Zenobia And Longinus

Among the most famous of the women of ancient days must be named

Zenobia, the celebrated queen of Palmyra and the East, and who claimed

to be descended from the kings whom the conquests of Alexander left over

Egypt, the Ptolemies, among whose descendants was included the still

more celebrated Cleopatra. Zenobia was the most lovely as well as the

most heroic of her sex, no woman of Asiatic birth ever having equalled

her in striking evidence of valor and ability, and none surpassed her in

beauty. We are told that while of a dark complexion, her smile revealed

teeth of pearly whiteness, while her large black eyes sparkled with an

uncommon brightness that was softened by the most attractive sweetness.

She possessed a strong and melodious voice, and, in short, had all the

charms of womanly beauty.



Her mind was as well stored as her body was attractive. She was familiar

with the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages, and was an adept

also in Latin, then the political language of the civilized world. She

was an earnest student of Oriental history, of which she herself drew up

an epitome, while she was fully conversant with Homer and Plato, and the

other great writers of Greece.



This lovely and accomplished woman gave her hand in marriage to

Odenathus, who from a private station had gained by his valor the empire

of the East. He made Syria his by courage and ability, and twice pursued

the Persian king to the gates of Ctesiphon. Of this hero Zenobia became

the companion and adviser. In hunting, of which he was passionately

fond, she emulated him, pursuing the lions, panthers, and other wild

beasts of the desert with an ardor equal to his own, and a fortitude and

endurance which his did not surpass. Inured to fatigue, she usually

appeared on horseback in a military habit, and at times marched on foot

at the head of the troops. Odenathus owed his success largely to the

prudence 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 her

dominions, which extended from the Euphrates over much of Asia Minor and

to the borders of Arabia, she added the populous kingdom of Egypt, the

inheritance of her claimed ancestors. The Roman emperor Claudius

acknowledged her authority and left her unmolested. Assuming the

splendid title of Queen of the East, she established at her court the

stately power of the courts of Asia, exacted from her subjects the

adoration shown to the Persian king, and, while strict in her economy,

at times displayed the greatest liberality and magnificence.



But a new emperor came to the throne in Rome, and a new period in the

history of Zenobia began. Aurelian, a fierce and vigorous soldier,

marched at the head of the Roman legions against this valiant queen, who

had built herself up an empire of great extent, and demanded that she

should submit to the power of his arms. Asia Minor was quickly restored

to Rome, Antioch fell into the hands of Aurelian, and the Romans still

advanced, to meet the army of the Syrian queen. Meeting near Antioch, a

great battle was fought. Zabdas, who had conquered Egypt for Zenobia,

led her army, but the valiant queen animated her soldiers by her

presence, and exhorted them to the utmost exertions. Her troops, great

in number, were mainly composed of light-armed archers and of cavalry

clothed in complete steel. These Asiatic warriors proved incapable of

enduring the charge of the veteran legions of Rome. The army of Zenobia

met with defeat, and at a subsequent battle, near Emesa, met with a

second disastrous repulse.



Zenobia found it impossible to collect a third army. Most of the nations

under her control had submitted to the conqueror. Egypt was invaded by a

Roman army. Out of her lately great empire only her capital, Palmyra,

remained. Here she retired, made preparations for a vigorous defence,

and declared that her reign and life should only end together.



Palmyra was then one of the most splendid cities of the world. A

halting-place for the caravans which conveyed to Europe the rich

products of India and the East, it had grown into a great and opulent

city, whose former magnificence is shown by the ruins of temples,

palaces, and porticos of Grecian architecture, which now extend over a

district of several miles. In this city, surrounded with strong walls,

Zenobia had gathered the various military engines which in those days

were used in siege and defence, and, woman though she was, was prepared

to make the most vigorous resistance to the armies of Rome.



Aurelian had before him no light task. In his march over the desert the

Arabs harassed him perpetually. The siege proved difficult, and the

emperor, leading the attacks in person, was himself wounded with a dart.

