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having learned of the sultan's murder, they returned. 6.12.5 For his own brother, Tutush, after killing Amir Soliman and his own son-in-law who had marched against him from Arabia, being blinded by pride and having learned that the sultan was already hastening to make a peace treaty with the emperor, set his sights on the murder of his brother. Therefore, summoning twelve men called Chasioi in the Persian dialect, men breathing murder, he sent them forth as envoys, forsooth, to the sultan and suggested to them the manner of his brother's slaughter at the same time, saying, “Go, and first announce that you are about to report certain secrets to the sultan, and when you are granted entry, as if wishing, forsooth, to speak into his ear, approach and at once cut my brother to pieces.” 6.12.6 And the envoys, or rather murderers, as if being sent to a dinner or a feast, went most eagerly to the slaughter of the sultan. Finding him drunk, then, since a complete truce was granted to them, while those entrusted with the sultan's guard stood at a distance, they themselves drew near, drew their swords from their armpits, and at once cut the wretched man to pieces. For such is the nature of the Chasioi, rejoicing in blood and considering this very thing a delicacy, if only they might drive a sword through human entrails. For the rest, even if some perhaps set upon them for this very act and cut them to pieces, they consider such a death a kind of glory, receiving and transmitting these murderous deeds from one to another like some ancestral inheritance. Of those men, therefore, none returned to Tutush, having offered their own slaughter as a kind of ransom. 6.12.7 Pouzanos, however, having learned these things, returned to Chorosan with all his forces. And when he approached Chorosan, Tutush, the brother of the murdered man, received him. And as the battle immediately became close-fought, since both armies fought stoutly and neither would in any way yield the victory to the other, Pouzanos also fell, struck by a fatal blow while fighting bravely and throwing whole phalanxes into confusion. And each of his men secured his safety by flight, being scattered in different directions; But Tutush returned victorious to Chorosan, as if having already girded on the dignity of the sultanate, and this with danger hanging over his head. For having met him, the son of the murdered sultan Tapares, Barkiyaruq, rejoiced like a lion chancing upon a great carcass, according to the poet, and engaging with all his might and mind, he shattered the forces of Tutush into many parts and routing them, pursued them with all his strength. And he himself, Tutush, who was breathing the spirit of Navat, was slain. 6.12.8 But when Apelchasem had at that time gone with money to the sultan of Chorosan, as the narrative has already related, his brother Poulchases seized Nicaea and held it. And the emperor, perceiving this, promised lavish gifts if he would cede it to him and depart from there. But Poulchases was willing, but he kept putting it off, looking again to Apelchasem, and he sent messages upon messages to the emperor, keeping him in suspense, as it were, but in truth awaiting his brother's return. But in the meantime, something of this sort happened. The sultan of Chorosan who was killed by the Chasioi had previously seized the two sons of the great Soliman. But these, after his slaughter, escaped from Chorosan and swiftly seized Nicaea. When those within Nicaea saw them, being of a democratic mind, as it were, they received them with great joy, and Poulchases eagerly handed over Nicaea to them as a kind of paternal inheritance. And the first-born of the two, Kilij Arslan by name, was proclaimed sultan. And he, sending for the wives and children of those then present in Nicaea, settled them in it

