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Zenobia

W >> William Ware >> Zenobia




I cannot describe to you, my Curtius, the effect of this little narrative
upon myself, or upon those who, as he spoke, had gathered round,
especially those hard-featured soldiers. Tears flowed down their
weather-beaten faces, and one of them--Macer, as I afterward
learned--cried out: 'Where now are the gods of Rome?' Probus started from
his seat, apparently for the first time conscious of any other listener
beside myself, and joined the master of the vessel at the helm. I resigned
myself to meditation; and that night fell asleep, thinking of the
Christian and his book.

Leaving now Ostia and its fleet, greater even than that of the Tiber, five
days brought us in sight of the African shore, but quite to the west of
Utica. So, coasting along, we presently came off against Hippo, and then
doubling a promontory, both Utica and Carthage were at once visible--Utica
nearer, Carthage just discernible in the distance. All was now noise and
bustle, as we rapidly drew near the port. Many of our passengers were to
land here, and they were busily employed, with the aid of the sailors, in
collecting their merchandise or their baggage. The soldiers destined to
the African service here left us, together with the Jew Isaac and the
Christian Probus. I was sorry to lose them, as beside them there was not
one on board, except the governor of the ship, from whose company or
conversation I could derive either pleasure or knowledge. They are both,
however, destined to Palmyra, and I shall soon expect them to join me
here. You smile at my speaking thus of a travelling Jew and a despised
Christian, but in the issue you will acknowledge your as well as my
obligations to them both. I confess myself attached to them. As the Jew
turned to bid me farewell, before he sprang on shore, he said:

'Most noble Piso, if thou forsakest the gods of Rome, let it be for the
synagogue of the children of Abraham, whose faith is not of yesterday. Be
not beguiled by the specious tongue of that heretic Probus. I can tell
thee a better story than his.'

'Fear not, honest Isaac,' I cried; 'I am not yet so weary of the faith of
my ancestors. That cannot be altogether despicable, which has had power to
bind in one mass the whole Roman people for so many ages I shall be no
easy convert to either you or Probus. Farewell, to meet in Tadmor.'

Probus now passed me, and said: 'If I should not see you in the Eastern
capital, according to my purpose, I trust I shall in Rome. My dwelling is
in the Livian way not far from the Pantheon, opposite the well-known house
of Vitruvius, still so called; or, at the shop of the learned Publius, I
may be seen every morning, and may there be always heard of.'

I assured him, that no affairs could be so pressing, after I should
return to Rome, as not to allow me to seek him, but that I hoped the
fates would not interpose to deprive me of the pleasure of first seeing
him in Palmyra.

So we parted. And very soon after, the merchandise and passengers being
all landed, we set sail again, and stood out to sea. I regretted that we
were not to touch at Carthage, as my desire had always been strong to see
that famous place. An adverse wind, however, setting in from the North,
drove us farther toward the city than the pilot intended to have gone, and
I thus obtained quite a satisfactory glimpse of the African capital. I was
surprised at the indications of its vastness and grandeur. Since its
attempted restoration by Augustus, it has advanced steadily to almost its
former populousness and magnificence. Nothing could be more imposing and
beautiful, than its long lines of buildings, its towers, walls, palaces,
and columns, seen through the warm and rosy mist of an African sky. I
could hardly believe that I was looking but upon a provincial city, a
dependant upon almighty Rome. It soon sank below the horizon, as its glory
had sunk once before.

I will not detain you long with our voyage, but will only mark out its
course. Leaving the African shore, we struck across to Sicily, and
coasting along its eastern border, beheld with pleasure the towering form
of Aetna, sending up into the heavens a dull and sluggish cloud of vapors.
We then ran between the Peloponnesus and Crete, and so held our course
till the Island of Cyprus rose like her own fair goddess from the ocean,
and filled our eyes with a beautiful vision of hill and valley, wooded
promontory, and glittering towns and villas. A fair wind soon withdrew us
from these charming prospects, and after driving us swiftly and roughly
over the remainder of our way, rewarded us with a brighter and more
welcome vision still--the coast of Syria and our destined port, Berytus.

