Page:Bury J B The Cambridge Medieval History Vol 2 1913.djvu/409

740-827] At that time also the small island of Pantellaria, the stepping-stone between Africa and Sicily, was occupied by the Arabs, and Sardinia was plundered. It is needless to recount in detail all these numerous piratical expeditions against the islands of the Mediterranean. They were the terror of the residents on the coast, but very little was in reality attained by them. In any case Sicily must have been well defended. But if Syracuse itself could only purchase the retirement of 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān ibn Ḥabīb by payment of tribute (740), and even if this ruler, after acquiring the sovereignty in Northern Africa, attempted to gain Sicily also, these matters were but incidents which had no influence on the course of history. During the second half of the eighth century Sicily was scarcely troubled at all by its tormentors, for, as we have seen, Northern Africa was almost in a state of anarchy.

It was not until after a more powerful State had been formed by the Aghlabids that the expeditions against Sicily were at once renewed. Not only the Aghlabids but also the Idrīsids and even the Spanish Muslims took part in these piratical raids, each as a rule on their own account but occasionally working conjointly. When the Sicilians had perhaps succeeded in completing a treaty with the Aghlabids and looked forward to a period of rest and peace, then the vessels of the Idrīsids would suddenly appear. A large proportion of these expeditions have another connexion, for the raids are episodes in the long fight between the Franks and the Spanish Umayyads, but in the case of many of these sudden attacks we cannot now determine the State to which the Saracens in question belonged. One expedition in the year 813 is specially well known to us, because it advanced far to the northward and even touched on Nice and Civita Vecchia. In the same year or shortly afterwards Reggio also received a first Saracenic visitation. Corsica in particular was in the midst of the fighting, whilst Sardinia was better able to defend itself; the smaller islands, e.g. the Pontine group and even Ischia (8-12 Aug. 812), were occasionally attacked — in fact, a revival of the Saracen expansion began. But still great successes could not be recorded, for on the one hand various Saracenic fleets were lost at sea through storms, and on the other hand not only the Byzantines but also Charles the Great took energetic steps to secure their lands against the ravages of the Saracens, though they generally confined themselves to acting on the defensive. As for such a thing as paying the Saracens off in their own coin by undertaking a piratical expedition to Northern Africa, that occurred but once, when the African coast between Utica and Carthage was terrorised by a small Frankish fleet under Earl Bonifacius of Tyrrhenia.

There was no really serious advance of the Saracens against European territory, until the year 827. Acting not on their own initiative, but called in to the assistance of a Christian insurrection, the Aghlabids conquered the rich island of Sicily. By this means an outpost of Islām