Their cha motives. T. Cestius Alexander Emilianus 262. ...... ...... 263. 267. In Isauria In Pontus In Italy To these we may add the names of Odenatus, of Herodes racters and his son, of Mæonius his nephew, and finally of Zenobia his Queen; but as the Government of Palmyra was recognised by Gallienus, we can see no reason for inserting the legitimate Sovereigns of that Country in the list of tyrants or usurpers. Indeed, if we examine with candour the conduct of those commanders to whom the stigma of usurpation is attached, it will appear that they were much oftener driven into rebellion by their fears than by any impulse of ambition. They dreaded the cruel suspicions of Gallienus, and the capricious violence of their own troops. If the dangerous favour of the Army had imprudently declared them deserving of the Purple, they were marked for sure destruction; and in such circumstances, even prudence would counsel them to secure a short enjoyment of Empire, and rather to try the fortune of war than to submit ingloriously to the hand of an executioner. Never theless, even as it was, of the nineteen tyrants who started up in the reign of Gallienus, there was not one who enjoyed a life of peace, or a natural death.* New invasions of the Goths. An The irruptions of the Gothic nations were so frequently repeated during the days of Gallienus, that it is very difficult to determine either their number or their order. On one occasion they extended their ravages to the very heart of Greece, and even threatened the shores of Italy. Having forced a passage into the Propontis, or sea of Marmora, they landed on the island of Cyzicus, and reduced to ruins the ancient city of the same name. Pushing at length through the Hellespont, and dividing their incursions between the Asiatic and European coasts, they finally anchored their fleet in the port of Piræus, about five miles distant from Athens. attempt had been made, by an Imperial engineer, to repair the walls which had lain neglected since the conquest of Sylla; but all the efforts of his skill proved ineffectual, for the Barbarians, who supplied by courage their want of science, soon rendered themselves masters of the city of Cecrops. The bravery of the Athenians, indeed, revenged the shame and loss inflicted upon their Country. While the conquerors were occupied with the intemperate joys which usually followed their success, Dexippus collected a body of soldiers, and making a sudden attack upon the Gothic flotilla, which was but slenderly guarded, succeeded in burning it to ashes. This exploit, though little regarded at the moment, contributed very materially to the ultimate failure of the expedition. The Barbarians, in the mean time, it is true, incensed at being cut off from the means of retreat, gave vent to their wrath in more extended devastations. The smoke of burning cities rose in every part of Greece. Thebes, Argos, Corinth, and Sparta, once so powerful and warlike, were not able to meet the invaders in the field, nor even to defend their fortifications. The havoc of fire and sword spread from the remotest islands of the * Trebell. Poll, ubi supra. Aurel. Victor, Epitom. c. 46, 47. Egean to the shores of the Adriatic; and it was not until this ferocious enemy had advanced within sight of Italy, that Gallienus allowed himself to be awakened from his dream of security.* Publius Licinius Gallienus Augustus. From A. D. 260. to 268. their The appearance of a Roman army first alarmed and afterwards divided the Gothic hordes. Having lost their ships, some of them attempted to return homeward through Moesia and across the Danube; while others, weary of adventures or unwilling to engage in unequal war, entered into alliance with Gallienus and abandoned Goths rethe national confederacy. We are not without suspi- pulsed: cion, that in the works of the several annalists and extent of been condemned to read in various forms more than one account of the same campaign. The general idea that results from a comparison of their different narratives is, that all the Provinces of Illyricum and Asia Minor, the islands and even the continent of Greece and German nations, who poured in upon them both were continually exposed to the ravages of the Gothic by sea and land; sometimes passing the Danube, sometimes entering by the mouth of that great river, and sometimes crossing the Euxine sea; and in the engagesometimes victorious, but were never daunted nor comments which they fought were sometimes defeated and pletely destroyed. We find, in particular, that the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was plundered and burnt by those Barbarians; that ancient Ilium, always unfortunate, suffered from them the same calamities which were brought upon it by the Greeks many Ages and reduced it to so deplorable a condition, that, three before; that they sacked the city of Chalcedon also, hundred years after, it still retained marks of their fury; and finally, that all Trajan's conquests beyond the compilers from which we collect our materials, we have ravages. Danube were wrested from the Romans, and became again the property of the Northern tribes.