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to draw up in battle against them. Thus, then, the armies were in convulsions against each other; but the emperor, fearing the unbearable first assault of the Latins, does something new. Having constructed wagons that were lighter and smaller than usual, on each of these he fixed four poles and stationed armed foot soldiers, so that whenever the Latins, giving full rein, should charge against the Roman phalanx, the wagons would be pushed forward by the stationed armed foot soldiers, so that in this way the continuity of the Latins' close-locked formation might be broken. 5.4.3 And when the time for war was at hand, with the sun already having risen brightly above the horizon, the emperor, having drawn up the phalanxes in battle formation, himself held the center. Bohemond, then, did not seem unprepared for the emperor's device when the battle was joined, but as if foreknowing the plan, he adapts to the situation and, dividing his own forces in two and avoiding the wagons, he charges against the Roman battle line from both sides. And phalanxes then were mingling with phalanxes, and men were fighting face to face with men. Thus, with many having fallen on both sides in the fighting, Bohemond had the upper hand, but the emperor stood like some unshaken tower, assailed from either side, and in one place riding against the attacking Celts and engaging with some, striking and killing and being struck, and in another rallying the fleeing with frequent shouts. But when he saw the phalanxes broken into many parts, he thought it necessary to secure safety for himself, not to save himself nor confused by cowardice, as someone might perhaps say, but in the hope that, if he might escape the danger and rally himself, he might again stand against the fighting Celts more nobly. 5.4.4 And while retreating from the enemy with very few men and encountering some of the Celts, he again showed himself to be that dauntless general. For having rallied those with him and making a fierce cavalry charge against them, as if he were to die that day or be utterly vanquished, he himself killed one of the Celts by striking him, and as many as were with him, attendants of Ares, wounded many and drove them off. And thus having escaped countless and very great dangers, he was saved again, passing through Strouga to Achrida, and there holding fast and recalling a sufficient number of those who had fled, he left them all somewhere there with the grand domestic and reached the Vardar, not for the sake of ease; for he by no means allotted imperial leisure and rest for himself. 5.4.5 And again gathering the armies and collecting a mercenary force, he marches against Bohemond, having devised another plan by which he might defeat the Celts. For having made iron caltrops, since he expected the battle on the next day, in the evening he scattered these in the no-man's-land of the plain where he calculated the Celts would make their fiercest cavalry charge, contriving to break the first and unbearable charge of the Latins by means of these caltrops, which would pierce the feet of the horses, and that those of the Romans who stood in the front, as many as carried spears, should make measured cavalry charges for as far as they would not be pierced by the caltrops, but splitting to either side, should turn back, and that the peltasts from a distance should shoot their arrows fiercely against the Celts, and that the right and left wing should fall upon the Celts from either side with an irresistible rush. 5.4.6 Such were the thoughts of my father; but these things did not escape Bohemond. For something like this happened. For what the emperor had planned against him in the evening, the Celt learned in the morning. And adapting himself skillfully to what he had heard, he awaited the battle and no longer made the charge of the battle as was his custom, but having anticipated that of the emperor

