Queen Zenobia of Rome

“Now all shame is exhausted. . . For in the weakened state of the [Roman] commonwealth, things came to such a pass that . . . A foreigner, Zenobia by name, proceeded to cast about her shoulders the imperial mantle, [and was] ruling longer than could be endured from one of the female sex . . . “

Obviously, Mr. Late 4th-Century Anonymous Author doesn’t like women leaders. Zenobia rubbed a lot of men that way — Roman men that is. But her Syrian, and eventual Egyptian and Anatolian male subjects didn’t seem to mind her. Maybe that’s because Zenobia — who ruled alongside her husband for many years until he was slain — turned out to be a super capable leader whose subjects trusted her more than the fumbling Roman Emperors of the third century.

Seriously, the third century was a cluster-f for the Romans — invaders from without, massive inflation, and constant contenders for the imperial title (between 235-285 there were 26 men who claimed to be Emperor) made for extreme chaos. Whether Zenobia was ambitious or motivated by the ineptitude of the Roman leadership, she seized power in 270 and expanded her realm outside of the wealthy region Palmyra (a city in modern Syria) to challenge Rome until 274.

Palmyra was famed among the inteligencia of the Mediterranean world — it was extremely wealthy, coming at the western end of the Silk Road. It also had a great diversity of peoples and religions. Roman artists fleeing the chaos at home came to her lands and court to produce their work there. Zenobia took instruction from a Greek-speaking philosopher. Christians, Jews, and Pagans intermingled in the tolerant atmosphere.

Rome won, of course. The Emperor Aurelian took thousands of troops and managed to capture the leader. Accounts vary about her death, but the consensus is that she was shackled and forced to be paraded in Rome in a military triumph for all bystanders to witness her humiliation. However, some sources report that Aurelian afterward allowed Zenobia to live in a villa in Rome — later ancients claimed that her home there became a tourist attraction.