388 CONQrEST of AFUICA and SPAIN. 



ance. The Arabs were compelled to evacuate the 

 town, and retire to their camps in the desert ; but in 

 the coarse of the following spring they equipped a 

 new and more numerous armament by sea and land, 

 when the Christian patrician in his turn was driven 

 from the capital, wliich was now consigned to the 

 flames. In the vicinity of Utica a second battle was 

 fought ; the Greeks and Goths were defeated ; and 

 to save themselves from total extermination, they 

 set sail for Constantinople. But their expulsion 

 did not leave the A rabs entirely masters of the coun- 

 try. In the inland parts the Moors, or Berbers, a 

 name anciently applied to all nations except the 

 Greeks, and finally restricted to the inhabitants of a 

 local district on the northern coast of Africa, mam- 

 tained a disorderly resistance to the arms and the re- 

 lio-ion of the Saracens. The fame of Cahina, whom 

 they acknowledged for their queen, and even revered 

 as a prophetess, attracted the roving tribes to her 

 standard. Her enthusiasm inspired them with union 

 and energy. Hassan gave battle ; but his veteran 

 bands were repulsed by the superior numbers of 

 the Moors. A single day lost the conquests of an 

 age, and the Moslem chief retired to the confines of 

 Egypt, where he waited five years the expected 

 succours of the caUph. 



When the invader had gone, Cahina assembled 

 her followers, and recommended a mode of defence 

 extraordinary in itself, but not unusual or incon- 

 sistent with the barbarous policy of wandering 

 hordes. " Our cities," said she, " and the gold and 

 silver which they contain, perpetually attract the 

 arms of the Arabs. These vile metals are not the 

 objects of our ambition: we content ourselves with 

 the simple fruits of the earth. Let us destroy those 

 cities ; let us burv in their ruins those pernicious 

 treasures, and when the avarice of our foes shall be 

 destitute of temptation, perhaps they will cease to 

 disturb the tranquillity of a warlike people. 1 he 



