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dwelling near the great church of God and feigning virtue, so it seemed. This man, frequently visiting the mother of the Comneni long ago, used to prophesy about the empire. And she, being otherwise a friend of monks, but also being flattered by such words, showed her faith in him growing more and more each day, and for this reason she was eager to install him on the patriarchal throne of the great city. And using as a pretext the simplicity and inactivity of the patriarch at that time, she persuaded certain people to raise with him words of resignation in the guise of advice, as if they were counseling this for his own benefit. But that holy man was not unaware of this pretext; and finally, swearing by his own calling, he says to them, "By Cosmas, if Irene is not deemed worthy of the crown by my own hands, I will not step down from the patriarchal throne." They returned and reported to the empress what had been revealed; for everyone had already begun to call her this, as the emperor who loved his mother wished it. Therefore, a week after the proclamation of Alexius, his wife Irene was also deemed worthy of the crown by the Patriarch Cosmas.

3.3.1 Now, the forms of both sovereigns, Alexius and Irene, were extraordinary and in every way inimitable. And neither could a painter paint it, looking at the archetype of beauty, nor could a sculptor so fashion an inanimate substance; but even that much-fabled Canon of Polycleitus would come to seem sheer artlessness, if one were to look at these statues of nature, I mean the gloriously-crowned emperors, and then at the creations of that Polycleitus. 3.3.2 For Alexius was not raised very high from the ground, but he was broadened to a proportionate width. And while standing, he did not produce such astonishment in onlookers, but if he sat upon the imperial throne and a formidable gleam shot from his eyes, he seemed like a fiery whirlwind, sending forth an irresistible radiance from both his face and his entire frame. For his eyebrow was dark and arched on both sides; and beneath it sat his eye, gazing with a look both stern and gentle, so that from the glance of his eyes and the sheen of his forehead and the dignity of his cheeks and the blush that ran over them, one felt both fear and confidence at the same time. The breadth of his shoulders, the strength of his arms, and the prominence of his chest were all heroic, and altogether summoned the masses to wonder and delight. For the man's presence had beauty and grace and weight and an unapproachable majesty. And if he entered into conversation and moved his tongue, you would see fire-breathing rhetoric itself seated upon his lips. For with the flood of his arguments he overwhelmed every ear and soul, and he was indescribable and invincible with both his tongue and his hand, the latter for hurling a spear, the former for pure enchantments. 3.3.3 But the Empress Irene, my mother, was at that time a young girl and had not yet passed her fifteenth year. She was the little daughter of Andronicus, the firstborn son of the Caesar, distinguished in lineage, tracing the line of her family back to those Andronici and Constantines of the Doukas family. For she stood up like a straight and evergreen sapling, proportionately widening and narrowing appropriately in each of her limbs and parts. And she was lovely to see, and lovely to hear, and in truth an insatiable thing to hear and to behold for both sight and hearing. For her face itself shone with the light of the moon, but it was not shaped into a perfect circle like the Assyrian women, nor was it elongated like the Scythian women, but it deviated a little from the precision of a circle. And the meadow of her cheeks unfolded, and the rose-garden and

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ἀγχοῦ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας ποιούμενος καὶ ἀρετὴν δῆθεν ὑποκρινόμενος. Οὗτος θαμὰ πρὸς τὴν μητέρα τῶν Κομνηνῶν πάλαι παραγινόμενος περὶ βασιλείας προὔλεγεν. Ἡ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως φιλομόναχος οὖσα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις ὑποσαινομένη λόγοις τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν ὁσημέραι ἐπὶ πλέον αὐξάνουσαν ἐδείκνυ κἀντεῦθεν τῷ ἀρχιερατικῷ τῆς μεγαλοπόλεως θρόνῳ ἐγκαθιδρῦσαι τοῦτον προτεθύμητο. Καὶ τὸ ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἄπραγμον τοῦ τηνικαῦτα ἀρχιερέως προφασιζομένη ἔπειθέ τινας λόγους παραιτή σεως ἐν σχήματι συμβουλῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνακινεῖν ὡς δῆθεν διὰ τὸ αὐτῷ συμφέρον τοῦτο ξυμβουλεύοντας. Ἀλλὰ τὸν ἱερὸν ἐκεῖνον ἄνδρα ἡ σκῆψις αὕτη οὐ διελάνθανε· καὶ τέλος τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπομοσάμενος κλῆσίν φησι πρὸς αὐτοὺς «νὴ τὸν Κοσμᾶν, εἰ μὴ διὰ τῶν ἐμῶν χειρῶν ἡ Εἰρήνη τοῦ στέφους ἀξιωθῇ, τοῦ ἀρχιερατικοῦ θρόνου οὐκ ἀποστήσομαι». Οἱ δὲ ἐπαναστρέψαντες ἀπαγγέλλουσι τῇ δεσποίνῃ τὰ μηνυθέντα· ἔφθασαν γὰρ ἤδη οὕτω ταύτην καλεῖν ἅπαντες τοῦ φιλομήτορος βασιλέως τοῦτο βουλο μένου. Ἑβδομαία τοίνυν μετὰ τὴν Ἀλεξίου ἀνάρρησιν καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ ὁμευνέτις Εἰρήνη διὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου Κοσμᾶ ἀξιοῦται τοῦ στέφους.

