Theophanes the Confessor, Chronography

But when they rose up against Leo, he decided to deliver them all to destruction and slaughter. Wherefore he issued a decree that all who enjoyed the imperial bounties, and in addition had shared in any imperial honor whatsoever, should be gathered together in the Magnaura. And when this had been done and no one dared to disregard the command, concealing for the time being the beastliness of his soul as if in darkness, he spoke thus somehow quietly and with a gentle voice in brief, that he indeed wished and had it as a desire, "my people and clergy, that my very own father would have deemed those who supported and fought valiantly for the empire worthy of many honors and many other goods and rewards; but since he happened to depart from mankind sooner than he had intended and before the time of his purpose he was beyond his time, so that he might not seem ungrateful to many, he left me not only as successor to the empire but also indebted to them for such a good thing. Therefore let each one, being brought forth from the midst, show himself to us." Deceived by these words and carried away in their minds, each one exposed himself and was seen clearly by all. Immediately 86 therefore he commands the prefect to use the civil law, and says, "Come now, you there, reward these men according to the worth of their deeds, not only because they did not fear the divine, staining their right hands with human blood, but also because the wretches killed the Lord's anointed, the emperor." With these words he dissolved that first and wondrous assembly; which if one should praise it according to the laws, yet I know not if it will stand near a most tame and gentle soul. And so in this way he removed these men from mankind, adding to these deeds that praiseworthy and good act, of driving out and making his stepmother Euphrosyne return to the monastery in which she had previously been tonsured, whom history has recorded as the second wife of Michael, since those aforementioned handwritten documents and many oaths, which were done and made unholily, profited nothing. Why so? Because not trusting in the Lord did he take a wife (for he would have taken a lawful one, and not one who had already committed herself to Christ), but in his own audacity and in those oaths which were great and sent all away far from God. 2 And such were his first acts; but his subsequent ones laid claim to justice and he was fearsome to all the wicked and wonderful to the good, to the former because he was a hater of evil and just, to the latter because he was grave and austere. Yet it was not for him to be 87 pure of all evils. And for this reason he held to his faith in God and His all-holy mother, as he said, but he also held to the foul, paternally-inherited heresy of the Iconoclasts, and with this indeed he troubled the pious and all-holy people and delivered them to manifold afflictions, not allowing them to be at peace for the entire duration of his reign, for which reason he did not achieve appropriate feats of courage in wars, but was always defeated and did not return as befits an emperor. 3 Therefore, holding to justice, but not indeed to faith and devotion toward the mother of God, he would go on horseback through the middle square and main road to the divine church in Blachernae each week, escorted by his bodyguards. And he went giving himself to all, but above all to those who had been wronged, so that they might declaim their own injustices and not be hindered by certain evildoers who were suspicious of the punishment, and secondly so that passing through the market he might become an observer of the goods for sale; whence he would ask the price for which each of the items for sale was sold in the market, not doing this as a side-task but very actively and persistently, not for one type of thing but for everything able to nourish a person, whether eaten or drunk, and for everything that provides warmth and serves for clothing, and simply for all things set out in the market for those who wish them

