ABSTRACT
Title of Dissertation: IDENTITY, COMMUNITY, AND STATE
FORMATION AT ROMAN PALMYRA
Andrew M. Smith II, Doctor of Philosophy, 2004
Dissertation directed by: Professor Kenneth G. Holum
Department of History
This is a study of identity, community, and the process of state formation in
the Roman period at Palmyra, an oasis city in the Syrian desert, from the first to
third centuries C.E.  I address the key issue of cultural transmission and the
development of an indigenous Palmyrene identity and community in the Roman
Near East, as influenced by their pastoralist backgrounds and their contacts with
Parthian and Roman powers.  I examine these issues primarily through a re-
evaluation of the local epigraphy in its urban context, complemented by
examinations of the archaeology of the city and narrative sources.  I demonstrate
how the Palmyrenes managed to build a civic community that was distinctively
Mediterranean in its makeup, and where a small elite dominated public affairs.  I
demonstrate how, despite increasing Roman influence over the city during the
period of this study, the Palmyrenes retained their native identities in a communal
setting, characterized by a cultural blend of Roman, Parthian, and indigenous
habits.
IDENTITY, COMMUNITY, AND STATE FORMATION AT ROMAN
PALMYRA
by
Andrew M. Smith II
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
2004
Advisory Committee:
Professor Kenneth G. Holum, Chair
Professor Arthur M. Eckstein
Professor Hayim Lapin
Professor Marjorie S. Venit
Professor Madeline C. Zilfi
?Copyright by
Andrew M. Smith II
2004
ii
Preface
In this study I have utilized an array of sources in various languages, which
includes Latin, Greek, and Aramaic, so a few prefatory remarks on the conventions for
transliteration that I have employed are necessary.
I presented the Latin in lower case except for proper names.  I also
transliterated all Greek into Latin characters, while using the macron (?) to distinguish
the long vowels eta (0 =  ) and omega (T = ?).  I then followed the Latin conventions
for proper names.  When short phrases containing important syntax were presented I
retained the Greek characters.  When supplying Greek names, I have opted to present
the Latin equivalents.  Instead of Aur lius, for example, I use Aurelius, and so forth.
I presented all Aramaic in standard transliteration in lower case, by following
the same conventions employed by  D. R. Hillers and E. Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic
Texts (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996).  Reference to texts in Hillers
and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, follows the convention P####.  Also, in order
to limit disruptions to the narrative, I have vocalized all proper names.  Further, in
order to stress the significance of kinship terminology in designations of tribal
relationships, I have retained throughout the transliterated term bny (Banai or Ben ),
which means literally, ?sons of,? but also carries the sense of membership in extended
iii
groups.
Finally, unless otherwise stated, all translations of inscriptions or text, in
addition to photographs presented here, are mine.
iv
To Family and Friends
v
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to a great many individuals and institutions who aided this
endeavor and contributed to my intellectual growth.  I am especially thankful for all
of the support I received while conducting research in Syria, from Dr. Abdal
Razzaq Moaz, former Director-General of Antiquities and Museums Syria, and
from Dr. Tammam Fakouch, current Director-General of Antiquities and Museums
of Syria, both of whom granted me permits to study and to publish objects in
Damascus and Palmyra.  I also thank Dr. Khaled al-As?ad, former Director of the
Palmyra Museum and his son Waleed al-As?ad, the current Director.  Their
kindness, generosity, and all the assistance they provided to ensure the successful
completion of my research at Palmyra were unsurpassed.  I especially benefitted
from conversations with Dr. Khaled al-As?ad, whose deep knowledge of Palmyra
and its antiquities can only be described as extraordinary.  I further thank the entire
staff of the Palmyra Museum for their assistance.
I am also been fortunate to have had great mentors over the years,
individuals who have taught me wisely how to invest my intellectual capital. 
Professor Kenneth G. Holum has been both a mentor and a true friend, whose warm
support and encouragement, in addition to long discussions about the ancient city,
vi
guided me through the years.  I thank Professor Hayim Lapin, in whose seminar, led
jointly with Professor James Brooks, this dissertation first developed.  I thank
Professor Arthur Eckstein for discussions on the ancient world that were
illuminating and pertinent to this study.  I also thank Professor John Peter Oleson
for years of support and encouragement and for his persistent push to have me
complete this degree.  Further, I am especially grateful to Professor S. Thomas
Parker, a first mentor, whose guidance I benefitted from greatly early in my career. 
