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And at first, setting fire, they utterly burned the gate so-called of Bareos; but since this too was fortified from within by a wall of stone, being at a loss they set up helepoles. And having prepared a certain siege engine, a wheeled ladder pushed forward with ease, covered all over with the hides of oxen, they brought it and set it against the walls, and urged on those who were to mount it. And among them was also Pharenta Tzimes, carrying a standard in his hands and from the tip of his nose proclaimed king of Sicily, being hopeful also for the imminent capture of the city. Therefore, when the battle was joined at close quarters and the more ardent were already climbing up, the defenders within, struggling against them, having brought up a long 605 column and suddenly dashed it against it, pulled down the engine, and brought all those operating it there to destruction. And thus, having despaired, they set about the retreat, having lost not a few warlike men. And from there they made an attempt on Pamphylou, and there, having done and suffered the same things, they march upon Calliou. And they kept well away from Didymoteichon; for indeed the emperor Michael had set out from there and was staying around Morra.

20. But before they arrived there, since the ships from Genoa too, having set sail from Trapezous and the regions above, had put in at the city of Constantine and were already about to sail for home (for it did not seem right to the emperor to detain them in alliance; for it was not for them to fight on land, while the Almogavars were overrunning the midland), for the time being what was possible for them and appeared useful to the emperor, they both asked the emperor to command whatever he might wish. And he ordered them to put in at Calliou in passing and to make an attempt, and they undertook it, against a place guarded by a few men, and having accomplished something noble, if they could, 606 then to sail away. So when they put in, having joined battle, they attempted to burn the trading post, but having lit a fire and burned part of one of the ships moored in the harbor, they accomplished nothing more. Then they also lost one of their own noble gentlemen in the war, and the admiral Mouriskos was wounded. And when they attacked the city, a certain detachment of the enemy appeared, and having raised a great cloud of dust and from this seeming to be the entire army, they suddenly struck cowardice into the fighting men. And for these reasons, having taken no small amount of the spoils and having backed water, they departed for their own lands.

21. And the emperor, sending again, tried to persuade them to depart in peace by taking money. But he did not persuade them through his embassies; for Rocafort sent back the same men, refusing peace unless such and such things happened, saying what we have indeed already said before. And there were also ambassadors from Svyatoslav to Rocafort, seeking a truce and promising the sister of Svyatoslav, the wife of the slain Tzachas, in marriage to him, so as to have an alliance against the Romans; and Rocafort was in agreement with these things. And when the emperor's 607 ambassadors somewhere arrived in the city, and reported that some of the Persians, over four hundred, were crossing over (for Rocafort was boasting of this too, that it was possible for him to transport as many as he wished, since he held the shores throughout Thrace, as if they would be hindered not at all even by the emperor's ships), immediately a certain detachment, and especially of the Persians, invading the straits of Ganos, seized the pass with a shout, and having taken much booty from Eudemoplatanos, having killed the majority, having equipped themselves from there and secured their safety from the fortress, they attacked the rest more vigorously. From there and as far as Rhaidestos, the areas towards this side in the breadth of Bizye and beyond, having completely depopulated so great a region of people, they reveled in their crops; for encountering a waving sea of corn, having set the captives as reapers, a countless number

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καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τὴν τοῦ Βαρέως οὕτω πύλην καλουμένην, πῦρ ἐνιέντες, πυρπολοῦσιν εἰς τέλος· ὡς δ' ἔνδοθεν καὶ αὕτη τῷ ἐκ πετρῶν τειχίσματι περιεφράγνυτο, ἀμηχανήσαντες ἑλεπόλεις ἱστᾶσι. καὶ μηχάνημά τι πολιορκικόν, προωθουμένην εὐκινή τως ὑπότροχον κλίμακα, βύρσαις βοῶν δι' ὅλου κεκαλυμμένην, ἐξετοιμάσαντες φέροντες πρὸς τοῖς τείχεσιν ἵστων, καὶ τοὺς ἐπι βησομένους ἐξώτρυνον. ἦν δ' ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ὁ Φαρέντα Τζιμῆς σημαίαν ταῖς χερσὶ φέρων καὶ ἐξ ἄκρας κορύζης ῥὴξ μὲν Σικελίας φημιζόμενος, εὔελπις ὢν καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ἁλώσει ὅσον οὔπω τοῦ ἄστεος. ἐκ χειρὸς τοίνυν καταστάσης τῆς μάχης καὶ ἀναρριχω μένων ἤδη τῶν θερμοτέρων, οἱ ἐντὸς ἀντιπαλαμώμενοι, κίονα 605 μακρὰν ὑπαναβιβασάμενοί τε καὶ προσαράξαντες ἐκ τοῦ αἰφνηδόν, τὸ μὲν μηχάνημα κατασπῶσι, πάντας δὲ τοὺς ἐκεῖ μεταχειριζομέ νους φθορᾷ προσεπέλασαν. καὶ οὕτω μὲν ἀπογνόντες τῆς ἀπα ναστάσεως ἅπτονται, οὐκ ὀλίγους ἄνδρας ἀρεϊκοὺς ἀποβαλόντες. κἀκεῖθεν Παμφύλου πειρῶνται, κἀκεῖ τὰ ὅμοια δράσαντες καὶ παθόντες ἐπὶ τὴν Καλλίου βαδίζουσιν. ∆ιδυμοτείχου καὶ λίαν ἀπέσχοντο· καὶ γὰρ ὁ βασιλεὺς Μιχαὴλ ἐκεῖθεν ἐξώρμησε καὶ περὶ τὴν Μόρραν διέτριβε.

