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here's Emperors of Rome.

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AVE, and welcome to Emperors of Rome,

0:44

a Roman history podcast from La Trobe University.

0:48

I'm your host Matt Smith, and with me today

0:50

is Associate Professor Caelan Davenport,

0:52

head of the Centre for Classical Studies

0:54

at the Australian National University. This

0:58

is episode CCVIII,

1:01

Oda Neithis, King of Kings. As

1:04

the Roman Empire lost the Western provinces,

1:07

something very different was happening in the East.

1:10

Oda Neithis remained on the side of Rome,

1:12

but assumed the title of King, building

1:14

his influence throughout the region to the

1:16

point where he became a problem for Gallienus.

1:19

Here's Caelan Davenport. So in the last

1:22

two episodes of Emperors of Rome, we've

1:24

talked about the start of Gallienus' reign

1:27

independently after the capture of his father

1:29

Valerian, and the splintering,

1:31

the division, that meant there

1:34

was a Gallic Empire as well, and

1:36

the constant usurpations that he's dealing with up and

1:38

down the empire, it seems. What

1:40

we're going to talk about in this episode

1:42

is something along the lines of that, but

1:45

previously the Gallic Empire's biggest

1:47

success to it seems to be that it wasn't directly

1:49

trying to challenge Rome for imperial authority.

1:53

And the Eastern Empire, what happens in

1:55

the East is

1:57

almost along the same lines of that, except

2:00

it seems to have gotten more Imperial

2:02

endorsement. Definitely, definitely,

2:05

yes. No, so I think this

2:07

is one of the results of Gallienus

2:09

having to fight challenges

2:12

of multiple frontiers is

2:14

that some that he is going to have to recognize

2:17

in order to secure his empire. Yeah,

2:19

yeah, because otherwise, you know, if he questioned

2:21

this, there would be a direct challenge and it

2:24

seems like a fight that he doesn't know he could win confidently.

2:26

Yes, and then he'd just be North Africa, Italy

2:29

and some bits of the Balkans. And that really would

2:31

be a slimmed down empire.

2:33

Yeah. Okay, so a bit more context of

2:35

this. This all begins to spin

2:38

out from the capture of Valerian. So we're

2:40

going to take it back to that point again in

2:43

a different geographical location. Exactly.

2:45

Yes. So we're on the scene here in the east

2:48

now after Valerian, one

2:50

of the Petrurian prefix and a large

2:52

number of senators have been captured.

2:56

Two important officials evaded

2:58

capture.

2:59

The first of these is Titus

3:02

Fulvius Macrianus, who

3:04

was Valerian's Ar-Rattionibus,

3:07

which is his chief financial officer,

3:10

so in charge of the Imperial Treasury. So this

3:12

was the guy who got some of the blame

3:14

essentially for Valerian's persecution

3:16

of the Christians. That's exactly right.

3:18

Here we go. Evil sorcerer. Yeah,

3:20

that's it. And this is quite interesting because normally

3:23

the chief financial officer didn't accompany

3:25

emperors on campaigns. So

3:27

this may has an issue with the seriousness of

3:30

the situation. He's not a senator,

3:32

he's a high ranking equestrian. And

3:35

he's also there with a man named

3:37

Ballista. This may be a nickname,

3:39

it's called Callistus in some sources

3:42

as well. And he is the surviving

3:44

Petrurian prefect. So

3:46

they're sort of left over from

3:49

the field army, essentially after

3:51

the capture.

3:53

Now the remnants of the army are going to

3:55

turn towards these two men and

3:57

their attempts to make

3:59

Macrianus Emperor, but

4:02

he declines. And this

4:04

story is told both in Zenaris, so

4:07

our late Byzantine source, as well

4:09

as a letter of Dionysius Bishop

4:11

of Alexandria, which is quoted by

4:14

Eusebius, our Church historian. So this is contemporary.

4:17

And Dionysius wrote that Macrianus,

4:20

and I quote, unable to deck his

4:22

maimed body with the imperial

4:24

robes, he put forward his two

4:27

sons. Okay, so

4:29

Macrianus,

4:29

it seems, had had a limp in

4:32

one of his legs. It's really interesting

4:34

that this sort of apparently rules him

4:36

out, or at least a later basis for

4:39

criticism along the lines of, say,

4:41

Claudius, not being a physical

4:43

specimen.

