An invasion by the Saraceni was most unlikely. The Arabs, who were called Saraceni in Italy, from the Greek sarakeinoi, in turn deriving from the Arab Sharkyum, meaning oriental, invaded Europe at the beginning of the VIII century. They occupied Spain and the islands of the western Mediterranean, whereas continental Europe was able to avoid their invasion. An attack was attempted in about 832 when, leaving from Sicily, the Arabs arrived at Latium by sea and reached Rome, brutally sacking it. However, a league headed by Pope Leo IV, and made up of the fleets of Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi and Gaeta, sank the Arab fleet near Ostia, in a crushing defeat in 849.