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of soldiers for an alliance to call upon the general of all the cavalry and infantry army throughout the East. But he laughed at the summons 6.38.3 and dismissed the one who called him as unfit for battle; but having drawn up his forces against Mavia, who was commanding the opposing army, he was routed and was saved with difficulty by the commander of the Palestinian and Phoenician soldiers. For when he saw him in danger, he considered it foolish to remain out of the battle according to his own command; and running forward, he met the barbarians and gave the former an opportunity 6.38.4 for a safer flight, while he himself, retreating as he fled, shot his bow and repelled the pursuing enemies with his arrows. Many of the inhabitants here still recall these things even now, and among the 6.38.5 Saracens they are in songs. As the war was becoming burdensome, it seemed necessary to send an embassy to Mavia concerning peace. The story goes that she flatly refused the treaty with the Romans to those who were sent as ambassadors on this matter, unless a certain Moses, who was at that time living as a philosopher in the nearby desert, were consecrated bishop for the people ruled by her, a man renowned for the virtue of his life and for divine signs 6.38.6 and wondrous deeds. The commanders of the soldiers who reported these things, having been authorized by the emperor, arrest Moses and bring him to Lucius. But he, in the presence of the magistrates and the assembled crowd, said, "Stop; for I am not able to bear the name and honor of a high priest worthily. But if God should indeed grant this to me, unworthy as I am, I call to witness the Creator of heaven and earth, that you will not lay on me your hands, which are stained with the blood and gore of holy men." 6.38.7 Lucius replied, "If," he says, "you are still ignorant of my faith, you do not act justly in turning away before you learn of it; but if it is because of certain slanderers, come now and 6.38.8 hear from me and be a judge of what is said." "But to me," said Moses, "your faith appears exceedingly clear, and what kind it is is testified to by the bishops and presbyters and deacons who are suffering in exile, banishment, and the mines; these are the tokens of what you believe concerning God, which are entirely alien to Christ and to those who hold right opinions concerning God." 6.38. Since, speaking thus, he swore that he would never accept the priesthood with Lucius consecrating him, the Roman magistrates, having persuaded Lucius to excuse them, take Moses to the bishops who were in exile, by whom he was consecrated and came to the Saracens; and having reconciled them to the Romans, he lived there as a priest and prepared many to become Christians, having found very few who shared the doctrine. 6.38.10 For this tribe, having its origin from Ishmael the son of Abraham, also had its name from him, and the ancients called them Ishmaelites from their forefather. But shaking off the reproach of their illegitimate birth and the low birth of Ishmael's mother (for she was a slave), they called themselves Saracens, as if descended from 6.38.11 Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Tracing their lineage thus, they all, like the Hebrews, are circumcised and abstain from pork and observe many other of their customs. But the fact that they do not conduct all things in the same way must be attributed to time or to intermingling with the surrounding nations. For Moses, having been born many ages later, gave laws only to those 6.38.12 who had come out of Egypt; and their neighbors, being exceedingly superstitious, as was likely, corrupted the ancestral way of life of Ishmael, according to which alone the ancient Hebrews lived before the legislation of Moses, using unwritten customs. Indeed, they worshiped the same demons as their neighbors, and by honoring and naming them in a similar way, they showed in the similarity of religion with their neighbors the cause of the adulteration 6.38.13 of their ancestral laws. As tends to happen, a long time ensuing delivered some things to oblivion, and caused others to be venerated among them. After this, some of them, having associated with Jews, learned from whom they were descended, and returned to their kindred and to the

