No More Learning

The army
thereupon returned to Syria. After this expedition Tarsus, which had
been abandoned by the Romans, was occupied and rebuilt by the Arabs.
In September 780 Leo died; and, under the female rule which followed,
Asia Minor was again laid open to the enemy. In June 781 the Asiatic
themes were sent to the frontier, commanded not by a soldier but a
eunuch, the treasurer John. The separate themes, however, retained their
strategi, and 'Abd-al-Kabir, who had invaded by the pass of Adata, was
defeated by Lachanodraco and the Armenian Tadjat, strategus of the
Bucellarii, who had gone over to the Romans in 780. After this ‘Abd-
al-Kabir abandoned the expedition, for which he was imprisoned. The
Caliph now made a great effort, and on 9 February 782 Rashid left Baghdad
at the head of a larger force than any that had been sent in the previous
years, in which contingents from Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Khurā-
sān were included; and, the Empress Irene having just sent an army to
Sicily against the rebel Elpidius, the invaders had an easier task. Enter-
ing by the Cilician Gates, Rashid took the fortress of Magida and
advanced into Phrygia, where he left Rabī' to besiege Nacolea and sent
Yahyà the Barmecide to Asia, and after defeating Nicetas, Count of
Opsicium, he reached Chrysopolis. Yaḥyà inflicted a crushing defeat on
Lachanodraco, but on his way to join Rashid found his road blocked on
the Sangarius by Anthony the Domestic of the Scholae, whom Irene had
sent by sea from Constantinople; but Tadjat from hostility to Irene's
chief minister, the eunuch Stauracius, opened communications with Rashid,
and on promise of pardon and reward returned to the Arabs. By his
advice Rashid proposed peace; but, when Stauracius, Anthony, and Peter
the magister came to discuss terms, he treacherously made them prisoners.
Irene, wishing to recover Stauracius and crippled by the loss of Tadjat
and Anthony, was forced to accept his conditions. A three years' truce
was then made on condition that she paid tribute, ransomed the prisoners,
supplied guides and markets for the army on its retreat, and surrendered
Tadjat's wife and property. After mutual presents the Arabs returned
laden with spoil (31 August). Mopsuestia and the fort opposite Adana
were then rebuilt by the Arabs.


## p. 125 (#167) ############################################

Campaigns of Constantine VI
125
In 785 the rebuilding of Adata was finished; but the work was faulty,
and the walls were soon so much damaged by the wet winter that early in
786 the Romans easily took and destroyed the town, which was evacuated
by its garrison; they also overthrew the fortifications of Sozopetra. Both
these frontier places were immediately rebuilt.
In 786 Irene, to carry out her religious policy, changed the composi-
tion of the themes and probably deposed the iconoclast strategi', thereby
impairing the military strength of the Empire, which, while she ruled, was
unable to cope with the Arabs; and in September 788 the Romans were
defeated in the Anatolic theme with heavy loss. In 790 some soldiers
who were being conveyed by sea from Egypt to Syria were captured by
the Romans, but an Arab fleet sailed to Cyprus and thence to Asia Minor,
and, meeting the Cibyrrhaeots in the bay of Attalia, captured Theophilus
the admiral, who was offered rich gifts by Rashīd, now Caliph, to join the
Arabs, but on his refusal beheaded.
In September 791 Constantine VI, having now assumed the govern-
ment, marched through Amorium to attack Tarsus, but had only reached
the Lycaonian desert when, perhaps from scarcity of water, he returned
(October). In 792 he restored his mother to her rank and place, and,
having driven the Armeniacs, who had caused her downfall, to mutiny,
overcame them by the help of some Armenian auxiliaries (793), who,
not having received the expected reward, betrayed Camacha to the
lieutenant of ‘Abd-al-Malik, Emir of Mesopotamia (29 July). The same
year Thebasa in Cappadocia from lack of water surrendered to ‘Abd-al-
Malik's son ‘Abd-ar-Raḥmān on condition that the officers were allowed
to go free (October). In the autumn of 794 Sulaimān invaded northern Asia
Minor, accompanied by Elpidius, who had fled to the Arabs and received
recognition as Emperor; but many men perished from cold, and a safe
retreat was only obtained by making terms (January 795).
In the spring of 795 Faļl led a raid, but Constantine himself marched
against him (April) and defeated a party which had nearly reached the
west coast (8 May). In 796 he was occupied with the Bulgarians, and
Mahomet ibn Mu'āwiyah reached Amorium and carried off captives. In
797 Rashid in person invaded the Empire by the Cilician Gates, and
Constantine, accompanied by Stauracius and other partisans of Irene,
again took the field (March); but Stauracius, fearing that success might
bring the Emperor popularity, spread a report that the enemy had
retreated, and Constantine returned to lose his throne and his sight
(19 August). Meanwhile Rashid took the fort known to the Arabs as
aş-Şafsāf (the willow); near the Cilician Gates, while ‘Abd-al-Malik plun-
dered the country as far as Ancyra, which he took, and then rejected
? Bury, Luter Roman Empire, 11. p. 485.
2 In such cases the prisoners were probably held as hostages or to ransom, and,
if their lives were forfeited, they were spared if they apostatised or turned traitors.
3 This seems to be Andrasus, but must be a different place from Adrasus in Isauria.
cu. Y.


## p. 126 (#168) ############################################

126
Nicephorus and Rashid
Irene's proposals for a truce. In 798 ‘Abd-al-Malik extended his ravages
to Malagina, where he carried off the horses and equipment from Stau-
racius' stables, while ‘Abd-ar-Raḥmān made many captives in Lydia
and reached Ephesus, and in the autumn another party defeated Paul
of Opsicium and captured his camp.
In 799 the Chazars invaded Armenia, and so this time Rashid accepted
Irene's offers of tribute and made peace”; but her successor Nicephorus
refused payment (803). Accordingly in August 803, while he was occupied
with Vardan's rebellion, the Caliph's son Qāsim, who had just been named
Emir of al-'Awāşim (the defences), a province in North Syria instituted in
789, entered Cappadocia by the Cilician Gates and besieged Corum, while
one of his lieutenants besieged a fort which the Arabs call Sinān; but,
being distressed by lack of food and water, he agreed to retire upon 320
prisoners being released. In 804 Rashid himself advanced through the
same pass to Heraclea (Cybistra) in April, while another party under Ibrā-
him took aş-Şafsāf and Thebasa, which they dismantled. Nicephorus
started in person to meet Ibrāhīm (August); but on hearing that the
Caliph's vanguard had taken and dismantled Ancyra turned back and,
having met the enemy at Crasus, suffered defeat; but the lateness of the
season made it difficult to maintain the army, and Rashid accepted tribute
and made peace, the Emperor agreeing not to rebuild the dismantled
fortresses. An exchange of prisoners was also arranged and took place
during the winter. In 805 the Caliph was occupied in Persia, and Nice-
phorus, contrary to the treaty, rebuilt Ancyra, Thebasa, and aş-Şafsāf.
He also sent an army into Cilicia, which took Tarsus, making the garrison
prisoners, and ravaged the lands of Mopsuestia and Anazarbus; but the
garrison of Mopsuestia attacked them and recovered most of the prisoners
and spoil. Accordingly in 806 Rashid, with a large army from Syria,
Palestine, Persia, and Egypt, crossed the frontier (11 June) and took
Heraclea after a month's siege (August) and Tyana, where he ordered a
mosque to be built, while his lieutenants took the Fort of the Slavs by
the Cilician Gates, Thebasa, Malacopea, Sideropalus (Cyzistra)”, aş-Şafsāf,
Sinān, and Semaluos, and a detachment even reached Ancyra. Nicephorus,
threatened by the Bulgarians, could not resist, and sent three clerics by
whom peace was renewed on the basis of an annual tribute and a per-
sonal payment for the Emperor and his son, who thereby acknowledged
themselves the Caliph's servants. Since Nicephorus again bound himself
not to rebuild the dismantled forts, Rashid undertook to restore Semaluos,
Sinān, and Sideropalus uninjured. As soon, however, as the Arabs had
withdrawn, Nicephorus, presuming on the lateness of the season, again
restored the forts, whereupon the Caliph unexpectedly returned and retook
Thebasa.
i The peace is nowhere recorded, but seems to follow from the absence of
hostilities and the action ascribed to Nicephorus.
2 I identify this with Dhū’l Kilāó (E. H. R. , 1901, p. 86, n. 195).


