In the midway between Merida and Toledo, the lieutenant of Musa saluted the vicegerent of the caliph, and conducted him to the palace of the Gothic kings. Their first interview was cold and formal; a rigid account was exacted of the treasures of Spain; the character of Tarik was exposed to suspicion and obloquy; and the hero was imprisoned, reviled, and ignominiously scourged by the hand, or the command, of Musa. Yet so strict was the discipline, so pure the zeal, or so tame the spirit, of the primitive Moslems, that after this public indignity, Tarik could serve and be trusted in the reduction of the Tarragonese province. A mosque was erected at Saragossa, by the liberality of the Koreish; the port of Barcelona was opened to the vessels of Syria; and the Goths were pursued beyond the Pyrenean Mountains into their Gallic province of Septimania or Languedoc. In the church of St. Mary at Carcassonne, Musa found, but it is improbable that he left, seven equestrian statues of massy silver; and from his term or column of Narbonne, he returned on his footsteps to the Galician and Lusitanian shores of the ocean. During the absence of the father, the son Abdul-Aziz chastised the insurgents of Seville, and reduced, from Malaga to Valencia, the seacoast of the Mediterranean.
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. 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 Aragon, we must applaud the moderation and discipline of the Arabian conquerors.
The exploits of Musa were performed in the evening of life, though he affected to disguise his age by colouring with a red powder the whiteness of his beard. But in the love of action and glory, his breast was still fired with the ardour of youth; and the possession of Spain was considered only as the first step to the monarchy of Europe. With a powerful armament by sea and land, he was preparing to repass the Pyrenees, to extinguish in Gaul and Italy the declining kingdoms of the Franks and Lombards, and to preach the unity of God on the altar of the Vatican. From thence subduing the Barbarians of Germany, he proposed to follow the course of the Danube from its source to the Euxine Sea, to overthrow the Greek or Roman Empire of Constantinople, and, returning from Europe to Asia, to unite his new acquisitions with Antioch and the provinces of Syria. But his vast enterprise, perhaps of easy execution, must have seemed extravagant to vulgar minds; and the visionary conqueror was soon reminded of his dependence and servitude.
The friends of Tarik had effectually stated his services and wrongs; at the court of Damascus, the proceedings of Musa were blamed, his intentions were suspected, and his delay in complying with the first invitation was chastised by a harsher and more peremptory summons. An intrepid messenger of the caliph entered his camp at Lugo in Galicia, and in the presence of the Saracens and Christians arrested the bridle of his horse. His own loyalty, or that of his troops, inculcated the duty of obedience; and his disgrace was alleviated by the recall of his rival, and the permission of investing with his two governments his two sons, Abdallah and Abdul-Aziz. His long triumph, from Ceuta to Damascus, displayed the spoils of Africa and the treasures of Spain; four hundred Gothic nobles, with gold coronets and girdles, were distinguished in his train; and the number of male and female captives, selected for their birth or beauty, was computed at eighteen, or even at thirty, thousand persons.
[713-722 A.D.]
