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And thus they became masters of all Italy and of Rome itself. But when Irene became sole ruler, as has been said, her brothers-in-law, who happened to be imprisoned, were able to approach the great church, having been persuaded to this by certain revolutionaries. Therefore Aetius the eunuch, who then had great influence with the empress, went and gave them assurances that they would suffer no harm, brought them out of the church, and they were led away into exile in Athens. And while they were living there, some of the men of Hellas approached the ruler of the Slavic nations, asking him to lead them out and to appoint one as emperor and bring him up to the queen of cities. But when this was reported to the empress, by her command they were all blinded. And the chief of the Franks, Charles, having been proclaimed emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo, as has been said, sent envoys to Irene, seeking to be joined with her in marital union. And this did not seem undesirable to her, and 301 it would have happened, had not the eunuch Aetius, who held power at court, set every device in motion to prevent the marriage from being accomplished. For he, having great power in the palace, had made it his concern to deem his own kinsman Leo worthy of the empire, which Leo indeed, through the efforts of Aetius, had been appointed sole general of Thrace and Macedonia. But Aetius ruled the eastern themes of Opsikion and the Anatolics, and from this position, becoming arrogant, he disdained those in authority and behaved haughtily towards them. But those who were vexed by these things formed a plot against the empress, and taking with them the patrician Nicephorus, the general logothete, they came in the dead of night to the Chalke, while the empress Irene was sick and lying in her house in the quarter of Eleutherius. They said, therefore, to the guards there that they had been sent by the empress to proclaim Nicephorus emperor, so that the patrician Aetius might thus cease forcing her to appoint his own kinsman as emperor. Therefore, believing these patricians who were saying these things, being illustrious men, they, together with them, acclaimed Nicephorus as emperor 302, and thus being allowed to pass, they entered the great palace. Then, during that very night, having gathered a motley crowd throughout the whole forum before daybreak, they made the proclamation of Nicephorus and placed a guard around the house of Irene where she was then staying. And when day was already dawning, moving her to the eastern palace and shutting her in, they arrived at the great church, so that Nicephorus might be crowned there and proclaimed emperor; which indeed happened. On the next day, at any rate, he came to the empress, who was under guard, saying that he had been brought to the imperial office unwillingly, for it was not his will, and persuading her to take courage, as she would lack none of the things that ought to be done by a servant for a mistress. And he asked her to show him all the imperial treasures. And she said to him, "As for my affairs, having committed them to God, the loss of the 303 empire I ascribe to my sins, but considering your proclamation to be from God, I do reverence to you as having been put forward by Him, and I ask you to spare my weakness and allow me to live in my house." And he said, "If you will not hide any of the treasures that are stored in secret places, this too shall be yours, and whatever else is to your liking," and he demanded an oath from her concerning this. And she swore and pointed out a great many. And he immediately exiled her to the island which is named Prinkipos, on which she had built a monastery. For Nicephorus was exceedingly avaricious, most insatiable and most faithless, and a receptacle, so to speak, of every evil. And he did not even bear to feign goodness towards his subjects for a short while, but immediately filled everything with all injustice. And he did not spare even those who had helped him to become emperor, but Triphyllius by poison

