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they rescued from danger. And the armies were completely disbanded, the crisis of the war having in no way been resolved.

But the emperor, seeing the Scythians now fighting more bravely than before, and being weighed down by the passage of time, and also pitying the Romans who were suffering hardships and faring badly in the war, thought to decide the matter by single combat. And so he sends an embassy to Sphendosthlabos, challenging him to single combat, saying that the matter ought to be decided by the death of one man rather than the nations be slaughtered and gradually consumed, and that the victor be lord of all. But he did not accept the challenge, but uttered arrogant words, that he himself would look after his own affairs better than his enemy; and if he himself had no leisure to live, there are countless other roads to death; let him choose whichever of these he prefers. Having blustered these things, he applied himself more eagerly to the preparation 2.410 for war. But the emperor, despairing of the contest by challenge, contrived by all means to block the entrance to the city to the barbarians, and for this task he sends out Bardas Skleros the magistros with the regiments which he himself commanded; and the patrikios Romanos, the son of the emperor Constantine, the son of the elder Romanos, and Peter the stratopedarches, with the forces which they led, he permitted to attack the enemy. And they, attacking the Scythians, fought stoutly. And since they too received them eagerly, it happened that the war experienced many turns and shifts, and for a considerable time the battle was evenly balanced. Then again Anemas, the son of the emir of Crete, having moved his horse this way and that and spurred it on more vehemently, charges against Sphendosthlabos himself with youthful spirit, and having broken through the phalanx of the enemy, he strikes him with his sword on the middle of his head, and knocks him from his horse, but certainly does not kill him, since the armor he was wearing protected him. He himself, however, being surrounded and struck by many, is killed, ending his life heroically, becoming a great wonder even to his opponents. And it is said that the Romans at that time also received more divine assistance. For a certain storm, having risen from the south, stood in the face of the Scythians, not allowing them to act according to their intentions in the battle. And a certain man was seen by the entire Roman army on a white horse, fighting in front and throwing the enemy's phalanxes into confusion 2.411 and disorder, being known to no one before or after this, whom they said was Theodore, one of the triumphant martyrs. The emperor always used these men as champions and bulwarks against the enemy; for indeed it happened that this battle took place on the very day on which we are accustomed to celebrate the memory of the stratelates. And a certain venerable woman in Byzantium affirmed that the vision was of a supreme power, having seen a dream one day before the engagement, and having seemed to stand beside the Theotokos and to hear her saying to a certain soldier, "Lord Theodore, my and your John is beset by peril, and hasten to his aid," and at sunrise she explained it to her neighbors. And these were the things that were seen, and the Scythians are routed again, and finding the gates of the city blocked by Skleros they were scattered throughout the plain, and more than could be counted were killed, both trampled by each other and cut down by the Romans, and nearly all of them were wounded. And the emperor, honoring the martyr, and paying him the rewards for his assistance, demolished the church in which his holy body lies from its foundations and built a great and most beautiful one, assigning magnificent properties to it; which he also named Theodoropolis instead of Euchaneia. But Sphendosthlabos, having tried every stratagem and being defeated in all of them, when he realized that none was left to him 2.412

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κινδύνου ἐρρύσαντο. καὶ τὰ στρατεύματα διελύθησαν τελείως, μηδαμῶς ἔτι κρίσιν τοῦ πολέμου λαβόντος.

