CONSTANTINE VI., grandson of Constantine V., was emperor 780-97. At ten years of age he succeeded his father, Leo IV., under the guardianship of his mother Irene (q.v.). In 782 the Arabs under Harun al-Rashid penetrated as far as the Bosporus, and ex acted an annual tribute as the price of an inglorious peace. Even when Constantine came of age, Irene practically retained the supreme power. At length Constantine had her arrested, but fool ishly pardoned her in 792. In 796 she organized a plot against him and in June 797 he was seized and blinded. According to some, he died on the same day; according to others, he survived for several years. With Constantine VI. the Isaurian dynasty became extinct.
See Theophanes and the biographies of the patriarch Tarasius and Theodore of Studium ; also F. C. Schlosser, Geschichte der bilderstdr menden Kaiser des ostromischen Reichs (Frankfurt am Main [1812]).