A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Zenobia

W >> William Ware >> Zenobia




'Noble Piso!' he cried, his countenance suddenly growing bright as the
sun, 'I am glad to meet you at length. And have you too heard a Christian
preach? A senator of Rome?'

'I have; and I shall gladly hear more. I am not, however, a Christian,
Probus; I profess to be but a seeker after truth, if perhaps it may be
found in your faith, having failed to discover it among dead or living
philosophers. I shall hear you to-night.'

After many mutual inquiries concerning each other's welfare, we separated.

Upon returning to the house of Gracchus, and finding myself again in the
company of Fausta and her father, I said: 'I go to-night to hear a
Christian, the Christian Probus, discourse concerning the Christian
doctrine. Will you accompany me, Fausta?'

'Not now, Lucius,' she replied; 'my head and heart are too full of the
interests and cares of Zenobia, to allow me to think of aught else. No
other reason, I assure you, prevents. I have no fears of the opinions of
others to hinder me. When our public affairs are once more in a settled
state, I shall not be slow to learn more of the religion of which you
speak. Julia's attachment to it, of itself, has almost made a convert of
me already, so full of sympathy in all things is a true affection. But the
heart is a poor logician. It darts to its object, overleaping all reasons,
and may as well rest in error as truth. Whatever the purity of Julia and
the honesty and vigor of Zenobia accept and worship, I believe I should,
without further investigation, though they were the fooleries and gods of
Egypt, Did you succeed in your search of the Arab?'

'No: but perhaps Milo has. To tell the truth, I was soon diverted from
that object, first by the excitement I found prevailing among the people
on the affairs of the kingdom, and afterward by the spectacles of the
Portico, and the preaching of Probus, whom. I encountered there.'

In the evening, soon as the sun was set, I wound my way to the Christians'
place of worship.

It was in a part of the city remote and obscure, indicating very plainly
that whatever Christianity may be destined to accomplish in this city, it
has done little as yet. Indeed, I do not perceive what principle of
strength or power it possesses, sufficient to force its way through the
world, and into the hearts of men. It allows not the use of the sword; it
resorts not to the civil arm; it is devoid of all that should win upon the
senses of the multitude, being, beyond all other forms of faith,
remarkable for its simplicity, for its spiritual and intellectual
character. Moreover, it is stern and uncompromising in its morality,
requiring the strictest purity of life, and making virtue to consist not
in the outward act, but in the secret motive which prompts the act. It is
at open and unintermitting war with all the vain and vicious inclinations
of the heart. It insists upon an undivided sovereignty over the whole
character and life of the individual. And in return for such surrender, it
bestows no other reward than an inward consciousness of right action, and
of the approbation of God, with the hope of immortality. It seems thus to
have man's whole nature, and all the institutions of the world, especially
of other existing religions, to contend with. If it prevail against such
odds, and with such means as it alone employs, it surely will carry along
with it its own demonstration of its divinity. But how it shall have power
to achieve such conquests, I now cannot see nor conjecture.

Arriving at the place designated by Probus, I found a low building of
stone, which seemed to have been diverted from former uses of a different
kind, to serve its present purpose as a temple of religious worship.
Passing through a door, of height scarce sufficient to admit a person of
ordinary stature, I reached a vestibule, from which by a descent of a few
steps I entered a large circular apartment, low but not inelegant, with a
vaulted ceiling supported by chaste Ionic columns. The assembly was
already seated, but the worship not begun. The service consisted of
prayers to God, offered in the name of Christ; of reading a portion of the
sacred books of the Christians, of preaching, of music sung to religious
words, and voluntary offerings of money or other gifts for the poor.

