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from the sea, ordering him to quickly occupy the lower parts so as to take on the war with the Genoese passing through there. So when these men had departed to where they were ordered, a heavy and unbearable winter set in, by which it happened that many of the ships were shattered. Which they again dragged up to the land and carefully applied a coating of wet pitch to them. 11.11.2 At that time Cantacuzenus, having learned that the Genoese fleet was somewhere near, sailing around the lower parts, suggests to Landulf to take eighteen ships (for only so many happened to be afloat at that time, the others having been dragged out of the sea) and, having departed, to bring them to anchor at Cape Malea according to the emperor's suggestions, and when the Genoese were passing through, if he should not shrink from war with them, to immediately undertake the battle with them, but if not, to secure safety for himself and the ships under him along with their crews by putting in at Corone. But he departed, and having seen the large fleet of the Genoese and declining battle with them, he quickly reached Corone. 11.11.3 But Cantacuzenus, having taken care of the entire Roman fleet as was needed and having gathered those with him there, pursued the Genoese as quickly as he could. But not having caught them, he reached Laodicea, hastening to strip for the wars with Bohemond with all his mind and hand. And indeed, setting to work, he occupied the harbor and did not cease from the siege by day or night. 11.11.4 But as he remained unsuccessful for the rest of the time, having attacked countless times, and having failed as many times, and in some ways pretending he was not persuading the Celts, and in other ways fighting he was unsuccessful, having built a small circular wall of dry stones between the sand and the walls of Laodicea in three days and nights, and from then on having acquired this as a base, he quickly raised another small fort of local material inside it, so that from there, as from a kind of sally-port, he might more nobly withstand the siege. But also having built two towers on either side across the mouth of the harbor, he drove an iron chain straight through them, and by it he blocked off the ships that were perhaps expected from the sea to help the Celts. At the same time he also seized many of the towns around the sea, the so-called Argyrokastron, Marqab, Jabala and others, having reached as far as the borders of Tripoli, which previously paid tribute to the Saracens, but later were restored to the Romans by the emperor with much sweat and toil. 11.11.5 The emperor, however, reasoning that Laodicea must also be besieged from the landward side, knowing the terrible Bohemond for a long time and his devices, how clever he was at quickly sizing up a man's character, and having an accurate understanding of his deceitful and rebellious mind, summoned Monastras and sent him by land with a sufficient force, so that at the same time Cantacuzenus would besiege Laodicea from the sea, and he himself from the landward side. But Cantacuzenus, before Monastras arrived, seized the harbor and the castle itself; the acropolis, however, which custom is now wont to call a *koula*, the Celts still held with five hundred foot soldiers and one hundred horsemen. 11.11.6 Bohemond, therefore, having heard of the capture of these towns, and having also learned from the count guarding the acropolis of Laodicea that it was in need of provisions, having united all the forces under him with <ταῖς> those of both his nephew Tancred and of Isangeles, and having loaded all kinds of food on mules and having reached Laodicea, he quickly brought the provisions into the *koula*, and after

