Duchess of Devonshire at the Devonshire House Ball 1897, by Lafayette

DEVONSHIRE, DUCHESS OF
Neg. No: (L) 1350 PRINT
Print Size: 15"x12"
Print Date: NONE

Louise (Fredericke Auguste), Duchess of Devonshire, née Countess von Alten of Hanover (1832-1911).

Sitter: Louise (Fredericke Auguste), Duchess of Devonshire, née Countess von Alten of Hanover (1832-1911).

Image displayed in:

Sketch published in The Queen, 10 July 1897

Biog: Political hostess; daughter of Karl August, Count von Alten; m (1852) 7th Duke of Manchester; m (1892) 8th Duke of Devonshire.

Role: Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra.^⁽¹⁾

Date: 2 July 1897.

Occasion: The Devonshire House Ball, 2 July 1897.

Location: Devonshire House, Piccadilly, London, W.

Descr: FL standing.

Costume: "...The skirt of gold tissue was embroidered all over in a star-like design in emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, and other jewels outlined with gold, the corners where it opened in front being elaborately wrought in the same jewels and gold to represent peacocks' outspread tails. This opened to show an underdress of cream crepe de chine, delicately embroidered in silver, gold, and pearls and sprinkled all over with diamonds. The train, which was attached to the shoulders by two slender points and was fastened at the waist with a large diamond ornament, was a green velvet... and was superbly embroidered in Oriental designs introducing the lotus flower in rubies, sapphires, amethysts, emeralds, and diamonds, with four borderings on contrasting grounds, separated with gold cord. The train was lined with turquoise satin. The bodice was composed of gold tissue to match the skirt, and diamonds, and the front was of crepe de chine hidden with a stomacher of real diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Jewelled belt. A golden crown incrusted with emeralds, diamonds and rubies, with a diamond drop at each curved end and two upstanding white ostrich feathers in the middle, and round the front festoons of pearls with a large pear-shaped pearl in the centre falling on the forehead." (The Times, 3 July 1897, p 12c).

The star burst motif on the underside of a lintel in the Temple of Baal [check], Palmyra.

Photograph by R. Harris

Costume Designer: M. Comelli (designer for Covent Garden Opera House).⁽²⁾

Costume Supplier: J P Worth of Paris.

Furniture & Props: Studio Persian rug; backdrop, painted to suggest the garden statuary at Devonshire House.

Photographer: The firm of J. Lafayette, 179 New Bond Street, London, W.

Evidence of photographer at work: -

No of poses: 1. [Print marked L 1350 on reverse - L 17194 erased]

Copyright: National Portrait Gallery

References:

Biog: Burke's Peerage; The Times, 17 July 1911, p 8c & 18 July 1911, p 11b

Occasion: Sophia Murphy, The Duchess of Devonshire's Ball, London, 1984. (See also Vita Sackville-West, The Edwardians, London, 1930, pp 116-117) [check]fs.

Role and Costume: The Boston Post, 3 July 1897, p 1b; The Chicago Daily Tribune, 3 July 1897, p 1c; The Daily Chronicle, 3 July 1897, p 7g; The Daily Graphic, 3 July 1897, p 8a; The Daily News, 3 July 1897, p 5f; The Daily Telegraph, 3 July 1897, p 9f; The Echo, 3 July 1897, p 2f; The Irish Times, 3 July 1897, p 8c; The Morning Post, 3 July 1897, p 7g; New York Daily Tribune, 3 July 1897, p 7b; The New York World, 3 July 1897, p 7a; New York Herald, 3 July 1897, p 1e; Pall Mall Gazette, 3 July 1897, p 7b; St. James's Gazette, 3 July 1897, p 9b; The Standard, 3 July 1897, p 4b; The Times, 3 July 1897, p 12a; The Westminster Gazette, 3 July 1897, p 5a; The Lady, 8 July 1897, p 43c; Truth, 8 July 1897, p 107a; Vanity Fair, 8 July 1897, p 18b & 28a; Black & White, 10 July 1897, p 39; The Court Circular, 10 July 1897, p 624a; The Court Journal, 10 July 1897, p 1247a; The Gentlewoman, 10 July 1897, p 48a; The Graphic, 10 July 1897, p 78b & 79a; Lady's Pictorial, 10 July 1897, p 41 [illustration] & 50a; Madame, 10 July 1897, p 69a; The Queen, 10 July 1897, p 65 [illustration] & 73c; The Sketch, 14 July 1897, p 484b & 485.

Costume Designer: The Irish Times, 3 July 1897, p 8c.

Costume Supplier: The Standard, 3 July 1897, p 4b.

Costume held at: Chatsworth.

Photographer: The Daily Telegraph, 3 July 1897, p 9f; Black & White, 10 July 1897, p 38b.

Reproduced: Black & White, 10 July 1897, p 39; The Graphic, 10 July 1897, p 78; The Sketch, 14 July 1897, p 485; Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball, July 2 1897: A Collection of Portraits in Costume of Some of the Guests, privately printed, 1899, p 1, (National Portrait Gallery Archives).

1. For works on Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra (3rd century AD), see inter alia:

Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, first published, London, 1776-88 (see also Edward Gibbon, The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, London, 1896 edition, Vol IV, p 304);

Lady Hester Stanhope, Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope, London, 1846;

(The Rev. Ware) 'The Author of "Julian"', Zenobia; or, The Fall of Palmyra, London, 1850;

Lady Isabel Burton, The Inner Life of Syria, Palestine and the Holy Land, London, 1875;

Hermann Schiller, Geschichte der Römischen Kaiserzeit, Gotha, 1883;

David Magie (tr), The Scriptores Historiæ Augustæ, London, 1922, Vol III, p 37;

Paul Henry-Bordeaux, The Circe of the Desert, London, 1925;

Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs, London 1949;

Iain Browning, Palmyra, London, 1979.

