322 The Eastern Empire. R O 
quickly defeating the usurper, caused his head to be exposed 
in the hippodrome. 
Constantine returned in triumph to his capital, and 
the appearance of his beard having taken place during the 
Sicilian voyage, he obtained the familiar appellation of 
Pogonatus, by which he is distinguished in history from 
others of the same name. 
In this emperor’s reign, and forty-six years after the flight 
from Mecca, the disciples of Mahomet appeared under the 
walls of Constantinople. The prophet had asserted, that the 
sins of the first army which besieged the city, should be for¬ 
given; and the caliph Moawiyah was impatient by this 
meritorious expedition to expiate the guilt of civil blood. 
His standard was entrusted to Sophian, a veteran warrior; 
and the troops were animated by the presence of Yezid, the 
son and presumptive heir of the commander of the faithful. 
The fleet of the Saracens passed through the unguarded 
channel of the Hellespont, and the troops were disembarked 
near the palace of Hebdomon, seven miles from the city. 
They approached with confidence of success: but the solid 
and lofty walls of Constantinople were guarded by numbers 
of well-disciplined troops; and the Arabs were dismayed by 
the strange and prodigious effects of that famous Greek-fire 
which so long maintained the empire and rivalled, if not sur¬ 
passed, the modern discovery of gunpowder. This unex¬ 
pected resistance diverted their arms to the more easy spoil 
of the adjacent country; and on the approach of winter, 
they retreated to the isle of Cyzicus, fourscore miles from the 
capital, where they had established their magazines of plun¬ 
der and provisions. Reiterated defeats could not overcome 
their patient perseverance: they repeated the six following- 
summers the same attack and retreat, till the gradual loss of 
thirty thousand Moslems compelled them to relinquish the 
fruitless enterprise. 
The event of the siege raised the reputation of the Roman 
arms: the Greek ambassadors were favourably received at 
Damascus; a truce of thirty years was concluded between 
the two empires; and the commander of the faithful 
was reduced to submit to the annual tribute of fifty horses, 
fifty slaves, and three thousand pieces of gold. During the 
revolt of Arabia and Persia, the tribute was afterwards very 
considerably increased; but no sooner had Abdamalek 
reunited the empire, than he disdained the badge of 
servitude, and discontinued the tribute, which the future 
emperors of the East were unable to enforce. 
Though success had attended Pogonatus against the Maho¬ 
metans, his reign was disturbed by fraternal discord. On 
his two brothers Heraclius and Tiberius, he had bestowed 
the title of Augustus; but not satisfied with this, they 
demanded also a partition of the sovereignty. Their adhe¬ 
rents were punished, and the ungrateful brothers were par¬ 
doned ; but a repetition of the same offence deprived the 
princes of their titles and their noses. 
Towards the close of his life, Pogonatus was anxious to 
establish the right of primogeniture, which, in the succession 
of princes, has averted so much misery and prevented so 
many crimes. On the shrine of St. Peter he offered the hair 
of his two sons, Justinian and Heraclius, as a symbol of 
their spiritual adoption by the pope; but the elder was alone 
exalted to the rank of Augustus and the assurance of the 
empire. After a just and pious reign of seventeen years, 
Pogonatus died of a decline, and was succeeded by his son, 
Justinian the second. 
This prince, who ascended the throne in the seventeenth 
year of his age, by his youthful vices disgraced the name of 
the celebrated legislator, which he bore. For ten years he 
enjoyed the sufferings and braved the revenge of his subjects : 
his conduct was a tissue of inconsistencies, and his life was 
exposed to every vicissitude of fortune. He marched against 
the Bulgarians, and was put to flight; he compelled the 
Sclavonians to retreat before him ; and, in his turn, himself 
fled before the Saracens. He knew he was detested by the 
people for his cruel and "haughty government; and that he 
might avenge himself on them, and shew how well their 
M E. The Eastern Empire. 
enmity was deserved, he ordered a general massacre of the 
inhabitants of Constantinople to take place in the night. 
