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the other villages around Meropi, which were not few. from which no small band of robbers was gathered; for there were a little more than three hundred cavalry, and over five thousand infantry; he then entrusted him with the command of all of these and ordered him to harm the cities that would not submit to the emperor. 60. But since he accomplished nothing besieging Peritheorion, he burned the prepared engines with fire, 2.404 and with the entire fleet having sailed away to its own land, he himself along with Amour, leading six thousand chosen Persians, came to Didymoteichon. The people in Didymoteichon held public festivals for the emperor's return and were overjoyed in every way. For they seemed to welcome the emperor and his retinue back to life as if from Hades. And having spent a few days in Didymoteichon, he went out to Rhodope; and all the towns around Morra submitted at once, except for one, called Ephraim. Those that submitted, therefore, suffered nothing harsh from the Persians, but they did no small harm to Ephraim. Having set over them as ruler his wife's brother, John Asan, he returned again to Didymoteichon. And sending an army of both Romans and Persians against the cities in Thrace, he demanded that they submit; but as they did not submit, he harmed them as much as possible, and all the villages were plundered and those taken captive were sold back to their own people; and very many died. The emperor was unbearably distressed by such things, but no remedy for the evil was found. For neither did the cities submit, so that the barbarians might spare them, nor did he have sufficient power from the Romans against the enemy to send away the Persians, in order to carry on the war with the Romans who were with him. Therefore, although unwilling and grieving at the misfortune of the Romans, he nevertheless held on out of necessity. And since there was another 2.405 province in Rhodope subject to the Romans, called Stenimachos and Tsepaina, which had no fewer than a thousand most warlike cavalry and a multitude of infantry, it seemed necessary to campaign against them. And departing from Didymoteichon, they came as far as Morra. There Amour fell sick, and they waited to see if he might somehow recover. But as the sickness seemed to grow worse, and there was a lack not only of doctors but also of things necessary for the illness, they returned to Didymoteichon. Those in Byzantium were not able to openly oppose the Persian army. But sending an army to Adrianople, they garrisoned it, which Sphrantzes commanded, as it was the largest and most necessary of the cities in Thrace. And they took as much care of the others as possible, so that they would not defect from them to the emperor Kantakouzenos. Sphrantzes, therefore, having learned about the emperor, that he was campaigning against Stenimachos, and thinking it possible while he was away and until he