offering this argument, he should have kept in mind that for this
very reason the most powerful adversity had descended upon him and
his people; in well-known proclamation, he had issued an order
throughout the land that families with several daughters give one of
them up to prostitution, and place in his own treasury money gained
from the disgusting experience. In addition, he had issued another
edict, ordering families with several sons to have one castrated,
thus rendering their bodies, deprived of virility, weak and
effeminate, no longer fit for military service. Even worse, they
were cut off from producing progeny for the future, who might have
been looked for as aid against their enemies. Therefore he who had
brought destruction upon himself was now compelled to seek help from
foreigners. In addition, one should note that this emperor had
received the purple not by legitimate succession, but because he had
been one of the officers of the palace, under the ruler whose name,
unless I am mistaken, was Michael, who had put him in charge of the
larger group of Western soldiers, whose natural probity made them the
best of the emperor's men, and the emperor's bodyguard. Gathering
boldness from the men he commanded, he undertook a coup against his
own prince. Invading the city of Constantinople, he captured his
ruler, cruelly deprived him of his eyes, and placed him under close
guard in a certain town. Then he usurped imperial power entirely
without legal right. Compelled by necessity, as we said above, he
sought the Franks. But after he saw such remarkable leaders
assembled, distinguished both for their impeccable conduct and
military ability, he envied the size of the forces, but envied their
wisdom even more. When they successfully completed what they had set
out to do, his envy of the ability of our men grew even greater;
after the victory at Jerusalem, the emperor feared that they might
turn their victorious arms against him, especially since they had