4:45

The army chooses his sons on

4:47

Macrianus' recommendation. Two

4:50

sons, one, Titus Fulvius

4:52

Unius Macrianus, we'll call him Macrianus

4:55

Jr. and Titus Fulvius

4:57

Unius Quietus, both of whom

4:59

with the army. We know they're

5:02

declared Emperor by the 17th

5:04

of September, 260, thanks to papyrus

5:06

surviving from Egypt. So again,

5:09

very quickly after this disastrous summer.

5:11

And you must also think, you know, by this time, you know,

5:13

the result of posthumous, the result

5:15

of ingenuous regalia,

5:17

you know, those sort of usurpations in Achaia

5:19

that we don't know much about. So all around the

5:22

empire, I used to show this in talks

5:24

of the PowerPoint, sort of like little explosions

5:27

going off in different regions. They're

5:29

recognized in Egypt, Syria,

5:32

and Asia Minor as well. Okay. So essentially,

5:34

they're declared emperors throughout

5:36

the East. Now, they

5:39

divide themselves. So Macrianus

5:42

Sr. and Jr. marched

5:44

to Thrace

5:45

to meet the forces of Gallienus, and

5:48

there they are defeated by his general,

5:50

Ariolus. And Quietus

5:53

and Ballista take up residence

5:55

in Emesa, Mattown in Syria, which you may remember

5:58

is hometown of Elagablus and

5:59

company from the, uh, yeah, the Saveran

6:02

period. During the good old days. Yeah. However,

6:05

they are murdered and

6:07

they are murdered by a new rising

6:10

star in the East, Septimius

6:13

Odinophus. So you've called

6:15

him a rising star and I don't think that we've

6:17

brought him up yet in this

6:19

general conversation before. No, no.

6:22

But in the context of the Roman Empire

6:24

at the time, was he a rising star

6:27

or was he a risen?

6:29

Yeah. Yes. So if we look

6:31

at what's going on in the two

6:33

fifties, he's already started

6:35

to get recognition from the Roman

6:37

state in Valerian's reign. So

6:41

Odinophus is from Palmyra, which

6:43

is in the province of Syria. It's a major

6:46

trading city, caravan city,

6:48

a link to the East and the

6:50

Silk Road. So it's incredibly wealthy.

6:53

And of course, you know, taxes are levied at the empire's

6:56

border on goods. There's been a settlement

6:58

there since around 2000

6:59

BC. But

7:01

by this stage, it's acquired the status

7:03

of a Roman colony. And there's a

7:06

number of elites there who have been

7:08

given Roman citizenship. And this includes

7:10

Odinophus himself, who is Septimius

7:13

Odinophus, which means he got

7:15

citizenship or one of his family got

7:17

citizenship in the time of Septimius

7:20

Severus. So he

7:22

is given the title in inscriptions

7:25

of Exarch. That's a Greek term, which

7:28

roughly translates

7:29

as leader. So he is a head

7:31

of the city essentially. And we're

7:33

uniquely well informed about the

7:35

honours given to him

7:37

because of inscriptions written

7:40

on statue bases in Palmyra,

7:43

often bilingual Greek and

7:45

Palmyrene, the local language. We

7:48

do have to be a bit careful, though, because some of these

7:50

are erected in the two seventies when

7:52

his widow Zenobia has essentially

7:55

declared independence from Rome. But

7:57

there are enough inscriptions earlier that we can.

7:59

sort of trace his ascendancy

8:02

and the trust which the Roman state

8:04

has put in him during this period. And

8:07

Palmyra and that whole surrounding

8:09

area gives me the impression of

8:12

it's part of the Roman Empire, but it's very

8:14

independent. They're not left to their own devices,

8:17

essentially, but their local

8:20

sensibilities and everything make them almost

8:22

self-sufficient from the Empire. I

8:25

mean, certainly they want to be seen as Roman. Yeah.

8:27

Pride in the fact that the Emperor Hadrian visited

8:29

there, for example, and that they are

8:32

a Roman colony. But exactly right

8:34

on the edges of the Empire, they're close

8:36

to Persia as well. So you've

8:38

got influence coming in both directions. Exactly.

8:41

And there's a lot to be gained from their position.

8:43

So the scholar Nathaniel Andrade,

8:46

who's written a book about Zenobia, Adonathus's

8:48

wife, describes his position

8:50

as something more like a client king rather

8:53

than just the lead of the city. So he's equivalent

8:55

to like the client kings, for example, in Armenia

8:58

that are important sort of buffers

9:00

or brokers between Rome

9:03

and their Eastern rivals. So

9:06

he was important in the local area. Did he have

9:08

important status in Rome as well? Yes.

