History

 I dedicate, so that by its judgment and magnanimous discernment the good things may be arranged, 6 and if nothing else, at least the zeal of my servit

 Having bodyguards, as if passing through a friendly land, they pursued him rashly but this one, as soon as he entered the reigning city, boldly prepa

 Costly and precious fabrics, and other adornment flashing with gold and silver was continuously suspended overhead, and the whole of the marketplace,

 Of vengeance, while others were seizing the palace and kindling a civil war. others, having surrounded the houses of those related by family to the em

 And of the communal disposition regarding the empire, and both are wonderfully proclaimed sovereigns. and for a time governing the empire by themselve

 From the resurrection of our lord, having arrayed both forces (for he himself also 21 went up with the imperial ship) and having ordered the war-cry t

 Afterwards, the arrival of the apostate was announced, a certain dreadful and terrifying one, with a force of cavalry and infantry not lacking for a r

 Some fleeing to the temples and the shrines and calling upon the alliance of those above, others with lamentations approaching the houses of their rel

 With all the armies of the east having returned, and the force available to the emperor having now become strong, the preparations for war were being

 To drive a worthy army against the barbarians. and when it had assembled and drawn up against the enemy, 32 continuous battles took place daily, with

 Lying somewhere nearby, and strikes him on the neck, and cuts off his hand along with it, saying, i myself am not afraid to become the murderer of a

 (this man was a eunuch enrolled among the monks, but was captivated by glory and for this reason attached to things unbecoming) to join him in the war

 Having taken courage, they entrusted their own salvation and safe passage to him. so botaneiates was marching with them but the scythians, seeing a c

 To march on foot and fight for days, and not even have rest at night, no one of all men has ever heard of, unless it was miraculously worked in the ca

 He adorned with words that were brilliant from every side, as one who unhesitatingly gave up his soul for the roman empire. 46 from that time, therefo

 He was a wonder to the byzantines and the other romans, before whose sight he had come, passing through. for he is greatest in size, having feet like

 Has removed him from the midst, as he was trying to alter what had been well decreed for the pious distribution. and as he was dying he wished to appo

 Forced those who had taken part in the crippled plot to quickly seize their arms and be the first to face the danger, and not be captured one by one a

 They were honoring komnenos, showing themselves at once accusers and advocates and defenders of the man for the one whom they said had taken an oath

 Of the escort, the crown is brought on a platform by the hand of the patriarch. and he proceeds from there crowned, having provided a reputation for t

 He checked arguments that did not seem right to him, at one time introducing a fatherly disposition and exhortation, at another a rebuking and threate

 The man was stronger than threats, more powerful than any argument or persuasion, and by a great margin superior to any grasp. if therefore you wish t

 After a halt was made, the emperor went out in the morning, and while crossing the river flowing nearby, swollen by the rainstorm, he lost many of his

 For truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven, and there shall be no one at all in our days who will be trou

 Of good fortune, or rather of the providence of an ineffable will, they boarded a ruler's boat, with all possible speed. and as the rowing was leading

 Leading to the knowledge of these things. and since the emperor was approachable and modest and less inclined to corporal punishment and seeming to be

 The romans to be disheartened and to consider the enemies terrifying and not even to endure their shouting, while they were arrogant and haughty and a

 The enemies pushed forward to the gates with much clamor and shouting, and having aggressively destroyed both these and parts of the wall, they took t

 He greeted. the nation, being very large, and invading to provide for its needs, oppressed europe in many parts. the emperor, 85 not bearing the murmu

 To be left completely desolate of men. but as many as went over to the emperor of the romans (and indeed some did go over), receiving public land from

 Prevailed among mortals. for there were some unseasonable men, who brought up two earthquakes similar to the greatest one, some exaggerating this one,

 They were both in low spirits and angry because of the lack, and they were not strong enough to join the roman soldiers in mesopotamia, not wanting to

 Those around the emperors, having gathered these men, handed them over to the governor in antioch who, being unable to do anything noble, since they

 Not knowing him, but receiving reports from those who did, they were his admirers by hearsay and for this reason it was the prayer of all that the ma

