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himself. Indeed, having arrived as far as Thessalonica itself, he died there, seized by the disease of pleurisy, but as some said, his death came from divine wrath; for it seemed to him in his sleep that an armed man stood over him and struck his side with a spear. For in truth, never had so many evils been inflicted upon the Romans by anyone, that a name was given to him derived from a dog; for he was nicknamed Scyloioannes by all. For having made the race of the Scythians his own and having joined them in kinship and partaken of their naturally more bestial manner, he reveled in the slaughter of Romans. So when this man had died, the son of his sister, Borillas by name, having taken his Scythian aunt as his wife, became master of the rule of the Bulgarians. But someone secretly took John, the son of Asan, who was still a minor, and attempted to get him away, and so he departed to the Scythians. And this is the story concerning the Bulgarians; the narrative will relate what followed in its proper time.

14 But Michael, whom the narrative has already recorded as ruling Epirus and some part of the land of the Romans, had three brothers, Constantine, Theodore, and Manuel. Of these, Theodore was with the emperor of the Romans Theodore Lascaris, serving him just as the rest of the Romans. For this reason Michael beseeched the emperor Theodore to send this man to him, because he no longer had a son who had reached puberty, nor even a legitimate one—for the Michael born to him was by a concubine, about whom we will speak in what follows—and because he feared an untimely death; for he knew his other brothers were unsuited for rule. And the emperor sent this Theodore to his brother Michael, having first secured by oaths that he would maintain faith of servitude to him and to those who would rule the Romans after him. And he, having arrived, was with his brother Michael. But not long after, Michael was murdered by one of his servants at night in bed while sleeping with his wife; and the murderer's name was Romanus. His brother Theodore then took his power, having also his brothers Constantine and Manuel. And wishing to rule, he greatly increased his domain; for he acquired no small territory from the Italians and much from the Bulgarians; for he brought Thessaly under his control, and Ochrid and Prilep, and Albanon and Dyrrachium itself; where also Peter, setting out from Italy with a very great army and making his way towards the city of Constantine, acclaimed king by the pope, having arrived there and having taken Dyrrachium itself, he bravely routed. Now the said Peter was the brother-in-law, through the sister, of the first to reign from the Latin side, Baldwin, and of Henry after him, and their sister was called Yolande, from whom three sons were born to Peter, Philip, Robert and Baldwin, of whom Robert and Baldwin reigned over the city of Constantine, after their first brother Philip ceded the empire to his brother Robert. They also had sisters, one of whom was Maria, to whom the emperor Theodore was married. And so the aforementioned Theodore, as I have said, taking his own army, opposed Peter, who had passed a little beyond Dyrrachium and was in the difficult terrain of Albanon. Indeed, the forces of Theodore Comnenus decisively defeated the army of the Latins, so that they took them all captive, root and branch, with all their baggage, and emperor Peter himself became a work of the sword. This then became a great help to the Romans.

15 But my narrative again turns to the emperor Theodore Lascaris. For he, by his wife Anna, as I have said, had three daughters, Irene, Maria, and Eudokia. Indeed, Maria, the second of his daughters, to the king of Hungary passing through his country from the

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ἑαυτόν. μέχρι γοῦν καὶ αὐτῆς κατ αντήσας Θεσσαλονίκης ἐκεῖσε θνήσκει πλευρίτιδι νόσῳ κατασχεθείς, ὡς δέ τινες ἔλεγον ὅτι ἐκ θεομηνίας αὐτῷ ὁ θάνατος γέγονεν· ἔδοξε γὰρ αὐτῷ καθ' ὕπνους ἔνοπλον ἄνδρα ἐπιστῆναι αὐτῷ καὶ δόρατι πλῆξαί οἱ τὴν πλευράν. ἦν γὰρ καὶ ἀληθῶς ὡς οὐδέποτε τῇ Ῥωμαίων τοσαῦτα παρά του συνέβη κακά, ὡς καὶ ὄνομα τεθῆναι τούτῳ ἐκ κυνὸς τὴν ἐπίκλησιν ἔχον· Σκυλοϊωάννης γὰρ ἐπεκλήθη τοῖς πᾶσι. τὸ γὰρ Σκυθῶν γένος ἰδιοποιησάμενος καὶ κοινωνήσας αὐτοῖς συγγενείας καὶ τρόπου μετασχὼν ἐκ φύ σεως θηριωδεστέρου, φόνοις ἐνετρύφα Ῥωμαίων. ὡς γοῦν οὑτοσὶ ἐτεθνήκει, ὁ τῆς ἀδελφῆς αὐτοῦ παῖς Βορίλλας τοὔ νομα, τὴν Σκυθίδα θείαν γαμετὴν εἰληφώς, τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν Βουλγάρων γέγονεν ἐγκρατής. τὸν δὲ τοῦ Ἀσὰν παῖδα Ἰωάννην ἀφήλικα ἔτι ὄντα κρύφα τις λαβὼν ἐπειρήκει, ὡς περὶ τοὺς Σκύθας κεχώρηκε. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τὰ περὶ Βουλ γάρων· ὁ λόγος δὲ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα τοῖς οἰκείοις ἐξιστορήσει καιροῖς.

