Settlements > Palmyra

Palmyra

Background

Palmyra (/ˌpælˈmaɪrə/; Aramaic: ܬܕܡܘܪܬܐ‎‎ Tedmurtā; Arabic: تدمر‎‎ Tadmor) is an ancient Semitic city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and the city was first documented in the early second millennium BC. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century AD.The city grew wealthy from trade caravans; the Palmyrenes were renowned merchants who established colonies along the Silk Road and operated throughout the Roman Empire. Palmyra's wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel, and the distinctive tower tombs. The Palmyrenes were a mix of Amorites, Arameans, and Arabs. The city's social structure was tribal, and its inhabitants spoke Palmyrene (a dialect of Aramaic); Greek was used for commercial and diplomatic purposes. The culture of Palmyra was influenced by Greco-Roman culture and produced distinctive art and architecture that combined eastern and western traditions. The city's inhabitants worshiped local deities and Mesopotamian and Arab gods.By the third century AD, Palmyra was a prosperous regional center reaching the apex of its power in the 260s, when Palmyrene King Odaenathus defeated Persian Emperor Shapur I. The king was succeeded by regent Queen Zenobia, who rebelled against Rome and established the Palmyrene Empire. In 273, Roman emperor Aurelian destroyed the city, which was later restored by Diocletian at a reduced size. The Palmyrenes converted to Christianity during the fourth century and to Islam in the second half of the first millennium, after which the Palmyrene and Greek languages were replaced by Arabic.Before 273 AD, Palmyra enjoyed autonomy and was attached to the Roman province of Syria, having its political organization influenced by the Greek city-state model during the first two centuries AD. The city became a Roman colonia during the third century, leading to the incorporation of Roman governing institutions, before becoming a monarchy in 260. Following its destruction in 273, Palmyra became a minor center under the Byzantines and later empires.Etymology[edit]The earliest-attested native name of the city was the Semitic language term "Tadmor", which first appeared in the early second millennium BC.[2] The word's etymology is vague; the philologist Albert Schultens argued that it derived from the Semitic word for "dates" (tamar),[note 1][4] thus referring to the palm trees that surrounded the city.[note 2][5]The name "Palmyra" appeared during the early first century AD in the works of Pliny the Elder,[6] and was used throughout the Greco-Roman world.[4] It is generally believed that "Palmyra" derives from "Tadmor" and two possibilities have been presented by linguists; one view holds that Palmyra was an alteration of Tadmor.[4] According to Schultens, the Romans altered the name from "Tadmor" to "Talmura", and afterward to "Palmura" (from the Latin word "palma", meaning palm),[2] in reference to the city's palm trees. Then the name reached its final form "Palmyra".[7] Other philologists, such as Jean Starcky, consider Palmyra to be a translation of "Tadmor" (assuming that it meant palm), which had derived from the Greek word for palm, "Palame".[2][5]The linguist Michael Patrick O'Connor suggested that the names "Palmyra" and "Tadmor" originated in the Hurrian language.[2] As evidence, he cited the inexplicability of alterations to the theorized roots of both names (represented in the addition of -d- to tamar and -ra- to palame).[5] According to this theory, "Tadmor" derives from the Hurrian word tad ("to love") with the addition of the typical Hurrian mid vowel rising (mVr) formant mar.[8] Similarly, according to this theory, "Palmyra" derives from the Hurrian word pal ("to know") using the same mVr formant (mar).[8]Location and city layout[edit]The northern Palmyrene mountain beltPalmyra is 215 km (134 mi) northeast of the Syrian capital, Damascus,[9] in an oasis surrounded by palms (of which twenty varieties have been reported).[5][10] Two mountain ranges overlook the city; the northern Palmyrene mountain belt from the north and the southern Palmyrene mountains from the southwest.[11] In the south and the east Palmyra is exposed to the Syrian Desert.[11] A small wadi (al-Qubur) crosses the area, flowing from the western hills past the city before disappearing in the eastern gardens of the oasis.[12] South of the wadi is a spring, Efqa.[13] Pliny the Elder described the town in the 70s AD as famous for its desert location, the richness of its soil,[14] and the springs surrounding it, which made agriculture and herding possible.