Download Zenobia and the Rebellion of The Palmyrene Empire

1
Zenobia and the Rebellion of The Palmyrene Empire
INTRODUCTION:
Over this past weekend, the ancient city of Palmyra--once a wealthy
city well placed on the Eastern trade route (the "Silk Road") of the
Roman Empire and still now full of important monuments--has been
making worldwide news.
As of Friday, ISIS troops were
advancing towards the city.
Because of the destruction of the
ancient Assyrian ruins in Nimrud
by ISIS in April, many people are
worried about the fate of
Palmyra. By Saturday, according
Figure 1: The Site of Palmyra
to reports, ISIS had control of the ancient city, but by Sunday, the
Syrian Governor of the region declared that the ISIS forces had been
pushed back ("Syria Conflict"). Even still, on the day that I am
finishing this report, UNESCO (the U.N. sub-group in charge of World
Heritage sites like Palmyra) issued a statement warning the world that
the city is still in danger (Aucott).
2
All of this led me to the first version of my research question: why
does Palmyra matter so much? In other words, why is it a World
Heritage site that needs to be protected?
UNESCO describes Palmyra as "one of the most important cultural
centres of the ancient world" which seems to be largely because of its
placement on the trade route that connected the Roman Empire with
ancient China, India, and Persia (Aucott). This strategic position
meant that the city became very wealthy in the first few centuries CE
and it meant that Palmyra was a city that blended many different
cultures. Unfortunately, Palmyra's strategic position is what
endangers it today as Palmyra is in a key position in the Syrian Civil
War between two major Syrian centres, Homs and Damascus ("Syrian
Conflict"). The ruins at Palmyra, because of its wealth and cultural
influences in ancient times, are extensive and impressive (see Figure
1).
All that being said, after reading more about Palmyra, I discovered a
series of events that seem to be the most famous from Palmyra and the
most worth investigating for this assignment: Queen Zenobia's shortlived rebellion against the Roman Empire and declaration of herself as
an empress herself. That discovery led me to a more fitting question
for this assignment: what caused the rebellion of Palmyra led by Queen
Zenobia and what were the consequences of it?
3
PART 1: The Rebellion
First of all, I should say that there is some argument about the
nature of Zenobia's actual rebellion. Edward Gibbon, in his famous
book called The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, says that
Zenobia declared herself "Queen of the East" and some historians even
say that she had designs on the entire Roman Empire, but the truth
seems to be that she was quite crafty about the way she gained power
(Gibbon). That is, Zenobia did not demonstrate her true ambitions to
Rome right away and because of that it is hard to know the depth of
her rebellion. That being said, since an emperor of Rome eventually
needed to face her in two battles to defeat her, it is clear that what
she was doing was not approved by the Roman Empire.
Zenobia was officially regent queen of Syria and its capital Palmyra
because her son, Vaballathus, was too young to lead after her husband
was assassinated. In other words, it was her job to rule the country
until her son Vaballathus came of age.
In her capacity as regent, in 269 CE,
she sent a general to capture Egypt
for herself after possibly getting
someone to fake a rebellion in Egypt.
Figure 2: The two sides of an Egyptian coin minted by
Zenobia when in control of the country. It shows her
son's name (Vaballathus) one one side and the Roman
Emperor (Aurelian) on the other.
The reason she may have faked the
4
rebellion was so that she could say she was claiming Egypt in the name
of Rome. When a Roman army arrived, they fought her forces, but her
general defeated the Roman forces and from then on she claimed her son
as the official ruler of Egypt (Mark).
From here, Zenobia and her army, through military victories but mostly
through treaties, gained control over an area stretching across
modern-day Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Egypt which came to be known as
the Palmyrene Empire.
This was a serious
threat to Rome's power
as control of Egypt
meant control over the
main food source of
Rome.
At one point, Zenobia
Figure 3: Zenobia's Palmyrene Empire at its height in 271 CE (on the right).
declared herself "Augusta" and referred to her son as "Augustus".
These titles, which came from the first Roman emperor, were normally
only used by the imperial family of Rome.
PART 2: The Causes
The first cause that I can identify is the amount of power Palmyra and
Syria had gained. Zenobia's husband, Lucius Septimus Odaenthus,
Governor of Syria, had been a loyal servant to the Roman Empire with a
5
number of impressive feats on his resume: rescuing the captured Roman
Emperor Valerian from the Sassanids and defending Valerian's son
Gallienius' position as emperor by defeating a man named Quietus who
had claimed the title. Although all of these accomplishments may seem
to prove Odaenthus', and his wife Zenobia's, loyalty to Rome, they
also reveal his level of power (ie) he was the one saving the Roman
Empire on two occasions. If the Roman Empire were functioning
properly, a provincial governor would not have to save it. This
feeling of power made Rome grateful but also made Zenobia bold once
she took power (Mark).
Another factor was that the Roman Empire was
a mess. During the "Crisis of the Third
Century", there was a 50-year stretch where
there were 26 people who claimed the position
of emperor (Hurley). It makes sense that
during a time like this Zenobia might feel
that she would at least have a chance at
carving out her own kingdom and would even
Figure 4: A bust of Zenobia from the
Vatican Museum in Rome.
dream of more (ie) declare herself as
"Augusta".
6
Besides conquering Egypt for strategic reasons, Zenobia may have done
so because she claimed to be a descendant of Cleopatra VII, the last
pharaoh of Egypt.
PART 3: The Consequences
The consequences of the rebellion for Palmyra were devastating.
Aurelian defeated Zenobia in two separate battles. In these battles,
he used the same strategy: pretending to retreat and then turning
around and outflanking her troops--this was possibly another sign of
the weakening of the Roman empire. By 273 CE, the rebellion had ended
and after a siege of Palmyra, the was destroyed. It never reached the
same heights of wealth and power again (Hurley).
Another consequence is that this rebellion is generally considered to
be a sign of the fading power of the Roman empire (Gibbon). If that
fact is apparent to historians, then it was probably apparent to
enemies of Rome at the time (ie) other powers saw that Rome was not as
mighty as it used to be.
Finally, since Zenobia's rebellion, she has been held up as an example
of a powerful female leader during a time when it was very difficult
to have an impact as a woman.
CONCLUSION:
7
One thing that this investigation shows is the cyclical nature of
history. Over 1700 years ago, two powers fought over Palmyra because
of its strategic position, and now two forces are doing the same. In
some respects, this is frustrating. It also, however, illustrates
unchanging aspects of human nature. Either way, this story of Zenobia
is one example of why ancient relics like those at Palmyra should be
respected. They are the evidence of a vibrant, multicultural city that
was willing to take on the most powerful empire on earth.
Photo Credits:
Figure 1 = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/23
Figure 2 = http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/vabalathus/i.html
Figure 3 =
Figure 4 =
8
Works Cited
Aucott, Alexander. "UNESCO Calls for Palmyra Protection as ISIL
Withdraws from City." EuroNews. EuroNews, 18 May 2015. Web. 18 May
2015.
Gibbon, Edward. "Chapter 11: Fall In The West." The Decline And Fall
Of The Roman Empire. Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin
College. Web. 18 May 2015.
Hurley, Patrick. "Aurelian." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient
History Encyclopedia Limited, 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 May 2015.
Mark, Joshua J. "Zenobia." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient
History Encyclopedia Limited, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 18 May 2015.
Norris, David A. "Zenobia Of Palmyra." History Magazine 16.4 (2015):
31-33. History Reference Center. Web. 19 May 2015.
"Syria Conflict: IS 'withdraws' from Ancient Palmyra - BBC News." BBC
News. BBC News Services, 17 May 2015. Web. 18 May 2015.