With all his defects, Nicephorus was one of the most virtuous men and conscientious sovereigns that ever occupied the throne of Constantinople. Though born of one of the noblest and wealthiest families of the Eastern Empire, and sure of obtaining the highest offices at a proud and luxurious court, he chose a life of hardship in pursuit of military glory; and a contemporary historian, Leo Diaconus,[o] who wrote after his family had been ruined by proscription and his name had become odious, observes, that no one had ever seen him indulge in revelry or debauchery even in his youth.[n]
Among the warriors who promoted his elevation, and served under his standard, a noble and valiant Armenian had deserved and obtained the most eminent rewards. The stature of Joannes Zimisces was below the ordinary standard; but this diminutive body was endowed with strength, beauty, and the soul of a hero. By the jealousy of the emperor’s brother, he was degraded from the office of general of the East, to that of director of the posts, and his murmurs were chastised with disgrace and exile. But Zimisces was ranked among the numerous lovers of the empress. On her intercession he was permitted to reside at Chalcedon, in the neighbourhood of the capital; her bounty was repaid in his clandestine and amorous visits to the palace; and Theophano consented with alacrity to the death of an ugly and penurious husband. Some bold and trusty conspirators were concealed in her most private chambers; in the darkness of a winter night Zimisces, with his principal companions, embarked in a small boat, traversed the Bosporus, landed at the palace stairs, and silently ascended a ladder of ropes, which was cast down by the female attendants. Neither his own suspicions, nor the warnings of his friends, nor the tardy aid of his brother Leo, nor the fortress which he had erected in the palace, could protect Nicephorus from a domestic foe, at whose voice every door was opened to the assassins. As he slept on a bearskin on the ground, he was roused by their noisy intrusion, and thirty daggers glittered before his eyes.
It is doubtful whether Zimisces imbrued his hands in the blood of his sovereign; but he enjoyed the inhuman spectacle of revenge. The murder was protracted by insult and cruelty; and as soon as the head of Nicephorus was shown from the window, the tumult was hushed, and the Armenian was emperor of the East. On the day of his coronation, he was stopped on the threshold of St. Sophia by the intrepid patriarch; who charged his conscience with the deed of treason and blood; and required, as a sign of repentance, that he should separate himself from his more criminal associate. This sally of apostolical zeal was not offensive to the prince, since he could neither love nor trust a woman who had repeatedly violated the most sacred obligations; and Theophano, instead of sharing his imperial fortune, was dismissed with ignominy from his bed and palace.
In their last interview, she displayed a frantic and impotent rage; accused the ingratitude of her lover; assaulted with words and blows her son Basil, as he stood silent and submissive in the presence of a superior colleague; and avowed her own prostitution in proclaiming the illegitimacy of his birth. The public indignation was appeased by her exile and the punishment of the meaner accomplices; the death of an unpopular prince was forgiven; and the guilt of Zimisces was forgotten in the splendour of his virtues. Perhaps his profusion was less useful to the state than the avarice of Nicephorus; but his gentle and generous behaviour delighted all who approached his person; and it was only in the paths of victory that he trod in the footsteps of his predecessor. The greatest part of his reign was employed in the camp and the field. His personal valour and activity were signalised on the Danube and the Tigris, the ancient boundaries of the Roman world; and by his double triumph over the Russians and the Saracens, he deserved the titles of saviour of the empire and conqueror of the East.[g]
FOOTNOTES
[42] [Isauria is an obsolete name referring to a district in Asia Minor bounded by Cilicia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Pisidia. The region was cold and rugged and the Isaurians accordingly independent and fond of raids. In 75 B.C., the Roman proconsul, P. Servilius, brought them to terms and received the epithet Isauricus, but the Romans were eventually glad to grant them freedom in return for peace. Justinian claimed to have subdued them. Two emperors came from Isauria, Zeno (474-495) and the epoch-making Leo.
Hertzberg[b] says that Leo was called Isaurian “probably from the nativity of his parents,” and thinks he was “born about 675 at Germanicia, on the borders of Cappadocia, Armenia, and Syria,” whence he was taken to Mesembria in Thrace by his parents after the Arab invasion. K. Schenk,[c] however, says, “I employ the epithet consecrated by the error of centuries, although Leo was sprung from Germanicia, and therefore is a Syrian.” Gelzer[d] accordingly calls Leo “the Syrian (Isaurian) emperor.” He calls the accession of Leo “a moment of true world-historical meaning.”]
[43] [Clinton[e] says, “The empire of Rome, properly so called, ends at 476 A.D.,” which is the third year of Zeno. Numismatists, like Saulcy,[f] place the commencement of the Byzantine Empire in the reign of Anastasius I. Gibbon[g] tells us, “Tiberius by the Arabs, and Maurice by the Italians, are distinguished as the first of the Greek Cæsars, as the founders of a new dynasty and empire. The silent revolution was accomplished before the death of Heraclius.” Bury,[h] on the other hand, vehemently denies the justice of using the word “Byzantine” at all, saying “no Byzantine Empire ever began to exist; the Roman Empire did not come to an end until 1453.” He accordingly clings to the expression “Later Roman Empire.” None the less, since Finlay[i] finds the word Byzantine a convenient term and places its proper beginning here, and since so many other historians old and new have given the word authority, it may well be allowed to stand.]
[44] Theodosius ended his life at Ephesus, where he was buried in the church of St. Philip. He ordered that his tombstone should bear no inscription but the word ΥΓΕΙΑ (Health).
[45] [This was in August, 717, according to western authorities, though the Arabs set it in 716.]