ssion. The association of the young Constantine was urged by the
officious zeal of his subjects; and the emperor, conscious of his decay,
complied, after a prudent hesitation, with their unanimous wishes. The
royal infant, at the age of five years, was crowned with his mother
Irene; and the national consent was ratified by every circumstance of
pomp and solemnity, that could dazzle the eyes or bind the conscience
of the Greeks. An oath of fidelity was administered in the palace, the
church, and the hippodrome, to the several orders of the state, who
adjured the holy names of the Son, and mother of God. "Be witness, O
Christ! that we will watch over the safety of Constantine the son of
Leo, expose our lives in his service, and bear true allegiance to his
person and posterity." They pledged their faith on the wood of the true
cross, and the act of their engagement was deposited on the altar of St.
Sophia. The first to swear, and the first to violate their oath, were
the five sons of Copronymus by a second marriage; and the story of these
princes is singular and tragic. The right of primogeniture excluded them
from the throne; the injustice of their elder brother defrauded them
of a legacy of about two millions sterling; some vain titles were
not deemed a sufficient compensation for wealth and power; and they
repeatedly conspired against their nephew, before and after the death
of his father. Their first attempt was pardoned; for the second offence
[1118] they were condemned to the ecclesiastical state; and for the
third treason, Nicephorus, the eldest and most guilty, was deprived of
his eyes, and his four brothers, Christopher, Nicetas, Anthemeus, and
Eudoxas, were punished, as a milder sentence, by the amputation of their
tongues. After five years' confinement, they escaped to the church
of St. Sophia, and displayed a pathetic spectacle to the people.
"Countrymen and Christians," cried Nicephorus for himself and his mute
brethren, "behold the sons of your emperor, if you can still recognize
our features in this miserable state. A life, an imperfect life, is all
that the malice of our enemies has spared. It is now threatened, and we
now throw ourselves on your compassion." The rising murmur might have
produced a revolution, had it not been checked by the presence of a
minister, who soothed the unhappy princes with flattery and hope, and
gently drew them from the sanctuary to the palace. They were speedily
embarked for Gree