chap, xlii] OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 413 Arabia implored the protection of the Abyssinian monarch. The Negus passed the Ked Sea with a fleet and army, deprived the Jewish proselyte of his kingdom and life, and extinguished a race of princes, who had ruled above two thousand years the sequestered region of myrrh and frankincense. The conqueror immediately announced the victory of the gospel, requested an orthodox patriarch, and so warmly professed his friendship to the Roman empire that Justinian was flattered by the hope of diverting the silk trade through the channel of Abyssinia, and of exciting the forces of Arabia against the Persian king. Non- Their alliance nosus, descended from a family of ambassadors, was named bywithJus- ., ... . __ . , tinian. the emperor to execute this important commission. He wisely a.d. 533 declined the shorter, but more dangerous, road through the sandy deserts of Nubia ; ascended the Nile, embarked on the Red Sea, and safely landed at the African port of Adulis. From Adulis to the royal city of Axume is no more than fifty leagues, in a direct line ; but the winding passes of the mountains detained the ambassador fifteen days ; and, as he traversed the forests, he saw, and vaguely computed, about five thousand wild elephants. The capital, according to his report, was large and populous ; and the village of Axume is still con- spicuous by the regal coronations, by the ruins of a Christian temple, and by sixteen or seventeen obelisks inscribed with Grecian characters. 111 But the Negus gave audience in the open field, seated on a lofty chariot, which was drawn by four ele- phants superbly caparisoned, and surrounded by his nobles and musicians. He was clad in a linen garment and cap, holding in his hand two javelins and a light shield ; and, although his nakedness was imperfectly covered, he displayed the Barbaric pomp of gold chains, collars, and bracelets, richly adorned with pearls and precious stones. The ambassador of Justinian knelt ; the Negus raised him from the ground, embraced Nonnosus, kissed the seal, perused the letter, accepted the Roman alliance, and, brandishing his weapons, denounced implacable war against hostility of the Jews to the Empire, in Syria and Mesopotamia, both during the Persian wars and the Saracen invasions, was an important element in the situa- tion : see the remarks of V. Chapot, La frontiere de l'Euphrate, 23 sqq.] 111 Alvarez (in Ramusio, torn. i. fol. 219 vers. 221 vers.) saw the flourishing Btate of Axume in the year 1520 — luogo molto buono e grande. It was ruined in the same century by the Turkish invasion. No more than one hundred houses remain ; but the memory of its past greatness is preserved by the regal coronation (Ludolph, Hist, et Comment. 1. ii. c. 11).
