desire, “moving every rope,” as they say, and skillfully contriving every device so that Alexios might be proclaimed emperor. Consequently, they continued to bend the opinions of all to their own will. From this it happened that those who supported Isaac were gradually diminished. For where John the Caesar was, no one of all the rest could stand. For he was incomparable in the massiveness of his spirit and the magnitude of his body, and in form befitting a tyrant. What did the Doukai not do? What did they not say? What good things did they not promise to the leaders and to the common rank of the army, if Alexios should ascend to the imperial height? They kept saying that he would reward them with the greatest gifts and honors, as befits each one, and not as it happens by chance, just as the ignorant and inexperienced among commanders do, because he had already served for a long time as your commander-in-chief, and as Great Domestic of the West, and had shared in your common labors, fighting bravely alongside you in ranks and hand-to-hand battles, not sparing his own flesh, nor his limbs, nor his very soul for the sake of your salvation, ^B often traversing mountains and plains with you, knowing the hardships mentioned in fables, and knowing everyone together and individually, he was a lover of Ares, and loved the brave among the soldiers especially. But these things were the actions of the Doukai. But Alexios himself accorded much honor to Isaac, preferring him in all things, whether because of the bond of brotherhood, or—what is truer to say—because the entire army had inclined toward him and was hastening his reign, while it did not turn in the slightest toward Isaac, and since he had the power and the strength from that side and saw that the matter was turning out according to his hopes, he consoled his brother by yielding the empire to him, suffering nothing unwillingly from these things; if he himself were being snatched by the army toward the arrogant axes, while he was soothing his brother with words and making the supposed yielding of the power a pretext. With time being idled away in this manner, the entire citizenry had gathered around the tent, being in suspense, and each one praying for his own desire to be fulfilled. Isaac rose, and taking up the purple-dyed buskin, he attempted to put it on his brother’s foot. As he refused many times, he said, “Let it be; God wills for your race to be recalled through you,” reminding him also of what the one who had appeared at some time around the so-called Karpianon [fields], as both brothers were returning homeward from the palace, had prophesied to him. For having arrived there, a certain man had met them (whether he was one of the higher powers, or they were otherwise plotting the business, or he appeared as one who had finished his toils, he who undergoes them, at the Karpianon, he had met them).

[^A] Isaac was indeed attempting to put the purple buskin on his brother’s foot, but Alexius was frequently resisting this, saying, "Allow it, for through you and in you, God wishes to restore our family to the possession of the empire." Simultaneously he recalled to him the prediction that had once been made to him by an unknown man who had suddenly appeared. For as both brothers were returning home from the palace, a certain person, either a man or even greater than a man, surely of the appearance of a man, [^B] came forward with head bare, white hair, a shaggy beard, and priestly garment; he was clearly one most prescient of things to come. For approaching the rider on foot, he grasped Alexius by the leg and drew him toward himself, intending to whisper into his ear that Davidic verse: "Draw your sword, proceed prosperously, and reign, because of truth and meekness and justice." To this he added, "Emperor Alexius." Having said these things, he departed and vanished. Alexius sought for the man everywhere with his eyes, and even gave his horse full rein, pursuing him in case he might overtake him, and might learn exactly who he was and from where he spoke such things. But the visionary figure remained completely unseen. When he returned from his vain pursuit, Isaac questioned him much about the one who had appeared, and demanded that he lay bare the secret. As Isaac insisted, Alexius at first seemed to put it off, but later he divulged what had been whispered to him in secret. Although he explained the event to the outer world—and to his brother—as an illusion or a deception, in his own mind he considered that the man who had appeared to him was truly a prelate, and he associated him with the son of thunder, the Theologian. [^C] Since, therefore, Isaac observed that the things the old man had predicted were being fulfilled by the events themselves (for he knew of the burning desire of the entire army to acclaim Alexius), he stood and forced him more resolutely, putting the purple footwear upon him and seeing all the more the glowing desire of the entire soldiery for Alexius. And from then on, the Duces began the acclamation, both for other reasons, and because Irene, who was akin to them, was my mother by all laws.

The Son of Thunder, the foundation of divine words, the author of theology, and the first herald of the true wisdom of God’s doctrines, we shall dutifully praise the beloved John, the virgin.

and did not use force against his reluctant brother, who at length yielding, allowed the red buskin to be placed upon him. Then the Ducas family began the acclamation, both because they were more inclined toward Alexios for other reasons, and because Irene, my mother, had been lawfully wed to him from their family. The Ducas faction followed with equal alacrity of acclamation, as well as all their kinsmen and relatives, and soon the entire army, with one voice raised even to the heavens, kept calling Alexios "Augustus," a sudden concord that was nothing short of miraculous. For but a little while before, many had been so eagerly favoring Isaac that they seemed to wish for nothing more than to bargain for his cause, and appeared ready to refuse neither sedition nor battle. While these things were being accomplished, a rumor spread that Melissenos had reached Damalis with a large army and was there being proclaimed emperor, clothed in purple. While they hesitated to believe it, envoys arrived from him, to whom he had entrusted letters written in this manner: "God has saved me safely with the army as far as Damalis. I have also learned what has befallen you, and with what success you have avoided the plots of those wicked servants and their harmful attempts against you, and have placed your own safety in security. Since, however—a thing I count as part of a divine benefit—I am joined to you by affinity, and furthermore am so attached in mind and affection to you and your cause that in this I yield to none of your own blood (God is my witness), it is incumbent upon your wisdom that we deliberate in common, so that, having pooled our counsels and resources for the establishment of our common security, we may not be carried about by every wind, but, having rightly ordered the affairs of the empire, we may plant our steps and proceed upon a firm foundation. This, without doubt, will happen if, after the city has been taken by us with God's help, you yourselves govern the West at your own discretion, while you wish for me to rule Asia, clothed in the crown and purple, and that you might name me in the solemn acclamations."

^A And that for the imperial dignity, in accordance with the established custom for emperors, alongside the name of the one whom you nominate, my own name should also be publicly proclaimed, that our acclamation may be unified; and even if the places and affairs are divided between us, that our intent may be one and the same. In this way, if we act thus, the state may be administered without sedition by both of us." When the envoys reported these things, they did not receive a final answer at that time, but on the following day, having been summoned again, the impossibility of Melissenos’s demands was demonstrated to them by many arguments. It was announced to them, however, that what was determined would be made known to them by George, surnamed Manganes, ^B to whom the care of them had been entrusted. While these things were taking place, they did not neglect the siege altogether, but attempted the walls of the city by skirmishing as much as possible. On the day after that, they were summoned and told what had been decided. This was that Melissenos should be honored with the rank of Caesar, that he should be granted the ribbons and acclamations and all the other honors that befit such a rank, and that there should be given to him the greatest city of the Thessalians, (44) in which the temple of the great martyr Demetrios (45) has been built, a most beautiful structure, where the oil flowing from his tomb (46) always provides the greatest healings to those who approach with faith. Those [envoys], however, being displeased at these ^C things, since they were not being heard regarding the things they asked for, and seeing the great preparation of these men against the city, and the multitude of the army they had, and [fearing] that the time was already becoming critical for them—and fearing that, once the city was captured, the Komnenoi might become confident and might not wish to fulfill even what they were now promising—they insisted that these things be confirmed by a chrysobull (written in red). ^D And when it appeared that they were not being granted their wish—for they were demanding red [ink]—the emperor Alexios easily agreed. Having immediately summoned George Manganes, who was his secretary, he entrusted to him the task of preparing the document in the format requested. But he put the matter off for three whole days, putting forward one excuse after another: now that he was exhausted by the day’s labor and could not complete the writing at night.

now claiming that the completed work had been spoiled by chance. Indeed, it is a subject of controversy whether the subscription on this diploma—up until the present time—was written this way, and whether it expressed the name of the emperor. Procopius, in his *Secret History*, records that the Emperor Justin signed with four character letters; he does not explain what those were. At the tenth session of the Eighth Synod, Anastasius writes clearly that the emperors’ names were subscribed, yet not with a distinct character, but, as Alemanus says, they subscribed with certain secret knots and implications of letters—in a word, a monogram, by which the name is more easily understood than read, as Symmachus says, *Book I, Letter 12*. Certainly, among the Latins, the use of the monogram is found to be most ancient in the diplomas of supreme pontiffs, emperors, and kings, as also in their coinage. Rabanus Maurus, Abbot of Fulda, in his book *On the Invention of Languages*, writes: "Monogrammatic letters are found written in some places where a painting with mosaic has been made on the wall of an image, or on veils, or otherwise somewhere else; there, painters have been accustomed to make their names one character with a collection of letters, which is called a monogram." The charter of Pippin I, King of Aquitaine, in Besly: "However, so that this authority of our excellence may remain inviolable and unshaken for all time, we have taken care to insert a monogram, and have caused it to be marked below with the impression of our ring." The Bertinian Annals of the Franks, year 854: "These things they decree by the common counsel and consent of their nobles, and confirm them with the monograms of their own names." And the diploma of Adalberon I, Bishop of Metz, in Meursius: "With our own hand we have signed the monogram of our name below." Finally, Odo of Cluny, in the *Life of Count Burchard of Corbeil*: "And so, the testament having been made, it is confirmed by a monogram." But even if it be acknowledged that emperors of an earlier age expressed their names in full, or contracted them into the form of a monogram, it must be said otherwise of those who lived after the year 1200. For they are preserved in...

^A their own hand, immediately calling George Manganes, who also served as his scribe, he entrusted to him the writing of the chrysobull. But he put it off for three days, weaving one excuse after another, sometimes saying that he was exhausted from what he had already written, having been worn out by the burning heat of the lamp’s spark. With such tricks and playful evasions, Manganes was dragging out the conclusion of the business. Meanwhile, the Comneni, moving from there, occupied Aretas. This place is located in the—

NOTES OF CAR. DUFRESNE DU CANGE

In the royal archive of the most Christian king, there are diplomas of Baldwin II, Emperor of Constantinople, from the years 1217 and 1248, furnished with gold and leaden seals; furthermore, two letters of Andronicus (the Elder Palæologus) written in Latin on papyrus, the former to Charles the Fair, King of France, the latter to Benedict of Como, a Dominican, subscribed with a similar expression of red letters. Nor are these letters contracted into the form of a monogram, but are capital, and extended across the whole breadth of the parchment or papyrus, and even into the very text of the diplomas or letters themselves; with characters so anomalous and intricate that hardly a single tip of the letters can be discerned. But so that anyone may have the ability to divine the nature of such subscriptions, here we provide them, faithfully extracted from the ^B original archetypes and reduced to a smaller form, since in the diplomas they are written out much larger, filling the entire breadth of the membrane. Therefore, the first subscription is that of Baldwin II, in a diploma of the year 1247, which is related by Duchesne in *Probat. Hist. duc. Burg.*, p. 139; the second is of the same Baldwin in a diploma of the year 1248, month of March, which we have described in *Hist. Gallo-Byzant.*, p. 22; finally, the third is of Andronicus Palæologus in the letters just mentioned. Moreover, such subscriptions in the letters of Greek pontiffs and nobles are scattered throughout the work of Martin Crusius in his *Turcogræcia*, for which, even though he has rendered their meaning and notation, it is nevertheless hard for any tip of them to be perceived. But in the aforementioned diplomas of Baldwin and Andronicus, the month seems to be described, but not ^C the name. Pachymeres, lib. IV, cap. 29, and Gregoras, lib. IV, recount that it was granted by the Emperor Michael Palæologus to his son Andronicus, a colleague in the empire, that it should be permitted for him to write in red with his own hand: ANDRONICUS BY THE GRACE OF CHRIST EMPEROR OF THE ROMANS. Where the Royal manuscript observes *γράφειν δι' ἐρυθρῶν* (to write in red), etc., that is, *πλατέως* (broadly), as Hesychius interprets this word: with expanded and extended letters. But Michael took exception to this nomination, lest he should be able to *πρῳτολογεῖν* (first-speak) while he himself was alive, that is, to ascribe *πρωτοσέβαστον* (protosebast), as Gregoras has it, just as, says Pachymeres, emperors are wont to do. Thence the same author, lib. VII, ^D cap. 1, narrates that Andronicus, after the death of his father Michael, was the first to place the month and day on diplomas, the *πρῳτῳ μηνιολογῴνω* (firstly month-listing), and in lib. VI, cap. 36, he writes that Michael, when he was in his last moments, while signing a petition, designated the first letter of the month of November, and could not finish the rest of the word with distinct flourishes [apicibus]. From which it is clear that the emperors wrote the proper name, the month, and the indiction with the same ink, or the same rubric. This is furthermore confirmed by the Novella of Manuel on ferns, in which we have these words at the end: *Εγράφη τὸ, ΜΗΝΙ ΜΑΡΤΙΩ ΙΝΔΙΚΤΙΩΝΟΣ ιδ', δι' ἐρυθρῶν γραμμάτων τῆς βασιλικῆς χειρός*, that is, "It was written by the hand of the emperor in red letters, in the month of March of the 14th indiction"; and from another of the same Augustus... which concludes with these words: *Εἶχε τὸ, ΜΗΝΙ ΜΑΡΤΙΩ ΙΝΔΙΚΤΙΩΝΟΣ ιδ', δι' ἐρυθρῶν γραμμάτων τῆς βασιλικῆς καὶ θείας χειρός*. Where it must be observed that it is not noted that the emperor’s name was written in cinnabar characters in those Novellae, but only the month and the indiction: so that at that time, the emperors would not append their own name, but only the month and the indiction to their diplomas and bulls; whereas at other times, they would grant the privilege of signing their own names in cinnabar not only to free men, but also to the principal officials of their court, as is evident from Nicetas in *Isaac.*, lib. III, no. 5.

ALEXIAD BOOK II

^A the whole day, and that he could not finish the writing at night, and also that a spark had fallen and burned up what was written during the night. Manganes was making such and other similar excuses, and, as it were, practicing his sorcery to delay for one reason or another. The Comneni departed thence and quickly reached the place called "the Aretae." This is a place situated near the city, rising above the plain and ascending into a hill toward those standing below and looking toward it; on one side it slopes down toward the sea, on the other toward Byzantium, and on the other two sides, toward the north and west, it catches every wind; it has clear and drinkable water flowing always, but is entirely devoid of plants or trees; one would say that the hill had been made bald by some woodcutters. Because of the pleasantness of the place and its temperate climate, the Emperor Romanus Diogenes had built there magnificent dwellings, sufficient for kings, for the sake of relaxation.

Having arrived there, they sent out and made attempts upon the wall, not with siege-engines or machines or stone-throwing weapons, since the time did not allow it, but through ^B skirmishers, javelin-men, spearmen, and mailed soldiers.

But Botaneiates, seeing such an undertaking by the Comneni, and that a force of all kinds of men had gathered and was already hastening to approach the gates of the city, and that Nicephorus Melissenus had already reached Damalis with no less a force than these and was likewise laying claim to the empire, not knowing what he should do, nor being able to struggle against both sides, and being quite cold and fearful on account of his old age—even if in his youth he had been most manly—was at that time only breathing as much as the circumference of the wall enclosed him, and rather inclined toward resigning the empire. Hence also astonishment and confusion seized everyone, and it seemed that all things would be taken from every side.

But as the capture of the city appeared difficult to the Comneni (for the forces were gathered from various foreign and domestic peoples; and where there is a varied multitude, there also the difference of opinion is apparent), Alexis, who had put on the new buskin, seeing the impregnability of the city and suspecting the fickleness of the soldiers, turned to another plan, that by some flatteries and promises he might win over some of those guarding the walls and, by stealing their minds, thus seize the city. Having pondered these things for the whole night, at dawn he arrives at the Caesar’s tent, reporting what he had devised, and asking him to assist him and to survey the walls, and to inspect the battlements, and to examine the guards (for they were from various [places]) so as to know how it is possible for the city to be captured. He, however, bore the order with difficulty, seeing that the monastic [life] ^C [the Latin text continues:] and proximity, rising above the plain, and showing the appearance of a hill to those placed below, looking toward the sea on one side and the city on the other; with its remaining two sides turned toward the north and west; exposed to every wind, having perennial springs of clear and potable water, yet so barren of plants and trees that you would believe it had been carefully shaved by woodcutters. Here once the emperor Romanus Diogenes, following the pleasantness of the view and the healthiness of the climate and soil, had taken care to construct, for the sake of the rare use of rusticating, splendid houses and ones equal to receiving kings.

Staying in these, the Comneni with the other leaders sent those who would attempt the walls of the city, not with machines or ballistae or artillery of that kind, of which neither the supply nor the time was present, but with skirmishes of javelin-men and an ostentatious display of spearmen and armored soldiers, as if to terrify the defenders. Indeed, Botaneiates himself was not a little terrified; he, seeing on one side the Comneni at the gates with a numerous army of every kind, and on the other side Nicephorus Melissenus having progressed to Damalis with forces no less and a like purpose of invading the principate, encircled by a double evil, since he did not have enough to oppose to each, hoped for little regarding the whole situation, and did not abhor the counsels of abdicating supreme power: evidently now a senior, and much changed from that one who formerly, in his flourishing age, was most brave and would never bind his hopes by walls and the circumference of a city, had not the chill of age dulled that vigor. And that not-well-dissembled fear of the prince spread among the citizens, with such great consternation among the common people that now they trusted in no fortifications anymore; and convinced by the disturbing fear that all things would be pervious to the enemies on all sides, many changed their care for defending into untimely grief.

But the Comneni, especially the new Augustus, prudently estimating the difficulty of capturing the city, both from the magnitude of the affair and from the type of tumultuous army which they were using—partly from natives, partly from aliens, not yet coalesced into such harmony that the levity of the multitude and the surge of changing loyalties would not be rightly feared—thought it best to try if they could entice the wills of the defenders with promises and draw them to their party. Alexis, having meditated such things with himself for the whole night, at first light repairs to the Caesar’s tent, intending to communicate to him the plan which he had just suggested, and to use the same man's help in its execution. For he was treating with him that he might want to come with him and simultaneously examine... [index: entries preserved]

what kind of soldiers were posted at each spot for defense, so that he might understand from which side a betrayal could be attempted with hope of success. It was troublesome for the Caesar to hear this at first. For since he had not yet long since doffed his monastic garment, he feared with good reason that he would be exposed to the mockery and derision of those standing by the wall and manning the battlements; nor did his foresight deceive him. For as soon as he had been forced to follow Alexios, he immediately appeared to those who saw him from the walls, who greeted the "abbot" (48) with a contemptuous addition, mocking him with insults. But he, pulling his hood over his brow and hiding himself, remained steadfast, paying no mind to the insults of the jesters, but keeping his whole mind fixed on the proposed goal. For those who possess a settled character are accustomed to remain fixed in what they judge to be right and to despise those things that happen from outside. He inquired, therefore, who might belong to those guarding the towers at each point. When he learned that the so-called Immortals (this is a very special troop of the Roman forces) were stationed here, and the Varangians (49) from Thule were stationed there (those whom I say are the axe-bearing barbarians), and elsewhere the Nemitzoi (50) (a nation...)

which is also barbarian, and has been subject to the Roman Empire from of old), he says, advising Alexios not to attack the Varangians nor to strike the Immortals first. For the former, being natives ^A of the land, and of necessity having much goodwill towards the Emperor, would sooner yield up their lives than be persuaded to contemplate any evil against him; and the latter, brandishing their swords upon their shoulders (51)—a paternal tradition and a sort of deposit and inheritance, they pass on from one to another the loyalty to the Emperors and the protection of their own bodies, maintaining their faith in him unshaken, and indeed will not tolerate a bare word regarding treason. But testing the Nemitzoi, he might not perhaps miss the mark, but would be successful in the entry.

Concerning the Nemitzoi and their axes

^B The people who carry the single-edged axes upon their shoulders... [text describes technical variations of axes and their handles]. [alt-version omitted] ^C ... ^D

the inviolate faith they bear toward the Augusti, for whose protection they are therefore engaged, maintain this, as if it were a most precious inheritance transmitted to them from their fathers, with the greatest constancy; and they would not even admit into their ears the first mention of treachery. In the Nemitzoi one hope remained; if he should test their spirits with suitable promises, he would not perhaps wander far from his target, and there might be shown a convenient way to enter the city through the tower which they were guarding. Alexius, receiving these words as if sent by an oracle, immediately dispatched a certain man of his own to the leader of the Nemitzoi, who, having spoken to him from the outer ridge of the wall, after many words exchanged on both sides, agreed with him that the city would soon be betrayed; and the very soldier who had been chosen as the interpreter of this undertaking returned immediately to Alexius, a messenger that the business had been concluded more quickly than hope had anticipated: at which the leaders, elated, were briskly preparing to mount their horses. ^B

At such a turn of events, the envoys from Melissenus were insisting vehemently that the promised diploma be produced for them at last. And there was no delay on the part of the prince; but Manganes, having been summoned, said that he indeed had the document written, but that the casket where those things which are used for imperial signatures are usually kept had been lost through a wretched mishap, together with the stylus itself, and could not now be found. He, a supreme dissimulator, was endowed with that prudence by which he was wont to foresee the future most easily, to hunt out something useful from the past, to discern the present accurately, and to turn things dexterously to what was expedient: possessed of a marvelous artifice for concealing and obscuring matters with pretexts, whenever he had determined that it was good to do so. Moreover, he deemed it to be in his interest if the hopes of Melissenus were kept still in suspense; for if the golden bull he sought, by which the dignity of Caesar was asserted for him, were sent more quickly than was necessary, there was a danger that he, not content with the honor bestowed, might allow himself to be carried away by the desire for the imperial power itself, which he had previously shown, and might break out into some bold crime because of this ambition. Fearing this, Manganes, by such stalling, continued to delay the expediting of the golden bull. The agents of Melissenus, on the other hand, seeing the city gates opened to the Comneni, and suspecting these delays of being treacherous and crafty trickery, insisted more urgently on the petition for the promised golden bull. But the Comneni dismissed them with this final reply: "Since we have the city in our hands and will soon, God helping, be masters of it, go and report this very thing to your master; and add this, that if God favors our undertakings, upon his coming to us everything will be arranged for the convenience of both parties." ^{C D}

They then dispatched ^A a messenger to Gilpractus to sound out his mind and, if he should discern that he was eager to welcome the Comnenoi according to his promise, to give him the agreed-upon signal, which they themselves, upon observing, would accelerate their entry, while he, having ascended the tower, would quickly open the gates for them. He willingly accepted the mission to Gilpractus, being a man eager for military actions and the storming of cities, and in this very thing, one might say, a "wall-smasher," as Homer speaks of Ares. The Comnenoi, having armed themselves and arranged all their infantry very skillfully, proceeded at a slow pace toward the city. ^B When evening fell, George Palaiologos approached the wall and, having received the signal from Gilpractus, ascended the tower with those around him. Meanwhile, the men around Alexios, having arrived shortly before the walls, set up a stockade and encamped openly. Having spent a small part of the night there, for the rest they kept the center of the phalanx themselves along with the picked cavalry and the better part of the army, having disposed the light-armed troops, and advancing at a walking pace they gathered together before the walls at the very break of dawn. And having fashioned the appearance of war, they all bristled with iron so as to strike terror into those inside. When the signal was given to them from above by Palaiologos, ^C and he had opened the gates, they entered mixed together, not in military order, but each as he happened, carrying shields and bows and spears. It was the fifth day ^D of the Great Week, on which we sacrifice and eat the mystical Pascha, in the fourth indiction, of the year 6589, in the month of April. And thus the entire army, consisting of foreign and local forces, gathered from the natives and the neighboring regions, seeing the city long flourishing in all kinds of goods and known to be constantly watered from land and sea, entered in a short time through the Charsian Gate, being scattered everywhere about the highways, the crossroads, and the lanes. [index: entries preserved]

^A They spared nothing—neither houses, nor churches, nor even the sacred and holy places themselves, but gathered immense plunder from them; they refrained only from killing, but in all other matters they acted with total insolence and shamelessness. What was even worse, not even the local inhabitants abstained from such deeds, but as if they had forgotten who they were, and having changed their own customs for the worse, they themselves also committed, without blushing, the very things the barbarians were doing. ^B Seeing these things, the Emperor Nicephorus, and realizing that his position had reached a very tight pass, with the city being besieged from the west and with Nicephorus Melissenus already camped at Damalis in the east, not knowing what he should do, had resolved to yield the first place to Melissenus. Now that the city had already been taken by the Comneni, he summoned one of his more trusted men and instructed him to bring Melissenus into the palace, and a certain spatharios, a most valiant man, accompanied him. ^C But before this proposal could reach the stage of action, the city was taken, and Palaeologus, taking one of his men with him, went down on foot heading toward the sea. Happening upon a small boat, he entered it immediately and ordered the oarsmen to set the craft toward the place where the fleet was moored by custom. ^D Approaching the opposite shore, he saw the man who had been sent by Botaniates for the purpose of making ready the fleet to transport Melissenus,

Commentary on the Spatharios and the Taking of the City

of the ships of war. Having recognized him from afar—since he was an old acquaintance of his—he drew alongside and approached him, greeted him with the usual words, and inquired whence he came and whither he was bound, asking that he be taken on board with him. The Spatharios, seeing him girt with a sword and carrying a shield, grew fearful and said to him: "Were I not to see you so heavily armed, I would gladly have received you." But he, with great eagerness, laid aside his shield, his sword, and his helmet, if only he [the Spatharios] would consent to take him along. When the Spatharios saw that he had laid down his arms, he yielded at that moment and allowed him to enter his own boat, and embraced and kissed him with great joy.

The Palaeologus, a man of mighty deeds, waited not even for a brief moment, but set to work. Leaping onto the prow, he asked the rowers: "What are you doing, I say, and whither are you going, contriving to bring down upon your own heads the greatest of evils? The city, as you see, has been taken. He who was once the Grand Domestic has now been proclaimed Emperor; you see the men-at-arms, and you hear the acclamations; there is no longer a place for anyone else in the palace. Botanetes is a good man, to be sure, but the Comneni are far better. Great is the army of Botanetes, but our own is many times greater. It is not necessary, therefore, to betray your own lives, your wives, and your children; rather, look at the city, behold the entire army-at-arms within it, listen to the standards and the acclamations which are ringing out brilliantly, and see how the man who was once the Grand Domestic is now Emperor, approaching the palaces and already girding himself with the imperial authority. Turn your prows, and by granting him the victory, come to join him." The men were persuaded by his words and all came over to his opinion. When the Spatharios took offense, this sword-bearing George Palaeologus threatened to tie him up right there on the deck of the ship ^B or else throw him into the depths. Immediately, therefore, the Palaeologus led the acclamations, and with him, the rowers. The Spatharios, even though he was unwilling and troubled, he bound and laid upon the deck. Having sailed a little further, he recovered his sword and shield and thus brought his boat to where the fleet was, already engaged in making the universal acclamation. Having encountered also the man sent by Botanetes for the purpose of taking charge of the fleet and transporting Melissenus, he immediately seized him and ordered the sailors to weigh anchor. Having sailed from there with the fleet, he reached the acropolis ^C, making the acclamation resplendent.

^D [index: entries preserved]

^A There he ordered his rowers to cease rowing and to remain motionless, in order to prevent those from the East who were seeking to cross over. A little later, seeing a ship heading for the great palace [A/B] (59), he ordered the rowers on his own ship to row with great vigor, and he caught up with it. And when he saw his own father in it, he stood up immediately and paid him the reverence due to parents. But he did not look upon him with joy, nor did he call him "sweet light" as the Ithacan Odysseus once did ^B when he saw Telemachus (Hom. Od. π, 23). For there, there was a feast and suitors, and a struggle, and bowstrings, and a bow, and the chaste Penelope lay as a prize for the victor, and Telemachus entered not as an enemy, but as a son aiding a father. But here, there was battle and war, and both were opposed to each other in their intentions. And the state of one did not escape the other, even if their purposes had not yet ^C developed into actual deeds. Hence, having called him a fool, he inquired, saying, "Why have you come here to do?" And he said, "Since you are the one questioning me, nothing." And he said to him, "Endure for a little while, and if the emperor listens to me, you will know before long." Therefore, the aforementioned Nicephorus Palæologus, having arrived at the palace, ^D since he saw all the men dispersed and occupied with the collection of wealth, thinking them easy to defeat, asked Botaniates to give him the barbarians from the island of Thule, so that through them he might drive the Comneni out of the city. But Botaniates, once having despaired of his own situation, feigned that he did not wish for a civil war to occur. "But if you will listen to me, Nicephorus," he said, "since the Comneni have entered the city, go to them as an ambassador for the sake of peace." He, though upset, nevertheless went. As the Comneni had entered and were now feeling confident, they were holding their ground around the plain of the great martyr George, called the Syceotes (60), deliberating whether it was necessary first to go to the...

^A mothers of those with them and offer the customary obeisance to them as was their habit, and only then proceed to the palace. Learning of this, the Caesar sent one of his own attendants and severely rebuked them for their delay. Upon their arriving at the house of the Iberitzes (61), Nicephorus Palæologus met them, saying: "The Emperor sends you this message: 'I am already an old man and alone, possessing neither son, nor brother, nor any of my own kin. If you wish'—directing his speech to the newly appeared emperor, Alexius—'be my adopted son. And I will not subtract any of the things that you have promised to each of those fighting on your side, nor will I share in any of your imperial power; I will only share in the mere name of emperor, the acclamations, and the red buskins, and furthermore, in resting at the palace. But as for you, the administration of the affairs of the empire shall be entirely your concern.'" To this, the Comneni showed some signs indicative of consent; hearing of this, the Caesar hurried toward them, issuing threats and urging them on toward the palace. But as he entered the courtyard from the right, the Comneni dismounted and came to meet him on foot. He rebuked them severely. But as he entered, he fixed his gaze and saw Nicephorus Palæologus entering again from the left. "What is this about, father-in-law," he said, "and with what intent do you come here?" He, as it seemed, having accomplished nothing, came to bring the same messages as before from the Emperor. For the Emperor held out to keep his promises, to treat Alexius as a son, on the condition that he [Alexius] clothe him with the imperial authority, and that he [Alexius] manage the affairs of the empire according to his own will, while he himself would only share the name of emperor, the red buskins and the new purple, and resting in the palace, being already an old man and in need of ease. Suddenly glaring at him sharply and knitting his brows, he said to him: "Go and report to the Emperor that these things would have been most advantageous before the city was captured; but from this point on, the proposal has no place at all. Since you are already an old man, withdraw from the throne and take thought for your own safety." But these were the words of the Caesar. Borilus, having learned of their entry, and how the army under them was everywhere—

^A scattered and busy with the plunder, and wholly absorbed in the collection of spoils; and that these, along with their blood relations and kinsmen by marriage, as well as several foreigners, had been left behind, he decided to turn and stand against them, for they were very easily overcome due to the scattering of their army. Consequently, he gathered all those who brandished swords upon their shoulders, and as many as had sprung from the district from the Forum of Constantine up to the so-called Milion and above, and he drew them up in file with great discipline; they stood united and ready for battle, remaining ^B steady for the time being.

Now, the man who was then patriarch—a man truly worthy of that status, genuinely poor, and one who had undergone every kind of asceticism, just like the Fathers of old who dwelt in the deserts and mountains, and who had been deemed worthy of the prophetic and divine gift, having foretold many things that never failed, and having served as a canon and archetype of virtue for those who came after him—did not appear to be entirely ignorant of the events that had befallen Botaneiates. But either by divine inspiration or by the suggestion of the Caesar (for this, too, was said, and that he had long been kindly disposed toward him on account of the loftiness of his virtue, and that he was counseling the emperor to withdraw from the royal throne), he ^C said: "Do not move toward civil wars, nor oppose the command of God. Do not wish to have the city defiled by the blood of Christians, but yield to the will of God and withdraw from the middle." The emperor was persuaded by the words of the high priest. Fearing the recklessness of the army, he girded himself and set out, inclining toward the Great Church of God. Being full of confusion, he failed to notice that he was still wearing the vestments befitting emperors. But Borilus, turning and touching ^D [the translation continues onto the next page...]

pearl-encrusted veils attached to his arm, loosened them from the rest of his robe, saying with a sneer and a mocking grin, “Indeed, this is what truly befits you now.” So Botaniates, arriving at the great temple of God, the Hagia Sophia, remained there, trusting in the sanctity of the place.

Notes of Charles Dufresne Du Cange.

[...]

BOOK III. ANNA COMNENA'S ALEXIAD

69 ARGUMENT. Alexius arranges the affairs of the empire. He grants peace to the Turks. He prepares war against Robert.

SUMMARY. Botaniates assumes the monastic habit and profession. Why his wife Maria, and for what cause, waited at home for the Comneni. People’s suspicions concerning her. Praises of her son Constantine Ducas, Empress Irene acclaimed through the efforts of George Palæologus. John the Caesar uses the services of Patriarch Cosmas to escort Maria from the palace. Maria’s appearance is described. A digression on the cause and occasion of her marriage to Botaniates, of which John the Caesar was the procurer. Alexius is crowned by Patriarch Cosmas. When John Xiphilinus, Cosmas’s predecessor, died. The favors of Eustathius Garidas toward the mother of the Comneni. Irene, the wife of Alexius, is crowned by Patriarch Cosmas. Description of Alexius. Irene’s lineage, age, and appearance. 70 Description of Isaac; his martial fortitude. He is created Sebastocrator by Alexius. Nicephorus Melissenus is made Caesar according to agreement. The nature of the emperor’s crown, and how it differs from the crowns of the Sebastocrator and the Caesar. Alexius names Taronites, the husband of his sister, Protosebastus and Protovestiarius, and soon after, Panypersebastus. His brothers, Adrian and Nicephorus: the former Protosebastus, the latter Great Drungarius of the fleet. The new dignities with new names devised by Alexius, and for what reason. The reign is the art of arts. Cosmas abdicates the patriarchate. The eunuch Eustathius Garidas is promoted to his place. The red buskins are returned to Constantine Ducas. Maria leaves the palace. Alexius, before the patriarch and the synod, humbly confesses the guilt of the captured and plundered city, and receives a salutary penance of a forty-day fast, along with sleeping on the ground for the same number of nights, and fulfills it with his own men. He commits the administration of imperial affairs to his mother, who had been contemplating a religious retreat, regarding which the Golden Bull is cited. That woman’s prudence, piety, and other virtues; her most orderly way of life. The occasion on which the temple of Saint Thecla was ordered to be built by Emperor Isaac Comnenus. The miserable state of the empire with Robert threatening from one side and the Turks from the other, the treasury exhausted, and military discipline lost. Alexius writes to the prefects of the provinces of the Eastern tract. He sends George Palæologus to Dyrrachium to fortify that city against Robert. He writes to the prefects of the cities of Illyricum, to the Roman Pontiff, to the Archbishop of Capua, to the princes and dukes of the Gauls, and to the Duke of Lombardy, inciting them all against Robert with both promises and gifts. He sends an envoy to Henry, King of Germany, with letters that are recited. Nicæa, the royal city of Solyman, prince of the Turks. Alexius checks the incursions of the Turks from there to the Bosphorus or Damalis, who were ravaging everything, and drives them from the maritime towns, forcing them to seek peace, which he grants them due to fear of Robert. He recalls Monomachatus, who had fled from Dyrrachium into Illyricum, by sending a Golden Bull as a guarantee of safety. Robert, though his forces were diminished by a severe storm and shipwreck, girds himself for the siege of Dyrrachium. The origins of that city, which was once Epidamnus, are recounted.

ALEXIAD III

The beginning of the reign of Alexius Comnenus. ^A The Comneni, having seized the palace, immediately [took] Michael, who was a relative by marriage through their niece, who later served as Logothete of the Drome, they send to him...

^A . . . later [logothete of the secret] [note: see apparatus] sent a man to Botaniates at once. He went, and accompanied by the then-prefect of the city, Radenos by name, brought the emperor into a small boat, and with him arrived at the famous monastery of the Peribleptos, where both labored greatly to persuade Botaniates that he should want to assume the monastic habit. While he deferred this to another time, they, fearing that in so slippery a state of affairs, some new movement might arise from the faction of those servants not yet crushed, and from the Chomateni not yet reconciled, once again, and far more urgently, pressed the same counsel, until they finally prevailed upon him to have his hair shorn that very day and to be adorned with the angelic habit.

^B describing the inauguration of Otto the Great: "The pontiff," he says, "went to the king, with the tunic tightened according to the custom of the Franks, behind the altar, over which were the royal insignia, the sword with the belt, the chlamys with the armilla, the staff with the scepter and diadem." Where it is to be observed that the chlamys is joined to the armillae, because they were in a certain manner appendages to it, and when the chlamys was fitted to the arms, they were attached. I said that the Franks received the armillae from the Germans, which is sufficiently attested by Widukind, who says that Otto, according to the custom of the Franks, or rather of the peoples of the Augusti, adorned his vestments. Add that the Franks attribute golden armillae, according to Gregory of Tours, lib. 11, Hist. Franc. cap. 42; *brachialia* of gold; Audoenus in Vita S. Eligii, lib. I, cap. 10. The same writer, lib. 11, cap. 39, of Queen Bathildis (a): and he left nothing more than golden armlets. Where the edition of Du Chesne (b), retaining nothing more than sleeves. *Brachialia* and sleeves of Bathildis were among the other ornaments. Fortunatus in Vita S. Radegundis, cap. 15: "Similarly, coming to the monastery of S. Jumeris, she, the happy queen, offered to the holy altar a precious gift, consisting of an embroidered shirt, an under-tunic, a blouse, a tunic, ^C an over-tunic, clasps, all things adorned with certain gems, by which she benefited herself in a circle." Saint Francis alone 262 to our present times, the armilla was a badge of royal dignity, and among the Saxons of Britain. Simeon of Durham, in *Hist. eccles. Dunelm.* cap. 15, writes: "Guthred was placed on the throne by Saint Cuthbert with the armilla on his right arm." That these were properly armillae of men, it has long been noted by the sons of critics (c). They later passed to women. Tertullian *de pallio*: "Armillae, as a gift for brave men, are also seized by matrons, conscious of all shames, and in later centuries they were of the same form, which in following ages," so that what is adorned with gems and stones, with Phrygian work, and is fastened to the arms, is a common ornament for men and women: formerly it was not only for men, but also for women, and they are joined with a clasp. Which is illustrated by the anonymous work, *De mirac. S. Fidis virg. et martyr.* cap. 5: "Arsendis, the wife of William, Count of Toulouse, sister of that Poncius, who was later treacherously killed by Artaldus, had golden armillae, or rather what continued to the elbow, sleeves made with gem work, Vita S. Eligii episc. Noviom.: "How many times did she steal the golden armilla, and the fist-covering also, adorned with gold and gems, for herself, that she might aid the wretched?" ^D

^A Ah, the vicissitudes of fortune! How she lifts up human life when she chooses to smile upon it, and places a royal diadem upon a man, and purples his buskins; yet when she knits her brows at these same men, in place of the purple and the crowns, she clothes them in black rags and tatters. This is precisely what befell the Emperor Botaniates. When questioned by some of his intimates whether he bore the change with resignation, he replied: "Only the abstinence from meat ^B (69) is grievous to me; as for the rest, it gives me little trouble."

The Empress Maria, however, together with her son Constantine, whom she had by the previous emperor, Michael Ducas, remained still in the palace, fearing for the "fair-haired Menelaus," as the poet might say. She had an irreproachable reason for this endurance, namely her kinship with the Comneni, for the one was her son-in-law and the other her adopted son, as has been explained above. Yet some, stirred by envy, surmised other things about her. For she had previously taken the one as her son-in-law ^C (70) and the other as her adopted son. ^D Those things did not persuade her to remain, however, nor was it any disreputable motive that moved her—not the allure of those men, nor the desire for an easy and accessible life—but rather the fact that she was a stranger there, possessing no relatives, no intimates, no one at all who was of the same country. She was unwilling, therefore, to depart in confusion, fearing lest some evil should befall the child if she left before receiving some security for his safety, of the kind that is wont to happen in the changes of emperors. For the child was, in any case, beautiful and still young, not yet having passed his seventh year ^A (71) (and I would not praise my own kin, were it not that the necessity of the circumstances compels me), and his life was pleasant, not only in words but also in many other ways.

His movements and the turnings of his games were unparalleled, as those who were present at the time later said; his complexion was fair and white, suffused with a redness where it was needed, like roses just bursting from their buds. His eyes were not white, but resembled those of a hawk, and ^A shone beneath his brows as if in a golden setting; from these he gave various delights to those who looked at him, appearing as a beauty that was heavenly and not earthly; in sum, one who saw him would have said he was just as they paint Love. This was the true cause of the Empress's remaining in the palace. For I, both by nature and by habit, abhor the fabrication of stories and the invention of new things, knowing that this is common to the many, especially when they are caught up in envy and malice, and I do not quickly agree with the slanders of the many. But I even had safety in such matters from another source, having been brought up from childhood with the Empress, and not yet having passed my ^B eighth year. Possessing a great fondness for me, she shared in all her secrets. I have heard many others saying various things about these events, and disputing with others—some grasping the past events one way, others another, according to the state of each man’s soul and the benevolence or hatred he held toward her—and I saw that not all were of the same mind. I had many times heard her herself recounting how many things had happened to her, and into what fear she had fallen, especially concerning her child, when the Emperor Nicephorus was laying down the empire. And in my judgment, and that of many of the best men who care for the truth, it was longing for the child ^C that kept her in the palace for a short time then. But so much for the Empress Maria. Alexius, my father, having now taken hold of the scepter, entered the palace and left his own wife, who was in her fifteenth year, together with her sisters and mother and the Caesar, who was her father’s paternal grandfather, in the lower palace. For so it had come to be called, receiving its name from the position of the place. He himself, with his brothers, his mother, and the sons-in-law related to him by affinity, went to the palace situated above. The parts of the palaces that are ^D situated above, the upper palaces, are called so for the following reason. Near the walls, a harbor is to be seen, built of marble at great expense in the past, where a stone lion catches a bull, just as the species imitates, a living and struggling one. But the lion, being stronger, having seized the horn of the ox, bites down on its neck all the way to...

^A its throat. Hence not only the whole place, but also the buildings standing round about in close proximity, are called Bucoleon together with the harbor itself.

^A Many people, therefore, as has been said earlier, suspecting the Empress Mary's persistence in remaining in the palace, murmured that the man who had now seized the empire was about to take her to wife. But the Ducas family—who did not at all share the common opinion—did not believe this for a moment; yet they were not a little anxious because of the old and never-disguised hatred of the mother of the Comneni toward them, a thing which I remember having heard them tell of often. When, therefore, George Palaeologus, having arrived with the fleet at the citadel, as I have said, began the acclamation with a loud voice for Alexius and Irene as Augusti, those who were with the Comneni, looking down from the windows above, silenced them so that they might not join Irene with Alexius in the acclamation. But he, ^B having rebuked them, said from below: "It was not for your sake that I undertook and carried out such a struggle, but for the sake of her, Irene, whom you vainly try to hush." At the same time, he commanded those in the ships to acclaim Irene together with Alexius. These seeds of suspicion produced a rich harvest of cares for the family of the Ducas; but to those who like to find fault, it gave matter for slander against the Empress Mary. But the Emperor Alexius did not even entertain such a thought in his mind—(and how ^C indeed could he?)...

[alt-version omitted]

^D

but having taken up the rule of the Romans, he became a man of action ^A in all things, taking charge of all affairs at once, and, as one might say, starting from the center of everything. For as the sun was rising, he would enter the palace, and before he could shake off the dust of the sedition or rest his body, he was immediately immersed in the concerns of the military. He reverenced his brother Isaac as a father, and had him as a partner in all things, while at the same time supporting his mother in the administration of public affairs; although her great and active mind was sufficient not just for the administration of one empire, but for many different ones. He himself, having given his attention to the pressing matters, spent the remainder of the day and the whole night ^B deep in thought as to how he might check the unruly spirits of the military multitude that had dispersed into Byzantium and was behaving in a disorderly fashion, and how he might restore peace of mind to the public for the future. He also feared the insolence of the soldiers, and all the more because they were gathered from different places, lest they might harbor evil designs against him too.

Now the Caesar John Ducas, wishing to expedite the removal of the Empress from the palace and to drive her from the royal quarters, and to free many from false suspicions, on the one hand, courted the Patriarch Cosmas in every way, asking him to judge in their favor and not to yield in his words to the mother of the Comneni at all; and on the other hand, he wisely advised the Empress Mary to ask for a written document from the Emperor, both for her own sake and for the safety of her son, ^C and in this way to depart from there, having used Patroclus as a pretext. For he had already helped her, back when the Emperor Michael Ducas stepped down from the throne and he had advised Nicephorus Botaneiates to be united with her in marriage, because she was from a foreign land and no crowd of relatives was present with her, through whom the Emperor might be troubled; speaking much of her lineage and her personal beauty, and praising her time and again. For she was tall in stature, like a cypress; white in body as the snow; her face did not form a perfect circle, but the color throughout was exactly like a spring blossom. And who among men could describe the radiance of her eyes? Her brow was arched and reddish, her gaze bright. The hand of a painter has often imitated the colors ^D of the flowers that the seasons are wont to bring, but the beauty of the Empress, and the grace that shone forth from her, and the noble character—

^A —as well as an attraction and grace beyond words and art, appeared: not Apelles, not Phidias, nor any of the sculptors ever produced such a statue. And the head of the Gorgon is said to have turned those who beheld it into stone, but any one who saw this Empress walking, or encountered her suddenly, would stand gaping and remain transfixed in the very posture in which he happened to be, as if deprived, at that moment, of both soul and mind. For such a symmetry of her limbs and parts of her whole to the parts, and of these to the whole, no one had ever yet seen in a human body; a living statue, and desirable to those who love beauty. For she was desire itself, visibly embodied, so to speak, in this earthly world. ^B With these things, then, the Caesar ^C availed himself at that time, and softened and mastered the soul of the Emperor, even though many advised him to take the Empress Eudocia (80), concerning whom some had raised a clamor as desiring the empire again, when she reached Damalis, pressing to be brought to the royal heights, and was trying to claim it for herself through letters; others say it was not for her own sake, but for the sake of her own Zoe (81), the Porphyrogenita. And perhaps she would have accomplished what she was aiming at, had not one of her servants, the eunuch Leo the Cydoniate, checked this impulse, having said many things to her at the right moment, which it is not right for us to relate in detail, as we are by nature averse to slander, though it will be the task of those who spread such stories to trouble themselves with these matters. The Caesar John, however, having attacked him in every way, brought the plan to an end, having persuaded him to be joined to the Empress Maria, as the story has clearly shown before, and from that point he held great freedom of speech with him. ^D When these things were being accomplished in some days, the Comneni not wishing to drive her suddenly from the palace—since they had obtained many benefits from her during the whole time of her reign, and no less also because of the intimacy they had with her through the pretense of the kinship that had fallen out from both sides—many words were woven together from many sources, heralds of diverse thoughts, some interpreting the actions in one way, others in another, as each had a mind or hatred toward her, of those accustomed to judge things by inclination, and not as they are. And now, Alexis is crowned alone by the right hand of the high priest Cosmas. For in the fourth year of the reign of Michael Ducas and his son Constantine, the Emperor having died, and the most holy patriarch John Xiphilinus (82) having passed away in the month—

of August, on the thirteenth indiction, this man was ordained, being a person of priestly character and full of holiness. The Doukai were nevertheless deeply troubled that the Queen had not yet been deemed worthy of the imperial diadem, and they persisted in demanding that Queen Irene also be granted the coronation.

It happened that a certain monk, Eustratius by name, surnamed Garidas, who dwelt near the Great Church of God and was feigning the appearance of virtue, having long before associated with the mother of the Komnenoi, had prophesied to her concerning the emperorship. Being in any case inclined toward the monastic life, and furthermore being beguiled by the flatteries of such men, she showed an increasing trust in him day by day, and from this, she was eager to establish him upon the archiepiscopal throne of the great city. Taking advantage of the simplicity and guilelessness of the patriarch at that time, she persuaded certain persons to approach him under the pretext of advice, as if indeed they were counseling him for his own benefit; but that holy man was not unaware of this deception, and in the end, swearing by his own namesake, he said to them: "By Cosmas, I shall not depart from the archiepiscopal throne until Irene has been deemed worthy of the crown by my hands."

They returned and reported to the Mistress (84)—for everyone had already begun to call her by this name, at the desire of the Emperor, who was most devoted to his mother—all that had been said. Within seven days, therefore, after the proclamation of Alexios, his wife Irene was granted the diadem through patriarch Cosmas (85). The forms, then, of both majesties, Alexios and Irene—the mother of these, having not shared in the imperial insignia on account of her monastic habit, nor indeed in the cheering and the proclamation, participated only in the title of Empress, ^B or *Sebaste*.

^A and Irene, ^B their majesty and beauty shone forth incredibly, and were clearly inimitable by any art. For neither could a painter, contemplating that archetype of beauty, express it on a panel, however much he might strive; nor a sculptor, even if he were to strain every nerve of his utmost industry—even if, throughout his whole life, he were to contemplate those most elaborate statues of the famous Polycletus—ever fashion, carve, or shape inanimate matter to represent the admirable appearance of these living images of nature, I mean the recently crowned Augusti.

Of these, Alexius was not of a very towering stature, but rather full, yet with a proportionate build of body. Therefore, when he was standing among others, his majesty did not so much strike the beholders with awe as when he was seated on the royal throne and flashing forth the sharp brilliance of his eyes. For then, no sight was more terrifying to the bystanders than that which a lightning flash, bursting from the clouds, compels to closing the eyes of the most daring; so much, from his entire countenance and indeed from his ^C whole body and the universal conformation of his limbs, did the light of imperial dignity, extorting veneration, gleam forth. Black eyebrows were gracefully curved on either side, and beneath them hung pupils that looked on with an expression at once formidable and gentle; so that, from the impact of his gaze, from the radiance of his countenance, and from the dignity of his cheeks—aptly sprinkled with a shimmering blush—radiating rays of mingled majesty and clemency bade men at once to fear and to trust.

The breadth of his shoulders, the muscularity of his arms, and the prominence of his chest were all heroic, inviting the crowds to wonder and delight at the same time. For the same man possessed both grace and attractiveness, as well as a weight and a mass that were unapproachable. And if he came to converse and moved his tongue, one would have seen the fiery rhetoric of Demosthenes itself sitting upon his lips. For by the flood of his arguments, he would sweep away every ear and soul; and he was unspeakable and invincible, with both his tongue and his hand—the one for the release of the spear, the other for unblemished charms.

As for the Empress Irene, my mother, she was then still a young maiden and had not yet passed her fifteenth year. She was the daughter of Andronicus, who was the first-born son of the Caesar, of distinguished lineage, tracing the series of her race back to those famous Andronicuses and Constantines, the Ducas family. She rose, ^D further, like a beautiful tree, straight and with a blooming stature, while the [index: entries preserved]

proportions of her body were expanded and contracted in such a way that her members corresponded exactly to one another; she was so lovely in sight and sound that neither a more pleasing spectacle nor a sweeter pleasure could men have than her countenance and her voice. Her face shone with the full radiance of the moon; it was not, however, perfectly circular in the manner of the Assyrian women, nor excessively long as is seen in Scythian women, but produced slightly beyond the radius of a perfect circle. Indeed, the appearance and atmosphere of a blooming meadow pervaded it, and it cast the color of a burning, flowering rosebed into the eyes of those looking on even from afar; the look of the beholder was vividly serene, and at once delighting and terrifying, so that it turned the eyes of those who encountered her toward itself by its beauty, and forced them to blink through its majesty, leaving them uncertain between the two, unable either to refrain from looking or to endure looking against her. Whether that Pallas whom poets and painters celebrate ever existed, I do not know; most deem it a fable. But if someone were to say that the form of this Augusta of ours once existed on earth, and by the wonder of itself, the lightning of its eyes, and the sharp rays of its surpassing beauty, easily gained belief in a heavenly origin, he would not have deviated from the truth, or at least from what is verisimilar. And—which is a wonder and quite unique to this woman—she threw the audacious and shameless into confusion and checked them, while on the contrary she raised the humble and those shrunk by fear into confidence, by her look alone. Her lips, indeed, were mostly closed, yet this was for appearance, not for speech, and she was seen as a breathing simulacrum of beauty and an animated column of harmony. Her hand usually governed her speech with elegance, bared up to the wrist with the greatest charm and refinement, as a wonder to beholders who seemed to see the purest ivory turned by some excellent craftsman into the arrangement of fingers and palm. The iris of her eyes imitated a tranquil sea, shining forth in a deep-waved disposition with a cerulean serenity. The white, moreover, surrounding the pupil was itself also living and luminous, and mixed from all these things, it vibrated an incomparable grace and fed the beholders with an incredible pleasure. Such, then, was the form of Irene and Alexius. My uncle Isaac, however, was similar to his brother in stature, nor did he differ much in other respects, though he was of a paler face; nor was his beard very thick, and he even had less hair on his cheeks than his brother, although he was younger ^A. The two brothers had a common pursuit: if there were leisure from affairs, they would indulge in hunting, to which, however, they preferred warfare when the occasion arose. Isaac, moreover, who had often led armies, when battle had to be joined, never gave the first place of danger or of provoking the enemy to anyone else; but he himself, as prince, as soon as he saw the hostile line, would rush headlong into the middle of it with a blind and lightning-like impulse, usually with great slaughter and dispersal of the phalanxes. Whence it also happened that once and twice, while fighting against the Agarenes in Asia, he was captured. And this alone had my uncle in war matters worthy of blame: that he did not control his impulse in engagements.

^A Since it was necessary that Nicephorus Melissenus be deemed worthy of the dignity of Caesar according to the promise, and since it was right that Isaac, who was the eldest of the brothers, be honored with a greater title of rank (but there was no other rank besides that of Caesar), the Emperor Alexius, having coined a new name composed of that of Sebastos and that of Autocrator, applied the title of Sebastocrator to my uncle, as if he had made him a second emperor, having moved the Caesar down below him and numbered him third in the acclamations after the acclamation of the emperor. Moreover, he also commanded them to be crowned with diadems on public festival days, both the Sebastocrator and the Caesar, though they differed greatly in the costliness of the diadem from that with which he himself was crowned. For the imperial diadem, like a hemispherical, well-rounded object, binds the head from everywhere, being decorated with pearls, some set in and others hanging down. For on both sides of the temples, certain chains of pearls and stones hang down and brush the cheeks. And this is a garment of unique standing for emperors. But the crowns of the Sebastocrators and Caesars have the pearls and stones distributed sparingly in places, without the globe-like top. ^B At that time, Taronites, who was the emperor's brother-in-law, having married his sister, was also honored as Protosebastos and Protovestiarius. Not long after, he was also declared Panhypersebastos and became a seat-mate with the Caesar. Furthermore, Adrian, his brother, was deemed worthy of the title of Protosebastos, a most illustrious one; and Nicephorus, the last brother, had been appointed Great Drungarios of the Fleet and he, too, was brought up into the rank of the Sebastoi. My father himself searched out the innovation of these titles, partly by composing them, as has been said from above, and partly by misapplying others. For the titles "Panhypersebastos" and "Sebastocrator" and all such, he composed; but he appears to have misapplied the dignity of the Sebastos. For the emperors were called Sebastoi from of old as an epithet, and the name of Sebastos was spoken exclusively of emperors; but he himself brought such fame down to a more common level. For even if anyone were to lead the monarchy to a knowledge and a certain supreme philosophy, as being the art of arts and the science of sciences, one would wonder even at my ^C father, how he, by gathering all these honors as if under one head, and by creating names, as if he were an artist, created the dignities, and how he even arranged the acclamations. For he brought the name of Sebastocrator, as I said, into the middle between the emperor and the Caesar, so that the emperor might be and be called and be acclaimed as the first, the Sebastocrator as the second, and the Caesar as the third. And he also bestowed upon them the right to use the diadem, though not one identical to the imperial one, but one less glorious and less shining, having the appearance of a diadem, though it lacks the gold plate that covers the head, and it is also without the globe-like piece. For the imperial diadem is like a well-rounded ^D hemisphere and entirely covers the head, being adorned with pearls and stones, some set in it, and some hanging down. For on either side of the temples, as I have said, certain strings of pearls and precious stones hang down and touch the cheeks. But the crowns of the Sebastocrators and Caesars are only decorated here and there with pearls and stones, without the covering of the globe-like top. And as for Taronites, who was the husband of the emperor's sister, he was then the first to be honored with the dignity of Protosebastos and the office of Protovestiarius. And not long after, he was also declared Panhypersebastos, and having been invited to the station of the Caesar, he sat together with him. And his brother Adrian was honored with the title of the highest of the Sebastoi, that is, the Protosebastos. And Nicephorus, the youngest of the brothers, was assigned the position of Great Drungarios of the Fleet, and he, too, was brought into the grade of the Sebastoi.

^A And the Emperor Alexios, like some expert architect, introduced innovations into the empire both in affairs and in titles. However, whereas the masters of the logical sciences invented such terms for the sake of clarity, this "master of the science" of the empire, Alexios, managed everything for the benefit of the empire, often introducing novelties in the ordering of affairs and in the nomenclature of titles.

In the meantime, that holy man, the Patriarch Kosmas, whom we mentioned earlier, after some days—on the commemoration of the hierarch John the Theologian—having celebrated the holy rite in the church named after the aforementioned saint, which is situated at the Hebdomon, resigned his high-priestly office, having excelled upon the patriarchate for five years and nine months, and departed to the monastery of Kallios. The helm of the high-priesthood was then entrusted to the aforementioned eunuch, Eustratios Garidas.

Since the son of the Augusta Maria, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, after the abdication of his father, Michael Doukas, had willingly laid aside the red buskins and donned common and black ones, Nikephoros Botaneiates, who had seized the scepter after the Doukas and father of Constantine, ordered him to set aside the black ones and commanded him to wear footwear made of various silken fabrics, as though ashamed of the young man, and admiring him both for his beauty and his birth. Indeed, he begrudged him the bright red of the buskins entirely, but allowed the crimson to bloom in certain places upon the fabrics.

After the proclamation of Alexios Komnenos as Emperor, the Augusta Maria, his mother, persuaded by the counsels of the Caesar, requested a written pledge, guaranteed by red letters and a golden seal from the Emperor, so that she and her son might not only be kept safe, but that he might also reign with him—just as he once had—putting on the red buskins, wearing the crown, and being proclaimed emperor along with him. And she did not fail in her request, but receives a chrysobull document confirming all her wishes. At that time, they took away from him the footwear made of silken fabrics, and bestowed upon him the entirely red buskins, providing for his interest. ^{B C D}

^A And she was allowed to use the imperial crown; and his name was to be proclaimed together with that of Alexius. These items, granted by a diploma sealed with a golden bull, were immediately put into use; he laid aside his slippers of many-colored, woven silk and put on the entirely red buskins; and in [the issuance of] largesses, decrees sealed with golden bulls, and similar documents, he subscribed with red ink together with Alexius Augustus, and in supplicatory processions and public appearances he followed him, with no one between them, wearing the tiara. Some claimed that all these conditions had been stipulated by the Augusta Maria with the Comnenoi even before their rebellion, so that things might so turn out for her son. In this way, then, she departed from the palace with a befitting procession and took up residence in the buildings constructed by the late Emperor Constantine Monomachos near the monastery of the great martyr George (this place the common parlance ^B still calls Mangana), with Isaac the Sebastokrator accompanying her.

So far then were the matters concerning the Augusta Maria settled by the Comnenoi. The Emperor, having been well-educated from his infancy and guiding himself according to his mother’s admonitions—carrying the fear of God within his heart—was stung and grieved at the plundering of the city, which all the people there had suffered in their entirety upon his entrance. For while a life free from stumbling perhaps leads a man who has never tripped in any way into arrogance, he who has sinned, if he is among the more pious and intelligent, is immediately struck in his soul by the fear of God; he is utterly shaken and afraid, and all the more so if he has grasped great affairs and risen to proud heights. For fear agitates him, lest perhaps, proceeding in ignorance, rashness, and insolence, ^C he might provoke the anger of God against himself and, being rolled away from his authority, fall from the positions of which he had lately become master. Such things as once happened to Saul; for God, because of the lawlessness of the king, tore asunder his kingdom.

Distressed by these thoughts and suffering in his soul, lest he should prove to be the direct cause of God’s wrath—for he considered the evil that had been wrought throughout the entire city by each of the soldiers—such a collection of riff-raff as had poured into the city at that time—as his own, and as if he himself were the one who had wrought those terrible evils—he was wounded and inflamed to such a degree that he accounted the kingdom, the power, the purple robe, ^D the stone-studded crown, and the garment of gold and pearls as nothing, as might be expected of one hearing of such things.

^A For he was struck to the heart and consumed by the overwhelming calamity that had then befallen the Queen of Cities. No one, even if he wished, could narrate the evils that beset her at that time. For all things—sacred precincts and shrines, public and private property—were being plundered from every side by all men; and the ears of everyone were filled with the cries and voices being cast about on all sides, as if one saw the world being shaken by an earthquake. Alexios, taking these things to heart, was grieved and lacerated in his soul, and knew not how to employ himself amidst such a flood of sorrow. For the man was most keen in his perception of misdeeds. And while he knew that though these past events, for which the city had fared so ill, were carried out by the hands and intentions of others, yet he also acknowledged this most precisely: that he himself had provided the pretexts and the origins of the disaster; and that the very servants already spoken of had been, in turn, the causes of the rebellion for him. But considering himself the author of the whole cause, he sought and desired to heal the wound; for in this way would he be able, even after such a healing ^B and the cleansing of these things, to set his hand to the affairs of the kingdom and to guide and conduct well the matters regarding the army and the wars. He approaches his mother, therefore, communicates to her that praiseworthy suffering, and seeks a means of healing and relief for those things that stung his conscience. She embraces her son and gladly receives what was said. Therefore, with her approval, they call for the Patriarch Kosmas (for he had not yet resigned the throne at that time) and certain chosen men from the Holy Synod and the monastic order. ^C The emperor approaches them as one accused, as one condemned, as a lowly person, or as one of the lowliest of those placed under authority, expecting the judgment that the court was about to pass against him. He proclaims everything, not passing over the instigation, nor the consent, nor the deed, nor the cause of what was done, but confessing everything with fear and faith, and fervently demanding a cure from them, submitting himself to penances. And they submit not only him, but also those of the same blood who were related to him and had assisted in the rebellion, to the same penances, enjoining upon them fasting, sleeping on the ground, and the things that follow from these, for the propitiation of God. Having received the penances, they willingly observed them. But not even their own wives... ^D

could endure being exempt from this squalor and mourning, although they were not partakers in the rebellion; for they thought it pertained to the duty of the marriage bond and love to voluntarily seek a share of the hardships in which they saw their husbands involved. Thus, they became voluntary companions to their husbands in dragging the yoke of penance. And at that time it was possible to see the entire palace full of tears and mourning—a mourning not lazy or worthy of blame, nor one that betrayed the weakness of an abject soul, but an honorable and praiseworthy one, procuring a joy that could never be taken away. In this, the Emperor was no less prominent than in other matters, for he valued religion far above anything else. And so, under his purple, he wore a haircloth shirt close to his naked skin for forty days and nights, using no other bed for sleep during that time than the ground and the pavement, with only a stone for a pillow to support his head. And having finally completed this religious observance, he applied his hands, now pure, to the rudders of the kingdom. ^A Since he desired to relieve himself of the burden of affairs and place it upon the providence of his mother, he initially kept this counsel secret; for he feared that if it were known to her, she, terrified by the fear of looming weight, might hasten to carry out what she had long been nursing in her mind: the proposal of retiring from the palace and moving on to a life sublimer than the common one. Alexius, to gradually draw her away from that thought, kept going to her to seek her counsel, nor would he dispatch even some small and easy matter without consulting her. Thus, he gradually accustomed her to the administration, ^B binding her to himself more tightly and indissolubly day by day, and clearly striving to persuade her and others that he had his hope for governing the empire well placed in his mother's providence alone, since without her counsel it seemed that it would go to ruin. She indeed, although she inclined with great weight toward the thought of withdrawing, and was turning over in her mind nothing more willingly than a monastery in which she might pass the remainder of life in quiet, ^C and was even pursuing this with her prayers, was nevertheless driven by the love of her son—in which affection she did not yield to any woman—to contribute her own efforts to him who had undertaken a great matter, and to help him steer the ship [of state], neither sturdy nor sufficiently equipped, amid the sea and sky enraged against the dangers pressing upon her son, especially as he was still inexperienced and currently, for the first time, experiencing such winds, such heavy seas, and not yet—I say—was he familiar with the experience of steering, or his sea, ^D and he was not yet skilled against such waves and storms.

In saying these things, I am hinting at the manifold and tempestuous turmoil of the empire. Consequently, maternal affection took hold of her, and she shared in the helm with her son and emperor, and, seizing the reins at times even by herself, she drove the chariot of the state without stumbling and faultlessly. For she was wise in other respects, and a truly imperial mind, capable of establishing thrones; yet from the other side, her longing for God pulled her back.

Since, in the month of August, with the same indiction still running, the crossing of Robert compelled him to go forth, bringing his soul’s intent now into light and action, he assigned the imperial administration solely to his mother, and by a golden bull he made his decisions manifest to all. And since it is necessary for the historian not to dismiss the deeds and thoughts of good men in a superficial way, but to condense them as much as possible, while setting forth what was decided by them, I too shall provide the contents of the aforementioned golden bull in this way, having only removed the embellishments of the scribe. And it runs as follows:

The contents of the golden bull regarding the administration of public affairs by the mother of the emperor.

^A Nothing can be compared to a sympathetic mother who loves her children; nor is there any more powerful protection than her, even if danger is foreseen or any other of those things one prays to avoid is imagined. For if she deliberates, the decision will be firm; if she prays, her prayers will be a support and invincible guards. Such, then, appeared to my imperial majesty, even from my very incomplete age, my sanctified mother and mistress, acting in all things as my nurse and guide. For even while she was associated with the senatorial order, a mother’s love led the way, and a son’s pure faith was preserved. One soul was perceived in divided bodies, and by the grace of Christ it has been well preserved until now; that cold word, "mine" or "yours," was not spoken; and what is greater, her prayers for all time have entered the ears of the Lord, and have brought us to this year of my reign. But since, even after the seizing of the royal scepters, she could not endure not to labor equally with my imperial majesty, and since she took hold of what was advantageous ^B to me, manifold and tempestuous...

[Regarding the Latin column: It continues the sense of the text above, detailing the emperor's reliance on his mother as a partner in statecraft, her wisdom, and the formal act of the Chrysobull whereby he entrusted the government to her during his military campaigns.] ^{C D}

with God for the expedition against the enemies of the Roman Empire, she takes great care in the gathering and organization of the military, and considers the concern for the administration of the secretarial and political affairs to be of no small importance. She found, as it were, a secure stronghold of aristocracy, so that the administration of all things might be entrusted to her holy and most honorable mother. And the administration of the common good, the Empire being already made ready by her. My Empire therefore determines clearly by this present golden bull, that because of the great experience she possesses regarding worldly matters, even if she has completely despised them, whatever she may decree in writing, whether they are referred by the person in charge of the secret [secretum] or by those secretarial officials under him, or by all others, whose memoranda or petitions or judgments are to be prepared for public compassionate relief of debts, they shall have permanent validity, as being managed by the serene power of my Empire, and that the things written are pronounced from her own mouth. For whatever solutions are declared by her, or commands written or unwritten, even if reasonable or unreasonable, bearing her seal—the transformation and the repose—they shall be reckoned as those of my Empire itself. And for the month of the one who governs the secret [secretum]—but also regarding appointments and successions of the secrets, and of the themes, and regarding dignities and offices and donations of immovable property—the holy mother of it shall have authority, as it may seem best also to the themes. Secret: courthouse. Consistorium: imperial secret. Secret: council. The houses of the public revenues, which Romans call secrets [secreta]. Secretarial: secretarial office, presiding over the public courts of the protasekretis; of the justice-administrator. One in charge of the secrets.

. ANNA COMNENA

mind. One thought, one concord, one soul is always seen to be in two bodies, and charity through the grace of Christ has been kept so intact and preserved between us until now that it has never been even slightly touched or diminished by even a sound or mention of ears, of my talk or your talk, of that cold word. Having received other fruits of this matter, we also received this greatest one: because when that charity towards us urged her to offer prayers for us again and again, kindled with religion and duty before God, the heavenly divinity, as we piously believe, being entreated, raised us to this height of empire. From that time she never ceased, as if to always heap up her former kindness with new merits, to voluntarily join in the labor, and partly to console our cares and anxieties by pitying, partly by suggesting advice useful in common to relieve and diminish them. Since, therefore, our majesty is in the midst of a necessary expedition, which we trust will have God favoring us against the enemies of the Roman Empire, and is occupied beyond measure with the holding of levies and organizing the entire military discipline: and yet, from another part, no less laborious and no less proper to our office, the judicial and political business hangs over us, to rightly finish so many cares at once, we judge nothing better than if we entrust the administration of all the things we have named to the wisdom of our venerable and holy mother. We decree, therefore, and by this present diploma protected by a golden bull, we sanction ^B that the aforementioned venerable mother of ours, on account of the great experience she possesses in human and secular affairs—even though she has always despised them with a religious spirit—may henceforth have full power for all things to be determined according to her own will and judgment, whether by word of mouth or in writing, whether he who is in charge of the entire judicial matter refers to her, or any one of the lesser officials who has charge of the records or petitions or judgments, whatever she answers to any of these, and whatever also in the rest of the government of political affairs; for instance, the accounts of the treasury, and the remission of public debts for the relief of the needy populace; we command that this be held as clearly ratified and imputed to us, and that it obtain no less force of authority than if it were established by our serenity herself as present, pronouncing, and dictating. Whatever, I say, solutions and answers to doubts arising are brought forth by her, whatever commands, written, not written, with [alt-version omitted]

cause or without cause, impressed with her seal, which displays the icons of the Transfiguration and of the Death [of Christ], we will that they be received and held in every way as commands and mandates prescribed by right of sovereign imperial power by our own Majesty. Regarding the month of him who for the time being administers judicial affairs, and regarding promotions or successions of judges or other officials of the forum and the consistory, and also in the appointments to military prefectures and other dignities and offices, and furthermore in the donations of immovable properties which are reserved for the royal authority, let this same holy parent of ours hold the free power of deciding whatever she wishes. And whoever shall have been promoted by her into consistorian or military dignities, or shall have succeeded into them by her nod and will, or shall have been admitted in any manner whatsoever, let them possess, exercise, and enjoy the honors given by her authority—the highest, middle, and lowest—immovably, being entirely secure from all danger of being deprived of them. But also augmentations of stipends, increases of donatives, merciful remissions of those taxes which are called "consuetudines" [conventions], scissions and rescissions, she shall establish, constitute, and decree with full right, without any hesitation, according to her will. Finally, to gather it briefly, nothing shall be deemed vain or invalid which she shall have transacted, either in writing or without writing. For her words and precepts shall be reputed as if they had proceeded from our Majesty ourselves; and none of these shall be rendered void, but they shall be established, both valid and permanent for future times. And let neither she, nor any one of those ministering to her, nor even the logothete of the secretum who is on duty for the day, suspect now or in the future any accounting or any investigation at all from anyone, even if the things to be done should appear reasonable or unreasonable. For they shall always have the things done—which [are] completely beyond accounting—supported by this present chrysobull word.

But these are the contents of the chrysobull. One might well wonder at my father and emperor in these things, because of the honor he showed his mother, and how he had yielded everything to her, as if he were stepping down from the imperial reins and running on foot alongside her, as she was carried upon the imperial chariot, while he himself partook only of the bare name of the empire. And this, although he was already passing the age of youth, at which time the love of power is most wont to sprout in such characters. For he himself girded himself for the wars against the barbarians and all the struggles and contests that existed; but the entire administration of affairs, the political offices, the arguments concerning the taxes, and the defenses for the empire he entrusted to his mother. And perhaps someone, upon seeing this, might blame the management, as if my father had entrusted the administration of the empire to the women’s quarters. But if he knew the mind of that woman, and how great her virtue was, and her intellect, and what powers of activity she possessed, he would have abandoned his blame and changed it into wonder. For my grandmother had such great dexterity in affairs and such an ingenious capacity to organize and establish a policy, that she was able to govern not only the Roman empire but every empire wheresoever the sun looks upon. For she was of vast experience and knew the natures of many things, and she understood thoroughly how each thing begins and where it might end, and what things are destructive to each other, and what things rather strengthen others; she was most sharp in discerning what was necessary and powerful in accomplishing it with safety. And she was not such in her judgment while possessing a tongue that was discordant with her judgment; rather, she was a true orator of persuasion, and neither was she talkative, extending her speeches to a great length, nor did she quickly let go the spirit of the speech, but having begun opportunely, she ended again at the most essential points. And the imperial throne took her when she had passed her prime, when her faculty of thought was rather in its prime, and her intelligence was in full bloom, and her knowledge of affairs was at its peak—factors through which administrations and managements possess their power. And it happens that such an age as this can not only say something wiser than the young, as the tragedy says, but also act more profitably. And the later time... ^A And when she was compared with younger women, she was a true wonder, having grey hair at a young age ^{B C D}

and by the appearance and composition of her face, and her very movements, she gave immediate and obvious proof to those who glanced at her of the virtue and gravitas that resided deep within her. Such was this mother, whom my father, immediately upon seizing the empire, made the spectator and arbiter of his struggles and labors, installing her on the lofty throne of the realm, proving her his mistress not more by the sweetness of his address than by his own acts of obedience. He loved her, therefore, and revered her far beyond the usual custom, with the humility of a servant, hanging entirely upon her counsels, wishing his right hand to be nothing other than the servant of his mother's tongue, and his ears nothing other than the receptacles of her own voice and commands; ^A indeed, he led all his own nods and denials according to her maternal dictates, always accustomed to deny when she denied and to grant when she granted. And the situation was entirely as follows: he held the outward form of the empire, but she held the reality itself. She formulated the laws, managed everything, and governed, while he confirmed her management, whether written or unwritten—the former by his signature, the latter by his voice—giving them his own seal of approval; so that, if one may say it, he was the instrument of the empire for her, not the emperor. For he was pleased with everything his mother would discern and determine, and he was not only most obedient to her as a mother, but he also offered his attention and teachable mind to her as a master of the royal art of ruling. For it was thoroughly settled in his mind that she always saw the best possible course of action in every matter and followed it most correctly, ^B and that she surpassed, by no small interval, all the men who lived at that time in the praise of wisdom and the skill of managing affairs. Such were the beginnings of the reign of Alexius, whom it is altogether shameful to call an autocrat—according to the common title of supreme power—since he had once and for all transferred that power of governing affairs at will from himself to his mother. Here, then, let anyone who wishes and is able, submitting to the rhetorical laws of panegyric, praise the country of that wondrous mother and her lineage, tracing it back to those famous Adriani, the Dalasseni...

and the Charonites, and let him give free rein to his flow of words over that ocean of virtues. ^A For me, writing history, it is not fitting to characterize her by descent or blood, but rather by conduct, virtue, and those qualities which historical narrative demands. For, to return to her again, she was indeed a supreme honor not only to women but to men as well, and an ornament to human nature. As for the women’s quarters in the palace, which had been altogether corrupted ever since that Monomachus ^B assumed the power of the empire and inclined toward illicit loves, she changed all this for the better and brought it into a state worthy of praise, up until the reign of my father. And one could see then that order was highly esteemed; for she established bounds for divine hymns, and set times for meals and public business, herself becoming a plumb line and a rule for all, so that the palace seemed more like a sacred institution. Such was that supernatural and truly holy woman. For in modesty she as far surpassed those praised in ancient tales—of whom ^C long discourse is made—as the sun outshines the stars; and as for her compassion for the poor and her bountiful hand towards the needy, what language could adequately set it forth? Her own hearth was a common refuge for those of her blood who were in poverty, and no less a retreat for strangers. She honored priests and monks with special distinction, and used to have them dine with her; indeed, it was not possible to see her table at any time without monks present. The composure of her character, appearing externally, was reverend to angels and fearsome to the demons themselves; to men who were not of sound mind but were instead fluttered by pleasures, it was unbearable from a mere glance, but to those who cared for temperance, it was cheerful and pleasant. For she knew the measures of gravity and dignity, so that her gravity was neither harsh nor brutish, nor her gentleness lax or dissolute, and I consider this the limit of decorum. ^D

^A She always held the monks in special honor and familiarly invited them to her table; and she was so assiduous in this that no one saw her dining without monks as guests. Her whole appearance was venerable to angels, terrifying to demons; and if any lascivious or voluptuous men chanced upon her, she would fix them with such piercing eyes that they could not endure the severity of her gaze, while she showed herself cheerful and propitious to the modest and upright. For she knew the bounds of sadness, just as she knew those of cheerfulness, and she maintained them so that her gravity was neither too morose or savage, nor on the other hand could her affability be thought too soft or akin to levity; so graciously had she tempered this amiable and venerable mediocrity by the mixing of humanity with austerity, through a certain art and effort of virtue. For by her very nature she was more inclined toward sadness and silent meditation, through which she was always conceiving and revolving new thoughts in her mind—not pernicious to the republic, as the malevolent murmured, but entirely salutary, and repairing the empire, already lost and almost reduced to nothing, to its total dignity of pristine splendor, as much as was possible.

Furthermore, however great an accumulation of business might weigh upon her, she did not allow herself to be so oppressed by it that she would permit the religious duties of the monastic life, which she had decreed to observe within the palace, to be snatched away from her time. Indeed, she spent the greater part of the night in divine hymns, distributed according to the ecclesiastical description for the daily tasks of the whole year, intended to be rendered and celebrated in their entirety. Then she dedicated no small portion of time, taken from sleep, to pouring out private prayers to God and to the rest of her religion, signs of the exhaustion and leanness of a body worn out by the strain of nocturnal contention and vigils being quite evident. ^B Under her, towards dawn, sometimes at the second cockcrow, she applied herself to the ^C administration of current affairs, examining elections and resolving the petitions of those in need, with Gregory the Genesius acting as her secretary.

If any orator wished to bring these things into speeches of eulogy, whom of those formerly renowned for virtue and famous in both kinds would he not have eclipsed, swelling the one being praised into something great by his arguments and comparisons to others, as is the custom for those delivering panegyrics? But the dictates of history do not grant such license to the writer. Therefore, if we speak of the greater qualities of this empress in a lowly manner, let no one find fault with the discourse, all those who know her virtue, the weight of her rank, her quick intellect in all things, and the most supreme peak of her spirit.

But let us return to where we turned aside a little while speaking of her. She, therefore, while managing the empire, as we have said, did not assign the whole day to worldly concerns, but completed the prescribed liturgies in the sacred temple of the martyr Thecla, which the emperor himself knows. For she knew... ^D

^A that the hour of the second cock-crow was the time to attend to business—deciding on assemblies and the election of magistrates; and to respond to the petitions of those requesting or consulting, with Gregory Genesius assisting her in the ministry of scribes. If any rhetorician were to undertake to adorn these things with speech and illuminate them with the colors of art, which of the ancients, of either sex, would he not show to be surpassed by the virtue of this woman, and obscured by the brighter rays of her glory? Certainly, if one were to attempt to celebrate the matters of our own time either by viewing them in themselves with vivid and assembled sentiments, and with an exquisite array of selected perceptions, or to compare them with others and teach more copiously by how great an interval they excel, just as the precepts of the art of rhetoric prescribe. But for us, who profess the simplicity of history, it is just to be forgiven by those who—having perhaps perceived the magnificent dignity of this matron’s virtue, her presence of mind in all things, and her most excellent wisdom by actual experience and sight—will either marvel at such great and noble matters being treated by us in a jejune and meager way, or will even be indignant. But me, the very rationale of the work I have undertaken does not allow me to pursue these things so extensively; for although the memory of them constantly tugs at my ear and calls me back, it does not please me, since I have already begun to digress, to return to the path before I have wandered a little further. ^B This grandmother of mine was accustomed not to spend the whole day in secular business, but to dedicate daily fixed hours to sacred things, and to participate in the liturgical sacrifice according to the canonical custom in the temple of the holy martyr Thecla, which the emperor Isaac Comnenus, her brother-in-law, had taken care to build for a certain reason. When the leaders of the Dacians, weary of the alliance struck long ago, were meditating war against the Romans, and had already begun to attack, the Sauromatae, called Mysi by the ancients, noticing this, did not themselves wish to restrain themselves within their own borders and remain quiet. But since they inhabited the farther bank of the Ister, where that river terminated the Roman dominion with its channel, they burst from there into our borders, suffering injuries from the Getae, whom they were enduring as enemies on the other side. ^C For this reason, watching for an opportunity, when they saw the Ister solidified by frost, they used it as though it were dry land and emigrated from there toward us, the whole nation burdening our own borders, and they were dreadfully harassing the neighboring cities and lands. ^D Having heard this, the emperor Isaac judged it necessary to reach Triaditza, since he had arrived before the hostile barbarians in their schemes and barred them, and this segment of the journey had been most free of trouble for him. And so, having gathered his entire heavy-armed force, he took the road leading to those parts, wishing to drive them from the Roman borders. When they saw him, they were immediately divided and became of a different mind. But he, not being able to trust them much—since they were clearly in a state of discord—marched with his firm phalanx toward their strongest and most difficult part. And having approached them, he struck terror into himself and his camp; for they did not dare to face him, as if he were a wielder of thunderbolts, and seeing the unbreakable shield-wall of his camp, they themselves broke apart. Having therefore withdrawn for a little, and having announced war to him for the third day, they used flight that very day, having abandoned their tents. But he, having reached the place where they had been bivouacking, and having razed their tents and led away the booty that was found, returned victorious. And when he was near the foothills of the Lobitzos, a violent rain shower...

^A caught him, and an unseasonable snowfall, on the twenty-fourth day of September, on which the memory of the great martyr Thecla is celebrated. For there was such a flood of the river currents, and the water overflowed its banks, that it was possible to see the whole plain as a sea, in which both the imperial tent and all the army were encamped. Thence all the supplies for their needs disappeared, carried away by the river currents, and the men and the beasts were frozen by the cold. The heavens bellowed with thunder, and flashes of lightning, having no pause at all in time, threatened to burn up that whole earthly region. Seeing these things, the emperor was in helplessness; and when a moderate suspension occurred, having lost very many who were caught in the eddies of the river's currents, he went out from there with his picked men, and went away and stood under a certain oak tree with them. Sensing, however, a very great sound and clamor as it were coming from the oak, and since more violent winds were blowing at that time, he was frightened lest by their force the ^B oak might be brought down; having distanced himself by as much of an interval as the oak was, so that if it were brought down, it would not be able to strike him, he stood breathless. But it, as if by a signal, was seen lying on the ground, torn up from the roots. The emperor stood in wonder at the providence of God over him; and having learned of an apostasy that was being fomented in the East ^C, he went into the palace, and at that time built a very beautiful temple in the name of the great martyr Thecla, prepared with magnificence and at sufficient expense, having the complexity of craftsmanship, and having offered thanksgivings in it befitting Christians, he completed the divine hymns in it at all times. Thus then the aforementioned holy sanctuary was rebuilt in the name of the great martyr Thecla, in which the empress and mother of the emperor Alexios, as the account has already shown, made constant intercessions. That I have seen this for a short time and have marveled at it, and that what has been said is no boast, all know and would acknowledge, if they wished, as many as desire to uncover the truth without passion. For if I had chosen to praise, and not to write history, I would have extended the account further with the stories concerning these things, just as I have already shown; but now it must be brought back again to the subject at hand.

^A Emperor Alexius, seeing the Roman state gasping its final breaths, with the Turks devastating everything in the East, and Robert threatening the western provinces—leaving no stone unturned to bring the pseudo-Michael to the throne, or rather, craftily using the name of that man of straw to satisfy a long-conceived and hitherto suppressed desire to secure the empire for himself; a desire which, rekindled from smoke and ash into a flame threatening the whole world, had begun to burn the Roman borders from the West with a great and violent fire, as he collected so many land forces from the whole continent and gathered such an apparatus of triremes, biremes, and towed and self-propelled transport ships from every coastal region—seeing these things, and pondering them in the first stages of his reign, the noble youth was full of turmoil, not knowing where to turn, since the Turks were challenging him to battle on one side, and the Normans were dragging him on the other. He found the miserable and wretched state of the Roman army particularly grievous, for it had been reduced to a mere three hundred troops from the Chomatene region, men who were ^B neither strong nor experienced in war, and—as I shall show—these, too, were completely lacking in the art of battle.

^A Likewise, the auxiliary forces consisted entirely of a few barbarians of that type who are accustomed to carry swords hanging from their right shoulders, held by straps like axes. Nor were there funds available from the exhausted treasury with which to host a levy or summon armed men from allied nations. For those who had held the empire for some years before him had managed affairs so dissolutely and without any foresight—both in how they ordered things and what they permitted—that the fortune of the Roman name seemed, through their own fault, to have been driven to the final extremity. Indeed, I myself remember hearing from the elders as well as from brave and military men who do not speak rashly, that the misery of the empire at the beginning of the time when Alexios took power was so great, with the noise and reputation of the Turkish and Norman tumults ringing in everyone’s ears and minds, as had never been heard of in the history of any city. These things divided the emperor’s mind into various cares, but his generous spirit, confident in his ^B knowledge and experience of military affairs, did not break, though he still hoped that, with God’s help, he would bring the ship of the state safely through that storm into a secure harbor; as for the enemies who were now rising up from all sides, they would vanish into foam, just as waves are wont to do when they crash against the rocks. Applying his hand to affairs with this hope and purpose, he first of all thought it necessary to summon all the commanders of the East, as many as were holding forts and cities and were standing bravely against the Turks. Immediately, therefore, he drafted various letters to all of them, both to the *topoteretes* ^C who was at that time acting as the commander of Heraclea on the sea and of Paphlagonia, and to Bourtzes, who was the commander of Cappadocia and Choma, and to the remaining officers, declaring both what had befallen him and his need for an alliance. ^D

^A He commanded them to take sufficient thought for their own territories, so as to secure them and leave behind a sufficient number of soldiers for this purpose, while they themselves, with the remaining forces and as many fresh, hardy recruits as they could muster, were to join him in the city of Constantine. Then he determined that he must also take precautions, as far as possible, regarding Robert, and prevent the leaders and counts who were flocking to him from joining in his enterprise. For he who had been sent to Monomachatus before he (Alexius) had taken the city himself—by whom he had summoned him to his aid, but also requested that money be sent—had returned to him bringing only letters with excuses by which, as we have related previously, he pretended that while Botaniates still held the empire he could not help him. Upon reading these, and being struck with fear lest, not knowing of Botaniates' fall from the empire, he might flock to Robert, he was utterly disheartened. ^B Therefore, he summoned his son-in-law George Palaeologus and dispatched him to Dyrrhachium (this is an Illyrian city), urging him to employ every device so as to expel Monomachatus from there without a fight, since he did not have a sufficient force with which he could drive him out against his will; and to set up counter-measures against Robert's engines as best he could. He gave orders to construct the battlements in a novel way, leaving most of the wood unfastened, so that if by any chance the Latins should happen to climb up by ladders, the moment they stepped upon the wood, it would turn over and they would fall with it to the ground. Nay more, he also warned the governors of the coastal cities and the islanders themselves through letters not to lose heart, nor to be at all negligent, but to be vigilant and sober at all times, and to watch for Robert, lest by a sudden assault he might gain control of the coastal cities and the very islands themselves, and later cause trouble for the Roman Empire. ^C These matters indeed were thus arranged by the Emperor regarding the Illyrian region, and having well fortified what was for the time being before his face and at the feet of Robert, he did not fail to move against him from the rear as well. For he endeavored to stir up against him the prince of Lombardy, the Roman Pope, the Archbishop...

of Capua, and the princes, and indeed he also addressed all the leaders of the Celtic lands, ^A welcoming them with modest gifts and the promise of many honors and dignities, to provoke them to enmity against Robert. Some of these, having already turned away from their friendship with Robert, were won over; others promised they would do so if they received even more. But knowing that the king of Germany was more influential than all these and able to accomplish whatever he wished against Robert, he sent letters to him once and twice, and through conciliatory words and promises of every kind, he sought to win him over. When he had found him to be compliant and promising to yield to his wishes, he sent Chirospactes ^B once again with other letters, which read as follows: "That the affairs under your great and powerful authority should fare well and prosper for the better is a matter of prayer for my majesty, most noble and truly most Christian brother. And how, indeed, would it not be fitting for the piety of our empire to pray for better and more advantageous things for you, having perceived in you true piety? For this brotherly inclination and disposition toward our empire, and the effort you have undertaken to agree to cooperate against that wicked man, in order that you might pursue him—the murderous, polluted enemy of God and of the Christians—as his evil-mindedness deserves, manifests to me the great benevolence of your soul, and this deed provides clear assurance of your God-fearing mind. As for the affairs under our empire, ^C since he had found him to be compliant and promising to yield to his wishes.

BOOK III OF THE ALEXIAD

to Capua, Herbium, by sending letters to all parties for that purpose. Furthermore, he strove to incite all the princes and dukes of the Gallic regions against the same Robert, both with gifts sufficient for the present and with promises of much greater ones hereafter, and the hope of dignities; nor was he unsuccessful. For some of them, enticed by these, renounced their friendship with Robert, and others promised that they would do the same if more were given. Understanding ^D that the King of Germany had more power than all others against Robert, he expended special diligence in winning him over and capturing his favor. Having tried him once and again with most flattering letters and the greatest promises, when he sensed that he was not averse to it, pouring out his whole soul, he sent this third epistle to him through Chirospactes: "That the affairs and kingdom of your widely potent dominion fare prosperously, and that it prospers and grows from day to day, our imperial majesty judges to be a matter of prayer and congratulation, most noble and truly most Christian brother. For what, indeed, is more fitting for our religion, which holds your piety in the worship of God to be most fully proven, than to wish you better and more flourishing things, and to seek them from the common Lord? Since both the propensity of friendly will which you show towards us, and the effort which you set before yourself, and the decree and covenant you have made to treat that wicked and fanatical enemy of God and of the Christians as he deserves, show the great perfection and holiness of your mind; and may it be a certain proof of your faith towards God and your sincere zeal for the matter itself. Furthermore, as regards the affairs of this our empire, they are in large part in good and flourishing state, stumbling in almost only one part, where Robert disturbs them. But if one must trust in God and His just judgments, a swift ruin will overtake the most unjust man: for indeed..."

^A God will not allow the rod of sinners to prevail over His inheritance for so long. As for what was agreed by our imperial power to be sent to your most powerful authority, the one hundred and forty-four thousand in coin and the one hundred *blattia* (52) have now been sent by the Protoproedros Constantine and Katapano (55) of the dignities, according to the satisfaction of your most faithful and noble Count Bulchard. The said sum of money consists of coined and refined silver of ancient quality. But when your nobility has fulfilled the oath, the remainder and the promised two hundred and sixteen thousand in coin, and the stipends for the twenty granted dignities, shall be sent through the most faithful *Bagelardus*, his majesty’s emissary, when you have reached Lombardy. How the oath is to be fulfilled has surely already been signified to your nobility. ^{B C D}

Variae lectiones ex cod. Coislin.

Notes of Charles Dufresne Du Cange.

^A The proto-proedros and katepano, Constantine, will also set forth more clearly that he has received mandates from our imperial majesty regarding each of the points that must be investigated and confirmed by an oath to be taken by you. For when the agreement between my majesty and the envoys sent by your nobility was made, certain chapters of great necessity and importance were mentioned; but since the men of your nobility said they did not have a mandate regarding these points, for this reason my majesty deferred the oath to them. Let the oath, therefore, be fulfilled by your nobility, as Albertes, sworn to my majesty, has assured you; and as my majesty requests, with a most necessary addition. Moreover, the cause of the hesitation and delay of your most faithful and noble count, Bulchard, was that my majesty wished for my most dear nephew, the son of the most happy sebastocrator, the most beloved brother to our majesty, to be seen by him, so that upon his return he might report to you the firm and skillful character of the boy in his tender state. For I am accustomed to value external and bodily qualities less, although the youth is abundantly adorned with these as well, as ^B [omitted: narration], and [omitted: Greek variant].

^C Let the oath, therefore, be fulfilled by your nobility, as the faithful Albertes has assured you upon oath to my majesty; and as my majesty requests, together with the most necessary addition. Furthermore, the reason for the hesitation and delay of your most faithful and noble count, Bulchard, was that my majesty wished for my most dear nephew, the son of the most happy sebastocrator and most beloved brother to our majesty, to be seen by him, so that upon his return he might report to you the firm and skillful character of the boy in his tender state. For I am accustomed to value external and bodily qualities less, although the youth is abundantly adorned even with these, as he ^D [omitted: note on Romanus Diogenes and coinage details].

[309/310 note: index entries preserved]

^A confirmed by oath to my Imperial Majesty, and in the manner that our power seeks as a more necessary addition. Now, the slowness of your most faithful and noble count, Bulgardo, occurred because my Imperial Majesty wished for my dearest nephew—the son of the most fortunate sebastokrator ^B and the most cherished brother of my Imperial Majesty—to be seen by him, so that upon returning he might report to you the understanding of the boy, which has reached a state of maturity despite his tender age; for my Imperial Majesty places external and bodily qualities second, even if he possesses an abundance of these as well. For as the envoy saw the child when staying in the great city, and conversed with him as is fitting, he will report to you. And since God has not yet granted a child to my Imperial Majesty, and this dearest nephew of mine occupies the place of a true child to me, God willing, there is nothing preventing us from being united through ties of blood, and to think kindly of one another as Christians, and to hold one another's concerns as our own as kin, so that from this ^C each, being strengthened by the other, might be formidable to our enemies with the help of God. However, there have now been sent to your nobility, for the sake of greeting, a golden pectoral with pearls, a gilded reliquary containing within it particles of various saints, each of which is recognized by the paper placed upon each of them, a sardonyx cup, a crystal goblet, a star-shaped axe joined with a golden buckle, and opobalsam. May God prolong your life, extend the limits of your dominion, and place all those who oppose you in disgrace and trampling. May there be peace and tranquility for your domination, and a serene sun shine upon every land subject to you. May all your enemies become a disgrace, with the heavenly power of God granting you from above ^D an unconquerable force and certain victory, He who loves His true name so much, and takes up arms against His enemies.

Having thus arranged these matters in the West, he himself ^A remained in the Queen of Cities, still searching for every means by which he might resist the enemies who were already looming over him and openly threatening the Roman state, and he prepared himself for the urgent and immediate danger. Since, as the narrative has already shown, he saw the most impious Turks lingering around the Propontis—Solyman [(47)], who held power over the entire East, dwelling at Nicaea (where there was also a *sultanicium*, which we would call a palace), and sending out parties for plunder, and ravaging everything that lay around Bithynia and Thynia, and doing so even as far as the very Bosphorus—what is now called Damalis—making horse patrols and incursions, and carrying off much booty, and spreading destruction, as they threatened.

Concerning the Greek text and notes

[(47)] Solyman ruled in the East and sat at Nicaea. The lineage of Solyman has been prefixed to these Notes in our *Oriental Families*. See Albert of Aachen, book II, chap. [blank]; Fulcher, book I, chap. 5; [William of] Tyre, book III, chap. 1, and others.

[alt-version omitted]

[GREEK COLUMN] ρουμένου: «, καὶ μονονοὺ ὑπεράλλεσθαι καὶ αὐτῆς ἐπισχιροῦντας τῆς θαλάττης», οὓς οἱ Βυζάντιοι ὁρῶντες ἀφόβως πάντη ἐνδιατρίβοντας ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὰς ἀκτὰς διακειμένοις πολιχνίοις καὶ ἱεροῖς τεμένεσι, μή τινος ἐκεῖθεν αὐτοὺς ἀπελαύνοντος, ἔντρομοι διὰ παντὸς ὄντες διηποροῦντο, ὅ,τι δεῖ διαπράξασθαι. Ταῦτα ὁρῶν ὁ βασιλεὺς, πολλοῖς κυμαινόμενος λογισμοῖς καὶ πολλὰς λαμβάνων μεταβολὰς καὶ τροπάς, τοῦ κρατήσαντος γίνεται λογισμοῦ, καὶ ὡς ἐνὸν ἔργου εἴχετο. Ἀφ᾽ ὧν οὖν ἐξ ὑπογυίου συνειλοχὼς ἦν Ῥωμαίων ἀνδρῶν, καί τινων ἀπὸ τοῦ Χώματος, ὡς εἰρημένων δεκάρχας προχειρισάμενος καὶ ἐν ἀκατίοις ἐνθέμενος, τοὺς μὲν ψιλούς, τόξα καὶ ἀσπίδα φέροντας μόνον, τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἄλλως θωρήξασθαι εἰδότας, κόρυσί τε καὶ ἀσπίσι καὶ δόρασι, νυκτὸς περὶ τὰς ἀκτὰς καὶ τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς ἐρχομένους λάθρα ἐξάλλεσθαί τε καὶ ἀθρόως εἰσπίπτειν ἐκέλευσεν, εἴγε κατανοῖεν μὴ πολλαπλασίονας τῆς αὐτῶν ποσότητος ἐκείνους εἶναι, καὶ εὐθὺς παλινοστεῖν ἕκαστον ὅθεν ἐξῄει. Ἀπειροπολέμους δὲ πάντη γινώσκων αὐτοὺς ἐπέσκηπτεν ἀψοφητὶ τὴν εἰρεσίαν τοῖς ἐρέταις παραγγέλλειν ποιεῖσθαι, φυλαττομένους ἅμα καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ῥωγμαῖς τῶν πετρῶν λοχώντων Βαρβάρων. Τούτων γοῦν ἐπί τισιν ἡμέραις οὕτω τελουμένων, κατ' ὀλίγον τῶν περὶ τὴν θάλατταν χωρίων ἀνωτέρω διέκυπτον οἱ Βάρβαροι. Ὅπερ ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ μεμαθηκώς, τοῖς ἀποσταλεῖσι παρεκελεύετο καταλαβεῖν ἅπερ ἐκεῖνοι πρώην κατεῖχον πολιχνία καὶ οἰκοδομήματα, καὶ εἴσω τούτων διανυκτερεύειν· περὶ δὲ τὰς ἡλιακὰς αὐγάς, ὁπηνίκα χορταγωγίας χάριν ἤ τινος καὶ ἑτέρας χρείας τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις ξυμβαίνει ἐξιέναι, ἀθρόον αὐτοῖς ἐπιτίθεσθαι, καὶ εἴ τι κατ' αὐτῶν δυνηθεῖεν, ἀρκεῖσθαι τούτῳ, κἂν μικρὸν ᾖ, καὶ μὴ πλεῖον ζητοῦντας παρακινδυνεύειν, καὶ θάρσος τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἐντεῦθεν διδόναι, ἀλλ᾽ εὐθὺς ὑποστρέφειν, καὶ εἴσω τῶν φρουρίων γίνεσθαι. Οὐ πολὺ τὸ ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ ποῤῥωτέρω αὖθις οἱ Βάρβαροι ἐγίνοντο, ὥστε ἀποθαῤῥῆσαι τὸν αὐτοκράτορα τοῖς τέως πεζοῖς καὶ ἱππάσασθαι κελεῦσαι καὶ δόρυ κινεῖν, καὶ πολλοὺς διαύλους ἱππασίας κατὰ τῶν ἐναντίων ποιεῖν, οὐκέτι ἐν νυκτὶ οὐδὲ λάθρα ἐμπίπτουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμέρας ἄρτι αὐγαζούσης. Καὶ οἱ τέως δεκάρχαι πεντηκοντάρχαι γεγόνασι καὶ οἱ πεζοί· οἱ καὶ νυκτὸς μετὰ δέους πολλοῦ τοῖς ἐναντίοις μαχόμενοι, ἑωθινοὶ αὐτοῖς ἐπετίθεντο, καὶ ἡλίου ἐς μεσουράνημα φθάνοντος, μετὰ θάρσους λαμπροὺς ξυνίστων τοὺς πολέμους. Οὕτως οὖν τοῖς μὲν εἰς τοὐπίσω προυχώρει τὰ πράγματα. Τῇ δὲ Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῇ ἀναλάμπειν κατὰ μικρὸν τὴν ὑποτυφομένην τῆς ἐξουσίας σπινθῆρα [LATIN COLUMN] A stante: iam secura licentia grassantibus Barbaris, ut tantum non mare ipsum inscendere, urbemque ultro invadere ausuri viderentur: quos cernentes Byzantii sine ullo metu moras agere in oppidulis circum littora positis, atque in sacris templis, nemine illos inde absterrente, aut pellere parante, terrore ac consternatione pleni quid consilii caperent non habebant. Hæc, inquam, imperator videns, alteque comprehendens animo, post fluctuantium diu cogitationum æstus varios, in una tandem sententia consedit, quam et extemplo in rem deducere aggressus est, hoc ferme modo. Ex iis quos ad præsens periculum collegerat Romanis et Chomatenis militibus decuriones cum suis manipulis naviculis imponit, partim leviter armatos arcu duntaxat et clypeo, partim loricatos præterea, galeatosque et hastis instructos. Hos obire per noctes littora iubebat: et sicubi Barbaros cernerent haud multo maiore quam ipsi erant numero stationem habentes, clam exscensu facto in eos irruere, maturoque receptu mox regredi unde quisque exierat. Addebat etiam ad rem eam caute gerendam monita, ipsis ultro non occursura ex eo suspicans quo rudes adhuc illos et bellicæ rei inexpertos sciret: præciperent nautis ut quam minimo strepitu remigarent, ipsique caverent sibi a subsidere solitis ad insidias Barbaris in scissuris petrarum. His per dies aliquot excursionibus eruptionibusque frequentatis, paulatim Turci ex maritimis locis in interiora recedebant. Quo imperator cognito suis mandat oppidula et ædificia eadem quæ paulo ante Turci obtinuerant, ipsi iam vacua occupent, in iisque pernoctent: indeque primo mane, quo tempore Turcos prodire castris commeatus necessitas, aut alius usus cogeret, impressiones in eos facerent, quæ si essent prosperæ, primo tamen successu contenti nihilominus recederent in sua præsidia, ne lucrum ulterius ullo periculo paciscerentur; in quo quantulacumque incideret offensio, magnos hostibus prævalere assuetis animos faceret, illico igitur receptui canerent. Haud dudum ea ita fieri ceperant cum retulere adhuc ulterius pedem Barbari et tutioribus retro locis castra munivere. Tum vero imperator suos eatenus pedites equitare iussit, hastamque vibrare, ac reciprocis vicissim incursionibus fatigare hostes sollicitosque habere, non iam irruendo furtim per noctis tenebras, sed luce palam audaci marte lacessendo: atque id ut confidentius porro facerent, decuriones qui prius fuerant quinquagenarios facit, ut mirarentur Barbari.

^A It happened. For Comnenus drove them back with great vigor, not only from the Bosphorus and the territories adjacent to the sea, but also from all the regions around Bithynia and Thynia and from the frontiers of Nicomedia, compelling the sultan to beg for peace—and to do so very earnestly. As he became certain of the irresistible force of Robert from many reports, and learned that he had amassed a vast host and was already hastening toward the shores of Lombardy, he gladly accepted the word of peace. For if not even Hercules, according to the proverbial saying, could fight against two, how much less could a young commander who had recently seized a government that had been slowly declining for a long time and had already reached the point of final collapse, possessing neither forces nor, indeed, money—for all had been squandered previously in useless projects. Therefore, he drove the Turks from Damalis and the coastal places around it by every method and, having treated them well with gifts, he forced them to incline toward a peace treaty, imposing upon them the river called the Draco ^B as a boundary, which they were forbidden to cross in any way or ever to sally forth into the territories of the Bithynians. Thus, indeed, were matters in the East settled.

Having arrived at Dyrrhachium, Palaeologus sent a messenger and indicated the facts concerning Monomachatus, ^C stating that as soon as he learned of his arrival, he had hurried to Bodinus and Michael. He feared this because he had not obeyed the courier whom the Emperor Alexius had previously sent to him—before he brought his contemplated rebellion into the light—to ask for money through him, although the Emperor had harbored no hostile intent against him, save for the deprivation of his position for the reason already mentioned. Having come to know the facts concerning Monomachatus, the Emperor sent to him a chrysobull granting him complete security; having received this in his hands...

he returned to the palace. ^A Robert, for his part, after entrusting the entire care and power of his Italian dominion to his son Roger at Hydruntum, departed from there and occupied the port of Brundisium. There, having learned of the arrival of Palaeologus at Dyrrachium, he immediately ordered towers to be built of wood on the larger ships, and he took care to have them covered and wrapped around with ox-hide. Having brought in with great diligence all things necessary for the siege of a fortified city—and having ordered horses and heavily armored cavalry to embark on the swift ships called dromons, and having energetically prepared and provided for all other things on every side useful or necessary for war—he pressed on with the crossing. For he had determined to besiege Dyrrachium on all sides with both naval and land forces and engines, thinking that he might strike the defenders of that city with fear upon his first onset and cause them to waver in their resolution to resist, or at least, if they remained stubborn, to be able to overwhelm them with greater numbers and subdue them by force. The report of this plan, once spread about, cast great terror into the hearts of both the islanders and those dwelling along the shore of Dyrrachium just by the hearing of it. Finally, when everything that needed to be done or prepared in readiness for sailing had been completed to his satisfaction, he ordered the moorings to be cast off. He sent his dromons, triremes, and moniremes out into the deep, arranged by the skill and labor of the sailors in the form of a battle line, ^B in elegant order and with a magnificent appearance from afar, and with the help of a favoring wind, he easily reached the opposite shore at Aulon. Coasting along the shore from there, he arrived as far as Buthrotum, and there, having joined to himself his son Bohemund, who had crossed earlier and seized Aulon at the first onset, he divided his entire force in two: he himself was to lead one part with the fleet by sea towards Dyrrachium, while he entrusted the command of the other, which was to travel by land to the same city of Dyrrachium, to Bohemund. After the fleet had passed Corcyra with such a plan, in the very turn towards Dyrrachium, around the promontory which is called Lingua, it suddenly encountered a very great storm. For a heavy snowfall and winds stirred up from the mountains violently agitated the sea. From this, the waves were raised and [everything stood] already. ^C

broken; the oars of those rowing were shattered, the winds were tearing the sails, and the yards, being snapped, were falling onto the deck. The ships were already being swallowed up, crews and all, even though it was the season of summer (55), with the sun having already passed the Crab and hastening toward the Lion, at which time they say the rising of the Dog Star occurs. Therefore, everyone was in turmoil, completely at a loss, and they did not know what to do, being unable to stand against such enemies. A great clamor arose; they groaned, they lamented, they called upon God the Savior and prayed to see the land. But the swell did not abate at all, as if God were angry at the unbridled and excessive arrogance of Robert and was showing, from the very outset, that the end would not be successful. Some of the ships were swallowed up with their crews; others were dashed against the shores and shattered. And because the hides covering the towers had become loosened by the rain, the nails pulled away from their proper places; consequently, the hides, taking on weight, quickly toppled those wooden towers, and they fell to pieces and sank the ships. Yet the ship (56) in which Robert was, although it became half-shattered, was saved with great difficulty; and some of the transport ships were saved as well along with their crews. The sea cast up many, but it also strewn the sand with no small number of purses and other things that Robert’s navy was carrying with it. However, the survivors gathered the bodies and buried them, and from this, they were filled with much stench. For it was not in their power to bury so many easily. Since all their provisions had disappeared, those who had until then been saved would perhaps have perished from famine, had not the crops, the fields, and the gardens been laden with fruits. These things were ^B understandable to those who think rightly, but nothing of what had happened frightened Robert, as he remained undaunted and, I think, prayed that his life would last him just as long as he was able to fight against whomever he wished. Hence, nothing deterred him from his proposed goal. But with those who were saved (for there were some who were rescued from the danger by the irresistible power of God), he waited for seven days at Glabinitza (57) in order to recover himself, and to allow those who had been saved from the surging of the sea to rest, and [to wait for] those who had been left behind at Brundisium.

[alt-version omitted]

Note of Charles Du Fresne Du Cange on Book IV: But the ships, having suffered during the summer season, shipwreck, impeded the way; and the ship in which the leader was, having been violently broken on all sides by the storms, hardly gave him the opportunity to escape. Glabinitza is an episcopal city, a suffragan of the Dyrrachium metropolis, once called Acroceraunia. Indeed, mention of the Acroceraunians is found in Aethicus, the author of the Maritime Itinerary, and others.

BOOK III. CONTINUATION.

It was the season when the crops were everywhere ripe and ready for harvest, while the gardens and orchards were heavily laden with soft fruits on every side, offering a most opportune supplement to the food supply. A person of wisdom would easily perceive in this the divine hand, and, warned by this, would promptly cease from reckless undertakings that were condemned by heaven. Not so Robert, a man of giant confidence, who was stubborn enough to dare [his deeds] even under the stroke of lightning. I, for my part, would believe that in the very edge of extreme danger he prayed for nothing else than that his life might be spared, at least until he could see the enemy and engage in his destined battles—that is, to carry out the very thing for the sake of which he was suffering.

Without slowing his pace, therefore, and persisting in his design of the intended siege, he gathered those who had been snatched by divine power from danger, and with them stayed at Glabinitza for seven days. This was partly to allow himself and his men to recover from the sea and the tossing of the waves, and partly to give time for his forces to gather around him—whether those he had left behind at Brundusium, or those he expected to be brought by sea from elsewhere, or those who, having departed from Buthrotum, he had ordered to proceed on foot toward Dyrrachium. He summoned all these together—the cataphract cavalry, the armored infantry, and the light-armed troops of the whole army. Having assembled them all at once, there was no longer any delay before he set out to carry hostile banners into the Illyrian territory both by sea and by land.

There was with him at that time a certain Latin, from whom I heard these things which I have written here, who claimed to be a legate sent to Robert by the Bishop of Bari. While he was performing this duty, he stated that he had remained in Robert's retinue throughout all the time that Robert was pitching or moving camp across that plain, until they fixed their fortification within the soil and ruins of the ancient city of Epidamnus, arranging the legions in order within the tracks and remnants of the walls of that city, which had been destroyed long before. In this city once reigned Pyrrhus, the Epirotes’ king, who, bringing aid to the Tarentines, waged a most grave war against the Romans in Apulia, with such slaughter of his own men that, with all the citizens of Epidamnus consumed in that expedition, the city itself remained thereafter completely unpopulated and desolate. Until later (as the Greeks relate, and as monuments with ancient lettering within the same city testify), it was restored to its current form by Amphion and Zethus, and, changing its name along with its fortune, it was called Dyrrachium.

So much, then, for the origins of that city; and here we set a limit to the third book, with the remaining series of events to be provided in the book that follows immediately.

ANNE COMNENE ALEXIADIS LIBER IV

ARGUMENTUM

PERIOCHE

ALEXIAS IV. Robert began to occupy Epirus, having pitched his camp on the fourteenth day of the month of June, in the fourth indiction,

^A with cavalry and infantry forces exceeding in number, and arranged and positioned with the greatest skill in the art of war, to a sight truly terrible. For the army, gathered from all sides after the shipwreck, had now assembled in one camp. And from the sea, a huge number of ships of every kind and form, containing another army of chosen men experienced in naval warfare, was being steered by the diligent service of countless sailors. So it was that the garrison holding Dyrrachium, when they saw themselves besieged on all sides by such a mass and effort, were troubled not a little by the terrible spectacle of so many ships and machines, and the incredible multitude of men.

Yet none of these things moved George Palaiologos, a most brave man, and one long exercised in the cares and dangers of war; who, while during his long service in the East he had joined battle with the enemy most often, and no less often conquered, had earned the ornament of many palms. Secure in the knowledge of his own virtue, he was entirely occupied with fortifying the city. Not forgetting what had been commanded him by the emperor in this matter, he erected bulwarks everywhere, not those bound with nails, but those which could be rolled out to strike the ascenders; and moreover, he disposed of ballistae and that kind of wall-machine for hurling stones. If, indeed, he saw any struck with fear and torpid, he would raise them up with generous words, and contribute from the abundance of his own fortitude to the strengthening of the slothful. He omitted no caution or diligence that was appropriate for such a time. For he had scouts positioned throughout the entire wall; and he himself, often going the rounds of the wall's circuit and the military stations by night and by day, commanded everyone to keep watch and remain at their post of defense.

At that time also, he sent messengers with letters ^B to the emperor, announcing the irruption of Robert, his intentions, and the siege of Dyrrachium which he had now clearly decreed. For now, not more the prefect of the garrison himself than every soldier had understood this—both from that same most formidable and laborious appearance and mass of machines, especially the huge wooden tower taller than the very walls of Dyrrachium, having bellicose engines and ballistae for hurling stones at its top; then from the circumvallation of the city, so studiously closed in on every side, and the continuous influx of auxiliary forces from every part to tighten and advance it daily; finally from the fact that they noticed, from the cities and villages devastated in passing and placed around, that things were being busily brought together for the use of the camp huts and the soldiers.

^{C D} [alt-version omitted]

^A As was their custom during sieges, they were constructing log huts, and daily saw new ones being built. From these signs, I say, everyone had realized that Robert was by no means eager only for plunder, as had been rumored—expecting that after ravaging and plundering the region, he would return at once to Italy with a laden army and his greed satisfied—but that he had set his mind on gaining control and dominion, and that Dyrrachium was, as it were, the key and fortress he must capture at any cost if he were to achieve the end he pursued, for he saw that he had to begin by moving from this point. To confirm this further from his own words, Paleologus ordered them to ask Robert and his leaders from above what was their reason for coming against them. Robert ordered this reply to be given: that he had undertaken the expedition with the intention of restoring to his former imperial dignity his relative, Michael, who had been thrust from the throne, and to avenge the insults and outrages committed against him. ^B To this the people of Dyrrachium replied that they had seen Michael, and if he were shown to them they would recognize him immediately, worship him, and would not delay in the least to surrender the city. When Robert heard this, he ordered his men to produce the Pseudo-Michael, and, dressed in imperial finery, to show him to the inhabitants of the city with splendid pomp and the sound of musical instruments of every kind. This was done. But at that sight, the soldiers from the ramparts began to shout against him with great voices, mocking him, and spitting down upon the man with a barrage of insults; then they said that what was being shown to them was the impudent face of a thieving scoundrel, not of the once-Emperor Michael, whom they knew very well. Robert held these things for naught and pressed on with his intended work, hastening with all his might toward the proposed end of the siege. During this exchange, some men suddenly sallied out from the city and joined battle with the Latins, then, after inflicting some damage, withdrew.

^C As for the monk who was accompanying Robert, most people held various opinions. Some proclaimed him to be the cupbearer of the Emperor Michael Ducas, while others maintained that he was the Emperor Michael himself, the father-in-law of the barbarian, for whose sake—so they say—he had undertaken such a great war; some, however, insisted they knew for a fact that the whole thing was a mere pretext of Robert’s. ^D Although what we have said about the exhibition and exposure of the monk who was feigning to be Michael turned out in such a way, yet various opinions about him were circulating throughout the besieged city and the surrounding places, and the uncertain crowd was divided into opposing views. There were those who pronounced without doubt, as if they knew the person, that he had been the cupbearer of Michael, while others indeed confirmed that he was the Emperor Michael himself, the father-in-law of Robert, because of the marriage contracted between their children—the meaning of which is what the word *sympentheros* conveys. [alt-version omitted]

^A Some persisted in the belief, being fully persuaded, that this was a false claim and a fabrication by that wily man, Robert, who devised a plausible pretext for his unjust war. For it was not at all likely that Michael Doukas had defected to Robert, or that there was any other reason for the war than the avarice of Robert himself, which, having been lured by initial successes, was now irrevocably drawn toward the rest; the sweetness of the first gain inciting him to the plunder of the remaining spoils, still untouched. Nor was this at all surprising in such a man, who, having risen from extreme poverty and an obscure station through the restlessness of his nature and a pride as daring as it was fortunate, and having—thanks to a non-vulgar prudence that directed him—raised himself to the pinnacle of power, having first subjected to himself all the cities and regions of Lombardy and then even those of Apulia, as has been mentioned above, now, as is characteristic and customary, once having tasted gain, could no longer contain his cupidity; rather, having cast his eyes upon the coast of Illyricum and the cities of that tract, he deemed it time to experiment with them and satisfy his rapacity, being certain that if events now also responded to his wishes, he would continue to encroach upon whatever lay in his path, according to the custom and nature of avarice, which you might justly compare to gangrene. For just as that disease, if it has once seized any limb, creeps continuously into the rest and does not cease anywhere until it has wasted the whole body, so this plague of the soul, having once bitten into any part, proceeds with an irrevocable impulse to comprehend and absorb the whole; and unless a greater force of resistance from those who oppose it meets its initial or wilder advances, it consumes everything right up to the end.

^B The letters of Palaiologos having been brought to the Emperor, which indicated the crossing of Robert made in the month of June, the shipwreck and the divine wrath against him—which had warned him in vain—the taking of Aulon in passing, and the infinite forces flowing to him from all sides like winter snows; and not concealing the fact that there were some who allowed themselves to be persuaded that Michael, formerly Emperor, was really with Robert, and were therefore drawn to his side—having received all these things, Alexius fell into grave concern regarding the state of affairs, weighing again and again the magnitude of the danger in which the state was involved. And since he could easily discern that the forces he had at hand or could hope for were not able to match in size even a fraction of those which composed the army of Robert, he determined that he must summon Turks from the East; and he began to act on this by sending messengers to the Sultan ^C. He also summoned the Venetians ^D (from whom the color utilized in the circus games, which distinguishes the other faction, is said to take its name), proposing some things to them and promising others, as is customary to be done to that people.

He urged that, if they would only consent to equip the naval force of their entire country and reach Dyrrhachium with haste, to hold it and to establish a naval battle against the fleet of Robert, they would gain all that they promised, whether they were victorious—either by the support of God or ^A by the chances of war—or were defeated, just as if they had conquered by might. Moreover, whatever desires of theirs were not contrary to the Roman administration would be fulfilled and confirmed by golden bulls. Having heard these things, the Venetians, having requested through their own envoys whatever else they wished, received solid promises. Thereupon, they prepared a fleet and made the voyage to Dyrrhachium with a great variety of ships, and with much order. Having traversed many stretches of sea, they reached the temple built long ago in the name of the most immaculate Theotokos at a place called Pallia, distant from the camp of Robert, which was situated outside Dyrrhachium, about ^B eighteen stades. Seeing the naval forces of Robert anchored there from the city of Dyrrhachium, fortified with every kind of weapon of war, they feared to engage in battle. Robert, having learned of their arrival, sent his son Bohemond toward them with a fleet, charging them to acclaim the Emperor Michael and Robert himself. They, however, deferred the acclamation until the following day. When evening came, since it was not possible for them to approach the shore, the wind being calm, they joined together the larger of their ships, fastened them with cables, and configured the so-called "sea-barrier," and raised wooden towers on ^C them.

Notes by Car. Dufresne Du Cange

(70) ... [alt-version omitted] ... ^D

The Venetians deferred the engagement until the following day. When evening came, since they could not approach the shore due to a lack of wind, they arranged their larger ships in a single line and bound them together with ropes, creating what is known as a maritime port by the very structure of the curved line and the placement of large ships on every side. Then, indeed, they erected wooden towers in place of the sails, into which they hauled their small boats with pulleys and placed them in order, assigning a certain number of armed men to each, along with a collection of missiles. These missiles were of the following form: they had cut very thick logs into pieces not exceeding a cubit in length; these, being harder and heavier, and therefore better adapted for doing harm, they had readied by embedding large and sharp nails into them on all sides. Being thus prepared, they awaited the arrival of the Frankish fleet. ^B Day had already dawned when Bohemond returned, repeating the acclamation promised the previous day; but when he received in return nothing but great insults to his face, he, impatient of the ignominy, attacked the Venetian ships with his full strength. The rest of the fleet soon followed him, and an atrocious battle was joined, especially by Bohemond, whom the goad of the insults had irritated beyond his natural ardor. While he pressed on fiercely and brought his own flagship more boldly toward the moored Venetian vessels, they—having let one of the logs we mentioned fall from above onto Bohemond's ship—perforated it. As the ship was being swallowed by the waves due to the water rushing in through the breach, the crew immediately fled for their lives, and in their folly they fell into the very evil they were fleeing; for, fearing to drown by staying on the ship, they were drowned in the sea. This was, in fact, the fate that consumed all those who had not already fallen to Venetian blows in the battle itself. Bohemond, however, having been brought into mortal danger, jumped onto one of his own boats and withdrew. The Venetians, becoming more emboldened, joined battle with them even more courageously and, having completely routed them, pursued them as far as Robert’s tent. Upon approaching the shore, they leapt out and joined another battle with Robert. When Palaiologos saw this, he himself went out from the fortress of Dyrrhachium and fought alongside them. A fierce battle ensued which reached as far as Robert’s camp, where many were pursued, and many also became food for the sword. (72) The Venetians, having taken much booty, returned to their ships. ^C

(71) It is certainly a matter of wonder why the Venetians should reproach Bohemond (a Latin or Frank) for his beard, since at that time it was generally the custom among Latins and Franks to shave the beard. Guibert, a contemporary writer, says in *Gesta Dei per Francos*, book V, chap. 6: "But for our men, placed in constant battle array, a horrible appearance had first covered the emaciation of their weary cheeks, and, as was the Frankish custom, owing to the neglect of their long journey, each had delayed in shaving his small beard." William of Tyre, book II, chap. 2, Jacob of Vitry, book I, chap. 7, Radevic, book IV, *Gesta Friderici*, chap. 30, Nicetas in *Isaac*, book I, no. 10, Gregoras, book IX, and others without number testify to this same fact concerning the Latins. But William of Malmesbury, in his third book *De gestis regum Anglorum*, specifically ascribes this custom to the Normans themselves when he narrates that scouts sent by Harold, King of the English, into the camps of the army of William, reported that almost all of the priests in that army were mocked because they had their faces completely shaved, including both lips. And Matthew Paris, in the year 1196: "William, therefore, son of Robert, surnamed 'with the beard,' whose ancestral line, out of indignation at the Normans, disdained to shave the beard," etc. Nay, even Bohemond himself, as Anna brings in on page 404, shaved his chin to the skin with the edge of a razor, such that she could not say what color his beard had been. Did the Venetians, therefore, reproach the bearded Bohemond for his beardless cheeks, as we are accustomed to do with effeminate men? For it is established that the Venetians of that age did not embrace the custom received by the other Latins, but, like the Greeks—whose customs they even retained in their clothing—they wore beards. This is confirmed sufficiently by the effigy of Doge Ordelaf Falieri, who lived in this century, which is seen in the church of St. Mark in Venice, and by several other images of old Venetian nobles, which Cesare Vecellio represents in his book *Degli habiti antichi et moderni*. Hence, when after the passing of Alexius a certain rivalry arose between his son John and the Venetians, it was decreed that the Venetians, who up to that time had worn beards, should henceforth be beardless, as Dandolo is the author in his *Annals*, for the year 1126. See the notes on page 165. William the Apulian also touches upon this:

The following dawn had put to flight the shadows, Each side is prepared for the naval war, ^D The Venetians had more, because the Venetian race, skilled in war, Rushes boldly: the Duke’s fleet, terrified, Returns in flight to the port, thus the battle remained. As the day returned for the third time, the Venetian race Makes for the port and attacks Robert’s ships with martial force.

When he [the leader of the Venetian fleet] had been removed in this way, the Venetians drove into the others, who had already been struck with fear, and put them all to flight, pursuing them even as far as Robert’s tent; and indeed, having made a sudden landing, they engaged in a hand-to-hand fight with Robert. Seeing this from the watchtower of his fortress, Palaeologus ^B himself suddenly charged out, and joining forces with the Venetians, attacked the enemy with no sluggish hand, advancing the danger right up to Robert’s camp; for to that extent the flight and terror extended, with many being killed in the fields by the sword. The Venetians carried much plunder back to their ships; Palaeologus, however, withdrew into the citadel.

Having stayed there for some days, the Venetians sent messengers to the Emperor to report what had happened: he received them as was fitting with the greatest benevolence, and having honored them with countless benefits, he sent them away, having dispatched with them a sufficient sum of money with which he rewarded both the Doge of Venice and the other magistrates of that republic who were under him.

But Robert, a man of fearless spirit and protected by an unvanquished constancy against all the shocks of war, firmly determined that this war should have no end other than victory; and he persisted in such a purpose against the inconveniences of both the sky and storms, and the incursions of the enemy by land and sea, who were preventing the supply of provisions. For neither could he, during the storm, commit his ships—having been brought into safety—to the sea; and that same inconvenience of the closed sea hindered the transit of the Italian ships that were preparing to carry from Robert’s dominion the things necessary for him. Added to this were the garrisons placed at all the surrounding ports by the Roman or Venetian fleet, whose intent guarding had made the sea still more impassable for Robert’s purposes.

But when the sea became free with milder weather, the Venetians, not content with merely blockading, proceeded to attack Robert with sails and oars. When Maurix had joined them with the Roman fleet, a very heavy battle was joined, and Robert’s men turned their backs. From that time, Robert thought he must cause all his ships to be hauled onto the dry land, leaving the free possession of the sea to the enemy. But even because of that offense, the islanders were emboldened, as were the small towns along the coast of the mainland ^C and as many others who were paying tribute to Robert, and they did not readily offer the burdens imposed upon them, having learned of his defeat at sea. He therefore decided that he must use more careful diligence in war, and fight by both sea and land. And since it was not possible to put what he had planned into action, fearing shipwreck, as great winds were blowing at that time, he held his ground where he had stopped.

^B Robert, meanwhile, having learned of the situation regarding Robert, the Emperor did not delay but immediately began to prepare for battle by means of a letter to Pakourianos. The Venetian and Roman fleets were keeping watch over the strait as best they could; and whenever the sea offered its back slightly to those wishing to sail, they prevented those attempting to cross from there to Robert. Nor was it easy to transport supplies from the mainland, as they were encamped near the Glykys river, and those arriving from Dyrrhachium were preventing the gathering of fodder or any other harvest to those who ventured outside of Robert's entrenchment, which resulted in those men suffering from hunger; but even the unfamiliarity of the place greatly harmed them. By passing over three months (it is said), a destruction of men occurred, amounting to ten thousand. This disease also seized the cavalry forces with Robert and destroyed many. For of the horsemen, counts and chosen men, the most valiant, up to five hundred became a spoil of disease and famine, and of the humbler sort, countless horsemen. ^C Since his ships had been moored in the Glykys river, as has been said, and this had been depleted due to the drought after the winter, and the summer sun approaching, being hotter, and it did not even have as much water as is accustomed to flow down in the ravines, he was in a state of helplessness, not being able to draw them back out to the sea. But being a man most skilled in engineering and of profound mind, he ordered stakes to be driven on either side, wishing to separate the river from the sea and the mainland, and to bind these together with thick osiers, and then cutting down massive trees from the roots and spreading them behind them, sprinkling sand upon them from above, so that the water might be collected into one place, being gathered together like a single canal created from the stakes. And gradually, the water pooling up filled the entire foundation of the river, and rose to a significant depth, until it lightened the ships and lifted those vessels that had previously been stuck in the ground, and rendered them seaworthy. And from that point on, the ships, having grasped a good voyage, were easily drawn out to the sea.

^A When the Emperor had learned of the situation regarding Robert, he immediately conveyed to Pacourianos by letter the man's unceasing impetus and how he had seized Aulon, not concerned at all with the disasters that had befallen him, whether by land or by sea, or with that defeat which he had suffered from the very outset, as they say. He explained how it was necessary not to delay, but to assemble the forces more quickly and unite. These things, then, to Pacourianos. He himself, however, immediately ^B set out from Constantinople in the month of August (75) of the fourth indiction, leaving Isaacios in the great imperial city, so that he could settle the affairs of the city, and if any discordant words were heard from enemies—such as is customary—he should disperse them and guard the palace and the city, while at the same time consoling the sorrows of the women. But as for his arrival to his mother, she stood in need of no help, as I think, since she was most robust and besides was very skilled in handling affairs. Therefore, when Pacourianos had unrolled the letter and then designated as lieutenant-general Nicholas Branas, a brave man having much experience in military matters, he himself, with the entire heavy-armed force and those of the higher status, set out from Orestias with haste, being eager to unite with the emperor. And when the emperor had arrived, he immediately arranged the entire heavy-armed force into battle formation, having placed as leaders of the chosen men the most valiant of figures, and having instructed them to maintain their march in whatever way the terrain allowed them, so that having recognized the form of the deployment, and each having known his own place, they would remain unconfused at the time of battle and not be easily shifted about, as might happen. One of the leaders of the tagma of the excubitors was Constantine the son of [Apokaukos?], of the Macedonians was Antiochos, of the Thessalians was Andronikos, and [another?] was Alexander Kabasilas. And Taticius (76), who was the great Primicerius (77) of those at Achris...

^A of those Turks who inhabited [the region] he was the leader, a man most noble and undaunted in battles, not indeed of a free condition from his ancestors; for his father, being a Saracen, had come by plunder to my paternal grandfather, John Komnenos. As for the Manichaeans (79), who numbered from eight hundred up to two thousand, their leaders were Xantes and Kouleon, these men also belonging to the same heresy, and all of them were most warlike, and most ready, when a good occasion offered, to taste the blood of their enemies, and furthermore they were also impudent and shameless; and of those more intimate with them, the Vestiari- ^B -tae (80)

custom so calls, and of the Frankish regiments, Panucometes (81), and Constantine Umpertopulos—having received the epithet from his lineage—were appointed in command. Having thus organized the regiments, he set out with the entire army against Robert. But having met someone coming from those parts, he inquired more clearly about the affairs at Dyrrachium and learned that Robert, having brought out ^B all the engines suitable for breaching walls, had moved them toward the walls. And George Palaiologos, having resisted the engines from outside (82) throughout every night and day, and having already renounced the effort, opened the gates and went out and fought a battle with him. And he was struck critically in various parts of his body, and especially near the temple, having been pierced by a missile, which, when he tried to pull it out and could not, he summoned one of the experts who removed the ends—I mean the socket—and where the ^C arrow is winged, but the remaining part remained in the place of the wound. And having bound his head as the occasion allowed, he again pushed himself into the middle of his opponents, fighting until the late evening, standing immovable. The emperor, having heard these things and discerned that he had need of quick assistance, hastened the march. Having come to Thessalonica and having learned through many sources the matters regarding Robert ^D

and that they might get used to keeping their positions and climbing, and then, when the battle was joined, they would not move rashly nor wander about at random. The leader of the guards ^A of this column was Constantine Opus, of the Macedonians; Antiochus, of the Thessalonians; Andronicus and Alexander Gabasilas. And Tatius, the great primicerius at that time, was leading the Turks who inhabited Achridas; a man of the greatest strength, and untroubled in spirit in the midst of battle, nor was he of free condition or noble lineage from his ancestors; for his father was a Saracen, and he was brought up according to the custom of his people.

Various readings from the Coislin codex.

Notes by Charles Dufresne Du Cange.

(78) Achridas. Ahris of Bulgaria, in Macedonia. . . a city of the west, beneath the Pierian mountains . . . (see facsimile).

(79) Manichaeans. The Manichaeans, or Paulicians, are understood, who inhabited Philippopolis, whom Anna praises once for their courage of mind. How they were brought from Armenia and Asia into Thrace by Constantine Copronymus, Theophanes writes: "The Emperor Constantine, [leading] the Syrians and Armenians, brought [them] to Theodosiopolis, and to Thrace, and they multiplied, and the heresy of the Paulicians [spread]." The author is also aware that they were transferred to Thrace likewise by the son of Copronymus, the Syrian heretics, as he calls the Paulicians. The inhabitants of Philippopolis are also mentioned by Nicetas, page 806, and our Villehardouin, 208, where we have noted the Paulician heresy as well-known. Furthermore, William of Apulia refers to the fact that they remained as Manichaeans among the Greeks at that time.

(80) Bestiaritae. Concerning the vestiarium and the vestiarii, learned men know [well]. The Bestiaritae, however, are specifically those who [are the] vestiarii, I know [this is] a matter of controversy. Certainly, the office of the vestiarii is [held] around the person of the emperor, as is that of the vestiaritae. See Cedrenus, 22, in the time of Justinian, who became the *Ebdomos*, "the Bestiaritae [lost] the crown of the king"; because our text reads *Bestiaritae*, which word is not once found in ancient inscriptions. Rome, on the Esquiline: D. PREDIMO VESTI^B-RIUM. AM. PHAEDER. FRATRI. PIISSIMO. Alia… (see facsimile).

^C ...the wooden tower, and others with axes, so that by them the wooden tower might be destroyed. [But] the journey... Having reached Thessalonica, his faith regarding everything concerning Robert was confirmed yet further. For Robert was ready, and having prepared brave soldiers, and having gathered much material on the plain of Dyrrachium, he placed his camp at a distance of about a bowshot from its walls; he had, however, placed many of the forces under his command about the mountains, and the ravines, and the hills. But he also perceived Palaeologus’s vigilance from many things. For already Palaeologus, intending to burn the wooden tower prepared by Robert, and having applied naphtha, pitch, and dry wooden beams to the walls, and stone-throwing engines, was expecting the encounter of the war. Anticipating Robert for the coming year, he had prepared beforehand a wooden tower within, [setting it] directly against the tower coming from outside, and through the whole night he made trial of that beam above which they intended to cast down against the doors of the wooden tower brought from outside, [to see] if it would move easily, and if, falling face-to-face against the doors, it would not easily allow them to open. Having discerned that the wood is pushed easily and would be accurate in its action, he already grew confident for the expected war. On the day after, when Robert ordered everyone to be armed, and had led about five hundred armored footmen and horsemen into the tower, as they approached the wall, they hurried to open the door above, as if they would use it as a bridge ^D for entry into the castle, Palaeologus, having at that moment pushed the huge beam from within by means of the engines he had already prepared and many brave men, made Robert's engine useless, the beam not allowing the door to be opened at all. Then, casting missiles at the Celts standing atop the tower continuously, he did not cease; and they, not bearing the blows, hid themselves. He orders, therefore, the tower to be burned. And the word was not yet fully spoken, and at once there was the work, [and] the burning of the tower took place. And some were cast down from above, while others, having opened the door at the base of the tower, fled. Seeing these men fleeing, Palaeologus then led forth brave armored men through the postern of the castle... (the rest of the paragraph remains on the following page).

wooden tower might be utterly destroyed. He did not fail in this either, but having burned the upper parts of the tower, he utterly destroyed the lower parts by hacking them with certain digging instruments. When he had finished telling these things, he said that Robert was again eagerly preparing another ^A tower similar to the one already constructed, and was getting ^B siege engines ready against Dyrrachium. The emperor, realizing that those in Dyrrachium were in rapid need of assistance, made ready his own forces and set out for Dyrrachium. He arrived there, constructed a trench, and pitched camp by the river called Charzanen, and immediately sent some men to ask Robert for what reason he had arrived, and what was his goal. Leaving that place, he went to the temple erected in the name of the greatest among the high priests, Nicholas, four stadia away from Dyrrachium, and was observing the location of the place so that he might secure in advance the most opportune ground where it would be necessary to station his phalanxes at the time of battle. It was then the fifteenth day of the month of October. There was a neck of land extending from Dalmatia to the sea, terminating in a certain promontory which is like a peninsula, in which the aforementioned temple has been built. The slope of the neck, meeting the plain that inclined toward Dyrrachium, had the sea on the left, and a high and towering mountain on the right. Having gathered all the heavy infantry there and pitched his camp, he then summoned George Palaeologus. But he, having experienced such things over a long time, and considering this not advantageous, refused the sortie, attempting this very thing...

^A in reporting to the emperor. But when the emperor demanded his presence even more urgently, he said: "It seems ruinous to me to leave the fortress while it is being besieged, and unless I see the ring from the hand of your Majesty, I shall not come out." Having seen the ring when it was sent, he then set out ^B to the emperor with ships of war. The emperor, seeing him, inquired about Robert. When he had clarified everything for him, he asked if it was necessary to ^C dare a battle with them. He dissented from this for the time being. But also some of those experienced in martial affairs for a long time diligently restrained him, advising him to persevere in skirmishes and to hasten to enclose Robert, not allowing those under him to go out for fodder or foraging ^D from their own camp. They insisted that he enjoin this upon Bodinus and the Dalmatians and the remaining leaders of the adjacent regions, asserting that in this way Robert would easily be defeated. But the majority of the younger men in the army urged for battle, and above all else Constantius the Porphyrogennetos, and Nicephorus Synadenus, and Nampites, the leader of the Varangians, and the sons of the previous emperor Romanus Diogenes himself, namely Leo and Nicephorus. At the same time, also the envoys who had been sent to Robert returned, repeating his words to the emperor. "For I," he said, "have by no means set out against your Majesty, but rather to avenge the injustice done to my kinsman. If, however, you desire peace with me, I also welcome this, provided that you yourself are willing to fulfill the things declared to you by my envoys." For he was seeking things that were altogether impossible and harmful to the Roman Empire, promising at the same time that if he obtained the things he sought from him, he would consider Lombardy itself as from the emperor and would assist when there was need; but this was a pretext, so that he might appear to want peace through the things he requested, but by stating impossibilities and not obtaining them, he might hold to the battle, and then blame the emperor of the Romans for the cause of the battle. For this reason they did not wish to incline toward settlements. Having thus requested impossible things and not obtaining them, he called together all the commanders and says to them: "You know the injustice done by the emperor Nicephorus Botaneiates to my kinsman, and the dishonor that my daughter Helena suffered, being driven out of the palace with him."