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ἀντιπαρατάξασθαι. Οὕτω γοῦν τὰ στρατεύματα κατ' ἀλλήλων ἐσφάδᾳζεν· ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὴν ἀνύποιστον τῶν Λατίνων δεδιὼς πρώτην προσβολὴν καινόν τι ποιεῖ. Ἁμάξας κουφοτέρας κατασκευάσας καὶ τῶν συνηθῶν ἥττους ἐφ' ἑκάστῃ τούτων κοντοὺς ἐνέπηξε τέσσαρας καὶ πεζοὺς ὁπλοφόρους ἐπέστησεν, ὥστε ὁπηνίκα οἱ Λατῖνοι ὅλους ῥυτῆρας χαλάσαντες κατὰ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ὁρμήσουσι φάλαγγος, τὰς ἁμάξας ὠθεῖσθαι πρόσω διὰ τῶν ὑφισταμένων ὁπλοφόρων πεζῶν, ἵν' οὕτω τὸ συνεχὲς διακόπτηται τοῦ συνασπισμοῦ τῶν Λατίνων. 5.4.3 Καὶ ἐπεὶ καιρὸς πολέμου παρῆν, τοῦ ἡλίου ἤδη τοῦ ὁρίζοντος λαμπρῶς ὑπερκύψαντος, ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ τὰς φάλαγγας εἰς πολέμου τύπον καταστήσας αὐτὸς τὸ μεσαί τατον εἶχεν. Ὁ γοῦν Βαϊμοῦντος οὐκ ἀνέτοιμος τῆς μάχης συγκροτυμένης πρὸς τὴν μηχανὴν ἐφάνη τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ προγνοὺς τὸ βεβουλευμένον μεθαρμόζεται πρὸς τὸ ξυμπεσὸν καὶ τὰς ἰδίας δυνάμεις δίχα διελὼν καὶ τὰς ἁμάξας παρεκκλίνας κατὰ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἑκατέρωθεν ἵεται παρατάξεως. Καὶ φάλαγγες μὲν φάλαγξι τηνικαῦτα ἐμίγνυντο καὶ ἀνέρες ἀνδράσι κατὰ στόμα ἐμάχοντο. Οὕτω δὲ πολλῶν ἐκατέρωθεν ἐν τῷ μάχεσθαι πεσόντων τὴν μὲν νικῶσαν εἶχεν ὁ Βαϊμοῦντος, ὁ δέ γε αὐτοκράτωρ καθάπερ τις πύργος ἀκλόνητος ἵστατο ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους βαλλόμενος καὶ ὅπου μὲν ἱππαζόμενος κατὰ τῶν ἐπιόντων Κελτῶν καὶ συμπλεκόμενος ἐνίοις πλήττων καὶ κτείνων καὶ πληττόμενος, ὅπου δὲ καὶ τοὺς φεύγοντας συχνοῖς ἐμβοήμασιν ἀνακτώμενος. Ὡς δ' εἰς μέρη πολλὰ τὰς φάλαγγας διασπασθείσας ἑώρα, δεῖν ἐλογίσατο καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ τὸ ἀσφαλὲς περιποιήσασθαι οὐ σώσων ἑαυτὸν οὐθ' ὑπὸ δειλίας συγχυθείς, ὡς τάχα ἄν τις εἴπῃ, ἀλλ' εἴ που τὸν κίνδυνον διεκφυγὼν καὶ συλλεξά μενος ἑαυτὸν αὖθις γενναιότερον τοῖς μαχομένοις Κελτοῖς ἀντικατασταίη. 5.4.4 Ὑποφεύγων δὲ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς μετ' ὀλίγων πάνυ τινῶν καὶ τῶν Κελτῶν τισιν ἐντυχὼν αὖθις ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀκαταπτόητος στρατηγὸς ἐδείκνυτο. Ἀναρρώσας γὰρ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ καὶ σφοδρὰν τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν ἱππασίαν ὡς σήμερον τεθνηξόμενος ποιήσας ἢ κατὰ κράτος ἡττή σων κτείνει μὲν αὐτὸς παίσας ἕνα τῶν Κελτῶν, καὶ ὁπόσοι δὲ σὺν αὐτῷ Ἄρεως ἦσαν ὑπασπισταὶ πολλοὺς τρώσαντες ἐξεδίωξαν. Καὶ οὕτως ἀμετρήτους καὶ μεγίστους διεκφυ γὼν κινδύνους αὖθις σῴζεται διὰ τῶν Στρουγῶν διελθὼν εἰς Ἀχρίδας κἀκεῖθι ἐγκαρτερήσας καὶ ἱκανοὺς τῶν πεφευγότων ἀνακαλεσάμενος αὐτοῦ που μετὰ τοῦ μεγάλου δομεστίκου πάντας καταλιπὼν καταλαμβάνει τὸν Βαρ δάρην, οὐ ῥᾳστώνης χάριν· βασιλικὰς γὰρ ῥᾳθυμίας καὶ ἀναπαύλας οὐδαμῶς ἑαυτῷ ἀπεμέτρει. 5.4.5 Καὶ αὖθις συναγαγὼν τὰ στρατεύματα καὶ μισθοφορικὸν συλλεξά μενος κατὰ τοῦ Βαϊμούντου χωρεῖ ἕτερόν τι σκοπήσας, δι' οὗ καταγωνίσαιτο τοὺς Κελτούς. Τριβόλους γὰρ σιδηρᾶς κατασκευάσας, ἐπεὶ τὴν μάχην ἐς νέωτα προσεδόκα, ἑσπέρας ταύτας ἐν τῷ μεσαιχμίῳ τῆς πεδιάδος κατέ στρωσεν οὗπερ σφοδροτέραν ἐστοχάζετο τοὺς Κελτοὺς τὴν ἱππασίαν ποιήσασθαι, μηχανώμενος τάχα τὴν πρώτην καὶ ἀνύποιστον τῶν Λατίνων ὁρμὴν διὰ τούτων ἀποθραῦ σαι τῶν τριβόλων περιπαρέντων τοῖς ποσὶ τῶν ἵππων καὶ τοὺς μὲν κατὰ μέτωπον ἱσταμένους τῶν Ῥωμαίων, ὁπόσοι δόρατα ἔφερον, μεμετρημένας τὰς ἱππασίας ποιεῖσθαι καὶ ὁπόσον μὴ ταῖς τριβόλοις περιπαρεῖεν, ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἑκάτερα σχιζομένους ὑποστρέφειν, τοὺς δὲ πελταστὰς πόρρωθεν κατὰ τῶν Κελτῶν σφοδροὺς ἐκπέμπειν τοὺς ὀϊστούς, τὸ δέ γε δεξιὸν καὶ εὐώνυμον κέρας ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους ἀσχέτῳ ῥύμῃ τοῖς Κελτοῖς ἐπεισπεσεῖν. 5.4.6 Τοιαῦτα μὲν τὰ τοὐμοῦ πατρὸς διανοήματα· τὸν δὲ Βαϊμοῦντον ταῦτα οὐ διέλαθε. Συνέβαινε γάρ τι τοιοῦτον. Ὅπερ γὰρ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἑσπέρας κατ' ἐκείνου ἐβουλεύσατο, πρωΐας ὁ Κελτὸς μεμάθηκε. Καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀκουσθὲν εὐφυῶς μεθαρμοσάμενος τὴν μάχην ἀνεδέχετο καὶ οὐκέθ', ὡς ἔθος αὐτῷ, τὴν ὁρμὴν τῆς μάχης ἐποίει, ἀλλὰ προαρπάσας τὴν τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος