er 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 splendor of his virtues. Perhaps his profusion was less useful
to the state than the avarice of Nicephorus; but his gentle and generous
behavior 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 valor and activity were signalized 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
savior of the empire, and conqueror of the East. In his last return from
Syria, he observed that the most fruitful lands of his new provinces
were possessed by the eunuchs. "And is it for them," he exclaimed, with
honest indignation, "that we have fought and conquered? Is it for them
that we shed our blood, and exhaust the treasures of our people?" The
complaint was reechoed to the palace, and the death of Zimisces is
strongly marked with the suspicion of poison.

[Footnote 1016: According to Leo Diaconus, Zimisces, after ordering the
wounded emperor to be dragged to his feet, and heaping him with insult,
to which the miserable man only replied by invoking the name of
the "mother of God," with his own hand plucked his beard, while his
accomplices beat out his teeth with the hilts of their swords, and then
trampling him to the ground, drove his sword into his skull. Leo Diac,
in Niebuhr Byz. Hist. l vii. c. 8. p. 88.--M.]

Under this usurpation, or regency, of twelve years, the two lawful
emperors, Basil and Constantine, had silently grown to the age of
manhood. Their tender years had been incapable of dominion: the
respectful modesty of their attendance and salutation was due to the age
and merit o