onquest of Edessa is best represented
by Fulcherius Carnotensis, or of Chartres, (in the collections of
Bongarsius Duchesne, and Martenne,) the valiant chaplain of Count
Baldwin (Esprit des Croisades, tom. i. p. 13, 14.) In the disputes
of that prince with Tancred, his partiality is encountered by the
partiality of Radulphus Cadomensis, the soldier and historian of the
gallant marquis.]

[Footnote 89: See de Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 456.]

Before the Franks could enter Syria, the summer, and even the autumn,
were completely wasted: the siege of Antioch, or the separation and
repose of the army during the winter season, was strongly debated in
their council: the love of arms and the holy sepulchre urged them to
advance; and reason perhaps was on the side of resolution, since every
hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies
the resources of defensive war. The capital of Syria was protected by
the River Orontes; and the iron bridge, [891] of nine arches, derives
its name from the massy gates of the two towers which are constructed at
either end. They were opened by the sword of the duke of Normandy: his
victory gave entrance to three hundred thousand crusaders, an account
which may allow some scope for losses and desertion, but which clearly
detects much exaggeration in the review of Nice. In the description of
Antioch, [90] it is not easy to define a middle term between her ancient
magnificence, under the successors of Alexander and Augustus, and the
modern aspect of Turkish desolation. The Tetrapolis, or four cities, if
they retained their name and position, must have left a large vacuity in
a circumference of twelve miles; and that measure, as well as the number
of four hundred towers, are not perfectly consistent with the five
gates, so often mentioned in the history of the siege. Yet Antioch must
have still flourished as a great and populous capital. At the head of
the Turkish emirs, Baghisian, a veteran chief, commanded in the place:
his garrison was composed of six or seven thousand horse, and fifteen
or twenty thousand foot: one hundred thousand Moslems are said to have
fallen by the sword; and their numbers were probably inferior to the
Greeks, Armenians, and Syrians, who had been no more than fourteen
years the slaves of the house of Seljuk. From the remains of a solid and
stately wall, it appears to have arisen to the height of threescore feet
in the valleys; and wherever