 Chapter 55 Part 2 of the History of the Declined and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 5 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The History of the Declined and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 5, Chapter 55, Part 2 It is the observation of the Imperial author of the tactics that all the Scythian hordes resemble each other in their pastoral military life, that they all practice the same means of subsistence and employ the same instruments of destruction. But he adds that the two nations of Bulgarians and Hungarians were superior to their brethren and similar to each other in the improvements, however rude of their discipline and government. Their visible likeness determines Leo to confounder his friends and enemies in one common description, and a picture may be heightened by some strokes from their contemporaries in the 10th century. Except the merit and fame of military prowess, all that is valued by mankind appeared vile and contemptible to these barbarians, whose native fierceness was stimulated by the consciousness of numbers and freedom. The tents of the Hungarians were of leather, the garments of fur, they shaved their hair and scarified their faces. In speech they were slow, in action prompt, in treaty perfidus, and they shared the common reproach of barbarians, too ignorant to conceive the importance of truth, too proud to deny or palliate the breach of the most solemn engagements. Their simplicity has been praised, yet they abstained only from the luxury that they had never known, whatever they saw they coveted, their desires were insatiate, and their sole industry was the hand of violence and repine. By the definition of a pastoral nation, I have recalled a long description of the economy, the warfare and the government that prevail in that state of society. I may add that the fishing, as well as to the chase, the Hungarians were indebted for a part of their subsistence, and since they seldom cultivated the ground, they must, at least in their new settlements, have sometimes practiced a slight and unskillful husbandry. In their emigration, perhaps in their expeditions, the host was accompanied by thousands of sheep and oxen, which increased the cloud of formidable dust, and afforded a constant and wholesale supply of milk and animal food. A plentiful command of forage was the first care of the general, and if the flocks and herds were secure of their pastures, the hardy warrior was alike insensible of danger and fatigue. The confusion of men and cattle that overspread the country exposed their camp to a nocturnal surprise had not the still wider circuit been occupied by their light cavalry perpetually in motion to discover and delay the approach of the enemy. After some experience of the Roman tactics, they adopted the use of the sword and spear, the helmet of the soldier, and the iron breastplate of his steed. But their native and deadly weapon was the Tartar bow, from the earliest infancy their children and servants were exercised in the double science of archery and horsemanship. Their arm was strong, their aim was sure, and in the most rapid career they were taught to throw themselves backward and to shoot a volley of arrows into the air. In open combat, in secret ambush, in flight, in pursuit, they were equally formidable and appearance of order was maintained in the foremost ranks, but their charge was driven forwards by the impatient pressure of succeeding crowds. They pursued, headlong and rash, with loosened reins and horrific outcries, but if they fled with real or dissembled fear, the order of a pursuing foe was checked and chastised by the same habits of regular speed and sudden evolution. In the abuse of victory, they astonished Europe, yet, smarting from the wounds of the Saracen and the Dane, mercy they rarely asked, and more rarely bestowed. Both sexes were accused, is equally inaccessible to pity, and their appetite for raw flesh might countenance the popular tale that they drank the blood and feast on the hearts of the slain. Yet the Hungarians were not devoid of those principles of justice and humanity, which nature has implanted in every bosom. The license of public and private injuries was restrained by laws and punishments, and in security of an open camp, theft is the most tempting and most dangerous offence. Among the barbarians there were many whose spontaneous virtues supplied their laws and corrected their manners, who performed the duties and sympathized with the affections of social life. After a long pilgrimage of flight or victory, the Turkish hordes approached the common limits of the French and Byzantine empires. The first conquest and final settlement extended on either side of the Danube above Vienna, below Belgrade, and beyond the measure of the Roman province of Pannonia, or the modern kingdom of Hungary. That ample and fertile land was loosely occupied by the Moravians, as Clavonian name and tribe, which were driven by the invaders into the compass of a narrow province. Charles Mung had stretched a vague nominal empire as far as the edge of Transylvania, but after the failure of his legitimate line, the Dukes of Moravia forgot their obedience and tribute to the monarchs of Oriental France. The bastard Arnulf was provoked to invite the arms of the Turks. They rushed through the reel of figurative wall, which his indiscretion had thrown open, and the king of Germany has been justly reproached as a traitor to the civil and ecclesiastical society of the Christians. During the life of Arnulf, the Hungarians were checked by gratitude of fear, but in the infancy of his son Louis, they discovered and invaded Bavaria, and such was their scudian speed that in a single day a circuit of 50 miles was stripped and consumed. In the Battle of Augsburg, the Christians maintained their advantage till the seventh hour of the day. They were deceived and vanquished by the flying stratagems of the Turkish cavalry. The conflagration spread over the provinces of Bavaria, Swabia and Franconia, and the Hungarians promoted the reigns of Anarchy by forcing the stoutest barons to discipline their vassals and fortify their castles. The original world towns is ascribed to this calamitous period, nor could any distance be secured against an enemy who, almost at the same instance, laid in ashes the Helvetian monastery of Saint Gaul and the city of Bremen on the shores of the northern ocean. Above 30 years the Germanic Empire, or Kingdom, was subject to the agronomy of tribute, and resistance was disowned by the menace, the serious and effectual menace of dragging the women and children into captivity and of slaughtering the males above the age of 10 years. I have neither power nor inclination to follow the Hungarians beyond the Rhine, but I must observe with surprise that the southern provinces of France were blasted by the Tempest and that Spain, behind her Pyrenees, was astonished at the approach of these formidable strangers. The vicinity of Italy had tempted their easy inroads, but from their camp on the Brenta they beheld with some terror the apparent strength and populousness of the new discovered country. They requested leave to retire, the request was proudly rejected by the Italian king, and the lives of 20,000 Christians paid the forfeit of his obstinacy and rashness. Among the cities of the west, the royal pavia was conspicuous in fame and splendour, and the preeminence of Rome itself was only derived from the relics of the apostles. The Hungarians appeared, pavia was in flames, 43 churches were consumed, and after the massacre of the people, they spared about 200 wretches who had gathered some bushels of golden silver, a vague exaggeration from the smoking ruins of their country. In these annual excursions from the Alps to the neighbourhood of Rome and Capua, the churches that yet escaped resounded with the fearful litany, oh save and deliver us from the arrows of the Hungarians. But the saints were deaf or inexorable, and the torrent rolled forwards till it was stopped by the extreme lands of Calabria. A compensation was offered and accepted for the head of each Italian subject, and 10 bushels of silver were poured forth in the Turkish camp. But falsehood is a natural antagonist of violence, and the robbers were defrauded both in the numbers of the assessment and the standard of the metal. On the side of the east, the Hungarians were opposed in doubtful conflict by the equal arms of the Bulgarians, whose fate forbade an alliance with the Pagans and whose situation formed the barrier of the Byzantine Empire. The barrier was overturned, the Emperor of Constantinople beheld the waving banners of the Turks, and one of the boldest warriors presumed to strike a battle axe into the Golden Gate. The arts and treasures of the Greeks diverted their assault, but the Hungarians might boast in their retreat that they had imposed a tribute on the spirit of Bulgaria and the majesty of the Caesars. The remote and rapid operations of the same campaign appeared to magnify the power and numbers of the Turks, but their courage is most deserving of praise, since a light troop of three or four hundred horse would often attempt and execute the most daring inroads to the gates of Thessalonica and Constantinople. After this disastrous era of the 1910 centuries, Europe was afflicted by a triple scourge from the north, the east and the south, the Norman, the Hungarian and the Saracen, sometimes throughout the same ground of desolation, and these savage foes might have been compared by Homer to the two lions crawling over the carcass of a mangled stag. The deliverance of Germany and Christendom was achieved by the Saxon princes, Henry the Fowler and the Otto the Great, who, in two memorable battles, forever broke the power of the Hungarians. The valiant Henry was roused from a better sickness by the invasion of his country, but his mind was vigorous and his prudence successful. My companions, said he, on the morning of the combat, maintained your ranks, received on your bucklers the first arrows of the pagans, and prevented their second discharge by the equal and rapid career of your lances. They obeyed and conquered, and the historical picture of the castle of Marseburg expressed the features, or at least the character of Henry, who, in an age of ignorance, entrusted to the finer arts the perpetuity of his name. At the end of twenty years, the children of the Turks, who had fallen by his sword, invaded the empire of his son, and their forces defined in the lowest estimate at one hundred thousand horse. They were invited by domestic faction, the gates of Germany were treacherously unlocked, and they spread far beyond the Rhine and the Muse into the heart