The Empire of Russia | Page 7

is not until the middle of the ninth century, that we obtain any really
reliable information respecting the inhabitants of central Russia. They
are described as a light-complexioned, flaxen-haired race, robust, and
capable of great endurance. Their huts were cheerless, affording but
little shelter, and they lived upon the coarsest food, often devouring
their meat raw. The Greeks expressed astonishment at their agility in
climbing precipitous cliffs, and admired the hardihood with which they

plunged through bogs, and swam the most rapid and swollen streams.
He who had the most athletic vigor was the greatest man, and all the
ambition and energy of the nation were expended in the acquisition of
strength and agility.
They are ever described as strangers to fear, rushing unthinkingly upon
certain death. They were always ready to accept combat with the
Roman legions. Entire strangers to military strategy, they made no
attacks in drilled lines or columns, but the whole tumultuous mass, in
wild disorder rushed upon the foe, with the most desperate daring,
having no guide but their own ferocity and the chieftains who led small
bands. Their weapons consisted of swords, javelins and poisoned
arrows, and each man carried a heavy shield. As they crossed the
Danube in their bloody forays, incited by love of plunder, the
inhabitants of the Roman villages fled before them. When pursued by
an invincible force they would relinquish life rather than their booty,
even when the plunder was of a kind totally valueless in their savage
homes. The ancient annals depict in appalling colors the cruelties they
exercised upon their captives. They were, however, as patient in
endurance as they were merciless in infliction. No keenness of torture
could force from them a cry of pain.
Yet these people, so ferocious, are described as remarkably amiable
among themselves, seldom quarreling, honest and truthful, and
practicing hospitality with truly patriarchal grace. Whenever they left
home, the door was unfastened and food was left for any chance
wayfarer. A guest was treated as a heavenly messenger, and was guided
on his way with the kindest expressions for his welfare.
The females, as in all barbaric countries, were exposed to every
indignity. All the hard labor of life was thrown upon them. When the
husband died, the widow was compelled to cast herself upon the
funeral pile which consumed his remains. It is said that this barbarous
custom, which Christianity abolished, was introduced to prevent the
wife from secretly killing her husband. The wife was also regarded as
the slave of the husband, and they imagined that if she died at the same
time with her husband, she would serve him in another world. The

wives often followed their husbands to the wars. From infancy the boys
were trained to fight, and were taught that nothing was more
disgraceful than to forgive an injury.
A mother was permitted, if she wished, to destroy her female children;
but the boys were all preserved to add to the military strength of the
nation. It was lawful, also, for the children to put their parents to death
when they had become infirm and useless. "Behold," exclaims a
Russian historian, "how a people naturally kind, when deprived of the
light of revelation can remorselessly outrage nature, and surpass in
cruelty the most ferocious animals."
In different sections of this vast region there were different degrees of
debasement, influenced by causes no longer known. A tribe called
Drevliens, Nestor states, lived in the most gloomy forests with the
beasts and like the beasts. They ate any food which a pig would devour,
and had as little idea of marriage as have sheep or goats. Among the
Sclavonians generally there appears to have been no aristocracy. Each
family was an independent republic. Different tribes occasionally met
to consult upon questions of common interest, when the men of age,
and who had acquired reputation for wisdom, guided in counsel.
Gradually during the progress of their wars an aristocracy arose.
Warriors of renown became chiefs, and created for themselves posts of
authority and honor. By prowess and plunder they acquired wealth. In
their incursions into the empire, they saw the architecture of Greece
and Rome, and thus incited, they began to rear castles and fortresses.
He who was recognized as the leading warrior in time of battle,
retained his authority in the days of peace, which were very few. The
castle became necessary for the defense of the tribe or clan, and the
chieftain became the feudal noble, invested with unlimited power. At
one time every man who was rich enough to own a horse was deemed a
noble. The first power recognized was only military authority. But the
progress of civilization developed the absolute necessity of other
powers to protect the weak, to repress crime, and to guide in