Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/197

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 175 stransrer in the Greek habit, but who soon revealed himself as a rebel, a fugitive, and a mortal foe of the Greek empire. His name was Melo : ^^ a noble citizen of Bari, who, after an iinsuc- [Meinsi cessful revolt, was compelled to seek new allies and avengers of his country. The bold appearance of the Normans revived his hopes and solicited his confidence : they listened to the com- plaints, and still more to the promises, of the patriot. The as- surance of wealth demonstrated the justice of his cause ; and they vieAved, as the inheritance of the brave, the fruitful land which was oppressed by effeminate tyrants. On their return to Normandy, they kindled a spark of enterprise ; and a small but intrepid band was freely associated for the deliverance of Apulia. They passed the Alps by separate roads, and in the disguise of pilgrims ; but in the neighbourhood of Rome they were saluted by the chief of Bari, who supplied the more indigent with arms and horses, and instantly led them to the field of action. In the [a.d. lonj first conflict, their valour prevailed ; — but, in the second engage- ment, they were overwhelmed by the numbers and military engines of the Greeks, and indignantly retreated with their faces [a.d. lois] to the enemy. The imfortunate Melo ended his life, a suppliant [Death of ^ -'11 Melus A D at the court of Germany : his Norman followers, excluded from 1020] their native and their promised land, wandered among the hills and valleys of Italy, and earned their daily subsistence by the sword. To that formidable sword the princes of Capua, Beneven- tum, Salerno, and Naples, alternately appealed in their domestic quarrels ; the superior spirit and discipline of the Normans gave victory to the side which they espoused ; and their cautious policy observed the balance of power, lest the preponderance of any rival state should render their aid less important and their service less profitable. Their first asylum was a strong camp in the depth of the marshes of Campania ; but they were soon endowed by the liberality of the duke of Naples with a more plentiful and permanent seat. Eight miles from his residence, Foundation of as a bulwark against Capua, the town of Aversa was built and 1029 [loso] ' 43). If the archangel inherited the temple and oracle, perhaps the cavern, of old Calchas the soothsayer (Strab. Geograph. 1. vi. p. 435, 436), the Catholics (on this occasion) have surpassed the Greeks in the elegance of their superstition. ^ [Melus was the leader of the anti-Greek party in Bari. His first revolt was for a time successful, but was put down in loio by the Catepan Basil Mesardonites] ■■^ [There were three battles. Melus and the Normans invaded the Cnpitanntc in 1017. They gained a victory at Arenula on the river Fortore, and a second, more decisive, at Vaccaricia (near lYoja). See Heinemann, op. cit. p. 36 (and Appendix). In the following year they suffered the great defeat on the plain of Cannae, at the hands of the Catepan Basil Bojannes.]