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they came out of the fort. But when the emperor saw that they were very many in number—for they were counted at five hundred—and that they possessed large bodies and handsome forms, he regretted his action, if he were to allow so many and such men to go to the enemy and become opponents of the Romans; but constrained by his oaths, he released them, giving them their freedom. Setting out from there, therefore, with his whole army, he made his way through Neustapolis. The place is waterless and uninhabited, and difficult for a multitude of troops to traverse. Indeed, the army spent no small number of days in want of bread, and for two days most of the horses were without water. So, having passed the city of Stroummitza and marching through the lands of Melenikos to Serres, we departed again. There the emperor, having received letters from the eastern parts sent by his beloved Mouzalon, that the affairs of the Muslims were in turmoil because of the Tatars, quickened his pace and made the daily marches longer. But when he reached the Hebros, which the common people call the Maritza, and learned that the situation in the east was not so, he relaxed his speed and proceeded more leisurely, making the usual imperial halts; and turning from the direct route eastward, he came to Didymoteichon and from there to Adrianople. And since none of the forts and towns held by the Bulgarians was left—for the emperor had subdued them all—except for two, one a very small fort situated in the hills of Ochrid and called Patmos, which Alexios Doukas Philanthropenos, left behind by the emperor to guard the region of Ochrid, captured very easily, and another town named Tsepaina, which happened to be very strong and located at the junction of the two great mountain ranges, the Haemus and the Rhodope, between which flows the river Hebros, the emperor considered it a terrible thing that he had not gained control of these as well as the others, but that, having proved too strong for his hand, they remained outside it; and he was especially greatly vexed about Tsepaina. He was eager, therefore, to campaign against this town as well and to test its strength. Now the summer season was already passing, and autumn was near and about to pass as well. But he, paying no heed to the season nor considering the harshness of winter—for he was aiming at one thing only, to fulfill his own desire—set his whole army in motion from Adrianople, and having ordered very many wagons to be collected from all over the land of the Macedonians, some to carry the siege-engines and city-takers, and others to transport the army's provisions, and having commanded a countless multitude of foot soldiers, archers, and mace-bearers to be assembled, when everything was well and duly prepared for him as he had determined, he departed from Adrianople and proceeded against Tsepaina. The army passed four stages, and in the place which they call Makrolivada, a name aptly given by those who first saw it because of its shape, a terrible storm befell them. For starting in the evening, and throughout the whole night increasing the intensity of the cold and the violence of the wind, and having covered the surface of the earth with much snow, by morning it had caused the emperor great difficulty. For the place was uninhabited and the enemy happened to be nearer, and the expected lack of necessities oppressed the spirit no less; for this is an even more terrible thing among armies. Driven, then, to such great distress, he gathered the commanders of the forces, not only of the Romans but also of the foreign Latins and Scythians, and asked them what must be done. Almost all, therefore, advised a return to Adrianople

