thusiasm. At first, then, the battle was evenly contested, but later,
since the Moors were vastly superior by reason of their great numbers,
the most of the Romans fled, and though Solomon and a few men about him
held out for a time against the missiles of the barbarians, afterwards
they were overpowered by the enemy, and fleeing in haste, reached a
ravine made by a brook which flowed in that region. And there Solomon's
horse stumbled and threw him to the ground, and his body-guards lifted
him quickly in their arms and set him upon his horse. But overcome by
great pain and unable to hold the reins longer, he was overtaken and
killed by the barbarians, and many of his guards besides. Such was the
end of Solomon's life.

XXII

After the death of Solomon, Sergius, who, as has been said, was his
nephew, took over the government of Libya by gift of the emperor. And
this man became the chief cause of great ruin to the people of Libya,
and all were dissatisfied with his rule--the officers because, being
exceedingly stupid and young both in character and in years, he proved
to be the greatest braggart of all men, and he insulted them for no just
cause and disregarded them, always using the power of his wealth and the
authority of his office to this end; and the soldiers disliked him
because he was altogether unmanly and weak; and the Libyans, not only
for these reasons, but also because he had shown himself strangely fond
of the wives and the possessions of others. But most of all John, the
son of Sisiniolus, was hostile to the power of Sergius; for, though he
was an able warrior and was a man of unusually fair repute, he found
Sergius absolutely ungrateful. For this reason neither he nor anyone
else at all was willing to take up arms against the enemy. But almost
all the Moors were following Antalas, and Stotzas came at his summons
from Mauretania. And since not one of the enemy came out against them,
they began to sack the country, making plunder of everything without
fear. At that time Antalas sent to the Emperor Justinian a letter, which
set forth the following:

"That I am a slave of thy empire not even I myself would deny, but the
Moors, having suffered unholy treatment at the hands of Solomon in time
of peace, have taken up arms under the most severe constraint, not
lifting them against thee, but warding off our personal enemy; and this
is especially true of me. For he not only decided to deprive me of the
maintenan