 This man is proclaimed before dawn, going up to the capitol at night in arms with the empress’s help, and escaping the notice of the empress’s sons. a

 Having divided this in two, he made them encamp in upper asia, placing one part to the north, the other around the south. but the emperor, having made

 Telouch invades among the armenians, having previously cut off a not inconsiderable military phalanx with its colonel, and having sent it to melitene

 To resist everything for the romans, having surrounded them from many sides, and having terrified them with great daring and missile weapons and shie

 Having shut up the camp, and strategically taking their standards, so that some of the saracens, dismounting from their horses, and beheading many of

 To hand over to the emperor under terms of surrender, since indeed all their youth were about to suffer, if the pursuit went forward. for they themsel

 Driving with their reins, they charge to the edge of the encampment, and kill two of their foot soldiers with lances. the emperor, seeing them before

 He hurled himself down the cliff. but i, having remained upright, sent up glory to god for the deliverance from the danger, and instilled wonder in th

 Of zeal and preparation, and having pursued them, they killed many, and took others alive. then indeed the exarch of the latins, taking his seat, deli

 As the phalanxes of the army were drawn up, with the emperor leading the way, many of the enemy came forward, but one of the so-called lycaonian regim

 He asked me what was my opinion on these matters. and he, having first made a show of it, that i could say nothing outside of what the multitude thoug

 Some steep and precipitous roads, we found the emperor encamped there in a deep place, having ingloriously renewed his first plan for the harm of the

 Of the horses which is what also happened to us. and the emperor's reputation made them very fearful. for these reasons, these things hindered the mo

 On the pretext that they should not cause them, being scattered, to be dispersed, and waiting until they should be gathered in camp, they failed to ac

 And again another came, announcing that the turks had seized by the sword the polity in chonai and the very temple of the archstrategos, famous for it

 Being let down, was attached to his hands and he sent this back to the empress, who, contrary to custom, had remained around the very palaces of the

 A fortress, built together by his command, he remained there and spent some days. then having crossed over himself, and in the province of charsianon,

 The ruler of the persians (their language knows to call him sultan) having in the past year subjugated the roman city called mantzikert, and installed

 Into the camp. but the armenian infantry, having attacked the wall outside the acropolis, and having made many assaults, take it by storm, as the 152

 A priest of the gospel signified. concerning which some supposed in their hearts that the things to be spoken about it would be the prelude to the imp

 With their eyes for who could have turned to sleep, when the danger was all but showing its drawn sword? but indeed, not even on the next day did the

 They say that the sultan, because he did not have a considerable force and was waiting for those marching behind him, was playing for time under the p

 Were trampling. and the matter was exceedingly painful and surpassing all lamentation and wailing. for what is more pitiable than for an entire royal

 Having made truces and peace treaties, and then having also arranged a marriage alliance for their own children, they parted from each other there, af

 Her plan was the renunciation and expulsion of her husband. wherefore also her first son, whom she had borne from her union with doukas, they proclaim

 They set out of whom some died by javelins, but he himself, having been captured, had his eyes put out, most painfully losing his sight with theatric

 To make, unless still more fear urging them on, the soldiers rushed to flight. and when this was neglected, the affairs of diogenes fell into danger.

 Having renounced all things, the weak and enfeebled one, and in need of soothing therapy and comfort, the one who had given up on everything, being we

 Seeking an addition in troubles, so that he might please, he says, his maker, completing the course of his ascetic discipline more laboriously. but he

 Sidetes from administering public affairs, having contrived pretexts against him through intermediaries, and he also pushes aside the emperor's uncle,

 With promises and gifts, but in humility and with the advice that perhaps he might not be dealt with harshly and severely. but rousselios, trusting in

 He proposed to rousselios to choose peace but whether, 188 hating the tyranny of michael, as one who had received much condemnation from him, since,

 Leaving behind. and being left with a few men along with the caesar, on horses worn out by the constant pursuit, he saw the host of the turks, countle

 When even for intelligent men there was astonishment and amazement for concerning the foolish and those not discerning such things, there is no accou

 Their defeat providing relief to all the roman villages, lands, and cities from such deeds being done. and again i have marveled, with what confidence

