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He had sent out George Euphorbenos and Constantine Oumpertopoulos to guard the mountain passes located around the Zygos. And from there, having occupied Chortarea (a mountain pass of the Zygos so named), he went around the entire Zygos inspecting whether all the things previously ordered by him had been completed by those who had undertaken the management of them, and if anything was half-finished or lacking, to set this right, so that it would not be easy for the Cumans to pass through them. Having arranged everything, therefore, and then returning from there, he pitched his camp near the so-called Sacred Lake, located near Anchialos. And when night fell, a certain Pudilos, a notable of the Vlachs, announced the crossing of the Danube by the Cumans, and he judged it necessary at daybreak, summoning the notables among his kinsmen and commanders, to deliberate on what must be done. And since all said that it was necessary to go to Anchialos, immediately he sent out Cantacuzenus and Tatikios to the place called Therma along with some mercenaries, both Skaliarios the Elchan and other notables, for the purpose of guarding the regions there. But he himself goes to Anchialos. 10.2.7 When he had learned that the Cumans' impulse was towards Adrianople, summoning all the notables of the Adrianopolitans, preeminent among whom were both Katakalon called Tarchaneiotes and Nikephoros the son of Bryennios who had formerly been a usurper, and had himself been a usurper and deprived of his eyes, he instructed these men to maintain a strong guard of the fortress and if the Cumans arrived not to join battle with them faintheartedly, but to shoot their missiles against them with purpose and from a distance, and for the most part to keep the gates closed, promising many benefactions if they should observe his commands. The emperor, having thus exhorted Bryennios and the others, sent them out to Adrianople as if with good hopes. But to Katakalon Constantine Euphorbenos he ordered by letter to take with him the so-called Monastras (this man was a half-barbarian who possessed great experience in military matters) and Michael Anemas with the soldiers assigned under them, and when they should learn that the Cumans had passed through the mountain passes, to follow behind them and to attack them unawares.

10.3.1 The Cumans, therefore, having learned from the Vlachs the paths through the mountain passes and thus having crossed the Zygos easily, as soon as they approached Goloë, immediately its inhabitants, having bound the man entrusted with the defense of the fortress, handed him over to the Cumans, and they themselves, acclaiming them, gladly received them. And Katakalon Constantine, keeping fresh the emperor's instructions, encountered Cumans going out for plunder and attacking them boldly, immediately took prisoners from among them, numbering up to one hundred. The emperor, receiving him, immediately honors him with the rank of nobelissimos. And seeing that the Cumans had seized Goloë, the inhabitants of the neighboring cities, both of Diampolis and of the rest, approaching them, gladly received them and were handing over their cities and were acclaiming the falsely-named Diogenes. He, after becoming master of everything, taking the entire Cuman army, occupies Anchialos, intending perhaps to make an attempt on its walls. 10.3.2 But the emperor, being inside and possessing great experience in military matters from his infancy, when he recognized the nature of the place, that it was hindering the Cumans' attack and was a fortification for the wall, having divided his forces and opening the gates of the fortress, he positioned them outside in squadron formation with shields locked, and concerning

