Zenobia - 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria

Zenobia

Zenobia (Greek: Ζηνοβία / Zēnobía; Aramaic: בת זבי / Bat-Zabbai; 240 – c. 275) was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria who led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267. By 269, Zenobia had expanded the empire, conquering Egypt and expelling the Roman prefect, Tenagino Probus, who was beheaded after he led an attempt to recapture the territory. She ruled over Egypt until 271, when she was defeated and taken as a hostage to Rome by Emperor Aurelian.

Zenobia Antoninianus coin reporting her title, Augusta and showing her diadem and draped bust on a crescent with the reverse showing a standing figure of Iuno Regina, holding a patera in her right hand, a sceptre in her left, a peacock at her feet, and a brilliant star to the right.

Family, ancestry and early life

Zenobia was born and raised in Palmyra, Syria. Her Roman name was "Julia Aurelia Zenobia" and Latin and Greek writers referred to her as "Zenobia"^[1] (Greek: ἡ Ζηνοβία) or as "Septimia Zenobia"—she became Septimia after marrying Septimius Odaenathus. She used the Aramaic form "Bat-Zabbai" (בת זבי) to sign her name. Arabic-language writers refer to her as "al-Zabba'" 

She belonged to a family with Aramaic names. She herself claimed descent from the Seleucid line of the Cleopatras and the Ptolemies. Athanasius of Alexandria reported her as "a Jewess follower of Paul of Samosata", which would explain her strained relationship with the rabbis.

Later Arabic sources provide indications of her Arab descent and thus argue that her original name was Zaynab. Al-Tabari, for example, writes that she belonged to the same tribe as her future husband, the 'Amlaqi, which was probably one of the four original tribes of Palmyra.^[4] According to him, Zenobia's father, ‘Amr ibn al-Ẓarib, was the sheikh of the 'Amlaqi. After members of the rival Tanukh tribal confederation killed him, Zenobia became the head of the 'Amlaqis, leading them in their nomadic lifestyle to summer and winter pastures.

Zenobia's father's name is unknown. She was styled Bit-Zabbai (daughter of Zabbai) in Palmyrene inscriptions. In an inscription found in Palmyra, Zenobia is called the daughter of Antiochus. However, this "Antiochus" is not recorded on other inscriptions and therefore neither his lineage or position is known and it is more probable that Antiochus was not the father but an ancestor of Zenobia. According to the Augustan History (Aurel. 31.2), Zenobia's father's name was Achilleus and his usurper was named Antiochus (Zos. 1.60.2). The name "Julius Aurelius Zenobius" appears on a Palmyrene inscription and based only on the similarities of the names, Zenobius was suggested as the father of Zenobia. Zenobius was Governor of Palmyra in 229.

Zenobia also claimed descent from Dido, Queen of Carthage and the Ptolemaic Greek Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Though there is no concrete evidence of this, she did have knowledge of the ancient Egyptian language, showed a predisposition towards Egyptian culture, and may have been part-Egyptian through her mother. According to the Augustan History, an imperial declaration of hers in 269 was sent to the citizens of Alexandria, Egypt, describing the city as "my ancestral city". This declaration only fits Vaballathus, the son of Zenobia. The historian Callinicus dedicated a ten-book history of Alexandria to a "Cleopatra", who can only be Zenobia.

Classical and Arabic sources describe Zenobia as beautiful and intelligent, with a dark complexion, pearly white teeth, and bright black eyes. She was said to be even more beautiful than Cleopatra, differing though in her reputation for extreme chastity.Sources also describe Zenobia as carrying herself like a man, riding, hunting and drinking on occasion with her officers. Well-educated and fluent in Greek, Aramaic, and Egyptian, with a working knowledge of Latin, she is supposed^{[by whom?]} to have hosted literary salons and to have surrounded herself with philosophers and poets, the most famous of these being Cassius Longinus.

Queen of Palmyra

Zenobia had become the second wife of Septimius Odaenathus, the King of Palmyra, by 258. She had a stepson, Hairan (Herod), a son from Odaenathus’ first marriage. There is an inscription, "the illustrious consul our lord" at Palmyra, dedicated to Odaenathus by Zenobia^{[citation needed]}. Around 266, Zenobia and Odaenathus had a son, his second child, Lucius Julius Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus Athenodorus. This son Vaballathus (Latin from Aramaic והב אלת / Wahballat, "Gift of the Goddess") inherited the name of Odaenathus' paternal grandfather.

In 267, Zenobia's husband and stepson were assassinated. The titled heir, Vaballathus, was only one year old, so his mother succeeded her husband and ruled Palmyra. Zenobia bestowed upon herself and her son the honorific titles of Augusta and Augustus. Zenobia conquered new territories and increased the Palmyrene Empire in the memory of her husband and as a legacy to her son. She had the stated goal of protecting the Eastern Roman Empire from the Sasanian Empire (Sassanids), for the peace of Rome; however, her efforts significantly increased the power of her own throne.