2. For more on Comellis, see: S. Dark: 'Art of Theatrical Disguise', Cassell's Magazine (1902), July; repr. as 'Comelli' in About the House: the Magazine of the Friends of Covent Garden, iv/9 (1975), 46-51

OLE : ZENOBIA, QUEEN OF PALMYRA (r.c. 267-272? AD)

[XENOBIA ALT. SP?]

ITEM: 1886 - HISTORICAL BACKGOUND

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

Entry: PALMYRA pp 198-203

[p 198 col 1] PALMYRA is the Greek and Latin name of a famous city of the East, now sunk to a mere hamlet, but still an object of interest for its wonderful ruins."

NB Ancient local name: Tadmor {note this is current Arabic name - RH}

1886 " " : same - pronounced Tudmir or Tidmir

Tadmor: See 2 Chron. vii. 5 - ref that Tadmor in the wilderness was built by Solomon - unlikely see para 2

SITE OF PALMYRA

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

[p 198 col 2] Oasis in the desert that separates Syria from Irak about 50 hours ride or 150 miles north-east from Damascus, ... and five days' camel journey from the Euphrates. (Pliny)...

The hills which fringe the oasis mark the northern limit of the Hammad, the springless and stony central region central region of the Syrian desert..[therefore caravan routes would make a detour to go through Palmyra.]

NB Geog... marked it out as important trading post and caravan route sp re incense trade " but the commanding position which Palmyra held in the 2nd and 3rd centuries (AD) was due to special causes. The rise and fall of Palmyra form one of the most interesting chapters in ancient history..."

AMBIENCE

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

[ 199 Col 2 Para 1]

...the sacred fountain of Ephka. Its tepid and sulphurous waters perhaps acquired their reputation from their medicinal use cure the rheumatism which has always prevailed in Palmyra

[fn 3 p 199] see Mordtmann, 18, and his notes ; the oasis lies 1300 feet above the sea, is constantly swept by cutting winds, and is liable to sudden and extreme variations of temperature."

INFLUENCES

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

[p 199 col 1]

Aramaic Dialect

Arabic/Syriac deities

Macedonian influence

Roman influence

TRADE

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

[p 198 col 2 para 1]

Incense

[p 199 col 2 fn 2]

Palmyra had an important trade with the Bedouins in skin & grease [inscrs ]

RISE OF PALMYRA

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

[p 199 col 2] The splendid period of Palmyra, to which the greater part of the inscribed monuments belong began with the overthrow of.. Petra (105 AD), which left it without a commercial rival."

c 105 AD Hadrian visited and named it Adrianopolis.

c 137 AD [Hadrian] Customs and dues regulated by a law " which has been recently been copied from the stone on which it was engraved and gives the fullest picture of the life and commerce of the city."

c ? [Emp. Septimius Severus or Carcalla] Palmyra received the "jus italicum and became a Roman colony.

[fn 5] Palmyrenes who became Roman citizens took Roman names in addition to their native ones, and these in almost every case are either Septimus or Julius Aurelius."

[p 200 col 1 para 1] Became important military post and supplied the legions marching against the Persians (De V., 15)

It was the Persian wars that raised Palmyra to brief political importance and made it for a few years the mistress of the Roman east.

[p 200 col 2 para 3] The frequent eastern expeditions of Rome in the 3rd c brought Palmyra into close connection with several emperors and opened a new career of ambition to her citizens...

RISE OF FAMILY OF ODAENATHUS/FALL OF ZENOBIA

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

[p 200 col 2 para 3] Family received citizenship under Septimus Severus [used prefix of Septimus]

Next generation Odaenathus, son of Hairan, son of Wahballath, son of Nassor, was made Roman senator [prob Emp Alexander Severus' visit] Odaenathus later "appears to have been head of a party which secretly meditated revolt" [assassinated]

Odaenathus senior left two sons: Hairan and a second son also called Odaenathus who inherited father's ambition etc. " In him the old Bedouin blood reasserted itself; an Essau among the Jacobs of Tadmor, he spent his youth in the mountains and deserts, where the hardships of the chase prepared him for the fatigues of war, and where no doubt he acquired the absolute influence over the nomad tribes which was one of the chief secrets of his future success."

258 AD Odaenathus called "hypatikos" or "consular", the highest honorary title of the empire. Year of Valerian's unsuccessful expedition against Sapor.

[always acted in the name of Emp. Gallienus ..." Palmyrene chief in fact did not mean to be the mere subject of either Persian or Roman, though he was ready to follow whichever power would leave him practically sovereign at the price of occasional acts of homage"]

264 AD officially named supreme commander in the East

265 AD Campaign against Sapor. Rejoicing in Rome over his Persian victories

"In the zenith of his fame Odaenathus was cut off by assassination along with his eldest son Herod, and it is generally assumed that the murder took place under Gallienus.." [source Pollio - however difficulty in dating the beginning of her reign and the position of her son Wahballath]

[p 202 col 2 para 1] "Fall of Zenobia may be placed in the spring of 272 "

AURELIAN STATES ZENOBIA'S HELP TO HER HUSBAND

SOURCE: Magie, David (Tr.), The Scriptores Historiae Augustae, London 1922 {bm 2282 D 65}

