The ease with which a Byzantine army was able to sail into the harbor of Alexandria in 646 and retake the city made Mu'awiya realize that the Arabs needed a navy to safeguard their gains. Moreover, if they were ever to capture Constantinople, an assault by sea would be a crucial accompaniment to a land attack. At once, then, he press-ganged workers at the shipyards of Egypt and the Levant to set about constructing a fleet. Three years later they were ready and Mu'awiya decided to test out his new force with an attack on Cyprus. An emotive account by a contemporary is preserved in a mid-eighth-century chronicle and gives us a vivid narrative of this first Arab naval raid.24 In the spring of 649, Mu'awiya issued the command and the fleets came together off the coast of Syria, some 1,700 boats in all, their masts resembling a huge floating forest. Those watching from the shore were awestruck at the size of the armada, under which the waves of the sea were all but invisible. The sailors stood on the top decks in the full finery of their fighting gear, boasting that they were going to destroy the luxurious capital of the Cypriots, which had never before been subjected to the predations of any invader.
When they drew near to the island, Mu'awiya ordered the crew to lower the sails and to maintain the ships just short of dry land. He wanted to use clemency toward the islanders and so he gave them a chance to submit in exchange for guarantees of safety. He positioned his own ship at the head of the whole fleet and said to his companions: “Let us stay here and see whether the Cypriots will come out to us to make a peace agreement so that they and their country will be spared from ruin.” Time passed, but no one came to sue for peace. At last Mu'awiya yielded to the recriminations of the Egyptian contingent, which was becoming impatient, and gave the go-ahead for a ground assault. When the Cypriots saw the large number of ships, they assumed that they were Byzantine vessels, and so when the Arabs reached land, they were able to drop anchor, arm themselves, and come ashore without encountering any opposition. Mu'awiya, together with his chiefs and loyal retinue, made straight for the capital, Constantia, and, after subduing it, he established his camp in the bishop’s residence. The Arab soldiers, who had scattered across the island, collected a huge amount of gold, slaves, and expensive clothing and brought it to Mu'awiya, who was delighted at the quantity of the accumulated loot and the captives, male and female of every age. The gold and silver along with everything else was divided into two portions, for which the two armies, that from Egypt and that from Syria, cast lots. After a few days they loaded their human booty onto the ships, some destined for Alexandria, others for Syria.
Mu'awiya took this opportunity to launch a naval attack in the direction of Constantinople, but was repelled and driven off in flight. Still undaunted, Mu'awiya turned his attention instead to Arwad, which is a small island just off the coast of Syria. He made every effort to capture it, using siege engines and the like, but its inhabitants stood firm, protected by the large fortress that lay within the island's capital. He then sent a bishop to persuade them to vacate the island and go to Byzantium, but the islanders imprisoned him and paid no attention to his message. Since winter was now setting in, Mu'awiya went back to Damascus, but when spring arrived he returned to Arwad with many more troops and settled in for a long siege. When the islanders saw the mighty forces that were arrayed against them, they decided to accept guarantees of security for their lives and an offer to relocate wherever they wished, some of them going to Byzantine territory and others leaving for Syria. When the inhabitants of the island had departed, Mu'awiya ordered its fortifications to be destroyed and the city to be set on fire and razed to the ground. They did this to the city, it was said, “so that it would never again be rebuilt or resettled,” and, one would assume, so that it could not be used as a base by the Byzantines from which to launch attacks against the Syrian coast.
In that same year, ad 650, the Arabs returned once more to Cyprus, under a commander called Abu l-A'war, who was fiercely loyal to the Umayyads and had turned out to be a competent admiral. The reason for this second assault was the news that a large force of Byzantines had been quartered on the island, presumably sent from Constantinople to hold it for the empire. The Byzantine troops encouraged the populace to stand firm and not to panic, but when the troops and natives actually sighted the Arab ships on the horizon and saw their number, their courage deserted them and they took flight. The rich citizens and the soldiers escaped by ship to Byzantine territory; others attempted to avoid death or slavery by shutting themselves up in the city of Lapathos. The Arabs roamed freely across the mountains and the plains hunting for plunder and slaves; “they winkled the natives out of the cracks in the ground like eggs abandoned in the nest.” Then they settled their sights on Lapathos. For several days they tried the effect of promises of peace, but finding the Cypriots unreceptive they began to bombard the city with catapults from all sides. When the inhabitants saw that it was hopeless and that no help was on its way, they petitioned Abu l-A'war to give them a pledge that their lives would be spared. He showed clemency readily and sent them the following instructions: “The gold and silver and other assets which are in the city are mine. To you I give a peace agreement and a solemn pact that those of you who so wish may go to Byzantine territory, and that those who prefer to stay will neither be killed nor enslaved.” Thus the city was taken, its treasures were loaded onto the ships with the rest of the booty, including slaves, and the Arabs sailed back to Syria in victory. A contemporary inscription records this mass enslavement, estimating the number taken away to have been 120,000 in 649 and 50,000 in 650; this is probably an exaggeration, or at least a generous estimation, but must surely reflect the fact that the numbers affected were very substantial.25
World History
