Muslims interpreted this massive march as Christendom’s attempt to exterminate Islam once and for all. “They swore oaths that they would drive out the caliph, appoint the catholicos in his place, destroy mosques and build churches,” one Muslim chronicler projected. Romanus was coming “out intending to conquer the world and destroy the religion [Islam] and to overcome sultans and to give help to devils,” another fumed. The emperor “had resolved to destroy the lands of Islam,” yet another succinctly jotted.
