nding, he made a
stockade and remained there; and hearing all that had befallen the force
of Gontharis, he sent them a part of his army and bade them keep up the
fight against the enemy with courage. But the Moors, having gained the
upper hand in the engagement, as I have said, did as follows. The Abigas
River flows from Aurasium, and descending into a plain, waters the land
just as the men there desire. For the natives conduct this stream to
whatever place they think it will best serve them at the moment, for in
this plain there are many channels, into which the Abigas is divided,
and entering all of them, it passes underground, and reappears again
above the ground and gathers its stream together. This takes place over
the greatest part of the plain and makes it possible for the inhabitants
of the region, by stopping up the waterways with earth, or by again
opening them, to make use of the waters of this river as they wish. So
at that time the Moors shut off all the channels there and thus allowed
the whole stream to flow about the camp of the Romans. As a result of
this, a deep, muddy marsh formed there through which it was impossible
to go; this terrified them exceedingly and reduced them to a state of
helplessness. When this was heard by Solomon, he came quickly. But the
barbarians, becoming afraid, withdrew to the foot of Aurasium. And in a
place which they call Babosis they made camp and remained there. So
Solomon moved with his whole army and came to that place. And upon
engaging with the enemy, he defeated them decisively and turned them to
flight. Now after this the Moors did not think it advisable for them to
fight a pitched battle with the Romans; for they did not hope to
overcome them in this kind of contest; but they did have hope, based on
the difficult character of the country around Aurasium, that the Romans
would in a short time give up by reason of the sufferings they would
have to endure and would withdraw from there, just as they formerly had
done. The most of them, therefore, went off to Mauretania and the
barbarians to the south of Aurasium, but Iaudas with twenty thousand of
the Moors remained there. And it happened that he had built a fortress
on Aurasium, Zerboule by name. Into this he entered with all the Moors
and remained quiet. But Solomon was by no means willing that time should
be wasted in the siege, and learning that the plains about the city of
Tamougade were full of grain just becoming r