First appearance of Al Mundhir and the speech given to him in the chronicle of Malalas(before the Antioch campaign) and the comparison of the rulership of Mundhir to Jabala of Ghassan.

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The persian governor from Balkh as a Savar, a Lakhmid and a Taunukhid tribesman, by Angus McBride

Because of my deep interest in the Lakhmids, I decided to add here a scene from the lesser known, in comparison to the islamiic era sources, chronicle of Malalas, who has lived through the events described but did not directly witness them.

For a forenote Al Mundhir was a king of the Lakhmids, as was said, who ruled from Hirah, ruins of which assumedly were discovered near Kufa- and in this case, they fall into the narrative of the Abbasid rulers having been interested in creating art and architecture resembling of the Lakhmid era- the style of the remnants of the ruins resembles Samarran style, and most of the buildgins were left from the chrisitan period. Lakhmids however started off as pagans. Al mundhir in the Roman sources, is a devout pagan, who worshipped Aphrodite- the nabatean Al Uzza.

Al Mundhir , as said in the extract, for fifty years made Romans bend the knee. When did he start governing then? As shows the Sabean inscription CIH 541, he was still in charge in the year 545 AD, while his first recorded campaign happened in the year 516 AD against Madikarib Yafur of Himyar, and it is 29 years already between 516 and 545 AD while seven years later in 552 AD his son Amru will already take his place. So, he might have been ruling the Lakhmids somewhere since the 500s in case Malalas is not exaggerating. Certain sources claim that during this era, Mundhirs Lakhmids were occupied with aiding the Himyarite opponents of Madikarib.

Al Mundhir was said to have had at least two sons out of whom were Nu'man, who fell in the battle of Kallinikon, and Amru , who took power after him in the 540s .

His father is stated to have been either Imrualqays or Numan in the Islamic era sources, like Al Tabari, or a certain Saccice in Procopius.

ToposText interprets Saccice as his mothers name, while Book of the Himyarites, an either sixth or eighth century work as well, also mentions him as Mundhir Bar Zaqiqa, which may suggest that , if this is not a mistake made by the chronicists who often confused names of the personalities they were less familiar with, the Lakhmids were influenced by the mesopotamian culture spread in the region during the Hatrene era. Zaqiqa was a god who rose in popularity in the Assyro-Babylonian period and tool place of Nergal in Hatra. Bar Zaqiqa is found among Hatrene personal names. We know less about the religion at the time from other places than the city of Hatra itself...

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Returning to Malalas Al Mundhir is shown in his work as the most problematic enemy of the Romans of his time, and a skilled warlord, who comes to raise up the spirit of Kavadh after he lost faith in his other allies- and the speech below is given to him for the said occasion.

It is shaid that he captured people in tens of thousands in each raid, killing them without consideration. That was common , as for the numbers- the armies of Yosef Asar also state to have killed around such number of people in Najran, - but it was a successful raid.

Afterwards, the author explains why Mundhir was such a foe to the Romans, and what was his rulership like compared to the Ghassanid system of organisation of the kingdom, and what was he like as a personality compared to Harith ibn Jabala. of the Ghassanids.

Here it goes:

Thereafter Cabades began to consider in what manner he himself should make an expedition against the Romans. For after the mirranes had failed in the manner I have told, he felt confidence in no one else. While he was completely at a loss as to what he should do, Alamoundaras, the king of the Sarancens. came before him and said:

"Not everything, O Master,  should be entrusted to fortune, nor should one believe that all wars ought to be successful. For this is not likely and besides it is not in keeping with the course of human events, but this idea is most unfortunate for those who are possessed by it. For when men who expect that all the good things will come to them fail at any time, if it so happen, they are distressed more than is seemly by the very hope which wrongly led them on. Therefore, since men have not always confidence in fortune, they do not enter into the danger of war in a straightforward way, even if they boast that they surpass the enemy in every respect, but by deception and divers devices they exert themselves to circumvent their opponents. For those who assume the risk of an even struggle have no assurance of victory. Now, therefore, O King of Kings, neither be thus distressed by the misfortune which has befallen Mirranes, nor desire again to make trial of fortune. For in Mesopotamia and the land of Osroene, as it is called, since it is very close to thy boundaries, the cities are very strong above all others, and now they contain a multitude of soldiers such as never before, so that if we go there the contest will not prove a safe one; but in the land which lies outside the River Euphrates, and in Syria which adjoins it, there is neither a fortified city nor an army of any importance. For this I have often heard from the Saracens sent as spies to these parts. There too, they say, is the city of Antioch, in wealth and size and population the first of all the cities of the Eastern Roman Empire; and this city is unguarded and destitute of soldiers. For the people of this city care for nothing else than fêtes and luxurious living, and their constant rivalries with each other in the theatres. Accordingly, if we go against them unexpectedly, it is not at all unlikely that we shall capture the city by a sudden attack, and that we shall return to the land of the Persians without having met any hostile army, and before the troops in Mesopotamia have learned what has happened. As for lack of water or of any kind of provisions, let no such thought occur to thee; for I myself shall lead the army wherever it shall seem best."
When Cabades heard this he could neither oppose nor distrust the plan. For Alamoundaras was most discreet and well experienced in matters of warfare, thoroughly faithful to the Perisans, and unusually energetic,—a man who for a space of fifty years forced the Roman state to bend the knee. For beginning from the boundaries of Aegypt and as far as Mesopotamia he plundered the whole country, pillaging one place after another, burning the buildings in his track and making captives of the population by the tens of thousands on each raid, most of whom he killed without consideration, while he gave up the others for great sums of money. And he was confronted by no one at all. For he never made his inroad without looking about, but so suddenly did he move and so very opportunely for himself, that, as a rule, he was already off with all the plunder when the generals and the soldiers were beginning to learn what had happened and to gather themselves against him.

 If, indeed, by any chance, they were able to catch him, this barbarian would fall upon his pursuers while still unprepared and not in battle array, and would rout and destroy them with no trouble; and on one occasion he made prisoners of all the soldiers who were pursuing him together with their officers. These officers were Timostratus, the brother of Rufinus, and John, the son of Lucas, whom he gave up indeed later, thereby gaining for himself no mean or trivial wealth.

And, in a word, this man proved himself the most difficult and dangerous enemy of all to the Romans. The reason was this, that Alamoundaras, holding the position of king, ruled alone over all the Saracens in Persia, , and he was always able to make his inroad with the whole army wherever he wished in the Roman domain; and neither any commander of Roman troops, whom they call "duces," nor any leader of the Saracens allied with the Romans, , who are called "phylarchs," was strong enough with his men to array himself against Alamoundaras, for the troops stationed in the different districts were not a match in battle for the enemy.

 For this reason the Emperor Justinian put in command of as many clans as possible Arethas, the son of Gabalas, who ruled over the Saracens of Arabia, and bestowed upon him the dignity of king, a thing which among the  Romans had never before been done. However Alamoundaras continued to injure the Romans just as much as before, if not more, since Arethas was either extremely unfortunate in every inroad and every conflict, or else he turned traitor as quickly as he could. For as yet we know nothing certain about him. In this way it came about that Alamoundaras, with no one to stand against him, plundered the whole East for an exceedingly long time, for he lived to a very advanced age.

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For more extracts of the Roman chronicles on Al Mundhir on ToposText: link