Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/251

OF THE IIOMAN EMPIRE 229 hundred thousand foot^ fifty-five thousand horse, and thirteen hundred elephants of battle.^^ He again wept the instabihty of human greatness ; and his grief was embittered by the hostile progress of the Turkmans, whom he had introduced into the heart of his Persian kingdom. In the modern depopulation of Asia, the regular operation of Majmersand government and agricultui'e is confined to the neighbourhood of the Turks cities ; and the distant country is abandoned to the pastoral a.d. sso-icss' tribes of Arabs, Curds, and Turlnyiansy^ Of the last-mentioned people, two considerable branches extend on either side of the Caspian Sea : the western colony can muster forty thousand soldiers ; the eastern, less obvious to tlie traveller, but more strong and populous, has increased to the number of one hundred thou- sand families. In the midst of civilised nations, they preserve the manners of the Scythian desert, remove their encampments "with the change of seasons, and feed their cattle among the ruins of palaces and temples. Their flocks and herds are their only riches ; their tents, either black or white, according to the colour of the banner, are covered with felt, and of a circular form ; their winter apparel is a sheep-skin ; a robe of cloth or cotton their summer garment : the features of the men are harsh and ferocious ; the countenance of their women is soft and pleasing. Their wandering life maintains the spirit and exercise of arms ; they fight on horseback ; and their courage is displayed in frequent contests with each other and with their neighbours. For the licence of pasture they pay a slight tribute to the sovereign of the land ; but the domestic jurisdiction is in the hands of the chiefs and elders. The first emigration of the eastern Turkmans, the most ancient of their race, may be ascribed to the tenth cen- tury of the Christian aera.^^ In the decline of the caliphs, and the weakness of their lieutenants, the barrier of the Jaxartes was often violated : in each invasion, after the victory or retreat 1' Dow, vol. i. p. 65. The sovereign of Kinnoge is said to have possessed 2500 elephants (Abulfed. Geograph. tab. xv. p. 274). From these Indian stories the reader may correct a note in my first volume (p. 209) ; or from that note he may correct these stories. I'^Seea just and natural picture of these pastoral manners, in the history of William, archbishop of Tyre (1. i. c. vii. in the Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 633, 634), and a valuable note by the editor of the Histoire G6n6alogique des Tatars, p. 535-538. ^•'The first emigrations of the Turkmans, and doubtful origin of the Seljukians, may be traced in the laborious history of the Huns, by M. dc Guignes (torn. i. Tables Chronologiques, 1. v. torn. iii. 1. vii. ix. x.), and the Bibliothequc Orientale of d'Herbelot (p. 799-802, 897-901), Elmacin (Hist. Saracen, p. 331-333). and Abul- pharagius (Dynast, p. 221, 222).