The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 7Baudry's European Library, 1840 - Byzantine Empire |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abbassides Abulfeda Abulpharagius Alexiad Alexius Alp Arslan ambassadors ancient Anna Comnena Annal apud Apulia Arabian Arabs arms army Asia Bagdad Barbarians Basil Bibliot brother Bulgarians Byzantine Cæsar caliph camp captive Cedrenus century character Charlemagne Christian church command conqueror conquest Constantine Constantine Porphyrogenitus Constantinople crusade D'Herbelot death dominion Ducange duke dynasty East Egypt Elmacin emir emperor empire enemy Europe faithful father Fatimites France Franks French galleys gold Græc Greek fire Greeks Guignes Guiscard Hist historian holy honour horse Imperial Italy Jerusalem king kingdom land Latin Liutprand Mahomet Mahometan Manichæans Mervan military monarchy Moslems Muratori nations native Nicephorus Nicetas Normans numbers Ommiades original Pagi palace Paulicians peace Persian pope princes provinces reign religion Roman Rome royal Russians Saladin Saracens Sicily siege soldiers sovereign spirit style successors sultan sword Syria Theophanes throne tion Turkish Turks valour Varangians victory William of Tyre Zonaras καὶ
Popular passages
Page 12 - Bordeaux were possessed by the sovereign of Damascus and Samarcand; and the south of France, from the mouth of the Garonne to that of the Rhone, assumed the manners and religion of Arabia.
Page 13 - A victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland : the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames.
Page 21 - A hundred lions were brought out, with a keeper to each lion. Among the other spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesser boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, as well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effected spontaneous motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony.
Page 249 - Bareheaded and barefoot, with contrite hearts, and in an humble posture, they ascended the hill of Calvary amidst the loud anthems of the clergy ; kissed the stone which had covered the Saviour of the world, and bedewed with tears of joy and penitence the monument of their redemption.
Page 23 - The zeal and curiosity of Almamon were imitated by succeeding princes of the line of Abbas: their rivals, the Fatimites of Africa and the Ommiades of Spain, were the patrons of the learned, as well as the commanders of the faithful: the same royal prerogative was claimed by their independent emirs of the provinces; and their emulation diffused the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand and Bochara to Fez and Cordova. The...
Page 10 - It came flying through the air, says Joinville,22 like a winged longtailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with the report of thunder and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dispelled by this deadly illumination.
Page 248 - ... the besiegers relieved, as in the city, by the artificial supply of cisterns and aqueducts. The circumjacent country is equally destitute of trees for the uses of shade or building, but some large beams were discovered in a cave by the crusaders : a wood near Sichem, the enchanted grove of Tasso...
Page 86 - They held in their lifeless hands the riches of their fathers, without inheriting the spirit which had created and improved that sacred patrimony: they read, they praised, they compiled, but their languid souls seemed alike incapable of thought and action. In the revolution of ten centuries, not a single discovery was made to exalt the dignity or promote the happiness of mankind. Not a single idea has been added to the speculative systems of antiquity, and a succession of patient disciples became...
Page 27 - ... mystery, fable, and superstition. But the Moslems deprived themselves of the principal benefits of a familiar intercourse with Greece and Rome, the knowledge of antiquity, the purity of taste, and the freedom of thought. Confident in the riches of their native tongue, the Arabians disdained the study of any foreign idiom. The Greek interpreters were chosen among their Christian subjects ; they formed their translations, sometimes on the original text, more frequently perhaps on...
Page 10 - It was either poured from the rampart in large boilers, or launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil...