Vabalathus

Antoninianus struck by Vaballathus. The coinage of Vaballathus also shows, at the beginning, portraits of Aurelian. This means that Aurelian and Vaballathus had recognized each other.

Lucius Iulius (Julius) Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus Athenodorus (266-273) was a king of the Palmyrene Empire. Vaballathus 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.

Life

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 infant Vaballathus 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 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 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 Vaballathus and adopted the titles of augusta and augustus respectively.

The end of Vaballathus rule came when Aurelian conquered and sacked Palmyra (272/3) and took Vaballathus and his mother back to Rome as hostages. According to Zosimus, Vaballathus died on the way to Rome.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vaballathus

• Coinage of Vaballathus

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