[note 3][14]Layout[edit]Palmyra from the air, outlined in redPalmyra's landmarksPalmyra began as a small settlement near the Efqa spring on the southern bank of Wadi al-Qubur.[16] The settlement, known as the Hellenistic settlement, had residences expanding to the wadi's northern bank during the first century.[12] Although the city's walls originally enclosed an extensive area on both banks of the wadi, the walls rebuilt during Diocletian's reign surrounded only the northern-bank section.[12]Most of the city's monumental projects were built on the wadi's northern bank.[17] Among them is the Temple of Bel, on a tell which was the site of an earlier temple (known as the Hellenistic temple).[18] However, excavation supports the theory that the tell was originally located on the southern bank, and the wadi was diverted south of the tell to incorporate the temple into Palmyra's late first and early second century urban organization on the north bank.[19]Also north of the wadi was the Great Colonnade, Palmyra's 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68 mi) main street,[20] which extended from the Temple of Bel in the east,[21] to the Funerary Temple no.86 in the city's western part.[22][23] It had a monumental arch in its eastern section,[24] and a tetrapylon stands in the center.[25]The Baths of Diocletian, built on the ruins of an earlier building which might have been the royal palace,[26] were on the left side of the colonnade.[27] Nearby were the Temple of Baalshamin,[28] residences,[29] and the Byzantine churches, which include a 1,500-year-old church (Palmyra's fourth, and believed to be the largest ever discovered in Syria).[9] The church columns were estimated to be 6 metres (20 ft) tall, and its base measured 12 by 24 metres (39 by 79 ft).[9] A small amphitheatre was found in the church's courtyard.[9]The Temple of Nabu and the Roman theater were built on the colonnade's southern side.[30] Behind the theater were a small senate building and the large Agora, with the remains of a triclinium (banquet room) and the Tariff Court.[31] A cross street at the western end of the colonnade leads to the Camp of Diocletian,[20][32] built by Sosianus Hierocles (the Roman governor of Syria).[33] Nearby are the Temple of Al-lāt and the Damascus Gate.[34]People, language and society[edit]Further information: Palmyrene dialect and Palmyrene alphabetBust of a deceased woman, AqmatPalmyrene funerary portraitAt its height during the reign of Zenobia, Palmyra had more than 200,000 residents.[35] Its earliest known inhabitants were the Amorites in the early second millennium BC,[36] and by the end of the millennium Arameans were mentioned as inhabiting the area.[37][38] Arabs arrived in the city in the late first millennium BC.[39] The soldiers of the sheikh Zabdibel, who aided the Seleucids in the battle of Raphia (217 BC), were described as Arabs; Zabdibel and his men were not actually identified as Palmyrenes in the texts, but the name "Zabdibel" is a Palmyrene name leading to the conclusion that the sheikh hailed from Palmyra.[40] The Arab newcomers were assimilated by the earlier inhabitants, used Palmyrene as a mother tongue,[41] and formed a significant segment of the aristocracy.[42][43]The city also had a Jewish community; inscriptions in Palmyrene from the necropolis of Beit She'arim in Lower Galilee confirm the burial of Palmyrene Jews.[44] Occasionally and rarely, members of the Palmyrene families took Greek names while ethnic Greeks were few; the majority of people with Greek names, who did not belong to one of the city's families, were freed slaves.[45] The Palmyrenes seems to have disliked the Greeks, considered them foreigners, and restricted their settlement in the city.[45]Alphabetic inscription on stoneAlphabetic inscription in Palmyrene alphabetUntil the late third century AD, Palmyrenes spoke a dialect of Aramaic and used the Palmyrene alphabet.[note 4][47][48] The use of Latin was minimal, but Greek was used by wealthier members of society for commercial and diplomatic purposes,[49] and it became the dominant language during the Byzantine era.[50] After the Arab conquest, Greek was replaced by Arabic,[50] from which a Palmyrene dialect evolved.[51]Palmyra's society was a mixture of the different peoples inhabiting the city,[52][53] which is seen in Aramaic, Arabic and Amorite clan names.[note 5][26][54] Palmyra was a tribal community but due to the lack of sources, an understanding of the nature of Palmyrene tribal structure is not possible.