20. Πρὶν δ' αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖ παραγγεῖλαι, ἐπεὶ καὶ αἱ ἐκ Γεννούας νῆες ἐκ Τραπεζοῦντος καὶ τῶν ἄνω τόπων κατάρασαι προσέσχον τῇ Κωνσταντίνου καὶ ἤδη ἐπ' οἴκου ἔμελλον ἀποπλεῖν (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐδόκει τῷ βασιλεῖ παρακατέχειν σφᾶς κατὰ συμμα χίαν· αὐτοῖς μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἦν κατὰ γῆν πολεμεῖν, Ἀμογάβαροι δὲ κατέθεον τὴν μεσόγειον), τέως δ' ὅπερ ἦν αὐτοῖς δυνατὸν καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ χρήσιμον κατεφαίνετο, βασιλέα τε ἠξίουν ὅπερ ἂν βούλοιτο προστάττειν. ὁ δὲ ἐκ παρόδου προσσχεῖν τῇ Καλλίου προσέταττε καὶ πεῖραν προσάξαι, κἀκεῖνοι ὑφίσταντο, παρά τι νων εὐαριθμήτων φυλασσομένῃ, καί τι γενναῖον, εἰ δυνηθεῖεν, 606 διαπραξαμένους ἔπειτα ἀποπλεῖν. ὡς γοῦν προσέσχον, μάχην συστήσαντες τὸ μὲν ἐμπόριον πυρπολεῖν ἐπιχειροῦσι, πῦρ δ' ἐναύ σαντες καί τινα τῶν νηῶν ἐφορμῶσαν τῷ λιμένι καταφλέξαντες τὸ μέρος, οὐδὲν πλέον ἤνυσαν. εἶτα καί τινα τῶν ἰδίων εὐγενῆ γεννάδαν ἀποβαλεῖν κατὰ πόλεμον, πληγῆναί τε καὶ τὸν Μουρί σκον ἀμηραλῆν. ὡς δὲ τῷ ἄστει ἐπεχείρουν, μοῖρά τις τῶν πο λεμίων φανεῖσα, πολύν τε στήσαντες τὸν κονιορτὸν κἀντεῦθεν δόξαντες εἶναι τὸ σύμπαν τῆς στρατιᾶς, δειλίαν ἐμβάλλουσι μα χομένοις ἐκ τοῦ ἐξαίφνης. καὶ διὰ ταῦτα, οὐκ ὀλίγα καὶ τῶν λαφύρων ἐκεῖνοι λαβόντες καὶ πρύμναν κρουσάμενοι, ἀπελύοντο πρὸς τὰ ἴδια ἤθη.

21. Βασιλεὺς δὲ καὶ αὖθις πέμπων ἐπείρα μετ' εἰρήνης τῷ λαβεῖν χρήματα ἀπαλλάττεσθαι πείθειν. ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔπειθε διαπρεσβευόμενος· τοὺς γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἀντέπεμπε Ῥομοφόρτος τὴν εἰρήνην ἀπεροῦντας, εἰ μὴ τὰ καὶ τὰ γένοιτο, λέγων ἅπερ δὴ καὶ προείπομεν. ἦσαν δὲ καὶ πρέσβεις ἐξ Ὀσφεντισθλάβου πρὸς Ῥομοφόρτον, σπονδὰς ζητοῦντες καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ὀσφεντισθλάβου, τὴν τοῦ Τζακᾶ τοῦ φονευθέντος σύζυγον, ἐγγυωμένους πρὸς γάμον ἐκείνῳ, ὥστε ἔχειν ὁμαιχμίαν κατὰ Ῥωμαίων· καὶ τούτοις ὁ Ῥομοφόρτος συγκάταινος ἦν. τῶν δὲ ποῦ βασιλέως 607 πρέσβεων ἐς πόλιν παραγγειλάντων, καὶ ἀγγελλόντων ὡς καί τι νες τῶν Περσῶν διαπερῷεν ὑπὲρ τετρακοσίους (καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ ἐβρενθύετο Ῥομοφόρτος, ὡς εἴη τὰ δυνατά οἱ ὁπόσους θέλοι διαπερᾶν τοὺς κατὰ Θρᾴκην αἰγιαλοὺς κατέχοντι ὡς ἂν μηδὲν μηδ' ὅλως παρὰ τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως νηῶν κωλυθησομένων), παρ αυτίκα μοῖρά τις καὶ μάλιστα τῶν Περσῶν εἰς τὰ τοῦ Γάνου στενὰ εἰσβαλόντες αὐτοβοεὶ τὸν αὐχένα κατέσχον, καὶ πολλὴν λείαν ἐξ Εὐδημοπλατάνου ληϊσάμενοι, τοὺς πολλοὺς φονεύσαντες, ἀρτύναντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὸ ἀσφαλὲς σχόντες ἐκ τοῦ φρουρίου τοῖς λοιποῖς ἐνεργέστερον ἐπεχείρουν. ἐκεῖθεν καὶ ἕως Ῥαιδεστοῦ, τὰ πρὸς τὰ ὧδε κατά τε πλάτος Βιζύης καὶ πρόσω, ἅπαντα τὸν τοσοῦτον τόπον ἀνθρώπων παντελῶς ἐρημώσαντες τοῖς ἐκείνων καρποῖς ἐνετρύφων· πελάγει γὰρ ληΐων κυματίζοντι προστυγχάνοντες, ἐξ αἰχμαλώτων τοὺς ἀμητῆρας ἐπιστήσαντες, μυρίον