patriarch of Constantinople, was one of the most remarkable men of his time, and by his merit raised himself to the patriarchate. When Bardas had driven Ignatius from the see, Photius was consecrated by Asbestos in 839. He condemned Ignatius in a synod, upon which the pope excommunicated him; and, to balance the account, Photius anathematized the pope. Basilus of Macedonia, whom Photius had reproved for the murder of the Emperor Michael, expelled him, and restored Ignatius; but afterwards, upon the death of Ignatius, Photius was re-established in the year 878. At last, being wrongfully accused of a conspiracy against the person of Leo the philosopher, son and successor of Basilus, he was expelled in 886, and is supposed to have died soon afterwards. He wrote a Bibliotheca, which contains an examination of two hundred and eighty authors; and we have also two hundred and fifty-three epistles of his, the Nomocanon under fourteen titles, and an abridgment of the acts of several councils. This great man was born in Constantinople, and descended from a very illustrious and noble family. His natural abilities were eminent, and he cultivated them with the greatest assiduity. There was no branch of literature, whether sacred or profane, and scarcely any art or science, in which he was not deeply versed. Indeed he appears to have been by far the greatest man of the age in which he lived; and he was so intimately concerned in the chief transactions of it, that ecclesiastical writers have on that account called it Sæculum Photianum. He was first raised to the chief dignities of the empire, being made principal secretary of state, captain of the guards, and a senator; and in all these stations he acquitted himself with a distinction suitable to his great abilities, having been an able statesman as well as a profound scholar. His rise to the patriarchate was very rapid; for when he was chosen to that office he was only a layman; but, that he might, as it were, be gradually raised to that dignity, he was made monk the first day, reader the next, and the following days sub-deacon, deacon, and priest, so that in the space of six days he attained to the highest office in the church. On the whole, however, his ardent love of glory and unbounded ambition led him to commit excesses which rendered him a scourge to those around him. Fabricius describes his Bibliotheca, or Library, as non liber, sed insignis thesaurus, not a book, but an illustrious treasure, in which are contained many curious things relating to authors, and many fragments of works which are nowhere else to be found. It was brought to light by Andreas Scotus, and communicated by him to David Hoeschelius, who caused it to be printed in 1601. Scotus, considering the great utility of this work, translated it into Latin, and printed his translation separately in the year 1606. The Greek text, together with the translation, was afterwards printed at Geneva in 1611.