mediately to that island and conquer it. But the Roman ambassadors telling him that they were commanded to put him in possession of it by fair means and not by force, he dismissed his army, and returned to Libya, while one of the ambassadors proceeded to Alexandria. Their design was to bring the two brothers to an interview on the frontiers of their dominions, and there to settle matters amicably. But the ambassador who went to Alexandria, found Philometor very averse from compliance with the decree of the senate. He put off the ambassador so long, that Physcón sent the other also to Alexandria, hoping that the joint persuasions of the two would induce Philometor to comply. But the king, after entertaining them at an immense charge for forty days, at last refused to submit, and told the ambassadors that he was resolved to adhere to the first treaty. With this answer the Roman ambassadors departed, and were followed by others from the two brothers. The senate, however, not only confirmed their decree in favor of Physcon, but renounced the .liance with Philometor, and commanded his ambassador to leave the city in five days. In the mean time the inhabitants of Cyrene having neard unfavorable accounts of Physcon's behaviour, during the short time he reigned in Alexandria, conceived so strong an aversion against him, that they resolved to keep him out of their country by force of arms. On receiving intelligence of this resolution, Physcon dropped all thoughts of Cyprus for the present, and hastened with all his forces to Cyrene, where he soon established himself in the kingdom. His vicious and tyrannical conduct, however, increased the aversion of the Cyrenians so much, that some of them, entering into a conspiracy against him, fell upon him one night as he was returning to his palace, wounded him in several places, and left him for dead on the spot. This he laid to the charge of his brother Philometor; and, as soon as he was recovered, took another voyage to Rome. Here he made his complaints to the senate, and showed them the scars of his wounds, accusing his brother of having employed assassins to murder him. Though Philometor was known to be a man of a most humane and mild disposition, and therefore very unlikely to have been concerned in so black an attempt, yet the senate, being offended at his refusing to submit to their decree concerning Cyprus, hearkened to this false accusation, and not only refused to hear what his ambassadors had to say, but ordered them immediately to depart from the city. At the same time they appointed five commissioners to conduct Physcon into Cyprus, and put him in possession of that island, enjoining all their allies in those parts to supply him with forces. Physcon having thus got together an army, which seemed to be sufficient for the accomplishment of his design, landed in Cyprus; but, being there encountered by Philometor in person, he was entirely defeated, and obliged to shelter himself in the city called Lapitho. Here he was closely besieged, and at last obliged to surrender. Every one now expected that Physcon would have been treated as he deserved; but his brother, instead of punishing, restored him to the government of Libya and Cyrene, adding some other territories instead of the island of Cyprus, and promising him his daughter in marriage. Thus an end was put to the war between the two brothers, for the Romans were ashamed any longer to oppose a prince who had given such a signal instance of his justice and clemency. On his return to Alexandria, Philometor appointed one Archias governor of Cyprus. But he, soon after the king's departure, agreed with Demetrius, king of Syria, to betray the island to him for 500 talents. The treachery was discovered before it took effect; and the traitor, to avoid the punishment due to his crime, killed himself. Ptolemy, being offended with Demetrius for this attempt on Cyprus, joined Attalus, king of Pergamus, and Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, in setting up a pretender to the crown of Syria. This was Alexander Balas, to whom he even gave his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, after he had placed him on the throne of Syria. But he, notwithstanding these and many other favors, being suspected of having entered into a plot against his benefactor, Ptolemy became his greatest enemy; and, marching against him, routed his army in the neighbourhood of Antioch. He did not, however, long enjoy his victory; for he died in a few days after the engagement, of the wounds he had received. This On the death of Philometor, Cleopatra, the queen, designed to secure the throne for her son. But some of the principal nobility declaring for Physcon, a civil war was about to ensue, when matters were compromised, on condition that Physcon should marry Cleopatra, that he should reign jointly with her during his life, and declare her son by Philometor, heir to the crown. These terms were no sooner agreed upon than Physcon married Cleopatra, and on the very day of the nuptials, murdered her son in her arms. was only a prelude to the cruelties which he afterwards committed on his subjects. He first put to death all those who had shown any concern for the murder of the young prince. He then wreaked his fury on the