Stephanos 4 was a Persian (he was known as "the Persian" - ὁ Πέρσης): Nic. Brev. de Boor 37, Mango 39, Theoph. AM 6186 (Στέφανον τὸν Πέρσην), Theoph. AM 6187 (Στέφανον τὸν σακελλάριον τὸν Πέρσην), cf. Zon. XIV 22. 24 (of barbarian origin - τὸ μὲν γένος ἐκ βαρβάρων ἕλκων). He was a eunuch: Nic. Brev. de Boor 37, Mango 39, de Boor 39, Mango 40, Theoph. AM 6186 (Στέφανον τὸν Πέρσην, σακελλάριον αὐτοῦ καὶ πρωτοευνοῦχον), Zon. XIV 22. 24. Under Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) he was a man of great power and influence: Theoph. AM 6186 (described as lord and master - κύριον καὶ ἐξουσιαστήν). He was the chief eunuch and held office as sakellarios: Theoph. AM 6186 (σακελλάριον αὐτοῦ καὶ πρωτοευνοῦχον), Theoph. AM 6187 (τὸν σακελλάριον), Nic. Brev. de Boor 37, Mango 39:2-3 (ταμίας τῶν βασιλικῶν χρημάτων), Zon. XIV 22. 25 (σακελλάριος προεβλήθη). He was put in charge of the building and repair work carried out under Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) at the imperial palace (apparently in 694), including the construction of the triklinion Ioustinianou: Theoph. AM 6186. The hostile tradition preserved in Nicephorus and Theophanes describes him as extremely cruel (λίαν ὄντα αἱμοβόρον καὶ ἀπηνῆ: Theoph. AM 6186); his treatment of the workmen engaged on the building works was brutal, and he was savage in his treatment not only of underlings but also of the emperor's mother Anastasia 1, whom he had beaten like a child during an absence of the emperor; he inflicted many wrongs on the people of the city (εἰς ἅπαν τὸ πολιτικὸν πλῆθος πολλὰ κακὰ ἐνδειξάμενος: Theoph. AM 6186) and contributed to making the emperor very unpopular: Theoph. AM 6186, Nic. Brev. de Boor 37, Mango 39, cf. Zon. XIV 22. 24-27 (his harshness and cruelty made the rule of Justinian unpopular). Still in office in 695 when Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) was overthrown, he was seized with Theodotos 3 by the crowds and dragged to the Forum of the Ox to be burnt alive: Theoph. AM 6187, Nic. Brev. de Boor 39, Mango 40, Zon. XIV 22. 35.

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