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he cooperated against us with the ungrateful. And that one should especially marvel at their stupidity and folly, if after so many proofs of his goodwill towards the empress and the children, they still think duplicitously about him and dispute whether he will remain benevolent to them until the end. For that he displays his generosity in great matters, and has been generous in a way that none of the former emperors of the Romans had ever been before, and that for this reason those attached to the empress are not able to consider it trustworthy, is not at all unlikely. For which of the previous emperors dared this, that after the defeat of their rivals and after bringing the entire dominion under their own power, to again choose as co-rulers those who had formerly been emperors; or rather, if one must speak the truth, to assign the greater part of the rule to them, as though he would manage affairs for a certain time, while for them the rule would remain even for the succession of their children? Certainly no one. The reason is that for them nothing else was of concern than to transfer 3.45 the rule from others to themselves, and they cared for nothing else, but for him it was not so, but rather his concern from the beginning was to appear as a savior and guardian of the children of the emperor his friend, and to be seen doing nothing unworthy of his friendship towards him, even after his death, and that his later coming to the throne was not of his own choice, nor from a desire for imperial honor—for it was possible for him to enjoy equal status while remaining in his position—but from necessity, since the civil war had already been set in motion. For it was not possible to be saved otherwise, having been thus condemned to death in absentia. Therefore, he said it was not at all surprising if they disbelieved such great things, but it was just to accuse them if, even after the clear outcome of events, they still thought he was ill-disposed towards the empress and the children. For if he had such an intention, he would not have let the opportunity pass, when he held Byzantium by force, having taken it by arms, and the empress with her children was besieged in the palace, and there was no help from anywhere, and there was a complete lack of necessities, and her companions were plotting against her, and everything was altogether in dire straits; and it would have been enough for him just to nod for all to be utterly destroyed. But if at that time, when he could do everything easily, he wished not for what was most pleasant but rather for what was best, and he gave oaths for amnesty for the evils, with no necessity compelling him, and gave his daughter to the young emperor and did everything, such an excess as not even one of those contemplating the height of good sense would have 3.46 hoped for, what reason is there now to be suspicious and think that he will ever be found wicked towards the emperor his son-in-law, and is this not the very height of folly? “These things, then,” he said, “are a refutation of their ingratitude and a defense to you against your demand. For what you are considering is neither just nor otherwise possible. For it is possible neither to kill the emperor my son-in-law, nor to deprive him of the empire together with his marriage to my daughter. Nor is it just to accuse the empress his mother for things of which she was not aware, but I wish all to show them all goodwill and respect, as is fitting for sovereigns. But as for those ungrateful men who contrived the plot, I will demand from them the penalties they deserve for their perjury.” The emperor, then, said such things to those in authority, who hoped that he would be moved to act maliciously towards the empress and the emperor his son-in-law. But when they realized they were attempting the impossible and, as the saying goes, shooting arrows into the sky, they despaired of persuading him and went to the Empress Irene, thinking they would overcome her and persuade her to heed them, as men advising what was expedient. But when she too answered with similar or even harsher defenses, and ordered them to cease trying to involve the Romans in great calamities again, as if ashamed of the refutations, some of them fell completely silent, 3.47 but some of them, whose life was full of turmoil and commotion, after being quiet for a short while, then persuaded Matthew the emperor's son, Didymoteichon and Adrianople and the areas around them