Also, for their contributions to my intellectual growth, I thank Professor John M.
Riddle and Professor Ronald H. Sack at North Carolina State University, and
Professor Steven H. Rutledge at the University of Maryland.
Several organization funded this research or provided institutional support. 
My work in Syria was funded in 2001 by a Hearst Travel Fellowship awarded
through the Department of History of the University of Maryland, and in 2003 by a
second Hearst Fellowship and a research grant through the Explorers Club of
Washington DC.  A Mary Savage Snouffer Dissertation Fellowship, awarded
through the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland,
provided a year of uninterrupted research and writing.  My research abroad received
support from the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman,
Jordan, whose staff has been like a second family over the years.  I am especially
grateful to its Director, Dr. Pierre M. Bikai, for his support and encouragement, and
to Dr. Patricia M. Bikai.  Both supported my research in Jordan, during the time in
vii
which I had insight for this project.  My work in Jordan, which provided a
comparative basis for this study, was funded by three USIA/ACOR Research
Fellowships awarded over the years.
I was fortunate while completing this dissertation to have benefitted from
discussions with several colleagues.  I extend a warm thanks to Professor David
Graf, Professor David Potter, Professor Traianos Gagos, Professor Andreas
Schmidt-Colinet, Professor Cynthia Finlayson, Professor Jodi Magness, Professor
Benjamin Isaac, Professor Stephen H. Savage, Professor Burton MacDonald,
Professor Fred M. Donner, Professor Paul Burton, Ms. Jennifer Stabler, Ms.
Jennifer Ramsay, Ms. Lisa Helfert, Mr. John Barry, and Mr. James Cook.  I also
want to thank Darlene King, Catalina Toala, and the entire staff of the Department
of History at the University of Maryland.
My mother and sisters have been encouraging over the years, for which I am
forever grateful.  I want also to thank my adopted family in Raleigh, NC, Kenton
and Mary Bea Kolbe, who have stood behind me every step of the way.  Further, I
am extremely fortunate to share the kindness, support, drive for academic
excellence, and friendship of Elise A. Friedland, to whom I owe more than I could
ever express here.
Finally, I extend further thanks to the members of my dissertation
committee for their patience and endurance in reading this dissertation.
viii
Table of Contents
Preface ...........................................................ii
Dedication ....................................................... iv
Acknowledgements .................................................v
List of Figures .....................................................x
List of Tables .................................................... xiv
List of Abbreviations ...............................................xv
Chapter 1: Introduction ..............................................1
The Setting ..................................................1
What are Identity and Community? ..............................11
A Framework for Constructing Palmyrene Identity and Community ....22
State Formation at Roman Palmyra ..............................25
Palmyrene Studies ...........................................33
Sources ....................................................35
Summary of Palmyra?s History and Urban Development .............42
Summary of Chapters .........................................61
Chapter 2: Tribes and Tribalism ......................................64
Introduction ................................................64
Conceiving Tribes and Tribalism ................................67
Family and Tribal Structure at Palmyra ...........................72
City and Countryside .........................................97
Conclusion ................................................112
Chapter 3: Growth of Community ....................................114
Introduction ...............................................114
The Nature of Community at Palmyra ...........................115
Palmyra as Religious Center ..................................120
ix
Palmyra as Economic Center ..................................145
Conclusion ................................................174
Chapter 4: Social Identities .........................................177
Introduction ...............................................177
The Palmyrene Family .......................................179
Marriages Patterns ..........................................192
Women at Palmyra ..........................................202
Slaves, Freedmen, and Freedwomen ............................214
Occupational Identities ......................................223
Voluntary Associations and Ritual Dining .......................229
Friends and Patrons .........................................248
Conclusion ................................................258
Chapter 5: Civic Institutions ........................................262
