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 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 409 slight or singular, will denote the luxurious impediments of an Oriental army.-** The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by the Greeks couauest of and Latins ; but the most illustrious of her cities appear to be esv-esi' more ancient than the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduction of Hamadan and Ispahan, of Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradu- ally approached the shores of the Caspian Sea ; and the orators of Mecca might applaud tlie success and spirit of the faithful, who had already lost sight of the northern bear, and had almost transcended the bounds of the habitable world. -^^ Again turn- ing towards the West and the Roman empire, they repassed the Tigris over the bridge of Mosul, and, in the captive provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia, embraced their victorious brethren of the Syrian army. From the palace of Madayn their Eastern progress was not less rapid or extensive. They advanced along ^See the article of Nehavend in d'Herbelot, p. 667, 668, and Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, par Otter, torn. i. p. 191. [On the first danger of Madain, Yezdegerd tied to Holwan, a fortress in the hilis, a hundred miles to the north-east of that city. A new army formed there advanced (autumn 637) to Jalula, half-way on the road to Madain. Defeated there, Yezdegerd fled to Rayy (near the modern Teheran). The Moslems took Holwan and made it their outpost ; there was to be no further advance into Persia, and the Saracens occupied themselves with completing their reduction of Mesopotamia. Omar laid down the principle that the limits of Arabian Irak were to be the limits of Saracen conquest. But circum- stances forced his hand. The governor of Bahrain, on the east coast of Arabia, crossed to Pars and made an attack on Istakhr (Persepolis) without the caliph's permission ; and its failure encouraged the Persians in Khuzistan to renew hostilities. The outcome was that the Moslems of Basra and Kufa were drawn into subjugating Khiizistan (including the towns of Ahwaz, Tustar, Ramhurmuz, Sus, Jundai-Sabur). These events (a.d. 638) convinced Omar that the only wise policy was to stamp out the Persian realm, and pursue Yezdegerd beyond its borders. After the great defeat of Nehavend (see text), Yezdegerd fled from Rayy to Ispahan, thence across Kirman into Khurasan. He reached Nishapur, then Merv, then Merv-er-Rud which lies four days to the south of Merv, then Balkii, from which place he sent appeals to Turkey and China. On their side, the Moslems, after the victory of Nehavend, subdued Hamadhan, Ispahan and Rayy; and then their arms were carried in three directions : (i) into Adharbijan and northward towards the Caucasus ; (2) into Khurasan ; Merv, Merv-er-Rud and Balkh were taken and the borders of Islam advanced to the O.xus or JeihQn ; (3) south-eastward (Pars having been already (a.d. 643) subdued by several generals and Istakhr taken) Kirman was conquered (Tabari, p. 516; de Goeje's te.t, i. 2703) and then Sijistan and Mekran (a.d. 644; Tabari, p. 518; de Goeje, i. 2705-6). The conquest of Khurasan was carried out by Ahnaf ibn Kais.] s* It is in such a style of ignorance and wonder that the Athenian orator de- scribes the Arctic conquests of Alexander, who never advanced beyond the shores of the Caspian, ' Kki^avhpo<; efw TTjc apKTOv Ka t»)5 oiicov/xei'r)?, oAi'yov (Seif 7rd<r)js jaefleicTT^Kei. .(^schines Contra Ctesiphontem, tom. iii. p. 554, edit. Grcec. Orator. Reiske. This memorable cause was pleaded at Athens, Olymp. cxii. 3 (before Christ 330), in the autumn (Taylor, praifat. p. 370, &c.), about a year after the battle of Arbela ; and Alexander, in the pursuit of Darius, was marching towards Hyrcania and Bactriana.