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OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 417 zeal many secret sinners revealed their fault and solicited their punishment. After some hesitation, the command of the Syrian army was delegated to Abu Obeidah, one of the fugitives of Mecca and companions of Mahomet ; whose zeal and devotion were assuaged, without being abated, by the singular mildness and benevolence of his temper. But in all the emergencies of war the soldiers demanded the superior genius of Caled ; and, whoever might be the choice of the prince, the sword of God was both in fact and fame the foremost leader of the Saracens. He obeyed without reluctance ; he was consulted without jealousy ; and such was the spirit of the man, or rather of the times, that Caled professed his readiness to serve under the banner of the faith, though it were in the hands of a child or an enemy. Glory and riches and dominion were indeed promised to the victorious Musulman ; but he was carefully instructed that, if the goods of this life were his only incitement, they likewise would be his only reward. One of the fifteen provinces of Syria, the cultivated lands to siege of , ^ ^ Bosra the eastward of the Jordan, had been decorated by Roman vanity with the name of Arabia ; ^" and the first arms of the Saracens were justified by the semblance of a national right. The country was enriched by the various benefits of trade ; by the vigilance of the emperors it was covei'ed with a line of forts ; and the popu- lous cities of Gerasa, Philadelphia, and Bosra, ^'^ were secure, at least from a sui-prise, by the solid structure of their walls. The last of these cities was the eighteenth station from Medina ; the road was familiar to the caravans of Hejaz and Irak, who annu- ally visited this plenteous market of the province and the desert ; the perpetual jealousy of the Arabs had trained the inhabitants to arms ; and twelve thousand horse could sally from the gates of Bosra, an appellation which signifies, in the Syriac language, a strong tower of defence. Encouraged by their first success against the open towns and flying parties of the borders, a de- tachment of four thousand Moslems presumed to summon and attack the fortress of Bosra. They were oppressed by the s" Huic Arabia est conserta, ex alio latere Nabathceis contigua ; opima varietate commerciorum, castrisque oppleta validis et castellis, quae ad repellendos gentium vicinarum excursus, solicitude pervigil veterum per opportunos saltos erexit et cautos. Ammian. Marcellin. xiv. 8. Reland, Palestin. torn. i. p. 85, 86. 58 With Gerasa and Philadelphia, Ammianus praises the fortifications of Bosra, firmitate cautissimas. They deserved the same praise in the time of Abulfeda (Tabul. Syriae, p. 99), who describes this city, the metropolis of Hawran (Auranitis), four days' journey from Damascus. The Hebrew etymology I learn from Reland, Palestin. tom. ii. p. 666. VOL. V. '27