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she prophesied both his appearance and that "If you go now towards the acropolis, two men will meet you, and to one of them, whom a mule is carrying, belongs the imperial power." Theodotos, having heard these things, made nothing known to the emperor, but said that the words of the girl were madness, foretelling nothing clear. But he himself, going towards the acropolis and meeting Leo and detecting the signs which the 327 little woman had spoken of, taking the man aside privately and having both given and received pledges, he foretells the empire to him, as if initiated into it by a divine inspiration, and he asked that after the event there would be a reward for him for the prophecy. In this way Theodotos became known and familiar to Leo, and he received in return for the prophecy, after the holy Nikephoros, the throne of Constantinople. O incomprehensible abyss of God's judgments; after whom, who? And now the unholy one, having unworthily mounted the holy see, since he possessed the ruler as a confederate, he openly practiced his audacity against the holy icons. And Leo, too, behaved like a wild beast towards those wishing to honor the sacred images. For both Theodotos himself and the chorus-leader of those at that time assigned to the imperial bedchamber, whom custom came to call *protopsaltes*, incited him. For this man, having drunk his fill of the muddy dregs of the iconoclast heresy, incited the emperor to remove the 328 icons from everywhere. And once, when the divine words of Isaiah were being read in church, which say, "To whom have you likened the Lord? Has a carpenter made an image, or has a goldsmith fashioned a likeness of him?" and the following verses, approaching the emperor he said in his ear, "Pay attention to the prophet, o master, and obey him." From then on, Leo shamelessly clung to the heresy and hastened to tear apart and despoil those not submitting to his impiety. And in other respects he was harsh and implacable in his anger towards offenders, and for moderate offenses he decreed harsh punishments. Such was Leo towards the pious and others who had offended him. Meanwhile, however, concerning the administration of public affairs he was not sluggish, but was indeed very vigilant and restrained wrongdoers. For instance, when someone petitioned him, stating that his wife had been abducted by one of the senate, and adding that he had approached the eparch, but had not obtained justice, since the crime was proven, he immediately removed the eparch from his office, and the one who had committed the 329 abduction he handed over to be punished according to the law. And he appointed officials, both military and civil, according to merit and the governorships of the nations under the Romans he neither offered for sale nor gave as a favor to men not suited for rule or who were susceptible to money and for it would betray justice. But Michael the Stammerer from Amorion, having been raised to great fortune, and in addition to his other vices also having an unbridled tongue, was slandered to the emperor as plotting and contriving evils against him. And the slander occurred before the day on which the Church has received the tradition to celebrate the birth in the flesh of the Lord. Immediately, therefore, the one was arrested; and the emperor sat as examiner of the things reported against him. Michael is convicted by the accusers, and he himself agrees, he is condemned to death, and death by fire. He was led away to be burned, and the place of punishment was appointed: the furnace of the bath in the palace. And the emperor followed, either not trusting another with the execution against Michael or gloating over his 330 destruction. But the empress, learning this, prevented the act, on the one hand begging her husband to postpone the punishment of the condemned man because of the feast, and on the other hand also approaching him more boldly and calling him impious, because he did not shrink from the day of the awesome mystery of the Savior's birth. Having softened his hardness with these words, she persuaded him to remit Michael's destruction for the time being. But he said to his wife, "Behold, I have been persuaded by you, but you and your children will surely know what will befall you all from this

