Editing Irene of Athens (section)

==Regent and empress==
[[File:Irene solidus sb 1591 (obverse).jpg|thumb|Gold [[Solidus (coin)|solidus]] showing Irene as regent along her son Constantine VI; Irene took control of the throne and ruled the empire solo until 790.|200x200px]]
When Leo IV died on 8 September 780,{{sfn|Theophanes|loc=AM 6273}} rumors were circulated claiming that he had died of a fever after putting on the jeweled crown from the Great Church that had been dedicated by either [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]] ({{reign|582
|602}}) or [[Heraclius]] ({{reign|610|641}}).{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} It is uncertain whether Irene herself had promoted this rumor, perhaps in an attempt to smear her iconoclast husband's memory.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} Quickly after Leo IV's death, Irene became [[regent]] for their nine-year-old son [[Constantine VI]] and secured the throne for him by crushing the usurpation plots in favour of Leo's brothers in the following month.{{sfn|Turner|2021|p=823}}

In October, only six weeks after Leo IV's death, Irene was confronted with the conspiracy led by a group of prominent dignitaries that sought to raise [[Caesar (title)|Caesar]] [[Nikephoros (Caesar)|Nikephoros]], a half-brother of Leo IV, to the throne.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} Irene had Bardas (the former ''strategos'' of the [[Armeniac Theme]]), Gregory (the ''[[logothete]]'' of the ''[[Cursus publicus|dromos]]''), and Konstantinos (the count of the [[excubitors]]) scourged, tonsured, and banished.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} She replaced all of them with dignitaries who were loyal to her.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} She had Nikephoros and his four brothers [[ordination|ordained]] as [[priest]]s, a status which disqualified them from ruling, and forced them to serve communion at the [[Hagia Sophia]] on Christmas Day 780.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} On the same day, Irene returned the crown her husband had removed as part of a full imperial procession.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} Possibly hoping to placate supporters of her husband's family, Irene is reported to have proposed that Leo IV's sister Anthousa should join her as co-regent, but Anthousa is said to have rejected the offer.{{sfn|Garland|1999|pages=75–76}}

[[File:Irene of Byzantium (empress regnant 797-802).jpg|thumb|Irene of Athens (or [[Irene Doukaina]]) in the [[Pala d'Oro]], [[Venice]].|left]]
From the beginning, Irene seems to have taken more power for herself than was traditionally expected of female regents.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=76}} Her earliest coins depict both herself and her son Constantine VI on the obverse, listing them as co-rulers rather than as ruler and regent.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=76}} Furthermore, Irene is shown holding the orb, not Constantine, and only Irene's name is listed on the obverse of the coin, with Constantine VI's name only listed on the reverse, the less important side. Also, in all orders, both oral and written, Irene's name took precedence over her son's name, and she signed her orders in the name of the emperor in her own right and her name took precedence in the oath of allegiance. Apart from that, she did not allow Constantine any voice in public affairs.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=76}} At the same time, Irene appears to have been well aware that her position as regent was insecure.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=76}} The last female regent of the Byzantine Empire had been [[Martina (empress)|Empress Martina]], who had only managed to survive as regent for less than a year before her tongue was cut out and she was exiled to the island of [[Rhodes]].{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}} Most people were probably expecting that Irene's reign would come to a similarly swift and bloody end.{{sfn|Garland|1999|page=75}}

In 781 Irene accused the ''[[stratēgos]]'' of [[Sicily (theme)|Sicily]], [[Elpidius (rebel)|Elpidius]], of participating in the conspiracy involving her brother-in-law [[Nikephoros (Caesar)|Nikephoros]]. The military in Sicily prevented his arrest, so Irene sent a fleet which succeeded in defeating the rebels. Elpidius fled to Africa, where he defected to the [[Abbasid Caliphate]]. The fact that this revolt appears to reflect personal ambition or political conflicts centring in the capital, rather than local separatism, demonstrates the loyalty of the island to the Empire.{{sfn|Brown|2008|p=462}}

After the success of [[Constantine V]]'s general, [[Michael Lachanodrakon]], who foiled an Abbasid attack on the eastern frontiers, a huge Abbasid army under [[Harun al-Rashid]] [[Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782)|invaded Anatolia]] in summer 782, reaching [[Üsküdar|Chrysopolis]] on the Asiatic side of the [[Bosphorus]] The ''stratēgos'' of the [[Bucellarian Theme]], [[Tatzates]], defected to the Abbasids, and Irene had to agree to pay an embarrassing annual [[tribute]] of 100,000 [[dinar|dinars]] to the Abbasids.{{sfn|Kaegi|2008|p=388}}

