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could wrestle down courage; but unfortunately for him, matters of sustenance had also turned against him. For whatever he had previously seized from the areas around Dyrrachium had been consumed by him, but what he hoped would be brought to him, the men of the Roman army, having previously seized the passes and the ways out and even the sea itself, were preventing. And from this a famine, suddenly descending, destroyed both the horses and the men together, as the horses had no fodder nor the men food. And in addition, a certain stomach ailment was added to this barbarian army, seemingly from some unsuitable diet, I mean, from millet; but in truth, the wrath of God descending upon so countless and unbearable an army worked successive deaths.

13.3.1 But this misfortune seemed light to a man having a tyrannical mindset and threatening to destroy all the earth; nevertheless, though unfortunate, he contrived and, like a wounded beast, turned back on himself and, as we said, was wholly focused on the siege. And at first, having constructed a ram-bearing tortoise, an indescribable marvel, he brought it to the more eastern part of the city; and a terrible sight to behold. For it was constructed thus. Having made a certain small tortoise and having constructed it in a parallelogram shape and having placed wheels underneath and on all sides, both above and on each side, having covered the sides with cow hides and having stitched them together on all sides, and indeed, this thing spoken of by Homer, having made the roof and the walls of the machine of seven ox-hides, and then they suspended the rams inside. 13.3.2 And when he had the machine in this state, he brought it near the wall, with a myriad of men from within pushing it forward with certain poles and bringing it near the walls of Dyrrachium. When its nearness was sufficient for them and the distance suitable, they removed the wheels, and having secured the machine on all sides with props, so that the roof would not be shaken by the thrusts; there some most robust men on either side of the ram, pushing it forcefully against the wall, maintained this uniform motion. And they pushed the ram forcefully once, and it, being brought forward once, tore at the wall and, being repulsed from there and making its course back again, was torn back in turn. And it did this many times, for as long as it was swung back and forth many times and did not cease from piercing the wall. 13.3.3 And the ancient engineers, who invented this around Gades, have fittingly called it a ram, by metaphor from our rams, which exercise themselves by charging against each other. But those inside, laughing at this tragic wall-fighting of these barbarians and ram-bearing men and that their siege efforts were coming to nothing, threw open the gates and bade them enter, mocking the blows being made by the ram. "For," they said, "a ram could not make such a chasm by its wall-fighting as the gate provides." This, then, was immediately rendered void by the courage of those within and by the daring of the general Alexios, nephew of the emperor Alexios, since the enemies themselves had become listless, at least regarding this, and had given up the siege. For the courage of those within and the opening of the gates to the barbarians and their confidence against them cast them into cowardice and a renunciation of the machine. Thus, then, the business of the ram-bearing tortoise came to nothing; no less also the fire thrown down from above against the machine, which was already idle and remaining immobile for the aforementioned reasons, turned it to ash. 13.3.4 Therefore from these things the Frankish, having given up

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ἀνδρείαν ἠδύνατο καταπα λαίειν· δυστυχῶς δὲ αὐτῷ ἀπηντήκει καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀποτρο φήν. Ὅσα μὲν γὰρ προϋφηρπάκει ἀπὸ τῶν πέριξ τοῦ ∆υρ ραχίου, τούτῳ ἀνήλωτο, τὰ δ' ἀφ' ὧν ἤλπικε κομισθῆναί οἱ, προκατασχόντες τὰ τέμπη καὶ τὰς ἐξόδους καὶ αὐτὴν δὴ τὴν θάλατταν οἱ τοῦ ῥωμαϊκοῦ στρατεύματος ἀπεκώ λυον. Κἀντεῦθεν λιμὸς ἀθρόως ἐπιφοιτήσας τούς τε ἵππους καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὁμοῦ διέφθειρε, μὴ ἐχόντων μήτε τῶν ἵππων χιλὴν μήτε τῶν ἀνθρώπων τροφήν. Προσεπετέθη δὲ τῷ βαρβαρικῷ τούτῳ στρατεύματι καὶ κοιλιακή τις διάθεσις τὸ μὲν δοκεῖν ἀπό τινος ἀπροσφόρου σιτήσεως, φημὶ δὴ τῆς κέγχρου· τὸ δ' ἀληθὲς μήνιμα Θεοῦ κατὰ τοσούτου ἀναριθμήτου στρατεύματος καὶ ἀνυποίστου κατασκῆψαν ἐπαλλήλους θανάτους εἰργάσατο.

