nd with brilliant success, and he left behind him a
book which is not likely to be forgotten while the English language
endures.

[Signature: W. E. H. Lecky]

ZENOBIA

Aurelian had no sooner secured the person and provinces of Tetricus,
than he turned his arms against Zenobia, the celebrated queen of Palmyra
and the East. Modern Europe has produced several illustrious women who
have sustained with glory the weight of empire; nor is our own age
destitute of such distinguished characters. But if we except the
doubtful achievements of Semiramis, Zenobia is perhaps the only female
whose superior genius broke through the servile indolence imposed on her
sex by the climate and manners of Asia. She claimed her descent from the
Macedonian kings of Egypt, equaled in beauty her ancestor Cleopatra, and
far surpassed that princess in chastity and valor. Zenobia was esteemed
the most lovely as well as the most heroic of her sex. She was of a dark
complexion (for in speaking of a lady these trifles become important).
Her teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and her large black eyes sparkled
with uncommon fire, tempered by the most attractive sweetness. Her voice
was strong and harmonious. Her manly understanding was strengthened and
adorned by study. She was not ignorant of the Latin tongue, but
possessed in equal perfection the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian
languages. She had drawn up for her own use an epitome of Oriental
history, and familiarly compared the beauties of Homer and Plato under
the tuition of the sublime Longinus.

This accomplished woman gave her hand to Odenathus, who, from a private
station, raised himself to the dominion of the East. She soon became the
friend and companion of a hero. In the intervals of war, Odenathus
passionately delighted in the exercise of hunting; he pursued with ardor
the wild beasts of the desert,--lions, panthers, and bears; and the
ardor of Zenobia in that dangerous amusement was not inferior to his
own. She had inured her constitution to fatigue, disdained the use of a
covered carriage, generally appeared on horseback in a military habit,
and sometimes marched several miles on foot at the head of the troops.
The success of Odenathus was in a great measure ascribed to her
incomparable prudence and fortitude. Their splendid victories over the
Great King, whom they twice pursued as far as the gates of Ctesiphon,
laid the foundations of t