Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/99

 OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 79 as would excite the horror of a civilized people ; but the power of a despot has never been acknowledged in the deserts of Scythia. The immediate jurisdiction of the Khan is con- fined within the limits of his own tribe ; and the exercise of his royal prerogative has been moderated by the ancient institution of a national council. The Coroultai, ^^ or Diet, of the Tartars was regularly held in the spring and autumn, in the midst of a plain ; where the princes of the reigning family and the mursas of the respective tribes may conveniently assemble on horseback, with their martial and numerous trains ; and the ambitious monarch, who reviewed the strength, must consult the inclination, of an armed people. The rudiments of a feudal government may be discovered in the constitution of the Scythian or Tartar nations ; but the perpetual conflict of these hostile nations has sometimes terminated in the establish- ment of a powerful and despotic empire. The victor, enriched by the tribute, and fortified by the arms, of dependent kings, has spread his conquests over Europe or Asia ; the successful shepherds of the North have submitted to the confinement of arts, of laws, and of cities ; and the introduction of luxury, after destroying the freedom of the people, has undermined the foundations of the throne. ^^ The memory of past events cannot long be preserved, in the situation and frequent and remote emigrations of illiterate Barbarians. The scytwa, or modem Tartars are ignorant of the conquests of their an- *^ cestors ; ^^ and our knowledge of the history of the Scythians is derived from their intercourse with the learned and civilized nations of the South, the Greeks, the Persians, and the Chinese. The Greeks, who navigated the Euxine, and planted their colonies along the sea-coast, made the gradual and imperfect discovery of Scythia ; from the Danube, and the confines of Thrace, as far as the frozen Maeotis, the seat of eternal winter, i^See the Diets of the ancient Huns (de Guignes, torn. ii. p. 26), and a curious description of those of Zingis (Vie de Gengiscan, 1. i. c. 6, 1.? iv. c. 11). Such assemblies are frequently mentioned in the Persian history of Timur ; though they served only to countenance the resolutions of their master. ["Every New Year the Zenghi (title of the king) held a great religious festival at what the Chinese call Dragon City : it was evidently much the same kind of affair as the Mongol courouUai oi Marco Polo's time." Parker, p. 19.] 15 Montesquieu labours to explain a difference which has not existed between the liberty of the Arabs and the perpetual slavery of the Tartars (Esprit des Loix, 1. xvii. c. 5 ; 1. xviii. c. 19, &c.). 16 Abulghazi Khan, in the two first parts of his Genealogical History, relates the miserable fables and traditions of the Uzbek Tartars concerning the times which preceded the reign of Zingis.