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preferring a disgraceful life through flight. But the emperor did not cease entering Bulgaria each year, ravaging and laying waste to everything in his path. Samuel, however, unable to defend the countryside or to stand against the emperor in open battle, but being broken on all sides and losing his own strength, decided to block his entry into Bulgaria with trenches and palisades. Knowing therefore that it was always the emperor's custom to make his passage through the so-called Kimba Longos and Kleidon, he decided to fortify this difficult pass and to block the entrance to the emperor. So, having built a very wide barrier and stationed worthy guards in it, he awaited the emperor. When he arrived and attempted the entrance, since the guards resisted bravely and from higher ground killed those forcing their way through, striking and wounding them, and the crossing was already despaired of by the emperor, Nikephoros Xiphias, then strategos of Philippopolis, having arranged with the emperor, and having urged him to wait and to make continuous attacks on the 2.458 stockade, while he himself said he would go away, if somehow he might be able to accomplish something useful and salvific, took the force with him and turned back, and having gone around the very high mountain lying to the south of Kleidion, which they call Balathista, and using rough and pathless ways, on the 29th of the month of July, in the 12th indiction, suddenly from above with a shout and a crash he came upon the rear of the Bulgarians; they, struck by the unexpected, turned to flight. And the emperor, breaking through the now-unguarded wall, pursued them. Many therefore fell, and many more were captured, with Samuel barely able to escape the danger through the help of his own son, who bravely received the attackers, and put him on a horse and led him away to the fortress called Prilepon. The emperor blinded the captured Bulgarians, numbering about 15,000, as they say, and having ordered each hundred of the maimed to be led by one one-eyed man, sends them to Samuel. When he saw them arriving in number and rank, and unable to bear the suffering manfully and courageously, he was struck by faintness and darkness and fell to the ground. Those present, having revived his breath with water and perfumes, made him recover a little. Having recovered, he asked for cold water to drink. Having taken and drunk it, he was seized by a heart attack, and after two days he died. His son, Gabriel, also called Romanos, takes over the rule of the Bulgarians, surpassing his father in might and strength, but much inferior in prudence and intellect, born to Samuel by a certain 2.459 captive woman of Larissa. He began to rule on the 15th of the month of September, in the 13th indiction. And not even having completed a full year, he is slain while going out to a hunt, by John, also called Vladislav, the son of Aaron, whom he himself had delivered from death when he was about to die. Before these things happened, when Theophylaktos Botaneiates had been sent to rule Thessalonica after Arianites David, Nestoritzes, one of the most powerful men among the Bulgarians, was sent by Samuel against Thessalonica with a large force. Theophylaktos, meeting them with his son Michael and engaging in battle, utterly routed them, and taking much booty and numerous captives, he brought them to the emperor who was besieging the stockade in the pass of Kleidion. The emperor, having crossed the stockade, as has been said, comes to Stroumbitza. And he subdued the fortress called Matzoukion, which was near Stroumbitza, and he sent Theophylaktos Botaneiates, the doux of Thessalonica, with a force, ordering him to cross the hills at Stroumbitza, and to burn the stockades on the roads there, and to make the way leading to Thessalonica easy for him to travel

