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By the middle of the 15th Century, Moneybag's descendants had established a dynasty and a tyranny. Ivan III married Zoe, the niece of the last Eastern Roman emperor, who brought Byzantium's religion, architecture and incense-heavy intrigue to Moscow, which was now more powerful than any other Russian city. She hoped to make it succeed history's two earlier Romes (the one on the Tiber and the one on the Bosporus). Ivan took the title of Czar, i.e., Caesar, and Sovereign of all the Russias. He began to build a strong brick wall around the Kremlin: it still stands today.† Then Moscow was ruled by Ivan IV, called the Terrible, who decisively defeated the Tartars and gave Moscow its first secret police—the blackclad Oprichniki ("extras"), who were mounted on black horses and carried a broom and a dog's head at their saddle, "to sweep and gnaw away treason." When much of Moscow was destroyed by the huge fire of 1547, Ivan retired to the Sparrow Hills so as not to see the sufferings of his people. That gesture was typical of Moscow's rulers and their relation to the ragged mass on whom the splendors of the city rested.
The Lives. At this time, the people's lives were hard and narrow. Reported a visitor: "The houses of the common people in Moscow usually consist only of one room . . . used for all purposes. ... In this room you encounter a large stove covered with boards . . . whereon sits almost all year round, the entire family. ..." Their pleasures were few. Muscovites, who were social drinkers, liked to gather in a korchma (wine tavern) but the taverns were owned by the Czar and rented out to nobles: Muscovites who could not pay for what they drank were held until their friends ransomed them. For centuries, Muscovites did not know how to dance, and paid Tartars and Poles to dance for them.
When they died, common Muscovites were simply wrapped in a pall and carried yo the burial ground, behind an icon; in their hands was placed a piece of paper with a prayer for the repose of their souls. This prompted an early Moscow correspondent, who had discovered that there was less freedom of movement in Moscow than anywhere in Europe, to report: "The Russ, when he dies, hath his passport to St. Nicolas buried with him."
The Saints. When, under Catherine the Great, Moscow was ridden by a frightful plague (1771) and a thousand people died each day, the Archbishop of Moscow forbade, for hygienic reasons, the kissing of icons; an outraged mob killed him. When in 1812 Napoleon marched on the city, the Governor General of Moscow issued a communiqué to the people which was a typical mixture of civic concern and religious fervor: "Thank God! All is well in Moscow. . . . Bread prices have not risen and meat prices have gone down. . . . Our protectors are, before the Lord His Holy Mother and all the saints who rest in Moscow. . . ."