Queen, was hardly to be restrained from breaking forth in some
violent way. They were ready to rush upon the great avenue,
bearing aside the troops, that they might the sooner greet her.
When, at length, the centre of the army approached, and the
armed chariot appeared in which Zenobia sat, the enthusiasm of
the people knew no bounds. They broke through all restraint,
and with cries that filled the heavens, pressed toward her--the
soldiers catching the frenzy and joining them--and quickly
detaching the horses from her carriage, themselves drew her
into the city just as if she had returned victor with Aurelian
in her train. There was no language of devotion and loyalty
that did not meet her ear, nor any sign of affection that could
be made from any distance, from the plains, the walls, the
gates, the higher buildings of the city, the roofs of which
were thronged, that did not meet her eye. It was a testimony
of love so spontaneous and universal, a demonstration of
confidence and unshaken attachment so hearty and sincere, that
Zenobia was more than moved by it, she was subdued--and she,
who, by her people had never before been seen to weep, bent her
head and buried her face in her hands.
"With what an agony of expectation, while this scene was
passing, did I await the appearance of Fausta, and Gracchus,
and Calpurnius--if, indeed, I were destined ever to see them
again. I waited long, and with pain, but the gods be praised,
not in vain, nor to meet with disappointment only. Not far in
the rear of Zenobia, at the head of a squadron of cavalry,
rode, as my eye distinctly informed me, those whom I sought.
No sooner did they in turn approach the gates, than almost
the same welcome that had been lavished upon Zenobia, was
repeated for Fausta, Gracchus, and Calpurnius. The names of
Calpurnius and Fausta--of Calpurnius, as he who had saved the
army at Antioch, of Fausta as the intrepid and fast friend of
the Queen, were especially heard from a thousand lips, joined
with every title of honor. My voice was not wanting in the
loud acclaim. It reached the ears of Fausta, who, starting
and looking upward, caught my eye just as she passed beneath
the arch of the vast gateway. I then descended from my tower
of observation, and joined the crowds who thronged the close
ranks, as they filed along the streets of the city. I pressed
upon the steps of my friends, never being able to keep my eyes
from the forms of those I loved so well, whom I had so feared
to lose, and so rejoiced to behold returned alive and unhurt.
"All day the army has continued pouring into the city, and
beside the army greater crowds still of the inhabitants of
the suburbs, who, knowing that before another day shall end,
the Romans may encamp before the walls, are scattering in all
directions--multitudes taking refuge in the city, but greater
numbers still mounted upon elephants, camels, dromedaries
and horses, flying into the country to the north. The whole
region as far as the eye can reach, seems in commotion, as if
society were dissolved, and breaking up from its foundations.
The noble and the rich, whose means are ample, gather together
their valuables, and with their children and friends, seek the
nearest parts of Mesopotamia, where they will remain in safety
till the siege shall be raised. The poor, and such as cannot
reach the Euphrates, flock into the city, bringing with them
what little of provisions or money they may possess, and are
quartered upon the inhabitants, or take up a temporary abode
in the open squares, or in the courts and porticos of palaces
and temples--the softness and serenity of the climate rendering
even so much as the shelter of a tent superfluous. But by this
vast influx the population of the city cannot be less than
doubled, and I should tremble for the means of subsistence
for so large a multitude, did I not know the inexhaustible
magazines of corn, laid up by the prudent foresight of the
Queen, in anticipation of the possible occurrence of the
emergency which has now arrived. A long time--longer than he
himself would be able to subsist his army, must Aurelian lie
before Palmyra, ere he can hope to reduce it by famine. What
impression his engines may be able to make upon the walls,
remains to be seen."
The arrival of the Palmyrene army is soon followed by that of
Aurelian, which presently surround the city, and under cover of
shields, attempt to undermine and scale the walls. But they are
foiled:
"It is incredible the variety and ingenuity of the contrivances
by which the Queen's forces beat off and rendered ineffectual
all the successive movements of the enemy, in their attempts
to surmount the walls. Not only from every part of the wall
were showers of arrows discharged from the bows of experienced
archers, but from engines also, by which they were driven to a
much greater distance, and with great increase of force.
