Editing Zenobia (section)

====Governance====
Zenobia ruled an empire of different peoples; as a Palmyrene, she was accustomed to dealing with multilingual and multicultural diversity since she hailed from a city which embraced many cults.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA86 86]}} The queen's realm was culturally divided into eastern-Semitic and [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] zones; Zenobia tried to appease both, and seems to have successfully appealed to the region's ethnic, cultural and political groups.{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 66]}} The queen projected an image of a Syrian monarch, a Hellenistic queen and a Roman empress, which gained broad support for her cause.{{sfn|Nakamura|1993|p= [http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/view/3431 135]}}

=====Culture=====
[[File:Colossi of Memnon May 2015 2.JPG|thumb|alt=Two huge statues of seated figures|The right [[Colossi of Memnon|colossus of Memnon]] was probably restored by Zenobia.]]
Zenobia turned her court into a center of learning, with many intellectuals and sophists reported in Palmyra during her reign.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA335 335]}} As academics migrated to the city, it replaced classical learning centers such as Athens for Syrians.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA335 335]}} The best-known court philosopher was [[Cassius Longinus (philosopher)|Longinus]],{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA95 95]}} who arrived during Odaenathus' reign and became Zenobia's tutor in ''[[paideia]]'' (aristocratic education).{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA96 96]}}{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA335 335]}} Many historians, including Zosimus, accused Longinus of influencing the queen to oppose Rome.{{sfn|Schneider|1993|p= 19}}{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA96 96]}} This view presents the queen as malleable,{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA96 96]}} but, according to Southern, Zenobia's actions "cannot be laid entirely at Longinus' door".{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA97 97]}} Other intellectuals associated with the court included [[Nicostratus of Trapezus]] and Callinicus of Petra.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA336 336]}}

From the second to the fourth centuries, Syrian intellectuals argued that [[Ancient Greece#Culture|Greek culture]] did not evolve in [[Greece]] but was adapted from the [[Near East]].{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA336 336]}} According to [[Iamblichus]], the great Greek philosophers reused Near Eastern and Egyptian ideas.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA337 337]}} The Palmyrene court was probably dominated by this school of thought, with an intellectual narrative presenting Palmyra's dynasty as a Roman imperial one succeeding the Persian, Seleucid and Ptolemaic rulers who controlled the region in which Hellenistic culture allegedly originated.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA337 337]}} Nicostratus wrote a history of the Roman Empire from [[Philip the Arab]] to Odaenathus, presenting the latter as a legitimate imperial successor and contrasting his successes with the disastrous reigns of the emperors.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA336 336]}}

Zenobia embarked on several restoration projects in Egypt.{{sfn|Bowersock|1984|p= [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/basp/0599796.0021.001/38:4?page=root;size=100;view=image 32]}} One of the [[Colossi of Memnon]] was reputed in antiquity to sing; the sound was probably due to cracks in the statue, with solar rays interacting with dew in the cracks.{{sfn|Bagnall|2004 |p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=5ig4uQC20_IC&pg=PA195 195]}} The historian [[Glen Bowersock]] proposed that the queen restored the colossus ("silencing" it), which would explain third-century accounts of the singing and their disappearance in the fourth.{{sfn|Bowersock|1984|pp= 31, 32}}

