enemies. As it could be said that this man's courage had been his nobility of soul, <hr>
I vowed to dedicate my entire life to collecting palms to lay upon his tomb.<hr>
Thus, one day, I may say that I avenged his death with my own hand and defended the empire <hr>
for our children. I thought it better to decorate his coffin with the spoils of the enemies <hr>
I will conquer, rather than wet it with my tears. In this resolution, I took up arms <hr>
in one hand and the reins of the empire in the other. My daughters, I have always believed that all qualities <hr>
can coexist, that it is possible for one person to have them all, that the qualities of <hr>
men can be practiced by women, that true wisdom has <hr>
no prescribed gender. One can be pure and brave at the same time, show courage in one <hr>
situation and humility in another, be stern and lenient in different circumstances, <hr>
command and obey, and wear chains and a crown with the same face. With <hr>
this conviction, my daughters, I accomplished these distinct things, although I am still the <hr>
same today.<hr>
        But to go over my life, you know that the death which took my Odenathus did not <hr>
deprive me of the joy of his weapons. On the contrary, his valor seemed to join mine. <hr>
I overcame the army Gallienus had sent against me under the command <hr>
of Heraclianus. And not content with this first victory, I conquered Egypt and had myself <hr>
acknowledged as the absolute mistress of the kingdom of my predecessors. From there, I <hr>
moved onto Ancyra, the principal city of Galatia. I even carried my arms across <hr>
all of Bithynia to Chalcedon and below the Bosporus. After conquering the <hr>
Persians numerous times and making the sound of my triumphs heard all over the world, <hr>
Aurelian, driven by destiny and more skilled in wielding the sword than Gallienus was, <hr>
ultimately came himself to halt me in my tracks. I will repeat to you our misfortunes <hr>
with as much detail as I recounted my successes, as you well know they are etched into <hr>
your memory. I would not have undertaken to remind you of my victories if I did not know that <hr>
your deep melancholy has made you forget them, for in your despair you are no longer <hr>
receptive to anything but dark images. You are certainly not ignorant of the path by which Aurelian led me <hr>
to Rome. You surely remember how Heraclion's treachery allowed him <hr>
to take the city of Tyana. Despite my command and courage, Aurelian's army <hr>
gave him victory before Antioch. By the ingenuity of Zabas, I was put <hr>
into safety when I fled to Emesa. I rallied my troops and a second time fought <hr>
Aurelian who, despite my efforts, ultimately won the battle. You know too that I <hr>
left Emesa to take refuge in Palmyra while waiting for the aid promised by the Persians, <hr>
the Saracens, and the Armenians. You know that it was there Aurelian came to besiege me with his <hr>
powerful army, composed of Pannonians, Dalmatians, Moors, Celts and other <hr>
numerous troops from Africa, Tyana, Mesopotamia, Syria, Phoenicia, and <hr>
Palestine.<hr>
<hr>
<hr>
                                                     44<hr>