Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/353

 REVOLUTION WITHIN THE CITY. 335 were without the walls for a service which their young em- peror had requested, but which they had not desired, and for which they certainly had no reason to be grateful. AVhat they wanted was a ruler who would not allow them to be plundered. Thc}^ saw an enemy which had already done them grievous w^rong, and were burning to be delivered from him. The policy of Alexis seemed to the citizens to be to sacrifice everything in order to keep on good terms with their enemies. Even the Crusaders admitted that he was do- ing what he could for them. He w^as divided between loy- alty to his own subjects and fear of displeasing Philip of Swabia and his late companions.* The leaders of the citizens had asked the emperors to take the offensive, to attack the Crusaders, and make an end of the matter, but these emperors were either unwilling or afraid to do so. The attempt on the ships was apparently the result of a popular im.pulse. The same popular sentiment urged the party to get rid of their imbecile rulers. The impulse seems to have been general, for amid the popular movement no attempt appears to have been made to suppress the ris- ing w^hicli took place against the government. During some time the people were undecided as to the course they ought to adopt. Meetings were held in the Great Church, and each day saw the confusion increase. As day by day passed, however, one man was steadily coming to the front. A cer- tain Alexis Ducas, a member of the imperial family, and nicknamed Mourtzouphlos, on account of his meeting eye- brows, headed the discontented party, and became the leader of the revolution. He had for a long time been known as the bitterest opponent of the Latins.^ ' Guntlier (c. xv.) says: " Videres eum gravitcr anxiari, quasi medium inter suorum nequitiam et auiorem nostrorum, et gratiam Pliilipi)i regis, qucm si nostros vel falleret vel lajdcret, graviter mctucbat otfcnderc. Cum ergo ad tautum facinus non facile posset impelli Murcillo ille, cu- jus supcrius fecimus mentioncm, cujus consilio pater ejus cjxjcatus, et ipse in carcerem retrusus fuerat, eum propria manu suffocavit, dicens: 'Minus esse malum, si solus ipse presenti vita; foret exemptus, quam si totius Grecise opes ad ignotos quosdam homines ejus stultitia transferrcntur'" (c. xiii.). ^ Villebardouin, p. 221.