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much gentleness and generosity, not only did he treat the peoples of the cities with common benefactions, but he also rewarded the powerful among them with honors and annual revenues and other benefactions. And he betrothed the daughter of the megas domestikos to Nikephoros, the despot's son, and having arranged everything as seemed best to him, he went around all the cities of Acarnania not only for the sake of seeing them, having not seen them before, but also to deem them worthy of the necessary providence. So all the others were content to be placed under the emperor. But those to whom war had previously seemed preferable could not bear it unless they stirred up a revolt; and thinking that to secretly remove Nikephoros, the despot's son, first would give them power for the war, so that they might seem to be fighting on behalf of the child, and might persuade the others to join them when they entered the war, they persuaded the child’s tutor, Richard, along with some others, to secretly remove Nikephoros the Doukas, and taking him by night and boarding a ship crossing the Ionian Sea, they flee to the princess ruling Taranto. But the emperor, learning of the flight and not knowing who had contrived the plot, and being unable to recall the child because of the great distance separating Acarnania from Taranto, having lingered for a short time in those cities and appointed governors over each 1.504 one, and having appointed the protostrator Synadenos as general over all and having administered all other things as seemed best to him, he departed from there and came to Thessalonica, rejoicing and at the same time giving thanks to God for His benefaction, because what his imperial predecessors had been unable to recover, though cut off from the rule of the Romans since the time of Alexios Angelos at great expense and with much labor, He now granted him to achieve without wars and dangers. For Michael, the first of the Palaiologoi to rule, had shown great zeal on account of Acarnania and Thessaly, and he lost many a great and good army and marvelous generals warring against the Acarnanians and Thessalians; and after him, his son Andronikos. But to this one, who had labored little and had endured nothing terrible on account of the war, it was granted to subdue not only Acarnania, but also Thessaly, and to join to the rest of the Roman dominion what had been cut off for many years. And from there, not long afterward, he came to Adrianople. And while he was staying there, the king of the Mysians, Alexander, sent an embassy reminding him of the words which he had spoken to him at Rhosokastron concerning the marriage alliance, and now asking to know if it were his will to make the marriage alliance. But this was not to the emperor's pleasure. For he preferred that his daughter remain at home, rather than give her in marriage fellowship to the son of Alexander, knowing that life among the barbarians would not be to the 1.505 liking of one raised in Greek and imperial customs and laws; but thinking that his daughter's marriage was advantageous to the common good of the Romans, he promised to do it. So the ambassadors of King Alexander returned to their own land rejoicing, because they had been able to persuade the emperor about the marriage alliance. But the emperor himself came from Adrianople to Byzantium, so that he might prepare his daughter's wedding. 34. And when it was now around the end of summer, it was reported from Trigleia near the Hellespont, that a Persian infantry army, chosen from the cities of the east, of which Orchanes is satrap, was prepared with thirty-six ships to cross over to the regions around Byzantium either on this night on which it was reported, or on the next. And that they were so prepared as not to be returning quickly nor to be making their plunder secretly, but shamelessly and with great superiority to plunder everything. It was not possible, then, to prepare a force to counterbalance the Persian one, since time did not permit on account of the swift attack of the barbarians; however, the then available army in Byzantium, which was few in number