Introduction ...............................................262
City and Citizenship .........................................263
Government and Institutions ..................................273
Four Tribes, Four Sanctuaries .................................296
Palmyra?s Military and Caravan Guards .........................324
Conclusion ................................................336
Chapter 6: Palmyrene Identity and Community Abroad ...................339
Introduction ...............................................339
The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos ..............................341
Palmyrene Merchants Abroad .................................363
Palmyrenes in Foreign Services ................................370
Conclusion ................................................400
Chapter 7: Conclusions ............................................403
Odenathus, Zenobia, and the Crisis of Identity ....................403
Retrospect and Broader Implications ...........................421
Figures .........................................................436
Appendix I: Index of Palmyrene Aramaic Texts .........................475
Appendix II: Short Concordance of Text References (Inventaire des 
inscriptions de Palmyre, Corpus inscriptionum semiticarum, and
PAT sigla) .................................................495
Bibliography .....................................................510
x
List of Figures
Figure 1: General map of the Near East ...........................437
Figure 2: Satellite image of Palmyra?north at top ([C] CNES/SPOT 
Image 1992-1994) ....................................438
Figure 3: City plan of Palmyra (courtesy of Waleed al-As?ad) ..........439
Figure 4: Ancient city of Palmyra looking southeast.  Note the 
oasis in the immediate background and the sabkha 
in the distance. .......................................440
Figure 5: Territory of Palmyra (after Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 
163, map 2) .........................................441
Figure 6: Statue of unidentified Palmyrene male (courtesy of the 
Palmyra Museum) ....................................442
Figure 7: Great Colonnade looking north.  Note the presence of consoles
on the columns, on which statues of the Palmyrene elite were 
set.  Honorific inscriptions identifying these individuals were
generally inscribed on the face of the console or on the column
below it. ............................................443
Figure 8: Temple of Bel looking west.  Note the date palms of the oasis
in the foreground. .....................................444
Figure 9: Sanctuary of Bel in the temple precinct looking east ..........445
Figure 10: Sanctuary of Baalshamin looking north.  Note the presence of
consoles on the columns supporting the roof of the sanctuary, 
on which statues of the temple?s benefactors were displayed ...446
Figure 11: Aerial view of the restored theater and of the agora looking
xi
west (photograph by Waleed al-As?ad) ....................447
Figure 12: Temple of Allat looking south.  Note the Great Colonnade 
leading to the temple of Bel in the background ..............448
Figure 13: Monumental Arch looking northwest.  The arch masks a sharp
bend in the colonnade .................................449
Figure 14: Tetrapylon looking north.  The monument marks an 
intersection of two colonnaded streets.  Its columns, one of 
which is original, are of pink granite shipped from Egypt ......450
Figure 15: Valley of the Tombs looking west.  The visible tower tombs 
are among the oldest monuments at Palmyra.  Also present 
though not visible in the photograph are the numerous 
hypogea which replaced the tower tombs as the preferred 
method of burial in the second century C.E. ................451
Figure 16: Tower tombs looking southwest .........................452
Figure 17: Monumental sarcophagi from the hypogeum of the three 
brothers depicting a typical triclinium arrangement that mimics 
a Roman dining setting ................................453
Figure 18: Loculi in the hypogeum of Artaban .......................454
Figure 19: Palmyrene merchants (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum).  
Note their distinctive native dress ........................455
Figure 20: Palmyrene camel relief (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum) ....456
Figure 21: Camels at Palmyra today ...............................457
Figure 22: Palmyrene ship with long oars, perhaps for navigating up the
Euphrates (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum) ...............458
Figure 23: House 35 at Palmyra (after Gabriel, ??Recherches 
arch?ologiques ? Palmyra,? pl. 15) .......................459
Figure 24: Mosaic from the house of Cassiopeia highlighting Greek 
cultural inclinations among the Palmyrene elite (courtesy of 
the National Museum, Damascus, Syria) ...................460
xii
Figure 25: Genealogical chart showing the descendants of Manai Elahbel.  
