22 CALIPHS OF BAGDAD. 



to pay a tribute, the double of which she ought to 

 have exacted from the barbarians. Restore, there- 

 fore, the fruits of j'-our injustice, or abide the deter- 

 mination of the sword." At these words, by way 

 of bravado, the ambassador made Haroun a present 

 of several excellent sabres. The caliph smiled at 

 the threat, and drawing his famous scimitar {Sam- 

 samah), a weapon of historic or fabulous renown, he 

 cut them asunder one by one, like so many radishes, 

 before the eyes of the astonished Greeks, without 

 seeming to exert the strength of his arm or turning 

 the edge of his well-tempered blade. He then dic- 

 tated an epistle of tremendous brevity : " In the 

 name of the most merciful God ! Haroun al Raschid, 

 Commander of the Faithful, to Nicephorus the Ro- 

 man dog, I have read thy letter, thou son of an unbe- 

 lieving mother. Thou shalt not hear, — thou shalt 

 behold my reply." A war of desolation ensued. 

 With a force of 100,000 men, Haroun invaded the 

 imperial territories. Nicephorus was overthrown 

 in Lycaonia, with the loss of 40,000 of his best 

 troops, having received three wounds in the action. 

 In this campaign the Saracens ravaged the adja- 

 cent provinces, and took a considerable number of 

 the principal towns ; after which they compelled the 

 emperor to a treaty of peace, by which he engaged 

 to pay annually 300,000 dinars (138,750/.), and ab- 

 stain from hostile encroachments in future. On 

 the faith of this stipulation the caliph withdrew into 

 Western Irak ; but the distance of 500 miles, and 

 the inclemency of the season, which set in with un- 

 usual severity, encouraged Nicephorus to violate 

 the truce by assailing the Moslem dominions. The 

 Commander of the Faithful was not slow to punish 

 the aggression. In a rapid march during the depth 

 of winter, he passed the snows of Mount Taurus, 

 and landed a regular army of 135,000 men in the 

 plains of Phrygia. A large body of volunteers 

 swelled this huge armament to 300,000 persons. 



ii 