## p. 127 (#169) ############################################

Recovery of Camacha
127
The neutralisation of Cyprus, effected in 689, was considered as still
in force; but after the breach of the treaty of 804 a fleet under Humaid in
805 ravaged the island and carried 16,000 Cypriots, among whom was the
archbishop, as prisoners to Syria (806), but on the renewal of
peace they
were sent back. In 807 Humaid landed in Rhodes and harried the island,
though unable to take the fortified town; but after touching at Myra on
the
way
back
many of his ships were wrecked in a storm.
Early in 807 the Romans, who must previously have recovered Tyana,
occupied the Cilician Gates, and, when the Arab commander tried to pass,
defeated and killed him. Rashīd himself then came to the pass of Adata, and
sent Harthama with a Persian army into Roman territory; but he effected
nothing and his force suffered severely from hunger. The Romans failed
to take Germanicea and Melitene, and the Caliph after assigning to Har-
thama the task of rebuilding Tarsus returned to Syria (14 July), recalled
probably by the news of disturbances in the East. In 808 an exchange
of prisoners was effected at Podandus.
During the civil war which followed Rashid's death (March 809) the
Romans recovered Camacha, which was surrendered by its commandant
in exchange for his son, who had been captured; but wars with Bulgarians
and Slavs prevented them from taking full advantage of the situation.
It was fortunate for them that during the terrible years 811—814 the
Arabs were unable to organise a serious attack.
In 810 Faraj rebuilt Adana and the fort opposite, and in 811 another
leader invaded the Armeniac theme and defeated Leo the strategus at Eu-
chaita, capturing the soldiers' pay and making many prisoners (2 March);
but in 812 Thābit, Emir of Tarsus, having crossed the frontier in August,
was defeated by the Anatolic strategus, another Leo, afterwards Emperor,
and lost many horses and waggons. After 813, though no peace was
made, other occupations on both sides prevented active hostilities; but
about 818 Leo V, now delivered from the Bulgarians, took advantage of
the disturbances in Egypt to send a fleet to Damietta.
In September 813 Ma'mūn became sole Caliph; but, Syria and Meso-
potamia being almost wholly in the hands of rebels, he could not engage
in foreign war, and in 817 a new rival arose in his uncle Ibrāhīm. On
his submission (819) the Syrian rebel Nașr asked help of the Anatolic
general, Manuel, and Leo sent envoys to treat with him; but the indig-
nation of Nașr's followers at a Christian alliance forced him to put them to
death, while Ma'mūn prevented interference by sending the exile Thomas
into Asia Minor with Arab auxiliaries, who after the murder of Leo (Decem-
ber 820) was joined by most of the Asiatic themes and remained in arms
till 823. During these troubles 'Abdallāh ibn Tāhir recovered Camacha
(822), and some adventurers who had been expelled from Spain and occu-
pied Alexandria ravaged Crete and the Aegean islands. After the overthrow
of Thomas, Michael II proposed a definite peace(825); but Ma’mūn, having
just then been delivered from Nasr, refused to tie his hands and sent
CH. V.


## p. 128 (#170) ############################################

128
Campaigns of the Caliph Ma'mūn
raiding parties into the Empire, who were defeated at Ancyra and at
another place and lost one of their leaders.
In December 827 the Spanish adventurers wereexpelled from Alexandria
and established themselves in Crete. The Cibyrrhaeot strategus Craterus
gained a victory over them (828), but waited to give his men a night's
rest; and, as he kept no watch, his force was surprised and cut to pieces,
and his ships were captured. He himself escaped in a trading-vessel to
Cos, but was pursued, taken, and crucified. In 829 the corsairs annihilated
the Aegean fleet off Thasos, and the islands lay at their mercy; but Oory-
phas collected a new naval force, and for some time checked their ravages.
Ma'mūn had been hindered from pursuing the war by the rebellion of
the Khurrami sectaries under Bābak in Azarbā’ījān and Kurdistān; and
about 829 some of these, under a leader who took the name of Theophobus,
joined the Romans. Thus strengthened, Theophilus, who succeeded
Michael in October 829, crossed the frontier and destroyed Sozopetra, kill-
ing the men and enslaving the women, whereupon Ma’mūn started for Asia
Minor (26 March 830). Having received a welcome ally in Manuel, who,
having been calumniated at court, had fled to save his life, he sent his son
‘Abbās to rebuild Sozopetra and passed the Cilician Gates (10 July),
where he found no army to oppose him. Magida soon capitulated, and
Corum was taken and destroyed (19 July), but the lives of the garrison
were spared, while Sinān surrendered to “Ujaif and Soandus to Ashnās.
After taking Semaluos the Caliph returned to Damascus.
Early in 831 Theophilus entered Cilicia and defeated a local force,
after which he returned in triumph with many prisoners to Constantinople.
But the position in Sicily caused him to use his success in order to obtain
peace, and he sent the archimandrite John, afterwards Patriarch, with
500 prisoners and an offer of tribute in return for a five years' truce, but
with instructions to promise Manuel free pardon if he returned. Ma'mun,
who had started for another campaign, received the envoy at Adana and
refused a truce; but with Manuel John had more success, for, while ac-
companying 'Abbās in an invasion of Cappadocia the next year, he deserted
to the Romans. Meanwhile Ma'mūn crossed the frontier (26 June)', be-
sieged Lulum, and received the surrender of Antigus and Heraclea, while
his brother Mu'taşim took thirteen forts and some subterranean granaries,
and Yahyà took and destroyed Tyana. Failing to take Lulum, Ma'mūn,
having heard of the revolt of Egypt, left ‘Ujaif to continue the siege and
returned to Syria (end of September). The garrison of Lulum succeeded
in taking ‘Ujaif prisoner, but, after an attempt at relief by Theophilus
had failed, released him on condition of his obtaining them a favourable
capitulation, and the place was annexed, whereby the command of the
pass fell into the hands of the Arabs (832). Meanwhile Ma'mūn re-
turned from Egypt (April), and Theophilus again sent to offer tribute;
1 I have made a slight emendation in Țabari's text in order to bring the day of
the month into accord with the day of the week.


