Rage and paranoia
Summer 1255. Theodore II's letters to his friend, George Mouzalon, now took on a more wistful tone. The emperor was homesick for Anatolia and started to write nostalgically of his homeland; he reminded Mouzalon of the time they had spent together in Atramyttion, the sound of the Aegean Sea, the mountains, the hot summers, their mutual friends and shared language.
In stark contrast to Anatolia, Theodore described the Balkans as an alien land of no interest or excitement. He complained of the harsh winter frosts and intense summer heat: the “broad and mighty Hebros” (the Maritsa River) was so hot his parched soldiers couldn't even drink from it.
Things got worse. Over the summer one of Theodore's officers, a Bulgarian named Dragotas, switched sides and joined the tsar, Michael II Asen. Dragotas quickly raised an army and laid siege to the Byzantine fortress of Melnik, where the garrison was commanded by Theodore Nestongos and John Angelos.
Melnik lay more than 125 miles from Theodore's camp at Adrianople. Despite his gloom and depression, the emperor suddenly roused himself. He took personal command of the rescue expedition and set off along the main road to Macedonia, the ancient 'via Egnatia'. While on the road, he sent furious letters to Mouzalon, in which he blamed two of his generals for allowing this crisis to happen.
These generals were Alexios Strategopoulos and Constantine Tornikes. Theodore called them “lawless” and “ill-famed” and accused them of failing to bring up troops from Tzepaina, to the south. As a result he, Theodore, had become a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. He reserved particular hatred for Tornikes:
“Who is a just man in the West as much as Tornikes is unjust? Who is more courageous in wartime than this coward?”
Despite his rage and paranoia – or maybe because of it – Theodore performed wonders. He raced along the road to Melnik, in places only wide enough for a single horseman, and launched a night assault on the Bulgarian army. In the darkness and confusion, the Bulgarians were routed. Their commander, Dragotas, died of injuries when he fell from his horse in the stampede. The next day Theodore reached Melnik and broke the siege.