Note the endogamous parallel cousin marriages .............461
Figure 26: Palmyrene funerary sarcophagus from the hypogeum of Bolha 
in the southwest necropolis depicting as the central figure a 
certain Nabushuri, son of Ogeilu, whose father is depicted on 
his right (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum).  The woman 
sitting at the feet of Nabushuri is Aqme, daughter of a certain
Baratai, presumably his wife and clearly in a subordinate 
position.  The children, who are set in smaller relief in the
background, are not identified ...........................462
Figure 27: Relief of reclining Palmyrene couple, a certain Mal  (right) 
and Bolaya (left), from the southeast necropolis (courtesy of 
the Palmyra Museum) .................................463
Figure 28: Relief of reclining Palmyrene woman with servant (courtesy of 
the National Museum, Damascus, Syria) ...................464
Figure 29: Right side of relief of a processional scene from the temple of 
Bel.  Note the train of women swathed in veils ..............465
Figure 30: Left side of relief of processional scene from the temple of 
Bel.  Note the veiled women in the upper-left scene ..........466
Figure 31: Relief of a Palmyrene sacrificial scene from the temple of 
Allat depicting veiled women in procession, perhaps 
priestesses (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum) ..............467
Figure 32: Archaic relief from the agora that depicts two veiled women in 
a sacrificial scene (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum).  The 
woman on the far right holds a two-handled cup, and before 
her another woman holds what appears to be a incense burner ..468
Figure 33: Relief of an unidentified Palmyrene woman with a stylus 
(courtesy of the Palmyra Museum) .......................469
Figure 34: View of Euphrates from Dura Europos looking south.  Note 
the agricultural fields along the bank of the river ............470
Figure 35: Relief of 159 C.E. depicting the Gad of Dura Europos 
(courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos 
xiii
Collection) ..........................................471
Figure 36: Relief of 159 C.E. depicting the Gad of Palmyra (courtesy of 
Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection) .......472
Figure 37: Fresco depicting in the lower left scene the tychai of Palmyra 
and Dura Europos (courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery, 
Dura-Europos Collection).  The tychai in addition to three 
other Palmyrene deities receive a sacrifice from the tribune 
Julius Terentius alongside members of the cohors XX 
Palmyrenorum and the priest Them s, son of Mokimos 
(courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos 
Collection) ..........................................473
xiv
List of Tables
Table 1: Palmyrene Tribal or Familial Associations .......................78
Table 2.  Known Palmyrene Clans and Tribal Associations .................79
xv
List of Abbreviations
AA(A)S Les Annales arch?ologiques (arabes)
syriennes 
ADAJ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of
Jordan 
ANRW  Vogt, J., H. Temporini, and W. Haase, eds.
Aufstieg und Niedergang der r?mischen Welt.
Berlin: de Gruyter, 1972 -
AJA American Journal of Archaeology 
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental
Research
BRGK Bericht der R?misch-Germanischen
Kommission
CIL Corpus inscriptionum latinarum
CIS Corpus inscriptionum semiticarum
CRAIBL  Comptes rendus des S?ances de l?Acad?mie
des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 
Dura Final Report 3.1.2 Downey, S. B. The Stone and Plaster
Sculpture. The Excavations at Dura Europos,
Final Report. Vol. 3.1. fasc. 2. Los Angeles :
Institute of Archaeology, University of
California, 1977
Dura Final Report 5.1 Welles, C., R. Fink, and J. F. Gilliam, eds.
The Parchments and Papyri. The Excavations
xvi
at Dura Europos, Final Report. Vol. 5.1. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1959
Dura Preliminary Report 2 Bauer, P. V. C., and M. I. Rostovtzeff, eds.
The Excavations at Dura-Europos:
Preliminary Report of the Second Season of
Work, October 1928 - April 1929. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1931
Dura Preliminary Report 4 Bauer, P. V. C., M. I. Rostovtzeff, and A. R.
