cousin Constantine Sarantapechos was a patrician and possibly also a strategos ("military general") of the theme of Hellas at the end of the eighth century. Constantine Sarantapechos's son Theophylact was a spatharios and is mentioned as having been involved in suppressing a revolt in 799. Empress consort Irene was brought to Constantinople by Emperor Constantine V on 1 November 769 and was married to his son Leo IV on 3 November. Her coronation took place the following month, on 17 December. It is unclear why she was selected as the bride for the young Leo IV. Especially unusual is that, while Constantine V was a militant iconoclast who was known for persecuting venerators of icons, Irene herself displayed iconophile predilections. This fact, combined with the limited information available about her family, has led some scholars to speculate that Irene may have been selected in a bride-show, in which eligible young women were paraded before the bridegroom until one was finally selected. If this was the case, then she would have been the first imperial bride to be selected in this manner. However, there is no solid evidence to support this hypothesis other than the apparent oddity of Irene's selection as Leo IV's bride. On 14 January 771, Irene gave birth to a son, the future Constantine VI, who was named after his grandfather, Irene's father-in-law, Constantine V. When Constantine V died in September 775, Leo IV ascended to the throne at the age of twenty-five, and Irene became empress. An unnamed female relative of Irene was married to the Bulgar ruler Telerig in 776. Irene also had a nephew. Leo IV, though an iconoclast like his father, pursued a policy of moderation towards iconophiles. He removed the penalties on monasteries that had been imposed by his father and began appointing monks as bishops. When Patriarch Nicetas I of Constantinople died in 780, Leo IV appointed Paul of Cyprus, who had iconophile sympathies, as his successor, although he did force him to swear oaths that he would uphold the official iconoclasm. During Lent of 780, however, Leo IV's policies on iconophiles became much harsher. He ordered for a number of prominent courtiers to be arrested, scourged, tonsured, and tortured after they were caught venerating icons. According to the 11th century historian George Kedrenos, who wrote many centuries after Irene's death, this crackdown on iconophiles began after Leo IV discovered two icons