Continuatio scylitzae

 To do or to suffer. whence also, with the festival of the archangels approaching, the patriarch departs to the <monastery established by him> outside

 For it was the 24th day of the month, on which the feast of the holy protomartyr thekla is celebrated by christianshe filled the soldiery with much ha

 To be possessed by a terrible barrenness, he said, manuel and maria, who by the grace of god have already become my children, are enough for me. for

 Having thwarted an impious plot. for it was their plan for him to be given over to the deep with his whole family, since he was about to sail across t

 In the west, during the third indiction, when the cities around the ister were governed by the *magistros* basil apokapes and the 114 *magistros* nike

 They came here and were deemed worthy of senatorial and brilliant offices. it was then the sixth year of the reign of doukas, the 3rd indiction, in th

 He had done everything for the empress, who was considered most temperate towards her husband and most exact in raising her children and most capable

 Again proved all things. for not the whole pay, but a partial and moderate amount given to them made the soldiers listless for having received what w

 By the empress, who had proceeded royally with her own children into the greatest and most famous shrine of the wisdom of god. 123 but since the empre

 To attack and utterly overthrow and destroy the roman power. but the emperor, leading an army not such as was fitting for the emperor of the romans, b

 So then, having gathered his forces, he pursued from behind through difficult paths. and approaching sebasteia, he left the military baggage and all t

 Of berroia, having joined with both the arabs and the turks and having gathered a strong force, was considering coming to grips with the emperor and f

 They were taken alive. and the emperor, having returned to the camp after the repulse of the enemy, decided to garrison the acropolis of hierapolis. a

 Having appointed senators and distributed the annual gifts, and not even waiting for the days of pascha, he sailed away to the house of the heria 134

 The war was joined. and on the next day, sitting in public, he handed over the captured enemies to the final sentence, sparing absolutely no one, not

 To accomplish something manly which would have no place to happen in the presence of the emperor, with him personally supervising what was happening

 , since the romans, having been scattered, were pursuing, making a sudden turn they reversed the victory for this reason many were captured, and more

 Of orthodoxy, having distributed on the day before it the annual donative to both the army and the senate, not all of it in gold, but having made up t

 Hurrying to reach iberia, when he also became a spectator of the bodies of those who had fallen with the curopalates manuel comnenus. and from there,

 Bryennios having ordered those around him to hold the reins, basilakios alone was in pursuit, through ignorance of what had been done. but when he app

 The arrival of ambassadors, and some of those closest to the emperor persuade him to cast off the peace, as it was false in its effect and deceptive r

 With many he lay on the ground dishonorably and in great pain, overwhelmed by countless waves of sorrows. on the next day, when the capture of the emp

 Having left him by night, he fled to constantinople, having learned beforehand of the plots being stitched together there. for john the caesar and his

 Of his having been dug out pitilessly and inhumanly. and having been brought on a lowly beast of burden as far as the propontis like a rotting corpse,

 Unbearable and tearful wailing. but while these things were happening thus, divinely sent wrath had seized the east. for since the peace agreements wi

 Being cast down. and when this domestic misfortune was also reported to the emperor and the frank’s arrival astonished everyone, a great despondency a

 Being defeated unsparingly, they do not perceive the divine nemesis. but the romans of old, not acting in this way, achieved those fearful and celebra

 And now he looked toward rebellion. for, not bearing the insatiability of nikephoros and what things he contrived against everyone, with the emperor p

 Hurrying to extinguish this great flame that had flared up. and he sent out with him a noteworthy army, composed of macedonians and romans and franks.

 They wished to remain still of the same mind, but they were considering how to defend themselves against their enemies in every way. and sending strab

 In the meantime perenus was appointed doux of italy, and nicephorus karantenos strategos of brindisi. perenus, therefore, being unable to cross over t

 Tasted, but being deceived and misled by the consul of the philosophers, corrupted the whole world, so to speak. for a severe famine occurred, which p

 Having met him, if indeed he had handled matters skillfully, he would have easily defeated him at the beginning of the revolt. and having arrived at t

 While he was staying, while the proedros alexios komnenos was in command with the soldiers in the capital, having previously given pledges with sure o

 Battle and the army retreats and all strife is driven away, and they began to enslave the romans to themselves.

