An Admiral Of Constantinople Supposedly Was Told Of The Fall Of Syracuse By Demons

In 877 and 878, the Sicilian city of Syracuse was besieged for nine months by the Aghlabids, an Arab dynasty that ruled the lands known today as Tunisia and Algeria. When word of the siege traveled to Greece, Emperor Basil I of Constantinople (r. 867-886) dispatched a patrician named Adrian with a fleet to aid the Syracusans against the Arabs. Adrian, however, never reached Sicily—he anchored his fleet in the harbor of Hierax, near the city of Monebasia, on the southeast end of the Peloponnesus. While there, he procrastinated for months, supposedly waiting for a favorable wind. When Syracuse was finally seized and pillaged by the Aghlabids on May 21, 878, Adrian and his fleet were unfortunately still loitering in Greece.

In the account of this event written by the 11th-century historian, John Skylitzes, there was an interesting piece of folklore included in the text. According to the tale, some shepherds near Sparta had an odd encounter while tending to their flocks on May 22. It was a day after the fall of Syracuse, but they had no idea that the city had fallen, for the news had allegedly not yet reached Greece. While the shepherds were in the wilderness, they supposedly encountered a group of strange creatures, which they later identified as demons. The creatures apparently had a better communication system than the humans, for the shepherds heard the demons cackling about the downfall of Syracuse.

As the story goes, the shepherds told their friends about what they had seen and heard. The demon sighting and rumors about the demise of Syracuse quickly became the talk of the town, and the conversation eventually weeded its way into the camp of Adrian, who still had his fleet anchored in the Peloponnesus. When Adrian heard the rumors, he was distraught—after all, the emperor had tasked him with saving Syracuse from the Arab siege. He allegedly held a private interview with the shepherds to see if the rumors were true. When they corroborated the story, Adrian supposedly had the shepherds bring him to the spot where they had seen the demons. According to John Skylitzes’ peculiar account, the demons were still there when Adrian arrived and they confirmed that Syracuse had, indeed, fallen to the Arabs. The patrician allegedly kept his calm until three days later, when Peloponnesian Mardaites from the defeated garrison of Syracuse returned to Greece, spreading the story of the city’s grisly capture.

Now certain that his mission had ended with catastrophic failure, Adrian quickly sent his fleet home to Constantinople, but he personally fled to the sanctuary of a church. When Basil I heard of what happened, he had the disgraced patrician dragged out of the sanctuary and sent Adrian into exile.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (The demons of Helos inform the Byzantine admiral Adrianos of the fall of Syracuse to the Arabs, painted c. 13th century, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• John Skylitzes. A Synopsis of Byzantine History: 811-1057, translated by John Wortley. Original text c. 11^th or early 12^th century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aghlabid-dynasty  

The Interesting Arab “Trojan Horse” Strategy Allegedly Used Against The City Of Edessa

In 1038, the Byzantine Empire controlled the city of Edessa. The city, however, was coveted by the nearby Muslim caliphates. Two years prior, in 1036, a coalition led by Nasr ad-Daula the Marwanid and Sabib ibn Wahhab the Numairite attempted to take the city, but their attack was repelled. This failure, if the sources of the 11th-century historian, John Skylitzes, are correct, eventually prompted a dozen unnamed Arab chieftains to attempt their own version of the classic “Trojan Horse” in a bid to take the prized city.

At the time of the alleged incident, the commander of the Byzantine forces in Edessa was a certain Barasbatzes the Iberian. According to Skylitzes, this Barasbatzes witnessed twelve curious Arabian chieftains arrive at the gates of Edessa. They proclaimed that they had come in peace, and better yet, they had also brought with them a baggage train of a thousand large treasure chests, which they planned to hand over to the Byzantine emperor. The chiefs and their guards set up camp outside the city, but they requested that the large treasure chests be carried into the city.

