nce and fortitude of his incomparable wife.

In the midst of his successes in war, Odenathus was cut off in 250 A.D.
by assassination. He had punished his nephew, who killed him in return.
Zenobia at once succeeded to the vacant throne, and by her ability
governed Palmyra, Syria, and the East. In this task, in which no man
could have surpassed her in courage and judgment, she was aided by the
counsels of one of the ablest Greeks who had appeared since the days of
the famous writers of the classical age. Longinus, who had been her
preceptor in the language and literature of Greece, and who, on her
ascending the throne, became her secretary and chief counsellor in state
affairs, was a literary critic and philosopher whose lucid intellect
seemed to belong to the brightest days of Greece. He was probably a
native of Syria, born some time after 200 A.D., and had studied
literature and philosophy at Athens, Alexandria, and Rome, under the
ablest teachers of the age. His learning was immense, and he is the
first man to whom was applied the expression "a living library," or, to
give it its modern form, "a walking encyclopaedia." His writings were
lively and penetrating, showing at once taste, judgment, and learning.
We have only fragments of them, except the celebrated "Treatise on the
Sublime," which is one of the most notable of ancient critical
productions.

Under the advice of this distinguished counsellor, Zenobia entered upon
a career which brought her disaster, but has also brought her fame. Her
husband Odenathus had avenged Valerian, the Roman emperor, who had been
taken prisoner and shamefully treated by the Persian king. For this
service he was confirmed in his authority by the senate of Rome. But
after his death the senate refused to grant this authority to his widow,
and called on her to deliver her dominion over to Rome. Under the advice
of Longinus the martial queen refused, defied the power of Rome, and
determined to maintain her empire in despite of the senate and army of
the proud "master of the world."

War at once broke out. A Roman army invaded Syria, but was met by
Zenobia with such warlike energy and skill that it was hurled back in
defeat, and its commanding general, having lost his army, was driven
back to Europe in disgrace. This success gave Zenobia the highest fame
and power in the world of the Orient. The states of Arabia, Armenia,
and Persia, in dread of her enmity, solicited alliance with her. To