Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/466

 444 THE DECLINE AND FALL Egypt. Character and life of Amrou [Amr] trunk and huge fragments lay scattered eight centuries on the ground, and are often described as one of the wonders of the ancient world. They were collected by the diligence of the Saracens, and sold to a Jewish merchant of Edessa, who is said to have laden nine hundred camels with the weight of the brass metal : an enormous weight, though we should include the hun- dred colossal figures ^^'^ and the three thousand statues which adorned the prosperity of the city of the sun. III. The conquest of Egypt may be explained by the character of the victorious Saracen, one of the first of his nation, in an age when the meanest of the brethren was exalted above his nature by the spirit of enthusiasm. The birth of Amrou was at once base and illustrious : his mother, a notorious prostitute, was un- able to decide among five of the Koreish ; but the proof of re- semblance adjudged the child to Aasi, the oldest of her lovers. ^^* The youth of Amrou was impelled by the passions and prejudices of his kindred : his poetic genius was exercised in satirical verses against the person and doctrine of Mahomet ; his dexterity was employed by the reigning faction to pursue the religious exiles who had taken refuge in the court of the iEthiopian king.^^^ Yet he returned from this embassy a secret proselyte ; his reason or his interest determined him to renounce the worship of idols ; he escaped from Mecca with his friend Caled, and the prophet of Medina enjoyed at the same moment the satisfaction of em- bracing the two firmest champions of his cause. The impatience of Amrou to lead the armies of the faithful was checked by the reproof of Omar, who advised him not to seek power and do- minion, since he who is a subject to-day may be a prince to- morrow. Yet his merit was not overlooked by the two first successors of Mahomet ; they were indebted to his arms for the conquest of Palestine ; and in all the battles and sieges of Syria he united with the temper of a chief the valour of an adventurous soldier. In a visit to Medina, the caliph expressed a wish to survey the sword which had cut down so many Christian warriors : the son of Aasi unsheathed a short and ordinary scymetar ; and. 11' Centum colossi alium nobilitaturi locum [colossi centum numero, sed ubi- cumque singuli fuissent nobilitaturi locum], says Pliny, with his usual spirit. Hist. Natur. xxxiv. i8. ii* We learn this anecdote from a spirited old woman, who reviled to their faces the caliph and his friend. She was encouraged by the silence of Amrou and the liberality of Moawiyah (Abulfeda, Annal. Moslem, p. iii). 11' Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, torn. ii. p. 46, &c. , who quotes the Abyssinian history, or romance, of Abdel Balcides. Yet the fact of the embassy and ambassa- dor may be allowed.