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Εὐφορβηνὸν Γεώργιον καὶ Κωνσταντῖνον τὸν Οὐμπερ τόπουλον εἰς φυλακὴν τῶν περὶ τὸν Ζυγὸν διακειμένων κλεισουρῶν ἐκπέπομφεν. Ἐκεῖθεν δὲ τὴν Χορταρέαν κατα λαβών (κλείσουρα δὲ τοῦ Ζυγοῦ οὑτωσί πως ὀνομαζομένη) τὸν ὅλον περιῄει Ζυγὸν κατασκεπτόμενος, εἰ πάντα τὰ πρῴην παρ' αὐτοῦ ἐντεταλμένα οἱ τὴν τούτων οἰκονομίαν ἀναδεξάμενοι τετελέκασι καὶ εἴ τι ἡμιτελὲς ἢ ἐνδέον ἐστί, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπανορθώσασθαι, ὡς μὴ ῥᾳδίως διὰ τούτων ἐξεῖ ναι τοῖς Κομάνοις διελθεῖν. Πάντα γοῦν οἰκονομήσας κᾆθ' οὕτως ἐκεῖθεν ὑποστρέψας περὶ τὴν Ἱερὰν καλουμένην Λίμνην τὸν χάρακα ἐπήξατο τῆς Ἀγχιάλου ἀγχοῦ διακειμένην. Νυκτὸς δὲ καταλαβόντος Πουδίλου τινὸς ἐκκρίτου τῶν Βλάχων καὶ τὴν τῶν Κομάνων διὰ τοῦ ∆ανούβεως δια περαίωσιν ἀπαγγείλαντος, δέον ἔκρινεν αὐγαζούσης τῆς ἡμέρας μετακαλεσάμενος τοὺς ἐκκρίτους τῶν συγγενῶν τε καὶ ἡγεμόνων βουλεύσασθαι ὅ τι δεῖ ποιεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἀγχίαλον πάντες παραγενέσθαι δεῖν ἔλεγον, παρα χρῆμα τὸν μὲν Καντακουζηνὸν καὶ τὸν Τατίκιον εἰς τὰ καλούμενα Θερμὰ ἐξαπέστειλε μετὰ καί τινων ἐθνικῶν, τοῦ τε Σκαλιαρίου τοῦ Ἐλχὰν καὶ ἑτέρων τῶν ἐκκρίτων, ἐφ' ᾧ τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν ἐκεῖσε ποιεῖσθαι μερῶν. Αὐτὸς δὲ ἀπέρχεται εἰς Ἀγχίαλον. 10.2.7 Ἐπεὶ δὲ πρὸς Ἀδριανού πολιν τὸ ὅρμημα τῶν Κομάνων μεμαθήκοι, μεταπεμψάμε νος τοὺς ἐκκρίτους τῶν Ἀδριανουπολιτῶν ἅπαντας, ὧν ὑπερέχοντες ὅ τε Κατακαλὼν ὁ Ταρχανειώτης λεγόμενος καὶ Νικηφόρος ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ πάλαι τυραννήσαντος Βρυεννίου, καὶ αὐτὸς τυραννήσας καὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν στερηθείς, τού τοις πολλὴν τὴν τοῦ κάστρου φυλακὴν ἐνετείλατο ποιεῖσθαι καὶ τῶν Κομάνων καταλαβόντων μὴ μετὰ μικροψυχίας τὸν μετ' αὐτῶν συναίρειν πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ μετὰ σκοποῦ καὶ ἐκ δια στήματος τὰς κατ' ἐκείνων βολὰς ποιεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα κεκλεισμένας τὰς πύλας ἔχειν, πολλὰς ὑποσχόμενος εὐερ γεσίας εἰ τὰ προστεταγμένα τηρήσαιεν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὸν Βρυέννιον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ παρεγ γυησάμενος οἷον μετὰ χρηστῶν τῶν ἐλπίδων πρὸς Ἀδρια νούπολιν ἐκπέπομφε. Τῷ δέ γε Κατακαλὼν τῷ Εὐφορβηνῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ διὰ γραμμάτων προσέταξεν ἀναλαβέσθαι τὸν καλούμενον Μοναστρᾶν (μιξοβάρβαρος δὲ οὗτος ἀνὴρ πολ λὴν τὴν περὶ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ ἐμπειρίαν κεκτημένος) καὶ Μιχαὴλ τὸν Ἀνεμᾶν μετὰ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοὺς τεταγμένων στρατιωτῶν, καὶ ἐπὰν τοὺς Κομάνους τὰς κλεισούρας διελ θόντας μάθοιεν, παρέσπεσθαι ὄπισθεν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀξυμφα νῶς αὐτῶν ἀποπειρᾶσθαι.

10.3.1 Τῶν γοῦν Κομάνων παρὰ τῶν Βλάχων τὰς διὰ τῶν κλεισουρῶν ἀτραποὺς μεμαθηκότων καὶ οὕτω τὸν Ζυγὸν ῥᾳδίως διεληλυθότων ἅμα τῷ τῇ Γολόῃ προσπελάσαι εὐθὺς οἱ ἔποικοι ταύτης δεσμήσαντες τὸν τὴν φυλακὴν τοῦ κάστρου πεπιστευμένον παραδεδώκασι τοῖς Κομάνοις, αὐτοὶ δὲ εὐφημήσαντες ἄσμενοι τούτους ὑπεδέξαντο. Ὁ δὲ Κατακαλὼν Κωνσταντῖνος ἐναύλους τὰς τοῦ βασιλέως ὑποθημοσύνας ἔχων Κομάνοις ἐντυχὼν εἰς προνομὴν ἐξερ χομένοις καὶ προσβαλὼν θαρσαλέως ζωγρίαν εὐθὺς ἐκ τού των ἄγει εἰς ἑκατὸν ποσουμένους. Τοῦτον ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπο δεξάμενος εὐθὺς τῷ τοῦ νωβελλισίμου τιμᾷ ἀξιώματι. Κατασχόντας δὲ τὴν Γολόην τοὺς Κομάνους θεασάμενοι οἱ τῶν παρακειμένων πόλεων ἔποικοι, ∆αμπόλεώς τε καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, προσεληλυθότες αὐτοὺς ἄσμενοι ὑπεδέχοντο καὶ παρεδίδουν τὰς πόλεις ἐπευφήμουν τε τὸν ψευδώνυμον ∆ιογένην. Ὃς μετὰ τὸ πάντων ἐγκρατὴς γενέσθαι ἀναλαβόμενος ἅπαν τὸ Κομανικὸν στράτευμα καταλαμβάνει τὴν Ἀγχίαλον ἀποπειρᾶσθαι τάχα βουλόμενος τῶν ταύτης τειχῶν. 10.3.2 Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐντὸς ὢν καὶ πολλὴν ἐμπει ρίαν περὶ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ ἐκ νηπίου κεκτημένος, ἐπεὶ τὴν τοῦ τόπου θέσιν διέγνω τοὺς μὲν Κομάνους ἀπείργουσαν τῆς ὁρμῆς, ὀχύρωμα δὲ τοῦ τείχους οὖσαν, διελὼν τὰς δυνάμεις καὶ τὰς πύλας ἀναπετάσας τοῦ κάστρου ἔξωθεν τούτους συνησπικότας ἰλαδὸν κατέστησε, περὶ δὲ