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

being defeated unsparingly, they do not perceive the divine nemesis. But the Romans of old, not acting in this way, achieved those fearful and celebrated victories, but by laying claim to virtue and 161 justice and love and truth, and simply pursuing everything fine and good, as far as was possible; for which reason the divine was also present with them, and they overcame their opponents in every way. But when the Caesar entered, the emperor thought he had accomplished everything, but he was vexed by the failure to capture Roussel; for he considered the loss of his kinsmen and the theft of his authority and the slaughter of Christians and the plundering of villages and the devastation and upheaval of the countryside to be of secondary importance. But Roussel, having departed from the fortress of Metabole with the remaining Frankish soldiers and his wife and children and his belongings, was marching fearlessly through the middle of the country, and having occupied the theme of the Armeniacs, he was restored to his former castles, and from there, by making raids against the Turks, he kept them from their attacks against that theme. But the emperor, hearing these things, considered it more advantageous for the Turks to hold Roman territory than for Roussel to be contained in one place, being goaded and roused to this by Nikephoros. He therefore sends one of the nobles, young in age, but active and otherwise prudent, the proedros Alexios Komnenos, who, having arrived in the city of Amaseia, was awaiting what was to come. But Roussel, having made treaties and friendship with the ruler of the Turks, met with them, stripped of soldiers, as if he were already an acquaintance and familiar. And one day, while dining with them, he is captured and made a prisoner; for deceiving the Romans under oath is a reputable and unaudited practice among the Turks. The proedros Alexios, having bought him for a great deal of money, brings him to the emperor as a prisoner. Therefore the emperor, having handed him over to the torturers, tormented him with incurable scourges with ox-hide whips like some runaway slave, and having shut him up in one of the gloomiest towers, kept him neglected, bound in chains. 162 But the logothete, having great power with the emperor, as has been said, leading and carrying all things wherever he wished, having requested the monastery of the Hebdomon as a gift, hastened to assign to it all its properties and nearly everything the sun looks upon and to enlarge it with abundant revenues, planning from villainy to appropriate the emperor and to profit greatly from his stupidity and in the name of the monastery to acquire extraordinary wealth. And being most resourceful in wickedness, if anyone ever was, and for the sake of profit abstaining from no infamous name, he set up a fundax and a monopoly in Rhaidestos, having forbidden and shut out all the sellers, and he devised only the imperial market, on account of which he also brought about a very great famine and the most inhuman of any ever remembered, so that it became a surname for the emperor, and by this he was known to posterity rather than by his paternal or ancestral name. For if one said "Michael," unless he also added "Parapinakes," he would not quickly make known the person being referred to, because at that time the modios was being sold for a nomisma less a pinakion.

In the third year of his reign, the 11th indiction, the nation of the Serbs, whom they also call Croats, came out to subjugate Bulgaria. And taking up the manner from the beginning, I shall relate it. For when the emperor Basil subjugated Bulgaria, not wishing to innovate any of their customs, but having decreed that their affairs be conducted under their own rulers and laws, just as it was under Samuel, who became their leader, indeed the nation had already been disturbed before, not bearing the greed of the orphanotrophos, when they acclaimed Dele 163 anos as their king, concerning which things it has been shown in detail above,

