Zenobia Antoninianus coin reporting her title, Augusta and showing her diademed and draped bust on a crescent with the reverse showing a standing figure of Ivno 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

Zenobia (240 – c. 274) was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She 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 274, when she was defeated and taken as a hostage to Rome by Emperor Aurelian.

Family, ancestry and early life[link]

Zenobia in Chains by Harriet Hosmer.

Zenobia was born and raised in Palmyra, Syria. Latin and Greek writers referred to her as Zenobia.^[1] Her Roman name was Julia Aurelia Zenobia and in Greek, she is known as Zēnobía (ἡ Ζηνοβία) or Septimia Zenobia, having added Septimia after marrying Septimius Odaenathus. The Aramaic form of her name was Bat-Zabbai (בת זבי),^[1] and this is how she signed her name. To Arabic writers she is known as al-Zabbā’ (الزباء).^[1]

She belonged to a family with Aramaic names.^[2] She herself claimed to be of the Seleucid line of the Cleopatras and the Ptolemies.^[3] Athanasius of Alexandria reported her being "a Jewess follower of Paul of Samosata", which explains her strained relationship with the rabbis.^[2] Later doubtful Arabic sources provide indications of her Arab descent.^[4] 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 he was killed by members of the rival Tanukh tribal confederation, Zenobia became the head of the 'Amlaqis, leading them in their nomadic lifestyle to summer and winter pastures.^[4]

Her father's Roman name was Julius Aurelius Zenobius, with the gentilicium Aurelius showing that his paternal ancestors received Roman citizenship under either Antoninus Pius (reigned 138–161), Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161–180) or Commodus (reigned 180–192). Zenobius was Governor of Palmyra in 229. Her father's Greek name was Antiochus, according to scriptures found in Palmyra. However, according to the Augustan History (Aurel. 31.2), his name was Achilleus and his usurper was named Antiochus (Zos. 1.60.2). Traceable up to six generations, her father's paternal ancestry includes Sampsiceramus, a Syrian chieftain who founded the Royal family of Emesa (modern Homs, Syria) and Gaius Julius Bassianus, a high priest from Emesa and father of Roman Empress Julia Domna.

Zenobia claimed to be a descendant of Dido, Queen of Carthage; Sampsiceramus, the King of Emesa; 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.^[5] 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. Historian Callinicus dedicated a ten-book history of Alexandria to a "Cleopatra", who can only be Zenobia.

Zenobia is thought to have descended from Sampsiceramus, Dido, and Cleopatra VII through Drusilla of Mauretania. Drusilla was a daughter of King Ptolemy of Mauretania and Queen Julia Urania of Mauretania. Drusilla’s mother most probably came from the Royal family of Emesa and married into the Mauretanian royal family. Drusilla’s paternal grandmother, the Queen of Mauretania Cleopatra Selene II, was a daughter of the Ptolemaic Greek Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. Drusilla’s paternal grandfather, the African King Juba II of Mauretania, claimed to be a descendant of the sister of the General of Carthage, Hannibal (Lucan. Pharsalia 8.287). Hannibal’s family, the Barcids, claimed to be descended from Dido’s younger brother.

Classical and Arabic sources describe Zenobia as beautiful and intelligent with a dark complexion, pearly white teeth, and bright black eyes.^[4] She was said to be even more beautiful than Cleopatra, differing though in her reputation for extreme chastity.^[4] Sources also describe Zenobia as carrying herself like a man, riding, hunting and drinking on occasion with her officers.^[4] Well educated and fluent in Greek, Aramaic, and Egyptian, with working knowledge of Latin, tradition (?) accords her renown for hosting literary salons and surrounding herself with philosophers and poets, the most famous of these being Cassius Longinus.^[4][6]

Queen of Palmyra[link]

Inscription of Julius Aurelius Zenobius at Palmyra

Empires of the Mediterranean in 271.
The Palmyrene Empire under Zenobia is shown in yellow

Zenobia had married Septimius Odaenathus, the King of Palmyra, by 258; she was his second wife. She had a stepson, Hairan, a son from Odaenathus’ first marriage. There is an inscription, ‘the illustrious consul our lord’ at Palmyra, dedicated to Odaenathus by Zenobia. Around 266, Zenobia and Odaenathus had a son, his second child, Lucius Julius Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus Athenodorus. Her son Vaballathus (Latin from Aramaic והבלת, Wahballat "Gift of the Goddess") inherited the name of Odaenathus’ paternal grandfather.^[7]

In 267, Zenobia’s husband and stepson were assassinated. The titled heir, Vaballathus, was only a 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. Her stated goal was to protect the Eastern Roman Empire from the Sassanid Empire, for the peace of Rome; however, her efforts significantly increased the power of her own throne.

