De capta thessalonica 3 a work by eustathios of thessalonica on its hopefully later capture, which had been weakened by a narrative of cachexia during

 Bearable and full of mourning and wanting springs of tears and some such things, but he who, as they say, was sown in a net and, like us, was caught u

 Most people raised their eyes as to mountains, to the acropolis, where they eagerly awaited help would be for them. but what especially accuses the gr

 Having practiced stretching out his hands like a woman to his pursuers, to slip into a fortress and to give trouble to those who ran after him, lest t

 David, who had lost his senses, whom i had previously blessed when he was in his right mind. and i thus also admired the emperor andronikos in other t

 Completely under age, not only unable to rule a very great empire by himself, but not even to be firmly disposed as boys are, of course, he had alread

 The protostrator alexios and john the eparch, and imprisonment held them and before that, things exceedingly dishonorable. but the boiling of anger on

 For should one measure things beyond measure?) a great disturbance of those of the palace, as much as was for god and the truth according to him, of

 But when the illusion proved false and the war was brought to an end in the late afternoon, having cast down many and filled the southern cemetery, th

 Thus men suffer for for the most part we multiply and magnify what we admire, as being unable to be precise because the soul is confounded by astound

 The present evils are fitting. and to recount the terrible things of that time, all that the latins saw, the fire which spread through their quarters,

 Kontostephanos, an energetic and sensible man, and countless others. but these things were unknown to the crowd and they did not know that he raged ag

 And he also sent them into exile into perpetual banishment. and after a short while, having divided those who had been imprisoned, he separated them i

 To be shamed but if not even so he should yield, being stubborn, to try even violence, and they say it is better for that one to suffer what he does

 Moreover and not enduring it if, having just found an opportunity, he would not take wing, like some demonic figure, he himself tries to surpass in ev

 Having said what seemed best, he was quiet. and for the rest, so that i may not chatter on about worldly unpleasantness, a rush of evils takes place t

 Manuel, and he curses, that he would not come to a worthy state of living in peace, that those alone would be grandeurs when his father died. and he b

 The marchese was left to remain in peace, just as neither was the kral of hungary and any other powerful neighbor. and generally, wherever there was m

 A certain boy, who appeared to be of a similar complexion and age to the emperor alexios. and that child was, they say, a peasant boy from somewhere i

 He annihilated the rest. and his knights were so boastful in their nature that each would stand against three hundred men in war, not at all unlike co

 About to happen, inferring it from many signs. we, at least, anticipating the enemy's attack, sent away those who were children of constantinople with

 For the man was truly master of his hands but he provoked the victorious one to exhaust his desire to laugh at the emperor, and drove the matter to a

 Laws of city-takers, in which, on account of their unwieldiness from size, no effect shone forth, but those around the eastern parts, and they were es

 Not to meddle further, unless they should choose to suffer evils. though he was obliged to supply sufficient grain for the city, he neglected it to su

 Having completely withdrawn his skill, lets the ship be dashed against a reef and sink to the bottom with its cargo and men. so too a guard of a fruit

 Of those seated around to release even one stone from a sling, then also to suggest to the sandal-stitchers on the walls to reproach the latins rounda

 The besiegers because the latins had entirely turned to resisting against choumnos, he, having with difficulty opened the gates and having allowed, fo

 To rebuke the general and to join in leading towards the good. and one might call these men, who had undertaken to remain in the city, no longer civil

 Stripping and running down the streets, known to those who saw them, thus giving proof that they were formerly conspirators. and there is no way that

 He wished, and as a result the enemy host was more emboldened, and even more so especially when, after choumnos had joined battle, though it was possi

 Very strongly fortified. we spoke thus, and the speech flowed away at random, itself as well. and the small stone-throwers were vexing the city, casti

 To the enemies. and with the soldiers shouting in a common cry, komnenos, halt and dismount, he, as if snorting back a final mount up and as you

 But i think this was stranger than that, that when rain poured down from what the enemies were scattering, plowing, indeed, but not sowing the beautif

 In blood, i was led about on horseback through heaps of others, the greater part of whom lay strewn before the wall, so densely packed, that my little

 Of the storm. and if it were made useless for the trees, and especially the fig trees, whose unripe fruit was unlawfully served to the savage beasts f

 But this would be judged as bordering on fighting against god. for the barbarians, rushing in even against each one of them, were committing all sorts

 They tore down when they arrived. and the ruler restrained the murders there, but there was no stopping the suffocation of those who fled into the chu

