[2]Richard Stoneman, Palmyra and its Empire: Zenobia's Revolt against Rome (Ann Arbor: U. Mich. Press 1992) tends to romanticize, but if taken with due caution introduces Palmyra and the revolt engagingly and in English, from a wide range of sources. General accounts include, in English, the museum guidebook by Adnan Bounni and Khaled Al-As`ad, Palmyra: History, Monuments and Museum, 2nd edn. (Damascus 1988) and Iain Browning, Palmyra (Park Ridge NJ: Noyes Press 1979) -- both well illustrated.

[3]See Henri Seyrig, "Antiquités syriennes 9: L'incorporation de Palmyre à l'Empire romain," Syria 13 (1932) 266-77; G. W. Bowersock, "Syria under Vespasian," JRS 63 (1973) 133-40; J. F. Matthews, "The Tax Law of Palmyra: Evidence for Economic History in a City of the Roman East," JRS 74 (1984) 157-80, pll. I-II; Benjamin Isaac, The Limits of Empire: the Roman Army in the East (Oxford: Clarendon 1990) 141-47, 220-28; Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 BC - AD 337 (Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard Univ. Press 1993) 34-35, 83-84, 106, 108, 133-35, 143-44, 159-73, 319-34.

[4]CISem. 2.3.3913.181; Matthews, p. 179.

[5]Seyrig, "L'incorporation," p. 276-77.

[6]Henri Seyrig, "Antiquités Syriennes 36: Le statut de Palmyre," Syria 22 (1941) 155-75.

[7]Fergus Millar, "The Roman Coloniae of the Near East: a Study of Cultural Relations," in Heikki Solin and Mika Kajava, eds., Roman Eastern Policy and Other Studies in Roman History, 7-58, Soc. Sci. Fenn. Comm. Hum. Litt. 91 (1990): 42-46.

[8]Michel Gawlikowski, "Les princes de Palmyre," Syria 62 (1985) 251-61, eliminating the phantom "elder Odaenathus" who had complicated accounts since the continuator of Dio (FGH 4.195).

[9]To keep the exposition simple, I presume that Odaenathus had one elder son, to whose name two different hellenizations were applied; so too Eugenia Equini Schneider, Septimia Zenobia Sebaste, Studia archaeologica 61 (Rome: "L'erma" di Bretschneider 1992) 21-23. The resulting confusion could have helped spawn the extra sons of Zenobia which the Historia Augusta reports at HA Gall. 13.2, HA Tyr. Trig. 27.1, 28, 30.2, HA Aurel. 22.1, only to emend away at HA Aurel. 38.1; no other evidence substantiates them. Alternatively, Henri Seyrig, who discusses the relevant inscriptions in "Les fils du roi Odainat," Ann. Arch. Syrie 13 (1963) 159-72, deduced two elder sons, one of whom predeceased Odaenathus. See too D. S. Potter, Prophecy and History in the Crisis of the Roman Empire: A Historical Commentary on the Thirteenth Sibylline Oracle (Oxford: Clarendon 1990), 381-94.

[10]HA Gall. 13.1, Trig. Tyr. 15.5; Zonar. 12.24.

[11]Gawlikowski no. 4 of 451(Michael H. Dodgeon and Samuel N. C. Lieu, eds., The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (A.D. 226-363): a Documentary History [London, New York: Routledge 1991] no. 4.1.4), Gawlikowski no. 13 of 452 (Dodgeon and Lieu no. 4.1.5); also the undated Gawlikowski no. 1 (D&L no. 4.1.1), in Palmyrene only.

[12]Gawlikowski nos. 4, 5 (D&L nos. 4.1.4, 5); also the undated Gawlikowski no. 2 (D&L no. 4.1.2).

[13]Gawlikowski nos. 5-9 (nos. 5 and 9 are D&L nos. 4.2.2, 3).

[14]So, e.g., M. Clermont-Ganneau, "Odeinat et Vaballat, rois de Palmyre, et leur titre romain de corrector," R. Bibl. 29 (1920) 382-419; Daniel Schlumberger, "L'inscription d'Hérodien: remarques sur l'histoire des princes de Palmyre," Bull. d'Ét. Or. 9 (1942-43): 48 n. 9; cf. Hugh J. Mason, Greek Terms for Roman Institutions, American Studies in Papyrology 13 (Toronto: Hakkert 1974), 170-71. Potter, p. 389-90, argued for merely honorific ornamenta consularia. Millar, Roman Near East p. 165, cautiously inclined toward identifying the governorship, possibly enhanced by separate consular honors.

[15]HA Gall. 3.1-5, Trig. Tyr. 15.5, 18.1; Cont. Dio, FHG 4.197; Zonar. 12.24.

[16]L. de Blois upheld a date in 258/9 in "Odaenathus and the Roman-Persian War of 252-264 A.D.," Talanta 6 (1975) 7-23, but Jacob Neusner's correction to 262/3 is now generally accepted (A History of the Jews in Babylonia II, The Early Sasanian Period [Leiden: Brill 1966] 48-52). The condensed, late sources collapse Odaenathus's campaigns variously: D&L no. 4.3.2.

[17]Schlumberger discussed the inscription, Gawlikowski no. 10 (D&L no. 4.3.4); cf. HA Gall. 13.1, Trig. Tyr. 15.5, 16.1 and the posthumous inscriptions CISem 2.3971 (D&L no. 4.5.5) and Gawlikowski no. 11 (with a companion dedication to Zenobia, D&L no. 4.7.2).

[18]Syncell. 716 dates the appointment after Odaenathus's initial successes against the withdrawing Persians, Zonar. 12.24 after his suppressing Quietus and Ballista. HA Gall. 10.1, 12.1, take the Latin term imperium and run with it.

[19]Vaballathus's claim alone was considered decisive evidence for Odaenathus by Andreas Alföldi, "Die römische Münzprägung und die historischen Ereignisse im Osten zwischen 260 und 270 n. Chr.," Berytus 5 (1938) 47-92 = Studien zur Geschichte der Weltkrise des 3. Jahrhunderts nach Christus, 155-209 (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1967): 193 and n. 98. Epanorthotes, transliterated into Palmyrene from the Greek translation of the Roman office corrector, in CISem 2.3971 (D&L no. 4.5.5) compares with the looser Palmyrene translation mtqnn', "restorer," in Gawlikowski no. 11 (D&L no. 4.7.2).

[20]D&L no. 4.5.1: a kinsman is blamed by SHA Gall. 13.1, SHA Trig. Tyr. 15.5-6, 17.1-3 (here, said to have plotted with Zenobia), Syncell. 716-17, Zonar. 12.24; Zos. 1.39.2 simply "a plot" but while celebrating someone's birthday, so possibly also familial; Roman involvement is alleged by Cont. Dio (FHG 4.194), Joh. Ant. fr. 152.2. Malalas, Chron. 12.298, uniquely asserts that Odaenathus died in battle against Gallienus (D&L 4.4.2).

[21]CISem. 2.3971 (D&L no. 4.5.5).

[22]Seyrig, "Les fils," p. 169.

[23]On Zenobia, in Arabic as well as Roman sources, see now Equini Schneider and, with some caution, Stoneman.

[24]Equini Schneider, p. 32.

[25]IGLS 9107 (D&L no. 4.6.4).

[26]Thomas Bauzou, "Deux milliares inédits de Vaballath en Jordaine du norde," in P. Freeman and D. Kennedy, eds., The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, BAR Int'l Ser. 297, 1.1-8 (Oxford 1986; D&L no. 4.7.3); F. Zayadine, "Tempel, Gräber, Töpferöfen," in Manfred Lindner, ed., Petra: Neue Ausgrabungen und Entdeckungen (Munich 1986) 244.

[27]Both HA Claud. 11.1-2 and Zos. 1.44.1-2 place the conquest of Egypt within Claudius's reign. The date is narrowed by Probus's term in office, PLRE 1.740-1; cf. J. Schwartz, "Chronologie du IIIe s.p.C," ZPE 24 (1977) 167-77, correcting his earlier studies, "Les Palmyréniens et l'Égypte," Bull. Soc. Arch. d'Alexandrie 40 (1953) 63-81 and "Palmyre et l'opposition à Rome en Égypte," in Palmyre: Bilan et Perspectives, Colloque de Strasbourg (18-20 Octobre 1973), Travaux du Centre de recherche sur le proche-Orient et la Grèce antiques 3, 139-51 (Strasbourg: AECR 1976).

[28]Percy H. Webb, The Roman Imperial Coinage, vol. 5 pt. 1 (London: Spink 1927), 308, Aurelian no. 381; Robert Göbl, Die Münzprägung des Kaisers Aurelianus (270 / 275), Moneta Imperii Romani 47, 2 vols. (Wien: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1993), Taf. 136 and Tab. 27, no. 353. On the expansion of the abbreviations used for Vaballathus' titles, see U. Wilcken, "Die Titulatur des Vaballathus," ZfN 15 (1887) 330-32; Claudio Gallazzi, "La titolatura di Vaballato come riflesso della politica di Palmira," NAC 4 (1975) 249-65.

[29]The Alexandrian issues are summarized by J. Vogt, Die alexandrinischen Münzen, 2 vols. (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1924; rpt. Hildesheim and New York: Olms 1976), 1.213-15, 2.160-61.

[30]Paul Bureth, Les Titulatures impériales dans les papyrus, les ostraca et les inscriptions d'Égypte (30 a.C. - 284 p.C.) (Bruxelles: Fond. Ég. Reine Élisabeth 1964), 122 with P. J. Sijpesteijn, "Further Remarks on Some Imperial Titles in the Papyri," ZPE 45 (1982), 193-94; Michael Peachin, Roman Imperial Titulature and Chronology, A.D. 235 - 284 (Amsterdam: Gieben 1990), 403-9.

[31]P. J. Parsons, "A Proclamation of Vaballathus?" Chron. d'Ég. 42 (1967) 397-401.

[32]HA Tyr. Trig. 27.1, 30.2; Claud. 1.1; cf. Tyr. Trig. 30.19, Aurel. 27.3, Prob. 9.5. Arthur Stein, "Kallinikos von Petrai," Hermes 58 (1923) 448-56.