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ἀπεφοίβασε καὶ τὴν ἰδέαν καὶ ὅτι "εἰ ἄρτι κατὰ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀπελεύσῃ, ἄνδρε σοὶ διττὼ συναντήσονται, καὶ θατέρῳ τούτων, ὃν ἡμίονος φέρει, προσήκουσι τὰ βασίλεια." τούτων ἀκούσας ὁ Θεόδοτος οὐδὲν μὲν τῷ βασιλεῖ πεποίηκεν ἔκπυστον, ἀλλὰ μανίας ἔλεγεν εἶναι ῥήματα τὰ τῆς παιδίσκης, μή τι σαφὲς προμηνύοντα. αὐτὸς δὲ πορευθεὶς κατὰ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν καὶ τῷ Λέοντι ἐντυχὼν καὶ τὰ γνωρίσματα, ἃ τὸ 327 γύναιον εἰρήκει, φωράσας, ἰδίᾳ τὸν ἄνδρα παραλαβὼν καὶ πίστεις δεδωκώς τε καὶ εἰληφώς, προμηνύει τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῷ, ὡς ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας θειοτέρας αὐτὴν μυηθείς, καὶ ᾔτει μετὰ τὴν ἔκβασιν κείσεσθαί οἱ μισθὸν τῆς προρρήσεως. οὗτος ὁ τρόπος ἐγνώρισε καὶ ᾠκείωσε τῷ Λέοντι τὸν Θεόδοτον, καὶ ἔσχεν εἰς ἀντάμειψιν τῆς προρρήσεως μετὰ τὸν ἱερὸν Νικηφόρον τὸν θρόνον τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. ὦ θεοῦ κριμάτων ἄβυσσος ἀκατάληπτος· μετὰ τίνα τίς; Ἄρτι δ' ἀναξίως τῆς ἱερᾶς καθέδρας ἐπιβὰς ὁ ἀνόσιος, ἐπεὶ σύμπνουν καὶ τὸν κρατοῦντα ἐκέκτητο, πεπαρρησιασμένως τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἁγίων εἰκόνων τόλμαν μετεχειρίζετο. καὶ ὁ Λέων δὲ ὡς θηρίον τοῖς τὰς σεπτὰς στηλογραφίας τιμᾶν ἐθέλουσι προσεφέρετο. ἠγρίαινε γὰρ τοῦτον αὐτός τε ὁ Θεόδοτος καὶ ὁ τῶν τῷ βασιλικῷ κοιτῶνι κεκληρωμένων τηνικαῦτα ὢν χορολέκτης, ὃν πρωτοψάλτην καλεῖν παρέλαβεν ἡ συνήθεια. οὗτος γὰρ τῆς τῶν εἰκονομάχων αἱρέσεως τὴν θολερὰν ἀνατροπὴν εἰς κόρον πιὼν ἠρέθιζε τὸν βασιλέα πανταχόθεν τὰς 328 εἰκόνας περιελεῖν. καί ποτε τῶν τοῦ Ἠσαΐου θείων φωνῶν ἀναγινωσκομένων ἐπ' ἐκκλησίας, αἳ λέγουσι "τίνι ὡμοιώσατε κύριον; μὴ εἰκόνα ἐποίησε τέκτων ἢ χρυσοχόος ὁμοίωμα κατεσκεύασεν αὐτῷ;" καὶ τὰ ἐφεξῆς, προσελθὼν τῷ βασιλεῖ πρὸς οὖς ἔφη "πρόσσχες τῷ προφήτῃ, ὦ δέσποτα, καὶ τούτῳ πείθου." ἐντεῦθεν ἀπηρυθριασμένως ὁ Λέων τῆς αἱρέσεως εἴχετο καὶ τοὺς μὴ τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ αὐτοῦ ὑποκύπτοντας διασπαράσσειν καὶ λαφύσσειν ἠπείγετο· βαρὺς δὲ καὶ ἄλλως καὶ ἀπαραίτητος τὴν ὀργὴν τοῖς πταίουσιν ἦν καὶ ἐπὶ μετρίοις πταίσμασι βαρείας κολάσεις ἀποφαινόμενος. τοιοῦτος μὲν ἦν ὁ Λέων περὶ τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλως προσκεκρουκότας αὐτῷ. Τέως δ' οὖν περὶ τὴν τῶν κοινῶν διοίκησιν οὐ νωθὴς ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ἐγρήγορε καὶ τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας ἀνέστελλε. δεηθέντος γοῦν τινος, ὡς τοῦ γυναίου αὐτοῦ παρά του τῶν τῆς συγκλήτου ἁρπαγέντος, προσθεμένου δὲ καὶ τῷ ἐπάρχῳ προσελθεῖν, μὴ μέντοι τυχεῖν ἐκδικήσεως, ἐπεὶ τὸ ἔγκλημα ἀποδέδεικτο, τὸν ἔπαρχον ἔπαυσεν εὐθὺς τῆς ἀρχῆς, τὸν δὲ τὴν 329 ἁρπαγὴν πλημμελήσαντα ἐξέδοτο νομίμως κολασθησόμενον. ἄρχοντας δὲ καὶ στρατιωτικοὺς καὶ πολιτικοὺς ἀριστίνδην προεχειρίζετο καὶ τὰς τῶν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους ἐθνῶν ἡγεμονίας οὔτε χρημάτων ὠνίους προὐτίθει οὔτε πρὸς χάριν ἐδίδου μὴ πρὸς ἀρχὰς πεφυκόσιν ἀνδράσιν ἢ χρημάτων ἥττοσι καὶ τούτοις προδιδοῦσι τὸ δίκαιον. Μιχαὴλ δὲ ὁ τραυλὸς ὁ ἐξ Ἀμορίου ἐπὶ μέγα τύχης ἀρθείς, πρὸς δὲ ταῖς ἄλλαις κακίαις καὶ γλῶσσαν ἔχων ἀκόλαστον, διεβλήθη τῷ βασιλεῖ ὡς κακὰ κατ' αὐτοῦ βυσσοδομεύων καὶ τεκταινόμενος. καὶ ἡ διαβολὴ πρὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐγένετο, ἐν ᾗ τὴν ἐν σαρκὶ τοῦ κυρίου γένναν ἑορτάζειν ἡ ἐκκλησία παρέλαβεν. αὐτίκα τοίνυν ὁ μὲν συνελήφθη· ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τῶν κατ' αὐτοῦ μηνυθέντων ἐξεταστὴς προεκάθισεν. ἐλέγχεται παρὰ τῶν κατηγορούντων ὁ Μιχαήλ, συντίθεται καὶ αὐτός, κατακρίνεται θάνατον, καὶ θάνατον τὸν διὰ πυρός. ἀπήγετο καυθησόμενος, καὶ τόπος τῆς τιμωρίας ἀφώριστο ἡ τοῦ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις λουτροῦ κάμινος. εἵπετο καὶ ὁ βασιλεύς, ἢ μὴ πιστεύων ἑτέρῳ τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Μιχαὴλ ἐπεξέλευσιν ἢ ἐφηδόμενος τῷ 330 ὀλέθρῳ αὐτοῦ. ἡ δέ γε βασίλισσα τοῦτο γνοῦσα τὴν πρᾶξιν ἐκώλυσε, πῇ μὲν δεομένη τοῦ ξυνευνέτου ὑπερθέσθαι διὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν τοῦ κατακρίτου τὴν κόλασιν, πῇ δὲ καὶ θρασύτερον προσφερομένη αὐτῷ καὶ ἄθεον λέγουσα, ὅτι μὴ ὑποστέλλεται τὴν τοῦ φρικώδους μυστηρίου ἡμέραν τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος γεννήσεως. τούτοις τὸ σκληρὸν ἐκείνου μαλάξασα πέπεικεν ἀνεῖναι τότε τῷ Μιχαὴλ τὴν ἀπώλειαν· ὁ δὲ πρὸς τὴν εὐνέτειραν ἔφη "ἰδοὺ πέπεισμαί σοι, ἀλλά γε σὺ γνώσῃ καὶ τὰ τέκνα τὰ σὰ ὅσα ὑμῖν ἐκ τούτου