at Cologne, by a conspiracy of jealous husbands, whose revenge would have appeared more justifiable, had they spared the innocence of his son. After the murder of so many valiant princes, it is somewhat remarkable, that a female for a long time controlled the fierce legions of Gaul, and still more singular, that she was the mother of the unfortunate Victorinus. The arts and treasures of Victoria enabled her successively to place Marius and Tetricus on the throne, and to reign with a manly vigour under the name of those dependent emperors. Money of copper, of silver, and of gold, was coined in her name; she assumed the titles of Augusta and Mother of the Camps: her power ended only with her life; but her life was perhaps shortened by the ingratitude of Tetricus.

cus.

the arms of Aurelian. We read of the punishment of Lyons, but there is not any mention of the rewards of Autun. Such, indeed, is the policy of civil war: severely to remember injuries, and to forget the most important services. Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.

A. D. 272,

Aurelian had no sooner secured the person and provinces of Tetricus, than Character of Zenobia; he turned his arms against Zenobia, the celebrated queen of Palmyra and the east. Modern Europe has produced several illustrious women who have sustained with glory the weight of empire; nor is our own age destitute of such distinguished characters. But if we except the doubtful achievements of Semiramis, Zenobia is perhaps the only female whose superior genius broke through When, at the instigation of his am- the servile indolence imposed on her sex by the cliThe reign and defeat of Tetri- bitious patroness, Tetricus assumed mate and manners of Asia." She claimed her the ensigns of royalty, he was governor descent from the Macedonian kings of Egypt, of the peaceful province of Aquitaine, an employ-equalled in beauty her ancestor Cleopatra, and far ment suited to his character and education. He surpassed that princess in chastity and valour. reigned four or five years over Gaul, Spain, and Zenobia was esteemed the most lovely her beauty and Britain, the slave and sovereign of a licentious as well as the most heroic of her sex. army, whom he dreaded, and by whom he was de- She was of a dark complexion (for, in speaking of a spised. The valour and fortune of Aurelian at lady, these trifles become important.) Her teeth length opened the prospect of a deliverance. He were of a pearly whiteness, and her large black ventured to disclose his melancholy situation, and eyes sparkled with uncommon fire, tempered by the A. D. 271. conjured the emperor to hasten to the most attractive sweetness. Her voice was strong and harmonious. Her manly understanding was strengthened and adorned by study. She was not ignorant of the Latin tongue, but possessed in equal perfection the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. She had drawn up for her own use an epitome of oriental history, and familiarly compared the beauties of Homer and Plato under the tuition of the sublime Longinus.

Summer.

relief of his unhappy rival. Had this secret correspondence reached the cars of the soldiers, it would most probably have cost Tetricus his life; nor could he resign the sceptre of the west, without committing an act of treason against himself. He affected the appearances of a civil war, led his forces into the field against Aurelian, posted them in the most advantageous manner, betrayed his own counsels to the enemy, and with a few chosen friends deserted in the beginning of the action. The rebel legions, though disordered and dismayed by the unexpected treachery of their chief, defended themselves with desperate valour, till they were cut in pieces almost to a man, in this bloody and memorable battle, which was fought near Chalons in Champagne. The retreat of the irregular auxiliaries, Franks and Batavians, whom the conqueror soon compelled or persuaded to repass the Rhine, restored the general tranquillity, and the power of Aurelian was acknowledged from the wall of Antoninus to the columns of Hercules.

As early as the reign of Claudius, the city of Autun, alone and unassisted, had ventured to declare against the legions of Gaul. After a siege of seven months, they stormed and plundered that unfortunate city, already wasted by famine. Lyons, on the contrary, had resisted with obstinate disaffection

e Pollio assigns her an article among the thirty tyrants. Hist. August. p. 200. d Pollio in Hist. August. p. 196. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 220. The two Victors, in the lives of Gallienus and Aurelian. Eutrop. ix. 13. Euseb. in Chron. Of all these writers, only the two last (but with strong probability) place the fall of Tetricus before that of Zenobia. M. de Bose (in the Academy of Inscriptions, tom. xxx.) does not wish, and Tillemont (tom. iii. p. 1189.) does not dare, to follow them. I have been fairer than the one, and bolder than the other.