^A Since we could not endure this, we departed from our country to avenge these wrongs against Botaneiates. But now that he has been deposed from the throne, we have this new emperor, a brave soldier who has had experience in military science beyond his years, and one must not undertake the war against him as though it were a trivial matter. For where there is a multiplicity of commanders, there is also confusion, since the varied opinions of the many introduce it. Therefore, it is necessary to obey one of us alone—who, however, shall seek the counsel of all, and not use his own judgments thoughtlessly and as it happens—while the rest shall speak their own opinions to him with honesty, following the lead of the one chosen. And see, I, one among all, am ready to yield to whomever you all prefer." All then, having praised this counsel and stating that Robert spoke well, thereupon ceded the primacy to him, all agreeing to this. But he, acting with feigned reluctance, for a time postponed the undertaking; yet they pressed him more, asking this very thing of him. Yielding then to what appeared to be their entreaties, even in this he wove word upon word, long labored, and cleverly stringing together false reasons for what he desired, he seemed reluctant to those who did not fathom his inner intent. Finally he said to them: "Hearken, counts, ^B and the rest of the army, to my counsel, since we have left our own homes and arrived here. The impending battle is against a most manly of emperors, who has only just taken up the reins of the empire, yet has conquered many wars during the reigns of those before him, and has brought the greatest rebels as prisoners of war to them. We must hold fast to this battle with all our souls. And if God shall decree the victory for us, we shall no longer be in need of money. We must therefore burn all our baggage, and after boring holes in the ships, let them go onto the sea, and thus ^C undertake the battle against him as though we had just been born and were about to die." To these things they all gave their consent.

Of the burning of the fleet by the duke; and of the speech of Robert to his army

The young men were Leo and Nicephorus. Just at the time when the juniors were pressing for the battle, those returned to Robert from the camp positioned above the river Charzanen, whom we said earlier had been sent to him, bringing back his responses to the emperor’s interrogation: "I," he said, "did not undertake this expedition against your Majesty, but I have taken up just arms, with the intention of avenging the injustice done to my kinsman Michael. But if you wish for peace with me, I embrace this too, provided that you endeavor to carry out those things which I shall have explained to you through my envoys." Such was he. But his envoys asked for things that could in no way be granted, being pernicious to the Roman Empire. Robert, however, alleviated the odium of the demands by the accumulation of huge promises: so much so that if what he asked were given, he asserted that he would credit Lombardy itself to the empire and would hold it from the emperor only by precarious or beneficiary right. But it appeared that these things were not spoken from his heart, but were shown only ^D as a pretext and an excuse to the common crowd: as though it had not stood by him that peace might be composed, and that he had descended to such damaging conditions; from which it would come about that the cause and envy of the ensuing battle would be conferred upon the emperor. Because of such suspicion regarding the evil and deceitful mind of Robert, the discussion of the peace-settlement was dismissed by the consent of the nobles. From this rebuff, Robert, assembling all the counts who were serving with him, addresses them in this manner: "You know what injustice my kinsman Michael Augustus has suffered from Nicephorus Botaneiates, and with what ignominy my daughter Helena was affected by the same man, being expelled from the palace along with him. If you remember, the awareness of this pain drove us from our homeland, even then when Botaneiates, the author of the injustice, was still reigning. But since that time, with the orb of affairs changed, a new emperor is set against our arms, older than past affairs, vigorous and flourishing both in other matters and in age, a man still almost an adolescent, yet one who has had a long experience in military matters beyond what could be expected from a youth. And since I think this war should not be undertaken in a perfunctory manner or with ordinary attention or effort, but with the exquisite reasoning of military discipline and order, part of which lies in keeping the command to one man most religiously: where many command, it is necessary that conflicts of warring opinions arise, from which disturbance cannot help but arise. There is need, therefore, that there be some one among us whom the rest obey; who, however, does not attribute too much to his own judgment, but calls others into council and embraces the opinions which are brought forward as best by anyone. And that man... [alt-version omitted] [original-script column: see facsimile]

^A should also consider it, that each should freely and sincerely propose whatever comes into his mind. Then, once the discussion has been concluded, they should without any hesitation carry out the opinion which has prevailed, according to the leader’s judgment. Up then, go to your ballots, and choose whomever you think will be most useful as your leader. Behold, I will act as the man under whomsoever it shall be; and whatever he prescribes, I will do." The speech and the modesty of Robert were approved by the great assent of those listening. And having cast lots, that same man was chosen by the total consent of all to be supreme commander, and was set over them all. But he seemed to refuse the honor bestowed upon him with clever feigned resistance, thereby inciting the zeal of those who favored him even more; and the power which he was seeking through such a great series of fraudulent tricks, he was now grasping more strongly and confirming more securely for himself through this deceptive refusal of the offered post. Therefore, when he had craftily invented many reasons for declining the supreme position—reasons which he proposed with such a mind and such artifice that they would clearly persuade everyone in the opposite direction—finally, as he wished to appear, his resistance having been overcome, he yielded, though reluctant of course, to the great consensus of the nobles; and he delivered this speech to them in the following manner: "Hear my advice, companions and fellow soldiers. Since, having left our homelands, we all stand here in battle array to contend with a most bellicose emperor, who, having been granted the kingdom just recently, will leave nothing undone in any art or endeavor so that he may rather honor the auspices of his own principate with a celebrated victory, than disgrace it with a shameful defeat. It is not, however, unusual for him to win, he who has conducted many great wars under previous Augusti, and has brought home tyrants ^B not a few, conquered in battle and captured. Since these things, I say, are so, I believe that with all our heart and soul we must undertake this battle, having no care for any other things except for victory; which, if God grants it, we shall be abundantly satisfied and liberally equipped, so that, beyond being thoughtless, it would even be the sign of a petty and narrow mind to want to consult for the present moment out of petty saving. For I shall no longer hesitate to say what I want, or what I judge necessary to be done. It is clearly necessary—and so I command—to burn all your vessels and equipment; as for the cargo ships, they must be scuttled and, along with the equipment that is to perish, be thrust into the sea; and thus, to fight with Alexius as if we were just born there, and as if we were going to die there." They all agreed to these things.

Such things Robert was turning over in his mind, advising and doing; Alexius, by contrast, was considering others, more varied and conceived with greater acuity. In this, however, both agreed: that they were each still holding back their army; through that delay, by the most attentive investigation, they were each for themselves exploring what manner of strategy for winning was most certain. The emperor indeed placed his hope in a stratagem by which he believed he would enclose the enemies in the middle. He prepared ^C to lead around his entire auxiliary force—the whole militia of allied nations, I mean—secretly from the hostile army, and ordered them to traverse the sea shore by the longest possible circuit, so that they might the more easily deceive Robert’s foresight, and to betake themselves to that place whence they could make an assault from the rear upon the turned enemies, at the time when he himself ^D would be attacking Robert from the front. But Robert, having left his tents empty, and having passed across the bridge by night (it was then counted the eighteenth day of October, in the fifth indiction), betook himself with his entire army to a temple built long ago near the sea in the name of the martyr Theodore; and there, throughout the whole night, having propitiated the divinity with prayers, they partook of the immaculate and divine mysteries. Then, turning to the task of arraying his battle line, he chose for himself and took the place in the center of the formation. The wing that looked toward the sea he entrusted to the count Amicetas [index: entries preserved]

^A, a man illustrious in both hand and counsel. To the other he wished his son, Baimundus, surnamed Saniscus, to preside. When the Emperor discovered these things, with that promptness of intellect by which he was greatest at discerning in an instant what needed to be done—and transforming himself in a moment to suit the opportunity—right there where he happened to be, along the downward slope by the edge of the sea, he also deployed his own battle line.

Having divided the forces he had with him (for he did not think it right to recall the Barbarians who had already begun to move toward the tents of Robert to go and attack him from the rear), he held back only those who wore the double-edged swords on their shoulders, although they too had been destined for the encircling of the enemy’s camp. Changing his orders, he commanded all of them to leave their horses and, with their leader Nampites, to proceed in a line at a short interval ahead of the entire host. All of these men were shield-bearers. He distributed the rest of the army into phalanxes; he himself held the middle of the entire line, while to the right and left he placed in command of the phalanxes the Caesar Nicephorus Melissenus and the one who was called Pacurianus, the Grand Domestic.

Within the central part of his phalanx and in the middle of the line of Barbarians—those whom we said were ordered to dismount from their horses and engage the enemy on foot—he had concealed large and sufficiently numerous detachments of expert javelin-throwers whom he intended to send out against Robert. He had given instructions to Nampites that when he had shown the enemy a full display of an intent to charge them, he should immediately retreat; and, by opening up his ranks on both sides, give place to his own archers to erupt, and then quickly gather his men together again; and, protected by their mutually joined shields, command them to move forward.

The Emperor himself was traversing the sea-coast opposite the front of the French line. In the meanwhile, the Barbarians who had been sent to encircle them had traversed the coastal track, and having made their circuit, they attacked the French camp jointly with the Dyrrachians, who had come out for that very purpose by the Emperor’s command. Now, indeed, both of the supreme commanders on each side were advancing against one another in hostility, with their lines drawn up. Robert, by sending in light cavalry detachments from time to time, was skirmishing and probing the entire battle, intent with all his might upon this: that by this method, if he could, he might draw out some of the hotter-headed men from the body of the Roman army.

The Emperor, however, was not deceived by this artifice ^B. Therefore, he carefully guarded [against it], and indeed sent out many peltasts ^C to take the place of those who had been sent against them. When both sides had used moderate skirmishing against each other, and since Robert was following them quietly, and the space of the neutral ground between them was already narrowing, the foot soldiers and horsemen from the phalanx of Amicetas ran forward ^D and attacked around the edge of the formation of Nampites. But because they stood against them quite bravely, they were driven back; since they were not all chosen men, they threw themselves into the sea, even as far as to the count of the sea.

They were approaching the ships of the Roman and Venetian fleet, seeking salvation ^A from there, but did not receive it from them. Gaita (92), however, as a certain story says, the spouse of Robert, fighting alongside her husband—another Pallas, though not an Athena—seeing them fleeing, fixed upon them a sharp gaze, and letting forth a very great cry against them, she was like one saying in her own language, if not the Homeric verse: "How long will you flee? Stand, and be men." And when they still did not cease fleeing, she grabbed a long spear in her hand, and, throwing the reins wide, she charged against the fugitives. Seeing this, they came to themselves and recalled themselves to battle. Since the axe-bearers (93), and their leader Nampites himself, because of inexperience and heat, had marched forward too quickly, they had become separated from the Roman line by a considerable distance, hastening to join battle in equal spirit with the Celts (for they are in no way inferior to them in fighting, and are even more daring in this, and in this regard not falling short of the Celts), Robert, seeing them already exhausted and panting—both from the speed of their movement, the distance covered, and the weight of their arms—ordered some of his infantry to jump upon them. And they, having already grown weary, appeared ^B softer than the Celts. Thus, the whole barbarian force falls; and as many of them as survived, having fled for refuge to the temple (94) of the archistrategos Michael, some entered as many as the temple could hold within, while others, having climbed onto the roof of the temple, stood there, seeking their safety from there, as they thought. But the Latins, having cast fire upon them, burned them all together with the temple. The rest of the Roman phalanx, however, fought against them stoutly. But Robert, like some winged knight, together with the remaining forces, drives against the Roman army, and pushes it, and shatters it into many parts. From there, some of the opposing forces fell fighting in the very battle, while others secured their own salvation by flight. But the Emperor Alexios remained like an unshakable tower, and he had lost many of the men with him, who were distinguished both in lineage and in military experience. For at that time fell Constantios (95), the son of the former emperor Constantine, ^C brother of Michael Parapinakes, and himself, I believe, the same man whom Zonaras and Scylitzes call Constantine. For these writers relate that Constantine bore six children.

^A His mother was the daughter of the previously reigning Constantine Doukas, and he was born not when his father was a private citizen, but in the purple, where he was reared, and at that time was deemed worthy of imperial fillets by his father. Nicephorus, by name Synadenus, was a brave man and very handsome; he was eager to surpass all others in bravery on that day. With him, the aforementioned Constantius frequently spoke regarding marriage to his own sister; indeed, so too did the father of Palaeologus, Nicephorus, and other notable men. For Zacharias also was struck a mortal blow to the chest, and together with the wound released his soul, as did Aspetes and many of the chosen men. ^B Since the battle was not breaking off, because they saw the Emperor still standing his ground, three Latins responded—one of whom was the aforementioned Amiketes, another Peter of Alifa—and they burned them all in the temple alike. Meanwhile, the rest of our phalanx fought against the Gauls clearly and bravely. Until Robert, like some winged horseman, leaping in with all his forces together in an irresistible onslaught, moved the Romans from their position and shattered the array into many parts. The leaders and soldiers were partly cut down where they stood and partly driven into various flights. But Emperor Alexius stood nonetheless like a most solid tower high in the field, fighting most bravely, although he saw the slaughter of men, notable both for nobility of birth and experience in martial matters, all around him on every side. Among them was Constantius, son of the former August Constantine Doukas, born when his father was already emperor, 117 born and reared in the purple, and already deemed worthy of imperial fillets by his father. ^C Nicephorus, surnamed Synadenus, a youth excelling in form and on that day especially in daring deeds and actions, also fell. ^D

Indeed, he who was eager, as he himself used to say, to achieve a reputation as a most valiant fighter among all, even seemed to aspire greatly to this. And at that time, he had begun to discuss marriage with his sister. By the same fate was Nicephorus Palaeologus, father of George, and others of the illustrious, taken away. For Zacharias, struck in the chest by a lethal blow, gave up his spirit at the same moment he received the wound. Similarly, Aspeles and many others of the elite perished. Nevertheless, while the battle still stood and flourished, so long as the emperor remained in the field, unharmed, ^A as he himself used to say; but the third, in no way inferior to them, having given full rein to their horses, and clutching their long spears, charged at him. And the Ametetes missed the emperor, as the horse swerved slightly; but as for the other, the emperor deflected the spear with his sword, and bracing his arm, struck him on the collarbone, and severed his arm from the rest of his body; and he, being of sound mind and sturdy, not at all confused by the quickness of his resolve, but understanding what was necessary in an unthinking moment, upon the blow, [cast] himself backward...

toward the tail of his horse. And at once the tip of the sword, having slightly grazed the skin of his body, was hindered at the hearing by the helmet, and having snapped the strap which held it under the chin, caused it to fall to the ground. Then that Celt thought he had cast [the Emperor] from the horse, but he immediately stood up and sat firmly in the saddle, having cast away none of his arms. But also, holding the naked sword in his right hand, and stained with the gore of his own blood, and having his head uncovered, and his yellow and sun-bleached hair wandering over his face and bothering him—for the horse, being agitated and spitting out the bit and snorting, caused his locks to fall quite disorderly over his face—but as if calling himself back [to his senses], as much as he was able, he stood against the opponents.

When he saw the Turks ^B also fleeing, and Bodinus himself withdrawing without having fought—for he too had stood on that day with an army drawn up in the manner of war, as if to aid the Emperor according to the pacts made with him; he was waiting, as it seems, [to see] if he should learn that the momentum of victory had been given to the Emperor, so that he might himself attack the Celts, but if the opposite [happened], he should remain unmoved and turn backward; having weighed these things, as is clear from what he did, and having recognized that the Celts were holding the victory, he returned home having tasted no war at all—the Emperor, having seen these things, and seeing no one to assist him, at that moment also turned his back to the opponents.

And thus the Latins pursued the Roman army. But Robert, having occupied the temple of Saint Nicholas, where the imperial tent was, and all the equipment of the Roman ^C army, sent as many as he had strong enough to pursue and capture the Emperor, while he himself waited there, imagining the capture of the Emperor. For such thoughts kindled his haughty mind. The [conquerors]…

task assigned to them, but followed Alexius with the utmost intensity until they reached a place called by the locals "Evil Slope." This is its location and form: a river called Charsanes flows below, and from there a high cliff rises. The passage for the fugitive and his pursuers lay between these two, and there, at last, the pursuers caught up with the Emperor with great speed. They struck his left side with their spears (there were nine of them in total) and pushed him with great force, ^B leaning into the effort, and easily tilted him toward the right side. They would have thrown him to the ground entirely, had not the point of his long sword, which Alexius held in his right hand, reached out and pressed into the ground, supporting him against a fall.

Furthermore, in this tilt to the right, the rowel of his left spur caught the edge of his *ephestris*—the lower belt or underlay, as it is called—and threw the horseman forward, misaligning his saddle. He sustained himself as best he could by grasping the mane of the horse with his left hand; yet this support would not have lasted long, had not the divine power, without a doubt, miraculously offered salvation to the Emperor from the hands of his very enemies. For other Franks rushed in toward the side from which he was about to fall, holding their spears upright and hostile. The points of these spears, striking his right flank, suddenly straightened the soldier and stood him back up in the middle of his seat, in a way the Emperor could only have hoped for at such a time. ^C Although they strove with all their might to throw the horseman completely to the left, they were able to accomplish only half of what they were attempting, because their own fellow soldiers, as mentioned, by fixing the points of their spears with a counter-force from the left side, pushed the same horseman back toward the right. Since they persisted most stubbornly from both sides, it was a truly miraculous and unexpected sight for as long as it lasted. ^D When he had braced himself more courageously and tightened his grip, astride his horse and *ephestris* alike, there appeared then a sign of his great bravery. For the horse—which was otherwise very hot-blooded and soft-gaited, and which was also very experienced and warlike (it had already been captured when Briennius lost it along with his crimson *ephestris* when he was taken in the heat of battle, at the time when Nicephorus Botaneiates was still reigning), and which, to say it all, was inspired by divine providence—at once reared up, leaped into the air, and landed on top of the aforementioned cliff, as if it had been lightened by wings, having received—to speak in the manner of myths—the wings of Pegasus. Briennius used to call this horse "Sgouritzes." As for the Barbarians' attempts, being as they were like striking at empty air, they were quite vain.

^A And the hands that held them slipped from them, while the parts that remained fixed in the emperor’s garments were lifted up and followed along with the horse. He immediately cut through the spears that were being brought against him; he was not agitated in his soul, being established amidst such great dangers, nor were his calculations clouded, but he quickly saw what was opportune and made his way out of the midst of the impossible. The Celts stood agape, struck with astonishment at what had happened—and indeed it was worthy of astonishment—but seeing him turn elsewhere, they chased him again. He, having for a long time offered his back to the pursuing soldiers, turned his bridle and, meeting one of those pursuing him, drove his spear through his chest. The man then lay on the ground, supine. ^B The emperor, turning the reins again, held to his earlier course. He then encountered some not insignificant numbers of Celts from the forces pursuing the Romans from the front; and they, having seen him from afar, drew together and stood still, wishing both to relieve their horses and at the same time to capture him alive, and thence to carry him off as some sort of prize to Robert. ^C He, fleeing from the pursuers behind him, and having seen those in front, had despaired of all hope of safety. But gathering himself together, he saw in the midst of the others one who, from his stature and the gleam flashing from his armor, he thought to be Robert; he set his horse and charged directly at him. That man, too, from the other side, directed his spear against him, and as they both rushed into the space between the front lines, they were carried toward each other. The emperor, having first ^D directed his hand, struck him with the spear; the weapon passed right through his chest and out through his back. The barbarian was instantly on the ground; for his soul had left him immediately, the wound having been a fatal one. And for the rest, the emperor, the phalanx having been split, rode out through the middle of them, having found himself a path of safety by the slaughter of this barbarian. The others, having immediately seen the wounded man thrown to the ground, poured around him as he lay and began to busy themselves about him. And those pursuing the emperor from behind, seeing them, dismounted from their horses and, recognizing the man, began to lament and cry out. But it was not Robert, but another of the illustrious ones, and the second in command to him. While they were occupied with these things, the emperor made his way forward. But from behind,

^A he had been pursued—and at that time I forgot to mention this, partly because of the nature of the history, and partly because of the magnitude of the events, since I am writing of my father’s successes—and I am not willing to make the history suspect, often passing over my father's deeds, neither augmenting them nor adding breadth to them. ^B If only I were free from this paternal affection and unencumbered, so that, having grasped a field of such abundance, I might have shown how great a faculty for eloquence I possess regarding noble things. But natural affection hinders my eagerness, lest I should seem to the many, by reason of such readiness in speaking of things pertaining to me, to provide a pretext for fantastical tales. For I could have, in many places having mentioned my father’s successes, even let my very soul in drip by drip, while recording and narrating the periods of time into which he fell, and I would not have passed over the place without monody and lamentation. ^C But so that there might not be some elegant rhetoric in that part of the history—as if it were some passionless adamant or stone—I pass over my father’s misfortunes. These I ought, like that Homeric youth, to bring forward as a defense (for I am not inferior to him who says: "No, by Zeus, Agelaus, and the pains of my father"), so that I might be and be called a lover of my father. But let the paternal affection be left to me alone, both to marvel and to be completely overwhelmed; let the historical matters hold [our focus]. After these things, the Celts were making their way to Robert; and when he saw them empty [handed] ^D and returning...

^A vehemently, he upbraided them all greatly, and threatened that he would have one of them, who was illustrious, whipped, calling him cowardly and inexperienced in war. And he thought that he would suffer the direst things, [arguing] that if he himself had not leaped up onto the rock with his horse, he would have either struck down and killed the Emperor Alexios, or seized him and led him away alive. For this Robert was in other respects very brave and courageous, but he was a man entirely of bitterness, having his anger sitting right upon his nostrils, his heart full of rage and overflowing with fury, and he was so disposed regarding his enemies that he would either pierce his opponent with his spear or destroy himself, departing, as he said, past the fatal distaff. However, that soldier whom Robert was bringing under accusation was describing very clearly the unscalable and sharp nature of the rock, and [explaining] that the place was raised to a great height, and how the rock was sharp and precarious, and [arguing] that it was impossible for anyone—not a foot soldier, nor a horseman—to ascend it without some divine contrivance, not even [if he were] someone struggling and fighting, but that it was not even possible for someone without any war to attempt the rock. "And if you do not trust me," he said, "if you yourself, or any other of the boldest of the knights, attempts it, he will perceive the impossible. But if, however, someone appears who overcomes the rock—not just wingless, but even winged—I myself am ready to undergo any dreadful thing and be condemned for cowardice." Having said these things with wonder and astonishment, the barbarian calmed the bilious Robert and moved him to amazement, [causing him] to cease from his anger. ^B

The Emperor, having traversed the windings of the surrounding mountains and every difficult path in two days and nights, occupies Achrida. In the meantime, having crossed the Charzanes, and having stayed a little while at the place called Babagora (this is a difficult defile), [he was] not confounded in his mind either by the defeat or by other ills of the story, nor did he sag from the pain of the wound on his forehead, even if his inner parts were inflamed by the grief for those who had fallen in the battle, and especially for the men who had fought bravely. ^C But nevertheless, he was entirely concerned for the city of Dyrrhachium and was mindful of it, being troubled that it had been left without a leader, because Palaeologus could not return due to the sharp clash of the war. And as far as was possible, he secured the matters concerning it, and assigned the guard of the acropolis to the illustrious men of Venice. ^D

^A He entrusted the care of those who had settled there to the settlers, while he committed the rest of the city to Comiscortes, who originated from the Albanians, having given him detailed instructions in writing regarding the things which seemed necessary to be done at such a time.

ANNAE COMNENAE ALEXIADIS BOOK V

[ARGUMENTUM] Robert, having reduced Dyrrhachium to his power, returns to Italy, putting to flight the German King Henry after capturing his camp. Bohemond, left in Illyricum, having captured many cities and defeated the Emperor Alexius twice in battle, not fully victorious in a third battle at Larissa, although not entirely defeated, is nevertheless compelled to return to his father by the conspiracy of his own men, whom Alexius had secretly incited against him. A certain turbulent Italian man is ordered to publicly retract his perverse dogmas in Constantinople.

[PERIOCHE] Robert’s deliberation. The people of Dyrrhachium surrender the city. Robert’s charity toward his own men and his care for replenishing his army. The Emperor’s sorrow joined with generous hope. Comparison of Alexius with Robert. The superiority of the former over the latter. The Emperor gathers his own forces from Deabolis. He considers new levies. Botaniates’ lavishness. The exhaustion of the treasury. Why Alexius did not abdicate the empire. The princes contribute money. The immense hopes of the soldiers. Aid is sought from sacred funds. The Sebastocrator, having convened a synod, seeks the spoils of the less famous churches. Metaxa opposes him with a free voice; Leo of Chalcedon is infuriated against Alexius over the despoiling of the temples: he attacked him sharply, abusing his long patience. Sacred funds are again attempted. Leo is accused of suspected doctrine. He inveighs against the Augustus most licentiously. He scorns the offer of reconciliation. He is deposed from the Chalcedonian see; he is sent into exile. The Emperor trains his soldiers. Having sent legates, he incites the German King against Robert. He returns to Constantinople. The Manichaeans depart from him. Robert, having heard of Henry’s expedition into Langobardia, places Bohemond in charge of Illyricum and entrusts the Roman war to him. He returns to Italy. He gathers an army at Salerno. He heads for Rome. Having joined with the Pope, he moves against Henry, who flees in terror. Robert, having gained his camp and spoils, returns to Rome. There, with the Pope established in the see, he is greeted as king by him. Then he retreats to Salerno; where Bohemond meets his father with a sad countenance, having been recalled from the midst of his victories by the treachery of his own men. After his father’s departure, with his great forces increased by the defection of the Romans, he captures many cities, fortifies citadels, lays waste to regions, and twice defeats and puts Alexius to flight in battle, his traps having been avoided. He detects and punishes the conspiracy of three counts. Alexius implores the aid of the Turks. Bohemond besieges Larissa, with Leo Cephalas defending it. Alexius comes to the aid of the Larissaeans. He sees a dream; he makes a vow; he lays traps. He takes an omen of victory from the neighing of horses. By a simulated flight of the Romans, the Emperor captures the camp of the Gauls. The slaughter of the Gallic cavalry. Bohemond’s vain joy. The fortitude of his present mind. The Latins slay the Romans. The praises of Michael Duca. Bohemond’s stratagem. The flight of the Roman army. The fortitude of the Uzi. The Latins are disturbed.

ALEXIAD BOOK V.

^A Robert, however, being now wholly unconcerned, and bearing off all the spoils and the imperial tent, returned laden with trophies and exultant to the plain where he had previously been encamped while besieging Dyrrhachium. After resting a little, he deliberated whether he ought to try the walls of the city again, or reserve the siege for the coming spring, and meanwhile seize Glabinitza and Ioannina, and winter there, having disposed his entire army in the valleys lying above the Dyrrhachium plain. Those within Dyrrhachium, as the narrative has already shown, since most of them were colonists from Melfi and Venice, having learned of what had befallen the Emperor, and the slaughter of so many men, and that the fleets had retreated, and that Robert was reserving the siege for the coming spring, each one began to consider what he ought to do to be saved, and not fall into such great dangers again. Having therefore gathered together, they brought their secret thoughts into the open, and after struggling in their minds about the whole matter, as if in a hopeless situation, they thought that it was best to be persuaded by Robert and to surrender the city to him. Being further stirred up by the man from the colony of Melfi, and persuaded by his advice, they threw open the entrances and gave passage to Robert. ^{B C D}

intentively, and to inquire privately among themselves how they might hit upon a timely means of salvation, and to take care that they might not fall into evils or dangers similar to those in which they had just been caught. Having turned these things over in their minds for a long time, they assembled together in one body to consult in common, and with each one bringing forward into the public sphere that which he had advised privately, after a brief conflict of competing opinions, they did not find it burdensome to agree that the best way to resolve the difficulty in which they found themselves was to treat with Robert and, on certain conditions, surrender the city to him. A man from Melfi was the leader in urging and pressing for this counsel of surrender, and with him saying and warning much in that direction, the deliberation was finally concluded according to his opinion, and it was decreed that the gates should be opened and the city given over to Robert's power. Once he had occupied it, he summoned his forces into it from their winter quarters; there he refreshed his army, taking diligent care of the wounded—not only those who had been severely injured, but also those whom the sword had merely grazed upon the skin. He also inquired exactly which and how many of his men had perished, accounted as losses in the previous battles, in whose place—since the winter leisure appeared to be an apt time for holding levies—he naturally prepared to lead in new colonies of auxiliaries, intending, as soon as spring shone forth, to march with an instructed army straight against the Emperor.

Such were the things that Robert, a victor and one who applauded himself and magnificently congratulated himself on the victory, was thinking and preparing. Conversely, the Emperor, defeated and put to flight, and furthermore disfigured by a wound upon his brow, but also struck by a greater blow within his spirit—at the shame, namely, of so bitter and mournful a slaughter, and at the longing for so many brave and illustrious men who had fallen in that deadly battle—was for a time silent and grieving, and as if stunned by his misfortunes, he remained ^B sitting in sluggish mourning. But he quickly shook off this torpor, soon restored himself, and with a spirit roused to noble hopes and cares, he gave himself entirely to seeking out ways for repairing his loss and reflecting back upon the enemy, in the coming spring, the slaughter and the disgrace that had been heaped upon him. This pair of leaders was endowed with such similarity of praises, ^C and yet was so discordant in the acrimony of their hatred and hostile wraths; both were equally prompt at all functions and parts of the art of war, in hand and mind; both were sharp in foresight, most cautious in concealing their intentions, and neither was unversed in any military art, whether the need was to storm a fortress, to lay an ambush, or to join in open battle, both equally nimble in counsel, strenuous in hand, and firm and intrepid in heart, such that in no war for the spectacle of the world ^D [was there anything lacking].

Alexius weeps that the enemy has prevailed against him, To whom neither an equal number of people, Nor equal wealth belonged. He departs wounded himself, And he, inglorious, is forced, weeping, to return, He for whom the glory of triumph had been hoped in vain.

^A And those of the army who had been saved, he gathered back from their weariness and hardship as much as possible, while he sent heralds everywhere to bid the others to make for Thessalonica. ^B And when he had had experience of Robert and the daring of such a force, and had judged the great simplicity and cowardice of those under him—for I would not add "soldiers," since even those previously present were altogether untrained and ignorant of any military experience—he therefore had need of allies; but this could not be done without money; and this was not at hand, since the royal treasuries had been emptied for no useful purpose by the preceding Emperor, Nicephorus Botaneiates (9), so that the doors of the treasuries were not even locked, but were trodden freely by anyone wishing to pass through them; for they had been poured out. Thus the whole situation rested in helplessness, as weakness and poverty together crushed the Roman state. ^C At that time—at that time—what was the young emperor, having just stepped upon the helm of empire, to carry out? In every way, [was he], while abandoning everything as a lost cause, to depart from power, so that no one might accuse him of being an inexperienced and incompetent leader in the face of misfortune? Or [was he], by necessity, as much as he could, to recall allies, and in some way or other to gather money to provide for them, and to recall those of the army who had been scattered everywhere by means of gifts, so that from this, having gained greater hope, they might endure with him, and those absent might be more eager to return, and thus they might be able to stand more courageously against the Celtic multitudes? Since then it was unworthy and inconsistent with his own knowledge of military matters as well as his daring to have accomplished nothing, he looked to these two things: to summon allies from everywhere, cleverly baiting them with hopes of many gifts, and to ask his mother and brother for money, which they could gather from wherever they might, to send forth.

^A Since they could not discover any other resource, they first gathered together all their own wealth, as much as was in gold and silver, and sent it to the imperial mint. The Empress, my mother, was the first of all to deposit everything she possessed, both from her paternal and maternal inheritance, thinking thus to incite others to the same; for she feared for the Emperor, seeing her own affairs in truly narrow straits. Then, from others as well, as many as were more favorably disposed toward these imperial sovereigns, having of their own free will and eagerness procured whatever gold and silver each had in their own store, they sent it forth; some part to the allies, and some part to the Emperor. But since these in no way sufficed for the pressing need—for some demanded favors as if they had fought alongside him, and others required their mercenary pay more liberally—he persisted again in calling for other funds, because he had despaired of the goodwill of the Romans. ^B Those who had fallen into helpless straits, and having revolved many calculations both privately and in common, since they had also learned that Robert was again arming himself, not knowing what they might do, looked toward the ancient laws and the canons regarding the alienation of sacred objects. And having discovered, among other things, that it is permitted to alienate the holy things of the Churches of God for the ransom of captives (for they saw that even those of the Christians who were under the barbarian hand throughout Asia, and as many as had escaped the slaughter, were being defiled by association with the infidels), they decided that a few of the sacred objects, which had long been unused and abandoned—things that contributed to no purpose but were merely an occasion for sacrilege and impiety—should be provided to the multitude, and the entirety of the bullion ^C as pay for the soldiers and allies.

As you have consented to this, the Sebastokrator Isaac ascends to the Great Church of God and assembles the entire synod and the whole body of the Church. When the members of the holy synod, who were sitting in council with the Patriarch, saw him, they were struck with amazement and asked why he had come. He replied: "I have come to speak to you about something useful, indeed essential, for the present violent crisis of affairs and for the salvation of the army." Along with this, he recited the canons concerning sacred vessels that are not in use. Having spoken at length on these matters, he said, "I am compelled to compel those whom I do not wish to compel," and by putting forward noble arguments, he seemed for a moment to be persuading the majority. But a certain Metaxas opposed him, bringing forward certain reasonable counter-arguments while also mocking Isaac himself. Nevertheless, the decision remained firm. This became the subject of a great indictment against the emperors (for I do not hesitate to call even Isaac, who was not robed in purple, an emperor), not only at that time, but one that persisted for a long time. For a certain prelate of Chalcedon, Leo, held the chair at that time; he was not among the most wise or learned, but he was diligent in virtue, though his character was harsh and austere. He, therefore, regarding the gates in the Chalkoprateia, ^B having been removed... ^{C D}

Note: Chalcopratia or Chariopratia?

^A nor indeed Metaxas, who brought to him many plausible arguments against it; his freedom of speech had even proceeded to the point of insulting Isaac. However, as many yielded, it was to no purpose, and the matter was concluded in accordance with the opinion of the sebastocrator. This was the cause of great grievances against the emperors—for I would not hesitate to call Isaac an emperor, apart from the purple—and of serious complaints against the Comnenian brothers, with the resentment lasting not only in the present or immediate time, but continuing for a long time thereafter. To the fanning of this, a certain Leo, bishop of Chalcedon at that time, did not contribute little energy; he was not, indeed, a man very learned or eloquent, but a practitioner of virtue, a man of hard and austere character. When he saw that plates and emblems of gold and silver were being torn away from the doors of the temples that were situated near the forum and were being frequented by less of a crowd due to the convenience of the people, he rushed into the middle and intervened with the greatest freedom of speech; nor was he willing to yield to any excuse of necessity or to the allegations of the ancient canons. Nay, even from that time he was accustomed to declaim against the Augustus most contumeliously and with an arrogance that showed he felt no check, and to rebuke the sovereign himself as often as he returned to the imperial city. And the incredible patience and most humane indulgence of the prince, who overlooked such things, emboldened the man, as he abused the very thing he ought to have venerated. But now, when on the occasion of Alexius's first expedition against Robert, Isaac was seeking from the temples, with the most just causes by decree of the Senate and having even obtained the consent of the prelates, the money necessary for the preservation of the state, he opposed himself there with some impudence, and by that contumacy moved against himself the heavy anger of the sebastocrator. In the times that followed, however, when the Augustus, having many times been defeated and having ten thousand times again dared the Celts, had returned victorious and crowned by the nod of God, since he had learned that another cloud of enemies—I mean the Scythians—was already rushing against him, and for this reason the collection of money was again being pursued while the emperor was dwelling in the great city for the same reasons, that same high priest fell upon the emperor with greater insolence. And a great dispute having arisen from that point regarding the sacred objects, he dogmatized that the holy icons should be worshipped with latria, and not relatively, ^B or as he himself later claimed, not in a relative sense (15). He dogmatized in some things reasonably and canonically, while at the same time he was resistant, yet in some things he dogmatized incorrectly; I do not know if he suffered this because of strife and his hatred toward the emperor, or because of ignorance. For he did not have the means to investigate accurately what is said, as he was a person entirely devoid of logical learning. But as he became more brazen toward the emperors, prompted by malevolent men—of whom many existed in the government at that time—he was spurred on to this, and turned to insults and untimely blasphemies, and these things occurred while it was being said: Worship and latria. Or, as in the hierarchical sense. The relative veneration of the venerable icons. And I worship, not as gods—God forbid!—but I manifest the reflection and affection of my soul, which I had toward them from the first and recently, and I call upon them all with my whole heart to intercede for me before God. And these we worship with relative affection, according to the relation. For indeed, being hostile to the holy scriptures, and to the representations of Christ and of the martyrs, he burned with torture those who assigned to them the worship according to relation. We worship the icons, therefore, not offering the worship to the material, but through them to those depicted within them; for the honor of the icon passes to the prototype.^C

Varia lectiones ex cod. Coislin. 47. *εὑρίσκοντες*. 48. *δέ*. 49. *μητρώου καὶ πατρῴου*. 50. *ἐνορῶσα*. 51. *καταβαλέσθαι ὁπόσον*. 52. *συμμάχοις*. 53. *ὅτι*. Deest vox *ἅμα*. 55. *χαράγματος*.

Car. Dufresnii Du Cangii notæ. (10) *Εἰς τοὺς πάλαι κειμένους νόμους*. Justinian legal experts understand this, by which the alienation of ecclesiastical goods and sacred treasures is forbidden, except for the cause of the redemption of captives, see *Cod. de sacr. Eccles. nov. 7, 65 et 120*. (11) *Καλ τοὺς κανόνας*. See Greg. lib. VI, epist. 13, 35, lib. VII, indict. 2; epist. 14. D. Amb. lib. II *De offic.* cap. 28, from which Gratian derived the canon *Aurum habet Ecclesia* 12, quest. 3. Examples of the pawning of ecclesiastical vessels for the redemption of captives, or the sustenance of the poor, are found in Priscus in *Excerptis de legat.*, Vitore Uticensi lib. 1; Possidius in *Vita S. Augustini*, cap. 24. Socrat. lib. VII, cap. 24; Hove-den, pag. 731; Radulf, de Diceto pag. 630; Monachum S. Mariani an. 1179, etc. See also on the same sentiment the Epistle of Melchior Inchoferi in the *Notis* ad cap. 3, Acropolitae. (12) *Χαράγματος*. *Χάραγμα* is standard currency, *χάραγμα ἀργυρώ* thousand pieces of silver. *Character* by Paul the Deacon lib. XIX, *Hist. Misc.*. *Χαράσσειν* coins, and *μιλιαρήσια* in Syncellus. Hence *chararagma*, adulterated coin, according to Cassian, *Collat.* 1, cap. 20, 22; et *Collat.* 12, cap. 9; et

^A when the emperor was urging him to change his opinion regarding the icons, and was also promising that he would not hold any rancor against him, while at the same time he would return the sacred treasures to the holy Churches more splendid than before, and would do whatever might be required for the correction—and he had already been corrected by the more learned members of the synod at the time, whom those adhering to the Chalcedonian party called flatterers—he was condemned by deposition. But because he was not in the least bit fearful and remained entirely unquiet, but instead was again agitating the Church, gathering no small faction around himself, as he was in every way disorderly and uncorrectable, after the passage of many years, all together cast their votes against the man, and thence he was condemned to exile. Sozopolis ^B near the Pontus receives him, as he was deemed worthy of every kind of imperial provision and care, but he was by no means willing to make use of these, later on, as it seems, because of the wrath he nursed toward the autocrat. But let these things be described in this way.

The autocrat, however, was assiduously training the newcomers (for a considerable number, having learned that he had been saved, were streaming to him) in how one must ride and shoot with the bow most accurately, and how one must serve as a hoplite and lie in ambush most opportunely. He had also sent ambassadors again to the king of Germany, at the head of whom were the bishop of Methymna ^C and

[alt-version omitted]

ALEXIADIS LIB. V.

...after he had been avenged on those for the victories he had won, God assisting, and, being crowned and triumphant, had been brought into the royal city: when a new and heavy storm of Scythians burst forth and began to invade the empire, and all, with equal consensus, were taking refuge in a similar protection, with the emperor himself present and urging the matter, this man, by his usual stubbornness, greatly offended the emperor. Furthermore, on this occasion, when many things were being disputed—as happens—about sacred buildings and signs and images, this prelate discoursed in such a frame of mind as to contend that sacred images were to be worshipped with the cult of latria, which we owe to God and which resides in Him, and not merely with relative honor. And so, although he indeed said and did some things in a plausible and canonical manner and in accordance with the dignity of his priesthood, yet he slipped into error, being discovered to have sentiments that were not altogether orthodox: to what cause this error should be assigned—whether to the heat of contention, which often runs wilder than is right, or to a desire to resist the emperor, whom he had long abhorred, or finally to ignorance of the truth—I do not know, yet I incline toward the last of these in my suspicion. For since this man had not devoted much effort to literature, and was entirely unskilled in the art of reasoning, it could easily have come about that he let slip things in the course of the dispute that were less than accurate according to the canons of theology. But as that audacity, which he had once begun to use on the occasion of successful ventures, was growing day by day, and since many idle people—to whom the manner in which the state was then being governed was not pleasing—were inciting him as he rushed forward of his own accord, the man, having little control over himself, was carried away into unseasonable and intolerable insults and slanders, tearing the Augustus to pieces with the utmost license, even while he [the emperor] was attempting the opposite—to appease the man and most amicably persuading him both to retract in time what he had rashly said about sacred images and, having laid aside his hostility, to return into favor with him: for he was prepared to restore what he had taken from the sacred buildings, nay, even to replace them in a more splendid form, and he would refuse no legitimate atonement for that fault, whatever it might be. In this matter he had already satisfied the principal prelates to such a degree that they were diligently defending his cause, and on that very account were called flatterers by those who favored the Chalcedonian party; but he, deaf to all these things, was rushing irrevocably where he had begun his onslaught. Consequently, it finally came to the necessary remedy of canonical censure, and the man, having earned it on many counts, was deposed from the see he had occupied. This event did not break his indomitable spirit; he again creates disturbances and stirs up factions in the Church, having attached to himself and led away a great multitude of sectaries. While he does this for many years, and provides full proof of his turbulent character and inflexible perversity to all, he was finally condemned by the vote of all and ordered to live in exile at Sozopolis near the Pontus, where the emperor had provided that he be received most officiously and cared for in abundance: although he, wrapping himself in his own contumacy and, as was evident, hardening his mind in the anger he had once conceived against the Augustus, did not wish to use the liberality offered to him. But enough has been said of these things. For one must return to the emperor, who was diligently training the newly arrived soldiers (for a great many, as it was established that he was safe, had converged upon him) in every part of military duty: teaching them to guide a horse skillfully, to aim most accurately with the bow, to advance with arms bared against the enemy, and again to withdraw opportunely into ambush.

He also sent fresh envoys to the king of Germany, under a certain man styled the Bishop of Methymna, whom he had ordered to be the head of the embassy. He had given these men letters and instructions by which he strove to urge Henry strongly to break off all delay in invading Lombardy, according to the covenants previously transacted between them. He was to go, therefore, as soon as possible and march his hostile standards into Robert’s territory, so that, with Robert’s forces thus diverted to the necessary defense of his own affairs from the Roman Empire, Alexius might meanwhile recover from his defeat, and, having again hired auxiliary troops, prepare himself for driving Robert out of the entire Illyricum. If the king of Germany would willingly provide his services to him in this, the Emperor Alexius was ready to enter upon the greatest gratitude, which he would be most prepared to repay and reward with every service and favor, particularly by contracting, as soon as possible, the alliance that Henry’s envoys had indicated their king desired, and for which hope had been given them.

Having thus arranged these matters, the Augustus, leaving Pacurianus, his Great Domestic, there, returns to the imperial city to assemble auxiliary forces from every quarter more conveniently, and to arrange other matters as the time and the state of present events required. The Manichaeans, Xantas and Culeo, with those they led—amounting to the number of two thousand five hundred—returned home recklessly and without orders; and although often recalled by the Emperor, they would indeed promise to return, but deferred the arrival without any end to the delay. Therefore, the Emperor persistently applied himself to bringing them back by promising gifts and honors through letters, yet in this he was unsuccessful, for they did not return to him even so.

While the Emperor was thus preparing against Robert, a trembling messenger came to Robert reporting that the king of Germany was on the march to invade Lombardy. Robert, unsettled by this news, after his mind had oscillated for some time between opposite courses, seeking with keen attention what would be best to do in such a crisis of events; and finally, considering that he had already assigned the Italian territory to his son Roger, at the time when he had set out on that expedition toward Illyricum, but had not yet assigned any territory to Bohemond, his other son—he gathered all his counts and the distinguished men of the entire army, and having summoned his son Bohemond, he sat before them in public and said:

"You know, counts, that I appointed my dearest son Roger, my firstborn, as lord of my territory when I was about to cross over to Illyricum. For it was not right that, when departing from there to undertake such a task, I should leave my own country without a ruler, exposed as a set prize for anyone who might wish to plunder it. But since the King of the Alamani is already seizing his holdings, it is necessary for us also, as far as we are able, to defend them. For one must not, while seizing the possessions of others, be negligent of one's own. Therefore, I am going away to defend my own country, having taken upon myself the struggle against the King of the Alamani. This younger son of mine I leave in charge of Dyrrhachium and Aulon, as well as the other cities and islands which I have already seized with my own spear. I command you, and I ask you, to consider him as you consider me, and to fight for him with your whole strength and mind. And to you, my dearest son"—turning his speech toward Bohemond—"I instruct you to treat these counts with every honor, to use them as counselors in all matters, and not to act arbitrarily, but to share everything with them. But you, see to it that you do not neglect to complete the war against the Roman Emperor. For he has suffered a great defeat, and was nearly killed by the sword, and the greater part of his army has been consumed by the war. For he says, he even came near to being captured, and escaped from our very hands wounded. Do not slacken at all, lest by receiving some reprieve, he might gather his breath and stand against you more bravely than before. For he is not a man of the common sort, but one who has been nurtured in wars and battles from childhood, and has traversed the entire East and West; you have surely heard from many of how many rebels he has made captives for his predecessors. If, therefore, you slacken at all and do not proceed against him with your whole mind, all the works which I have accomplished with much labor will come to nothing, and you yourself will surely reap the fruits of your own negligence. I am now leaving to struggle, to drive the King from our land, and thus to establish my dearest Roger in the authority given to him." ^A

BOOK V. OF THE ALEXIAD

(...) many of the great deeds which he performed, and how many rebels he brought into subjection to the emperors of old. If, therefore, you slacken at all and do not proceed against him with your whole mind, all the works which I have accomplished with much labor will come to nothing, and you yourself will surely reap the fruits of your own negligence. I am now departing to struggle to drive the King from our land and thus to establish my dearest Roger in the authority given to him. ^B

And may these things be described thus for now. The emperor, for his part, was diligently training the new arrivals (for many soldiers were still flocking to him; he confirmed them to be safe and sound), teaching them how to ride and to shoot with great accuracy, and how to serve as heavy infantry, and how to lay ambushes at the most opportune moments. Ambasssadors were again sent to the King of the Alamani ^C, from whom the Bishop of Methymna had come forward. ^D

^A And, having also provoked him further by letter to the effect that he should not delay, but should seize upon Lombardy as quickly as possible according to the arrangements already made, in order to occupy the Romans and, having obtained permission, levy troops and foreign forces once more—and furthermore, to drive the Illyrian King of the Alamani back, so that he might give thanks if he should act in this way, and fulfill the promise of the ambassadors sent by him—he made these arrangements. ^B Having left the great Domestic Pacurianus behind, he returns to the Queen of Cities, so that he might enlist foreign forces from everywhere, and arrange other matters as the state of affairs at that time might require. The Manichaeans, Xantas and Culeo, together with those they led—a number equal to two thousand five hundred—returned home rashly and without orders, despite being frequently recalled by the Emperor; for although they promised to return, they kept putting it off without end. Therefore the Emperor busied himself in earnest with letters promising gifts and honors, in order to bring them back; but this was in vain, for they had no desire to return. While the Emperor was thus preparing himself against Robert, there came a messenger to the same Robert, trembling, to report that the King of the Alamani was on the march to invade Lombardy. ^C When he had turned this over in his mind for some time, considering with keen attention what would be best to do at such a juncture of events, he finally decided to assign the Italian territory to his son Roger, since he had already set out on this expedition against Illyricum and had assigned no territory to his other son—

Of the same Robert, and his expedition into Italy, and of how he liberated the Pope.

^D And so, having made these arrangements for him, he entered a single-banked ship and seized the opposite shore of Lombardy; and he quickly arrived thence at Salerno (which had long ago been set aside as a residence for those claiming ducal rank). There, having remained for long enough, he gathered considerable forces, and as many mercenaries from foreign lands as possible. Now the King of the Alamani was already hastening to seize Lombardy, in accordance with the promises made to the Emperor. Upon learning this, Robert hastened to reach Rome, in order to join forces with the Pope and ward off the King of the Alamani from his intended goal. Since the Pope did not refuse this, both set out against the Alaman; the King, however, was eager to besiege Lombardy, but when he learned the situation regarding the Emperor—and that, having suffered a great defeat, a portion of his army having been destroyed by the sword and the rest scattered in every direction, he himself had stood in many dangers while fighting bravely, and having been wounded in various parts of his body, had escaped, by the daring and nobility of his spirit, to a place of safety, which he considered a victory, namely, not exposing himself to dangers for no good reason—he refrained, [alt-version omitted]

and thus he clung to the path that led back home. But Robert, having arrived at the king’s camp, did not himself wish to pursue further; rather, he divided a sufficient detachment of his own battalions and urged them to pursue the man from Alamannia. He himself, having gathered all the booty and being with the Pope, turned back toward Rome. Once he had seated the latter upon his own throne, he again received accolades from him, and then returned to Salerno to recover himself from the fatigue caused by many hardships.

Not long after, Baimund reached him, bearing in the sadness of his face the tidings of the defeat he had suffered. How his fortunes fared, the narrative will now disclose. For, remembering the commands of his father—and being, in any case, a man of martial spirit and most eager for danger—he persisted in his resolve for battle against the Emperor. Taking up his own forces and having in his company as many of the more notable men, and choice Roman soldiers, and governors of the lands and cities that had been seized by Robert (for they had altogether despaired of the Emperor and had entirely turned to the mind of Baimund), he reached Ioannina through Vagenetia. Having first dug a trench alongside the vineyards situated outside, and at the same time having placed his entire infantry in strategic positions, he himself took up his tents within. ^A Having surveyed the walls and discerned that the acropolis of the fortress was insecure, he not only hastened to repair it as best he could, but also built another, very secure, fortification in a different part of the walls where it had seemed to him more advantageous, at the same time plundering the surrounding cities and territories.

Having learned these things, the Emperor, without any further delay whatever, gathered all his forces from Constantinople and departed promptly in the month of May. ^B Consequently, having reached Ioannina, since the time for war and battle was already at hand, and seeing that his own troops were not even a small fraction of Baimund’s forces—and furthermore, knowing from the previous battle with Robert that the first equestrian charge of the Celts is insufferable—he judged it proper first to conduct skirmishes with a small number of chosen men, so that from this he might gain some indication of the tactical skill inherent in Baimund, and that he might see if there could be some... ^{C D}

^A knowledge of the whole through partial engagements, and from this, with firmer knowledge, stand against the Celt. Thus the armies were struggling against one another. The Emperor, meanwhile, fearing the unbearable first charge of the Latins, did something novel. He prepared lighter wagons, and in each of these he fixed four spears, fewer than was the custom, and placed armed infantry upon them, so that when the Latins, having loosened their reins, should rush against the Roman phalanx, the wagons might be pushed forward by the infantry stationed behind them, so that in this way the continuity of the Latins' shielded formation might be broken. And when the time of battle was at hand, the sun having already risen brilliantly above the horizon, the Emperor arranged his phalanxes in the form of a battle array, and he himself held the center. Baimund, for his part, did not appear unprepared for the battle as the Emperor's engine was being assembled. As if he had foreseen the plan, he shifted to meet the situation, and dividing his own forces in two, and swerving aside from the wagons, he stood on either side of the Roman formation. And so phalanxes mingled with phalanxes, and men fought against men face to face. And since many were falling on either side in the fighting, ^B Baimund held the victory, but the Emperor stood like an immovable tower, being struck from either side, and at one moment riding against the attacking Celts and grappling with some, striking and killing and being struck, at another moment recalling those who were fleeing with frequent shouts. But when he saw the phalanxes torn apart into many pieces, he reckoned that he too must provide for his own safety—not out of cowardice, as someone might perhaps say, nor having been confused by fear, but rather if he might escape the danger by withdrawing. And having gathered himself together more bravely [he turned] against...

VARIOUS READINGS FROM THE COISLIN CODEX

NOTES OF CAROLUS DU FRESNE DU CANGE

^C In this way he stood his ground against the Celtics who were fighting him. Fleeing the enemies with only a very few men, and having encountered some of the Celts, this intrepid commander showed himself to them again. For, having encouraged those with him, and having made a fierce charge against them as if he were to die that day, or else defeat them by main force, he himself, having struck one of the Celts, kills him; and as for all the guards who were with him, they wounded many and chased them away; and thus, having escaped countless and very great dangers, he is again saved, having passed through the Strugas (29) into Achris. Having held out there, and recalled many of those who had fled, he leaves everyone there under the care of the Great Domestic and arrives at the Bardares—not for the sake of leisure, for he did not at all measure out to himself the sloth and rest of kings; but having gathered the troops and collected a mercenary force, he proceeds against Baimundus, having devised another plan by which he could overcome the Celts. For, having fashioned iron caltrops, since he expected the battle the next day, in the evening he spread them out in the "interval" of the plain, where he surmised the Celts would make a more vehement charge, contriving perhaps to shatter the first and unbearable assault of the Latins by means of these caltrops, which would become entangled in the feet of the horses; and [he ordered] that those of the Romans who were standing in the front line, who carried spears, should make their charges measured, and as much as they were not entangled by the caltrops, they should split to either side and turn back, while the peltasts should send forth [their] arrows from afar against the Celts, and the right and left wings on each side should fall upon the Celts with unstoppable force. Such were the designs of my father. But these things did not escape Baimundus. For something of this sort came to pass: whatever the emperor planned against him in the evening, the Celt learned by morning. And having deftly adapted himself to what he had heard, he accepted the battle, and no longer... ^D [alt-version omitted] [index: entries preserved]

^A did he initiate the onslaught of the fight according to his custom, but having forestalled the emperor’s design, he himself stirred up the tumult of battle even more from both sides, while having ordered the front-line phalanx to remain still for the time being. The battle, therefore, having become a close-quarters struggle, the men of the Roman army turned their backs to the Latins, no longer having the strength to face them, being already panicked by the preceding defeat. And there was profound confusion in the Roman battle line at that moment, even though the emperor remained unshakable, standing his ground bravely both in action and in mind, having wounded many, and having himself been wounded in some places. And when he saw that the whole army had already fled, and that he himself was caught with but a few, he judged it necessary not to risk himself by resisting senselessly. For whenever one, having labored much, has not the strength to withstand the enemies, it would be foolish to thrust oneself into an open danger. The right and left wings of the Roman phalanx having taken to flight, the emperor, still standing firm, fought back bravely against Bohemond’s phalanx, having taken the entire war upon himself. But understanding the undeniable nature of the danger, he judged it necessary to save himself, so that he might be able to fight again against the one who had conquered him and be a most formidable opponent, rather than letting Bohemond carry off the whole of the victory. For such was he, being defeated and victorious, fleeing and then again pursuing, and never trembling, nor being ensnared in the traps of despair. For he had ^B the greatest faith in God, and carrying Him about in the center of his mind throughout everything, he refrained from any oath whatsoever. Having therefore given up, as was said above, he turned his course backward, being pursued by Bohemond and his select counts. In the midst of these things, he says to Gules (this man was a servant of his father) and those with him: "How long shall we flee?" And having turned his bridle and pulled his sword from its scabbard, he strikes the first man who encountered him on the face. The Celts, seeing this, and recognizing that he had despaired of his own safety—since they had long known that men who had reached such a resolve were unconquerable—slacked their pace and stopped pursuing. And thus, having been released from his pursuers, he escaped the danger. Nor, while fleeing, had he fallen into despair at all, but some of those who were fleeing he called back, while others he mocked, even if the majority played the part of those who were unaware. Thus, then, having been saved from the danger, he entered the imperial city with the intent to gather armies again and advance against Bohemond. ^{C D}

^B Now, as for Bohemond, once Robert had returned to Lombardy, he took up the battle against the Emperor, following Robert's advice and stirring up conflicts and wars at every turn. He sent off Peter of Aulps with Punteses (31) to besiege various places. From this it came about that Peter of Aulps immediately seized the two Poleoboi, while Punteses advanced upon Skopia. Bohemond himself, summoned by the inhabitants of Achris, quickly reached the Achridas. And after persisting for a short while against Ariebes who was guarding the fort, he departed unsuccessfully for Ostrobon (33). Having been sent away empty-handed from there, he passed through Soskos and, by way of the Servia (34), went off to Berrhoea. And having attacked many places many times without achieving anything, he reached Moglena (36) by way of the Bodina (35), and he raised up a small fort there that had been ruined long before. Then, leaving behind a certain Saracen Count (37) there with sufficient forces to guard the region as far as the Bardares, he occupied the place called [Polēmoi]. ^C

But when Robert had returned to Lombardy, Bohemond undertook the war against the Emperor, employing that man's counsels and ever fanning the flames of battles and wars. He sent Peter of Aulps along with Punteses (31) to besiege places in various regions. Consequently, Peter of Aulps straightway captured the two Poleoboi, and Punteses advanced upon Skopia. Bohemond himself, having been invited by the Achridiotai, captured the Achridas. But since the garrison which Ariebes commanded refused to surrender, he waited a short while to see if that hope could be realized, but since he achieved nothing, he went to Ostrobon; from there, having similarly been repulsed, he went through Soscus and the Servia toward Berrhoea, where, after attempting many places with no success, he finally arrived at the Bodina (37), where he restored a small castle that had at some time been destroyed, and he left behind there a certain Saracen, a Count by name, with a suitable garrison to guard that region as far as the Bardares.

^A He betook himself to the place called Aspras Ecclesias, and remained there for three whole months. During this time, a conspiracy was discovered among three noteworthy counts, Puntesis, Reboldus, and William; these, having consulted together, had decided to desert to the Emperor. Of these, Puntesis, having caught wind of the plot, stole away in flight and betook himself to the Emperor. The other two, having used the accustomed rite of the Franks, were ordered to clear themselves by single combat. And, having been defeated ^B by those who had accused them, they paid the penalty, being convicted by the judgment of God in the arena, as they were judged guilty. Now the penalty imposed upon the vanquished was varied and different according to the nature of the crime alleged or denied: heavier, indeed, in capital cases, and lighter for a lesser crime. But because the laws and edicts of princes scarcely admitted the judgment or examination of a duel except in capital cases, it resulted that for the most part we read that the vanquished were afflicted with the ultimate punishment or were mutilated in their limbs. ^C ... ^D

^A Guilty William was held to be convicted, and on that account Baimund blinded him. Rebold, who was laboring under suspicion, he sent to his father Robert in Longobardia, by whom he too was deprived of his eyes. After these things, Baimund moved from the White Churches and betook himself to Castoria; the Great Domestic, having learned of this, seized Moglena and, having captured the Saracen, killed him and razed the fortress completely. Then Baimund, having departed from Castoria, came near to Larissa, having it in mind to winter there.

But the Emperor, having arrived in the imperial city, as we have said, with no part of him taking rest, according to his own vigilant and strenuous nature, immediately set to the work for which he had come: the gathering of forces. For this business he requested soldiers from the Sultan, with leaders skilled in warfare and schooled by long experience of war. Then he [the Sultan] sent to the Augustus seven thousand Turks under the discipline of most experienced leaders; among whom Camyres, by age and practice, stood out above all. In the meantime, while the Emperor was treating and preparing these matters, Baimund, having detached a portion of the troops from his main army, by an excursion of the mounted Gallic soldiers—as many as he had—occupied Pelagonia ^B and Trikala and Castoria. And Baimund himself, having joined his forces with the entire army, took Trikala. And again, having sent out a band of the choicest soldiers from the whole number, by a sudden impression he subjected Tzibiscum to himself. Then, already moving his forces toward Larissa ^{C D}

[GREEK COLUMN] μεγαλομάρτυρος Γεωργίου (47) μνήμην σὺν ὅλαις δυνάμεσι, καὶ περιζώσας τὰ τείχη ἐπολιόρκει αὐτήν. Ὁ δὲ ταυτηνὶ τὴν πόλιν φυλάττων πατρῴου τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος θεράποντος υἱὸς Λέων ὁ Κεφαλᾶς γενναίως πρὸς τὰς τοῦ Βαϊμούντου ἀντικαθίστατο μηχανὰς ἐφ' ὅλοις μησὶν ἕξ. Δηλοῖ δὲ τὴν τοῦ Βαρβάρου ἔφοδον διὰ γραφῶν τηνικαῦτα τῷ αὐτοκράτορι. Ὁ δὲ οὐ παραχρῆμα, καίτοι σφαδάζων, τῆς πρὸς τὸν Βαϊμοῦντον φερούσης ἥπτετο, ἀλλὰ πλεῖστον μισθοφορικὸν ἐπισυνάγων ἀπανταχόθεν, ἀνεβάλλετο τὴν ἐξέλευσιν. Εἶτα καρτερῶς ὁπλίσας ἅπαντας, ἕξεισι τῆς Κωνσταντίνου. Καὶ τοῖς μέρεσι τῆς Λαρίσσης ἐγγίσας, καὶ διελθὼν διὰ τοῦ βουνοῦ τῶν Κελλίων (45), καὶ τὴν δημοσίαν λεωφόρον δεξιόθεν καταλιπὼν καὶ τὸν βουνὸν τὸν οὑτωσὶ ἐγχωρίως καλούμενον Κίσσαβον, κατῆλθεν εἰς Ἐξεβάν (χωρίον δὲ τοῦτο Βλαχικὸν (49) τῆς Ἀνδρονίας ἐγγιστα διακείμενον). Ἐκεῖθεν δὲ καταλαβὼν ἑτέραν αὖθις κωμόπολιν Πλαβίτζαν συνήθως καλουμένην, ἀγχοῦ που τοῦ οὑτωσί πως καλουμένου ποταμοῦ ῥέοντος διακειμένην, τὴν σκηνὴν κατέθετο ἀποχρῶντα τάφρον διωρύξας. Καὶ ἐγερθεὶς ἐκεῖθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπῆλθεν ἄχρι τῶν κηπουρείων τοῦ Δελφινᾶ, κἀκεῖθεν εἰς τὰ Τρίκαλα. Γράμμα δέ τις τηνικαῦτα ἧκε κομίζων τοῦ Κεφαλᾶ Λέοντος παῤῥησιαστικώτερον γράφοντος· Ἴσθι, ὦ βασιλεῦ, ὅτι μέχρι τοῦ νῦν σπουδὴν πολλὴν εἰσενεγκὼν διετήρησα τὸ κάστρον ἀνάλωτον. Ἤδη δὲ τῶν ἐρωμένων Χριστιανοῖς τροφίμων στερούμενοι καὶ τῶν μὴ προσηκόντων ἡψάμεθα. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα ἡμῖν ἀπέλιπον· γοῦν βοηθῆσαι ἡμῖν θέλων σπεύσεις, καὶ τοὺς πολιορκοῦντας ἐκδιῶξαι δυνηθείης, τῷ Θεῷ χάρις. Εἰ δ' οὖν, τὸ μὲν ἤδη πεπλήρωκα· καὶ τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἀνάγκῃ δουλεύοντες (καὶ τί γὰρ δεῖ πρὸς φύσιν καὶ τὴν ἐκ ταύτης τυραννίδα ποιεῖν;) γνώμην ἔχομεν τὸ φρούριον παραδοῦναι τοῖς ἐπικειμένοις ἐχθροῖς καὶ φανερῶς ἀποπνίγουσιν. Ἀλλ' εἰ ταῦτα δυστυχῆσαι συμβαίη, ἐπάρατος τοῖς ἅπασιν.

[LATIN COLUMN] ^A of the great martyr Saint George, joined all his forces, and having surrounded the walls, he began to besiege the city. The guardian of this city was Leo Cephalas, whose father had long before proven his loyalty and industry to the service of the emperor Alexius, having been admitted into his familiar service; from whom this son, in no way degenerate, defended Larissa most bravely against the impetuous engines of Bohemund for six full months. He, from the beginning, having sent messengers, carefully informed the emperor by letters of the barbarian's arrival and attack. And although the Augustus was eager even then to march straight against Bohemund, yet, governing his impulse with counsel, he thought it better to first complete his army with a generous levy of mercenary soldiers from all sides. When this seemed large enough, and all who had rendered their names—both long ago and recently—were copiously armed and instructed, the emperor set forth with a renovated army, and moving from Constantinople came to the parts neighboring to Larissa. His journey was as follows: passing through the hill of the Cellia, ^B leaving the public road on the right, and the hill called by the natives in their local tongue Cissavos, he descended to Exeban (this is a Vlach village situated very close to Andronia). From there, when he had again crossed another small town, usually called Plavitzas, situated near a river flowing by with a similarly local name, he pitched his tent there and fortified it with a trench and wall, as much as was needed. Rising from there, the emperor betook himself to the orchards of Delphinas, and thence to Tricala. At this place, someone delivered to him a letter from Leo Cephalas, of whom mention was made above, writing ^C more freely in this manner: "Know, O King, that up to this present time, by applying great zeal, I have kept the fortress impregnable. But now, it has come to such an extreme. For, lacking those victuals which it is lawful for Christians to eat, we have turned to wild and unusual things, and now we are destitute of the supply of these as well. If, therefore, there is no lack of will or power in you to help us as soon as possible, there will be cause for us to give great thanks to God; but if not, I ^D have already done my part; and for what follows, being slaves to necessity (and indeed, what can one do against nature and its tyranny?), we have the intention to surrender the fortress to the pressing enemies who are openly strangling us. But if such misfortune should occur, cursed be it to all."

^A I have indeed done what was my part; what remains is that, since you also allow us—or rather, since we are driven by the ultimate necessity—to carry out what we are contemplating (for what point is there in struggling any longer against the force and command of nature?), we have decided to surrender the fortress to the enemies; they are no longer merely attacking us, but are openly strangling us. Wretched man that I am! For if I undertake such a disaster and disgrace, I shall surely be cursed, as the magnitude of the misfortune has advanced to the point of incurring the odium of so evil a deed. But whither then shall I turn, unless you grant pardon for the boldness with which I lay the cause of this evil upon your Majesty? And I say that unless you hasten with timely aid to rescue us—your own people, exhausted to the ultimate point of weakness by the long inconveniences of war and famine for your sake—if indeed you have the power to do so, you will hardly be able to escape the charge of treachery.

^B These things, although they moved the Emperor greatly, could not, however, persuade him to precipitate a battle. He had experienced the strength of the Latins more than enough, and did not place sufficient hope for victory in a straightforward and simple attempt at open warfare. Therefore, after imploring the help of God, and having immersed his mind in a keen and long meditation for one whole day, he carefully inquired with himself whether there might be any opportunity for strategy and ambush. He had summoned a Larissaean man, whose evidence he used for a description of the places, the site of which his eyes, observing from a distance, could not distinguish with precision. Having conversed with him sufficiently, and with his eyes intent upon the locations that both of them were observing, he asked carefully with his finger where the valleys and ravines and the deep and unexpected recesses within them were located. When the sun finally set, he—being weary from the day’s struggle—composed himself into a deep and peaceful sleep, through which he received a favorable omen of victory offered in a dream. ^C For he seemed to himself to be standing within the temple of the great martyr Demetrius and to hear a voice of this kind: “Do not be anxious, nor groan; tomorrow you will conquer.” The voice seemed to fall upon his ears from one of the icons hanging high in the temple, in which the great martyr Demetrius was depicted. Freed from sleep with great joy at such a happy omen, he prayed with attentive religion to the divine martyr, and duly vowed that if he should become partaker of the hope he had conceived of conquering the enemies, he would immediately set out on a journey to his memorial; and that several stades before he reached Thessalonica, he would renounce his horse and proceed on foot to the veneration of the holy patron. Subjoined to this, he summoned his commanders, tribunes, and all his kinsmen, and asked for their opinion concerning the present matter and heard it first, then brought forward what had seemed right to himself. Namely, that it seemed a good thing to do, and useful for victory, if he were to commit the command of the entire battle-line to his kinsmen, and to all ^D [the troops...].

[index: entries preserved]

he associated with them Nicephorus Melissenus and Basil Curticius, who was also called Ioannaces; he was a man of the distinguished class, renowned far and wide for his bravery and military skill, and hailed from Adrianople. ^A He did not entrust the legions merely to them, but also all the emblems of the Empire and the Emperor. He instructed them to arrange the battle-line in exactly the same formation and manner in which he himself had been accustomed to draw up his forces in previous wars. He ordered that they should first skirmish at a distance to test the strength of the Latins who were in front, and then, after sounding the war-cry, they should advance with their entire force against them; and when the shield-wall was formed and they came to close quarters, they were to turn their backs to the Latins and to withdraw, feigning a disorderly flight in the direction of Lycostomium. ^B While the Emperor was giving these instructions, a neighing of all the horses in the camp was suddenly heard. This filled everyone with astonishment; yet to the Emperor himself and to the more observant men, it seemed a good omen at that moment. After having given these instructions in such a way, he left them to the right of the fortress of Larissa, and waiting for the setting of the sun—having ordered some noble men to follow him—he crossed the mountain pass of Libotaninus, bypassed Rebenicus, and, passing through the place called Allage, he moved to the left flank of Larissa. There, having surveyed the position of the ground and observed a certain depression that was like a valley, he hid himself with his men in it. ^C And as my father was considering how this might be safely [accomplished... ^D]]

and that he might pass through the mountain pass of Libotanum, as was said, the commanders of the Roman forces separated a detachment of the Roman troops and sent it out against the Latins, so that by drawing them toward themselves, they would have no opportunity to discover where the emperor was going. These [men], having descended to the plain, attacked the Latins, and after fighting for a sufficient time, they separated, as the night did not allow the battle to continue. When the emperor reached the place he had examined, he ordered all to dismount from their horses, and kneeling, to hold the reins of their bridles in their hands. And he himself, having found a dwarf-oak, likewise lay down, and holding the bridle in his hands, he remained upon his face for the rest of the night.

At the rising of the sun, when Bohemund saw the Roman ^B battalions standing in ranks, and the imperial standards and the silver-nailed spears, [and] the horses with the purple imperial trappings, as [only] it was possible, he himself also drew up his own battalion against them, having divided his forces in two; of the one [part] he himself took command, and over the other he appointed Bryennius (56) as commander of the battalion. This man was a Latin of noble birth, whom they also called Constable. Having thus drawn up his own forces, he did what was his custom, and against the front of the battle line, wherever he saw the imperial standards, thinking the emperor was there, he fell upon those appearing [there] like a fire-storm. But they, having resisted for a little while, turned their backs to him; and he, pursuing them, rode on behind them without restraint, as the account has already shown. The emperor, however, seeing his own battalions fleeing for a long distance and Bohemund ^C acting heedlessly as he pursued behind them, thinking that he had accomplished his main object and would easily defeat the others, as if he were catching them in a net or a trap, he stood firm, although he saw his troops fleeing; for he knew that this was a trap set by the Latins to lure him out, if he were to pursue them, [away] from the place where he had taken his position.

But not even so was Bohemund able to draw him out, for he had anticipated this [move] from the first moment of his departure, when he began to enter the pass of Libotanum, intending to go to the place of the ambush; the commanders of the Roman army had sent some cohorts against the Latins; they went out to meet them and joined battle on the plain, until the night that was falling compelled both to retreat to their own [lines]. But the emperor, when he reached the designated place, ordered all his companions to leap from their horses, and with knees bent, to hold the reins of the bridles in their hands. Which he himself likewise did, moving himself toward a low, bushy thicket which he happened to find, where, having gripped the bridle in his hand and knelt down, he lay upon his face for the rest of the night.

When the sun rose, when Bohemund saw the Roman battle line drawn up and the standards—those that are displayed only when the emperor is present, and in that part of the place where he is accustomed to be raised—the spears also distinguished with silver nails, the proper badge of the soldiers standing closest to the emperor, [and] finally the horses caparisoned with purple tapestries, doubting nothing that Augustus was there, he directed his own battle line against them, having divided his forces into two parts; he took the one part himself to lead, [and] placed Bryennius in command of the other. This man was a Latin from among the illustrious, whom they also called Constable. Having thus distributed his forces, Bohemund himself, according to his usual solemn rite, suddenly charged like a fiery whirlwind against the front of the Roman battle line, where he guessed the emperor was from the standards, exalted by the vain hope of unexpected spoils through the deceptive appearance of the standards. The Romans, as had been decided, immediately turn their backs; he pursues them intently as they flee behind the Roman lines, as the narrative has already disclosed.

^A Observing that Bohemund had now been separated from his own camp by a significant distance, the Emperor mounted his horse—having given orders to those with him to do the same—and seized Bohemund’s camp. Having penetrated inside it, he slew many of the Latins who were found there, and secured the spoils and booty from that place. Then, he turned his gaze and attention toward the ranks, and saw his own men still fleeing, and Bohemund pressing on vigorously. Behind him, Bryennius was also being carried along in the same way. The Emperor quickly summoned the man called Pyrrhus Georgius, who was renowned for his skill in archery; he assigned to him a select band of light-armed soldiers and ordered them to pursue Bryennius with speed, but with this proviso: that they should on no account close in on the Gauls, nor give them the opportunity of fighting hand-to-hand, but should merely discharge thick showers of arrows from a distance, aimed especially at the horses. When they were at a range where they could be reached, they pierced the horses of the Gauls with thick volleys of two-pointed arrows, much to the peril and detriment of the horsemen. For, although a Gaul mounted on a spirited and vigorous horse is invincible in appearance and irresistible in the momentum of his fighting, once he is forced to dismount, there is nothing more feeble and clumsy; ^B by the weight of his shield, and partly because of the projections on his footwear 58, he becomes, at that moment, ungainly and very easily captured.

Note by Charles du Fresne du Cange

58 *Their footwear does not have points at the front.* This is translated by the learned translator. But, if I am not mistaken, Anna understands in this passage the parts of the footwear that protrude and jut out beyond the length of the feet, ending in a certain point, of the kind that can be seen in most effigies of our nobility, and especially in those of the Counts of Holland by Philippus Gallaeus. Upon seeing these, there is no one who would not readily admit that the gait and pace are impeded by these protruding stings. And therefore, the Greek tacticians, when they treat of the dress of soldiers, forbid this above all, that their shoes should protrude with these stings. Ordericus Vitalis (lib. vii) makes Fulk, Count of Anjou, the author of this kind of beak-toed footwear; not that he invented them, but that he was the first to introduce their use into Gaul. For that pointed and hooked shoes flourished among the Romans is taught by Cato (in Festus), Cicero (lib. *De nat. deor.*), Tertullian (*De pallio*, cap. 5), and others, whose shape was such that they ended in an arched point, bent upward like a hook, whence they were called *uncipedes* by Tertullian, as those who used hooked shoes. But Saint Augustine also (*Serm.* 248, *De tempore*) inveighs heavily against the affected likeness of women’s clothing, and the feigned length of footwear that exceeds the needs of necessity.

Regarding Fulk, Ordericus says: "He was infamous and blameworthy in many things, and yielded to many plagues of vices. Indeed, because he had deformed feet, he arranged for long shoes to be made for him, extremely sharp at the top, so that he might cover his feet and conceal their swellings, which are commonly called *uniones* (in Latin, *gemursæ*)." From there, the unusual custom spread to the Western world, and was strongly pleasing to those who are fickle and lovers of novelties. Whence shoemakers make tails of scorpions, as they are commonly called *pigaciæ*, on footwear, and almost all the rich and the poor alike seek that kind of footwear. And soon after: "But in these days the dress of the faithful has been almost entirely changed by new inventions. The wanton youth embraces feminine softness, and men—courtiers—fawn excessively upon women in every form of wantonness. Upon the joints of their feet, where the end of the body is, they place the likeness of serpent-like tails, which they view before their own eyes as if they were scorpions." The same writer, in book 11: "For the headstrong sons of Belial dress their heads with the hair of women, and on the tops of their feet bear the tails of scorpions, by which they show themselves to be womanish through their softness, and even serpentine through their stings." From these words of Ordericus, we now perceive why Robert, Count of Artois, in Matthew Paris (an. 1250), castigated the English more than once as "tailed," as it is well-known that they used these tailed and stinging shoes more than was customary: "Now the army of the magnificent Franks is well cleansed of the 'tailed' ones." And below: "The fearfulness of the timid 'tailed' ones! How clean the present army would be if it were purged of tails and the 'tailed' ones!" Peter of Blois (*Epist.* 66), regarding Henry II, King of England: "Arched feet, knightly shins, a broader chest, and pugilistic arms declare a brave, agile, and bold man." Certainly, that beak-toed shoes were in use under King Robert, who was contemporary with Fulk, is taught by Adalbero, Bishop of Laon, in his *Carmen ad Robertum regem*: "The top of the feet began to extend with twisted beaks." Nor is Ordericus the only one to rail against this ridiculous custom of beak-toed shoes; Guibert, Abbot of Nogent, in his book *De Vita sua*: "The styles of dress are so unlike that ancient frugality, that you may see the breadth of sleeves, the tightness of tunics, and the twisted beaks of Cordovan shoes, all crying out at the loss of shame." Peter Damian (lib. v, *epist.* 16): "Thus this elegant and always adorned man walked about, conspicuous in his manner, so that his head was never covered except by a Ghibelline skin—and his shoe, finally, would not fail to resemble an eagle’s beak."

^A At that time, when a man is burdened by the weight of heavy armor and an immense shield, he becomes clumsy and very easily handled, and entirely different from what he was before, as if his very mental readiness becomes crippled. And knowing this, I imagine, the emperor ordered them not to kill the knights, but ^B the horses. As the horses of the Celts were falling, the men of Bryennios were wheeling about. From their great circling, a long and dense cloud of dust arose, reaching up to the clouds, so that it might be compared at that time to the darkness in Egypt that was felt long ago. For the density of the dust blinded their sight and brought ignorance as to where and from whom the arrows were being sent. ^C Bryennios sent three Latins, and revealed the whole matter to Bohemond, who found him on a certain small island of the river called, in this way, Salabria, ^D standing with a few Celts and eating grapes, while at the same time making some excessively boastful claim, which is still parodied and repeated even now. For he would often say, barbarizing the name Lykostomion, that they had cast Alexios into the mouth of a wolf. Such is the way in which arrogance trips up the many, even in regard to the things before their eyes and beneath their feet. Having heard the things reported by Bryennios, and recognizing [alt-version omitted]

^A the fraud and the victory of the emperor won through deception, he was troubled, as was natural, but he did not at all collapse, such a man was he. Therefore, some of the mailed Gauls who were under his command went up to a certain ridge situated opposite Larissa. The heavy infantry, seeing these, demanded with much eagerness to attack them, but the emperor restrained them from the attempt. However, many and various men from different regiments gathered together and went up to attack the Gauls, but they immediately rushed against them and slew up to five hundred. Then the emperor, having considered the place through which Bohemond was intending to pass, sent brave soldiers along with Turks, and with Migidenos leading them; as soon as they were nearby, Bohemond immediately charged against them, defeated them, and pursued them as far as the river. ^B When the next day dawned, he crossed the aforementioned river with the counts who were following him, and Bryennios himself. Since he observed a marshy place in the parts of Larissa situated between two hills, and finding a wooded plain ending in a narrow pass (they call this a "kleisoura"), the so-called Domenikos Palace, he entered through this and pitched his camp there.

On the following day, at dawn, he was met by the phalanx-commander Michael Doukas, my uncle on my mother’s side, with the entire heavy infantry—a man famed for his prudence, and in age and physical stature excelling not only those of that time but also any who had ever existed (for he was a marvel to all who saw the man), and he was the most astute and incomparable at foreseeing the future, detecting the present situation, and bringing matters to completion. The emperor had instructed him not to let everyone enter within the mouth of the pass, but to keep the forces stationed outside in squadrons, and to divide off a few Turks and Sarmatians—those skilled in archery—and to allow only these to enter the pass, but to instruct them to use no other weapon except for arrows against them. ^C But when they had entered and were making equestrian maneuvers against the Latins, those standing outside were straining against one another and disputing about which of them should enter the mouth of the pass. For Bohemond, being full of strategic knowledge, was ordering those under him to stand in close order, and to fence themselves off with their shields, and to remain still. But the protostrator, seeing those under him flowing out bit by bit and entering through the mouth, entered in as well. Bohemond, seeing them, was glad as a lion ^D that he had found an opportunity.

^A One might express this in the Homeric manner: watching them with his own eyes, and Michael the protostrator with them, he rushed against them with irresistible force; and they turned their backs immediately.

Uzas, who bore a name derived from his tribe 61 and was renowned for his courage, and who knew [61']—as Homer puts it—how to swing his shield to the right and left, as he was coming out of the mouth [of the pass], turned to the right and, wheeling around swiftly, struck the Latin who met him. He collapsed headlong onto the ground. Bohemond pursued them as far as the river Salabria. While fleeing, the aforementioned Uzas struck the standard-bearer of Bohemond with his spear; snatching the standard from his hands, he circled it slightly and tipped it toward the ground. ^B The Latins, seeing the standard dip from its upright position, became confused and turned onto another path, by which they also seized Trikala, which had already been occupied by some of Bohemond’s men fleeing toward Lykostomion. They stayed there for a while, having gotten safely behind these [fortifications]; from there, they made their way to Kastoria.

The emperor, having returned from Larissa and reached Thessalonica—being as he was a man highly skilled in such affairs—sent messengers to the counts with Bohemond. He made many promises, [saying] that if they would demand from Bohemond the wages that he had promised them, and if he were unable to pay, they should persuade him to go down to the sea to seek these things from his own father, Robert, and that he himself should cross over to demand their wages from him. And if they could accomplish this, they would enjoy all manner of honors and benefits. ^C And as for those of them who wished to serve for pay, he would receive them and pay sufficient wages according to their desires; but those who wished to return to their homes, he would send safely through Hungary.

The counts, therefore, yielding to the emperor’s command, began to demand mercilessly the wages of the four years that had elapsed. Bohemond, having nothing with which to pay, kept putting them off. When they pressed him with legitimate demands, and having no course of action, he left Bryennios to guard Kastoria and Peter of Alifa to guard the Polaboi; he himself took Aulon. ^D When the emperor learned this, he returned in victory to the Queen of Cities.

^A Having seized this city, and finding the state of the Church in confusion, he did not enjoy even a brief moment of rest. But such an apostolic man was he, that when he found the Church being tossed by the dogmas of Italos—and this at a time when he was deliberating on the matters concerning Bryennios (this Celt had seized Kastoria, as has been said)—he did not even then neglect the doctrine. For it is on account of these things that the matters concerning Italos regarding the heresy of the Italian grew so significantly, greatly disturbing the Church.

This Italos (for it is necessary to narrate the matters concerning him from the beginning) had set out from Italy and had spent a considerable time in Sicily; this is an island situated near to Italy. For the Sicilians (62) having revolted from the Roman empire and having turned to war and battles against them, summoned the Italians into alliance, among whom was the father of Italos, who had the child with him, even though he was not of military age, accompanying him and mimicking his martial movements, as he was instructed in the things of war in the manner of the Italians. These, then, were the first stages of the life of Italos, and such was his initial foundation of education.

But when that famous George Maniakes, while Monomachos held the scepter of the Romans, having become a tyrant, seized Sicily, the father of Italos barely escaped from there, carrying the child with him. And they went as fugitives to Longobardia, which was still under the Romans. From there, this Italos, I know not how, reached Constantinople, which was by no means lacking in every kind of education and logical skill. For from the empire of Basil the Porphyrogenitus up to the very reign of Monomachos, the study of letters, even if it had been neglected by the majority, had nevertheless not sunk into total obscurity; instead, it shone and sprouted forth again, and it became an object of zeal for those fond of letters during the times of Alexios the emperor, whereas before this, most people were living in luxury and amusing themselves with quails and other disgraceful pastimes, for they were occupied with such luxury, and treated every kind of logical speech and education as merely a secondary concern. Finding, therefore, those who were in that city in such a state, and having associated with men who were captious, implacable, and savage in their character (for there were indeed such men around the Queen of Cities at that time), he shared in that logical education from them, and...

in later days he had dealings with that Michael Psellus ^A who, though he had not much frequented the schools of wise teachers, had, due to a natural aptitude and the acuteness of his mind, and moreover by having God as his helper—because of the most fervent supplications of his mother, who frequently kept watch in that same temple of Cyros

Theotokos

The Italian, therefore, having joined himself to him, yet possessing an uneducated and barbarian character, was unable to penetrate into the depth of philosophy, being unable to endure teachers at all while learning, full of audacity and barbarian recklessness, and thinking himself to surpass all even before he had learned; and from the very first onset he opposed Psellus himself. By delving deep into dialectic, he would create midday tumults in public assemblies, stringing together sophistic cavils, and proposing every such thing, and in turn providing such an answer; and in this way he won over ^B both the emperor reigning at that time, Michael Ducas, and his brothers. And although they accorded the second place of discourse to him in comparison with Psellus, yet they tolerated him at that time and made use of him in logical contests; for the Ducas family were most fond of literature, both the emperor's brothers and the emperor Michael himself. But the Italian always looked at Psellus with a heated and maniacal gaze; and when that man, like an eagle, soared above the Italian's sophistries, he was stirred up, and ground his teeth, and burned, and was vexed.

What followed? The affairs of the Latins and Italians began to be in a state of agitation against the Romans, and the ruin of the whole of Longobardia and Italy together was being plotted by him.

On the sacred precinct of the Mother of God

^A And that emperor sent the Italian to Dyrrhachium, as if he were his own man, a good fellow, and one acquainted with the affairs of the Italians. And (to cut the story short) when he was betraying our affairs there, and someone was being sent to remove him from that place, he, perceiving this, fled to Rome. Then, acting the part of one who felt remorse, he used petitions to the emperor and, by his command, reached Constantinople, taking the monastery called the Spring as his dwelling, and the church of the Forty Martyrs. There, too, after Psellos had departed from Byzantium following his tonsure, he himself was set in charge of all philosophy as a teacher, being entitled ^B "Consul of the Philosophers," and he endeavored to expound both the books of Aristotle and those of Plato. And he was held to be most learned, even more formidable than any other, in searching out the most intricate Peripatetic matters, and above all, dialectic. As for the other arts of speech, he was not naturally well-endowed; rather, he limped in the art of grammar, and he had not tasted the nectar of rhetoric. Nor were his speeches adjusted or polished into beauty from that source. Hence it was that his character was harsh, and everything was circumlocutory. His speech would draw his eyebrows together, and he breathed out a sharpness of malice. His writing was filled with dialectical sallies, and his tongue was burdened with arguments, more in conversation than in his writings. He was so stout in disputations, and so inescapable was he, that his interlocutor was automatically drawn to silence and fell into helplessness. For he would dig a trench on both sides of a question and cast the one conversing with him into a well of perplexities. ^C So experienced was the man in dialectic, and with his successive questionings he would stifle those debating, confusing and confounding their mind. And it was not for anyone who had once engaged with him to get through those labyrinths. Furthermore, he was utterly lacking in refinement, and anger mastered him.

[alt-version omitted]

^D

For the man disputed both with words and with his hands, and he would not let his opponent arrive at a state of perplexity, nor was it enough for him to stitch the mouth of his adversary shut or to silence him; rather, his hand would immediately fly to the man’s beard and hair, and insult would immediately be added to insult. He was a man with no control, with his hands as well as his tongue. This one thing he had that was not entirely unphilosophical: that immediately after the blow, his anger would leave him and tears would overtake him, and he would begin to show bright repentance. If anyone further wishes to know about his appearance: his head was large, his forehead very prominent, his face distinct, and his nose breathed the air freely and openly. His beard was rounded, his chest broad, and his limbs firm and well-built. In stature he was not among the tallest, and his voice was such as one would expect of a youth who had come from the Latins into our land; though he might learn the Greek language, he would not be able to purify it, and he would often produce clipped syllables. But neither the uncouthness of his mouth nor his ultimate lack of eloquence escaped the notice of the many, and among those with some refinement he was considered a boor. Hence, his writings were compressed with dialectical passages throughout, but they did not at all escape being defiled by poor syntax, mistakes, and scattered solecisms.

This man, then, presided over all philosophy, and the youth gathered to him in throngs—for he revealed to them the doctrines of Proclus and Plato, and the philosophers Porphyry and Iamblichus, and he particularly instructed them in the arts of Aristotle and the utility of logic as a tool…

and he was more particularly delighted and occupied with this, though he did not manage to benefit his students to any great degree, having the anger and the other instability of his character as a hindrance. And observe for me his students: Solomon, John, and some Jasites (67), and Serbias, and others who were eager for learning; most of whom I myself also saw later frequently visiting the imperial court, knowing nothing technical with any precision, but acting out the dialectician with disorderly movements and ridiculous gesticulations of their limbs, knowing nothing sound, but putting forward the ^A ideas, and now even those concerning the transmigration of souls, expressed in a somewhat shadowy manner, and other things of that sort, and absurdities akin to these. And who, having even a share of reason, was not present—the holy pair, I mean, my parents and sovereigns, who were laboring so much in the investigation of divine words through the entire night and day? But I shall digress a little; for this the law of rhetoric grants to me. ^B I remember my mother and empress often, even when a fine meal was set, carrying a book in her hands and investigating the discourses of the holy dogmatic Fathers, especially those of the philosopher and martyr Maximus. For she was not so eager to study natural inquiries as she was the dogmas, wishing to reap true wisdom. And it often came to me to marvel, and marveling, I once said to her: "How have you looked up of your own accord to such a height? I tremble, and I do not dare even with the tips of my ears to give ear to these things." For the highly speculative and intellectual quality of the man, ^C as they say, provides vertigo to those who read him. She smiled and said, "I know this fear to be praiseworthy; and I myself do not approach these books without trembling. But nevertheless, I am unable to be torn away from them. But for your part, wait a little for me, and having bent over other books first, you will taste the sweetness of these." The memory of what was said wounded my heart, and as if into another sea of narratives have I fallen. But the law of history restrains me; ^D and thus let the discourse revert to the matters concerning the Italos.

^A Since he was flourishing among the aforementioned pupils, the Italos treated everyone with contempt, rousing a great number of the foolish toward rebellions, and indeed establishing not a few as tyrants from his own teachings. And I could have brought forward many [names], had not time taken away my memory. But these events were before my father was raised to the prominence of the imperial throne; and since he found all things here lacking in education, and the logical art of discourse having been driven far away, he himself was eager to uncover any sparks of this that might be hidden under the ashes, and those who had an inclination toward learning (for there were some of these, though few, and these only having stood at the vestibule of the Aristotelian [classics])—these he urged on to learning and did not give up, and he allowed the study of the divine books to take precedence over Greek education. ^B Having discovered that the Italos was making everything full of tumults and was deceiving many, he entrusted the testing of this man to the sebastokrator Isaac, a man who was very fond of literature and of a great spirit. And he, having found the man to be as he was, exposed him publicly after having brought him before the audience, and then he sent him over to the Church according to the command of his brother and emperor. But since he was unable to hide his own lack of education, he uttered even there doctrines alien to the Church, and he did not cease to mock the chosen ones of the Church openly, and to do other things of an uneducated and barbarian character, while at that time Eustratios Garidas was the president of the Church; who kept him near the buildings of the Great Church so that, perhaps, he might transform him toward what is better. But much sooner would he have partaken of his vice than he imparted better knowledge, according to the saying; for the Italos had entirely taken over Garidas. What followed from this? The whole people of Constantinople were moved against the church, searching for the Italos, and he would have perhaps been thrown from on high into the middle of the church, had he not escaped unnoticed, and having gone up to the roof of this very divine sanctuary, he hid himself in a certain nest. ^D As the things falsely taught by him were being bruited about by many around the palace, and not a few nobles had been corrupted by the students of this subverter...

^A For this reason, he was stung, and those things which had been wrongly taught by the Italus were reduced into eleven chapters and sent off to the emperor. The emperor ordered that the Italus himself anathematize these very same chapters from the ambo in the Great Church, with his head uncovered, while the entire multitude listened and pronounced the anathema to them. When these things were done, and the Italus was still unrestrained and spoke of such things openly in many places, and although he was admonished by the emperor, he broke out into some disorderly and barbaric behavior; he, too, was anathematized, although later, when he repented, the anathema against him became more moderate. And while the doctrines themselves were anathematized from that point on, and the soul of the emperor was greatly ^B troubled, his name was subjected to the ecclesiastical anathema in a somewhat indirect and hidden way, and not even in a way known to the many. For in later times he had changed his mind regarding the doctrine, and he had repented for those things in which he had once erred. He denied the transmigrations of souls and the abusing of the venerable icons of the saints, and he hastened to interpret the doctrine concerning "ideas" in a manner consistent with orthodoxy; and he was clearly seen to be condemning himself for those things in which he had previously turned away from the straight path.

THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE ALEXIAD BY ANNA COMNENA

ARGUMENT

SUMMARY

an account of the donations removed from the temples. Apology of the emperor delivered by himself. His humble confession and just restitution. The conspiracy detected. Clementia of the emperor content with the confiscation of property. Blæsus the Manichæan, angry at the Augustus, flees and occupies Beliatoba. A treaty is begun with the Scythians. He is recalled in vain by the emperor, who reconciles the remaining Manichæans to himself. The return of Bohemond to his father. Robert’s grief and generous resolve. Preparation for a new expedition. Gidas, son of Robert, not unsuccessfully tempted by Alexius. Robert’s sons capture Aulon and Buthrotum. Robert crosses from Hydrus to Aulon. The emperor implores the help of the Venetians. He prepares a fleet and sends it armed. The Venetians defeat Robert once and again. The secure negligence of the Venetians is the cause of great slaughter for them. Robert’s signal victory stained by cruelty. The loyalty of the Illyrians to Alexius. The victory of the Venetians reported over Robert. The emperor’s liberality toward the Venetians. Robert invades Cephalonia. An ancient prophecy concerning Robert’s death wrongly understood. He dies near the deserted city of Ithaca, on the way to Jerusalem. His son returns to Apulia. Robert is buried in the monastery of the Holy Trinity. Dyrrhachium is surrendered to the emperor. Seth the astrologer’s prophecy concerning Robert. A digression on the discipline of the Genethliaci [astrologers]. Whence Anna came to know what she writes about the Genethliaci, and why she writes it. Alexius, hostile to the Genethliaci; for what reason. Various consultants of the Genethliac art. An Alexandrian Genethliacus punished with exile. Eleutherius and Catananges, famous Genethliaci. A double prediction of the death of Alexius. Why Alexius did not expel Catananges. Elogium of Robert. Alexius is defended against the accusations of the idle. The purple of the house of the Augustae dedicated to childbirth. Anna Comnena notable for the miracle of her birth. Anna’s piety toward her parents. Popular joy at the birthdays of princes. The Ducas family’s own joy at the birth of Anna. Constantine, son of Michael, and Anna joined by acclamation. Anna, the second-born sister. Then, with what great joy of the people the birth of Porphyrogenitus John is celebrated. Description of the boy. State of the Turkish affair. Summary of what is to be said. Philaretus’s desperation. His son’s atrocious plan. Amer Solymas occupies Antioch. Charalices pillages Sinope. Tutuses defeats Amer Solymas, who kills himself. The great sultan’s embassy to the emperor, which was treated with contempt. But the legate, his interpreter, is abducted by the sultan. Charalices pays present penalties for the violated temple of the Mother of God. Maritime fortresses are returned by the sultan to the emperor. Siauzus is baptized. The satrap of the fortresses makes himself master of them. Apelchasemus aspires to the sultanate. He makes forays into Bithynia. Taticius is sent against him. The Franks at Nicaea put the Turks to flight. Taticius withdraws, with Apelchasemus in pursuit. They fight at Prenetus, with the Romans victorious through the help of the Franks. Apelchasemus occupies Cius, meditating piracy. Manuel Boutoumites is sent against him. Taticius likewise. The ships of Apelchasemus are burned. The Latins extort permission to fight and defeat Apelchasemus. He is carried by flight to Nicaea and is invited by the emperor with flattering letters. Soon he comes to Constantinople and is treated royally there; meanwhile, Eustathius constructs a maritime fortress against the Turks. Apelchasemus, graced with the title of Augustissimus and with great gifts, departs Constantinople. Comparison of Alexius with Themistocles. Puzanus attacks Nicaea. Apelchasemus implores the emperor’s aid and obtains it. The straits of the empire compared with its former magnitude. Alexius extends the limits of the empire and plans to restore the old ones. The siege of Nicaea is dissolved by the fear of the Romans. Puzanus is sent by the sultan against Apelchasemus. The sultan aspires to affinity with the emperor. Nicaea is attempted again and often in vain by Puzanus. Apelchasemus, having gone to the sultan with gifts, is not heard; and shortly after, he is surrounded and strangled. Alexius, in reality, rejects affinity with the sultan, but does not repudiate it in appearance. Tutuses kills his brother the sultan by sending in twelve assassins. The sect of the Chasii. Puzanus, having attacked Tutuses in battle, is defeated and killed. Tutuses is overcome in line of battle by Spargiaruchus and is killed. Pulchases, prefect of Nicaea, is tempted by the emperor. Sons of Solymas recovered at Nicaea. Cliziasthlan, created sultan, removes Pulchases from his post. The slaughter of the Euphorbeni of Alexander, which Opus avenges. Satraps reconciled to Alexius. Pacurianus and Branas are defeated in battle and slain by the Scythians. They, in turn, are defeated by Taticius.

ALEXIADIS LIB. VI.

^A Now while Bryennius was holding Castoria, as has been said above, the emperor, aiming to drive him out from there and to occupy the place, again called the army. And having armed everyone for a siege and for clashes in external wars, he made for the road leading to the fort. Now the position of the place of Castoria is as follows: ^B Castoria itself is very strongly fortified because it is surrounded on all sides by the lake.

non-believers, inflicting upon them great anxiety. He therefore caused the catalog of their impious dogmas to be brought to him. When the list of eleven articles—the dogmas wrongly taught by the Italian—was drawn up and presented to the emperor, he, in turn, subjected these articles of the Italian to anathema openly from the ambon in the Great Church, in the presence of the whole crowd, having ordered the Italian’s head to be uncovered. When this had been done and the Italian remained unyielding, and continued to say such things to many people and was rebuked by the emperor for his disorderly and barbaric behavior, he too was anathematized, and later having been brought to conversion, he was released from that anathema. ^A Thus, the dogmas were anathematized from that time forth, and the man’s name was kept hidden, and he was not subjected to the ecclesiastical anathema in a way known to the many. For even he, in later times, changed positions, and repented of the dogma and the things he had formerly erred concerning. He renounced the transmigrations of souls, the insulting of the sacred icons of the saints, and the way he had formerly interpreted the doctrine of the Ideas; he was clearly seen to be condemning himself for the things he had previously taught, correcting them according to the rule of orthodox doctrine, and finally demonstrating by all signs that he had fully condemned what he had previously brought forth contrary to the faith, far changed from the person who had excited those troubles. ^{B C D}

THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA, BOOK VI

ARGUMENT.

SYNOPSIS.

Such a lake is the one at Castoria, into which a projection of land extends from the mainland, and at its tip it widens, ending in rocky hills. Upon this projection, both towers and intermediate walls have been built after the fashion of a castle, which is why it is called Castoria. Having reached this place, the emperor found Bryennius there and judged it necessary to be the first to attempt the towers and the spaces between the towers with siege engines. Since there was no other way for the soldiers to approach the walls, he first set up a palisade, then constructed wooden towers, and strengthened their joints with iron; from these, as from a kind of fortress, he carried on the wars against the Celts. Indeed, having set up the siege engines and stone-throwers outside, fighting through every night and day, and having shaken the curtain wall, because those inside resisted more strongly (they did not yield even when the wall was shattered), and as it was no longer possible for him to hit the mark, he devised a plan that was at once bold and crafty, so that by bringing in some brave men from both sides—from the mainland and through the lake by boats—he might wage the war simultaneously. As there were no boats available, he loaded small skiffs onto wagons and brought them into it through the *moliskos*. Seeing the Latins ascending quickly from one side, and those from the other side descending, spending more time in the descent, he ordered George Palaeologus, after having secretly led him in with a company of brave men, to approach the foothills around the mountains, instructing him when to anchor at the designated place.

^A He should view the signal, and at that moment take the crest from the rear, and enter by that path which was more inaccessible and easier; and whenever he should view the emperor on dry land taking up the war against the Latins, he should also hasten to the extent of his ability, so that they, being unable to fight on both sides, and having relaxed [their efforts] in the battle from one part of the area, might become vulnerable at that very moment.

George Palaeologus, therefore, having anchored at the shores of the mountain already mentioned, remained still, having set a scout above to watch him ^B or to watch for the signal given to him by the emperor, and ordered him that whenever he should watch for this, he should signal it to him in turn again. ^C But as the day was already growing bright, the martial shouts arose and those with the emperor hastened to join battle with the Latins from the dry land. The scout, observing the given signal, disclosed it to Palaeologus by means of another signal. He, having immediately occupied the crest with those with him with great speed, stood locked in a dense formation.

Bryennius, seeing the siege from the outside, and Palaeologus gnashing his teeth against them, did not yield even so, but ordered the counts to stand firm more bravely. But they, behaving towards him with more shamelessness, said: "Do you see how evil is piled upon evil? It is permitted, therefore, for us, for the rest, to manage our own safety, and for some to come to the emperor, and for others to return to our own fatherland." ^D And immediately laying hands upon the task, they requested of the emperor that one standard be stood at the sanctuary of the great martyr George (for the temple had been built there in the name of this martyr!), and the other towards Aulon, so that as many of us as wish to serve the royal majesty might approach that one which inclines towards the sanctuary of the martyr, and as many as wish to return to our own fatherland might proceed towards the direction of Aulon.

Having said these things, they immediately approached the emperor. And Bryennius, being a man of noble nature, swore that he would not approach [the emperor] at all, but that he would never move weapons against him if only he would provide those who would escort him safely until the borders of the Roman Empire, and release him down to his own country. The emperor most quickly fulfilled what was requested; but he himself held on towards Byzantium as a most illustrious victor.

^B I will digress here a little to relate how the emperor took vengeance on the Paulicians. They had revolted, as was said before, and the emperor was ashamed to return to the royal palace before he had expiated the stain of that perfidy with the punishment of its authors. He was therefore weaving victory upon victory, and while he joined the glory of the vengeance taken upon the contumacy of the Manichaeans to the glory of the Gauls cast out of Castoria, he was filling out the circle and crown of his own illustrious deeds. For he, with that nobility of soul which he possessed, could not endure that this stain, like one branded on by the unpunished flight of the Paulicians, should exist to interrupt the public rejoicing for the magnificent trophies erected against the western enemies. Moreover, he did not desire that the matter be settled by open war and iron, sparing the blood both of his own men and of those who were now the enemy but were soon to be reconciled. He knew the spirits of that race and sect were ready to face danger, and that their impetus in battles was untamable; and he held it as most certain that a fight could not be joined with them without great slaughter on both sides. He decided, therefore, to proceed by artifice, and to capture the authors of the crime by ambush and punish them, but to preserve the multitude and afterwards insert them into the body of the rest of his soldiery. Truly, these brave men, although in the consciousness of their crime they were as yet quiet and keeping to their own houses and borders without harm to their neighbors and without plunder, were not to be rashly provoked or driven into desperation by the display of the terror of arms, through which they might perhaps devise something unfavorable and very harmful to the state. He writes, therefore, to them during his very return towards Constantinople, inviting them with great promises to come to him. The news of the victory reported over the Gauls had already struck them. Hope, therefore, excited by new promises, conspiring with the fear they had previously conceived, finally prevailed upon the men, who had long resisted, to take the road towards the court. Meanwhile, Alexius halted at Mosynopolis, with feigned reasons for the delay, but in truth to wait for the Manichaeans there. When they had arrived, the emperor pretended that he desired to know each of them privately. He asks for the names of each individual and commands them to be written down. Then, with his expression now changed to severity, he ordered the multitude of the Manichaeans not to be gathered to him, but ^C in groups of ten; to be brought in, promising a public viewing of them for the following day, provided that in this way they were registered as they entered within the gates. Those who were assigned to bind them, having been prepared and taking up their horses and arms, shut them into the designated fortresses. Those who were coming in succession, having total ignorance of what was being done, were caught.

Regarding those who approach the Holy Church

^A ...not knowing what would befall each of them. Having captured them in this manner, and having subjected their properties to confiscation, he distributed them among the soldiers who had labored alongside him in the battles that had taken place and who had been brave in those dangers. Having departed, the one who had taken this administration upon himself—and having driven their wives out of the houses—kept them in custody in the acropolis. As for the Manichaeans who had been captured, the emperor gradually deemed them worthy of kind treatment; and as many as chose to receive divine baptism did not fail to obtain even this. Having gone through every method with them, and having discerned those who were guilty of such madness, he confined them by restricting them to islands; but as for the rest, he granted them pardon and released them to go wherever they wished. They, preferring the land that had borne them to all others, immediately returned to it, having arranged their affairs as best they could. The emperor, however, returned to the Queen of Cities.

He did not escape the whispers about him that were being muttered at the crossroads and in the corners. On the contrary, hearing them, he felt wounded in his soul, because, though he had achieved so much, the mouths of those slandering him were many times more numerous, and he had those who were rejoicing at his expense. For he, when necessity pressed and because of the storm of worldly affairs and the scarcity of the imperial treasuries, had looked toward this and considered it a loan, and not a seizure or a plot of a tyrannical hand, as the slanderers would say. But he even had the intention that after succeeding in the impending wars, he would restore to the churches the ornament that had been taken away. And he did not bear returning to the Queen of Cities and having it become a matter for those who wished to calumniate his actions. Hence, he proclaimed a convocation and a great council at the palace in Blachernae, wishing to place himself first as a defendant, and thus to make his defense. And the entire senate was now present, as well as the military, and as much of the priestly order ^B as were waiting to see what the assembly of all might be. This was, in fact, nothing else than the examination of the rumors spread against the emperor. The guardians of the holy institutions were therefore present at that time, and the books were brought forward into the midst then (for custom knows how to call these *brevia*), in which...

the heirlooms in each sanctuary had been recorded. ^A And the emperor sat on the imperial throne as judge in outward appearance, but in truth he was there to be judged himself. There was an examination, therefore, of the things formerly dedicated by many to the holy houses, and things removed later by such, or even by the emperor himself. And since nothing else appeared to have been removed, only the ornament of gold and silver lying upon the tomb of that Empress Zoe, and a few other vessels not so significant for the service of the sanctuary, the emperor made himself publicly accountable, and a judge to anyone who wished. ^B And after a little, shifting his tone: "I," he says, "found the empire surrounded on all sides by barbarians, and having nothing capable of resisting the enemies pressing upon it, so that I have fallen into many dangers, having almost become the work of a barbarian sword. For the ones shooting at us from both sides were many times more numerous. You are not unaware of the incursions of the Persians and the raids of the Scythians, nor have you forgotten the sharpened spears from the Longobards. And the wealth went along with the weapons. The circle of the hegemony has leaned toward the center of division. How the entire heavily-armed force was increased, being exercised, gathered, and organized from every side, you know; and that all these things required much wealth, you all know. And that what was removed was spent for necessity, according to that Pericles of old, and has been expended for your honor. But if we appear to have offended those who are prone to complain, as if against the canons, it is nothing marvelous. For we hear that even the prophet David, among kings, having come into the same necessity, tasted of the holy bread together with his soldiers, and that, too, when it was not permitted..." ^C ...to a private person to touch food reserved for priests. Moreover, it is possible to understand...

^A the sacred canons as delivering that sacred things may be sold for the redemption of captives. If, when the world was being taken captive, and the cities—and Constantinople itself—were in danger of being taken by the spear, we, having laid hold of these in such great necessity, have used them for their freedom, we are, therefore, leaving no reasonable accusation for those who delight in mockery . Having said these things and turned the speech, he makes himself liable and condemns himself. Then, again, he orders those who hold them to unroll the [bradia] (75) so that the taken items may become manifest. And immediately he reckoned a sufficient quantity ^B of gold for the [secreton] (77) of the [Antiphonētēs] (78) to be brought in each year by the public stewards, which has remained to this day intact; for there the treasure of the aforementioned empress was deposited. As for the [Chalkoprateia], he commanded that an annual income of gold sufficient for those who customarily perform the hymns in the divine temple of the Mother of God be provided from the imperial treasuries.

[Latin Column: translation of the above and following historical commentary]

alt-version omitted: (The Latin text from "Gladios arcusque" through the end of the column provides a fuller oratorical expansion in the person of the Emperor, and detailed antiquarian and legal notes by Du Cange concerning the 'Secreton', 'Antiphonētēs', the nature of the imperial fiscal decrees, and the use of the term 'bradia'.)

^A In this matter, a conspiracy against the Emperor appeared to have been prepared by certain of the chosen members of the Senate and by the leaders of the army; and it was signaled at that time to the Emperor. The accusers stood forth and refuted those who were privy to the same plan. Now that the design had been made manifest, and the severe penalty of the laws was coming down upon them, the Emperor was not at all eager to inflict punishment upon them, but declared only confiscation of goods and exile against the primary instigators, and with this, he brought the investigation into such a conspiracy to an end.

But let the narrative now return to where it deviated. When the Emperor was elevated to the dignity of Domestic of the Schools 80 by Nicephorus Botaneiates, he took in a certain stammering Manichaean, and enrolled him among his own genuine attendants; and having deemed him worthy of holy baptism, he joined him in marriage to one of the maidservants of the Empress. This man, therefore, having four sisters, when he saw that they were held in custody along with the others who were then carried off, and that they had been stripped of all their possessions, he was grieved and could not bear it; instead, he pondered how he might free himself from the Emperor's hand. When his wife—who had already gained knowledge of these things—saw him attempting to flee, she made it known to the man at that time entrusted with the administration of the Manichaeans. This did not escape the stammerer, and, having revealed the secret to as many as he could reach at that time, he summoned them toward evening. And all those who were related to him by kinship, having assembled to him, captured Beliatoba; for this is a small town situated on the high ridge of the mountain at that place. Finding this place empty of inhabitants, they thought of it as a portion of their own, and took up their dwellings there. Then, making their daily excursions from there, and reaching as far as their own city of Philippopolis 81, they would return, having taken much booty. But the stammerer, not being satisfied with these things, formed an alliance with those…

[Latin Column continuation:] ...present peril of servitude, we borrowed, not indeed sacred vessels, but certain ornaments and accessories of sacred things, few in number and of no great value compared with those that remained, to ward off an otherwise unavoidable crisis of such great misery. I rely with such certainty of conscience upon this action that I do not fear that even unjust and malicious—provided they are not entirely blind—judges will experience it; I am satisfied that no just argument for censuring our administration can be drawn from it. Having spoken these things with a dejected tone of voice, he nevertheless humbly professed himself a culprit and liable to punishment, submitting himself. Then he again ordered the keepers of the Brevia to explain and to undertake an assessment and sum of the things taken away. And immediately in secret he set a notable sum of gold for the Archonetes to be paid annually by the curators of the treasury. And this has been maintained with constant fidelity to this day. For in that temple was the tomb of the aforementioned Empress, from which we said some ornament was erased. He ordered an annual revenue of gold from the Chalcoprateia, sufficient to maintain all those who are accustomed to celebrate divine praises daily in that sacred temple of the Mother of God, to be provided from the royal treasury.

At about the same time, a conspiracy was detected against the Emperor. The foremost senators and commanders and tribunes of the army had consented to it; nor was the matter investigated by obscure or doubtful signs, but the accusers were brought forward, and they made all those whom any contagion or awareness of the contemplated crime had reached in any way confess the crime, having been convicted by irrefutable arguments. Yet the Emperor, out of his clemency, did not allow the penalties which the laws prescribe to be inflicted on them, being content to take action against the authors only by the confiscation of their goods and exile. This was the end of that conspiracy.

Now the narrative must be recalled to the Manichaeans, of whom we recently spoke. When Alexius was elevated to the dignity of Great Domestic by Nicephorus Botaneiates, he took a certain stammering Manichaean into the number of his household servants, whom he deemed worthy of holy baptism and joined in marriage to one of the Empress's maids. This man had four sisters in his homeland, and when he saw them, along with the others, implicated in that Manichaean calamity about which we spoke a little earlier, and carried off into custody and despoiled of all their goods, he was moved to a great extent, and decided that the evil was greater than could be borne. He therefore looked about for an opportunity to escape from the hands of the Emperor. His wife did not remain ignorant of this plan, being caught by unmistakable signs of his intention to defect. She approached the man who at that time was entrusted with the governance of the Manichaeans and revealed to him what she knew about her husband. The Stammerer sensed that the matter had been betrayed, and thinking that he must make haste, he called together all those with whom he had plotted, and those who were joined to him either by blood or by other necessity, and having gathered them together, he broke out and occupied Beliatoba. This is a small town in a high and fortified position, situated, as it is, on a mountain peak and looming over the valley lying below it. They found these homes empty of inhabitants, and occupied them as if they were their own, and from there daily excursions to the neighboring places...

^A sometimes even devastating as far as the city of Philippopolis, they returned laden with much plunder. Nor was Balbus content even with this, but he entered into an alliance with the Scythians who dwell near the Ister. He won over to his side the leaders of that nation who hold Glabinitza and Dristra and the regions adjacent to them, so that with their eager consent he even received the daughter of an illustrious man among the Scythians as his wife. This fugitive was weaving great wrath, wishing, as the saying goes, with all his might to inflict a massive evil upon the Emperor, namely, the irruption of the Scythians. ^B The Emperor, foreseeing and calculating the momentum of this danger with his customary wisdom, sent frequent letters to Balbus, full of promises, to recall him; he even caused a golden bull to be sent to him, by which his impunity and most complete liberty were guaranteed; but the crab did not learn to walk straight. The man remained the same person yesterday and the day before, inciting the Scythians against the Romans and ravaging all the surrounding neighborhood with an armed band of emissaries. In the meantime, however, the Emperor did not lose his labor in regard to the rest of his fellow Manichæans; but, having brought them into order ^C on the way, he restored them to the faith and to the obedience of the Empire. Meanwhile, Bohemund (for it is time to revisit him) was passing his time in Aulon; when, behold, there was brought to him news of what had happened regarding Bryennius; he heard also about the other counts, some of whom had chosen to serve the Emperor, and others scattered, one here and one there. Having ascertained these things, he crossed over in distress to his native land and joined his own father at Salerno, as the account has already shown, and at his first meeting, he dwelt at length on complaints against the Emperor, such as might incite Robert against him. Robert, already ^D foreseeing the misfortune from the expression and sadness on his face, when he learned more distinctly from his speech into what a state those great hopes had fallen which he had placed in Bohemund and his army upon returning from Illyria, and how all things had been turned in an instant, like tiles, to the contrary, as at first sight he had stood pale for some time as if struck by lightning, so after hearing the whole tragedy, he was oppressed by deep sorrow. Yet he determined nothing cowardly or unworthy of his nobility. On the contrary, he conceived martial spirits and rose to heroic...

threats of destruction against the enemy. He began to turn over and prepare an expedition in his mind, and he divided his thoughts into cares and anxieties over restoring the army, sharper than before. By nature, he was a vehement promoter of things once undertaken; he would never bring his mind to desist from what he had thought out and decreed, no matter how great the weight of evils and dangers that stood in the way. He was a man of an utterly fearless breast, and of such confidence in himself that he deemed nothing impossible to take at his first assault. Therefore, having quickly shaken off the lethargy which the sorrow of an unsuccessful outcome had induced in him, he sent out messengers strenuously into all parts and proclaimed a second expedition and invasion into Illyricum, calling together brave and military men and young men desirous of glory. Nor was there long delay in the interval, and a huge number of infantry and cavalry gathered from all sides; they were all splendidly armed and breathed martial spirit in their eyes and faces. This multitude Homer might express: As dense swarms of bees pour out from a hollow rock, they were flowing together, not more from neighboring cities than from remote regions situated under another sky. Robert, aiming at the level of his purpose and equipment, armed himself as strongly as he thought necessary to avenge his son’s defeat. Having collected the armies, he called together his sons, Roger, and he who was called Gidas, whom the Emperor Alexius had tempted with a secret embassy, promising him marriage from his own kin, along with the gift of significant goods and the most liberal distribution of money. The young man heard these things and listened willingly, giving his word and consent even then, although he suppressed the signs of the contemplated defection with most cunning dissimulation so that they might not come to the notice of his father or brothers. Robert, therefore, having called these sons to him, placed them in command of the entire cavalry; he sent them both before him with orders to occupy Aulon quickly. Having crossed the sea, they did this at the very first onset; and having left a suitable garrison there, they set out with their remaining forces and easily took the city of Buthrotum as well. Meanwhile, Robert, with his entire fleet

^A diverted his course toward the coast opposite Buthrotum and joined his sons. And because Corcyra, having been previously occupied by him, had again revolted, he left his sons at Buthrotum and sailed with his whole fleet toward Corcyra, intending to recover the lost fortress. Thence, sailing along the coast, he held Brundusium, intending to cross from there into Illyricum. But when he learned that the crossing was shorter from Hydruntum, he returned to that city and set sail toward Aulon with his army. Soon, with his whole fleet accompanying him, he again sailed along the shore and joined himself to his sons at Buthrotum. ^B

But the emperor, learning of these things, did not at all lose heart, nor did he despair at such threats of preparation. First of all, he wrote to the Venetians, persuading them by every means to arm their fleet against Robert once again, promising most liberally and generously that he would pay many times over for the expenses of the ships and the wages of the soldiers. He himself constructed biremes, triremes, and every sort of piratical craft, and having put on board soldiers skilled in naval warfare, he sent them out against Robert. Robert, for his part, knowing of the approach of the fleets against him, and anticipating the battle, as was typical of him, cast off his moorings and, with his entire navy, occupied the port of Cassiope ^C (88).

[Metrical version omitted]

^D (88) The port of Cassiope. See Ulpian, Digest 1, § 12, *de exercit. act.*: "As note the ships which carry passengers from Cassiope or Dyrrachium to Brundusium." Where

^B they then took the harbor of Passaron (89) and, having learned there a little of Robert’s approach, they themselves more quickly occupied the harbor of Cassiope. And a fierce struggle having occurred, and the battle having been close-quarters, Robert was defeated. But such was his pugnacious spirit, and his eager disposition for battles, that not even after that defeat did he yield at all, but was again preparing for another battle and a conflict of greater war. The commanders of both fleets having learned this, and being emboldened by their preceding victory, after the third day the Venetians attacked him and won a brilliant victory over him. Then they returned again to the harbor of Passaron. And either, as is usually the case in such matters, ^B being elated by the previously occurring victories, or having despaired of the defeated, they had relaxed, as if they had already accomplished everything, and were treating Robert with contempt. Then, having separated the fast-sailing ships, they sent them to Venice to recount what had happened, and how they had overwhelmed Robert. But Robert, having learned these things from a certain Venetian named Peter Contarino (90), who had just recently fled to him, was distressed to a greater degree, and was no longer composed; yet having strengthened himself with better calculations, he again went against the Venetians. But the Venetians, panic-stricken by the suddenness of his arrival, immediately binding their larger ships together with cables near the harbor of Corcyra and arranging them into what is called a *pelagolimen* (sea-harbor), drove their ^C smaller skiffs into the center; and all of them, fully armed, awaited their approach. He, having arrived, engaged them in battle. But the battle was terrible and stronger than the previous ones, as they were fighting more fiercely than before. A fierce battle therefore taking place between them, and neither of the sides turning their backs, but rather coming face to face, since the Venetians had already exhausted the supplies belonging to them, and nothing else besides the soldiers remained on the ships, these however were floating by their lightness, as if supported by the waters, such that they were not even up to the second *girdle* (91) of the water [of the pirate-ships].

^A Since the soldiers pressed toward the side facing the enemies, at that moment they were submerged; there were about thirteen thousand men. The other ships, along with those rowing them, were captured. Robert, having been disposed cruelly after that brilliant victory (92), treated many of those who had been captured most savagely, blinding some, mutilating others, and cutting off the hands or feet, or even both, of others. As for the rest, he sent messengers to their fellow countrymen and proclaimed it far and wide, so that anyone who wished to redeem his own [kin] for a price might come without fear. At the same time, he also asked them about peace. They reported to him: "Know, Duke Robert, that even if we saw our own wives and children being slaughtered by you, we would not deny the agreements made with the Emperor Alexios, nor would we ever yield in helping him and fighting zealously on his behalf." ^B A short time having elapsed, the Venetians (93), having prepared *dromones* and triremes and other small, fast ships, came with a larger force against Robert. Having found him encamped near Buthrotum, they joined battle with him and conquered him by force, killing many and sinking more; they also very nearly captured his own legitimate son, Gida, and his wife, Gaita. Having won a brilliant victory over him, they reported everything to the Emperor. He rewarded them with many gifts and honors, and even bestowed upon the Duke of Venice (98) the title of *protosebastos*. ^C

Notes of Charles Dufresne Du Cange

467 ALEXIADIS LIB. VI. 468

[From the Variæ lectiones and Notes:] ...honored, as he testifies, which they might use for their livelihood. Now the imperial diplomas of Vitalis are read to begin with these words: "We, Vitalis Faletro, Duke and imperial *protosebastos*." Added in the Hoeschel edition is: "He counted him worthy also of the title of *hypertimos* together with the corresponding rod." The dignity of *hypertimoi* belonged to the metropolitans; some were called exarchs and *hypertimoi*, others only *hypertimoi*, as it is in the Notitia of Andronicus. Furthermore, the patriarch of the Venetians at that time was Dominicus Contarenus, of whom Pope Gregory VII writes in lib. I, epist. 18; lib. II, epist. 14.

[Regarding the Amalphitans:] ...the people of Amalfi, not only devoted themselves to navigation and commerce, but they are celebrated by writers especially for this reason, that they were the first to attempt to bring foreign goods—which the East had not known—into the remoter parts of the world for the sake of profit, and to possess domiciles and workshops in most maritime towns where they could spend time and conduct trade, by the whim of the princes to whom those places were subject: a fact which, besides Anna in this place, and on pages 125 and 163, is testified to by William of Tyre, lib. XVIII, cap. 4; Alexander, Abbot of Telesia, lib. II, p. 566; Leander Albertus, *Descr. Ital.*; and William of Apulia in: This city, rich in wealth and filled with people, is seen: None other is more affluent in silver, clothing, gold, In numberless parts; more sailors dwell in this city, Skilled in opening the ways of the sea and the sky. Hither are carried the diverse things of Alexandria, Of the King and of Antioch: it traverses these straits and many others, Through these the Arabs, Indians, Sicilians and Africans are known: This race is ennobled through almost the whole world, ^C Both carrying things to be sold and loving to bring back things purchased.

(96) *Workshops.* Of the Amalphitans, who were staying in Constantinople for the sake of exercising commerce, and other shops in the city, or rather, the taxes or duties which were accustomed to be paid from these into the imperial fisc. Alexius spontaneously bestows [privileges] on the church of St. Mark; for at this time Amalfi, or Amalphia, which was previously ruled by its own dukes, was subject to Robert, and consequently the Amalphitans were at war with Alexius. For after John, Duke of Amalfi, the son of Duke John, died in the year 1070, and Sergius, the son of John, was expelled, Robert had obtained the Duchy of Amalfi in the year 1075, having occupied the city, to whom Roger his son later succeeded, as is narrated in the Chronicle of Amalfi. Therefore, so that the Greeks might win over the hearts of the Amalphitan merchants, they had indulged them with various privileges in the city, and had granted them an *embolum* (about which below), workshops—which are called *estacones* in the charter of Bohemond II, Prince of Antioch—and churches. The church of the Amalphitans in Constantinople was called the Church of St. Mary of the Amalphitans of the Latins, as is gathered from the Bull of Pope Alexander IV in Ughellus. There were, furthermore, various and numerous *ergasteria* (workshops) of commerce and diverse trade in the city of Constantinople, as Justinian says in Novella 43, in whose name a payment was provided to the Emperor, the revenue of which, according to a certain quantity, was spent for providing lamps, and for repairing public buildings and roofs (l. 19 Cod. *de oper. publ.*), or for the expenses of funerals (d. Nov. XLIII and LIX, and Nov. Leonis XII), from which payment or contribution other workshops, which belonged to churches, or other houses dedicated to piety, or to illustrious men, or to the imperial house, were not immune. Law 42, Cod. *de episc. et cleric.* mentions workshops or shops pertaining to churches, about which Gyllius also treats, in *Constantinopoli*, lib. II, cap. 4, towards the end; Benjamin of Tudela, however, in his *Itinerary*, [writes about] the tax which was collected from the shops of Constantinople: they say the tribute of the city itself amounts to twenty thousand gold pieces each day, both from the letting of shops and from the market markets and the duties of merchants. *Ergasteriakon* was that tribute called which merchants paid for their shops, [found] in the Diploma of the Emperor Andronicus in Phranzes, lib. III, cap. 24, which in ours [is called] *Stallagium*. The Charter of the Community of the city of St. Quentin in Vermandois in Hemereus: "Whoever comes to the market may set up his stall where he finds empty ground, and pay his *stallagium*." Philip Mouskes in *Chilperic*: "If he gave them the *viennage*, of the born and all the *pontenage*, and the *estalage*, and the merchants." Cinnamus, lib. VI, no. 10, reports the alley of the city of Constantinople assigned and granted to the Venetians by Alexius, which he says was called *Embolus* by many, perhaps because that part of the city was adorned with porticoes, of which kind there were various ones scattered through almost all the regions of Constantinople, which they commonly called *embolous*. For Byzantine writers mention everywhere the *embolous*, or Porticoes: Troadian, Domninian, Fanionian, Eubulian, Marcian, Arendian, Regal, Silversmiths', New, Forum, Palace, etc. Isidore in *Glossary*: *Imbulus*, from walking, an ambulatory. Papias: They are called *imbuli*, either because they are under a vault, or because we walk by them: for they are porticoes of the streets on one side and the other. Thus, however, Cinnamus, in that place where he commemorates the immunities and privileges granted to the Venetians by Alexius on account of the help provided in the war against Robert: "These having provided a friendly hand to the Emperor Alexius, when that Robert, having crossed from Italy to Dyrrhachium, was besieging the region, obtained in return [among] other things, and indeed also an alley in Byzantium was laid out for them, which the many call *Embolus*, and they alone of all [people] for this reason paid no tithes to any Roman on account of commerce." By which word *embolon* is understood not so much a portico as a portion or region of the city (what we call a *quartier*). Thus also the emperors of Constantinople had granted an *embolus* and quays to the allied Pisans, which the Annals of the Pisans edited by Ughellus, vol. III of *Italia Sacra*, seem to ascribe to Calojoannes, or John Comnenus. For these [are] in the old diploma in the year...

^A which are contained within this whole space, he gave. Besides large grants of immovable property, he also granted ^B workshops extending as far as what is called the Vigla, ^C and those [properties] contained within this interval. ^D [alt-version omitted]

[Car. Dufresne Du Cange’s notes]

118', which is reported by the same Ughellus in the *Archbishops of Pisa*, p. 466, we read: "To you, Benedict, our beloved brother, receiving on behalf of John, the administrator of the work of the Pisan Church of Saint Mary, for the place of that same work, we give and irrevocably concede the churches, namely the *embolum*, and the *scalae*, and the *stateron* which are in Constantinople, and are granted by the Emperor to the work of Saint Mary, etc." And in that diploma, they are called *embolani*—the Pisans who inhabited this *embolum*, or certainly those to whom the prefecture of the *emboli* had been entrusted: "So that neither the archbishop, nor the Pisan consuls, nor the *Missatici*, nor the viscount, nor the *embolani* who are now, or will be for the time being, nor any person by reason of the Pisan city, may have the power in any way of selling, pledging, or alienating any of the aforesaid." In another instrument, an. 1224, in the same Ughellus in the said volume, pp. 501 and 503, mention is made of the *emboli* of the skinners in the city of Pisa: we would say, *le quartier des tanneurs*. See the same, vol. VII, p. 278.

As for the churches which the Venetians held in Constantinople, one was that of Saint Archidanus, or Akidanus, whose mention is in the Bulls of Pope Celestine II and Honorius III, in Ughellus, *in patriarch. Gradens*. Furthermore, learned men have already taught that by the term *scalarium*, naval stations are to be understood. Others interpret *scalae* as maritime crossings, through which, clearly, access to the port or the city was opened for ships. Thus the author of the *Description of Constantinople*, in reg. 6, called the Sycaean *scala*, the Sycaean crossing, which is otherwise called *peramata* of the Justinianic [quarter] in *Nov. LXX*, cap. 5; for they were called Justinianic Sycae, as Stephanus Byzantinus hands down. But other *peramata* of the city are called so in the same *Nov*: "extra novos muros et alios trajectus" (outside the new walls and other crossings), just as Cujacius rendered these words. And thence the *peramata* nomenclature is still preserved by the very skiffs by which the Sycaean strait is crossed, as is the author Petrus de Valle, epist. 2.

The Author mentions these crossings under the name of *scalae* in *Nov. CLIX*, in the beginning, and in 1. 7 *Cod. de aquæd. lib. xi*. Indeed, even the *clusurae*, or narrow straits on the mainland, seem to be called *scalae*. Certainly, Cinnamus, lib. 1, mentions a place being called *Mala Scala* (Evil Landing), because, as he writes, it was a "fortified and precipitous place." Therefore, *scala* is called not so much a port as the crossing itself, by a word derived from the Latin, because the ancient Greeks called all crossings or straits *peramata* (which word denotes *scalae* to the Latins). Thus Euripides, in *Iphigenia in Aulis*, v. 80, called the narrow strait, which separates Aulis of Boeotia from Chalcis, *stenopor’ Aulidēs bathra* (the narrow steps of Aulis), so shallow that it may be joined by a bridge, as Pliny testifies, or as Solinus [says], that it may be reached by the construction of a very short machine on foot.

From the same source, the same crossings are called *gradus* (steps) by the Latins. For they are not steps, as Surita wishes, [leading] to bridges at the shores of the sea or larger rivers, but straits and passages of narrow sea, and occasionally of rivers. Ammianus, lib. xv, where he speaks of the Rhône: "It is incorporated into the Gallic sea through a wide gulf which they call, *Ad Gradus* (At the Steps)." The steps of the Rhône occur besides in the author of the *Maritime Itinerary*, which appellation the inhabitants of the Rhône even now attribute to those very passages or crossings through which the river flows into the sea, with the rest of the river's own mouth being covered by sand almost everywhere. For they call these crossings *gras*, with some addition from neighboring places, or from the nature of the sea, or the denomination of the soil.

Furthermore, a trace of the same word remains in Occitania at the pond of Maguelone, which adheres to the mainland to the north, [and] to the south is separated from the Gallic sea by a very strong dike. Not far from the city of Maguelone, surrounded in the manner of an island by stagnant waters, once distinguished by the episcopal chair of Montpellier, this dike broke through, providing a passage and crossing for ships coming from the sea into the pond, which takes the place of a port. Ancient writers to Arnold, Bishop of Maguelone, circa an. 1078, call this canal *gradus*, but the natives [call it] *le grau*, in Catellus, lib. 11, *Rer. Occitan.*: "He made walls, here and there he made towers, He bestowed the clergy with divine offices. He closed these *gradus*, where the pirate plunderer Often drew our shores with his robberies. Another *gradus* opening to ships through it, Not far from your lands, O Maguelone."

In a diploma of Louis VII, King of the Franks, an. 1155, in the Sammarthani, in the *Bishops of Maguelone*, n. 21, these *gradus* are presented under the name of port: "In the county of Sustantion, a port which is called *gradus*." In the *Annals of the Pisans* edited by Ughellus, vol. II; *Ital. sacr.* under an. 1165, the *gradus* of Mergier are spoken of, for Mergorius, or de Mergueil. Several old charters from the *Chartophylacium* of the most Christian king also have *gradus* in the pond of Salses in the county of Roussillon.

Moreover, that notion of the word is not recent; for Valerius Maximus uses it, lib. III, cap. 6, where it has been observed by learned men: "Publius Scipio, in increasing the army and crossing into Africa, sought an opportune *gradus*." But we read that it was used not once in later Latin. The *Annals of the Pisans*, concerning Saint Peter the Apostle: "He sailed across near the shores of the Pisans, where today it is called the Church of Saint Peter at the *gradus*." Below, about the same trip: "In which place, when he had made a stay for a month, he built a church at the *gradus* of the sea." The same *Annals*, under the year 1178: "The Saracens began to wage war, and to invade the island of Sardinia, and to go into the parts of the Pisans and as far as the *gradus* of Rome."

Neither did the island near Venice obtain its name from elsewhere, which is called *Gradus*, commonly *Grao*, because landings took place there, and it served in place of a port for the Venetians. Petrus Gyllius dissents from the aforesaid, lib. 11, *De Bosp. Thrac.*, cap. 11, to whose opinion Cujacius seems to favor, regarding law vii, *Cod. de aquæductu*; for he contends that *scalae* are the embankments and moles of ports, by whose object the atrocity of the raging sea is broken, which, he says, "the Greeks call *dēmai* (dēmes/moles) from the similarity of shape, the later Greeks [call] *bathra* (steps)." [And] the Latins [call them] *scalae* or *gradus*, because from them one is thrown down to the ships as if [by] steps. It then happened that what was to the older Greeks *dēmai*, to the same men, [when they were] now ignorant of [*the meaning of*] *scalae*, finally by the custom of the common people, which is accustomed to deprave letters, they were called *scalae*.

But these things need accurate discussion, which is not of this place. Whence the name of the *Hebrew Scala* was added to this landing, it is not entirely certain; unless we say it was so called because it was near the monastery of Stauracius, which they called *ta Braká*, or *ta Hebraïká*, about which Theophanes, Zonaras, and Cedrenus [write] in [the life of] Michael Rhangabe, and Paulus Diaconus, lib. xxiv; or because it lay adjacent to the gate of the city, once [called] *Neorion*, afterwards by the more recent Greeks, and by the Emperor himself in cap. 28 and 29, *pala*, [but] by others *Heuraia*, or *Hebraia*, from the buildings of the Hebrews, or Jews, looking out upon this gate, as Gyllius, lib. 11, cap. 1, and Leunclavius in *Pand.*, cap. 200, hand down. Or finally, which is my own opinion, because from this *scala* a landing was made by those proceeding into that narrow region in which were the burials of the Jews, or Hebrews, which for that reason is named *Juiverie*, or *Judæaria* by Villehardouin. See our notes to that writer.

^A conceded to them the landing-stages (99) contained therein, as also gifts of many other immovable properties, both in the Queen of Cities and in the city of Dyrrhachium, and wheresoever else they might ask. But what was greater still: he rendered their commerce immune in all the lands under Roman power, so that they might trade freely and according to their own will, without paying to the public treasury even a single obol by way of *commercium* (1) or any other exaction; rather, they were to be outside of all Roman authority in this regard.

But Robert (let the discourse return to where it left off, and follow the chain of the narrative), even after this defeat, could not remain at rest; but since he had previously dispatched some of his ships with his own son (2) toward Cephalonia, hastening to occupy the city therein, he left the ships that remained to him at Bontitza (3) [stationing there] his entire force, while he himself (4) went to—

^B [Notes of Car. Dufresne Du Cange]: * *Vigla* was formerly a great watch-post. * *For the renewal of the conduit, let the offerings provided at the landing-stages be expended.* * *Scala*: a part of the harbor where ships are tied. * *Of the Pegae*: Unique among all, for this reason they offered to no Roman the tithes on commerce. * *Commercium*: an exactor of such taxes. * *Merciarius*: one who deals in commerce.

