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

MICHAEL. MICHAEL. 1 075
severe -pupishment. Thus ended a revolt, during At the boyishl age of fifteen he already led allil.-'which Michael proved he was worthy of his throne.'moral life with Eudoxia, a noble young lady, the
In 824 Michael renewed the.friendly intercourse daughter of one Ingerius, who belonged to the
which had subsisted between his predecessors and great family of the Martinacii; and his mother
the Western or Frankish emperors; he sent all em- preferring under these circumstances to give him a
bassy to Louis the Pious, and also wrote a letter to lawfill wife, he accepted with the greatest inhim, whichhis ambassadors presented to Louis at difference Eudoxia, the daughter of Decapolita,
Rouen. It is known that the Byzantine emperors continuing all the while his licentious intercourse
would never recognise the imperial title of the with the other Eudoxia, his mistress. The prinFrankish kings, and afterwards those of Germany. cipal person at the court was Theoctistus, a'celeIn the above-mentioned letter Michael consequently brated, though not always successful general, who
called. Louis only " Ludovicus qui vocatus est incurred the jealousy of Bardas, the brother of the
Francorum et Longobardorum Imperator," and empress, and the displeasure of the young emperor.
this the Byzantine historians consider as a great Michael and Bardas consequently formed a plot to
condescension. The letter is contained in Thegan's make away with Theoctistus, and carried their deVie de Louis le Dgbonnaire, and in the works of sign into effect, Michael being the first to raise his
other historians. In the same year, 824, a band of hand against his unfortunate minister. Bardas was
Spanish Arabs, commanded by one Abuhafiz, made appointed Magnus Logotheta in his stead, and he
a descentupon Crete and conquered the island, which soon seized the uncontrolled direction of public
was henceforth called Candia, from Candax, its affairs. The murder of Theoctistus so afflicted
new capital, which was founded by the Arabs: Theodora that she laid down her functions as regent
Michael was unable to dislodge them, and the and retired into private life (854). Michael now
island was lost for ever. A colony of Arabs, the abandoned himself to a life of almost unparalleled
descendants of the followers of Abuhafiz, still in- profligacy, for a descriptio of which we must refer
habits a portion of Candia. Michael lost likewise to the graphic pen of'Gibbon (vol. ix. p. 45, &c.
the province of Dalmatia, which was taken from ed. 1815).
him by the Servians, but the greatest loss he had In 856 Bardas was made Caesar and his power
to suffer was that of Sicily. Euphemius governed being now unlimited, he caused the empress Theothe island for the emperor, and having met with dora, with her daughter, to be confined in a consome disappointment at the court, invited Ziadet- vent. OIn the whole, however, Bardas was no
Allah, the third khalif of the Aglabites in Africa, despicable man, though his ambition was boundto take possession of the country. Ziadet-Allah less. Full of talents, learning, and an enthusiaccordingly went to Sicily in 827, with a powerful astic love of the fine arts, he was zealous in profleet, and'the island soon became a prey to the moting the arts, science and literature, which had
Arabs, andremained in their possession for upwards been greatly neglected during the reign of the
of two hundred years. Michael died a natural father and grandfather of Michael. The philosopher
death on the first of October, 829, and was suc- Leo was his principal assistant in attaining these
ceeded by his son Theophilus. (Cedren. p. 491, laudable objects. Owing to the -irresistible in-'
&c.; Leo Gram. p. 447, &c.; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 132, fluence of Bardas, the patriarch Ignatius was de&c.; Genes. p. 13, &c.; Theophan. Contin. p. 214, posed in 857, and the famous Photius succeeded.
&c.; Symeon Metaphrastes, p. 405, &c.; Glyc. p. him. In 858 the empire was involved in a great287, &c.; CoDst. Porphyr. De Admin. Imp: c. 22; war with the Arabs. Leo commanded against
Const. Manass. p. 95; Joel, p. 178.) [W. P.] them, and obtained more glory than the unworthy
MICHAEL III. (MuXaoX), emperor of Con- emperor deserved. He defeated the Arabs in'
stantinople from A. D. 842 to 867, was the son and several pitched battles, drove them beyond the
successorof the emperorTheophilus,and thegrandson Euphrates, crossed that river, and made several
of Michael II. the Stammerer. He ascended the successful incursions on the eastern side of the
throne at the age of three, and reigned under the Tigris, penetrating to the neighbourhood of Baghguardianship of his talented mother Theodora. dad.' During this time, howe-er, the Arab general],
This active princess began by re-establishing the'Omar, laid Pontus waste. Thinking success on
worship of images, an undertaking in which she the battle-field an easy thing, Michael resolved to
had to encounter intrigues of a most dangerous put himself at the head of his army, and marched
nature [PHoTIus]. Her armies were less success- against'Omar; but the Arabs had been reinforced
ful:; they were beaten in the Caucasus and in Asia by a strong body of incensed Paulicians, and under
Minor, and an expedition fitted out for the recovery the walls of Samosata the emperor received a severe
of Crete from the Arabs was totally discomfited. lesson for his folly. Upwards of 6000 Greeksa
She despatched a fleet of 300 ships with a view of were taken prisoners, and among them the gallant
conquering Egypt, but the capture and temporary Leo, whom the Arabs would never restore to liberty
possession of Damietta was the only result of it. in spite of the brilliant ransom offered them. In
On the other hand, she continued to be fortunate 860 Michael- paid as dearly for a second lesson in
in her exertions for the orthodox church and the Cappadocia; and'Omar now carried destruction
Christian religion in general: the Khazars were over Cappadocia, Pontus, and Cilicia, whence he carconverted in 847, and a few years afterwards the ried 70,000 prisoners into perpetual captivity. (862.)
Bulgarians, those hereditary enemies of Byzantium, Either good sense or the want of his accustomed
adopted likewise the religion of Christ [METRO- revels in the capital, or the advice of Bardas, inPH ANES]. But her zeal for images caused a duced Michael to put his younger brother, Petronas,
most dangerous revolt of the Paulicians (848), then governor of Lydia and Ionia, at the head of'who entered into an alliance with the Arabs, and the army; and Petronas chose for his lieutenant
baffled the efforts of the imperial armies to re- Nazar, governor of Galatia, whose maxim was, that
duce them to obedience. Meanwhile, Michael a small, but good army, was better than a large,
grew up and gave proof of his wicked propensities. but bad one. Near Amasia -they fell in with the
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