[Vol III, p 37] There is still in existence a letter of Aurelian's which bears testimony concerning this woman, then in captivity. For when some found fault with him, because he, the bravest of men, had led a women in triumph, as though she were a general, he sent a letter to the senate and the Roman people, defending himself by the following justification:

"I have heard, Conscript Fathers, that men are reproaching me for having performed an unmanly deed in leading Zenobia in triumph. But in truth those very persons who find fault with me now would accord me praise in abundance, did they but know what manner of women she is, how wise in her counsel, how steadfast in plans, how firm toward the soldiers, how generous when necessity calls, how stern when discipline demands. I might even say that it was her doing that Odaenathus defeated the Persians and, after putting Sapor to flight, advanced all the way to Ctesiphon. I might add thereto that such was the fear that this woman inspired in the peoples of the East and also the Egyptians, that neither Arabs, nor Saracens, nor Armenians ever moved against her. Nor would I have spared her life, hadn I now known that she did a great service to the Roman state when she preserved the imperial power in the East for herself, or for her children.

[p 201] [ZENOBIA'S DESCENT & CONTRIBUTION TO REIGN OF HUSBAND, ODÆNATHUS {DIPHTHONG FOR GREEK SEE fn. p. 200 COL 2}

SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Edinburgh, 1886

[p 201 col 2] Septimia Zenobia was by birth a Palmyrene; her native name was Bath Zabbai (De V., 29); [fn 4 We need not attach any weight to the fact that Zenobia, when she was mistress of Egypt, boasted of descent from Cleopatra and the Ptolemies. Athanasius, in speaking of the support she gave to Paul of Samosata*, calls her a Jewess; this is certainly false because her coins bear pagan symbols...NB patronage of Jews in Alexandria, " for which the evidence of an inscription from a synagogue still exists ( see Mommsen in Zeitsch. f. Numismatik, v 299 sq., 1873.). "

* Note: Schiller, Hermann, Geschichte der Römischen Kaiserzeit, Gotha, 1883 {9042 f 7}: Homer und Plato las sie in der Ursprachen... mit dem Philosophen Longinius erörtete sie philosophische und litterariche Fragen, mit dem Erzbischof Paulus von Samosata religiöse Probleme; {Trans. RH: She read Homer and Plato in the original languages... with the Philosopher Longinius she discussed philosophical and literary questions and religious problems with Archbishop Paul of Samosata.

In the year 264 he [Odaenathus] was officially named supreme commander of the East*....Odaenathus himself seems to have been engaged in almost constant warfare in the east and north ..., but in his absence the reins of government were firmly held by his wife Zenobia, the most famous heroine of antiquity, to whom indeed Aurelian, in a letter preserved by Trebellius Pollio. ascribes the chief merit of all her husband's success.

* [p 201, col.1, fn "This date is given by Pollio (Gallienus, c.10) and is confirmed by other notices" ck more modern books

HER POPULARITY

SOURCE: Gibbon, Edward., The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1896 {BM 09030 cc 1}

[Vol. iv, p 304] She (as monarch) blended with the popular manner of Roman princes the stately pomp of the courts of Asia, and exacted from her subjects the same adoration that was paid to the successors of Cyrus... For herself she reserved the diadem,with the splendid title of Queen of the East.

[p 305] In both (the battles of Antioch and Emesa), the queen of Palmyra animated her armies by her presence.

ZENOBIA'S HAUGHTINESS

SOURCE: Gibbon, Edward., The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1896 {BM 09030 cc 1}

[Vol iv, p 308] (after her capture) when the Syrian queen was brought into the presence of Aurelian, he sternly asked her, how she had presumed to rise in arms against the emperors of Rome? The answer of Zenobia... 'Because I disdained to consider as Roman Emperors an Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my sovereign.'} Source: Polio. in Hist. August. p 199 [XXIV, 30.23]}

ITEM: [DATE] POPULAR HISTORY - DESCR. OF PALMYRA

SOURCE: Farmer, Lydia Hoyt, The Book of Famous Queens, London? DATE?

[Others covered: Semiramis, Cleopatra, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine de Medici, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, Maria Theresa, Catherine II of Russia, Marie Antoinette, Josephine, Queen Victoria, Empress Eugenie, Tzu Hsi, The Empress Dowager of China.]

p. 46 "Like an enchanted island rising suddenly before the vision in mid-ocean, so did superb Palmyra ...burst upon the sight in the midst of...sands, and cause the tired traveller, who had toiled across the weary wastes...Syrian desert, to pause spellbound and enraptured before the picture of unrivalled loveliness which suddenly met his gaze...the high land and waving groves of palm-trees which marked the site of Palmyra, "the Tadmor in the wilderness", said to have been founded by Solomon as a resting-place for caravans in the midst of the trackless desert. {This is absolutely a plagiarism from the writings of Lady Isabel Burton, see below page 17}

Over sixteen hundred years ago this famous city flourished, in the zenith of its pomp and splendour...

Flanked by high hills on the east, the city filled the entire plain below, as far as the eye could reach...Studded with groups of lofty palm trees shooting up among its temples and palaces of glistening white marble...

The prospect seemed to the beholder the fair Elysian Fields...while from its midst the vast Temple of the Sun stretched upwards its thousands of columns of glistening marble towards the heavens...

This renowned Temple of the Sun was a marvel of man's architectural skill... dazzling white marble...Ionic design. Around the central portion...rose slender pyramids,...pointed obelisks,...domes of the most graceful proportions, columns, arches and lofty towers...The genius of Greece had contributed to the beauty of this Palm City...

