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 he was unpopular. He granted money for festivals and shows with a niggardly hand: he was accused of heaping up treasure for himself. A great scarcity of wheat increased his unpopularity; he issued debased coin, which excited the utmost odium; and, worse than all, he had a constant succession of quarrels with the clergy. For, to stimulate the military ardour of the soldiers, he asked the patriarch to declare that all Christians who perished in fighting Saracens were holy martyrs. The unpatriotic Churchman replied that all war was unholy, and that he who slew an enemy in battle ought to be deprived of the sacraments for at least three years. Nicephorus also restrained the growing passion for founding monasteries: he prohibited the foundation of any more, and declared void all testamentary donations to the Church.

The campaigns of this soldier prince were fought far from his capital. They were successful and honourable. He was murdered after a reign of six years by his nephew, John Zimiskes, instigated by the Empress Theophano, the widow of Romanus II., who had been suspected of poisoning her father-in-law and her husband. The new emperor, who began his reign, like Basil, by a murder, was as able as Nicephorus and far more popular. The great event of his reign was the Russian war.

We have already mentioned the first appearance of the Russians before Constantinople in 865. After the defeat of their invasion the Russians opened up a correspondence with Constantinople, began a trade which grew yearly more extensive, and invited Christian mis-