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and they abandoned the places which they had been ordered to guard, and the enemies pursued them as they turned to flight and captured all their baggage. This, when it came to the knowledge of the emperor, made him sullen, and the adversaries, setting their assault against Cappadocia, were both ravaging it and pressing on towards Iconium, which had a great multitude of people and abounded in all seeming goods. But the emperor, having arrived at Sebasteia and learned of the Turks' attack against Iconium, he too hastened his march after them. But learning that they had already sacked Iconium and, wary of his approach, had departed, he sent a certain portion of the Roman forces to the doux of great Antioch, Chatatourios, and commanded him to arrive at Mopsuestia and engage the Turks as they passed through there. But 694 the enemies, having come into the plain of Tarsus, fell upon the Armenians and lost almost all the booty. And having heard also of the Roman ambush at Mopsuestia, they went away during the night and escaped. This became a cause of grief for the emperor, and despairing he set out for Byzantium; for autumn had already set in. At which time the great church of Blachernae was also burned down, at the beginning of the year 578. But when spring arrived, having honored Manuel Komnenos, a protoproedros, the nephew of the one who had already reigned, Isaac, as kouropalates, he put him in charge of the armies. And he happened to be young, but he commanded like the elders, and encountering an army of barbarians, he engaged and conquered it. This is said to have stirred envy in Diogenes, and for this reason he detached a not insignificant portion of the army around him and sent it against Syria. Then, when Komnenos was near Sebasteia with those who were left, a multitude of Turks appeared, and he went against them. But they feigned flight, and those with Komnenos pursued the 695 fleeing men. But at a signal the barbarians turned back and attacked the scattered Romans, and they killed many, and captured no fewer, including the commander Manuel himself, and they plundered the camp. And the news about these things greatly disturbed the emperor, and also a certain rumor that had spread that the city of Chonai and the renowned sanctuary of the Archangel there had been taken by the barbarians. The emperor, therefore, was wholly intent on proceeding immediately against the enemy and assisting those in danger, but some advised him to wait for the time being. Meanwhile, Manuel Komnenos arrived, along with the Turk who had captured him, who approached the emperor. For, because of some grievance, the sultan, having become hostile toward the man, had dispatched an army against him to capture him. Therefore that man, being afraid, chose to take refuge with the emperor, who immediately honored him as a proedros; and he was very short in stature, and most hideous in appearance. And when spring began to dawn, he embarked on the imperial trireme; and as he was just crossing over, a dove, not entirely black in color, but tending toward the darker shade, 696 flew around his trireme and did not cease fluttering about him, until he took hold of it with his hands. And he sent it to the empress, but the matter of the dove was judged to be a not good omen, neither for the one who caught it nor for her to whom it was sent. But also the pole, standing in the middle on which the royal tent is supported, having broken of its own accord, the tent collapsed; and this too was considered an ill-omened sign. Nevertheless, nothing checked the emperor's enthusiasm, but he advanced as far as the theme of the Anatolics, practicing thrift contrary to his custom. And while he was encamped somewhere in some small chambers, a fire, brought from somewhere, both burned down the chambers themselves and left the imperial horses, bridles, and carriages half-burnt, which also seemed a bad omen. Departing from there and crossing the Halys and passing Caesarea, he pitched his camp at the so-called Cold Spring, where he treated some of the Nemitzes rather harshly on account of misdeeds. But of the tagma of these