Nor was the Temple of the Sun its only marvel. About half a Roman mile from the temple was situated the Long Portico. This building was devoted to pleasure and trade. Amongst its interminable ranges of Corinthian columns the busy multitudes passed in ceaseless processions... Here the merchants assembled, and exhibited their rich stuffs gathered from all parts of the known world. There, also the mountebanks resorted, and amused the crowds of idle rich with their fantastic tricks. Strangers from all the known countries might have been seen, attired in their varied and picturesque national costumes. A continuous throng of natives from all climes passed to and fro, along the spacious corridors, between the graceful, fluted columns surmounted by the rich entablature whereon were carved the achievements of Alexander.

Palmyra was laid out in shady avenues of luxuriant palm-trees, and adorned on either side with stately structures of white marble, or of stone of equal dazzling whiteness. Public gardens, groves, and woods stretched beyond the limits of the city, far as the eye could reach; and amidst these cool and green retreats, elegant villas of the rich and luxurious palmyrenes were scattered so thickly that Palmyra, the Beautiful, the Palm Grove, seemed placed like a gem of matchless charms in the red-gold setting of the desert sands.

Along the roads leading to the city, elephants, camels, and dromedaries laden with merchandise, or gorgeously caparisoned, bearing some noted personage, in strange and brilliant costume, added picturesque dashes of varied color to the landscape.

Just without the walls of the city were the vast arches of the aqueduct which supplied the inhabitants with a river of purest water.

[The city again] the clean, paved streets; the frequent fountains of water throwing into the perfumed air hundreds of gleaming jets... Arabian horses with jewelled housings, and riders of noble rank; then anon a troop of royal cavalry, with clashing arms and clanging trumpets; with a motley population of Palmyrenes, and Persians, Parthians, Arabians, Egyptians, Jews and Romans, with their varied costumes...here mounted on a camel..stately elephant.. chariots drawn by white Arabian steeds of peerless beauty, caparisoned with gold and jewels...

ZENOBIA IN GIBBON

SOURCE: Gibbon, Edward., The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1896 {BM 09030 cc 1}

[Vol iv, p 302 ff] ... if we except the doubtful achievements of Semiramis, Zenobia is perhaps the only female whose superior genius broke through the servile indolence imposed on her sex by the climate and manners of Asia. {Fn. Almost everything that is said of the manners of Odenathus and Zenobia is taken from their lives in the Augustan History by Trebellius Pollio, see p 192 [xxiv. 15 and 30]

ZENOBIA IN ALFRED VON SALLET - 1866

SOURCE: Sallet, Alfred von., Beiträge zur Geschichte und Numismatik, Berlin 1866 {BM7706 c3 (2)

[p 43] Zenobia, die Gemahlin des Odenathus und die Mutter des Aeranes, Timolaus and Vaballathus, ist bekanntlich die berühmteste Persönlichkeit der Palmyristische Fürstenfamilie, und ihre Geschichte ist von alten und neuen Schriftstellern unzählige Male ausführlich behandelt worden.

{Trans. RH: Zenobia, the spouse of Odenathus and the mother of Aeranes, Timolaus and Vaballathus [sic] is definitely the most famous personality in the Princely family of Palmyra and her story has been thoroughly dealt with innumerable times by old and new authors.}

ZENOBIA'S CHASTITY

SOURCE: Gibbon, Edward., The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1896 {BM 09030 cc 1}

[Vol iv, Vol iv, p 302] She claimed her descent from the Macedonian Kings of Egypt, equalled in beauty her ancestor Cleopatra, and far surpassed that princess in chastity {fn. She admitted her husband's embraces for the sake of posterity. If her hopes were baffled, in the ensuing month, she reiterated the experiment} and valour.

ZENOBIA'S CHARACTER & BEAUTY

SOURCE: Gibbon, Edward., The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1896 {BM 09030 cc 1}

[Vol iv, p 302] Zenobia was esteemed as the most lovely as well as the most heroic of her sex. She was of dark complexion (for in speaking of a lady these trifles become important). Her teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and her large black eyes sparkled with uncommon fire, tempered by the most attractive sweetness. Her voice was strong and harmonious. Her manly understanding was strengthened and adorned by study. She was not ignorant of the Latin tongue, but possessed in equal perfection the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. She had drawn up for her own use an epitome of Oriental history, and familiarly compared the beauties of Homer and Plato under the tuition of the sublime Longinarius...

...The ardour of Zenobia (in hunting) was not inferior to (that of Odenathus). She had inured her constitution to fatigue, disdained the use of a covered carriage, generally appeared on horseback in a military habit and sometimes marched several miles on foot at the head of the troops. The success of Odenathus was in a great measure ascribed to her incomparable prudence and fortitude.

ITEM: 19th/Early 20th c PHYSICAL & CHARACTER DESCR. OF ZENOBIA

SOURCE: Farmer, Lydia Hoyt, The Book of Famous Queens, London? DATE?

PURPOSE: CLUE TO IMAGE OF ZENOBIA IN POPULAR MIND

[pp 49 ff] Such was beautiful Palmyra in the time of its famous queen, Zenobia. And not less dazzlingly beautiful was the fair queen herself as she rode through the streets of her royal city...