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στρατιωτῶν εἰς συμμαχίαν ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὸν στρατηγὸν πάσης τῆς ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω ἱππικῆς τε καὶ πεζῆς στρατιᾶς. τὸν δὲ γελάσαι μὲν τὴν κλῆσιν 6.38.3 καὶ ἀπόμαχον ποιῆσαι τὸν καλέσαντα· παραταξάμενον δὲ πρὸς Μαυίαν ἀντιστρατηγοῦσαν τραπῆναι καὶ μόλις διασωθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος τῶν Παλαιστίνων καὶ Φοινίκων στρατιωτῶν. ὡς γὰρ εἶδεν αὐτὸν κινδυνεύοντα, μένειν ἐκτὸς τῆς μάχης κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ πρόσταξιν εὔηθες ἐνόμισε· προσδραμὼν δὲ ὑπήντετο τοῖς βαρβάροις καὶ τῷ μὲν καιρὸν 6.38.4 ἔδωκεν ἀσφαλεστέρας φυγῆς, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπαναχωρῶν ἐν τῷ φεύγειν ἐτόξευε καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐπικειμένους ἀπεκρούετο τοῖς τοξεύμασι. ταῦτα δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν τῇδε προσοικούντων εἰσέτι νῦν ἀπομνημονεύουσι, παρὰ δὲ 6.38.5 τοῖς Σαρακηνοῖς ἐν ᾠδαῖς ἐστιν. ἐπιβαροῦντος δὲ τοῦ πολέμου ἀναγκαῖον ἐδόκει περὶ εἰρήνης πρεσβεύεσθαι πρὸς Μαυίαν. τὴν δὲ λόγος τοῖς περὶ τούτου πρεσβευομένοις ἄντικρυς ἀπειπεῖν τὰς πρὸς ῾Ρωμαίους σπονδάς, εἰ μὴ τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτὴν ἀρχομένοις ἐπίσκοπος χειροτονηθείη Μωσῆς τις ἐν τῇ πέλας ἐρήμῳ τηνικάδε φιλοσοφῶν, ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ βίου ἀρετῆς σημείων τε 6.38.6 θείων καὶ παραδόξων πράξεων ἐπίσημος. ἐπιτραπέντες δὲ παρὰ βασιλέως οἱ τάδε μηνύσαντες τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἡγεμόνες συλλαμβάνουσι τὸν Μωσῆν καὶ παρὰ τὸν Λούκιον ἄγουσιν. ὁ δὲ παρόντων τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ τοῦ συνελθόντος πλήθους «ἐπίσχες», ἔφη· «οὐχ οἷός τε γάρ εἰμι φέρειν ἀρχιερέως ὄνομα καὶ τιμὴν ἀξίως· εἰ δ' ἄρα καὶ ἐπὶ ἀναξίῳ ὄντι μοι τοῦτο ἐπινεύοι θεός, μαρτύρομαι τὸν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς δημιουργόν, ὡς τὰς σὰς οὐκ ἐπιβαλεῖς μοι χεῖρας αἵματι καὶ λύθρῳ πεφυρμένας ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν.» 6.38.7 ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Λούκιος «εἰ μὲν ἔτι», φησίν, «ἀγνοεῖς τὴν ἐμὴν πίστιν, οὐ δίκαια ποιεῖς πρὶν μαθεῖν ἀποστρεφόμενος· εἰ δὲ διαβαλόντων τινῶν, ἄγε δὴ καὶ 6.38.8 νῦν ἄκουσον παρ' ἐμοῦ καὶ κριτὴς γενοῦ τῶν λεγομένων.» «ἀλλ' ἔμοιγε», ἔφη Μωσῆς, «λίαν σαφὴς φαίνεται ἡ σὴ πίστις, καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν ὁποία τίς ἐστιν ἐπίσκοποί τε καὶ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ διάκονοι ἐν ὑπερορίαις φυγαῖς καὶ μετάλλοις ταλαιπωρούμενοι· ταῦτα ὧν περὶ θεοῦ νομίζεις τὰ γνωρίσματα, ἃ παντελῶς ἐστιν ἀλλότρια Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ὀρθῶς περὶ θεοῦ δοξαζόντων.» 6.38. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοιάδε λέγων ἐπώμνυτο μήποτε Λουκίου χειροτονοῦντος ὑποδέχεσθαι τὴν ἱερωσύνην, παραιτησάμενοι Λούκιον οἱ ῾Ρωμαίων ἄρχοντες ἄγουσι Μωσῆν πρὸς τοὺς ἐν φυγῇ ὄντας ἐπισκόπους, παρ' ὧν χειροτονηθεὶς ὡς τοὺς Σαρακηνοὺς ἦλθε· καὶ διαλλάξας αὐτοὺς ῾Ρωμαίοις αὐτόθι διῆγεν ἱερωμένος καὶ πολλοὺς χριστιανίσαι παρεσκεύασε, κομιδῇ ὀλίγους εὑρὼν τοῦ δόγματος μετασχόντας. 6.38.10 Τουτὶ γὰρ τὸ φῦλον ἀπὸ ᾿Ισμαὴλ τοῦ ᾿Αβραὰμ παιδὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβὸν καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν εἶχε, καὶ ᾿Ισμαηλίτας αὐτοὺς οἱ ἀρχαῖοι ἀπὸ τοῦ προπάτορος ὠνόμαζον. ἀποτριβόμενοι δὲ τοῦ νόθου τὸν ἔλεγχον καὶ τῆς ᾿Ισμαὴλ μητρὸς τὴν δυσγένειαν (δούλη γὰρ ἦν) Σαρακηνοὺς σφᾶς ὠνόμασαν ὡς ἀπὸ 6.38.11 Σάρρας τῆς ᾿Αβραὰμ γαμετῆς καταγομένους. τοιοῦτον δὲ τὸ γένος ἕλκοντες ἅπαντες μὲν ὁμοίως ῾Εβραίοις περιτέμνονται καὶ ὑείων κρεῶν ἀπέχονται καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐθῶν φυλάττουσι. τὸ δὲ μὴ πάντα ἐπίσης αὐτοῖς πολιτεύεσθαι χρόνῳ λογιστέον ἢ ταῖς ἐπιμιξίαις τῶν πέριξ ἐθνῶν. Μωσῆς τε γὰρ πολλοῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις γενόμενος μόνοις τοῖς 6.38.12 ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἐξελθοῦσιν ἐνομοθέτησεν· καὶ οἱ προσοικοῦντες αὐτοῖς εἰσάγαν δεισιδαίμονες ὄντες ὡς εἰκὸς διέφθειραν τὴν ᾿Ισμαὴλ πατρῴαν διαγωγήν, καθ' ἣν μόνην ἐπολιτεύοντο οἱ πάλαι ῾Εβραῖοι πρὸ τῆς Μωσέως νομοθεσίας ἀγράφοις ἔθεσι κεχρημένοι. ἀμέλει τὰ αὐτὰ δαιμόνια τοῖς ὁμόροις ἔσεβον καὶ παραπλησίως αὐτὰ τιμῶντες καὶ ὀνομάζοντες ἐν τῇ πρὸς τοὺς πέλας ὁμοιότητι τῆς θρησκείας τὸ αἴτιον ἐδείκνυον τῆς παραποιήσεως 6.38.13 τῶν πατρίων νόμων. οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ, χρόνος πολὺς ἐπιγενόμενος τὰ μὲν λήθῃ παρέδωκε, τὰ δὲ πρεσβεύεσθαι παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐποίησεν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτά τινες αὐτῶν συγγενόμενοι ᾿Ιουδαίοις ἔμαθον, ἀφ' ὧν ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ συγγενὲς ἐπανῆλθον καὶ τοῖς