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 honour 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 favourably 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!

END OF VOL. I.

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 etíam 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 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. Úsa vehiculo carpentario, raro pilento, equo sæpius. Fertur autem vel tria, vel quatuor

* Ingentibus.

milliaria frequenter eam peditibus ambulasse. Nata est Hispanorum 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. 1psa Latini sermonis non usquequaque ignara, sed loqueretur pudore cohibita ; 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 venatoria 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 fut 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 illa 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, quum sibi, vel liberis suis Orientis servaret imperium," &c.