Editing Saracen (section)

==Early usage and origins==
The [[Latin]] term ''Saraceni'' is of unknown original meaning. There are claims of it being derived from the Semitic [[Semitic root|triliteral root]] ''šrq'' "east" and ''šrkt'' "tribe, confederation".{{sfn|Macdonald|2009}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Isabel |last=Toral-Niehoff |chapter=Saraca |title=Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World |volume=14 |editor-first=Hubert |editor-last=Cancik |editor2-first=Helmuth |editor2-last=Schneider |editor2-link=Helmuth Schneider |editor3-first=Christine F. |editor3-last=Salazar |editor4-first=David E. |editor4-last=Orton |editor4-link=David E. Orton |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1101160 |url=https://archive.org/stream/BrillsNewPaulyEncyclopaediaOfTheAncientWorldClassicalTraditionIADel |pages=1158}}</ref> Another possible Semitic root is ''srq'' "to steal, rob, thief", more specifically from the noun ''sāriq'' ({{langx|ar|سارق}}), pl. ''sāriqīn'' ({{lang|ar|سارقين}}), which means "thief, marauder".<ref>{{cite book |last=Shahîd |first=Irfan |author-link=Irfan Shahîd |year=1984 |title=Rome and the Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4H97SA6pMAC&pg=PA125 |publisher=[[Dumbarton Oaks]] |page=125 |isbn=0884021157}}</ref> In his ''Levantine Diary'', covering the years 1699–1740, the Damascene writer Hamad bin Kanan al-Salhi ({{langx|ar|محمد بن كَنّان الصالحي}}) used the term ''sarkan'' to mean "travel on a military mission" from the [[Near East]] to parts of Southern Europe which were under [[Ottoman Empire]] rule, particularly [[Cyprus]] and [[Rhodes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alwaraq.net/Core/waraq/coverpage?bookid=356|title=الحوادث اليومية من تاريخ أحد عشر وألف ومية|date=15 October 2015|series=''Yawmiat Shamiyya'' (Chronicles of Ash-Sham)|language=ar|trans-title=The Chronicles of Ash-Sham"|others=The Daily Events As of 1111 Hijri / 1699 CE|access-date=30 April 2018}}</ref> 

[[Ptolemy]]'s [[2nd century|2nd-century]] work, ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'', describes ''Sarakēnḗ'' ({{langx|grc|Σαρακηνή}}) as a region in the northern [[Sinai Peninsula]].{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=505}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=506}} Ptolemy also mentions a people called the ''Sarakēnoí'' ({{langx|grc|οἱ Σαρακηνοί}}) living in the northwestern [[Arabian Peninsula]] (near neighbor to the Sinai).{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=505}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=506}} [[Eusebius]] in his ''[[Ecclesiastical History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical history]]'' narrates an account wherein [[Pope Dionysius of Alexandria]] mentions Saracens in a letter while describing the  persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor [[Decius]]: "Many were, in the Arabian mountain, enslaved by the barbarous 'sarkenoi'."{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=505}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=506}} The ''[[Historia Augusta|Augustan History]]'' also refers to an attack by ''Saraceni'' on [[Pescennius Niger]]'s army in [[Egypt]] in 193, but provides little information as to identifying them.{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=457}} 

Both [[Hippolytus of Rome]] and Uranius mention three distinct peoples in Arabia during the first half of the third century: the ''Taeni'', the ''Saraceni'', and the ''Arabes''.{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=505}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=506}} The ''Taeni'', later identified with the [[Arabs|Arab people]] called ''[[Tayy]]'', were located around [[Khaybar]] (an oasis north of Medina) and also in an area stretching up to the [[Euphrates]]. The ''Saraceni'' were placed north of them.{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=505}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=506}} These Saracens, located in the northern [[Hejaz]], were described as people with a certain military ability who were opponents of the [[Roman Empire]] and who were classified by the Romans as [[barbarian]]s.{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=505}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=506}} 

The Saracens are described as forming the ''[[equites]]'' from [[Phoenicia]] and [[Thamud]].{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=464}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=465}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=466}} In one document, the defeated enemies of [[Diocletian]]'s campaign in the [[Syrian Desert]] are described as Saracens. Other 4th-century military reports make no mention of Arabs, but refer to ''Saracen'' groups ranging as far east as [[Mesopotamia]] who were involved in battles on both the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] and Roman sides.{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=464}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=465}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=466}}{{sfn|Retsö|2003|p=517}} The Saracens were named in the Roman administrative document ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'', dating from the time of [[Theodosius I]] in the [[4th century]], as comprising distinctive units in the [[Roman army]]. They were distinguished in the document from Arabs.{{sfn|Retsö|2003|pp=464–466}}