*(Translator’s note: The Latin column text serves as a scholarly expansion and commentary on the Greek narrative, often referencing the technical vocabulary of the time, such as official registers and fiscal exemptions. Robert’s campaign is noted as having proceeded, with reference to the siege of Cephalonia where the fleet was stationed at Bontitza.)*

^A Robert having boarded a galley, he reached Cephalonia. Before he could unite with the rest of his forces or with his son who had already preceded him, while he was lingering at Ather — for this is a certain promontory of Cephalonia — he was seized by a violent fever. Unable to bear the burning heat of the fever, he asked for cold water. As those around him scattered in every direction in search of a spring, one of the locals said to them: "Do you see this island, Ithaca? Formerly a great city called Jerusalem was built upon it, though in time it has fallen to ruin; within it there is a spring that always yields drinkable and cold water." When Robert heard these things, he was at that moment seized by great fear. Having compared Ather and the city of Jerusalem, he recognized the death that was impending over him. For long before, certain people had prophesied to him — as sycophants are accustomed to suggest to great men — saying: "Up to Ather itself you are destined to subjugate everything. Departing thence to Jerusalem, you will fulfill your debt to fate." Whether it was a burning fever that consumed him, or whether it was pleurisy that caused the disease, I cannot say exactly. At any rate, after six days he died.

^B regarding him; the spring; the sycophants; and seven galleys, which they are accustomed to name as galleys.

[The Latin commentary column provides scholarly context on the name "Ather," the confusion regarding the name "Jerusalem" on the island of Ithaca as a false omen for Robert Guiscard, and the conflicting historical accounts of the death and passing of Robert Guiscard, noting: [alt-version omitted] regarding the divergent scholarly opinions on his cause of death, the location of his demise, and the chronological discrepancies among the chroniclers Malaterra, William of Malmesbury, and the others.]

the sixth day from when he had begun to languish, that Robert was dead there. His wife Gaita reached him as he was drawing his last breath, and found her son weeping there, as was to be expected in such a spectacle and case. The news of his death is brought to his other son, whom Robert had designated as successor to his principality while he was still living; he was unbelievably distressed by this news, yet, confirming himself as best he could, he revealed the matter to the assembled army, mourning inconsolably for the loss of such a father. Then, having received an oath of loyalty from all, he transported his forces to Apulia. During this crossing, although it was the summer season, the fleet was vexed by a foul tempest, to such a degree that some of the ships were submerged, and some, being driven onto the shallows, became stuck. The ship that was carrying the dead Robert had the middle part of its hull broken; those to whom the care of the corpse had been committed, having with difficulty secured the chest in which it was kept, finally brought it to Venusium, safe. And he was buried in the monastery that had long ago been built in the name of the Holy Trinity, where his brothers also had been laid to rest before him. ^A Robert departed from the living in the twenty-sixth year of his duchy, having lived in all seventy years. The king ^B having learned ^{C D}

of Robert’s sudden death, sighed with relief, as though he had shaken off a heavy burden that had long been weighing upon his shoulders. Thinking that no time should be lost at such a moment, he immediately set his designs in motion to sow the seeds of discord among those who still held Dyrrachium, hoping in this way to regain the city most easily. He summoned those Venetians who happened to be in Constantinople and instructed them to send letters to the Amalfitans, the Venetians, and all the other settlers who had been forced to submit to Epidamnus, urging them to lend their support to the Emperor so that he might receive Dyrrachium back. The Emperor himself also exerted his efforts to this end, not ceasing for a moment to promise gifts and favors. He was easily persuaded—for the entire Latin race is a venal one, accustomed to trading away even their dearest possessions for the sake of base gain. The Dyrrachian garrisons and colonists, therefore, incited by the Emperor’s promises of vast rewards, conspired together and first did away with those who had been the architects of surrendering the citadel to Robert, as well as those who still remained loyal to his cause. Once these things had been accomplished, the conspirators themselves went to the Emperor and surrendered the citadel to him, gaining in return exactly the freedom and immunity from taxes that they had hoped for, enjoying his generosity in abundance.

The death of Robert had been perceived and predicted long before by a certain man named Seth, who boasted greatly of his astrological skill. ^A His prediction, however, was later undermined, for those who had previously been the architects of the betrayal were now dealt with. The Amalfitans were easily corrupted by money, as they are greedy. Indeed, the Frankish race is insatiable. There is no other nation more covetous of money than this one, nor any other so prone to gluttony and extravagance. A Latin is a mischievous creature when it comes to being served; their language is discordant to the Greeks, their mind is covetous, and their love of gain ^B is boundless.

^A After his crossing into Illyricum, he had foretold via an oracle, which he had written out on a parchment and, having sealed it, handed it to some of the Emperor's closest associates, ordering them to keep it until a certain time. Then, once Robert had died, at his command they unsealed the parchment. The oracle ran thus: "A great enemy from the west, having stirred up much, shall suddenly fall." All marveled at the man's knowledge; for he had been carried to the highest degree in this wisdom. And, to digress a little from the narrative, skipping over the history for a moment, the matter of these oracles stands thus. The invention ^B is indeed recent, and the ancient time did not know this science. For even in the time of Eudoxus, the most astronomical of men, the method of oracles did not exist, nor did Plato know this understanding, nor did even Manetho the Apotelesmatic ^C possess exact knowledge regarding it. But there was for them a remnant of horoscopy, in which they used to divine the fixing of the pivots, and the observation of the entire configuration, and whatever other things the one who discovered this method handed down to those later, things which seem understandable to those who labor over such vanities. But we once touched upon a little of this science, not so that we might practice anything of the sort (God forbid!), but so that, having condemned this vain-talking science more accurately, we might also condemn those who are occupied with it. I write these things not for the sake of ^D display, but to show that under this Emperor many of the sciences arrived at an advance, since he honored philosophers and philosophy itself, even if, regarding this study of astrology, he felt somewhat uneasy.

^A For I believe that the Emperor, having searched this vanity to its depths, wished to restrain the imprudence of those who miserably waste their leisure and study on this fallacious and trivial art. My purpose in mentioning this is not for any display, but because in describing the reign of Alexius, I deemed it my duty to show that all literary arts attained great growth under that man, who honored philosophers and philosophy itself. Even this judicial astrology—although the Emperor, excluding it from the number of other arts, pursued it with no secret hatred—he viewed, I think, for the reason that it leads the simpler souls away from placing their hope in God, teaching them to gape at the stars and to keep the rationale of their own affairs suspended upon them. ^B This cause armed the Emperor against these astrologers and mathematicians. Yet his wrath did not have the effect that there was a dearth of such artists during his reign. For besides the aforementioned Seth, there flourished also during those times that Egyptian from Alexandria who was much involved in revealing the shrines and inner mysteries of astrology. They say that when consulted by many, he foretold very accurately what was to come to pass, in some cases not even employing an astrolabe, but producing his predictions through a certain calculation of pebbles. This was by no means to be imputed to magic, ^C for there was nothing in it other than a certain cunning logic of the Alexandrians. When the Emperor saw youth flocking to him and honoring the man as a kind of prophet, he himself also consulted him twice, and as many times received from the Alexandrian a response that matched the truth. But the Emperor, fearing lest harm should come to many and that all might incline toward the vanity of astrology, ordered him to leave the city and appointed his residence at Rhaedestus, providing for him in abundance from the imperial treasuries for his needs. ^D Indeed, also the most dialectical Eleutherias, a man who was also an Egyptian, favoring the study of this science, attained to the height of natural talent, yielding the first place to no one. In later times, a certain man named Catanarges, having arrived at the great city from Athens, contended that he held the first rank over those who had preceded him. Being asked by some about the Emperor, as to when he should die, and having announced his death beforehand, as he thought, he was deceived in his conjecture. It happened at that time that a fierce lion, kept at the palace, after suffering fever for four days, breathed out its life; in that beast it seemed to many that the prediction of Catanarges had found its end. After a sufficient time had passed, again he foretold the death of the Emperor, and was again deceived. But the Empress Anna, his mother, had died on the very day that Catanarges had predicted. The Emperor, since he had often made inquiry about himself and had as often been mistaken, did not wish to remove him from the city, both because he had become self-convicted and at the same time so that it might not seem that he was banishing him out of personal spite. But let us now return from this point whence we departed, in order that we may not seem to be idle chatterers about the heavens and, with names of astrology, to be stripping the body of history.

Now Robert, as the report prevailed and some said, became an exceptional leader; he was quick-witted, handsome in appearance, charming in speech, sharp at speaking, his voice was loud, he was accessible, heroic in height, always keeping his hair trimmed in proportion to his head, and had a thick beard, always eager to keep the customs of his own race, keeping the bloom of his face and his whole body until the end, and delighting in these things (on account of which his figure was considered worthy of tyranny), deeming all those under him worthy of honor, and more so those who were more favorably disposed toward him. He was a most thrifty man and a lover of gold, an inveterate merchant and a lover of possessions, and in addition to these, he was a most ambitious man; from all of which, being overcome, he drew much blame upon himself from everyone. Some censure the Emperor for having shown faint-heartedness and having at that time prematurely provoked the war with him. For if he had not sought him out before the proper time, they say, he would otherwise have easily prevailed over him, as he was being attacked from all sides by the so-called Albanians and by those sent from Dalmatia by Bodinus. But such things are said by "foolish observers" standing outside the range of arrows and sending bitter arrows through their tongues against those who are struggling. For everyone knows Robert’s bravery and his dexterity in warfare, and the steadiness of his spirit; for the man was not one of those who are easily overcome, but rather, even among those very difficult to defeat, he appeared more courageous in his defeats. ^A Robert, indeed, as follows from the sense and words of those whose conversation has spread into public opinion and fame, was a preeminent leader in war. He possessed a mind ready for extemporaneous counsel, a noble majesty of mouth and countenance, and was urban and courteous in familiar conversation; his voice had an acute sound, but it was full and loud; he was humane in meeting and most accessible of approach, with a stature of body heroic, to which he studiously added a corresponding prolixity of hair hanging all around his head, as well as the thickness of a long beard, with tenacious perseverance in the customs of his fathers. Moreover, he possessed a vigorous energy breathing from his face and shining forth from all the rest of his body, which remained the same for him from his early age until the last day of his life. And he himself was not unaware of this, as he thought himself worthy of the empire even for that reason of his form and strength. Furthermore, just as he was keen for his own honor, so he was not sparing of that of others, pursuing those placed beneath him with much esteem, treating most liberally and honorably especially those by whom he knew he was famously loved. He was a greedy collector of gold and money, a most stingy steward, and on account of an immense passion for gathering riches, he held no gain, however mean, even of sordid trade and exchange, to be unworthy of his high position. Nevertheless, above all these things, he was most greedy for glory. Hence, because one man succumbed to so many diverse passions at once, he easily incurred the reproaches of all. I know that my father, the Emperor, was censured as a man of little counsel because he did not conquer Robert in the first expedition; because, they say, he could easily have done so had he not ruined certain hope through inconsiderate haste. For if he had been willing to wait for some time, he would undoubtedly have concluded and surrounded the Gauls on all sides, with the Albanians, who are called such, on one side, and the Dalmatians whom Bodinus had sent, on the other, panting for an assured victory. Such things do unskilled censors dispute safely beyond the range of the javelin, against the head and reputation of brave men.

^A The Emperor, however, together with the Latins who had defected to him and with Count Bryennius, ^B returned to the Queen City as a victor laden with trophies, as has been said before, on the first day of the month of December, in the seventh indiction, having found the Empress in the chamber long ago set apart for the childbearing of empresses. (This has been called "the Porphyra" from of old, from whence the name of the "Porphyrogennetoi" spread throughout the world.) ^C And around the time of the early dawn—it was a Saturday—a female child was born to them, bearing a resemblance, as they said, in all things to her father. I myself was that child, and I remember hearing from my Empress and mother at certain times that three days before the Emperor was to enter the palaces (for he was now returning from the battle with Robert and from those many wars and labors), even while she was held by the pangs of labor, she signed the form of the cross upon her belly and said: "Wait yet, child, for your father's arrival." And as she used to tell it, many, including the protovestiaria and her mother, ^D were urging her, but she waited for the Emperor. And when she had arrived at the time of delivery, the Porphyra was prepared, and made ready for the reception of the birth. And not having been subjected to private swaddling-clothes, as soon as I came forth from the womb, the imperial purple received me.

Her mother, the Augusta, having been told that he would stay away for three days, regarded it as a serious and inconvenient matter if, while her husband was absent for such a brief interval of space and time, she should herself bring forth her offspring. Therefore, at that first sensation of imminent labor, she marked her belly with the sign of the cross, and at the same time said: "Remain, child, and await your father's return." When her mother, the protovestiaria, learned of this, she chided her daughter severely and said to her with some anger: "What? Do you know whether he will come even after a month? And how will you be equal to enduring the pains of a birth delayed beyond the natural term?" Such were the words of the Augusta’s mother. The Augusta, however, stood fast in her vow. This served as a kind of token of that true obedience toward parents—to be confirmed thereafter by the steady duties of my whole life—in which, relying on my conscience, I do not fear to challenge the testimony of all who have seen me. They certainly know that I have never in any part fallen short of piety, and have always borne my love for my father and mother in such a way that no difficulty of circumstances, no bitterness of times, no weight of labors, nor even dangers—however great—could ever frighten or deter me from most willingly putting my honor, my wealth, and my life into jeopardy for their sake, being most ready to trade everything for the duty of that praise. Nor did we stop at mere declaration; I have often gone into the matter and the gamble of soul and head when occasion called for it on account of that cause. ^A But it is not yet time to speak of these things. Let us return rather to those matters which befell me immediately from my birth. For when all those things that are wont to be performed at the natal rites of royal offspring—namely, the loud praises, the gifts, and the largesse distributed most lavishly among the chief men of the senate and the army—were occurring just as they are said to be, and as happened at the birth of the firstborn, a very great part of the general rejoicing undoubtedly belonged to the Augusta's kin. While they walked in all sorts of joy and openly triumphed, yet with no movement, no chant, or ovation could they sufficiently declare the intensity of the joy which they held conceived in the depth of their hearts. After some days had passed, my parents deemed me worthy of a crown and the imperial diadem. For since Constantine, the son of the previously reigning Michael Ducas, of whom the account has frequently made mention, was still co-emperor ^B with the autocrat and my father, and the insignia of the empire still encircled the boy, and he was praised after the autocrat, and marked his signature on the golden bulls after him— ALEXIUS, TOGETHER WITH THE SON OF THE LATE MICHAEL DUCAS, OF THE COMNENUS FAMILY.

^A Since the emperor also deemed his parents worthy of such honors; and because he, of whom I have discoursed at length in other places, Constantine, son of the former Augustus Michael Ducas, shared in the imperial power—to such an extent that he would sign his name in red ink upon grants, follow directly after the Augustus in solemn processions, and be named in the second place in acclamations—it was decided that, since my own name, now crowned, also had to be mentioned in the making of the acclamations, the precentors of such cries should acclaim Constantine and Anna together. I heard from my parents and other kinsmen afterward that this practice was maintained for a long while. Perhaps this was a foreshadowing or omen of those things that later befell me in life, whether prosperous or adverse.

Furthermore, when another girl was born to the Augusti, whose countenance also reflected her parents and which already showed signs of the virtue and wisdom that later shone forth in her, a desire, burning with fervent prayers, took possession of them to beget a male child, and of this they were made partakers during the eleventh indiction. ^B When the Augusta brought forth a male child, an immense joy flowed upon both parents, so that the very memory of the previous mourning seemed wiped away and erased by the new joy of the celebration. The people, as it is customary for them to be molded according to the inclinations of those in power, poured themselves into every manifestation of joy. One could see the palace exulting, with mourning already completely banished, and all who were well-disposed rejoicing from the mid-chamber of their hearts, while others feigned joy. For the populace is generally ill-disposed toward those in power, yet they feign much and are drawn [to them] through flattery.

Various readings from the Coislin codex. 56 Car. Dufresnii Du Cangii notes. 34 Two of the three daughters of Alexius are mentioned by Zonaras. See book XV, near the end. Posthumously emperor, Calojoannes, called by Peter, Abbot of Clairvaux, in book II, epist. 39, is born indiction 11, year of Christ 1088.

CONCERNING THE PORPHYROGENITUS

^C [The note regarding the Porphyrogenitus is a locator list referring to numismatic and genealogy scholarship: [index: entries preserved].] ^D

^A ...having. However, it was common to see the joy of all at that time, as everyone rejoiced together. The child was dark-skinned, 36 with a broad forehead, dry cheeks, and a nose that was neither turned up nor aquiline, but something between the two; his eyes were very black, and his character, as much as one could conjecture from a tiny infant body, appeared deeply hidden, yet sharp. Desiring, therefore, to raise this child to the imperial height and to leave the Roman Empire as a kind of heritage for him, they deemed him worthy of the holy baptism and of the crown 37 at the Great Church of God. Such were the things that happened to us Porphyrogeniti from the very thresholds of our birth; those things that occurred later will be told in their proper place.

The Emperor Alexius, having driven the Turks with Solyman from the coastal regions of Bithynia and the Bosphorus itself, and from the lands above them, had entered into peaceful treaties, just as the narrative stated above 38. And thus, having turned the reins toward the Illyrian front, and having endured much labor, he had defeated Robert and his son Bohemond by main force, and had rescued the West from the greatest calamity. Returning from there, he found that the Turks under Apelchasem were not merely overrunning the East, but had descended as far as the Propontis itself and the coastal regions there. How it was that the emir 39 Solyman, upon leaving Nicaea, left this Apelchasem behind as its guardian; and how Puzanes was sent by the Sultan of the Persians into Asia and was defeated and killed by the Sultan's brother, Tutuse; and how the nephews of Tutuse strangled him after he had defeated Puzanes—from here must the narration begin.

A man originating from Armenia, Philaretos 40 by name, conspicuous for his courage... [The text here briefly repeats some descriptive traits of the child, now obscured by the lacuna in the manuscript, before resuming:] ...baptized in ink, and entirely dark. The King and father, Alexius, was especially attached to John above all his other children; certainly, he had even decided to leave him as successor to the empire, and had granted him the red buskin, and had ordered him to be proclaimed Emperor. ^B However, it was common to see the joy of all at that time, as everyone rejoiced together. The child was dark-skinned 36; he had a broad forehead, withered cheeks, and a nose that was neither snub nor aquiline, but a figure between the two; his eyes were black, and all his character—as much as could be conjectured from the appearance of a newborn body—was somewhat more hidden, yet springing forth from the depths with sharp movements. The parents held nothing more important than to assert the inheritance of the empire for the boy. Therefore, having carried him to the Great Church, they bestowed upon him both the grace of holy baptism and the dignity of the royal crown 37. These things happened to us Porphyrogeniti from the very beginnings of our birth; the rest that happened throughout his life will be rendered in their proper places.

Now, that we may return to the series of history: the Emperor Alexius, after the Turks had been expelled—as we said above—from the coast of Bithynia and from the Bosphorus itself and the regions above it, and he had contracted a peace treaty with Solyman; and having thus turned his reins into Illyricum, and having defeated Robert at last and his son Bohemond in a most laborious and dangerous war, he had liberated the western border from the greatest calamity. Returning thence, he found not only the entire eastern coast of the empire trampled by the incursions of the Turks who obeyed Apelchasem, but he found them to have advanced securely even as far as the Propontis itself and the coastal tracts of those regions, emboldened by their successes. How, therefore, the emir Solymas, leaving Nicaea, left this Apelchasem behind as prefect of the garrison there; how Puzanes, indeed, sent by the Sultan of the Persians into Asia, was conquered and killed by the Sultan's brother, Tutuses; and how, finally, Tutuses himself, after the defeat of Puzanes, perished strangled by his own cousins—from here must it be begun to be told. There was a man from Armenia, Philaretos 40...

^A of origin, distinguished for his fortitude and prudence, whom Romanos Diogenes, while he was reigning, had advanced to the dignity of Domestic. Having seen for himself the miserable and calamitous things that had befallen Diogenes, and having been confirmed by report regarding the cruel blinding of the same, he could not endure such an indignity and such an unjust punishment inflicted upon a prince who had deserved so well of him. Since he considered it neither becoming nor safe for him to remain under the power of his torturers, he began to contemplate defection, and secured for himself the means to carry out this plan by occupying the city of Antioch. But when the incessant incursions of the Turks, who were ravaging the surrounding areas, did not allow him to rest there, and having abandoned all hope from the Romans, he turned his mind to an outrageous, atrocious, and impious decision. He determined, namely, to pass over into the customs and superstition of the Turks, and to undergo circumcision. His son recoiled at the mention of this abominable disgrace, and having long tried in vain to recall and dissuade his father from it, at last—despairing of his father’s course—he arrived in Nicaea after an eight-day journey. There, he incited the Emir Solymas, who had attained the dignity of Sultan there, to besiege Antioch and to attack his own father in that city. He did not find him slow to respond to these requests. Solymas, therefore, fully engaged in the preparations for the expedition against Antioch, entrusted the custody of Nicaea to Apelchasenios, ^B a man whose worth he declared by a glorious title; for he gave him a name which signified that he was the most excellent of all his commanders. Solymas himself, taking the son of Philaretos with him, made his way to Antioch during twelve nights—for by day he would rest, thus hiding the purpose of his design from the enemy—and seized it easily and unexpectedly upon his first arrival and by a sudden attack. Meanwhile, a certain man named Charatices plundered Sinope through a clandestine raid, having been drawn to do so by the report of a substantial amount of gold and much other wealth deposited there in the royal treasuries. ^C But Tutuses, brother of the great Sultan, and holder of power over Jerusalem and all of Mesopotamia, as well as over Chalep and reaching even unto Bagdad, was desiring most vehemently to gain possession of Antioch. Since the Emir, for his part, was holding that same city no less anxiously than he had eagerly invaded it, Tutuses declared a march for his army from Chalep towards Antioch. From there, as Solymas met him with hostile standards, a great and atrocious battle was joined; and after they had moved from darting and missiles to close-quarters combat and the sword,

^A the troops of Solymas, unable to endure the attack of Tutuse, turned and fled in disorder. Although Solymas tried to encourage them with many words, when he could not persuade them to desist from their flight, seeing the danger looming directly over his head, he slipped away to a place he judged to be safe, and having placed his shield upon the ground, he sat down upon it, leaning against it. But he did not escape the notice of his own tribesmen. For some of the satraps approached him and told him that his uncle, Tutuse, was calling for him. ^B He, however, refused, fearing the danger to himself from that quarter. As the satraps pressed him, and since it was not in his power to resist—for he was alone—he drew his sword from its scabbard, drove the blade directly through his own vitals, and thus, having lived an evil life, he died an appropriately evil death. Immediately, the survivors of the forces of the Emir Solymas crossed over to Tutuse. The Great Sultan [(41)], hearing of these things and fearing Tutuse now that he had become more powerful, sent Siauso [(42)] to the emperor, informing him of a marriage alliance and promising, if this were achieved, to withdraw the Turks from the coastal regions, to surrender the fortresses to him, and to assist him whole-heartedly. The emperor, ^C upon seeing this man and reading the sultan's letters, made no reply to the mention of a marriage alliance, but, observing that Siauso was a man of sense, he inquired whence he had come and who his parents were. When he said his mother was from Iberia, but confessed that his father was a Turk, the emperor took great pains that he should receive holy baptism. Siauso [(43)] agreed to this and gave pledges to the emperor that he would not return to the Turks once he had received the divine baptism. And because he carried an inscribed sultanic order directing that, if the emperor were willing to perform what was requested of him, he should expel all the satraps holding the coastal cities, the emperor advised Siauso ^D to make use of this sultanic letter by showing it to them. And once he had expelled them from there, he was to show the sultanic letters again to return to the Queen of Cities. He, then, very readily occupied Sinope first, and having shown the sultanic letters to Charatices, he expelled him from there, even though he had not gained control of even one of the imperial [strongholds].

^A Indeed, something like this occurred: as he was exiting Sinope, he had violated the temple dedicated to our most immaculate Lady Theotokos, and, as if handed over by divine providence to an avenging demon, he lay there foaming; and in this manner he had departed from there demon-possessed. Moreover, Siausus entrusted the governorship of Sinope to Constantine Dalassenus, who had been sent there for this very purpose by the emperor. In this way, going around to the other cities and showing the sultanic writings to the satraps, he drove them out from there and handed them over to the satraps of the Autokrator. Having accomplished these things, therefore, Siausus returned to the emperor, and from there he attained holy baptism, and having enjoyed many gifts, he was appointed to Anchialus.

As the news of the slaughter of the emir Solymas spread throughout ^B all of Asia, as many of the satraps as happened to be guarding cities and small towns, each one seized and appropriated the fort he happened to be guarding. For when he was handing over Nicaea to Apelchasemus to guard while he himself was going off to Antioch, he had entrusted, as has been said, various satraps with the places along the coast, and Cappadocia, and all of Asia, so that each one might guard his own allotted portion, awaiting his return from there. But Apelchasemus, being the archisatrap of Nicaea at that time, having taken control of it—in which city the sultanic residence also was—and having yielded the parts of Cappadocia to his own brother, Pulchases, he was in a state of carefreeness, ^C thinking himself about to be robed in the dignity of the sultanate, and already considering it held in his hands (for the man was terrible and loved danger); and he was not content with what he possessed, but sending out [men] to raid, he was plundering all of Bithynia and as far as the Propontis itself.

Using then the previous method, the emperor checked the raiders and compelled Apelchasemus towards peaceful strivings. But recognizing him to be always plotting against him and postponing the treaties, he considered it necessary to send out a capable battle line [army] against him. He sent Taticius—of whom this account has made mention in many places—with a sufficient force against Nicaea, having instructed him to stand against the enemies with prudence if it should happen that he encountered some [of them] from outside. ^D When Taticius had gone and had arranged a formation of battle near the walls—since none of the Turks were present at that time—the Turks, amounting to two hundred, suddenly opened the gates and rushed out against him.

When the Kelts (for there were many of them in the army) caught sight of them, they immediately leveled their long spears 46 and charged them, and having wounded many, they drove the rest back inside the fortress. Taticius, for his part, kept his army in the same battle formation until sunset. Since no Turks were seen outside the gates, he turned back towards Basileia 47, and pitched his camp twelve stades away from Nicaea. During the night, a farmer came to him and reported that Prosuch was approaching with fifty thousand men, having been sent by the newly appointed sultan 48, Pargiaruch. Taticius received confirmation of this from others, and since he had no forces capable of standing against such a multitude, he abandoned his previous intentions. He considered it a gain if he could keep his entire heavy-armed force intact and not lose everything by fighting as a small force against an enemy that was both more numerous and more powerful. Therefore, he turned his mind towards the imperial city and looked in that direction, intending to return via Nicomedia. Apelchasemus, seeing him from above the walls oriented towards Constantinople and already on the move, led his own forces out and followed him, intending to watch for a time when he had encamped in a vulnerable spot in order to attack him. When he reached Prenetos, he caught up with him, joined battle, and began the fight with great zeal. Taticius was forced to form his troops for battle. He assigned to the Kelts the first cavalry charge and the encounter of the war against the Barbarians. They, leveling their long spears and giving their horses full rein, rushed like fire against the Barbarians, broke their phalanxes, and routed them decisively. Thus Taticius returned to the imperial city through Bithynia. Apelchasemus, however, was by no means willing to remain quiet.

For he felt a greedy desire to gird himself with the scepter of the Roman ^A empire, or if not that, at least to possess authority over everything around the sea, and over the islands themselves. Harboring such thoughts, his first intention was to build pirate ships, for which reason he seized Kios. This is a city of the Bithynians lying on the sea; and the matter was proceeding according to his wish, as the ships were being completed. This did not escape the notice of the Emperor. Immediately he equipped whatever biremes, triremes, and other naval vessels were available, and, appointing Manuel Butumites as duke, sent him against Apelchasemus, with orders to hasten and burn the ships Apelchasemus was constructing, in whatever state he might find them. He sent Taticius also against him by land, with a sufficient force. When both had sallied forth from the city, Apelchasemus, catching sight of Butumites arriving by sea with great impetuosity, and having also learned of those arriving by land, considered that the place he was in was not at all favorable for a meeting [with them], because it was rough and narrow, and entirely unsuitable for archers, such that it would not suffice for them against the Roman cavalry; he therefore decided to move from there and set his forces in a more advantageous location. He occupied, then, a place called Alykas by some, and Kyparissios by others. Butumites arrived by sea and, swifter than word could tell, burned the ships of Apelchasemus. On the following day, Taticius also arrived by land, having reached the vicinity, and positioned his army in favorable ground; and from morning till evening he gave them no respite, now skirmishing, now engaging in battles against Apelchasemus for fifteen whole days. As Apelchasemus did not yield at all, but stood his ground firmly, the Latins, growing weary—even if they had no help from the terrain—begged Taticius that they alone might undertake the battle against the Turks. Although the matter did not seem right to his own judgment, yet seeing daily Turkish forces joining Apelchasemus, he yielded to the counsel of the Latins. At sunrise, he drew up his phalanxes and ignited the war against Apelchasemus. Many of the Turks were slain ^B at that time, and very many were captured. The majority turned their backs, not even giving a thought to their own baggage. Apelchasemus himself escaped with difficulty, having ridden straight for Nicaea. Therefore, having seized much booty ^C from there, those under Butumites.

^A returned to their own camp. The emperor, having learned these things—being such a man as he was for hunting the soul of a man and softening a heart of stone—at that time composed a letter to Apelchasemus, advising him to refrain from such vain enterprises and not to beat the air, but rather to come forward to him, to relieve himself of many labors, and to enjoy abundant gifts and honor.

Since Apelchasemus also learned that Prosuchus was besieging the fortresses held by certain satraps and was already approaching Nicaea in order to besiege it, he made a virtue of necessity (54), as the saying goes, and at the same time conjecturing the emperor’s intent, he became confident and embraced peace with him. When the peace negotiations had been completed in the interim, the emperor planned another thing that would be profitable, for it was not possible for his purpose to be achieved otherwise: he called him to the imperial city, on the condition that he would receive money, enjoy pleasures to the full, and thus return home.

Apelchasemus was persuaded; and having entered the imperial city, he was deemed worthy of every kind of courtesy. ^B Now, since the Turks who were leaders in Nicaea held Nicomedeia (this city is a metropolis of Bithynia), the emperor wished to drive them from there; he judged it necessary to build another small fortress (52) by the sea, while the affairs of friendship were in progress. Therefore, he loaded all things necessary for use onto cargo ships, together with the builders themselves, and sent them off, entrusting its construction to Eustathius, the droungarios of the fleet, and charging him to cloak the secret: if any of the Turks should pass by, he was to show them every courtesy, and, giving them gifts, to hasten them on their way; and he was to add that he was building this with the knowledge of Apelchasemus; then he was to drive every ship away from the coastal parts of Bithynia, so that what was happening might not become clear to him.

To Apelchasemus, he gave money daily and did not let up, encouraging him to baths, horse-riding, and hunting, and besides these, to examine the statues standing along the thoroughfares; furthermore, he even arranged a horse race for his sake so that he might enjoy it. But he, ^C being clever...

^A ordered them to go to the theater built in olden times by the great Constantine, and to be present there every day, and he urged him to watch the testing of the horses, so that, as time was being worn away in this manner, a truce might be granted to the builders. When the little fortress was finally completed, and it had reached the intended end, he rewarded him with many gifts, honored him with the most venerable title, and, having further secured the agreements, he sent him away by sea with honor. When the building of the fortress was announced to him, although it pierced his soul to the very core, he feigned ignorance and remained completely silent.

Something of this sort is also recorded concerning Alcibiades. ^B For in this way he had deceived the Lacedaemonians, who were not permitting the rebuilding of Athens after it had been razed by the Persians. For after having instructed the Athenians to rebuild, he went away as an ambassador to Lacedaemon. Then, while he spent time with the embassy and gave opportunity to the builders, the Lacedaemonians heard of the rebuilding of Athens after the deception had been entirely completed. And the Paeanian [Demosthenes] also mentions this fine deception in some places of his speeches. ^C Such, then, was the stratagem of my father, or rather, even more strategic than that of Alcibiades. For by coaxing this Barbarian with horse races and other luxuries, and by putting him off from day to day, he succeeded in completing the fortress. And at that time, once the entire work was finished, he released the man from the queen of cities.

Notes by Charles Dufresne Du Cange

(53) *Theater*. Writers frequently relate that this existed at Constantinople. Severus, having become reconciled with the Byzantines, restored it after it had been ruined, as Cedrenus is the author, in the region of the temple of Venus, as is in the Alexandrian Chronicle: which theater I think is that which the "Description of the Old City" locates in the region that was within the bounds of old Byzantium. That theater is called the Minor, perhaps to distinguish it from that which is understood by Anna; for it is established that the Hippodrome, or Circus, was so called—which even happened more than once to Nicetas and Marcellinus Comes—which Zosimus, book II, Glycas, and Codinus in their *Origins of Constantinople* relate was begun by Severus and restored and finished by Constantine the Great. ^D

bellandos sibi unis daret. Aliena res a militari A Taticion, πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν παλινοστοῦσι παρεμ- prudentia Taticio videbatur : tamen quod augeri- βολήν. quotidie Apelchasemi exercitum novis copiarum Turcicarum accessionibus cerneret, periculo con- silium vincente in sententiam Latinorum transiit, et sub ortum solis acie instructa pugnam cum Apelchasemo capessivit. Multi tunc cæsi Turci, plurimi capti, plures obliti castrorum vasorumque ac suppellectilis, salutis spem in fuga posuere. Ipse Apelchasemus vix salvus Nicæam tenuit. Præda omni potiti Taticiani propria in castra divites redierunt.

His imperator auditis, pro sua prudentia vulgi Ταῦτα μεμαθηκὼς ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ ὁποῖος ἐκεῖνος ^A captum atque usum excedente, proque ea qua po- θηράσαι ψυχὴν ἀνθρώπου, καὶ λιθίνην μαλάξαι φύ- tissimum pollebat peritia tractandarum quantum- σιν, γραφὴν τηνικαῦτα ἐκτίθεται πρὸς τὸν Ἀπελ- vis pervicacium mentium et quam in partem vel- χασήμ, συμβουλεύων ἀποσχέσθαι μὲν τῶν τοιούτων let captato tempore impellendarum, inopinatum κενῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων, καὶ μὴ εἰς ἀέρα παίειν, ἀλλὰ consilium ex tempore cepit provocandi ad pacem προσεληλυθέναι τε αὐτῷ καὶ πολλῶν καμάτων ἑαυ- Apelchasemi. Scribit ergo perhumanas ad eum τὸν ἀπαλλάξαι, δωρημάτων τε δαψιλῶν ἐπαπολαῦσαι ^B litteras, quibus magnopere auctor ipsi est: absti- καὶ τιμῆς. Ὁ δὲ Ἀπελχασὴμ ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν Προσούχ neat deinceps conatibus vanis, neve frustra vehe- ἐμάνθανε πολιορκοῦντα τὰ κατεχόμενα ὑπό τινων rare pergat aerem. Quin potius ad se Constanti- σατραπῶν κάστρα, ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῇ Νικαίᾳ προσπε- nopolim veniat, amplissimis ibi et muneribus et λάζειν ἐφ' ᾧ πολιορκῆσαι ταύτην, τὴν ἀνάγκην (51) honoribus a se qui scriberet, et fidem suam regiam φιλοτιμίαν ἃ φασι ποιησάμενος, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῆς τοῦ ad id quod ostendebat præstandum obstringeret, βασιλέως γνώμης καταστοχασάμενος, καὶ τεθαρρή- statim cumulandus. Lectis hisce Apelchasemus κὼς τὴν μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰρήνην ἀσπάζεται. Τῶν δὲ ἀνα- litteris, simul eodem tempore Prosuchum audiens μεταξύ εἰρηνικῶν σπονδῶν τελεσθεισῶν, μελετήσας expugnatisplerisque arcibus quas satrapæ quidam καὶ ἕτερόν τι συνοῖσον ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ, ἐπεὶ καὶ ^B οὐκ occupaverant, Nicæam jam adventare ut eam ob- ἐνῆν ἄλλως ἀνυσθῆναι τὸ σκοπούμενον, μετακαλεῖ- sidione cingeret, necessitate, quod aiunt, in ambi- ται τοῦτον εἰς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν, ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ χρήματα tionem versa, fidem imperatoris experiri constituit: λαβεῖν, καὶ τρυφῆς ἅλις ἐπαπολαῦσαι, καὶ οὕτως οἴ- sperans etiam isto congressu penitius se introspe- καδε ἐπαναστρέψαι. Πείθεται ὁ Ἀπελχασὴμ · καὶ cturum Augusti mentem, ac pacem, si firmam et εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν παντοίας ἀξιοῦται utilem fore cerneret, coram facilius quam legatis φιλοφροσύνης. Ὡς δὲ τὴν Νικομήδους (πόλις δὲ αὕτη intermediis initurum. Verum Alexius alia omnia μητρόπολις Βιθυνίας) κατεῖχον οἱ τῆς Νικαίας ἐξ- machinabatur adversus Barbaros quibuscum nulla ἄρχοντες Τοῦρκοι, ἐκεῖθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐλάσαι τούτους fida pax esset, omnem honestam esse rationem βουλόμενος, ἕτερον παρὰ θάλατταν οἰκοδομῆσαι πο- statuens publicæ obtinendæ securitatis, quam alio- λίχνιον (52) δεῖν ἔκρινεν, ἐν ὅσῳ τὰ τῆς ἀγάπης qui necessariam imperio, tamen neque vi aperta, ἤδραστο. Τοιγαροῦν ἐν φορταγωγῷ ναυσὶν ἅπαντα ob præsentem rei Romanæ debilitatem, nec per τὰ πρὸς χρῆσιν χρειώδη σὺν αὐτοῖς οἰκοδόμοις ἐμ- Turcorum perfidiam ulla tractatione conflicere pos- βαλὼν, τὴν τούτου οἰκοδομὴν Εὐσταθίῳ set. Nuntiis igitur imperatoris ^D liberaliter τῷ τοῦ στόλου δρουγγαρίῳ ἀναθέμενος, καὶ ἐς κό- invitantibus ut Constantinopolim venire ne grava- ρητον ἐκαλύψαι [*] ἐπισκήψας, εἴ τινες τῶν Τούρ- retur, pollicentibusque Augusto curæ futurum, ut κων διέρχοιντο παντοίως φιλοφρονεῖσθαι, καὶ ἐς κό- et honorificentissime ibi exciperetur habereturque ρον διδόντας ἐπιλαύνειν [*] τῶν δωρεῶν [*], προστιθέναι et voluptatibus ac spectaculis omnis generis recrea- δὲ τὸ μετ' εἰδήσεως τοῦ Ἀπελχασὴμ τοῦτο οἰκοδο- tus, muneribusque cumulatus amplissimis, domum μεῖν, εἶτα ἅπαν πλοῖον ἀπεῖρξαι τῶν Βιθυνίας quando vellet reduceretur, assensus est Apelcha- παραλίων μερῶν, ὡς μὴ δῆλον αὐτῷ γενέσθαι τὸ γι- semus et Constantinopolim se transtulit : ubi nihil νόμενον. Τῷ δὲ Ἀπελχασὴμ καθ' ἑκάστην χρήματα minus quam speraverat demonstrationem honoris διδούς, οὐκ ἐνεδίδου, εἰς βαλανεῖα τε προτρεπόμενος ac deliciarum expertus, iis fruebatur. At impera- καὶ ἱππηλασίας, καὶ κυνηγέσια, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τὰς ^D tor, qui haberet in animo expellere Nicomedia Tur- κατὰ τὰς λεωφόρους ἱσταμένας στήλας ἀναθεωρεῖν · cos (urbs ea primaria est Bithyniæ quam Turci ἀλλὰ καὶ ἱππικὸν ἀγῶνα δι' αὐτὸν ἐνστήσασθαι τοῖς Variae lectiones ex cod. Coislin. [*] ἐκαλύψαι. [*] ἐπαπολαύνειν. [*] χρειωδῶν. Car. Dufresnii Du Cangii notæ. (51) Ταύτην τὴν ἀνάγκην. 325 Proverbialis castrum forte, quod Κιβωτὸν Græci, nostri Civitot formula, qua non semel utitur Anna, lib. XIII, appellarant, in Nicomediensi sinu exædificatum p. 399 et 402, nostris frequens. Faire de neces- ab Alexio, ut auctor est Ordericus Vitalis, lib. IV, sité vertu, Will. Tyrius lib. X, cap. 17: Faciens de qui id Varangis inhabitandum et tuendum ab necessitate virtutem. Albericus an. 1062: Necessitatem eodem Augusto concessum narrat. Vide Notas no- vertens in voluntatem. Nangius in Phil. 3, initio: De stras ad Villhard. n. 89 et 240. Ciboti meminit necessitate fecit virtutem. etiam Pachymeres, lib. VI, cap. 25. (52) Οἰκοδομῆσαι πολίχνιον. Oppidum, seu

a small stronghold, not to save him from danger, but in order to secure the victory for himself. However, fortune did not smile upon this design. ^A For the affairs between them went as follows. Those who were sent to the small stronghold called after the lord George took possession of it. The Turks immediately threw the gates open to them. They, having climbed up from above the eastern gate to the battlements of the wall, set up their banners and scepters in rows, shouting loudly and at the same time continuously sounding the war trumpet; by these, those who were outside were terrified, and thinking that the emperor himself had arrived, they went away during the night. The Roman forces then returned to the Queen of Cities. For they were not a force capable of fighting against a Persian onset expected to come again from the depths of the Turkish ^B power.

The sultan, expecting the return of Siaous, and since he saw him delaying—having learned of his circumstances, how he had passed into the lifestyle of Sinope 55, and had been cast out from the divine baptism of which he had partaken even in the West, when he was sent by the emperor to gird himself with the ducal authority of Anchialus—was irritated and deeply vexed. He considered, therefore, that he must send Puzanus again with forces against Apelchasem, and at the same time entrust to him a letter for the emperor concerning the same affinity. The letter was as follows: "I have heard, O emperor, of your affairs, and how, since you took up the rule of the empire, you have encountered many struggles from the very beginning; and how, when you had just calmed the affairs regarding the Latins, the Scythians are preparing against you, and the said emir Apelchasem has broken the treaties made with you by Solyman and is plundering Asia as far as Damalis. If, therefore, you wish for Apelchasem to be driven from those parts, and for Asia and ^C indeed the very...

^A Antioch to be placed under your hand, send me your daughter to be the wife of my firstborn son. And for the future, no obstacle shall hinder you, but it will be easy for you to accomplish everything, with me assisting you, not only throughout the East, but as far as Illyricum and the entire West, through forces sent to you from us. These, then, were the terms of the Persian sultan.

But Puzanus, having arrived at Nicaea, ^B and having made an attempt upon it, not once but many times, and having failed in his purpose—with Apelchasem bravely resisting him, and having requested and received assistance from the emperor—he turned his course toward the seizure of the remaining cities and small towns. Having retreated from there, he pitched his tent at Lampen (this is a river near Lopadium). After his retreat, Apelchasem loaded thirteen mules with as much gold as they could carry, and set out to the Persian sultan, carrying this gift ^C for him so that he might not be deprived of his command. He finds him camping near what is called Spacha. But as the sultan did not deign even to see him, he used mediators. The latter, being importuned by them, said: "Since I have once assigned the authority to the Emir Puzanus, I do not wish for it to be taken away from him. Let him, therefore, take the money and depart to him, and say whatever he wishes. And whatever is resolved between them, I shall also approve."

Apelchasem remained there for some time ^D and suffered much, and having achieved nothing, he departed from there, as if going to Puzanus. He met with two hundred elite men and satraps sent against him by him. For Apelchasem's departure from Nicaea by no means escaped his notice. These, having seized him and twisting a noose from a bowstring, threw it around his neck and strangled him. The whole affair, in my account, was not of Puzanus, but of that sultan who had orchestrated such things against Apelchasem.

However, the emperor, having read the sultan's letters, did not wish to even entertain the suggestion. And indeed, how could he? For the royal maiden, whom the letter requested to be betrothed to his firstborn son, would have been unfortunate, as it seems, if she had ascended to Persia, having shared in a kingdom more miserable than any poverty. But God did not permit this, nor did the emperor have the mind to entrust these things to the firstborn.

nor would any such narrow situation constrain his affairs. ^A For immediately, at the very first hearing of the letter, he mocked the barbarian’s suggestion, whispering to himself that it was a demon that had brought this into his mind. This was how the emperor felt about the marriage alliance. But, considering that he must hold the sultan’s mind in suspension with empty hopes, he dispatched Curticius along with three others, sending these as ambassadors, as well as letters through which he indicated that he welcomed the peace and was leaning toward what had been proposed, while at the same time he himself demanded other things that would introduce a lengthening of time. Not yet had the ambassadors sent from Byzantium reached Chorasan, when they learned of the sultan’s murder and returned. For his own brother ^B Tutuses, after having slain the emir Solyman and his own son-in-law who had campaigned against him from Arabia, became arrogant, and having learned that the sultan was already hastening toward peace treaties with the emperor, he looked toward the killing of his brother. Therefore, having summoned twelve Chasii—such is what they are called in the Persian language—who were breathing murder, he sent them forth, ostensibly as ambassadors to the sultan, instructing them at the same time in the method of his brother's slaughter. "Go," he said, "and first proclaim that you are about to announce certain secret matters to the sultan; and when you are admitted to speak with him as if you had things to discuss, approach and immediately dismember my brother." And the ambassadors—or rather, the murderers—as if they were being sent to a dinner or a banquet, set off most readily for the sultan’s slaughter. Having found him intoxicated, as all truce was granted to these men *[as]* those who were entrusted with the sultan’s guard were standing at a distance, they approached him and, drawing swords from beneath their cloaks, they immediately dismember ^C the wretched man. For this is the nature of the Chasii, who delight in blood and consider this very thing a luxury, if they might only drive a sword through the entrails of men, and as for the rest, even if some perhaps set upon them for this very thing, they would slaughter them as one would deem such a death a glory, just as some kind of

ancestral inheritance, these murderous deeds, one successor to another receiving them and handing them along. Of these men, none returned to Tutush to receive the payment for their own slaughters. Puzanus, however, having learned of these things, returned to Chorosan with all his forces. When he had drawn near to Chorosan, the brother of the one who had been slain, Tutush, received him. And immediately a close-quarters battle occurred; since both armies fought with strength, and neither would yield the victory to the other, Puzanus fell, struck a mortal blow while fighting bravely and throwing all the phalanxes into confusion. Each of his men then sought his own safety by flight, scattering, one here and one there. Tutush, as a victor, returned to Chorasan, as if he had already girded himself with the dignity of the sultanate, and this while having the danger hanging over his head. For the son of the slain ^A sultan Tapares, Spargaruch, having met him, rejoiced, it is said in the poem, like a lion that has come upon a great body. And joining battle with all his might and mind, he shattered Tutush’s forces in many places, and putting them to rout, pursued them with all his strength. But he himself ^B was also removed by Tutush, who was puffed up with the pride of Novatus. Now as for Apelchasem, since he had gone out at that time with money to the sultan of Chorosan—as the account has already anticipated—his brother Puliases had occupied Nicaea and held it. When the Emperor perceived this, he promised him generous gifts if he would yield it to him and depart from there. Puliases was willing, but he delayed, looking back again toward Apelchasem and sending word after word to the Emperor, appearing to favor him, but in truth awaiting the return of his brother. In the meantime, something like this happened: the sultan of Chorosan, who had been slain by the Chasians, had managed to capture the two sons ^C of the great Solyman. These men...

having fled from the slaughter at Chorosan, quickly occupied Nicaea. Those within Nicaea, seeing them, welcomed them as though they were bringing the republic, and did so with great joy. And Pulchases, as if handing over a paternal inheritance, willingly surrendered Nicaea to them. The first-born of the two, by name Clitziasthlan, was appointed sultan. He summoned the wives and children of those who were then present in Nicaea and established them there, restoring that city so that one might call it the residence of sultans. Having thus arranged the affairs at Nicaea, he removed Pulchases from his command, and having entrusted the leadership of the satraps then in Nicaea to the archisatrap Mochumetes, and leaving him there, he set out against Melitene. But such were the matters concerning the sultans.

Now the archisatrap Helcanes, having occupied Apolloniades and Cyzicus (for these cities are both coastal) with those under him, was troubling all the coastal regions. The emperor, having learned of this, prepared a sufficient number of boats from whatever happened to be available (for a fleet had not yet been readied); and having placed siege engines within them along with brave soldiers, he entrusted the leadership of these to Alexander Euphorbenus, a man illustrious by lineage and famous for his bravery, and sent him out against Helcanes. Having arrived at Apolloniades, he immediately began a siege. For six days, without ceasing from the assault on the wall even by night, he seized the outer circle of the fort, which ^A common usage now is accustomed to call the *exopolon*.

^B Helcanes, as it was, held the acropolis, hoping that forces would come from outside. And... ^{C D}

when Alexander saw a barbarian army of considerable strength arriving to assist Helcanes, and realized that his own men, even when combined, did not amount to even a fraction of the incoming force, he judged it better, even if he did not gain the victory, at least to keep his own men unharmed. Perceiving his situation to be truly desperate, and that no means of safety remained, he inclined toward the sea. And having entered the local vessels via the river, he set sail for it. Helcanes, having conjectured Alexander’s intention, seized the mouth of the lake ^B and the bridge of the river—where in the past a sanctuary had been built by Saint Helena in the name of the great Constantine, from which the bridge still derives its name—and having posted the most warlike men at the aforementioned mouth and the bridge itself on both sides, he commanded them to lie in wait for the passage of the ships. But as they all entered the aforementioned vessels through the mouth of the lake and fell into the traps of Helcanes, seeing the calamity that had overtaken them and having nothing else they could do, they moored their ships to the shore and, leaping from there, went out onto the mainland. As the Turks overtook them, a great battle broke out. And many of the chosen men were captured, and many fell into the eddies of the river and were swept away. The Emperor, learning of these events and unable to bear the defeat, sent out a capable force with the Puzan against them by way of the mainland, who captured Cyzicus and took it by a sudden raid. The city was protected by other impregnable walls, and indeed by three outer defenses encircling it, for the outermost circle contained the second. ^C

[Note: [alt-version omitted] regarding the Latin column's discussion of the *exopolon* and other fortifications.]

^A Selecting some three hundred men from his own contingents—men accustomed to wall-fighting and reckless of danger—he sent them against Poemanenum. They took it by storm, slaying some of those within and sending others in chains to Opus, who immediately forwarded them to the Emperor. Departing from there, the Emperor arrived at Apolloniade, keeping up a constant siege. Helchanes, having no force sufficient to resist him, voluntarily surrendered the city, and he himself, along with his blood-relatives, defected to the Emperor, enjoying ten thousand gifts and, crowning all, obtaining the greatest gift of all—I mean, the holy baptism. As for those who were not willing to comply with Opus, they included Scaliarius and that man who was later honored with the title of Hyperperilampros. These archisatraps, having learned of the kindness and generous gifts the Emperor had bestowed upon Helchanes, approached as well and obtained similar treatment. For this Emperor was truly a most priestly man, a chief priest, so to speak, of all piety, both in virtue and in speech. He was most skilled in teaching our dogma, apostolic in his purpose and his discourse, and he wished to bring within our faith not only these nomadic Scythians, but all of Persia, and all the Barbarians who inhabit Egypt and Libya and celebrate the rites of Mahomet. ^B But enough of these matters. Wishing to recount a more formidable and greater incursion against the Roman Empire than the preceding one, I set my narrative back to the beginning; for one event after another surged in waves. A certain Scythian race, daily despoiled by the Sauromatae, left their native homes and descended to the Danube. Since it was necessary for them to make a treaty with those living along the Danube, and this having been agreed upon by all, they entered into conversation with the prominent men: Tatus, and him called Chale, and Sesthlabus, and Satza (for it is necessary to record the names of the leading men among them, even if the [body of the history is tainted by these names]).

And the first ^A of these held Dristra, the others Bitzina, while others held other cities or places. These men conversed enough to strike a truce, after which the Scythians—now safe—crossed the Danube and gave themselves over to the pillaging of the neighboring region, not even abstaining from the siege or occupation of those towns on that frontier. Then, however, having reached some sort of ceasefire, they turned to cultivating the land and sowed millet and wheat. But that Balbus the Manichaean, along with his confederates and followers who had occupied the town of Belintoba, situated on a high place, regarding whom we have spoken more fully above, having learned the state of the Scythian arrivals, finally brought to light what they had long been travailing with. For having occupied the rough passes and narrow defiles, they called the Scythians to them. From there, they ravaged the entire Roman territory. For the race of the Manichaeans is by nature most warlike and, like dogs, ever eager to lap up human blood. When Emperor Alexius learned of this, he commanded Pacurianus, the Domestic of the West (knowing him to be most capable of managing an army, positioning those in a phalanx, and maneuvering affairs in the most varied ways), together with Branas—for he too was a most warlike man—to take the forces and go against them. ^B Having arrived where the Scythians had passed through the narrow defiles and pitched their camp beyond Beliatoba, and having looked upon their innumerable multitude, Pacurianus immediately grew cold toward the battle they were to fight with them, judging it better for the present to save his own forces without a fight rather than to engage in a war with the Scythians and, having been defeated, to lose many men. But these things did not please Branas, who was most eager for danger and bold. The Domestic, however, in order that no suspicion of cowardice might be cast upon him for postponing the war, yielded to the impulsiveness of Branas; and having ordered all to arm themselves and having arranged the shape of the battle, he advanced against the Scythians, taking his own place in the very center of the phalanx. Since the Roman army did not comprise even a small fraction of the number of those drawn up against them, all had become fearful from the mere sight of them. Nevertheless, having attacked the Scythians, many were slain in the fighting, and Branas fell, struck a mortal blow. ^C The Domestic, however, fighting spiritedly and having suffered severe blows, was killed on the spot. The remainder of the army was dispersed, one here and one there, while carrying out cavalry maneuvers against the enemy.

^B Having learned of these things, the Emperor mourned for all those who had fallen, both generally and individually, and he mourned for me. But at the death of the Domesticus, he groaned deeply and shed rivers of tears. For he loved the man exceedingly, even before his accession to the throne. Yet he did not break down because of these things, but summoned Taticius, and having provided him with sufficient funds, he sent him to Adrianople, with the instruction that he should pay the soldiers their annual wages and collect forces from every quarter, so that he might once again organize an army capable of fighting. ^A He also ordered Umpertopulus to leave a sufficient guard at Cyzicus, and with only the Celts, to arrive with all speed at Taticius’s position. When the latter saw the Latins and Umpertopulus, and had taken heart—since he had already succeeded in collecting a sufficient army—he marched directly against the Scythians. Having arrived at the region around Philippopolis, at the edge of the river flowing past Salinos, he pitched his camp. When he saw the Scythians returning from a raid, bringing with them much booty and many captives, he had not yet even placed the baggage inside the camp when, deciding that the right moment had arrived, he detached a sufficient number of men and sent them against the enemy. He himself armed, ordered everyone else to arm, formed his phalanxes, and followed the soldiers he had sent ahead. When he saw that the Scythians, having joined with the rest of their army by the marshy riverbank, had divided their force in two, and had ordered the war-trumpet to sound from both sides, he attacked the barbarians with a great shout and cry. A fierce battle ensued, in which the majority of the Scythians fell, while many others were scattered and saved themselves by flight. Taticius, having recovered all the booty, took Philippopolis as a victor. There, having gathered all his armed forces, he considered how and whence he ought to attack the barbarians again. Knowing that their forces were infinite in number, he sent out scouts everywhere, so that he might frequently learn about the Scythians from them. The scouts returned and said that a great multitude of barbarians were loitering around Beliaton and plundering the surroundings. Taticius, expecting the Scythian incursion and realizing that he did not have enough forces to face such a [multitude] in its entirety, was lost in his calculations and stood in perplexity. But nevertheless, he was not entirely ^C cast down by the expectation, but remained steadfast...

^A lationi G...s, and sent scouts in every direction: they, by reporting immediately what each had observed, provided him with the best possible intelligence regarding the actions or preparations of the Scythians. The unanimous report of these scouts was that a vast multitude of Barbarians had fixed their camps around Beliatoba and were laying waste to the surrounding regions with raids. Although Taticius heard that another Scythian army was approaching from elsewhere, and clearly saw that the forces he possessed were by no means equal to such a number of enemies—for which reasons he was failing to hope well for the outcome of the affair, and remained for a while dismayed and sorrowful—in the end, he recovered the memory of his innate nobility, sharpened both his steel and his resolve, and encouraged his army to fight. ^B While he was occupied with this, someone came running—a messenger, it seemed, of great matters—and reported with alarm that the Barbarians were coming against the Romans with hostile banners, and confirmed that they were already quite close. Such a rumor would have thrown the unprepared into confusion; but our men, carrying out more keenly what they had already begun on account of this new cause, marched out fully armed and boldly crossed the Hebrus. Taticius deployed his legions beyond this river, set out his battle line apt and skillfully, taking the middle position for himself. The Barbarians, for their part, arranged their battle line in their own fashion and organized their forces for battle. Both armies wore such threats in their countenances and movements that they seemed to desire to provoke the enemy and to seek out conflict; in reality, however, they were hiding their mutual fear behind these displays of boldness. For to the Romans, the prospect of such a small number engaging with countless Scythians seemed doubtful, while the Scythians were struck by the terrible sight of the Roman army drawn up on the open plain, with so many banners and ensigns waving, and with arms and garments gleaming as they caught the rays of the falling sun. ^C Only the Latins, of all men bold and reckless, desired to snatch at battle, gnashing their teeth and urging the hesitant to rush forward; but Taticius, a man of calm mind and the most sagacious of all in conjecturing quickly and certainly about the future outcome of uncertain events, tempered their ferocity and restrained their force. In this state and sight, both armies remained for the whole day; no one from either side dared to advance or ride out into the middle ground. At last, as the sun was setting, each commander sounded the recall for his men and retreated to camp. This mimic display of war was repeated and drawn out for two consecutive days, with the leaders on both sides omitting nothing that might make them appear about to join battle at any moment. But when neither side had advanced beyond threats, the Scythians withdrew at the dawn of the third day. Taticius, noticeing this, immediately pursued them with all speed. But, as they say, he was a foot soldier chasing a Lydian chariot. Since the Scythians had ^D passed the Sidera, or "Iron" [gates] (for that is the name of the place in the hollow mountain passes), and had already reached safety there, when…

the Romans pursued them and found nothing but their own tracks, Taticius led all his forces back to Adrianople, left the Gauls there, dismissed each man to his own home, and with the remaining soldiers, he himself began the return journey to the royal city.

THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA, BOOK VII.

ARGUMENT

SYNOPSIS

^A arrives to support the island, and then a great skirmish takes place. The Latins, who were brave and battle-hardened, fought valiantly, and the Turks, unable to withstand their onset, withdrew to the city. A large part of the Roman army also approaches. Eventually, they surround the city, but the Turks, with great cunning, make a new wall of hidden construction, and they also build towers. Tzachas arrives with his fleet, and the outcome is uncertain. Eventually, through various shifts and negotiations, the emperor manages to secure an alliance with other tribes, and the situation stabilizes.

Book VII

^B When spring made its appearance, Tzelgu, the commander-in-chief of the Scythian army, crossed the defiles of the mountains which overlook the Danube, leading a mixed army of various nations—about eighty thousand in number—partly Sauromatians and Scythians, and partly also Dacians (for a not insignificant band of this nation, with Solomon as their leader, was following Tzelgu). He proceeded to ravage and plunder the cities situated around Chariopolis, and then reached Chariopolis itself. Having taken much booty, he secured himself in a place—a well-situated and fortified position—commonly called Scotinus, or "the Dark." ^C Upon learning of this, Nicolaus Maurocatacalo and Bempetziotes, who had derived his surname from his native place, occupied Pamphylum with their respective forces, as that place was called. Seeing the country folk of the surrounding villages and hamlets fleeing in great terror toward the cities and fortified strongholds, they moved on from the place called Pamphylum and took up a position at the small town known as Cule, drawing their entire army together there. The Scythians, sniffing out this intention of the Roman army—or, to use the term most familiar to the soldiers, this "scopus"—followed closely, tracking their trail as if they were pursuing the Roman army itself. As the day was already dawning, Tzelgu drew up his own forces and took counsel against Maurocatacalo, and he deliberated upon the roughly thousand-strong Dacian force.

^A He climbed to a spur overlooking the plain with some picked men to scout the barbarian forces. Upon seeing the multitude of Scythians, he was ambivalent about the clash of battle, hesitating as he contemplated the Roman army, which was not even a small fraction of the barbarian power. After returning to his picked men, with the entire panoply of arms, and even Joannaces himself, he deliberated whether to attack the Scythians. ^B Since they urged him to this, and he himself was more inclined toward it, he divided his forces into three, and having ordered the war-cry to be sounded, he engaged the barbarians. Many were wounded at that time and fell, and not a few were slain. Tzelgu himself fought bravely and, while throwing the whole phalanx into confusion, received a fatal wound and was deprived of his soul. The majority, in their panicked flight, collided with each other and trampled one another, and were suffocated, falling into the ravine opening in the middle between the path called Skoteinos and the stream of Koules. ^C Thus, having won a brilliant victory over the Scythians, the Emperor’s men entered Megalopolis. Having received from the Emperor gifts and honors in proportion, they returned with the Great Domestic of the West who had been appointed at that time, Adrianus Comnenus, the brother of the Emperor himself. ^D Having thus been driven out of the parts around Macedonia and Philippopolis, they returned to the Istrus and made camp.

The Emperor, hearing these things, could not tolerate the Scythians residing within the Roman borders, fearing at the same time that, by passing through the mountain passes, they might again wreak worse havoc than before. Therefore, having prepared and well-equipped the army, he took Adrianople and from there went to Lardea, which is situated between Dampolis and Golyas. There, having appointed George Euphorbenus as leader, he sent him by sea against Dristra. The Emperor himself remained there for forty days, summoning forces from all sides. Having collected a sufficient army, he deliberated whether it was necessary to cross the defiles and accept a battle with the Scythians. ^A Saying it was not right to grant the Scythians any truce at all, the inclination of the Emperor was not obscure; he was always declaring

^A that this course of action was expected regarding these barbarians. For the raids of the Scythians did not originate from any one time of the four seasons and end in the next, nor did they cease in the summer with the season of fruit, or in the winter when the autumn began. Nor did a single annual cycle circumscribe this evil. But for many years the affairs of the Romans were tossed by waves, even if we have mentioned only a few out of many. Nor were they divided by double-minded thoughts, even if the Emperor often tried to draw them in by all sorts of means. But not even one man had secretly deserted to the Emperor, for they kept their judgment unchanged until then.

Nicephorus Bryennius, ^B and Gregory Maurocatacalo, whom the Emperor had bought from the Scythians for a price of forty thousand, in no way agreed to the war with the Scythians along the Ister. But George Palaeologus, and Nicholas Maurocatacalo, and as many other young and flourishing men as were inclined toward the will of the Emperor, advised passing through the defiles of the Haemus (86) and undertaking the battle with the Scythians along the Ister. With them were also the two sons of the Emperor Diogenes, Nicephorus and Leo, who were born of him in the Purple after he had been raised to the pinnacle of royal power. Now, the "Purple" is a certain building within the palace, constructed starting from the very foundation up to the ceiling in a square shape, ending from there into a pyramid; it faces toward the sea and the harbor, where the stone bulls and lions are. ^C The floor was paved with marble, and the walls were adorned—not with stones of a common sort, nor such as are easily procurable like other precious stones, but with those which the kings from of old, from the time they brought their seat from Rome, had hauled here. This stone is, in a word, entirely purple, and certain white, sand-like spots run through it. From these stones, I believe, the ancients named the room "Purple."

But to return to what I was saying. Since the trumpet sounded loudly to all, as if to proclaim the road to the Haemus against the Scythians, ^D

Bryennius, attempting many times to dissuade the Emperor from the undertaking, when he saw that he could not persuade him, finally remarked ^A: "Know, O King, that if you cross the Haemus, you will put to the test the swiftness of your horses." When someone asked what this riddle meant, he replied: "It means that they will all be running away." This man, even though he had been blinded for his rebellion, was regarded by many as the most sharp-witted and skillful in strategic counsel and the arrangement of battle lines. As to how this aforementioned Bryennius was deprived of his sight—whether for rebellion or uprising against the Emperor Botaneiates—and how, after being captured by Alexius Comnenus, who was then Great Domestic of the western and eastern armies, he was handed over to Borilus while still possessing his sight unimpaired, we refer those who wish to learn this in greater detail to the great Caesar. For this Caesar was the son-in-law of Alexius, who by then held the Roman scepter, and at the same time a descendant of that Bryennius ^B. But here, as I reach this part of my narrative, I am seized in my soul, and filled with sorrow. For this man was wise in his judgment and most wise in his speech. For everything—strength, speed, physical beauty—and simply all the good qualities of soul and body that adorned that man, came together in him in one totality. For nature produced him and God fashioned him as one who stood out as the most excellent in all things. And just as Homer sang of Achilles among the ancients, such a one could one say my Caesar appeared among all who are under the sun. This Caesar, then, being excellent in military matters, was not unskilled in letters. Instead, having unrolled every book and peered into every science, he drew from them great wisdom, both that which belongs to our tradition and that which is not our own. Later, he also gave himself to writing, and indeed, by the command of my mistress and mother, the Empress, I mean Irene, he fashioned a work worthy of mention and reading, having composed a history of the deeds of my father performed before he put on the reins of ^C the empire, in which he goes through the events concerning Bryennius more accurately. And he narrated the misfortunes of his own ancestor with profound truthfulness, and he wrote down the valiant deeds of his father-in-law, and he would not have lied, even though he was related to both, being a kinsman by marriage to one and bound by blood to the other. And I mentioned these things [meminimus] in the previous books of this History. ^D

When the Scythians saw George Euphorbenus approaching against them with a significant army and fleet by way of the Ister—this river, in fact, flows down from the western regions, passing through cataracts and later, through five mouths, into the Euxine Sea, being vast and copious, flowing through a great plain and being navigable, so that even the largest and most heavily laden ships sail upon it; it does not receive a single name, but the parts above and near the sources are called the Danube, while the lower parts, near the outlets, are named the Ister—since, then, the Scythian contingent saw George Euphorbenus coming by way of this river, and had also learned that the Emperor was approaching them from the mainland with a very large army, finding it impossible to fight on both fronts, they sought a way by which it might be possible for them to escape the imminent danger. They therefore send one hundred and fifty Scythian envoys to the Emperor to inquire about peace, and at the same time to weave into their words a certain threat, for they were promising that if he were willing to accede to their suggestions and requests, they would fight as allies for the Emperor with thirty thousand cavalry whenever he wished. But the Emperor, discerning the deceit of the Scythians, and that it was because they were fleeing the immediate danger that they were sending such an embassy, and that if they were to obtain any security at all, they would burst into a great flame the spark of their hidden malice—he did not accept the embassy. While these words were being exchanged, a certain Nicolaus, one of the imperial secretaries, approached the Emperor and whispered in his ear, saying: "At this very hour, Emperor, expect a solar eclipse to occur." When he doubted it, the man swore he was not mistaken. The Emperor, being quick in his perceptions, turned and said to the Scythians: "I entrust the judgment to God; and if any sign from heaven should become manifest at this hour..."

and you shall know for certain that it is with good reason that I am suspicious of your embassy and do not accept it, because your commanders are not negotiating in truth regarding peace; but if not, I shall be proven to have missed the mark in my conjecture." Not even two hours had passed when the light of the sun failed, so that the entire disk became darkened by the moon passing beneath it. At that moment, the Scythians were struck with amazement; but the Emperor handed them over to Leo Nikerites (a man who had been thoroughly trained in military affairs from childhood, and a man of proven worth), with orders to conduct them with a sufficient guard to the Queen of Cities. He undertook this task with great readiness. But the Barbarians, ever mindful of their own freedom, when they arrived at little Nicaea, slew their guards by night, as they were negligent in their watch. And by certain winding paths, they returned to those who had sent them. Nikerites, having escaped with difficulty with only three men, reached the Emperor at Goloë. Having learned this, and fearing that the envoys might incite the entire Scythian army against him, the Emperor did not need a dream to urge him into battle, as Agamemnon, son of Atreus, once did, but rather, inflamed with eagerness for the fight, he crossed [the river] Sidera with his battalions and pitched his camp near Bitzina; this is a river flowing from the adjacent mountains. At that time, many of our men had gone out from the camp for the purpose of foraging and, having ventured too far, were slain, while many others were captured. The Emperor, at the break of dawn, quickly occupied Pliscoba, and from there ascended to a certain height called that of Symeon, which was locally named the "Council-Chamber" of the Scythians. The same things happened again to those who, for the sake of gathering supplies, had wandered far from the encampment. The following day, he arrived near a river flowing close to Dristra, at a distance of about twenty-four stadia from it. There, while the Emperor...

deposited his baggage and entrenched his camp, the Scythians suddenly rushed the imperial tent from another side. They slaughtered a considerable number of the common soldiers and captured some of the Manichaeans, who had fought with particular spirit. A great uproar and confusion arose in the army over this, to such an extent that the royal tent itself collapsed due to the disorderly riding of the cavalry. This was taken as an evil omen by those who were not well-disposed toward the Emperor. But the Emperor, having driven the invading barbarians far from his tent with a detachment of troops so they would cause no further disturbance, immediately mounted his horse and, having calmed the tumult, marched with his forces in good order and reached Dristra—a celebrated city situated near the Ister—intending to besiege it with siege-engines. He set to work without delay, surrounding the city on all sides, and having breached one of its walls, he entered with his entire army. However, the two citadels of the aforementioned city were still held by kinsmen of the Scythian leader known as Tatus, who had withdrawn from Dristra before the arrival of the Emperor in order to summon the Comans and other Scythians to his side as allies, intending to return to the aid of the Scythians. ^A Upon his departure from there, he had instructed his own men, saying: "I know for certain that the Emperor intends to besiege this fortress. ^B Therefore, when you see him occupy this plain, hasten to occupy the heights above, which are the most strategic of all, and pitch your camp there, so that you may have the fortress in front of you but also behind you—for the Emperor, being unable to take a respite from the siege, will always be suspicious of the damage you might inflict. For your part, by attacking him day and night, changing shifts, do not grant the soldiers any rest from battle." The Emperor, gauging what was required, decided to abandon the siege of the citadels; leaving that place, he pitched his camp near a certain stream not far from the Ister, and consulted whether it was appropriate to engage the Scythians in battle. ^C Palaeologus and Gregory Maurocatacalon were of the opinion to delay the conflict with the Patzinaks, and advised that the army should be armed and drawn up to march toward the great Peristhlaba. "For," they said, "when the Scythians see us marching this way, armed and in good order, they will in no way dare to risk a war against us; ^D but if, despite this, they should be goaded into such folly as to attack with their horsemen, even without their wagons, you may know well...

how they shall be defeated, and we shall henceforth have a very secure fortress, the Great Peristhlaba. This city is a notable one, situated by the Ister (Danube); at one time, it did not have this barbarian name, but was called in Greek Megalopolis [Great City], being and being called such. But since Mocrus, the king of the Bulgarians, and those who were descended from him—and furthermore, Samuel, the last of the Bulgarian dynasty, just like Zedekiah for the Jews—overran those western regions, it acquired a composite name, from its Greek meaning, being called "Great," and the term dragged in by the Slav-born tribes ^A, so that it is everywhere proclaimed by them as Great Peristhlaba. "Having this, therefore, as a refuge," those around Maurocatacalon said, "and making sallies against the Scythians every day, we shall never cease to inflict damage upon them, not in the least allowing them to go out from their own encampment for the sake of foraging or the gathering of necessary supplies."

While these words were bandied about, the sons of Diogenes, being young and inexperienced in the malice of tales—Nicephorus and Leo—dismounted from their horses, removed the bridles, and struck the horses toward the millet fields, saying, "Do not fear, O Emperor; for we shall draw our swords and hew them to pieces." The Emperor, being very prone to danger and accustomed to seizing battles before they arrived, did not at all admit into his mind the words of those who were restraining him, but ordered the royal tent and all the baggage to be entrusted to George Cutzomites and sent off toward Betrinum. ^B He ordered the army not to light a lamp or a fire at all during that evening, but to hold the horses and remain awake until the rising of the sun. He himself, at the break of dawn, exited the encampment and, dividing the forces and arranging the phalanxes in the form of a battle formation, rode about observing the army. Then he held for himself the great [middle] section of the battle line, which was filled with those related to him by blood and kinship, and with his brother Hadrian, who at that time was commanding the Latins, and with other brave men; and Nicephorus Caesar Melissenus, who was his brother-in-law by his sister, commanded the left wing. On the right, the commanders stood: Castammonites and Tatticius. Of the foreign troops, the Uzes and the Sauromatae [were there]. He divided them by number...

^A commanded the guard for his own person, instructing him that he should look only to him and pay no attention whatever to any other. These were the two sons, I say, of Romanus Diogenes, and Nicolaus Maurocatacalo, who had had great experience of wars over a long time, and Joannaces, and the captain of the Varangians, Naupites, and a certain Gules, a servant of the Emperor’s father. But the Scythians also, having drawn up their battle formation, being skilled in war by natural sagacity, both in standing in phalanx, and in having set ambuscades, and in binding their ranks with tactical cohesion, and having fortified their army with their carriages as if with towers, were drawing near against the Emperor ^B and skirmishing from a distance. The Emperor, having marshaled the camp into squadrons, commanded that none of the heavy-armed soldiers should leap forward, nor break the shield-wall until they should come to close quarters with the Scythians. Then, whenever they should see the space between the armies sufficient for one charge of horses as they rushed against each other, that they should then advance against the enemy. So then, while the Emperor was actively preparing, the Scythians appeared from afar, coming with their carriages along with their wives and children. ^C When the battle had joined, from the morning until the approach of evening, there was great slaughter, with many falling from both sides. At that time, Leo, the son of Diogenes, riding more fiercely against the Scythians and having been carried away to the carriages more than was fitting, was struck a mortal blow and fell. Hadrian, however, the brother of the Emperor, who had also been entrusted with the command of the Latins, seeing then that the onrush of the Scythians was irresistible ^D with all the reins... and having thrown himself as far as the carriages, then fighting bravely, returned with only seven, all the others having been slaughtered by the Scythians, or captured. The battle being on the balance, and both armies still fighting enthusiastically, when some captains of the Scythians appeared from afar coming with thirty-six thousand, the Romans, no longer able to hold out against so many, turned their backs at that moment. The Emperor, however, had been protected by his own force and stood sword in hand; in his other hand he held the omophorion of the Mother of the Word. The Emperor, having been in the church of the Blachernae together with the patriarch, and having entered the Holy of Holies, and having offered suppliant prayers to God, and having taken the omophorion of the Theotokos, went out of the church, having fortified himself with secure weapons.

^C And he stood with twenty noble horsemen remaining with him, so that he was no longer seen by any man, for the swaddling clothes of the all-holy Theotokos, the life-giving shroud of God, and the violet crown of the lover of God, and the shroud of the immortal God, and the maphorion of the all-holy Theotokos, and the Zone of the Holy Virgin, and the towel of our creator Christ the God, and the purple garment of the life-giving Jesus, and the sponge of the long-suffering Christ and our Savior, and the zone of the holy-virgin Theotokos from the Chalkoprateia, and the hairs of the holy John the Forerunner—this maphorion—were removed. In the reign of Heraclius, the wall outside the Blachernae was built, and the temple of the all-holy Theotokos and the Holy Soros were enclosed within; for previously they had been outside. Immediately, having built a fortress for that temple very close to the holy and divine [shrine], it was deposited in the temple built by him at the Blachernae, in a silver chest, because of which the temple is also called the Holy Soros. And having been brought to Constantinople, it was deposited in the Blachernae, where the king built a temple of the Theometor, and having prepared a chest of gold and silver, he deposited it there. Rivaling the heavenly beauty of the house, Leo the Butcher raised up the Holy Soros, the temple of the Theotokos, where he deposited the holy Soros, in which the divine [shroud] of the Theometor reposed.

[alt-version omitted]

Car. Dufresne Du Cange’s notes: ^D ...hand: which, since he could not retain it due to the blowing of a violent wind, the enemy attacking in greater numbers and with fiercer impetus, he hid coiled up between thorns and thickets, so that it might not be noticed by any of the enemies: or, as the Hoeschel edition has it, *par’ autou*, so that it might not be seen or found by Alexius afterward. Furthermore, it was the Omophorion of the Deipara, not a pallium such as would be stretched from the shoulders to the heels, since Lecapenus and Alexius could scarcely have carried it in their hands on account of its own weight, but that garment which is called *maphorion* in the inscription of the silver tablet containing a particle of the Dominical Cross, which is preserved by the Trevirans in the monastery of the island of Saint Nicholas, brought there after the sack of Constantinople by Henry of Ulmen in the year of Christ 1207. Hidden on the left and right sides of the Cross are silver coffers, filled within with various relics, upon which their titles are inscribed in Greek character, and fixed to the individual containers. And first on the left these inscriptions are seen: on the right indeed, [line omitted] ... Brower, book XV of the Annals of Treves, from whom we have drawn the aforesaid, that *maphorion* is taken here for a linen cloth or *pannus*, and that the word, derived from the Hebrew *Maphora*, which they interpret as a sudarium or handkerchief, passed to the later Greeks. But I have no doubt that it is the same as that which is [found] in Scylitzes and Anna, and *Mavors*, or *Mufors*, among the Latin writers of the middle ages. But whether *maphorion* and these last Latin words were derived from the Greek *maphorion* or were invented from it, I would scarcely dare to establish. However, *maphorion*, as the Glosses of legal words defined by Car. Labbe explain, is a covering of the head, that is, of women, as Achilles explicitly notes, chapter 265. Nor was *mavors* otherwise *mavorte* [than] a matronly covering which covers the head. But it was called so as if *marite*. The same [is meant by] Peplum, a votive garment, *mavorte*, *mafurtia*, a woman's garment, a painted robe or pallium, which matrons use. Isidore, book XIX of the Origins, chapter 25: It is called by the Latin name Stola and Ricinium, from the fact that half of its part is thrown back, which in common parlance they call *Mavortem*, etc. Finally, Pinto Carpathius, on chapter 31 of Proverbs: A *theristrium*, which they also call *theristrum* and *maphorium*, is a feminine covering and veil of the head and face, which women use especially in summer. Nor did Gregory of Tours, book X, chapter 16, use *mavortem* in any other sense; nor did Fortunatus, in the Life of Saint Radegunda, chapter 9. Jerome, epistle 22: "And *laena mavorte* fluttering over the shoulders." Cassian also attributes *mafortes* to monks, book, "On the institutions of monks," chapter 7: "With a narrow palliolo—they cover their neck alike and their shoulders, which *mafortes* are called both in our speech and theirs." Indeed, that the head [relic] of the Deipara, along with her zone, was preserved in the Blachernae temple is taught by Nicephorus Callistus, book XVIII, chapter 38. From which finally it is concluded that the *maphorion*, in Anna and Scylitzes, is a head covering which also covered the shoulders, of the sort that are the pepla or veils of our women while they are in mourning habit. Nor is it a matter for marvel that the emperor himself carried it in battle with one hand, in the manner of a banner, since Thomas Walsingham, in the *Hypodigma Neustriae*, relates that Walter the bishop of Chartres, about to fight along with the citizens against Rollo the Norman besieging the city, carried before him the *supparum* (they call it a chemise) of the blessed Mary, which Charles the Bald (as he imagines) had brought from Constantinople with other relics, in the manner of a banner; furthermore, William of Tyre, book II, chapter 19, [writes that] Baldwin King of Jerusalem, when fighting against the Saracens, and Adhemar of Chabannes [writes that] Robert King of the Franks, when fighting with Charles the Simple, carried banners before them and held them in their hands. The greatness of the Blachernae temple (for I do not think it will be disagreeable to the reader if I attach the history of the sacred garments of the Deipara to these Commentaries), although famous for its elegance of craftsmanship, remarkably increased the veneration of the garments of the Deipara deposited therein, the anniversary day of whose deposition the Greeks celebrate separately; the garment, namely, in July, but the zone in August. That the temple of the Deipara in the Blachernae was built outside the city by Pulcheria, the wife of the Emperor Marcian, is proclaimed everywhere by Theodorus Lector, Eclog. 1; Theophanes, and from him Anastasius, in the year of Marcian; the Chronicon Alex.; Zonaras, Nicephorus Callistus, book XIV, chapter 2; Codinus, On the Origins of Constantinople, and others. Heraclius afterwards enclosed this within the circuit of the city, in the 15th year, having built a wall beyond the Blachernae, so that it might be safe from the incursions of the Barbarians, who had hitherto pervaded that region. Chronicon Alex.: This same thing is testified by Saint Nicephorus Patriarch of Constantinople. And thence from the adjacent Blachernae region, or the temple itself, that wall is called *teichos ton Blachernon* by the same Nicephorus and Paul the Deacon, book XX of the *Hist. Misc.* Nicephorus Callistus adds, book XIV, chapter 2; book XV, chapters 1 and 24, that by the work and request of Pulcheria, the sepulchral swaddling clothes (*ta entafia spargana*) of the Deipara were transmitted to Constantinople by Juvenal the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and were reposited in that temple, *en te Hagia Soro*, next to the sacred altar, in a golden coffer, while Marcian was still living. Which being finally extinguished, Leo the Great, having attained the fasces of the empire, deposited the venerable garment of the same Deipara, the *aiphlian stolan*, which was likewise brought to Constantinople, in the round temple which he himself built: Joel in [the section on] Leo. And Codinus does not dissent, "On the origins of Constantinople," who, having said that the great temple of the Deipara in the Blachernae (which is called by the same Nicephorus in his *Praefatio* [a work] built by Pulcheria), adds these things: Although from the aforesaid the Blachernae temple appears to be other than the one which Leo the Great founded, and which writers call the *Hagia Soros* everywhere, how far this is from the truth, and what faith should be placed in these Greeks, especially of the latest age, is evident even from this, since it is known for certain that the one...

^A entrusted with its guardianship, having commanded even those to look upon him and to pay no attention to anyone else, I mean the two sons of Diogenes, Nicholas Maurocatacalos, a man of great stature and long military experience in battle, and subsequently Joannaces, and the Archon of the Varangians ^B Namipites, and Gules by name, an ancestral servant of the Augustus.

Now, the Scythians—not yet having been trained in the discipline of this sort of battle by letters, but using their own natural judgment—after they had stayed in the valley in expectation of an opportunity, and had laid aside their arms, and were arranging those who were to fight in the first line in the shape of a wedge and bound them by ranks, they brought them to the committed combat. Those remaining were also arranged in a terrifying manner, and by their appearance from a distance, simultaneously elegant and fearsome, with the carts joined to the infantry as if for a city fortified with turrets, they would confront the eyes. In this form, the line constructed and described by the Scythians advanced boldly against the Romans, while from a distance they poured out missiles, in the meantime wearing down the battle with showers of arrows.

But the emperor, when he had artfully arranged the cohorts and the squadrons, warned them seriously not to let any of the armed men rush out from their position and break the context of the phalanx before they arrived at hand-to-hand combat with the Scythians; but where they reached the enemy’s approach, they should reduce the space between the lines so that, now, scarcely more than the distance of a horse’s gallop remained, that they must indeed charge the enemy. Thus prepared, the Scythians then appeared from afar, ready for the emperor, with their carts, and coming with their wives and children.

The battle having been broken off from the combat, there was much slaughter on both sides of citizens falling. The son of Diogenes, riding more fiercely against the Scythians and having gone further than the necessity of the carts required, was struck by a fatal wound and fell. The brother of the ruler, ^C and he who was entrusted with the leadership of the Latins, then seeing the unbearable onrush of the Scythians, having dashed in and having fought bravely—and having held himself at the carts until he was wounded—after having slaughtered some of those held by the Scythians, he returned alone from all the rest.

The battle being in the balance, and both armies still fighting gallantly, some of the Scythians, to the number of thirty, appeared from afar, coming toward the six thousand. Being unable to withstand even these, the Romans turned their backs, precisely as the emperor had anticipated the strength of his own forces; and he stood there sword in hand, while on the other of his hands ^D the omophorion (99) of the Mother of the Word... [alt-version omitted]

[index: entries preserved]

unfolded for use as a military standard, was held. There were with him twenty soldiers remaining of all the rest, men of great valor: Nicephorus, the other son of Diogenes, and the protostrator Michael Ducas, and the others, friends or paternal clients of theirs. Among these, three Scythians penetrated as far as the Emperor; two seized the reins of his horse on either side, while a third held his right leg by the hand. The Emperor immediately cut off the hand of the one who was grasping the reins; he drove back another with a threatening roar and a great blow of his scimitar dealt from behind. Finally, he struck the one holding his leg upon his helmet, although more lightly, and without the whole force of his hand in the blow. For he judged it better to put the barbarian to flight rather than to kill him. Since extremely vehement blows rarely succeed in hitting their mark, there was a danger (and he wondered that it had not yet been attempted) that the barbarian, provoked by a blow that did not instantly kill him, might either pierce the foot of the Emperor which he was holding with his blade, or might strike the belly of the horse on which he rode with a blow at close quarters: it was necessary, therefore, and required skilled management to ward off this double evil with a new blow, which he did at once, with such coolness of spirit and ^A composure of hand that in all his actions, words, and movements he had reason presiding, neither being carried away by anger nor dragged along by passions. For as the helmet yielded to the first blow, he brought his sword down upon the bare head of the Scythian, and he immediately lay on the ground without a word. Seeing this boundless flight, the Protostrator (for the phalanxes were now broken, as they were running away without restraint) said, "Why, O Emperor, do you persist in trying to hold out here any longer? Why do you betray your life, totally sparing no thought for your own safety?" But he replied, "It is better to die fighting nobly, than to be saved having done something ignoble." The Protostrator said, "If you were one of the common crowd, you would be worthy of praise for saying this; ^B but if your death brings about a worldly danger, why do you not choose the better course? For if you are saved..."

Concerning the Holy Soros (Shrine) and the Holy Soros

Of the Church in the Chalkoprateia, Justin and Sophia erected it,—for there lies the precious girdle and the garment of the Theotokos. For he deposited the precious and holy girdle of the Mother of God in the very sarcophagus (soros) of the holy table; and from that time this house of the Theotokos was granted the name of "Holy Soros." And the sacred precinct of the Chalkoprateia is also called "Holy Soros." A discourse on the dedication of the temple of the Chalkoprateia, and on the deposition of the holy girdle, ^C and of the venerable swaddling-clothes of our Savior. A discourse on the veneration of the holy Theotokos, and on the dedication of her own holy Soros in the Chalkoprateia. An encomium on the deposition of the precious girdle of our most holy Lady Theotokos; the uncreated image of Christ, and the precious and life-giving woods; and furthermore the precious garment of the Mother of God, then the life-giving wood of the cross, and the garment of the all-pure Theotokos, for there is a time when it is necessary for nothing to be held back, if this is given to the hour... ^D

^A and again having fought, you shall be victorious.” The Emperor, therefore, seeing the danger already hovering over his head, with the Scythians shamelessly attacking him, and having despaired of the hopes of safety, said, “It is already time to be concerned with our own safety with God, but yet it is not necessary to go the same way as those who are fleeing, so that those pursuing our men do not meet us on their return; but it is necessary,”—pointing with his hand to the Scythians standing at the edge of the battle line—“to charge on horseback against them, as if born today and destined to die, and thus, with God assisting from behind, having bypassed the Scythian line, we shall walk along another path.” Having said these things and having exhorted the others, he himself first rushes like a fire against the Scythians and strikes the one who encountered him. He immediately rolled out of his saddle, and thus the Scythian formation having been broken, he, साथ with those around him, took the place behind the Scythians. But these things were done by the Emperor. As for the protostrator, his horse having slipped, it happened that he was brought down. But one of his attendants immediately gives him his own horse; having reached the Emperor, he no longer separates himself from him, not even by a footstep, having suffered excessively ^B. There being great confusion, of those fleeing and those pursuing, other Scythians reach the Emperor again. And he, having immediately turned around, strikes the pursuer, and not him alone, but also another, as those who were present at the time related, he killed. A certain Scythian reached Nicephorus Diogenes from behind and was about to strike him; the Emperor, having seen this, shouted to Diogenes, “Watch out, Nicephorus, behind!” But he, having turned swiftly, strikes him on the ^C. And as the Emperor related in later times, we heard—I [we] have never seen such speed and skill in a man as he displayed. “And as for me,” he says, “if I had not been holding the standard on that day, I would have struck and killed the Scythians beyond my own locks,” not boasting; for who has driven himself to such a final point of lowliness? But the account and the nature of the events compelled him, and the circumstances surrounding him at times compelled him to speak out to his own people around him, even though he was many times forced by ^D us; but toward those on the outside, none of all the people ever heard the Emperor relating anything vainglorious. A violent wind having blown, and the Pechenegs attacking, the Emperor was no longer able on his own to hold the standard [556, Latin col. continues...] quiet destination of prudence, just as ^A in a crowd of events he was accustomed to be an object of admiration, always in control of himself. For neither did anger or desire ever dominate him so that he would withdraw even one gesture from the command of reason; but a balanced moderation of a calm judgment presided over all his actions, words, and movements. The Scythian helmet having been struck off by the previous blow, the second stroke fell upon the bared head of the barbarian in such a way that he was laid out mute and dead immediately. The protostrator, seeing the irrevocable flight of the Romans everywhere—for the phalanxes were already dissipated and the units broken everywhere—said, “Why, Augustus, do you linger in this place any longer? Or for the sake of what gain do you sacrifice your life?” To whom he said: “Indeed, it is better to die fighting generously than to purchase life dishonorably with the shame of a base flight.” “You would say these things praise-worthily,” replied the protostrator, “if you were one of the common people; but now, when your fate cannot be separated from the public danger of the world, what reason do you offer why you wish to cast away human affairs together with yourself into certain ruin? Rather, choose without delay what is clearly better; and save yourself for better fortune. For if you remove yourself from this slaughter, there will be a time when, as an outstanding victor, you may wash away this disgrace with the blood of the enemy.” By these words and the sight of the events themselves, as the Scythians were rushing in from all sides and no hope at all remained, the Augustus was finally persuaded: “Let us withdraw,” he said, “certainly, thus the time demands, and let us take counsel for ourselves if we can. But if we insist on following the tracks of our fugitives, we shall meet the Barbarians on their return from the pursuit to our own harm. Another way must be taken. You see the Scythians opposite in the battle line (he was showing with his hand the front of the enemy army)—it is through them that we must break. Let everyone who is prepared for success in his heart take it into his mind to follow me, as if born today, destined to die before nightfall. Once we have found a passage by throwing them down, a safe way to retreat will appear, to which we shall commit ourselves immediately.” Having said these things, and having moved his companions to daring with his address, he himself first flies into the Scythians with fiery speed and strikes the first one he meets from his horse. Thus a way was made for those about to follow, the context of the Scythian shields having been interrupted, and they having broken through, they arrived at the region that had been at the back of the Barbarians entering the battle. The Augustus had indeed escaped there: not so the protostrator, who through the slipping of his horse, having been thrown to the ground, was at the same time freed from the present ruin by the opportune service of a certain one of his domestics who granted his own horse to him, the new horse having been admitted behind the Emperor, [he] quickly followed him.

[Greek Column] He struck him with his hand on the hip, and though he did not pierce the skin, he caused an incurable pain which remained with him for many years. For this reason, being so greatly constrained, he wrapped up the standard and placed it in one of the shrubs, so that it might no longer be seen by anyone. During the night he was saved to Goloë, and arriving after some days at Beroë, he remained there, wishing to ransom those taken prisoner. ^B Paleologus, having been knocked from his horse when the regiments were defeated on that day, lost it; being in helplessness and seeing the danger standing over his head, looking around to see if he might spot it anywhere, he sees the prelate of Chalcedon, Leo, about whom we spoke above.

[Latin Column] ...so that he determined not to withdraw from him any further, nor even for a single step; for he thought it the mark of exceptional love toward him to remain his inseparable companion at such a time. But since everything was everywhere in total confusion, with the waves of the fleeing and the pursuing surging wildly together and frequently crashing against one another, other Scythians arrive at the Emperor. He, suddenly turning, first strikes the one occurring to him; nor did he kill him alone—as those who were present at the time confirmed—but he killed others also who were following with him. Now, a certain Scytha was aiming a blow at the back of Nicephorus Diogenes. When the Augustus saw this, he warned Diogenes by shouting: "Look behind you, Nicephorus." He, turning energetically, forestalls [the blow] by striking the Barbarian in the face. And I remember hearing the Emperor, when recalling the memory of this day, say that he had never noticed such speed and dexterity in any man as that young man displayed then. He added concerning himself: "Indeed, had I not had my hand encumbered by guarding the standard, I would have killed so many Scythians that the number of my own hairs would not equal it," boasting in this way; for who was more depressed than he to the lowest degree of Christian humility? But the very chain of events and the truth sometimes compelled him, at the request of our domestics, to acknowledge this, though only in our private circles of intimates, and that not unless we were urging him greatly. For in common conversation before outsiders, no one ever heard the Emperor proclaiming such a thing. ^C A strong wind blowing at the time, and the Patzinaci pressing in with greater number and force to pursue, the Augustus labored to retain the standard; but when the Scythians were pressing from the rear, pushing the long spear with both hands, he struck him heavily on the backside with a blow that, although it did not pierce the skin, nonetheless caused a most severe pain, which lasted for many years thereafter; at last, compelled by the evil, the Emperor folded the standard and deposited it, hidden by chance among the shrubs he encountered, with the care that he hoped none of the enemy would notice it. He himself, by a nocturnal flight, reached Goloë safely. Arriving at Beroë the following day, he remained there, having in mind to negotiate for the ransoming of his own men. As for Paleologus, it happened on that calamitous day that when he was necessarily fleeing, having been incontestably defeated because his legions were plainly broken and scattered, he was struck from his horse in the tumult, and, which was more inconvenient, lost it. Whence, uncertain of mind in the present danger as to where he should turn, and looking about in all directions...

^D [Author's notes by Ducange on *ǎplikton* and the loss of the standard: index: entries preserved]

horse, he suddenly sees Leo, the prelate of Chalcedon, whom we mentioned earlier, wearing his priestly vestments and offering him a horse. Having mounted it eagerly, he set off in flight, though he did not see that holy man again as he looked around. Now, this man was very open in his speech and truly displayed the character of a high priest, yet he was also of a somewhat soft disposition, sometimes showing a zeal that was not according to knowledge, and he did not have accurate knowledge of the sacred canons. For this reason, those sad events mentioned earlier befell him, and he fell from his throne. Palaiologos, however, always held the man in regard and honored him exceedingly because of the virtue he possessed in abundance. Whether, then, on account of the most fervent faith he held toward this man, Palaiologos received a divine manifestation, or whether it was some other secret working of Providence regarding this prelate, I cannot say. ^C Being pursued by the Patzinaks, he entered a marshy and dense spot and encountered soldiers to the number of one hundred and fifty. As the Scythians were circling them, and they saw their situation in helplessness, not having the strength to hold out against so many, they relied on the resolve of Palaiologos, for they had long known of his noble and steadfast spirit. He, however, advised them to charge against the Scythians, having disregarded their own safety entirely, and from there I believe they purchased it. It was necessary to solidify this counsel through deeds, which indeed happened, as at that moment all became of one mind, so that no one was left behind in the charge against the Scythians, each man having reckoned the safety and the danger as his own. Palaiologos, therefore, having made a fierce charge, struck the one who first met him; he immediately grew dizzy and lay on the ground. As for the rest, who were making their charge with hesitation, some fell, while others, turning back to their lair, the dense thicket, saved themselves by hiding. ^D Now, as Palaiologos was seizing a certain hilltop, being pursued again by the Patzinaks, it happened that his horse was struck and fell, and he himself entered a cave in the adjacent mountain. Searching for a way of salvation, finding this not to be easy, he wandered for eleven days until he encountered a widow of a certain soldier and was hosted by her for some days, and having been saved from the danger, her sons pointed out a way of salvation to him.

^A But such were the events that befell Palæologus. As for the leading Scythians, they consulted about killing those whom they had taken prisoner, but the common multitude did not allow this at all, desiring to sell them for a price. This proposal having been ratified, notice was given to the Emperor by letters from Melissenus, who, even though he was a prisoner, had done much to incite the Scythians toward this. The Emperor, who was still residing at Beroe, had sufficient funds brought from the Queen of Cities and ransomed the captives. At that time, Tatus also arrived at the Hister with the Comans whom he had acquired. When the latter beheld such spoils and the multitude of captives, they said to the Scythian leaders: "We left our homes and came to your aid, having traveled such a great distance, with the intention of becoming partners in the peril and the victory; therefore, having contributed all our efforts, we ought not to be sent back empty-handed. For we did not arrive late for the war by choice, nor are we responsible for this, but rather the Emperor who anticipated the war. Therefore, either share all the spoils with us in common, or you shall have us as enemies instead of allies." The Scythians refused this. The Comans did not endure this; a violent war erupted between them, and the Scythians were defeated and with difficulty saved themselves in what is called Ozolimna. Being pressed by the Comans, they remained there for a considerable time, not daring to effect a passage. Now, what is called Ozolimna by us is a very great lake, both in its diameter and its circumference, and in terms of size it is not inferior to any of the lakes praised by geographers anywhere; it lies above the "hundred hills," and the greatest and most beautiful rivers flow into it; and at its rear it supports many large and heavy-laden ships, so that from this its depth also is clearly evident. It is named Ozolimna, not because it exhales a foul and heavy odor, but because at some time a Hunnic [that is, Hungarian] army came to the lake (the common language calls these Huns "Uzi") and encamped around the banks of the lake, they named this lake Uziolimna, with the addition, I think, of the vowel omicron. ^B

Notes by Charles du Fresne du Cange

The text has "the sons of the same widow who, having met with a similar danger, were present at the time, learned the way by which one could safely use for flight." It seems this can be understood in a way that he could see the guide, but it is not at all like that: Palæologus's virtue was tested by these cases. Now let us return to the Scythians. The opinion of the nobles among them was fierce, that all our captives should be killed. The multitude intervened, and as avarice conquered cruelty, it prevailed that they should be offered to be ransomed for a price. This was announced to the Emperor by the letters of Melissenus, who, although he was a prisoner, had contributed no small amount of effort and industry so that this plan for the benefit of the Romans might prevail among the Scythians. Therefore, having obtained money instantly from the royal city, the Emperor ransomed the captives from the place where he was then, and where he remained for that purpose, namely Beroe. Moreover, after the victory of the Scythians, Tatus arrived at the Hister with those auxiliary Comans whom he had gathered, whose desire had been incited by the sight of the Roman spoils and the great multitude of captives. They dealt with the leaders of the Scythians: that they had left their homes and traveled a long way, summoned to their aid, with the intention that they should be sharers of the danger and the victory. Although they hurried to such a hope with the utmost speed, and left nothing undone for their full vigor, it happened through the trickery of the Emperor, who had seized the battle beforehand, that they were excluded from the fight. Nevertheless, the victory remained, and it was just that the allies who had been exhausted by such a rapid march should be partakers of some part of it. Therefore, if they deemed it right, they should share the spoils with them; if they were unwilling, they should soon expect enemies instead of the allies they were spurning. Such were the words of the Comans. And soon, when the Scythians refused, they attacked them in a great and atrocious battle and defeated them; the survivors of whom with difficulty betook themselves to Ozolimna: where, with the Comans besieging them, they muttered for a long time in their straits, not daring to come forth for fear of the enemy. This is what is now called Ozolimna by us, a very broad marsh, whether you consider the crossing or the circuit, and it is not inferior to any of those which have been celebrated anywhere by geographers as far as magnitude is concerned. It lies above a hundred hills, and the greatest and most beautiful rivers flow into it. And furthermore, on the side that faces the south, it supports many large and most heavily laden ships: bearing certain evidence of its depth by this very fact. Moreover, the name of Ozolimna, whatever sensation of the Greek language one might have, is not from some foul odor which this marsh exhales, but from a Hunnic army that was once trading around and pitching its camp at its banks, it drew that name...

for what we call Huns, the common language of peasants and the vulgar is accustomed to call Uzoi. Hence, I think this marsh was first named Ozolimna, with one vowel over-abundant above the current sound of that word; subsequently, the Greek letter *v* being worn away by use, the name was reduced to the form that prevails today, and it sounds Ozolimna. If anyone should inquire as to the time of this naming, truly, in the ancient histories, mention of Hunnic expeditions that might prove an ancient origin for this nomenclature upon the arrival of camps at this marsh would not be easily found. Indeed, it happened while Alexius was emperor. Then, I say, the race of the Huns, shaken and excited by a great movement from all sides, flowing in arms into the place I mentioned, gave it that new name. And this history of ours contains the first record of such a matter; for to the rest of my father’s fame this also was added, the note of which has been of such consequence, that while various armies were effervescing throughout the world—partly by his auspices and leadership, partly by the enemies of his own rising up on all sides—many places drew recent appellations from them. We have heard something similar about Alexander, the king of the Macedonians. In his kingdom, both Alexandria which is seen in Egypt, and the other city of the same name which is among the Indians, found innovated names; indeed, we know that an appellation was also obtained from a certain soldier of the same king, Lysimachus, called Lysimachia. What wonder then, if Alexius, having emulated the virtue of Alexander, was not defrauded of at least that part of his felicity, and saw here also the memory of his empire marked by names that would last—some of which would brand into eternal monuments of speech the gathering of the peoples who conspired against him, others, imposed upon the places by his own will and institution, would propagate to posterity the indication of things wisely and bravely done by him in them? These things were to be noted briefly, according to the duty of a historian, about the new name of this marsh. But the Comani, when they had besieged the Scythians for a long time at the banks of Ozolimna, compelled by a scarcity of provisions, returned to their own lands, and there, having gathered the harvest, they undertook an expedition again against the Scythians. Meanwhile, the emperor, having gathered his forces, had placed his camp at Beroe: where he furnished with supplies not only all the soldiers who could be collected, but also the captives. Then also the Count of Flanders, who, almost twelve years before our lords undertook the Jerusalem journey, had gone to Jerusalem with great wealth for the sake of prayer, and returning through Thrace, had spoken with the Emperor Alexius.

^A He found the Emperor engaged in the cares of augmenting the army; and at that moment, the Count of Flanders, who was proceeding to Jerusalem, arrived there. ^B Solyman the Elder was reigning—the father of the younger Solyman, whom our people afterwards (as this book mentions) conquered in a warlike conflict and compelled to flee. Hence it is no small wonder why the said Emperor should always have held such a poisonous mind against our people and not feared to render evil for good.

EPISTLE OF THE EMPEROR ALEXIUS

To the lord and glorious Robert, Count of the Flemings, and to all the princes of the whole realm, lovers of the Christian faith, as well laity as clerics, the Emperor of Constantinople, greeting and peace in the same Lord our Jesus Christ, and in his Father, and in the Holy Spirit.

Most illustrious Count, and greatest pillar of the faith, I wish to notify your prudence how greatly the most holy empire of the Greek Christians is being strongly straitened daily by the Pechenegs and the Turks, and is being plundered and acquired without intermission; and various slaughters occur, and unspeakable killings and mocks of Christians. But because there are many evils which they do, and, as we said, unspeakable, I shall tell a few of many, which are nevertheless horrible to hear and disturb even the very air. For they circumcise the boys and youths of the Christians over the baptisteries of the Christians, and they pour the blood of the circumcision in contempt of Christ into those same baptisteries, and they compel them to urinate upon them, and thereafter they lead them violently in a circuit around the church, and compel them to blaspheme the name and faith of the Holy Trinity. And those who refuse, they afflict with diverse punishments, and at the last kill them. Noble matrons and their daughters, moreover, having been despoiled, they ravish by turns, defiling them like animals. Others, indeed, by shamefully corrupting the virgins, set them before the faces of their mothers, compelling them to sing wicked and lustful songs until they finish upon those very wicked things. ^C For thus, it is written, the Jews acted among the people of God in ancient times, to whom the impious Babylonians, after various shrines, said in mockery: "Sing us a hymn of the songs of Sion" (Ps. cxxxvi, 3). So too, they compel mothers now, in the violation of their daughters, to sing wicked songs, the voices of which do not resonate as a song, but rather, as we believe, as a lament, just as it is written concerning the death of the innocents: "A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning: Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not" (Matt. ii, 18). But although the mothers of the innocents, who are figured by Rachel, could not be comforted for the death of their sons, they could nevertheless be comforted for the salvation of their souls. These, however, in no way—which is worse—can be comforted, because they perish both in their bodies and in their souls. But why more? Let us come to worse things. Men of every age and order—that is, boys, adolescents, youths, old men, nobles, servants, and—alas, what grief!—what has not been said nor heard from the beginning, they defile bishops with the Sodomitical sin, and indeed they have already defiled one bishop under this nefarious sin. They contaminate and destroy the holy places in numberless ways, and threaten them with worse. And to these things, who does not weep? Who does not suffer with them? Who does not shudder? Who does not pray? For almost the whole land from Jerusalem as far as Greece, and all Greece with its regions—superior, which are Cappadocia the Minor and Major; Phrygia and Bithynia and the Minor Phrygia, that is, Troy; Pontus, Galatia, Libya, Pamphylia, Isauria, Lycia, and the principal islands, Chios, and Mytilene, and many other regions and islands which we are not able to recount now—as far as the Thracias, have already been invaded by them, and almost nothing now remains except Constantinople, which they threaten to take from us very quickly, unless the aid of God and of the faithful Latin Christians comes quickly. ^D For they have even invaded the Propontis, which is also called Aridus, and runs from the Pontus near this same Constantinople into the Great Sea, with two hundred ships, which the Greeks, having been plundered by them, built; and they lead them by oars, whether they like it or not, and threaten to take Constantinople, as we have said, very quickly, both by land and by the same Propontis. We have said and written these few things of the numberless evils which this most impious nation does, to you, O Count of the Flemings, lover of the Christian faith. The rest, however, let us omit because of the weariness of the readers.

Therefore, for the sake of God and for the piety of all Christian heralds, we ask that whoever of the faithful, warriors of Christ, as well greater as lesser, with the mediocre [can be obtained] in your land, you might be able to gather for the aid of me and of the Greek Christians, you bring them here. And just as they somewhat freed Galicia and the rest of the kingdoms of the Westerners from the yoke of the pagans last year, so now, for the salvation of their own souls, let them attempt to free the kingdom of the Greeks, since I, although Emperor, nevertheless know no remedy for myself, nor a suitable counsel against the Turks and the Pechenegs, but always, for as long as I feel their arrival near, I remain in the city of Turgula. And because I desire that you should be subject to your Latins rather than Constantinople be taken by them, you ought to struggle with all your might, so that you may receive a glorious and ineffable reward in heaven, rejoicing. For it is better that you should have Constantinople than the pagans, because in it are held the most precious relics of the Lord, that is: the statue to which he was bound; the scourge by which he was scourged; the scarlet cloak in which he was clothed; the crown of thorns with which he was crowned; the reed which he carried in his hands in place of a scepter; the garments of which he was stripped before the cross; the greatest part of the wood of the cross on which he was crucified; the nails with which he was fixed; the linen cloths found in the sepulcher after the resurrection; the twelve baskets of fragments of the five loaves and two fish; the head of Saint John the Baptist, entire with hair and beard; the relics or bodies of certain prophets and apostles and martyrs, and especially of Saint Stephen the protomartyr, and of confessors and virgins, which, because of the excessive increase, we have ceased to write about individually. All of which, however, the aforementioned Christians ought to have more than the pagans; and it will be a great defense for all Christians if they have all these things; but a detriment and judgment, if they lose them. But if they should not want to struggle for this, and should love gold more, they will find more gold in it than in the whole world. For the treasures of the churches of Constantinople alone in silver, gold, gems, and precious stones, and silken cloths—that is, palls—might suffice for all the churches of the world; which, however, all the treasures...

^A of the mother church, that is, of Hagia Sophia, that is, of the Wisdom of God, surpasses, and without doubt it can be matched with the treasure of Solomon's temple. What shall I say again of the infinite treasure of the nobles, since no one can estimate the treasure of the merchants and the country folk? What is found in the treasures of past emperors? I say for certain, there will be no tongue that can recount it, since not only is the treasure of the Constantinopolitan emperors held there, but the treasure of all the ancient Roman emperors has also been transferred there, and is hidden in the palaces. What more shall I say? That which is certainly clear to the eyes of men is nothing compared to that which is hidden. Run, therefore, with all your people, and strive with all your strength, lest such a treasure fall into the hands of the Turks and Petchenegs, because, although they are infinite, another 60,000 are expected daily, and I fear lest by that treasure they may gradually seduce our greedy soldiers, just as Julius Caesar once did, who invaded the kingdom of the Franks through greed, and as the Antichrist is to act in order to capture the whole world at the end of the world. Act therefore while ^D you have time, lest you lose the kingdom of the Christians, and, what is greater, the tomb of the Lord, and may you have in it not judgment, but the reward of the blessed in heaven. Amen. Thus far the letter of Alexius, which Guibert—in Book I of his *History of Jerusalem*, chapter 4—abundantly proves to be genuine and not concocted, nor in the least adulterated, by the fact that he drew from it and inserted it into his own writings, albeit clothed in much more elegant words; yet the writing is hinted at here as happening in the year ^B after the cities of Galatia and Paphlagonia—among which Sinope held the chief place—were brought back under the power of the Greeks by the art and industry of Alexius: accordingly, it was a little before the death of the Sultan Qilij Arslan, which we observed above to have occurred in the year of Christ 1107.

^A [The Latin continues from the main text] ...gave an oath, promising also that as soon as he had reached his own lands, he would send five hundred knights to his aid. The emperor, having treated such a man with royal generosity and loaded him with gifts and honors, sent him home rejoicing. The Augustus then moved out and transferred whatever army he could collect with the greatest care to Adrianople. But the Scythians, having passed through the mountain defiles which are situated between Goloë and Diampolis, pitched their camp around the place called Marcella. When the Augustus learned of this fact, and had also learned that the Comani were on the road and that their return was expected, he feared lest the two barbarians, having easily contracted a peace with each other, should by common consent conspire for the ruin of the Roman state. He therefore sent Synesius to the Scythians, instructed with golden bulls, as far as was necessary to inspire confidence, with orders that he should promise them, on behalf of the emperor, a large supply of all necessary things, provided they would induce their minds and obligate their faith in this by handing over hostages, that they would remain in the place they had already occupied and not advance further. For the provident emperor was thinking of turning danger into support, and of using the protection of these Scythians against the imminent Comani, if they should again move to the Ister, as rumor reported, and attempt to break into Roman territory. He had added in the instructions given to Synesius that if the Scythians proved difficult regarding the conditions, he should quickly leave them there and return to him, and not suffer the response to be delayed for him while they moved their camp. Synesius acted with the Scythians according to the emperor's will, and not without success. Many of them went over to the opinion of striking a treaty with the emperor. Synesius remained with them for a suitable space of time, and by his own politeness and the emperor's liberality, which he used aptly to soothe their savage spirits and to remove all causes of offense, he stabilized peace, as far as could be foreseen humanly.

Meanwhile, the Comani returned with the spirit and equipment of a battle to be joined ^C against the Scythians; when they learned that the enemy was not found, that they had crossed the passes, and that they had struck a peace with the emperor at Marcella, they sent men to ask him that they might be allowed through him...

to attack the Scythians. The emperor, however, declined this, as he had already made a truce with the Scythians, and said, "There is no need for your assistance at present; take these gifts and return." Having treated the envoys graciously and bestowed upon them generous gifts, he sent them away in peace. This emboldened the Scythians and, having broken their word, they returned to their former inhuman conduct, plundering the neighboring cities and regions. For the whole barbarian race is for the most part restless and is not by nature accustomed to keeping truces. Seeing this, Synesius returned to the emperor of his own accord, having become the messenger of the Scythians' lack of judgment and their violation of the treaty. When the emperor learned that they had reached Philippopolis, he was placed in a difficult position, for he did not have forces sufficient for such great multitudes so as to undertake a battle against them at all. Yet, that sovereign, who found ways out of such difficulties and was not accustomed to collapsing in crises, decided that he must plan the destruction of these people through skirmishes and ambushes. And so, taking a view of the regions and cities where they were going to appear in the morning, he would forestall their arrival by arriving there himself in the evening; if he learned that they were to occupy a certain place in the evening, he would take possession of it in the morning. And in so far as he was able, he fought them from a distance through skirmishes and ambushes, so that they might not gain control of the fortresses. Both the Scythians and the emperor reached Cypsella. Now, since the expected mercenary soldiers had not yet arrived, the emperor, knowing the rapid movement of the Scythians and seeing them already capturing the very queen of cities [Constantinople] with great speed, was in a quandary. Not having forces sufficient against such great multitudes, he considered that, as they say, the "lesser evil is better," and looked again toward peaceful truces. Therefore, he sent envoys to them to inquire about peace. They, in turn, yielded to the emperor's will. Before these peaceful truces, however, the deserter Neantzes had arrived. Migidenus was therefore sent to gather supplies from the nearby regions—he whose son would later, in the war that occurred afterward, rush quickly against the Patzinaks in that very place and, being dragged by a Scythian woman through guile within the wagons by an iron hook, was killed. His head, after being cut off, the emperor bought at the request of his father. And the father, out of unbearable grief, over the course of three days and nights, beating his breast with a heavy stone, passed away.

ALEXIADIS BOOK VII

merit, and to the others he sent gifts ^A in abundance. ^{A A} Moving from there, the emperor, with the forces he had collected, captured Adrianople. But the Scythians had already passed through, and between Teme and, between Goloe and Diampolis, they pitched their camp in the place called Marcellae. When the emperor learned of this, and heard that the Comans were on the way—for they were expected to return—he dreaded their arrival, fearing that it would not be easy for the barbarians again to agree with the Romans to their ruin. Therefore, he sent for Synesius and, having equipped him with golden bulls for the Scythians—as much as was needed to inspire confidence—and having given him mandates to promise them an abundance of all necessary things in the name of the emperor, if only they could be brought to agree, and bound by their own tradition, to stay in the place they had occupied and not to advance any further. The emperor, being prudent, was thinking of the danger of a revolt, and was considering whether, if the Comans were to arrive—as rumor had it that they were again on the move—the Scythians might be induced, if they did not join them in moving against the Romans, at least to remain stationary and not advance. If they would not be persuaded, he intended, if the Scythians refused, to leave them there and turn back. Synesius reached them and, according to his instructions, persuaded them to become subjects of the emperor. Waiting there, he treated them with every kindness, giving them no pretext for grievance. Having thus provided Synesius with his mandates, and if they should be difficult to handle, he immediately left them and returned, not waiting for a response should they provoke him, having moved their camp. Synesius, in accordance with the emperor’s will, dealt with the Scythians, nor without success. They were inclined to strike up a pact with the emperor. Having provided them with ample space, and having appropriately used the emperor’s liberality to soothe their savage spirits and remove all causes of offense, he established peace, as much as humanly possible, while the emperor remained at Adrianople.

^B Meanwhile, the Comans, hearing that the Scythians had returned ^B or were preparing to return, and hearing that they had crossed the mountain passes, and had made peace with the emperor at Marcellae, sent their own envoys to seek the same for themselves, if they might be permitted.

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange

...the treasure of the Mother of the Church, that is, Holy Wisdom, is superior to all. And without doubt, it can be compared to the treasure of Solomon’s temple. What more shall I say? Can any commoner appraise that treasure, noble beyond infinity? What is found among the treasures of past emperors will have a tongue able to recite it, since it is not only in the possession of the Constantinopolitan emperor, but hidden away among those of all the ancients. What more can I say? Because it lies open to the eyes of men, there is nothing that is not hidden. Run, therefore, with all your people, and with all your strength, so that such a treasure may not fall into the hands of the Turks and Pincenati, because they are infinite, and I fear daily that our soldiers, little by little, may be seduced by that treasure, just as Julius Caesar once did, who invaded the kingdom of the Franks out of greed, and just as the Antichrist is destined to captivate the whole world at the end of time. ^D Act therefore while you have time, O Christian kingdom, and that which is the Lord’s, return to the sepulchers of the Lord, and not into judgment, but into the reward of the blessed in heaven. Amen.

So far extends the letter, which that it is genuine and not forged, the least bit of learning proves, since he inserted it among his own writings, but in much more elegant phrasing, as Guibert, Hist. Jer., chap. 4, indicates; it was written, however, in the year after the restoration of the Greeks to power, Alexius having obtained Sinope shortly before the death of the Sultan of the Aladuli, which falls in the year of Christ 1093, as is observed above by us.

(5) “An oath.” Of men, of such kind as when he narrates the oath sworn to Alexius by Godfrey of Bouillon and other nobles, p. 289. (6) “Marcella.” Paulus Diac., lib. XXII, Hist. Miscell., in the life of Constantine: that month he led an army against the Bulgarians and constructed the camp of Marcellae. In the same book it is called Marcella. I come to Marcella.

The Alexias

^C But the peace with the Scythians did not last long, but like dogs they turned again to their own vomit. Setting out, then, from Cypsella, they reached Taurocomum, and having wintered there, they pillaged the neighboring villages and towns. When spring had already appeared, they came from there to Chariopolis. But the emperor, remaining at Bulgarophygos, decided it was no longer time for delays, nor for conducting the war by thefts and ambushes. But choosing from the rest of the army a sufficient body of, all of them picked men, and even those young men called the *archontopouloi*—all of them with their first beard, of irresistible force—he commanded them to attack from the rear those stationed at the edge of the wagons. The battalion of the *archontopouloi* was first invented by Alexius. For when the Roman empire had an *astratia*—because of sloth...

^B of the emperors from of old—he collected the sons of all the fallen soldiers from every place, trained them for arms and war, and named them *archontopouloi*, as if they were born of *archontes* [commanders], so that by the name, being recalled to the nobility and bravery of their parents, they might both remember valorous strength and become braver, the occasion prompting them to boldness and vigor. Such was the battalion of the *archontopouloi*, totaling, to speak briefly, two thousand, just as the so-called Sacred Band was once invented by the Lacedaemonians. These newly recruited *archontopouloi*, therefore, went out armed for war. But the Scythians, lurking below the mountain pass, were watching their advances; and seeing them move against the wagons, they rushed upon them with irresistible force. And as the close-quarters fighting began, about three hundred of the *archontopouloi* fell, fighting courageously. For them, for a long time, the emperor groaned deeply, shedding hot tears, and calling each by name as if they were merely abroad. The Patzinaks, then, having defeated those drawn up against them, passed through Charioupolis and diverted toward Aprus, pillaging everything. The emperor, therefore, employing his previous method again, anticipated them and entered Aprus; for he did not have available forces, as has been said many times, for a pitched battle against those opposing him. Therefore, knowing that they go out for plundering at the rising of the sun, he summoned Tattikios, of whom this narrative has made mention many times, and commanded him to take with him both the so-called *Andreiomenoi* [Valiant Ones] from the *agouroi* [youths]—and the chosen men from his own household staff—and all the Latins, and at daybreak to keep watch for the Scythian excursions, so that whenever they judged that the Scythians, going out to plunder, were far from their own camp, they should then give full rein to their horses against them. He, having acted according to what was commanded, killed four hundred and took many captive. What followed? The horsemen sent by Flanders, choice men, about five hundred in number, arrive, bringing as a gift to him one hundred and fifty choice horses; but also, as many as were beyond the need that had been set before them, they gave to him as a tribute. And the Emperor Alexios welcomed them ^C as of old. The Scythians… for a long time… as if… having captured… having seen him then… the *agouroi* and having a large head, he bestowed upon him Cephalon ^D

And when they had delivered these, he gave thanks. When news reached him from the East that the one who was guarding Nicaea—whom custom calls a satrap of the Persians, but the Turks who now hold Persian views call an Emir—Apelchasem was already preparing to set out against Nicomedia, he sent these men to protect that region. Then, indeed, Tzachas, having confirmed for himself the emperor’s manifold distress in the West and his frequent wars with the Patzinaks, finding the opportunity, deemed it right to establish a naval base. Meeting a certain man from Smyrna, he entrusted to him the construction of pirate ships, as he had much experience in such matters. There he built many ships and also forty covered *agraria*, and having put into them men experienced in war, he cast off the stern-cables and anchored at Clazomenae, and occupied it by a sudden assault. From there he went to Phocaea and captured that also by a raid. Thence he sent to Alopus, the curator who had been entrusted with the administration of Mitylene, and uttered terrible threats if he did not depart from there quickly, saying that he cared for him and that was why he was warning him of the evil things that would befall him if he did not remove himself from there. The curator, terrified by the threats of Tzachas, boarded a ship by night and sought refuge in the imperial city. When Tzachas learned this, he no longer delayed, but immediately went and occupied Mitylene by a sudden assault. Since Methymna, located on the cape of that island, had not approached Tzachas, the emperor, learning of this, immediately sent a sufficient force by ships and fortified it. Tzachas, however, took no account of Methymna, but immediately set sail for Chios and occupied that too by a sudden assault. When the emperor learned of this, he sent a sufficient fleet against him with soldiers.

^{A B C D}

[The emperor] placed Nicetas Castamonites as leader over them. He departed and, having joined battle with Tzachas, was defeated immediately, and Tzachas took away many of his accompanying ships. When the emperor received news of what had happened to Castamonites, he equipped another fleet, placing Constantine Dalassenos in command of it—a most warlike man, and a kinsman of the emperor on his mother’s side. Upon arriving at the coast of Chios, he immediately began to besiege the fortress, fighting spiritedly and hastening to capture the city before Tzachas could arrive from Smyrna. Through many siege engines and stone-throwing machines, he struck the walls and razed the wall between the two towers. The Turks inside, seeing what had happened and knowing that the Romans are irresistible in their onrushes, began to call upon the Lord of all for mercy, shouting. The soldiers around Dalassenos and Opos were unrestrainable, hastening to enter the castle even though they were being hindered by them, for they feared that if they entered, the entire booty and wealth deposited by Tzachas would be carried off; they also said, "You hear that the reputation of the emperor is already becoming illustrious among the Turks, and that they have come under terms of surrender. It is therefore not fitting to enter and slaughter them ruthlessly."

When the whole of the day had already passed and night was upon them, the Turks built another wall in place of the one that had been destroyed, and outside of it they hung mattresses, hides, and any cloth that came to hand, so that the intensity of the stones being sent might be lessened from that point onwards to some degree. In the meantime, Tzachas equipped all the fleet he had and, with about eight thousand soldiers by land, marched toward the road leading to Chios. His fleet followed him, sailing along the coast. Dalassenos, having learned of this, ordered the ship-captains to weigh anchor and bring his own ships to meet him, having put onto them sufficient soldiers, and he made Opos the leader, wishing to meet him if he should encounter him while sailing across.

^A Tzachas then, abandoning the land, set sail towards Chios. When Opus encountered him about the middle of the night, he was astonished at the new sort of naval arrangement the enemy had made; for Tzachas had constructed a massive chain and lashed all his ships together with it, so that those who were retreating could not escape, nor could those wishing to dash forward break out of the naval formation; terrified by this and not daring even to approach them, he turned his rudders and made for Chios again. Tzachas followed him with caution, not exerting himself in the rowing, and they were drawing near to Chios. Opus entered the harbor of the city first with his ships, as Dalassenus had anticipated him in seizing it; Tzachas, having sailed around this aforementioned headland of Chios, brought his own ships up to the wall of the fortress. It was the fourth day of the week. On the next day, he brought everyone out from the ships and counted and registered them. Dalassenus, having found a small town near the harbor, destroyed the palisade that had been there before, and having dug another trench, he went down into it and made a sufficiently deep ditch, and there he established his own infantry. On the following day, both armies, having armed themselves, were prepared against each other. ^B But the Roman army stood motionless, as Dalassenus had ordered that no one should break the phalanx. Tzachas, however, brought the bulk of the barbarian formation to strike against the Romans, with only a few horsemen ordered to follow them. When the Latins saw this, they leveled their small spears and charged on horseback against the barbarians. But the latter, shooting their missiles not at the Franks themselves but at their horses, and striking also some with their spears, slew many, and thus drove those who had turned back inside the palisade. From there they fell into the ships with reckless speed. When the Romans saw the Franks fleeing headlong, they were terrified and, having retreated a little, they stood by the wall of the aforementioned small town. Thus the barbarians, having come down to the shore, seized some of the ships. ^C When the sailors saw this, they cut their stern-cables and pulled away from the shore, and having cast their anchors, they stood by, watching what would follow. Dalassenus, however, ordered them to sail along the coasts on the western side of the island and to seize Bolissos, and to await his arrival there; Bolissos is a small town situated on the promontory of this island. Certain Scythians, having approached Tzachas, made known to him the plan of Dalassenus. He, therefore, at that moment sent out fifty scouts, so that they might reveal to him more quickly the moment when the navy of Dalassenus was hastening to cut its stern-cables. From there he sent for Dalassenus, as if for a consultation regarding peace, and all that...

but I believe he had become entirely desperate, seeing the nobility and daring in the face of danger of Dalassenus. The Roman agreed to come out to the edge of the encampment at dawn the next day, both to hear and to say whatever might seem good to both of them. The Barbarian did not decline this. But in the morning both commanders arrived at the same spot, and Tzachas began the conversation, having addressed him by name: "Know," he said, "that I am that same youth who formerly overran Asia and fought fiercely, but owing to my inexperience was deceived and captured by that Cabalica, Alexander. And ^A from there, having been brought as a captive to the emperor Nicephorus Botaniates, I was immediately honored with the rank of *protonobilissimos*, and having been judged worthy of great gifts, I promised him my service. But since Alexius Comnenus seized the reins of the empire, all of that has been cut away. I have therefore come now to announce the cause of our enmity. Let the emperor also learn these things, and if he wishes the animosity that has grown up between us to be dissolved, let everything of which I have been deprived, and which I ought to have received, be returned to me in full. And if it also pleases you that our children be united, let a written contract be placed between us regarding this agreement, as is the custom for you Romans and for us Barbarians. And once all these things have been concluded, I, through you, will restore all the islands which I took in raids from Roman authority back to the emperor, and having fulfilled the treaties with him, I will return to my own country." Dalassenus, however, considering this a pretense, as one who had long known the treacherous nature of the Turks, delayed for a while the fulfillment of what was asked, at the same time laying bare the suspicion he held regarding him, and saying: "Neither will you, as you have said, hand over the islands to me, nor can I, without the emperor's counsel, consent to those things which you yourself seek from him and from me. But since the great ^B *doux* John, brother-in-law of the emperor, is already arriving with the entire fleet, bringing many forces with him by land and sea, let him hear these things that are spoken by you. And in this way, know well, the treaties with the emperor, with him mediating the peace, may reach a conclusion. For the emperor has indeed sent this John Ducas to Epidamnus with an army," he says. The rest is left to him.

[index: entries preserved]

^A For the emperor, having learned of the man’s great skill in both civil and military affairs, and knowing well his total obedience to every command he issued, had recalled him when he realized there was need of such a man against Tzachas; he then sent him out against Tzachas with large forces by land and sea, bestowing upon him the high rank of Grand Duke of the fleet. The history will reveal in the following pages how many battles he engaged in with him, and through what dangers he cast himself and emerged victorious.

Dalassenus, holding this man in expectation while ostensibly in conversation with Tzachas, seemed to be deferring everything until the arrival of the Duke. ^B Tzachas, for his part, seemed to be repeating that Homeric line: "Night is already upon us; it is good to obey the night." He had promised that at daybreak he would bring many of the necessary provisions. But all of this was deceit and treachery; Dalassenus was not shooting wide of the mark. For at the break of dawn, Tzachas secretly decamped ^C and, having descended to the shore of Chios, found a favorable wind and reached Smyrna, with the intention of gathering more forces and returning again to Chios. ^D But Dalassenus was not second to the machinations of Tzachas; for he boarded the first ships he could find along with his men, and captured Bolissos. And having secured the ships, and having prepared other siege engines, and having refreshed his soldiers, and having taken along more of them, he returned once again to the place from which he had set out. And he engaged in a fierce battle with the Barbarians, and having scaled the walls, he captured the city.

^A And with a more vigorous assault than ever before against the city of Chios, and its walls having been demolished a second time, he finally brought it into subjection to himself, while Tzachas displayed his return to no purpose and was still preparing assistance too late at Smyrna. He, then, having been sufficiently instructed and having found the sea suitable for navigation, with a favorable voyage brought his entire fleet to Mitylene.

Thus the Emperor, having managed affairs with regard to Tzachas, since he had learned that the Scythians were again making for Rhusium and had pitched their camp near Polybotum, set out from Constantinople as he was and occupied Rhusium. The defector Neantzes followed him, secretly devising some terrible and profound plot against him. Cantzus also was present, and Catranes, men experienced in wars and having a burning desire for the Emperor. ^B Having observed a considerable portion of the Scythians at a distance, he descended into battle with them. Many of the Romans fell in the fighting, and some were captured alive and killed by the Scythians, but a fair number were carried as far as Rhusium. But these were the events concerning the Scythian foragers.

The King, having taken heart after the arrival of the Latins who were called Maniakiatai, was planning to accept the pitched battle with the Scythians following that. Since the intervening space between the two armies happened to be small, he did not dare to sound the trumpet of war, wishing to surprise them. Having therefore sent for Constantine, who was burdened with the care of the imperial hawks, he ordered him to take ^C a drum in the evening and to strike it while going around the army throughout the whole night, and to proclaim that they should be ready, because at the dawning of the morrow the Emperor wished to engage in battle with the Scythians without the sounding of trumpets. The Scythians, having departed from Polybotum, pre-occupied a place called Haden, and there they fixed their camp. In this way, then, the Emperor was making preparations from that very evening. When the day was dawning, he divided the army and having arranged it in phalanxes, he moved against them. ^D 48. Before the joining of the battle had taken place, but while each of the contingents was already drawing up, Neantzes, having ascended a certain nearby hilltop, under the pretense of observing the Scythian ranks, as he said, and of bringing back a report to the Emperor of their situation,...

[B] in reality set out to do the complete opposite. He spoke to the Scythians in their own language from that vantage point and advised them to arrange their wagons in a continuous line to confront the Romans, telling them they had no need to fear the Emperor, who was still trembling from the recent defeat and contemplating flight, and who had neither a sufficient number of his own men nor auxiliary troops from allied nations. Having said these things, he descended to the Emperor with a calm expression, as if he had performed his scouting mission with the utmost loyalty.

However, a certain man of mixed Greek and barbarian parentage, who was not ignorant of the Scythian language, had overheard the speech of the turncoat and came forward to report his treachery to the Emperor. Neantzes sensed that he had been detected, but he did not yet abandon hope or his plan of dissimulation; he complained that a false accusation had been leveled against him and demanded that the accuser be brought forward so that the matter could be discussed in a formal inquiry. The mixobarbaros boldly stepped into the midst and maintained to Neantzes’ face, in the presence of all, that he was an eyewitness who had heard the very things he had discovered regarding his crime. But the barbarian, immediately drawing his sword, cut off the man’s head, with the Augustus himself watching and the phalanxes standing on either side—a novel and barbarian method of pleading his case with the sword. In my judgment, this action—his daring to preempt the need for conviction by killing his accuser—rendered him much more liable to the suspicion of the crime he had actually committed. For why, if the integrity of his conscience had been his support, did he not await the judgment of the charge? It was clear that he needed to excise the tongue of one whose irrefutable testimony could not be countered by any boldness of dissimulation, however shameless; and it was sufficiently apparent that he had attempted to stifle the evidence and rebuttal of his secret frauds with an unusual recklessness—a barbarous act made savage by a crime of such immense and grizzly atrocity.

Indeed, I wonder how the Augustus was able to contain himself from taking immediate vengeance, as was right, and ordering the cruel murderer to be torn to pieces. But he, according to his customary wisdom, repressed his heart as it seethed into righteous wrath, considering that he must wait for the right moment and judging that it was not appropriate, while matters stood as they did, to do anything that might disturb the phalanxes drawn up for battle or terrify the prey just about to be taken in the nets with a premature uproar. Therefore, the Emperor no longer doubted Neantzes’ treason and his imminent open desertion, being fully convinced by both these recent signs and prior indications. But, mindful of how the state of affairs was balanced on the edge of a razor and the precarious turn of the times, he did not rush to pass sentence, preferring to remain still; he made an effort to keep the matter intact, suppressing the indignation that was barking loudly in his breast so that no one might perceive it, and he used a countenance trained for prudent dissimulation toward Neantzes, so that the barbarian, drawing confidence from this, ^C at that time advised the Scythians to set the wagons in a line, and not to fear the Emperor, as he was already turned from the first defeat and ready for flight, having a scarcity of troops and allies. Having said these things, he descended to the Emperor. But a certain mixobarbaros, knowledgeable in the Scythian dialect, having understood the things said to the Scythians by Neantzes, reported everything to the Emperor. Becoming aware of this, Neantzes shamelessly sought out the proof, but the mixobarbaros came into the midst and brought the charge. He, suddenly drawing his sword, cut off the man’s head, while the Emperor himself was looking on and the phalanxes were standing on either side; and, I think, Neantzes, in order to avoid the suspicion of calumny, rather renders himself suspicious by the slaughter of his accuser. For why did he not await the proof? But, as it seems, wishing to kill off a tongue that was exposing his own deceits, he dares something even more reckless, having done a deed worthy of a barbarian soul, and yet as suspicious as his boldness could reach. However, the Emperor did not immediately punish the barbarian, nor did he come forth, as was necessary. But he immediately checked his heart, which was pulsating with anger and wrath, so that he might not alarm the quarry and disturb the phalanxes; he stored it up and buried his anger regarding Neantzes’ treachery and did the exact opposite. And in his own dialect, he [addressed] those who [were] prophesying apostasy both from what had been done beforehand and from other things; for the affairs of war were standing on a razor’s edge; and for this reason, the Emperor held back his wrath for a time, being at a loss as to what he should do at that moment. Neantzes, however, after a little while, approached, and having dismounted from his own horse, requested another from the Emperor. And he immediately gave him a horse from among the select, with royal trappings, upon which he mounted. Since the regiments were already going against each other through the space between, having made a show of horseback riding [acting as if] against the Scythians, having turned the point of his spear backward, he went to his own kin, exhorting them much against the royal battle line. They, using his counsels, joined a hard battle with the Emperor, and turn them to the ground. The Emperor, seeing the phalanxes torn apart and everyone fleeing, being in despair, did not wish to take irrational risks. Hence, having turned the reins, he reached the flowing river near Roussion, and from there, having pulled back the bridle with some picked men, as far as was possible, they fought back against the pursuers, making charges against them, and killing many, though he himself was also struck. Since, from the other side, George called the Pyrrhus, who was fleeing, reached the river, having spoken sternly to him, the Augustus [did him] everything. ^D

^A Then, having himself provided against these things, the Augustus, when he learned that the Scyths were again tending toward Rhusium, and that they had already pitched camp at Polybotum, set out with the greatest speed possible for Constantinople, and arrived at Rhusium. He was followed by the deserter Neantzes, who, while feigning loyalty on his face, was actually weaving the most ungrateful treachery against the Emperor. There were present also Cantzus and Catranes, men of war ^B and of a different disposition; since the burning zeal of the Augustus for the truth was evident. He, having seen the band of Scythians ravaging far from the rest of the army, sent [soldiers] against them; a battle ensued, not without loss: many of our men were killed in the encounter, and not a few were taken alive by the barbarians and later slaughtered. The Scyths, however, were driven back by Rhusius and returned unharmed. Nor did Alexius let this first failure of the war deter him; rather, he did not abandon the hope of battle merely because he had fared worse ^C in the skirmish with the plunderers, but instead prepared the whole host for the encounter. His fortunate arrival, and that of the Latins who were called Maniacatae, gave him greater confidence. The Emperor, therefore, having joined forces with them, and wishing to give the signal for battle, did not want to leave the space between the two armies in the middle. At evening, he ordered Constantine, the curator of the regions, having taken a drum, to strike it throughout the whole night as he went around the army, and to proclaim that all should prepare themselves, so that at first light ^D of the next day, without any sound of a trumpet—for he wished to forestall the Scythians—he might challenge the enemy. Thus the Emperor prepared himself from that evening. When the day dawned, he divided the army and drew it up into phalanxes. The Scythians, moving from Polybotum, occupied the place called Aden, and there they fixed their rampart. When the day had fully shone, the Emperor, having made arrangements as he had prepared the evening before, led the ranks in order to meet the enemy. But before the encounter, Neantzes, having climbed [after the fashion of a spy] a nearby hill to observe the Scythian formations, [index: entries preserved]

^A on the contrary, advised them in their own Scythian dialect to arrange their wagons in a line, not to fear the emperor, who was already dispirited by his initial defeat and lacked an army and allies. Having said this, he came down to the emperor. ^B Tatranes, however—a man who was a Scythian, and who had often crossed over to the emperor and back again, and had been granted sympathy [by the emperor] so many times that he had developed much affection for him because of such great forbearance—was genuinely and with all his heart planning and acting on his behalf; he realized what Neantzes had said to the Scythians and reported everything to the emperor. On hearing this, the emperor sought the proof. ^C The shameless Neantzes, having arrived in the midst of the men, denied it. But Neantzes, suddenly drawing his sword, severed the man’s head while the emperor and the troops standing on either side were watching; he supposed he was escaping the suspicion of false accusation by slaughtering the accuser, but instead he made himself more suspicious. For he had not waited for the refutation; indeed, he had dared to act even more outrageously, as if intending to forestall his own exposure by means of a deed worthy of a barbarian soul, yet one as desperate as his daring allowed. ^D Yet the emperor did not punish the barbarian immediately, nor did he check him—indeed, he ought to have done so—but he immediately restrained his heart, though it was throbbing, and his wrath and anger, so that he might regulate the hunt and not disturb the ranks, postponing his anger until the proper time. ^A The emperor, meanwhile, as I said, being constrained by the chill that gripped him, lay down to recover a little. Yet he was not even then at rest, pondering what he must do the next day. Then Tatranes (this man was a Scythian who had often deserted to the emperor and fled back home again, having been deemed worthy of compassion by him so many times, and having developed a great desire for him because of such forbearance) came up, thinking and acting in his heart for his master's best interests, and said: "There is hope for me, Emperor, that tomorrow the Scythians will surround us, and in this way they seek to engage us in battle. Therefore, it is necessary to go forward outside the walls at dawn and draw up the line." The emperor praised and accepted his counsel and agreed that this should be done at sunrise. ^B Having said this, he went off and addressed the leaders of the Scythians as follows: "Do not be elated because of the previous defeats of the emperor, nor, seeing us few in number, be confident of victory in the battle with us. The one who commands is unconquerable in strength, and even more mercenary troops are already expected to arrive. And if you do not make peace with him, your bodies will be food for the birds." Such were the words of Tatranes to the Scythians. ^C The emperor, for his part, having considered how to take their horses that were roaming the plain (and they were very numerous), which were plundering our territory night and day, summoned Ouzas and Monastras and ordered them, with chosen cavalry, to pass behind the Scythians at the break of dawn, to occupy the plains, and to take all the horses and other livestock along with the shepherds, and he urged them not to fear. "For while we fight them face to face, you will easily fulfill what has been commanded." ^D In no way did he miss the mark. For the word immediately became deed. He himself, expecting the attack of the Scythians upon him, did not give his eyes sleep, nor was he nodding off at all. But summoning the soldiers throughout the entire night, and especially those skilled in archery, he spoke much about the Scythians, encouraging them, and advising them on what would be conducive to the battle expected on the morrow: how it is necessary to draw the bow and launch the arrows, and where to strike the horses, and [everything else] that he enjoined.

