No More Learning

His first care was to send a number of bishops to the palace with
instructions to tonsure the Emperor at once, to clothe him with the
monastic habit, and to send him to a convent in Constantinople, where
soon afterwards he died. On 31 August 1057 amid indescribable en-
thusiasm Comnenus made his triumphal entry into the Sacred Palace.
The next day, or the day after, he was crowned by the Patriarch. Thus
was the dynasty of the Comneni solemnly inaugurated. That of the
Macedonians had become extinct.


## p. 119 (#161) ############################################

119
CHAPTER V.
(A)
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE SARACENS (717-867).
At the accession of Leo III (25 March 717), when the great Arab
army was encamped in western Asia Minor and the Anatolic troops had
gone to Constantinople to place their strategus on the throne, the posi-
tion of the Empire seemed almost desperate; and the Arab commander,
Maslamah, having some understanding with Leo, was confident of reducing
it to subjection. During the spring he took Sardis and Pergamus; and,
when it became clear that no assistance was to be expected from Leo, he
advanced to Abydos, crossed to Thrace, destroyed the forts on the road,
and encamped before Constantinople (July). On 1 September a fleet under
a certain Sulaimān joined him, and was followed by another under Omar
ibn Hubaira ; but, while the ships were sailing round the city, twenty
of them became separated from the rest and were destroyed by fire-ships
(3 September). After this the fleet was content with inactivity and
safety; but an offer of ransom was refused, and in the severe winter the
army lost heavily in horses and camels. In the spring fresh ships came
from Egypt and Africa besides military reinforcements, and an attack by
Slavs was repulsed; but Omar was defeated by the Bulgarians whom Leo
had called to his assistance, and in Bithynia a foraging party was routed.
Moreover, the Egyptian sailors deserted, and through information obtained
from them Leo destroyed with Greek fire many newly-arrived ships.
After this the blockade on the sea side was practically raised, while the
besiegers were starving. Accordingly Omar II, who succeeded the Caliph
Sulaimān in September 717, recalled the Muslim armament (15 August
718); but many ships were destroyed by a storm or captured on the
retreat, and only a few reached Syria. The garrison of Taranta, which
was thought to be too much exposed, was then withdrawn, and no more ex-
peditions were made while Omar lived. To prevent a recrudescence of the
Arab sea-power, after the accession of the Caliph Yazid II (February 720)
a Roman fleet sailed to Egypt and attacked Tinnis. The expedition of
716-718 was in fact the last attempt upon Constantinople, and the
neglect of the fleet which followed the removal of the capital from
Damascus to Babylonia in 750 made a repetition impossible; hence the
war was reduced to a series of plundering raids, until the occupation of
Crete and Sicily by western Arabs caused the naval warfare to revive
under new conditions. The character of these incursions was so well
CH. V.


