I see the massacre or captivity of our citizens,
the rapes of our virgins and matrons. ^129 In this
extremity (he interrogates a friend) how must the Sicilians
act? By the unanimous election of a king of valor
and experience, Sicily and Calabria might yet be preserved;
^130 for in the levity of the Apulians, ever eager
for new revolutions, I can repose neither confidence
nor hope. ^131 Should Calabria be lost, the lofty
towers, the numerous youth, and the naval strength,
of Messina, ^132 might guard the passage against a
foreign invader. If the savage Germans coalesce
with the pirates of Messina; if they destroy with
fire the fruitful region, so often wasted by the fires
of Mount Aetna, ^133 what resource will be left for
the interior parts of the island, these noble cities
which should never be violated by the hostile footsteps
of a Barbarian? ^134 Catana has again been overwhelmed
by an earthquake: the ancient virtue of Syracuse
expires in poverty and solitude; ^135 but Palermo
is still crowned with a diadem, and her triple walls
enclose the active multitudes of Christians and Saracens.
If the two nations, under one king, can unite for
their common safety, they may rush on the Barbarians
with invincible arms. But if the Saracens, fatigued
by a repetition of injuries, should now retire and
rebel; if they should occupy the castles of the mountains
and sea-coast, the unfortunate Christians, exposed
to a double attack, and placed as it were between
the hammer and the anvil, must resign themselves to
hopeless and inevitable servitude.” ^136 We
must not forget, that a priest here prefers his country
to his religion; and that the Moslems, whose alliance
he seeks, were still numerous and powerful in the
state of Sicily.
[Footnote 126: The Historia Sicula of Hugo Falcandus,
which properly extends from 1154 to 1169, is inserted
in the viiith volume of Muratori’s Collection,
(tom. vii.
p. 259 — 344,) and preceded by a
eloquent preface or epistle, (p. 251 — 258, de
Calamitatibus Siciliae.) Falcandus has been styled
the Tacitus of Sicily; and, after a just, but immense,
abatement, from the ist to the xiith century, from
a senator to a monk, I would not strip him of his
title: his narrative is rapid and perspicuous,
his style bold and elegant, his observation keen;
he had studied mankind, and feels like a man.
I can only regret the narrow and barren field on
which his labors have been cast.]
[Footnote 127: The laborious Benedictines (l’Art
de verifier les Dates, p. 896) are of opinion, that
the true name of Falcandus is Fulcandus, or Foucault.
According to them, Hugues Foucalt, a Frenchman by
birth, and at length abbot of St. Denys, had followed
into Sicily his patron Stephen de la Perche, uncle
to the mother of William ii., archbishop of Palermo,
and great chancellor of the kingdom. Yet Falcandus
has all the feelings of a Sicilian; and the title
of Alumnus (which he bestows on himself) appears to
indicate that he was born, or at least educated, in
the island.]