 He received the man dishonorably and not as one sent from an emperor, but as from some subordinate general and yet the body of an envoy is considered

 They being of marriageable age. and he chose one of the two, either eudokia, the wife of doukas and later of diogenes, or maria of alania, the wife of

 When it was done, he was brought on a wagon, a pitiful burden and an unfortunate lodging. 184 and while the armies were occupied in the campaign again

 And he was considered burdensome to the more prominent members of the senate, who were stung by the things he pointed out to everyone. but since, as t

having thwarted an impious plot. For it was their plan for him to be given over to the deep with his whole family, since he was about to sail across the sea to the palace. When much inquiry and investigation was made concerning the event, many of the magnates and the prefect at that time himself were caught as conspirators and fell under the charge of treason, being deprived of their own possessions and of all their property. 112 The emperor, however, desired and loved, more than all other things, the increase of the public funds and the hearing of private lawsuits, and in these he expended the greater care of his reign, being less concerned with other things, I mean strategic advantages and military feats of bravery. For these reasons, the Roman state was shaken and agitated by slanderous vexations and sophistic methods and a swarm of legal problems and complications of secretarial inquiries, so that even the soldiers themselves, putting aside their arms and military service, became advocates and lovers of legal problems and questions, bidding a long farewell to the war-cry and the war-dance and the hand-to-hand whirling of battle. But being pious, if ever any other was, and a friend of monks and of the poor, and less severe with regard to the body, he happened to be dull and sluggish towards anything else, but exceedingly frugal and resourceful and an increaser of the public funds. He also held sway over judicial decisions and often altered them because of the quality of the persons involved, showing himself severe and unbearable to the powerful. While he was continually occupied with such matters, and had neglected and grown slack in military affairs, the eastern territories and especially those on the frontiers of the Roman parts were being carried off and plundered and pillaged by the enemies, and everything was being ruined both by the invasion and overpowering of the Turks and by the forced retreat and terror of the neglected soldiers; for there were continuous raids and frequent plunderings, with everything at hand being destroyed. Wherefore the prosperous land of Iberia was also completely laid waste and razed to the ground, having already been worn down and weakened and gradually failing and declining. And those regions which lay beside it also shared in the disaster, both Mesopotamia 113 and Chaldia, and also Melitene and Koloneia and the parts adjoining the river Euphrates, and indeed the Armeniakon and Vaspurakan. And if the barbarians had not often been checked by armies, and sometimes even by mere rumors of forces, and if some of their leaders, a certain Khorosan the selarios and Samouch, had not by some good fortune met with defeat, the enemy would have run around as far as Galatia and Honorius and Phrygia itself. For a military force was sent out, but it was light-armed and unarmed and naked, since the better men were each time driven from the army on account of the multitude of stipends and the higher ranks. Which things were not beyond condemnation, since nothing noble or noteworthy was being done because of this. And from this it came about that the Romans were humbled and cowed, while the barbarians were puffed up and exalted and attacked with great confidence. When indeed a certain Armenian doux, Pankratios by name, was sent to Ani, promising to manage the troops there with the available resources. But as the sultan was passing by, not however harming the Roman territory, some of Pankratios' men went out and damaged and burned the rearguard of the sultan's camp. At which things the sultan became displeased and ceased to go forward. But he returned back against Ani and in a few days, having secured Ani itself and all the areas around it, and having fortified it with an army and handed over the affairs there to worthy generals, he deprived the Romans of their dominion over it and the country around it. So these things were thus, and the Roman affairs were brought to such a state of vexation both in Asia and in all the rest of the east.

