Universal

Consequently he deemed it wiser first to attend to maritime matters and Tzachas, and to leave strong garrisons on the mainland and a large enough fleet to restrain the Turks’ sallies and repel them, and then afterwards with the rest of the army take the road to Antioch and fight with the barbarians on his way to the best of his ability. Accordingly he sent for John Ducas his brother-in-law and handed over to him troops recruited from various countries and a fleet large enough for besieging the maritime towns.

Turkish satraps and barbarians

He also entrusted to him Tzachas’ daughter, who had lately been taken captive at Nicaea with others, and ordered him to proclaim the capture of Nicaea everywhere, and, if it were not believed, to shew Tzachas’ daughter to the Turkish satraps and barbarians in the sea-coast towns, so that the men, who held the towns we have just mentioned, on seeing her and being assured of the capture of Nicaea would in despair give up the cities without striking a blow. After supplying John fully with all necessaries he sent him forth.

And now I will proceed to set forth how many trophies he erected over Tzachas and how he drove him out of Smyrna. This Duke, my maternal uncle, took leave of the Emperor, then quitted the capital and crossed to Abydus; there he summoned a man called Caspax and entrusted him with the command of the fleet and the whole conduct of the naval expedition. He promised him that if he fought well then, when they succeeded in taking Smyrna, he would appoint him Governor of Smyrna itself and of all the towns on its borders.

So he sent him away by sea, as ruler of the fleet, and he remained on land in command of the troops. Soon the inhabitants of Smyrna saw both Caspax approaching with the fleet and Ducas over land, and then Ducas pitching his camp at a short distance from the walls, and Caspax anchoring in the harbour. Since they had already heard of the fall of Nicaa, they had not the slightest wish to resist Ducas, but preferred to confer about making peace. On condition that John Ducas was willing to swear that he would allow them all to depart to their own homes without suffering any harm, they promised to surrender Smyrna to him without shedding blood and without striking a blow. Ducas thereupon agreed to Tzachas’ proposal, and promised to carry out everything to the letter.

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When Curpagan arrived with his countless thousands for the succour of the city of Antioch and found it already taken, he planted his palisades, made a trench, deposited the baggage in it and decided to blockade the city. But before he could start on this work, the Franks rushed out and attacked him. A fierce battle then took place between them in which the Turks gained the victory. Now the Latins were shut up in the city and were hard pressed on both sides, on the one by the garrison of the Cula (for the barbarians were still in possession of this) and on the other, by the Turks encamped outside.

The sovereignty of Antioch

That artful man Bohemund who hoped to win the sovereignty of Antioch for himself once again spoke to the Counts, pretending to give them advice, saying, “We ought not all to fight simultaneously both against the enemy outside and the one inside, but rather split up into two portions in proportion to the number of the enemy fighting us on one side or the other, and then carry on the war in that way. And if you all approve, let my duty be to fight with the defenders of the Acropolis; and your business will be to fight vigorously against the foes outside.”

They all assented to Bohemund’s suggestion. He at once set to work to cut off the Acropolis from the rest of Antioch by building a transverse wall opposite, which would be a very strong defence in case of a long war. And then he constituted himself the watchful guardian of this wall fighting very bravely on every possible occasion with the garrison within. And the other Counts bestowed the greatest attention to their respective sections, guarding the city continuously and keeping the parapets and battlements of the walls under observation, firstly to prevent the barbarians ascending by ladders at night and capturing the city, and secondly to prevent any of the men inside going up to the wall and from there talking about treachery to the barbarians and betraying the city.

V That is how matters stood at Antioch up till then. But the Emperor, who was very anxious to go to the assistance of the Franks, was in spite of his longing deterred from so doing by the state of devastation and utter ruination of the maritime towns and districts. For Tzachas held Smyrna as if it were his own and a man, called Tangripermes, held the town of Ephesus situated on the coast in which a church was built long ago to the apostle and theologian John. Similarly other satraps held other towns, treated the Christian inhabitants as slaves and spread desolation around. Moreover, they held Chios, Rhodes and some other islands as well and built pirate-vessels in them.

