commanded by the
Emperor himself, off the town of Phaselis on the southwestern coast
of Asia Minor. A great battle followed. The Christian emperor,
Constantine II, distinguished himself by personal courage throughout
the action, but the day went sorely against the Christians. At last
the flagship was captured and he himself survived only by leaping
into a vessel that came to his rescue while his men fought to cover
his escape. It was a terrible defeat, for 20,000 Christians had been
killed and the remnants of their fleet were in full retreat. But
the Saracens had bought their victory at such a price that they
were themselves in no condition to profit by it, and the naval
expedition went no further. Meanwhile Muaviah had not succeeded
in forcing the Taurus with his army, so that the grand assault
came to nothing after all.

The following year the murder of the Caliph brought on a civil
war among the Saracens, in consequence of which Muaviah arranged
a truce with Constantine. The latter was thus enabled to turn his
attention to the beating back of the Slavs in the east and the
recovery of imperial possessions in the west, notably the city
and province of Carthage. During the last of these campaigns he
was killed by a slave.

The death of this energetic and able ruler seemed to Muaviah the
opportunity to begin fresh operations against the Christian empire.
Three great armies invaded the territory of the Cross. One plundered
Syracuse, another seized and fortified a post that threatened the
existence of Carthage, a third pushed to the shores of the Sea of
Marmora. These were, however, only preliminary to the grand assault
on the capital itself.

In 673 a great Arab armada forced the Hellespont and captured Cyzicus.
With this as a base, the fleet landed an army on the northern shore
of the Sea of Marmora. By these means Constantinople was invested
by land and sea. But the great walls proved impregnable against
the attacks of the army, and the Christian fleet, sheltered in
the Golden Horn, was able to sally out from time to time and make
successful raids on detachments of the Saracen ships. This state
of affairs continued for six months, after which Muaviah retired
with his army to Cyzicus, leaving a strong naval guard to hold
the straits.

The next spring Muaviah again landed his army on the European side
and besieged the city for several months. The second year's operations
were no more successful than the first, and