Palmyra

The ancient archaeological site of Palmyra is located at an oasis in the Syrian Desert. Palmyra became one of antiquity’s richest trading centers. Roads passing through the city connected the Mediterranean with Persia, India and China, carrying silk, spices, ivory, pearls and luxury goods.

Palmyra collected taxes and fees from this trade, helping finance its temples, public buildings and monumental architecture. Its Great Colonnade stretched roughly 1.1 kilometers through the city, connecting temples, baths, markets and other public buildings. Palmyra’s architecture combined Roman and Greek forms with Syrian and Persian influences. Palmyra became so important that Emperor Hadrian personally visited the city in 130 CE, and about a century later it was elevated to the status of a Roman colony.

In the third century, Queen Zenobia transformed Palmyra into the center of a breakaway empire. Odenathus, ruler and husband of Septimia Zenobia, took advantage of Rome’s internal and external conflicts to expand his territories. Odenathus was assassinated around 267. Zenobia soon took the title of Augusta and bestowed on her infant son Vaballathus the title of Augustus. Her forces seized Egypt and territory across Asia Minor before Roman emperor Aurelian defeated them in 272 CE.

Choice Zenobia Antoninianus. $13,000

Aureus bearing Aurelian and Vaballathus portraits, struck during an uneasy alliance between Nov AD 270 and March AD 272. Only known example. $250k.

Palmyra was sacked, and both Zenobia and Vabalathus were captured as they tried to make their way to Persia. Aurelian sent them to Emesa for trial, followed by Palmyra's court elite. He killed most but spared Zenobia and her son for his triump in Rome. Zenobia was paraded in Aurelian’s triumph in 274. According to tradition, Aurelian freed her and granted her a villa in Tibur, where she spent the rest of her life. The fate of Vabalathus is unknown.