of landers. But the vigour and prudence of Otto dispelled the conspiracy. The princes were made sensible that unless they were true to each other, their religion and country were irrevocably lost, and the national powers were revived in the plains of Augsburg. They marched and fought in eight legions according to the division of provinces and tribes, the first, second and third were composed of Bavarians, the fourth of Franconians, the fifth of Saxons under the immediate command of the monarch, the sixth and seventh consisted of Swabians, and the eighth legion of a thousand Bohemians, closed the rear of the host. The resources of discipline and valor were fortified by the arts of superstition, which, on this occasion, may deserve the epithets of generous and salutary. The soldiers were purified with the fast, the camp was blessed with the relics of saints and martyrs, and the Christian hero, guarded on his side the sword of Constantine, grasped the invincible spear of Charlemagne, and waved the banner of Saint Morris, the prefect of the Tibian Legion. But his firmest confidence was placed in the holy lands, whose point was passened over the nails of the cross, in which his father had extorted from the king of Burgundy by the threats of war and the gift of a province. The Hungarians were expected in the front, they secretly passed the lake, a river of Bavaria that falls into the Danube, turned the rear of the Christian army, plundered the baggage, and disordered the legion of Bohemia and Swabia. The battle was restored by the Franconians, whose duke, the valiant Conrad, was pierced with an arrow as he rested from his fatigues. The Saxons fought under the eyes of the king, and his victory surpassed in merit and importance the triumphs of the last 200 years. The loss of the Hungarians was still greater in the flight than in the action, they were encompassed by the rivers of Bavaria, and their past cruelties excluded them from the hope of mercy. Three captive princes were hanged at Tratismon, the multitude of prisoners was slain or mutilated, and the fugitives, who presumed to appear in the face of their country, were condemned to everlasting poverty and disgrace. Yet the spirit of the nation was humbled, and the most accessible passes of Hungary were fortified with a ditch and a rampart. Adversity suggested the councils of moderation and peace. The robbers of the west acquiesced in a sedentary life, and the next generation was taught by a discerning prince, that far more might be gained by multiplying and exchanging the produce of a fruitful soil. The native race, the Turkish orphanic blood, was mingled with new colonies of Scythian or Sclavonian origin. Many thousands of robust and industrious captives had been imported from all countries of Europe. And after the marriage of Geyser with the Bavarian princes, he bestowed honors in the states under nobles of Germany. The son of Geyser was invested with the regal title, and the house of Arpad reigned 300 years in the Kingdom of Hungary. But the freeborn Bavarians were not dazzled by the lustre of the diadem, and the people asserted their indefensible right of choosing, deposing and punishing the hereditary servant of the state. 3. The name of Russians was first devolved in the 9th century, by an embassy of Theophilus, emperor of the east, to the emperor of the west, Louis, the son of Charlemagne. The Greeks were accompanied by the envoys of the Great Duke, or Chagan, or Tsar, or the Russians. In their journey to Constantinople, they had traversed many hostile nations, and they hoped to escape the dangers of their return by requesting the French monarch to transport them by sea to their native country. A closer examination detected their origin. They were the brethren of the Swedes and Normans, whose name was already odious and formidable in France, and it might justly be apprehended that these Russian strangers were not the messengers of peace, but the emissaries of war. They were detained while the Greeks were dismissed, and Louis expected a more satisfactory account, that he might obey the law of hospitality or prudence, according to the interests of both empires. This Scandinavian origin of the people, or at least the princes of Russia, may be confirmed and illustrated by the national annals and general history of the north. The Normans, who had so long been concealed by a veil of impenetrable darkness, suddenly burst forth in the spirit of naval and military enterprise. The vast, and as it is said, the populous regions of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, were crowded with independent chieftains and desperate adventurers, who sighed in the laziness of peace, and smiled in the agonies of death. Piracy was the exercise, the trade, the glory, and the virtue of the Scandinavian youth. Impatient of a bleak climate and narrow limits, they started from the banquet, grasped their arms, sounded their horn, ascended their vessels, and explored every coast that promised either spoil or settlement. The Baltic was the first scene of their naval achievements. They visited the eastern shores, the silent residents of Fenik and Sklavonic tribes, and the primitive Russians of the lake Ladoga paid a tribute, the skins of white squirrels, to these strangers, whom they saluted with the title of Varangians or Corsairs. Their superiority in arms, disciplinary known, commanded the fear and reverence of the natives. In their wars against the more inland savages, the Varangians condescended to serve as friends and auxiliaries, and gradually, by choice or conquest, obtained the dominion of a people whom they were qualified to protect. Their tyranny was expelled, the valour was again recalled, till it linked Rurik as Scandinavian chief, became the father of a dynasty, which reigned above 700 years. His brothers extended his influence, the example of service and usurpation was imitated by his companions in the southern provinces of Russia, and their establishments, by the usual methods of war and assassination, were cemented into the fabric of a powerful monarchy. As long as the descendants of Rurik were considered as aliens and conquerors, they ruled by the sword of the Varangians, distributed estates and subjects to their faithful captains, and supplied their numbers with fresh streams of adventurers on the Baltic coast. But when the Scandinavian chiefs had struck a deep and permanent route into the soil, they mingled with the Russians in blood, religion and language, and the first, Valadimir, had the merit of delivering his country from these foreign mercenaries. They had seated him on the throne, his riches were insufficient to gratify their demands. But they listened to his pleasing advice that they should seek, not a more grateful but a more wealthy master, that they should embark for Greece, where instead of skins of squirrels, silk and gold would be the recompense of their service. At the same time the Russian prince admonished his Byzantine ally to disperse and employ, to recompense and restrain these impetuous children of the north. Contemporary writers have recorded the introduction, name and character of the Varangians. Each day they rose in confidence and esteem, the whole body was assembled at Constantinople to perform the duty of guards, and their strength was recruited by a numerous band of their countrymen from the island of Tule. On this occasion the vague appellation of Tule is applied to England, and the new Varangians were a colony of English and Danes who had fled from the Yoko the Norman Conqueror. The habits of pilgrimage and piracy had approximated the countries of the earth. These exiles were entertained in the Byzantine court, and they preserved to the last stage of the empire the inheritance of spotless loyalty and the use of the Danish or English tongue. With their broad double edged battle axes on their shoulders, they attended the Greek emperor to the temple, the senate and the hippodrome. He slept and feasted under their trusty guard, and the keys to the palace, the treasury and the capital, were held by the firm and faithful hands of the Varangians. In the 10th century the geography of Skeetia was extended far beyond the limits of ancient knowledge, and the monarchy of the Russians obtained a vast and conspicuous place in the map of Constantin. The sons of Rurik were masters of the spacious province of Volodomir or Moscow, and if they were confined on that side by the hordes of the east, the western frontier in those early days was enlarged to the Baltic Sea and the country of the Prussians. The northern rain ascended above the 60th degree of latitude over the hyperborean regions, which fancy in people with monsters or clouded with eternal darkness. To the south they followed the course of the Boris Tienis and approached with that river the neighborhood of the Uxan Sea. The tribes that dwelt or wandered in this ample circuit were obedient to the same conqueror and insensibly blended into the same nation. The language of Russia is a dialect of the Sclavonian, but in the 10th century these two motos of speech were different from each other, and as the Sclavonian prevailed in the south it may be presumed that the original Russians of the north, the primitive subjects of the Varanian chiefs, were a portion of the Fenic race. With the emigration, union or dissolution of the wandering tribes, the loose and indefinite picture of the Skidian desert has continually shifted. But the most ancient map of Russia affords some places which still retain their name and position, and the two capitals, Novgorod and Kiev, are co-evil with the first age of the monarchy. Novgorod had not yet deserved the epithet of great, nor the alliance of the Hanseatic League, which diffused the stream of opulence and the principles of freedom. Kiev could not yet boast of 300 churches and innumerable people and a degree of greatness and splendor which was compared with Constantinople by those who had never seen the residents of the Caesars. In their region, the two cities were no more than camps or fairs, the most convenient stations in which the barbarians might assemble for the occasional business of war or trade. Yet even these assemblies announced some progress in the art of society. A new breed of cattle was imported from the southern provinces, and the spirit of commercial enterprise pervaded the sea and land from the Baltic to the Uxen, from the Mau to the Oder to the port of Constantinople. In the days of idolatry and barbarism, the Sclavonic city of Julin was frequented and enriched by the Normans, but prudently secured a free mart of purchase and exchange. From this harbor at the entrance of the Order, the Corsair or merchant sailed in 43 days to the eastern