another born in the purple who had departed this life, had a greater right to rule? It is clear, therefore, that the famed Alexios among emperors, having gained control of the scepters of the empire, is not only not worthy of blame, but will now even be judged worthy of praise by those who think rightly, and will be set forth as a model and a good archetype for those who come after, so that others too, seeing their natural lords overshadowed and deprived of the right that has belonged to them from the beginning, may be zealous on behalf of those who have suffered injustice, and may bring all zeal to their vindication and to restoring to them their inheritance from which they have fallen, and if perhaps circumstances preventing it they cannot do this, they may at least use force against the one who brought force upon them and drive out the one who drove them from their own inheritance, not allowing him to enjoy his own wickedness, so that others attempting to do wrong may not enjoy what they would deprive others of. For those who did not then think thus, nor assist the Komnenos—which is the same as to say the Doukas—in the restoration of their inheritance, but rather opposed them in any way and did not lay down their arms and pay homage to their natural master, for whom they should rather have taken up arms, what punishment would they not have been right to suffer, not only to the extent of a portion of their money and possessions and every other penalty, but even of death itself, and a bitter and painful one at that? For otherwise how was God going to keep them above ill-treatment and not measure back to them with the measures they themselves had measured? For having forgotten the justice of nature and having treated their natural lord without compassion, they too would justly have met with a lack of compassion from God, being punished severely, because they were also found to have offended God himself. That these things were accomplished with the inclination from above and the assent of God, the state of the Roman empire makes most manifest, as affairs since then have received an improvement for the better and to this very day are daily improving and prosperously advancing both to the east and to the west by the good pleasure and grace of God, so that from the favorable results it is shown that the beginning was also favorable. p.11 You have set before us this task, the greatest of all we know, O my most wise mind and intellect, by commanding that I collect the deeds of the great Alexios, who, having taken over the leadership of the Romans in difficult times, when the affairs of the Romans had failed, having fallen to the ground and being in danger of flowing away, completely restored them and brought them to the greatest glory. For by joining intelligence to his manliness, in the continuity of his actions it is impossible to say how many trophies of the Romans he set up, so that matters were ...... some he drove out, others he enslaved, and others he made tributary to the Romans. To collect his deeds, therefore, would be a laborious task and beyond our power, and I would have declined the work, had not a Herculean force compelled me to it, persuading me to exchange a little toil for the greatest of goods. For what other worthy return could I make to him for all that he has given me, if I were to pass over his deeds in silence so that they are obscured in the abyss of oblivion? And if my account should not be able to touch upon all of them, let no one hiss at this; for I have not chosen to write a history nor to weave a panegyric for him—for hardly would the skill of Thucydides and the magniloquence of Demosthenes have sufficed for these things—but wishing to provide a sort of starting point for those who want to write about his deeds, I have set out upon this writing; for this reason, let the name of the work be *A Material for History*. We must therefore begin from here. 1. Book I 1.1 Manuel, that most excellent man, who traced his lineage to the Komnenoi, of the agreements and treaties between the one then directing the scepters of the Romans, Basil, and that Bardas Skleros, of the one upon

πορφυρογέννητον ἕτερος τὸν βίον ἀπολιπόντα εἰς τὸ ἄρχειν μάλιστα δεδικαίωτο; Εὔδηλον τοίνυν ὡς ὁ ἐν βασιλεῦσιν ἐκεῖνος ἀοίδιμος Ἀλέξιος, τῶν τῆς βασιλείας σκήπτρων ἐγκρατὴς γενόμενος, οὐ μόνον οὐκ αἰτιάσεως ἄξιος, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ ἐγκωμίων τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι κριθήσεται καὶ ὑπόδειγμα καὶ ἀρχέτυπον ἀγαθὸν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς προτεθήσεται, ὡς ἂν καὶ ἕτεροι τοὺς φυσικοὺς αὐτῶν κυρίους παρευδοκιμουμένους ὁρῶντες καὶ τὸ προσαρμόσαν αὐτοῖς ἀνέκαθεν δίκαιον ἀφαιρουμένους παραζηλώσωσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς τὰ ἄδικα πεπονθόσι, καὶ πᾶσαν μὲν εἰσφέρωσι σπουδὴν ἐπὶ τὴν τούτων ἐκδίκησιν καὶ εἰς τὸ ἀποκαθιστᾶν αὐτοῖς τὴν αὐτῶν κληρονομίαν ἀφ' ἧς ἐκπεπτώκασιν, εἰ δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων ἴσως ἀντιπιπτόντων τοῦτο μὴ δύναιντο, τὸν γοῦν τὴν βίαν τούτοις ἐπενεγκόντα ἀντιβιάζωνται καὶ τὸν ἐκδιώξαντα τούτους τῆς οἰκείας κληρονομίας ταύτης ἀποδιώκωσι, μὴ συγχωροῦντες αὐτῷ τῆς οἰκείας κακοτροπίας ἀπόνασθαι, ὡς καὶ ἑτέρους ἀδικεῖν ἐγχειροῦντας τὸ μὴ ἀπολαῦσαι ὧν ἑτέρους ἀποστερήσουσιν. Οἱ γὰρ μὴ οὕτως τηνικαῦτα φρονήσαντες μηδὲ τῷ Κομνηνῷ, ταὐτὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν τῷ ∆ούκᾳ, περὶ τὴν τῆς κληρονο μίας αὐτῶν ἀποκατάστασιν συναράμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον ὁπωσοῦν τούτοις ἀντιπεσόντες καὶ μὴ ῥίψαντες τὰ ὅπλα καὶ τὸν φύσει δεσπότην αὐτῶν προσκυνήσαντες, ὑπὲρ οὗ μᾶλλον αἴρειν ὅπλα τούτοις ἐχρῆν, ποίαν οὐκ ἂν τιμωρίαν ὑποσχεῖν ἦσαν δίκαιοι, ἢ μὴ μόνον μέχρι χρημάτων καὶ πραγμάτων ἀπαρχῆς καὶ πάσης ἄλλης ζημίας, ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ θανάτου καὶ τούτου πικροῦ καὶ ὀδυνηροῦ; Καὶ ἄλλως γὰρ πῶς ἔμελλε τούτους ὁ Θεὸς ἀνωτέρους διατηρῆσαι κακώσεως καὶ μὴ ἀντιμετρῆσαι τούτοις οἷς αὐτοὶ ἐμέτρησαν μέτροις; Ὡς γὰρ καὶ τοῦ δικαίου τῆς φύσεως ἐκλαθόμενοι καὶ ἀσπλάγχνως τῷ φυσικῷ αὐτῶν κυρίῳ χρησάμενοι, δικαίως ἂν ἔτυχον καὶ οὗτοι θεόθεν ἀσπλαγχνίας, ἀποτόμως ποινηλατούμενοι, ὅτι καὶ Θεῷ αὐτῷ προσκεκρουκότες ἑάλωσαν. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν ῥοπῆς καὶ Θεοῦ ἐπινεύσει ταῦτα τετέλεσται, ἡ περὶ τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν βασιλείαν κατάστασις ἀριδηλότερον παριστᾷ, τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξ ἐκείνου λαβόντων τὴν εἰς τὸ κρεῖττον ἐπίδοσιν καὶ μέχρι καὶ νῦν καθεκάστην ἐπιδιδόντων καὶ πρὸς ἕω καὶ πρὸς δυσμὰς εὐτυχῶς χωρούντων εὐδοκίᾳ Θεοῦ καὶ χάριτι, ὡς ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν ἀποτελεσμάτων παραδηλοῦσθαι καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν δεξιάν. p.11 Ἆθλον δὴ τοῦτο μέγιστον ἁπάντων ὧν ἴσμεν προτέθεικας ἡμῖν, ὦ σοφωτάτη μοι φρὴν καὶ διάνοια, τὰς Ἀλεξίου τοῦ μεγάλου πράξεις συναγαγεῖν ἐπιτάξασα, ὃς ἐν καιροῖς δυσκόλοις τὰς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίας παραλαβών, ὁπηνίκα τὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀπηύδησε πράγματα εἰς γῆν καταπεπτωκότα καὶ κινδυνεύοντα διαρρυῆναι, τέλεον ἀνέστησέ τε καὶ εἰς κλέος ἀνήγαγε μέγιστον. Νουνεχείᾳ γὰρ τὴν ἀνδρίαν συνάψας, τῇ συνεχείᾳ τῶν πράξεων οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὁπόσα ἔστησε τρόπαια τῶν Ῥωμαίων, ὡς εἶναι τὰ πράγματα ...... τὰ μὲν ἐξεδίωξε, τὰ δὲ ἐδουλώσατο, τὰ δὲ ὑπόσπονδα Ῥωμαίοις πεποίηκε. Τούτου τοίνυν τὰς πράξεις συναγαγεῖν ἐργῶδες ἂν εἴη καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν δύναμιν ὑπερ βαῖνον καὶ παρῃτησάμην ἂν τοὖργον, εἰ μή με βίη Ἡρακληείη πρὸς αὐτὸ ἐβιάζετο, μεγίστων ἀγαθῶν βραχύν τινα πόνον ἀνταλλάξασθαι πείθουσα. Τί γὰρ ἂν ἄλλο καὶ ἀνταποδοίην αὐτῷ ἐπάξιον πάντων ὧν αὐτὸς ἔδωκέ μοι, εἰ τὰς πράξεις ἐκείνου σιγῇ παρέλθοιμι ὥστε λήθης ἀμαυρωθῆναι βυθῷ; Εἰ δὲ μὴ πασῶν ἐφικέσθαι δυνηθείη ὁ λόγος, ἐπισυριττέτω τούτῳ μηδείς· οὔτε γὰρ ἱστορίαν συγγράφειν προῄρημαι οὔτε πλέκειν ἐκείνῳ ἐγκώμιονμόλις γὰρ ἂν πρὸς ταῦτα ἥ τε Θουκυδίδου δεινότης καὶ τὸ ∆ημοσθένους ἐξήρκεσε μεγαλόφωνονἀλλ' ἀφορμήν τινα παρασχεῖν βουλόμενος τοῖς τὰ ἐκείνου συγγράφειν ἐθέλουσι πρὸς ταυτηνὶ τὴν γραφὴν ἐξώρμησα· ταύτῃ τοι καὶ Ὕλη ἱστορίας ὄνομα ἔστω τῷ λόγῳ. Ἀρκτέον οὖν ἡμῖν ἐντεῦθεν. 1.τ Βιβλίον αʹ 1.1 Μανουὴλ ἐκείνου τοῦ πάνυ, ὃς ἐς Κομνηνοὺς ἀναφέρων τὸ γένος, τῶν μεταξὺ συμβάσεων καὶ σπονδῶν τοῦ τε τηνικαῦτα τὰ Ῥωμαίων σκῆπτρα ἰθύνοντος Βασιλείου καὶ Βάρδα ἐκείνου τοῦ Σκληροῦ, τοῦ ἐπὶ