 He was marching through the country fear 199 lessly, and having seized the theme of the armeniacs, he restored it again to its former fortresses, and

 Being established, he did not even refrain from making a profit, even from false accusations, nor from plotting against the abundance and making the p

 Being stolen, it crudely bewitched those in power, until along with the profit from it they lost all their substance and their safety. so while these

 Many of its own ruins, so that having acknowledged thanks for his salvation to the emperor and offered unsurpassed thanks (which it was absolutely nec

 Of troops having set out from adrianople had come to the emperor, hastening to speak to and hear from him the answer to what they sought for they wer

 And indeed, not long after, they achieved their objective. for the lord, immeasurable in mercy, having accepted their request, raises up a man better

 He shows to the good, and fills the whole world with unspeakable graces. therefore this new lord and emperor begins the works of the world. and first

 Of luxuriously constructed houses in old rome. from these, therefore, as the account has it and the tracing of the lineage brings us around, the phoka

 And this celtiberia is situated in the western parts of rome, towards the western ocean, which is now called hispania. for with rome lying above italy

 To the military commands, we will add something to the narrative. when he was about to cross over with a heavy fleet to crete and set sail from there,

 They had previously supposed would happen. moved by these works of piety, god made manifest the hidden plot of the saracens, which was about to utterl

 Adana and all the neighboring regions, which cannot be mentioned in a brief account. but those things were told to me as being impenetrable to most au

 Striking him continually with the blows of spears and of the other weapons of war. but he, charging against them with the roar of a lion, and forcing

 Botaneiates was known as a protagonist and champion and a fighter for the emperor 235 for when the emperor at that time led the roman forces, astonis

 With the intensity of the hymn of praise. from these, then, his best and greatest qualities and interviews, and from what after him his most beautiful

 He abstained from the worst actions, and was not one to show respect for the man's rank, his strength from his deeds, and his extreme nobility, and in

 Of the plot. for the other thracian and macedonian cities, with a few exceptions, still kept themselves out of the affair, and awaited written promise

 To other cities and suspecting no tumult. so, 246 entering the imperial city with haste, before reaching my own house, i went to the palace, and comin

 And weak what had been done by men. but in rhaidestos, before bryennios reached adrianople, since the party of vatatzes prevailed (for some were divid

 Having encamped, they received assurance. for an intense longing for botaneiates possessed everyone, and they awaited his royal arrival as the arrival

 Soldiers, and having been led astray from there for the purpose of spying on and capturing supposedly certain macedonians lodging in the farthest fiel

 By all and it provoked shameless voices. and bryennius also sent many such messages but no one paid attention to them, although he was established ne

 The leaders from such a defilement paid the penalty 260 not long after, not being able to designate this divine court as a way and entrance of salvati

 And with him no small quantity of woven goods and silver vessels. and in this manner he arranged for the patzinaks to withdraw from the siege. but rem

 They submit to come under the yoke, and they go about on horseback, filling the rank of bodyguards. and these wonders were worked as far as nicaea its

 Met him. not even the small town in rufinianae, though it was very strong and very difficult to fight, and situated as the mouth of the great city, ga

 They set up magistracies which were to organize both the guard of the palace and the good order of the marketplace, 271 nor did they leave the fleet w

 Crowned by all, he ascends to the palace itself and is clothed in the unmixed power of the kingdom through extraordinary wonders. and from this point

 They say jokingly. but as the benefaction proceeded to an innumerable multitude, these men too grew weary of running about everywhere in the city and

 To associate with worldly men more savagely, and to set aside the ordinances of the fathers and the apostolic canons, and to bring countless disaster

 I refuse, and often, in what i have written about them, i have included the memory of their deeds but that which in the time of botaneiates was well-

 As he possessed it, and clung to the greatest courage and magnificence, was it not necessary for him to receive manifold rewards from the hand of the

 For those skilled in the movements of the heavenly bodies and mathematicians say that the moon signifies the rebels, and that its suffering foretells

 Having secured it with strategic measures 290, and having more firmly guaranteed to them that the place of battle would become a place of life or a gr

 And you were unsparing towards the slaughters of the christians. or did you not know, being a mortal man, that you would be required to give an accoun

