Stoneman’s Palmyra and its Empire, and Popularizing the Forgotten Zenobia
In his Palmyra and its Empire, Stoneman sets the stage for queen Zenobia in the eastern Roman scene, and thus gives us a full portrayal of the cultural, economical, social and religious context of the Palmyrene Empire. Stoneman gives his account of the empire attempting to answer his questions regarding the reasons of Zenobia’s revolt and the significance of that revolt. He refers to Historia Augusta to state the cause of that revolt as “a first stage in the coinage reform that became far-reaching in 274 with the introduction of the new denomination, the aurelianianus” (Stoneman, p.164). Nevertheless, he does not tell us what he thinks of that cause and if it is a convincing cause for him or not. This seems to be Stoneman’s approach in undertaking the historical documentation of Zenobia’s life, giving his references’ accounts without providing satisfying commentary or convincing evidence for accepting a reference or rejecting it. For example, he quotes Aurelian’s letter in which he gave orders to restore the temple of the sun. He decides that the letter is fiction, yet that “there is no need to doubt its substance” without any further explanation (Stoneman, p.183). He does something similar in regards of Zenobia’s death. He does not accept al-Tabari’s account of her death who thought that she died in her city “by Arab foes” (Stoneman, pg.11). However, he attributes this account to some confusion between Zenobia and a queen of a similar name, without mentioning any details about that confusion (Stoneman, p.11).
According to Stoneman, the significance of Zenobia’s revolt and desire to rule the Roman Empire lies in the possibility of how it could have altered the development of the Roman Empire and “our own history” accordingly if it ever happened (Stoneman, p.4). Nevertheless, his interest in the Empire’s history surpasses a historian’s professional interest and becomes a more personal admiration. Stoneman mentions in his preface how his fascination with Palmyra began, with the funerary portraits, and how it led him to question the life of “those proud and magnificent people” whom he thinks sought their independence and stayed “unchastened” despite of their defeat (Stoneman, VIII/Preface). This very notion is the source of Stoneman’s fascination and his enthusiasm about honoring Palmyra, an empire even though small, strived for its liberation and rose against the Roman taxation and manipulation. In fact, he felt this urgency to acknowledge the example of persistence, will power and bravery that Palmyrians, led by Zenobia, set to all invaded nations seeking their independence. Thus, Stoneman had aspiration to contribute to the “survival of Zenobia’s legend” since he believed that even though Robert Wood’s discovery of Palmyra helped to arouse people’s curiosity about the city and its aesthetic materials , “ the queen herself was almost forgotten” (Stoneman,p.198). In other words, he devoted his book to redirect “ the fantasies of western visitors” from the ruins of the city to the history of the free-spirited Zenobia, who is “seeking the honor of the Western World” (Stoneman, 194). Therefore, Stoneman depicted an important period of the Roman Empire “to a wider public” (Stoneman, Preface).
Stoneman’s easy language and his reference to exciting literature enabled him to succeed in his mission efficiently. Yet, he could not escape his emotional attachment to the astonishing place, the exotic traditions and the whole notion of Palmyra as a mysterious appealing story. Another dimension of Stoneman’s fascination with that luxurious culture is its dependence on silk trade and its association with the visual image Lady Hester Stanhope mentions of the Palmyrene girls with their “pointed breasts and slim thighs but faintly concealed by transparent robes” (Stoneman, p.193). In his review of the book, Guy MacLean Rogers refers to this and asks an interesting question, “Why has Zenobia not attracted more attention from historians of women?” (Rogers). This calls Stoneman’s admiration of Zenobia’s courage to revolt against the Roman Empire and nearly split it into two, which is even more admirable giving her masculine Syrian background. The source of his astonishment is due to his assumable knowledge of the people she rises among, the Arabs “with whom one would now hardly associate ready opportunities for women to feature in public life” (Stoneman, p.1).
Accordingly, Zenobia was for her multi-dimensional personality a unique historical female figure to Stoneman. In fact, according to her ancient descriptions Stoneman referred to, she was more a model-like of the goddess woman. Zenobia was not only a great politician but also a warrior who took advantage of the “disaffected Roman soldiers” and used them to strengthen the Palmyrene armies (Stoneman, pg.3). Although she was surrounded with intellectuals and was known for her love of learning , she was described as “ beautiful” with emphasis on her large “lustrous” black eyes and her long hair in addition to her “ pearly” teeth ( Stoneman,p.4-5,111).
Stoneman was clear about his inability to avoid the fictional interpretation of Zenobia’s life and history. In fact, he was fully aware of the fact that the interpretation of the earlier historians of the Roman history became part of that history (Stoneman, Preface). This crucial distinction, therefore, saves students from being confused by the fictional literature and the historical literature of Zenobia’s life. Moreover, it saves him from being criticized in case some of his fictional sources turned to be unreliable. Stoneman succeeded in making Zenobia “a living heroine” who could attract the attention of both people in her time and people of our time (Stoneman, p.200).
"The only thing that shall remain is the honor of the stand, The outcry in the face of oppression." Mansour Rahbani
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