e Greeks. After the revolt of Arabia and
Persia, the house of Ommiyah was reduced to the kingdoms of Syria
and Egypt: their distress and fear enforced their compliance with the
pressing demands of the Christians; and the tribute was increased to
a slave, a horse, and a thousand pieces of gold, for each of the three
hundred and sixty-five days of the solar year. But as soon as the empire
was again united by the arms and policy of Abdalmalek, he disclaimed
a badge of servitude not less injurious to his conscience than to his
pride; he discontinued the payment of the tribute; and the resentment
of the Greeks was disabled from action by the mad tyranny of the second
Justinian, the just rebellion of his subjects, and the frequent change
of his antagonists and successors. Till the reign of Abdalmalek, the
Saracens had been content with the free possession of the Persian and
Roman treasures, in the coins of Chosroes and Caesar. By the command of
that caliph, a national mint was established, both for silver and gold,
and the inscription of the Dinar, though it might be censured by some
timorous casuists, proclaimed the unity of the God of Mahomet. Under
the reign of the caliph Walid, the Greek language and characters were
excluded from the accounts of the public revenue. If this change was
productive of the invention or familiar use of our present numerals, the
Arabic or Indian ciphers, as they are commonly styled, a regulation
of office has promoted the most important discoveries of arithmetic,
algebra, and the mathematical sciences.

Whilst the caliph Walid sat idle on the throne of Damascus, whilst his
lieutenants achieved the conquest of Transoxiana and Spain, a third army
of Saracens overspread the provinces of Asia Minor, and approached the
borders of the Byzantine capital. But the attempt and disgrace of
the second siege was reserved for his brother Soliman, whose ambition
appears to have been quickened by a more active and martial spirit. In
the revolutions of the Greek empire, after the tyrant Justinian had been
punished and avenged, an humble secretary, Anastasius or Artemius, was
promoted by chance or merit to the vacant purple. He was alarmed by
the sound of war; and his ambassador returned from Damascus with the
tremendous news, that the Saracens were preparing an armament by sea and
land, such as would transcend the experience of the past, or the belief
of the present age. The precautions of Anastasius were not unw