## p. 129 (#171) ############################################

Sack of Sozopetra
129
but Ma'mun refused accommodation and entered Cilicia, where he received
an impostor claiming imperial descent, whom he had crowned by the
Patriarch of Antioch. After a halt at Adana he again crossed the frontier,
obtained the surrender of some forts, ordered Tyana to be rebuilt as a
Muslim colony, and returned to Syria (September). In 833 he came to Tar-
sus, and sent'Abbās to superintend the rebuilding of Tyana (25 May), him-
self following on 9 July. Soon afterwards he was seized with illness and
died at Podandus (7 August), after rejecting the Emperor's offer to pay
the war-expenses and compensation for damage done in Arab territory and
to liberate all Muslim prisoners in return for peace. Peace was, however,
practically obtained, for, in consequence of the spread of the Khurrami
rebellion under Bābak, Ma'mūn's successor, the Caliph Mu'tasim, aban-
doned Tyana and ceased hostilities,
In 835 the rebels were defeated, and Omar, Emir of Melitene, was
able to invade the Empire. Theophilus himself met the marauders and
was at first victorious, but in a second battle he was put to flight and
his
camp was pillaged. In 836, however, the imperial forces were increased
by the adhesion of another party of Khurramis under Naşr the Kurd;
and, the Arabs having just then been defeated by Bābak, Theophilus
invaded Armenia, where he massacred many of the inhabitants, and after
exacting tribute from Theodosiopolis returned, bringing many Armenian
families with him; but a force which he left behind was routed in Vanand.
In 837, urged by Bābak, he again crossed the frontier and for the second
time destroyed Sozopetra, where Naşr's Kurds perpetrated a general mas-
sacre among the Christian and Jewish male inhabitants. Theophilus then
pillaged the district of Melitene, passed on into Anzetene, besieged Arsa-
mosata, which, after defeating a relieving force, he took and burned, carried
off captives from Armenia Quarta, which he laid waste, and returned
to Melitene; but, expecting another attack, he accepted hostages from the
garrison with some Roman prisoners and presents and withdrew. “Ujaif,
whom the Caliph sent against him, overtook him near Charsianum, but
the small Arab force was almost annihilated.
This summer Bābak was finally defeated, and soon afterwards taken
and beheaded; and Mu'tasim, now free to pursue the war with vigour,
started with a larger force than had yet followed a Caliph to invade the
Empire. He left Sāmarrā on 5 April 838, and at Batnae (Sarūj) sent
Afshin through the pass of Adata, while the rest of the army went on to
Tarsus, where he again divided his forces, sending Ashnās through the
Cilician Gates (19 June), while he himself followed two days later, the
destination of all three divisions being Ancyra. Afshin took the longer
road by Sebastea in order to effect a junction with the troops of Melitene
and those of Armenia, which included many Turks and the forces of the
native princes. Mu'tasim, having heard that Theophilus was encamped
on the Halys, ordered Ashnās, who had reached the plain, to await his
own arrival. The Emperor, however, had gone to meet Afshin, and in the
9
MED. H. VOL. IV. CH. V.


## p. 130 (#172) ############################################

130
Fall of Amorium
battle which followed near Dazimon on the Iris (24 July) the Romans
were at first successful; but heavy rain and mist came on, most of the
army, unable to find the Emperor, left the field, and Theophilus, per-
suaded that the Persians meant to betray him, with a few followers cut
his way through the enemy and escaped, while those who remained lit fires
to deceive the Arabs and retired. Ancyra having been evacuated on the
news of the battle, Theophilus ordered his forces to concentrate at
Amorium under the Anatolic strategus Aëtius, while he himself, having
received information of a conspiracy, returned to Constantinople. Mean-
while Ashnās occupied Corum, and, after destroying Nyssa and learning
from fugitives of the Emperor's defeat, entered Ancyra. Here Mu´taşim
and Afshin joined him, and, having destroyed Ancyra, the united forces
advanced to Amorium, the chief city of the Anatolic theme and the
birthplace of Theophilus' father (2 August). Here a stubborn resistance
was offered, but an Arab captive, who had turned Christian and was known
as Manicophagus, showed them a weak spot; the main attack was di-
rected against this point, until Boiditzes, who commanded in this quarter,
finding resistance hopeless,admitted the enemy (13 August). The town was
then destroyed, and a massacre followed. Meanwhile Theophilus, who was
at Dorylaeum, sent presents to Mu´taşim with a letter in which he apolo-
gised for the slaughter at Sozopetra, saying that it was committed without
his orders, and offered to rebuild it and release all prisoners in return for
peace; but the Caliph would not see the envoy till Amorium had fallen,
and then refused terms unless Manuel and Nașr were surrendered, return-
ing the presents. On 25 September he began his retreat by the direct
road through the desert, where many perished from thirst; and many
prisoners who were unable to march, and others who killed some soldiers
and fled, were put to death. The chief officers were preserved alive; but
Aëtius was crucified on reaching Sāmarrā, and about forty others suffered
death seven years later (5 March 845)”.
After this the Caliph was occupied with the conspiracy of ‘Abbās, who
had been in correspondence with Theophilus; but Abū-Saʻīd, who was
appointed Emir of Syria and Mesopotamia, sent the commandant of
Mopsuestia on a raid, in which he carried off prisoners and cattle. He
was then attacked by Nașr, who recovered the prisoners but was shortly
afterwards defeated by Abu-Sa'id and killed, whereupon the Kurds dis-
mounted and fought till all were killed. On the other hand a Roman fleet
pillaged Seleucia in Syria (839). Abū-Sa'īd, having fortified Seleucia, in
841 made another invasion and carried off captives, but the Romans
pursued him into Cilicia and recovered them. In a second inroad he
fared no better, and the Romans took Adata and Germanicea and occupied
part of the territory of Melitene. Theophilus now again sent presents and
asked for an exchange of prisoners; Mu'taşim, while refusing a formal
exchange, sent richer presents in return, and promised, if the prisoners
· See supra, p. 125, n. 2.


