Vaballathus

Vaballathus

Vaballathus as King on the observe of a Palmyrene Antoninianus, 271 AD.
King of Kings of Palmyra
Reign 267-272
Predecessor Odaenathus
Successor Position abolished
Emperor of Palmyra
Reign 272
Predecessor Maeonius
Successor Septimius Antiochus
Born Lucius Julius Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus Athenodorus
c. 259
Palmyra, Syria
Died After 274
Rome, Italy
House House of Odaenathus
Father Odaenathus
Mother Zenobia

Lucius Julius Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus Athenodorus (Palmyrene: ; Arabic: ْوَهْبُ اللَّات Wahb Allāt) c. 259 – 274 AD) was a king of the Palmyrene Empire centered at Palmyra, Syria, who came to power as a child, ruling with his regent, his mother Queen Zenobia, who led a revolt against Rome and formed the independent Palmyrene Empire.

Early life

Lucius Julius Aurelius Setptimius Vaballathus was born in 259 to the king of kings of Palmyra, Odaenathus and his second wife, queen consort of Palmyra, Zenobia. Vaballathus is the Latinized form of his Palmyrene name (Wahballat, "Gift of Al-lāt"). As the Arabian goddess Allāt came to be identified with Athena, he used Athenodorus as the Greek form of his name.[1] Not much of his early life before rising to power is known.

Succession to the throne

In 267, his father Odaenathus and his son, Hairan I were murdered by a relative of Odaenthus's named Maeonius, believed to be his cousin, who ruled as an usurper and crowned himself emperor for an extremely short period, being almost immediately killed, as no inscription or evidence for his rule exists. With the former king Odaenathus and his oldest son dead, the succession came to his younger son, Vaballathus. The young Vaballathus was made king (rex consul imperator dux Romanorum, "illustrious King of Kings" and corrector totius orientis) of the Palmyrene Empire at eight years old. Being too young to rule, his mother Zenobia ruled as a regent for him.

Reign

Initially the Roman Emperor Aurelian recognized Vaballathus' 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 issued by Zenobia under Vaballathus's name, but also acknowledging Aurelian as emperor. In the coins, Aurelian is shown wearing a radiate crown that signifies his supremacy as emperor, and Vaballathus was crowned with a laural wreath. [2] The Alexandrian minted coins showed Aurelian in his first year and Vaballathus in his fourth year [3] with Vaballathus adopting honorary titles possibly inherited from his father Odaenathus.

The relationship between the Roman Empire and the newly established Palmyrene empire deteriorated and Aurelian disappeared from his coins, while Zenobia and Vaballathus adopted the titles of Augusta and Augustus respectively. Vaballathus was named in coins "King, Emperor, Dux Romanum leader of the Romans" [4] and a rebellion against Rome started, with Zenobia conquering most of Rome's eastern provinces, including Lower Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Asia Minor and Lebanon. The recently independent Palmyra lasted for three years, until the Romans took action, and conquered all Palmyrene land.

End of Reign and Defeat

The end of Vaballathus's nominal rule came after losing the Siege of Palmyra, and being taken back, along with his mother as hostages to Aurelian in Rome. Their fates remain unknown, with each historian proposing different theories, according to Zosimus, Vaballathus died on the way to Rome, but this theory has been neither confirmed nor disproved.

Other sources have implied that after shipping the defeated Zenobia and Vaballathus to Rome, Aurelian allowed both of the rebels to live, but only after they had been marched through the streets of the imperial city in accordance with Roman traditions of celebrating military victories with a triumphal procession. This would have been humiliating, but better than death. This theory is supported by Aurelian's similar treatment of the Tetrici, Tetricus I and Tetricus II of Gaul, long-time enemies of Rome whom the emperor allowed to retire following their defeat at the Battle of Châlons in 274.

The fate of Palmyra, however took a turn for the worse. In 273, a revolution started by Septimius Apsaios [5] declaring a relative of Zenobia, Septimius Antiochus, as Augustus. [6] Aurelian marched to Palmyra, razing it to the ground. Buildings were smashed, citizens clubbed and massacred and Palmyra's holiest temples pillaged.[7] The city was forgotten and reduced and disappeared from historical records at that time. [8] Thus, ending the ascendance of Palmyrene civilization over the Roman orient.

References

  1. ↑ Butcher 2003, p. 284.
  2. ↑ Southern 2015, p. 168.
  3. ↑ Southern 2015, p. 167.
  4. ↑ Ando 2012, p. 210.
  5. ↑ Smith II 2013, p. 180.
  6. ↑ Smith II 2013, p. 181.
  7. ↑ Ball 2002, p. 81.
  8. ↑ Pollard 2000, p. 299.
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