OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 185 the founders of the new republic. Robert was the eldest of the seven sons of the second marriage ; and even the reluctant praise of his foes has endowed him with the heroic qualities of a soldier and a statesman. His lofty stature surpassed the tallest of his army ; his limbs were cast in the true proportion of strength and gracefulness ; and to the decline of life he main- tained the patient vigour of health and the commanding dignity of his form. His complexion was ruddy, his shoulders were broad, his hair and beard were long and of a flaxen colour, his eyes sparkled with fire, and his voice, like that of Achilles, could impress obedience and terror amidst the tumult of battle. In the ruder ages of chivalry, such qualifications are not below the notice of the poet or historian ; they may observe that Robert, at once, and with equal dexterity, could wield in the right hand his sword, his lance in the left ; that in the battle of Civitella, he was thrice unhorsed ; and that in the close of that memorable day he was adjudged to have borne away the prize of valour from the warriors of the two armies.^ His bound- less ambition was founded on the consciousness of superior worth ; in the pursuit of greatness, he was never arrested by the scruples of justice and seldom moved by the feelings of hu- manity ; though not insensible of fame, the choice of open or clandestine means was determined only by his present advan- tage. The surname of Guiscard '^- was applied to this master of political wisdom, which is too often confounded with the practice of dissimulation and deceit ; and Robert is praised by the Apulian poet for excelling the cunning of Ulysses and the eloquence of Cicero. Yet these arts Mere disguised by an ap- pearance of military frankness : in his highest fortune, he was accessible and courteous to his fellow-soldiers ; and, while he indulged the prejudices of his new subjects, he affected in his dress and manners to maintain the ancient fashion of his country. '^ I shall quote with pleasure some of the best lines of the Apulian (1. ii. p. 270). Pugnat utraque manu, nee lancea cassa nee ensis Cassus erat, quocunque manu deducere vellet. Ter dejectus equo, ter viribus ipse resumptis, Major in arma redit ; stimulos furor ipse ministrat. Ut Leo cum frendens, &c. Nullus in hoc bello sicuti post bella probatum est Victor vel victus, tani magnos edidit ictus. •'-The Norman writers and editors most conversant with their own idiom inter- pret Guiscard, or Wiscard, by Callidus, a cunning man. The root (jvise) is familiar to our ear ; and in the old word Wiseacre I can discern something of a similar sense and termination. Tiji/ ^fvxiv vn.vo^<p^6TaTo<; is no bad translation of the surname and character of Robert.
