repaired to Bamleh, where he found his deposed predecessor Abu Temim, and sent him a prisoner to Egypt. After this he despatched Husein—a great-grandson of Hamdan, the founder of the Carmathian sect—to quell the insurrection at Tyre. Olaka, being besieged both by land and sea, sought the aid of the Greek emperor, who sent several vessels filled with troops to the relief of the city. The Mussulman vessels encountered this squadron before their arrival at Tyre ; the Greeks were defeated, and put to flight with considerable loss. Tyre, thus deprived of its last hope of resistance, fell into the hands of Husein, who sacked the city, and put the inhabitants to the sword. Olaka himself fled to Egypt, where he was arrested and crucified. The new governor-general (Jaish) marched against Mofarrij ibn Jerrâh, put the latter to flight, and shortly afterwards entered Damascus, where he was received with every mark of submission and obedience. The complete rout of the Grecian army followed shortly afterwards, and Jaish having, by a coup d'état, massacred all the powerful chiefs at Damascus whom he suspected of disaffection to his rule, established himself firmly in the government of Syria. Barjewan now wielded the sovereign authority, Hakem remaining more of a puppet in his hands than ever he had been in those of Ibn 'Ammâr. But the eunuch's triumph was shortlived. Barjewan had frequently applied to Hakem, during the infancy of the latter, the contemptuous name of " The Lizard," and this indignity rankled in the young caliph's breast. One morning (on the 15th of April, 999 A.D.) he sent a message to his guardian, couched in the following words : " The little lizard has become a huge dragon, and calls for thee !" Barjewan hastened, all trembling, into the presence of Hakem, who then and there ordered him to be beheaded. About the year 1000 Hakem began to exhibit those eccentricities of character which ultimately betrayed him