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θαλάσσης ἀπέστειλε παρακελευσάμενος αὐτῷ τὸ τάχος καταλαβεῖν τὰ κατωτικὰ ἐφ' ᾧ τὸν μετὰ τῶν Γενουσίων ἐκεῖσε διερχο μένων ἀναδέξασθαι πόλεμον. Τούτων οὖν ἀπελθόντων ἔνθα καὶ προσετάχθησαν, χειμὼν βαρὺς ἐπιγέγονε καὶ ἀφόρητος, ὑφ' οὗ καὶ πολλὰς τῶν νηῶν συνέβη διαθραυσθῆναι. Ἅσπερ πάλιν πρὸς τὴν χέρσον ἐξελκύσαντες ἐπιμελῶς τὴν διὰ τῆς ὑγρᾶς πίσσης ἐπίχρισιν ταύταις ἐπέφερον. 11.11.2 Τηνικαῦτα δὲ καὶ ὁ Καντακουζηνός, τὸν τῶν Γενουσίων στόλον περὶ τὰ κατωτικὰ διαπλέοντα ἐγγύς που εἶναι μεμαθηκώς, ὑποτίθεται τῷ Λαντούλφῳ ὀκτωκαίδεκα ναῦς ἀναλαβέσθαι (τοσαύτας γὰρ μόνας συνέβη τῷ τότε ἀποπλέειν τῶν ἄλλων ἐξελκυσθεισῶν τῆς θαλάσσης) καὶ ἀπελθόντα κατὰ τὸ ἀκρωτήριον τοῦ Μαλέου προσοκεῖλαι αὐτὰς κατὰ τὰς τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος ὑποθήκας, καὶ διερχομένων τῶν Γενουσίων, εἰ μὲν τὸν μετ' αὐτῶν ἀποθαρροίη πόλεμον, εὐθὺς τὴν μετ' αὐτῶν ἀναδέξασθαι μάχην, εἰ δ' οὐ, τὴν σωτηρίαν ἑαυτῷ καὶ ταῖς ὑπ' αὐτὸν νηυσὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς πλωτῆρσιν εἰς Κορώ νην προσοκείλαντι περιποιήσασθαι. Ὁ δ' ἀπελθὼν καὶ τὸν πολὺν στόλον τῶν Γενουσίων θεασάμενος καὶ ἀπαγορεύσας τὴν μετ' αὐτῶν μάχην θᾶττον τὴν Κορώνην κατέλαβεν. 11.11.3 Ὁ δὲ Καντακουζηνός, τὸν ὅλον ῥωμαϊκὸν στόλον ὡς ἔδει περιποιησάμενος καὶ τοὺς συνόντας αὐτῷ ἐκεῖσε συνα γαγών, ὡς εἶχε τάχους κατόπιν τῶν Γενουσίων ἐδίωκε. Μὴ ἐφθακὼς δέ, τὴν Λαοδίκειαν κατέλαβε, σπεύδων πρὸς τοὺς μετὰ τοῦ Βαϊμούντου πολέμους ὅλῃ γνώμῃ καὶ χειρὶ ἀποδύεσθαι. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἔργου ἁψάμενος, τὸν λιμένα κατέλαβε καὶ διὰ πάσης νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας τῆς τειχομα χίας οὐκ ἀφίστατο. 11.11.4 Ὡς δ' ἄπρακτος τοῦ λοιποῦ ἔμενε μυριάκις μὲν προσβαλών, τοσαυτάκις δ' ἀποτυχὼν καὶ πῆ μὲν ὑποποιούμενος τοὺς Κελτοὺς οὐκ ἔπειθε, πῆ δὲ μαχό μενος ἀπετύγχανε, τειχίον τι διὰ ξηρῶν λίθων κυκλοτερὲς δειμάμενος ἀναμεταξὺ τῆς ψάμμου καὶ τῶν τειχῶν Λαοδι κείας ἐν τρισὶ νυχθημέροις, κἄκτοτε ὡς ἔρεισμα τοῦτο κτησάμενος, ἕτερον πολίχνιον δι' ἐγχορήγου ὕλης ἐντὸς τούτου θᾶττον ἀνήγειρεν, ἵν' ἐντεῦθεν ὡς ἐξ ὁρμητηρίου τινὸς γενναιότερον τῆς τειχομαχίας ἀντέχοιτο. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πύργους δύο διὰ τοῦ στομίου τοῦ λιμένος ἐφ' ἑκάτερα οἰκο δομήσας, ἅλυσιν σιδηρᾶν διαμπερὲς τούτων εἰσελάσας, δι' αὐτοῦ ἀπετάφρευε τὰς ἴσως ἐλπιζομένας εἰς βοήθειαν τῶν Κελτῶν ἐκ θαλάττης ναῦς. Ἐν ταὐτῷ δὲ καὶ πολλὰ τῶν περὶ θάλατταν πολιχνίων κατέσχε, τό τε Ἀργυρόκαστρον καλούμενον, τὸ Μαρχάπιν, τὰ Γάβαλα καὶ ἀλλάττα μέχρις αὐτῶν συνόρων Τριπόλεως ἐφθακώς, ἅπερ πρότερον μὲν φόρους τοῖς Σαρακηνοῖς ἐδίδου, ἐν ὑστέροις δὲ παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος πολλοῖς ἱδρῶσι καὶ πόνοις τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐπα νεσώθησαν. 11.11.5 Ὁ μέντοι βασιλεὺς δέον λογισάμενος καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ μέρους τῆς ξηρᾶς πολιορκεῖσθαι τὴν Λαοδίκειαν, γινώσκων ἐκ μακροῦ τὸν δεινὸν Βαϊμοῦντον καὶ τὰς αὐτοῦ μηχανάς, ὁποῖος ἐκεῖνος δεξιὸς ἦθος ἀνθρώπου ἐν βραχεῖ καταμαθεῖν, καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ δολερᾶς καὶ ἀποστατικῆς γνώ μης κατάληψιν ἀκριβῆ ἔχων, τὸν Μοναστρᾶν μετακαλεσά μενος μετὰ ἀποχρώσης δυνάμεως διὰ τῆς ἠπείρου ἀπέστει λεν, ὥστε ἐν ταὐτῷ τὸν μὲν Καντακουζηνὸν ἐκ θαλάττης, αὐτὸν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ μέρους τῆς ἠπείρου πολιορκεῖν τὴν Λαο δίκειαν. Ἀλλ' ὁ Καντακουζηνὸς πρὸ τοῦ τὸν Μοναστρᾶν ἐφθακέναι τὸν λιμένα καὶ τὸ κάστρον αὐτὸ κατέσχε· τὴν μέντοι ἀκρόπολιν, ὅπερ κουλᾶ νῦν ἡ συνήθεια καλεῖν εἴωθεν, ἔτι Κελτοὶ κατεῖχον πεζοὶ πεντακόσιοι καὶ ἱππεῖς ἑκατόν. 11.11.6 Τούτων οὖν τῶν πολιχνίων τὴν κατάσχεσιν ὁ Βαϊμοῦν τος ἀκηκοώς, μεμαθηκὼς δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ φυλάσσοντος κόμητος τὴν τῆς Λαοδικείας ἀκρόπολιν, ὅτι ἐπιδεής ἐστι χορτασμάτων, μετὰ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτὸν δυνάμεων πασῶν <ταῖς> τοῦ τε ἀνεψιοῦ αὐτοῦ Ταγγρὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἰσαγγέλη ἑνωθεὶς καὶ βρώσιμα παντοῖα ἐπισάξας ἐν ἡμιόνοις καὶ τὴν Λαο δίκειαν καταλαβὼν τὰ μὲν χορτάσματα θᾶττον εἰσήγαγεν εἰς τὸ κουλᾶ, μετὰ δέ