Ὁ βασιλεὺς δὲ εὐψυχότερον νῦν μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον ὁρῶν ἀγωνιζομένους τοὺς Σκύθας, καὶ τὴν τοῦ χρόνου τριβὴν βαρού μενος, οἰκτείρων δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ταλαιπωρουμένους καὶ τῷ πολέμῳ κακῶς πάσχοντας, μονομαχίᾳ ᾠήθη κρῖναι τὰ πράγματα. καὶ δὴ διαπρεσβεύεται πρὸς τὸν Σφενδοσθλάβον, προκαλούμενος αὐτὸν εἰς μονομαχίαν, δέον εἶναι λέγων ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς θανάτῳ κρι θῆναι τὸ ἔργον ἢ κατασφάττεσθαι καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν δαπανᾶσθαι τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ τὸν νικήσαντα κύριον εἶναι τῶν ὅλων. οὗτος δὲ τὴν πρόκλησιν μὲν οὐκ ἐδέξατο, λόγους δ' ἐπαφῆκεν ὑπεροπτικούς, ὡς τὰ κατ' αὐτὸν ἄμεινον αὐτὸς τοῦ ἐχθροῦ σκοπήσει· αὐτὸς δὲ εἰ μὴ ζῆν ἄγει σχολήν, εἰσὶ μυρίαι ἄλλαι θανάτου ὁδοί· τούτων ὁποίαν αἱρεῖται ἑλέσθω. ταῦτα φρυαξάμενος τῆς πολεμικῆς εἴ 2.410 χετο παρασκευῆς προθυμότερον. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὸν ἐκ προκλή σεως ἀπογνοὺς ἀγῶνα, πᾶσι τρόποις ἐμηχανᾶτο τὴν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀποκλεῖσαι εἴσοδον τοῖς βαρβάροις, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἔργον ἐκπέμπει Βάρδαν μάγιστρον τὸν Σκληρὸν μετὰ τῶν ταγμάτων ὧν αὐτὸς ἐστρατήγει· τὸν δὲ πατρίκιον Ῥωμανὸν τὸν υἱὸν Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ βασιλέως, τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου Ῥωμανοῦ, καὶ Πέτρον τὸν στρατοπεδάρχην, μεθ' ὧν ἐξῆρχον δυνάμεων, προσράξαι τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐπέτρεψεν. οἳ δὴ προσβαλόντες τοῖς Σκύθαις ἐμάχοντο καρτερῶς. ἐκθύμως δὲ κἀκείνων ὑποδεξαμένων πολλὰς τροπὰς καὶ μετακλίσεις συνέβη τὸν πόλεμον δέξασθαι, καὶ ἐφ' ἱκανὸν χρόνον ἰσοτάλαντος ἦν ἡ μάχη. ἐνταῦθα πάλιν ὁ τοῦ τῆς Κρήτης ἀμηρᾶ υἱὸς Ἀνεμᾶς, τῇδε κἀκεῖσε τὸν ἵππον μετακινήσας καὶ σφο δρότερον μυωπίσας, κατ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σφενδοσθλάβου φέρεται μετὰ λήματος νεανικοῦ, καὶ τὴν φάλαγγα διασχίσας τῶν δυσμε νῶν παίει τοῦτον τῷ ξίφει κατὰ μέσην τὴν κεφαλήν, καὶ κατα βάλλει μὲν τοῦ ἵππου, οὐ μήν γε καὶ ἀναιρεῖ ἐπαρκεσάντων τῶν ὅπλων ἃ ἐνεδέδυτο. αὐτὸς μέντοι κυκλωθεὶς καὶ ὑπὸ πολλῶν βαλ λόμενος ἀναιρεῖται, ἡρωϊκῶς καταστρέψας τὸν βίον, θαῦμα μέγα καὶ τοῖς ἀντιπάλοις γενόμενος. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ θειοτέρας τότε τυχεῖν τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἐπι κουρίας. θύελλα γάρ τις ἐκ νότου κατὰ πρόσωπον ἀρθεῖσα ἵστατο τῶν Σκυθῶν, μὴ συγχωροῦσα χρῆσθαι κατὰ τὴν μάχην ταῖς προαιρέσεσι. καί τις ἀνὴρ ὦπτο παντὶ τῷ στρατοπέδῳ Ῥωμαίων ἐφ' ἵππου λευκοῦ προαγωνιζόμενος καὶ τὰς τῶν πολεμίων κλονῶν 2.411 καὶ διαταράσσων φάλαγγας, μηδενὶ πρότερον ἢ μετὰ ταῦτα γενό μενος γνώριμος, ὃν ἔφασκον ἕνα εἶναι τῶν καλλινίκων μαρτύρων Θεόδωρον. τούτοις δὲ προμάχοις ἀεὶ καὶ προβόλοις κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἐχρῆτο ὁ βασιλεύς· καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ συνέτυχε τόνδε τὸν ἀγῶνα κατ' αὐτὴν συνενεχθῆναι τὴν ἡμέραν καθ' ἣν εἰώθαμεν ἑορτάζειν τὴν μνήμην τοῦ στρατηλάτου. καὶ γυνὴ δέ τις ἐν Βυ ζαντίῳ σεμνὴ ὑπερτάτης δυνάμεως εἶναι τὸ φάσμα ἐπιστοῦτο, μιᾷ πρότερον τῆς συμπλοκῆς ἡμέρᾳ ὄναρ θεασαμένη, καὶ δόξασα τῇ θεοτόκῳ παρίστασθαι καὶ λεγούσης ἀκοῦσαι πρός τινα στρατιώτην "κύριε Θεόδωρε, ὁ ἐμὸς καὶ σὸς Ἰωάννης περιστάσει συνέχεται, καὶ σπεῦσον εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ βοήθειαν," καὶ ἡλίου ἀνίσχοντος τοῖς γείτοσιν ἐξηγησαμένη. καὶ τὰ μὲν ὁραθέντα ταῦτα, τρέπονται δὲ πάλιν οἱ Σκύθαι, καὶ ἀποκεκλεισμένας τὰς τῆς πόλεως εὑρόν τες πύλας ὑπὸ τοῦ Σκληροῦ ἀνὰ τὸ πεδίον ἐσκεδάννυντο, καὶ ἀνῃρέθησαν ὑπ' ἀλλήλων τε συμπατούμενοι καὶ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων συγκοπτόμενοι ἀριθμοῦ κρείττους, τραυματίαι δὲ ἐγένοντο σχε δόν τι πάντες. τὸν μάρτυρα δ' ὁ βασιλεὺς τιμῶν, καὶ τῆς ἐπι κουρίας ἀποτιννὺς αὐτῷ τὰς ἀμοιβάς, τὸν ναὸν ἐν ᾧ τὸ θεῖον αὐτοῦ ἀπόκειται σῶμα ἐκ βάθρων καταβαλὼν μέγαν τε καὶ κάλ λιστον ᾠκοδόμησε, μεγαλοπρεπεῖς αὐτῷ κτίσεις προσαφορίσας· ὃν καὶ ἀντὶ Εὐχανείας Θεοδωρόπολιν κατωνόμασεν. Ὁ δὲ Σφενδοσθλάβος πᾶσαν μετελθὼν μηχανὴν καὶ διὰ πασῶν ἐλαττούμενος, ὡς ἔγνω μηδεμίαν αὐτῷ ὑπολελεῖφθαι 2.412