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we the pious bear the name as a sort of standard or seal, he hastens the march, having ordered that no one carry a tent or a burden or anything else not useful in war, except, however, for the necessities, a little food and clothing. His whole army numbered two thousand, of whom eight hundred were Italians, noble men and strong of hand, as the occasion showed, and the rest happened to be Romans.

10

So when the emperor had come somewhere near Antioch, he lets the Persian envoy go to his own master; and he went away and reported to the sultan the emperor's attack, which happened to be very unbelievable to him. So the envoy confirmed with oaths that the emperor was near. Therefore, having heard these things, the sultan gathered his forces with all possible speed and drew them up for war. So the Italians first fell upon the sultan's forces, but the multitude of the Muslims was great. And having shown deeds of a mighty hand and a most noble spirit, almost all of them fell, having made the sword do its work countless times over. So the Muslims, having overcome the Italians, also easily prevailed over the Roman forces; and some fled in rout, but a few held firm, awaiting the end of the battle. Therefore, having become master of the battle, the sultan sought the emperor, and someone pointed him out to him, having fallen into a state of helplessness. So with all speed he rushed towards the emperor, trusting in his own bodily strength against him. So each recognized the other. And the sultan strikes the emperor on the head with a mace, and he falls from his horse; for he was dizzy from the blow. For his horse was also entangled by the blow, as they say, I do not know if it too received a second blow from the sultan. So the emperor, being off his horse and as if strengthened by a more divine power, stood on his feet and drew his sword from its sheath, and as the sultan turned away from there and said insolently, 'Seize this man,' the emperor strikes the hind legs of the sultan's horse; for he was riding a mare, and a very large one. So the sultan is thrown down as if from a tower, and suddenly his head is cut off, with neither the emperor nor any of the others standing with the emperor knowing by whom he had been beheaded. So from this the emperor is victorious, though for the most part defeated; for he was not able to advance further, having been left with few men. This became a cause of relief for the Romans; for from this the Muslims made unbreakable truces with the Romans. From this, the emperor had a truce from the battle there, and was occupied with the wars of the Italians. And having found his father-in-law, the Emperor Alexios, in the battle, he also took him, and having honored him as was fitting, he both led him away to Nicaea and, stripping him of the imperial insignia, ordered him to live in the monastery of Hyacinth. There he also dies; for his wife Euphrosyne died in the land of Arta, where her body was also laid to rest.

11

And the Emperor Theodore also overcame David, who ruled Paphlagonia, and he took Heraclea and Amastris and all the surrounding country and the small towns. But again my history wishes to write down the events in the west. But so that my history may be easy for all to understand, it is necessary to say a few things beforehand. When the Emperor Isaac was ruling Constantinople, and his wife had died, he took to wife the one I mentioned before, who came from Hungary, being the daughter of the ruler of the Hungarians. And since he was about to hold the wedding, and this was an imperial one, the expenses for it also had to be considerable. From there, from all the provinces of the Romans, sheep and pigs and cattle were gathered. And since the land of the Bulgarians rears more of these than other lands, more were demanded from it. But the tribe of the Bulgarians at first implacable

6

κλῆσιν ὡς σύσσημόν τι ἢ σφραγῖδα οἱ εὐσεβεῖς περιφέρομεν, ἐπισπεύδει τὸν δρόμον, παραγγείλας μηδένα ἢ σκηνὴν φέρειν ἢ ἄχθος ἢ ἕτερόν τι τῶν μὴ λυσι τελούντων ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ ἄνευ μέντοι τῶν ἀναγκαίων, τρο φῆς μικρᾶς καὶ ἐνδύματος. ἦν δὲ ἅπαν αὐτῷ τὸ στράτευμα εἰς δισχιλίους ἠριθμημένον, ὧν ὀκτακόσιοι μὲν Ἰταλοί, ἄνδρες γενναῖοι καὶ τὴν χεῖρα σθεναροί, ὡς ὁ καιρὸς ἔδειξε, Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ οἱ λοιποὶ ἐτύγχανον.

