to be possessed by a terrible barrenness, he said, "Manuel and Maria, who by the grace of God have already become my children, are enough for me. For without them it is possible to attain the kingdom of God, but without chastity no one will see the Lord. But also the empress Aikaterine and her daughter Maria, having shorn their hair, lived in the palace of the Myrelaion, pursuing every monastic discipline. And when the emperor died, the sarcophagus holding him was seen to be full of liquid, which gave many the suspicion that what had happened was a punishment and a sign of retribution for the civil war and the slaughter and for the things he had done after becoming emperor, with respect to both the deprivations from the senate of things long given to it, and the confiscation from the divine churches and holy monasteries which, as we said, he had carried out, providing for them simplicity and self-sufficiency, but contributing 110 a moderate solace to the public treasury. Others, however, considered the flowing liquid a work of sanctity, as he had repented purely and without hesitation for what he had done; for there is no sin that overcomes the loving-kindness of God. I praise and accept the opinion of both, for the one is a deterrent to future evils, while the other is an encouragement from the worse to the better. And the empress Aikaterine, renamed Xene in her monastic life, was celebrating the annual memorials for the emperor, summoning certain other monks and indeed all those practicing asceticism in the monastery of Stoudios; and since she was about to die, she performed the yearly rites for the emperor as was usual and customary, but she ordered that all the customary gifts given to them be set down doubled. When the abbot was perplexed and, approaching her quietly, asked for the reason of the doubling, she said, "Indeed, most honorable sir, I do not know if I will be with you in the coming year, as God may perhaps manage our affairs otherwise and as is His will." Which is indeed what happened; for she died in the interim, having asked to be buried with the brethren in the cemetery of the Stoudios monastery. And both of them, she and the emperor, adorned the all-venerable church of the Forerunner, to enumerate and detail which would be a Herculean labor. The emperor was steady in character, gentle in soul, sharp in judgment, active with his hand, quick in understanding, most masterful in matters of war, fearsome to his enemies, gracious to those around him, devoted to learning, and this though he was not accustomed to these things from the beginning. He used to say that an emperor 111 should be fearsome to outsiders, but approachable to his own people. Again he used to say that those 111 kings who act as tyrants hasten to be freedmen. But being accused that he had acted tyrannically against Michael, he said, "I was reluctant to be a slave to a fellow slave and not receive what was fitting." And joking with his wife, he would say that she was formerly a slave, but had now been freed by him. Again he would say that for others relatives are a thorn, but for one who plays the tyrant, a benefit. And the empress Aikaterine said that nothing strange had happened to her, having exchanged one kingdom for another. After Komnenos, Constantine Doukas the proedros took hold of the sceptres without bloodshed and without incident or turmoil, and he addressed the senate and all the common people of the city with words full of moderation. And from that time he began his administration of affairs, in no way departing from moderation and gentleness, but in every way adhering to it. He honored many of both the senate and the people. He also restored those who had already fallen from their proper honors under Komnenos; for that man, by turning many into commoners, had made them inglorious from glorious and dishonored from honored. And when the commemoration of the holy great-martyr George arrived, the emperor went to the Mangana, according to custom, out of reverence for the martyr. But after the festival was finished, some of the ill-disposed and deceitful men, having contrived a wicked plan, plotted against the emperor, but they accomplished nothing, of God the assembly and the wicked thing and
