Nothing can give one a more vivid idea of the state of the times than the festivals appointed in honor of the new reign as described by the ancient annalists.  The bones of two saints were transferred from one church to another in the city.  A magnificent coffin of silver, embellished with gold, precious stones, and bas reliefs, so exquisitely carved as to excite the admiration even of the Grecian artists, contained the sacred relics, and excited the wonder and veneration of the whole multitude.  The imposing ceremony drew to Kief the princes, the clergy, the lords, the warriors, even, from the most distant parts of the empire.  The gates of the city and the streets were encumbered with such multitudes that, in order to open a passage for the clergy with the sarcophagus, the monarch caused cloths, garments, precious furs and pieces of silver to be scattered to draw away the throng.  A luxurious feast was given to the princes, and, for three days, all the poor of the city were entertained at the expense of the public treasure.

Monomaque now fitted out sundry expeditions under his enterprising son to extend the territories of Russia and to bring tumultuous tribes and nations into subjection and order.  His son Mstislaf was sent into the country of the Tchoudes, now Livonia, on the shores of the Baltic.  He overran the territory, seized the capital and established order.  His son Vsevolod, who was stationed at Novgorod, made an expedition into Finland.  His army experienced inconceivable sufferings in that cold, inhospitable clime.  Still they overawed the inhabitants and secured tranquillity.  Another son, Georges, marched to the Volga, embarked his army in a fleet of barges, and floated along the stream to eastern Bulgaria, conquered an army raised to oppose him, and returned to his principality laden with booty.  Another son, Yaropolk, assailed the tumultuous tribes upon the Don.  Brilliant success accompanied his enterprise.  Among his captives he found one maiden of such rare beauty that he made her his wife.  At the same time the kingdom of Russia was invaded by barbarous hordes from the shores of the Caspian.  Monomaque himself headed an army and assailed the invaders with such impetuosity that they were driven, with much loss, back again to their wilds.

The military renown Monomaque thus attained made his name a terror even to the most distant tribes, and, for a time, held in awe those turbulent spirits who had been filling the world with violence.  Elated by his conquests, Monomaque fitted out an expedition to Greece.  A large army descended the Dnieper, took possession of Thrace, and threatened Adrianople.  The emperor, in great alarm, sent embassadors to Monomaque with the most precious presents.  There was a cornelian exquisitely cut and set, a golden chain and necklace, a crown of gold, and, most precious of all, a crucifix made of wood of the true cross!  The metropolitan bishop of Ephesus, who was sent with these presents, was authorized, in the name of the church and of the empire, to place the crown upon the brow of Monomaque in gorgeous coronation in the cathedral church of Kief, and to proclaim Monomaque Emperor of Russia.  This crown, called the golden bonnet of Monomaque, is still preserved in the Museum of Antiquities at Moscow.