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καὶ τοὺς τόπους καταλιποῦσιν, οὓς φυλάττειν ὡρίσθησαν, καὶ εἰς φυγὴν τραπεῖσιν εἵποντο οἱ πολέμιοι καὶ εἷλον ἅπασαν τὴν ἐκείνων ἀποσκευήν. τοῦτο ἐλθὸν εἰς γνῶσιν τῷ βασιλεῖ σκυθρωπάσαι πεποίηκεν, οἱ δ' ἐναντίοι κατὰ τῆς Καππαδοκίας τὸ ὅρμημα θέμενοι αὐτήν τε ἐπόρθουν καὶ πρὸς τὸ Ἰκόνιον ἵεντο, ἀνθρώπων τε πολυπλήθειαν ἔχον καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δοκοῦσιν ἀγαθοῖς εὐθηνούμενον. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς εἰς Σεβάστειαν ἀφικόμενος καὶ μαθὼν τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Ἰκονίου τῶν Τούρκων ἐπέλασιν συνέτεινε καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν πορείαν ὀπίσω αὐτῶν. γνοὺς δὲ ἤδη ἐκπεπορθηκότας αὐτοὺς τὸ Ἰκόνιον καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ εὐλαβουμένους κατάληψιν ἀπᾶραι, τῷ τῆς μεγάλης Ἀντιοχείας δουκὶ τῷ Χατατουρίῳ μοῖραν ἐκπέμψας τινὰ τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν δυνάμεων ἐνετείλατο εἰς Μόψου ἑστίαν ἀφίξεσθαι καὶ τοῖς Τούρκοις ἐκεῖ διιοῦσι συμμίξαι. ἀλλ' 694 οἱ πολέμιοι εἰς τὴν τῆς Ταρσοῦ πεδιάδα γενόμενοι τοῖς Ἀρμενίοις ἐνέπεσον καὶ πᾶσαν σχεδὸν τὴν λείαν ἀπέβαλον. ἐνωτισθέντες δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐν Μόψου ἑστίᾳ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐφέδρευσιν ᾤχοντο διὰ τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ διέφυγον. ὃ τῷ βασιλεῖ λύπης ὑπόθεσις γέγονε, καὶ ἀπογνοὺς ὡρμήκει πρὸς τὸ Βυζάντιον· ἤδη γὰρ ἐπέστη καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον. ὅτε καὶ ὁ μέγας τῶν Βλαχερνῶν ἐπυρπολήθη ναός, ἔτους ἐνισταμένου φοηʹ. Ἐφισταμένου δέ γε τοῦ ἔαρος Μανουὴλ πρωτοπρόεδρον τὸν Κομνηνόν, τὸν τοῦ βεβασιλευκότος ἤδη Ἰσαακίου ἀδελφιδοῦν, κουροπαλάτην τιμήσας ἐφίστησι τοῖς στρατεύμασιν. ὁ δὲ νέος μὲν ἐτύγχανεν ὤν, ἦρχε δὲ κατὰ γέροντας, καὶ βαρβάρων ἐντυχὼν στρατιᾷ προσμίγνυσι καὶ νικᾷ. τοῦτο λέγεται τῷ ∆ιογένει φθόνον κινῆσαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς περὶ ἐκεῖνον στρατιᾶς μοῖραν οὐκ ἐλαχίστην ἀποδιελεῖν καὶ στεῖλαι κατὰ Συρίας. εἶτα τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ μετὰ τῶν ὑπολελειμμένων γενομένου κατὰ Σεβάστειαν, Τούρκων ἀνεφάνη πληθύς, καὶ ἐπῄει τούτοις ἐκεῖνος. οἱ δὲ φυγὴν ὑπεκρίθησαν, καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Κομνηνὸν τοὺς 695 φεύγοντας ἐπεδίωκον. ἐκ δέ γε συνθήματος μεταστρέψαντες τὰ νῶτα οἱ βάρβαροι ἐσκεδασμένοις τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἐπέθεντο καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν ἀνεῖλον, καὶ εἷλον οὐ μείονας καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν στρατάρχην τὸν Μανουὴλ καὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον διηρπάκασιν. ἡ δὲ περὶ τούτων ἀγγελία τὸν αὐτοκράτορα διετάραξε, καὶ ἔτι φήμη τις γενομένη ὡς ἡ ἐν Χώναις πολιτεία καὶ τὸ ἐκεῖ τοῦ ἀρχιστρατήγου περίπυστον τέμενος τοῖς βαρβάροις παρείληπται. ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς ὅλος ἦν τοῦ αὐτίκα χωρῆσαι κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ ἐπαρῆξαι τοῖς κινδυνεύουσιν, ἀλλά τινες αὐτῷ συνεβούλευον ἐπέχειν τέως. ἐν τούτοις δὲ ἧκεν ὁ Κομνηνὸς Μανουὴλ μετὰ καὶ τοῦ ἑλόντος αὐτὸν Τούρκου, προσελθόντος τῷ βασιλεῖ. ἐκ γάρ τινος αἰτίας δυσμένειαν ὁ σουλτὰν ἐσχηκὼς κατὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς στρατιὰν ἐξαπέστειλε κατ' αὐτοῦ συλληψομένην αὐτόν. διὸ δείσας ἐκεῖνος εἵλετο τῷ βασιλεῖ προσφυγεῖν, ὃν αὐτίκα τετίμηκε πρόεδρον· ἦν δὲ τὴν ἡλικίαν βραχύτατος, τὴν δὲ μορφὴν εἰδεχθέστατος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ ἔαρ ὑπέλαμπεν, ἐμβεβήκει μὲν τῇ τριήρει τῇ αὐτοκρατορικῇ· διαπεραιουμένου δ' ἄρτι περιστερὰ οὐ πάνυ μὲν μέλαινα τὴν χροιάν, πρὸς δὲ τὸ μελάντερον ἀποκλίνουσα, 696 τὴν τριήρη αὐτοῦ περιίπτατο καὶ οὐκ ἀπέστη πτερυσσομένη περὶ αὐτόν, ἕως ἐκεῖνος ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῆς ἐπελάβετο. ὁ δὲ ταύτην τῇ βασιλίσσῃ ἐκπέπομφεν, ἐκρίθη δὲ τὸ τῆς περιστερᾶς οὐκ ἀγαθόν τι τεκμήριον οὔτε τῷ ταύτην ἑλόντι οὔτε μὴν τῇ πρὸς ἣν ἔσταλτο. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ξύλου, ᾧ μέσον ἱσταμένῳ ἡ βασίλειος σκηνὴ ἐπερείδεται, αὐτομάτως κατεαγότος, κατέπεσεν ἡ σκηνή· καὶ τοῦτο δὲ σύμβολον ἐνομίσθη ἀπαίσιον. ὅμως οὐδὲν τὸν βασιλέα τῆς προθυμίας ἀνέκοψεν, ἀλλὰ προῄει ἕως τοῦ θέματος τῶν ἀνατολικῶν, φειδωλίας ἐχόμενος παρὰ τὸ εἰωθός. ἐσκηνωμένῳ δέ που ἐν δωματίοις πῦρ ποθεν ἐνεχθὲν αὐτά τε κατέφλεξε τὰ δωμάτια καὶ ἵππους ἡμιφλέκτους εἰργάσατο τῶν βασιλικῶν καὶ χαλινὰ καὶ ὀχήματα, ὃ καὶ τοῦτο κακὸν οἰώνισμα ἔδοξεν. ἐκεῖθεν μετελθὼν καὶ τὸν Ἅλυν διαπεράσας καὶ παρελθὼν τὴν Καισάρειαν εἰς τὴν λεγομένην Κρύαν πηγὴν τὸν χάρακα ἔθετο, ἔνθα τισὶ τῶν Νεμίτζων ἀπηνέστερον προσηνέχθη δι' ἀδικήματα. τοῦ δὲ τάγματος τούτων