Zacharias Pope, 741–752

S. Peter's chair only remained unoccupied during a term of four days : Zacharias, the son of Polychromios, the last Greek who, in this age, wore the tiara, being elected Pope on December 3, 741.His family belonged to Siberena, the present S. Severina in Calabria, a province which had already given birth to a Pope in John the Seventh, a native of Rossano. John had apparently induced the youthful Zacharias to follow him to Rome, where the latter, entering the Benedictine monastery at the Lateran, had become a cardinal deacon during the reign of Gregory the Third. If, as we can scarcely doubt, the election was notified to the Exarch, it could no longer have been considered necessary to wait for the Imperial ratification. The Liber Pojitificalis bestows the most unqualified praise upon Zacharias, and, although the biography of each of S. Pete's successors in turn is opened with an official eulogium, with respect at least to the benefits acquired for the Church, the tribute in the case of Zacharias seems to have been well deserved. Thanks to the resolution, wisdom, and eloquence displayed by the Pope, the Church enjoyed a ten years' reign of prosperity and peace; and since to him is due the translation of Gregory's Dialogues into Greek, it follows that, according to the standard of his age, Zacharias was also a man of learning.