Right royal was the bearing of the beautiful Zenobia...Imperial was her brow, and commanding were her dark, lustrous eyes. But she was more than a haughty queen; she was a loving woman and a devoted mother, and she looked upon her subjects with the same tender glance of sympathetic regard that she cast upon the... young princes seated by her side. A helmet crown rested upon her luxuriant black hair, which was partly confined in braided locks and partly floating in the breeze. A rich tunic of golden tissue adorned her form, and a mantle of purple silk, fringed with tassels of sparkling jewels and clasped with a dazzling diamond whose value would purchase a province, gracefully enshrouded her left shoulder, leaving her right arm bared above the elbow, where the swelling curves were clasped by shining circles of glittering gems. Her complexion was dark, though not swarthy, for the smooth brunette skin gleamed with ivory tints and deepened to crimson in her rounded cheeks, which time had not wrinkled, even though she had been a matron for many years. [ANY WAY OF FINDING OUT ZENOBIA'S AGE AT TIME OF ANCIENT WRITERS DESCRIPTIONS? THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE WAS A RATHER RADDLED OLD WOMAN AT THE TIME OF THE BALL - HER CHOICE OF ROLE WAS CONSIDERED INAPPROPRIATE BY SOME]

ZENOBIA'S DESCENT

SOURCE: Farmer, Lydia Hoyt, The Book of Famous Queens, London? DATE?

[p. 50 ] The Palmyrenes were Egyptian in their origin and customs, Persian in their luxurious tastes, Grecian in their language, literature, and architecture. [SEE LOTUS FLOWER AND PEACOCK FEATHER DESIGN ON FLIMSY, DRAPERIES DESIGNED BY WORTH] Zenobia, who reigned on the third century of the christian era, claimed descent from the Macedonian kings of Egypt. She fully equalled in beauty her famous ancestor, Cleopatra..Some accounts state that she was the daughter of an Arab chief, Amrou, the son of Dharb, the son of Hassan; though other writers claim that Zenobia was a Jewess.

ZENOBIA'S LEARNING

SOURCE: Farmer, Lydia Hoyt, The Book of Famous Queens, London? DATE?

[p. 50 ] She possessed rare intellectual powers; was well versed in Latin, Greek, Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. The celebrated Longinus [ BIOG DETAILS? p 57 renowned philosopher put to death by Aurelian after Zenobia's defeat] was her instructor, and the works of Homer and Plato were familiar to her, and she wrote with ease in Greek. She compiled an oriental history [TITLE?] for her own use, and found constant delight in the arts and sciences when not engaged in the severer pursuits of war.

ZENOBIA'S HUSBAND, ODENATHUS

[p 50] Zenobia married Odenathus, a prince of great valour and ambition, who was chief of several tribes of the Desert. He rapidly made himself master of the East, and became so powerful that the Romans made him their ally, giving him the title of augustus and General of the east. He gained several victories as the ally of Rome over Sapor, shah of Persia...

But in the midst of his victories Odenathus was assassinated at Emæsa, while engaged in hunting. His murderer was his nephew, Mæonius. Zenobia revenged the death of her husband by destroying Mæonius, and as her three sons were too young to rule [eldest not hers?], she first exercised supreme power in their name, but later, declared herself queen of the dominions of her late husband, and assumed the royal diadem, with the titles of Augusta and Queen of the East.

ZENOBIA SUSPECTED OF COLLUSION IN ODENATHUS' DEATH

SOURCE: Gibbon, Edward., The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1896 {BM 09030 cc 1}

[Vol iv, p 304] {Note: Gibbon says} some very unjust suspicions have been cast on Zenobia, as if she was accessory to her husband's death...

ZENOBIA'S PHYSICAL COURAGE [IDEA COMPARABLE TO HUSBAND'S]

SOURCE: Farmer, Lydia Hoyt, The Book of Famous Queens, London? DATE?

[p 51] Zenobia was remarkable for her courage...No danger unnerved her; no fatigue dismayed her [accompanied husband on horseback on hunting expeditions, refused covered carriage, unterrified of wild game eg lions, panthers etc.]

HUSBAND'S SUCCESS ATTRIBUTABLE PARTLY TO ZENOBIA

[p 51] The success of Odenathus in his various wars was in large measure to be attributed to the marvellous foresight, fortitude, and prudence of Zenobia. She did not appear to be possessed of those petty passions and weaknesses which female sovereigns have so often displayed . She governed her realm with the most judicious judgement and consummate policy. [DHB PAGEANT BASED LARGELY ROUND QUEEN'S AND THEIR COURTS - APPROPRIATE TRIBUTE TO QV ON JUBILEE]

........Arabia, Armenia, and Persia solicited her alliance, and she added Egypt to the dominions of Odenathus. The emperor of Rome, Gallienus, refused to acknowledge Zenobia's claim to the sovereignty of her late husband's dominions, and twice sent an army against her, but was twice defeated by the valorous and undaunted Zenobia. Her dominions extended from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and included Jerusalem, Antioch, Damascus, and other cities famed in history. Zenobia, however, made the beautiful Palmyra her place of residence, making expeditions to her other provinces. Her three sons were carefully educated and brought up according to Roman manners.

At length the fierce Aurelian became emperor of Rome. He was highly indignant that a woman should dare to claim proud Rome as her ally, and defy his power. Having subdued all his competitions in the West, he turned his arms against this powerful queen of the East, who dared to call herself Augusta and clothe her sons in Roman royal purple. Proudly the Roman emperor approached the dominions of the haughty Zenobia. Rumour announced his coming, and the dauntless queen of Palmyra prepared to meet him.

