Note 213 — Chapter X · THE ERA OF THE LATER CAROLINGIANS

This Saracen attack upon Rome was made by some Arab pirates who in the Mediterranean were playing much the same rôle of destruction as were the Northmen on the Atlantic coasts. A league of Naples, Gaeta, and Amalfi defeated the pirates in 849, and delivered Rome from her oppressors long enough for new fortifications to be constructed. Walls were built at this time to include the quarter of St. Peter's—a district known to this day as the "Leonine City" in memory of Leo IV., who in 847 succeeded Sergius as pope [see above text under date 850].