## p. 131 (#173) ############################################

Disintegration of the Caliphate
131
were released, to release double the number. On these terms a truce was
made.
In January 842 both sovereigns died; the Empire passed to a woman
and a child, and the Caliphate to a man of pleasure; and for some
time few serious operations were undertaken, though in 842 a fleet under
Abū-Dīnār sailed for the Aegean, but it was shattered by a storm off
Chelidonia in Lycia, and few ships returned. The Cretan pirates were,
however, a constant menace; in 841 they were ravaging the Asiatic coast
when a party which had landed near Ephesus was annihilated by the
Thracesian strategus Constantine Contomytes. In 843 Theodora's chief
minister Theoctistus, who knew nothing of war, sailed with a large fleet
to expel them from Crete (March), and by force of numbers was on
the point of succeeding, when on a report that Theodora had proclaimed
a new Emperor he returned, and his men, left without a leader, were cut
to pieces. In 844 Omar of Melitene made an inroad as far as Malagina;
Theoctistus, who again took command, was defeated on the Mauropota-
mus', and many of his men deserted to the enemy. An exchange of prison-
ers was then effected on the river Lamus (16 September 845). After the
truce had expired (26 October) Aḥmad, Emir of Tarsus, made an invasion
by the Cilician Gates; but heavy snow and rain came on; many men died
from exposure, some were drowned in the Podandus, others captured, and
Aḥmad retreated before the enemy; whereupon his officers forced him
to leave the province, and the Caliph Wathiq appointed Nașr to succeed
him (17 January 846). After this we hear of no invasions till 851; and
the raids on the Cilician frontier were henceforth of small account. The
disuse of the suburban fire-signals (ascribed to Michael III's fear of
their spoiling the circus-games) was therefore of little importance. In
851 an Armenian revolt enabled the Romans to recover Camacha.
Theodosiopolis and Arsamosata they failed to take, but with Armenian
help defeated and killed Yusuf, Emir of Armenia, in Taron (March
852), retreating, however, on the arrival of reinforcements sent by the
Caliph Mutawakkil.
After Mu'taşim's death the disintegration of the Caliphate, which had
already begun, rapidly advanced. Owing to the hatred in Baghdad for
the large Turkish guard instituted by Mu'taşim, that Caliph removed
(836) to the petty town of Sāmarrā, where his Turks were free from all
restraint. He was strong enough to control them; but his feeble suc-
cessors became the puppets of these mercenaries, who cared little for
imperial interests, while the Emirs paid small respect to a government
directed by Turks. Hence the central authority grew continually weaker,
and the local governors became semi-independent rulers, each looking
after the affairs of his own province with little interference from the
central power. Moreover a system had been introduced of breaking up
the great provinces and placing the frontier-districts under separate
1 Probably the Bithynian Melas (Vasil'ev, 1. p. 55, n. 2).
CH. v.
9--2


## p. 132 (#174) ############################################

132
Expeditions to Damietta
governors. Besides that of al-Awāşim, Cilicia, perhaps for a time attached
to it, was, probably in 808, made a province under the name of Thughūr-
ash-Shām (frontiers of Syria) with its capital at Tarsus, and before 820
we find a province of Thughūr al-Jazīra (frontiers of Mesopotamia), ex-
tending from Kaisum and Germanicea to the northern Euphrates, with
its capital at Melitene. These two provinces contained fifteen fortresses
occupied by military colonies, of which that of Tarsus amounted to 5000
men, and those . of Adata and Melitene to 4000 each; and behind these
in case of necessity lay the six fortresses of al-'Awāşim. This system,
probably founded on the Roman themes and clisurae, was intended to
provide a special frontier force under commanders whose sole business
was to carry on the war against the Empire and to defend the frontier;
but in consequence of the weakening of the central power the result was
that they had to do this almost entirely out of their local resources.
Mu'tasim indeed on his return from the campaign of 838 gave the com-
mand to Abū-Saʻīd by special commission; but under his successors the
frontier governors were left to themselves, and enjoyed so much inde-
pendence that Omar of Melitene held office at least twenty-eight years
and 'Ali of Tarsus at least eleven. Moreover, Omar spent much time
and weakened his forces by fighting with a neighbour or rival. Thus
the Romans had only petty disunited chiefs with whom to contend, and
henceforward the war went more and more in their favour.
In 853 they sailed to Danietta, probably in order to prevent the
sending of supplies to Crete, burned the town, killed the men, carried the
women, Muslim and Christian, into captivity, and seized a store of arms
intended for Crete (22 May). Simultaneously two other squadrons attacked
Syrian ports; and it was perhaps in connexion with these operations that
the Anatolic strategus Photinus was transferred to Crete, where he effected
a landing, but, though reinforced from Constantinople, was finally defeated
and with difficulty escaped. This event caused Mutawakkil to re-create an
Egyptian fleet and fortify Damietta; it was probably in order to hinder
these operations that in 854 the Romans came again to Damietta, where
they remained plundering for a month. The new fleet was, however, of
small account, and Egyptian warships really play little part in history till
the Fāțimite period. In 855 a Roman army destroyed Anazarbus, which
had been lately re-fortified, and carried off the gipsies who had been settled
there in 835. Theodora then asked for an exchange of prisoners, and
the Caliph, after sending (December) Nașr the Shi'ite to discover how
many Muslim prisoners there were, agreed, and the exchange took place
on the Lamus (21 February 856).
In the summer of 856 the Romans marched from Camacha by
Arsamosata to the neighbourhood of Amida and returned by way of
Tephrice, the new stronghold of the Paulicians, who, when persecuted by
Leo V, had sought the protection of the Emir of Melitene and had been
settled in Argaus. They had increased in numbers during the persecu-


## p. 133 (#175) ############################################

Battle of Chonarium
133
tion of Theodora, and were now useful auxiliaries to the Arabs. Omar of
Melitene and the Paulician Carbeas pursued the invaders on their retreat,
but without success. After this Omar was for some years detained by
dissensions at home; but in 858 Bugha marched from Damascus in July
and took Semaluos.
The Empire was now under the rule of the capable and energetic
Bardas, who had ousted Theodora from power in 856. He realised that
under the new conditions a vigorous effort might rid Asia Minor of the
standing scourge of the raids. In 859 therefore, while a fleet attacked
Pelusium (June), a large army under Michael in person, accompanied by
Bardas, besieged Arsamosata? ; but on the third day, a Sunday, when the
Emperor was at the Eucharist, a sortie was made by the garrison, and the
besiegers retreated in confusion; they abandoned the imperial tents, but
were able to return with captives from the country-side.
On 31 May Constantine Triphyllius had reached Sāmarrā with 77
prisoners and a request for a general exchange, and after the retreat Nașr
was sent to Constantinople to discuss the matter ; but the negotiations
were delayed by an event at Lulum, where the garrison, not having re-
ceived their pay, excluded their commandant from the town and, when
Michael sent to offer them 1000 denarii apiece to surrender the fortress,
sent two hostages to Constantinople with an expression of willingness to
accept Christianity (November). On receiving the arrears, however, they
handed over the envoy to 'Ali's lieutenant, who sent him to the Caliph
(March 860). He was ordered to accept Islām on pain of death, and the
result of Michael's offer of 1000 Muslims for him is unknown. On the
news reaching Constantinople negotiations were resumed, and the general
exchange took place at the end of April.
In 860 a still more formidable force, which included the Thracian
and Macedonian as well as the Asiatic themes, set out under the Emperor
himself to meet Omar and Carbeas, who had reached Sinope; but Michael
was recalled by the news that a Russian fleet had come to the mouth of
the Mauropotamus on its way to Constantinople. After the retreat of
the Russians (June) he rejoined the army and overtook the enemy at
Chonarium near Dazimon, but was defeated and was glad even to secure
a safe retreat. The same year a fleet under Faďl took Attalia. In 863
Omar with a large force sacked the flourishing city of Amisus, and Bardas,
who was himself no general, placed his brother Petronas at the head of
a vast army which comprised the Asiatic and European themes and the
household troops. Omar marched south, intending to return by way of
i Genesius says 'Samosata’; but he states that the invasion was made to stop
Omar's raids, and Omar had nothing to do with Samosata, which was in neither of
the frontier provinces. Also to reach it they would have had to pass many strong
places. The MSS. of Țabari have 'Arsamosata,''Samosata' being an emendation
from Ibn al-Athir and Abū’l Maḥāsin.
2 This must be the meaning of the Greek (Th. Mel. , p. 158). The name Mauro-
potamus (supra, p. 131, n. 1) perhaps covers the lower course of the Sangarius.
CH, V.


## p. 134 (#176) ############################################

134"
Battle of Poson
Arabissus; but at Poson near the right bank of the Halys, probably not
far from Nyssa, the Arabs found the surrounding hills occupied and were
almost annihilated (3 September). Here the old Emir fell fighting,
while his son with 100 men escaped over the Halys, but was captured
by the clisurarch of Charsianum. The Romans then advanced into
Mesopotamia, where 'Ali, who had been transferred to Armenia in 862,
came from Martyropolis (Mayyāfarīqīn) to meet them, but he also was
defeated and killed. After this, insignificant raids continued to be
made from Tarsus, and some more serious inroads by the Paulicians;
but the Emir of Melitene could only defend the frontier, and in the
next reign the Roman boundary began to advance, and with the ex-
ception of a short interval under the weak rule of Leo VI the process
continued without serious check till under Nicephorus II North Syria
and West Mesopotamia were restored to the obedience of the Emperor.
Having thus crushed the raiders from Melitene, Bardas set himself to crush
those from Crete, who had extended their ravages to Proconnesus, and in
866 he and Michael marched to the mouth of the Maeander to cross to
the island; but he was foully assassinated (21 April) and the expedition
abandoned. Crete therefore remained a pirates' nest fòr nearly 100 years
longer.
Meanwhile another struggle had been for many years going on in
Sicily. Since an attack upon Sicily did not involve immediate danger to
the heart of the Empire, its affairs were treated as of secondary importance;
and, as no fleet was stationed there, it was always open to attack from
the African Arabs, and in such cases the Emperor could only either send
a special force, if eastern affairs allowed him to do so, or beg the help of
the Italian republics which still retained a nominal allegiance to the
Empire. In 752 the Arabs had raided Sicily and forced Sardinia to pay
tribute, and the attack was repeated in 763. In 805 Ibrāhīm ibn al-
Aghlab (since 800 practically independent Emir of Africa) made a ten
years' truce with the patrician Constantine ; but nevertheless in 812 the
Arabs attacked some islands off Sicily. To meet these enemies, Gregory was
sent with a fleet by Michael I and obtained help from Gaeta and Amalfi.
Seven of his ships were captured off Lampedusa and the crews massacred,
but with the rest he lay in wait for the enemy and destroyed their whole
fleet. The Arabs then apologised for the breach of peace, and another
ten years' truce was made (813); but this was as little regarded as the
previous one, for in 819 the Emir Ziyādatallāh sent his cousin Mahomet
to raid Sicily; after which the peace was again renewed.
In consequence of the distance of Sicily from the seat of government,
and the little attention paid to its affairs by the Emperors, it was easy
for a usurper to start up there; and such a usurper could always, like
Elpidius, in case of necessity find a refuge with the Arabs. About 825
the turmarch Euphemius rose against the patrician Gregoras, defeated
and killed him, and made himself master of Sicily; and in 826 Constantine


## p. 135 (#177) ############################################

Invasion of Sicily
135
was sent as patrician with fresh forces, but he too after a defeat at Catania
was taken and put to death. A successful resistance was however offered by
an Armenian whom the Arabs call Balāta', and Euphemius fled to Africa
to ask not merely a refuge but the help of the Emir. Then, charges having
been made against the Romans of detaining Muslim prisoners, the treaty
was declared to have been broken and an expedition resolved upon, at
the head of which was placed the judge Asad, the chief advocate of war.
On 15 June 827 the Arabs landed at Mazzara and defeated Balāta, who
fled to Enna (Castrogiovanni) and thence to Calabria, where he soon
afterwards died. After the invaders had seized some forts, the Sicilians sent
envoys and paid tribute; but, hearing that they were preparing for an at-
tack, Asad continued his march, and, when reinforced by ships from Africa
and Spain, besieged Syracuse. A relieving force from Palermo was defeated
(828); but the Arabs suffered severely both from famine, which caused
discontent in the army, and from plague, which carried off Asad himself
(July), to succeed whom they chose Mahomet ibn Abi' l-Jawārī. Theo-
dotus now came with a fleet as patrician, and the Venetians, at the Emperor's
request, sent ships. The Emir being occupied with a Frankish invasion,
the Arabs were forced to raise the siege, and, unable in face of the hostile
fleet to return to Africa, burned their ships and retreated.
Marching north-west, they forced Mineo to surrender after three
days; and then the army divided, one detachment occupying Girgenti
while the other besieged the strong fortress of Enna. During this siege
Euphemius, who had accompanied the invaders, was assassinated by some
citizens who obtained access to him on pretence of saluting him as
emperor. Theodotus came from Syracuse to relieve Enna and entered
the town, but he was defeated in a sortie, while a Venetian fleet sent to
attack Mazzara returned unsuccessful. Soon afterwards Mahomet died,
and under his successor Zuhair fortune turned against the Arabs. After
a foraging party had been defeated, Zuhair next day attacked in force,
but was routed and besieged in his camp, and soon afterwards, while
trying a night surprise, was caught in an ambush and again routed. He
then retired to Mineo, where the Arabs were besieged, and, being reduced
to great straits by hunger, at last surrendered? The garrison of Girgenti
on hearing the news destroyed the town and retired to Mazzara.
The invaders were, however, relieved by the arrival of some adventurers
from Spain, who in 830 began to ravage Sicily, but agreed to work with
the Africans on condition that their leader Asbagh had the command.
The combined force marched into the interior. Mineo was taken and
destroyed (August), and Theodotus soon afterwards defeated and killed;
but the plague again broke out and caused the death of Aşbagh, after
which the Arabs retreated, suffering much from the attacks of the Romans
i Perhaps kovpor alárns.
? This I infer from the facts that the Cambridge Chronicle places the Arab cap-
ture of Mineo in 830/1, and that we hear no more of Zuhair.
CH. V.


