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




'I am delighted, indeed,' said I; 'that is a part of my feeling, but not
the whole of it. I cannot, accustomed even as I have been to associate
with the high in rank and intellect in various countries, without some
inward perturbation, think of meeting for the first time so remarkable a
person; one whose name is known not only throughout Asia, but the world;
and whose genius and virtues are the theme of universal wonder and praise.
Then, Fausta, Zenobia is a woman, and a woman inspires an awe which man
never does; and what is more yet, she is of a marvellous beauty, and
before that most perfect work of the gods, a beautiful woman, I am apt to
be awkward and dumb; at the least--which perhaps is it---made to think
too much of myself to acquit myself well. You may think that I exaggerate
these feelings. Possibly I do. Certainly they are not of such strength
that I do not gladly seize upon the favor thus extended, and count myself
honored and happy.'

'Where, Lucius, tell me where you learned this new dialect, which runs
so sweetly when woman is the theme. Sure am I, it is not Roman, Ovid has
it not. Nor yet is it Palmyrene. Do we owe it to a rich invention of
your own?'

'Fausta, I am in earnest in what I have said. It is my own native
dialect--instinctive. Therefore laugh not, but give me a lesson how I
shall deport myself. Remember the lessons I have so many times given you
in Rome, and now that you have risen into the seat of power, return them
as you are bound to do.'

'Now are you both little more than two foolish children, but just escaped
from the nursery,' cried Gracchus, who had been pacing up and down the
portico, little heeding, to all appearance, what was going on. 'Lucius,
ask no advice of that wild school-girl. Listen to me, who am a counsellor,
and of age, and ought, if I do not, to speak the words of wisdom. Take
along with thee nothing but thy common sense, and an honest purpose, and
then Venus herself would not daunt thee, nor Rhadamanthus and the Furies
terrify. Forget not too, that beneath this exterior covering, first of
clothes, and then of flesh, there lies enshrined in the breast of Zenobia,
as of you and me, a human heart, and that this is ever and in all the
same, eternally responsive to the same notes, by whomsoever struck. This
is a great secret. Believe too, that in our good Queen this heart is pure
as a child's; or, if I may use another similitude, and you can understand
it, pure as a Christian's--rather, perhaps, as a Christian's ought to be.
Take this also, that the high tremble to meet the low, as often as the low
to meet the high. Now ask no more counsel of Fausta, but digest what the
oracle has given out, and which now for the night is silent,'

In this sportive mood we separated.

At the appointed hour on the following day, the expected messenger
appeared, and announcing the Queen's pleasure that I should attend her at
the palace, conducted me there with as much of state as if I had been
Aurelian's ambassador.

On arriving at the palace, I was ushered into an apartment, not large, but
of exquisite architecture, finished and furnished in the Persian taste,
where sat Zenobia and Julia. At the feet of the Queen, and supporting them
upon an embroidered cushion of silk, there lay crouched a beautiful Indian
slave. If it was her office to bear that light and pretty burden, it
seemed to be her pleasure too; for she was ever weaving round it in
playful manner her jewelled ringers; casting upwards to her mistress
frequent glances of most affectionate regard.

'Noble Piso,' said the Queen, after I had approached and saluted her in
the appointed manner, 'it gives me pleasure to greet one of your ancient
name in Palmyra, I seem already acquainted with you through my fast
friends Gracchus and his bright daughter. You have lost nothing, I am
sure, in coming to us first through their lips; and if any lips are honest
and true, it is theirs. We welcome you to the city of the desert.'

'Great Queen,' I replied, 'it is both a pleasure and a pain to find myself
in your brilliant capital. I left Rome upon a melancholy errand, which I
have as yet but half accomplished. Till success shall crown it, I can but
half enjoy the novel scenes, full of interest and beauty, which your
kingdom and city present. It was to rescue a brother--if I may speak for
one moment of myself--held in captivity since the disaster of Valerian,
that I set sail from Italy, and am now a dweller in Palmyra, From this
point, I persuaded myself I could best operate for his deliverance. My
first impulse was to throw myself at your feet, and ask of you both
counsel and aid,'

'They should have been gladly yours, very heartily yours. It was a
foul deed of Sapor--and a sad fate, that of the great Censor, and of
your father the good Oneius Piso. And yet I see not much that I could
have done.'

