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The Romans received those who deserted, whom the Carthaginians in no way demanded back. Rather, they even forgave the annual tribute, fearing lest the Romans, being offended, might hinder the purchase of provisions and they themselves might be in danger of perishing from famine. But later, when the war was over, they sought both the deserters and the payment of tribute. But when no one gave them anything, they broke the peace, and crossing over daily, they ravaged Calabria. Therefore, the emperor Constantine, not wishing, like his father-in-law, to gently submit to the Saracens and renew the peace, but rather intending to decide matters by war, gathered a worthy force and, appointing the patrician Malakenos as their commander, sent it to Calabria, ordering him to unite with the general of the region (this was Paschalios, who was mentioned a little before) and to jointly with him take up the war threatened by the Carthaginians and Sicilians. And he also appointed Makroioannes over the fleet that was sent. These men, when they arrived in the region, did countless evil things to the natives, acting greedily and doing other things that even the enemy themselves would have hesitated to do. The emir of the Saracens, Aboulchare, learning of these things (for Fatloum was already dead), and encouraging his own men, and advising them not to fear an army that inflicted such evils on its own people, met them in battle and waged a mighty war, and won a most excellent and glorious victory; for the generals themselves nearly would have been captured alive. After this, the emperor Constantine sends a certain John, an asekretis, with the surname Pilatos, to discuss peace with the Saracens. But as they were accustomed not to be elated by victories but to embrace peace even when victorious, they readily obeyed and made peace for a certain time. But when this had collapsed, they again crossed over and plundered the Calabrians. And again Constantine sends a force against them, both naval and infantry; the naval force was commanded by the one with the surname Krambeas and Moroleon, and the patrician Romanos Argyros was general of the infantry. And arriving in Otranto and having beached the ships, they were preparing for the voyage to Sicily. But the Saracens, disturbed by the rumor (for it knows how to magnify small things and to report matters in a more terrifying way) and fearing lest they suffer something because the enemy had suddenly 2.360 approached them unprepared, seized with Panic fear and abandoning their own camp, they fled from Rhegium and crossed over to Sicily. But while sailing towards Panormos they encountered a most severe storm, and with their ships being smashed by the waves, or rather by Christ the God who was blasphemed by them, they all utterly perished. Therefore they make a treaty with the Romans, and the terms of the peace were maintained until the accession of Phokas. But as soon as he was proclaimed emperor, considering it beyond dreadful to pay tribute to Saracens, he sends Manuel, as we have said, with a force against them. But this man, being of a young age and worthy to be enrolled among the soldiers but not indeed to be a general, and also being possessed by many other passions and paying no heed to those who gave better counsel, was shut up with his whole army in some rough and impassable places of Sicily and was given over to utter destruction. And Niketas the patrician and the droungarios of the fleet, the eunuch, was also captured alive, and is sent as a prisoner to Africa. And Manuel indeed met such a catastrophe, having become the cause of destruction for the entire army as well.

The emperor, meanwhile, sends against Cilicia John, who had already been appointed magistros and domestikos of the scholae of the east, the

