521

Nicephorus, having been condemned without an investigation, was exiled, his property having been first confiscated.

The emperor, being concerned that the Roman forces should become superior to the Patzinaks, brings Kegenes out of prison and sends him to the Patzinaks, as he promised to divide them and make them well-disposed to the emperor. And having gathered all the allied forces under one command, I mean the Franks and Varangians, and having also summoned horse-archers from Teluch and the Mauros Oros and from Karkaros, about twenty thousand, and having assigned each contingent to distinguished men of their respective peoples, and having appointed as commander over all the 2.603 patrician Nicephorus Bryennius and naming him ethnarch, he sends out raiding parties to hinder and check the Patzinaks; for these, after the battle at Adrianople, having completely despised the Romans, were fearlessly plundering and burning both Macedonia and Thrace, mercilessly killing even nursing infants, so that one of their divisions came as far as Katasyrtai (and Katasyrtai is very near the queen of cities). But the destruction of these men was very swift. For the emperor, having armed a force from those guarding the palace and from some others found on the occasion, and having entrusted them to John the patrician, one of the eunuch chamberlains of the empress Zoe, whose surname was Philosophos, easily overcame them; for he, having attacked at night and finding them all drunk and sleeping, slaughtered them, and placing their heads on farmers' wagons, brings them to the emperor. So Kegenes, having gone out, negotiates with the Patzinaks, and when they promised under oath to do his will, trusting in their oaths and having gone away, he is immediately killed, cut into small pieces and bits. But Bryennius, having taken command of the forces entrusted to him and having arrived in Adrianople, took thought for the guarding of the territories. Michael the patrician, the Acolouthos, is also sent as commander of the whole army, and he too was ordered not to engage in a general battle, but to contain 2.604 and cut off the raids. He, having gone out and united with Bryennius, set to work, and first, having encountered one division of the Patzinaks at Goloë and having routed it, he annihilated it, then again at Toplitzos (this is a fortress situated by the Hebros) having found another detached division of the Patzinacs he destroyed it. Wherefore the Patzinaks, growing wary of such forces, refrained from plundering the territories lying along the foothills of the Haemus, but made their whole push against Macedonia. And having separated out all their fighting men, they overran the territories in Macedonia, and if any war should come upon them, they prepared to receive it vigorously. When Bryennius and Michael learned this, they set out by night so that no one would perceive where they were going, and making a forced march they came to Charioupolis, and having entered it with the army they awaited their opportunity. But the Patzinaks, having plundered all the fields and the suburbs, and having turned back near Charioupolis around the time of the loosing of the oxen, approached the camp, being unaware that any army at all was quartered in it; therefore they lay about fearlessly, revelling with flutes and cymbals. But when night fell, the men with Bryennius and Michael went out and, finding them sleeping and snoring, killed them all. This misfortune instilled restraint and cowardice in the Patzinaks. Therefore they made their raids not as freely as before, but with caution, during both the fourth and fifth indiction. 2.605 At this time also the sudden rise of Romanus, called Boilas, occurred. For this man, being enrolled in the Hetaireiai and being glib of tongue, and for this reason seeming witty and humorous, since he once came into the emperor's sight and seemed most charming in conversation, was from that point inseparable

521

ὁ Νικηφόρος ἀνεξερευνήτως κατακριθεὶς ἐξωρίσθη, τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ πρότερον δημευθείσης.