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τὴν διὰ φυγῆς ἀσχήμονα προκρινάντων ζωήν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς οὐ διέλιπε καθ' ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν εἰσιὼν ἐν Βουλγαρίᾳ καὶ τὰ ἐν ποσὶ κείρων τε καὶ δῃῶν. ὁ Σαμουὴλ δὲ μὴ δυνάμενος τῶν ὑπαίθρων ἀντιποιεῖσθαι μηδὲ πρὸς ἐμφανῆ μάχην ἀντιστῆναι τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἀλλὰ πάντοθεν θραυόμενος καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀκμὴν ἀποβάλλων, ἔγνω τάφροις καὶ θριγγοῖς ἐπιτειχίσαι τούτῳ τὴν εἰς τὴν Βουλγαρίαν εἴσοδον. εἰδὼς οὖν ὡς ἔθος ἀεὶ τῷ βα σιλεῖ διὰ τοῦ λεγομένου Κίμβα Λόγγου καὶ τοῦ Κλειδίου ποιεῖ σθαι τὰς διελεύσεις, ταύτην ἔγνω τὴν δυσχωρίαν ἐπιτειχίσαι καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀποκλεῖσαι τὴν εἴσοδον. φραγμὸν οὖν δομησάμενος εἰς εὖρος πολύ, καὶ φύλακας ἐν αὐτῷ ἀξιοπρεπεῖς ἐπιστήσας, προσέμενε τὸν βασιλέα. ἀφικομένου δὲ καὶ τούτου καὶ ἀποπειρα σαμένου τῆς εἰσόδου, ἐπείπερ ἀντεῖχον γενναίως οἱ φυλάσσοντες καὶ τοὺς βιαζομένους ἐξ ὑπερδεξίων ἀνῄρουν βάλλοντες καὶ τιτρώ σκοντες, καὶ ἤδη ἀπέγνωστο τῷ βασιλεῖ ἡ διάβασις, Νικηφόρος ὁ Ξιφίας τῆς Φιλιππουπόλεως τότε στρατηγῶν τῷ βασιλεῖ συν ταξάμενος, καὶ αὐτὸν μὲν προσμένειν καὶ συνεχεῖς προσβολὰς τῷ 2.458 δέματι ποιεῖσθαι παρεγγυήσας, αὐτὸς δὲ ἀπιέναι φήσας, εἴ πως δυνηθείη λυσιτελές τι διαπράξασθαι καὶ σωτήριον, τὸν περὶ αὐτὸν εἰληφὼς λαὸν ὑποστρέφει, καὶ περιοδεύσας τὸ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν κείμενον τοῦ Κλειδίου ὑψηλότατον ὄρος, ὃ Βαλαθίσταν κατονο μάζουσι, καὶ τραχυπορίαις καὶ ἀνοδίαις χρησάμενος, κθʹ τοῦ Ἰουλίου μηνός, ἐπινεμήσει ιβʹ, ἄνωθεν ἐξαίφνης μετ' ἀλαλαγμοῦ καὶ δούπου κατὰ νώτου γίνεται τῶν Βουλγάρων· οἱ δὲ τῷ ἀπροσ δοκήτῳ καταπλαγέντες τρέπονται πρὸς φυγήν. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς μονωθὲν διαρρήξας τὸ τεῖχος ἐδίωκεν. ἔπεσον οὖν πολλοί, καὶ πολλῷ πλείους ἑάλωσαν, μόλις τοῦ Σαμουὴλ διαφυγεῖν δυνηθέν τος τὸν κίνδυνον συνεργίᾳ τοῦ ἰδίου υἱοῦ γενναίως τοὺς ἐπιόντας ὑποδεξαμένου, καὶ ἵππῳ τοῦτον ἐπιβιβάσαντος καὶ εἰς τὸ λεγόμε νον Πρίλαπον τὸ φρούριον ἀπαγαγόντος. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τοὺς ἑα λωκότας τῶν Βουλγάρων ἀμφὶ τὰς ιεʹ, ὥς φασιν, ὄντας χιλιάδας ἀπετύφλωσε, καὶ ἑκάστην ἑκατοντάδα πεπηρωμένων ὑφ' ἑνὸς μονοφθάλμου ὁδηγεῖσθαι κελεύσας εἰς τὸν Σαμουὴλ ἀποπέμπει. οὓς ἐκεῖνος ἀφικνουμένους κατ' ἀριθμὸν καὶ τάξιν θεώμενος, καὶ τὸ πάθος οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν νεανικῶς καὶ εὐψύχως, λειποθυμίᾳ καὶ σκότῳ βάλλεται καὶ εἰς γῆν πίπτει· ὕδατι δὲ καὶ μύροις οἱ παρόν τες τὴν πνοὴν αὐτοῦ ἀνακαλεσάμενοι ἀνενεγκεῖν μικρὸν πεποιήκα σιν. ἀνενεγκὼν δὲ ὕδωρ πιεῖν ἐπεζήτησε ψυχρόν. λαβὼν δὲ καὶ πιὼν ἐλήφθη καρδιαγμῷ, καὶ μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας θνήσκει. παρα λαμβάνει δὲ τὴν Βουλγάρων ἀρχὴν ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Γαβριὴλ ὁ καὶ Ῥωμανός, ῥώμῃ μὲν καὶ ἰσχύϊ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπερέχων, φρονήσει δὲ καὶ διανοίᾳ πολλῷ λειπόμενος, τεχθεὶς τῷ Σαμουὴλ ἀπό τινος 2.459 αἰχμαλώτιδος Λαρισσαίας. ἦρξε δὲ κατὰ τὴν ιεʹ τοῦ Σεπτεμβρίου μηνός, ἐπινεμήσει ιγʹ. καὶ μηδ' ὅλον ἀποπληρώσας ἐνιαυτὸν σφάττεται, εἰς κυνηγέσιον ἐξελθών, παρὰ Ἰωάννου τοῦ καὶ Βλα δισθλάβου τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἀαρών, ὃν αὐτὸς θνήσκειν μέλλοντα τοῦ θα νάτου ἀπελυτρώσατο. Πρὸ τοῦ δὲ ταῦτα γενέσθαι, Θεοφυλάκτου τοῦ Βοτανειάτου ἄρχειν Θεσσαλονίκης μετὰ τὸν Ἀριανίτην πεμφθέντος ∆αβὶδ ὁ Νεστορίτζης, εἷς τῶν παρὰ Βουλγάροις μέγα δυναμένων ὑπάρχων, μετὰ δυνάμεως ἁδρᾶς κατὰ Θεσσαλονίκης ἐκπέμπεται παρὰ τοῦ Σαμουήλ· οἷς συναντήσας ὁ Θεοφύλακτος σὺν τῷ υἱῷ Μιχαὴλ καὶ συμπλακεὶς τρέπει τε κατὰ κράτος, καὶ λείαν πολλὴν καὶ αἰχμαλώτους συχνοὺς προσλαβόμενος διακομίζει τῷ βασιλεῖ πολιορ κοῦντι τὸ ἐν τῇ κλεισούρᾳ τοῦ Κλειδίου δέμα. τὸ δέμα δέ, ὡς εἴρηται, διαβὰς ὁ βασιλεὺς κατὰ Στρούμπιτζαν γίνεται. καὶ παρεστήσατο μὲν φρούριον τὸ καλούμενον Ματζούκιον, τῇ Στρουμ πίτζῃ δὲ προσεγγίζον, μετὰ δυνάμεως δ' ἐκπέμπει τὸν Βατανειά την Θεοφύλακτον τὸν δοῦκα Θεσσαλονίκης, ὑπερβῆναι κελεύσας τοὺς ἐν Στρουμπίτζῃ βουνούς, καὶ τὰ ἐν ταῖς κατ' αὐτοὺς ὁδοῖς πυρπολῆσαι δέματα, καὶ εὐπόρευτον αὐτῷ θεῖναι τὴν πρὸς Θεσ σαλονίκην ἄγουσαν