I cannot doubt that you are repelled, my Curtius, by this account of a
worship of such simplicity as to amount almost to poverty. But I must tell
you that never have I been so overwhelmed by emotions of the noblest kind,
as when sitting in the midst of these despised Nazarenes, and joining in
their devotions; for to sit neuter in such a scene, it was not in my
nature to do, nor would it have been in yours, much as you affect to
despise this 'superstitious race.' This was indeed worship. It was a true
communion of the creature with the Creator. Never before had I heard a
prayer. How different from the loud and declamatory harangues of our
priests! the full and rich tones of the voice of Probus, expressive of
deepest reverence of the Being he addressed, and of profoundest humility
on the part of the worshipper, seeming too as if uttered in no part by the
usual organs of speech, but as if pronounced by the very heart itself,
fell upon the charmed ear like notes from another world. There was a new
and strange union, both in the manner of the Christian and in the
sentiments he expressed, of an awe such as I never before witnessed in man
towards the gods, and a familiarity and child-like confidence, that made
me feel as if the God to whom he prayed was a father and a friend, in a
much higher sense than we are accustomed to regard the Creator of the
universe. It was a child soliciting mercies from a kind and considerate
parent--conscious of much frailty and ill desert, but relying too with a
perfect trust, both upon the equity and benignity of the God of his faith.
I received an impression also from the quiet and breathless silence of the
apartment, from the low and but just audible voice of the preacher, of the
near neighborhood of gods and men, of the universal presence of the
infinite spirit of the Deity, which certainly I had never received before.
I could hardly divest myself of the feeling that the God addressed was in
truth in the midst of the temple; and I found my eye turning to the
ceiling, as if there must be some visible manifestation of his presence. I
wish you could have been there. I am sure that after witnessing such
devotions, contempt or ridicule would be the last emotions you would ever
entertain toward this people. Neither could you any longer apply to them
the terms fanatic, enthusiast, or superstitious. You would have seen a
calmness, a sobriety, a decency, so remarkable; you would have heard
sentiments so rational, so instructive, so exalted, that you would have
felt your prejudices breaking away and disappearing without any volition
or act of your own. Nay, against your will they would have fallen. And
nothing would have been left but the naked question--not is this faith
beautiful and worthy--but is this religion true or false?

When the worship had been begun by prayer to God in the name of Christ,
then one of the officiating priests opened the book of the Christians, the
Gospels, and read from the Greek, in which they are written--changing it
into the Palmyrene dialect as he read--diverse passages, some relating to
the life of Jesus, and others which were extracts of letters written by
apostles of his to individuals or churches, to which I listened with
attention and pleasure. When this was over, Probus rose, standing upon a
low platform like the rostrums from which our lawyers plead, and first
reading a sentence from the sayings of Paul, an apostle of Jesus, of which
this was the substance, 'Jesus came into the world, bringing life and
immortality to light,' he delivered, with a most winning and persuasive
beauty, a discourse, or oration, the purpose of which was to show, that
Jesus was sent into the world to bring to light or make plain the true
character and end of the life on earth, and also the reality and true
nature of a future existence. In doing this, he exposed--but in a manner
so full of the most earnest humanity that no one could be offended--the
errors of many of the philosophers concerning a happy life, and compared
with the greatest force their requisitions with those of the gospel, 'as
he termed his religion; showing what unworthy and inadequate conceptions
had prevailed as to what constitutes a man truly great, and good, and
happy. Then he went on to show, that it was such a life only as he had
described that could make a being like man worthy of immortality; that
although Jesus had proved the reality of a future and immortal existence,
yet he had, with even more importunity, and earnestness, and frequency,
laid down his precepts touching a virtuous life on earth. He finally went
into the Christian argument in proof of a future existence, and exhorted
those who heard him, and who desired to inhabit the Christian's heaven, to
live the life which Christ had brought to light, and himself had
exemplified on earth, laboring to impress their minds with the fact,
that it was a superior goodness which made Jesus what he was, and that it
must be by a similar goodness that his followers could fit themselves for
the immortality he had revealed. All this was with frequent reference to
existing opinions and practices, and with large illustrations drawn from
ancient and modern religious history.

What struck me most, after having listened to the discourse of Probus to
the end, was the practical aim and character of the religion he preached.
It was no fanciful speculation nor airy dream. It was not a plaything of
the imagination he had been holding up to our contemplation, but a series
of truths and doctrines bearing with eminent directness, and with a
perfect adaptation, upon human life, the effect and issue of which, widely
and cordially received, must be to give birth to a condition of humanity
not now any where to be found on the earth. I was startled by no
confounding and overwhelming mysteries; neither my faith nor my reason was
burdened or offended; but I was shown, as by a light from heaven, how
truly the path which leads to the possession and enjoyment of a future
existence coincides with that which conducts to the best happiness of
earth. It was a religion addressed to the reason and the affections; and
evidence enough was afforded in the representations given of its more
important truths, that it was furnished with ample power to convince and
exalt the reason, to satisfy and fill the affections. No sooner shall I
have returned to the leisure of my home, to my study and my books, than I
shall seriously undertake an examination of the Christian argument. It
surely becomes those who fill the place in the social state which I do, to
make up an intelligent judgment upon a question like this, so that I may
stand prepared to defend it, and urge it upon my countrymen, if I am
convinced of its truth and of its advantage to my country, or assail and
oppose it, if I shall determine it to be what it is so frequently termed,
a pernicious and hateful superstition.

