Zenobia She was the queen of Tamar during the Roman rule in the region. After the king's death, she decided to rebel against the empire and conquered considerable territories, from the Nile to the Euphrates. Although her reign did not last many years, she was recognized as an educated, ambitious and very brave woman
Written by: Tom Bikin-Ohion. of: Young Galileo, issue 198 July 2020
Zenobia was a young queen in the ancient city of Tadmur (in today's Syria) in the third century AD. She was born into an Assyrian noble family and was a descendant of the Queen of Sheba. Even from her youth it was clear that she was destined for greatness: not only was she one of the most beautiful women in the kingdom, but she was also smart and learned and knew many languages. She was also skilled in activities that were then reserved mainly for men, such as riding and hunting.
Zenobia wants to join the rebellion
Zenobia married the important man in Tamar - King Septimus Odientus, who was indeed rich, but also quite a coward. The kingdom of Tadmor, like most of Europe and the Middle East, was then under the control of the Roman Empire. Sometimes it was nice to be part of the empire because in return for the taxes they paid it, it provided its subjects with protection from invaders and also freedom to have free trade and religion. But during Zenobia's time, the Roman Empire was ruled by a series of cruel emperors, who squandered all the kingdom's treasure with extravagant parties and unnecessary wars. When they ran out of money, they imposed the burden of taxes on the peoples subject to them.
Many nations began to revolt against the Romans. In the north these were the tribes of the Germanic Goths, and in the west the Gaelic peoples united to fight the cruel tyrants. Zenovia appealed to her husband the king with a request to join the rebellion: "This is our opportunity to join the struggle and free our people from Roman rule", but King Odientus was not ready to hear about it: "Why make trouble for nothing? What do you care if they raise the taxes? We are rich, it doesn't bother us."
Zenovia tried in vain to explain to her husband that as king and queen they are responsible not only for themselves but also for their subjects, and these kneel under the heavy burden of taxes; But he was too much of a coward to do anything about it.
Zenobia goes to war
Not long after that, Odyantus died suddenly. No one knows who killed him: was it the Romans? The frustrated residents of Tadmor? Maybe Zenobia herself?
After the king's death, the power is inherited by his son, but Zenovia's son was still a child. Since this was the case, Zenobia accepted the management of the kingdom. Upon taking power she declared a rebellion in the Roman Empire and went to war, she led her armies herself. At first the soldiers were a little afraid of being led by a woman, but when they saw her riding a horse, galloping forward straight into the battlefield, they were proud to follow such a brave leader.
Zenobia soon succeeded in liberating the entire territory of Syria from Roman rule. She was not satisfied with this. She led her armies further, and together they freed the lands of Palestine (today's Israel) and Egypt from the rule of the Romans. Then they moved north to Asia Minor (today's Turkey). Thus, in less than a year, Zenobia found herself in control of a huge kingdom, which stretched from the Nile River in the southwest to the Euphrates River in the northeast.
Tamar surrenders to the Romans
In the meantime, a new emperor named Orléonus came to power in Rome, who decided to restore the kingdom to its lost glory. He mobilized a huge army, the army recaptured the lands of the kingdom from the Gauls and the Goths, and continued to move eastward to the lands conquered by the kingdom of Tadmor.
Although Zenobia was a brave leader, her army could not stand against the Roman legionnaires. Little by little, Orleanus was able to recapture her lands. First in Asia Minor, and finally, after many battles in which Zenobia's soldiers fought fiercely, he succeeded in subduing them in Syria as well and recapturing Tadmor.
Zenobia is taken to Rome
When the battle was over, Orleanus called the commanders of the rebel army to bring before him the brave leader who dared to rebel against the Roman Empire. Imagine how great his surprise was when instead of seeing an elderly leader there stood before him a beautiful young woman. He ordered to imprison her in gold chains and bring her to Rome, the capital.
According to Roman tradition, when Caesar returned to the city as a victor, a great victory parade was held in his honor: all the inhabitants of the city would gather at the entrance to the city and welcome him with cheers and joy. Since it had been a long time since there was a victory parade in Rome, it was a particularly large and honorable one.
The highlight of the parade was Queen Zenobia; She was led on a special stage, imprisoned in gold chains that shone in the sun like precious jewels.
Usually the Roman crowd would shout insults at the captive rebels, and sometimes even call for their execution; But when they saw the beautiful Zenovia standing proudly with her head held high - instead of chanting insults, they chanted marriage proposals at her.
Zenobia spent the rest of her life in a large villa on the outskirts of Rome. The emperor elevated her to one of the senators, and thus she won the respect of nobles, was invited to events and hosted in her home the dignitaries of Rome, who came to consult her on various issues - even on combat strategies.
The author is the author of the book "True Legends" published by Penak
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While writing my master's dissertation about the Jewish community of the city of Nahardea in Babylon/Pers, I published an article in the 117th century Zion 5 XNUMX pp. XNUMX et seq., entitled "Who destroyed Nahardea", and I sought to show the rise of Palmyra/ Tadmor is one of the most prominent and sensational events in the history of the Roman Empire and it may provide clear evidence of the complicated reality that emerged in the East after the intervention of the Roman government there. According to me, Nahardea was destroyed by one of the royal family, Prince Adinath, or "Nasur" in Greek, "Naosurus". The conflict between Tadmor and Nahardea was on a daily basis. Nahardea was stuck as a bone in Tadmor's commercial throat and was therefore destroyed. The power of the Adinath children was in the establishment and organization of predatory forces and militias. One of them was the one called in the sources Papa Bar Netzer who appears in the Midrash Beresheet Rabbah XNUMX according to the Theodore Elbeck edition as well as in Rabbi Shira Gaon's treatise. Levin edition, XNUMX.
Edinat was not Papa Bar Netzer and did not destroy Nahardea between the years 259-258 AD even though it is clear that the purpose of the destruction was clear economic/commercial. The parallel between Adinath and Netzor, or Papa Bar Netzer is perhaps historically motivated but does not fit in light of the chronological distance between Adinath and Papa Bar Netzer. In any case, it is clear that Naharda was destroyed by someone from the Adinat family, an action that, as mentioned, was motivated by economic motives.