[55] Thirty clans have been documented;[56] five of which were identified as tribes (Phyle (φυλή)) comprising several sub-clans.[note 6][57] By the time of Nero Palmyra had four tribes, each residing in an area of the city bearing its name.[58] Three of the tribes were the Komare, Mattabol and Ma'zin; the fourth tribe is uncertain, but was probably the Mita.[58][59] In time, the four tribes became highly civic and tribal lines blurred;[note 7][58] by the second century clan identity lost its importance, and it disappeared during the third century.[note 8][58] During the Umayyad period Palmyra was mainly inhabited by the Kalb tribe.[61] Benjamin of Tudela recorded the existence of 2,000 Jews in the city during the twelfth century.[62] Palmyra declined after its destruction by Timur in 1400,[63] and was a village of 6,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century; although surrounded by Bedouin, the villagers preserved their dialect.[51] Palmyra maintained the life of a small settlement until its relocation in 1932.[64]Culture[edit]Square burial chambers, with reliefs of the people buriedLoculi (burial chambers)Palmyra had a distinctive culture,[65] based on a local Semitic tradition,[66] and influenced by Greece and Rome.[note 9][68] To appear better integrated into the Roman Empire, some Palmyrenes adopted Greco-Roman names, either alone or in addition to a second native name.[69] The extent of Greek influence on Palmyra's culture is debated.[70] Scholars interpreted the Palmyrenes' Greek practices differently; many see those characters as a superficial layer over a local essence.[71] Palmyra's senate was an example; although Palmyrene texts written in Greek described it as a "boule" (a Greek institution), the senate was a gathering of non-elected tribal elders (a Near-Eastern assembly tradition).[72] Others view Palmyra's culture as a fusion of local and Greco-Roman traditions.[73]The culture of Persia influenced Palmyrene military tactics, dress and court ceremonies.[74] Palmyra had no large libraries or publishing facilities, and it lacked an intellectual movement characteristic of other Eastern cities such as Edessa or Antioch.[75] Although Zenobia opened her court to academics, the only notable scholar documented was Cassius Longinus.[75]Elaborate stone tombInterior of the Tower of Elahbel, in 2010Palmyra had a large agora.[note 10] However, unlike the Greek Agoras (public gathering places shared with public buildings), Palmyra's agora resembled an Eastern caravanserai more than a hub of public life.[77][78] The Palmyrenes buried their dead in elaborate family mausoleums,[79] most with interior walls forming rows of burial chambers (loculi) in which the dead, laying at full length, were placed.[80][81] A relief of the person interred formed part of the wall's decoration, acting as a headstone.[81] Sarcophagi appeared in the late second century and were used in some of the tombs.[82] Many burial monuments contained fully dressed, bejeweled mummies,[83] embalmed in a method similar to that used in Ancient Egypt.[84]Art and architecture[edit]Although Palmyrene art was related to that of Greece, it had a distinctive style unique to the middle-Euphrates region.[85] Palmyrene art is well represented by the bust reliefs which seal the openings of its burial chambers.[85] The reliefs emphasized clothing, jewelry and a frontal representation of the person depicted,[85][86] characteristics which can be seen as a forerunner of Byzantine art.[85] According to Michael Rostovtzeff, Palmyra's art was influenced by Parthian art.[87] However, the origin of frontality that characterized Palmyrene and Parthian arts is a controversial issue; while Parthian origin has been suggested (by Daniel Schlumberger),[88] Michael Avi-Yonah contends that it was a local Syrian tradition that influenced Parthian art.[89] Little painting, and none of the bronze statues of prominent citizens (which stood on brackets on the main columns of the Great Colonnade), have survived.[90] A damaged frieze and other sculptures from the Temple of Bel, many removed to museums in Syria and abroad, suggest the city's public monumental sculpture.[90]Many surviving funerary busts reached Western museums during the 19th century.[91] Palmyra provided the most convenient Eastern examples bolstering an art-history controversy at the turn of the 20th century: to what extent Eastern influence on Roman art replaced idealized classicism with frontal, hieratic and simplified figures (as believed by Josef Strzygowski and others).