he summons to the palace Nikephoros the renowned patriarch and with him the leading bishops and priests in the presence of the senate, and says, "Know well that some have arisen saying that icons ought not to be venerated, whom if you wish to stand forth and discuss this, the truth will become more manifest." 7 To whom the divine Nikephoros answered nothing, but said to the magnates standing by, "Tell me, can that which does not exist fall?" And when they answered with the certainty of faith, the patriarch asked again, "Did the holy icons fall under Leo and Constantine the Isaurians?" And when they nodded and said yes, "Therefore 767 they certainly stood and had their ancient establishment. For how can that which does not exist nor even stand, fall?" 8 Then when the other bishops proposed such things for the overthrow of the heresy, the holy bishop Euthymios of Sardis, speaking boldly, says, "Pay heed, O emperor, to the things that will be said in summary. From the time Christ came upon the earth until now, eight hundred years have passed, and everywhere Christ is depicted and venerated in an icon. What insolent man, then, would dare to set aside or disturb an apostolic and patristic tradition of so long a time? Especially since the apostle says, 'So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.' 'Even if an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.'" 9 After him Theodore also answered, the zealous and ardent champion of orthodoxy, the abbot of Stoudios, saying, "Do not disturb, O emperor, the ecclesiastical order. For the apostle has said, 'And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third pastors and teachers.' He did not say 'emperors.' For to you the civil administration and the army have been entrusted. Take care of these things, and leave the church to pastors and teachers according to the divine word. But if you are unwilling to heed these things and to be with our faith, even if an angel, coming down from heaven, should wish 768 to turn us aside, we will not listen to him, much less to an emperor." 10. The tyrant, therefore, hearing these things and boiling with rage, and the ape roaring like a lion, and having driven everyone out with insults, and having driven out Nikephoros the Great from the city, and likewise having exiled Theodore of Stoudios, unlawfully ordained Theodotos Kassiteras, formerly a spatharios, who had acquired the name of the stage. And so the sinner, more beastly in manner than beastly in name, having risen up against piety, persecuted the church of God more greatly and ravaged it exceedingly, until divine justice justly overtook him. Of his most wicked birth and villainy and God-hated purpose and impiety, and indeed also the harsh end of his life, the divine Nikephoros, openly denouncing, says, "God overlooks, and a man has ruled over us—I do not know if one should say a man, and not rather a beast, and one wilder and more bitter than beasts. 11 For what is more pitiable than this calamity and more wretched than this misfortune? How great an evil has burst into the empire! Of two natures in race and half-barbarian, but of many forms in character, and illiberal, and unstable in judgment." 769 Therefore, what was recent and well-known about him, 769 for he came from the land of the Armenians, whence, one might say, came his perversity and malevolence. But as for what was most remote and ancient, as some of the elders relate, who know the traditions handed down long ago concerning him and his fathers, not even from there did he spring from any pure source, if indeed he emerged as a most wicked offshoot from the tribe of the Assyrians, from whom he claimed his paternal blood. For he was descended from the sons of Sennacherib, who once ruled the Assyrians and received a fatal blow from his own offspring; for they indeed raised murderous right hands against their father, being polluted with the gore of parricide, and having become the perpetrators of the slaughter of their parent, they immediately fled to the lands of the Armenians and were saved. of this patricide

