Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/217

 THE CONDITION OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN 1200. 199 armed with swords and lances. There is a company of the Scbolarii, or guards of the palace, composed of nobles, some of whom were clothed in rose-colored tunics, and another of the body-guard, chosen from the Scbolarii on account of their stature and strength, and known as Candidati, from their light and beautifully embroidered garments, and yet another of the Macedonians of the great hetcria, with swords, silver belts, gilded shields, and doubled-edged axes likewise gilded. Xear the emperor is a company of his foreign guards, composed of Scythians,' Englishmen, and others of a kindred race, whose light hair and beards mark them as of l!s'orthern oricrin, and belonging to the famous Warings or Yarangians. They are armed with huge double battle-axes or bills, and, under their own acolyth, cluster about the emperor, who puts more trust in their sturdy arms and Northern fidelity than in either the noble Scbolarii or the gaudy troops of Mace- donians. The oarsmen of the imperial trireme stand at the water's edge, bearing the imperial gonfalons emblazoned with gold, while the imperial standard, similarly embroidered, is carried before him. The trireme bears, as its figure-head, the im- perial eagle with outspread wings, of shape not unlike what has come down to us from imperial times in many of our own cathedrals. The oarsmen in the imperial livery are well matched, and, as soon as the emperor has taken his seat be- neath the canopy, pull at once with a stroke out into the midst of the Golden Horn, each man taking care not to lift his eyes to the imperial face.^ The trireme is spread with rich carpets. The nobles are richly clad in silk. The atten- dant caiques are hardly less graceful or brilliantly ornamented cated the tribes, not Tartars, of Central Asia, who are now represented by the so-called Tek6 Turcomans. 2 The same custom has been handed down to modern times. Indeed, there can be little doubt that the famous procession of the Sultan to mosque by water is a pretty close reproduction of the imperial journey. The Sultan's caique for state ceremonies still has the Roman eagle with outstretched wings at its bow.
 * The term Scythians is used very vaguely, but probably usually indi-