shores of the Baltic, the most distant nations were intermingled, and the holy groves of Courland is said to have been decorated with Grecian and Spanish gold. Between the sea and Novgorod, an easy intercourse was discovered in the summer through a gulf, a lake and a navigable river, in the winter season over the hard and level surface of boundless snows. From the neighborhood of that city, the Russians descended the streams that fall into the body-stainings, their canoes of a single tree were laden with slaves of every age, furs of every species, the spoil of the bee hives and the hides of their cattle, and the whole produce of the north was collected and discharged into the magazines of Kiev. The month of June was the ordinary season of the departure of the fleet. The timber of the canoes was framed into the oars and benches of more solid and capacious boats, and they proceeded without obstacle down the body-stainings, as far as the seven or thirteen ridges of rocks which slivered the bed and precipitated the waters of the river. At the more shallow falls it was sufficient to lighten the vessels, but the deeper cataracts were impassable and the mariners who dragged their vessels and their slaves six miles over land were exposed in this toilsome journey to the robbers of the desert. At the first island below the falls, the Russians celebrated the festival of their escape, at the second near the mouth of the river, they repaired their shattered vessels for the longer and more perilous voyage of the Black Sea. If they steered along the coast, the Danube was accessible, with a fair wind they could reach in thirty-six or forty hours the opposite shores of Anatolia, and Constantinople admitted the annual visit to the strangers of the north. They returned at the stated season with a rich cargo of corn, wine and oil, the manufactures of Greece and the spices of India. Some of their contraband resided in the capital and provinces, and the national treaties protected a person's effects and privileges of the Russian merchants. End of chapter 55 part 2, recording by Monsbrew Helsingfors Finland. Chapter 55 part 3 of the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, volume 5. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, volume 5. Chapter 55 part 3. But the same communication which had been opened for the benefit, was soon abused for the injury of mankind. In a period of 190 years, the Russians made four attempts to plunder the treasures of Constantinople. The event was various, but the motive, the means and the object were the same in these naval expeditions. The Russian traders had seen the magnificence and tasted the luxury of the city of diseases. A marvellous tale and a scanty supply exited the desires of the savage contraband. They envied the gifts of nature which their climate denied. They coveted the works of art which they were too lazy to imitate and too indigent to purchase. The Varangian princes unfurled the banners of paratical adventure and the bravest soldiers were drawn from the nations that dwelt in the northern isles of the ocean. The image of their naval armaments was revived in the last century in the fleets of the Cossacks, which issued from the Boris Tennis to navigate the same seas for a similar purpose. The Greek Appalachian and Monoxula or single canoes might justly be applied to the bottom of their vessels. It was scooped out of the long stem of a beach or willow, but the slight and narrow foundation was erased and continued on either side with planks till it attained the length of 60 and the height of about 12 feet. These boats were built without a deck, but with two rudders and a mast to move with sails and oars and to contain from 40 to 70 men with their arms and provisions of freshwater and saltfish. The first trial of the Russians was made with 200 boats, but when the national force was exerted they might arm against Constantinople a thousand or 1200 vessels. Their fleet was not much inferior to the Royal Navy of Agamemnon, but it was magnified in the eyes of fear to ten or fifteen times the real proportion of its strength and numbers. Had the Greek emperors been endowed with foresight to discern and vigor to prevent, perhaps they might have sealed with a maritime force the mouth of the Boris Tennis. Their indolents abandoned the coast of Anatolia to the calamities of a peretical war, which, after an interval of 600 years, again invested the eucsion, or as long as the capital was respected. The sufferings of a distant province escaped the notice both of the Prince and the Historian. The storm which had swept along from the Fasis and Trebizond to length burst on the Bosphorus of Trace, a strait of 15 miles in which the rude vessels of the Russians might have been stopped and destroyed by its more skillful adversary. In their first enterprise under the princes of Kiev and occupied the port of Constantinople in the absence of the Emperor Michael, the son of Theophilus, through a crowd of perils he landed at the palasters and immediately repaired to the church of the Virgin Mary. By the advice of the patriarch, her garment, a precious relic, was drawn from the sanctuary and dipped into the sea and a seasonable tempest which determined the retreat of the Russians was devoutly ascribed to the mother of God. The silence of the Greeks may inspire some doubt of the truth or at least of the importance of the second attempt by Oleg, the guardian of the sons of Rurik. A strong barrier of arms and fortifications defended the Bosphorus. They were eluded by the usual expedient of drawing the boats over the Isthmus and this simple operation is ascribed in the national chronicles as if the Russian fleet had sailed over dry land with a brisk and favorable gale. The leader of the third armament, Igor, the son of Rurik had chosen a moment of weakness and decay when the naval powers of the empire were employed against the Saracens. But if courage be not wanting, the instruments of defence are seldom deficient. Fifteen broken and decayed galleys were boldly launched against the enemy but instead of the single tube of Greek fire, usually planted under the prow the sides and stern of each vessel were abundantly supplied with that liquid combustible. The engineers were dexterous, the weather was propitious. Many thousand Russians, who chose rather to be drowned than burnt, leaped into the sea and those who escaped the deterioration shore were inhumanly slaughtered by the peasants and soldiers. Yet one third of the canoes escaped into shallow water and the next spring Igor was again prepared to retrieve his disgrace and claim his revenge. After a long peace, Jaroslavz, the great grandson of Igor, resumed the same project of a naval invasion. A fleet under the command of his son was repulsed at the entrance of the Bosphorus by the same artificial flames. But in a rashness of pursuit, the vanguard of the Greeks was encompassed by an irresistible multitude of boats and men. Their provisional fire was probably exhausted and 24 galleys were either taken, sunk or destroyed. Yet the threats or calamities of Russian war were more frequently diverted by treaty than by arms. In these naval hostilities, every disadvantage was on the side of the Greeks. The savage enemy afforded no mercy, his poverty promised no spoil, his impenetrable retreat deprived the conqueror of the hopes of revenge and the pride or weakness of empire indulged in an opinion that no honor could be gained or lost in the intercourse with barbarians. At first their demands were high and inadmissible, three pounds of gold for each soldier or mariner of the fleet. The Russian youth adhered to the design of conquest and glory. But the councils of moderation were recommended by the Hori sages. Be content, they said, with the liberal offers of Caesar. Is it not far better to obtain without a combat the possession of gold, silver, silks and all the objects of our desires? Are we sure of victory? Can we conclude the treaty with the sea? We do not tread on the land, we float on the abyss of water and the common death hangs over our heads. The memory of these arctic fleets that seemed to descend from the polo-circle left a deep impression of terror on the imperial city. By the vulgar of angry rank, it was asserted and believed that an equestrian statue in the square of Taurus was secretly inscribed with the prophecy how the Russians, in the last days, should become masters of Constantinople. In our own time, a Russian armament instead of sailing from the Boristhenes has circumvent navigated the continent of Europe and the Turkish capital has been threatened by a squadron of strong and lofty ships of war, each of which, with its naval signs and thundering artillery, could have sunk or scattered a hundred canoes such as those of their ancestors. Perhaps the present generation may yet behold the accomplishment of the prediction of a rare prediction of which the style is unambiguous and the date unquestionable. By land the Russians were less formidable than by sea and as they fought for the most part on foot, their irregular legions must often have been broken and overthrown by the cavalry of the Skidion Hordes. Yet their growing towns, however slighted imperfect, presented a shelter to the subject and the barrier to the enemy. The monarchioquio, till a fatal partition, assumed the dominion of the north and the nations on the Volga to the Danube were subdued or repelled by the arms of Swatoslaus, the son of Igor, the son of Oleg, the son of Rurik. The vigor of his mind and body was fortified by the hardships of a military and savage life. Wrapped in a bare skin, Swatoslaus usually slept on the ground, his head declining on the saddle, his diet was coarse and frugal and like the heroes of Homer, his meat, it was often horse flesh, was broiled or roasted on the coals. The exercise of war gave stability and discipline to his army and it may be presumed that no soldier was permitted to transcend the luxury of his chief. By an embassy from Nikiforus, the Greek emperor, he was moved to undertake the conquest of Bulgaria and a gift of 1500 pounds of gold was laid at his feet to defray the expense or reward the toils of the expedition. An army of 60,000 men was assembled and embarked. They sailed from the Boris Dines to the Danube, the landing was affected on the Macian shore and after a sharp encounter, the swords of the Russians prevailed against the arrows of the Bulgarian horse. The vanquished king sunk into his grave, his children were made captive and his dominions as far as mountainous were subdued or ravaged by the northern invaders. But instead of relinquishing his prey and performing his engagements, the Varangian prince was more disposed to advance