3.3.1 Αἱ μὲν οὖν μορφαὶ τοῖν βασιλέοιν ἀμφοῖν Ἀλεξίῳ τε καὶ Εἰρήνῃ ἀμήχανοι καὶ εἰς ἅπαν ἀμίμητοι. Καὶ οὔτε γραφεὺς γράψειεν ἂν πρὸς ἀρχετυπίαν τοῦ κάλλους ὁρῶν οὔτε λιθοξόος ἄψυχον οὐσίαν οὕτω ῥυθμίσειεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Πολυκλείτου κανὼν ἐκεῖνος ὁ πολυθρύλλητος εἰς ἀτεχνίαν ἄντικρυς ἤρχετο, εἴ τις ἂν πρὸς τὰ τῆς φύσεως ἀγάλματα ταῦτα, λέγω δὴ τοὺς ἀριστεφεῖς αὐτο κράτορας, καὶ πρὸς τὰ τοῦ Πολυκλείτου ἐκείνου σπου δάσματα ἀποβλέψειεν. 3.3.2 Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἀλέξιος οὐ πάνυ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐπῆρτο ἐπὶ πολύ, εἰς εὖρος δὲ συμμέτρως πως ηὐρύνετο. Καὶ ἱστάμενος μὲν οὐ τοσοῦτον θάμβος ἐδίδου τοῖς θεωμένοις, εἰ δ' ἐπὶ τοῦ βασιλείου καθίσειεν οὗτος θρόνου καὶ γοργωπὸν σέλας ἀφήσει τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, πρηστὴρ ἐδόκει καὶ ἄμαχον αὐγὴν ἀποστέλλειν καὶ τοῦ προσώπου καὶ τῆς ὅλης διοργανώσεως. Μέλαινα μὲν γὰρ ἡ ὀφρῦς ἑκατέρωθεν ἐκυρτοῦτο· τῇ δὲ ὀφθαλμὸς ὑπεκά θητο βλοσυρὸν ἅμα καὶ ἥμερον ἐνορῶν, ὡς ἀπό τε τῆς βολῆς τῶν ὀμμάτων καὶ τῆς στιλπνότητος τοῦ μετώπου καὶ τῶν παρειῶν τῆς σεμνότητος καὶ τοῦ ἐπιτρέχοντος αὐταῖς ἐρεύθους ὁμοῦ καὶ δεδοικέναι τε καὶ θαρρεῖν. Τῶν τε ὤμων ἡ εὐρύτης καὶ τῶν βραχιόνων τὸ στερρὸν καὶ τῶν στέρνων ἡ προβολὴ ἡροϊκὰ πάντα καὶ ὅλως εἰς θάμβος καὶ τέρψιν τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐκκαλούμενα. Τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ ὥραν εἶχε καὶ χάριν καὶ βάρος καὶ ὄγκον ἀπρόσιτον. Εἰ δὲ καὶ εἰς ὁμιλίαν ἦλθεν ἐκεῖνος καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ἐκίνησεν, εἶδες ἂν αὐτόχρημα τὴν πυρίπνουν ἐπικαθημένην τοῖς χείλεσιν ἐκείνου ῥητορικήν. Τῷ γὰρ κατακλυσμῷ τῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων πᾶσαν καὶ ἀκοὴν καὶ ψυχὴν κατεσύρετο καὶ ἀμύθητος ἦν καὶ ἄμαχος καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ὁμοῦ καὶ τὴν χεῖρα, τὴν μὲν πρὸς δόρατος ἄφεσιν, τὴν δὲ πρὸς ἀκήρατα θέλγητρα. 3.3.3 Ἡ δέ γε βασιλὶς Εἰρήνη καὶ μήτηρ ἐμὴ μεῖράξ τε ἦν τὸ τηνικάδε καὶ οὐδέπω τὸν πεντεκαιδέκατον παραδεδραμήκει χρόνον. Θυγάτριον δὲ ἦν Ἀνδρονίκου τοῦ πρωτοτόκου υἱοῦ τοῦ καίσαρος, τὸ γένος περίβλεπτος, εἰς Ἀνδρονίκους ἐκεί νους καὶ Κωνσταντίνους τοὺς ∆ούκας ἀναφέρουσα τὴν τοῦ γένους σειράν. Ἀνίστατο μὲν γὰρ καθάπερ τι ἔρνος ὄρθιον καὶ ἀειθαλὲς συμμέτρως καὶ πλατυνομένη καὶ στε νουμένη καταλλήλως ἑκασταχοῦ τῶν μελῶν καὶ μερῶν. Καὶ ἐπέραστος μὲν ἰδεῖν, ἐπέραστος δὲ ἀκοῦσαι καὶ ὄψεώς τε καὶ ἀκοῆς ἀκόρεστον ὡς ὄντως ἄκουσμά τε καὶ θέαμα. Αὐτὸ μὲν γὰρ τὸ πρόσωπον σελήνης μὲν ἀπέ στιλβε φέγγος, οὐ μὴν εἰς κύκλον ἀκριβῆ διαπέπλαστο κατὰ τὰς Ἀσσυρίους γυναῖκας οὐδ' ἄλλως ἐξεμηκύνετο κατὰ τὰς Σκυθίδας, ἀλλ' ὑπεχαλᾶτο μικρόν πως τῆς ἀκριβείας τοῦ κύκλου. Ἀνεπέπτατο δὲ αὐτῆς ὁ λειμὼν ἀπὸ τῶν παρειῶν καὶ τὴν ῥοδωνιὰν καὶ