Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/26

 long after its western sister had fallen beneath the attacks of the northern barbarians. True, it was much reduced in extent; still, at the beginning of the seventh century, the Euphrates remained the Asiatic boundary of the empire. Her rulers, however, either dreading the treachery of usurpers or being usurpers themselves, were less on the look-out to check the inroads of the surrounding wild tribes than to secure their own position on the tottering throne. Encompassed by enemies both within and without, that position was yearly becoming one of increasing difficulty, and demanded on the part of the monarch, as the only possible means of maintaining its integrity, the highest administrative capacity coupled with supreme skill in the power of waging a defensive warfare. Unfortunately, however, for the empire, her rulers evinced no such gifts. Instead of striving to make head against the constant encroachments of their neighbours, they plunged madly into all the voluptuous degeneracy of the times, and vainly sought to conceal their weakness and cowardice behind the idle pomp of a gorgeous magnificence. Under such circumstances the power which had at one time extended over the whole of the east of Europe, and had shared the empire of the world with its Roman sister, crumbled away by degrees, and became a mere phantom of its original greatness.

One province of the empire, however, continued throughout its decadence to command the affectionate interest and sympathy of Europe; this was the province of Judea, within the limits of which stood the holy city of Jerusalem. Since the days of our Saviour the vicissitudes of fortune and the results of war had brought about many changes within its sacred precincts. The capture of the city by the Romans under Titus led to the introduction of their idolatrous form of worship. The Jews were driven forth to be dispersed over the face of the earth. A pagan temple was reared on the site of that which had originally been dedicated to the Lord by Solomon, and the foul rites of a heathen worship desecrated the land hallowed by the footsteps of our Saviour when on earth.

During the fourth century, however, Christianity won its way throughout the empire, and before long Christian churches began to replace the temples of the heathen. Foremost