† The name of Odenatus is, by one of the authors of Murder of the Augustan History, connected with the repulse of Odenatus. evidence; but it admits not of any doubt, that the the Goths. Of this fact there remains no satisfactory Sovereign of Palmyra fell soon afterwards by the hand of domestic treason, in which his Queen, Zenobia, was suspected to have had a share. Gallienus made a ally. Heraclian, to whom was confided the command fruitless attempt to revenge the death of his faithful of the Syrian Legions, attacked the widow of Odenatus, but, after a sanguinary conflict, he was obliged to return with the shattered remains of a defeated army.‡ Aureolus, meanwhile, who had been left in Italy at Death of the head of a considerable force, assumed the Purple Gallienus. and displayed the standard of rebellion. This intelligence induced Gallienus to leave Illyricum, whence he was soon afterwards followed by his two Generals, Marcian and Claudius, who joined him when engaged in the siege of Milan, into which the usurper had thrown his hands nor to promote his interests. The Empire could himself. But they entered his camp, not to strengthen whose conduct reflected upon it infamy and loss; on no longer tolerate the vicious imbecility of a Prince, clian, the Prætorian Præfect, agreed to take away his life, which account, the Commanders just named, with Heraand transfer the Imperial Sceptre to more worthy hands. For this purpose a false alarm was given, that the enemy * Trebell. Poll. in Gallien. c. 6, 7. Aurel. Victor. Eutrop. lib. ix. + Trebell. Poll. c. 7, 8. Zosim. lib. i. Zonar. lib. xii. c. 24. From A. D. 260. Biography, were about to make a sally, which immediately roused Gallienus from his table or his bed; when, issuing forth to direct the movement of his troops, he was shot with an arrow aimed at him by a Dalmatian horseman. His brother Valerian, who had been associated with him in the Government, and his son Saloninus, who enjoyed the title of Cæsar, soon afterwards fell victims to the popular resentment. The news of his death, indeed, was received at Rome with transports of joy. The Senate and People vied with one another in expressing to 268. And of his son and brother. Biography. A. D. to 270. Extraction MARCUS AURELIUS CLAUDIUS II. AUGUSTUS. FROM A. D. 268 TO 270. CLAUDIUS, being the second of the name who had ascended the Imperial Throne, is usually distinguished From by the epithet of Gothicus, which he derived from a victory gained over those Barbarians. He is said to have 269. been of Illyrian extraction, and he was certainly one of hose whose merits stand higher than their genealogy; for we find him in the reign of Decius serving in the of Claudius, quality of Tribune, without any other distinction besides that of professional ability and zeal. The means by which he raised himself to the Empire did not escape condemnation; for in taking away the life of Gallienus, he was forgetful of the obligations which he owed to the House of Valerian, the most active of his patrons. But it has been observed in his defence, that his opposition would not have prevented the catastrophe which he was induced to countenance; and, moreover, that bis participation in this crime was the only stain in his public life. In all other matters he justly deserves the praise that is due to real magnanimity, true patriotism, a strict love of justice, a noble simplicity of manners, bravery and good conduct in war, and a wise and gentle government in peace.* He defeats 66 The Letter in which he announced his accession to Aureolus, the Throne, was received by the Senators with much delight, and answered with a corresponding enthusiasm. "Claudius Augustus," said they, we are confident we shall find in you a father, a brother, and a friend: you are a deserving Member of the Senate; and the Empire acknowledges you for a Head worthy of its greatness." Before he proceeded to Rome, he thought it expedient to determine the pretensions of Aureolus, who still kept possession of Milan, and claimed the allegiance due to the Master of the Roman World. A battle ensued, in which the usurper was defeated and slain. The accounts of his death are indeed various; but it is agreed on all hands, that if he did not fall in the field, he was despatched immediately afterwards by the victorious soldiers; who conjectured, perhaps, that such an instance of forward zeal would not prove unacceptable to the Imperial Commander. The sincerity of Claudius has therefore been questioned, when he bewailed the fate of a rival, whose life could not but appear incompatible with his own security and repose. He erected a monu Trebell. Poll. Claud. c. 14, 15. From ment to commemorate the fame of his companion in Marcus arms; and declared in a Greek epitaph, which is still Aurelius extant, that he meant to save the unfortunate Aureolus, Claudius II. but was prevented by the troops into whose hands he Augustus. had fallen. The tomb, if we may confide in the accuracy of Tillemont, continues to distinguish a spot upon the river Adda, between Milan and Bergamo, anciently known by the name of Pons Aureoli, and which, in its present appellation of Pontirolo, bears an intelligible reference to the event that we have just described.