Silver Coin Zenobia 2011 Proof Togo

RAZITKO_POSTOVNE_ZDARMA_NENI

Greatest She Warriors series

This exclusive silver coin issued by the Republic of Togo in 2011 from the Greatest She Warriors series features the likeness of Queen Zenobia of Syria on its reverse. The inscriptions "GREATEST SHE-WARRIORS", "ZENOBIA" and the year of issue complete the obverse. The coin is partially coloured, the triangle symbolising femininity. The obverse shows the national emblem of the Republic of Togo and the face value.

The coin comes in a blue gift box with grey and silver trim along with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a limited edition of only 1000 pieces for the whole world!

Zenobia

Septimia Zenobia, commonly known as Zenobia (c. 240, Palmyra - after 274, Rome), was queen of Syrian Palmyra from 267/268-272 and, together with her son Vaballathus, defied the Roman Emperor Aurelian (270-275) in 272. She took over the rule of Palmyra after the assassination of her husband Odaenathus, who had established his own power base in the east of the Roman Empire under Gallienus. Her name was Bat-Zabbai in Palmyrene, i.e. daughter of Zabba, or the half-daughter of Zenobia.

Zenobia was apparently the daughter of the Palmyrene Iulius Aurelius Zenobius, whose family had acquired Roman citizenship around the time of Marcus Aurelius or Commodus. Sometime in the 1950s, when very young, she married the exarch of Palmyra, Septimius Odaenathus, the de facto ruler of the desert city. She became his second wife (the name of the first, by whom he had a son, Hairan, is not known). As Odaenathus' influence in the Roman East grew enormously after 260, and his exceptional position was confirmed by the emperor Gallienus, so did Zenobia's stature - a rise underlined externally by Odaenathus' acceptance of the royal title around 263.

After Odaenathus' assassination in late 267, Zenobia ruled alone in Palmyra as guardian of her minor son Vaballathus. The core of her domain was the province of Syria, with some overlap into Asia Minor and northern Mesopotamia. Officially, like Odaenathus, she recognized the sovereignty of the emperor in Rome, but in reality she sought to extend her influence into Arabia and Egypt. In both cases it succeeded after the military operations of 270. At the same time, expansion westward into the interior of Asia Minor was initiated.

The new emperor Aurelianus, who ascended the throne after the deaths of the emperors Gallienus and Claudius II, could not tolerate Palmyra's independent military ventures permanently. At first, his hands were tied by pressing tasks in the west, but as soon as circumstances permitted, he launched an expedition into Syria. Zenobia responded by having her son proclaimed emperor and herself empress in 272 (Vaballathus already had the title imperator from earlier).

Compared to his rival, Aurelianus had the advantage of commanding legions hardened in battle with barbarians, who recognised him as a military leader. He therefore easily defeated Zenobia in two battles - at Antioch and Emesa - and entered Palmyra in August 272. The queen attempted to escape, but was captured, tried at Emesa, and finally led in a triumphal procession. According to most ancient writers, she spent the rest of her life in a villa near Tivoli, an opinion to which contemporary historiography also subscribes. The chronicler Zosimos, however, claims that she refused food and starved to death on her way to Rome.