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Women in Antiquity
Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra
Hailing from the Syrian city of Palmyra, a woman named Zenobia (also Bathzabbai) governed territory in the eastern Roman empire from 268 to 272. She thus became the most famous Palmyrene who ever lived. But sources for her life and career are scarce. This book situates Zenobia in the social, economic, cultural, and material context of her Palmyra. By doing so, it aims to shed greater light on the experiences of Zenobia and Palmyrene women like her at various stages of their lives. Not limiting itself to the political aspects of her governance, it contemplates what inscriptions and material culture at Palmyra enable us to know about women and the practice of gender there, and thus the world that Zenobia navigated. It reflects on her clothes, house, hygiene, property owning, gestures, religious practices, funerary practices, education, languages, social identities, marriage, and experiences motherhood, along with her meteoric rise to prominence and civil war. It also ponders
Zenobia's legacy in light of the contemporary human tragedy in Syria.
Zenobia's legacy in light of the contemporary human tragedy in Syria.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2018
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94 people want to read
About the author
Nathanael J. Andrade
5 books2 followersNathanael Andrade is the history chair at Binghamton University (SUNY). He received his PhD in Greek and Roman history and has published extensively on the Roman and later Roman Near East, along with other topics. His books include Syrian Identity in the Greco-Roman World (Cambridge University Press, 2013); The Journey of Christianity to India in Late Antiquity: Networks and the Movement of Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2018); and Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra (Oxford University Press, 2018), and The Journey of Christianity to India in Late Antiquity (2021)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 14, 2021
This is a great book for historians and scholars of Zenobia. Well-researched, and with ample sources, two appendices. While Andrade's book is not a tome, it is packed with information. He begins the book with a sad note to the archeologist Khaled al-Asaad who lost his life on Aug 15th, 2015 to the terrorist group ISISL Khaled al-Asaad had been guarding the ruins of Palmyra for 40 forty years. He dedicated his life to preserving Syrian heritage and Zenobia's legacy.
From there, Andrade carefully reconstructs the world that Zenobia know, 3rd Century Syria and her city Palmyra, the experience(s) most women of her class would have had, from childhood to marriage, and then comes back to her marriage to Odainath, who Odainath was, (some historians say there were two, an older Odainath and a younger one, however, Andrade makes the case that that is conflating his attributes and that in truth there was only one) how many children she had, historical records and what we know tell us that she had only one, but Andrade makes the case that there may have been daughters as well, though they are not noted in any historical archives) to Odainath's murder, the murkiness around who the culprit was, and how the Romans used that to blame Zenobia for it while stating that she was a virtuous warrior. It is here that Andrade's text is most illuminating. Andrade juxtaposes the contradictory depictions of Zenobia outlined in the Historia Augusta and Gibbon's The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. These contraposing depictions (the Historia and Gibbons) are understandable, as one was written later, (Gibbons) and had only the Historia to glean its facts from, while the other was written as propaganda to buoy Aurelian and the Roman Empire, thereby justifying their actions. Andrade notes in his summation that Zenobia and who she was, continues to be used for these same purposes by the Assad regime. (Her likeness is on all the paper money in Syria), and while they have put money toward restoring the ruins, their motives are less about restoration and more about mollification). If one is curious about Zenobia, who she was, and is seeking a balanced approach, not a romantic one, this is a great book. As research material, I found it invaluable.
From there, Andrade carefully reconstructs the world that Zenobia know, 3rd Century Syria and her city Palmyra, the experience(s) most women of her class would have had, from childhood to marriage, and then comes back to her marriage to Odainath, who Odainath was, (some historians say there were two, an older Odainath and a younger one, however, Andrade makes the case that that is conflating his attributes and that in truth there was only one) how many children she had, historical records and what we know tell us that she had only one, but Andrade makes the case that there may have been daughters as well, though they are not noted in any historical archives) to Odainath's murder, the murkiness around who the culprit was, and how the Romans used that to blame Zenobia for it while stating that she was a virtuous warrior. It is here that Andrade's text is most illuminating. Andrade juxtaposes the contradictory depictions of Zenobia outlined in the Historia Augusta and Gibbon's The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. These contraposing depictions (the Historia and Gibbons) are understandable, as one was written later, (Gibbons) and had only the Historia to glean its facts from, while the other was written as propaganda to buoy Aurelian and the Roman Empire, thereby justifying their actions. Andrade notes in his summation that Zenobia and who she was, continues to be used for these same purposes by the Assad regime. (Her likeness is on all the paper money in Syria), and while they have put money toward restoring the ruins, their motives are less about restoration and more about mollification). If one is curious about Zenobia, who she was, and is seeking a balanced approach, not a romantic one, this is a great book. As research material, I found it invaluable.
