36 DEATH OF EUDOCIA. [CH. LI. veteran fanatics were supported and cheered by the unconquerable ardour of a lover. From a peasant of the country, they were informed that the emperor had sent orders to the colony of exiles, to pursue without delay the road of the sea-coast, and of Constantinople; apprehensive, perhaps, that the soldiers and people of Antioch might be discouraged by the sight and the story of their sufferings. The Saracens were conducted through the territories of Gabala* and Laodicea, at a cautious distance from the walls of the cities; the rain was incessant, the night was dark, a single mountain separated them from the Roman army; and Caled, ever anxious for the safety of his brethren, whispered an ominous dream in the ear of his companion. With the dawn of day, the prospect again cleared, and they saw before them, in a pleasant valley, the tents of Damascus. After a short interval of repose and prayer, Caled divided his cavalry into four squadrons, committing the first to his faithful Derar, and reserving the last for himself. They successively rushed on the promiscuous multitude, insufficiently provided with arms, and already vanquished by sorrow and fatigue. Except a captive who was pardoned and dismissed, the Arabs enjoyed the satisfaction of believing that not a Christian of either sex escaped the edge of their scymetars. The gold and silver of Damascus was scattered over the camp, and a royal wardrobe of three hundred load of silk might clothe an army of naked Barbarians. In the tumult of the battle, Jonas sought and found the object of his pursuit; but her resentment was inflamed by the last act of his perfidy; and as Eudocia struggled in his hateful embraces, she struck a dagger to her heart. Another female, the widow of Thomas, and the real or supposed daughter of Heraclius, was spared and released without a ransom: but the generosity of Caled was the effect of his contempt; and the haughty Saracen insulted, by a message of defiance, the throne of the Cæsars. Caled had penetrated above a hundred and fifty miles into * The towns of Gabala and Laodicea, which the Arabs passed, still exist in a state of decay. (Maundrell, p. 11, 12. Pocock, vol. ii. p. 13.) Had not the Christians been overtaken, they must have crossed the Orontes on some bridge in the sixteen miles between Antioch and the sea, and might have rejoined the high road of Constantinople at Alexandria. The itineraries will represent the directions and distances (p. 146. 148. 581, 582, edit. Wesseling). A.D. 634.] THE FAIR OF ABYLA. 37 the heart of the Roman province: he returned to Damascus with the same secrecy and speed. On the accession of Omar, the sword of God was removed from the command; but the caliph, who blamed the rashness, was compelled to applaud the vigour and conduct, of the enterprise. Another expedition of the conquerors of Damascus will equally display their avidity and their contempt for the riches of the present world. They were informed that the produce and manufactures of the country were annually collected in the fair of Abyla,* about thirty miles from the city; that the cell of a devout hermit was visited at the same time by a multitude of pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and superstition would be ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the governor of Tripoli. Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, a glorious and holy martyr, undertook, with a banner of five hundred horse, the pious and profitable commission of despoiling the infidels. As he approached the fair of Abyla, he was astonished by the report of the mighty concourse of Jews and Christians, Greeks and Armenians, of natives of Syria and of strangers of Egypt, to the number of ten thousand, besides a guard of five thousand horse that attended the person of the bride. The Saracens paused. "For my own part," said Abdallah, "I dare not go back; our foes are many, our danger is great, but our reward is splendid and secure, either in this life or in the life to come. Let every man, according to his inclination, advance or "Lead the retire." Not a Mussulman deserted his standard. way," ," said Abdallah to his Christian guide, "and you shall see what the companions of the prophet can perform." They charged in five squadrons; but after the first advantage of the surprise, they were encompassed and almost overwhelmed by the multitude of their enemies; and their valiant baud is fancifully compared to a white spot in the skin of a black camel.t About the hour of sunset, when * Dair Abil Kodos. After retrenching the last word, the epithet holy, I discovered the Abila of Lysanias between Damascus and Heliopolis: the name (Abil signifies a vineyard) concurs with the situation to justify my conjecture (Reland. Palestin. tom. i. p. 317; tom. ii. p. 525. 527). [Ockley (p. 163) translates Dair Abi'l Kodas, "The Monastery of the Holy Father."-ED.] + I am bolder than Mr. Ockley (vol. i. p. 164), who dares not insert this figurative expression in the text, though he observes in a marginal 38 FLIGHT OF THE CHRISTIANS. [CH. LI. their weapons dropped from their hands, when they panted on the verge of eternity, they discovered an approaching cloud of dust; they heard the welcome sound of the tecbir;* and they soon perceived the standard of Caled, who flew to their relief with the utmost speed of his cavalry. The Christians were broken by his attack, and slaughtered in their flight, as far as the river of Tripoli. They left behind them the various riches of the fair; the merchandises that were exposed for sale, the money that was brought for purchase, the gay decorations of the nuptials, and the governor's daughter, with forty of her female attendants. The fruits, provisions, and furniture, the money, plate, and jewels, were diligently laden on the backs of horses, asses, and mules; and the holy robbers returned in triumph to Damascus. The hermit, after a short and angry controversy with Caled, declined the crown of martyrdom, and was left alive in the solitary scene of blood and devastation. Syria,t one of the countries that have been improved by the most early cultivation, is not unworthy of the preference. The heat of the climate is tempered by the vicinity note, that the Arabians often borrow their similes from that useful and familiar animal. The reindeer may be equally famous in the songs of the Laplanders. (See Bohn's Ockley, p. 166.