That to which I allude, happened at the great amphitheatre, during an
exhibition of games given by Zenobia on the occasion of her return, in
which the Palmyrenes, especially those of Roman descent, take great
delight. I care, as you know, nothing for them, nor only that, abhor them
for their power to imbrute the people accustomed to their spectacles more
and more. In this instance I was persuaded by Fausta and Gracchus to
attend, as I should see both the Queen and her subjects under favorable
circumstances to obtain new knowledge of their characters; and I am not
sorry to have been there.

The show could boast all the magnificence of Rome. Nothing could exceed
the excitement and tumult of the city. Its whole population was abroad to
partake of the general joy. Early in the day the streets began to be
thronged with the multitudes who were either pouring along toward the
theatre, to secure in season the best seats, or with eager curiosity
pressing after the cages of wild animals drawn by elephants or camels
toward the place of combat and slaughter. As a part of this throng, I
found myself, seated between Gracchus and Fausta, in their most sumptuous
chariot, themselves arrayed in their most sumptuous attire. Our horses
could scarcely do more than walk, and were frequently obliged to stand
still, owing to the crowds of men on horse, on foot, and in vehicles of
every sort, which filled the streets. The roaring of the imprisoned
animals, the loud voices of their keepers, and of the drivers of the
cumbrous wagons which held them, the neighing, or screaming I might say,
of the affrighted horses every now and then brought into immediate contact
with the wild beasts of the forests, lions, tigers or leopards, made a
scene of confusion, the very counterpart of what we have so often
witnessed in Rome, which always pains more than it pleases me, and which
I now describe at all, only that you may believe what Romans are so slow
to believe, that there are other cities in the world where great actions