upon Persia, for the rescue of Valerian, if yet he be living, or for the
general vindication of the honor of Rome against the disgraceful successes
of the Great King. I cannot for one moment believe that toward Palmyra any
other policy will be adopted than that which has been pursued for the last
century and a half, and emphatically sanctioned, as you well know, by
both Gallienus and Claudius. Standing on the honorable footing, as
nominally a part of the empire of Rome, but in fact a sovereign and
independent power, we enjoy all that we can desire in the form of
political privileges. Then for our commerce, it could not be more
flourishing, or conducted on more advantageous terms even to Rome itself.
In one word, we are contented, prosperous, and happy, and the crime of
that man would be great indeed, who, from any motive of personal ambition,
or any policy of state, would disturb our existing relations of peace and
friendship with all the world.'

To this I replied: 'I most sincerely trust that no design, such as you
hint at, exists in the mind of Aurelian. I know him, and know him to be
ambitious and imperious, as he is great in resources and unequalled in
military science, but withal he is a man of wisdom, and in the main, of
justice too. That he is a true lover of his country, I am sure; and that
the glory of that country is dearer to him than all other objects--that it
rises in him almost to a species of madness--this I know too; and it is
from this quarter, if from any, that danger is to be apprehended. He will
have Rome to be all in all. His desire is that it should once more possess
the unity that it did under the Antonines. This idea, dwelt upon, may lead
him into enterprises from which, however defended on the ground of the
empire's glory, will result in nothing but discredit to himself and injury
to the state. I too have heard the rumors of which you speak, but I cannot
give them one moment's credence; and I pray most fervently that,
springing as they do no one knows whence nor on what authority resting,