BOOK SEVEN NOTES

164. The deputation of generals, headed by Catacalon Cecaumenus, Isaac Comnenus, Michael Burtzes, Constantine and John Ducas, met the emperor on Easter Day, 1057.

165. According to Cedrenus (794, p. 615) Michael did speak to the generals individually and praised their services to the Empire, but he obstinately refused to grant their requests.

166. The Comneni came originally from Comne, near Hadrianople, and had estates in the Castamon district of Asia Minor. They were destined to play a preeminent role in Byzantium during the next hundred years. Isaac himself was the son of Manuel Eroticus, a distinguished prefect under Basil II. He had married the daughter of a king of Bulgaria and had two children, a son who died young and a daughter who became a nun some time after 1057. Both Isaac and his brother Joahn had already held high office.

167. Catacalon Cecaumenus, Duke of Antioch, had been supplanted by the emperor's nephew Michael.

168. The generals tried to persuade Leo Paraspondylus to intercede for them, but he was unable to influence the emperor.

169. Psellus does not mention Bryennius and Hervé Francopullus. The former was in command of the Macedonian army in Cappadocia, having been recalled from exile by Michael and ordered to prosecute the war against the Turks. He demanded the restoration of his property, seized by Theodora, but having failed in this went off to his army in disgust, accompanied by one Opsaras, obviouslv an agent of the emperor. Bryennius attempted to pay the troops more than the authorized amount and when Opsaras denounced him threw the agent into chains. The result of this impetuosity was that he lost his eyes and was betrayed to the emperor, and, more important, other generals who had hitherto refrained from action (such as Romanus Sclerus, Botaneiates, and the sons of Basil Argyrus) hurried to proclaim Isaac emperor, because they heard that the whole conspiracy might now be revealed. Hervé was an Armenian and a soldier of some distinction. He demanded the rank of magister only to be treated by Michael with the utmost rudeness, and after this he joined the Turks.

170. In St. Sophia with the connivance of Cerularius.

171. On the plain of Gunaria where, on 8 June 1057, Isaac was acclaimed as the new emperor.

172. The headquarters of the rebel army was now at Nicaea. Isaac was in no hurry to occupy the city: he wished to avoid battle at first, confident that the enemy would desert the emperor. In fact, the imperial leaders remained loyal but the rank and file melted away (Cedrenus, 800B, p. 627).

173. They were put under the command of Theodorus, a eunuch of the late empress, and of Aaron Ducas, brother-in-law of Comnenus himself. They crossed to Nicomedia and broke down the bridge over the River Sangares. Their camp was finally established on Mount Sophon.

174. Theodorus (cf. note 173).

175. Homer, Iliad, III, 8 ff

176. The Battle of Hades, not far from Nicaea, on 20 August 1057. Cedrenus describes this engagement in some detail (801-2, p.628 ff.).

177. Theodorus Alopus, a senator.

178. Constantine Lichudes.

179. He later succeeded Cerularius as Patriarch and presided at the ceremony of Isaac's own tonsuration in 1059.

180. At Nicomedia, 24 August.

181. Brother of Isaac.

182. The Athenian orator (c. 459-380 B.C.).

183. Constantine the Great appointed his sons Caesars before his death: Crispus and Constantine II in 317, Constantius II in 323, and in 333 Constans. The last three afterwards became emperors.

184. Catacalon, who was chiefly responsible for the victory of 20 August, is said to have been most vehement in opposing any compromise with the emperor.

185. Leo Paraspondylus.

186. Comnenus had meanwhile moved to Rheae. There is no doubt that these negotiations were deliberately prolonged, and Psellus with his fellow-ambassadors was plotting with Cerularius to get rid of Michael. We are told by Cedrenus (803, p. 633) that the ambassadors persuaded Catacalon to oppose their terms in order to delay the final decision until everything was ready at Byzantium.

187. Cf. note 185.

188. Isaac had every reason to feel confidentCthe uprising timed for the 30 August was arranged.

`89. Cedrenus's account is interesting (804-5, pp. 635-6). The Patriarch pretended to be reluctant to endorse the proclamation of Isaac as emperor. In the end he sent messengers to both the rivals: one to advise Michael to abdicate, the other to Comnenus warning him to hasten to the palace. In fact, Michael did not take refuge in St. Sophia. The Patriarch remained there.

190. Michael Anastasius, Theodorus Chryselius, Christophorus Pyrrhus. The Patriarch sent his nephews, Nicephorus and Constantine, to negotiate with them, but the crowd threatened to strangle these emissaries unless Cerularius himself condescended to meet the conspirators.

191. The night of 31 August 1057. Isaac was now at Chrysopolis.

192. 1 September.

193. Holy men who lived on pillars.

194. Psellus uses this generic term for Pagans.

195. He was crowned by the Patriarch in St. Sophia.

196. Michael lived his last days as a monk in Byzantium.

197. Isaac was about fifty years old. He was born about 1005.

198. Essentially a soldier-emperor, Isaac had little respect for the Court. His reply to someone who reproached him for rebelling against Michael was typical: 'I couldn't bear to serve my fellow-slave any more !' (Scylitzes, 813, p.650).

199. Isaac used to say that an emperor should be terrible to foreigners, but accessible to his friends.

200. Cf. Scylitzes (813, p. 650): '(Isaac) was a man of fixed habits, fair-minded, sharp-witted, strong, intelligent, a great leader in war, a terror to his foes, kindly to his friends.'

201. Xenocrates of Chalcedon, a follower of Plato, was head of the Academy from 339 to 314 B.C. He was a philosopher of great moral earnestness. Psellus may however be referring to another Xenocrates, a sculptor of the school of Lysippus, who flourished in the third century B.C. and who wrote on art (Pliny, XXXV, 10, 36; Diogenes Laertius, IV, 15).

202. Cf. note I82. Many writers of antiquity wrote commentaries on the orations of Lysias, most of which have unfortunately perished.

203. Isaac's coinage gives the clue to his reign. Instead of the labarum (the imperial standard) a drawn sword appears in his hand. The days of eunuch-rule were over: henceforth the Empire was to be governed by a soldier. Hence he had little sympathy for the court party. All kinds of economy were practised. The monasteries were among the first to suffer; many noble families were compelled to surrender property and wealth; certain allowances previously given to men who held office were cancelled; taxation became much heavier and was enforced without mercy; donations which other emperors made freely were now withheld. These measures naturally caused no little dissatisfaction (Scylitzes, 808, p. 642).

204. Romanus II.

205. The title ('born in the purple') gave special distinction to the ruling dynasty. Here Psellus is speaking of the Macedonian House.

206. Alexander the Great, who mastered his favourite horse by turning him towards the sun. In its memory (it died in battle) he founded the city of Bucephala.

207. The sixth labour of Heracles.

208. Judging by Isaac's conduct of the Patzinak campaign of 1059, he was not an outstanding strategist.

209. Cerularius. Isaac owed his throne to the Patriarch's intervention in 1057. In return the emperor renounced certain jurisdiction over the affairs of the Church. Emboldened by this Cerularius tried to extend his power: he wore (or perhaps destined for his relative Constantine Ducas) the purple buskins that were considered the prerogative of the emperor only. In November 1058 Isaac arrested him and sent him int exile at Proconnesus. As the Patriarch refused to abdicate, Psellus, at the emperors request, drew up the Accusation, an interesting and informative docunnen which charges him with heresy and treason and gives a wealth of corroborative detail. Cerularius however died before he could be brought to trial and was succeeded by Lichudes in 1059 (Scylitzes, 809, p. 644).

210. February, 1059.

211. Yet Lichudes was not allowed to take up his new appointment without delay. Isaac insisted that he should submit to some inquisition before the Synod (Scylitzes 809, C-D, p. 645).

212. The Patzinaks crossed the Danube (Ister) it 1059. The Hungarians also threatened the Romans but peace was arranged with them. The campaign against the Patzinaks was almost brought to a successful conclusion, but an unusually early fall of snow and heavy rain caused the emperor to withdraw under great difficulties (September). There were rumours that the Turks were preparing to invade the easts provinces and Isaac had to return to the capital.

213. 24 September.

214. John Comnenus.

215. November 1059. The account of Scylitzes is different (811A, p. 647)

216. Dodona and Delphi were both noted as oracles.

217. M. Porcius Cato (234-I49 B.C.) was regarded as the typical Roman, the perfect example of a vir moribus antiquis.

218. Not improbable, for Isaac was not a native of Constantinople.

219. He had a sense of humour (Scylitzes, 813, pp. 650-1).

220. Catherine (or Aecaterina), daughter of John Vladislav, a Bulgarian prince.

221. Maria. After the emperor's death both she and her mother retired to a convent. The empress changed her name to Helena.

222. John.

223. This was probably Manuel, who distinguished himself afterwards as a general. But John had four other sons and the reference may be to Theodorus Doceianus, his sister's son.

224. Lichudes.

225. Constantine Ducas, President of the Senate. It is said that he offered the throne first to his brother who refused it.