Jews, whom he treated more like slaves than subjects, on account of their having favored the cause of Cleopatra. His own people were treated with little more ceremony. Numbers of them were every day put to death for the smallest faults, and often for no fault at all, but merely to gratify his inhuman temper. His cruelty towards the Alexandrians is related under the article ALEXAN DRIA. He divorced his queen, who was also his sister, and married her daughter, who was likewise called Cleopatra, and whom he had previously ravished. In short, his behaviour was so exceedingly wicked, that it soon became quite intolerable to his subjects; and he was obliged to fly to the island of Cyprus with his new queen, and Memphitis, a son he had by her mother. On the flight of the king, the divorced queen was placed on the throne by the Alexandrians; but Physcon, fearing lest a son whom he had left behind should be appointed king, sent for him into Cyprus, and caused him to be assassinated as soon as he landed. This provoked the people against him to such a degree, that they pulled down and dashed to pieces all the statues which had been erected to him in Alexandria. This the tyrant supposed to have been done at the instigation of the queen, and therefore resolved to revenge it on her by killing his own son whom he had by her. He therefore, without the least remorse, caused the young prince's throat to be cut; and, having put his mangled limbs into a box, sent them as a present to his mother Cleopatra. The messenger with whom this box was sent, was one of his guards. He was ordered to wait till the queen's birth day, which approached, and was to be celebrated with extraordinary pomp; and, in the midst of the general rejoicing, he was to deliver the present. The horror and detestation occasioned by this unparalleled piece of barbarity cannot be expressed. An army was soon raised, and the command of it given to one Marsyas, whom the queen had appointed general, and enjoined to take all the necessary steps for the defence of the country. On the other hand, Physcon having hired a numerous body of mercenaries, sent them, under the command of Hegelochus, against the Egyptians. The two armies met on the frontiers of Egypt, and a bloody battle ensued, wherein, however, the Egyptians were entirely defeated, and Marsyas was taken prisoner. Every one expected that the captive general would have been put to death with the severest torments; but Physcon, perceiving that his cruelties only exasperated the people, resolved to try whether he could regain their affections by lenity; and therefore pardoned Marsyas, and set him at liberty. Cleopatra, being greatly distressed by this overthrow, demanded assistance from Demetrius, king of Syria, who had married her eldest daughter by Philometor, promising him the crown of Egypt for his reward. Demetrius accepted the proposal, marched with all his forces into Egypt, and laid siege to Pelusium. But he being no less hated in Syria than Physcon was in Egypt, the people of Antioch, taking advantage of his absence, revolted against him, and were joined by most of the other cities in Syria. Thus Demetrius was obliged to return; and Cleopatra, being now in no condition to oppose Physcon, fled to Ptolemais, where her daughter the queen of Syria resided. Physcon was then restored to the throne of Egypt, which, notwithstauding his crimes, he enjoyed till his death, which happened at Alexandria, in the twentyninth year of his reign, and sixty-seventh of his age. To Physcon succeeded Ptolemy Lathyrus, about A.A.C. 122; but he had not reigned long before his mother, finding that he would not be entirely governed by her, instigated the Alexandrians, to drive him from the throne, and place on it his youngest brother, Alexander. Lathyrus, after this, was obliged to content himself with the government of Cyprus, which he was permitted to enjoy in quiet. Ptolemy Alexander, in the mean time, finding he was to have only the shadow of sovereignty, and that his mother Cleopatra was to have all the power, stole away privately from Alexandria. The queen used every artifice to bring him back, well knowing that the Alexandrians would never suffer her to reign alone. At last her son yielded to her intreaties; but soon after, understanding that she had hired assassins to despatch him, he caused her to be murdered. The death of the queen was no sooner known to the Alexandrians, than, disdaining to be commanded by a parricide, they drove out Alexander, and recalled Lathyrus. The deposed prince for some time led a rambling life in the island of Cos, but, having got together some ships, he, the next year, attempted to return into Egypt. But being met by Tyrrhus, Lathyrus's admiral, he was defeated, and obliged to fly to Myra in Lycia. From Myra he steered towards Cyprus, hoping that the inhabitants would place him on the throne, instead of his brother. But Charcas, another of Lathyrus's admirals, coming up with him while he was ready to land, an engagement ensued, in which Alexander's fleet was dispersed, and himself killed. During these disturbances, Apion, king of Cyrenaica, the son of Ptolemy Physcon by a concubine, having maintained peace and tranquillity in his dominions during a reign of twenty-one years, died, and