Zenobia The Warrior Queen Who Dared to Challenge the Mighty Roman Empire

[00:00:01]Zenobia, the warrior queen of Palmyra, Syria.

[00:00:12]In 30 BC, the last active Tom Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra 7, was dead. According to the written sources, she committed suicide by holding a poisonous snake to her breast so as to avoid being paraded in Rome by the victorious Octavian.

[00:00:30]The humiliation of being paraded by the conquering Romans was a fate that befell another Eastern queen three centuries after the death of Cleopatra.

[00:00:40]According to the Histori Augusta, the Palamarine Queen, Zenobia was captured by the Emperor Aurelion and paraded through the streets of Rome in gold chains and jewelry during his triumph parade. Who was this Zenobia and why was she treated by the Romans in such a manner?

[00:01:01]Zenobia was born around 240 AD in Palmyra at that time a Roman province.

[00:01:08]As she was given the name Julia Orurelia Zenobia, it can be said that she was a Roman citizen. Roman citizenship was granted to her father's family at an earlier date, perhaps during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the latter part of the 2n century AD. The histori Augusta even makes the claim that Zenobia's father could trace his lineage to Julia Damna, the wife of the emperor Septimius Severus.

[00:01:37]By 258 AD, she was married to Septimius Odian, an influential member of Palmarine society. The exact position of Odanus, however, is slightly unclear.

[00:01:51]Whilst Odenus was honored with Roman titles and making him sort of Roman governor of Palmyra, he was also retrospectively given the title king of kings. The latter title, however, may not be an indication that Odanthus desired to carve independent kingdom for himself as it was conferred on to him for his defeat of the Cisanian king Shapur.

[00:02:15]Regardless of Odenthus role in Pulmyra, he was dead by 267 AD. Odenus and Hyan, his son from his first wife, were assassinated.

[00:02:27]According to some sources, their deaths were engineered by Zenobia herself so as to allow her to seize power. This view, however, has been rejected by modern scholars as it was the emperor Galianus who was responsible for Odanthus death.

[00:02:47]Nevertheless, Zenobia's son, Vabalathus, became king of Palmyra whilst Zenobia ruled as regent. As Rome was gripped by the crisis of the 3rd century, it was the perfect opportunity for Zenobia to extend Palmarine rule. In 26970 AD, Zenobia sent her general Zabdas to claim the Roman province of Egypt as her own.

[00:03:14]With help from their Egyptian ally Timigines, the Palmarines were able to defeat the Roman prefect of Egypt, Tennugino Probus, and his army. To consolidate her position in Egypt, she claimed that she was a descendant of Cleopatra.

[00:03:30]Like the Tomies, Zenobia was a patron of scholarship and even during her early reign surrounded her court with intellectuals and philosophers.

[00:03:41]Following the conquest of Egypt, Zenobia then marched her army into Anatolia, conquering Roman territory as far west as Ansara.

[00:03:52]Subsequently, she conquered Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon using a blend of military might and ideological propaganda.

[00:04:01]Initially, the Palmarine Empire was recognized by the new Roman Emperor Aurelion, who was occupied with the campaign against the GIC Empire in the west.

[00:04:11]This recognition is evident in Palmarine imperial coinage struck in Antioch which showed that Vabalathus and Aurelion were of equal rank. At the last moment, however, Aurelion's name disappears from the coins and only that of Abalus and Zenobia remained. Having defeated the GIC Empire, Aurelion turned his sights on the east. The Palamarine decision to break away from the Roman Empire may be seen as a reaction against Aurelion.

[00:04:43]Alternatively, it may also be possible that the Palmarine decision to break away from Rome triggered Aurelion's campaign in the east. Aurelion retaliated, taking back territory from Zenobia as his legions advanced through Asia Minor. Near Antioch, her army of 70,000 men made a stand. But after Aurelian's forces defeated them, the remaining soldiers retreated to Palmyra.

[00:05:10]Aurelion's legions pursued them and arrived at the city walls in 272.

[00:05:16]They laid siege to Palmyra, but Zenobia was confident that our archers and cavalry could repel them. If that did not work, perhaps the Romans would succumb to hunger and the merciless desert climate. According to the Augustine history, the queen fired off a message full of characteristic defiance.

[00:05:36]From Zenobia, Queen of the East to Aurelian Augustus. You demand my surrender as though you were not aware that Cleopatra preferred to die a queen rather than remain alive, however high her rank. Stung by this rebuff from a woman, Aurelion redoubled his efforts to take the city. In desperation, Zenobia and Vabalathus then fled to Palmyra where they prepared to defend the city. It is recorded that Zenobia was expecting aid from the Cisanians.

[00:06:11]When this failed to arrive, however, Zenobia and her son attempted to flee to Cisanian territory on a camel. They were captured by Aurelion, however, while trying to cross the Euphrates River. The fate of Zenobia becomes a mystery after this. One source records that Zenobia and Vabalathus drowned in the Boserus whilst being transported back to Rome, while another records that she was paraded in Rome by Aurelion following which she was given a villa near Rome.

[00:06:44]Much like her birth, the exact circumstances of Zenobia's death are uncertain. Some Arab sources say that she committed suicide to avoid capture.

[00:06:55]Roman sources claimed that Aurelion, unwilling to put a woman to death, brought her as a captive to Rome. The queen, it was said, had always longed to visit Rome. And this hope was not unfulfilled. The Augustine history recorded with irony, for she did indeed enter the city, but vanquished and led in triumph.

[00:07:17]Some sources claim she was decapitated there. Others recount that she married a Roman senator and lived out her life as a Roman matron. Whatever befell her, Zenobia has captured the imagination of generations of writers enthralled by the exploits of this powerful queen who defied Rome.

[00:07:39]Regardless of the ending, Zenobia's life is indeed an eventful and colorful one that may even rival that of Cleopatra 7.

[00:07:49]After all, operas and literature about Zenobia's life have been written as early as the 14th century.