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agricultural implements, he thought to push the tents forward little by little and fit them to the walls and thus to mine 2.592 the foundations easily and without fear, believing that no one would be permitted to lean out from the wall because of the multitude of arrows; and in this way he imagined he would take the city. Seeing these things from the wall, Apokapes ordered the wall-guards to remain still and no one to lean out, but only to have stones that filled the hand ready, and bows and other long-range weapons, and to await the signal from him (which was "Christ, help"), and when it was given, to get to work; and he had with him also very large beams, sharp at the base. And while he was arranging things thus, Alkan, while the Turks outside sent their arrows like hail and seemed to be checking those inside the walls, pushing the mantelets forward little by little, brought them up against the wall. But when the tents managed to get close and it seemed impossible for them to retreat, suddenly when Apokapes gave the signal, those assigned to the beams released the beams against the tents and the rest shot with bows and stones. Then indeed the tent holding Alkan, pierced on its roof by many beams, was overturned, being turned over by their weight; and when it was overturned, those inside it, being exposed, were pelted from all sides with stones and arrows, with no one able to help them. And all the others fell there, but Alkan was taken alive, being recognizable by the brilliance of his armor; for two noble youths, leaping forth from the city gates and seizing him by the hair, dragged him into the city. And 2.593 Basil, immediately cutting off his head, hurled it at the Turks, and the sultan, greatly grieved by the event, lifts the siege and departs, pretending that some necessary business urged him to return home, threatening to campaign against the Romans in the coming spring with a greater force.

Concerned about this, Monomachos, and also defending himself against Aplesphares, the ruler of Tiflis, who had broken the treaty made under Constantine and was harming the Romans' interests, gathered all the eastern regiments and appointed a certain eunuch Nikephoros to lead them—a man who had formerly been a priest and served the emperor when he was a private citizen, but who had renounced the priesthood for worldly distinction and glory—honoring him as rhaiktor and naming him stratopedarch, sends him to the east, not because he was active and energetic in military matters, but because he maintained loyalty to the emperor. This man, having gone up with the army as far as the so-called Iron Bridge and Kantzakion, did not encounter the Turks (for they were encamped in the plain of Persarmenia with a certain general Abimelech, the brother of Kutlumush, and having learned of the heavy Roman assault, not daring to withstand the attack, they returned home), but the Roman army, having shut Aplesphares inside the walls and plundered all the surrounding country, persuaded him, even against his will, to renew the treaties 2.594 and to give as a hostage Artasyras, the son of Phatloum, his own brother who was ruler of the land of the Kantzakenoi; and having taken him, Nikephoros returned to the city. The Patzinaks, having crossed the Haemus as we said, and having spied out the plain between it and the Ister that extends to the sea, and having found a place with glens and groves and thickets of all kinds and water and pastures (the locals call the place "Hundred Hills"), they established themselves there, and making raids from there, they caused no small grief to the lands under the Romans. And the emperor summoned Kegenes to the capital for consultation; and he entered immediately with all his own army, and encamped on the plain designated by the Byzantines for a camp (the place is Maites

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γεωργικὰ ὄργανα, ᾤετο κατὰ μικρὸν ὑπωθεῖν τὰς σκηνὰς καὶ τοῖς τείχεσι προσαρμόσαι καὶ οὕτως ὑπορύττειν ἀνέτως καὶ 2.592 ἀδεῶς τὰ θεμέλια, πιστεύσας ὡς οὐδεὶς προκύψαι τοῦ τείχους συγχωρηθήσεται ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν βελῶν· καὶ τοῦτον ἐφαν τάζετο τὸν τρόπον παραλήψεσθαι τὴν πόλιν. ταῦτα δὲ βλέπων ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους ὁ Ἀποκάπης τοῖς μὲν τειχοφυλακοῦσιν ἀτρεμεῖν καὶ μηδένα προκύπτειν διεκελεύετο, μόνον δὲ λίθους χειροπληθεῖς ἔχειν ηὐτρεπισμένους καὶ τόξα καὶ ἄλλα ἑκηβόλα ὄργανα, καὶ προσμένειν τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ σύνθημα (ἦν δὲ τὸ Χριστὲ βοήθει), οὗ δοθέντος ἔργου ἔχεσθαι· εἶχε δὲ παρ' ἑαυτῷ καὶ δοκοὺς μεγί στας, κατὰ τὴν βάσιν ὀξείας. καὶ ὁ μὲν διετάττετο ὧδε, ὁ δὲ Ἀλκὰν τῶν ἐκτὸς Τούρκων χαλαζηδὸν ἐκπεμπόντων τὰ βέλη καὶ τοὺς εἴσω τείχους ἀνακόπτειν δοκούντων, κατ' ὀλίγον ὑπωθῶν τὰς λέσσας προσήρειδε τῷ τείχει. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔφθασαν αἱ σκηναὶ προσεγγίσαι καὶ ἐδόκει ἀδύνατος αὐταῖς εἶναι ἡ εἰς τοὐπίσω ἀνα στροφή, αἰφνίδιον τοῦ Ἀποκάπη τὸ σύνθημα δόντος οἵ τε ἐπὶ τῶν δοκῶν τεταγμένοι τὰς δοκοὺς ἠφίεσαν κατὰ τῶν σκηνῶν καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τόξοις καὶ λίθοις ἔβαλλον. τότε δὴ οὖν ἡ τὸν Ἀλκὰν ἔχουσα σκηνὴ πολλαῖς περιπαρεῖσα κατὰ τὴν στέγην δοκοῖς ἀνε τράπη ὑπὸ τοῦ βάρους τούτων περιτραπεῖσα· ἧς περιτραπείσης οἱ ἔνδον ταύτης ἀπογυμνωθέντες ἐβάλλοντο πάντοθεν λίθοις καὶ τόξοις, μηδενὸς ἐπαμῦναι τούτοις ἰσχύοντος. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι πάντες ἔπεσον ἐκεῖσε, ἐλήφθη δὲ ὁ Ἀλκὰν ζωγρίας, γνώριμος ἀπὸ τῆς λαμπρότητος τῶν ὅπλων ὑπάρχων· δύο γάρ τινες καλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ νεανίαι προπηδήσαντες τῶν πυλῶν τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῶν τριχῶν τούτου δραξάμενοι σύροντες εἰσήγαγον εἰς τὴν πόλιν. καὶ 2.593 τούτου μὲν εὐθὺς τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτεμὼν ὁ Βασίλειος ἀκοντίζει τοῖς Τούρκοις, ὁ δὲ σουλτάνος περιαλγήσας τῷ πάθει λύει τὴν πολιορκίαν καὶ ἀναζεύγνυσι, πλασάμενος ἀναγκαῖά τινα πράγματα κατεπείγειν αὐτὸν οἴκαδε ὑποστρέφειν, ἀπειλῶν εἰς τοὐπιὸν ἔαρ μετὰ μείζονος κατὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπιστρατεῦσαι δυνάμεως.