† Nothing now remained to prevent Claudius from repairing to Rome, to enjoy the congratulations of his subjects, who could not find terms in which to express the joy that his presence every where excited. But the Emperor was too wise to devote much of his time to the laudatory ceremonials which followed his entrance into the Capital. Law had been despised, and justice trampled under the foot of power; he therefore proceeded without delay to redress injuries which had been already inflicted, and to enact such statutes as might prevent their repetition. He was, however, soon obliged to relinquish that pacific occupation. Tetricus had seized with his rebellious army the Provinces of the West. The centre of the Empire was harassed by the incessant inroads of the Goths; while Zenobia, in the East, not satisfied with the territory which her husband had possessed, extended her dominions by conquest, and even forced Egypt to acknowledge her power. His attention was directed to these three enemies at once; but the Scythian invaders, as they were more active than the other two, seemed to demand a more prompt and determined resistance.‡ A. D. 268. 270. The return of the Barbarians on the present occasion, New invahas been ascribed to the injudicious levity with which sion of they were treated by the Imperial Lieutenants, when Goths. they were dispersed in Illyricum by Gallienus, during his last expedition. Claudius, who at that period commanded in Masia or Pannonia, proposed to cut off their scattered bands, and prevent them from crossing the Danube; but Marcian, who served in the same They sail to the Helles pont. Are defeated * Embarking at the mouth of the Niester, anciently called the Tyrus, they sailed southward along the coast, committing ravages as they proceeded upon such towns as lay within a convenient distance, until at length they reached the Thracian Bosphorus. Being repulsed at Cyzicus and Byzantium, they steered for the gulf of Thessalonica. That city was exposed to the miseries of a siege; but neither it nor Cassandræa, which was likewise beleaguered, fell into the hands of the enemy. No place of consequence, indeed, except Athens, was subjected to the horror and disgrace of actual capture; but, while the main Body of the army was employed in investing the greater towns, the fleet supplied the means of inflicting much distress upon the shores of Thessaly and of Greece, the Islands of Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus, and upon all the maritime parts of Pamphylia.t The Goths were still before Thessalonica when Clauby Claudius. dius appeared in Greece. Intimidated by his military reputation not less than by the formidable armament which he had under his command, they raised the siege and retired into the Northern parts of Macedonia. The Emperor followed in their steps towards the Danube, beyond which they had meant to continue their retreat; and it was not before they reached Naissus, in Servia, that he could overtake their fugitive hordes. There a battle ensued which was long and obstinately disputed, until victory at length declared in favour of the Romans. Fifty thousand of the enemy were slain, and the rest resumed their flight; but Claudius was now resolved to make an example of the vanquished Barbarians, and to visit them with so severe a chastisement, that the remembrance of it might for a time confine them to their woods and marshes. He therefore renewed his pursuit and brought them again to action. The Goths rallied their scattered forces, constructed a rampart of their waggons, and received with determined bravery the And almost onset of the victors. After a desperate conflict, success once more attended the Imperial arms; while such of the enemy as survived, finding their retreat entirely cut off, fell back upon Macedonia, in the hope, perhaps, of reaching their fleet on the coast. Claudius, by means of a rapid movement effected by his cavalry, threw himself between them and the sea; the infantry, at the same time, pressing upon their rear, and allowing them no leisure for repose or for consultation. But even in the deplorable circumstances to which they were now reduced, the fierceness and valour of the Barbarians rendered them extremely formidable to the conquerors. extermi nated. From A. D. 268. to 270. They rushed upon the Roman foot with such fury, that Marcus they threw them into disorder, cut a considerable body Aurelius Claudius II. of them in pieces, and probably would have secured a Augustus. complete victory, had not the horsemen, informed of the danger with which the Legions were surrounded, retraced their steps and appeared in the field of battle. The fate of the Goths was now inevitable. A succession of defeats had greatly thinned their numbers; the ablest of their leaders had fallen; their baggage and provisions were taken or destroyed, and a powerful enemy occupied the ground over which they had meditated to effect their escape. Unable to hazard another engagement, or even to continue longer together, they resolved to seek for safety amid the passes of Mount Hamus; where famine and disease consummated in a short time the process of destruction which the sword of Claudius had commenced. A Letter from the Emperor to Brorchus, the Governor of Illyricum, describes the extent of his victory, and of the loss sustained by the Gothic warriors. "We have destroyed three hundred and twenty thousand Goths, and sunk two thousand ships. The rivers are covered with bucklers, and the shores with large swords and small lances. The plains are hid under heaps of slain. Every road is stained with blood. We have taken so many female prisoners, that every Soldier in our army can claim two or three to serve as slaves."