Occasionally they would sheath the sword of civil strife and combine in some important expedition against the Hungarians or the Poles.
But tranquillity reigned in the principality of Vladimir; and the adjacent provinces, influenced by the pacific policy of the sovereign, or overawed by his power, cultivated the arts of peace.

Constantin, however, was effeminate as well as peaceful.

The tremendous energy of Mstislaf had shed some luster upon him, and thus, for a time, it was supposed that he possessed a share, no one knew how great, of that extraordinary vigor which had placed him on the throne.

But now, Mstislaf was far away on bloody fields in Hungary, and the princes in the vicinity of Vladimir soon found that Constantin had no spirit to resent any of their encroachments.

Enormous crimes were perpetrated with impunity.