Λέοντος δὲ ἐπαναστάντας, απαντας εγνω ὀλέθρῳ παραδοῦναί τε καὶ σφαγῇ. οθεν δόγμα ἐξέθετο απαντας τοὺς τῶν βασιλικῶν ἀπολαύοντας φιλοτιμιῶν, προσέτι δὲ καὶ βασιλικῆς τιμῆς μετασχόντας τῆς οἱασοῦν, κατὰ τὴν Μαγναύραν συναθροισθῆναι. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο ἐγε- γόνει καὶ τοῦ προστάγματος οὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα καταφρονεῖν, τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς τέως ὡς ἐν σκότῳ κρύψας θηριωδίαν, ἠρέμα πως καὶ πραείᾳ φωνῇ ουτω πως ελεξεν ἐν βραχεῖ, ὡς ἐβούλετο μὲν καὶ δι' ἐπιθυ- μίας ειχεν, ὁ λαὸς καὶ κλῆρος ἐμός, τοὺς ἀντιλαβομένους καὶ τῆς βασιλείας ὑπερμαχήσαντας νεανικῶς ὁ ἐμὸς αγαν πατὴρ πολλῶν μὲν τιμῶν πολλῶν δὲ τούτους ἀγαθῶν ἑτέρων καταξιῶσαί τε καὶ γερῶν· ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ εφθασεν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γενέσθαι θᾶττον η  ειχε βουλῆς καὶ πρὸ τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς αὐτοῦ γνώμης εξω γέγονε τοῦ καιροῦ, ινα μὴ ἀχάριστος δόξῃ πολλοῖς, ἐμὲ οὐ τῆς βασιλείας μόνον διάδοχον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ τοιούτου καλοῦ τούτοις ὑπόχρεων ἐγκατέλιπεν. διὸ εκαστος ἐκ μέσου ἀγόμενος δεικνύτω ἡμῖν ἑαυ- τόν. τούτοις ὑποκλαπέντες τοῖς λόγοις καὶ συλαγωγηθέντες τὸν νοῦν ἑαυτὸν εκαστος ἀπεγύμνου καὶ πᾶσιν ὡρᾶτο κατάδηλος. εὐθὺς 86 ουν νόμῳ τῷ πολιτικῷ χρῆσθαι τὸν υπαρχον ἐγκελεύεται, καὶ "αγε δή" φησίν, "ω ουτος, τούτους κατ' ἀξίαν τῶν βεβιωμένων ἀμείβου, οὐ μόνον οις οὐκ εδεισαν τὸ θεῖον, αιματι ἀνθρωπίνῳ μιάναντες δεξιάν, ἀλλὰ καὶ χριστὸν κυρίου βασιλέα ἀνελόντες οἱ αθλιοι." τούτοις διέλυσε τὸν σύλλογον ἐκεῖνον τὸν πρῶτον δή πως καὶ θαυμαστόν· ον ειπερ τις κατὰ νόμους εχοιτο ἐπαινεῖν, ἀλλ' οὐκ οιδ' εἰ στήσεται ἐγγὺς ἡμερωτάτης τε καὶ πραείας ψυ- χῆς. καὶ τούτους μὲν ουτως πως ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐποίησεν, προσε- πιθεὶς τούτοις τὸ ἐπαινετὸν ἐκεῖνό γε καὶ καλόν, τὸ ἀπελάσαι καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐν ῃ  τὸ πρότερον ἀπεκάρη μονὴν Εὐφροσύνην τὴν ἑαυ- τοῦ μητρυιὰν ποιῆσαι παλινοστῆσαι, ην ἡ ἱστορία δευτέραν γαμε- τὴν παρέδωκε τῷ Μιχαήλ, ἐκείνων γε τῶν ἡμῖν εἰρημένων ἐκεῖσε χειρογράφων καὶ ορκων πολλῶν, οὐχ ὁσίως πραχθέντων γε καὶ γενομένων, ὠφελησάντων οὐδέν. τί δήποτε; οτι μὴ ἐπὶ κυρίου πεποιθὼς ἠγάγετο γαμετήν (η γὰρ αν εννομόν τινα, ἀλλ' οὐ τὴν ηδη συνταξαμένην ἠγάγετο τῷ Χριστῷ), ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ θρασύ- τητι καὶ τοῖς ορκοις ἐκείνοις τοῖς εὐμεγέθεσί τε καὶ θεοῦ πάντας πόρρωθεν ἀποπέμψασι. 2 Καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μὲν τούτου τοιαῦτα· τὰ δ' ἑξῆς ἀντε- ποιεῖτο δικαιοσύνης καὶ ην φοβερός τε πᾶσι τοῖς πονηροῖς καὶ θαυμαστὸς ἀγαθοῖς, τοῖς μὲν οτι μισοπόνηρός τε καὶ δίκαιος; τοῖς δ' οτι ἐμβριθής τε καὶ αὐστηρός. πλὴν οὐκ ην τοῦτον πάν- 87 των καθαρεύειν τῶν πονηρῶν. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ειχετο μὲν τῆς ἐπὶ θεὸν καὶ τὴν τούτου πάναγνον μητέρα, ὡς ελεγε, πίστεως, ειχετο δὲ καὶ τῆς πατροπαραδότου μιαρᾶς τῶν εἰκονομάχων αἱρέσεως, καὶ ταύτῃ γε δὴ τὸν εὐσεβῆ καὶ πανάγιον λαὸν ἐτάραττέ τε καὶ πολυειδέσιν ἐδίδου κακώσεσι, πάντα τὸν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ χρό- νον ἠρεμῆσαι μὴ συγχωρήσας, οις οὐδὲ τὰς ἐν πολέμοις ἀνδρα- γαθίας καταλλήλως ἐλάμβανεν, ἀλλ' ηττητό τε ἀεὶ καὶ οὐ κατὰ βασιλέα ὑπέστρεφεν. 3 Τοιγαροῦν ἐχόμενος τῆς δικαιοσύνης, οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μητέρα πίστεώς τε καὶ προθυμίας, ἀπῄει εφιππος διὰ τῆς κατὰ τὴν μέσην πλατείας καὶ λεωφόρου πρὸς τὸν ἐν Βλαχέρναις θεῖον ναὸν ἑκάστῃ ἑβδομάδι, ὑπὸ τῶν δορυφόρων παραπεμπόμενος. ἀπῄει δὲ πᾶσι μέν, πρὸ παντὸς δὲ τοῖς ἀδικου- μένοις διδοὺς ἑαυτόν, ὡς αν εχοιεν τὰ αὐτῶν ἐκτραγῳδεῖν ἀδική- ματα καὶ μὴ παρὰ τινῶν κακοποιῶν κωλύοιντο ὑφορωμένων τὴν εκτισιν, δεύτερον δὲ ινα διὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν διερχόμενος θεατὴς γίνοιτο τῶν ὠνίων· οθεν ἑκάστου τῶν πιπρασκομένων οσου πωλεῖται κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἠρώτα, οὐκ ἐν παρέργῳ τοῦτο ποιῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ἐνεργῶς τε καὶ ἐπιμόνως, οὐδ' ἑνὶ τοῦτο ειδει ἀλλὰ παντὶ μὲν τῷ τρέφειν ανθρωπον δυναμένῳ, ειτ' ουν ἐσθιόμενον ειτ' ουν καὶ πινόμενον, παντὶ δὲ τῷ περιθάλπειν καὶ εἰς ἀμφίασιν τελοῦντι, καὶ πᾶσιν ἁπλῶς τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν προκειμένοις τῶν βουλομέ- νων