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the multitude is won over by demagoguery and is bound to goodwill and loyalty; and wishing to make the bond of goodwill greater and more unbreakable, and having put forth a document secured with frightful oaths and the most blood-guilty curses, that they would never name Comnenus as emperor or lord or offer him the honor befitting an emperor, he forced each of the senators to sign it and to ratify what was written. And indeed all, obeying the authority while Comnenus was still far away, signed; but when he approached a place called Almeas, and was about to stay the next day in the palaces of Damatrys, suddenly gathering around the great church of God about the time of early dawn the magistros [and] Michael the son of Anastasius, the patrician Theodore Chryselios, the 2.635 patrician Christopher Pyrros, all the commanders of the hetaireiai, and some others of lesser note, shouted from below for the patriarch to come down to them as they were about to bring questions to him concerning necessary matters. But when he was not persuaded to come down, but had closed his own doors and the entrance of the labyrinth leading up to the upper parts of the church, and had sent to them Nicephorus and Constantine, full brothers and his own nephews, and was ordering the questions to be brought to him through them, those who had assembled, having also taken on another no small crowd (for, as the rumor had already spread, they were running together in a mass, not only those who rejoice in revolutions, but also no few of the more prudent men and a multitude of the senators, as many as had not been sufficiently favored by the emperor) surrounding the patriarch's nephews, threatened to strangle them, if he himself did not come down to them more quickly. And he, whether unwillingly, I do not know, or willingly, as the report of the majority had it, having put on the priestly double-folded robe and taken up the other insignia of the high-priesthood, comes down feigning reluctance and appearing to be suffering dreadfully; but all these things were a stage-play, as events showed. For as soon as he came down, the instigators of the crowd took him, and bringing a throne, they seat him on the right side of the holy bema. And first, as if in pretense, perhaps, they beseeched him to become an ambassador to the emperor, 2.636 so that the document signed by them might be returned to them, since the emperor had already made a truce with Comnenus and proclaimed him emperor. For with the document remaining unbroken, they said that one of two absurdities would necessarily follow: for either by acclaiming him as emperor they would commit perjury, or as having insulted an emperor they would be punished. And he at first reassured them, and promised to fulfill their request. Then, after a short time had passed, letting go of all else they proclaim Comnenus autocrat and emperor, and those who did not want this they called enemies of the Romans and apostates, and they approved for their houses to be plundered by the crowd, with the patriarch himself being the first, being present and consenting through Stephen, the second-in-command of the church, and with Theodore, the patriarch of Antioch, shouting the proclamation of the acclamation, and urging them to tear down and plunder the houses of those in high positions, as many as were not pleased with what was happening. And these things he did from within the divine and renowned temple; and having sent a messenger to Comnenus, and others to the old man, he announces to the former to hurry and not delay, and demanded a reward for his cooperation as his desire had already reached its end, and to the latter to come down from the palaces as they in no way belonged to him. And from this the patriarch appeared to all 2.637 without excuse to be not only a participant but also the prime mover of the rebellion. And when he asked the metropolitans who had been sent to him, "And what does the patriarch offer me in exchange for the empire?" and they answered, "the heavenly kingdom," with the word

