Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/343

OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 321 of their equals. The dignities of sheikh and emir invariably de- scend in this chosen race ; but the order of succession is loose and precarious ; and the most worthy or aged of the noble kins- men are preferred to the simple, though important, office of com- posing disputes by their advice and guiding valour by their example. Even a female of sense and spirit has been permitted to command the countrymen of Zenobia.^* The momentary junction of several tribes produces an army ; their more lasting union constitutes a nation ; and the supreme chief, the emir of emirs, whose banner is displayed at their head, may deserve, in the eyes of strangers, the honours of the kingly name. If the Arabian princes abuse their power, they are quickly punished by the desertion of their subjects, who had been accustomed to a mild and parental jurisdiction. Their spirit is fi-ee, their steps are unconfined, the desert is open, and the tribes and families ai'e held together by a mutual and voluntary compact. The softer natives of Yemen supported the pomp and majesty of a monarch ; but, if he could not leave his palace without endan- gering his life,^^ the active powers of govei'nment must have been devolved on his nobles and magistrates. The cities of Mecca and Medina present, in the heart of Asia, the form, or rather the substance, of a commonwealth. The grandfather of Mahomet and his lineal ancestors appear in foreign and domestic ti-ansactions as the princes of their country ; but they reigned, like Pericles at Athens, or the Medici at Florence, by the opinion of their wisdom and integrity ; their influence was divided with their patrimony ; and the sceptre was transferred from the uncles of the prophet to a younger branch of the tribe of Koreish. On solemn occasions they convened the assembly of the people ; and, since mankind must be either compelled or persuaded to obey, the use and reputation of oratory among the ancient Arabs is the clearest evidence of public freedom. ^'^ But their simple s-i Saraceni . . . mulieres aiunt in eos regnare (Expositio totius Mundi, p. 3, in Hudson, torn. iii.). The reign of Mavia is famous in ecclesiastical story. Pocock, Specimen, p. 69, 83. 35 Mj) e^elvai tK tCju /SaeriAei'cui' [oii Svimrai ndXiv ex Toil' /SacriAei'toi' efe^flfir], is the report of Agatharchides (de Mari Rubro, p. 63, 64, in Hudson, torn. i. ), Diodorus Siculus (lorn. i. 1. iii. c. 47, p. 215), and Strabo (1. xvi. p. 1124 [3, § 19]). But I much suspect that this is one of the popular tales or extraordinary accidents v hich the credulity of travellers so often transforms into a fact, a custom, and a law. ^ Non gloriabantur antiquitus Arabes, nisi gladio, hospite, et eloquentiii (Seph- adius, apud Pocock, Specimen, p. 161, 162). This gift of speech they shared only with the Persians ; and the sententious Arabs would probably have disdained the simple and sublime logic of Demosthenes. VOL. V. 21