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to do, so that he might decide on the necessary things as quickly as possible and not be forced to flee shamefully and ignobly, with them neither raising arms in opposition nor defending themselves. But he praised them for the sake of the truth and acknowledged great thanks. But approaching Domenico, the commander of the whole fleet, and the other admirals 1.478 of the Latins, he said that it was not a proper decision, before learning precisely how many triremes the emperor was leading, to proceed to the sea battle so rashly and boldly. For if it should happen that you are defeated, nothing else remains than to be utterly destroyed, with all those here being enemies and ready to join in the attack. For this very reason it was necessary first to investigate how large a force the emperor is leading. And if you were able to fight a sea battle, but if not, to seek some refuge where you might be saved. But I, being present with you, would have readily joined in the fight in the sea battle; but there is nothing that will persuade the Rhodians to take up arms against the emperor, but they say that all other options are to be chosen rather than that they must fight against the emperor. Therefore it is not possible to compel them, all equally holding the same opinion. And having considered it, it seemed better to me to withdraw before the emperor arrives. For if we flee after he has been seen, we shall attach no ordinary shame to the Hospitallers. And it will be your concern how you might best arrange your own affairs. Therefore the admiral of the Rhodians, having said such things and taking his leave of them, sailed away to Rhodes. But to Domenico and the others who were left behind, it no longer seemed right to fight a sea battle; but they sent five of the triremes to Kalloni, a certain fort on Lesbos, for the purpose of bringing in both grain and a garrison; for they were afraid for it lest it be captured by the emperor in a raid; and they themselves 1.479 with the remaining ships were guarding Mytilene. But the emperor with the whole fleet came to Eressos; and having praised the Eressians for their goodwill toward him, and having deemed them worthy of all the care they needed, setting sail from there he sailed for Chios. But from a lookout post, someone shouting loudly was asking whose fleet it was. And when they answered that it was the emperor's, and the emperor himself is present. "And the triremes in the Gulf of Kalloni," he said, "whose are they?" And the emperor, understanding from this speech that they were from the ships at Mytilene guarding Kalloni, turned back and drove against them. And night had already fallen. And the Latins, when they saw the emperor driving toward them, seeing that escape was difficult and fighting it out impossible, pushed their ships onto the land, and they themselves hid in the woods, as the place was densely wooded, with the darkness also helping. And the