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and putting off the undertaking and perhaps even giving as a reason the oath recently made regarding the son of the emperor Theodore, not only did they grant him unwritten permission for the act, but they also issued a written tome, in which all the bishops along with the patriarch have subscribed, stipulating that not only would he not render an account for the matter at the incorruptible tribunal of Christ, but also that more divine crowns would be woven for him because he had come for the salvation of the Christian people. Thus, then, they prudently and as was necessary brought it about that the mind of Michael Komnenos should cast off cowardice, 77 and thus also Michael Komnenos undertook the struggle for imperial rule. And first they raised him to the rank of Despot, and they placed the despot's diadem on his head. A very short period of time passed, and whether he willed it or not he was raised to the imperial dignity, being much constrained by the leading men and by those who were concerned with public affairs; for indeed, having seated him upon the imperial shield, the men in office and the other leaders of the armies acclaimed him as emperor. And since it was necessary for him to be crowned with the imperial diadem, he arrived at Nicaea, the chief city of the Bithynians, where he was crowned with the imperial diadem by Patriarch Arsenios. But since from among those who were considered the chosen and the magnates of the emperor Theodore, Karyanites, whom he had as protovestiarios, was still alive, who also had committed the murder of the aforementioned protovestiarios and his brothers—for he was then in command of the Roman army—this man the emperor Michael, so that he should not start a rebellion, put in prison. But he escaped and went to the lands of the Persians, but being captured by some Turcomans, his belongings were plundered and he himself was killed. And left from among the great and famous men was John Angelos, who was also protostrator and resided in the west, having under him a not insignificant portion of the army. This man the emperor Theodore loved after the protovestiarios, and in honors and in all other things simply, he held the second place. To him the emperor sent some of his own men to bring him to him, but on the way he, struck by the arrow of cowardice, had died; such were the noble souls appointed by the emperor Theodore who happened to be commanders of the Roman armies. These, then, were his leading men and the first in rank, but the others were insignificant men, not worthy of much account; for this reason and as they were held in contempt, they were overlooked. The emperor Michael, therefore, before being imperially crowned, having appointed his brother John Komnenos as megas domestikos and having handed over the Roman armies to him, sent him to the western parts against the apostate Michael. And he sent along with him both Alexios Strategopoulos and John Raoul, the first son of the protovestiarios Raoul, and with them also many others who knew how to command and to engage in battles as was necessary. And when the emperor Michael was proclaimed emperor, he honored his brother John Komnenos as sebastokrator, sending to him while he was in the west the insignia of the rank, and he had honored Alexios Strategopoulos as megas domestikos, and he honored his brother Constantine, who was by another mother, with the rank of Caesar and sent him to the parts of Paphlagonia, to inspect the cities there and the army and the forts.

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When, therefore, Michael Komnenos became master of the imperial scepters, he both rescued and recalled all those who were detained by the emperor Theodore for any reason whatsoever or were otherwise neglected, and he welcomed them with rather generous gifts. But also simply towards all

