Islamic conquest of SIcily

The news these days depicts the modern version of conflicts that seem to have started 2000 years ago, or more. The history of tribes and factions vying for dominance in the Middle East continues to be played out on our screens every night. Sicily's location made it a crossroads of the world, with influences from all the cultures of the Mediterranean. By the time our stories take place in Sicily, the island was firmly in the hands of the Europeans and Roman Catholicism was the state religion, but it wasn't always so. Sicily was part of the Eastern Roman Empire as that civilization began to crumble, then a part of Byzantium, but still a desirable plum and center of conflict. The Caliph of Syria first launched raids against Sicily about 652, but the raiders went home after several years of exploration. Two hundred ships from Alexandria sacked Syracuse in 669, but again went home after a few months. Arab raids on the island and as far north as Rome and the Piedmont continued for more than 150 years with various successes and defeats. The first Arab settlement on the island began in Mazara in 827. At the same time Euphemius, an admiral under Byzantine Emperor Michael II, conquered Syracuse and proclaimed himself Emperor of the island, independent from the Empire. Euphemius was probably born in Messina. He was a charismatic chieftain and landowner with a large following. His revolt may have been prompted by being falsely accused of kidnapping a young nun from her convent. Realising that he would be defeated by Byzantine troops sent from the East, he appealed to the Muslim leaders of Ifriqiya (now Tunisia) for help to take over Sicily and Malta. Many battles ensured, and Euphemius was killed, but with reinforcements from Ifriqiya and Spain, the Aghlabid dynasty exerted control. Palermo, a city of about 300,000 people, fell to the Arabs after a year-long siege in 831. Euphemius is considered to be the man who initiated the Arab invasion of Sicily and Malta and the beginning of the two-century Islamic domination on the island.