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having burned with artificial fire the ladders and siege engines brought up to the wall, Scleros, having despaired of its capture by siege, hoped to take the city by a lack of necessities. And when much time had been spent on the siege and those inside were being pressed by the lack of grain, Manuel, having nothing he could do, nor any way to bring in the necessities for life, since Scleros was carefully guarding the entrances, decided to outwit Scleros by a trick. Indeed, having secretly filled the granaries of Nicaea with sand, and having dusted the surface on top with grain, so as to deceive the eyes of those who saw it, he summoned some of the captives from the enemy's side and showed them the storehouses, and sent them to Scleros, instructing them to say that I do not fear the siege by famine (for I have enough provisions even for two whole years), and in other respects the city is impregnable; but being mindful of your interests, I am ready to withdraw from the city for you, if you would grant by oaths to me and to those with me leave to depart wherever we may choose. And when Bardas gladly accepted the proposal and had given pledges, Manuel, taking the Nicaeans and the army around him with all 2.429 that they had, entered the queen city. But Scleros, having taken over Nicaea and discovered the trick concerning the grain, was annoyed at how he had been deceived, but nevertheless left a formidable garrison in it, and having appointed a certain Pegasios as general over them, he himself turned to his subsequent tasks. But the parakoimomenos, being at a loss about the whole situation (for Scleros was already approaching the queen city), decided upon one sufficient recourse, to recall Bardas Phokas from exile, thinking that this man alone would be a worthy adversary for Scleros. And recalling him faster than speech, and securing him with oaths, and having provided him with abundant wealth and honored him with the rank of magistros, he appointed him domestikos of the scholae and sent him against Scleros. And he, having undertaken the struggle for the empire, first attempted to cross over from Thrace to Abydos; but since Romanos, the son of Scleros, was guarding the places in the Hellespont, being repulsed from there he returned to the queen city, and from there, embarking on a ship and eluding the enemy, he reached the opposite shore, and using night journeys went off to Caesarea, and there he joined with Eustathios Maleinos the magistros and Michael Bourtzes the magistros (for Bourtzes, out of a change of heart, had already again chosen the emperor's side) and prepared for war with them. And indeed, having gathered an army as the occasion allowed, and having assembled those who had been scattered in the flight, he came to Amorion. And Scleros 2.430, having heard of his departure, and