than to retire and had his ambition been crowned with success, the seat of empire in that early period might have been transferred to a more temperate and fruitful climate. Svatoslaus enjoyed and acknowledged the advantages of his new position in which he could unite by exchange or repine the various productions of the earth. By an easy navigation he might draw from Russia the native commodities of furs, wax and hydromel, Hungary supplied him with a breed of horses and spoils of the west and Greece abounded with gold, silver and foreign luxuries, which his poverty had affected the disdain. The bans of Patsnazits, Kosars and Turks, repaired to the standard of victory and the ambassador of Nichevorus, betrayed his trust, assumed a purple and promised to share with his new allies the treasures of the eastern world. From the banks of the Danube the Russian prince pursued his march as far as Adrianople, a formal summons to evacuate the Roman province was dismissed with contempt and Svatoslaus fiercely replied that Constantinople might soon expect the presence of an enemy and a master. Nichevorus could no longer expel the mischief which he had introduced but his throne and wife were inherited by John Semiskes who in a diminutive body possessed the spirit and abilities of a hero. The first victory of his lieutenants deprived the Russians of their foreign allies 20,000 of whom were either destroyed by his sword or provoked the revolt or tempted the desert. Trace was delivered but 70,000 barbarians were still in arms and the legions that had been recalled from the new conquest of Syria prepared with the return of spring to march under the banners of a warlike prince who declared himself a friend and avenger of the injured Bulgarian. The passes of Malthemus had been left unguarded, they were instantly occupied the Roman vanguard was formed of the immortals, a proud imitation of the Persian style the emperor led the main body of 10,500 foot and the rest of his forces followed in slow and cautious array with the baggage and military engines. The first exploit of Semiskes was the reduction of Marcianopolis or Perisplava in two days. The trumpet sounded, the walls were scaled, 8,500 Russians were put to the sword and the sons of the Bulgarian king were rescued from an ignanimous prison and invested with the nominal diadem. After these repeated losses Svatoslavl retired to the strong post of Drista on the banks of the Danube and was pursued by an enemy who alternately employed the arms of celerity and delay the Byzantine galleys and the river, the legions completed the line of circumvalation and the Russian prince was encompassed as alternately famished in the fortifications of the camp and city. Many deeds of valor were performed, several desperate sallies were attempted nor was it till after the siege of 65 days that Svatoslavl sealed his adverse fortune. The liberal terms which he obtained announced the prudence of the victor who respected the valor and apprehended the despair of an unconquered mind. The great Duke of Russia bound himself by solemn implications to relinquish all hostile designs a safe passage was open for his return the liberty of trade and navigation was restored a measure of corn was distributed to each of his soldiers and the allowance of 22,000 measures attests the loss and the remnant of the barbarians. After a painful voyage they again reached the mount of the Boristhenes but their provisions were exhausted, the season was unfavorable they passed the winter on the ice and, before they could prosecute the march Svatoslavl was surprised and oppressed by the neighbouring tribes with whom the Greeks entertained a perpetual and useful correspondence. Far different was the return of Tsimiskes who was received in his capital like Camillus or Marius, the saviour of ancient Rome but the merit of the victory was attributed by the pious emperor to the mother of God and they mentioned the Virgin Mary with the divine infant in her arms was placed in a tranquil car adorned with the spoils of war and the enzymes of Bulgarian royalty Tsimiskes made his public entry on horseback the diadem in his head, a crown of laurel in his hand and Constantinople was astonished to applaud the martial virtues of her sovereign Forty years of Constantinople, a patriarch whose ambition was equal to his curiosity congratulates himself in the Greek church on the conversion of the Russians those fears and bloody barbarians had been persuaded by the voice of reason and religion to acknowledge Jesus for their God, the Christian missionaries for their teachers and the Romans for their friends and brethren his triumph was transient and premature in the various fortune of the paratical adventures some Russian chiefs might allow themselves to be sprinkled with the waters of baptism and the Greek bishop with the name of Metropolitan might administer the sacraments in the church of Kiev to a congregation of slaves and natives but the seed of the gospel was sown on a barren soil many were the apostates, the converts were few and the baptism of Olga may be fixed as the era of Russian Christianity a female, perhaps of the basest origin who could avenge the death and assume the skeptor of her husband Igor must have been endowed with those active virtues which command fear and obedience of barbarians in the moment of foreign and domestic peace she sailed from Kiev to Constantinople and the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus has described with my new diligence the ceremonial of her reception in his capital and palace the steps, the titles, the salutations, the banquet, the presence were exquisitely adjusted to gratify the vanity of the stranger with due reverence to the Siberian majesty of the purple in the sacrament of baptism she received the venerable name of the Empress Helena and her conversion might be preceded or followed by her uncle two interpreters, 16 damsels of a higher and 18 of a lower rank 22 domestic some ministers and 44 Russian merchants who composed the retinue of the great princess Olga after her return to Kiev and Novgorod she firmly persisted in her new religion but her labors in the propagation of the gospel were not crowned with success and both her family and nation adhered with obstinacy or indifference to the gods of their fathers her sons Watuslaus was apprehensive of the scorn and ridicule of his companions and her grandson Volodymyr devoted his youthful zeal to multiply and decorate the monuments of ancient worship the savage deities of the north were still propitiated with human sacrifices in the choice of the victim a citizen was preferred to a stranger, a Christian to an idolator and the father who defended his son from the sacramental knife was involved in the same doom by the rage of a fanatic tumult yet the lessons and example of the pious Olga had made a deep though secret impression in the minds of the prince and people the greek missionaries continued to preach, to dispute and to baptize and the ambassadors of merchants of Russia compared the idolatry of the woods with the elegant superstition of Constantinople they were gazed with admiration on the dome of Saint Sophia the lively pictures of saints and martyrs the riches of the altar the number and vestments of the priests the pomp and order of the ceremonies they were edified by the alternate succession of devout silence and harmonious song nor was it difficult to percieate them that a choir of angels descended each day from heaven to join in the devotion of the Christians but the conversion of Volodymyr was determined or hastened by his desire of a Roman bride at the same time and in the city of Persum the rites of baptism and marriage were celebrated by the Christian Pontiff the city he restored to the emperor Basil, the brother of his spouse but the brazing gates were transported, as it is said, to Novgorod and erected before the first church as a trophy of his victory and faith Tess the spotic command, Perund, the god of thunder whom he had so long adored was dragged through the streets of Kiev and 12 sturdy barbarians battled with clubs the mishapen image which was indignantly cast into the waters of the Baristanians the edict of Volodymyr had proclaimed that all who should refuse the rites of baptism would be treated as the enemies of God and their prince and the rivers were instantly filled with many thousands of obedient Russians who acquiesced in the truth and excellence of a doctrine which had been embraced by the great duke and his boyers in the next generation the relics of paganism were finally extirpated but as the two brothers of Volodymyr had died without baptism their bones were taken from the grave and sanctified by an irregular and posthumous sacrament in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries of the Christian era the reign of the gospel and of the church was extended over Bulgaria, Hungary, Bohemia, Saxony, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland and Russia the triumphs of a apostolic seal were repeated in the Iron Age of Christianity and the northern and eastern regions of Europe submitted to a religion more different in theory than in practice from the worship of their native idols a laudable ambition excited the monks both of Germany and Greece to visit the tents and huts of the barbarians poverty, hardships and dangers were the lot of the first missionaries their courage was active and patient, their motive pure and meritorious their present reward consisted in the testimony of their conscience and the respect of a grateful people but the fruitful harvest of their toils was inherited and enjoyed by the proud and wealthy prelates of the succeeding times the first conversions were free and spontaneous a holy life and an elegant tongue were the only arms of the missionaries but the domestic fables of the pagans were silenced by the miracles and visions of the strangers and the favorable temper of the chiefs was accelerated by the dictates of vanity and interest the leaders of the nations who were saluted with the titles of kings and saints held it lawful and pious to impose the Catholic faith on their subjects and neighbors the coast of the Baltic from Holstein to the Gulf of Finland was invaded under the standard of the cross and the reign of idolatry was closed by the conversion of Lithuania in the 14th century yet truth and candor master knowledge that the conversion of the north imparted many temporal benefits both to the old and the new Christians the rage of war inherent to the human species could not be healed by the evangelical precepts of charity and peace and the ambition of Catholic princes has renewed in every age the calamities of hostile contention but the admission