De capta thessalonica 3 a work by eustathios of thessalonica on its hopefully later capture, which had been weakened by a narrative of cachexia during

 Bearable and full of mourning and wanting springs of tears and some such things, but he who, as they say, was sown in a net and, like us, was caught u

 Most people raised their eyes as to mountains, to the acropolis, where they eagerly awaited help would be for them. but what especially accuses the gr

 Having practiced stretching out his hands like a woman to his pursuers, to slip into a fortress and to give trouble to those who ran after him, lest t

 David, who had lost his senses, whom i had previously blessed when he was in his right mind. and i thus also admired the emperor andronikos in other t

 Completely under age, not only unable to rule a very great empire by himself, but not even to be firmly disposed as boys are, of course, he had alread

 The protostrator alexios and john the eparch, and imprisonment held them and before that, things exceedingly dishonorable. but the boiling of anger on

 For should one measure things beyond measure?) a great disturbance of those of the palace, as much as was for god and the truth according to him, of

 But when the illusion proved false and the war was brought to an end in the late afternoon, having cast down many and filled the southern cemetery, th

 Thus men suffer for for the most part we multiply and magnify what we admire, as being unable to be precise because the soul is confounded by astound

 The present evils are fitting. and to recount the terrible things of that time, all that the latins saw, the fire which spread through their quarters,

 Kontostephanos, an energetic and sensible man, and countless others. but these things were unknown to the crowd and they did not know that he raged ag

 And he also sent them into exile into perpetual banishment. and after a short while, having divided those who had been imprisoned, he separated them i

 To be shamed but if not even so he should yield, being stubborn, to try even violence, and they say it is better for that one to suffer what he does

 Moreover and not enduring it if, having just found an opportunity, he would not take wing, like some demonic figure, he himself tries to surpass in ev

 Having said what seemed best, he was quiet. and for the rest, so that i may not chatter on about worldly unpleasantness, a rush of evils takes place t

 Manuel, and he curses, that he would not come to a worthy state of living in peace, that those alone would be grandeurs when his father died. and he b

 The marchese was left to remain in peace, just as neither was the kral of hungary and any other powerful neighbor. and generally, wherever there was m

 A certain boy, who appeared to be of a similar complexion and age to the emperor alexios. and that child was, they say, a peasant boy from somewhere i

 He annihilated the rest. and his knights were so boastful in their nature that each would stand against three hundred men in war, not at all unlike co

 About to happen, inferring it from many signs. we, at least, anticipating the enemy's attack, sent away those who were children of constantinople with

 For the man was truly master of his hands but he provoked the victorious one to exhaust his desire to laugh at the emperor, and drove the matter to a

 Laws of city-takers, in which, on account of their unwieldiness from size, no effect shone forth, but those around the eastern parts, and they were es

 Not to meddle further, unless they should choose to suffer evils. though he was obliged to supply sufficient grain for the city, he neglected it to su

 Having completely withdrawn his skill, lets the ship be dashed against a reef and sink to the bottom with its cargo and men. so too a guard of a fruit

 Of those seated around to release even one stone from a sling, then also to suggest to the sandal-stitchers on the walls to reproach the latins rounda

 The besiegers because the latins had entirely turned to resisting against choumnos, he, having with difficulty opened the gates and having allowed, fo

 To rebuke the general and to join in leading towards the good. and one might call these men, who had undertaken to remain in the city, no longer civil

 Stripping and running down the streets, known to those who saw them, thus giving proof that they were formerly conspirators. and there is no way that

 He wished, and as a result the enemy host was more emboldened, and even more so especially when, after choumnos had joined battle, though it was possi

 Very strongly fortified. we spoke thus, and the speech flowed away at random, itself as well. and the small stone-throwers were vexing the city, casti

 To the enemies. and with the soldiers shouting in a common cry, komnenos, halt and dismount, he, as if snorting back a final mount up and as you

 But i think this was stranger than that, that when rain poured down from what the enemies were scattering, plowing, indeed, but not sowing the beautif

 In blood, i was led about on horseback through heaps of others, the greater part of whom lay strewn before the wall, so densely packed, that my little

 Of the storm. and if it were made useless for the trees, and especially the fig trees, whose unripe fruit was unlawfully served to the savage beasts f

 But this would be judged as bordering on fighting against god. for the barbarians, rushing in even against each one of them, were committing all sorts

 They tore down when they arrived. and the ruler restrained the murders there, but there was no stopping the suffocation of those who fled into the chu