—ED.] * We heard the tecbir; so the Arabs call Their shout of onset, when with loud appeal They challenge heaven, as if demanding conquest. This word, so formidable in their holy wars, is a verb active (says Ockley in his index) of the second conjugation, from Kabbara, which signifies saying Alla Acbar!-God is most mighty! In the geography of Abulfeda, the description of Syria, his native country, is the most interesting and authentic portion. It was published in Arabic and Latin, Lipsiæ, 1766, in quarto, with the learned notes of Koehler and Reiske, and some extracts of geography and natural history from Ibn al Wardii. Among the modern travels, Pocock's description of the East (of Syria and Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 88-209), is a work of superior learning and dignity; but the author too often confounds what he had seen and what he had read. The praises of Dionysius are just and lively. Kai rýv μèv (Syria) πολλοί τε καὶ ὃλβιοι ἄνδρες ἔχουσιν (in Periegesi, v. 902, in tom. iv. Geograph. Minor. Hudson). In another place he styles the country πολύπτολιν αίαν (ν. 898). He proceeds to say, Πᾶσά δέ τοι λιπαρή τε καὶ εὔβοτος ἔπλετο χώρ This poetical geographer lived in the age of Augustus, and his descrip A.D. 635.] THE CITIES OF SYRIA. 39 of the sea and mountains, by the plenty of wood and water; and the produce of a fertile soil affords the subsistence, and encourages the propagation, of men and animals. From the age of David to that of Heraclius, the country was overspread with ancient and flourishing cities: the inhabitants were numerous and wealthy; and, after the slow ravage of despotism and superstition, after the recent calamities of the Persian war, Syria could still attract and reward the rapacious tribes of the desert. A plain of ten days' journey, from Damascus to Aleppo and Antioch, is watered, on the western side, by the winding course of the Orontes. The hills of Libanus and Anti-Libanus are planted from north to south, between the Orontes and the Mediterranean, and the epithet of hollow (Colesyria) was applied to a long and fruitful valley, which is confined in the same direction by the two ridges of snowy mountains.* Among the cities which are enumerated by Greek and Oriental names in the geography and conquest of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or Hems, Heliopolis or Baalbec, the former as the metropolis of the plain, the latter as the capital of the valley. Under the last of the Cæsars, they were strong and populous; the turrets glittered from afar; an ample space was covered with public and private buildings; and the citizens were illustrious by their spirit, or at least by their pride; by their riches, or at least by their luxury. In the days of Paganism, both Émesa and Heliopolis were addicted to the worship of Baal, or the sun; but the decline of their superstition and splendour has been marked by a singular variety of fortune. Not a vestige remains of the temple of Emesa, which was equalled in poetic style to the summits of mount Libanus,† tion of the world is illustrated by the Greek commentary of Eustathius, who paid the same compliment to Homer and Dionysius. (Fabric. Bibliot. Græc. 1. 4, c. 2, tom. iii. p. 21, &c.) * The topography of the Libanus and Anti-Libanus, is excellently described by the learning and sense of Reland. (Palestin. tom. p. 311-326.) + Emese fastigia celsa renident. Nam diffusa solo latus explicat; ac subit auras Cor studiis acuit Denique flammicomo devoti pectora soli Vitam agitant. Libanus frondosa cacumina turget, 40 SIEGES OF EMESA AND HELIOPOLIS. [CH. LI. while the ruins of Baalbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity, excite the curiosity and wonder of the European traveller. The measure of the temple is two hundred feet in length, and one hundred in breadth: the front is adorned with a double portico of eight columns; fourteen may be counted on either side; and each column, forty-five feet in height, is composed of three massy blocks of stone or marble. The proportions and ornaments of the Corinthian order express the architecture of the Greeks; but as Baalbec has never been the seat of a monarch, we are at a loss to conceive how the expense of these magnificent structurés could be supplied by private or municipal liberality. From the conquest of Damascus the Saracens proceeded to Heliopolis and Emesa; but I shall decline the repetition of the sallies and combats which have been already shown on a large scale. In the prosecution of the war, their policy was not less effectual than their sword. By short and separate truces they dissolved the union of the enemy; accustomed the Syrians to compare their friendship with their enmity; familiarised the idea of their language, religion, and manners; and exhausted, by clandestine purchase, the magazines and arsenals of the cities which they returned to besiege. They aggravated the ransom of the more wealthy or the more obstinate; and Chalcis alone was taxed at five thousand ounces of gold, five thousand ounces of silver, two thousand robes of silk, and as many figs and olives as would load five thousand asses. But the terms of truce or capitulation These verses of the Latin version of Rufus Avienus are wanting in the Greek original of Dionysius; and since they are likewise unnoticed by Eustathius, I must, with Fabricius (Bibliot. Latin. tom. iii. p. 153, edit. Ernesti), and against Salmasius (ad Vopiscum, p. 366, 367 in Hist. August.), ascribe them to the fancy rather than the MSS. of Avienus. * I am much better satisfied with Maundrell's slight octavo (Journey, p. 134-139) than with the pompous folio of Dr. Pocock (Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 106-113); but every preceding account is eclipsed by the magnificent description and drawings of MM. Dawkins and Wood, who have transported into England the ruins of Palmyra and Baalbec. The Orientals explain the prodigy by a never-failing expedient. The edifices of Baalbec were constructed by the fairies or the genii. (Hist. de Timour Bec, tom. iii. 1. 5, c. 23, p. 311, 312. Voyage d'Otter, tom. i. p. 83.) With less absurdity, but with equal ignorance, Abulfeda and Ibn Chaukel ascribe them to the Sabæans or Aadites. Non sunt in omni Syria ædificia magnificentiora his. (Tabula Syriæ, p. 103.) |