458 
RUSSIA. 
6 acred fire burnt continually before it; and if the priests 
suffered this to be extinguished, they were doomed to perish 
in the flames, as enemies of the god. Sacrifices of their 
flocks to this supreme deity were regarded as trifling ; his 
altar smoaked with the blood of captives, and even the 
children of his worshippers were sometimes immolated to 
appease his wrath, or propitiate his favour. Superstition has, 
in all ages, tinged the hands of its pontiffs with blood, and 
has every where represented the Deity as a cruel and malig¬ 
nant being, delighting in the spectacle of human suffering. 
It is uncertain at what time the light of Christianity began 
to beam on the nations that occupied the banks of the 
Dnieper, nor are we acquainted with the circumstances that 
led to the conversion of the queen regent. We find, 
however, that about the middle of the 10th century, she 
undertook a journey to Constantinople for the express 
purpose of being initiated into the religion of Jesus. Con¬ 
stantine Porphyrogenitus, who then sat on the imperial 
throne, received the royal convert with the greatest honour 
and respect; himself conducted her to the baptismal font, 
and in the character of her sponsor, gave her the name of 
Helen. He dismissed her loaded with rich presents, consist¬ 
ing chiefly of those fine stuffs which were then fabricated 
only in the east, and several costly vases. In return for the 
honour she had received at Constantinople, Olga promised 
to send the emperor a quantity of furs and wax, and to 
furnish him with troops; but as she delayed the performance 
of her promise, Constantine dispatched an embassy to 
remind her of her engagements. We are told that she 
treated the ambassadors with disrespectful levity, and dis¬ 
missed them with frigid compliments ; so little change had 
baptism effected on the insidious disposition of the Russian 
princess! It is no wonder, therefore, if her example had 
little influence on her son, or the nation at large. The 
Russians do not seem to have been very ardent in their 
religious observations, or peculiarly attached to the opinions 
of their forefathers; but the nature of Christianity and the 
character of its disciples, were not in their eyes sufficiently 
striking or alluring to produce any change in their religious 
system. Olga endeavoured to persuade her son Sviatoslaf to 
embrace her new religion ; but either from his contempt for 
the unwarlike character of the Greek Christians, or through 
fear of the ridicule to which his conversion might subject 
him from his young companions, he disregarded her solici¬ 
tations. He did not, however, prevent the people over 
whom he seems by this time to have assumed the chief 
dominion, from receiving baptism, and a few proselytes 
were made. Though the character of Olga, even after her 
conversion to Christianity, was by no means such as to 
intitle her to the rank which she afterwards attained among 
the Russian saints, it appears that she had given her son 
many wise and prudent instructions respecting the govern¬ 
ment of his future empire. She travelled with him round 
the country; superintended the erection of bridges and the 
making of roads, for the benefit of trade and commerce; 
built several towns and villages, and founded such laudable 
institutions, as sufficiently evince her talents for governing 
a nation. She died about the year 969, at a very advanced 
age. 
It is probable that Olga retired from the administration of 
affairs soon after her converson to Christianity; for we find 
Sviatoslaf in full possession of the government long before 
his mother’s death. This prince has been considered one of 
the Russian heroes; and if a thirst for blood, a contempt of 
danger, and disregard of the luxuries and conveniences of 
life, be admitted as the characteristics of a hero, he deserves 
the appellation. His private life was such as to render 
him the favourite of his army. Regarding the narrow 
enclosure of a palace as little better than a splendid prison, 
he took up his habitation in a camp. Here, wrapt in a 
bear-skin, Sviatoslaf usually slept on the ground, his 
head reclining on a saddle; his diet was coarse and 
frugal, and, like the heroes of Homer, his meat (it was 
often horse-flesh } was broiled or roasted on the coals. The 
exercise of war gave stability and discipline to his army ; and 
it may be presumed, that no soldier was permitted to tran¬ 
scend the luxury of his chief.' By an embassy from Nice- 
phorus, the Greek emperor, he was moved to undertake the 
conquest of Bulgaria, and a gift of fifteen hundred pounds 
of gold was laid at his feet to defray the expense, or reward 
the toils of the expedition. An army of sixty thousand men 
was assembled and embarked ; they sailed from the Borys- 
thenes to the Danube ; their landing was effected on the 
Maesian shore; and, after a sharp encounter, the swords of 
the Russians prevailed against the arrows of the Bulgarian 
horse. The vanquished king sunk into the grave : his chil¬ 
dren were made captive; and his dominions, as far as mount 
Haemus, were subdued or ravaged by the northern invaders. 
