The Komnene Dynasty by John Carr

Author:John Carr [John Carr]
Language: eng
Format: epub

Both armies [writes Anna Komnene] were afraid and put off the moment of conflict, the Romans because they trembled before the overwhelming numbers of the [Pechenegs], the enemy because they feared the sight of all those breastplates, the standards, the glory of the Roman armour and the brightness reflected from it like rays of starlight.

Both armies remained tensely where they were, neither daring to take the initiative. Humbertopoulos’ warlike Kelts, ‘sharpening teeth and sword alike,’ had to be held back. For no fewer than three days in a row, the opposing armies would move into formation, stay put all day, and retire in the evening. The Pechenegs were the first to break and turn tail after the third day of this elaborate game of chicken. Tatikios gave chase, picking off stragglers, until satisfied that the Pechenegs had been chastised, and returned to the capital.

But the Pecheneg menace was not over by a long shot. In the following spring a new leader of the Pechenegs named Tzelgou, aided by a deposed ex-king of Hungary named Solomon, crossed the Danube and began to ravage Bulgaria. The Byzantine general sent to deal with them was Nicholas Maurokatakalon, helped by Alexios’ younger brother Adrian. Like Pakourianos before him, Maurokatakalon was sobered by the size of the enemy force he saw before him. Near the village of Koule he divided his force like Tatikios had done at the Evros River, and after a fierce battle trounced the Pechenegs. Tzelgou, after fighting bravely, was killed; many of his fleeing men fell into a river and were drowned, trampled by the mass behind them. Adrian Komnenos, for his part in the battle, was promoted to Grand Domestikos of the West.

But as long as the Pechenegs remained south of the Danube and in imperial territory, the emperor could not rest. Fearing that they could at any moment filter through the mountain passes in the direction of the capital, Alexios personally rode with his army to Adrianople and from there to Lardeas (approximately at modern Veliko Turnovo in Bulgaria). At the same time his general, George Euphorbenos, was sent by sea to enter the Danube and set up a command at Dristra (perhaps today’s Silistra). Alexios spent six weeks preparing a campaign which he hoped would see off the Pecheneg menace for good. With the emperor himself confronting them, the Pechenegs sent a peace mission to him; Alexios, with good reason, believed it to be a mere time-gaining stratagem and refused to parley. At this point, Anna Komnene tells us, a secretary who probably had some knowledge of astronomy whispered in the emperor’s ear that an eclipse of the sun was expected any minute. The secretary’s intention was probably to impress the rude barbarians with evidence of the emperor’s prophetic powers. Alexios told the envoys that God would soon give a sign in the sky, and a few hours later the predicted eclipse occurred. The stunned envoys were duly escorted out of the camp. As they were on their way to Constantinople under guard, they overcame their captors, killing some, and escaped.

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