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to attack those who stood ready to defend themselves, when there was no hope of overcoming them by arms, but rather of wearing them down by a lengthy siege, and he advised Nicholas Pisani, the admiral of the Venetians. But he, through inexperience, thought it better to assault the walls, and he seemed to criticize the Romans generally, as if it were through their cowardice that Galata remained unconquered, it being very easy to take, if the Romans would also cooperate with them. For which reasons the emperor, although he knew full well that he was undertaking things not befitting a prudent and skilled general, nevertheless was persuaded because of the Latin's arrogance and so as not to seem to give up what was possible out of cowardice. And other things suitable for the siege were prepared, and having yoked together two ten-thousand-ton merchant ships and, as much as was possible, fitted them with large beams, he then erected a wooden tower reaching to such a height that it was higher than the walls of Galata. It had three stories, from which the hoplites were to stand and fight. And from the tower two very large spars projected in size, which they thought would reach as far as the walls, on which the craftsmen, placing planks like gangways, constructed a sort of road leading from the tower to the walls. And they thought that, with those fighting from the tower providing security and ease 3.195 for the passage, through it some of the brave would engage with those on the walls and would overcome them as they were being shot at also from the tower. This might have succeeded for them according to their plan, if the spars had reached as far as the walls. But being seen to fall short by not a little, they rendered the machine useless. And one similar to this, except for the tower, the protostrator Phakeolatos also had constructed, at the emperor's command, a machine on a large merchant ship himself. But he placed a wooden grate at the ends of the spars; and the grate was so constructed as to be moved by certain ropes and beams, on which it rested; then, having gathered material able to sustain a fire, he placed it on the grate. And he had the idea of placing it, once it was set ablaze, on one of the towers of Galata, for not a few were topped with wooden structures, so that through the tower the fire might also spread to the houses, if the wind blew. But his device could accomplish nothing either, with the spars falling short. And the Venetians constructed a third one, like a ladder from the ship to the walls of the enemy. And when everything from the sea was prepared, the necessary things were also supplied from the land, and they constructed ladders and iron tools, which they were going to use for undermining the walls, and bundles of brushwood were brought on wagons, which they intended to use both for crossing the moat, by pushing the wagons themselves into it, and for setting fire to the gates, if necessary. And 3.196 when nothing was lacking anymore, the infantry and cavalry force was led out, which the despot Manuel Asan, the brother of the empress Irene, commanded, having the protostrator Phakrases as his subordinate general, and it encamped around Galata. And the navy was already prepared to attack the walls at dawn the next day. And those in Galata also prepared themselves to defend. For they first sank the merchant ships and triremes, as many as they had, into the sea, one by one in a row in front of the walls, having attached them with ropes from the battlements, just so much that they would not sink completely, but would be easy to raise when the occasion called, and other things, whatever seemed would be useful for repelling the siege engines. And the sinking of the merchant ships helped them most of all. For they were both immune to fire because of the water, and they did not allow a landing for the enemy ships, and they prevented the machines from going near the walls. The emperor, therefore, having arrived with the army from the mainland, spent the night; and he ordered the protostrator Tarchaneiotes, who commanded the imperial triremes, and the commander of the Venetians, Nicholas, to attack from the sea at dawn, as the infantry and cavalry force would attack from the land. And the triremes in all were

476