emperor's men hauled off the empty triremes. And having disembarked and searched the thicket, they killed some of more than half of them, and took others alive. But as many as were able to escape under the cover of darkness, were saved, reaching Mytilene to their own people. And the emperor, leaving the *pinkernes* Philanthropenos there with both an infantry and cavalry force to besiege Mytilene, sailed away to Phocaea, which at that time Dounardos ruled. So those left behind on Lesbos subdued all the other forts by agreement, but Mytilene they besieged, surrounding it with both ships and foot-soldiers. But the emperor, 1.480 having sent an embassy to Saruchan, who ruled the eastern region around Phocaea, made a treaty and an alliance with him, so that Saruchan should provide aid to the emperor, both land and naval forces, for the siege of Phocaea and Mytilene, and the emperor in turn should set free Saruchan's son, Suleiman, and the other sons of the Persians, who were being held in Phocaea under the guise of hostages. For the Latins from Genoa in Phocaea, having seized by treachery Suleiman, the son of Saruchan, and twenty-four other sons of nobles from among the Persians, said that they had not seized them for slavery, but so as to have hostages for the sake of a firm peace. But Saruchan, having no other recourse, embraced the peace, even unwillingly, because of his affection for the boys. But then when the emperor promised to set them free, if he would zealously join the fight in the war against the Latins, in the hope of the freedom of the boys he joined in
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ποιεῖν, ὅπως τάχιστα τὰ δέοντα βουλεύσηται καὶ μὴ ἀναγκασθῇ φεύγειν αἰσχρῶς καὶ ἀγεννῶς, μήτε ὅπλα ἀνταιρόντων αὐτῶν μήτε ἀμυνομένων. ὁ δὲ αὐτοὺς μὲν τῆς ἀληθείας ἕνεκα ἐπῄνεσε καὶ χάριν ὡμολόγησε πολλήν. ∆ομενίκῳ δὲ τῷ παντὸς ἄρχοντι τοῦ στόλου, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ναυάρχοις 1.478 τῶν Λατίνων προσελθὼν, οὐκ ἔφασκε δεόντως βεβουλεῦσθαι πρὶν ἀκριβῶς ἐκμαθεῖν ὁπόσας ἄγοι τριήρεις ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἀπερισκέπτως πρὸς τὴν ναυμαχίαν οὕτω καὶ θρασέως χωρεῖν. ἐὰν γὰρ συμβαίη ἡττηθῆναι, οὐδὲν ἄλλο λείπεται ἢ παντάπασι διαφθαρῆναι, πάντων τῶν ἐνθάδε πολεμίων ὄντων καὶ συνεπιθησομένων. οὗ δὴ ἕνεκα ἐχρῆν πρότερον τὴν δύναμιν βασιλέως ἐρευνᾷν ὁπόσην ἄγει. κἂν μὲν οἷοί τε ἦτε διαναυμαχεῖν, ἂν δὲ μὴ, καταφυγήν τινα ὅπη σωθήσεσθε ζητεῖν. ἐγὼ δὲ προθύμως μὲν ἂν πρὸς τὴν ναυμαχίαν συνηγωνισάμην παρὼν ὑμῖν· ∆ηλίους δὲ οὐδέν ἐστι τὸ πεῖσον ὅπλα ἀνταίρειν βασιλεῖ, ἀλλὰ πάντα μᾶλλον αἱρετέα, ἢ πρὸς βασιλέα αὐτοῖς πολεμητέα εἶναι λέγουσι. βιάζεσθαι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔξεστιν αὐτοὺς πάντας ἐπίσης τὴν ὁμοίαν γνώμην ἔχοντας. ἔδοξε δέ μοι βέλτιον σκεψαμένῳ, πρὶν βασιλέα ἥκειν, ἀναχωρεῖν. ἐὰν γὰρ ὀφθέντος φεύγωμεν, αἰσχύνην οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν προστριψόμεθα Σπιταλιώταις. μελήσει δὲ ὑμῖν ὅπως ἂν βέλτιστα διάθησθε τὰ καθ' αὑτούς. ὁ μὲν οὖν τῶν ∆ηλίων ναύαρχος τοιαῦτα εἰπὼν καὶ συνταξάμενος αὐτοῖς, ἀπέπλευσεν εἰς ∆ῆλον. ∆ομενίκῳ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ὑπολειφθεῖσιν οὐκέτι ἐδόκει ναυμαχεῖν· ἀλλὰ πέντε μὲν τῶν τριήρεων ἔπεμψαν εἰς Καλλονὴν φρούριόν τι κατὰ τὴν Λέσβον ἐπὶ τῷ σῖτόν τε εἰσαγαγεῖν καὶ φρουράν· ἐδεδίεσαν γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ μὴ ὑπὸ βασιλέως ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ἁλῷ· αὐτοὶ 1.479 δὲ ταῖς λοιπαῖς ἐφρούρουν Μιτυλήνην. βασιλεὺς δὲ ἅμα παντὶ τῷ στόλῳ ἦλθεν εἰς Ἐρεσσόν· ἐπαινέσας δὲ Ἐρεσσίους τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν εὐνοίας ἕνεκα, καὶ προνοίας ὅσης ἐδέοντο ἀξιώσας, ἄρας ἐκεῖθεν ἔπλει ἐπὶ Χίον. ἀπὸ σκοπιᾶς δέ τις μεγαβοῶν ἐπυνθάνετο περὶ στόλου ὅτων εἴη. ἀποκριναμένων δὲ, ὡς εἴη βασιλέως, αὐτός τε πάρεστιν ὁ βασιλεύς. «αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ τῆς Καλλονῆς» ἔφη «τριήρεις τίνος;» ἐκ τοῦ λόγου δὲ συνεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκ τῶν εἰς Μιτυλήνην οὐσῶν εἶναι φρουρούσας Καλλονὴν, ἀναστρέψας ἤλαυνεν ἐπ' ἐκείνους. ἤδη δὲ ἐπελάβετο ἡ νύξ. Λατῖνοι δὲ ὡς εἶδον βασιλέα προσελαύνοντα, τό,τε φεύγειν ἄπορον ὁρῶντες, καὶ τὸ διαγωνίζεσθαι ἀδύνατον, ἐξῶσαν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὰς ναῦς, καὶ αὐτοὶ κατεκρύβησαν ὑπὸ τὴν ὕλην, συνηρεφοῦς τοῦ τόπου πεφυκότος, ἅμα δὲ συνεργοῦντος καὶ τοῦ σκότους. καὶ τὰς μὲν τριήρεις εἵλκυσαν κενὰς οἱ βασιλικοί. ἀποβάντες τε καὶ διερευνησάμενοι τὴν λόχμην, ὑπὲρ ἡμίσεις αὐτῶν τοὺς μὲν ἀπέκτειναν, τοὺς δὲ καὶ εἷλον ζῶντας. ὅσοι δὲ ὑπὸ σκότος ἠδυνήθησαν διαφυγεῖν, εἰς Μιτυλήνην διεσώθησαν πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους. βασιλεὺς δὲ ἐκεῖ πιγκέρνην τὸν Φιλανθρωπηνὸν καταλιπὼν ἅμα στρατιᾷ πεζῇ τε καὶ ἱππικῇ τὴν Μιτυλήνην πολιορκεῖν, ἀπέπλευσεν εἰς Φώκαιαν, ἧς ἦρχε τῷ τότε Ντουνάρδος. οἱ μὲν οὖν εἰς Λέσβον καταλειφθέντες τὰ μὲν λοιπὰ φρούρια πάντα παρεστήσαντο ὁμολογίᾳ, Μιτυλήνην δὲ ναυσί τε καὶ πεζῷ περικαθήμενοι ἐπολιόρκουν. βασι 1.480 λεὺς δὲ πρεσβείαν πρὸς Σαρχάνην πέμψας, ὃς ἦρχε τῆς ἕω τῆς κατὰ τὴν Φώκαιαν, σπονδὰς ἔθετο πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ συμμαχίαν, ὥστε Σαρχάνην μὲν ἐπικουρίαν βασιλεῖ παρασχεῖν πεζήν τε καὶ ναυτικὴν πρὸς τὴν τῆς Φωκαίας καὶ Μιτυλήνης πολιορκίαν, βασιλέα δὲ τὸν παῖδα Σαρχάνη Σουλιμὰν καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς παῖδας τῶν Περσῶν, οἳ κατὰ Φώκαιαν ἐν προσχήματι ὁμήρων ἐφρουροῦντο, ἐλευθεροῦν. οἱ γὰρ εἰς Φώκαιαν ἐκ Γεννούας Λατῖνοι δόλῳ Σουλιμὰν τὸν παῖδα Σαρχάνη καὶ τέτταρας καὶ εἴκοσιν ἑτέρους τῶν παρὰ Πέρσαις εὐγενῶν κρατήσαντες παῖδας, ἔφασαν οὐκ ἐπὶ δουλείᾳ κεκρατηκέναι, ἀλλ' ὥστε ὁμήρους ἔχειν βεβαίας ἕνεκα εἰρήνης. Σαρχάνης δὲ μὴ ἔχων ὅ,τι δρᾷν, ἠσπάζετο καὶ ἄκων τὴν εἰρήνην διὰ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας φίλτρον. τότε δὲ ἐπαγγειλαμένου βασιλέως ἐλευθεροῦν, ἂν συναγωνίσηται προθύμως πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον τὸν κατὰ τῶν Λατίνων, ἐλπίδι τῆς τῶν παίδων ἐλευθερίας συνήρατο