Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

158 5 Arabia between the great powers
special status is expressed in the city’s title Hadriana, which it received
after Hadrian’s visit in 129. 35 Citizens of Palmyra could be granted Roman
citizenship. 36 In 212 the Roman emperor Caracalla raised Palmyra’s status
to that of a colony and granted the city the ius Italicum. Further privileges
linked to this new status included the right to raise and dispose of
taxes. 37
The defeat of the Parthian kingdom at the hands of the rising Sasanian
dynasty represented a threat not only for Rome. Similar to Hatra, Palmyra
feared that its position could be jeopardised by the new power in the East.
Above all, the fact that the founder of the new empire, Ardaˇsīr I (224–
40) was expanding into the north-eastern areas of the Arabian Peninsula
affected Palmyran interests. When the king occupied Spasinu Charax on the
ˇSatt al-‘Arab the city lost immediate access to the Persian Gulf and thus its
lucrative trade with India, one of its most important sources of income. 38
In general, Palmyra therefore developed a hostile attitude to Persia and
simultaneously formed a bond with Rome. Because of its crucial role in the
military confrontations between the two great powers from the middle of
the third century onwards the city gained tremendous power and eventually
became an empire in its own right.
During this period the history of the city was directly linked to the
ruling family in Palmyra, the Iulii Aurelii Septimii. It was mainly Septimius
Odaenathus who laid the foundations for Palmyra’s expansion of power in
the 260s and 270s. In an inscription dated to April 252 he is described
as vir clarissimus, which was the title typically used during the imperial
period for members of the senatorial order. Moreover, he was called the
‘Lord of Palmyra’ (exarchos). 39 Considering Palmyra’s municipal order that
assigned supreme administrative power to the strategoi, this title reflects
a remarkable concentration of power in the hands of one individual. In
several inscriptions from 257/8 Odaenathus was addressed not only as vir
clarissimus but also as vir consularis. 40
Odaenathus’ rise is closely linked to Palmyra’s intervention in the
Roman–Sasanian confrontations during the reign of ˇ Sāpūr I (240–72). 41
In 253 Odaenathus inflicted a first defeat on a Sasanian unit. It looks, however,
as if ˇ Sāpūr had dismissed Odaenathus’ attempts to form an alliance
35 Schlumberger 1939: 63–4 (no. 3). 36 Strobel 1989: 74.
37 In general on the economic and political structures of Palmyra see Zahrnt 1986: 279–93; Brodersen
1987: 153–61 and Matthews 1984: 157–80.
38 Cf. the references on p. 19, with n. 8. 39 Gawlikowski 1985: 257, no. 13.
40 Ibid. 254–5, nos. 5–8; on these ranks and Odaenathus’ membership in the Roman Senate see Strobel
1989: 74–5.
41 On Odaenathus’ activities, which are difficult to trace, see Kettenhofen 1982: 122–6.