idolatry. It may be remarked as a further confirmation of this position that both Leo and his son Constantine opposed Maryolatry.[1]
The execution of Leo's orders met with violent opposition; but as this was combined with resistance to a harsh and burdensome system of taxation, it is difficult to apportion the relative forces of the two influences. There were risings in Italy and in Greece. The imperial fleet in the Cyclades mutinied, and was accompanied by one of the imperial armies in an attack on Constantinople, carrying with it a man named Cosmas, whom the rebels elected emperor. The expedition turned out to be a disastrous failure. Leo defeated the fleet on its approach to Constantinople by means of "Greek Fire." The commander Agallianos plunged fully armed into the sea and was drowned. Cosmas was taken alive and executed. So was another leader. But Leo treated the rest of the insurgents with leniency. His action throughout was milder than that of Constantine, his son and successor.
Writers of later times[2] have charged Leo with one act of inconceivable barbarity. Near the bronze bazaar at Constantinople was an imperial institution consisting of a library and a theological college, presided over by a scholar entitled the "Œcumenical Doctor," with whom twelve learned men were associated for the instruction of the students, the whole body being supported from the public funds. Leo was in the habit of consulting these professors, and he naturally turned to them to join him in his policy of reform. It would have been a great point to have gained a verdict of theological science from such an authority. That however was refused him. Then, according to the incredible story of the later writers, the emperor had faggots heaped against the building, set them on fire, and so burnt the library and with it the "Œcumenical Doctor" and his twelve colleagues. No contemporary writer mentions any such atrocity. Theophanes
- ↑ For proofs see authorities cited in Bury, op. cit. vol. ii. p. 428, note 1.
- ↑ e.g. Zonaras and George the Sinner.
