Zenobia, with some of her attendants, fled; but was overtaken and
brought back a prisoner, destined to grace the triumph of her conqueror.
She who had for more than five years ruled a powerful nation so nobly
and so well, was henceforth to be subjected to the indignities of a
captive.
With Zenobia, fell the dominion of the East, and its once beautiful
capital dwindled into insignificance.
HYPATIA.
Rather more than a century had passed since the subjugation of Zenobia
and her Empire by pagan Rome, when Hypatia, the philosopher of
Alexandria, attracted the attention of the then civilized world by her
marvelous talents and varied accomplishments. The daughter of Theon, the
celebrated mathematician of Alexandria, she possessed unusual
facilities--for a woman--for acquiring knowledge; and especially for
becoming acquainted with the abstruse sciences. Of these facilities she
availed herself with commendable earnestness; and at an early age she
had made herself mistress of both Geometry and Astronomy, as far as
either science was then understood or taught in any of the schools. As
is the case with less profound natures, the mind grew on what it fed
upon; reasoning, and the elucidation of knotty mathematical problems,
became her delight; and, by general consent, she ranked as one of the
first philosophers of her time, if not indeed the very first.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145