antium, but the Arab armies also swept into Persian Mesopotamia and west in Byzantine Syria. " The two empires were exhausted after years of war with each other, and the dynamic, religiously inspired Islamic troops were in a perfect position to exploit their weaknesses" (Gilbert 46). The Arabs were able to carry out their near impossible conquests by the application of appropriate tactics to suit geographical situation. The strengths of the Arab army was not in equipment and organization, but rather superior morale: the product of religion, mobility, and the exceptional powers of endurance gained from hard living in the desert (Gilbert 47). The Islamic warriors used weapons such as the bow, scimitar sword, and the spear. They used their light cavalry very efficiently, to strike at the weak areas of an enemy and to disorganize more ponderous forces with the arrow fire.
             There are three keys to the successes of the conquests of parts of Spain, eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. The Feudal society was not only able to provide sufficient troops to fight the invaders, but also a motive, later on, for expansion. The second element, was the importance of a castle as fortification
             ...