When the emperor came to Manzikert he ordered that the encampment with all its equipment be set up nearby and an entrenchment be made in the accustomed manner, while he, taking with him the elite of the army, went around the town, spying out where it was suitable to make attacks on the walls and to bring up the siege engines. He had constructed the latter with all kinds of beams of great size and had them transported by not fewer than a thousand wagons. He also drove herds of cattle numbering tens of thousands for the consumption of the army. While the enemy within were shouting the war cry and baring their swords and using far-shooting weapons, the emperor made the circuit of the wall with his shield [as protection] and returned to the encampment.

The Armenian infantry, having attacked the wall outside the acropolis and made many assaults, took it without a blow as the sun was departing towards the west. When the emperor had learned of the event, ambassadors from the enemy arrived, asking to be granted clemency and to be allowed to keep their own property and [agreeing] to hand the city over to the emperor on such conditions.