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he introduced the matter of the Mouzalones who were attached to him, saying that they too had perished thus from envy, and he pointed out the danger of suspicion, that he would be in immediate danger if he were not careful. But he who has been entrusted to guard another, while himself being on guard against many, will not have a lasting occupation with the one he guards, fearing mostly for himself; and it is more permissible for anyone than a guard to need a guard.

29. How Palaiologos, winning over the many, demanded through them also the greatest thing. Proposing these and similar things, he was insistent, also demanding the greater thing. Indeed, having gained strength from this and holding the greatest power, he removed all those whom he held in suspicion, both those who were disgruntled with the present situation and those who would oppose him in the future, some withdrawing voluntarily and living on their own, others he himself imprisoned, sending some to various places, and Tzamantouros to Prousa and setting a guard over him as a condemned man. But those attached to him were filled with very good hopes and freely cooperated as much as possible. And the other of the brothers, John, he made prominent with the rank of megas domestikos, supposedly granted by the emperor, and very powerful in affairs of state. Then, therefore, fired up by even greater hopes, they went to the patriarch and the synod and said they would not desist unless the despotes also took hold of the greater prize. For he alone, after the emperor by birth, was worthy to rule with him, and that, things being as they were, they needed a full emperor, for whatever he might do. For to wait for the minor to come of age was to risk that the one needing guardianship might pass away before his benefactor 115 could reach full age. And for the guardian who was in charge of affairs not to act as emperor was to risk that the favor be uncertain and unstable. The officials said these things and persuaded the patriarch, who was softening; for he did not neglect his duties and those things by which the holy synod might be appeased. So the day of the proclamation was set, the new moon of Hekatombaion of the then current second indiction.

30. How the despotes in the west, Michael, was stirred up by events. Meanwhile the despotes in the west, Michael, nephew of Theodore who had previously reigned there, hearing how things were in the east and that, with Laskaris out of the way, his son John was but a youth, and the empire of the Romans lay as a prize for anyone who wanted it, brought to mind his uncle Theodore, how he too, being noble and first among the nobles, when that first confusion befell the Romans, asserted himself and, having distinguished himself in very many wars against the Italians, had seized the empire, being crowned by James of Achrida, and taking the western lands from the Italians, he had annexed them, appearing great in affairs of state, until, striking a sinister fate and being captured by Asan, he was deprived of his eyes. Michael, therefore, keeping these things in mind and becoming boastful because affairs were in a weak state, since also the Italian power in the city was weak in its own affairs, conceived a plan that was very bold and worthy of his own noble birth. The plan was this: having gathered as many forces as possible and approaching the city 117, to besiege it and attempt to seize it, and thus be proclaimed emperor of the Romans; for neither Laskaris nor anyone else was a match for him for the empire, being noble and of the Angeloi. And since he had as sons-in-law for his daughters both Manfred, the king of Apulia, who was also the brother of the despotes of the Romans' wife Anna, whom the emperor John had married in his old age ... So the despotes had him as a son-in-law for his daughter Helen, and he had another for Anna, William, the prince of Achaia; sending to Manfred, he received three thousand of those they call *caballarii*, brave men from the Germans, and he had the whole prince with

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ἐπηρτημένους αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ τῶν Μουζαλώνων εἰσῆγεν, ὡς κἀκείνων οὕτως ἀπολωλότων ἐκ φθόνου, καὶ τὸ τῆς ὑποψίας δεινὸν ὑπεδείκνυ, ὡς αὐτίκα κινδυνεύσων, εἰ μὴ προσέχοι. Ὁ δὲ φυλάττειν ἄλλον ἐπιτραπείς, αὐτὸς πολλοὺς φυλαττόμενος, οὐκ ἔμμονον ἕξει τῷ φυλαττομένῳ τὴν ἀσχολίαν, περὶ ἑαυτῷ δεδοικὼς τὰ πλεῖστα· παντὶ δ' ἐγχωρεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ φύλακι δεῖσθαι φύλακος.

