sider 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,
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.

Returning from the conquest of the East, Aurelian had already crossed
the Straits which divided Europe from Asia, when he was provoked by
the intelligence that the Palmyrenians had massacred the governor and
garrison which he had left among them, and again erected the standard
of revolt. Without a moment's deliberation, he once more turned his
face towards Syria. Antioch was alarmed by his rapid approach, and the
helpless city of Palmyra felt the irresistible weight of his resentment.
We have a letter of Aurelian himself, in which he acknowledges, that old
men, women, children, and peasants, had been involved in that dreadful
execution, which should have been confined to armed rebellion; and
although his principal concern seems directed to the reestablishment
of a temple of the Sun, he discovers some pity for the remnant of
the Palmyrenians, to whom he grants the permission of rebuilding and
inhabiting their city. But it is easier to destroy than to restore.
The seat of commerce, of arts, and of Zenobia, gradually sunk into an
obscure town, a trifling fortress, and at length a miserable village.
The present citizens of Palmyra, consisting of thirty or forty
families, have erected their mud cottages within the spacious court of a
magnificent temple.

Another and a last