3.τ Book 3 3.1 The preceding account makes clear, therefore, all that happened in the east after the deposition of the emperor Diogenes, and how many disturbances and apostasies and seditions were both kindled and again extinguished, and how the greatest tyranny of all, I mean that of Ourselios, having been raised to a great height and having become the cause of the greatest evils for the Romans, was put down by Alexios Komnenos while he was still quite young and had been appointed commander of the east. But now it is necessary to move from the affairs of the east to the west and to narrate some of the things done there, so that the account, proceeding with a certain sequence and order, may come again to the deeds of Alexios Komnenos. Since of the sons of the most divine Caesar, the younger, Constantine, having become a good man, suddenly died, and the elder, Andronikos, having demonstrated the nobility of his soul even in the war against Ourselios and having given himself up for his father's salvation, had been terribly wounded, so that he returned to Byzantium having almost bled to death, and upon returning and receiving the greatest possible care, he was freed from the pains of his wounds, but having been seized by a weakness of the internal organs and afflicted with dropsy, he was given up by the doctors, as their skill failed to help the sufferer; since, therefore, these things happened thus and the Caesar exchanged his glorious life for the monastic one, the emperor Michael struggled with countless cares, with the Scythians overrunning Thrace and Macedonia, and the nation of the Slavs having thrown off the yoke of Roman servitude and ravaging and plundering the land of the Bulgarians; Skoupoi and Naissos were being sacked, and indeed Sirmium itself and the regions around the Sava river, and the Paristrian cities as far as Vidin were being badly treated; and from there again the Chorobatoi and Diocleans, having revolted, were ill-treating all of Illyricum. 3.2 As these things were happening thus, the emperor Michael fell into great fear and considered taking on a certain partner and to assign to him the second honor, I mean that of Caesar. But since all his kin had been removed, he looked to the most capable generals among those in power and sought by himself with his household the one who excelled the others in experience of affairs and in prudence and in valor. And since Nikephoros Bryennios, of whom the history made mention before, seemed to all those around him and to the logothete himself to be such a man—faithful in things toward God, steadfast in things toward friendship, skilled at sensing the future and taking precautions, and most proven in commanding against enemies—he was immediately summoned from the land of the Odrysians by imperial letters. But before this man returned to the capital, the emperor shared the matter with one of the senatorial council, related to him by blood on his mother's side; this was the droungarios Constantine, the nephew of Michael who once directed the throne of the patriarchate, who was surnamed Keroullarios. But he, upon hearing it, took badly what was said; for he had long been dreaming of the empire. Therefore, being asked to offer an opinion, he said that he knew and praised the man, but that he did not at all praise the consideration and plan concerning him, "But either," he said, "you must voluntarily yield the imperial rule to this man, being as he is a noble, energetic, and active man, or if you do not wish to suffer this unwillingly, you must desist from the plan of taking him as a partner." He said these things and cast the emperor into great fear, being otherwise a coward and, as they say, startled at his own shadow. 3.3 So when Bryennios arrived, the emperor Michael, having changed his purpose, wished to appoint this man duke of the whole country of the Bulgarians, so that through him the over-mastering nation of the Slavs might also be checked; and indeed having arrived in Bulgaria, in a short time he humbled the nation of the Slavs to such an extent as to place it again under the yoke of the Romans and to be content for the affairs in Bulgaria to be controlled by him. But since the Chorobatoi and Diocleans Illyria badly

