In 248 Philip was succeeded by Decius who bitterly persecuted the Christians and was slain by the Goths who invaded the empire the fol lowing year. The Huns on the Caspian Sea come into history at this time as a new set of enemies for the empire. Emperors continued to succeed each other nearly every year — Gal lus (251), )Emilianus (253), Valerian (254) who five years later was defeated, made prisoner and flayed alive by the Persians. Then came Gallienus and the era of the Thirty Tyrants, none of whom deserve particular men tion.
The most interesting character of the 3d century is Zenobia, queen of Palmyra (died 274). Her husband, Odeanthus, had set him self up as ruler of Palmyra during the weak ness of the empire in the time of the Thirty Tyrants, and she survived to continue his rule. Zenobia claimed to be a descendant from Cleopatra and her beauty was such that, if tradition be true, she far outrivaled the Egyp tian queen. For a time during the disturbed state of the Roman Empire, she exercised sway over a large territory, boldly proclaimed herself Queen of the East and bade defiance to Rome. The ruins of Palmyra were among the first to be excavated and studied in modern times and this gave the town a special interest. The Arabs had for long told wonderful tales of a ruined city in the Syrian Desert, but their description was of remains so extensive and magnificent that it seemed that there must be Oriental exaggeration in• their accounts. At the end of the 17th century, European travelers reached the site of Palmyra, however, and found that the Arabian stories minimized rather than exaggerated the truth. There was, for instance, a colonnade stretching almost a mile in length and many of the marble columns constituting it are still standing amid the sand of the desert.
Palmyra, as the inscribed monuments show, came into prominence about the beginning of the 2d century. Adrian took the city under his protection and on the occasion of his visit the name was changed to Adrianopolis. It was extremely prosperous a century later, its posi tion between Parthia and Rome enabling it to trade with both. Under Caracalla, Palmyra received the jus Italica»: and became a Roman colony. After this, it was known as an im portant military post on the eastern confines. When the emperors in the 3d century led armies to the eastern frontiers, Palmyra was a favorite stopping place. Some of the citizens received even the honors of Roman senatorship and one of them.. in the disturbed times after the middle of the 3d century, made himself ruler of the city and came to be recognized even by the Romans as having a certain inde pendence. Odeanthus made himself extremely
useful in the wars against the Persians and the Syrians and was rewarded by a tacit recognition at least of his domination over all the country from Armenia to Arabia. When absent on his expeditions, his wife, Zenobia, ad ministered the government of Palmyra very successfully. Indeed, Aurelian, in one of his letters, ascribes to her the chief part in all her husband's successful career. She was an Arabian of dark beauty, black flashing eyes, pearly teeth and a strength which enabled her to accomplish marvels of physical endurance. She was as famous, however, for her intel lectual talents as for her beauty. She knew a number of Eastern languages as well as Latin and Greek. Longinus, the famous Greek rhetorician whose Essay on the Sublime is so well known, had been her tutor in Greek. He had been invited to the court and remained faithful to her even in her misfortunes, suffer ing death for his fidelity.
Odeanthus was assassinated probably at the instigation of the Roman Emperor Gallienus, and Rome proceeded to subdue the Palmyrenes who had ventured defiantly to style their ruler °King of Kings and Restorer of the State.• Zenobia, nothing daunted, and used to admin istrative emergency, took up the unequal contest with the Roman Empire. She held Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor as far as Ancyra. Other portions of the East were about to join her when the Roman army under Aurelian made its appearance and prevented further defections. In two great battles that were fought, Romans ir. Zenobia's forces bore the brunt of the losses. Summoned to sur render after the second defeat, she made light of her losses, saying that so far all who had fallen were Romans. Finally, she had to with draw within the walls of Palmyra and Aure lian, in spite of the handicap of the desert, succeeded in maintaining the siege of the city. Finding further resistance hopeless, Zenobia at tempted to escape, hoping to find a refuge in Persia, but betrayed by the influence of Roman gold she was captured. Then Palmyra capitu lated. All the treasures of the city were seized but the inhabitants were spared. Zenobia was taken to Rome to grace the conqueror's triumph but after this, instead of being put to death, she was given a villa outside of the city of Rome where she lived peacefully, with her children till her death, making many friends among the Roman nobility of the time. It is probably to her taste that is due the construc tion of the beautiful architectural monuments of Palmyra which have made the city the sub ject of so much of interest, while her own life tinged it with romance.