Ch. II THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF SICILY 65 
 
 
saddles of generous steeds. On the earth I was born, any earth is my fatherland,
any man is my brother !"16 
 After the fall of Palermo victory was so well assured that Robert and Roger
partitioned the island between themselves. Robert, the suzerain, retained
Palermo with some other places and struck coins with the Arabic inscription
"King of Sicily".17 Roger, however, claimed the larger part of the island,
which after the death of Robert was to become all his, to be bequeathed to
Roger II, the first crowned king. Still it took nineteen years to subdue
southern Sicily — and during these years two savage Moslem raids on
the Calabrese coast recalled to the unfortunate population terrible memories
of the ninth and tenth centuries. The first raid, which was followed by a
landing in Mazara one year later, was a result of a short resumption of activity
by the Zirids (1074—1075); but Roger I averted further interference
by concluding a treaty with Tamim. The emir had lost nearly all the African
hinterland; he depended on Sicilian grain and free trade for his maritime
cities.18 The second and wilder raid(io8~) was one of many enterprises of
the last Moslem leader in eastern Sicily, the emir of Syracuse, who fought
bravely and ferociously to the last. But the struggle between the cornered,
disunited defenders and the Normans whose land and sea forces continuously
grew could not last forever; it would have lasted less long if Roger had
not frequently diverted his activity to the Italian mainland. Some towns
capitulated after a long resistance; others came to terms without direct
pressure when their doom seemed imminent; the emir of Enna, whose wife had
been captured by Roger, accepted baptism and was granted an estate in Calabria.
The conquest was 
 
 16 We are quoting from the translation of Gabrieli, "Arabi di Sicilia,"
p.39, which duff ers from that of Amari and its revision by De Stefano, "La
cultura in Sicilia," in Ii Regno Normanno, p. 135; compare the letter of
Dante to his Florentine friends. Hitti's statement that the case of the poet
Ibn-IIamdis who went into exile "was exceptional" (p. 607) is not borne out
by the sources, which list a good number of intellectuals and other leaders
who left Sicily. The number would probably have been still larger but for
the fear of crossing "the sea, which belongs to the Romans," a fear which
caused ãbti-1-'Arab to hesitate before accepting the invitation of
his fellow-poet, the ruler of Seville; cf. H. Pérès, La Poisie
andalouse en arabe classique au XIe siècle (Paris, 1937), p. zi6.
Aristocrats of true or pretended Sicilian origin are still enjoying special
prestige in Morocco; see C. A. Nallino, "Sidiia," in Enciclopedia italiana.

 17 On the royal coinage of Robert, see B. Lagumina, Calalogo delle monete
arabe esistenti nella. Biblioteca Comunale di Palermo (Palermo, 1892), pp.
226—234; in general on Sicilian numismatics of the period, see G. C.
Miles, Fãtimid Coins (New York, 1951), and R. S. Lopez, "Ii ritorno
all'oro nell'Occidente duecentesco, I," Rivista ,S'torica Italiana, LXV (1953),
I9—~. The terms of the partition between Robert and Roger are given
in detail by many sources, but the sources do not fully agree with one another.

 18 The alliance stood the test of disaster when, in 1087, Tamim's capital
was captured by northern Italian sailors in what has been called "the dress
rehearsal of the crusades".