[90][92] This transition is seen as a response to cultural changes in the Western Roman Empire, rather than artistic influence from the East.[90] Palmyrene bust reliefs, unlike Roman sculptures, are rudimentary portraits; although many reflect high quality individuality, the majority vary little across figures of similar age and gender.[90]Like its art, Palmyra's architecture was influenced by the Greco-Roman style, while preserving local elements (best seen in the Temple of Bel).[note 11][93][96] Enclosed by a massive wall flanked with traditional Roman columns,[96][97] Bel's sanctuary plan was primarily Semitic.[96] Similar to the Second Temple, the sanctuary consisted of a large courtyard with the deity's main shrine off-center against its entrance (a plan preserving elements of the temples of Ebla and Ugarit).[96][98]Site[edit]Cemeteries[edit]Brick tombs on a hillsideValley of Tombs in 2010Tomb at the bottom of a staircaseUnderground tombFurther information: Tower of ElahbelWest of the ancient walls, the Palmyrenes built a number of large-scale funerary monuments which now form the Valley of Tombs,[99] a 1-kilometre-long (0.62 mi) necropolis.[100] The more than 50 monuments were primarily tower-shaped and up to four stories high.[101] Towers were replaced by funerary temples in the first half of the second century AD, as the most recent tower is dated to 128 AD.[22] The city had other cemeteries in the north, southwest and southeast, where the tombs are primarily hypogea (underground).[102][103]Notable structures[edit]Public buildings[edit]Four columns at the entrance of a buildingBaths of DiocletianFurther information: Camp of Diocletian and Roman Theatre at PalmyraThe senate building is largely ruined.[31] It is a small building that consists of a peristyle courtyard and a chamber that has an apse at one end and rows of seats around it.[56]Much of the Baths of Diocletian are ruined and do not survive above the level of the foundations.[104] The complex's entrance is marked by four massive Egyptian granite columns each 1.3 metres (4 ft 3 in) in diameter, 12.5 metres (41 ft) high and weigh 20 tonnes.[31] Inside, the outline of a bathing pool surrounded by a colonnade of Corinthian columns is still visible in addition to an octagonal room that served as a dressing room containing a drain in its center.[31]The Agora of Palmyra is part of a complex that also includes the tariff court and the triclinium, built in the second half of the first century AD.[105] The agora is a massive 71 by 84 metres (233 by 276 ft) structure with 11 entrances.[31] Inside the agora, 200 columnar bases that used to hold statues of prominent citizens were found.[31] The inscriptions on the bases allowed an understanding of the order by which the statues were grouped; the eastern side was reserved for senators, the northern side for Palmyrene officials, the western side for soldiers and the southern side for caravan chiefs.[31]The Tariff Court is a large rectangular enclosure south of the agora and sharing its northern wall with it.[106] Originally, the entrance of the court was a massive vestibule in its southwestern wall.[106] However, the entrance was blocked by the construction of a defensive wall and the court was entered through three doors from the Agora.[106] The court gained its name by containing a 5 meters long stone slab that had the Palmyrene tax law inscribed on it.[107]The Triclinium of the Agora is located to the northwestern corner of the Agora and can host up to 40 person.[108][109] It is a small 12 by 15 metres (39 by 49 ft) hall decorated with Greek key motifs that run in a continuous line halfway up the wall.[110] The building was probably used by the rulers of the city;[108] Henri Arnold Seyrig proposed that it was a small temple before being turned into a triclinium or banqueting hall.[109]Temples[edit]The statue of Al-lāt (equated with Athena) found in its temple (destroyed in 2015)The Temple of Bel was dedicated in 32 AD;[111] it consisted of a large precinct lined by porticos; it had a rectangular shape and was oriented north-south.[112] The exterior wall was 205-metre (673 ft) long with a propylaea,[113] and the cella stood on a podium in the middle of the enclosure.[114]The Temple of Baalshamin dates to the late 2nd century BC in its earliest phases;[115] its altar was built in 115 AD,[98] and it was substantially rebuilt in 131 AD.[116] It consisted of a central cella and two colonnaded courtyards north and south of the central structure.