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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
XXX1
and when he placed it on his head, his face
burst out into carbuncles, similar to those in
the crown, as a punishment for his impiety,
and this caused the fever of which he died.
Flavius Leo Constantinus VI. was born at
Constantinople in 771; and died in 797;
after his eyes had been put out, he reigned
seven years. In concert with his mother,
Irene, he restored the worship of images, for
which he is highly praised by Latin writers.
Flavius Nicephorus I. was born in Seleucia;
he was drawn into an ambush by the Bulgarians, and killed in battle in 811 ; having
reigned nine years and nine months.
Flavius Stauricius was presented with thedia-
dem by his father Nicephorus in 803. He was
grievously wounded in battle, and, after lingering in hopeless pain, he became a monk, and
retired to a monastery, where he died in 812.
Michael I., (Rhangabe Curopalata,) married
the daughter of Nicephorus; was proclaimed
emperor in 811, on the death of his father-Ln-
iaw; but was deposed, and died in a monastery, after a reign of one year and ten months.
Femily of Leo the Armenian.
Flavius Leo V., (Armenus,) was born in Armenia, and crowned in 813; and was assassinated while celebrating divine service in his
palace in 820; after a reign of seven years
and five months.
Family of Michael Balbus.
Flavius Michael II. (the Stammerer,) was born
in Phrygia, crowned in 820; and died in 829,
of a dysentery, having reigned eight years
and nine months. He was named Balbus from
a hesitation in his voice. He revived the reformation by expelling images from churches.
Flavius Theophilus, called Augustus by his
father, was born in 820, crowned in 829, and
died in 842; having reigned twelve years and
three months. He vigorously continued the
reformation of the church, and is thus described, Is impietatis pater nee amulus cultores
imaginum persecutus est.
Flavius Michael III., (Ebriosus,) was born in
836; crowned in 842; and was assassinated in
867. He acquired the name of Ebriosus, or the
Drunken,from his constant intemperance. He
suffered his mother, Theodora, to introduce
images into churches. The sister of the king
of Bulgaria having embraced Christianity, he
and all his subjects, by her persuasion, became
converts in this reign. Clocks were then first
brought from Venice to Constantinople.
Family of Basilius Macedo.
Flavius Basilius I., (Cephalos,) was born in
Macedonia, crowned in 866, and died in 886.
He was called Cephalos from the size of his
head. He was a zealous promoter of image
worship. In his reign, Alfred king of England
died.
Flavius Leo VI., the Philosopher, was crowned
by his father at the age of five years in 870;
and died in 911. He devoted a long reign of
twenty-five years, after his father's death, to
literary pursuits, and composed works which
have come down to us: amongst others, a
" Treatise on Tactics,"
Flavius ConstantinusVIL, (Porphyrogenitus)
the son of Leo VI. by his fourth wife, was
born in 905; crowned in 913; and died in
the year 959, of poison, administered by his own
son. He was called Porphyrogenitus, or born
in the purple, because an apartment in the
palace was lined with that colour, in which his
birth took place. It was a title generally given
to those whose fathers were on the throne when
they were born, a rare distinction in the Lower
Empire. He was the first to whom the distinction was applied. His birth was accompanied by the appearance of a comet. He
was distinguished for his devotion to literature, and left behind him " the Geography
of the Empire," and other works. In his
reign Arabic numerals were first used for the
clumsy prolixity of alphabetic letters.
Romanus I., (Lecapenus,) was born in Armenia,
crowned in 919; and died in 946. His reign
was remarkable by the siege of Constantinople
by the Bulgarians.
Romanus II. junior, was born in 937; and
crowned in 959. He died of poison in 963,
after a reign of four years.
Basilius II., (Bulgarotoctonos,) was born in955; |
