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of Alexander, the imperial power passed to Constantine the son of Leo, who was in his seventh year, he being under the guardians enumerated above. Therefore Nicholas the patriarch, having taken power, since he himself was also a guardian, together with the others, was steering the affairs of state. While matters were thus, and the empire, as we have said, was being governed by the guardians, Constantine the son of Andronikos Doukas, being domestic of the schools and possessing very great power, was incited by letters from his friends and relatives in the capital city, who had written that the empire was headless and being badly managed, and was in danger of falling into dire peril, and summoning him as a man of sense and courage and the only one able to govern worthily the renowned empire of the Romans, adding that both the senate and the common people welcomed him, and urging him to arrive as quickly as possible, with the connivance, as they say, of the patriarch Nicholas too and his approval of what was written, because Alexander’s will had not yet been read nor had it become known to him that he himself had been written as a guardian of the child, Artabasdos having acted as an intermediary in this and on account of this later became first among the priests of the great church. And Artabasdos was the father of Andreas 2.279 who shone in the art of painting. And Constantine, who had previously dreamed of the empire and was always longing for it, and having his mind turned never elsewhere but to such an ambition, having received the letters, was quickly persuaded and quickly reached the capital city, having with him the elite of the armies. And in the dead of night, having entered through the postern gate of Michael the protovestiarios, which was near the acropolis, he arrived at the house of the magistros Gregoras Iberitzes (for Gregoras was Constantine’s father-in-law), where he spent the night with those who were with him. But Niketas the asekretis, having learned of Constantine's arrival, quickly reported it to the patrician Constantine Eladikos, who was a monk, and having taken him, they went to the Doukas during the same night.

And having made a plan, before daybreak, with torches and many people and a crowd, seizing the gate of the hippodrome they acclaimed Constantine as emperor. But as those inside were holding out strongly and not opening the gates, Constantine's protostrator, priding himself on his courage and attempting to open the gates more violently, or rather to say more rashly, was speared by one of those inside through the crack of the doors. And he died immediately, but Constantine, having been repulsed from there and being possessed by the love of empire as if by some intoxication and not having his reason steady, departed from there and went to the hippodrome, taking the slaughter of his protostrator as a bad omen, but nevertheless not desisting from what he had resolved. 2.280 Being acclaimed there, therefore, he seized the so-called Chalke, and entering through it, he reached as far as the quarters of the Exkoubitoi. But the magistros John Eladas, being one of the guardians, having made a selection of the elatai and the hetaireiai as the occasion allowed, and having armed each one as he was able with whatever weapon, sent them against Doukas; who, reaching them, engaged with those around him, and there was great slaughter on both sides. Gregoras the son of Doukas also fell, and Michael his nephew, and Kourtikios the Armenian. These things filled Constantine with no small confusion. Therefore, hastening to reinforce his own side, spurring his horse he hurried to join those in front. But the horse, slipping on the paving stones there, threw its rider to the ground, and someone, finding him thrown on the ground and alone (for all the others had been scattered), with a sword cut off his

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ξάνδρου εἰς Κωνσταντῖνον τὸν υἱὸν Λέοντος, ἕβδομον τῆς ἡλι κίας ἄγοντα ἔτος, τὸ βασίλειον περιελήλυθε κράτος, ὑπὸ ἐπιτρόπους τελοῦντα τοὺς ἄνωθεν ἠριθμημένους. λαβόμενος οὖν τῆς ἐξουσίας Νικόλαος ὁ πατριάρχης ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπίτροπος ὤν, συνάμα τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἐπηδαλιούχει τὰ τοῦ κοινοῦ. τῶν δὲ πραγμά των οὕτως ἐχόντων, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας, ὡς εἴπομεν, παρὰ τῶν ἐπιτρόπων ἰθυνομένης, Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ τοῦ ∆ουκὸς Ἀνδρονίκου υἱός, δομέστικος τῶν σχολῶν τυγχάνων καὶ δυναστείαν περιβε βλημένος μεγίστην, γράμμασι τῶν ἐν τῇ βασιλίδι φίλων καὶ συγ γενῶν αὐτοῦ παρακινηθείς, γεγραφότων ἀκέφαλον εἶναι τὴν βασι λείαν καὶ κακῶς διεξάγεσθαι καὶ μικρὸν ὅσον κινδυνεύειν ὀλεθρίῳ κινδύνῳ ὑποπεσεῖν, αὐτόν τε ἀνακαλουμένων ὡς ἐχέφρονα καὶ ἀνδρεῖον καὶ μόνον δυνάμενον ἐπαξίως κυβερνῆσαι τὴν περιβόητον τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχήν, προσθεμένων δ' ὅτι καὶ ἡ σύγκλητος αὐτὸν ἀσπάζεται καὶ ὁ πολιτικὸς ὄχλος, καὶ ἐπισπευδόντων ὡς τάχος καταλαβεῖν, συνειδότος, ὥς φασι, καὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου Νικολάου καὶ τοῖς γραφεῖσι συνευδοκοῦντος διὰ τὸ μήπω τὰς διαθήκας Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀναγνωσθῆναι μηδὲ γνωσθῆναι αὐτῷ ὡς ἐπίτροπος γέγραπται καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ παιδός, Ἀρταβάσδου πρὸς τοῦτο διακο νήσαντος καὶ παρὰ τοῦτο πρώτου τῶν ἱερέων τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλη σίας μετέπειτα γενομένου. πατὴρ δ' ὁ Ἀρτάβασδος ἦν Ἀνδρέου 2.279 τοῦ ἐπὶ ζωγραφικῇ τέχνῃ λάμψαντος. ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ καὶ πρότερον ὀνειροπολῶν τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ διὰ παντὸς αὐτῆς ἐφιέ μενος, καὶ μηδέποτε ἄλλοσέ πη ἀλλ' ἢ πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην ὄρεξιν τετραμμένον ἔχων τὸν νοῦν, δεξάμενος τὰ γράμματα ταχύ τε ἐπείσθη καὶ ταχὺ τὴν βασιλίδα κατέλαβεν, ἑπομένους ἔχων τοὺς τῶν στρατευμάτων ἐκκρίτους. καὶ τῶν νυκτῶν ἀωρὶ διὰ πυλίδος εἰσελθὼν τοῦ πρωτοβεστιαρίου Μιχαήλ, πλησίον οὔσης τῆς ἀκρο πόλεως, ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ μαγίστρου Γρηγορᾶ τοῦ Ἰβηρίτζη (πεν θερὸς δὲ ὁ Γρηγορᾶς τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου) παρεγένετο, ἐν ᾗ δια νυκτερεύων μετὰ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ διετέλει. Νικήτας δὲ ἀσηκρῆτις τὴν ἔλευσιν αἰσθόμενος τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου τῷ πατρικίῳ Κωνσταν τίνῳ τῷ Ἐλαδικῷ τυγχάνοντι μοναχῷ θᾶττον ἐμήνυσε, καὶ παρει ληφὼς αὐτὸν κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν νύκτα πεφοιτήκασι πρὸς τὸν ∆οῦκα.

