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lest he should become openly a partisan of the Emperor Kantakouzenos, being afraid, for his daughter and his wife, who were in Byzantium, and his other property did not allow him to do what he chose, throwing him into agony, lest through him they should encounter many evils, and this, because not only the army of the Thessalonians, who were not few, but also the powerful among the citizens, having chosen the side of the Emperor Kantakouzenos, led him to inaction, in whom he was confident that, whenever he wished, he would overcome the Zealots. But since they, on account of his delay, were not to be despised and had stirred up the populace against the powerful, the protostrator 2.234 having already been known to be acting for the Emperor Kantakouzenos, attacking all at once, they drove out of the city about a thousand men. A small engagement having occurred with skirmishes, in which a few of the protostrator's servants were also wounded; and some of the powerful were also captured, who were not able to escape with the others in the first rush. And the Zealots, having brought the city under their own control, turned to the houses of the fugitives and were both tearing them down and plundering their property, and they were doing the other things that it was likely for men driven by poverty and carried into insolence by their sudden wealth. They came to such a point of desperation and audacity that, although daring the most terrible things, snatching a cross from the holy sanctuaries, they used it as a standard and said they were led by it, they who were led by the enemy of the cross rather. And if anyone had a dispute with someone over some private complaints, seizing the cross, he would proceed against his house, as if, indeed, the cross were commanding it. And it was immediately necessary for it to be torn up from its foundations, with the populace following with irrational impulse and desire for gain. For two and three days, therefore, Thessalonica was being ravaged as if by enemies, and nothing was seen that was not done of the things that happen in the capture of cities. For the victors, going about night and day in bands, used shouts and war-cries and were leading and carrying off the possessions of the vanquished; 2.235 and the vanquished, groaning, hid themselves in sanctuaries, considering it a blessing that they did not die immediately. But when, those who had to be destroyed having been destroyed, the disturbance ceased, the Zealots, immediately having become rich and illustrious from being the poorest and most dishonored, conducted everything by themselves, and they went after the middle-class citizens, either forcing them to act unbecomingly with them, or denouncing their moderation and fairness as Kantakouzenism. In Thessalonica, therefore, such things were being done. But the protostrator, since he was driven out with the army and the aristocrats, arriving at Gynaikokastron—for he held it previously with a garrison, as was customary for it to be under the governor of