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profit was saved; but he who resisted in any way, being no less fond of gain than fond of freedom, if he were unmanfully deprived of the symbol of victory for which he had risked his own blood against the enemies, he would depart having received a fatal blow, choosing, as was likely, to fall gloriously rather than to be ingloriously deprived of the spoils. And these were their achievements from Arcturus until spring, when some of them, no small portion of the whole, having nothing more to do there than what they had done before, since the natives 419 had taken to flight because of the timely security from them, having heaped a sufficient cargo onto ships, and especially of grain and the necessities for sustenance, they too set out in the footsteps of Tzimês’s men, paying little heed to the agreements with the megas doux. But as the others were idle throughout the winter around Cyzicus, their excuse for idleness was that the three-month period for which they had received their pay had expired, and that the wages for the next alliance were not being sent readily again, according to what had been agreed with them by the emperor. For these reasons, their leader, blushing as it were for their inaction, sailed quickly to the emperor. And settling their affairs as best he could, but bringing up and requesting only the matter concerning the wages, and wanting also to satisfy the Alans as warlike in matters of war (for he resembled them in not even trusting his own men), having received some things from here and having been ordered to collect other things from the islands, he returned quickly, as he was ready to receive also the horses sent to the Alans, as had been requested. These things happened. And for the whole of Lent he was testing and being tested on whether the one who had received the pay 420 would remain and be zealous, and so he distributed the money for the pay. And to the Italians he paid two and three ounces of gold each month, but he satisfied each of the Alans with only three nomismata a month, in addition to horses being given to some, which he was expecting according to the agreements. This indeed stirred up a great turmoil among them, fanned by self-love, as will be told shortly. He, therefore, having appointed a commander for his own ships, which were about twelve in number, whom their dialect extols as an admiral, by order also of the emperor for this purpose, having fitted out a fleet of Italians, together with their concubines and all sorts of goods from the country, of which each was master and which he had been able to take from it, he sends them out among the islands, having given them as a signal his own arrival in Asia, so that they too might at the same time put in at Anaia and the parts there to act as allies. And he tried to persuade those left behind until he could move them from Cyzicus, who