 But being present at the armed conflicts and battle lines he was not frightened nor did he plan an escape, which another man standing in the midst of

 Having risen against him and not bearing to hold second place. and he, disturbed by the report and the novelty of the affair, sent letters to the empe

 They persevered, the scythians, seizing upon this desertion as a godsend, approached adrianople, and falling upon the dwellings outside the wall, with

 Having prepared this man himself, with the most holy patriarch kosmas, an old and advanced man who had driven virtue to its height and risen above the

 The situation there, and having considered crossing roman forces over to asia, having honored many of the soldiers with generous gifts and wages far e

 The emperor, seeing the malice of those who had erred against them, absolved them of the charges through an abundance of mercy. and having subdued the

 To break, wherever it may happen to place its repulsions and counter-attractions and to resist those who pull it. and the example from the air is of s

 Having most fervently resolved that this should be observed, and being ambitious for this good to be poured out upon all and to spread. and he openly

 A helper, and to the imperial servants and to the emperors themselves introducing a grace that is just and lawful, and freeing them from such a care,

 Appearing also to the councilors and senators who attended church with him, he did not even give himself to the royal throne but stood upright until t

 They may preserve for generations the unforgettable and immortal memory of the excellence of this great king and of his incomparable deeds, and may dr

and you were unsparing towards the slaughters of the Christians. Or did you not know, being a mortal man, that you would be required to give an account for the slaughter of the fallen? For to me the power was decreed from God, and by the divine vote all those of the reigning city, following along, without bloodshed and without dangers, received me into the palace in a kingly manner with good cheer and favor, coming out to meet me with the entire fleet, and bringing me over so great a voyage of the sea; 293 and the royal diadem was bestowed upon me by divine grace, and the judgment of God has already given the proof and the result of the decision. But you, being near the reigning city, and having set military forces against it through your own brother and having often camped outside its gates, were not only judged unworthy of the matter, but you were also dishonored with many insults and assailed with drunken outrages. And in this regard, ought you not, after my proclamation, to have respected the judgments of God and understood, and considered what had happened, that these things are beyond human strength? But you raged both against the decrees of God himself and against me who was put forward by him and against the entire reigning city together, and you dared to take up arms, and you planned to taste human flesh, and to become in so great a matter a fighter against God and an enemy of the sacred senate and of the synod and of all who have obeyed the divine laws and judgments. O your folly, that you did not even understand or comprehend this obvious thing, that the sung element, the N, was found by those investigating these matters to be single only and not double." And having delivered many other clever public speeches, the ruler, and condemning this man's great simple-mindedness, sent him off into a ridiculous triumph with the first men of their faction. But the emperor did not endure to punish any of the others by blood, but rather did a godlike thing, 294 having deemed all who had revolted with Bryennios, groaning and trembling at the laws concerning conspiracies and the terrible punishment for their sins, worthy of universal sympathy and having restored their property to them out of unspeakable compassion, except for three or four, for whom it was not without danger to dwell among their own people. But even for these, by compensation with other things, they worked out an honor of equal value. Not only in these things did he establish his generosity by royal acts of compassion, but he also adorned him with honors of every kind, and some even with gifts, so that amazement seized everyone at the inscrutable nature of his goodness. Thus, then, as the emperor was offering thank-offerings and bringing his pleasing sacrifice to God through his surpassing beneficence, the demon who envies good things could not bear such great good fortune of men, and having planned, as is his custom, to disturb the wealth of goodness, he stirs up in the soul-destroying and pagan men who had the guard of the palace a most evil impulse and a blood-stained audacity full of savagery. For late in the evening, with shields and arms, as was the prevailing custom from the beginning, they were continually performing their duty in the presence of the ruler and the guard, they rushed out with a great and murderous impulse and with 295 seething anger against the emperor himself, as he was appearing before them on an open upper story of one of the royal passages; and some, using bows, shot arrows against him, while the others, setting up ladders leading up to him, with a great push, forced their way up against him, armed with swords. Then indeed one of the secretaries standing near him caught the point of an arrow in his neck, and immediately gave up his life in great pain. But the emperor, being unprepared because the plot was unforeseen and unexpected, did not have a strong force of allies to repel them, accustomed