There are reports of letters between them once he reached Palmyra, but they are thought to be later inventions. [2] She herself claimed to be of the Seleucid line of the Cleopatras and the Ptolemies. . Her stated goal was to protect the Eastern Roman Empire from the Sasanian Empire (Sassanid), for the peace of Rome; however, her efforts significantly increased the power of her own throne. Create your account.
According to the Augustan History, the queen fired off a message full of characteristic defiance: âFrom Zenobia, Queen of the East, to Aurelian Augustus . When they revolted again in 273, the Romans recaptured and destroyed the city. A third-century bust depicts Emperor Aurelian, Zenobiaâs primary antagonist. It was used as a base for the bioterrorist organization Il Veltro in 2004; following that it was used for a year as a secret, military-funded laboratory to test the t-Abyss Virus.
Her name - Septimia Zenobia - is written on her coins as well as in Latin accounts (or Ζηνοβια in Greek). A small boat can be seen on the starboard side. © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267. While the other emperors had failed to notice what Zenobia was doing, or simply did not have the resources to do anything about it, Aurelian was a very different kind of ruler. She was not ignorant of the Latin tongue, but possessed in equal perfection the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. Whether Zenobia had tried to make contact with Aurelian before this is not known. The story of her life was transmitted largely to these later generations through the Historia Augusta and Gibbon's work which presented the Queen of Palmyra as an honorable and worthy adversary of Rome and a great heroine of the ancient world, and this is how she is still remembered in the present day. Al-Tabari, like the other Arabian writers, does not mention Aurelian or Rome in his narrative at all. All rights reserved. The Sassanid king Shapur I (240-270/272 CE) took the city of Antioch, one of the most important trade centers for Rome, and this could not be tolerated. The Palymyrians were routed and then slaughtered. The queen, it was said, had always longed to visit Rome, âand this hope was not unfulfilled,â the Augustan History recorded with irony: âfor she did, indeed, enter the city . Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Zenobia (born c. 240 CE, death date unknown) was the queen of the Palmyrene Empire who challenged the authority of Rome during the latter part of the period of Roman history known as The Crisis of the Third Century (235-284 CE). This declaration only fits Vaballathus, the son of Zenobia. Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization.
License. Not content to simply drive the invaders from Egypt, the Romans pursued the Syrians past the borders and north toward Syria, where the Syrians then mounted a counter-attack and decimated the Roman army. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. According to some, Zenobia and Vaballathus graced the triumphal procession that Aurelian celebrated at Rome in 274.
Even in this, however, she was careful not to appear to be in conflict with Rome. Sciences, Culinary Arts and Personal Weakened and distracted, the empire was facing threats on all fronts. Drawing on sources from the Roman Empire, the 18th-century British historian Edward Gibbon penned detailed descriptions of her in his six-volume classic, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Modern Europe has produced several illustrious women who have sustained with glory the weight of empire; nor is our own age destitute of such distinguished characters . Housed in a palace that was just one of the many splendors of one of the most magnificent cities of the East, surrounded by a court of philosophers and writers, waited on by aged eunuchs, and clad in the finest silk brocades that Antioch or Damascus could supply, she inherited also both the reputation of Odaenthus' military successes and the reality of the highly effective Bedouin soldiers. Once she had Egypt, she then entered into diplomatic negotiations with the regions of the Levant and Asia Minor and added them to her growing empire.
Caught by Roman troops, she was brought before Emperor Aurelian, a scene depicted in this 1717 painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. She scorned Emperor Gallienus and his generals, who were powerless to stop her. His ferocity on the front line was legendary, giving rise to a verse of a song in Latin: âMille, mille, mille occidit!âA thousand, a thousand, a thousand heâs killed!â During the four brief years of his reign, this hardened soldier won his predecessorsâ war with the Goths, repelled a barbarian invasion of northern Italy, and restored Roman rule in the unruly provinces of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania. a foreigner, Zenobia by name . Her father's Greek name was Antiochus, according to scriptures found in Palmyra. Cite This Work It is recorded she would march on foot with her troops long distances, could hunt as well as any man, and could out-drink anyone. In her short-lived empire, Zenobia took the vital trade routes in these areas from the Romans. She had drawn up for her own use an epitome of oriental history, and familiarly compared the beauties of Homer and Plato under the tuition of the sublime Longinus (128-129). Queen Zenobia, whose lands were considered to be Roman provinces, defied Rome; this led to conflict and an invasion by Rome to quash Queen Zenobia's independent rule. According to some, Zenobia and Vaballathus graced the triumphal procession that Aurelian celebrated at Rome in … Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. Mark, Joshua J. In Europe the rebel Gallic empire started to break away from Rome. She was Odaenthus' second wife, and he had a son and heir, Herodes, from his first marriage.
He did not send envoys with letters asking for an explanation nor did he wait for Zenobia to offer one on her own; he marched on the Palmyrene Empire with his entire army. He had risen in the ranks from infantryman to general and, now, to emperor, and he was a soldier first and politician second. The end of Zenobia's life, then, depends upon which source one finds most credible. but vanquished and led in triumph.â Some sources claim she was decapitated there. Pleading for her life, Zenobia reportedly blamed her anti-Roman policy on one of her advisers, the Greek-born philosopher Cassius Longinus, whom Aurelian then had executed.
The queen, it was said, had always longed to visit Rome, “and this hope was not unfulfilled,” the Augustan History recorded with irony: “for she did, indeed, enter the city . Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. She ruled over Egypt until 274, when she was defeated and taken as a hostage to Rome by Emperor Aurelian. In 267, Zenobia’s husband and stepson were assassinated. Much like her birth, the exact circumstances of Zenobiaâs death are uncertain. Herbert Gustave Schmalzâs 1888 picture re-creates the moment when Zenobia must finally submit to Roman authority and surrender her empire. Please support Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation. Wodehouse's Joy in the Morning, William Golding's Rites of Passage, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Surrealist author Gellu Naum's Zenobia and in Robert E. Howard's Conan series, Edward Gorey's "Fletcher and Zenobia", and Zenobia/Zeena in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.
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