by his will left his kingdom to the Romans: and thus the Egyptian empire was again considerably reduced and circumscribed. Lathyrus, being now delivered from all competitors, turned his arms against the city of Thebes, which had revolted from him. He marched in person against the rebels; and, having defeated them in a pitched battle, laid close siege to their city. The inhabitants defended themselves with great resolution for three years, but were at last obliged to submit, and the city was given up to be plundered by the soldiers. They left every where the most melancholy monuments of their avarice and cruelty; so that Thebes, which till that time had been one of the most wealthy cities of Egypt, was now reduced so low that it never afterwards made any figure. About A.A.C. 76, Ptolemy Lathyrus was succeeded by Alexander II. the son of Ptolemy Alexander Ï. He was first sent by Cleopatra into the island of Cos, with a great sum of money, and all her jewels, as thinking that the safest place where they could be kept. When Mithridates, king of Pontus, made himself master of that island, the inhabitants delivered up to him the young Egyptian prince, together with all the treasures. Mithridates gave him an education suitable to his birth; but he, not thinking himself safe with a prince who had shed the blood of his own children, fled to the camp of Sylla, the Roman dictator, who was then making war in Asia. From that time he lived in the family of the Roman general, till news was brought to Rome of the death of Lathyrus. Sylla then sent him to Egypt to take possession of the throne. But, before his arrival, the Alexandrians had chosen Cleopatra for their sovereign. To compromise matters, however, it was agreed that Alexander should marry her, and take her for his partner on the throne. This was accordingly done; but nineteen days after the marriage he murdered her, and for fifteen years afterwards showed himself such a monster of wickedness, that a general insurrection at last ensued among his subjects, and he was obliged to fly to Pompey the Great, who was then carrying on the war against Mithridates king of Pontus. But Pompey refusing to concern himself in the matter, he retired to Tyre, where he died a few months after. Alexander, while he was in Tyre, had sent ambassadors to Rome to influence the senate in his favor. But, dying before the negociation was finished, he made over by his last will all his rights to the Roman people, declaring them heirs to his kingdom: not out of any affection to the republic, but with a view to raise disputes between the Romans, and his rival Auletes, whom the Egyptrans had placed on the throne. The will was brought to Rome, where it occasioned warm debates. Some were for taking immediate possession of Egypt. Others thought no notice should be taken of such a will, because Alexander had no right to dispose of his dominions in prejudice to his successor, and to exclude from the crown those who were of the royal blood of Egypt. Cicero represented, that such a notorious imposition would debase the majesty of the Roman people, and involve them in endless wars and disputes; that the fruitful fields of Egypt would be a strong temptation to the avarice of the people, who would insist on their being divided among them; and lastly, that by this ineans the bloody quarrels about the Agrarian laws would be revived. These reasons had some weight with the senate; but what chiefly prevented them from seizing on Egypt at this time was, that they had lately taken possession of the kingdom of Bithynia, in virtue of the will of Nicomedes; and of Cyrene and Lybia, by the will of Apion. They thought, therefore, that if they should, on the like pretence, take possession of the kingdom of Egypt, this might too much expose their design of setting up a kind of universal empire, and occasion a formidable combination against them. Ptolemy Auletes, who was now raised to the throne by the Egyptians, is said to have surpassed all the kings that went before him in the effeminacy of his manners. The surname Auletes, which signifies the fluteplayer, was given him because he piqued himself on his skill in performing upon that instrument, and was not ashamed even to contend for the prize in the public games. He took great pleasure in imitating the manners of the bacchanals; dancing in a female dress, and in the same measures that they used during the solemnity of their god; and hence he had the surname of the New Dionysius, or Bacchus. As his title to the crown was disputable, he being only the son of a concubine, his first care was to get himself acknowledged by the Romans, and declared their ally. This was obtained by applying to Julius Caesar, who was at that time consul, and immensely in debt. Cæsar being glad of such an opportunity of raising money, made the king of Egypt pay pretty dear for his alliance: 6000 talents, a sum equal to £1,162,500 sterling were given partly to Cæsar himself, and partly to Pompey, whose interest was necessary for obtaining the consent of the people. Though the revenues of Egypt amounted to twice this sum, yet Auletes found it impossible for him to raise it without severely taxing his subjects. This occasioned a general discontent; and, while the people were almost