of the barbarians into the pale of civil and ecclesiastical society delivered Europe from the depredations by sea and land of the Normans, the Hungarians and the Russians who learned to spare their brethren and cultivate their positions the establishment of law and order was promoted by the influence of the clergy and the rudiments of art and science were introduced into the savage countries of the globe the liberal piety of the Russian princes engaged in their service the most skillful of the Greeks to decorate the cities and destruct the inhabitants the dome and the paintings of Saint Sophia were rudely copied in the churches of Kiev and Novgorod the writings of the fathers were translated into the Sklavonic idiom and 300 noble youths were invited or compelled to attend the lessons of the College of Jerusalem it should appear that Russia might have derived an easy and rapid improvement from her peculiar connection with the church and state of Constantinople which at that age so justly despised the ignorance of the Latins but the Byzantine nation was servile, solitary and verging to a hasty decline after the fall of Kiev the navigation on the Boris Stanis was forgotten the great princes of Volodymyr and Moscow were separated from the sea and christened them and the divided monarchy was oppressed by the ignonomy and blindness of Tartar servitude the Sklavonic and Scandinavian kingdoms which had been converted by the Latin missionaries were exposed, it is true, to the spiritual jurisdiction and temporal claims of the popes but they were united in language and religious worship with each other and with Rome they imbibed the free and generous spirit of the European Republic and gradually shared the light of knowledge which arose on the western world End of Chapter 55 Part 3 Recording by Monsbrew, Helsingfors, Finland Chapter 56 Part 1 of the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 5 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Philippa Jevons The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 5 Chapter 56 The Saracens, the Franks and the Normans Part 1 The Saracens, Franks and Greeks in Italy First Adventures in Settlement of the Normans Character and Conquest of Robert Giska, Duke of Apulia Deliverance of Sicily by his brother Roger Victories of Robert over the Emperors of the East and West Roger King of Sicily invades Africa and Greece The Emperor Manuel Comnenus Wars of the Greeks and Normans Extinction of the Normans The three great nations of the world, the Greeks, the Saracens and the Franks encountered each other on the Theatre of Italy The southern provinces which now compose the Kingdom of Naples were subject for the most part to the Lombard dukes and Princes of Beneventum so powerful in war that they checked for a moment the genius of Shalaman so liberal in peace that they maintained in their capital an academy of thirty-two philosophers and grammarians The division of this flourishing state produced the rival principalities of Benevento, Salerno and Capua and the thoughtless ambition or revenge of the competitors invited the Saracens to the ruin of their common inheritance During a calamitous period of two hundred years Italy was exposed to a repetition of wounds which the invaders were not capable of healing by the union and tranquility of a perfect conquest Their frequent and almost annual squadrons issued from the port of Palermo and were entertained with too much indulgence by the Christians of Naples The more formidable fleets were prepared on the African coast and even the Arabs of Andalusia were sometimes tempted to assist or oppose the Muslims of an adverse sect In the revolution of human events a new ambush gate was concealed in the Cordyne forks the fields of Cannae were be due to second time with the blood of the Africans and the sovereign of Rome again attacked or defended the walls of Capua and Tarentum A colony of Saracens had been planted at Bari which commands the entrance of the Adriatic Gulf and their impartial depredations provoked the resentment and conciliated the union of the two emperors An offensive alliance was concluded between Basil the Macedonian the first of his race and Louis the great-grandson of Charlemagne and each party supplied the deficiencies of his associate it would have been imprudent in the Byzantine Monarch to transport his stationery troops of Asia to an Italian campaign and the Latin arms would have been insufficient if his superior navy had not occupied the mouth of the Gulf The fortress of Bari was invested by the infantry of the Franks and by the cavalry of galleys of the Greeks and after a defence of four years the Arabian Emir submitted to the clemency of Louis who commanded in person the operations of the siege This important conquest had been achieved by the Concorde of the East and West but their recent amity was soon embittered by the mutual complaints of jealousy and pride The Greeks assumed as their own the merit of the conquest and the pomp of the triumph extolled the greatness of their powers and affected to deride the intemperance and sloth of the handful of barbarians who appeared under the banners of the Carlevingian Prince His reply is expressed with the eloquence of indignation and truth We confess the magnitude of your preparation, says the great grandson of Charlemagne Your armies were indeed as numerous as a cloud of summer locusts who darkened the day, flapped their wings and after a short flight, tumble, weary and breathless to the ground Like them ye sunk after a feeble effort, ye were vanquished by your own cowardice and withdrew from the scene of action to injure and dispoil our Christian subjects of the Slavonian coast We were few in number and why were we few? Because after a tedious expectation of your arrival I had dismissed my host and retained only a chosen band of warriors to continue the blockade of the city If they indulged their hospitable feasts in the face of danger and death did these feasts abate the vigor of their enterprise? Is it by your fasting that the walls of Bari have been overturned? Did not these valiant Franks, diminished as they were by langa and fatigue intercept and vanish the three most powerful emirs of the Saracens and did not their defeat precipitate the fall of the city? Bari is now fallen, Tarentum trembles, Calabria will be delivered and if we command the sea the island of Sicily may be rescued from the hands of the Infidels My brother, accelerate, a name most offensive to the vanity of the Greek Accelerate your naval suckers, respect your allies and distrust your flatterers These lofty hopes were soon extinguished by the death of Louis and the decay of the Carlevingian house and whoever might deserve the honour the Greek Emperor's Basil and his son Leo secured the advantage of the reduction of Bari The Italians of Apulia and Calabria were persuaded or compelled to acknowledge their supremacy and an ideal line from Mount Garganus to the Bay of Salerno leaves the far greater part of the Kingdom of Naples under the dominion of the Eastern Empire Beyond that line the dukes or republics of Amalfi and Naples who had never forfeited their voluntary allegiance rejoiced in the neighbourhood of their lawful sovereign and Amalfi was enriched by supplying Europe with the produce and manufactures of Asia but the Lombard princes of Benevento, Salerno and Capua were reluctantly torn from the communion of the Latin world and too often violated their oaths of servitude and tribute The city of Bari rose to dignity and wealth as the metropolis of the new theme or province of Lombardy the title of patrician and afterwards the singular name of Catapan was assigned to the supreme governor and the policy both of the church and state was modelled in exact subordination to the throne of Constantinople as long as the scepter was disputed by the princes of Italy their efforts were feeble and adverse and the Greeks resisted or eluded the forces of Germany which descended from the Alps under the imperial standard of the Ottos the first and greatest of those Saxon princes was compelled to relinquish the siege of Bari the second after the loss of his stoutest bishops and barons escaped with honour from the bloody field of Crotona on that day the scale of war was turned against the Franks by the valour of the Saracens these corsairs had indeed been driven by the Byzantine fleets from the fortresses and coasts of Italy but a sense of interest was more prevalent than superstition or resentment and the caliph of Egypt had transported 40,000 Muslims to the aid of his Christian ally the successors of Basil amused themselves with the belief that the conquest of Lombardy had been achieved and was still preserved by the justice of their laws, the virtues of their ministers and the gratitude of a people whom they had rescued from anarchy and oppression a series of rebellions might dart a ray of truth into the palace of Constantinople and the illusions of flattery were dispelled by the easy and rapid success of the Norman adventurers the revolution of human affairs had produced in Apulia and Calabria a melancholy contrast between the age of Pythagoras and the 10th century of the Christian era at the former period the coast of great Greece as it was then styled was planted with free and opulent cities these cities were peopled with soldiers, artists and philosophers and the military strength of Tarentum, Sibiris or Crotona was not inferior to that of a powerful kingdom at the second era these once flourishing provinces were clouded with ignorance impoverished by tyranny and depopulated by barbarian war nor can we severely accuse the exaggeration of a contemporary that a fair and ample district was reduced to the same desolation which had covered the earth after the general deluge among the hostilities of the Arabs, the Franks and the Greeks in the southern Italy I shall select two or three anecdotes expressive of their national manners one, it was the amusement of the Saracens to profane as well as to pillage the monasteries and churches at the siege of Salerno a Muslim chief spread his couch on the communion table and on that altar sacrificed each night the virginity of the Christian nun as he wrestled with a reluctant maid a beam in the roof was accidentally or dexterously thrown down on his head and the death of the lustful emir was imputed to the wrath of Christ which was at length awakened to the defence of his faithful spouse two, the Saracens besieged the cities of Beneventum and Capua after a vain appeal to the successors of Charlemagne the Lombards implored the clemency and aid of the Greek emperor a fearless citizen dropped from the walls passed the entrenchments accomplished his commission and fell