rom Ormus, in the midst of
a fertile country, (Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, p. 107, 110.)]

[Footnote 49: It appears from Anna Comnena, that the Turks of Asia Minor
obeyed the signet and chiauss of the great sultan, (Alexias, l. vi. p.
170;) and that the two sons of Soliman were detained in his court, (p.
180.)]

[Footnote 50: This expression is quoted by Petit de la Croix (Vie de
Gestis p. 160) from some poet, most probably a Persian.]

A prince of the royal line, Cutulmish, [501] the son of Izrail, the
son of Seljuk, had fallen in a battle against Alp Arslan and the humane
victor had dropped a tear over his grave. His five sons, strong in arms,
ambitious of power, and eager for revenge, unsheathed their cimeters
against the son of Alp Arslan. The two armies expected the signal when
the caliph, forgetful of the majesty which secluded him from vulgar
eyes, interposed his venerable mediation. "Instead of shedding the blood
of your brethren, your brethren both in descent and faith, unite your
forces in a holy war against the Greeks, the enemies of God and his
apostle." They listened to his voice; the sultan embraced his rebellious
kinsmen; and the eldest, the valiant Soliman, accepted the royal
standard, which gave him the free conquest and hereditary command of the
provinces of the Roman empire, from Arzeroum to Constantinople, and the
unknown regions of the West. [51] Accompanied by his four brothers,
he passed the Euphrates; the Turkish camp was soon seated in the
neighborhood of Kutaieh in Phrygia; and his flying cavalry laid waste
the country as far as the Hellespont and the Black Sea. Since the
decline of the empire, the peninsula of Asia Minor had been exposed to
the transient, though destructive, inroads of the Persians and Saracens;
but the fruits of a lasting conquest were reserved for the Turkish
sultan; and his arms were introduced by the Greeks, who aspired to reign
on the ruins of their country. Since the captivity of Romanus, six years
the feeble son of Eudocia had trembled under the weight of the Imperial
crown, till the provinces of the East and West were lost in the same
month by a double rebellion: of either chief Nicephorus was the common
name; but the surnames of Bryennius and Botoniates distinguish the
European and Asiatic candidates. Their reasons, or rather their
promises, were weighed in the Divan; and, after some hesitation, Soliman
declared himself in favor of Botoniates, opened a free pass