The Usurper Vabalathus

317, Lot: 370. Estimate $300. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Vabalathus. Usurper, AD 268-272. Antoninianus (20mm, 3.50 g, 6h). Antioch mint, 2nd officina. 2nd emission, March-May AD 272. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Hercules standing right, with lion skin draped over shoulder, holding club set on ground and three apples; star to left. RIC V 4; BN 1265 var. (star in right field). VF, brown patina, light earthen deposits.

The son of Odenathus, the ruler of the rich eastern trade center Palmyra, and his wife Zenobia, Vabalathus was declared king following the murder of his father in AD 267. Since he was still in his minority, Zenobia took over as regent, using the position and the confusion following the death of Gallienus to expand Palmyrene power. In AD 269, the Palmyrenes seized control of Egypt and, with it, the Roman grain supply. To bolster her position, Zenobia laid claims to an illustrious ancestry, including Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the legendary Dido of Carthage.

The emperor Aurelian recognized the threat posed by Zenobia and Vabalathus and launched a campaign. In AD 272, Palmyra was sacked and both Zenobia and Vabalathus were captured as they tried to make their way to Persia. The two were to be brought to Rome and paraded in Aurelian’s triumph in AD 274, but apparently only Zenobia survived the journey. According to later tradition, Aurelian, impressed by her beauty and dignity, not only freed her but granted her a villa in Tibur, where she spent the rest of her life.