For the night, Barasbatzes the Iberian decided to keep the chests located outside of the walls with the Arab camp, but he did invite the chieftains into Edessa for a large banquet. While the men of influence enjoyed their feast, an Armenian beggar was said to have gone to the wealthy Arabian camp to ask for coins—after all, they had brought with them a fortune that could only be contained by one thousand chests. As he was passing by the endless trunks, the Armenian began to hear Arabic voices coming from inside the many boxes. Unnerved by the situation, the beggar fled back to the city and reported what he had heard to the city’s garrison.

Messengers soon interrupted the banquet where the city’s commander was feasting with the chieftains. After the message was delivered, Barasbatzes arrested the chiefs and surrounded the Arab camp with his own troops. He had his soldiers methodically pry open the one thousand treasure chests. In each container, the soldiers supposedly found a fully geared Arab warrior waiting to be smuggled into the city. If the Byzantine commander had let the treasure chests into his city, these hidden Arabian warriors were supposedly going to break out of their boxes at night and slaughter the garrison. Instead, according to the tale, an Armenian beggar foiled the plot and the Arabian soldiers were the ones who were massacred.

After each container was emptied of its heavily-armed inhabitant, Barasbatzes confronted the detained chieftains. He then executed eleven of the twelve chieftains. The last chieftain was said to have been released, but only after he was mutilated by having his hands, nose and ears amputated.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (A caravan outside of the city of Morocco, by Edwin Lord Weeks  (1849–1903), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• John Skylitzes. A Synopsis of Byzantine History: 811-1057, translated by John Wortley. Original text c. 11^th or early 12^th century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

The Failed Expedition Into Arabia By The Roman Governor, Aelius Gallus

A man known as Aelius Gallus was appointed as Prefect of Egypt around 26 BCE during the reign of Augustus. Shortly after his appointment, the prefect, with the blessing of Augustus, launched an invasion into southwestern Arabia (near modern Yemen), known at the time as Arabia Felix. The Romans coveted the region for its rich supply of spice and incense. In a spirit similar to future explorers who sailed in search of El Dorado, an army of Romans led by Aelius Gallus marched into Arabia, driven by visions of wealth and glory. The exact date of this expedition is still debated, but it is believed to have taken about two years, likely either from 26-25 BCE or 25-24 BCE.

Aelius Gallus and his army did not wander blindly into Arabia—they were sensible enough to find a guide named Syllaeus, a Nabataean Arab from the region of Petra. Thousands of Roman soldiers followed Syllaeus for months through the most inhospitable and dry lands of the Arabian Peninsula. In these hot and parched conditions, the army quickly began to run out of supplies, especially water, and they failed to scavenge enough from the landscape to replenish their stocks. By the time the unfortunate Romans discovered that Syllaeus was deliberately leading the army on long routes through waterless-regions, it was too late—the army was thoroughly dehydrated and infected with disease.

Despite Syllaeus’ effective sabotage, Aelius Gallus supposedly dragged his troops a fair distance into southern Arabia. According to ancient sources such as Strabo, Cassius Dio and Pliny, the army of Aelius Gallus harassed several towns and cities within Arabia, and possibly even reached as far as Marib, or even Aden (in modern Yemen). Nevertheless, the poor condition of the speedily deteriorating army forced the Romans to retreat back to their safety and supplies in Egypt. In the end, the costly expedition was little more than a deadly scouting mission.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae- A Roman Legion (from Trajan's Column), c. 16th century, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Roman History (Book 53, chapter 29) by Cassius Dio, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Classics, 1987.  
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabia-Felix#ref231404 
• http://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/aelius-gallus-attempts-conquest-arabia-and-reaches-limits-roman-power  
• https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-studies/article/chronology-of-the-campaigns-of-aelius-gallus-and-c-petronius/2D7C9EC8E96C8337EB910C25117EAF79 
• http://classics.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-100?product=orecla#acrefore-9780199381135-e-100  
• https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/g/gaius_aelius_gallus.html