having handled the matters of his elevation with skill, he was both cast down himself and brought down the affairs of the Romans with him; how the one has been shown before, the other the account will now show as it proceeds. But the emperor Michael, having gotten rid of Diogenes, recalled from exile the Kouropalatissa Anna, whom the account has already shown to be the mother of the Komnenoi, along with her sons, and made them his kinsmen through marriage; for having himself previously married Maria, the daughter of Bagrat, the ruler of the Iberians, he gave her cousin Irene, the daughter of the ruler of Alania, in marriage to Isaac, the eldest of the Kouropalatissa's sons. But the Caesar, when he saw that his nephew was not suited to taking charge of public affairs, both took a nobler hold of matters himself and, having introduced to the emperor the eunuch Nikephoros, whom they called by the diminutive Nikephoritzes, he appointed him Logothete of the Drome, a man who was nimble and energetic, adorned with eloquence and experience of many affairs, but otherwise deep-minded and able to throw matters into confusion more than they say Pericles confused Greece. Thus the Caesar had unwittingly armed his own enemy against himself. 2.2 This man, therefore, taking advantage of the emperor's frivolity, drew him entirely to himself, persuading him to pay little heed to his uncle the Caesar. And the Caesar for a time pretended to be ignorant of what was happening and held on to affairs; but when he saw the emperor's neglect increasing daily and perceived that he was entirely dependent on the Logothete, he thought it necessary to make some attempt, and so, feigning a wish to cross over to Asia Minor for the sake of hunting, when he saw the emperor agreeing to this, he crossed the strait before the Pontus and went away to Asia with his son Andronikos, as the sun was passing its autumnal turning point. The other of his sons, Constantine, remained with the emperor; for he had been appointed protostrator by him, and this office was always a great one in the emperors' courts and was given to the greatest men; and remaining behind, he hastened to attend to the emperor's ambiguity, for this was composed of two opposites, frivolity and craftiness. 2.3 The Caesar, therefore, having reached the Asiatic shore, pretended to be engrossed in hunting. But the emperor Michael, with affairs closing in on him now in both the east and the west—for the Turks, having learned what had happened to Diogenes and having broken the agreements and treaties made with the Romans on his account, were devastating and plundering the entire east, and moreover the Scythians, rebelling in addition to these things, were overrunning Thrace and Macedonia, so that almost all of Asia and Europe were being sacked by both enemies—thus with his affairs having closed in on him, having appointed Isaac Komnenos, whom he had made a kinsman through marriage, Domestic of the Schools of the east, he sent him out as general-in-chief of the war against the Turks. And he, taking command of the forces, set out for the land of the Cappadocians; and his brother Alexios followed with him, who at that time was and appeared to be a great hope for the Romans, but later became the greatest benefit to the Romans, not yet sporting a burgeoning beard, but he was demonstrating the virtues of generalship even before maturity more than they who have written Roman history say Scipio did, when he followed Aemilius campaigning against Perseus the Macedonian; for he assisted his brother and arranged the battle lines and set up the companies and presented himself as a commander of the phalanx and was most skillful in military matters even before he had experience. And when they arrived at the metropolis of the Cappadocians, I mean the renowned Caesarea, they pitched camp around the old city, using its ruined walls as a trench and a stockade—for almost all of it had long ago become the by-product of an earthquake, with some towers being left, I think, as proof of the city's ancient prosperity. In this