When the discourse was ended, of the power and various beauty of which I
cannot pretend properly to acquaint you, another prayer longer and more
general was offered, to parts of which there were responses by the
hearers. Then, as a regular part of the service, voluntary offerings and
gifts were made by those present for the poor. More than once, as a part
of the worship, hymns were sung to some plain and simple air, in which all
the assembly joined. Sometimes, to the services which I witnessed, Probus
informed me there is added a further ceremony, called the 'Lord's supper,'
being a social service, during which bread and wine are partaken of, in
memory of Jesus Christ. This was the occasion, in former times, of heavy
charges against the Christians of rioting and intemperance, and even of
more serious crimes. But Probus assures me that the last were even then
groundless, and that now nothing can be more blameless than this simple
spiritual repast.

The worship being ended, and Probus having descended from his seat, I
accosted him, giving him what I am certain were very sincere thanks for
the information I had obtained from his oration, concerning the primary
articles of the Christian faith.

'It has been,' said he in reply, 'with utmost satisfaction, that I beheld
a person of your rank and intelligence among my hearers. The change of the
popular belief throughout the Roman empire, which must come, will be a
less tumultuous one, in proportion as we can obtain even so much as a
hearing from those who sit at the head of society in rank and
intelligence. Let me make a sincere convert of a Roman emperor, and in a
few years the temples of Paganism would lie even with the ground. Believe
me, Christianity has penetrated deeper and farther, than you in the seats
of power dream of. While you are satisfied with things as they are, and
are content to live on and enjoy the leisure and honors the gods crown you
with, the classes below you, less absorbed by the things of the
world--because perhaps having fewer of them,--give their thoughts to
religion and the prospects which it holds out of a happier existence after
the present. Having little here, they are less tied to the world than
others, and more solicitous concerning the more and the better, of which
Christianity speaks.'

'I am not insensible,' I replied, 'to the truth of what you say. The
cruelties, moreover, exercised by the emperors toward the Christians, the
countless examples of those who have died in torments for the truth of
this religion, have drawn largely and deeply upon the sympathy of the
general heart, and disposed it favorably toward belief. In Rome,
surrounded by ancient associations, embosomed in a family remarkable for
its attachment to the ancient order of things; friends of power, of
letters, and philosophy, I hardly was conscious of the existence of such a
thing as Christianity. The name was never heard where I moved. Portia, my
noble mother, with a heart beating warm for every thing human,
instinctively religious beyond any whom I have ever seen or known, of the
Christian or any other faith, living but to increase the happiness of all
around her, was yet--shall I say it?--a bigot to the institutions of her
country. The government and the religion under which all the Pisos had
lived and flourished, which had protected the rights and nursed the
virtues of her great husband and his family, were good enough for her, for
her children, and for all. Her ear was closed against the sound of
Christianity, as naturally as an adder's against all sound. She could not,
and never did hear it. From her I received my principles and first
impressions. Not even the history, nor so much as a word of the
sufferings, of the Christians ever fell on my ear. I grew up in all things
a Piso; the true child of my mother, in all save her divine virtues. And
it was not till a few years since, when I broke loose from domestic and
Roman life, and travelled to Greece and Egypt, and now to the East, that I
became practically aware of the existence of such a people as the
Christians; and my own is, I suppose, but a specimen of the history of my
order. I now perceive, that while we have slept, truth has been advancing
its posts, till the very citadel of the world is about to be scaled. The
leaven of Christianity is cast into the lump, and will work its necessary
end. It now, I apprehend, will matter but little what part the noble and
the learned shall take, or even the men in power. The people have taken
theirs, and the rest must follow, at least submit. Do I over-estimate the
inroads of the religion upon the mind and heart of the world?'

'I am persuaded you do not,' replied the Christian. Give me, as I said
before, one Roman emperor for a convert, and I will insure the immediate
and final triumph of Christianity. But in the mean time, another Nero,
another Domitian, another Decius, may arise, and the bloody acts of other
persecutions stain the annals of our guilty empire.'

'The gods forbid!' said I; yet who shall say it may not be! Much as I
honor Aurelian for his many virtues, I feel not sure that in the right
hands he might not be roused to as dark deeds as any before him--darker
they would be--inasmuch as his nature for sternness and severity has not,
I think, been equalled. If the mild and just Valerian could be so wrought
upon by the malignant Macrianus, what security have we in the case of
Aurelian? He is naturally superstitious.'

