(d. after 274)
Warrior queen who fought against the Romans. In the third century Palmyra was a Roman client kingdom, a prosperous city on the Roman-Persian frontier that controlled several important caravan routes. The story of Palmyra’s rebellion against Rome, led by Queen Zenobia (also Septima Zenobia and, in Aramaic, Znwbya Bat Zabbai), provides one of the very few examples of women actively engaging in battle in the ancient world.
Zenobia’s husband, King Odenathus of Palmyra, was assassinated around A.D. 266. Zenobia, his second wife, then took power, officially as regent for her son Wahballat. She presented herself from the first as a warrior queen, claiming descent from Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
Rome was in a chaotic state during this period. Emperor Valerian had been defeated and captured by the Persians in 260; worse, the empire had descended into a cycle of civil wars as rival generals fought for the imperial title. Zeno-bia soon began to take advantage of this Roman weakness, successfully claiming a number of neighboring Roman territories. By 269 Zenobia’s general, Zabdas, had gained control of most of Egypt, and Zenobia herself annexed most of Syria. Her armies were victorious as far north as the Black Sea. Zenobia declared herself independent of Rome and claimed for herself the title of empress.
A lull in Rome’s civil wars came with the reign of Emperor Aurelian (270-275). In 271 and 272 he turned his attention to the grievous losses in the eastern empire. A good general, he quickly reconquered Egypt and moved on to other lands Zenobia had taken. The Romans met the Palmyrene army of about 70,000 men and 1 woman near Antioch. Zenobia personally commanded the forces, riding her horse in the thick of battle—the only woman known to have done so in the Greco-Roman world. She maintained a minimum of propriety by transmitting her orders through her generals. Defeated by the more highly trained Roman troops at Anti-och and again at Emesa, Zenobia took refuge in the city of Palmyra. She was soon captured while attempting to escape the city with her son.
Aurelian took the captive Zenobia back to Rome, where, following tradition, she was paraded in chains at his triumph in 274. Aurelian was apparently impressed by the queen and after the triumph allowed her to retire to a villa near Tivoli. She soon married a Roman senator and became noted for her frequent and elaborate entertainments in Rome. The queen spent the rest of her life quietly, and the year of her death is not known. Roman writers were fascinated by Zenobia. They compared her to Cleopatra VII and told of her beauty, chastity, learning, and enormous wealth.
