Z is for… Zenobia

/ historicallywoman

Born around 240 AD in Palmyra, Syria, Zenobia would rise to challenge the likes of the Roman Empire and even earn their grudging respect, despite their prejudices against both her race and sex. Many details of Zenobia’s life are either missing or uncertain—like with much of ancient history, very few contemporary sources remain to us and those that do are often…questionable in their accuracy. For Zenobia, our two main sources are the Historia Augusta (which some historians today consider closer to fiction than actual history) and Zosimus, who was writing roughly two centuries after Zenobia ruled. Physical evidence is also limited, mostly to coinage, but, as ever, we have managed to create a picture from the sources that we do have.

And that picture is of a Syrian heroine, known as much for her intellect and bravery as for her beauty. She was educated in Greek and Latin and spoke Egyptian fluently, which she used to claim descent from Cleopatra VII herself. This connection is dubious at best, but it is true that Zenobia had a keen interest in Egyptian culture, and also that certain parallels can be drawn between the two ancient queens.

A landscape painting of Zenobia, dressed in armour, standing on a plinth as she addresses a group of soldiers.
‘Queen Zenobia Addressing Her Soldiers’, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Zenobia’s rise to power began when, at fourteen, she married Odaenathus, King of Palmyra. He was a great warrior, but the Historia Augusta takes great care to stress that Zenobia was always his equal, if not greater than him. Particularly noted is her talents in ‘manly’ pursuits, for example she was adept at horse-riding, she was a good hunter, and she could drink any man under the table, though she only did so ‘for the purpose of getting the better of them’. 

Zenobia bore her husband at least one son (named Vaballathus), possibly two, but neither of them were supposed to be in line for the throne. Odaenathus already had one son, Herodes, by his previous wife, but both father and son were assassinated in c.276 by Oedaenathus’s nephew after a disagreement over a hunting trip. It has been suggested that Zenobia arranged the murder so that she (and her sons) could obtain the throne, but this has been dismissed by historians.

As Vaballathus was still an infant, Zenobia became Queen regent of Palmyra. The city flourished under her rule and she encouraged the arts, filling her court with intellectuals and philosophers. She began by following her husband’s policy in maintaining peaceful relations with Rome, but she clearly did not enjoy being in servitude to them, and so, while Rome was busy putting out fires elsewhere, Zenobia made her move.

She began by annexing Egypt, one of Rome’s most important lifelines. She took it easily, having the advantage of a formidable and supposedly undefeatable army, and quickly turned her sights elsewhere. Next came Asia Minor and Phoenicia, and by 271 she had pretty much formed her own empire. 

She declared independence from Rome and focused on forming diplomatic relations and trade agreements with her newly acquired lands. Things seemed to be going well.

Unfortunately, Zenobia’s conquest had not gone unnoticed. By taking Egypt, she had effectively cut off Rome’s trade routes, which was bound to catch their attention. Furthermore, by this point, Aurelian had taken over as emperor, and he was not as willing to turn a blind eye as some of his predecessors may have been. 

He sent no warnings or envoys; Aurelian simply marched on the Palmyrene Empire. 

Aurelian’s army cut through Asia Minor easily, destroying any town or city that held allegiance to Zenobia. When he reached Tyana in modern-day Turkey, he adopted a merciful policy due to a dream he had that said his victory lay in mercy. This turned out to be true, as the cities he passed through recognised they would do better to surrender and live than fight and die. 

‘those very persons who find fault with me now would accord me praise in abundance, did they but know what manner of woman she is, how wise in counsels, how steadfast in plans, how firm toward the soldiers, how generous when necessity calls, and how stern when discipline demands.’

Aurelian, in a letter to rome

Zenobia had not been idle; she had rallied her own army in time to meet Aurelian outside the city of Daphne. The Battle of Immae, as it became known, truly could have gone either way, but Aurelian noticed that the Palmyrene relied heavily on their cavalry, so he staged a ruse wherein they pretended to flee until the heavily-armoured cavalry began to tire and give up. Then, the Romans swung back around and attacked, decimating their enemies. 

Zenobia and her remaining forces retreated, but they suffered a second defeat in the city of Emesa, which happened in a very similar manner. Yet, Zenobia escaped again, this time headed for Palmyra.

A white statue of Zenobia. Her wrists are chained but she still wears her royal garments.
‘Zenobia in Chains’ by Harriet Hosmer

The city was prepared for defence, but the Palmyrene numbers had drastically decreased, so Zenobia sent for Persian reinforcements. But the Persians did not appear, and her Armenian forces defected to the Roman side, so she fled the city with Vaballathus. 

She was shortly captured, and so Palmyra surrendered to Aurelian, who spared the city. What happened next is uncertain.

Some accounts say that, in Cleopatra fashion, Zenobia poisoned herself before she could be taken as prisoner. Others say that she starved herself or was executed, but these tales all come from less reliable sources, and so have been written off.

Generally, it is agreed that she was taken to Rome where she lived in a villa with a wealthy Roman as her husband. Many of the famous images of Zenobia feature her being paraded around Palmyra in chains before she was taken away, but the credibility of this is in question. It is unlikely that Aurelian would have wanted to draw more attention to Zenobia than necessary, particularly not when he was already having to justify waging war on her.

He wrote: ‘those very persons who find fault with me now would accord me praise in abundance, did they but know what manner of woman she is, how wise in counsels, how steadfast in plans, how firm toward the soldiers, how generous when necessity calls, and how stern when discipline demands.’

Though Zenobia’s reign ended in an incredible defeat, she proved once more that women were more than capable of ruling, and doing it well. She has been remembered down the ages as a formidable warrior queen, remaining unforgettable right up to the present day, where her image is featured on Syrian bank notes. She was a firm and capable ruler, and more than proves this statement from the Historia Augusta:

‘Now all shame is exhausted, for in the weakened state of the commonwealth…even women ruled most excellently.’

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