58 Facts About Odaenathus

Septimius Odaenathus was the founder king of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria.

Odaenathus elevated the status of his kingdom from a regional center subordinate to Rome into a formidable state in South-West Asia.

Odaenathus was born into an aristocratic Palmyrene family that had received Roman citizenship in the 190s under the Severan dynasty.

Odaenathus was the son of Hairan, the descendant of Nasor.

Odaenathus remained on the side of Rome; assuming the title of king, he led the Palmyrene army, attacking the Persians before they could cross the Euphrates to the eastern bank, inflicting a considerable defeat.

Odaenathus took the side of Emperor Gallienus, the son and successor of Valerian, who was facing the attempted usurpation of Fulvius Macrianus.

Odaenathus was rewarded with many exceptional titles by the Emperor, who formalized his self-established position in the East.

Odaenathus then took the offensive into the heartland of Persia, and arrived at the walls of its capital, Ctesiphon.

The city withstood the short siege but Odaenathus reclaimed the entirety of the Roman lands occupied by the Persians since the beginning of their invasions in 252.

Odaenathus celebrated his victories and declared himself "King of Kings", crowning his son Herodianus as co-king.

Odaenathus observed all due formalities towards the Emperor, but in practice ruled as an independent monarch.

Odaenathus was assassinated in 267 during or immediately after the Anatolian campaign, together with Herodianus.

Odaenathus was succeeded by his son Vaballathus under the regency of his widow Zenobia, who used the power established by Odaenathus to forge the Palmyrene Empire in 270.

Odaenathus' genealogy is known from a stone block in Palmyra with a sepulchral inscription that mentions the building of a tomb and records the genealogy of the builder: Odaenathus, son of Hairan, son of Wahb Allat, son of Nasor.

In Rabbinic sources, Odaenathus is named "Papa ben Nasor" ; the meaning of the name "Papa" and how Odaenathus earned it is unclear.

The fifth-century historian Zosimus asserted that Odaenathus descended from "illustrious forebears", but the position of the family in Palmyra is debated; it was probably part of the wealthy mercantile class.

The historians Franz Altheim and Ruth Stiehl suggested that Odaenathus was part of a new elite of Bedouins driven from their home east of the Euphrates by the aggressive Sassanian dynasty after 220.

Two sculpted heads from Palmyra, one preserved in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum and the other in the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul, were identified by the archaeologist Harald Ingholt as representing Odaenathus based on their monumentality and regal style.

Traditional scholarship, based on the sepulchral inscription from Odaenathus' tomb, believed the builder to be an ancestor of the king and he was given the designation "Odaenathus I".

The name of King Odaenathus' father is Hairan as attested in many inscriptions.

Therefore, it is certain that King Odaenathus was the builder of the tomb, ruling out the existence of "Odaenathus I".

Odaenathus descended from an aristocratic family, albeit not a royal one as the city was ruled by a council and had no tradition of hereditary monarchy.

The office was created for Odaenathus, and was not a usual title in the Roman Empire, and not a part of Palmyrene government traditions.

The sixth-century historian Peter the Patrician wrote that Odaenathus approached Shapur I to negotiate Palmyrene interests but was rebuffed and the gifts sent to the Persians were thrown into the river.

Hartmann concluded that Odaenathus first became a ras in the 240s, then a senator in 250.

The clarissimus consularis title could be a mere honorific or a sign that Odaenathus was appointed as the legatus of Phoenice.

However, the title was sometimes used in Syria to denote the provincial governor and the archaeologist William Waddington proposed that Odaenathus was indeed the governor of Phoenice.

Odaenathus defeated the Persians, expelling Shapur I from the province of Syria.

The Emesans killed Quietus as Odaenathus approached the city, while Balista was captured and executed by the King in autumn 261.

Odaenathus was granted many titles by the Emperor but those honors are debated among scholars:.

Regardless of his titles, Odaenathus controlled the Roman East with the approval of Gallienus, who could do little but formalize Odaenathus' self-achieved status and settle for his formal loyalty.

Odaenathus' authority extended from the Pontic coast in the north to Palestine in the south.

The first onslaught was aimed at Nisibis, which Odaenathus regained but sacked, since the inhabitants had been sympathetic towards the Persian occupation.