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εἰς ἡμᾶς συνέπραττεν ἀγνωμονοῦσι. μάλιστα δὲ ἐκείνων τὴν ἀβελτηρίαν καὶ τὴν ἄνοιαν θαυμάζειν, εἰ μετὰ τοσαύτας ἀποδείξεις τῆς εἰς βασιλίδα εὐνοίας καὶ τοὺς παῖδας, ἔτι διπλᾶ περὶ αὐτοῦ λογίζονται καὶ ἀμφισβητοῦσιν, εἰ διὰ τέλους εὐμενὴς αὐτοῖς μενεῖ. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐν μεγάλοις αὐτὸν τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, καὶ οἷα οὔπω πρότερον τοῖς Ῥωμαίων βεβασιλευκόσιν οὐδέσιν ἐφιλοτιμήθη, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τοὺς βασιλίδι προσκειμένους μὴ δύνασθαι πιστὰ ἡγεῖσθαι, οὐδὲν ἀπεικός. τίνι γὰρ τῶν προτέρων τοῦτο βασιλέων ἐτολμήθη, ὥστε μετὰ τὴν τῶν ἀντιπάλων ἧτταν καὶ τὸ πᾶσαν ὑφ' ἑαυτοὺς ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, αὖθις συνάρχοντας αἱρεῖσθαι τοὺς προτέρους βασιλεύοντας· μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ δεῖ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, τὸ πλέον προσνέμειν τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκείνοις, οἷα δὴ ἐκείνου μὲν ἐπὶ χρόνον τινὰ τοῖς πράγμασι χρησομένου, ἐκείνοις δὲ καὶ πρὸς παίδων διαδοχὴν μενούσης τῆς ἀρχῆς; πάντως οὐδενί. τὸ δὲ αἴτιον, ὅτι ἐκείνοις μὲν οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐσπουδάζετο, ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρων εἰς ἑαυτοὺς μετάγειν 3.45 τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἑτέρου δὲ ἔμελεν οὐδενὸς, ἐκείνῳ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἐξαρχῆς εἶναι σπουδαζόμενον, σωτῆρα καὶ κηδεμόνα φαίνεσθαι τῶν βασιλέως τοῦ φίλου παίδων καὶ μηδὲν ἀνάξιον τῆς εἰς ἐκεῖνον φιλίας ὁρᾶσθαι ποιοῦντα καὶ μετὰ τελευτὴν, τὸ δ' ὕστερον ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν, οὐ προαιρέσεως ἰδίας εἶναι, οὐδ' ἐπιθυμίας τιμῆς βασιλικῆς, τὴν ἴσην γὰρ ἐξῆν καρποῦσθαι μένοντα καὶ ἐπὶ σχήματος, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀνάγκης, ἤδη τοῦ ἐμφυλίου πολέμου κεκινημένου. σώζεσθαι γὰρ ἑτέρως οὐκ ἐνῆν, οὕτω καταψηφισθέντα τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον ἐρήμην. οὐδὲν μὲν οὖν θαυμαστὸν ἔφασκεν, εἰ καὶ ἐκεῖνοι τοῖς οὕτω μεγάλοις ἀπιστοῦσιν, ἐκεῖνο δὲ δίκαιον αὐτῶν κατηγορεῖν, εἰ καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐναργῆ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔκβασιν ἔτι δυσνοεῖν αὐτὸν περὶ βασιλίδα καὶ τοὺς παῖδας οἴονται. εἰ γὰρ τοιαύτην εἶχε γνώμην, οὐκ ἂν προήκατο τὸν καιρὸν, ἡνίκα Βυζαντίου μὲν ἐκράτει βίᾳ, ἑλὼν τοῖς ὅπλοις, βασιλὶς δὲ μετὰ τῶν παίδων ἐν βασιλείοις ἐπολιορκεῖτο, ἐπικουρία δὲ οὐδαμόθεν ἦν, ἀπορία δὲ τῶν ἀναγκαίων παντελὴς, καὶ οἱ συνόντες ἐπεβούλευον, καὶ κομιδῇ πάντα ἦσαν ἐν στενῷ· νεῦσαι δὲ ἐξήρκει μόνον καὶ πάντας ἄρδην ἀπολέσθαι. εἰ δὲ τότε πάντα πράττειν ἔχων εὐχερῶς, οὐ τὰ ἥδιστα μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ βέλτιστα ἠθέλησε, καὶ ὅρκους παρέσχετο ἐπ' ἀμνηστίᾳ τῶν κακῶν, ἀνάγκης οὐδεμιᾶς ὑπούσης, καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα ἐξέδωκε τῷ νέῳ βασιλεῖ καὶ πάντα ἔπραξεν, ὅσα οὐδ' ἂν εἷς τῶν ἄκραν εὐγνωμοσύνης ἐννοούντων ἤλ 3.46 πισεν ὑπερβολὴν, τίν' ἔχει λόγον ὑποπτεύειν νῦν καὶ νομίζειν, ὀφθήσεσθαί ποτε κακὸν περὶ βασιλέα τὸν γαμβρὸν, ἀλλ' οὐδεμίαν ἀπολείπειν ἀνοίας ὑπερβολήν; «ταῦτα μὲν οὖν» ἔφασκεν «ἐκείνοις τε ἔλεγχος πρὸς τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην καὶ ὑμῖν πρὸς τὴν ἀξίωσιν ἀπολογία. οὐ γὰρ δίκαια οὐδὲ ἄλλως ἐννοεῖσθε δυνατά. βασιλέα γὰρ τὸν ἐμὸν γαμβρὸν οὔτε ἀποκτείνειν δυνατὸν, οὔτ' ἀποστερεῖν τῆς βασιλείας μετὰ τῆς θυγατρὸς τὸν γάμον. οὔτε μὴν βασιλίδι τῇ μητρὶ δίκαιον ἐγκαλεῖν ἐφ' οἷς οὐδὲν συνῄδει, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν αὐτοῖς προσάγειν βούλομαι πάντας, καὶ τὴν εὔνοιαν καὶ τὴν αἰδῶ, καθὼς προσήκει βασιλεῦσι. τοὺς δ' ἀγνωμονήσαντας ἐκείνους καὶ ῥάψαντας τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ἐγὼ τὰς ἀξίας τῆς ἐπιορκίας ἀπαιτήσω δίκας.» ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς τοιαῦτα τοῖς ἐν τέλει διειλέχθη, ἐφ' οἷς ἤλπιζον αὐτὸν ἐξορμήσειν ἐπὶ τὸ κακῶς περὶ βασιλίδα διατίθεσθαι καὶ βασιλέα τὸν γαμβρόν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκεῖνοι ἔγνωσαν ἀνηνύτοις ἐπιχειροῦντες καὶ, τὸ λεγόμενον, τοξεύοντες εἰς οὐρανὸν, ἀπογνόντες τὸ ἐκεῖνον μεταπείθειν, ἐπὶ βασιλίδα ἐχώρουν τὴν Εἰρήνην, οἰόμενοι περιγενήσεσθαι ἐκείνης καὶ πείσειν αὐτοῖς προσέχειν, ὡς λυσιτελῆ βουλευομένοις. ὡς δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ ταῖς ἴσαις ἢ καὶ αὐστηροτέραις ἠμείβετο ἀπολογίαις, καὶ παύεσθαι ἐκέλευε μεγάλαις αὖθις συμφοραῖς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἐπιχειροῦντας περιβάλλειν, ὥσπερ τοὺς ἐλέγχους αἰσχυνθέντες, οἱ μὲν καὶ παντελῶς ἡσύχασαν, 3.47 ἔνιοι δὲ αὐτῶν, ὅσοις ὁ βίος ταραχῆς ἀνάπλεως καὶ θορυβώδης ἦν, ἡσυχάσαντες ἐπὶ μικρὸν, ἔπειτα Ματθαῖον ἔπεισαν τὸν βασιλέως υἱὸν, ∆ιδυμότειχον καὶ τὴν Ἀδριανοῦ καὶ τὰς περὶ αὐτὰ