παλατίῳ προσ καλεῖται Νικηφόρον τὸν ἀοίδιμον πατριάρχην καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ προύχοντας ἐπισκόπους τε καὶ ἱερεῖς ἐνώπιον τῆς συγκλήτου, καὶ φη σίν "ἴστε σαφῶς ὡς ἀνέστησάν τινες λέγοντες μὴ δεῖν προσκυνεῖσθαι τὰς εἰκόνας, οὓς εἰ βούλεσθε παραστῆναι καὶ διαλεχθῆναι περὶ τούτου, καὶ ἐκδηλότερον τὸ ἀληθὲς φανήσεται." 7 πρὸς ὃν ὁ θεῖος Νικηφόρος οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίνατο, ἔφη δὲ πρὸς τοὺς παρισταμέ νους μεγιστάνους "εἴπατέ μοι, τὸ μὴ ὂν δύναται πεσεῖν;" τῶν δὲ τῇ ἀσφαλείᾳ τῆς πίστεως ἀποκριθέντων εἴρετο πάλιν ὁ πατριάρχης "ἔπεσον ἐπὶ Λέοντος καὶ Κωνσταντίνου τῶν Ἰσαύρων αἱ ἅγιαι εἰκόνες;" τῶν δὲ κατανευσάντων καὶ τὸ ναὶ προσειπόντων, "οὐκ 767 οῦν ἵσταντο πάντως καὶ ἦσαν ἀρχαϊκὸν αὐτῶν ἔχουσαι τὸ ἀνάστη μα. τὸ γὰρ μὴ ὂν μηδ' ἱστάμενον πῶς δύναται πεσεῖν;" 8 εἶτα τῶν ἄλλων ἐπισκόπων τοιαῦτα προτεινάντων εἰς ἀνατροπὴν τῆς αἱρέσεως, ὁ ἱερὸς ἐπίσκοπος Σάρδης Εὐθύμιος παρρησιασάμενος λέγει "πρόσεχε, ὦ βασιλεῦ, τοῖς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ ῥηθησομένοις. ἀφ' οὗ ἦλθε Χριστὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς μέχρι νῦν ὀκτακόσια ἔτη παρῆλθον, καὶ πανταχοῦ στηλογραφεῖται Χριστὸς καὶ ἐν εἰκόνι προσκυνεῖται. ποῖος οὖν αὐθάδης τολμήσειεν τὴν τοσούτου χρόνου ἀποστολικήν τε καὶ πατρικὴν παράδοσιν ἀθετῆσαι ἢ μετασαλεῦσαι; μάλιστα τοῦ ἀποστόλου λέγοντος, ἄρα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, στήκετε καὶ κρατεῖτε τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς παρελάβετε εἴτε διὰ λόγου εἴτε δι' ἐπιστολῆς. κἂν ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται ὑμῖν παρ' ὃ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω." 9 μεθ' ὃν ἀπεκρίθη καὶ Θεόδωρος ὁ ζηλω τὴς καὶ θερμὸς τῆς ὀρθοδοξίας πρόμαχος, ὁ τῶν Στουδίου ἡγού μενος, λέγων "μὴ παρασάλευε, βασιλεῦ, κατάστασιν ἐκκλησια στικήν. εἴρηκεν γὰρ ὁ ἀπόστολος, καὶ οὓς μὲν ἔθετο ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ, πρῶτον ἀποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον ποι μένας καὶ διδασκάλους. οὐκ εἶπεν βασιλεῖς. σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἡ πο λιτικὴ κατάστασις ἐπιστεύθη καὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον. τούτων φρόν τιζε, καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἔασον ποιμέσι καὶ διδασκάλοις κατὰ τὸν θεῖον λόγον. εἰ δὲ μὴ βούλει προσέχειν τούτοις καὶ εἶναι μετὰ τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, κἂν ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανῶν κατελθὼν βουλη 768 θείη παρατρέψαι ἡμᾶς, οὐκ ἀκουσόμεθα αὐτοῦ, μήτι γε βασι λέως." 10. Ὁ οὖν τύραννος ταῦτα ἀκούσας καὶ ὑπερζέσας τῷ θυμῷ, καὶ λεόντειον ὁ πιθηκὸς βρύξας, καὶ πάντας μεθ' ὕβρεως ἀπελά σας, καὶ τὸν Νικηφόρον τὸν μέγαν τῆς πόλεως ἀπελάσας, ὡσαύ τως καὶ Θεόδωρον τῶν Στουδίου ἐξορίσας, ἀντιχειροτονεῖ τὸν ἀπὸ σπαθαρίων Θεόδοτον τὸν Κασσιτηρᾶν καὶ τῆς θυμέλης τὴν προσ ηγορίαν ἐπειλημμένον. καὶ οὕτως ὁ ἀλιτήριος καὶ θηριότροπος μᾶλλον ἢ θηριώνυμος, ἐπαρθεὶς κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας, μειζόνως ἐδίωκε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐπόρθει σφόδρα, μέχρι τοῦτον ἐνδίκως ἡ θείη δίκη μετῆλθεν. οὗ τὴν κακίστην γένεσιν καὶ μο χθηρίαν καὶ θεοστυγῆ προαίρεσιν καὶ δυσσέβειαν, καὶ μέντοι καὶ χαλεπὴν τοῦ βίου καταστροφήν, ὁ θεσπέσιος Νικηφόρος διαρρή δην στηλιτεύων φάσκει "παρορᾷ θεός, καὶ ἦρξεν καθ' ἡμῶν ἄν θρωπος-οὐκ οἶδα εἰ ἄνθρωπον λέγειν χρή, ἀλλὰ μὴ θηρίον, καὶ θηρίων ἀγριώτερόν τε καὶ πικρότερον. 11 τί γὰρ τῆς συμφορᾶς ταύτης ἐλεεινότερον καὶ τῆς δυστυχίας ἀθλιώτερον; ἡλίκον κακὸν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν εἰσεκώμασεν! διφυὴς μὲν τὸ γένος καὶ μιξοβάρβαρος, πολυειδὴς δὲ τὸν τρόπον καὶ ἀνελεύθερος καὶ τὴν γνώμην ἀστάθερος." 769 Τὸ μὲν οὖν προσεχῶς αὐτῷ ὑπηργμένον καὶ πολυγνώριμον, 769 ἐκ γὰρ τῆς Ἀρμενίων ὡρμᾶτο γῆς, ὅθεν εἰπεῖν τὸ δύστροπον καὶ κακόηθες. τὸ δὲ πορρωτάτω καὶ παλαιὸν τυγχάνον, καθὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἐξιστοροῦσί τινες, οἳ τὰ ἐκείνου καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου πα τέρων ἐκ πολλοῦ παραδοθέντα ἴσασιν, οὐδ' ἐντεῦθεν καθαρῶς ποθεν ἐκπεφυκέναι, εἴπερ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσσυρίων φυλῆς κακίστην παρα φυάδα ἐκδῦναι, ἐξ ὧν τὸ πατρῷον ἐπεφήμιζεν αἷμα. κατήχθη γὰρ ἐκ τῶν Σεναχηρεὶμ παίδων, ὃς δὴ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἦρξέ ποτε καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν φύντων καιρίαν τὴν πληγὴν ἐδέδεκτο· καὶ γὰρ οἵ γε φονίας δεξιὰς τῷ γεννήτορι ἐπανετείναντο, τῷ πατραλῴῳ λύθρῳ ἐμμολυνόμενοι, αὐτόχειρές τε τῆς σφαγῆς τοῦ τεκόντος γενόμενοι αὐτίκα πρὸς τοῖς χωρίοις τῶν Ἀρμενίων φυγάδες οἰχόμενοι ἀνα σώζονται. τούτου δὲ τοῦ πατροφόνου