.........As the messengers of Aurelian arrived at the palace gates, the queen had just returned from the hunt. Never did she look more regal. She was mounted upon a white Arabian steed of peerless beauty, caparisons with harness gleaming with jewels. Zenobia was leaning upon her long hunting-spear. She wore upon her head a Parthian hunting-cap adorned with a long white plume, fastened by a glittering diamond worth a king's ransom; her costume was also Parthian, and was most perfectly adapted to display the exquisite proportions of her graceful form. Her dark eyes were flashing with scarcely less brilliancy than the diamond which adorned her brow, as she sat her horse with regal dignity, and her countenance betokened her dauntless pride and warlike courage as the messengers of her enemy were announced.

.........With brave rashness she went forth to meet him, and two great were fought, one near Antioch, and the second near Emaesa. In both these contests the brave Zenobia herself led her troops to the onslaught, giving the second place in command to her valiant warrior Zabdas, whose great prowess in arms had hitherto made him a successful general. But in both these battles Zenobia was defeated, and she was forced to fall back within the gates of Palmyra. Here she made a brave and last defence. And again she boldly defied Aurelian from her towers, as she had already defied him on the field of battle. So great was her courage and so valiant her defence, that Aurelian was obliged to admit her claims of being a most powerful and determined foe, and thus wrote of her:"Those who speak with contempt of the war I am waging against a woman, are ignorant of both the character and power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate her warlike preparations of stones, of arrows, and of every species of missile weapons and military engines."

So doubtful was Aurelian of the result of the siege, that he offered terms of an advantageous capitulation ... but she indignantly rejected his proposals in a famous Greek epistle, in which she defied his power. Zenobia, expecting reinforcement from her provinces, and thinking that Aurelian, being encamped in a desert, could not long remain... felt confident that the siege would not be prolonged. But Aurelian, incensed by her haughty letter, roused himself to greater vigilance, cut off all her supplies...and found means to subsist his army even in the desert.

At length the city could hold out no longer. Zenobia determined to fly, and endeavour to raise succour for her beloved city in her surrounding provinces. Such, indeed, was the reason assigned for this apparent cowardice on her part, which was so contrary to her previous record of undaunted bravery.

Mounted on the fleetest of her dromedaries, she succeeded in reaching the banks of the Euphrates, but she was pursued and taken captive, and brought into the presence of the Roman emperor. Aurelian sternly demanded how she dared thus defy the power of Rome. Still every inch a queen, and yet not forgetting a wise policy, she replied, "Because I disdained to acknowledge as my masters such men as Aureolus and Gallienus. To Aurelian I submit, as my conqueror and my sovereign."

While this conference was being held in the tent of the Roman emperor, the Roman soldiers came rushing in a riotous mass, demanding the instant death of Zenobia. But notwithstanding her previous bravery and fortitude, history records that, in this moment of terrible danger, Zenobia did not display equal courage to the famous Cleopatra, who resolved to die rather than submit to her Roman conqueror. It is stated that Zenobia laid the blame of her obstinate resistance upon the aged Longinus and others of her chief counsellors, in order to save her own life. Whether this were indeed the truth or not, the facts are that the great philosopher Longinus, and other chief men of Palmyra, were put to death by Aurelian, and the life of Zenobia was saved. But for this seeming betrayal of her most faithful subjects, Zenobia may not have been to blame; for the desire to preserve the haughty Queen of the East, in order that she might grace his coming triumph in Rome, was a sufficient reason to account for Aurelian's conduct in saving her life, and putting to death her chief men, without it being necessary to ascribe to such a brave and noble woman as Zenobia such ignoble and cowardly actions.

.........Palmyra being conquered, Aurelian seized upon his vast treasures, and leaving there a Roman garrison, he started to return to Europe, carrying with him Zenobia and her family. But having reached the Hellespont, tidings came to him that the Palmyrenes has revolted. Aurelian immediately retraced his steps, and arriving before Palmyra, he ruthlessly destroyed that beautiful city, sparing neither old men, women, nor children, in his bloody work of total destruction. The gorgeous buildings were soon smoking in heaps of ruins; and though he afterwards repented of his wild fury, and sought to rebuild in part a few of its magnificent structures, it was too late. Palmyra became desolate; and until about a century ago, when some English travellers discovered its ruins, the very site where once stood this beautiful Palm City of the Desert has been completely forgotten.

ZENOBIA AT THE TRIUMPH

.........Arrayed in her royal robes, and covered with her blazing jewels, the weight of which was so overpowering as to cause her almost to faint under the burden, she walked before her own splendid chariot, in which she had hoped to enter Rome as a conqueror, rather than thus walk a captive. Her arms were bound with fetters of gold, which were so heavy that slaves were obliged to assist in supporting them on either side. But though her delicate form was bent by the weight of her galling fetters, - gold though they were, - her proud eyes were undimmed by tears, and her queenly head was carried with imperial grace.

There are two accounts of the after-fate of Zenobia. Some writers state that she starved herself to death, refusing to outlive her own downfall and the ruin of her country. But according to other records, the Emperor Aurelian bestowed upon her a handsome villa at Tivoli, where she resided in great honor, her daughters marrying into noble Roman families, while her youngest son became king of a part of Armenia.