Invasions of Egypt and Anatolia[link]

In 269 Zenobia, her army, and the Palmyrene General Zabdas violently conquered Egypt with help from their Egyptian ally, Timagenes, and his army. The Roman prefect of Egypt, Tenagino Probus and his forces, tried to expel them from Egypt, but Zenobia's forces captured and beheaded Probus. She then proclaimed herself Queen of Egypt. After these initial forays, Zenobia became known as a "Warrior Queen". In leading her army, she displayed significant prowess: she was an able horse rider and would walk three or four miles with her foot soldiers.

Zenobia, with her large army, made expeditions and conquered Anatolia as far as Ancyra or Ankara and Chalcedon, followed by Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. In her short-lived empire, Zenobia took the vital trade routes in these areas from the Romans. Roman Emperor Aurelian, who was at that time campaigning with his forces in the Gallic Empire, probably did recognise the authority of Zenobia and Vaballathus; however, this relationship began to break down when Aurelian began a military campaign to reunite the Roman Empire in 272–273. Aurelian and his forces left the Gallic Empire and arrived in Syria. The forces of Aurelian and Zenobia met and fought near Antioch. After a crushing defeat, the remaining Palmyrenes briefly fled into Antioch and then into Emesa.

Zenobia was unable to remove her treasury at Emesa before Aurelian successfully entered and besieged the city. Zenobia and her son escaped Emesa by camel with help from the Sassanids, but they were captured on the Euphrates River by Aurelian’s horsemen. Zenobia’s short-lived Egyptian kingdom and the Palmyrene Empire had ended. The remaining Palmyrenes who refused to surrender were captured by Aurelian and were executed on his orders. Among those who were put to death was Zenobia's chief counselor and Greek sophist, Cassius Longinus.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Triumph of Aurelian, 1717, Museo del Prado.

Rome[link]

Zenobia and Vaballathus were taken as hostages to Rome by Aurelian. Vaballathus is presumed to have died on his way to Rome. In 274, Zenobia reportedly appeared in golden chains in Aurelian’s military triumph parade in Rome, in the presence of the senator Marcellus Petrus Nutenus. There are multiple reasons put forth for Zenobia's death—illness, hunger strike, or beheading being some of the oft-cited. The happiest account, though, is that Aurelian, impressed by her beauty and dignity and out of a desire for clemency, freed Zenobia and granted her an elegant villa in Tibur (modern Tivoli, Italy). She supposedly lived in luxury and she became a prominent philosopher, socialite and Roman matron. Zenobia is said to have married a Roman governor and senator whose name is unknown, but there is reason to think it is Marcellus Petrus Nutenus. They had several daughters, whose names are also unknown, but who are reported to have married into Roman noble families. She would have further descendants surviving into the 4th and 5th centuries. The evidence of a descendant of Zenobia can be confirmed by an inscription found in Rome. The gloriously named L. Septimia Patavinia Balbilla Tyria Nepotilla Odaenathiania contains the names of her first husband and son. This person probably was named in honor of Zenobia's first husband and son, (after the deaths of Odaenathus and his sons, Odaenathus had no descendants). Another possible descendant of Zenobia is Saint Zenobius of Florence, a Christian bishop who lived in the 5th century.

Zenobia in the arts[link]

Queen Zenobia's Last Look Upon Palmyra,
by Herbert Gustave Schmalz. Original on exhibit, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

Operas[link]

• Zenobia (1694) by Tomaso Albinoni
• Zenobia in Palmira (1789) by Pasquale Anfossi
• Zenobia in Palmira (1790) by Giovanni Paisiello
• Aureliano in Palmira (1813) by Gioachino Rossini
• Zenobia (2007) by Mansour Rahbani

Literature[link]

• Chaucer tells a condensed story of Zenobia's life in one of a series of "tragedies" in The Monk's Tale.
• The Living Wood (1947) by Louis de Wohl contains many references to Zenobia.
• The Queen of the East (1956) by Alexander Baron
• Beloved (1986) by Bertrice Small
• Haley Elizabeth Garwood^[8]
• The Chronicle of Zenobia: the Rebel Queen (2006) by Judith Weingarten
• The Book of the City of Ladies"" by Christine de Pisan

Sculpture[link]

• Zenobia in Chains (1859) by Harriet Hosmer

Characters named for Zenobia[link]

Zenobia has become a popular name for exotic or regal female characters in many other works, including Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance, P.G. 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.

She is also an elfin Valkyrie in the Ragnarok (manhwa) series, and the name of a cruise liner in the video game Resident Evil: Revelations. which serves as the principal setting of the title. Zenobia is also the name of the primary continent of the Ogre Battle series.

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

Additional reading[link]

• Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Historia Augusta
• The Monkes Tale – Geoffrey Chaucer, Notes to the Canterbury Tales
• Zenobia of Palmyra: History, Myth and the Neo-Classical Imagination, Rex Winsbury, 2010, Duckworth, ISBN 978-0-7156-3853-8

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zenobia

Wikisource has original works on the topic: Zenobia

• Zenobia and Longinus
• Vaballathus and Zenobia
• Zenobia: empress of Palmyra (267–272)
• Zenobia as a third-century queen of Palmyra
• Zenobia-Halabiya fortress on Euphrates