History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5Gibbon, Edward
History
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5
Gibbon, Edward
Byzantine Empire -- History -- To 527; Rome -- History -- Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.
that himself, and each of the Gothic nobles, shall annually pay
one piece of gold, four measures of wheat, as many of barley,
with a certain proportion of honey, oil, and vinegar; and that
each of their vassals shall be taxed at one moiety of the said
imposition. Given the fourth of Regeb, in the year of the Hegira
ninety-four, and subscribed with the names of four Mussulman
witnesses.” 186 Theodemir and his subjects were treated with
uncommon lenity; but the rate of tribute appears to have
fluctuated from a tenth to a fifth, according to the submission
or obstinacy of the Christians. 187 In this revolution, many
partial calamities were inflicted by the carnal or religious
passions of the enthusiasts: some churches were profaned by the
new worship: some relics or images were confounded with idols:
the rebels were put to the sword; and one town (an obscure place
between Cordova and Seville) was razed to its foundations. Yet if
we compare the invasion of Spain by the Goths, or its recovery by
the kings of Castile and Arragon, we must applaud the moderation
and discipline of the Arabian conquerors.
183 (return) [ The honorable relics of the Cantabrian war (Dion
Cassius, l. liii p. 720) were planted in this metropolis of
Lusitania, perhaps of Spain, (submittit cui tota suos Hispania
fasces.) Nonius (Hispania, c. 31, p. 106-110) enumerates the
ancient structures, but concludes with a sigh: Urbs haec olim
nobilissima ad magnam incolarum infrequentiam delapsa est, et
praeter priscae claritatis ruinas nihil ostendit.]
184 (return) [ Both the interpreters of Novairi, De Guignes
(Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 349) and Cardonne, (Hist. de
l’Afrique et de l’Espagne, tom. i. p. 93, 94, 104, 135,) lead
Musa into the Narbonnese Gaul. But I find no mention of this
enterprise, either in Roderic of Toledo, or the Mss. of the
Escurial, and the invasion of the Saracens is postponed by a
French chronicle till the ixth year after the conquest of Spain,
A.D. 721, (Pagi, Critica, tom. iii. p. 177, 195. Historians of
France, tom. iii.) I much question whether Musa ever passed the
Pyrenees.]
185 (return) [ Four hundred years after Theodemir, his
territories of Murcia and Carthagena retain in the Nubian
geographer Edrisi (p, 154, 161) the name of Tadmir, (D’Anville,
Etats de l’Europe, p. 156. Pagi, tom. iii. p. 174.) In the
present decay of Spanish agriculture, Mr. Swinburne (Travels into
Spain, p. 119) surveyed with pleasure the delicious valley from
Murcia to Orihuela, four leagues and a half of the finest corn
pulse, lucerne, oranges, &c.]
1851 (return) [ Gibbon has made eight cities: in Conde’s
translation Bigera does not appear.—M.]
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