=====Religion=====
[[File:Relief Bel Baalshamin Yarhibol Aglibol MBA Lyon 1992-13.jpg|thumb|alt=Bas-relief of four human-looking gods|Palmyra's most important deities: ''(right to left)'' [[Bel (mythology)|Bel]], [[Yarhibol]], [[Aglibol]] and [[Baalshamin]]]]
Zenobia followed the Palmyrene paganism,{{sfn|Macurdy|1937|p= [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015019188914;view=1up;seq=147 123]}} where a number of [[Ancient Semitic religion|Semitic gods]], with [[Bel (mythology)|Bel]] at the head of the pantheon, were worshipped.{{sfn|Butcher|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=YJPn3-rRjC0C&pg=PA345 345]}} Zenobia accommodated [[Early Christianity|Christians]] and [[History of the Jews in the Roman Empire|Jews]],{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA86 86]}} and ancient sources made many claims about the queen's beliefs;{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 65]}} [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] sources alleged that Zenobia was one of their own;{{sfn|Ball|2016|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=hblTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA489 489]}} a manuscript dated to 272 mentions that the Queen of Palmyra supported the Manichaeans in establishing a community in Abidar, which was under the rule of a king named Amarō, who could be the [[Lakhmids|Lakhmid]] king [[Amr ibn Adi]].{{sfn|Intagliata|2018|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=l6RTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 98]}} It is more likely, however, that Zenobia tolerated all cults in an effort to attract support from groups marginalized by Rome.{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 65]}}

Bishop [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] wrote that Zenobia did not "hand over churches to the Jews to make them into synagogues";{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA217 217]}} although the queen was not a Christian, she understood the power of bishops in Christian communities.{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA220 220]}} In Antioch—considered representative of political control of the East and containing a large Christian community—Zenobia apparently maintained authority over the church by bringing influential clerics, probably including [[Paul of Samosata]], under her auspices.{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA220 220]}} She may have bestowed on Paul the rank of ''[[ducenarius]]'' (minor judge); he apparently enjoyed the queen's protection, which helped him keep the [[Diocese|diocesan]] church after he was removed from his office as [[Roman diocese|bishop of Antioch]] by a [[synod]] of bishops in 268.{{sfn|Millar|1971|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DFLqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA244 1]}} [[Philip Hughes (historian)|Hughes]] 
suggested that Paul's position while Zenobia ruled was in the state treasury.{{sfn|Hughes|1949|p= [https://archive.org/details/historyofchurch0001phil/page/134/mode/2up?view=theater 134]}}{{#tag:ref|Paul of Samosata is considered a [[Heresy|heretic]] by mainstream Christianity, accused of denying the preexistence of [[Jesus|Christ]].{{sfn|Macquarrie|2003|p= [https://archive.org/details/stubborntheologi0000macq/page/149 149]}} The earliest reference to the relationship between Zenobia and Paul of Samosata comes from Athanasius of Alexandria's fourth-century ''History of the Arians''.{{sfn|Downey|2015|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=gTTWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA312 312]}} According to [[Eusebius]], Paul preferred to be called ''"ducenarius"'' instead of bishop;{{sfn|Stoneman|2003|pp= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA149 149], [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA151 151]}}{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA220 220]}} There is evidence that he held this rank in the service of Zenobia.{{sfn|Millar|1971|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DFLqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA244 1]}} There is no evidence that Paul was invited to the Palmyrene court, and his relationship with Zenobia was exaggerated by later sources.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA86 86]}}{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 65]}} The queen may have supported him as bishop to promote religious tolerance.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA86 86]}}|group=note}}

======Judaism======
Less than a hundred years after Zenobia's reign, Athanasius of Alexandria called her a "Jewess" in his ''History of the Arians''.{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA217 217]}} In 391, archbishop [[John Chrysostom]] wrote that Zenobia was Jewish; so did a [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac]] chronicler around 664 and bishop [[Bar Hebraeus]] in the thirteenth century.{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA217 217]}} According to French scholar [[Javier Teixidor]], Zenobia was probably a [[proselyte]]; this explained her strained relationship with the rabbis.{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA218 218]}} Teixidor believed that Zenobia became interested in [[Judaism]] when Longinus spoke about the philosopher [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] and his interest in the [[Old Testament]].{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA218 218]}} Although [[Talmud]]ic sources were hostile to Palmyra because of Odaenathus' suppression of the Jews of [[Nehardea]],{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=FdQUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA532 532]}} Zenobia apparently had the support of some Jewish communities (particularly in Alexandria).{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 64]}} In [[Cairo]],{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=jSYbpitEjggC&pg=PA517 517]}} a plaque originally bearing an inscription confirming a grant of immunity to a Jewish synagogue in the last quarter of the first millennium BC by King Ptolemy Euergetes ([[Ptolemy III Euergetes|I]] or [[Ptolemy VIII Physcon|II]]) was found.{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=jSYbpitEjggC&pg=PA517 517]}} At a much later date, the plaque was re-inscribed to commemorate the restoration of immunity "on the orders of the queen and king" and the precedence of the queen in the ordering of the two titles is remarkable.{{sfn|Bowersock|1984|p= [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/basp/0599796.0021.001/38:4?page=root;size=100;view=image 32]}}{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=jSYbpitEjggC&pg=PA517 517]}} Although it is undated, the letters of the inscription date to long after Cleopatra and Anthony's era; Zenobia and her nominal co-monarch Vaballathus, who controlled Egypt in 270–272, are the only candidates for a king and a queen ruling Egypt after the Ptolemies.{{sfn|Bowersock|1984|p= [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/basp/0599796.0021.001/38:4?page=root;size=100;view=image 32]}}{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=jSYbpitEjggC&pg=PA518 518]}}