ἡττώμενοι ἀφειδῶς αἴσθησιν οὐ λαμβάνουσι τῆς τοῦ θείου νεμέσεως. Οἱ δὲ πάλαι Ῥωμαῖοι οὐχ οὕτω ποιοῦντες τὰς φοβερὰς ἐκείνας καὶ ᾀδομένας στρατηγίας κατώρθουν, ἀρετῆς δὲ καὶ 161 δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ ἀληθείας ἀντιποιούμενοι καὶ ἁπλῶς πᾶν καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθόν, ὡς δυνατόν, μετερχόμενοι· διὸ καὶ τὸ θεῖον συμπαρῆν αὐτοῖς, καὶ παντὶ τρόπῳ τοὺς ἐναντίους κατηγωνίζοντο. Εἰσελθόντος δὲ τοῦ καίσαρος ἔδοξε μὲν ὁ κρατῶν ἠνυκέναι τὸ πᾶν, ἠνιᾶτο δὲ τῇ τοῦ Ῥουσελίου ἀστοχίᾳ· τὴν γὰρ τῶν ὁμογενῶν ἀπώλειαν καὶ τὴν ὑφαίρεσιν τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τὸ σφάττεσθαι τοὺς χριστιανοὺς καὶ δῃοῦσθαι τὰς κώμας καὶ τὰς χώρας ἀφανίζεσθαι καὶ ἀναστατοῦσθαι ἐν δευτέρῳ ἐτίθετο. Ὁ δέ γε Ῥουσέλιος ἄρας ἐκ τοῦ τῆς Μεταβολῆς φρουρίου μετὰ τῶν ὑπολελειμμένων Φράγκων στρατιωτῶν καὶ τῆς συνεύνου καὶ τῶν παίδων καὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὑτῷ διὰ μέσης τῆς χώρας ἀτρέστως ἐβάδιζε, καὶ τὸ θέμα τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν καταλαβὼν τοῖς προτέροις αὑτοῦ κάστροις ἀποκατέστη, κἀκεῖθεν ἐκδρομὰς κατὰ τῶν Τούρκων ποιούμενος ἀπεῖρξεν αὐτοὺς τῶν κατὰ τοῦ τοιούτου θέματος ἐφόδων. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐνωτιζόμενος ταῦτα μᾶλλον ἐνόμιζε συμφέρον τοὺς Τούρκους ἔχειν τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἢ τὸν Ῥουσέλιον χωρεῖσθαι ἐν τόπῳ ἑνί, παρὰ τοῦ Νικηφόρου πρὸς τοῦτο νυττόμενος καὶ διεγειρόμενος. Στέλλει τοίνυν τινὰ τῶν εὐπατριδῶν, τὴν μὲν ἡλικίαν νέον, δραστήριον δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἐχέφρονα, τὸν πρόεδρον Ἀλέξιον τὸν Κομνηνόν, ὃς ἐν τῷ ἄστει τῆς Ἀμασείας γενόμενος ἐκαραδόκει τὸ μέλλον. Ὁ δὲ Ῥουσέλιος συνθήκας καὶ φιλίας μετὰ τοῦ τῶν Τούρκων ἐξάρχοντος θέμενος συνῆλθε τούτοις ἐψιλωμένος στρατιωτῶν ὡς ἤδη συνήθης καὶ ἐθάς. Ἐν μιᾷ δὲ συνδειπνῶν αὐτοῖς ἁλίσκεται καὶ δεσμώτης ἀποδείκνυται· ἀπατᾶν γὰρ Ῥωμαίους ἐνωμότως παρὰ τοῖς Τούρκοις καὶ λόγος ἐνδόσιμος καὶ ἀλογοθέτητος. Τοῦτον χρημάτων πολλῶν ὁ πρόεδρος Ἀλέξιος ὠνησάμενος εἰς βασιλέα ἀπάγει δέσμιον. Παραδοὺς οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς βασανισταῖς ξεσμοῖς ἀνηκέστοις διὰ βουνεύρων ὥς τινα δοῦλον δραπέτην ᾐκίσατο, καὶ εἰς ἕνα τῶν ζοφωδεστάτων ἐγκλείσας πύργων ἀτημέλητον εἶχεν ἁλύσεσι δέσμιον. 162 Ὁ δὲ λογοθέτης μεγάλα δυνάμενος, ὡς εἴρηται, παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἄγων τε καὶ φέρων τὰ πάντα οὗπερ ἐβούλετο, τὴν τοῦ Ἑβδόμου μονὴν διὰ δωρεᾶς ἐξαιτησάμενος πάντα τὰ κτήματα καὶ πᾶσαν σχεδὸν ὅσην ὁ ἥλιος ἐφορᾷ ἔσπευδε προσκυρῶσαι αὐτῇ καὶ προσόδοις ἀφθόνοις ἐμπλατῦναι, σκεπτόμενος ἐκ μοχθηρίας οἰκειοῦσθαι τὸν βασιλέα καὶ παρακερδαίνειν τὰ μέγιστα τῆς ἀβελτηρίας αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τῆς μονῆς πλοῦτον ἐπικτᾶσθαι ὑπερφυῆ. Ποριμώτατος δὲ ὢν εἰς κακίαν, εἴπερ τις ἕτερος, καὶ τοῦ κερδαλέου χάριν μηδενὸς δυσφήμου ὀνόματος ἀπεχόμενος φούνδακα ἐν τῇ Ῥαιδεστῷ καὶ μονοπώλιον συνεστήσατο, κωλύσας καὶ ἀπείρξας τοὺς πωλοῦντας ἅπαντας, τὸ βασιλικὸν δὲ μόνον πρατήριον ἐμηχανήσατο, παρ' ὃ καὶ λιμὸν ἐπραγματεύσατο μέγιστον καὶ τῶν πώποτε μνημονευομένων ἀπανθρωπότατον, ὡς καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀντ' ἐπωνυμίας γενέσθαι αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου μᾶλλον καὶ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρῴου ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ προγονικοῦ γινώσκεσθαι τοῖς μετέπειτα. Τὸν γὰρ Μιχαὴλ εἰπών τις, εἰ μὴ προσθείη καὶ τὸν Παραπινάκιον, οὐκ ἂν θεῖτο συντόμως γνώριμον τὸν δηλούμενον, διὰ τὸ τηνικαῦτα τὸν μόδιον παρὰ πινάκιον πιπράσκεσθαι τοῦ νομίσματος.

Τῷ δὲ τρίτῳ ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ, ἰνδικτιῶνος ιαʹ, τὸ τῶν Σέρβων ἔθνος, οὓς δὴ καὶ Χροβάτους καλοῦσι, τὴν Βουλγαρίαν ἐξῆλθε καταδουλωσόμενον. Τὸν δὲ τρόπον ἄνωθεν ἀναλαβὼν διηγήσομαι. Βασιλείου γὰρ τοῦ βασιλέως, ὁπηνίκα τὴν Βουλγαρίαν ὑπηγάγετο, μὴ θελήσαντός τι νεοχμῶσαι τῶν ἐθίμων αὐτούς, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τοῖς σφετέροις ἄρχουσί τε καὶ ἔθεσι τὰ καθ' αὑτοὺς ὁρίσαντος διεξάγεσθαι, καθώς που καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Σαμουήλ, ὃς αὐτῶν ἀρχηγὸς ἐγένετο, ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ πρότερον τὸ ἔθνος τετάρακτο τὴν ἀπληστίαν μὴ φέρον τοῦ ὀρφανοτρόφου, ὅτε τὸν ∆ελεά 163 νον ἑαυτῶν βασιλέα ἐπευφήμησαν, περὶ ὧν κατὰ μέρος δεδήλωται ἄνωθεν,