rian gates: the Norman standard was first planted on the walls
of Tarsus and Malmistra; but the proud injustice of Baldwin at length
provoked the patient and generous Italian; and they turned their
consecrated swords against each other in a private and profane quarrel.
Honor was the motive, and fame the reward, of Tancred; but fortune
smiled on the more selfish enterprise of his rival. He was called to the
assistance of a Greek or Armenian tyrant, who had been suffered under
the Turkish yoke to reign over the Christians of Edessa. Baldwin
accepted the character of his son and champion: but no sooner was he
introduced into the city, than he inflamed the people to the massacre
of his father, occupied the throne and treasure, extended his conquests
over the hills of Armenia and the plain of Mesopotamia, and founded the
first principality of the Franks or Latins, which subsisted fifty-four
years beyond the Euphrates.

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_, 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, 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 t