The historian [[E. Mary Smallwood]] wrote that good relations with the [[Jewish diaspora#Under the Roman Empire|diaspora]] community did not mean that the Jews of Palestine were content with Zenobia's reign, and her rule was apparently opposed in that region.{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=FdQUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA532 532]}} The [[Jerusalem Talmud]], in [[Masekhet|Tractate]] [[Terumot]] tells the story of the [[amoraim]] Rabbi "Ammi" and Rabbi "Samuel bar Nahmani", who visited Zenobia's court and asked for the release of a Jew ("Zeir bar Hinena") detained on her orders.{{sfn|Hartmann|2001|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=BdcHK8Ll1jMC&pg=PA330 330]}} The queen refused, saying: "Why have you come to save him? He teaches that your creator performs miracles for you. Why not let God save him?"{{sfn|Neusner|2010|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=OClDBJfW79QC&pg=PA125 125]}} During Aurelian's destruction of Palmyra, Palestinian conscripts with "clubs and cudgels" (who may have been Jews) played a vital role in Zenobia's defeat and the destruction of her city.{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=FdQUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA533 533]}}

There is no evidence of Zenobia's birth as a Jew; the names of her and her husband's families belonged to the Aramaic [[wikt:onomasticon|onomasticon]] (collection of names).{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA218 218]}} The queen's alleged patronage of Paul of Samosata (who was accused of "Judaizing"),{{sfn|Smallwood|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=FdQUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA532 532]}} may have given rise to the idea that she was a proselyte.{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 65]}} Only Christian accounts note Zenobia's Jewishness; no Jewish source mentions it.{{sfn|Graetz|2009|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=pnMtoAjig7wC&pg=PA529 529]}}

=====Administration=====
The queen probably spent most of her reign in Antioch,{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA205 205]}} Syria's administrative capital.{{sfn|Nakamura|1993|p= [http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/view/3431 141]}} Before the monarchy, Palmyra had the institutions of a Greek city ([[polis]]) and was ruled by a senate which was responsible for most civil affairs.{{sfn|Smith II|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=h5cMho6zFckC&pg=PA122 122]}}{{sfn|Smith II|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=h5cMho6zFckC&pg=PA127 127]}} Odaenathus maintained Palmyra's institutions, as did Zenobia;{{sfn|Sivertsev|2002|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=OfWUkVoHP7YC&pg=PA72 72]}} a Palmyrene inscription after her fall records the name of [[Septimius Haddudan]], a Palmyrene senator.{{sfn|Hartmann|2001|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=BdcHK8Ll1jMC&pg=PA384 384]}} However, the queen apparently ruled [[Autocracy|autocratically]]; [[Septimius Worod]], Odaenathus' viceroy and one of Palmyra's most important officials, disappeared from the record after Zenobia's ascent.{{sfn|Stoneman|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA117 117]}} The queen opened the doors of her government to Eastern nobility.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA86 86]}} Zenobia's most important courtiers and advisers were her generals, Septemius Zabdas and Septimius Zabbai;{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA95 95]}} both of whom were generals under Odaenathus and received the ''[[Roman naming conventions#Nomen|gentilicium]]'' (surname) "Septimius" from him.{{sfn|Potter|2014|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=7HKFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA257 257]}}

