I have ever seen or known; made for a Roman
empress. I used to think so when in Palmyra, and I saw her, so often as
I did, assuming the port and air of imaginary sovereignty. And now that
I behold her filling the very place for which by nature she is most
perfectly fitted, I cannot but confess that she surpasses all I had
imagined, in the genius she displays for her great sphere, both as wife
of Aurelian, and sovereign of Rome. Her intellect shows itself stronger
than I had believed it to be, and secures for her the homage of a class
who could not be subdued by her magnificence, extraordinary as it is.
They are captivated by the brilliancy of her wit, set off by her
unequalled beauty, and, for a woman, by her rare attainments, and hover
around her as some superior being. Then for the mass of our rich and
noble, her ostentatious state and imperial presence are all that they
can appreciate, all they ask for, and more than enough to enslave them,
not only to her reasonable will, but to all her most tyrannical and
whimsical caprices. She understands already perfectly the people she is
among; and through her quick sagacity, has already risen to a power
greater than woman ever before held in Rome.

We see her often--often as ever--and when we see her, enjoy her as well.
For with all her ambition of petty rule and imposing state, she
possesses and retains a goodness of heart, that endears her to all, in
spite of her follies. Julia is still her beloved Julia, and I her good
friend Lucius; but it is to Zenobia that she attaches herself most
closely; and from her she draws most largely of the kind of inspiration
which she covets. It is to her, too, I believe, that we may trace much
of the admirable wisdom--for such it must be allowed to be--with which
Livia adorns the throne of the world.

Her residence, when Aurelian is absent from the city, is near us in the
palace upon the Palatine; but when he is here, it is more remote, in the
enchanted gardens of Sallust. This spot, first ennobled by the presence
of the great historian, to whose hand and eye of taste the chief
beauties of the scene are to be traced, then afterward selected by
Vespasian as an imperial villa, is now lately become the chosen retreat
of Aurelian. It has indeed lost a part of its charms since it has been
embraced, by the extension of the new walls, within the limits of the
city; but enough remain to justify abundantly the preference of a line
of emperors. It is