ld, the wealth and luxury of the
Byzantine camp, and the glory of defeating an army five times more
numerous than his own. A multitude of Italians had been the victims
of their own fears; but only thirty of his knights were slain in
this memorable day. In the Roman host, the loss of Greeks, Turks, and
English, amounted to five or six thousand: the plain of Durazzo was
stained with noble and royal blood; and the end of the impostor Michael
was more honorable than his life.

It is more than probable that Guiscard was not afflicted by the loss of
a costly pageant, which had merited only the contempt and derision of
the Greeks. After their defeat, they still persevered in the defence
of Durazzo; and a Venetian commander supplied the place of George
Palaeologus, who had been imprudently called away from his station. The
tents of the besiegers were converted into barracks, to sustain the
inclemency of the winter; and in answer to the defiance of the garrison,
Robert insinuated, that his patience was at least equal to their
obstinacy. Perhaps he already trusted to his secret correspondence with
a Venetian noble, who sold the city for a rich and honorable marriage.
At the dead of night, several rope-ladders were dropped from the walls;
the light Calabrians ascended in silence; and the Greeks were awakened
by the name and trumpets of the conqueror. Yet they defended the streets
three days against an enemy already master of the rampart; and near
seven months elapsed between the first investment and the final
surrender of the place. From Durazzo, the Norman duke advanced into the
heart of Epirus or Albania; traversed the first mountains of Thessaly;
surprised three hundred English in the city of Castoria; approached
Thessalonica; and made Constantinople tremble. A more pressing duty
suspended the prosecution of his ambitious designs. By shipwreck,
pestilence, and the sword, his army was reduced to a third of the
original numbers; and instead of being recruited from Italy, he was
informed, by plaintive epistles, of the mischiefs and dangers which had
been produced by his absence: the revolt of the cities and barons of
Apulia; the distress of the pope; and the approach or invasion of Henry
king of Germany. Highly presuming that his person was sufficient for the
public safety, he repassed the sea in a single brigantine, and left the
remains of the army under the command of his son and the Norman counts,
exhorting Bohemond to respect