In the warfare between the Eastern Empire and the Caliphate in the ninth century, one of the most famous passages is the expedition of Mutasim, which was signalised by the siege and capture of Amorion, in A.D. 838. The best, in fact the only full, narrative of the campaign is preserved in the Chronicle of Tabari (A. H. 223). His account of the opening operations of the invading armies is beset with certain geographical difficulties which I propose to consider in this paper, with the help of material supplied in the writings of Professor Ramsay, and in the hope that he may be able to throw further light on the subject.

The Caliph invaded Asia Minor with three armies. His objective was in the first instance Ancyra. His general, Afshin, in command of what we may call the Eastern army, crossed the Taurus by the pass of Hadath (Adata), and presumably his route was by Arabissos, Tzamandos, and Sebastea. The two divisions of the Western army, under the Caliph himself and Ashnas, started from Cilicia and crossed by the Cilician gates.

The Editors have received the following note from R. P. Hugues Vincent, of the École biblique et archéologique St. Étienne, Jerusalem:—

L'inscription grecque de Side est du plus haut intérêt archéologique; cela n'a pas échappé à M. v. Buren. Son commentaire très concis appellerait beaucoup de développements et peut-être ici ou là une réserve—par exemple dans l'équivalence ϕροντιστής = ἀρχισυνάγωγος. Ce n'est pas le lieu d'aborder cela ici. Je veux seulement vous signaler une hypothèse séduisante pour restituer le début du texte qui sera ainsi tout à fait complet.