Aurelians Campaign in the East, AD 272/273

Background to the Conflict

The conflict between Zenobia of Palmyra and Aurelian took place for the most part in 272ad, in the second
year of the reign of Aurelian. The cause of the conflict is the open rebellion against Roman authority of the Palmyrenes
and their attempt to set up a semiindependent monarchy.
!n the year 2"7ad, Zenobia was the wife of the leader of Palmyra, #denathus, who was at that time
recogni$ed as a semiindependent ruler of Palmyra by the %mperor &allienus in recognition of #denathus' (ictories
o(er the Persian monarch )apor, who defeated and murdered &allienuis' father, the %mperor *alerian. #stensibly
#denathus ruled Palymra as a regent of Rome and the pro(ince was considered part of the Roman %mpire. !n truth
howe(er, #denathus ruled Palymra independently. +or &allienus, #denathus pro(ided a buffer against further Persian
incursions against Roman territories and his recognition of #denathus was partly a matter of putting an official stamp
on something about which he was powerless to change, the Roman %mpire in these times was beset by enemies both
foreign and domestic which greatly weakened the authority of &allienus, his personal weaknesses further
compounded these problems for Rome. Thus did matters stand in 2"7ad.
!n that year, #denathus, along with his eldest son and heir apparent, were murdered. There is much
speculation as to who, if anyone, was to blame. &ibbons' account relates simply that it was an arguement of pride with
his nephew in a hunting e-pedition, others speculate that he was the (ictim of a plot hatched by &allienus. This
appears unlikely, #denathus was useful to &allienus as well as the a(enger of his father's death. #thers speculate
Zenobia was behind this as it was con(enient that #denathus as well as his heir died, ultimately no real answer may
e(er be found. .e(ertheless, the new heir to the throne, *aballathus, was the son of Zenobia and #denathus, it was
determined after the death of #denathus that Zenobia would rule as regent in the name of her infant son.
That Zenobia was seen as fit to rule is a tribute to a woman who, by all accounts, was more than capable of
the task. &ibbons' account of her goes describes a woman of e-treme beauty, well educated and hea(ily influenced by
&reek thought, one who en/oyed the company of her husband in the hunt.. and was not less than his e0ual. &ibbons
describes her marching with the troops and in one occasion leading them into battle personally and leading them well.
)he is also described as an able administrator. Aurelian, fearing the scorn he would recei(e by campaigning against a
woman, said 1The Roman people,1 says Aurelian, in an original letter, 1speak with contempt of the war which ! am
waging against a woman. They are ignorant both of the character and of the power of Zenobia. !t is impossible to
enumerate her warlike preparations, of stones, of arrows, and of e(ery species of missile weapons. The fear of
punishment has armed her with a desperate courage1.
!n 2"2ad, the %mperor &allienus was murdered by a re(olt of his own troops as he was besieging a challenger
to his throne. !t was resol(ed by the troops to name 3laudius emperor, 3laudius howe(er died a mere 4" months later
of the plague. 3laudius is the general credited with the titanic Roman (ictory at .iassus 5though &allienus was still
emperor6 and earned the name 3laudius &othicus from the )enate for another gigantic (ictory o(er the &oths soon
after taking the purple.
!n 2"7ad, during the reign of 3laudius was the beginning of Zenobia's open rebellion against Rome. Zenobia
wished to remain in her husband's position, and with the recognition Rome ga(e #denathus, and it appears that
3laudius refused to recogni$e Zenobia's authority in Palmyra, thus setting up an ine(itable clash. !n 2"78279 Zenobia,
fearing 3laudius would attack and hoping to force him into a compromise, attacked first and took first Antioch and then
continued to march on to %gypt, defeating the capable Roman prefect Tenagio Probus in a series of battles and taking
control of %gypt. Apparently Zenobia belie(ed while 3laudius was busy with the &oths, taking %gypt might force him
into some form of recognition as %gypt was the main source of grain for Rome at this time.
!n 279ad, 3laudius died of the plague at )irmuim and shortly thereafter 5:uintillus 0uitly committed suicide
after declaring himself %mperor6 Aurelian was recogni$ed by the army and senate as %mperor. Almost immediately
Aurelian was besieged by barbarian attacks, in 274ad the !talian city Placentia was sacked by the Alemanni tribe. ;e
e(entually reco(ered from this defeat and defeated the Alemanni piecemeal after this. <y late in 274ad he appears to
ha(e stabili$ed the situation with the (arious barbarian in(asions. There was also a re(olt of mint workers in Rome
itself, which was put down in a bloody fashion. !n the %ast, Aurelian..like 3laudius.. refused to recogni$e Zenobia.
