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they ascended to the throne, not having managed the public and common affairs well, but having squandered some things on their own pleasures and on the building of monasteries, and having given other things to whomever they happened upon or for a time to whomever they wished, the imperial treasuries had been emptied and the public offices were lacking in funds. Komnenos, therefore, having set himself to correct this, did not undertake the correction gently or little by little, but just as he had himself depicted on the stater with hand outstretched, holding a naked sword, so he brought himself to bear upon affairs and was prepared to cut away the swellings at once, not to soften or apply poultices to the festering sores. Wherefore, from the moment he ascended to power and transformed his former tyranny into a lawful rule, retracing his steps he overturned the actions of his predecessor, and if that man had gifted anything to anyone, he took it away and deprived the recipients; but also many acts of those before him he abrogated and annulled, and he did these things not only to the common people, but did not even spare the members of the senate. Then, 668 proceeding, he also went against what was divine and curtailed many of the things consecrated to the monasteries built by them, or rather, by subjecting those practicing in them to audits and assigning them sufficient expense, the rest he confiscated for the public treasury and took back, and each day he introduced one such innovation after another. Hence he was hated by all, by the common multitude and by the senatorial council, and indeed also by the military; for he did not hold back from that either, but also reduced their revenues, and more than the others, those who passed their lives in monasteries. But nothing diverted him from his undertakings: not reason, not fear, not hatred, not blame; so exalted was his spirit and he possessed a swollen soul. But the patriarch was no less proud than he. He therefore wished to command him, and if ever he failed in his requests, he grew angry and threatened and rebuked; then, as one who had himself bestowed the empire upon him, he himself threatened to take it away from him again. The emperor was not going to bear these things meekly; therefore he took care 669 to act before he suffered anything. So when the patriarch had gone away to his own monastery, as the festival of the heavenly powers honored in it was at hand, so that he might celebrate more splendidly, the emperor sent a military force there (for he did not want to remove the man from the Sophia, the Wisdom of God, lest a disturbance arise among the clergy or the people), and he sends both him and his nephews who were with him into exile. Then he also made it his concern to subject him to deposition and for this purpose used some of the high priests as collaborators, and through them he made known to the man to renounce his pastorate, so that he might seem to be resigning it voluntarily, since if not, he would be deprived of it even unwillingly, with accusations being brought forward against him in public. But since that man was not yielding to the will of the emperor, the emperor was concerned with his deposition. But death anticipated, solving the concern about the patriarch. For after a little while the patriarch departed from here, and someone brought the good news of his death to Komnenos, as freeing him from his cares. But he 670 immediately repented and cried aloud, and having brought his corpse from exile with an honorable escort, he deposited it in his monastery and restored his nephews again to their former honors. And he appointed as his successor in the church Constantine Leichoudes, the proedros and protovestiarios, a man who for a long time had distinguished himself in the administrations of public affairs and had remained beyond reproach, to whom Monomachos had assigned the care of the Mangana and entrusted the documents concerning their freedom. Komnenos, wishing to bring these under his own control, devised a certain scheme full of wickedness and the offspring of a malevolent mind. For since Leichoudes had been both elected and designated, and had already been ordained a priest, he informs him through secret messages that certain things were being said against him

