ame of Longinus,[70] who was included among the
numerous and perhaps innocent victims of her fear, will survive that
of the Queen who betrayed or the tyrant who condemned him. Genius and
learning were incapable of moving a fierce unlettered soldier, but
they had served to elevate and harmonize the soul of Longinus. Without
uttering a complaint he calmly followed the executioner, pitying his
unhappy mistress, and bestowing comfort on his afflicted friends....

But, however in the treatment of his unfortunate rivals Aurelian might
indulge his pride, he behaved toward 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
honorable repose. The Emperor presented Zenobia with an elegant villa
at Tibur, or Tivoli, about twenty miles from the capital; the Syrian
queen insensibly sunk into a Roman matron, her daughters married into
noble families and her race was not yet extinct in the fifth century.

IV

ALARIC'S ENTRY INTO ROME[71]

(410 A.D.)

At the hour of midnight the Salarian gate was silently opened, and the
inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic
trumpet. Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of
Rome, the imperial city which had subdued and civilized so
considerable a part of mankind was delivered to the licentious fury of
the tribes of Germany and Scythia.

The proclamation of Alaric, when he forced his entrance into a
vanquished city, discovered, however, some regard for the laws of
humanity and religion. He encouraged his troops boldly to seize the
rewards of valor, and to enrich themselves with the spoils of a
wealthy and effeminate people; but he exhorted them at the same time
to spare the lives of the unresisting citizens, and to respect the
churches of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul as holy and inviolable
sanctuaries. Amidst the horrors of a nocturnal tumult, several of the
Christian Goths displayed the fervor of a recent conversion; and some
instances of their uncommon piety and moderation are related, and
perhaps adorned, by the zeal of ecclesiastical writers.

While the Barbarians roamed through the city in quest of prey, the
humble dwelling