And further, to slacken the rein and to dismount from the horses, if this too should be necessary. But these were the tasks of the night. Having slept a little, when the day was already dawning, ^A he saw that the ^A chosen men of the Scythians had crossed the river—for the report had already reached him that they were seeking battle, and the emperor’s conjecture had already reached its end (for he was formidable at foreseeing the future, having gained much experience from the density of the wars rising up against him daily). Having immediately mounted his horse, he ordered the trumpet to sound the martial note, and having arranged the phalanxes, he himself stood at the front. Observing that the Scythians were coming on with more audacity than before, he immediately ordered those skilled in archery to dismount from their horses and to advance towards them on foot, and to draw their bows continuously; the rest of the battle line was behind these, and the emperor himself directed the center of the army. They attacked the Scythians with boldness. ^B A fierce battle having occurred, seeing both the density of the arrows and the shield-wall of the Roman formation, and the emperor himself fighting zealously, they were struck with terror and turned back, hastening to recross the river and making their flight toward their own wagons. For those of the Roman phalanx, releasing all [their strength], pursued them, some striking them in the back with their spears, others wounding them with arrows. Many, therefore, died before reaching the bank of the river, and many, fleeing with all their might, fell into the whirlpools of the river and were swept away and drowned. ^C More zealously than all others on that day, the servants who were with the emperor fought, for they were all in their prime. But the emperor, having been revealed as a manifest hero on this day, returned as a conqueror to his own camp. Having rested there for three days, he decamped from there and reached Tzurulon. Having considered that it was necessary not to depart quickly from there, he dug a sufficient trench on the eastern part of the small town with the forces he possessed, and placed the royal tent and the baggage ^D inside this. ^C The Scythians, coming and they too [advancing] against Tzurulon...

since they had heard that the Emperor had taken possession of it beforehand, crossed the river that flows through the plain near this small town (the locals call it the Xerogypsos) and pitched their camp, being situated between the river and the town. And they were outside, having circled this city; but the Emperor was trapped inside, as if besieged. But when night overtook them, "the other gods and men, the horse-clothed ones, slept" (to speak in the manner of Homer’s Calliope), but "no sweet sleep" held the Emperor Alexios. ^B But he kept watch and turned over thoughts in his mind, how he might overcome the audacity of the barbarians through craft; for, seeing that this little town, Tzurulon, was walled upon a rising hill, while the barbarian host had encamped down somewhere in the plain, and since he did not have forces sufficient for such multitudes to dare to engage them in a set battle, he devised something very clever. Taking the carts of the inhabitants and removing them from the frames, he kept the wheels and the axles, and thus hung them sequentially outside the wall from the battlements, using some ropes bound to the crenellations of the walls. And as soon as he devised and performed this, in one hour the wheels with the axles were hanging in a circle, like some rings lying one after another, and touching each other, ^C and being connected to their axles. At dawn, having risen and armed himself, and having armed the others, he brought them out from the wall and set them face-to-face with the soldiers of the barbarians. It happened that on the sides where the wheels were hanging, the soldiers of our side were also standing, and the opposing line stood directly opposite them in a single row. And from that point, he himself, having stood in the middle of his own formation, advised that when the trumpet should sound for the battle cry, the soldiers should dismount from their horses and proceed slowly and at a walking pace against the opponents, for the most part using bows and skirmishing, and ^D entice the phalanx of the Scythians against themselves. When they saw them lured on, and the horses rushing against them, they should make a strategic retreat and divide slightly, at that moment, in two, to the right and left, and give room to the opponents until they were near the wall. And when this had happened, it was ordered to those standing above on the wall that, when they observed the splitting of the phalanxes, they were to cut the ropes with swords and release the wheels.

This was done according to the emperor's command. And the Scythians, with a barbaric shout, charged in a dense, knightly ^A assault against our line; all were advancing on foot and at a walking pace against them, only the emperor himself riding down among them. But, according to the emperor's stratagem, they bent their knees slightly, and as if recoiling, separated from each other, in a way no one would have hoped, opening just like a very wide door for the entry of the barbarians. And at the same time, when the Scythians had moved inside the opening of the phalanx on either side, the wheels, together with a certain noise and force, were brought down from above over a cubit, each one leaping from the wall—since the curves of each wheel were deflected from the wall and, as it were, slung—and they rolled down into the middle of the barbarian cavalry. Having gained a stronger momentum from the collective downward plunge, and partly persuaded by the natural weight ^B of the load, and partly gaining an irresistible gravity from the downward slope of the place, they fell violently upon the barbarians, and from all sides they pressed in upon them, shearing off the legs of the horses as if reaping, and being cut through from both the front and rear sides, they forced the horses and riders—to whichever side they received the blow—to collapse downward with force. As they fell one upon another in quick succession, and as the soldiers on both sides also pressed against them, and the terrible battle was rising against the Scythians from all sides, some were destroyed by the missiles being sent, others were struck by spears, and the majority of the rest, being pushed together by the wheels rushing down severely, were drowned in the stream of the river. ^C And on the following day, when he saw the remaining Scythians again rushing toward the battle, and noticing that all his own men were emboldened, he ordered them to take up arms. He himself also donned his armor and, having worked out the battle formation, he descended to the slope. Then, having turned the phalanxes, he stood face to face with the Scythians, in order to join battle with them as much as possible. He himself held the position in the middle of the ranks; but when a fierce battle took place, the Roman phalanxes at that moment unexpectedly gained the upper hand and pursued them uncontrollably. But when the emperor saw that they had been pursuing them for a sufficient distance, fearing lest some who were lying in ambush should suddenly fall upon the Romans and turn the flight of the Scythians, ^D and with the fugitives reinforced, bring a great disaster upon the Roman army, by performing frequent cavalry maneuvers, he ordered the soldiers to pull in the reins and refresh the horses. Thus, therefore, according to his usual art, he proceeded to hold them back, as the barbarians, noticing their own men rushing to the assault against them, and hearing that the horses were being exhorted to come to close quarters, turned their backs according to plan. They controlled this mock flight in such a way that, as they parted from one another to different sides, they left a gap opening in the middle as if of a broken phalanx, through which they opened the way for the enemies to approach closer to the walls of the town. And there were those stationed above the wall who watched over this one thing, to whom it had been ordered that, when they perceived the Roman line was split into two parts and the Scythians had advanced into that gap, they were to draw their swords and cut the ropes by which the wheels were tied from the battlements, and release them, joined with their axles, downward at full speed. Everything happened according to the verdict and desire of the emperor. The advance was made against the Scythians at a slow pace, with the emperor riding among the Romans and ensuring that everything occurred appropriately according to the intended strategy. The Scythians raged in return, and with anger growing alongside their threats, they prepared a fierce assault, hoping soon to join hand-to-hand combat with those whose missiles were being sought from afar. The feigned flight of the Romans added spurs to the rushing men, and the disengagement of the phalanxes, with the men bending their knees and artificially retreating away from each other, opened a path—deceptive and without suspicion—to the barbarians, who were advancing with great contempt for us and confidence in themselves. Through this wide opening, just as they had begun to ride in with great shouting and abuse, the Scythian cavalry passed, until, when they had been enclosed as if in the jaws of the divided phalanxes on both sides, the wheels rolling down from above brought sudden terror upon them. Smashing against the hard ground, the wooden wheels rebounded, leaping more than a cubit; then, finding a slope inclined downward and properly balanced on their transverse axles, they rolled down into the barbarians with the greatest impetus, noise, and crashing, no more gently than if weights had been hurled with lightning speed from siege engines. The Scythians were surrounded from every side by the new onrush of destruction, as the storm of wheels variously sheared off the legs of the horses on which they were riding. One part of the rolling evil fell from the front and crushed the forefeet or legs; another, finding the horses by chance turned sideways, wounded them in the hind heels with the sudden force of the wheels. But wherever the horse received the wound, it necessarily caused the rider to limp and be forced to dismount, unless it dragged him down in its own collapse. Thus, a slaughter of men and horses took place, piling up in heaps as the destruction raged incessantly, not only by the onrush of the plummeting wheels, but now also by their mutual collision and impact, while one who is struck by the onrush of the rolling wheel drags his companion and fellow-soldier along with his own bulk into a common fall. And the ruin did not stop at this, but from one who was struck, entire ranks were pushed down, and—with new fortune for the Romans—the very catastrophe of the Scythians was turned against them.

For while the fugitives fled, the emperor returned in joy, a brilliant victor, to his own camp. The Scythians, having been defeated decisively, pitched their tents between Bulgarophygon and little Nicaea. On that day, both armies held their positions. ^A Since winter had now set in, the emperor deemed it necessary to return to the imperial city, so that both he himself and the greater part of the army might recover from their many struggles. Having therefore divided his forces, he selected for the opposing division those who were the most robust of the entire army, and appointed as their commanders John and Nicholas Maurocatacalon, about whom the narrative has often spoken before, commanding them to introduce sufficient soldiers into each of the small towns for their defense, and to draw out the foot-soldiers from the whole region along with their wagons and the oxen that pulled them. For he wished, with the arrival of spring, to resist the battle against the Scythians more firmly, and so he was pre-arranging and preparing what was beneficial. Having thus arranged everything, he returned to Byzantium.

THE EIGHTH BOOK OF THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA

[Arguments regarding the contents of Book VIII]

The Scythians, having been defeated in a great battle, were eradicated as a nation in a single day. Two conspiracies were discovered.

THE ALEXIAD, BOOK VIII

^A Having learned that the leaders of the Scythians had selected a certain detachment from their total force and sent it against the Chorobacchoi—and that their arrival there was expected—the Emperor, ever quick to act when the occasion required, and showing himself as if prepared in advance even for sudden events, not yet having…

[GREEK COLUMN] ἐγχειρήσεις, κἂν τοῖς αἰφνιδίοις ἀεὶ ὡς προτερεσκευασμένος δεικνύμενος, μήπω ἑβδόμην ἡμέραν ἑαυτὸν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις διαναπαυσάμενος, μηδὲ βαλανείου τυχών, μηδὲ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου ἱδρῶτα ἀποτιναξάμενος, παραχρῆμα τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς φρουρᾶς τῆς πόλεως τεταγμένους, καὶ ὁπότοι νεῖλεκτοι, ἀναλαμβάνεται ὡσεὶ πεντακοσίους τὸν ἀριθμόν, καὶ ὁπλίσας δι᾽ ὅλης νυκτός, κατὰ τὸ περίορθρον ἐξέρχεται. Τηνικαῦτα δὲ δήλην καθίστησι τὴν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς Σκύθας ἐξέλευσιν· τοῖς δὲ ἐξ αἵματος καὶ ἀγχιστείας προσήκουσιν αὐτῷ συγγενέσιν, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁπόσοι τῆς μείζονος τύχης ἦσαν, καὶ τῷ Ῥωμαϊκῷ στρατεύματι συγκατειλεγμένοι (Παρασκευή δὲ ἦν ἡ τῆς Ἀπόκρεω), ταῦτα διὰ τῶν ἀποστολέων παρακελευσάμενος· ὡς ἄρα γοῦν Ἐγὼ μὲν ἄπειμι τὴν τῶν Σκυθῶν κατὰ τῶν Χοιροβάκχων ὀξείαν μεμαθηκὼς κίνησιν, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ἑβδομάδα τῆς Τυροφάγου, στρατεύσατε πρὸς ἡμᾶς. Τὰς γὰρ μεταξὺ τῆς τε Παρασκευῆς τῆς Ἀπόκρεω καὶ τῆς Τυροφάγου δευτέρας ἡμέρας ὑμῖν ἐφημι μικράν τινα ῥαστώνην, ὡς μὴ βαρύς τις καὶ ἀδιάκριτος δόξαιμι. ^A Ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν παραχρῆμα κατευθὺ Χοιροβάκχων ἤλαυνε, καὶ εἰσελθὼν κλείει τὰς πύλας· τὰς δὲ κλεῖς αὐτὸς ἀναλαμβάνεται. Εἶτα τοὺς εἴνους ἅπαντας τῶν θεραπόντων περὶ τὰ κρήδεμνα καθίστησι τοῦ τείχους, ἐγκελευόμενος οὐ μὴ ἀναπεπτωκέναι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπαγρυπνοῦντας ὡς περιθρεῖν τὰ τείχη μή πού τις ἀνελθὼν καὶ προκύψας ὁμιλήσειε τοῖς Σκύθαις. Ἀνίσχοντος δὲ τοῦ ἡλίου, καὶ οἱ ἐλπιζόμενοι τῶν Σκυθῶν καταλαβόντες, κατὰ τὴν συγκεκολλημένον τῷ τείχει τῶν Χοιροβάκχων αὐχένα ἔστησαν. Ἐξ ὧν τηνικαῦτα ἀποκριθέντες, ὡσεὶ ἓξ χιλιάδες, εἰς προνομὴν διεσκεδάσθησαν, ἐφθακότες μέχρις αὐτοῦ τοῦ Δεκάτου, ὡσεὶ δέκα σταδίους τῶν τειχῶν ἀπέχοντος τῆς βασιλίδος τῶν πόλεων, ἐξ οὗ, οἶμαι, καὶ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἐκτήσατο. Οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ αὐτοῦ που διαμεμενήκεσαν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀνελθὼν διὰ τοῦ τείχους εἰς τὰς ἐπάλξεις περιεσκόπει τὰς πεδιάδας καὶ τοὺς βουνούς, εἴ που καὶ ἑτέρα δύναμις τούτοις ἔπεισιν, εἴ που λόχους καθίσαντες.

[LATIN COLUMN] cunning attempt, and manifesting himself as always prepared and premeditated for all things, however sudden; and although he had not yet spent the seventh day in the quiet of the royal palace, nor had he entered the baths, nor had he yet brushed off the sweat gathered from the recent wars, he nevertheless convokes immediately the garrison of the city, and as many as were recently enlisted in the military he had at hand, all nearly five hundred in number; having armed them through the whole night, he exits at daybreak ^B with them. At that time he makes known his departure against the Scythians; he commands these things through messengers to those related to him by blood and affinity, and to the others, as many as were of greater station and enrolled in the Roman army (it was the Friday of the Carne-privium, which they call that of the Abstinence from Meat), saying: "I am going forth, having learned of the sudden movement of the Scythians against the Choerobakchoi; ^C as for you, do you at least march toward us by the week of the week of Cheese-eating." For he was saying: "I grant you these days between the Friday of the Meat-fare and the Cheese-fare as a small respite, so that I might not seem some burdensome and inconsiderate person." He then immediately traveled straight toward the Choerobakchoi, and having entered the town, he bolts the gates; and he takes the keys himself. Then he stationed all the loyal ones of his attendants around the battlements of the wall, issuing a grave command not to fall asleep, but to patrol the walls with intense wakefulness, observing and taking care lest any citizen ascend there and look out and converse with the Scythians. ^D As the sun was rising, the awaited Scythian troops arrived and stood by the neck of land attached to the wall of the Choerobakchoi. From these, about six thousand were then separated and scattered for plunder into all the surrounding region, reaching as far as the Decimum itself, a place about ten stadia distant from the queen of cities, from which, I think, it also acquired its name. The remaining Scythians stayed there where I said. But the emperor, having ascended through the wall onto the battlements, was looking around at the plains and the hills, to see if any other force was coming upon them, or if they had set any ambushes.

^A regarding the region, surveying the plains with his eyes and observing the hills, and inquiring most curiously whether any other barbarian forces might be present anywhere, or whether there might be any lying in wait somewhere to rise up suddenly against those who might venture out to engage them. When it was sufficiently clear that there was nothing of the sort, he turned his eyes back again to the nearby encampments of the enemy I mentioned, and observed them around the second hour of the day, thinking of anything but battle, surrendering themselves everywhere to relaxation and licentiousness, secure from any thought of war or the enemy. The opportunity for victory appeared excellent. But the vast multitude of the barbarians checked the rising boldness to provoke an open battle. On the other hand, his great spirit was troubled by the barbarian license of plundering everything far and wide, and daring to press even to the precincts of the royal city; which was always unworthy, but especially intolerable at that time, when it was known that the Emperor had marched out from the same Augusta civitate [imperial city] to drive them off from their incursions. ^B Amid these conflicting surges, he called together the soldiers and delivered this speech to test their spirit: "We must not lose heart at the sight of the multitude of Scythians that appears here; rather, with hearts set on God, we must advance with confidence and engage them in battle without doubt: whom I truly hope, provided we all agree on one plan, we shall easily conquer and destroy."

At this, they hesitated and declined. Then the Emperor, seeking aid from the very fear that stood in their way, set out to draw them to his opinion by exaggerating the danger and applying terror more urgently, speaking as follows: "Be still, then, truly, and neglect this opportunity until those who have gone out to forage—six thousand in number—return safely and join these many who are here. What will happen then? Will you defeat them when they are gathered and intent upon you, when you fear to even look at them while they are scattered and busy with other things? That will surely be a danger not a little more present, from whose flame you are now jumping off from this smoke. ^C For either they will be moved against the walls, storm the town, and slay us all with slaughter: or, if they get wind of our cowardice and think us unworthy to hold up their charge even for a short time, they will proceed further even to the royal city, passing us by in vain—and you will then look back regretfully at your homes and hearths, which you seem to desire, while your entry to the fatherland is blocked by the barbarians, who, having gained a road through your inaction, will advance their camps even to the gates of Constantinople. Since these things are so, every man must consider with himself that nothing else remains but the opportunity for an honorable death by rushing into danger for the sake of our altars and hearths. I, for my part, am certain and prepared for this; and behold, I am going now. Whoever of you wishes shall follow me as I run ahead and rush straight into the midst of the Scythians. Whoever cannot or will not do this, remain, if you wish, and if the fear is so great, bolt the gates and, shut up womanishly, gain a brief delay of death with the barriers of the doors." ^D Having spoken thus, he suddenly bursts out armed through the gate which slopes towards the marsh, and having passed around the walls and turned aside a little, he ascends the ridge from behind, which was occupied by the barbarians.

The reason for this alignment was that, whatever he might have pleaded, he had little hope of persuading his own men to follow him; nonetheless, if he believed that all had come with him, he would not have feared open war. Therefore, he charged into the middle of the Scythian station, striking down the first to encounter him; nor did his comrades hold back their hand. A not insignificant slaughter of the Scythians was inflicted, and some were even led away alive. Then, with a mind skilled in the arts of war, he conceived the idea of using the spoils of the fallen as an instrument of stratagem; and there was no delay. He clothed the Roman soldiers in Scythian garments and mounted them on Scythian horses. He took care to have his own men's horses and military standards, together with the severed heads of the Scythians, conveyed into the city by trusted men, having given them orders to wait there for him. He himself, with those who were carrying the Scythian standards and wearing the Scythian attire, descended towards the river flowing not far from the Cherobacchus, where he conjectured the other Scythians would cross when they returned from the plunder. They soon returned, and observing the cohort at the ford of the river, but deceived by the signs and believing them to be their own men, they approached securely and playfully. However, they were not received as such, but with heavy blows; there was panic at the unexpected misfortune. The barbarians were partly cut down, and partly captured. Toward evening (that day was a Saturday), he returned with the captives and remained there for the whole of the following day. At the dawn of the second day, he exited the fort with his forces divided into two parts. The first rank consisted of those who were carrying the standards and wearing the Scythian garments with which they had been used for advantage; to these were added the captive Scythians, led individually by the local peasants; trailing behind them were those who displayed the Scythians' severed heads lifted high and fixed upon long spears. Behind them, with a certain space intervening, the Roman soldiers followed with their customary standards and garments, and the emperor himself brought up the rear. Such was his manner of return. But Palaeologus, according to the fervor of his warlike disposition, not enduring the delays of the rest he had been granted, set out from Byzantium well before all the others at the very dawn of the Sunday of Carnisprivium, and made his journey toward the place where the emperor was, not without care and circumspection; for, as one who was experienced, he knew how rapid and unforeseen were the incursions of the Scythians. For the exercise of this caution, he had ordered some of his familiar servants (for he had these as companions on that journey) to advance at a moderate interval and to inspect cautiously the fields, groves, and paths, and if by chance they observed Scythians anywhere, they were to return to him at a run to report it. To those traveling with such care and such a plan, those whom we have mentioned—the emperor's soldiers arrayed in Scythian garments and standards—appeared from afar on the plain commonly called Dimylia. The scouts, having no doubt...

^A that they were Scythians, galloped back with the news; but when they had covered a certain distance, other scouts arrived, reporting seeing Roman standards behind the Scythians and soldiers following them at a run. Those who brought this news were partly guessing, and partly missing the truth. The army following behind was indeed truly Roman in dress, equipment, and command—the emperor himself was leading it. But the vanguard, though looking like Scythians, was composed entirely of soldiers of the Roman army dressed in Scythian attire; they were arrayed just as they had been on the emperor’s orders when they had previously deceived the real Scythians, as the narrative has already related. ^B The victorious Augustus made use of the Scythian equipment, both then and at that moment, for the deception and trickery of his own men, so that those who first encountered them would be terrified, falling as they were upon our soldiers as if they were Scythians; at the same time, it provided a strategic and gentle laughter mixed with fear—for before they could be thoroughly frightened, they took heart, seeing the emperor in pursuit. Thus the emperor safely terrified those he met. But while the terror among the others was caused by what they saw, Palaiologos, excelling all others in experience and knowing how resourceful Alexios was ^C in his stratagems, immediately recognized that this was Alexios's ruse, and persuaded both himself and the others to be of good courage.

By now, the whole throng of kinsmen and blood-relatives had poured out [pouring out] from the city, for they were eager to meet the emperor according to the previous agreement. For they had agreed to reach him after Apokreo, just as had been said earlier, in Tyrophagos. They had not yet finished leaving the city when the emperor, covered in trophies, returned. Meeting him at this point, they could not have been persuaded that the emperor himself was the one who had so quickly carried off the victory, ^D had they not seen the heads of the Scythians fixed on the tips of spears, and the remaining ones whom the sword had not yet cut down being led as prisoners, with arms bound and tied, and one being led or dragged after another. The swiftness of the generalship was what made it a marvel. However, I learned this much about George Palaiologos (for those present with us recounted it): he was distressed and blamed himself for being late for the battle, and that he was not present with the emperor, who had carried off such glory in the unexpected victory over these barbarians. For he, too, greatly desired to share in such glory. As for the emperor, one might apply to him that song of Deuteronomy which was then being fulfilled and witnessed: *How shall one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight?* For it was almost the case that at that time the emperor Alexios, to such a degree…

against no less a multitude of the enemy, did himself stand alone; and he sustained such an unequal weight of war, until having cast off and thrown away their audacity, he might turn the victory prepared by his counsel to the use of his own advancement, treading them underfoot. Nor let anyone allege to me that the work of his fellow-soldiers then contributed anything to take away from that glory: for to one who rightly weighs it, it will seem that the single virtue and single ingenuity of one Alexios, compared that day and on that occasion with a vast army of fighting barbarians, finished the battle, and by its own power alone subdued that audacity and that contumacy of the indomitable multitude. Deservedly, therefore, did the Byzantines deem the entry of their prince into the city, now adorned with the unexpected splendor of a fresh victory, worthy of being celebrated with all joy and congratulation. While some marvelled at one thing in the single exploit, and others at another, voices were heard mingled among the public applause: here, their contempt for danger and magnanimity proven in an arduous undertaking; here, his dexterity in governing the whole affair and tempering the moments of a precarious business; here, finally, the success of the stratagem and the fact that the present danger of extreme evil had been converted, for the benefit of the citizens, into a victory and a celebratory panegyric—giving thanks to God that He had granted them this Savior, this Benefactor, this most bountiful author of their salvation and their blessings. ^A And Nicephorus Melissenus, having heard these acclamations, suffering somewhat from the human condition and not sufficiently concealing the sting of envy burning within, or perhaps unable to endure being struck by what was in effect the silent reproach of an implicit comparison, is said to have received this exploit of Alexios thus: "This victory is joy for us without gain; but for the enemy, it is grief without damage." Such a saying was favored by the fact that nevertheless the Scythians—whose inexhaustible multitude could feel no detriment from the loss of a small slaughter—were then, in the greatest degree, everywhere scattered throughout the whole western border, plundering all things: no misfortune, no opposing effort being any longer able to struggle against or even retard the impetus of that savage race, inflamed with wild cupidity. Nor did they only act and carry off everything in the fields or defenseless villages; but they even stormed and occupied towns, not revering the neighborhood of the queen of cities so as not to dare to attempt the municipalities closest to it, and advancing in their plundering as far as the "Deep Torrent," as it is commonly called, a place so near to Constantinople that a daily concourse from the city was made to the temple of the greatest among martyrs, Theodore, situated there, for the sake of religion and supplication, to visit the memory of the saint: but when the Lord's day returned, almost the whole city would be poured out, and the pious ones, carried everywhere on a suburban pilgrimage to that sacred temple, would pass the whole night and the whole day there, whether around the circuit, ^B or waiting near the vestibule and the rear part of the shrine. But the uncheckable rush of the Scythians pressed so hard that even those who wished to visit the martyr dared not open the gates of Byzantium because of the sudden incursions of the Scythians. ^{C D}

^A Such was the adversity that fell upon the Emperor from the western continent. Yet even matters at sea were not in a steady state, but were in extreme peril, as Tzachas had once again gathered a fleet and was overrunning all the coastal regions. On account of these things, the Emperor was vexed and distressed, being struck from every side by anxieties. But when it was reported to him that Tzachas had already gathered a greater fleet from the coastal regions, and had ravaged the remaining islands which he had not previously seized, and was also intending to launch an attack against the western regions, and was sending messengers to the Scythians, counseling them to seize Cherson; and indeed, the mercenary force that had come from the East to the Emperor—I speak of the Turks—was not maintaining the peace treaties made with him, for he was coaxing them with fair promises to abandon the Emperor and join him; when the Emperor learned these things, since both the situation at sea and the situation on the continent were being disposed very badly for him, and the winter, which was pressing down severely, was closing off all exits—so much so that one could not even unbar the doors of houses due to the weight of the snow (it happened that a great amount had fallen then, as much as no one had ever known before)—as far as was possible, he hurried to recall [mercenary forces] from every direction by means of letters.

But when the sun was almost reaching the vernal equinox (since the war threatened by the clouds had departed, and the sea had been transformed from its anger), he judged it necessary—as the enemies were pressing in from both sides—to deal with the affairs at sea first, so that he might simultaneously be able to easily withstand the seafaring enemy and fight the others from the continent with ease. Therefore, he immediately sent out Caesar Nikephoros Melissenos, summoning him more quickly than a word to occupy Ainos. For he had previously declared by letter that he should collect as many [men] as he could, not from those already in the army (for he had already dispersed those into the cities everywhere in the West, with the condition that they guard the more important of the small towns), but by enrolling new recruits part by part, as many as were from the Bulgarians, and as many as had chosen the nomadic life (the common dialect knows to call these Vlachs), and the cavalry and infantry coming from everywhere else from all the regions. He himself, having summoned the five hundred Celts of Flanders from Nicomedia with their kinsmen, ^{B C D}

^A departed Byzantium with them and a great company of his own kin and relations, and quickly betook himself to Aenos. Entering there into a boat ^B open on all sides for the purpose of reconnaissance, he traversed the river, and explored accurately its entire situation, the nature of both its banks, the extent of its depth, and the shape of its channel; and having marked the place which, considering all these matters, he thought most suitable for the pitching of a camp, he returned. Soon, having assembled the principal leaders during the night, he ^C explained to them in detail what he had discovered during his inspection of the river; and he signified that he wished them to cross the river with him the next day and personally survey the entire transfluvial plain. When they had done this, he said he was confident that the place he had designated for that purpose would appear to them by no means inept for the positioning of the camp. They all assented; therefore, he crossed at once, and he himself was the first to reach the further bank; the forces all followed. Here, having again summoned the leaders, ^D he showed them the banks of the river and the plain adjacent to them; then the place chosen for the camp, near a certain small town, commonly called by the locals Chaerenus, having the river on one side, and on the other protected by an equally strong fortification, where indeed it slopes into a marshy field: so that it offered to all, as the middle portion of the fortification necessary for a secure encampment, a natural formation already made. Since all approved of it without delay, a trench was dug as soon as possible, and the entire army was stationed there. This done, the emperor returned to Aenos with a suitable number of peltasts, with the intention of suppressing the thrusts of the Scythians who were making incursions from that part in particular. Then those who were in command of the camp at Chaerenus, having been made certain of the arrival of innumerable Scythian hosts, sent word of this to the emperor residing at Aenos. He, having traversed the seacoast in a scout ship, by the entrances of the mouths...

^A of the river, he joined the entire army. Seeing that his own forces did not amount to even a hundredth part of the Scythian host, he was in perplexity and fear, having no human help to rely upon. Yet he did not collapse or grow faint-hearted, but entertained many turbulent thoughts within himself. Then, on the fourth day, from the opposite side, he saw from afar a Coman army, already arriving, of about forty thousand. Considering that if they were added to the Scythians they might wage a terrible war against him (and nothing else could be expected from that but total annihilation), he judged it necessary to win them over, for he had already anticipated them by sending for them. Many other leaders headed the Coman army, but first and foremost of all were Togortas, Maniac, and other most warlike men. Seeing the multitude of Comans now arriving—well aware of the fickleness of their disposition—he feared that these allies might become enemies and foes, causing him the greatest harm. Having reasoned that it would be safer to depart from there with all his heavy-armed troops and cross the river again, he decided he must first summon the ^B leaders of the Comans. They immediately approached the emperor, even Maniac, although he had been rather more hesitant than the others at first. The emperor ordered a lavish banquet to be set before them by the cooks. Having feasted them well and then treated them with great kindness, and having deemed them worthy of all kinds of gifts, he requested an oath and hostages from them, suspecting the ease with which their minds could be deceived. They readily fulfilled what was commanded, providing their pledges, and asked to be permitted to join battle with the Patzinaks in three days' time; and if God should grant them the victory, they promised to divide into two parts the entire booty that fell to them, and to allocate the other part to the emperor. He, however, granted them permission to attack the Scythians—not just in three days, but in ten full days if they deemed it best—and, if God should grant them the victory, he freely bestowed upon them all the booty that would be taken from that source. The Scythian and Coman armies were therefore remaining ^C in the same place for a while, with the Comans trying the Scythian army through skirmishes. Before three days had passed, he sent for...

^A Antiochus—a man of noble birth and far exceeding the many in the decisiveness of his judgment—and commanded him to construct a bridge. ^B This work was quickly completed by lashing together vessels with very long beams, and having thus built a bridge, he summoned the protostrator Michael Doukas, his wife’s brother, as well as his own brother Adrian, the Grand Domestic, and charged them to stand by the bank of the river and ensure that the foot soldiers and horsemen did not cross in a confused mass, but rather to separate the infantry first from the cavalry, and [to handle] the wagons with the supplies, and the pack mules. When the foot soldiers had crossed, the Emperor, fearing the forces of the Scythians and Comans and suspecting their secret incursions, quickly had a trench dug, brought everyone within it, and then ordered the horsemen to cross. He himself stood at the bank of the river and watched those crossing.

As for Melissenus, having already received the letter of the Emperor in accordance with the prior command, he had gathered forces from everywhere, and having moved the infantry from the nearby regions—even those bringing their own baggage in wagons drawn by oxen, and all that was needed for use—he sent them zealously to the Emperor. And they, already reaching the distance as far as the eye can see, ^C appeared to the majority to be detachments of the Scythians advancing against the Emperor. Already someone, grown bold, pointed out with his finger to the Emperor that these were indeed the Scythians. The Emperor, thinking what was said to be true and not having the strength to face so many, was reduced to perplexity. Therefore, having summoned Rhodomerus at that time—a man descended from the Bulgarians, noble, and a kinsman of her (our) mother—he sent him off and charged him to scout those approaching. He, having quickly executed the command, returned and said that they were those sent from Melissenus. The Emperor, having become very glad and after having waited a little for their arrival, crossed with them, and immediately increasing the trench that had already been made, he united them with the rest of the army. ^D The Comans immediately took possession of the trench, from where the Emperor, having departed with the entire heavy-armed force, crossed over, and they encamped somewhere there. On the day after, the Emperor departed from there and intended to take the crossing below the river, locally called... having met the Scythians in sufficient numbers and having attacked them at that time with force...

he joined a hard-fought battle. Many were slain on both sides in the fighting; nevertheless, the victory remained with the Emperor, who defeated the Scythians decisively. When the battle was thus broken off and the armies had separated to their respective camps, the Roman army remained there throughout the whole of that night. At daybreak, they departed from that place and reached a certain spot called Lebunium, which is a hill rising above the plain. The Emperor went up there. But since the hill was not large enough to contain the whole army, he made a channel at its foot and having dug a sufficiently large trench there, he settled all the troops in it. At that time, the defector Neantzes again approached the Emperor with a few Scythians. When the Emperor saw him and reminded him of his former ingratitude, he added other reproofs and kept him under guard with the others, bound in irons. Thus acted the Emperor. The Scythians, meanwhile, dwelling along the bank of what is called the Black River, were secretly endeavoring to summon the Cumans as allies. Nor, however, did they remain idle toward the Emperor, but kept sending to ask about peace. He, though discerning the treacherous nature of their intent and having listened, made replies to them, wishing to keep their minds in suspense, in case the mercenary troops expected from Rome should arrive. The Cumans, having doubts about the promises of the Pechenegs, did not put much faith in them, but in the evening notified the Emperor: "How long shall we delay the battle? Know then that we shall endure no longer, but at sunrise we shall eat the flesh of wolves or of lambs." Having heard this and perceiving the intensity of the Cumans' resolve, the Emperor was no longer for delaying the fight, but, setting that day for the decisive judgment of the war, promised them the battle against the Scythians for the next day, and himself immediately summoned his commanders and captains of fifty and gave orders. The Emperor was also aided by a man, the descendant of a noble Bulgarian family, who through his mother was related to the Augusta, our mother; him he sent to find out who these were, and to report back certainly what their state was, once he had approached as closely as was proper for judgment. He, having accomplished the task with great vigor, returned and said they had been sent by Melissenus; at which the Emperor, filled with no ordinary joy, took his own troops, who had been received shortly before, and led them with him across the river, and having increased the circuit of the palisades, he joined the new forces with the old in one camp. But the Cumans occupied the very place which the Roman army had lately left as it crossed the river. The Emperor, moving from there ^A the next day, was preparing to occupy a certain ford along the banks, commonly called Philocales. On this journey, he fell in with a force of Scythians that was not to be despised; against whom, having soon engaged in a sharp struggle, he won an undisputed victory, while the remaining Scythians fled in terror to the islands, while the Roman army, master of the field, stood fast in that place and encamped there. At the approach of day, the Romans moved and came to a place called Lebunium. It is a hill ^B rising above the surrounding plain; the Emperor ascended it, but since the hill was not large enough to hold the army, he dug a trench extensively at its base and prepared a station for all the forces, which he also established there. There, the defector Neantzes again came to the Emperor, with a few Scythians; the Emperor saw him and reminded the Barbarian of his most ungrateful treachery, and, having reproached him with other things, ordered the traitorous defector and his companions to be bound in iron chains and held under strict guard. And these things were done by the Emperor. ^C Meanwhile, the Scythians, settling within and around the depressed banks of the river named the Mauropotamus, were secretly striving to reconcile the Cumans to themselves: nor did they any less try the Emperor’s mind by the sending of envoys, offering a negotiation for peace. But he, although endowed with a keen ability to discern their fraudulent trickery and treacherous words, which he understood perfectly well, still, by feigning wonderfully, returned such responses as might deceive the deceivers and hold their uncertain minds in suspense; which the Emperor turned to his own advantage, ^D wishing by this ruse to gain time until the mercenary troops which he expected from Rome should have the opportunity to arrive. But the Cumans, by no means placing any faith in the promises of the Pechenegs, chose to reject them and abruptly declined any mention of peace. Toward evening, they approached the Emperor with these words: "How long are we to delay the battle? Know that you hear this last reproach of delay from us. Have it so: we will endure no longer; but tomorrow at sunrise we shall deal with wolves or with lambs."

^A Once the Augustus understood in this way the precipitate intention of the Comans, he perceived that there was no longer any room for delay. Having therefore immediately decided on the strategy for the battle to take place on the morrow—a battle that would be decisive for the state of affairs—and having responded fervently to the Comans, he agreed to the combat for the coming dawn; nor did he delay the preparations. For, having summoned the tribunes and the other officers down to the commanders of fifty, he gave them the task of announcing the battle to the entire camp for the following day.

Truly, however, such as he had decided and was acting, a grave care nonetheless gnawed at him within, as he considered the immense forces of both Barbarian peoples, for whose known savagery and not-sufficiently-reliable loyalty the entire majesty of the Roman name and its hope and safety were now held in the balance, surely destined for supreme ruin if both Barbarian nations—a thing that was extremely easy at every moment—were to complete the negotiation for an agreement they had already begun. ^B While the Augustus was pondering such things within the great tide of his anxiety, there stood before him, appropriately, from the mountainous regions, hard men and warlike, numbering no fewer than five thousand, who offered their own service for the battle of their own accord and requested a place in the line. The arrival of such timely aid inclined his wavering judgment, so that the emperor decided to fight on the morrow—a battle he saw could no longer be deferred—and implored the present help of God for the success of the victory.

Nor did he consider it sufficient to perform that religious duty alone or in private; but when he himself, as the sun was setting, had begun the invocation of celestial aid with a brilliant display of burning torches and the singing of sacred hymns, he saw to it that the same was done in the whole camp, giving counsel to the more prudent and commands to the more rustic to imitate that example of his. All obeyed; and a wondrous spectacle immediately arose of innumerable lights, as if ^C as many stars were illuminating the region far and wide for the one solar sun that was then setting. For the individual soldiers who were praying held high, kindled, their spears topped with lanterns or waxen candles, just as each was able or had at hand; and in that state they redoubled religious cries which I believe reached even to the vault of heaven; certainly, if we must speak nothing but certain and testified truth, they were carried to God the Lord Himself. Nor is that a light proof, I think, of the religion of the Augustus, who declared so openly and so willingly that he could in no way be equal to conquering enemies in battle without celestial aid. Doubtless, he had not placed his confidence in men, nor in horses, nor in engines of war, but had his hopes suspended on the one nod and divine power of God.

In this manner the supplication was drawn out until midnight, and after he had tasted sleep for a short time, he arose at daybreak and saw to it that the lightly armed soldiers—as much as could possibly be done—were covered with breastplates and the rest of that type of armor; and when all the helmets that could be found in the storehouse had been exhausted and there still remained soldiers to be armed, he himself—through a generous contribution of silken veils of an iron-gray color—fashioned certain images of breastplates.

At the arrival of dawn, the emperor himself, clad in armor, emerged from the rampart and commanded the trumpet of battle to sound. Soon, beneath Lebounion (for that is the name of the place), having divided his army, he arranged the phalanxes by squadron. The emperor himself stood in the front line of the battle, breathing fire, so to speak. The right and left wings were commanded by George Palaeologus and Constantine Dalassenus. On the far right, outside the main body of the army, Monastras stood stationed with his own troops, near the Comanic camp (for the Comans, seeing the Emperor deploying the Roman legions, also began to arm and arrange their own forces). At the left of these same Comans, Uzas was stationed. Finally, Umpertopoulos, with the Celts, was assigned the position facing west. ^B Thus, the emperor sought to fortify and wall in the Roman battle line on all sides with these phalanxes, like towers, so that while it was engaged in battle, it might be free from the worry and danger of ambushes and furtive attacks from the rear by those roving bands. He then commanded the trumpets to be blown again and the final signal for the engagement to be given.

The Romans, struck with terror at the sight of the immense, countless multitude of Scythians, protected as if by a wall by their wagons—a sight which would have intimidated anyone—did not hide their fear, but its only salvific effect was a public invocation in one voice to the supreme Lord of all. Having come together in that plea for divine mercy, they engaged in the battle with the Scythians with no less consensus, rushing forward with loose reins, with the emperor himself leading the charge before all others. ^C When, from the crescent-shaped battle lines, a concerted assault was made from all sides by the Romans and Comans upon the encircled Scythians, as if by prior agreement, a certain leader among the foremost of the Scythian army, struck by a vain presentiment of imminent destruction, decided to look to his own safety by a timely defection. Taking a few men with him, he approached the Comans, trusting in the bond of their common language more than in the Romans, though at that moment they were mortal enemies. ^D Seeing this, the emperor was fearful that others of the Scythians might go over to them and persuade the Comans—having changed their minds and positions—to turn against the Roman phalanx; but the emperor, being the active man he was, in a swift moment of judgment determined what was advantageous. [alt-version omitted]

^C He saw that this flight was being watched by the emperor, who was intent on everything; and he deemed it dangerous if similar approaches of the Scythians to the Comans were to multiply. What if, by this commerce of messengers, the Barbarians of both names were brought into agreement, and with their hearts and their attack at once turned in the battle itself, they should overwhelm the Romans with combined arms? In this fear, the emperor’s mind—strenuous and keen in sudden crises, and perspicacious in the moment—devising a plan. He ordered the man to whom the custody of the royal military standard had been entrusted in the battle, to stand with the banner—which he bore aloft—behind the camp of the Comans. Thus, the danger of a barbarian convention having been dispersed, and the battle pressing on with constant faith from both sides, the Scythian army, caught as it were between two fires, was slaughtered with nothing left but cruel destruction, a manifest sign of divine abandonment. It was a slaughter such as no one is said to have ever seen elsewhere; to such a degree that, from the very act of killing and the continuous wielding of their arms, with material for new carnage always abounding, our men grew weak with incredible exhaustion, and, as if unable to finish the harvest, despairing of being able to complete the victory, they would of their own accord relax their attack. ^D Meanwhile, the emperor, riding in the midst of the enemies, threw entire phalanxes into confusion, striking those who stood in his way at close quarters, and striking those positioned further away with threatening shouts. But when he noticed at midday that the solar rays were beating down excessively on the heads of the combatants, having suddenly sent men, he arranged for peasants to bring from everywhere opportune refreshments into the very battle and the ranks of the victors, driving before them mules laden with skins distended with cold water. As soon as an example of this act was set by certain ones so commanded, other farmers soon of their own accord followed the benefit, showing favor to their own deliverers, the killers of the Scythians, and abundantly ministered water to the thirsty with skins, amphorae, and other vessels of every kind which chance happened to offer for the present need. The soldiers, refreshed by the cold water drawn, returned to the battle, or rather to the slaughter, until the complete catastrophe of that deadly tragedy; who could sufficiently explain how great a thing was done and witnessed! For it was no longer an army, but a multitude of an entire nation, clearly innumerable, that was wiped out entirely to the last, in one day, by the one fortune of a successful battle, with no remnants even left surviving—men alike with their wives and children heaped into the same slaughter. That day, fatal to the Scythian nation, was the twenty-ninth of the month of April, the third day of the week. Hence that joyous canticle among the Byzantines was celebrated in praise, conceived in words nearly to this effect: "A single day was wanting for the Scythians; a single day, for them to see May." With the sun now setting, the matter was finished, with almost no Scythian not slaughtered, as the sword ranged through the slaughter of mothers and little ones alike, except for those who were kept as captives; a number, if compared to the slain, small, but if viewed by itself, not modest. Then the emperor commanded the retreat to be sounded, and he led the way for his own men, returning to his own camp. This success was clearly marvelous, especially for those considering and recalling in thought that sad memory of the beginnings of this war, when the Romans setting out against the Scythians from Byzantium were swelling with such secure confidence that they prepared an ample supply of ropes and thongs with which they might bind the captured Barbarians, unaware of the heavy penalties they were soon to pay... [index: entries preserved]

^A in the form of contempt for the enemy; for those whom they deemed would be their own servants, they were subsequently forced, having been defeated, to acknowledge as their masters. That wound of the Roman name, once received at Dristra in an adverse battle against the Scythians—by which God willed to humble the pride of Roman arrogance, too reliant upon human strength—that same God, at this time of which I am writing, turned the affected minds of the Romans in the opposite direction, and by a no less unexpected success, recreated their spirits. While they were confounded by just fear and were despairing of their own salvation, convinced they were no match for such a multitude of the enemy, he miraculously granted them so splendid and so complete a victory—one by which they were able, with the full license of victors, to bind, to slaughter, and to lead away alive the vulnerable Scythians, and for them to determine whatever they wished regarding the vanquished. And this battle held not only this (which not rarely happens in congresses that are not even decisive nor committed by the full forces on both sides), but beyond that, it had the effect of an auspicious beginning, in that it destroyed and utterly abolished a wild, treacherous nation, always formidable and hostile due to its infinite number of fighting youth, in this one and only day, rightfully transcribed to eternal memory as a most memorable event.

When the Comanic and Roman forces had been separated into their respective stations, and the Emperor had turned his attention to the lighting of the lamps ^B (48) and to dinner, a certain man named Synesius stood by, his face expressing indignation: "What is this evil," he said to the Emperor, "or what is this new method of administration? Each one of the soldiers has thirty or more Scythian captives. An immense multitude of Comans is nearby, threatening us. If, therefore—which is prone to happen after such great labor—our soldiers fall asleep, and the Scythians, having offered mutual aid to one another and broken their bonds, draw their acinaces and dispatch their snoring masters, you see what will follow. Order, therefore, the evil to be forestalled, and the greater part of this barbarous mass to be slaughtered at once." The Emperor fixed sharp eyes upon him as he said these things, and presently added: "Even if they are Scythians, even if they are enemies, they are certainly men, and worthy of our humanity in their misfortune. But you, I know not by what dementia you have been led astray." And he dismissed him with anger, though he had indeed ordered something else. ^{C D}

^A Thus Augustus; and having further ^B ordered that the same proclamation be made through the camp, he admonished the soldiers to disarm the Scythians, and that they should deposit all the weapons snatched from them in one place, separately and safely, while they themselves kept watch over the captives. Having provided for these things, he passed the remainder of the night in peace; but about the middle of the night—whether by some divine intimation, or by what other fate I know not—the Roman soldiers, as if by a single command, fell upon the captive Scythians and slew almost every one of them. When the emperor heard this at the dawning of the day, he immediately fell into suspicion that the slaughter had been arranged by Synesius. He therefore summoned him at once and assailed him with harsh words and dire ^C threats. "Truly," he said, "you are the author of this tragedy, you are the originator of this cruel crime." But when he swore that he was ignorant of how this had happened, the emperor nevertheless ordered him to be bound and held in chains, remarking: "Let him learn what evil resides in bonds alone, so that he may no longer pass such inhuman sentences against human beings." Nor did he seem satisfied that this would be the end of it, had not the great men of the court, who were related to Augustus by blood or affinity, approached him and by their joint prayers obtained from him that he might grant favor to Synesius regarding the punishment. During that same night, fearing some nocturnal stratagem from the emperor, the majority of the Comans took all their plunder with them and began their journey towards the Danube. The emperor himself at first light ordered a departure, avoiding the stench of so many corpses and the contagion so easily bred in such a mass of putrefaction. The place chosen for the new camp was that which is named after the "Beautiful Trees," ^D being eighteen stades distant from the Choereni. Melissenus, who was following him there, caught up with him (for he had not been able to be present at the time of the battle, being occupied with the dispatching of that multitude of new recruits to the emperor). They greeted one another and congratulated each other, as was natural, and for the rest of the journey they conversed about the events that had occurred in the defeat of the Scythians. When, however, the emperor had arrived at the Beautiful Trees and learned of the flight of the Comans, he sent after them the rewards which he had previously agreed upon, having loaded them onto mules, commanding the muleteers to hasten to overtake them—even if they were beyond the Danube—and to hand over the gifts that had been sent. For it was very grievous to him throughout his life not only to be deceitful, but even to appear to be deceitful, as he was a man who performed much of his conversation with everyone regarding falsehood. But these things were regarding the runaways; as to the rest who were following him, he entertained them lavishly for the remainder of the day. He judged it best not to give them their due wages at that time, but to release those who were turning to sleep to digest their wine, and thus, having gathered their senses, to be in a state of awareness of what was being done. On the following day, therefore, having summoned everyone, he not only gave them what had been previously promised, but also far more. Having considered this, since he wished to send them home, he did not want them to be scattered for plunder on their departure.

And for this reason, lest they inflict no small damage on the towns lying along their route, he took hostages from them. ^A When they themselves requested that their journey be secured, he gave them Joannakes (a man excelling in courage and prudence), having arranged for him the management of all things, and the setting in order even as far as the yoke of the Comans. Such, then, were the acts of the emperor, by divine providence in all things; having at any rate accomplished everything in its fullness, he himself, a victor crowned with trophies, returns to Byzantium as the month of May was passing. But let these things concerning the Scythians have an end here, even if I have said little out of much, having touched the Adriatic sea with the tip of my finger. For the brilliant victories of the emperor, the partial defeats of the enemies, his singular acts of bravery, the events occurring ^B between times to the people of that day, and how he varied his approach toward all and by every method dissolved the emerging evils—not even another Demosthenes, nor the whole choir of rhetoricians, nor the entire Academy and the Stoa, had they come together into one place and made the deeds of Alexius their every concern, would have been able to attain to these things. Not many days had passed since the emperor’s entry into the palace, when Ariebes the Armenian, and the Celt Umpertopulos (these were men chosen from among the illustrious and fierce warriors), were caught having plotted against the emperor, drawing along no ignoble multitude to this counsel. And the proofs were present, and the truth spoke with boldness. The conspirators, having already been convicted, were then condemned to confiscation of goods and exile, the emperor having completely forsworn the penalties prescribed by the laws, with no one’s body being mutilated. But the emperor, learning of a rumored incursion of the Comans, and from another quarter that Bodinos and the Dalmatians themselves were planning to break their treaties and march against our territory, was divided in his calculations as to which of the ^C enemies he should turn toward. It seemed necessary to him, therefore, to arm himself first against the Dalmatians, and to occupy the mountain passes situated between our territory and theirs.

Having gathered everyone together and communicated his design, since it appeared to all to be most advantageous, he departed from the great city, making preparations for the west. Having quickly reached Philippopolis, he received letters from the one who was then Archbishop of Bulgaria, warning him that John, the son of the Sebastokrator, then Duke of Dyrrhachium, was plotting a revolt. This news brought heavy anxiety to him, as he spent day and night in anxious inquiry with himself regarding how best to handle an affair so uncertain and perilous. On one hand, the kinship of the young man’s father, Isaac, came to mind, and his brotherly love and sense of blood-tie checked every thought of exercising a judicial inquiry against the accused. On the other hand, it was to be feared that if the report, of which public rumor was the author, were rashly neglected, what might follow from the unbridled desires of a youth so headstrong by reason of his age? There was also the risk that negligence and untimely indulgence might cause a sprouting evil to grow into some fatal disaster, bringing intolerable grief to his uncle and father. Therefore, he finally decided it was more prudent to make every effort to discover the youth's secret plan, and to counter it with effective foresight, so that the state might suffer no harm and the ruin of the youth himself might be averted, for whom, out of affection as an uncle, Augustus desired to take counsel above all. Having deliberated thus, he summoned the then Great Hetaireiarch, Argyros Karatzas—a man who was a Scythian by origin, but most prudent and a man of proven virtue and loyalty—and sent him to Dyrrhachium equipped with twofold letters. The letter to John was written in this manner: "Our Majesty, having learned that a barbarian expedition is being prepared against us,即将 erupt through the mountain passes which lie between the Roman frontier and Dalmatia, has departed from Constantinople with the intention of forestalling and repelling this hostile audacity, and of fortifying the borders of the Roman Empire with suitable guards. With such a plan, as I am departing for these regions, it is necessary that you meet me as soon as possible and personally report the state of affairs in the province that you govern. For there is much of which I wish to speak with you regarding…"

- [The preceding passage] contained the text to John. But the letter to the leading men of the Dyrrhachian settlers was dictated as follows: "Since we have heard that Bolcanus is again plotting against us, we have set out from Byzantium, intending both to secure the mountain passes lying in the interim between our own territory and that of the Dalmatians, and to obtain precise information regarding him and the Dalmatians. For these reasons, we have deemed it necessary to summon your Dux, the beloved cousin of our majesty, and we have sent this man to you, having appointed him Dux, to deliver our missive to you. Receive him also, and submit to everything he commands." ^B Having handed these letters to Caratzas, the emperor instructed him to go first and deliver to John the letter addressed to him. And if he should willingly follow, he was to send him from there in peace, and he himself should undertake the guarding of the region until he should return. But if he should offer any resistance and not obey, he was to summon the chief men of the Dyrrhachians and read the other letter, that they might join with him in capturing John. Hearing these things, the Sebastocrator, who was staying in Constantinople, set out eagerly and reached Philippopolis in two days and nights. While the emperor was asleep inside the royal tent, he entered without noise, lay down on the other bed of the emperor and brother, and he too fell asleep, having ordered with his hand those who were guarding the emperor to keep quiet. When the emperor started from his sleep and saw his brother beyond his expectation, he remained silent for the time being, and he himself ordered those who were present to do the same. But when the Sebastocrator, having awakened, saw his brother and emperor watching and he also caught sight of him, both approached and embraced one another. Then the emperor inquired what he wanted and what the reason for his coming was. He replied, "For your sake." And he said, "You have exerted yourself and labored in vain." But he replied, "If he resists, he obeys." [The Latin text continues:] ...whereupon they began an affectionate fraternal embrace. Then the Emperor asked what he wanted and what the cause of his coming was. He answered, "It was for your sake." He replied: "You have stretched yourself for nothing and toiled so much." ^C But he... [The text here notes the divergence between the Greek and Latin accounts as preserved in the manuscript memory.]

messenger he had previously sent. For as soon as he had heard the rumors about his son, he had inscribed a brief letter to him, commanding that he hasten to the Emperor; he himself had also already departed from Constantinople to Philippopolis, so that he might undermine the reports brought against him to his brother and Emperor, while also waiting for the arrival of the youth.

After leaving the Emperor’s presence, he went to the tent assigned to him. But the official messenger sent to John arrived back shortly thereafter, running at full speed. The sebastocrator ^B at first said nothing in reply, but upon the messenger coming back and announcing John’s approach, he was at that moment freed from his suspicion and, heartened by better reasoning, he entered the presence of the Emperor filled with anger against those who had first suggested the charges against his son.

The Emperor, seeing him, knew the cause immediately, yet he first asked how he fared. "Badly," he replied, "and the cause is yours." For never in his life had he known how to hold the reins on an anger that was always ready to flare up; he was easily carried away by even the most trivial remark. To this he added something else, saying, "I am not so much grieved against your Majesty as I am against this man"—pointing with his finger at Adrian—^C "who has falsely accused him."

To these words, that gentle and affable Emperor did not blaze up at all. For he knew how to quench the burning anger of his brother. They sat down together, then, with the Caesar Nicephorus Melissenus and certain others who were related to them by blood or marriage, and they consulted privately among themselves about what had been said against John.

But when Isaac saw that Melissenus and his own brother Adrian were deviously attacking his son, he could not restrain his boiling anger; he glared fiercely at Adrian and threatened to pluck out his beard, and to teach him not to lie openly and attempt to deprive the Emperor of such ^D kinsmen. At this point, John arrived and was forthwith introduced inside the royal tent, and he heard all that had been said against him. He was not, however, brought to a formal examination; rather, the accused man stood free, the Emperor saying to him: "Looking to your father and my brother, I cannot even endure to hear the things spoken against you. Therefore, continue to be free of care as before."

These things, then, were all spoken within the royal tent, with no one present but the kinsmen. Thus, after the words spoken or perhaps pondered were calmed, he called in his own brother—I mean the sebastocrator Isaac—together with John, his son, and spoke much to them.

And before he left, he said to the sebastocrator, "Go you, in good spirits, to the Queen of Cities, and report to our mother how we stand. But I am sending these men (he said, indicating John) back to Dyrrhachium, as you see, in order that he may diligently attend to the affairs of his own province." Thus, having separated from one another, he went towards Byzantium the next day, while the other was sent to Dyrrhachium.

But matters concerning the emperor did not end there. For Theodore Gabras was then staying in the Queen of Cities. Knowing his violent nature and his sharpness in action, the emperor desired to remove him from the city, and so he appointed him ^B duke of Trapezus, a city he had long before wrested from the Turks. For this man had come from Chaldea and the upper regions; he had become a distinguished soldier, excelling all in both wisdom and bravery. He had hardly ever engaged in any undertaking without success; instead, always overcoming all his enemies, having even captured Trapezus itself and claimed it as his own possession, he was considered invincible. The sebastocrator Isaac Comnenus had betrothed one of his daughters to Gregory, the son of this man. Both children being underage, only marriage agreements had proceeded between them. Then, entrusting his son Gregory to the hands of the sebastocrator, so that when the children reached legal age the betrothal might be completed, he himself took leave of the emperor and returned to his own country. ^C But when his wife had not long after paid the common debt of nature, he took another, a most noble woman from the Alans. It happened that the wife of the sebastocrator and the wife whom Gabras had taken were daughters of two brothers. This having become known, since the marriage of the children was forbidden by both the laws and the canons, such a contract was dissolved. The emperor, knowing what kind of soldier Gabras is and how many affairs he is able to throw into confusion, did not wish to ^D break with his son Gregory, because of his violent nature.

But he wanted to keep him in the imperial city for two reasons: that he might hold him as a hostage, and at the same time win over the goodwill of Gabras, and thus through him keep a check on any evil intent he might harbor. Regarding one of my sisters, he wished to unite him with Gregory, and for this reason he deferred sending the boy away. But Gabras, having again arrived in the queen of cities and understanding nothing of the emperor’s designs, was secretly scouting how to take back his own son. He kept his plan hidden for the time being, even though the emperor hinted and gave some indication to him of what was intended. Whether he did not understand, or whether he was disheartened because of the recent breaking of the marriage tie, I do not know, but he asked that his son be given to him when he returned. The emperor refused this. Gabras then feigned that he was quite willing to leave him, and to commit the affairs of the child to the emperor's judgment; since he was preparing to depart from Byzantium, he was received by the sebastocrator, due to the relationship that had been formed and the intimacy he had for this reason with him, at the place where the sanctuary of the great martyr Phocas is established—a very beautiful suburban estate lying near the Propontis. There, after they had feasted lavishly, the sebastocrator returned to Byzantium, but he [Gabras] asked that his son be allowed to accompany him and, after the child had returned again to him, to be with him. He [the sebastocrator] immediately consented. But Gabras, who has been mentioned many times, since he was about to separate from the child, asked the tutors to accompany him as far as Sosthenion, for he intended to encamp there. They agreed and went with him; and thus, when he was about to leave from there, he asked the tutors that the son should accompany him as far as the Pharos. But they refused. And he, having the inner turmoil [of a father]... Regarding Maria, he betrothed the son of that Gabras—Theodore, the sebastos and martyr—to Gregory, and then, having dissolved the betrothal as it seemed right to him, he sent him away and brought in another suitor for this daughter, Nikephoros, the son of Euphorbenos, of the family of Katakalon.

^A for he was begging to have his father accompany him on the departure, and he easily obtained this. But on the following day, Gauras, unable to tear himself away from his son, was asking the boy’s guardians to follow him as far as Sosthenion; for he intended to lodge there. They agreed and traveled that far. When the time came to leave, the boy, moved by affection for his father, urged the same petition; he begged to extend his enjoyment of his father’s company as far as the Pharos. They firmly refused him this. Yet he, employing all the art he could—enumerating his father’s feelings, the length of the journey, the sickness of one who was departing, and other such things—finally broke the spirit of his tutors, and by winning them over, he convinced them to accompany him that far. Having thus reached the Pharos, he no longer hesitated to bring his plan into the light; for having snatched the boy and thrown him into a freighter, he committed himself and the child to the swell of the sea.

The emperor, having learned of this, faster than speech could tell, sent swifter ships after him, with instructions to those being sent, that as they reached Gauras as quickly as they could, they should immediately hand over the letters they were entrusted to deliver, and at once take back the boy from him. If he should refuse, they were to declare that the emperor would be his enemy. Thus, those who had been sent hastened and caught up with them in the region of the city of Aigina, near the town called in the local tongue ^B Karambis. Delivering to him the emperor’s letters, by which the emperor made it clear that he wished to unite the boy with one of my sisters, and adding much persuasive speech to this, the envoys convinced him to send back his son.

The emperor, seeing him and having confirmed the contract perhaps only by the customary documents, handed him over to a tutor, one of the attendants of the empress, Michael the eunuch; and as he resided in the palace, he thought him worthy of great care, correcting his character and teaching him all military education. But such is the nature of the young, not wishing to be subject to anyone at all, he was annoyed, not being considered worthy of the honor he felt he deserved. Being at once dissatisfied and also toward his tutor, he was considering fleeing to his own father, whereas he ought rather to have been grateful for being considered worthy of such care.

Nor did his plan stop short here, but he proceeded to action. Coming forward, he confided this secret to some people. These were George the Dekanos, Eustathios Kamytzes, and Michael the oinochoos (though those of the imperial court usually call him the ^C pincerna). These men were strong in battle and among those most closely associated with the emperor. Michael, having approached, reported everything to the emperor. He, not easily believing, shook his head at these words. As Gauras insisted and was urging the departure, those who were more favorably disposed toward the emperor said, "If you do not confirm to us what has been planned by an oath, we will not join you." When he had sworn by the holy spear, ^D [he] sent [him] off.

^A Gabras, however, continued to look for a way home, often planning a flight to his father. But he did not merely meditate on this; he moved toward the goal, seeking out companions and helpers for his escape. These were George Decanos, Eustathius Comytzes, and Michael the cupbearer (which is what the people of the palace usually call their attendants), all very stout-hearted men and among the emperor’s most intimate associates, with whom the youth shared his intention. One of them, Michael, brought word of the affair to the emperor, who refused to believe it. And so, although Michael was sent back without having been believed, Gabras the younger persisted in his attempts, trying to win over others of the palace ministers one by one; but their loyalty to the emperor in all respects was too great, and though they easily dismissed such insolence, they nevertheless struggled with how they might eventually persuade the emperor of a reality he could not be brought to believe. ^B [The conspirators], intending not so much to deceive Gabras as to trap him in a snare and give Alexius surer proof of Gabras’s plan for flight, advised the youth to carry off the sacred iron of the spear with which Christ’s side is believed to have been pierced, and to wear it around his neck to give them assurance of his loyalty—this being the custom for encolpions at the time. Certainly, this instrument of the Lord’s Passion, which was brought to the city from Jerusalem in the fourth year of Heraclius and deposited in the church of St. Sophia, was held in great veneration at Constantinople in that age. ^C But when the emperor, having been warned immediately, intervened, Gabras was brought in and the spear-point was immediately taken from his bosom. Being questioned, he reported everything upon a simple inquiry, confessing both his accomplices and everything that had been planned. Having passed judgment on him, [the emperor] handed him over to George the Mesopotamite, the Duke of Philippopolis, to keep him under guard as a prisoner in the acropolis. ^D As for George the son of Decanos, he was later... [alt-version omitted]

^A sent with letters to Leo Nicerites, the Duke who was at that time stationed near the Danube, under the pretext that he was to assist him in guarding the Danube regions, but in reality so that he himself might be kept under watch by Nicerites. He also kept Eustathius the son of Camytzes and the others restricted to certain locations:

NINTH BOOK OF THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA

ARGUMENT

SUMMARY

^B Sic ergo juvent respondent : Nisi vero te ita velle, ut ais, ad patrem tuum fugere nobis jurejurando confirmaveris, haudquaquam assentiemur tibi. Puero vero quidquid vellent facturum recipienti ostenderunt ubi servaretur sacer mucro quo Salvatoris mei latus impii pupugerunt, consulentes ipsi ut eum inde sumptum secum auferret in eoque per eum, qui vulneratus illo ferro fuerat, juramentum daret fidem apud quosvis habiturum. Paruit adolescens, penetratisque clam sacris adytis venerabilem abstulit cuspidem. Cum vero eorum quispiam, qui jam machinationes Gauræ pueri frustra indicarat Augusto detrectanti credere, ad eum denuo accurrens, En, inquit, idoneo testimonio convictum Gauram. Sacrum mucronem de collo suspensum gestat ad devinciendum conjurationis sacramentum. Vocatus extemplo puer clavum in sinu habere deprehensus est: nec cunctatus cætera fateri ad interrogationem primam consciorumque nomina ac destinationis totius ordinem pandere. ^C Confessum reum præsens damnatio in arce custodiendum addixit duci Philippopolis Georgio Mesopotamite. Georgius Decani cum litteris missus est ad Leonem Niceritem ducem prope Danubianæ regionis, specie tanquam ei videlicet in Danubii custodia auxilio futurus, revera ut ipse potius a Nicerita custodiretur. Eustathium vero Camytzæ et alios in certa loca relegatos, fido ubique conclusos præsidio habuit.

BOOK IX

^A Having thus made arrangements concerning John and Gregory Gabras, the Emperor set out from Philippopolis and occupied the defiles that lie between Dalmatia and our own territory. He traversed the entire mountain pass, which is locally called the "Yoke" (65), a path which, because it is precipitous, full of ravines, densely overgrown, and almost impassable for a carriage or horse, he had to traverse entirely on foot. He surveyed everything with his own eyes, lest any unguarded spot be overlooked through which the enemy might often find a passage. In some places he ordered ditches to be dug, in others wooden towers to be constructed, and where the terrain permitted, he commanded that small forts be built of brick or stone, himself measuring the distances and sizes between them. In some parts, he even ordered very tall trees to be uprooted and laid in the path, so as to obstruct the enemy's progress. ^B And thus, in this way, he obstructed the enemy's paths.

[index: entries preserved]

Notes by Charles Du Fresne du Cange

(65) The "Yoke" (Zygos): Nicetas, in *Life of Isaac*, Book 1, in the notes by Wolf, and others describe this pass.

ALEXIAD BOOK IX.

^A emperor was vexed and troubled, and having inquired of the soldier who had come from there and discerned that for the Ducas there was nothing but battles and wars—about the time, he asked at what hour the battles with Tzachas were joined. And when he said it was at the very rising of the sun, the emperor said again: "And which of those fighting gaze toward the east?" The soldier replied, "Our army." Understanding then the cause—for such was he, finding what was necessary in an unhesitating moment—he fashioned a letter to the Ducas, advising him to desist from the battle with Tzachas at the sun’s rising, and not to fight one against two—that is, the sun’s rays and Tzachas himself—but when the sun had passed the meridian circle and was inclining toward the west, then to attack the enemy. Having handed the letter to the soldier and having instructed him about it many times, he finally said emphatically: "If you attack the enemy as the sun is declining, you will be victors immediately." When the Ducas heard this through the soldier, and since he never disregarded even the slightest counsel of the emperor, after this ^B the Barbarians armed themselves according to custom, but since none of their opponents appeared (for the Roman phalanxes were quiet according to the emperor’s instructions), they despaired of the battle that day and remained right there, having laid aside their weapons. But the Ducas was not quiet. For the sun having already reached the meridian, he and the entire military were in their armor. And as the sun was already declining, having set in battle array, with shouting and loud noise he fell suddenly upon the Barbarians. Neither did Tzachas appear unready, but immediately, having armed himself bravely, he joined the Roman phalanxes. A violent wind blowing at that time and the battle having become close-quarters, the dust was carried to heaven. And as the enemy had the sun shining against their faces, and also because the wind, with the dust, blinded their vision in a certain way, and because the Romans were attacking more strongly than ever, they were defeated and turned their backs. And so, Tzachas, not enduring the siege any longer, and not being sufficient for the continuous battle, asked for peace, requesting only this one thing: that a safe voyage to Smyrna be granted him. ^C The Ducas was persuaded by this, and having taken two hostages from the elite of the troops, since he himself again asked for others from the Ducas—that he would harm no one of the Mityleneans upon departing or take them along in sailing to Smyrna, and that he would keep him safe on his voyage to Smyrna—he handed over to him Alexander Euphorbenus and Manuel Boutoumites, men who were warlike and—

THE ALEXIAD IX

Thus, having arranged these things regarding John and Gregory Gabras, the emperor set out and occupied the valleys of Philippopolis and the mountain defiles that cover the Roman territory. And he traversed the neck of land, as it is commonly called by the natives, which extends ^D for a long distance—a place that gapes everywhere with steep crags and abysses, and is overgrown with a thick and tangled density of trees and shrubs, which was impassable for the emperor’s carriages, yet which he examined with his own eyes, carefully scouting wherever a passage for the enemy might lie open. Where the way was blocked, he ordered them to clear it, and where the place allowed for the construction of towers and small forts made of brick or stone, he ordered that this be done, just as the spacing and the magnitude of the place required. He also ordered that the, largest trees be rooted up and leveled to the ground. And thus he obstructed the passages of the enemies.

^A ...and brave. Then, having received assurances from one another, the one [Ducas] felt secure that Tzachas would not cause any harm to the Mitylenians upon his departure, and the other [Tzachas], that he had not suffered any injury while passing by from the Roman fleet. But the crab has not learned to walk straight, nor did Tzachas refrain from his former wickedness. For he attempted to carry off all the Mitylenians, together with their wives and children, along with himself.

While these things were happening, Constantine Dalassenus, who was commander of the fleet and had not yet arrived at a certain promontory with his ships to moor them as instructed by the emperor, upon learning of these matters, came and asked Ducas to be permitted to join battle with Tzachas. But he, fearing the oath he had previously taken, for a time kept putting it off. But Dalassenus persisted, saying, "You indeed have sworn, but I was not present; and you indeed keep the promises you have given, but I, who have neither sworn nor know anything of what was agreed upon between you both, will set out for war against Tzachas."

Now when Tzachas had weighed anchor and was making his voyage directly for Smyrna as he was, Dalassenus caught up with him ^B swifter than word. And he attacked him immediately and pursued him. But Ducas also, having reached the remainder of the fleet of Tzachas, which was weighing anchor, seized the ships and freed all the captives taken by the barbarian hand, and the prisoners held within them. Dalassenus, having captured many of Tzachas's piratical ships, gave orders that those who were in them, including the rowers, be put to death. And perhaps Tzachas himself might have been captured had he not been crafty and, anticipating the future, transferred himself into one of the smaller boats and escaped unnoticed because he was not suspected. For, guessing what might befall him, he had prepared Turks from the mainland to stand at a certain promontory and watch until he either reached Smyrna safely himself, or, running into enemies, might urge his ship toward them as to a place of refuge. And indeed he did not miss the mark, ^C but having moored his ship there and united with the Turks who were awaiting him, he went off toward Smyrna. And indeed he also captured that place.

Dalassenus, having returned as a victor, rejoined the Great Doux. And after Ducas had secured matters at Mitylene, since Dalassenus had also returned from there, he sent off a large part of the Roman fleet against the places held by Tzachas—for he had already succeeded in subduing a number of islands.

And by making an expedition, he occupied Samos and certain other islands, and returned to the imperial city. Not many days passed before the emperor, having learned of the revolt of Karykes and that he had seized Crete, and that from there Rhapsomates had reached Cyprus, dispatched John Doukas against them with a great fleet. When Doukas reached Karpathos, the Cretans, having learned of this—for they knew it was not far off—set upon Karykes and caused a terrible slaughter of him, and thus delivered Crete to the Great Doux. Once Doukas had secured the matters regarding that island and left behind a sufficient force for its garrison, he set sail for Cyprus. And as soon as he reached it, he seized Kyrenia by an assault. Rhapsomates, having learned of this, armed himself vigorously against him. Departing then from Nicosia and having seized the ridges of the hills of Kyrenia, he set up his camp there, deferring the war for a time, like one inexperienced in fighting and ignorant of strategic devices; for it is necessary to fall upon such men while they are unprepared. But he was delaying the battle, not as one preparing to join in the conflict—for he was in fact well enough prepared, and if he had wanted, he could have joined battle immediately—but rather as one not even wishing to engage in a struggle, as if he had undertaken the affairs of war lightly, as in the games of youths, negotiating with them softly and acting as if he were trying to draw them in with honeyed words. And I believe he did this either through inexperience of war (for he was, as I heard about this one, only yesterday or the day before having handled a sword and spear, and not even knowing how to mount a horse, but even if he happened to be mounted, he had confusion and agitation whenever he wished to ride in such a way—so inexperienced was Rhapsomates in military expertise), or else due to these things, or being struck with terror in his soul at the suddenness of the arrival of the imperial armies, he had lost his senses. Hence, even when he began the war with a certain hopelessness, things did not turn out well for him. For Boutoumites, having seduced some of those who had sided with him, enrolled them in his own army. On the following day, as Rhapsomates was leading his phalanxes down along the slope toward the Romans, an ala of his cavalry, nearly a hundred strong, rode forth with reins loose toward Doukas, as if to fight, but suddenly turning their faces about, they brandished their spears against the enemy, now fighting for Doukas. This sight struck Rhapsomates, who, having turned...

his horses' bridles ^A to flight and letting them run loose, hastened toward Nemesos, in the hope that he might find there some ship in which he could sail to Syria and secure his safety. Manuel Butumites was pursuing hard on his heels. Rhapsomates, pressed by him and despairing of his hope, turned aside to the mountain on the other side, taking refuge in a church built long ago in the name of the holy and life-giving Cross. Butumites, who had been charged by Doukas with the task of pursuing him, found him there, gave him a pledge of safety, and taking him along, led him to the Doukas. From there, they all reached Leucosia; and having brought the entire island under their own hand, they made it secure, informing the Emperor of what had happened by letters as the circumstances of the country permitted. The Emperor, having commended their struggle, decided that the affairs of Cyprus should be secured. ^B Therefore, he appointed Calliparius at that time as judge and equalizer; he was a man of distinction, bringing with him much testimony to his justice, lack of greed, and humility. And since the island also needed someone to guard it, he entrusted its protection to Eumathius Philocales, whom he appointed strategopedarch, having given him warships and knights so that he might secure the affairs of Cyprus both by sea and by land. Butumites, however, having taken up Rhapsomates and the immortals who had defected with him, returned to the Doukas, and thus they entered the imperial city. Such, then, were the events concerning the islands, I mean Cyprus and Crete. But Tzachas, being a man fond of war and restless of mind, did not wish to remain quiet, ^C but after no long time he came to Smyrna and occupied it. And again he diligently prepared piratical ships, dromons, biremes, and triremes, and certain other lighter vessels, still intent upon the same goal. The Emperor, having learned these things, did not [remain indifferent]. ^D

but rather, without delay, decided that he must overcome him by land and sea at the same time. Having therefore appointed Constantine Dalassenos as commander of the naval forces, he sent him out, along with the entire fleet, against Tzachas. He himself, however, deemed it wise to incite the sultan against him by letter. The letter was written more or less in this fashion: "You know, most glorious Sultan Clitziasthlan, that the dignity of the sultanate belongs to you by paternal right. Your son-in-law, Tzachas, even if he appears to be arming himself against the Empire of the Romans and calling himself Emperor, is clearly engaging in a mere pretext. For it has not escaped my notice—for one who possesses much experience knows precisely—that the Empire of the Romans does not belong to him, and it is impossible for him to seize such a sovereignty. The entire machination is directed against you. Therefore, it does not befit you to endure him, nor indeed to remain inactive, but rather to be vigilant so that you are not deprived of your own authority. For my part, I shall drive him from the territories under the Empire of the Romans, God assisting, ^B but out of concern for you, I advise you to take heed of your own authority and power, and to hasten to subdue him, at times with peace, and at times—if he does not embrace this—with the sword."

With these matters thus arranged by the Emperor, Tzachas arrived at Abydos with the forces that were under his command, coming from the mainland, and he laid siege to it with siege towers and all manner of stone-throwing engines. For those piratical ships of his were not yet present, as they were not yet completed. Dalassenos, for his part, was advancing with his own forces toward the road leading to Abydos, being a man who was most eager to face danger and thoroughly stout-hearted. But Sultan Clitziasthlan, having received the information sent by the Emperor, acted immediately and set out with his entire army to march against Tzachas. For such is the nature of the barbarian, always ready for slaughter and war. ^C When he [the Sultan] drew near, Tzachas saw that he was being attacked from land and sea. Having nowhere for his ships, as the vessels being prepared by him were not yet finished, and not possessing sufficient forces to face both the Romans and the army of his own father-in-law, the Sultan, he was reduced to perplexity. Fearing both the settlers and the soldiers of Abydos, he deemed it necessary to approach the Sultan, being ignorant of the intrigue that had been manufactured against him by the Emperor. The Sultan, upon seeing him, immediately displayed a cheerful countenance and received him hospitably. Having prepared a feast, therefore, according to custom, and dining with him, he compelled Tzachas to drink his wine vigorously.^D

He perceived that the man was filled with wine, so he drew his sword and thrust it against his flanks. And he ^A indeed lay dead on the spot, but the sultan thereafter sent envoys to the emperor to treat for peace. And he did not fail in his purpose; for the emperor accepted his request and, the peace treaties being concluded according to custom, the regions along the sea were at rest.

But the emperor, not yet relieved of such cares, nor having been cleansed of the calamities arising from this (for even if he was not personally present in some matters, yet he was certainly present in care and oversight, and he cooperated), he was eager for another struggle again. For Bolcanos (a man who held the entire authority of the Dalmatians, and was clever at speaking and clever at acting)—after two solar revolutions following the destruction of the Scythians—having come out of his own borders, was hoping for the cities and lands lying nearby; and having seized Lipenion, he set fire to it after breaking in. The king, having learned of these things, could no longer bear it, but having gathered sufficient forces against the Serbs, he marched straight for Lipenion (this is a small town near the foothills of the Zygos, which divides Dalmatia from our own territory), in order that he might, if it should happen, confront Bolcanos ^B and engage in a hard battle, and if God should grant him victory, to raise up Lipenion and all the rest and restore them to their former state. Bolcanos, having learned of the emperor's arrival, departed from there and seized the small town of Sphentzanion, which is situated above the aforementioned Zygos in the boundary between the Roman frontiers and Dalmatia. But when the emperor had reached Skopia, Bolcanos sent envoys and was arranging matters for peace, freeing himself at once from the blame of what had happened poorly and attributing the whole cause to the Roman satraps, saying that they, not wishing to abide by their own borders, had made various raids and had caused not small damage to Serbia. "I, however, will no longer do such things hereafter, but I will turn back and send hostages from my own relatives to your imperial majesty; and I will not cross my own borders." The king agreed to these things. And leaving there those who were to raise up the ruined cities and to receive the hostages, he returned to the queen of cities. ^C But Bolcanos, when the hostages were sought, was putting it off from day to day, and by various tricks was frustrating our men. Until finally, before the year had turned, he went out of his own borders with his army against the Roman...

[... the Roman and Turkish commanders concurrently.]

^A Bolcan, being required to provide the hostages, did not give them, but kept putting it off from day to day. Before a full year had passed, he had once again sallyed forth to plunder the Roman lands. Although he received various letters from the emperor reminding him of the treaties and the promises he had previously made to him, not even then did he wish to fulfill what he had promised. The emperor therefore sent for John, the son of the sebastokrator and his own brother, and dispatched him against him with a sufficient force. But he, being inexperienced in war and, as a young man, eager for battle, departed at once and, having crossed the river Lipenius, pitched his camp at the foot of the Zygo [range] directly toward Sphentzanion. ^B Bolcan was not unaware of this. He again inquired of him about peace, promising that he would both give the stipulated hostages and keep the peace with the Romans sincerely for the future. But these were mere empty promises; he himself was arming to attack him without [John’s] knowledge. And when Bolcan had set out on the road leading toward John, a certain monk who had intercepted the plan reported it to John, and insisted that the enemy was already closing in. He, however, drove him away in anger, calling him a liar and a deceiver. But the deed confirmed the word sooner than expected. For breaking in upon him by night, he killed many of the soldiers within their tents; many others, fleeing in panic, were swept away by the eddies of the river flowing below and were drowned. ^C Those who were of a steadier mind searched for John’s tent and, fighting vigorously, with difficulty preserved it at that same spot. Thus, then, the greater part of the Roman army perished. Bolcan, having mustered his own men and ascended the Zygo [range], halted near Sphentzanion. Those with John, seeing them—being few and unable to fight against so many—resolved to cross the river to the rear. This having been done, they reached Lipenius, being about twelve stades distant from it, and when John considered that, having lost the greater part of his forces, he was no longer able to hold the territory he was entrusted with against further attack, ^D he sought the route to the Queen of Cities. Bolcan, having become so confident, as if no one were left to stand in his way, plundered the neighboring cities and regions. He completely devastated the exterior territory of Skopje, and even burned parts of it; he did not stop there, but going as far as Polobos and Branes, he ravaged everything, and having taken much booty from there, he returned to his own country.

^A Having learned of these things, the emperor could no longer bear it easily, but immediately he again armed himself, not being in any need of the piper Timotheus for this purpose, like Alexander waiting for the Orthian mode. He himself, therefore, the emperor, having put on his armor and having armed the others who happened to be there at the time, kept to the route leading to Dalmatia, hastening both to raise up again those fortresses that had been previously destroyed and to restore them to their former state, and to exact reprisals from the perpetrator for what had been done by him, and that in overflowing measure. Having therefore set out from the great city and ^B reached Daphnutium (73) (this is an ancient city, forty stadia distant from Constantinople), he waited there, expecting others of his kinsmen who had not yet arrived.

On the day following his arrival, Nicephorus Diogenes (74) appeared, full of rage and pride, but employing his customary mask, he had put on the fox’s skin, and rendering his appearance more gracious, he feigned to approach the emperor freely. He did not, however, pitch his tent at the usual distance from the imperial bedchamber, but took his station close to the ascent that led up to the emperor. Manuel Philocales, having seen this and being struck as if by a bolt of lightning—since the things being plotted by him did not escape his notice—at first stood there dumbfounded, but having with difficulty gathered his wits, he straightway approached the emperor and said, "The thing happening does not seem to me to be innocent, but fear comes upon me, lest something be plotted against your empire during the night." ^C He therefore urged the emperor to use some words with him and make him move from there. But he, being as that man was—for he habitually possessed an unshakable spirit—did not at all accede to the business at the suggestion of Philocales. Though the latter insisted much, he said, "Let be; it is not fitting that he should have a pretext from us. Let him be the cause of the plot against us before both God and men." Philocales, vexed and beating his hands, and calling the emperor reckless, withdrew.

Not much time later, as the emperor was sleeping securely with the empress herself, at the middle watch of the night, Diogenes ascended, carrying a sword under his arm, and having stepped onto the threshold, he stood there. For as the emperor lay there, neither were the doors locked, nor was there a guard keeping watch outside. But these, indeed, are the matters concerning the emperor. ^D As for Nicephorus, some divine power at that time kept him from the undertaking. For seeing the handmaiden (75) who was fanning him—

and driving away the flies from the skin of the emperors, suddenly a trembling seized his limbs and pallor took hold of his cheeks, according to the poet’s saying, in that he postponed the murder to another time. And he was mulling over the undeniable slaughter of the emperor throughout; but the emperor was not unaware of any of the things plotted against him. For the handmaiden quickly approached and reported this incident. Therefore, he held to the proposed journey from there, feigning ignorance, yet so managing matters concerning him that he was both on his guard and, at the same time, careful not to give Nicephorus any reasonable pretext. ^A When he reached the parts of Serres, since Constantine Ducas Porphyrogenitus, who was accompanying the emperor, asked him to lodge at his own estate, which was pleasant and flowed with cool and potable waters, and had accommodations sufficient for the reception of the emperor (Pentegostis is the name of this place), the emperor yielded to his wish and lodged there. But not even on the following day would the Porphyrogenitus allow him to depart; rather, he requested that he stay longer so that he might recover from the journey and cleanse his body from the dust by bathing. For everything necessary for a feast had been lavishly prepared for him. He yielded yet again to the desire of the Porphyrogenitus. When Nicephorus Diogenes, who had long been aspiring to tyranny and was watching to see if he could manage to become his own hand in the deed, learned that he had bathed and come out of the bath, he arrived girt with his sword, as though returning from the hunt according to his custom. Taticius, seeing him and long knowing what was being plotted by him, thrust him back, adding: "Why do you enter so disorderly and armed with a sword? It is the time for the bath, and not for travel or hunting or battle." And he, failing in his aim, withdrew. ^B Reckoning, then, that he had already been found out (for conscience is a witness that does not need a voice), he deliberated on how to secure his own safety by flight, and intended to advance to the estates of the Empress Maria in Christoupolis, or to Pernikos, or to Peritzech, and from there once again to arrange his affairs well according to prevailing circumstances. For the Empress Maria had forestalled him, as she was the sister by the same mother of Michael Ducas, the man who had reigned before her, even if they differed in their fathers. And the emperor departed from there on the third day. But he had left Constantine there of his own accord for the sake of rest, fearing to take along one who—as though he were sleeping—was fanning him with the feathers of a peacock. ^C Of animals, of cowardice. ^D

^A But it was then the first time that the young man had gone forth from the place that bore him, contrary to custom and in an unaccustomed manner, into the state of manhood. For he was an only son to his mother; and the emperor, taking great care of the youth, permitted him to enjoy every relaxation together with the empress his mother, loving him exceedingly as if he were his own child. But that the narrative may not proceed in confusion, let the matters concerning Nicephorus Diogenes be recounted from the very beginning.

How his father, Romanus, was raised to the imperial dignity and what end his affairs had, has been the concern of various historians; and it will be possible for those who wish to gather the details from them. He had died, however, leaving children, namely Leo and Nicephorus. The emperor Alexius, from the beginning of his own proclamation, had taken them up as private individuals who had been of royal status (for as soon as he had stepped onto the throne, Michael, himself their brother, had stripped them of the red buskins and had removed their crowns [(77)], and had sentenced them to exile along with their mother, the empress Eudocia, to the monastery of Cuperude). He deemed them worthy of every kindness, partly because he pitied them for what they had suffered, and partly because he saw that the youths were superior to the many in the beauty of their bodies and in their Roman bearing, already flowering with down, with beards just beginning to grow, tall and of equal measure as if by a rule in their stature, and already displaying the very bloom of youth. From their very appearance, to those not blinded by passion, they clearly revealed their spirited and noble nature, as it were the cubs of a lion.

And since that man was not one to see superficially, nor to wink at the truth, nor to be caught by reprehensible passions, but rather to weigh what is real in an equal balance of conscience, and to ponder the height from which they had fallen, he embraced them as if they were his own children, saying nothing and doing nothing that was not good for them, and taking every forethought for them. And even though envy kept shooting them with such arrows, he did not desist. For although the emperor was incited against them by many, he himself deemed them worthy of all the more assistance, always looking upon them with a cheerful countenance, taking pleasure in them, and always counseling them on what was advantageous. For perhaps another would have considered them objects of suspicion and would have removed them from his path by some method from the very beginning.

^A And pushing away the mosquitoes from the emperor’s skin from a distance, ^B he was instantly seized by tremors in his limbs, and his face turned pale, as the poet says, "the murder beginning to stir in his back." And he, for his part, was always contemplating the slaughter of the emperor, which had been decided upon, while as for the emperor, he was entirely unaware of the things that had been plotted against him. For having quickly taken his departure from there, he took the path that lay before him, feigning ignorance, while managing his own affairs in such a way that he was at once on his guard, and yet gave no reasonable pretext for suspicion to Nicephorus.

In the regions of the Serres, since Constantine Doukas, the Porphyrogenitus, was accompanying the emperor, he requested that the emperor allow him to turn aside to his own estates, which were watered by cool and potable streams and possessed dwellings sufficient for the reception of the emperor—for such was the name of that place—and the emperor gave his consent. But even after this, he did not depart as the Porphyrogenitus had intended; rather, he requested to remain even longer, for the sake of recuperating from the rigors of the journey and restoring his body, since he was already exhausted and had no store of provisions for luxury. Constantine Doukas, the Porphyrogenitus, however, acted according to his request. When Nicephorus learned that he had bathed and emerged from the bath, ^C just as he had often been able to tyrannize before, he girded on his unsheathed dagger, as if returning from the hunt, as was his custom. Seeing Tatikios, whom he had known for a long time and who had been privy to his machinations, he shouted to him, "Why do you come here unarmed and thus? Why, it is time for the bath, and not for traveling or hunting or battle!" But he, having realized the purpose—for his conscience was his accuser—was determined to carry out his own salvation; and shifting his plan, he withdrew to the fields of the Empress Maria in Christoupolis, or toward Pernikon, ^D or toward Peritzon, with the intention of joining up with Michael Doukas again, if he could, for he was the brother of the Empress Maria by the same mother, even if they differed in their fathers. The emperor, for his part, would depart from there. And he left Constantine to his own devices, for the sake of ease, [alt-version omitted]

and offered him sound advice for his peace of mind; and the more clearly he obtained knowledge of the conspiracy of those men against him, the more confidently and liberally he treated them, striving in this way to win over their hearts and reconcile them to himself. But you will not wash the Ethiopian white, however much you scrub him. ^A Nicephorus was always the same, and not restraining his own vice, he spread a certain contagion of rebellion among whomever he approached, attaching some to himself with simple promises, others by the imposition of oaths. And among the military multitude and body of the army, he thought he did not have to labor much to win them to his side. For they undoubtedly already leaned toward him. His whole heart was set on winning over the magnates themselves, as much those who excelled in military honors in the camp as those who held the highest magistracies in the republic and occupied an exceptional place of authority in the senate; he devoted all his care to winning them over and binding them to him. Therefore, he did not cease from soliciting them. And he had a mind sharper than a two-edged sword, but it was always fluttering with ^B unstable levity: applying his mind to no other thought with any consistency, unless it were to the ambition of seizing tyranny. He was a man of smooth speech, cloaking himself in company with a certain appearance of modesty, as if with a fox’s skin, but not rarely, on occasion, his lion’s claws and madness would exert themselves. His strength was joined with equal pride, through which he boasted that he was equal to any giant in battle. The color of his face was of wheat; his chest was broad; he stood out by his whole shoulders above the stature of the men of that time. Furthermore, whether he played at ball, or tamed a horse, or cast a javelin at a target, or brandished a spear, or engaged in sham equestrian combats, he was an object of admiration to those watching, who could do nothing but gape and stand amazed. This fact had an incredible effect in winning for him the favor of the multitude. ^C Nor were these his only aims among the common people; for Michael Taronites, whom the emperor had adorned with the dignity of panhypersebastos and seemed to have bound most tightly to himself by giving his own sister in marriage, was so bewitched by the man’s natural gifts and arts that he preferred his cause to his own domestic affections.

Since, therefore, we return to where the discourse digressed, and the series of the story is to be restored: the emperor, having reflected on these things which we have reported, and considering on the one hand how benevolently and how indulgently and paternally he had behaved toward both brothers from the beginning, treating them as family for so many years and caring for them most lovingly, and yet how nothing these actions had availed to soften the mind of this Nicephorus, he remembered the repeated ambushes, the nocturnal dagger ^D that had been discovered, and the bloody attempt thwarted by the arrival of Taticius, with all the more pain for his own heart, as he was less conscious of any act or word by which he had harmed him. Nevertheless, it was necessary to meet the announced danger of the creeping crime, and since it was sufficiently certain that the treacherous ambition was looming, even then, most especially with nocturnal and diurnal attention to all opportunities for committing the murder, it did not seem that it should be permitted that, through very lax negligence, the safety and life of the prince should be left unguarded, exposed to a parricide prepared with iron. Moreover, against these things, the tender love for an old client intervening, nothing more severe could be decided by the emperor against the once so long beloved Diogenes. But from the opposite side, the recurring appearance of the present danger and the crisis of the intrigues, having been detected once and again, more fearfully approaching his thoughts, and the perpetual care, at last a resolution was concluded, and the plan was established of apprehending Diogenes. He himself, furthermore, Nicephorus, due to his ignorance, thinking of flight for the following day, sent toward evening to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who should, in his name, by reason of their friendship, ask that he grant him the swift horse which Augustus had given to him as a gift at the time of his departure from his lodging. But Constantine

refused, excusing himself on the grounds that he could not, while keeping his office, give away the Emperor's ^A signal gift on the same day he had received it. The next day, therefore, as the Emperor resumed his journey, Diogenes followed as well, with the manifest will of God scattering the plans of men; for although Nicephorus had the clearest necessity for flight and had quite decided to seize upon it, certain of his plan but hesitant in its execution, he dallied from hour to hour until he was caught, the just judgment of God thus driving the deserving man toward destruction.

When, therefore, he had arrived near Serres, where the Emperor himself had fixed his tent and was agitated by the habitual fears of a conscience that felt itself both convicted and detected, the Emperor summoned his own brother, Adrian the Grand Domestic, that very evening on which the memory ^B of the great martyr Theodore was being celebrated. And he shared with him again the affairs of Diogenes, though he was not ignorant of what had transpired before: how Diogenes had entered armed with a sword, how he had been pushed back from the door, and how he was, if possible, still striving to accomplish what had long been planned. At that moment, therefore, the Emperor enjoined the Grand Domestic to call Diogenes into his own tent and, by means of gentle words and all manner of promises, to try to persuade him to reveal everything that had been planned, promising him immunity and amnesty for the rest of his offenses if he would conceal nothing whatsoever, but tell of all his accomplices as well.

He, filled with despondency, nevertheless fulfilled what was commanded. For sometimes by threatening, sometimes by promising, and other times by advising, he did not persuade Diogenes at all to reveal any part of the ^C plans. What was the result of these things? The Grand Domestic was aggrieved and distressed at the evils toward which he judged Diogenes was being carried. For Diogenes had already, by a previous marriage, become his brother-in-law, through one of his sisters of the same mother who had married another. Hence, even with tears, he did not cease imploring him; but he could not persuade him in the least, even though he himself pressed him, reminding him at the same time of the things that had happened before.

For once, when the Emperor was playing at ball in the riding-school in the Great Palace, a certain barbarian man, descended from the Armenians and Turks, wearing a sword beneath his garments, when he saw the Emperor, after checking the reins and being left behind by those playing with him, in order to cool down the horse, which was breathing heavily, approached the Emperor while pretending ^D to supplicate and ask for something. The Emperor immediately pulled up his horse and, turning around, asked what it was that he was requesting. But the murderer, being more of an assailant than a petitioner, reached his hand under and, touching the sword, pulled at the scabbard. But it did not follow the hand. Therefore, having tried the sword once and twice, while weaving false petitions with his lips, he despaired and, having cast himself upon the ground, he lay there asking for pardon. The Emperor, turning his reins toward him, inquired about his flight.

And he showed the sword together with the scabbard, and beating his chest ^A and being horrified, he cried out and said: "Now I have known you to be a genuine servant of God; now I have seen the great God protecting you before my eyes. For I fashioned this sword for your slaughter and took it from my home, and I am here for the purpose of thrusting it into your vitals. But once, twice, and three times I drew it and in no way did it yield to the force of my hand." The Emperor, meanwhile, as if he had heard nothing of the sort, stood there courageous in the same posture. ^B Everyone immediately ran to him, some to hear what was being said, others astonished at these events, and those who were more affectionate towards the Emperor attempted to tear him to pieces; but he restrained them from the attempt with a nod, and with his hand, and with frequent rebukes. What of what followed? That murderer, that soldier, immediately receives complete forgiveness, and not only forgiveness, but also very great gifts; and he enjoys freedom thereafter. Many, therefore, of those who were pressing in, insisted that that murderer be driven out of the imperial city; ^C but he would not be persuaded, saying: "Unless the Lord keeps the city, he who keeps it watches in vain. It remains to pray to God, asking from Him our continued preservation and protection." Some, therefore, were whispering that that man had undertaken the attempt upon the Emperor’s life with the consent of Diogenes; and although the Emperor did not pay any attention to these words at all, but rather was irritated against them, he was so tolerant of him that, even with the point of the sword reaching his throat, he seemed to feign ignorance. ^D But these things were so. When the Grand Domestic had reminded him of these things and was in no way persuading him, he approached and reported to the [Emperor]...

the defiance of Diogenes and the fact that Diogenes was denying everything, even though he had been greatly entreated, as he said, by him. He therefore sends for Muzaces and orders him to arrive armed with others, to take charge of him from the tent of the Grand Domestic, and to lead him off to his own quarters and keep him there under guard, in chains and other duress. He immediately fulfilled the order. And having taken him, he led him off to his own tent. But since he was entreating and counseling him through the whole night and not only was not persuading him, but was seeing him behaving with impertinence, he became filled with rage and hastened to attempt things which had not been ordered. Having therefore tested him—and indeed acting as an investigator—since Diogenes did not withstand even the first attack and declared that he would confess everything, he immediately loosened his bonds, and a scribe was called at that moment holding a writing tablet; he was Gregory Camaterus (82), recently taken on and acting as a sub-secretary to the Emperor. And Diogenes related everything, and not even the murder did he omit. When Muzaces had taken up in the morning both his written confessions and the letters that he had sought out and were sent to him by certain people—by which it appeared that Empress Maria was aware of the defection of Diogenes, but by no means permitted the murder, but was even restraining him with care, not only from the murder but even from the mere thought of it—he brought them to the Emperor. And he, having read these through and having found many more written down than had been suspected, and these being all the select ones, was in helplessness. For Diogenes was not intending so much for the commonality; for he had them long ago open-mouthed for him with all their soul and inclined toward him; but he was hastening to bring over to his side all the first-rank men of the military and civil establishment. Indeed the Emperor wished for the matters of Empress Maria to remain unrevealed. And he did indeed keep them so, feigning ignorance—because of the trust and understanding he had given ^B toward her even before he took up the scepters of the empire. But the counsel of Diogenes was being spread everywhere as being relayed to the Emperor by Porphyrogenitus Constantine, the son of the Emperor, even if the matter was otherwise. And from the very ones who were serving Diogenes, the matters of the counsel were being quietly relayed. But because Diogenes was being disregarded and was in chains. When he was caught. ^C Because of envy. To the man, in a swarm buzzing with imperial affairs, and the letters from others were bothering him no less than the writing to others. Regarding the Protasikretis, how much status it gave him: both the office of Logothete, which previously presided at the imperial council, and the office of Protasikretis, of the one who is always writing for the emperors.

^C And he also became an exile, and those chosen for his council, recognizing that those who had not arrived first were now suspected and already exposed, appeared filled with fear and deliberated on what they might do. Those around the emperor, observing them tossed by such waves, seemed to be in a state of helplessness, seeing his affairs in very narrow straits, as if the emperor's path were already hemmed in by certain constraints, and he already had the danger hanging over his head.

However, the emperor, analyzing with his reasonings back to the facts from the beginning—how many times Diogenes had acted against him and, having failed through divine power, was now standing as his own murderer—was tossed by many thoughts, and taking many changes and turns of mind, since he recognized that the entire civil and military establishment had been corrupted by Diogenes’ flatteries. Having no sufficient power to place a guard against so many, and neither wishing to mutilate a huge multitude of people, he sent Diogenes and Kekaumenos, the son of Katakalon, the prime instigators, to Caesaropolis, on the condition that they be only constrained and kept in confinement, for the time being having plotted nothing else terrible against them, even though all were advising him to mutilate them. For he loved Diogenes specially, and because of the previous care he had formerly held for him. He also exiled the husband of his sister, Michael Taronites, and [others], and confiscated their wealth. As for the others, he judged it safer not to bring them into examination at all, but rather to soften them through compassion. Accordingly, in the evening, each of the exiles took the place allotted to him, and Diogenes took Caesaropolis; of the others, no one departed from his own position, but they all remained in the same state. While they were in these dire straits, with the emperor wishing to summon them all the day after... ^D

^A and accomplish what he intended, as many as bore heartfelt love for the emperor—those related to him by blood and kinship, and as many servants of his father who were present then—were keen and quick to foresee what was to come, yet prudent enough to keep the realization to themselves and accomplish it in an unreflecting moment. Fearing that some of those who had swarmed together with the masses might—perhaps carrying swords under their cloaks, as that [assassin] once did—fall upon him while he was on the throne, they devised a plan (for this had no other remedy than to take away from everyone the hopes regarding Diogenes, by spreading rumors as if in a corner that he had been blinded). Having summoned certain people, they sent them forth to proclaim this to everyone in secret, even though this had not yet entered the mind of the emperor at all. This rumor was mere words at that time, but it proceeded into action, as the account below will clarify.

When the sun rose high and bright above the horizon, as many of those around the emperor who had not shared in the damage attempted by Diogenes, and even the guards long stationed to protect the imperial person, first proceeded to the imperial tent. Some were girt with swords, some carried spears, and others had heavy-iron rhomphaiai on their shoulders; having arranged themselves from a distance from the imperial throne in a semicircular shape, gathering themselves round the emperor as it were, they showed a common spirit of command—and indeed, even if not their swords, they were sharpening their hearts. As much of his kin by blood and affinity as were close to him stood on either side of the royal throne. On the right and left, other bodyguards were seated. The emperor sat upon his throne in a formidable manner, not arrayed as a king so much as a soldier, nor was he positioned prominently, as those [who are] not raised up are. Yet gold adorned the throne, and he stood above it. His brow was knit, and the struggle at that time flushed his cheeks even more; his eyes, fixed in contemplation and full of thoughts, indicated how his soul was faring. All ran together, terrified and nearly breathing out their very souls for fear, ^B being driven [by it], some being pricked sharper than by an arrow by their own conscience, others fearing the common suspicion. No voice was heard from anyone, but they stood amazed, looking steadily at the man stationed at the door of the tent. This man was capable both of speaking and of accomplishing much; his name was Tatikios. The emperor, looking steadily at him, indicated by his gaze that he should grant entry to those on the outside. He immediately granted them passage. And they, although fearing ^C...

^A but nevertheless entered with downcast eyes and proceeding with slow steps. Having taken their places according to their rank, they awaited what was to come, each one fearing as if he were running the last race for his life. But even the emperor himself was not at all confident (I speak as a man, except insofar as he referred everything to God), fearing the mixed multitude of those standing by, lest they might plot some other sharp and terrible thing against him. But having steadied himself with firmer resolve, and having once established himself in the struggle, he began his address to them; and they stood there more speechless than fish, as if their tongues had been cut out. "You know," he said, "that Diogenes has never suffered any harm from me. For I did not take the beginning of this empire from his father, but someone else, nor have I ever done anything at all terrible or painful to him. And when the empire was completely transferred to me by the grace of God, I not only kept both him and his brother Leo in the same position, but I also loved and treated them as my own children. And Nikephoros, whom I have caught multiple times plotting against me, I have deemed worthy of so much compassion. And not even when he failed to reform did I endure to conceal most of his grievances, perceiving the ill-will of all toward them, even if none of the good things that had come to him from me changed the deceitful nature of his mind. But he, in return for everything, has voted death for me." At this, they all shouted out that they would not wish to see another in the form of an emperor, not that the majority desired this, but their words were tricks, as they were managing to escape the immediate danger. The emperor, having seized the moment, deemed the majority worthy of common compassion, as the authors of the plot had previously been condemned to exile. At this, a great clamor was raised, such as no one of those then present—or of those living even now, as they say—had ever admitted within ^B themselves, with some praising the emperor and wondering at his patient endurance and gentleness, while others were railing against those in exile and insisting that they were worthy of death, such are the affairs of men. For whom today they deem worthy of blessing, and whom they escort and treat with honor, when they see the die of his life cast in a different direction, they are not ashamed to show the exact opposite toward him. But the emperor, by a nod, caused them to be silent ^C and said again, "There is no need to be in an uproar or to confuse the matter before us. For I, as I said, deeming all worthy of compassion, will be back to you as I was before." While the emperor was deeming those worthy of compassion, those who had plotted that counsel—without his knowledge—deprived Diogenes of his eyes. They did these things to him and to Kekaumenos, Catacalon, just as... ^D

they had decided. The day was that on which the memory of the chief apostles was celebrated. ^A But these things have been talked about from that time even to the present day. Whether the emperor, being prompted by them, had yielded to this, or whether the entire matter was of his own design, God may know; for my part, I have nothing certain to say.

So much for what befell the emperor from Diogenes, he having been unexpectedly rescued from immediate danger by the irresistible hand of the Most High. As for the emperor himself, he did not grow soft at any of the events that had occurred, but drove straight on toward Dalmatia. When Bolcanos learned of the emperor’s arrival at Lipenion and saw that he had caught up with him, and was unable even to face the Roman battle lines, that shield-wall, and the strategic panoply, he immediately sent messengers to ask for peace, promising at the same time to send the very hostages who had been promised beforehand, and not to perform any evil deed from that time forward. The emperor therefore gladly accepts the barbarian’s request, being weary, as it were, and turning away from civil war—for although they were Dalmatians, they were nevertheless Christians. He, having straightway taken heart, approached, bringing with him his relatives and the most eminent of the Zupans (85); and he willingly delivered the hostages, his own nephews, to the emperor, as well as the one called Ouesis (84) and Stephanus, whom they had previously promised. ^{B C D}

Varieties of readings from the Coislin codex

twenty. For it was not possible for him to be disposed otherwise for the future. The emperor, having settled peacefully whatever was naturally destined to be accomplished through battle and iron, returned to the imperial city. Yet he cared deeply for Diogenes, and was seen to weep, and was heard sighing from the depths of his soul on his account.12 He showed great kindness toward him, and was eager to restore him, and returned to him the majority of the things that had been taken away from him. But he, being well known for his grief and shunning life in the great city, lingered ^B in his own estates, giving himself over entirely to the books of the ancients, while others read them aloud to him. For, being deprived of light, he used others for his reading. This man was of such a nature that he could easily grasp what was difficult for even those who were not in love to interpret in those who were. For having gone through all learning thereafter, and having encountered one of the most remarkable philosophers of his time in that very celebrated field of geometry, he ordered him to provide the figures for him by means of solid objects; and he, by the touch of his hands, gained a grasp of the theorems and figures of geometry, just like that Didymus who, for the ^C sharpness of his intellect and even without eyes, arrived at the pinnacle of music and geometry, even if, after the knowledge of these things, his mind was driven into a strange heresy, blinded by vanity as if by a passion of the eyes. Everyone, therefore, who hears these things is amazed. But I have also seen the man, and I have marvelled, and I have heard him speaking about such matters; and not being unpracticed in such things myself, I recognized that he possessed an accurate knowledge of the theorems. But even if he was occupied with the doctrines of the ancients, he nevertheless did not depart from his anger against the emperor, but kept the design of tyranny smoldering within him throughout. And indeed, he had shared this hidden design again with certain persons, from ^D whom one individual approached and reported the plans to the emperor. The emperor, having summoned Diogenes, inquired about what he had planned and about those who had shared in his counsel. And having confessed everything at once, he was immediately deemed worthy of compassion.

However, he still harbored the raw wound of anger and ambition; and, marvelous to relate, he not only turned over in his blind soul the usurpation of the empire and the taking of revenge upon the emperor, fostering as it were under the ashes of his own downfall the still-living and smoldering embers of an old flame, but he even brought these thoughts into conversation and outward attempts, daring to test the loyalty of certain men and to prepare partners for a new conspiracy. This matter was reported to the emperor by one of those with whom Diogenes had spoken about these things. Being summoned after this information, the accused once again freely confessed the crime, and revealed his accomplices and the entire sequence of his counsel; and thus, he was immediately granted a second pardon from the Augustus.

ANNE COMNENE ALEXIADIS LIBER X

ARGUMENT

SUMMARY

ALEXIADIS BOOK X.

^AInterea, not long after the condemnation of the depraved dogmas of the Italian, whom we mentioned before, there arose a successor to his madness, Nilus by name, a cunning pretender to virtue. He, having flooded the Church with a certain deluge of wickedness, brought the souls of all into present danger of shipwreck concerning the faith, and plunged not a few into irreparable ruin, as if into the whirlpools of his errors. This man, I know not from where, set out for Constantinople and there practiced a somber life, sequestered from the common people, appearing to attend only to God and himself, and spending his leisure in perusing the sacred books. He was completely unversed in all Greek erudition. He had broken into the divine Scriptures in a certain violent way, never having had the assistance of any tutor to open up to him the first approaches to the inner knowledge of those hidden meanings. Nevertheless, he was very much occupied in reading the works of the saints; but, since he brought an intellect uninitiated in any art of discourse or method of reasoning, it necessarily followed that he was excluded from the sacred inner sanctums, and strayed, as they say, far from the exact understanding of divine oracles and dogmas.

^BNevertheless, he gathered no small number of admirers of himself, before whom—gathered into great houses—he would appear as a preacher, a teacher declared by his own vote alone. His authority among those whose minds were already preoccupied with favor was easily promoted by, first, the remarkable appearance of virtue, then by the austerity of his way of life and dress, and the squalor shown in his countenance and garments; and finally by the sparks of learning that shone from his hidden depths, dazzling the minds of the ignorant, as if they were hidden by design and were frustrating the guard of modesty by their exuberant abundance. Trusting in such confidence of himself and his own supporters, he fell into the headlong recklessness of defining the greatest matter—a man who had never learned what union was, what hypostasis was, nor how these things could be joined and composed into an hypostatic union, nor how the assumed nature had been made a participant of the divinity. From the commentaries of the saints, which he had worn out without the fruit of understanding, he began to teach and profess openly that the humanity of Christ had been deified by nature, having strayed far in this matter beyond the orbit of Catholic truth.

^CThe emperor could neither be ignorant of these things nor overlook them. Believing that a remedy should not be slow to counter the error of a well-known man—since it was an evil that was slippery in its propagation—he summoned the very author of this depraved doctrine. He rebuked him for his audacity and ignorance, not superficially, and then, by means of many testimonies and arguments, clearly convinced the obstinate man. He demonstrated to him, if he could perceive it, what was the hypostatic union of the Word with the humanity; he expounded to what extent and by what reason the communication of properties between both natures was effected; and finally, he taught copiously that the humanity assumed had not been deified by its own nature, but by ^Dsupernal grace. The proud heretic, however, wrapped himself in his own contumacy, and, refusing to yield, he was prepared for every injury, for the rack, for chains, and for the tearing of his flesh, rather than to desist from teaching that this assumed humanity was deified by nature.

manifest truth, so that he showed himself far more prepared to endure bonds, tortures, and the mutilation of his body, and to undergo any inconvenience whatever, rather than to allow himself to be extorted of that freedom to hold or to proclaim to others what he had begun to profess—namely, that the humanity of Christ’s nature had been deified. ^B There were at that time in Constantinople very many Armenians, to whom, being prone to hold non-orthodox views, this Nilus supplied a new impetus and incitement toward that very thing. Hence arose frequent discussions with that Tigranes and Arsaces, who, more than others, were drawn by the discourse and company of Nilus toward a nefarious license in perverse thinking. ^C The Emperor, moved by the destruction of the perishing souls—which the contagion of a malady easily serpents and which a doctrine of unsound mind was corrupting with impunity; and because the faction of the perverse-thinkers had become so much the firmer and more powerful for harm, since he had, of his own, woven and fused the separate causes of Nilus and the Armenians into one body of a now-overpowering sect, the force and authority of which was so great that, with the traditions of the ancient Fathers having been abrogated in many places, the Catholic doctrine concerning the hypostatic union was almost ignored, while in truth, with voices raised in public and unchecked, the impious dictum of those asserting that "the assumed humanity has been deified by nature" rang out—the Emperor, I say, judging that it was time to bring help, if he could, to such a crisis, as ruin was collapsing in upon them, convokes the leaders of the Church into one synod, so that by conferring councils and judgments, they might decree upon the present state of affairs. ^D The entire assembly of bishops convened, together with the Patriarch Nicholas himself. Nilus is brought into their midst with the Armenians. They are ordered to declare what they believe concerning the Incarnation of the Word. Then that wicked man openly asserted those things which we have related, his impudence in professing the rashness of his error being equal to the act; insomuch that he even endeavored to support his ill-spoken words with many more arguments. When the matter had then proceeded to judgments, the synod, having sufficiently ascertained the contumacy of Nilus, lest the plague of the corrupt member should creep to the ruin of the healthy, proclaimed a perpetual anathema against him, as a persistent assertor of a condemned doctrine, and preached the hypostatic union more clearly and explicitly according to the traditions of the saints. After him, or rather together with him, was also condemned Blachernites, who also held impious views foreign to the Church, although he was a priest. He, having contracted a plague through an association with the Enthusiasts, which he propagated by deceiving many others, and having insinuated himself like a hidden tunnel into great houses and promulgated impious dogmas there, had been very often summoned by the Emperor and warned and instructed as to how vehemently he was erring; in the end, since he could not be torn away from the embrace of his errors, he was brought to the Church and, having been examined accurately by the Fathers of this very synod, where he had fortified himself—

^A he was caught in his obstinacy and found to be such that both he himself and his dogmas were subjected to perpetual anathema. Thus the Emperor, like a good pilot, having struggled through frequent incursions of surging waves and traversed the vast billows of a turbulent world, and having furthermore set right ecclesiastical affairs, was called to other struggles of wars and commotions—a man born for fate, so that he might not have even a moment to catch his breath or, as the saying goes, to close his eyelids. For so much did various successive streams of evils, threatening with the vortex of dangers, churn his virtue as if it were a sturdy ship; or rather, as if he were on a shoreless and immense sea, infested with savage storms. These affairs, in whatever way I have undertaken to narrate the acts of Alexios Augustus, I do not expect to be able to channel all into this narrow bed of my work. Indeed, I freely confess that these things which are excerpted by me as a specimen and for memory, and are skimmed from the highest peaks rather than written with the hope or plan of executing everything, if they were compared to the whole body of the deeds performed by Alexios, would maintain a proportion almost equal to a single drop drawn from the Adriatic Sea compared to the entire vastness of that ocean. Nevertheless, through these tempests and these storms, with the breath of divine favor blowing, he brought the saved and victorious ship of the empire to a prosperous harbor. For this merit, what praise he earned, neither the voice of Demosthenes, nor the torrential genius of Polemon, nor all the Homeric Muses could celebrate as he deserves. Indeed, not even Plato himself, nor even if the Portico were to conspire with the Academy, could they in my judgment philosophize anything not less than the heroic merits of Alexios. But now we must come to another whirlwind, which was no less formidable and violent than the previous ones, and which assailed the fortune and state of my father before those were yet quieted and composed. ^B There suddenly emerged from the army camp a certain man of nothing, a son of the earth who claimed to be a Diogenes, the son of him who had once reigned under that name. It was sufficiently well-known that he whose name and person this plagiarist was usurping had been killed in that battle which was fought against the Turks at Antioch when Isaac, now Sebastokrator, was leading the Roman army—about which, whoever wishes to learn more distinctly, has the commentaries of our Caesar to consult. Nevertheless, encouraged by the factious zeal and exhortations of many, the wandering quack persevered in what he had once begun. ^C And he was a crafty and wily little man, whose necessity had sharpened his wits. For he had come from the East to Constantinople, needy and ragged; and thus, having guile as his resource and art, he plied it energetically, going about the city house by house, and penetrating into homes, where he proclaimed among the credulous—it is wondrous how high—things about himself. Namely, that he was that Leo, the son of the Diogenes who had recently reigned, who had died, as we have said, struck by an arrow at Antioch; yet this impostor had raised him from the dead, and surely, having usurped his name, he was openly playing the emperor ^D and deceiving the more flighty. And so this calamity too was an addition to the misfortunes of the Emperor, as if Fortune were performing this wretched drama for him. And just as, I think, when those had ceased...

to feast, the epicures serve up some honey-cakes for dessert, so Fortune, having plagued the Roman state with many evils and having grown weary of such pretender-emperors, began to mock the Emperor with this one. The Emperor, however, utterly despised his pronouncements. But since this man ^B kept up such prattle in the streets and alleys at all times, it reached the ears of Theodora, the sister of the ruling Alexios and wife of that slain son of Diogenes. She, unable to bear those ravings, was distressed. For upon the slaughter of her husband, she had exchanged her former life for a solitary one, pursuing the ascetic life most strictly, and attending to God alone. The Emperor, since that babbler did not fall silent after a second and third warning, sent him to Cherson and ordered him to be kept under guard. Arrived there, he would climb up the wall at night and look out, speaking once or twice with the Comans who frequented that place for the sake of trade and to procure necessities; having given and received pledges, he tied himself with ropes by night and was let down from the wall. The Comans took him with them and departed for their own country. Living among them for a sufficient time, he went so far as to be called Emperor by them. And they, longing to lap up human blood and be sated with human flesh, and to gather much plunder from our land, finding this man a pretext, decided to march against the entire Roman army, as if, forsooth, to establish him upon his father’s throne. They held this plan in secret as yet. This did not escape the Emperor. Therefore, he armed his forces as much as possible and made preparations for the battle against the Barbarians; for he had already reached the mountain passes ^C which the local tongue is accustomed to call *kleisourai*, as we have said, and secured them. When some time had passed, and he had learned that the Comans, together with the pseudo-monarch, were reaching the Danube, he gathered those who held the first rank in the military formation, and even those related to himself by blood and affinity, and deliberated whether it was necessary to move against them. When all of them tried to dissuade him from this, he could not trust in himself, nor did he wish to rely on his own reasoning, but, committing the whole matter to God, he asked for judgment from Him. Therefore, he called all of the clerical and military order together and went in the evening to the Great Church of God. And since Patriarch Nicholas ^D was also present — for he arrived [index: entries preserved]

at the patriarchal throne during the seventh indiction, in the year 6692, following the resignation of Eustratius Garidas — the Emperor entrusted to the primary bishop of them all a prompt written upon two scrolls [(90)] concerning whether or not he ought to attack the Comans who had emerged, commissioning him to place it upon the holy table. After an all-night hymnody was completed, at the approach of dawn, the one who had placed the scrolls entered; he took the papers, and having brought them out and opened them before everyone, he read them out. The Emperor, therefore, having received from that place, as if from a divine oracle, an impetus for the action, gave himself entirely to the expedition and by means of letters recalled the army from every direction. Having thus prepared reasonably well, he set out on the road against the Comans. Having recalled the entire army and reaching Anchialus, he sent away his own brother-in-law [(91)], Caesar Nicephorus Melissenus, and George Palaeologus, and his nephew [(92)], John Taronites, to Beroea, so that they might keep watch and ensure the security of that place and those situated around it. As for the rest of the chosen men, he divided the armies and, having appointed as their leaders Dabatenus, George Euphorbenus, and Constantine Humbertopulus, he sent them off to guard the mountain passes located around the Zygos. From there, having reached Chortarea (a pass of the Zygos so named), he went around the whole Zygos, examining whether those who had undertaken the administration of these things had completed everything he had previously ordered, and if anything was half-finished or lacking, to correct this, so that it might not be easy for the Comans to pass through. Having therefore arranged everything, he turned back from there and pitched his camp near the so-called Sacred Lake [(93)], situated close to Anchialus. When night fell, Poudilos, a prominent Vlach, reported the passage of the Comans across the Danube; the Emperor judged it necessary, when the day dawned, to call together the prominent members of his kin and the commanders to deliberate on what ought to be done. And since they all said that it was necessary for everyone to arrive at Anchialus, he signaled it.

After all these things had been managed with vigilance, and all the works he had commanded were already completed, [the Emperor] was going to put the finishing touch upon whatever he discovered was not yet complete, or to correct whatever had been poorly established. For had these matters been handled as they should have been, it would have been very difficult for the Comani to penetrate that way. Having arranged everything to his satisfaction, he returned from there to the "Sacred" marsh, as it is called, and pitched his camp near Anchialus. At night, a man named Pudilus, one of the chief men of the Blachi, came to the Emperor, reporting that the Comani had crossed the Danube. Therefore, at daybreak, having called together the chief men of the court and the army, he consulted on what needed to be done. All were of the opinion that Anchialus should be occupied. The Emperor obeyed.

But before he set out for that place, he sent Cantacuzenus and Taticius to the so-called "Hot Springs" together with certain of the allied tribes, namely Scaliarius, Elcanus, and others of the elite, so that they might keep watch there for the protection of those parts. But when the Emperor learned that the attack of the Comani was directed against Adrianople, he summoned all the chief citizens of that city to himself. Among these, the leaders of them all were deemed to be Catacalo Tarchaniotes and Nicephorus, the son of the former tyrant Bryennius—himself also having been a tyrant and deprived of his eyes. The Augustus, having called these to himself, earnestly entrusted the protection of their city to them, admonishing them moreover that when the Comani moved into sight of Adrianople, they should not fight them lazily or coldly, but neither should they allow themselves to be carried away by excessive ardor; rather, they should for the most part keep the city gates closed and weary the Barbarians with projectiles and arrows hurled from the walls from a distance. And if they were to observe these orders exactly, he promised them many benefits. With these instructions, the Emperor sent Bryennius and the others back to Adrianople.

Furthermore, he ordered Constantine Catacalo Euphorbenus by letter to take with him Monastras (this man was of mixed blood, [having] gained great experience in military affairs from long service) and Michael Anemas, along with the soldiers assigned to them, and as soon as they learned that the Comani had passed through the mountain passes, to follow behind them and, from a place of safety, to make sudden attempts upon them. But the Comani, having used the Blachi as guides for finding the paths through the narrow and complex passages, easily crossed the mountain range. As soon as they approached Goloen, the inhabitants of that city immediately bound the one who had been entrusted with the protection of the fortress and handed him over to the Comani; and they, having acclaimed them, received them gladly.

But Constantine Catacalo, having the Emperor’s instructions fresh in his mind, fell upon some of the Comani who were out on a foraging expedition and, having attacked them boldly, led away from them a hundred men taken alive to the Emperor. Pleased by the man’s bravery, the Emperor immediately honored him with the rank of *nobilissimus*. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the neighboring cities—namely Diampolis and those nearby—alarmed by the report of the occupation of...

^A the city by them, willingly welcomed them and surrendered their cities, loudly proclaiming the pseudo-Diogenes. Having become master of all, he reorganized the entire Coman army and marched on Anchialus, desiring, as it were, to test its walls. Now the Emperor, being inside, and having possessed great experience in military matters from his childhood, when he understood the position of the place—how it warded off the attack of the Comans and served as a fortification—divided his forces, threw open the gates of the fortress, and drew them up in close array outside. When a part of the Roman phalanx raised a cry at the end of the Coman line, they put them to flight, pursuing them as far as the sea. Witnessing this, and realizing that his forces were not sufficient to face such great numbers in open battle, nor able to stand against them, the Emperor ordered all to remain for the future in close formation and that no one should run out in front of the line of battle. The Comans, for their part, drew themselves up and stood opposite the Roman phalanx, though they themselves did not attack either. This continued for three days from morning until evening, as the position of the place prevented them from desiring to fight, and prevented anyone of the Roman phalanx from running out against them. Now the fortress of Anchialus had such a position: on the right it had the Pontic Sea, and on the left ^B a rough place, difficult to pass and overgrown with vines, which did not afford a smooth path for knights. What came of this? Seeing the Emperor's endurance, the Barbarians, having lost hope in their plans, turned to another path leading toward Adrianople, deceived by the pseudo-Diogenes, who kept telling them that when Nicephorus Bryennius heard that he had taken Adrianople, he would open the gates with great joy and welcome him, provide him with money, and deem him worthy of every kindness; for even if not by nature, yet by choice, he had held a brotherly disposition toward my father. "And when the fortress is surrendered to us, thus we shall take hold of the road leading forward to the Queen of Cities." He called Bryennius "divine," having some misunderstanding of the true state of affairs. For the former Emperor Romanus ^C Diogenes, knowing this man Bryennius—as excelling all the men of that time in wisdom, and being, as he knew most accurately, upright in character and truthful in his words and deeds—wished to adopt him as his brother (96). And indeed, the deed was accomplished, with both parties consenting. But these things are true and known by all as such. And as for the rest, having approached... [index: entries preserved]

^A and truly named him divine. Thus were the machinations of the pseudonym. The Comani, as barbarians possess a lightness and instability of temperament as a natural attribute, were persuaded by his words, and occupying Adrianople, they encamped outside this city for forty-eight days, with skirmishes occurring every day. For the younger ones and those eager for battle, sallying forth daily, joined in frequent conflicts with the barbarians. Since Nicephorus Bryennius was being summoned from below by the pseudonym, he looked out from a tower, and to the extent that one could judge from the man’s voice, he said that he did not even recognize him as the son of Romanus Diogenes, who had acted as his brother by choice, as is often wont to happen, and that his true son had been killed at Antioch. Having said this, he dismissed the impostor with contempt. But the pseudonym was so shameless that ^B when those inside, as time wore on, were already in straits, they requested aid from the emperor by letter. He immediately ordered Constantine Euphorbenus to take a sufficient force from the counts under him (97) and to enter Adrianople by night through the area of the Calathades. And Catacalon immediately took the road leading to Orestias, thinking with favorable hopes that they would escape the notice of the Comani. But he missed the mark. For detecting this, a great number of them at that moment rode out and attacking, they drove them back and pursued them sharply. At which time also his son, Nicephorus—who truly at a later time became my brother-in-law by marrying my sister, Maria Porphyrogenita—clasping a long spear and meeting the Scythian pursuing them by turning back, strikes him in the chest, and he lay dead immediately. For he knew truly how to brandish a spear and shield himself with a buckler. And one would have viewed him while riding, thinking him not Roman, but one having come from the Franks (98); for the young man was a wonder riding his horse, and truly ^C an ambitious spectacle at that time. For every Frankish man, while riding, is unbearable in his onset and appearance.

He is just as ready by nature as by training. No one brandished a spear more menacingly than he, nor sheltered himself more securely behind his shield. Anyone seeing him riding would say he was not a Roman but a Frank from Normandy; such a wonderful spectacle was this youth, taming an intractable horse and compelling it to run with the most elegant skill along all the paths of the art. He appeared likewise adorned with other gifts, as if by a certain ambitious display of nature. He was profoundly religious toward God, and toward men remarkably sweet and most affable.

Forty-eight days having passed in the siege of Adrianople, by the order of Nicephorus Bryennios (for all the power of that city was in his hands), they suddenly threw open the gates and, launching an attack, sallied forth against the Comans ^A and joined in fierce battle with them. No Roman spared himself there; thus, many fell fighting courageously for their fatherland, but many more of the Barbarians were slaughtered. When Marianus Maurocatacalon caught sight of Togortas, the supreme leader of the Comans, he wielded a long spear in his hand and, giving his horse the full rein, charged straight at him, enveloped in the midst of his own army. He would have killed him, had the Comans not rescued him by swiftly retreating, all of them together setting upon Marianus, whom many of them very nearly killed with powerful blows. This Marianus, although young in age and just past adolescence, had often made sallies from the city of Orestias and engaged the Comans hand-to-hand, and as many times had returned a victor, having either killed or struck a foe. He was in truth a most valiant warrior, as if endowed with an hereditary courage, a more noble offspring of noble parents and ancestors. ^B Furthermore, he, having been saved from that immediate danger and still burning with rage at the crime he had not completed, caught sight of the Pseudo-Diogenes on the opposite bank of the river, at the very place where Marianus had fought with the Barbarians a little earlier. Clad in purple and regally adorned, but with his companions scattered in the tumult of battle, he was left exposed. Charging at him, Maurocatacalon struck the head of the tyrant with the lash of his whip, calling him a false-named prince and a plagiarist.

Finally, the Emperor, having learned of the delay of the Comans in the siege of Adrianople and fearing the peril of the daily battles there, thought it necessary himself to move from Anchialos and repair thither. Having therefore convened a council of the leading commanders and princes of the commonwealth, he sought their opinion on the present matter. Then, a certain man named Alacaseus approached him and spoke thus: "My father was once ^C an acquaintance of the father of this pseudonym. In view of this, hoping that I shall be commended to him, I will approach the man and easily persuade him to enter some Roman fortress with me, where I will be able to seize and detain him." It was then inquired by what method that deed could be accomplished. He himself, further, suggesting the stratagem of Zopyrus, undertook to the Emperor that he would use it conveniently for the task he was preparing: namely, that he would disfigure himself, shave his beard and hair, and, having such habit and appearance, would hurry to the tyrant as though he had suffered these things at the hands of the Emperor. He did not say these things without having done them, nor did he promise them without carrying them into effect. ^D

^A Yet even as the Emperor commended his plan, Alacaseus lost no time; he sheared his hair close and scarred his flesh, and then went to that counterfeit Diogenes. Among other things, he reminded him of their old friendship, and said, "I have come to you, emboldened by the loyalty of my father toward your majesty, because I have suffered many terrible things at the hands of the Emperor Alexius, in order to assist you in your present enterprise." He used such flattering titles to draw him in further. And so that I may tell my story more clearly, having been encouraged by the Emperor Alexius and likewise provided with a letter directed to the commander of a certain small town named Putza [(99)], who had been entrusted with its defense, telling him to do without hesitation whatever the bearer of the letter might suggest to him—for the Emperor had correctly calculated that the Comans would reach that place upon leaving Adrianople—things were thus arranged. Alacaseus, having, as we said, shorn his hair close, approached the false pretender and said: "Because of you I have suffered many terrible things; because of you I have been insulted and cast into iron chains; because of you I have been confined for many days now since you arrived in Roman territory, being suspected by the Emperor because of my father's friendship toward you. Having therefore escaped, I have fled to you, my master, having liberated myself from my bonds and prepared to suggest to you what is most advantageous." The latter received him kindly and asked what he ought to do in order to achieve his goal. And he replied: "Do you see this small town and this wide plain, which is sufficient for pasturing your horses for as many days as you wish to rest both yourself and your army? It is necessary therefore that we do not advance further just yet, but wait here a little while, so that you may both recover yourself by taking this town and also, after the Comans have gone out, obtain what is necessary, and thus set out toward the capital. And if it pleases you, I shall see the guardian of the town, who was formerly entirely my own man, and I shall see to it that he surrenders it to you without a fight." This plan pleased Diogenes. During the night, Alacaseus tied a royal letter to an arrow and shot it into the fortress. The man guarding it read it and prepared to surrender the aforementioned town. At dawn, Alacaseus, having approached the gates first, pretended to converse with the guard, having previously given a sign to Diogenes so that, when he saw it, he would proceed directly to the fortress. While he was pretending to converse with the guard for a sufficient amount of time, and [doing] what he had previously promised to the pretender as I have said...

the signal [was given]. When Diogenes caught sight of it, taking with him a few soldiers, he entered boldly. Those within received him with great joy, and the governor guarding Putza invited ^A him to a bath. As Alacaseus joined in pressing this, he was immediately persuaded. Then a plentiful feast was prepared for him and the Comans with him. All of them, having feasted and drunk their fill of wine—which they sucked out of full skins—lay there snoring. Straightway, Alacaseus himself and the guard, along with others, went around and, having taken away their horses and arms, left him snoring where he was, but slew those under him and threw them immediately into certain trenches, as if into self-made graves. ^B Catacalo, following the Coman army according to the emperor’s instructions, when he saw that the man had entered the fortress and that the Comans had dispersed for plunder, went off and pitched his camp near the city we mentioned earlier. But Alacaseus, because the Comans were scattered everywhere, did not dare to report this to the emperor; instead, taking the man with him, he headed straight for Tzurulu, travelling towards the imperial city. The emperor's mother, residing in the palace, learned of this and immediately sent the *droungarios* of the fleet, the eunuch Eustathios Kyminianos, with all speed ^C to take custody of such a man and bring him to the great city. He, having with him a certain Turk called Camyris, used him for the blinding of such a person.

The emperor, still staying at Anchialos, learned of the dispersal of the Comans for the plunder of the surrounding mountains; he set out from there and reached Little Nicaea. Having learned that Citzes—one of the leaders of the Coman army—having taken twelve thousand Comans, and having scattered them for plunder and gathered much booty, had halted at the Taurokomon, he took his own forces, descended, and stood by the bank of the river that flows through the plain below that pass. ^D This place was full of ground-oak and tender trees. Having stationed his forces there, he dispatched a sufficient detachment of Turks, elite experts in archery, against the Comans, so that by engaging them in battle and performing certain cavalry maneuvers, they might draw them toward the slope. The Comans, attacking them, pursued up to the very Roman phalanx; then, having pulled back the reins a little...

they prepared to launch an attack upon the Roman phalanx, drawing up their battle lines. When the emperor observed a certain Coman, a rough-looking knight, bounding forth from the phalanx and racing along the front of the lines, and appearing almost as if he were looking for someone to fight him, he could not bear that either the right or the left wing should stand firm. But he himself, letting go all the reins and being the first of all to engage the barbarian who was demanding battle, struck him with his spear, and having driven the sword right through his chest, he threw him from his horse, showing himself on that day to be more a soldier than an emperor. Having thus immediately cast great courage into the Roman ranks and no less fear into the Scythians—as if a tower had fallen upon them—he broke their army. Thus, then, the close formation of the barbarians having been broken, they dispersed in all directions and fled uncontrollably. ^A Comans to the number of seven thousand fell at that time, and three thousand were led away captive. However, the soldiers of the Roman army were not permitted by the emperor to divide all the booty, as was the custom, because it had been plundered from the subterranean storehouses of the surrounding lands, but it was ordered to be given to the settlers. Once the imperial command, like a winged thing, had run through the whole surrounding country, each of those who had been plundered arrived, recognized his own property, and took it back; striking their breasts, therefore, and raising suppliant hands to heaven, they prayed for the best things for the emperor. And it was possible to hear a cry, composed of both men and women, reaching up to the very lunar orb. But these things were so. ^B The emperor, rejoicing at having recovered his forces, again returned to the aforementioned small Nicaea. Having persisted there for two days, he departed from there on the third and reached Adrianople, spending sufficient days at the house of Silvester. Now, all the picked men of the Comans, having separated themselves from the rest of the army, wishing to deceive him, approached him as if they were their own, pretending to make a truce with him, so that by wasting time in the season of peace, the Coman army might advance forward. Having persisted, then, for three days, after the third day, at night, they started off to their homes. The emperor, being aware of the deception of the Comans, sent messengers post-haste to those who had been entrusted with the guard of the mountain passes, so that they should not sleep, but be vigilant at all times, in case they should capture them. He himself, meanwhile, having indicated the whole army... ^C

of the Comans as making its way forward, immediately took with him such of the soldiers as were at hand and occupied a place called Scutarium, eighteen stades distant from Adrianople, and ^A on the following day he reached Agathonica. When he had learned that the Coman encampment was still situated at Abilebon (this place is not situated far from the aforementioned cities), he went there and, having gone out to a distance, examined the infinite number of fires that they had lit, and having sent for them, he summoned Nicholas Maurocatacalon and others among the distinguished leaders of the heavy infantry, and ^B deliberated on what must be done. It was decided at that time to send for the leaders of the foreign troops—the Uzan (he was from the Sauromatae), and Caratzas the Scythian, and the mixed-barbarian Monastras—and to prepare them so that, by going out, they might arrange to light fifteen or more fires at each tent, so that the Comans, beholding these fires, would think the Roman army was of infinite size, and being terrified ^C from that point on, would not dare to attack them with confidence. This being done, it struck great fear into the souls of the Comans. The emperor, having armed himself at daybreak and taken the forces under his command, went out against them; and when a battle had broken out on both sides, the Comans turned their backs. The emperor, having divided the army, sent the light troops on ahead to pursue, while he himself pursued the fugitives, driving them hard. Having overtaken them ^D at the pass called the Iron (Sidera) pass, he killed many and took the most as prisoners. Those of the Comans who had been sent on ahead took all the plunder and retreated. The emperor, having spent the entire night on the crest of the Iron pass, in the midst of a violent winter, took Goloen as the day was dawning. Having stayed there for one day and night in order to honor all those who had fought bravely and to deem them worthy of the greatest gifts, and having brought his intention to completion and sent them all away home with joy, in two days and nights he reached the palace. And having restored himself a little ^A from his many labors, since he found that the Turks were overrunning the interior of Bithynia and plundering everything, and since the western affairs were drawing the emperor to himself from one side—for the toil was rather towards where the urgency was—he conceived a plan, magnificent and worthy of his own soul, to defend Bithynia from such raids through such a construction; and it is fitting to recount that construction.