e Victor Junior in Aurelian. Eumenius mentions Batavica;

learning;

This accomplished woman gave her her valour.
hand to Odenathus, who, from a pri-
vate station, raised himself to the dominion of the
East. She soon became the friend and companion
of a hero. In the intervals of war, Odenathus pas-
sionately delighted in the exercise of hunting; he
pursued with ardour the wild beasts of the desert,
lions, panthers, and bears; and the ardour of Ze-
nobia in that dangerous amusement was not inferior
to his own. She had inured her constitution to
fatigue, disdained the use of a covered carriage,
generally appeared on horseback in a military habit,
and sometimes marched several miles on foot at the
head of the troops. The success of Odenathus was
in a great measure ascribed to her incomparable
prudence and fortitude. Their splendid victories
over the great king, whom they twice pursued as far
as the gates of Ctesiphon, laid the foundations of
their united fame and power.
The armies which

some critics, without any reason, would fain alter the word to Ba
gaudica.
f Eumen. in Vet. Panegyr. iv. 8.

g Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 246. Auton was not restored till the reign of Diocletian. See Eumenius de restaurandis scholis,

h Almost every thing that is said of the manners of Odenathus and Zenobia, is taken from their lives in the Augustan History, by Trebellius Pollio, see p. 192, 198.

iShe never admitted her husband's embraces but for the sake of posterity. If her hopes were baffled, in the ensuing month she reiterated the experiment.

numerous forces of Zenobia consisted for the most
part of light archers, and of heavy cavalry clothed
in complete steel. The Moorish and Illyrian horse
of Aurelian were unable to sustain the ponderous
charge of their antagonists. They fled in real or
affected disorder, engaged the Palmyrenians in a
laborious pursuit, harassed them by a desultory
combat, and at length discomfited this impenetrable
but unwieldy body of cavalry. The light infantry,
in the mean time, when they had exhausted their
quivers, remaining without protection against a
closer onset, exposed their naked sides to the swords
of the legions. Aurelian had chosen these veteran
troops, who were usually stationed on the Upper
Danube, and whose valour had been severely tried
in the Alemannic war. After the defeat of Emesa,
Zenobia found it impossible to collect a third army.
As far as the frontier of Egypt, the nations subject
to her empire had joined the standard of the con-
queror, who detached Probus, the bravest of his
generals, to possess himself of the Egyptian pro-
vinces. Palmyra was the last resource of the
widow of Odenathus. She retired within the walls
of her capital, made every preparation for a vigor-two or three baliste, and artificial fires are thrown
ous resistance, and declared, with the intrepidity of
a heroine, that the last moment of her reign and of
her life should be the same.

travellers. The elevation of Odenathus and Zenobia
appeared to reflect new splendour on their country,
and Palmyra, for a while, stood forth the rival of
Rome: but the competition was fatal, and ages of
prosperity were sacrificed to a moment of glory,
In his march over the sandy desert It is besieged by
between Emesa and Palmyra, the em- Aurelian;
peror Aurelian was perpetually harassed by the
Arabs; nor could he always defend his army, and
especially his baggage, from those flying troops of
active and daring robbers, who watched the moment
of surprise, and eluded the slow pursuit of the
legions. The siege of Palmyra was an object far
more difficult and important, and the emperor, who
with incessant vigour pressed the attacks in person,
was himself wounded with a dart. "The Roman
people," says Aurelian, in an original letter, "speak
with contempt of the war which I am waging
against a woman. They are ignorant both of the
character and of the power of Zenobia. It is im-
possible to enumerate her warlike preparations, of
stones, of arrows, and of every species of missile
weapons. Every part of the walls is provided with

from her military engines. The fear of punishment has armed her with a desperate courage. Yet still I trust in the protecting deities of Rome, who have hitherto been favourable to all my undertakings." Doubtful, however, of the protection of the gods, and of the event of the siege, Aurelian judged it more prudent to offer terms of an advantageous capitulation; to the queen, a splendid retreat; to the citizens, their ancient privileges. His proposals were obstinately rejected, and the refusal was accompanied with insult.

who becomes

and of the city.