[117] A vestibule consisting of six columns preceded the cella which had its side walls decorated with pilasters in Corinthian order.[118]The Temple of Nabu is largely ruined.[119] The temple was Eastern in its plan; the outer enclosure's propylaea led to a 20 by 9 metres (66 by 30 ft) podium through a portico of which the bases of the columns survives.[117] The peristyle cella opened onto an outdoor altar.[117]The Temple of Al-lāt is largely ruined with only a podium, a few columns and the door frame remaining.[32] Inside the compound, a giant lion relief (Lion of Al-lāt) was excavated and in its original form, was a relief protruding from the temple compound's wall.[118][120]The ruined Temple of Baal-hamon was located on the top of Jabal al-Muntar hill which oversees the spring of Efqa.[121] Constructed in 89 AD, it consisted of a cella and a vestibule with two columns.[121] The temple had a defensive tower attached to it;[122] a mosaic depicting the sanctuary was excavated and it revealed that both the cella and the vestibule were decorated with merlons.[122]Other buildings[edit]Ruined buildingThe Funerary Temple no.86The Great Colonnade was Palmyra's 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68 mi) main street; most of the columns date to the second century AD and each is 9.50 metres (31.2 ft) high.[20]The Funerary Temple no.86 (also known as the House Tomb) is located at the western end of the Great Colonnade.[22][123] It was built in the third century AD and has a portico of six columns and vine patterns carvings.[26][124] Inside the chamber, steps leads down to a vault crypt.[124] The shrine might have been connected to the royal family as it is the only tomb inside the city's walls.[26]The Tetrapylon was erected during the renovations of Diocletian at the end of the third century.[64] It is a square platform and each corner contains a grouping of four columns.[30] Each column group supports a 150 tons cornice and contains a pedestal in its center that originally carried a statue.[30] Out of sixteen columns, only one is original while the rest are from reconstruction work by the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities in 1963, using concrete.[124] The original columns were brought from Egypt and carved out of pink granite.[30]The city's current walls were erected during the reign of Diocletian whose fortification of the city enclosed a much smaller area than the original pre-273 city.[125] The Diocletianic walls had protective towers and fortified gateways.[125]The pre-273 walls were narrow and while encircling the whole city, they do not seem to have provided real protection against an invasion.[125] No signs of towers or fortified gates exist and it cannot be proven that the walls enclosed the city as many gaps appears to have never been defended.[125] The earlier walls seem to have been designed to protect the city against Bedouins and to provide a costume barrier.[125]History[edit]Former spring, with stepsEfqa spring, which dried up in 1994[126]The site at Palmyra provided evidence for a Neolithic settlement near Efqa,[127] with stone tools dated to 7500 BC.[128] Archaeoacoustics in the tell beneath the Temple of Bel indicated traces of cultic activity dated to 2300 BC.[11][50][129]Early period[edit]Palmyra entered the historical record during the Bronze Age around 2000 BC, when Puzur-Ishtar the Tadmorean (Palmyrene) agreed to a contract at an Assyrian trading colony in Kultepe.[128] It was mentioned next in the Mari tablets as a stop for trade caravans and nomadic tribes, such as the Suteans.[52] King Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria passed through the area on his way to the Mediterranean at the beginning of the 18th century BC;[130] by then, Palmyra was the easternmost point of the kingdom of Qatna.[131] Palmyra was part of the kingdom of Amurru in the 14th century BC,[132] and was mentioned in a 13th-century BC tablet discovered at Emar, which recorded the names of two "Tadmorean" witnesses.[52] At the beginning of the 11th century BC, King Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria recorded his defeat of the "Arameans" of "Tadmar".[52]The Hebrew Bible (Second Book of Chronicles 8:4) records a city by the name "Tadmor" as a desert city built (or fortified) by King Solomon of Israel;[133] Flavius Josephus mentions the Greek name "Palmyra", attributing its founding to Solomon in Book VIII of his Antiquities of the Jews.