^A For the river Sangarios and the coastline as far as the village of Chele, flowing straight and then bending toward the North, enclose a large tract of land within them. This land, because of the great scarcity of those who might hinder them, the Ishmaelites—having become our evil neighbors—used to plunder easily by way of the Maryandeni and those who dwelt beyond the Sangarios, and they oppressed Nicomedia all the more by crossing the river. The emperor, therefore, checking this kind of assault by the Barbarians and securing the region from their incursions, and especially that of Nicomedia, observed a very long trench below the lake of Baanes; and having followed it through to its end, he discerned from the position of the shape that the place had not been hollowed out by chance, nor naturally carved into a ravine, but was the mechanical work of some hand. Having inquired closely into the matter of the place, he learned from some that Anastasius Dicorus had overseen such a canal. What he intended, they could not say. It appeared, however, to the emperor Alexios that that emperor had wished to divert water from the lake into this artificial ravine. Brought to such a thought, the emperor Alexios ordered the ditch to be dug to a quite sufficient depth; and fearing that the bed might become passable to others at the convergence of the currents, he erected a most formidable fortress, secure and inaccessible from every side, both from the river and from the wall-building of great height and thickness, from which it earned the name "Iron [Fortress]." And this iron tower is now a city before the city and an outwork before the wall.

The emperor himself stood over the construction of the small town from morning until evening. Although there was much heat, the sun traversing the summer solstice, he endured the burning heat and the dust, and he expended great wealth, so that from this [effort] the wall became most formidable and impregnable, treating with great generosity those who drew every one of the stones—if it happened that there were fifty or a hundred men [on a team]. From this, not just ordinary men, but every soldier and servant, both native-born and originating from abroad, was stirred to the hauling of such stones, seeing the generous wages, and the emperor himself standing by like an umpire; for this too was a technique, so that with many streaming together, the hauling of those enormous stones might take place ^B more easily.

^C For the river Sangarios, and the coastline stretching in a straight line as far as the town of Chele, and thence turning toward the North, circumscribe a sufficiently large region, into which the evil neighbors, the Ishmaelites, having been admitted by an opportune crossing and observing the paucity of the garrison, easily plundered and devastated it, especially harassing Nicomedia by crossing the river. To restrain this license for the future—from which the will of that evil race would never have abstained on its own—the emperor sought an art and a means. Therefore, as he was surveying those locations for the sake of this very care of strengthening that frontier, and especially of consulting for the security of the most noble city of Nicomedia, he noticed a very long trench below the lake ^D of Baanes: which, when he had supposed it worthwhile to follow through to the end in exploring, he concluded plainly from the form and situation that it was by no means the work of nature, but of art and hand. Upon inquiring more curiously what the older indigenous people might report concerning that matter, he found an obscure rumor that remembered that that channel had been excavated by command of Anastasius Dicorus one time, though he could not say on what occasion or for what counsel it was done or decreed. However, emperor Alexios, drawing a conjecture from the nature of the place, surmised that whoever was the developer of that trench had striven to divert it into the nearby lake. Be that as it may, he decided to use this opportunity for his present purpose. He ordered that channel to be cleared and dug deeper. Fearing, however, that at the confluence of the waters the ballast brought hither and thither by the currents might in the process of time create fords opportune for the crossing of the Barbarians, he instituted the building of a most firm fortress from the foundations in a chosen spot, which the barrier of the river, the ditch naturally overflowing, and especially the thickness and height of the wall and the entire reason and form of the structure, might fortify, so that not undeservedly it could sustain and hold the name of the Iron [Fortress], which it gains even today. To this [work], as if to a bulwark for the security of the Nicomediensian city, opposed to the Barbarian incursions, and as a circumvallation for the Nicomediensian walls, the emperor gave daily attention and labor in building from early morning until evening: nothing deterring him in the vapor of the torrent of the sun, which was then traversing the summer solstice, nor the dust of such a molition, by which it was necessary for the constant witness and president of the work to be sprinkled; and he did not spare money or any expense by which he might desire the fortress to be as fortified as possible.

^A He observed that the solidity of the walls would be much reinforced if the largest possible whole stones were inserted into the masonry; he ordered such masses to be dragged, for the moving of which fifty or sometimes a hundred men were needed, whom he spurred on to that very task with a handsome wage. Then, as a fight and rivalry arose, as it happens, among the bravest, which the emperor also fanned with a certain art, albeit dissemblingly, they ran there in competition, both from the soldiers and from the farmers of the surrounding fields who either thought themselves to be the most muscular and able to drag such heavy loads, or considered it an honor to be regarded as such by others. Once they had made a trial of their strength in moving such an immense stone under the emperor's gaze, in addition to the glory they had craved, a large sum of money was liberally repaid. Let this one instance out of many be a specimen for understanding how skilled this emperor was in discerning what was needed, and how effective in carrying out the same, however great and difficult it might be. The affairs of Alexios Augustus up to the indiction of the year... have proceeded ^B in almost this manner which we have exposed so far. Furthermore, when he was refreshing himself from such labors, he received the report, which was then buzzing in everyone’s conversations, of the approach of the innumerable Frankish armies. This news was not joyful to Alexios, who rightly feared such a race. He knew—having experienced it abundantly in the war with Robert—the sudden and vehement impulses of the Franks, their ease in adopting and changing their judgment, as well as the smooth ways of insinuating themselves; and he had other such things, which the nature of that people carries with it as its own inseparable appendages, clearly in his view; and he did not fear in vain that they might break out into some injury to his own. The rumors of the common people circulating everywhere, which were not far from the truth, confirmed the provident prince in this fear, besides those things which the Augustus had felt by experience, reporting generally of these same Gauls that they were always gaping for new and daring undertakings; and ^C when they had agreed to pacts and treaties, they easily infringed upon them for any light reason that might chance to be offered. For these reasons, the Augustus decided by no means to become sluggish toward so great a matter, but accurately to arm his forces, and to have the army excellently instructed at hand for any eventuality. The facts themselves later showed that the rumor at that time had boasted of things that were smaller and less terrifying than the reality. For the whole Occident was indeed stirred at that time, that is, as much of the barbaric nations as extends beyond the Adriatic Sea as far as the Pillars of Hercules; the whole of Europe, as it were, suddenly rising, with foundations shaken, transferred itself in a tumultuous course to Asia. This was the cause or occasion of so great a commotion. A certain Gaul, Peter by name, by the surname of Cucupetrus, ^D of the Holy Sepulcher...

The Alexiad, Book X

^A having departed and having suffered many dire things from the Turks and Saracens who were plundering all of Asia, he barely returned to his own lands. And having missed his goal, he could not bear it, but wished to lay hold of the same path once more. Reflecting, however, that it was not right to attempt the journey to the Holy Sepulcher again alone, lest something worse befall him, he devised a prudent plan. This was to proclaim throughout all the lands of the Latins that a divine voice [(7)] commanded him to announce to all the counts in Francia to depart from their own homes and go forth to the adoration of the Holy Sepulcher, and to strive with all their strength and purpose to redeem Jerusalem from the hands of the Agarenes. And indeed he succeeded. For as if injecting some divine voice into the souls of all, he caused the Kelts [(8)] everywhere—one from one place, another from another—to gather together with arms, horses, and the rest of the preparations for war. And they were thus disposed in zeal and eagerness, and every public road was full of them. ^B There accompanied those Keltic soldiers a multitude more numerous than the sand and the stars, carrying palms and crosses on their shoulders [(9)], and having brought out their wives and children from their own lands. And one could see them like rivers flowing together from every direction, and moving in full battle array through the lands of the Daci as they advanced toward us. Preceding the arrival of such multitudes [was a cloud] of locusts... [(10)]

[alt-version omitted]

Various readings from the Coislin codex and notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange.

(7) *Voice*: The divine mandate, or oracle. (8) *Crosses on their shoulders*: Robert the Monk, book II: "On the forehead or on the right shoulder they carried the sign of the holy cross." Fulcher of Chartres, book I: "How worthy and pleasing it was to all of you, seeing those crosses, whether silk, woven with gold, or adorned with any kind of textile, which the pilgrims... used to sew onto their cloaks, or hoods, or tunics over their shoulders!" But this is a note. Regarding the color of the crosses, which Anna here says was phoenix-colored or scarlet, the same is testified by Walsingham regarding Richard II, an. 1333, p. 301. (9) *Locusts*: Some prodigies preceded and foretold this expedition of our people. Regarding the locusts, which Anna mentions here, Abbot Urspergiensis testifies (an. 1091): "Small creatures were seen throughout many regions, hitherto unknown, flying not far from the ground, that is, so that they could be touched by a hand or a rod, equal in thickness to flies, but rather more elongated in length, of which..."

^A they avoided the vine-growers ^B while devouring the vineyards dreadfully. This, then, was the symbol, as the diviners of the time interpreted it: that the arrival of such a great Celtic army would spare Christian affairs, while it would strike dreadfully against the Barbarian Ishmaelites, who were enslaved to drunkenness, wine, and Dionysus. For this race yields to Dionysus and Eros and is most inclined toward all sorts of mingling, and does not circumcise the body and its passions; it is nothing else but a slave, thrice-enslaved, to the evils of Aphrodite. Hence it is that they themselves worship and reverence Astarte 10 and Astaroth, and hold the form of the star in higher esteem, and the golden one among them, Chobar. Wheat, however, was understood by these symbolic interpreters as Christianity, because of its sobriety and the fact that it is a most nourishing food. Thus, then, did the diviners interpret the vines and the grain kernel.

But let no one hold to the matters concerning the diviners; rather, the events concerning the arrival of the Barbarians followed in such a way that there was something new for those with understanding to contemplate. For the arrival of such numbers did not happen all at once or in the same place. And indeed, how could such great multitudes, departing from different places, swim across the strait of Lombardy 11 in a body? Some were first, others second, others behind them, and in this order did they all pass through the continent, making the crossing. A countless number of locusts preceded each of these armies, as we have said; at any rate, all who saw this once or twice recognized these as the precursors of the Frankish battalions. ^C

Furthermore, when this agitation occurred, a certain divine sign gave notice; for an infinite multitude of locusts, having its origin in the West, and so great that it was likened to flying clouds and shaded the sun, made its flight through the greatest of the cities—and this one, of the borders—toward the East, and there it ceased. ^D

As for those who were already crossing the strait of Lombardy, the Emperor, having summoned some of the commanders of the Roman forces, sent them toward the regions of Dyrrachium and Aulon, with orders to receive the crossers kindly, to provide abundant markets from all the regions along the road, and then to shadow them closely as they went. If they saw them making any excursions to pillage the neighboring regions, they were to restrain them with modest skirmishing. Some who were skilled in the Latin dialect were also sent along with them, so that they might suppress any quarrels that might arise between them. But so that I may narrate the matter more clearly and in detail: once this rumor had spread everywhere, Godefroi [12] was the first to sell [13] his own country and take to the road in question. He was a man of great wealth, and one who boasted greatly of his nobility, courage, and high birth. For every one of the Celts was eager to outrun the others. And there occurred such a stir of men and women as no one had ever recorded before—the simpler among them hastening in truth to worship at the Lord’s Sepulcher and to visit the holy places; but the more wicked, of whom Bohemund and those of his mind were the type, harboring a different secret plot, namely that if they could pass through, they might seize the imperial city itself, having found it, as it were, a prize. Indeed, Bohemund troubled the souls of the majority and the more noble, as he was nurturing an ancient grudge against the Emperor. As for the foot soldiers: Peter, having been the first to proclaim these things, led the way for all, and crossed the strait of Lombardy [14] with eighty thousand infantry.

^A and one hundred thousand cavalry, and advanced on the imperial city by way of the regions of Hungary. For the Celtic race is, as one might conjecture, in other respects also extremely impetuous and keen; and whenever it seizes an opportunity, it is unbridled. Peter, though he knew what the emperor had previously experienced from the Turks, and though the emperor advised him to wait for the arrival of the other counts, did not heed him, trusting in the multitude that accompanied him; so he crossed, and pitched his camp at a small town called Helenopolis 16. Now, since the Normans also accompanied him—numbering ten thousand—they detached themselves from the rest of the army and began to pillage the region around Nicaea, treating everyone with the utmost cruelty. For of the infants, some they tore to pieces, and others they impaled on wooden stakes and roasted in fire; and towards those who were advanced in age, they demonstrated every form of torment. The inhabitants inside, becoming aware of what was happening, flung open the gates and went out against them. A bitter battle having been joined at that time, they retreated back inside the fortress, as the Normans had fought with great spirit, and having retrieved all their booty, they returned again to Helenopolis. A dispute having then broken out between them and those who had not gone with them—as is wont to happen in such situations—as envy inflamed the anger of those who had been left behind. From this, a skirmish broke out between them; then the audacious Normans separated, and, having again captured and occupied Xerigordos 17 on a sudden impulse, held it. The sultan, having learned of what had happened, sent Elchanes with a sufficient force against them. He, having arrived, took Xerigordos, and some of the Normans he made a sacrifice to the sword, while others he led away into captivity; at the same time, he began to plot against those who had remained with Cucupetrus, ^B establishing ambushes in opportune places so that those marching against Nicaea might fall into them unexpectedly and be destroyed. Aware also that the Celtic race is greedy for wealth, he summoned two men who were active in their minds and commanded them to go to the army of Cucupetrus, proclaiming that the Normans had taken Nicaea and were making a tax—or rather, a profit—of the things within it. This rumor, having reached those who were with Peter, disturbed them terribly; for having heard of tax and wealth, they immediately ^C [abandoned the place... (text continues on next page)].

rushed in disorderly fashion toward Nicaea, as if possessed, and utterly forgetful of military discipline and the orderly conduct proper to those going into battle. For the race of the Latins, as has been said above, is in any case extremely greedy for gain; but when there is an opportunity for raiding a region, they are quite unrestrained, listening to no reason. Marching neither in ranks nor in file, they fell into the hands of the Turks, who were lying in ambush at the place ^B called Draco, and were miserably slaughtered. And the carnage of the Gauls and Normans wrought by the Ishmaelite sword was so great that, when the survivors gathered together the remains of the slaughtered men, they did not make a hill, or a mound, or a lookout, but something like a high mountain, of significant depth and breadth. Such a pile of bones lies there even today, although some of the same race of barbarians later built a wall in the shape of a city not far from that place, and gathered the bones of the fallen, mixing them into the ramparts just like stones or bricks, making the city itself, in a way, a tomb for them, which stands even to this day, having its perimeter ^C built of a mix of stones and bones.

When all the forces of the Christians had been thus destroyed, Peter alone, having returned to Helenopolis with a few others, entered therein. But the Turks lay in wait for him again, wishing to capture him. The emperor, however, having heard everything and having had this great slaughter confirmed, reckoned it a terrible thing if Peter also should be lost. Therefore, he immediately summoned Catacalon Constantine Euphorbenus—of whom mention has already been made in many places—and having placed sufficient forces on warships, he sent him across the sea to bring him back. When the Turks saw him arrive, they took flight. ^D Euphorbenus, having waited a little while, took up Peter and those with him (for they were few in number), and brought them safely to the Emperor. When the Emperor reminded him of his initial lack of counsel, and how, by not listening to his advice, he had fallen into such terrible disasters, the haughty Latin did not declare himself the cause of the evil, but rather those who did not obey him, but instead occupied themselves with their own desires, calling them robbers and plunderers.

^A Thus it was that those of the Latins—such as Bohemond and those of like mind with him—long harboring a desire for the Roman Empire and wishing to acquire it for themselves, found a pretext in the preaching of Peter, as has been told. They undertook a movement of this sort, having deceived the simpler folk, and, cloaking their own designs, they pretended to be setting out against the Turks in defense of the Holy Sepulcher. Now, a certain person, the brother of the King of the French, ^B puffed up by the nobility, wealth, and power of his homeland, and being supposedly about to set out toward the Holy Sepulcher, sent a message to the Emperor, full of arrogance, in order to ensure that his reception would be magnificent. "Know, O Emperor," he said, "that I am the king of kings and the greatest of all who are under heaven. And so, when I arrive, it is fitting that I be received by you magnificently and in a manner worthy of my nobility."

The Emperor, hearing this—since it so happened that the son of Isaac the Sebastokrator, John, was at Dyrrachium, of whom mention was made earlier, ^C and Nicholas Maurokatakalon was in command of the fleet—he stationed his ships in the harbor of Dyrrachium at intervals, and from there he continued to make sorties. ^D [This section regarding the Latin translation of the narrative and the historical commentary concerning Hugh, brother of the king of the French, is preserved in the original layout.]

^A

The son of the sebastokrator Isaac, of whom we spoke above, was in command of the fleet ^B stationed at the port of Dyrrachium, having divided his ships to keep watch over the sea and guard it with absolute authority, frequently launching excursions from there and keeping a sharp lookout to ensure that no pirate vessel might catch him unawares or attempt to threaten the Roman coast. The Emperor, having received the letter from Hugh, sent word to both men separately: he instructed the Duke of Dyrrachium to wait for the arrival of the Gaul by land and along the coast of Calabria, to provide immediate intelligence to the Emperor regarding his progress, and to receive Hugh himself with great magnificence; he commanded the commander of the fleet to remain awake and vigilant, maintaining constant watch so as to be ready for every occasion. Meanwhile, Hugh sailed to the coast of Lombardy ^C and sent twenty-four envoys to the Duke of Dyrrachium, all encased in golden breastplates and greaves, with their remaining armor; accompanying them were Count Tzerpenterius ^D and Helias, who had fled from the Emperor at Thessalonica. These men spoke to the Duke as follows: "Be it known to you, O Duke, that our lord Hugo is crossing over here as soon as possible, having recently received the golden standard of Saint Peter at Rome. Know, moreover, that he is the supreme commander of the entire Frankish army. Prepare yourself, therefore, for the reception of him and his forces, worthy of his power, and remember to render him the greeting that is his due." While they were delivering this message to the Duke, Hugo, having come down through Rome to Lombardy as mentioned, and having set sail from Bari toward Illyricum, fell into a great storm and lost most of his company.

^A His boat, the only small vessel in which Hugo himself happened to be, was cast up by the waves, half-shattered, on the shore between Dyrrachium and a place called Pallus. He having been saved in this unexpected way, two men who had been patrolling the shore to watch for his arrival came upon him and addressed him, telling him that the Duke of Dyrrachium was anticipating his arrival and earnestly desired to see him. Hugo immediately asked for a horse, and one of them provided his own. Thus brought to him, the Duke received Hugo at their first meeting with great honor. Soon, having inquired with the utmost courtesy about his circumstances—whence he had come and how he had suffered such grievous disaster and shipwreck during his voyage—the Duke sought to comfort his guest with favorable signs and promises of better things to come, and entertained him at the royal table. After the feast, he held him neither entirely free nor yet harshly confined, ^B but kept him there while he sent word posthaste to the Emperor concerning the matter, awaiting his instructions on what ought to be done. Upon learning everything, the Emperor immediately sent Butumites to see that Hugo was taken up and brought not by the straight road, but redirected through Philippopolis to the great city, for he feared the Celtic multitudes and armies coming on behind. The Emperor received him with honor and, having shown him every kindness and given him a sufficient sum of money, persuaded him at that moment to [become] a free man.

and to swear the oath customary for the Latins to him.

The Alexiad

But these were the matters concerning Hugh, as a preface. As for Bohemond, of whom our account has often made mention, before fifteen days had passed he crossed over to the coast of Cabalion ^A with various counts and an army exceeding all number. This place is near Brousas; these are the names of the places in those regions. And let no one reproach us for using such barbarian names, by which the style of our history could be thought to be stained; for not even Homer disdained to name the Boeotians and certain barbarous islands for the sake of the accuracy of his history. At his heels also the Count of Provence ^B approached the shores of the Lombard straits, for he too wished to cross over, having hired a piratical ship of the kind that carries heavy loads, a three-decked vessel for six thousand gold staters, on board which there were two hundred rowers.

And three small boats accompanied it. He did not make his departure toward the parts of Aulon, as the rest of the Latin forces did, ^A but fearing the Roman fleet, he cast off the mooring ropes, used a slight deviation, and directed his course toward Chimara, having obtained a favorable wind. By fleeing the smoke he had fallen into the fire; for he did not encounter sailors scattered and running about here and there keeping watch over the seacoast, but the commander of the entire Roman fleet, Nicholas Maurocatacalon, who, having learned some time before about that piratical ship, had taken the biremes and triremes of the entire fleet, as well as several fast-sailing vessels, and had gone off and taken up a position at Cabalion, opposite Ason, from which he had set out, leaving the great fleet there. And he sent the so-called second ^B count with his own *katergon*, which among the sailors is called *exkousaton*, having instructed him… [the remainder of the column consists of learned notes on nomenclature and naval history, as follows:]

Regarding this naval battle, our writers are silent; how badly Raymond was treated by the Alexian authors, the same Raymond of Aguilers tells at length in his account of naval matters, which is known to everyone. Among these [officers] the greatest was called the *protokomes*, next to the admiral; him followed the *deuteros komes*. See pages 336, 369, and Pachymeres, book IV, chapter 26. Venetian-Byzantine [text] edited by Boulliau: *Exkousaton*... A manuscript account concerning Belisarius, *opikdia*. Hence a certain port in Constantinople is called Catergalimena, concerning which Gyllius and Leunclavius [write]. ^C It is so named by sailors, as Anna observes here, as a certain type of vessel. But of what kind it was, and from where the origin of the word comes, has not yet been sufficiently explored. It is known what *exkousseuein* is in the *Chronicon Alexandrinum*, page 730; *exkousatia* in Theophylactus, Archbishop of Bulgaria, epistle 41, and among the Greek jurisconsults. But it seems to have nothing in common with what excuses a ship: nor is it easier to divine what *exkousaticum* is in the *Capitulary* of Sicard, Prince of Benevento, although it perhaps stems from the same source, chapter 29, the lemma of which is thus conceived, for the chapter itself is missing: *That the excusaticum and the pig are not to be taken from the third-party merchants*. Unless perhaps it is the same as the *exkousaton* in Justinian, *Novel* LIX, chapter 2, namely a certain tax which was paid for any immunity. Finally, there were *excusati* among the Venetians, a word not yet understood by most, says Sansovino in *Venetia*, who in book VI brings forward ancient Acts in which mention is made of them in these words: *Excusati of Mauriano*, and their names, and they are 44. *Excusati of Mazorbo*, and these are of the greater ones, and they are etc. *These are the names of the excusati who serve in the palace, and they are 124. The names of the excusati of our palace, and they are 198.* Where Sansovino thinks ^D *excusati* are so named as if they were *scutati* [shield-bearers], and that they are the same as what a later age called *scutiferi*. But it is hardly likely that I could prove this, since they seem rather to have been endowed with this appellation on account of an indulgence from civil and personal burdens, which they enjoyed from a certain prerogative of office and function, just as were the *beneficiarii*, and those concerning whom there is the title *De excusationibus artificum*, *Codex Theodosianus*, book X; nay even, if it is permitted to indulge in divination, I would judge that those Venetian *excusati* were no different from the transport sailors, or, as the Venetians call them, gondoliers, whose number was always great among them, who would enjoy the same privileges as the ship-masters among the Romans, as is in the title *De naviculariis*, *Codex Theodosianus* and *Justinian*. For they were immune from all burdens and duties, law 5, and *Codex Theodosianus*, same title. Moreover, the body of ship-masters was certain and defined, whose principal duty was in the transport of the city's grain supply; whence also their ships, however large they might be, were not held to another duty against their will, says the law in the same title. Furthermore, Paulinus, epistle 36, to Macarius, treats of such public ship-masters. Since, therefore, the ships of such ship-masters enjoyed this immunity, nothing prevents one from thinking they were called *exkousata* from that, namely cargo ships, and those which were especially dedicated to the transport of grain-type goods; for such are the small ships denoted by Anna with the name *exkousaton*. But Lodovico Dolce in his *History of the Venetian Dukes*, under Orso Participazio, says that after the Venetians had conquered the Narentines, who practiced piracy in the Adriatic Sea, Dorsoduro, which had been deserted on account of their incursions, then began to be inhabited at the instance of Duke Orso, and seats were assigned in that place to those who were enrolled in the Duke's service, called the *Excusati* of the prince or duke, for the same reason, as is probable, of the excuse from burdens. The word occurs in Nicetas in [the account of] Manuel, book V, 1, 9, and book VII, n. 1, not differing much from the one which Anna uses, although with another meaning, as it seems. But that is [discussed] in the first place, he calls the people from Venice; which the *mixobarbarus* codex renders in this series of words: Again concerning the Ancomitani:

^A to him, so that as soon as the rowers of the aforementioned ship had cast off the moorings, they might throw a torch into the sea-wave. He left and immediately did what was ordered. ^B Duke Nicholas, seeing this, immediately gave wind to the sails of his ships, and by moving the oars much like the many feet of a polypus, he set out against the crossing count. And when he had sailed no more than three stades from the shore, he caught him as he was hastening toward the crossing of Epidamnum, having with him one thousand five hundred armed soldiers and eighty choice horses. When the helmsman of the ship saw this, he said to Count Prevetzas, "The fleet that is now overtaking us is from Syria, and there is a danger of becoming a sacrifice to the sword and to blades." The count immediately ordered everyone to don breastplates and to fight firmly. And although it was the middle of winter, at the time when the memory of the hierarch Nicholas is celebrated, yet there happened to be a complete calm and the night was shining with a full moon, even more so than in spring. When the winds had ceased entirely, the piratical ship no longer had the strength to move, and it happened that it was motionless in the waters. But at this point in the narrative I would wish to turn my tongue to the achievements of Marianus. He immediately requested the lighter ships from the duke of the fleet and his own father, and rushed straight for that ship; and upon colliding with its prow he made his attempt, and the armed men immediately flocked there once they saw him equipped for battle. ^C Marianus, using the dialect of the Latins themselves, exhorted them not to be afraid and not to fight against fellow-believers. One of the Latins hit him with a *tzagra* (36) on his helmet. And the *tzagra*... [of the great Nicholas. ...] ^D sailing and conducting business, and being *excustati* in the land of the empire, and profiting from these things; *excustati* are people with cunning minds, if they reach out their hands to take [something], Latin slings, military engines—[Latin: Ballista, Catapult, slings;] drawing out breastplates, helmets, spears, *tzagras*, and every kind of weapon from the triremes. And that they might fight with these, behind them with *tzagras* and bows, falcons and *petrites*, *tzagras* and *balistrariae*, bows and archers, gear and *kardierides*, a barbarian bow...

^A a barbarian bow, entirely unknown to the Greeks. It is not drawn by the right hand pulling the string while the left pushes the bow, but he who intends to use this most warlike and far-shooting machine, as one might say, must brace both feet against the semicircles of the bow, and with both hands pull the string back most vigorously. In the middle, there is a hollowed-out cylindrical tube attached to the string itself, which receives a bolt of significant size; it extends from the very string to the center of the bow, from which all kinds of missiles shoot forth. Inside this, therefore, the bolts are placed—very short in length, but very thick—and upon the release ^B of the string, it hurls the missiles with such intensity and force that wherever they happen to strike, they do not rebound; rather, they pierce a shield and cut through a heavy iron breastplate, coming out the other side. So violent and irresistible is the discharge of such bolts. This bolt has even pierced a bronze statue.

And now, this weapon—the *tzagra*—is a type of archer’s engine, known to the Greeks as a *tzangra*. It is not drawn by the right hand pulling the string, while the left pushes the bow against it; rather, he who intends to use this warlike machine, which shoots to a very great distance, ^C must use both feet to press the curvature of the bow forward, and at the same time, with both hands, pull back the transverse string with great force, in the middle of which is a tube in the shape of a half-cylinder, suspended from the string itself; it is as thick and as long as a large bolt, reaching along the cord that passes through to the middle point of the bow. From this hollow, like a channel, the bolts are discharged with great force, having been inserted into it first; these are indeed short, but very thick and heavily weighted with iron, so that they may develop a much stronger and ^D irresistible momentum. Indeed, when the arrow inserted into the tube is ejected by the release of the string, it is carried with such vehemence that no solidity or hardness is a match for it, so much so that a shield, however strong... [index: entries preserved]

^A is pierced through, and a corselet, however rigid with bronze, not only on the side where it receives the projectile, but even on the opposite surface, the body is transpierced by the shaft having passed through the diameter; thus, nothing can frustrate this blow. They even relate that the point of such a shaft can transfix a bronze sign, and if it has struck the walls of a very great city, the point has been seen to pierce through and show itself on the inner side of the city wall; or at least, if the wall was thicker, it would remain entirely buried and hidden in the middle of it. Such a machine is the *tzangra*; a truly demonic invention for the destruction of men. For he whom the plague of this engine strikes is immediately carried off most miserably, dying without any hope of remedy, and without even feeling the wound. ^B Therefore, the arrow sent from the *tzangra* toward Marianus struck the top of his helmet, shattered it in passing, and flew off, without so much as touching a hair of Marianus, God protecting him. But the fierce youth, quickly releasing another arrow at the Count, struck him in the arm; it pierced the shield, passed through the scale-armor, and reached the very side of the man. A certain Latin priest, being the thirteenth of those fighting with him, seeing this, standing from the stern, sent many missiles against Marianus. But neither did Marianus give way, but himself also fought spiritedly and exhorted those under him to do the same, so that the men with the Latin priest were three times exchanged being wounded and weary. And ^C the priest himself, although he had received many wounds and was flowing over with his own blood, nevertheless remained undaunted in his place. For the discipline of priestly gentleness which prevails among us is not in use among the Latins. We, indeed, having been enjoined by the canons and laws and by the evangelical dogma itself, firmly hold that rule which is observed inviolate: "Do not strike, do not shout, do not touch, for you are a priest." But the barbarian Latin [note: (39) ], as soon as he has performed the rites of the sacrifice, immediately having placed his shield on his left arm, and having gripped and brandished his spear in his right hand, at once communicates in the divine body and blood, and at once looks fierce and bloodthirsty, becoming a man of blood according to the Davidic psalm. Such is this barbarian race, no less priestly than war-loving. This man, therefore, a raider ^D rather than a priest, was at once donning the priestly vestment and handling the oar, and was looking toward naval war and battle at the same time, fighting both the sea and men; for our affairs, as I have already said, depend upon Aaron and Moses and the first high priest among us.

^A Behold, a man of blood: why should not this name, taken from David’s Psalms, be applied to him? So much does this type of barbarian usurp the law and use of war and sword no less than he claims the summit of the priesthood. Whence this combatant, appearing rather as a soldier than as a priest, at once donned the priestly stole and yet applied his hand to the handle of either an oar or a sword, ready to provoke a naval battle, prepared to fight simultaneously with the sea and with men on an equal footing. When I compare him and his like to our own priests—as I have begun to do—I judge him to be a bellicose priest, hostile to Pharaoh by land and sea, bearing the priesthood of Moses and Aaron; whereas I recognize our own as successors of the gentle Lord, who first ordained the Christian priesthood.

^B But that the battle might be brought to an end, urged on by great courage on both sides from vespers until the following dawn, it finally compelled the Latins, however much against their will, to yield and to negotiate a surrender with Marianus for the sake of their own safety. Yet that most pugnacious priest would in no way accept the grace offered, nor count his precarious safety as a gain. Indeed, although the peace had been agreed upon and proclaimed, he nonetheless urged the fight just as fiercely, and because his quiver, now emptied of its arrows, denied him a weapon, he hurled a stone at Marianus’s head; he intercepted the incoming mass by raising his shield above his head. Moreover, the stone fell with such force that, having shattered the shield into four pieces, it pierced the helmet: struck by this blow, confused and all but lifeless, Marianus lay for a long time without voice or sense, like that Hector attacked by the stone from Ajax, who lacked only a little from expiring out of the shock. However, after he had with difficulty recovered himself and stood on his feet, he took his fill of vengeance, attacking the striker with many darts and inflicting a triple wound. But that military tribune—more truly a soldier than a priest—could never be satiated with fighting. Yet, for all his burning spirit, the instruments of his wrath were lacking; for both his quiver was exhausted of javelins, and the stones he had snatched to serve as missiles had also failed him. That man, therefore, was seething, tossing himself about and bursting out in all directions, unable to control himself, and because, the more he wished to harm the enemy, the less he could, due to a deficiency in his supply of weapons, he acted with no less fury than a boar irritated or some other beast surrounded by hunting spears, rushing upon himself and twisting about. ^C Therefore, when whatever had by chance come to hand became a weapon for his rage, he caught sight of a sack full of bread, which he eagerly snatched up, and, using the contents for the battle, he threw the loaves of ship’s biscuit, hardened as they were, like stones at the heads of the enemies—as if not even then failing in the function of his priesthood, but distributing bread even in battle, and scattering blessings, as if he would reconcile the bloodthirsty fury of war with the peaceful use of sacred things. Having therefore firmly grasped one of these and propelled it with his whole hand, he cast it against Marianus's face, striking him on the cheek. So much for that ship and the Gaulish passengers, and especially for that illustrious priest. As for the count of the province, his men and the vessel itself, he believed in his own safety and, relying upon it, he willingly followed Marianus from that time onward. But once they had reached the shore and were disembarking from the ship, that priest sought for Marianus many and often, not knowing his name, but calling him back by the color of his vestments. Having approached, he embraced him, boasting at the same time: "If you had encountered me on land, you would have been destroyed by my hands many times over." And having taken it out, he gave him a silver theoricle ^D of the value of one hundred staters, in addition to the javelins already given to him.

gift, he expired.

^B Meanwhile, Count Godfrey, having already crossed the sea with other counts and an army of ten thousand horse and seventy thousand foot, had reached the Great City, and set his camp about the regions of the Propontis, in such an enclosure that it extended from the bridge near the Cosmidium as far as Saint Phocas itself. The Emperor was insistent with Godfrey to cross over the strait of the Propontis, but he, putting off the day from day to day and weaving pretexts upon pretexts, kept delaying. The whole cause was that he was awaiting the arrival of Bohemond and the remaining counts. For Peter, from the very beginning, had undertaken such a journey for the sake of worshipping at the Holy Sepulchre, but the remaining counts, and Bohemond above all, nurturing old grudges against the Emperor, and seeking an opportunity to repay him for that brilliant victory which he had snatched from him at the time he engaged him in battle at Larissa, having reached a common mind and dreaming of seizing the Great City itself, had come to the same opinion—a matter which we have often mentioned above—making the journey to Jerusalem their apparent purpose, while in truth they desired to overthrow the Emperor from his rule and seize the Great City.

But the Emperor, long knowing their craftiness, sent word through letters to the forces of the gentiles together with their leaders, commanding them to stand in battle array from Athyra as far as Phileas itself (this is a coastal place of the Euxine Sea), and to lie in wait if anyone were sent from Godfrey to Bohemond and the counts coming behind, or again from them towards him, so as to cut off their passage. In the meantime, something of this sort occurred: for the Emperor, having summoned some of the counts who were with Godfrey for the purpose of consulting with them,

^A regarding the fulfillment of the oath, and because the process was delayed by the nature of the Latins, who are talkative and very long-winded, a false report spread among them that the counts had been detained by the Emperor. Immediately, therefore, dense phalanxes moved against Byzantium, and they straightway completely demolished the palaces situated along the so-called Silver Lake, and at the same time they attempted to scale the walls of Byzantium. Even if they had no siege engines—for they did not possess any—they were so confident in their own numbers that they hazarded a risk, even daring to apply fire to the gate located beneath the palace, near the sanctuary long ago built by the emperors in the name of the greatest among the high priests, Nicholas. ^B Nor were those of the rabble of the Byzantines—altogether cowardly and inexperienced in war—the only ones who, having seen the phalanxes of the Latins, sighed, wailed, and beat their breasts, not knowing for fear what they should do, but even more so those who were well-disposed toward the Emperor, imagining that fifth day on which the city's capture had occurred. And fearing for this reason that the present day might be a retribution for what had happened then, all those who were knowledgeable in military matters flocked in disorder to the palace. ^C But the Emperor was not armed, nor did he put on a scale-mail breastplate, nor did he take up a shield or a lance, nor did he girdle himself with a sword, but remained seated calmly on the imperial throne, encouraged everyone with a cheerful look, instilling courage into their souls, and consulted with his relatives and the commanders of the army concerning the future. Indeed, at first he had no desire to lead anyone out from the wall against the Latins, partly because of the venerated nature of those days; for it was the Thursday of the Great and Holy Week, on which our ^D

Savior endured the ignominious death for all; and partly to avoid civil bloodshed. He therefore sent for them many times, wishing to refrain from such a deed. "Reverence," he said, "the God who was sacrificed for us all this day, and do not refuse to grant him even this, he who, being God, did not refuse to bear the cross, the nails, and the spear—punishments befitting criminals—for the sake of our salvation. If you have such a desire for battle, wait until after the day of the Savior’s Resurrection, and we too will be ready." But they not only did not yield, they even packed their phalanxes tighter, sending such frequent volleys that one of those standing near the imperial throne was struck in the chest. Seeing this, most of those standing on either side of the emperor drew back. But he sat unmoved, reassuring them and somehow gently chiding them. This presented a spectacle of wonder to all. ^B When he saw the Latins impudently approaching the walls, and not yielding to his deliberation for the common good, at first he sent for his son-in-law [(51)], my Caesar, Nicephorus, and commanded him to take men who were most warlike and skilled in archery and post them above on the wall, instructing them to send many arrows toward the Latins, not aiming at a target, but mostly missing, so as only to terrify them with the density of the darts, but by no means to kill; for he feared, as was said above, the veneration of the day and did not want civil bloodshed. He ordered other picked commanders—the majority of whom carried bows, while some grasped long spears—to open the gate near St. Romanus [(52)] and show a fierce assault against them, having set up the battle-line in such a way that each of those carrying spears was guarded on either side by two peltasts; and, having drawn themselves up in this way, he ordered them to advance with a slow step, and to send out in front of the Celts a few who were skilled in archery, shooting arrows from a distance and swiftly wheeling to either side; when they... ^{C D}

Various readings from the Coislin codex. Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange.

[(51)] ... Nicephorus Bryennius was the son-in-law of Alexius. For Anna, having been betrothed to Constantine Ducas Porphyrogennetus, upon his death by an untimely end, was given as wife to the marriageable Nicephorus, as Zonaras bears witness. In this year 1097, Anna had just passed her eleventh year, being born in the year 1086. Furthermore, the outcome of this conflict between the Greeks and the Gauls is told quite differently by Tudebodus, lib. 1; Albert of Aachen, lib. II, cap. 13; Syrius, lib. II, cap. 12, and others.

[(52)] The gate of St. Romanus is frequently mentioned by Byzantine authors, especially those who wrote about the final capture of the city, from whom it is certain that the gate was at the land walls. In the Chronicle of Alexius, in the 14th year of Heraclius, we read that Chaganus, besieging the city, placed castellated towers there. According to Nicetas in *Bald.*, Cantacuzenus, lib. 1, cap. 26; lib. III, cap. 8, 9, 16; Ducas, cap. 39 in the *Hist. Polit.*, etc., to observe the gate of St. Romanus is, with no other indication of site, than that it was one of the Mediterranean gates. Leunclavius in *Pandect. Turc.*, cap. 200, and Crusius in *Turco-Graecia*, relate that it is that which is today called by the Turkish name *Topcapisi*, which signifies Bombard Gate, or Gate of War Engines, so named, the same Leunclavius says, because at the time of the final siege war engines were placed against it, which is also reported by Ducas, Laonicus, Phranza, and others: against which part of the city a little earlier, namely in the year 1422, Amurath, besieging the city, had set his engines, as Joannes Cananus follows extensively, from whose narrative we gather that the gate of St. Romanus was closest to the Charsian gate. But Codinus in *Originib. CP.* testifies that the house of Romanus, from which the nearby gate seems to have taken its name, was built by St. Helena.

^A Since he thought the situation required another remedy, the emperor first of all summoned his son-in-law, my Caesar, and ordered him to take the bravest men with him from among those who were skilled in the art of archery and to occupy the top of the walls, and to station his archers in a long line there. He ordered them to rain down as many missiles as possible upon the Gauls from on high, but for the most part they were to be harmless, directed wide of the mark. For the emperor did not wish to kill the enemy, partly in deference to the holiness of the day, as I said, and partly because of his own natural lenity and the aversion he felt toward civil wars. He considered it enough if, by the dense showers of missiles cast from on high, he could strike some terror into that most confident nation. At the same time, he arranged for a sortie, following the same policy—designed more for show than for destruction. He ordered his most select commanders with their respective cohorts, the greater part of them equipped with bows and some armed with long spears, to sally forth suddenly through the gate closest to St. Romanus, and in this way to make a fierce impression upon the enemy. ^B The order of their march was prescribed by the emperor himself: each spearman was to walk between two shielded archers, so that he was protected on both sides by their shields. Thus arranged, they were ordered to advance slowly against the enemy, having first sent out a few archers to provoke the Gauls from a distance. They were instructed not to keep their gaze fixed on one point, but to turn hither and thither. When the battle was sufficiently engaged and the lines were brought into close quarters, the archers who had spear-men at their sides were to be ordered to use their bows, aiming at the horses of the enemy but sparing the riders, and at the same time, they were to charge the Gauls with all the force of their horses, having loosened the reins. By these means, in truth, the Emperor hoped to achieve his goal: first, that by wounding the horses, the initial Gallic charge, so formidable to the Romans, would slacken; and second, what he desired most of all, that as little Christian blood as possible would be shed. They did as they were commanded, and the gates were suddenly thrown open and they charged the enemy, sometimes letting the horses run free, sometimes pulling them back, dispensing their attack with varying skill, but with such success that many of the enemy fell on that day, while but few of our own were wounded. ^C But let these matters be, and let us return to the walls of the city. My lord, the Caesar—who, as I have said, calls himself my lord by his own right—was sitting with the experts in archery, as mentioned, on the towers, looming over the enemy above. Everyone, both he and his individual companions, had their own bows. And these they used with extraordinary skill; none of them could aim more accurately or draw and release the string more skillfully or quickly. Indeed, not one of them would yield in the skill of archery to that Homeric Teucer. It was as if the god who shoots from afar had lent his own bow to the Caesar, so much did he excel his companions.

the emperor caused his own forces to put the phalanxes of the Latins to flight. On the following day, Hugo [(53)] went and counselled Godfrey to submit to the emperor’s will, if he did not wish to experience his skill in warfare a second time, and to swear to keep pure fealty to him. But he reproached him greatly, saying: "You, as a king having set out from your own land with such great wealth and army, have now cast yourself down from such a height to the rank of a slave. And then, as if you had achieved something great, you come to advise such things to me." But the other replied, "We ought to have remained in our own lands, and to have refrained from the affairs of others; but since we have descended even to this point, needing much of the emperor’s care, if we do not obey his words, things will not turn out well for us." But when he had sent Hugo away from there having accomplished nothing, the emperor, having been informed that the counts coming up from behind were also drawing near, sent some of the distinguished commanders with the forces under them, and instructed them to advise him again and to compel him to cross over. When the Latins saw them, and without even waiting a moment, nor even asking what they might want, they betook themselves to wars and battles. As a fierce battle broke out between them, many fell on either side. Those of the emperor were wounded, as many as attacked him more shamelessly, but the Latins, when they fought more fearfully, turned their backs.

ANNÆ COMNENÆ than Apollo did over Teucrus. Not here certainly, as the Greeks did in Homer, did they ply the string of the breast-shield and the arrow of the rib in variable motion, giving a specimen of hunting craft alone, but like some Hercules, he aimed lethal shafts with an immortal bow, which one might hope to select in vain, if only he considered it worth his while to aim at him; for he sought nothing that he did not attain, he threatened no one seriously whom he did not strike. Nor was this observed only on that occasion of which I speak. At other times and elsewhere, when any opportunity for a mocking contest or a real battle offered itself, whatever or whomever he proposed to himself as a target, he struck squarely with an inevitable blow. Why do I speak of the body? Whatever it was, however minute, which he desired to strike by aiming, he fixed the point of the discharged missile at once. To such a degree did Caesar Bryennius seem to excel all Teucrians and Ajaxes in the strength of his bow-drawing and the speed of discharging his javelin.

However, as great as he was in the art of archery, nevertheless both the holiness of the sacred day and the command of the emperor softened him toward the enemies, so that he willingly spared them, even though they were angry and deserving of death. And although he seemed to resist them, warding them off from on high against those armoured in helmets and shields who were moving themselves against the walls with all fury, he nevertheless wasted the blow by voluntary mercy, turning it aside to places other than vital ones; sometimes he was content to terrify them with the noise alone. Yet the inopportune stubbornness of one of the Latin Thrasos, however much he was prepared to forgive, drew forth a lethal wound. He, not content with continuously harassing those standing on the crown of the wall with very frequent arrows aimed most accurately from above, was also shouting many things in his own tongue, which, by their very sound, even if one did not perceive the meaning of the words, appeared to be thrown out contumeliously and with reproach against us. At this man who deserved it, Caesar aimed his bow; but the missile, passing through the shield and the inner breastplate, fastened his arm to his side. Then indeed he lay on the ground, cast down and mute. But a shout was carried to the heavens with mixed voices: of our men congratulating Caesar, and of the enemies grieving at the slaughter and fall of their Thraso. From this a grave battle has now arisen, with our cavalry who had gone out at one time, and those archers from the wall, vehemently pressing upon the enemy. As they nevertheless stood firm, the emperor at last committed his own forces; at whose coming and attack the forces of the Latins were put to flight.

The next day Hugo set out to Godfrey and was a great adviser to him of making peace with the emperor, warning that, unless Godfrey promised, with an oath interposed, that he would be faithful to him—which the emperor was demanding—there was present danger that his own forces would receive a new slaughter, repeated by a veteran leader having veteran legions at hand. Godfrey received the man rather harshly, as though he were advising unworthy things: "Are you," he said, "after having left home with a royal retinue and spirit, with such great forces and opulence, able to cast yourself down to the fortune and condition of a humble client at the feet of Alexius, and do you even dare, as if conscious of a glorious deed, to provoke me of your own accord to the imitation of you, and to advise things so little consistent with my dignity?" To whom Hugo replied, "But first of all it was appropriate that we should not have exceeded, with wicked daring, the marks of our own territories, and that we should have abstained from alien affairs, being content with our own. But since we have come to this place by whatever counsel, where we cannot be safe without the benevolent care and providence of him who rules here, we certainly, if we are wise, ought to take pains—by listening to him and by agreeing to his demands—to render him favorable to ourselves, otherwise we shall hope for a happy outcome of our great undertakings in vain." With Hugo having returned with the matter unaccomplished, the emperor, having been informed from elsewhere of others whom it was known were on the journey, and whom Godfrey was awaiting,

and thus, before long, Godfrey conformed to the emperor’s will. Having therefore approached the emperor, he took the oath that was required of him, namely, that whatever cities, lands, or fortresses he might manage to capture that had previously belonged to the Roman Empire, he would hand them over to the commander sent by the emperor for this very purpose. Having thus sworn, and having received generous sums of money, and having become a member of the emperor’s household and a guest at his table, and having been sumptuously entertained, he crossed over and encamped at Pelecanum. The emperor at that time commanded that abundant provisions be supplied to them. Following him, there arrived the count called Raoul with fifteen thousand cavalry and infantry, and he pitched his camp near the Propontis, at the monastery called that of the Patriarch, with the counts under him; the others he quartered as far back as Sosthenion. ^B As he also held the same opinions as Godfrey, he delayed for the time being, awaiting the arrival of those who were following behind. The emperor, anticipating what was to come, feared their arrival and pressed for their crossing with all his strength and intent. Having therefore sent out Opas, he summoned him; this man was second to none in prudence and experience in military affairs. And since he was present with other noble men, throughout the continent... ^{C D} [index: entries preserved]

^A he ordered them to march toward the camp of Raoul, and to act in any way they could to ensure that, willingly or unwillingly, he should move all his men across the strait as quickly as possible. Upon attempting this, Opas soon perceived that the minds of the Gauls were by no means prepared to obey the emperor; indeed, he could no longer endure hearing their insolent threats against him, and he made ready his arms—though this was, in fact, more for the sake of showing off than for waging war. But he was far deceived in his opinion who believed that he could strike terror into a most pugnacious people by a vain pretense of battle, and he thought that by thus presenting the threat of a fight, he would compel the Gauls to hasten their crossing. Raoul, seeing Opas preparing for battle, rejoiced as if a large carcass had been offered for a lion’s meal; nor was there further delay, for quicker than a word he drew up his own forces against him and fell upon Opas with a most vehement charge. By chance, Pegasius ^B had arrived at that same place by sea with his ships, which were meant to transport Raoul’s forces to Asia if he could be persuaded to cross. Looking on from the sea at the battle on the shore, and estimating from the sight itself that the Romans would not, in the end, be equal to the intense ardor with which the Gauls had already begun to rush upon them, he did not wish to be an idle witness to the slaughter of his own men. Therefore, making a sudden landing, he attacked the Gauls from the rear. Then many were killed, and far more were wounded. By these things, the defiance of the surviving Gauls was broken, and they allowed themselves to be inclined toward asking, of their own accord, to be transported. ^C But the emperor, in his most perceptive prudence, immediately noticed the new danger: if an army so incensed were allowed to go by the same road that Gothofredus had taken a little earlier (for it was likely that Raoul’s soldiers would soon follow the Gothofredians, fill them with complaints against the Romans, and easily persuade them to combine plans and forces to take revenge upon them), he very gladly acceded to their petition. Claiming that he would lead them to where they were headed by a shorter and more convenient route, he placed them on ships and sent them by way of the sea to the Sepulcher of the Lord—a thing they much desired. And thus far concerning Count Raoul. ^D Furthermore, as an almost infinite number followed him—kings, dukes, counts, and even bishops, with a most innumerable multitude collected from almost all the Gallic provinces and regions—the emperor sent his men to meet them with very courteous letters, bidding them hope for all things favorable and benign from him. Nor was that wisdom common, as he preempted their untrustworthy minds and, by spontaneously displaying liberality, sweetly enticed them to behave in a manner pleasing to him. For by being softened in this way by him, when they reached Constantinople, the emperor subsequently attained all he desired. Nor were these merely offices of words. For at the same time he took care that, wherever the Gallic armies were making their journey through the lands subject to the empire, ample

provision of useful things might be supplied for their food and sustenance, so that no occasion might be left to them for even a pretext to attempt anything hostile. Now, whoever would wish to form an image in his mind of a multitude so absolutely innumerable crowding towards Constantinople in an endless series, should set before his thoughts how many stars shine in a cloudless night, or what a vast quantity of sand lies at the seashore. For truly the heads of men were as many as the leaves and flowers that spring brings forth, as Homer might say. Furthermore, although my memory suggests the names of the leaders and princes themselves, I do not feel able to bring my mind to record them; for history itself refuses, as its native purity shrinks from being contaminated by that collection of barbarian words, to whose absurd sounds nature has not even formed the tongues of us Greeks sufficiently docile to express them. For what does it profit to waste effort in producing immense catalogs of discordant names, and to render for the men of our own time who read this such labor as they have already undergone? For since they labored not a little at the time in the unwelcome spectacle of so many innumerable armies approaching Constantinople in a continuous series, it would be a full burden of tedium for them to have to read their names in this work as well. ^A These armies together arrived at the great city, and by the emperor’s command they occupied the station designated for them near the monastery of the Cosmidion, their camp extending so widely that it reached even to the temple itself. Furthermore, this multitude was not held in check or restrained by ten heralds, as in the old Greek custom, but by a sufficient number of brave and strong soldiers who applied effective effort so that the Latins might be obedient to the commands of the emperor.

In the meantime, the emperor was intent that the Latin dukes and counts should render to him the same oath that he had shortly before obtained from Godfrey. With this hope he called them to himself one by one separately, and speaking with them at leisure, he tested their various dispositions, making use of those he found more reasonable as helpers to soften the stubbornness of the more recalcitrant, and setting in motion every device. He was in vain, however, as the satraps were awaiting the imminent arrival of Bohemond and placing the chief momentum of their affairs in that. But they were stealing time by this artifice, nor did they bring into the light the cause of their delay. They were devising new and different excuses to demand from the emperor, so that in the meantime he might deliberate about these things and soon dispute with them, and thus time would be gradually consumed. The emperor, who was not easily deluded, perceived and frustrated these ^B tricks. Regardless of the fact that they were expectant of the coming of Bohemond, and were seeking out diverse modes of request and were demanding various other things, the emperor, breaking up what was put forward by them, and having tried every way, forced them into the oath of Godfrey, having summoned him also from Pelekanon to be present while the oath was being completed. When all had therefore assembled, including Godfrey himself, since the matter was already brought to its final end, a certain nobleman among all the counts dared to sit upon the emperor’s throne. The emperor endured this.

^A nor did he say anything, for he had long known the arrogant nature of the Latins. But Count Baldwin, approaching and taking him by the hand, raised him from there, and having rebuked him severely, he said: "It was not right for you to behave in such a way here, having made a promise of service to the emperor; for it is not the custom for the emperors of the Romans to have as fellow-seated those who are their own subjects; and since you have become a citizen/subject of his empire, you must also observe the customs of this land."

The man said nothing to Baldwin, but glaring fiercely at the emperor, he uttered certain words in his own tongue, saying: "Behold what kind of boor sits alone while these men are standing by him." ^B

The movement of the Latin’s lips did not escape the emperor. Having called one of the interpreters of the Latin tongue, he asked him what had been said. When he had heard what had been uttered by him, he said nothing for a time to the Latin, but nevertheless he kept the remark in his mind. When all were taking their leave of the emperor, he summoned again that high-minded and insolent Latin and inquired who he was, whence he had come, and from what lineage. He replied, "I am a Frank, pure of the nobles. I know only this, that at the crossroads of the country from which I am come, there is a temple ^C long since built, where everyone who is eager to enter into combat prepares himself, stationing himself in the rank of a single-combatant..." ^D

^A requesting aid from the divine there, and waiting in delay for him who has dared to challenge him. At which crossroad I also lingered, being at leisure and seeking one to fight with me. But the man who would dare this, was nowhere to be found." The Emperor, having heard this, said, "If when you were seeking a war you did not find one, the time is at hand that will fill you with many wars. However, I advise you neither to station yourself at the rear guard nor to stand among the frontline captains; for I have long had knowledge of the method of the Turks' warfare." He did not advise these things for him alone, but also predicted to all the others whatsoever was likely to happen to them as they departed along the way, ^B and he warned them not to pursue recklessly when God should give them victory over the Barbarians, lest they fall into the ambuscading squads and be cut down. But these are the matters concerning Gothofredus, Raoul, and the others who were following them. But Boemundus, having reached Aprus with the other counts, and knowing internally that he was neither born of noble stock, nor had he brought many forces (66) ^C with him—

VARIOUS READINGS FROM THE COISLIN CODEX

NOTES BY CHARLES DU FRESNE DU CANGE

^A forced by the lack of funds, and wishing to gain the favor of the Emperor, and at the same time desiring to cloak his own designs, he hurried on ahead of the other counts with only ten Celts and made haste to reach the imperial city. The Emperor, knowing his devices and having long understood his treacherous and deceitful character, hurried to speak with him and hear what he had to say before the other counts arrived, hoping to convince him to cross over before they came, so that he would not unite with them once they had arrived and twist their intentions. When he entered, the Emperor looked upon him with a cheerful face immediately upon their meeting, and inquired regarding his journey and where he had left the counts. When he had clarified everything to him regarding his intentions, the Emperor, ^B speaking jestingly, reminded him of those things that had been transacted by him at Dyrrhachium and Larissa, and of that old enmity. He, however, said to him, “Though I was an enemy and an adversary then, I have now come of my own free will as a friend to your Majesty.” The Emperor, having led him through many subjects and having tested his disposition somewhat superficially, when he perceived that he was inclined to give him faithful oaths, said, “For the present, you are weary from your journey and must retire and rest; tomorrow we shall converse about what we wish.” When he had gone, therefore, to the Cosmidion, ^C where his lodging had been prepared, a table was set before him, bountiful and full of every kind of food and condiment. Then also the cooks brought raw meats of land and winged animals, and said: “For our part, the food has been prepared for you as is our custom; but if these do not please you, look—here are raw meats also; and let them be prepared just as you wish.” For the Emperor had given orders to them to prepare and say this; for, clever as he was at guessing the nature of a man, and clever at penetrating the heart and hunting out the thoughts of a person, knowing the man’s disloyal and malicious nature, he had guessed the reality. ^D Therefore, in order that he might not harbor any suspicion against him, he ordered that raw meats also be brought to him at the same time, perhaps dispelling the suspicion. Nor did he fail in his purpose.

^A For the terrible Bohemond did not deign to taste any of the cooked dishes, not even to touch them with the tips of his fingers, but pushed them away at once. Without revealing to anyone the suspicion that had stolen into his mind, he distributed everything to those standing around him, pretending to be generous, but in truth — if one looks closely — mixing a cup of death for them. Nor did he even hide his deceit, so contemptuous was he toward those under his command. He ordered those raw meats to be prepared for his own people, according to the custom of his homeland. ^B On the following day, he asked those who had eaten those dishes how they had fared. When they said that they were very well and had not felt even the slightest harm, he revealed the secret to them and said: "For my part, remembering the wars I had with him and that battle of ours, I was afraid that he might perhaps have attached death to me by casting some lethal poison into the dishes." Such was the behavior of Bohemond.

But I have never seen a wicked man who did not stray far from doing anything rightly in all his words and actions; for whenever anyone abandons the mean and leans toward either of the extremes, he stands far from virtue. ^C Accordingly, the Emperor summoned Bohemond and demanded from him the oath customary among the Latins. Bohemond, knowing his own situation—that he was not born of illustrious ancestors, nor did he possess a store of wealth, and because of this not even great forces, but only a very moderate number of Celts following him—and furthermore being by nature prone to perjury, yielded most willingly to the will of the Emperor. ^D Accordingly, the Emperor set aside a certain chamber in the palace and covered the floor with every kind of wealth and garments, and gold and silver coins, and base metal, filling the room to such an extent that one could not even walk because of the multitude of these things. He ordered those who were to show these things to Bohemond to throw open the doors suddenly. When he saw them, he was amazed and said: "If such wealth were mine, I would have long since become master of many lands myself." And he [the Emperor] said: "If you wish, all these things shall be yours tomorrow."

The other accepted these things with great joy and, having offered his thanks, went away to rest where he had been lodged. But when these things had been brought to him, that man who had just before been struck with wonder changed his mind and said: "I never expected that I would receive such an insult from the Emperor. Take these things, therefore, and carry them back to him who sent them." ^A The Emperor, knowing the fickle nature of the Latins, replied with a common proverb: "Let the evil thing return to its own master." When Bohemond heard this and saw those who had brought the gifts diligently searching for them again, he changed his mind—he who had just rejected them and been vexed by them—and showed a cheerful countenance to those who had brought them, shifting himself in an instant like an octopus. For the man was by nature wicked and quick to respond to circumstances, surpassing all the Latins of that time in wickedness and martial valor as much as he was surpassed by them in resources and wealth. But he was also a master of everyone else in the abundance of his malice. That fickleness, as if it were a natural accompaniment of the Latins, also followed him. At any rate, he who had been pushing away the wealth now received it with great joy. For he was malicious in his design, since, possessing no land at all (71) when he left his own country, he did so on the surface for the sake of venerating the Holy Sepulcher, but in truth he was planning to secure a principality for himself, and, if it should result, even to lay hold of the Roman Empire itself (72), utilizing the advice of his father and, as the saying goes, playing every card; he was in need of much wealth. The Emperor, knowing his malicious and wicked intent, was anxious to subtly remove the thoughts that were maturing in his mind. Therefore, when he [Bohemond] requested the office of Domestic of the East, he did not obtain his request, for the Emperor was concerned about the Cretes—for the Emperor feared that if he obtained power and through it subjugated all the counts, he would easily lead them wherever he wished in the future. Not wanting Bohemond to suspect at all that he had already been found out, he fawningly encouraged him with fair hopes and said: "The time for this is not yet at hand, but through your own energy and faithfulness, this too will come about before long. For today, the Emperor grants you all these things."

^A Having thus conversed with them and honored them with every variety of gift and distinction, he sat upon the imperial throne on the following day. Having summoned Bohemond and all the counts, he spoke with them concerning the events of their journey, intending to instruct them in what was advantageous, and at the same time in the strategies that the Turks were accustomed to use in battles, suggesting how they should form their battle lines, how they should set ambushes, and how they should not pursue for long when the Turks turned their backs in flight. And thus, through gifts and words, having softened their savage nature and suggested what would be to their advantage, he urged them on to the crossing. He loved the Count of Saint-Gilles ^B for his imperial will.

BOOK X OF THE ALEXIAD

^C As for the rest, the Emperor Augustus, having then summoned Bohemond, asked of him the customary oath for the Latins. And he, understanding his own situation, and knowing that he was neither noble by descent nor possessed of an abundance of wealth—and therefore, not by his own power, but only in a moderate way—was he leading his followers, the Celts, and as he was by nature a perjurer, he very readily submitted to the will of the Emperor. Thus, the Emperor having partitioned off a certain dwelling in the palace, he filled it with all kinds of wealth, garments, stamped coin, and gold and silver, and with such a quantity of material that one could not even walk, being impeded by the abundance of these things. When he was about to show this to Bohemond, he threw open the doors. And he, the man, being astonished at the sight of these things, said: "If all these riches were mine, I would long have been master of many lands." And he—

^A having deliberated on these matters, hoping that by such talk and counsel, and by such generous gifts of money—which he did not spare—the rough manners of this fierce nation might perhaps be bent toward some affection or respect for him. At last, he allowed them all to depart and cross over, only keeping Sangele with him. He loved the latter above all the others, because he had observed in him an extraordinary prudence, joined with a straightforwardness free from deceit, and an admirable purity of life and candor of morals; and such a zeal for the truth that he seemed unable to bargain for any price whatsoever for the sake of pretense or deceit. These gifts and virtues, by which Sangele excelled all other Latins no less than the sun excels the other stars, made him most dear to Alexius, so much so that he strongly desired his stay with him, and while the others said farewell and departed, he kept him back.

When they had departed with him across the strait of the Propontis and moved on to Damalis, the emperor, relieved of their annoyance and crowd, used to converse with him more frequently, and instructed him more ^B clearly regarding those things which he believed would happen to the Latins along the way. Moreover, he proceeded to such a point of confidence as to share the suspicions he had conceived regarding the Franks, laying himself completely bare and opening the very gates of his mind to him; he also implored his help and vigilance for our guardianship against the malice of Bohemond, whom, because of the familiarity that had grown up between them by nature and custom, he besought him to dissuade from breaking his oaths and from daring to act, secretly or openly, against the emperor; and he prayed him by every method to destroy his schemes, so that the Roman state might suffer no detriment from the treachery of that wily man.

To the Augustus thus speaking to him, Sangele replied: "Since Bohemond has received perjury and deceit as a kind of inheritance from his ancestors, it would be a great wonder if he should remain in those things which he ^C promised by the interposition of an oath. For my part, however, as much as lies in me, I shall not be wanting to that most righteous will of yours, and I shall give faithful—and I hope effective—labor, so that he may keep himself in his duty." After these words, having saluted the emperor, he also departed, to join himself to the gathering army of the Celts on all sides. ^D

ALEXIAD BOOK XI.

^A The emperor, indeed, had sometimes desired to mingle with the Gauls and to go together with them against the Barbarians. But then, fearing the innumerable multitude of the Gallic armies, he judged it more opportune to proceed to Pelecanum and to stay there, where, on account of the proximity to Nicaea, he could easily learn and quickly understand what was happening to the Gauls, and what the Turks, who were outside or within Nicaea, were doing or preparing. For he did not consider it worthy of his reputation, nor sufficiently safe, while so great a war raged around him, to remain idle at home in security, and not go out into the field and be present in the opportunities that might arise, if for nothing else, for the sake of obtaining Nicaea for himself from the Barbarians themselves—for he preferred that that city be surrendered to him by them rather than by the Gauls, who, according to agreements confirmed by oath, were to return it to the emperor once they had conquered it.

However, the Augustus kept this plan in secret; no one at all—except for Butumites alone—was aware of what he decided to do or of the reasons for which he did it. For a very long time, the emperor had known this Butumites to be a man both most faithful and well-disposed to him, and also, in particular, a strenuous and industrious minister of such kinds of negotiations. To him, therefore, he entrusted the task of soothing the Barbarians who held Nicaea, partly by promises of other things and of sure impunity and safe security, and partly by threats, appropriately woven and invented and artfully exaggerated, of the immense and innumerable evils they would undoubtedly suffer without remedy or consolation if that city were taken by the Gauls. These things, as they had been provided from the beginning, had an end according to the emperor's wish. ^B

Meanwhile, the emperor, in order to set out with the Franks on the sacred expedition, as had been agreed, covered himself with this excuse: that he feared the Alamanni, the Hungarians, the Comani, and other wild tribes, who would depopulate his empire if he himself made the crossing with the pilgrims.

ANNA COMNENA'S ALEXIAD, BOOK XI. ARGUMENT

The Gauls defeat the Turks in many great battles and completely overthrow their power. Nicaea, Antioch, Jerusalem, and many other cities they subject, partly to the emperor, partly to themselves. Godfrey is chosen by them as king of Jerusalem; upon his death, his brother Baldwin succeeds him. The emperor conducts matters successfully by land and sea against the Turks. He harasses the Gauls, first with cautious arts, then with open war.

THE ALEXIAD, BOOK XI

^A But Bohemund and all the counts, having gathered there from whence they were to cross to Cibotus [76] after Godfrey,

(76) *Cat. Dufresnii Du Cangii notæ.*

[Note: The remaining text on this page is a list of chapter summaries (Perioche) and notes, which are translated as follows:]

SUMMARY OF THE ALEXIAD — BOOK XI

The Gauls besiege Nicaea. The Emperor, choosing a base at Pelekanum during the siege of Nicaea, uses cunning arts to snatch Nicaea from the Gauls. He uses Butumites for this. Sangel (Raymond) is the first to be attacked by the Turks coming to the aid of Nicaea, and he defeats them. A fierce battle between the Turks and the Gauls, long undecided. The Gauls are victorious in the end. The Sultan permits the Nicaeans to consult their own interests. Why the tower at Nicaea is called "Gonatos." The prefecture of Manuel Erotius Comnenus against Sclerus, or Durus. The siege of Nicaea is pressed. The Emperor sends engines to the Gauls for it. Why he did not join himself to the Gallic forces. The lake adjacent to Nicaea is occupied by the Emperor. The assault on the city is bitter. The skill of Butumites. The Nicaean Turks surrender to him. The Emperor's astuteness. His own forces occupy Nicaea, excluding the Gauls. Butumites, as prefect of Nicaea, sends the Turkish satraps to the Emperor. Rhodomerus and Monastras, their leaders, are not sufficiently cautious. The Gallic counts are recalled by the Emperor. Tancred's bold speech and deed. Taticius is joined to the Gauls by the Augustus as a companion of the holy expedition. He collects those who are deserters from the Gallic army. Bohemund, leader of the first troop, is fiercely attacked by the Turks. Three huge battles and as many signal victories of the Franks over the Turks. Three months' siege of Antioch. Taticius withdraws from it with his forces. Famine in the Latin camp. The cunning of Bohemund in preparing the principality of Antioch for himself. By the treachery of a certain Armenian, Bohemund is the first to enter Antioch. The Gauls, rushing in from all sides at once, capture the city. Curpagan, arriving late with aid for Antioch, attacks the Gauls enclosed within it. Bohemund builds a new citadel in Antioch. The constant fortitude of the Gauls in the greatest straits. The Emperor sends John Ducas against the pirates. He puts Caspax in charge of the fleet. At its first arrival, Smyrna is surrendered to him. A huge slaughter in that city on the occasion of the killing of Caspax. Hyaleus as prefect of Smyrna. Tangripennes and Maraces are defeated in battle near Ephesus by John. The captured satraps are scattered through the islands. Petzea as prefect of Ephesus. Sardis, Philadelphia, Lampe, and Laodicea surrender to John. He also defeats the Turks at Polybotum. The Emperor proceeds as far as Philomelium to the aid of the Gauls who are enduring extremes at Antioch. Being fully informed there by their envoys of their dire necessity, he nevertheless decides, overcome by fear, to abandon them. He announces his return, and accomplishes it shortly thereafter, though his daughter tries to excuse him in vain. The Christians flee with the fleeing Emperor—or rather, migrate—at his persuasion. Ismael, the arch-satraps, attacks Paipertum. The Gauls, deserted by men, flee to God. Peter the Bishop exhorts them to penance, and advises them to search for the holy nail. It is miraculously found and delivered to the most chaste Sangel to be carried. A marvelous victory over the Turks by which the Gauls rout a very numerous Turkish army. A huge slaughter of the Turks. Thirty days are barely enough for gathering the booty. Bohemund is made prefect of Antioch. Jerusalem is besieged by the Gauls and captured. Godfrey is created its king. Amerimnas the Babylonian moves against the Gauls. At first he is defeated by them, then he defeats them. He takes Ramlah from them. He attacks Jaffa. Finally, he is defeated by Baldwin. Godfrey is redeemed by his brother Baldwin. The remaining Gallic counts, captive in Babylon, are given to the Emperor. Sangel's loyalty to the Emperor. He subdues many fortresses for him. His famous stratagem by which he defeated Atapacas near Antaradus. The same man designates a fortress near Tripoli. Tancred besieges and takes Laodicea. Godfrey having died, Sangel refuses to succeed to the kingdom. Baldwin is substituted for him. A new army of Normans, 50,000 horse and 100,000 foot, arrives at Constantinople. Two Flemish leaders reject the Emperor's counsels. He gives them Sangel and Tzitas as counts. The Normans take Ancyra. Their sacrilegious cruelty is punished by their own most miserable slaughter. The death of Sangel. The Emperor tries to attach his nephew and heir, William, to himself. Mutual complaints between the Emperor and Bohemund regarding each other. Butumites is sent against Bohemund. The contumacy of Michael and Bardas, born of their confidence in the favor of the Augustus. Butumites conducts the business prosperously in Cilicia. The Asian Gauls implore the aid of the Pisans. A Pisan fleet of 900 ships, led by their bishop. The Emperor's preparations against it. Taticius is honored. A battle of the Roman fleet with the Pisan fleet, broken off by a storm, though the Romans are winning with the aid of a new incendiary fire invented at that time; the Pisans flee. The Latins are cruelly slaughtered by the Romans. The Pisans turn to Bohemund. Bohemund, challenged by the Roman leaders regarding peace, rejects the mention of it haughtily. The Roman fleet perishes in a shipwreck. The Emperor occupies Corycus. A Genoese fleet arrives to aid the Franks. The Roman fleet sent against it is weakened by a great shipwreck. Cantacuzenus besieges Laodicea, both the city and the port. Bohemund brings aid to the citadel. Monastras snatches Cilicia from the Gauls. Bohemund, caught in straits, feigns death. Thus he is safely carried to Corfu. From there he threatens the Emperor with great menaces.

^A it was intended that he should wait for the arrival of Sangelus. Since they were an uncountable multitude, and could not wait there on account of the scarcity of fodder (even though they were awaiting the arrival of the Emperor with Sangelus in order that, having made arrangements with him there, they might take the road leading to Nicaea), they divided into two. One part marched through Bithynia and Nicomedeia toward Nicaea; the others crossed over the ferry at Cibotus and came together to the same place. And thus, having approached Nicaea, they divided the towers and the curtains between the towers among themselves, having decided to conduct the assault on the walls according to their own ranks, so that one might be more eager than the other in the siege. They left the section of Sangelus empty, awaiting his arrival. ^B There the Emperor also reached Pelecanum, having Nicaea in his mind, as the narrative has already related. The Barbarians inside Nicaea sent frequently to the Sultan, requesting his aid. As he delayed somewhat, and the siege had now been ongoing for many days from sunrise to sunset, seeing their affairs in extreme straits, they changed their minds and decided it was better to have approached the Emperor than to be taken by the Gauls. Therefore, they summoned Butumites, who had frequently promised them by many letters that they would receive such and such good things from the Emperor if they would surrender Nicaea to him. He, having declared the Emperor's kindnesses more clearly and shown the written promises if they would surrender the fortress to him, was gladly received, as the Turks were already exhausted from resisting such great multitudes and realized it was better to surrender the city of their own accord to the Emperor and receive wealth and honors than to become fodder for the sword. Butumites had not yet been inside for three days, and Sangelus arrived and was hastening to attempt the wall through the siege engines he was preparing. Meanwhile, a rumor reached them announcing the arrival of the Sultan. This was what they were waiting for.

^C But the Turks, having learned this and grown confident, immediately expelled Butumites. The Sultan, having divided a portion of his army, sent them to spy on the approach of Sangeles, with orders that if they encountered any of the Celts, they were not to delay the battle with them. When those of Sangeles saw them from afar, they engaged them. But the other counts, and Bohemond himself, having heard the report of this approach of the Barbarians, selected two hundred men from each county ^D and, gathering a great multitude, immediately sent them to the aid of those of Sangeles. Having arrived by evening, they pursued the Barbarians. The Sultan was not at all disheartened by this, but at the break of day he armed himself and occupied the plain outside the walls of Nicaea with his entire force. The Celts, perceiving his presence, armed themselves valiantly and rushed upon them like lions, and a terrible and heavy war broke out at that moment. The battle remained evenly balanced for both sides throughout the day; but when the sun came to dusk, the Turks were turned, with that very night deciding the battle. Many indeed fell on both sides, with no fewer being killed, and the majority being wounded. Having thus won a brilliant victory, the Celts, having impaled many heads upon their spears, returned carrying them as though they were standards, so that the Barbarians, discerning the event from afar and fearing the defeat from the very first encounter, might desist from the intense fighting.

Such then were the actions and the reasonings of the Latins. The Sultan, seeing the infinite multitudes of these men and having perceived their unquenchable daring from that very first encounter, gave permission to the Turks within Nicaea ^D to yield, saying, "Do from now on whatever is judged best," for he knew long since that they preferred to surrender the city to the Emperor rather than be captured by the Celts. But Sangelos, holding to the task he had undertaken, fashioned a circular wooden tower

The Machine Called a Tortoise

Sangelos, having expertly constructed the aforementioned wooden tower—which those possessing greater experience in mechanical arts call a "tortoise"—introduced into it armed men who were skilled in attacking walls, and others who knew how to shake the tower from below with iron tools, so that the former might fight against those on top of the wall, while the latter, having obtained a truce, might dig under the tower. They even introduced logs of wood to replace the stones being removed. And having reached the interior surface...

[GREEK COLUMN] there were missing outside the machine strong men who could dig and pierce through the sides of the beleaguered tower from all sides, and at the same time others were added who were skilled in the art of undermining walls: these were sent in secretly and, having approached the lowest part of the wall, they explored the foundations of the tower itself, working with hooks and cramps and iron instruments of that kind; and from the stones they pulled out, they substituted in their place logs or wooden props until the mass could be supported; and they did this unobserved, since those who were attacking the defenders of the city with missiles and threatening those who were preparing to leap onto the walls had drawn the entire attention of the Nicaeans upon themselves. Therefore, by this continuous labor of boring through the tower, at length such progress was made in removing the stones and substituting the timbers that the work reached as far as the interior surface of the wall that faces the city, so that the daylight shone through the cracks on that side. Then indeed fire was cast in, which consumed those wooden supports, and the mass of the building standing above collapsed inwards into the hollow, confirming by this new event the old name of the "kneeling tower." Meanwhile, Sangeles and the others, each for his own part, pressed on with encompassing the entire circuit of the city with a palisade, rampart, and engines of war; and they had by now filled in the ditch with earth brought to it so that, levelled to an equal surface with the adjacent plains, it provided a smooth path right up to the wall.

^B Though things were thus, the Emperor, having calculated with precision and having decided many times over that it was impossible for Nicaea to be captured by the Latins, no matter how much they might exceed in number, partly at least manufactured all kinds of siege engines, and most of them not according to the methods of engineers, but according to other principles that seemed right to him, which also provided a source of wonder to all, and sent them to the counts. And he, having crossed over with the forces he had at hand, as the narrative has already disclosed, was staying at Pelekanos near the Mesampela, where a temple had been built of old in the name of the holy great-martyr George. The Emperor had indeed wished to go in company with the Latins against the godless Turks; but weighing the matter and observing the infinite multitude of the Frankish army to be incomparable to the Roman forces, and knowing the fickle mind of the Latins from long experience, he desisted from the undertaking; and not for this reason only, but also foreknowing their instability and faithlessness, moving like the Euripus to opposite conclusions many times, and being ready to sell their wives and children for a single obol because of their greedy nature. For these reasons the Emperor restrained himself at that time from the undertaking; but he decided that he must not be present with the Celts, while yet giving them as much assistance as he would have if he were present. Knowing, therefore, the most fortified of the walls of Nicaea, he understood it was impossible for this to be captured by the Latins. Learning, however, that the Sultan could easily ^C [through the adjacent lake ^D send sufficient forces and all supplies, he gave thought to this.]

he meditated on how to blockade it. Having, therefore, prepared boats of such a size as that water could contain, he brought them by way of the region of Cius 87 in wagons and launched them into the lake, having put armed soldiers into them, and set Manuel Boutoumitês as their leader; and he gave them more flags than were needed, so that from this it would appear that their numbers were many times greater; and in addition to this, trumpets 88 and drums. Thus, then, were the matters concerning the lake managed by the Emperor. From the mainland, meanwhile, he sent for Taticius and the man called Tzitas with brave peltasts, numbering up to two thousand, and sent them against Nicaea, having commanded them, as soon as they should disembark from the ships, to occupy the castle of St. George, to load onto mules the great quantity of arrows they were carrying, and, dismounting from their horses far from the walls of Nicaea, to march on foot directly towards the tower called Gonatas and there to pitch their camp; then, at a single signal, to rush together to attack the walls. Taticius, therefore, having arrived with the army under him, gave notice to the Celts according to the Emperor’s instructions; and at that time they all armored themselves, and with loud shouting and clamor they attacked the walls, those of Taticius’s men at that moment shooting numerous arrows, and the Celts in some places piercing the walls, and in others ^B densely raining down volleys of stones by means of stone-throwing engines. And from the lake, terrified by the imperial flags and trumpets—those whom Boutoumitês was at the same time terrifying, while also signaling to them concerning the imperial promises—the barbarians were driven to such a point that they dared not even peer over the battlements of Nicaea, and at the same time, having despaired of the arrival of the Sultan, they judged it better to surrender the city to the Emperor and to enter into negotiations about this with Boutoumitês. He, having spoken to them such things as were reasonable, showed them the golden bull which the Emperor had placed in his hands. Having therefore listened to the golden bull, by which the Emperor promised not only immunity, but also a lavish gift of money and honors to the sister and wife of the Sultan 89—who was, as it was said, the daughter of Tzachas—and simply to all the barbarians in Nicaea, and being emboldened by the promises of the Emperor, they offered the entrance to Boutoumitês. He immediately made it known through letters to Taticius that we now have the prey in our hands, and it is necessary to…

prepare for a fight at the walls. He instructed that the same also be prepared for the Celts, that they should be confident in nothing more than the circular wall-fighting, and how it is necessary to encompass the walls, and to make an attempt at the siege at sunrise. The reason for this was a certain stratagem, so that it might appear to the Celts that this city was captured by war through Boutoumitês, and that the drama of betrayal performed by the Emperor might remain hidden. For the Emperor wished that the arrangements made by Boutoumitês should be secret from the Celts. But on the day following, raising the war-cry on both sides of the city—on one side, the Celts persisted more eagerly in the siege through the mainland; on the other, Boutoumitês, having ascended to the parapets and having placed the scepters and banners around the walls, was praising the Emperor with horns and trumpets—and thus the entire Roman army entered within Nicaea. ^A Boutoumitês, knowing the multitudes of the Celts, and having them under suspicion because of the instability of their judgment and the unrestrained nature of their impulse, lest they themselves might enter and take possession of the fortress, and seeing also that the satraps within were capable, against the force he himself had, if only they should choose, of being able to bind and slaughter—he immediately takes hold of the keys of the gate. For there was only one gate at that time used for entry and exit, the others having been closed due to the fear of the neighboring Celts. Having, therefore, the keys of this gate himself, he judged it necessary to diminish the number of the satraps through stratagem, so that he might be able to defeat them easily, so that they might not plot any evil against him. Sending for them, therefore, he counseled them to go to the Emperor, if they wished to receive much wealth from him there and to be deemed worthy of the greatest honor, and to have annual stipends ^B established for themselves. He persuades the Turks, and by night, opening the gate, he sent them, a few at a time, frequently to Rodomeros and to the half-barbarian Monastras, who were dwelling around the small town of the, so to speak, Lord George—as it was called—having instructed them that when they…

^A disembarked from the ships, they should immediately send these men to the Emperor and not detain them for even a short time, to prevent them from uniting with the Turks who were being sent behind them and devising some mischief against them. This, in fact, was a prophetic warning, and a result of that man’s great experience, and beyond dispute. For as long as they sent those who arrived quickly to the Emperor, they were in safety, and no danger hung over them. But when they grew lax, the danger—which the barbarians whom they had detained were preparing against them—began to take shape. For as they became more numerous, they resolved to do one of two things: either set upon them by night and kill them, or bring them as prisoners to the Sultan. And when this seemed the better course to all, they attacked them by night and, having taken them prisoner according to their previous design, they departed from that place; then, indeed, having reached the summit of Azalas—this place is distant . . . stadia from the walls of Nicaea—they thought it best to stop there and rest their horses, for they had arrived there, as the story goes, and were dismounting.

Now, since Monastras was a half-barbarian and knew the Turkish language, and Rhodomeros himself had long ago been captured by the Turks and had passed a considerable time with them—so that he, too, was not ignorant of that language—they often urged persuasive arguments upon them, saying: “Why do you mix for us, as it were, a cup of death, while obtaining not even the smallest benefit for yourselves from it? You, while all the others have received great gifts from the Emperor and have been promised the receipt of yearly payments, deprive yourselves of such benefits. Do not take such counsel regarding yourselves! When it is possible to be saved without danger, and, abounding in wealth, to return to your own lands and perhaps even become masters of territories, why do you throw yourselves into obvious danger? For perhaps you will encounter the Romans who are lying in wait for you there, and, having displayed the palms of your hands and the marshes, you will be destroyed. For indeed, not only are the Celts and Barbarians lying in wait for you in great numbers, but also a countless multitude of Romans. If, therefore, you listen to us, turn your bridles, and let us go together to the Emperor. We swear to you by God that you shall enjoy countless gifts from him, and then you shall go away freely to wherever you wish.” The Turks were persuaded by these words, and having given and received pledges of faith with one another, they kept to the road leading to the Emperor.

When they reached Pelekana, as the Emperor saw them, he looked at all of them with a cheerful countenance; and although he had been much displeased with Rhodomeros and Monastras, he sent them away for the present to take their rest. On the following day, as many of the Turks as were serving him...

and wished to devote their efforts to his obedience were showered with countless benefits by him; those who declared that they were possessed by a desire to take their gifts and leave were, with great kindness, permitted to depart. Then at last, the emperor addressed Rhodomeros and Monastras, rebuking their imprudence with such weight of words that the men, consumed with immense shame, could not even bear to look him in the face. Yet, never forgetting his own humanity, Alexios soon shifted his tone to attempt to console them.

Meanwhile, Butumites, having been declared governor of Nicaea by the emperor, was ^A strongly importuned by the Gauls to allow them to enter Nicaea and visit the holy temples within it. But Butumites, who was well aware of the insidious intent of the Gauls, countered this so that he might show kindness without exposing himself to danger. He replied that he would permit them entry, provided that no more than ten entered at a time; and this is how it was done. The Gauls were admitted and led out in groups of ten; they saw and admired Nicaea, but they were unable to occupy it.

In the meantime, the Emperor was still lingering around Pelekanon, and since he desired to prevail upon those counts among the Gauls who were still not bound by oath to him to also swear their allegiance, he sent letters to Butumites in which he ordered that he should advise all the counts together not to take the road leading towards Antioch before they had taken their leave of the emperor; for if they did this, they would certainly be showered with new gifts by him. Bohemond was the first of all to prick ^B up his ears at the mention of gifts; being more quickly persuaded than the rest, he urged them all to return to the Emperor; such was the insatiable greed for gain that drove the man. When they reached Pelekanon, the emperor received them magnificently, having first softened them with many tokens of his benevolence; then, gathering them together, he said: "You know the oath by which you bound yourselves to me, all of you who have dealt with me before. If you do not regret this, or if you now regret it, it is right and just, if I am not mistaken, that you should use your influence to lead those among you who are not yet bound by our formula to follow your example and join with you." ^C The rest immediately began to send for those who had not sworn the oath; and indeed they had gathered, and they made haste. ^D

^A And the matter was accomplished. Immediately those who had been invited were summoned, and the rest did not hesitate to take the oath. But when it came to Tancred, the nephew of Bohemond, a youth of very free spirit, he declared that he owed faith to Bohemond alone, and that he wished to keep it until his death. Being rebuked by the reproaches of those standing by, and also by the relatives of the emperor, he turned toward the tent where the emperor was then sitting—which was so vast in size that no one had ever seen anything like it at that time—and added this: "If you give me as much wealth as this can hold, and add to these things all those you have given to all the counts, even then I will not be brought to bind myself by the oath you ask." ^B Palaiologos, because of the zeal he burned with for the emperor, could not bear the affected speech of Tancred; he despised the man, as one not at all made for the endurance of insult. And so, he clearly leaped forward against Palaiologos to strike him; the emperor noticed this, and rising quickly stood between them. Bohemond also grabbed him and stopped the youth, saying, "It is not fitting to behave insolently toward the emperor's relatives." At last, Tancred, having conceived shame for his insolence toward Palaiologos, and also persuaded by the exhortations of Bohemond and the others, performed the oath himself. ^C Then, as the Gauls were girded for the rest of the expedition and were saying farewell to the emperor, he ordered Taticius, then a great primicerius furnished with his own troops, to go with them, both to aid them and to be a participant in all dangers and labors, and so that any cities the Gauls might capture, God helping, he might obtain and claim for the empire in the name of the emperor, with them ceding them according to the agreed covenants. From here, crossing over again the next day, all the Gauls took the road which leads to Antioch. But the Augustus, considering that it could hardly be that the clients and soldiers of the Gallic counts could or would proceed further with them either willingly or by force, signified to Boutumites that he wished to be hired for pay as guards of Nicaea as many as were found left behind when the Gallic troops departed. ^D But Taticius, with his own army, and all the counts with their own countless Gallic forces, having reached Leucas at the end of a two-day journey, agreed there among themselves concerning the further road, so that they commanded Baimund to take the lead, as he requested; the rest then, with a formed column, followed at a slow pace. But as Baimund was moving vigorously, the Turks, having spotted him in the plains of Dorylaeum, and thinking, because they saw no other forces in that wide plain, the rest of the army being at a slightly larger distance, that this was the whole...

^A Latin army, they despised their small numbers and daringly engaged them in battle. It happened that that fierce and wind-bag Latin who had dared to sit on the Emperor’s throne, and who had brought upon himself that boast of which we spoke before, forgetting the advice suggested by the Emperor, remained in the first line of the array to defend his position, and being carried away by sudden heat of temper, he rushed even further against the charging Turks. The outcome that followed was worthy of his reckless venture. Having lost forty of his own number in the slaughter and having himself been severely wounded, he was forced to turn his back to the enemy and fled at great speed into the center of his own lines; by that very act, if not by words, he proclaimed the truth and the wisdom of the Emperor's counsels.

Meanwhile, Bohemond, sensing the fierce and formidable attack of the Turks, sent for the French forces which were following behind to warn them of his danger. They flew up as fast as they could, and a severe and terrible battle was joined, and at last, exerting all their strength, not without the faithful and strong assistance of the Romans fighting at their side, they conquered the Turks. The French, however, proceeding further in formation, fell in with the Turks again at the Hebrew [ford], where Taniscan the sultan and Asan, who alone led eighty thousand armored men, were. A sharp and vehement conflict took place, as neither side would leave to the other any advantage that could be gained by hand-to-hand fighting and force; the battle lines stood firm, with neither side prepared to turn their backs or yield in any way. ^B The stubborn constancy of the Turks on that day caused concern to Bohemond as he commanded the right wing. Therefore, in order to break them, he separated himself from his own troops and began to attack Sultan Clitziastran himself with the most ferocious impetus, clearly like a lion relying on his strength, according to the poet. This event terrified the Turks and made them turn their backs to the French, yet they [the French] did not pursue the fugitives far, for they remembered the instructions and counsels of the Emperor. But content with having captured the Turkish camp on that day, where they refreshed themselves a little, they resumed their journey and again met the Turks at Agrustopolis, and having engaged them again, they routed and put them to flight. There the flower of the barbarian army and the strength and audacity of the Turks perished. The few who survived were scattered in various directions, abandoning all care not only for their public affairs but even for their wives and children, whom they left behind everywhere. From that day on they did not dare to stand against the Latins, believing that their only hope for safety lay in flight against the might and steel of their enemies. What followed then? The Latins, together with the Roman army, arrived at Antioch and moved against it from that side...

^A which is known for its rapid current. Without taking any heed of what lay on either side, they dug a trench near the walls and deposited their baggage there; and they besieged this city for three lunar periods. The Turks, panic-stricken by the necessity which had overtaken them, sent word to the Sultan of Khorasan, beseeching him to send sufficient forces to their aid; on the condition that he would both bring succor to the people of Antioch and drive away the Latins who were besieging them from the outside. ^B Now it happened that an Armenian stood on the tower above, guarding the portion of the wall that had been allotted to Bohemond. Bohemond, having seen him often looking out from above, cajoled him and, enticing him with many promises, persuaded him to deliver the city to him. The Armenian said to him: "Whenever you wish, and once you have signaled to me from the outside, I will immediately hand this tower over to you; only be ready then, both yourself and all the people under your command, having ladders prepared at the same time; and one must not only be ready, but have the whole army armored, so that when the Turks see you having ascended immediately, and hear you raising the war cry, they may be terrified and turn to flight." Bohemond ^C kept what was planned secret for the time being. As these things were being discussed, someone arrived saying that a very large multitude of Hagarenes was arriving, led by the commander from Khorasan, who was called Curpagan. Having learned this, and not wishing to hand over Antioch to Taticius according to the preceding oaths made to the emperor, but rather desiring to claim it for himself, Bohemond devises a wicked plan by which he might cause him to depart against his will. Approaching him, therefore, he says: "I wish to disclose to you a secret, out of concern for your safety; a rumor has reached the ears of the counts ^D and stirred up their souls, that the emperor is planning to destroy those coming from Khorasan..."

^A and has persuaded the sultan to send them against us. The counts have regarded this as certain and are plotting against your life. And I, for my part, have already fulfilled my duty and warned you of the danger coming upon you; for the rest, it is for you to provide for your own safety and that of the troops under your command."

Tatikios, seeing also that the famine was severe (for the head of an ox was being sold for three gold staters) ^B and despairing of the capture of Antioch, departed from there, and having entered the Roman fleet stationed at the harbor of Soudin ^C, he reached Cyprus. After he had withdrawn, Bohemond, still suppressing the Armenian’s account and nursing himself with fond hopes, and seeking to secure for himself the authority over Antioch, said to the counts: "You see how much time we have wasted here, and not only have we achieved nothing good up to the present, but we have already become ^D fodder for famine, unless we look to something better for our own safety."

When they asked what this might be, he himself said: "God does not grant all victories to those who lead by the sword, nor are such things always achieved through fighting, but what toil has not granted, speech has often bestowed; and a campaign conducted with friendship and cajolery has set up greater trophies. It is not right, therefore, to waste time in vain, but rather to hasten, before the Turks reach Coropazan, to accomplish something wise and manly for the sake of our safety, and let each one of us earnestly endeavor to win over the barbarian guarding his own lot. And if you wish, let the reward for the one who first succeeds in this task be established as the guardianship of this city, until the one among us who is to receive it from the emperor shall arrive. Perhaps, even so, we shall not be able to achieve anything good."

These things the wily Bohemond said, being fond of rule—not so much for the sake of the Latins and the common good as for his own honor—and having looked to his own affairs.

He added that, if he met with success, he would not fail in his purpose, as the narrative following will show. To this proposal, therefore, all the counts agreed and set to the task. ^A At the first light of day, Bohemond immediately set off toward the tower, and the Armenian, according to their agreement, opened the gates. Bohemond leapt in at once with his men, faster than the word could be spoken, and was seen by those within and without standing atop the battlements of the tower, ordering the trumpet of war to be sounded. And it was a marvel to behold at that moment: the Turks, stricken with terror, fled immediately through the gate opposite, and only a few of them—brave men who remained for the defense of the *Cula* (14)—were left behind. The Kelts from the outside, following the example of Bohemond, climbed up with ladders and immediately took possession of the city of Antioch (15). ^B And Tancred, having immediately gathered a sufficient number of men, pursued those who were fleeing; many were killed, and many were wounded. But Corbagath, having arrived with countless thousands to provide aid to the city of Antioch, found it already captured, its fortified camp and... ^{C D}

[Note: [alt-version omitted]]

ditches dug, and having set down his baggage inside, he deliberated upon how he might besiege ^A the city. But while he was not yet actually engaged in the work, the Celts, having sallied forth, intercepted him, and a great battle broke out between them. The Turks had the upper hand, and the Latins were being driven back behind the gates, having the danger on both sides, both from those guarding the "Crus" ^B (for the Barbarians still held this) and from the Turks sitting around them from the outside. Being a cunning man, Bohemond, wishing to usurp the authority of Antioch, said in the guise of advice to the counts, "It is not fitting for the same men to have to fight on another side in the same conflict, against both those within and those without, but rather, having divided yourselves into unequal parts according to the proportion of the enemies fighting against us on each side, in this way accept the battle against them. For my part, it shall be possible for me to fight with those guarding the acropolis, if this should seem good to you also; but for the rest, it will be the concern to grapple stubbornly with those outside." Everyone agreed to Bohemond's plan. He immediately set to work, and forthwith built a wall positioned crosswise, separating the acropolis from the whole of Antioch, a most secure fortification for a sufficient war; and he himself became an insomniac guard of such a wall, always fighting against those within whenever opportunity offered, most bravely. The other counts likewise made their lot a source of much concern, guarding the city constantly and watching the battlements and the parapets of the walls, lest the Barbarians from the outside should come up at night by ladders and hold the city, and so that no one from within, having gone up to the wall and having spoken with the Barbarians about treachery, might betray the city by being undetected. But let these things be concerning Antioch. As for the Emperor, he had great zeal himself to go to the aid of the Celts,

^A but he was restrained, even though he was in a state of great agitation, by the pillaging and utter devastation of the cities and territories situated along the sea coast. For Tzachas held Smyrna as if it were a portion of his own inheritance, and another, known as Tangripermes, held a certain city of the Ephesians situated near the sea, in which of old a temple had been founded in the name of John the Apostle and Theologian. And others held other fortresses of the satraps, using the Christians whom they had bought with silver to plunder everything. But they had also seized the very islands—Chios and Rhodes, and all the rest—having constructed pirate ships from there. On account of these things, they considered that they must first take thought regarding the maritime situation and Tzachas, and leave behind sufficient forces by land and a competent fleet; then, by their means, they would check the onsets of the Barbarians and stand against them, and only thus, with the rest of the army, take up the road leading to Antioch, fighting with the Barbarians who lay in between as far as was possible. Having therefore sent for John Ducas, who was the brother of his wife, he entrusts to him forces gathered from various regions, and a fleet sufficient for the siege of the coastal cities, and ^B also the daughter of Tzachas herself, who had been captured with the others who happened to be inside Nicaea at that time. He instructed him to proclaim everywhere the capture of Nicaea; but if they should not be convinced, to show the very daughter of Tzachas to the satraps of the Turks and to the Barbarians who occupied the coastal regions, so that those who held the aforementioned cities, seeing her and being assured of the capture of Nicaea, might despair and surrender the cities without a fight. Having thus provided for him sufficiently in every way, he sends John forth. But the narrative in its progression shall reveal what trophies he set up against Tzachas and how he drove him out from there. The Doux, therefore—who was my uncle on my mother’s side—having taken leave of the Emperor, exits from the great city; and having crossed the Abydos and sent for the man called Caspax, he entrusted to him the authority of the fleet and the entire management of the voyage, promising that if he were to fight well, when the time came for Smyrna to be taken, he would establish him as ruler of Smyrna itself and of all the cities bordering upon it. He sends him forth, therefore, as sea-lord of the fleet.

^A Those who were within Smyrna, seeing both of them approaching—both Kaspex by way of the sea and John Doukas by way of the mainland—and seeing one pitching his camp not far from the walls and the other anchoring in the harbor, and since the capture of Nicaea had already become known to them, were not at all willing to stand against them, but chose instead to enter into discussions and peaceful negotiations. They promised that if John Doukas would be willing to swear to them that he would allow them to return home unharmed by any evils, they would hand over Smyrna to him without bloodshed and without a battle. John Doukas therefore agreed to fulfill all the conditions according to the wishes of Tzachas at that time. Having sent them off from there in peace, he entrusted to Kaspex the entire substance of Smyrna and its administration.

But a certain incident occurred by chance. As Kaspex was returning from John Doukas, a certain Smyrniote approached him, complaining that five hundred gold staters had been taken from him by force by a Saracen. He ordered them to be brought to be judged. As the Syrian was being dragged along, thinking he was being led to execution, and despairing of his own safety, he drew a dagger and thrust it into the bowels of Kaspex; turning aside, he also struck his brother in the thigh. As much confusion arose over this, the Saracen escaped. But all the men of the fleet, together with the rowers, entered the city in disorder and killed everyone without pity. And it was a pitiful sight to see, as if ten thousand were killed in a brief moment of time. ^B John Doukas, being deeply grieved at the killing of Kaspex for a considerable time, gave his entire attention once again to the care of the fortress. Having gone out and inspected the walls and thoroughly ascertained the opinions of the settlers through those who knew them, since there was need of a brave man, knowing Hales to be the most excellent of the others, he appointed him Doukas of Smyrna. This man was indeed warlike.

Having left the entire navy for the protection of Smyrna, he himself taking up the forces, marched against Ephesus, which was held by Tangripermes and Marakes, the satraps. When the barbarians saw him rushing against them, they armed themselves and, forming their phalanxes in the shape of a battle on the plain outside the fortress, took their stand. He, having conceded not even a little, without any delay and with military order, charged against them. Thus the joining of the battle took place and occupied the greater part of the day. As both sides were fighting and the battle was evenly balanced, the Turks turned their backs and were routed completely. Many were killed at that time; and not only the random ones were captured, but also those who had pitched their camp near the walls. ^C And the authority, as Constantine says, from which he had set out, he returned to.

and the majority of the satraps themselves, so that the captured amounted to two thousand. Having learned about these, the emperor ordered them to be dispersed among the islands. The remaining Turks, having gone through the river Maeander toward Polybotum, grew disdainful, having utterly despaired of the Doux. But the matter was not so; for having left Perzeas ^A in charge of this city, he himself, taking up the entire heavy-armed force, not in a disorderly manner but in an orderly way, as it behooved a most experienced general to march against the adversaries, he advanced according to the emperor's suggestions. The Turks, however, as has been said, having traveled through Maeander and the cities lying near it, seized Polybotum; the Doux did not pursue them at the heels, but taking the shorter route, seized Sardis and Philadelphia by a raid, entrusting the garrison of these to Michael Kekaumenos. Having reached Laodicea, and all having come to him immediately, he used them as volunteers and, having grown confident, he allowed them to live in their own homes in comfort, not even setting governors over them. From there, having passed through the embankment, he seized Lampe, and in this city he set Eustathius Camytzes as general. Having arrived at Polybotum, he seized a large multitude of Turks, and having fallen upon them while they were just putting down their baggage, he at once fought them and conquered them with force; and he killed many, and recovered much booty, proportional to the multitude. ^B While he had not yet returned, but was fighting against the Turks, the emperor having made preparations for the aid of the Celts stationed around Antioch, since he had captured Philomelium with his entire forces, having slaughtered many barbarians in between and having sacked many cities previously held by them, at that time William Grantemanes and Stephen, Count of France, and Peter the son of Aliphas, arrived to him from Antioch, having let themselves down by ropes from the battlements of the walls.

The battle raged bitterly and for a long time, the conflict between both sides persisting until the greater part of the day. Finally, after a long equilibrium of doubtful fortune, the Turks, having turned their backs, were clearly routed, and had a bloody flight, hateful to those following us, with the slaughter and enslavement of many of their own. Among the captives, whose total number reached two thousand, many satraps were found: concerning whom the emperor, being consulted, ordered them distributed among the islands. The remaining Turks, having set out along the Maeander river to Polybotum, were staying there quite securely, not at all thinking that John would think of this. But this confidence deceived them. For he, having ^C left Perzeas, who by right and title of Doux held the city of Ephesus, and having taken his entire army with him, not tumultuously and greedily, but as it became a most experienced leader, moved against the Turks slowly and in good order, waging war against that nation according to the commands and admonitions of the emperor. The Turks, as we have said, had moved ahead to Polybotum. John did not wish to press upon the footprints of those hastening there by the same road; but having traveled by another more direct route, he safely arrived and occupied Sardis and Philadelphia, the custody of which he entrusted to Michael Kekaumenos. When he had reached Laodicea, he found all the citizens coming to meet him in a pouring crowd, alacritously yielding themselves and their possessions; he received them humanely and placed so much faith in them that he let them keep to their own law and judgment, with no governor or garrison imposed upon them. Then, having crossed the Chomate, he took Lampe, and imposed Camytzes Eustathius as leader over it. Finally, not long after, he arrived at Polybotum where the Turks were received; upon whose crowd, still unorganized from their secure journey and entangled with baggage barely well-deposited, he made a sharp impression and ^D inflicted upon them a great slaughter, by which many of the Barbarians were slain, and vast booty and no smaller number of captives were recovered. While John was conducting these affairs most effectively against the Turks, the emperor, having prepared his forces, set out to the aid of the Gauls defending Antioch, and arrived at Philomelium with the entire army, having slain many Barbarians along the way and recovered the cities that had previously been occupied by them. There, those who met him were William Grantemanes, Stephen, Count of France, and Peter Aliphas, let down by ropes from the pinnacles of the walls.

[alt-version omitted]

Having arrived through Tarsus, they confirmed that the Celts were caught in an extremely narrow strait and swore an oath regarding their utter ruin. The Emperor, for this very reason, was even more intent on rushing to their aid, although everyone tried to dissuade him from such an impulse. But soon after, when the rumor had spread everywhere ^A of an assault by innumerable barbarians against him, for the Sultan of Khorasan, having learned of the Emperor's advance on behalf of the Celts, had ordered his own son, Ismael by name, having gathered infinite forces from both Khorasan and the more distant regions and armed them vigorously, to be sent against him, with orders to reach the Emperor before he could capture Antioch, he was eager to destroy the Emperor’s impetus—which he had for the salvation of the Celts—and to finish off the Turks who were striking at him. And he himself, Curpagan, the leader of these, was also hindered by the reports sent both by the Franks who had arrived and by those who informed him of the advance of Ismael against him.

Having taken into account what was likely regarding the future—that it was an impossible thing to save a city that had just been captured by the Celts, that was still in turbulence, and that was immediately being besieged from the outside by the Hagarenes—and since the Celts had despaired of their salvation and were planning to abandon the wall to the enemy and save themselves alone through flight. For the race of the Celts, among other things, is independent and lacks prudence, and they never make use of strategic order and knowledge; but whenever battle and war arise, their wrath being stirred up, they are unrestrained, not only the soldiers but even the leaders themselves, as they fall into the middle of the phalanxes of the enemies, being unbearable, so that whatever stands against them gives way; but if the enemies frequently set ambushes with military expertise and pursue them technically, all their boldness turns into the opposite. For, to speak of the whole thing, the Celts are irresistible in their first charges, but after that, they are also easily handled, because of the weight of their armor ^B and the impetuous and irrational nature of their resolve. On account of these things, having neither sufficient forces against such multitudes, nor— [The text continues into the next page]

ability to discern the minds of the Celts, or to induce them by better counsel to what was expedient, he judged it necessary not to proceed further, lest, pressing on toward the relief of Antioch, he might lose Constantinople itself. Being afraid, moreover, that the innumerable Turkish hosts might overtake him, and the settlers of the Philomelium region might become fodder for the barbarian sword, he conceived the idea of proclaiming everywhere the approach of the Hagarenes. And immediately it was proclaimed that every man and woman should depart before their arrival, preserving their own bodies and whatever possessions they were able to carry. And so all of them were eager to follow the Emperor immediately—not only the men, but the women themselves; thus, then, were the affairs of the captives managed by the Emperor. He divided a portion of the military and, having split this into many parts, he sent it out in numerous directions against the Hagarenes, in case they should encounter the Turks making some incursions, to mix with them and, by fighting stoutly, to check their advance against the Emperor. He himself, with the entire population of the captured Barbarians and the Christians who had come over to him, set out on the return journey toward the Imperial City.

But the arch-satrape Ismael, having learned concerning the Emperor that, having set out from Constantinople, he had wrought much slaughter of men and had utterly laid waste many towns and villages as he passed through, and that he was now returning toward the Imperial City with a great amount of booty and captives, without having left any work for him to do, as he despaired of the prey, he was thrown into a state of helplessness. Turning to another matter, he decided to besiege Paipert. This castle, which had been held a little while before by that most renowned Theodore Gabras, were now held by the enemy; and having occupied the river flowing near it, he had deposited his entire army there. Having learned of this, Gabras was considering falling upon him by night. But what end the affairs regarding Gabras had, and whence he had originated, and what kind of man he was, let the account store up for the proper place; for the present, let it handle what is before us. As for the Latins, who were moving...

cautious. For if one mentions the race of the Celts to others, they are lawless and hot-headed, and they do not use strategy or discipline at any time; but when battle and warfare arise, they are consumed by a ^C surge of anger, are unrestrainable, and this applies not only to the soldiers but to their leaders as well—if they should fall into the midst of the enemy's phalanxes as invincible warriors, if the line of battle should be broken, they would often slaughter the enemy, provided they went about it skillfully, but everything turns to recklessness for them. To say all in a word, the Celts are irresistible in their first onsets, but after that they are very easily turned back, because of the weight of their armor 24 and their hot-headed and thoughtless judgment. Therefore, they neither have enough strength to withstand such great multitudes, ^D nor are they sufficient in battle.

Of the Pilgrims’ Devotion, and the Discovery of the Holy Lance

The pilgrims, finding themselves in dire straits and being grievously pressed by hunger, while the Turks on the other side did not slacken in the slightest in their most violent siege, approached Peter—the one who had been defeated at Helenopolis, as we have said—now their bishop, and besought him in their great misery: what counsel could he give them under such circumstances? He replied to them: "Verily, you promised to keep your bodies pure from the beginning of this holy journey until you reached Jerusalem, and not to break your vow of continence; I believe you have failed in that promise. For this reason, then, God does not assist you now as He did before. It is necessary, therefore, to turn back to the Lord and to lament your sins in sackcloth and ashes, showing your repentance with hot tears and all-night prayers. Then, truly, I myself shall have leisure to seek mercy from God on your behalf." They gave heed to the bishop’s admonitions. And after some days, the bishop, moved by a divine oracle, summoned the chief counts and instructed them to dig to the right of the altar, where they would find the holy nail 28. Having done as they were commanded, when they did not find it, they returned in despondency and announced to him the failure to encounter what was sought. But he, having made his prayer more intently, ordered that a more careful search for the object be made. They fulfilled the command once more, and when they had found the object they sought, they brought it to Peter running, being gripped by both joy and awe. And from that time on, it was entrusted to Sangeles 29, as the holiest among the others, to hold the venerable and divine nail in battle. On the day after this, they made a sally against the Turks—who, because of famine and the continuous siege, were strangely unsuspecting—through an unobserved gate. At that time, the Count of Flanders 30 asked the others for this one favor, to be granted the right to ride out first against the Turks against the others with only three companions. The request was granted to him; and when the phalanxes stood in rows on either side and the join of battle was prepared 31, he himself dismounted from his horse and, prostrating himself three times, prayed to God, seeking the help from Him. And when all shouted, "God is with us" 31, he delivered whole troops against the very place where Curpagan was standing upon a hill. Immediately, therefore, they wounded with their spears and cast to the ground those meeting them face to face. Struck with terror, then, the Turks were turned to flight before the battle was even joined, the divine power absolutely assisting the Christians.

^A And those fleeing, having encountered trouble in their flight, were entangled in the eddies of the rivers and drowned, so that the bodies of the drowned served as a bridge for those coming after them. Therefore, having pursued the fugitives for a sufficient distance, they returned to the Turkish encampment. And finding there the barbarian baggage and all the booty they had been carrying with them, they wished to retrieve it straightaway; but, as it was immense, they could only bring it into the city of Antioch ^B with difficulty after three days. Consequently, they remained there for a short time, both to rest themselves from the hardship of the war and, at the same time, because they were concerned for Antioch, looking for someone who would guard it; and this was Bohemond, just as he had asked beforehand, before the city was taken. Having relinquished to him all authority over Antioch, they themselves set out on the road to Jerusalem. As they passed, they took many of the coastal forts; but those that were most fortified and required a long and arduous siege, they left behind for the time being, hastening toward Jerusalem. ^C Having encircled the walls and besieged it with frequent assaults, they took it in the middle [(33)] of the lunar cycle, having slain many of the Saracens and Hebrews within. When everything had been subjected to them, since there was no one to oppose them, having entrusted all the power to Godfrey, they named him king [(34)]. And when the news was reported... they captured Jerusalem as well; many.

of the Celts were also caught by the assault of the lord of Babylon, Amerimnes ^A, 328 and how Jerusalem itself was taken by them, and Antioch as well, and many other cities lying nearby were seized by the Celts, at that time having gathered a great multitude.

Car. Dufresnii Du Cangii Notes

^A The prince of Babylon, having heard the report of the Gallic expedition, and of the capture of Jerusalem by them, as well as of Antioch and many other cities adjacent to it, quickly gathered huge forces from the Armenians, Arabs, Saracens, and Hagarenes, and sent them against them. When this was duly discovered and reported to the Gauls by Godfrey, they all alike armed themselves against the Babylonians; and arriving at the place called Japha, they awaited their attack there. A short while later, however, they crossed over to Ramel, a place famous for the martyrdom of the great George, where, upon the encounter with the army of the Amerimnius, a fierce battle was joined, with the Gauls emerging victorious. But the next day, those who had stood in the rear of the line having been moved to the front and the contest renewed, the victors were defeated in their turn, and, put to flight, were pursued by them as far as Ramel. Only Baldwin avoided the necessity of shutting himself up in the fortress—which was soon to be besieged—by a timely flight; and he did so, not from any cowardice or base fear, but through a courageous providence, preparing himself to be an avenger of the slaughter received from the Babylonians and the author of his own salvation and that of his men. Meanwhile, the victorious barbarians besieged ^B Ramel, and in a short time took it, many of the Latins being cut down, and more being captured and led away by the whole army to Babylon. Soon after, the forces returning from there—as barbarians are wont to be fierce in pursuing a victory—set out for the siege of Japha. But the aforementioned Baldwin, going about to all the cities, great and small, that had been previously captured by the Franks, gathered not a few foot soldiers and horsemen from each, and collected a sufficiently large army, with which he advanced into battle and defeated the Babylonians in the fight. Furthermore, the Emperor, after hearing of the defeat of the Latins at Ramel, could not prevent himself from ... the great Frank [prince]. ^{C D}

^A and [he was moved by] concern for those counts; for he knew that they were born of a most illustrious family of heroes who had been celebrated in times past, and in the flower of their age and the strength of their limbs, they were by no means degenerating from their ancestral glory. Being unable, therefore, to endure that such men as these should endure miserable servitude among the pagan barbarians, the merciful Emperor sent a certain Bardales with a large sum of money and letters written to the Amerimnes to Babylon, in order to liberate them. The Amerimnes, having read the Emperor’s letters, very willingly released all the counts without a price, except for Godfrey; for his brother Baldwin had already redeemed him earlier for a paid sum. The liberated counts came to Constantinople, where the Emperor received them very honorably, and kept them for some time most kindly, until, refreshed from the troubles of the road and their captivity and gifted with a large sum of money, he allowed them to depart joyfully to their homes. And Godfrey, now fully restored to his kingdom and having sufficiently secured the affairs of Jerusalem, permitted his brother Baldwin to return to Edessa.

During that time, the Emperor ordered Sangeles to surrender Laodicea, in truth, to Andronicus Tzintziluca, but the fortress of Maraces and the fortress of Balaneus to those who were under Eumathius, who was then the duke of Cyprus and was governing that island in person; he himself, furthermore, was to proceed further and attempt to occupy as many other fortresses as he could. Obeying those letters, he proceeded to carry out with zeal what was being commanded. For after he had faithfully surrendered the fortresses captured earlier to those whom I have named, he approached Antaradus and subdued that fortification also without a fight. But Atapaces, having control of things ^{B C D}

[index: entries preserved]

assembled significant forces from Damascus, marched against him. Since Sangeles did not have sufficient forces to withstand such a multitude, he devised a plan which was not so much daring as it was prudent. Confident in the local people, he said: "I, seeing that the castle is vast in size, will conceal myself in a certain place; and you, when Atapaces arrives, must not admit the truth, but rather assert that I, overcome with fear, have become a fugitive."

Atapaces arrived and asked about Sangeles; and since they insisted that he had indeed fled, he believed them. Weary from the journey, he pitched his tent ^B near the walls. As the local inhabitants showed him every courtesy, the Turks, feeling secure and suspecting nothing to the contrary, turned their horses loose to graze on the plain. At midday, while the sun was casting its rays directly overhead, Sangeles, heavily armed, along with his men—they numbered about four hundred—suddenly threw open the gates and charged into the middle of their encampment. Many indeed, as they are accustomed to fight with spirit, spared no thought for their own lives and accepted the battle standing alongside their comrades, but the rest attempted to secure their own salvation by flight. ^C But the broadness of the plain, and the fact that there was no marsh, or hill, or ravine present, delivered all of them into the hands of the Latins. And so it was that they all became cannon fodder for the sword, and only a few were taken prisoner; having thus outmaneuvered the Turks, he moved against Tripolis. ^D He went up directly and occupied the summit of the mountain lying opposite Tripolis, which is part of Lebanon, on which he placed a fortification, both to keep it as a stronghold and [to control] the water flowing down from Lebanon into the city.

^B Thereupon, having declared the circumstances to the emperor, he requested that a very secure fortification 32 be constructed before [the enemy] could receive larger forces from Khorasan and conquer it. The emperor commissioned the Duke of Cyprus with the construction of such a small city, commanding him to send quickly by fleet all that was useful, and those who would build such a small city, to whatever place Saint-Gilles would indicate. This was done in the meantime. And Saint-Gilles, having encamped outside of Tripoli, was pulling every rope—so to speak—concerning its capture, but he did not give way.

Bohemond, however, having learned of the entry of Tzintzilukes into Laodicea, and bringing into the open the enmity which he had long harbored against the emperor, sent his nephew Tancred with sufficient force against Laodicea 53 to besiege it. When the rumor concerning this reached the ears of Saint-Gilles, he immediately, without delaying even a little, occupied Laodicea, and engaged in discussions with Tancred, counseling him through every kind of argument to desist from the siege of the castle. But as he discoursed much with him and did not find him persuaded—rather, it seemed he was singing to a deaf man—he returned from there and occupied Tripoli again; but that man, for his part, did not desist from the siege in the slightest.

Seeing, therefore, the impetus of Tancred, and how his own affairs were driven into a narrow strait, ^C Tzintzilukes requested aid from those places. Since those in Cyprus were delaying, he came into a state of helplessness, pressed on one side by the siege and on the other by famine, and chose to surrender the castle.

When these things had been concluded, since Godfrey had died and it was necessary to have a king again to fill his place, the Latins in Jerusalem immediately began to call for Saint-Gilles 54, wishing to make him king of Jerusalem. He, however, was delaying his departure there for some time. When he entered into the great city 55, since he was delaying...

and giving no certain hope of his arrival in Jerusalem, the Latins in Jerusalem summoned Baldwin, who was living near Edessa at that time, and made him king. The Emperor, having welcomed Sanges with pleasure, when he learned that Baldwin had undertaken the rule in Jerusalem, kept him with himself.

^A At the time when the army of the Normans arrived, having as leaders two brothers called Flandrenses (56), whom the emperor often advised to follow the same path as the previous armies and to reach Jerusalem by the coastal route—that they too might thus be united with the rest of the Latin army—he could not find them willing to listen. They were not willing to be united with the Franks; rather, they wished to find another road through the East and to travel straight toward Khorasan (57), thinking they would seize it.

The emperor, knowing that this was entirely disadvantageous and not wishing the destruction of such a great multitude (for there were fifty thousand horsemen and one hundred thousand infantry), since he saw that they would not be persuaded, when they were setting out on the second journey, as they call it, sent Sanges (58) and Titas with them, in order that they might advise what was beneficial and restrain them from their irrational impulses as much as possible.

Having crossed the ferry of the Kibotos and hurrying toward the Armeniac region, they reached Ancyra and seized it by assault; and thus, having crossed the Halys, they took a certain small town. Since the Romans were holding this, the inhabitants, being confident, put on their holy vestments and, carrying Gospels and crosses, approached them as fellow Christians. But they, inhumanly and cruelly, slaughtered not only the priests but also the rest of the Christians, and without further thought, they turned their journey toward Amaseia. The Turks, being experienced in war, having seized in advance all the villages and burned all the fodder, arrived and attacked them sharply. And it was on the second day (59) that the Turks prevailed over them. And at that time, at that very place...

^A they pitched their camp, constructed a rampart, and deposited their baggage. On the following day, both armies fought again. Since the Turks had encamped in a circle around them, they allowed them no room for gathering forage, nor did they permit them to lead their pack animals and horses out to water. The Celts, seeing their own utter destruction now before their eyes, and renouncing their own lives, armed themselves stoutly on the following day—it was the fourth—and undertook the battle against the Barbarians. The Turks, coming to close quarters with them, no longer fought against them with spears or through bows, but drawing their swords from their scabbards, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat and immediately turned the Normans. These, having regained their own camp, sought for their counselor, as he was proposing the better course to them, but he was not present, having not been listened to. Finally, they fled to the opinion of Sangeles and Tzitas. At the same time, they inquired to see if any territory belonging to the Emperor lay nearby, searching for it. And indeed, leaving their gear, their tents, and all their infantry stationary there, they mounted their own horses and rode with all the speed they could toward the seacoast of the Armeniac theme and Paurace. But the Turks, breaking in suddenly upon their camp, took everything. Then, pursuing them, they overtook and slaughtered all the infantry; some of them, having captured, they led off to Khorasan as a specimen. ^B

But these were the feats of the Turks against the Normans. As for Sangeles and Tzitas, they reached the Queen of Cities (60) with the few horsemen who remained. The Emperor received them, gave them sufficient money, and after they had rested, asked where they desired to go for the future. They expressed the desire for Jerusalem. Having therefore treated them with great generosity, he sent them overseas, leaving the whole matter to their own judgment. Sangeles then departed from the Great City and sought a passage to his own army, and in fact reached Tripoli again, eager to subdue it. But after this, being attacked by a fatal disease—and the most excellent Emperor, having fallen into [illness] (61) and breathing his last— ^{C D}

having sent for his nephew William, (62) he bestowed upon him all the castles he had captured, as if it were an inheritance, establishing him as leader and commander of his own legions. The Emperor, having learned of his death, immediately declared by letter to the Duke of Cyprus that he should send Nicetas Chalintzes with sufficient funds to William, with the task of winning over the young man and persuading him to swear a firm oath of loyalty to the Emperor, of the same kind that his deceased uncle, Sangeles, had observed until the end.

Then the Emperor, having learned also of the capture of Laodicea by Tancred, sent letters to Bohemond, containing the following: "You know the oaths and the promises that not only you yourself, but all of you, made to the Roman Empire. But now, having yourself been the first to break the covenant, you have seized Antioch and other fortresses, and have furthermore subjugated Laodicea itself. Withdraw, therefore, from the city of Antioch and from all the other places, doing what is just, and do not desire to stir up other wars and battles against yourself."

Bohemond, having read the imperial letters, since he was not able to use his customary deceit, as the truth of the matters clearly refuted it, yielded to the appearance of the things written. He did, however, say that the Emperor was the cause of the evils perpetrated by him, writing that, "I am not the cause of these things, but you. For having promised (63) to come behind us with a great force, you were not willing to confirm the promise with deeds. We, having captured Antioch (64) and having labored much for three months against the enemies, were exhausted by current affairs."

The emperor, hearing these things, saw that most of us were even forced by the extremity of our hunger to eat of the forbidden meats. "For a long time we have endured, and Taticius himself, the most faithful servant of your majesty, who was given to us as an aid, left us in such danger and departed. Yet we captured the city miraculously, and we even routed the forces that had arrived from Corosan to the aid of the people of Antioch. And how is it just that we should so easily abandon those things which we acquired with our own sweat and toils?"

When the envoys returned from there, and the emperor had read the letters of Bohemund, he recognized that he was once again the same Bohemund, having changed in no way for the better. He determined that he must hold fast to the borders of the Roman empire and, as much as possible, restrain his ungovernable impulse. Therefore, he sent out many forces with Boutoumites against Cilicia, choosing the most illustrious of the military rolls—men who were most warlike and all of them like armor-bearers of Ares—and Bardas himself and the chief cupbearer Michael 65, flourishing and with their beards just growing. The emperor had taken them from childhood and trained them in military matters, holding them as more loyal than the others. He handed them over to Boutoumites, along with other thousands of noble Celts and Romans, with the instruction that they should accompany him and yield to him in all things, and at the same time, through secret letters, report to him anything that occurred hourly. He was eager to occupy the entire region of Cilicia so that from there he might more easily prepare matters concerning Antioch.

Boutoumites then set out with all his forces, and having reached the vicinity of Attaleia 66, since he saw that Bardas and the chief cupbearer Michael were not yielding to his will—lest it happen that the heavy infantry should rebel, and from this the zeal of Boutoumites should become vain and he be sent back from Cilicia without having achieved his aim—he immediately reported the state of the matter to the emperor, requesting that he no longer have to live with them. The emperor, knowing the discord that is accustomed to arise from such men, quickly prompted them and as many as he held in suspicion, through letters, to hasten to Cyprus and deliver the ducal power to Constantine Euphorbenus...

^A when he had just taken up the rule of the island of Cyprus, and to yield to him in all things. They received the letters gladly and sailed more quickly to Cyprus. Having spent a short time with the Duke of Cyprus, they used their customary shamelessness toward him as well; consequently, he also looked askance at them. The young men, however, mindful of the Emperor’s care for them, through letters to the Emperor, made many accusations against the Duke, calling upon Constantine. The Emperor, having opened their writings, since he had also sent certain men of higher status whom the Emperor held in suspicion with them to Cyprus, fearing lest they themselves might perhaps be drawn into those same feelings out of grief, immediately instructed Cantacuzenus to take them up with him. He, arriving at Cyrenia and calling them to himself, took them up with him. But these things were regarding Bardas, I say, and the Chief Cupbearer, Michael.

But Butumites, with Monastras and the select commanders left with him, upon reaching Cilicia, when he found the Armenians had made terms with Tancred, passed them by and, reaching Marasin ^B, occupied it. At the same time, he also took all the surrounding villages and small towns, and having left behind sufficient forces for the guarding of the whole region, with the half-barbarian Monastras—of whom the account has made mention in many places—as their leader, he returned to the Queen of Cities.

Since the Franks going out toward Jerusalem to occupy the cities of Syria promised the Bishop of Pisa ^C sufficient [riches] if he would assist them toward the goal they had set before themselves, and he, having become persuaded by their words, and having incited two others dwelling by the sea to this very same thing, did not delay, but having equipped both biremes and triremes, and dromons, and other fast-sailing ships amounting to nine hundred, he set out as if going toward them, and having cut off enough of these for the marauding of Marasium... ^D

of Cephallenia, of Leucas, and of Corcyra, he sent them to Zacynthus. Learning of this, the emperor ordered ships to be prepared from all the lands under Roman rule, and even within the Queen of Cities herself [851║852] he busied himself with the construction 70 of them, entering the shipyards at intervals to instruct those building them in how they should be made. Knowing that the Pisans were expert in naval warfare and fearing the battle with them, he ordered that, at the prow of each ship, the heads 71 of lions and other land beasts be fashioned of bronze and iron with their mouths agape. Having covered them with gold, so that from the mere sight of them the fire about to be discharged against the enemies through the twisted tubes might appear fearful, he arranged for it to be let out through their mouths, so that the lions and the other such beasts seemed to be vomiting it forth. Having prepared them in this way, he summoned Taticius, who had recently arrived from Antioch, and entrusted such ships to him, naming him "Most Illustrious Head" 72; the entire fleet, however, he committed to Landulph 75, appointing him Grand Duke as a man most expert in naval combat. They set out, therefore, from the great city as the month of April was passing, and with the Roman fleet they reached Samos. Having moored their ships to the shore, they went out toward the mainland to fortify themselves by securing the supplies. Having learned of the passage of the Pisan fleet, they weighed anchor and themselves raced behind them toward Cos. The Pisans reached there in the morning, while the others reached it in the evening. Having failed to encounter the Pisans, they went off to Cnidus, situated on the mainland of the East. There [851║852]

they ^A had hoped to find the Pisans, but found themselves disappointed of their prey, though they did discover a few of the Pisans who had been left behind. Upon being questioned as to where the Pisan fleet had gone, they replied that it had sailed towards Rhodes. Without a moment’s delay, they cast off their moorings and, crowding on sail, soon overtook them between Patara and Rhodes. On sighting them, the Pisans at once drew up their line of battle, sharpening not only their swords but their courage for the fight.

As the Roman fleet came up, a certain Peloponnesian count, ^B called Periclytanes, who was highly skilled in naval warfare, seeing them, rowed his single ship with all speed and, striking like fire into their midst, passed through them and returned once more to the Roman fleet. The Roman fleet, however, did not attempt the battle with the Pisans in an orderly fashion, but attacked them hastily and without formation. Lantulphus himself, having approached the Pisan ships first, discharged the fire wide of the mark, and accomplished nothing, as the fire merely scattered. But the count called Eleemon, having audaciously attacked a very large ship, became entangled with its rudder and, unable to sail away easily from that position, would have been captured ^C had he not quickly turned his attention to his equipment. By discharging fire against them, he hit his mark. Then, quickly veering his ship to the other side, he immediately set fire to three more of the Barbarians' largest ships.

Suddenly, a gathering wind fell upon the sea and stirred it up, smashing the ships together and threatening to sink them, for the waves roared, the yardarms creaked, and the sails were torn asunder. The Barbarians were terrified, partly because of the fire being sent—for they were not accustomed to such engines or to fire which, by its nature, tends to travel upwards but which, when sent against its target, often ^D travels downwards as well and in all directions—and partly because they were distracted by the surge of the sea, so they turned to flight. Such, then, was the fate of the Barbarians. The Roman fleet ran aground near a small island called Seutlos. At daybreak, they weighed anchor from there and put in at Rhodes. Landing from their ships, they brought out all the captives they had managed to secure, including the nephew of Bohemund himself, and terrified them with threats that they were about to sell them all or slaughter them. Seeing them undismayed at this, and that they regarded being sold into slavery as a matter of no account, they immediately put them to the sword. The survivors of the Pisan fleet turned to plundering the nearby islands and Cyprus.

Now, Philocales Eumathius was governing Cyprus; he, as soon as he heard of their arrival, moved against the Latins with his forces. He struck such terror into them that, forgetting the men they had already sent off in some numbers to pillage the island, they immediately cast off from the shore in confusion and sailed toward Laodicea, heading to Bohemond, who, they assumed, would gladly receive them and reciprocate their affection. But those wretches, as we said, who had been left on the shores of Cyprus for the sake of plundering, upon returning to the beach and not seeing their own fleet, were driven by despair to throw themselves into the sea, where they perished, drowning in the waters.

Thereupon the leaders of the Roman fleet, and Lantulphus himself, came together in Cyprus and, having held a council, decided on the common opinion of all to negotiate for peace. For this purpose Butumites was chosen, who immediately betook himself to Bohemond and was detained by him for a full fifteen days. But Bohemond was ever the same, altered not at all from that treacherous nature which was unteachable in the arts of peace and concord. At last, therefore, he summoned Butumites and addressed him threateningly: "You did not come here for the sake of friendship or peace, but to burn my ships. Therefore, be off as quickly as possible, and count it a gain that you are released by us unharmed and whole, knowing as you do the extent of your perfidy."

With Butumites having returned to those by whom he had been sent, a consultation was collectively held by them in the port of Cyprus. There, looking more deeply into the malice of Bohemond from the recent evidence, and despairing of any concord between him and the Emperor, they thought they could decide on nothing more sensible than to set sail with full canvas for the great city (Constantinople). As they were on this course near Syce, a great and violent storm arose, and by the vast force of the waves and the winds they were dashed against the land, all their ships being shattered except for those over which Taticius directly held command.

Thus was the outcome of the Pisan fleet and the naval expedition undertaken on account of it. Meanwhile, Bohemond, for all his other extremely clever cunning, feared lest the Emperor should capture Curycus, and for that reason...

^A he easily realized that the Emperor might take the initiative to occupy Curycus, a city formerly most fortified, but later destroyed. There was there a harbor capable of receiving a Roman fleet, opportune and watchful, both for the protection of Cyprus and for the guarding of the sea in that part where the route is necessary for the Longobardic ships intending to bring aid to Bohemond. For these reasons Bohemond had decided to rebuild the city of Curycus as soon as possible and to occupy its harbor, so that by this means he would plunder from the Emperor those great advantages of the plan that we have mentioned and join them to himself, and so that he might ensure that the damages he feared if he were anticipated by the Romans would not only be avoided, but even turned into opportunities for harming his enemies. But since the Emperor perceived the thoughts of Bohemond no less than the implications of the matter itself, he believed the work must be handled with dispatch. For he did not believe that such a crafty and artful adversary could be prevented from his gainful undertaking by any other means than by unanticipated diligence. Therefore, he immediately sends Eustathius the eunuch, having appointed him Grand Drungary of the fleet from the rank of the *canicleus* ^B, having given him orders to hurry to occupy Curycus and restore it in its entirety; and not only this, but also that he should surround the fortress of Seleucia, six *stadia* distant from Curycus, with new fortifications, and once a suitable garrison was placed there, to appoint as duke for that place Strategius Strabum, a man small in stature but of enormous glory in military matters; furthermore, to bring a suitable number of warships into the harbor, which would lie in wait for the Latin ships coming from Apulia for the relief of Bohemond, and also to bring aid to Cyprus. The aforementioned drungary of the fleet therefore went out and, having anticipated Bohemond’s designs, he raises it [the city] up and restores it to its former state. Immediately, having built and fortified Seleucia as well with trenches all around, and having left suitable forces in both places along with the duke Strategius, he went down to the harbor and ^C...

having left him, according to the emperor’s instructions, returns to the great city, and having been highly commended by the emperor, is generously rewarded. ^A And these are the matters concerning Curicum. After the course of a year, when the emperor learned that a Genoese fleet was also being prepared to go to the assistance of the Franks, he conjectured that they would be the cause of no small harm to the Roman empire. Therefore, he sent Cantacuzenus by land with a sufficient force, and, having quickly equipped Lantulphus with a fleet, he sent him by sea, ordering him to occupy the lower regions with all haste, that from there he might receive the war against the Genoese passing through those parts.

When they had departed to where they were ordered, a severe and unbearable storm occurred, by which it happened that many of the ships were shattered. These they again hauled out onto the shore and carefully applied to them a coating of liquid pitch. At that time, also, Cantacuzenus, having learned that the Genoese fleet was sailing through the lower regions and was somewhere near, suggested that Lantulphus take eighteen ships (for only so many remained to sail at that time, the others having been hauled out of the sea) and, having departed toward the promontory of Maleas, anchor them according to the emperor’s instructions. And, as the Genoese were passing, if he felt confident of waging war with them, he should immediately join battle with them; but if not, he should ensure his own safety and that of the ships under his command by anchoring with them at Coron. ^B He departed, and seeing the massive fleet of the Genoese—and having watched the siege through every night and day—and having despaired of waging war with them, he seized Coron all the faster.

Cantacuzenus, having taken as good care of the whole Roman fleet as he ought, and having gathered those with him there, pursued the Genoese as quickly as he could. But not having reached them, he captured Laodicea, hastening to war with those who were with Bohemund with his whole mind and hand. And indeed, having taken up the task, he seized the harbor, but did not remain inactive. As he remained ^C frustrated for the rest of the time, having attacked thousands of times and failed just as many, at times trying to win over the Celts and failing to persuade them, and at times fighting and failing, he built a circular wall of dry stones between the sand and the walls of Laodicea in three days and nights; and having acquired this as a base, he quickly raised another small fortress inside it with supplied material, so that he might wage war from there as from a kind of base. ^D

^A He also built two towers, one on each side of the harbor’s mouth, and stretched an iron chain between them, by which he was able to block the entry of any ships that might be expected to bring aid to the Latins by sea. In that same region, he captured many seaside towns, including the one called Argyrocastron, and Margaph, and Gabala, and others, reaching as far as the borders of Tripoli—places which had previously paid tribute to the Saracens, but which were later restored to the Roman Empire through the many struggles and labors of the Emperor.

Now, the Emperor, considering it necessary to besiege Laodicea from the land side as well, and knowing the shrewd Bohemond—who was a man of such great skill that he could discern a person’s character in a short time, and whose deceitful and rebellious intentions he knew accurately—he summoned Monastras and sent him with a sufficient force through the mainland, so that at the same time Cantacuzenus might besiege Laodicea from the sea, and he himself from the mainland. But before Monastras could arrive, Cantacuzenus had already captured the harbor and the city itself. The acropolis, however—which in common parlance is now called the Koula—was still held by five hundred Latin foot soldiers and one hundred cavalry. ^B Bohemond, having heard of the capture of these towns and having also learned from the count guarding the acropolis of Laodicea that it was in need of provisions, joined up with all the forces under his command, as well as his nephew Tancred and Sangelus. After gathering all manner of foodstuffs on pack mules, he arrived at Laodicea, and having quickly...

brought them into the fortress of Cula.

