Mediaeval and modern history . ave been slain and fifty thousand made slaves. The Cross,which since the time of Constantine the Great had surmountedthe dome of St. Sophia, was replaced by the Crescent. Thus fell New Rome into the hands of the barbarians of theEast almost an exact millennium after Old Rome had passed intothe possession of the barbarians of the West. Its fall was one ofthe most harrowing and fate-laden events in history. As Moham-med, like Scipio at Carthage, gazed upon the ruined city andthe empty palace of Constantine, he is said, impressed by the THE OTTOMANS CHECKED 167 muta
Mediaeval and modern history . ave been slain and fifty thousand made slaves. The Cross,which since the time of Constantine the Great had surmountedthe dome of St. Sophia, was replaced by the Crescent. Thus fell New Rome into the hands of the barbarians of theEast almost an exact millennium after Old Rome had passed intothe possession of the barbarians of the West. Its fall was one ofthe most harrowing and fate-laden events in history. As Moham-med, like Scipio at Carthage, gazed upon the ruined city andthe empty palace of Constantine, he is said, impressed by the THE OTTOMANS CHECKED 167 mutability of fortune, to have repeated musingly the lines of thePersian poet Firdusi: The spiders web is the curtain in Caesarspalace; the owl is the sentinel on the watchtower of Afrasiab. ^180. The Ottomans checked by the Hungarians and the Knightsof Rhodes. — The consternation which the fall of New Romecreated throughout Christendom was like the dismay which filledthe world upon the downfall of Old Rome in the fifth The Empire of the Ottoman Turks about 1464 Europe now lay open to the invaders. The warriors of Hungary,however, made a valiant stand against them and succeeded inchecking their advance upon the continent, while the Hospitalers(sec. 143), now established in the island of Rhodes, held them inrestraint in the Mediterranean. Before the end of the sixteenthcentury the conquering energy of the Ottomans had about spentitself, and their empire had attained its greatest extent. The Turks have ever remained quite insensible to the influencesof European civilization, and their rule has been a perfect blightand curse to the Christian races subjected to their authority. They 5 Afrasiab is the name of a personage who figures in the historical legends of Persia. l68 THE MONGOLS AND THE OTTOMAN TURKS have always been looked upon as intruders in Europe, and theirpresence there has led to several of the most sanguinary wars ofmodern times. Gradually they are being pushed
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