Who was Queen Zenobia of Palmyra?
Ah, I’m doing my thesis on her right now. I can go on and on Long story short, she took over the Palmyra kingdom after her husbands assassination. Around 270AD she sent her armies into Egypt and took over Egypt as well as surrounding Arab kingdoms and tribes. She had a pact going on with Persia (they became allies) and a little after 270 she had wrestled away a great portion of the Roman East from Rome (this was during the Crisis of the 3rd Century). Aurelian had to march out to meet her and was beaten down by her troops to a degree. He was so impressed by her that after her defeat (in my thesis I argue her defeat is due to her own military blunder), he *supposedly* paraded her through Rome in the same manner one would do over a great general (which earned him some flak from other writers who felt he shouldn’t be giving such attention to a woman). Zenobia was knows to be incredibly beautiful, said to be one of the most beautiful woman. She spoke five languages and would march with her