But instead of relinquishing his prey, and performing his 
engagements, the Verangian prince was more disposed to ad¬ 
vance than to retire; and had his ambition been crowned 
with success, the seat of empire in that early period might have 
been transferred to a more temperate and fruitful climate! 
Sviatoslaf enjoyed and acknowledged the advantages of his 
new position, in which he could unite, by exchange or 
rapine, the various productions of the earth. By an easy 
navigation he might draw from Russia the native commo¬ 
dities of furs, wax, and hydromel: Hungary supplied him 
with a breed of horses and the spoils of the West; and 
Greece abounded with gold, silver, and the foreign luxuries, 
which his poverty had affected to disdain. The bands of 
Patzinacites, Chozars, and Turks, repaired to the standard of 
victory ; and the ambassador of Nicephorus betrayed his 
trust, assumed the purple, and promised to share with his 
new allies the treasures of the Eastern world. From the 
banks of the Danube the Russian prince pursued his march 
as far as Adrianople; a formal summons to evacuate the 
Roman province was dismissed with contempt; and Sviatoslaf 
fiercely replied, that Constantinople might soon expect the 
presence of an enemy and a master. 
Nicephorus could no longer expel the mischief which he 
had introduced ; but his throne and wife were inherited by 
John Zimisces, who, in a diminutive body, possessed the 
spirit and abilities of an hero. The first victory of his lieu¬ 
tenants deprived the Russians of their foreign allies, twenty 
thousand of whom were either destroyed by the sword, 
provoked to revolt, or tempted to desert. Thrace was deli¬ 
vered, but seventy thousand barbarians were still in arms; 
and the legions that had been recalled from the new conquests 
of Syria, prepared, with the return of the spring, to march 
under the banners of a warlike prince, who declared himself 
the friend and-avenger of the injured Bulgaria. The passes 
of mount Haunus had been left unguarded; they were in¬ 
stantly occupied; the Roman vanguard was formed of the 
immortals (a proud imitation of the Persian style); the em¬ 
peror led the main body of ten thousand five hundred foot; 
and the rest of his forces followed in slow and cautious array 
with the baggage and military engines. The first exploit of 
Zimisces was the reduction of Marcianopolis, or Peristh- 
laba, in two days: the trumpets sounded; the walls were 
scaled ; eight thousand five hundred Russians were put to 
the sword ; and the sons of the Bulgarian king were rescued 
from an ignominious prison, and invested with a nominal 
diadem. After these repeated losses, Sviatoslaf retired to the 
strong post of Dristra, on the banks of the Danube, and 
was pursued by an enemy who alternately employed the arms 
of celerity and delay. The Byzantine galleys ascended the 
river ; the legions completed a line of circumvallation ; and 
the Russian prince was encompassed, assaulted, and famished, 
in the fortifications of the camp and city. Many deeds of 
valour were performed; several desperate sallies were attempt¬ 
ed ; nor was it till after a siege of sixty-five days that Svia¬ 
toslaf yielded to his adverse fortune. The liberal terms 
which he obtained announce the prudence of the victor, who 
respected the valour, and apprehended the despair, of an un¬ 
conquered mind. The great duke of Russia bound himself 
by solemn imprecations to relinquish all hostile designs; a 
safe passage was opened lor his return ; the liberty of trade 
and navigation was restored: a measure of corn was distri¬ 
buted to each of his soldiers; and the allowance of twenty- 
• two 
