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having overtaken all the infantry, they killed them; and seizing some, they led them off to Khorasan as a sample. 11.8.5 But these were the deeds of valor of the Turks against the Normans; but Isangeles and Tzit as, with the few remaining horsemen, reached the imperial city. The emperor received them, and having given them sufficient money and allowed them to rest, he asked where in the future they would choose to go. They sought Jerusalem. Therefore, having honored them lavishly, he sent them across the sea, entrusting the whole matter to their own judgment. But Isangeles, having left the great city, sought to depart to his own army; and indeed he reached Tripoli again, eager to subdue it. After this, falling into a mortal illness and breathing his last, he sent for his nephew Gelielmus and, as if it were an inheritance, bestowed upon him all the castles that had been held by him, appointing him leader and commander of his troops. When the emperor learned of his death, he immediately sent word by letters to the Duke of Cyprus, that he should send Niketas Chalintzes with sufficient funds to Gelielmus, in order to win him over and prepare him to swear to the emperor to keep firm faith with him, of the same kind that his deceased uncle Isangeles had kept until the end.

11.9.1 Then the emperor, having also learned of the seizure of Laodicea by Tancred, set out a letter to Bohemond, containing the following: «You know the oaths and the promises which not only you yourself, but everyone made to the Roman empire. But now you, being the first to break the treaty, have seized Antioch and, having subjected other fortresses, also Laodicea itself. Withdraw, therefore, from the city of Antioch and from all the others, doing what is just, and do not wish to stir up other wars and battles against yourself.» But Bohemond, having read the imperial letters, since he was not able to use his usual falsehood as the facts clearly proved the truth, seemingly assented to what was written, he said, however, that the emperor was the cause of the evils done by him, writing as follows: «I am not the cause of these things, but you. For having promised to come after us with a large force, you were unwilling to confirm the promise with deeds. But we, having taken Antioch and having labored much for three months, fought off enemies and a famine such as no man has ever seen, so that most of us had eaten even of the meats forbidden by the law. And while we were holding out for a sufficient time, Taticius himself, the most faithful servant of your might who was given to us for aid, left us in such peril and went away. We took the city unexpectedly and we routed the forces from Khorasan that had arrived to aid the Antiochenes. And how is it just to so easily renounce what we have acquired with our own sweat and toils?» 11.9.2 When the ambassadors returned from there, as he read Bohemond's letters, he recognized that he was still the same Bohemond, not having changed at all for the better, and he deemed it necessary to hold on to the borders of the Roman empire and to check his unrestrained impulse as much as possible. He therefore sent out many forces with Boutoumites against Cilicia and the most renowned of the military register, the most warlike men and all of them shield-bearers of Ares, and Bardas himself and the chief cup-bearer Michael, vigorous and with their beards just growing. These men the emperor had taken in from childhood and trained in military matters and, as they were more loyal than the others, he hands them over to Boutoumites with others

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πεζὸν ἅπαν ἐφθακότες ἀνεῖλον· τινὰς δὲ καὶ κατασχόντες πρὸς τὸν Χοροσὰν δεῖγμα ἀπήγαγον. 11.8.5 Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν τὰ τῶν Τούρκων κατὰ τῶν Νορμάνων ἀνδραγαθήματα· ὁ δέ γε Ἰσαγγέλης καὶ ὁ Τζίτας μετὰ τῶν καταλειφθέντων ὀλίγων ἱππέων τὴν βασιλεύουσαν καταλαμβάνουσι. ∆εξάμενος δὲ τούτους ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ καὶ χρήματα δοὺς ἱκανὰ καὶ διαναπαύσας ἤρετο ὅπου τοῦ λοιποῦ αἱρετὸν αὐτοῖς ἀπιέναι. Οἱ δὲ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα ἐπεζήτουν. Φιλοτιμησάμενος οὖν αὐτοὺς δαψιλῶς διαποντίους ἐκπέμπει τῇ αὐτῶν γνώμῃ τὸ πᾶν ἀναθέμενος. Ὁ δέ γε Ἰσαγγέλης μεγαλοπόλεως ἐξελθὼν τὴν πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον στράτευμα ἀνεζήτει ἀπέλευσιν· καὶ δὴ καταλαμβάνει αὖθις τὴν Τρίπολιν χειρώσασθαι ταύτην γλιχόμενος. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα νόσῳ θανασίμῳ περιπεσὼν καὶ πνέων τὰ ἔσχατα, μεταπεμψάμενος τὸν αὐτοῦ ἀνεψιὸν Γελίελμον ὥσπερ τινὰ κλῆρον ἅπαντα τὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κατα σχεθέντα κάστρα τούτῳ ἀπεχαρίσατο, ἡγεμόνα καὶ ἀρχηγὸν τῶν αὐτοῦ ταγμάτων καταστήσας. Τούτου τοίνυν τὴν τελευτὴν μεμαθηκώς, ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ εὐθὺς πρὸς τὸν δοῦκα Κύπρου διὰ γραμμάτων ἐδήλωσεν, ἵνα Νικήταν τὸν Χαλίν τζην μετὰ χρημάτων ἱκανῶν πρὸς τὸν Γελίελμον ἐκπέμψῃ ἐφ' ᾧ ὑποποιήσασθαί τε αὐτὸν καὶ παρασκευάσαι ὀμωμο κέναι πρὸς τὸν αὐτοκράτορα πίστιν βεβαίαν φυλάξαι εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ ὁποίαν ὁ ἀποβεβιωκὼς θεῖος αὐτοῦ Ἰσαγγέλης μέχρι τέλους ἐτήρησεν.

