Under this reign the idols were destroyed, churches were built, learning and the arts were cultivated. This regime is considered the heroic epoch of Russia. It was the age of poetic enthusiasm, with "Sunny Prince Vladimir" as the topic of the minstrel, who sang the glory of his reign. Historians have called Vladimir "The Great," because of his superiority over those who had gone before him, and because of his conspicuous brilliancy in the rude age in which he lived.
It is shocking to note, however, that this "Saint" Vladimir, as the Russians called him, with all of his greatness and chivalric qualities, murdered his brother and was a polygamist. Wise as was this monarch in statecraft, in his death he made a great blunder in disposing of the government by dividing the empire among his seven sons. By so doing other divisions followed, until finally Russia, which had been unified and solidified by the efforts of centuries, was torn to shreds.
Its power was frittering away; its political importance disappeared, and the people were re-plunged into barbarism, from which they were just emerging. Long and sanguinary wars ensued among the rival brothers and their partisans, until finally, in 1026, Jaroslov and Matislas made amicable arrangement to rule jointly, which they did for ten years, when his brother having died, Jaroslov assumed sole control of the shapeless colossus which the empire had become.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
