Riches; their ceaseless talk of hidden treasures, their
secretiveness and so many other little Orientalisms that whoever has
lived in the East will be inclined to echo the observation of Edward
Lear's Greek servant: "These men are Arabs, but they have more clothes on."
Many Saracenic words (chiefly of marine and commercial import) have
survived from this period; I could quote a hundred or more, partly in
the literary language (balio, dogana, etc.), partly in dialect (cala,
tavuto, etc.) and in place-names such as Tamborio (the Semitic Mount
Tabor), Kalat (Calatafimi), Marsa (Marsala).
Dramatic plays with Saracen subjects are still popular with the lower
classes; you can see them acted in any of the coast towns. In fact, the
recollection of these intruders is very much alive to this day. They
have left a deep scar.
Such being the case, it is odd to find local writers hardly referring to
the Saracenic period. Even a modern like l'Occaso, who describes the
Castrovillari region in a conscientious fashion, leaps directly from
Greco-Roman events into those of the Normans. But this is in accordance
with the time-honoured ideal of writing such works: to say nothing in
dispraise of your subject (an exception may be made in favour of
Spano-Bolani's History of Reggio). Malaria and earthquakes and Saracen
irruptions are awkward arguments when treating of the natural
attractions and historical glories of your native place. So the once
renowned descriptions of this province by Grano and the rest of them are
little more than rhetorical exercises; they are "Laus Calabria." And
then - their sources of information were limited and difficult of access.
Collective works like those of Muratori and du Chesne had not appeared
on the market; libraries were restricted to convents; and it was not to
be expected that they should know all the chroniclers of the Byzantines,
Latins, Lombards, Normans and Hohenstaufen - to say nothing of Arab
writers like Nowairi, Abulfeda, Ibn Chaldun and Ibn Alathir - who throw a
little light on those dark times, and are now easily accessible to
scholars.
Dipping into this old-world literature of murders and prayers, we gather
that in pre-Saracenic times the southern towns were denuded of their
garrisons, and their fortresses fallen into disrepair. "Nec erat formido
aut metus bellorum, quoniam alta pace omnes gaudebant usque ad tempora
Saracenorum." In this part of Italy, as well as at Taranto and other
parts of old "Calabria," the invaders had an easy task before them, at
first.
In 873, on their return from Salerno, they poured into Calabria, and by
884 already held several towns, such as Tropea and Amantea, but were
driven out temporarily. In 899 they ravaged, says Hepi-danus, the
country of the Lombards (? Calabria). In 900 they destroyed Reggio, and
renewed their incursions in 919, 923, 924, 925, 927, till the Greek
Emperor found it profitable to pay them an annual tribute. In 953, this
tribute not being forthcoming, they defeated the Greeks in Calabria, and
made further raids in 974, 975; 976, 977, carrying off a large store of
captives and wealth. In 981 Otto II repulsed them at Cotrone, but was
beaten the following year near Squillace, and narrowly escaped capture.
It was one of the most romantic incidents of these wars. During the
years 986, 988, 991, 994, 998, 1002, 1003 they were continually in the
country; indeed, nearly every year at the beginning of the eleventh
century is marked by some fresh inroad. In 1009 they took Cosenza for
the third or fourth time; in 1020 they were at Bisignano in the Crati
valley, and returned frequently into those parts, defeating, in 1025, a
Greek army under Orestes, and, in 1031, the assembled forces of the
Byzantine Catapan - - - [Footnote: I have not seen Moscato's "Cronaca
dei Musulmani in Calabria," where these authorities might be
conveniently tabulated. It must be a rare book. Martorana deals only
with the Saracens of Sicily.]
No bad record, from their point of view.
But they never attained their end, the subjection of the mainland. And
their methods involved appalling and enduring evils.
Yet the presumable intent or ambition of these aliens must be called
reasonable enough. They wished to establish a provincial government here
on the same lines as in Sicily, of which island it has been said that it
was never more prosperous than under their administration.
Literature, trade, industry, and all the arts of peace are described as
flourishing there; in agriculture they paid especial attention to the
olive; they initiated, I believe, the art of terracing and irrigating
the hill-sides; they imported the date-palm, the lemon and sugar-cane
(making the latter suffice not only for home consumption, but for
export); their silk manufactures were unsurpassed. Older writers like
Mazzella speak of the abundant growth of sugar-cane in Calabria
(Capialbi, who wallowed in learning, has a treatise on the subject);
John Evelyn saw it cultivated near Naples; it is now extinct from
economical and possibly climatic causes. They also introduced the
papyrus into Sicily, as well as the cotton-plant, which used to be
common all over south Italy, where I have myself seen it growing.
All this sounds praiseworthy, no doubt. But I see no reason why they
should have governed Sicily better than they did North Africa, which
crumbled into dust at their touch, and will take many long centuries to
recover its pre-Saracen prosperity. There is something flame-like and
anti-constructive in the Arab, with his pastoral habits and contempt of
forethought. In favour of their rule, much capital has been made out of
Benjamin of Tudela's account of Palermo. But it must not be forgotten
that his brief visit was made a hundred years after the Norman
occupation had begun.