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αὐτομολήσαντας οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι ἐδέξαντο, οὓς οὐδαμῶς ἀπῄτουν οἱ Καρχηδόνιοι. μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν καὶ τὸν ἐτήσιον δασμὸν συνεχώρουν, δεδοικότες μή πως κω λύσωσιν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι σκανδαλισθέντες τὴν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ὠνὴν καὶ κινδυνεύσωσιν οὗτοι διαφθαρῆναι λιμῷ. ὕστερον δὲ τοῦ πο λέμου διαλυθέντος τούς τε αὐτομόλους ἐζήτουν καὶ τὴν δασμοφο ρίαν. μηδενὸς δὲ παρέχοντος αὐτοῖς διέλυσαν τὴν εἰρήνην, καὶ περαιούμενοι καθ' ἑκάστην τὴν Καλαβρίαν ἐδῄουν. Κωνσταν τῖνος τοίνυν ὁ βασιλεὺς μὴ θελήσας, ὥσπερ ὁ πενθερὸς αὐτοῦ, μειλιχίως ὑπελθεῖν τοὺς Σαρακηνοὺς καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ἀνανεώσα σθαι, ἀλλὰ πολέμῳ μᾶλλον κρῖναι τὰ πράγματα διανοηθείς, δύ ναμιν ἀξιόμαχον συναγείρας καὶ ἄρχοντα ἐπιστήσας αὐτοῖς τὸν πατρίκιον Μαλακηνὸν εἰς Καλαβρίαν ἀπέστειλεν, ἑνωθῆναι κε λεύσας τῷ στρατηγῷ τῆς χώρας (Πασχάλιος δ' οὗτος ἦν, ὁ πρὸ μικροῦ μνημονευθεὶς) καὶ κοινῇ μετ' αὐτοῦ ἀναδέξασθαι τὸν παρὰ τῶν Καρχηδονίων καὶ Σικελῶν ἐπισειόμενον πόλεμον. ἐπέ 2.359 στησε δὲ καὶ τῷ πεμφθέντι στόλῳ τὸν Μακροϊωάννην. οἵτινες κατὰ χώραν γενόμενοι μυρία ἔδρων εἰς τοὺς αὐτόχθονας κακά, πλεονεκτοῦντες καὶ ἄλλα ποιοῦντες ἃ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἂν ὤκνησαν οἱ πο λέμιοι. ταῦτα πυθόμενος ὁ τῶν Σαρακηνῶν ἀμηρᾶς Ἀβουλχαρὲ (ἤδη γὰρ ὁ Φατλοὺμ ἐτεθνήκει) καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ παραθαρρύνας, καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆναι παραινέσας στρατὸν τοιαῦτα εἰς τοὺς οἰκείους ἐνδεικνύμενον τὰ κακά, πόλεμον ὑπαντιάσας συνίστησι κραταιόν, καὶ νίκην ἤρατο ἀρίστην τε καὶ καλλίστην· μικροῦ γὰρ ἂν ἑάλω σαν καὶ οἱ στρατηγοὶ ζωγρίαι. Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννην ἀσηκρῆ τις, τὸν τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν Πιλάτον, περὶ εἰρήνης ἐκπέμπει διαλεξό μενον τοῖς Σαρακηνοῖς. εἰωθότες δ' οὗτοι μὴ ταῖς νίκαις ἐπαίρε σθαι ἀλλὰ τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ κρατοῦντες ἀσπάζεσθαι, προθύμως ὑπήκουσαν καὶ ἐπί τινα χρόνον εἰρήνην ἔθεντο. τούτου δὲ διερ ρυηκότος πάλιν διαπερῶντες ἐλεηλάτουν τοὺς Καλαβρούς. καὶ πάλιν ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος δύναμιν κατ' αὐτῶν καὶ ναυτικὴν ἐκπέμπει καὶ πεζικήν· ἦρχον δὲ τῆς μὲν ναυτικῆς δυνάμεως ὁ τὴν ἐπωνυ μίαν Κραμβέας καὶ ὁ Μωρολέων, ἐστρατήγει δὲ τῶν πεζῶν ὁ πατρίκιος Ῥωμανὸς ὁ Ἀργυρός. γενόμενοι δ' ἐν Ὑδροῦντι καὶτὰς ναῦς νεωλκήσαντες ηὐτρεπίζοντο πρὸς τὸν εἰς Σικελίαν ἀπό πλουν. οἱ δὲ Σαρακηνοὶ τῇ φήμῃ διαταραχθέντες (ἐπίσταται γὰρ αὕτη τὰ μικρὰ μεγεθύνειν καὶ τὰ πράγματα πρὸς τὸ φοβερώ τερον ἐξαγγέλλειν) καὶ μή τι πάθωσι δείσαντες διὰ τὸ αἰφνιδίως 2.360 αὐτοῖς ἀπαρασκεύοις γειτονῆσαι τοὺς πολεμίους, Πανικῷ δείματι συσχεθέντες καὶ τὸ ἑαυτῶν καταλιπόντες στρατόπεδον ἔφυγον ἐκ τοῦ Ῥηγίου καὶ πρὸς τὴν Σικελίαν διεπεραιώθησαν. ἐν δὲ τῷ πρὸς Πάνορμον ἀποπλεῖν βαρυτάτῳ χειμῶνι περιπεσόντες, καὶ τῶν σκαφῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος συντριβέντων, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παρ' αὐτῶν βλασφημουμένου, διολώλασιν ἅπαντες. σπένδονται τοίνυν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις, καὶ διετηρήθη τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης μέχρι τῆς ἀναρρήσεως τοῦ Φωκᾶ. ἄρτι δ' οὗτος ἀναγορευθεὶς βασιλεύς, πέρα δεινῶν ἡγησάμενος δασμοφορῆσαι Σαρακηνοῖς, τὸν Μανουήλ, ὡς εἴπομεν, ἀποστέλλει μετὰ δυνά μεως κατ' αὐτῶν. οὗτος δὲ νέαν ἄγων τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ στρατιώ ταις κατατετάχθαι, οὐ μήν γε καὶ στρατηγεῖν ἄξιος ὤν, ὑπάρ χων δὲ καὶ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις πάθεσι κατάσχετος καὶ μηδὲν τῶν τὰ κρείττω συμβουλευόντων ἐπιστρεφόμενος, ἔν τισι τόποις τραχέσι τε καὶ δυσβάτοις τῆς Σικελίας μετὰ παντὸς ἀποκλεισθεὶς τοῦ στρατοῦ παραδίδοται πανωλεθρίᾳ. ἑάλω δὲ ζωγρίας καὶ Νική τας πατρίκιος καὶ τοῦ στόλου δρουγγάριος ὁ εὐνοῦχος, καὶ εἰς Ἀφρικὴν δέσμιος πέμπεται. καὶ ὁ μὲν Μανουὴλ τοιαύτης ἔτυχε τῆς καταστροφῆς, παραίτιος ἀπωλείας γενόμενος καὶ παντὶ τῷ στρατῷ.

Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ ἐκπέμπει κατὰ Κιλικίας Ἰωάννην μάγιστρον καὶ δομέστικον τῶν σχολῶν τῆς ἀνατολῆς ἤδη προβεβλημένον, τὸν