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βασιλείας ἐπέβησαν, οὐ καλῶς χρησαμένων τοῖς δημοσίοις καὶ κοινοῖς πράγμασιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν εἰς οἰκείας ἀπολαύσεις καὶ εἰς ἀσκητηρίων κατασπαθησάντων οἰκοδομάς, τὰ δὲ δωρουμένων οἷς ἔτυχεν ἢ τέως οἷσπερ ἐβούλοντο, οἱ βασιλικοὶ θησαυροὶ ἐκκεκένωντο καὶ τὰ δημόσια πρυτανεῖα χρημάτων ἐσπάνιζον. τοῦτο τοίνυν ὁ Κομνηνὸς προθέμενος διορθώσασθαι, οὐκ ἠρέμα οὐδὲ κατὰ βραχὺ τῇ διορθώσει ἐπικεχείρηκεν, ἀλλ' ὡς τῷ στατῆρι ἑαυτὸν ἀνεστήλωσεν ἀνατεταμένον τὴν χεῖρα, φέρουσαν τὸ ξίφος γυμνόν, οὕτω καὶ τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐπήνεγκεν ἑαυτὸν καὶ τέμνειν αὐτίκα παρεσκεύαστο τὰ οἰδήματα, ἀλλ' οὐ μαλάσσειν οὐδ' ἐμπλάττειν τὰ ὕπουλα. ὅθεν οὐδ' ἐξ οὗπερ τοῦ κράτους ἐπέβη καὶ εἰς ἔννομον ἀρχὴν τὴν πρὶν αὐτοῦ τυραννίδα μετήνεγκεν, ἀναποδίσας τὴν τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ πρᾶξιν ἀνέτρεψε καὶ εἴ τι ἐκεῖνός τισιν ἐδωρήσατο, ἀφῃρεῖτο καὶ ἀπεστέρει τοὺς εἰληφότας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πρὸ ἐκείνου πολλὰ καθῄρησε καὶ ἠθέτησε, καὶ οὐ μόνον ταῦτα πρὸς τὸ δημῶδες ἐποίει, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν τῆς γερουσίας ἐφείδετο. εἶτα 668 προβαίνων καὶ κατὰ τοῦ θείου ἐχώρησε καὶ πολλὰ τῶν τοῖς παρ' ἐκείνων δομηθεῖσι φροντιστηρίοις ἀφιερωμένων ἠκρωτηρίασεν, ἢ μᾶλλον ἐκλογισμοῖς ὑποβάλλων τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀσκουμένους καὶ τὴν ἀποχρῶσαν αὐτοῖς δαπάνην ἀπονέμων τὰ λοιπὰ τῷ δημοσίῳ ἀφωσίου καὶ ἀνελάμβανε καὶ ἄλλο ἐπ' ἄλλῳ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐνεώχμου τοιοῦτον. ἐντεῦθεν ἅπασι μισητὸς ἦν τῷ τε δημοτικῷ πλήθει τῇ τε συγκλήτῳ βουλῇ, ἀλλὰ μέντοι καὶ τῷ στρατιωτικῷ· οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδ' ἐκείνου ἀπείχετο, ἀλλὰ κἀκείνοις ἀπεμείου τὰς εὐπορίας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μᾶλλον τοῖς ἐν σεμνείοις τὴν ζωὴν διανύουσι. τὸν δὲ οὐδὲν ἀπῆγε τῶν ἐγχειρήσεων, οὐ λόγος, οὐ δέος, οὐ μῖσος, οὐ ψόγος· οὕτως ἐπῆρτο τὸ φρόνημα καὶ οἰδῶσαν ἐκέκτητο τὴν ψυχήν. Ἀλλ' οὐδ' ὁ πατριάρχης ἧττον ἐκείνου πεφρονημάτιστο. ἤθελεν οὖν ἐπιτάσσειν αὐτῷ, καὶ εἴ ποτε πρὸς τὰ αἰτούμενα ἀπετύγχανεν, ὁ δὲ ἐδυσχέραινε καὶ ἠπείλει καὶ ἐπετίμα, εἶτα καὶ ὡς αὐτὸς αὐτῷ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀπονενεμηκώς, αὐτὸς καὶ ἀφελέσθαι ταύτην αὐτὸν εἰσαῦθις ἠπείλησε. ταῦτα οὐκ ἦν οἴσειν τὸν βασιλέα ἐπιεικῶς· διὸ καὶ δρᾶσαι πρίν τι πάθοι προεμηθεύ669 σατο. τοῦ γοῦν πατριάρχου εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀπελθόντος μονήν, ἤδη τῆς πανηγύρεως ἐφεστώσης τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ τιμωμένων οὐρανίων δυνάμεων, ἵν' ἑορτάσῃ λαμπρότερον, πέμψας ἐκεῖ χεῖρα στρατιωτικὴν ὁ κρατῶν (οὐ γὰρ ἤθελεν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου Σοφίας τὸν ἄνδρα καταγαγεῖν, ἵνα μὴ παρὰ τῷ κλήρῳ ἢ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ θόρυβος γένηται), ἐκεῖνόν τε καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνου ἀνεψιοὺς συνόντας αὐτῷ ὑπερορίους ποιεῖ. εἶτα καὶ καθαιρέσει ὑποβαλεῖν αὐτὸν διὰ φροντίδος ἐτίθετο καί τισι τῶν ἀρχιερέων συνεργοῖς πρὸς τοῦτο ἐκέχρητο δηλοῖ τε δι' αὐτῶν τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἀπείπασθαι τὴν ποιμαντικήν, ἵν' ἑκὼν δοκῇ αὐτὴν παραιτεῖσθαι, ὡς εἰ μὴ τοῦτο, καὶ ἄκων αὐτὴν ἀφαιρεθήσεται, εἰς μέσον κατ' αὐτοῦ προτιθεμένων αἰτιαμάτων. ὡς δ' ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἦν ὑπείκων τῷ τοῦ βασιλέως θελήματι, φροντὶς ἦν τῷ κρατοῦντι περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ καθαιρέσεως. ἀλλ' ἔφθη λύσας τὴν φροντίδα τοῦ πατριάρχου ὁ θάνατος. μετ' ὀλίγον γὰρ μεθίσταται τῶν ἐνθένδε ὁ πατριάρχης, καί τις τῷ Κομνηνῷ τὴν ἐκείνου εὐηγγελίσατο τελευτήν, ὡς φροντίδων αὐτὸν ἀπαλλάττουσαν. ὁ δ' 670 εὐθὺς μετεγνώκει καὶ ἀνωλόλυξε καὶ τὸν ἐκείνου νεκρὸν μετ' ἐντίμου τῆς προπομπῆς ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας ἀναγαγὼν εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ μονὴν ἐναπέθετο καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνου ἀδελφιδοὺς αὖθις ἀποκατέστησε πρὸς τὰς πρότερον τιμάς. τῇ δ' ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸν πρόεδρον καὶ πρωτοβεστιάριον Κωνσταντῖνον τὸν Λειχούδην ἀντικατέστησεν, ἄνδρα ταῖς τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων ἐπὶ μακρὸν ἐμπρέψαντα διοικήσεσι καὶ ἀνέγκλητον διαμείναντα, ᾧπερ ὁ Μονομάχος καὶ τὴν τῶν Μαγγάνων ἀνέθετο πρόνοιαν καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας αὐτῶν ἐνεπίστευσεν ἔγγραφα. ἅπερ ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ὁ Κομνηνὸς ἐθέλων ποιήσασθαι σκέμμα τι μηχανᾶται πονηρίας ἀνάμεστον καὶ τόκον νοὸς κακοδαίμονος. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὁ Λειχούδης ἐψήφιστό τε καὶ προκεχείριστο καὶ ἱερεὺς ἤδη κεχειροτόνητο, δι' ἀπορρήτων αὐτῷ μηνύει λέγεσθαί τινα κατ' αὐτοῦ