10 Ἐγγύς που γοῦν γενόμενος τῆς Ἀντιοχείας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀφίησι τὸν πρέσβιν Πέρσην παρὰ τὸν σφέτερον ἀφι κέσθαι δεσπότην· καὶ ὃς ἀπῆλθε καὶ μηνύει τῷ σουλτὰν τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἔφοδον, δύσπιστον ἐπείνω πάνυ τυγχάνουσαν. ὅρκοις γοῦν ἐβεβαίου ὁ πρέσβις, ὡς ἐγγὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς πάρ εστι. ταῦτ' οὖν ἀκηκοὼς ὁ σουλτὰν ὡς εἶχε τάχους τὰς δυνάμεις συνάγει καὶ παρατάττει πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον. ἐμπί πτουσι γοῦν ταῖς τοῦ σουλτὰν πρῶτον δυνάμεσιν Ἰταλοί, ἀλλ' ἦν τὸ τῶν Μουσουλμάνων πλῆθος πολύ. ἔργα δὲ κρατερᾶς χειρὸς ἐνδειξάμενοι καὶ γενναιοτέρας ψυχῆς σχεδὸν πίπτουσι πάντες, ἀπειροπλασίους ξίφους ἔργον ποιήσαντες. τῶν γοῦν Ἰταλῶν οἱ Μουσουλμάνοι περιγενόμενοι ῥᾷον καὶ τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν ἐκράτουν δυνάμεων· καὶ οἱ μὲν προτροπάδην ἔφευγον, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκαρτέρουν τὸ τέλος τῆς μάχης ἀποσκο πούμενοι. τῆς μάχης οὖν ἐγκρατὴς γενόμενος ὁ σουλτὰν ἐζήτει τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ δείκνυσί τις τοῦτον αὐτῷ ἐν ἀμηχανίᾳ γενόμενον. ὡς εἶχε γοῦν τάχους πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ὁρμᾷ, τῇ τοῦ σώματος ἰσχύι θαρρῶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ. ἔγνωσαν οὖν ἑκατέ ρους ἑκάτεροι. καὶ ὁ μὲν σουλτὰν κορύνῃ κατὰ κεφαλῆς πλήττει τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ πίπτει τοῦ ἵππου· ἦν γὰρ τῇ βολῇ σκοτοδινιάσας. συνεποδίσθη γάρ, ὥς φασι, τῇ βολῇ καὶ ὁ ἵππος, οὐκ οἶδ' εἰ καὶ τούτου δευτέραν παρὰ τοῦ σουλτὰν λαβόντος πληγήν. ἔξω γοῦν τοῦ ἵππου ὁ βασιλεὺς γενόμε νος καὶ οἷον ῥωσθεὶς ὑπὸ θειοτέρας δυνάμεως, ἐπὶ πόδας σταθεὶς τὴν σπάθην ἐξάγει τοῦ κουλεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ σουλτὰν ἐνθένδε στραφέντος καὶ ὑβριστικῶς ἐπειπόντος «λάβετε του τονί» πλήττει τοὺς ὀπισθίους πόδας τῆς τοῦ σουλτὰν ἵππου ὁ βασιλεύς· θηλείας γὰρ ἐπωχεῖτο καὶ ὑπερμεγέθους. ὡς ἐκ πύργου γοῦν ὁ σουλτὰν καταβάλλεται, καί οἱ αἰφνηδὸν ἡ κεφαλὴ ἀποτέμνεται, μήτε τοῦ βασιλέως γνόντος μήθ' ἑτέρου τῶν συμπαρεστώτων τῷ βασιλεῖ παρὰ τοῦ κεκαρατόμητο. νικᾷ γοῦν ἐντεῦθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ πλεῖστον ἐξηττημένος· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶχεν ἐπὶ τοῖς πρόσω χωρεῖν, μετὰ μετρίων ἐλλε λειμμένος. τοῦτο τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἀναψυχῆς ἐγένετο πρόφασις· σπονδὰς γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν ἀρρήκτους οἱ Μουσουλμάνοι μετὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐποίησαν. ἐντεῦθεν τῆς ἐκεῖθεν μάχης ἐκεχειρίαν ἔσχεν ὁ βασιλεύς, τοῖς δ' Ἰταλῶν πολέμοις ἐσχόλαζε. προσ ελάβετο δὲ καὶ τὸν πενθερὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν βασιλέα Ἀλέξιον ἐν τῇ μάχῃ εὑρών, καὶ τὰ εἰκότα τιμήσας ἀπήγαγέ τε εἰς Νίκαιαν καὶ τῶν βασιλικῶν παρασήμων ἐκδύσας ἐν τῇ τοῦ Ὑακίνθου μονῇ διάγειν ἐκέλευσεν. ἔνθα καὶ θνήσκει· ἡ γὰρ σύζυγος αὐτοῦ Εὐφροσύνη ἐν τῇ τῆς Ἄρτης ἐτελεύτησε χώρᾳ, ἔνθα καὶ ὁ νεκρὸς αὐτῆς κατετέθη.

11 Περιεγένετο δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Θεόδωρος καὶ τοῦ τῆς Παφλαγονίας κρατοῦντος ∆αυίδ, καὶ Ἡράκλειαν παρ εστήσατο καὶ Ἄμαστριν καὶ τὴν πᾶσαν πέριξ χώραν καὶ τὰ πολίχνια. πάλιν δέ μοι τὰ τῆς ἱστορίας βούλεται τὰ ἐν τῇ ἑσπέρᾳ ξυμβάντα συγγράψασθαι. ἵνα δέ μοι ἡ ἱστορία τοῖς πᾶσιν εὔγνωστος εἴη, δέον ὀλίγ' ἄττα προεξειπεῖν. τοῦ βασι λέως Ἰσαακίου τῆς Κωνσταντίνου κατάρχοντος, καὶ τῆς γαμετῆς θανούσης αὐτοῦ, ἠγάγετο εἰς γυναῖκα τὴν ἣν προειρήκειν ἐξ Οὐγγρίας ὡρμημένην, θυγατέραν οὖσαν τοῦ τῶν Οὔγγρων ἄρχοντος. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔμελλε τὸν γάμον ποιεῖν καὶ ὑπῆρχεν οὗτος βασιλικός, ἀξιόλογα ἔδει γενέσθαι τού του καὶ τὰ ἀναλώματα. ἐντεῦθεν ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐπαρχίας πρόβατά τε καὶ χοῖροι καὶ βόες συνήγοντο. ἐπεὶ δὲ πλείω τῶν ἄλλων ἡ Βουλγάρων τρέφει ταῦτα, καὶ πλείω παρὰ ταύτης ἀπῃτοῦντο. τὸ δὲ Βουλγάρων φῦλον ἔκσπον δον μὲν τὰ πρῶτα