The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 8J. Murray, 1862 - Byzantine Empire Volume two of this eight-volume work contains a large section on the state of Britain and Germany before, during and after the Roman occupation. |
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Adrianople ambassadors ambition Amurath Anatolia ancient annals Arabshah arms army Asia Avignon Bajazet Basil Biblioth bishops Bonn Boursa Byzantine Cæsar Cantacuzene Cantemir captives cardinals century Chalcocondyles Christian church clergy Colonna conqueror conquest Constantine Constantinople court death Ducas ecclesiastical emirs emperor empire enemies Eugenius Europe father Ferrara Florence France French George of Trebizond Greek Hammer Hellespont Hist historian holy honour horse hundred Italian Italy Janizaries khan king kingdom labours Laonicus Chalcocondyles Latin Mahomet Manuel Manuel Chrysoloras Mémoires merit Moguls monarch Mongols Moslems Muratori nations Nicephorus Gregoras noble obedience Orchan Ottoman palace patriarch peace Persia Petrarch Phranza pontiff pope prince reign religion restored Rienzi Roman Rome royal ruin Scanderbeg senate Sherefeddin siege soldiers Soliman soon sovereign Spondanus successors sultan sword synod Syropulus Tartars thousand throne Timour Transoxiana treaty Trebizond troops Turkish Turks valour Vatican Venice victory vizir Von Hammer youth Zagatai zeal Zingis
Popular passages
Page 113 - The example of the .Roman pontiff' was preceded or imitated by a Florentine merchant, who governed the republic without arms and without a title. Cosmo of Medicis * was the father of a line of princes, whose name and age are almost synonymous with the restoration of learning ; his credit was ennobled into fame ; his riches were dedicated to the service of mankind; he corresponded at once with Cairo and London ; and a cargo of Indian spices and Greek books was often imported in the same vessel.
Page 211 - His memory is stained with the glaring vices of avarice and pride: nor has the courage of a martyr promoted this ecclesiastical champion to the honors of a saint; a magnanimous sinner (say the chronicles of the times), who entered like a fox, reigned like a lion, and died like a dog.
Page 164 - Sophia, which in a few hours was to be converted into a mosque, and devoutly received, with tears and prayers, the sacrament of the holy communion. He reposed some moments in the palace, which resounded with cries and lamentations ; solicited the pardon of all whom he might have injured ; and mounted on horseback to visit the guards, and explore the motions of the enemy.
Page 263 - The hill of the Capitol, on which we sit, was formerly the head of the Roman empire, the citadel of the earth, the terror of kings ; illustrated by the footsteps of so many triumphs, enriched with the spoils and tributes of so many nations. This spectacle of the world, how is it fallen ! how changed ! how defaced ! the path of victory is obliterated by vines, and the benches of the senators are concealed by a dunghill.
Page 157 - A circumstance that distinguishes the siege of Constantinople is the reunion of the ancient and modern artillery. The cannon were intermingled with the mechanical engines for casting stones and darts; the bullet and the battering-ram were directed against the same walls: nor had the discovery of gunpowder superseded the use of the liquid and unextinguishable fire. A wooden turret of the largest size was advanced on rollers this portable magazine of ammunition and fascines was protected by a threefold...
Page 161 - After a siege of forty days, the fate of Constantinople could no longer be averted. The diminutive garrison was exhausted by a double attack: the fortifications, which had stood for ages against hostile violence, were dismantled on all sides by the Ottoman cannon: many breaches were opened; and near the gate of St. Romanus, four towers had been levelled with the ground.
Page 155 - The incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of their musketry and cannon. Their small arms discharged at the same time either five, or even ten, balls of lead, of the size of a walnut ; and, according to the closeness of the ranks and the force of the powder, several breastplates and bodies were transpierced by the same shot.
Page 112 - The fame of Nicholas the Fifth has not been adequate to his merits. From a plebeian origin he raised himself by his virtue and learning: the character of the man prevailed over the interest of the pope ; and he sharpened those weapons which were soon pointed against the Roman church. He had...
Page 172 - He was attended by his viziers, bashaws, and guards, each of whom (says a Byzantine historian) was robust as Hercules, dexterous as Apollo, and equal in battle to any ten of the race of ordinary mortals. The conqueror gazed with satisfaction and wonder on the strange though splendid appearance of the domes and palaces so dissimilar from the style of oriental architecture. In the hippodrome or...
Page 158 - Greece, long practised in the arts and perils of the sea. Their weight was directed to sink or scatter the weak obstacles that impeded their passage ; their artillery swept the waters ; their liquid fire was poured on the heads of the adversaries, who, with the design of boarding, presumed to approach them ; and the winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.