羅馬帝國晚期奴隸階級地位待遇係咪同一般公民已經冇分別
元老院簡直係羅馬世界既癌細胞
By the death of Odenathus, that authority was at an end which the senate had granted him only as a personal distinction; but his martial widow, disdaining both the senate and Gallienus, obliged one of the Roman generals who was sent against her to retreat into Europe, with the loss of his army and his reputation. Instead of the little passions which so frequently perplex a female reign, the steady administration of Zenobia was guided by the most judicious maxims of policy. If it was expedient to pardon, she could calm her resentment; if it was necessary to punish, she could impose silence on the voice of pity. Her strict economy was accused of avarice; yet on every proper occasion she appeared magnificent and liberal. The neighbouring states of Arabia, Armenia, and Persia, dreaded her enmity, and solicited her alliance. To the dominions of Odenathus, which extended from the Euphrates to the frontiers of Bithynia, his widow added the inheritance of her ancestors, the populous and fertile kingdom of Egypt.The emperor Claudius acknowledged her merit, and was content that, while he pursued the Gothic war, she should assert the dignity of the empire in the East. The conduct, however, of Zenobia vas attended with some ambiguity, nor is it unlikely that she had conceived the design of erecting an independent and hostile monarchy. She blended with the popular manners of Roman princes the stately pomp of the courts of Asia, and exacted from her subjects the same adoration that was paid to the successors of Cyrus. She bestowed on her three sons a Latin education, and often showed them to the troops adorned with the Imperial purple. For herself she reserved the diadem, with the splendid but doubtful title of Queen of the East.
在奧登納圖斯死後,元老院僅為表彰他的個人成就賦與他的權力便宣告結束;但他的善戰的遺孀,根本不把元老院和加利恩努斯放在眼裡,竟使一個被派來對付她的羅馬將軍,不得不拋棄掉自己的部隊和名聲急急退回到歐洲去。芝諾比婭從不像一般女性統治者會因為一時感情衝動手忙腳亂,她始終在最明智的政策原則的指導下,把政府管理得井井有條。如果事情以寬恕為上,她能立即使自己的怒氣冷靜下來;如果必須進行懲罰,她又能壓下憐憫之心決不手軟。她的嚴格的節約態度曾被人指責為貪婪;但在一切需要花錢的正當場合,她卻顯得十分慷慨大方。阿拉伯、亞美尼亞和波斯等鄰近的國家都害怕與她為敵,力求和她結盟。奧登納圖斯原來的統治地區,就從幼發拉底河一直延伸到比提尼亞的邊界,而在這之外,他的遺孀又加上了她的祖先留給她的國土,人口眾多、物產豐富的埃及王國。皇帝克勞狄完全承認她的才能,他很樂意在他全力進行哥特戰爭的時候,由她重振東部帝國的國威。但是,芝諾比婭的行為也不無令人費解之處;她或曾設想建立一個獨立的敵對王國,這至少也不是絕對不可能的事。她在一般羅馬帝王的禮儀之外又引進了亞洲宮廷裡的巨大排場,她強使她的臣民像對待居魯士的繼承人一樣對她進行崇拜。她讓她的三個兒子都受到拉丁教育,並常讓他們穿著皇家的紫袍在軍隊中露面。她始終自己保有著王冠,使用著一個雄偉的、含意不明的頭銜,東方女王。
Amid the barren deserts of Arabia a few cultivated spots rise like islands out of the sandy ocean. Even the name of Tadmor, or Palmyra, by its signification in the Syriac as well as in the Latin language, denoted the multitude of palm-trees which afforded shade and verdure to that temperate region. The air was pure, and the soil, watered by some invaluable springs, was capable of producing fruits as well as corn. A place possessed of such singular advantages, and situated at a convenient distance between the Gulf of Persia and the Mediterranean, was soon frequented by the caravans which conveyed to the nations of Europe a considerable part of the rich commodities of India. Palmyra insensibly increased into an opulent and independent city, and, connecting the Roman and the Parthian monarchies by the mutual benefits of commerce, was suffered to observe an humble neutrality, till at length, after the victories of Trajan, the little republic sunk into the bosom of Rome, and flourished more than one hundred and fifty years in the subordinate though honourable rank of a colony. It was during that peaceful period, if we may judge from a few remaining inscriptions, that the wealthy Palmyrenians constructed those temples, palaces, and porticos of Grecian architecture, whose ruins, scattered over an extent of several miles, have deserved the curiosity of our travellers. The elevation of Odenathus and Zenobia appeared to reflect new splendour on their country, and Palmyra, for a while, stood forth the rival of Rome; but the competition was fatal, and ages of prosperity were sacrificed to a moment of glory.
在阿拉伯荒涼的沙漠之中,很少幾處經人耕作的田土高出地面像幾個小島點綴著這一片沙的海洋。甚至塔莫爾或帕爾米拉這個名稱,它在敘利亞語和拉丁語中的意思也都是為那溫和地區提供陰涼和蔥郁的棕梠樹林。這裡空氣清新,被幾處無比珍貴的泉水澆灌的土壤可以生產水果和玉米。一個具有如此優越的條件,又處於波斯灣和地中海之間、離兩處都不甚遠的地方很快便成了
把相當數量的豐富的印度商品運往歐洲各國的商隊經常來往之地。帕爾米拉在不知不覺中漸漸變成了一座富有的獨立的城市,而且,由於它通過互利的商業活動可以作為連接羅馬和帕提亞兩個王國的紐帶,得以一直保持著屈從的中立地位,最後,在圖拉真的勝利之後,這個小小的共和國便落入了羅馬的懷抱,作為一個雖也光彩卻處於從屬地位的殖民地,繁榮昌盛達150餘年之久。如果我們可以根據現有的有限的銘文來判斷,只是在太平時期,富足的帕爾米拉人才修建了那些廟宇、宮殿和具有希臘建築風格的廊柱,它們散落在數英里範圍之內的廢墟至今仍為好奇的參觀者所留連。奧登納圖斯和芝諾比婭的顯赫成就似乎使他們的國家散發出了新的光芒,而帕爾米拉在一段時間內成了可以和羅馬抗衡的國家:只是這一競爭的代價是無比沉重的,後來許多代的人都成了這一轉眼的燦爛景象的犧牲品