226. Andronicus was implicated in a conspiracy against Leo VI the Wise in 906. The family had long been distinguished at Byzantium.

227. Constantine was one of the contestants for the imperial throne after the death of Alexander (913) and had he not died suddenly might well have succeeded him.

228. Isaac had a son, but he died early in life.

229. November 1059.

230. Seven years and six months (from November 1059 to May 1067).

231. The truth is that Constantine X was a mediocre person. He neglected the army, he allowed the barbarians to attack the Empire almost with impunity, devoted his time to civil administration (particularly to legal problems) and openly admitted that he preferred to be known as a great orator rather than as a great emperor (Scylitzes, 813-14, pp- 651-3).

232. He had earned sorne reputation as a general in the past, but during his Principate he was lacking in all initiative and dilatory in the extreme.

233. In the East the Turks plundered and ravaged: Armenia, Iberia and the provinces on the Euphrates suffered severely at their hands. Ani was lost. Meanwhile in the West some 600,000 Uzes crossed the Danube, defeated the Roman and Bulgarian forces who opposed them, captured the Roman generals Basil Apocapes and Nicephorus Botaneiates, broke into Thrace and Greece, and threatened Macedonia. After much delay Constantine marched out against them with 150,000 men, but before he could join battle he received news that the enemy, attacked by Patzinaks, Bulgarians, famine ard disease, had retreated over the Danube. Scylitzes (816C, p. 656) ascribes this reverse to Divine intervention (1065).

234. The City Prefect and several nobles were implicated in a plot to kill the emperor on St. George's Day (1060), but they were only punished by the confiscation of all their property (Scylitzes 813D, p. 652).

235. Cf. note 226.

236. Cf. note 227.

237. Possibly the grandfather of the almost legendary Digenes Acritas, who is said to have carried on a permanent freebooting campaign against the Saracens. According to the legend he was the son of a daughter of a general of the Ducas family and a Saracen emir (whence his name Di-genes). See Byzantium, ed. Baynes and Moss, pp. 246 ff.

238. Eudocia Macrembolitissa, a relative of Michael Cerularius.

239. Michael and Andronicus before his accession; after he became emperor, Constantine. There were two daughters Theodora and Zoe.

240. Constantine IX.

241. Constantine X.

242. Isaac submitted to the discipline of this monastery and was even content to act as janitor.

243. Some time in 1061.

244. Constantine's parsimony was notorious (Scylitzes, 815D, p. 655).

245. Zoe married Adrian Comnenus, brother of the future Alexius I.

246. She was also known as Theodora Anna.

247. Cf. note 234. They intended to sink the imperial galley and drown the emperor while he was on his way back to the palace from Mangana.

248. Cf. note 233.

249. They were the sons of Andronicus Ducas.

250. John Xiphilinus of Trebizond was elected Patriarch in 1064, afier the death of Lichudes. He was appointed to the office against his will (Scylitzes, 817C, P.658) for he was loth to leave his monastery. He was now Abbot there (Psellus, Funeral Oration on John Xiphilinus, ed. C. N. Sathas, Bibl. Graec. Med. Aev., iv, p. 448).

251. The emperor's illness began in October 1066 and lasted until the following May. On his deathbed he compelled his wife to swear that she would never marry again, and the Caesar John and other intimates were required to promise that they would recognize no other emperor but Constantine's sons.

252. It is noteworthy that the whole of this section dealing with the emperor's sayings is found verbatim in Scylitzes, 818C, P. 660. Medieval writers regarded the work of their predecessors or even contemporaries as common property. (C, Anna Comnena, Alexiad, V, 9. where she uses a passage taken from Psellus, Chronographia, Rornanus III, 2-3 .)

253. Eudocia was particularly concerned at the attitude of the Patriarch: he was insistent that she should remain faithful to the oath she had given to her dying husband. In order to obtain his consent to her new marriage, she conspired with one of the Court eunuchs, a person of low character. This eunuch suggested to the Patriarch that his brother Bardas should marry the empress. Xiphilinus, flattered by this proposal, consulted the Senate, but did not press his brother's claims (Bardas was quite unsuitable for such a position); he finally agreed instead that Romanus Diogenes should marry her (Scylitzes, 821-2, p.664 ff.).

254.The Turks were enjoying uninterrupted success: in Cilicia, helped by a Roman deserter, Amertices, who had been exiled because of an attempted assassination of Constantine X, they had won victories and ravaged the land; in Syria Nicephorus Botaneiates tried to stem their advance with an ill-equipped force, short both of supplies and of money, and eventually resigned his command. In Europe the Patzinaks had again gone over to the offensives but had been repulsed by the Romans. For his success in this campaign Romanus had been promoted by Constantine at the end of his reign and (probably with some justice) had plotted to dethrone the empress. He was denounced, arrested and sent into exile, but soon recalled. On 24 December 1067 he was made magister and put in command of the army, with the approval of the Senate. One man consistently opposed him, John Ducas.

255. Romanus, son of Constantine Diogenes, was born in Cappadocia. His father had conspired against Romanus Argyrus (Romanus III) but had escaped capture.

256. John Ducas. Cf. note 254.

257 The marriage took place on 1 Janua y 1068 and Romanus IV's reign begins from that date.

258. The elevation of Romanus was really a victory for the military party in the state. Psellus himself exercised great influence, but only as long as the Court held the upper hand. In his account of the new emperor it is not difficult to see that he is to some extent biased.

259. cf. Homer, Iliad, XV, 678.

260. Romanus had a conglomerate force of Macedonians, Bulgarians, Cappadocians, Uzes, Franks, and some poor levies from Phrygia. The army was ill-paid and ill-equippedCa state of affairs that was due entirely to his predecessor, Constantine. Psellus is not altogether fair to him, for his strategy was not so aimless as the historian infers. The enemy had the initiative and were able to strike at many points, while the emperor had generals whom he could scarcely trust. It is certain that he himself was a brave man and more than once saved the day when his lieutenants had suffered defeat. After pushing back the Turks in the north he inflicted a severe reverse on them in the south (20 November 1068).

261. The leaders of the peace party were Psellus himself, Nicephorus Palaeologus and John Ducas.

262. Spring 1069. This campaign was indecisive, though the enemy took Iconium.

263. The probable reason is that Romanus dared not leave Psellus in the capital while he was conducting the war. He must have been aware of the other's intrigues.

264. John Ducas.

265. Psellus does not mention that the campaign of 1070 was carried on by Manuel Comnenus. He was defeated and taken prisoner, but persuaded his captor to desert to the Byzantines and, contrary to all expectations, arrived safely at Constantinople. Romanus's third campaign against Alp Arslan, the Seljuq ruler, took place in 1071. After varying fortunes the Sultan offered peace, but the emperor refused to accept his terms and a pitched battle was fought at Manzikert (26 August 1071). As a result of treachery on the part of some officers, he was defeated and captured, but not without great gallantry in the face of odds (Scylitzes, 841, p. 699).

266. Scylitzes speaks of omens which foreshadowed the disaster that was to follow (835-6, pp.689-90).

267. Bryennius in particular.

268. The Battle of Manzikert. Cf. note 265.

269. Psellus conveniently ignores the fact that if Andronicus, the son of John Ducas, had not run away and deliberately spread the rumour that the battle was lost, Romanus might never have been compelled to take such a risk (Scylitzes, 840D, p. 698).

270. In the hand. He fought on after his horse had been shot down under him.

271. A full account is preserved in Scylitzes (842, p. 700). The Sultan asked Romanus what be would have done if the Romans had won and the Turkish ruler had been captured. The emperor, without any dissimulation, replied, 'I would have flogged vou to death!''But 1,' said Arslan, 'will not imitate you. I have been told that your Christ teaches gentleness and forgiveness of wrong. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.'

272. Andronicus and Constantine Ducas.

273. The famous Varangian guards.

274. We are told by Scylitzes (843, p. 702) that Eudocia was sent into exile by the Caesar John, by his sons, and above all by Psellus (who, says Scylitzes 'glories in his deed in one of his books').

275. Constantine.

276. Tyropaeum. The defeat of ch. 33 was really suffered by Theodorus Alyates, one of the emperor's lieutenants who was taken prisoner and blinded.

277. Chatatoures, the Duke of Antioch (see ch. 38).

278. The Bishops of Chalcedon, Heraclea, and Colonus.

279. Apparently Adana, in Cilicia.

280. This Crispinus had joined Romanus on his first campaign. Previously he had been in Italy. As he was not treated with the consideration which he thought was his due, he revolted (Easter, 1069) and appears to have carried on a freebooting campaign, plundering the tax-collectors and defeating the forces sent against him. After putting to flight the army of the emperor's brother-in law, Samuel Alousianus the Bulgarian, in Armenia, he showed remarkable clemency to his captives and set them free. Thereupon he sent an embassy to the emperor begging for pardon, and he was restored, but not for long. Once more he became suspect and lost his command, being sent into exile at Abydos. If Scylitzes is to be believed, he was a great warrior and a valuable ally.

