Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/412

 390 THE DECLINE AXD FALL the service of the royal youth concealed a just resentment to his nation and family. They were mortified by the recent pre- ference which had been given to Pisa, the rival of their trade ; they had a long arrear of debt and injury to liquidate with the Byzantine court ; and Dandolo might not discourage the popular tale that he had been deprived of his eyes by the emperor Manuel, who perfidiously violated the sanctity of an ambassador. A similar armament, for ages, had not rode the Adriatic ; it was composed of one hundred and twenty flat-bottomed vessels or palanders for the horses ; two hundred and forty transports filled with men and arms ; seventy store-ships laden with provisions ; and fifty stout galleys, well prepared for the en- counter of an enemy.'''^ While the wind was favourable, the sky serene, and the water smooth, every eye was fixed with Avonder and delight on the scene of military and naval pomp which overspread the sea. The shields of the knights and squii-es, at once an ornament and a defence, were arranged on either side of the ships ; the banners of the nations and families were displayed from the stern ; our modern artillerj- was supplied by three hundred engines for casting stones and darts ; the fatigues of the way were cheered with the sound of music ; and the spirits of the adventurers were raised by the mutual assurance that forty thousand Christian heroes were equal to the conquest of the world.*^^ In the navigation ''^ trom Venice and Zara, the fleet was successfully steered by the skill and experience of the Venetian pilots ; at Durazzo the confederates first lauded on the territory of the Greek empire ; the isle of ^ The birth and dignity of Andrew Dandolo gave him the motive and the means of searching in the archives of Venice the memorable story of his ancestor. His brevity seems to accuse the copious and more recent narratives of Sanudo (in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, torn, xx.), Blondus, Sabellicus, and Rhamnusius. ^ Villehardouin, No. 62. His feelings and expressions are original ; he often weeps, but he rejoices in the glories and perils of war with a spirit unknown to a sedentary writer. ^ In this voyage, almost all the geographical names are corrupted by the Latins. The modern appellation of Chalcis, and all Euboea, is derived from its Euripus, Evripo, Negri-po, Negropont, which dishonours our maps (d'Anville, G6ographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 263). [Negroponte is a corruption of (tt'ov 'Evpmov (divided o-To 'S(vpnTov) with an attempt to make sense in the spirit of popular etymology : negroponte, " black bridge," being suggested to Italians by the bridge of Chalcis connecting the island with the mainland. But we also find the intermediate form Egripons {e.g., in the letters of Pope Innocent). It is remarkable that in the loth century the town of Chalcis (or the whole island?) is called Xpi^Tros (see Const. Porphyr. de Caer. ii. , c. 44, p. 657, o dpxu»' XprJTrou), apparently from Eupin-os.]