τοὺς ἀμυνομένους ἔχουσιν ἐφεστηκότας προσβάλλειν, οὐδεμιᾶς ἐλπίδος οὔσης περιγίνεσθαι τοῖς ὅπλοις, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον χρονίῳ κατεργάζεσθαι πολιορκίᾳ, καὶ τῷ τῶν Βενετικῶν ναυαρχοῦντι Νικολάῳ τῷ Πισσαίῳ παραινοῦντος. τῷ δὲ ἐδόκει μᾶλλον τειχομαχεῖν ὑπ' ἀπειρίας, καὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐῴκει ὁμαλῶς καθάπτεσθαι, ὡς διὰ τὴν ἀτολμίαν σφῶν Γαλατᾶ ἀναλώτου μένοντος, ῥᾷστα δυναμένου, εἰ αὐτοῖς καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι συμπροθυμηθεῖεν. δι' ἃ ὁ βασιλεὺς, καίτοι μάλιστα εἰδὼς, ὡς οὐ προσήκουσιν ἔμφρονι καὶ δεινῷ στρατηγῷ ἐπιχειρεῖ, ὅμως ἐπείθετο διὰ τὸ φύσημα τοῦ Λατίνου καὶ τὸ μὴ δοκεῖν ὑπ' ἀτολμίας προΐεσθαι τὰ δυνατά. καὶ ἄλλα τε παρεσκευάζοντο ἐπιτήδεια πρὸς τὴν τειχομαχίαν, καὶ ὁλκάδας μυριοφόρους συζεύξας δύο καὶ, ὡς μάλιστα ἐνῆν, δοκοῖς μεγάλοις ἐφαρμόσας, ἔπειτα πύργον ξύλινον ἐπέστησεν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὕψους ἥκοντα, ὥστε εἶναι τῶν Γαλατᾶ μετεωρότερον τειχῶν. ὀροφάς τε εἶχε τρεῖς, ἐξ ὧν ἔμελλον ἑστῶτες οἱ ὁπλῖται μάχεσθαι. ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ πύργου προβεβλημέναι ἦσαν δύο κεραῖαι μέγισται μεγέθει, ἃς ᾤοντο διικνεῖσθαι ἄχρι τῶν τειχῶν, ἐφ' ἃς σανίσιν οἱ δημιουργοὶ, ὥσπερ ἀναβάσεις, θέμενοι, ὁδόν τινα κατεσκεύασαν ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου φέρουσαν ἐπὶ τὰ τείχη. ᾤοντο δὲ, ὡς, τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου μαχομένων ἄδειαν παρεχομένων καὶ ῥᾳστώ 3.195 νην πρὸς τὴν δίοδον, δι' αὐτῆς τῶν εὐψύχων τινὲς συμβαλοῦσι τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς τείχεσι καὶ κρατήσουσι βαλλομένους καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου. ὃ κἂν προὐχώρησε κατὰ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν αὐτοῖς, εἰ αἱ κεραῖαι ἄχρι ἀφικνοῦντο τῶν τειχῶν. ἀποδέουσαι δὲ ὀφθεῖσαι οὐκ ὀλίγον, ἄπρακτον τὸ μηχάνημα ἐποίουν. ταύτῃ δὲ ὁμοίαν, πλὴν τοῦ πύργου, καὶ Φακεωλάτος ὁ πρωτοστράτωρ κατεσκευάζετο, βασιλέως προστεταχότος, μηχανὴν ἐφ' ὁλκάδος καὶ αὐτὸς μεγάλης. ἐπ' ἄκραις δὲ ἐκεῖνος ταῖς κεραίαις ἐσχάραν ἐπέθηκε ξυλίνην· οὕτω δὲ ἦν ἡ ἐσχάρα κατεσκευασμένη, ὥστε κινεῖσθαι καλωδίοις δή τισι καὶ δοκοῖς, ἐφ' οἷς ἐπέκειτο· ἔπειτα ὕλην συμφορήσας τρέφειν δυναμένην πῦρ, ἐπέθηκε τῇ ἐσχάρᾳ. γνώμην δὲ εἶχεν, ὡς ἑνὶ τῶν Γαλατᾶ πύργων ἐπιθήσων ἐξαφθεῖσαν, ἦσαν γὰρ οὐκ ὀλίγοι ξύλοις ἄνωθεν ἐπεσκευασμένοι, ὥστε διὰ τοῦ πύργου καὶ ταῖς οἰκίαις ἐπελθεῖν τὸ πῦρ, ἀνέμου πνεύσαντος. ἀνύειν δὲ οὐδὲν οὐδ' ἡ ἐκείνου ἐπίνοια ἐδύνατο, ἀποδεουσῶν τῶν κεραιῶν. καὶ τρίτην δὲ οἱ Βενετικοὶ προσεξειργάσαντο, ὥσπερ κλίμακα ἀπὸ τῆς νεὼς ἐπὶ τὰ τείχη τῶν πολεμίων. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ ἐκ θαλάττης πάντα ἦσαν παρεσκευασμένα, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου τὰ δέοντα προσεπορίζοντο καὶ κλίμακάς τε κατεσκεύαζον καὶ σιδήρια, οἷς χρῆσθαι ἔμελλον ἐπὶ τῷ τὰ τείχη διορύσσειν, ὕλης τε φάκελοι ἐκομίζοντο ἐφ' ἁμαξῶν, αἷς ἔμελλον πρός τε τὴν διάβασιν τῆς τάφρου χρήσεσθαι, αὐταῖς ἁμάξαις εἰσωθήσαντες, καὶ πρὸς ταῖς πύλαις, εἰ δέοι, ἐνιέναι πῦρ. καὶ 3.196 ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν ἐνέδει ἔτι, ἡ πεζὴ καὶ ἱππικὴ δύναμις ἐξήγετο, ὧν ἐστρατήγει δεσπότης Μανουὴλ Ἀσάνης, ὁ βασιλίδος τῆς Εἰρήνης ἀδελφὸς, ὑποστράτηγον ἔχων τὸν πρωτοστράτορα Φακρασῆν, καὶ περιεστρατοπέδευε Γαλατᾶν. καὶ ἡ ναυτικὴ ἤδη παρεσκεύαστο, ὡς εἰς τὴν ὑστεραίαν ἅμα ἕῳ τοῖς τείχεσιν ἐμβαλοῦντες. καὶ οἱ ἐν Γαλατᾷ δὲ παρεσκευάζοντο, ὡς ἀμυνούμενοι. τάς τε γὰρ ὁλκάδας καὶ τριήρεις, ὅσας εἶχον, κατέδυσαν πρότερον εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, κατὰ μίαν ἐφεξῆς πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἀνάψαντες τοῖς καλωδίοις ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπάλξεων, ὅσον μὴ παντάπασι καταδύεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἀνάγεσθαι εἶεν εὐχερεῖς καιροῦ καλοῦντος, καὶ ἄλλα, ὅσα πρὸς ἀποτροπὴν ἐδόκει λυσιτελήσειν τῶν μηχανημάτων. συνήνεγκε δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τῶν ὁλκάδων ἡ κατάδυσις. αὐταί τε γὰρ ἀνάλωτοι ἦσαν τῷ πυρὶ διὰ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ ταῖς πολεμίαις ναυσὶν ἀπόβασιν οὐ παρεῖχον, τάς τε μηχανὰς ἐκώλυον ἐγγὺς τειχῶν ἰέναι. ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς μετὰ τῆς ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου στρατιᾶς διενυκτέρευσεν ἐλθών· πρωτοστράτορα δὲ τὸν Ταρχανειώτην, ὃς τῶν βασιλικῶν τριηρέων ἐστρατήγει, καὶ τὸν τῶν Βενετικῶν ἄρχοντα Νικόλαον ἅμα ἕῳ ἐμβαλεῖν ἐκέλευεν ἀπὸ θαλάττης, ὡς καὶ τῆς πεζῆς καὶ ἱππικῆς δυνάμεως ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου ἐμβαλούντων. τριήρεις δὲ ἦσαν αἱ σύμπασαι