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are hard pressed, and having persuaded the Romans, who were hesitating and afraid to be arrayed against so many myriads, he attacks the enemy. But they, amazed at the swift arrival and shrinking from the war, throwing down their arms, both Tyrach himself and all the leaders and the rest of the multitude surrendered themselves. Kegenes, therefore, advised and strongly urged to slaughter everyone of military age, and he also told a proverb, barbarian but having much sense, that while it is still winter one must kill the snake, 2.587 when it cannot move its tail; for when warmed by the sun, it will give us trouble and problems. But this did not seem right to the Roman leaders, but the deed was considered barbaric and unholy and unworthy of Roman clemency. Rather, therefore, they thought it advantageous to disperse them in the desolate plains of Bulgaria and to settle others elsewhere and to impose tribute upon them; for the tax from such people would not be easy to count; and if the emperor should need an army against both the Turks and against other foreign peoples, to arm them from their number.

So, after many words had been spoken, the opinion of the Romans prevailed; and Kegenes, after slaughtering all the prisoners he took, except for those he had sold, returned home, but the myriads of Pechenegs the governor of Bulgaria, Basil the Monk, took and settled throughout the plains of Sardica, Naissus and Eutzapelos, scattering them all and taking away every weapon to prevent any conspiracy. And Tyrach and with him one hundred and forty men were brought to the emperor; whom he received kindly, and after baptizing them and raising them to the highest dignities, he kept them in luxury. But the sultan, not bearing the unsuccessful return of his ambassadors, gathered all the forces in Persia and the Babylonian ones into one and made an invasion against the Romans. Having heard this in advance, Monomachos hastened to set up a battle line against the enemy with his own forces, and he also armed 2.588 fifteen thousand from the Pechenegs. And he appointed over them four leaders from the Pechenegs in Constantinople—Sultzu, Selte, Karaman, and Kataleim—and after honoring them with no small gifts, giving them the finest wagons and distinguished horses, he ferried them across at Chrysopolis, giving them as a guide Constantine the patrician, surnamed Hadrobalanos, who was to lead them to Iberia. But these men, having crossed over, mounted their horses, taken the road leading eastward, and proceeded for some miles, upon approaching the place called Damatrys, halted their march, and standing on the road they held a council, which among them is called a *komenton*. To some, then, it seemed they should proceed and not go against the imperial commands in the emperor's country, since they were separated from the rest of the nation and were able neither to withstand the Roman power by themselves nor did they have a base of operations against the unwelcome turns of fortune; again, it seemed to others that, having seized some mountains of Bithynia, they should remain in them and defend themselves against attackers, and by no means go up to Iberia, to a distant and strange country, where they would have as enemies not only the enemies of the Romans but also the Romans themselves. But Kataleim alone gave the opinion to return and be united with their kinsmen. When someone said, "And how will the sea be crossable?" saying nothing more he ordered them to follow him. So then 2.589 they rushed to kill Hadrobalanos but were not able (for he escaped by fleeing to a certain third-story upper room of the palaces in Damatrys), but following Kataleim they went down to the sea, not expecting, perhaps, that he had ships prepared which would make the crossing of the sea easy for them, but being at a loss and wanting to learn what was the manner of the

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πιέζονται, ἀναπείσας καὶ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ὀκνοῦν τας καὶ δεδιότας πρὸς τοσαύτας ἀντιπαρατάττεσθαι μυριάδας, προσρήγνυται τοῖς ἐχθροῖς. οἱ δὲ τὴν ὀξεῖαν ἔλευσιν ἐκπλαγέντες καὶ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἀποδειλιάσαντες, ῥίψαντες τὰ ὅπλα αὐτός τε ὁ Τυρὰχ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πλῆθος ἑαυτοὺς ἐγχειρίζουσιν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Κεγένης συνεβούλευε καὶ διεμαρτύρατο πάντας ἡβηδὸν ἀποσφάξαι, ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ παροιμίαν βάρβαρον μὲν νοῦν δὲ πολὺν ἔχουσαν, ὡς ἔτι χειμῶνος ὄντος δεῖ τὸν ὄφιν ἀπο 2.587 κτεῖναι, ὁπηνίκα τὴν κέρκον κινεῖν οὐ δύναται· ὑπὸ ἡλίου γὰρ θαλφθεὶς κόπους ἡμῖν παρέξει καὶ πράγματα. τοῦτο δὲ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν οὐκ ἐδόκει Ῥωμαίων, ἀλλὰ βαρβαρικὸν τὸ ἔργον καὶ ἀνόσιον ἐνομίζετο καὶ Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἀνάξιον ἡμερότητος. μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν συμφέρον ἐνόμιζον διασκεδάσαι τούτους ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις τῆς Βουλγαρίας πεδιάσι καὶ ἄλλους ἀλλαχοῦ ἐγκατοικίσαι καὶ φό ρους αὐτοῖς ἐπιθεῖναι· ἔσεσθαι γὰρ οὐκ εὐαρίθμητον τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν τοιούτων δασμόν· εἰ δεήσει δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ στρατοῦ πρός τε τοὺς Τούρκους καὶ πρὸς ἄλλα ἑτερόφυλα γένη, καθοπλίζειν ἀπ' αὐτῶν.