March 30, 2021
Detta är en oerhört slösaktig bok. Den tar Zenobia, en av Roms 15 mest intressanta politiska gestalter, och en av tre kvinnliga politiker i Roms historia som byggde upp en stark maktbas och höll den i ett antal år. Därefter ägnar den de första hundra sidorna åt att diskutera om hon bar bikini när hon badade eller ej, om hon bar slöja och i så fall hur den var vikt, och hur hennes avföring hanterades. Följande detta 25 sidor om hennes make. Efter det avhandlas hennes politiska gärning på mindre än 40 sidor, och så avslutas allt med en diskussion om hur "man har brukat Zenobia i propaganda" för olika syften. Om jag började läsa denna utan förkunskaper om vilken storslagen individ jag läste om, skulle jag varit övertygad om att det inte var en mäktig eller märklig person alls, utan en historisk konstruktion som varken kan lära mig något eller inspirera mig eller någon annan. Så får man inte göra med människor som nått storverk. Det är ett oskick.
February 25, 2019
in brief, this book is very informative but I found the writing style and organization of the book to be very disorganized.
October 17, 2022
Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra was probably the most enjoyable biography I have read this year, if not my most enjoyable read of 2022 as a whole. The book is well researched while the writing style and presentation is unpretentious and emmersive. The pacing is balanced, if at times thrown off somewhat by the authors attempt to keep to a chronological form, but this did not hinder my enjoyment of the book and was rare in itself. Any reader of ancient history should find in this book a comfortable escapism to a time gone by.
In this work the author seeks to narrate and discuss the the life of Septimia Zenobia, one of the most famous women of Antiquity, but not readily known to general western audiences today. In the middle east however and among western literary circles Zenobia is a figure who has and remains a point of focus and character in the various genre's and propaganda of those groups who wish to portray, or rather use her to embody the ideology they wish to sell to their readers. From the Historia Augusta's "manly-woman" who ultimately fails as a result of the passions of her female gender, to the "orientalist exception" of 18th -early 20th century writers who portrayed her as a pillar of order and leadership among a disordered eastern peoples, again ruined by her female gender, to the nationalist image of the Syrian-Arab Heroine who cast out the Romans in order that an empire of Palmyra should rule in its stread as a pan-Arab state, anticipating Arab unity of the later 7th century and beyond.
Andrade's primary goal however is to dispell as much of these characterizations as possible in search of the real Zenobia. The Roman matron who, though of an arabian tribal stock, saw herself firstly as a citizen of Palmyra and then a citizen of Rome. Her goal was not to "throw off the Roman yoke" in a move of liberation, but rather to preserve Rome's eastern territory in the name of the reigning Augustus. Only when the central court refused to recognise her family's position did she finally break with Rome in a war against Aurelian. In the end her goal was the preservation of her familys position and status in the Roman world above all else, but this makes for an incredable story about an incredible, strong and tenatious woman in a world dominated by men.
Though more source material is present for Zenobia than most other women of antiquity, the author acknowledges the need to make up for the deficits. Unlike in other biographies which I have read such as "Fulvia" by Celia E. Schultz or 'Sabina Augusta" by T. Corey Brennan, whose female figures also suffer even more greatly from a lack of literary material, Andrade fills the void not by focusing on the material written about the men in Zenobias life, or shifting to politics in Rome etc, but rather attempts to set the context of Palmyra in her time. He attempts to explain her role and expectations as a Palmeryn noble woman, her rights as a female member of a bedouin tribe in contrast to women in Rome, and her importance as an individual in Palmyra and how this shaped her world view and outlook. This is done from the outset of the book where we follow her journey to the central temple of the city as she takes part in a religious ceremony. Such a style might not be for everyone but it helps place Zenobia more securely in her context and gives us a fleeting touch of the society as it may well have been in her day to day life.
