On the other hand he was very thrifty and fond of money, very business-like and greedy of gain, and, in addition to all this, most ambitious; and since he was a slave to these desires, he has incurred the serious censure of mankind. Some people slander the Emperor and say he was faint-hearted and began the war with Robert too soon. For if, as they allege, he had not attacked Robert before the right time, he could have defeated him easily, as Robert was being worried on all sides by the so-called Albanians and by the natives of Dalmatia sent by Bodinus.
These remarks came from the backbiters who stood out of shot and hurled envenomed darts from their lips against the fighters. For all acknowledge Robert’s bravery, remarkable skill in warfare and steadfast spirit; and he was a man who could not be conquered easily but only with extreme difficulty, and after a defeat he seemed to rise again with renewed vigour.
Latins from Count Bryennius’
VIII The Emperor, as related above, returned to the capital in triumph with the Latins from Count Bryennius’ army who had deserted to him on the first of December in the seventh Indiction. He found his wife in the pangs of [151] childbirth in the room which had of old been set apart for the Empresses’ confinements, our forefathers called it the’purple’ room, and from it the name ‘Porphyrogeniti’ [*=born in the purple] has become current in the world. And at dawn on a Saturday a female child was born to them who was exactly like her father, they said; that child was I.
And once upon a time, I heard the Empress, my mother, relate that three days before the Emperor’s entry into the palace (for he was returning then from the war with Robert and his other numerous battles and labours) she began to feel pains, so she made the sign of the cross on her womb and said, ” Wait a little, child, for your father’s coming! ” When she said that, the ‘Protovestiaire,’ her mother, scolded her severely and said angrily, ” How do you know whether he will come within a month? and how will you be able to bear the pains so long ? ” Thus spake her mother, but the Empress’ command took effect, which signified that even in the womb I felt that affection for my parents which was manifested so conspicuously in the future. For afterwards as I grew up and reached years of discretion I became sincerely devoted to my mother and also equally to my father.
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