"This soon rendered every attack of this nature useless and
worse, and their efforts were then concentrated upon the
several gates which simultaneously were attempted to be
broken in, fired, or undermined. But here again, as often
as these attempts were renewed, were they defeated, and
great destruction made of those engaged in them. The troops
approached, as is usual, covered completely, or buried
rather, beneath their shields. They were suffered to form
directly under the walls, and actually commence their work
of destruction, when suddenly from the towers of the gates,
and through channels constructed for the purpose in every
part of the masonry, torrents of liquid fire were poured upon
the iron roof, beneath which the soldiers worked. This at
first they endured. The melted substances ran off from the
polished surface of the shields, and the stones which were
dashed upon them from engines, after rattling and bounding
over their heads, rolled harmless to the ground. But there was
in reserve a foe which they could not encounter. When it was
found that the fiëry streams flowed down the slanting sides of
the shell, penetrating scarcely at all through the crevices
of the well-joined shields, it was suggested by the ingenious
Periander, that there should first be thrown down a quantity of
pitch, in a half melted state, by which the whole surface of
the roof should be completely covered, and which should then,
by a fresh discharge of fire, be set in a blaze, the effect
of which must be to heat the shields to such a degree, that
they could neither be held, nor the heat beneath endured by
the miners. This was immediately resorted to at all the gates,
and the success was complete. For no sooner was the cold pitch
set on fire and constantly fed by fresh quantities from above,
than the heat became insupportable to those below, who suddenly
letting go their hold, and breaking away from their compacted
form, in hope to escape from the stifling heat, the burning
substance then poured in upon them, and vast numbers perished
miserably upon the spot, or ran burning, and howling with pain,
toward the camp. The slaughter made was very great, and very
terrible to behold."
Aurelian next encompasses the city with a double ditch and rampart,
in the construction of which he is often interrupted by the frequent
sallies of the Palmyrenes from the gates. These preparations and
their success are thus described:
"The Roman works are at length completed. Every lofty palm
tree, every cedar every terebinth, has disappeared from the
surrounding plains, to be converted into battering rams, or
wrought into immense towers, planted upon wheels, by which the
walls are to be approached and surmounted. Houses and palaces
have been demolished, that the ready hewed timber might be
detached and applied to various warlike purposes. The once
beautiful environs already begin to put on the appearance of
desolation and ruin.
"The citizens have awaited these preparations with watchful
anxiety. The Queen has expressed every where and to all, her
conviction that all these vast and various preparations are
futile--that the bravery of her soldiers and the completeness
of her counter provisions, will be sufficient for the
protection and deliverance of the city.
"Another day of fierce and bloody war. At four different
points have the vast towers been pushed to the walls, filled
with soldiers, and defended against the fires of the besieged
by a casing of skins and every incombustible substance, and
provided with a store of water to quench whatever part might by
chance kindle. It was fearful to behold these huge structures
urged along by a concealed force, partly of men and partly
of animals, and drawing nigh the walls. If they should once
approach so near that they could be fastened to the walls, and
so made secure, then could the enemy pour their legions upon
the ramparts, and the battle would be transferred to the city
itself. But in this case, as in the assaults upon the gates,
the fire of the besieged has proved irresistible.
"It was the direction of Periander, to whose unequalled
sagacity this part of the defence was intrusted, that so
soon as the towers should approach within reach of the most
powerful engines, they should be fired, if possible, by means
of well-barbed arrows and javelins, to which were attached
sacs and balls of inflammable and explosive substances. These
fastening themselves upon every part of the tower could not
fail to set fire to them while yet at some distance, and in
extinguishing which the water and other means provided for
that purpose would be nearly or quite exhausted, before they
had reached the walls. Then as they came within easier reach,
the engines were to belch forth those rivers of oil, fire, and
burning pitch, which he was sure no structure, unless of solid
iron, could withstand.
