Vladimir’s rule in Russia was firm and unconquerable; no enemy was able to shake it. On the east he extended his power to all places reached by the princes before him; on the west his possessions touched the river San, and included the Dvina region. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this remarkable man’s activity, but it is by his greatest work that Vladimir is best remembered. Before he introduced Christianity, the different tribes had been held together by merely material bonds; thenceforth they were united by a common faith. There is no tie so strong as the tie of faith, and in no country has it shown more strength than in Russia. Vladimir died in 1015, leaving twelve sons and also a nephew, or son, namely Sviatopolk. These sons were from various mothers, and great trouble rose quickly among them. Sviatopolk, whom people called “the sinful son of two fathers,” could claim Vladimir’s heritage as a nephew of Vladimir, and son of Yaropolk. He was the only one of the heirs who was in Kief when the prince died, and he claimed the throne at once by virtue of his seniority. Vladimir had preferred two of his younger sons, Boris and Glaib, to the others, partly it may be because they were better, as he thought, and partly also because they were born of the Greek princess, Anna, to whom he was married as a Christian. Boris was perhaps his favorite, and this son he wished to succeed him as Grand Prince. Sviatopolk looked on himself no doubt as the son of Yaropolk, whom he had reason to think of as done to death foully by Vladimir. His mother, who not long before his birth had been the betrothed wife of Yaropolk, may have schooled him touching his father. Of this we are not informed, though it seems very probable. In every case, Sviatopolk acted as if moved by keen hatred, though his motive might have been purely ambition. Acting swiftly, he seized the throne of Kief straightway, summoned the people, spoke fairly, and gave presents on all sides; then he found men to slay the sons of Vladimir. First they killed Boris, and then Glaib. Another son fled westward toward Hungary, but was followed and killed in the Carpathians. Yaroslav, Vladimir’s fourth son, was prince in Novgorod. This city had been paying Kief a yearly tax of two hundred grievens. The tax, paid at all times unwillingly, was refused altogether during Yaroslav’s rule. Vladimir had been preparing to punish his son, and force payment on Novgorod, when he died rather suddenly. Yaroslav, to defend Novgorod against his father, had brought in Varangians to help him. Those men, as is the wont of such persons, grew insolent quickly and were offensive to Novgorod women. Certain people rose up and slew some of those warriors. Yaroslav, to defend his men, put to death the offenders. The very night after this deed, a message came to the prince from his sister, Predslava, in Kief, giving notice of the death of his father and of all that had happened in the city.