'O father, how easily, were the Queen now in Palmyra, might we obtain
through her the means of approaching the Persian King with some hope of a
successful appeal to his compassion!--and yet'--She hesitated and paused.

'I perceive,' said Gracchus, 'what it is that checks your speech. You feel
that in this matter Zenobia would have no power with the Persian monarch
or court. The two nations are now, it is true, upon friendly terms; but a
deep hatred exists in the heart of Sapor toward Zenobia. The successive
defeats which he suffered, when Odenatus and his Queen took it upon them
to vindicate the honor of Rome, and revenge the foul indignities cast upon
the unfortunate Valerian, will never be forgotten; and policy only, not
love or regard, keeps the peace between Persia and Palmyra. Sapor fears
the power of Zenobia, supported, as he knows she would be in case of
rupture, by the strength of Rome; and moreover, he is well aware that
Palmyra serves as a protecting wall between him and Rome, and that her
existence as an independent power is vital to the best interests of his
kingdom. For these reasons harmony prevails, and in the event of war
between us and Rome, we might with certainty calculate upon Persia as an
ally. Still Sapor is an enemy at heart. His pride, humbled as it was by
that disastrous rout, when his whole camp and even his wives fell into the
hands of the Royal Odenatus, will never recover from the wound, and will
prompt to acts of retaliation and revenge, rather than to any deed of
kindness. While his public policy is, and doubtless will continue to be,
pacific, his private feelings are, and ever will be, bitter. I see not how
in this business we can rely with any hope of advantage upon the
interposition of the Queen. If your brother is ever rescued, it must, I
think, be achieved by private enterprise.'

'Your words,' said I, 'have pierced me through with grief, and dispelled
in a moment the brightest visions. All the way from Rome have I been