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he was very proud and spoke arrogantly. From this, Theodore Philes, much vexed by his words and deeply pained by his responses, returned to the emperor, saying this to the apostate: "I know that you are acting foolishly and for this reason you utter things that are not fitting. But know that you will soon experience imperial might and Roman power and you will repent, when it will be of no benefit to you." Having said these things, he came to the emperor, condemning Michael's great stupidity, because he was not willing to fulfill even one small request of the emperor, namely to release Constantine Chabaron and me, the writer himself, the former as having been raised with the emperor and having often competed with him in military exercises, and me as having been joined to the emperor by marriage and because my wife was crying out mournfully and prostrating herself at the feet of the emperor, and this although the emperor had released more than twenty from prison, whom the emperor had taken captive in the war around Bodena, having been sent by the emperor Theodore, of whom some were even relatives of the apostate, and the others were superior in military service and from illustrious families. Thus did the embassy to the apostate proceed. And the emperor also sent an embassy to the king of Sicily, Manfred, the son-in-law of the apostate, through the keeper of the imperial inkstand, Nikephoros Alyates, whom he detained with him for nearly two years; for how could he fulfill any of the emperor's wishes, being completely bound to the apostate Michael and possessed by the fantasy of greater gain? The emperor also sent an embassy to the prince of Achaia; but he too, confident in his kinship with the apostate and expecting that much would accrue to him from this, paid no heed to the words.

80 The emperor, therefore, as we have said before, having sent his own brother the sebastokrator to the west against the apostate and entrusted the forces and their generals to him, ordered him to march straight on, until he should encounter the army of the apostate. The sebastokrator John therefore did as he was ordered, while the apostate Michael was encamped with his wife and his household in the region of Kastoria. Suddenly a shout came to him, that the Roman armies, having crossed the passes of Bodena, were advancing against them. Therefore, those who heard the shout and felt no small terror in their souls rushed to flee and set all their people in motion. But since it was night and no one could see where he was going, many became the work of the road, as if of a sword. And Theodore Petraliphas, the brother of the apostate Michael's wife, having mounted his horse rather rashly, when he came upon a precipitous place, both he and his horse were cast down and both perished. They were therefore confined to their own borders, that is, of the Pindus mountains, which indeed divide the old and the new Epirus from the Greek and our land. And when these things had happened in this way, the sebastokrator, seizing the opportunity, finding the country bereft of its defending force, made assaults against the cities in it. And first he went against Ochrid, which all know as the archbishopric of Bulgaria, having with him also its archbishop, Constantine Kabasilas, who had been detained by the emperor Theodore. For he was suspected by him of not being loyal concerning the imperial rule; for his own brothers happened to be with the apostate Michael, both John and Theodore, and Theodore was numbered among his leading men, while John bore almost the entire mastery of his affairs, managing both public and household matters. For these reasons, as we said, the emperor Theodore did not trust the archbishop. But the emperor Michael, dealing with matters more freely and to God the greater part of his deeds or even the whole

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μεγάλα τε ἐφρόνει καὶ ὑπέρογκα διελέγετο. ἔνθεν τοι καὶ ὁ Φιλῆς Θεόδωρος πολλὰ τοῖς λόγοις ἀνιαθεὶς καὶ βαρυαλγήσας ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσι πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ὑπέστρεφε, τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν ἀποστάτην εἰπών· «οἶδα μὲν ὡς ἀνοηταίνεις καὶ διὰ τοῦτο φθέγγῃ τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα. ἀλλ' ἴσθι ὡς τάχος πειραθήσῃ βασιλικῆς ἰσχύος καὶ Ῥωμαϊκῆς δυνάμεως καὶ γενήσῃ μετάμελος, ὅτε οὐδέν σοι τὸ ὄφελος.» ταῦτ' εἰπὼν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἀφίκετο, πολλὴν καταγνοὺς τοῦ Μιχαὴλ ἀβελτηρίαν, ὅτι μηδὲ μικράν τινα ἠβουλήθη βασι λέως ἀξίωσιν ἀποπλήσασθαι, ἤδη τὸν Χαβάρωνα Κωνσταν τῖνον ἀπολῦσαι κἀμὲ αὐτὸν τὸν ξυγγράφοντα, τὸν μὲν ὡς συνανατεθραμμένον τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ πολλάκις συνημιλλη μένον στρατιωτικοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ἐμὲ δὲ ὡς εἰς κῆδος τῷ βασιλεῖ ξυνελθόντα καὶ τῆς συζύγου γοερὸν ἀναβοώσης καὶ τῶν ποδῶν προκυλινδουμένης τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος, καὶ ταῦτα πλείους τῶν εἴκοσι τῆς εἱρκτῆς λελυκότος τοῦ βασιλέως, οὓς ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὰ Βοδηνὰ πολέμῳ ζωγρίας ὁ βασιλεὺς εἵλετο πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοδώρου ἀποσταλείς, ὧν ἔνιοι καὶ προσγενεῖς ὑπῆρχον τῷ ἀποστάτῃ, οἱ δ' ἄλλοι κρείττους τε ἐν στρατείᾳ καὶ τῶν ἐκ γένους περιφανῶν. οὕτω μὲν τὰ τῆς πρεσβείας προέβη τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἀποστάτην. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς καὶ πρὸς τὸν ῥῆγα Σικελίας τὸν Μαφρὲ τὸν τοῦ ἀποστάτου γαμβρὸν πρεσβείαν ἔστειλε διὰ τοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ κανικλείου Νικηφόρου τοῦ Ἀλυάτου, ὃν καὶ κατεῖχε μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ ἐγγύς που δύο ἐτῶν· πῶς γὰρ ἂν εἶχε καὶ πληρῶσαί τι τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως βουλημάτων, καθάπαξ τῷ ἀποστάτῃ Μιχαὴλ συνδεθεὶς καὶ εἰς φαντασίαν μείζονος κέρδους κρατηθείς; ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς καὶ πρὸς τὸν πρίγκιπα Ἀχαΐας διεπρεσβεύσατο· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκεῖνος τῷ κήδει τῷ πρὸς τὸν ἀποστάτην τεθαρρηκὼς καὶ πολλὰ ἐκ τούτου προσγενήσεσθαι αὐτῷ προσδοκῶν, εἰς οὐδὲν τοὺς λόγους ἐτίθετο.