3.τ Βιβλίον γʹ 3.1 Ὅσα μὲν οὖν ξυνέβη κατὰ τὴν ἕω μετὰ τὴν τοῦ ∆ιογένους τοῦ βασιλέως καθαίρεσιν καὶ ὅσαι ταραχαὶ καὶ ἀποστασίαι καὶ στάσεις ἀνήφθησάν τε καὶ αὖθις ἐσβέσθησαν καὶ ὡς ἡ μεγίστη πασῶν τυραννίς, φημὶ δὴ ἡ τοῦ Οὐρσελίου, εἰς μέγα ἀρθεῖσα καὶ μεγίστων κακῶν αἰτία τῇ Ῥωμαίων γενομένη παρὰ τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ Ἀλεξίου καθῄρητο ἔτι κομιδῇ νέου ὄντος καὶ στρατοπεδάρχου τῆς ἕω ἀποδειχθέντος, ὁ πρὸ τοῦδε λόγος δηλοῖ. Νυνὶ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἑῴαν πραγμάτων ἀναγκαῖον μεταβῆναι πρὸς τὴν ἑσπέραν καί τινα τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ πραχθέντων ἀφηγήσασθαι, ἵν' εἱρμῷ τινι καὶ τάξει βαδίζων ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τὰς πράξεις αὖθις ἔλθῃ τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ Ἀλεξίου. Ἐπειδὴ τῶν παίδων τοῦ θειοτάτου καίσαρος ὁ μὲν νεώτερος Κωνσταντῖνος ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς γενόμενος ἐξαίφνης ἀπεβίω, ὁ δὲ πρεσβύτερος Ἀνδρόνικος τὸ γενναῖον αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς παραστήσας κἀν τῷ κατὰ τοῦ Οὐρσελίου πολέμῳ καὶ ἑαυτὸν προέμενος ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς σωτηρίας δεινῶς τετραυμάτιστο ὡς μικροῦ δεῖν ἔξαιμος γεγονὼς ἐπανῆλθε πρὸς τὸ Βυζάντιον, ἐπανελθὼν δὲ καὶ ἐπιμελείας τυχὼν ὅτι πλείστης τῶν μὲν ἐκ τῶν τραυμάτων ἀλγηδόνων ἀπήλλακτο, καχεξίᾳ δὲ σπλάγχνων συσχεθεὶς καὶ ὑδέρῳ ληφθεὶς ἀπηγόρευτο πρὸς τῶν ἰατρῶν, ἀτονησάσης τῆς τέχνης ἐπικουρῆσαι τῷ κάμνοντι, ἐπεὶ γοῦν οὕτω ταῦτα συνέβη καὶ ὁ καῖσαρ τὸν εὐκλεῆ βίον εἰς τὸν μοναδικὸν μετήμειψεν, ὁ βασιλεὺς Μιχαὴλ φροντίσι μυρίαις ἐπάλαιε, τῶν τε Σκυθῶν Θρᾴκην τε καὶ Μακεδονίαν κατατρεχόντων, τοῦ τε Σθλαβίνων ἔθνους τῆς δουλείας Ῥωμαίων ἀφηνιάσαντος καὶ τὴν Βουλγάρων δῃοῦντός τε καὶ ληϊζομένου· Σκοῦποί τε καὶ Ναϊσὸς ἐπορθοῦντο καὶ αὐτὸ δὴ τὸ Σίρμιον καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν Σαβίαν ποταμὸν χωρία καὶ αἱ Παρίστριοι πόλεις αἱ μέχρι Βυδίνης κακῶς διετίθεντο· ἐκεῖθεν δ' αὖθις Χωροβάτοι καὶ ∆ιοκλεῖς ἀποστάντες ἅπαν τὸ Ἰλλυρικὸν κακῶς διετίθουν. 3.2 Τούτων οὕτως γινομένων ὁ βασιλεὺς Μιχαὴλ εἰς δέος ἐκπέπτωκε μέγα καὶ ἐσκέπτετο κοινωνόν τινα προσλαβέσθαι καὶ τὴν δευτέραν αὐτῷ ἀπονεῖμαι τιμήν, φημὶ δὴ τὴν τοῦ καίσαρος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ συγγενὲς αὐτοῦ ἅπαν καθῄρητο, πρὸς τῶν ἐν τέλει τοὺς στρατηγικωτάτους ἀπέβλεψε καὶ ἐζήτει καθ' ἑαυτὸν μετὰ τῶν περιοικιδίων τὸν πείρᾳ πραγμάτων καὶ φρονήσει καὶ ἀρετῇ τῶν ἄλλων πλεονεκτοῦντα. Ὡς δὲ πᾶσιν ἐδόκει τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ λογοθέτῃ τοιοῦτος εἶναι ὁ Βρυέννιος Νικηφόρος, οὗ πρόσθεν ἡ ἱστορία ἐμνήσθη, τὰ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν πιστός, τὰ πρὸς φιλίαν βέβαιος δεινός τε ὑπαισθέσθαι τὸ μέλλον καὶ προφυλάξασθαι στρατηγῆσαί τε κατ' ἐχθρῶν δοκιμώτατος, εὐθὺς γράμμασι βασιλικοῖς ἐξ Ὀδρυσῶν μετεπέμπετο. Πρὸ τοῦ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα εἰς τὴν βασιλίδα ἐπανελθεῖν κοινοῦται ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν λόγον τινὶ τῶν τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς, καθ' αἷμα τούτῳ μητρόθεν προσήκοντι· ὁ δρουγγάριος οὗτος ἦν Κωνσταντῖνος, ὁ τοῦ τῆς πα τριαρχίας τὸν θρόνον ἰθύναντος πάλαι Μιχαὴλ ἀδελφιδοῦς, ὃς ἐπεκέκλητο Κηρουλλάριος. Ὁ δ' ἀκούσας βαρέως ἔφερε τὰ λεχθέντα· πάλαι γὰρ ἦν ὀνειροπολῶν τὴν βασιλείαν. Ἀπαιτούμενος οὖν γνώμην εἰσαγαγεῖν ἔφησε τὸν μὲν ἄνδρα γινώσκειν καὶ ἐπαινεῖν, τὴν δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ σκέψιν τε καὶ βουλὴν οὐ πάνυ τι ἐπαινεῖν, "ἀλλ' ἤτοι, φησί, καὶ τῆς βασιλικῆς ἀρχῆς ὑπεκστῆναί σε ἑκουσίως τούτῳ χρή, ἀνδρὶ ὄντι γενναίῳ καὶ δραστηρίῳ καὶ ῥέκτῃ, ἢ εἰ μὴ ἄκων βούλοιο τοῦτο παθεῖν, τοῦ τὸ κοινωνὸν αὐτὸν λαβέσθαι σκέμματος ἀποστῆναι". Ταῦτ' εἴρηκε καὶ εἰς δέος μέγα τὸν βασιλέα ἐνέβαλε καὶ ἄλλως δειλόν τε ὄντα καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σκιὰν ὑποπτήσσοντα, ὅ φασιν. 3.3 Ἀφικομένου τοίνυν τοῦ Βρυεννίου, ὁ βασιλεὺς Μιχαὴλ τὸν σκοπὸν μεταθέμενος ἐβούλετο τοῦτον δοῦκα τῆς τῶν Βουλγάρων ἀποδείξασθαι πάσης χώρας, ὥστε δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ Σθλαβίνων ἔθνος κατακυριεῦσαν ἀνασταλῆναι· καὶ δὴ ἐν Βουλγαρίᾳ γενόμενος, ἐν βραχεῖ καιρῷ ἐς τοσοῦτον τὸ Σθλαβίνων ἐταπείνωσεν ἔθνος ὡς ὑπὸ ζυγὸν Ῥωμαίων αὖθις τοῦτο ποιῆσαι καὶ ἀγαπᾶν ὑπ' ἐκείνου τὰ τῶν ἐν Βουλγαρίᾳ πραγμάτων κυριεύεσθαι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Χωροβάτοι καὶ ∆ιοκλεῖς τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα κακῶς