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OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 237 persecution of the emperor ; but he was at length ensnared by the captivity of his female companion. The governor of Trebi- zoncl succeeded in his attempt to surprise the person of Theo- dora ; the queen of Jerusalem and her two children were sent to Constantinople, and their loss embittered the tedious solitude of banishment. The fugitive implored and obtained a final pardon, with leave to throw himself at the feet of his sovereign, who was satisfied with the submission of this haughty spirit. Prostrate on the ground, he deplored with tears and groans the guilt of his past rebellion ; nor would he presume to arise, unless some faithful subject would drag him to the foot of the throne by an iron chain with which he had secretly encircled his neck. This extraordinary penance excited the wonder and pity of the assembly ; his sins were forgiven by the church and state ; but the just suspicion of Manuel fixed his residence at a distance from the court, at Oenoe, a town of Pontus, surrounded with rich vineyards, and situate on the coast of the Euxine. The death of Manuel and the disorders of the minority soon opened the fairest field to his ambition. The emperor was a boy of twelve or fourteen years of age, without vigour, or wisdom, or experience ; his mother, the empress Mary, abandoned her person and government to a favourite of the Comnenian name ; and his sister, another Mary, whose husband, an Italian, was decorated with the title of Caesar, excited a conspiracy, and at length an insurrection, against her odious stepmother. The provinces were forgotten, the capital was m flames, and a century of peace and order was overthrown in the vice and weakness of a few months. A civil war was kindled in Con- stantinople ; the two factions fought a bloody battle in the square of the palace ; and the rebels sustained a regular siege in the cathedral of St. Sophia. The patriarch laboured with honest zeal to heal the wounds of the republic, the most respect- able patriots called aloud for a guardian and avenger, and every tongue repeated the praise of the talents and even the virtues of Andronicus. In his retirement he affected to revolve the solemn duties of his oath : " If the safety or honour of the Imperial faraiily be threatened, I will reveal and oppose the mischief to the utmost of my power". His correspondence with the patriarch and patricians was seasoned with apt quota- tions from the Psalms of David and the Epistles of St. Paul ; and he patiently waited till he was called to her deliverance by the voice of his country. In his march from Oenoe to Con- stantinople, his slender train insensibly swelled to a crowd and