173

he inquired how he might handle them all; 588 and he told him to send half of them somewhere outside, and to kill the remaining ones in their absence, and those others in turn. But he demanded a demonstration of this sort as proof. And so he received men's heads sent from him, supposedly of Persians. And he would have deceived him, if a certain woman had not clearly recognized one of the heads as that of her own husband, from which, suspecting that the rest were likely Romans, they refrained from that attempt.

13. The emperor, however, learning that the eastern fortresses were suffering from famine and siege, collecting the surplus of grain from the largest monasteries in the city, and sending those who would transport it by sea, he hastened to relieve the famine as he could, but as for the Turkish raid, by sending an embassy with the same terms to Charbanda, the Khan of the Tochars, as indeed to Kazan, he requested him to send an army in alliance to check it. In a short while, ambassadors arrived from there, and messages that about 40,000 fighting men had already been prepared, of whom the first cousin of Charbanda, arriving first, was leading 20,000 589 somewhere around Iconium; and the ambassadors assured that the rest were being summoned, and that there was nothing more for them to do than to learn the emperor's will, where and against whom they should attack to ward off the villains. And the emperor was occupied with these matters, and was preparing gifts and ambassadors for them; but an ominous rumor was also reported, that Ephesus had been taken by the Persarch Sasan, who, being both the son-in-law and servant of Mantachias of Karaman, had long since revolted from him, and leading his own forces he was growing stronger than him. And indeed, the fortress of Thyraea there had previously been taken by him, after he subdued those there with a many-day famine; and since, again for this same reason, Ephesus was also taken by an agreement that the people should not suffer anything irreparable, those vessels dedicated to the temple of the beloved of Christ and virgin, and an incredible amount of money were carried off, and most of the citizens were also relocated to the fortress of Thyraea, for fear of suffering something from the treachery of the Persarchs, should they make a cruel attack if opportunity offered. And they made many others the work of the sword, slaughtering them without pity.

14. These reports, and along with them other dreadful things daily, made the emperor terribly distressed. He did not, however, 590 utterly despair, but he himself, as much as he could, did not cease to struggle against it, and for the time being he wished to uproot the evil in his bosom above all others. This was the Almogavars and the Persians with them, to whom the aforementioned Turcopoles, being more than a thousand, had also gone over. For since they had revolted along with the Alans, the latter were on their own, and from many things they gave the impression, that if they were not sufficiently paid by the emperor, they would depart to Svendislav. For Koutzimpaxis, upon returning to the emperor, confirmed these things; this name is Hellenized as "first of the holy warriors." But the Alans, learning that the Turcopoles were departing for Gallipoli with their wives and children, suddenly falling upon them, supposedly as a favor to the emperor, seizing a few women and children out of many, they sent them to the emperor. In this way, as the enemy grew stronger, so that it was reported that they were marching out and overrunning the rest of Thrace, those who inhabited the suburbs of the city began to move their goods into the city, and the emperor, attempting many other things in order to check the enemy, also sent an embassy to Genoa, requesting that a fleet of ships be launched from there for full pay, and that it arrive here at the same time as spring. 591 15. Meanwhile, one of the Persians who had crossed over, Isaac Melik, being a satrap and leading many men, sending secretly to the emperor without any of the Catalans perceiving it, requested a truce, as he was ready to revolt from the Almogavars on the spot, and would accomplish whatever would be advantageous to the emperor's affairs as far as was possible, in his current state, or at least while remaining there,

173

διεπυνθάνετο πῶς ἂν πάντας δια 588 χειρίσαιτο· ὁ δ' ἔφασκέ οἱ τοὺς ἡμίσεας ἔξω που στεῖλαι, καὶ τοὺς ἐναπολειφθέντας ἐρήμην ἀποκτειννύναι, κἀκείνους ἐκ δια δοχῆς. ὁ δὲ δεῖγμα τοῦ τοιούτου ἀπῄτει πρὸς πίστωσιν. καὶ δέχεται δὴ κεφαλὰς ἀνδρῶν ἀποσταλείσας παρ' ἐκείνου ὡς δῆθεν Περσῶν. καὶ ἠπάτησεν ἄν, εἰ μή τις γυνὴ μίαν τῶν κεφαλῶν ἀριδήλως ἐγνώρισεν τοῦ ἰδίου ἀνδρός, ἐξ ἧς τὰς λοιπὰς Ῥωμαίων εἶναι κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ὑποτοπήσαντες πείρας ἐκείνης ἀπέσχοντο.

