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 the
essential steps of nations emerging from darkness into light. With all
nations advancing from barbarism, the process has ever been slow by
which the civil authority has been separated from the military. It is
impossible to educe from the chaos of those times any established
principles. Often the duke or leader was chosen with imposing
ceremonies. Some men of commanding abilities would gather into their
hands the reins of almost unlimited power, and would transmit that