kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Palmyrene Empire

260 CE – 273 CE · capital Palmyra

The breakaway realm of the caravan city of Palmyra, which under Queen Zenobia briefly ruled Rome's East from Egypt to Anatolia.

Origins

After the Persian king Shapur I captured the emperor Valerian in 260, the Palmyrene noble Odaenathus defeated the retreating Persians and crushed the usurpers in the East, earning from Gallienus the title corrector of the whole East. His murder in 267 left power to his widow Zenobia, regent for their young son Vaballathus.

Rule and society

Palmyra had grown rich on caravan trade linking the Euphrates and the Gulf with the Mediterranean, and its elite blended Aramaic, Arab, Greek and Roman culture, worshipping Bel and other Semitic gods. Zenobia kept a learned court that included the rhetorician Longinus. In 270 her armies took Egypt and much of Anatolia, and in 272 Vaballathus was proclaimed Augustus, an open break with Rome.

Decline and legacy

The emperor Aurelian defeated Zenobia's armies at Immae and Emesa in 272, besieged Palmyra and captured her as she fled towards Persia. When the city rebelled again in 273 it was sacked and never recovered its wealth. Zenobia was taken to Rome.

Lineage

Roman Empire 27 BCE – 476 CEPalmyrene Empire

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Palmyrene Empire. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/palmyrene-empire
MLA
“Palmyrene Empire.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/palmyrene-empire. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Palmyrene Empire.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/palmyrene-empire.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Palmyrene Empire’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/palmyrene-empire (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