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

In the west, during the third indiction, when the cities around the Ister were governed by the *magistros* Basil Apokapes and the 114 *magistros* Nikephoros Botaneiates, the nation of the Uzes, they too being a Scythian tribe, nobler and more numerous than the Patzinaks, crossed the Ister with their entire people and their own baggage on long logs and dugout canoes and hides, suddenly overcame the soldiers preventing their crossing, I mean both Bulgarians and Romans and the others who were with them, and their leaders, both Basil Apokapes and Nikephoros Botaneiates, they led away as captives and filled the whole countryside around the Ister. For the nation amounted to, as those who knew affirmed, six hundred thousand fighting men and warriors. And a not insignificant portion of them, having been separated from these, poured in as far as Thessalonica and Greece itself and ravaged and plundered everything in its path and drove off innumerable spoils. But having encountered a severe winter when they were returning to their own people, they lost not only the property of others, but also almost all of their own, and returned wretchedly to their camp. But the emperor, upon learning of their multitude, was distressed and discouraged, but was rather hesitant to gather an army and to send forth forces worthy of battle against them, as some said, to spare expenses—for he was, as we have said, a lover of money and prized an obol above all—but as others said, not despairing to array himself against such a great force; for all insisted that the multitude of the enemy was invincible, and deliverance seemed impossible to all, and most were already planning to emigrate. But the emperor, having sent an embassy to their 115 chieftains, tried as best he could to win them over and pacify them, 115 having sent them many inducements and charms; for he won over some of them with lavish gifts. But since the nation was very large and for this reason daily breaking out in many parts for the provision of necessities, it was already oppressing Bulgaria, and indeed both Thrace and Macedonia. But the emperor, not bearing what was being said—for he was being openly derided and slandered by all as sparing and miserly—went out of the capital and pitched his tent around the place called Choirobakchoi, taking with him no more than one hundred and fifty soldiers. Whence also it was a cause of wonder to many how with so few paltry men he was daunted before such a multitude. And while he was in such a state of preparation and deliberating about the gathering of an army, some runners approached and announced to the emperor both the release of the leaders and the destruction of the entire nation, reporting that their leaders had embarked on boats and crossed the Ister, but the remaining multitude, overcome by famine and plague and by the neighboring Bulgarians and Patzinaks, were utterly destroyed, God having accomplished the whole thing. For it is said that the emperor, despairing of all else, having ordered a fast for the people and for himself, made an earnest litany, himself processing on foot with tears and a contrite heart, on which day there appeared to the Uzes encamped at Tzurulon a multitude of soldiers standing in the air and darting about with haste, letting fly continuous arrows against them, so that not one of them remained unwounded. And the emperor, having offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to God and the Theotokos, proceeded straight to the capital. And he found it 116 full of astonishment and offering sacrifices of deliverance to God. But also all, simply, considered the event a sign from God and attributed the whole thing to the emperor's piety towards the divine, believing that the divine is inclined by the virtue and inclination of the ruler and his reverence towards the divine. And some of these approached the emperor after this destruction, and having received public land from Macedonia, they adopted the Roman cause and were allies and subjects of these until the

