THE DECLINE AND FALL

242

CHAP.

LXVIII.

tinople, should terminate the decline and fall ofthe Roman empire in the East. The despots ofthe Morea, Demetrius and Thomas/ the twosurviving brothers of the name of Palceologus,were astonished by the death of the emperorConstantine, and the ruin of the monarchy.Hopeless of defence, they prepared, w'ith thenoble Greeks who adhered to their fortune, toseek a refuge in Italy , beyond the reach of theOttoman thunder. Their first apprehensionswere dispelled by the victorious sultan, who con-tented himself with a tribute of twelve thousandducats; and while his ambition explored thecon-tinent and the islands in search of prey, he in-dulged the Morea in a respite of seven years.But this respite was a period of grief, discord,and misery. The hexamilion, the rampart ofthe isthmus, so often raised and so often subvert-ed, could not long be defended by three hundredItalian archers; the keys of Corinth were seizedby the Turks; they returned from their summerexcursions with a train of captives and spoil;and the complaints of the injured Greeks wereheard with indifference and disdain. The Al-banians, a vagrant tribe of shepherds and rob-bers, filled the peninsula with rapine and mur-der; the two despots implored the dangerousand humiliating aid of a neighbouring bashaw ;and when he had quelled the revolt, his lessonsinculcated the rule of their future conduct. Nei-

' In the worthless story of the disputes and misfortunes of the twobrothers, Phranza (1. iii, c.21-30) is too partial on the side of Thomas;Ducas fc 44, 45) is too brief, and Chalcocondyles (1. viii, ix, *) toodiffuse and digressive.