their barbaric language "emir") also immediately increased the
invading forces with his own army, which was, in turn, augmented by
the considerable forces of the king of Damascus. The pagans
recruited by the infidel prince, in addition to the Turks, Saracens,
Arabs, and Persians (who are already familiar to historians), bore
new names: they were the Publicans, the Kurds, the Azimites, and the
Agulani, together with innumerable others, who were by no means human,
but monsters. Three thousand of those who were called Agulani were
said to be present, and they were afraid neither of swords, lances,
arrows, nor any kind of arms, because they and their horses were
covered with armor everywhere. In battles the only weapons they used
were their swords. Kherboga therefore, with the great arrogance of
the pagans, strove to drive the Franks from Antioch. As the prince
approached the city, the son of the dead Cassian, Sensadolus by name,
met him, and, with great sadness, said to him, "Since your strength
is widely renowned, and the victories of you and your people are
everywhere judged to be incomparable, certainly my hope for your aid
will not be disappointed, O most victorious of men. No one denies
the worth of your judgements; because of the brilliance of your deeds,
your power is worshipped everywhere; therefore I need not be ashamed
of lamenting my misfortune in your presence. I know for certain that
I am not begging in vain for the things for which I ask. Your
excellency remembers that you received ambassadors from my father
when Antioch was being besieged, and that, while you were deciding to
come to his aid, you heard that the city had been captured by the
Franks. Now my father is dead, and I am besieged in the citadel of
the city, undoubtedly awaiting the same fate that overtook my father.
If they have invaded Antioch, and have done the same to many cities
and towns of Armenia and Syria, they undoubtedly intend to do the
same thing to you and to others of our race. May your excellency