13. Ὁ μέντοι γε βασιλεὺς λιμῷ καὶ πολιορκίᾳ καὶ τὰ κατ' ἀνατολὴν φρούρια ταλαιπωρεῖσθαι πυνθανόμενος, τὸν μὲν λιμὸν ἐκ τῶν κατὰ πόλιν μεγίστων μονῶν τὸ περιττὸν τῶν σίτων ἐκλέγων, στέλλων τοὺς διακομίσοντας κατὰ θάλασσαν, ὡς ἦν θεραπεύειν ἠπείγετο, τὴν δὲ τῶν Τούρκων καταδρομήν, τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ Κάνι τῶν Τοχάρων Χαρμπαντᾷ ἃ δὴ καὶ τῷ Καζάνῃ δια πρεσβευόμενος, ἠξίου κατὰ συμμαχίαν πέμποντα στρατὸν ἀνα στέλλειν. μικρὸν ὅσον, καὶ πρέσβεις ἐκεῖθεν ἀφίκοντο, καὶ ἀγγελίαι ὡς περὶ μʹ χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν μαχίμων ἤδη καθητοιμά σθησαν, ὧν τὰς κʹ φθάσας ὁ τοῦ Χαρμπαντᾶ αὐτανέψιος ἄγει 589 περί που τὸ Ἰκόνιον· μεθέπεσθαι δὲ καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς οἱ πρέσβεις διεβεβαίουν, εἶναι δὲ μὴ πλέον σφίσι τοῦ μαθεῖν τὴν τοῦ βασι λέως θέλησιν, ὅπου καὶ ἐπὶ τίνας προσβάλλοιεν ἀμυνόμενοι τοὺς ἀλάστορας. καὶ ὁ μὲν κρατῶν ἐν τούτοις ἦν, καὶ δῶρα καὶ πρέσβεις πρὸς ἐκείνους ἐξητοιμάζετο· ἀγγέλλεται δὲ καὶ φήμη προστρόπαιος, ὡς κατείληπται Ἔφεσος παρὰ τοῦ Περσάρχου Σασᾶν, ὃς γαμβρὸς ἅμα καὶ θεράπων τοῦ Καρμανοῦ Μαντα χίου ὢν ἐκείνου μὲν ἐκ πολλοῦ ἀπεστάτησε, καθ' ἑαυτὸν δὲ δυ νάμεις ἄγων ὑπὲρ ἐκεῖνον ἐκραταιοῦτο. καὶ δὴ προεάλω μὲν παρ' αὐτοῦ τὸ ἐκεῖσε τῶν Θυραίων φρούριον, λιμῷ πολυημέρῳ τοὺς ἐκεῖ παραστησαμένου· ἐπεὶ δ' αὖθις ταύτης χάριν τῆς αἰ τίας ἐξ ὁμολογίας τοῦ μή τι τῶν ἀνηκέστων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πα θεῖν συγκατείληπται καὶ ἡ Ἔφεσος, σκεύη μὲν ἐκεῖνα τὰ τῷ ναῷ ἀφιερωμένα τοῦ ἠγαπημένου τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ παρθένου, χρημά των τε ἄπιστον πλῆθος διεφορεῖτο, μετῳκίζοντο δὲ καὶ οἱ πλείους τῶν πολιτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν Θυραίων φρούριον, δέει τοῦ μή τι πα θεῖν ἐκ δόλου τοὺς Περσάρχας ἄχαρι ἐπιθεμένων ἐκείνων, ἢν καιρὸς διδοίη. ἄλλους δὲ πλείστους ἔργον μαχαίρας ἐποίουν ἀνοικτὶ σφάττοντες.

14. Ταῦτ' ἀγγελλόμενα, καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῖς ἕτερ' ἄττα δεινὰ καθ' ἡμέραν, δεινῶς ἀλύειν ἐποίουν τὸν βασιλέα. οὐ μὴν 590 δ' ἐς τέλος κατέπιπτεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτός, ὅσον εἶχεν, οὐκ ἔλη γεν ἀντιπαλαμώμενος, καὶ τέως τὸ ἐγκόλπιον κακὸν ὑπὲρ τἆλλα ἔθελεν ἀνασπᾶν. τὸ δ' ἦν Ἀμογάβαροί τε καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτοῖς Πέρσαι, οἷς δὴ καὶ οἱ ἄνω ῥηθέντες ὑπὲρ τοὺς χιλίους ὄντες Τουρκόπουλοι προσεχώρησαν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ συνάμα Ἀλανοῖς ἀφειστήκεσαν, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν κατ' αὐτοὺς ἦσαν, καὶ δόξαν ἐκ πολλῶν ἐδίδουν, εἰ μὴ ἱκανῶς πρὸς βασιλέως μισθοῖντο, ἀποχωρεῖν πρὸς Ὀσφεντίσθλαβον. ταῦτα γὰρ Κουτζίμπαξις ἐπανήκων πρὸς βασιλέα διεβεβαίου· πρῶτος δὲ τῶν ἱερομάγων τοὔνομα τοῦτο ἐξελληνίζεται. οἱ δὲ Ἀλανοὶ μαθόντες ὡς Τουρκόπουλοι ἀπέκλινον πρὸς Καλλιούπολιν ἅμα γυναιξὶ καὶ παισίν, αἴφνης ἐπεισπεσόντες κατὰ τὴν πρὸς βασιλέα δῆθεν χάριν, γυναῖκας ἐκ πολλῶν ὀλίγας καὶ παῖδας περισχόντες πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα ἀπέ στελλον. ταύτῃ τοι καὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν κρατυνομένων, ὡς καὶ ἐξε λαύνειν καὶ κατατρέχειν τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς Θρᾴκης ἠγγέλθαι, οἱ μὲν τοῖς προαστείοις ἐγκατῳκημένοι τῆς πόλεως ἀπαίροντες πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἐσκευαγώγουν, βασιλεὺς δὲ καὶ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιχειρῶν ἐφ' ᾧ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἐπίσχοι, καὶ πρὸς Γέννουαν πέμπει πρεσβείαν, ἀξιῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἀναχθῆναι στόλον νηῶν κατ' ἐντελεῖς τοὺς μισθούς, καὶ ἅμα ἦρι πρὸς τάδε ἀφῖχθαι. 591 15. Ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ καί τις τῶν διαπεραιωθέντων Περ σῶν, Ἰσαὰκ Μελήκ, σατράπης ὢν καὶ πολλοὺς ἄγων, πέμπων πρὸς βασιλέα κρυφηδὸν παρὰ πᾶσαν τῶν Κατελάνων αἴσθησιν ἠξίου περὶ σπονδῶν, ὡς αὐτόθεν ἀποστατήσων Ἀμογαβάρων, καὶ ὅσα τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως συνοίσει πράγμασι κατὰ τὸ δυνατόν, ὡς ἔχει, διαπραξόμενος, ἢ γοῦν αὐτόθι μένων,