tine the "tyrant" directed his march to Malaṭyah. Kamkh at that time was in Moslem hands; and its governor was one of the banu-Sulaim. The people of Kamkh having sent a call to the people of Malaṭyah for succor, 800 horsemen sallied forth from it to meet the Greeks. The Greek cavalry defeated them after a battle, and Constantine camped around Malaṭyah and invested it. At this time, Mesopotamia was the scene of a civil war and its ʿâmil Mûsa ibn-Kaʿb was at Ḥarrân. Therefore, when the people of Malaṭyah sent a messenger soliciting aid, nobody came. Hearing that, Constantine addressed the people of Malaṭyah saying, "O people of Malaṭyah, I would not have come to you had I not realized your state and the fact that your authorities [sulṭân] are too busy to help you. Make peace therefore with me and leave the city that I may destroy it and go my way." The people did not comply with his demand; so he set the mangonels. The siege was pressed so hard and the inhabitants were so exhausted that they asked Constantine for safe-conduct, which request he accepted. As they prepared to leave, they carried every light thing they could and threw what was too heavy into wells and hiding places. As they made their way out, all the Greeks stood in two rows from the city gates to the end of the line, with their swords unsheathed and the point of the one sword on the point of the one opposite to it, thus making an arch. The Greeks saw them off until they got to their place of safety, upon which they turned toward Mesopotamia where they settled in various places. Malaṭyah was then razed to the ground by the Greeks, who left nothing but a granary of which only one side was damaged. Ḥiṣn Ḳalûdhiyah was also destroyed by them.
Malaṭyah rebuilt. In the year 139, al-Manṣûr wrote to Ṣâliḥ ibn-ʿAli ordering him to rebuild and fortify Malaṭyah. He then deemed it best to send ʿAbd-al-Wahhâb ibn-