[33]See Equini Schneider, p. 25-32.

[34]G. W. Bowersock, "The Hellenism of Zenobia," in J. T. A. Koumoulides, ed., 19-27, Greek Connections (Notre Dame 1987).

[35]As argued in J. Long, "Two Sides of a Coin: Aurelian, Vaballathus, and Eastern Frontiers in the Early 270s," in Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity, Ralph W. Mathisen and Hagith S. Sivan, eds., 59-71 (Variorum Press 1996), citing earlier interpretations.

[36]As witnessed, for example, by the hoard discussed by Alexandra Krzyzanowska, "Trésor de monnaies palyréniennes trouvé à Alexandrie," in Herbert Adolf Cahn and Georges LeRider, eds., 327-32, Actes du 8ème Congrès international de numismatique New York - Washington Septembre 1973 (Assoc. internationale des Numismates professionels 1976). Cf. Schwartz, "Les Palmyréniens."

[37]G. W. Bowersock, Roman Arabia (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press 1983), 132; cf. 128-37 and Equini Schneider, p. 45-52 (translated text of the 12/13 c version by Ibn al-Athir, p. 143-47, ed. Angelo Arioli). Millar, Roman Near East, p. 433-35, urged skepticism.

[38]David F. Graf, "Zenobia and the Arabs," in D. H. French and C. S. Lightfoot, eds., The Eastern Frontier of the Roman Empire, British Inst. Arch. Ankara Monograph 11, BAR Int'l Seriies 553, 1.143-67 (Oxford: BAR 1989); Byron Nakamura, "Palmyra and the Roman East," GRBS 34 (1993) 133-50.

[39]Eutrop. 9.13.2, Fest. Brev. 24; Hier. Chron. s.a. 273, p. 222.15-22; Oros. 23.4; Cont. Dio 10.4-5 (FHG 4.197); Jordan. Hist. Rom. 291; Ioh. Mal. 12, p. 300; Ioh. Ant. frag. 155; Syncell. 721; Zonar. 12.27; D&L 4.7.4, 4.8.2-5, 4.9.1-4. Cf. Stoneman, p. 165-79, with attention to the hardships of the campaign.

[40]HA Prob. 9.5; but the earlier phase of operations ascribed to him belongs to Tenagino Probus.

[41]See G. Downey, "Aurelian's Victory over Zenobia at Immae, A.D. 272," TAPA 81 (1950) 57-68; erroneous source-critical assumptions flaw the reconstruction of D. F. Buck, "The Reign of Aurelian in Eunapius' Histories," Anc. Hist. Bull. 9.2 (1995) 86-92, as I hope to show elsewhere.

[42]HA Aurel. 26.1 alleges that Aurelian himself was wounded by an arrow; Zos. 1.54.2-3.

[43]Webb, The Roman Imperial Coinage, vol. 5 pt. 2 (London: Spink 1933), 585, Vabalathus nos. 1-8; Göbl, Taf. 136 and Tab. 27, nos. 354-359, 361. R. A. G. Carson, "Antoniniani of Zenobia," NAC 7 (1978) 221-28 confirmed for Zenobia the second of the two coins Webb 584 listed dubiously; cf. Göbl 1993, ibid., no. 360.

[44]Henri Seyrig, "VHABALATHVS AVGVSTVS," in Mélanges offerts à Kazimierz Michalowski, ed. Marie-Louise Bernhard et al., 659-62 (Warsaw: Panstwowe wydawnictwo naukowe 1966).

[45]The detail is plausible if unsubstantiated, in this case not necessarily indicating fiction by the author of HA Trig. Tyr. 30.27: G. W. Bowersock, "Arabs and Saracens in the Historia Augusta," BHAC 1984/85 (1987) 71-80: 77-78.

[46]Eutrop. 9.13.2; Fest. Brev. 24; Hier. Chron. s.a. 274; HA Trig.Tyr. 30.24-27, Aurel. 33-34; Jord. Hist. Rom. 291; so too Syncell. 721. Zos. 1.59.1 asserts Zenobia died of disease or suicide, and the other Palmyrenes were drowned crossing the Hellespont. Zonar. 12.27 reports both possibilities. Ioh. Mal. 12, p. 300, singularly alleges Aurelian beheaded Zenobia after exhibiting her in triumph at Antioch and Rome.

[47]See D. W. Rathbone, "The Dates of the Recognition in Egypt of the Emperors from Caracalla to Diocletian," ZPE 62 (1986) 101-31: 122-24.

[48]CIL 2.4506, 3.7586; cf. HA Aurel. 30.4-5

[49]M. Gawlikowski, "Inscriptions de Palmyre," Syria 48 (1971) 407-26: p. 420 (D&L 4.10.1).

[50]E.g., C. E. VanSickle, "Particularism in the Roman Empire during the Military Anarchy," AJP 51 (1930) 343-57; and as recently as Stoneman, p. 160-63.

[51]See J. F. Drinkwater, The Gallic Empire, Historia Einzenschrift 52 (Stuttgart: Steiner 1987).