330 The Eastern Empire, ROME. The Eastern Empire, 
Even the sincerity of his moral and religious virtues seems to 
have been suspected by those who had the best opportunities 
of appreciating his character, from familiar intercourse. 
When pressed by his wife Irene and his daughter'Anna, in 
his last hours, to alter the succession in favour of his son-in- 
law Bryennius, he breathed a pious ejaculation on the vanity 
of the world, but remained firm to the interest of his son 
John; on which the indignant empress replied, “You die as 
you have lived,—an hypocrite,” 
John, the elder son of Alexius, succeeded to the throne, 
A. D.1118; and in him the claims of primogeniture and merit 
were happily united. His younger brother Isaac was content 
with the title ofSebastocrator, which approached the dignity, 
without encroaching on the powers of the emperor. Feared 
byhisnobles, and beloved by his people, John abolished the 
penalty of death in all judicial proceedings; and by his virtues 
seemed to revive the character of Marcus Antonius. His only 
defect, and it was enough to tarnish the lustre of all his other 
good qualities, was an inordinate love of arms,which the no¬ 
blest minds, however, indulge without reflecting on its fatal 
consequences. He was frequently engaged with the Turks, 
Scythians, Servians, and Huns; and made himself master of 
the kingdom of Armenia. From Constantinople to Antioch 
and Aleppo, he frequently marched at the head of a victo¬ 
rious army : and the Latins were astonished at the superior 
spirit and prowess of a Greek. As hq waspreparing for new 
conquests, in hunting a wild boar, a poisoned arrow from his 
quiver wounded his hand, and proved fatal to the best and 
greatest of the Conmenian princes, in the twenty-fifth year of 
his reign. 
John left two sons, Isaac and Manuel, but his impartial 
judgment decided in favour of the youngest, Manuel, and 
his choice was ratified by the approbation of the soldiers. 
Isaac soon acquiesced in the determination, and acquired the 
title ofSebastocrator. 
The long reign of Manuel was filled by a perpetual warfare 
against the Turks, the Christians, and the hordes of the desert 
beyond the Danube ; of which different details have already 
been given in another part of this work. 
Manuel had a cousin named Andronicus, who made a remark • 
able figure at this time. He was dexterous in the use of 
arms, incapable of fear, and possessed of a ready eloquence. 
In his youth, as he followed the retreat of the Roman army, 
he was surprised by the Turks, and remained some time in the 
power of the sultan. Both his virtues and his vices recom¬ 
mended him to the partial affections of his cousin ; he shared 
his perils and participated in his pleasures; and while the em 
peror lived in public incest with his niece Theodora, the regard 
of his sister Eudocia was enjoyed by Andronicus: but a 
treasonable correspondence with the king of Hungary and the 
emperor of Germany, roused the indignation of Manuel, and 
procured him an imprisonment of twelve years. At the ex¬ 
piration of this period, Andronicus escaped from his con¬ 
finement, and traversing several savage and inhospitable 
countries, reached Kiow, the residence of the Russian prince. 
In this remote region, he deserved the forgiveness of Manuel, 
by persuading his patron to join the arms of the emperor 
in the invasion of Hungary. At the head of the Russian 
cavalry, Andronicus marched from the Borysthenes to the 
Danube, and by his valour obtained a free pardon. 
His patriotism, however, in refusing an oath of allegiance 
to the presumptive heir of the empire, again brought Andro¬ 
nicus under the displeasure of Manuel; and by seducing 
Philippa, the sister of the empress, he excited his resentment. 
With a band of desperate adventurers, Andronicus now 
undertook the pilgrimage of Jerusalem, where he captivated 
the affections of the young and beautiful widow of Baldwin 
III. king of Jerusalem. Driven from Palestine, he retired, 
with his wife and his banditti, among the Turks of Asia 
Minor, arid at length implored the clemency, and received a 
pardon from the emperor. But the just suspicion of Manuel 
fixed the residence of his daring and ambitious relative at 
Oenoe, a town of Pontus. 
