t. p. 218.]

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 defence of their most natural ally.
But fortune, and the perseverance of Aurelian, overcame every obstacle.
The death of Sapor, which happened about this time, [71] distracted the
councils 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, [72] 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 afterwards
surrendered, and was treated with unexpected lenity. The arms, horses,
and camels, with an immense treasure of gold, silver, silk, and precious
stones, were all delivered to the conqueror, who, leaving only a
garrison of six hundred archers, returned to Emesa, and employed some
time in the distribution of rewards and punishments at the end of so
memorable a war, which restored to the obedience of Rome those provinces
that had renounced their allegiance since the captivity of Valerian.

[Footnote 71: From a very doubtful chronology I have endeavored to
extract the most probable date.]

[Footnote 72: Hist. August. p. 218. Zosimus, l. i. p. 50. Though the
camel is a heavy beast of burden, the dromedary, which is either of the
same or of a kindred species, is used by the natives of Asia and Africa
on all occasions which require celerity. The Arabs affirm, that he will
run over as much ground in one day as their fleetest horses can perform
in eight or ten. See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. xi. p. 222, and
Shaw's Travels p. 167]

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 Gall