Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/860

Rh B4fi CONSTANTINUS. Besides his own writings, we owe to Constan- tine's love of literature the preservation of some works from destruction or oblivion, and the compila- tion of others at his order. Such are : I. " Collectanea et Excerpta Historico-Politica et Moralia," an ex- tensive compilation, of which but the 27th book, Tlepl Upe(r€€icov, " De Legationibus," and the 50th, riepl 'ApfTTJs Kal KaHias, " De Virtute et Vitio," have been preserved. A further "account of this work is given in the life of Priscus. II. 'liriria- TpiKd, " De Medicina Veterinaria," compiled from the works of a number of writei-s, a list of whom is given by Fabricius ; it is divided into two books. Editions: 1. A Latin translation by J. Ruellius, Paris, 1530, fol. 2. The Greek text, by Simon Grynaeus, Basel, 1 537, 4to. 3. By Valesius, together with the ** Collectanea," &c., Paris, 1634, 4to. An Italian translation of it was published at Venice, 1543, 8vo., and a French one at Paris, 1563, 4to. III. TewwoviKd, « De Re Rustica," which is generall}' attributed to Bassus Cassianus. [Bassus Cassianus.] Both the Hippiatrica and the Geoponica were held in high esteem in the middle ages as well as in after times, and they were both used for practical purposes, as we may 8ee from the numerous editions and translations, especially of the Geoponica. The fii"st eight books of this work, which treat on the cure of beasts, and form a kind of domestic veterinary hand- book, were separately published in a Latin trans- lation by Andreas a Lacuna, Cologne, 1543, 8vo. An Italian translation of the complete work ap- peared at Venice, 1542; French ones at Poitiers, 1545, Lyon, 1557; and a German, by Michael Herr, in 1551, 3rd edition, edited by Ludwig Rabus, Strassburg, 1566, 8vo. The Annals of Theophanes were continued by Constantine's order [Theophanes], and he also induced Josephus Genesius to write his Annals, which contain the period from Leo Armenus to Basilius Macedo. [Gene-sius.] An account of Constantine's laws is given in the life of the empe- ror Leo Philosophus. (Cedren. pp. 607,&c.,631, &c., ed. Paris; Leo Diaconus, pp. 487, &c., 507, &c., ed. Paris ; Zonar. vol. ii. pp. 1 82, &c., 192, &c., ed. Paris ; Joel, pp. 180, 181, ed. Paris ; Glycas, pp. 302, 303, ed. Paris; Hanckius, De Script. Byzant. pp.461 — 478; Hamberger, ZuverVdssiye Nachrichten^ &c., vol. iii. p. 686, &c. ; Fabric. Bibl. Graec.yol. viii. p. l,&c. ; Leich, Commentaiiode Vita et Rebus Gesiis Const. Porphyr.^ Leipzig, 1746, 4to., and also in his and Reiske's edition of Constan- tine's works, as well as in the Bonn edition of " De Cerem. Aulae Byzant.**) [ W. P.] CONSTANTI'NUS VIII., emperor of the East, reigned, together with his brother Stephanus, after the deposition of their father, Romaniis Leca- penus, but was soon compelled to cede the throne to the lawful sovereign, Constantine Porphyroge- nitus. (a. d. 945.) [Constantinus VI I.] CONSTANTI'NUS IX., emperor of the East, A. D. 976 — 1028, the son of the emperor Roma- nus II., was born in A. d. 961, and began to reign, together with his elder brother, Basil II., in 976 ; but, addicted to idleness and luxury, he took no part in the administration of the empire. After the death of Basil in 1025, he became sole empe- ror ; but, fortunately for his subjects, who suffered much from the Arabians during his miserable ad- ministration, he died three years afterwards, in 1028. Constantine IX. was the last of the Mace- CONSTANTINUS. donian dynasty. His successor was Romanus Argyrus, the husband of his daughter Zoe, whom he had by his wife Helena Augusta. [ Basil: tfs II.] CONSTANTI'NUS X. MONOMA'CHUS (J Moj/o^uoxos), emperor of the East, a. d. 1042 — 1054. His surname was given him on account of his personal courage in war. In 1042 the go- vernment of the empire was in the hands oi two imperial sisters, Zoe, the widow of the emperor Ro- manus Argyrus, and afterwards of Michael IV. the Paphlagonian, and Theodora, a spinster, who were placed on the throne by the inhabitants of Con- stantinople, after they had deposed the emperor Michael V. Calaphates, the adopted son of Zoe. The two sisters being afraid of their position, Zoe proposed to Constantine Monomachus that he should marry her ; and as she was rather advanced in age, being then upwards of sixty, she allowed the gallant warrior to bring his beautiful mistress, Sclerena, with him to the imperial palace, where the two ladies lived together on the best terms. Constantine was saluted as emperor, and conferred the dignity of Augusta upon Sclerena. Soon after the accession of Constantine, Georgius Maniaces, a brother of Sclerena, who was renowned for his victories over the Arabs, and who then held the command in Italy, raised a rebellion. At the head of a chosen body of troops he crossed the Adriatic, landed in Epeirus, joined an auxiliary army of Bulgarians, and marched upon Constantinople. An assassin delivered the emperor from his fears : Maniaces was murdered by an unknown hand in the midst of his camp. A still greater danger arose in 1043 from an invasion of the Russians, who appeared with a powerful fleet in the Bosporus, while a land force penetrated as far as Varna : but the fleet was dis- persed or taken in a bloody engagement, and the Russian army was routed by Catacalo. In 1047, while absent on an expedition against the Arabs, Constantine received news of another rebellion having broken out, headed by Tomicius, a relative of the emperor, who assumed the imperial title, and laid siege to Constantinople. The em- peror hastened to the defence of his capital, broke the forces of the rebel in a decisive battle, and Tomicius, having fallen into the hands of his pur- suers, was blinded and confined to a monastery. Constantine was not less fortunate in a war with Cacicus, the vassal king of Annenia and Iberia, who tried to make himself independent; but, un- able to take the field against the imperial armies, he was at last compelled to throw himself at the feet of the emperor and implore his clemency. His crown was taken from him, but he was allowed to enjoy both life and liberty, and spent the rest of his days in Cappadocia, where his generous victor had given him extensive estates. Iberia and Ar- menia were reunited under the immediate autho- rity of the Greeks. While the froatiers of the empire were thus ex- tended in the East, Thrace and Macedonia suffered dreadfully from an invasion of the Petchenegues, who were so superior to the Greeks in martial qualities, that they would have conquered all those provinces which they had hitherto only plundered, but for the timely interference of the emperor's body-guards, composed of Waregians or Normans, who drove the enemy back beyond the Danube, and compelled them to beg for peace, (a. d. 1053.) At the same time the Normans made great progress