A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

174 ANDRONICUS.
Attalus. (Polyb. xxxii. 26.) Andronicus was
again sent to Rome in B. c. 149, and assisted Nicomedes in conspiring against his father Prusias.
(Appian, Mithr. 4, &c.)
ANDRONI'CUS ('Avapdvtcos), an AETOLIAN,
the son of Andronicus, was put to death by the
Romans, in B. c. 167, because he had-borne arms
with his father against the Romans. (Liv. xlv. 31.)
ANDRONI'CUS I. COMNE'NUS ('AvpoPiKos KoUrvnvo's), emperor of CONSTANTINOPLE,
son of Isaac, grandson of Alexis T. and first-cousin
of the emperor Manuel Comnenus, was born in
the beginning of the twelfth century after Christ.
The life of this highly gifted man, who deserves the name of the Byzantine Alcibiades, presents a series of adventures of so extraordinary a
description, as to appear more like a romance than
a history. Nature had lavished upon him her
choicest gifts. His manly beauty was unparalleled,
and the vigour of his body was animated by an
enterprising mind and an undaunted spirit. Endowed with great capacities, he received a careful
education, and the persuasive power of his eloquence
was so great, that he was equally dangerous to
kings and queens: three royal princesses were his
concubines. For love and war were his predominant passions, but they both degenerated into
luxury and cruelty. In every deed or mischief,
says Gibbon (ch. 48), he had a heart to resolve, a
head to contrive, and a hand to execute.
In 1141 he was made prisoner by the TurksSeljuks, and remained during a year in their captivity. After being released, he received the command in Cilicia, and he went there accompanied
by Eudoxia Comnena, the niece of the emperor
Manuel, who lived on a similar footing with her
sister Theodora. At the close of this war he received the government of Naissus, Braniseba, and
Castoria; but the emperor soon afterwards ordered
him to be imprisoned in Constantinople. He
escaped from captivity after having been confined
twelve years, and fled to Jaroslav, grand duke of
Russia, and at Kiev obtained the pardon of his
offended sovereign. He contrived an alliance between Manuel and Jaroslav against Hungary, and
at the head of a Russian army distinguished himself in the siege of Semlin. Still suspected by
Manuel, he was again sent to Cilicia. He staid
some time at Antioch, and there seduced Philippa,
the daughter of Raymond of Poitou, prince of
Antioch, and the sister-in-law of the emperor
Manuel, who had married her sister Maria. To
escape the resentment of the emperor, he fled to
Jerusalem, and thence eloped with Theodora, the
widow of Baldwin III. king of Jerusalem, a Comnenian princess who was renowned for her beauty.
They first took refuge at the court of Nur-ed-din,
sultan of Damascus; thence they went to Baghdad
and Persia, and at length settled among the Turks.
He then proceeded to make war upon the emperor
of Constantinople, and invaded the province of
Trebizond, but the governor of this town succeeded
in taking queen Theodora and the two children
she had borne to Andronicus, and sent them to
Constantinople. To regain them Andronicus implored the mercy of his sovereign, and after prostrating himself laden with chains to the foot of the
emperor's throne, he retired to Oenoe, now Unieh,
a town on the Black Sea in the present eyalet of
Trebizond. There he lived quietly till the death
of the emperor Manuel in 1180.

ANDRONICUS.
Manuel was succeeded by Alexis II., whom
Andronicus put to death in the month of October
1183, and thereupon he ascended the throne.
[ALEXIS II.] Agnes or Anna, the widow ol
Alexis, and daughter of Louis VII. king of France.
a child of eleven years, was compelled to marry
Andronicus, who was then advanced in years
His reign was short. He was hated by the nobles
numbers of whom he put to death, but was belovec
by the people. His administration was wise; ani
he remedied several abuses in civil and ecclesias
tical matters. William II., the Good, king o
Sicily, whom the fugitive Greek nobles had per
suaded to invade Greece, was compelled b;
Andronicus to desist from his attack on Constanti
nople and to withdraw to his country, after he ha(
destroyed Thessalonica. Thus Andronicus though
himself quite sure on the throne, when the im
prudence of his lieutenant, the superstition
Hagiochristophorites, suddenly caused a dreadfi
rebellion. This officer resolved to put to death Isan
Angelus, a noble but not a dangerous man; th
people of Constantinople, however, moved to piti
took arms for the rescue of the victim, and Isaac we
proclaimed emperor. Andronicus was seized, an
Isaac abandoned him to the revenge of his most in
placable enemies. After having been carried throug
the streets of the city, he was hanged by the feet bi
tween the statues of a sow and a wolf, and in th:
position was put to death by the mob. (12th
September, 1185.) (Nicetas, Manuel Comnenu
i. 1, iii. iv. 1-5; Alexis Manuelis Comn. Fil.
2, 9, &c.; Andronicus Comnenus; Guilielmus T
rensis, xxi. 13.) [W. P.]
ANDRONI'CUS II. PALAEO'LOGUS, /
Elder (Avlpovbcos nI.aardio'yos), emperor of Co
STANTINOPLE, the eldest son of the emper
Michael Palaeologus, was born A. D. 1260.
the age of fifteen he was associated with I
father in the government, and he ascended t
throne in 1283. Michael had consented to
union between the Greek and Latin churches
the second general council at Lyon, but Andronic
was opposed to this measure, and was at long
excommunicated by pope Clement V. in 13(
During this the Greek armies were beaten by (
man, the founder of the Turkish empire, w
gradually conquered all the Byzantine possessic
in Asia. In this extremity Andronicus engap
the army and the fleet of the Catalans, a numer(
band of warlike adventurers, to assist him agail
the Turks. Roger de Flor, or de Floria, the s
of a German noble at the court of the empe
Frederic II., the commander of these adventure
accordingly went to Constantinople with a i
merous fleet and an army of 8000 men. '1
emperor appointed him admiral of the empire, a
conferred upon him the title of Caesar. T
famous captain defeated the Turks in several
gagements, but his troops ravaged the country
their allies with as much rapacity as that of tl
common enemies, and in order to get rid of th(
the emperor caused Roger to be assassinated
Adrianople. But the Catalans now turned tl
arms against the Greeks, and after having des
tated Thrace and Macedonia, they retired to
Peloponnesus, where they conquered several (
tricts in which they maintained themselves.
Michael, the son of Andronicus, was associa
with his father in the throne. Michael had 1
sons, Andronicus and Manuel. Both loved