Βουλὴν δὲ ποιησάμενοι, μήπω τῆς ἡμέρας καταλαμπούσης, μετὰ λαμπάδων καὶ λαοῦ πολλοῦ καὶ ὄχλου τὴν τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου πύλην καταλαμβάνοντες Κωνσταντῖνον ἀνευφήμουν αὐτοκράτορα. τῶν δὲ ἔνδον εὐσθενῶς ἀντεχομένων καὶ μὴ ἀνοιγνύντων τὰς πύλας, ὁ τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου πρωτοστράτωρ, ἐπ' ἀνδρίᾳ μέγα φρονῶν καὶ βιαιότερον ἢ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν ἀτακτότερον τῇ ἀνοίξει ἐπιχειρῶν τῶν πυλῶν, λογχεύεται παρά τινος τῶν εἴσω διὰ τῆς ἁρμογῆς τῶν θυρῶν. καὶ θνήσκει μὲν οὗτος εὐθύς, ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ ἀποκρουσθεὶς ἐκεῖθεν καὶ τῷ τῆς βασιλείας ἔρωτι οἷά τινι μέθῃ κάτοχος ὢν καὶ μὴ καθεστῶτας ἔχων τοὺς λογισμούς, ἄρας ἐκεῖ θεν εἰς τὸ ἱπποδρόμιον παραγίνεται, κακὸν οἰωνὸν τὴν τοῦ πρω τοστράτορος ἔχων σφαγήν, ὅμως δὲ τῶν δεδογμένων οὐκ ἀφιστά 2.280 μενος. ἐκεῖθεν οὖν εὐφημούμενος κατέλαβε τὴν λεγομένην Χαλ κῆν, καὶ δι' αὐτῆς εἰσελθὼν ἔφθασεν ἄχρι τῶν ἐξκουβίτων. ὁ δὲ μάγιστρος Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἐλαδᾶς, εἷς ὑπάρχων τῶν ἐπιτρόπων, ἐκλογὴν ὡς ὁ καιρὸς ἐδίδου τῶν ἐλατῶν καὶ τῶν ἑταιρειῶν ποιη σάμενος, καὶ καθοπλίσας ὅπως ποτὲ ἕκαστος ἅρματος ηὐπόρει, ἀπέστειλε κατὰ τοῦ ∆ούκα· οἵτινες φθάσαντες τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν συμπλέκονται, καὶ γίνεται φόνος πολὺς ἑκατέρωθεν. ἔπεσε δὲ καὶ Γρηγορᾶς ὁ τοῦ ∆ουκὸς υἱὸς καὶ Μιχαὴλ ὁ ἀνεψιὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ Κουρτίκιος ὁ Ἀρμένιος. ταῦτα ταραχῆς οὐ μικρᾶς τὸν Κων σταντῖνον ἐμπίμπλησι. σπεύδων οὖν ἐπιρρῶσαι τὸ ἑαυτοῦ μέρος, τὸν ἵππον ἐλάσας ἠπείγετο συμμῖξαι τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν. ὁ δ' ἵππος ταῖς ἐκεῖσε ὑπεστρωμέναις κατολισθήσας πλαξὶν εἰς γῆν τὸν ἐπι βάτην κατέβαλε, καί τις αὐτὸν κατὰ γῆς ἐρριμμένον καὶ μεμονω μένον καταλαβὼν (οἱ γὰρ ἄλλοι διεσκεδάσθησαν ἅπαντες) ξίφει τὴν τούτου ἀπέτεμε