The author gives a brief history of Palmyra from its origins to Zenobia's day to the present as well of of Bedouin tribal family ties and customs in general. Indeed, other than the odd reference to events in the east the book never takes us far from Palmyra or Syria in general. It remains entirely focused on Zenobia's world. The men in Zenobia's life are also discussed but the author never portrays her as a woman behind the man. Rather she is always presented as, at minimum, a tentative equal, always given deference and respect and in control of her position, fact demonstrated by the loyalty which the men in her life retained for her as well as her command over them until the very end.
Zenobia is perhaps one of the greatest female heroines to come down to us from antiquity. A shooting star that never quite burned out or left sky. In the finl chapters the author gives an excellent general discussion of these changing perspectives on Zenobia, the changing Zenobia's. But this book certainly does her the respect of trying to rip away the propaganda and show her for who she was, a powerful woman in an age of men, a Palmyrene and a Roman, a leader who attempted to preserve Rome's boarders, and a mother who attempted to preserve her children and her families place in her world.
In this work the author seeks to narrate and discuss the the life of Septimia Zenobia, one of the most famous women of Antiquity, but not readily known to general western audiences today. In the middle east however and among western literary circles Zenobia is a figure who has and remains a point of focus and character in the various genre's and propaganda of those groups who wish to portray, or rather use her to embody the ideology they wish to sell to their readers. From the Historia Augusta's "manly-woman" who ultimately fails as a result of the passions of her female gender, to the "orientalist exception" of 18th -early 20th century writers who portrayed her as a pillar of order and leadership among a disordered eastern peoples, again ruined by her female gender, to the nationalist image of the Syrian-Arab Heroine who cast out the Romans in order that an empire of Palmyra should rule in its stread as a pan-Arab state, anticipating Arab unity of the later 7th century and beyond.
Andrade's primary goal however is to dispell as much of these characterizations as possible in search of the real Zenobia. The Roman matron who, though of an arabian tribal stock, saw herself firstly as a citizen of Palmyra and then a citizen of Rome. Her goal was not to "throw off the Roman yoke" in a move of liberation, but rather to preserve Rome's eastern territory in the name of the reigning Augustus. Only when the central court refused to recognise her family's position did she finally break with Rome in a war against Aurelian. In the end her goal was the preservation of her familys position and status in the Roman world above all else, but this makes for an incredable story about an incredible, strong and tenatious woman in a world dominated by men.
Though more source material is present for Zenobia than most other women of antiquity, the author acknowledges the need to make up for the deficits. Unlike in other biographies which I have read such as "Fulvia" by Celia E. Schultz or 'Sabina Augusta" by T. Corey Brennan, whose female figures also suffer even more greatly from a lack of literary material, Andrade fills the void not by focusing on the material written about the men in Zenobias life, or shifting to politics in Rome etc, but rather attempts to set the context of Palmyra in her time. He attempts to explain her role and expectations as a Palmeryn noble woman, her rights as a female member of a bedouin tribe in contrast to women in Rome, and her importance as an individual in Palmyra and how this shaped her world view and outlook. This is done from the outset of the book where we follow her journey to the central temple of the city as she takes part in a religious ceremony. Such a style might not be for everyone but it helps place Zenobia more securely in her context and gives us a fleeting touch of the society as it may well have been in her day to day life.
The author gives a brief history of Palmyra from its origins to Zenobia's day to the present as well of of Bedouin tribal family ties and customs in general. Indeed, other than the odd reference to events in the east the book never takes us far from Palmyra or Syria in general. It remains entirely focused on Zenobia's world. The men in Zenobia's life are also discussed but the author never portrays her as a woman behind the man. Rather she is always presented as, at minimum, a tentative equal, always given deference and respect and in control of her position, fact demonstrated by the loyalty which the men in her life retained for her as well as her command over them until the very end.
Zenobia is perhaps one of the greatest female heroines to come down to us from antiquity. A shooting star that never quite burned out or left sky. In the finl chapters the author gives an excellent general discussion of these changing perspectives on Zenobia, the changing Zenobia's. But this book certainly does her the respect of trying to rip away the propaganda and show her for who she was, a powerful woman in an age of men, a Palmyrene and a Roman, a leader who attempted to preserve Rome's boarders, and a mother who attempted to preserve her children and her families place in her world.
June 22, 2025
This is fascinating but the prose is atrociously terrible. So many simplistic sentences as though it’s written for third graders. I was hoping for a more complex and detailed approach to Zenobia and her world.
April 8, 2023
This was an interesting but kind of heavy book. It took me a while to finish it
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews