Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/347

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 323 the villages of Syria ', and the tents of the desert j he CHAP, hovered round the Persian host, harassed their retreat, ' carried off part of the treasure, and, what was dearer than any treasure, several of the women of the great king ; who was at last obliged to repass the Euphrates with some marks of haste and confusion By this ex- ploit, Odenathus laid the foundations of his future fame and fortunes. The majesty of Rome, oppressed by a Persian, was protected by a Syrian or Arab of Palmyra. The voice of history, which is often little more than Treatment the organ of hatred or flattery, reproaches Sapor with ° * ®"*°' a proud abuse of the rights of conquest. We are told that Valerian, in chains, but invested with the imperial purple, was exposed to the multitude a constant spec- tacle of fallen greatness ; and that whenever the Per- sian monarch mounted on horseback, he placed his foot on the neck of a Roman emperor. Notwith- standing all the remonstrances of his allies, who re- peatedly advised him to remember the vicissitude of fortune, to dread the returning power of Rome, and to make his illustrious captive the pledge of peace, not the object of insult, Sapor still remained inflexible. When Valerian sunk under the weight of shame and grief, his skin, stufled with straw, and formed into the likeness of a human figure, was preserved for ages in the most celebrated temple of Persia ; a more real monument of triumph, than the fancied trophies of , brass and marble so often erected by Roman vanity "". The tale is moral and pathetic, but the truth of it may very fairly be called in question. The letters still ex- tant from the princes of the east to Sapor, are manifest ' Syrorum agrestium manu. Sextus Rufus, c. 23. Rufus, Victor, the Augustan History, (p. 192.) and several inscriptions, agree in making Oden- athus a citizen of Palmyra. •* He possessed so powerful an inlerest among the wandering tribes, that Procopius (Bell. Persic. 1. ii. c. 5.) and John Malala (torn. i. p. 391.) style him prince of the Saracens. ' Peter Patricius, p. 25. "' The pagan writers lament, the christian insult the misfortunes of Va- lerian. Their various testimonies are accurately collected by Tillemont, torn. iii. p. 739, etc. So little has been preserved of eastern history before Mahomet, that the modern Persians are totally ignorant of the victory of Sapor, an event so glorious to their nation. See Biblioth^que Orientale. y2