ready to take up arms, a mest unjust decree passed at Rome for seizing the island of Cyprus. When the Alexandrians heard of this, they pressed Auletes to demand that island as an ancient appendage of Egypt; and, in case of a refusal, to declare war against that haughty and imperious people, who they now saw, though too late, aimed at nothing less than the sovereignty of the world. With this request the king refused to comply; upon which his subjects, already provoked beyond measure at the taxes with which they were loaded, flew to arms, and surrounded the palace. The king had the good fortune to escape their fury, and immediately leaving Alexandria, set sail for Rome. In his way to that city, he landed on the island of Rhodes, where the celebrated Cato at that time was, being on his way to Cyprus, to put the unjust decree of the senate into execution. Auletes, desirous to confer with a man of his prudence, immediately sent to acquaint him with his arrival. He imagined that, upon this notice, Cato would instantly come and wait upon him; but the proud Roman told the messenger, that if the king of Egypt had any thing to say to Cato, he might come to his house. Accordingly the king went to pay him a visit; but was received with very little ceremony, Cato not even vouchsafing to rise out of his seat when he came into his presence. When Auletes had laid his affairs before this haughty republican, he was blamed by him for leaving Egypt, the richest kingdom in the world, in order to expose himself, as he said, to the indignities he would meet with at Rome. There, Cato told him, nothing was in request but wealth and grandeur. All the riches of Egypt, he said, would not be sufficient to satisfy the avarice of the leading men in Rome. He, therefore, advised him to return to Egypt; and strive, by a more equitable conduct, to regain the affections of his people. He even offered to reconduct him thither, and employ his good offices in his behalf. But though Ptolemy was sensible of the propriety of this advice, the friends he had with him dissuaded him from following it, and accordingly he set out for Rome. On his arrival, he found, to his great concern, that Cæsar, in whom he confided, was then in Gaul. He was received, however, by Pompey with great kindness. He assigned him an apartment in his own house, and omitted nothing that lay in his power to serve him. Notwithstanding this protection, however, the Egyptian monarch was obliged to go from house to house like a private person, soliciting the votes of the senators. After he had spent immense treasures in procuring a strong party, he was at last permitted to lay his complaints before the senate; but, at the same time, there arrived an embassy from the Alexandrians, consisting of 100 citizens, to acquaint the senate with the reasons of their revolt. When Auletes first set out for Rome, the Alexandrians, not knowing what was become of him, placed on the throne his daughter Berenice; and sent an embassy into Syria to Antiochus Asiaticus, inviting him into Egypt to marry the queen, and reign in partnership with her. Antiochus was dead before the arrival of the ambassadors; upon which, the same proposal was made to his brother Seleucus, who readily accepted it. This Seleucus is described by Strabo as monstrously deformed in body, and still more so in mind. The Egyptians nicknamed him Cybiosactes, or the Scullion. He was scarcely on the throne, when he gave a signal instance of his avaricious temper. Ptolemy I. had caused the body of Alexander the Great to be deposited in a coffin of massy gold. This the king seized upon; and thus provoked his wife Berenice to such a degree, that she caused him to be murdered. She then married one Archelaus, the high priest of Comana in Pontus, who pretended to be the son of Mithridates the Great; but was, in fact, only the son of that monarch's general. Auletes was not a little alarmed on hearing of these transactions, especially when the ambassadors arrived, who he feared would overturn all the schemes he had labored so much to bring about. The embassy was headed by one Dion, a celebrated academic philosopher, who had many powerful friends at Rome. But Ptolemy found means to get both him and most of his followers assassinated; and this intimidated the rest to such a degree, that they durst not execute their commission, or, for some time, even demand justice for the murder of their colleagues. The report of so many murders, however, at last spread a general alarm. Auletes, sure of the protection of Pompey, did not scruple to own himself the perpetrator of them. Nay, though an action was commenced against one Ascitius, an assassin, who had stabbed Dion, the chief of the embassy above mentioned, and the crime was fully proved, yet he was acquitted by the venal judges, who had all been bribed by Ptolemy. In a short time, the senate passed a decree, by which it was enacted, that the king of Egypt should be restored by force of arms. All the great men in Rome were ambitious of this commission; which, they well knew, would be attended with immense profit. Their contests, on this occasion, took up a considerable time; but at last a prophecy of the Sybil was found out, which forbade the assisting an Egyptian monarch with an