[116] Later Islamic traditions attribute the city's founding to Solomon's Jinn.[134] The association of Palmyra with Solomon is a conflation of "Tadmor" and a city built by Solomon in Judea and known as "Tamar" in the Books of Kings (1 Kings 9:18).[115] The biblical description of "Tadmor" and its buildings does not fit archaeological findings in Palmyra, which was a small settlement during Solomon's reign in the 10th century BC.[115]Hellenistic and Roman periods[edit]interior of a templeThe Temple of Baalshamin's interior (destroyed in 2015)During the Hellenistic period under the Seleucids (between 312 and 64 BC), Palmyra became a prosperous settlement owing allegiance to the Seleucid king.[115][135] In 217 BC, a Palmyrene force led by Zabdibel joined the army of King Antiochus III in the Battle of Raphia which ended in a Seleucid defeat by Ptolemaic Egypt.[39] In the middle of the Hellenistic era, Palmyra, formerly south of the al-Qubur wadi, began to expand beyond its northern bank.[19] By the late second century BC, the tower tombs in the Palmyrene Valley of Tombs and the city temples (most notably, the temples of Baalshamin, Al-lāt and the Hellenistic temple) began to be built.[18][39][115]In 64 BC the Roman Republic annexed the Seleucid kingdom, and the Roman general Pompey established the province of Syria.[39] Palmyra was left independent,[39] trading with Rome and Parthia but belonging to neither.[136] The earliest known Palmyrene inscription is dated to around 44 BC;[41] Palmyra was still a minor sheikhdom, offering water to caravans which occasionally took the desert route on which it was located.[137] However, according to Appian Palmyra was wealthy enough for Mark Antony to send a force to conquer it in 41 BC.[136] The Palmyrenes evacuated to Parthian lands beyond the eastern bank of the Euphrates,[136] which they prepared to defend.[41]Autonomous Palmyrene region[edit]Temple ruinsCella of the Temple of Bel (destroyed in 2015)Well-preserved Roman amphitheaterPalmyra's theaterRuins, with arches and columnsArch of Triumph in the eastern section of Palmyra's colonnade (destroyed in 2015)Palmyra became part of the Roman Empire when it was annexed and paid tribute early in the reign of Tiberius, around 14 AD.[note 12][39][138] The Romans included Palmyra in the province of Syria,[138] and defined the region's boundaries; a boundary marker laid by Roman governor Silanus was found 75 kilometres (47 mi) northwest of the city at Khirbet el-Bilaas.[139] A marker at the city's southwestern border was found at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi,[140] and its eastern border extended to the Euphrates valley.[140] This region included numerous villages subordinate to the center such as al-Qaryatayn (35 other settlements have been identified by 2012).[141][142][143] The Roman imperial period brought great prosperity to the city, which enjoyed a privileged status under the empire—retaining much of its internal autonomy,[39] being ruled by a council,[144] and incorporating many Greek city-state (polis) institutions into its government.[note 13][145]The earliest Palmyrene text attesting a Roman presence in the city dates to 18 AD, when the Roman general Germanicus tried to develop a friendly relationship with Parthia; he sent the Palmyrene Alexandros to Mesene, a Parthian vassal kingdom.[note 14][148] This was followed by the arrival of the Roman legion Legio X Fretensis the following year.[note 15][150] Roman authority was minimal during the first century AD, although tax collectors were resident,[151] and a road connecting Palmyra and Sura was built in 75 AD.[note 16][152] The Romans used Palmyrene soldiers,[153] but (unlike typical Roman cities) no local magistrates or prefects are recorded in the city.[152] Palmyra saw intensive construction during the first century, including the city's first walled fortifications and the Temple of Bel (completed and dedicated in 32 AD).[111][150] During the first century Palmyra developed from a minor desert caravan station into a leading trading center,[note 17][137] with Palmyrene merchants establishing colonies in surrounding trade centers.[148]Palmyrene trade reached its apex during the second century,[155] aided by two factors; the first was a trade route built by Palmyrenes,[14] and protected by garrisons at major locations, including a garrison in Dura-Europos manned in 117 AD.[156] The second was the Roman annexation of the Nabataean capital Petra in 106,[39] shifting control over southern trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula from the Nabataeans to Palmyra.