The Battle of Emesa.

Emesa (272 CE)

In 272 CE, the Battle of Emesa was fought between the Romans under Aurelian and Palmyra under Zenobia and Zabdas during the Roman-Palmyrene War.

Why did it happen?

When the Roman emperor Valerian was captured by the Sassanid king Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa in 260 CE, it appeared that the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire would be overrun by the Persians. However, the king of Palmyra, Odaenathus, defeated the Sassanids in several battles between 261 CE and 266 CE, driving them out of Syria and Mesopotamia. When Odaenathus was assassinated in 267 CE, his wife, Zenobia, took command of Palmyra’s realms and, over the next three years, conquered Palestine, Egypt, Anatolia, and Syria. However, when she declared herself and her son, Vaballathus, Augusta and imperator in 272 CE, the Roman emperor Aurelian marched east with a large army to win back the Roman Empire’s eastern provinces. After defeating the Palmyran army at the Battle of Immae, Aurelian pursued it south to Emesa (modern-day Homs), where Zenobia made a stand with her general, Zabdas.

Who was involved?

The Roman army at Emesa numbered 50,000 infantry and cavalry. According to Zosimus, the Roman army consisted of Dalmatian and Mauritanian cavalry, while the infantry consisted of Celtic legionaries from Noricum and Rhaetia, and Palestinian auxiliaries wielding clubs and staves. The infantry was arrayed in the centre with cavalry on the flanks: Aurelian led the centre while Marcellinus commanded the left wing. The Palmyrene army at Emesa numbered 70,000 infantry and cavalry. Like the Roman army, the Palmyrene army was arrayed with infantry in the centre and cavalry on the wings. The Palmyrene cavalry consisted of heavily armoured cataphracts, light-mounted archers and camels, while the infantry was largely imitation legionaries. Zabdas led the right wing, while Zenobia commanded the centre.

What happened?

As the Palmyrene cavalry advanced, the Roman cavalry drew them into a pursuit, which caused the Palmyrene horses to tire and lose formation. The two cavalry forces then engaged each other in close combat, with the Roman cavalry suffering heavy casualties. With the cavalry occupied, Aurelian ordered his legionaries and auxiliaries to advance against the Palmyrene infantry, with the fighting lasting for several hours. Upon seeing his exhausted cavalry on the verge of breaking, Aurelian ordered his Palestinian auxiliaries to attack the Palmyrene cavalry with their clubs and staves, which cut through the Palmyrene cataphracts’ mail armour. With Aurelian offering moral encouragement to his troops, the Roman cavalry rallied and pursued the Palmyrene cavalry as they broke formation and fled the battlefield. Upon seeing this, the Palmyrene infantry retreated into Emesa, while Zenobia and Zabdas fled east to Palmyra.

What changed as a result?

The Battle of Emesa was a Roman victory. In the aftermath of the battle, Zenobia fled back to Palmyra with the hope that the Roman army would not be able to supply itself in the desert. Aurelian subsequently laid siege to Palmyra for several months, and when food supplies began to diminish inside the city, Zenobia fled towards the Euphrates River, hoping to get help from the Sassanids. She was subsequently captured and taken back to Rome in 273 CE, where she was paraded in Aurelian’s triumph before being allowed to retire to Tivoli, where she spent the rest of her days in peace. Palmyra itself was sacked by Aurelian after the small Roman garrison was massacred by the city’s inhabitants, and the city passed almost completely out of history. Aurelian himself was murdered by his secretary in 275 CE, and the Roman Empire relapsed into civil war before Diocletian came to power in 284 CE and divided the empire into two halves.

Bibliography

Grant, R.G. 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. London, Cassell Illustrated, 2011.

HistoryMarche. “Battle of Emesa, 272 AD: How Aurelian Restored Rome (Part 3).” YouTube video, 27:43. May 22, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ-MGGG-MTI

Rodgers, Nigel. The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome. London, Hermes House, 2007.

Vopiscus, Flavius. Historia Augusta: Life of Aurelian. Translated by David Magie. Cambridge, Loeb Classical Library, 1932.

Zosimus. New History. Translated by Roger Pearse. London, Green and Chaplin, 1814.