Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, Episode 94, Wooder.

Welcome back to the narrative. When we last left off in 802, the General Logothete, the

Empire's chief financial minister, Nysephorus, overthrew Irene in a bloodless palace coup. The

Empress was forced into exile on the island of Lesbos while the new Emperor was crowned in the

Ahir Sophia. A small crowd protested outside the great church, but the majority of the capital's

population accepted the change of regime. Irene was growing old and had no obvious air. Most

people remained in the dark about the fate of Constantine VI. But those who understood that her son was

no longer in the picture had fully expected a man to take her place. The question was just when,

not if. So the sight of one of her chief ministers, nestling on the throne, was seen as a generally

acceptable solution. Irene had run a fairly stable government, accusations of prolicide excluded,

so most onlookers were expecting continuity with the policies of the past two decades. But they

were wrong. Rather than a conservative accountant, Nysephorus proved to be a restless reformer. He would

only reign for nine years, but in that time he would be constantly active on every front trying to

improve the position of the Empire. This decade is absolutely fascinating for what might have been

seen. Nysephorus seems to have believed that the Empire was going places. The Romans no longer needed

to fear another siege. They could start to plan for the future and think about reclaiming former

glories. He'd seen the books. He was better placed than anyone to make that assessment. And in the

long run, Nysephorus would be proved correct. The Byzantines are on the road to recovery. Unfortunately,

the Emperor would end up holding them back rather than pushing them forward. In racing to help the

Empire reach its potential, he would move too fast and lead the Romans over a cliff.

The catastrophe he's heading toward will wreck the stability that the Isorians

spent three quarters of a century establishing. And it will force men to look again to the icons

...