army. Ptolemy, therefore, wearied out with so long a delay, retired from Rome, where he had made himself generally odious, to the temple of Diana, at Ephesus, there to wait the decision of his fate. Here he remained a considerable time; but as he saw that the senate came to no resolution, though he solicited them by letters, he at last, by Pompey's advice, applied to Gabinius, the proconsul of Syria, a man of most infamous character, and ready to undertake any thing for money. Therefore, though it was contrary to an express law, for any governor to leave his province, without positive orders from the senate and people of Rome, Gabinius ventured to transgress this law, upon condition of being well paid. As a recompense for his, trouble, he demanded 10,000 talents; that is, £1,937,500 sterling; and Ptolemy, glad to be restored on any terms, agreed to pay that sum: but Gabinius would not stir till he had received one-half of it. This obliged the king to borrow it from a Roman knight, named Caius Rabirius Posthumus; Pompey interposing his credit and authority for the repayment both of capital and interest. Gabinius now set out for Egypt, attended by the famous Marc Anthony, 'who at this time served in the army under him. He was met by Archelaus, who, since the departure of Auletes, had reigned in Egypt jointly with Berenice, at the head of a numerous army. In the first engagement the Egyptians were utterly defeated, and Archelaus taken prisoner. Thus Gabinius might have put an end to the war at once; but his avarice prompted him to dismiss Archelaus, on his paying a considerable ransom; after which, pretending that he had made his escape, fresh sums were demanded from Ptolemy for defraying the expenses of the war. For these Ptolemy was again obliged to apply to Rabirius, who would only supply what he wanted at a very high interest. At last, Archelaus was defeated and killed, and Ptolemy again became master of all Egypt. No sooner was he firmly settled on the throne, than he put to death his daughter Berenice, and cruelly oppressed his people in order to procure the money he had been obliged to borrow while in exile. These oppressions and exactions the cowardly Egyptians bore with great patience, being intimidated by the garrison which Gabinius had left in Alexandria. But neither the fear of the Romans, nor the authority of Ptolemy, could make them put up with an affront offered to their religion. A Roman soldier happened to kill a cat, an animal held sacred, and even worshipped by the Egyptians; and, no sooner was this sacrilege known, than the Alexandrians made a general insurrection, and, gathering together in crowds, made their way through the Roman guards, dragged the soldier out of his house, and, in spite of all opposition, tore him in pieces. Notwithstanding the heavy taxes, which Ptolemy laid on his people, it does not appear that he had any design of paying his debts. Rabirius, who, as we have already observed, had lent him immense sums, finding that the king affected delays, took a voyage to Egypt, to expostulate with him in person. Ptolemy excused himself on account of the bad state of his finances, but offered to make Rabirius collector-general of his revenues, that he might, in that employment, pay himself, an offer which Rabirius gladly accepted. Ptolemy, soon after, upon some frivolous pretence or other, caused him and all his servants, to be closely confined. This base conduct exasperated Pompey as much as Rabirius; for the former had been in a manner security for the debt, as the money had been lent at his request, and the business transacted at a countryhouse of his near Alba. However, as Rabirius had reason to fear still worse treatment, he took the first opportunity of making his escape. But To complete his misfortunes, he was prosecuted at Rome as soon as he returned, 1. For having enabled Ptolemy to corrupt the senate with sums lent him for that purpose. 2. For having debased and dishonored the character of a Roman knight, by farming the revenues, and becoming the servant of a foreign prince, 3. For having been an accomplice with Gabinius, and sharing with him the 10,000 talents, which that proconsul had received for his Egyptian expedition. By the eloquence of Cicero he was acquitted; and one of the best orations to be found in the writings of that author, was composed on this occasion. Gabinius was also prosecuted; and, as Cicero spoke against him, he very narrowly escaped death. He was, however, condemned to perpetual banishment, after having been stripped of all he was worth; and lived in exile till the time of the civil wars, when he was recalled by Cæsar, in whose service he lost his life. Auletes enjoyed the throne of Egypt about four years after his re-establishment; and, at his death, left his children, a son and two daughters, under the tuition of the Roman people. The name of the son was Ptolemy, those of the daughters were Cleopatra and Arsinoe. This was the Cleopatra who afterwards became so famous, and had so great a share in the civil wars of Rome. As the transactions of that queen's reign, however, are so closely connected with the affairs of Rome, that they cannot be well understood without knowing the situation of the Romans at that time, we refer for an account of them to the