 By the command of the counts. and it was a sabbath, not having a flight, which one might evangelically pray to avert, but the destruction of so great

 Redness. it was therefore a task to recognize even one's dearest friend among them and each man would ask each other who on earth he might be, becaus

 Thus confounding good order and dissolving the sacred harmony. and i spoke reverently about this also to count alduin, if somehow order might be estab

 To crush the man, goading the horse to kick. thus did these men love us, frequently for every word and every deed putting forward as a justification f

 Of the longed for ones the executioners, or may they have pity. for something like this did indeed happen at times, as if a hungry and biting lion, th

 To relate moderate things out of countless ones but the events of the nights, not even they fail to rival these in contention. and for a time, with t

 They grieved those who kept treasure-houses by ransacking them for the sake of wealth, thus themselves implying that they understood hades as plouton.

 Through all of us and most provident. for it is reported to us that he ordered all-night vigils around the great churches, he jesting even then. for w

 They busied their swords upon them, and afterwards they left completely empty what it contained within, both things for healing and with which the suf

 They cast our people in, and declaring blessed not them but the disease, and now perhaps even death according to the people of gades, among whom hades

 Is fitting, but only by thanksgivings and glory to the most high, from whom and through whom are our affairs. what then prevents me from ceasing after

 Mercilessness towards those who offend in some small way, from which came the merciless thing that just now cast us down, a most just thing, since we,

redness. It was therefore a task to recognize even one's dearest friend among them; and each man would ask each other who on earth he might be, because of the uniformity of everyone's complexion and the lack of any difference. One had to go to the churches and observe such people there too, and ask who among them was rich or poor, and such things. But who is a priest? Who is the one appointed to read? Who has been allotted to be of the laity? For all had one appearance and the same form; and unless someone, separated from the others, entered the holy bema to stand for prayers, and another went up to the holy pulpit for the sake of a psalm, there was no distinction between them and the people. But all these people had something solemn about them, though otherwise sorrowful; for, having all unbound their footwear from their feet, they became the foundation-stones of the holy house. One must also consider the food of each and know that from their fellow countrymen there was nothing they could take, as all were equally starving, while of the Latins, some few supplied the obols current among them, from which it was possible to live meagerly, but the majority, calling the beggar a devil, this being their readily supplied commodity, gave insults as if bread, and a fist as relish upon them. And mercy was thus hard to find, except for that from the Myrovlytis, who, as has been written before, fed all the citizens as much as was needed. But if someone, having acquired means from somewhere, wished to procure food for a price, alas for the barbaric inhumanity! For to a Jew and an Armenian, whom the nearby Krania and Zemenikos sustain, he would measure out as much as was proper and even something in excess, but to a captured citizen the very least, if he even turned his attention to him at all. A small loaf, for example, rounded like a ring, as large as a thumb and forefinger could outline, he would sell for three copper staters to the wretched citizen, though it was barely worth an obol. But as soon as I mentioned the Armenians, I suffered a boiling around my heart, when I considered what evils the envious demon added to us through them as well, outside, before the capture, being one with the enemy and proving themselves more zealous than them in evils against us in assaults, in ambushes, in forays for plunder, in siege engines, in revealing hidden things, and inside, they too lording it 126 over us, threatening, commanding, robbing, striking, strangling us with prices. For a small loaf that could be held in the palm, which one might value at an obol, they themselves weighed out for a great price, and they too, in Latin fashion, were strangling us. And we would have perished then, had not God made the autumn fruit as plentiful as sand, among which were the grapes, which others reaped after others had toiled, entering into their labors, and which nourished us too. For let no one imagine that anything else for food and delicacy was lavished upon us. From the pressing of these we had wine, even if it was gassy and smelly and not conducive to health, but at least more comforting than water, and other food, yes, and clothing by selling it, and whatever else was easy and ready to procure. And the accursed Armenians are said even to have defiled our loaves for us. But this was not enough to deter the poor from accepting what was sold; for dire necessity forces one to reject what is proper and to be concerned only with what is pressing. Rumor has it that we suffer some such defilement from the Latins as well. For by mixing oil with fat and tallow they became the cause for good Christians to transgress the fast, that on Wednesdays and Fridays, so that they might not only change our fortune by the means with which they enslaved us, but also commit outrage against our holy religion. O, who could endure them? And when we, in the church of the great Myrovlytis, were performing sacred hymns standing around the renowned merciful one, they, in the side-chapels of the holy bema, were performing their own rites, chanting in response to us and wishing to drown out the citizens' voices with snorting and discordant cries, and often also the graceless ones, for the sake of strife, launching into their own chants in response to our exclamations of the divine gospels and

