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to go to the region of Albanon both for the sake of the correction of the country and for me to learn what the one in charge of the imperial table might have done. So having gone, I led the one in charge of the table out of Albanon, as I had strength. For they had anticipated the nation of the Albanians and had carried out the acts of rebellion; for all had joined the apostate despot Michael. So when I myself saw everything in turmoil, having departed from Debre—for I spent more days there than I should have; for I had enemies all around—with a few armed men serving me, I seized Achrida. And so there, having left the one in charge of the table to guard the castle, I crossed Prespa and the so-called Siderokastron, and came to Prilep, and it seemed as if I had put into a calm harbor. But for both me and our men who were there, the opposite turned out to be the case. For the rebel Michael, having seized the surrounding regions and castles, lacked only Prilep, and he was hastening, as much as was possible for him, to bring Prilep under his control; for thus it was possible for him to securely hold the surrounding areas as well. So after not long, the apostate Michael came against us for the first time with his entire army, and made an attempt on the city with military methods. But it was secure and not easy to capture, but he was rather confident in the plots of the inhabitants. So at that time he was repulsed, and taking his army he withdrew and was patrolling the surrounding places, but we were shut up in the city of Prilep and had become like prisoners in a jail. And so matters with us happened thus, but let the narrative of the history proceed to the things that happened in the east.

69 The emperor, then, having crossed the Hellespont, proceeded as quickly as he could to the regions of Lydia and pitched his tents near Sardis. But the Persian ruler, the sultan, "having the heart of a fleeting doe," as a poet might say, abandoning his country, since his army had been dissolved, goes as a fugitive to the emperor. And he received him and generously welcomed both him and those with him with gifts, and had them return to their own land, having given them a modest army; for it numbered only four hundred. And he appointed as leader of the army Isaac Doukas, whom they also called Mourtzouphlos—some of those accustomed to make jests about names having given this surname to his family—being at that time primikerios of the imperial court. But the Persian ruler, wishing to give a favor in return to the emperor, graciously gave the city of Laodicea, and a Roman garrison also entered it. But this lasted for a short time, and again this city came under the Muslims; for it was not possible for it to be guarded by the Romans. The sultan, therefore, since he was not strong enough to resist the Tatars, after deliberating with his nobles, came to terms and agreements with the Tatars; and they became tributaries to them, and since then the Muslims have been paying tribute to them. But Michael Komnenos Palaiologos, whom we have often mentioned, having received an oath from the emperor for his safety, returned to him and was again restored to his own family and enjoyed his own possessions.

70 Not very many days had passed, and when the emperor recognized that affairs in the west were greatly disturbed and that most parts were being captured by the rebel Michael, and it was necessary to send a general with an army to oppose him, he chose the aforesaid Michael Komnenos, giving him also an army from Macedonia, but very small in number and most useless in quality. And he—for he could not speak against what was commanded him—having taken that paltry and unwarlike army, seizes Thessalonica, and from there crossing the Vardar, which the ancients call the Naxios, and having united with Michael Laskaris, and

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ἀπελθεῖν περὶ τὸ Ἄλβανον καὶ τῆς τῆς χώρας ἕνεκεν διορθώσεως καὶ τοῦ μαθεῖν με τί ἂν ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς βασιλικῆς τραπέζης πεποίηκεν. ἀπελθὼν γοῦν τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς τρα πέζης, καθὼς ἂν εἶχον ἰσχύος, τοῦ Ἀλβάνου ἐξήγαγον. προύφθασαν γὰρ τὸ τῶν Ἀλβανιτῶν ἔθνος καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀν ταρσίας ἐκπεπληρώκασιν· ἅπαντες γὰρ ξυνῆλθον τῷ ἀπο στάτῃ δεσπότῃ Μιχαήλ. ἐπεὶ γοῦν αὐτὸς ἑώρων τὰ πάντα κυκώμενα, ἐκ τῶν ∆εβρῶν ἀπάρας-πλείους γὰρ ἐκεῖσε ἡμέρας ἢ ἔδει διήνυσα· καὶ γὰρ κύκλῳ τοὺς πολεμίους εἶχον-μετὰ μετρίων τινῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἐξυπηρετούντων μοι μεθ' ὅπλων κατείληφα τὴν Ἀχρίδα. κἀκεῖσε γοῦν τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης εἰς φυλακὴν τοῦ κάστρου ἀφείς, διαβὰς τὴν Πρέσπαν καὶ τὸ οὕτω πως ἐπονομαζόμενον Σιδηρό καστρον, τῷ Πριλάπῳ προσέσχον, καὶ οἷον ἐδόκουν ὡς εἰς λιμένα τινὰ προσοκεῖλαί με ἄκλυστον. Ὑπῆρξε δὲ καὶ ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐκεῖσε οὖσιν ἡμετέροις τὰ ἐναντία. τῶν γὰρ πέριξ χωρῶν καὶ κάστρων ὁ ἀντάρτης ἐπιδραξάμενος Μιχαὴλ ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου τοῦ Πριλάπου ἐλεί πετο, καὶ ἔσπευδεν, ὅσον ἦν αὐτῷ δυνατόν, ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ποιῆσαι τὸν Πρίλαπον· οὕτω γὰρ ἦν ἐξὸν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀσφα λῶς τῶν πέριξ κρατεῖν. ἐπῆλθε γοῦν καὶ ἡμῖν μετ' οὐ πολὺ τὸ πρῶτον ὁ ἀποστάτης Μιχαὴλ μετὰ τοῦ περὶ αὐ τὸν στρατεύματος ἅπαντος, καὶ ἀπεπειράσατο στρατιωτι καῖς μεθοδίαις τοῦ ἄστεος. τὸ δὲ ἦν ἀσφαλὲς καὶ οὐ ῥᾴδιον χειρωθῆναι, ἐθάρρει δὲ οὗτος μᾶλλον ταῖς τῶν οἰκητόρων ἐπιβουλαῖς. τῷ τότε μὲν οὖν ἀπεκρούσθη, καὶ τὸν στρατὸν αὐτοῦ λαβὼν ἐπανέζευξε καὶ τοῖς γύρωθεν τό ποις περιεπόλευεν, ἡμεῖς δ' ἐγκεκλεισμένοι τῷ τοῦ Πριλά που ἄστει καὶ ὡς ἐν εἱρκτῇ καθειργμένοι γεγόναμεν. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν ἡμῖν οὕτω ξυνέβη, ὁ δὲ τῆς ἱστορίας λόγος τῶν ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω γεγενημένων ἐχέσθω.