Amid the barren deserts of Arabia, a The state of Palmyra, few cultivated spots rise like islands out of the sandy ocean. Even the name of Tadmor, or Palmyra, by its signification in the Syriac as well as in the Latin language, denoted the multitude of palm trees which afforded shade and verdure to that temperate region. The air was pure, and the soil, watered by some invaluable springs, was capable of producing fruit as well as corn. A place The firmness of Zenobia was suppossessed of such singular advantages, and situated ported by the hope, that in a very short master of Zenobia at a convenient distance between the Gulf of time famine would compel the Roman Persia and the Mediterranean, was soon frequented army to repass the desert; and by the reasonable by the caravans which conveyed to the nations of expectation that the kings of the East, and parEurope a considerable part of the rich commodities ticularly the Persian monarch, would arm in the of India. Palmyra insensibly increased into an defence of their most natural ally. But fortune and opulent and independent city, and connecting the the perseverance of Aurelian overcame every obRoman and the Parthian monarchies by the mutual stacle. The death of Sapor, which happened about benefits of commerce, was suffered to observe an this time, distracted the councils of Persia, and the humble neutrality, till at length, after the victories inconsiderable succours that attempted to relieve of Trajan, the little republic sunk into the bosom of Palmyra, were easily intercepted either by the arms Rome, and flourished more than one hundred and or the liberality of the emperor. From every part fifty years in the subordinate though honourable of Syria, a regular succession of convoys safely rank of a colony. It was during that peaceful arrived in the camp, which was increased by the period, if we may judge from a few remaining in- return of Probus with his victorious troops from the scriptions, that the wealthy Palmyrenians construct-conquest of Egypt. It was then that Zenobia reed those temples, palaces, and porticos of Grecian architecture, whose ruins, scattered over an extent of several miles, have deserved the curiosity of our

x Zosimus, 1. i. p. 44-48. His account of the two battles is clear and circumstantial.

y It was five hundred and thirty-seven miles from Seleucia, and two htindred and three from the nearest coast of Syria, according to the reckoning of Pliny, who, in a few words, (Hist. Natur. v. 21.) gives an excellent description of Palmyra,

z Some English travellers from Aleppo discovered the ruins of Palmyra, about the end of the last century. Our curiosity has since been gratified in a more splendid manner by Messieurs Wood and

solved to fly. She mounted the fleetest of her dromedaries, and had already reached the banks of the Euphrates, about sixty miles from Palmyra,

Dawkins. For the history of Palmyra, we may consult the masterly dissertation of Dr. Halley in the Philosophical Transactions; Lowthorp's Abridgment, vol. iii. p. 518.

a Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 218.

b From a very doubtful chronology I have endeavoured to extract the most probable date.

eHist. August. p. 218. Zosimus, L. i. p. 50. Though the camel is a heavy beast of burthen, the dromedary, who is either of the same of of a kindred species, is used by the natives of Asia and Africa, on all

when she was overtaken by the pursuit of Aurelian's | old men, women, children, and peasants, had been

k

matron, her daughters married into noble families, and her race was not yet extinct in the fifth century." Tetricus and his son were reinstated in their rank and fortunes. They erected on the Cælian hill a magnificent palace, and as soon as it was finished, invited Aurelian to supper. On his entrance, he was agreeably surprised with a picture which represented their singular history. They were delineated offering to the emperor a civic crown and the sceptre of Gaul, and again receiving at his hands the ornaments of the senatorial dignity. The father was afterwards invested with the government of Lucania, and Aurelian, who soon admitted the abdicated monarch to his friendship and conversation, familiarly asked him, Whether it were not more desirable to administer a province of Italy, than to reign beyond the Alps? The son long continued a respectable member of the senate; nor was there any of the Roman nobility more esteemed by Aurelian, as well as by his successors.P