9:10

So the inscriptions show that in

9:13

the 250s he was made a

9:15

senator and certainly

9:17

by 258 he had either

9:19

been a Suffolk Consul in

9:22

Rome or had been awarded an honorary consulship

9:25

through the what we call the ornamenta

9:27

consularia. It's highly unlikely that

9:29

he ever visited

9:29

Rome. And of course, you remember the 250s,

9:32

this is the period in which, you know, Shapur

9:35

has been invading, burning Antioch,

9:38

etc. So we can see

9:40

Adonathus as someone who

9:42

Valerian would have turned to or relied

9:45

on support from during this period.

9:47

Adonathus, we know,

9:49

was married to Zenobia, who

9:52

will become important in future episodes. They

9:54

had one son, Valabathus, born

9:57

circa 258, probably daughter as

10:00

well and Odinathus also had

10:02

a stepson Herodian from a previous

10:05

marriage. So, he's really sort of founding

10:07

a dynasty that is going to play

10:09

an important role. And

10:12

the extent of his influence and his power

10:14

is shown by the fact that throughout

10:16

the 250s when Shapur was invading

10:18

Roman territory, Palmyra

10:21

is untouched. You know, it isn't sacked or

10:23

it isn't raided. And we do have

10:25

a later source which suggests

10:28

that Odinathus did actually try

10:30

and make a formal peace

10:33

treaty himself with Shapur, though

10:35

it was rebuffed. And so this

10:38

is from a history by someone called Peter

10:40

the patrician who wrote in the 6th

10:42

century AD in Constantinople.

10:45

But again, because he's part of the Greek tradition,

10:47

we often think he relies on sources that go

10:49

back to Dexipus. So I'll quote

10:52

from fragment 10 of Peter the patrician.

10:54

Odinathus paid much

10:56

court to Shapur as one who had greatly

10:59

surpassed the Romans. Wanting

11:01

to lead him on, he sent magnificent gifts

11:03

and other goods which Persia was not rich

11:06

in, conveying them by camels. He

11:08

also sent letters expressing in treaty

11:11

and saying that he'd done nothing against the Persians.

11:14

Shapur, however, instructed the slaves

11:16

who received the gifts to throw them into the river

11:19

and tore up and crushed the letters.

11:21

Who is he?

11:23

He declared. And how is he dead

11:25

to write to his master? If

11:27

he wants to obtain a lighter punishment, let

11:30

him prostrate himself again with his hands in

11:32

change. Otherwise, let him

11:34

know that I shall destroy him and his people

11:36

and his land. So

11:38

we're not quite sure of the date of

11:40

this, but it's interesting because

11:43

it shows that Odinathus did

11:46

want to sort of cultivate both

11:48

sides. And despite the reaction

11:50

of Shapur in this anecdote,

11:53

Palmyra

11:53

did remain untouched

11:55

throughout the two fifties. So

11:58

clearly he was someone respecting.

11:59

I'm interested

12:02

in how much power Odinathus

12:04

tried to exert over the region. We've

12:07

seen other usurpers be

12:09

spontaneous and take advantage

12:12

of the situation with Valerian being captured.

12:14

Was Odinathus like that or was

12:17

it more

12:18

something that happened gradually that

12:20

was foisted upon him? Odinathus did

12:22

take immediate action after Valerian

12:24

was captured. He launched an

12:27

assault on some of Shapur's troops returning

12:29

to Persian territory after the Battle

12:31

of Edessa and then he

12:34

decided to make a show

12:36

of support for Gallienus, Valerian's

12:39

son, and he masterminded the murder

12:41

of both Ballista and Quitus

12:44

in Amessa. They were the ones who had been left behind

12:46

after Macriainus had gone north to confront Gallienus's

12:49

forces. That's right they had stayed behind

12:51

in the region and Odinathus got

12:54

rid of them. I know this was a clear signal

12:56

for Gallienus that you know I'm going to be on your

12:58

side. There were even later

13:00

stories that Gallienus had dispatched

13:02

Odinathus to Amessa to murder them. I

13:05

think it's probably more likely that he took the initiative thinking

13:07

that he'd be rewarded by the Emperor.