ἐπιστημόνως τὰ τῆς ὑψώσεως μεταχειρισάμενος αὐτός τε κατεβέβλητο καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἑαυτῷ συγκατέβαλε πράγματα· ὅπως δὲ τὸ μὲν δεδήλωται πρότερον, τὸ δὲ προϊὼν ὁ λόγος δηλώσει νῦν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Μιχαὴλ τοῦ ∆ιογένους ἀπαλλαγείς, τὴν κουροπαλάτισσαν Ἄνναν, ἣν ὁ λόγος φθάσας ἐδήλωσε μητέρα τῶν Κομνηνῶν, σὺν τοῖς υἱέσι τῆς ὑπερορίας ἀνακαλεῖται καὶ διὰ κήδους αὐτοὺς ἑαυτῷ οἰκειοῦται· γήμας γὰρ αὐτὸς πρότερον τὴν Παγκράτειαν τοῦ Ἰβήρων κατάρχοντος θυγατέρα Μαρίαν, τὴν ἐκείνης ἐξαδέλφην Εἰρήνην τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ Ἀλανίας ἐξουσιάζοντος τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ τῶν παίδων τῆς κουροπαλατίσσης Ἰσαακίῳ πρὸς γάμου κοινωνίαν ἐκδίδωσιν. Ὁ δὲ καῖσαρ, ἐπεὶ τὸν ἀνεψιὸν εἶδεν οὐκ ἐπιτηδείως πρὸς τὴν τῶν κοινῶν ἀντίληψιν ἔχοντα, αὐτός τε γενναιότερον τῶν πραγμάτων ἀντελαμβάνετο καὶ τὸν ἐκτομίαν Νικηφόρον, ὃν ὑποκορίζοντες ἐκάλουν Νικηφορίτζην, τῷ βασιλεῖ οἰκείωσας λογοθέτην τοῦ δρόμου κατέστησεν, ἄνδρα ἐντρεχῆ μὲν καὶ δραστήριον καὶ λόγῳ κοσμούμενον καὶ πείρᾳ πραγμάτων πολλῶν, βαθυγνώμονα δὲ ἄλλως καὶ συγκυκῆσαι δυνάμενον πράγματα μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν Περι κλέα φασὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα κυκᾶν. Λέληθεν οὖν ὁ καῖσαρ καθ' ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἐξοπλίσας πολέμιον. 2.2 Ὑπελθὼν οὖν οὗτος τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως κουφότητα ὅλον τοῦτον πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐφειλκύσατο, ἥκιστα πείθων φροντίζειν τοῦ θείου καίσαρος. Ὁ δὲ καῖσαρ τέως μὲν προσεποιεῖτο τὰ δρώμενα ἀγνοεῖν καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀντείχετο· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἑώρα καθεκάστην αὐξομένην τὴν βασιλέως παρόρασιν καὶ ὅλον τοῦτον διεγίνωσκε τοῦ λογοθέτου ἐξεχόμενον, δεῖν ᾠήθη ἀπόπειράν τινα ποιήσασθαι καὶ δὴ σκηψάμενος ὡς βούλοιτο θήρας χάριν πρὸς τὴν μικρὰν Ἀσίαν περαιωθῆναι, ἐπεὶ τὸν βασιλέα εἶδε πρὸς τοῦτο συγκαταβαίνοντα, τὸν πρὸ τοῦ Πόντου πορθμὸν περαιωθεὶς ἅμα τῷ υἱῷ Ἀνδρονίκῳ ἀπῄει πρὸς τὴν Ἀσίαν, τοῦ ἡλίου τὰς μετοπωρινὰς τροπὰς μεταλλάττοντος. Θάτερος δὲ τῶν τούτου υἱέων ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος ἔμεινε παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ· προεβέβλητο γὰρ πρὸς αὐτοῦ πρωτοστράτωρ, τουτὶ δὲ τὸ ὀφφίκιον μέγα ἦν ἀεὶ παρὰ βασιλεῦσι καὶ μεγίστοις ἐδίδοτο· μείνας δὲ θεραπεύειν ἔσπευδε τὸ βασιλέως ἀμφίγνωμον καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἐκ δυοῖν τοῖν ἐναντίοιν τοῦτο συγκείμενον, κουφότητός τε καὶ πανουργίας. 2.3 Ὁ μὲν οὖν καῖσαρ τὴν Ἀσιᾶτιν καταλαβὼν περὶ θήραν ἐπτοῆσθαι προσεποιεῖτο. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Μιχαήλ, συγκλειομένων αὐτῷ τῶν πραγμάτων ἤδη κατά τε τὴν ἕω καὶ τὴν ἑσπέρανοἵ τε γὰρ Τοῦρκοι τὰ κατὰ τὸν ∆ιογένην πυθόμενοι καὶ τὰς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους δι' ἐκεῖνον γενομένας ξυμβάσεις τε καὶ σπονδὰς διαλύσαντες τὴν ἑῴαν πᾶσαν ἐδῄουντο καὶ ἐληΐζοντο, οἵ τε μὴν Σκύθαι πρὸς τούτοις συστασιάσαντες Θρᾴκην τε καὶ Μακεδονίαν κατέτρεχον, ὡς πορθεῖσθαι μικροῦ δεῖν ἅπασαν τὴν Ἀσίαν καὶ τὴν Εὐρώπην ὑπ' ἀμφοῖν τοῖν ἐχθροῖν, οὕτω γοῦν αὐτῷ τῶν πραγμάτων συγκλεισθέντων, τὸν Κομνηνὸν Ἰσαάκιον, ὃν διὰ κήδους ἑαυτῷ ᾠκειώσατο, δομέστικον τῶν Σχολῶν τῆς ἀνατολῆς καταστήσας, αὐτοκράτορα στρατηγὸν τοῦ κατὰ Τούρκων πολέμου τοῦτον ἐκπέπομφεν. Ὁ δὲ παραλαβὼν τὰς δυνάμεις ἀπῄει ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν Καππαδοκῶν· ξυνείπετο δέ οἱ καὶ ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἀλέξιος, ὁ τότε μὲν μεγάλη Ῥωμαίων ἐλπὶς καὶ ὢν καὶ φαινόμενος, ὕστερον δὲ μέγιστον Ῥωμαίοις γενόμενος ὄφελος, μήπω τὸν ἴουλον ἐπανθοῦντα φέρων, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῆς στρατηγικῆς ἀρετῆς ὑπεδείκνυ καὶ πρὸ τῆς τελειότητος μᾶλλον ἤπερ φασὶν οἱ τὰ Ῥωμαϊκὰ συγγραψάμενοι τὸν Σκηπίωνα, ὁπηνίκα ξυνείπετο τῷ Αἰμυλίῳ κατὰ τοῦ Μακεδόνος στρατηγοῦντι Περσέως· ξυνέπραττε γὰρ τἀδελφῷ καὶ τὰς τάξεις καθίστα καὶ τοὺς λόχους ἐνίστα καὶ φαλαγγαρχῶν ἐφαντάζετο καὶ πρὸ τῆς πείρας περὶ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ δεξιώτατος ὤν. Ἐπεὶ δ' ἀφικέσθην εἰς τὴν Καππαδοκῶν μητρόπολιν, φημὶ δὴ τὴν περιβόητον Καισάρειαν, ἐστρατοπεδευσάτην περὶ τὴν παλαιὰν πόλιν, ἀντὶ τάφρου καὶ χάρακος τὰ διερρωγότα ταύτης προβαλλόμενοι τείχη καὶ γὰρ ἔφθη πάλαι σεισμοῦ γενέσθαι πάρεργον μικροῦ δεῖν ἅπασα, πύργων ἐνίων περιλειφθέντων εἰς ἀπόδειξιν οἶμαι τῆς παλαιᾶς εὐδαιμονίας τῆς πόλεως. Ἐν ταύτῃ