and, thinking he had been killed, began to waver. This soon turned into a disorderly retreat; some men fled as far as Constantinople, bringing with them the rumour that the Emperor had been killed. Some units, however, were apparently able to retreat in good order and assemble at a place called Chiliokomon.

Theophilos found himself isolated with his tagmata and the Kurds on the hill of Anzen. The Arabs proceeded to surround the hill, but the Byzantines were saved by a sudden rain, which loosened the strings of the Turkish bows, rendering them useless. Afshin then sent for catapults to be brought up to batter the Byzantine position. At the same time, Theophilos's officers, afraid of treachery by the Kurdish troops, persuaded him to withdraw. Breaking through the Arablines and suffering many wounds in the process (the sources variously credit Manuel, who was severely wounded and possibly died soon after, and Theophobos for saving the Emperor), Theophilos and his small escort managed to reach safety at Chiliokomon, where he gradually re-assembled the remnants of his army.>

Aftermath

In the aftermath of this defeat, and with rumours circulating in Constantinople of his death, Theophilos's position was precarious. He abandoned the campaign and withdrew to Dorylaion, whence he soon departed for the imperial capital. Ancyra itself was left abandoned, and plundered by the Arab army on 27 July. Then the united Abbasid army marched unopposed to Amorion, which fell after a siege of two weeks. Out of its entire population of some 70,000, only about half survived the brutal sack,