history of ROME. With Cleopatra ended the family of Ptolemy Lagus, the founder of the Grecian empire in Egypt, after it had held that country in subjection for the space of 294 years. Egypt now became a province of the Roman empire, and continued subject to the emperors of Rome or Constantinople. In the year 642 it was conquered by the Arabs under Amru Ebn Al As, one of the generals of the khalif Omar. In 889 an independent government was set up in this kingdom by Ahmed Ebn Tolun, who rebelled against Al Mokhadi, khalif of Bagdad. It continued to be governed by him and his successors for twenty-seven years, when it was again reduced by Al Moctasi khalif of Bagdad. In about thirty years after, we find it again an independent state, being joined with Syria under Mahomet Ebn Taj, who had been appointed governor of these provinces. This government, however, was also but short-lived; for in 968 it was conquered by Jawhar, one of the generals of Moez Ledinillah, the Fatemite khalif of Cairwan in Barbary. No sooner was Moez informed of the success of his general, than he prepared with all expedition to go and take possession of his new conquest. Accordingly, he ordered all the vast quantities of gold which he and his predecessors had amassed, to be cast into ingots of the size and figure of mill-stones used in hand-mills, and conveyed on camels' backs into Egypt. To show that he was fully determined to abandon his dominions in Barbary, and to make Egypt the royal residence, he caused the remains of the three former princes of his race to be removed from Cairwan in Barbary, and to be deposited in a stately mosque erected on purpose in the city of Cairo: the most effectual perhaps of all methods to induce his successors to reside in Egypt also, as it was become an established custom among those princes, frequently to pay their respectful visits to the tombs of their ancestors. To establish himself the more effectually in his new dominions, Moez suppressed the usual prayers made in the mosques for the khalifs of Bagdad, and substituted his own name in their stead. This was complied with, not only in Egypt and Syria, but even throughout all Arabia, the city of Mecca alone excepted. The consequence was, a schism in the Mahommedan faith, which continued upwards of 200 years, and was attended with continual anathemas, and sometimes destructive wars between the khalifs of Bagdad and those of Egypt. Having fully established himself in his kingdom, he died in the forty-fifth year of his age, three years after he had left his dominions in Barbary; and was succeeded by his son Abu Al Mansur Barar, surnamed Aziz Billah. The new khalif succeeded at the age of twenty-one; and committed the management of affairs entirely to the care of Jawhar, his father's long experienced general and prime minister. In 978 he sent this famous warrior to drive out Al Aftekin, the emir of Damascus. The Egyptian general accordingly undertook the siege of that place; but, at the end of two months, was obliged to raise it, on the approach of an army of Karmatians under the command of Al Hakem. As Jawhar was not strong enough to venture an engagement with these Karmatians, it was impossible for him to hinder them from effecting a junction with the forces of Al Aftekin. He therefore retreated, or rather fied towards Egypt with the utmost expedition; but, being overtaken by the two confederate armies, was soon reduced to the last extremity, He was, however, permitted to resume his march, on condition that he passed under Al Aftekin's sword and Al Hakem's lance; and to this disgraceful condition Jawhar found himself obliged to submit. On his arrival in Egypt, he immediately advised Al Aziz to undertake an expedition in person into the east, against the combined army of the Turks, Karmatians, and Damascenes, under the command of Al Aftekin and Al Hakem. The khalif followed his advice; and advancing against his enemies overthrew them with great slaughter; Al Aftekin himself escaped out of the battle, but was afterwards taken and brought to Al Aziz who made him his chamberlain, and treated him with great kindness. Jawhar, in the mean time, was disgraced on account of his bad success; and in this disgrace he continued till his death, which happened A. D. 990, and in the year of the Hegira 381. This year Al Aziz having received advice of the death of Saadoddawla, prince of Aleppo, sent a formidable army under the command of a general named Manjubekin, to reduce that place. Lulu, who had been appointed guardian to Saadoddawla's son, finding himself pressed by the Egyptians, who carried on the siege with great vigor, demanded assistance from the Greek emperor. Accordingly, he ordered a body of troops to advance to Lulu's relief, when Manjubekin, being informed of their approach, immediately raised the siege, and advanced to give them battle. An obstinate engagement ensued, in which the Greeks were at last overthrown with great slaughter. After this victory, Manjubekin pushed on the siege of Aleppo very briskly; but finding the place capable of defending itself much longer than he at first imagined, and his provisions beginning to fail, he raised the siege. The khalif upon this sent him a very threatening letter and commanded him to return before Aleppo |