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βόντες ἐξῄεσαν τοῦ φρουρίου. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐπείπερ αὐ τοὺς ἐθεάσατο παμπόλλους μὲν τὸν ἀριθμὸν-εἰς γὰρ πεντακοσίους ἠρίθμηντο-εὐμεγέθη δὲ κεκτημένους τὰ σώματα καὶ ἀγαθοὺς τὰς μορφάς, ἐπὶ τῇ πράξει μεταμε μέληται, εἰ τοσούτους καὶ τοιούτους ἐάσει πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀφικέσθαι καὶ ἐναντίους γενέσθαι Ῥωμαίοις· ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ὅρκων ἀναγκασθεὶς ἀπέλυσε σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀποδοὺς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. Ἐκεῖθεν οὖν μετὰ πάσης τῆς στρατιᾶς ὁρμήσας διὰ τῆς Νευσταπόλεως τὴν πορείαν ἐποιεῖτο. ἄνυδρος δέ ἐστιν ὁ τόπος καὶ ἄοικος καὶ πλήθει στρατευμάτων δυσβάδιστος. ἄρτου γοῦν ἐν ἐνδείᾳ ἐν οὐ μετρίαις ἡμέραις διῆγεν ἡ στρατιά, καὶ δυσὶν ἡμέραις οἱ πλείους τῶν ἵππων ὑπῆρ ξαν ὕδατος ἄγευστοι. τὸ γοῦν τῆς Στρουμμίτζης. παρα μείψαντες ἄστυ καὶ διὰ τῶν τοῦ Μελενίκου χώρων βαδί σαντες εἰς τὰς Σέρρας καὶ αὖθις ἀπῄειμεν. ἔνθα καὶ γραφὰς ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ δεξάμενος ἐκ τῶν τῆς ἀνατολῆς μερῶν πρὸς τοῦ προσφιλοῦς αὐτοῦ πεμφθείσας Μουζάλω νος, ὡς τὰ τῶν Μουσουλμάνων πρὸς τῶν Ταχαρίων κυ μαίνεται, ἐπέτεινε τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ μακροτέρας τὰς ἡμερησίους ἐποιεῖτο πορείας. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν Ἕβρον ἐπεφθάκει, ὃν καὶ Μαρίτζαν ὁ χυδαῖος κατονομάζει λαός, καὶ μὴ οὕτως ἔχειν τὰ ἐν τῇ ἕῳ μεμαθηκὼς πράγματα, τῆς ταχυτῆτος ἀνιεὶς σχολαιότερον ἐπορεύετο καὶ τοὺς συνήθεις βασιλικοὺς ἐποι εῖτο σταθμούς· παρεκκλίνας δὲ τῆς πρὸς ἕω κατ' εὐθεῖαν ἐς τὸ ∆ιδυμότειχον ἀφίκετο κἀκεῖθεν εἰς τὴν Ἀδριανοῦ. Καὶ ἐπεὶ μηδὲν ἐναπολέλειπτο τῶν παρὰ τῶν Βουλγά ρων κατασχεθέντων φρουρίων καὶ ἄστεων-πάντα γὰρ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐχειρώσατο-πλὴν δυοῖν, ἑνὸς μὲν φρουρίου πάνυ σμικροτάτου ἐν τοῖς βουνοῖς κειμένου τῆς Ἀχριδοῦ καὶ καλουμένου Πάτμου, ὃ καὶ εὐχερῶς πάνυ ὁ Φιλανθρωπη νὸς Ἀλέξιος εἷλεν ὁ ∆ούκας, καταλειφθεὶς πρὸς τοῦ βασι λέως εἰς φυλακὴν τῶν ἐν Ἀχριδῷ, καὶ ἄστεος ἄλλου Τζεπαίνης ὀνομαζομένου, λίαν τυγχάνοντος ὀχυροῦ καὶ περὶ τὴν ξυμβολὴν τελοῦντος τῶν δύο μεγίστων ὀρῶν, τοῦ τε Αἵμου καὶ τῆς Ῥοδόπης, καθ' ὧν μέσον ὁ Ἕβρος ῥεῖποταμός, ἐν δεινῷ μὲν ἐποιεῖτο ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ, ὅτι μὴ καὶ αὐτῶν ὡς τῶν ἑτέρων ἐκράτησεν, ἀλλ' ἔτι τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ κρείττω φανέντα ἔξω τυγχάνουσι· μάλιστα δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς Τζεπαίνης ἐδυσφόρει τὰ μέγιστα. ἔσπευδε μὲν οὖν καὶ κατὰ ταύτης στρατεῦσαι καὶ ὡς εἶχεν ἰσχύος ἀποπειρά σασθαι. ἡ μὲν οὖν ὥρα τοῦ θέρους ἤδη παρῄει, καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον ἐγγὺς ἦν καὶ τοῦτο παραδραμεῖν. ὁ δὲ μηδέν τι τοῦ καιροῦ φροντίσας μηδὲ τὸ τοῦ χειμῶνος προσκο πήσας δριμύ-ἑνὸς γὰρ καὶ μόνου τοῦ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἀπο πλῆσαι βούλημα ἐστοχάζετο-τὴν στρατιὰν πᾶσαν ἐκ τῆς Ἀδριανοῦ κινήσας ἁμάξας τε παμπόλλας συλλεγῆναι προσ τάξας ἁπανταχόθεν τῆς τῶν Μακεδόνων χώρας, τὰς μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ τὰ μηχανήματα καὶ τὰς ἑλεπόλεις φέρειν, τὰς δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ διακομίζειν τὰ ζωαρκῆ τοῦ στρατεύματος, καὶ συναθροι σθῆναι κελεύσας πληθὺν ἀνδρῶν πεζῶν τοξοτῶν καὶ κορυ νοφόρων οὐκ εὐαρίθμητον, ἐπεὶ πάντα καλῶς αὐτῷ καὶ ὡς ἔδοξε κατηρτίσατο, τῆς Ἀδριανοῦ ἀπάρας κατὰ τῆς Τζεπαίνης ἐχώρει. τέσσαρας δὲ σταθμοὺς παρήμειψεν ὁ στρατός, καὶ κατὰ τὸν τόπον, ὃν Μακρολιβάδα κατονο μάζουσιν, ἐτητύμως πρὸς τὸ σχῆμα τὴν κλῆσιν οἱ πρώτως ἰδόντες θέμενοι, δεινὸς συμπίπτει σφίσι χειμών. ἐξ ἑσπέ ρας γοῦν ἀρξάμενος, δι' ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς τὴν σφοδρότητα τοῦ ψύχους καὶ τοῦ ἀνέμου προσεπιτείνας τὸ βίαιον, πολλῇ τε χιόνι τῆς γῆς ἐπηλυγάσας τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν, ἕωθεν τῷ βασιλεῖ πολλὴν προυξένησε τὴν δυσχέρειαν. ὅ τε γὰρ τόπος ἄοικος ἦν καὶ ἐγγύτερον ἐτύγχανον οἱ πολέμιοι, καὶ ἡ προσδοκωμένη σπάνις τῶν ἀναγκαίων οὐχ ἧττον τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπίεζε· τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ μᾶλλον δεινότερον καθέστηκεν ἐν στρατεύμασιν. ἐς τοσαύτην γοῦν τὴν δυσφορίαν συνελα θεὶς τοὺς ἡγεμόνας συνηθροίκει τῶν στρατευμάτων, οὐ τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν μόνων ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ τῶν ἐξ ἔθνους Λατίνων τε καὶ Σκυθῶν, καὶ τούτους τί δεῖ ποιεῖν ἠρωτήκει. πάντες γοῦν σχεδὸν ἐβουλεύσαντο ἐς τὴν Ἀδριανοῦ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν