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if it were not opposed both from the place and from the brave-minded assembly of those present with the emperor, and much more from the alliance from above. Wherefore he, having recognized the threatened destruction, had communicated with the magistros Manuel concerning their safety, saying such things: What are we to do, O magistros Manuel? For we are being destroyed. And he said in reply to him: Take off the purple shoes, master, which signify the imperial majesty, and put on black ones, and likewise the rest of the imperial panoply. And I shall gather 500 chosen brave men; and through them we will advance against one part of the enemy and will easily pass through. And the emperor had spoken in reply: But what will the people suffer from this? And Manuel answered that your Majesty must by all necessity be saved, so that you are not captured by the enemy; for if this should happen, it will be a pitiable thing for the Christians. And concerning the people, whatever the divine power may command, we will piously endure. Therefore, Manuel, having set apart 500 brave men, came to a certain part of the Saracen battalion, and crying out, “The cross has conquered,” he himself with his chosen men attacked, bravely broke through, and burst out; but the emperor, seized by cowardice, turned back. But the magistros, having run a short way and learning that the emperor had not come out, went again to another part, and having cut through it, entered where the emperor was staying. When the hour grew late in such encounters and many Saracens had been killed in them, and also because the place was lacking in water, and indeed in pasture, Amer withdrew with his own army, and arriving at a certain pastureland which is named Dora, he immediately rested. The emperor therefore, seizing the security from this, escaped the blood-stained hands of the enemy, dedicating the whole day to flight, and in such a way he was saved. 4.15 And when two years had passed, the same Amer again attacks the Roman borders, boasting in 40,000 men, with whom he utterly destroyed the Armeniakon theme, penetrating as far as Aminsos on the sea. And having seen the numerous captivity and the great plunder of which he had become master, he became completely enraged, being checked in his insatiable rush by the sea, and he sharply ordered his own people to strike the sea with cut rods, just as Xerxes had flogged it with irons at the strait of the Hellespont, saying: Why did we find it here? And why did we not go further, plundering the natives? But when the emperor learned of the very great captivity, he was distressed and grieved, and dining with his subordinates, he says such things: Woe, woe, is there not found some man who would preserve a sincere love for our empire and for the Christians, so that spurred on from here he might go out and fight the impious Amer. When the emperor was so disposed, Petronas, the brother of Theodora and Bardas, stood up and says to the emperor that God has given many subjects to your most glorious empire, who love you very much, master, and are eager to die for love of you; however, in wars sometimes there are good fortunes, and sometimes misfortunes; but no man knows an undoubted victory, unless it has been foreknown by God alone. Therefore, to these things the emperor answered: Well then, O Petronas, do you choose to go away and attack the enemy and risk all for the Christians and my empire? And taking him up, he says to him, that I am indeed ready, O emperor, to empty out the handful of blood that is in me for your empire and for those of the same faith. Assured by these eager words, the emperor appoints him to lead the tagma of the Schools; who, being earnestly disposed by the word of his promotion, carried out the deed, proceeding straight against the enemy with chosen men and not filled with so great a multitude. This had not escaped Amer's notice; for a certain Roman fugitive goes to him