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After his departure Bohemund, who still kept the Armenian’s promise secret, and was buoyed up by the great hope of gaining possession of Antioch for himself, said to the Counts, “You see how long we have already persevered in this siege, and yet have accomplished nothing useful up to the present, and now we are within an ace of perishing by starvation unless we can devise something better for our salvation.” On their enquiring what that could be, he replied, “God does not always give victory to the leaders by means of the sword, nor are such things always accomplished by fighting. But what toil has not procured, words have often effected, and the greatest trophies have been erected by friendly and propitiatory intercourse. Let us therefore not spend our time here uselessly, but endeavour to accomplish something sensible and courageous for our own safety before Curpagan arrives.

Let each one of us studiously try to win over the barbarian who guards our respective section. And if you like, let there be set as prize for the one who first succeeds in this work, the sovereignty of this city until such time as the man who is to take it over from us arrives from the Emperor. Even in this way perhaps we may not be able to accomplish anything worthwhile.”

Ambitious Bohemund

All these things that artful and ambitious Bohemund did, not so much for the sake of the Latins, and the common weal, as for his own advancement, and by this planning and speaking and deceiving he did not fail to gain his object as my history will shew further on. AlltheCounts agreed to his proposition and set to work. And at dawn of day Bohemund at once made for the tower, and the Armenian according to agreement opened the gate to him; he immediately rushed up with his followers more quickly than can be told and was seen by the people within and without standing on the battlements of the tower and ordering the trumpeters to sound the call to battle.

And then indeed a strange sight was to be seen, the Turks, panic-stricken fled without delay through the opposite gate, and the only ones of them who stayed behind were a few brave men who defended the Cula; and the Franks from outside ascended the ladders on the heels of Bohemund, and straightway took possession of the city of Antioch. Tancred with a small body of men pursued the fugitives, many of whom were killed and many wounded.

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IV What happened next? The Latins in company with the Roman army reached Antioch by the so-called Oxys Dromos and paid no attention to the country on either side but drew their lines close to the walls, deposited their baggage and proceeded to besiege this city during three revolutions of the moon. The Turks alarmed at the straits which had overtaken them, sent word to the Sultan of Chorosan begging him to send sufficient troops to their assistance, in order to succour the Antiochians themselves, and also to drive off the Latins who were besieging them from outside.

Now there happened to be an Armenian on the tower above guarding the portion of the wall assigned to Bohemund. As he often bent over from above Bohemund plied him with honeyed words, tempted him with many promises and thus persuaded him to betray the city to him. The Armenian said to him, ” Whenever you like and as soon as you give me a signal from outside, I will at once hand over this tower to you. Only be quite ready yourself and have all the people with you ready too and equipped with ladders. And not only you yourself must be ready but the whole army must be under arms so that directly the Turks see you after you have come up and hear your war-cry, they will be terrified and turn in flight. And this arrangement Bohemund kept secret.

Antioch to Taticius according to the oath

While these matters were in contemplation, a messenger came saying that an immense crowd of Hagarenes sent from Chorosan against them was close at hand, under the conduct of the man called Curpagan. When he heard this, as he did not wish to cede Antioch to Taticius according to the oath he had previously sworn to the Emperor, but rather longed for it for himself, Bohemund planned a wicked plan which would force Taticius to remove himself from the city against his will. Accordingly he went to him and said, “I want to reveal a secret to you, as I am concerned for your safety.

A report which has reached the ears of the Counts has much disturbed their minds-it is, that the Emperor has persuaded the Sultan to send these men from Chorosan against us. As the Counts firmly believe this they are plotting against your life. And now, I have done my duty by warning you beforehand of the danger that threatens you. And the rest is your concern, to take measures for your own safety, and that of the troops under you.” Then considering the severe famine (for an ox-head was being sold for three gold staters) and also because he despaired of taking Antioch, Taticius departed, embarked on the Roman fleet which was in the harbour of Sudi, and made for Cyprus.

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And Taticius with his army and all the Counts and the innumerable Frankish hosts under their command, reached Leucae in two days. The vanguard was apportioned to Bohemund at his own request whilst the rest drawn up in line followed him at a slow pace. As he proceeded fairly quickly the Turks in the plains of Dorylaeum thought, when they saw him, that the whole army of the Franks had come and despising its size at once commenced a battle with him. Then that swollen-headed Latin, who had dared to sit on the imperial throne, was forgetful of the Emperor’s advice, and fought in the front of Bohemund’s army and in his stupidity ran ahead of the others.

Roman and Frankish armies

About forty of his men were killed in consequence, and he himself, seriously wounded, turned his back to the foe and made his way back to the middle of the army, thus proclaiming in deed, though he would not in words, the wisdom of the Emperor’s advice. As Bohemund saw that the Turks were fighting very bravely, he sent to fetch the Frankish troops. They came up with all speed, and after that a serious and terrible battle took place. And the Roman and Frankish armies carried off the victory. As they travelled onwards, drawn up in troops, the Sultan Tanisman and Asan, who alone commanded eighty thousand armed men, met them near Hebraica.

A fierce contest ensued as there were such numbers of troops, and neither side would yield to the other; when Bohemund who commanded the right wing saw with what courage the Turks were fighting their opponents he withdrew from the rest of the army and made a headlong descent upon Clitziasthlan, the Sultan himself, ‘like a lion rejoicing in his strength,’ as the poet says. This so terrified the Turks that it made them turn their backs.

Remembering the Emperor’s advice, they did not pursue them far, but reached the Turks’ lines and, after resting there a little, overtook them again near Augustopolis, and attacked and routed them utterly. After that the barbarian power collapsed; the survivors dispersed, one here, one there, leaving their wives and children behind them, as for the future they did not dare meet the Latins face to face, but tried to find safety for themselves in flight.

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III The Emperor was still staying at Pelecanus and as he wished that those Counts who had not yet sworn fealty to him, should also take this oath, he commanded Butumites by letter to advise all the Counts together not to start on their way to Antioch before they took leave of the Emperor, for if they did so, it might be that they would receive still furthergifts. Directly he heard the words ‘money’ and ‘gifts,’ Bohemund first of all gave his assent to Butumites’ advice and urged all the others to go with him to the Emperor, so insatiably greedy of money was he. When they reached Pelecanus, the Emperor received them with great ceremony, and treated them with much consideration; later he called them and said, ” You remember the oath you all took to me, and if you are not going to be transgressors of it, advise those who you know have not yet sworn fealty to me, to take the same oath.” And the Counts at once sent for those who had not yet sworn fealty; and they all came together and consummated the oath.

Emperor was sitting

But Bohemund’s nephew, Tancred, a youth of independent spirit, maintained that he owed fidelity to Bohemund alone, and that he would keep it to his death, His own friends standing by and even the Emperor’s kinsmen kept importuning him, and then he said, feigning indifference, as it were, and with a glance at the tent in the front of which the Emperor was sitting (it was larger than any had ever seen before), ” If you will give me this tent full of money and as much more as you have given to the Counts, then I too will take the oath.” Now because of the respect he bore to the Emperor, Palaeologus could not stand Tancred’s conceited speech, and turned him away with contempt. Whereat Tancred, who was very hasty, rushed at him and the Emperor observing it rose from his throne and stood between them. Bohemund too held him back with the words, “It is not fitting for you to behave in such an impudent way to the Emperor’s kinsman.”

Then Tancred, ashamed of having acted like a drunken man towards Palaeologus and also influenced to a certain degree by Bohemund’s and the others’ counsel, took the oath. When they had all taken leave of the Emperor, he assigned them Taticius, who was then Great Primicerius, and the troops under his command, partly to assist them on every occasion and to avert danger and partly to take over the towns from them if God allowed them to take any. So the Franks once again crossed the straits the next day, and all took the road leading to Antioch. Ile Emperor guessed that not all the men would necessarily depart with the Counts and accordingly signified to Butumites to hire all the Franks, who remained behind when their army left, for the garrison of Nicaea.

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Now Monastras, being a semi-barbarian knew the Turkish language, and Rhodomerus who had once been captured by the Turks and dwelt some time among them, was likewise not ignorant of their language. So they repeatedly started speaking plausibly to them and saying, “Why are you mixing the cup of death for us, when you yourselves will not gain the slightest advantage thereby? All your other friends have been granted bountiful gifts by the Emperor and have been assigned yearly pensions, and you are depriving yourselves of all these advantages. Do not, we pray you, treat yourselves thus and run headlong into visible peril, when it lies within your power to live free from peril and return to your own country pluming yourselves on your riches and perhaps even becoming owners of lands.

