Volume 1

A new general biographical dictionary / projected and partly arranged by the late Rev. Hugh James Rose.

  • Hugh James Rose
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A new general biographical dictionary / projected and partly arranged by the late Rev. Hugh James Rose. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the heart of the empire was assailed by the religionists of Ai.r. (See the word.) The Greeks, his old antagonists, the khalif again opposed, while his lieu- tenants marched against the other ene- mies of Bagdat. The successor of Irene was the feeble Nicepliorus, who had the temerity to demand from the prince of the true believers the restoration of the tribute which the empress had paid. The khalif replied that he would bear his own answer; and with a great armament he proceeded to Herodia, which he took and destroyed. Nicephorus was glad to pur- chase tranquillity by new tributes ; but though a feeble monarch, he had a proper sense of the imperial dignity, and when the Mussulman retired he refused the token of vassalage. To chastise him, Haroun took the field at the head of 155,000 men. The two armies met on the plains of Phrygia; victory declared for the crescent, and Nicephorus was compelled to pay the tribute. In a short time he refused it again, and the khalif was still triumphant. In the conduct of the latter on this as on some other occa- sions, there was much of what we should expect from the character given of him in that extraordinary work, The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. There was much precipitation—much of impulse— something of generosity and of humour. To humble Nicephorus more deeply, he was compelled to pay only three pieces of gold for his own head, and three for that of his son—as much, perhaps, as they were worth. Yet nothing could make the emperor true to his engagements ; and his conduct so exasperated Haroun, that had no other wars intervened, Con- stantinople must have fallen long before it did.—In his internal administration Ha- roun was less fortunate. His designation of his son as his successor, when that son was only five years old, gave much offence to the people, who exclaimed that they could not foresee the capacity of the boy, and that the interests of the empire required a monarch of courage and ability. As his sons grew up to man’s estate, he had the imprudence to place them over the vast provinces of his empire. To Amyn, his eldest son, fell Syria and Irac ; the second, Mamoon, who was to succeed Amyn in the empire, was invested with Persia and the eastern provinces ; the third had Armenia and the neighbouring regions. This inju- dicious policy, which placed the fate of so many millions in the hands of inex- perienced and profligate youths, could not be satisfactory to the people, who, though compelled to bend before the all- powerful khalif, were secretly hostile to his government. Another act of Ha- roun must be condemned—that by which he allured to his capital the famous Yahia, who had been proclaimed imam of the rival sect of Ali, and then put him to death, in violation alike of honour, and justice, and gratitude; for to that chief he owed his life and throne. This monarch died at Thoos, on his passage to chastise the governor of Kho- rasan. His character is well known. To literary men he was agreat benefactor, and he admitted them to his table. He him- self was a good poet; and he was more than tolerably versed in history. Add that he did not persecute the Christians, and we have the most favourable points of his character. But he had many vices : his word was not .always to be credited ; he knew how to dissimulate ; he could be un- generous, unjust, and frequently cruel. The fame of Charlemagne drew him into communication with that monarch ; and the presents which he sent to him, have often been mentioned in history. ( D’Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale ; Gibbon’s Decline and Fall.) AARON, (Ben Chaim, d. about 1610,) a rabbi of Fez, who was regarded as the most learned of the African Jews in his day; and his commentaries are much esteemed by the Jews. He went to Venice in order to print his works, but died leaving them imperfect. They are as follow :—1. Lev Aaron ; or, The Heart of Aaron ; a commentary on the former prophets. Venice, 1609. (He only printed that on Joshua.) This is a very rare book, from which some ex- tracts were reprinted in the Rabbinical Bible of Amsterdam, 1724. 2. Korban Aaron ; The Offering of Aaron : a com- mentary on the Siphra, which is itself an ancient commentary on Leviticus. Ven. 1609. There are other works of his said to be extant also; especially some com- mentaries on the Siphri and the Me- chilta.* (De Rossi, Wolf, &c.) AARON, (Rabbi Abiob,) author of the Shemen Ilammor ; or, Oil of Myrrh : a commentary on Esther. Thessalon. 1601. AARON, (Ben Elias,) called Acharon (pinna, the Second, or Later) to dis- tinguish him from the subject of the next article, was a native of Nicomcdia, • For an account of the Siphra and the Siphri, and the Mechilta, see the late Abbe Chiarini’s ela- borate Preface to his French translation of the tint section of the Talmud.
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