| Siege of Tyana | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Palmyrene War | |||||||
  Tyana Siege of Tyana (272) (Turkey) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Roman Empire | Palmyrene Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Emperor Aurelian | Unknown | ||||||
The Siege of Tyana occurred in 272 CE. The forces of the Roman Emperor Aurelian were seeking to conquer the Palmyrene Empire. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
In 269, while Claudius Gothicus (Gallienus' successor) was defending the borders of Italy and the Balkans against Germanic invasions, Palmyrene Queen Zenobia was cementing her authority; Roman officials in the East were caught between loyalty to the emperor and Zenobia's increasing demands for allegiance. [6] The timing and rationale of the queen's decision to use military force to strengthen her authority in the East is unclear; [6] scholar Gary K. Young suggested that Roman officials refused to recognize Palmyrene authority, and Zenobia's expeditions were intended to maintain Palmyrene dominance. [7] Another factor may have been the weakness of Roman central authority and its corresponding inability to protect the provinces, which probably convinced Zenobia that the only way to maintain stability in the East was to control the region directly. [7]
The historian Jacques Schwartz tied Zenobia's actions to her desire to protect Palmyra's economic interests, which were threatened by Rome's failure to protect the provinces. [8] Also, according to Schwartz, the economic interests conflicted; Bostra and Egypt received trade which would have otherwise passed through Palmyra. [9] The Tanukhids near Bostra and the merchants of Alexandria probably attempted to rid themselves of Palmyrene domination, triggering a military response from Zenobia. [9]
In October of 270, [10] a Palmyrene army of 70,000 invaded Egypt, [11] [12] and declared Zenobia, Vaballathus's mother, the Queen of Egypt. [13] The Roman general Tenagino Probus was able to regain Alexandria in November, but was defeated and escaped to the fortress of Babylon, where he was besieged and killed by Zabdas, a Palmyrene general, who continued his march south and secured Egypt. [14] Afterward, in 271, Zabbai, another Palmyrene general serving Zenobia, started the operations in Anatolia, and was joined by Zabdas in the spring of that year. [15] The Palmyrenes subdued the Asian province of Galatia, [16] and occupied the regional capital of Ancyra, marking the greatest extent of the Palmyrene expansion. [17]
As Aurelian besieged the city of Tyana, he allegedly had a vision of the great 1st-century philosopher Apollonius of Tyana, whom he respected greatly, in a dream. Apollonius implored him to show Tyana mercy if he took the city. Aurelian did so. This paid off militarily for the remainder of his campaign as many more cities submitted to him upon seeing that the Emperor would not exact revenge upon them.
Apollonius was seen as the champion to the Greek people, as he was seen as a miracle worker. Having been a wise philosopher he was well known by many during and after his lifetime. Some texts relate him to, or mention him being very similar to, Jesus of Nazareth. He was highly respected, and he was even regarded as a magician to some people who believed that he practiced wizardry. This may be the reason as to why Aurelian was allegedly guided by a vision to be merciful for a greater reward in the future.
Most of the soldiers of Tyana only offered little resistance, and the resistance that they did offer up against the legions was completely ineffective. Some men of the garrison charged at Aurelian's men without weapons in their hands as they were farmers that had been called to action, and were not prepared for any sort of warfare with the Roman Empire. Following this minor skirmish, the garrison soon surrendered to the legions, allowing them to enter the newly captured city.
Tyana was a great victory, which was accomplished with very little effort by the Romans. Prior to the siege, Aurelian had destroyed every city that resisted him, but he spared Tyana. Whatever the reason for his clemency, Aurelian sparing of Tyana paid off: many more cities submitted to him upon seeing that the emperor would not exact revenge upon them.
The gains made by his legions allowed Aurelian to rapidly capture significant amounts of territory taken by the Palmyrenes and eventually defeat Empress Zenobia along with subsequently diminishing and weakening the rest of the Palmyrene Empire in just six months. The war against the Palmyrene Empire only lasted for three years in total with Aurelian rising to power in 270 CE.
The 270s decade ran from January 1, 270, to December 31, 279.
Septimia Zenobia was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner, and she married the ruler of the city, Odaenathus. Her husband became king in 260, elevating Palmyra to supreme power in the Near East by defeating the Sasanian Empire of Persia and stabilizing the Roman East. After Odaenathus' assassination, Zenobia became the regent of her son Vaballathus and held de facto power throughout his reign.
