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The proof by means of hot iron. But he—for indeed he had the truth helping him—said, “if there were someone accusing me of something, I would have fought against him and proved him to be lying; but with no accuser present, for what am I being judged? If you want me to perform a miracle, I am not such a one as to perform prodigies. But a red-hot piece of iron, if it should fall into the hand of a living man, I do not know how it would not burn it, unless perhaps it has been sculpted from stone by Phidias, or by Praxiteles, or even wrought from bronze.” These things he said, and, by Themis, very justly. And since Phokas, the metropolitan of the Philadelphians, was also present at the proceedings, being loved by the emperor and very much favored—and he experienced this not from virtue but from shamelessness; for once, when the emperor was inquiring about some public matters, he spoke frankly and said, “O emperor, for what reason do you now ask us, when you always do what seems best to you on your own initiative?” He said these things, and at the time the emperor was indignant and had even said to those standing by, “Why has the metropolitan spoken so rashly, and you have put up with it?” But a short while later he greeted him kindly and honored him and had him as a counselor in worldly affairs. The emperor therefore used him on this occasion also as an underling. And indeed, taking Michael Komnenos aside alone, while I was listening to their words, he said these things, “You are a noble man and born of nobles. You must therefore both conceive and execute what is necessary for your reputation and your faith and for your whole family. And since there is no refutation against you from witnesses, you must demonstrate the truth by the hot iron.” And he, very nobly and manfully, and as painters might depict someone fearless in battle, said, “I do not know how such a thing is called holy, O master; but I am a sinful man and cannot perform such wonders. But if you, being a metropolitan and a man of God, advise me to do this, you yourself put on all your sacred vestments, as you are accustomed to enter the divine bema and meet with God; then with your own hands heat the iron for me, with which you touch the divine victim, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, sacrificed for the whole world and ever sacrificed by you priests and hierarchs, and with these your holy hands place the iron on my hand, and I have confidence in the Lord Christ, that he will overlook all my sin, and work a miracle for the truth.” And so Michael Komnenos spoke, but the metropolitan said, “O good young man, this is not a part of our Roman establishment, nor of ecclesiastical tradition, nor has it been received from the laws nor indeed previously from the sacred and divine canons. But the method is barbaric and unknown among us, and is only carried out by imperial command.” And he said, “O greatest hierarch of God, if I myself was born of barbarians and have been brought up with barbaric customs or have been educated in such laws, then let me pay my penalty in a barbaric way; but if I am a Roman and from Romans, let the judgment be concluded for me according to Roman laws and written traditions.” That one, therefore, as if astounded by the words of the young man—for Michael Komnenos was in his twenty-seventh year—and by the fact that the nobility of his spirit did not fail in his misfortunes, nor the ready force of his thoughts slacken, went to the emperor, and what things he himself said I do not know, but in any case he was bound to say all that and what sort of things he had heard. The emperor therefore, having made a thorough investigation, did not find Michael Komnenos guilty in any way, and this despite bringing the guiltless one into accusation by the force of either words or scourges. For all declared so, both the Latins and the Romans, and especially the Latins, since they use a freer

