Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 95 13 Apr 2022
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Vabalathus BI Antoninianus. Antioch, AD 272. IM C VHABALAT[HVS AVG], radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / IVЄNVS AVG, Hercules standing to right, leaning on club and holding three apples, lion skin on arm; star in left field. RIC V.2 4 var. (bust type); MER-RIC 3118 (temporary). 3.84g, 20mm, 6h.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare.
Septimius Vabalathus, son of the ruler of Palmyra, Septimius Odenathus, came to power in AD 267 with his mother Septimia Zenobia as regent after the murder of his father, who had been entrusted with the defence of the Roman provinces in the east by the Emperor Gallienus. A strong character and very ambitious, Zenobia expanded her sphere of influence through the capture of the province of Egypt and the expulsion of the Roman prefect Tenagio Probus and his forces in 269, a campaign aided in its success in part due to the turmoil inside the Roman Empire after the death of Gallienus.
The Roman East remained under the control of Palmyra under the subsequent Emperors Claudius II and Quintillus, and when Aurelian came to power in 270 he pragmatically chose to acknowledge Zenobia and Vabalathus in order to allow himself time to deal with the breakaway Gallic Empire. Early issues of Vabalathus included a portrait of Aurelian with the imperial title of Augustus; later in the reign both Vabalathus and his mother adopted the imperial titles for themselves, and Aurelian disappears from the types.
However their power was not to last as, having subdued the uprisings in the west, Aurelian marched east. The opposing armies met outside Antioch where the Palmyrenes were routed and fled into the desert, with Zenobia and Vabalathus apparently being captured and taken to Rome for display in the Emperor's triumph.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare.
Septimius Vabalathus, son of the ruler of Palmyra, Septimius Odenathus, came to power in AD 267 with his mother Septimia Zenobia as regent after the murder of his father, who had been entrusted with the defence of the Roman provinces in the east by the Emperor Gallienus. A strong character and very ambitious, Zenobia expanded her sphere of influence through the capture of the province of Egypt and the expulsion of the Roman prefect Tenagio Probus and his forces in 269, a campaign aided in its success in part due to the turmoil inside the Roman Empire after the death of Gallienus.
The Roman East remained under the control of Palmyra under the subsequent Emperors Claudius II and Quintillus, and when Aurelian came to power in 270 he pragmatically chose to acknowledge Zenobia and Vabalathus in order to allow himself time to deal with the breakaway Gallic Empire. Early issues of Vabalathus included a portrait of Aurelian with the imperial title of Augustus; later in the reign both Vabalathus and his mother adopted the imperial titles for themselves, and Aurelian disappears from the types.
However their power was not to last as, having subdued the uprisings in the west, Aurelian marched east. The opposing armies met outside Antioch where the Palmyrenes were routed and fled into the desert, with Zenobia and Vabalathus apparently being captured and taken to Rome for display in the Emperor's triumph.