ed any hope of liberty
and revenge. They were entertained in the service of the Greek emperor;
and their first station was in a new city on the Asiatic shore: but
Alexius soon recalled them to the defence of his person and palace; and
bequeathed to his successors the inheritance of their faith and valor.
The name of a Norman invader revived the memory of their wrongs: they
marched with alacrity against the national foe, and panted to regain
in Epirus the glory which they had lost in the battle of Hastings. The
Varangians were supported by some companies of Franks or Latins; and
the rebels, who had fled to Constantinople from the tyranny of Guiscard,
were eager to signalize their zeal and gratify their revenge. In
this emergency, the emperor had not disdained the impure aid of the
Paulicians or Manichaeans of Thrace and Bulgaria; and these heretics
united with the patience of martyrdom the spirit and discipline of
active valor. The treaty with the sultan had procured a supply of some
thousand Turks; and the arrows of the Scythian horse were opposed to
the lances of the Norman cavalry. On the report and distant prospect of
these formidable numbers, Robert assembled a council of his principal
officers. "You behold," said he, "your danger: it is urgent and
inevitable. The hills are covered with arms and standards; and the
emperor of the Greeks is accustomed to wars and triumphs. Obedience and
union are our only safety; and I am ready to yield the command to a more
worthy leader." The vote and acclamation even of his secret enemies,
assured him, in that perilous moment, of their esteem and confidence;
and the duke thus continued: "Let us trust in the rewards of victory,
and deprive cowardice of the means of escape. Let us burn our vessels
and our baggage, and give battle on this spot, as if it were the
place of our nativity and our burial." The resolution was unanimously
approved; and, without confining himself to his lines, Guiscard awaited
in battle-array the nearer approach of the enemy. His rear was covered
by a small river; his right wing extended to the sea; his left to the
hills: nor was he conscious, perhaps, that on the same ground Caesar and
Pompey had formerly disputed the empire of the world.

Against the advice of his wisest captains, Alexius resolved to risk
the event of a general action, and exhorted the garrison of Durazzo to
assist their own deliverance by a well-timed sally from the town. He
marched in two