entering into their lands, sometimes they themselves, and sometimes sending some of their people, as was possible they would inflict heavy casualties upon them. 20.7 But the one entrusted with the command of Lykandos and the border themes there at the same time, whenever Alem, the son of Hamdan, made an expedition against Romania or moved about in his own country pressed by urgent need, attacking the land of Aleppo and of Antioch, he would work great damage among them; and his kinsmen and the commanders of the armies, great and illustrious, he took captive, and their fighting men and very many fortresses. And the same thing was done in the land of the Cilicians, since it bordered on Lykandos. 20.8 And so you yourself, O general, when you are at a loss to inflict casualties on the enemy with stratagem and ambush, because they are carefully securing and guarding themselves, and you do not, on the other hand, have a considerable force to fight them openly, you must do this, either you yourself should press on against the enemy's country, leaving behind a man more notable than the other generals with an army sufficient for raiding and for the protection of the themes, or, while you are making the raid, send the best of the generals, one renowned and praised for his courage and great experience, with a considerable force of cavalry and infantry against the enemy's country and to spend time in it and burn and destroy and besiege forts; so that the enemy, hearing this, even if their commander is unwilling, will force him to return for the defense of his own country. 20.9 But whenever you have well hidden in caves and evacuated our lands and the people living in them and their cattle in high and impassable mountains, and the enemy wishes to feel out and search such mountains and from there to enslave them, and they want to approach such places with their whole army and pitch their tents there, you yourself ought to be nearby in those parts for the defense of your own people. 20.10 And if you should see the place in which the enemy is encamped, having a mountain or a high and suitable place for attacking them by night, you will practice this, and, having carefully examined the position of the place, and having help from there, you will prepare the war against them by night with an infantry force along with cavalry, as has been said below concerning night fighting, and you will inflict great casualties upon them and throw them into confusion and prepare them to withdraw from there. 20.11 But while they are still holding out in that place, carefully securing and guarding themselves, and wanting to search the mountains in which the refuges of the country-people happen to be, it is necessary that the entrances be guarded and preoccupied by you with both javelin-throwers and light-armed troops. And with these places being well guarded, in which the refuge of the farmers with their families and their children has been made, if they should wish to enter through those narrow and impassable roads, they will be defeated, and especially if an infantry force attacks them. But if they themselves with infantry wish to advance and search the mountains, hasten to lead the inhabitants of the villages into more interior and more fortified and unassailable places, and you with all your people of course occupying and securely guarding the roads leading against them. 21.t Concerning the siege of a fortress 21.1 But observing the enemy preparing for the siege of a fortress, it is necessary for you too, O general, for as many as can be besieged—for there are also many fortresses not fearing a siege—in such places before the expedition of the enemy, to prepare the people taking refuge in them for each one to have four months' provisions, if possible, even more, to be stored away, for as long as you foresee the siege will be, and to take care of the waters in the cisterns and of the