into the hands of the barbarians as he was returning with the welcome news they commanded him to assist their enterprise and deceive his countrymen with the assurance that wealth and honours should be the reward of his falsehood and that his sincerity would be punished with immediate death he affected to yield but as soon as he was conducted within hearing of the Christians on the rampart friends and brethren he cried with a loud voice be bold and patient maintain the city your sovereign is informed of your distress and your deliverers are at hand I know my doom and commit my wife and children to your gratitude the rage of the Arabs confirmed his evidence and the self-devoted patriot was transceased with a hundred spears he deserves to live in the memory of the virtuous but the repetition of the same story in ancient and modern times may sprinkle some doubts on the reality of this generous deed three the recital of a third incident may provoke a smile amidst the horrors of war Theobald, Marquis of Camarino and Spoleto supported the rebels of Beninventum and his wanton cruelty was not incompatible in that age with the character of a hero his captives of the Greek nation or party were castrated without mercy and the outrage was aggravated by a cruel jest that he wished to present the emperor with a supply of eunuchs the most precious ornaments of the Byzantine court the garrison of a castle had been defeated in a sally and the prisoners were sentenced to the customary operation but the sacrifice was disturbed by the intrusion of a frantic female who with bleeding cheeks, dishevelled hair and importunate clamours compelled the Marquis to listen to her complaint Is it thus she cried, e magnanimous heroes, that ye wage war against women against women who have never injured ye and whose only arms are the distuff and the loom Theobald denied the charge and protested that since the Amazons he had never heard of a female war and how, she furiously exclaimed, can you attack us more directly how can you wound us in a more vital part than by robbing our husbands of what we most dearly cherish the source of our joys and the hope of our posterity the plunder of our flocks and herds I've endured without a murmur but this fatal injury, this irreparable loss subdues my patience and calls aloud on the justice of heaven and earth a general laugh applauded her eloquence the savage francs inaccessible to pity were moved by her ridiculous yet rational despair and with the deliverance of the captives she obtained the restitution of her effects as she returned in triumph to the castle she was overtaken by a messenger to inquire in the name of Theobald what punishment should be inflicted on her husband were he again taken in arms should such, she answered without hesitation, be his guilt and his misfortune his eyes and a nose and hands and feet these are his own and these he may deserve to forfeit by his personal offences but let my Lord be pleased to spare what his little handmaid presumes to claim as her peculiar and lawful property the establishment of the Normans in the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily is an event most romantic in its origin and in its consequences most important both the Italy and the Eastern Empire the broken provinces of the Greeks, Lombards and Saracens were exposed to every invader and every sea and land were invaded by the adventurous spirit of the Scandinavian pirates after a long indulgence of rapine and slaughter a fair and ample territory was accepted, occupied and named by the Normans of France they renounced their gods for the god of the Christians and the dukes of Normandy acknowledged themselves the vassals of the successors of Charlemagne and Capet the savage fierceness which they had brought from the snowy mountains of Norway was refined without being corrupted in a warmer climate the companions of Rolo insensibly mingled with the natives they imbibed the manners, language and gallantry of the French nation and in a martial age the Normans might claim the palm of valour and glorious achievements of the fashionable superstitions they embraced with ardour the pilgrimages of Rome, Italy and the Holy Land in this active devotion the minds and bodies were invigorated by exercise danger was the incentive, novelty the recompense and the prospect of the world was decorated by wonder, credulity and ambitious hope they confederated for their mutual defence and the robbers of the Alps who had been allured by the garb of a pilgrim were often chastised by the arm of a warrior in one of these pious visits to the cavern of Mount Garganus in Apulia which had been sanctified by the apparition of the archangel Michael they were accosted by a stranger in the Greek habit but who soon revealed himself as a rebel, a fugitive and a mortal foe of the Greek Empire his name was Melo, a noble citizen of Bari who after an unsuccessful revolt was compelled to seek new allies and avengers of his country the bold appearance of the Normans revived his hopes and solicited his confidence they listened to the complaints and still more to the promises of the Patriot the assurance of wealth demonstrated the justice of his cause and they viewed as the inheritance of the brave the fruitful land which was oppressed by effeminate tyrants on their return to Normandy they kindled a spark of enterprise and a small but intrepid band was freely associated for the deliverance of Apulia they passed the Alps by separate roads and in the disguise of pilgrims but in the neighbourhood of Rome they were saluted by the chief of Bari who supplied the moor indigent with arms and horses and instantly led them to the field of action in the first conflict their valour prevailed but in the second engagement they were overwhelmed by the numbers and military engines of the Greeks and indignantly retreated with their faces to the enemy the unfortunate Melo ended his life a suppliant at the court of Germany his Norman followers excluded from their native and their promised land wandered among the hills and valleys of Italy and earned their daily substance by the sword to that formidable sword the princes of Capua, Beneventum, Salerno and Naples alternately appealed in their domestic quarrels the superior spirit and discipline of the Normans gave victory to the side which they espoused and their cautious policy observed the balance of power lest the preponderance of any rival state should render their aid less important and their service less profitable their first asylum was a strong camp in the depths of the marshes of Campania but they were soon endowed by the liberality of the Duke of Naples with a more plentiful and permanent seat eight miles from his residence as a bullock against Capua the town of Aversa was built and fortified for their use and they enjoyed as their own the corn and fruits the meadows and groves of that fertile district the report of their success attracted every year new swarms of pilgrims and soldiers the poor were urged by necessity the rich were excited by hope and the brave and active spirits of Normandy were impatient of ease and ambitious of renown the independence standard of Aversa afforded shelter and encouragement to the outlaws of the province to every fugitive who would escape from the injustice or justice of his superiors and these foreign associates were quickly assimilated in manners and language to the Gallic Colony the first leader of the Normans was Count Reinoff and in the origin of society preeminence of rank is the reward and the proof of superior merit since the conquest of Sicily by the Arabs the Grecian emperors had been anxious to regain that valuable possession but their efforts however strenuous had been opposed by the distance and the sea their costly armaments after a gleam of success added new pages of calamity and disgrace to the Byzantine annals twenty thousand of their best troops were lost in a single expedition and the victorious Muslims derided the policy of a nation which entrusted eunuchs not only with the custody of their women but with the command of their men after a reign of two hundred years the Saracens were ruined by their divisions the emir disclaimed the authority of the king of Tunis the people rose against the emir the cities were usurped by the chiefs each meaner rebel was independent in his village or castle and the weaker of two rival brothers implored the friendship of the Christians in every service of danger the Normans were prompt and useful and five hundred knights or warriors on horseback were enrolled by Arduin the agent and interpreter of the Greeks under the standard of Maniasis governor of Lombardy before their landing the brothers were reconciled the union of Sicily and Africa was restored and the island was guarded to the water's edge the Normans led the van and the Arabs of Messina felt the valour of an untried foe in a second action the emir of Syracuse was unhorsed and transposed by the iron arm of William of Hoteville in a third engagement his intrepid companions discomforted the host of sixty thousand Saracens and left the Greeks no more than the labour of the pursuit a splendid victory but of which the pen of the historian may divide the merit with the lance of the Normans it is however true that they essentially promoted the success of Maniasis who reduced thirteen cities and the greater part of Sicily under the obedience of the emperor but his military fame was sullied by ingratitude and tyranny in the division of the spoils the deserts of his brave auxiliaries were forgotten and neither their avarice nor their pride could brook this injurious treatment they complained by the mouth of their interpreter their complaint was disregarded their interpreter was scourged the sufferings were his the insult and resentment belonged to those whose sentiments he had delivered yet they dissembled till they had obtained or stolen a safe passage to the Italian continent their brethren of Aversa sympathised in their indignation and the province of Apulia was invaded as the forfeit of the debt above twenty years after the first emigration the Normans took the field with no more than seven hundred horse and five hundred foot and after the recall of the Byzantine legions from the Sicilian war their numbers are magnified to the amount of three school thousand men their herald proposed the option of battle or retreat of battle was the unanimous cry of the Normans and one of their stoutest warriors with the stroke of his fist fell to the ground at the horse of the Greek messenger he was dismissed with a fresh horse the insult was concealed from the imperial troops but in two successive battles they were more fatally instructed of the prowess of their adversaries