'O that in Aurelian,' said the Christian, 'were lodged the woman's heart
of Zenobia!--we then could trust to-morrow as well as enjoy to-day. Here
no laws seal the lips of the Christian: he may tell his tale to as many as
choose to hear. I learn, since my arrival, that the Princess Julia is
favorably inclined toward the Christian cause. Dost thou know what the
truth may be?'

'It is certain that she admires greatly the character and the doctrine of
Christ, and I should think, believes; but she does not as yet openly
confess herself a follower of the Nazarene. She is perhaps as much a
Christian as Zenobia is a Jewess.'

'I may well rejoice in that,' replied the Christian, 'yes, and do.'

The lights of the apartment were now extinguished, and we parted.

If I am ever again in Rome, my Curtius, it shall be my care to bring to
your acquaintance and Lucilia's, the Christian Probus. Farewell!




Note.



Some readers may be pleased to be able to compare together the
representations of Piso and those of Pollio.

"Et quidem peregrina, nomine Zenobia, de qua jam multa dicta sunt, quæ se
de Cleopatrarum. Ptolemæorumque gente jactaret, post Odenatum maritum
imperiali sagulo perfuso per humeros habitu, donis ornata, diademate etiam
accepto, nomine filiorum Herenniani et Timolai diutius quam fæmineus sexus
patiebatur, imperavit. Si quidem Gallieno adhuc regente Remp. regale
mulier superba munus obtinuit; et Claudio bellis Gotthicis occupato, vix
denique ab Aureliano victa et triumphata, concessit in jura Rom." "Vixit
(Zenobia) regali pompa, more magis Persico. Adorata est more regum
Persarum. Convivata est imperatorum, more Rom. Ad conciones galeata
processit, cum limbo purpureo, gemmis dependentibus per ultimam fimbriam
media etiam cyclade veluti fibula muliebri astricta, brachio sæpe nudo.
Fuit vultu subaquilo fusci coloris, oculis supra modum [Footnote:
Ingentibus.] vigentibus, nigris, spiritus divini, venustatis incredibilis;
tantus candor in dentibus, ut margaritas eam plerique putarent habere, non
dentes. Vox clara et virilis; severitas, ubi necessitas postulabat,
tyrannorum; bonorum principum clementia, ubi pietas requirebat. Larga
prudenter, conservatrix thesaurorum ultra fæmineum modum. Usa vehiculo
carpentario, raro pilento, equo sæpius. Fertur autem vel tria, vel quatuor
milliaria frequenter eam peditibus ambulasse. Nata est Hispanoram
Cupiditate; bibit sæpe cum ducibus, quum esset alias sobria; bibit etiam
cum Persis atque Armeniis, ut eos vinceret. Usa est vasis aureis gemmatis
ad convivia, quibus et Cleopatra usa est. In ministerio Eunuchos,
gravioris ætatis habuit, puellas nimis raras. Filios Latine loqui
jusserat, adeo ut Græce vel difficile vel raro loquerentur. Ipsa Latini
sermonis non usquequaque ignara, sed loqueretur pudore cobibita;
loquebatur et Egyptiacè ad perfectum modum. Historiæ Alexandrinæ atque
Orientalis ita perita ut eam epitomasse hicatur: Latinam autem Græce
legerat." "Ducta est igitur per triumphum ea specie ut nihil pompabilius
populo Rom. vederetur, jam primum ornata gemmis ingentibus, ita at
ornamentorum onere laboraret. Fertur enim mulier fortissima sæpissime
restitisse, quum diceret se gemmorum onera ferre non posse. Vincti erant
preterea pedes auro, manus etiam catenis aureis; nec collo aureum vinculum
deerat, quod scurra Persicus præferebat. Huic ab Aureliano vivere
concessum est. Ferturque vixisse cum liberis, matronæ jam more Romanæ,
data sibi possessione in Tiburti quæ hodieque Zenobia dicitur, non longe
ab Adriani palatio, atque ab eo loco cui nomen est Conche."--Hist. Aug.
Lugd. Batav. 1661, p. 787.

