gnificent chariot in
which she had indulged hopes of riding in triumph through those grand
avenues. Behind it came two other chariots, still more sumptuous, those
of Odenathus and the Persian monarch. The triumphal car of Aurelian,
which followed, was one which had formerly been used by a Gothic king,
and was drawn by four stags or four elephants, we are not sure which.
The most illustrious of the senate, the people, and the army closed this
grand procession, which was gazed upon with joy and wonder by the vast
population of Rome.

So extended was the pompous parade that though it began with the dawn of
day, the ninth hour had arrived when it ascended to the Capitol, and
night had fallen when the emperor returned to his palace. Then followed
theatrical representations, games in the circus, gladiatorial combats,
wild-beast shows, and naval engagements. Not for generations had Rome
seen such a festival. Of the rich spoils a considerable portion was
dedicated to the gods of Rome, the temples glittered with golden
offerings, and the Temple of the Sun, a magnificent structure erected by
Aurelian, was enriched with more than fifteen thousand pounds of gold.

To Zenobia the victor behaved with a generous clemency such as the
conquering emperors of Rome rarely indulged in. He presented her with an
elegant villa at Tibur, or Tivoli, about twenty miles from the imperial
city; and here, surrounded by luxury, she who had played so imperial a
_role_ in history sank into the humbler state of a Roman matron. Her
daughters married into noble families, and the descendants of the once
Queen of the East were still known in Rome in the fifth century of the
Christian era.

_THE LITERARY GLORY OF GREECE._

Shall we now leave the domain of historic events, of which the land of
Greece presents so large and varied a store, and consider that other
feature of national life and development which has made Greece the most
notable of lands--the intellectual growth of its people, the splendor of
art and literature which gave it a glory that glows unfading still?

In the whole history of mankind there is nothing elsewhere to compare
with the achievements of the Greek intellect during the few centuries in
which freedom and thought flourished on that rocky peninsula, and the
names and works handed down to us are among the noblest in the grand
republic of thought. Just when this remarkable era of literature began
we do not know. So far as any