An immense number of Romans

Very likely too we shall fall into some Roman ambuscade hereabouts,” and they pointed to the streams and marshy places around, ” and then you will be killed and lose your lives to no purpose. For undoubtedly a great many are lying in wait for you, not only Gauls and barbarians but also an immense number of Romans. Therefore if you will follow our advice, let us turn our horses and journey all together to the Emperor. And we swear to you by God that the Emperor will grant you ten thousand gifts and afterwards, whenever you please, you will be at liberty to leave, like free men.”

The Turks agreed to their proposition, and after giving and receiving pledges, they hastened along the road to the Emperor. When they reached Pelecanus and the Emperor saw them, he received them all with a cheerful countenance, though inwardly deeply indignant with Rhodomerus and Monastras, but for the moment he sent them away to rest.

In the course of the following day all the Turks who expressed readiness to remain in his service, were granted innumerable benefits; and even those who asked to return to their homes received no inconsiderable presents and were allowed to follow their own will. Later on he censured Rhodomerus and Monastras severely for their thoughtlessness; but, when he noticed that they did not dare to look him in the face for shame, he changed his tone and tried to conciliate them again. So much then about Rhodomerus and Monastras.

Butumites was appointed Duke of Nima by the Emperor, and the Franks asked him for permission to enter the city and visit and worship in its churches. However he, knowing their character, as I have said before, did not allow them all to come in a body, but opened the gates and only allowed ten Franks to enter at a time.

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This was really advice to make the Franks believe that the city had been taken by Buturnites in war and to keep secret the drama of treachery the Emperor had arranged. For the Emperor did not want the Franks to know anything of what Buturnites had done. On the following day the war-cry was raised on both sides of the city and on the land-side the Franks started the assault with great vigour, and on the other Buturnites mounted to the battlements, fixed the imperial sceptres and standards along the walls and with bugles and trumpets acclaimed the Emperor.

And in this way the whole Roman army entered Nicaea. Now Buturnites having in mind the number of the Franks, feared on account of their fickleness and impetuosity, that they might enter and take possession of the citadel; for he observed that the Turkish satraps inside were powerful enough in comparison with the small force he had himself, to imprison and slaughter them all, if they wished to, and accordingly he at once took charge of the keys of the gate. For only one had been used as entrance and exit for some time, the others were all closed through fear of the Franks outside.

The semi-barbarian Monastras

Now when he had the keys of this gate in his own possession, he decided that he ought to diminish the number of satraps by craft in order that he could easily overpower them and prevent their devising any treachery against him. So he summoned them and advised them to journey to the Emperor if they wished to receive large sums of money from his hands and be rewarded with high titles and granted annual pensions. He persuaded the Turks, and then opened the gate at night and sent away a few from time to time over the lake to Rhodomerus and the semi-barbarian Monastras, who were staying near the fort named after St. George. He ordered these two to send on the Turks to the Emperor directly they disembarked and not to detain them even for a short time so that they might not join with the Turks who were sent on later in plotting some mischief against them.

Now this was literally a kind of prophecy and an irrefutable proof of that man’s great experience. For as long as the Turks who arrived were sent on to the Emperor quickly, they (Monastras and Rhodomerus) were quite safe and no danger threatened them, but when they had relaxed their diligence, then danger was prepared for them at the hands of the barbarians whom they had detained. For as these were now many in number they schemed to do one or other of two things, either to attack them by night and kill them, or to take them captive to t e Sultan. As the majority voted for the latter, they attacked them at night, took them captive according to plan and left that place. And when they had reached the hill Azalas (this place is . . . stades distant from the walls of Nicaea) there, report says, they dismounted from their horses and let them rest.

