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 468 THE DECLINE AND FALL Zobeir maintained a war of twelve years, a siege of seven months, against the house of Ommiyah. Abdallah was said to unite the fierceness of the lion with the subtlety of the fox ; but, if he inherited the courage, he was devoid of the generosity, of his father, is-i con(^tof The return of domestic peace allowed the caliph Abdalmalek A.D. 6921698 to resumc the conquest of Africa ; the standard was delivered to S"omaio H'^ssan governor of Egypt, and the revenue of that kingdom, with an army of forty thousand men, was consecrated to the important service. In the vicissitudes of war, the interior pro- vinces had been alternately won and lost by the Saracens. But the sea-coast still remained in the hands of the Greeks ; the pre- decessors of Hassan had respected the name and fortifications of Carthage ; and the number of its defenders was recruited by the fugitives of Cabes and Tripoli. The arms of Hassan were bolder and more fortunate ; he reduced and pillaged the metropolis of [A.D. 695] Africa ; and the mention of scaling-ladders may justify the suspi- cion that he anticipated, by a sudden assault, the more tedious operations of a regular siege. But the joy of the conquerors was [AD. 697] soon disturbed by the appearance of the Christian succours. The praefect and patrician John, a general of experience and renown, embarked at Constantinople the forces of the Eastern empire ; ^^^ they were joined by the ships and soldiers of Sicily, and a power- ful reinforcement of Goths ^^^ was obtained from the fears and religion of the Spanish monarch. The weight of the confederate navy broke the chain that guarded the entrance of the harbour ; the Arabs retired to Cairoan, or Tripoli ; the Christians landed ; the citizens hailed the ensign of the cross, and the winter was ^*^ Beside the Arabic chronicles of Abulfeda, Elmacin, and Abulpharagius, under the seventy-third year of the Hegira, we may consult d'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orient, p. 7) and Ockley(Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 339-349). The latter has given the last and pathetic dialogue between Abdallah and his mother ; but he forgot a physical effect of ker grief for his death, the return, at the age of ninety, and fatal consequences, of her menses. AeofTio? . . . airai'Ta Ta 'Poj^atKa e^coTrXtae ttAoiju'* CTpanriyoi' t€ cTrVuTOts *lioavvriv TOi" TLaTpiKLOv [ws] e/iTTetpov riau TroAefii'wi' Trpoxetp(.(TatJLevo^ Trpbs KapxriSova. Kara tJic
 * iapaK-r)vS>v ef eVf^i/zci'. Nicephori Constantinoplitani Breviar. p. 28 tp. 35, ed. de

Boor]. The patriarch of Constantinople, with Theophanes (Chronograph, p. 309 [a.m. 6190]), have slightly mentioned this last attempt for the relief of Africa. Pagi (Critica, tom. iii. p. 129, 141) has nicely ascertained the chronology by a strict comparison of the Arabic and Byzantine historians, who often disagree both in time and fact. See likewise a note of Otter (p. 121). 18S Dove s' erano ridotti i nobili Romani e i Gotti ; and afterwards, i Romani suggirono e i Gotti, lasciarono Carthagine (Leo African, fol. 72, recto). I know not from what Arabic writer the African derived his Goths ; but the fact, though new, is so interesting and so probable, that I will accept it on the slightest authority.