Aurelian, finding that he had undertaken no trifling task, prudently

offered excellent terms to the besieged, but they were rejected with

insulting language. Zenobia hoped that famine would come to her aid to

defeat her foe, and had reason to expect that Persia would send an army

to her relief. Neither happened. The Persian king had just died.

Convoys of food crossed the desert in safety. Despairing at length of

success, Zenobia mounted her fleetest dromedary and fled across the

desert to the Euphrates. Here she was overtaken and brought back a

captive to the emperor's feet.



Soon afterwards Palmyra surrendered. The emperor treated it with lenity,

but a great treasure in gold, silver, silk, and precious stones fell

into his hands, with all the animals and arms. Zenobia being brought

into his presence, he sternly asked her how she had dared to take arms

against the emperors of Rome. She answered, with respectful prudence,

"Because I disdained to consider as Roman emperors an Aureolus or a

Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my sovereign."



Her fortitude, however, did not last. The soldiers, with angry clamor,

demanded her immediate execution, and the unhappy queen, losing for the

first time the courage which had so long sustained her, gave way to

terror, and declared that her resistance was not due to herself, but had

arisen from the counsels of Longinus and her other advisers. It was the

one base act in the woman's life. She had purchased a brief period of

existence at the expense of honor and fame. Aurelian, a fierce soldier,

to whom the learning of Longinus made no appeal, at once ordered his

execution. The scholar died like a philosopher. He uttered no complaint.

He pitied, but did not blame, his mistress. He comforted his afflicted

friends. With the calm fortitude of Socrates he followed the

executioner, and died like one for whom death had no terrors. The

ignorant emperor, in seizing the treasures of Palmyra, did not know that

he had lost its choicest treasure in setting free the soul of Longinus

the scholar.



What followed may be more briefly told. Marching back with his spoils

from Palmyra, Aurelian had already reached Europe when word came to him

that the Palmyrians whom he had spared had risen in revolt and massacred

his garrison. Instantly turning, he marched back, his soul filled with

thirst for revenge. Reaching Palmyra with great celerity, his wrath fell

with murderous fury on that devoted city. Not only armed rebels, but

women and children, were massacred, and the city was almost levelled

with the earth. The greatness of Palmyra was at an end. It never

recovered from this dreadful blow. It sunk, step by step, into the

miserable village, in the midst of stately ruins, into which it has now

declined.



On his return Aurelian celebrated his victories and conquests with a

magnificent triumph, one of the most ostentatious that any Roman emperor

had ever given. His conquests had been great, both in the West and the

East, and no emperor had better deserved a triumphant return to the

imperial city, the mistress of the world.



All day long, from morning to night, the grand procession wound on. At

its head were twenty elephants, four royal tigers, and about two hundred

of the most curious and interesting animals of the North, South, and

East. Sixteen hundred gladiators followed, destined for the cruel sports

to be held in the amphitheatre. Then came a display of the wealth of

Palmyra, the magnificent plate and wardrobe of Zenobia, the arms and

ensigns of numerous conquered nations. Embassadors from the most remote

regions of the civilized earth,--from Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, India,

and China,--attired in rich and singular dresses, attested the fame of

the Roman emperor, while his power was shown by the many presents he had

received, among them a great number of crowns of gold, which had been

given him by grateful cities.






A long train of captives next declared his triumph, among them Goths,

Vandals, Franks, Gauls, Germans, Syrians, and Egyptians. Each people was

distinguished by its peculiar inscription, the title of Amazons being

given to ten Gothic heroines who had been taken in arms. But in this

great crowd of unhappy captives one above all attracted the attention of

the host of spectators, the beauteous figure of the Queen of the East.

Zenobia was so laden with jewels as almost to faint under their weight.

Her limbs bore fetters of gold, while the golden chain that encircled

her neck was of such weight that it had to be supported by a slave. She

walked along the streets of Rome, preceding the magnificent 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.