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καταδημαγωγεῖται τὸ πλῆθος καὶ πρὸς εὔ νοιαν δεσμεῖται καὶ πίστιν· μείζονα δὲ καὶ ἀρρηκτότερον τὸν δε σμὸν τῆς εὐνοίας ποιῆσαι βουλόμενος, καὶ γραμματεῖον ἐκθέμενος ὅρκοις φρικτοῖς καὶ ἀραῖς παλαμναιοτάταις κατησφαλισμένον, ὡς οὐδέποτε βασιλέα ἢ δεσπότην τὸν Κομνηνὸν ὀνομάσουσιν ἢ τὴν βασιλεῖ πρέπουσαν τιμὴν αὐτῷ προσοίσουσιν, ἕκαστον τῶν συγ κλητικῶν ἠνάγκαζεν ὑπογράφειν ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ γεγραμμένα κυ ροῦν. καὶ πάντες μὲν τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ πειθαρχοῦντες ἔτι πόρρω τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ διάγοντος ὑπέγραψαν· ὡς δὲ ἐκεῖνος ἤγγισεν εἴς τι χω ρίον Ἀλμέας λεγόμενον, ἔμελλε δὲ τῇ ἐπαύριον ἐν τοῖς παλατίοις αὐλίζεσθαι τοῦ ∆αματρύος, αἰφνίδιον περιστάντες περὶ τὸ περί ορθρον τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ μεγάλῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ ὁ μάγιστρος [καὶ] Μιχαὴλ ὁ τοῦ Ἀναστασίου υἱός, ὁ πατρίκιος Θεόδωρος ὁ Χρυσήλιος, ὁ 2.635 πατρίκιος Χριστοφόρος ὁ Πυρρός, οἱ τῶν ἑταιρειῶν πάντες ἄρχον τες, καί τινες ἄλλοι τῶν ἀφανεστέρων, κάτωθεν ἔκραζον κατελ θεῖν πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸν πατριάρχην ὡς μέλλοντες περὶ ἀναγκαίων αὐτῷ πεύσεις προσενεγκεῖν. τοῦ δὲ μὴ καταβῆναι πεισθέντος, ἀλλ' ἀποκλείσαντος τὰς ἑαυτοῦ θύρας καὶ τὴν εἴσοδον τοῦ ἀνά γοντος εἰς τὰ ὑπερῶα τῆς ἐκκλησίας λαβυρίνθου, πεπομφότος δὲ πρὸς τούτους Νικηφόρον καὶ Κωνσταντῖνον τοὺς αὐταδέλφους καὶ ἰδίους ἀνεψιούς, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τὰς πεύσεις προσενεχθῆναί οἱ κελεύοντος, οἱ συνελθόντες καὶ ἄλλο πλῆθος προσλαβόμενοι οὐκ ὀλίγον (ἤδη γὰρ τῆς φήμης διαδοθείσης συνέτρεχον πανσυδί, οὐ μόνον οἱ τοῖς νεωτερισμοῖς ἐπιχαίροντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν συνετωτέ ρων οὐκ ὀλίγοι καὶ τῶν συγκλητικῶν πλῆθος, ὅσοι μὴ ἱκανῶς παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐθεραπεύθησαν) περισχόντες τοὺς τοῦ πατρι άρχου ἀνεψιοὺς ἀπάγξειν ἠπείλουν, εἰ μὴ τάχιον αὐτὸς καταβαίη πρὸς τούτους. ὁ δὲ εἴτε ἄκων, οὐκ οἶδα, εἴθ' ἑκών, ὡς ὁ τῶν πλειόνων εἶχε λόγος, τὴν ἱερατικὴν περιθέμενος διπλοΐδα καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ παράσημα τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης ἀναλαβὼν κάτεισιν ἀκκιζόμε νος καὶ δεινὰ πάσχοντι ἐοικώς· ἦσαν δὲ ταῦτα πάντα σκηνή, ὡς τὰ πράγματα ἔδειξαν. κατελθόντα γὰρ ἐκεῖνον εὐθέως οἱ ἀνάπται τοῦ πλήθους παρειληφότες, καὶ θρόνον ἐνεγκόντες, ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ μέρους καθίζουσι τοῦ ἁγίου βήματος. καὶ πρῶτον μέν, ὡς ἐν προσχήματι τάχα, πρεσβευτὴν αὐτὸν παρεκάλουν ὡς βασιλέα γε 2.636 νέσθαι, ὅπως ἀποδοθείη αὐτοῖς τὸ ὑπογραφὲν παρ' αὐτῶν ἔγ γραφον, ὡς ἤδη τοῦ βασιλέως σπεισαμένου τῷ Κομνηνῷ καὶ βασι λέα ἀνειπόντος αὐτόν. τοῦ γὰρ ἐγγράφου σωζομένου ἀδιαρρή κτου, δυοῖν ἀτόποιν θάτερον ἔφασκον ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἕψεσθαι· ἢ γὰρ εὐφημήσαντες αὐτὸν ὡς βασιλέα ἐπιορκήσουσιν, ἢ ὡς ἐνυβρίσαν τες εἰς βασιλέα κολασθήσονται. ὁ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἀνελάμβανεν αὐτούς, καὶ πληρώσειν τὸ αἴτημα τούτων κατεπηγγέλλετο. εἶτα μικροῦ διαλιπόντος καιροῦ πάντων ἀφέμενοι αὐτοκράτορα βασιλέα ἀναγορεύουσι τὸν Κομνηνόν, καὶ τοὺς ὅσοι μὴ τοῦτο βούλονται ἐχθροὺς Ῥωμαίων καὶ ἀποστάτας ὠνόμαζον, καὶ διαρπάζεσθαι τὰς οἰκίας αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ἐδοκίμαζον, αὐτοῦ τοῦ πατρι άρχου πρώτου διὰ τοῦ τῆς ἐκκλησίας δευτερεύοντος Στεφάνου συμπαρόντος καὶ συνευδοκοῦντος, καὶ Θεοδώρου τοῦ Ἀντιοχείας πατριάρχου τὴν ἀνάρρησιν τῆς εὐφημίας βοήσαντος, καὶ τοὺς οἴκους τῶν ἐν ὑπεροχαῖς, ὅσοι μὴ ἠρέσκοντο τοῖς γινομένοις, ἀνασκάπτειν καὶ διαρπάζειν προτρέποντος. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἔπραττεν ἔσωθεν τοῦ θείου καὶ περιωνύμου ναοῦ· ἄγγελον δὲ πρὸς τὸν Κομνηνὸν πέμψας, καὶ πρὸς τὸν γέροντα ἄλλους, ἐκείνῳ μὲν μηνύει σπεύδειν καὶ μὴ βραδύνειν, καὶ μισθὸν ἀπῄτει τῆς συνεργίας ὡς ἤδη τέλος ἐχούσης τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐφέσεως, τούτῳ δὲ κατιέναι τῶν ἀνακτόρων κατ' οὐδὲν αὐτῷ προσηκόντων. κἀκ τούτου τοῖς 2.637 πᾶσιν ἀπροφάσιστος ἐφάνη ὁ πατριάρχης μὴ μόνον μέτοχος ὢν ἀλλὰ καὶ πρωταίτιος τῆς ἀποστασίας. τοῦ δὲ τοὺς πεμφθέντας εἰς αὐτὸν μητροπολίτας ἐρωτήσαντος "καὶ τί μοι ἀντὶ τῆς βασιλείας ὁ πατριάρχης παρέχεται;" ἐκείνων δὲ ἀποκριναμένων "τὴν οὐράνιον βασιλείαν," ἅμα τῷ λόγῳ