Odaenathus

Odaenathus

Odaenathus was the founder king of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria. He elevated the status of his kingdom from a regional center subordinate to Rome into a formidable state in the Near East. He took the side of Emperor Gallienus, the son and successor of Valerian, who was facing the attempted usurpation of Fulvius Macrianus. He was assassinated in 267 during or immediately after the Anatolian campaign, together with Herodianus. His son Vaballathus under the regency of his widow Zenobia, used the power established by Odaanathus to forge thePalmyrene Empire in 270.

About Odaenathus in brief

Summary OdaenathusOdaenathus was the founder king of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria. He elevated the status of his kingdom from a regional center subordinate to Rome into a formidable state in the Near East. He took the side of Emperor Gallienus, the son and successor of Valerian, who was facing the attempted usurpation of Fulvius Macrianus. In 266, he launched a second invasion of Persia but had to abandon the campaign and head north to Bithynia to repel the attacks of Germanic raiders besieging the city of Heraclea Pontica. He was assassinated in 267 during or immediately after the Anatolian campaign, together with Herodianus. His son Vaballathus under the regency of his widow Zenobia, who used the power established by Odaanathus to forge thePalmyrene Empire in 270. Odainathus is the Latin transliteration of the king’s name; he was born Septimius Odainat in c. 220. His name is written in transliterated Pal myrene as Sptmyws ‘Dynt. It was adopted as an expression of loyalty to the Roman Severan dynasty and the emperor Septemberimius Severus who had granted the family Roman citizenship in the late second century. The King appears to be mixed Arab and Arab and his name, the name of his father, Hairan, might not have been the great-grandfather of his great-father, Nasor, but may have been an Aramaic name.

In Rabbinic sources, the meaning of the name Nasor is ‘Papa’, meaning ‘ear’ in Arabic and ‘Ôden’ in Aramaic. He is the son of Hairan and Wahb All-bat, and his grandfather, Wahb-All-All, was the great grandfather of Nasor. The circumstances surrounding his rise are ambiguous; he became the lord of the city, a position created for him, as early as the 240s and by 258, he was styled a consularis, indicating a high status in the Roman Empire. In reality, the Emperor may have done little but accept the declared nominal loyalty of Odaenithus. He declared himself ‘King of Kings’ and crowned his son HerodianUS as co-king. He died in 267, and was succeeded by his son, who became known as the “King of Palmyra” He is buried in Palmyra with the stone tomb of the builder of a stone tomb that mentions the building of a tomb and records the genealogy of his family. He may have had a son named Odaat, son of hairan, and a daughter named Nasor or Nasor-Papa, son-of-Wahb- all-b-at, but his great grandfather Nasor might not be the greatgrandfather, but Nasor has been the “Papa”