There were, howe(er, coins minted in Palmyrenecontrolled Antioch with both *alaballus and Aurelian, with
Aurelian as 3aesar, on them, this appears to be an attempt on the part of Zenobia to appease Aurelian. Aurelian, as
did 3laudius before him, always desired to reunite the parts of the %mpire that at the time has fallen away from the
%mpire, Zenobia's Palmyra and the &allic %mpire founded by Postumus and later ruled by his son Tetricus. ;a(ing
taken care of the barbarians and restored order in Rome as well as beginning the Aurelian =all, he set himself and his
Army to deal with the insurgent %mpires.
The Campaign in the East
!n 274ad, upon hearing rumors that Aurelian would march on Palmyra, Zenobia took the pre(entati(e step of
marching into Asia >inor pro(inces of 3appadocia and 3ilicia and trying to establish local support before Aurelian
could do so, thus making him ha(ing to ad(ance through hostile rather than friendly territory on the way.
Aurelian began the campaign and ad(anced into Asia >inor beginning in 272ad. ;e dispatched Probus by sea
to reclaim %gypt while Aurelian himself led the main Roman army into Asia >inor towards )yria. The first recorded
action appears to place at Tyana in 3appadocia, where the city was betrayed to Aurelian. !t was here that Aurelian
spared the populace and declared that all who cities that surrendered to him would be spared. Aurelian ne-t ad(anced
towards Antioch and it was here that Zenobia resol(ed to gi(e battle. #utside of the (illage of !mmae, /ust east of
Antioch, the Palmyrene forces led by the %gyptian Zabdas gathered to gi(e battle. The <attle of !mmae began with a
Palmyrene hea(y ca(alry, the 'cataphractii', charging, which appears to ha(e broken the lighter Roman ca(alry
formations, which fell back in apparent disorder and into a marshy area after a long flight.. where the Roman infantry
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was waiting and routed the now tired Palmyrene horse. After this the Palmyrenes appear to ha(e determined to make
a stand in the suburb of ?aphne where the Palmyrenes held a hill. The Roman infantry ad(anced in a testudo
formation and cut apart the Palmyrenes. +rom here Antioch surrendered to Aurelian and what remained of the
Palmyrene Army retreated towards %mesa, a town on the main road towards Palmyra.
The <attle of %mesa appears to be somewhat similar to !mmae in that the Palmyrene ca(alry again routs the
Roman horse but this time it appears that it was only with great difficulty that the Roman infantry carried the day. 3redit
is gi(en to a detachment of Palestinian slingers using uncon(entional tactics of some sort, as well as the discipline
needed to o(ercome an initial re(erse. The accounts differ as gi(en by Zosimus and by the ;istoria Augusta, some
regard ?aphne as the first battle and %mesa as the second, with no mention of !mmae at all and suggest that the
likeness of names and tactics suggest two (ersions of one battle. Zosimus appears to be hea(ily proAurelian in his
writings and is the less reliable of the two. =hate(er the truth, it was a (ictory for the Romans, who then proceeded to
lay siege to Palmyra after the return of Probus, who reco(ered %gypt successfully.
The siege of Palmyra appears to ha(e been a difficult ordeal for the Romans due to the (igorous defenses and
walls of Palmyra. Zenobia tried in (ain to gain the alliance of the Persian monarch as well as her Armenian allies but to
no a(ail, and Aurelian called for Zenobia to surrender herself and sa(e her city. )he refused and the siege continued,
despite harassment from Arab ca(alry raids and the (igorous Palmyrene defenses. %(entually it became apparent to
Zenobia that the cause was lost and she resol(ed to flee the city, she did manage to get out of the city on camelback
but was caught by the Roman horse and brought to Aurelian. )hortly after this the city surrendered and was spared,
sa(e their wealth and se(eral of Zenobia's ad(isors, including her cheif ad(isor @onginus. Zenobia herself was spared.
Aurelian then proceeded back through Asia >inor and into ?acia, where he defeated the 3apri and recie(ed the title
3apricus >a-imus.
