Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/393

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 369 But however, in the treatment of his unfortunate ri- C H A P. vals, Aurelian might indulge his pride, he behaved to- ' wards them with a generous clemency, which was sel- His treat- dom exercised by the ancient conquerors. Princes J^fcus^an/ who, without success, had defended their throne or Zenobia. freedom, were frequently strangled in prison, as soon as the triumphal pomp ascended the capitol. These usurpers, whom their defeat had convicted of the crime of treason, were permitted to spend their lives in afflu- ence and honourable repose. The emperor presented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur, or Tivoli, about twenty miles from the capital ; the Syrian queen insensibly sunk into a Roman matron, her daughters married into noble families, and her race was not yet extinct in the fifth century". Tetricus and his son were reinstated in their rank and fortunes. They erected on the Caelian hill a magnificent palace, and as soon as it was finished, invited Aurelian to supper. On his entrance, he was agreeably surprised with a picture which represented their singular history. They were delineated offering to the emperor a civic crown and the sceptre of Gaul, and again receiving at his hands the ornaments of the senatorial dignity. The father was afterwards invested with the government of Luca- nia°; and Aurelian, who soon admitted the abdicated monarch to his friendship and conversation, familiarly asked him, whether it were not more desirable to ad- minister a province of Italy, than to reign beyond the Alps. The son long continued a respectable member of the senate ; nor was there any one of the Roman no- bility more esteemed by Aurelian, as well as by his successors P. So long and so various was the pomp of Aurelian's His magni- triumph, that although it opened with the dawn of day, devotion.^ " Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 199; Hieronym. in Chron. ; Prosper in Chron. Baronius supposes that Zenobius, bishop of Florence in the time of St. Ambrose, was of her family. ° Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 222; Eutropius, ix. 13; Victor junior. But Pollio, in Hist. August, p. 196, says, that Tetricus was made corrector of all Italy. p Hist. August, p. 197. VOL. I. B b