Page "Constantine IV" Paragraph 5

Then, commencing in 674, the Arabs launched the long awaited siege of Constantinople.

The great fleet that had been assembled set sail under the command of Abdu ' l-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr before the end of the year ; and during the winter months some of the ships anchored at Smyrna, the rest off the coast of Cilicia.

Additional squadrons reinforced the forces of Abd ar-Rahman before they proceeded to the Hellespont, into which they sailed in about April 674.

From April to September 674 the fleet lay moored from the promontory of Hebdomon, on the Propontis, as far as the promontory of Kyklobion, near the Golden Gate, and throughout those months continued to engage with the Byzantine fleet which defended the harbour continued from morning to evening.