Ἐν δὲ τῇ δύσει κατὰ τὴν τρίτην ἰνδικτιῶνα, ἀρχόντων τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον πόλεων τοῦ μαγίστρου Βασιλείου τοῦ Ἀποκάπη καὶ τοῦ 114 μαγίστρου Νικηφόρου τοῦ Βοτανειάτου, τὸ τῶν Οὔζων ἔθνος, γένος δὲ καὶ οὗτοι σκυθικὸν καὶ τῶν Πατζινάκων εὐγενέστερον καὶ πολυπληθέστερον, παγγενεὶ μετὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἀποσκευῆς τὸν Ἴστρον περαιωθὲν ξύλοις μακροῖς καὶ λέμβοις αὐτοπρέμνοις καὶ βύρσαις, τοὺς διακωλύοντας τὴν αὐτῶν περαίωσιν στρατιώτας, Βουλγάρους τέ φημι καὶ Ῥωμαίους καὶ λοιποὺς τοὺς ὄντας σὺν αὐτοῖς, κατηγωνίσαντο αἰφνιδίως καὶ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας αὐτῶν, τόν τε Ἀποκάπην Βασίλειον καὶ τὸν Βοτανειάτην Νικηφόρον, αἰχμαλώτους ἀπήγαγον καὶ τὴν περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον πᾶσαν ἐπλήρωσαν ὕπαιθρον. Συνεποσοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ἔθνος, ὡς οἱ εἰδότες διεβεβαιοῦντο, εἰς ἑξήκοντα μυριάδας μαχίμων ἀνδρῶν καὶ πολεμιστῶν. Μοῖρα δέ τις αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐλαχίστη, τούτων ἀποτμηθεῖσα, ἄχρι Θεσσαλονίκης καὶ αὐτῆς Ἑλλάδος εἰσήρρεισε καὶ πᾶν τὸ προστυχὸν κατελυμήνατο καὶ ἐκεράισε καὶ λείαν ἤλασεν οὐκ ἀριθμητήν. Χειμῶνι δὲ περιπεπτωκότες πολλῷ ὅτε πρὸς τοὺς σφετέρους ὑπέστρεφον, οὐ μόνον τὰ ἀλλότρια, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἑαυτῶν σχεδὸν ἀπέβαλον ἅπαντα καὶ δυστυχῶς εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν ἐπανέζευξαν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς πυνθανόμενος περὶ τοῦ πληθυσμοῦ ἤσχαλλε μὲν καὶ ἠδημόνει, στρατιὰν δὲ ἀθροῖσαι καὶ δυνάμεις ἀξιομάχους ἀφεῖναι κατ' αὐτῶν ὀκνηρότερος ἦν, ὡς μέν τινες ἔλεγον τῶν ἀναλωμάτων φειδοῖ ἦν γάρ, ὡς ἔφημεν, φιλοχρήματος καὶ τὸν ὀβολὸν παντὸς προτιμῶν ὡς δ' ἔνιοι, μὴ ἀποθαρρῶν πρὸς τοσαύτην ἰσχὺν ἀντιπαρατάξασθαι· ἅπαντες γὰρ ἀπρόσμαχον τῶν ἐναντίων τὸ πλῆθος διισχυρίζοντο, καὶ ἀμήχανος ἐδόκει πᾶσιν ἡ λύτρωσις καὶ μετοικίαν ἤδη οἱ πλείους ἐβουλεύοντο. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς πρεσβείαν πρὸς τοὺς ἐθνάρχας 115 αὐτῶν ἐσταλκὼς ἐπειρᾶτο ὡς οἷόν τε παρενεγκεῖν αὐτοὺς καὶ καταστεῖλαι, 115 πολλὰ τούτοις ἀποστείλας ἐπαγωγὰ καὶ θελκτήρια· χαρίσμασι γὰρ ἐνίους αὐτῶν ἁδροῖς ἐδεξιώσατο. Μέγιστον δὲ τὸ ἔθνος ὂν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς πορισμὸν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ὁσημέραι ἐπιρρηγνύμενον ἐν πολλοῖς μέρεσι τὴν Βουλγαρίαν, ἤδη δὲ τήν τε Θρᾴκην καὶ τὴν Μακεδονίαν συνέθλιβε. Μὴ φέρων δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ λεγόμενον- ἀνέδην γὰρ παρὰ πάντων ὡς φειδωλὸς καὶ γλίσχρος διεσύρετο καὶ διεβάλλετο- ἔξεισι τῆς βασιλίδος καὶ περὶ τὸν τόπον ὃς Χοιροβάκχοι καλεῖται τὴν σκηνὴν πήγνυσιν, οὐ πλείους τῶν ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα στρατιωτῶν ἐπαγόμενος μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ. Ὅθεν καὶ πολλοῖς θαυμάζειν ἐπῄει ὅπως μετὰ τοσούτων ἀνδραρίων πρὸς τοσαύτην πληθὺν ἀπεδειλίασεν. Ἐν τοιαύτῃ δὲ παρασκευῇ ὄντος αὐτοῦ καὶ περὶ συναγωγῆς βουλευομένου στρατοῦ δρομαῖοι προσελθόντες τινὲς ἐδήλουν τῷ βασιλεῖ τήν τε τῶν ἡγεμόνων λύτρωσιν καὶ τοῦ ἔθνους παντὸς τὴν ἀπώλειαν, φράζοντες ὡς οἱ μὲν ἡγεμόνες αὐτῶν ἐμβάντες σκάφεσι τὸν Ἴστρον διαβεβήκασι, τὸ δὲ περιλειφθὲν πλῆθος λιμῷ τε καὶ λοιμῷ τοῖς τε παρακειμένοις Βουλγάροις καὶ Πατζινάκοις καταπολεμηθέντες ἄρδην ἀπώλοντο, Θεοῦ τὸ πᾶν ἐργασαμένου. Λέγεται γὰρ ὡς ἀπογνοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκ πάντων, νηστείαν παραγγείλας τῷ τε πλήθει καὶ ἑαυτῷ, λιτανείαν ἐκτενῆ ἐποιήσατο, αὐτὸς πεζὸς συμπορευόμενος μετὰ δακρύων καὶ συντετριμμένης καρδίας, καθ' ἣν ἡμέραν ἐφάνη τοῖς ἐν Τζουρουλῷ ἐσκηνωμένοις τῶν Οὔζων πλῆθος στρατιωτικὸν ἐπιστὰν ἐναέριον καὶ διᾷττον σὺν σπουδῇ βέλη ἀφιέναι κατ' αὐτῶν συνεχῆ, ὥστε μηδένα ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπομεῖναι ἄτρωτον. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τῷ Θεῷ τε καὶ τῇ Θεοτόκῳ θύσας τὰ χαριστήρια εὐθὺ τῆς βασιλίδος πεπόρευτο. Εὗρε δὲ καὶ ταύτην 116 ἐκπλήξεως γέμουσαν καὶ σῶστρα τῷ Θεῷ ἐπιθύουσαν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντες ἁπλῶς θεοσημίαν τὸ γεγονὸς ἐλογίζοντο καὶ τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως περὶ τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείᾳ τὸ πᾶν ἀνετίθεσαν, ἀρετῇ καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἄρχοντος ῥοπῇ καὶ περὶ τὸ θεῖον εὐλαβείᾳ τὸ θεῖον ἐπικλινόμενον. Προσῆλθον δὲ τούτων τινὲς μετὰ τὸν τοιοῦτον ὄλεθρον τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ χώραν λαβόντες δημοσίαν ἀπὸ τῆς μακεδονικῆς τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐφρόνησαν καὶ σύμμαχοι καὶ ὑπήκοοι τούτων μέχρι τοῦ