Five Roman trade routes converged on Palmyra, the opal-colored jewel of the Syrian Desert. The Romans requested that Zenobia and Odainat, Palmyra’s royal duo, protect the caravans from marauders. Their desert-trained armies also held the Persian army to their own borders. Zenobia and Odainat did what the Romans could not.
Power begets paranoia, and the Romans feared the growth of the Palmyran couple’s wealth, status, and success. The protectors of Roman trade routes, in Emperor Gallienus’ mind, became the enemy.
Zenobia worried the Romans the most. First, the Romans were chauvinists and didn’t understand this female. She was as adept at training an army and leading that army as her husband. Both had to be stopped. Odainat, along with his oldest son, was murdered at his birthday party amidst the drunken celebrants. Odainat’s blood flowed across the marble-floored atrium and colored the shallow pool water maroon. Even before his funeral, the Romans accused Zenobia of her husband’s death.
Some historians believe Zenobia wanted their son, Vaballathus, to rule rather than her stepson, Hairan, and thus chose Odainat’s birthday as his death day. Most historians believe the Romans were the culprits because they feared Palmyra’s royal couple with their combined armies.
When an author writes fiction, incidences are fabricated. However, when one writes historical fiction, the fabrication must be supported by historical logic. In my novel Zenobia, I looked at three factors for Zenobia and the Romans – goal, motivation, and conflict. Her goal could’ve been to secure the throne for her young son and then she’d be regent. But she sat on the throne. She had an army. What was her motivation? Control? She had much control already. She didn’t need conflict to keep her happy. Zenobia had conflict with the Persians –why create more? Nothing in her history suggested she’d kill for gain except on the field of battle.
What about the Romans? Their goal was to eliminate competition. Assassination was a quick solution. It wasn’t as if the Romans were strangers to intrigue and murder. Motivation? To stay on top. Conflict? Emperor Aurelian’s concern was that the Palmyrans were more dangerous than the Persians. Unfortunately for Aurelian, he created one angry warrior. Zenobia did what any woman would do. She gathered her troops and sought revenge for Odainat’s murder. We’ll take up the resulting carnage in my next blog.
This is Part I of a two-part series. Read Part II.
Haley Elizabeth Garwood has penned four historical novels on women warriors. Learn more at her Web site.
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