184 THE DECLINE AND FALL Zeuxippus ; and, returning to the palace, entertained his nobles with a sumptuous banquet. At the meridian hour he with- drew to his chamber, intoxicated with flattery and wine, and forgetful that his example had made every subject ambitious and that every ambitious subject was his secret enemy. Some bold conspirators introduced themselves in the disorder of the feast ; and the slumbering monarch was surprised, bound, blinded, and deposed, before he was sensible of his danger. Anastasius Yet the traitors were deprived of their reward ; and the free "nnfi"" ^^' voice of the senate and people promoted Artemius from the office of secretary to that of emperor: he assumed the title of Anas- tasius the Second, and displayed in a short and troubled reign the virtues both of peace and war. But, after the extinction of the Imperial line, the rule of obedience was violated, and every change diffused the seeds of new revolutions. In a mutiny of the fleet, an obscure and reluctant officer of the revenue was forcibly invested with the purple ; after some months of a naval war, Anastasius resigned the sceptre ; ^^ and the conqueror, Theodosins Thcodosius the Third, submitted in his turn to the superior ^u^' ^"' ascendant of Leo, the general and emperor of the Oriental troops. His two predecessors were permitted to embrace the ecclesiastical profession ; the restless impatience of Anastasius tempted him to risk and to lose his life in a treasonable enter- prise ; but the last days of Theodosius were honourable and secure. The single sublime word, "health," which he in- scribed on his tomb, expresses the confidence of philosophy or religion ; and the fame of his miracles was long preserved among the people of Ephesus. This convenient shelter of the church might sometimes impose a lesson of clemency; but it may be questioned whether it is for the public interest to diminish the perils of unsuccessful ambition. Leo m. the I have dwelt on the fall of a tyrant ; I shall briefly represent Ajx^lf; the founder of a new dynasty, who is known to posterity by the invectives of his enemies, and whose public and private life is involved in the ecclesiastical story of the Iconoclasts, Yet in spite of the clamours of superstition, a favourable preju- dice for the character of Leo the I saurian may be reasonably drawn from the obscurity of his birth and the duration of his reign. 1^ — I. In an age of manly spirit, the prospect of an 15 [Anastasius was making preparations for an attack on the Saracens by sea. His fall was due to the mutiny of the troops of the Opsikian Theme, whose officers he had punished for the part they had played in the deposition of Philippicus.] I [For the acts of Leo III., see also c. liii. (Saracen siege of Constantinople) ; and c. xlix. (iconoclasm) ; for his legal work, see Appendix ii. For chronology, cp. Appendix lo.] March 25
