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THE BYZANTINES. 93 isolated princes, the duration of whose combined reigns amounts to about thirty years. With these facts before us we find it difficult to understand the historians who write: Mo- mentous was often the circumstance that there existed no regular order of succession to the throne. Imposing or meritorious emperors, who enjoyed great popularity, were well able to tes- tate the crown to their sons or even their widows, and thus we find a whole number of dynasties. It is true, however, that when in the nature of things a change of rulers was in view, bloody palace revolts, cowardly murder, and open acts of atrocity occurred during the long history of the Byzantine Empire as well as during the his- tory of other empires. The influence of women of the court, of powerful ministers, but also of eunuchs which came more and more into the foreground became significant in such moments. We shall see later on how much all this was due to the unavoidable influence of barbarism. Of the seventy-six emperors and five em- presses who occupied the Byzantine throne fif- teen were put to death, seven were blinded or otherwise mutilated, four were deposed and imprisoned in monasteries, and ten were com-