A.D. continued to his own times.* In works of ima 886. gination or originality, in aught that might evince some lingering vestiges of ancient genius or cultivated taste, the records of the ninth century are a blank. "The tenth century has generally been considered the darkest in the modern annals of the human race;" but still, amongst the Greeks, though no productions of genius were as yet emanating from the labours of Bardas and his associates, the impulse communicated by them continued for a time silently to urge its way. A.D. The life of Constantine Porphyrogenitus,‡ 911. which was spent in almost unbroken seclusion, whilst the affairs of his empire were con Harles, sec. v. p. 540. Berington, app. i. p. 550. Schoell, I. vi. c. lxxxv. Fabricius, I. v. c. iv. 39. + Mill's Theod. Ducas, vol. i. p. 17. There is some confusion about the affix to the name of this individual, who is indifferently styled Constantine VI. and VII. It arises either from including in the list the soldier who was, in A.D. 407, proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain, under the title of Constantine, (Gibbon, c. xxx. c. xxxi.) or from the successor of Heraclius bearing the two names of Heraclius II. and Constantine III. which have been severally applied to him by his historians. Gibbon adopts the latter, (c. xlviii.) and consequently styles the son of Leo the Philosopher, of whom I speak, Constantine VII.; but his best distinction is, perhaps, the epithet of Porphyrogenitus, which the same historian says he was the first to bear. (Gibbon, ib.) 911. ducted by his guardians, or usurping relatives, A.D. was one continued series of study and literary labour. History, morals, polite literature, and the fine arts,* alternately engaged his attention; but as his devotion to such pursuits arose in a great degree from a lethargic and luxurious temperament, which shunned more active exertion, his success was never striking. For the intellectual advancement of the nation, however, his laudable exertions were unremitting, and every branch of popular instruction received a ready patronage under the protection of Constantine.t "Devoid of that energy of character which could emerge into a life of action and glory, the studies which had amused and dignified his leisure, were incompatible with the serious duties of a sovereign. His books and music, his pen and his pencil, were a constant source of amusement; and if he could improve a scanty allowance by the sale of his pictures, if their price was not enhanced by the name of the artist, he was endowed with a personal talent which few princes could employ in the hour of adversity."Gibbon. Berington, app. i. p. 564. + "Il mit un grand zèle au rétablissement des sciences et des arts, et tacha de procurer à la jeunesse studieuse d'habiles maîtres de philosophie, de rhétorique, de géométrie, et d'astronomie. Des personnes distinguées par leur rang et leur expérience furent choisies pour surveiller ces études. Il témoignoit publiquement le cas qu'il faisoit de l'instruction, en encourageant par des éloges et des récompenses ceux qui avoient de succès, et en choisissant dans la classe des A.D. 911. The works of the Emperor himself, though remarkable when considered in connection with the age in which he lived, and the circumstances under which he wrote, evince but little of either taste or judgment. His life of his grandfather, Basil the Macedonian, is pompous and oratorical,* and the reputation of his numerous other productions is equally mean. The reader will find an equitable estimate of his merits, in the criticisms of Gibbon,† on his Treatise on Government, his detail of the frivolous and contemptible ceremonies of the Byzantine court, and his statistical account of the imperial Themes. The works on medicine, agriculture, and tactics, composed under his in hommes lettrés les fonctionnaires et les prélats. Il aimoit les arts, et surtout l'architecture et la sculpture : il se connoissoit en musique," &c. &c. Schoell, v. vi. p. 19. Genesius, by the request of Constantine, prepared, as an introduction to the biography of Basil, an historical account of the empire during the reign of the four preceding princes, from A.D. 813; and a continuation was added by an anonymous writer, containing the lives of Leo the Philosopher, Alexander, his brother, Constantine himself, and his son, Romanus II. that is, from A. D. 886 to 963. Berington, app. i. p. 565. Schoell, l. vi. c. lxxxvi.-Harles, sec. v. p. 550. Fabricius, l. v. c. 5. xvii. + Gibbon, c. liii. The authorship of these works is doubtfully attributed to Constantine Porphyrogenitus. 911. spection, are equally feeble and valueless; and A.D. his revision of the Basilics has been characterised as a mere 66 partial and mutilated version in the Greek language, of the laws of Justinian." The merits of Constantine are to be grounded, however, less on his acts than his intentions; since even those measures which he adopted as conducive to the advancement of learning, proved in numerous instances highly prejudicial to its interests. Such was his classified compilation of extracts in imitation of the Myriobiblon of Photius: it consisted of fifty-three books, each comprehending excerpts on a particular subject connected with history, morals, and legislation, geography, agriculture, and science: works of general utility alone were admitted, and those of imagination or invention were carefully excluded. Of this grand work, two chapters alone, the twenty-seventh and fiftieth, remain: the one comprising notices of the embassiest which the Romans dispatched or received; and the other, on virtue and vice, consists of quotations and fragments from the sophists and historians of the early ages. The effects of this undertaking, it has been observed, were calculated, in that barbarous era, to * Kepaλαions úrodeσis, so called by its editor, Theodosius. + Περὶ Πρεσβειῶν. + Περὶ ̓Αρετῆς καὶ Κακίας. 911. A.D. engender a disregard for the originals, whilst the extracts were so well suited to the indolent and illiterate taste of the age; and whilst the nation rested content with the superficial gleanings of Constantine, the richer sources of information were unvalued, neglected, and lost.* The time, in fact, was passed when learning could charm, or genius rouse, the ambition of the Greeks; politically and intellectually, they were sunk almost beyond redemption, and their unresisting submission to the absolute despotism of their princes† was heightened by a depressing consciousness of the debasement in which they were plunged, and from which they despaired of again receding. Like the reckless criminal, who would check the occasional bitings of remorse by destroying every memorial of former innocence, they sought, by abandoning the name of Greeks, which they felt they had dishonoured, to stifle their regrets, and hide their degradation by assuming that of Romans. But even this title, likewise, had become contemptible in the eyes of the world: and in the same century of which I speak, the petulant • Mosheim, Cent. X. p. i. c. ii. The legislative and executive power were centred in the person of the monarch, and the last remains of the authority of the senate were finally eradicated by Leo the Philosopher.-Gibbon. |