## p. 120 (#162) ############################################

120
Character of the Wars
understood on the Arab side that in the ninth century it was an accepted
rule that two raids were made each year, one from 10 May to 10 June
when grass was abundant, and, after a month's rest for the horses, another
from 10 July to 8 September, with sometimes a third in February and
March ; and the size of the forces may be gauged from the fact that a
commander was once superseded for retreating when he had still 7000
men. Longer expeditions were often made; but even these rarely had any
object but plunder or blackmail. A frontier fortress was indeed occa-
sionally occupied, but it was often recovered after a short interval, and
more frequently forts were taken only that they might be destroyed and the
enemy thereby deprived of a base; and the whole result of 150 years of war
was only the annexation by the Arabs of the district between the Sarus
and the Lamus, which however included the important towns of Tarsus
and Adana and the strong fortress of Lulum. Raids through the Cilician
Gates were signalled to Constantinople by a chain of beacons, and a
cluster of fortresses was erected on the heights of the Taurus range; but the
Romans were generally content to hold the strong places, and, when
opportunity offered, overwhelm parties of marauders. Occasionally they
made counter-raids; but these had even less permanent result than those
of the Arabs, until under the rule of the energetic Caesar Bardas a
blow was dealt after which the decaying Caliphate never recovered its
offensive power, and the way was laid open for a Roman advance.
Under Yazid only sporadic raids were made, with little result. Omar
ibn Hubaira won a victory in Armenia Quarta (721), and a fortress in
Cilicia was taken (723); but ‘Abbās ibn al-Walīd after taking a fort in
Paphlagonia allowed his men to scatter, and most of the parties were anni-
hilated (722). After Caliph Hishām's accession, however, more systematic
plans were adopted. In 724 his son Sa'īd and his cousin Marwān with
the combined forces of Syria and Mesopotamia, coming from Melitene,
stormed a fort and massacred the garrison, though a detachment under
Kathir? was cut to pieces; and this was followed by the capture of the
great fortress of Camacha on the Euphrates (which the Romans must
have recovered since 711); and in 726 Maslamah took Neo-Caesarea. After
this a series of raids was carried out by Hishām's son Mu‘āwiyah, who in
727 took Gangra, which he demolished, and Tataeum', and with naval as-
sistance besieged Nicaea. In 728 he took Semaluos in the Armeniac theme;
in 729 he raided northern Asia Minor, while Sa'id, coming from the south,
reached Caesarea, and an Egyptian fleet harried the coast. In 730 Mu'a-
wiyah took the fortress of Charsianum; in 731 he found the frontier too
well guarded to cross in force, and his lieutenant, Battāl, was routed;
but in 732 he plundered Paphlagonia and penetrated to Acroïnon (Prym-
nessus), though on the retreat his rearguard was annihilated, while his
brother Sulaimān reached Caesarea. In 733 the two brothers joined forces
i Theoph. Xon (corrupt); corr. from Mahbūb Xeonp.
2 Theoph. ’Areoüs, Arab. “Taiba. ' See Ramsay, Hist. Geogr. , pp. 143, 439.


## p. 121 (#163) ############################################

Battle of Acrożnon
121
and their vanguard under Battāl captured a general; in 734 Mu'āwiyah
reached the west coast, plundering proconsular Asia as he went; in 735
he returned by way of the north, while Sulaimān raided Cappadocia. In
736 on another joint expedition Mu'āwiyah was killed by a fall from his
horse, but Sulaimān after wintering in Roman territory invaded Asia
and carried off a Pergamene who claimed to be Justinian's son Tiberius
and was granted imperial honours by Hishām. In 738 he took a fort
in Pontus and captured a patrician's son, who with other prisoners
was put to death in 740 on a report that Leo had killed his Muslim
prisoners; and in 739 his brother Maslamah, coming from Melitene, seized
some of the subterranean granaries that were numerous in Cappadocia.
Assistance by sea was prevented by the activity of the Roman fleet,
which in 736 captured part of a fleet returning from a raid and in 739
attacked Damietta in great force and carried off many captives. .
For 740 a great invasion was planned. Sulaimān crossed the frontier
in May and encamped before Tyana, sending his cousin Ghamr to Asia
and Malik and Battāl to Phrygia, where they took Synada and besieged
Acroïnon; but these last were routed by Leo himself and both killed,
after which the whole army returned to Syria. Not this victory, however,
so much as the internal troubles of the Caliphate caused in the following
years the slackness of the Arab offensive.
In 742 Sulaiman marched into the heart of Asia Minor, and
Constantine V, who had succeeded Leo in June 741, left his capital on
27 June and came to Crasus in Phrygia to meet him; but Artavasdus'
rebellion forced him to fee to the Anatolics at Amorium, leaving the
road open to the enemy. However, Hishām's death (February 743) and
the accession of the incapable Caliph Walīd II prevented the Arabs from
making the most of this opportunity, and in 743 the Romans destroyed the
fortress of Sozopetra south-west of Melitene.
After the murder of Walid (April 744) the Caliphate fell into anarchy;
and, order having been restored in the Empire by Artavasdus' overthrow
(November), the advantage lay with the Romans. Constantine again de-
stroyed Sozopetra, which had been insufficiently restored, and threatened
Perrhe (Hişn Manşūr), where the fortifications had been repaired and a
strong garrison posted. He forced Germanicea (Marʻash) and Doliche
to capitulate; allowing the garrisons to march out, he removed the in-
habitants to Roman territory and demolished the fortifications (746).
After this a great outbreak of plague prevented him from pursuing his
advantage, and in 748 Walīd ibn Hishām restored Germanicea. In
747 however an Egyptian squadron which had come to Cyprus was un-
expectedly attacked in harbour and almost annihilated; and from this
time the Egyptian fleet disappears for 100 years.
In June 751 Constantine set out to recover Camacha, but sent the
Armenian Khushan, who had fled to the Romans in 750, against the fort,
while he himself besieged Melitene. Mesopotamia being in revolt, its
CH. V.