"These directions were carefully observed, and their success at
every point such as Periander had predicted. At the gate of the
desert the most formidable preparations were made, under the
directions of the Emperor himself, who, at a distance, could
plainly be discerned directing the work and encouraging the
soldiers. Two towers of enormous size were here constructed,
and driven toward the walls. Upon both, as they came within
the play of the engines, were showered the fiery javelins and
arrows, which it required all the activity of the occupants to
ward off or extinguish, where they had succeeded in fastening
themselves. One was soon in flames. The other, owing either
to its being of a better construction, or to a less vigorous
discharge of fire on the part of the defenders of the walls,
not only escaped the more distant storm of blazing missiles,
but succeeded in quenching the floods of burning pitch and
oil, which, as it drew nearer and nearer, were poured upon
it in fiery streams. On it moved, propelled by its invisible
and protected power, and had now reached the wall--the bridge
was in the very act of being thrown and grappled to the
ramparts--Aurelian was seen pressing forward the legions, who,
as soon as it should be fastened, were to pour up its flights
of steps and out upon the walls--when, to the horror of all,
not less of the besiegers than of the besieged, its foundations
upon one side--being laid over the moat--suddenly gave way, and
the towering and enormous mass, with all its living burden,
fell thundering to the plain. A shout, as of a delivered and
conquering army, went up from the walls, while upon the legions
below--such as had not been crushed by the tumbling ruin--and
who endeavored to save themselves by flight, a sudden storm of
stones, rocks, burning pitch, and missiles of a thousand kinds
was directed, that left few to escape to tell the tale of death
to their comrades. Aurelian, in his fury, or his desire to aid
the fallen, approaching too near the walls, was himself struck
by a well-directed shaft--wounded, and borne from the field.
"At the other gates, where similar assaults had been made, the
same success attended the Palmyrenes. The towers were in each
instance set on fire and destroyed.
"The city has greatly exulted at the issue of these repeated
contests. Every sound and sign of triumph has been made upon
the walls. Banners have been waved to and fro, trumpets have
been blown, and, in bold defiance of their power, parties of
horse have sallied out from the gates, and after careering in
sight of the enemy, have returned again within the walls. The
enemy are evidently dispirited, and already weary of the work
they have undertaken."
While the Palmyrenes are indulging the hope that Aurelian, finding
his army diminishing, will propose terms which they can accept with
honor, he despatches a herald, enjoining and commanding an immediate
surrender of the city. Zenobia refuses the terms. Aurelian renews his
attacks:
"In a few days the vast preparations of the Romans being
complete, a general assault was made by the whole army upon
every part of the walls. Every engine known to our modern
methods of attacking walled cities, was brought to bear. Towers
constructed in the former manner were wheeled up to the walls.
Battering rams of enormous size, those who worked them being
protected by sheds of hide, thundered on all sides at the gates
and walls. Language fails to convey an idea of the energy,
the fury, the madness of the onset. The Roman army seemed as
if but one being, with such equal courage and contempt of
danger and of death, was the dreadful work performed. But the
Queen's defences have again proved superior to all the power
of Aurelian. Her engines have dealt death and ruin in awful
measure among the assailants. The moat and the surrounding
plain are filled and covered with the bodies of the slain.
As night came on after a long day of uninterrupted conflict,
the troops of Aurelian, baffled and defeated at every point,
withdrew to their tents, and left the city to repose.
"The temples of the gods have resounded with songs of
thanksgiving for this new deliverance, garlands have been hung
around their images, and gifts laid upon their altars. Jews and
Christians, Persians and Egyptians, after the manner of their
worship, have added their voices to the general chorus.
"Again there has been a pause. The Romans have rested after
the late fierce assault to recover strength, and the city has
breathed free. Many are filled with new courage and hope, and
the discontented spirits are silenced. The praises of Zenobia,
next to those of the gods, fill every mouth. The streets ring
with songs composed in her honor."