## p. 136 (#178) ############################################

136
Fall of Palermo
on the way. Most of the Spanish Arabs then returned; but on account
of the eastern war Theophilus could not send reinforcements, and, when
early in 831 the Emir's cousin Mahomet arrived with new forces to take
command, the Arabs were able to besiege Palermo, which, reduced to ex-
tremities, surrendered on condition that the commandant with his family
and property, the bishop-elect, and a few others were allowed to retire by
sea (September). Palermo was henceforth the Arab capital.
Dissensions between African and Spanish Arabs for a time prevented
an advance; but early in 834 the Arabs attacked Enna, and in 835
Mahomet himself assaulted the town and captured the commandant's
wife and son; but on his return to Palermo he was murdered by some
conspirators, who fled to the Romans. His successor, Fadl ibn Ya'qub,
raided the district of Syracuse, and another force, finding its road blocked
by the patrician, won a victory, in which the Roman commander was
wounded and with difficulty rescued. On 12 September, however, Mahomet's
brother Abū’l-Aghlab arrived with a fleet as governor, after some of his
ships had been wrecked and others captured; he immediately sent out a
squadron which took some Roman vessels and another which captured a
fire-ship at Pantellaria. The crews of these were all beheaded. In 836
Faņl raided the Aeolian islands, took some forts on the north coast, and
captured eleven ships. On the other hand, an Arab land-force was defeated
and its commander made prisoner, but afterwards ransomed, and another
suffered a reverse before Enna. Early in 837, however, on a winter night
the Arabs entered Enna, but, unable to take the citadel, accepted a
ransom and returned with spoil. The same year they besieged Cefalù ;
but a stubborn resistance was made, and in 838 reinforcements from the
East under the Caesar Alexius, whom Theophilus had sent with a fleet to
command in Sicily, forced them to retreat, pursued by the Romans, who
inflicted several defeats on them. In 839, however, the birth of an heir
caused the Emperor to recall and degrade his son-in-law.
The death of the Emir Ziyādatallāh (10 June 838) and consequent un-
certainty as to affairs in Sicily caused operations to be suspended for some
months; but in 839 his successor Aghlab sent ships which raided the
Roman districts, and in 840 Caltabellotta, Platani, Corleone, and Sutera
were forced to pay tribute. Theophilus, unable to withdraw forces from the
East, had in 839 asked help of the Venetians and even of the Franks
and of the Emir of Spain; and in 840 sixty Venetian ships attacked the
Arab fleet, then at Taranto, but these were nearly all taken and the crews
massacred. In 841 the Arabs sacked Caltagirone; in 843 a fleet under
Fadl ibn Jaʼfar, assisted by the Neapolitans, who for protection against
the Duke of Benevento had allied themselves with the Arabs, attacked
Messina, and after a long resistance took it by an unexpected attack
from the land side; and in 845 Modica and other fortresses in the south-
east were taken.
During the armistice in the East the troops of the Charsianite


## p. 137 (#179) ############################################

Fall of Enna
137
of
clisura were sent to Sicily; but towards the end of 845 ‘Abbās ibn al-
Faờl ibn Ya'qub defeated them with heavy loss, and in 847 Faļl ibn
Ja'far besieged Leontini, and after inducing the garrison by a trick to
make a sortie caught them in an ambush, whereupon the citizens sur-
rendered on condition that their lives and property were spared. In 848
the Roman ships landed a force eight miles from Palermo ; but the men
missed their way and returned, and seven of the ships were lost in a
storm. The same year Ragusa near Modica surrendered and was destroyed
(August).
On 17 January 851 Abū’l-Aghlab died after a government of fifteen
years, during which (probably on account of dissensions such as those
which had caused his predecessor's death) he had never left Palermo. His
successor, ‘Abbās ibn al-Fadl, was a man very
different character. As
soon as his appointment was confirmed by the Emir Mahomet, he himself
took the field, sending his uncle Rabbāh in advance to Caltavuturo,
which submitted to pay tribute', while the prisoners were put to death
by ‘Abbās, who himself ravaged the territory of Enna but failed to draw
the garrison out to battle. He repeated the raid in 852 and defeated a
hostile force, sending the heads of the slain to Palermo. Then in 853 he
made a great expedition by way of Enna to the east coast, where he raided
Catania, Syracuse, Noto, and Ragusa (this had been re-occupied by the
Romans), and after a siege of five months forced Butera to capitulate on
condition that 5000 persons were handed over as slaves. In 856 he took
five fortresses, and in 857 harried Taormina and Syracuse and compelled
another place to surrender after two months' siege on the terms that
200 of the chief men were allowed to go free; the rest he sold as slaves,
and he destroyed the fort. The same year Cefalù capitulated and was
destroyed; but, as being on the coast it was more easily defended, he
was obliged to allow all the inhabitants their freedom. In 858 he again
raided Enna and Syracuse and took Gagliano, returning in the winter to
Enna; here he took a prisoner of note, who to save his life showed him
a way into the fortress, which after a resistance of 30 years fell (26 Jan-
uary 859). All fighting men were put to death and a mosque built.
.
This event led Bardas to take vigorous measures; and in the autumn,
while negotiations were proceeding with the Caliph, he sent his connexion
by marriage, Constantine Contomytes, to Sicily with large reinforcements.
'Abbās met them with an army and fleet, defeated them near Syracuse,
drove them back to their ships, some of which were taken, and returned
to Palermo for the winter. They had, however, suffered little; and,
when in 860 Platani, Sutera, Caltabellotta, Caltavuturo, and other towns
revolted, an army came to support them. 'Abbās defeated the Romans
and besieged Platani and another fort, but was compelled to return
northward by the news that another army was marching towards Palermo.
1 This seems to follow from its revolt in 860.
CH. V.


## p. 138 (#180) ############################################

138
Expeditions of Khafāja
Having met these new enemies near Cefalù, he forced them to retreat in
disorder to Syracuse; the revolted towns, without hope of succour, sub-
mitted; and the governor gave orders to re-fortify and garrison Enna, so
that the road to the west might no longer be open to the enemy. In 861
he raided Syracuse, but on his return fell ill and died (15 August). The
Romans with mean revenge afterwards dug up and burned his body. He
was the real conqueror of Sicily.
The Aghlabid Emirs, probably from fear of an independent power
arising in Sicily, had been in the habit of appointing princes of their house
to the governorship. To this ‘Abbās had been a notable exception, having
been chosen by the officers in Sicily; and, if a similar appointment had
been made after his death, the conquest would have been soon completed.
But the Emir Aḥmad reverted to the earlier practice; instead of confirming
two temporary governors who had been appointed locally, he sent his
kinsman Khafāja (July 862). The new governor was for a time detained
by troubles among the Saracens; but in February 864 Noto was betrayed
to him, and soon afterwards he took Scicli. In 865 he marched by Enna,
ravaging the country, to Syracuse, where a fleet joined him, but on four
ships being captured he despaired of taking the city and returned; and his
son, whom he sent with a small force to harass the enemy, lost 1000 men in
an ambush and retreated. In 866 he again came to Syracuse, and thence
to the district of Mt Etna, where he accepted an offer of tribute from
Taormina. He then marched against Ragusa, which submitted on con-
dition that the inhabitants were allowed to go free with their goods and
animals; but these he nevertheless seized. After more successes he fell ill
and returned. Meanwhile Taormina revolted.
Thus the Muslim conquest was complete but for Taormina and Syra-
cuse and a few other places on the east coast, which still owned allegiance
to the Byzantine Empire. Syracuse only fell in 878, Taormina not till
902 ; nevertheless Sicily may now already be called a Muslim outpost.
(B)
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE SARACENS (867–1057).
The struggle with the Saracens constituted the chief problem with
which the foreign policy of Basil I had to deal. The circumstances were
as favourable as they could possibly be, because during his reign the Empire
lived in peaceful relations with its other neighbours: in the east with
Armenia, in the north with young Russia and Bulgaria, and in the west
with Venice and Germany.


