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in the army of this theme, and then he also became a *tzaousios*. And having given the impression to the emperor John that he was energetic and capable of serving in the palace, he removed him from there and made him *tzaousios* of his own corps, and then he added “megas” to his title. But the emperor Theodore named him commander of his corps, such a thing not having happened to anyone up to his time, and he also added “megas” to his name—these he left to guard the country, and not a few other commanders. And he had left with them a considerable army, and had commanded them not to engage in battle with the enemy at all, if they should attack them, having taken Scythians as allies; for rumor foretold this; and if they should move to plunder the country, they were to remain inactive, having their safety from Didymoteichon—for the city was strong—and from the river Hebros—for he had ordered them to encamp between them—unless some small force should invade the country; for against this they were to make an attack boldly. And so, having arranged all these things, the emperor crossed the Hellespont and pitched his tent near Lampsakos, and there he honored his men with offices and dignities. And George Mouzalon, who was loved by him above all others, being *megas domestikos*, he honored as *protosebastos* and *protovestiarios* and *megas stratopedarches*, and his brother Andronikos, who was *protovestiarites*, he named *megas domestikos*, and John Angelos, who was *megas primmikerios*, he honored as *protostrator*—little men worth nothing or three obols, raised on games and tunes of cymbals and songs, against whom one might aptly have shot the Homeric line: “liars and dancers, best at beating the ground in dance,” and he made Karyantites *protovestiarites*. In these games I myself was also entangled, unwillingly, by Themis, and forced as I should not have been, and I appeared with the players, a more wretched plaything. For the ruler changed my name too, and did not allow me to be called simply Akropolites. But these things are past, and the narrative of the history went through these things, so that it might report what came after more clearly. So, having lingered for a short time in Lampsakos for these reasons, and having celebrated the feasts of Christ, both of the Nativity and of the Lights, the emperor reached Nymphaion within a very few days.

61 Having wintered there, then, when spring shone forth, having collected a great army—for he ordered not only the regular troops to follow, but also those who had never been in the ranks of the army at all; for straightway those who served the emperors in hunts and in the pursuit of wild beasts, both of stags and of boars, and those who hunt with hawks, all of them without exception he assigned to military units. And the assembled multitude was great, and the authority of the ruler forced the majority to bring something more than was customary. Thus, then, he had assembled the entire army. And when he learned, having sent an embassy, that the ruler of Persia was not having trouble from the Tachars, he proceeds straight from the east to the west; for, thinking that the ruler of Persia’s affairs were in good order and that he was remaining secure, he was not at all afraid for his own dominion in the east. Having gathered together, then, the whole army, larger than any ever assembled by his father the emperor or by himself for the purpose of crossing the Hellespont, he arrived at Lampsakos, hoping both to find those left at Didymoteichon safe according to the orders given to them and to make no small addition to the army around him. But ill counsel and disobedience to the imperial command caused them to fail. For when the ruler of the Bulgarians learned that the emperor was tarrying for a longer time, having summoned a Scythian army to his alliance

