Odaenathus

1. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

  • NAME:
    • Lucius Septimius Odaenathus
  • ODAENATHUS’ DATES OF REIGN:
    • 260-267 CE.
  • ODAENATHUS’ DATE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
    • Born: 220 CE. Died: 267 CE
  • PLACE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
  • ODAENATHUS’ PREDECESSOR:
    • He was ‘Lord of Palmyra’.
  • ODAENATHUS’ SUCCESSOR:
  • HEIR TO THE THRONE BECAUSE:
    • He was already the Lord of Palmyra.
  • DIED PEACEFULLY OR ASSASSINATED:
    • Assassinated in Bithynia during a campaign against a Germanic Tribe.
  • WHERE BURIED:
    • Palmyra, probably the Temple of Bel.

2. BRIEF SYNOPSIS

  • Early career under the Roman Empire:

    • In the 240’s CE He became Ras (lord) of Palmyra.
    • By 258 CE he was Consularis of Palmyra (Provincial Governor), with command over the armies.

  • Persia:

    • In 260 CE, the Emperor Valerian and his army were defeated by the Persians, but Odaenathus inflicted a defeat on the Persian Army that stopped their army invading Syria.
    • Odaenathus then supported Valerian‘s son Gallienus. When Gallienus was challenged by usurpers, Odeanthus successfully defeated them.
    • In 262 CE, Odeanathus pre-empted another Persian invasion by invading Persia and reached Ctesiphon. When he withdrew, he had reclaimed Carrhae and Nisibis and all the lands lost since the Persian Invasions of 252 CE.
    • In 263 CE, Odeanathus then crowned himself ‘King of Kings’ and made his son, Hairan I, co-King, probably to challenge the claims of Shapur I. Despite ruling completely independently of Rome, he acknowledged the Roman Emperor as his overlord.
    • By 263 CE, Odeanathus held suzerainty over Levant, Mesopotamia and the Roman Provinces in eastern Turkey, as well as Egypt and Syria.
    • In 266 CE, Odeanathus invaded Persia a second time, but had to withdraw in 267 CE to fight a Germanic invasion of Bithynia.

  • Assassination:

    • During this campaign in Bithynia, both he and his son, Hairan I, were assassinated by persons unknown.

  • Aftermath:

    • After his death, his son and heir, Vaballathus, was too young to rule.
    • His wife, Queen Zenobia, became Regent, and declared independence from Rome, creating the Palmyrene Empire.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Posted in .