Odenathus was the king of Palmyra (modern-day Syria) from 260-267 AD. He stood with the Romans against the Persian empire, and by the end of his reign, had conquered most of Anatolia and Mesopotamia. He was assassinated in 267 under mysterious circumstances. His wife Zenobia assumed the throne after his death, officially as regent for her underage son Vaballathus. Instead of ruling under the Romans, as her husband did, she began attacking Roman provinces in Egypt and Turkey, and by 270, had conquered a swath of land stretching the length between the two. She named herself empress in 272, officially declaring a split from Rome. The Roman emperor Aurelian invaded later that year, and after heavy fighting, defeated the Palymrian army. He besieged the capital Palmyra, and captured the queen Zenobia in 273. Zenobia was taken back to Rome, to participate in Aurelian’s official triumph. She was kept in captivity until her death in 274.
There are many different histories of these events, and no two sources can agree on every detail. Thus, there have been countless plays, novels, and other literary interpretations over the years. In my adaptation, I decided to write a new character, Ashur-ben Hamal, to be the main instigator in bringing down Odenathus, because of his love for the queen Zenobia. It is he who betrays the queen to Aurelian, so that he could bring her to Rome. I interspersed the two fictional poems I wrote; “The Balm of Syria” and “The Regicide of Odenathus” in counterpoint, so that each could tell a different part of the story at the same time. The Balm of Syria tells the historical account, and The Regicide of Odenathus tells the madness sustained by Ashur-ben Hamal, and how he sacrificed an entire empire to have the one he loved. In this story, Ashur-ben is the one who betrays Zenobia into Aurelian's hands, so that he could take her to Rome against her will.
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