THE STRUGGLE WITH THE SARACENS (717-867)
By
E. W. BROOKS
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 position 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
Sulaiman 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 Sulaiman 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which was thought to be too much exposed, was then withdrawn, and no more expeditions
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 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
occasionally 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.
Battle of Acroinon
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 Abbas ibn al-Walid after taking a
fort in Paphlagonia allowed his men to scatter, and
most of the parties were annihilated (722). After Caliph Hisham's accession, however, more systematic plans were adopted. In 724 his son Sacid and his cousin Marwan with
the combined forces of Syria and Mesopotamia, coming from Melitene,
stormed a fort and massacred the garrison, though a detachment under Kathie 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 Hisham's son Mu'awiyah, who in 727 took Gangra,
which he demolished, and Tataeum, and with naval assistance
besieged Nicaea. In 728 he took Semaluos in the Armeniac theme; in 729 he raided northern Asia Minor, while
Said, coming from the south, reached Caesarea, and an Egyptian fleet harried
the coast. In 730 Muawiyah took the fortress of Charsianum; in 731 he found the frontier too well guarded
to cross in force, and his lieutenant, Battal, was
routed; but in 732 he plundered Paphlagonia and
penetrated to Acroinon (Prymnessus),
though on the retreat his rearguard was annihilated, while his brother Sulaiman
reached Caesarea. In 733 the two brothers joined forces and their vanguard under Battal captured a general; in 734 Muawiyah reached the west coast, plundering proconsular Asia
as he went; in 735 he returned by way of the north, while Sulaiman raided
Cappadocia. In 736 on another joint expedition Muawiyah was killed by a fall from his horse, but Sulaiman 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 Hisham. 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. Sulaiman crossed the frontier in May and encamped before Tyana, sending his cousin Ghamr to Asia and Malik and Battal to Phrygia, where they took Synada and besieged Acroinon; 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
flee to the Anatolics at Amorium, leaving the road
open to the enemy. However, Hisham's death (February
743) and the accession of the incapable Caliph Walid 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 destroyed Sozopetra, which had been insufficiently restored,
and threatened Perrhe (Hip Mansur), where the
fortifications had been repaired and a strong garrison posted. He forced Germanicea (Marash) and Doliche to capitulate; allowing the garrisons to march out,
he removed the inhabitants to Roman territory and demolished the fortifications
(746). After this a great outbreak of plague prevented him from pursuing his
advantage, and in 748 Walid ibn Hisham restored Germanicea.
In 747 however an Egyptian squadron which had come to Cyprus was unexpectedly
attacked in harbour and almost annihilated; and from
this time the Egyptian fleet disappears for 100 years.
Campaigns of Constantine V
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 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 (Erzeram), which
he took and destroyed, making the garrison prisoners and deporting the inhabitants.
The merciful treatment which Constantine 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.
By the Caliph Marwan II's death (July 751) the new Abbasid dynasty was firmly established, but many
revolts followed. When in 754 Abdallah, Emir of
Syria, had started to invade the Empire, he heard of the death of his nephew,
the Caliph Saffah (19 June), and returned to make an
unsuccessful bid for the Caliphate. His successor in Syria, his brother Sahli, 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 Salib began to rebuild the walls of Mopsuestia,
which had been overthrown by an earthquake in 756; and Abd-al-Wahhab, who had been made Emir of Mesopotamia by his uncle
the Caliph Mansur, 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 Sahli, 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 Abbas defeated the Armeniac strategus Paul on the Melas between Melitene and Caesarea with great loss, Paul himself being
killed and V high officers captured.
For the next five years both sides were
occupied, Mansur with insurrections 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 Abbas 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 destroyed the works, though after their
retreat the task was completed. The citizens were however suspected of collusion
with the enemy and removed to Palestine, a fate which also befell the inhabitants
of Germanicea (769), which was refortified and
garrisoned.
Expedition of the Caliph Mandi
In 770 Laodicea Combusta was taken, and in 771 some of the Armenians 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 Thumama marched along the Isaurian coast, supported by a fleet, and besieged Syce. Constantine thereupon sent the Anatolics, Armeniacs, and Bucellarii, who
occupied the only pass by which Thumama 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, wishing 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 activity 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 Mandi, who on his side
prepared a larger force than had been seen since 740 with many of the best
Persian troops under Abbas, which took the
underground granary of Casis with the men in it and
reached but did not take Ancyra. In 777 Thumama made
an expedition by land and Ghamr by sea; but Thumama 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 opposition from Thumama, who was at Dabiq.
