College, Oxford, where he was Senior Scholar, and at \Øorcester
College, where he was elected to a Junior Research Fellowship.
Since zooo, he has been Senior Research Fellow at 'Worcester
College, Oxford and Faculty Fellow in Medieval and Modern
Greek at Oxford University, and has written extensively on the
reign of Alexios I Komnenos and on the Alexiad.
ANNA KOMNENE
The Alexiad
Translated by n. n. A. sEwrER
Reuised with Introduction and Notes by
PETER FRANKOPAN
PENGUIN BOOKS
PROLOGUE
r. Time, which flies irresistibly and perpetually, sweeps up and
carries away with it everything that has seen the light of day
and plunges it into utter darkness, whether deeds of no significance
or those that are mighty and worthy of commemoration;
as the playwright says,1 it brings to light that which had been
obscurã and shrouds from us what had been visible. Nevertheless,
the science of History is a great bulwark against this stream
of Time; in a way it checks this irresistible flood, it holds in a
tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface and will
not allow it to slip away into the depths of oblivion.
I, Anna, daughter of the Emperor Alexios and the Empress
Eirene, born and bred in the purple,2 not without some acquaintance
with literature - having devoted the most earnest study
to the Greek language, in fact, and being not unpractised in
rhetoric and having read thoroughly the works of Aristotle and
the dialogues of Plato, and having fortified my mind with the
tetraþus of sciences (these things must be divulged, and it is not
boasting to recall what Nature and my own zeal for knowledge
have given me, nor what God has apportioned to me from
above and what has been contributed by circumstance); I desire
now by means of my writings to give an account of my father's
deeds, which do not deserve to be consigned to silence nor to
be swept away on the flood of Time into an ocean of obscurity;
I wish to recall everything, the achievements before his elevation
to the throne and his actions in the service of others before his
coronatron.
z.I approach the task with no intention of flaunting my skill
as a writer; my concern is rather that a subject so significant
4 rHE ALEXTAD
compulsion of events, to criticize some action taken by him,
not because of what he decided but because of the .ir.u--
ìØhenever one assumes the role of historian, friendship and
enmities have to be forgotten; often one has to bestow on
adversaries the highest commendation, where their deeds merit
it; often, too, one's nearest relatives have to be censured, as and
when their behaviour deserves it. The historian, therefore, must
shirk neither from remonstrating with their friends, nor from
praising their enemies. For my part, I hope to satisfy both
parties, both those who are offended by us and those who
accept us, by appealing to the evidence of the actual events and
of eyewitnesses. The fathers and grandfathers of some men
alive today saw these things.
3. The main reason why I have to write the account of
my father's deeds is this: I was the lawful wife of the Kaisar
Nikephoros,a a scion of the Bryennioi, an extremely handsome
man, very intelligent, and in the precise use of words far
superior to his contemporaries. To see and hear him was indeed
an extraordinary experience. For the moment, however, let us
concentrate on what happened afterwards, lest the story should
digress.
My husband, the most outstanding man of the time, went on
campaign with my brother, the Emperor John,s when the latter
pRoLocUE 5
led an army against other barbarians and also when he set out
against the Syrians and once more restored imperial authority
tã the city of Antioch. Even in the midst of these wearing
exertions the þaisar could not neglect his writing, and, among
other compositions worthy of honourable mention, he chose in
oarticular to write the history of Alexios, the Emperor of the
ilo."n, and my father, on the orders of the empress,6 and to
record the events of his reign in several books, when a brief lull
in the warfare gave him the chance to turn his attention to
historical and literary research. He did indeed begin the history
- and in this, too, he yielded to the wishes of our empress
- with references to the period before Alexios, starting with
Diogenes, the Emperor of the Romans, and carrying it down to
the times of his original subject. At the time of Diogenes' reign
my father was only a youth; he had done nothing worthy of
note, unless childhood exploits are also to be made the object
of record.
The kaisar's plan was such as I have described; his writings
make that clear. However, he did not manage to complete what
he had set out to do, and the history was not completed. After
carrying on the account to the times of the Emperor Nikephoros
Botaneiates, he stopped writing because circumstances prevented
any further progress' to the detriment of the history
itself and the sorrow of its readers. That is why I have chosen
to record the full story of my father's deeds myself, so that
future generations may not be deprived of knowledge about
them. Everyone who has encountered his literary work knows
with what symmetry and grace the þaisar wrote ' . .