The Persian army is next day seen by Fausta and Piso, from the
towers, whence the eye commanded the whole plain, to be approaching
to the relief of Zenobia. They encounter the Roman army, and terrible
slaughter ensues; while, at a signal from the Queen, who with half
the population of Palmyra are on the walls, Zabdas, at the head of
all the flower of the Palmyra cavalry, pours forth from the gates,
followed closely by the infantry, the battle meanwhile raging
fiercely between the walls and the Roman entrenchments, as well as
beyond. But the Palmyrenes are repulsed with great slaughter; the
routed army press back into the city, and the gates are closed upon
the pursuers. In the evening, at the house of Gracchus, where the
events of the day are discussed, Calpurnius, who had been in the
thickest of the fight, but had escaped unhurt, relates the fate of
Zabdas. The scene is one for the pencil:
"Calpurnius had been in the thickest of the fight, but had
escaped unhurt. He was near Zabdas when he fell, and revenged
his death by hewing down the soldier who had pierced him with
his lance.
"'Zabdas,' said Calpurnius, when in the evening we recalled
the sad events of the day, 'was not instantly killed by the
thrust of the spear, but falling backward from his horse, found
strength and life enough remaining to raise himself upon his
knee, and cheer me on, as I flew to revenge his death upon the
retreating Roman. As I returned to him, having completed my
task, he had sunk upon the ground, but was still living, and
his eye bright with its wonted fire. I raised him in my arms,
and lifting him upon my horse, moved toward the gate, intending
to bring him within the walls. But he presently entreated me to
desist.
"'I die,' said he, 'it is all in vain, noble Piso. Lay me at
the root of this tree, and that shall be my bed, and its shaft
my monument.'
"I took him from the horse as he desired.
"'Place me,' said he, 'with my back against the tree, and my
face toward the entrenchments, that while I live I may see the
battle--Piso, tell the Queen that to the last hour I am true to
her. It has been my glory in life to live but for her, and my
death is a happiness, dying for her. Her image swims before me
now, and over her hovers a winged victory. The Romans fly--I
knew it would be so--the dogs cannot stand before the cavalry
of Palmyra--they never could--they fled at Antioch. Hark! there
are the shouts of triumph--bring me my horse--Zenobia! live and
reign for ever!'
"'With these words his head fell upon his bosom, and he died. I
returned to the conflict; but it had become a rout, and I was
borne along with the rushing throng toward the gates.'"
Subsequently, an Armenian army, which had come to relieve Zenobia,
are seen from the towers to strike their tents, throw down their
allegiance to the Queen, and join the army of Aurelian. The following
picture of the besieged city affords a striking contrast to the
brilliant metropolis which our readers have seen described in the
former letters:
"This last has proved a heavier blow to Palmyra than the
former. It shows that their cause is regarded by the
neighboring powers as a losing one, or already lost, and that
hope, so far as it rested upon their friendly interposition,
must be abandoned. The city is silent and sad. Almost all the
forms of industry having ceased, the inhabitants are doubly
wretched through their necessary idleness; they can do little
but sit and brood over their present deprivations, and utter
their dark bodings touching the future. All sounds of gayety
have ceased. They who obtained their subsistence by ministering
to the pleasures of others, are now the first to suffer--for
there are none to employ their services. Streets, which but
a little while ago resounded with notes of music and the
loud laughter of those who lived to pleasure, are now dull
and deserted. The brilliant shops are closed, the fountains
forsaken, the Portico solitary--or they are frequented by
a few who resort to them chiefly to while away some of the
melancholy hours that hang upon their hands. And those who
are abroad seem not like the same people. Their step is now
measured and slow, the head bent, no salutation greets the
passing stranger or acquaintance, or only a few cold words
of inquiry, which pass from cold lips into ears as cold.
Apathy--lethargy--stupor--seem fast settling over all."
The next movement of the Queen, is to go in person to the court
of Persia, to obtain the aid of Sapor and the Prince Hormisdas,
who has sought in marriage the Princess Julia, her daughter, who,
though devoted to Calpurnius, offers herself as a victim on the
altar of her country. The Queen, with attendants, leaves Palmyra,
by a subterranean aqueduct, leading beyond the Roman camp, but
is betrayed by a female slave, who is bribed to treachery by the
Palmyrene traitor, Antiochus, and carried to the camp of Aurelian.
The interview between Zenobia and the Roman general, with the account
of an attempt by the enraged army, so long foiled by a woman, to
destroy her, cannot be curtailed, and is yet too long to extract. It
is in fine unity and the strictest keeping with the whole narrative.
