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and Steridola and Achrida and the strongholds of Illyria, and he reached as far as Dyrrachium, brandishing his spear; and he attacked Patras and Trikke. And having seized the surrounding areas by treaty, and most without a fight, he cast the despot into great fear and into quite a tight spot. Then the ruler also, deeming him worthy of a more closely related fortune, sending the insignia, makes him sebastokrator.

12. How Michael the despot, being hard-pressed, sends his wife and son to the emperor. But Michael, after it occurred concerning the caesar about which was set forth by me before, while he was also making use of the alliances from his son-in-law Mafre, realizing, when the city was taken, sends to the emperor both his wife Theodora and his son John, her to serve as an ambassador for peace, and his son to be a hostage, but for life, for as long as he might live, to be taken and to marry a suitable bride, whom indeed the emperor would give. Then indeed that one, having swiftly subjugated the things there, having fought bravely, or rather having set them in order, posting guards and establishing garrisons, returned with brilliant and conspicuous trophies, and taking with him no small amount of booty. And the emperor honors him with worthy things, and with him also many others, bestowing the highest dignities.

13. How the ruler honored the magnates with dignities. He therefore appoints John as despot—and his deeds proclaimed him great—and the other of his brothers, Constantine, as sebastokrator after caesar; for at the same time he had designated John sebastokrator and himself caesar. And his father-in-law, Tornikios Constantine, from megas primmikerios he also makes a sebastokrator, but not in the same way as the first and his brother; for he magnified the latter with imperial eagles according to custom, but this one he inscribed as sebastokrator with only the blue insignia, without those symbols. And he gave in marriage his daughter after the first one, whom the despot had, to the despot's son from the west, John, whom the account has previously stated was sent as a hostage to the emperor by his father. He promoted the elder Alexios Strategopoulos to caesar, and the elder Laskaris, the brother of Tzamanouros—for he himself had taken monastic vows—he proclaimed megas doux. And John Raoul, son of the protovestiarios Raoul, and Alexios, son of the blinded Philes, the one, having joined in marriage to Theodora, niece of the protovestiarios Mouzalon, who had recently been widowed in the manner which has been described, she being his own niece, daughter of Elogia Kantakouzene his own sister, he appoints protovestiarios, and the other, having brought together in one bed with her own sister Maria, he designates megas domestikos. And Theodora, born from the other of his sisters Martha, whom Basil Kaballarios had, he divorced him from her, at the request of his sister because of the things which happened to her through his fault, and gives her to Balanidiotes, whom he also honors as megas stratopedarches; and her own brothers, the sons of his sister Martha, being young, he loved exceedingly and had them raised within the palace—Michael and Andronikos and John were their names, as also much later Andronikos Palaiologos from the west, whom he also called his second cousin, who had come up with the despot along with many other western rulers, he joined in marriage to the daughter of Raoul, she also being the widow of Andronikos Mouzalon, whom we recorded as megas domestikos, and designates him protostrator. At that time he also appointed Alexios Philanthropenos to this dignity. And he makes Angelos, his mother-in-law's own brother, megas primmikerios, and Nostongos Michael protosebastos and Michael Palaiologos mystikos, whom we also said were first cousins by birth to the emperor. And many other of the rulers with offices

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καὶ Στερί δολα καὶ Ἀχρίδαν καὶ τὰ Ἰλλυριῶν ὀχυρώματα, καὶ ἕως ∆υρραχίου φθάνει τὸ δόρυ κινῶν· προσβάλλει δὲ καὶ Πάτρᾳ καὶ Τρίκκῃ. Καὶ τὰ κύκλῳ κατὰ συνθήκας κρατήσας, καὶ ἀμαχεὶ τὰ πλεῖστα, εἰς φόβον μέγαν καθίστησι τὸν δεσπότην καὶ ἐν στενῷ κομιδῇ. Τότε καὶ ἐγγίονος ἀξιῶν τύχης αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ κρατῶν, πέμψας τὰ σύμβολα, σεβαστοκράτορα καθιστᾷ.

ιβʹ. Ὅπως Μιχαὴλ ὁ δεσπότης στενοχωρηθεὶς πέμπει τὴν σύζυγον καὶ τὸν υἱὸν πρὸς βασιλέα. Ὁ δὲ Μιχαήλ, μεθό, συγχρησαμένου ταῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ γαμβροῦ Μαφρὲ συμμα χίαις, τὰ κατὰ τὸν καίσαρα συνέβη περὶ ὧν μοι καὶ προανετάθη, νοῦν λαβών, ἁλούσης τῆς πόλεως, πέμπει πρὸς βασιλέα τήν τε σύζυγον Θεοδώραν καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν παῖδα, ἐκείνην μὲν τὰς εἰρηνικὰς πρεσβεύσουσαν, τὸν δ' υἱὸν 153 ἐσόμενον ὅμηρον, πλὴν ἐς διηνεκές, ἐφ' ὅσον ζῴη, ἀξόμενον καὶ τὴν συνοι κήσουσαν προσηκόντως, ἣν δὴ καὶ δώσει ὁ βασιλεύς. Τότε γοῦν ἐκεῖνος, διὰ τάχους καταστρεψάμενος τἀκεῖ, ἀρεϊκῶς ἠγωνισμέ νος, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ καταστήσας, φρουροὺς ἐμβαλὼν καὶ φυλακὰς ἐπιστήσας, ἐπανέζευξε μετὰ λαμπρῶν καὶ περιφανῶν τῶν τροπαίων, καὶ λείαν οὐκ ὀλίγην περιβαλλόμενος. Τιμᾷ τε τοῖς ἀξίοις ἐκεῖνον ὁ βασιλεύς, σὺν ἐκείνῳ δὲ καὶ πολλοὺς ἄλλους μεγίσταις δωρούμενος ταῖς ἀξίαις.

