(271 A.D.)
Aurelian had no sooner secured the person and provinces of Tetricus,
than he turned his arms against Zenobia, the celebrated queen of
Palmyra[68] 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 the
servile indolence imposed on her sex by the climate and manners of
Asia. She claimed her descent from the Macedonian kings of Egypt,
equaled in beauty her ancestor Cleopatra, and far surpassed that
princess in chastity and valor.
Zenobia was esteemed the most lovely as well as the most heroic of her
sex. She was of a dark complexion (for in speaking of a lady these
trifles become important). Her teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and
her large black eyes sparkled with uncommon fire, tempered by 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 possest 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.
This accomplished woman gave her hand to Odenathus, who, from a
private 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 passionately delighted in the exercise of hunting; he
pursued with ardor the wild beasts of the desert--lions, panthers, and
bears; and the ardor of Zenobia 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,[69] laid the foundations of their
united fame and power. The armies which they commanded, and the
provinces which they had saved, acknowledged not any other sovereigns
than their invincible chiefs. The Senate and people of Rome revered a
stranger who had avenged their captive emperor, and even the
insensible son of Valerian accepted Odenathus for his legitimate
colleague....
When Aurelian passed over into Asia against an adversary whose sex
alone could render her an object of contempt, his presence restored
obedience to the province of Bithynia, already shaken by the arms and
intrigues of Zenobia. Advancing at the head of his legions, he
accepted the submission of Ancyra, and was admitted into Tyana, after
an obstinate siege, by the help of a perfidious citizen. The generous
tho fierce temper of Aurelian abandoned the traitor to the rage of the
soldiers: a superstitious reverence induced him to treat with lenity
the countrymen of Apollonius the philosopher. Antioch was deserted on
his approach, till the Emperor, by his salutary edicts, recalled the
fugitives, and granted a general pardon to all who from necessity
rather than choice had been engaged in the service of the Palmyrenian
Queen. The unexpected mildness of such a conduct reconciled the minds
of the Syrians, and as far as the gates of Emesa the wishes of the
people seconded the terror of his arms.
Zenobia would have ill deserved her reputation, had she indolently
permitted the Emperor of the West to approach within a hundred miles
of her capital. The fate of the East was decided in two great battles,
so similar in almost every circumstance that we can scarcely
distinguish them from each other, except by observing that the first
was fought near Antioch and the second near Emesa. In both the Queen
of Palmyra animated the armies by her presence, and devolved the
execution of her orders on Zabdas, who had already signalized his
military talents by the conquest of Egypt. The 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 valor 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 conqueror, who
detached Probus, the bravest of his generals, to possess himself of
the Egyptian provinces. Palmyra was the last resource of the widow of
Odenathus. She retired within the walls of her capital, made every
preparation for a vigorous resistance, and declared, with the
intrepidity of a heroine, that the last moment of her reign and of her
life should be the same.
Amid the barren deserts of Arabia, a 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 fruits as well as
corn. A place possest of such singular advantages, and situated at a
convenient distance between the Gulf of Persia and the Mediterranean,
was soon frequented by the caravans which conveyed to the nations of
Europe a considerable part of the rich commodities of India. Palmyra
insensibly increased into an opulent and independent city, and
connecting the Roman and the Parthian monarchies by the mutual
benefits of commerce was suffered to observe a humble neutrality, till
at length after the victories of Trajan the little republic sunk into
the bosom of Rome, and flourished more than one hundred and fifty
years in the subordinate tho honorable rank of a colony. It was during
that peaceful period, if we may judge from a few remaining
inscriptions, that the wealthy Palmyrenians constructed those
temples, palaces, and porticoes of Grecian architecture 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 fame 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.