Aurelian triumphs over you still with every memory of his victory. I am sincerely sorry,<hr>
my daughters, for not being able to pass on to you the determination necessary to endure the<hr>
misfortunes I have bequeathed you. But it's the only legacy I can leave you in dying, <hr>
and I wish with all my heart that this quality can pass from my heart to yours so that <hr>
even if you cannot be queens, at least you can reign over yourselves. If <hr>
anyone had reason to despair due to an excess of fate, I certainly should have <hr>
done so, for I have had more glory than any woman has ever been able to obtain. My distress has <hr>
also been the most pitiful ever heard. You know that on my side,<hr>
you can count among your ancestors the kings of Egypt from the line of the Ptolemies, and I am <hr>
descended from the noble lineage of Cleopatra. But alas! It seems that the subjugation that Aurelian <hr>
intended for me came to me by right of succession and I only survived this.<hr>
Yet, fate treated me with even more inhumanity, for I followed a chariot that I <hr>
thought I was leading and that I had built to triumph over the one who had <hr>
defeated me. You also know that the start of my life was filled with happiness.<hr>
       The valiant Odaenathus, your father and my husband, after bestowing upon me the crown of <hr>
Palmyra, wanted me to share in the glory of his conquests. I can say without pretension <hr>
nor disrespect to the memory of this remarkable man that if he had granted me more <hr>
power during his lifetime, it would have added a few more laurel leaves to his <hr>
crown that victory had placed on his head. Yes, my daughters, I can say without insulting the <hr>
memory of Odaenathus that we together conquered the entire East and, driven by an honorable feeling, <hr>
we undertook to take revenge on the Persians for the indignities that Emperor <hr>
Valerian, captive of Shapur, had to endure while his ungrateful son, Gallienus, gave himself over<hr>
to all sorts of pleasures. However, Odaenathus did not fail to release all the prisoners that <hr>
we made during this war. We conquered the best cities of <hr>
Mesopotamia and Nisibis, to which my husband had subjected. Pursuing our victory, we defeated <hr>
a multitude of Persians near Ctesiphon. We made several satraps prisoners, <hr>
and their king himself had taken to flight. Almost always victorious in all the battles where we <hr>
found ourselves, glory highly praised the bravery of Odaenathus, so much so that eventually <hr>
Gallienus, driven by fear rather than gratitude, made him a friend of the Empire. <hr>
To honor him even more, medals were struck where my Odaenathus is shown dragging captive Persians. <hr>
Until then, I only knew joy. Victory and fate had also favored me. <hr>
But alas! Can I say it? My Odaenathus, as well as my eldest son, were assassinated, and I <hr>
fell from one extreme to the other, from joy to misery. My daughters, that's where I needed all my <hr>
determination to bear this misfortune. The loss of Odaenathus is undoubtedly what <hr>
made the loss of my freedom less painful. I had more pain following my husband<hr>
to the grave than following the chariot of Aurelian. The funeral of Odaenathus caused <hr>
far more tears than the magnificence of the victory which was celebrated in honor of <hr>
<hr>
<hr>
                                                    42<hr>