* The flotilla, in the meantime, sought the coast of Their ships destroyed. Macedonia, in order to rejoin the army which had taken shelter in that Province. But the army no longer existed, either to protect or to cooperate with the more fortunate marauders, who had filled their ships with the spoils of Greece and of Asia. In the uncertainty which prevailed respecting the lot of their countrymen, the soldiers landed, with the view of sharing their triumphs or of alleviating their misfortunes; a resolution which only tended to accomplish the entire ruin of their cause by land as well as by sea. Their vessels, abandoned by those who had been left to protect them, were burned or sunk; while the crews, unable to penetrate into an enemy's country, where every thing opposed them, were obliged to disperse and throw themselves on the mercy of the inhabitants. An epidemic sickness, which tracked the progress of this sanguinary war, relieved the greater number from the restraints of captivity; and it was remarked, that after the lapse of a single winter, only a very few of the invading host remained, to mourn the loss of their friends, or to attest the triumph of their enemies.† But the same disease which proved fatal to so many Death of Goths did not spare their conqueror. Claudius was Claudius seized with its worst symptoms, at Sirmium, in the month of March in the year 270, where he soon afterwards expired, amid the unfeigned lamentations of the whole army. During his illness he is said to have convened the principal Officers, Civil as well as military, and in their presence to have recommended Aurelian, one of his Generals, as the most deserving of the Throne, and the best qualified to execute the great design which he himself had been permitted only to undertake. *Zonar. lib. xii. c. 26. p. 635. Aurel. Victor, Epit. Zosim. lib. i. p. 653. Zonar. lib. xii. c. 26. p. 635. Biography. From A. D. to 275. Lineage of Aurelian. LUCIUS DOMITIUS AURELIANUS AUGUSTUS. FROM A. D. 270 To 275. AURELIAN, a Soldier of Fortune, owed his elevation to merit and not to birth. His father is said to have been a small farmer at Sirmium, a town in one of the Illyrian Provinces, and to have occupied a piece of ground which 270. belonged to Aurelius, a rich Senator. The future Emperor of Rome entered the army as a private; rose through the successive ranks of Centurion, Tribune, Legionary Præfect, and General; and during the Gothic war, under Claudius, we find him discharging the important office of Commander-in-chief of the Cavalry. He was one of the bravest and most vigorous men of his Age. Devoted from his earliest days to military exercises, he excelled all his companions in horsemanship, in darting the javelin, and in a dexterous use of the sword. Nor was he less distinguished for the regularity of his discipline, and his assiduity in pointing out the way by which others might attain the same honours with himself; he exhorted the young officers to keep a watchful eye over the conduct of the Soldiery. "Let not any one rob, nor extort, nor injure the property which falls into his hands. Let all learn to be satisfied with their allowances; or, if more be necessary, let them draw it from the blood of their enemies, and not from the tears of their fellow subjects." Death of The beginning of his reign suffered a momentary disQuintillus, turbance from the ambition of Quintillus, a brother of the late Emperor. This unfortunate Commander, being left with the charge of a body of troops in the neighbourhood of Aquileia, was by them raised to the Purple as soon as it was known that Claudius had expired; but, owing the favourable opinion in which he was held to an amiable disposition rather than to splendid talents, he soon confessed himself unequal to dispute the Sovereignty with Aurelian, and accordingly submitted to a voluntary death, after swaying an unhonoured sceptre only seventeen days.† Fresh Aurelian had scarcely received at Rome the confirruption of mation of his title, as Master of the Empire, when inthe Goths. telligence was brought to him that the Goths had again poured a host of invaders into Pannonia. The death of Claudius is supposed to have revived their hopes; and desirous, perhaps, to rescue or to avenge such of their Countrymen as were still enduring the pains of captivity in the Roman Provinces, they ventured once more on the chances of war. Aurelian put himself at the head of his Legions in Illyricum, and advanced in search of the plunderers. A bloody and most obstinate battle took place, which was terminated only by the approach of night; and when the dawn of the following day enabled each Commander to estimate his loss, both parties were more willing to enter into a Treaty than to renew so dreadful a conflict. Peace was concluded on terms mutually advantageous. The Goths were allowed to retire beyond the Danube without molestation, and to occupy the Province of Dacia, now conceded to Vopisc. in Aurel. c. 3. Eutrop. lib. ix. Aurel. Victor, de Casaribus; et Aurel. Victor, Epit. Vopisc. in Aurel. 