V As he proceeded further, the barbarians did not shew themselves, but Monolycus followed him and lay in wait for the army with a large force on either side of the road. While the Emperor was crossing the plain between Polybotum and the lake we just mentioned, a detachment of the barbarian army, without baggage, all light-armed, bold men, who had lain in wait for the army on both sides, suddenly appeared to them from the heights.
Romans the impression
And the archsatrap, Monolycus, then saw this new formation for the first time. He was an old man, very experienced in wars and military [402] science, and when he beheld this new arrangement of the army he was struck dumb with surprise and asked the name of the general in command. He divined that the Emperor Alexius and no other must be the leader of the army and that new formation. And he wanted to attack, but did not dare; nevertheless he ordered them to raise the cry, ‘to battle!’ With the intention of giving the Romans the impression of a large army, he- told them to advance at the double, not in close formation, but in separate detached groups, their usual method, as we described above, hoping by the suddenness of their appearance and the trampling of the horses to deafen and dismay the Roman forces.
But the Emperor rode before the line like a tower or pillar of fire or some divine and heavenly vision, exhorting his men and bidding them March on in the same formation and be of good cheer, and added that it was not for his own safety that he had undertaken this toilsome business but for the honour and glory of the Roman Empire, and moreover he was quite ready to die on behalf of them all. All took courage at his words and each kept his own place and went on marching at his ease; so much so that to the barbarians they did not even appear to be moving. Throughout the whole of the day the Turks kept attacking the Roman army without any success, for they were unable to break it up either entirely or even partially, so they ran back to the hills without accomplishing anything and lighted a great many bonfires and howled all through the night like wolves and occasionally made jeering remarks at the Romans; for there were some semi-barbarians among them who spoke Greek.
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