for the time being were hard to dislodge due to the sluggishness of the land there. And he did these things, but the emperor, declining even the wish to hear what had been done by them as containing nothing sound, and blaming only the wrath of God for all those things, had the then 421 patriarch hold frequent all-night vigils and litanies, from which the emperor himself was often not absent, with his own prayers and canons accomplishing the supplication to God even beyond his strength in the hope of already accomplishing something good from this. Nevertheless, he was staking everything on them and them alone, as if they would act as soon as they moved. For he heard of the terrible things concerning Philadelphia, and how Alisuras with the Karmanoi, having surrounded the city, having first subjugated the forts around it, was hopeful of taking it by famine and lack of necessities; for famine was pressing, and it was heard that a donkey's head was being bought for so many shekels, and the blood of a slaughtered sheep or pig was valued at a gold nomisma, sufficient for a small consolation of want for those who would take it. For these reasons, when the great week arrived, at the end of the month of Cronius, he sends his own sister-in-law, Irene, Asan's mother-in-law, to sail to Cyzicus, for no other reason than that she might appease her son-in-law and urge him on; for the time was also suitable for a campaign, and moreover that the soldiery, having recently received their wages, were fully paid. As then after 422

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κέρδος ἐσώζετο· ὁ δ' ὁπωσοῦν ἀνθιστάμενος, οὐχ ἧττον φιλοκερδὴς ἢ φιλελεύθερος ὤν, εἰ ἀφαιρεθείη ἀνάνδρως τὸ νίκης σύμβολον οἰκείῳ αἵματι διακινδυνεύσας πρὸς τοὺς ἐχθρούς, οὗτος καιρίαν δεχόμενος ἀπηλλάττετο, τὸ πεσεῖν εὐκλεῶς τοῦ ἀκλεῶς στερηθῆ ναι τῶν ἐνάρων, ὡς εἰκός, ἀνθαιρούμενος. Καὶ ταῦτ' ἦσαν σφίσι τὰ κατορθούμενα εἰς ἦρος ἐξ Ἀρ κτούρου, ὅτε καί τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν, οὐκ ὀλίγη τις μοῖρα τῶν ὅλων, οὐκ ἔχοντες πλέον ἐκεῖ ποιεῖν ὧν πρὶν ἔπραξαν, τῶν αὐτοχθόνων 419 φυγῇ χρησαμένων διὰ τὴν ἐξ ἐκείνων καιρικὴν ἄδειαν, ἱκανὸν ναυσὶ φόρτον νηήσαντες, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐκ σίτου καὶ τῶν ἐς τροφὴν ἀναγκαίων, κατὰ πόδας τῶν περὶ Τζιμῆν καὶ οὗτοι ἐξώρμων, ὀλίγα τῶν πρὸς τὸν μέγαν δοῦκα συνθεσιῶν φροντίσαντες. τῶν δ' ἄλλων ἀργούντων διὰ παντὸς χειμῶνος περὶ τὴν Κύζικον, πρόφασις ἦν αὐτοῖς τῆς ἀργίας τὸ τοῦ τριμήνου πληρωθέντος ἐφ' ᾧπερ ἔλαβον τοὺς μισθούς, μὴ καὶ αὖθις ἐξ ἑτοίμου πέμπε σθαι ῥόγας τῆς ἐς νέωτα ξυμμαχίας κατὰ τὰ σφᾶς συμφωνη θέντα πρὸς βασιλέως. διά τοι ταῦτα ἐρυθριῶν οἷον διὰ τὸ σφῶν ἄπρακτον ὁ αὐτῶν ἐξηγούμενος πρὸς βασιλέα ταχυναυτεῖ. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐκείνων ὡς οἷόν τε ἐπειλύων, μόνα δὲ τὰ περὶ τῶν μισθῶν ἀνενέγκας καὶ δεηθείς, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ἀλανοῖς ἱκανοῦσθαι θέλων ὡς ἀρεϊκοῖς τὰ ἐς πόλεμον (ἐῴκει γὰρ ἐκείνοις τῷ μηδὲ τοῖς ἰδίοις πιστεύοντι), τὰ μὲν ἐντεῦθεν λαβὼν τὰ δὲ καὶ ὁρι σθεὶς ἐκ νήσων ἐκλέξαι, διὰ ταχέων ὑπέστρεφεν ὡς ἑτοίμως δε ξόμενος καὶ ἵππους σταλέντας τοῖς Ἀλανοῖς, ὡς ἐζήτητο. γέγονε ταῦτα. καὶ ὁ μὲν δι' ὅλης τῆς τεσσαρακοστῆς πεῖραν διδοὺς καὶ λαμβάνων ἐπὶ τῷ παραμένειν καὶ προθυμεῖσθαι τὸν τὴν ῥόγαν 420 λαβόντα, οὕτω διένεμε τὰ τοῦ μισθοῦ χρήματα. καὶ τοῖς μὲν Ἰταλοῖς διούγγια χρυσοῦ καὶ τριούγγια μηνὸς ἑκάστου ἐπλήρου, Ἀλανοὺς δ' ἕκαστον τρισὶ καὶ μόνοις τοῦ μηνὸς ἐνικάνου νομί σμασι, πρὸς τῷ καὶ ἵππους τισὶ δοθῆναι οὓς ἀπεξεδέχετο κατὰ τὰ συνθήματα. ὃ δὴ καὶ μέγαν μεταξὺ τούτων ἀνήγειρε κυδοι μὸν ἐκ φιλαυτίας ἀναρριπισθέντα, ὡς μετ' ὀλίγον ῥηθήσεται. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν ἔξαρχον τῶν καθ' αὑτὸν καταστήσας νεῶν οὐσῶν ὡσεὶ δώδεκα, ὃν ἀμηραλὴν ἡ ἐκείνων διάλεκτος ἐξυμνεῖ. ὁρισμῷ πρὸς τοῦτο καὶ τοῦ κρατοῦντος, στόλον ἐξαρτύσας ἐξ Ἰταλῶν, ἅμα παλλακαῖς αὐτῶν καὶ παντοδαποῖς πραγμάτων εἴδεσιν ἐκ τῆς χώρας, ὧν ἕκαστος ἐγκρατὴς ἦν καὶ ὧν ἐξ αὐτῆς λαβεῖν ηὐπό ρησεν, ἀνὰ τὰς νήσους ἐκπέμπει, σύνθημα δοὺς ἐκείνοις τὴν σφετέραν αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἄφιξιν, τοῦ καὶ σφᾶς ἅμα προσ σχεῖν Ἀναίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἐκεῖ μέρεσι συμμαχήσοντας. τῶν δ' ὑπο λειφθέντων ἀπεπειρᾶτο ἐς ὃ καὶ κινήσειεν ἐκ Κυζίκου τέως δυσα παλλάκτως διὰ τὴν ἐκεῖ βλακείαν τῆς χώρας ἔχοντας. καὶ ὁ μὲν ταῦτα, βασιλεὺς δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀκούειν τἀκείνοις πεπραγμένα θέλησιν παραιτούμενος ὡς οὐδὲν ὑγιὲς ἔχοντα, μόνην δ' ὀργὴν θεοῦ τῶν ἁπάντων ἐκείνων ἐπαιτιώμενος, εἶχε μὲν καὶ τὸν τότε 421 πατριαρχοῦντα συχναῖς παννυχίσι καὶ λιτανείαις, ὧν οὐδ' αὐτὸς βασιλεὺς πολλάκις ἀπελιμπάνετο, αὐταῖς ἰδίαις εὐχαῖς καὶ κανόσι τὰ τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἱκεσίας καὶ παρὰ δύναμιν ἐξανύοντα τῷ ἤδη θαρρεῖν ἐξανύτειν χρηστόν τι ἐντεῦθεν. ὅμως δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἐπ' ἐ κείνοις σαλεύων ἦν καὶ μόνοις, ὡς αὐτίκα εἰ κινηθεῖεν πράξειεν. ἤκουε γὰρ καὶ περὶ Φιλαδελφείας τὰ πάνδεινα, καὶ ὡς Ἀλισύρας σὺν Καρμανοῖς περιστὰς τὴν πόλιν, τὰ περὶ αὐτὴν πρότερον χει ρωσάμενος φρούρια, λιμῷ καὶ ἐνδείᾳ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐν ἐλπισμοῖς ἐστὶ παραστήσασθαι· ὁ γὰρ λιμὸς ἤπειγε, καὶ ὄνου μὲν κεφαλὴ τόσων σίκλων ἐξωνουμένη ἠκούετο, αἷμα δὲ σφαγῆς προβάτου καὶ χοίρου εἰς χρυσοῦν τιμώμενον νόμισμα, πρὸς μικρὰν ἐνδείας παραμυθίαν ἀρκέσον τοῖς ληψομένοις. διὰ ταῦτα καὶ τῆς μεγά λης ἑβδομάδος καταλαβούσης, Κρονίου μηνὸς λήγοντος, τὴν ἰδίαν αὐταδέλφην τὴν τοῦ Ἀσὰν Εἰρήνην ὡς πενθερὰν πλῷ χρη σομένην Κυζίκωσε ἀπολύει, οὐδενὸς χάριν ἄλλου ἢ τοῦ τὸν γαμ βρὸν ἐκμειλιξαμένην ὁρμῆσαι· εἶναι γὰρ καὶ τὸν καιρὸν εἰς ἐκ στρατείαν εὔθετον, ἀκμὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ στρατιωτικὸν ἐξ ὑπογύου λαβόντας ἔχειν τὰς ῥόγας καὶ ἐντελομίσθους εἶναι. ὡς γοῦν μεθ' 422