prevented them from doing
themselves, and had made himself master of the dominion of the East. In
Zenobia he found a true helpmeet. She inured herself to hardships in
order that she might accompany her husband in his hazardous
undertakings, and assist him by her counsels or cheer him by her
presence. To her prudence and fortitude Odenathus owed much of his
success, both as a general and a monarch; so that in a few years, from
the small possessions adjoining Palmyra, he had extended his territory
from the Euphrates to the frontiers of Bithynia. During the intervals
between the wars in which he engaged from time to time, he spent much of
his leisure in hunting or other wild sports; and in these active
amusements his wife also accompanied him. She even marched, when the
occasion required it, at the head of their troops. For years every thing
went prosperously; then Odenathus was snatched away by death, and the
entire responsibility of the Government devolved upon Zenobia alone. The
Romans, now grown stronger than they had been for some time after the
defeat of Valerian, disputed the right of the widow of Odenathus to
assume the reins of government, and sent out generals to compel her to
submit to the dictum of the Senate. One of these she met, and obliged to
retreat with the loss of his army, his mortification at defeat being
increased by the fact that he had been beaten by a woman.

By judicious tact, she attached both her subjects and her soldiers to
her cause, and enlarged the borders of her dominion very considerably.
Even Egypt yielded to her prowess, and haughty Persia solicited an
alliance with her. She was, in fact, as powerful as any of the Eastern
potentates, if not the most powerful. No petty passion or malice was
allowed to mark her conduct in the treatment of her subjects. The good
of her country was her principal object in government, and for the good
of the State she would forgive, or at least not punish, a personal
injury. And, though surrounding herself with all the splendors of
royalty, she yet managed the financial affairs of her realm with
economy.

But the prosperity of her kingdom, and her own success as a sovereign,
only increased the envy and resentment of the Romans. Aurelian had
gained the supreme power in Rome, and, once established in his
authority, he determined to make good the old boast--once so true--that
Rome was mistress of the world. Zenobia was a powerful rival, and her he
determined