Here were those same men, who had brought a continent to terms, who in their preparations for war and in their military dispositions had made themselves invincible before the whole might of Barbary, now daring not even to look their enemies in the eye. As if the thunder of barbarian cries had deafened their ears and smitten their hearts with fear, they turned and ran away like men in utter defeat. First to feel the effects of the hubbub were the Imperial Guards.
Without so much as a backward glance, they deserted their emperor and fled.**34 Indeed, if someone had not helped him on to his horse, given him the reins, and counselled him to escape, he would have been almost captured himself and made prisoner by the enemy– he who had hoped to shake a whole continent! The truth is, if God had not at that moment restrained the barbarian onrush, and had He not inspired them to moderation in the hour of victory, nothing would have saved the Roman army from complete annihilation, and the emperor would have fallen first of all.
Handful of prisoners on the field
So the Romans ran off in disorder. Meanwhile, the enemy, as if amazed at the sight of Romans routed and fleeing for no reason merely stood and watched this astounding triumph. Later on, after taking a handful of prisoners on the field, and those men whom they knew to be of some importance, they told the rest to go free, and turned to the loot. First they seized the imperial tent, which was nearly as valuable as the palace of today, for it was filled with necklaces and bracelets and diadems, pearls and precious stones even more costly, all kinds of glorious booty.
To count the multitude of these treasures would have been no easy task, nor to admire enough their beauty and magnificence, so great and so luxurious was the profusion of wealth in the emperor’s tent. Next they proceeded to collect the rest of the spoil, and loading themselves with it they rejoined their compatriots. The emperor was meanwhile riding on ahead of the Saracens, wandering on wherever the whim of his charger bore him. He came by a certain ridge and here he was seen by some men who were running past and recognized who he was by the colour of his sandals. Many of these fugitives he stopped there and stood surrounded by them.
Thereupon the rumour spread far and wide that Romanus still lived, and others joined him. More important than that, someone came up with the ikon of the Theometor,* [* The Mother of God] the image which Roman emperors habitually carry with them on campaign, as a guide and guardian of all the army. This alone had not been taken by the enemy.
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