Zenobia
- a queen of Palmyrene, wife of Odenatus, conquered by Aurelian, Treb. Poll. XXX. Tyr. 14, 23; 14, 29; Vop. Aurel. 22 sq.; Eutr. 9, 9.—
- II Daughter of Mithridates, king of Armenia, Tac. A. 12, 44; 13, 6; 13, 37.
the wife of Rhadamistus, king of Armenia, at the accession of Nero, of whom Tacitus relates a romantic story. (Tac. Ann. 12.51.)
queen of Palmyra. After the death of her husband, Odenathus, about A. D. 266, she assumed the imperial diadem and purple, as regent for her sons, and not only maintained the pomp but discharged all the active duties of a sovereign. She appeared in martial attire at the head of the troops, she shared their toils both on horseback and on foot, she was at once liberal and prudent in the administration of the revenues, strict in dispensing justice, merciful in the exercise of power. But not content with enjoying the dignified independence gratefully conceded by Gallienus and tolerated by Claudius, she sought to include all Syria, Asia, and Egypt within the limits of her sway, and to make good the title which she claimed of Queen of the East. We have seen elsewhere [Aurelianus] that by this rash ambition she lost both her kingdom and her liberty. Loaded with costly jewels, fettered hand and foot with shackles of gold, she was led by a golden chain, before the chariot of Aurelian, along the Sacred Way, while all Rome gazed, with eager curiosity, on the Arabian princess. Profiting by the clemency of her conqueror, she passed the remainder of her life with her sons [Herennianus ; Timolaus], after the manner of a Roman matron, in the vicinity of Tivoli, nigh to the gorgeous villa of Hadrian, on an estate which still bore her name when Pollio wrote her history.
One black stain is attached to the memory of Zenobia. It is recorded that, stimulated by the jealousy of a stepmother, she consented to the death of her husband, because he seemed to prefer Heroes his son by a former wife, to Herennianus and Timolaus, his children by herself. This charge, not improbable in itself when we recollect the vindictive passions which so often rage in the zenana of an Eastern despot, is characterised by Gibbon as a very unjust suspicion, but he forgets that it rests upon the same authority with nearly all the particulars which he has admitted without hesitation in regard to her career, the rumours, namely, collected by the Augustan historian. The fact that speedy vengeance was inflicted on the assassin may have been dictated by remorse and prudence. (Trebell. Pollio, Trig. Tyrann. ; comp. Zonar. 12.27.)
[W.R]
(Ζηνοβία). A celebrated princess, wife of Odenathus, and after his death queen of Palmyra (q.v.). With equal talents for jurisprudence, finance, and government, her agile and elastic frame enabled her to direct and share the toils of war. Disdaining the litter, she was continually on horseback, and could even keep pace on foot with the march of her soldiery. History has preserved some reminiscences of her personal appearance, her dress, and her habits, which represent her as a woman of engaging beauty, gifted with the graces of a court, and accomplished in intellectual endowments. In complexion a brunette, her teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and her eyes black and sparkling; her mien was animated, and her voice clear and powerful. With a helmet on her head, and wearing a purple mantle fringed with gems and clasped with a buckle at the waist, so as to leave one of her arms bare to the shoulder, she presented herself at the council of war; and adopting from policy a regal pomp, she was worshipped with Persian prostration. Pure in her manners to the utmost refinement of delicacy, and temperate in her habits, she would nevertheless challenge in their cups her Persian and Armenian guests, and retire the victor without drunkenness. Chiefly versed in the languages of Syria and Egypt, her diffidence restrained her from conversing freely in Latin; but she had read the Roman history in Greek, was herself an historian, and had compiled the annals of Alexandria and the East. Her authority was acknowledged by a large portion of Asia Minor when the Roman emperor Aurelian succeeded to the throne. Jealous of her power, and determined to dispossess her of some of the rich provinces comprehended in her dominions, he marched at the head of a powerful army to Asia. Having defeated the queen's general near Antioch, he compelled her to retreat to Emesa. Under the walls of this city another engagement was fought, in which the emperor was again victorious. The queen fled to Palmyra, determined to support a siege. Aurelian followed her, and, on making his approaches to the walls, found them mounted in every part with mural engines, which plied the besiegers with stones, darts, and fire-balls. To the summons for a surrender of the city and kingdom, on the condition of her life being spared, Zenobia replied in a proud and spirited letter, written in Greek by her secretary, the celebrated Longinus (q.v.). Her hopes of victory soon vanished; and, though she harassed the Romans night and day by continual sallies from her walls and the working of her military engines, she despaired of success when she heard that the armies which were marching to her relief from Armenia, Persia, and the East had either been intercepted or gained over by the foe. She fled from Palmyra in the night on her dromedaries, but was overtaken by the Roman cavalry while attempting to cross the Euphrates, and was brought into the presence of Aurelian, and tried before a tribunal at Emesa, Aurelian himself presiding. The soldiers were clamorous for her death, but she, in a manner unworthy of her former fame, saved her own life by throwing the blame on her counsellors, especially on Longinus, who was, in consequence, put to death. Zenobia was carried to Rome, to grace the emperor's triumph (A.D. 274), and was led along in chains of gold. She is said to have almost sunk beneath the weight of jewels with which she was adorned on that occasion. She was treated with great humanity, and Aurelian gave her large possessions near Tiber, where she was permitted to pass the remainder of her days. Her two sons afterwards married into distinguished families at Rome. See the life of Aurelian by Vopiscus; and Ware's historical romance, Zenobia (N. Y. 1837).