17. Eutrop. Lucius Aurelianus From A. D. 270. to 275. Tribes. them by the Romans; while, in return, they bound themselves to supply to the latter two thousand cavalry Domitius to serve under the Imperial Generals, and to give a Augustus. certain number of young men and maidens, the children of their principal men, as hostages of the due performance of the Treaty. The youths Aurelian trained in the exercise of arms, and near his own person; to the damsels he gave a liberal education; and by bestowing them in marriage on some of his most deserving Officers, he gradually introduced between the two nations the closest and most endearing connections." But the Empire soon received a greater shock from Invasion by a confederacy of the German nations on the upper German Danube. An army, consisting of forty thousand horse and double that number of infantry, made an incursion within the Rhætian border, and even menaced the Northern parts of Italy. A slight advantage gained over one of the Tribes by Aurelian, induced the former to propose terms of Peace; but as the power of Rome was not yet sufficiently humbled to receive conditions from Barbarian Ambassadors, the war was renewed with increased animosity and vigour. The Emperor, not content with the prospect of driving back the invaders, determined to imitate the manœuvre of Claudius; and, by preventing their retreat, destroy them in a body. With this view, he conducted his army through the mountain passes, and occupied a strong position between the Alemanni and their native Country; so that, had the frontiers of Italy been protected by a competent strength, it is very probable that his design would have been crowned with entire success. But no sooner did the Germans find that their march towards the Danube was obstructed, than they turned their faces once more to the South, forced the barriers of the Italian States, and at length encamped their army in the plains of Milan. Aurelian posted to the relief of his Country, carrying And defeat with him a chosen Body of auxiliaries, the Vandal of the cavalry, and all the Prætorian Guards, who had served Romans. in the wars of Mosia and Pannonia. He found the enemy near Placentia, and prepared to attack them on the following day. But more intent, it should seem, in pursuing his own designs than in guarding against those of the enemy, he allowed himself to fall into a snare which was spread for him, and lost, in a hopeless flight, the greater part of his army. So great was the consternation produced by this disaster, that every one saw in it the approaching dissolution of the Empire. The Sibylline Books were consulted, Processions were ordered, and Sacrifices were offered up, to avert the vengeance of Heaven, and to postpone the ruin of the Imperial City. A second battle was fought with Germans better auspices near Faro in Umbria; and a third with expelled. still greater effect, near Pavia, or in the plain of the ancient Ticinum.† Zonar. lib. xii. c. 27. p. 636. Zosim. lib. i. p. 655. Dexipp. Leg. p. 7. Amm. Marcel. lib. xvii. + Vopisc. in Aurel. passim. Aurel. Victor, Epit. 53 Biography. From A. D. to Walls of Rome repaired. War with Tetricus. The alarm excited in the Capital by the German invasion, suggested to Aurelian the expediency of repairing the walls and renewing the fortifications. From the days of Hannibal five hundred years had elapsed, during which Rome had not had occasion to dread any foreign enemy. Confiding her safety to the arms of her soldiers and to the vigilance of her frontier camps, she had allowed her ancient walls to crumble down, and her battlements to become level with the earth. The Emperor could not conceal from himself, that in the present great change of circumstances, the courage of his people required assistance from the Arts of the mechanic and the engineer; on which account he proceeded to surround the City with a fence more than twenty miles in length, and constructed with such skill and materials as could resist the sudden attack of a Barbarian army. The popular estimate is, indeed, considerably higher; and Vopiscus does not hesitate to assert, that the walls begun by Aurelian and finished by Probus, extended to fifty thousand paces. But how extensive soever they may have been, it was at best a melancholy labour, inasmuch as the fortification of the Capital betrayed the decline of the Empire, and pointed to the coming of those evil days when savage strength should overcome for a time the Arts and policy of civilized Europe.