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καὶ οὕτω τῆς Ἰταλίας πάσης καὶ τῆς Ῥώμης αὐτῆς ἐκυρίευσαν. Τῆς Εἰρήνης δὲ μοναρχησάσης, ὡς λέλεκται, οἱ ἀνδράδελφοι αὐτῆς καθειργμένοι τυγχάνοντες ἠδυνήθησαν τῇ μεγάλῃ προσελθεῖν ἐκκλησίᾳ, παρά τινων νεωτεριστῶν πρὸς τοῦτο ἀναπεισθέντες. Ἀέτιος οὖν ὁ εὐνοῦχος, μέγα τότε παρὰ τῇ βασιλίσσῃ δυνάμενος, ἀπελθὼν καὶ πίστεις αὐτοῖς παρασχὼν ὡς οὐδὲν δεινὸν πείσονται, ἐξήνεγκε τῆς ἐκκλησίας αὐτοὺς καὶ εἰς Ἀθήνας ἀπήχθησαν ὑπερόριοι. κἀκεῖ διαγόντων αὐτῶν τινὲς τῶν τῆς Ἑλλάδος προσῆλθον τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν Σθλαβικῶν ἐθνῶν, δεόμενοι αὐτοῦ ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἕνα προχειρίσασθαι βασιλέα καὶ ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν βασιλίδα τῶν πόλεων. μηνυθέντος δὲ τούτου τῇ βασιλίδι, προστάξει ἐκείνης ἀπετυφλώθησαν ἅπαντες. Ὁ δὲ τῶν Φράγγων ἀρχηγὸς Κάρουλος βασιλεὺς Ῥωμαίων παρὰ τοῦ πάπα Λέοντος, ὡς εἴρηται, ἀναγορευθεὶς πρέσβεις ἔπεμψε πρὸς τὴν Εἰρήνην, ζητῶν συζευχθῆναι αὐτῇ κατὰ συμβίωσιν γαμικήν. καὶ οὐδ' ἐκείνῃ τοῦτο ἀβούλητον ἔδοξε, καὶ 301 γέγονεν ἄν, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκτομίας Ἀέτιος παραδυναστεύων πᾶσαν ἐκίνησε μηχανὴν εἰς τὸ μὴ ἀποτελεσθῆναι τὴν συζυγίαν. οὗτος γὰρ μέγα δυνάμενος ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις τὸν οἰκεῖον ὁμαίμονα Λέοντα ἀξιῶσαι τῆς βασιλείας διὰ μελέτης πεποίητο, ὃς δὴ Λέων διὰ σπουδῆς τοῦ Ἀετίου μόνος αὐτὸς στρατηγὸς Θρᾴκης καὶ Μακεδονίας προὐβέβλητο· ὁ δέ γε Ἀέτιος τῶν ἑῴων ἦρχε θεμάτων τοῦ Ὀψικίου καὶ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν, κἀντεῦθεν ὑπερφρονήσας τῶν ἐν τέλει περιεφρόνει καὶ ἀλαζονικῶς αὐτοῖς προσεφέρετο. οἱ δὲ τούτοις ἀχθόμενοι βούλευμα κατὰ τῆς βασιλίσσης συνέθεντο καὶ τὸν πατρίκιον Νικηφόρον καὶ γενικὸν λογοθέτην παραλαβόντες βαθείας νυκτὸς ἦλθον εἰς τὴν Χαλκῆν, τῆς βασιλίσσης Εἰρήνης νοσούσης καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτῆς τῷ ἐν τοῖς Ἐλευθερίου κειμένης· εἶπον οὖν τοῖς ἐκεῖσε φυλάττουσι παρὰ τῆς βασιλίσσης σταλῆναι, ἵνα βασιλέα τὸν Νικηφόρον ἀναγορεύσωσιν, ὡς ἂν οὕτω παύσηται ὁ πατρίκιος Ἀέτιος βιαζόμενος αὐτὴν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ σύγγονον προχειρίσασθαι βασιλέα. πιστεύσαντες οὖν τοῖς ταῦτα λέγουσι πατρικίοις τῶν περιφανῶν οὖσι, καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸν Νικηφόρον σὺν ἐκείνοις εἰς βασιλέα εὐφή302 μησαν, καὶ οὕτω παραχωρηθέντες εἰς τὸ μέγα εἰσῆλθον ἀνάκτορον. εἶτα δι' αὐτῆς τῆς νυκτὸς ὄχλον ἀθροίσαντες σύγκλυδα διὰ πάσης τῆς ἀγορᾶς πρὸ τῆς ἡμέρας τὴν τοῦ Νικηφόρου πεποίηντο ἀναγόρευσιν καὶ τῷ τῆς Εἰρήνης οἴκῳ, καθ' ὃν διῆγε τότε, φρουρὰν περιέστησαν. ἡμέρας δὲ ἤδη ἐπιφαυούσης εἰς τὰ πρὸς ἕω βασίλεια μεταγαγόντες αὐτὴν καὶ κατακλείσαντες, εἰς τὴν μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν ἀφίκοντο, ἵν' ἐκεῖ ταινιωθείη ὁ Νικηφόρος καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ ἀναρρηθείη· ὃ δὴ καὶ γέγονε. Τῇ γοῦν ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ πρὸς τὴν βασίλισσαν ἧκεν, οὖσαν ὑπὸ φρουρούς, ἄκων προαχθῆναι λέγων εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν βασίλειον, μηδὲ γὰρ εἶναι αὐτῷ πρὸς βουλῆς, καὶ θαρρεῖν αὐτὴν ἀναπείθων, ὡς οὐδενὸς ἀτυχήσουσαν τῶν παρὰ δούλου ὀφειλομένων πρὸς δέσποιναν γίνεσθαι. ἠξίου δὲ τοὺς βασιλικοὺς ὑποδεῖξαι πάντας αὐτῷ θησαυρούς. ἡ δὲ "τὰ κατ' ἐμὲ" φησὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν "ἀναθεμένη θεῷ τὴν μὲν ἔκπτωσιν τῆς βα303 σιλείας ἐπιγράφω ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις μου, τὴν δὲ σὴν ἀνάρρησιν λογιζομένη ἀπὸ θεοῦ ὡς ἐξ ἐκείνου προβληθέντα σε προσκυνῶ, καὶ ἀξιῶ φείσασθαί μου τῆς ἀσθενείας καὶ ἐᾶσαι διάγειν με ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου." κἀκεῖνος "εἰ μή τι ἀποκρύψεις τῶν τεθησαυρισμένων ἐν ἀποκρύφοις, ἔσται σοι καὶ τοῦτο" φησί "καὶ εἴ τι σοί ἐστι πρὸς ἀρέσκειαν ἕτερον," καὶ ὅρκον ἐξ αὐτῆς περὶ τούτου ἀπῄτησεν. ἡ δὲ ὤμοσε καὶ πλεῖστα ὑπέδειξε. καὶ ὃς αὐτίκα εἰς τὴν νῆσον αὐτὴν ὑπερώρισεν, ἣ τοῦ Πρίγκιπος ἐπωνόμασται, ἐν ᾗ μονὴν ὑπῆρχε δομησαμένη. ἦν γὰρ ὁ Νικηφόρος φιλοχρηματώτατος λίαν ἀπληστότατός τε καὶ ἀπιστότατος καὶ κακίας πάσης, ὡς εἰπεῖν, καταγώγιον. καὶ οὐδ' ὑποκριθῆναι πρὸς βραχὺ τέως ἠνέσχετο πρὸς τοὺς ὑπηκόους χρηστότητα, ἀλλ' αὐτίκα πάσης ἀδικίας τὰ πάντα ἐπλήρωσε. καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν συναραμένων αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ βασιλεῦσαι ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν Τριφύλλιον φαρμάκῳ