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bringing such a large army, accustomed to close-quarters battles, heavily armed with weapons and administered with baggage horses and equipped and fortified with all other kinds of baggage. When he had arrived as far as Serres, having spent the night there, at dawn he drew up his armies and commanded the infantry and archers to go in front, since indeed he had learned that the difficult terrain of Roupelion, through which the Strymon river flows, is enclosed by two mountains, so that a wagon could scarcely pass through it, with the river making the passage very narrow, -the common people call such places "kleisouras"- was guarded by a Bulgarian army of few cavalry but many infantry, -for the Bulgarians had also constructed gates in them secured with bars and locks, so that they were invincible on both counts, from the difficulty of the place and from the foresight they had shown and the rest of the fortification- since the emperor had learned that these things were so, he arrived with haste at that place, and he found the situation there just as he had heard. Having therefore detached a fitting contingent from the infantry army, he ordered them to march into the mountain above the heads of the Bulgarians, so that they might shoot at the Bulgarians from a superior position, from the higher places, while they were on low ground. And they carried out the orders rather quickly; for the mountain was covered with trees, but passable on foot for infantrymen; and he commanded the cavalry to do battle straight in front of the gates. When, therefore, the Bulgarians saw that they were being shot at from above from the hills with arrows, and that they had a pitched battle before them, and seeing their own situation to be in a very tight spot, they were turned to flight, and the imperial army pursued them. Therefore, they made many there a work of the sword, while the others escaped and were saved as far as the Bulgarian armies and reported to them the news about the emperor and all that they had suffered. And they, thrown into confusion by the suddenness of the news, and how the dreadful things had suddenly befallen them, each one mounted the horse he happened to find and rushed to flee. And since it was also a moonless night, during which was the flight, and the place was difficult and the paths hard to discern, some fell from their horses, and others trampled them and killed them, and some were thrown from their saddles over cliffs, and others in other ways met a wretched end, so that few of them were saved and arrived in the land of the Bulgarians. Then indeed their leader Dragotas, who was also the ringleader of the rebellion, had his whole body crushed by the feet of horses and on the third day breathed out his soul. The emperor, therefore, having taken the city that night, conversed with the guards there, and they welcomed the autocrat gladly and praised him with applause and glorified him with words of praise and called him a swift eagle.

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The emperor, therefore, having arranged matters there as was fitting, and having exiled the wives and children of the rebels from the city, and having ordered all their property to be confiscated, departed from Melenikon and arrived in Thessalonica, and from there, having crossed the Vardar and passed by Vodena, he pitched his tents there for a little while. And he fell ill with a disease of the seat; this had also become an epidemic for the armies there. Having endured there for a short while so as to recover from the illness, he set out for Prilep. There, accordingly, having made suitable preparations and having acquired siege engines and having brought the siege-towers together on wagons, he proceeded to Veles to besiege it and to take it from the hand of the enemy. But they, thunderstruck by the mere approach of the emperor and not even waiting for the siege engines to be set up, came to an agreement on the condition that they would suffer no harm, but would leave the city with their arms and possessions, taking the oaths from the emperor

