In Kief Oleg fixed himself firmly, declaring that thenceforth it should be called the mother of Russian towns. His first care was to build fortifications in the new territory, both to secure his own power and to defend the country from the Asiatic tribes of the steppes. He spent nearly thirty years, however, in gaining authority over tribes south, east and west of the new capital, before he felt strong enough to make an attack on Tsargrad. [2] In 907 he set out on his famous expedition against the Eastern Empire. A large force, composed of Slavs, Scandinavians and Fins, accompanied him. The number of his boats, perhaps overstated, is given at two thousand. Forty men went in each boat. When the fleet touched the Bosphorus, the Greeks closed the Golden Horn, and also the gates of the capital. Oleg’s men put their craft on the shore, and then used fire and sword around the city with such vigor that the terrified Emperors were glad to buy peace dearly. With the peace was concluded a treaty of commerce, the first Russian treaty known to history. Oleg nailed his shield to one of the city gates as a mark of victory, and returned home in triumph, bringing with him such booty as no man had seen north of the Euxine till that day. The effect of this exploit was very great. Oleg was surnamed “the Seer” by his admiring subjects, who felt proud of his, and of their own fame. He had led many of them across the Black Sea to the capital of the Cæsars. He had roused the imagination of all. From being villagers they had become members of a political commonwealth, able to impose terms on one of the great powers of the earth. Oleg was a keen diplomat rather than a warrior, a ruler who, by shrewd management, brought many tribes under his sway without striking a blow. He was undoubtedly the greatest politician of pagan Russia. In 912 Oleg died. The tradition is that some years earlier he had been warned by a wizard that the horse he was riding would cause his death. The prince dismounted at once, sent this favorite steed away to be cared for, and never rode him again. On being told that the horse was dead and his bones were bleaching in the field, he resolved to go and look at them, saying: “These wizards are always lying. The horse is dead, and I am living.” When he came to where the bones were, he pushed the skull with his foot, and exclaimed: “This was to be my death!” That instant a serpent sprang out and bit him in the leg, and straightway he sickened and died. Igor, son of Rurik, now came to power. In 903 he had married Olga, a maiden famed for wit and beauty, and said to be the daughter of that Gostomyal who first proposed the election of Rurik. Igor’s reign had no such importance as that of his predecessor. In 941, after twenty-nine years of waiting, he made an attack on the Byzantine Empire. This attack was a failure; a mere remnant of warriors came home from it, and those brought no booty with them.