Ol- THE llOMAN IMITKE.
rope and Africa . In the opinion of the latter,the difference of religion is a reasonable groundof enmity and warfare.' As early as the timeof Othman d their piratical squadrons had ra-vaged the coasts of Andalusia ; e nor had theyforgotten the relief of Carthage by the Gothicsuccours. In that age, as well as in the pre-sent, the kings of Spain were possessed of thefortress of Ceuta ; one of the columns of Her-cules, which is divided by a narrow strait fromthe opposite pillar or point of Europe . Asmall portion of Mauritania was still wantingto the African conquest; but Musa, in thepride of victory, was repulsed from the wallsof Ceuta, by the vigilance and courage of CountJulian, the general of the Goths . From hisdisappointment and perplexity, Musa was re-lieved by an unexpected message of the Chris-tian chief, who offered his place, his person,and his sword, to the successors of Mahomet,and solicited the disgraceful honour of intro-ducing their arms into the heart of Spain / If
* In a conference with a prince of the Greeks, Amrou observed thattheir religion was different; upon which score it was lawful for bro-tliers to quarrel. Ockley’s History of the Saracens, vol. i, p. 328.d Abulfeda, Annal. Moslem , p 78, vers. Reiske.
e The name of Andalusia is applied by the Arabs not only to the mo-dern province, but to the whole peninsula of Spain (Geograph. Nub.p. 151 ; d’Hcrbelot, Bibliot. Orient, p. 114, 115). The etymology hatbeen most improbably deduced from Vandalusia, country of the Van-dals (d’Auville, Etats de PEurope, p. 140, 147, &c.) But the Handa-lusia of Casiri, which signifies in Arabic , the region of the evening, ofthe West, in a word, the Hesperia of the Greeks, is perfectly opposite,(Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, torn, ii, p. 327, &c.)
f The fall and resurrection of the Gothic monarchy are related byMariana (tom. i, p 238 200, 1. vi, c. I9-2G; I. ii, c. I, 2). That histo-rian has infused into his noble work (Historia* de Rebus Hispani®,
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