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θέματος τουτουὶ στρατιᾷ, εἶτα καὶ τζαούσιος γέγονε. δό ξαν δὲ παρασχὼν τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἰωάννῃ ὡς ἐντρεχής ἐστι καὶ ὑπηρετεῖν ἱκανὸς ἐν τοῖς ἀνακτόροις, ἐκεῖθεν ἐκβαλὼν τζαούσιον τῆς αὐτοῦ πεποίηκε τάξεως, εἶτα αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ μέγας προσέθετο. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Θεόδωρος ἄρχοντα τῆς αὐτοῦ κατωνόμακε τάξεως, οὔπω μέχρις αὐτοῦ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔν τινι γεγονός, ὁ δὲ καὶ τὸ μέγας προσεπέγραφε τῷ ὀνό ματι-τούτους εἰς φυλακὴν τῆς χώρας εἴασε καὶ ἑτέρους ἡγεμόνας οὐκ ὀλίγους. καταλελοίπει δὲ μετ' αὐτῶν καὶ ἀξιόλογον στράτευμα, προσετετάχει δὲ αὐτοῖς μηδ' ὅλως εἰς μάχην ἐγκαταστῆναι τοῖς πολεμίοις, εἴπερ κατὰ τούτων ὁρμήσαιεν, Σκύθας προσλαβόντες εἰς συμμαχίαν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ φήμη προύλεγε· καὶ εἰς σκύλευσιν δὲ εἰ κινηθεῖεν τῆς χώρας, αὐτοὺς ἀτρεμεῖν, ἔκ τε τοῦ ∆ιδυμοτείχου τὴν ἀσφά λειαν ἔχοντας-ἐχυρὸν γὰρ τὸ ἄστυ-καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ Ἕβρου-μέσον γὰρ αὐτῶν στρατοπεδεύειν τούτους ἐκέλευσεν -εἰ μή που ὀλίγη τις κατὰ τῆς χώρας ἐπεισφρήσειε στρα τιά· κατὰ ταύτης γὰρ ποιήσασθαι θαρρούντως τὴν ἔφοδον. Οὑτωσὶ γοῦν ταῦτα πάντα καταρτίσας ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον διαπεραιωθεὶς περὶ τὴν Λάμψακον τὴν σκηνὴν ἔπηξε, κἀκεῖσε τοὺς αὐτοῦ ὀφφικίοις τετιμήκει καὶ ἀξιώμασι. καὶ τὸν μὲν Μουζάλωνα Γεώργιον τὸν ὑπὲρ πάντας ἄλλους τούτῳ φιλούμενον, ὄντα μέγαν δομέστι κον, πρωτοσεβαστόν τε καὶ πρωτοβεστιάριον καὶ μέγαν στρατοπεδάρχην τετίμηκε, τὸν δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀδελφὸν Ἀνδρόνι κον, πρωτοβεστιαρίτην ὄντα, μέγαν δομέστικον κατωνόμασε, τὸν δὲ Ἄγγελον Ἰωάννην, μέγαν πριμμικήριον τελοῦντα, τετίμηκε πρωτοστράτορα, ἀνδράρια μηδενὸς ἢ τριῶν ὀβολῶν ἄξια, παιδιαῖς ἀνατεθραμμένα καὶ κυμβάλων μέλεσί τε καὶ ᾄσμασι, πρὸς οὓς τὸ Ὁμηρικὸν εὐστόχως ἂν ἀπετόξευσε· «ψεῦσταί τ' ὀρχησταί τε χοροτυπίῃσιν ἄριστοι,» πρωτοβεστιαρίτην δὲ τὸν Καρυανίτην πεποίηκε. ταύταις ταῖς παιδιαῖς συμπέπλεγμαι καὶ αὐτός, ἄκων νὴ τὴν Θέμιν καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἐχρῆν βιασθείς, καὶ συνεφάνην τοῖς παίζουσι δυστυχέστερον παίγνιον. ἠλλοίωσε γὰρ ὁ κρατῶν κἀμοὶ τοὔνομα, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν ἀσυνάπτως Ἀκροπολίτην κατονομάζεσθαι. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν παρῆλθε, διεξῄει δὲ τὰ περὶ τούτων ὁ τῆς ἱστο ρίας λόγος, ἵνα τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα σαφέστερον ἀπαγγείλῃ. ἐν τῇ Λαμψάκῳ γοῦν μικρὸν διὰ ταῦτα προσκαρτερήσας ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ, καὶ τὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ πανηγύρεις τῆς τε γέν νας καὶ τῶν φώτων ἀποπληρώσας, διὰ μετρίων πάνυ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐπεφθάκει τὸ Νύμφαιον.

61 Ἐκεῖσε γοῦν παραχειμάσας, ἐπεὶ τὸ ἔαρ ἐπέλαμψε, πολλὴν συλλεξάμενος στρατιάν-οὐ γὰρ μόνους τοὺς τε ταγμένους ὁπηδεῖν προσέταττεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μηδ' ὅλως ἐν τάξει ποτὲ τελοῦντας τῆς στρατιᾶς· αὐτίκα γὰρ τοὺς ἐξυπηρετοῦντας τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἐν θήραις ταῖς τε τῶν θηρῶν ἄγραις, ἐλάφων τε καὶ χοίρων, καὶ τοὺς δι' ἱερά κων θηρεύοντας, πάντας ἁπαξαπλῶς στρατιωτικοῖς συντέ ταχε τάγμασι. καὶ ἦν τὸ συνηγμένον πλῆθος πολύ, καὶ ἡ τοῦ κρατοῦντος δὲ ἀρχὴ ἠνάγκαζε τοὺς πλείους τῶν εἰω θότων φέρειν τι περιττότερον. οὕτω γοῦν πᾶσαν συναγη οχήκει τὴν στρατιάν. ὡς δὲ καὶ τὸν περσάρχην μὴ πράγ ματα ἔχειν παρὰ τῶν Ταχαρίων πρεσβείαν ἐξαποστείλας ἐμεμαθήκει, κατευθὺ πρὸς τὴν δυσμὴν ἐκ τῆς ἕω χωρεῖ· καλῶς γὰρ ἔχειν τὸν περσάρχην τῶν ἐκείνου πραγμάτων οἰόμενος καὶ ἀσφαλῶς μένειν, οὐδ' ὅλως περὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἕω ἐδεδίει ἀρχῇ. τὴν πᾶσαν γοῦν συνηθροικὼς στρατιὰν μείζονα τῶν ποτὲ παρά τε πατρὸς αὐτοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τούτου συνειλεγμένων εἰς τὸ διαπεραιωθῆναι τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, ἀφίκετο εἰς τὴν Λάμψακον, ἐλπίσας καὶ τοὺς κατὰ τὸ ∆ιδυμότειχον καταλελειμμένους σώους τε εὑρεῖν κατὰ τὰ προστεταγμένα τούτοις καὶ οὐ σμικρὰν προσθήκην τῇ ἀμφ' αὐτὸν στρατιᾷ ἐμποιήσασθαι. τοὺς δὲ κακοβουλία καὶ τὸ παρακοῦσαι τῆς βασιλικῆς κελεύσεως ἔσφηλεν. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὁ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἄρχων μακρότερον διάγειν τὸν βασιλέα ἐγίνωσκε, Σκυθικὸν στράτευμα εἰς σφετέραν συμμαχίαν προσκαλεσάμενος