## p. 139 (#181) ############################################

Basil I
139
The favourable conditions in which Basil I was placed in his relation
with the Eastern and Western Saracens become clearer when we bear in
mind the following considerations.
1. Owing to the rapidly increasing influence of the Turks at the
Caliph's court, internal dissensions were continually breaking out in the
Eastern Caliphate.
2. Egypt became independent in 868, owing to the fact that a new
dynasty, that of the Tūlūnids, had been founded there.
3. Civil war had broken out among the North African Saracens.
4. The relations of the Spanish Umayyads with the local Christian
population were beset with difficulties.
Basil I was occupied during the first four years of his reign with
military operations against the Western Saracens, for during this time
peace was not violated on the eastern frontier. The help which the
Byzantine fleet in 868 gave to Ragusa, which at that time was being
besieged by the Saracens, forced the latter to withdraw and was thus the
means of strengthening the Byzantine influences on the shores of the
Adriatic.
The troubles in South Italy compelled the intervention of the Western
Emperor Louis II, who, having concluded an alliance with Basil I and
with the Pope, took Bari on 2 February 871. Of the important places in
South Italy only Taranto now remained in the hands of the Saracens.
The position of Byzantium was not improved during these four years in
Sicily, where only Taormina and Syracuse remained in her power; the
occupation of the island of Malta by the Saracens in August 870 com-
pletely surrounded Sicily with Saracen possessions, for all the other islands
in that region already belonged to them.
In the east Basil I, wishing to re-establish peace and union with the
Paulicians, who had been severely persecuted by the Empress Theodora,
sent to them in 869-870 Peter the Sicilian as his ambassador, but his
mission was not successful, and the extravagant demands of Chrysochir,
the leader of the Paulicians, led to war.
The campaigns of 871 and 872 gave Tephrice, the chief town of the
Paulicians, into the power of Basil, and also a whole chain of other
fortified places. In one of the battles Chrysochir himself was slain. The
fugitive Paulicians found a ready welcome from the Saracens.
This war with the Paulicians extended the Byzantine frontier as far
as the Saracen Melitene (Malațīyah), and set Basil free to advance against
the Eastern Saracens. In 873 war was declared, and Basil captured Zapetra
(Sozopetra) and Samosata, but in the end he was totally defeated near
Malațīyah.
From 874 to 877 was a period of calm. In the east and in Sicily, we
do not hear of any military operations. In Italy, after the death of the
Emperor Louis II, the Byzantine troops occupied the town of Bari at
the request of the inhabitants, and apparently at this time, in the years
сн. у.


## p. 140 (#182) ############################################

140
Loss of Syracuse
874-877, the Byzantine fleet captured Cyprus; but it remained in the
possession of the Greeks only for seven years.
The year 878 was disastrous to the military policy of Byzantium :
on 21 May the Saracens took Syracuse by assault after a siege of nine
months. Thus the only town in Sicily remaining in the hands of the
Greeks was Taormina. The loss of Syracuse was the turning-point in the
history of Basil's foreign relations. His foreign policy proved a complete
failure, and the last eight years of his reign were occupied in casual and
comparatively small encounters. In the east there were frequent conflicts,
but of an undecided character; success alternated sometimes in favour
of one side and sometimes of the other, but in no case to the glory of the
Byzantine arms.
From 886 Basil was in friendly relations with the Armenian King,
Ashot I, the Bagratid, whose State formed a useful buffer against the
Eastern Saracens. In Sicily the usual skirmishes went on, and it was only
in South Italy that the Byzantine troops began to gain victories, more
especially after the arrival of Nicephorus Phocas? in command. But in this
year Basil died (29 August 886).
During his reign the Empire had lost much in the west, but in Asia
Minor, notwithstanding some failures, the frontier was considerably ad-
vanced eastwards, and thus the Byzantine influence, which had been some-
what weakened, was to a great extent restored.
If Basil I lived in peace with his neighbours, with the exception of the
Saracens, it was very different with his successor Leo VI the Wise (886–
912). Immediately after his accession to the throne, military operations
began in Bulgaria, and this war, which terminated with the peace of 893,
brought much humiliation upon the Empire. The peace lasted about
twenty years. In connexion with the Bulgarian war, for the first time the
Hungarians enter into the history of Byzantium, and towards the end of
the reign of Leo the Russians appeared before Constantinople. Armenia,
which was in alliance with Byzantium, during the whole of Leo's reign was
subjected to Arabian invasions, and the Emperor of Byzantium had not
the strength to help the Armenian King Sempad (Smbat); it was only at
the end of his reign that Leo went to the aid of Armenia, but he died
during the campaign. The question about the fourth marriage of the
Emperor caused great division in the Empire. It was thus evident that
the conditions of the struggle between the Byzantine Empire and the
Saracens were becoming more difficult.
During the first fourteen years of the reign of Leo VI, from 886
to 900, the Greeks suffered frequent defeats in the east, at the Cilician
Gates and in the west of Cilicia, where the Saracens successfully advanced
along the coast as well as into the interior of the country. The failures
1 The grandfather of the future Emperor of the same name. See supra, Chapter
III, p. 69.