As far as the eye could reach, both toward the North and the South, we
beheld a luxuriant region, crowded with villages, and giving every
indication of comfort and wealth. The city itself, which we rapidly
approached, was of inferior size, but presented an agreeable prospect of
warehouses, public and private edifices, overtopped here and there by the
lofty palm, and other trees of a new and peculiar foliage. Four days were
consumed here in the purchase of slaves, camels, and horses, and in other
preparations for the journey across the Desert. Two routes presented
themselves, one more, the other less direct; the last, though more
circuitous, appeared to me the more desirable, as it would take me within
sight of the modern glories and ancient remains of Heliopolis. This,
therefore, was determined upon; and on the morning of the fifth day we set
forward upon our long march. Four slaves, two camels, and three horses,
with an Arab conductor, constituted our little caravan; but for greater
safety we attached ourselves to a much larger one than our own, in which
we were swallowed up and lost, consisting of travellers and traders, from
all parts of the world, and who were also on their way to Palmyra, as a
point whence to separate to various parts of the vast East. It would
delight me to lay before you with the distinctness and minuteness of a
picture, the whole of this novel, and to me most interesting route; but I
must content myself with a slight sketch, and reserve fuller
communications to the time when, once more seated with you upon the
Coelian, we enjoy the freedom of social converse.

Our way through the valleys of Libanus, was like one long wandering among
the pleasure grounds of opulent citizens. The land was every where richly
cultivated, and a happier peasantry, as far as the eye of the traveller
could judge, nowhere exists. The most luxuriant valleys of our own Italy
are not more crowded with the evidences of plenty and contentment. Upon
drawing near to the ancient Baalbec, I found on inquiry of our guide, that
we were not to pass through it, as I had hoped, nor even very near it, not
nearer than between two and three miles. So that in this I had been
clearly deceived by those of whom I had made the most exact inquiries at
Berytus. I thought I discovered great command of myself, in that I did not
break the head of my Arab, who doubtless, to answer purposes of his own,
had brought me thus out of my way for nothing. The event proved, however,
that it was not for nothing; for soon after we had started on our journey,
on the morning of the second day, turning suddenly round the projecting
rock of a mountain ridge, we all at once beheld, as if a veil had been
lifted up, Heliopolis and its suburbs, spread out before us in all their
various beauty. The city lay about three miles distant. I could only,
therefore, identify its principal structure, the Temple of the Sun, as
built by the first Antonine. This towered above the walls, and over all
the other buildings, and gave vast ideas of the greatness of the place,
leading the mind to crowd it with other edifices that should bear some
proportion to this noble monument of imperial magnificence. As suddenly as
the view of this imposing scene had been revealed, so suddenly was it
again eclipsed, by another short turn in the road, which took us once more
into the mountain valleys. But the overhanging and impenetrable foliage
of a Syrian forest, shielding me from the fierce rays of a burning sun,
soon reconciled me to my loss--more especially as I knew that in a short
time we were to enter upon the sandy desert, which stretches from the
Anti-Libanus almost to the very walls of Palmyra.

Upon this boundless desert we now soon entered. The scene which it
presented was more dismal than I can describe. A red moving sand--or hard
and baked by the heat of a sun such as Rome never knows--low gray rocks
just rising here and there above the level of the plain, with now and then
the dead and glittering trunk of a vast cedar, whose roots seemed as if
they had outlasted centuries--the bones of camels and elephants, scattered
on either hand, dazzling the sight by reason of their excessive
whiteness--at a distance occasionally an Arab of the desert, for a moment
surveying our long line, and then darting off to his fastnesses--these
were the objects which, with scarce any variation, met our eyes during the
four wearisome days that we dragged ourselves over this wild and
inhospitable region. A little after the noon of the fourth day, as we
started on our way, having refreshed ourselves and our exhausted animals
at a spring which here poured out its warm but still grateful waters to
the traveller, my ears received the agreeable news that toward the east
there could now be discerned the dark line, which indicated our approach
to the verdant tract that encompasses the great city. Our own excited
spirits were quickly imparted to our beasts, and a more rapid movement
soon revealed into distinctness the high land and waving groves of palm
trees which mark the site of Palmyra.