14 Ὁ δὲ Μιχαήλ, ὃν ἱστορήσας ὁ λόγος πέφθακε τῆς Ἠπείρου κατάρξαι καί τινος μέρους τῆς χώρας Ῥωμαίων, τρεῖς κασιγνήτους ἐκέκτητο, τὸν Κωνσταντῖνον, τὸν Θεόδω ρον καὶ τὸν Μανουήλ. ὧν ὁ μὲν Θεόδωρος τῷ βασιλεῖ Ῥωμαίων συνῆν Θεοδώρῳ τῷ Λάσκαρι, ὑπηρετῶν αὐτῷ ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων. διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλεῖ τὸν βασιλέα Θεόδωρον ὁ Μιχαήλ, ἵνα τοῦτον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκπέμψῃ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ἔτι παῖδα εἰς ἥβην ἐλθόντα, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ γνήσιον-ὁ γὰρ αὐτῷ γεννηθεὶς Μιχαὴλ ἐκ παλλακῆς ἐκείνῳ γεγένηται, περὶ οὗ ἐροῦμεν ἐν τοῖς μετέπειτα- καὶ τοῦ θανάτου δὲ δεδιέναι τὸ ἄωρον· τοὺς γὰρ λοιποὺς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀφυεῖς ἐγίνωσκεν εἰς ἀρχήν. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν Θεόδωρον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκπέμπει τῷ ἀδελφῷ Μιχαήλ, ὅρκοις πρῶτον ἐμπεδωσάμενος πίστιν δουλείας εἰς τοῦτον φυλάττειν καὶ εἰς τοὺς μετ' αὐτὸν τῶν Ῥωμαίων κατάρξοντας. ὃς καὶ ἀφικόμενος συνῆν τῷ ἀδελφῷ Μιχαήλ. μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ φονεύεται παρά του τῶν ὑπηρετῶν ὁ Μιχαὴλ νύκτωρ ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης συγκαθεύδων τῇ γυναικί· Ῥωμαῖος δὲ ἦν τῷ φονευτῇ τοὔνομα. ἐπιλαμβάνεται γοῦν τῆς ἐξουσίας ἐκείνου ὁ ἀδελφὸς Θεόδωρος, ἔχων καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς Κωνσταντῖνον καὶ Μανουήλ. ἄρξαι δὲ βουληθεὶς πάνυ γε ἐπηύξησε τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀρχήν· ἔκ τε γὰρ τῶν Ἰταλῶν οὐκ ὀλίγην χώραν ἐκτήσατο κἀκ τῶν Βουλγάρων πολλήν· τήν τε γὰρ Θεσσαλίαν ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ἐποιήσατο, Ἀχρίδα τε καὶ Πρίλαπον, Ἄλβανόν τε καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ∆υρράχιον· ἔνθα καὶ Πέτρον μετὰ μεγίστης στρατιᾶς ἐξ Ἰταλίας ὁρμώμενον καὶ ὡς πρὸς τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πεποιημένον τὴν δίοδον, ἀνηγορευμένον πρὸς τοῦ πάπα καὶ βασιλέα, αὐτοῦ που γεγενημένον προχειρωσάμενόν τε καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ∆υρράχιον γενναίως κατετροπώσατο. ὁ μὲν οὖν ῥηθεὶς Πέτρος γαμβρὸς ὑπῆρχεν ἐπ' ἀδελφῇ τοῦ πρώτως βασιλεύσαντος ἐκ τοῦ Λατίνων μέρους Βαλδουΐνου καὶ τοῦ μετ' αὐτὸν Ἐρῆ, ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ ἡ αὐτῶν ἀδελφὴ Ἰολεντία, ἐξ ἧς παῖδες τῷ Πέτρῳ γεγένηνται τρεῖς, ὅ τε Φίλιππος, ὁ Ῥομπέρτος καὶ ὁ Βαλ δουῖνος, ὧν ὁ μὲν Ῥομπέρτος καὶ ὁ Βαλδουῖνος τῆς Κων σταντίνου βεβασιλεύκασι, τοῦ πρώτου αὐτῶν ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Φιλίππου τῷ ἀδελφῷ Ῥομπέρτῳ τῆς βασιλείας παραχωρήσαν τος. ὑπῆρχον δέ σφισι καὶ ἀδελφαί, ὧν μία Μαρία ἦν, ᾗ συνεζύγη ὁ βασιλεὺς Θεόδωρος. ὁ μὲν οὖν δηλωθεὶς Θεόδωρος, καθὼς εἰρήκειν, τὸ οἰκεῖον παραλαβὼν στράτευμα ἀντιτάττεται τῷ Πέτρῳ, μικρὸν ὑπερπηδήσαντι τὸ ∆υρράχιον καὶ ἐν ταῖς τοῦ Ἀλβάνου δυσχωρίαις γεγενημένῳ. νικῶσι γοῦν κατὰ κράτος οἱ τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ Θεοδώρου τὸ τῶν Λατίνων στράτευμα, ὡς πάντας ἄρδην δεσμώτας ποιῆσαι σὺν πᾶσι σκεύεσι, καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν βασιλέα Πέτρον ἔργον μαχαί ρας γενέσθαι. τοῦτο δὴ τότε μέγα Ῥωμαίοις ἐγεγόνει βοήθημα.

15 Ἀλλ' ὁ λόγος μοι καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα Θεό δωρον τὸν Λάσκαριν ἐφορμᾷ. οὗτος γὰρ ἐκ τῆς αὐτοῦ γαμετῆς Ἄννης, ὡς ἔφην, τρεῖς ἐποιήσατο θυγατέρας, Εἰρήνην, Μαρίαν καὶ Εὐδοκίαν. τὴν γοῦν Μαρίαν τὴν δευτέραν τῶν αὐτοῦ θυγατέρων τῷ ῥηγὶ Οὐγγρίας διερχομένῳ τὴν αὐτοῦ χώραν ἐκ τῶν