works of art in bronze, furniture, rich stuffs in linen,
cotton, wool and silk, cattle and slaves, palaces and farms, formed an
inheritance that enriched even an Emperor of Constantinople. The slaves
of which Emperor Leo became the proprietor were so numerous that he
ordered three thousand to be enfranchised and sent to the _theme_ of
Longobardia (as Apulia was then called), where they were put in
possession of land which they cultivated as serfs. After the payment of
many legacies, and a division of part of the landed property, according
to the disposition of the testament, the emperor remained possessor of
eighty farms or villages."

This narrative furnishes a curious glimpse into the condition of society
in Greece during the latter part of the ninth century, which is the
period when the Greek race began to recover a numerical superiority and
prepare for the consolidation of its political ascendency over the
Slavonian colonists in the Peloponnesus.

It seems almost incredible that such wealth and power could be
concentrated in the hands of one woman; and only when we consider the
grinding poverty of the masses of the population through the extortions
of the rich and the oppressions of the governing classes can we account
for the resources which permitted the lavish luxuries of the
aristocrats.

The fourscore years succeeding the death of Basil the Macedonian were
taken up by the two long reigns of Leo VI.--reputed to be the son of
Basil, but in all probability the son of Michael,--and Leo's son,
Constantine Porphyrogenitus. These years were important for literature,
as both son and grandson of the founder of the dynasty were authors of
renown; but in historical interest and especially as regards the story
of Byzantine womanhood they were the most uneventful and monotonous in
the many centuries of the Empire's existence.

Constantine Porphyrogenitus was the child (by his fourth wife) of Leo's
old age, and was only seven years old when he fell heir to the Empire.
He was brought up under the tutelage of guardians; and so devoted was he
to the composing of books and the painting of pictures, that he was
forty years of age before he assumed entire control of the reins of
government; yet, twenty years of supreme power fell to his lot.

In his works, we have a beautiful picture of his domestic life. We do
not know much of his wife, Helena, but he was devoted to his son Roman
us, a gay, pleasure-loving prince, and to his