'Refuse not my thanks,' said I, 'for the expression of so generous
sentiments. I am sure I should have shared a goodness of which all seem to
partake, had I thought it right and necessary to appeal to you. But I was
soon convinced, by the arguments of both Gracchus and Fausta, that my
chance of success was greater through private than through public
enterprise. And happy am I to be able to say, that I have found and
employed an emissary, who, if the business be capable of accomplishment by
human endeavors, will with more likelihood than any other that could
easily be named, accomplish it. Aurelian himself could not here do as much
nor as well as Isaac of Rome.'

'I believe,' said Zenobia, 'you will readily agree with me in the
opinion, that Rome has never respected herself so little as in her
neglect of Valerian and his fellow-sufferers. But for the scathing got
from our arm, the proud Persian had come out of that encounter with
nothing but laurels. We, thanks to the bravery and accomplished art of
Odenatus, tore off some of those laurels, and left upon the body of the
Great King the marks of blows which smart yet. This Indian girl at my
feet was of the household of Sapor--a slave of one of those women of whom
we took a tent full. The shame of this loss yet rankles deep in the heart
of the king. But should Rome have dealt so by her good Emperor and her
brave soldiers? Ought she to have left it to a then new and small power
to take vengeance on her mean, base-minded, yet powerful foe? It is not
even yet too late, methinks, for her to stir herself, were it only to
rescue one of the noble house of Piso. Perhaps it may be with some intent
of this kind that we hear rumors of an Asiatic expedition. Aurelian, we
learn, having weaned himself with victory in Gaul and Germany, turns his
thoughts towards the East. What can his aim be, if not Persia? But I
truly rejoice that through efforts of your own you have so good prospect
of seeing again your captive brother.'

'I have no knowledge of the purposes of the Roman Emperor,' I replied,
'but such as is common to all. Though honored with the friendship of
Aurelian, I am not a political confidant. I can only conjecture touching
his designs, from my acquaintance with his character, and the features of
the policy he has adopted and avowed as that which is to govern his
administration. And this policy is that which has been acted upon by so
many of those who before him have been raised to the head of our nation,
namely this, that, west of the Euphrates to the farthest limits of Spain
and Gaul, embracing all the shores of the Mediterranean, with their
thickly scattered nations, there shall be but one empire, and of that one
empire but one head. It is the fixed purpose of Aurelian to restore to
the empire, the unity by which it was distinguished and blessed under the
two Antonines. And already his movements in Gaul show that his practice
is to conform to his theory. I feel that you will pardon, nay, that you
will commend me for the plainness with which I impart such knowledge as I
may possess. It will be to me the dearest happiness, if I can subserve in
any way, consistently with my duty to Rome, the interests of Palmyra and
her Queen.'

'Roman,' said Zenobia in reply, 'I honor your frankness, and thank you for
your faith in my generosity. It is not, I assure you, misplaced. I am glad
to know from so authentic a source the policy of Aurelian. I surmised as
much before. All that I have thought, will come true. The rumors which are
afloat are not without foundation. Your emperor understands that I have a
policy as well as he, and a fixed purpose as well as he. I will never fall
from what I have been, but into ruin final and complete. I have lived a
sovereign Queen, and so I will die. The son of Valerian received Odenatus
and Zenobia as partners in empire. We were representatives of Rome in the
East. Our dignities and our titles were those of Gallienus. It were small
boasting to say that they were worn not less worthily here than in Rome.
And this association with Rome--I sought it not. It was offered as a
tribute to our greatness. Shall it be dissolved at the will of
Aurelian?--and Palmyra, no longer needed as a scourge for the Great King,
be broken down into a tributary province, an obscure appendage of your
greatness? May the gods forsake me that moment I am false to my country! I
too am ambitious, as well as Aurelian. And let him be told, that I
stipulate for a full partnership of the Roman power--my sons to bear the
name and rank of Cæsar--or the tie which unites Palmyra to Rome is at
once and forever sundered, and she stands before the world an independent
kingdom, to make good as she may, by feats of arms, her claim to that high
dignity; and the arms which have prevailed from the Nile to the shores of
the Caspian, from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and have triumphed
more than once over the pride and power of Persia, may be trusted in any
encounter, if the fates should so ordain, with even Rome herself. The
conqueror of Egypt would, I believe, run a not ignoble tilt with the
conqueror of a Gallic province.'

