sovereign Queen, and so I will die. The son of Valerian received Odenatus
and Zenobia as partners in empire. We were representatives of Rome in the
East. Our dignities and our titles were those of Gallienus. It were small
boasting to say that they were worn not less worthily here than in Rome.
And this association with Rome--I sought it not. It was offered as a
tribute to our greatness. Shall it be dissolved at the will of
Aurelian?--and Palmyra, no longer needed as a scourge for the Great King,
be broken down into a tributary province, an obscure appendage of your
greatness? May the gods forsake me that moment I am false to my country! I
too am ambitious, as well as Aurelian. And let him be told, that I
stipulate for a full partnership of the Roman power--my sons to bear the
name and rank of Caesar--or the tie which unites Palmyra to Rome is at
once and forever sundered, and she stands before the world an independent
kingdom, to make good as she may, by feats of arms, her claim to that high
dignity; and the arms which have prevailed from the Nile to the shores of
the Caspian, from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and have triumphed
more than once over the pride and power of Persia, may be trusted in any
encounter, if the fates should so ordain, with even Rome herself. The
conqueror of Egypt would, I believe, run a not ignoble tilt with the
conqueror of a Gallic province.'

'Dearest mother,' said the Princess Julia, in a voice full of earnest
entreaty, 'do not, do not give way to such thoughts. Heed not these lying
rumors. Trust in the magnanimity of Aurelian. We make the virtue we
believe in. Let it not reach his ears that you have doubted him. I can see
no reason why he should desire to disturb the harmony that has so long
reigned--and Aurelian is no madman. What could he gain by a warlike
expedition, which a few words could not gain? Noble Piso, if your great
emperor would but speak before he acts--if indeed any purpose like that
which is attributed to him has entered his mind--a world of evil, and