13:10

How does the timing work out though? Was it once he

13:12

saw that Macriainus

13:14

is not going to be successful? Unfortunately

13:16

the chronology doesn't allow us to

13:18

be that precise. Yeah it'd be interesting to

13:20

know if he was actually loyal to Gallienus

13:22

or saw which way it was about to go. It's about waiting

13:25

to see. Yeah no I know unfortunately

13:28

because many of the sources are late and we just don't have

13:30

the precise chronology. That would be good

13:32

to know as to whether he was hedging

13:34

his bets. Zosimus

13:36

who also talks about this incident in book 139

13:39

says that Odinathus was a person

13:42

whose ancestors had always been highly

13:44

respected by the emperors to assist

13:46

the Eastern nations which were then in a

13:48

very distressed condition. By

13:50

nations he means the provinces. There's this history

13:53

of Odinathus and his family assisting

13:56

the emperors so it's reasonable

13:58

to assume that

13:59

he would want to throw in his lot

14:02

with Gallienus. So regardless

14:04

of what happened, either way, Gallienus

14:07

did legitimize Odin Arthas's

14:09

actions in retrospect. Okay. Now,

14:11

spoiler alert, as we talk more about Odin Arthas,

14:14

it's fair to say at this point that he never

14:17

explicitly splits his

14:19

territory from the

14:21

Roman Empire, does he? No.

14:24

He generates a lot of power regionally.

14:27

It is always Roman territory

14:29

during his lifetime, during his, I

14:32

don't even know if I want to call it rain. We've

14:35

said that he's almost a client king, but he's at

14:37

the same time not that explicitly a client king.

14:39

Yes. Period of supremacy in the East or something

14:42

like that. And Gallienus, by

14:44

extension of this, and I'm inferring quite a lot,

14:46

and that's the best we can do at some point, Gallienus

14:49

by tolerating this is kind of acknowledging

14:51

the power that Odin Arthas has. Yes.

14:55

And doesn't want to upset the delicate

14:57

equilibrium that they've got in the territory

14:59

at the moment. Exactly. He has enough problems

15:01

in other regions. Yeah.

15:02

If he has a loyal individual

15:04

there, why would he

15:06

want to disrupt that? And

15:09

is Odin Arthas included then, for

15:11

example, in the Augustan history's 30

15:14

usurpers? Yes. Odin

15:16

Arthas is listed as one of the 30 tyrants.

15:19

And for the reason for this is he

15:21

does actually take the title

15:24

of King of Kings. And

15:26

he gives it to his son, Herodian, as well.

15:29

Okay. So he's definitely setting up a dynasty

15:31

by doing that. Yes. And that

15:33

is a challenge both to Rome and to

15:36

Shapur, of course, as well. But

15:38

Odin Arthas also has Roman titles. So

15:41

this is the things. So

15:44

the inscriptions show that he has

15:46

a title of Strategos,

15:48

or General, in Greek.

15:50

The second title

15:52

is a Parmarine word, which

15:55

I can't pronounce, but the transliteration

15:57

is MTQNN.

15:59

apostrophe. The title

16:02

seems to be about translation of the

16:04

corrector or restitutor

16:08

or rector. So, the idea of

16:10

a storer or controller

16:13

or ruler and then of

16:15

the east. Yeah, okay. There's a precedent

16:17

for the title of rector orientis

16:20

Philip the Arab, though Philip and

16:22

his brother Priscus had this title when

16:25

he was an equestrian and governor of Mesopotamia

16:27

and held some authority over the east. Yeah.

16:29

So,

16:31

he is given Roman legitimacy

16:33

as well, but taking the title

16:35

of king and kings and bestowing it on your son

16:38

also suggests larger

16:40

ambitions. However,

16:43

the problem is that we know

16:46

that governors of eastern provinces

16:48

are still appointed by Gallianus. So,

16:51

we still have some senatorial governors

16:54

of Syria, for example. Egyptian

16:56

governors are still appointed by Gallianus.

16:59

So, there seems to have been a

17:01

slightly uneasy working relationship

17:03

between the Roman administration and

17:06

Odinathus. And much like the Gallic Empire,

17:08

there's no direct confrontation

17:10

or challenge. Not at all because as

17:13

long

17:13

as Odinathus is supporting Gallianus,

17:16

there's no need. It's a buffer state between

17:18

Shapur. Exactly, exactly. So,

17:21

there is a inscribed dedication

17:24

to his son Herodian, which

17:27

was erected in the colonnaded street

17:29

of Palmyra. And

17:32

it seems to have been the result of some

17:34

kind of victory against Shapur.