It was several miles before we reached the city, that we suddenly found
ourselves--landing as it were from a sea upon an island or continent--in a
rich and thickly peopled country. The roads indicated an approach to a
great capital, in the increasing numbers of those who thronged them,
meeting and passing us, overtaking us, or crossing our way. Elephants,
camels, and the dromedary, which I had before seen only in the
amphitheatres, I here beheld as the native inhabitants of the soil.
Frequent villas of the rich and luxurious Palmyrenes, to which they
retreat from the greater heats of the city, now threw a lovely charm over
the scene. Nothing can exceed the splendor of these sumptuous palaces.
Italy itself has nothing which surpasses them. The new and brilliant
costumes of the persons whom we met, together with the rich housings of
the animals they rode, served greatly to add to all this beauty. I was
still entranced, as it were, by the objects around me, and buried in
reflection, when I was roused by the shout of those who led the caravan,
and who had attained the summit of a little rising ground, saying,
'Palmyra! Palmyra!' I urged forward my steed, and in a moment the most
wonderful prospect I ever beheld--no, I cannot except even Rome--burst
upon my sight. Flanked by hills of considerable elevation on the East, the
city filled the whole plain below as far as the eye could reach, both
toward the North and toward the South. This immense plain was all one vast
and boundless city. It seemed to me to be larger than Rome. Yet I knew
very well that it could not be--that it was not. And it was some time
before I understood the true character of the scene before me, so as to
separate the city from the country, and the country from the city, which
here wonderfully interpenetrate each other and so confound and deceive the
observer. For the city proper is so studded with groups of lofty palm
trees, shooting up among its temples and palaces, and on the other hand,
the plain in its immediate vicinity is so thickly adorned with magnificent
structures of the purest marble, that it is not easy, nay it is impossible
at the distance at which I contemplated the whole, to distinguish the line
which divided the one from the other. It was all city and all country, all
country and all city. Those which lay before me I was ready to believe
were the Elysian Fields. I imagined that I saw under my feet the dwellings
of purified men and of gods. Certainly they were too glorious for the mere
earth-born. There was a central point, however, which chiefly fixed my
attention, where the vast Temple of the Sun stretched upward its thousand
columns of polished marble to the heavens, in its matchless beauty casting
into the shade every other work of art of which the world can boast. I
have stood before the Parthenon, and have almost worshipped that divine
achievement of the immortal Phidias. But it is a toy by the side of this
bright crown of the Eastern capital. I have been at Milan, at Ephesus, at
Alexandria, at Antioch; but in neither of those renowned cities have I
beheld any thing that I can allow to approach in united extent, grandeur,
and most consummate beauty, this almost more than work of man. On each
side of this, the central point, there rose upward slender
pyramids--pointed obelisks--domes of the most graceful proportions,
columns, arches and lofty towers, for number and for form, beyond my
power to describe. These buildings, as well as the walls of the city,
being all either of white marble, or of some stone as white, and being
every where in their whole extent interspersed, as I have already said,
with multitudes of overshadowing palm trees, perfectly filled and
satisfied my sense of beauty, and made me feel for the moment, as if in
such a scene I should love to dwell, and there end my days. Nor was I
alone in these transports of delight. All my fellow-travellers seemed
equally affected: and from the native Palmyrenes, of whom there were many
among us, the most impassioned and boastful exclamations broke forth.
'What is Rome to this?' they cried: 'Fortune is not constant. Why may not
Palmyra be what Rome has been--mistress of the world? Who more fit to rule
than the great Zenobia? A few years may see great changes. Who can tell
what shall come to pass?' These, and many such sayings, were uttered by
those around me, accompanied by many significant gestures and glances of
the eye. I thought of them afterward. We now descended the hill, and the
long line of caravan moved on toward the city.




Letter II.



I fear lest the length of my first letter may have fatigued you, my
Curtius, knowing as I so well do, how you esteem brevity. I hope at this
time not to try your patience. But, however I may weary or vex you by my
garrulity, I am sure of a patient and indulgent reader in the dear
Lucilia, to whom I would now first of all commend myself. I salute her,
and with her the little Gallus. My writing to you is a sufficient proof
that I myself am well.

