nginus. Without uttering a complaint he calmly followed the
executioner, pitying his unhappy mistress, and bestowing comfort on his
afflicted friends....

But, however in the treatment of his unfortunate rivals Aurelian might
indulge his pride, he behaved towards them with a generous clemency
which was seldom exercised by the ancient conquerors. Princes who
without success had defended their throne or freedom, were frequently
strangled in prison as soon as the triumphal pomp ascended the Capitol.
These usurpers, whom their defeat had convicted of the crime of treason,
were permitted to spend their lives in affluence and honorable repose.
The Emperor presented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur, or Tivoli,
about twenty miles from the capital; the Syrian queen insensibly sunk
into a Roman matron, her daughters married into noble families, and her
race was not yet extinct in the fifth century.

FOUNDATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE

We are at present qualified to view the advantageous position of
Constantinople, which appears to have been formed by nature for the
centre and capital of a great monarchy. Situated in the forty-first
degree of latitude, the imperial city commanded from her seven hills the
opposite shores of Europe and Asia; the climate was healthy and
temperate, the soil fertile, the harbor secure and capacious; and the
approach on the side of the continent was of small extent and easy
defense. The Bosphorus and the Hellespont may be considered as the two
gates of Constantinople; and the prince who possessed those important
passages could always shut them against a naval enemy and open them to
the fleets of commerce. The preservation of the eastern provinces may in
some degree be ascribed to the policy of Constantine, as the barbarians
of the Euxine, who in the preceding age had poured their armaments into
the heart of the Mediterranean, soon desisted from the exercise of
piracy, and despaired of forcing this insurmountable barrier. When the
gates of the Hellespont and Bosphorus were shut, the capital still
enjoyed within their spacious inclosure every production which could
supply the wants or gratify the luxury of its numerous inhabitants. The
sea-coasts of Thrace and Bithynia, which languish under the weight of
Turkish oppression, still exhibit a rich prospect of vineyards, of
gardens, and of plentiful harvests; and the Propontis has ever been
renowned for an inexhaustible store of the most exquisite fis