17:37

And it says this is to the king of kings

17:41

having received, possibly,

17:43

the royalty near the Orontes crowned

17:45

for victory over the Persians Septimius

17:50

Herodianus.

17:51

There is attestation

17:53

of these titles and they're being used

17:56

in the local context there. So, certainly

17:59

to people...

17:59

in Palmyra and the region. He was their champion.

18:03

So what is the context of him getting the title

18:05

King of Kings? Zozimas

18:07

tells us that he launches

18:09

an invasion of Persian territory

18:13

and he recaptures Nisibis, an important

18:15

trading city in Mesopotamia from

18:18

the Persians. Okay. And so this is a

18:20

major success which is done on behalf

18:22

of Gallienus. Gallienus himself

18:24

takes the title of Perzecus Maximus on

18:28

account of Odenathus' achievements

18:29

and it's because of this that

18:32

he awards the title of King of Kings both

18:34

to himself and to his son. Okay.

18:37

There's even a story and we're not quite sure

18:39

when this happens whether it's at the same time

18:41

or later that he even reaches

18:43

the Persian capital of Cessiphon but

18:46

is unable to take it. So

18:48

certainly he's launching major offensives

18:51

into Persian territory not just going on the

18:53

defense. One interesting source that we've

18:56

got about this time is the 13th

18:58

Sibylian Oracle.

18:59

What's the context of this and

19:02

what does it tell us about Odenathus?

19:05

So the Sibylian oracles were of course

19:08

prophecies given by the Sibyl. However,

19:11

we also use the title Sibylian

19:14

Oracle to refer to a body

19:17

of prophetic literature

19:19

which merges in the east

19:22

and is said to have been a melding

19:24

of Hellenistic or Jewish

19:27

or other local traditions. So

19:29

they're

19:29

written as if they are prophecies

19:33

of things that are going to happen but they

19:35

actually refer to historical events

19:37

that have happened often in an allegorical

19:40

way. And therefore you can say hey look this prophecy

19:42

is true because it happened. Exactly.

19:45

Exactly. Some of the earlier ones for example

19:47

refer to some of the false Nero's and

19:50

the idea that he would come back one day from

19:52

Parthia and bring ruin to the Roman Empire

19:55

etc. So the 13th

19:57

Sibylian Oracle is a text

19:59

that was written in the Eastern provinces

20:02

in the early 260s. So,

20:05

it is a contemporary document, and

20:08

it's written from the perspective of

20:11

Eastern Provenchals.

20:12

It's particularly interesting because the way it glorifies

20:15

Odinathus and his career.

20:18

I'm going to read some of the text

20:20

now. I'm going to explain some of the allusions

20:23

in it. So, I'm going to start from

20:25

line 201, and this describes

20:27

events that

20:29

happen in the 250s. And

20:33

then there shall be a flight of Romans,

20:36

and thereafter shall come the

20:38

priest heard of all around

20:41

sent by the sun from Syria

20:43

appearing, and by guile shall

20:45

he accomplish all things. And

20:48

then too the city of the sun shall offer

20:50

prayer, and round about her

20:52

shall the Persians dare the fearful

20:54

threatenings of the Phoenicians.

20:57

So, the priest sent by

20:59

the sun is Odinathus himself,

21:02

and the city of the sun is

21:04

Palmyra. And so, this

21:06

seems to be alluding to his protection

21:10

of Palmyra from the

21:12

Persians. And also the Romans

21:15

abandoning it. Exactly. So, it's our

21:18

local hero doing the job. The next

21:20

section says, this is line 209

21:22

onwards, but when two

21:25

chiefs men swift in war shall

21:27

rule the very mighty Romans,

21:30

one of them shall have the number 70, the other the

21:33

number three. Even then

21:35

the stately bull that digs the earth

21:37

with his hoofs and stirs up the dust

21:40

with his two horns shall many

21:42

ills upon a dark-skinned reptile

21:44

perpetrate, which draws

21:47

a trail with his scales and besides

21:49

himself shall perish.

21:51

So, the two chiefs swift

21:54

in war are Valerian and

21:56

Gallianus. Valerian is

21:58

the number 70.

21:59

Valerianus is number three and this

22:02

is taken from the first letters of their name

22:04

in Greek. Omicron and gamma.

