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the clergy of Constantinople, threatening deposition against those who disobeyed. And she called John to make his defense; and with him she ordered Sarapion and Tigrius the presbyter and Paul the reader to be present. 8.17.8 But John sent some other of his suitable clergy and Demetrius, the bishop of Pessinus, to them, saying that he did not refuse judgment; but he was ready, if he first learned who his accusers were and examined the indictment, to defend himself before a greater synod; for he would not choose to endure anything foolish and to tolerate judges who were manifest 8.17. enemies. When they grew angry at him as one disobedient to the synod, those who had brought this message were afraid and did not return, but Demetrius and as many as preferred John’s company returned to him. On that very day, a courier and a shorthand writer arrived from the palace, urging him to come to the bishops, and urging them 8.17.10 not to delay in the judgment. And when, having been summoned four times, he appealed to an ecumenical synod, accusing him of nothing else except that when summoned he had not obeyed, they deposed him. 8.18.1 When the populace in Constantinople learned of these things late in the afternoon, it was moved to sedition; and running together to the church at dawn, they cried out many other things and that a greater synod ought to take cognizance of his case. And when those commanded by the emperor urged that he be led away into exile, 8.18.2 they did not allow it. But he, fearing that some other charge might be fabricated against him for disobeying the emperor or for stirring up the people, on the third day after his deposition, when the crowd had dispersed around noon, secretly left the church. And as he was now being led away, the people rioted violently, reviling the emperor and the synod, and especially Theophilus and Severian; for both 8.18.3 were leaders of the plot. And Severian, teaching at that time in the church, praised the deposition of John as having been carried out against an arrogant man, even if there were no other accusation; ‘For other sins,’ he said, ‘the Divine forgives men, but it opposes the proud.’ 8.18.4 At these words the multitude was indignant, renewed its anger, and rioted uncontrollably, and would not endure to be quiet either in the churches or in the marketplaces; at the same time with shouts and wailings they went even to the palace itself, begging 8.18.5 for John's recall. Giving way to the supplications of the people, the empress persuaded her husband to consent; and quickly sending Brison, a faithful eunuch of her court, she brought John back from Praenetus in Bithynia, declaring that he was innocent of the things plotted against him and that she held him in reverence 8.18.6 as a priest and spiritual guide of her children. But he, upon returning, stayed in a suburb of the empress herself, near the Anaplus; and before the judgment of a greater synod, so that it might be clear that he had been unjustly deprived of the episcopate, he for the time being refused entry into the city. But when the people again became indignant and 8.18.7 reviled the rulers, he was forced to enter. And the people, meeting him with psalms composed for the occasion (and most of them carried lighted wax candles), led him to the church. And as he was refusing and insisting many times that it was first necessary for those who had voted against him to vote to acquit him again, as is lawful for priests, they forced him to pronounce the peace to the people and to sit on the episcopal throne. And being forced, he also delivered an extemporaneous 8.18.8 discourse. And taking his starting points from a most graceful image, he intimated that Theophilus had attempted to insult the church under him, as the king of the Egyptians did the wife of the patriarch Abraham, as the books of the Hebrews record; and having praised the people, as was fitting, for their zeal, and the rulers for their good will toward him, he moved the multitude to much applause and praise of the emperor and his wife, so that he even left his speech half-finished. 8.1.1 But Theophilus, being at a loss what to do in the present circumstances, did not dare, although