in the plains of Cannae the Asiatics fled before the adventurers of France the Duke of Lombardy was made prisoner the Apulians acquiesced in a new dominion and the four places of Bari, Otranto, Brundisium and Tarentum were alone saved in the shipwreck of the Grecian fortunes from this era we may date the establishment of the Norman power which soon eclipsed the infant colony of Aversa twelve counts were chosen by the popular suffrage and age birth and merit were the motives of their choice the tributes of their peculiar districts were appropriated to their use and each count erected a fortress in the midst of his lands and at the head of his vassals in the centre of the province the common habitation of Melfi was reserved as the metropolis and citadel of the republic a house and separate quarter was allotted to each of the twelve counts and the national concerns were regulated by this military senate the first of his peers, their president and general was entitled Count of Apulia and this dignity was conferred on William of the Iron Arm who, in the language of the age, is styled a lion in battle, a lamb in society and an angel in council the manners of his countrymen are fairly delineated by a contemporary and national historian the normans, says Malaterra, are a cunning and revengeful people eloquence and dissimulation appear to be their hereditary qualities they can stoop to flatter but unless they are curbed by the restraint of law they indulge the licentiousness of nature and passion their princes affect the praises of popular munificence the people observe the medium or rather blonde the extremes of avarice and prodigality and in their eager thirst of wealth and dominion they despise whatever they possess and hope whatever they desire arms and horses, the luxury of dress, the exercises of hunting and hawking are the delight of the normans but on pressing occasions they can endure with incredible patience the inclemency of every climate and the toil and absence of a military life End of chapter 56 part 1 chapter 56 part 2 of the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire volume 5 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Philippa Jevons the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire volume 5 chapter 56 part 2 the Normans of Apulia were seated on the verge of the two empires and according to the policy of the hour they accepted the investiture of their lands from the sovereigns of Germany or Constantinople but the firmest title of these adventurers was the right of conquest they neither loved nor trusted they were neither trusted nor beloved the contempt of the princes was mixed with fear and the fear of the natives was mingled with hatred and resentment every object of desire, a horse, a woman, a garden tempted and gratified the rapaciousness of the strangers and the avarice of their chiefs was only coloured by the more specious names of ambition and glory the twelve counts were sometimes joined in the League of Injustice in their domestic quarrels they disputed the spoils of the people the virtues of William were buried in his grave and Drogo, his brother and successor was better qualified to lead the valour than to restrain the violence of his peers under the reign of Constantin Menomachus the policy rather than benevolence of the Byzantine court attempted to relieve Italy from this adherent mischief more grievous than a flight of barbarians and Argyrus, the son of Melo was invested for this purpose with the most lofty titles and the most ample commission the memory of his father might recommend him to the Normans who already engaged their voluntary service to quell the revolt of Maniases and to avenge their own and the public injury it was the design of Constantin to transplant the warlike colony from the Italian provinces to the Persian War and the son of Melo distributed among the chiefs the gold and manufactures of Greece as the first fruits of the imperial bounty but his arts were baffled by the sense and spirit of the conquerors of Apulia his gifts, or at least his proposals, were rejected and they unanimously refused to relinquish their possessions and their hopes for the distant prospect of Asiatic fortune after the means of persuasion had failed Argyrus resolved to compel or to destroy the Latin powers were solicited against the common enemy and an offensive alliance was formed of the Pope and the two emperors of the East and West the throne of St. Peter was occupied by Leo IX a simple saint of a temper most apt to deceive himself and the world and his venerable character would consecrate with the name of piety the measures least compatible with the practice of religion his humanity was affected by the complaints perhaps the calamities of an injured people the impious Normans had interrupted the payment of tithes and the temporal sword might be lawfully unsheathed against the sacrilegious robbers who were deaf to the censures of the church as a German of noble birth and royal kindred Leo had free access to the court and confidence of the Emperor Henry III and in search of arms and allies his ardent zeal transported him from Apulia to Saxony from the Elba to the Tiber during these hostile preparations Argyrus indulged himself in the use of secret and guilty weapons a crowd of Normans became the victims of public or private revenge and the valiant Drogo was murdered in a church but his spirit survived in his brother Humphrey the third count of Apulia the assassins were chastised and the son of Melo overthrown and wounded was driven from the field to hide his shame behind the walls of Bari and to await the tardy sucker of his allies but the power of Constantine was distracted by a Turkish war the mind of Henry was feeble and irresolute and the Pope, instead of repassing the Alps with a German army was accompanied only by guard of seven hundred Swabians and some volunteers of Loren in his long progress from Mantua to Beneventum a vile and promiscuous multitude of Italians was enlisted under the Holy Standard the priest and the robber slept in the same tent the pikes and crosses were intermingled in the front and the martial saint repeated the lessons of his youth in the order of march, of encampment and of combat the Normans of Apulia could muster in the field no more than three thousand horse with a handful of infantry the defection of the natives intercepted their provisions and retreat and their spirit incapable of fear was chilled for a moment by superstitious awe on the hostile approach of Leo they knelt without disgrace or reluctance before their spiritual father but the Pope was inexorable his lofty Germans affected to deride the diminutive stature of their adversaries and the Normans were informed that death or exile was their only alternative flight they disdained and as many of them had been three days without tasting food they embraced the assurance of a more easy and honourable death they climbed the hill of Civitella descended into the plain and charged in three divisions the army of the Pope on the left and in the centre Richard Count of Aversa and Robert the famous Giscard attacked, broke, routed and pursued the Italian multitudes who fought without discipline and fled without shame a harder trial was reserved for the valour of Count Humphrey who led the cavalry of the right wing the Germans have been described as unskillful in the management of the horse and the lance but on foot they formed a strong and impenetrable phalanx and neither man nor steed nor armour could resist the weight of their long and two-handed swords after a severe conflict they were encompassed by the squadrons returning from the pursuit and died in the ranks with the esteem of their foes and the satisfaction of revenge the gates of Civitella were shut against the flying Pope and he was overtaken by the pious conquerors who kissed his feet to implore his blessing and the absolution of their sinful victory the soldiers beheld in their enemy and captive the vicar of Christ and though we may suppose the policy of the chiefs it is probable that they were infected by the popular superstition in the calm of retirement the well-meaning Pope deplored the effusion of Christian blood and reputed to his account he felt that he had been the author of sin and scandal and as his undertaking had failed the indecency of his military character was universally condemned with these dispositions he listened to the offers of a beneficial treaty deserted an alliance which he had preached as the cause of God and ratified the past and future conquests of the Normans by whatever hands they had been usurped the provinces of Apulia and Calabria were a part of the donation of Constantine and the patrimony of St. Peter the grant and the acceptance confirmed the mutual claims of the Pontiffs and the adventurers they promised to support each other with spiritual and temporal arms a tribute or quitterant of 12 pence was afterwards stipulated for every plough land and since this memorable transaction the Kingdom of Naples has remained above 700 years a thief of the Holy Sea the pedigree of Robert of Giscard is variously deduced from the peasants and the dukes of Normandy from the peasants by the pride and ignorance of a Grecian princess from the dukes by the ignorance and flattery of the Italian subjects his genuine descent may be ascribed to the second or middle order of private nobility he sprang from a race of Balvasaws or Bannerettes of the diocese of Coutance in the lower Normandy the castle of Otfield was their honourable seat his father Tankred was conspicuous in the court and army of the Duke and his military service was furnished by ten soldiers or knights two marriages of a rank not unworthy of his own made him the father of twelve sons who were educated at home by the impartial tenderness of his second wife but a narrow patrimony was insufficient for this numerous and daring progeny they saw around the neighbourhood the mischiefs of poverty and discord and resolved to seek in foreign wars a more glorious inheritance two only remained to perpetuate the race and cherish their father's age their ten brothers as they successfully attained the vigor of manhood departed from the castle, passed the Alps and joined the Apulian camp of the Normans the elder were prompted by native spirit their success encouraged their younger brethren and the three first in seniority, William, Drogo and Humphrey deserved to be the chiefs of their nation and the founders of the New Republic Robert was the eldest of the seven sons of the second marriage and even the reluctant praise of his foes has endowed him with the heroic qualities of a soldier and a statesman his lofty stature surpassed the tallest of his army his