The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon [1970]
[Footnote 92: See the exploits of Robert, Raymond, and the modest Tancred who imposed silence on his squire, (Randulph. Cadom. c. 53.)]
[Footnote *: See the interesting extract from Kemaleddin's History of Aleppo in Wilken, preface to vol. ii. p. 36. Phirouz, or Azzerrad, the breastplate maker, had been pillaged and put to the torture by Bagi Sejan, the prince of Antioch. - M.]
[Footnote 93: After mentioning the distress and humble petition of the Franks, Abulpharagius adds the haughty reply of Codbuka, or Kerboga, "Non evasuri estis nisi per gladium," (Dynast. p. 242.)]
[Footnote 94: In describing the host of Kerboga, most of the Latin historians, the author of the Gesta, (p. 17,) Robert Monachus, p. 56,) Baldric, (p. 111,) Fulcherius Carnotensis, (p. 392,) Guibert, (p. 512,) William of Tyre, (l. vi. c. 3, p. 714,) Bernard Thesaurarius, (c. 39, p. 695,) are content with the vague expressions of infinita multitudo, immensum agmen, innumerae copiae or gentes, which correspond with Anna Comnena, (Alexias, l. xi. p. 318 - 320.) The numbers of the Turks are fixed by Albert Aquensis at 200,000, (l. iv. c. 10, p. 242,) and by Radulphus Cadomensis at 400,000 horse, (c. 72, p. 309.)]
In the eventful period of the siege and defence of Antioch, the crusaders were alternately exalted by victory or sunk in despair; either swelled with plenty or emaciated with hunger. A speculative reasoner might suppose, that their faith had a strong and serious influence on their practice; and that the soldiers of the cross, the deliverers of the holy sepulchre, prepared themselves by a sober and virtuous life for the daily contemplation of martyrdom. Experience blows away this charitable illusion; and seldom does the history of profane war display such scenes of intemperance and prostitution as were exhibited under the walls of Antioch. The grove of Daphne no longer flourished; but the Syrian air was still impregnated with the same vices; the Christians were seduced by every temptation ^95 that nature either prompts or reprobates; the authority of the chiefs was despised; and sermons and edicts were alike fruitless against those scandalous disorders, not less pernicious to military discipline, than repugnant to evangelic purity. In the first days of the siege and the possession of Antioch, the Franks consumed with wanton and thoughtless prodigality the frugal subsistence of weeks and months: the desolate country no longer yielded a supply; and from that country they were at length excluded by the arms of the besieging Turks. Disease, the faithful companion of want, was envenomed by the rains of the winter, the summer heats, unwholesome food, and the close imprisonment of multitudes. The pictures of famine and pestilence are always the same, and always disgustful; and our imagination may suggest the nature of their sufferings and their resources. The remains of treasure or spoil were eagerly lavished in the purchase of the vilest nourishment; and dreadful must have been the calamities of the poor, since, after paying three marks of silver for a goat and fifteen for a lean camel, ^96 the count of Flanders was reduced to beg a dinner, and Duke Godfrey to borrow a horse. Sixty thousand horse had been reviewed in the camp: before the end of the siege they were diminished to two thousand, and scarcely two hundred fit for service could be mustered on the day of battle. Weakness of body and terror of mind extinguished the ardent enthusiasm of the pilgrims; and every motive of honor and religion was subdued by the desire of life. ^97 Among the chiefs, three