[
A.M. 6248, AD 755/6]
II
In this year, on 9 March, there occurred a considerable earthquake in
Palestine and Syria.II
a Theodore [I],
patriarch of Antioch, was exiled
because of the malice of the Arabs, having been accused of frequently
communicating Arab affairs by letter to the emperor Constantine. And
so,
Salim1
himself banished him to the land of Moab which was his
native country. The same Salim decreed that no new churches should
be built, that crosses should not be displayed and that Christians
should not discourse with Arabs on matters of religion. II He invaded the
Roman country
2 with a force of 80,000 and, when he had come to
Cappadocia, he heard that
Constantine was taking up arms against
him. Taking fright, he returned empty-handed without causing any
damage, except that he took a few Armenians who had joined him. II
b.
Footnotes
a Ps.-Dion. Chron. 63
records an earthquake in Mesopotamia on 3 Mar. AG 1067.
b Cf. Agapios, 278, with different details.
1 Salih b. 'All. He was governor of Egypt down to
AH 140 (757/8).
In AH 141 (758/9) he was appointed over Qinnasrin (Chalkis),
Emesa, and Damascus:
Tabari, Williams, i. 28, 31, 36, 44.
His measures against the Christians, including the patriarch of Antioch, would thus appear to date from 758/9.
2 Salih led two expeditions to rebuild Melitene, the first in
AH 138 (755/6),
the second the following year (which is probably the one meant here). On
the latter occasion he entered Byzantine territory by the
pass of Adata:
Tabari, Williams, i. 29, 32. Cf. Brooks, 'Abbasids', 733.