Ὅπως δὲ τῶν Πατζινάκων ἐπικρατέστερα γένηται τὰ Ῥω μαίων ὁ βασιλεὺς φροντίζων, τὸν Κεγένην ἐξάγει τῆς φυλακῆς καὶ ἐς Πατζινάκους ἐκπέμπει, ὑποσχόμενον διασχίσαι τούτους καὶ εὔνους θεῖναι τῷ βασιλεῖ. καὶ τὰ συμμαχικὰ πάντα συναθροίσας ὑφ' ἕν, Φράγγους φημὶ καὶ Βαράγγους, μεταπεμψάμενος δὲ καὶ ἱπποτοξότας ἀπό τε τῆς Τελοὺχ καὶ τοῦ Μαύρου ὄρους καὶ τοῦ Καρκάρου, περὶ τὰς εἴκοσι χιλιάδας, καὶ ἀνδράσιν ἐπισήμοις τῶν γενῶν ἕκαστον ἀναθείς, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἡγεμόνα καταστήσας τὸν 2.603 πατρίκιον Νικηφόρον τὸν Βρυέννιον καὶ ἐθνάρχην τοῦτον κατονο μάσας, τὰς ἐκδρομὰς ἐκπέμπει κωλύειν καὶ ἐπέχειν τῶν Πατζινά κων· οὗτοι γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ἐν Ἀδριανουπόλει μάχην καταφρονήσαν τες ὁλοσχερῶς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀδεῶς τήν τε Μακεδονίαν καὶ Θρᾴ κην ἐδῄουν καὶ ἐπυρπόλουν, ἀναιροῦντες ἀνοίκτως καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ θηλάζοντα νήπια, ὡς καὶ μίαν αὐτῶν μοῖραν ἄχρι τῶν Κατασύρ των (ἔγγιστα δὲ οἱ Κατασύρται τῆς βασιλίδος) ἐλθεῖν. ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν ἡ καταστροφὴ ταχυτάτη ἐγένετο. λαὸν γὰρ ὁ βασι λεὺς ὁπλίσας ἀπό τε τῶν ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ φυλασσόντων καί τινων ἄλλων ἐκ τοῦ παρείκοντος εὑρεθέντων, καὶ Ἰωάννῃ πατρικίῳ ἑνὶ τῶν θαλαμηπόλων εὐνούχων τῆς βασιλίδος Ζωῆς, ᾧ φιλόσοφος τὸ ἐπώνυμον, ἐγχειρίσας, κατειργάσατο ῥᾳδίως· νυκτὸς γὰρ οὗτος ἐπελθὼν καὶ μεθύοντας καὶ κοιμωμένους πάντας εὑρὼν ἀπέσφαξε, καὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν ἁμάξαις γεωργικαῖς ἐπιθεὶς κομίζει τῷ βασιλεῖ. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Κεγένης ἐξελθὼν διαπρεσβεύεται τοῖς Πατζινά κοις, καὶ τούτων ὑποσχομένων μεθ' ὅρκου ποιήσειν τὸ αὐτοῦ θέ λημα, πιστεύσας τοῖς ὅρκοις καὶ ἀπελθὼν εὐθὺς ἀναιρεῖται, κα τατμηθεὶς εἰς μικρὰ μέρη καὶ μόρια. ὁ δὲ Βρυέννιος τὰς ἐμπι στευθείσας αὐτῷ παραλαβὼν δυνάμεις καὶ ἐν Ἀδριανουπόλει γενό μενος ἐφρόντιζε τῆς φυλακῆς τῶν χωρίων. στέλλεται δὲ καὶ τοῦ παντὸς ἡγεμὼν στρατοῦ Μιχαὴλ πατρίκιος ὁ Ἀκόλουθος, προσ ταχθεὶς δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς καθολικῆς μὲν μάχης μὴ ἅπτεσθαι, εἴργειν 2.604 δὲ καὶ ἀνακόπτειν τὰς ἐκδρομάς. ὃς ἐξελθὼν καὶ τῷ Βρυεννίῳ ἑνωθεὶς ἔργου ἥπτετο, καὶ πρότερον μὲν ἐν Γολόῃ μιᾷ μοίρᾳ τῶν Πατζινάκων περιτυχὼν καὶ ταύτην τρεψάμενος ἠφάνισεν, εἶτα πάλιν ἐν τῷ Τοπλιτζῷ (φρούριον δὲ οὗτος παρὰ τὸν Ἕβρον κεί μενον) ἑτέραν ἀποσπάδα μοῖραν τῶν Πατζινάκων εὑρὼν ἀπώλεσεν. ὅθεν εὐλαβηθέντες τὰς τοιαύτας οἱ Πατζινάκαι δυνάμεις τὰ μὲν παρὰ τὰς ὑπωρείας τοῦ Αἵμου κείμενα χωρία ληΐζεσθαι ἀπέσχοντο, πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐποιήσαντο κατὰ Μακεδονίας. καὶ πᾶν ὅσον ἦν ἄλκιμον διακριθέντες κατέτρεχον τὰ ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ χωρία, καὶ ἤν τις ἐπίῃ πόλεμος, εὐρώστως αὐτὸν προσδέξασθαι ἐμελέτων. ὅπερ μαθόντες ὁ Βρυέννιος καὶ ὁ Μιχαήλ, ἄραντες νυκτὸς ὡς μηδένα συναίσθησιν λαβεῖν ὅποι ἀπίασι, καὶ συντόνῳ χρησάμενοι ὁδοιπορίᾳ ἔρχονται εἰς Χαριούπολιν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ εἰσελθόντες μετὰ τοῦ στρατοῦ ἐξεδέχοντο τὸν καιρόν. οἱ δὲ Πατζινάκαι τοὺς ἀγροὺς καὶ τὰ προάστεια ληϊσάμενοι πάντα, καὶ περὶ βουλυτὸν ὑποστρέψαντες ἔγγιστα Χαριουπόλεως, προστίθενται τῇ παρεμβολῇ, ἀγνοοῦντες ὅτι περ ἐπιχωριάζει στράτευμα ὅλως ἐν αὐτῇ· διὸ καὶ ἀδεῶς ἔκειντο ἐν αὐλοῖς καὶ κυμβάλοις κωμάζοντες. νυ κτὸς δ' ἐπιγενομένης οἱ περὶ τὸν Βρυέννιον καὶ τὸν Μιχαὴλ ἐξελ θόντες καὶ κοιμωμένους καὶ ῥέγχοντας εὑρόντες ἀναιροῦσι σύμ παντας. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἀτύχημα συστολὴν καὶ δειλίαν ἐνέθηκε τοῖς Πατζινάκοις. διὸ καὶ τὰς ἐκδρομὰς οὐκ ἀνέτως ὡς τὸ πρότερον, ἀλλὰ μετὰ φειδοῦς ἐποιοῦντο, κατά τε τὴν δʹ καὶ εʹ ἰνδικτιῶνα. 2.605 Κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον καὶ ἡ Ῥωμανοῦ τοῦ λεγομένου Βοΐλα αἰφνίδιος γέγονεν αὔξησις. οὗτος γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἑταιρείαις κατατεταγμένος καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ὑγρὸς ὤν, καὶ δοκῶν κατὰ τοῦτο ἀστεῖος καὶ εὐτράπελος, ἐπεί ποτε εἰς ὄψιν ἦλθε τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ ὁμιλήσας χαριέστατος ἔδοξε, τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦδε ἀχώριστος ἦν