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of the person of Domenikos, to do obeisance to the emperor. And all the more prominent men who were being besieged in Phocaea, bringing both the son of Sarchanes and the others who were with him as if a gift, came to the emperor. And when they had done obeisance and begged to receive pardon for the wrongs they had committed during the war, the emperor received them gently and kindly, and immediately granted pardon, and all that the Grand Domestic had previously promised them was fulfilled in deed, and when they surrendered Mytilene to the emperor, the garrisons having been expelled; and the emperor, having returned his son to Sarchanes and to the other 1.495 Persians, they professed many thanks to him on account of the freedom of their children, he himself sailed away to Byzantium, having recovered for the Romans Lesbos, which had already come under the Latins. 32. After a short time had passed, it was reported from the west by those governing there that the Albanians who occupy the regions of Balagrita and Kanina, being prone to change and by nature revolutionary, breaking the treaties they had made with the emperor, were attacking the cities there by assault, and were treating them badly and plundering them. These men had dared such things even before, and gathering in large numbers and being in want, they would harm the cities until the emperor, sending an army against them, would force them to keep the peace and to do no wrong to the western regions. But whenever the army was disbanded to its homes and summer came on, they were no longer able to keep quiet, but oppressed the cities there with robberies and open raids. And then, many men of like mind regarding wrongdoing banded together and were causing very great harm to Balagrita and Kanina. And they had already subdued a certain fort named Skreparion and Klisura, and Timoron, another western fort established near Balagrita, and held them securely for their robberies and their frequent and relentless raids. For these reasons, therefore, it seemed good to the emperor to march against them. And the death of John Doukas, the ruler of Acarnania, which occurred at the same time, spurred the em 1.496 peror on still more towards the west, since he hoped to subdue Acarnania for himself. And while he was deliberating on such matters, it seemed necessary to him to summon a Persian infantry alliance from Ionia on account of the Albanians. For since they inhabited mountains that were precipitous and large and had many refuges and hiding places, they could not easily be harmed by cavalry, especially in summer when they went up to the very highest parts of the mountains, where it is not easy even for infantry to oppose them because of the strength of the place and because the defenders can shoot down from above the heads of their attackers. And sending to Amūr, he asked for an infantry