Having reached the point I have mentioned, he brought back
his work to us from foreign parts half-finished and hastily put
together, and also, I am sorry to say' carrying an illness which
was to prove fatal, caused by too much soldiering, excessive
fatigue and inordinate concern for ourselves. He was by nature
a worrier and a worker; he could not relax. The unpleasant
changes of climate, too, contributed to his death. He was â very
sick man, then, when he set out on campaign to Syria and
Kilikia; his health continued to fail in Syria; after Syria came
Kilikia, Pamphylia, Lydia and Bithynia before he returned to
ã
6 THE ALEXIAD
other ways, ever since I was wrapped in swaddling clothes in
the purple chamber, and I have not enjoyed good luck -although one would not deny that forrune did smile on me
and an empress, and when I
was full of rroubles, full of
and forests, even inanimate
wring sympathy from nature, animate and inanimate alike.
The þaisar's untimely death and the suffering it brought
about touched my heart deeply and the pain of iiaffected ihe
innermost part of my being. The calamities of the past, in the
face of this infinite disasrer, I regard as a mere diop of rain
compared with the whole Atlantic Ocean or rhe swell of the
Adriatic Sea. They were, it seems, the prelude of these later
woes, the warning smoke of this furnace flame; the fierce heat
But I see that I have been led asrray by these thoughts from
7PRO LO GU E
my subject; the kaisar stood over me and his sorrow provoked
heavy sorrow in me too. I will wipe away the tears from my
eyes, recover from my grief and continue my story' earning
thereby a double share of tears, as the playwright says, for one
disaster recalls another.e To put before the public the life history
of such an emperor reminds me of his supreme virtue, his
marvellous qualities - and the hot tears fall again as I weep
with all the world. When I remember him and make known the
events of his reign, it is for me a theme of lamentation; others
will be reminded of their loss. However, this is where I must
begin the history of my father, at the point where it is better to
begin, where the narrative will become at once clearer and more
âccurate.
r66 THE ALEXIAD
care that his needs should be generously provided for at the
expense of the imperial treasury.
Then there was the case of the famous dialectician Eleutherios,2e
another Egyptian, who attained great proficiency in
the art, which he practised with a wonderful skill. He was
undoubtedly the supreme exponent. In later times, too, there
was an Athenian, one Katanankesr3o who came from his native
city to Constantinople with the ambition ro surpass all his
predecessors. He was asked by some people about the emperor,
inquiring as to when he would die. He forecast the date according
to his calculations, but proved to be wrong. However, it
happened at that momenr that the lion living in the palace
breathed its last after suffering from a fever for four days, and
most people thought that Katanankes' prediction was thereby
fulfilled. Some time afterwards he again foretold rhe emperor's
death wrongly, but on the very day he had menrioned rhe
Empress Anna, his mother, died. Although the man had been
wrong as often as he had been right, the emperor was unwilling
to remove him from the city, even if he was erratic; moreover,
he wished to avoid any appearance of resentment.
It is time now for us to return to the narrative so that I do
not seem like someone whose head is in the clouds, and so that
I do not obscure the main theme of my history with the names
of astrologers.3l It was generally agreed and some actually said
that Robert was an exceptional leader, quick-witted, of fine
appeaÍancq courteous, a clever conversationalist with a loud
voice, accessible, of solid build, with hair invariably of the right
length and a thick beard; he was always careful to observe the
customs of his own race; he preserved to the end the youthful
bloom which distinguished his face and indeed his whole body,
and was proud of it - he had the physique of a true leader;'he
treated with respect all his subjects, especially those who had
served him with unswerving loyalty.32 On the other hand, he
was niggardly and grasping in the extreme, a very good businessman,
most covetous and full of ambition. Dominated as he was
by these traits, he attracted much censure from everyone.
Some people blame the emperor for losing his head and
starting the war with Robert prematurely.33 According to them,
would n^u"or^'*!n
him easily in any case, for Robert was being shot at from all
directions, by the Albanians and by Bodin's men from Dalmatia.
But of course fault-finders stand out of weapon range
and the acid darts they fire at the contestants come from their
tongues. The truth is that Robert's manliness, his marvellous
skill in war and his steadfast spirit are universally recognized.
He was an adversary not readily vanquished, a very tough
enemy who was more courageous than ever in the hour of
defeat.
8. The emperor, accompanied by the Latins of Count
Bryennius who had deserted to him, returned to the capital with
the laurels of victory. The date was the first of December in the
seventh indiction.3a He found the empress in the throes of
childbirth, in the room set apart long ago for an empress's
confinement. Our ancestors called it the porpbyra - hence the
world-famous name of the porphyrogennetoi. At dawn (it was
a Saturday) a baby girl was born to them, who resembled her
father, so they said, in all respects. I was that baby.
