noch jetzt fast roemisch Muster tragen,
Zwar schlecht, doch witzig sind, viel denken, wenig sagen.'
]

VII.

As the reader is already aware, the first domination of the Bulgarians
in the Danubian provinces was followed by that of the Eastern Empire
after the victories of Basilius at the commencement of the eleventh
century, and as a change of rulers in those days usually meant a change
of oppressors, it is not surprising to find, about a century and a half
later, that all the populations were ready for revolt. Amongst these,
the most numerous and influential were still the conquered Bulgarians
and the Wallachs. The Wallachs are first distinctly mentioned in the
time of Basilius, in whose armies they fought as allies or mercenaries.
Towards the end of the eleventh century they had spread widely; for
mention is made of them as having settled all over the Balkan peninsula
as far as Macedonia in the south, in Wallachia in the north, and in
Moldavia, and perhaps even Bessarabia, in the north-east.[125] That is
to say, they had either spread into those countries, or their ancestors
had been there from the Daco-Roman period, and, having become
amalgamated with successive tribes of barbarians, were now once more the
dominant race. They must always have been great warriors, for we find
them at one time making irruptions on their own account into the
neighbouring territories, at others in alliance with the Eastern
emperors against the Bulgari or the Hungarians; or, associated with
neighbouring tribes, warring against the last-named ruthless invaders.

And when, from about 1180 to 1200, the Greek power was approaching its
dissolution, the people of the Danubian provinces were ripe for
insurrection, and there were not wanting brave leaders to assist them
in striking the blow for their independence. From the conflicting
accounts of historians, neither the names nor number of those leaders,
nor yet the precise events which led to the establishment of the new
empire, are ascertainable with exactitude. Either there were two
Wallachian brothers, Peter and Asan, to whom a near relative of the
Greek emperor Isaac Angelos (1185-1195) treacherously allied himself, or
three brothers, Peter, Asan, and John. The origin of the revolt is
undoubted; it arose from the levying of what the people deemed an unjust
tax upon them, and probably the refusal of the emperor to admit them
into his army as paid mercenaries, as in the case of other