=hile campaigning against the 3apri, Aurelian recie(ed word that the city of Palmyra had again had rebelled
and killed Aurelian's go(enor >arcellianus, as well as the "99 archers left as its garrison. >arcellianus did manage to
get a letter to Aurelian before he was killed warning of unrest in the city. !n a series of forced marches, Aurelian
reached Antioch in the spring of 27Aad, where he learned that under the leadership of a certain Apsaeus, the
Palmyrenes has declared )eptimius Antiochus, a B year old boy and reputed son of Zenobia, to be their king. Aurelian
immediately marched for Palmyra. This time, the speed of Aurelian's march caught them unprepared and resistance
was scattered and ineffecti(e. The ;istoria Augusta says the city suffered a terrible (engeance, and considering
Aurelian's leniency the year before.. which angered and impo(erished his soldiers.. it appears this time the soldiers got
their wish and the city was looted and burned, though the B year old Antiochus was somehow spared. Palmyra was, in
Zenobia's time, a large, rich important trading city, it ne(er reco(ered from this sacking. This Palmyrene re(olt also
caused another proPalmyreme re(olt in Ale-andria led by a certain +irmus, who inspired hugely destructi(e riots
which o(erwhelmed the local Roman garrison. Aurelian proceeded from Palmyra to Ale-andria and put down this
re(olt with relati(e ease, again allowing his soldiers to loot as they pleased.
Aftermath
Aurelian reigned for another 2 years after Palmyra fell, and he succeeded in reuniting the %mpire by defeating
Tetricus. !t has been suggested that Tetricus betrayed his own army to Aurelian and when the battle began fled to
Aurelian's camp. This appears to be unlikley, Aurelian must'(e known that the ci(il conflict and the resulting loss of
manpower would be a powerful blow to !mperial defenses against the &oths after Tetricus was gone, and would'(e
almost certainly preferred a less bloody solution. <ut Tetricus and his forces resisted fiercely and the <attle at 3halon
was particularly bloody, with some A9,999C soldiers falling. Tetricus was himself captured. !n 27Dad, Aurelian held a
magnificent triumphal parade in Rome.. Zenobia was the lead attraction, appearing in hea(y gold /ewelry E chains at
the head of Aurelian's chariot. After she was paraded through the streets of Rome, Zenobia was gi(en by Aurelian in
marriage to a man of some rank and li(ed out her life in the pro(inces of !taly. ;er sons 5three of them according to
Zosimus6 were gi(en a liberal education and were ne(er heard from again in history.
Aurelian instituted some economic reforms.. including rebasing the now nearly worthless coinage in 274ad,
began some rebuilding pro/ects, and o(erall began to restore Rome as did *espasian after years of ci(il and barbarian
conflicts. The Roman economy also began to reco(er, these conflicts had caused immense economic disruptions
which only some form of stability could remedy. Ta- re(enue began to rise again, and the go(ernment parted with
some of it's harsher re(enue collection tactics, though ta-ation was still e-tremely hea(y. ;e well deser(ed the epithat
left him 1Restitutor #rbis1, or Restorer of the =orld. ;e is remembered for his se(ere discipline of the Army as well,
which in no small part allowed him to en/oy these successes.
!n 27Bad he set out with the Army on a campaign against the Persians, but was killed by some of his own
troops who had apparently done something wrong and, fearing punishment, resol(ed to kill Aurelian. ;e died in Thrace
and was grudgingly deified by the )enate, many of whom suffered from Aurelian's crushing of the mint re(olt in
274ad.. it appears many )enators has their hands in the corruption that caused the problems. The deification was
presided o(er by Tacitus, a senator who was declared %mperor by the )enate, in an apparent effort to appease the
Army which deeply mourned Aurelian's death.
There are many opinions as to why Zenobia rebelled against Rome, the most probable was her desire to rule
an semiindependent state and the refusal of 3laudius and Aurelian to accept her semiindependent authority, despite
her attempts to appease them and a(oid the conflict. !t appears that she was a good and popular ruler of Palmyra. !t is
also possible that she feared Persian attack and felt more empowered by an independent state than as a (assal of a
weak Rome. =hate(er the reason, Zenobia will be remembered as one of the most capable, bra(e and intriguing
women to e(er rule in history, &ibbons relates 1Zenobia was esteemed the most lo(ely and accomplished of her se-,
related to 3leopatra, she far surpassed that princess in ability1
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