By reason of our delaying so long on that little hill, and at other
points, for the sake of drinking in full draughts of the unrivalled beauty
which lay spread over all the scenery within the scope of our vision, we
did not approach the walls of the city till the last rays of the sun were
lingering upon the higher buildings of the capital. This rendered every
object so much the more beautiful; for a flood of golden light, of a
richer hue, it seemed to me, than our sun ever sheds upon Rome, rolled
over the city, and plain, and distant mountains, giving to the whole a
gorgeousness altogether beyond any thing I ever saw before, and agreeing
well with all my impressions of oriental magnificence. It was soon under
the right aspect. Not one expectation was disappointed but rather exceeded
as we came in sight of the vast walls of the city, and of the 'Roman
Gate'--so it is called--through which we were to make our entrance. It was
all upon the grandest scale. The walls were higher, and more frequently
defended by square massy towers springing out of them, than those of
Rome. The towers, which on either side flanked the gateway, and which were
connected by an immense arch flung from one to the other, were
particularly magnificent. No sooner had we passed through, than we found
ourselves in a street lined as it were with palaces. It was of great
width---we have no street like it in this respect--of an exact level, and
stretched onward farther than the eye could distinctly reach, being
terminated by another gate similar to that by which we had entered. The
buildings on either side were altogether of marble, of Grecian design--the
city is filled with Greek artists of every description--frequently adorned
with porticos of the most rich and costly construction and by long ranges
of private dwellings, interrupted here and there by temples of religion,
edifices of vast extent belonging to the state, or by gardens attached to
the residences of the luxurious Palmyrene nobility.

'It is well for Palmyra,' here muttered my slave Milo, 'that the Emperor
has never, like us, travelled this way.'

'Why so, Milo?' said I.

'I simply think,' rejoined he, 'that he would burn it down; and it were a
pity so many fine buildings should be destroyed. Was there not once a
place called Carthage? I have heard it said that it was as large as Rome,
and as well garnished with temples, and that for that reason the Romans
'blotted it out.' The people here may thank the desert which we have
crossed, that they are not as Carthage. Aurelian, I trow, little dreams
what glory is to be won here in the East, or else he would not waste his
time upon the savage Goths,'

'The Romans are no longer barbarians,' I replied, 'as they were once. They
build up now, instead of demolishing. Remember that Augustus rebuilt
Carthage, and that the first Antonine founded that huge and beautiful
temple which rose out of the midst of Baalbec; and besides--if I am not
mistaken--many of the noblest monuments of art in this very city are the
fruit of his munificence.'

'Gods, what a throng is here!' ejaculated Milo, little heeding,
apparently, what I had said; 'how are we to get our beasts along? They pay
no more regard to us, either, than if we were not Romans. Could any one
have believed that a people existed of such strange customs and
appearance? What carriages!--what wagons!--what animals!--what fantastical
attire!--and from every corner of the earth, too, as it would seem! But it
is a pretty sight. Pity though but they could move as quick, as they look
well. Fellow, there! you will gratify us if you will start your camels a
little out of our way. We wish to make toward the house of Gracchus, and
we cannot pass you.'

The rider of the camel turned round his turbaned head, and fixing upon
Milo a pair of fierce eyes, bade him hold his peace:

'Did he not see the street was crowded?'

'I see it is filled with a set of dull idlers,' replied Milo, 'who want
nothing but Roman rods to teach them a quick and wholesome movement.
Friend, lend me thy cudgel; and I will engage to set thy beasts and thee
too in motion. If not, consider that we are new comers, and Romans
withal, and that we deserve some regard.'

'Romans!' screamed he: 'may curses light on you You swarm here like
locusts, and like them you come but to devour. Take my counsel: turn your
faces the other way, and off to the desert again! I give you no welcome,
for one. Now pass on--if on you still will go--and take the curse of
Hassan the Arab along with you.'

'Milo,' said I, 'have a care how you provoke these Orientals. Bethink
yourself that we are not now in the streets of Rome. Bridle your tongue
betimes, or your head may roll off your shoulders before you can have time
to eat your words to save it'

'I am a slave indeed,' answered Milo, with some dignity for him, 'but I
eat other food than my own words. In that there hangs something of the
Roman about me.'

We were now opposite what I discovered, from the statues and emblems upon
it and surrounding it, to be the Temple of Justice, and I knew therefore
that the palace on the other side of the street, adorned with porticos,
and partly hidden among embowering trees and shrubs, must be the dwelling
of Gracchus.

