The Byzantines

OTHER BOOKS ABOUT MAJOR CULTURES OF THE WORLD
THE SUN KINGDOM OF THE AZTECS by Victor W. von Hagen THE ARABS by Harry B. Ellis
THE BYZANTINES BY THOMAS CALDECOT CHUBB ILLUSTRATED BY Richard M. Powers
THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY CLEVELAND AND NEW YORK
Published by The World Publishing Company 2231 West 110th Street, Cleveland 2, Ohio Published simultaneously in Canada by Nelson, Foster & Scott Ltd. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-5919 COWP Copyright © 1959 by Thomas Caldecot Chubb All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher, except for brief passages included in a review appearing in a newspaper or magazine. Printed in the United States of America.
For Rosamond Caldecot Chubb
THE BYZANTINES
More than 750 years ago—the exact date was May 24, 1203—a mighty and crowded armada sailed away from the beautiful island of Corfu just off the northwest corner of Greece.
It headed southward toward a brilliant blue sea.
The weather was balmy. The myrtle was in bloom. The leaves on the twisted gray olive trees flashed silver. The sky was fine and clear. The wind was gentle and favorable. Indeed, it barely ruffled the water. But it filled hundreds and hundreds of sails of every possible color. Red sails. Golden sails. Lavender sails. Green sails. Orange sails. And sails of a wonderful bright yellow. Even Geoffrey of Villehardouin, a bold French baron and famous historian who was one of the passengers, could not say how many they were. But he did know that they took his breath away.
“I, Geoffrey,” he scratched out slowly, “to my knowledge have not ever lied by one word, and I bear witness that never was yet seen so fair a sight. As far as the eye could reach, there was no space without sails, and ships, and vessels.”
Certainly there were enough ships to cover miles of ocean. Flat, broad-beamed palanders, built especially to carry troops and horses—the 4,500 knights with their fiery steeds, the 9,000 esquires, and the 20,000 foot soldiers who made up the expedition.