Περὶ ἧς φροντίζων ὁ Μονομάχος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἀπλησφά ρην τὸν τοῦ Τιβίου ἄρχοντα τὰς ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίνου σπονδὰς δια λύσαντα καὶ τὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων κακοῦντα ἀμυνόμενος, τὰ ἑῷα τάγματα πάντα ἀθροίσας καὶ ἡγεμονεύειν τάξας αὐτῶν Νικηφό ρον τινὰ εὐνοῦχον, ἱερέα μὲν τυγχάνοντα πρότερον καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ ὑπηρετοῦντα ἰδιωτεύοντι, διὰ κοσμικὴν δὲ περιφάνειαν καὶ δόξαν ἀπωσάμενον τὴν ἱερωσύνην, ῥαίκτωρα τοῦτον τιμήσας καὶ στρα τοπεδάρχην ὀνομάσας εἰς τὴν ἑῴαν ἐκπέμπει, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ δρα στήριος ἦν καὶ ἐνεργὸς τὰ πολεμικά, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ εὔνοιαν ἐτήρει τῷ βασιλεῖ. οὗτος ἀνελθὼν μετὰ τοῦ στρατοῦ ἄχρι τῆς λεγομένης σιδηρᾶς γεφύρας καὶ τοῦ Καντζακίου Τούρκοις μὲν οὐκ ἐνέτυχεν (ἐν τῇ πεδιάδι γὰρ τῆς Περσαρμενίας στρατοπεδεύοντες μετὰ Ἀβι μέλεχ τινὸς στρατηγοῦ, ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Κουτλουμοῦς, καὶ πυθόμε νοι τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων βαρεῖαν ἔφοδον, μὴ στέρξαι τὴν ἐπέλευσιν τολμήσαντες ὑπενόστησαν οἴκαδε), ὁ δὲ Ῥωμαϊκὸς στρατὸς τὸν Ἀπλησφάρην εἴσω τοῦ τείχους συγκλείσαντες, καὶ τὴν περίχωρον πᾶσαν ληϊσάμενοι, ἔπεισαν καὶ ἄκοντα ἀνανεώσασθαι τὰς σπονδὰς 2.594 καὶ ὅμηρον δοῦναι Ἀρτασύραν τὸν υἱὸν Φατλοὺμ τοῦ οἰκείου ἀδελ φοῦ τοῦ τῆς Καντζακηνῶν κατάρχοντος γῆς· ὃν εἰληφὼς ὁ Νικη φόρος ἐπάνεισι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν. Οἱ Πατζινάκαι δὲ τὸν Αἷμον, ὡς εἴπομεν, διαβάντες, καὶ τὴν μεταξὺ τούτου καὶ τοῦ Ἴστρου κατασκοπήσαντες πεδιάδα τὴν διήκουσαν μέχρι θαλάσσης, καὶ τόπον εὑρόντες νάπας καὶ ἄλση ἔχοντα καὶ λόχμας παντοδαπὰς καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ νομὰς (Ἑκατὸν βουνοὺς τὸν τόπον ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ ἐγχώριοι), ἐκεῖσε ἐγκαθιδρύον ται, καὶ ἐκδρομὰς αὐτόθεν ποιούμενοι οὐ μικρὰ τὴν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους ἐλύπουν. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς μεταπέμπεται τὸν Κεγένην ἐπὶ συμβουλῇ εἰς τὴν βασιλίδα· καὶ ὃς εἴσεισιν εὐθὺς μετὰ παντὸς τοῦ οἰκείου στρατοῦ, καὶ κατασκηνοῖ κατὰ τὴν ἀφωρισμένην πεδιάδα Βυζαν τίοις εἰς πεδίαν (Μαΐτας ὁ τόπος