* But the patriotic cares of Aurelian were not confined to Italy. It has been already mentioned, that Spain, Britain, and Gaul, were in the hands of Tetricus, who appears to have succeeded without opposition to the power of Posthumus in those Countries: and the East, which had been neglected since the fall of Gallienus, now acknowledged the Sovereignty of the ambitious Zenobia. It remains doubtful to which of the two former Provinces the Emperor first directed his attention. Eutropius and Eusebius relate that he began by subduing his rival beyond the Alps; while Trebellius Pollio, Vopiscus, and the two authors who are known under the common name of Aurelius Victor, assert that he gave precedence, in his scheme of conquest, to the heroic Queen of Palmyra. As convenience seems to require that we should follow the authority of the former, we shall adopt the arrangement of Eutropius, without minutely inquiring into the grounds upon which it rests.† Tetricus, it would appear, had, during five or six years, exercised in Gaul a reluctant and ungrateful Sovereignty, the slave of the Legions rather than their master, and, at once, the organ and the victim of their licentiousness. Disgusted with a situation from which he had no direct means of extricating himself, he entered into a secret correspondence with Aurelian, whom he entreated to resume, with a competent force, the Government of the Western Provinces. Tetricus, affecting to aim at the Imperial Crown, induced his soldiers to take the field in that cause. They obeyed, He betrays but it was only to be delivered into the hands of his troops. the Emperor; for no sooner had the two armies engaged near Chalons, on the river Marne, than the Commander of the rebels passed over to the enemy and left them to their fate. The Gallic Legions, though disordered and alarmed by the unexpected treachery of their Chief, defended themselves with the greatest Vopisc. in Aurel. Zosim. lib. i. p. 655. Aurel. Victor, Epit. de Vit. et Moribus. Trebell. Poll. in Trigint. Tyran. Vopisc. in Aurel. Eutrop. lib. ix. Euseb. in Chron. Aurel. Victor, de Casaribus; et Aurel. Victor, Epit. valour, till they were nearly all cut in pieces. The Lucius Franks and other auxiliaries, who had served under the Domitius Roman standard since the usurpation of Posthumus, Aurelianus Augustus. finding that the arms of Aurelian could no longer be opposed, retired beyond the Rhine, and left the Transalpine Kingdoms to enjoy an unbroken tranquillity.* From A. D. 270. to 275. His successes in Gaul enabled Aurelian to carry an undivided power against Zenobia, who, availing herself of the distractions of the Empire, had already established her sway from the Euphrates to the Nile. Character Historians have delighted to dwell on the personal of Zenobia. attractions and the high mental endowments of this Syrian Princess. Claiming a descent from the Grecian Kings of Egypt, she is said to have equalled the Ptolemies in learning, and surpassed Cleopatra in beauty. The gravest writers disdain not to extol her dark expressive eyes, and her teeth of pearly whiteness, her melodious voice and her fine complexion. It is of more importance to relate, that the superior faculties which she derived from Nature were improved by study and sharpened by constant exercise; that she had a fine perception of the excellencies of Poetical and Historical composition; and that she possessed a perfect knowledge of the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages.† The death of Odenatus put an end to the authority She asserts which Palmyra enjoyed as a favoured Province of the her indeEmpire, and as a reward for the valuable services of her pendence. chief. But Zenobia, having tasted the pleasure of absolute rule, refused to surrender the delegated power which her husband had employed so beneficially. She set Gallienus and the Senate at defiance, and even worsted an army which they had sent to compel her to submission. Claudius, whose whole strength was required against the Goths, connived at the ambiguous policy of the Eastern Queen; and regarding her defence of the Syrian frontiers from the incursions of the Persians as a sufficient compensation for the want of entire allegiance, he did not disturb the tranquillity of her reign. Aurelian, however, when he found that she had added to her native dominions, not only the fertile Kingdom of Egypt, but also the Provinces of Bithynia and Cappadocia, could no longer allow her pretensions to pass unquestioned.‡ It appears to have been in the second year after his Aurelian deaccession, that this Emperor assumed the command of clares war the Asiatic Legions. His march through Illyricum was against her. distinguished by several advantages over the Scythian Tribes, which, under various names, still continued to harass the Northern borders of the Empire. At his approach, Bithynia resumed its obedience, and Ancyra, the Capital of Galatia, opened its gates without resistance. Tyana, the birth place of Apollonius, preferred the hazard of a siege; and when it was betrayed into the hands of Aurelian, by the perfidy of one of the inhabitants, he spared it for the sake of the Philosopher with whose name it was associated in the annals of Literature. Zenobia soon perceived that she must fight for her independence in Syria and not in Asia Minor. She advanced to Antioch; but having sustained a repulse from the Roman cavalry, she retired towards the Desert, and concentrated her forces at Emesa. Aurelian pursued the broken Palmyrenians *Zosim. lib. i. Zonar. lib. xii. c. 27. p. 636. Aurel. Victor, in Aurel. + Trebell. Poll. in Trigint. Tyran. Vopisc. in Aurel. Zosim, lib. i. Trebell. Poll. Vopisc. Aurel. Victor. |