Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/243

 OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 221 by the marriage of the two brothers, with a captive princess of Bulgaria, and the daughter of a patrician, who had obtained the name of C/iaroii from the number of enemies whom he had sent to the infernal shades. The soldiers had served with reluctant loyalty a series of efi'eminate masters ; the elevation of Michael the Sixth was a personal insult to the more deserving generals ; and their discontent was inflamed by the parsimony of the em- peror and the insolence of the eunuchs. They secretly assembled in the sanctuary of St. Sophia, and the votes of the military synod would have been unanimous in favour of the old and valiant Catacalon, if the patriotism or modesty of the veteran had not suggested the importance of birth as well as merit in the choice of a sovereign. Isaac Comnenus was approved by general [Jy^'« 8, ad. consent, and the associates separated without delay to meet in the plains of Phrygia, at the head of their respective squadrons and detachments. The cause of Michael was defended in a single battle by the mercenai'ies of the Imperial guard, who were aliens to the public interest, and animated only by a principle of honour and gratitude. After their defeat, the fears of the emperor solicited a treaty, which was almost accepted by the moderation of the Comnenian. But the former was betrayed by his ambassadors, and the latter was prevented by his friends. The solitary Michael submitted to the voice of the people ; the patriarch annulled their oath of allegiance ; and, as he shaved the head of the royal monk, congratulated his beneficial ex- change of temporal royalty for the kingdom of heaven : an ex- change, however, which the priest, on his own account, would probably have declined. By the hands of the same patriarch, ^^ Isaac Comnenus was solemnly crowned ; the sword which he in-[sept2] scribed on his coins might be an offensive symbol, if it implied his title by conquest ; but this sword would have been drawn against the foreign and domestic enemies of the state. The decline of his health and vigour suspended the operation of active virtue ; and the prospect of approaching death deter- mined him to interpose some moments between life and eternity. But, instead of leaving the empire as the marriage portion of his daughter, his reason and inclination concurred in the pre- [Maria] ference of his brother John, a soldier, a patriot, and the father of five sons, the future pillars of an hereditary succession. His ''-'[This powerful and ainljitious prelate, Michael Cerularius, aimed at securing for the Patriarch the same headship of the Eastern Church and the same inde- pendent position in regard to the Emperor, which the Pope held in the West. Isaac deposed him. For this period see H. Madler, Theodora, Michael Stratiotikos, Isaak Komnenos, 1894.]