11.9.1 Εἶτα μεμαθηκὼς ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ καὶ τὴν τῆς Λαο δικείας παρὰ τοῦ Ταγγρὲ κατάσχεσιν πρὸς τὸν Βαϊμοῦντον γράμματα ἐκτίθεται οὑτωσὶ περιέχοντα· «Τὰ ὅρκια οἶδας καὶ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ἃς οὐκ αὐτὸς μόνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἅπαντες πρὸς τὴν βασιλείαν Ῥωμαίων ἐποιήσαντο. Νῦν δὲ αὐτὸς πρῶτος παρασπονδήσας τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν κατέσχες καὶ ἀλλάττα φρούρια ὑποποιησάμενος καὶ αὐτὴν δὴ τὴν Λαο δίκειαν. Ἀπόστηθι τοίνυν τῆς πόλεως Ἀντιοχείας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, δίκαιόν τι πρᾶγμα ποιῶν, καὶ μὴ θέλε πολέμους ἄλλους καὶ μάχας κατὰ σαυτοῦ ἐρεθίζειν.» Ὁ δέ γε Βαϊμοῦντος τὰς βασιλικὰς ὑπαναγνοὺς γραφάς, ἐπειδὴ μὴ τῷ συνήθει ψεύδει χρήσασθαι οἷός τε ἦν τῶν πραγμάτων ἀριδήλως τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐλεγχόντων, πρὸς τὰ γραφέντα τῷ φαινομένῳ κατένευσεν, αἰτίαν μέντοι τῶν κακῶς παρ' αὐτοῦ πραχθέντων εἶναι τὸν αὐτοκράτορα ἔλεγε, γράψας ὡς· «Οὐκ ἐγὼ τούτων αἴτιος, ἀλλὰ σύ. Ὑποσχόμενος γὰρ κατόπιν ἡμῶν μετὰ δυνάμεως ἔρχεσθαι πολλῆς, οὐκ ἠθέλησας τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἔργοις πιστώσασθαι. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν καταλαβόντες καὶ ἐπὶ τρισὶ μησὶ πολλὰ μογήσαντες πρὸς πολεμίους ἀπεμαχόμεθα καὶ λιμόν, οἷον οὐδείς πως τῶν ἀνθρώπων τεθέαται, ὡς τοὺς πλείστους ἡμῶν καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἀπηγο ρευμένων κρεῶν βεβρωκέναι. Ἐφ' ἱκανὸν δὲ ἐγκαρτερούν των ἡμῶν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ δοθεὶς ἡμῖν εἰς ἀρωγὴν πιστότατος οἰκέτης τοῦ σοῦ κράτους Τατίκιος οὕτω κινδυνεύοντας καταλιπὼν ἡμᾶς ᾤχετο. Εἵλομεν δὲ τὴν πόλιν παραδόξως καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ Χοροσὰν εἰς ἀρωγὴν τῶν Ἀντιοχέων καταλαβούσας δυνάμεις κατετροπωσάμεθα. Καὶ πῶς δίκαιόν ἐστιν, ἅπερ οἰκείοις ἱδρῶσι καὶ πόνοις ἐκτησάμεθα, ῥᾳδίως οὕτως ἀποποιήσασθαι;» 11.9.2 Ὑποστρεψάντων δ' ἐκεῖθεν τῶν πρέσβεων, ὡς τὰς τοῦ Βαϊμούντου ὑπανέγνω γραφάς, διαγνοὺς αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον αὖθις εἶναι τὸν Βαϊμοῦντον μηδο πωσοῦν ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον μεταβληθέντα, δεῖν ἔγνω τῶν ὁρίων τῆς βασιλείας Ῥωμαίων ἀντέχεσθαι καὶ τὴν ἀκάθεκτον αὐτοῦ ὁρμὴν ὡς ἐνὸν ἀνακόπτειν. ∆υνάμεις τοίνυν πολλὰς μετὰ τοῦ Βουτουμίτου κατὰ τῆς Κιλικίας ἐξέπεμψε καὶ τὸ ἐλλογιμώτατον τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ καταλόγου, ἄνδρας μαχι μωτάτους καὶ Ἄρεως ὑπασπιστὰς ἅπαντας καὶ αὐτὸν δὴ τὸν Βάρδαν καὶ τὸν ἀρχιοινοχόον Μιχαήλ, ἀκμάζοντας καὶ ἀρτιφυεῖς τὸ γένειον. Οὓς νηπιόθεν προσλαβόμενος ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ καὶ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ ἐκπαιδεύσας ὡς εὐνουστέ ρους τῶν ἄλλων τῷ Βουτουμίτῃ παραδίδωσι μεθ' ἑτέρων