ZENOBIA (274)

Queen of the Roman colony of Palmyra in present-day Syria from 267 to 272.

She conquered several of Rome´s eastern provinces before she was subjugated by the emperor Aurelian (ruled 270-275).

Zenobia´s husband Odaenathus, Rome´s client ruler of Palmyra, had by 267 recovered the Roman East from Persian conquerors.

She reputedly instigated the assassination of Odaenathus and his eldest son (by his former wife) Herodes or Herodianus in 267 or 268.

She then became regent for her own young son Wahballat called Vaballathus in Latin or Athenodorus in Greek.

Stylling herself queen of Palmyra she had Vaballathus adopt his father´s titles of king of kings and corrector totius Orientis or governor of all the East.

Nevertheless unlike Odaenathus she was not content to remain a Roman client.

In 269 she seized Egypt then conquered almost all of Asia Minor (270) and declared her independence from Rome.
Marching east Aurelian defeated her armies at Antioch now Antakya Turkey and at Emesa now Homs Syria and beseiged Palmyra.
Zenobia and Vaballathus tried to flee from the city but they were captured and taken to Rome (272).
The Palmyrenes soon surrendered.
When they revolted again in 273 the Romans recaptured and destroyed the city.
Zenobia and two of her sons Herennianus and Timolaus graced the triumphal procession that Aurelian celebrated at Rome in 274.

Vaballathus´ fate in unknown but Zenobia married a Roman senator and presumably spent the rest of her life at his villa near Tibur now Tivoly Italy.

Zenobia´s career made a deep impression on the Roman writers of the collection of biographies known as the Historia Augusta (probably 4th century).
They compared her to the Egyptian queen Cleopatra (1st century BC) and recounted not always reliably stories regarding her dark beauty, chastity, learning and fabulous wealth.
She is known to have studied Greek literature with the philosopher Cassius Longinus.
According to some sources she saved her life at the time of her capture by blaming Longinus and her other advisers for Palmyra´s agression and they were subsequently executed.

Zenobia passed into Arab tradition as the murderous queen az-Zabba.