Failing to take Germanicea, they plundered the
country, and the Thracesian strategus, Michael Lachanodraco, was attacked by a force sent by Thumama, but defeated them with heavy loss, after which the
whole army returned with many captives, largely Syrian Jacobites,
and laden with spoil. In 779 Thumama again remained
inactive, though ordered to make an invasion, and the Romans destroyed the
fortifications of Adata. The veteran Vasan was then appointed to command, and with a large force
from Syria, Mesopotamia, and Khurasan 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.
Expedition of Rashid
The Caliph now determined to take
the field himself, and on 12 March 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 restored
(they were completed in 785), and advanced to Arabissus,
whence he returned, leaving the command to his son Harun,
afterwards known as ar-Rashid, supported by Hasan and other capable advisers. This expedition was
however hardly more successful than the last. Thumama,
since Isa'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 Abdal-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 Khurasan were included; and, the Empress
Irene having just sent an army to Sicily against the rebel Elpidius,
the invaders had an easier task. Entering by the Cilician Gates, Rashid took
the fortress of Magida and advanced into Phrygia,
where he left Rabi to besiege Nacolea and sent Yahya the Barmecide to Asia, and
after defeating Nicetas, Count of Opsicium,
he reached Chrysopolis. Yahya 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.
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 composition of the themes and probably deposed
the iconoclast strategic, 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 Rashid, now
Caliph, to join the Arabs, but on his refusal beheaded'.
Campaigns of Constantine VI
In September 791 Constantine VI,
having now assumed the government, 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-alMalik's son Abd-ar-Ratiman on
condition that the officers were allowed to go free (October). In the autumn of
794 Sulaiman 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 Fadl 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 Muawiyah 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 as-Safsal (the
willow) near the Cilician Gates, while Abd-al-Malik plundered the country as far as Ancyra, which he
took, and then rejected 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 Stauracius' stables, while Abd-ar-Ratiman made many captives in Lydia and reached
Ephesus, and in the autumn another party defeated Paul of Opsicium and captured his camp.
Nicephorus and Rashid
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 Qasim, who had just been named Emir of
al-Awasim (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 Sinan;
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 Ibrahim took as-Safsaf and Thebasa,
which they dismantled. Nicephorus started in person to meet Ibrahim (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 Nicephorus, contrary to the treaty, rebuilt Ancyra, Thebasa, and as-Safsaf. 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), as-Safsaf, Sinan, 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 personal 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, Sinan, 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.
Recovery of Camacha
The neutralization 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. Rashid 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 Harthama 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 organize 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 Euchaita,
capturing the soldiers' pay and making many prisoners (2 March); but in 812 Thabit, Emir of Tarsus, having crossed the frontier in
August, was defeated by the Anatolic strategus, another Leo, afterwards
Emperor, and lost many horses and wagons. 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 Mamun became sole
Caliph; but, Syria and Mesopotamia 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
Ibrahim. On his submission (819) the Syrian rebel Nasr asked help of the
Anatolic general, Manuel, and Leo sent envoys to treat with him; but the indignation
of Nasr's followers at a Christian alliance forced him to put them to death,
while Mamun prevented interference by sending the exile Thomas into Asia Minor
with Arab auxiliaries, who after the murder of Leo (December 820) was joined by
most of the Asiatic themes and remained in arms till 823. During these troubles Abdallah ibn Tahir recovered Camacha (822),
and some adventurers who had been expelled from Spain and occupied Alexandria
ravaged Crete and the Aegean islands. After the overthrow of Thomas, Michael II
proposed a definite peace (825); but Mamun, having just then been delivered
from Nasr, refused to tie his hands and sent raiding parties into the Empire,
who were defeated at Ancyra and at another place and lost one of their leaders.
Campaigns of the Caliph Mamun
In December 827 the Spanish
adventurers were expelled 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 Ooryphas collected a new naval force, and for some time checked their ravages.
Mamun had been hindered from
pursuing the war by the rebellion of the Khurrami sectaries
under Babak in Azarbaijan and Kurdistan; 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, killing the men and enslaving
the women, whereupon Mamun 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 Abbas 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 Sinan surrendered to Ujaif and Soandus to Ashnas. 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. Mamun, who had started for another campaign, received the envoy at
Adana and refused a truce; but with Manuel John had more success, for, while
accompanying Abbas in an invasion of Cappadocia the
next year, he deserted to the Romans. Meanwhile Mamun crossed the frontier (26
June)], besieged Lulum, and received the surrender of Antigus and Heraclea, while his brother Mutasim took thirteen forts and some subterranean
granaries, and Yabya, took and destroyed Tyana. Failing to take Lulum, Mamun,
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 Mamun
returned from Egypt (April), and Theophilus again sent to offer tribute; but Mamun
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 Tarsus, and sent Abbas to superintend the rebuilding of Tyana (25 May), himself 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 Babak, Mamun’s successor, the Caliph Mutasim,
abandoned Tyana and ceased hostilities.
