87. Despite his qualities, Constantine had a hearty contempt for offices of great dignity and preferred to live in retirement. He used to dress in a rather careless fashion, going about like a country yokel. Lovely women, of course, enhance their beauty by the wearing of simple clothes; the veil with which they conceal it only serves to make more evident their radiant glory, and a garment carelessly worn is just as effective, when they wear it, as the most carefully prepared make-up. So it was with Constantine. The clothes he threw round him, far from hiding his secret beauties, only rendered them more conspicuous.
It was inevitable that all tongues should be loud in his praise. Men naturally referred to him as destined for the imperial throne. Some prophesied his future with all the solemnity of an oracle; others were more guarded in their language, careful to refrain from causing him embarrassment. All the same, it was not the openly hostile, but his own admirers, who made him most nervous, and he put up all manner of barriers to keep them at a distance. Unfortunately, from his point of view, they proved to be the most pugnacious dare-devils and made light of the obstacles he put in their path.
Considering the circumstances
88. His extraordinary caution and sound judgment were proved when the army elected its leader and Comnenus was preferred to all others, for Comnenus, the man who had actually been designated as the next emperor, was ready to hand over the command of the army to Constantine, after the soldiers’ decision was made known but he renounced all claim to it in writing and voluntarily gave up his ambitions in that direction, considering the circumstances in which the offer was made.
Certain it is that those who attended that conference would never have reached a unanimous decision on the subject, had he not intervened in the debate himself. By sheer force of character he united the various factions. The army, now acting in concert, had, so to speak, two strings to its bow, a stronger and a weaker, or perhaps I should say a weaker and a stronger, for although Isaac had been elected emperor and Constantine had been promised the lesser honour of Caesar, the latter’s more noble ancestry and his extremely lovable character made him a favourite among the people.
To show even more clearly what an admirable person he was, when the rebellion ended in Isaac’s accession to the throne and he was firmly established in power, Constantine gave up to him the Caesarship as well, though he could have disputed with him the highest position of all. The man’s character was, in fact, without parallel. I would like to add an observation of my own here. There can be no doubt that his failure to obtain election at the time of the conference, and his present promotion, were both the result of Divine intervention, for instead of being elevated to the supreme position in the Empire by means of a revolution, a circuitous route, he was chosen directly from the inner circle of the court.
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