The Asiatic Greeks, particularly those of Ionia, were distinguished for voluptuous refinement, and the beauty and gracefulness of their women. The celebrated Aspasia, first the mistress, and afterwards the wife of Pericles, was of Ionia. Her wit and eloquence must have equalled her beauty; for we are told that Plato loved to discourse philosophy with her, and that Pericles sought her advice in great political emergencies. Zenobia, queen of Palmyra and the East, is the most remarkable among Asiatic women. Her genius struggled with, and overcame, all the obstacles presented by oriental laws and customs. She is said to have been as beautiful as Cleopatra, from whom she claimed descent. She knew the Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Egyptian languages; had drawn up, for her own use, an abridgment of oriental history; and read Homer and Plato under the tuition of Longinus. She was the companion and friend of her husband, and accompanied him on his hunting excursions with eagerness and courage equal to his own. She despised the effeminacy of a covered carriage, and often appeared on horseback in military costume. Sometimes she marched several miles on foot, at the head of the troops. Having revenged the murder of her husband, she ascended the throne, and for five years governed Palmyra, Syria, and the East, with wonderful steadiness and wisdom. After a long and desperate resistance she was conquered by the Roman emperor Aurelian, who had grown jealous of the increasing wealth and power of his rival. The conduct of Zenobia after her capture tarnishes all the lustre of her character. She who had conducted many battles by her wisdom, and gained them by her valor, trembled when she heard the ferocious Roman soldiery demand her death; and she sought to save herself by sacrificing her best friends to the resentment of the conqueror. Zenobia, almost weighed down with jewels, and chained with gold, walked, a splendid captive, in the triumph of Aurelian. That emperor, however, treated his unfortunate rival with a degree of clemency unusual in ancient times. He gave Zenobia a very elegant villa, about twenty miles from Rome. The great Queen of the East sunk into the obscurity of private life, and her daughters married into noble families. * * * * *