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 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 53 they ounger brother. He was sent into honourable exile, to command on the banks of the Oxus ; and the independence of his successors, who reigned in Chorasan till the fourth genera- tion, was palliated by their modest and respectful demeanour, the happiness of their subjects, and the security of their frontier. They were supplanted by one of those adventurers so frequent in the annals of the East, who left his trade of a brazier (from whence the name of Soffaride.s) for the profession of a robber, xhe sosa In a nocturnal visit to the treasure of the prince of Sistan, 872962 Jacob, the son of Leith,^-*'" stumbled over a lump of salt, which he unwarily tasted with his tongue. Salt, among the Orientals, is the symbol of hospitality, and the pious robber immediately retired without spoil or damage. The discover^- of this honour- able behaviour recommended Jacob to pardon and trust ; he led an array at first for his benefactor, at last for himself, subdued Persia, and threatened the residence of the Abbassides. On his march towards Bagdad, the conqueror was arrested by a fever. He gave audience in bed to the ambassador of the caliph ; and beside him on a table were exposed a naked scymetar, a crust of brown bread, and a bunch of onions. " If I die," said he, "your master is delivered from his fears. If I live, this must determine between us. If I am vanquished, I can return without reluctance to the homely fare of my youth." From the height where he stood, the descent would not have been so soft or harmless : a timely death secured his own re- [a.d. sts] pose and that of the caliph, who paid with the most lavish concessions the retreat of his brother Amrou to the palaces of Shiraz and Ispahan. The Abbassides were too feeble to con- tend, too proud to forgive : they invited the powerful dynasty of the Samanides,^-^ who passed the Oxus with ten thousand The samani- horse, so poor, that their stirrups were of wood ; so brave, that 874999 they vanquished the Soffarian army, eight times more numerous than their own. The captive Amrou was sent in chains, a [a.d. 900] grateful offering to the court of Bagdad ; and, as the victor was content with the inheritance of Transoxiana and Chorasan, the realms of Persia returned for a while to the allegiance of the ^'"[Yakfib, son of al-Layth, a coppersmith (saffar), conquered successively Fars, Balkh, and Khurasan. The Saffarid dynasty numbered only three princes : Yakub, his brother Amr, and Amr's son Tahir, whose power was confined to Sistan, which he lost in ..D. 903. Cp. S. Lane-Poole, op. cit., p. 129, 130.] i^[The Samanid dynasty, which held sway in Transoxiana and Persii, was fotinded by Xasr ben-.hmad, great-grandson of Saman (a nobleman of Balkh). This dynasty lost Persia before the end of the loth century and expired in A.D. 999. Cp. S. Lane-Poole, o/>. cil., p. 131-J.J