 By the command of the counts. and it was a sabbath, not having a flight, which one might evangelically pray to avert, but the destruction of so great

 Redness. it was therefore a task to recognize even one's dearest friend among them and each man would ask each other who on earth he might be, becaus

 Thus confounding good order and dissolving the sacred harmony. and i spoke reverently about this also to count alduin, if somehow order might be estab

 To crush the man, goading the horse to kick. thus did these men love us, frequently for every word and every deed putting forward as a justification f

 Of the longed for ones the executioners, or may they have pity. for something like this did indeed happen at times, as if a hungry and biting lion, th

 To relate moderate things out of countless ones but the events of the nights, not even they fail to rival these in contention. and for a time, with t

 They grieved those who kept treasure-houses by ransacking them for the sake of wealth, thus themselves implying that they understood hades as plouton.

 Through all of us and most provident. for it is reported to us that he ordered all-night vigils around the great churches, he jesting even then. for w

 They busied their swords upon them, and afterwards they left completely empty what it contained within, both things for healing and with which the suf

 They cast our people in, and declaring blessed not them but the disease, and now perhaps even death according to the people of gades, among whom hades

 Is fitting, but only by thanksgivings and glory to the most high, from whom and through whom are our affairs. what then prevents me from ceasing after

 Mercilessness towards those who offend in some small way, from which came the merciless thing that just now cast us down, a most just thing, since we,

to be shamed; but if not even so he should yield, being stubborn, to try even violence, and they say it is better for that one to suffer what he does not want, that is, to be emperor, than for worldly affairs to be destroyed. And for this purpose many of the people formed a faction, and a certain outflow from the senate flows along with this surge, not a large one, but spoken of, and for us at least this is a secret. For it would not simply reject this revolution against the Emperor Alexios for the sake of Andronikos, but as if having revealed it from the depths, it was thrown into confusion and drove Andronikos mad along with it. And famous among these will be those faithful men of that day, Constantine Patrenos, the perfected shrine of flattery, and Michael Haploucheir, a man slippery in politics, but harsh in wickedness. And there was a certain man shining in such matters, as if a baleful beacon, he was of middling fortune, sprung from a father skilled in managing public funds and delving into thefts, Stephen by proper name, but his surname Hagiochristophorites, who, having changed from what is according to God, was nicknamed Antichristophorites by those who think rightly. Previous time had marked him out as a statue of depravity. For having made a marriage not according to his station, but having villainously contrived a noble marriage above his worth, he paid a not ignoble penalty; for his nostrils were slit, since he had not snorted well against her whom it was not fitting, and corrective whips danced upon his back. And yet, being reckless and setting aside the shame from his face, he did not remove himself from appearing in public, lest he be laughed at, but as if having done nothing wrong he went about where he had before, loving to show off his audacity and demonstrating his 46 lack of shame, and thus forcing the appearance of having neither done nor suffered anything base. But as he was overlooked by all and had fallen out of the high marriage and had no other means of ascent, but in vain wore out the imperial doors, he happens one day to utter a word otherwise ruinous, but for himself a resurrection. For when Theodore Mavrozomes, from the Peloponnese, a man much censured for what he did beyond what was proper, after the death of Michael Hagiotheodorites, the great one among the imperial secretaries, having become very close to the emperor was preeminent, the others who were discreet were digesting whatever anger they might have had at the things for which they were not promoted, but he, sitting before the imperial tent, shouted out within the hearing of many with a word of indignation that he was suffering unjustly, if indeed so-and-so and so-and-so, not having appeared so wicked, were then exalted, while he himself, being thoroughly base, and, as one might say in jest, foul and all-foul and most foul and the flower of vice and an abyss of wickedness and one who can see through as many things as a demon, is left to live in obscurity and is not brought into the open, to display his own qualities and to be pleasing for the purpose of enriching himself. And he added for himself a very great oath, that his equal in wickedness would not be found. He said these things, publicly branding himself and boasting about himself, as was fitting for him, and over all this he groaned as if deeply mourning and his face was inflamed with anger. And the others were disturbed at his words and expected evils, reasoning that not only would he himself suffer terrible things immediately, since the shout was heard inside and reckoned as an insult to the emperor, but also they themselves would be subject to blame, because they did not take up anger against such a man. And they, indeed, thus. But the fate of our life, due to what we had sinned, at that time allowed the man to remain unpunished, this also seeming to be a great thing; but no long time passed and the man began to be raised up alongside others, and, having proclaimed himself most wicked, he found a similar reward for his attempt, as if someone who had proclaimed himself to be a terrible thief were hired from somewhere. And from there, beginning his ascent in life, he is placed over the army, and being found to be such a man in the time of Andronikos, he is employed. And the misfortune that took flight against us lifts him even higher and melts him into Andronikos’s soul as a friend, so that an utterly evil man might guide an evil man, and so that good things might not be mixed with evil things and like might be led to like. And having become so arrogant, towards