Thessalonica—camped there and did harm to Thessalonica by plundering and controlled all the land outside the walls. For those inside were in no way able to stand against those outside. And he also sent to the Emperor Kantakouzenos, who was still staying around Chalcidice, at once reporting that he had been driven out of Thessalonica, the populace and the Zealots having attacked him, and at the same time showing no mean hopes that, if he should arrive quickly, since those inside were not yet completely hostile—for there were still some who, having chosen the emperor's side, followed the Zealots out of fear—and since those outside were very powerful, he would easily win over the city. To the emperor, therefore, it seemed that terrible things surrounded him from all sides, yet placing his hopes for salvation and victory in the God who leads all things, having discussed with 2.236 Hrelja what was necessary and having agreed on a deadline by which he had to arrange his affairs at home and come to him, he then also took no small part of his army along with his own men and hurried towards the protostrator. In the meantime, as he was passing through, Rentina, a certain fortress a day's journey from Thessalonica, surrendered to him voluntarily. And having left them a governor and two hundred soldiers as a garrison, he himself went and encamped at Langadas, not far from Thessalonica. But the army from Byzantium together with the Palaiologan generals

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μὴ φανερὸς γένοιτο τὰ Καντακουζηνοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως ᾑρημένος, δεδοικὼς, ἡ γὰρ θυγάτηρ αὐτῷ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ, αἳ ἦσαν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ, καὶ ἡ ἄλλη περιουσία οὐκ εἴων πράττειν ἃ ᾑρεῖτο, ἐμβάλλουσαι εἰς ἀγωνίαν, μὴ δι' αὐτὸν πολλοῖς προσομιλήσωσι κακοῖς, τοῦτο δ' ὅτι καὶ Θεσσαλονικέων οὐ μόνον ἡ στρατιὰ, οἳ ἦσαν οὐκ ὀλίγοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν οἱ δυνατοὶ τὰ βασιλέως τοῦ Καντακουζηνοῦ ᾑρημένοι πρὸς ἀμέλειαν ἐνῆγον, οἷς ἐθάῤῥει, ὅτε βούλοιτο, περιέσεσθαι τῶν Ζηλωτῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκεῖνοι διὰ τὴν μέλλησιν ἐκείνου ἦσαν οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητοι καὶ τὸν δῆμον ἀνηρέθισαν κατὰ τῶν δυνατῶν, τοῦ πρωτοστράτορος 2.234 ἤδη ἐγνωσμένου τὰ Καντακουζηνοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως δρᾷν, ἐπιθέμενοι ἀθρόον, ἐξελαύνουσι τῆς πόλεως περὶ χιλίους ὄντας. συμβολῆς ὀλίγης γενομένης δι' ἀκροβολισμῶν, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τῶν πρωτοστράτορος οἰκετῶν ἐγένοντο ὀλίγοι τραυματίαι· ἑάλωσαν δὲ καὶ τῶν δυνατῶν τινες, οἳ οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν τοῖς ἄλλοις τῇ πρώτῃ συνεκπεσεῖν ὁρμῇ. ὑφ' ἑαυτοῖς δὲ οἱ Ζηλωταὶ τὴν πόλιν ποιησάμενοι, ἐτράπησαν εἰς τὰς οἰκίας τῶν φυγάδων καὶ αὐτάς τε καθῄρουν καὶ τὰς οὐσίας διήρπαζον, καὶ τἄλλα ἔπραττον, ὅσα ἦν εἰκὸς αὐτοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὑπὸ πενίας συνελαυνομένους καὶ εἰς ὕβριν ἐξενηνεγμένους διὰ τὴν ἀθρόαν εὐπορίαν. εἰς τοσοῦτον