22:07

How is this interpreted? Yeah,

22:09

so it's because Valerian is Woe-leri-e-aty.

22:11

There's no V sound the same way in

22:14

Greek, so it has to be Omicron, Opsilon,

22:16

Woe-leri-e-anus. And

22:19

then the dark-skinned reptile is Shapur. And

22:21

then the next section, Valerian has

22:24

been captured.

22:26

And yet after him again shall come

22:28

another fair horned stag,

22:31

hungry upon the mountains, striving

22:34

hard to feed upon the venom-shedding

22:36

beasts. Then shall a dread

22:39

and fearful lion come, sent

22:41

from the sun and breathing

22:44

forth much flame. So

22:46

the fair horned stag is Macrianus,

22:49

and the venom-shedding beasts

22:52

are the Persians. And Odinathus

22:54

is the lion sent by the sun.

22:57

So the Sipilain Oracle then says,

23:00

and then too by his shameless recklessness

23:03

shall he destroy the well-horned,

23:05

rabid stag. So that's

23:07

the defeat of Quitus by

23:10

Odinathus 225. And

23:12

the most mighty venom-shedding beast

23:14

so dread that sends forth

23:17

many piping sounds. And

23:19

the he-goat that sideways moves

23:21

along and after him fame follows.

23:25

He himself sound unhurt,

23:27

unapproachable, shall rule

23:30

the Romans, and the Persians

23:32

shall be weak. So

23:35

the venom-shedding beast here are the Persians.

23:38

The he-goat that's been suggested could be Ballista,

23:41

the Praetorian Prefect. But

23:43

the most important thing is the idea

23:46

that he, Odinathus, shall

23:48

rule the Romans, and the Persians

23:50

shall be weak. So

23:52

it's thought that this was finally completed

23:55

in the early 260s. And so

23:57

Odinathus is on the scene.

23:59

champion, not only sent

24:02

by the son Palmyra, but is also

24:05

ruling the Romans in

24:07

the region, and he is challenging

24:09

the Persians. Yeah, it doesn't

24:12

seem to show any lack of ambition. Definitely

24:14

not, definitely not. And as you said,

24:16

someone's only usurping retrospect. Goodness

24:19

knows what would have happened if he hadn't been

24:21

murdered. So he's assassinated, how

24:24

did he die? Unfortunately, he

24:26

was assassinated in 268. There

24:30

are two stories. The first

24:32

is that the murder was carried out on

24:35

the order of one of Gallianus's officials,

24:38

someone called Oradius Rufinus,

24:40

who may have been the consular governor

24:43

of Syria at the time. And

24:45

this we know thanks to the good old

24:47

anonymous continuator of Cassius Dio,

24:50

those fragmentary Greek sources. And

24:52

Rufinus claimed that Odinathus

24:55

was plotting against Gallianus.

24:57

So this was the reason why he was executed.

24:59

And in

25:02

the anonymous continuation, Gallianus

25:04

asked Rufinus why he did

25:06

this. And Rufinus said, you know, he acted

25:08

for Gallianus as good. And I quote,

25:11

and you, your majesty, do not personally carry

25:14

out what you undertake, but give orders

25:16

to your soldiers. And we are

25:18

told that Gallianus praised him for

25:20

this reply, that, you know, he was acting on

25:23

Gallianus's behalf there. An

25:26

alternative version that we find in

25:28

Zosimus and Zonaros is

25:30

that there was a plot against Odinathus

25:33

by his family members. So

25:35

much like Posthumus, he's being brought down by

25:38

people within his empire. Zosimus

25:41

says there was a conspiracy. Where

25:43

Zonaros says it was a plot by

25:45

Odinathus's nephew. The

25:48

HA, which is very negative towards Zenobia,

25:51

Odinathus's wife said it was actually

25:53

Zenobia who was behind all of this.

25:56

Now, obviously, we don't

25:58

know exactly what happened. a combination

26:00

of these things. It could be local Roman officials,

26:03

for example, working with people

26:06

in Palmyra to overthrow Odinathus.

26:09

Unfortunately, we do not have enough information

26:11

about what is taking place here.

26:13

Yeah, it all gets very sketchy.