43

τοσοῦτον ἐπαγόμενος στράτευμα, ταῖς κατὰ συστάδην εἰθισμένον μάχαις, ὅπλοις κατάφρακτον καὶ ἵπποις φορταγωγοῖς διοικούμενον καὶ πάσαις ἄλλαις ἀπο σκευαῖς συγκροτούμενον καὶ περιφραγνύμενον. ἐπεὶ δὲ μέχρι Σερρῶν κατηντήκει, αὐτόθι διανυκτερεύσας, ἅμα πρωῒ τὰ στρατεύματα συνταξάμενος καὶ τοὺς πεζαιτέρους καὶ τοξοφόρους ἔμπροσθεν βαίνειν ἐγκελευσάμενος, ἐπεί περ ἐπέπυστο τὴν τοῦ Ῥουπελίου δυσχωρίαν, καθ' ἣν ὁ ποταμὸς Στρυμὼν ῥεῖ, δυσὶ συγκλειόμενος ὄρεσιν, ὡς μόγις ἅμαξαν διὰ ταύτης ἔρχεσθαι, τοῦ ποταμοῦ στενω τάτην ἀπεργαζομένου τὴν δίοδον, -κλεισούρας τοὺς τοι ούτους τόπους ὁ πολὺς κατονομάζει λαός-Βουλγαρικῇ φυλάττεσθαι στρατιᾷ ἱππέων μὲν ὀλίγων πεζῶν δὲ πολλῶν, -οἱ γὰρ Βούλγαροι καὶ πύλας ἐν αὐταῖς κατεσκεύασαν μοχλοῖς καὶ κλείθροις ἠσφαλισμένας, ὡς ἄμαχα τούτοις ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τυγχάνειν τῆς τε δυσκολίας τοῦ τόπου καὶ τῆς γεγενημένης παρ' αὐτῶν προμηθείας καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς ὀχυ ρώσεως-ἐπεὶ ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχειν ἐμεμαθήκει ὁ βασιλεύς, σπουδῇ περὶ τὸν ἐκεῖσε χῶρον ἀφῖκτο, εὗρε δὲ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ καθάπερ ἐπέπυστο. ἀποκόψας οὖν τῆς τῶν πεζαιτέρων στρατιᾶς ὅσον ἦν εἰκὸς σύνταγμα, ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς τῶν Βουλ γάρων βαδίζειν εἰς τὸ ὄρος προστέταχεν, ὡς ἂν ἐξ ὑπερδεξίων τοὺς Βουλγάρους βάλλωσιν ἐξ ὑψηλοτέρων τῶν τόπων ἐν τοῖς χθαμαλοῖς ἐκείνους τυγχάνοντας. οἱ δὲ θᾶττον ἐποίουν τὰ προσταττόμενα· ἦν γὰρ τὸ ὄρος δένδροις μὲν συνηρεφές, βάσιμον δὲ ποσὶ πεζαιτέρων· ἱππεῦσι δὲ κατευθὺ τῶν πυ λῶν τὴν μάχην ποιεῖν ἐκέλευσεν. Ἐπεὶ γοῦν κατεῖδον οἱ Βούλγαροι ἄνωθεν μὲν ἐκ τῶν βουνῶν ὀϊστοῖς αὐτοὺς βαλλομένους, σταδαίαν δὲ τὴν μάχην κατεναντίον κεκτημένους, καὶ ἐν στενῷ κομιδῇ τὰ κατ' αὐ τοὺς καθορῶντες εἰς φυγὴν ἐτράποντο, καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν αὐτοῖς ἐφείπετο στράτευμα. πολλοὺς οὖν ἐκεῖσε σπάθης ἔρ γον πεποίηνται, οἱ δ' ἄλλοι μέχρι καὶ τῶν Βουλγαρικῶν στρατευμάτων διασωθέντες ἀπέδρασαν καὶ τούτοις τὰ περὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπήγγειλαν καὶ ὅσα δὴ ἐπεπόνθεισαν. οἱ δὲ τῷ ἀθρόῳ διαταραχθέντες τῆς ἀκοῆς, καὶ ὡς αἴφνης αὐ τοῖς ἐπεισπέπτωκε τὰ δεινά, ἕκαστος ὡς εἶχεν ἵππου τοῦ ἐφευρεθέντος αὐτῷ σχεδὸν ἐπιβάς, φεύγειν ὥρμησαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ νὺξ ὑπῆρχεν ἀσέληνος, καθ' ἣν ἡ φυγή, καὶ δυσχερὴς ὁ τόπος καὶ τὰ τῶν ὁδῶν δυσδιάγνωστα, ἔπιπτον μὲν ἐξ ἵππων ἔνιοι, ἕτεροι δὲ αὐτοὺς κατεπάτουν καὶ ἔφθειραν, καὶ ἄλλοι μὲν τῶν ἐφεστρίδων ἀπεσφενδονοῦντο κατὰ κρημνῶν, ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλως τέλος δύστηνον ἀπελάμ βανον, ὡς ὀλίγους ἐξ αὐτῶν διασωθέντας εἰς τὴν Βουλ γάρων ἀφῖχθαι. τότε δὴ καὶ ὁ προϊστάμενος αὐτῶν ∆ρα γωτᾶς, ὁ καὶ προεξάρχων τῆς ἀπιστίας, ἵππων ποσὶν ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα συντέθλασται καὶ τριταῖος τὴν αὐτοῦ ψυ χὴν ἐξεφύσησεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς τῆς νυκτὸς ἐκείνης τὸ ἄστυ καταλαβὼν τοῖς ἐκεῖσε φυλάττουσι ξυνωμίλησε, κἀκεῖνοι ἀσπασίως τε τὸν αὐτοκράτορα ὑπεδέξαντο καὶ κρό τοις ἐπῄνουν καὶ εὐφήμοις λόγοις ἐκύδαινον καὶ ἀετὸν ταχὺν κατωνόμαζον.

59 Τὰ ἐκεῖσε μὲν οὖν, ὡς ἦν εἰκός, οἰκονομήσας ὁ βασιλεύς, καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τοὺς παῖδας τῶν ἀπιστη σάντων ἐξορίσας τοῦ ἄστεος, πάντα δὲ τὰ αὐτῶν χρήματα δημοσιευθῆναι κελεύσας, ἀπάρας τοῦ Μελενίκου ἐς τὴν Θεσσαλονίκην ἀφίκετο, κἀκεῖθεν τὸν Βαρδάρειον διαπεράσας καὶ τὰ Βοδηνὰ παραμείψας ὀλίγον ἐκεῖσε τὰς σκηνὰς ἔπηξεν. ἐνόσησε δὲ νόσημα ἑδρικόν· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐπι δήμιον τοῖς ἐκεῖσε στρατεύμασιν ἐγεγόνει. διακαρτερήσας οὖν ἐκεῖσε μικρὸν ὅσον ῥαΐσαι τὴν νόσον, περὶ τὸν Πρίλα πον ὥρμησεν. ἐκεῖσε γοῦν προσηκόντως συσκευασάμενος καὶ μηχανήματα προσλαβόμενος καὶ ἁμάξαις τὰς ἑλεπόλεις συγκομισάμενος ἐς τὸν Βελεσὸν ἐχώρει πολιορκῆσαι τοῦτον καὶ τῆς τῶν ἐχθρῶν χειρὸς ἐξελεῖν. οἱ δὲ καὶ μόνον τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐφόδῳ καταβροντηθέντες καὶ μηδὲ ἀναμεί ναντες ἀναστῆναι μηχανήματα, εἰς συνθήκας ἐλθόντες ἐφ' ᾧ μηδέν τι παθεῖν δεινόν, αὐτοῖς δὲ ὅπλοις καὶ πράγμασι τοῦ ἄστεος ἐξελθεῖν, τοὺς ὅρκους πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως λα