The son of Michael was named Andronicus from his grandfather, to whose early favor he was introduced by that nominal resemblance.

The blossoms of wit and beauty increased the fondness of the elder Andronicus; and, with the common vanity of age, he expected to realize in the second, the hope which had been disappointed in the first, generation.

The boy was educated in the palace as an heir and a favorite; and in the oaths and acclamations of the people, the _august triad_ was formed by the names of the father, the son, and the grandson.

But the younger Andronicus was speedily corrupted by his infant greatness, while he beheld with puerile impatience the double obstacle that hung, and might long hang, over his rising ambition.

It was not to acquire fame, or to diffuse happiness, that he so eagerly aspired: wealth and impunity were in his eyes the most precious attributes of a monarch; and his first indiscreet demand was the sovereignty of some rich and fertile island, where he might lead a life of independence and pleasure.