356 HISTORICAL TALES.

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 em-
peror 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 Ro-
man 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 execu-
tion, 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 coun-
sels 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 or-
dered his execution. The scholar died like a philoso-
pher. He uttered no complaint, He pitied, but did
not blame, his mistress. He comforted his afflicted
friends. With the calm fortitude of Socrates he fol-
lowed the executioner, and died like one for whom