Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/461

 OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 439 an orthodox creed, it should seem that the pope would have abandoned without reluctance the Latin throne of Constantinople. But the death of Vataces, the short and busy reign of Theodore ^eod^e n. his son, and the helpless infancy of his grandson John, suspended the restoration of the Greeks. In the next chapter I shall ex- plain their domestic revolutions ; in this place it will be suf- ficient to observe that the young prince was oppressed by the ambition of his guardian and colleague, Michael Palseologus, who displayed the virtues and vices that belong to the founder of a new dynasty. The emperor Baldwin had flattered himself that Michael • •' '^ . PaljEolojos, he might recover some provinces or cities by an impotent negotia- the Greek Em- tion. His ambassadors were dismissed from Nice with mockery 1259, bee. i and contempt. At ever}- place which they named, ralseologus alleged some special reason which rendered it dear and valuable in his eyes : in the one he was born ; in another he had been first promoted to military command ; and in a third he had enjoyed, and hoped long to enjoy, the pleasures of the chase. "And what, then, do you propose to give us .'' " said the astonished de- puties. "Nothing," replied the Greek, "not a foot of land. If your master be desirous of peace, let him pay me, as an annual tribute, the sum which he receives from the trade and customs of Constantinople. On these terms I may allow him to reign. If he refuses, it is war. I am not ignorant of the art of war, and I trust the event to God and my sword." ''^ An expedition against the despot of Epirus was the first prelude of his arms. If a victory [Miciiaein.] was followed by a defeat ; if the race of the Comneni or Angeli [Battle of survived in those mountains his efforts and his reign ; the captiv- Autunm, ity of Villehardouin, prince of Achaia, deprived the Latins of the most active and powerful vassal of their expiring monarchy."^ The republics of Venice and Genoa disputed, in the first of their naval wars, the command of the sea and the commerce of the East. Pride and interest attached the Venetians to the defence of Constantinople : their rivals were tempted to promote the designs of her enemies, and the alliance of the Genoese with the ™ George Acropolita, c. Ixxviii. p. 89, 90, edit. Paris. "1 [This victory was won by John Palceologus, brother of Michael, in the plain of Pelagonia near Kastoria, in Macedonia. The despot of Epirus, Michael II. (bastard of Michael I.), had extended his sway to the Vardar, and threatened Salonica. He was supported by Manfred, king of Sicily, who sent four hundred knights to his aid, as well as William Villehardouin, prince of Achaia. Finlay places the coronation of Michael Palaeologus in Jan. 1259 — before the battle of Pelagonia (iii. 339) ; but it seems to have been subsequent, in Jan. 1260; see MSliarak^S, 'lo-ropia toO jSao-iAec'ou ttjs Ntitato? k.t.A. (1898), p. S36-543.]