13.3.1 Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν τὸ δυστύχημα κοῦφον ἐδόκει πρὸς ἄνδρα τυραννικὸν ἔχοντα φρόνημα καὶ ἀπολεῖν ἀπειλοῦντα ἅπασαν γῆν· ὅμως μέντοι καὶ δυστυχὼν διεμηχανᾶτο καὶ καθάπερ θηρίον τιτρωσκόμενον πρὸς ἑαυτὸν συνεστρέφετο καί, ὥσπερ ἔφημεν, πρὸς τὰς πολιορκίας ὅλῳ βλέμματι ἀπετείνετο. Καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μὲν κριοφόρον χελώνην ἐξεργα σάμενος, ἀπεριήγητόν τι θαῦμα, προσῆγε πρὸς τὸ ἀνατο λικώτερον μέρος τῆς πόλεως· καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ ὄψει φοβερὸν θέαμα. Κατεσκεύαστο γὰρ ὧδε. Μικράν τινα χελώνην ποιη σάμενοι καὶ ἐν παραλληλογράμμῳ σχήματι ταύτην κατα σκευάσαντες καὶ τροχοὺς ὑποθέντες καὶ πανταχόθεν, ἄνωθέν τε καὶ ἑκατέρωθεν, τὰς πλευρὰς διαστεγάσαντες βύρσαις βοείαις καὶ συνερραφότες πανταχόθεν, καὶ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ παρ' Ὁμήρου λεγόμενον, ἑπταβόειον τὸν ὄροφον καὶ τοὺς τοίχους τοῦ μηχανήματος ποιησάμενοι κᾆθ' οὕτως ἔνδον τοὺς κριοὺς ἀπῃώρησαν. 13.3.2 Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὕτως εἶχεν αὐτῷ τὸ μηχάνημα, τοῦτο καὶ προσήγγισε τῷ τείχει, μυριάνδρου πλήθους ἔνδοθεν μετά τινων κοντῶν προωθούν των αὐτὸ καὶ ἐγγύθεν ποιουμένων τῶν τοῦ ∆υρραχίου τειχῶν. Ἐπειδὴ ἀποχρώντως εἶχεν αὐτοῖς ἡ ἐγγύτης καὶ συμμέτρως τὰ πρὸς ἀπόστασιν, ὑφεῖλον μὲν τὰς τροχιάς, περιπήγμασι δὲ πανταχόθεν ἀσφαλισάμενοι τὸ μηχάνημα, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς ὠθήσεσι τὸ στέγος διασαλεύοιτο· ἐνταῦθά τινες ἄνδρες ῥωμαλεώτατοι ἑκατέρωθεν τοῦ κριοῦ σφοδρῶς ὠθοῦντες ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος εἴχοντο τῆς ὁμοταγοῦς τοιαύτης κινήσεως. Καὶ οἱ μὲν καθάπαξ ὤθησαν σφοδρῶς τὸν κρίον, ὁ δὲ καθάπαξ παρενεχθεὶς ἐσπάραττέ τε τὸ τεῖχος καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἀποκρουόμενος καὶ παλιμπόρευτον τὴν φορὰν ποιούμενος ἀντεσπαράττετο. Καὶ τοῦτο πολλάκις ἐποίει τέως πολλάκις περιφερόμενος ἑκατέρωθεν καὶ διατιτραίνων τὸ τεῖχος οὐκ ἔληγε. 13.3.3 Κριὸν δὲ εἰκότως οἱ ἀρχαῖοι μηχανικοὶ καὶ περὶ τὰ Γάδειρα τοῦτο ἐφευρηκότες, προσ ωνομάκασιν ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς κριῶν, οἳ κατ' ἀλλήλων ἀντεπερχόμενοι διαγυμνάζονται. Ἀλλ' οἱ ἔνδον καταγελῶντες τῆς τραγικῆς ταυτησὶ τειχομαχίας τῶν βαρ βάρων τούτων καὶ κριοφόρων ἀνδρῶν καὶ ὅτι εἰς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς περατοῦται τὰ τῆς πολιορκίας, ἀναπετάσαντες τὰς πύλας ἐκέλευον εἰσιέναι, καταγελῶντες τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ κριοῦ προσκρουμάτων ἐγγινομένων. «Οὐ γὰρ ἄν, ἔφασαν, ἐργά σαιτο κριὸς τοιοῦτον χάσμα ἐκ τῆς κατ' αὐτὸν τειχο μαχίας, οἷον ἡ πύλη παρέχεται.» Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν αὐτίκα τῇ τῶν ἔνδοθεν ἀνδρείᾳ καὶ τῷ θαρραλέῳ τοῦ στρατηγοῦντος Ἀλεξίου, καὶ ἀδελφιδοῦ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος Ἀλεξίου, εἰς κενὸν ἀποδέδεικται, ἐρρᾳθυμηκότων καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν πολε μίων ὅσον γε πρὸς τοῦτο καὶ ἀπειπαμένων τὴν πολιορκίαν. Τὸ γὰρ ἀνδρεῖον τῶν ἔνδοθεν καὶ τὸ ἀνεῷξαι τὰς πύλας τοῖς βαρβάροις καὶ θαρρεῖν κατ' αὐτῶν εἰς δειλίαν ἐνέβαλε καὶ τοῦ μηχανήματος ἀπαγόρευσιν. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν ἤργει τὰ περὶ τῆς κριοφόρου χελώνης· οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἄνωθεν ἐπιρριφὲν κατὰ τοῦ μηχανήματος ἀργοῦντος ἤδη καὶ ἀκινήτου μένοντος διὰ τὰς προειρημένας αἰτίας εἰς τέφραν μετήμειψεν. 13.3.4 Ἀπὸ τοίνυν τούτων τὸ φραγγι κὸν ἀπειπάμενον