WINDSDAY WONDERS
Compiled & Edited by Rob Chappell
(@RHCLambengolmo)
Editorial Associate: S. A. Sonnenschein
Vol. 3, No. 19: March 6, 2024
Women’s History Month – Episode #1:
Zenobia, Queen of the East
Newsflash!
March is Women’s History Month,
and each week during March, we will be bringing you the stories of remarkable
women from the ancient world. We are also pleased to announce the launch of a
new column, Weekly Words of Wisdom, which will be penned by my wonderful
Editorial Associate, S. A. “Solveig” Sonnenschein. Please watch for the initial
installment of this exciting new feature in next week’s episode.
Editor’s Note
This week, we would like to
share with you the story of one of the most noteworthy women leaders of antiquity.
Zenobia of Palmyra (an ancient city in central Syria) was not only a remarkable
Middle Eastern leader but also a famous philosopher after her retirement in
Italy. I have condensed (and slightly modernized) the following account of her
life from the pages of Historical Tales: The Romance of Reality, Volume
X: Greek by Charles Morris (published in 1908 and now in the public
domain).
“Zenobia, Queen of the East”
Among the most famous of the
women of ancient days must be named Zenobia (ca. 240-after 275 CE), the
celebrated Queen of Palmyra and the East, who claimed to be descended from
Cleopatra. She was familiar with the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages
and was an adept in Latin, then the political language of the civilized world.
She was an earnest student of ancient Near Eastern history, of which she
herself drew up an epitome, while she was fully conversant with Homer, Plato,
and the other great writers of Greece.
This accomplished woman gave her hand in
marriage to Odaenathus, who from a private station had gained by his valor the
empire of the East. He made Syria his by courage and ability and twice pursued
the Persian king to the gates of Ctesiphon. Inured to fatigue, she usually
appeared on horseback in a military habit and at times marched on foot at the
head of the troops. Odaenathus owed his success largely to the prudence and
fortitude of his incomparable wife. In the midst of his successes in war,
Odaenathus was cut off in 267 CE by assassination. He had punished his nephew,
who killed him in return. Zenobia at once succeeded to the vacant throne and by
her ability governed Palmyra, Syria, and the East.
Her husband Odaenathus had
avenged Valerian, the Roman emperor, who had been taken prisoner and shamefully
treated by the Persian king. For this ser-vice, he was confirmed in his
authority by the Senate of Rome. But after his death, the Senate refused to
grant this authority to his widow and called on her to deliver her dominion
over to Rome. The martial queen refused, defied the power of Rome, and
determined to maintain her empire in despite of the Senate and army of the
proud “master of the world.”
War at once broke out. A Roman
army invaded Syria but was met by Zenobia with such warlike energy and skill
that it was hurled back in defeat, and its commanding general, having lost his
army, was driven back to Europe in disgrace. This success gave Zenobia the
highest fame and power in the world of the Orient. The states of Arabia,
Armenia, and Persia, in dread of her enmity, solicited alliance with her. To
her dominions, which extended from the Euphrates over much of Asia Minor and to
the borders of Arabia, she added the populous kingdom of Egypt, the inheritance
of her claimed ancestors. The Roman emperor Claudius II acknowledged her
authority and left her unmolested. Assuming the splendid title of Queen of the
East, she established at her court the stately power of the courts of Asia,
exacted from her subjects the adoration shown to the Persian king, and, while
strict in her economy, at times displayed the greatest liberality and
magnificence.
Queen Zenobia’s Last Look upon
Palmyra by Herbert Schmalz (1856-1935). Image Credit: Public Domain via
Wikimedia Commons
But a new emperor came to the
throne in Rome: Aurelian, a fierce and vigorous soldier, marched at the head of
the Roman legions against this valiant queen, who had built herself up an
empire of great extent, and demanded that she should submit to the power of his
arms. Asia Minor was quickly restored to Rome, Antioch fell into the hands of
Aurelian, and the Romans still advanced to meet the army of the Syrian queen.
Meeting near Antioch, a great battle was fought. The army of Zenobia met with
defeat and at a subsequent battle, near Emesa, met with a second disastrous
repulse.
Zenobia found it impossible to
collect a third army. Most of the nations under her control had submitted to
the conqueror. Out of her lately great empire only her capital, Palmyra,
remained. In this city, surrounded with strong walls, Zenobia had gathered the
various military engines that in those days were used in siege and defense and
was prepared to make the most vigorous resistance to the armies of Rome.