κατασχεθῆναι δεινῇ καὶ ἀγονίᾳ, αὐτὸς ἀρκοῦσί μοι ἔφη ὁ Μανουὴλ καὶ ἡ Μαρία, οἳ ἤδη μοι χάριτι Θεοῦ παῖδες γενόμενοι. Τούτων μὲν γὰρ ἄνευ ἔνεστι τυχεῖν τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ, σωφροσύνης δὲ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς τὸν Κύριον ὄψεται. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς Αἰκατερῖνα καὶ ἡ ταύτης θυγάτηρ Μαρία τὴν τρίχα κειράμεναι διῆγον ἐν τοῖς παλατίοις τοῦ Μυρελαίου, πᾶσαν ἄσκησιν μοναδικὴν μετερχόμεναι. Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως, ὑγρότητος μεστὴ θεαθεῖσα ἡ τοῦτον κατέχουσα σορὸς ὑπόνοιαν παρέσχε πολλοῖς τιμωρίαν εἶναι τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ κολάσεως ἔνδειγμα τοῦ ἐμφυλίου πολέμου καὶ τῆς σφαγῆς καὶ τῶν μετὰ τὸ βασιλεῦσαι πεπραγμένων αὐτῷ εἴς τε τὰς τῆς συγκλήτου στερήσεις τῶν ἔκπαλαι διδομένων αὐτῇ, καὶ τὴν τῶν θείων ναῶν καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν σεμνείων ἀποστέρησιν ἥν, ὡς ἔφημεν, ἐποιήσατο, τὸ ἀπέριττον μὲν καὶ τὴν αὐτάρκειαν αὐτοῖς προνοούμενος, τῷ δημοσίῳ δὲ εἰσφέρων 110 μετρίαν παράκλησιν. Ἄλλοι δὲ τὸ ῥεῦσαν ἁγιωσύνης ἔργον ἐτίθεντο ὡς καθαρῶς καὶ ἀδιστάκτως μεταγνόντος αὐτοῦ ἐφ' οἷς ἔπραξε· μὴ γὰρ εἶναι ἁμαρτίαν νικῶσαν τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀμφοτέρων δὲ τὴν γνώμην ἐπαινῶ καὶ ἀποδέχομαι, τῷ τὴν μὲν κωλυτικὴν εἶναι τῶν μελλόντων κακῶν, τὴν δὲ προτρεπτικὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ χείρονος πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον. Τῆς δὲ βασιλίσσης Αἰκατερίνης, ἐν τῷ μοναχικῷ Ξένης μετονομασθείσης, ἐπετείως τελούσης τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως μνημόσυνα συγκαλούσης τε ἄλλους τέ τινας μοναχοὺς καὶ δὴ καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ τοῦ Στουδίου μονῇ ἀσκουμένους σύμπαντας, ἐπειδὴ ἔμελλε τελευτᾶν, ἐτέλει μὲν συνήθως καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐτήσια, διπλᾶ δὲ πάντα τούτοις τὰ ἐκ τύπου διδόμενα παραθέσθαι προσέταξε. Τοῦ δὲ καθηγουμένου διαπορήσαντος καὶ τὸν λόγον τοῦ διπλασιασμοῦ ἡσυχῇ προσελθόντος καὶ ἀπαιτήσαντος, ὅτι τοι ἔφη ὦ τιμιώτατε, οὐκ οἶδα εἰ καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἐπιὸν ἔτος ὑμῖν συνέσομαι, τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἴσως ἄλλως καὶ ὡς αὐτῷ βουλητὸν οἰκονομήσαντος. Ὃ δὴ καὶ γέγονε· τετελευτήκει γὰρ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ ἀξιώσασα ταφῆναι σὺν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐν τῷ κοιμητηρίῳ τῆς τοῦ Στουδίου μονῆς. Κατεκόσμησαν δὲ καὶ ἀμφότεροι, αὐτή τε καὶ ὁ βασιλεύς, τὸν πάνσεπτον τοῦ Προδρόμου ναόν, ἃ καταλέγειν καὶ κατὰ λεπτὸν διεξιέναι ἆθλος Ἡράκλειος. Ἦν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ ἦθος στάσιμος, τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιεικής, τὴν γνώμην ὀξύς, τὴν χεῖρα δραστήριος, τὴν σύνεσιν ἕτοιμος, στρατηγικώτατος τὰ πολέμια, τοῖς ἐχθροῖς φοβερός, τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν εὐμενής, λόγοις προσκάμενος, καὶ ταῦτα μὴ τούτων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐθὰς ὤν. Ἔλεγε δὲ δεῖν τὸν βασιλέα 111 φοβερὸν μὲν εἶναι τοῖς ἔξω, εὐπρόσιτον δὲ τοῖς ἰδίοις. Πάλιν ἔλεγε τοὺς 111 τυραννιῶντας τῶν βασιλέων ἀπελευθέρους εἶναι σπεύδειν. Αἰτιώμενος δὲ ὅτι τετυράννηκε κατὰ τοῦ Μιχαήλ, ὤκνουν ἔλεγε τῷ συνδούλῳ δουλεύειν καὶ τῶν εἰκότων μὴ τυγχάνειν. Ἐπισκώπτων δὲ τῇ γυναικὶ ἔλεγε δούλην μὲν εἶναι πρότερον, νῦν δὲ ἠλευθερῶσθαι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. Πάλιν ἔλεγε τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις τοὺς συγγενεῖς τυγχάνειν σκόλοπα, τῷ δὲ τυραννοῦντι ὠφέλειαν. Ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς Αἰκατερῖνα μηδὲν ξένον ἐπ' αὐτῇ γεγενῆσθαι βασιλείαν βασιλείας ἀλλαξαμένη. Μετὰ δὲ τὸν Κομνηνὸν Κωνσταντῖνος πρόεδρος ὁ ∆ούκας τῶν σκήπτρων ἐπιλαβόμενος ἀναιμωτὶ καὶ δίχα πραγμάτων καὶ ταραχῆς, λόγους ἐπιεικείας γέμοντας ἐδημηγόρησε πρὸς τὴν σύγκλητον καὶ πρὸς ἅπαν τὸ δημοτικόν τε τῆς πόλεως καὶ κοινόν. Καὶ τὸ ἀπ' ἐκείνου τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐνήρξατο ἀντιλήψεως τοῦ ἐπιεικοῦς καὶ μετρίου κατ' οὐδὲν ἀφιστάμενος, ἀλλὰ πᾶσι τρόποις αὐτοῦ ἐξεχόμενος. Ἐτίμησε δὲ τῶν τε τῆς συγκλήτου καὶ τοῦ δήμου πολλούς. Ἀνώρθωσε δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἤδη ἐπὶ τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ ἐκπεπτωκότας τῶν οἰκείων τιμῶν· πολλοὺς γὰρ ἐκεῖνος παγανώσας ἀδόξους ἐξ ἐνδόξων καὶ ἀτίμους ἐξ ἐντίμων ἀπέδειξεν. Ἐπιστάσης δὲ τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου μεγαλομάρτυρος Γεωργίου μνήμης κατὰ τὸ ἔθος ἄπεισιν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὰ Μάγγανα αἰδοῖ τοῦ μάρτυρος. Μετὰ δὲ τὸ τελεσθῆναι τὴν ἑορτὴν τινὲς τῶν κακοήθων καὶ δολερῶν βουλὴν πονηρὰν ἐξαρτύσαντες τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐπεβούλευσαν μέν, ἤνυσαν δὲ οὐδέν, Θεοῦ τὸν σύλλογον καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν καὶ