^A Having come into conversation with Cantacuzenus, he addressed him as follows: "What end had you in view with your building and construction projects?" The other replied: "You know that you pledged your allegiance to the emperor and swore on oath to hand over the cities taken by you. Later, you hypocritically ignored these oaths, violated the peace treaties, took this very city, handed it over to us, then changed your mind and seized it back, with the result that I have come here in vain for the purpose of recovering the cities taken by you." Bohemund asked: "Have you come here hoping to receive these cities from us by means of money or iron?" He replied: "The money was taken by those who accompany us, for the sake of fighting with zeal." Bohemund, filled with anger, said: "Know that without money you will not be able to hold even a small fort." At that moment he deployed the phalanxes under his command to ride up to the very gates of the city. The men of Cantacuzenus guarding the walls, like a flurry of snow, ^B sent their arrows flying against the Franks approaching the walls, and forced them back a short distance. Bohemund immediately gathered everyone and went inside the acropolis. Suspecting the count who was guarding it along with the Celts under him, he set another in charge of the city's defense, having expelled those men from there. At the same time, he also demolished the vineyards that were near the walls, so that they might not stand in the way of the Latins who were planning to ride.

Having arranged these matters in this way, he left there and captured Antioch. But Cantacuzenus, for his part, did not remain idle but besieged it in every way, troubling the Latins inside the acropolis by means of countless engines, schemes, and siege towers. Monastras also, arriving by land, with his cavalry force, captured Longinias, Tarsus, Adana, and Mopsuestia, and indeed the whole of Cilicia itself.

^A Bohemund, fearing the Emperor’s threats and having no way to defend himself—for he had neither an army on land nor a fleet at sea—felt the danger hanging over him from both sides. He devised a scheme that was very ignoble, and yet most crafty. First, he left the city of Antioch in the charge of the Marches of Tancred’s son (88), his nephew, and then he caused rumors to be sent out in all directions that Bohemund had died, and while he was still alive, he arranged matters throughout the world as if he were already gone. This rumor ran faster than wings everywhere, proclaiming Bohemund dead.

And indeed, when he saw that the report had taken sufficient hold, a wooden coffin (89) was prepared, and a bireme ship in which the coffin could be placed. With this living corpse inside, it sailed from Suedia, which is the port of Antioch, toward Rome; and he was carried across the sea as a corpse, appearing dead to those outside, with the sarcophagus and the trappings of those around him. For wherever they went, the barbarians would pull out their hair and wail aloud. Inside, however, he lay stretched out, dead to all appearances up to this point; but for the rest, he breathed in and out through certain hidden holes. These things took place in the coastal areas. When, however, he was near...

[... translation follows exactly the Latin column text for the summary of the arrival and artifice ...]

... [B] When Bohemund realized that he could no longer effectively ignore the Emperor’s threats, and as he surveyed his situation, the circumstances of the war did not seem to him clearly resolved. He saw that he lacked both a land and a maritime force, even though he had the greatest need of both to ward off the danger encroaching from all sides. Therefore, in order to extricate himself from these straits, he initiated a plan—whether more ignoble or more cunning, I cannot easily say.

First, having entrusted the guardianship of Antioch to the son of the Marches, Tancred, he took care to have it rumored on all sides that Bohemund had died. He himself remained in hiding meanwhile, while this false rumor spread to prepare the way for the deceptions to follow. Neither the usual energy of the rumor nor the gullibility of men concerning the feigned dead was lacking. When it was sufficiently spread and believed that Bohemund was no more, behold, a wooden funeral coffin is produced, full of the breathing dead man, and it is carried to the naval station of Antioch, called Sudea, to be placed in a bireme that was soon to set sail for Rome. The scene played exactly to the script: the ship was adorned with funeral equipment, the sarcophagus in a conspicuous place, everything around it gloomy and dressed in black funeral palls; then his relatives, casting themselves about, lamented for their lord with barbaric wailing and tore their hair. Nor indeed... ^C ... [regarding Bohemund's supposed death and the historical analogues mentioned in the notes] ... ^D ...

did they cease, but kept up the same lamentations and the same tricks. And in order that the corpse might appear stale and smelling, they suffocated or slaughtered a cock and placed it in with the corpse. And immediately, by the fourth or fifth day, it was most burdensome to those who possessed a sense of smell; and it seemed to those standing outside that the heavy stench of the breathing was from Bohemund’s own body. But Bohemund himself was suffering from this self-imposed evil even more [than the others], so that I marvel how he endured such a siege of his nose, living still and being packed together with a dead body. But from this I have learned that the entire barbarian race is irreconcilable in whatever direction it may rush, and that there is nothing too burdensome for it to bear, once it has cast itself headlong into self-willed miseries; for this man, not yet dead, did not hesitate to live with dead bodies. This trick of the barbarian, therefore, was the first and ^B only one of its kind to appear in the world of our time, aimed at the destruction of the Roman Empire. No Greek before this, I think, ever devised such things against enemies, nor do I think that the life of our time will ever behold the like again.

But when he had reached Corfu, as if having attained to some mountain peak and summit and a refuge—this Corfu—and finding himself in safety, he rose up from among the dead of glory and, leaving the funeral chest there, he breathed the air, and his vessel reached the open sea, and he filled himself with greater amounts of food and breathed a purer air and walked about the city of Corfu. Those who saw him in strange and barbarian clothing inquired ^C at that time as to his race and fortune, and who he was, and whence he came, and to whom he was coming. He, however, disregarded all others, but sought out the dux of the city. This was a certain Alexios, of the Armenian theme. Seeing him, with a proud gaze and mien, and using a proud voice—and, in short, a barbarian one—he ordered him to announce to the Emperor Alexios: "I, Bohemund, that son of Robert—whom time, and you yourself, and the empire beyond you, have long since taught how great I am in courage and endurance—tell you that I have taken charge of the matter, so that I would not endure, may God forbid, the evils that have befallen me; for from the time that I occupied ^D Antioch in Roman territory and enslaved the whole of Syria with my lance, I have been filled with much bitterness by you and your army, being passed on from hopes to hopes, and being cast into myriad disasters and barbarian wars. But now, know that even if I died, I have risen again from the beginning and have escaped your hands—not, in fact, having died, but having died only in appearance." [index: entries preserved]

^A Having escaped every eye, every hand, and every design in the guise of one dead, now, living and moving and breathing the air, I send forth from this Corfu [territory] messages most hated by your majesty; which, when you learn of them, you will not joyfully receive. For I have entrusted the city of Antioch to Tancred, my nephew, having left him as a match and a worthy antagonist to your generals. As for myself, I am departing for my own country, proclaimed dead to you and yours, but to myself and my own people, living and planning terrible things against you. ^B By this, I have died while living, and lived after dying, so as to shake the Romania that is under you. For if I reach the opposite continent and set eyes upon the Longobards, and all the Latins, and the Germans, and the Franks who are of our own [rank]—men mindful of Ares—I shall fill your cities and lands with much slaughter and much blood, until I fix my spear upon Byzantium itself. To such an extent had the barbarian been lifted up in his arrogance.

THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA, BOOK XII

^A …from his countless injuries and deceits having escaped, he swears by the same God that he will by no means leave unpunished so many crafty impostures, deceptive cajolements, and secret conspiracies with the Barbarians, by which—while he lived in Asia and was defeated by his own arms—he remembers that he was deluded, led on, and cast into blind wars and perils unto certain destruction. Therefore, be present, ^B Alexius Augustus, and steady your mind, if you can, to this harsh and joyless message, which will undoubtedly strike you with first hearing. I, I say, the one who—as you supposed and rejoiced—was dead to you and yours, behold, I live and am well, having escaped innocent through the malignant eyes of your satellites and [beyond] their wicked hands, having eluded the most suspicious vigils of those exploring and the bloodthirsty expectations of those lying in wait. Furthermore, lest you hope meanwhile that anything has been provided by me regarding Antioch, know that in my departure I left my nephew Tancred for the city’s guard: from whom, learn now through my truthful denunciation, which shall be sanctioned by events, how little your leaders can bring back except slaughters and wounds, before you learn it by sad experience. ^C But I shall cause you to be more concerned with the defense of your own cities than with the attacking of those of others. Indeed, it was by no other design that I hid myself among the dead a little while ago, or now return from the dead to the living, than to drive and carry through the whole of Romania that obeys you with tumult, slaughter, rapine, iron, and flame. Nor do I grant you a long delay of evils. As soon as I reach the opposite continent, toward which I am presently setting sail, I shall bring the Lombards and every Latin name, besides, moreover, the Germans and our own Franks, and [you shall see] what sort of men and how warlike they are, conspiring and armed against you: and we shall not rest from mingling and filling the lands and cities of your dominion with slaughter and blood, until we fix a triumphant spear in the forum of the royal city of Byzantium itself. ^D To such a degree has the madness of the most arrogant threats of the Barbarian proceeded.

THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA, BOOK XII. ARGUMENT

SUMMARY. Bohemond prepares an expedition into Illyricum. He contracts a double affinity with the king of the Franks. The Emperor writes to the princes of the West against Bohemond. Bohemond calls Alexius Augustus a pagan. Three hundred Gallic counts captured by the Babylonian tyrant. Emperor…

sends them to be set free. The Babylonian makes a gift of them to the Emperor, who treats them with the utmost humanity and keeps them with himself. He uses them as witnesses against Bohemond, releasing them so that they might support the Emperor's reputation in their own fatherland. ^A He betakes himself to Thessalonica for a double reason. He summons his forces there from Asia. Aspietes, having been appointed in place of Monastras, behaves with little prudence. Tancred prepares an incursion into Cilicia. Aspietes indulges his nature. The causes and effects of his luxury. Tancred captures Mopsuestia; soon after, the rest of Cilicia as well. Tancred is preeminent in spirit and military art. The Emperor's mistake regarding Aspietes is excused. Nobility acts as a smooth conciliator of favor and honors. The heroic deed of Aspietes; and his reward from the Augustus. Troops are gathered at Sthlanitza. ^B Alexius, impatient of a soft life, transfers himself to Thessalonica, having taken the Augusta with him. She does not pass her time abroad willingly. Her religious virtues, her signal modesty and reserve. In great necessity, she accompanies the traveling Emperor, whose gout pains she alleviates and diminishes. Anna's excuse for writing even of domestic trifles. Emperor Alexius does not spare himself in order to consult the public interest. He is exercised by the dangers of conspiracies. Against these, he has a great defensive bulwark in the vigilance of the present Augusta. She follows him on this account while he is traveling. Her signal modesty and efficacy manifest themselves, even though the author remains hidden. ^C The intemperance of slanderers. The praises of the Augusta Irene. She takes part in expeditions, but avoids battles. Her mercy and affability toward the poor, whom she assists not only with money but with counsel. She exercises mercy even in the month of Lent. Anna's faithfulness in those things which she narrates about her mother. A huge comet. It foretells the arrival of the Gauls. How long it appeared. It rises in the west and sets in the east. The Emperor is curious in investigating its significance. He consults Basilius. St. John appears to Basilius and explains what the comet signifies. The Emperor trains the recruits. ^D He fortifies Dyrrhachium anew and appoints Alexius, his brother's son, over it. He arms the fleet. The disaster brought upon John by the Dalmatians. Bolcanus seeks peace. John is born to the Emperor Alexius along with a twin sister. Description of a bronze sign of Anthelius; whence it was so called; it is brought down by the wind; from this, an omen of the Augustus's death is drawn, which he refutes piously and wisely. A conspiracy against the life of the Augustus. Anna’s lamentation because of her father's unhappy lot, he who was never not exposed to open foes and hidden enemies, though he was most moderate and most desirous and most loving of peace.

BOOK XII

and having indeed achieved his purpose, and having managed that naval passage while carried like a corpse, and having taken Corfu, let this be described thusly. Let the account again take up his deeds following those events. Having captured the city of Corfu, the corpse having been brought—as indeed has been said—and having threatened the Emperor through the duke in that place, as much as the account has already indicated, having departed for Lombardy, he set to work. Again planning to capture Illyricum, and for this reason hastening to assemble more allies than before, and having spoken about a marriage alliance ^A with the King of the Franks, he gave one of his daughters as a wife for himself, and sent the other across the sea to the city of Antioch, so that she might be joined to his nephew, Tancred. Then, having assembled forces from everywhere, numberless in quantity, from every land and city, and having summoned the counts with the armies under them, he hastened the passage to Illyricum. The Emperor, at any rate, having heard the reports signaled by Alexius to him, immediately sent letters to all the lands of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, preparing them in advance not to be led astray by the deceptive words of Bohemond, and not to join in with him. For he was going around to all the cities and lands, and had made a great denigration of the Emperor, calling him a pagan ^B and an enemy of the Christians. And since the Babylonian had then already captured three hundred counts, when the infinite multitudes of the Celts were crossing through the West…

ANNA COMNENA ALEXIADIS LIBER XII.

343 ARGUMENT

PERIOCHE.

^A had been filled with immense distress, and his whole thought was centered on how to effect their rescue. Having summoned Nicetas Panncomites, he sent him to the Babylonian with money and letters, in which he requested the liberation of those captive counts, promising him many graces on their behalf if he would release them from their chains. The Babylonian, upon seeing Panncomites and hearing all that the Emperor had communicated to him through the letters, immediately released the counts from their chains and led them out of the fortress. He did not, however, grant them full liberty, but handed them over to Panncomites to be sent to the Emperor, taking none of the money that had been sent—whether because he considered it insufficient for the ransom of so many, or to avoid the suspicion of corruption, or so that he might appear not to be selling them for a price, but rather granting the favor to the Emperor pure and unadulterated, or perhaps seeking a greater return; God alone knows. When the Emperor saw them arrive, he was struck with admiration at the barbarian's intent. ^B He questioned them painstakingly about their experiences, and upon learning that for such a long time and through the revolutions of so many cycles they had been in prison without seeing the sun even once, nor were they ever released from their bonds, and that they had remained the entire time tasting no other food or drink but mere bread and water, he was moved to pity by their suffering and, shedding warm tears, immediately saw fit to bestow upon them much kindness, providing them with money, various garments, inviting them to the baths, and endeavoring in every way to restore them from such misery. They rejoiced at the treatment they received from the Emperor—those who had once been enemies and foes, oath-breakers and promise-breakers toward him—as they observed such forbearance toward them. A few days later, he summoned them ^C and said: "I grant you freedom from now on, so that as long as you wish you may remain with us in this city. Whenever any of you, remembering his own people, desires to depart, he may do so without hindrance, taking the road that leads home after saying farewell to us; and thus, having been well provided for through money and every other form of assistance, he may be helped on his way. In a word, I wish you to have the freedom to stay or to go, and to do as you please as free men according to your own will." The counts were therefore for a time with the Emperor.

BOOK XII.

The efforts of Bohemond’s first crossing ^D into Asia and the various intrigues and ambitious schemes he devised against the Roman Empire, as has been said, are worthy of all kinds of remedial treatment, and he was held by him with such difficulty...

^A and resisted the emperor's patience toward them, rebels and perjurers though they were. The emperor, however, after they had been softened by this indulgence for many days, summoned them to him and addressed them as follows: "As to what you wish, whether to live here with us as you have done until now, or to depart for your own homes or elsewhere, I place it entirely within your own authority and choice. I ask only that you let us know if anyone wishes to leave, so that we may provide him with supplies for the journey, and beyond that care, we shall look to the security of the road for whomever it may be, and we shall also accompany him with generous gifts. Only so that no one may be able to claim in bad faith that he was freed, or not restored to full liberty, I declare and proclaim clearly that you are all of your own legal status and free power. Whether you stay, welcome guests; or whether you depart, nonetheless grateful friends." Upon hearing this, they were all the more confirmed in their resolve to remain, because this relaxation of their dependent status, so humane, and a certain new tenderness of a grateful heart toward them, bound them with chains stronger for being gentler, to the service and presence of a man so beneficent, whose fruits of most extensive liberality they reaped in abundance at every moment.

But when the emperor received the news that Bohemond had crossed into Lombardy in the manner we have related, and was making the rounds of the cities and the courts of the princes, and there was not only reporting many things about him most maliciously and falsely, but also proclaiming with a clear voice that Emperor Alexius was a pagan and a helper and abettor of pagans, he thought it time to come to the aid of his reputation with the help he had at hand—namely, by sending back those Latin and Frankish counts (who themselves had already begun to be tempted by a certain desire to revisit their homeland) to those places where they could testify about him as eyewitnesses and gain credence, since they could speak and prove with documents known to themselves that Alexius Augustus was, above all, a Christian and a devotee of Christians. ^B Accordingly, he sent them off toward Italy, well-disposed, provided with ample travel funds, laden with gifts, and bound by favors. They truly did not fail his hope, but everywhere refuted Bohemond’s calumnies with great outcry, calling him a liar and an impostor, even in the smallest matters he might speak against Alexius: not only professing this with a free voice, but also making the truth of their words credible to everyone by the gravity of their eyewitness testimony and their reliance upon experience.

But the Augustus himself, upon the departure of the counts, transferred himself to Thessalonica, urged toward that decision by a twofold concern. For he thought it necessary to train the newly enlisted recruits in the rudiments of the art of war in the face of such an imminent war, for which he saw that place to be suitable; and he judged the same city to be no less opportune for planning accessible routes and tactics from nearby to prevent Bohemond from crossing into the empire’s territory from Italy with an army. When, therefore, that very crossing of Bohemond was widely celebrated as soon to happen, the emperor, having reckoned his own resources and forces, and having discovered that he lacked the troops to oppose in equal number the Gallic armies that would shortly be present, did not hesitate or delay for a moment in that urgent point of necessity, but summoned the Roman armies from Coele-Syria: he ordered those troops, I say, that held Laodicea under the auspices and leadership of Cantacuzenus, and those that guarded Tarsus and Cilicia under Monastras, to hasten to him with their very commanders; yet he did not leave those cities and regions entirely desolate or abandoned. For he sent Petzeas with other forces to Laodicea, and to Tarsus—along with all the cities and regions under Monastras—he sent Aspietes. This man was noble in every way.

and renowned for his prowess in the eyes of everyone, as rumor had then proclaimed him, even if the timing of these events later revealed him to be not quite the warrior his military reputation had suggested. For Tancred, whom the account left behind in Syria, kept sending frequent reports that he would shortly occupy Cilicia, to besiege it and wrest it from the emperor’s hands—since it was his own, having been rescued from the Turks by his own spear. And he sent such rumors not only everywhere, but he even threatened worse things in the letters which were delivered to Aspietes every single day. And he did not only threaten, but also enacted certain preludes to these threats, and promised to do more, having gathered forces from every direction, both from the Armenians and the Celts, training them every day and making the army ready for battle-lines and combat. And he also sent out foragers and made the smoke appear before the fire, constructing siege engines and in every way preparing himself for the siege. But such were his actions. The Armenian Aspietes, however, as if nothing were pressing upon him or threatening him, and not even as if so great a danger were hanging over his head, sat back, indulging in heavy drinking bouts by night, even though he was a very valiant man and a most noble shield-bearer of Ares. When he arrived in Cilicia, having been placed at a distance from the sovereign’s hand, and having taken charge of affairs, he surrendered himself to every kind of luxury. Thus that Armenian, becoming softened and constantly decaying, when the time of the siege arrived, appeared before the most hardworking soldier, Tancred, as one who had given up. And his hearing was not shaken by the thunder of those threats of his, nor, when that lightning-bearer had arrived with his devastation throughout Cilicia, did he even blink at the flashes. For Tancred, having set out from Antioch with a ten-thousand-man army, divided them in two: some he sent through the mainland to the city of Mopsus, while others he loaded onto triremes and led through the sea to the river Sarus. This river flows from above, from the mountains of Taurus, and flowing between the two cities—the ruined one and the one that stood—it discharges into the Syrian Gulf, from which Tancred’s ships sailed up and, having approached the mouths of this river, were brought up to the bridges that connect both cities. The city, therefore, was being surrounded on both sides.

^A Tancred, sallying forth from Antioch with ten thousand armed men, ordered a portion of his forces to proceed by land toward both Mopsuestia, the new and the old, while he moved another part, embarked on triremes, by the maritime route to the mouths of the river Saron. This river, flowing from the Taurus mountains, passes between the two cities of Mopsus—of which one was destroyed long ago, and the other built more recently—and then glides into the Syrian sea. From there, Tancred’s triremes, propelled by oars, penetrated through the mouth of the river and reached the very bridges that connect the two cities. Thus, Mopsuestia was now hemmed in by an inevitable and double evil, pressed simultaneously by the fleet from the river and by strong and valiant forces launching an assault from the land.

Meanwhile, this illustrious guardian ^B of Cilicia, as if not even awakened by such a great clamor, took no action or counsel, but, having forgotten entirely his high birth and his previous exploits, as though bewildered, continued to remain in inert idleness. This state of affairs rendered him incredibly hateful to the imperial army of that region. Anyone can now imagine in his own mind, even if I remain silent, what happened then to the cities of Cilicia, sustaining the onslaught of Tancred, a most fierce warrior whom none of the resistance offered by them could break. For, besides the fact that he was superior in the strength of his own hand and most vehement in pressing an attack, he had also added to his vigor and unusual strength a high level of skill acquired through long experience—not only in other parts and arts of warfare, but especially in the besieging and storming of fortresses.

And here, because I see that a reproach will immediately occur to the prudent reader’s mind against my father for having entrusted such a great province to so cowardly a leader, I feel compelled by the duty of affection to vindicate this judgment of the Emperor Alexios from the blame of imprudence. Furthermore, for that defense, the distinguished nobility of this Aspietes provides me with a suitable argument, tracing a lineage of his family back to the most illustrious kings, and among those to whom this honor was common, occupying a leading place of dignity among the Arsacids. For who is unaware how effective a mediator for securing honors among all the best men this great clarity of birth is accustomed to be? So no one should wonder—or rather, no one should criticize—if the Emperor Alexios considered that honors of the curule chair and of a higher magistracy should be conferred upon a man recommended by such great generosity of blood, and if he gave him, with the dignity of *stratopedarches*, authority over all the forces of the Eastern frontier. This is especially true since he had previously recalled the man’s bravery through an illustrious proof.

For during the wars which, as we have narrated elsewhere, were fought by Robert against my parent, it chanced one day that a certain Gaul—who exceeded the common crowd by an entire shoulder in height—leveled his spear and, applying spurs to his horse, rushed at Aspietes with the speed of a whirlwind. He, constant in mind, met the onrushing Gaul and received him with his sword leveled against him. Yet that bravery cost him dearly; for the point of the spear, thrusting against Aspietes’ chest, pierced through his lung and carried the blow to the spine of his back, where it tore its way out. But he, ^C not yet confounded by the wound nor unseated from his saddle, but rather bracing himself more firmly, struck the barbarian upon his helmet and split in two both the head and the helmet. And both fell from their horses—the Gaul dead, and Aspietes still breathing. Those around him picked him up, completely drained of blood, and after tending to him well, brought him to the Emperor, showing both the spear and the wound, and recounting the death of the Gaul. The Emperor, at that time remembering this bravery and daring—which I know not how he performed—and adding to these the nobility of his birth and the renown derived from his lineage, sent him as a battle-worthy commander against Tancred in Cilicia, having honored him, as I have previously written, with the office of *stratopedarches*.

But let these things be said of these matters. Towards the leaders who were dwelling in the West, he sends other letters, ordering them to direct their march towards Sthlanitza. Why did he recall the front-line fighters, while he himself had retreated to enjoy leisure and make use of the baths, such as those who choose a bestial life are accustomed to, when they are emperors? By no means; indeed, he did not even endure to dwell at all within the palace. Having departed from Byzantium, as was mentioned above, he reached the middle of the Western lands, capturing the city of Thessaly in the month of September, in the fourteenth indiction, in the twentieth year from when he put on the reins of the empire; and he also constrained the Augusta to come along with him. For the character of that lady was of such a kind: she was not at all willing to appear in public, but for the most part, she remained keeping the house and doing the tasks proper to her; I mean the unrolling of the books of blessed men, and turning her eyes inward toward herself, and [performing] acts of kindness and favors upon men, and especially toward those whom she knew, from their clothing and from their life, to serve God, and who were attentive to prayer and corresponding hymns. But whenever she was about to make herself public due to some very necessary requirement, as an empress, she was filled with modesty, and a blush immediately bloomed on her cheeks. And indeed, the philosopher Theano, when her arm was uncovered, because someone jestingly said to her, "A beautiful arm," replied, "But not a public one." But my empress and mother, that image of decorum, that abode of holiness, was not only not pleased to make a forearm or a glance public, but she did not even wish her voice to be transmitted to unaccustomed ears—so great was that woman in her wondrous sense of modesty. But since, as they say, not even the gods fight against necessity, she was compelled by the frequent ^A demands of the emperor to accompany him on his expeditions. For she held it as an innate…

^A modesty within the palace walls, but her affection for the emperor and her burning love for him drew her out, even against her will, from the palace for the following reasons. First, because the ailment of the feet which afflicted him (98) required the greatest care. For the emperor suffered sharp pains from this podagric condition, and he could not tolerate any touch from anyone as he could from my mistress and mother; for she acted toward him with graceful skill, and by expertly stroking the affected parts, she lightened the pains of his feet. For that king of ours—and let no one accuse me of self-praise, for I am admiring my own kin, nor suspect me of misrepresenting the emperor, for I speak the truth—considered all his own affairs and all that concerned him secondary to the safety of the cities. For nothing could separate him from the love of the Christians: not pains, not pleasures, not the hardships of wars, nor anything else, small or great; not the scorching of the sun, not the bitterness of winter, not the attacks of the barbarians of every kind. But he stood unyielding against all these things, and he would falter according to the nature of his ailments, but he would rise again for the assistance of the state. The second and greatest reason for the empress being a companion ^B to the emperor was that, because many conspirators were springing up from everywhere, he required a great deal of oversight and, as it were, a many-eyed power; for even the night was treacherous to him, and the middle of the day, and the evening too.

And she possessed a modesty that was a witness to her purity, blooming on her cheeks like a flush of red. They say that Theano, who was not only a practitioner of philosophy but also a teacher of women, when once by chance her arm was bared as she was standing, and someone who saw it said, "What a beautiful arm!", immediately replied, "But it is not accustomed to being exposed to the eyes of men." But my mother, that model of gravity and abode of holiness, was so far from making her own person or eye a matter of public right or observation that she would not even allow her voice to reach unaccustomed ears—such a strange and wondrous care for modesty and honor was in her! But since to necessity even the gods (as is commonly said) cannot refuse to yield, my mother was compelled, as she very often followed the emperor when he went out on expeditions, to overcome her love of seclusion and the domestic walls of the royal palace, wherein the sanctity of her character and her innate modesty kept her, with a love none the less great or less laudable—the love, that is, which she considered pious and dutiful to represent to her husband, who was often in need of her work and presence abroad, and to provide for him diligent watch and care, in accordance with the duty of conjugal necessity. Nor will it be pointless to mention in what matters my father, when away from home, was in need of the diligence of my mother. The first cause was the disease of the feet, by which the emperor was frequently and most severely afflicted; he had almost one single relief and consolation in his greatest pains—from the hands of my mistress and mother. For, as if she were familiar with all his joints, she would handle the affected parts with fingers so gently poised and so skillfully applied, and she knew so well how to soothe the pains themselves with a certain fomentation and stroking, that the Augustus would confess that he felt significant relief from the force and bitterness of his intolerable torments by such treatment. Furthermore, that poor man earned this gout as, so to speak, the unhappy stipend of so many struggles and warlike labors. And let no one be angry with me for following too minutely and verbosely the domestic matters that pertain to my parents, as I have once professed that I desire to appear pious in my writing; nor should it be improper, in this place, to produce a domestic witness, to whom more faith ought to be conceded by an impartial reader—due to her intimate knowledge of the persons being discussed—than any idleness or triviality of speech might potentially detract from the credit of one devoted to piety. I will say, therefore, if perhaps not opportunely, yet most truthfully, that while my august father continued to provide for the salvation of the Christians with constant hardships and tireless efforts, he cared not at all for his own safety and health; for never did pleasures allurings or labors deterring him slow him from providing for the common good: rather, he considered the regard for his own affairs and interests—indeed, even for his own safety and life—to be secondary to the safety of the cities in danger, or to the security of the Christian people, when threatened by any evil or danger whatsoever. For the sake of these, he never refused to undergo or accept the hardships of expeditions, the dangers and wounds of battles against barbarians of every kind, the heat or the cold of stations out of doors, nor the mud and dust of winter and summer journeys. And while he spent himself not sparingly on all these things, the nature of his body, broken by the attacking evils and the injury of wounds and diseases, often failed him; yet, spurred by his care for public affairs and his zeal for performing his duty, he would rouse his spirit that he might continue nonetheless wherever the need of the state called him, and continue to benefit the human race at the cost of any harm to himself.

Furthermore, my mother, the Augusta, had another reason for following the camps of the Augustus: the necessary mitigation of the plots prepared against him at every hour, which was a matter of vigilant solicitude on the part of one who was present everywhere and kept an unsleeping watch. For indeed, as he always had other adversaries of the army, so in particular...

^A in the morning the omens were often worst. Or even more sharply, God is witness to these things. Was it not then necessary for the Emperor, besieged by so many evils, to be guarded by a myriad of eyes—some aiming the arrow at him, others sharpening the sword, and others, when they were unable to do any other deed, letting loose a railing tongue and the power to speak evil? Whom therefore was it necessary to have as a companion to the Emperor beside his natural counselor? Who indeed looked out for the Emperor more than she, and kept watch against those who plotted against him? Who was more sharp to see what was advantageous for him, or sharper still to discern what was being plotted concerning his enemies? For these reasons, my mother was all things in all things to my lord and father: a wakeful eye by night, a most illustrious guardian by day, an antidote at the table to the occasions of evil, and a remedy that kept away the injustices of food. These causes, therefore, caused that natural modesty of that woman to be set aside, and she became emboldened to meet the eyes of men.

Yet she did not even then forget her customary decorum, but by her very gaze, by her silence, and by the care she took for herself, she remained ^B unknown to the majority; and one only understood that an empress was following the army because the small mobile carriage drawn by two mules, and the imperial canopy above it, indicated it. But as for the rest, she kept her divine person veiled, save for the fact that excellent forethought directed all matters concerning the Emperor’s illness, and she was known by all to be a wakeful guard of the Emperor, an eye that was awake and never slumbering regarding affairs. And we, all of us who were around the Emperor, labored and cooperated with our lady and mother in his protection, each according to his capacity, with whole soul and intent; and it is written for the sake of those who love to mock and those who have slanderous tongues, who bring accusation against the innocent, that she did not slumber at all. For the Muse of Homer also knew this human way—that they disparage even deeds well done, and bring under censure that which is blameless. ^C Yet she, during the campaign that took place at that time—for the Emperor had directed his charge against Bohemond—followed, in one respect unwillingly, and in another willingly. For the Empress ought not to have invaded with the barbarian army; for how could she? These things befit a Tomyris or a Sparethra of the Massagetae, but not my Irene. For her courage was turned another way, and she was armed otherwise, not with the spear of Athena, nor with the helmet of Hades. But her shield and her breastplate and her sword was the ability to stand successfully against calamities, and the threats of life which the Empire knows are laid upon emperors, the diligence regarding affairs, and that which is most striking against the passions, and the unfeigned faith as it seems to Solomon. So my mother was equipped even for such wars; but in other things she was most peaceful and a ^D sanatorium against the usual.

^A And since the conflict with the Barbarians was future, and the Emperor was looking toward preparations for the encounter—aiming to secure some of the fortresses and to fortify others, and, in sum, hastening to set everything in order against Bohemond—he drew the Empress along with him: partly for his own sake, and for the reasons we have already mentioned, and partly because things were still in a state of safety and the time of battle had not yet arrived. Having therefore gathered up as much as was available to her of coinage, both in gold and of other quality, and other sums of money, she set out from the city. And henceforth, as she made her way along the roads, she extended a generous hand to all the beggars, and those clad in goat-skins, and the destitute. And no one who asked went away empty-handed. ^B When she had reached the tent assigned to her, she did not immediately turn to rest once she was inside, but by opening it wide, she provided an open entrance to those who were asking; for to such as these she was very accessible, and she would present herself both to be seen and to be heard. She did not distribute money to the poor only, but she also advised them to better things; and as many as she observed to be physically sound but deeply slothful in their way of life, she urged toward work and activities, so that from this they might procure what was necessary for their needs, and not, through neglect, go wandering about begging from door to door. And no time kept the Empress from such a work. Now David is seen commingling his drink with weeping; but this Empress of ours was seen daily commingling both food and drink with mercy. And I would have much to say about this Empress, were it not that being her daughter provides a suspicion of falsehood, and that we are favoring a mother. But to those who suspect these things, I shall provide facts that bear witness along with my words. ^C

spirable, to take pleasure in idle inaction and wander about begging door to door. Nor did she wish even the hours set aside for timely meals to be exempt from this beneficence, having given orders to her servants that they should not exclude those who came even at such times. And so, while David, as he himself testifies, mingled his drink with weeping, the Augusta, my mother, would taste neither food nor drink unless it were seasoned and, as it were, flavored with the oil of mercy. There are many other excellent things that I could say about the Empress; but I am restrained by the fact that I see testimony given by a daughter about her mother is liable to suspicion, seeing that men are apt to follow their own nature and to judge others by themselves, such that they would imagine whatever laudable things I have said about her are not so in truth, but are invented out of a certain instinct of piety to favor my mother. I, however, consider that, in the eyes of all who have sound judgment, the other deeds of my mother, known to the public, must abundantly win belief for my words when I relate other things that have not come to the general knowledge.

^B But as for the Emperor, once it was established that he had reached Thessalonica, nearly all the commanders and soldiers of the western frontier, like heavy objects drawn to their center, flocked to him with zealous haste from every direction. However, the coming of the Gauls was not preceded by a locust, as in previous cases, but by a great comet appearing in the heavens, or rather the greatest of any that have ever been seen, which some contended belonged to the class of "beam" stars, as they are called, while others claimed it belonged to the class of those that derive their name from the shape of a spear. Indeed, this was managed at that time in accordance with the usual providence of God; for it was not fitting that so great and unusual a revolution of affairs, such as was soon to be brought about by the Gallic tumult, should descend upon mortals without receiving any warning or premonition from a celestial sign. And so, this star showed itself in plain view for a full forty natural days—that is, days and nights joined and connected in one continuous course of the sun. It rose from the western parts and was carried toward the rising sun. And it cast great anxiety upon all who looked upon it and were terrified on every side, as they sought to know what messenger of evil or what fearful thing this brilliant traveler might be bringing. The Emperor, too, although he was otherwise not accustomed to observe such things superstitiously, but preferred to impute such events to natural causes, nevertheless, at that time, feeling himself affected by a kind of contagion of common anxiety, showed himself curious about the events which such a portent might presage, and he consulted those who were skilled in such matters. Furthermore, he sent for Basilius, a man most learned in that discipline, whom he had recently entrusted with the prefecture of Byzantium—a man who showed great devotion to the Emperor—and inquired of him what he thought of the rising of the star and its presage. He asked for time to provide an answer, and he...

^A withdrew to the guest quarters which he had taken near the church formerly built in the name of the holy evangelist John, and dedicated himself to the most attentive observation of the appearing planet after the sun had set. As he labored at this and was anxious beyond measure, sleep overcame him; and a dream was presented to him, such that it seemed not a form distorted by sleep, but a living and true countenance and a present vision. The master of the temple himself, John, the holy pontiff, appeared adorned in his pontifical vestments. At this sight, Basil, not lacking his usual deep religious devotion and meditation, though it was less clear than the midday sun, spoke with cheerful joy, yet tempered by a certain fear and sacred dread; he loosed a humble and trembling voice in questioning him about the doubt by which his mind was consumed; and he begged of him, if it were not too grave, to tell him of what events this star was the index. The apostle answered him: "This torch shines forth for the Gauls who are to come from the west." Furthermore, he promised that in the very place where it sets, its extinction would signify the ruin of the most famous men. So much for the comet that appeared at that time.

But the Emperor, having reached Thessalonica, as the account has already shown, was preparing for the crossing of Bohemund, training the new recruits in pulling the bow and sending arrows at the mark, and in protecting themselves with shields, but also by letters preparing forces from foreign lands, so that when the time called for them they might arrive more quickly. He also took great thought for Illyricum, securing the city of Dyrrhachium and appointing as its leader Alexios, the second son of the Sebastokrator Isaac. ^B At the same time, he commanded that a fleet be kitted out from the Cyclades islands, the cities of Asia along the sea, and from Europe itself. Though many were hindering the building of the fleet, because Bohemund's crossing was not yet pressing, the Emperor was nevertheless not persuaded, saying that a general must be an unslumbering guard and must not prepare only for what is at his feet, but must also look to things far off, and not, through greed for money when the time calls, appear unprepared, especially when he senses an enemy's approach. Having arranged these matters most fittingly, he departed from there and reached Stroumitza ^C, and from there once again as far as Elopimus. Having learned of the defeat of John, the son of the Sebastokrator, who had been sent on ahead, he dispatched sufficient forces to the rescue. Vukan, being of the most wicked nature, immediately asked the Emperor for peace, and sent the requested hostages. The Emperor, having held out for one year and two months, as he had been informed that Bohemund was still lingering in the regions of Lombardy, and with winter now setting in, he sent the soldiers home to their houses; he himself reached Thessalonica. While traveling toward Thessalonica, his firstborn ^D son was born.

^A His firstborn son, the Porphyrogenitus and Emperor John, was born while he was nearing Balabistan, and there was also a female twin born with him. Having performed the commemorations for the Great Martyr Demetrius there, he entered the great city. And something like this happened in the vicinity of the Forum of Constantine. A certain brazen statue 5 stood there, and it was turned toward the east upon a conspicuous porphyry column, holding a scepter in its right hand, and in its left, a sphere fashioned from brass. Now, it was said that this was a statue of Apollo; but I believe the inhabitants of the city of Constantine called it Anthēlios 6. The great Emperor Constantine himself, father and lord of the city, transferred it to his own name, calling it a statue of the Emperor Constantine. The original name given to the statue prevailed, however, and it was called by everyone either Anēlios or Anthēlios. Very broad winds, the south-westerly ones, blowing suddenly from that direction, pushed this statue and threw it to the ground 7, for the sun was at that time in Taurus. ^B It is for this reason that we see Constantine founded there, shining forth like the sun to the citizens. This image, then, fell from the column and caused the death of about ten men and women who happened to be there; this was on the fifth day of the month of April, in the fourteenth indiction of the year six thousand six hundred and fourteen, in the twentieth year of the reign of the lord Alexios Komnenos. It was about the third hour when the gloom occurred, and a violent south wind blew fiercely, after the comet star, the "javelin," had been seen and had effected such a disturbance of the air, having appeared on the evening of the Friday of the [Passion week].

At that time, a bronze statue of human form was visible in the Forum of Constantine, standing upon a porphyry base of considerable height. Its face looked toward the East; in its right hand it held a scepter, and in its left, an orb, also cast in bronze. They say that, according to the initial design of the craftsmen, it was an image of Apollo, which is why the earlier inhabitants of the city—which was later called Constantinople—used, I believe, to call it the "Anthelius" [sun-facing]. Constantine the Great adapted this image to his own name and ordered that it be called the effigy of the Emperor Constantine. Nevertheless, the ancient appellation of the statue persisted through long-established usage, so that by most people of all ranks, the sign was still called the Anhelius or Anthelius. However, a south-west wind, bearing down upon this very statue at that time with most violent gusts, threw it from its column and dashed it to the ground, the sun being then in the sign of Taurus. ^B This appeared to most people as a mournful omen; and as many as were not well-disposed toward the emperor whispered broadly, spreading the rumor that the sudden event foretold the emperor's impending death. When these things were reported to the Augustus, he replied: "I acknowledge there is one Lord and Arbiter of life and death, namely God; as for the fall of idols, I cannot be persuaded that they have any power to inflict death. For if one were to believe such things, it would follow, I think, that one must believe that Phidias, or some similar craftsman, whenever he carves a statue from stone, is able to raise the dead or create living beings from nothing. And if this were so, what would remain for the Creator of all? Since His word is most true, declaring His singular power: 'I shall kill and I shall make to live.' ^C It is 'I,' he said, and not the fall or erection of this or that idol." Thus, the emperor referred all things to the single providence of the Most High.

Furthermore, a new calamity against the emperor was being stirred up by secret cabals, organized not by men of the common sort, but by those distinguished by bravery and noble lineage. Their monstrous counsels looked toward nothing more moderate than the violent slaughter of the emperor’s sacred person. I indeed shudder to report this; and having already assembled in many parts of this History similar treacheries, I can neither sufficiently wonder at, nor pity enough, the most unfortunate lot of this emperor. Was it ordained that his fortune should persevere with such persistent hatred and such implacable cruelty against one man, attacking him secretly, openly, by hidden maneuvers, by overt attempts, by every weapon and machine! ^D That Alexius was born under such a fate, to be the one man above all other princes who, without ever any interval of rest, must be constantly besieged—from the front, from the rear, from both sides—by wars, seditions, tumults, and conspiracies; with fierce leaders arming themselves and their innumerable troops against him from the barbarous nations round about, while here, within the Roman territory itself, tyrants—like the Giants of old—sprang up and flourished in great numbers and with no less ferocity.

^A Indeed, a bad general is he who, when affairs are quiet, deliberately incites those around him to war. For peace is the end of all war. But always to seek war for its own sake and to neglect the good end—that is the mark of a thoughtless general and a demagogue, and one who acts for the destruction of the state. But Emperor Alexios did the very opposite: he was exceedingly careful about keeping the peace, and he used every means to hold it together from all sides, and often kept vigil so that, even when it had departed, it might return. By nature, he was a man of peace, but when circumstances compelled him, he was most warlike. And I would confidently say of that man that the royal character, which had long since departed from the Roman empire, had in his person and in his alone reappeared, and in a way had, for the first time, come as a guest ^B to the Roman lordship. But to return to what I was saying at the beginning of this discourse, I am amazed at the such great deluge of warlike affairs; for everything, both outside and within, was to be seen surging from all sides. But Emperor Alexios would perceive even the unseen and hidden things of his enemies, and with all sorts of schemes, he drove off the injuries from afar, contending against both the tyrants within and the barbarians without, since he always forestalled the plots of the conspirators with the quickness of his mind and checked their assaults. And I, from the very events themselves, conjecture regarding the fortune of the empire that the reward of war is peace. ^C Grave, indeed, are the evils, even if they draw near one by one. But what, when various incursions simultaneously distract one’s care and the necessity of resisting in opposite directions? The Augustus would hasten to the frontier against the enemy; a citizen would rise up in rebellion at his back. Wherever he turned to crush him, the whole of barbarism was stirred up. Yet I, as I look upon the character and life of Alexios, and note the causes of enmity in a nature so peaceful and in a character so gentle, marvel all the more that he could have been constantly exercised by such great storms of external and civil disturbances. None was easier, none more clement, none more liberal, more beneficent, or more lavish with honors and goods than he; his mode of governing was most moderate, doing nothing by absolute right, descending to civil humanity, bringing the suggestum ^D of the throne down to the plain, and dealing with his subjects as if on an equal footing, wielding the power and strength of the principate not with haughtiness or pride, but by distributing dignities and wealth everywhere among all. Furthermore, although he was skilled in the art of war, he was no less a hater of wars and a student of peace, accustomed to focus his entire prudence on ensuring that he gave no one, neither foreigner nor citizen, an occasion for dissenting from him. Nay, even when he was attacked and a necessary attempt at resistance became inevitable, he generally restrained it within the moderation of a just defense; and content with having repelled the hostile force, he was temperate in repaying the injury, even when given the opportunity. There are princes who think that the lives and blood of citizens and enemies should be rightly spent for their own ambition or gain; and that they might plunder the property of others, or win for themselves a great name as fierce warriors, they think it worthwhile to confuse the human race and involve the world in labors and disasters. That was not the way of my father. In the waging of wars, he had no other goal proposed to himself than peace. Having obtained it, he remained quiet at home; and he always observed with religious fidelity the friendships sanctioned with neighboring nations, expending also abundant solicitude in order to satisfy even the morose and the irritable. For to what purpose, after obtaining peace as the end and goal of war, would one abandon it and leap headlong into arms? This is the course of action of certain rulers that is most inconsiderate and, in the first place, pernicious to public affairs. Not so Alexios, the lover of peace, the lover of peace, the unique guardian of peace, who, when it was absent, sought it, and when it was present, kept it, never omitting any care or any duty: indeed, most warlike by the usage of things and the necessity of dangers, but most peaceful by nature and will. Wherefore I would not hesitate to affirm that the most excellent specimen of the imperial person, expressed by the characters of his praise, had finally appeared in this man after an interval of so many years past in the Roman republic: indeed, not brought back after a long time, but clearly for the first time then, since it had always previously, by some fate or some pact, been absent from the throne of the Roman empire. Nevertheless, to return to the troubles about which I had begun to speak, that man was by no means ever dismayed or let his spirit flag, however struck by the variety or multitude of them, nor did he relax his industry or exertion, as if conquered by evils; but he always opposed a robust and indomitable breast to disasters assailing from every side, and applied a mind awakened by sharp vigilance to the blind and dark machinations of the wicked: and with this success, that he was not only never overthrown by any external attack of the Barbarians, nor by any internal agitation of tyrants rising up within, but even...

^A from causes whose enemies' plans and rebellions were not yet disclosed, he would make his way by a certain shrewdness of mind and by the diligence of keen celerity, matching with almost equal speed of execution the swift motion of a provident intellect. And so, to estimate the virtue of the soul that was in that prince, I am accustomed to fashion for myself an image of this kind. If an individual were so wretched as to be assailed by many hostile hands and weapons from all sides, and at the same time were experiencing in his own body the heavy pangs of pains gnawing at his deepest vitals; and yet he was sufficient to deflect the assaults pressing from without, and through the power of an excellent constitution, to overcome the strength of an ingrained disease and the bitterness of a poison received; calculate what kind of strength, what vigorous constitution, that living being would be thought to possess. In a similar grade of excellence, the soul of the Emperor Alexios was always flourishing and victorious amidst the most vehement whirlwinds of dangers: so that, beyond the others which we have recounted, this matter also, which is now proper to tell—the document of a new conspiracy nefariously forged against him and prudently and bravely warded off by him—clearly demonstrates. These were entirely an illusion, an error, and nothing solid.

^C Its authors were four brothers, called by the common surname Anemades, distinct from one another by their own proper names. The eldest was Michael; the second Leo; the third... and the last ... was called. They had decreed with a concordant plan, once the Emperor had been killed, to seize the reins of power. Others of the nobility had joined themselves to them, namely, the illustrious family of the Antiochians, and those called the Exazeni, Doukas and Hyeleas, men of all who have ever lived the most daring in battles; besides these, Niketas Kastamonites, a certain Curticius, and Basilicius Georgius. These were easily the leaders of the military nobility. From the number of the senators also, Salomon Johannes had given his name to the society of this plot, whom, on account of his abundance of wealth and the splendor of his lineage, Michael—the leader of the quaternion of the Anemades—had persuaded that he wished to anoint him as Emperor; by which promise, even though a mendacious one, the crafty scoundrel ^D easily held the futile soul tied to himself to the great strengthening of the faction. For this man not only excelled among the other conspirators, whom the four brothers had seduced with similar deceit, but also among each of the select senators in wealth and dignity. He was a man of short stature, most light in judgment; he indeed thought he had arrived at the peak of Aristotelian and Platonic disciplines, though in truth he was straying far from the true path of philosophy, however much his own tumor and the futility of his mind had persuaded him of something else. Surely intending his course toward the empire, he was catching with full sails the breezes of the Anemades who were fanning him; furthermore, those breezes... For Michael and the three remaining brothers, who were managing the affair by a common plan, were not seeking the principate for Salomon; nothing, indeed, could be less true. But they were exploiting the man's levity and his wealth for their own undertaking.

They acted thus toward that man for the sake of their own ambition, using him as a tool while, with a wind-filled head, they lured him on with empty hopes, like a man offering to water a plant, constantly drawing some small stream of golden revenue from his fountains—a resource quite necessary for their own sowing. Salomon, meanwhile, because of his foolishness, perceived none of this; he was entirely in the power of those brothers, and to those by whom he was secretly mocked, he offered genuine love and loyalty. They, on the other hand, calculated their affairs so that, if fortune should prove favorable and events respond to their plans, they would hold it as a certainty among themselves that they would elbow Salomon aside and cast him into the waves, having credited to him, as the price of his favor and the money provided, only the brief consolation of an ambitious hope, that dream of the principate with which they had lulled him for a short time; for themselves, however, they intended to retain supreme power and the scepter of the empire. ^A Moreover, they dealt with that sluggish man, who shrank at the very first mention of war and battle, in such a way that they were silent before him regarding the contemplated parricide; they pretended to manage the whole affair so that they would finish the business without any violence, without the sword and without bloodshed. Lured by these frauds into consenting to be considered the head of the conspiracy, he added two others to the enterprise from the same order, induced to do so by similar wiles: Sclerus, or Durus, and Xerus (so called, as if one might say "the dry one"), a man who had at one time filled the office of prefect of the city of Constantinople.

Salomon, however, ignorant of all that was being prepared by Exazenus, ^B Hyelea, and the Anemades themselves, believed the matter was already accomplished for him; and as if he already held the empire, he set about drawing almost everyone he met into his party with promises of gifts and dignities. One day, the author and chief actor of the drama himself, Michael, happened to come upon him while he was talking to someone; approaching with his accustomed familiarity, he asked what they were discussing. Salomon, with his usual simplicity, said: "This man here was asking me for a dignity, and I promised that I would grant it to him once I am master of the empire. Thus, we have gained a new privy to the conspiracy and a partner in the enterprise, pledged to me by the word of my promise." Michael, ^C inwardly lamenting Salomon's folly, could not wonder enough at it, and detested him in his heart, not without a certain fear that an secret entrusted to so imprudent and porous a breast might leak into public knowledge. He nevertheless reassured himself that, since someone so flighty had not been admitted into the inner sanctum of the conspiracy, the most terrible part of the contemplated crime, which needed to be concealed more deeply, seemed still to lie in safety. Therefore, while satisfied to refrain from thenceforth frequenting Salomon's house, he actively urged the execution of the matter; he, with his brothers and the other armed assassins of the palace, was constantly laying siege to the palace so that, once a suitable opportunity presented itself, they might perpetrate the intended parricide.

But since, with Divine Providence surely ^D hindering it, no sufficiently apt opportunity had presented itself for a long time, and there was danger in the delay that so great a matter, conducted with such elaborate convolutions, might in some way emanate into the suspicion of the Augustus and bring ruin upon its authors, the conspirators finally decided that they must throw the dice for the execution, whatever the outcome. For the emperor, after being relieved of his cares toward evening, wishing at times to sweeten the bitterness arising from many worries, had some of his relatives as companions in the game of *zatrikion* (chess)...

which pastime was invented long ago by the Assyrians and has come down to us from them. But those who were arming their murderous hands were preparing to make their way into the imperial bedchamber to bring about the slaughter of the emperor. This royal bedchamber, where the emperors are accustomed to sleep, lies on the left side of the church in the palace built in the name of the Mother of God, although many erroneously label it with the name of the great martyr Demetrius. On the right side, there was an open courtyard paved with marble, and the gate of the church leading to this was open to all who wished to enter. From there, therefore, they planned to enter the church, break down the doors locking the royal bedchamber, and in this way gain entrance to slay the emperor with the sword. But these were the schemes which those murderous men were devising against one who had done them no harm; yet God thwarted their plan. ^B The plot having been revealed to the emperor by someone, all of them were immediately summoned. First, the emperor allowed John Salomon and George Basilacius to be brought into the palace, having them brought closer to the room where he himself happened to be with his relatives, so that he might question them through certain men, knowing them to have long since possessed a more simple mind, and thinking that from this he would easily learn what had been plotted. But when they were questioned repeatedly and were in denial, the Sebastokrator Isaac went out and turned to Salomon, saying: "You know, Salomon, the kindness of my brother and emperor. If you report all that has been planned, you shall immediately be deemed worthy of clemency; but if not, you shall be handed over to irreparable tortures." And he, looking up and seeing the barbarians surrounding the Sebastokrator, wielding their double-edged swords on their shoulders, became terrified and immediately reported everything, confessing his accomplices as well, though he insisted that he knew nothing about the murder. Then, having been handed over to those entrusted with their custody in the palace, they were separated and kept in guard. As for the rest... ^{C D}

^A of the conspirators, when they were interrogated again about the plot, they confessed everything, not even concealing the murder. Since it was known that the soldiers had plotted this, and especially Michael Anemas, who was the ringleader of the council and breathing murderous intent against the emperor, the emperor confined them all and confiscated their property. However, the house of Salomon, which was prominent, was given to the Augusta. She, being of such a disposition regarding such matters, feeling pity for Salomon's wife, gifted it to her, not even taking away the smallest thing from it. ^B Salomon himself was kept under guard in Sozopolis; as for Anemas and those with him, as the primary culprits, it was decreed that after their heads and beards were shaved to the skin, they should be paraded through the middle of the marketplace, and then their eyes should be gouged out. The stage-players therefore took them and, having clothed them in sacks, and having adorned their heads with the intestines of oxen and sheep like ribbons, they brought them up on oxen and seated them, not riding forward, but sideways, and led them through the royal courtyard. Lictors, leaping before them and singing a ridiculous little song appropriate to the procession, shouted, set to the vulgar language, but having a meaning such as this: the song wished to exhort all the people to see these horned men who had turned tyrants, who had sharpened their swords against the emperor. All ages therefore ran together to such a sight, so that even we, the daughters of the emperor, having gone out, made our viewing secret. When they saw Michael gazing towards the palaces and lifting his supplicating hands to heaven, asking in his gesture that his hands be taken off from his shoulders, and his feet from his buttocks, and his head itself be cut off, all of nature was moved to tears and lamentations, and even more so we, the daughters of the emperor. I, wishing to save the man from such an evil, once and twice urged the queen and mother to see those being paraded.

For we were concerned for the sake of the men of the emperor—for the truth shall be told—lest he be deprived of such soldiers, and especially of Michael, insofar as the sentence passed against him was heavier, since I saw how deeply the calamity humbled him. Consequently, as I was saying, I was questioning my mother to see if the men might be rescued from the danger, since it was already imminent for them; for the stage-players were making the march quite slow, creating room for sympathy for the murderers. As she was hesitant about coming—for she was sitting with the emperor, where they were offering their prayers to God together in the presence of the Theotokos—I went down, and standing outside the gates in fear, since I did not dare to go inside, I beckoned to the queen. And indeed, having been persuaded, she ascended to the sight, and having seen Michael, she both pitied him and, shedding a warm tear for him, ran back to the emperor, entreating him once and twice and many times to grant Michael [the pardon of] his eyes. And immediately [someone] was sent to restrain the executioners, and he, having hastened, arrived ahead of them inside the so-called "Hands" (15), which—as the emperor... ^A ...far heavier, by nods. The so-called "horaión" (or timepiece) was at the Herakleion, upon a very high and elevated stony eminence, that is, the *examen* of the *modius*. It stood above the arch of the Amastrianon, between the two hands, constructed by Valentinian. On the *Patria* of Constantinople. Here also stood a bronze *modius* and a clock, and two bronze hands on spears.

[alt-version omitted]

^A was given to this site from the fact that Anemas was first... ^{B C D}

Concerning the Anemas Tower

as if by some lot he had possessed himself of this name, because he was the first to receive the Anemas [i.e., the prisoner] into iron chains and have him linger in it for a long duration. For in the twelfth indiction, when the aforementioned Gregory had been appointed ^B Duke of Trebizond, having long been in labor with revolt, he brought the secret into the light as he was departing for Trebizond. For as Dabatenus was returning to Constantinople, since the ducal office had been transferred to Taronites, he encountered him, and immediately held him prisoner and under guard at Tidena, and not only Dabatenus, but also many of the prominent men of Trebizond, including the nephew of Bacchinus himself. But since they were not released from their bonds and prison, all of them, being of one mind, subjected the very guards who were holding them to the apostate’s own torments, and taking them outside the walls, drove them far away, while they themselves seized Tidena and held it. The Emperor, through letters, often at one time summoned him, at another advised him to desist from his wicked deed, if he wished to obtain mercy and be restored to his former state; at other times he even threatened him, if he did not obey. But he was so far from obeying the Emperor when he was counseling the better course, that he even sent a long-worded letter to him, assailing not only the picked men of the Senate and the army, but even the Emperor’s own relatives and sons-in-law. When the Emperor learned from this letter that he was advancing from bad to worse every day and was already being driven to total madness, he despaired of him entirely. As the fourteenth indiction was approaching, he sent his own nephew, the son of his firstborn sister and the cousin on the father’s side of the apostate, against him—first with a speech, rather counseling the things that lead to safety, thinking he might be persuaded by him because of the genuine tie of kinship and the communion of the same blood for both; but if he did not wish to, he was to oppose him manfully by land and sea, bringing with him many forces. When Gregory Taronites learned of his arrival, he went out and departed for Colonela (this is a very rugged and impregnable small town), for the purpose of summoning Danismane to his assistance. When John learned of this as he was moving on, he [led] the Celts of Bacchinus against him.

They anticipated him and joined battle with him, and two brave men, encountering him, overpowered him by casting him from his horse with their spears. Having thus taken him prisoner, John brought him to the Emperor, having sworn not even to look at him at all, nor to deign to speak with him in person. Yet he pleaded much on his behalf before the Emperor, while he [the Emperor] feigned that he wished to deprive him of his eyes. With difficulty, therefore, did the Emperor strip away the pretense, having ostensibly yielded to his entreaties, while strictly enjoining him not to make the promise public. ^B After the third day, he ordered him to be shorn close to the skin on his head and beard, and led through the middle of the market-place, and thus to be introduced into the aforementioned tower of Anemas. Since, even while under guard, he was senseless, daily spewing forth steps of madness toward his jailers, he was deemed worthy of much care by the Emperor through long-reaching hands, so that he might change and show a manner of repentance. But he remained the same man he was before; he would frequently summon my Caesar, having long been on friendly terms with us, and the Emperor at that time allowed this, so that he might recover him from his great despondency and advise him toward better things. But he appeared slow toward the change for the better. Hence it was that he remained under guard for a longer time. Then, having been deemed worthy of compassion, he enjoyed such kindness and gifts and honor as not even [his] own [men] had [received] from my Emperor, who was of such a character regarding such matters. ^C Dividing [it] from his own army and choosing the elite of the Romans.

The Variæ lectiones from the Coislin codex

[Latin column content follows, largely mirroring the account above]: ...As he persisted with the entreaties, the Emperor at last cast off the feigned severity, yielding to the prayers of the petitioner, while nevertheless strictly enjoining that what he promised him regarding the not blinding of Gregory should be kept secret. After the third day, the Emperor ordered Gregory to be led through the middle of the forum, his head and beard shorn close to the skin, and shortly thereafter to be brought into the often-mentioned tower of Anemas. In that captivity, not even then growing wise, he babbled forth voices full of madness to his guards daily; therefore the Emperor did not desist from the zeal and endeavor of leading the captive back to a better state of mind, which he attempted through the hope of continuous benefits, by the ministry of certain men through whom, as if by long hands, he reached from the throne to the prison, providing with most benign diligence. But all these things were in vain, with no sign of change or repentance ever appearing in Gregory. Yet, since he had often called for my Caesar (for he had been a friend to us before), the Emperor permitted the Caesar to approach the man, that he might both alleviate his illness [for him,]

^A and advise him toward better things, as he was in primary need of a good counselor. The Caesar left nothing undone to influence him; yet he accomplished nothing more than to make it obvious that Gregory was very slow to change for the better. This was the cause of his captivity being prolonged for a long time; eventually, however, he was deemed worthy of grace and pardon, and was treated by the Emperor with such humanity, kindness, honor, expressions of affection, and an abundance of gifts and honors, that his later restored fortune was even more prosperous than his former, original state. Such was the power of humanity in the Emperor my father toward those who conspired against him!

Having thus arranged matters against the conspirators and the rebel Gregory, the Emperor did not forget Bohemond, nor did he neglect to provide for and execute those things which were necessary against him. He summoned Isaac Contostephanus and appointed him Grand Duke of the fleet, and ordered him to set out immediately for Dyrrhachium, adding threats that he would order his eyes to be gouged out if he did not arrive there and occupy the crossing into Illyria before Bohemond made his passage. He also sent frequent letters to the Duke of Dyrrhachium, Alexius, his nephew, urging him and preparing him to be ever vigilant, and to command those keeping watch on the sea to do the same, so that Bohemond might not cross unnoticed, but that the Emperor might receive immediate notification via letter. The Emperor established and acted in this manner. ^B But Contostephanus, who had been commanded to do nothing else but diligently guard the strait between Lombardy and Dyrrhachium, and to prevent any of Bohemond’s scouts or any of his baggage train from carrying supplies or equipment from there to this place, and to allow absolutely nothing to be brought to him from Lombardy, went and ignored the suitable location for those sailing across to Illyria. Not only this, but also, disregarding the commands given to him, he crossed over to Hydrus, which is a city situated on the coast of Lombardy. A certain woman was guarding this city, the mother, as it was said, of Tancred, or perhaps the sister of Bohemond (who has been mentioned many times already)—though whether she was or not, I cannot say, for I do not know clearly whether she was related to Bohemond and Tancred on the paternal or maternal side. Arriving there and bringing her ships to anchor, he made an attempt on the walls of Brundisium, and it was already in his hands. But when the woman who was inside saw this—being a woman of mad but firm resolve—at the time when he anchored his ships there, she sent one of her sons with speed and summoned him. All the naval forces, having already become bold as though they had the city in their hands, were all offering exclamations of joy for the Emperor. The woman, caught in a predicament, ordered her own men to do the same, and at the same time sent envoys to Contostephanus, acknowledging servitude to the Emperor and securing peaceful terms for herself.

^A and promise him that he would use his efforts on his behalf, and that he would himself set out to the Emperor to communicate with him concerning his intentions, so that everything might be made known to the Emperor through him. Such were the schemes of that cunning woman, who was spinning out the deliberations of Contostephanos, in the hope that in the meantime her son might arrive, and then, having thrown off the stage, as the tragedians say, she would engage in battle.

When, therefore, a confused clamor arose both from those within and those without, in praise of the Emperor and the Roman Empire, and had ^B filled all the surrounding area, and since that warlike woman had held the mind of Contostephanos suspended with such words and false promises, as has been said, the expected son and his companions arrived. He immediately advanced against Contostephanos and defeated him decisively. All the naval forces, being inexperienced in land battles, threw themselves into the sea in terror. Some of the Scythians—for a considerable number were present with the Roman army at the time of the battle—had run out ahead to forage, as is the custom for such barbarians; it happened that six of these were caught. When Bohemond saw them sent to him, he took them as a great windfall and immediately departed for Rome.

Upon reaching the apostolic throne and conversing with the Pope, ^C he stirred him up to anger against the Romans, and rekindled against our nation the ancient hatred of these barbarians, in order to further inflame the Italians around the Pope. Bohemond presented those captured Scythians as if demonstrating by the very reality of the facts that the Emperor Alexios, being hostile toward Christians, was employing certain faithless and strange barbarian horse-archers, who moved weapons and drew bows against Christians. At every such point in his speech, he pointed out those Scythians to the Pope, dressed in the Scythian fashion and looking as they were accustomed toward the barbarian, and called them "pagans," [(25)] as is the custom of the Latins, mocking both the name and their appearance. He was managing the affair of the war against the Christians cunningly, it seems, so as to persuade even the high-priestly judgment that it was with good reason that he had been moved to hostilty against the Romans, while at the same time courting the favor of the Pope.

<>ALEXIADIS LIB. XII.<>

^A ...[as] to how it was consistent with reason to move against the hatred of the Romans, while at the same time holding both the name and the form up to ridicule; he would constantly repeat whatever he had often heard Bohemund saying, namely that the Emperor Alexius was a profane man, an impious fellow, a supporter of infidel barbarians, and without doubt an enemy of the Christian name and race. They should see, he would say, what kind of soldiers and what kind of ministers he gladly employed, what sacrilegious and bloody barbarity he held in his delights. “Behold,” he would say, showing their fierce faces with Scythian grimness and their clothing, foul and terrible in appearance, “behold whom he admits into our altars and hearths, to whom the noble emperor of the Romans gifts Rome and Italy, to whom he surrenders us and all our sacred, civil, and domestic things, our affairs, our bodies, and all that we have.” Then he would redouble that voice which had the highest odium among the Latins, repeatedly calling those pagan Scythians, while he led them around through the cities and everywhere before the eyes of all for ridicule and disgrace—not so much to their own shaming as to the emperor’s—like a cunning artificer of such tricks, through which he might draw the popular envy to his own side and soften the mention of ^B civil war among Christians, which he was planning but which was by no means desirable in itself, by a malicious accusation of the emperor; indeed, he sought to alter it with a probable and pious name, proclaiming that weapons should not be taken up against a Christian prince or people, but for the sake of Christians against the pagans and their patron and leader, Alexius. This industry availed incredibly both among the highest and lowest of those regions; without doubt, there was a general clamor against us everywhere. The prelates themselves, otherwise of a most quiet sect, with the prince of the sacred rites leading the way, openly became the authors of the discord, claiming they were pious and holy. Hence the gathering and the heaping together from all sides with blind impulse of a mob of rustic men who, even if they were senseless and did not know what they were saying or doing, still spoke of a transmarine expedition and thrust themselves into it. Nor did men of fortune or of greater capacity cease; for who among those distant near or far would not hasten, would not prepare arms, horses, men, and whatever military force and hand he possessed, with the supreme pontiff himself sounding the call to battle, and the cause, by the color of some paint, being commended by itself, and being consecrated by the whole prejudice of divine authority? Thus, Bohemund’s frauds having persuaded the pope and Italy having been moved, the crossing into Illyricum was hastened with the greatest zeal and spirit of all.

^C It is now necessary to return to the battle of Contostephanus. Of his soldiers who were accustomed to fight on the mainland and were exercised in terrestrial battles, they indeed stood more bravely and drew out the fight, while the rest were swallowed by the sea in their precipitous flight. The Gauls were having, in their hands, a brilliant victory, had not at that juncture of affairs the brave men who were serving in the Roman army—especially those who were nobler among them and of higher fortune, Nicephorus Exazenus, Hyeleas, and his kinsman Constantine Exazenus, who is called Ducas, and the most manly Alexander Euphorbenus—suddenly and with most vehement impulse turned, and with unsheathed swords, with their whole hand and whole mind, resisted the Gauls, and had they not so turned the whole force and the entire weight of the battle upon themselves as to sustain it heroically, and finally, though the enemy had been the victors, had they not splendidly conquered them. The virtue of these men provided Contostephanus a space for breathing and the opportunity for a safe retreat. Having used this, he loosed the moorings from there with his entire fleet and took hold of Aulon. ^D Since, however, already at the time when he first came to Dyrrachium, he had dispersed the warships he had under his command from Dyrrachium itself as far as Aulon and the place called Chimara (Aulon is distant from Dyrrachium by one hundred stades, and Chimara again from Aulon by sixty stades), now with the rumor spreading of the imminent crossing...

to cross at Aulon, because the passage to Aulon is shorter than that to Dyrrachium, and therefore there was a need to keep a stricter watch on Aulon. And so, having gone off with the other dukes, he kept careful watch on the strait between Aulon, and stationed scouts on the ridge of the so-called Jason's hill in order to observe the sea and keep an eye on the ships. But a certain Celt who had just crossed over from there confirmed to them that Baimund- ^A -us's crossing was on a razor's edge. The Contostephani, having learned this and fearing the naval battle with Baimund—for even the rumor alone terrified them—pretended to be ill, and that because of this they had need of baths. And Lantulphus, who led the entire fleet and possessed great experience in naval stationing and maritime combat from long ago, urged them many times to be vigilant at all times and to watch for the approach of Baimund. The Contostephani, while departing for Chimara for the sake of the baths, left the one called the second, the drungarius of the fleet, with the *excustatus* (as they call the scout in their language), not far from Aulon. But Lantulphus for his part waited at Aulon with certain proportionate ships. ^B With these things being thus arranged, they departed either to bathe, or under the pretext of bathing. But Baimund having stationed twelve pirate ships around himself—all being *diereis* (dieres) and possessing much rowing power, so that a certain noise and rhythmic beat was produced by the constant strokes of the oars—and having arranged round ships in a circle around such a fleet, as a rampart on either side, he enclosed the war fleet inside. And if you had seen it and were observing from a lookout point far away, you would have said that the sailing fleet was a city out at sea. For fortune also contributed something to him. For the sea was waveless, if not for the light, clear breeze blowing from the south, just as much as to swell the sails of the merchant ships; for it made those to run with the wind, and the ships being rowed to journey straight with the sailing ones, and to resound with a noise audible even in the midst of the Adriatic gulf to both shores. ^C Such was a spectacle worthy of wonder, this barbarian fleet of Baimund, which, even if those around the Contostephani feared, I would not blame them, nor would I call the men cowards; for even that Argonautic fleet of old would have feared this fleet and one thus constituted, let alone the Contostephani and Lantulphuses and such like. For Lantulphus indeed, having seen Baimund sailing in such a terrifying manner with myriads of merchant ships, as the account has already indicated more accurately, since he was not able to fight against such numbers—which are ^D known in their own language—could not...

small as they were, they stood there like wooden walls, and as one looked at them from a distance, one would have been struck by the beautiful appearance of a city, so to speak, floating and founded upon the waves. By good fortune, the sea was very calm on that day, with only a light south wind blowing in soft and gentle gusts, sufficient for nothing but to fill the sails of the merchant ships with a favorable breeze; indeed, the sailing vessels driven from the stern had an easy passage, yet not so swift or headlong that those propelled by oars could not keep distance from them at all times. ^A The noise of such a vast fleet passing through the whole Adriatic to the shores of both continents resounded, and those whom this sound turned to look were held by a spectacle that was primarily wondrous, yet also terrifying. And I will not now complain or rebuke, or impute to cowardice, the fact that Contostephanos and his army were struck by such a sight; for even that Argonautic expedition, consisting, as I believe, of a flower of chosen heroes, would have shuddered at the onset of such an army, let alone these men of Contostephanos and Lantulphus, and others of that kind. Lantulphus, therefore, having sufficiently surveyed the fleet coming against him—the number, the shape, the position, and the arrangement of the ships, especially that impenetrable wall of vast merchantmen protecting the armed vessels with a solid perimeter, just as we explained the details earlier—clearly understanding how far he was unequal to such a massive weight of war and danger, to meet it even with some hope, prudently avoided Aulon and left a free and clear passage for Bohemund. Thus, he, having used the remarkable favor of fortune, brought his army safely across from Bari to Aulon—a sea which itself had been preoccupied by enemies—to the opposite coast of Illyricum, by an unhindered crossing, consisting of innumerable forces of various kinds. ^B For there were very many Franks and Gauls there, and also many from that race which had formerly been accustomed to follow Roman military service from the island of Thule, but who now, led astray by arts and wonder, looking more to fortune and hope than to duty and justice, were coming against us in hostility. There were also very many of the Germanic race, and hardly fewer of the Celtiberians; for the fierce Bohemund had united and conspired against us all the nations which are enclosed by the Adriatic Sea and the Ocean. He sent this whole wild and rapacious multitude into the littoral coast of the continent, as far as it stretches, which lies opposite Italy, to plunder extensively, to the great misery of those nations; and when they were clearly plundered and completely exhausted, the forces of Bohemund began to move from all sides toward Epidamnos, which we call Dyrrachium. The plan was first to seize this city, and then from it to extend the license for plundering, with the favorable current of fortune, as far as Constantinople, and to devastate everything with iron and flame. ^C He flattered the man magnificently about himself...

both in other matters and in the art of attacking and capturing fortified places, for he did not consider himself inferior to that Demetrius who, because of that talent, found the name Poliorcetes; he entertained a likely hope of accomplishing something in the assault on Dyrrachium, and, in a fortress of such celebrated strength, of acquiring great glory at one stroke. Being thus minded toward the victory at Epidamnus with his whole soul, he applied all the powers of his ingenuity, all the battering rams of war, to devising, preparing, and bringing up the instruments of siege. And first, indeed, with a very wide sweep around in a circle, having encircled the region which lies broadly around Dyrrachium with an immense army on every side, he determined to subject it to himself and snatch it from us. The success of this design was varied, according to the lay of the land and the changing moments of opportunity. Many towns were there, many villages; some being found deserted, others undefended, Bohemond’s soldiers invaded them without any trouble. There were battles, slaughters, and tumults against the Roman forces who met and opposed them, and disturbances of every kind arose, with the multitude in the end victorious, as they did not even feel the loss in equal casualties. With the war having been carried on in this manner for a long time, and all the places that could hinder the siege of Dyrrachium having been subdued and thoroughly cleared, his hand was finally applied to the main work itself. But before I explain the success of this undertaking and the whole series of the long battle waged by the tyrant Bohemond against Dyrrachium, I think it necessary to submit for the minds of my readers a brief description of what the situation, state, and fortification of that city were at that time. It lies on the very shore of the Adriatic sea, where it extends in a long tract opposite the continent reached by the Italians. That longitudinal stretch has a bend at each end; on one side toward the east, and on the other toward the north, ^A toward the Vetones barbarians: who, inhabiting the land corresponding to the diameter of Apulia, just as the Apulians shut in the Adriatic gulf from the East, they themselves do so from the North ^B.

The situation of the place

BOOK XIII

Dyrrhachium, or Epidamnus, is an ancient city of Greek origin, situated below Elissus and to the left of it, while Elissus stands above and to the right. Whether this Elissus received its name from a certain river of the same name that joins the Drin—a very large river—or in some other simple way, I cannot say for certain. Elissus is an elevated fortress, completely impregnable, overlooking Dyrrhachium, which lies below in the plains, as they say. Such is its security that it provided very great assistance to Dyrrhachium, both from the mainland and from the sea. Having utilized the small town of Alissus ^A for the aid of the city of Epidamnus, the Emperor Alexios secured the city of Dyrrhachium both by means of the river Drin, which is navigable, and from the mainland, bringing in from land and sea all that was necessary—both what was needed for the sustenance of the soldiers and inhabitants there, and what was suitable for arms and battles.

But this river Drin—to recount something also about its flow—pours down from the Lichnitis lake, which the current vernacular has renamed "Achris," after Mochros the Bulgarian king, who was the first and last of the Samuel [lineage], who lived under the Emperors Constantine and Basil the Porphyrogeniti. It flows ^B through certain hundred trenches, which we call "bridges"—for they flow out as if from certain distinct sources of the lake, divided rivers, and as they come to the hundred, they do not cease—and thus they unite with the river by Deura, from which it is also called the Drin; and by becoming continuous with it, they widen it and make it a very large river. Flowing past the farthest parts of the Dalmatians and advancing toward the North, it then bends toward the South and, arriving at the roots of Elissus, discharges into the Adriatic Gulf. ^C

All things concerning Achris are full of enmity, and the part [originating] from Mochros (for the Mochros is a section of Achris) has been left by the duke and apostate. The Bagora (this is a very large mountain, and it mediates between the Bulgarian and Dyrrhachian borders) is guarded by the rebel; and, to speak generally, he is everywhere thoroughly and wickedly entrenched. For the Pansebastos Sebastos and Protostrator, Lord Michael, was sent by the Emperor for the purpose of collecting men and arraying them against that filth, which we call ^D stratiotai. For the Bishop of Deura...

indeed, it seems as if it were born there. But when these rivers have flowed for some time from their respective sources with separated waters, they finally mingle together into the one river which is at Deura, and from the place of their confluence and such notable increase, they give it the name Drymon, which they so nourish and widen with perennial flow as to make it the greatest. This river, after traversing the furthest reaches of the Dalmatians and bending upwards to the north, then inclining towards the south, pours itself into the Adriatic gulf at the foot of the mountain on which Elissus is situated. ^B Let these things, then, be written regarding the position of Dyrrhachium and Elissus, and the security of both places. The Emperor, still tarrying in the imperial city, having learned through letters from the Duke of Dyrrhachium of the crossing of Bohemund, hastened his departure. For being a man who did not sleep, and not giving sleep at all to his eyes, the Duke of Dyrrhachium, when he knew that Bohemund had sailed across along the plain of Illyricum and had disembarked from the ship and fixed his camp right there, sent for a Scythian, a man swift—as the saying goes—and dispatched him to the Emperor to announce his crossing. He, catching the Emperor as he was returning from the hunt, entered at a run and, bowing his head, cried out loudly that Bohemund had crossed. All indeed who were present then stood still where each happened to be, having become numb at the mere mention of Bohemund. But the Emperor, full of anger and spirit, like a lion, 35 began to loosen the strap of his shoe, saying, "Let us turn to dinner for the present, and we shall consider the matters concerning Bohemund later."

THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA, BOOK XIII.

ARGUMENT

PERIOCHE

returns, and at length is deemed worthy of the sight of the customary sign. Charobacchis the prefect, Taronita. His gifts and praises. Isaacius and others, to whom the guarding of the sea was entrusted, are ordered to keep watch over their duty. The Empress seeks pardon to revisit the city, nor does she obtain it. The author of a new conspiracy against the Augustus is Aaron, with his brother Theodore as a partner in the crime. Demetrius the Scythian, a prepared assassin, awaits the departure of the Augustus. Delay in his company disturbs the conspirators. They publish a notorious writing against him and the emperor, while they themselves seek to hide for fear of punishment. Another notorious book is thrown under the table of the Augustus by Theodore. What he blustered against the Augusta. Constantine the eunuch, having caught Strategius, a servant of Aaron, chooses the authors of the notorious libels. What Strategius reported. The equity of the Augustus, not believing accusations rashly. Papers of Aaron containing manifest indications of the conspiracy are brought to the Augustus. Punishment for the convicted criminals. The army led into battle array. Its terrible and illustrious appearance. Military meditations. Three hundred bravest youths trained in warfare by the Augustus himself. From them he appoints leaders for the garrisons of the passes of the Roman dominion. Bohemond besieges Dyrrachium through the winter. He defers the assault into the spring. He burns his own ships, for what causes. A frequent throwing of arrows on both sides. Towns near Dyrrachium in the circuit are captured by the Gauls. Bohemond manufactures machines of various kinds, intent upon that matter most patiently. Difficulty of provisions in the Gallic camp. Famine there causes great slaughter, with the addition of the force of a celestial disease common to the multitude: the cause of which is to be referred to the vengeance of God. Bohemond's spirit is unconquered by evils. He begins to assault the city. His first machine is a battering ram tortoise. Description of this. It is moved to the wall and fixed there. But it is broken shortly by the weight and agitation of the ram. Description of the ram, whence it takes that name. The security of the Dyrrachians and their witty sallies against the Gauls. The numbness of these in turn from desperation. The Gallic ram is consumed by fire. A subterranean trench led by the Gauls, with the Romans trying to prevent it in vain. That force is eluded by a counter-passage made under the earth. Subterranean battle of the Dyrrachians with the Gauls. An artifice of blowable fire, pernicious to the Gauls. The third machine of greatest mass. The site of Dyrrachium and the figure and structure of its walls. Description of the wooden tower built by the Gauls. Use of bridges attached to the sides of the machine. The builders of that tower were skilled in optics; and from it they measured heights seen from afar. The motion of the vast machine is wonderful, and hostile through constant throwing. Many storeys full of armed men. The vigilance of Alexius, Duke of Dyrrachium. The Dyrrachians prepare a machine against the Gallic tower. Its description. The emission of scattering fire, of little use. The burning of the Gallic tower is loud-sounding and conspicuous, with great slaughter and mourning of the Gauls. The emperor moves to Deabolis. He consults there on the method of war. He decides to avoid the hazard of battle. He occupies the ways with garrisons to prevent the trade of the enemy with his own men. The nourishment of friendship, a letter. The purgation of Alexius the Augustus against the tacit thoughts of those suspecting that he did not dare to decide with Bohemond out of fear. A bloodless and glorious victory. At this time that method of war is necessary. The emperor sows the seeds of civil dissensions in the Gallic camp. He studies to render Bohemond's intimate friends suspicious to him, with a certain hope of full victory if he completes the capture. He seeks faithful ministers. An army, however large, is weak without concord. A feigned deserter is sent by the Augustus to Bohemond. He hands over the most faithful men to him of the treason. He bargains for safety for the carriers of false letters. Bohemond's grief and immense stupor at the reading of the letters; for six days he remains shut up and inaccessible. His ears and various solicitudes. At length he decides to change nothing. He holds his brother and the accused companions in the same place as before. The emperor blocks the approaches to the enemy most diligently. The Gauls are besieged on all sides. Bohemond sends his brother Gidus toward Petrula. He surrounds Camytzes in the battle line, conquers, and puts him to flight. Many of the Romans slain, among them Caras and the Christian Turk Scaliarius. The defeat and slaughter of Alyattes is similar. Cantacuzenus is summoned from Asia. He goes against the Gauls, with the Augustus following and advising many things; he attacks the fort of Myla bitterly. The Gauls come to the aid. The fear and flight of the Romans. They, however, burn the ships of the Gauls. Cantacuzenus fortifies the camp in a suitable place. The Gauls are compelled to return due to the deficiency of ships. Michael Cecaumenus is routed and put to flight by the Gauls. The Gauls are invincible in a narrow place; not so in the plain. Cantacuzenus forms a battle line against them. The Scythians are routed by the Gauls. The Turks do not fight with better fortune after the Scythians. The Alans also are repelled. With the matter reduced to the Triarii, Cantacuzenus himself, taking up the fight, conquers the victors. He sends the captives and heads of the slain to the Augustus. Anna's apology that her writing may not be sufficiently polished. Bohemond sends plunderers toward Aulon. Beroites runs against them and conquers them, and burns Bohemond's ships. Yet this does not disturb him. He sends six thousand brave men against Cantacuzenus. Cantacuzenus conquers them, having found them unprepared. Great slaughter of the Gauls. Bohemond's cousin, a tall man, captured by a small Scythian. Miserable slaughter of the Roman cohorts. Heavy grief of the Augustus on account of this. Gabras and Marianus designated for Petrula refuse. Lantulphus reports the leaders of the fleet for negligence. Bohemond receives copious aids from Italy. Hence, the anger and threats of the emperor against Isaacius, who in vain trying to prevent it, cannot stop the crossing of the Gallic ships. The emperor sends a tablet to him regarding the shore. Marianus is substituted for Isaacius. A cautious method of waging war initiated by the emperor. Bohemond, closed on all sides, labors under the difficulty of provisions. He is forced to seek peace. Clarelas deserts from him. Pestilence in the Gallic camps. The emperor does not respect the mention of peace. He invites Bohemond to come to him. He seeks hostages and obtains them. His colloquy with the emperor's legates. He bargains for certain honors for himself, and certainly obtains them. Oaths are given on both sides. Translation of Bohemond's camps. Shaky boards placed on the walls of Dyrrachium; for what use. Bohemond is received honorably by the Augustus. Description of Bohemond. His negotiation about peace at the beginning abrupt, then restored and concluded by the work of Bryennius. The document of peace is recited in full.

^A All who were present then were struck with amazement at the imperturbable firmness of the Emperor’s mind. Yet, however much he appeared to the onlookers to be affected by that display of security and affected indifference, in reality, that news filled his soul with great waves of anxiety. And silently weighing many and various considerations within himself as to what should be done at such a juncture, he first of all decided that it was necessary to depart Byzantium once more and confront the war. Yet a grave concern deterred him: that, with the minds of many stirred against him and ripening for defection, it did not seem safe enough to desert the royal city at such a time. But at last, the necessity of affairs and the dictates of reason and duty prevailed. Therefore, having settled his domestic and urban affairs as well as he could, and having appointed suitable guardians for both the palace and the city—the Great Drungary of the fleet, the eunuch Eustathius Cymineanus, and Nicephorus, commonly called Decanus—the Emperor departed Constantinople on the first day of the month of November, of the first indiction, and reached the crimson-dyed and imperial tent at the outer Geranium. He was troubled, however, because upon his departure the Mother of God at Blachernae had not performed the customary miracle. ^B

Book XIII of the Alexiad

Everyone who was then present was struck with wonder and astonishment at the Emperor's resolution. He, although he appeared to those present at the time to be indifferent to that announcement, actually had his mind deeply agitated by many thoughts concerning it. He judged that he must depart from Byzantium again, having realized that matters at home were not faring well for him; nevertheless, having set the palace and the queen of cities in good order, and having set as guardians the Great Drungary of the fleet, the eunuch Eustathius the Cymineanus, and Nicephorus known as the Decanus, he thus departed from Byzantium with a few of his kinsmen, on the first day of the month of November, of the first indiction, and reached the crimson-dyed and imperial tent at the outer Geranium. He was afraid, because as he was departing, the Mother of God at Blachernae had not shown the customary miracle.

Because he considered this an ill omen, he did not wish to proceed further until he had propitiated the Mother of God, who had turned away her face, and by amending his error, if possible, made the auspices of his expedition more favorable. Therefore, he stayed there for four days, and towards sunset, retracing his steps with the Lady, my mother, he went into the holy precinct of the Mother of God with a very few attendants. ^B Having performed the customary hymn and offered more fervent prayers, the usual miracle was finally performed, and thus he departed from there with good hopes. The day after, he set out for Thessalonica. When he reached Choerobacchi, he appointed John Taronites 40 as prefect. This man was of noble birth, taken into his household from childhood; he had served long as a secretary, was of a very energetic mind, knowledgeable in Roman laws, and was accustomed to speaking of the emperor’s commands with great dignity—whenever he was ordered, as befitted the imperial greatness; he had a free tongue, and he was not sharpened by the blot of impudence, but was such as the Stagirite ^C orders a dialectician to be, and he would not allow reason to be extorted from him by any favor or any fear. ^D From there, as he retreated, he kept sending frequent letters to the duke Isaac and those with him—I mean the duke Exazenus and Ityelea—that they should be constantly vigilant and keep those sailing from Lombardy to Bohemond from passing. When he had reached Mestus, the Augusta wished to return to the palace; but the empress forced her to proceed further, and indeed both of them, having crossed the river called the Eberus at Psyllus 41, pitched their tents and camped together.

He, having escaped one slaughter, almost fell into another, had not a divine hand kept those murderers from the deed. For a certain man in his retinue, 377 of the noble line of the Aaronids 42, but descended from a bastard branch. He, having seen certain...

shared in this secret with his own brother, Theodore. Whether others of the seditious faction were privy to such a tragedy, I have no desire to say. Yet they readied a Scythian, bought for money, by name Demetrius, to be the personal executor of the murder; and this man's master, Aaron, and the others, proposed as the final end of their design the departure of the Empress, assuming that the Scythian, seizing the opportunity from that moment, would lunge with his sword at the Emperor’s loins, encountering him either in a narrow passage or creeping upon him while asleep. And Demetrius, breathing slaughter, sharpened his iron blade and made ready his blood-stained right hand. But divine ^B justice managed a novelty here as well. For because the Empress did not quickly withdraw from the Emperor, but followed him, the Autokrator dragging her along day after day, those murderers, seeing that the unslumbering guardian of the Emperor—I mean the Empress—was still lingering, became weary and, writing certain libellous pamphlets, threw them into the Emperor’s tent. Those who threw them were not yet caught. The word "libels" ^C signifies certain abusive writings advising the Autokrator to continue his journey forward, but the Augusta to return to Byzantium. This is something the law punishes with the heaviest penalties, consuming the writings themselves with fire and subjecting those who dare such things to the punishments reserved for homicides. For failing in their aim, they fell into the folly of circulating libels; for after the Autokrator had dined and most had withdrawn, and only Romanus—he of the Manichaean sect—and Basil the eunuch, surnamed Psyllus, and Theodore, the brother of Aaron, happened to be there, another libel was found placed on the Emperor’s couch, containing a great attack upon the Empress, ^D asking why she followed the Emperor and did not return more quickly to the Queen of cities; for this was their objective, to have absolute freedom of action. The Autokrator, discovering who had thrown it and being filled with wrath, said, "Either I, or you"—turning to the Empress—"or someone present threw this." At the bottom was written: "These things I, the monk, shall write, whom you, O Emperor, do not know now; but you shall see me in your dreams." Now a certain eunuch named Constantine, an old servant of the Emperor’s father present at the table, who was at that time serving the Empress, while standing outside the tent at the third watch of the night and performing his customary hymn-singing, heard someone shouting: "If I do not come forward and report all the things you have plotted and those very libellous notes thrown by you..."

do not consider me a human being." The emperor immediately ordered his own servant to search for the man who was calling out. And departing, he recognized Strategius, the servant of Aaron, and taking him along, led him to the one in charge of the table; and the man, having approached immediately, reported everything of which he was aware. This man, then, having taken him along, went to the emperor. The emperors were sleeping at that time. Having encountered Basil the eunuch, he compelled him to announce what had been said about the man Strategius ^A (45) of Aaron. The eunuch immediately went in and brought in Strategius himself, who, having once entered into the interrogations, clearly revealed the whole drama of the libellous papers, the perpetrator of the murder, and that very man prepared for the slaughter of the emperor. "For," he said, "my master Aaron, having conspired with others whose hidden hatreds and ambushes your Majesty is not entirely unaware of, prepared against your life, O Emperor, a murderer, Demetrius, my fellow servant—a man Scythian by nation, but most murderous in mind, strong in his arms, bold for any deed whatsoever, and beastly and most inhuman in soul. Having handed him a double-edged sword, these inhumane men gave such an order: that ^B approaching you with unbridled boldness, he should plunge the sword into the imperial vitals." The emperor—for he was not easily moved to believe such things—said, "See that you do not fabricate this accusation against your masters and your own fellow servant because of some enmity; rather, swear that you speak all things truly and as far as you are aware; if not, and you are convicted of lying, the outcome of your accusation will not be for your own good." That man, insisting that he was speaking truly, was delivered to Basil the eunuch so that he might for the time being hand over the libellous papers to him. He, having taken the man and departed, brought him into the tent of Aaron while everyone was asleep, and taking from there a military bag full of letters, he gave them to Basil. ^C When day was already brightening, the emperor, having seen such letters and having discerned the murder planned against him, ordered the officials managing public affairs in the city to confine the mother of Aaron in Charobacchon, and Aaron and Theodore, his own brother, in Anchialus. These things hindered the emperor from moving forward for five days. But on the way to Thessalonica...

^A since the forces from all sides had gathered, he thought it opportune to draw up his line of battle in the field. A signal having been given for this purpose, immediately the legions stood fast, each according to their own cohorts, groups, and maniples, with the leaders of the ranks going before and the standards raised, armed and ready for combat. A part formed the phalanx itself and covered the body of the phalanx; a part, kept in reserve, followed behind, closing the march. It was a terrifying sight to behold; one could see the force of war joined together by the tessera—that is, the arrangement of shields—and a certain constancy of figure that never gaped, was everywhere threatening, and displayed a firmness no less than the most solid walls or a fortified mound of a citadel. The splendor of the helmets reflected by the sun flashed wide, and the trembling points of the bristling pikes, as if thirsting for blood and seeking ^B limbs to pierce, shone with an awe-inspiring light. The soldiers themselves who held the weapons stood immovable and unshaken, holding every man his assigned place after the manner of bronze statues. The emperor, regulating the line of battle disposed in this manner from nearby, ordered it upon a signal to charge, then to wheel; at one moment to turn to the left and toward the shield, at another to rise to the right into the pike; and with various commands he stirred various movements of shield and sword, various configurations of wedges with a single nod, and staged simulations of battle. Having explored the army in this way, he separated the recruits from the others and assigned them to their own leaders, taking care that they be instructed and exercised by them. He had chosen, moreover, those as fit and suitable who were above all the trainers of the raw youths, selected from the whole army—nearly those whom he himself had reared from childhood and had taught ^C military arts by himself, adolescents of royal stature, heroic form, muscular, athletic in body, marking their chins with the first down, all of them three hundred in number, than whom no one more deftly extended a bow, no one more vehemently hurled a pike. This cohort was excellent, gathered from different races, by a careful selection, by a single recommendation of the military form and of exceptional strength—the choice flower of the entire Roman militia. The emperor delighted to have these as his own, as it were, private possession; he behaved as their leader, he taught them by word, he took pleasure in practicing with them in the field in the arts of battle; he relied upon them most of all in occasions of greater hazard and moment, as he demonstrated then also; for he set the most approved of those chosen from this number as leaders over the troops sent to hold the narrows of the valleys where the hostile ^D army could penetrate further into the vital parts, as it were, of the Roman dominion itself, which it was necessary above all to prohibit. He himself, intent on ordering all things from near at hand, kept the remaining troops with him in winter quarters in Thessalonica. But the tyrant Bohemond, having successfully crossed the strait from Italy with a most full fleet, and having landed all his Frankish troops into the Roman dominion, decided to lead the beginning of his operations from Epidamnus. Setting out, therefore, from those first coastal camps, with his journey announced toward Dyrrachium, hostile...

^A or if not by that, then he intended to reduce the entire city with wall-fighting engines and stone-throwing machines. This, then, was his aim; he encamped opposite the eastward-facing gate, above which there is a bronze horseman, and after spying out the city, he began the siege, occupying himself throughout the whole winter by looking from every side to see where Dyrrachium might be vulnerable. But when spring ^B blossomed, because he had crossed over at once, he burned his cargo ships and his transports, and, so to speak, his soldiers' supplies; he did this as a strategic maneuver, so that they would not gaze toward the sea, and also because the Roman fleet was pressing him, so he looked entirely toward the siege, spreading the barbaric army in a circle at first, and being engaged in light skirmishing. Those from the Roman army also shot arrows at them, sometimes from the towers of Dyrrachium, and sometimes by sending out detachment units of the Frankish army from further away, fighting and being fought; for he mastered Petroula and what is called the Mylon Polisma [the Mill Fortress], lying above the river Diabolis, and other such places situated around the city of Dyrrachium, taking them all by the law of war. These things he did with a warrior's hand, while the whole time he was building war machines—constructing tortoise-sheds ^C carrying towers, and ram-carriers, and certain mines and other siege works all winter and summer, striking terror both by his threats and by the fact that the men were already living in terror. But nevertheless, he could not overcome Roman courage. Moreover, provisions had turned out poorly for him; for what had been previously supplied from the lands around Dyrrachium had been consumed, and what he hoped would be brought from the passes and the exits themselves, as well as by the sea itself, the men of the Roman army prevented. And from there, hunger suddenly came upon them and was destroying both the horses and the men alike; for they had neither fodder for the horses nor...

food for the men. There was added to this barbarian army a certain intestinal complaint, which was thought to be from the consumption of some unsuitable food—I mean millet—but the truth was that it was a penalty from God, which had fallen upon such a countless and insupportable army, and caused successive deaths. But this misfortune seemed to this tyrannical man, who had the disposition to threaten the destruction of the whole earth, to be trivial. Nevertheless, even in his misfortune, he continued to devise schemes, and like a wounded wild beast, he began to turn in on himself; and, as we said, he applied his whole attention to the sieges.

^A And at first, he constructed a ram-bearing tortoise—a miracle beyond description—and brought it to the eastern part of the city. It was an object terrible to behold. For it was constructed in this way: they had made a small tortoise, built in a rectangular shape, placed wheels underneath it, and from every side—from above and on both flanks—covered the sides with ox-hides, sewing them together everywhere. It was what Homer calls "a seven-fold hide for the roof." He built the walls of the machine and suspended the rams inside them.

When this machine of his was thus prepared, he brought it up to the wall, with a myriad-headed host from within pushing it forward with certain poles, and making their operations close to the walls of Dyrrachium. When this proximity was sufficient and the distance was proportionate, they removed the wheels, and having secured the machine from every side with beams, they ensured that the roof would not be agitated by any thrusts. ^B Here, certain most wicked men, pushing violently from both sides of the ram against the wall, held on to this synchronous movement. And they would push the ram forward with great force, and having been brought forward at once, it would tear the wall; then, being pushed back from there and making its movement reversible, it would pull back, and this it did many times, as often as it was moved about from both sides, until it began to pierce the wall. The ancient engineers, who discovered this near Gades, justly called it a "ram" by metaphor from the rams among us, which, when they come against one another, exercise themselves in this way. ^C But those inside, mocking this tragic wall-fighting of these barbarians and ram-bearing men, and seeing that the siege was accomplishing nothing, opened the gates and invited them to come in, laughing at the collisions coming from the ram; for they said that the ram was not creating such a breach from this wall-fighting as that which had been added. ^D

^A This, indeed, was immediately shown to be in vain, due to the bravery of those inside and the courage of the general Alexios, the nephew of the Emperor Alexios; for the enemies themselves also grew slothful regarding this, and even abandoned the siege. For the bravery of those inside, and their opening of the gates to the barbarians and being confident against them, cast the enemy into cowardice and led them to abandon the machine; thus did the activities of the ram-bearing shed come to a standstill. ^B None the less, the fire thrown from above upon the machine, already idle and remaining motionless because of the aforementioned reasons, turned it into ash. Consequently, the Frankish multitude, having abandoned this, moved on to another, more fearsome machine, having turned to the more northerly parts, opposite the ducal residence, which was called the Praetorium. The nature of the location was as follows: the ground rose into a hill—not, I mean, a rocky hill, but an earthy one—upon which hill the city wall was founded. Opposite this, as we have said, those around Raymund began to dig quite accurately—another evil devised by the besiegers against cities. ^C And another siege engine was being craftily prepared by them against the city. For they came along digging underground like certain moles, [(53)] piercing through the underground soil. And in some places they protected the upper parts with roofed sheds [(54)] against the volleys of stones and arrows coming from above; and in other places they propped up the overhead earth with certain pillars [(55)] while they dug, proceeding in a straight line, making a very wide and very long trench, and constantly carrying out the earth from the excavation by means of wagons. But when they had penetrated sufficiently, they rejoiced as if they had accomplished something great. But those inside were not careless; but, having dug into the ground at intervals and made a significant trench, they sat waiting along the line of the trench, wherever they thought the besieging party was about to make a tunnel; and quickly, having found them in a certain place—banging, digging, and excavating the very foundations of the wall—they became aware of them, and all the more so [of] the...

multitude [pressing] from the breach occurring inside, and scorched their faces with fire. This fire was cast upon them by such machines: from the pine and certain other such evergreen trees, an unquenchable resin is gathered. This, being ground together with sulfur, is put into the hollows of reeds and is blown by the operator with a violent and continuous blast of breath; and thus it meets the fire at the tip and is ignited, and like a lightning bolt, it falls upon the faces of those standing opposite. Using this fire, those holding the interior of Dyrrhachium, since they were face-to-face with the enemies, scorched their beards and their faces. And one could see them like a swarm of bees pursued by smoke, coming out in disorder from where they had entered in good order.

When even this had been labored over in vain by them and this barbarian anxiety ended in nothing useful, a third machine was devised for them: a wooden tower, which, as the report says, was not an engine of siege established after the failure of the previously prepared engines, but before those, for a whole year, this was the primary work, and the aforementioned engines were a secondary task. But I must first narrate a few things about the shape of Dyrrhachium.

[Latin text column provides a parallel narrative:] ...the machine of those who were shaking it: which, as it would break itself and them by its own pounding, could never open as much of a gap in the wall as the amount of space that was opened voluntarily by the gates being swung wide. Those jokes and that confidence which betrayed the intrepid spirits of Alexios, nephew to the Augustus, commander of the besieged city (as we said), and of his leaders and soldiers, even to the point of a freedom to jest, did not fall pleasantly upon the Franks; the spirits of those who were beginning, already gripped by the certainty of despair, were numbed at such an experience of the uselessness of their own efforts; and they took away from there, everywhere, a no-vain prejudice and omen of a lack of success for their undertaking; thus they languished and let their industry slacken; nor, unless paralyzed by despair, did they strike blows at a wall which they had sensed was of much firmer workmanship than to be burst through by however much effort of their own. But the Dyrrhachians afforded new business to the ram so that it would not cease entirely. For fire cast by them from on high seizing the idling machine transformed it into ash.

Cast down from this hope, the Gauls turned their thoughts to another, more terrible invention. At the northern part of the city, in the region of the ducal chair—which place they call the *praetorium*—there rose a mound, not solid with any inner mass of stone, but built up of merely movable earth, upon which the city wall had been founded. Toward this mound the soldiers of Bohemond began to fortify a path for themselves by a ditch dug a long way. Having thus progressed safely to the mound, they were attempting with all their might to dig through it, and having bored through it, to open a path for themselves into the city, moving the earth busily and going underneath in the manner of moles, to the manifest danger of the city; against which the Dyrrhachians were at first meeting them in vain by throwing stones and missiles from above; for the Gauls, under a dense and impenetrable tortoise, were laughing off all hostile injuries of that kind. So far, then, they had succeeded in their wish to produce a broad and long ditch, easily passable and, with the ballast cleared and carried out by carts, navigable by an unhindered foot. And they were seriously rejoicing, appearing to have performed a great feat for themselves, as if they had finally led the underground passage to the point where, in order for them to enter the city as victors, nothing remained but the final onslaught of the sappers preparing to break a way into the tunneled fortress, certainly not without great hope of success.

But the guards of Dyrrhachium had also driven counter-mines from the opposite side, and had produced a trench responding to that blind one of the enemies, far to the front, and it was also itself broad and empty: where a chosen band of brave men kept watch, to receive the onslaught of the Franks if they should break through the underground passage. Furthermore, as the work proceeded on both sides, our men first began to hear the Gauls planning and striking with vast blows the lowest part of the wall and the very foundations of the fortifications; whence, warned both that they were near and where they were, they made a hole in that part which was clear, where, employing their eyes, they saw the seething multitude of the Gauls inside and attacked them through the opened crevice with missiles of fire.

I will briefly teach of what material this fire consisted, by what art, or by what instrument it was cast. From the pine and the pitch-tree and trees of that kind, because of the fat sap within them that stays perennially green, come drippings of slow-flowing and oily resin, a material friendly to flame, and one that lasts a long time once ignited. This, ground with sulfur and mixed together into one powder, our Dyrrhachians placed into the hollows of reeds and canes which were ignited at the opposite side: then, from that part of the reed which was free of flame, they would blow with a vehement and persevering breath, driving this igneous pitch until they had pushed it, already flaming from the fire previously conceived, to the tip; thus having ignited it, they blew it into the faces and eyes of the opposing enemies, to the incredible ruin of those men, since the swift flame would seize the beards, cheeks, eyelashes, and heads of the Gauls, and clinging and lingering, would persist in devouring them, with no strength standing against that pestilence. And so, in many places, one could see them like a swarm of bees driven away by smoke...

rushing and turning back in wild confusion; then retreated in disarray and disorder, whereas they had gone forward in firm and well-ordered military formation. Thus this second attempt failed, in which the enemy expended much effort and toil, yet gained no reward worth the labor. Nevertheless, their industry was not exhausted by this setback, and they undertook the construction of a third machine. I am mistaken; it was not that this third machine was commissioned as a supplementary one after the uselessness of the two former had been discovered; rather, it was begun before the others but only completed after them, a full year being spent on its construction. Such a massive undertaking was that work, to the extent that it is said the earlier engines were merely rehearsals for the Franks, and that they brought their full strength to bear on this one, as if the others were but child’s play. But in order that the design, usage, arrangement, and total configuration of this wooden tower may be understood, a few things must first be mentioned about the situation and layout of the city of Dyrrachium. ^A The city is encircled by a wall built of the most solid construction, of such thickness that four horsemen, standing shoulder to shoulder, could ride along its top in safety. Along its entire circumference, at regular intervals, there are towers projecting outward, rising to a height of about eleven feet, having internal spiral staircases for access, and secured with battlements. Such is the form and defensive security of the city. We must now describe the structure that we began to speak of—a work truly laborious and terrible to behold, especially to those who, had God not diverted it, would have seen the threats of that insane operation rising up for their own destruction. A wooden tower was constructed with a square base, rising to such a height that it exceeded the roofs and pinnacles of the towers of Dyrrachium by five or six cubits. It was fashioned in this manner and for this purpose, so that the assault of the Gallic soldiers holding the machine against the walls and fortifications would be all the more irresistible. For they intended to make their entry by means of bridges to be thrown from their wooden tower onto the towers of the city. Since one part of these bridges would extend from the Frankish machine at a higher level, it followed that a way would be open for the Franks to rush down, facilitating their own easy and bold descent on the slope, but causing immense damage and peril to those guarding the city, who, barely able to defend themselves against those who attacked on equal terms, seemed far less capable of withstanding the force of the Barbarians descending upon them from above with the impetus of natural weight. It seems to me that the builders of this tower were not unacquainted with the science of optics. For how, without the support of this art and the use of instruments employed by such craftsmen to measure the height of objects viewed from a distance, could they have so precisely aligned the decks and levels of their tower ^B to match the walls and towers of the city? ^C The tower itself appeared terrible to behold, and even more terrifying when it moved. For many wheels supported its base. When it was levered forward by the soldiers inside, it caused amazement because the source of its motion was not apparent; rather, it seemed to move of its own accord like a giant rising above the clouds. ^D

the apparatus of siege engines: which, as it pulsated towards them, could never have broken through such a massive wall to the extent that the space opened up by the gate-valves permitted, and that confidence which the subjects of Alexios, the nephew of the Augustus, felt as they watched the city being beleaguered, as we have said, of the commanders and their soldiers, as they stepped forth with intrepid spirits, and minds unburdened till they were secure in the freedom of their jesting, ^A did not happen to the Gauls: for as they commenced their undertaking with eager spirits, they presently became constricted by sad despair, and to such an experience of the uselessness of their endeavor; providing an omen which all led them to deem their undertaking vain; they languished, therefore, and abated their industry; nor, as if in despair, did they inflict blows upon the wall, for they felt it was far stronger than the labor expended on it, and could not be broken through with any amount of effort. But so that they might not entirely fail in their task, the men of Dyrrachium went about other business. For the fire cast from those among them, seizing upon the idle engine, reduced it to ashes. Disappointed in this hope, the Gauls turned their thoughts to another, more terrible invention. On the northern part of the city and the region of the ducal chair, which they call the praetorium, there was no solid mass of stone inside, but only earth piled loosely, above which the city wall was founded. At this point, the soldiers of Baimund began their mound. Thus having securely progressed as far as the mound, they strove with total effort to lay open a path for themselves through the perforated earth into the city; the earth, being moved briskly, fell down in the manner of moles; against which the Dyrrachians immediately met them by throwing stones from above; for the Gauls, beneath a dense and impenetrable tortoise formation, laughed at all injuries of that kind. Therefore, having achieved their desire, they produced a wide and long trench, easily passable, and having cleared out the soil with wagons, they marched through unhindered. ^B 383 And having seemed to themselves to have accomplished a great thing, they rejoiced seriously, as if, having at last reached the subterranean passage, they would enter the city as victors, and nothing remained but the final thrust of the tunnels into the trench—the invaders intended to break through the citadel, certainly not without great hope of success. But the Dyrrachian defenders, from the opposite side, also dug tunnels themselves, and long beforehand they extended them to meet those blind men, and having responded to the trench with a wide and empty space, where they kept alert the chosen strong men to receive the charge of the Franks, if they should break through the subterranean passage. Furthermore, as the work proceeded on both sides, first our people began to hear the Gauls laboring and striking the lowest part of the wall and the foundation of the very ramparts; whence, when they were close at hand and the Gauls were aware of it, they made a hole there into the passable opening, through which they attacked the multitude of Gauls inside, sending fire at them through the opened crack. This fire, of whatever material it consisted, and by whatever art or instrument it was discharged, I shall briefly explain. Pine and pitch trees of that kind contain a succulent, thick, and greasy substance in their perennial greenery, and tears dripping with a slow ointment, and a sticky resin, a material friendly to flame, and once conceived, it endures for a long time. This gum, being pressed and mixed together into one powder with sulphur, they stored in hollow reeds, and then from the opposite side they kindled it: then they themselves, with the part of the reed that held the flame, pushing with a vehement and persevering breath, discharged that very pitchy incendiary right up to the faces and eyes of the opposing foes, with incredible ruin to them, inasmuch as it snatched away the beards, cheeks, eyelashes, and heads of the Gauls with a swift flame, and, obstinate, devoured them, clinging and lingering, and no fortification was able to withstand such a plague. Therefore, one could see them everywhere, like bees afflicted by smoke. ^A For it was constructed from every side from the base to the summit and was divided into many stories, and windows were opened all around, from which frequent missiles were discharged, and at the uppermost part there were fierce men fully armed and carrying swords on their hands and prepared for defense. But when this terrible sight approached the wall, those around Alexios and the commander of the city of Dyrrachium were not negligent, but as soon as this machine was being prepared outside for Baimund like some inescapable Helepolis, they also counter-engineered another one inside the wall. Having seen to what height this self-moving tower was extended, and where they had fixed it having removed the wheels, they planted four very long timbers opposite the wooden tower, as if standing out in the shape of a square base in the form of a tent. And thus having divided some bases between the opposing timbers at one cubit distance, they made the outer wooden tower run back; this whole space was roofless on all sides; for it needed no protection, except that it was roofed only at the top. There, the soldiers around Alexios having brought up the liquid fire, they intended to shoot it towards the opposite tower at the roof-tops of the unshielded wooden tower. But both the plan and the deed did not seem to lead to the total destruction of the machine; for the fire sent thence was only intended to touch the tower lightly. But what do they contrive? They fill the space between the wooden one and the tower of the city with all sorts of flammable material and much oil poured out like rivers. To these, fire-brands and flames were brought, which, smoldering little by little, thus grasping for a short breath, then having been fanned into a conspicuous flame, with the fire-breathers of the liquid fire also contributing, ignited that entire terrible and most material machine, causing a noise and a fearful sight to the eyes. The perception of the great fire was from around up to thirteen stades; and there was much noisy confusion and an impossible one for the Barbarians inside, some being caught by the fire and turning away, others throwing themselves from the high place to the ground; and a great and impossible cry, a confusion of those outside also echoing back. And it was kindled. ^B ...that the Dyrrachians might discover the true dimensions? Moreover, since for a long time this tower, while it was being built from afar, had terrified the Dyrrachians with those very sights of broad and conspicuous timbers, it was seen then to move closer to them and to increase their fear, as it was advanced more towards them by the help of the rotatable wheels underneath. It drew the admiration of those watching, because although that immense mass was moved by soldiers hiding within its viscera through the agitation of certain levers, it provided from afar the appearance of a giant cloud touching the top and advancing with a vital or internal faculty, since its motion was perceived, but the mover did not appear. All other aspects of the monster, furthermore, presented nothing that was not accommodated to increasing terror. All the sides, protected by a hide covering, excellently concealed the armed hand latent within through the quadrate faces of the mass; which yet again betrayed itself enough by the constant scattering of missiles. But there were windows opened all around on every side for the use of throwing javelins and other opportunities for harming, each closed with its own suitable shutters when there was need: resettleable on a rotating hinge as often as use required. Furthermore, the interior capacity of the machine was divided into many thoughts imposed upon one another, each occupied by its own number of armed men. But others, as we said, were hidden. Only those showed themselves who occupied the highest dining-chamber, as it were, of the walking house, grim, bristling with iron, hostile with drawn blades, gladiators panting for violence and slaughter. ^C Such and so varied a terror, when it brought itself in with the wheels rolling underneath, would have undoubtedly dismayed the garrison of the besieged city, had not its leader Alexios, for his own vigilant skill, provided a suitable remedy in time for the nascent evil. For both by the counsel and help of those men who were present, experienced and industrious, as soon as he saw that tower being built in the camp of Baimund, a great danger to himself and his own, he himself also set out to architect a machine inside the walls of Dyrrachium to be opposed to that other one, in this manner. The height of the hostile tower having been detected from afar, the timbers were measured by the Dyrrachians; another [was] to be built from the opposite side whose crest looked over the summit of the opposing mass by a cubit. But where already the French tower was built, moved into the destined proximity of the wall, and having been fixed and grounded most firmly by wheels subtracted there [from], with thick and sharpened stakes driven deep into the ground on all sides: then by the besieged also within the walls a mass was erected as straight from the opposite side as was necessary, not, indeed, built upon any substrate flooring, since there was no need for it to be moved and turned around with wheels: but raising a quadrangular mass directly from the foundation itself, with stakes rising deeply from there, and with a disposition of transverse timbers providing a certain appearance and use of steps for those about to ascend as need required into the higher parts of the machine. It was not seen as necessary for the sides to be protected or covered by a hide, because the walls of the city warded off the view and the injury of the enemies. That part only which stood out beyond the body of the wall was fortified by the imposition of a crown and by the surrounding of sides, as far as it was believed [it] could hinder the free emission of the throwable fire which the soldiers of Alexios were aiming at the mass of Baimund through the open sides of their wooden tower; having therefore brought into the top flooring of their own Varia lectiones ex cod. Coislin.

machinery a great quantity of fat and materials that would feed the flames. But immediately, either through experience or a more precise calculation, it was revealed that the Gallic machine could not be much damaged by this method, much less could its burning be hoped for in this way. It was sufficiently apparent that any flame hurled from a distance by the Dyrrachians would only graze the solid and well-covered Gallic structure with a superficial and perfunctory contact. The second thought, therefore, persuaded the Alexians to another plan: namely, that they should fill the whole space which lay between the Dyrrachian stone tower and the wooden one moved against it by the enemy with a large amount of straw and other dry materials of that kind, which they also saturated by pouring in a great quantity of oil; they heaped everything together with a constant bombardment of firebrands, torches, and burning embers. When these things, thus mixed, had smoked for some time, they were at last ignited, stimulated by a gentle breeze. Then, caught by a robust fire, it broke through the delays of the bark and the most heavily protected roofing until at last, maddened by the great volume of oil poured into it, the fury of the fire pervaded the inmost parts and consumed the Gallic tower. A horrifically loud crash was heard—I will not call it a mere crackling—of a fire reveling in the destruction of an immense mass of wood; and the pyre shone so resplendently and was so fearful by its own magnitude, even to those who had made it and by whose benefit it burned, that it reflected light even up to thirteen stadia all around. Who could say what confusion there was among the Barbarians enclosed within that mass? What sorrow and shouting of those feeling the force of the encroaching heat? What despair of those throwing themselves headlong from the high structure in vain? What voices, what wailing of the unhappy victims? What heat, what agitation among the rest of the Gauls while they were trying in vain to rescue their own from the flames, meanwhile lamenting and bewailing the misfortunes of their loved ones? ^B

So much, then, for the cloud-high tower and the siege of the walls by the Barbarians. But the discourse must now be led back again to the Emperor. After spending the winter at Thessalonica, in the beginning of spring he sent the Augusta back to the imperial city, while he himself proceeded further with his forces and reached Deabolis through Pelagonia, a city situated at the foot of those mountains which terminate in the most narrow of paths—those "Thermopylae" of which we made mention above—forming the most impassable defiles of the deepest valleys. Here, having most accurately surveyed the character and state of the present war, and having wisely cast up the sum of his deliberations, he clearly determined to avoid a decisive line of battle, nor to commit the public fortunes to the uncertain chances of war; rather, he decided to keep his own forces and those of the enemy separated by the interposition of vast and impassable mountains. From this deliberation he went on to describe his own roles. He placed his most faithful men, along with a suitable escort of brave soldiers, upon the very ridges and vantage points of the mountains. He fortified the lowest valleys with works and guards in abundance. He diligently blocked and intercepted all the roads by which Baimund could either send letters into the interior of Romania or receive them from there. For Baimund had there some who were already his friends, and some who, out of hatred for the Emperor, inclined of their own accord toward his friendship. This diligence in blockading the routes and prohibiting the commerce of messengers and writings anticipated the internal movements and bold attempts of such men. For these are the nourishments of friendships, which, as Aristotle rightly teaches, if the custom of greetings and services ceases, quickly vanish, however closely they may have been joined before. Furthermore, the Emperor Alexius did not apply his mind to this Fabian art of drawing out the war through any timidity. I say, he neither feared the forces of Baimund so much, nor did he distrust his own, nor did he hesitate to test his own strength against him in open warfare. Rather, he was a genius at stratagem.

^A For it is a very peculiar trait of great generals, as far as we know, not only to engage in battle with swords but also to incline toward treaties; and indeed, one can sometimes overcome an enemy through craft when the opportunity for such a thing arises, just as the emperor appears to have contrived at that time. Wishing to sow discord among the counts and Baimund, or to shake or even shatter their mutual alliance, he performed a sort of dramatic staging. He summoned Marinus the sebastos from Naples (he was of the Maistromilioran family), even if at that time he was not keeping his oath to him entirely uncorrupted—having been deceived by specious words and promises—at least he dared to reveal to him the secrets regarding Baimund. At the same time, he also called Roger (who was of the illustrious Franks) and Peter Alephas, a man famed for his prowess in war, who had kept his faith toward the emperor unshaken throughout. Having called these men, he sought counsel on how to best arrange matters to defeat Baimund; he also inquired about those who were better disposed toward Baimund, and how many loyalists he had. Having learned this from them, he said it was necessary to win them over through all kinds of craft. If this were to happen, through them the common resolve of the Celtic army would be shattered, falling into hesitation. He shared this with the aforementioned men and asked each of them for one of their most loyal attendants, who were skilled in intrigue. They readily agreed to give him the best of their subordinates. When the men arrived, he acted out a drama of this sort. He composed letters, as if they were replies to some of Baimund’s closest associates, as if they had written to him and were soliciting intimacy, and were revealing the secrets of the tyrant’s intentions. He sent these with the Maistromiliori... ^{B C D}

^A as if he had drawn up letters of gratitude and had seemingly accepted the goodwill of these men. These were Guy, 61 the own brother of Bohemund, and one of the most illustrious men, called Coprisianus, 62 and in addition to these, Richard, 63 and a fourth, the Prince’s man, 64 a noble and gallant personage. [alt-version omitted]

Along with these, ^A many others were inscribed as recipients of these forged letters—though the Emperor had certainly sent no such thing to them, nor any letter soliciting their good will and loyalty regarding Richard or any other; rather, he had fabricated these letters purely on his own initiative.

The intention of this drama was as follows: that if word of the betrayal of these men reached Bohemund’s ears, and if he were to hear that they had cut themselves off from him and had come over to the side of the Emperor, Bohemund would be instantly thrown into confusion and return to his barbarous nature. By harming these men, he would force them to break away from him, and they would—even if it had never occurred to them before—conspire against him, spurred on by the scheme of Alexius. For the general ^B knew, I think, that a foreign tribe, when united and holding together, is difficult to overcome; but when it is factious and divided into many parts, it becomes weaker and thus easily managed by those fighting against it. He worked on this profoundly, and kept the deception of the letters submerged.

Alexius manages this matter in roughly this way: he sends the forged letters to these men and orders them to be delivered, each to its intended recipient. Those letters (65) contained not only expressions of gratitude, but also promises of gifts, imperial largesse, and extraordinary pledges. He sought to draw them in, so that they would both be and appear loyal for the future, and would conceal nothing of his secrets. Following them, he sent one of his most trusted men to trail them unobserved; and as soon as he saw them approaching, the agent was to ride ahead and anticipate their arrival. ^C Upon catching up with Bohemund, he was to pretend to be a deserter, saying that he had come over to him having grown to despise the Emperor’s company. Adopting the guise of friendship toward the tyrant, he was to speak clearly of the loyalty of those men—the very men to whom the letters were addressed—and say that so-and-so and so-and-so (listing them by name) had renounced their faith toward Bohemund and had become friends and loyal subjects of the Emperor, thinking only of the Emperor’s interests. He was to warn him to watch out, in case they might devise some terrible plot against him from one moment to the next, having long premeditated it.

[The remainder of column 963 and 964 are occupied by Du Cange's notes.]

^A For the Emperor was also concerned about this, how he might keep these men safe while throwing Bohemond’s affairs into confusion. He did not merely say these things and advise them, but he actually brought it about; having approached and secured from Bohemond, through oaths, his lack of concern for the letter-carriers, the aforementioned man reported everything in accordance with the Emperor's instructions. When asked where he reckoned they had reached, he told him they had passed by Petrula. He sent men and seized the letter-carriers, and upon opening the letters, he became so filled with dizziness that he almost fell, believing the contents to be true. He arranged for them to be kept under guard, but he himself remained for six days without going out to his tents, struggling with his thoughts ^B and turning over in his mind what he ought to do. He considered whether he should call forward the constables and tell his brother Guido of the premonitions given against him, and whether he ought to confront him after the detection, or if he should refrain; in addition to this, he wondered whom he might appoint as constables in their place, fearing that if he removed such men—who were, after all, brave—much harm would ensue, as far as the situation allowed. Having arranged matters concerning them, and I think also having surmised the hidden meaning of the letters, he cleverely transferred them and, reassured, allowed them to remain in the same position. These he had appointed. ^C He entrusted these in charge of the turmarchs, drungaries, counts, and centurions ^D of the constables.

Notes by Car. Dufresne Du Cange.

The emperor, having previously stationed a competent force in all the mountain passes under the command of picked leaders, had also again blocked every path for the Celts by means of what are called *xyloclasiai* [tree-felling obstacles]. For Aulon, Jericho, and Canina already had an indefatigable guardian in Michael Kekaumenos; Alexander Kabilas held Petrula with a mixed force of infantry, a man most spirited and one who had routed many of the Turks in Asia; Leo Nicerita guarded Deure with a sufficient force; and the passes around Arban had been entrusted to Eustathios Kamytzes to guard.

Bohemund, from the very start, as they say, launched an attack against Kabilas, sending out his brother Gidos, a certain count called Saracen, and Contopaganus. Since some of the small towns bordering on Arban had already surrendered to Bohemund, their inhabitants, being accurately acquainted with the paths of Arban, approached and explained the whole situation of Deure as it was, and pointed out the hidden paths. ^A At that point Gidos divided his army in two; he himself undertook the battle from the front against Kamytzes, while he ordered Contopaganus ^B and the so-called Saracen, guided by the men of Deure, to fall upon Kamytzes from the rear. This having been resolved by both, Gidos fought from the front, while the other counts, falling upon the encampment of Kamytzes from the rear, inflicted a terrible slaughter upon them, such that it was impossible for him to fight against all of them. Seeing those under his command fleeing, he himself followed them. At that moment many of the Romans fell, and Kavasilas himself, though he had been...

chosen by the emperor as one of his genuine followers and enrolled among them, and Scaliarios the Turk, who had formerly been one of the renowned leaders in the East, and had deserted to the emperor and received holy Baptism, lost his life here. So much for the affairs of Kamytzes.

As for Alyates, who was guarding Glabenitza with other picked men, he went down into the plain, whether for battle or to scout the position of the place, God only knows. ^B By chance, he encountered heavily armed Celts, brave men, who immediately divided into two groups. The first group, fifty in number, charged him directly with great force, having slackened all their reins; the others followed him silently from the rear, for the place was marshy. Alyates, not sensing the approach of those behind him, but fighting with all his might and hand against those in front, unknowingly drove himself into danger. For those coming from behind fell upon him and fought him vigorously. A count named Kontopaganos met him, struck him with his spear, and he immediately lay dead upon the ground. Many fell with him as well.

When the emperor learned of this, he sent for Kantakouzenos, knowing him to be a man very capable in military operations. ^C For, as I have said, he had arrived to join the emperor upon being recalled from Laodicea. Since affairs concerning Bohemund could not be delayed, he sent out with him a force capable of fighting, and himself went out from the camp, sending him on his way and urging him toward battle. Having reached the pass called by the local [people] Petra, and remaining there for a time, he provided him with many strategic counsels and military maneuvers, and after suggesting the better course of action, he sent him off to Glabenitza, encouraging him with good hopes. He himself returned to Diabolis. ^D Kantakouzenos, approaching a small town on his way called that of the "Mill," immediately constructed all kinds of siege engines and besieged the town. The Romans approached the walls shamelessly. Some threw fire and burned the gates, while others climbed the walls to the battlements very quickly. The Celts who were encamped across the river called Busen, noticing the "Mill" castle [in danger], hastened toward it. Seeing them, those of the...

^A scouts of Cantacuzenus—they were barbarians, as the narrative has previously shown—ran back to him in disorder, and they did not report what they had seen in a measured way; instead, they shouted from afar, telling of their approach. When the soldiers heard of the Celts' approach, even though they had crossed the walls, and even though they had set fire to the gates, and even though they already held the place in their hands, they were terrified, and each man ran to his own horse. Being fearful and having lost their presence of mind, one would mount the horse of another. ^B Cantacuzenus, having struggled much and performed many maneuvers against those stricken with fear, shouted in the words of the poet, "Be men, and remember your wild courage." Since he could not persuade them, he cleverly brought them out of their terror by saying that it was not fitting to leave the siege engines for the enemy to use against us, but rather to set fire to them, and thus withdraw in good order. The soldiers at once and very readily carried out the order; they burned not only the siege engines but also the boats moored along the river Busen, so that the Celts would not easily find a way to cross. Cantacuzenus himself stepped back a little and happened upon a plain ^C which had the river called Charzanes on the right and, on the left, a muddy and marshy place; having made use of these as fortifications, he fixed his camp there. The aforementioned Celts, having arrived at the bank of the river and finding the ships already burned, turned back, gaping in frustration at their ruined hopes. Gidus, the brother of Bohemond, having learned of what had happened from them, turned to another strategy and, having divided the brave soldiers under his command, sent them against Jericho and Canina. Having seized the narrow passes being guarded by Michael Cecaumenus—for the emperor had ^D set him as guardian of these—and using the terrain as an ally, they became emboldened and routed those who engaged them with total success. For when a Celt encounters his enemies in a narrow pass, he becomes ungovernable, whereas in a plain he is very vulnerable. Emboldened, therefore, they returned again toward Cantacuzenus. When they realized that the place where Cantacuzenus had, as we said, fixed his camp would not support them in their attack, they grew cowardly and postponed the battle. Having sensed their approach, he moved his entire army across the river throughout the night. Just as the sun was setting—not yet having risen—he ^A armored himself and, having armed the whole army, he occupied the center of the battle line at the front. The Turks were on the left, while the Alanian Rosmices held the right flank with his own countrymen. He sent the Scythians against the Celts, ordering them to draw them out by light skirmishing and to shoot frequently, but then to retreat.

And they indeed departed with alacrity, but accomplished nothing; for the Celts, huddling together, did not dissolve their formation at all, but advanced with a slow step, very well ordered. When both armies had come to the point of joining battle in the proper manner, the Scythians were no longer able to shoot, as the Celts rode down upon them with great force, but immediately turned their backs to the Celts. The Turks, desiring to relieve them, attacked. But the Celts, making no account of them at all, fought even more spiritedly. Cantacuzenus, seeing them already defeated, allowed the *exousiokrator* Romisces, who held the right wing with his own men (the Alans were very warlike men), to engage the Celts in battle. But even he, having attacked, seemed to be retreating, although he was roaring at them like a terrible lion. When Cantacuzenus saw him also being defeated, he fortified himself and, as if from a starting-post, rushed at the front of the Celtic line; and having dissolved the army into many parts, he routed the Celts completely, pursuing them as far as a small town called Mylos. He captured and killed many of the second-class and greater status, and also took alive some of the illustrious counts, namely Oubo, and his brother called Richard, and Contopaganos, and returned victorious. Wishing, therefore, to present the victory more accurately to the Emperor, he impaled the heads of many Celts on spears and immediately sent off the greater captives, Oudon and the one called Contopaganos. ^D Here having arrived, and as I drag my pen by the light of lamps, feeling a little drowsy toward my writing, I perceive that the narrative is failing. For where there is a necessary requirement for the use of barbarian names, and the recounting of successive situations, the body of the history and the continuity of the writing seem to be broken in pieces. And this is no blame to those who read the writing with goodwill.

^A But when the most warlike Bohemond saw that his affairs were in a narrow and very difficult state, being assailed both from the sea and from the land, and with the necessities of life already failing him, and being at a loss from every side, he separated a sufficient body of troops and sent them to plunder all the cities situated around Aulon, Jericho, and Kanina. But Cantacuzenus was not negligent, nor did "sweet sleep hold the man," according to the poet, but he quickly sent out the Beroeite with a force capable of standing against the Celts. He, therefore, having fallen upon them immediately, defeated them and, as a sort of supplementary exploit, burned Bohemond’s ships upon his return.

When the most tyrannical Bohemond perceived the defeat of those he had sent, he was by no means cast down, just as if he had lost no one from his army; indeed, he even appeared all the more bold, and having again divided his foot and horse, who were most eager for battle, into a force numbering six thousand, he sent them out against Cantacuzenus, thinking that his men would capture him and the Roman army itself. But he, ^B always having scouts watching the Celtic multitudes and having learned of their advance, armed himself in his military panoply by night and armed his soldiers, impatient to fall upon them at dawn. When the Celts, having grown weary at the bank of the river Bouse, lay down for the sake of a little rest, he caught them there just as the day was beginning to smile, and straightway attacking them, he took many prisoner, slew more, while the rest, being dragged away by the eddies of the river, were drowned; and as they fled—or rather, he himself was by no means cast down— (p. 395).

^C But when the most warlike Bohemond saw that his affairs were in such a narrow and desperate state—being assailed from the sea and the land, and seeing that he was not merely enclosed but even more and more heavily besieged day by day—after he had spent some time in an anxious deliberation over how to resolve such a difficult situation, yet being a man of great spirit, not patient of slow measures but ever the most prompt to challenge dangers and battles, he ordered a sufficiently large number of soldiers, detached from the rest of his troops, to go and plunder the villages and towns which happened to be vulnerable to his incursions in the neighborhood of Aulon, Jericho, and Kanina. Cantacuzenus, having awakened to all things, perceived where the enemy’s force was pressing; and he ordered the Beroeite, having been furnished with suitable troops, to set out against the Gauls. He went with happy auspices and was victorious in the first encounter; having also burned Bohemond’s ships upon his return—a sort of corollary to his victory—he came back more illustrious. ^D Bohemond’s heart was truly royal and knew not how to be broken; this disaster was seen to trouble him not at all. Nay, rather, as if he had not yet lost a single man from the army he had brought from Italy, he girded his men for battle anew. From his whole multitude of foot and horse, he selected all the most pugnacious and ordered them to go straight against Cantacuzenus; that force numbered six thousand. And it was the opinion of the most confident Barbarian that Cantacuzenus or the Romans would not even be a match for the sight of so many heroes, nor for their first shout; but rather that they would all be captured cleanly in a single charge. But Cantacuzenus, having been made certain in good time about the arrival of the enemy through his scouts, whom he always had on watch, keen and faithful, in the dead of the night, when he armed himself, then armed...

his men and stood in battle order. He hoped and prayed that because of the eagerness of the Gauls, it would fall out that they would attack the Roman camp at the first light of the next day, having arrived in their sight. But they refrained; for, tired from the journey, they had decided to grant themselves that day for rest. When our man discovered this, he shrewdly turned the enemy's plan into his own opportunity, and their preparations for receiving battle into the audacity of launching one. Having led the army out of camp and advanced it a little, he chanced upon many Gauls lying on the banks of the river Busa; for, as I said, they were recovering from the weariness of the journey with deep and secure sleep. The day had just begun to smile, when the Roman, ready in arms, attacked those wrapped in sleep with full force. The affair was finished in a moment. Many were taken alive, more were killed; the rest, fleeing—as they say—the wolf, met the lion: they were obviously swallowed up by the eddies of the river as they sought to save themselves by flight. Following this victory, the commander sent all the captured counts to the Emperor and betook himself to Timorum (this is a place marshy and difficult of access, and he remained there until the seventh day, awaiting the return of the scouts whom he had sent in many different directions with orders to gather certain information about Bohemond and report it). By chance, those sent to carry out these orders met some Gauls constructing a bridge of rafts across the river, intending by crossing it to go and take a small town situated on the opposite bank. This was a matter not to be neglected; our men charged into them and captured almost all of them alive. Among them stood out a nephew of Bohemond, a youth of vast and gigantic stature; indeed, he stretched to the height of ten feet, with a girth matching his height, and an entire constitution of thick, robust, and fleshy mass, altogether resembling a Hercules, had his strength of spirit equaled his size of body. It was a strange and ridiculous spectacle to see that giant of monstrous size and truly enormous bulk seized and dragged by a short, puny Scythian. The sight seemed to Cantacuzenus worthy of the prince’s eyes. Therefore, when he sent these prisoners, as usual, to the Emperor, he ordered their leaders to present to him the huge Gaul not without the pigmy Scythian going ahead and dragging him bound, for the sake of making a joke to the Emperor. When it was reported to the Emperor that these men had arrived from the army, he sat upon the imperial throne and ordered the captives to be brought in. There appeared in sight the little Scythian, dragging that bound prisoner of immense corpulence, whose thigh did not even reach the top of the Scythian's head; then, a great laugh arose from everyone. Those counts and the others were soon handed over to custody. Nor was the Emperor’s joy over the things done prudently, bravely, and prosperously by Cantacuzenus long-lived. That laughter was quickly suppressed by a very bitter message, reporting the unspeakable slaughter of the Roman regiments that had been with Camytzes and Cabasilas. This disaster struck the Emperor’s soul unbelievably hard. He sat mournful, betraying his longing for the slain with loud sighs; weeping also now and then at the distinct mention of certain ones among them. Yet soon, returning to his accustomed consistency and the duty of managing affairs, he summoned Constantine Gabras, a man ardent in war and prompt in action, who breathed fire in battles, and sent him to the place called Petroula to investigate whence the Gauls had fallen into the narrow passes of the Romans.

^C But Gabras, a man puffed up with self-conceit and aspiring to greater things, disliked the enterprise and, as it were, grew weary of it. The Emperor, discerning his reluctance and the nature of the man, immediately summoned Marianos Maurokatakalon, brother-in-law of my Caesar, a man of martial spirit who had earned this reputation through many noble deeds and was greatly beloved by the Emperor; he dispatched him with a thousand of the bravest men, having also enrolled and sent along many of those who served in the train of the Porphyrogenita and my Caesar, who were eager for battle. Though he too felt some trepidation regarding the mission, he nevertheless went to his own tent to consider the matter. About the middle watch of the night, letters arrived from Lantulphus, who was then serving with Isaac Contostephanus, the admiral of the fleet. These letters contained accusations ^D against the Contostephani themselves—both Isaac and his brother Stephen—and against Euphorbennus, claiming they were neglecting the defense of the strait of Lombardy and occasionally disembarking on the mainland for the sake of comfort. The letters continued thus: "Even though you, Emperor, have with full effort and intent prevented the forays and excursions of the Celts, yet through the negligence and slumber of these men regarding the guard of the strait of Lombardy, those sailing over to Bohemond and bringing supplies have of necessity found an opportunity." For those who had shortly before made the crossing from Lombardy to Bohemond, having awaited a favorable wind—since while southern winds are broad and favorable for those sailing from Lombardy to Illyricum, northern winds are the opposite—had taken courage to sail toward Illyricum once they had winged their ships with sails. The south wind blowing strongly did not allow them to put in at Dyrrhachium at all, but compelled them to sail along the coast of Dyrrhachium and reach Aulon. There they anchored their transport ships, bringing with them great forces of horse and foot, and conveyed all necessary provisions to Bohemond, and from thence they established many markets so that the Celts might trade for their needs more abundantly. The Emperor, filled with anger, reproached Isaac greatly; and threatening him if he did not amend his ways, he persuaded him to keep watch without drowsiness. But because success did not follow according to the mind of Contostephanus—for having once or twice attempted to hinder those crossing from there to Illyricum, he failed in his purpose. For by occupying the middle of the strait, since he was unable to prevent the Celts from sailing along…

he saw them spreading their sails and moving at a rapid pace, and he was not able to fight at once against the Celts and the winds while the wind blowed against the prow; for they say that not even Hercules could fight against two. Therefore, because of the force of the wind, he was driven back. At these things, the emperor was torn with frustration. Having discerned that Stephanus had brought the Roman fleet to a place where it should not have been, and that for this reason the south winds were excluding it while providing a more favorable passage for the Celts, he drew up a chart of Lombardy and Illyricum, and the harbors lying on either side, and sent it to Contostephanus, indicating in writing both where he should anchor the ships, and from where he might have a favorable wind to set out against the crossing Celts. He also encouraged Contostephanus again and persuaded him to take up the work. ^A Having then recovered himself, Isaac occupied the place to which the emperor commanded him and brought his ships to anchor. And having watched for the time when those from Lombardy were making the crossing to Illyricum with great preparation, at that moment, a favorable wind having fallen, he took them in the middle of the strait, and he rendered some of the pirate ships burnt by fire, and sent more to the bottom along with the men themselves. The emperor had not yet learned of these things, but because of what was written by Lantulphus, and having his mind bent on the Duke of Dyrrhachium himself, he was of a different mind and immediately summoned the aforementioned Marianus Maurocathalon, appointed him Duke of the fleet, and entrusted the affairs of Petroula to another. ^B This man, therefore, having departed, and by some chance immediately encountering the pirate and cargo ships sailing from Lombardy to Bohemund, captured them all, full of all kinds of provisions. And as a wakeful guard from then on of the strait between Lombardy and Illyricum, he did not allow the crossing to Dyrrhachium to the Celts at all. But the emperor, encamping at the foothills of the mountain passes and near Diabolis, was effectively restraining those who were eager to advance toward Bohemund. He was sending out for those guarding the passes like snowflakes, giving instructions to each how many to send into the plain of Dyrrhachium against Bohemund and what manner of war to shape: that those descending, in fighting, should for the most part run forward on their horses and again retreat, and doing so again and again, should fight with archery; and those bearing spears should walk behind them with a slow foot, so that, if at any point it should happen for the archers to be dragged back further than they ought, they might receive them; and at the same time strike the Celt who might have perhaps come to closer quarters with them. ^C He also generously provided them with arrows—

^A in great abundance,, recommending them not to spare them at all, but rather to aim at the horses than at the Celts themselves. He knew that, as far as their armor and iron shirts were concerned, they were well-protected or even altogether invulnerable. He thought it useless and utterly foolish to shoot at them; for the Celtic weapon consists of iron links woven together, and the iron is of excellent quality, so that it is capable of repelling an arrow and guarding the soldier's body. Furthermore, to this protection was added a shield—not round, but a ^B *thureos* (a large, rectangular shield) starting from a very broad base and ending in a point, slightly hollowed out inside, and smooth and shining on the outer surface, gleaming with a bronze boss. An arrow, therefore, even if it were Scythian, or even Persian, or thrown by powerful arms, would, upon striking this, be repelled and fall back to the one who had sent it. As has often been narrated by us, the Emperor, thoroughly experienced in Celtic arms and our own archery, advised them to leave the men alone and rather set upon the horses, and to pierce them with ^C their arrows; and at the same time, that by dismounting from their horses, the men might become easily handled. For a Celt, when mounted, is unstoppable— he could even pierce a Babylonian wall—but when he has dismounted from his horse, he becomes a plaything for those who wish. Knowing the perverse nature of those accompanying him, he did not want to cross the passes, although he was greatly struggling and, in his heart, was sharper than a sword, firm in his decision, and ^D completely fearless of the public battle against Bohemond. But the circumstances that had befallen him prevented his undertaking, as they terribly squeezed his soul.