ιγʹ. Ὅπως τοὺς μεγιστᾶνας ἀξιώμασιν ἐτίμα ὁ κρατῶν. Τὸν μὲν οὖν Ἰωάννην δεσπότην ἐγκαθιστᾷαἱ δέ γε πράξεις ἐκείνου καὶ μέγαν ἐφήμιζον, θάτερον δὲ τῶν ἀδελφῶν Κωνσταντῖνον σεβαστοκράτορα μετὰ καίσαρα· ἅμα γὰρ τὸν Ἰωάννην σεβαστοκράτορα καὶ αὐτὸν καίσαρα ἀπεδείκνυ. Τὸν δέ γε πενθερὸν τοῦ δεσπότου, τὸν Τορνίκιον Κωνσταντῖνον, ἐκ μεγάλου πριμμικηρίου σεβαστοκράτορα καὶ αὐτὸν καθίστησι, πλὴν οὐ κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον καὶ ἀδελφόν· ἐκεῖνον γὰρ καὶ βασιλικοῖς ἀετοῖς κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες ἐμεγάλυνε, τοῦτον δὲ δίχα τῶν συμβόλων ἐκείνων ἐν μόνοις τοῖς κυανοῖς σεβαστοκράτορα ἔγραφεν. Ἐξεδίδου δὲ καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ θυγατέρα τὴν μετὰ τὴν προτέραν, ἣν ὁ δεσπότης εἶχε, τῷ τοῦ δεσπότου υἱῷ ἐκ δύσεως Ἰωάννῃ, ὃν καὶ ὡς ὅμηρον πεμφθῆναι τῷ βασιλεῖ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ λόγος προέγραφεν. Ἀλέξιον δὲ τὸν γέροντα Στρατηγόπουλον προὐβάλλετο καίσαρα, τὸν δὲ γέροντα Λάσκαριν τὸν τοῦ Τζαμαντούρου ἀδελφόναὐτὸς γὰρ ὑπέδυ τὸν μοναχόνμέγαν δοῦκα ἐφήμιζε. Ἰωάννην τε τὸν Ῥαούλ, υἱὸν τοῦ 155 πρωτοβεστιαρίου Ῥαούλ, καὶ τὸν τοῦ πηρωθέντος Φιλῆ υἱὸν Ἀλέξιον, τὸν μέν, τῇ τοῦ πρωτοβεστιαρίου Μουζάλωνος, πρὸ μικροῦ χηρωθείσῃ τρόπον ὃς εἴρηται, Θεοδώρᾳ, ἀδελφιδῇ αὐτοῦ γε οὔσῃ, Εὐλογίας ἐκ Καντακουζηνοῦ θυγατρὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ αὐταδέλφης, εἰς γάμον συναρμόσας, πρωτοβεστιάριον ἀποκαθίστησι, τὸν δέ, εἰς ἓν λέχος τῇ αὐταδέλφῃ ταύτης Μαρίᾳ συναγαγών, μέγαν δομέστικον ἀποδείκνυσι. Τὴν δὲ ἐκ θατέρας τῶν αὐταδέλφων αὐτοῦ Μάρθας γεννηθεῖσαν Θεοδώραν, ἣν καὶ ὁ Καβαλλάριος Βασίλειος εἶχε, διαζεύξας ἐκεῖνον αὐτῆς, τῆς αὐταδέλφης δεηθείσης διὰ τὰ συμβάντα οἱ παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ αἰτίαν, τῷ Βαλανιδιώτῃ ἐκδίδωσιν, ὃν καὶ μέγαν στρατοπεδάρχην τιμᾷ· τοὺς δὲ ταύτης αὐταδέλφους, Μάρθας τῆς αὐταδέλφης υἱούς, νέους ὄντας, ὑπερηγάπα καὶ ἐντὸς τῶν βασιλείων εἶχεν ἐκτρεφομένουςΜιχαὴλ δ' ἦσαν καὶ Ἀνδρόνικος καί γε Ἰωάννης αὐτοῖς τὰ ὀνόματα, ὡς καὶ πολλῷ ὕστερον καὶ τὸν ἐκ δύσεως Παλαιολόγον Ἀνδρόνικον, ὃν καὶ ἐξάδελφον ἔγραφε, συναναβάντα τῷ δεσπότῃ συνάμα καὶ ἄλλοις πολλοῖς δυτικοῖς ἄρχουσι, συνοικίσας τῇ τοῦ Ῥαοὺλ θυγατρί, κεχηρωμένῃ οὔσῃ καὶ ταύτῃ τοῦ Ἀνδρονίκου Μουζάλωνος, ὃν καὶ μέγαν δομέστικον ἀνεγράφομεν, πρω τοστράτορα ἀποδείκνυσι. Τότε δ' ἐπὶ τῷ ἀξιώματι τούτῳ καὶ τὸν Φιλανθρω πηνὸν Ἀλέξιον ἐγκαθίστα. Τὸν δὲ τῆς πενθερᾶς αὐτοῦ αὐτάδελφον Ἄγγελον μέγαν ποιεῖ πριμμικήριον, πρωτοσεβαστὸν δὲ τὸν Νοστόγγον Μιχαὴλ καὶ μυστικὸν τὸν Παλαιολόγον Μιχαήλ, οὓς καὶ αὐτανεψίους ἐλέγομεν εἶναι κατὰ γένος τῷ βασιλεῖ. Ἄλλους τε πολλοὺς τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῖς ὀφφικίοις