12. We were therefore at a disadvantage in two respects, and even before it was decided to make war, the attitude of our generals proved our undoing.
The rank and file, on the other hand, together with what had been left of our own national army, were still unaware of their leader’s vacillation. They faced the enemy, ‘men of war and breathing courage’,**175 as the poet says, equipped with the finest weapons and all the best armour, both for opulence and defence. So, with the war-cry on their lips, they gave rein to their chargers and bore down on the foe with irresistible force, and our right Sank, having turned their left, pursued them afar.
13. When the rebel right flank saw what had happened, they made no attempt to hold their ground or face the emperor’s troops roaring to the attack, but retired and dispersed at once. The truth is, they were afraid the victors might divert their attack, and by relieving pressure on the routed left wing, bring the full force of their charge on to their own flank. So both right and left joined in the flight and victory clearly rested with the emperor. Firmly rooted in the centre, master of victors and vanquished alike, was the rebel leader.
Scyths from the Taurus district
Some of our men saw him (they were Scyths from the Taurus district, and not more than four at that) and attacked him with spears, driving in on both flanks, but the iron shafts proved ineffective, for they missed him. Meanwhile he budged in neither direction, for as they pushed him with equal force this way and that, he remained poised and balanced in the middle. To Isaac this seemed a favourable omen, when attacks from right and left both failed to dislodge him, and he promptly bade his followers set about their enemies with more vigour. He urged them to take heart, rout their adversaries and pursue them far and wide.
14. The news of this reverse,**176 inflicted on us in the manner I have described, was even more terrifying and serious than anything we had heard before. It astounded us, and the emperor was thrown into utter confusion. He was now convinced that his cause was hopeless, for it was impossible to summon to his aid the western army after its defeat, at least for the time being, and he could not get ready other men by a fresh levy.
The general in charge of his forces, moreover, the eunuch Theodorus, who had previously been appointed to the office of proedrus by the empress Theodora, and who had afterwards taken over the eastern armies, resolutely opposed a military expedition, not so much because he lacked the necessary confidence to engage the enemy, but because he had already concluded a treacherous and secret agreement with Comnenus.
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