The Story of Russia | Page 6

or a family, but by all the
members of a community, or mir. The heads of the families composing
the mir assembled in a council or vetché, which had authority over the
mir. Only the house and the dvor or inclosure, and his share in the
harvest, were the property of each householder. In the course of time,
several of these rural communities united (p. 028) in a canton or county,
called a volost, which was then governed by a council composed of the

elders of several communes. It happened sometimes that one of these
elders, who was considered unusually wise or powerful, became chief
of the volost, a dignity which might become hereditary. This was
probably the origin of the boyards or nobles. As a rule, the volosts were
proud of their independence; they disliked entangling alliances,
although in time of danger or necessity they would enter into a
confederacy of all the counties belonging to the same tribe, which was
then called plemia. But it was always understood that such an
arrangement was temporary. In most of the volosts, there was at least
one spot fortified by earthen walls and wooden palisades, where the
people might take refuge in case of an attack.
We know that some of the Slav tribes attained some degree of
civilization as early as the seventh century of our era. Novgorod was a
town, large for that time, which carried on a brisk trade with Asia. This
is amply proved by the discovery of Asiatic coins belonging to that
period. Although the favorite occupation of the Slavs was agriculture,
the construction of the fortified places suggests that they were not
averse to increase their wealth by an occasional raid upon their
unprepared neighbors. There is other evidence that Novgorod, grown
into a wealthy city in the middle of the ninth century, longed for peace.
No wonder that such a community sought for means of security for its
commerce. But the manner in which it accomplished this desire,
decided the fate of Russia.

III--THE NORSEMEN (OR VARINGIANS) IN RUSSIA. (p. 029)
It would have been strange indeed, if the bold Norsemen, the bold
buccaneers who in their frail craft pillaged the west coasts of Europe
and extended their voyages into the Mediterranean, should have
omitted to pay a visit to the shores of the Baltic Sea. We know that they
settled in England and France, and it causes no surprise when we read
that the Slavs in the neighborhood of the Baltic paid tribute to them.
They must have been exacting tax collectors, because we read also that,
in 859, the Slavs rose and expelled their visitors. Three years later they
returned at the invitation of the people of Novgorod.

Nestor, the historian of the Slav race, who lived in the twelfth century,
and whose account is remarkably clear and trustworthy, wrote that the
inhabitants of Novgorod "said to the princes of Varingia, 'Our land is
great and fertile, but it lacks order and justice; come, take possession,
and govern us.'"
The invitation was accepted. Three brothers, Rurik or the Peaceful,
Sineous or the Victorious, and Truvor or the Faithful, proceeded to
Russia with their families and fighting men. Rurik settled on the south
shore of Lake Ladoga, Sineous on the White Lake, and Truvor at
Izborsk. The two younger brothers died, and Rurik moved to (p. 030)
Novgorod where he built a castle. At about the same time two other
Norsemen, Askold and Dir, landed in Russia, and went to Kief, then
also a flourishing city, where they were equally well received. They
persuaded its people to prepare an expedition against Czargrad, the City
of the Czar or Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, now known as
Constantinople, but at that time named Byzantium. The expedition of
Kief under Askold and Dir sailed down the Dnieper in a fleet of 200
large boats, entered the Golden Horn--or Bosphorus,--and began the
siege of Constantinople. The capital was saved by the Patriarch or head
of the Greek Church, who plunged a wonder-working robe into the
waves, whereupon a violent storm destroyed the Russian fleet.
The two chiefs, Askold and Dir, must have escaped, because they were
back at Kief when that city received a disagreeable visit. Upon Rurik's
death, he was succeeded, not by his son Igor, but by his brother Oleg as
the eldest of the family. The new prince or kniaz did not approve of
rival Norsemen in his neighborhood. With his own men and a large
number of Slavs and Finns, he marched upon Kief, and on his way
compelled Smolensk and Loubetch to submit to his authority.
When he arrived before Kief, he succeeded in capturing Askold and Dir
who were put to death "because," Oleg explained, "they were neither
princes themselves,