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845-849] Benevento, were not the only raids with which the unfortunate country was infested. The large ports of the western coast were in constant dread of unpleasant surprises, for in the year 845 the Sicilians had chosen Ponza and Ischia as naval bases, to which moreover they soon added Cape Miseno. The towns of Naples, Gaëta, Amalfi, and Sorrento formed an alliance for the purpose of mutual defence, as the Duke of Salerno was not in a position to assist them. In the following years the Muslims prepared to deal a severe blow. For a long time Rome with its vast church treasures had tempted them. On 23 Aug. 846, a fleet of 73 vessels, stated to have been manned by 1100 Muslims, appeared before Ostia, and in the early morning of 26 August the Saracens stood before the walls of Rome, where they plundered the quarters of the town lying outside the walls, especially the church of St Peter and the cathedral of St Paul, and they broke open the graves of the apostolic prelates. Unfortunately the information we have respecting this event is extremely scanty and it is moreover distorted by legend, for the very idea of the hordes of the false prophet having ravaged in the capital of Christendom gave a magnificent scope for the imagination of the western world. God himself immediately afterwards seemed to desire to avenge this visitation, for after a few successes before Gaëta, whither the Saracens had withdrawn from Rome, and just when they proposed to return, their entire fleet, conveying all their stolen treasures, was destroyed in a storm (847).

The impression made by these events was enormous. In 847 King Louis II appeared in Southern Italy, defeated the Saracens, and conquered Benevento. With the disputing parties there he arranged that they should make common cause against the infidels in Bari and Taranto. This plan was frustrated through the selfish policy of the small States of Southern Italy. Nothing was effected against the continued piratical raids of the Sicilians. It was not until the year 849, when the Saracens planned another great expedition against Rome and collected for this purpose in Sardinia, that the seaports of the western coast united for the defence of Rome. The fleets met before Ostia, and the fight had already begun when the elements waxed tempestuous and the naval battle and the Sicilian fleet came to a sudden and violent end. The Italian fleet was probably also destroyed — information on the point is missing — but the sacred city was rescued. Even now, in the Stanzas of the Vatican, the celebrated picture of this sea fight, painted from sketches by Raphael, recalls this wonderful rescue of Rome.

Even though these naval expeditions were but episodes, the Saracen fortress at Bari was a constant menace to Southern Italy. The successes gained by King Louis had been lost again immediately after his departure, and Bari once more extended its power to Benevento. Louis II, who had in the meantime been crowned as Emperor, was therefore compelled once more to decide on an expedition to the south. On this occasion he advanced on Bari, but was unable to capture it, as his vassal States failed