with the Latin Crusader. He was more obedient, more amenable to discipline, and his conquest was even accomplished with less bloodshed than that of the Latins, though it undoubtedly consigned the Greek race to greater permanent misery and degradation. The sultan had at least some nobility of character, though it is certain that he stained the glory of his triumphs with some very unworthy deeds. He went from the Church of St. Sophia to the imperial palace, and it was there, as he surveyed the desolate halls, that he is said to have called to mind those pathetic words of a Persian poet: "The spider's curtain hangs before the portal of Cæsar's palace; the owl is the sentinel on the watch-tower of Afrasiab."
The promised plunder could hardly have disappointed the sultan's eager and victorious soldiers. The Turk was certainly not more greedy and rapacious than the Latin conqueror had been. Constantinople, indeed, was very poor compared with what it had been in the days of its greatness. Ever since the Latin conquest its wealth and population had steadily declined. Of the spoil taken by the Turks, far the largest and most valuable portion consisted in the captives themselves. These would be sold into slavery, if they or their friends were unable to save themselves by the payment of a good ransom. There must, however, have been some richly furnished houses, and many private treasures, which the possessors had grudged the emperor, when he wanted money for his troops. The churches, too, and the monasteries must have yielded a handsome booty. We