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σουλτὰν μεμαθηκότες ἀναίρεσιν ὑπέστρεψαν. 6.12.5 Καὶ γὰρ ὁ αὐτάδελφος αὐτοῦ Τουτούσης μετὰ τὸ ἀνελεῖν τὸν Ἀμὴρ Σολυμᾶν καὶ τὸν ἴδιον γαμβρὸν ἐξ Ἀραβίας κατ' αὐτοῦ στρατεύσαντα τυφω θεὶς καὶ τὸν σουλτὰν μεμαθηκὼς εἰς εἰρηνικὰς σπονδὰς μετὰ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος ἤδη ἐπείγεσθαι πρὸς τὸν τἀδελφοῦ φόνον ἀπέβλεψε. ∆υοκαίδεκα τοίνυν Χασίους τῇ Περσίδι διαλέκτῳ καλουμένους φόνιον πνέοντας μετακαλεσάμενος ὡς πρέσβεις τάχα πρὸς τὸν σουλτὰν ἐξέπεμψε καὶ τὸν τρόπον αὐτοῖς ὑποθέμενος ἅμα τῆς τἀδελφοῦ σφαγῆς, «Ἄπιτε» φάμενος «καὶ πρῶτα μὲν διακηρυκεύσατε ὡς ἀπόρρητά τινα μέλλειν τῷ σουλτὰν ἀπαγγεῖλαι, ἐπὰν δὲ παραχωρηθῆτε τῆς εἰσόδου, ὡς τάχα πρὸς οὖς αὐτῷ ὡμιληκέναι βούλεσθαι, πλησιάσαντες παραχρῆμα τὸν ἐμὸν διαμελίσατε ἀδελφόν». 6.12.6 Οἱ δὲ πρέσβεις ἢ μᾶλλον φονεῖς καθάπερ εἰς δεῖπνον ἢ εὐωχίαν πεμπόμενοι προ θυμότατα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ σουλτὰν σφαγὴν ἀπῄεσαν. Μεθύοντα τοίνυν τοῦτον καταλαβόντες, ἐπεὶ πᾶσα ἐκεχει ρία τούτοις ἐδίδοτο τῶν ἐμπεπιστευμένων τὴν τοῦ σουλ τὰν φυλακὴν πόρρωθεν ἑστηκότων, αὐτοὶ πλησιάσαντες τὰ ξίφη τῆς μάλης σπασάμενοι διαμελίζουσι παραχρῆμα τὸν ἄθλιον. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ τὸ τῶν Χασίων ἐστὶν αἵμασι χαῖρον καὶ τρυφὴν αὐτὸ τοῦτο λογιζόμενοι, εἰ μόνον διὰ σπλάγ χνων ἀνθρωπίνων τὸ ξίφος ἐλάσειαν. Τοῦ λοιποῦ δέ, κἄν τινες αὐτοὺς ἴσως ἐπ' αὐτῷ τούτῳ ἐπιθέμενοι καταχορ δεύσειαν, καθάπερ τι κῦδος τὸν τοιοῦτον λογίζονται θάνα τον ὥσπερ τινὰ πάτριον κλῆρον τὰ φονικὰ ταῦτα ἔργα ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον διαδεχόμενοί τε καὶ παραπέμποντες. Ἐκείνων μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὸν Τουτούσην ὑπέστρεψεν οὐδεὶς ἀντίλυτρον οἷον τὰς ἰδίας ὑποσχόντων σφαγάς. 6.12.7 Ὁ μέντοι Πουζάνος ταῦτα μεμαθηκὼς σὺν ὅλαις δυνάμεσι πρὸς τὸν Χοροσὰν ἐπανέστρεψεν. Ἐπὰν δὲ τῷ Χοροσὰν προσπελάσειε, δέχεται τοῦτον ὁ τοῦ ἀναιρεθέντος ἀδελφὸς Τουτούσης. Καὶ εὐθὺς ἀγχεμάχου τῆς μάχης γενομένης, ἐπεὶ καρτερῶς ἄμφω τὰ στρατεύματα ἐμάχοντο καὶ θάτερον θατέρῳ τῆς νίκης οὐδαμῶς παρεχώρει, πίπτει καὶ ὁ Που ζάνος καιρίαν πληγεὶς γενναίως ἀγωνιζόμενος καὶ ὅλας συνταράσσων τὰς φάλαγγας. Ἕκαστος δὲ τῶν αὐτοῦ φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐπραγματεύσατο ἄλλος ἄλλοσε σκεδασθέντες· Ὁ δὲ Τουτούσης νικητὴς πρὸς τὸν Χοροσὰν ἐπανέστρεφεν ὡς ἤδη τὴν τοῦ σουλτανικίου ἀξίαν περιζωσάμενος καὶ ταῦτα τὸν κίνδυνον ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς ἔχων. Καὶ γὰρ συνην τηκὼς αὐτῷ ὁ τοῦ ἀναιρεθέντος Ταπάρη σουλτὰν υἱός, ὁ Παργιαρούχ, ὥς τε λέων ἐχάρη μεγάλῳ ἐπὶ σώματι κύρσας κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν καὶ συμβαλὼν ὅλῃ χειρὶ καὶ γνώμῃ εἰς πολλὰ τὰς τοῦ Τουτούση δυνάμεις διέσπασε καὶ τρέψας ἀνὰ κράτος ἐδίωκεν. Ἀναιρεῖται δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τὰ Ναυά του φυσῶν Τουτούσης. 6.12.8 Τοῦ δὲ Ἀπελχασὴμ μετὰ χρημάτων τότε πρὸς τὸν τοῦ Χοροσὰν σουλτὰν ἐξεληλυ θότος, ὡς ὁ λόγος φθάσας ἱστόρησεν, ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ Πουλχάσης τὴν Νίκαιαν καταλαβὼν κατέσχεν. Αἰσθόμε νος δὲ τούτου ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ δαψιλεῖς τὰς δωρεὰς ὑπισ χνεῖτο, εἰ ταύτης αὐτῷ παρακεχωρηκὼς ἐκεῖθεν ἐκσταίη. Ὁ δὲ Πουλχάσης ἤθελε μέν, ἀλλ' ἀνεβάλλετο αὖθις ἀπο βλέπων πρὸς τὸν Ἀπελχασὴμ καὶ λόγους ἐκ λόγων πρὸς τὸν αὐτοκράτορα διεπέμπετο ἀπαιωρῶν οἷον αὐτόν, τῇ δ' ἀληθείᾳ τὴν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἀπεκδεχόμενος ἐπανέλευσιν. Ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ δὲ γίνεταί τι τοιοῦτον. Ὁ παρὰ τῶν Χασίων ἀναιρεθεὶς τοῦ Χοροσὰν σουλτὰν ἔφθασε κατασχεῖν τοὺς τοῦ μεγάλου Σολυμᾶ δύο υἱεῖς. Οὗτοι δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου σφαγὴν ἀποδράσαντες τοῦ Χοροσὰν ὀξέως τὴν Νίκαιαν κατέλαβον. Τούτους οἱ ἐντὸς Νικαίας θεασάμενοι δημοκρα τοῦντες οἷον περιχαρῶς ἐδέξαντο, καὶ ὁ Πουλχάσης καθά περ τινὰ πατρῷον κλῆρον τὴν Νίκαιαν προθύμως αὐτοῖς παραδίδωσι. Προχειρίζεται δὲ σουλτὰν ὁ πρωτογενὴς τῶν δύο, Κλιτζιασθλὰν τὴν κλῆσιν. Ἐκεῖνος δὲ τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα τῶν τηνικαῦτα ἐν Νικαίᾳ παρόντων μετα πεμψάμενος ἐν αὐτῇ καθίδρυσεν