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ZENOBIA (Gr. Zr7vo(3ia)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 972 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ZENOBIA (Gr. Zr7vo(3ia) , See also:queen of See also:Palmyra, one of the heroines of antiquity. Her native name was Septimia Bathzabbai, a name also See also:borne by one of her generals, Septimius Zabbai.' This remarkable woman, famed for her beauty, her masculine See also:energy and unusual See also:powers of mind, was well fitted to be the See also:consort of Odainatti (see ODABNATIIUS) in his proud position as See also:Dux Orientis; during his lifetime she actively seconded his policy, and after his See also:death in A.D. 266—7 she not only succeeded to his position but determined to surpass it and make Palmyra See also:mistress of the See also:Roman See also:Empire in the See also:East. Wahab-allath or See also:Athenodorus (as the name was Graecized), her son by Odainath, being still a boy, she took the reins of See also:government into her own hands. Under her See also:general-in-See also:chief Zabda, the Palmyrenes occupied See also:Egypt in A.D. 270, not without a struggle, under the pretext of restoring it to See also:Rome; and Wahab-allath governed Egypt in the reign of See also:Claudius as See also:joint ruler with the See also:title of (3avtXths (See also:king), while Zenobia herself was styled (3avtXIvvat7 (queen). In See also:Asia See also:Minor Palniyrene garrisons were established as far See also:west as See also:Ancyra in See also:Galatia and See also:Chalcedon opposite See also:Byzantium, and Zenobia still professed to be acting in the interests of the Roman See also:rule. In his coins struck at See also:Alexandria in A.D. 270 Wahab-allath is named along with See also:Aurelian, but the title of See also:Augustus is given only to the latter; a See also:Greek inscription from Byblos, however, mentions Aurelian (or his predecessor Claudius) and Zenobia together as ZE$avros and EE(3aOrr7 (i.e. Augustus and See also:Augusta, C.I. G.

4503 b). When Aurelian became See also:

emperor in 270 he quickly realized that the policy of the Palmyrene queen was endangering the unity of the empire. It was not See also:long before all disguises were thrown off; in Egypt Wahab-allath began to issue coins without the See also:head of Aurelian and bearing the imperial title, and Zenobia's coins See also:bear the same. The See also:assumption marked the rejection of all See also:allegiance to Rome. Aurelian instantly took See also:measures; Egypt was recovered for the Empire by See also:Probus (See also:close of 270), and the emperor himself prepared a See also:great expedition into Asia Minor and See also:Syria. Towards the end of 271 he marched through Asia Minor and, overthrowing the Palmyrene garrisons in Chalcedon, Ancyra and Tyana, he reached See also:Antioch, where the See also:main Palmyrene See also:army under Zabda and Zabbai, with Zenobia herself, attempted to oppose his way. The at-tempt, however, proved unsuccessful, and after suffering considerable losses the Palmyrenes retired in the direction of Emesa (now See also:Homs), whence the road See also:lay open to their native See also:city. The queen refused to yield to Aurelian's demand for surrender, and See also:drew up her army at Emesa for the See also:battle which was to decide her See also:fate. In the end she was defeated, and there was nothing for it but to fall back upon Palmyra across the See also:desert. Thither Aurelian followed her in spite of the difficulties of transport, and laid See also:siege to the well-fortified and provisioned city. At the See also:critical moment the queen's courage seems to have failed her; she and her son fled from the city to seek See the Palmyrene See also:inscriptions given in See also:Vogue, Syrie centrale, Nos. 28, 29=See also:Cooke, See also:North-Semitic Inscriptions, Nos.

130, 131. Zabbai, an See also:

abbreviation of some such See also:form as Zabd-ila=See also:dowry of See also:God, was a See also:common Palmyrene name; it occurs in the Old Testament, Ezr. x. 28; Neb. iii. 20.help from the See also:Persian king;2 they were captured on the See also:bank of the See also:Euphrates, and the Palmyrenes, losing See also:heart at this disaster, capitulated (A.D. 272). Aurelian seized the See also:wealth of the city but spared the inhabitants; to Zenobia he granted See also:life; while her See also:officers and advisers, among whom was the celebrated See also:scholar See also:Longinus, were put to death. Zenobia figured in the conqueror's splendid See also:triumph at Rome, and by the most probable See also:account accepted her fall with dignity and closed her days at See also:Tibur, where she lived with her sons the life of a Roman matron. A few months after the fall of Zenobia, Palmyra revolted again; Aurelian unexpectedly returned, destroyed the city, and this See also:time showed no See also:mercy to the See also:population (See also:spring, 273). Among the traditions See also:relating to Zenobia may be mentioned that of her discussions with the See also:Archbishop See also:Paul of See also:Samosata on matters of See also:religion. It is probable that she treated the See also:Jews in Palmyra with favour; she is referred to in the See also:Talmud, as protecting Jewish rabbis (Talm. Jer. Ter. viii.

46 b). The well-known account of Zenobia by See also:

Gibbon (Decline and Fall, i. pp. 302—312 See also:Bury's edition) is based upon the imperial biographers (Historia Augusta) and cannot be regarded as strictly See also:historical in detail. An obscure and distorted tradition of Zenobia as an Arab queen survived in the Arabian See also:story of Zabba, daughter of 'Amr b. Zarib, whose name is associated with Tadmor and with a See also:town on the right bank of the Euphrates, which is no doubt the Zenobia of which See also:Procopius speaks as founded by the famous queen. See C. de See also:Perceval, Essai sur l'hist. See also:des Arabes, ii. 28 f., 197 f. ; See also:Tabari, i. 757 f. See further PALMYRA. (G. A.

C.

End of Article: ZENOBIA (Gr. Zr7vo(3ia)

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