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ITEM: 1979 - HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - 20th Century view

SOURCE: Browning, Iain., Palmyra, London 1979 {BM:SOAS FRT 420374}

[p 45 ff] Meanwhile, back in Palmyra, the Julii Aurelii Septimii* had become so powerful that their leader, Septimius Odainat, was un-crowned King of Palmyra. Behind him he had a strong army. At about the same time that Valerian** was captured***, Septimius Odainat emerged as Governor of Phoenician Syria. He immediately declared war on the Persians and for eight years he achieved success upon success, pushing the Sassanians back. In A.D. 260 he crushingly defeated Sapur, the Sassanian monarch. Gallienus {son of Valerian} rewarded his loyalty with the title Restitutor totius Orientis -- Corrector of all the East -- an honour previously borne by the emperors alone. Odainat, however, went a stage further. Having smashed the Persian King, he claimed the Persian style and title 'King of Kings'. Rome did nothing about this display of autonomy; she was much too preoccupied elsewhere and in any case Palmyra had shown her loyalty in a very practical way when so many others had turned against the Eternal City. Odainat, however, meant to be regarded as King, and set up his court to which he attracted men of distinction and achievement. Perhaps to make sure of his conquest he campaigned twice in Sassanian Mesopotamia but was eventually murdered in A.D. 267,it was said at the instigation of his wife.

* one of the four principal tribal families in the ever-more autonomous Palmyra

** Ruled A.D. 253-60

*** in Edessa A.D. 260

He was succeeded by his second son, Wahballat (the first son by a previous marriage had mysteriously died at the same time as Odainat was murdered). Wahballat was a minor so his mother, Bat Zabbai, better known to history as Queen Zenobia, acted as regent. The seizure of total power by this ambitious woman was taken by Rome as a danger signal. The Emperor Gallienus sent Haraclianus against her but, with the army that had smashed Sapur and the Sassanians, she proceeded to defeat the Roman general. Had she stopped there things might have been all right, but she went on to seize the whole of the Province of Syria. She then besieged and devastated Bosrah, the capital city of the Province of Arabia. In A.D. 269, to the utter amazement of the world, she invaded Egypt. In a year she had conquered it, so that by A.D. 260 she was able to turn her attentions to Asia Minor. No one before had challenged the Empire in such a way and with such success.

But Rome was now in the hands of a hardened cavalry officer, Aurelian, who was beginning to pull the empire together again. His initial tactic was to acquiesce in Queen Zenobia and grant her son, Wahballat, all the titles and honours his father had enjoyed. It is significant that he 'granted' these titles, thereby restating his Roman authority and claim over Palmyra.

Zenobia's ambition would not tolerate this -- she was queen of an independent, seemingly all-powerful and autonomous state. In her eyes, therefore, she, or at least her son for whom she was regent, stood on a level footing with the Roman Emperor. In A.D. 271 she affirmed as much by proclaiming her son 'Augustus'. This was too much for Aurelian.

The general Probus was sent to Egypt whilst Aurelian himself took command of the reconquest of Asia Minor. This he achieved without much difficultly. He was soon at the gates of Antioch and forced Zenobia's general, Zabdas, to retreat to Emesa (the present day Homs). There Aurelian inflicted another defeat on him leaving the road open to Palmyra....

Zenobia, in a final, desperate bid for independence, slipped through the siege lines and headed for the Euphrates and the Sassanians from whom she intended to beg help. After the defeats her husband had inflicted upon them it is debatable how far Sapur would have been willing to come to her aid.... The question never arose because she was captured while crossing the river and was carried back to Aurelian's camp. Later in August A.D. 272, Palmyra capitulated.

Possibly because Aurelian already had enough on his plate, or perhaps because he admired the courage and beauty of the defeated queen, he spared her life and the city {and}... led Zenobia off back to Rome.

Sources conflict as to what happened to her after this. Some say she died on the journey, others that she was slaughtered... The most generally accepted story relates that she figured in Aurelian's triumph in Rome and then was given a pension and a villa at Tivoli... Her obscure end must have irked her....

[ p48] But there was more to Zenobia that just ambition. Coins that bear her image {see EXHIBITS} give us some idea of her looks and she was famous for her beauty. She was also reputedly highly intelligent...

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ITEM: 1949 - HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

SOURCE: Hitti, Philip K., History of the Arabs, London 1949 {RH}

[pp 75-6 added from typed version] Palmyra reached its period of splendour between A.D. 130 and 270. To this period most of its inscribed monuments belong. Its international trade extended as far east as China, and as a city created by the caravan trade it became the true heir of Petra.

The Palmyrenes did not distinguish themselves as warriors until their chieftain Odaynath (Odenathus, Ar. Udhaynah) drove out of Syria Shapur I, who in A.D. 260 had captured the Emperor Valerian and conquered a large portion of Syria. Odaynath pursued Shapur to the very walls of his capital, Ctesiphon (al-Mada'in). In the protracted struggle between the Romans and the Sasanids, who succeeded (226) the Parthians, the Palmyrene chief sided with the former and was appointed in 262 dux Orientis, vice-emperor over the Orient. The Emperor Gallienus bestowed on him the honorific title of Imperator and acknowledged him master of the Roman legions in the East. This meant that over Asia Minor and Egypt the supreme authority was nominally in his hand; over Syria, North Arabia and possibly Armenia it was virtually so. Thus did Palmyra become mistress of Western Asia. Four years later (266-7) Odaynath and his eldest son were treacherously assassinated at im (Emesa), possibly at the instigation of Rome, which had suspected him of disloyalty.

Odaynath's beautiful and ambitious wife Zenobia (Aramaic Bath-Zabbay, Ar. Al-Zabba, also Zaynab) proved a worthy successor. Ruling on behalf of her young son Wahb-Allath (the gift of Al-Lat, Greek Athenodorus) she arrogated to herself the title of Queen of the East and for a time defied the Roman Empire. With masculine energy she pushed forward the frontiers of her kingdom so as to include Egypt and a large part of Asia Minor where the Roman garrisons in 270 were thrust back as far as Ankara (Ancyra). Even in Chalcedon opposite Byzantium a military attempt was made to establish her rule. Her victorious troops in the same year occupied Alexandria, the second city of the empire, and her minor son, who was then proclaimed King of Egypt, issued coins from which the head of Aurelian was omitted. Her success on the battlefield was due in the main to her two Palmyrene generals, Zabbay and Zabda.

