Lucius Iulius (Julius) Aurelius Septimius Vabalathus Athenodorus (266-273) was a king of the Palmyrene Empire. Vabalathus is the Latinized form of his name in the Arabic language, Wahb Allat (وهب اللات) or gift of the Goddess. As the Arabian goddess Allāt came to be identified with Athena, he used Athenodorus as the Greek form of his name.
His father was King of Palmyra, Septimius Odaenathus and his mother was Queen Zenobia. When his father was assassinated by his cousin Maeonius (267), the young Vabalathus was made king (rex consul imperator dux Romanorum, "illustrious King of Kings" and corrector totius orientis) of the Palmyrene Empire. Power was wielded by his mother Zenobia. Zenobia conquered Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Anatolia and Lebanon.
Initially Roman Emperor Aurelian recognized Vabalathus' rule, perhaps because he was engaged in conflict with the Gallic Empire in the west and hesitated to incite open warfare with the Palmyrene Empire. This mutual recognition is testified by early coins minted under Vaballathus, in which Aurelian is portraited with the title augustus; however, the relationship between the two empires deteriorated and Aurelian disappeared from his coins, while Zenobia and Vabalathus and adopted the titles of augusta and augustus respectively.
The end of Vabalathus' rule came when Aurelian conquered and sacked Palmyra (272/3) and took Vabalathus and his mother back to Rome as hostages. According to Zosimus, Vaballathus died on the way to Rome.
According to other historians the Roman emperor Aurelian was an excellent military tactician and a talented administrator. He was also one of the most merciful Roman emperors in history. He allowed both rebels to live after they marched in his triumph. In fact, Aurelian gave Zenobia the status of a Roman matron and a nice villa to which she was allowed to retire.