Battle of Carthage (698)

{{Unreferenced|date=April 2008}} {{Inappropriate tone|date=April 2008}} {{Campaignbox Byzantine-Arab Wars}} The '''Battle of Carthage''' was fought in [[698]] AD between a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] expeditionary force and the armies of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. Having lost Carthage to the [[Muslim]]s, Emperor [[Leontius]] sent the navy under the command of John the Patrician and the ''[[droungarios]]'' Tiberius Apsimarus. They entered the harbor and successfully recaptured it, as well as the city, in a stunning surprise attack. The Arab forces fled to [[Kairouan]]. As [[Edward Gibbon|Gibbon]] writes, "the Christians landed; the citizens hailed the ensign of the cross, and the winter was idly wasted in the dream of victory or deliverance."{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} The emir [[Hasan ibn al-Nu'man]] was in the midst of pacifying the lands of Tamazgh (as it is called by the indigenous peoples)[[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|^{idg. when?}]] or [[Maghreb]] (Arabic for ''the west''), but withdrew from campaigning in the field to confront the renewed [[Byzantine Empire|Roman]] challenge to the emerging caliphate. At [[Kairouan]], he began plans to retake [[Carthage]] the following spring.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} It is estimated that he headed a force of 40,000 men.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} The Romans sent out a call for help to their traditional allies, the native [[Amazigh]], and even to their enemies the [[Visigoths]] and the [[Franks]]. Despite having retaken the city[[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|^re-taken?]], the Romans were in disarray due to the bitter in-fighting that characterized [[medieval]] [[Byzantine Empire|Romania]] and sapped much of its strength.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}{{Or|date=April 2008}} The previous exarch Gennadius had been a traitor to the Christian cause, defecting to the Muslims and becoming their [[vassal]]. The king of the Visigoths, [[Witiza]], sent a reputed force of 500 warriors in order to help defend Carthage, perhaps to help check the rising Muslim threat which was lopping off large chunks of the [[Roman Empire]], so close to [[Visigoth]]ic [[Hispania]].{{Or|date=April 2008}}[[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|^perhaps?]] [[Hasan ibn al-Nu'man]], enraged at having to retake a city that had not resisted the Roman take over, offered no terms except to surrender or die.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} The emperor [[Leontius]], infamous for his harsh reaction to failure, had also given his forces instructions of victory or death. The Romans did sally forth and brought battle to the [[Arabs]] directly, but were defeated. They later preferred to continue to incite revolt through the [[Amazigh]] princes. The Roman commander, John, decided to wait out the siege behind the walls of [[Carthage]] and let the [[Arabs]] exhaust themselves, since he could continue to be resupplied from the sea. The defenders were faced with Hasan's overwhelming force deployed in ferocious attacks as his men continuously tried to scale the walls with ladders. The Arabs combined their land assault with an attack from the sea that caused John and Apsimarus to fear being trapped within the city. Yet, the determination of the defenders resulted in the second and final great destruction of Carthage. The Romans retreated to the islands of [[Corsica]], [[Sicily]] and [[Crete]] to further resist Muslim expansion and await the emperor's wrath. == Aftermath == John the Patrician was later murdered after a conspiracy at the hands of his co-commander, Tiberius Apsimarus. Tiberius Apsimarus then, instead of taking the step of returning to [[Africa]] to fight the Muslims, sailed instead to [[Constantinople]]. After a successful rebellion he rose to the throne as [[Tiberius III]], and was later deposed by former emperor [[Justinian II]], now known as the Rhinotmetus. The conquest of North Africa by the forces of [[Islam]] was now nearly complete. [[Hasan ibn al-Nu'man]] was triumphant. Hasan met with trouble from the Zenata tribe of [[Berber people|Berbers]] under [[al-Kahina]]. They inflicted a serious defeat on him and drove him back to [[Barqa]]. However, in [[702]] AD Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] strongly reinforced him. Now with a large army and the support of the settled population of [[North Africa]], Hasan pushed forward. He decisively defeated [[al-Kahina]] in the [[Battle of Tabarka]], 85 miles (136 km) west of [[Carthage]]. He then developed the village of [[Tunis]], ten miles from the destroyed Carthage. Around [[705]] AD, [[Musa ibn Nusayr]] replaced Hasan. He pacified much of North Africa. {{coord missing|Tunisia}}