δὲ ἀπονοίας καὶ τόλμης ἦλθον, ὥστε καίτοι τὰ δεινότατα τολμῶντες, σταυρὸν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀδύτων ἁρπάζοντες, ἐχρῶντο ὥσπερ σημαίᾳ καὶ ὑπὸ τούτῳ ἔλεγον στρατηγεῖσθαι, οἱ τῷ πολεμίῳ μᾶλλον τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀγόμενοι. καὶ εἴ τις πρός τινα ἔκ τινων ἰδίων ἐγκλημάτων διεφέρετο, τὸν σταυρὸν ἁρπάζων, ἐχώρει κατὰ τῆς οἰκίας, ὡς δὴ τοῦ σταυροῦ κελεύοντος. καὶ ἦν εὐθὺς ἀνάγκη ἐκ θεμελίων ἀνεσπάσθαι, ὁρμῇ τε ἀλογίστῳ καὶ κέρδους ἐπιθυμίᾳ τοῦ δήμου ἑπομένου. ἐπὶ δύο μὲν οὖν καὶ τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἡ Θεσσαλονίκη ὥσπερ ὑπὸ πολεμίων ἐδῃοῦτο, καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν ὅ,τι μὴ τελούμενον ὡρᾶτο τῶν ἐπὶ ἁλώσει γινομένων πόλεων. οἵ τε γὰρ κρατήσαντες νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν κατὰ συστάσεις διιόντες, βοαῖς ἐχρῶντο καὶ ἀλαλαγμοῖς καὶ τὰ τῶν ἑαλωκότων 2.235 ἦγόν τε καὶ ἔφερον· καὶ οἱ νενικημένοι στένοντες ἐν ἀδύτοις κατεκρύπτοντο, ἀγαπητὸν ἡγούμενοι, ὅτι μὴ αὐτίκα ἀποθνήσκοιεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ, ὧν ἔδει διεφθαρμένων, παύσαιτο ἡ ταραχὴ, οἱ Ζηλωταὶ αὐτίκα ἐκ πενεστάτων καὶ ἀτίμων πλούσιοι καὶ περιφανεῖς γεγενημένοι, πάντα ἦγον δι' ἑαυτῶν, καὶ τοὺς μέσους μετῄεσαν τῶν πολιτῶν, ἢ συνασχημονεῖν ἀναγκάζοντες αὐτοῖς, ἢ τὴν σωφροσύνην καὶ τὴν ἐπιείκειαν ὡς Καντακουζηνισμὸν ἐπικαλοῦντες. ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ μὲν οὖν τοιαῦτα ἐτελεῖτο. πρωτοστράτωρ δὲ ἐπεὶ μετὰ τῆς στρατιᾶς καὶ τῶν ἀρίστων ἐξηλαύνετο, εἰς Γυναικόκαστρον ἀφικόμενος, κατεῖχε γὰρ αὐτὸ καὶ πρότερον φρουρᾷ, οἷα δὴ ὑπὸ τῷ Θεσσαλονίκης ἄρχοντι εἰωθὸς τελεῖν, ηὐλίζετο ἐκεῖ καὶ κακῶς ἐποίει Θεσσαλονίκην ληϊζόμενος καὶ πάσης ἐκράτει τῆς ἔξω τειχῶν γῆς. ἀντικαταστῆναι γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω οὐδαμῆ οἱ ἔνδον ἦσαν δυνατοί. ἔπεμπε δὲ καὶ πρὸς Καντακουζηνὸν τὸν βασιλέα περὶ Χαλκιδικὴν ἔτι διατρίβοντα, ἅμα μὲν μηνύων, ὡς ἐκβληθείη Θεσσαλονίκης, τοῦ δήμου καὶ τῶν Ζηλωτῶν αὐτῷ ἐπιθεμένων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἐλπίδας οὐ φαύλας ὑποφαίνων, ὡς, εἰ παραγένοιτο ταχέως, τῶν τε ἔνδον οὐκέτι παντάπασιν ἐκπεπολεμωμένων, ἦσαν γὰρ ἔτι, οἳ τὰ βασιλέως ᾑρημένοι δέει συνείποντο τοῖς Ζηλωταῖς, καὶ τῶν ἔξω μέγα δυναμένων, ῥᾳδίως παραστήσαιτο τὴν πόλιν. βασιλεῖ μὲν οὖν ἐδόκει πάντοθεν περιΐστασθαι δεινὰ, ὅμως ἐπὶ τὸν πάντα ἄγοντα θεὸν τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς σωτηρίας καὶ τῆς νίκης ἀνατιθεὶς, πρὸς 2.236 Χρέλην ὅσα ἔδει διαλεχθεὶς καὶ προθεσμίαν συνθέμενος, καθ' ἣν ἔδει τὰ οἴκοι διαθέμενον ἀφικέσθαι πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἔπειτα καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνου στρατιᾶς οὐκ ὀλίγην παραλαβὼν ἅμα τοῖς οἰκείοις ἠπείγετο πρὸς πρωτοστράτορα. ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ δὲ διερχομένῳ ἡ Ῥεντίνα, φρούριόν τι Θεσσαλονίκης ἡμέρας ὁδὸν διέχον, προσεχώρησεν ἑκοντί. καταλιπὼν δὲ αὐτοῖς ἄρχοντα καὶ διακοσίους στρατιώτας φρουρὰν, αὐτὸς ἐλθὼν ἐστρατοπέδευσεν ἐν Λαγκαδᾷ οὐ μακρὰν Θεσσαλονίκης. ἡ δὲ ἐκ Βυζαντίου στρατιὰ ἅμα στρατηγοῖς τοῖς Παλαιολόγοις