ἐρύθημα. Ἦν οὖν ἔργον γνωρίσαι καὶ τὸν πάνυ ἐν τούτοις φίλτατον· καὶ ἕκαστος ἀνηρώτα ἕκαστον, ὅστις ποτ' ἂν καὶ εἴη, διὰ τὸ κατὰ χρόαν πάντων ὁμοειδὲς καὶ διάφορον κατ' οὐδέν. Ἰτέον ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας καὶ θεωρητέον τοὺς τοιούτους καὶ ἐκεῖ καὶ ἐρωτητέον τίς ἄρα ἐν τούτοις ὁ πλούσιος ἢ πένης, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα. Ἀλλὰ τίς μὲν ἱερᾶται; τίς δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀναγινώσκειν ἐστί; τίς δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ εἶναι εἴληχε; Πάντες γὰρ εἶδος ἓν καὶ μορφὴ ἡ αὐτή· κἂν εἰ μή τις ἀποκριθεὶς τῶν ἄλλων τὸ ἱερὸν εἰσέλθοι βῆμα, στησόμενος εἰς εὐχάς, καί τις ἄλλος εἰς τὸν ἱερὸν ἀνέλθοι ὀκρίβαντα ψαλμοῦ χάριν, οὐκ ἦν διάκρισις τούτων τε καὶ τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ. Εἶχον δέ τι πάντες οὗτοι σεμνόν, εἰ καὶ ἄλλως λυπηρόν· λελυμένοι γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν πάντες τὰ ὑποδήματα τῶν τοῦ ἁγίου οἴκου κρηπίδων ἐγίνοντο. Σκοπητέον καὶ τὰς ἑκάστων τροφὰς καὶ γνωστέον ὡς ἐκ τῶν συμφυλετῶν μὲν οὐκ ἦν ὅ, τι καὶ λάβοιεν, πάντων ἐξ ἴσου πεινώντων, τῶν δὲ Λατίνων ὀλίγοι μέν τινες ἐχορήγουν ὀβολοὺς τοὺς παρὰ σφίσιν, ὅθεν ἦν γλίσχρως ἀποζῆν, οἱ δὲ πλείους διάβολον ἐπικαλοῦντες τὸν ἐπαιτοῦντα, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ παρ' αὐτοῖς εὐχορήγητον, ὕβρεις ἐδίδουν ὡσεὶ καὶ ψωμόν, καὶ κόνδυλον ὄψον ἐπ' αὐταῖς. Καὶ ὁ ἔλεος μὲν οὕτως ἦν δυσεύρετος, δίχα γε τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Μυροβλύτου, ὅς, καθὰ καὶ προσυγγέγραπται, πάντας τοὺς πολίτας ἔθρεψεν εἰς ὅσον ἐχρῆν. Εἰ δέ τις καὶ εὐπορηκώς ποθεν ἐθέλοι τιμήματος πορίσασθαι τὸ τρέφον, βαβαὶ τῆς βαρβαρικῆς ἀπανθρωπίας. Ἰουδαίῳ μὲν γὰρ καὶ Ἀρμενίῳ, οὓς ἡ ἀγχιτέρμων Κρανία καὶ ὁ Ζεμενίκος φέρβουσιν, ἐπεμέτρει ἐς ὅσον τε καθῆκον ἦν καί τι καὶ εἰς ὑπέρμετρον, ἑαλωκότι δὲ πολίτῃ ἐλάχιστον, εἴ που καὶ ἐπιστραφείη αὐτοῦ. Ἀρτίδιον γοῦν περιηγμένον ὡς εἰς κρίκον, ὅσον ἂν ἀντίχειρ καὶ λιχανὸς διαγράψαιεν, τριῶν χαλκῶν στατήρων ἀπεδίδου τῷ ἐλεεινῷ πολίτῃ, μόλις ὀβολοῦ ἀξιούμενον. Ἀλλ' ἅμα ὑπεκρουσάμην Ἀρμενίους καὶ ζέσιν ἔπαθον περικάρδιον, ἐννοησάμενος ὁποῖα κακὰ καὶ αὐτοὺς ὁ βάσκανος δαίμων ἡμῖν