ἐν ταῖς χώραις αὐτῶν εἰσερχόμενοι, ποτὲ μὲν αὐτοὶ ἐκεῖνοι, ποτὲ δέ τινας τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτῶν ἀποστέλλοντες, κατὰ τὸ ἐγχωροῦν τούτους κατετραυμάτιζον. 20.7 Ὁ δέ γε τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῆς Λυκανδοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖσε ἀκριτικῶν θεμάτων ἐγκεχειρισμένος ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς χρόνοις, ὁσάκις ἂν Ἀλὴμ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Χαμβδᾶ κατὰ Ῥωμανίας τὴν ἐξέλευσιν ἐποιήσατο ἢ ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ χώρᾳ χρείας ἀναγκαίας αὐτὸν κατεπειγούσης μετέβη, κατὰ τῆς χώρας τοῦ Χάλεπε καὶ τῆς Ἀντιοχείας ἐπιτιθέμενος, μεγάλην ἐν αὐτοῖς βλάβην εἰργάζετο· καὶ τοὺς συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀρχηγοὺς τῶν φοσσάτων, μεγάλους καὶ περιφανεῖς, δορυαλώτους εἷλε, καὶ τοὺς τούτων μαχίμους ἄνδρας καὶ πλεῖστα φρούρια. Τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν Κιλίκων χώρᾳ διεπράττετο, ὡς τῇ Λυκανδῷ συνορούσῃ. 20.8 Καὶ αὐτὸς τοίνυν, ὦ στρατηγέ, ὅτε μετ' ἐπιτηδεύσεως καὶ ἐνέδρας τραυματίζειν τοὺς πολεμίους ἀπορήσεις, διὰ τὸ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιμελῶς ἀσφαλίζεσθαι καὶ παραφυλάττειν, οὔτε δ' αὖ πάλιν ἀξιόλογον ἔχεις δύναμιν πρὸς τὸ φανερῶς αὐτοῖς ἀντιμάχεσθαι, τοῦτο δεῖ σε διαπράττειν, καὶ εἴτε αὐτὸν σὲ κατὰ τῆς χώρας τῶν πολεμίων ἐπείγεσθαι, καταλιμπάνοντα ἄνδρα τῶν ἄλλων στρατηγῶν ἀξιολογώτερον μετὰ καὶ στρατεύματος τοῦ πρὸς παραδρομὴν καὶ πρόνοιαν τῶν θεμάτων ἐξικανοῦντος, εἴτε, σοῦ τὴν παραδρομὴν ποιοῦντος, τὸν κρείττονα τῶν στρατηγῶν καὶ ἐπ' ἀνδρείᾳ καὶ πολυπειρίᾳ ὀνομαστὸν καὶ ἐπαινούμενον μετὰ ἱππικῆς καὶ πεζικῆς ἀξιολόγου δυνάμεως κατὰ τῆς τῶν πολεμίων ἀποστέλλειν χώρας καὶ χρονίζειν ἐν αὐταῖς καὶ πυρπολεῖν καὶ ἀφανίζειν καὶ κάστρα πολιορκεῖν· ἵνα τοῦτο ἀκούοντες οἱ πολέμιοι, καὶ μὴ βουλομένου τοῦ ἀρχηγοῦ αὐτῶν, ἀναγκάσουσιν αὐτὸν ἐπαναζεῦξαι πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἰδίας χώρας ἐκδίκησιν. 20.9 Ὁπόταν δὲ τὰς χώρας ἡμῶν καλῶς ἐκσπηλεύσῃς καὶ φυγαδεύσῃς καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς οἰκοῦντα λαὸν καὶ τὰ τούτων θρέμματα ἐν ὄρεσιν ὑψηλοῖς καὶ δυσβάτοις, καὶ βουληθῶσιν οἱ πολέμιοι ψηλαφῆσαι καὶ ἀνερευνήσασθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα ὄρη κἀκεῖθεν τούτους ἀνδραποδίσασθαι, καὶ πανστρατὶ πλησιάσαι τοῖς τοιούτοις τόποις θελήσωσι καὶ τὰς σκηνὰς ἐκεῖσε πήξασθαι, ὀφείλεις καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τοῖς μέρεσιν ἐκείνοις πλησίον γενέσθαι εἰς ἐκδίκησιν τῶν οἰκείων. 20.10 Καὶ εἴγε τὸν χῶρον θεάσῃ, ἐν ᾧ οἱ πολέμιοι αὐλίζονται, ὄρος ἔχων ἢ τόπον ὑψηλὸν καὶ ἐπιτήδειον πρὸς τὸ νυκτὸς κατ' αὐτῶν ἐπιθέσθαι, τοῦτο μελετήσεις, καί, διασκοπήσας καλῶς τὴν τοῦ τόπου θέσιν, καὶ βοήθειαν ἐκεῖθεν ἔχων, τὸν κατ' αὐτῶν παρασκευάσῃ πόλεμον νυκτὸς μετὰ πεζικῆς δυνάμεως σὺν ἱππέων, καθὼς περὶ νυκτοπολέμου κατωτέρω εἴρηται, καὶ μεγάλως αὐτοὺς τραυματίσεις καὶ ἐκθροήσεις καὶ παρασκευάσεις ἐκεῖθεν ὑποχωρῆσαι. 20.11 Καρτερούντων δὲ ἔτι ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χώρῳ, καλῶς ἑαυτοὺς ἀσφαλιζόμενοι καὶ 20.11 παραφυλάττοντες, καὶ βουλομένων ἀνερευνῆσαι τὰ ὄρη ἐν οἷς τὰ καταφύγια τῶν χωριτῶν τυγχάνει, δέον φυλαχθῆναι καὶ προκατασχεθῆναι παρὰ σοῦ τὰς εἰσόδους διά τε ἀκοντιστῶν καὶ ψιλῶν. Καὶ τούτων καλῶς φυλαττομένων ἐν οἷς ἡ καταφυγὴ τῶν γεωργῶν σὺν τῶν φαμιλιῶν καὶ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῶν γέγονεν, εἰ βουληθῶσιν διὰ τῶν στενωπῶν καὶ δυσβάτων ἐκείνων ὁδῶν εἰσελθεῖν, ἡττηθήσονται, καὶ μάλιστα πεζικῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῖς ἐπιθεμένης. Εἰ δ' αὐτοὶ μετὰ πεζικῆς βουληθῶσιν ἐπελθεῖν καὶ τὰ ὄρη διερευνήσασθαι, ἐν ἐνδοτέροις καὶ ὀχυρωτέροις καὶ ἀνεπιβουλεύτοις τόποις εἰσαγαγεῖν τοὺς τῶν χωρίων οἰκήτορας ἐπείχθητι, καὶ σοῦ μετὰ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ τὰς εἰσαγούσας κατ' αὐτῶν ὁδοὺς δηλαδὴ καταλαμβάνοντός τε καὶ ἀσφαλῶς διαφυλάττοντος. 21.τ Περὶ πολιορκίας κάστρου 21.1 Πρὸς πολιορκίαν δὲ κάστρου κατανοῶν εὐτρεπιζομένους τοὺς πολεμίους, δέον καὶ σέ, στρατηγέ, ὅσα πολιορκεῖσθαι δυνατόνεἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ πολλὰ κάστρα μὴ δεδιότα πολιορκίαν, ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις πρὸ τῆς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐξελεύσεως παρασκευάσαι τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς καταφεύγοντα λαὸν μηνῶν τεσσάρων τροφὰς καθένα ἕκαστον, εἰ δυνατὸν καὶ πλειόνων, καθ' ὅσον συνορᾷς ἔσεσθαι τὴν πολιορκίαν, ἀποτίθεσθαι, καὶ τῶν ἐν ταῖς κινστέρναις ὑδάτων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι καὶ τῶν