n the camp, he was the emperor of the
Romans, and he sustained that character with feeble resources and
invincible courage. By his spirit and success the soldiers were taught
to act, the subjects to hope, and the enemies to fear. The Turks
had penetrated into the heart of Phrygia; but the sultan himself had
resigned to his emirs the prosecution of the war; and their numerous
detachments were scattered over Asia in the security of conquest. Laden
with spoil, and careless of discipline, they were separately surprised
and defeated by the Greeks: the activity of the emperor seemed to
multiply his presence: and while they heard of his expedition to
Antioch, the enemy felt his sword on the hills of Trebizond. In three
laborious campaigns, the Turks were driven beyond the Euphrates; in
the fourth and last, Romanus undertook the deliverance of Armenia. The
desolation of the land obliged him to transport a supply of two months'
provisions; and he marched forwards to the siege of Malazkerd, [30] an
important fortress in the midway between the modern cities of Arzeroum
and Van. His army amounted, at the least, to one hundred thousand
men. The troops of Constantinople were reenforced by the disorderly
multitudes of Phrygia and Cappadocia; but the real strength was composed
of the subjects and allies of Europe, the legions of Macedonia, and the
squadrons of Bulgaria; the Uzi, a Moldavian horde, who were themselves
of the Turkish race; [31] and, above all, the mercenary and adventurous
bands of French and Normans. Their lances were commanded by the valiant
Ursel of Baliol, the kinsman or father of the Scottish kings, [32] and
were allowed to excel in the exercise of arms, or, according to the
Greek style, in the practice of the Pyrrhic dance.

[Footnote 30: This city is mentioned by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, (de
Administrat. Imperii, l. ii. c. 44, p. 119,) and the Byzantines of the
xith century, under the name of Mantzikierte, and by some is confounded
with Theodosiopolis; but Delisle, in his notes and maps, has very
properly fixed the situation. Abulfeda (Geograph. tab. xviii. p. 310)
describes Malasgerd as a small town, built with black stone, supplied
with water, without trees, &c.]

[Footnote 31: The Uzi of the Greeks (Stritter, Memor. Byzant. tom. iii.
p. 923-948) are the Gozz of the Orientals, (Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p.
522, tom. iii. p. 133, &c.) They appear on the Danube and the Volga, and
Armenia, Syria, and Chorasan,