e nostra sunt violenter tollunt. Quare non advocamus Graecos, et cum
eis foedus pacis componentes, Francorum regem et gentem de nostro regno
et dominatione expellimus? Anastasius in Leone IV. p. 199.]

[Footnote 87: Voltaire (Hist. Generale, tom. ii. c. 38, p. 124) appears
to be remarkably struck with the character of Pope Leo IV. I have
borrowed his general expression, but the sight of the forum has
furnished me with a more distinct and lively image.]

But the storm, which had been delayed, soon burst upon them with
redoubled violence. The Aglabite, [88] who reigned in Africa, had
inherited from his father a treasure and an army: a fleet of Arabs and
Moors, after a short refreshment in the harbors of Sardinia, cast anchor
before the mouth of the Tyber, sixteen miles from the city: and their
discipline and numbers appeared to threaten, not a transient inroad, but
a serious design of conquest and dominion. But the vigilance of Leo had
formed an alliance with the vassals of the Greek empire, the free
and maritime states of Gayeta, Naples, and Amalfi; and in the hour of
danger, their galleys appeared in the port of Ostia under the command
of Caesarius, the son of the Neapolitan duke, a noble and valiant
youth, who had already vanquished the fleets of the Saracens. With his
principal companions, Caesarius was invited to the Lateran palace, and
the dexterous pontiff affected to inquire their errand, and to accept
with joy and surprise their providential succor. The city bands, in
arms, attended their father to Ostia, where he reviewed and blessed his
generous deliverers. They kissed his feet, received the communion with
martial devotion, and listened to the prayer of Leo, that the same God
who had supported St. Peter and St. Paul on the waves of the sea, would
strengthen the hands of his champions against the adversaries of his
holy name. After a similar prayer, and with equal resolution, the
Moslems advanced to the attack of the Christian galleys, which preserved
their advantageous station along the coast. The victory inclined to the
side of the allies, when it was less gloriously decided in their favor
by a sudden tempest, which confounded the skill and courage of the
stoutest mariners. The Christians were sheltered in a friendly harbor,
while the Africans were scattered and dashed in pieces among the rocks
and islands of a hostile shore. Those who escaped from shipwreck
and hunger neither found, nor deserved, mercy at the