The siege proved difficult, and
the emperor, leading the attacks in person, was himself wounded with a dart.
Aurelian, finding that he had undertaken no trifling task, prudently offered
excellent terms to the besieged, but they were rejected with insulting
language. Zenobia hoped that famine would come to her aid to defeat her foe and
had reason to expect that Persia would send an army to her relief. Neither
happened. The Persian king had just died. Convoys of food crossed the desert in
safety. Despairing at length of success, Zenobia mounted her fleetest dromedary
and fled across the desert to the Euphrates. Here she was overtaken and brought
back a captive to the emperor's feet.
Soon afterwards, Palmyra
surrendered. The emperor treated it with lenity, but a great treasure in gold,
silver, silk, and precious stones fell into his hands, with all the animals and
arms. Zenobia, being brought into his presence, he sternly asked her how she
had dared to take arms against the emperors of Rome. She answered, with
respectful prudence, “Because I disdained to consider as Roman emperors an
Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my
sovereign.”
On his return, Aurelian
celebrated his victories and conquests with a magnificent triumph, one of the
most ostentatious that any Roman emperor had ever given. To Zenobia the victor
behaved with a generous clemency such as the conquering emperors of Rome rarely
indulged in. He presented her with an elegant villa at Tibur, or Tivoli, about
twenty miles from the imperial city; and here, surrounded by luxury, she who
had played so imperial a role in history sank into the humbler state of a Roman
matron. Her daughters married into noble families, and the descendants of the
once Queen of the East were still known in Rome in the fifth century.
“Viewing Zenobia’s Time Through a Visionary Lens: Reflections from
an Early Christian Seer”
Presented by the Editor
The third century CE was a
turbulent time for the Roman Empire. Torn asunder by civil wars and barbarian
migrations, the Roman Empire was on the verge of collapse for several decades.
There was also turmoil in the Middle East, with the rise of an aggressive new
Persian Empire under the Sassanian Dynasty.
It was sometime during the
middle of the 3rd century CE that an early Christian visionary penned
chapters 15 and 16 of the Second Book of Esdras. This book is
considered to be apocryphal by Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians alike,
but it is included in the biblical canon of the Eastern Orthodox Christian
churches. Its final two chapters paint a chilling picture of the chaos and disorder that nearly destroyed
the Roman Empire during the 3rd century CE. In the following
excerpt, the prophet foresees warfare in the Middle East, with tragic results.
(The Carmonians, mentioned below, are from the Persian province of Carmonia.)
A Vision of Turmoil in the Middle East
Excerpted from 2 Esdras 15:28-33 (King James Version)
28. Behold an horrible vision,
and the appearance thereof from the east:
29. Where the nations of the
dragons of Arabia shall come out with many chariots, and the multitude of them
shall be carried as the wind upon earth, that all they which hear them may fear
and tremble.
30. Also the Carmonians raging
in wrath shall go forth as the wild boars of the wood, and with great power
shall they come, and join battle with them, and shall waste a portion of the
land of the Assyrians.
31. And then shall the dragons
have the upper hand, remembering their nature; and if they shall turn
themselves, conspiring together in great power to persecute them,
32. Then these shall be
troubled, and keep silence through their power, and shall flee.
33. And from the land of the
Assyrians shall the enemy besiege them, and consume some of them, and in their
host shall be fear and dread, and strife among their kings.
Further Reading
·
https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/zenobia-visionary-queen-of-ancient-palmyra/ (Zenobia: Visionary Queen of Ancient
Palmyra)
·
https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/monks-prologue-and-tale (The Story of Zenobia in Lines 2247-2374 of
“The Monk’s Tale,” from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales)
·
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/alexander-and-zenobia/ (“Alexander and Zenobia,” a Poem by Anne
Brontë)
After her retirement to a villa
in Tivoli, Italy, Queen Zenobia remarried and started a new family. She became
a well-known philosopher and instructed the children of noble Roman families in
philosophy (most likely, Neoplatonism). (Image Credit: Digital artwork created
by the Editor = @RHCLambengolmo)
“Zenobia Speaks”
By S. A. “Solveig” Sonnenschein, Editorial Associate
I am
Zenobia, Ruler of the East, Conqueror and Queen.
My kingdom
stretched far and wide, from Syria to Egypt.
My armies
were fierce and loyal, protecting my reign with honor.
But my
greatest achievement was not built with steel or might,
But rather a
passion for knowledge, education, and enlightenment.
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