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ἡ διὰ μύδρου ἀπόδειξις. ὁ δὲ-καὶ γὰρ εἶχε βοηθοῦσαν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀλήθειαν-»εἰ μέν τις ἦν» ἔλεγεν «ὁ κατ' ἐμοῦ τι κατηγορῶν, πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἂν ἐμαχεσάμην καὶ ἀπέδειξα ψεύδεσθαι· κατηγόρου δὲ μὴ παρόντος ὑπὲρ τίνος κρίνομαι; εἰ δὲ θαυματουργῆσαί με θέλετε, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ τοιοῦτος ὥστε καὶ τερατοποιίας ἐργάζεσθαι. σίδη ρος δὲ πεπυρακτωμένος, εἰ ἐν χειρὶ ἀνθρώπου ζωοῦ ὄντος ἐμπέσοι, οὐκ οἶδα πῶς ἂν οὐ καύσειεν αὐτήν, εἰ μή πού τις ἔξεσται τῷ Φειδίᾳ ἐκ λίθου ἢ τῷ Πραξιτέλει ἢ καὶ ἀπὸ χαλκοῦ εἴργασται.» ταῦτ' ἔλεγε καὶ μάλα νὴ τὴν Θέμιν δικαίως. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ὁ τῆς Φιλαδελφέων μητροπολίτης Φωκᾶς συμπαρῆν τοῖς γινομένοις, φιλούμενος πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ πάνυ φιλοφρονούμενος-πέπονθε δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ἀρετῆς ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀναιδείας· καὶ γάρ ποτε τοῦ βασι λέως πυθομένου περί τινος τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων ἐπαρρη σιάσατο καὶ «ὦ βασιλεῦ,» ἔφη, «τίνος χάριν ἀρτίως ἡμᾶς ἐρωτᾷς, αὐτὸς ἀεὶ ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ τὰ δοκοῦντά σοι διαπραττό μενος;» ταῦτ' εἶπε, καὶ τότε μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐσχετλίασε καί γε εἰρήκει πρὸς τοὺς συμπαρισταμένους· «τί οὕτω θρασύτε ρον ὁ μητροπολίτης εἴρηκεν, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἠνέσχεσθε;» μετὰ βραχὺ δὲ φιλοφρόνως τοῦτον ἐδεξιώσατο καὶ ἐτίμα καὶ σύμβουλον εἶχεν ἐν ταῖς κοσμικαῖς ὑποθέσεσιν. ὑποδρηστῆρι οὖν καὶ τότε ἐχρήσατο τούτῳ ὁ βασιλεύς. καί γε καταμόνας τὸν Κομνηνὸν παραλαβὼν Μιχαήλ, κἀμοῦ τῶν λόγων ἀκροω μένου, ταῦτ' εἶπεν ὡς «εὐγενὴς μὲν ἀνὴρ σὺ καὶ ἐξ εὐγε νῶν γεγέννησαι. δεῖ οὖν σε τὸ δέον ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς ὑπο λήψεώς τε καὶ πίστεως καὶ παντός σοι τοῦ γένους καὶ νοῆσαι καὶ διαπράξασθαι. ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔλεγχος παρὰ μαρ τύρων ἐν σοί, δεῖ σε τῷ μύδρῳ τὴν ἀλήθειαν παραστήσα σθαι.» καὶ ὃς μάλα γενναίως καὶ ἀνδρικῶς, καὶ ὡς ἄν τινα οἱ γραφεῖς ἐν μάχῃ ἄτρεστον διαγράψαιεν, «οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως τὸ τοιοῦτον κέκληται ἅγιον, ὦ δέσποτα» ἔφη· «ἀλλ' ἐγὼ μὲν ἁμαρτωλός εἰμι ἄνθρωπος καὶ τερατουργεῖν τοι αῦτα οὐ δύναμαι. εἰ δέ μοι συμβουλεύῃ μητροπολίτης ὢν καὶ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος τουτὶ διαπράξασθαι, ἔνδυσαι μὲν αὐτὸς τὴν ἱεράν σου πᾶσαν στολήν, καθὼς εἴωθας ἐν τῷ θείῳ εἰσέρχεσθαι βήματι καὶ ἐντυγχάνειν θεῷ· εἶτα δὴ ταῖς σαῖς χερσὶν ἐκπύρωσόν μοι τὸν σίδηρον, αἷς τοῦ θείου ἐφάπτῃ θύματος, τοῦ σώματος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ὑπὲρ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου τεθυμένου καὶ ἀεὶ θυομένου παρ' ὑμῶν τῶν ἱερέων τε καὶ ἱεραρχῶν, καὶ ταύ ταις δὴ ταῖς ἱεραῖς σου χερσὶν ἐπίθες τῇ χειρί μου τὸν σίδηρον, καὶ τεθάρρηκα εἰς τὸν δεσπότην Χριστόν, ὡς πᾶσαν μὲν οὗτος ἁμαρτίαν μου παροράσεται, θαυματουρ γήσειε δὲ τὴν ἀλήθειαν.» καὶ ὁ μὲν Κομνηνὸς Μιχαὴλ οὕτως εἴρηκεν, ὁ δὲ μητροπολίτης «ὦ καλὲ νεανία,» ἔφη, «τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστι τῆς ἡμετέρας καὶ Ῥωμαϊκῆς καταστάσεως, ἀλλ' οὔτε τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς παραδόσεως, οὔτε μὴν ἐκ τῶν νόμων οὔτε δὴ πρότερον ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ θείων κανόνων παρείληπται. βαρβαρικὸς δὲ ὁ τρόπος καὶ ἀγνὼς ἐν ἡμῖν, προσταγῇ δὲ μόνον ἐνεργεῖται βασιλικῇ.» καὶ ὃς «ὦ μέγιστε ἱεράρχα θεοῦ, εἰ μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκ βαρβάρων γεγέννημαι καὶ βαρβαρικοῖς τοῖς ἤθεσιν ἀνατέθραμμαι ἢ καὶ νόμοις του τοισὶν ἐκπεπαίδευμαι, καὶ βαρβαρικῶς ἐκτισαίμην τὴν δίκην μου· εἰ δὲ Ῥωμαῖος καὶ ἐκ Ῥωμαίων, κατὰ νόμους Ῥωμαϊκοὺς καὶ παραδόσεις ἐγγράφους ἡ κρίσις τερματωθήτω μοι.» Ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν τοῖς λόγοις οἷον τοῦ νεανίου ἐκ πεπληγμένος- εἰκοστὸν γὰρ καὶ ἕβδομον διήνυεν ἔτος ὁ Κομνηνὸς Μιχαήλ-καὶ τῷ μὴ ἐν συμφοραῖς τούτου ὄν τος τὸ εὐγενὲς τοῦ φρονήματος καταπίπτειν μηδὲ τὸ τῶν νοημάτων ὑποχαλᾶν εὐεπήβολον, πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἐλθὼν ὅσα μὲν οὖν εἶπεν ἐκεῖνος αὐτὸς μὲν οὐκ οἶδα, πάντως δὲ ταῦτ' ἔμελλε λέξαι ὅσα τε καὶ οἷα ἤκουσεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς διάπειραν πολλὴν πεποιηκὼς οὐχ εὗρε κατά τι τὸν Κομνηνὸν Μιχαὴλ ὑπαίτιον ὄντα, καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τὸν ἀναί τιον εἰς αἰτίαν ἄγων τῇ βίᾳ ἢ τῶν λόγων ἢ τῶν μαστί γων. πάντες γὰρ ἀπεφαίνοντο οἵ τε τῶν Λατίνων οἵ τε τῶν Ῥωμαίων, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν Λατίνων, ἐπεί γε οὗτοι ἐλευθερωτέρᾳ χρῶνται πρὸς τοὺς δεσπότας τῇ