80 Ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεύς, ὡς προέφημεν, τὸν αὐτά δελφον αὐτοῦ τὸν σεβαστοκράτορα ἐν τῇ δυσμῇ κατὰ τοῦ ἀποστάτου ἐκπέμψας καὶ τούτῳ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐγχειρίσας καὶ τοὺς αὐτῶν στρατηγούς, προσέταξε κατευθὺ τὴν πορείαν ποιήσασθαι, μέχρις ἂν τῷ τοῦ ἀποστάτου ἐντύχῃ στρατεύ ματι. ὁ μὲν οὖν σεβαστοκράτωρ Ἰωάννης κατὰ τὸ προσ ταχθὲν ἐποίει, ὁ δὲ ἀποστάτης Μιχαὴλ μετὰ τῆς συζύγου αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν οἰκείων περὶ τὰ τῆς Καστορίας μέρη ἐστρα τοπέδευεν. ἄφνω δὲ ἐπῆλθε τούτῳ βοή, ὡς τὰ Ῥωμαϊκὰ στρατεύματα τὰ τῶν Βοδηνῶν τέμπη διαβάντα κατ' αὐτῶν χωροῦσιν. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀκούσαντες τῆς φωνῆς καὶ πτοίαν οὐ σμικρὰν ἐν ψυχῇ λαβόντες πρὸς δρασμὸν αὐτοί τε ὥρ μησαν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἐκίνησαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἦν νὺξ καὶ οὐχ ἑώρα τις ὅπῃ φέρεται, πολλοὶ γεγόνασιν, ὥσπερ τινὸς ξίφους, ὁδοῦ ἔργον. καὶ ὁ Πετραλίφας δὲ Θεόδωρος ὁ αὐτοκασίγνητος τῆς τοῦ ἀποστάτου Μιχαὴλ συζύγου, θρασύτερον ἐπιβὰς τοῦ ἵππου, ἐπεὶ ἐνέτυχε κρημνώδει τόπῳ, αὐτός τε καὶ ὁ ἵππος καταβέβληνται καὶ ἄμφω ἀπώλοντο. συνεστάλησαν οὖν μέχρι τῶν οἰκείων ὅρων, εἴτουν τῶν Πυρρηναίων ὀρῶν, ἃ δὴ διορίζει τὴν παλαιάν τε καὶ τὴν νέαν Ἤπειρον τῆς Ἑλληνίδος καὶ ἡμετέρας γῆς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὕτω ταῦτα ἐπὶ τούτοις ξυνέβη, ἀδείας ὁ σεβαστο κράτωρ δραξάμενος, ἔρημον εὑρὼν τῆς ἐπικουρούσης τὴν χώ ραν δυνάμεως, κατὰ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ἄστεων τὰς ὁρμὰς ἐποιεῖτο. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἀπῄει περὶ τὴν Ἀχρίδα, ἣν καὶ ἀρχιεπισκο πὴν Βουλγαρίας οἱ πάντες οἴδασιν, ἔχων μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὸν ἀρχιεπίσκοπον ταύτης τὸν Καβάσιλαν Κωνσταντῖνον, ὃς ἦν πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοδώρου κατισχημένος. ὑφωρᾶτο γὰρ παρ' αὐτοῦ μὴ ὀρθὸς εἶναι περὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν βασίλειον· οἵ τε γὰρ αὐτάδελφοι αὐτοῦ μετὰ τοῦ ἀποστάτου ἐτύγχανον Μιχαήλ, ὅ τε Ἰωάννης καὶ ὁ Θεόδωρος, καὶ ὁ μὲν Θεόδωρος συνηριθμεῖτο τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ προύχουσιν, ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης σχεδὸν πᾶσαν τῶν αὐτοῦ πραγμάτων τὴν δεσποτείαν ἔφερε, τά τε κοινὰ διέπων καὶ τὰ κατ' οἶκον. διὰ ταῦτα, ὡς ἔφημεν, οὐκ ἐθάρρει ὁ βασιλεὺς Θεόδωρος τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ. ἀλλ' ὁ βασιλεὺς Μιχαὴλ ἐλευθερώτερον τοῖς πράγμασι χρώ μενος καὶ θεῷ τὸ πλεῖον τῶν πραττομένων αὐτῷ ἢ καὶ τὸ πᾶν