Aurelian was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disintegrated under the pressure of barbarian invasions and internal revolts. Born in modest circumstances, most likely in Moesia Superior, he entered the Roman army in 235 and climbed up the ranks. He went on to lead the cavalry of the emperor Gallienus, until Gallienus' assassination in 268. Following that, Claudius Gothicus became emperor until his own death in 270. Claudius' brother Quintillus then ruled for three months, before Aurelian took the empire for himself.
Year 272 (CCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Postumius and Veldumnianus. The denomination 272 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus", also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a "pestilence", possibly the Plague of Cyprian that had ravaged the provinces of the Empire.
Septimius Odaenathus was the founder king (malik) of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria. He elevated the status of his kingdom from a regional center subordinate to Rome into a formidable state in South-West Asia. Odaenathus was born into an aristocratic Palmyrene family that had received Roman citizenship in the 190s under the Severan dynasty. He was the son of Hairan, the descendant of Nasor. The circumstances surrounding his rise are ambiguous; he became the lord (ras) of the city, a position created for him, as early as the 240s and by 258, he was styled a consularis, indicating a high status in the Roman Empire.
Septimius Vaballathus was emperor of the Palmyrene Empire centred at Palmyra in the region of Syria. He came to power as a child under his regent mother Zenobia, who led a revolt against the Roman Empire and formed the independent Palmyrene Empire.
The Battle of Emesa was fought in 272 between the Roman armies led by their emperor Aurelian and the Palmyrene forces led by their empress, Zenobia and general Zabdas.
The Battle of Immae was fought in 272 between the Roman army of Emperor Aurelian, and the armies of the Palmyrene Empire, whose leader, Empress Zenobia, had usurped Roman control over the eastern provinces.
The Palmyrene Empire was a short-lived breakaway state from the Roman Empire resulting from the Crisis of the Third Century. Named after its capital city, Palmyra, it encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Arabia Petraea, and Egypt, as well as large parts of Asia Minor.
Zabdas was a 3rd-century Syrian general who led the forces of Empress Zenobia of Palmyra during her rule as regent of her son Vaballathus and her subsequent rebellion against the Roman Emperor under the short-lived independent Palmyrene Empire. He led Palmyra's expeditions in the middle east which included annexing territory spanning from Roman Egypt to Asia Minor.
Callinicus, surnamed or nicknamed Sutorius or Suetorius, sometimes known as Kallinikos of Petra or Callinicus of Petra was an ancient Greek historian of Arab descent, orator, rhetorician and sophist who flourished in the 3rd century.
Aurelius/Iulius Marcellinus was a Roman soldier and Imperial functionary who had a brilliant equestrian career and was elevated to the Senate when he was chosen by the Emperor Aurelian as his consular colleague. His appointment as Consul is thought to have been a reward for his loyalty and steadfastness in 273 when, as Aurelian's deputy in charge of the eastern provinces of the Empire where the authority of the Imperial Government had only recently been restored, he resisted attempts to suborn him by a rebellious faction in the city of Palmyra.
Palmyra is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second millennium BCE. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century CE.
Septimius Haddudan was a 3rd-century Palmyrene official, the only known Palmyrene senator other than Odaenathus, and a priest and symposiarch of the god Bel, who is known to have opposed the rule of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra and aided the Roman Empire during their wars against the queen.
The sack of Bostra occurred around the spring of 270 AD when Queen Zenobia of Palmyra sent her general, Zabdas, to Bostra, the capital of Arabia Petraea, to subjugate the Tanukhids who were challenging Palmyrene authority.
The Palmyrene invasion of Egypt occurred in the summer, or possibly in October, of 270 AD when the forces of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, led by her general Zabdas and aided by an Egyptian general named Timagenes, invaded and subsequently annexed Egypt, which was under control of the Roman Empire at the time.
The Legio I Illyricorum was a Roman Legion stationed in Qasr el-Azraq and Palmyra; it is mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum. According to many ancient sources, it was stationed within the Eastern Half of the Roman Empire, under emperor Aurelian.
Timolaus of Palmyra was reportedly a 3rd century Palmyrene nobleman, son of the king of kings Odaenathus and augustus Zenobia. Little is known about him, and all the existing information comes from speculation. Such is the doubt of his existence that some scholars try to associate him with Vaballathus, another of the sons of Odaenathus and Zenobia. Some authors believe he is an individual made up by the Historia Augusta, the only historical source that cites him, and some speculate that he is in fact a historical figure. He appears only in 267, at the time of his father's assassination.
The Roman–Palmyrene War of 272–273, also called the Eastern campaigns of Aurelian or, more simply, the Palmyrene War, was fought between the Roman Emperor Aurelian against the Palmyrene Empire.
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