Leontius, a general of reputation, who had formerly com¬ 
manded the troops of the East, after lying three years in 
prison, was set at liberty, and had received as an atone¬ 
ment for his captivity the government of Greece. He was 
just about to set off for his new appointment, and observed 
with a sigh, that death would attend his footsteps ; when his 
friends exhorted him to deliver the city from the calamities 
with which it was menaced, assuring him that two hundred 
thousand patriots expected only the voice of a leader. Leon¬ 
tius, therefore, putting himself at the head of the troops 
confided to him for the purpose of his government, pro¬ 
ceeded directly to the palace, forced open the prisons, and 
slew the prsefect. Justinian himself was dragged into the 
hippodrome,, where the clamours of the people demanded 
his instant death; but the pity of Leontius preserved the son 
of his benefactor: the amputation of his nose was rather 
attempted than effectually performed ; and he was banished to 
the lonely settlement of Chersonse in Crim Tartary. 
The patriarch immediately proclaimed Leontius, and 
seated him on the imperial throne. His reign, however, wag 
of short duration ; for one of his generals, Apsimar by name, 
who afterwards adopted that of Tiberius, conspiring against 
him, deposed Leontius, cut off his nose, and banished him 
to a monastery in Dalmatia. 
Tiberius gained important advantages over the Saracens, 
and might have reigned in peace, had he not regarded with 
terror the exiled Justinian, and in consequence made an 
attempt on his life. From the dangerous shore to which he 
had been banished, with a band of desperate followers, the 
royal fugitive escaped to the horde of the Chozars, who had 
pitched their tents between the Tanais and the Borysthenes. 
The khan received him with respect, and bestowed on him 
his sister Theodora, with some revenues to subsist on. But 
the barbarian being soon tempted by the gold of Constanti¬ 
nople, meditated to assassinate Justinian, and probably 
would have effected his purpose, had it not been betrayed 
by the affection of Theodora. The son of Pogonatus being 
thus prepared, strangled the emissaries of the khan with his 
own hands, sent back Theodora to her brother, and em¬ 
barked on the Euxine, in search of new allies. His vessel 
was assaulted by a violent tempest; and one of his more 
pious companions exhorted him to deserve the mercy of God 
by a vow of forgiveness, in case he should be restored to the 
throne. “ Of forgiveness!” replied the undaunted tyrant; 
“may I perish this instant—may the Almighty whelm me 
in the waves, if I consent to spare a single head of my ene¬ 
mies !” He landed at the mouth of the Danube; retired to 
the Bulgarians ; and purchased by splendid promises the aid 
of Terbelis, a pagan prince. The two confederates besieged 
Constantinople with sixteen thousand horse. Apsimar was 
daunted by the sudden appearance of his rival: the mis¬ 
fortunes of their hereditary sovereign excited the pity of the 
multitude, and made them forget his crimes; and Justinian 
was once more seated on the throne of the Caesars. 
The restored monarch first took care to reward his ally 
Terbelis, and then to gratify his vengeance, which he had 
nourished even amidst the storms of the Euxine. So vindic¬ 
tive was his rage, and so barbarous his disposition, that he 
stood an hour on the necks of Leontius and Apsimar, before 
he suffered their execution to proceed. During the six years 
of' his new reign, the rack, the axe, and the cord, were in¬ 
cessantly employed. The inhabitants of the Chersonese were 
peculiarly destined to feel his vengeance, for not having paid 
the respect due to him when in exile, as well as from a sus¬ 
picion he entertained of their having had an intention of 
delivering him up to Tiberius. These were ordered by the 
inhuman tyrant to be indiscriminately massacred ; and the 
messengers of blood were forbidden, on pain of the imperial 
displeasure, to leave even a child alive. The difficulty of 
fulfilling this dreadful command, and the fear of being 
punished for not complying with it, induced the soldiers to 
proclaim their general Philippicus. The tyrant, deserted by 
