of the Normans revived his hopes and solicited his
confidence: they listened to the complaints, and still more to the
promises, of the patriot. The assurance of wealth demonstrated the
justice of his cause; and they viewed, as the inheritance of the brave,
the fruitful land which was oppressed by effeminate tyrants. On their
return to Normandy, they kindled a spark of enterprise, and a small but
intrepid band was freely associated for the deliverance of Apulia. They
passed the Alps by separate roads, and in the disguise of pilgrims; but
in the neighborhood of Rome they were saluted by the chief of Bari, who
supplied the more indigent with arms and horses, and instantly led them
to the field of action. In the first conflict, their valor prevailed;
but in the second engagement they were overwhelmed by the numbers and
military engines of the Greeks, and indignantly retreated with their
faces to the enemy. The unfortunate Melo ended his life a suppliant at
the court of Germany: his Norman followers, excluded from their native
and their promised land, wandered among the hills and valleys of Italy,
and earned their daily subsistence by the sword. To that formidable
sword the princes of Capua, Beneventum, Salerno, and Naples, alternately
appealed in their domestic quarrels; the superior spirit and discipline
of the Normans gave victory to the side which they espoused; and their
cautious policy observed the balance of power, lest the preponderance
of any rival state should render their aid less important, and their
service less profitable. Their first asylum was a strong camp in the
depth of the marshes of Campania: but they were soon endowed by the
liberality of the duke of Naples with a more plentiful and permanent
seat. Eight miles from his residence, as a bulwark against Capua, the
town of Aversa was built and fortified for their use; and they enjoyed
as their own the corn and fruits, the meadows and groves, of that
fertile district. The report of their success attracted every year new
swarms of pilgrims and soldiers: the poor were urged by necessity; the
rich were excited by hope; and the brave and active spirits of Normandy
were impatient of ease and ambitious of renown. The independent standard
of Aversa afforded shelter and encouragement to the outlaws of the
province, to every fugitive who had escaped from the injustice or
justice of his superiors; and these foreign associates were quickly
assimilated in manners and lang