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3.1.1 The Comneni, having seized the palace, immediately sent to him their son-in-law (by marriage to their niece) Michael, who in later times served as Logothete of the secreta. And he, having departed with the eparch of that time (this was Radenus), led the emperor into a small boat and departed with him to the renowned monastery of the Peribleptos; then both urged him to put on the monastic habit. But when he put this off until the next year, they, fearing while matters were still in confusion and disorder that some new revolt might be raised again on the part of those servants and the men from Choma, insistently advised him to the cutting of his hair. And he was persuaded by them and was then deemed worthy of the angelic habit. Such are the ways of fortune; she raises human life on high when she wishes to smile upon it, and places a royal diadem upon it and clothes its feet in purple; but when she knits her brows at these things, instead of the purple and the crowns she clothes it in black rags. This is precisely what happened to the emperor Botaneiates. And when asked by one of his acquaintances if he bore the change with fortitude, he said, “Only abstinence from meat distresses me, but for the rest I have little care.” 3.1.2 The empress Maria, however, together with her son Constantine, whom she had by the previous emperor Michael Ducas, still remained in the palace, fearing for her ‘fair-haired Menelaus,’ as the poet says, having as an irreproachable pretext for her steadfastness her family relationship, even if some, moved by envy, suspected other things about her. For she had already made the one her son-in-law, and the other her adopted son. And what persuaded her to arrange these things was not some blameworthy motive, as many thought, nor the charm and accessibility of those men, but the fact that she was in a foreign land, having no relative, no acquaintance, no countryman at all. She did not wish, therefore, to depart from there in a disorderly fashion, fearing that some harm might befall the child if she left before receiving some sure guarantee of safety, such as is accustomed to happen in the transitions of emperors. 3.1.3 For the child was beautiful in other respects and still young, not yet having passed his seventh year, and it is no cause for blame if I should praise my own, being compelled by the nature of the matter. Charming not only in his words, but also peerless in all sorts of movements and turns of games, as those then present later said, fair-haired and white as milk, full of blush where it was needed, and like roses just gleaming from their buds. And his eyes were not pale, but like a hawk's and shining beneath his brows as if in a golden sling. And hence delighting onlookers with varied charms, he seemed a heavenly and not an earthly beauty, and on the whole, anyone seeing him would have said he was like the Eros they paint. 3.1.4 This was the true reason for the empress’s persistence in the palace. For I, by nature, also otherwise turn away from tale-bearing and inventing new things, knowing this to be customary for the masses, and especially whenever they are overcome by envy and malice, and I am not quick to agree with the slanders of the many. But I also had assurance in such matters from another source, having been raised together with the empress from childhood and not yet having passed my eighth year. And having a great affection for me, she made me a partner in all her secrets. And I have heard many others speaking about these things and disagreeing with others, some interpreting the events of that time in one way, and some in another, each according to his own state of soul and as he had goodwill or hatred toward her, and I did not see them all of the same opinion. But I had often heard her herself narrating how many things had happened to her and into what fear she had fallen, especially concerning the child, when the emperor Nicephorus the kingdom

