Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/483

OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 461 of the siege for the perils and the hopes of a decisive action. If his standard was followed by one hundred and twenty thou- sand men, the regular bands of the empire must have been lost in the naked and disorderly crowd of Africans and Moors, who formed the strength, or rather the numbers, of his host. He rej ected with indignation the option of the Koran or the tribute ; and during several days the two armies were fiercely engaged from the dawn of light to the hour of noon, when their fatigue and the excessive heat compelled them to seek shelter and re- freshment in their respective camps. The daughter of Gregoi-y, a maid of incomparable beauty and spirit, is said to have fought by his side ; from her earliest youth she was trained to mount on horseback, to draw the bow, and to wield the scymetar ; and the richness of her arms and apparel was conspicuous in the foremost ranks of the battle. Her hand, with an hundred thousand pieces of gold, was offered for the head of the Arabian general, and the youths of Africa were excited by the prospect of the glorious prize. At the pressing solicitation of his brethren, Abdallah withdrew his person from the field ; but the Saracens were dis- couraged by the retreat of their leader and the repetition of these equal or unsuccessful conflicts. A noble Arabian, who afterwards became the adversary of Ali victory of and the father of a caliph, had signalised his valour in Egypt, and Zobeir ■'^'■^ was the first who planted the scaling-ladder against the walls of Babylon. In the African war he was detached from the standard of Abdallah. On the news of the battle, Zobeir, with twelve companions, cut his way through the camp of the Greeks, and pressed forwards, without tasting either food or repose, to partake of the dangers of his brethren. He cast his eyes round the field : " Where," said he, " is our general . " " In his tent." "Is the tent a station for the general of the Mos- lems . " Abdallah represented with a blush the importance of his own life, and the temptation that was held forth by the Roman prsefect. "Retort/' said Zobeir, "on the infidels their ungenerous attempt. Proclaim through the ranks that the head authority extended from Tripoli to Tangier." He was very popular in Africa, as a champion of orthodoxy against Monotheletism, and protected the Abbot Maxi- mus. See Migne, Patr. Gr. 91, p. 354. He was also supported by the Berbers (cf. Theoph. /or. cii.), and he fi.xed his residence at the inland city of Sufetula, which had a strong citadel] ^■'See in Ockley (Hist, of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 45) the death of Zobeir, which was honoured with the tears of Ali, against whom he had rebelled. His valour at the siege of Babylon, if indeed it be the same person, is mentioned by Eutychius (Annal. torn. ii. p. 308).