'Dearest mother,' said the Princess Julia, in a voice full of earnest
entreaty, 'do not, do not give way to such thoughts. Heed not these lying
rumors. Trust in the magnanimity of Aurelian. We make the virtue we
believe in. Let it not reach his ears that you have doubted him. I can see
no reason why he should desire to disturb the harmony that has so long
reigned--and Aurelian is no madman. What could he gain by a warlike
expedition, which a few words could not gain? Noble Piso, if your great
emperor would but speak before he acts--if indeed any purpose like that
which is attributed to him has entered his mind--a world of evil, and
suffering, and crime, might possibly be saved. Zenobia, though ambitious,
is reasonable and patient, and will listen as becomes a philosopher, and
a lover of her people, to any thing he should say. It were a great act of
friendship to press upon him the policy, as well as the virtue of
moderation.'

Zenobia gave a mother's smile of love to her daughter, whose countenance,
while she uttered these few words, was brilliant with the beauty of
strong emotion.

'No act of friendship like this, lady,' said I, 'shall be wanting on my
part. If I have any influence over the mind of Aurelian, it shall be
exerted to serve the cause of peace. I have dear friends in Palmyra, and
this short residence among her people has bound me to them very closely.
It would grieve me sorely to feel that as a Roman and a lover of my
country, I must needs break these so lately knitted bonds of affection.
But, I am obliged to say it, I am now full of apprehension, lest no
efforts of mine, or of any, may have power to avert the calamities which
impend. The scene I was witness of but so few hours ago, seems to me now
to cut off all hope of an amicable adjustment,'

Julia's countenance fell. The air of pride in Zenobia mounted higher
and higher.

'And what was it I did?' said Zenobia. 'Do I not stand upon the records of
the Senate, Augusta of the Roman empire! Was not the late renowned
Odenatus, Augustus by the decree of that same Senate? And was I not then
right to call my own sons by their rightful title of Cæsar?--and invest
them with the appropriate robe, and even show them to the people as their
destined rulers? I am yet to learn that in aught I have offended against
any fair construction of the Roman law. And unless I may thus stand in
equal honor with other partners of this empire, asking and receiving
nothing as favor, I sever myself and my kingdom from it.'

'But,' said Julia, in her persuasive voice, whose very tones were enough
to change the harshest sentiment to music, 'why put at hazard the certain
good we now enjoy, the peace and prosperity of this fair realm, for what
at best is but a shadow--a name? What is it to you or me that Timolaus,
Herennianus, and Vabalathus be hailed by the pretty style of Cæsar? For
me at least, and so I think for all who love you, it is enough that they
are the sons of Zenobia. Who shall heap more upon that honor?'

'Julia,' replied the Queen, 'as the world deems--and we are in the world
and of it--honor and greatness lie not in those things which are truly
honorable and great; not in learning or genius, else were Longinus upon
this throne, and I his waiting woman; not in action--else were the great
Zabdas king; not in merit, else were many a dame of Palmyra where I am,
and I a patient household drudge. Birth, and station, and power, are
before these. Men bow before names, and sceptres, and robes of office,
lower than before the gods themselves. Nay, here in the East, power itself
were a shadow without its tinsel trappings. 'Tis vain to stand against the
world. I am one of the general herd. What they honor, I crave. This
coronet of pearl, this gorgeous robe, this golden chair, this human
footstool, in the eye of a severe judgment, may signify but little. Zeno
or Diogenes might smile upon them with contempt. But so thinks not the
world. It is no secret that in Timolaus, Herennianus and Vabalathus dwells
not the wisdom of Longinus, nor the virtue of Valerian. What then so
crazed the assembled people of Palmyra, but the purple-colored mantle of
the Roman Cæsar? I am for that fathoms deeper in the great heart of my
people. These are poor opinions, so thou judgest, Roman, for the pupil of
the chief philosopher of our age, and through him skilled in all the
learning of the Greeks. But forget not that I am an Oriental and--a woman.
This double nature works at my heart with more than all the power of the
schools. Who and what so strong as the divinity within?'

This is a poor record, my Curtius, of what fell from this extraordinary
woman. Would that I could set down the noble sentiments which, in the
midst of so much that I could not approve, came from her lips in a
language worthy of her great teacher! Would that I could transfer to my
pages the touching eloquence of the divine Julia, whose mind, I know not
how it is, moves in a higher world than ours. Sometimes, nay, many times,
her thoughts, strangely enough, raised up before me the image of the
Christian Probus, of whom I had till then scarcely thought since our
parting. For a long time was this interview continued--an interview to me
more stirring than any other of my life, and, owing to the part I was
obliged to take, almost painfully so. Much that I said could not but have
grated harshly upon the proud and ambitious spirit of Zenobia. But I
shrunk from nothing that in the least degree might tend to shake her in
the designs which now possess and agitate her, and which, as it seems to
me, cannot be carried out without great danger to the safety or existence
of her kingdom; though I cannot but say, that if a rupture should occur
between Palmyra and Rome, imprudence might indeed be charged upon
Zenobia, but guilt, deep guilt, would lie at the door of Aurelian. It was
a great aid that Julia, in all I said, was my ally. Her assent gave double
force to every argument I used; for Zenobia trusts her as a sister, I had
almost said, reveres her as a divinity. Beautiful it was to witness their
freedom and their love. The gods avert every calamity from their heads!