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εἰ μὴ ἔκ τε τοῦ τόπου καὶ τῆς τῶν συμπαρόντων τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀνδρειόφρονος συλλογῆς, πολλῷ δὲ μᾶλλον ἐκ τῆς ἄνω συμμαχίας ἀντέπιπτεν. ὅθεν οὗτος συνεγνωκὼς τὴν ἀπειλουμένην ἀπώλειαν τῷ μαγίστρῳ Μανουὴλ τὰ περὶ σωτηρίας κεκοινολόγητο, τοιαῦτα εἰπών· τί δρῶμεν, ὦ Μανουὴλ μάγιστρε; ἀπολλύμεθα γάρ. καὶ οὗτος ἀντέφη αὐτῷ· τὰ μὲν φοινικίζοντα πέδιλα, δέσποτα, ἃ τὴν βασιλικὴν περιφάνειαν δηλοῦσιν, ἀπαμφιάσθητι, μελαμβαφῆ δὲ περίβαλε, ὡσαύτως καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν βασιλικὴν πανοπλίαν. ἐγὼ δὲ λογάδας ἀνδρῶν φʹ γενναίους συλλάβοιμι· καὶ δι' αὐτῶν γε πρὸς ἓν μέρος τῶν πολεμίων χωρήσομεν καὶ ῥᾳδίως διελευσόμεθα. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀντειρήκει· ὁ δὲ λαὸς ἐκ τούτου τί πείσεται; καὶ ὁ Μανουὴλ ἀπεκρίνατο, ὅτι ἡ μὲν βασιλεία σου πάντως ἐξ ἀναγκαίου διασωθήτω, ὥστε μὴ κατασχεθῆναί σε τοῖς πολεμίοις· τοῦτο γὰρ εἴ γε συμβήσεται, ἐλεεινὸν ἔσται Χριστιανοῖς. περὶ δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ ὅπερ τὸ θεῖον κράτος κελεύσειεν εὐσεβῶς διακαρτερήσομεν. φʹ οὖν ἄνδρας γενναίους ἀφορίσας ὁ Μανουὴλ παρεγένετο εἴς τι μέρος Σαρακηνικοῦ τάγματος, καὶ τὸ σταυρὸς νενίκηκεν ἀνακεκραγὼς αὐτὸς μετὰ τῶν κατ' ἐκλογὴν αὐτῷ προσβαλὼν ἀνδρείως διέκοψεν καὶ ἐξέθορεν· ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς δειλίᾳ κατασχεθεὶς ὑπεστράφη. ὁ δὲ μάγιστρος βραχύ τι διαδραμὼν καὶ τὸν βασιλέα μὴ ἐκβεβηκότα πυθόμενος αὖθις ἀπῄει πρὸς ἕτερον μέρος, καὶ αὐτὸ διασχίσας εἰσέδυ, ἔνθα ὁ ἄναξ διέτριβεν. βραδείας δὲ ὥρας γενομένης ἐπὶ ταῖς τοιαύταις παρεμβολαῖς καὶ πολλῶν ἐν ταύταις ἀναιρεθέντων Σαρακηνῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸ σπανίζειν τὸν τόπον ὕδατος, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ νομῆς, ὑπεχώρησεν ὁ Ἄμερ μετὰ τοῦ ἰδίου στρατεύματος, καὶ παραγενόμενος εἴς τι λιβάδιον, ὅπερ ∆ώρα κατονομάζεται, εὐθέως προσανεπαύσατο. ἀδείας οὖν ἐντεῦθεν ὁ ἄναξ λαβόμενος τὰς τῶν ἐχθρῶν μιαιφόνους χεῖρας διέδρασεν ὅλην ἡμέραν τῇ φυγῇ προστιθέμενος, καὶ τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ διεσέσῳστο. 4.15 Ἐτῶν δὲ δύο διαβεβηκότων πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς Ἄμερ τοῖς Ῥωμαϊκοῖς ὁρίοις ἐφάλλεται, ἐπὶ μʹ χιλιάσι μεγαλειούμενος, ἐξ ὧν τὸ τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν θέμα παντάπασι διωλόθρευσε, παρεμβαθύνας μέχρι τῆς πρὸς θάλασσαν Ἀμινσοῦ. καὶ τὴν πολυάνθρωπον τεθεαμένος αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ λαφυραγωγίαν πολλήν, ὧν γέγονεν ἐγκρατής, ὅλος καθέστηκεν ἐμμανής, τῇ θαλάσσῃ περισχεθεὶς τῆς ἀπλήστου φορᾶς, καὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ λαῷ ὀξέως διενετείλατο κοπείσαις ῥάβδοις τύψαι τὴν θάλασσαν, καθὼς ὁ Ζέρξης κατὰ τὸ πρὸς Ἑλλήσποντον ζεῦγμα σιδήροις ταύτην ἐμάστιξεν, ἐπειπών· ἵνα τί αὐτὴν εὕρομεν ἐνθάδε; καὶ ἵνα τί μὴ περαιτέρω λεηλατοῦντες τοὺς ἐγχωρίους προέβημεν; περὶ δὲ τῆς πλείστης αἰχμαλωσίας πεπυσμένος ὁ βασιλεὺς δυσφορήτως εἶχεν καὶ ἠνιᾶτο, καὶ τοῖς ὑποχειρίοις ἐντραπεζούμενος τοιαῦτά φησιν· οἴμοι, οἴμοι, οὐχ εὕρηταί τις ἀνθρώπων, ὃς πρὸς τὴν βασιλείαν ἡμῶν καὶ πρὸς Χριστιανοὺς ἀγάπην εἰλικρινῆ διασώσειεν, ὡς ἐνθένδε προθυμοποιηθεὶς ἀπέλθοι καὶ τῷ ἀσεβεῖ πολεμήσειεν Ἄμερ. οὕτως τοῦ βασιλέως διατεθέντος ἀνέστη Πετρωνᾶς, ὁ Θεοδώρας καὶ Βάρδα αὐτάδελφος, καὶ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα φησίν, ὅτι ὑπηκόους μὲν πολλοὺς τῇ σῇ μεγαλοδόξῳ βασιλείᾳ δέδωκεν ὁ θεός, οἵτινες πλεῖστά σε στέργουσι, δέσποτα, προτεθύμηνται δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς ἀγάπης τεθνάναι· πλὴν τοῖς πολέμοις ποτὲ μὲν εὐτυχίαι, ποτὲ δὲ δυστυχίαι συμβαίνουσι· τὴν δὲ νίκην ἀνενδοίαστον οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων ἐπίσταται, εἰ μὴ μόνῳ αὕτη θεῷ προδιέγνωσται. διὸ πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπεκρίνατο· λοιπόν, ὦ Πετρωνᾶ, προαιρῇ ἀπιέναι καὶ προσβαλεῖν τῷ ἐχθρῷ καὶ τῶν Χριστιανῶν καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς βασιλείας προκινδυνεῦσαι; ὑπολαβὼν δὲ αὐτῷ φησιν, ὅτι περ ἐν ἑτοιμότητι, βασιλεῦ, χρηματίζω τὴν ἐνοῦσάν μοι αἵματος δράκα ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς βασιλείας καὶ τῶν ὁμοπίστων ἀποκενῶσαι. τούτοις δὴ τοῖς προθύμοις λόγοις ὁ ἄναξ ἐγγυηθεὶς προχειρίζεται τοῦτον ἡγεῖσθαι τοῦ τάγματος τῶν σχολῶν· ὃς τῷ λόγῳ τῆς προβολῆς σπουδαίως διατεθεὶς τὸ ἔργον ἐπήγαγεν, εὐθυβολήσας πρὸς τὸν πολέμιον σὺν ἐπιλέκτοις καὶ οὐ πλήθει τοσούτῳ μεστούμενος. ὃ οὐκ ἐλελήθει τῷ Ἄμερ· φυγὰς γάρ τις Ῥωμαίων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἄπεισι