Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

162 5 Arabia between the great powers
man, had paraded a woman in his triumph like some general, 63 he defended
himself in letters to the Senate and the Roman people by giving the following
explanation, (5) ‘I hear, Senators, that I am being accused of having performed
an unmanly act by parading Zenobia in triumph. Those who are criticising me
would praise me to the sky if they knew what kind of woman she is, how prudent
in her way of thinking, how consistent in her actions, how firm with the soldiers,
how generous when the situation requires it, how harsh when discipline is called
for. (6) I may well say that she was even responsible for Odaenathus’ victory over
the Persians and for the fact that he advanced all the way to Ktēsiphōn after he
had put ˇ Sāpūr (I) to flight. (7) I may add that the woman spread such fear among
the peoples of the East and of Egypt that neither the Arabs nor the Saracens or
Armenians dared to move against her. (8) And I would not have spared her life,
had I not known that she did the Roman Empire a great service by preserving her
rule in the East for herself or for her children. 64 (9) May those who are not pleased
by anything, therefore, hold their nasty tongues. (10) For if it is not appropriate to
defeat a woman and to lead her in triumph what do they say about Gallienus, on
whom she placed shame by ruling her empire as well as she did? (11) What about
the deified Claudius, this revered and honoured leader, who, as they say, allowed
her to enjoy her rule while he himself was busy with his campaigns against the
Goths? And he was well advised and clever to do so in order that he could achieve
more securely what he had set out to do while she guarded the borders of the
empire in the East.’ 65 (24) And so she was led in triumph displaying a splendour
that the Roman people had never seen before. She was adorned with gems so huge
that she suffered from the weight of her jewelry. (25) For it is said that the woman,
although she was very strong, stopped very often, saying that she was not able to
bear the weight of her gems. (26) Moreover, her feet were bound with gold and
also her hands bound by golden chains, even around her neck she wore a golden
chain, by which a Persian buffoon 66 led her.
Although the author credits Zenobia with Odaenathus’ military successes
against the Persians, he is justified in pointing to her advances into Asia
Minor, Arabia and Egypt. There is no doubt that the passage reflects
Zenobia’s actual position of power as it was widely acknowledged in
antiquity.
The description of the triumph is certainly exaggerated and embellished
with novelistic elements. E. Merten points out that the motif of the oriental
queen who can barely carry the weight of her gemstones was a familiar topos
in contemporary novels and rhetoric. 67 However, there is no reason to reject
the idea that Zenobia was indeed paraded in Aurelian’s triumph. Although
63 SHA Aur. 26.3 and 5; Zos. i.55.3. 64 Gaudemet 1970: 94 and n. 47.
65 The author of the Historia Augusta clearly tries to ignore Zenobia’s ambitious claims for power; she
appears only twice in the Life of Claudius (4.4 and 7.5).
66 On this scurra Persicus, who was Zenobia’s own servant, see Straub 1980: 243–4.
67 Merten 1968: 134; cf. ibid. 132–40 for detailed comments on this passage.