THE splendid empire which Dushan had founded broke
into fragments upon his death. The crowd of Despots,
Sebastocrats, Cæsars, and Z+̱upans hastened to assert their
independence of the young Urosh, the youthful heir
of the great Dushan. They took advantage of a dis-
puted succession to question his title as Czar, and only
ultimately acquiesced in his rule when his actual power
was gone. None the less, the empire of Dushan had
permanent results on the history of the Balkans. As
such is the fact, it is well to understand its extent and
the racial elements contained in it. On the west,
Dushan's empire was not so extensive as that of
Urosh II., the vale of the Narenta was not under his
control, and the Prince of Bosnia was not permanently
his subject. His control of a few ports like Stagno
and Cattaro, and his alliances with Venice and Ragusa,
gave him an important influence on the North Adriatic
shore. The kingdoms of Zeta and Rashka were his
as of old. Of the new districts added, the most im-
portant were Macedonia from Ochrida to Monastir and
part of Thrace as far as Serres. All Albania, except
Durazzo, nearly all Epirus, and Thessaly were under
his rule. Bulgaria was in practice an ally or a tributary.
In fact, it may be said that with the exception of districts
around seaports like Durazzo, Salonica, Cavalla, and

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