alliance. And he gladly received the emperor's embassy, for he considered it of the greatest importance to do something according to the emperor's will, and he immediately sent the army to Thessalonica. And when the emperor also arrived there leading the army of the Romans, he took the Persian force with him and proceeded through Thessaly against the Albanians. And he went as far as Epidamnos, plundering them. And many of them were destroyed. For having learned of the emperor's attack and thinking that the army from the Romans was only cavalry, they fled to the mountains and the rough country, supposing they would escape destruction. But the Persians, being light-armed troops and archers, for whom battle in rough country is especially easy, very easily overpowered them not only because they were unarmed and fell when shot from a distance, but also because they were panic-stricken by the unfamiliar sight of the 1.497 barbarians. And they killed very many of them and took them captive. And as many as were able to escape, leaving behind children and wives and their other possessions, hid themselves somewhere on the earth and disappeared from sight. And the Persians enslaved the women and children, a certain part of whom their kinsmen, as many as had not offended the emperor, ransomed by providing a ransom to the Persians. And the emperor also ransomed not a few with a ransom, when their relatives approached and begged him; and he would have ransomed even more, or all of them, if they had come sooner, while the Persians were still accompanying the rest of the army. But since

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προσώπου ∆ομενίκου βασιλέα προσκυνήσειν. ὅσοι δὲ τῶν ἐπιφανεστέρων ἦσαν ἐν Φωκαίᾳ πολιορκούμενοι, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν Σαρχάνη καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, ὅσοι ἦσαν σὺν αὐτῷ, ὥσπερ δῶρον ἐπαγόμενοι, ἥκουσιν εἰς βασιλέα. προσκυνήσαντάς τε καὶ περὶ ὧν κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἐξήμαρτον τυχεῖν συγγνώμης δεηθέντας βασιλεὺς μὲν ἡμέρως προσεδέξατο καὶ προσηνῶς, συγγνώμην τε παρέσχετο εὐθὺς καὶ ὅσα πρότερον ἐπηγγείλατο αὐτοῖς ὁ μέγας δομέστικος ἔργῳ ἐπληροῦτο, καὶ αὐτῶν Μιτυλήνην παραδόντων βασιλεῖ, ἐκβληθέντων τῶν φρουρῶν· Σαρχάνῃ τε ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν παῖδα ἀποδοὺς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις 1.495 Πέρσαις, χάριτας αὐτῷ πολλὰς τῆς ἐλευθερίας τῶν παίδων ἕνεκα ὁμολογοῦσιν, αὐτὸς εἰς Βυζάντιον ἀπέπλευσε, Λέσβον ὑπὸ Λατίνοις ἤδη γεγενημένην Ῥωμαίοις ἀνασώσας. λβʹ. Ὀλίγου δὲ παρελθόντος χρόνου, ἠγγέλλετο ἐκ τῆς ἑσπέρας παρὰ τῶν ἐπιτροπευόντων ἐκεῖ, ὅτι οἱ περὶ Βαλάγριτα καὶ Κάνινα νεμόμενοι Ἀλβανοὶ, εὐχερεῖς ὄντες πρὸς μεταβολὰς καὶ φύσει νεωτεροποιοὶ, ἃς πρὸς βασιλέα ἐποιήσαντο συνθήκας παραβαίνοντες, ταῖς ἐκεῖσε πόλεσιν ἐξ ἐφόδου ἐπιόντες, κακῶς διατιθέασι καὶ λεηλατοῦσιν. οἳ καὶ πρότερον τοιαῦτά τινα ἐτόλμων καὶ συνιστάμενοι πολλοὶ καὶ ἄποροι, τὰς πόλεις κακῶς ἐποίουν ἄχρις ἂν στρατιὰν ἐπ' ἐκείνους πέμψας βασιλεὺς, ἀναγκάσειεν εἰρήνην ἄγειν καὶ τοὺς ἑσπερίους ἀδικεῖν μηδέν. ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἡ στρατιὰ ἐπ' οἴκου διαλυθείη καὶ τὸ θέρος ἐπιγένοιτο, οὐκέτι οἷοί τε ἦσαν ἠρεμεῖν, ἀλλὰ λῃστείαις καὶ φανεραῖς ἐπιδρομαῖς ἐπίεζον τὰς πόλεις τὰς ἐκεῖ. τότε δὲ πολλοί τε καὶ ὁμοίας περὶ τὸ ἀδικεῖν τὰς γνώμας ἔχοντες συστάντες, Βαλάγριτά τε καὶ Κάνινα ἐκακούργουν πάνυ. καὶ φρούριόν τι Σκρεπάριον ὠνομασμένον καὶ τὴν Κλεισοῦραν, Τίμωρον δὲ φρούριόν τι καὶ αὐτὸ ἑσπέριον περὶ Βαλάγριτα ᾠκισμένον παρεστήσαντο ἤδη καὶ βεβαίως εἶχον πρός τε τὰς λῃστείας καὶ τὰς συχνὰς ἀπειρηκὸς ἐπιδρομάς. διὰ ταῦτα οὖν ἐδόκει βασιλεῖ αὐτοῖς ἐπιστρατεύειν. προσεπιγενομένη δὲ ὑπὸ τοῖς αὐτοῖς χρόνοις καὶ ἡ Ἰωάννου τοῦ ∆ούκα τῆς Ἀκαρνανίας ἄρχοντος τελευτὴ μᾶλλον ἐξώρμησε τὸν βα 1.496 σιλέα πρὸς τὴν ἑσπέραν, ἐλπίσαντα Ἀκαρνανίαν ὑποποιήσειν ἑαυτῷ. τοιαῦτα δὲ βουλευομένῳ καὶ συμμαχίαν ἐδόκει δεῖν ἐξ Ἰωνίας μεταπέμπεσθαι Περσικὴν ἕνεκα τῶν Ἀλβανῶν πεζήν. ὄρη γὰρ δυσπρόσοδα νεμόμενοι καὶ μεγάλα καὶ πολλὰς ἔχοντα ἀποφυγὰς καὶ καταδύσεις, οὐ ῥᾳδίως ὑπὸ τῶν ἱππέων βλάπτεσθαι ἐδύναντο, καὶ μάλιστα ἐν θέρει εἰς τὰ ἀκρότατα ἀνιόντες τῶν ὀρῶν, ὅπου καὶ πεζοῖς ἀντιτάξασθαι οὐκ εὐχερὲς διὰ τὴν ὀχυρότητα τοῦ τόπου καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς τοὺς ἐπιόντας τοὺς ἀμυνομένους βάλλειν. καὶ πέμψας πρὸς Ἀμοὺρ, ᾐτεῖτο συμμαχίαν πεζήν. ὁ δὲ ἄσμενός τε προσεδέξατο τὴν πρεσβείαν βασιλέως, ἦν γὰρ ἄγων περὶ πλείστου τὸ κατὰ γνώμην τι βασιλέως πράττειν, καὶ τὴν στρατιὰν εὐθὺς ἔπεμπεν εἰς Θεσσαλονίκην. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἄγων στρατιὰν ἀφίκετο ἐκεῖ, καὶ τὴν Περσικὴν παραλαβὼν διὰ Θετταλίας ἐπὶ Ἀλβανοὺς ἐχώρει. καὶ μέχρι Ἐπιδάμνου ἦλθε ληϊζόμενος αὐτούς. διεφθάρησάν τε ἐξ αὐτῶν πολλοί. πυθόμενοι γὰρ τὴν βασιλέως ἔφοδον καὶ νομίσαντες μόνην ἐκ Ῥωμαίων ἱππικὴν εἶναι στρατιὰν, πρὸς τὰ ὄρη κατέφυγον καὶ τὰς δυσχωρίας, οἰόμενοι διαφεύξεσθαι τὸν ὄλεθρον. ἐπελθόντες δὲ οἱ Πέρσαι ψιλοί τε ὄντες καὶ τοξόται, οἷς μάλιστά ἐστι ῥᾳδία ἡ πρὸς τὰς δυσχωρίας μάχη, ῥᾷστά τε ἐκράτησαν αὐτῶν οὐ μόνον διὰ τὸ ἀόπλους ὄντας πόῤῥωθεν βαλλομένους πίπτειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἄηθες καταπλαγέντας τῶν 1.497 βαρβάρων. καὶ πλείστους τε ἀπέκτειναν αὐτῶν καὶ εἷλον αἰχμαλώτους. ὅσοι δὲ ἠδυνήθησαν διαφυγεῖν τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ τὴν ἄλλην κτῆσιν ἐκλιπόντες, ὅπη γῆς ἐκρύπτοντο ἦσαν ἀφανεῖς. γυναῖκας δὲ καὶ παῖδας ἠνδραπόδισαν οἱ Πέρσαι, ὧν μέρος μέν τι οἱ ὁμόφυλοι ἐλύσαντο, ὅσοι μὴ προσκεκρουκότες ἦσαν βασιλεῖ, λύτρα παρασχόμενοι τοῖς Πέρσαις. ἔλυσε δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγους καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς λύτροις, τῶν οἰκείων προσελθόντων καὶ δεηθέντων· ἔλυσε δ' ἂν καὶ πλείους ἢ σύμπαντας, εἰ πρότερον προσῆλθον, ἕως ἔτι οἱ Πέρσαι συνείποντο μετὰ τῆς ἄλλης στρατιᾶς. ἐπεὶ δὲ