thinking that now for the first time his struggle would be against a warrior, a man who knew how to handle the turns of war nobly and tactically, and not as before against effeminate eunuchs, chambered and raised in the shade, set out from Nicaea and went away to Amorion, and having met Phokas, he engaged him in battle. But since the men around Phokas did not hold their ground, because their spirit of manliness and daring had been slackened by the previous defeats, Scleros became the stronger. However, the army of Phokas was not entirely scattered into a disorderly retreat, but giving way it yielded, and made its withdrawal slowly, so as not to seem to be driven by cowardice, but to be yielding to a general's command with good order and discipline. For indeed, even when the soldiers had turned their backs and rushed to flight, Phokas, commanding the rearguard, fought off the attackers and did not allow them to press on with the most violent force and impetus. There it is said that Constantine Gabras, with his men, pursuing the fugitives with ill-timed ambition, and thinking he would win great glory if Phokas were made his captive, spurred on the horse he was riding and charged at Phokas with the greatest momentum. whom this man, seeing and recognizing who he was, quietly the

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τὰς προσαγομένας τῷ τείχει κλίμακας καὶ μηχανὰς σκευαστῷ πυρὶ πυρπολήσαντος, τὴν ἐκ πολιορκίας ἅλωσιν ἀπογνοὺς ὁ Σκληρὸς ἐνδείᾳ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἤλπιζεν αἱρῆσαι τὴν πόλιν. χρόνου δὲ τῇ πολιορκίᾳ τριβέντος πολλοῦ καὶ τῶν ἔνδον πιεζομένων τῇ σιτοδείᾳ, μὴ ἔχων ὅ τι καὶ δράσειεν ὁ Μανουὴλ μηδ' ὅθεν εἰσκομίσεται τὰ πρὸς τὸ ζῆν ἀναγκαῖα ἐπιμελῶς τοῦ Σκληροῦ τὰς εἰσόδους τηροῦν τος, ἀπάτῃ τὸν Σκληρὸν ἔγνω περιελθεῖν. ἀμέλει καὶ τοὺς τῆς Νικαίας σιτοβολῶνας ψάμμου λεληθότως πεπληρωκώς, καὶ σίτῳ ἄνωθεν τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐπιχρώσας, ὡς κλέπτεσθαι τὰς ὄψεις τῶν θεωμένων, τινὰς τῶν ἡλωκότων ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἐναντίων μοίρας προσκαλεσάμενος ἐδείκνυ τὰ ταμιεῖα, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Σκληρὸν ἐπαφίη σιν, εἰπεῖν ἐπισκήψας ὅτιπερ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ λιμοῦ πολιορκίαν οὐ δέδοικα (ἀποχρώσας γὰρ ἔχω τροφὰς καὶ ἐπὶ δυσὶν ὅλοις ἔτεσι), πολιορκίᾳ δὲ ἄλλως ἡ πόλις ἀνάλωτος· τὰ σὰ δ' ἐγὼ φρονῶν ἕτοι μός εἰμι ὑπεκστῆναί σοι τῆς πόλεως, εἰ ἐμοί τε καὶ τοῖς μετ' ἐμοῦ δι' ὅρκων δοίης ἀπιέναι ὅπῃ δὴ καὶ αἱρούμεθα. ἀσμένως δὲ τοῦ Βάρδα δεξαμένου τὸν λόγον καὶ πίστεις παρεσχηκότος, τοὺς Νι καεῖς ὁ Μανουὴλ εἰληφὼς καὶ τὸν ἀμφ' αὐτὸν στρατὸν μετὰ πάν 2.429 των ὧν εἶχον, εἴσεισιν εἰς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν. τὴν Νίκαιαν δὲ παρειληφὼς ὁ Σκληρὸς καὶ τὸ περὶ τὸν σῖτον εὑρὼν ῥᾳδιούργημα ἠνιάθη μὲν ἐφ' οἷς ἐξηπάτητο, φρουρὰν δ' ὅμως ἀφεὶς ἀξιόμαχον ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ στρατηγὸν Πηγάσιόν τινα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐπιστήσας, αὐ τὸς τῶν ἐφεξῆς εἴχετο ἔργων. Ὁ δὲ παρακοιμώμενος τοῖς ὅλοις ἀπορηθεὶς (ἤδη γὰρ ὁ Σκληρὸς ἐπλησίαζε τῇ βασιλίδι) μίαν ἐγνώκει βοήθειαν ἀποχρῶ σαν, Βάρδαν τὸν Φωκᾶν μεταπέμψασθαι τῆς ὑπερορίας, μόνον ἀξιόμαχον οἰηθεὶς τοῦτον ἀντίπαλον ἔσεσθαι τῷ Σκληρῷ. λόγου δὲ θᾶττον μεταπεμψάμενος καὶ ὅρκοις ἀσφαλισάμενος, καὶ πλοῦ τον παρεσχηκὼς δαψιλῆ καὶ τῷ τῶν μαγίστρων ἀξιώματι τιμήσας, δομέστικον προχειρίζεται τῶν σχολῶν καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Σκληροῦ ἀφίησιν. ὁ δὲ τὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων ἀναδεξάμενος ἀγῶνα πρῶτον μὲν ἐπεχείρησεν ἀπὸ Θρᾴκης περαιωθῆναι εἰς Ἄβυδον· φυλάττον τος δὲ τὰ ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ χωρία Ῥωμανοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Σκληροῦ, ἀποκρουσθεὶς ἐκεῖθεν ἐπάνεισιν εἰς τὴν βασιλίδα, ἐκεῖθέν τε πλοίου ἐπιβὰς καὶ τοὺς ἐναντίους λαθὼν πρὸς τὴν ἀντίπορθμον γίνεται γῆν, καὶ νυκτοπορίαις χρησάμενος ἄπεισιν εἰς Καισάρειαν, ἐκεῖσέ τε Εὐσταθίῳ μαγίστρῳ τῷ Μαλεΐνῳ καὶ Μιχαὴλ μαγίστρῳ τῷ Βούρτζῃ συμμίξας (ἔφθασε γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκ μετανοίας τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως πάλιν ἑλέσθαι) μετ' αὐτῶν πρὸς πόλεμον ἐξηρτύετο. καὶ δὴ λαὸν ὡς ὁ καιρὸς ἐδίδου ἀθροίσας, καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς φυγῆς ἐσκεδασμένους ἁλίσας, πρὸς τὸ Ἀμώριον γίνεται. καὶ ὁ Σκληρὸς 2.430 δὲ τὴν τούτου ἔξοδον ἀκηκοώς, καὶ νῦν πρῶτον οἰηθεὶς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἔσεσθαι αὐτῷ πρὸς ἄνδρα πολεμιστὴν καὶ φέρειν εἰδότα γενναίως καὶ τακτικῶς τὰς πολεμίους στροφάς, καὶ οὐχ ὡς τὸ πρότερον πρὸς ἀνδράρια ἐκτετμημένα θαλαμευόμενα καὶ σκιατραφῆ, ἄρας ἀπὸ Νικαίας πρὸς τὸ Ἀμώριον ἄπεισι, καὶ συναντήσας συμπλέκε ται τῷ Φωκᾷ. οὐχ ὑποστάντων δὲ τῶν περὶ τὸν Φωκᾶν διὰ τὸ ταῖς προηγησαμέναις ἥτταις χαυνωθῆναι τὸν τῆς ἀνδρίας αὐτοῖς καὶ τόλμης τόνον, ἐπικρατέστερος γίνεται ὁ Σκληρός. οὐ μέντοι καὶ παντάπασιν ἐς ὑπαγωγὴν ἄκοσμον ἐσκέδαστο ἡ στρατιὰ τῷ Φωκᾷ, ἀλλ' ὑποκλίνασα μὲν ἐνέδωκε, σχολαίαν δὲ ἐποιεῖτο τὴν ὑποχώρησιν, ὡς μὴ ὑπὸ δειλίας δοκεῖν ἐλαύνεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἐπι τάγματος ὑπείκειν στρατηγικοῦ μετ' εὐκοσμίας καὶ τάξεως. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ νῶτα δόντας τοὺς στρατιώτας καὶ πρὸς φυγὴν ὡρμημέ νους, ὄπισθεν οὐραγῶν ὁ Φωκᾶς τοὺς ἐπιόντας ἠμύνετο καὶ οὐ μετὰ σφοδροτάτης εἴα βίας καὶ ῥύμης προσφέρεσθαι. ἔνθα καὶ λέγεται Κωνσταντῖνον τὸν Γαβρᾶν μετὰ τῶν ἀμφ' αὐτὸν τὸ φεῦ γον διώκοντα φιλοτιμίᾳ χρησάμενον ἀκαίρῳ, καὶ μεγάλην εὔκλειαν ἕξειν οἰηθέντα εἰ αἰχμάλωτος ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γένοιτο ὁ Φωκᾶς, μυω πίσαντα τὸν ᾧ ἐπωχεῖτο ἵππον, μετὰ μεγίστης ὁρμῆς προσενεχθῆ ναι τῷ Φωκᾷ. ὃν οὗτος ἰδὼν καὶ ὅστις εἴη κατανοήσας, ἠρέμα τὸν