69 Ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς διαπεραιωθεὶς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, ὡς εἶχε τάχους περὶ τοὺς τῆς Λυδίας τόπους κεχώ ρηκε καὶ περὶ τὰς Σάρδεις τὰς σκηνὰς ἔπηξεν. ὁ δὲ περσάρχης σουλτάν, ὁ φυζακινῆς ἐλάφου κραδίην ἔχων, εἶπεν ἂν ποιητής, τὴν χώραν τούτου καταλιπών, ἐπείπερ καὶ τὸ τούτου στράτευμα καταλέλυται, φυγὰς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα χωρεῖ. ὁ δὲ ἐδέξατο τοῦτον καὶ δωρήμασιν αὐ τόν τε καὶ τοὺς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν φιλοτίμως ἐδεξιώσατο, καὶ πρὸς τὴν αὐτῶν ἐπαναζεῦξαι τούτους πεποίηκε, δοὺς αὐτοῖς στράτευμα μέτριον· εἰς τετρακοσίους γὰρ καὶ μό νον ἠρίθμητο. ἡγεμόνα δὲ τοῦ στρατεύματος τὸν Ἰσαά κιον ∆ούκαν κατέστησεν, ὃν καὶ Μούρτζουφλον ὠνόμαζον, τῷ γένει τούτου τοὐπίκλην τινῶν ἐπιθέντων τῶν παίζειν εἰωθότων ἐπὶ τὰς κλήσεις, πριμμικήριον ὄντα τότε τῆς βασιλικῆς αὐλῆς. ὁ δὲ περσάρχης ἀντίχαριν ἀντιδοῦναι θέλων τῷ βασιλεῖ τὸ ἄστυ τῆς Λαοδικείας ἀπεχαρίσατο, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ Ῥωμαϊκὴ φυλακή. ἀλλ' ἐπ' ὀλί γον τοῦτο προσεκαρτέρησε, καὶ πάλιν ὑπὸ τοὺς Μουσουλ μάνους τὸ ἄστυ τοῦτο γεγένηται· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν δυνατὸν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων φυλάττεσθαι. ὁ μὲν οὖν σουλτὰν ἐπεὶ μὴ ἐξίσχυε τοῖς Ταχαρίοις ἀνθίστασθαι, μετὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ λογά δων βουλευσάμενος εἰς ξυμβιβάσεις καὶ συμφωνίας τοῖς Ταχα ρίοις συνῆλθε· καὶ ὑπόφοροι τούτοις ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἔκτοτε τυγχάνουσι σφίσιν αὐτοῖς οἱ Μουσουλμάνοι φορολογούμενοι. Ὁ δὲ Κομνηνὸς Μιχαὴλ ὁ Παλαιολόγος, οὗ πολ λάκις ἐμνήσθημεν, ὅρκον πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως λαβὼν εἰς ἀσφάλειαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπανέζευξε καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις αὖ θις ἀποκατέστη καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἀπήλαυσεν.

70 Οὔπω πάνυ πολλαὶ παρῆλθον ἡμέραι, καὶ ἐπεὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν δυσμὴν ταραττόμενα λίαν ἐπεγνώκει ὁ βασι λεὺς καὶ τὰ πλείω πρὸς τοῦ ἀντάρτου Μιχαὴλ ἁλισκόμενα, καὶ ἔδει στρατηγὸν ἄνδρα μετὰ στρατεύματος εἰς ἀντιπαρά ταξιν στεῖλαι, τὸν εἰρημένον Κομνηνὸν Μιχαὴλ ἐξελέξατο, δοὺς αὐτῷ καὶ στράτευμα ἐκ Μακεδονίας, πάνυ δὲ τῷ ποσῷ ὀλίγον καὶ ἀνωφελέστατον τῇ ποιότητι. ὁ δέ-καὶ γὰρ οὐκ εἶχεν ἀντιλέγειν τοῖς αὐτῷ προσταττομένοις-λαβὼν τὸ σμικροπρεπὲς ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἀπόλεμον στράτευμα τὴν Θεσσαλονίκην καταλαμβάνει, κἀκεῖθεν διαβὰς τὸν Βαρδά ρειον, ὃν οἱ παλαιοὶ Ναξειὸν ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ τῷ Λάσκαρι Μιχαὴλ ἑνωθείς, καὶ