ἄθεον διαλυσαμένου σκαιώρημα. Ἦν γὰρ αὐτοῖς γνώμη τῷ βυθῷ παραδοθῆναι αὐτὸν παγγενεὶ ἅτε διὰ θαλάσσης πρὸς τὸ παλάτιον ἀποπλεῖν μέλλοντα. Ζητήσεως δὲ καὶ ἐρεύνης γενομένης περὶ τοῦ συμβάντος πολλῆς πολλοὶ τῶν μεγιστάνων καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τηνικαῦτα ἔπαρχος ἑάλωσαν ὡς ἐπίβουλοι καὶ καθοσιώσεως αἰτίᾳ ὑπέπεσον, τῶν οἰκείων στερηθέντες κτήσεων καὶ πάσης τῆς περιουσίας αὐτῶν. 112 Ἐπόθησε δὲ καὶ ἠγάπησε διαφερόντως τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ὁ βασιλεὺς τήν τε τῶν δημοσίων χρημάτων ἐπαύξησιν καὶ τῶν ἰδιωτικῶν δικῶν τὴν ἀκρόασιν, κἀν τούτοις τὴν μείζονα φροντίδα κατεκένου τῆς βασιλείας τῶν ἄλλων ἧττον ἐχόμενος, στρατηγικῶν φημι πλεονεκτημάτων καὶ στρατιωτικῶν ἀνδραγαθημάτων. ∆ιὰ δὴ ταῦτα καὶ συκοφαντικαῖς ἐπηρείαις καὶ σοφιστικαῖς μεθόδοις καὶ δικανικῶν προβλημάτων ἑσμῷ καὶ σεκρετικῶν ζητημάτων ἐπιπλοκαῖς τὸ ῥωμαϊκὸν ἐκλονεῖτο καὶ ἐκραδαίνετο, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς στρατευομένους τὰ ὅπλα καὶ τὴν στρατείαν μεταθέντας συνηγόρους καὶ νομικῶν προβλημάτων καὶ ζητημάτων γενέσθαι ἐραστάς, μακρὰν χαίρειν εἰπόντας ἐνυαλίῳ τε ἠχῇ καὶ πολεμικῇ ὀρχήσει καὶ περιδινήσει ἀγχιστρόφῳ. Εὐσεβὴς δὲ ὤν, εἴπερ τις ἕτερος, καὶ φιλομόναχος φιλόπτωχός τε καὶ περὶ τὸ σῶμα ἧττον κολαστικός, πρὸς ἄλλο τι ἀμβλὺς ἐτύγχανε καὶ νωθρός, φειδωλὸς δὲ εἰσάγαν καὶ ποριστικὸς καὶ τῶν δημοσίων χρημάτων αὐξητικός. Ἐνεξουσίαζε δὲ καὶ ταῖς κρίσεσι καὶ πολλάκις αὐτὰς ὑπήλλαττε διὰ τὴν τῶν προσώπων ποιότητα, βαρὺς δεικνύμενος τοῖς δυνατοῖς καὶ ἀφόρητος. Προσκειμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῖς τοιούτοις διηνεκῶς, τῶν δὲ στρατιωτικῶν ἠμεληκότος καὶ καταρραθυμήσαντος, τὰ τῆς ἀνατολῆς καὶ μᾶλλον τὰ ἐν τοῖς τέρμασι τῶν μερῶν τῶν ῥωμαϊκῶν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἐφέροντό τε καὶ ἤγοντο καὶ ἐληίζοντο, καὶ διεφθείροντο ἅπαντα τῇ τε τῶν Τούρκων ἐπιδρομῇ καὶ κατισχύσει καὶ τῇ βιαίᾳ ὑποχωρήσει καὶ δειματώσει τῶν ἠμελημένων στρατιωτῶν· συνεχεῖς γὰρ ὑπῆρχον ἐκδρομαὶ καὶ λεηλασίαι συχναί, ἀφανιζομένου τοῦ προστυχόντος παντός. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἡ εὐδαίμων χώρα τῆς Ἰβηρίας ἠπείρωτο παντελῶς καὶ ἠδάφιστο, ἤδη προκατειργασμένη καὶ ἠσθενηκυῖα καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἐκλείπουσά τε καὶ φθίνουσα. Συμμετελάμβανον δὲ τοῦ δεινοῦ καὶ ὅσαι ταύτῃ παρέκειντο, Μεσοποταμία 113 τε καὶ Χαλδία, πρὸς δὲ Μελιτηνὴ καὶ Κολώνεια καὶ τὰ τῷ Εὐφράτῃ συγκείμενα ποταμῷ, ἀλλὰ μὴν τό τε Ἀρμενιακὸν καὶ τὸ Βαασπρακάν. Καὶ εἰ μὴ πολλάκις στρατεύμασιν , ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ φήμαις μόναις δυνάμεων, ἀνείργοντο τὰ τῶν βαρβάρων, καί τινες ἀρχηγοὶ τούτων, Χωροσάν τις σελάριος καὶ Σαμούχ, ἀγαθῇ τινι τύχῃ τὴν ἧτταν συμβαλόντες ἐκληρώσαντο, κἂν μέχρι Γαλατίας καὶ Ὁνωριάδος καὶ αὐτῆς Φρυγίας τὸ ἀντίπαλον περιέδραμεν. Ἐστέλλετο μὲν γὰρ στρατιωτικόν, ψιλὸν δὲ καὶ ἄοπλον καὶ γυμνόν, τῶν κρειττόνων ἀπελαυνομένων ἑκάστοτε τῆς στρατείας τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ὀψωνίων ἕνεκα καὶ τῶν μειζόνων βαθμῶν. Ἃ καὶ καταγνώσεως ἐκτὸς οὐκ ἦν, μηδενὸς γενναίου καὶ ἀξιολόγου πραττομένου διὰ τοῦτο. Συνέβαινε δὲ ἐκ τούτου τοὺς μὲν Ῥωμαίους ταπεινοῦσθαι καὶ κατεπτηχέναι, τοὺς βαρβάρους δὲ φυσᾶσθαί τε καὶ ἐπαίρεσθαι καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς προσρήγνυσθαι πεποιθήσεως. Ὅτε δὴ καὶ εἰς τὸ Ἀνίον ἀποστέλλεται δοὺξ Ἀρμένιός τις, Παγκράτιος τοὔνομα, ἐκ τῶν ἐνόντων ὑποσχόμενος τὰ ἐκεῖσε στρατεύματα διοικεῖν. Τοῦ δὲ σουλτάνου παριόντος, μὴ μέντοι γε πημαινομένου τὴν χώραν τὴν ῥωμαϊκήν, τῶν περὶ τὸν Παγκράτιον ἐξιόντες τινὲς τὴν οὐραγίαν τοῦ σουλτανικοῦ στρατοπέδου ἐσίνοντο καὶ κατέκαινον. Ἐφ' οἷς δὴ καὶ δυσθυμήσας ὁ σουλτάνος ἀφίησι τοῦ πρόσω ἰέναι. Πρὸς τὸ Ἀνίον δὲ ἀνθυπέστρεψε καὶ δι' ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν αὐτό τε τὸ Ἀνίον καὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτὸ πάντα περιποιησάμενος στρατῷ τε ὀχυρώσας καὶ στρατηγοῖς ἀξιολόγοις τὰ ἐκεῖσε παραδούς, τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπικράτειαν αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτὸ χώρας ἀπεστέρησεν. Εἶχε μὲν οὖν οὕτω ταῦτα καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον σκυλμὸν τὰ ῥωμαϊκὰ περιήγοντο κατά τε τὴν Ἀσίαν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πᾶσαν ἀνατολήν.