Septimius Odaenathus, or Odenatus (Greek: Ὁδαίναθος (Hodainathos), Palmyrene אחינל = little ear), the Latinized form of Odainath, was a famous prince of Palmyra, in the second half of the 3rd century AD, who succeeded in recovering the Roman East from the Persians and restoring it to the Empire. Palmyra was the name of an ancient city in Syria, now called Tadmor. ... (2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century - other centuries) Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east. ... Persia and Persian can refer to: the Western name for the state of Iran. ...

He belonged to the leading family of Palmyra, which bore, in token of Roman citizenship, the gentilicium of Septimius; hence his full name was Septimius Odainath (Vogüé, Syrie centrale, Nos. 23, 28; Cooke, North-Semitic Inscriptions. Nos. 126, 530). It is practically certain that he was the son of Septimius Hairān the "senator and chief of Tadmor", the son. of Septimius Odainath the senator (N.S.I. p. 285). The year when he became chief of Palmyra is not known, but already in an inscription dated AD. 258 he is styled "the illustrious consul our lord" (N.S.I. No. 126). He possessed the characteristic vigour and astuteness of the old Arab stock from which he sprang; and in his wife, the renowned Zenobia, he found an able supporter of his policy. In the Roman Empire, there were several factors to become a citizen. ... Septimius or Septiminus was proclaimed Roman emperor in 271 in Dalmatia. ... Early morning panorama of Palmyra. ... Zenobia (or Xenobia) is the name commonly used for the daughter of (= bat or bath) Zabaai ben Selim. ...

The defeat and captivity of the emperor Valerian in 260 left the eastern provinces largely at the mercy of the Persians; the prospect of Persian supremacy was not one which Palmyra or its prince had any reason to desire. At first, it seems, Odainath attempted to propitiate the Parthian monarch Sapor I; but when his gifts were contemptuously rejected (Petr. Patricius, 10) he decided to throw in his lot with the cause of Rome. The neutrality which had made Palmyras fortune was abandoned for an active military policy which, while it added to Odainath's fame, in a short time brought his native city to its ruin. He fell upon the victorious Persians returning home after the sack of Antioch, and before they could cross the Euphrates inflicted upon them a considerable defeat. Publius Licinius Valerianus (Latin: IMPERATOR CAESAR PVBLIVS LICINIVS VALERIANVS · PIVS FELIX · INVICTVS AVGVSTVS)¹ (ca. ... Events Valerian I captured by the Persian king Shapur I; Gallienus becomes sole Roman emperor. ...

Then, when two usurping emperors were proclaimed in the East (AD. 261), Odainath took the side of Gallienus the son and successor of Valerian, attacked and put to death the usurper Quietus at Emesa (Höms), and was rewarded for his loyalty by the grant of an exceptional position (A.D. 262). He may have assumed the title of king before; but he now became totius Orientis imperator, not indeed joint-ruler, nor Augustus, but independent lieutenant of the emperor for the East (Mommsen, Provinces, ii. p. 103). Gallienus depicted on a lead seal. ... Roman emperor Titus Fulvius Iunius Quietus (d. ... Emesa was an ancient city on the Orontes River in Syria. ... Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (30 November 1817 - 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar and historian, generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. ...

In a series of rapid and successful campaigns, during which he left Palmyra under the charge of Septimius Worod his deputy (N.S.I. Nos. 127-129), he crossed the Euphrates and relieved Edessa, recovered Nisibis and Carrhae, and even took the offensive against the power of Persia, and twice invested Ctesiphon itself, the capital; probably also he brought back Armenia into the Empire. These brilliant successes restored the Roman rule in the East; and Gallienus did not disdain to hold a triumph with the captives and trophies which Odainath had won (A.D. 264). Boat on the Shatt-al-Arab The Euphrates (the traditional Greek name for the river, which is in Old Persian Ufrat, Aramaic Prâth/Frot, in Arabic Al-Furat الفرات, in Turkish Fırat and in ancient Assyrian language Pu-rat-tu) is the westernmost of the two great rivers that define... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Nisibis (Nusaybin, province Mardin, south-eastern Turkey) is the ancient Mesopotamian city, which Alexanders successors refounded as Antiochia Mygdonia and is mentioned for the first time in Polybius description of the march of Antiochus against the Molon (Polybius, V, 51). ... Harran, also known as Carrhae, is an archeological site in present day southeastern Turkey, 24 miles (39 kilometers) southeast of Sanli Urfa. ... Taq-i-Kasra, Ctesiphon, today. ...

While observing all due formalities towards his overlord, there can be little doubt that Odainath aimed at independent empire; but during his lifetime no breach with Rome occurred. He was about to start for Cappadocia against the Goths when he was assassinated, together with Herodes his eldest son, by his nephew Maconius; there is no reason to suppose that this deed of violence was instigated from Rome. After his death (A.D. 266-267) Zenobia succeeded to his position, and practically governed Palmyra on behalf of her young son Wahab-allath or Athenodorus. Cappadocia in 188 BC In ancient geography, Cappadocia was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...