OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 189 murmur might have produced a revolution, had it not been checked by the presence of a minister, who soothed the un- happy princes with flattery and hope, and gently drew them from the sanctuary to the palace. They were speedily em- barked for Greece, and Athens was allotted for the place of their exile. In this calm retreat, and in their helpless con- dition, Nicephorus and his brothers were tormented by the thirst of power, and tempted by a Sclavonian chief, who offered to break their prison and to lead them in arms, and in the purple, to the gates of Constantinople. But the Athenian people, ever zealous in the cause of Irene, prevented their justice or cruelty ; and the five sons of Copronymus were plunged in eternal darkness and oblivion. For himself, that emperor had chosen a barbarian wife, the constantine dauffhter of the khan of the Chozars ; but in the marriage of irene. a.d. Ill ^ 1 » 1 • • • 1 L 80' S^P*- 8 his heir he preierred an Athenian virgin, an orphan, seventeen years old, whose sole fortune must have consisted in her personal accomplishments. The nuptials of Leo and Irene were cele- brated with royal pomp ; she soon acquired the love and con- fidence of a feeble husband ; and in his testament he declared the empress guardian of the Roman world, and of their son Constantine the Sixth, who was no more than ten years of age. During his childhood, Irene most ably and assiduously dis- charged, in her public administration, the duties of a faithful mother ; and her zeal in the restoration of images -^ has deserved the name and honours of a saint, which she still occupies in the Greek calendar. But the emperor attained the maturity of youth ; the maternal yoke became more grievous ; and he listened to the favourites of his own age, who shared his pleasures, and were ambitious of sharing his power. Their reasons convinced him of his right, their praises of his ability, to reign ; and he consented to reward the services of Irene by a perpetual banishment to the isle of Sicily. But her vigilance and penetration easily disconcerted their rash projects ; a simi- lar or more severe punishment was retaliated on themselves and their advisers ; and Irene inflicted on the ungrateful prince the chastisement of a boy. After this contest, the mother and the son were at the head of two domestic factions ; and, instead of mild influence and voluntary obedience, she held in chains a captive and an enemy. The empress was overthrown by the abuse of victory ; the oath of fidelity, which she exacted to 21 [See below, p. 276.]
