Zenobia, SEPTIMIA

Zenobia, SEPTIMIA, queen of Palmyra, was a native of the city, of Arab descent probably, and became the wife of the Bedouin Septimius Odænathus, who in 264 A.D. was appointed by Gallienus governor of the East. From 266 she and her young son, Wahballath or Uaballathus, shared Odænathus' power, and on his murder (c. 270) nearly the whole of the eastern provinces submitted to her sway. When Aurelian assumed the purple, he marched against her with a large army, and, after defeating her in several battles, besieged her in Palmyra. Her hopes of being relieved by the Persians and Arabians being disappointed, she attempted to escape by flight, but was captured, 272. Before the conqueror her courage failed, and she saved her own life by imputing the blame of the war to her counsellors, especially her secretary, the celebrated Longinus (q.v.), who was accordingly beheaded. Zenobia was led in triumphal procession at Rome, decked with splendid jewels, and almost fainting under the weight of gold chains. She was presented by her conqueror with large possessions near Tivoli, where, in the society of her two sons, she passed the rest of her life in comfort and even splendour. She was a woman of great courage, high spirit, and strikingly beautiful. With purity of morals in private life she combined prudence, justice, and liberality in her administration. Her literary acquirements were considerable; she spoke Latin and Greek, as well as the oriental languages, with fluency. Pagan emblems on her coins disprove the notion that she was of Jewish faith. See Wright's Palmyra and Zenobia (1895).