The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

478 ITARUN AR-RASMlD [CITAP. I, XIV.
A. IT. 169-
193.
Insiiluiig
letter of
Nicephorus,
187 A.H.
803 A.l).
Harun's
reply.
Disasters of
Nicephorus,
190 A.H.
806 A.D.
191 A.H.
Africa :
opposition of
native tribes,
I78-181 A.H.
Irene hatli parted with the castle, and contented herself
with the pawn. .She had paid thee mone}'s, the double
of which thou shouldest have paid to her. It was but a
woman's weakness. Wherefore, return what thou hast
taken, or the sword shall decide." Harun reading the
letter, fell into a rage, and calling for pen and ink wrote
on the back of the letter :— " From Harun, Commander
of the Faithful, to Nicephorus, dog of the Greeks. I
have read thy letter, son of an unbelieving mother. The
answer is for thine eye to see, not for thine ear to hear."
And Harun was as good as his word ; at once he started and
ravaged the land as far as Heraclea, before the Emperor,
hampered by rebels, had stirred a step; and so an ignominious
peace, and renewed tribute, were the end of such foolish
boasting. Over and again when Harun was engaged
elsewhere, Nicephorus broke his treaty, and as often was
beaten. At last, near the close of his reign, the Caliph
marched again with 135,000 men, took possession of
Heraclea and Tyana, and besides tribute, reduced
Nicephorus to the contempt of a personal impost on himself
and on each member of the Imperial house. Cyprus was
anew overrun ; 10,000 prisoners carried ofif to Syria; and for
the ransom of its Bishop alone, 2000 golden pieces had to be
paid. But in the following year the Greeks once more
advanced, and inflicted severe loss on the enemy both
at Mar'ash and Tarsus, which Harun, having trouble
elsewhere on his hands, was not in a position to retrieve.
The end of- it all,—the bitter end of all such wars,—was
to inflame religious hate. The Caliph caused all churches
in the border-lands to be cast clown, and the obnoxious
distinctions of dress and equipage to be enforced with
the utmost rigour upon the Christian population.
Africa continued further and further to drift from
'Abbasid control. After various fortune of victory and
defeat, Harthama, an able general, was despatched with
Ilarthama
retires.
a large force, and succeeded in beating down opposition
;
but a short experience convinced him that hostile interests
throughout the land were so inveterate as to leave little
hope of eventual success ;
and, anxious now for the more
attractive field of the East, he resigned. Thereafter the
Aghlabid dynasty, though at first nominally subordinate