The Caliph's Court, Baghdad

The Roman ambassador angrily storms in followed by a cohort of advisors, servants and bodyguards. Brazenly addressing the Caliph he exclaims:

"How dares the Arab Basileos send threats to the Roman People! Conflict with the Turkish invaders of Anatolikon is inevitable and entirely to blame on their illegitimate occupation of our ancestral land and holy cities! The Arabs should do well to remember that in the New Rome they deal with a people and a religion much older then their own and show us the respect that we are due."

Having shocked the court, the ambassador marches out amid the protests of various cheikhs and emirs.