THE GENERALS' DEPUTATION TO THE EMPEROR MICHAEL

3. When this came to the ears of the soldiers, and among them those who held positions of command and were crack troops,**164 they came to Byzantium too, with the object of winning equal honours for themselves, or even greater ones. A day was therefore fixed for them to have audience with the emperor and I myself was present on the occasion, standing beside him. The men who came into his presence were noble warriors, men of fine reputation. After bowing to him and making the usual acclamation, they stood, at the emperor's command, awaiting their turn. Now at this juncture he should have taken them aside individually. He should have begun his conversation with generous words in a manner worthy of his high rank.**165 Instead, he started by finding fault with them en blo — — a mean thing to do. Then, having made their leader stand forth in the centre of the group, together with his second-in-command — Isaac Comnenus**166 was the chief man in the deputation and Cecaumenus, from Colonus, was the other**167 — he poured out a torrent of abuse on Isaac. He charged him with all but losing Antioch and with corrupting his army; he had shown no sign of gallantry or leadership; on the contrary, he had levied the people's money for his own use, and instead of using his command to win glory, he had made it a pretext for satisfying his personal greed. In the face of these sudden blows Isaac stood transfixed. He had come expecting promotion; instead he had been grossly insulted. When his fellow-generals tried to defend him, the emperor forbade them even to speak. Even if he despised the others, he should have considered Isaac, at least, worthy of an honourable hearing. Yet he, too, was denied that favour.