Sack of Sozopetra
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 Nasr the Kurd; and, the Arabs having
just then been defeated by Babak, 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 Babak,
he again crossed the frontier and for the second time destroyed Sozopetra, where Nasr's Kurds perpetrated a general massacre
among the Christian and Jewish male inhabitants. Theophilus then pillaged the
district of Melitene, passed on into Anzetene, besieged Arsamosata,
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.
Fall of Amorium
This summer Babak was finally defeated, and soon afterwards taken and beheaded; and Mutasim, 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 Samarra, on 5 April 838, and at Batnae (Saruj) sent Afshin through the pass of Adata,
while the rest of the army went on to Tarsus, where he again divided his
forces, sending Ashnas 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. Mutasim,
having heard that Theophilus was encamped on the Halys,
ordered Ashads, who had reached the plain, to await
his own arrival. The Emperor, however, had gone to meet Afshin,
and in the 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, persuaded 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 Aetius,
while he himself, having received information of a conspiracy, returned to
Constantinople. Meanwhile Ashnas occupied Corum, and, after destroying Nyssa and learning from
fugitives of the Emperor's defeat, entered Ancyra. Here Mutasim 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 directed 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 Mutasim with a letter in which he apologized 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 Nag were surrendered, returning 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 Aetius was crucified on reaching Samarra,
and about forty others suffered death seven years later (5 March 845).
Disintegration of the Caliphate
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 Abu-Dinar 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 Mauropotamus,
and many of his men deserted to the enemy. An exchange of prisoners was then
effected on the river Lamus (16 September 845). After
the truce had expired (26 October) Ahmad, 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 Ahmad retreated before the enemy; whereupon his officers forced
him to leave the province, and the Caliph Wathiq appointed Nasr 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 Yasuf, Emir of Armenia, in Taron (March 852), retreating, however, on the arrival of
reinforcements sent by the Caliph Mutawakkil.
After Mutasim'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 Mutasim, that Caliph removed (836) to the petty
town of Samarra, where his Turks were free from all restraint. He was strong
enough to control them; but his feeble successors 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 governors. Besides that of al-Awasim,
Cilicia, perhaps for a time attached to it, was, probably in 808, made a
province under the name of Thughurash-Sham
(frontiers of Syria) with its capital at Tarsus, and before 820 we find a
province of Thughur al-Jazira (frontiers of Mesopotamia), extending 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-Awasim. 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. Mutasim indeed on his return from the campaign of 838 gave
the command to Aba-Saqd by special commission; but
under his successors the frontier governors were left to themselves, and
enjoyed so much independence 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.
Expeditions to Damietta
In 853 they sailed to Damietta,
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 connection 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 recreate 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 Fatimite 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) Nasr the Shiite 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 persecution 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
realized 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 Samarra with 77 prisoners and a
request for a general exchange, and after the retreat Nasr was sent to
Constantinople to discuss the matter; but the negotiations were delayed by an
event at Lulum, where the garrison, not having received
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 Islam 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.
Battle of Poson
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 Fadl 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 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 (Mayyafariqin) 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 exception 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 for nearly 100 years longer.
Invasion of Sicily
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 Ibrahim ibn alAghlab (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 apologized
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 Ziyadatallah 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 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 Balata, 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
Balata, 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 attack, 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-Jawari. Theodotus 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.
Fall of Palermo
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 Asbagh,
after which the Arabs retreated, suffering much from the attacks of the Romans 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 extremities, 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, Fall 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 Abu' 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 Fadl 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 Cefaln; 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 Ziyadatallah (10 June 838) and consequent uncertainty 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 Jafar, 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 southeast were taken.
Fall of Enna 137
During the armistice in the East the
troops of the Charsianite clisura were sent to Sicily; but towards the end of 845 Abbas ibn alFadl ibn Yaqub defeated them with
heavy loss, and in 847 Fadl ibn Jalar besieged Leontini,
and after inducing the garrison by a trick to make a sortie caught them in an
ambush, whereupon the citizens surrendered 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 Abul-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, Abbas ibn al-Fad', was a man of
very different character. As soon as his appointment was confirmed by the Emir
Mahomet, he himself took the field, sending his uncle Rabbah in advance to Caltavuturo, which submitted to pay
tribute, while the prisoners were put to death by Abbas,
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 reoccupied 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 January 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 connection by marriage, Constantine Contomytes,
to Sicily with large reinforcements. Abbas 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. Abbas 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. Having
met these new enemies near Cefalù, he forced them to
retreat in disorder to Syracuse; the revolted towns, without hope of succour, submitted; 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.
Expeditions of Khafaja
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 Abbas 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 Ahmad reverted
to the earlier practice; instead of confirming two temporary governors who had
been appointed locally, he sent his kinsman Khafaja (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 Sicily. 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 condition 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 Syracuse 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.
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