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καὶ ἀναβαλλό μενον τὴν ἐγχείρησιν καὶ τάχα καὶ ὡς αἰτίαν τιθέντα τὸν πρὸ βραχέος προβάντα ὅρκον ἐπὶ τῷ τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοδώ ρου παιδί, οὐ μόνον ἀγράφως αὐτῷ συνεχώρουν τῆς πρά ξεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔγγραφον ἐξέθεντο τόμον, ἐν ᾧ σὺν τῷ πατριάρχῃ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πάντες ὑπογεγράφασι, διαλαμβάνοντα ὡς οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ ἀδεκάστῳ βήματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ οὐχ ὑφέξει λόγους τοῦ πράγματος, ἀλλὰ καὶ στέφανοι θειότεροι τούτῳ πλακήσονται ἕνεκα τοῦ εἰς σωτηρίαν ἐληλυθέναι τοῦ τον τοῦ χριστωνύμου λαοῦ. οὕτω μὲν οὖν τὸν τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ Μιχαὴλ λογισμὸν ἀποτινάξαι τὴν δειλίαν φρονίμως καὶ ὡς δέον ἦν ἀπειργάσαντο, 77 καὶ οὕτω μὲν καὶ ὁ Κομνη νὸς Μιχαὴλ τὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς βασιλείου ἀρχῆς ὑπεισέδυ. καὶ πρῶτα μὲν ἐν τῷ δεσποτικῷ τοῦτον ἀνήγαγον ἀξιώματι, καὶ ταινίαν δεσποτικὴν τὴν τούτου περιτιθέασι κεφαλήν. μικρόν τι πάνυ χρονικὸν παρῆλθε διάστημα, καὶ ἑκὼν ἄκων εἰς τὴν βασίλειον ἀνήχθη περιωπήν, πολλὰ πρὸς τῶν προυχόν των ἐκβιασθεὶς καὶ οἷς τὰ κοινὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔμελε· καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς βασιλικῆς ἀσπίδος οἱ τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι τῶν στρατευμάτων κρείττους ὄντες καθίσαντες βασιλι κῶς ἐπεφήμισαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔδει καὶ βασιλικῷ διαδήματι τοῦ τον στεφθῆναι, ἐπὶ τὴν προκαθημένην πόλιν τῶν Βιθυνῶν ἀφίκετο Νίκαιαν, ἔνθα παρὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου Ἀρσενίου τὸ βασιλικὸν ἐταινιώθη διάδημα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοδώρου ἐγκρίτων δο κούντων εἶναι καὶ μεγιστάνων ὁ Καρυανίτης, ὃν καὶ πρωτο βεστιαρίτην εἶχεν ἐκεῖνος, ἐσώζετο, ὃς καὶ τῶν προειρημένων τοῦ τε πρωτοβεστιαρίου καὶ τῶν αὐταδέλφων αὐτοῦ φόνον εἰργάσατο-ἐκεῖνος καὶ γὰρ τῷ τότε τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν στρατιὰν ἐπεκράτει-τοῦτον ὁ βασιλεὺς Μιχαήλ, ἵνα μή τι νεωτερίσῃ, ἐν εἱρκτῇ ἔθετο. ὁ δὲ ἀποδρὰς περὶ τὰ τῶν Περσῶν ᾤχετο, ὑπό τινων δὲ Τουρκομάνων κατασχεθεὶς ἐσκύλευται μὲν τὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ πεφόνευται. ἐναπολέλειπται δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν μεγάλων καὶ περιωνύμων ὁ Ἄγγελος Ἰωάννης, ὃς καὶ πρωτοστράτωρ ἦν καὶ κατὰ τὴν δυσμὴν διῆγεν, ἔχων ὑφ' ἑαυ τὸν οὐ σμικράν τινα μοῖραν τῆς στρατιᾶς. τοῦτον μετὰ τὸν πρωτοβεστιάριον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐφίλει Θεόδωρος, κἀν ταῖς τι μαῖς καὶ πᾶσιν ἄλλοις ἁπλῶς τὰ δευτερεῖα ἔφερεν. εἰς ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπέστειλέ τινας τῶν αὐτοῦ ὡς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀγαγεῖν, καθ' ὁδὸν δὲ δειλίας οὗτος βέλει τρωθεὶς ἐτεθνήκει· τοι οῦτοι τὴν ψυχὴν γενναῖοι πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοδώρου χειροτονηθέντες ἡγεμόνες Ῥωμαϊκῶν στρατευμάτων ἐτύγχανον. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἦσαν οἱ πρόκριτοι τῶν ἐκείνου καὶ οἱ πρώτι στοι ἐν ἀξιώμασιν, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι ἀνθρώπια ὑπῆρχον οὐ πολλοῦ λόγου ἄξια· διὰ ταῦτα καὶ ὡς καταπεφρονημένοι παρείθησαν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς Μιχαὴλ πρὸ τοῦ βασιλικῶς στε φθῆναι τὸν αὐτάδελφον αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννην τὸν Κομνηνόν, μέγαν χειροτονήσας δομέστικον καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαϊκὰ τούτῳ παραδοὺς στρατεύματα, εἰς τὰ δυτικὰ μέρη κατὰ τοῦ ἀπο στάτου ἐκπέπομφε Μιχαήλ. συνεξαπέστειλε δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν Στρατηγόπουλον Ἀλέξιον καὶ τὸν Ῥαοὺλ Ἰωάννην τὸντοῦ πρωτοβεστιαρίου Ῥαοὺλ πρῶτον υἱόν, σὺν τοῖς δὲ καὶ ἄλλους πολλοὺς στρατηγεῖν εἰδότας καὶ μάχαις ὡς δέον συμπλέκεσθαι. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀνηγορεύθη καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς Μιχαήλ, τὸν μὲν αὐτάδελφον αὐτοῦ τὸν Κομνηνὸν Ἰωάννην σεβαστοκράτορα τετίμηκεν, ἐξαποστείλας αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ δυσμῇ ὄντι τὰ τοῦ ἀξιώματος σύσσημα, τὸν δὲ Στρατηγόπουλον Ἀλέξιον μέγαν ἐτετιμήκει δομέστικον, τὸν δὲ αὐτάδελφον αὐτοῦ Κωνσταντῖνον ἐξ ἑτέρας ὄντα τούτῳ μητρὸς τῷ τοῦ καίσαρος τετίμηκεν ἀξιώματι καὶ εἰς τὰ τῆς Παφλαγονίας ἔστειλε μέρη, τὰς ἐκεῖσε πόλεις καὶ τὸν στρατὸν ἐπισκεψό μενον καὶ τὰ φρούρια.

78 Ἐπεὶ γοῦν ἐγκρατὴς τῶν βασιλικῶν σκήπτρων ὁ Κομνηνὸς γεγένηται Μιχαήλ, πάντας μὲν τοὺς ἐξ ὁποι ασδήτινος αἰτίας κατασχέτους ὄντας ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως Θεο δώρου ἢ καὶ ἄλλως παρεωραμένους ἀνερρύσατό τε καὶ ἀνεκαλέσατο, καὶ δωρήμασιν ἁδροτέροις τούτους ἐδεξιώσατο. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς πρὸς πάντας