unter, the swords
of the Russians prevailed against the arrows of the Bulgarian horse. The
vanquished king sunk into the grave; his children were made captive; and
his dominions, as far as Mount Haemus, 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. Swatoslaus enjoyed and acknowledged the
advantages of his new position, in which he could unite, by exchange or
rapine, the various productions of the earth. By an easy navigation
he might draw from Russia the native commodities of furs, wax, and
hydromed: Hungary supplied him with a breed of horses and the spoils
of the West; and Greece abounded with gold, silver, and the foreign
luxuries, which his poverty had affected to disdain. The bands of
Patzinacites, Chozars, and Turks, repaired to the standard of victory;
and the ambassador of Nicephorus betrayed his trust, assumed the 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 Swatoslaus fiercely replied, that
Constantinople might soon expect the presence of an enemy and a master.

[Footnote 67: The life of Swatoslaus, or Sviatoslaf, or Sphendosthlabus,
is extracted from the Russian Chronicles by M. Levesque, (Hist. de
Russie, tom. i. p. 94-107.)]

[Footnote 68: This resemblance may be clearly seen in the ninth book of
the Iliad, (205-221,) in the minute detail of the cookery of Achilles.
By such a picture, a modern epic poet would disgrace his work, and
disgust his reader; but the Greek verses are harmonious--a dead language
can seldom appear low or familiar; and at the distance of two thousand
seven hundred years, we are amused with the primitive manners of
antiquity.]

Nicephorus could no longer expel the mischief which he had introduced;
but his throne and wife were inherited by John Zimisces, [69] 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, twenty thousand of whom were either destroyed by the sword,
or provoked