267 – 272 · Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor Theater
267 – 272
In the east, where the capture of Valerian had left a vacuum, the desert city of Palmyra rose to power. Its brilliant queen Zenobia, ruling for her young son, seized Syria, then conquered Egypt — Rome's breadbasket — and much of Asia Minor, carving out a Palmyrene Empire that rivalled Rome itself. Cultured, ambitious, and claiming descent from Cleopatra, she made her court a centre of learning.
Commanders