CHAP. Conquest of the Abyssi nians, A. D. 522. Justinian had been reproached for his alliance with the Ethiopians, as if he attempted to introduce a people of savage negroes into the system of civilized society. But the friends of the Roman empire, the Axumites; or Abyssinians, may be always distinguished from the original natives of Africa. The hand of nature has flattened the noses of the negroes, covered their heads with shaggy wool, and tinged their skin with inherent and indelible blackness. But the olive complexion of the Abyssinians, their hair, shape, and features, distinctly mark them as a colony of Arabs; and this descent is confirmed by the resemblance of language and manners, the report of an ancient emigration, and the narrow interval between the shores of the Red Sea. Christianity had raised that nation above the level of African barbarism;93 their intercourse with Egypt, and the successors of Constantine, had communicated the rudiments of the arts and sciences; their vessels traded to the isle of Ceylon," and seven kingdoms obeyed the Negus or supreme prince of Abyssinia. The independence of the Homerites, who reigned in the rich and happy Arabia, was first violated by an Ethiopian conqueror: he drew his hereditary claim from the queen of Sheba," and his ambition was sanctified by religious zeal. The Jews, 92 See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, toma. iii. p. 449. This Arab cast of features and complexion, which has continued 3400 years (Ludolph. Hist. et Comment. Æthiopic. I. i. c. 4.) in the colony of Abyssinia, will justify the suspicion, that race, as well as climate, must have contributed to form the negroes of the adjacent and similar regions. 93 The Portuguese missionaries, Alvarez (Ramusio, tom. i. fol. 204. rect. 274. vers), Bermudez Purchas's Pilgrims, vol. ii. 1. v. c. 7. p. 1149.... 1188), Lobo (Relation, &c. par. M. le Grand, with xv. Dissertations. Paris, 1728), and Tellez (Relations de Thevenot, part iv.), could only relate of modern Abyssinnia what they had seen or invented. The erudition of Ludolphus (Hist. Ethiopica, Francofurt. 1681. Commentarius, 1691. Appendix, 1694), in twenty-five languages, could add little concerning its ancient history. Yet the fame of Caled, or Ellisthæus, the conqueror of Yemen, is celebrated in national songs and legends. 94 The negotiations of Justinian with the Axumites, or Ethiopians, are recorded by Procopius (Persic. I. i. c. 19, 20.) and John Malala (tom. ji. p. 163...165. 193....196). The historian of Antioch quotes the original narrative of the ambassador Nonnosus, of which Photius (Bibliot. cod. iii.) has preserved a curious extract. 95 The trade of the Axumites to the coast of India and Africa, and the isle of Ceylon, is curiously represented by Cosmas Indicopleustes (Topograph. Christian. 1. ii. p. 132. 138, 139, 140. I. xi. p. 338, 339). 96 Ludolph. Hist. et Comment. Æthiop. 1. ii. c. 3. powerful and active in exile, had seduced the mind of Dunaan, prince of the Homerites. They urged him to retaliate the persecution inflicted by the Imperial laws on their unfortunate brethren: some Roman merchants were injuriously treated: and several Christians of Negra97 were honoured with the crown of martyrdom.98 The churches of Arabia implored the protection of the Abyssinian monarch. The Negus passed the Red Sea with a fleet and army, deprived the Jewish proselyte of his kingdom and life, and extinguished a race of princes, who had ruled above two thousand years the sequestered region of myrrh and frankincense. The conqueror immediately announced the victory of the gospel, requested an orthodox patriarch, and so warmly professed his friendship to the Roman empire, that Justinian was flattered by the hope of diverting the silk-trade through the channel of Abyssinia, and of exciting the forces of Arabia against the Persian king. Nonnosus, descended from a family of ambassadors, was named by the emperor to execute this important commission. He wisely declined the shorter, but more dangerous, road through the sandy desarts of Nubia; ascended the Nile, embarked on the Red Sea, and safely landed at the African port of Adulis. From Adulis to the royal city of Axume is no more than fifty leagues, in a direct line; but the winding passes of the mountains detained the ambassador fifteen days; and as he traversed the forests, he saw, and vaguely computed, about five thousand wild elephants. The capital, according to his report, was large and populous; and the village of Axume is still conspicuous by the regal coronations, by the ruins of a Christian temple, and by sixteen or seventeen obelisks inscribed with Grecian characters." But 97 The city of Negra, or Nagʼran, in Yemen, is surrounded with palmtrees, and stands in the high-road between Saana the capital, and Mecca ; from the former ten, from the latter twenty days journey of a caravan of camels (Abulfeda, Descript. Arabiæ, p. 52). 98 The martyrdom of St. Arethas prince of Negra, and his three hundred and forty companions, is embellished in the legends of Metaphrastes and Nicephorus Callistus, copied by Baronius (A. D. 522, No. 22....66. A. D. 523, No 16....29), and refuted, with obscure diligence, by Basnage (Hist. des Juifs, tom. xii. 1. viii. c. ii. p. 333....348), who investigates the state of the Jews in Arabia and Ethiopia. 