[note 18][39]In 129 Palmyra was visited by Hadrian, who named it "Hadriane Palmyra" and made it a free city.[158][159] Hadrian promoted Hellenism throughout the empire,[160] and Palmyra's urban expansion was modeled on that of Greece.[160] This led to new projects, including the theatre, the colonnade and the Temple of Nabu.[160] Roman authority in Palmyra was reinforced in 167, when the cavalry Ala I Thracum Herculiana garrison was moved to the city.[note 19][163] By the end of the second century, urban development diminished after the city's building projects peaked.[164]In the 190s, Palmyra was assigned to the province of Phoenice, newly created by the Severan dynasty.[165] Toward the end of the second century, Palmyra began a steady transition from a traditional Greek city-state to a monarchy due to the increasing militarization of the city and the deteriorating economic situation;[166] the Severan ascension to the imperial throne in Rome played a major role in Palmyra's transition:[164]The Severan-led Roman–Parthian War, from 194 to 217, influenced regional security and affected the city's trade.[167][168] Bandits began attacking caravans by 199, leading Palmyra to strengthen its military presence.[167] The city devoted more energy to protecting the Roman east than to commerce, and its importance increased.[169]The new dynasty favored the city,[167] stationing the Cohors I Flavia Chalcidenorum garrison there by 206.[170] Caracalla made Palmyra a colonia between 213 and 216, replacing many Greek institutions with Roman constitutional ones.[166] Severus Alexander, emperor from 222 to 235, visited Palmyra in 229.[167][171]Palmyrene kingdom[edit]See also: List of Palmyrene monarchsBust of a bearded man wearing a wreathBust, presumably of Odenaethus; it depicts a man wearing a laurel wreath, which suggests a Roman-style rulerThe rise of the Sasanian Empire in Persia considerably damaged Palmyrene trade.[172] The Sasanians disbanded Palmyrene colonies in their lands,[172] and began a war against the Roman empire.[173] In an inscription dated to 252 Odaenathus appears bearing the title of exarchos (lord) of Palmyra.[174] The weakness of the Roman empire and the constant Persian danger were probably the reasons behind the Palmyrene council's decision to elect a lord for the city in order for him to lead a strengthened army.[175] Odaenathus approached Shapur I of Persia to request him to guarantee Palmyrene interests in Persia, but was rebuffed.[176] In 260 the Emperor Valerian fought Shapur at the Battle of Edessa, but was defeated and captured.[176] One of Valerian's officers, Macrianus Major, his sons Quietus and Macrianus, and the prefect Balista rebelled against Valerian's son Gallienus, usurping imperial power in Syria.[177]Persian wars[edit]Odaenathus formed an army of Palmyrenes and Syrian peasants against Shapur.[note 20][176] According to the Augustan History, Odaenathus declared himself king prior to the battle.[179] The Palmyrene leader won a decisive victory near the banks of the Euphrates later in 260 forcing the Persians to retreat.[177] In 261 Odaenathus marched against the remaining usurpers in Syria, defeating and killing Quietus and Balista.[177] As a reward, he received the title Imperator Totius Orientis ("Governor of the East") from Gallienus,[180] and ruled Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia and Anatolia's eastern regions as the imperial representative.[181][182] Palmyra itself remained officially part of the empire but Palmyrene inscriptions started to describe it as a "metrocolonia", indicating that the city's status was higher than normal Roman colonias.[183] In practice, Palmyra shifted from a provincial city to a de facto allied kingdom.[184]In 262 Odaenathus launched a new campaign against Shapur,[185] reclaiming the rest of Roman Mesopotamia (most importantly, the cities of Nisibis and Carrhae), sacking the Jewish city of Nehardea,[note 21][186][187] and besieging the Persian capital Ctesiphon.[188][189] Following his victory, the Palmyrene monarch assumed the title King of Kings.[note 22][192] Later, Odaenathus crowned his son Hairan I as co-King of Kings near Antioch in 263.[193]Although he did not take the Persian capital, Odaenathus drove the Persians out of all Roman lands conquered since the beginning of Shapur's wars in 252.[194] In a second campaign, the Palmyrene king defeated the Persians in 266 near Ctesiphon.[177] In 267, Odaenathus, accompanied by Hairan I, moved north to repel Gothic attacks on Asia Minor.