δυσωπηθῆναι· εἰ δὲ μηδὲ οὕτω κατακλίνοιτο ἀτενῶς ἔχων, πειραθῆναι καὶ βίας, καὶ κάλλιόν φασιν ὂν παθεῖν ἐκεῖνον ὃ μὴ βούλεται, τὸ βασιλεῦσαι δηλαδή, ἤπερ ἐξολέσθαι τὰ κοσμικά. Καὶ ἑταιρίζονται μὲν εἰς τοῦτο πολλοὶ τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ, συνεπιρρέει δὲ τῷ κλύδωνι τούτῳ καὶ ἀπόρροιά τις τῶν τῆς συγκλήτου, οὐ πολλὴ μέν, ἐπίρρητος δὲ καὶ τοῦτό γε ἡμῖν ἀπόρρητος. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἀφωσιοῦτο αὕτη τὴν κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀλεξίου νεωτέρισιν κατὰ χάριν Ἀνδρονίκου, ἀλλ' ὡσεὶ καὶ μεμηνυῖα βυσσόθεν ἐκυκᾶτο καὶ τὸν Ἀνδρόνικον συνεξέμαινε. Καὶ ἔσονται ἀοίδιμοι ἐν τούτοις οἱ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκεῖνοι πιστοί, Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Πατρηνός, τὸ τῆς κολακείας ἠκριβωμένον ἀφίδρυμα, καὶ ὁ Ἁπλούχειρ Μιχαήλ, ἀνὴρ γλοιὸς μὲν πολιτεύσασθαι, στρυφνὸς δὲ πονηρεύσασθαι. Ἦν δὲ καί τις ἀνὴρ λάμπων ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις, ὡσεί που καὶ φρυκτὸς ὀλέθριος, μέσος ἦν ὅτε τὴν τύχην, πατρὸς ἐκφὺς δεξιοῦ λογίζεσθαι τὰ δημόσια καὶ ἐμβαθύνειν κλέμμασιν, Στέφανος μὲν τὸ κύριον, τὸ δὲ ἐπ' αὐτῷ Ἁγιοχριστοφορίτης, ὅς, μεταθέμενος ἐξ ὧν ὁ κατὰ Θεὸν διάκειται, Ἀντιχριστοφορίτης παρωνυμεῖτο τοῖς ὀρθὰ νοοῦσι. Τοῦτον ὁ μὲν φθάσας χρόνος παρεσημήνατο εἰς ἀνδριάντα φαυλότητος. Κηδεύσας γὰρ οὐ καθ' ἑαυτόν, ἀλλὰ πανουργευσάμενος ὑπὲρ ἀξίαν γάμον εὐγενῆ, δέδωκε τιμωρίαν οὐκ ἀγεννῆ· τὰς ῥῖνάς τε γὰρ ἀπεσχίσθη, ἅτε μὴ καλῶς φριμαξάμενος καθ' ἧς οὐκ ἔπρεπε, καὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ νώτων σωφρονιστῆρες ἱμάντες κατεχόρευσαν. Καὶ ὅμως ἰταμὸς ὢν καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἀπὸ προσώπου θέμενος, οὐκ ἀπήγαγεν ἑαυτὸν τοῦ προφαίνεσθαι, μὴ καὶ γελῷτο, ἀλλ' οἷα μηδέν τι κακὸν δεδρακὼς περιήρχετο ἔνθα καὶ πρῴην, φιλενδεικτῶν τὸ θράσος καὶ ἐπιδεικνύμενος τὸ 46 μὴ αἰδεῖσθαι καὶ οὕτω βιαζόμενος τὸ μηδέν τι φαῦλον ἢ ποιῆσαι ἢ παθεῖν. Ὡς δὲ περιωρᾶτο πρὸς πάντων καὶ τοῦ γάμου τε τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ ἦν ἔκπτωτος καὶ οὐδέ τινα εἶχεν ἄλλην ἀνάβασιν, ἀλλ' ἐν κενοῖς τὰς βασιλείους θύρας ἐξέτριβε, λαγχάνει ποτὲ προηκάμενος ἔπος ἄλλως μὲν σφαλερόν, ἑαυτῷ δὲ ἀναστάσιμον. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ Μαυροζώμης Θεόδωρος, ὁ ἐκ Πελοποννήσου, ἄνθρωπος πολυμεμφὴς ἐφ' οἷς ὑπὲρ τὸ δέον ἔδρα, μετὰ θάνατον τοῦ Ἁγιοθεοδωρίτου Μιχαήλ, τοῦ ἐν ὑπογραφεῦσι βασιλικοῖς μεγάλου, ἔγγιστα τῷ βασιλεῖ γεγονὼς ὑπερεφαίνετο, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἐχεφρονοῦντες ἔπεττον εἴ τί που χόλου καὶ εἶχον ἐφ' οἷς μὴ ἀνέβαινον, ὁ δὲ πρὸ τῆς βασιλείου σκηνῆς καθήμενος ἐξεβόησεν εἰς πολλῶν ἀκοὰς λόγῳ σχετλιασμοῦ ἄδικα πάσχειν, εἴπερ ὁ δεῖνα μὲν καὶ ὁ δεῖνα, οὐκ εἰς τοσοῦτον κακοὶ πεφηνότες, εἶτα ὑψοῦνται, αὐτὸς δὲ φαυλεπίφαυλος ὤν, καί, ὡς ἄν τις κωμικευόμενος εἴποι, μιαρὸς καὶ παμμίαρος καὶ μιαρώτατος καὶ ἄνθος κακίας καὶ πονηρίας ἄβυσσος καὶ οἷος διορᾶσθαι ὅσα καὶ δαίμων, ἀφίεται ζῆν εἰκῇ καὶ οὐκ εἰς μέσον παράγεται, τὰ οἰκεῖα ἐπιδειξόμενος καὶ ἀρέσων εἰς πλουτοποιίαν. Ἐπῆγε δὲ ἑαυτῷ καὶ ὅρκον μέγιστον, μὴ ἂν εὑρήσεσθαι τὸν ἐπὶ κακίᾳ ἴσον. Ἔφη ταῦτα στηλογραφῶν ἑαυτὸν καὶ περιαυτολογῶν, ὡς αὐτῷ ἔπρεπε, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἐστέναξεν ὡς βαρυπενθῶν καὶ ἐξεπυρώθη χόλῳ τὸ πρόσωπον. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἐταράχθησαν πρὸς τὸν λόγον καὶ ἐκαραδόκουν κακά, λογιζόμενοι ὡς οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς δεινὰ πείσεται αὐτίκα, τῆς βοῆς ἐντὸς ἀκουσθείσης καὶ εἰς ὕβριν τῷ βασιλεῖ λογισθείσης, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ πρὸς μέμψεως ἔσονται, ὅτι μὴ θυμὸν κατὰ τοιούτου ἀνδρὸς ἀνέλαβον. Καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν οὕτως. Τοῦ δὲ καθ' ἡμᾶς βίου τὸ χρεὼν οἷς ἡμάρτομεν τότε μὲν ἀθῶον ἀφῆκε μεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα, μέγα καὶ τοῦτο δοκοῦν εἶναι· οὐ μακρὸς δὲ διέσχε χρόνος καὶ ἤρξατο παρυψοῦσθαι ὁ ἄνθρωπος καί, κηρύξας ἑαυτὸν πονηρότατον, εὕρηκεν ἐπὶ πείρᾳ γέρας ὅμοιον, ὡς εἰ καὶ δεινός τις κλέπτειν εἶναι ἀνακηρύξας προσληφθείη ποθέν. Καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἀρξάμενος τοῦ κατὰ βίου ὕψους γίνεται ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατοῦ, καὶ εὑρεθεὶς ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀνδρονίκου τοιοῦτος προσλαμβάνεται. Καὶ ἡ καθ' ἡμῶν πτερωθεῖσα συμφορὰ αἴρει αὐτὸν ἐπὶ πλέον ὑψοῦ καὶ εἰς ψυχὴν ἐντήκει φιλίως τῷ Ἀνδρονίκῳ, ἵνα πάγχυ κακὸς κακὸν ἡγηλάζῃ καὶ μὴ τὰ καλὰ τοῖς κακοῖς συμφύρηται καὶ ὁ ὅμοιος ἐς τὸν ὅμοιον ἄγηται. Καὶ οὕτω φρονηματισθεὶς εἰς