99 Alvarez (in Ramusio, tom. i. fol. 219 vers. 221 vers.) saw the CHAP. XLII. Their alli ance with Justinian, A. D. 533. CHAP. the Negus gave audience in the open field, seated on a lofty chariot, which was drawn by four elephants superbly caparisoned, and surrounded by his nobles and musicians. He was clad in a linen garment and cap, holding in his hand two javelins and a light shield; and, although his nakedness was imperfectly covered, he displayed the Barbaric pomp of gold chains, collars, and bracelets, richly adorned with pearls and precious stones. The ambassador of Justinian knelt; the Negus raised him from the ground, embraced Nonnosus, kissed the seal, perused the letter, accepted the Roman alliance, and brandishing his weapons, denounced implacable war against the worshippers of fire. But the proposal of the silk-trade was eluded; and notwithstanding the assurances, and perhaps the wishes, of the Abyssinians, these hostile menaces evaporated without effect. The Homerites were unwilling to abandon their aromatic groves, to explore a sandy desart, and to encounter, after all their fatigues, a formidable nation from whom they had never received any personal injuries. Instead of enlarging his conquests, the king of Ethiopia was incapable of defending his possessions. Abrahah, the slave of a Roman merchant of Adulis, assumed the sceptre of the Homerites; the troops of Africa were seduced by the luxury of the climate; and Justinian solicited the friendship of the usurper, who honoured, with a slight tribute, the supremacy of his prince. After a long series of prosperity, the power of Abrahah was overthrown before the gates of Mecca; his children were despoiled by the Persian conqueror; and the Æthiopians were finally expelled from the continent of Asia. This narrative of obscure and remote events is not foreign to the decline and fall of the Roman empire. If a Christian power had been maintained in Arabia, Mahomet must have been crushed in his cradle, and Abyssinia would have prevented a revolution which has changed the civil and religious state of the world.100 flourishing state of Axume in the year 1520....luogo molto buono e grande. It was ruined in the same century by the Turkish invasion. No more than one hundred houses remain; but the memory of its past greatness is preserved by the regal coronation (Ludolph. Hist. et Comment. 1. i c. 11). 100 The revolutions of Yeinen in the sixth century must be collected CHAP. XLIII. Rebellions of Africa....Restoration of the Gothic Kingdom by Totila....Loss and Recovery of Rome....Final Conquest of Italy by Narses....Extinction of the Ostrogoths ....Defeat of the Franks and Alemanni....Last Victory, Disgrace, and Death of Belisarius....Death and Character of Justinian....Comet, Earthquakes, and Plague. THE review of the nations from the Danube to the Nile has exposed on every side the weakness of the Romans; and our wonder is reasonably excited that they should presume to enlarge an empire, whose ancient limits they were incapable of defending. But the wars, the conquests, and the triumphs, of Justinian, are the feeble and pernicious efforts of old age, which exhaust the remains of strength, and accelerate the decay of the powers of life. He exulted in the glorious act of restoring Africa and Italy to the republic; but the calamities. which followed the departure of Belisarius betrayed the impotence of the conqueror, and accomplished the ruin of those unfortunate countries. CHAP. The trou Africa, A. D. From his new acquisitions, Justinian expected that his avarice, as well as pride, should be richly gratified. bles of A rapacious minister of the finances closely pursued the footsteps of Belisarius; and as the old registers of tribute 535....545. had been burnt by the Vandals, he indulged his fancy in a liberal calculation and arbitrary assessment of the wealth of Africa. The increase of taxes, which were drawn from Procopius (Persic. 1. i. c. 19, 20). Theophanes Byzant. (apud Phot. cod. Ixiii. p. 80). St. Theophanes (in Chronograph. p. 144, 145. 188, 189. 206, 207 who is full of strange blunders), Pocock (Specimen Hist. Arab. p. 62. 65). D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 12. 477), and Sale's Preliminary Discourse and Koran (c. 105). The revolt of Abrahah is mentioned by Procopius; and his fall, though clouded with miracles, is an historical fact. 1 For the troubles of Africa, I neither have nor desire another guide than Procopius, whose eye contemplated the image, and whose ear collected the reports, of the memorable events of his own times. In the second book of the Vandalic war he relates the revolt of Stozas (c. 14...24), the return of Belisarius (c. 15). the victory of Germanus (c. 16, 17, 18), the second administration of Solomon (c. 19, 20, 21), the government of Sergius (c. 22, 23), of Areobindus (c. 24), the tyranny and death of Gontharis (c. 25, 26, 27, 28.); nor can I discern any symptoms of flattery or in levolence in his various portraits. CHAP. away by a distant sovereign, and a general resumption of |