προσέθετο, ἔξω μὲν πρὸ τῆς ἁλώσεως ἓν ὄντας τοῖς πολεμίοις καὶ θερμοτέρους ἐκείνων εἰς τὰ καθ' ἡμῶν ἀποδεικνυμένους κακὰ ἐν ἐφόδοις, ἐν λόχοις, ἐν προόδοις ταῖς εἰς λείαν, ἐν μηχαναῖς, ἐν ἐκφάνσεσι τῶν λανθανόντων, ἔσω δὲ δεσπό 126 ζοντας ἡμῶν καὶ αὐτούς, ἀπειλουμένους, ἐπιτάσσοντας, ἀποστεροῦντας, τύπτοντας, ἄγχοντας τοῖς ὠνίοις. Ἀρτίσκον γὰρ παλάμῃ περιληπτόν, ὃν ὀβολοῦ ἄν τις τιμήσαιτο, πολλοῦ αὐτοὶ ἐσταθμῶντο, καὶ λατινικῶς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἡμᾶς ἀπέπνιγον. Καὶ ἀπολώλαμεν ἂν τηνικαῦτα, εἰ μὴ τὴν ὀπώραν κατ' ἄμμον πληθύνας ὁ Θεός, ἐν αἷς καὶ τὰς σταφυλάς, ἃς ἄλλων κεκοπιακότων ἕτεροι ἔδρεπον εἰς τοὺς κόπους ἐκείνων εἰσερχόμενοι, ἔθρεψε καὶ ἡμᾶς. Μὴ γὰρ ἐπὶ νοῦν ἀγέτω τις ἄλλο τι ἐς τροφὴν καὶ τρυφὴν ἐνδεδαψιλεῦσθαι ἡμῖν. Ὧν ἐκθλιβομένων μὲν οἶνον εἴχομεν, εἰ καὶ πνευματίαν ἐκεῖνον καὶ βρόμιον καὶ οὐ προσηνῆ πρὸς ὑγίειαν, ἀλλ' οὖν παραμυθητικώτερον ὕδατος, καὶ ἀλλοίαν δὲ τροφήν, ναὶ δὲ καὶ ἱματισμὸν τῇ ἀπεμπολήσει, καὶ εἴ τι δὲ ἄλλο ῥᾴδιον καὶ πρόχειρον πορίσασθαι. Οἱ δὲ ἐξώλεις Ἀρμένιοι λέγεται καὶ καταμιαίνειν ἡμῖν τοὺς ἄρτους. Ἦν δὲ αὐτὸ οὐχ ἱκανὸν τοὺς πτωχοὺς ἐκτρέπειν τοῦ προσίεσθαι τὰ πωλούμενα· δεινὴ γὰρ ἡ ἀνάγκη τὸ καθῆκον ἐκκρούεσθαι καὶ μόνου τοῦ πρὸς βίαν ἐγκειμένου γίνεσθαι. Τοιοῦτον δέ τινα μιασμὸν διαρρέει φήμη καὶ ἐκ τῶν Λατίνων πάσχειν ἡμᾶς. Ἔλαιον γὰρ πιμελαῖς καὶ στέασιν ἐγκατακεραννύντες ἐγίνοντο τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς Χριστιανοῖς αἴτιοι τοῦ παρανομεῖν τὴν νηστείαν, τὴν κατὰ τὰς Τετράδας καὶ Παρασκευάς, ἵνα μὴ μόνον τὴν τύχην ἡμῖν ἀλλοιώσωσιν οἶς ἡμᾶς κατεδουλώσαντο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ ἁγίᾳ θρησκείᾳ ἐμπαροινήσωσιν. Ὤ, τίς ἂν ἀνάσχοιτο ἐκείνων; Καὶ ὅτε ἡμεῖς μὲν ἐν τῷ τοῦ μεγάλου Μυροβλύτου ναῷ ὕμνους ἱεροὺς ἐτελοῦμεν περιιστάμενοι τὸν περιώνυμον ἐλεήμονα, οἱ δ' ἐν ταῖς πλαγίαις τοῦ ἱεροῦ βήματος τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἐτέλουν, ἀντιφωνοῦντες ἡμῖν καὶ τὰς πολίτιδας φωνὰς ὑπερφωνεῖν ἐθέλοντες βοαῖς κορυζώσαις καὶ ἀπηχέσι, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ταῖς τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς θείων εὐαγγελίων ἐκφωνήσεσι πρὸς ἔριν οἱ ἀχαρίτωτοι ἀντεπεξαγόμενοι καὶ