Aurelian at last bestirred himself. In a battle at Antioch followed by another near im he defeated Zabda, and in the spring of 272 he entered Palmyra. The proud Arab queen fled in despair on a swift dromedary into the desert, but was finally taken captive and led in golden chains before the chariot of the victor to grace his triumphal entry into Rome.

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ITEM: ZENOBIA'S RE-ENTRY INTO WESTERN THOUGHT c 1678-

SOURCE: Browning, Iain., Palmyra, London 1979 {BM:SOAS FRT 420374}

{See Chapter 3 - Rescue from Oblivion - for chronology of Zenobia's reemergence}

{RH reconstruction}

1678 Dr. Huntington and others (including Dr. Halifax who wrote a report) set out for Palmyra and discovered ancient ruins. Led to publishing of Relations of a Voyage to Tadmor in 1695 in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

1710 Cornelius Loos, attached to staff of King Charles XII of Sweden - was sent to Egypt, Palestine and Syria to draw pictures of ancient monuments.

1751 Robert Wood and James Dawkins visited and made sketches. Published The Ruins of Palmyra in 1753 which "had an immediate effect on architectural taste and development in England."

[p 66] "A Paris edition was brought out at the same time which even reached the Court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg. The French enclave then christened her capital 'the Palmyra of the North', no doubt equating Catherine with the fabulous Queen Zenobia. Despite this sycophantic humbug, there was another Zenobia lined up for Palmyra, an English noblewoman" (i.e. Lady Hester Stanhope *

* See Meryon, C.C., The Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope, London 1846

[p 69] "Her motive for the journey {to Palmyra - 1814} was not just a display of head-strong recklessness, it was all tied up with her sexual repression, her vision of herself as a woman who could defy and conquer the restrictions which her age and society saw fit to impose upon the 'weaker sex' and the fact that for her Zenobia had triumphed in similar circumstances.' {Note: Lady Hester Stanhope, b March 12 1776, d. June 21 1839}

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HESTER STANHOPE AND ZENOBIA

SOURCE: Henry-Bordeaux, Paul., The Circe of the Desert, London 1925, {BM 01856 dd 39}

[p 178] Zenobia and Hester Stanhope! What a vast horizon opens to all the meditations of history and philosophy! What a comparison to make between the former sovereign of Palmyra and her whom the Bedouins were already proclaiming their queen.

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WHAT ZENOBIA WORE! Similarity to Lady Hester Stanhope.

SOURCE: Henry-Bordeaux, Paul., The Circe of the Desert, London 1925, {BM 01856 dd 39}

[p 178] What remains of Zenobia? A name on antique meals, a profile spoiled on old coins. She was beautiful, it appears, and the Eastern pearl was not more dazzling than her teeth. Her eyes were charming and full of fire and her figure majestic. The singularity of her dress answered to that of her character. She wore on her head a helmet surmounted by a ram's head and a flowering plume, and on her robe a bull's head of brass, for often she fought with the soldiers, her arms bare and a sword in her hand... Firmness in command, courage in reverse, loftiness of sentiments... such were according to Trebellius Pollion, the defects and the accomplishments of this extraordinary woman.

Would one not say that he who had traced this portrait had known Hester STanhope? She added only to the outline of Zenobia six feet of height, her haughty features, her clear complexion and Pitt's {William Pitt, her maternal uncle) love of oration.

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THE MYSTIQUE OF PALMYRA - LADY BURTON

SOURCE: Burton, Lady Isabel., The Inner Life of Syria, Palestine and the Holy Land, London 1875

[Vol 1, p 221 ff] The first sight of Palmyra is like a regiment of cavalry drawn out in a single line... then gradually the ruins began to stand out one by one in the sunlight, and a more imposing sight I never looked upon. So gigantic, so extensive, so bare, so desolate, rising out of and half-buried in a sea of sand... This was the Tadmor built by Solomon as a safe half for the treasures of India and Persia passing through the Desert (2 Peripomenon {?} or {II} Chronicles, viii 4 {And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath and cf I Kings, IX 17, 18 And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, And Baalath and Tadmor in the wilderness ,in the land}...

Everybody has ophthalmia... there is not a sound eye in the place... I longed to find a convict oculist who would take a free pardon and settle there. They look as if born for misery. What have the descendants of Zenobia done to come to this?

[p 226] Zenobia was "the great Queen of the East", who ruled Palmyra in its days of splendour (AD 267). She was an extraordinary woman, full of wisdom and heroic courage. She was conquered by the Romans after a splendid reign of five years, and the Emperor Aurelian caused her to be led through Rome bound in fetters of gold...

[p 229] There are several little squares of standing columns, which might have been pavilions or nymphoeums, covering fountains. I counted seven of them. All the busts have had their heads knocked off, and most of the coins represented a woman sitting - of course supposed to be Zenobia.

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ITEM: LIBRETTI LIST RE 1665-1796

SOURCE: Theodore, Oscar George., Library of Congress, Catalogue of Opera Libretti Printed before 1800, Washington 1914 {MRA Open Shelves}

{Lists 13 libretti on the subject of Zenobia, written between 1665 and 1796}

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OPERA (No 1) 1665