Philip the Arab

"When Philip the Arab came to the Roman throne in the third century AD, 'the Empire', in the words of the sophist Nicagoras, 'was tossing as in a great storm or earthquake, and floundering like a ship being carried off to the ends of the earth.' The rise of Philip, an Arab of a peripheral tribe in Arabia, to the throne of the Caesars at the millennium of the birth of the Roman Empire, was a momentous event in pre-Islamic history. A man of intelligence and immense determination, he brought the ship under control and 'secured her at anchor'." "The Emperor Philip has been neglected by Arab historians and misrepresented by those in the West. No other biography exists. Here, for the first time, is an account of a great leader's life and achievements."--Jacket.