Ten years after the conquest, a map of the province was presented to the caliph—the seas, the rivers, and the harbours, the inhabitants and cities, the climate, the soil, and the mineral productions of the earth. In the space of two centuries the gifts of nature were improved by the agriculture, the manufactures, and the commerce of an industrious people; and the effects of their diligence have been magnified by the idleness of their fancy. The first of the Omayyads who reigned in Spain solicited the support of the Christians; and, in his edict of peace and protection, he contents himself with a modest imposition of ten thousand ounces of gold, ten thousand pounds of silver, ten thousand horses, as many mules, one thousand cuirasses, with an equal number of helmets and lances. The most powerful of his successors derived from the same kingdom the annual tribute of twelve millions and forty-five thousand dinars or pieces of gold, about six millions of sterling money; a sum which, in the tenth century, most probably surpassed the united revenues of the Christian monarchs. His royal seat of Cordova contained six hundred mosques, nine hundred baths, and two hundred thousand houses; he gave laws to eighty cities of the first, to three hundred of the second and third order: and the fertile banks of the Guadalquivir were adorned with twelve thousand villages and hamlets. The Arabs might exaggerate the truth, but they created and they describe the most prosperous era of the riches, the cultivation, and the populousness of Spain.[c]
Musa did not reach Syria until the close of the year 714. Walid Abul-Abbas was on the bed of death; and Suleiman, the brother and heir of the caliph, wrote to the emir, commanding him not to approach the expiring sovereign, but to delay his entrance into Damascus until the opening of a new reign. Suleiman doubtless wished that the pomp of the spectacle should grace his own accession, and that the treasures now brought should not run the risk of dispersion by his brother. But Musa imprudently disregarded the command; perhaps he dreaded the fate which would await him for his delay should Walid recover; and he proceeded to the palace. That prince, however, in a few days bade adieu to empire and to life, and Musa remained exposed to the vengeance of Suleiman. He was cast into prison; was beaten with rods, while made to stand a whole day before the gate of the palace; and lastly was fined in so heavy a sum, that, unless his wealth were exhaustless, he must have been impoverished.
While Musa was thus deservedly punished for his rapacity and injustice, his son Abdul-Aziz was actively employed in finishing the subjugation of the peninsula. But one step, which he doubtless expected would strengthen his influence with both Arabs and natives, was the occasion of his downfall. Smitten with the charms of Egilona, the widow of Roderic, he made her first his concubine, next his wife; and it is probable that through the counsels of that ambitious and unprincipled woman, he aimed at an independent sovereignty. Besides, Suleiman might well apprehend the open rebellion of the son, on learning the story of the father’s harsh fate. To prevent the consequences which he dreaded might arise from the indignation of this powerful family, he despatched secret orders for the deposition and death of the three brothers. And Abdul-Aziz, while assisting at morning prayers in the mosque of Seville, fell beneath the poniards of the assassins. After this bloody execution, so characteristic of Mussulman government, Habib ben Obaid departed with the head of the emir to the court of Damascus. It was shown to Musa by the caliph, who at the same time asked him with a bitter smile, if he recognised it. The old man, who recognised it too well, turned away his shuddering looks, and fearlessly exclaimed, “Cursed be he who has destroyed a better man than himself!” He then left the palace and betook himself to the deserts of Arabia, where the grief of having thus lost his children soon brought him broken-hearted to the grave.
Severe as were the afflictions of Musa, and execrable as was the manner in which those afflictions were brought upon him, it is impossible to feel much pity for his fate. Of envy, rapacity, and injustice, he has been proved abundantly guilty; and though little is said of his cruelty by Arabic writers who lived long after his time, it is no less indisputable from the testimony of contemporary Christian historians. The horrors which he perpetrated in his career of conquest, or rather of extermination, have been compared to those of Troy and of Jerusalem, and to the worst atrocities of the persecuting heathen emperors. There may be exaggeration in the declamatory statements of those historians, but the very exaggeration must be admitted to prove the melancholy fact. The execution of Abdul-Aziz produced a great consternation in the minds of the natives.
The Arab sheikhs assembled to invest one of their body with the high dignity. The virtues and wisdom of Ayub ben Habib, the nephew of Musa, commanded their unanimous suffrages. But Omar II, the successor of Suleiman, disdaining to recognise a governor not appointed by the sovereign authority of the caliph, deposed Ayub and nominated Al-Haur ben Abd ar-Rahman to the viceregal dignity. Not even the rich booty which he collected during an irruption into Gothic Gaul, could, it is said, satisfy his rapacity; and he extorted heavy sums from the people. But what added most to the discontent of the Arabs was the defeat of his general Al-Kama, who had ventured to penetrate into the mountain fastnesses of the Asturias, to crush the infant power of Pelayo. [See the later volume on Spain.]