[177] The king and his son were assassinated during their return;[177] according to the Augustan History and Joannes Zonaras, Odaenathus was killed by a cousin (Zonaras says nephew) named in the History as Maeonius.[195] The Augustan History also says that Maeonius was proclaimed emperor for a brief period before being killed by the soldiers.[195][196][197] However, no inscriptions or other evidence exist for Maeonius' reign and he was probably killed immediately after assassinating Odaenathus.[198][199]Zenobia as Augusta, on the obverse of an Antoninianus.Odaenathus was succeeded by his son; the ten-year-old Vaballathus.[200] Zenobia, the mother of the new king, was the de facto ruler and Vaballathus remained in her shadow while she consolidated her power.[200] Gallienus dispatched his prefect Heraclian to command military operations against the Persians, but he was marginalized by Zenobia and returned to the West.[194] The queen was careful not to provoke Rome, claiming for herself and her son the titles held by her husband while guaranteeing the safety of the borders with Persia and pacifying the Tanukhids in Hauran.[200] To protect the borders with Persia, Zenobia fortified different settlements on the Euphrates including the citadels of Halabiye and Zalabiye.[201] Circumstantial evidence exist for confrontations with the Sasanians; probably in 269 Vaballathus took the title Persicus Maximus ("The great victor in Persia") and the title might be linked with an unrecorded battle against a Persian army trying to regain control of Northern Mesopotamia.[202][203]Palmyrene empire[edit]Main article: Palmyrene EmpireMap of the Palmyrene empireThe Palmyrene empire in 271 ADZenobia began her military career in the spring of 270, during the reign of Claudius Gothicus.[204] Under the pretext of attacking the Tanukhids, she annexed Roman Arabia.[204] This was followed in October by an invasion of Egypt,[205][206] ending with a Palmyrene victory and Zenobia's proclamation as queen of Egypt.[207] Palmyra invaded Anatolia the following year, reaching Ankara and the pinnacle of its expansion.[208]The conquests were made behind a mask of subordination to Rome.[209] Zenobia issued coins in the name of Claudius' successor Aurelian, with Vaballathus depicted as king;[note 23][209] since Aurelian was occupied with repelling insurgencies in Europe, he permitted the Palmyrene coinage and conferred the royal titles.[210] In late 271, Vaballathus and his mother assumed the titles of Augustus (emperor) and Augusta.[note 24][209]The following year, Aurelian crossed the Bosphorus and advanced quickly through Anatolia.[214] According to one account, Roman general Marcus Aurelius Probus regained Egypt from Palmyra;[note 25][215] Aurelian entered Issus and headed to Antioch, where he defeated Zenobia in the Battle of Immae.[216] Zenobia was defeated again at the Battle of Emesa, taking refuge in Homs before quickly returning to her capital.[217] When the Romans besieged Palmyra, Zenobia refused their order to surrender in person to the emperor.[208] She escaped east to ask the Persians for help, but was captured by the Romans; the city capitulated soon afterwards.[218][219]Later Roman and Byzantine periods[edit]Ruins, with columns and archesDiocletian's campAurelian spared the city and stationed a garrison of 600 archers, led by Sandarion, as a peacekeeping force.[220] In 273 Palmyra rebelled under the leadership of Septimius Apsaios,[213] declaring Antiochus (a relative of Zenobia) as Augustus.[221] Aurelian marched against Palmyra, razing it to the ground and seizing the most valuable monuments to decorate his Temple of Sol.[218][222] Palmyrene buildings were smashed, residents massacred and the Temple of Bel pillaged.[218]Palmyra was reduced to a village without territory.[223] Aurelian repaired the Temple of Bel, and the Legio I Illyricorum was stationed in the city.[223] Shortly before 303 the Camp of Diocletian, a castra in the western part of the city, was built.[223] The 4-hectare (9.9-acre) camp was a base for the Legio I Illyricorum,[223] which guarded the trade routes around the city.[224]Palmyra became a Christian city in the decades following its destruction by Aurelian.[225] In late 527, Justinian I ordered its fortification and the restoration of its churches and public buildings to protect the empire against raids by Lakhmid king Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man.[226]

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