limbs were cast in the true proportion of strength and gracefulness and to the decline of life he maintained the patient vigor of health and the commanding dignity of his form his complexion was ruddy his shoulders were broad his hair and beard were long and of a flaxen colour his eyes sparkled with fire and his voice like that of Achilles could impress obedience and terror amidst the tumult of battle in the ruder ages of chivalry such qualifications are not below the notice of the poet or historians they may observe that Robert at once and with equal dexterity could wield in the right hand his sword his lance in the left that in the battle of Civitella he was thrice unhorse and that in the close of that memorable day he was adjudged to have borne away the prize of valor from the warriors of the two armies his boundless ambition was founded on the consciousness of superior worth in the pursuit of greatness he was never arrested by the scruples of justice and seldom moved by the feelings of humanity though not insensible of fame the choice of open or clandestine means was determined only by his present advantage the surname of Giscard was applied to this master of political wisdom which is too often confounded with the practice of dissimulation and deceit and Robert is praised by the Apulian poet for excelling the cunning of Ulysses and the eloquence of Cicero yet these arts were disguised by an appearance of military frankness in his highest fortune he was accessible and courteous to his fellow soldiers and while he indulged the prejudices of his new subjects he affected in his dress and manners to maintain the ancient fashion of his country he grasped with a rapacious that he might distribute with a liberal hand his primitive indigence had taught the habits of frugality the gain of a merchant was not below his attention and his prisoners were tortured with slow and unfeeling cruelty to force a discovery of their secret treasure according to the Greeks he departed from Normandy with only five followers on horseback and thirty on foot yet even this allowance appears too bountiful the sixth son of Tancred of Otaville passed the Alps as a pilgrim and his first military band was levied among the adventurers of Italy his brothers and countrymen had divided the fertile lands of Apulia but they guarded their shares with the jealousy of Averus the aspiring youth was driven forwards to the mountains of Calabria and in his first exploits against the Greeks and the natives it is not easy to discriminate the hero from the robber to surprise a castle or a convent to ensnare a wealthy citizen to plunder the adjacent villages for necessary food were the obscure labours which formed and exercised the powers of his mind and body the volunteers of Normandy adhered to his standard and under his command the peasants of Calabria assumed the name and character of Normans as the genius of Robert expanded with his fortune he awakened the jealousy of his elder brother by whom in a transient quarrel his life was threatened and his liberty restrained after the death of Humphrey the tender age of his sons excluded them from the command they were reduced to a private estate by the ambition of their guardian and uncle and Giscard was exalted on a buckler and saluted Count of Apulia and General of the Republic with an increase of authority and of force he resumed the conquest of Calabria and soon aspired to a rank that should raise him forever above the heads of his equals by some acts of raping or sacrilege he had incurred a papal excommunication but Nicholas II was easily persuaded that the divisions of friends could terminate only in their mutual prejudice that the Normans were the faithful champions of the Holy See and it was safer to trust the alliance of a prince than the caprice of an aristocracy a synod of one hundred bishops was convened at Melfi and the Count interrupted an important enterprise to guard the person and execute the decrees of the Roman Pontiff his gratitude and policy conferred on Robert and his posterity the ducal title with the investiture of Apulia, Calabria and all the land both in Italy and Sicily which his sword could rescue from this cosmetic Greeks and the unbelieving Saracens this apostolic sanction might justify his arms but the obedience of a free and victorious people could not be transferred without their consent and Giscard dissembled his elevation till the ensuing campaign had been illustrated by the conquest of Consenza and Reggio in the hour of triumph he assembled his troops and solicited the Normans to confirm by their suffrage the judgment of the vicar of Christ the soldiers hailed with joyful acclamations their valiant duke and the Counts, his former equals, pronounced the oath of fidelity with hollow smiles and secret indignation after this inauguration Robert styled himself by the grace of God and St. Peter Duke of Apulia, Calabria and hereafter of Sicily and it was the labour of twenty years to deserve and realise these lofty appellations such tardy progress in a narrow space may seem unworthy of the abilities of the chief and the spirit of the nation but the Normans were few in number, their resources was gante, their service was voluntary and precarious the bravest designs of the duke were sometimes opposed by the free voice of his parliament of barons the twelve Counts of popular election conspired against his authority and against their perfidious uncle the sons of Humphrey demanded justice and revenge by his policy and vigour Giscard discovered their plots, suppressed their rebellions and punished the guilty with death or exile but in these domestic feuds his years and the national strength were unprofitably consumed after the defeat of his foreign enemies the Greeks, Lombards and Saracens their broken forces retreated to the strong and populous cities of the sea coast they excelled in the arts of fortification and defence the Normans were accustomed to serve on horseback in the field and their rude attempts could only succeed by the efforts of persevere in courage the resistance of Salerno was maintained above eight months the siege or blockade of Bari lasted nearly four years in these actions the Norman duke was the foremost in every danger, in every fatigue, the last and most patient as he pressed the citadel of Salerno a huge stone from the rampart shattered one of his military engines and by a splinter he was wounded in the breast before the gates of Bari he lodged in a miserable hut or barrack composed of dry branches and thatched with straw a perilous station on all sides opened to the inclemency of the weather and the spears of the enemy the Italian conquests of Robert corresponded with the limits of the present kingdom of Naples and the countries united by his arms have not been desevered by the revolutions of 700 years the monarchy has been composed of the Greek provinces of Calabria and Apulia of the Lombard Principality of Salerno the Republic of Amalfi and the inland dependencies of the large and ancient Duchy of Beneventum three districts only were exempted from the common law of subjection the first forever, the two last till the middle of the succeeding century the city and immediate territory of Benevento had been transferred by gift or exchange from the German Emperor to the Roman Pontiff and although this holy land was sometimes invaded the name of St. Peter was finally more potent than the sword of the Normans their first colony of Aversa subdued and held the state of Capua and her princes were reduced to beg their bread before the palace of their fathers the dukes of Naples, the present metropolis, maintained the popular freedom under the shadow of the Byzantine Empire among the new acquisitions of Giscard the science of Salerno and the trade of Amalfi may detain for a moment the curiosity of the reader one, of the learned faculties, jurisprudence implies the previous establishment of laws and property and theology may perhaps be superseded by the full light of religion and reason but the savage and the sage must alike implore the assistance of physics and if our diseases are inflamed by luxury the mischiefs of blows and wounds would be more frequent in the rudder ages of society the treasures of Grecian medicine had been communicated to the Arabian colonies of Africa, Spain and Sicily and in the intercourse of peace and war a spark of knowledge had been kindled and cherished at Salerno an industrious city in which the men were honest and the women beautiful a school the first that arose in the darkness of Europe was consecrated to the healing art the conscience of monks and bishops was reconciled to that salutary and lucrative profession and a crowd of patients of the most eminent rank and most distant climates invited or visited the physicians of Salerno they were protected by the Norman conquerors and Giscard though bred in arms could discern the merit and value of a philosopher after a pilgrimage of 39 years Constantine an African Christian returned from Baghdad a master of the language and learning of the Arabians and Salerno was enriched by the practice the lessons and the writings of the pupil of Avicenna the school of medicine has long slept in the name of a university but her precepts are abridged in a string of aphorisms bound together in the Leonine verses or Latin rhymes of the 12th century two seven miles to the west of Salerno and 30 to the south of Naples the obscure town of Amalfi displayed the power and rewards of industry the land however fertile was of narrow extent but the sea was accessible and open the inhabitants first assumed the office of supplying the western world with the manufacturers and productions of the east and this useful traffic was the source of their opulence and freedom the government was popular under the administration of a duke and the supremacy of the Greek emperor fifty thousand citizens were numbered in the walls of Amalfi nor was any city more abundantly provided with gold, silver and the objects of precious luxury the mariners who swarmed in her port excelled in the theory and practice of navigation and astronomy and the discovery of the compass which has opened the globe is owing to their ingenuity or good fortune their trade was extended to the coasts or at least to the commodities of Africa, Arabia and India and their settlements in Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria acquired the privileges of independent colonies after three hundred years of prosperity Amalfi was oppressed by the arms of the Normans and sacked by the jealousy of Pisa but the poverty of one thousand fishermen is yet dignified by the remains of an arsenal, a cathedral and the palaces of royal merchants End of chapter 56 part 2