When we had in this manner, as I have said, a long time discoursed,
Zenobia, at length, rising from her seat, said to me, 'Now do we owe you
some fair return, noble Piso, for the patience with which you have
listened to our treasonable words. If it please you, accompany us now to
some other part of our palace, and it will be strange if we cannot find
something worthy of your regard.'

So saying, we bent our way in company, idly talking of such things as
offered, to a remote part of the vast building, passing through and
lingering here and there in many a richly-wrought hall and room, till,
turning suddenly into a saloon of Egyptian device, where we heard the
sound of voices, I found myself in the presence of Gracchus and Fausta,
Longinus and Zabdas, with a few others of the chief citizens of Palmyra. I
need not say how delighted I was. It was a meeting never to be forgotten.
But it was in the evening of this day, walking in the gardens of the
palace between Julia and Fausta, that I banqueted upon the purest pleasure
of my life.




Letter V.



You could not but suppose, my Curtius, when you came to the end of my last
letter, that I should soon write again, and not leave you ignorant of the
manner in which I passed the evening at the palace of Zenobia.
Accordingly, knowing that you would desire this, I had no sooner tied and
sealed my epistle, than I sat down to give you those minute recollections
of incident and of conversation in which you and Lucilia both so much
delight, and which indeed, in the present instance, are not unimportant in
their bearing upon my future lot. But this I shall leave to your own
conjectures. A tempest of rain makes me a necessary prisoner to the house,
but the pleasant duty of writing to you spreads sunshine on all within my
room. I trust in the gods that you are all well.

Of the banquet in that Egyptian hall, and its immediate attendant
circumstances, I need not tell you. It was like other feasts of ceremony,
where the niceties of form constantly obtrude themselves, and check too
much the flow of conversation. Then too one's mind is necessarily
distracted, where the feast is sumptuous, by the rarity of the dishes, the
richness of the service, and the pomp and stir of the attendance. Never
was it my fortune in Rome to recline at a table of more imperial splendor.
For Lucilia's sake I will just say, that the service was of solid gold,
most elaborately carved, and covered with designs illustrative of points
of the Egyptian annals. Our wine cups were also of gold, enriched with
precious stones; and for each kind of wine, a different cup, set with
jewels, typical of the character of the wine for which it was intended.
These were by the hand of Demetrius. It was in all respects a Roman meal,
in its fashions and conduct, though the table was spread with many
delicacies peculiar to the Orientals. The walls and ceiling of the room,
and the carpets, represented, in the colors of the most eminent Greek and
Persian artists, scenes of the life and reign of the great Queen of Egypt,
of whom Zenobia reckons herself a descendant. Cleopatra was all around,
above, and beneath. Music at intervals, as the repast drew toward a close,
streamed in from invisible performers, and added a last and crowning
charm. The conversation was light and sportful, taking once or twice only,
and accidentally, as it were, a political turn. These graceful Palmyrenes
act a winning part in all the high courtesies of life; and nothing could
be more perfect than their demeanor, free and frank, yet never forgetful
of the presence of Zenobia, nor even of me, a representative in some
manner of the majesty of Rome.

The moon, nearly at her full, was already shining bright in the heavens,
when we left the tables, and walking first for a time upon the cool
pavements of the porticos of the palace, then descended to the gardens,
and separating in groups, moved away at will among their endless windings.
Zenobia, as if desiring some private conference with her great teacher,
left us in company with Longinus. It was my good and happy fortune to find
myself in the society of Julia and Fausta, with whom I directed my steps
toward the remoter and more quiet parts of the garden--for nearer the
palace there were still to be heard the sounds of merriment, and of the
instruments furnishing a soft and delicious entertainment for such as
chose to remain longer in the palace. Of the rest of the company, some
like ourselves wandered among the labyrinthian walks of this vast
pleasure-ground, while others, already weary, or satisfied with enjoyment,
returned early to their homes.

