Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/62

 42 THE DECLINE AND FALL army r a fleet of Arabs and Moors, after a short refreshment in the harbours of Sardinia, cast anchor before the mouth of the Tiber, sixteen miles from the city ; and their discipline and numbers appeared to threaten, not a transient inroad, but a .eaffueof serious desisfn of conquest and dominion. But the viffilance of le Southern ii- t ii -li /^i/^ii ties] Leo had formed an alliance with the vassals oi the LTreek empire, the free and maritime states of Gayeta, Naples, and Amalfi ; and in the hour of danger their galleys appeared in the port of Ostia, under the command of Caesarius, the son of the Neapolitan duke, a noble and valiant youth, who had already vanquished the fleets of the Saracens. With his principal com- panions, Caesarius was invited to the Lateran palace, and the dexterous pontiff affected to inquire their errand, and to accept, with joy and surprise, their providential succour. The city bands, in arms, attended their father at Ostia, where he I'e- viewed and blessed his generous deliverers. They kissed his feet, received the communion v/ith martial devotion, and lis- tened to the prayer of Leo, that the same God who had sup- ported St. Peter and St. Paul on the waves of the sea would strengthen the hands of his champions against the adversaries of his holy name. After a similar prayer, and with equal reso- lution, the Moslems advanced to the attack of the Christian galleys, which preserved their advantageous station along the coast. The victory inclined to the side of the allies, when it was less gloriously decided in their favour by a sudden tempest, which confounded the skill and courage of the stoutest mari- ners. The Christians were sheltered in a friendly harbour, while the Africans were scattered and dashed in pieces among the rocks and islands of an hostile shore. Those who escaped from shipwreck and hunger neither found nor deserved mercy at the hands of their implacable pursuers. ^'^'^ The sword and the gibbet reduced the dangerous multitude of captives ; and the remainder was more usefully employed, to restore the sacred edifices which they had attempted to subvert. The pontiff, at the head of the citizens and allies, paid his grateful devotion at the shrines of the apostles ; and, among the spoils of tliis naval victor}^ thirteen Arabian bows of pure and massy silver were suspended round the altar of the fishermen of Galilee. The reign of Leo the Fourth was employed in the defence and ornament of the Roman state : the churches were renewed and embellished ; near four thousand pounds of silver 100 ^xhe battle of Ostia is the subject of a fresco of Rafifaelle in the Vatican.]