On several occasions I have heard my mother tell how, two
days before the emperor's return to the palace (he was coming
back then after his battle with Robert and his other numerous
wars and labours), she was seized with the pains of childbirth
and making the sign of the cross over her womb, said, '\üüait a
while, little one, till your father's arcival.' Her mother, the
protouestiarla, so she said, reproached her soundly:
.What if he
comes in a month's time? Do you know when he'lI arrive?' she
said angrily. 'And how will you bear such pain?' So spoke her
mother; but her own commând was obeyed - which very clearly
signified even in her womb the love that I was destined to have
for my parents in the future. For thereafter, when I grew to
womanhood and reached years of reason, I had beyond all
doubt a great affection for both of them alike. Many folk,
certainly all those who know my history, are witnesses of this
deep feeling of mine and their evidence is supported by the
numerous struggles and labours I have endured on their behalf,
as well as those dangers to which I have exposed myself because
of that love, unconcerned by honour, money' or life itself.
r68
My love for them burned so fiercely that many a time I was
ready to sacrifice my very soul for them. But it is not time to
speak of that yet. I must tell the reader of the events that
followed my birth.
'When
all the ceremonies which are usually performed at the
birth of imperial children had taken place, by which I mean the
acclamations, the gifts and honours presented to the leaders of
the Senate and army, there was, I am told, an unprecedented
outburst of joy; everyone was dancing and singing hymns,
especially the close relatives of the empress, who could not
contain themselves for delight. After a certain period of time my
parents honoured me too with a crown and imperial diadem.
Constantine, the son of the former emperor Michael Doukas,
who has on many occasions been mentioned in this history,
was still sharing the throne with my father; he signed notices
of donations with him in purple ink, followed him with a tiara
in processions and was acclaimed after him.35 So it came about
that I too was acclaimed and the officers who led the acclamations
linked the names of Constantine and Anna. Often in later
times I have heard my relatives and parents say that this practice
continued in fact over a long period. Maybe it foreshadowed
what was about to befall me afterwards, for good or ill.
\üØhen a second daughter was born, very like her parents and
at the same time showing clear signs of the virtue and wisdom
which were to distinguish her in later years, they longed for a
son and he became the object of their prayers. Thus in the
eleventh indiction a boy36 was indeed born to them - an event
immediately followed 6y great rejoicing; not a trace of disappointment
remained now that their desire was fulfilled. The
entire people, seeing the pleasure of their rulers, made merry;
everyone was pleased and all together were glad. The pàlace
then was a place of perfect happiness, all sorrow and worries
of all kinds banished, for their supporters showed a genuine,
heartfelt pleasure, and the rest pretended to share their joy. For
ordinary folk are in general not well-disposed to their rulers,
but usually feign loyalty and by flattery win the favour of their
betters. Anyway on this occasion the universal delight was there
for all to see.
r6g
"i;.';-r.
boy was of a swarthy complexion, with a broad
forehead, rather thin cheeks, a nose that was neither flat nor
aquiline, but something between the two, and darkish eyes
which, as far as one can divine from the appearance of a newborn
baby, gave evidence of a lively spirit. Naturally my parents
wanted to promote the little one to the rank of emperor and
leave to him the empire of the Romans as a heritage; in the
Great Church of God, therefore, he was honoured by the rite
of holy baptism and crowned. Such were the events that befell
us, the porpbyrogennetoi, from the very moment of our birth.
'!Øhat
happened to us later on will be told in the appropriate
place.
9. As I have said before, after driving the Turks from the
coastal districts of Bithynia and the Bosphorus itself, as well as
from their hinterlands, the emperor Alexios concluded a peace
treaty with Solymas.3T He then turned to Illyrikon, thoroughly
defeated Robert and his son Bohemond, albeit not without
much suffering, and rescued the provinces of the west from
utter disaster. On his return from that campaign he found that
the Turks of Apelkhasem3s were not merely invading the east
again, but had even reached the Propontis and the places on
the coast there. I must now describe how the Emir Solymas,
having left Nicaea, appointed this Apelkhasem governor of the
city; how Pouzanos was sent by the Persian sultan to Asia and
vanquished by the brother of the sultàn, Toutouses;3e and how
he was killed by him, but Toutouses after the victory was
strangled by Pouzanos' cousins.
An Armenian called Philaretos, highly respected for his
bravery and intelligence, had been promoted to the rank of
domestikos by the former emperor Romanos Diogenes, and
when he saw Diogenes' downfall and knew moreover that he
had been blinded, it was more than he could bear, for he had a
deep affection for this emperor. He organized a rebellionao and
seized power for himself in Antioch. As the Turks plundered
the area round the city every day and there was no respite at
all, Philaretos decided to join them and offered himself for
circumcision, according to their custom. His son violently
opposed this ridiculous impulse, but his good advice went
THE ALEXIAD