7. Life of St. Theodora of Thessalonike - Dumbarton Oaks

St. Theodora of Thessalonike 173
after a wild beast 61 and loathsome to God and bold-spirited, against the holy
and venerable icon of Christ our God; [p. 88] for the church that is holy from
one end of the earth to the other in a pious and God-pleasing manner inherited
the tradition of the holy apostles and fathers that we should depict it [the
image of Christ] in the likeness of the animated flesh which He received from
the holy blood of the Virgin, and offer it relative veneration. The memory of
this , which was so cruel and intolerable, stirs up a torrent of
tears . I will corroborate with a tale that does
not proceed at random so as to be diffused into the air, nor is it based on the
establishment of proof, but on the great achievements of the holy
fathers who lived at that time.
12. For when this accursed Leo, by some oversight of God, succeeded to
imperial rule, a terrible war was threatened and waged against the holy
church, as the tyrant strove with the greatest impiety and fierce battle to intimidate
and overpower every orthodox and pious soul, and to bring down every
exalted horn 62 of piety by the power of his impiety, and endeavored not to
seem lesser than anyone. For he sat in authority in brilliant fashion, showing
great pride in his artifices, and mixing authority with evil deeds. And by frightening
certain of our contenders with maltreatment, and attempting
to persuade some with flattery and condemning others to exile, and
striving to subdue yet others to his will with glory and lavish
payments of money, he transformed himself into various shapes like a most
wicked Proteus, 63 mingling misfortunes with life and mixing mercy with death.
And certain people submitted, but most carried off the garland of victory
through Christ. Then this Antony was brought before him [Leo V], and the
tyrant expressed all his opinions in vain and threatened every sort of punishment,
weaving together the nets of his words with the authority [p. 90] of his
power, having decided to trap in them this man who was strong and impregnable
in every respect. But he [Antony], with fearless soul and splendid spirit,
Iconoclasm, ed. A. Bryer and J. Herrin (Birmingham, 1977), 1–6. For more specific
treatment of Leo V, see W. Treadgold, The Byzantine Revival, 780–842 (Stanford, Calif.,
1988), 196–225.
61 The Greek name for Leo (Léwn) is the same as the word for lion (léwn).
62 Cf. Ps. 88 (89):17.
63 A minor pagan deity who was able to assume various shapes; cf. Homer, Od.
4:385–461.