96. Valens had gained, or rather purchased, the friendship
of the Saracens, whose vexatious inroads were felt on the
borders of Phoenicia, Palestine, and Egypt. The Christian
faith had been lately introduced among a people reserved in
a future age to propagate another religion (Tillemont, Hist.
des Empercurs, tom. v. p. 104, 106, 141; Mem. Eccles. tom.
vii. p. 593).