Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/129

THE BYZANTINES. lO/ miskis they glowed with enthusiasm; tinder Leo VI. they knew how to face their fate and do their duty. It is true the Greeks were first over- come by the Latins, but finally they were vic- torious over them. As already mentioned, long- continued bad government gave the Frankish adventurers the advantage. The wealth of the provinces contributed largely to the treasury; the sums which would have served to render armies efficient and provinces happy were squan- dered by the emperors at that period to furnish amusements for the inhabitants of the capital or to feed the luxurious splendor of the imperial court. By looking at the incessant succession of ene- mies who never left the Byzantine government a moment of respite from attack, we shall be able to form a fair idea as to what must have been the strength and vitality of the empire itself, and what the extent of the service it rendered to Europe, to the cause of civilized humanity. The first adversary against whom the Byzan- tines had to contend were the Goths. About eighty years before the foimdation of Constanti- nople these savages crossed the Dniester and the Danube and devastated the country far and wide. Constantine brought them into subjec-