ecture whose ruins,
scattered over an extent of several miles, have deserved the curiosity
of our travelers. The elevation of Odenathus and Zenobia appeared to
reflect new splendor 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....

The firmness of Zenobia was supported by the hope that in a very short
time famine would compel the Roman army to repass the desert, and by
the reasonable expectation that the kings of the East, and
particularly the Persian monarch, would arm in the defense of their
most natural ally. But fortune and the perseverance of Aurelian
overcame every obstacle. The death of Sapor, which happened about this
time, distracted the counsels of Persia, and the inconsiderable
succors that attempted to relieve Palmyra were easily intercepted
either by the arms or the liberality of the Emperor. From every part
of Syria a regular succession of convoys safely arrived in the camp,
which was increased by the return of Probus with his victorious troops
from the conquest of Egypt. It was then that Zenobia resolved to fly.
She mounted the fleetest of her dromedaries, and had already reached
the banks of the Euphrates, about sixty miles from Palmyra, when she
was overtaken by the pursuit of Aurelian's light horse, seized, and
brought back a captive to the feet of the Emperor. Her capital soon
afterward surrendered, and was treated with unexpected lenity.

When the Syrian Queen was brought into the presence of Aurelian he
sternly asked her, How she had presumed to rise in arms against the
emperors of Rome! The answer of Zenobia was a prudent mixture of
respect and firmness: "Because I disdained to consider as Roman
emperors an Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge as my
conqueror and my sovereign." But as female fortitude is commonly
artificial, so it is seldom steady or consistent. The courage of
Zenobia deserted her in the hour of trial; she trembled at the angry
clamors of the soldiers, who called aloud for her immediate execution,
forgot the generous despair of Cleopatra which she had proposed as her
model, and ignominiously purchased life by the sacrifice of her fame
and her friends. It was to their counsels, which governed the weakness
of her sex, that she imputed the guilt of her obstinate resistance; it
was on their heads that she directed the vengeance of the cruel
Aurelian. The f