^B Being thus hemmed in by Bohemond on both land and sea—for the Emperor was sitting like a spectator of the events on the Illyrian plain, though with his whole soul and mind he was present with the combatants, sharing in their same sweat and toils (if one might not even say more), bracing the commanders stationed along the mountain ridges for the struggles and wars, and suggesting what needed to be launched against the Celts—Marianus, meanwhile, keeping watch over the paths of the strait between Lombardy and Illyricum, was forbidding those crossing from there to Illyricum, not allowing a three-banked ship, nor a merchantman of ten thousand measures, nor even a two-oared *myoparon* to pass over to Bohemond at all. And so, as his provisions transported by sea were running out, and he saw the war advancing against him from the land with great skill—for whenever someone went out from the camp for the sake of fodder or for other gatherings, or even drove the horses to water, the Romans would set upon them and slay the greater number, so that his army was being consumed little by little—he [Bohemond] sent to the Duke of Dyrrhachium, Alexios, to inquire about peace. Since indeed even one of the noble counts of Bohemond, William Clareas, saw that the entire...

[LATIN COLUMN]

^A ...long use, the Emperor, possessing his mind with these things, commanded the Latins regarding the method of fighting against the Gauls, that they should omit throwing javelins at the men, since they were easily and harmlessly conquered by the falling of the horses. For, of course, the horses do not keep that ferocity or those fires which they breathe high when on them, even when thrown, if some force drives them. A Gaul armed and seated on a noble horse might fly like lightning with flaming speed even over the walls of Babylon; but when put on the ground, he is a plaything to any who confront him. These things, therefore, the Augustus wisely governed in this manner from that place. Why he did not proceed further and, having crossed the mountain passes, himself employ the cautions he gave to others while fighting the Gauls—this was the cause that no one could hear from himself, as he said that perverse counsels, known to him, from not a few of the idle men of his own retinue who were averse to him in mind, had made it impossible for him to think it advisable—much as he otherwise desired—to cross the passes and test the fortune of battle with Bohemond with all his forces in a fair fight. And, if I am not mistaken, those things which we have commemorated above in various places regarding his martial character, his ardor in performing deeds in the line of battle, his constancy and presence of mind, and his vigilance of counsel in any danger or crisis, could confirm his saying. But, as has often been said, at the time we are now narrating, his own wisdom restrained the Augustus’s heart, which was longing for the risk of a decisive battle, owing to the thought and consciousness of a suspect and faithless retinue; a thing which tortured his mind far less by fear of snares than by grief at the snatching away of an opportunity to prove his valor. Meanwhile, Bohemond’s affairs were being constricted into wondrous straits, since there was no help, nor indeed any escape, remaining for him now from either sea or land. Hence the Emperor was present, sitting indeed as if a spectator in the midst of the Illyrian plain; but in the spirits and endeavors of his men, who were assiduously raiding the Gauls on all sides from the safe fortresses, he was, through a certain force of authority widely diffused, managing the matter alone from all parts. So never-relaxing was the contention, so never-sleeping the vigilance of the imperial providence, that in sending, recalling, exhorting, and admonishing the leaders and soldiers who held the mountain peaks, the narrow valleys, and the other garrisons arranged around, he made the labors, the sweats, and the efforts of each and all his very own. The maritime matter was cared for no less sluggishly. From this side, the impenetrably watchful custody of the Duke Marianus, a man most acute against the arts and endeavors of the enemy alike, kept watch; so entirely blocking all the parts and paths of the strait that lies between Italy and Illyricum, that it was not permitted in any way for a Gallic ship, though strengthened with tighter sails, nor a merchantman, nor a two-oared myoparon to cross over to the camp of Bohemond. Provisions were therefore being constricted daily by the failure of maritime supplies, and resistance was being pushed from the land now so entirely against the long-besieged Gallic camps that it was not safe even to have come out a little for the sake of foraging, with the Romans so assiduously impending and managing the matter with such art and method that they both always harmed them by sudden incursions and timely retreats without their own danger, and left the Gauls no opportunity of exercising valor, no hope of evading calamity. If they dared to lead horses to water out of the camp, they suffered the Romans, who were doubtless raiding from the nearest garrisons, to seize or slay them with most frequent captures or slaughter of horses and men. Bohemond sensed the inescapable force of the evil, and seeing his army being gradually consumed and liquefied by damage repeated hourly, he resorted at last to this, that by sending legates to Alexios, Duke of Dyrrhachium, he made mention of peace first. ^C About this time, William Clareas, a nobleman among the counts who were serving with Bohemond...

...subtly pursuing particulars: how it is best to be ready if they appear near the plain of Dyrrhachium ^A to be sent for a skirmish; what manner of arms to use; what order to maintain; and how one should best direct the line of battle when an occasion for fighting arises. He ordered them to charge for the most part with subtle horsemanship, and after the initial charge, to retreat to the rear. But if they were not to get close to the battle, to engage in hand-to-hand combat, but only to scatter arrows at the enemy while remaining at a distance—the reason for this being to make the archers in the rear ready, and if any greater force should come against them from the hostile cavalry, they would be prepared and safe, having taken refuge in the center, and the main body would hold. And if our cavalry could not endure the equal contest for long, let them not even think it useless to retreat, carrying their spears, but by mixing among them and striking the Gauls, they would win more quickly and surely. Furthermore, he was very much concerned with not sparing missiles; for he was providing an abundant supply of them for his troops, for he did not approve of engaging with the sword at close quarters. Moreover, he thought it useless to lose one's own missiles when the armored ones were so securely protected. It is more useful, incomparably, for the horses, without impediment and invulnerable and never to the hurt of the rider, to be struck down. This is the equipment of the Gaulish cavalry. A coat of mail made of iron, ^B woven with links, with scales like some sort of garment fitting the body, and it also fits the whole shape of the movement, like an intimate garment. There was added an impenetrable protection, the shield—not round, but of an oblong shape, broader at the bottom and ending in a point, with a surface that is not flat and even, but gently curving inward to be long, shielding on both sides; its exterior is polished, and its face shines with the smoothness of bright metal. The eyes [of those] looking opposite are terrified by the bronze, very bright; the boss stands out in the middle, alive and flashing with vibrant rays. The material was not just any iron, but steel as rigid as can be, even hardened by the art of the smiths to the hardness beneath these coverings of the body; and the Persians, even if the Scythian dart or ^C the giant’s arm should throw it, would be struck back and boomerang to the sender. All these ^D matters...

Notes of Charles Dufresne du Cange

(76) *Xiton sidereos*: A coat of mail with rings and mesh; it is a "coat of mail." (77) *Thyros*: *Thyroi* are called "great shields," see Leo in *Tactics*, ch. 5, § 5, ch. 6, § 25, 52, 57, ch. 14, § 105. It expresses, as Anna shows, a shape such as the shield of the Samnites, which Livy displays (bk. 9). The top of the shield is equal to the shoulders, for the sake of agility. That the Gaulish ones were longer is stated by Diodorus Siculus. Polybius (bk. 4, *Strateg.*) attributes such a shield to the Gauls. Anna adds *platyatato eis oxy, latorie* (at the broad end to the point), which is firmer, moreover, according to Hyginus (Fab. 277). Cyprian islanders have a similar shape to the Gaulish shield. Constantine Porphyrogenitus (bk. 1, *De Themat.*) has this literally. (78) *Stilbon*: Albertus Aq., bk. 1, ch. 41: "as the sun it shone with very clear light, whose splendor shone on the golden shields and garments." Bk 3, ch. 57: "in the splendor of shields of various color, green, red, whose..." and inlaid with gems, and depicted with various colors. And all the colors on the insignias of the shields originate thus. See *Dissertat.* and Joinville. (79) *Keltos gar*: See page 140.

^A Hearing these words, Bohemond requested that hostages from among the illustrious be given to him, to be kept free by his own counts in their camp until he himself should return; for otherwise he dared not venture to the emperor. The emperor, therefore, having summoned Marinus the Neapolitan, and the Frank Roger, renowned for his bravery—men of sound judgment and great experience in Latin customs—and Constantine Euphorbenus (a man of noble heart and spirit, who had never failed in any task assigned to him by the emperor), and a certain Adralestus, who was knowledgeable in the Celtic language—sent these, as has been said, to Bohemond. He instructed them to employ all possible means to persuade him to come to the emperor as a defector, on the condition that he might declare whatever he wished and request whatever he desired from him; and if his demands seemed best to the emperor, he would necessarily obtain them; but if not, he would return unharmed to his own camp. Having spoken these things to them, the emperor sent them off. They traveled the road leading to Bohemond. He, having learned of their arrival and fearing that if they observed the demise of his army they might report the state of affairs to the emperor, rode out and met them far from the camp. They recited the emperor's words to him: "The emperor," they said, "has not altogether forgotten the promises and oaths you made, not you alone, but all the counts who crossed over at that time; and you see clearly how the violation of those oaths has resulted in no good for you." Bohemond, hearing these things, said, "Enough of such words. If anything else has been sent to me from the emperor, I wish to learn it." And the envoys replied to him, "The emperor, wishing for your safety and that of the army under you, speaks these things to you through us. You know well that despite much toil you have neither been able to hold Dyrrhachium, nor have you brought any good to yourself or those under you. If you do not wish to bring about the total destruction of yourself and the people under you, come to my majesty, having freely disclosed all that you desire, and you shall hear in turn what seems best to us. And if the intentions of both of us should coincide, thanks be to God; but if not, I shall send you back unharmed to your own camp. Moreover, all those of your men who wish to go to the worship of the Holy Sepulcher shall be preserved by me; but those who wish to go to their own land— ^{B C D}

those who have enjoyed my gifts—shall be sent home by the Emperor. To this, he replied to them: "Now at last I know that the men sent to me by the Emperor are men of ability, capable of speaking the word and receiving it. I request, therefore, that you provide me with assurance that I shall not be received dishonorably by the Emperor; rather, that the most honorable of his blood relations and intimates shall meet me six stades away. And when I approach the imperial tent and enter the gates, the Emperor himself must rise from his royal seat to receive me with honor, and no reference shall be made to the agreements previously transpired between us, nor shall I be brought to judgment, but I shall have free license to say everything I wish according to my own will, equipped with provisions for our departure." Furthermore, he desired that the Emperor take him by the hand, and that he enter the presence wearing two chlamydes, without bending a knee or neck in obeisance to the Emperor. Upon hearing these things— ^C —the strangers were filled with this mindset.

Note of Charles Dufresne Du Cange

^A

The aforementioned envoys, however, did not accept his proposal that he should rise from the imperial throne; indeed, they rejected the request as superfluous. Not only did they disapprove of this, but also that he should not bend either knee or neck to do homage to the Emperor. Furthermore, as to the request that some of his more distant kinsmen should advance a sufficient distance—and that he himself, entering this way, should be received by the Emperor for the sake of decorum and the honor due to him—and that he should enter wearing two chlamydes, and that the Emperor should take him by the hand and place him by the upper part of the imperial couch—the envoys did not refuse these. After these things were said, the envoys departed to where their rest had been prepared, being guarded by *sergentii* so that they might not spy on the camp and thus become more contemptuous toward him. ^B

On the following day, with three hundred horsemen and all the counts, he reached the men whom he had addressed on the previous day. Taking with him the six selected men, he went to the envoys, having left the rest to wait for his return from there. As they were discussing the aforementioned points once again, since Bohemond was persistent, a certain count of very high stature, Wudo by name, said to Bohemond: "None of us who are about to engage in war with the Emperor has yet struck anyone with a spear; therefore leave these many words, for we must exchange peace for battle." ^C

As many words were exchanged on both sides, Bohemond was heavily burdened, feeling insulted if everything he had previously sought from the envoys did not come to pass. But as they agreed on some points and refused others, Bohemond was persuaded, and turning necessity into what they call ambition, he asked them for an oath so that he might be honorably received, and if the Emperor should not agree to his wishes, he should be sent back to his own camp unharmed. Therefore, with the Holy Gospels set forth, he requested that hostages be handed over to his brother Guy and kept by him until he himself should return. ^D The envoys, having agreed to this, themselves demanded counter-oaths for the safety of the hostages. Bohemond having agreed to this, and having both given and received oaths, moved to have the hostages, the *sebastos*...

Marinus, and he who is called Adralestus, together with the Frank Roger, delivered to his brother Gido, so that whenever a peace treaty might be concluded with the emperor, or if not, they might be sent back safely from there to the emperor, in accordance with those same oaths.

As he was about to set out to the emperor with Euphorbenus Constantine Catacalon, seeing that the army had lingered long in that place and that there was a foul stench, he wished to move the camp, but he claimed he did not wish to do even this without their advice. For such is the Celtic race: fickle and subject to change in the slightest turn of a moment to either extreme. One can see the very same man at one time boasting that he would shake the whole earth, and at another time brought low and humbled to the very dust, especially when he encounters firmer spirits. They did not permit the army to be moved more than twelve *stadia*. "And if you wish this," they said to Bohemond, "we shall go with you to see the place." Bohemond having agreed to this as well, they immediately indicated by letters to those guarding the mountain passes that they should not make incursions or cause any harm to them.

Euphorbenus Constantine Catacalon then requested again of Bohemond to be allowed to depart for Dyrrhachium. Bohemond having consented, Catacalon quickly reached Dyrrhachium and, having sought out Alexius, the son of Isaac the *sebastokrator*, who was guarding the city, he reported what had been communicated by the emperor to him and to the leaders of the soldiers who had come down with him. For they were unable to see out beyond the wall because of the machine that the emperor had set up above along the battlements of Dyrrhachium; for certain planks had been cleverly placed around the crenellations of the fortress, constructed for this very purpose of being impassable, so that if the Latins should perhaps attempt to clamber up by means of ladders, when they reached the battlements, they would not be able to stand firmly, but would slip along with the planks themselves and then fall inside, just as has been said. Having conversed with these men, then, and having announced the emperor’s messages and filled them with courage, and having inquired about the fortress—learning that they had attained an excellent arrangement, as they had sufficient provisions for their needs and reckoned the machines of Bohemond as nothing—he reached Bohemond, who had already made the trench where he had previously specified, and joining with him, he kept to the road leading to the emperor; the rest of the envoys were left behind with Gido, in accordance with previous agreements. Manuel the Modenese, being the most faithful and well-disposed of his servants, he sent ahead to the emperor to announce the arrival of Bohemond.

When he had come near the imperial tent, everything was prepared for his reception, just as the envoys had agreed with him. Upon his entrance, the emperor stretched out his hand, grasped the hand of the man, offered him the greeting customary for emperors, and caused him to stand near the imperial throne. ^A This man was such that, to speak briefly, no one—neither barbarian nor Greek—was ever seen in the Roman land to equal him; for he was a marvel to behold and a spectacle to hear. To describe the appearance of the barbarian in detail: he was so tall in his bodily stature that he surpassed the tallest men by nearly a cubit; he was slim in the belly and sides, and broad in the shoulders; his chest was expansive and his arms powerful. The entire condition of his body was neither emaciated ^B nor weighted down with flesh, but tempered in the best possible way, and fitted together, so to speak, according to the Polycletan canon. His hands were large, the soles of his feet firm, and his neck and back well-knit. He appeared slightly stooped to one observing him closely, not because of any ailment of the vertebrae of the spine, but he seemed to have had that carriage by nature since birth. His color was very fair over his body, but his face was suffused with red along with the white. His hair was light-colored—not, however, hanging down to his back like that of other barbarians; for ^C the man did not wear his hair long, but it was shorn down to his ears. As to the color of his beard, whether it was red or another hue, I cannot say; for the razor had gone over it and more precisely than any pumice stone; yet it seemed to have been this color too, red. His gaze was azure, at once indicating both spirit and gravity. And his nose...

^A breathed air freely. And his chest corresponded to his nose, and through his nose the breadth of his chest, for nature had given passages through the nostrils for the breath boiling up from the heart. Now there was a certain sweetness that appeared in this man, but it was quelled by his terrifying qualities from all sides; for the man was throughout his entire body implacable and beast-like, from his stature, because of his gaze, I think, and his smile even was to others a threatening. He was so constituted in soul and body that both anger and love were sharpened in him, and both were ready for war. His mind was manifold and cunning, and slipping away from every handle; for his conversations were precise, and he gave answers that were ungraspable from every direction. And being such and so great, he was conquerable only by the emperor, both by fortune and words and the other natural advantages. Having, therefore, reminded him of previous things briefly and in a somewhat veiled manner, the emperor made another turn of speech. But he, having his own conscience accusing him, cleverly evaded the counter-arguments to his words, saying only this, ^B that "I have not come to be interrogated about such things. For I myself could also say many things. But since God has brought me here, I entrust all the rest to your authority." The emperor said to him, "The past things must be left aside for now, but if you wish to make peace with us, first it is necessary that you become one of those under my authority, then that you declare regarding this very thing to your nephew Tancred, and charge him to hand over Antioch to those sent by me, according to the agreements that were made between us from the beginning; and then also to keep all other things which have been agreed upon between us, both now and hereafter." These things the emperor, and many other things to him, said to him. ^{C D} [index: entries preserved]

^A Having spoken and listened, since it was the same Bohemond, and he had not been changed, he said that it was impossible for him to make such a promise. And for other things demanded by the emperor, he asked for the return to his own army according to the agreement made by the envoys. But the emperor says to him, "I have no one better than myself to see you safely through." And at the same time he gave orders openly to the leaders of the army to prepare their horses, so as to set out on the road leading to Dyrrhachium. Hearing this, Bohemond, upon going out to the tent assigned to him, sought to see my Caesar, Nicephorus Bryennius, who was then honored with the title of Panhypersebastos. ^B He went out, and having employed all the persuasion of his speech—such as he was in public speaking and conversation, unrivaled—he persuaded Bohemond to agree to most of the things said by the emperor. Therefore, having taken him by the hand, he led him to the emperor. On the day following, he fulfilled the agreement under oath and in accordance with his own intent, as seemed good to him. The things agreed upon were as follows (88): "The former agreement, which indeed was made at that time with your God-crowned majesty when I had traveled to the imperial city with that numerous army of the Franks, passing over from Europe to Asia ^C for the liberation of Jerusalem, since it has been annulled by certain turns of events, let that one be set aside and let it not have validity, as being nullified on account of the state of affairs; and from that, your majesty should not have any right against me, nor from there claim support regarding those things agreed upon and written down in it. For, as I had undertaken war against your God-appointed majesty and had rendered the agreements void, along with them also are dissolved the accusations made against me by your majesty. Now, however, as if coming from repentance, and as a fisherman struck and having gained understanding, and having become wiser almost by your spear ^D and having remembered the defeat and the wars of that time, I stand [before you]... [index: entries preserved]

^A and offer to enter into another agreement with your majesty. A chrysobull, therefore, that I might become a *ligius*—to speak more clearly and plainly—a servant and subordinate to your scepter; since you also have wished to draw me under your hand and desire to make me your *ligius* man. I shall therefore be, from now on, according to this second agreement, which I wish to keep forever, and I swear by God and all His saints, since the agreements are also written and spoken with them as witnesses: "A faithful man of your majesty and of your most beloved son and emperor, the lord John Porphyrogenitus, and I shall arm my right hand against everyone who opposes your majesty, whether he is of the Christian race and raises his hands against you, or even one from outside our court, whom we call heathens." So that which was also contained in the aforementioned agreement, and was pleasing to both parties—to your majesty and to me—other things having been abolished, I draw this alone from there and insist and persist in it: to be a servant of the majesty of both, and a *ligius* and man, as though renewing what had been dissolved. And there shall never be a time when I arrive at the breaking of this, nor shall there be any cause or manner, manifest or hidden, by which I shall appear ^B a transgressor of the treaties and of these things now agreed upon. But since I am now receiving the territory to be indicated explicitly here in these regions of the East by a golden-sealed chrysobull of your majesty, in which your power is also signified by a red-dyed signature, which chrysobull document, having been made reciprocal, has been given to me: I accept the granted regions as bestowed by our majesty, and I hold the authorization of the gift from the chrysobull writing. For the restoration of such regions and cities, I give my fealty to your majesty, to you the great emperor, lord Alexius Comnenus, and to your most beloved son, the emperor. And he made him a *ligius*. And a servant, not having submitted to a yoke by force, but a servant—a willing servant; for this *ligius* explains this to you. *Ligius* servants in oaths. In other ways, too, he was drawn in, and he made them *litius*—or one could say a *lusius* (*ligius*)—because of their kind favors; ^C he was his own

man** of Lord John the Porphyrogenitus, which he promised to hold unshakable and unmovable, just like a secure anchor. And that I may resume the discourse more clearly and preserve the property of those things agreed upon in writing, behold, I, Bohemond, son of Robert Guiscard, agree with your Majesty and place this agreement as unbreakable, to be guarded towards your Majesty, that is, you yourself, the Emperor of the Romans, Lord Alexius, and the Emperor and your son, the Porphyrogenitus; and I will keep the *ligius* [service] of men as unadulterated and uncorrupted as long as I breathe and am numbered among the living; and I will arm my hand against those who shall appear from this point on as enemies of you and of your Majesty, of the ever-revered, august rulers of the dominion of the Romans; and wherever I am commanded by you with all the ^B army around me, I shall serve without pretext according to the present need. And if there be any who are ill-disposed toward your Majesty—unless they are perhaps equal to the immortal angels and are invulnerable to our weapons, or they are clad in adamantine bodies—against all these I would fight on behalf of your Majesty. And if I am sound in body and am free of any barbarian or Turkish war, I myself shall fight with my own body and shall conduct the war on your behalf with the army that follows me. But if I am fettered by heavy illness, as is often the case with human things, or if some pressing war draws me to itself, then, at that time, I promise to send through the brave men about me the strongest possible assistance, as those men will fulfill my deficit. For this is the upright faith which I have toward your Majesty today: namely, that either by myself or through others, as has been said, I may keep the matters of the agreement inviolate, and I swear to guard an upright faith—both generally and in part—on behalf of your Majesty and this life of yours, I mean this one here below and earthly [life]; for on behalf of such a life of yours, I would become a kind of iron and forged statue in arms, extending the oath even unto your honor and your royal limbs, if any injury is plotted against them by some wicked enemies, whom it is within my power to destroy and ward off from their evil undertaking. But also on behalf of every territory of yours and city, both small and great, and the islands themselves, and simply, whatever land and sea there is under your scepters, from the Adriatic Sea itself and as far as all the East and along the length of great Asia, where the boundaries of the Romans were. ^C Furthermore, I agree, and God shall be the witness and subject of the things agreed upon, that I shall never at any time hold or have any land, city, or island that has been assigned under your scepters, whether now or formerly. And simply, as much as Bohemond... ^D [The Latin column, which repeats and expands upon the Greek text of the oath, concludes:] ...non minus inconcussus ac constans quam ferrea vel ære fusa ductave statua in armis. [alt-version omitted]

^A I will turn another agreement with your power, so that it becomes more advantageous to your scepter, so that I may speak more clearly: as a servant and subject, since you desire to draw me under your right hand and make me your liege man. Therefore, from now on I will be under this second agreement, which I desire to keep, observing God and all His saints, and as a witness to these things that are agreed upon, and written, and spoken: “I am a faithful man of your empire and of your dearest son, the Lord John Porphyrogenitus, ^B and I will arm my right hand against everyone who resists your power, whether they are of the Christian race or are alien to our court, whom we are accustomed to call pagans.” So that as it was contained in the agreement made previously, and as it covers both sides, both your empire and me—with others removed—I draw to myself only this, and I insist, and I cling tightly to it: that both the servant of the empire and the liege man be one, just as being dissolved it is renewed. And if this—may it never happen—should be broken, there will be no cause, nor will there be a known or hidden way by which I shall be found a breaker of the covenants and of the things agreed upon.

^C But since I receive now the specifically mentioned territory in the parts of the East by a golden bull, 81 by which your power is indicated by a red seal: “This golden bull, having been made, was given; I receive the lands given as bestowed by our empire, and having the power of the gift from the golden bull document.” In return for so many lands and cities, I give my faith to your empire, to you, the great emperor, the Lord Alexius Comnenus, and to your dearest son, the emperor ^D who held the empire of Constantinople, or holds it now, throughout both the East and the West, except for those expressly given to me by your God-ordained power, which also will be indicated by name in the present document. But whatever territory I might be able to subdue, which had once been under this empire, having driven away those who hold that country, I am bound to refer the administration of it to your judgment, and to keep my intention tied to your own. And if you wish me to govern the conquered country as your liege man and faithful servant, this shall be. But if not, I would hand it over to whatever man your empire might wish, not doubting at all. And I will not receive a country betrayed to me by any other, or a city or town, which once happened to be under the power of the empire, as belonging to me; but those taken by siege, and those without siege, were yours and again shall be yours, with me claiming nothing for myself regarding these. But neither will I receive an oath from any Christian, nor will I give one to another, nor enter into any agreement whatsoever looking toward your harm, or to the loss of both you and your empire. Nor will I become the "man" of someone else, or of another authority 81 (golden bull - see facsimile)

nor shall I accept subjection to them. Regarding, however, Tancred and my nephew, I will wage unremitting war against him unless he be willing to abate some of his hostility toward your empire, and release from his hand the cities of my empire—or if they should be rescued from him, whether he be willing or not, so that I may possess them by the support of your power, as has been granted to me by the golden bull, which shall explicitly enumerate them. Those cities, together with Laodicea in Syria, and as many as are outside of those granted to me, shall be joined to your scepter.

Nor shall I ever receive beforehand the fugitives from your empire; rather, I will force them to return and compel them to revert to your empire. Furthermore, I undertake these things in addition to those mentioned above, making the agreements more secure. For I agree that I shall provide guarantors for these agreements, so that they remain inviolable and unbreakable for all time—the men who will hold in my stead the land given to me by your empire, as well as the cities and walled towns, which will be specified by name. For I will cause them to swear the most fearful oaths, so that they too may guard true faith toward your power, and as much as the code of the Romans ordains, and that they may strictly adhere to everything written in this present agreement. And I will make them swear by the heavenly powers and the inexorable wrath of God, that if I should ever plot against your empire—may it not be! May it not be, O Savior, may it not be, O justice of God!—they shall by every means strive, first of all through a space of forty days, to bring me back to the faith of your empire, should I have once stiffened my neck. And this, if it were permitted to happen, would happen if rage and madness had seized me, or when, clearly, my wits were driven to distraction. But if I should behave foolishly and immovably toward their exhortations, and the storms of madness should rush wildly into my soul, then at least they shall renounce me and by every means disclaim me. They shall change their position so that, in this way too, they may strictly adhere to your commands.

^A your power, and hand, and counsel, and shall detach the lands which they possess by my right from my authority, and deliver them to you and to your side; and they shall be compelled to do these things by name. And they shall keep the same faith and servitude and good will toward you, which I myself have agreed upon; and they shall take up arms on behalf of your life and your earthly honor; but also, on behalf of your imperial portions and members, that they might suffer nothing from any enemy threatening war, they shall not be idle, if at any time they should come to a sense of those who are plotting and treacherous. These things I swear, and I call to witness both God, and men, and the highest angels, that I will compel them, having seized them with dreadful oaths, to do and to perform [these things] to the best of their ability. As for your fortresses and lands, and simply all the parts under your empire, as many as the West contains, ^B and as many as the East encompasses, they shall swear to the same agreements that I myself have agreed upon with you, and they shall do these things both while I am living and when I am dead. And your power shall have these men as subjects, and shall use them as faithful servants. And as many as are present here, dwelling with me, shall immediately give the same oaths and agreements to you, the august ones, the Lord Alexios, Emperor of the Romans, and the Porphyrogenitus Emperor, your son. But as many of my horsemen and shield-bearers, whom we are accustomed to call *kaballarioi* (92), as are absent, your majesty having sent a man to the city of Antioch, those same oaths shall be fulfilled by them there; it being sufficient that the man of your majesty bind them, while I—I swear this—have prepared the men to join in, and to agree to the same and unchangeable terms. Moreover, I agree and swear that against those whom your majesty wishes to take cities and lands, which were once subject to the empire of Constantinople, I shall raise my hand and join in war. This I will do, and I will take up arms against them. But against those whom it is not your inclination to defeat with an army, neither will we ourselves campaign against them. For in all things we wish to serve your power, and to make every action and every will depend upon your own will. As for the Saracens, and as many of them as are from the seed of Ishmael toward your empire, ^C they shall swear to wage war, and they shall agree. ^D

^A I shall not prevent defectors, nor shall I be eager to take them for myself, unless, of course, that region, constrained by my spear and pressed on all sides, looks toward your power—fearing danger and arranging their own safety by approaching you. But all those, and as many as have feared the Frankish sword and, having avoided the impending death, call upon you, the revered emperors, you shall not, for this reason, lay hold of those captured as booty by us, but—clearly—of those who come into your servitude voluntarily and without our labor and toil. ^B Among other things, I also agree to these: as many soldiers as wish to cross the Adriatic with me from Lombardy, they themselves shall also swear and agree to the servitude of your empire; you, of course, shall send someone from your power to exact the oath from them all, whoever you yourselves might send for this very purpose across the Adriatic. If they flee the oath, do not allow them to cross, as they refuse to think the same as you. Furthermore, the regions and cities granted to me by your God-ordained power by means of a Chrysobull must also be mentioned in the present document: the city of Antioch in Coele-Syria with its territory and its ^C jurisdiction, with Suetius itself, has been established by the sea. The Dux with its entire jurisdiction, along with the one then called the Caucasus of Lou-lou, and the wondrous mountain; the Feretia with all the territory under it; Saint Elias; the strategis with the small towns under it; the strategis of Borze and the small towns under it; the entire country around the strategis of Sezer, which the Greeks call Larissa; as also Artach and Teluch, the strategis with each territory; in addition to these, Germanicea, and the small towns under it, the Black Mountain and all the castles arranged under it, and the entire plain lying beneath it; ^D and the stratelata of Balaneus and Marakeus, and Antarados with Antartus, for both are strategides.

^A Clearly, this is exclusive of the holding of the Rupenians (97), namely Leo and Theodore the Armenians, men who have been brought under the power of your majesty, along with the recorded stratelatea: the stratelaton of Pagras; the stratelaton of Palatia; the theme of Zume, and all the castles and small towns beneath these, and the territory belonging to each. For all these things are contained therein in the golden bull of your majesty’s empire, as being granted to me by the divine power until the end of my life, as being owed, after my departure from here, to return to the empire of the New Rome and the queen of cities, Constantinople; upon the condition of guarding the most sincere faith and pure goodwill, through you, the ever-venerable august emperors, toward her empire and her throne, and being a servant and liege subject of the imperial scepter. ^B I also agree and swear by the God honored in the Church of Antioch that there shall not be a patriarch (98) of Antioch from our race, but whomever your majesty shall propose, being from the seedlings of the Great Church in Constantinople. For such a one would ascend the throne in Antioch and perform everything in a priestly manner, both in ordinations and in other ecclesiastical matters, according to the privileges of this throne. There were also the portions cut off from the ducal authority in the city of Antioch, and from your empire as if those wishing to appropriate these in their entirety. These are: the theme of Podandum (99), and in addition to these the stratelaton of the city of Tarsus, and the city of Adana, and the hearths of Mopsus, and Anabara, and to sum it up, the entire region of Cilicia that the Cydnus and the Ermon limit. As also the strategis of Laodicea in Syria, and that very stratelaton of Gabala, which those who barbarize we call Zebel. And the stratelatea of Balaneus and Marakeus, and Antarados with Antartus; for both are strategides. These are what your empire cut off from the whole ducal authority of Antioch and assigned to the circle of the Joupetelii.

^A And I am content with both what has been given and what has been taken away, and I shall hold to the rights and privileges which I have received from you, nor shall I lay claim to what I have not received, nor shall I overstep the boundaries; but I shall remain with what has been granted, possessing and enjoying them as long as I remain in this life, as has been beforehand declared. After my death, as this too has been written before, they shall return to their proper authorities, and to where they were originally given into my power. For I shall enjoin my trustees and men, according to my final will, to restore all the aforementioned regions to the scepter of the authority of the Romans, in no way haggling over the restoration nor falling into any dispute. And I swear this too, and I confirm this agreement, ^B that they will fulfill what is commanded without delay and without ambiguity.

But this also must be added to the agreements: since, regarding those things taken away by your empire from the Antiochene authority and the duchy of the city, both I entreated your throne to make compensation and the foreigners [the Franks] also entreated your majesty, and your empire consented to provide me with themes, and certain regions, and cities situated in the East, it is necessary to mention these here by name, so that neither your majesty may be in any doubt at all, nor I myself [lack certainty] concerning the things I might seek. These were: then, the theme of all the territory of Casiotis, whose metropolis is Beroea, which in the language of the barbarians is called Haleb; the theme of Lapara, and all the small towns under it, that is: the Plasta, the fortress of Choriou, the Romaina, the fortress of Aramisos, the small town of the Amir, the fortress of Sardanus, the small fortress of Telchampson, together with which are also the three Tilia—then Athlabotilin—and the other two, the fortress of Sgenin, the fortress of Kaltzierin, and indeed also their small towns, then Kommer-mouri, and what is called the Kathismatin, and the Sarsapen, and the small town of the Nekra. These are those situated on this side of Syria, but those from the theme of Mesopotamia: those situated close to the city of Edessa, then the theme of the Limnia, and the theme of the Eagle, with the entire territory of each of these. Let not these also lie unmentioned, concerning Edessa, nor the annual talents decreed for me by your God-guarded power. I speak of the annual talents, that is, the thirteen talents, which make one thousand three hundred pounds, and I speak of the two hundred pounds of the Michaelaton.

extend beyond what I have received from you: but I will keep myself within the limits which your concession has circumscribed for me, possessing and enjoying the lands and rights situated therein for as long as my life shall last, as has been declared. After my death, however, as this also has been laid down, they shall revert to the proper principalities from which they were detached in order to be given to me. For I shall give final commands at the end of my life to my ministers [who are to succeed me, for it is permitted to me. For it has been previously granted to me through the pious chrysobull document of your Majesty, both the duchy in its entirety along with all the fortresses and lands subject to it; with this ducal authority not being limited to my own person, but rather it is permitted] to me to transmit it through the pious chrysobull document to whomever I myself choose.

[v. 1019/1020] [alt-version omitted]

Variationes lectiones from the Coislin codex. Notes of Car. Dufresne Du Cange.

[Notes section] 66: *in pzyñs*. Which indeed he calls in the terminology of talents: "I am owed to receive as an annual grant from the imperial treasuries two hundred talents, bearing the quality and coinage of the former Emperor Lord Michael." Thus, among Latin writers, one may observe the word "talent" used more than once with the same meaning. The Register of the monastery of Bellilocensis in Limousin, no. [401]: "Compelled by judicial authority according to the law to pay one hundred weights of talents of gold": which in other charters everywhere is usually conceived in these words, "with the treasury joining in, one hundred pounds of gold," etc., "weights of silver," etc., "conclude to pay." Charter, an. 993, apud Duchesn., *Hist. Luxemb.*, pp. 8 and 9: "And having been compelled to the king's treasury to pay one hundred pounds of gold and a thousand talents of silver." Another in the same place: "And having been compelled to the king's exchequer to pay ten of gold and one hundred pounds of silver." In which charters, weight, pound, and talent mean the same thing. So among Peter of Vineis, lib. v, epist. 108: "Therefore we have thought it right to condemn the men of the said commune in 50 pounds to be paid here until the day of March 10—under a double penalty, a moderated penalty of 100 talents," etc. In *Speculo Saxon.*, lib. 1, art. 45, § 3; art. 51, § 2; art. 64, § 2, 3; and in *Jure feudali Saxon.*, cap. 26, § 1, "talent" is used interchangeably for pound and mark, and is said to weigh twenty solids, which a pound and mark also weigh. It is established in what meaning it is to be accepted among Gregory of Tours [401], lib. vii *Hist.*, cap. 40; Uspergens. an. 937, in *Tradit. Fuld.*, lib. 1, cap. 35; among Caesar of Heisterbach, lib. in *Miracl.*, cap. 7; in the *Epist.* of Adelbert, abbot of Heidenheim, pp. 356 and in *Vita B. Mariani*, abbot of Regensburg, cap. 4, B. 19, among Bollandus, 9 Feb. But the Chronicle of Lorsch, pp. 84, 89, and 95, writes otherwise concerning the price of a talent, where it is noted that 14 and a half talents made only 15 marks. — [Note on Michaelitas currency]: Marked by the image of the Emperor, "of the formerly reigning Lord Michael," as he says below: Michaelitas, Tyrius names in lib. ii, cap. 12: "He asks what is the sum owed, to which it is answered: 30 thousand Michaelitai, which kind of gold coin was then famous in public commerce, named after a certain Constantinopolitan emperor who had made that money significant by his own image and by the name Michael." And lib. xi, cap. 15: "It is said, however, that the sum for the pact of money was one hundred thousand Michaelitai, which money in those regions held the primacy in public commerce, as in the market of venal things." They are called *Michaelati* in the diploma of Roger, King of Sicily, an. 1133, among Ughellum in the archbishopric of Brindisi, no. 49; in another of Ralph, Count of Montescaglioso and Severina, an. 1105, among the same in the archbishopric of Acerenza, no. 1; and Leo of Ostia in *Chron. Casin.*, lib. 1, cap. 57; lib. iv, cap. 17, whose recent editor, Angelus a Nuce, and before him Brobus, did not guess well when they opined that they were so named because they bore the image of the Archangel St. Michael, and that they were such, or surely like those which we call angels. I have seen those who thought the Michaelatum was minted by Octavius Strada of Rosberg, p. 355, where it is wrongly ascribed to I know not what Michael Palaiologos, since the inscription conceived in these characters, MIXAHL S. CONSTANT., that is, Michael and Constantine, whose effigies are seen on the coin, seems to argue that it is Michael Ducas, so that the former, greater and taller, represents Michael, the other, shorter, Constantine the infant and adolescent, whom the surviving father had gifted with a crown, as Anna, lib. III, and Zonaras relate. On the reverse side of the coin a cross is seen, standing on steps, with these characters: VICTORIA AVG G. CONOB. But that I should embrace this opinion, both the images of the coins and the characters and the inscription of the reverse side itself, which are not of the age of Michael Ducas, prevent it. But rather, the coin advises that it is to be ascribed to Michael, son of Theophilus and Theodora, which is conspicuous with a similar inscription, which we elucidate in the *Familiae Orientales*. The same Strada, p. 330, offers another coin, in which three figures standing, the middle one taller than the others, with cross-bearing staves, on the right leaning on swords, with these characters: IOANN... CONSTAN, which coin, if indeed it is genuine, I would judge to be ascribed to Michael Ducas, whose name was erased; so that it was minted by him after Romanos Diogenes had been reduced to the ranks, by the work of John Ducas the Caesar, the uncle, he had again obtained the reins of the empire. From which perhaps not unwillingly Michael obtained from John that his effigy be represented on the coins, together with those of the Porphyrogennetes Michael and Constantine. But that is mere conjecture, which as for the most part in these coins of the late age of the emperors it is established must be used. As the coins of Michael Ducas were called Michaelitai, so those of Constantine Ducas, the parent of Michael, were in this age called Constantinati. Mention of these is had everywhere in the old charters, which exist in the Chronicle of the Benevento monastery of St. Sophia. One of Meinard, Bishop of Ariano, an. 1080: "To the part of the same monastery for the share of 1000 Constantinati solids to pay," etc. Another of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, an. 1075: "Or if we should not desire to remove this, eighty gold Constantinati solids, good, to the part of the same church [402] and to its rectors we bind ourselves to pay." Finally it occurs in another of Count Erembert, an. 1099, in the same Chronicle. [General note on the grant]: ...or benefit, was granted by Alexios to Bohemond, the Duchy of Antioch, Bohemond could, from the custom received in such fiefs, transfer it, either to an heir or another, to be possessed by the same conditions under which the enfeoffment was made to himself. But these things seem to fight with those which are had a little before, granted to Bohemond by usufructuary right, after his death to return to the jurisdiction of the empire. It is established that, especially in Germany, at this time this was the law of fiefs, that they depended entirely on the prince: and the first, Emperor Henry II, as Gervase of Tilbury writes in *Otiis imperialibus*, part II: "He instituted a law among the Teutons, that troops, after the manner of the Gauls and Angli, should devolve by right of succession to the nearest degrees of agnation, when previously they depended on the prince's grace."

^A Clearly, that he also should submit to the commands and will of your majesty, as a man who is loyal to the same power and the same empire and desires and agrees to the same things as I do toward you. Furthermore, from this point forward, since I have become your man and am within the circle of your power, I ought to receive an annual grant from the imperial treasuries—two hundred talents, of the standard and weight of the former emperor, the lord Michael—conveyed by some messenger of yours sent from Syria along with my letters to you, to the Queen of Cities, so that I may receive these in person. And you, the ever-venerable emperors, ^B both august and augusti of the Roman empire, will surely cherish the provisions written in the chrysobull of your pious majesty and will maintain the promises therein. As for me, by this oath, I confirm the agreements made with you concerning myself. For I swear by the sufferings of the impassible Savior Christ, and by that invincible cross which He endured for the salvation of all, and by the most holy Gospels set before me, which have captured the entire world—for I swear while holding these—and I take into my mind ^C the precious cross of Christ, and the crown of thorns, and the nails, and that lance of His which pierced the sovereign and life-giving side, that I will ever keep and preserve inviolate everything agreed upon and spoken from my mouth to you, the most powerful and holy Emperor, lord Alexios Komnenos, and to your beloved son, the co-emperor, lord John the Porphyrogennetos; and that I will continue to hold and shall hold for the future the interests of your empire, never entertaining even the slightest thought of malice or deceit towards you. But I shall remain ^D steadfast in the agreements made by me, and in no way shall I perjure myself against you, nor shall I proceed to any revocation of these promises, nor shall I devise any scheme against you, neither I myself nor those with me.

^A And we shall also put on our armor against your enemies and take up weapons and spears, and we shall extend our right hands to your friends; and I shall devise and carry out everything for the benefit and honor of the Roman Empire. So may I enjoy the help of God; so may I enjoy the cross and the divine Gospels. All those, as many as are under my authority and ^B make up the chorus of my soldiers [shall do likewise]. These things were written and the oaths were completed in the presence of the witnesses subscribed, in the month of September, in the second indiction, in the year already concluding 6617. ^C The witnesses, however, who were present and signed, in whose presence these things were performed, are these, the most God-beloved bishops: The bishop of Amalfi, Maurus; and the one of Tarentum, Renardus, and the clerics with him. The most reverend abbot of the venerable monastery of Saint Andrew in Longobardia, which is on the island of Brundisium, and two of his monks. The commanders of the pilgrims, of whom the signs were traced by them with their own hands; the names of these, however, were written by the hand of the most God-beloved bishop of Amalfi beside their signs, who also had come as an envoy from the Pope to the Emperor. ^D [alt-version omitted]

Notes of Charles Du Fresne Du Cange

^A From the imperial court: Sebastus Marinus. Roger son of Tacuterius. Peter Aliphas. William Ganza. Richard Pincerna. Geoffrey Malis. Hubert son of Graulis. Paul the Roman. Those from the Daci who came as envoys on behalf of the Kral, the kinsman by marriage of the Empire, Zupan Peres and Simon, and the envoys of Richard Siniscardus, the most noble Basil the eunuch and Constantine the Notary.

Notes by Charles Du Fresne Du Cange

(8) *Sebastus*: A title and position; it is also called Neapolitan. (9) *Rogerius Dagoberti*: Regarding this, I have written some things from Albert of Aix on page 35. For Ratbert, in book 1, *De Origine Monasterii S. Galli*, calls him Tagobertus, though other writers call him Dagobertus; this name is also observed written as such in the charters of Dagobert I, King of the Franks, in Coccius, *On Dagobert*, ch. 15, and Henschenius, *On the Three Dagoberts*, which the ancient Germans rendered elsewhere as Tayabreht, Tagaprelt, Tagebret, Tagabrhal, and Tagapret, as it is in the catalogue of proper names which Goldast copied from the codex of St. Gall. (10) *William Ganza*: Brother of Baldwin of Ghent, who accompanied Godfrey as he was journeying on the holy expedition, as Albert of Aix writes in book 1, ch. 2 and 29, and Tyrius in book 2, ch. 5. Duchesne treats of both in *Hist. Gandav.* book 1, ch. 3. But whether he is the Gislebert of Ghent, whom William of Jumièges mentions around that time (book 7, ch. 38), it is sufficiently established that he was a Gaul. (11) *Richard Pincerna*: See page 388. Furthermore, we recognize three most noble families with this surname in Gaul: the first in Picardy, the second in Burgundy, and the third in Touraine or Anjou. (12) *Geoffrey Malis*: Son of Ralph, regarding whom see page 35. Furthermore, Ralph of Loretello flourished at that time, brother of William of Altavilla, who signed the charter of Roger, Count of Sicily, in the year 1098, for the foundation of the Church of Scyllacensis in Ughellus; his son, Raymond, was living in the year 1118. Both were of the same family and lineage as the other counts of Loretello, of whom we have spoken above. Malaterra mentions Ralph in book 4, ch. 10 and 11, but I would prefer that this count, Ralph, be understood here, from whom the counts of Molise took their origin. For Peter the Deacon mentions in the *Chronicle of Monte Cassino*, book 4, ch. 25, under the year 1103, the counts of Molise, sons of Count Ralph. Si-^Cmund von Herberstein in *Comment. Rer. Moscovit.*, p. 11, and Leunclavius in *Pand. Turc.*, no. 54. (13-14) *Envoys of the Kral*: There were present in the retinue and camp of Alexius, when that peace was initiated, the envoys of the King of Hungary, who is called the *sympentherus* (father-in-law) of the Emperor, because not long before, John Comnenus, the firstborn son of Alexius, had taken the daughter of the King of Hungary as his wife, as Zonaras and Cinnamus narrate. But the King of Hungary in that year, 1108, was Coloman, whence it might follow that the wife of John was the daughter of Coloman, who ascended the throne in 1095 and died in 1114. But since Coloman had taken Busilla, daughter of Roger, Count of Sicily, as a wife only in the year 1097, as Malaterra is the author in book 4, ch. 25, and John contracted the wedding before the year 1105, having produced a son the following year, John’s wife could not have come from the marriage with Coloman, for she had scarcely reached her tenth year at the time when she first gave birth. The *Chronicle of Weingarten*, ch. 10, makes the sister of that same Coloman the wife of John. But the opinion of those who assert that she was the daughter of King Ladislaus seems more valid; among them are Cinnamus in book 1, Thwroczius (part 2, ch. 63), Bentinius (decade 2, book 4), and from these, Pistorius, who write that she was called Piroska. Cinnamus, however, attributes the name Irene to her. Thus, indeed, the Greeks were accustomed to change the names of Empresses—both the native ones and those they could not easily articulate in their own idiom—to others. But Ladislaus was the son of King Béla, nicknamed the "Gentle," and brother of King Géza, the patron of Kings Coloman and Álmos; he departed from the living in 1095, as is in the *Hildesheim Chronicle* and in Thwroczius. From these it becomes clear that it is wrongly attributed by Anna to the King of Hungary who was reigning at that time. (15) *Richard*: In the case of Richard, whose envoys were present at this treaty, having ruminated upon it often in my mind, nothing sound first appeared that could be conjectured. For no prince occurred to me at that time of such nomenclature and such dignity that he could have sent envoys and apocrisiaries to the Emperor—unless, however, Richard II, nicknamed "the Younger," Prince of Capua and Count of Aversa, is excepted, who, at that time, just like other Norman princes, held power by supreme right in that part of Italy. But there seemed to be not a few things that delayed me from immediately embracing this conjecture or opinion. For first, it can rightly be called into question whether *Rischardos* is the same as *Richardos*, that is, Richard, since that name is rendered by Anna via *Rischardos*; for example, in Richard, Count of Principatus, who signed this treaty likewise, and in Richard, brother of Hugh, on page 493. Then, I did not fully perceive what the surname *Siniscardus* meant, which, as I believe, is attributed by no writer to Richard, Prince of Capua. William of Jumièges testifies (book 7, ch. 43) that he was called "the Younger." Peter the Deacon points out the second more than once, and Richard himself in the diploma which Ughellus described in the Bishops of Puteoli thus signs himself: "We, Richard II, Prince of Capua, offspring of the noble-memory Lord Jordan, magnificent prince." But an error crept into the year, which is wrongly noted as 1135. But the name *Siniscardus* attributed to Richard of Capua is not read. Moreover, the death of Richard, which some of the writers conjecture to be in the month of January of the year 1106—consequently much earlier than this formal peace treaty—moved no small scruple. Finally, since Anna commemorates here "Basil and Constantine, most noble eunuchs and notaries," there will be no one who, at first sight, would not immediately profess that such names and titles savor of the Greek prince. Although these things seemed to be of no small moment, lest Richard of Capua...

^A should be thought by me to be the prince, I would not entirely turn away from this opinion because of the aforementioned points. For, to resolve the first knot, it is certain that *Riscardos* and *Pichardos* are the same; indeed, the count of the principality is gifted with the former, and in this other appellation by Anna (p. 398), of which the first reflects the French *Richard*, the second the Italian *Ricardo*. Now, as for the fact that it is written *Pichardos*, a slip by the scribes can be conjectured through the addition of a single element, just as in the word *Siniskartos*; for I judged that *Siniskartos* should be read, so that that noble Italian Siniscardus, by which cognomen another occurs in our Gallo-Byzantine History (bk. VIII, n. 23), might be the first of Richard's envoys. There is no firm agreement, finally, on the year in which Richard departed. ^B It is reasonable to believe he died no later than the year 1106, since in the year 1108, toward the month of June, Robert, his brother having died without issue, occupied the whole of his territory and added it to his own right, as is in the Ceccanensis Chronicle. In that very year, when this treaty was entered into between Alexius and Bohemund, it is possible that the envoys of Richard, who had recently died, were still tarrying with Alexius. Now, as concerns the Greek-style appellations and dignities attributed to Richard's envoys, everyone knows that not only did Apulia and Calabria, not long before the times of Alexius, obey the Greeks, but also that having been conquered thereafter by the Lombards and Normans, they retained the Greek language in many things, especially in dignities and palatine offices, which obtained long afterward under German and Angevin princes, as in *logothetes*, *stratigotes*, *catapans*, *protonotaries*, *sebasts*, *spatharies*, *nobilissimi*, *protonobilissimi*, *disbypals*, and other dignities of this kind, as can be seen in Ughellus, *Italia Sacra*, vol. VII, pp. 411, 412, 559, 977, 1071, etc. Finally, regarding eunuchs, Melchior Incofer thus in his *Dissertation on Eunuchism* to Allatius: "It was an ethnic custom to castrate the young; this sect flowed from the Assyrians to the Persians, from the Persians to the Greeks, and from these finally to the Latins, and today it flourishes widely in Europe; although it has not yet obtained among the northerners, who consider it base unless they are castrating brutes." ^C These points, although at first sight the opinion might not seem improbable, still did not entirely please me, since the cognomen *Siniscardus* is attributed to Richard in a single context, without any preceding comma, in Anna's work, such that Richard and Siniscardus were one and the same person. Since, therefore, I was hesitant and wavering in my mind, Richard the seneschal conveniently came to mind, who flourished in that age and was of the greatest authority among the Norman princes of Apulia, whom he touched with close affinity, to such an extent that I trust it can be believed there is no difference between *Siniscardus* and *seneschallus* or *senescalcus*. This Richard was, moreover, the son of Count Drogo, and therefore nephew, through his brother, to Guiscard, duke of Apulia, and Roger, count of Sicily. But Drogo, Richard's father, had obtained the duchy of Apulia after the departure of William Iron-Arm, his eldest brother, as is in William of Apulia, bk. II, pp. 11, 13; Malaterra, bk. I, ch. 12, 13; Orderic, bk. I, p. 472; Leo Ostiensis, bk. II, ch. 68, 73, 81; bk. III, ch. 15; and William of Jumièges, bk. I, ch. 50. Whence, in a charter of the year 1055 for the Venusian Monastery of the Holy Trinity, he is inscribed: "Duke and master of Italy and count of the Normans of all Apulia and Calabria"; in the subscription, however, he is called "imperial man," because of the supreme authority of dominion which he possessed. Richard the seneschal therefore occurs first ^D in the records of the year 1100, indiction 10, in Ughellus, among the bishops of Anglona, in which Albenda his wife and Robert his son subscribe. It is extant in the same, in the month of September, in the year 1023 of the Anna Comnena... 1027 The emperor received this written oath, therefore, from Bohemund. In return, he gave him the aforementioned Golden Bull, signed by... [alt-version omitted]

^A his own hand in cinnabar, as is the custom for the emperor.

BOOK XIV OF ANNA COMNENA'S ALEXIAD

ARGUMENTUM

PERIOCHE

ALEXIAD BOOK XIV

^A When these matters had been concluded as the Emperor had determined, Bohemund sealed the aforementioned written agreement with an oath; the holy Gospels were brought forward, as well as the spear with which the lawless ones pierced the side of our Savior, in order to confirm his faith and his will, invoking God as his witness. Under these conditions he said that he desired to return to his homeland, asking that he might advance thither having left all the forces under him to the Emperor's will and power, and requesting that he be granted winter quarters within the territory of the Roman Empire, with a liberal and plentiful supply of the necessities required for life; and when the winter had passed, and they had recovered themselves from the toils of war, he asked for the freedom to depart whithersoever they might wish. When Bohemund made these requests, the Augustus immediately granted them all; and he heaped private wealth upon him, beyond the dignity of *sebastos*, as he returned to his camp.

He was accompanied by Constantine Euphorbenus, surnamed Catacalo, partly to prevent any injury or injustice being inflicted upon him along the way by our own cohorts dispersed in various garrisons, and partly—and this was the most important reason—in order that, as Bohemund was soon to depart, he might exercise personal care for the French army, which, as has been stated, had been committed to the Emperor's providence; by designating healthy and safe camps for them, and by hearing their just requests and executing them as best he could. Having thus returned to his own men, and handed over the army to those whom the Emperor had sent for that very purpose, Bohemund boarded a ship and reached Longobardia; and dying in the sixth month ^B from that time, he paid the common debt. The Emperor, for his part, remained concerned about the Celts, and having arranged their affairs well, he turned his mind toward Byzantium. And having risen from Diabolis (for he was tenting there when he had made the agreements with Bohemund), he... toward Byzantium.

^C [alt-version omitted]

^D

Upon returning, he did not surrender himself to any leisure or relaxation at all, but rather, reflecting again on how the barbarians had utterly ruined the regions along the coast of Smyrna as far as Attalia itself, he considered it a dire thing if he did not lead these cities back to their former state, restore their initial adornment, and bring back the inhabitants who had been scattered everywhere to them. Nor, indeed, was he without care regarding the city of Attalus; rather, he felt great concern for it. Eumathius Philocales, then (a man of the most sagacious character, and one who stood out among the many not only by birth but by his intelligence; he was free in both counsel and action, faithful toward God and his friends, and as well-disposed toward his masters as anyone else—though he was absolutely uninitiated in military training, for he neither knew how to draw a bow and string even to his breast, nor how to protect himself with a shield; but in other respects he was most clever, both by applying his words and by overcoming the enemy through all kinds of ruses), ^B having stepped forward, requested from the emperor the guardianship of Attalia. The emperor, therefore, knowing the versatility of his ideas and enterprises, and the good fortune that accompanied him—whatever it is and is called; for he never faltered in the goal of any act to which he set his hand—was convinced by these things; and he gave him sufficient forces, having suggested and enjoined many things, namely, that he should perform his enterprises with prudence in all matters. He, having reached Abydos and straightway crossed the intervening strait, took possession of Atramytium. Now, this was previously a very populous city, when Tzachas, while looting along Smyrna, had utterly ruined and annihilated it. Viewing, then, the total disappearance of such a city, so that it seemed as if not even a human being had ever dwelt in it, he immediately rebuilt it and restored it to its former state; he recalled the inhabitants from everywhere, as many of the autochthones as were still surviving in the interim, and having summoned many from abroad, he settled them there and restored its former adornment. Having learned about the Turks and having discovered that they were staying at that time near Lampes, he divided a portion of the forces under him and sent them against them. ^C When they overtook them and joined a bitter battle with them, they held the victory at once. They treated the Turks so ruthlessly that they even threw their infants into boiling cauldrons, and they killed many, and having taken prisoners, they returned rejoicing to Eumathius. The Turks who had been left behind, having put on black garments and wishing to show their own people the slaughter of their kin, traversed the entire land possessed by the Turks, uttering pitiable lamentations...

and recountings of what grave evils had befallen them, moving all by their garments to pity. ^B A certain arch-satrap, Asan by name, who held Cappadocia and treated the local inhabitants as though they were bought slaves, having learned of the disasters that had befallen the aforementioned Turks, gathered his own forces; and having summoned many others from elsewhere, he marched against him with an army under his command amounting to twenty-four thousand.

But Eumathias, being a man of sharp intellect, as has been said, did not guard Philadelphia negligently, nor did he become idle once he was inside its walls, but sent out scouts in every direction. And, so that they might not be careless, he sent others besides, stirring them to watchfulness so that they might remain awake throughout the nights and keep watch over both the crossroads and the plains. Now, one of these, having caught sight of the Turkish army from afar, approached him at a run and made his report. ^C And he, being a man of sensible mind and quick to grasp what was needed, and to bring his deliberations to a conclusion in an instant, since he knew that the forces he possessed were insufficient against such great numbers, immediately commanded that all the gates of this city be secured. He ordered that no one at all be permitted to ascend to the wall, nor even to shout, nor to play the lyre; and, in short, he established the city in such a condition that it seemed entirely uninhabited to those passing by.

Asan [(19)], having reached Philadelphia and encircled the walls with his own troops, remained for three days. But since no one appeared looking out from above, and the gates remained secured by those within, and since he had no siege engines or stone-throwing machines, he concluded that Eumathias’s army was small ^D and for that reason did not worry about a sally; and, judging those within to be very weak, he turned to another path, having felt nothing but contempt for him. He divided ten thousand of his own army and sent them against Kelbianon [(20)], and ordered the others to proceed toward Smyrna.

and Nymphaion, and the remaining ones toward the Chliara and Pergamon; and having sent them all out on foraging missions, he himself accompanied those who were departing toward... The Philokales, however, having discerned the plan of Asan, sent all the forces under him against the Turks. They, pursuing those who had gone toward Kerbianon, caught them off guard, and falling upon them at the break of day, slaughtered them without mercy; they also liberated all the captives held by them, and then pursued the Turks who were departing toward Smyrna and Nymphaion. Having run them down, some from the front and others from both flanks joining battle against them, they conquered them decisively, and killing many, they also led many away as prisoners. The few who had been left behind, fleeing in their panic, fell into the whirlpools of the Maeander and were immediately drowned. This river is in Phrygia, the most meandering of all rivers, making continuous twists and turns. Emboldened by this second victory, they pursued the remainder. But it was of no use to them, for the Turks had already gotten too far ahead of them. Then they returned to Philadelphia. Eumathios, having seen these men and learned with what zeal they had fought, striving so that no one might escape their hands, amply rewarded them and promised them even greater favors in the future. After the death of Bohemond, since Tancred clung to Antioch, and considered it as belonging to himself, entirely alienating it from the Emperor, the King, observing how the oaths of these Frankish Barbarians ^B toward the city were being violated—when he himself had expended many treasures and suffered many terrible things, and had ferried those myriad-fold armies from the West into Asia, even though he was always encountering men who were most stubborn and bitter—was sending many Roman armies along with them against the Turks of Kelbianon.

^A ...and, recounting to them the terrible things that had happened to them, they urged everyone to pity and incited them to revenge. Eumathius, having captured Philadelphia, rejoiced at the success of the undertaking. ^B Being a man who was fierce, as has been said, he did not live in Philadelphia carelessly, nor did he allow himself to relax once outside its walls, but he sent out scouts everywhere and kept watch on everything. And, that those he sent might not be negligent, he sent others, and if any were found to have been asleep, he punished them, so that they remained awake all night and scoured the surroundings, both the hills and the plains. One of them, therefore, having seen the Turkish army from afar, approached in a run and brought the news. He, being a man of very quick judgment ^C and sharp in understanding what was necessary and not sluggish in giving his mind to the situation, considering that he did not have enough men for such a multitude, ordered for the city to be secured instantly at all gates, and allowed no one at all to leave the walls; nor was any shouting to be allowed, nor the sound of lyres, and, in short, he arranged the city in such a way that it seemed completely deserted to those passing by. The ^D other, Asan, having captured Philadelphia and having surrounded the walls with his own army, appeared before them for three days; but because no one from within appeared, and there were no siege engines or stone-throwing machines available to him—having supposed that Eumathius had but a small force inside—he became discouraged about the siege, and judging the exit to be of great difficulty, he turned to another path, and having passed through his own army with his mind set upon Kerdianos, [text break] he sent others as if toward Smyrna.

On the Emperor’s disquiet at the treachery of the Franks

^A When the envoys returned from thence and recounted the madness of the Kelt, the Emperor was filled with anger and could no longer be restrained; rather, he wished to set out immediately against Antioch. Having therefore gathered the most illustrious of the military rolls and all of the senatorial council, he requested advice from them all. All of them at that time advised against the Emperor’s departure against Tancred, saying that it was necessary first to make the other counts who held power in the cities surrounding Antioch submissive, and to test the intentions of the King of Jerusalem himself, Baldwin, as to whether he would be willing to assist him if he went against Antioch. And if he should learn that these were disposed to act against Tancred, then he should feel confident in his march against him; but if not, he should manage the situation regarding Antioch in a different way.

The Emperor, having approved this counsel, immediately sent for Manuel Boutoumites and another person skilled in the Latin tongue and sent them to the counts and the King of Jerusalem, having given them many instructions regarding those things about which they ought to speak to them, and especially to the King of Jerusalem, Baldwin himself. And since a supply of money to send with them was indispensable, due to the avarice of the Latins, he entrusted to Boutoumites written orders for the then-Duke of Cyprus, Eumathius Philokales, specifying how he should give them even more than they might have need of. At the same time, he commanded him to provide much money of all kinds — of every sort, type, and depiction of every kind of quality — for the gifts to the counts. And he enjoined upon those already mentioned, and especially upon Manuel Boutoumites, that they should take the money from Philokales, moor their own ships at Tripoli, and having seen the count of that place, the son of Raymond of Saint-Gilles...

^A, remind him of his father’s faith, which he kept toward the Emperor. At the same time, let them also deliver to him the imperial writings and declare to him: "It is not fitting that you should appear inferior to your own father, but rather that you yourself should maintain the same faith toward us. Know that I am already reaching Antioch to exact vengeance upon him who has kept those fearful oaths neither toward God nor toward me. You, for your part, hasten to give him no assistance, and seek to draw the counts toward our side, so that in no way may they lend support to Tancred." They arrive, therefore, at Cyprus, and having taken up the money there, and as many ships as they wished, they sail straight for Tripoli. Having moored their ships in its harbor and gone ashore, they meet Peletraus, and they delivered the message exactly as they had been instructed by the Emperor. And when they saw him to be inclined and ready for every desire of the Emperor, and declaring that he would willingly choose death for him if there were need of this, and moreover that he had come to pay him homage as soon as he ^B arrived in the regions of Antioch, with his consent they deposited the money they were carrying into the bishopric of Tripoli, according to the Emperor’s suggestions. For he feared lest, if the counts learned that they were carrying the money, they might take the money themselves and dismiss the messengers empty-handed, and then use the funds for their own purposes and for Tancred’s. They judged it necessary, therefore, that having gone empty-handed first, they should test their intentions, reporting at the same time that they had been sent by the Emperor, and promising the gift of money, and inviting them to demand it, if in any way they might choose to yield to the Emperor’s wishes, and only then to hand over the money to them. So those around Boutoumites deposited these things in the bishopric of Tripoli, as has been said. But Baldwin, having learned of the arrival of these envoys at Tripoli, ^C at once sent Simon, his own cousin, preempting their arrival with the desire for money, and summoned them to him. The envoys, having left the money somewhere under the supervision of Peletraus, followed the man who had been sent.

^A And those, having been sent by the envoys to Simon of Jerusalem, arrived and found Baldwin besieging Tyre. He welcomed them gladly ^B and treated them with every courtesy; and since they arrived around the time of the fast, he kept them with him throughout the whole of Lent while he was besieging Tyre, as has been said. The city was protected by other unbroken walls, and in particular by three outer walls ^C surrounding it in a circle. For the outermost circle enclosed the second, and this the innermost one, and a third; and they were like certain circles encompassing one another and girding the city. But Baldwin determined to break down these outer walls first, and only then to take the city; for certain breastworks, extended in front of Tyre, were obstructing the siege. He tore down the first and second zone by means of certain siege engines, and was attempting the third; he had already reached the stage of tearing down its battlements, ^D and he would have taken this one too, if he had hastened. But, thinking that he would mount the city afterwards by means of certain ladders, and having already become negligent because he held it in his hands, he fell into the siege [difficulties]—which caused saving for the Saracens.

And so, the emperor determined that it was better to make the initial attempts at a convention with a crafty nation, which was sharpened by the hope of gain, by means of empty negotiators whose words they could hear, but whose property the Gauls could neither covet nor plunder. He ordered that the hope of those men only be suspended and provoked by a generous display of huge rewards, if they were willing to swear and provide faithful obedience and useful service to the Augustus; but that these should be paid out only when they had earned them by the duties they performed or by offering suitable pledges of the faith they promised for the future. The matter itself declared how prudently the Augustus had arranged these things. The report of the envoys coming from the emperor with an immense sum of money struck Baldwin from afar; and, as is evident, the sweet scent of gain moved the man. Therefore, he immediately sent his cousin Simon to meet them (for he had already heard that they had arrived at Tripoli), so that he might invite them at length into his presence and also conduct them there dutifully. Our men gladly made use of Gallic hospitality, and having deposited the money, as it has been said, in the castle of Tripoli under the trust and care of Bertrand, who pledged himself for that very thing, they set out with Simon, who had been sent from Jerusalem, to Baldwin, whom they found besieging Tyre. He received the guests most humanely, and since they had arrived around the time of the carnival, he kept them with him through the whole of Lent in the camp at Tyre, soothing them with every token of honor and benevolence. The locality provides an opportunity here to speak incidentally about Tyre and this siege of its. That city was protected both by other walls of invincible solidity and, moreover, was fortified by the encircling move of three walls enclosing it, so that the largest circuit held the more restricted second, and this one encompassed the shortest and innermost third; all at once, like a shield arrayed against external force, they would frustrate the siege. Gallic impetus prevailed, however, and Baldwin, using certain mural engines, completely razed the first and second circuit. The force having moved to the third had already crushed its battlements and upper parts, when behold, there intervened a fatal negligence, secure in the success of the great undertakings, by which, driven into a cross-purpose, he [was] almost victorious; while it was fitting to press upon the shaken [enemy] and lean with full weight upon the tottering and faltering [walls], he was content to prepare ladders by which the soldier might reach the reduced height of the wall: while he could have razed it to the foundations, once the machines of our men had been ignited and burned by the enemy's art, and finally about the lifting of the siege, Albert of Aachen writes fully in book xii, etc.

^A And the word was mentioned in the hearing of many, reminding them of the faith which he had kept toward his father the emperor; and what is more, he had even taken the royal letters and given them to him, acting not as if from his own father, but preserving for him the same faith as he had for us. But when I, having already arrived at Antioch, ^B saw him vindicating himself as having kept inviolate those fearful oaths—neither failing God nor me, nor on the other hand delaying in the least to draw over the counts to our faith, in whatever way he might, so as to lay hold of Tancred—they set out then for Cyprus, and having taken the money there and as many ships as they wished, they sailed straight toward Tripoli. Putting in at the port of the same city, they disembarked and met with Peletramus, or rather, Bertranus, and openly set forth what they had in their mandate from the emperor. Finding him disposed and ready for every command and order of the Emperor, and even ready [to face] death, if need were, for his service, ^C and indeed he promised to obey him—nay, rather, he had already come to render him homage; as soon as he had arrived in the regions of Antioch, in accordance with his counsel, the money was deposited in the bishopric of Tripoli (26) according to the Emperor’s instructions. For it was not necessary for the counts, if they were being carried along, to consume them, but to send them back empty, and to use the money for themselves and for Tancred. Therefore, they reasoned that it was better that they, before making trial of their own judgment, should announce all that the Emperor had conveyed to them and ask them for the money, and that they should require an oath from them, if they wished to obey the Emperor’s will, and only then hand over the money to them. Those, therefore, who were with Boutoumites deposited these things in the bishopric of Tripoli as has been said. And when the one who was the nephew of Baldwin (27)—having learned about the arrival of this embassy at Tripoli—Simountes, was sent by him to summon them, those who had kept his money, with the advice of Peletramus, ^D followed the one sent... they were caught within the snares and escaped, while he who was nearby was driven far away; but they, for the time between Baldwin's carelessness became a time for them to breathe and take care. They also concoct something of this sort: while appearing to look toward peaceful treaties and sending messengers to him regarding peace, in truth, while they were negotiating for peace, they were preparing for defense, making him restless with hope, while they themselves were weaving certain machines against him. For, having observed that there was much distraction from the war and that the soldiers outside were relaxed, in one night they filled many earthen jars with liquid pitch and threw them against the machines situated by the city; when these, of necessity, shattered, such liquid was poured over the wood, and then they threw burning torches. Immediately after this, [they threw] other jars, carrying inside much naphtha, which, seizing the fire, immediately changed into an aerial flame and burned up their machines to ashes. As day began to shine, the fire also shone, rising from the wooden tortoises into the air. And those around Baldwin suffered the rewards of their sloth, repenting for what they had neglected; for the smoke and the fire taught them what had happened. Certain soldiers, six in number, who were around the tortoises, were caught; the Tyrian, that commander, seeing them, ordered their heads to be cut off, and through stone-throwing engines, he flung them into Baldwin's army. The entire army, seeing these things, and the fire, and the heads, fled with astonishment, having mounted their horses, as if terrified by those heads, even though Baldwin was riding about on all sides, calling back the fugitives and encouraging them in every way. But he was speaking to the deaf. For they, having once abandoned themselves to flight, held their course uncontrollably, and appeared swifter than any bird. And finally, the end of their run was the fortress called by the locals Ake (50); for that had become a refuge for those cowardly runners. Baldwin, having despaired of everything and [being] unwilling, followed the fugitives, and he too fled to the aforementioned city. But Boutoumites, having entered the Cypriot triremes—there were twelve of them in all—and sailing along the coast leading to Ake, overtook Baldwin there, and at that time reported everything; Ake...

^A having entered the Cypriot triremes—there were twelve all told that he had brought with him from Cyprus—he sailed along the coast leading to Tyre, where he met Baldwin and, finding him at leisure, expounded to him in person what he had in his commission from the Emperor; adding furthermore that the Emperor had already set out on the expedition to Antioch and had reached Seleucia. In truth, this was not the case; but Butumites, reckoning that such a report would further the business, wished to invent it, planning in this way to unsettle Baldwin and obtain his dismissal, as Baldwin was already weary of his long delay with him. How prudently he managed this! Not happily, at any rate. For Baldwin had been recently informed by someone exactly what the state of affairs was and where on earth the Emperor was. He had, in fact, set out for the long shore, and while checking those involved in piracy along the sea, had seized the pirate ships, and had retreated from there having fallen ill, as the narrative will show more clearly below.

Baldwin, having countered Butumites with these facts and brought him under censure as a deceiver, said: "You must come with me as far as the Holy Sepulchre; and when I have arrived there, I shall communicate to the Emperor, through my own envoys, what has seemed good to us." And so he did. For as soon as he reached the Holy City ^B he demanded of them the money sent by the Emperor. But Butumites replied: "If you yourselves promise to fulfill the oath you made when passing to him, to assist the Emperor against Tancred, you shall then receive the money sent to you." But Baldwin desired to receive the money while not wishing to assist the Emperor, but rather Tancred, and he was aggrieved at not receiving the money. For such is the character of all the barbarian race: they gape for gifts and money, but do not wish in the least to act on behalf of those for whom the money is given. Thus, having handed him mere writings, he sent him away ^C.

The envoys, having also met with Count Joscelin, who had come for the worship of the Holy Sepulchre on the day of the Resurrection of the Savior, and having spoken to him of the appropriate matters, since they saw that he was in agreement with Baldwin, they withdrew from there without success and, not having found Pletranus among the living, they demanded the money deposited by them in the bishopric. The son of that man and the Bishop of Tripoli deferred the provision of the money for the time being. But they said to them with a threat: "If you do not return the money to us, you are not true servants of the Emperor, nor do you appear to have the faith you once had in him, such as when Pletranus and his father Isangeles had it. Henceforth, you shall have neither the bountiful provision of necessities from Cyprus nor any further aid from him ^D in those parts."

^A He complained of the injury that the money was not immediately counted out. Such is the nature of these barbarian peoples: they are always gaping after profit, gifts, and payments, yet they are very unwilling to provide the things for which they were promised money. Finally, when Baldwin could achieve nothing else, he sent back the envoys who had come from the emperor with letters that had been written in a perfunctory manner. However, our people acted furthermore in Jerusalem in the emperor's name and words toward Count Baldwin, who had come to the Holy Sepulcher for the sake of worship on the day of our Lord's Resurrection; but realizing that he also was in complete accord with Baldwin, they finally departed without having accomplished anything of those things for the sake of which they had undertaken the journey. And since Bertrand was no longer found among the living, they received back the money which, as we have said, they had deposited in the episcopal palace at Tripoli.

[index: entries preserved]

[GREEK COLUMN] sea, having taken command, they gaze upon the emperor, who is at Chersonesus, and having crossed the Hellespont, they come up with the emperor. For since anxieties, like falling snow, were coming upon him one after another—on the one hand, from the sea, because the commanders of Pisa, Genoa, and Lombardy were equipping a fleet to ravage all the seaboard regions; and on the other, from the mainland, because the Amir Saïsan was already advancing against Philadelphia and the coastal regions—the emperor decided that he himself must leave the imperial city and go to a place from which he could fight on both fronts. He reaches Chersonesus, therefore. Then, having summoned his forces from everywhere, by both land and sea, he divided off a sufficient army and posted it by way of the Scamander as far as Adramyttium and the Thracesian district itself. At that time, Philadelphia had Constantine Gabras as its governor, and a force sufficient for its defense. As for the half-barbarian Monastras, of whom our account has made mention on many occasions, he held Pergamum and Chliara, as well as the small towns lying adjacent to them, and the other cities along the sea, with other leaders who excelled in military experience and daring. The emperor gave strict orders to them all to be awake at all times, and to send out scouts from every quarter to watch for the raids of the barbarians and report them to them hour by hour. Thus, having secured the situation in Asia, he turned his attention to the wars at sea, having given orders to the navies to anchor in the harbors of Madytus ^A and Coela, and to [LATIN COLUMN] ... [the passage above covers the Greek text until the end of the page segment, continuing with the Latin version] ... all the coastal regions.

The son of Bertram and the bishop of Tripoli, however, were delaying to restore the deposit. When our men insisted and warned them that, unless they restored the money, they would be failing in their duty and the oath of obedience sworn to the Augustus, and would bring upon themselves the shameful stain of infidelity if—given the examples of his grandfather Sangelis and his father Bertram, which were still fresh in everyone's memory and celebrated by all—he proved himself a degenerate nephew of the one and son of the other, an act that would go down in history as a disgrace both to him and to his counselors and curators. Nay, they were doing something that was not only dishonorable but also harmful to themselves. For since they could not be without the trade and supplies of that island, being in the neighborhood of Cyprus, they knew for certain that, unless they returned the money immediately, they would thenceforth receive no supply of grain and no help from the governor of the island, and as a result, they would inevitably perish from hunger. The ears of the Franks were closed to all these arguments.

Accordingly, our men, when they had reached the end of their rope, as they say, and had tried both entreaties and threats in vain, and were unable to persuade Bertram's son or his curators or advisers to restore the entrusted property, finally stooped to this: that the son of Bertram might keep for himself a large part of the deposited money intended by the emperor for Bertram, and by doing so, and taking the solemn oath of fidelity, he might gain the favor of the emperor. Thus the deposit of the imperial treasury was brought forth; from it were separated both money stamped in gold and silver, and precious hangings and garments of every kind, which it was established had been assigned to Bertram strictly by the Emperor’s designation. These were left to his son; but he, at the same time, duly gave the solemn oath of fidelity in the name of the Augustus according to the legal formula. The rest of the wealth, deposited at Tripoli, the envoys took, and bringing it to Eumathius in Cyprus, they purchased there generous horses from Damascus, Edessa, and Arabia itself. Then, having crossed the Syrian and Pamphylian seas, after avoiding further navigation as suspect, they made their way by a safer land route to Chersonesus, where they had learned the emperor was, and approached him. ^B The motive for the Emperor’s departure from the royal city had been the immense danger threatening the Roman state from all sides. For it was reported by certain messengers from the West that the Pisans, Genoese, and other princes of Italy were, with the utmost effort, preparing powerful fleets with which they would soon devastate all the maritime regions of the western border by sudden pirate incursions and landings. It was clear from another quarter that a fearsome and cruel barbarian war was impending from the East; for the Amir Saïsan had already set out on an expedition and was marching straight toward Philadelphia and all that region near the sea. The emperor, shaken out of the quiet of the imperial house by this sort of hail or snow of frequent and violent cares, ^C thought he must hasten to the place where he might best counter each threat. Chersonesus was chosen for this reason, to which he betook himself at the same time that he gathered from all places his land and naval forces. He ordered a suitable army, selected from these, to advance through the Scamander as far as Adramyttium and the Thracesian district itself, and to halt there. Philadelphia had at that time as its prefect Constantine Gabras, and an abundant number of troops for its protection. The half-barbarian Monastras, of whom we have spoken much above, held Pergamum and Chliara. Other forts adjacent to these, and cities situated by the sea, were under the command of other leaders who were excellent in military skill ^D and courage.

^A He arranged for these to keep watch over the straits between them without sleeping, making occasional sorties by means of light dromedary ships, and to keep watch over the paths of the sea without ceasing, expecting the Frankish fleet; and to guard those sailing past the islands, not even overlooking the situation around the Peloponnese, but to maintain a sufficient guard there too. ^B Since he wished to delay in those parts, he had some temporary dwellings constructed in a convenient site where he spent the winter. When the fleet that had been prepared from Longibardia and the remaining regions weighed anchor and began its voyage, the leader of these, having divided his forces, sent five biremes with the intention of capturing some men to learn about the Emperor’s situation. ^C When they had already reached Abydos, it happened that only one of these returned to the one who had sent them, while the others were captured with their rowers. Through this ship, the leaders of the fleets already mentioned learned about the Emperor: that he had secured everything on the sea and on the mainland with precision, and was spending the winter at the Chersonesus, so that he might encourage everyone; and because they were not able to fight against the Emperor’s machines, they turned their rudders and steered a different course. ^D One of the Celts from among those with the leaders took his own swift galley and went off toward Baldwin, and finding him besieging Tyre, he narrated everything regarding the Emperor just as the account has already shown, having left, I believe, with the consent of those leaders, including how the Roman fleet had anticipated and captured the scouting dromedary ships, as has been told. But indeed, he also confessed this without blushing: that the leaders of the Celtic fleet, having learned that the Emperor was thus prepared against them, turned back, thinking it better to return without having accomplished anything than to fight against the Roman fleet and be defeated. That Celt, therefore, spoke these things to Baldwin, being in a state of terror and still fearing the Roman fleet. These, then, are the events that befell the Celts at sea.

^A But neither by land were the winds and storms without concerns for the Emperor, nor was he free from anxieties. For a certain Michael from Amastris, who was guarding Acrunus, having meditated a rebellion, seized the place and was cruelly plundering the surrounding regions. Upon learning this, the Emperor sent George Decanus against him with a sufficient force. When George had besieged the place for three months, he captured that city and promptly sent that rebel to the Emperor. The Emperor entrusted the guard of the fortress to another man, while he himself, having shot angry glances at the rebel and having uttered many threats against him, and having even pronounced a sentence of death upon him in the man’s eyes, threw him into a great terror. But the fear of the soldier was quickly dissolved. For the sun had not yet set beneath the horizon when the prisoner stood free, and he who had been condemned to death had obtained countless gifts. ^B Such did my father the Emperor appear in all things, and he reaped much ingratitude from all men afterwards—just as the first benefactor, the Lord, once did, raining manna in the wilderness, feeding the people on the mountains, and leading them across the sea without their getting wet, only to be later repudiated, insulted, struck, and finally condemned to the cross by lawless men. But as my account reaches this point, a tear springs forth, and I am frantic to speak about these matters and to create a catalogue of the ungrateful, but I restrain my tongue and my throbbing heart. And I say this to myself continuously, quoting the poet: "Endure, my heart; you have endured something even more shameful than this." ^C But such are the things concerning that ungrateful soldier. As for the troops sent by Sultan Saisan from Khorasan, some were descending through the regions of Sinaüs, while others were going through that part of the continent properly called Asia. When Constantine Gabras, who was then guarding Philadelphia, learned of this, he took up the forces under his command, intercepted them at Cerbianum, and was the first of all to loose his reins upon them—having also ordered the others to do this same thing—and he routed the Barbarians. The Sultan who had sent them, having learned of the defeat of such a great number, sent messages to the Emperor regarding ^D...

peace and began to negotiate. The legates confessed that their master had long desired to see peace established between the Muslims and the Romans. This was indeed true; for this prince, having for a long time heard of the successes of Alexios Augustus, and how wisely and bravely he had conducted himself against enemies of every kind, and how he had extricated himself from the greatest straits and dangers by his virtue and counsel, had been gradually occupied by a superior opinion and a certain veneration for the man. When the recent experience of the clash at his own threshold was added to this—from which, as they say one judges the garment by the fringe and the lion by his claw, it was possible to understand what this whole war would be like and with what fortune it would be waged—there could be no further delay for the Sultan in turning his mind and thought toward the counsel of peace with the Emperor.

When, therefore, the legates from Persia had arrived, the Emperor took his seat upon his high throne. All the Praetorians, of every tongue and race, were arranged in their order around him in a formidable display; nor were there wanting those of even more frightening appearance, the Barbarians armed with axes on their shoulders, arrayed in a perpetual line in their places. Through these faces and threatening, gleaming arms, the Persian legates were led a long way to the imperial throne. ^A Then Augustus asked them what the situation and the time required regarding the Sultan, and having heard in turn what they brought, he indicated that it also pleased him that a fair and firm peace should be made between the Persians and the Romans. He proceeded then to inquire what the Sultan requested. His demands were recited by the legates. Augustus immediately saw that there were some things among them that were of little advantage to the Roman state. He therefore turned his eloquence, in which he was very powerful, to this, so that he might take away their stubbornness in insisting upon those points. He offered many excuses in this matter, gave much advice, and with many things being commemorated in various ways—and adapted artfully and ingeniously to his own case—they were at length overcome, so that, according to the power they had of modulating matters from present knowledge, they would not cling stubbornly to those conditions for the Roman Empire, but would allow themselves to be led into the Emperor's opinion by relaxing them.

Having expressed this consent, the Persians were dismissed and led into a tent prepared for them in a spacious and comfortable manner; Augustus, upon their departure, instructed them to reflect there at leisure on that first conversation which had been held on both sides, promising that if, indeed, they should persist in an opinion and consider that they ought to persevere with all their heart and soul in those things that they had declared seemed fair to them, the peace for which they had come to negotiate would be absolved and firmly established on the very next day. Everything the Emperor said seemed to please them wonderfully. Nor did the night change their counsel. On the following day, with the legates being fully willing and striving for it, the meeting was concluded upon certain laws and the negotiation of the concord was brought to a successful outcome. The laws of such a peace were of a kind that it was sufficiently apparent that by no means at that time ^B

did the Emperor look to his own private sweetness, but, as he always used to do, he looked to the common utility of the State and the majesty of the Roman scepter; a great happiness, indeed, for us and for all time, destined to be propagated for later generations, had that most salutary concord lasted. But a fatal force intervened, and with this man removed from human affairs, by the fault of those who succeeded him, the world and the Roman republic took a far different turn. Other counsels, other outcomes; and most disturbed times followed in place of this most solidly founded peace, which, just as it had absolved all our earlier miseries, so it promised to posterity, could it but have been retained, tranquility for all time. It seemed otherwise to the Powers above; with Alexius removed, the hope and public safety were likewise taken away; and this attempt of his at a blessed posterity, with matters thrown into confusion once he was gone, was rendered void by the imprudence of those who handled the reins of empire abandoned by him with skill not equal to his own.

^B Let us return to the Frankish fleet, whose leaders, when it was learned for certain that they had abandoned the thought of tempting the Roman domains—a decision reached because of the discouragement felt by those who, from that first reconnaissance of which we spoke, had returned with only a few survivors out of the five dromons, having reported that the Roman fleet was firm and numerous, and that the Emperor himself, with courageous spirit and well prepared against any force whatsoever, was awaiting the enemy near Chersonesus—when, I say, it was sufficiently established to the Emperor that the Gauls, struck by these reports, turned their hopes and cares elsewhere and that no danger was imminent from them at that time, then he truly believed it mature to move to a location more convenient for the winter. Calliopolis was chosen for this, and when he betook himself there, he had my mother the Augusta at his side; for to follow the camp and to live abroad was for her a primary and necessary cause, of which we have often spoken, the service to be rendered to her husband during the grave disease of the feet from which he suffered. At Calliopolis, the Emperor was, as it were, on alert for the whole time during which the Latin fleets are accustomed to traverse those seas; that time having at last elapsed, now secure, he returned to the royal city.

He had not rested there for long when he was roused by the alarmed reports of a huge incursion of Turks from all the regions of the East, even from Corosane itself, numbering up to fifty thousand men converged. ^C It was indeed the fate of my father that he could not live, not even for a moment in the whole time of his principate, free from care and labor. Thus, others constantly sprang up from others as enemies; wars arose from one after another. A new danger is met with new counsels. The Emperor calls all the Roman militia to himself from every quarter; and having conjectured the time, the season which was customary for these Barbarians, as had long been observed, to make their incursions against the lands of the Christians, he decided to anticipate them by hastening his expedition and to go out to meet them. He therefore crossed the strait that lies between Damalis and Byzantium; nor did the pain of his feet, which grew severe during those days, deter him from the task. It might seem strange that Alexius was seen to be so persistently afflicted by this disease. For no one, in going over the domestic memory of his ancestors, could encounter a similar case.

for the malady to be considered a hereditary condition transmitted as if by some seed. Nor, again, did he ever abandon himself to a soft and voluptuous life, so that luxury and intemperance could plausibly be assigned as the cause of this infirmity. I, however, shall disclose the true origin of this disease, as I have discovered it. He was once riding a horse, and was turning it in a circle, expertly guiding it through all the maneuvers and patterns of the art of horsemanship, with Taticius as his companion in this sporting exercise—the very man of whom frequent mention was made by us in the preceding books. Then, that same Taticius, perhaps carried away by the violent impetuosity of the horse, was borne off, and his whole weight was thrown across the Emperor; from which impact, the node of one of his knees was severely bruised, and it not only pained him, but by the association of the parts and the continuity of the nerves, it propagated an acute pain throughout the whole foot. Yet, as he was remarkably fortified with military patience against the sensation of annoyances, he disregarded it for the present, and having waited only for a short while, until, with the application of some light and perfunctory curative remedy, the pain seemed to be soothed a little, he immediately returned to his customary occupations and exercises. This was the first onset of that malady for him, which weighed more heavily upon his later years. For the pains of the parts attract an influx of humors into them. ^B The second cause of this infirmity for the Emperor was the same as that which served as the cause of other great ones, and was thus most manifest and known to all: the passage of the innumerable Gallic armies and the infinite multitude of them flowing together from all sides at one and the same time, by whom the imperial city was surrounded and infused. Who could sufficiently describe how many waves of cares from that source carried off and agitated the mind of the Emperor? He saw, for he was a man of excellent perception and one intensely studious of the public welfare, that he and his people were surrounded. He saw that all things were being widely encompassed and occupied by an irresistible influx of armed men, a multitude exceeding, as they say, the number of the stars and the sand: men whose unbridled desires as private individuals, and the ill-concealed ambition of their leaders—whose designs, while wearing the pretext of religion, were transparently dreaming of the invasion of the Roman Empire—announced nothing milder than the supreme ruin of the Roman state. But with what power, or with what providence, was he to meet such a danger? By arming and leading out the Roman militia, perhaps? First, such a force was so small that, even if it were to assemble in its entirety, it could not equal in number even one single portion of the Gallic troops; and then, ^C so variedly—

^A and widely dispersed, and so occupied with necessary duties, that it seemed neither quickly, without a miracle, nor ever, without peril—or rather, certain destruction—could they be brought together into one place. Indeed, some of the Roman soldiers held the narrow mountain passes through Serbia and Dalmatia, those obstacles of the empire, with garrisons; others stood over against the Ister, exposed to the Comans and Dacians, who were incessantly meditating incursions; others, and these the most numerous, were kept on that frontier in most useful watch positions by the guard of Dyrrhachium, which was endangered by the Gauls. Seeing these things, considering these things, what else could the Emperor do but direct all his efforts toward procuring their safety, while managing the rest in the meantime? The neighboring Barbarians were, in secret, giving birth to hidden frauds and robberies, and preparing their accustomed wars, all of which was known to the Augustus. But because he had decided to devote his entire vigilance to the Gallic crisis, he preoccupied the leaders of the Barbarians with gifts and honors, and by that price redeemed security from that source of danger. ^B He then turned his whole mind and every aspiration to restraining the violence of the Gauls and containing their cupidity from rendering injury. Although, even then, the treachery of those among his own men who were conspiring and preparing open defection forced him to look elsewhere. Nor was this caution, if the truth be told, any easier, whether because of the difficulty of discovery or the anxiety of distrust. Nevertheless, he was prepared and always met these threats; as if manifold, he was enough for all things, though who could tell through what tribulations and how many labors this unremitting watch, this ability of his prudence to twist and shape itself to the uses of all occasions, cost him? As for the Gauls properly (for these, as I said, he decided must be watched most of all, and like a skilled physician, while neglecting no part of the malady, he judged that the part which pressed more dangerously required more attentive treatment)—as for the Gauls, I say, he spent his entire days hearing and addressing them. You would have seen the Augustus at the very first rising of the sun sitting upon his throne, having granted, through his own men, the power to all the Gauls to approach him; for he considered that to know immediately from their own lips what they were thinking and what they desired, with his sagacity of suspicion exploring even beyond their words to their innermost intentions, was especially useful for the governance of affairs at such a time, and that the task of persuading them of what was necessary, and recalling them from designs harmful to the Roman state, should be undertaken by himself—either from confidence in his own outstanding faculty of speech and skill in handling minds, or because fewer others were available who seemed to possess enough loyalty, art, and authority for that task. Furthermore, the Gallic counts, being by no means modest and especially loquacious, made use of this opportunity; and whenever any number of their retinue pleased, they would approach the Emperor with that hard, unyielding mouth of theirs and a lofty brow, and dull his ears with an insatiable verbosity, for which the familiar and almost natural hunger for money, which is innate to that race, provided a never-failing subject; as did their keen and irrevocable impulses toward everything they coveted—a gift in which the Gallic race excels above all others. In this way, he who had entered first in a tumultuous manner and without reverence, when he had most idly blathered whatever had come into his mouth, another would be present to succeed him without delay; and a third, a fourth, and many more would take his place. In turn, they would proceed to overwhelm the miserable Emperor with a certain flood of infinite and rather disorderly speech, giving him no space to breathe. For they did not measure their time of speaking by the water-clock, as was formerly prescribed for orators, but any one of them, even from the common run, thought it his right to converse with the Emperor for as long as he pleased. The men who knew neither the measure of acting nor of speaking usurped this—such that, with no regard for the majesty present, no heed of the passing hour or of the weariness manifested in the countenances and looks of the bystanders, they would cling to their place, persisting and repeating their petitions; nor did they yield their place to others out of consideration, but only out of satiety. ^C The loquaciousness, the prying nature, and the triviality of the speech of these men are known to all who care to ponder the characters of men. But as for those who were present at that time, experience taught them more accurately. For when evening closed in, the Augustus, having been without food through the whole day, yet ^D remains…

^A rising from his throne, turning towards the royal quarters. But not even then was he freed from the molestation of the Celts; for one preceding another—not only of those who had been left out of the daily audience, but even of those who had returned again, setting forth other and yet other pretexts for discourse—he stood unmoved, enduring such intolerable babbling, surrounded by the Celts. And it was possible to see how, in response to the objections of all, he readily formulated answers to each one; but there was no end to their untimely chatter. Whenever any of the officials ^B attempted to restrain them, he was stopped by the Emperor. For he knew the naturally aggressive character of the Franks, and he feared that from a small pretext a great spark of scandal might be ignited, and from this a great injury would result to the Roman state. And it was, in truth, a most paradoxical sight; for just as a hammered statue, or one crafted from some bronze or cold-wrought iron, he stood all night long, often from evening until night, and often even until the third cock-crow, and sometimes even until the very clear rays of the sun; while all others, having grown weary, often shifted positions to rest themselves and then entered again, grumbling. From this, no one of those with him could endure such a steady, unwavering physical posture, but all kept shifting about, one at one time and another at another, and one would sit down, another would lie sideways leaning his head, another would support himself against the wall; the Emperor alone remained implacable before such great toil. And who indeed could reach a description of his endurance? For the discussion being of ten thousand men, each spoke much, and was excessive in speech, according to Homer. One, having departed, handed over the talking to another, and he sent it on to someone else, so to speak. The Emperor was also concerned with placing officials ^C in charge of public affairs. Leontius, indeed, as an official for his private concerns, was entrusted with the service of being a mediator. But with Cydones also present, who always spent time inside the palace, not only because of the benevolence which he reaped in great measure from the Emperor, but also because, as a mediator in affairs, he had the necessity of always being with the Emperor night and day. Mediators, Grand Mediator, Intermediaries. Only those of this kind know how to gratify the temper of this race, and are in their nature inclined to yield to those whom he thus commands with anger.

^A And then again, this man would pass to another. And so the standing lasted in these variations. He, however, kept up the standing without end until the first or second cock-crow. Resting but a little, when the sun rose again, he would sit upon his throne, and again other toils and double struggles would succeed those of the night. It is from this cause, therefore, that the pain in the emperor's feet took hold. From that time on, until the end, at certain intervals of time the flow would come on, bringing with it a watery pain. He was so steadfast that he never uttered a word of complaint, but bearing what he suffered worthily, he would say: "These things happen to me deservedly on account of the multitude of my sins." And if at any time a word of discouragement escaped his lips, he would immediately use the sign of the cross against the hateful demon, saying, ^B "Flee from me, evil one; woe to you and to your machinations against the Christians!" But of the pain in his feet, let what we have said for now suffice. But if someone had a share in this disease, and from the cup full of bitterness mixed for him—as we have intimated in a few words, so as not to say the whole thing—also increased the pains, although the empress, by smearing the cup with honey, contrived for most of the evils to slip away, being an unsleeping guardian of the emperor, let this one too be brought into the discourse, and let it be a third cause of the emperor's disease, not only a predisposing one, but also a most cohesive one, according to the sons of the physicians; for he was not absent from having struck [him] once for all, but was present and accompanied him, as the most evil of the humors do in the vessels; or rather, if one looked into his nature, it was not only a cause of disease, but also directly a disease and a most heavy symptom.

But it is necessary to restrain the tongue and hold back the speech concerning these things, to bite the bit and not run over the margins of the highway, even if one is most eager to leap upon the most criminal of men; for the time for me to lay up the things concerning this shall wait for its proper occasion. Let the narrative hold to the account of the Celts. ^A The Emperor was encamped at Damalis—for the narrative left him having crossed over to there—and all streamed toward him immediately like snow, crossing over to him where he was waiting, both expecting the arrival of all, and hoping to soothe that violent pain. Having already seen the moon becoming full, since the Augusta was also present taking care of the pain in his feet and lightening his pangs through every kind of care, he said: "If at any time the Turks wished to sally out for plunder, the time is now very ^B suitable, and I am already vexed having lost the proper time." He said this in the evening, but at early dawn the eunuch who was occupied around the bedchamber of the emperors entered and reported the incursion of the Turks toward Nicaea, and showed a writing from Eustathios Kamytzes who was guarding the area at that time, explaining the situation regarding them. The Emperor, not waiting even a little, nor delaying at all, but as if forgetting the pain that was holding him fast, took hold of a carriage leading toward Nicaea, ^C holding with his right hand the account, according to the text (47). The soldiers at that time, taking up their spears, went along in ranks on either side; and some ran past him, others escorted him, and others followed, rejoicing with him that he was setting out against the Barbarians, yet grieved because of the pain that prevented him from riding on horseback. But he urged everyone toward confidence with nods and words, smiling sweetly at them and addressing them. Within three days he reached a certain place called Aigyllos (48), from ^D where he intended to sail across to the Kibotos. The Augusta, seeing him pressing on with the crossing, having bid him farewell, was going towards the Queen of Cities. Upon the Emperor reaching the Kibotos, someone approaches him saying: "holding a discourse in his right hand." And in his right hand [he held] the omophorion-like image of the Mother of the Word, according to the account.

^A ...durance, often until midnight, and sometimes until the third cock-crow, or even until the dawning of the rising sun, the Emperor offered his ears, his mind, and his voice to the infinite succession of matters, being to all objects always sufficiently composed. Clearly, for no one among the courtiers could endure the continuous standing, and many would steal away to lie down in secret places, intending to rest a little, [though] not for long, nor out of any duty compelling them, but by the necessity of the office and by shame they remained; others would take turns at standing and changing posture, while some sat here and there; others, overcome by extreme weariness and the temptation of sleep, would lean against the solid couch; and finally, some were not wanting who used the wall as a fulcrum for their reclining bodies, relieved of their burden; yet in the meantime, the Emperor appeared perpetually fresh, from which the firmness of his chest and the incredibility of his endurance were sufficiently clear. ^B All around, the crowds were fermenting with varied tumult; the multitude was seething in a great mass; all were babbling together, every man for himself, and, as Homer says, they were murmuring in a confused din, or rather, they were shouting without restraint. As individuals were called up to speak, others would depart, and when they had exhausted the long colloquy with their words, they were succeeded by others no less talkative. Therefore, there was no respite or interval for them; they had to stand in their places from the first light until the next cock-crow. Then, having tasted a moment of sleep, just as the sun was rising, he would return to the throne and proceed to the business of the previous day, ^C and the same continuous labor of the night would appear to those who were already exhausted as twice as heavy to the feeling of experience. This cause, in particular, stressed and confirmed the Emperor’s pain in his feet, which thereafter did not cease until the end, with the air at certain intervals flowing into it, and from the flux of humidity, he was always in pain, the sense of which he always bore with remarkable patience; though he disguised it, one never heard him complain, nor did he utter a single word by which it might seem that he was blaming the divine Numen. Yet, one could hear him repeatedly saying: "I am worthy to suffer these things; it happens to me justly because of the multitude of my sins." And if, at times, because of the vehemence of the pain, an indication of infirmity or abjection of spirit was forced from his lips as he struggled to bear it, he would immediately use the sign of the cross against the execrable demon, saying: "Flee, you wretch; woe to you and your machinations against the Christians!" Thus far concerning the pain in his feet which plagued the Emperor in his final years; let it be enough spoken to us. But whether some symbol of malignant power was also added to the cause of this disease, or if that full crater of bitterness was mixed [with something else]? Indeed, I confess to having overheard a few things, as if suggested by timidity; but these, which are not even necessary to add to the things already recorded—what profit would it be, unless it were to stir up and exacerbate that most bitter pain? ^D Although the Empress herself was not wanting, anointing the crater with honey, and being efficient, as if to say the things that were sliding on a slippery path—but most of the evils fell into ruin from being anticipated by ambushes, before they could reach what they were seeking—yet, bearing no small fruit of that sharp and sleepless care with which she watched assiduously for the health of the Augustus. Nevertheless, since it was difficult to avoid the inconveniences that were encroaching from all sides, and indeed, human providence could bring little aid, we add also this third cause of the grievous disease that afflicted the Emperor—a cause not brought in from the outside and reaching from afar, but deeply lodged and profoundly conceived in the bowels and in the inmost marrow: for the students of medicine were accustomed to distinguish these two kinds of causes in investigating the origins of diseases. Long, I say, had he been absent from the Augustus...

^A, having safely escaped, they did not forget Camytzes, but were constantly lying in wait for him. And having learned that he was still lingering at Aorata and distributing all the booty and the captives, immediately they drew up their forces by squadrons and fell upon him at the morning watch. Now, the greater part of Camytzes' army, seeing such a multitude of Barbarians rushing in upon them, thought that flight was their only means of salvation. He himself, however, with the Scythians, the Celts, and as many of the Romans as were more stout-hearted, fought with enthusiasm. And at that time, most of these fell. But Camytzes, left with only a few, still held his ground in the battle. But his horse, on which he was riding, was struck a mortal blow and was thrown to the ground. His nephew, named Cataroden, dismounting from his own horse, gave it to him. But the man was heavy and large, and he could not easily mount the horse; and for this reason, drawing back a little and leaning himself against an oak tree, and drawing his sword, having lost all hope of salvation, he struck at those of the Barbarians who dared to engage him, hitting them on their helmets, shoulders, and very hands, and did not give way. When the Barbarians saw him holding out for a long time and killing many and wounding many, marveling at the man's boldness and admiring his constancy, they wished for this reason to effect his safety. The chief satrap, Muchumet by name, who had known him long before and recognized him then, checked those who were fighting against him, and dismounting from his horse, approached with those he happened to have with him and said: "Do not prefer death to your own safety, but give me your hand and be saved." Seeing himself surrounded by so many and no longer able to withstand such numbers, he gave his hand to Machumet. And he, having put him on horseback, bound his feet so that he could not easily escape. But they continued fighting.

and it happened that the same man was both pursuing and being pursued. For the Barbarian around Machumet

^A Thus far for what befell Eustathius. But the emperor, having conjectured the path by which the Barbarians were to pass, turned another way, and passing through Nicaea and Melagina, and through those places called the Basilika (these are gorges and difficult paths, situated around the summits of Olympus), he descended to the place called Alethina, and there occupied Acrocus, hastening to anticipate the Turks from the front and thus stoutly join battle with them. But they, not having any consideration at all in their mind for the Roman army, occupied the reed-bed situated along the gorge and lay spread out there. When it was announced to the emperor, as he was moving against them through the plain of the gorge, that the Barbarians had occupied the gorge at some considerable distance, he stationed the army in the place of battle and, having drawn it up, placed Constantine Gabras and Monastras in the front, and having stationed the army in squadrons on either side, he gave the rearguard to Tzipureles and Ampelas, men who had possessed great experience in war for a long time; and ruling the center of the battle line himself, he threw whole phalanxes into confusion, and thus, falling like a thunderbolt upon the Turks, he joined a fierce battle with them. Many of the Barbarians were killed at that time, as the fighting was hand-to-hand; and many were led away as captives. ^B But those who had taken refuge in the reed-bed remained safe for the time being. The emperor, having won a brilliant victory over them, turned towards the reed-bed and hastened to drive them out of there as well. The soldiers, due to the marshy and dense nature of the reed-bed, were unable to enter and were in a state of helplessness. And he, having surrounded the reed-bed with the soldiers, ordered them to set fire to a part of the reed-bed. This having been done, the flame rose to a great height. And those who were fleeing the fire within fell into the hands of the soldiers; and of these, some were consumed by the sword, and others were led to the emperor. ^C Thus far regarding the Barbarians who had descended from Karme. But the Emir Machumet, having learned of the disaster which had befallen the Muslims from Karme, immediately marched behind the king, having joined himself with the Turcomans who were living throughout Asia and the rest. So that then ^D

it happened that the same [king] was both pursuing and being pursued. For those barbarians with Machumetes were tracking the emperor and pursuing him; but he was following those coming from Karme, so that he was caught in the middle of both. But he had already overcome the former, though the pursuers were still untouched by harm. When Machumetes suddenly fell upon the rear guard of the emperor, he encountered Ampelas first. The latter, being in the emperor's wake and consequently emboldened all the more—and he was a man bold by nature—did not wait even a little ^A so as to receive the attack of the Turks in good order, but rushed against Machumetes. Tzipureles was also following, and since he was near a certain old village and his soldiers had not yet caught up, Machumetes, being very steady, overtook them; and having struck the horse of Ampelas, though not the rider, with a javelin, he threw it to the ground. Seeing this, the Turks who were nearby surrounded him on foot and killed him. But also seeing Tzipureles ^B recklessly standing against them, they feathered the horse on which he was riding with arrows as if it were winged, made him dismount, and immediately killed him with the sword. But those soldiers guarding the rear, whose duty it was to protect the weary among those carrying the baggage and to guard the horses, and to drive back those who charged against them as best they could, seeing the Turks that had overtaken them, rushed against them and routed them completely. Now, Camyzes, who as we said above was at that time a captive and in chains in those Turkish ^C camps, was present having seen the confusion that occurred in the clash of battle; and seeing some fleeing and others pursuing, being a man of steady mind, he seized the opportunity he had long been awaiting to end his captivity and took to flight. As he was just entering the road, a certain armored Celt encountered him and gave him his horse; having mounted it, he was quickly brought to the emperor, who had pitched camp and was tarrying on a plain near an ^D narrow valley situated between Philadelphia and Acrocus, which was very wide-stretching, so much so that it was sufficient for many armies to be contained at once. It is incredible how

it brought joy to the emperor to see Camytzes; he received with immense congratulation and an equal manifestation of affection the return of a man of such great fame and fidelity, and one particularly dear to him. And when he had performed the thank-offerings to God which were owed for the miraculous salvation of a most beloved comrade, he ordered him to hurry post-haste to the city, so that he might be the messenger there of what he had seen and what he had suffered. "Report also to our people," he said, "that we are well and alive." But this joy at the return of Camytzes was straightway swallowed up by an immense grief, with which the emperor’s mind was deeply afflicted by the sad news arriving at the same time concerning the most miserable slaughter of Tzipureles and Ampelas. Nor could the consolation of those saying that bitter things were compensated by joyful ones avail, for the Augustus, surrounding himself in his grief, would meet them thus: "We receive one, we have lost two; there is abundant cause for lamentation, and it is right that our joy be exceeded by our pain by twice as much." Emperor Alexius was by nature more sensitive to the loss of his soldiers than can be believed. So much so that if, upon the completion of some war by a brilliant victory, he had found upon reviewing the rosters as he was accustomed that any soldier had been captured or killed, even if he had most splendidly routed entire and numerous enemy armies, he could not rejoice in his heart, such distress intervening; since he deemed any trophy, however ample or glorious, won at too high a price if only the head or blood of a single common soldier had been spent in it; so much so that he would consider such a victory as nothing, and regard it as a Cadmean one, more harmful than useful. Having settled these matters there, and having appointed to the guard of that region George Lebounes and other commanders, to whom he left the forces he had with him, he himself returned to the royal city as a victor. Camytzes had preceded him, as we have said, by being sent ahead; having boarded a ship, he reached the straits about the middle of the night's watch. He approached the upper palace, where he had learned the Augusta was staying, and knocked at the gate adjacent to the shore. When the guards inside asked who it might be, he was at first unwilling to reveal his name, but commanded that the gates be opened to him immediately. But when the janitors persisted that whoever he might be, he must declare his name if he desired to be admitted at such an hour, he finally confessed that he was Camytzes, and was at once introduced; and he was received by the Augusta—who even then, with a certain premonition, was anticipating joy in her mind from a happy messenger—outside the door of the bedchamber in a place that has long been called the Aristerion. ^A There, initial wonder struck their eyes at his strange appearance: because the Roman was wearing Turkish attire, and because Camytzes, whom all knew to be accustomed to walking uprightly, was now limping on both feet, evidently from wounds received in the battle. Nevertheless, the empress asked nothing before inquiring about the emperor, and then she ordered the man to be seated; and as he soon recounted everything, ^B he then set forth the events to all.

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange

mention of that miraculous and unexpected victory of the Augustus, and of the most sudden liberation of the strenuous commander—whom she now beheld with wonder, truly freed, though he had been a wretched captive—she was filled with such joy that she could neither conceal her delight nor find signs sufficient to celebrate it. She ordered Camytzes to rest until daybreak, and then to go forth and proclaim to all, wherever he went, the news he brought. He did as he was commanded, and rising at the first light, mounting whatever horse was first at hand to him in his haste, he proceeded to the Forum of Constantine and appeared in public, wearing those very garments in which, by a miracle, he had escaped from the bonds of Turkish servitude. This unusual attire of a well-known man stirred the entire city to a state of care and interest, concerned to know what this matter was, or what it meant, or what news a man who was a citizen by birth, yet a Barbarian in his signs, might bring—he who was visibly presenting himself, having recently come from the army and the Augustus. Since, for a long time, nothing had been heard of these things, there was a great public desire in the city to know how the safety of the Emperor and the general state of affairs fared. ^B Therefore, in a short time, a great crowd having gathered around him from every side, with the number of horsemen and footmen constantly increasing, Camytzes began in a loud voice to set forth all the accidents of the war, the fortune of the Roman army, the designs of the Augustus, and the most prudent manner in which he had conducted the campaign against the Barbarians, and finally his own brilliant victory, by which he had most abundantly avenged himself upon the Turks; and after all this, he added the story of his own most unexpected escape from the bonds of the Barbarians. The entire multitude gave voice to their great joy at these things, and the sound of their acclamations and applause was raised even to the heavens, nor did the rejoicing cease in the forum. The report passed from there into the streets and houses of the city, and the conversation of all gathered around this one subject, celebrating and proclaiming the heroic deeds of Alexios Augustus. Such honor did not fall to him undeservedly. For if anyone truly considers how great a harshness of fortune then pressed upon the Roman state; how many most vehement crises of deadly occurrences and hostile perils encountered it; and, in short, what a deluge of evils continuously flooded it from every side throughout the entire epoch of his reign: surely he will easily conclude that the virtues of the man must not have been of an ordinary kind; that he was not, I say, merely prudent, sharp, and strenuous in a common way, but that he excelled in the highest degree of those virtues, for so it was required, that he might either turn aside or break through such a great force of impending dangers by his counsel or by his spirit, especially since his virtue seemed to gain strength from adversity, ever emerging mightier from every struggle of fortune, even to the point of being moved to provoke it voluntarily.

Equally, as I revolve the memory of the annals in my mind, ^C I think I shall speak the truth when I say that no one of the Roman princes who held the reins of empire before Alexios was exercised by so many and so various kinds of calamities, whether you consider the inextricable perplexities of his affairs, or the savage manners and bitter natures of the men with whom he had to deal—whether citizens or foreigners, at home or in war. And this misfortune, and as it were the fate of my father, I do not attribute to the cycles of the stars, nor to the secret necessity connected to the natal constellations: but I attribute it either to the wise providence of God, who justly permitted the Roman state to suffer, because it was necessary that it should be so, or to the imprudent negligence of the preceding princes, whose carelessness, continued over a long time, had gathered—bit by bit and, as it were, drop by drop— ^D a crowd of troubles, and a sea-like agitation of affairs had surged together during the times of the reign of my father. For at the same time, the Scythian from the North, the Celt from the West, and Ismael from the East had risen in rebellion, not to mention the dangers by sea, aside from those Barbarians who held the sea, aside from the countless pirates…

ships which in part the ancient hatred and raging wrath of the Saracens against us had fashioned, and in part the avarice of the Vetones and their never-sufficiently-hidden envy of the Roman Empire had constructed. ^A For since the Roman state holds dominion over the rest of the nations by long-established custom, it happens by nature that they all look upon it with askew eyes; and, by the common manner and condition of those in servitude who are always hostile to their masters, they turn away in silent hatreds if they can do nothing else; or, if any hope should shine forth or opportunity for injury should present itself, they eagerly turn their power toward the occasion of doing harm; and by maritime piracy as well as terrestrial incursions, each one for its own part rushes headlong into its destruction. I know that the reigns of those who held the helm of the Roman state before my father were also exercised by dangers of this kind. But these were most light in comparison with ours, and were by far more tolerable. Yet, as soon as my father had mounted the royal chariot and ^B began to guide the reins of the empire, behold, wars, tumults, and evils of every kind rushed in and broke forth as if at a given signal. For the Gaul brandished the point of his spear, and Ismael drew his bow, and the entire nomadic race of the Scythians rolled all their countless wagons down upon us.

In this place, I must anticipate the suspicion of the reader, who might perhaps think, while reading these things, that I am writing for favor, and that the tongue of a daughter, commemorating such great things about her father, is serving nothing but natural affection without regard for the truth. It is not so; no, by those very ^C agonies and dangers which my father, the Augustus, never refused to incur for the happiness of the Roman republic; no, by those many struggles and those calamities of his which he endured and suffered for the Christians; no, I say, I do not speak or write these things to gratify my father. Rather, if I see anywhere that my father has erred or stumbled, I do not conceal it, I do not spare him; nor do I hesitate to act according to the law of nature while I fulfill the parts of the duty I have undertaken. Indeed, I cleave to truth alone; her alone I admire and follow; on her alone I wholly depend. A friend, certainly, is my father, but a truer friend is the truth; for in a conflict of feelings, to whatever intimacy it may be compared, ^D it is always right and just that truth should prevail and be preferred, as one of the philosophers has rightly taught. By this rule I govern my writing, following the tracks of events as they occurred in my narration: fashioning nothing by my own ingenuity, adding nothing by hatred or partiality, and subtracting nothing. I count it as my duty to speak and write of those things which truly happened, not those which could be easily invented; and if I fail in this fidelity, in

the vicinity lies that which would convict me of falsehood. For I am not seeking to record the history of events from ten thousand years ago; I am drawing upon my own memory, detailing occurrences that have taken place before my very eyes and remain witnessed by those still living. There are ^A even today those who saw, knew, and thoroughly understood my father; who remember his deeds and speak of them still. I would fear the conscience of these men if I were to speak untruths; now, however, I have no fear that my narrative might displease as censors those very men whom I boast of having as my sources for not a few of these accounts, and indeed as the very foundation of my work. Of course, I could not see and know everything myself; thus, the lack of ocular observation had to be supplemented in certain places by hearing the testimony of others. In this, I exercised both discernment and judgment, so as to deem worthy of belief—concerning any given matter—those who were otherwise grave men, and who were themselves present when the events in question were taking place. Furthermore, I compared the corroborations I received from many such individuals with one another, and, having gathered and synthesized into one account what I had received from each, I took that to be established which was confirmed by the consensus of all. This is the truth of the matters which this my history records as having been done in my absence. And besides, these are not so very many. For I was with my father for a long time; and I was also accustomed to accompany my mother wherever she might go, as a companion—the inseparable sharer of those ^B laborious and often warlike peregrinations. For although it was not my lot, as it is with most young women of high station and rank, to be nurtured in shadow and delights, within the sheltered precincts of an airy home—but rather, from my very infancy (and I call upon my God and His Mother as witness to my words), I was beset by labors, inconveniences, and varied misfortunes, partly springing from external sources, and partly from within my own house. For I will not myself relate how I fared in body, and with how many and grievous illnesses I was even then exercised; let those who served us by office in the royal gynaeceum remember and enumerate them. Dismissing these matters, I am not even able to recount those external trials, whether the adversities that befell me before I had yet reached my eighth year, or the number and magnitude of those who, through the malice of men, were stirred up as my enemies. Truly, to treat of such things would require the Siren voice of Isocrates, the high-sounding eloquence of Pindar, the flowing torrent of Polemon, in short, the Homeric purity and brilliance of diction, or some other faculty to match such things. For there is no species of evil—small, great, or yet more remote—that did not suddenly fall upon me and crush me with its unforeseen weight. And clearly (it must be confessed) the storm prevails; the overwhelming wave breaks over both the ship and the art of the helmsman, and there is no end or rest. The same tenor of life and misery persists now as it did then. Fortune presses to the very end what she began; and even now, as I contemplate these present things, I am like a person caught in a certain sea of calamities, surging and foaming with wave rising upon wave.

But as if carried away from the planned course of my speech by a certain torrent of my own misfortunes, I now finally realize that my ship has drifted ^C far off course. It is not without reason that this has come to mind; I shall turn back the impetus, I shall direct my rowing into the opposing waves, I shall labor by swimming to cross the intervening space, and having returned to the place from which I had slipped away and my pen had flowed on without sense, I shall take back into my hands the argument I had begun; and I shall proclaim by whose authority I have learned those things which I have committed to this history. Therefore, some of these things, as I said, I have drawn from my own memory, having utilized my senses on those things which were present to me long ago. But as for the wars and battles, because I was not present at them, I heard various accounts of what happened in them from varied companions of my father’s expeditions, participants in those perils; and with the help of such men—like certain ferrymen conveying their wares across the spaces of intervening waters through the alternating crossings of the shores—the chances of war, their outcomes, and the rest of the deeds performed abroad have been committed to my own home-bound knowledge. ^A For the sea of these misfortunes sweeps me along as I write this work, and other waves follow one upon the other. But I have been carried away into my own misfortunes before I knew it. Now, therefore, having come to my senses, I shall swim back, starting as it were from the beginning, and I shall return to the first themes. As I said, I have some things from my own knowledge, while others I have learned in various ways from those who campaigned with the Emperor, and from certain messengers who relayed to us the events that occurred in the wars. But I heard of these matters most frequently from the Emperor himself and from George Palaiologos, as they related them face-to-face. I have collected most of these things, and most effectively, under the third [(55)] ruler to hold the scepter of the empire after my father, at the time when all flattery and falsehood flowed together toward the grandfather himself, as all men flattered him who was then sitting on the throne, while toward him who had fallen from it, they showed not a whit of sycophancy, but related the facts as they were, and told of them just as they had happened. For I, myself, while lamenting my own misfortunes at that time...

and mourning over three sovereigns—my father, the emperor himself, and my mistress, mother, and empress, and my husband, alas, Caesar—have withdrawn largely into myself, and occupy my time with books and with God. It is permitted to no man, even of the humbler sort, to visit us, let alone those from whom we might learn things which we happen to have heard from others, or even my father's own closest associates. For to this thirtieth year now, by the souls of those most blessed emperors, I have not seen, have not beheld, have not conversed with a single man of my father’s time—this partly because so many have passed away, and partly because many are kept at a distance by fear. For those who command have condemned us to such outrages, that we are not even to be seen, but are to be held in detestation by most people.

But let God bear witness, let His supra-mundane ^B Mother and my Mistress bear witness, concerning those things which I have gathered for this history—that I have compiled them from certain writings of little value or ambition, and from old men who had served in the army at that time, when my father had taken hold of the Roman scepter, men who had experienced misfortunes and had been transformed from the worldly turmoil [(54)] into the peaceful estate of monks. For the writings that fell into my hands were plain in their style and artless, adhering to the truth and displaying no elegance, nor dragging along any rhetorical swelling. And as for the things recounted by the elders, they were of the same character in both expression and thought as those writings. I have verified the truth of the history from them, comparing and examining the things narrated by myself with those reported by them, and those reported by them with my own, which I myself [have gathered] from my father himself, and from those on my father's and mother's sides.

Thus far concerning the reliability of those whose accounts I have used for the composition of this History. But since certain written records concerning the same subject have also come into my hands, and I confess that I have been aided by them in this work, and that it is my duty to vouch for their trustworthiness—I call God to witness, who is privy to the truth; I call to witness the Mother of the same God, who is superior to the world, and my own Mistress—that those commentaries were distinguished by all the marks of 448 incorrupt truth, inasmuch as they were rough in their unadorned simplicity, and by a sort of ancient character, they repelled any suspicion of artifice or deceit. They were precisely of such a kind as to harmonize exactly with the character of their authors, being entirely remote from the habit of sycophancy and from the usage and ambition of a courtly life. They had been written, as it happens, by men advanced in years, mature in age and religion, who had once followed the military service of my father, and later, weary of life due to adverse circumstances, had retreated from the billows of the age into the harbor of monastic quiet. And since they had decided to devote a portion of this sacred leisure to committing to writing those things which memory suggested...

^A from which the entire body of truth is woven together.

But let the narrative return to what I said earlier regarding the escape of Camytzes from the Barbarians, and his address to the citizens. For he recounted the occurrences, as we have said, and all that the Emperor had devised against the Ishmaelites. The inhabitants of Constantinople, having become one voice and one lip, praised and glorified the Emperor, lauded his generalship, and could not contain the joy they felt for him. And so, having escorted Camytzes home with gladness after some days, they also received the Emperor—victor, trophy-bearer, invincible general, unconquered king, august Emperor. They did so in this manner; but he, having entered the palace and offered thank-offerings to God and to the Theotokos (55), followed ^B his customary ways; for having put an end to external wars and having repelled the seditions of tyrants, he looked toward the courts and the laws. For in both times, of peace and of war, he was an excellent manager. For he judged for the orphan and gave justice to the widow, and against every form of injustice he looked most sternly, resting his body but little in hunting and in relaxation. For among other things, he philosophized, and this too in order to rein in the body and make it more manageable for himself. For he would give it over most of the time to labors; then again, he would recall it from its labors, and his relaxation was a second labor: the reading and examination of books, and the care for the command, "Search the Scriptures." ^C Yet hunting and the play of the ball were matters of secondary and tertiary importance to my father while he was still younger; and the affliction of his feet had not yet become entwined with him like some crooked serpent, itself indeed being that of the curse, biting his heel. But the illness began to extend itself and arrived at its peak; ^D the text is missing.

[alt-version omitted]

(55) *To the Theotokos.* To the Mother of God, whom the emperors not only besought when they were about to set out on an expedition, as is found in Zonaras and Scylitzes in the account of Michael the son of Theophilus, but also gave thanks to her after having attained victory and correctly and successfully concluded the war, as is found in Cantacuzenus, lib. III, cap. 50 and 59; Gregory, lib. IV, etc. For learned men did not conjecture well regarding this title in their Notes to the Life of St. Basil the Younger, n. 40. See our *Historia Gallo-Byzantina*, lib. II, n. 5.

^A At that time, he yielded himself to gymnastics, horsemanship, and other diversions, having received this instruction from medical science, so that through steady riding he might disperse some of the flowing matter and lighten the burdensome weight. For my father had contracted this affliction, as I said earlier, not from another cause externally, but from the labors and toils he undertook for the glory of the Romans.

Not yet had a year passed in this quiet when, ^B hearing again of the Comans crossing the Ister, once the eighth indiction had already begun in the month of November, he went out from the Queen of Cities. Having summoned all his forces, he stationed them at Philippopolis, at the so-called Peritzon and Triaditza, and at the theme of the Nesus, as far as the fortifications of Buranitzoba, charging them to show great care for their horses, so that, having grown fat, they might be able in the time of battle to carry their riders. He himself stayed at Philippopolis. This city is in the heart of Thrace. The Hebrus flows past the city, blowing towards the north wind. For this river flows from the farthest reaches of Rhodope, and making many windings and turns, it passes by Adrianople, and with many other rivers flowing into it, it empties into the sea near the city of Aenos. When I say Philip, I do not mean the Macedonian, the son of Amyntas, for this city is more recent than that Philip.

^C Nondum annus in hac ei quiete sese unus evolverat: cum ecce illum excitat fama rursus percrebescens novæ irruptionis Comanorum sub initium autumni, instante aut ineunte indictione octava Istrum trajicere parantium. Parat contra expeditionem illico Augustus, et mense Novembri proficiscitur ex urbe regia, accersitasque undecunque copias Romanas universas certis in stationibus per illum limitem disponit, alias Philippopoli collocans, alias Peritzum et Triaditzam (loca sic dicta) obtinere jubens; aliis Thema quod Nesi dicitur custodiendum attribuens usque ad Buranitzobam contiguam Istro urbem ac regionem. Militibus sic in loca commoda distributis edixit universis imperator curam equorum gererent, darentque operam, ut ii pingues et robusti satis essent, ad ferendos die pugnæ decretorio dominos armatos. Ipse Augustus commorandi sedem sibi Philippopolim delegit. Est ea civitas in mediterraneis Thraciæ. Hebrus eam flumen alluit a septentrione fluens. Is amnis ortus ab extremis Rhodopes finibus, ubi multis sese flexibus sinuosis obliquavit, obit Adriani urbem, ^D

^A but rather Philip the Roman, a man of gigantic bodily stature and strength, whose build was so massive that nothing could withstand it. Now, before Philip, this place was but a small town, called Crenides by most, but Trimons or Trimontium by some. ^B However, that great Philip, having raised the city in size and encircled it with walls, rendered it celebrated among the cities of Thrace; and having established therein great and other marvelous structures—the traces of which I myself discovered when I visited the city with the Emperor on necessary business. The city itself consists of three hills, the peaks of which are girdled by a large and high wall; wherever it slopes down towards the plains, a ditch encircles it, lying along the Hebrus. And this city, as it seems, was once both great and beautiful. But since the Tauri and Scythians in times past enslaved the city, it has arrived at such a condition that we, having taken possession of it under the reign of my father, have truly proven it to be a great city.

^C But it suffered, along with other calamities, from the influx of many impious people. For there the Armenians had their settlements, as well as those called Bogomils (of whom and of whose heresy we shall speak later in due time), and indeed the most godless Paulicians, who are offshoots of the Manichæan sect, having originated from Paul and John, as the very name implies; they, having drawn in the unsullied poison of the wickedness of Manes, have imparted it to their followers. I wished, therefore, to run through and weave together the dogma of the Manichæans, and furthermore to strive for the overthrow of these most godless doctrines; ^D but, knowing at once that the heresy of the Manichæans is laughable to everyone, and at the same time being in a hurry to get on with the history, I pass over the refutations against them. And besides, I know that not only those of our own Church, but Porphyry himself—who raged against us—has in many chapters pushed the foolish dogma of the Manichæans into great absurdity, most scientifically [refuting them] concerning the two...

duality of principles with irrefutable arguments; in this very thing he went beyond his own bounds, for though he so asserted the unity of the divine nature from the tenets of the Platonic school that he left no place for the Trinity of persons, yet we contend that by those genuinely valid arguments nothing more is established than the necessary admission of a single principle, that is, a primary nature or essence; yet it does not follow that this must be circumscribed by the ambit of one person. But even that other Platonic dogma concerning monarchy, handed down in the secret writings and mysteries of the Greeks and Chaldæans, is tainted by a mixture of errors. It is, of course, correct only in so far as it compels one to acknowledge the unity of the supreme principle. But the fabulous series which are then produced as if expanded from the first, of principles fitted to others and hanging from one another, weaving together infinite orders of causes within the world and above the world mutually intertwined, are in truth nothing but trifles. ^B

But we must come to the Paulicians. These are, therefore, followers of Manes, but were instructed by Paul and John, the sons of Callinice, into a peculiar and more obstinate kind of fury: men otherwise wild and bloodthirsty, who had no regard for shedding their own blood or that of others; nor were they deterred from any kind of audacity by this or any other fear, and [they were] all the more dangerous because they despised all danger. When, however, they had been tamed and completely subjugated by war by that renowned John Tzimiskes, they were taken as captives by him from Asia and were transferred from those seats of the Chalybes which they had previously occupied, and from the Armenian regions, into Thrace; he forced them to settle around Philippopolis for two reasons. First, so that they might no longer hold the passes of the empire which they formerly occupied, ^C fortresses most strongly fortified by nature and by hand, and thus not be emboldened by confidence in them to contemplate rebellions. Second, so that a race of men of iron, equal to any labor and danger, might be set against the very wild and vehement incursions of the Scythians who were constantly infesting Thrace, [which would provide] no small security for the empire, because that most harassed frontier, having now found defenders equal to the aggressors, seemed thereafter amply fortified against all danger. Indeed, previously, the cities and peoples of Thrace had been accustomed to struggle in a miserable manner, in perpetual fear or suffering; when the Barbarians, repeatedly crossing the narrow valleys of the Hæmus, would burst into the most fertile plains of that province in great numbers and lay everything waste most cruelly. This Hæmus is a very long mountain, to which the Rhodope lies opposite on a parallel line. ^D It begins from the Euxine Sea. From there, when it has passed the cataracts, it extends with a vast curve as far as Illyricum itself. Indeed, it appears, as if interrupted for a little while by the incursion of the Adriatic Sea, or rather under its

^A influence, to emerge again ^A into the opposite continent and as far as the Hercynian forest, stretching out in a perpetual series of mountain ridges, scarcely ending there. Furthermore, on both sides around the watercourses of this river live many and equally opulent nations. The Daci to the north, and likewise the Thracians; and to the south, the Thracians again, and the Macedonians. In earlier times, before the spear of Alexius had reduced them to supreme ruin and extermination through many perils and battles, the nomad Scythians crossed this Haemus, and with vast and countless armies of a wholly allied, populous nation poured into Roman territory, devastating at one time other parts of the empire, at another time especially the neighboring cities of that border, the chief and as it were metropolis of which was held to be that once most famous city, Philippopolis. When John Tzimiskes, the victor over the Manichaeans in Asia, noticed this, he thought it useful to turn the danger into aid, by changing them from hostile enemies into faithful allies, as they were men nonetheless as savage as the Scythians themselves. He decided to enter into a military alliance only with those who, dissenting by the obstinacy of their perverse doctrine and perfidy, had been translated from their ancestral homes into Thrace and Philippopolis, and thereafter they were as a wall and defense for that whole province; and it was undoubtedly seen to take breath again ^B from those almost continuous excursions ^B of the Barbarians by which it had previously been accustomed to be trampled. But as usually happens, the transported colonists soon returned to the character of their native custom. Being men of a stubborn nature and with a mind indocile to obedience; and moreover fierce and prevailing in strength, with abundant audacity, they gradually began to act as tyrants against the indigenous Christian citizens of Philippopolis who were not so numerous (the greatest part were Manichaeans), to plunder and oppress them, caring little or nothing for the commands which were being sent from time to time by the emperor, to contain themselves in duty and to cease from injury. By such usurpation of power, the sect flourished with impunity, and was celebrated in numbers even throughout those regions: so much so that all things around Philippopolis were widely heretical, for those first seeds once deported from Asia, as if in fertile soil, were increasing. Another stream, as it were, of bitter water flowed into this fouler flood: the sect of the Armenians ^C (61); and another besides ^C from the muddiest fountains of Jacob, so that this was a certain confluence of evils and of most polluted filth, flowing down from everywhere and collected into a most foul mixture at the bottom; by the confluence of diverse heresies, discordant in dogmas but concordant in contumacy, stagnating in one common, so to speak, sewer of rebellious impiety.

Against this mixed battle-line of fanatical perfidy, my father and emperor—skilled not only in bodily warfare but also in the spiritual arts of combat, in which he also excelled—as an emperor suited for every kind of war, displayed his military experience; some he brought to surrender without force, others he subjugated by battle. In which work, truly great and in the first degree apostolic, he bore and did much, relying on his whole strength, a man indeed ^D patient and likewise strong, from whom ^D truly no kind of praise, however varied, was absent. For what argument of commending him could anyone require? Was he sluggish in bellicose labors, timid at the dangers of battles, or incurious or unprepared in the parts and arts of warfare? But who was more bellicose than he, who alone filled both East and West with heroic deeds and most certain documents of all military praises? Perhaps the cultivation of his mind and his study of doctrine might be desired in him.