κθʹ. Ὅπως ὑποποιούμενος ὁ Παλαιολόγος τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀπῄτει δι' αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ μέγιστον. Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα προτείνων, πολὺς ἦν καὶ τὸ μεῖζον προσαπαιτῶν. Ἀμέλει τοι καὶ ὅσοις ὑπόπτως εἶχε καὶ πρὸς τὸ παρὸν δυσχεραίνοντας καὶ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον προσστησομένους, ἰσχὺν ἐντεῦθεν λαβὼν καὶ κράτος ἔχων τὸ μέγιστον, ἐκποδὼν ἐποίει, τοὺς μὲν ἑκουσίους ὑποχωροῦντας καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς διάγοντας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς καθειργνύς, ὡς ἄλλους μὲν ἀλλαχοῦ, τὸν δὲ Τζαμάντουρον εἰς Προῦσαν ἐξαποστεῖλαι καί οἱ φυλακὴν ὡς κατακρίτῳ ἐγκαταστῆσαι. Οἱ δέ γε προσκείμενοι τούτῳ καὶ λίαν ἐν ἐλπίσιν ἦσαν χρησταῖς καὶ ἀνέδην συνήργουν ἐς ὅτι μάλιστα. Θάτερον δὲ τῶν ἀδελφῶν Ἰωάννην τῷ τοῦ μεγάλου δομεστίκου ἀξιώματι, τοῦ βασιλέως διδόντος δῆθεν, περιφανῆ καθίστα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων μέγα δυνάμενον. Τότε τοίνυν καὶ μείζοσι θερμανθέντες ἐλπίσι, παρὰ τὸν πατριάρχην γενό μενοι καὶ τὴν σύνοδον, οὐκ ἀνήσειν ἔφασκον, εἰ μή γ' ὁ δεσπότης καὶ τοῦ μείζονος ἐπιλήψαιτο· αὐτὸν γὰρ εἶναι καὶ μόνον τὸν μετὰ τὸν ἐκ γένους βασιλέα ἄξιον ἄρχειν καὶ σὺν ἐκείνῳ, καὶ δεῖν οὕτως ἔχουσι βασιλέως ἐντελοῦς, ἐς ὅ τι καὶ πράξοι. Τὸ μὲν οὖν ἀναμένειν τὴν τοῦ ἀφήλικος ἡλικίαν, μὴ καὶ φθάσῃ τις κηδεμονίας δεόμενος ἐκποδὼν γεγονὼς πρὶν ἢ ὁ εὖ δράσων 115 ἐκεῖνον τελείαν λάβῃ τὴν ἡλικίαν. Τὸ δ' ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ὄντα τὸν κηδεμόνα μὴ ὡς βασιλέα πράττειν, μὴ καὶ ἀβέβαιος ἡ χάρις καὶ ἄστατος ᾖ. Ταῦτ' ἔλεγον οἱ ἐν τέλει καὶ τὸν πατριάρχην μαλακιζόμενον ἔπειθον· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἠμέλει τῶν καθηκόντων καὶ οἷς ὁ ἱερὸς μαλάσσοιτο σύλλογος. Ὥριστο μὲν οὖν ἡ ἡμέρα τῆς ἀναρρήσεως, ἑκατομβαιῶνος νουμηνία τῆς τότε τρεχούσης δευτέρας ἐπινεμήσεως.

λʹ. Ὅπως ὁ ἐν τῇ δύσει δεσπότης Μιχαὴλ κατεπήρθη τῶν πραγμάτων. Ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ καὶ ὁ ἐν τῇ δύσει δεσπότης Μιχαήλ, τοῦ προβεβασι λευκότος ἐκεῖσε Θεοδώρου ἀνεψιός, ἀκούσας τὰ κατ' ἀνατολὴν ὡς εἶχον καὶ ὅτι, ἐκποδὼν γεγονότος τοῦ Λάσκαρι, ἐν μειρακυλλίοις μὲν ὁ ἐξ ἐκείνου Ἰωάννης τελεῖ, εἰς προνομὴν δὲ ἡ τῶν Ῥωμαίων βασιλεία κεῖται τῷ βουλομένῳ, ἀνάγει τὸν νοῦν πρὸς τὸν θεῖον Θεόδωρον, ὅπως κἀκεῖνος, εὐγενὴς ὢν καὶ τὰ πρῶτα τῶν εὐγενῶν, τῆς πρώτης ἐκείνης συγχύσεως ξυμπεσούσης Ῥωμαίοις, ἑαυτὸν ἀναλαμβάνει καί, πλείστοις ὅσοις τοῖς κατ' Ἰταλῶν πολέμοις ἐνανδραγαθήσας, τῆς βασιλείας ἐπείληπτο, στεφθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ Ἀχριδῶν Ἰακώβου, καὶ τὰ κατὰ δύσιν τοὺς Ἰταλοὺς ἀφελόμενοςπροσεκτήσατο, μέγας ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων φανείς, μέχρι καί, μοίρᾳ λαιᾷ προσκρούσας καὶ κατασχεθεὶς τῷ Ἀσάν, ἀφῃρέθη τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. Ταῦτα τοίνυν ὁ Μιχαὴλ ἐν νῷ θέμενος καὶ καταλαζονευθεὶς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀρρώστως ἐχόντων, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ κατὰ πόλιν Ἰταλικὸν ἠσθένει τοῖς καθ' αὑτὸ πράγμασι, βουλὴν βουλεύεται ὡς λίαν νεανικὴν καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ εὐγενείας ἀξίαν. Ἡ δὲ βουλή· πλείστας ὅσας συναθροίσας δυνάμεις καὶ τῇ πόλει 117 προσσχών, περικαθίσαι καὶ πειραθῆναι κατασχεῖν, καὶ οὕτως βασιλεὺς ἀναγορευθῆναι Ῥωμαίων· μηδὲ γὰρ εἶναι πρὸς αὐτὸν μηδὲν μήτε Λάσκαριν μήτ' ἄλλον ὁντιναοῦν αὐτάρκη πρὸς βασιλείαν, εὐγενῆ γε ὄντα καὶ τῶν Ἀγγέλων. Καὶ δὴ ἐπεὶ γαμβροὺς ἐπὶ θυγατράσιν εἶχε τόν τε ῥῆγα Πουλείας Μαφρέ, τὸν καὶ τῆς δεσποίνης τῶν Ῥωμαίων Ἄννης αὐτάδελφον, ᾗ πρὸς τῷ γήρᾳ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννης ἡρμόσατο ... Εἶχε μὲν οὖν ἐκεῖνον ἐπὶ τῇ θυγατρὶ Ἑλένῃ γαμβρὸν ὁ δεσπότης, εἶχε δὲ καὶ ἄλλον ἐπὶ τῇ Ἄννῃ τὸν πρίγκιπα τῆς Ἀχαΐας Γουλίελμον· πέμψας παρὰ μὲν τοῦ Μαφρὲ τρισχιλίους οὓς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι καβαλλαρίους λαμβάνει, ἀνδρείους ἐκ Γερμανῶν, τὸν δέ γε πρίγκιπα ὅλον εἶχε σὺν