China, all remarkable by their rich or singular | tal; the Syrian queen insensibly sunk into a Roman dresses, displayed the fame and power of the Roman emperor, who exposed likewise to the public view the presents that he had received, and particularly a great number of crowns of gold, the offerings of grateful cities. The victories of Aurelian were attested by the long train of captives who reluctantly attended his triumph, Goths, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alemanni, Franks, Gauls, Syrians, and Egyptians. Each people was distinguished by its peculiar inscription, and the title of Amazons was bestowed on ten martial heroines of the Gothic nation who had been taken in arms. But every eye, disregarding the crowd of captives, was fixed on the emperor Tetricus, and the queen of the east. The former, as well as his son, whom he had created Augustus, was dressed in Gallic trowsers, a saffron tunic, and robe of purple. The beauteous figure of Zenobia was confined by fetters of gold; a slave supported the gold chain which encircled her neck, and she almost fainted under the intolerable weight of jewels. She preceded on foot the magnificent chariot in which she once hoped to enter the gates of Rome. It was followed by two other chariots, still more sumptuous, of Odenathus and of the Persian monarch. The triumphal car of Aurelian (it had formerly been used by a Gothic king) was drawn, on this memorable occasion, either by four stags or by four elephants. The most illustrious of the senate, the people, and the army, closed the solemn procession. Unfeigned joy, wonder, and gratitude, swelled the acclamations of the multitude; but the satisfaction of the senate was clouded by the appearance of Tetricus; nor could they suppress a rising murmur, that the haughty emperor should thus expose to public ignominy the person of a Roman and a magistrate."

His treatment of

nobia.

But however, in the treatment of his Tetricus and Ze- unfortunate rivals, Aurelian might indulge his pride, he behaved towards them with a generous clemency, which was seldom exercised by the ancient conquerors. Princes who, without success, had defended their throne or freedom, were frequently strangled in prison, as soon as the triumphal pomp ascended the capitol. These usurpers, whom their defeat had convicted of the crime of treason, were permitted to spend their lives in affluence and honourable repose. The emperor presented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur, or Tivoli, about twenty miles from the capi

i Among barbarous nations, women have often combated by the side of their husbands. But it is almost impossible that a society of Amazons should ever have existed either in the old or new world.

k The use of bracce, breeches, or trowsers, was still considered in Italy as a Gallic and barbarian fashion. The Romans, however, had made great advances towards it. To incircle the legs and thighs with facia, or bands, was understood, in the time of Pompey and Horace, to be a proof of ill health and effeminacy. In the age of Trajan, the custom was confined to the rich and luxurious. It gradually was adopted by the meanest of the people. See a very curious note of Casaubon, ad Sueton. in August. c. 82.

1 Most probably the former; the latter, seen on the medals of Aurelian, only denote (according to the learned Cardinal Norris) an oriental

So long and so various was the pomp His magnificence of Aurelian's triumph, that although it and devotion. opened with the dawn of day, the slow majesty of the procession ascended not the capitol before the ninth hour; and it was already dark when the emperor returned to the palace. The festival was protracted by theatrical representations, the games of the circus, the hunting of wild beasts, combats of gladiators, and naval engagements. Liberal donatives were distributed to the army and people, and several institutions, agreeable or beneficial to the city, contributed to perpetuate the glory of Aurelian. A considerable portion of his oriental spoils was consecrated to the gods of Rome; the capitol, and every other temple, glittered with the offerings of his ostentatious piety; and the temple of the sun alone received above fifteen thousand pounds of gold. This last was a magnificent structure, erected by the emperor on the side of the Quirinal hill, and dedicated, soon after the triumph, to that deity whom Aurelian adored as the parent of his life and fortunes. His mother had been an inferior priestess in a chapel of the sun; a peculiar devotion to the god of light, was a sentiment which the fortunate peasant imbibed in his infancy; and every step of his elevation, every victory of his reign, fortified superstition by gratitude."

The arms of Aurelian had van- He suppresses a

quished the foreign and domestic foes sedition at Rome.

Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 199. Hieronym. in Chron. Prosper in Chron. Baronius supposes that Zenobius, bishop of Florence in the time of St. Ambrose, was of her family.

Vopise. in Hist. August. p. 222. Eutropius, ix. 13. Victor Junior. But Pollio, in Hist. August. p. 196. says, that Tetricus was made corrector of all Italy.

P Hist. August. p. 197.

Vopiscus in Hist. August, 222. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 56. He placed in it the images of Belus and of the sun, which he had brought from Palmyra. It was dedicated in the fourth year of his reign, (Euseb. in Chron.) but was most assuredly begun immediately on his ac

cession.

See in the Augustan History, p. 210, the omens of his fortune. His devotion to the sun appears in his letters, on his medals, and is mentioned in the Casars of Julian. Commentaire de Spanheim, P.

109.

"