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Κωνσταντινουπόλεως κληρικούς, καθαίρεσιν ἀπειλήσασα κατὰ τῶν ἀπειθούντων. ἐκάλεσε δὲ καὶ ᾿Ιωάννην εἰς ἀπολογίαν· σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ παρεῖναι προσέταξε Σαραπίωνα καὶ Τίγριον πρεσβύ8.17.8 τερον καὶ Παῦλον ἀναγνώστην. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιωάννης ἄλλους τέ τινας τῶν ἐπιτηδείων αὐτῷ κληρικῶν καὶ ∆ημήτριον τὸν Πισινοῦντος ἐπίσκοπον πέμψας πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔλεγε μὴ ἀποφεύγειν τὴν κρίσιν· ἕτοιμος δὲ εἶναι, εἰ πρότερον μάθοι τοὺς κατηγόρους καὶ τὴν γραφὴν ἐπισκέψαιτο, ἐπὶ μείζονος ἀπολογεῖσθαι συνόδου· μὴ γὰρ αἱρεῖσθαι ἀνόητόν τι ὑπομένειν καὶ περιφανῶν ἐχ8.17. θρῶν ἀνέχεσθαι δικαστῶν. ὡς ἀπειθοῦντος δὲ συνόδῳ χαλεπαινόντων αὐτῶν, οἱ μὲν τῶν τάδε ἀγγειλάντων δείσαντες οὐκέτι ἀνέστρεφον, ∆ημήτριος δὲ καὶ ὅσοι τὴν ᾿Ιωάννου προετίμων συνουσίαν ὡς αὐτὸν ἐπανῆλθον. κατ' αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν ταχυδρόμος καὶ ταχυγράφος ἐκ τῶν βασιλείων παραγενόμενοι τὸν μὲν κατήπειγον πρὸς τοὺς ἐπισκόπους ἐλθεῖν, τοὺς δὲ 8.17.10 μὴ μέλλειν περὶ τὴν κρίσιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τετράκις κληθεὶς οἰκουμενικὴν ἐπεκαλεῖτο σύνοδον, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐπαιτιώμενοι, πλὴν ὅτι κληθεὶς οὐχ ὑπήκουσε, καθεῖλον αὐτόν. 8.18.1 Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ὡς τάδε ἔγνω ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν πρὸς στάσιν κεκίνητο· καὶ συνδραμόντες ἕωθεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἄλλα τε πολλὰ ἀνέκραγον καὶ ὡς δέοι μείζονα σύνοδον περὶ αὐτοῦ διαλαβεῖν. κατεπειγόντων τε τῶν ἐκ βασιλέως προστεταγμένων εἰς ὑπερορίαν αὐτὸν ἀπάγειν 8.18.2 οὐ συνεχώρουν. ὁ δὲ δείσας, μή τι ἕτερον αὐτῷ ἔγκλημα πλακείη ὡς βασιλεῖ ἀπειθοῦντι ἢ τὸν δῆμον ταράττοντι, ἡμέρᾳ τρίτῃ μετὰ τὴν καθαίρεσιν διασπαρέντος τοῦ πλήθους περὶ μεσημβρίαν λαθὼν ἀπέλιπε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. ἤδη δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀπαγομένου χαλεπῶς ὁ λαὸς ἐστασίαζε, βασιλέα τε καὶ τὴν σύνοδον καὶ μάλιστα Θεόφιλον καὶ Σευηριανὸν ἐλοιδόρουν· ἄμφω μὲν 8.18.3 γὰρ ἀρχηγὼ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἤστην. ὁ δὲ Σευηριανὸς καὶ ἐπὶ ἐκκλησίας τότε διδάσκων ἐπῄνεσε τὴν ᾿Ιωάννου καθαίρεσιν ὡς κατὰ ἀλαζόνος, εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἦν ἕτερον ἔγκλημα, γεγενημένην· «τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα», ἔφη, «ἁμαρτήματα συγχωρεῖ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸ θεῖον, ὑπερηφάνοις δὲ ἀντιτάσσεται.» 8.18.4 ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ ἐνεμέσησε τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀνενέου καὶ ἀσχέτως ἐστασίαζε, καὶ οὔτε ἐν ἐκκλησίαις οὔτε ἐν ἀγοραῖς ἠρεμεῖν ἠνείχετο· ἅμα δὲ ὀλολυγῇ καὶ ὀδυρμοῖς μέχρι καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν βασιλείων προϊόντες ἐδέοντο 8.18.5 περὶ τῆς ᾿Ιωάννου ἀνακλήσεως. εἴξασα δὲ ταῖς ἱκεσίαις τοῦ δήμου ἡ βασιλὶς πείθει τὸν ἄνδρα ἐπινεῦσαι· ἐν τάχει τε Βρίσωνα τῶν ἀμφ' αὐτὴν πιστὸν εὐνοῦχον πέμψασα, ἐκ Πραινέτου τῆς Βιθυνίας ᾿Ιωάννην ἐπανήγαγεν, ἀθῷον εἶναι τῶν κατ' αὐτοῦ βεβουλευμένων δηλώσασα καὶ δι' αἰδοῦς αὐτὸν 8.18.6 ἔχειν ὡς ἱερέα καὶ μυσταγωγὸν τῶν αὐτῆς παίδων. ὁ δὲ ἐπανελθὼν ἐν προαστείῳ αὐτῆς τῆς βασιλίδος περὶ τὸν ᾿Ανάπλουν διέτριβεν· καὶ πρὸ κρίσεως μείζονος συνόδου, ἵν' εἴη δῆλον ὡς ἀδίκως ἀφῃρέθη τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς, παρῃτεῖτο τέως τὴν εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἴσοδον. ἐπεὶ δὲ πάλιν ὁ λαὸς ἠγανάκτει καὶ 8.18.7 τοὺς κρατοῦντας ἐλοιδόρει, βιασθεὶς εἰσῆλθεν. ἐν ψαλμῳδίαις δὲ πρὸς τὸ συμβὰν πεποιημέναις ὑπαντήσας ὁ δῆμος (ἔφερον δὲ κηροὺς ἡμμένους οἱ πλείους) ἄγουσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. παραιτούμενόν τε καὶ πολλάκις ἰσχυριζόμενον χρῆναι πρότερον τοὺς καταψηφισαμένους αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἀποψηφίσασθαι, ὡς ἱερεῦσι θέμις ἠνάγκασαν τὴν εἰρήνην τῷ λαῷ προσειπεῖν καὶ εἰς τὸν ἐπισκοπικὸν καθῖσαι θρόνον. ἀναγκασθεὶς δὲ καὶ σχέ8.18.8 διόν τινα διεξῆλθε λόγον. ἐκ χαριεστάτης δὲ εἰκόνος τὰς ἀφορμὰς λαβὼν ὑπεδήλου Θεόφιλον μὲν ἐνυβρίσαι τὴν ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιχειρῆσαι ὡς τὸν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα τὴν ᾿Αβραὰμ τοῦ πατριάρχου γαμετήν, ὡς αἱ τῶν ῾Εβραίων ἱστοροῦσι βίβλοι· τὸν δὲ λαὸν ὡς εἰκὸς ἐπαινέσας τῆς προθυμίας καὶ τοὺς κρατοῦντας τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν εὐνοίας εἰς πολλοὺς κρότους καὶ εὐφημίαν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ γαμετῆς τὸ πλῆθος ἐκίνησεν, ὡς καὶ ἡμιτελῆ καταλιπεῖν τὸν λόγον. 8.1.1 Θεόφιλος δὲ ἀπορῶν ὅ τι χρήσαιτο τοῖς παροῦσιν οὐκ ἐθάρρει, καίπερ