"Ille (Odenatus) plane cum uxore Zenobia non solum Orientem quem jam in
pristinum reformaverat statum, sed omnes omnino totius orbis partes
reformasset, vir acer in bellis, et, quantum plerique scriptores
loquuntur, venatu memorabili semper inclytus, qui a prima ætate capiendis
leonibus et pardis, cervis, cæterisque sylvestribus animalibus, sudorem
officii virilis impendit, quique semper in sylvis ac montibus vixit,
perferens calorem, pluvias, et omnia mala que in se continent venatoriæ
voluptates; quibus duratis, solem ac pulverem in bellis Persicis tulit.
Non aliter etiam conjuge assueta, quæ multorum sententia fortior marito
fuisse perhibetur; mulierum omnium nobilissima, Orientalium fæminarum et
(ut Cornelius Capitolinus asserit) speciocissima."---Ib. p. 771

Also what Aurelian himself says in a letter to the Roman Senate, preserved
by Pollio.

"Audio, P. C. mihi objici quod non virile munus impleverim, Zenobiam
triumphando. Næ illi qui me reprehendunt satis laudarant, si scirent
qualis ilia est mulier, quam prudens in consiliis, quam constans in
dispositionibus, quam erga milites gravis, quam larga quum necessitas
postulet, quam tristis quum severitas poscat. Possum dicere _illius_esse
quod Odenatus Persos vicit, ac Sapore fugato Ctesiphontem usque pervenit.
Possum asserere, tanto apud Orientalis et Egyptiorum populos timori
mulierem fuisse, ut se non Arabes, non Sarraceni, non Armeni commoverent.
Nec ego illi vitam conservassem nisi eam scissem multum Rom. Repub.
profuisse, quurn sibi, vel liberis suis Orientis servaret imperium," etc.







Zenobia; or, The Fall of Palmyra.

In Letters of L. Manlius Piso, from Palmyra, to His Friend Marcus Curtius
at Rome.

By William Ware





Zenobia.

Vol. II




Letter X.



As I returned from the worship of the Christians to the house of Gracchus,
my thoughts wandered from the subjects which had just occupied my mind to
the condition of the country, and the prospect now growing more and more
portentous of an immediate rupture with Rome. On my way I passed through
streets of more than Roman magnificence, exhibiting all the signs of
wealth, taste, refinement, and luxury. The happy, light-hearted populace
were moving through them, enjoying at their leisure the calm beauty of the
evening, or hastening to or from some place of festivity. The earnest tone
of conversation, the loud laugh, the witty retort, the merry jest, fell
upon my ear from one and another as I passed along. From the windows of
the palaces of the merchants and nobles, the rays of innumerable lights
streamed across my path, giving to the streets almost the brilliancy of
day; and the sound of music, either of martial instruments, or of the harp
accompanied by the voice, at every turn arrested my attention, and made me
pause to listen.

A deep melancholy came over me. It seemed to me that the days of this
people were numbered, and that the gods intending their ruin had first
made them mad. Their gayety appeared to me no other than madness. They
were like the gladiators of our circuses, who, doomed to death, pass the
last-days of life in a delirium of forced and frantic joy. Many of the
inhabitants I could not but suppose utterly insensible to the dangers
which impend--or ignorant of them; but more I believe are cheerful, and
even gay, through a mad contempt of them. They look back upon their long
and uninterrupted prosperity--they call to mind their late glorious
achievements under Odenatus and their Queen--they think of the wide extent
of their empire--they remember that Longinus is their minister, and
Zenobia still their Queen--and give their fears to the winds. A contest
with Rome they approach as they would the games of the amphitheatre.

The situation of their city, defended as it is by the wide-stretching
deserts, is indeed enough of itself to inspire the people with a belief
that it is impregnable. It requires an effort, I am aware, to admit the
likelihood of an army from the far west first overcoming the dangers of
the desert, and then levelling the walls of the city, which seem more like
ramparts of Nature's making so massy are they, than any work of man. And
the Palmyrenes have certainly also some excuse in the wretched management
of our generals, ever since the expedition of Valerian, and in the
brilliancy of their own achievements, for thinking well of themselves, and
anticipating, without much apprehension for the issue, a war with us. But
these and the like apologies, however they may serve for the common
people, surely are of no force in their application to the intelligent,
and such as fill the high places of the kingdom. They know that although
upon some mere question of honor or of boundary, it might be very proper
and politic to fight a single battle rather than tamely submit to an
encroachment, it is quite another thing when the only aim of the war is to
see which is the stronger of the two--which is to be master. This last,
what is it but madness? the madness of pride and ambition in the Queen--in
the people the madness of a love and a devotion to her, unparalleled since
the world began. A blindness as of death has seized them all.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.