We turned down into a narrower street, and after proceeding a little way,
passed under a massy arched gateway, and found ourselves in the spacious
court-yard of this princely mansion. Slaves soon surrounded us, and by
their alacrity in assisting me to dismount, and in performing every office
of a hospitable reception, showed that we were expected guests, and that
my letters announcing my intended visit had been received. Leaving my
slaves and effects to the care of the servants of the house, I followed
one who seemed to be a sort of head among them, through walks bordered
with the choicest trees, flowers and shrubs, opening here and there in the
most graceful manner to reveal a statue of some sylvan god reclining under
the shade, and soon reached the rear of the house, which I entered by a
flight of marble steps. Through a lofty hall I passed into a saloon which
seemed the reception-room of the palace, where I had hardly arrived, and
obtained one glance at my soiled dress and sun-burnt visage in the mirror,
than my ear caught the quick sound of a female foot hastening over the
pavement of the hall, and turning suddenly I caught in my arms the
beautiful Fausta. It was well for me that I was so taken by surprise, for
I acted naturally, which I fear I should not have done if I had had a
moment to deliberate before I met her; for she is no longer a girl, as in
Rome, running and jumping after her slave to school, but a nearly
full-grown woman, and of a beauty so imposing as might well cause
embarrassment in a youth of even more pretensions than myself.

'Are you indeed,' said I, retaining each hand in mine, but feeling that in
spite of all my assumed courage I was covered with blushes, 'are you
indeed the little Fausta? Truly there must be marvellous virtues in the
air of Palmyra. It is but six years since you left Rome, and then, as I
remember---shall I mention such a thing?--you were but twelve, and now
though but'--

'O,' cried she, 'never begin such a speech! it will only trouble you
before you can end it. How glad I am to see you! Welcome, dear Lucius, to
Palmyra! If open hearts can make you happy here, you will not fail to be
so. But how did you leave all in Rome? First, your friend Marcus? and
Lucilia? and the noble, good Portia? Ah! how happy were those days in
Rome! Come sit on these cushions by this open window. But more than all,
how does the dear pedagogue and dialectician, the learned Solon? Is he as
wise yet as his great namesake? O what days of merriment have his vanity
and simplicity afforded me! But he was a good soul. Would he could have
accompanied you. You are not so far out of leading-strings that you could
not have taken him with you as a travelling Mentor. In truth, nothing
could have given me more pleasure.'

'I came away in great haste, dear Fausta,' said I, 'with scarce a moment
for preparation of any kind. You have but this morning received my letter,
which was but part of a day in advance of me. If I could have done it, I
should have given you more timely notice. I could not therefore look out
for companions for the way. It would however have been a kindness to
Solon, and a pleasure to me. But why have I not before asked for your
father? is not Gracchus at home?--and is he well?'

'He is at home, or rather he is in the city,' replied Fausta, 'and why he
makes it so late before returning, I cannot tell: but you will soon see
him. In the mean time, let my slaves show you where to find your rooms,
that you may rest and prepare for supper.'

So saying, she clapped her hands, and a tall Ethiopian, with a turban as
white as his face was black, quickly made his appearance and took me in
his charge.

'Look well after your toilet,' cried Fausta, laughing as I left the room;
'we think more of costume here than they do in Rome.'

I followed my dark conductor through many passages to a distant part of
the building, where I found apartments furnished with every luxury, and
already prepared for my use.

'Here I have carefully placed your baggage,' said the slave as I entered
the room, 'and whatever else I thought you might need. Call Hannibal when
you wish for my services; I am now yours. This door leads to a small room
where will lodge your own slave Milo; the others are in the stables.' Thus
delivering himself, he departed.

The windows of my apartment opened upon the wide street by which we had
entered the city, not immediately, but first upon a border of trees and
flowers, then upon a low wall, here and there crowned with a statue or a
vase, which separated the house from the street, and last upon the street
itself, its busy throngs and noble structures. I stood for a moment
enjoying the scene, rendered more impressive by the dim but still glowing
light of the declining day. Sounds of languages which I knew not fell
upon my ear, sent forth by those who urged along through the crowds their
cattle, or by those who would draw attention to the articles which they
had to sell. All was new and strange, and tended, together with my
reflections upon the business which had borne me so far from my home and
you, to fill me with melancholy. I was roused from my reverie by the
voice of Milo.

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