## p. 122 (#164) ############################################

122
Campaigns of Constantine V
By
Emir could not bring help, and the place capitulated; the inhabitants
with their portable property were then escorted to a place of safety, after
which the town was demolished. Thence Constantine went on to Claudias,
which he also took, removing the population of the district to Roman
territory; but at Arsamosata he failed. Meanwhile Khushan, having
taken Camacha and placed a garrison in it, advanced to Theodosiopolis
(Erzerūm), which he took and destroyed, making the garrison prisoners
and deporting the inhabitants. The merciful treatment which Constan-
tine accorded to his enemies and to the civil populations is a bright spot
among
the atrocities of these wars. The Romans were never as cruel as the
Arabs, but this striking leniency may fairly be set against the character
which anti-Iconoclast writers draw of this Emperor.
the Caliph Marwān II's death (July 751) the new Abbasid dynasty
was firmly established, but many revolts followed. When in 754 ‘Abdal-
lāh, Emir of Syria, had started to invade the Empire, he heard of the
death of his nephew, the Caliph Saffäḥ (19 June), and returned to make
an unsuccessful bid for the Caliphate. His successor in Syria, his brother
Salīḥ, in 756 entered Cappadocia through the pass of Adata, but on
hearing that Constantine was about to march against him returned home.
Thereupon followed an exchange of prisoners. In 757 Salīḥ began to
rebuild the walls of Mopsuestia, which had been overthrown by an
earthquake in 756; and “Abd-al-Wahhāb, who had been made Emir of
Mesopotamia by his uncle the Caliph Manşūr, rebuilt Claudias and
began to rebuild Melitene. To prevent this Constantine marched to the
Pyramus (758); but the army at Melitene, reinforced by some Persians,
the best troops of the Caliphate, under Hasan was too strong to attack,
and the rebuilding of Melitene and Mopsuestia was completed. In 759,
while the Emperor was engaged with Slavonic enemies, Adana, abandoned
by the Romans, was occupied by Salīḥ, a garrison, partly of Persians,
being placed there, and a fort erected on the Sarus opposite it. In 760,
while Constantine was fighting the Bulgarians, the Caliph's brother
“Abbās defeated the Armeniac strategus Paul on the Melas between
Melitene and Caesarea with great loss, Paul himself being killed and
42 high officers captured.
For the next five years both sides were occupied, Manşūr with insur-
rections and Chazar invasions, and Constantine with Bulgarian wars, and
in 766 there was an exchange of prisoners. This year a strong force of
Arabs and Persians under ‘Abbās and Hasan besieged Camacha (August);
but, well defended by its commandant, it resisted all their efforts, and on
the approach of winter they retired. Some of the army, however, who had
separated from the rest for a pillaging expedition, penetrated beyond
Caesarea, avoiding roads and towns, but were attacked on their return and
fled in confusion to Melitene and Theodosiopolis. The Arabs then set
themselves to restore the fortifications of Arsamosata ; but in 768 an
army which had been ravaging Armenia Quarta crossed the Arsanias and