In 783, [[Staurakios (eunuch)|Staurakios]], [[eunuchs in the Byzantine Empire|eunuch]] and ''[[logothete]]'' of the ''[[Cursus publicus|dromos]]'' under Irene, led a successful campaign against the [[Sclaveni]] of [[Thessaly]], [[Greece]] and the [[Peloponnese]], returning with booty and captives. In 784, Irene capitalized on Constantine V's successes in [[Thrace]] and ordered [[Veria]] and [[Anchialos, Thessaloniki|Anchialos]] to be "rebuilt".{{sfn|Auzépy|2008|pp=257–258}}

By 786, Harun, then the [[Abbasid Caliph]], had made [[Raqqa]] his residence in order to secure control over the frontier. In 797/798, the Abbasids were said to have reached the Bosphorus again, but agreed to negotiate with the Byzantines due to the threat of the [[Khazars]] in the north. Nonetheless, he engaged in a campaign of assiduously strengthening the frontier with new districts and strongholds (''[[al-Awasim]]''), specifically from [[Cilicia]] through [[Kahramanmaraş|Germanikeia]] to [[Melitene]]. There was significant settlement and economic activity in the frontier region by the Abbasids, which was not typical in the time of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. Harun proved to be a capable commander and Irene and her successor [[Nikephoros I]] struggled to effectively resist his campaigns.{{sfn|Kaegi|2008|pp=389–390}}

===Ending iconoclasm===
{{Main|Seventh ecumenical council}}
[[File:Iren and Constantin2.jpg|thumb|15th century mural depicting Irene and Constantine VI at the [[Second Council of Nicaea|Seventh ecumenical council]] of 787. ]]
Irene's most notable act was the restoration of the [[veneration]] of [[icon]]s (images of Christ or the saints). Upon the death of the iconoclast Patriarch [[Paul IV of Constantinople]], Irene elevated [[Tarasios of Constantinople|Tarasios]], one of her partisans and former secretary, to the position of [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] in 784. As he was a layman, [[Pope Adrian I]] disapproved of his election. Irene and Tarasios summoned two church councils to solemnize the reversal of imperial policy to iconodulia. The first of these, assembled on 1 August 786 in the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]] at [[Constantinople]], was dispersed by iconoclast [[tagma (military)|''tagmata'']] (battalions stationed in the city) who were backed by iconoclast bishops. In autumn, Irene ordered them to respond to an alleged Arab attack in Asia Minor, then reconstituted the ''tagmata'' with soldiers from the [[theme (Byzantine district)|thematic]] corps. Tarasios dealt with the episcopal opposition by allowing notoriously iconoclast bishops to retain their positions so long as they made a public admission of error, and also by disguising two eastern monks as envoys of the patriarchs of [[Patriarchate of Antioch|Antioch]] and [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], to justify the council's claim to ecumenical status. On 1 October 787, the monks and bishops assembled at [[İznik|Nicaea]], a symbolic location as the site of the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325, to convene the [[Second Council of Nicaea|seventh ecumenical council]], which formally declared the veneration of icons as an article of faith, reuniting the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern church]] with that of [[Rome]], which was signified by Adrian I's sending of two [[papal legate|papal legates]].{{sfn|Lagarde|1915|p=423}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}{{sfn|Auzépy|2008|pp=287–288}}

The council determined that the honorary veneration (''{{lang|el-Latn|timētikē proskynēsis}}'') of the holy icons was permitted, and that the true adoration (''{{lang|el-Latn|alēthinē latreia}}'') was reserved for God alone. It further stated that the honor paid to the icon eventually passes over to the individual that it represents, thus, veneration of an icon could not be idolatrous as the iconoclasts believed. The iconodule position was not justified by [[Christological]] arguments (as in the [[Council of Hieria]] of 754), rather, the antiquity of iconodulia and the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation of Christ]], which was said to make acceptable the depiction of Christ, were emphasized.{{sfn|Nicolaides|2014|p=77}}{{sfn|Auzépy|2008|p=288}}

The ''[[Libri Carolini]]'' states that the ruling of the council against iconoclasm led to "civil war" within the Empire, and other ninth-century iconodule sources condemn clergymen and laymen who remained iconoclasts.{{sfn|Auzépy|2008|p=288}} While the council greatly improved relations with the papacy, it did not prevent the outbreak of [[Byzantine expedition to Calabria (788/789)|a war with the Franks]], who took over [[Istria]] and [[Benevento]] in 788. In spite of these reverses, Irene's military efforts met with some success: in 782 her favoured courtier [[Staurakios (eunuch)|Staurakios]] subdued the [[Slavs]] of the Balkans and laid the foundations of Byzantine expansion and re-Hellenization in the area. Nevertheless, Irene was constantly harried by the Abbasids, and in 782 and 798 had to accept the terms of the respective [[Caliph]]s [[al-Mahdi]] and [[Harun al-Rashid]].