Antiochus, the traitor, is scourged beyond the camp of the Romans, by
Aurelius' order. Terms of capitulation are now offered and accepted,
and Palmyra, as a nation, ceases to exist. Aurelian enters the city;
the Roman army is converted into a body of laborers and artizans,
who are employed in constructing wains, of every form and size, to
transport the treasures of the rifled city, by the aid of multitudes
of elephants and camels, across the desert to the sea, to adorn the
triumph of Aurelian, and add to the splendors of Rome; while the
senators and councillors of Palmyra, among whom are Longinus and
Gracchus, are led guarded from the city, amid the vehement grief of
the people, to the camp of the Roman conqueror, and finally conveyed
to the Roman prisons, at Emesa, a Syrian town, to await death at his
hands.
The chapter which follows, details the efforts made by Piso to obtain
pardon for Gracchus; his visit to Longinus and Gracchus in their
prisons; their noble bearing in view of the near approach of death,
and their reasoning on the principles of their philosophy, upon that
event. Longinus is executed, Gracchus pardoned, and Calpurnius leaves
the captive city, by the same subterranean aqueduct through which the
Queen had escaped.
Sandarian, a Roman general under Aurelian, is appointed Governor of
Palmyra, and the city seems tranquil. Gracchus, Piso, and Fausta,
now the wife of Calpurnius, (who has at length returned, under a
general pardon from the Emperor,) are induced, by a revolt in the
city, headed by the traitor Antiochus, who had also returned under
the general amnesty, to withdraw privately to one of the noble
Palmyrene's estates on an eminence four Roman miles from the walls,
commanding a view of the city. It was a square tower of stone,
originally built for war and defence. Aurelian, on his march to Rome,
with his army, gains tidings of the revolt of Antiochus, and returns
again to punish the traitor, who had caused all the Romans left in
Palmyra to be butchered. The result is thus given:
"As we came forth upon the battlements of the tower, not a
doubt remained that it was indeed the Romans pouring in again
like a flood upon the plains of the now devoted city. Far as
the eye could reach to the west, clouds of dust indicated the
line of the Roman march, while the van was already within a
mile of the very gates. The roads leading to the capital, in
every direction, seemed covered with those, who, at the last
moment, ere the gates were shut, had fled and were flying to
escape the impending desolation. All bore the appearance of a
city taken by surprise and utterly unprepared--as we doubted
not was the case from what we had observed of its actual state,
and from the suddenness of Aurelian's return and approach."
* * * * *
"After one day of preparation and one of assault the city has
fallen, and Aurelian again entered in triumph. This time in the
spirit of revenge and retaliation. It is evident, as we look
on horror-struck, that no quarter is given, but that a general
massacre has been ordered both of soldier and citizen. We can
behold whole herds of the defenceless populace escaping from
the gates or over the walls, only to be pursued--hunted--and
slaughtered by the remorseless soldiers. And thousands upon
thousands have we seen driven over the walls, or hurled from
the battlements of the lofty towers to perish, dashed upon the
rocks below. Fausta cannot endure these sights of horror, but
retires and hides herself in her apartments.
"No sooner had the evening of this fatal day set in, than a
new scene of terrific sublimity opened before us, as we beheld
flames beginning to ascend from every part of the city. They
grew and spread till they presently appeared to wrap all
objects alike in one vast sheet of fire. Towers, pinnacles,
and domes, after glittering awhile in the fierce blaze, one
after another fell and disappeared in the general ruin. The
Temple of the Sun stood long untouched, shining almost with the
brightness of the sun itself, its polished shafts and sides
reflecting the surrounding fire with an intense brilliancy. We
hoped that it might escape, and were certain that it would,
unless fired from within--as from its insulated position the
flames from the neighboring buildings could not reach it. But
we watched not long ere from its western extremity the fire
broke forth, and warned us that that peerless monument of
human genius, like all else, would soon crumble to the ground.
To our amazement, however, and joy, the flames, after having
made great progress, were suddenly arrested, and by some cause
extinguished--and the vast pile stood towering in the centre of
the desolation, of double size, as it seemed, from the fall and
disappearance of so many of the surrounding structures.