returned to harm the area around Didymoteichon and then come back to Adrianople, took as many as he was leading and went against Didymoteichon. But it happened at that very hour that the emperor also returned from Morra with the army, and when an engagement occurred, most of the attackers fell and a few were captured. The general also died. Amour himself also came into imminent danger during that battle. For he, although he had recovered a little from his sickness, when the 2.406 clash of the armies occurred, armed himself and advanced with the front ranks; and encountering three of the enemy's lances, he was saved unexpectedly, as his armor withstood the blows, and he confessed many thanks to the emperor for his salvation. For since he was accustomed to fighting without armor, a few days before the battle the emperor had advised him not to enter battles unprotected, if he did not wish to become the cause of his own death; for the more courageously one might fight, the more easily he would fall, encountering some blow and being easily overcome. And being persuaded by this, although he had mounted his horse unarmed, turning back again, he took up his armor, having remembered the emperor's advice. But it seemed right to the empress Anna and the patriarch and the grand duke and the other officials to send an embassy to Alexander the

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τὰς κατὰ τὴν Μερόπην ἄλλας κώμας οὐκ ὀλίγας οὔσας. ἐξ ὧν οὐκ ὀλίγη χεὶρ συνελέγετο λῃστρική· ἦσαν γὰρ ἱππεῖς μὲν τριακοσίων ὀλίγῳ πλείους, πεζοὶ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους· ὧν ἁπάντων αὐτῷ ἐνεχείρισε τότε τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ προσέταττε κακοῦν τὰς πόλεις, αἳ μὴ προσχωροῖεν βασιλεῖ. ξʹ. Ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἐπεὶ Περιθεώριον οὐδὲν ἤνυε πολιορκῶν, τὰς μὲν παρεσκευασμένας μηχανὰς ἐνέπρησε πυρὶ, 2.404 τοῦ δὲ στόλου παντὸς εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀποπλεύσαντος, αὐτὸς ἅμα Ἀμοὺρ ἑξακισχιλίους ἐπιλέκτους ἄγοντες Περσῶν, ἧκον εἰς ∆ιδυμότειχον. οἱ δὲ ἐν ∆ιδυμοτείχῳ ἑορτὰς ἦγον δημοσίας τῆς βασιλέως ἐπανόδου καὶ παντοῖοι ἦσαν ὑφ' ἡδονῆς. ἐδόκουν γὰρ ὡς ἐξ ᾅδου τοὺς περὶ βασιλέα αὖθις εἰς τὸν βίον ὑποδέχεσθαι. ὀλίγας δὲ ἡμέρας ἐνδιατρίψας ∆ιδυμοτείχῳ, ἐξῆλθεν εἰς Ῥοδόπην· καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Μόῤῥαν πολίχνια πάντα προσεχώρησαν εὐθὺς, πλὴν ἑνὸς, Ἐφραὶμ προσαγορευομένου. τὰ μὲν οὖν προσχωρήσαντα οὐδὲν δυσχερὲς ὑπέμενον παρὰ Περσῶν, Ἐφραὶμ δὲ ἐκάκωσαν οὐκ ὀλίγα. οἷς ἐπιστήσας ἄρχοντα τὸν γυναικὸς ἀδελφὸν Ἀσάνην τὸν Ἰωάννην, αὖθις ἀνέστρεφεν εἰς ∆ιδυμότειχον. πρὸς δὲ τὰς ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ πόλεις πέμψας στρατιὰν ἅμα Ῥωμαίων καὶ Περσῶν, ἠξίου προσχωρεῖν· ὡς δ' οὐ προσεχώρουν, ἐκάκου ὅσα δυνατὰ, καὶ κῶμαι πᾶσαι ἐπορθοῦντο καὶ οἱ ἀνδραποδιζόμενοι ἐπιπράσκοντο πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους· ἀπέθνησκον δὲ καὶ πλεῖστοι. βασιλεὺς δὲ ἠνιᾶτο μὲν πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐκ ἀνεκτῶς, θεραπεία δὲ τοῦ κακοῦ οὐδεμία ἐξευρίσκετο. οὔτε γὰρ αἱ πόλεις προσεχώρουν, ὥστε αὐτῶν ἀποσχέσθαι τοὺς βαρβάρους, οὔτε ἀποχρῶσαν πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους εἶχε δύναμιν ἐκ Ῥωμαίων, ὥστε ἀποπέμπεσθαι τοὺς Πέρσας, ὡς ἅμα τοῖς συνοῦσι Ῥωμαίοις τὸν πόλεμον διοίσων. διὸ καὶ ἄκων μὲν καὶ ἀχθόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν Ῥωμαίων συμφορᾷ, κατεῖχε δὲ ὅμως δι' ἀνάγκην. ἔτι δὲ ἐν Ῥοδόπῃ ἑτέρας οὔσης 2.405 ἐπαρχίας Ῥωμαίοις ὑπηκόου Στενιμάχου καὶ Τζεπαίνης προσαγορευομένης, αἷς ἦσαν ἱππεῖς χιλίων οὐκ ἐλάσσους μαχιμώτατοι καὶ πλῆθος πεζῶν, ἐδόκει δεῖν στρατεύειν ἐπ' αὐτούς. καὶ ἄραντες ἐκ ∆ιδυμοτείχου, ἦλθον ἄχρι Μόῤῥας. ἐκεῖ δὲ νοσήσαντος Ἀμοὺρ, περιέμενον εἴ πως γένοιτο ῥαΐσαι. ὡς δὲ ἐφαίνετο αὐξάνειν μᾶλλον τὸ κακὸν, καὶ ἀπορία ἦν οὐκ ἰατρῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πρὸς τὴν νόσον ἀναγκαίων, ἀνέστρεφον εἰς ∆ιδυμότειχον. οἱ δὲ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ φανερῶς μὲν ἀντιτάττεσθαι πρὸς τὴν στρατιὰν τὴν Περσικὴν οὐκ ἦσαν δυνατοί. πέμψαντες δὲ στρατιὰν πρὸς τὴν Ἀδριανοῦ, ἐφρούρουν, ὧν ἦρχεν ὁ Σφραντζὴς, μάλιστα τῶν ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ πόλεων μείζω καὶ ἀναγκαιοτέραν οὖσαν. καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐποιοῦντο πρόνοιαν ὅση δυνατὴ, ὥστε μὴ ἀποστῆναι πρὸς Καντακουζηνὸν τὸν βασιλέα ἀπ' αὐτῶν. Σφραντζὴς οὖν πυθόμενος περὶ βασιλέως, ὡς ἐπιστρατεύσειε Στενιμάχῳ, καὶ νομίσας ὡς εἴη δυνατὸν ἐκείνου ἀπόντος ἄχρις ἐπανήξῃ τὰ περὶ ∆ιδυμότειχον κακώσαντα αὖθις εἰς Ἀδριανούπολιν ἐλθεῖν, παραλαβὼν ὅσους ἦγεν, ἦλθεν ἐπὶ ∆ιδυμότειχον. συνέβη δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς ὥρας καὶ βασιλέα ἐκ τῆς Μόῤῥας ἐπανήκειν μετὰ τῆς στρατιᾶς, καὶ γενομένης συμπλοκῆς, οἱ πλείους μὲν τῶν ἐπελθόντων ἔπεσον καὶ ἑάλωσάν τινες ὀλίγοι. ἀπέθανε δὲ καὶ ὁ στρατηγός. Ἀμοὺρ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἦλθεν ἐν χρῷ κινδύνου κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν μάχην. ἐκεῖνος γὰρ, καίτοι μικρὸν τῆς νόσου ῥαΐσας, ὡς ἐγένετο ἡ 2.406 συμπλοκὴ τῶν στρατοπέδων, ὁπλισάμενος ἐχώρει μετὰ τῶν προτάκτων· κοντοῖς δὲ τῶν πολεμίων τρισὶ περιτυχὼν, παρὰ δόξαν διεσώθη, πρὸς τὰς πληγὰς τῶν ὅπλων ἀντισχόντων, καὶ πολλὰς ὡμολόγει βασιλεῖ χάριτας τῆς σωτηρίας. εἰωθότα γὰρ ὅπλων μάχεσθαι χωρὶς, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἡμέραις ὀλίγαις πρότερον τῆς μάχης παρῄνει μὴ ἄφρακτον εἰσιέναι εἰς τὰς μάχας, εἰ μὴ βούλοιτο θανάτου αἴτιος καταστῆναι ἑαυτῷ· ὅσῳ γὰρ ἄν τις ἀγωνίζοιτο εὐψύχως, τοσούτῳ πεσεῖται ῥᾷστα πληγῇ τινι περιτυχὼν καὶ κατεργασθεὶς ῥᾳδίως. ᾧ καὶ πειθόμενος, καίτοι ἄνοπλος τὸν ἵππον ἐπιβὰς, αὖθις ἀναστρέψας, ἀνελάμβανε τὰ ὅπλα, τῶν βασιλέως παραινέσεων μνησθείς. βασιλίδι δὲ τῇ Ἄννῃ καὶ πατριάρχῃ καὶ μεγάλῳ δουκὶ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ἐν τέλει ἐδόκει δεῖν πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον πρεσβείαν ποιεῖσθαι τὸν