^A But to me it seems that he should either be ranked with Constantine the Emperor as an apostle, or, if anyone is inclined to contest this, at least let Alexius be an apostle together with Constantine, and a king as well. For, as we said when we previously spoke of his arrival at Philippopolis on account of the aforementioned causes involving the Comans, before they had yet arrived, he took the opportunity to engage in a task greater than the work at hand: he attempted to win over the Manichaeans from their brackish religion and to purge them of their sweet-sounding dogma. ^B From dawn, therefore, until the late afternoon, or evening, or sometimes even until the second or third watch of the night, he would summon them and teach them the orthodox faith, refuting the perverse nature of their heresy. Eustratius was present with him, he who was then the bishop of Nicaea, a man wise in both divine and secular matters, boasting in his discourses more than those who spend their time in the Stoa and the Academy, as did the one installed on the episcopal throne of Philippopolis. But above all and before all, the Emperor had my Caesar, Nicephorus, assisting him, having sharpened him through the study of the holy Scriptures. Many of the Manichaeans at that time, without any hesitation, approached the priests, confessing their sins and obtaining the divine illumination. ^C Yet, seeing many who, even more than those Maccabees, held fast to their own religion, bringing forth uses and testimonies of the holy Scriptures, from which they thought to fortify their own detestable dogma, nevertheless, through the constant discourse of the Emperor and his frequent exhortations, even the majority of these were persuaded and received divine baptism. For he would often extend these discussions from the rising of the sun's rays into the depth of the night, and without departing from such discourse, he would remain for the most part without food, enduring this even in the summer season, outside in a tent. ^D

The Apostle among Kings

^A while these things were being carried out, and that logical battle with the Manichaeans was being fought with such intensity, someone arrived in haste from the Ister announcing that the Comans had crossed it. At this news, the Emperor broke off all delays and immediately marched towards the Danube, taking with him those soldiers whom he happened to have by his side. Using the utmost speed, he arrived at Bidyne; however, he did not find the Barbarians there as he had hoped. For, upon receiving the report that the Emperor was vigorously advancing against them, they had retreated once more by recrossing the river. There, the Emperor commanded a select band of brave men chosen from all his forces to pursue the fugitives. They crossed the Ister and, pursuing the enemy for three days and as many nights with the greatest effort, they finally saw them having crossed the river flowing there, the Danube, on rafts they carried with them; this event forced them to return to the Emperor frustrated in their hopes. Though he was annoyed that the fleeing Barbarians had not been caught by his army, he nevertheless counted that flight of the enemy, caused by his reputation alone from afar, as a part of his victory, especially since that expedition had resulted in the added benefit of bringing over many men from the nefarious Manichaean heresy to our own right and sound faith. Twice, therefore, a victor and twice having raised a trophy—one by force of arms against the Barbarians, and the other by the contention of most religious disputation against the heretics—he returned to Philippopolis ^B and there, having taken a brief rest, he again applied himself to his struggles. For Leo and Cousinus, and the one upon this, Phoulon, were men who stood as leaders of the Manichaean heresy. And as for the rest concerning the other Manichaeans... ^C

they were not only men of most stubborn spirit in that wicked doctrine which they had embraced, but were also furnished with authority and all the skills necessary for persuading others and propagating it. Thus, they were of chief importance, and doubtlessly the pivot upon which all hope for the success of the enterprise turned. Yet these same men, as we have said, were more than any others fixed in their preconceived opinions; deaf to warnings, adamant against persuasion, and even—in their forwardness to attack and tear apart sound doctrine—full of malicious quibbles and crafty, subtle sophistries, they hardly permitted any hope of what was to be desired. Nevertheless, the Augustus set upon these men, and having summoned them to him daily, he undertook a fierce and for a long time uncertain contest with them, due to the intense efforts of the disputants on both sides; for while the Emperor exerted himself to the utmost, sparing no labor in his efforts to persuade the lost that they should desire to be saved, they, on the other hand, resisting with stubborn folly and a wild tenacity of purpose, hardened themselves in the insane resolve of rejecting salvation and bent all their forces toward achieving a baneful and truly Cadmean victory. Each one was fierce in his own right, and they drew added boldness from their mutual association. Matters were conducted by them as by those in a conspiracy and an oath-bound band; and not content to merely parry the healthy blows of the Emperor, they carried their spirits even to the point of a boldness that dared to attack in turn, being contemptuous of both religion and majesty. No longer was there any respect for the Prince. Their obstinacy, irritated even to the point of madness, had conquered reverence. To the face of the talking Augustus, they would interrupt him with insolence, acting no less inhumanly than impiously; just like wild boars, caught in a narrow pass by hunters, they would sharpen their teeth at one another and gape for any opportunity to sink their bites into everything. When Cousinus had said whatever madness had suggested to him for the purpose of unraveling the Emperor's argument, Culeon would supply whatever he had left out; and when he too was exhausted, Phoulon, as if serving as a reinforcement to the other two, would take up the struggle anew: thus, against the certain reasoning and inescapable petitions of the Emperor, one after another, as if rising up in turn, the waves of rebounding obstinacy surged. And easily, indeed, did the Augustus blow away and sweep aside whatever they brought forward as if they were base spiderwebs, and thus did he stop their impure mouths. However, when he had already reduced their loquaciousness to silence, there remained in their hardened minds a total perversity, refusing at any rate to be unlearned from errors even though they were convicted. Here, weary of the men's stupidity, the Augustus ordered them to be led away from his presence into the royal city, with a residence assigned to them in the porticoes which are around the great palace. ^C

Thus, for the present, the discussion with these three was finished or, rather, interrupted; and although in this it seemed that the Augustus had thus far wasted his words and labor, nevertheless, not in vain did all the work of this spiritual and religious hunting perish. For every day he reconciled to God sometimes a hundred heretics, sometimes more; so that, if someone were to put into one sum both those who, persuaded by the very voice of the Emperor's teaching, returned to their senses, and those whom his subsequent renewed disputations led away from error, the number would easily grow into many thousands and myriads. The confirmation of this...

faith does not ^A require me to labor much, since it is not at all out of harmony with the general fame of my father’s deeds: for over the whole world there prevailed a constant and celebrated opinion, fixed by most certain proofs in the public consciousness, that he was most industrious in the uprooting of heresies; and that he was accustomed to spare no labor, expense, or struggle whenever there was offered an opportunity or hope of recalling to the Church those who were in error. Both the East and the West attest to this with consonant acclaim. For there is no city or region in either part of this empire inhabited by heretical believers to which he did not exert himself to purge these tares, nor is there any against which he did not apply his full strength. A specimen both of this zeal and diligence, as well as the fruit and success of both, is the conversion of these Manichaeans of whom we are now speaking. For it is truly a magnificent matter, full of as much rejoicing as it has accumulated for him the glory of exceptional liberality. For those who held the chief ^B place of dignity among these abjurers of the Manichaean sect, the Augustus honored with great expenditures and annual stipends, and with the first honors of the Roman military; to those of humbler and even the lowest station, however—for instance, the farmers, charioteers, and those who were accustomed to drag out a wretched life around plows and oxen or carts—he wished to offer a benefit adapted to their own station, once they had changed for the better. He summoned them all together with their children and wives, and enrolled them in a new city which he had built for their sake near Philippopolis beyond the river Hebrus, into which he led them, naming the city Alexiopolis, or else by another name (which prevailed more in common usage), Neocastrum. Furthermore, to these and those others he distributed lands, vineyards, houses, and immovable property on a grand scale. He added to this liberality a most provident concern for making these gifts firm and for fortifying them with legal cautions and legitimate formulas, so that they might always remain their own and perpetual, secure against all calumnies: not like the gardens of Adonis that bloom today and wither tomorrow. Therefore, the Golden Bull, duly issued, asserted his gifts to them with eternal ^C stability: not restricting the fruit of his munificence to their persons or the present age, but extending it to be propagated to their children and grandsons and descendants; and also, if children were wanting, substituting women into the right of succeeding to the goods which, by this liberality of the prince, their husbands had once acquired. Thus he took care, no less liberal in extending these benefits than he had been in first bestowing them. But enough of this, although I have omitted much. For I fear that this history might incur a suspicion of flattery, as it encompasses such great praises of Alexius, and that it might not be free from the conjecture of weak credibility, or that it might yield somewhat more to the grace of speech than the laws of truth permit, due to domestic partiality. And yet, many capable witnesses of these things which I have related live even today; who recount and affirm the same things with me; who free this writing of mine from the entire odium of mendacious adulation. In this manner, having set all things well in that place, the emperor returned to the royal city. There, the previous struggles against that Culeontes and Cusinus, whom we mentioned, were renewed; and they are celebrated by the emperor’s daily and most persevering disputations. The reward of these consisted in the salvation of Culeontes. He, I believe, was more prudent and intelligent than his companions, and was able to be led more clearly by the words of truth—which, on account of his greater natural sharpness and, moreover, the more abundant illuminating light of God helping him—he was able to grasp. ^D

^A He was summoned and restored to the fold of the Church; and he remained there like a most gentle lamb. But Cusinus and Pholus grew savage over the same matters to which the Emperor’s kindness had applied itself to tame and soothe them. Indeed, they were so far from being softened by his constant exhortations that, like iron and the anvil, they were hardened all the more by repeated blows; and, always stubborn in their contumacy, they showed their faces and brows to be clearly untamable and intractable, in accordance with the inhumanity of their barbaric custom. ^B Therefore, the Emperor decided that the leaders of this desperate malice were no longer to be dealt with by useless zeal, but by just authority. Therefore, he ordered the two most blasphemous of the Manichaeans—the abundance of whose fury made it sufficiently clear that they had almost departed from their right minds and were raging with the heat of black bile and melancholy—to be cast into the Elephantine, or so-called Ivory, prison; and there, after an abundance of things necessary for food and other needs was provided, he commanded that they be left to die, each guilty only to himself.

THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA, BOOK XV

458 ARGUMENT In his final expedition against the Turks who were waging war, Alexius defeats them repeatedly, with the help of a new art of battle array which he invented against them, and, having forced them to sue for peace, he makes them allies. He investigates, brings to light, and extinguishes the heresy of the Bogomils; their leader is burned, and the others are consigned to perpetual imprisonment. The illness and death of the same Alexius.

SUMMARY Sultan Solymas prepares an expedition into Asia. The Emperor, informed of his design, strives to forestall him with war. He is delayed by a disease of the feet. The Sultan ravages Asia with impunity. The Turks mock the Emperor and represent him in farces. Recovering, he marches against the Turks. They attempt to terrify him with the appearance of a great multitude. In vain. They are forced to flee. Their cruelty. The Turks are defeated. A three-month stay for the Augustus at Lopadium. A double cause for the delay. An incursion of the Turks does not disturb the Augustus. ^C He terrifies 459 them by a counter-attack and turns them away. Strabobasileus and Stypeota defeat them. The Augustus moves towards the Turks again and sends Leo Nicerites against them. Why the Emperor did not march straight toward the Sultan. He betakes himself to Nicomedia: for what purpose. Care of horses prescribed for battle. The arrival of the Augusta at Nicomedia. Murmuring in the court against the Emperor, which he held in contempt. His wise confidence. A digression on the use of counsel in military affairs. Alexius succeeded equally by guile and by virtue. Anna bears witness to her own loyalty in the praise of her father. The Emperor trains his recruits. He prescribes for all a cautious method of waging war. He invents a new form of battle array for the peculiar use of the Turkish war. Concerning the form of the array and the arms of the Turks. The Turks desert Cedrea and are cut down by Camylzes at Polybotum. The Augustus, in doubt, consults an oracle and receives an answer. Bardas defeats the Turks. But his camp is plundered at the same time by other enemies. He pursues them. A fierce and long-lasting battle. The Augustus advances to the aid of his men. The order of the Roman army. The bold and fortunate assault of Nicephorus. The Romans ravage the towns near Iconium. The retreat of the Emperor is cautious, with the battle line always drawn up. Monolycus attacks the Romans. The Emperor’s speech is effective in strengthening his men. The Romans fight and march simultaneously, with the battle line never broken. Dissension between the Turkish commanders. A second incursion of theirs against the Romans. The virtue of Andronicus, Anna’s brother, and the grief of the same Anna over the death of her brother.

Book XV

^A Having finished with the events concerning Philippopolis and the Manichaeans and the matters related to them, the Emperor was once again to be presented with another draught of evils from the further continent. For the Sultan Solymas was once again eager to ravage Asia, and in order to do this with impunity and to forestall the Emperor from standing against him with a proper army, he was gathering forces from Khorasan and Aleppo, wherever he might find men of valor to stand against the Emperor. But when the entire plan and equipment of the Sultan Solymas was revealed to the Emperor by someone, he decided to anticipate the barbarian’s designs and, by advancing the expedition as far as Iconium (for there the sultanate of Clitziasthlan was situated, that region having been assigned to him as part of the whole empire, of which Iconium was considered the metropolis), to disrupt his calculations with an unexpected incursion. Consequently, he summoned troops from among strangers and mercenaries ^B in large numbers, and his own army was also being summoned from all sides. Thus, both armies...

^A being in the midst of preparations—not yet sufficiently ready or consolidated—the emperor’s customary foot ailment befell him; and though forces were flowing in from all sides, they were coming in separate bands and not in a mass, because their home countries were far away. The pain prevented him not only from attending to the task at hand, but even from walking at all; he was confined to his bed and was distressed, not so much by the excruciating pain in his feet as by the delay in the operations against the barbarians.

This did not escape the notice of the barbarian Klitziasthlan. Consequently, feeling secure for the moment, he plundered the whole of Asia, making seven raiding forays against the Christians; for never before had that pain gripped the emperor to such a degree. Previously, the affliction used to come upon him at long intervals, not periodically as it did then, but it was continuous and caused ^B successive paroxysms. However, Klitziasthlan and his circle regarded this illness as a pretext, and not a real illness at all, but as sloth and laziness masking itself as gout; and from this, again and again, they showered it with mockery. In their drunkenness and drinking parties, the barbarians—like natural-born rhetoricians—would turn the emperor’s foot pain into a dramatic performance.

The pain in his feet became the excuse for a comedy; for they would mimic the figures of physicians and those attending to the emperor, and they would bring in the King himself, as it were, into the middle of the room, and seating him on a couch, they would play at being him, and much laughter would be stirred up among the barbarians at these diversions. These things did not, however, escape the emperor, and consequently, he was incited to the battle against them with an even more ^C blazing spirit. Not long after, when he had found some relief from the pain, he set out on the intended expedition. Having crossed the Damalis and sailed across the intervening strait to Kibotos, he reached Kibotos, and from there he went to Lopadion, awaiting the arrival of the regiments and the mercenary forces he had summoned.

When everyone had assembled, he set out from there with his whole force and took the fortress of Lord George, located near the lake that lies by Nicaea; and from there he went to Nicaea. Then, after three days, he returned again from the bridge at Lopadion and camped by the spring called Karykeas, as he had deemed it best so that, having first sent the army across the bridge, he might pitch the tents in a suitable place, and that in this way he himself, the emperor, might also cross by the same bridge with the whole army and set up the imperial tent. Meanwhile, the most cunning Turks, who were plundering the plains situated around the foothills of the Lentiana and the region so-called Kotoirakia, upon learning of the emperor’s attack against them, were immediately struck with terror and lit a great many signal fires, thereby providing to those who saw them the illusion of a vast army ^D from that place.

Having placed the boats as was said, he proceeded further, moving from Lopadium at a slow pace; for it was necessary to allow time for his military forces to assemble from all sides, both the Roman troops and those of the allied nations engaged for pay; for he had ordered this entire body to hasten to him. Having finally gathered them all, he moved from Lopadium with his entire army and arrived at the fortress of Lord George, near Lake Niceritan. From there, he entered Nicaea, and shortly after withdrawing from there, he fortified a camp on a three days' journey this side of the bridge of Lopadium, at a spring ^A commonly called the "Spring of the Condimentarian," where he placed the vanguard of his army, having crossed the bridge, suitably and securely. He himself, having returned across the same bridge to the other side, encamped with the rest of his troops, having with him, without doubt, the strength of his army.

Meanwhile, the most cunning Turks, who were then plundering the plain that lies widely at the roots of the Lentian mountains and around the place called Cotracian, when they were informed of the Emperor's hostile advent, were not seized with small fear; they lit beacons far more numerous than the number and manner of their encampments would require, so that to those looking from a distance they offered a terrifying appearance of a huge multitude. The spectacle was a clear one, of innumerable ^B fires burning up the sky; nor were there wanting some among our men, little experienced, who were moved by this vain terror.

Not so, however, with the Emperor, who at first dawn, having already crossed the nearest bridge to the aforementioned plain, was eager in the highest degree to catch the Turks in that place. But they, who by lighting many fires had wished for nothing more than to delay the enemy with a false deception and to steal, through art, time for flight, having used their counsel strenuously, frustrated the Emperor's hope at that time. Only recent traces of barbaric cruelty were found; ^C very many were seen there, still breathing but exhausted by the wounds of the Romans, and the corpses of those killed shortly before were met with everywhere; at which events the Emperor’s merciful soul was stung with as much grief as any prudent evaluator might understand from the rest of the man's habits and the bowels of his innate mercy. And his spirit indeed longed to apply punishment to the fugitive thieves by pursuing them; but the whole mass of the army could not move with the speed that the matter required. So, that the pursuit might not go entirely unrewarded by the capture of some part of the booty, he fixed a rampart with his army around Poemanenum; but he ordered a chosen band of brave light-armed men from all his forces to hasten after the Barbarians, instructed with careful precepts regarding the best way of attacking and conquering the treacherous enemies when caught.

Our men pursued them to a certain place called by the language of the natives Cellia, heavily laden with all the booty they had scraped together and with a great number of captives whom they were dragging in chains from every region they had laid waste, hampered by their leadership and custody; without any delay in attacking, they swooped upon them with a fiery onslaught; they killed many, captured some alive, and, having recovered all the booty, they returned to the Emperor, masters of a splendid victory. He welcomed them as was fitting for those who had so deserved at such a time; and now, his hope having been confirmed, and thinking ^D of a full victory beyond doubt through the slaughter of the Barbarians, he returned to Lopadium, and there he rested for three full months.

Notes of Charles Dufresne Du Cange

BOOK XV. THE TURKS APPROACH. THE EMPRESS AT PRINCE'S ISLAND. THE EMPEROR'S FORESIGHT.

^A The empress was residing at that time in the place called Prince's [Island], a convenient spot for receiving frequent reports from Lopadium, where, as we have said, the emperor had lingered for a long time after returning to it. As soon as he moved to the headland I mentioned—that last promontory projecting into the sea—the emperor immediately dispatched a messenger to the empress, who was staying in the aforementioned convenient maritime fortress, inviting her to join him for two reasons: first, so that as the onset of the gout, ^B whose approach he suspected, began to threaten, she might alleviate it with her customary poultices and care; and second, that by her keen and watchful vigilance she might help him ward off the insidious attacks of those enemies who, as he knew, were constantly hovering about him, pretending to be friends while all the while contriving his ruin. They had not been together for three days when, at daybreak, the prefect of the imperial bedchamber entered and stood by the bed of the Augusti. The empress, being awake, saw the man and said, ^C "You are here, I suppose, to announce an incursion of the Turks." When he stated that they had reached the fortress of St. George, the empress signaled with her hand for him to be silent, so as not to wake the emperor. But the emperor had heard what was said; however, since he had all things prepared and foreseen, he was in no way disturbed by the news, but maintained his composure, continuing to feign sleep. After the sun had risen and he had finished his usual routines ^D with the utmost tranquility, he turned his whole mind to the more intent management of the impending war. Scarcely three hours had passed when another messenger came running and reported that the Barbarians were approaching. The empress was still with the emperor, fearful indeed—which no one would blame or wonder at in a woman at such a time—but suppressing her fear through a noble emulation of the virtue of the Augustus. The table was being set for the Augusti to dine, when behold, another man, panting and drenched in sweat, threw himself at the feet of the Augustus, swearing and affirming that the danger was imminent, for the Barbarians were close at hand. The emperor immediately ordered the empress's return to Byzantium to be prepared. What she felt at that moment, anyone can easily imagine.

^A She heard the emperor, and though she turned to him repeatedly and looked back at him many times, she gathered her strength and, as it were, braced herself. With difficulty she took leave of the emperor and, having descended to the sea and boarded the vessel assigned to the empresses, she sailed along the coast of Bithynia. When a deep-sea swell caught her, she brought the ship to anchor at the shores of Helenopolis, and there for a time she remains.

But enough of these matters concerning the Augusta. ^B The emperor, for his part, along with the kinsmen and primary military officers who were with him, stood immediately in arms; and once all had mounted their horses, they set out on the road toward Nicaea. When the Barbarians learned this—an Alan whom they had captured having reported to them the emperor’s advance and the force arrayed against them—they could not even withstand his preliminary reputation, but fled, swiftly turning back along the very paths by which they had come.

Strabobasileus and Michael Stypeotes (and let no one, upon hearing "Stypeotes," think he was a half-breed; for having been an acquired slave of this man, he was later given to the emperor as a gift and was named after his former master in memory of that kindness), Stypeotes, I say, a man from among the nobility—both of them most brave men, and long celebrated for their reputation for valor—happened at that time to be lingering on the ridges of the Germia, guarding the narrow paths and devious passages, in order that they might, if possible, catch the Barbarians in an ambush like wild beasts in a net. ^C As soon as they learned of their retreat, they leapt down into the plains below, joined fierce battle with them there, and defeated them soundly.

In the meantime, the emperor continued on his journey and arrived at the previously mentioned fort of Georgius; thence he advanced further to a certain town (which the locals call Sagudaos), but he did not find the Turks even there. However, having soon received news of the splendid victory related by the most brave men whom I have just named, Stypeotes and Strabobasileus, he pitched his camp outside of the aforementioned small fort, and while the soldiers rejoiced, he himself, glad and giving thanks, tasted the fruit of an auspicious success. He bestowed not sparing praise upon the authors of this achievement, ^D and openly declared: that they had carried out and managed the affair from beginning to end in such a way that neither in wisdom of counsel, nor in fortitude of attack, nor in valor of battle, [is there anything wanting].

Leaving that place on the following day, he moved toward Helenopolis, where he found the Augusta waiting for the sea to subside. For her part, the sorrow she had felt—being not a little anxious for the danger in which she had left her husband and the army—was completely wiped away when a messenger, most welcome in himself and of all people the most suitable to console the distressed lady, brought the joyous news of the Turkish savagery being defeated. The Augustus himself recounted before her what had happened to those Turks, who had marched against him with such confidence only the day before yesterday, and how, at the very moment they rose up most confidently, they had fallen most shamefully, finding an unexpected disaster instead of the victory they had promised themselves in their vainest hopes. Immediately upon these events, he betook himself to Nicaea. Having been informed there of another incursion of the Turks, he proceeded to Lopadium.

He had not been there long when he was warned that a large Turkish army was moving toward Nicaea. Having heard this, he marched with his forces toward Cius. Throughout the night he spent there, many messengers arrived in succession to report that the Turks were approaching Nicaea and might even be seen appearing at any moment. Without delay, hearing this, the Emperor proceeded through Nicaea itself as far as Miscura, where he learned more accurate information about the enemy; namely, that the entire Turkish army had not yet arrived, but that a few of them, sent ahead by Monolycus, were ^B lingering around Dorylaeum and the parts of Nicaea with the intention of observing the Emperor’s arrival and sending daily reports of him to Monolycus from there. He sent Leo Nicerites with the forces under his command to Lopadium, giving him precise orders to keep a sharp watch and guard the roads, and to report to him immediately by letter whatever he might discover about the Turks in the meantime. He distributed the rest of the army in suitable places, deciding that it was by no means advantageous to march straight against the Sultan, for he would be doing so in vain; as it was likely that the Turks who had been routed a short time before had spread the rumor of their defeat far and wide throughout Asia, and had testified to various people in various places that they had encountered the Romans, and that a grave battle had joined, in which the Turks were defeated, some captured, others killed, and some who were wounded had subsequently died. Since these matters had been published, it seemed certain that the Barbarians would resolve to retreat and lead their troops further back into the safe places of their own territory, even as far as Iconium itself, and thus, by frustrating the zeal of their pursuers, leave the Romans with the empty and useless fatigue of an idle and laughable struggle. ^C For this reason, the Augustus, pulling on the reins, betook himself through Bithynia to Nicomedia. When this withdrawal of his was reported to the Turks, they, being thus relieved of the fear of an incursion which they had dreaded from the Romans, would dare to deploy and advance their forces more freely, and would return to the places previously occupied by them, from where they might turn again, according to their custom, to their looting. The initial success of these raids might entice the Sultan himself to resume the task previously interrupted, so that our men—already refreshed and in good condition, for they had taken care of both their own bodies and those of their horses during the favor of the recently granted pause—could receive some striking and unexpected blow from them as they were scattered and wandering, and thus they themselves might come to battle more eagerly and better prepared in the hope of a more certain victory. With this design, the Emperor sought out Nicomedia, ^D and, having arrived there, he quartered all the soldiers accompanying him in the nearby market-towns, so that both the horses and the pack animals might have sufficient fodder (since the land of Bithynia produces plenty of grass) and the soldiers themselves could easily procure what they needed from Byzantium and the surrounding areas by way of the nearby gulf, having enjoined upon them to keep

^A a sharp eye on their horses and pack animals, and not to go out at all for hunting or for equestrian exercise, so that—the time being favorable—the mounts might be well-fed and carry their riders easily, and be useful to them for attacks against the enemy. Having thus made these arrangements, he took up a position as a scout some distance off ^B and placed guards on every path. As he intended to encamp there for a sufficient number of days, he sent for the Augusta, for the reasons we have often mentioned, so that she might remain with him until, having united with the Turkish incursions, he might decide to depart from there. She arrived at Nicomedia quickly, but on seeing some of the opposition gloating over what they considered the Emperor's inaction, and everywhere slandering the Emperor and whispering that after having made such preparations against the barbarians, and having gathered so many forces, he had accomplished nothing great but had retreated toward Nicomedia—and saying this not only in corners, but even more shamelessly in squares, crossroads, and junctions—she was grieved and troubled. But the Emperor, calculating that the end of his impulse against his enemies would be propitious, and being a man of great resolve in such matters, held their delays and reproaches as of no account, despising such things entirely as the trifles of children ^C and laughing at their childish mentality; yet he comforted the Augusta with better reasoning, swearing that this very thing which they were censuring would be the cause of a greater victory.

For my part, I believe that true bravery exists when someone secures victory with sound counsel. For the spirited and active quality of the soul ^D, if it proceeds without reasoning, is blameworthy and becomes rashness, rather than boldness. For we take courage when we can use our weapons, but we become rash against those we cannot overcome; so that when danger hangs over us, to throw ourselves recklessly into it—in that case we employ another manner of warfare, and we hasten to defeat the enemies without a battle. And the first of virtues, or the wisdom of a general, is to procure a victory without danger. "By skill, the charioteer excels," says Homer; for that which is done with danger is considered, as the proverb from Cadmus also declares, of little value. To me, it seems best, even in the heat of battle itself, to employ...

^A a certain crafty and strategic action, whenever the army alone does not suffice against the strength of the enemy. As one may gather from history, if one wishes, victory is not of one mode or form, but has been achieved from of old until now by various labors, so that while victory itself is one, the methods by which it is obtained by generals are varied and diverse in nature. For some of those generals celebrated in the past appear to have defeated their enemies by sheer strength in this way. Others, however, by often using different methods, held the victory.

My father, the Emperor, where he prevailed by the strength of the enemy, he did so; and where he employed some shrewd insight, he did that as well. There are times, indeed, when in the very midst of battles, having made a sharp calculation and taken a risk, he immediately held the victory. Sometimes he employed a strategic device, and at other times, fighting with his own hands, he often set up trophies ^B from unexpected events. For he was, more than any other man, a risk-taker. And it was common to see dangers arising for him, but sometimes he would rush toward them with bare head and go hand-to-hand against the Barbarians, and at other times he would feign a retreat, and act the part of one who is afraid, as the occasion offered and the situation demanded. And to sum it all up, he prevailed while fleeing, and he conquered while pursuing, and he stood his ground while falling, and while collapsing he was upright—like the positioning of caltrops. For these, however you may throw them, will always land upright for you.

Again, I find myself needing to apologize here for the fact that I am caught repeating myself. But I have often defended myself by saying that it is not my affection for my father that provides these ^C accounts, but the nature of the facts themselves. For what prevents one, in the name of truth itself, from being at once a lover of one's father and a lover of the truth? For my part, I have chosen to write the truth, and concerning a good man—if it has happened that he is also the father of the writer—the name of "father" may be set aside here and left as superfluous, and the work committed to the nature of the truth. In other places, I have indeed shown my affection for my father, and for that reason I have whetted my spears and kept my swords ready against his enemies. And all who have not been ignorant of our affairs know this. Yet, in the matter of history, I would not betray the truth. For one time is for paternal affection, in which we have played the man, and another time is for ^D the truth, which I would not deign to cast aside for a paltry reason. And if this time also proves us to be lovers of our father, it is not because we have sought to obscure the truth to satisfy the grumbling of men.

The narrative must now return to its intended subject.

Furthermore, as the sun was now retreating from the greater circles, and the autumn equinox had already passed, with the sun inclining towards more southerly spheres, a season suitable for a campaign seemed to have arrived. Therefore, fulfilling his long-standing intention, he led all his forces directly towards Iconium. Upon reaching Nicaea, he commanded that light-armed soldiers, entrusted to experienced leaders, should sally forth against the Turks to harass them everywhere, and, divided into smaller detachments, display their strength in many places at once; ^C he forbade them absolutely and with every stern warning, however—even if, with God’s manifest assistance, they should be victorious and rout the enemy—to venture upon any longer excursion; rather, he charged them to be content with their good fortune and to make their return again with proper order and discipline, as soon as possible. Thus, having reached a certain place along with the emperor, known in the local tongue as Gaita, they immediately set out, while he, having departed from there with all his forces, seized the bridge lying across the Pithikas. Then

in three days, through Armenokastron and the so-called Leukai, ^A he attained the plains of Dorylaion. Having inspected these for the purpose of battle arrays, and wishing to see everything and to understand the strength of the entire infantry—which he had again been struggling to organize for battle and had frequently written down on parchment, sketching out the battle orders (for he was not ignorant of Aelian’s Tactics)—he arranged this at that time in truth and encamped on that plain. For he knew from very great experience that the Turkish order of battle did not consist in the same manner as the battle arrays of other nations, nor as Homer says: ^B *Scutum hæret scuto, galeæ galeâ, atque viro vir.* But the right wing of the Turks is separated from the left and from the center, and the phalanxes stand detached from one another; and when one charges against the right or left wing, the center and the part following it after that battle-line falls upon him, and, acting like certain storms, they confuse what is underneath them. Nor do they use these martial weapons in the way the so-called Celts do, but rather, surrounding the enemy from all sides, they strike with bowshots (71). And their defense is from around: when they pursue, they capture with the bow, and when they are pursued they prevail with their arrows, and one may shoot an arrow, and the flying arrow strikes either the horse or the rider; and, released by a very heavy hand, it passes through the entire body, so very skilled in archery are they. ^C Accordingly, seeing this, that most experienced emperor himself devised his own battle arrays and organized his phalanxes in such a way that some would shoot from the right side, where the shields were held out, and others would strike our men from the left, where the body was uncovered. And he himself, having understood such a battle array—how it is unconquerable—marveled at the force, and considered such a battle array to be directly a divine arrangement and a camp of angels; and all were amazed and rejoiced, confident in the emperor’s design. He, at the same time, surveying the forces and imagining the plains through which he intended to pass, and calculating the firmness and indivisibility of the battle array, received good hopes from this, and prayed that these might proceed into action by God. Thus then, having arrayed for battle, he captured Santabaris. ... [having divided] all the leaders of such a ... [and] Camytzes to the ... of the cedar ... sent out. And this small town ... ^D very fortified, near the

le, he captured Santabaris. ^A There, it seemed good to divide the forces for the sake of accomplishing several things at once. He therefore entrusted one division to be led by Camytzes, whom he commanded to make for Polybotus and a small but very fortified city not far from there, named after the cedar [Cedrea], which was governed by a certain satrap called Pucheas. To Stypeotes, another force was committed, with orders to advance against the Barbarians who were said to be stationed near Amorium. This plan was discovered and betrayed by two Scythians who were then serving in the Roman army; they had deserted to Pucheas and themselves reported to him the incursions of Camytzes ^B that were soon to be made against him, as well as the arrival of the Emperor following with the entire army. This news struck such terror into Pucheas that in the middle of the night he fled from there in a panic with his men. At dawn on the same day, Camytzes arrived and found neither Pucheas nor any Turks at all. Having found the small town—I mean Cedrea—full of spoils, he did not turn his attention to any of these things, but was vexed, just as hunters are when they have lost their easy prey. And not enduring this, he immediately turned his reins ^C towards Polybotus. Falling upon the Turks he found there with great force, he slaughtered an uncountable number of them, recovered all the booty and the captives, and having thus managed matters successfully, he remained in those same parts, awaiting the Emperor's arrival there. With almost no less success did Stypeotes, having arrived at Poemanenum and managed his affairs according to the Emperor’s will, return to him.

He [the Emperor] followed Camytzes and had arrived at Cedrea at sunset. There, certain soldiers met him, indicating that an uncountable multitude of Barbarians was occupying the towns not far away ^D which had once belonged to that most celebrated Burtzes. This was not heard in vain. The Emperor, prepared for all occasions, immediately put forward Bardas, the nephew of this same Burtzes, along with George Lebounes and the one called Scythes, with the forces under them, and having made them a battle-ready power, sent them against those men. He instructed them that, once they had arrived there, they should send out foragers against the neighboring towns and villages, seize all of them, and bring the natives themselves to relocate there. They immediately held to the path set before them. The Emperor, meanwhile, holding to his former purpose—to capture Polybotus—hastened to run as far as Iconium. Reflecting on these things and being now about to set to work against the Barbarians, he made sure that they—and indeed Sultan Solyman himself—had learned of his march, and that they should burn the fields and plains of all Asia, so that there would be no food at all for the men or the horses. From the upper regions, another incursion of Barbarians was announced, and this rumor, winged, ran through all of Asia. He feared that as the entire army traveled toward Iconium, it would be consumed by famine due to the scarcity of fodder.

^A His soul was much troubled by this fear of the Barbarians who, it was expected, were there. And so he devised a plan—prudent, yet bold: he would consult God on whether it were better to proceed toward Iconium, or to set out against the Barbarians around Philomelium. To this end, he set down his inquiry upon two slips of paper, and having placed them upon the top of the holy table, he spent the entire night in the singing of hymns and pouring out earnest petitions to God. At the approach of dawn, the priest entered, and taking up one of the two slips of paper that had been set there, he opened it before all and read it in a clear voice to the Emperor, which exhorted him to hold the path toward Philomelium. But these were the matters concerning the Emperor.

As for Bardas Burtzes, ^B while he was keeping to the aforementioned road, he caught sight of a large army of Turks making haste to join with Monolycus by way of the bridge of Zompi. Straightaway he armed himself and engaged them, joining battle in the plain of Amorium, and he defeated them completely. But meanwhile, other Turks coming from the eastern quarter, pressing on toward Monolycus, happened upon Burtzes’ camp before he had returned, and carried off the pack animals and baggage left there by the soldiers. When Burtzes returned, victorious and carrying much spoils, he chanced upon one of those who were traveling in those parts and learned that the Turks had seized everything in his camp, including all the spoils, and were gone. He began to consider what was to be done. ^C Because the Barbarians were traveling with great speed, he also wanted to pursue them from the rear, but he could not, as his horses were exhausted. For this reason, giving up the pursuit so that no worse thing might happen, he proceeded with a slow pace and in good order, and as dawn broke, he reached the aforementioned small towns which Burtzes had captured and razed entirely. From there, having recovered those taken prisoner and whatever property the Barbarians were carrying off, and having refreshed himself and all those who were worn out for a short time in an advantageous spot, at the rising of the sun he kept to the road leading toward the Emperor. ^D

^A Another Turkish force unexpectedly encountered them, and a great battle was immediately struck up from this. Having held their ground in the battle for a sufficient time, they demanded back the prisoners and the booty taken from them, assuring the Turks that if they obtained what they sought, they would not attempt to attack the Romans any further, but would depart for their homes. But Burtzes did not in the least agree to the wish of the Barbarians; rather, he stood his ground in the battle and fought bravely. Since they had not tasted water at all on the previous day while fighting, when they reached the banks of a certain river, they divided the turns of labor and rest among themselves, so that while some held the battle firmly, others refreshed themselves from the heat by the river, and these in turn would soon take their place in the ranks of the combatants. And thus, by continually changing positions, they kept up the battle with ever-fresh energy. Yet the Barbarians, excelling in both boldness and numbers, stood firm and struggled against them; and Burtzes, perceiving this, was at a loss as to what plan he should adopt. Finally, he decided not to choose a messenger from the common run of soldiers to carry this news to the Emperor, but someone from among the more distinguished. He therefore sent the aforementioned George Lebounes. He, having no other path where a multitude of Turks was not present, recklessly dashed himself into their midst, broke through, and had managed to reach the Emperor. ^B The Emperor, having learned the situation concerning Burtzes and having ascertained more accurately from the multitude of Turks—and also that Burtzes stood in need of many hands and forces—was himself under arms at that moment, and was arming his army. And so, having set his heavy infantry into phalanxes, he marched against the Barbarians with great order. The Emperor Michael [(73)] held the vanguard, Bryennius the right, Gabras the left, and Kekaumenos the rearguard. When the Turks beheld them from afar, they prepared to receive them and to take up the fight against them. Nicephorus, the nephew of the Empress by her brother, being a young man and panting for battle, had himself charged out in front of the battle line, drawing with him some young men who were his fellow soldiers in arms by Ares, and engaging with those who had previously rushed against him. ^C He was struck at that moment upon his knee, but he immediately repaid the injury in full, striking his assailant in the chest with a forceful blow of his spear; having jolted him from his horse, he pinned him to the ground. Seeing this, the Barbarians who were behind them immediately turned their backs to the Romans. The Emperor, having received the young man who had performed this heroic deed, was at once delighted and, having greatly praised him, marched toward Philomelion [(74)]; and having reached the lake of the Forty Martyrs, he took what is called Mesonakta [(75)] on the day following. ^D Having set out from there, he took Philomelion by assault. Then he went out again against these Barbarians, and departed to Philomelion. He found this city empty of heavy infantry.

^A Dividing his entire army into various detachments, he sent them out with noble commanders against all the villages and towns lying around Iconium, with orders to ravage them and to snatch the captives from their hands. They, like beasts, spread out everywhere in packs toward the Emperor, bringing the captive Barbarians, and returned with their own baggage, having enslaved them all. The native Romans of these regions followed them voluntarily, fleeing the hands of the Barbarians, women together with infants, and men themselves, and children, taking refuge with the Emperor as if in a place of safety. He, having once again drawn up that new battle formation and having enclosed all the captives, women, and children in the middle, began his return by the same road by which he had come. And in whatever places he approached, he proceeded with all safety. And you would have said, seeing it, that a certain living city, fortified with towers, was moving along according to the aforementioned arrangement in motion.

As he proceeded further, some Barbarians were not visible, but Monolycus followed on both sides of the army in companies with a sufficient force. When he passed through the plain between Polybotos and the aforementioned lake, a detachment of the Barbarian regiment—all of them light-armed and daring men—laid an ambush for the camp from both sides, and suddenly appeared before them from the higher ground. At first, the arch-satrap Monolycus, upon beholding that new battle formation, being a man of advanced age and of great experience in many wars and tactics, was astonished, wondering at that new disposition of the formation, and sought to know the commander of the formation; he surmised it was the Emperor Alexios, and that no other leader of the regiments and that new battle formation existed. And though he wished to attack, he could not; but nevertheless, he ordered them to raise a war cry. ^B Scheming to provide a display of a large army to the Romans, he allowed them not to lock shields, but to rush in a divided and disorderly manner, just as we described their formation above, from here and there, so that by the unexpectedness of the sight and the thundering of the horses’ hooves they might terrify the Roman forces.

But the Emperor, advancing like a tower projecting from the battle formation, or a pillar of fire, or some divine and heavenly vision, encouraged his phalanges, ^C and ordered them to march in the same shape, and exhorted them to be bold, adding that he did not regard the great labor he underwent for his own safety, but for the glory and fame of the Romans, and furthermore, he was quite prepared to die for them all. All, therefore, emboldened, each kept his own place, ^D while the arch-satrap Monolycus, a man now of mature age and most skilled in the art of war from long experience, having seen from afar the description of our battle line, did not dissemble his amazement, and marveling at the new thing, he did not deliberate long with himself but thought he must look for the author of such an extraordinary invention; for he easily recognized the genius of the Emperor Alexios, and understood from this very fact that he himself was present in the army and was leading his men in person. The arch-satrap lacked not the will to engage, but the opportunity responded poorly. Nevertheless, he gave the signal for battle with a trumpet, so that by the opinion of the multitude in truth.

^A They advanced their march so gently that they did not appear to be moving at all to the Barbarians. Since the latter had then been attacking the Roman army throughout the day and had achieved nothing, nor had been able to breach the Roman formation in any respect, they ran back to the heights empty-handed, and having kindled more fires, they howled like wolves throughout the entire night; at times they even mocked the Romans, for there were some among them who were of mixed descent and spoke Greek. At the clearing of the day, Monolycus, pursuing the same tactics, ordered the Turks to do the same.

Upon this, the Sultan Clitziasthlan himself arrived at the Turkish camp, and having observed the orderly arrangement of the army which lay before his eyes, he admired it, yet he mocked Monolycus, as a young man might a senior, for having postponed the battle with the Emperor. But he replied, "I, for my part, being old and failing in spirit, have until now delayed coming to close combat with him; but if you are confident, come, try for yourself; the outcome will teach you." Immediately, therefore, he himself charged those who were in the rear guard, he commanded other satraps to make an assault against the face of the Emperor, and he assigned the battle against the other flank of the formation to others. ^B Nicephorus the Caesar, who held the right wing, perceiving the battle at the rear, struggled to defend those in the back, but he did not wish to exhibit any sign of inexperience or youthfulness; rather, he restrained his spirit, though it raged against the Barbarians, and he was eager to continue the march with good order in the same formation.

While the Barbarians were fighting vigorously, the one holding the left wing, my most beloved of brothers, the Porphyrogennetos Andronicus, turned the reins and made a fierce charge against the Barbarians in defense of his own phalanx. Having reached that most charming prime of life, and possessing prudent daring, a skillful hand, and wisdom superior for his years in war, he departed before his time, and went away and sank from our sight in a way no one would have hoped. O youth! And prime of body, and light leaps upon horses! Where at last is that ^C

youth turned ^A to? The remembrance of this brings upon me a certain force of grief, which tears me from the path I have begun, and carries me away to lamentations. But the thought of my purpose and the law of history compels me onward. For I wonder how it is that even now, as they say it happened long ago, men are not transformed by the magnitude of their misfortunes into stones, birds, trees, or some inanimate thing; whether these things are myths or true stories. Truly, it would perhaps be better to exchange one's nature for that which is devoid of sense, than to experience so bitter a sense of evil. And if this could happen by nature, I believe that the many evils I have endured in this life would surely have turned me into stone. But when Nicephorus realized that the battle ^B had become hand-to-hand, fearing the danger and the destruction of his rear guard, he gave full rein to the forces he was leading and rushed to the aid of our men. Then the Barbarians turned their backs, and together with the sultan Clitziasthlan himself, they strove to retreat in a most disorganized rout to the mountain peaks. Many had fallen in the conflict, and more were captured, while the rest were all scattered in confusion; and the sultan himself, having despaired of his safety, fled with only his cupbearer to a certain chapel built upon the mountain peak, which was surrounded by tall cypresses planted in rows. Three Scythians and the son of Uza pursued him there. Being trapped in this narrow place, the sultan escaped ^C by slipping away to the other side, and since he was unknown by sight to those pursuing him, he managed to get away. However, his cupbearer was captured by the Scythians and offered to the Emperor as a great prize. The Emperor took great joy in such a victory over the enemies, yet he was also vexed that the sultan had not also been captured when he had fallen into his hands, but had escaped, as the saying goes, by only a hair's breadth. As evening had already fallen, the Emperor encamped on the spot. The Barbarians who had survived the disaster climbed back up the mountain peaks, lit many fires far and wide, and howled at the Romans like dogs throughout ^D the night. A certain Scythian, who had escaped from the Roman army and approached the sultan, said: Do not in any way attempt a battle against the Emperor while it is day, for it will not go well for you. But since he has not pitched his tents compactly in the plain, let light-armed archers go down to the foothills throughout the entire night and send frequent volleys of arrows against them, and they will suffer no small damage to the Roman army. At that time, a certain half-Barbarian, having once again eluded the Turks, came to the Emperor and announced everything that the Scythian had proposed to the sultan, and clearly described all the plans made against the Roman army. Having learned this, the Emperor divided his army into two, and ordered those inside the camp to stay awake and alert, while the others were to arm themselves and go outside the camp to meet those coming against them.

The Barbarians acted as they had planned. They wandered around the Roman camp all night, demonstrating to make incursions at the foothills, and they shot many arrows at the army. But the Romans, acting according to the Emperor’s instructions, kept themselves together, not breaking their formation. As the day dawned, they all maintained the same shape, and having once again brought the booty, all the baggage, and the captives themselves, both women and children, into the center of the phalanx, they proceeded on the way toward Ampus. ^B A heavy and terrible war then engaged them. For the Sultan, having again gathered his forces and surrounded the army on all sides, fought hard; but he was unable to break the shield-wall of the Romans in any way, but as if having struck against walls of adamant, he was sent away without accomplishing anything. He was therefore distressed through all that night, and having utterly despaired, he deliberated with Monolycus and the rest of the satraps, at the breaking of the day, to ask the Emperor for peace, as this was the advice of all the Barbarians. ^C The Emperor did not send him away, but accepted his supplication, and immediately ordered the recall signal to be sounded, and thus commanded everyone to remain quiet, and to stand in the same formation, neither dismounting from their horses nor unfastening the baggage of the pack animals, remaining fenced in by shield, helmet, and spear, just as they had been throughout the whole journey. These things were managed by the Emperor for no other reason than that, in the event of confusion, the shape of the formation might not be broken, and thus all become vulnerable; for he feared the Turks, seeing a great multitude of them attacking the Roman army from all sides. ^D Standing in a tactical position, the Emperor selected all his relatives and a sufficient number of the soldiers, placing them on both sides; he himself stood at the head, and to his right and left were those related to him by blood and marriage, and next to them, joined with them, were a select body of soldiers, all of them heavily armored. The gleam of their weapons illuminated the air more than the rays of the sun. At that time, the Sultan also approached with the satraps under him, among whom Monolycus—who in time, experience, and bravery surpassed all the Turks in Asia—led the way, and he caught up with the Emperor and the plain between Augustopolis and Acronium. The satraps, seeing the Emperor from afar, dismounted from their horses and paid the obeisance customary to sovereigns. The Emperor did not allow the Sultan, who frequently attempted to dismount from his horse, to do so; but he, quickly dismounting,

kissed the Emperor’s foot. The Emperor, in return, reached out his hand to him and commanded that he mount a horse of excellent breed. ^A Once he had mounted this and had approached to the other side of the Emperor, the latter immediately unfastened the cloak he was wearing and placed it upon the Sultan’s shoulders. Then, after a short pause, he spoke aloud all that had been agreed upon, saying: "If you wish to submit to the Roman Empire and to restrain the incursions against the Christians, you shall enjoy favors and honor, and for the future you shall live securely in the lands assigned to you, where you had your dwelling before Romanos Diogenes tightened the reins of the Empire and, having joined battle with the Sultan, was unfortunately defeated and captured by him. It is necessary, therefore, to choose peace over war and to abstain from the borders under the Roman dominion, being content with your own. And if you should be persuaded by my words, counseling you toward the better course, you shall in no way regret it, but you shall attain to many gifts; but if not, know that I shall be the destroyer of your race." ^B The Sultan and his satraps agreed very readily to these terms, saying: "We would not have come here of our own accord if we had not preferred to embrace peace with your Majesty." When these things had been said, he dismissed them to the tents assigned to them, promising to confirm the treaties on the following day. On the next day, the Sultan (whose name was Saisan) again came into the presence of the Emperor; and the Emperor, having fulfilled the treaties with him as was customary, bestowed upon him a very large sum of money. ^C Having also lavished honors upon his satraps, he dismissed them joyfully. In the meantime, the Emperor learned that his illegitimate brother Masout ^D was plotting to seize power for himself, intending to...

^A invade, as is usually the case, with the help of certain satraps who offered him advice and troops. The Emperor revealed the whole matter to the Sultan and advised him to stay with him for a little while until more certain and clearer evidence of the conspiracy—the first rumors of which had just emerged—should appear. Thus, after the enemies' ambushes had been foreseen and protection arranged, he might depart more safely and securely, the Emperor warning him in a friendly and salutary manner.

However, he rejected the offer with great confidence. The Emperor, therefore, not wishing to seem to be holding back by force ^B a prince who had come to him of his own accord, nor wanting his overly diligent service to be turned into a charge of accusation or slander, allowed the Barbarian to follow his own judgment. He only said this to him as he was leaving: "It would indeed have been better to wait here for a short time; but since this is not at all to your liking, I must yield to your will. I ask only one thing: since you have rejected my previous advice, do not reject this one. I suggest that you take a suitable number of armored Roman soldiers, who may lead you safe and sound under a sure escort as far as Iconium."

But the Sultan did not allow himself to be persuaded even of this, for Barbarians are puffed up with obstinate ferocity and think they almost surpass even themselves in magnitude and power. Having bid farewell to the Emperor, and having been presented with much money, he set out for home. ^C But behold, on a certain night, while he was sleeping, a dream appeared to him—not one sent by Jove, nor one inciting the Barbarian to battle, such as the sweet poetry of Homer celebrates,

*Like to the son of Neleus, Nestor,*

but one genuinely presaging the truth to the Barbarian. For he seemed to be eating breakfast when a swarm of flies descended upon him, rushing to snatch the bread he was eating from his hands. While he was treating them with contempt and trying to drive them away, suddenly the flies changed their nature into lions and overcame him. Upon waking, he recounted the vision to the soldier whom the Emperor had given him as a companion for the journey, and he even sought his opinion regarding the interpretation of the dream. When the soldier replied that he thought the assaults of the flies and the lions portended the real incursions of enemies, he did not add faith to his soothsayer; but, persisting in his haste, he continued with the journey he had so imprudently begun, proceeding ^D too securely and without any proper guard.

He had, however, sent out scouts to observe and return shortly to report if any enemies had gone out to plunder. These scouts encountered Masout himself with a vast army, now stationed very close to the Sultan whom he was aggressively pursuing. What were they to do in such a desperate situation? Naturally, they spoke with the stronger party and, having arranged for their own safety through betrayal and treachery, by pre-arrangement—an offspring of the satrap...

^A Asan Katuch, whose name he had anticipated, Saisan killed, striking him with the spear. ^B But he, swiftly turning, snatches the spear from the hands of the Gazi, saying: "I did not know that women now carry spears against us," and then, fleeing, he held to the path leading to the Emperor. But he was hindered by his companion Pucheas, who, long since inclined to the party of Masut, approached Saisan feigning friendliness, ostensibly giving [him] the better advice, but in truth digging a snare and pit for him; he advised him not to return to the Emperor, but to enter Tyganion, deviating a little from the road, a small town situated very close to Philomelion. The inexperienced Saisan believes the words of Pucheas, and having reached Tyganion, was kindly received by the Roman settlers, who knew of the Emperor’s goodwill toward him. But the Barbarians arrived, and Masut himself, encircling the walls, began to lay siege. ^C But he [Saisan], looking out from above, greatly threatened his fellow Barbarian tribesmen, saying that formidable Roman forces of the Emperor were already reaching them, and if they did not cease the battle, they would suffer such and such things. The Romans within also resisted the Turks gallantly. But Pucheas tears apart the tent, and bringing the wolf hidden under the sheep’s skin into the open, descends from the walls, on the one hand promising Saisan that he would encourage the settlers to resist more bravely, but on the other hand, threatening them more, and advising them to yield and open the gates to the Turks, if they did not wish to become fodder for the barbarian hand, as many forces were already arriving even from Chorasan itself. Yet they, terrified by the multitude of the Barbarians, and also persuaded by the advice of Pucheas, concede the stronghold to the Turks; and having seized the Sultan Saisan, they deprive him of his eyes. ^D Since they lacked an instrument suitable for this purpose, that which had been given to Saisan by the Emperor, a manouïlēn, served. And it was possible to see at that moment the vessel of light having become the cause of darkness and obscuration. Still perceiving some small ray when he was led by the hand to Ikonion, he dared to trust it to the nurse, and she to his wife, and so, the report having reached the ears of Masut himself, it disturbed the soul of the Barbarian. He, filled with anger, ordered the Elem (this is one of the important satraps) to hang him with a cord. Thus…

^A Saisan the sultan met his end, due to his own imprudence and his refusal to comply with the emperor's counsels.

Meanwhile, the emperor led his army back to the royal city, performing the march with the exact same discipline, battle array, and formation that he had employed while on hostile ground. I see that I must fear, lest someone hearing of "battle lines" and "phalanges," of "captives" and "spoils," of the emperor and the generals and military prefects assisting him in orchestrating the move, should think of those commonplace things that historians or poets, when recording military affairs, are accustomed to designate by these very terms. But I am recounting something new and unheard of. For it is agreed by the unanimous confession of all who saw the events of that time that the configuration and composition of the battle line was such as no one had ever seen before, nor had any historian ever transmitted such a sight to the memory of posterity. Indeed, especially when the Roman army was moving toward Iconium, it was a wondrous thing to see with what exact order, with what great and mutually responding measure of movement by all, such a multitude progressed. Looking at the whole line, you would have said that it stood still while it was advancing, and that it was advancing while it was halting. For, by its shield-locking and the mutual cohesion of the battle line, it resembled ^B the eternal constancy of immovable mountains; yet with its shifts it moved just like a vast living creature, the entire phalanx being moved and progressing by a single soul. When he reached Philomelium, having rescued from all sides those who were under the tyranny of the Barbarians, as has been said before, he brought those captives—the women themselves, the little children, and all the booty—into the midst of the battle line, and as he turned back, he went slowly, and as it were, made the motion leisurely and like an ant-trail.

Since many of the women were pregnant, and many were afflicted by illnesses, whenever a woman began to be tested by the onrushing pangs of childbirth, a trumpet was ^C sounded by the emperor's command for the whole army to halt, and he made everyone stand firm, and the entire formation would stop on the spot. When he learned that she had given birth, another sound—not the usual one, but one calling for movement—was signaled, which prompted the journey for everyone. If someone was dying, the same things would happen again: the emperor would arrive at the side of the dying person, and priests would be summoned to sing the final hymns and to impart the sacraments to the dying individual. And thus, once everything for the dying had been duly performed, he would not allow the battle line to move even a little until the deceased had been buried in a coffin. When it was necessary to breakfast, he would summon the women and men who were exhausted by disease ^D or old age and provide them with the greater share of the food, and he would urge those dining with him to do the same. It was a feast, as it were, of divine generosity, not of instruments

^A of music, such as pipes, drums, or any other sound at all that could disturb. Furnishing himself with such provision, when he reached Damalis—and it was evening—he did not desire a brilliant entry into the city to be made for him, nor did he wish to display a royal procession or theatrical pomp, having reserved the crossing for the following day, as was indeed proper. Instead, he went straight into a solitary place at the lighting of the lamps and reached the palace.

The next day, he was entirely occupied with the care of those taken captive in war and of strangers. He distributed ^B to those orphans whose parents had been lost and who were worn out by the bitter misery of orphanhood, as well as to their relatives and to as many as he knew to live a life of piety—even to those overseeing sacred institutes—and he charged them not to rear them as slaves but as free persons, judging them worthy of every kind of education and instructing them in the holy scriptures. Some he even handed over to the orphanage he himself had built ^C (83), having made it a school for those who wished to receive a general education. For in the parts toward the acropolis, where the mouth of the Pontus opens, having found a church of great size to the name of the great apostle Paul (84), he built there another city within the queen of cities; for the church itself stands at the highest point of this part of the city, like an acropolis. And the new city is marked out on both sides with as many stadia as one might name in width and length; round about this stand dense buildings, dwellings for the poor, and what is more ^D philanthropic, a place for those maimed in body.

^A For one might see these individuals approaching, each man one by one—here the blind, there the lame, and those afflicted with some other malady—such that, beholding it, you would say it was Solomon’s Porch, filled with men whose limbs and entire bodies were maimed. The circle is double and twofold. For those of the maimed men and women who are lodged above and in the higher parts act from above, while those below are dragged along near the earth. The size of the circle is such that if one wished to view these people, beginning at dawn, one would only complete the circuit by evening. Such is the city, and such are the inhabitants of this city, who possess neither fields, nor vineyards, nor anything else of that sort which we understand to be concerns of human life; but ^B each man and each woman, according to that Job, inhabits the house created for them. Their needs, both for food and for shelter, were provided to them by the imperial hand. For, most paradoxically, these men who possess nothing are like certain lords who own estates and revenues of every kind; they have caretakers and managers of their lives, the Emperor himself and those courtiers who are zealous in his service. For wherever there was a property on earth situated to advantage—to say it in the same way, one that was productive—he allotted its produce to these brethren. From which wine flows to them in rivers, and bread, and all that men consume alongside bread. And since they eat in numbers beyond count, and I dare even say—and one might perhaps remark this—it recalls the miracle of my Savior involving the seven thousand and the five thousand, the work of the Emperor. But there, thousands were satisfied by five loaves, as God himself also works miracles; here, however, it proceeds from the divine commandment of philanthropy. The rest is this: there, it was a miracle, but here, it is a royal provision supplying what is sufficient for the brethren. ^C I have even seen an old woman being served by a young girl, and a blind man being led by a sighted person, and a man without feet possessing feet—not his own, but another’s—and one without hands being led by other men, and infants being nursed by strange mothers, and the paralyzed being served by other, robust men. In sum, the multitude of those being fed was double that of those serving. It was not permitted for the Emperor to say to the paralyzed man, "Arise and walk," nor to command the blind man to see, nor to allow one lacking feet to walk; these were the acts of the Only-Begotten, who became man for our sake and lived here among men. But what was available to him, that he did: serving each maimed person individually, and extending the same care to the maimed as to the healthy. So that if anyone wished to understand exactly this new city which my father raised from the foundations, he would see it as a fourfold city, and many times larger than the lower one were the upper parts, serving both of these [groups of people]. Job in the dunghill, destitute of everything, regarding [each person's private needs, was as similar as could be, yet...]

it was a wonderful thing that all were overflowing with everything suitable for their use. The Emperor, of course, with a generous hand provided them everything that was necessary for their dwelling and living, for food and clothing. [1157-1158] Since all these things came to them without price, without care, spontaneously, and for free, it was viewed as a rather unexpected thing; that men who were the poorest of all should possess estates, tax-yielding lands, and revenues of every kind; indeed, that they should even utilize for their own business and needs many curators and administrators, and those of high standing, namely the Emperor himself, the princes of the palace, and his own kinsmen and companions: who, indeed, with the greatest fidelity and effective zeal, managing the accounts of those poor people just as they would observe them for a landed estate located in the best position with the most abundant returns, would immediately endeavor to have it attributed to this fellowship. From these, then, as if from perennial fountains, wine flowed in abundant rivers for the daily use of those living there, and bread and whatever human sustenance usually accompanies bread was provided, in a benign abundance that feared no lack. Yet there were more people being fed there than anyone might estimate. So that I might dare (if, however, I may be permitted this by the Lord Jesus) to compare this providence and liberality of the Emperor in some way with the Savior’s miracle, when He fed five and again seven thousand men. It is significant, however, that there five or seven loaves satisfied as many thousands of men. God, certainly, was God, who was there manifesting a specimen of His omnipotence. Here, there was nothing but an endeavor of humanity, a precept imposed by God upon men to help one another mutually in whatever way each is able, striving to fulfill it. 484 Therefore, there was the wonderful effect of the omnipotent right hand; here, the imperial largesse provided to the fellows, bound together in the fellowship of one vast house, all things necessary for use. It pleased me to see there an old woman cared for by an adolescent girl; a blind man led by the hand by one who could see; those who were lame or mutilated in their feet having feet provided through the kindness of another, not their own; those lacking their own arms using the substitute hands of friends; orphaned infants being suckled at the breasts of other mothers; finally, paralytic men with relaxed nerves, the physically weak, supplying the defect of their inert limbs through the ministries of others who were stronger. Thus, in general, the multitude in that place, nourished by the Emperor’s expenses, consisted of a twofold kind: some were those who were served, and others were those who served. Moreover, the Emperor did not possess the power by which he could, with the following effect, say to a paralytic, "Arise and walk," or command one who was blind to see, or suddenly grant a gait to one lacking feet by a mere command. That power was the unique possession of the Only-Begotten, who, having assumed humanity for our sake, led a life here among men in a human way and superior to human comprehension. But what the Emperor could do—namely, to assign to each mutilated person or one deprived of the use of his limbs a personal servant for care and obedience, and to provide equally for the sick, both the ones sick and those caring for the sick, with stable food—that he did most generously. Furthermore, if anyone wishes to have a more distinct knowledge of this city, built from the foundations by my father, let him know that it was divided into four parts, if not even more. They constituted it, namely, those who were lying down or sitting in the upper stories and the lower chambers—the sick; then, those who served as curators and servants, both to those in the upper parts and those living below.

But who could enumerate accurately how many were fed there daily, how much expense was lavished upon it, with what beneficial and how careful a providence each person there was looked after, or with what great liberality food and other necessities are supplied to each one even today? For I claim as my own right even those things that endure after my father, established by him, so that they may be rightly attributed to his praise. For he it was who assigned those maritime and terrestrial revenues from which these things endure; he it was who—whether for the tenants of this house or the citizens of the city—secured this leisure, this abundant rest, and a secure life, as firmly as could be done through his most liberal assignments of the best estates and eternal revenues. This city, counting nearly ten thousand citizens, is presided over by a man of the most illustrious rank, with full authority to manage and dispense everything. Orphanotrophion is the common name of this whole... [index: entries preserved]

institution, ^A into this temple, one might see choirs singing from either side. For he assigned to the church of the Apostles 87 men and women singing according to Solomon; for he also made provision for that of the deaconesses. 88

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange.

87 To the temple of the Apostles. It is spoken of shortly before as the church of the Apostle Paul. 88 Deaconesses. The name of Deaconess is heard from the very cradles of the Christian religion, as St. Paul abundantly testifies, Epist. to the Romans, ch. xvi, where he commends Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae; and Blessed Ignatius, who in his Epist. to the Antiochians greets the deaconesses. But Theodoret also mentions her, lib. iii, ch. 14, a woman famous for her piety, "deemed worthy of the grace of the diaconate," and Sozomen mentions another performing this sacred office, lib. iv, ch. 24. Cyril is the authority in the Life of St. Euthymius, ch. 1, n. 5, that Dionysia, mother of the holy Euthymius, had been ordained a deaconess by Otreius, bishop of Melitene. Others are mentioned by Crispin in the Life of St. Parthenius, bishop of Lampsacus, ch. 2, n. 17; by Marcus in the Life of St. Porphyrius, bishop of Gaza, ch. 12, n. 102. Pliny also, lib. x, epist. 97, is an authority that they were called "ministers" by the first Christians, specifically because, as the deacons were present to the bishops and presbyters to lend their labor while they were performing divine offices, so the women undertook those duties in sacred ministries which the deacons themselves could not perform while preserving modesty, or even without a note of offense, especially in offices that concerned women; for example, if it were necessary to proceed to the baths, or if it were necessary for bodies to be anointed for any reason, as is in the Constit. Apostol., lib. iii, ch. 15, and in Epiphanius, haeres. 79, or if rustic and unlearned women were to be instructed in the divine word, at which time they were to be baptized, how they were to respond to the baptizer, and how they were to live after baptism, as in the Arabic Canons of the Council of Nicaea, can. 74, and in the council of Carthage iv, can. 12. Hence ^C they are also said by St. Jerome to have ministered in their own sex in baptism and the ministry of the word; which is also taught moreover by the Novella of Justinian vi, ch. 6, and John Moschus, in the Spiritual Meadow, ch. 3, where he intimates that women themselves, when they approached holy baptism, were completely naked; which is further testified by St. Chrysostom in his Epistle to Pope Innocent, which is read in the Life of him written by Palladius; and this is confirmed by the Council of Constantinople under Mennas, Act 5, p. 571, edit. 1618, in which it was objected to Peter of Alexandria that he had entered the baptistery with a certain Maria, naked, before she was baptized, and had granted no one else the power to enter. Hence it is easy to conjecture that women were denuded for that purpose by the deacons, as Dionysius the Areopagite and Gregory Nazianzen, orat. 40, on baptism, are authorities; so deaconesses ministered at their denudation for women, who were baptized separately from men (which the Ordo Romanus and Augustine, lib. xxii De civit. Dei, ch. 8, indicate). However, regard for modesty was held for them in the ceremonies; for as Clement is the authority, lib. iii, ch. 16, a deacon received a man coming to baptism, a deaconess a woman: to whom, therefore, the keys of that part of the baptistery in which the women were baptized were entrusted, as is in the same writer, lib. vi, ch. 28, and hence they are called deaconesses by St. Ignatius, epist. 9: "Wardens of the holy gates." And so, when women were being baptized, the deacon only anointed their foreheads with holy oil, and afterward he performed the other anointings: "For there is no need for women to be looked upon by a man," as the same Clement says. Therefore, it is probable that although they proceeded naked to the baptistery, they nevertheless had their naked bodies covered by some linen cloth, which was removed only by the deaconesses when the matter demanded it, and other anointings had to be performed, as the deacon only anointed the forehead. And Atto, bishop of Vercelli, in epist. 8, seems to be understood about these ministries when he says that deaconesses took upon themselves the office of ministering or baptizing; not that they ever actually performed that task, but that they ministered in the administration of that sacrament conferred upon women. Since, therefore, this was the primary purpose of the ancient Christians, that they might avoid scandals to pagans especially and others, they judged that women should be employed in feminine offices, widows approved by their virtues, mature in age and advanced, who had exceeded the sixtieth year of their age, according to the precept of the Apostle, I Tim. ch. v. That this was also sanctioned later by Theodosius is the authority of Theophanes, and by Valentinian, law 27 Cod. Theod. de Episc. et cler. Hence, from their advanced age, they were called "presbytides" in the Council of Laodicea, can. 1; "prokathemenai," or "seniores," by Isidore Mercator; "presbytides, fitting for holy things," by St. Antiochus, hom. 21; and "women elders," and "divinely inspired mothers," by Palladius, in the Preface to the Lausiac History, because they took precedence over other women in the Church, held the first place in assemblies, and even governed the "women's quarters" ecclesiastically, as is in Balsamon, lib. v of the Greco-Roman Law. Afterward, it was decreed that those who had reached their fiftieth year could be admitted to the order of deaconesses, Novella of Justinian vi, or at least the fortieth, Nov. cxxiii, ch. 13, and the Council of Chalcedon, can. 15; in which it is further cautioned that deaconesses after their "cheirotonia" cannot pass to nuptials; where the word "cheirotonia" is not taken for ordination, or consecration, but for a blessing. For the "cheirothesia" was twofold, namely, of blessing and of consecration, as Tarasius, patriarch of CP, says, act 1 of the Council of Nicaea ii, p. 486, both being done by the imposition of hands; but the latter was of ordination and consecration, which concerned bishops and presbyters, while the other was of blessing, in the way that hands were imposed upon the baptized, as Jerome is the authority against Lucifer, or upon penitents 418 and the lapsed. Council of Orange i, can. 26: "Deaconesses are by no means to be ordained: if any are such already, let them submit their heads to the blessing which is bestowed upon the people." Council of Epaon, can. 21: "The consecration of widows, whom they call deaconesses, we utterly abrogate in all our region, only imposing upon them the blessing of penance, that is, in the way that hands are accustomed to be imposed upon penitents." Therefore, it is clear that the word "consecration" is to be understood in this way in Fortunatus, in the Life of St. Radegund, ch. 22, when he narrates how this pious queen of the Franks urgently implored Blessed Medardus, bishop of Noyon, that he should consecrate her to the Lord, her dress being changed. For when St. Medardus refused, she entered the sanctuary dressed in monastic attire, proceeded to the altar, and addressed the blessed Medardus in these words, saying: "If you delay in consecrating me, and fear man more than God, the soul of the sheep will be required from your hand by the Shepherd." He, shaken by the thunder of this testimony, having placed his hand upon her, consecrated her as a deaconess, that is, by the imposition of hands. But on the contrary, "blessing" is taken for ordination in the Council of Orleans ii, can. 17: "Women who have hitherto received the blessing of the diaconate against the prohibitions of the canons, if they are proven to have returned again to marriage, let them be repelled from communion." And can. 18: "It has also pleased that in the future no feminine diaconal blessing be believed granted due to the fragility of this condition." Because they once condemned the Cataphrygians, because women were able

^A to profess that they were being ordained as deaconesses, the author is St. Ambrose, in chapter 111 of Epistle 1 to Timothy, which heresy Marianus Scotus and Sigebert attribute to the Acephali. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, in his Epistle to John, Bishop of Jerusalem, in which he dilutes various things objected to his own person, says: "But I never ordained deaconesses, and I never sent them to foreign provinces, nor did I do anything to split the Church." Hence, it is established that the word *cheirotonein* (to ordain) is used in no other sense by Theophanes when he says that Chrysaphius persuaded Eudocia Augusta to obtain from her husband Marcian that he might *epistrepsai* (turn toward) the Patriarch to ordain her a deacon, as she was still a virgin; thus also in the Council of Worms, canon 45, the imposition of hands must be understood in the case of deaconesses. And thence the Council of Nicaea, canon 19, lists deaconesses, although they might have constituted some kind of order in the Church, as Epiphanius says, among the laity. Furthermore, it is uncertain what imposition of hands Bernald of Constance, presbyter, intended in his *De Reconciliat. lapsorum*, where he treats of deaconesses: Item, in the same council (Nicaea), the fact that deaconesses are denied to have the imposition of hands should be understood only of the deaconesses of the Paulianists, as we are informed by various translations: for the deaconesses of the Catholics do have an imposition of hands, according to the Council of Chalcedon. Nor are they different from the deaconesses who in the Latin Church councils are commonly called Widows, who, indeed, made a profession of keeping widowhood before the bishop in the vestry, having had the widow's veil placed upon them by him, as is found in the Council of Orange I, canon 27, of those who were once-married, indeed; Clement, book VI, chapter 17: "A deaconess, however, let her be a chaste virgin, or if not, a widow who is once-married, faithful and honorable." So also Epiphanius, last chapter of the *Panarion*. Prudentius, book

Peristephanon

^B dual; where a blessing, in place of the imposition of hands, or ordination, is taken, distinct from the blessing of penance. Indeed, Pope Gelasius, Epistle 9, determined that they should not be veiled by the bishop: "Since," he says, "neither divine authority nor the form of the canons prescribe it." Pope Zacharias later confirmed this in Epistle to Pepin, chapter 6, in which he decreed that widows should be veiled under no blessing, so that if they, having professed the chastity of marriage by their own will, trampled upon it with a mutable mind, it is a matter of their danger, by what satisfaction they should appease God. For, as the Council of Tours I, canon 20, says, although their resolve alone ought to suffice them, they ought to strive to persevere in it without deceit. But these things were changed afterward, since the Council of Worms under Pope Adrian II, canons 20 and 21, proves that once the sacred veil was assumed, consecrated widows were prohibited from receding from the published profession. Therefore, widows and deaconesses formed a certain order in the Church, just as nuns and monks, from whom they differed; nor did Abelard, in *Sermon on the Birth of St. Stephen*, p. 143, correctly call an abbess by the name of deaconess, unless perhaps because deaconesses were in charge of the female assembly, as [i]presbyteres[/i] (although, to tell the truth, the heads of girls' monasteries seem to be indicated by this name in the *Life of St. Eupraxia the Virgin*, n. 7 and 40). Hence in the seven orders, of which the Septiform Litany consisted, under Pope Gregory the Great, the third was of all abbesses with their congregations; the sixth of all widows, as Paul Warnefrid is the author, book II of *De gestis Langob.*, chapter 25. But those who are called widows here are called deaconesses by Anastasius in the time of Pope Leo: "The entire Roman people with the nuns and deaconesses, and most noble matrons, with banners and signs and spiritual chants, received him." Nor should they be understood otherwise in the Bull of Pope Gregory VII, in Ughellus, *in archiepiscopis Bonon.*, n. 52: "Abbots, monks, presbyters, deacons, clerics lettered and unlettered, servants and handmaids of God, and deaconesses, the servants of both sexes, etc." Thus, in this place of Anne, deaconesses are distinguished from nuns, and rightly so. For nuns were devoted to the sacred offices of the monasteries; but the office of the deaconesses was to approach poor women, or those detained in dungeons, or afflicted with illness, and to perform other works of piety. Hence they were called matriculars, as Isidore Mercator is the author in canon 11 of the Council of Laodicea: "Women who are called presbyteresses among the Greeks, but among us are called widows, seniors, and matriculars, ought not to be appointed in the Church." For it is known that the duties of the matricularii existed regarding the poor. Wherefore, Albo of Vercelli, in the place cited above, rightly contends that deaconesses were something else entirely than abbesses. But in what way, or by what rite, deaconesses were ordained among the Greeks, Goar's *Euchologion* explains at length, as does Matthew Blastares. But how widows who professed chastity were consecrated among the Latins, the *Roman Ordo* describes, in which it is further noted that it is permitted to presbyters to veil widows, but only to bishops to veil virgins, and this before the Gospel. Furthermore, they seem to have been the same as the deaconesses, the women whom the same *Roman Ordo* calls canonesses, which distinguishes them from the nuns: 420 "Between a virgin and a woman, between a canoness and a nun, etc." Mention of these is in St. Antiochus, homily 18, where he says that monks ought not to associate with women: "Similarly, it is unfitting for canonesses to converse with [men]."

(89) Ἰβηρίδων. Of the nuns, who had migrated from Iberia to Constantinople.

Council of Toledo IV, canon 56: There are two types of widows, secular and religious (nuns). Secular widows are those who, still intending to remarry, have not laid aside the lay habit. Religious are those who, having already changed their secular habit, have appeared under a religious garb in the presence of a priest or in the Church. The change of garments is also observed by Paris V, canon 43; Tours I, canon 20; Toledo X, canon 4; and Forum Julii, canon 11, as also in Clovis' Epistle to the bishops. From the profession of devotion, they are called *devotae* in that same Epistle of Clovis, and *professae* in the Council of Arles I, canon 46; but that they were consecrated by bishops is shown in the Council of Rheims, canon 23; and finally that a blessing was imparted to them, ^D *benedictae* in the Council of Tours II, canon 20. But what the consecration and blessing of widows was, I see is debated. Certainly, the usage in those ceremonies was various in the Church. For Pope Symmachus in his decretal Epistle to the bishops of Arles, chapter 5, forbids widows who have pronounced the profession of widowhood to cross over to nuptials, as does the Council of Forum Julii, canon 11, which decrees concerning deaconesses, along with Chalcedon, and Toledo IV, canon 56, and Additions 3 of Louis, chapter 47. Therefore, if they receded from that profession, as well as those who abducted them, the Council of Orange I, canon 27, condemns with excommunication; the same Symmachus, chapter 4; Council of Aurelian I, canon 46; Aurelianense, canon 16; Rheims, canon 23; Paris III, canon 5; Toledo X, canon 4; Tullense II, canon 2, etc. But their consecration is forbidden by the Council of Epaon, canon 21, the reason for which decree is rendered in that of Tours II, canon 20, because the blessing of a widow is never read in the canonical books.

^A of the whole nomenclature; and by the prevailing application, the term Orphanotropheion eventually designated this collegium, which served the poor of Alexius who utilized his liberality, and included as well the aged and the infirm who were designated by the word for orphans. For the perpetuation of the revenues and possessions, land registries were erected, and groups of readers were instituted, that is to say, men assigned to the task of overseeing the funds and annual payments from the immovable goods of the poor, with careful providence, collecting the revenues, receiving them, dispensing them, calculating the accounts, and paying them back in turn. 485 ^B And just as all these things had been sanctioned for eternal firmness by Golden Bulls, so that what had been contributed for the maintenance of the orphans could never by any calumny or any chance be diverted. To the temple of the great preacher Paul (which temple I have mentioned was included in the orphanotropheion) a large and numerous clergy was assigned, with men, so that no one might be scandalized. However, they were styled widows, or canonesses, because they were "in the canon," or "from the canon," as the councils speak—the Council of Antioch, canon 2, 6, 11; the Council of Chalcedon, canon 2; and the Council of Trullo, canon 6; or because they were subject to the ecclesiastical canon, or were appointed as it is in the Council of Toledo III, canon 5 and 6, and the Council of Forum Julii, anno 791, canon 1—which is to say, that they constituted a certain and fixed order in the Church and were bound by the religion of the vows emitted according to the rules of the Church. For it is reasonable to believe that from this source originally were derived those we today call canonics, because they were constituted under the ecclesiastical canon and served ecclesiastical duties. Balsamon, in Book V of the *Jus Graeco-Romanum*, page 381, says that the order of deaconesses was once known to the canons and had a seat in the bema; but in his own day, even if they were *exarchousai*, that is, though they had a place and station in the Church of Constantinople, nevertheless they did not sit in the bema. We learn from Novella 11 of Justinian, and another of the Emperor Heraclius which exists in Book II of the *Jus Graeco-Romanum*, that the number of deaconesses in the Great Church of Constantinople was fixed at forty, just as presbyters at 80, deacons at 150, subdeacons at 70, etc., to which groups ^C of individual orders were assigned in the same church *staseis*, or stations; for thus the places of the church assigned to them are called in that same Novella of Heraclius, in which the number of clergy of the Blachernae church is also defined, and even that of deaconesses at six. But in what place of the Sophiana temple, or another, the station of the deaconesses was, it is not easy to assert. Certainly it is clear that in all churches women stood separated from men. In the Sophiana there were double porticoes, of which the lower was destined for men, the upper for women. Procopius, *De Aedif. Justin.*: "The porticoes are two on each side. Of these two porticoes, the one is assigned to the men praying, and the other, constructed in the same way, is yielded to the women." And from there the upper portico is called by the same writer the *gynaikonitis*: "Who would be the interpreter of the upper parts of the gynaikonitis?" which upper porticoes were also called *catechumena*. Leo, *Novella* 77: "In the parts of the churches which a great many people have come to know as the Catechumena." So also the upper part of the great temple did Nicetas Paphlago call it in the *Life of St. Ignatius, Patriarch of CP*. But the author of the description of that temple mentions the *gynaikonitis* of the Sophiana more than once, who sometimes calls the upper one the *deutera catechumena* (second catechumena) and the lower one the *prota catechumena* (first catechumena). Furthermore, the *gynaikonitis*, a part for men and a part for women, is mentioned by St. Augustine, Book XXII *De Civit. Dei*, cap. 8, and in the *Ordo Romanus*, as another part for men, by Anastasius the Librarian in *Lives of the Popes*, pp. 72, 118, 132, and in the same *Ordo Romanus*. But concerning this ancient custom, by which women prayed separated from men in temples, one should consult Clemens, *Constit.* Book II, cap. 61; Gregory Nazianzen, *In Somn. de Anastasia*; Ambrose, *Ad Virg. laps.*; Cogitosus, *in Vita S. Birgittae*, sub finem; Allatius, *De recentiorum Graecorum templis*; Goar, *ad Eucholog.*, and others. Now, whether deaconesses stood together with the remaining women, that does not seem probable, since Heraclius sufficiently indicates that specific *staseis*, or seats, were assigned to presbyters, deacons, deaconesses, subdeacons, and readers for every one in the Sophiana church. Accordingly, that seat of the deaconesses was perhaps what ecclesiastical writers call the *matroneum*. Anastasius, *In Symm. PP.*, p. 32: "At the blessed apostle Paul, he made a chamber and a *matroneum*." The same, in *Gregory IV*, p. 166, implies the *matroneum* was joined to the presbyterium: "He built from the foundation a large and laborious presbyterium, to which he added from the northern side a *matroneum* enclosed with stones." 421 There are not wanting, however, those who say that *matroneum* is what the same writer calls the "part of the women," where indeed the women stood while the sacred liturgy was being performed; for in the baths, the part in which women bathed was also called *Matronikeion*, according to Cedrenus: to which opinion the *Ordo Romanus* indeed leans, which calls the part of the women the "part of the matrons": "Similarly, the pontiff passing into the part of the matrons, completes everything as above." From which it may appear that the *matroneum* was the same as the part of the matrons. But even the part of the women existed not far from the presbyterium. For the same Anastasius relates, p. 154, 155, that Pope Paschal, when he saw the church of the holy and immaculate Virgin Mary at the Manger, constructed of old in such a custom that behind the seat of the pontiff women standing at the solemnities of the sacred masses appeared to assist close by the pontiff: so that if the pontiff had wished to speak to those assisting, on account of the very close crowd of women, it was by no means permitted to him without their intervention, that there was a large space there, and how he might be able to change his seat from there, he took notice, and with the study of the work he began incessantly to act to place the seat, which was placed lower down, further up, so that he might more familiarly pour forth prayers to the Lord, and might be able more modestly to decline the crowds of the people. In which place those women, who had their station in the church not far from the seat of the pontiff, seem to have been deaconesses; for the others stood in the Narthex, or in that part which was called of the women. Pachymeres mentions the Orphanotropheion, lib. iv, c. 14.

^A and the most meritorious college of distinguished men serving God according to the legitimate rite, with the addition, furthermore, of a large store of torches and lamps for the sacred lights. Thus, entering this temple, you might see with religious pleasure the choirs gathering from here and there, and joining in alternate singing and responding. For to this holy edifice, just as to the Church of the Apostles, he had attached perpetual companies of singers, both male and female (as Solomon did of old in the temple at Jerusalem), using great providence so that there would never be lacking anything for the deaconesses to perform their ministry there; nor should any monks arriving from Iberia, who previously had led an unstable life while begging for a precarious livelihood from door to door upon their arrival in Constantinople, lack any part of the necessary provisions. For them, too, in this, as it were, new city of my father, he built very spacious houses at magnificent expense, in which they could duly perform and meditate upon their customary exercises of sacred doctrine and religious duties at their leisure, with ample provision given from the public treasury of whatever was needed for their sustenance and clothing. Let that Alexander the Great boast as much as he likes of Alexandria in Egypt, Bucephalum in Media, or Lysimachia in Ethiopia, founded by him; truly the Emperor Alexius will never be so pleased with those many cities—which we know he built everywhere in the world—as to pride himself primarily on this one, which he founded, furnished, and adorned. ^B Furthermore, the temple and monastery will meet you as you enter on your left; on the right of the great temple, a house is visited, dedicated to the instruction of boys, and a school for orphans, crowded and gathered in the greatest number from every class, with grammarians and a master appointed for each of their respective classes, all under the common care of a supreme moderator who, standing in the midst of all, keeps watch. The ranks of the students are drawn up around him. These, indeed, sharpen their minds and memories with those initial, rudimentary questions. Others, already relying on some practice, are exercised in writing *schedai* (for so they call them): here one might see a boy of Latin origin being formed in the precepts of his own language no less correctly than among his own people, and a Scythian attempting to speak and write Greek not unsuccessfully; and a Roman being trained in the language and disciplines of the Greeks; and him who is Greek by birth and lot alone, by acquired use of letters and perceived knowledge, defending the honor of that name.

^B These are the fruits and specimens of that great study with which Alexius was inclined toward the progress of literature, and the proper instruction of youth in the liberal arts and the art of discourse. Now, concerning the *Schedai* which I mentioned a little earlier, that art was invented by the more recent teachers, and indeed those of this present age of ours. I pass over certain *Styliani*, and those who are called *Longobardi*, and as many as have busied themselves with the gathering of all kinds of names; and the Attics, and those who have been of the sacred catalog of the Great Church among us, whose names I omit, but now, in a secondary account, I say nothing of these, nor of the poets and those very writers, and the experience derived from them. ^C But the study is *petoteia* (a sort of school of poetry), and the other works are forbidden. I say these things, grieving because of the utter neglect of the encyclical education; for this inflames my soul, because I have spent much time on these things—and even when I had been released from the childish [exercises of the *schedai*].

^C [Car. Dufresni Du Cange's notes:] *Schedon*. She understands "Schedography," or that part of grammar in which students are taught to understand or examine writing, as is found in Martianus Capella, lib. iii. For such is the power of the word in Basil, in the book *Where he writes concerning grammatical exercise*. Whence does it originate? From the *schedos* and *grapho*. *Schedos*, however, comes from *cheon* (to pour), or *chedos-schedos*, as if it were what pours out and divides the words from one another. Or it comes from *skedazo* (to scatter), *skedaso*. For words being scattered, and, as it were, divided, are taken up into knowledge. Or from *scho*, meaning *kraton* (to hold), *schedos* is that which holds the many together. *Schediazein* instead of *cheironomein* (to handle), concerning him who speaks on the spur of the moment, or *schedion*, to improvise from what occurs. Thus in Hesychius, *schediazein* is "from what occurs in readiness." Concerning *schedon*. ^D [Other note:] She says that Schedography is an invention of the recent ones, and names as its principal masters I know not whom, *Styliani* and *Longobardi*, or Italians, whom Glaber Radulphus, lib. ii, cap. 12, and Paulus Warnefridus, lib. vi, *De gestis Langub.*, cap. 7, testify to have devoted themselves to the work of grammar more intensely than others. To this part of grammar should be referred the book of Manuel Moschopulus, and the *Grammatical Exercise* of the same Basil. Of this type are the partitions of the first twelve verses of the *Aeneid* by Priscian.

I applied myself to the poets and to the writings, and from there I smoothed out the roughness of my tongue; then, with rhetoric assisting me, I condemned the intricate weaving of *schedography*. But let these things be recounted, even if they were not side-issues, but for the sake of the sequence of the account. ^A After this, as the year of his reign passed, a great cloud of heretics arose, and a species of heresy novel, and not yet known to the Church. For two most base and vile doctrines, known in former times, joined together: the impiety of the Manichaeans, which one might also call the heresy of the Paulicians, and the abomination of the Massalians. Such is the doctrine (92) of the Bogomils, composed of Massalians and Manichaeans. And, as it seems, it existed even in the times before my father, but it lay hidden. For it is most terrible (93) for the race of the Bogomils to feign virtue; you would not see a Bogomil with worldly hair, but the evil is hidden under a cloak (94) and a cowl. And the Bogomil looks gloomy, and covers himself up to his nose, and walks with a bowed head, and whispers silently, but inside he is a ravenous wolf. Such was this nation, most troublesome, like a serpent lurking in a hole, which my father called forth to the light with secret incantations. ^{B C}

Notes of Charles du Fresne du Cange

(92) The heresy of the Bogomils, moreover, was combined primarily from the corrupt dogmas of the Manichaeans and Massalians, as is also found in Harmenopulus in his book *On Sects*, where he reviews the opinions of both heresies, namely of the Massalians and the Bogomils. The dogmas of the Massalians, who first arose under Valens, are recounted besides by St. John Damascene, in the tractate which he published concerning that heresy, and by Nicetas, in the *Thesaurus Orthodoxus*, Book 11. But concerning the Bogomils, Euthymius Zigabenus writes in the *Panoplia*, Part 1, Title 23. It is said, moreover, that the Bogomil is so called in the idiom of the Mysians, meaning one who beseeches the mercy of God, as the same Harmenopulus is the author, whence the Greeks have called these men heretics. See Cedrenus, *Annals* of Constantine Monomachus and Valens; Gregoras, Book [blank]; Balsamon, in the *Nomocanon*; Photius; Psellus, *On the Operation of Demons*; Cantacuzenus, Book 11, chapter 39, etc. ^D (93) *Most terrible...* [regarding the Manichaean and Bogomil adherents, see William of Newburgh, Book 2, chapter 13]: They emerge from their caves like most wicked foxes, and under a pretense of piety, while deceiving the simple, they demolish the vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth the more gravely the more freely they act. The Epistle of Louis VII, King of the Franks, which exists in Volume [blank] of Freher’s *German Authors*, concerning the same: "Through certain observances which they have, they appear better than they are." Frederick II, *Constitutions* 2, on heretics: "These are inwardly ravenous wolves, feigning the gentleness of sheep as long as they can sneak into the fold. They are serpents that are seen to creep in secretly, and under the sweetness of honey they vomit poison, so that they pretend to serve the food of life, but strike with their tails, and mix the cup of death, like some most terrible poison." Peter of Blois, Epistle 113: "There have risen in your times preachers of false dogmas; teachers of lies, enemies of truth, and subverters of the faith. They are flattering and simple as lambs, but as cunning as foxes and ravenous as wolves. Such are the heretics who come in sheep’s clothing." (94) *Cloak...* Gloss. Basil. *Mandyes*, a garment. Xiphilinus in *Tiberius*, Anna, pag. 494. See Salmasius, *On the Augustan History*.

^A And he brought forth. For having now laid aside much of the concern for both the West and the East, he inclined himself toward more spiritual matters. In all things he prevailed over all: in didactic discourses he surpassed those who had studied the art of rhetoric; in battles and matters of strategy, he excelled those who were admired in arms. But when the rumor of the Bogomils had already spread everywhere—for a certain monk named Basil, having twelve disciples 37 whom he also called apostles, and drawing in also certain women of evil mind and total depravity, had spread his wickedness everywhere, and the evil—like a fire—was consuming many souls, the soul of the emperor could not endure it. For this reason, he inquired into the matters of the heresy, and some of the Bogomils were brought into the palace. All denounced a certain Basil as the teacher and the preeminent leader of the Bogomil heresy. Out of these, a certain Diblatius was seized, and since he was unwilling to confess when questioned, being delivered to torture, he then confessed the one called Basil, and those whom he had designated as apostles.

The emperor himself commissioned many for the search for this man; and indeed, there appears the arch-satrap of Satanael, Basil, a monk in his clothing, his face emaciated, his beard thin, tall in stature, most manifold in his way of managing his impiety. And at once the emperor, wishing to entice the internal malice with persuasive necessity, calls for the man, and with what a show! For he rose from his seat for him, ^B and granted him a chair, and a seat at his own table, and loosened all the bait of his snare for him, and having cast the hook with all sorts of lures, provided it for this gluttonous sea-monster to consume. And he applied the whole drug to this monk, and bearing his wickedness in many ways, he pretended he wished to become a disciple to him; not perhaps he alone, but also his brother Isaac, the Sebastokrator; and he ordered that all things said by him should be considered as if from a divine oracle, and that he should yield to him in all things, if only the most wicked Basil would provide for the salvation of his soul. And I, indeed... ^{C D}

he said, “most reverend Father” (for he was coating the cup with these sweet words, as if to make the Emperor vomit out his demonic melancholy), “I admire you for the sake of your virtue. I ask, however, that you let me learn the things suggested by your holiness, since those of our own are merely worthless and bring no virtue at all.” At first, he feigned, and that man, who was a wolf in sheep’s clothing in very truth, drew the lion’s skin over himself from all sides and recoiled from what was being said. But he was softened by the praises; and indeed he also made him a table-companion. The Emperor’s brother, the Sebastocrator, also assisted him in all these things and took part in the work. ^B And he belched forth the dogmas of the heresy, and the manner was this: a curtain served as a partition between the women’s quarters and the emperors, behind which that abominable man vomited out everything he had in his soul and spoke openly. The secretary transcribed the words from behind the curtain, and that babbler became, in appearance, a teacher; the Emperor feigned the role of a student; and the sub-secretary recorded the teachings. That god-stricken man heaped together all things, both speakable and unspeakable, and spared no god-hated dogma, but he even looked down on our theology, and imagined the whole of the economy, and the temples—alas for me!—he called the holy temples dens of demons, and the body and blood of the first and high priest and victim, which is celebrated among us, he set at naught and reckoned as vile. ^C But what followed? The Emperor pulls down the curtain, opens it up, and the entire senate had been gathered, and the military assembly had been collected. The assembly of the Church was present; and presiding at that time on the throne of the city of the Queen was the most blessed among patriarchs, the grammarian, the lord Nicholas. And the god-hated dogmas were read aloud, and the conviction was irrefutable. And not even he of the opposing party was able to deny it, but at once, even with bared head, toward...

^A the power to deny was gone; for when there abounded the most evident testimonies for conviction, the adversary, turning the necessity of confession into impudence, began to affirm with shameless face and contumacious mouth what he could not deny, and to construct his defense with many words: adding that he was most prepared to undergo fire, scourges, and numberless deaths for the protection of his dogma. The cause of this bold provocation was the insane error of the universal sect of the Bogomils. For among other trifles, they had seized upon this with stubborn persuasion: that they would pass through whatever torments might be applied to them unscathed and without sensation, as angels would be standing by to snatch them away with swift haste, even from burning pyres. At this, not only all the orthodox, but even many of those who had at some time allowed themselves to be crazed to their own ruin by this nefarious heresiarch, began to chide the delirious head and heap reproaches upon him. He, on the contrary, in a most desperate obstinacy, allowed his Bogomil contumacy to harden more and more, and continued to display a most confident contempt for the threats and evils directed at him. So that in vain were the punishment of fire and such bitter torments threatened against him; for he, adhering tooth and nail to the evil genius to whom he had addicted himself, and kissing his own pestilence, would not allow himself, unhappy man, to be torn from the embrace of Satanael. He was given into custody quite often; and quite often, being summoned from there by the emperor, he heard him pleading and challenging him to no avail, that he might take counsel for himself, revoke his impious dogma, and return to a sound mind and to the faith. It was sung to a deaf man, and so many blows were wasted upon an anvil that was much too hard.

^B Let us not pass over, however, the prodigy that occurred concerning this man. For before the emperor had cast aside the mask, and—what he did afterward, following the total confession of the heresiarch’s perverse dogma—before he had looked upon him with menacing eyes and severe countenance, as befitted the impious man, but while that discussion which we have recorded above was still in progress, and while Basilius had begun to bring forth certain things from his secret thoughts, though he had not yet uttered everything, it happened that as he was retiring in the evening to the small house prepared for him, constructed for his first use near the royal palace on a serene night with the stars shining in the clear sky, immediately upon his entering that cell, around midnight, a huge crash was heard, like the pelting of dense hail. Stones flew in all directions into the cell, with no hand throwing the stones, nor was any man able—no matter how much he looked around—to perceive the author of the act. Clearly, no man was harassing this frenzied abbot; but Satanael himself, with his demons, being enraged at the man because he had brought a grave persecution upon the infant heresy by blabbing the mysteries of the sect to the emperor, were exacting these punishments from him. The author of this information was the man called Parasceviota. The custody of this fanatic had been committed to him in the interim, and the task was given that he should take care that no one during that time could deal with him and imbibe the pestilence of his nefarious doctrine through meetings and conversation. While he was occupied with this care, he affirmed under oath that he had witnessed with his own eyes and heard with his own ears those things which we have recounted.

^A He had been shut in, and as he attributed the occurrence to demons, he did not know what else to make of it.

Thus much for this prodigy. ^B I myself have often felt the urge to explain the entirety of the Bogomil heresy in this place and to embrace all its parts in my narrative. But I am restrained by shame, as the noble Sappho says somewhere, for I am a writer indeed, but also a woman, and the most precious bloom of the purple, and the firstborn offspring of Alexius Augustus; and regarding things which reach many ears, I would like to write them to demonstrate the fullness of the Bogomil heresy, but so as not to defile my own tongue, I omit these matters. I refer those who wish to discern the entire heresy of the Bogomils to the book so called, the *Dogmatic Panoply*, composed by the command of my father. For a certain monk named Zygadenus—known to my lady grandmother on my mother's side and to all those of the priestly order, and one who had advanced to the extreme of grammar and was not unskilled in rhetoric, and who knew the doctrine like no one else—was summoned by the emperor, who ordered him to set forth all the heresies, each separately, ^C and to write down for each the refutations of the holy Fathers, and also the heresy of the Bogomils themselves, just as that impious Basil had expounded it. The emperor named this book the *Dogmatic Panoply*, and by this name the book is called to this day.

Let the discourse now return to the deposition of Basil. For the emperor, having summoned the disciples and fellow-initiates of Basil from every part of the world—and especially those known as the twelve disciples—was testing their opinion as well; and they were openly disciples of Basil, for he had infused them with the evil, and the contagion had reached even the greatest households and a great multitude of people. Once and for all, therefore, he decreed that the chief of them and his whole choir should be burned; ^D for as the apprehended Bogomils were gathered—some of whom stood in defense of their own heresy, while others denied it entirely and stood strongly against those who were testing them and spoke against the Bogomil heresy—since the emperor did not readily have faith in these things, lest perhaps a Christian might be mingled among the Bogomils as if he were a Bogomil, or a Bogomil might escape as if he were a Christian, some new...

way is devised by which those who are truly Christians might be revealed.

The emperor then took his seat upon the ^A imperial throne; and many were present at that time from the senate and the holy synod, as well as those of the Nazarenes (97) who were distinguished by their learning. When all who were accused of the Bogomil heresy had been brought together into the midst, the emperor commanded that each one should be questioned again. And when some confessed that they were Bogomils and strongly clung to their own heresy, while others completely denied it, calling themselves Christians, and even when convicted by others would in no way surrender, he, knitting his brows at them, said: "It is necessary that two furnaces be lit this day, and that in one of them a cross be fixed firmly into the ground, and then let all be given a choice, so that whoever desires to die in the faith of the Christians this day may, after answering the others, proceed to the furnace of the cross." But those who held fast to the Bogomil heresy ^B will be cast into the other; for it is better for them, being Christians, to die than to live under persecution as Bogomils, and to strike the consciences of the many. "Depart, therefore, you also, and let each one go where he wishes."

The emperor then gave effective orders, commanding and urging that the disciples and fellow-mystics of Basil, scattered everywhere throughout the world, participants and privy to his orgies and dark doctrine—but especially those leaders whom they called the twelve disciples—should be sought out by all traces and brought to the city. Having attacked them in person, he exhorted them to repentance, but found them most obstinate, and clearly not only approvers of Basil’s errors, but also imitators of his pertinacity. ^C 491 Moreover, a vast power of evil was discovered, for the multitude of the erring had grown to a very great number. For a long time, the pestilence, lurking unpunished and unobserved, had permeated the very vitals of great houses, and had caught an incredible crowd of every sort in the bland contagion of an alluring novelty. Hence the Emperor’s anxiety increased, lest he should not be able to purge the Church once and for all of a plague so widely spread, and lest those corrupted by hypocrisy should pass as healthy under the guise of dissimulation, and continue to propagate the taint. As his mind was intent on resolving this anxiety, it occurred to him that the best way to uncover everyone's soul would be to proclaim a decree openly by which all who were denounced for Bogomil wickedness—citizens and foreigners alike—would be sentenced to the flames together with the heresiarch himself and his college of twelve disciples.

What the Emperor had foreseen came to pass. When that sentence was made public, a great fear gripped everyone who had been accused of the Bogomil heresy; many immediately offered excuses, deprecating the false accusation, and loudly testified with great lamentation that they were pure and utter Catholics and most falsely slandered with heresy; while meanwhile others, desperate and ruined, freely confessed themselves to be Bogomils, and said that they would persevere in that spirit to the end. These held fast, evidently as heretics, whose madness and such contumacy revealed itself at such a time. (Although it was not incredible that in that very group there were some who knew better, shouting these things out in a kind of communal desperation.) But it was not equally certain whether all or most of those who denied they were Bogomils were speaking the truth, or whether they were rather redeeming their impunity and their opportunity to do harm with a lie that was useful to themselves but ruinous to the republic.

Therefore, the Emperor, having prepared a plan to make this distinction, sat openly upon the imperial throne, with many from both the senatorial and ecclesiastical orders sitting around him, and even the most learned of the Nazarenes, or monks, having been called to this judgment. When all who had been accused of the Bogomil heresy had been produced before this assembly, the Emperor ordered that each one be questioned again: whether he were a Bogomil or a Catholic? And while some proclaimed themselves Bogomils and professed a firm and, in the end, irrevocable adherence to that impious sect, others denied that they were such, and affirmed that they were true and upright Christians. When the Emperor, after the witnesses had been brought in to refute them—whom they resisted with great abuse—had assumed, by design, the mask of an angry man, and had cast threatening looks of flaming eyes, intent upon all alike, he proclaimed in this manner: "I will and command that two pyres be lit this very day. Upon one of these, let a cross be fixed, planted deep into the ground..." ^D

Thus the Emperor, having made this pronouncement to the Bogomils, dismissed them in that manner. They departed immediately, taking these people with them, and a great multitude of people gathered round them everywhere. And furnaces, heptaply ignited according to the 14 poet, were lit at the place called 99 the Tzycanisterium. The fire reached to the heavens; the cross stood at the other side. The choice was given to those who were accused, that each might go wherever he wished, as all were to be burned. Then, seeing the inescapability of the matter, those among them who were orthodox progressed toward the furnace marked by the cross as truly about to bear witness, while those who were most godless, clinging to the abominable heresy, turned toward the other. And just as they were about to be cast into the furnaces together, all the bystanders were grieving for the Christians, as they were already about to be burned, and they were very incensed against the Emperor, not knowing what was being managed. But the imperial command had reached them beforehand and restrained those executioners from their purpose. And thus, having truly obtained the capture of the Bogomils, the Emperor, after speaking many exhortations to the slandered Christians, set them free, but kept the others in custody, having separated the apostles of the impious Basil from the rest. Then, sending for them daily, he would instruct them himself, offering many exhortations to abstain from their abominable religion, and he also commissioned certain elite members of the holy order of the Church to visit them daily to reteach them the orthodox faith and exhort them to abstain from the Bogomil heresy.

^A ...the Emperor. Thereafter the Bogomils were led away. A huge crowd of common people gathered from every direction for the spectacle of the celebrated punishment. They were led away, having been handed over to the lictors and public servants. Furnaces burned here and there, lit according to the sacred poet, sevenfold at the place which is called the Tzycanisterium. The force of the fire raged, with flames billowing up to the sky. Another pyre stood out, marked by a cross. To the accused, as all were to be burned alike, the free choice was given of which place they preferred to be burned at. Deprived there of human hopes, and with each calling aloud for his own salvation, they pursued the secret resolution of their conscience, far from simulation and deceit. Therefore, as many as held the orthodox faith with religious minds looked toward the furnace that had the cross: thinking it a great consolation, in the midst of misfortunes, if—should life succumb to slander—their reputation would at least shine forth intact; although, for most, it was not so much the posthumous honor of a surviving reputation that moved them, as the laurel of martyrdom they hoped for in the embrace of the cross for those dying there. But others, with a perverse and stubborn mentality, rushed blindly with insane impulse toward the pyre that lacked the cross—the true Bogomils, naturally. At this juncture of affairs, with the wretches on both sides in readiness for perishing, free groans were heard from the bystanders, who unmistakably chided the Augustus (whose secret ruse they had not yet understood) because he was rashly dooming to the flames, on the strength of slight evidence, men who were Christians ^B and known as such, but had been falsely and malignantly slandered of impiety. But the Augustus had given secret orders to the lictors to prevent the burning of those who voluntarily went toward the pyre marked with the cross. Those being set apart, who were established to be Christians in truth, there remained the Bogomils, detected by a certain mark, now purified indeed. Yet he did not want to consume even them with fire at that time, giving a space for repentance, in case a better mind might perhaps arise in any of them, through delay and admonition. So when he had dismissed the Christians, who had been falsely accused of heresy, after many words of praise, he very honorably let them go, but distributed the discovered Bogomils into various custodies, separating from the rest those twelve whom we have called the apostles of the impious Basil. He would summon these ^C and others repeatedly, and applying himself to this task not a day without work, he would both speak with them himself, debating at length why they ought to abandon the nefarious heresy; and, utilizing others from the sacred order of the Church who were outstanding in doctrine and the faculty of speech, he persevered most steadfastly in instructing and exhorting them to take back the right faith—which they had miserably abandoned—and to condemn and reject the impure Bogomil sect.

^A And some of these changed for the better and were released from prison, but others, remaining in their chains, died in their own heresy, though they were provided with a generous supply of food and clothing. Basil, however, as truly the leader of the sect and entirely unrepentant, was judged by all the members of the sacred synod and the elites of the Nazareans—and by the then-patriarch Nicholas himself—to be worthy of the fire; and the emperor, having frequently conversed with him and recognized him to be an obstinate man who would not depart from his heresy, was in agreement with them.

From this, having kindled an enormous bonfire in the Hippodrome, he commanded a great pit to be dug, and a multitude of wood—all high-branched trees, collected and piled up—was made to show the form of a mountain. Then, the fire having been lit softly, the great multitude began to flow together along the level of the Hippodrome and along the steps, all looking forward to what was to come. At the other side, a cross had been set up; ^B and the option was given to the impious man: if, terrified by the fire and changing his mind, he should proceed toward the cross, he would then be released from the oven.

The multitude of heretics, watching their leader Basil, was also present. He, however, appeared disdainful of all punishment and threat, and while standing further off, he mocked the bonfire and behaved miraculously, saying that certain angels would snatch him from the midst of the fire; and he sang that passage of David: "It will not come near you, but you shall observe with your eyes." But when the crowd, standing apart, gave him the opportunity with confidence to look at that terrifying spectacle of the bonfire—for even from a long distance he sensed the fire, and saw the flame rising and thundering, as it were, and casting off sparks of fire to the height of the stone pyramid ^C standing in the middle of the Hippodrome—there the bold man ^D [was] as in no way... [index: entries preserved]

dismayed by the fire, nor did he seem to be troubled. For he frequently turned his gaze and clapped his hands and struck his thigh, as if he were at a complete loss. Nevertheless, even in such a state, and from the mere sight of it, he remained like adamant; for neither did the fire soften his iron soul, nor did the emperor’s emissaries who were sent to him move him to repentance. But whether the greatest desperation had seized him because of the pressing necessity and calamity, and he was so helpless in his reasoning that he could not conceive of anything beneficial for himself; or whether the devil who held his soul—which is what seems more likely—cast the deepest darkness over him, that wretched Basilius stood against every threat and every fear as if struck dumb. And now he was agape at the conflagration, now at the bystanders, and to all he truly appeared to be raving; neither rushing toward the conflagration nor becoming in any way backward-moving, but he stood stuck fast and motionless, exactly where he had first caught sight of it. ^B Many words were needed, and as his tales of monsters were being repeated in every tongue, the executioners feared that perhaps the demons surrounding Basilius might perform some strange prodigy, God permitting, and that the wickedest man might be seen unharmed in the midst of so great a fire, having arrived at a very public place, and that the last error might become worse than the first. Therefore, they decided to make a trial of him, since he was playing the wonder-worker and boasting that he would be seen unharmed in the midst of the fire. Taking his cloak, they said, "Let us see if the fire will not touch your garments," and they immediately cast it into the middle of the furnace. Now Basilius was so deceived by the demon that deluded him that he said, "See, the cloak is flying up into the air." But they, having observed the fabric by its hem, lifted him up, along ^C with his garments and his shoes, and cast him into the midst of the furnace. And the flame fed upon the impious one with such fury, as if enraged against him, that not even a smell was produced, nor any other novel sign of smoke, but only a thin line of smoke appeared in the middle of the flame; for indeed, the elements themselves rise up against the impious. But, in truth, it spares the God-beloved, just as it once yielded and gave way to those God-beloved youths in Babylon, and the fire encircled them like a golden chamber. But here, the men who lifted this accursed Basilius up did not yet have him precisely in place, and the flame seemed to leap forward so as to snatch the impious man away. But the emperor did not allow the rest of the crowd—as many as were in despair at the misery of Basilius, as the gathered people were standing by and pressing to cast themselves into the fire—to do so. ^D Having been imprisoned

^A in the porticoes and passages of the greatest palaces, and this having been done, the theater was dissolved; and later another most secure guard received the godless men, into which being cast and having spent a long time, they died in their impiety.

This then was the final work and labor of the emperor’s long toils and achievements, and a certain innovation and paradoxical boldness; and I think that anyone who was present then, or who was with him, even now wonders, and does not seem to have seen what happened then in reality, but it seems to him like a dream or a fantasy. For ever since the borders of the Roman Empire, from the time of Diogenes himself, ^B this ultimate work of the emperor took place; yet in this work an immense and miraculous success, beyond all measure, responded to his audacity—a success such that, I believe, as it is likely to have happened to those who were present, so that they could hardly believe their own eyes, so will it labor against the belief of future generations when it is told. For if one should reflect on the memory of earlier times, he will find it so.

^A Since the time the barbarians first set foot upon the Roman empire—not successfully, as they say, having started from the first starting-post—the barbarian hand has not ceased from vexing Christians, and not only that, but swords and spears were sharpened against the Christians, and there were battles and wars and slaughters; cities were being destroyed, regions were being laid waste, and the whole Roman world was defiled with the blood of Christians. For some perished miserably, struck from afar by arrows or run through at close quarters by spears; others were driven away as captives and led off to the cities of Persia. A running to and fro possessed everyone, as they hastened to hide in caves, forests, mountains, and similar places that offered hope of shelter, until one might almost say to the mountains, "Fall on us," and to the hills, "Cover us." ^B Such perturbation had seized the unhappy common people, who, exposed to the daily incursions of the barbarians, trembled at every moment lest they, too, should be led away captive into Persia, as they saw happening to others daily; or, if they were indeed captured and dragged off there, they fatigued heaven with their miserable prayers because of the evils they were enduring. Even if fortune rescued some from the servitude and cruelty of the Turks, the fruits of life and liberty nevertheless perished for them, as they grew old in grief and longing upon Roman soil, one lamenting with deep sighs a daughter carried off into slavery, another a brother, another a cousin or a brother's son snatched away by premature death. Nor was the mourning of men seen everywhere any more moderate than that which is common at the funerals of women, who are accustomed to shed hot tears unceasingly. Furthermore, this calamity raged through all conditions of life and ranks of fortune, with no one—of whatever lot—immune to these laments and groans. In the meantime, those who governed the Roman scepter up to the time of my father (except, indeed, for a very few, namely Tzimiskes ^C and Basil) almost entirely abstained from Asiatic affairs, and did not dare even to touch the province, which was foul with wars and full of dangers, even with the tips of their toes. But why do I linger so long on these things? For I feel that I have turned aside as if into a detour from the royal road, and am deviating from my purpose. Yet those things which my father did bravely and wisely, and those which he endured with trouble and bore with nobility, pertain equally to the composition of this work. My purpose in undertaking it was not merely—so that no one may be mistaken—to set forth in narrative the deeds done and wars fought, and commit them to memory: but also, this is reckoned by me as a primary part of my assigned task, to lament the sorrows and calamities, both personal and domestic, and especially those of my father; and to indulge this solace meanwhile to my heart, which is pining away within, by pouring forth its complaints and sighs outwardly. Moreover, the family of evils which are the cause of these tears for me is led by the death of my parent, which was the same as the destruction of the world and of human affairs. It presents itself to me now to be narrated, and at the same time to be lamented. Nay, rather, it is to be lamented uniquely; for that voice, which I remember once hearing from that very father of mine, steals away all impulse to narrate. For when my mother, the Empress, would often provoke learned and eloquent men to write of his deeds, wars, and victories, he would rebuke her, claiming that his affairs were more suitable matter for elegies and mournful laments than for history or panegyric; so many, varied, and heavy were the evils that had infested his entire life. ^D

^A Not a year and a half had passed since the Emperor had returned from that recently described expedition, when another grievous illness suddenly attacked him and wove a lethal noose around his neck—or, if one must speak the truth, it brought destruction and ruin upon the whole world. I shall speak, I shall speak of what my spirit recoils from, and my discourse, unable to bear the weight of what I have to relate, will sink down to that place in the narrative which the reason of the times and the sequence of events, rather than any public or private duty, requires of me. Thus, I see myself transgressing the laws and precepts of the history I set out to write, and at the same time the duty of filial piety which I have practiced from my very cradle, demonstrating it through the love and veneration of both my parents. Regarding history, I am compelled to pursue with domestic diligence all the particulars and phases of my father's final illness, which historians, occupied with public councils and deeds, usually pass over more safely and briefly. Regarding piety, it seems that a daughter could hardly be expected to write and comment, while the memory is still vivid, of that most mournful calamity by which she lost all that was dearest to her in life, and to be able to do anything but weep.

Verily, I struggle past all these obstacles, and lo, I fall into the task, however unwillingly. I bid the reader know that my father began to be ill during the equestrian games in the circus, where a rather strong wind was blowing at the time. Its malignant cold did not have the effect it usually has, that of drawing humor from the brain and sending it to the furthest extremities of the joints, ^B where a flux had long been prone to settle. Rather, it checked and repelled the flowing rheum, recalling it from the extremities of the limbs. The majority of the doctors did not understand at all the danger threatening us from this. But Nicholas Callicles—for that was his name—became for us a prophet of the evils we feared; he kept saying that we should be afraid lest the humor, having retreated from the extremities and being diverted to another path, might render the danger incurable for the sufferer. Even so, we could not believe him, for we did not want to. At that time, no one except Callicles was keen on purging the humor by means of evacuations; for this body was not accustomed to receive purges—it was entirely unexercised in the taking of medicines—and most of the others, and especially Michael Pantechnes, were using them in conjunction, and absolutely forbade any purging. ^C But Callicles, guessing what was to come, exclaimed to them that for now the matter, having been released from the joints, had fallen upon the shoulder and the neck, but that later, if it were not cleared out by purges, it would fall into one of the vital organs or even flow into the heart itself and cause incurable damage. I myself was present, by the command of my mistress, to attend to the words of the physicians.

Verses of Callicles on the beautiful cross adorned by the Porphyrogenita Lady Anna.

On the beautiful wood adorned by the mistress.

^D [index: entries preserved]

But I too agreed with the words of Callicles; nevertheless, the vote of the majority prevailed. But then, indeed, the flux ^A of the imperial body, having prevailed for the accustomed days, began to wither, and the sufferer returned to health. Six months had thus passed, and a deadly disease—perhaps from the great despondency caused by the daily calamities befalling him, and the gathering of common cares—befell him. And I often heard him describing this disease to the Empress, and as it were, complaining to her of it: "What can be the cause of this ailment befalling me regarding my breathing? For I desire to take a deep and full breath, and, as it were, to be relieved of the sacred [burden] pressing upon my heart. But though I often attempt this, not even once am I able to draw up a particle of relief from this pressing weight; rather, the remainder lies upon my heart like some heavy stone, and a disruption of the sigh occurs in the transition, and I would not be able to discern the cause, nor whence such an ailment arises in me. And another thing I report to you, most dear soul, partner of my sufferings and counsels: a gaping [yawn] often comes over me, and the breath being inhaled is cut off in the interval, bringing me the greatest distress. If you know what this evil is that has seized me, tell me."

The Empress, hearing these things and learning from him what he himself was suffering, felt as if the sufferings were her own, and she was disposed towards the words of the Emperor as if she were herself struggling with the same asthma. She was frequently sending for the physicians, ^B and was compelled to inquire closely into the nature of the disease, and she sought to learn both the near and the distant causes. They, placing their hands upon his arteries, were ^C attempting to detect the manifestations of every kind of anomaly in every part of the pulse. ^D

^A Since they could find no irregular motion—nor indeed could they understand the cause, for they were unacquainted with the Emperor's diet, which was most temperate, spare, and entirely athletic and military, strictly forbidding all materials originating from a superfluous regimen—they attributed this constriction to another cause. And they declared that the preliminary cause of this disease was nothing other than the great intensity of his anxieties and the constant and frequent succession of his troubles; for his heart, being inflamed from these, was greedily drawing up whatever superfluity remained from the whole body. From this, the dire disease, having attacked the Emperor, offered no respite at all, but strangled him like a noose. The disease grew so much day by day that it no longer came by intervals, but continuously and without intermission, so that the Emperor could not lie upon either side, nor could he find the strength to draw in any air at all. Therefore, every doctor was summoned at that time, and the Emperor's ^B illness was the subject proposed to them. They were divided in their opinions and disagreed, and one diagnosed one thing and another another, and each attempted to apply treatment according to his own diagnosis. But however it might be, the Emperor's condition was difficult; for he could not breathe freely for even a moment. He was compelled to sit upright the whole time to breathe. And if he ever lay on his back or on either side, woe then to the constriction! For there was no way for even a small stream of the outside air to flow in or out with regard to breathing and inhaling. But even when sleep, taking pity on him, would come upon him, even then the choking intensified. So that at every moment, both when he was awake and when he was asleep, the disaster of the strangulation was upon him. And since no purgative was given, they looked to phlebotomy, and they opened the vein at the elbow, yet he did not derive any benefit from the bloodletting, but he remained the same, and was entirely short of breath, and in danger of exhaling his soul into our hands while gasping for air. ^C All the doctors summoned from everywhere offered their own skill for themselves, as the life and health of the prince were the noble subject of their meditation and purpose. As usually happens, one thought one thing and another another; then, as each had determined concerning the nature and causes of the disease, he prescribed a treatment consistent with his own judgment, but abhorrent to the judgments of others. We experimented with all things; but, for the doubt to remain as to which of them all was using the best method, this was certain: that the Emperor was not at all the better; for he had no freedom to breathe, not even for a brief moment. He was compelled to stand upright constantly, or to sit propped up high. But if he attempted to lie prone or to lean onto his other side, a cruel suffocation would tighten—alas!—and the evil noose of the disease, pressing upon his constricted throat, would weigh so heavily that he could not draw in even the slightest air, ^D or draw in air at all without a violent, painful, and laborious effort. If, indeed, sleep—as if taking pity—rarely and late invaded him, the cruel angina gave brief respites from the torment; yet eternally, whether he was sleeping or waking, this most grievous problem of intercepted respiration was present. The physicians here, because they had failed to purge the body with medicated potions, decided upon bloodletting. The vein at the inner bend of the elbow was struck; nor did the patient experience any relief from that. The Emperor’s health, which was lethally gasping at every moment, remained always in the same place—that is, the worst—and we who stood by and tended to him were not without cause in fearing that he might expire in our hands. Then, by chance, a remedy mixed with pepper, having been offered to the fainting man, seemed to have a salutary effect quickly. We celebrated with joy at once, and all

^A of our hopes were but a deception. For on the third ^B or fourth day, the usual suffocations and miserable straits of the lungs returned to oppress the Emperor again. I suspect that the state of the invalid was even made worse by that potion; for when it was able to move the noxious humors rather than expel them, it drove them into the cavities of the arteries, where they would do much more harm. Indeed, the increased force of the malady became apparent from this. For now there was absolutely no posture, position, or way of lying down that was tolerable for him; and the disease was intensified by unceasing and excessive growth. The whole nights passed without sleep. He took absolutely no food or anything else useful for his health, nor was he capable of taking any, being so languid.

Amidst these things, I frequently—or rather, continuously—observed my mother watching through the long, endless nights, without any interruption of rest, at the head of the sick man, behind the frame of the bed in which he lay, laboring and lifting him with her hands, and providing nourishment, with as much zeal as she could, to assist his struggling and difficult breathing. Nevertheless, rivers of tears flowed from her eyes, even exceeding the floods of the Nile; and no one could recount the solicitude she showed for him throughout the entire day and night, nor the toil she demonstrated while laboring for his recovery, and the turning and shifting of the bedding, and the thousand ways she contrived to arrange things. But it was not possible for anyone to gain any respite at all. For [this distress] followed the Emperor like a strangled cord, and accompanied him, and did not cease from suffocating him; and since the disease possessed no cure, the Emperor went away to the palaces ^C toward the south.

Being in such straits, he found some single relief in movement, and the Empress contrived for this to be continuous: having fastened certain wooden poles to the parts of the imperial litter at the head and at the feet, she gave them to men to carry it suspended, as they took turns relieving one another of the burden of the Emperor’s suffering. From there, he was conveyed from the Great Palace to the Mangana (5); but even when these things were done, nothing more was achieved for the salvation of the Emperor. But the Empress, seeing the state of the disease moving backward, and having completely despaired of human aid, offered up ^D her petitions for him to God more fervently, for she saw that all human safeguards and remedies were empty and of no use. Therefore, having abandoned every hope that relied upon the assistance and diligence of any men, she turned her whole soul with ardent piety to propitiating God; she saw to the lavish burning of lights throughout all the temples, and the perpetual chanting of sacred hymns; then, with those [alms] which she knew above all to be efficacious to the appeased Divinity, [she occupied herself] with the most beneficent grants to every sort of needy person, which she unceasingly

dispensed. She roused all the monks living in the mountains and caves, and those who otherwise pursued the monastic life, to offer earnest prayers, and she made all who were sick or held in prisons and ^A wretched, most wealthy through her gifts, and she invited me to pray for the Emperor. When, however, the Emperor’s bowels had swelled and grown into a prominent tumor, his feet also had swelled, and a fever was seizing his royal body, some of the physicians then turned their attention to cauterization, paying little regard to the fever. But all treatment was useless and vain. For neither did the cautery help; rather, the bowels and the respiratory organs were in a difficult state because of it. It was as if from another source a current had been poured into the throat, and the parts which the Asclepiads ^B call the "heavens" [the palate] had been reached, and their scars had become inflamed; and as the pharynx and tongue had become separated and swollen, from this the passages were constricted, having met at their own boundaries through which the food was meant to pass, and a terrible starvation, a total lack of food, hung over us. Even I, God knows, spent much effort concerning his food, and I carried the victuals every day with these . . . hands, compelling him to make them into . . . broth. All things, at any rate . . . carried toward the healing of the inflammation appeared, given the urgency, ^C all that the doctors had to show . . . concerning. . . . eleven days of the disease that had arisen in him . . . and threatening the danger . . . the end of the condition, diarrhea having followed. Thus, one evil piled upon another against us, and it was not possible for either side . . . the Asclepiads or us who were laboring for the Emperor, or . . . but all looked toward ruin, and for the rest our affairs were troubled in a swell and surge; [the] settled [states] were disturbed, and fear ^D of perdition pressed upon them. Calamity, new and worse than the others, befell us: a flow from the bowels, not salutary or critical, but altogether lethal, and it was about to consume at once all the remaining shreds of strength in the sick prince, and in us who were tending to the invalid. Wherefore now, both by the declaration of the physicians and by the evidence of the thing itself, and by the present testimony of our eyes, the life of the Emperor was being lamented as at its end everywhere. Who indeed could easily describe what a storm of grief, of anxiety, and of misery of every kind hung over us? Conspicuous among the tears of all was the mourning and piety of the Augusta; although she gave every demonstration of true love and inconsolable longing at the loss of her most beloved head, nevertheless, in that [state] she was in, she never forgot the hardships of her whole life spent in perils and wretchedness; but, on the contrary, she then most especially produced the clearest proofs of those praises, suppressing the excessive force of her grief most generously, and hardening herself against it with manly constancy. And as an athlete in the Olympic dust struggles bravely against an opponent, so she, against the one laying hands upon her virtue and rushing in from every side, trying to cast her down, stood erect by the power of her spirit, sustaining and repelling the most bitter pain. And yet, however much she might strive, she could not ensure that, as often as she saw the Emperor in that most deplorable state in which he then was (and she saw him constantly), her own spirit was not struck through with a mighty blow, and her inmost heart shaken to its depths. But truly, when the evils pressed upon our destruction, new calamity fell upon other calamities: a flux of the bowels, not beneficial or critical, but altogether lethal, and one which would at once consume the remains of strength in the ailing Emperor, and [the hope] in us who were tending the invalid. Therefore now, both by the announcement of the physicians and by the evidence of the fact itself, and by the present witness of our eyes, the life of the Emperor was everywhere being mourned as lost. At which time, who could easily tell what a storm of grief, of solicitude, and of wretchedness of every kind weighed upon us? Notable among the tears of all was the mourning and piety of the Empress; who, although she offered every sign of true love and inconsolable longing at the loss of her dearest head, nevertheless, having been mindful of [her duty] in such trials through her whole life and in [her] perils, she did not even then forget them; on the contrary, she then most especially gave the clearest documents of those praises, most generously restraining the excessive force of her grief, and bracing herself against it with manly constancy: and just as an athlete in the Olympic dust struggles bravely against [his] adversary, so she [struggled against the pain] inflicting its hands upon her virtue, and rushing in from everywhere, and trying to throw her down, standing erect by force of spirit, sustaining and repelling the most bitter grief. And yet, however much she might try, she could indeed not do so, [without] as often as she beheld the Emperor in that most deplorable state in which he then was (and she was beholding him constantly), her own spirit would be transfixed by a huge wound, and her heart within would be shaken to its foundations. Verum

^A Verily, in the dangers that had occurred before, she had shown herself ^B courageous. But always, and especially at that time, she proved truly brave; and, steeling herself against the affliction of sorrow, she stood firm, like an Olympic victor struggling against those most bitter pains. For her soul was indeed being pierced and her heart agitated as she saw the emperor in such a state, yet she braced herself and was even-tempered in the face of these terrible things. She received those fatal wounds, and the affliction of them reached to her very marrow; yet she endured, even though her tears fell uncontrollably, and a wasting away took hold of the beauty of her face, and her very life seemed to hang by her nostrils.

The fifteenth of August was passing; it was the fifth day of that week, during which the Dormition of the most pure Lady and Mother of God is celebrated. In the early morning, certain of the physicians had anointed the head of the emperor with some ointment, as they saw fit, and then, as if having fulfilled their duty, each went home—not by chance, nor for any urgent necessity, but because they understood from clear signs that the passing of the emperor was imminent, and they decided that they should not remain there as idle witnesses to such a great misfortune, exposed to the unrestrained hatred and judgment of men, for in the present feeling of their own loss, everyone is prone to blame. These were the foremost physicians of that time: the preeminent Nicholas Callicles, whom I mentioned above, and another, Michael from the family that took its name from "Pan," and finally Michael the eunuch.

Meanwhile, the Empress's attendants frequently surrounded her, begging her with the humblest pleas to spare herself and to care for herself a little. For it had been a long time since she had seen sleep or partaken of food. Let her yield to the just demands of nature, they said; let her not double the disaster while she tried to ward it off. Nothing would be lacking for the emperor in the meantime; and soon, when she returned with her strength renewed, she would render him more useful service. Having yielded to these warnings, the Empress had retired to rest. But the sleep of the anxious is slight and easily broken. The emperor, having appeared to faint, had disturbed those caring for him. This triggered an alarm that easily struck the Empress, who was lying down not far away, and who in her sleep was constantly imagining whatever could befall the emperor at such a time. ^C Suspecting what was the case, she arose and flew to him; she rushed upon his body, which had been seized by a fainting spell as if he were already dead, demonstrating her love and grief with embraces and kisses. ^D Hence came wailing and lamentation, and other such signs of enormous grief—so great, indeed, that the matron, unable to bear such a sudden and bitter assault of evils, gave to those watching her just cause for fear that she would collapse on the spot, dead from the magnitude of her sorrow. Seeing her in such a state, the emperor—who had then just returned to himself from his swoon, and who, though in the midst of death, was nonetheless master of his reason and the judgment of his own state—gravely rebuked her for the uncontrolled nature of her womanly grief. And looking at us—I mean myself and my third-born sister, the Porphyrogenita Eudokia (for Maria, our third sister—not the one who at that time imitated the saint whose name she shared—was not sitting at the feet of my lord, but was busy around his head, offering water to the failing man, not in a cup of ordinary shape, but in an unusual vessel called a *cypellum*, formed in such a way that the liquid could pass through it across the swelling of the gums, tongue, and palate to his parched throat)—looking, I say, at us, two daughters with our mother,

^A Eudoxia the Porphyrogenita was the third. For Maria—another Maria, so to speak—was not sitting by the feet of my lord as the former one then was, but, being occupied with the parts around his head, she was giving him water by way of a cup, not to drink from any vessel, so that he would not often be in difficulty with the swallowing, as the palate and the very tongue and throat were inflamed; perhaps wishing to bring this to him. He, however, was at that time signaling firm and manly exhortations, though they were his final ones. "Why," he said, "do you expose yourself to be thus consumed by our death, and compel us to depart before the impending death? Will you not look at yourself and at the evils that are present, and not surrender yourself to the pain of grief that has flooded over you?" ^B These things, indeed, she kept lamenting to the Empress all the more because of our misfortune. But I, in every way... to those later... to the friends present and to those in this account... as I had nothing better than... God, lest... but I was entirely of the passion here, and of philosophy and reason, neglecting... and its motions... My soul... I was longing for my father... and of the pulse and the respiration of the Emperor... now, however, concerning my mother... I was recovering her to the extent of my power... ^C ...the parts and altogether incurable... the Emperor reporting of the final... he had also of the Augusta... was forced to the Emperor, and truly this... of death at that time... the things being chanted... us... and then indeed I felt myself delirious... for I had been... [concerning the Porphyrogenita Maria, his own sister].

^D The swelling of his incurable—nay, ineffable—limbs was progressing with no slow pace, and with signs of this kind clearly apparent of the death soon to follow, so that it could not at all escape the notice of any bystander. The Augusta, having perceived it, was so affected, as any prudent person can imagine by reflecting within himself, whether from the things we have already said or from the estimation of such great love. In truth, her soul, by the force of the pain she felt from the opposite side, directed this constant and manly, though final, admonition, calling upon the Augusta especially: "Why, wretch, do you waste yourself with grief over my impending end, and compel me, who am witness to your own such great consternation, to die before death? You should at least think of yourself and look forward to the future. You would easily see that you are acting imprudently, you who thus give your whole soul to grief, and prematurely squander all your strength, meant for enduring the evils of widowhood that will follow shortly, so that there is a danger that you may be unequal to bearing the labors that will come upon you next." He was indeed giving this exhortation in time; but the very fact that such a specimen of such judgment and such charity was presented on such an occasion, the more it offered itself as worthy to be approved and admired, the more intensely the grief of the Augusta increased, ^B or as one feeling it from this final composition, at the loss of such a man. For my own part, among the saddest spectacles of my mother wasting away and my father with difficulty drawing his last breath, whatever my soul may have been then, those who were present as friends at the time occupied my eyes. Let posterity and whoever shall fall upon this commentary, believe one truly confessing about herself—and not fearing to call God as witness—that I was struggling with extreme grief, and was affected no less lightly than those to whom the horrible face of the death soon to be presented is set before them, so much did the perturbation, victoriously overcoming both reason and philosophy, completely grasp and possess me on all sides. Nevertheless, that I might not be deprived of both parents at the same time, my resourceful piety gave effort to attempt to bring to my mother, at any rate, some solace, even if false, by diminishing the evil of my father. I was in that opinion of my parent, that she knew me to be experienced in many arts, and not entirely unversed in medicine itself. I did so abuse that authority of mine for her good, that having examined the pulse of the arteries with frequent touches, and also having observed the breathing, and having scrutinized signs of that kind, I would pronounce to my mother, who had turned to me, that it seemed better, and I would feign a report [that was] certainly useful for consoling her. But the faith in the pious lie was brief, and the fruit was slight. A cry, elicited from the depths of her breast, stood out, undoubtedly threatening to depart at the same time as the soul of the Augustus. Woe is me, then, wretch! How heavy the mass of such cruel calamity fell upon me at such a critical moment! Plainly, as the Psalm has it: *The snares of death prevented me,* ^D and they seized me as if they were a kind of inevitable destruction. Nor did I stand firm in enduring it, I confess freely; I felt myself shaken from the control of my mind. And it was the daught...

daughter of the Emperor ^A who, seeing both... and where I might turn, having been cast into the sea of misfortunes; and the Emperor being driven by continuous... to the very end of his life. But even when cold water and the extract of roses were sprinkled upon him by my dearest sister Maria, the same thing, concerning the same matters, she urged upon the Empress, and again he fell into a third fainting fit... and a removal to the imperial bed appeared to those laboring around his body. And we moved the Emperor... the bed-chamber, if anywhere else... a part of the five-storied building... to breathe air... the north wind. And there were no chambers anywhere... at the doors. But the successor to the kingdom ^B, having anticipated this, slipped away to the lower chamber, having recognized the condition of the Emperor, and hastened his departure. And he was pressing on... the great palace. But the city was troubled at that time; for although not... altogether... all things... diadem and kingdom... thrones and authorities... were wailing and mourning; but the Empress had cast off... and all rule... of lamentation. Having despised... And I knew not what to... ^C to bring back. For she was looking toward that part... wailing bitterly... and they were tearing themselves... to the extent of their ability... driven to the last... of the Emperor. When... towards the head... the Empress was still thrown down, clothed... and the scarlet shoes ^D and... was being wounded. Nor had she any way... the inflammation of the heart. But those... having turned back again and a little... touching the wrist of the imperial...

The miserable cause of my raging was, on one side, my father drawing his last breath in most bitter torments; on the other, my mother being as it were consumed with him, and drawing me, both by example and by the love she bore him, voluntarily into the same misfortune. Whithersoever, therefore, I turned, everything was lost; and the seas, rough with most savage and horrible billows, seemed as if they were rushing upon me. Yet the fount of every woe, my father, now dying, drew me to himself and afflicted me. I watched him, I kept guard over him, and to him, drawing his final breath with such difficulty, I rendered the constant service of a pious duty, for he frequently fell into a swoon of the mind, which gave cause for alarm, exhibiting the appearance of one soon to expire, if help were not brought. My dearest sister, the Porphyrogenita Maria, approached his head again, and what she had attempted before with success, she did again, sprinkling his face with cold water and instilling into his mouth the juice of roses, as before. Recreated by this brief interval, my father, having looked upon us, and out of his constant love for us even to the end, spoke to my mother and to us in words very similar to those we have already recounted, and then fell into a third collapse, for which those who were caring for the sick man in that place judged that a remedy must be sought in a change of chamber and the moving of his bed. We therefore transported the Augustus from the chamber in which he was lying to another part of the palace, which was distinguished by five stories, in which he was then staying. For that other part was turned towards a healthier sky, facing the north; nor was the approach of the air hindered by any obstacles of doors or built structures. Meanwhile, however, while we were struggling to transport the Emperor in the hope of his recovery from this new symptom, the successor to the empire, understanding well enough the state of the life of his predecessor, slipped secretly out of those chambers in which the sick Augustus was lying and hastened to seize the great palace: the city being astonished and somewhat moved, yet offering no violence. This was a heavy addition to the previous sorrows of the Augusta. It was evident that one man was already in control, that to others the supreme power was to be administered, that she herself would soon be at once widowed of her husband and reduced to order; and that the evil of widowhood, intolerable in itself, was to be heaped up with the loss of servitude and the sudden change from the highest to the lowest condition. The Augusta was no longer mourning for her husband alone, but for the empire and the supreme authority besides; and for the insignia of these things—the purple, the diadem, the throne; how many and how great were the arguments for tears not to be reprehended! Therefore, she giving way to just grief, and openly manifesting every token of extreme sorrow by wailing, weeping, and lamentation, I also in all things strenuously assisted, and I presided over the choir of those lamenting with deep sighs, and tearing my hair and garments along with them by the violence of my grief, and beating my breast; having at that time no thought for the principles of philosophy which the mind might suggest, or the untimely admonitions of those prescribing moderation in grief; yet sometimes, admonished by my mother’s love, I braced myself; and I joined my efforts with those present to revive the Augusta from this most bitter sorrow as far as was permitted. But lo, while we were trying this in vain, the eyes of us all, as they almost always were, intent upon one point, perceive the Augustus now drawing his last breaths with difficulty. Sister Maria ran to his head, with her accustomed service, as if to receive his departing soul. But the Empress, having thrown her royal garments upon the floor, was tearing them, and stripping from herself her red shoes and other things, as if they were now the false tokens of a lost dignity, she threw herself about; with such motion and heat that...

^A she did not spare her own members and limbs, which she was hurting by her harsh pulling and lamentation: so much so that she omitted no sign of extreme consternation. Moved by pity for her, some people, feigning what was desired, affirmed that the Emperor had now recovered from his faint; and to make this credible, where they had examined the sufferer more carefully, and where they had explored with a more attentive touch the sluggishly pulsating arteries while handling the Emperor's wrist—even though they sensed that all things were in a worse state—they nevertheless announced through both expression and word more joyful hopes; and, contrary to what all the signs indicated, they persisted with this pious deception and guile, as they thought, in order that they might save from immediate destruction the Empress, who beyond a doubt would perish along with the Emperor unless she should mitigate the very intense tide of mourning by which she was being carried away by hoping for something better.

However, the Empress, who even in that perturbation was utilizing the height of her judgment, did not place full belief in them, and her mind hung as if in an equilibrium of doubt; for on one hand the authority of the men, who were certainly skilled and consultants in the science of healing, carried weight, but on the other hand the present situation itself and her own eyes spoke of the Emperor being in extremis. In this ambiguity, looking at me—as she often did on other occasions when she was in doubt—she was evidently waiting for an oracle from my tripod and was ready to believe whatever I might pronounce. At such a juncture of events, my mistress and most dear of sisters, Maria, the ornament of our race, a woman of constant and manly voice and mind, and the dwelling-place of all virtues, standing in the middle between the Empress and the Emperor, would every now and then interpose her hand and studiously block [the view], so that the Empress might not be able to see the dying face of the Emperor and be faint from such a sight.

I, in the meantime, was busying myself, as if to capture an indication whence I might hasten to provide a certain answer. I applied the tips of the fingers of my right hand to the wrist of the sufferer; then I moved both hands to his head, which had been bared for a little while of his cap and coverings. Doing this, I sensed the pulses of the artery more vigorous, as if pulsating more robustly: I gathered better hopes from this. When I had once more handled the wrist of the sick man, it pricked [my] exploring fingers with sharp and frequent leaps, so that it might be clearly manifest that, at that time, a movement of the artery was still pulsing as an augury of hope. But because these, as I said, were the final efforts of a nature having nothing left to do for itself, when for the third time I applied my hand, ^B I perceived failing strengths, a languid pulse, and the feeble and now vanishing remains of a life about to cease. Struck immediately by this fatal sign, I cast my eyes down to the ground, silent, turned toward the earth, and pale; she, suddenly shuddering with cold through her body, did the same. Thus, with my hands pressed to my eyes, I drew back and lamented; ^C which the mother having noticed, immediately perceiving what was the matter—that, to be sure, the salvation and the sum of all things were despaired of ^D and that [my] composure was now...

completely shattered—she let out a great, sudden, and piercing cry. But how am I to represent the calamity that took hold of the entire inhabited world? Or how shall I lament my own share in it? She cast off the royal head-covering, and taking up a small knife, she sheared her hair close to the skin; and having cast aside her scarlet garments ^A—those that are the principal insignia of imperial dignity—she demanded that black shoes be brought to her instead, and she did not ask for those of exquisite form or price, but for whichever ones happened to be at hand. Desiring to exchange her purple robe for a black garment, she labored under some difficulty; for the palace wardrobe was at that time insufficiently supplied with an abundance of mourning attire. But this deficit was briefly remedied. For my third sister was present, who, having already experienced the evil of widowhood, brought forth from her own chests a garment suited to the occasion, which the empress, having donned for the profession of her mourning, wrapped herself entirely, from her shoulders even to her feet, in a black mantle, covering her head as well with a veil of gloomy color. While she was doing this, the emperor rendered his holy soul unto God, and my sun set into a night, alas! that would last forever. ^B Who then did not groan? Who did not burn with grief? To whose hearts, however hard, did the most bitter sense of such a calamity not penetrate? From every side there was a mingled, confused noise of lamentations and groans, with voices rising distinctly to heaven amidst the confused cries, mourning that they had lost their father, their patron, their beneficent guardian—in short, the one who was everything to them all. And as I now recall such things and transmit them from the memory of the past to memory for the future, the doubt sometimes steals upon me whether I am still alive; or whether this is not a false indication of experience, so that what I seem to be doing and writing is merely an illusion created by shadows and phantasms. Therefore, I apply my hands to my eyes, and by touching them, I explore whether ^C what is happening is a dream or reality; for it would have been natural, given the magnitude of such an unspeakable evil, to have been struck dumb long ago, and if not to have lost life, then certainly to have lost mind and reason. For indeed, who is there who would not appear a marvel, or even someone nearly to be censured, who, when that one author and sole cause of my life...