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πολλὴν τὴν πρᾳότητα καὶ φιλοτιμίαν, οὐ μόνον τοὺς τῶν πόλεων δήμους κοιναῖς εὐεργεσίαις ἐθεράπευσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς δυναμένους παρ' αὐταῖς τιμαῖς τε καὶ προσόδοις ἐτησίοις καὶ ἄλλαις ἠμείψατο εὐεργεσίαις. Νικηφόρῳ τε τῷ δεσπότου παιδὶ τὴν μεγάλου δομεστίκου κατηγγύησε θυγατέρα, πάντα τε διαθέμενος ὡς ἂν αὐτῷ ἔχειν ἄριστα ἐδόκει, τὰς πόλεις πάσας τῆς Ἀκαρνανίας περιῄει οὐ μόνον ἱστορίας ἕνεκα, οὔπω πρότερον ἑωρακὼς, ἀλλὰ καὶ προνοίας ἀξιώσων τῆς δεούσης. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι πάντες ἠγάπων ὑπὸ βασιλέα τεταγμένοι. οἷς δὲ καὶ πρότερον ἐδόκει μᾶλλον ὁ πόλεμος αἱρετέος, οὐκ ἠνείχοντο εἰ μὴ νεωτερίζοιεν· οἰόμενοι δὲ αὐτοῖς δύναμιν πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον παρέξειν τὸ Νικηφόρον τὸν δεσπότου παῖδα πρότερον ἐκθέσθαι, ὡς ἂν αὐτοί τε ὑπὲρ τοῦ παιδὸς δοκοῖεν πολεμεῖν, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πείθοιεν συναίρεσθαι, ὅταν καταστῶσιν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, τὸν τοῦ παιδὸς ἔπεισαν παιδαγωγὸν Ῥιτζάρδον ἅμα καί τισιν ἑτέροις, Νικηφόρον τὸν δούκαν ὑπεκθέσθαι, καὶ παραλαβόντες νυκτὸς πλοίου τε τὸν Ἰώνιον περαιουμένου ἐπιβάντες, εἰς τὴν Τάραντος κρατοῦσαν πριγκίπισσαν διαφεύγουσι. πυθόμενος δὲ τὸν δρασμὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ μήτε τῶν συνεσκευακότων τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν εἰδὼς, ἀνακαλεῖσθαί τε τὸν παῖδα ὢν οὐ δυνατὸς διὰ τὸ πολὺ Ἀκαρνανίας Τάραντα διεστηκέναι, ἐπ' ὀλίγον ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐκείναις ἐνδιατρίψας καὶ πάσαις ἡγεμόνας ἐπιστήσας ἐφ' ἑ 1.504 κάστῃ, τόν τε πρωτοστράτορα Συναδηνὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀποδείξας στρατηγὸν καὶ τἄλλα πάντα ὡς ἂν αὐτῷ ἐδόκει διοικησάμενος, ἄρας ἐκεῖθεν ἦλθεν εἰς Θεσσαλονίκην, χαίρων ἅμα καὶ θεῷ τῆς εὐεργεσίας χάριτας ὁμολογῶν, ὅτι ὃ πολλοῖς ἀναλώμασι καὶ πόνοις ἐκ τῶν Ἀλεξίου τοῦ Ἀγγέλου χρόνων τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀποτμηθὲν ἡγεμονίας οἱ τούτου πρόγονοι βασιλεῖς ἀνασώσασθαι οὐκ ἴσχυσαν, τούτῳ νῦν ἄνευ πολέμων καὶ κινδύνων παρέσχε κατορθῶσαι. Μιχαήλ τε γὰρ ὁ πρῶτος ἐκ Παλαιολόγων ἄρξας πολλὴν ἐνεδείξατο σπουδὴν Ἀκαρνανίας ἕνεκα καὶ Θετταλίας, καὶ στρατιὰν ἀπώλεσε πολλήν τε καὶ ἀγαθὴν πολλάκις καὶ θαυμασίους στρατηγοὺς Ἀκαρνάσι καὶ Θετταλοῖς πολεμῶν· καὶ μετ' αὐτὸν Ἀνδρόνικος ὁ υἱός. τούτῳ δὲ ὀλίγα πραγματευσαμένῳ καὶ οὐδὲν ὑποστάντι διὰ τὸν πόλεμον δεινὸν, οὐ μόνον Ἀκαρνανίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Θετταλίαν ἐξεγένετο παραστήσασθαι καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ συνάψαι ἡγεμονίᾳ τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐπ' ἔτεσι πολλοῖς ἀποτμηθέντα. ἐκεῖθεν δὲ οὐ πολὺ ὕστερον ἧκεν εἰς Ἀδριανούπολιν. διατρίβοντί τε ἐκεῖ ὁ τῶν Μυσῶν βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος ἔπεμψε πρεσβείαν ὧν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν Ῥωσοκάστρῳ περὶ τοῦ κήδους διειλέχθη λόγων ἂν ἀναμιμνήσκων, νυνί τε εἰ κατὰ γνώμην αὐτῷ εἴη τὴν ἐπιγαμίαν ποιεῖσθαι εἰδέναι ἀξιῶν. βασιλεῖ δὲ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἦν καθ' ἡδονήν. μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐβούλετο τὴν θυγατέρα οἴκοι διατρίβειν, ἢ Ἀλεξάνδρου τῷ υἱεῖ εἰς κοινωνίαν ἐκδιδόναι γάμου, τὴν παρὰ τοῖς βαρβάροις διατριβὴν εἰδὼς οὐκ ἐσομένην πρὸς 1.505 ἡδονὴν τοῖς ἤθεσι καὶ νόμοις Ἑλληνικοῖς ἐντεθραμμένῃ καὶ βασιλικοῖς· τῷ κοινῷ δὲ Ῥωμαίων τὸν γάμον οἰόμενος τῆς θυγατρὸς λυσιτελεῖν, ὑπέσχετο ποιήσειν. οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ βασιλέως πρέσβεις πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανῆκον χαίροντες, ὅτι βασιλέα πεῖσαι ἠδυνήθησαν περὶ τοῦ κήδους. αὐτὸς δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐκ τῆς Ἀδριανοῦ πρὸς τὸ Βυζάντιον ἧκεν, ὡς τῆς θυγατρὸς ἐξαρτυσόμενος τοὺς γάμους. λδʹ. Ὄντος δὲ ἤδη περὶ ἐκβολὰς τοῦ θέρους, ἠγγέλλετο ἐκ Τριγλείας τῆς πρὸς Ἑλλήσποντον, ὡς στρατιὰ Περσῶν πεζὴ ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἕω πόλεων λογάδες, ὧν Ὀρχάνης ἐστὶ σατράπης, ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα ναυσὶ πρὸς τὰ περὶ Βυζάντιον χωρία εἰσὶ παρεσκευασμένοι περαιοῦσθαι ἢ ταύτῃ καθ' ἣν ἠγγέλλετο τὴν νύκτα ἢ ἐς τὴν ὑστεραίαν. εἶναι δὲ οὕτω παρεσκευασμένους ὡς οὐ ταχέως ἐπανήξοντας οὐδὲ λαθραίαν τὴν ἁρπαγὴν ποιησομένους, ἀλλ' ἀναίδην καὶ μετὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος ἅπαντα ληϊσομένους. παρασκευάσασθαι μὲν οὖν ἀντίῤῥοπον δύναμιν πρὸς τὴν Περσικὴν οὐκ ἐνῆν, οὐκ ἐνδιδόντος τοῦ χρόνου διὰ τὴν ταχεῖαν τῶν βαρβάρων ἔφοδον· ὅμως δὲ τὴν τότε παρατυχοῦσαν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ στρατιὰν εὐαρίθμητόν τινα