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3.1.1 Οἱ δὲ Κομνηνοὶ τὰ βασίλεια καταλαβόντες παρα χρῆμα τὸν ἐπ' ἀνεψιᾷ γαμβρὸν αὐτῶν Μιχαήλ, ὃς ἐν ὑστέ ροις καιροῖς λογοθέτης τῶν σεκρέτων ἐχρημάτισε, πέμ πουσι πρὸς αὐτόν. Ὁ δὲ ἀπελθὼν μετὰ τοῦ τηνικαῦτα ἐπάρχου (ὁ Ῥαδηνὸς δὲ οὗτος ἦν) εἰσαγαγὼν τὸν βασιλέα εἰς ἀκάτιόν τι μικρὸν ἀπέρχεται μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν τῆς Περιβλέπτου περιώνυμον μονήν· εἶτα τὸ μοναδικὸν αὐτῷ ἄμφω προτρέπονται ἀμφιάσασθαι σχῆμα. Τοῦ δὲ ἐς νέωτα τοῦτο ὑπερτιθεμένου οὗτοι δεδιότες ἔτι ἐν συγχύσει καὶ ἀταξίᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων ὄντων, μή τι ἀπὸ τοῦ μέρους τῶν δούλων ἐκείνων καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Χώματος αὖθις νεωτερισθῇ, κατηπειγμένως τὴν τῶν τριχῶν ἀποκοπὴν αὐτῷ συνεβού λευον. Καὶ πείθεται τούτοις καὶ τοῦ ἀγγελικοῦ τηνικαῦτα ἀξιοῦται σχήματος. Οἷα τὰ τῆς τύχης· ὑψοῦ μὲν αἴρει τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον ὅτε ἐπιμειδιᾶν αὐτῷ θελήσειε, καὶ διάδημα βασιλικὸν αὐτῷ περιτίθησι καὶ περιπορφύρει τὰ πέδιλα· ἐπὰν δὲ τὰς ὀφρῦς τούτοις ἐπισυνάξῃ, ἀντὶ τῆς πορφυρίδος καὶ τῶν στεμμάτων τὰ μέλανα ῥάκη καταμ φιέννυσιν. Ὅπερ δὴ καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ Βοτανειάτῃ ξυμβέβη κεν. Ἐρωτηθεὶς δὲ παρά του τῶν συνήθων, εἰ εὐφόρως τὴν μεταβολὴν φέρει, φησίν «ἡ τοῦ κρέως με μόνον ἀποχὴ ἀνιᾷ, τῶν δ' ἄλλων ὀλίγη μοι ἡ φροντίς». 3.1.2 Ἡ μέντοι βασιλὶς Μαρία σύναμα τῷ υἱῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ, ὃν ἐκ τοῦ προβεβασιλευκότος Μιχαὴλ ἔσχε τοῦ ∆ούκα, ἔτι τοῖς βασιλείοις προσέμενε δεδοικυῖα περὶ ξανθῷ Μενελάῳ κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν, πρόφασιν ἀδιάβλητον τῆς καρτερίας τὴν συγγένειαν ἔχουσα, κἄν τινες ὑπὸ φθόνου παρακεκινημένοι ἄλλα τινὰ περὶ αὐτῆς ὑπετόπαζον. Προεφθάκει γὰρ τὸν μὲν γαμβρόν, τὸν δὲ θετὸν υἱὸν εἰσποιήσασθαι. Ταῦτα δὲ ἀνέπεισεν αὐτὴν οἰκονομῆσαι οὐκ αἰτία τις κατὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπίψογος οὐδὲ τὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων ἐπαγωγὸν καὶ εὐπρόσιτον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐπ' ἀλλοτρίας εἶναι, μὴ συγγενῆ, μὴ συνήθη, μηδένα τὸ παράπαν ὁμόχθονα κεκτημένην. Οὐκ ἤθελεν οὖν ἀσυντάκτως ἐκεῖθεν ἐκστῆναι δεδοικυῖα, μή τι κακὸν συμβαίη τῷ παιδί, ἂν ἐκεῖθεν ἐξέλθῃ πρὸ τοῦ ἐχέγγυόν τι ἀσφαλείας λαβεῖν, ὁποῖα ἐν ταῖς μεταπτώσεσι τῶν βασιλέων συμβαίνειν εἴωθεν. 3.1.3 Ἦν γὰρ τὸ παιδίον καὶ ἄλλως ὡραῖον καὶ ἔτι νέον, οὔπω τὸν ἕβδομον χρόνον ὑπερελάσαν, καὶ οὐ νέμεσις, εἰ τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐπαινοίην ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀναγκαζομένη φύσεως. Ἡδὺ μὲν οὐκ ἐν λόγοις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν παντοίαις κινήσεσι καὶ περιστροφαῖς παιγνίων ἀπαράμιλλον, ὡς οἱ τότε παρόντες ὕστερον ἔλεγον, ξανθὸν καὶ λευκὸν ὥσπερ γάλα, ἐρυθή ματος μεστόν, ὅπου δέοι, καὶ ὁποῖον τὰ τῶν καλύκων ἄρτι ἐξαστράπτοντα ῥόδα. Οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ οὐ λευκοί, ἀλλ' ἱέρακος ἐοικότες καὶ λάμποντες ὑπὸ ταῖς ὀφρύσιν ὥσπερ ἐν χρυσῇ σφενδόνῃ. Κἀντεῦθεν ποικίλαις τέρψεσι τέρπον τοὺς ὁρῶντας οὐράνιόν τι καὶ οὐκ ἐπίγειον κάλλος δοκοῦν καὶ τὸ ὅλον, εἶπεν ἄν τις ἰδὼν ὁποῖον τὸν Ἔρωτα γρά φουσιν. 3.1.4 Αὕτη ἡ ἀληθὴς αἰτία τῆς εἰς τὰ βασίλεια τῆς βασιλίδος ἐγκαρτερίας. Ἐγὼ γὰρ καὶ ἄλλως φύσει τὸ λογοποιεῖν καὶ καινά τινα ἀναπλάττειν ἀποστρέφομαι εἰδυῖα τοῦτο σύνηθες εἶναι τοῖς πολλοῖς, καὶ μᾶλλον ὁπη νίκα ὑπὸ φθόνου καὶ χαιρεκακίας ἁλίσκοιντο, καὶ οὐ ταχὺ ταῖς διαβολαῖς συμφέρομαι τῶν πολλῶν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοθεν τὴν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀσφάλειαν ἔσχον ἐκ παιδαρίου συνανατραφεῖσα τῇ βασιλίδι καὶ οὔπω τὸν ὄγδοον ὑπερε λάσασα χρόνον. Πολὺ δὲ τὸ περὶ ἐμὲ φίλτρον ἔχουσα τῶν ἀπορρήτων πάντων κεκοινώνηκε. Καὶ πολλῶν μὲν καὶ ἄλλων περὶ τούτων λεγόντων ἀκήκοα καὶ πρὸς ἄλλους διαφερομένων, τῶν μὲν οὕτως, τῶν δὲ οὕτως ἐκλαμβανο μένων τὰ τότε πραχθέντα, ἑκάστου πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν τῆς ψυχῆς κατάστασιν καὶ ὡς πρὸς αὐτὴν εὐνοίας ἢ μίσους εἶχε, καὶ οὐ πάντας τῆς αὐτῆς ἑώρων γνώμης. Ἠκηκόειν δὲ πολλάκις καὶ αὐτῆς διηγουμένης, ὁπόσα ξυμβέβηκεν αὐτῇ καὶ εἰς οἷον φόβον καὶ μᾶλλον περὶ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐμπεπτώκει, ὁπηνίκα ὁ βασιλεὺς Νικηφόρος τὴν βασιλείαν