## p. 141 (#183) ############################################

Disasters under Leo VI
141
on land and the naval defeat of Rāghib in 898 off the coast of Asia Minor
compelled the Byzantine government to recall the energetic Nicephorus
Phocas from Italy, and about 900 he arrived in Asia Minor. Affairs in
Sicily grew worse and worse with every year. In 888 the imperial fleet
suffered a severe defeat at Mylae (now Milazzo); but the Byzantines were
somewhat helped by the fact that the Saracens were at that time occupied
with their own internal dissensions and in conflicts with the African
Aghlabids. Some successes gained by the Byzantine arms in Italy had no
influence on the general conditions of the struggle between Leo VI and
the Saracens. In the east, Nicephorus Phocas by his victory at Adana in
900 justified the hopes that had been placed in him; but the success of
the Byzantines came with this nearly to a standstill.
The first years of the tenth century were signalised by a whole series
of misfortunes for the Byzantine Empire, in the west as well as in the east.
In the west, the Saracen chief Abū’l-'Abbās took possession of Reggio in
Calabria on 10 June 901, and the Aghlabid Emir Ibrāhīm captured
on 1 August 902 Taormina, the last fortified place of the Greeks in
Sicily.
With the fall of Taormina, Sicily was entirely in the power of the
Saracens. It is true that several unimportant points, as for instance
Demona, still remained in the hands of the Greeks, but this had no im-
portance whatever for the future history of Byzantium. From 902 onwards
Sicilian events do not exercise any influence on the course of Byzantine
political affairs. In the second half of Leo's reign, the eastern policy of the
Empire is quite independent of his relations with the Sicilian Saracens.
The first years of the tenth century were also signalised by important
events on sea. At the end of the ninth century the Saracens of Crete
had already begun their devastating attacks on the coast of the Pelopon-
nesus ; indeed, they held in their power the whole of the Aegean Sea.
We
possess information about their attacks on the islands of Naxos,
Patmos, Paros, Aegina, and Samos. But it was during the first years
of the tenth century that these maritime invasions of the Saracens became
especially threatening. Their two strong fleets—the Syrian and the Cretan
–frequently acted together. In 902 the Saracen fleet laid waste the islands
of the Aegean Sea, and destroyed the rich and populous town of Deme-
trias on the coast of Thessaly. In the summer of 904, another Saracen
fleet, under the command of the Greek renegade, Leo of Tripolis, made
an attack on the south coast of Asia Minor, and, in the month of July
of the same year, took possession of the important town of Attalia.
Leo then had the intention of going towards Constantinople, the town
“preserved by God. ” But having entered the Hellespont and captured
Abydos, the chief custom-house port for ships going to Byzantium, he
suddenly departed, and then, coasting round the peninsula of Chalcidice,
approached Thessalonica. Himerius, who was sent against him, did not
dare to engage the Saracen fleet in battle.
CH. V.


## p. 142 (#184) ############################################

142
Naval disasters
The Saracen ships approached Thessalonica on 29 July 904, and made
an unexpected assault upon it. The story of the siege, which lasted from
29 to 31 July, is well known to us from a work of John Cameniates.
Thessalonica passed into the power of the Saracens on 31 July 904, but
they shortly afterwards departed for Syria with many prisoners and rich
booty. It was only after this misfortune that the Byzantine government
began to fortify Attalia and Thessalonica.
The naval failures of 902–904 induced the Emperor Leo to give
greater attention to the fleet, which was so quickly and greatly im-
proved that in 906 Himerius was enabled to gain a brilliant victory over
the Saracens, and in the summer of 910 he was therefore placed at the
head of a large naval expedition, directed against the allied Eastern and
Cretan Arabs. Detailed accounts of the composition of this expedition
are preserved in the Ceremonies of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
However, the result of the expedition did not correspond to all
these great preparations, for after some success at Cyprus Himerius
suffered a severe defeat near the isle of Samos in October 911 and lost
the greater part of his fleet. On the death of Leo VI, Himerius returned
to Constantinople, and was shut up in a monastery by the Emperor
Alexander.
In the east, on land, from 900, the usual military operations were
carried on with varying success.
Byzantine policy, in its relation to the Saracens, proved a complete
failure under Leo VI: in the west, Sicily was definitely lost; in the south
of Italy, after Nicephorus Phocas had been recalled, the success of the
Byzantine arms was brought to a close; on the eastern frontier, the
Saracens were still steadily, if slowly, advancing, especially in Cilicia ; on
sea, Byzantium met with a whole series of most ruinous disasters.
The reign of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus is divided into three
periods: 1. From 913 to 919—the government of his mother Zoë, who
acted as regent during his minority. 2. From 919 to 944—the government
of Romanus Lecapenus. 3. From 945 to 959—the absolute government
of Constantine himself.
The period down to 927 was occupied with the obstinate and unhappy
war with the Bulgarian King Simeon, during which Byzantium was obliged
to concentrate all its efforts against this terrible enemy. At this time
it was impossible even to think of any regular organised action against the
Saracens. It was a happy circumstance for Byzantium that the Caliphate
itself was passing at the same time through the epoch of its dissolution,
which was caused by internal dissensions and the rise of separate inde-
pendent dynasties. Consequently, down to 927 the encounters with the
Saracens were of the usual harassing and monotonous character, and
generally resulted to the advantage of the Saracen arms. It was only in
921 or 922 that the Byzantine fleet gained a great naval victory near


## p. 143 (#185) ############################################

Constantine VII: the decline of the Caliphate
143
the island of Lemnos over the renowned hero of 904, Leo of Tripolis. In
927 Byzantium concluded peace with the Bulgarian King Peter, who had
succeeded Simeon, and was thus free to turn her attention towards the
Saracens.
In the time of Romanus Lecapenus, eminent leaders arose in the armies
of both adversaries; in that of the Greeks, the Domestic John Curcuas,
who, after some defeats in Saracen Armenia, fought with success in the
frontier province of Mesopotamia, and in 934 captured Melitene (Mala-
tīyah). The new Saracen leader was Saif-ad-Daulah, sovereign of Aleppo
and chief of the independent dynasty of the Hamdānids. He strengthened
himself at the expense of the Caliph of Baghdad, and began successful mili-
tary operations in the regions of the Upper Euphrates. This induced the
Emperor to enter into friendly negotiations with the Caliph of Baghdad
and with the Egyptian sovereigns, the Ikhshīdids. But disturbances in
the Eastern Caliphate and other difficulties drew the attention of Saif-
ad-Daulah away from the Byzantine frontier, and this explains why John
Curcuas, in the fourth decade, gained a series of easy victories in Armenia
and Upper Mesopotamia, and in 942–3 captured the towns of Mayyā-
farīqīn (Martyropolis), Dara, and Nisibis. In 944 Edessa, after a severe
siege, succumbed to the Greeks, and was obliged to deliver up her
precious relic, the miraculous image of the Saviour (T) uavdíniov, or
pavonacov), which was with great solemnity transferred to Constantinople.
In 945 Constantine Porphyrogenitus became absolute ruler of the
Byzantine Empire. Down to the very year of his death (959) military
operations did not cease in the east, where hischief adversary was the already
famous Saif-ad-Daulah, who, having settled in 947 his difficulties with
the Egyptian Ikhshīdids, turned against Byzantium. In the beginning the
advantage was with the Greeks. In 949 they seized Marʻash (Germanicea);
in 950 they totally defeated Saif-ad-Daulah in the narrow passage near the
town of Hadath; and in 952 they crossed the Euphrates and took the
Mesopotamian town of Sarūj. But in 952 and 953 Saif-ad-Daulah defeated
the Greeks not far from Marash and took the son of the Domestic prisoner.
In 954 Saif-ad-Daulah gained a fresh victory over the Domestic Bardas
Phocas near Hadath, and in 956 the future Emperor John Tzimisces was
defeated by him in the province of the Upper Euphrates near the fortress
of Tall-Baţrīq. Only in 957 did success turn to the side of the Greeks.
In this year Hadath surrendered to them. In 958 John Tzimisces defeated
the Arabs in Northern Mesopotamia and took Samosata. During the life
of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Saif-ad-Daulah was unable to avenge
himself upon the Greeks for these last failures.