## p. 123 (#165) ############################################

Expedition of the Caliph Mahdi
123
destroyed the works, though after their retreat the task was completed.
The citizens were however suspected of collusion with the enemy and re-
moved to Palestine, a fate which also befel the inhabitants of Germanicea
(769), which was re-fortified and garrisoned.
In 770 Laodicea Combusta was taken, and in 771 some of the Arme-
nians who had fled to the Romans with Khushan set out to return to
their old homes, and a force under the commandant of Camacha which
pursued them was surprised and cut to pieces. In 775 Thumāma
marched along the Isaurian coast, supported by a fleet, and besieged
Syce. Constantine thereupon sent the Anatolics, Armeniacs, and Bucell-
arii, who occupied the only pass by which Thumāma could retreat, while
the Cibyrrhaeots anchored in the harbour and cut off his communications
with the ships; but by a desperate attack he cut his way through the
cavalry and returned with many prisoners from the neighbourhood, while
the fleet sailed to Cyprus and captured the governor. Constantine, wish-
ing to be free to deal with the Bulgarians, now made proposals for peace,
but these were rejected.
The deaths of Emperor and Caliph in 775 were followed by greater ac-
tivity on both sides. Constantine had recently given his chief attention to
the Bulgarians and had been content with merely checking Arab inroads;
but in 776 Leo IV, who, though from ill health unable to lead armies, was
an able and vigorous ruler, sent an expedition to Samosata which carried
off many captives. The Muslims were ransomed by the Caliph Mahdi,
who on his side prepared a larger force than had been seen since 740 with
many of the best Persian troops under 'Abbās, which took the underground
granary of Casis with the men in it and reached but did not take Ancyra.
In 777 Thumāma made an expedition by land and Ghamr by sea; but Thu-
māma quarrelled with the Emir ‘Isa, the Caliph's great-uncle, and so in 778
no raid took place. In these circumstances Leo sent the five Asiatic themes
to Cilicia and Syria, and they besieged 'Isa in Germanicea without oppo-
sition from Thumāma, who was at Dābiq. Failing to take Germanicea,
they plundered the country, and the Thracesian strategus, Michael Lacha-
nodraco, was attacked by a force sent by Thumāma, but defeated them
with heavy loss, after which the whole army returned with many captives,
largely Syrian Jacobites, and laden with spoil. In 779 Thumāma again
remained inactive, though ordered to make an invasion, and the Romans
destroyed the fortifications of Adata. The veteran Hasan was then ap-
pointed to command, and with a large force from Syria, Mesopotamia,
and Khurāsān entered the Empire by the pass of Adata. Leo ordered
his generals not to fight, but to bring the inhabitants into the fortresses
and send out parties of picked men, to prevent foraging and to destroy
the fodder and provisions. Hasan therefore occupied Dorylaeum without
opposition, but after fifteen days lack of fodder for the horses forced
him to retreat.
The Caliph now determined to take the field himself, and on 12 March
CH, V.


## p. 124 (#166) ############################################

124
Expedition of Rashid
780 left Baghdad with an even larger army and marched through Aleppo
to Adata; here by Hasan's advice he ordered the fortifications to be re-
stored (they were completed in 785), and advanced to Arabissus, whence
he returned, leaving the command to his son Hārūn, afterwards known
as ar-Rashid, supported by Hasan and other capable advisers. This
expedition was however hardly more successful than the last. Thumāma,
since «Īsa's death no longer disaffected, being sent westwards, reached
Asia, but was there defeated by Lachanodraco, his brother falling in the
battle; afterwards Rashid marched towards the north and besieged
Semaluos for thirty-eight days, during which the Arabs suffered heavy
loss, and the garrison then surrendered on condition that their lives were
spared and that they were not separated from one another. 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.


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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.


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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.