281. I.e. the Turk Alp Arslan, who had made an alliance with the emperor.

282. Scylitzes (845B, p. 705) asserts that it was John Ducas who gave this order without the knowledge of Michael.

283. From the time of his accession to his capture at Adana he reigned three years and eight months (i.e. to September 1071). Further details are to be found in Scylitzes, who cannot conceal his dislike of Psellus and the Ducas family. He writes (821, p. 664) that Romanus was a man of fine appearance, tall, with broad shoulders and a deep chest. He constantly refers to the emperor's personal bravery and pays tribute to his fortitude at the time of his final calamity (845. p. 705).

284. The truth is that Michael Parapinaces w as a despicable person and some of the blame for his inefficient rule must fall upon Psellus. The young emperor was being trained in logic and philosophy, but the situation of the Empire demanded a soldier, a strong character such as Romanus Diogenes had already proved himself. On all sides the enemies of the Byzantines were meeting with success. Serbia was becoming a dangerous neighbour; the Normans were threatening the west; the Muslims were advancing in the east; the nomad tribes over the Danube were re-commencing their forays; and the Roman armies were discontented and disorganized. In the Byzantine Empire itself there was constant tension too: the Ducas family was losing grip and the Cornneni were steadily building up a great reputation.

285. Scylitzes {856D, p. 725) is scathing in his condemnation of the emperor's activities: 'While he spent his time in the useless pursuit of eloquence and wasted his energy on the composition of iambic and anapaestic verse (and they were poor efforts indeed}, he brought his Empire to ruin, led astray by his mentor, the philosopher Psellus.' Again (846, p. 706): 'While he (Nicephoritza, the emperor's favourite) concentrated all power in his own hands, Michael found time for nothing but triodes and childish games. The leading philosopher, Psellus, had made hirn quite unfitted for the position he occupied.'

286. Obscure, but maybe a reference to Plato's perfect number (Rep., VIII).

287. Michael's worst mistake was appointing the eunuch Nicephoritza logothete. This man was an unscrupulous rascal of the most despicable type. At Byzantium his one object was to aggrandize himself. In the perpetual wars carried on against the enemies of the Empire, it is patent that he had no consistent policy: each successive crisis was met with some new make-shift plan, with no thought for honour or prestige. The heartless selfishness of the emperor's advisers {for he himself was merely a tool in their hands) is exemplified in their treatment of the Norman Roussel de Bailleul (Ruselius).

288. Maria, an Alan princess, who was afterwards married to the emperor Nicephorus Botaneiates. Mentioned in the Alexiad of Anna Comnena passim.

 

289. Constantine, betrothed to Helena the daughter of Robert Guiscard, but later to Anna Comnena. He probably died before she was of marriageable age.

290. Sophocles, Ajax, 293.

291. Cf. note 289.

292. Sophocles, Ajax, 551.

293. Andronicus played little part in the history of these times and his subsequent fate is unknown.

294. After the abdication of Michael VII Parapinaces, Constantine (or Constantius) was confined in a monastery by Nicephorus, the new emperor. He appears to have died in cattle at Durazzo (1082).

295. The Sultan made war on Michael, determined to avenge the death of Romanus, and after Isaac Comnenus and Roussel had both been taken prisoner by the Turks, the emperor appointed John Ducas commander-in-chief. Roussel was liberated and decided to throw in his lot with John. He proclaimed him emperor. Thereupon Michael, with his usual duplicity, caked upon the Sultan to help him. The rebels were soon captured and although they were ransomed, John became a monk. Towards the end of the reign he arranged a marriage between his grand-daughter Irene and Alexius Comnenus, the future emperor. This alliance united the two most powerful families at Byzantium. In 1081 he emerged from his monastery to help Alexius in his successful revolt against Nicephorus.

296. Author of a book on strategy. Lived probably in the reign of Trajan (A D. 98C117).

297. Apollodorus of Damascus wrote on Engines of War at Rome in the first century A.D. He also planned the Forum of Trajan.

298. In fact, John was a crafty intriguer and cruelly revengeful.

299. Nicephorus Botaneiates, the future emperor, claimed to be a descendant cf the ancient Fabii family or Rome. He was one of the two contestants for the throne when the generals revolted against Michael VII in 1077. He eventually defeated his rival Bryennius amd forced Michael to abdicate and retire to a monastery. He reigned for three years before he himself was compelled to resign and become a monk.

300. Possibly a reference to the fact that Romanus IV Diogenes had dismissed him in 1071, when preparing for the campaign that was to end at Manzikert.

301. He had been promoted to the office of curopalates.

302. Nothing appears to be known about Psellus after the abdication of Michael VII in January 1078.