26:15

It seems that the local plot accounts

26:18

that I was reading is the nephew doing something

26:20

wrong during a hunt. That's right. Yes,

26:22

exactly. Not following decorum

26:25

or something like that. Very obscure

26:28

or maybe being killed at a wedding. Yes,

26:30

there's one story in Sossingmas that he's celebrating

26:33

a friend's birthday. So

26:35

it does seem to be sort of some sort

26:37

of local event. I mean,

26:40

John of Antioch, who's a much later Byzantine

26:42

sources, says it was a conspiracy,

26:45

you know, formatted by Gallienus. So

26:47

I don't think

26:48

anyone really knows what happened. Perhaps

26:51

a combination of, you know, imperial

26:53

and local interests are likely

26:56

perhaps, you know, Gallienus did feel

26:58

that he was getting too big for his boots or maybe

27:00

one of his governors, you know, took the initiative

27:02

and then asked permission later, as the

27:04

anonymous continuity suggests.

27:07

So with the death of Odinathus,

27:10

then

27:11

there's a definite

27:13

change in how the region sees itself

27:16

at this point. Definitely. Zenobia,

27:19

whose Odinathus' widow wastes no time.

27:21

She has her 10 year old son, the Labithus,

27:24

immediately proclaimed King of

27:26

Kings and Rechtor

27:29

Orientus, leader of the east, like

27:31

his father. When Claudius

27:33

II succeeds Gallienus, he

27:36

treats these claims as illegitimate.

27:39

So they have not been awarded by

27:41

the Roman state and certainly King of

27:43

Kings never was, but Gallienus

27:45

had tolerated them. Oh, okay. And

27:47

so now the regime had been transformed

27:50

from being loyalist supporters to being

27:52

rebels and outcasts. Okay, so

27:55

that change sounds like it came from the Roman

27:57

perspective as we're interpreting what you

27:59

doing in Palmyra differently now. Exactly.

28:02

Exactly. We put up with it as long as it was

28:05

Odonathes, but now that you're trying to continue

28:07

it, they're not claiming Imperial authority,

28:10

but they're.

28:11

Claiming a dynastic. Like, yeah, it's definitely,

28:13

yeah, dynastic. Yeah. Now

28:15

there's new dynasty here. There's been a change of government in

28:18

Rome. Claudius II is known as

28:20

a very strong military leader. You know, he's from

28:22

the ranks, the army himself. He's going

28:24

to campaign in person. No, he's

28:26

not going to put up with insurgency

28:28

in the East.

28:29

I'm asking you to infer here in the last episode

28:32

on the Gallic Empire, then we discussed

28:34

how those in the Gallic Empire

28:36

saw themselves as Romans. They

28:38

saw

28:39

themselves as the Roman Empire,

28:42

just a different part of it, a clear

28:44

division.

28:46

Did the Palmyrans, did the people in this

28:48

region under the command,

28:51

under the rule of Odonathes see

28:53

themselves as the Roman Empire, or do you think

28:55

that they saw themselves as something separate

28:57

and distinctive?

28:59

I think they saw themselves initially

29:02

as part of Rome. I

29:04

think the evidence of the inscriptions

29:07

on the statues shows great

29:09

pride in Roman titles,

29:13

you know, being a Clarissimus, being a senator,

29:16

being consularis, having consular

29:18

rank, however, the title

29:20

of King of Kings suggests broader

29:23

ambitions that

29:25

challenge both Rome and Persia.

29:29

So one wonders if

29:31

Odonathes was really trying to make

29:34

greater moves while he was still alive and

29:36

that's what he was murdered. But

29:38

certainly

29:39

when Zenobia transfers

29:42

that into a dynastic claim

29:45

for herself and her son,

29:47

this

29:47

is perceived as a threat

29:51

to Rome and that

29:53

perhaps they're hoping for something

29:55

more. And certainly when

29:57

we look at Zenobia.

29:59

you can see how

30:02

they are trying to research at least some

30:04

measure of independence against

30:06

the Emperor Aelion.

30:08

That was Cailan Davenport, head of the Center

30:11

for Classical Studies at the Australian National

30:13

University and you've been listening to

30:15

Emperors of Rome. If you like this podcast

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You can like the Emperors of Rome on Facebook and

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you can also follow us on Twitter. Cailan

30:31

is at Dr C Davenport, I

30:33

am at Nightlight Guy and the podcast

30:35

is at Rome Podcast. This

30:38

podcast

30:38

was produced at La Trobe University in

30:40

Melbourne Australia on the traditional lands

30:43

of the Wurundjeri people. Until

30:45

the next episode I'm Matt Smith,

30:47

you've been fantastic and

30:50

thanks for listening.