Odaenathus respected the Roman emperor's privilege of appointing provincial governors,{{sfn|Ando|2012|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=bpd3tBPN4v8C&pg=PA171 171]}} and Zenobia continued this policy during her early reign.{{sfn|Southern|2008|pp= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA87 87], [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA88 88]}} Although the queen did not interfere in day-to-day administration, she probably had the power to command the governors in the organization of border security.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA88 88]}} During the rebellion, Zenobia maintained Roman forms of administration,{{sfn|Southern|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA116 116]}} but appointed the governors herself (most notably in Egypt,{{sfn|Southern|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA115 115]}} where [[Julius Marcellinus]] took office in 270 and was followed by [[Statilius Ammianus]] in 271).{{#tag:ref|One of Statilius' inscriptions is firmly dated to spring 272, so he could have been appointed by the Romans who regained Egypt at that time.{{sfn|Watson|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA169 169]}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Southern|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA88 88]}}

======Agreement with Rome======
[[File:AURELIANUS RIC V 381-795833.jpg|thumb|alt=Front and back of ancient coin|Palmyrene ''[[antoninianus]]'' minted in Antioch in AD 271, showing [[Aurelian]] (left) as emperor and Vaballathus as king]]

Zenobia initially avoided provoking Rome by claiming for herself and her son the titles, inherited from Odaenathus, of subject of Rome and protector of its eastern frontier.{{sfn|Bryce|2014|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xno9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 299]}} After expanding her territory, she seems to have tried to be recognized as an imperial partner in the eastern half of the empire and presented her son as subordinate to the emperor.{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}}{{sfn|Bryce|Birkett-Rees|2016|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=gDAFDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 282]}}{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA118 118]}} In late 270, Zenobia minted coinage bearing the portraits of Aurelian and Vaballathus; Aurelian was titled "emperor", and Vaballathus "king".{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}} The regnal year in early samples of the coinage was only Aurelian's.{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}} By March 271,{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 68]}} despite indicating Aurelian as the paramount monarch by naming him first in the dating formulae, the coinage also began bearing Vaballathus' regnal year.{{sfn|Ando|2012|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=G9qqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA210 210]}} By indicating in the coinage that Vaballathus' reign began in 267 (three years before the emperor's), Vaballathus appeared to be Aurelian's senior colleague.{{sfn|Ando|2012|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=G9qqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA210 210]}}

The emperor's blessing of Palmyrene authority has been debated;{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA118 118]}} Aurelian's acceptance of Palmyrene rule in Egypt may be inferred from the [[Oxyrhynchus]] papyri, which are dated by the regnal years of the emperor and Vaballathus.{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}}{{sfn|Ando|2012|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=G9qqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 211]}} No proof of a formal agreement exists, and the evidence is based solely on the joint coinage- and papyri-dating.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA118 118]}} It is unlikely that Aurelian would have accepted such power-sharing,{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}} but he was unable to act in 271 due to crises in the West.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA118 118]}}{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}} His apparent condoning of Zenobia's actions may have been a ruse to give her a false sense of security while he prepared for war.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA118 118]}}{{sfn|Watson|2004|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}} Another reason for Aurelian's tolerance may have been his desire to ensure a constant [[Cura Annonae|supply of Egyptian grain to Rome]];{{sfn|Drinkwater|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=MNSyT_PuYVMC&pg=PA52 52]}} it is not recorded that the supply was cut, and the ships sailed to Rome in 270 as usual.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA115 115]}} Some modern scholars, such as [[:de:Harold B. Mattingly|Harold Mattingly]], suggest that Claudius Gothicus had concluded a formal agreement with Zenobia which Aurelian ignored.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=wnTOBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA190 190]}}