Page:Constantinople by Brodribb.djvu/52

 destruction and massacre. The poor creatures were slain or drowned to a man. The dreadful sight was witnessed from the city, and all that day and all the following night were heard piercing cries of grief from the citizens, every one of whom had doubtless seen with his own eyes the miserable death of kinsfolk and friends. Bloodstained fragments of the wrecked vessels were carried to the shores of Asia, and testified to the calamity and to the approaching fall of Byzantium, before the news had been conveyed by word of mouth. On the day after, the waters of the harbour were literally strewn with corpses, which were every moment washed on the beach, forcing on the Byzantines a yet more vivid realization, if possible, of the awful catastrophe. It was now high time for them to surrender. The remainder of the citizens were spared, but the soldiers and the magistrates were put to death. "So we have taken Byzantium," said Severus, who was with his army in Mesopotamia. He was not a generous conqueror on this occasion. He deprived the city of its municipal liberties and its political position, confiscated the property of its citizens, giving all this, along with its adjacent territory, to the people of its old neighbour, Perinthus. These, it appears, showed little pity for their friends and allies of past days, but treated them as despicable villagers, and put on them every sort of indignity. But what most grieved the Byzantines was the destruction of their noble walls, which had long been their pride and glory. Severus had them demolished as far as was possible with such a substantial structure. Thereby he destroyed one of