The emperor feeling his end approaching, assumed the 
monastic habit, which he considered as expiatory of the 
profligacy in which he had passed a long life; and on his 
death left the crown to his son Alexius, a boy of twelve years, 
of age, and consequently without vigour or wisdom. The 
disorders of the state opened the fairest field to the ambition 
of Andronicus, of which he speedily availed himself. The 
empress Maria had abandoned her person and government to 
one of her husband’s favourites; her daughter-in-law, also 
named Maria, had excited an insurrection; a civil war was 
kindled in Constantinople; the most respectable patriots 
called aloud for a guardian and avenger of the young 
emperor; and every tongue repeated the praises of Andro¬ 
nicus. 
Arrived near Constantinople, all opposition sunk before 
him; and the Byzantine navy sailed from the harbour to 
receive and transport the saviour of the empire. On his 
entering the imperial city, his first cares were to salute the 
emperor, to confine Maria, to punish his minister, and to 
restore public order and tranquillity. Alexius was crowned 
with due solemnity ; but the adherents of Andronicus were 
taught to clamour, that the Romans could only be saved by 
a veteran prince, bold in arms, skilful in policy, and in¬ 
structed to reign by the long experience of fortune and of 
mankind. Alexius, therefore, was doomed to receive a 
colleague, who soon degraded him from the first rank; con¬ 
demned and executed his mother; and at last strangled the 
helpless and unfortunate youth in the fifteenth year of his age. 
The usurper now destroyed, without distinction, all whom 
he believed attached to the family of Alexius, or capable of 
avenging his death. Scarcely a day passed unsullied by some 
cruel execution, and in a short time the flower of the nobility 
was exterminated ; yet the reckless tyrant complained of the 
severity of his fortune, which prevented him shewing his 
clemency, and with an apparent zeal for religion, was a 
hypocrite deliberately cruel. After participating in the holy 
mysteries, he would turn from the altar, and give orders for 
torture and assassination. The people at length grew tired 
of the bloody spectacle; and their detestation was at last 
roused to action. Isaac Angelus, a descendant in the female 
line from the great Alexius, had fled from the imperial 
executioner, and taken refuge in the church of St. Sophia. 
The lamentations of the crowd, who had sought the same 
sanctuary, were soon converted into'curses: the city burst 
into a general sedition; the name of Isaac was re-echoed by 
innumerable acclamations; and Andronicus, deserted by his 
guards, after in vain attempting to save himself by sea, was 
abandoned to the rage of the populace. His teeth, his hair, 
an eye, and a hand, were successively torn from him ; and 
being suspended for three days, every person who could 
reach the public enemy inflicted on him some mark of in¬ 
genious or brutal cruelty, till at length two Italians, out of 
mercy or rage, plunging their swords into his body, released 
him from all human punishment. Andronicus was seventy- 
three years old when he seized the throne, and in two years 
after be was precipitated from it by this cruel death. 
Isaac Angelus gained the affections of the common people 
by his gentleness and moderation; and by recalling the ba¬ 
nished, and raising several families which had fallen from 
their ancient splendour, he ingratiated himself with the great. 
He received the reward of his benevolence iu the attachment 
evinced by his subjects on the revolt of Branas, one of his 
generals, who besieged him in Constantinople. The emperor, 
who was no warrior, devoutly recommended himself to the 
prayers of the monks, and placing an image of the virgin on 
the summit of the walls, remained quietly in his palace; but 
a leader of the crusades, the marquis of Montserrat, soon 
convinced him that these precautions were ineffectual to his 
safety; and Isaac mustering resolution from necessity, put 
himself at the head of the inhabitants, and killed Branas with 
his own hands. 
Five years after the accession of Isaac, the third crusade 
was undertaken ; but it was with terror and aversion that 
the Greeks beheld the numbers and characters of the crusa¬ 
ders. The apprehension of the Turkish powers for a time 
suspended 