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Manuel Buturnites as commander

As he knew the great strength of the fortifications of Nicxa, he understood that the Latins could not possibly take it; then he heard that the Sultan was conveying sufficient troops and all the necessaries of life into the town quite easily by means of the adjacent lake, and so schemed to get possession of the lake. He had light boats built, such as that water would be able to carry, and then had them piled on wagons and carried to the lake on the side that looks Cius-wards. In them he placed heavy armed soldiers with Manuel Buturnites as commander and gave them more standards then necessary to make them appear many times more than they were, as well as trumpets and kettle drums. Such then were the measures the Emperor took about the lake.

Then he summoned Taticius and the man called Tzitas from the continent and with two thousand brave peltasts sent them to Nicaea. His orders to them were that directly they disembarked they were to occupy the fort of St. George and pack the load of arrows they carried on mules; dismount from their horses at some distance from the walls of Nicaea, march forward slowly and fix their palisades opposite the tower Gonates, and then by agreement with the Franks attack the walls in close formation. Therefore when Taticius arrived with his army he sent word to the Franks as the Emperor had commanded ; and after they had all put on full armour they attacked the walls with much shouting and noise.

And while Taticius’ men discharged showers of darts, the Franks in one place pierced the walls, and in another hurled stones from catapults incessantly. From the side of the lake too the barbarians were terrified by the imperial standards and trumpets and at the same time they were convoked by Butun-dtes to hear the Emperor’s promises, consequently they became so distracted that they did not even dare to look over from the battlements; and as by this time they had despaired of the Sultan’s coming, they considered it wisest to surrender the city to the Emperor and to parley with Butumites about this.

After making a suitable speech to them, he shewed them the document sealed with gold which the Emperor had entrusted to him; they listened to the reading of this document by which the Emperor promised not only immunity, but also rich awards of money and honours, to the Sultan’s sister and wife (who was said to be Tzachas’ daughter) and without exception to all the barbarians in Nicaea; consequently they felt encouraged by the Emperor’s promises and granted Butumites admission. He immediately sent a letter to Taticius saying, “We already have the prey in our hands; and you must now get ready to assault the walls. Persuade the Franks to prepare for this too but do not give them any further encouragement than to make an attack on the walls from all sides and tell them to encircle the walls and start the siege at sunrise.”

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He effected a breach in the walls and, as the greater part of the foot of the tower had been cut away, it began to settle down and look as if it had fallen on to its knees, and from this circumstance it obtained its name. Such then is the history of this tower Gonates. When Isangeles had built this tower I have mentioned, very scientifically (it was called a ‘tortoise’ by experienced mechanics), he introduced armed men inside it to batter the walls and others who knew how to loosen the tower at its foundations with iron instruments.

His idea was that while the one set fought with the defenders on the walls, the other set below would have leisure to undermine the tower. These men substituted logs for the stones they dug out, and, when they had worked their way through to the inner side of the wall and saw the light coming through from it, they set fire to the logs. These were burnt to ashes and caused Gonates to lean forward still more so that it did not lose its name. The remaining part of the walls they encompassed with battering-rams and ‘tortoises’ ; the deep trench outside the walls they filled with loose earth in no time, until it was brought up to the level of the plains on either side; and they prosecuted the siege with all their might.

The Emperor had crossed the straits

II The Emperor, who had repeatedly and accurately thought out the matter, realized that it would be impossible for the Latins to take Nicaea, even if they had forces without number, so in the meanwhile he had various sorts of siege-engines built, and most of them not according to the usual designs of the mechanics but on other lines he had thought out himself – a thing which amazed people -and these he sent to the Counts. As already stated, the Emperor had crossed the straits with the soldiers he had at hand, and was staying not far from Pelecanus near Mesampela, where a chapel had been built in former years to the memory of the great martyr George.

The Emperor would really have liked to march with the Latins against the impious Turks, but when he pondered over this idea and recognized that no comparison could be made between the countless hosts of the Frankish army and his own Roman army, and as from long experience he knew the Latins’ fickleness, he desisted from the enterprise. Not only for this reason, but also because he realized the unstable and faithless nature of these men who were easily swayed in opposite directions like the Euripus, and were often ready because of their covetousness to sell their wives and children for a penny-piece; for these reasons the Emperor held back from the enterprise at that time. He felt that though he could not join the Franks, he ought to give them as much help as if he were with them.

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