Πολλῶν οὖν λόγων ῥηθέντων ἐνίκησεν ἡ τῶν Ῥωμαίων γνώμη· καὶ ὁ μὲν Κεγένης ὅσους ἔλαβε ζωγρίας, πλὴν ὧν ἀπημ πόληκε, τοὺς πάντας ἀποσφάξας ὑπενόστησεν οἴκαδε, τὰς δὲ τῶν Πατζινάκων μυριάδας ὁ τῆς Βουλγαρίας παραλαβὼν ἄρχων Βασί λειος ὁ Μοναχὸς ἐγκαθιδρύει ἀνά τε τὰς πεδιάδας τῆς Σαρδικῆς, τῆς Ναϊσοῦ καὶ Εὐτζαπέλου διασπείρας πάντας καὶ πᾶν ὅπλον ἀφελόμενος διὰ τὸ ἀνεπιβούλευτον. ὁ δὲ Τυρὰχ καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ ἄνδρες ἑκατὸν καὶ τεσσαράκοντα ἄγονται εἰς τὸν βασιλέα· οὓς φιλοφρόνως οὗτος ἀποδεξάμενος καὶ βαπτίσας καὶ μεγίστοις ἀξιώ μασιν ἐπάρας ἐν εὐπαθείαις κατεῖχεν. Ὁ δὲ σουλτάνος τὴν τῶν αὐτοῦ πρέσβεων ἄπρακτον ὑπο στροφὴν μὴ φέρων, τὰς ἐν Περσίδι πάσας δυνάμεις καὶ τὰς Βα βυλωνίους ὑφ' ἓν ἀθροίσας εἰσβολὴν ποιεῖται κατὰ Ῥωμαίων. τοῦτο δὲ προακηκοὼς ὁ Μονομάχος ἔσπευδε μὲν καὶ διὰ τῶν οἰ κείων δυνάμεων ἀντιπαράταξιν στῆσαι τῷ πολεμίῳ, ὥπλισε δὲ 2.588 καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν Πατζινάκων χιλιάδας ιεʹ. καὶ ἡγεμόνας τέσσαρας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Πατζινάκων αὐτοῖς ἐπιστήσας, τὸν Σουλτζοῦν, τὸν Σελτέ, τὸν Καραμᾶν καὶ τὸν Καταλείμ, δώροις τε φιλοτιμησάμενος οὐ μικροῖς, καὶ ἅρματα κάλλιστα δοὺς καὶ ἵππους διαπρεπεῖς, περαιοῖ ἐν Χρυσουπόλει, δοὺς αὐ τοῖς ὁδηγὸν τὸν ἀπάξαι μέλλοντα τούτους εἰς Ἰβηρίαν Κωνσταν τῖνον τὸν πατρίκιον, ᾧ Ἁδροβάλανος τὸ ἐπώνυμον. περαιωθέν τες δὲ οὗτοι καὶ τοὺς ἵππους ἀναβάντες καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἀνατολὴν φερούσης ἁψάμενοι καὶ προελθόντες ἄχρι μιλίων τινῶν καὶ τῷ λεγομένῳ ∆αματρύϊ προσεγγίσαντες ἐπέσχον τὴν πορείαν, καὶ στάντες ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ συμβουλὴν προετίθεσαν, ἥτις παρ' αὐτοῖς κομέντον ὠνόμασται. τισὶ μὲν οὖν ἐδόκει πορευτέα εἶναι καὶ μὴ ἀντιβαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς χώρας τοῦ βασιλέως τοῖς βασιλικοῖς προστά γμασι, τοῦ τε λοιποῦ ἔθνους κεχωρισμένοις καὶ μήτε καθ' ἑαυ τοὺς ὑποστῆναι δυναμένοις τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν δύναμιν μήτε ὁρμητή ριον ἔχουσι πρὸς τὰ τῆς τύχης ἀβούλητα· ἄλλοις πάλιν ἐδόκει, κατασχοῦσιν ὄρη τινὰ τῆς Βιθυνίας, ἐν τούτοις παραμένειν καὶ τοὺς ἐπιόντας ἀμύνασθαι, ἀνελθεῖν δὲ μηδαμῶς εἰς Ἰβηρίαν, ἐς χώραν μακρὰν καὶ ἀλλόκοτον, ἔνθα μέλλουσιν ἕξειν πολεμίους οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἐχθροὺς Ῥωμαίων ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους. ὁ Καταλεὶμ δὲ μόνος γνώμην ἐδίδου ὑποστρέψαι καὶ ἑνωθῆναι τοῖς συγγενέσιν. εἰπόντος δέ τινος "καὶ πῶς ἂν ἔσεται περατὴ ἡ θάλασσα;" μηδὲν πλέον εἰπὼν ἕπεσθαί οἱ κελεύει. τὸν μὲν 2.589 οὖν Ἁδροβάλανον ὁρμήσαντες ἀποκτεῖναι οὐκ ἴσχυσαν (φυγὼν γὰρ διεσώθη ἔν τινι τριωρόφῳ ὑπερῴῳ τῶν ἐν τῷ ∆αματρύϊ πα λατίων), τῷ Καταλεὶμ δὲ ἑπόμενοι κατήρχοντο πρὸς τὴν θάλασ σαν, οὐκ ἐλπίζοντες τάχα πλοῖα ἔχειν αὐτὸν ηὐτρεπισμένα τὰ ῥᾳ δίαν τούτοις μέλλοντα ποιῆσαι τὴν τῆς θαλάσσης περαίωσιν, ἀλλὰ διαποροῦντες καὶ μαθεῖν ἐθέλοντες τίς ὁ τρόπος τῆς