Once at Ctesiphon, Odaenathus immediately began a siege of the well-fortified winter residence of the Persian kings; severe damage was inflicted upon the surrounding areas during several battles with Persian troops.

Odaenathus headed north along the Euphrates carrying with him numerous prisoners and much booty.

Odaenathus sent the captives to Rome, and by the end of 263 Gallienus assumed the title Persicus maximus and held a triumph in Rome.

In 263, after his return, Odaenathus assumed the title of King of Kings of the East, and crowned his son Herodianus as co-King of Kings.

Contemporary evidence for Odaenathus bearing the title of King of Kings is lacking; all firmly dated inscriptions attesting Odaenathus with the title were commissioned after his death, including one that is dated to 271.

However, Herodianus died with his father, and since he is directly attested as "King of Kings" during his father's lifetime, it is unimaginable that Odaenathus was simply a king while his son was the King of Kings.

Odaenathus' son was crowned with a diadem and a tiara; the choice of Antioch on the Orontes was probably meant to demonstrate that the Palmyrene monarchs were now the successors of the Seleucid and Iranian rulers who had controlled Syria and Mesopotamia in the past.

The "King of Kings" title was probably not aimed at the position of the Roman emperor but at Shapur I; Odaenathus was declaring that he, not the Persian monarch, was the legitimate King of Kings of the East.

Odaenathus' intentions are questioned by some historians, such as Drinkwater, who attributed the attempted negotiations with Shapur I to Odaenathus' quest for power.

However, in contrast to the norm of this period when powerful generals frequently proclaimed themselves emperors, Odaenathus chose not to attempt to usurp Gallienus' throne.

Odaenathus respected Gallienus' authority to appoint provincial governors, but dealt swiftly with opposition: the Anonymus post Dionem, usually associated with the sixth-century historian Eustathius of Epiphania or Peter the Patrician, mentions the story of Kyrinus, or Quirinus, a Roman official, who showed dissatisfaction with Odaenathus' authority over the Persian frontier, and was immediately executed by the King.

In general, Odaenathus' actions were connected to his and Palmyra's interests only.

Odaenathus' status seems to have been, as Watson puts it, "something between powerful subject, independent vassal king and rival emperor".

Odaenathus behaved as a sovereign monarch; outside his kingdom of Palmyra, he had overall administrative and military authority over the provincial governors of the Roman eastern provinces.

In parallel to the Iranian practice of making the government a family enterprise, Odaenathus bestowed his own gentilicium upon his leading generals and officials such as Zabdas, Zabbai and Worod.

The authority of Odaenathus did not appease all factions in Syria and the glorification of the King in the oracle could be a politically sponsored propaganda aimed at expanding Odaenathus' support.

Odaenathus minted coinage only in the name of Gallienus, and produced no coins bearing his own image.

How many children Odaenathus had with his first wife is unknown and only one is attested:.

Possible descendants of Odaenathus living in later centuries are reported: Lucia Septimia Patabiniana Balbilla Tyria Nepotilla Odaenathiana is known through a dedication dating to the late third or early fourth century inscribed on a tombstone erected by a wet nurse to her "sweetest and most loving mistress".

Odaenathus was succeeded by his son, the ten-year-old Vaballathus, under the regency of Zenobia; Hairan II probably died soon after his father, as only Vaballathus succeeded to the throne.

Odaenathus left Palmyra the premier power in the East, and his actions laid the foundation of Palmyrene strength which culminated in the establishment of the Palmyrene Empire in 270.

Hero cults were not common in Palmyra, but the unprecedented position and achievements of Odaenathus might have given rise to such a practice: a mosaic excavated in Palmyra depicts the Greek myth of Bellerophon defeating the Chimera on the back of Pegasus in one panel, and a man in Palmyrene military outfit riding a horse and shooting at two tigers, with an eagle flying above in the other.

Gawlikowski proposed that Odaenathus is heroized as Bellerophon, and that the archer is a depiction of Odaenathus fighting the Persians depicted as tigers.

The successes of Odaenathus are treated sceptically by a number of modern scholars.

The historian Andreas Alfoldi concluded that Odaenathus started his wars with Persia by attacking the retreating Persian army at Edessa in 260.