The evening, shall I say it, was worthy of the company now, abroad to
enjoy it. A gentle breeze just swayed the huge leaves of the--to
me--strange plants which overhung the paths, and came, as it here always
seems to come, laden with a sweetness which in Rome it never has, unless
added by the hand of art. Dian's face shone never before so fair and
bright, and her light, coming to us at frequent turns in our walk, through
the spray of numerous fountains, caused them to show like falling
diamonds. A divine repose breathed over the whole scene, I am sure our
souls were in harmony with it.

'Princess,' said I, 'the gardens of Nero can have presented no scenes more
beautiful than these. He who designed these avenues, and groups of flowers
and trees, these frequent statues and fountains, bowers and mimic temples,
and made them bear to each other these perfect proportions and relations,
had no less knowledge, methinks, of the true principles of taste, and of
the very secrets of beauty, than the great Longinus himself. The beauty is
so rare, that it affects the mind almost like greatness itself. In truth,
in perfect beauty there is always that which overawes.'

'I cannot say,' replied Julia, 'that the learned Greek was the architect
and designer of these various forms of beauty. The credit, I believe, is
rather due to Periander, a native Athenian, a man, it is universally
conceded, of the highest genius. Yet it is at the same time to be said,
that the mind of Longinus presided over the whole. And he took not less
delight in ordering the arrangements of these gardens, than he did in
composing that great treatise, not long published, and which you must have
seen before you left Rome. He is a man of universal powers. You have not
failed to observe his grace, not less than his abilities, while we were at
the tables. You have seen that he can play the part of one who would win
the regards of two foolish girls, as well as that of first minister of a
great kingdom, or that of the chief living representative and teacher of
the philosophy of the immortal Plato.'

'For myself,' I replied, 'I could hardly withdraw myself from the simple
admiration of his noble head and form, to attend, so as to judge of it, to
what fell from his lips. It seems to me that if a sculptor of his own
Greece sought for a model of the human figure, he could hope to find none
so perfect as that of Longinus.'

'That makes it the foolisher and stranger,' said Fausta, 'that he should
toil at his toilet as he so manifestly does. Why can he not rely, for his
power over both men and women, upon his genius, and his natural graces. It
might be well enough for the Stagyrite to deck his little person in fine
clothes, and to cover his fingers with rings--for I believe there must be
something in the outward appearance to strike the mere sensual eye, and
please it, either natural or assumed, or else even philosophers might go
unheeded. I doubt if upon my fingers there be more or more glowing rings
than upon those of Longinus. To be sure, one must admit that his taste is
exquisite.'

'In the manners and dress of Longinus,' said I, 'as well as in those of
Aristotle, we behold, I think, simply the power of custom. They were both,
in respect to such things, in a state of indifference--the true
philosophical state. But what happened? Both became instructors and
companions of princes, and the inmates of royal palaces. Their manners and
costume were left, without a thought, I will dare to say, on their part,
to conform themselves to what was around them. Would it not have been a
more glaring piece of vanity, if in the palace of Philip, Aristotle had
clothed himself in the garb of Diogenes--or if Longinus, in the presence
of the great Zenobia, had appeared in the sordid attire of Timon?'

'I think so,' said Julia.

'Your explanation is a very probable one,' added Fausta, 'and had not
occurred to me. It is true, the courts may have dressed them and not
themselves, But never, I still must think, did a rich dress fall upon more
willing shoulders than upon those of the Greek, always excepting, Julia,
Paul of Antioch.'

'Ah, Fausta,' said Julia, 'you cannot, do what you will, shake my faith in
Paul. If I allow him vain, and luxurious, and haughty, I can still
separate the advocate from the cause. You would not condemn the doctrine
of Aristotle, on the ground that he wore rings. Nor can I altogether, nor
in part, that of Paul, because he rolls through the city in a gilded
chariot, with the attendance of a prince. I may blame or despise him--but
not therefore reject his teaching. That has a defence independent of him.
Policy, and necessity of time and place, have compelled him to much which
his reason disapproves. This he has given me to believe, and has conjured
me on this, as on all subjects, to yield my mind only to evidence, apart
from all personal considerations. But I did not mean to turn our
conversation in this direction. Here, Piso, have we now arrived in our
walk at my favorite retreat. This is my bower for meditation, and
frequently for reading too. Let us take this seat. Observe how through
these openings we catch some of the prominent points of the city. There is
the obelisk of Cleopatra; there the tower of Antonine', there the Egyptian
Pyramid; and there a column going up in honor of Aurelian; and in this
direction, the whole outline of the palace.'

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