Bellinger, eds. The Excavations at Dura-
Europos: Preliminary Report of the Fourth
Season of Work, October 1930 - March 1931.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1933
Dura Preliminary Report 5 Rostovtzeff, M. I., ed. The Excavations at
Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of the
Fifth Season of Work, October 1931 - March
1932. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1934
Dura Preliminary Report 6 Rostovtzeff, M. I., et al., eds. The Excavations
at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of the
Sixth Season of Work, October 1932 - March
1933. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1936
Dura Preliminary Report 7-8 Rostovtzeff, M. I., F. Brown, and C. Welles,
eds. The Excavations at Dura-Europos:
Preliminary Report of the Seventh and Eighth
Seasons of Work, 1933-1934 and 1934-1935.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1939
FHG Fragmenta historicorum graecorum
IDR Inscriptiile Daciei Romane 
IG Inscriptiones graecae
IGLS Jalabert, L., and R. Mouterde.  Inscriptions
graecae et latines de la Syrie. Paris, 1927 -
xvii
IGR Cagnat, R., ed. Inscriptiones graecae ad res
Romanas pertinentes. Paris, 1911-27
ILS Dessau, H., ed. Inscriptiones latinae selectae,
1892-1916
Inventaire 1-9 Cantineau, J., ed. Inventaire des inscriptions
de Palmyre. 9 vols. Beirut: Imprimerie
catholique, 1930-6.
Inventaire 10 Starcky,J., ed. Inventaire des inscriptions de
Palmyre. Vol. 10. Damascus: Publications de
la Direction G?n?rale des Antiquit?s de Syrie,
1949.
Inventaire 11 Teixidor, J., ed.  Inventaire des inscriptions
de Palmyre. Vol. 11. Beirut: Institut Fran?ais
d?Archeologie de Beyrouth, 1965.
Inventaire 12 Bounni, A., and J. Teixidor, eds. Inventaire
des inscriptions de Palmyre. Vol. 12.
Damascus: Publications de la Direction
G?n?rale des Antiquit?s et des Mus?es de la
R?publique Arabe Syrienne, 1975.
JRA Journal of Roman Archaeology 
JRS  Journal of Roman Studies
Maricq, RGDS Maricq, A. ?Res Gestae Divi Saporis.? Syria
35 (1958): 295-360 
Moretti, Inscriptiones Moretti, C. L. Inscriptiones graecae urbis
Romae. Studi pubblicati dall?Istituto italiano
per la storia antica, fasc. 17.  Rome: 1967
MUSJ  M?langes de l?Universit? Saint-Joseph 
P.Oxy. Papyri Oxyrhynchus
RIC Mattingly, H., et al., eds. The Roman Imperial
Coinage. London: Spink, 1923-81
xviii
RMD 1 Roxan, M. M. Roman Military Diplomas
1954-1977. London: Institute of Archaeology,
1978
RMD 2 Roxan, M. M. Roman Military Diplomas
1978 to 1984. London: Institute of
Archaeology, 1985
SEG Supplementum epigraphicum graecum 
SHA Scriptores historiae augustae
YCS Yale Classical Studies 
ZPE  Zeitschrift f?r Papyrologie und Epigraphik
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
The Setting
This study addresses the issues of identity, community, and state formation
in Palmyra, a city in eastern Syria midway between Damascus and the Euphrates
that flourished in the second and third centuries C.E. (fig. 1).  I examine these
issues by means of a comprehensive analysis of the extant epigraphic and
archaeological sources within their urban contexts.  I also study these issues more
broadly in terms of the development of Palmyra as a frontier community in the
borderlands between the Roman Empire to the west and the kingdom of Parthia to
the east and south, and as a regional center of political interaction and commercial
exchange (fig. 2).  Both approaches seek to identify the factors that led pastoral
peoples to develop an urban center and the corresponding influences, both internal
and external, that were adopted (or rejected) as the settlement grew.  The aim of
this study is to elucidate the nature of the transformation of Palmyra from a small
settlement that represented the coalescence of a few disparate tribes into an
impressive urban center with distinct Mediterranean features (fig. 3).  Further, the
aim is to explain the corresponding social and political transformation from a tribal
1  Pliny Natural History 5.21.88: Palmyra urbs nobilis situ divitiis soli et aquis
amoenis vasto undique ambitu harenis includit agros ac velut terris exempta a
rerum natura privata sorte inter duo imperia summa Romanorum Parthorumque
est prima in discordia semper utrimque cura.  For commentary, see E. Will, ?Pline
l?ancien et Palmyre: Un Probl?me d?histoire ou d?histoire litt?raire?? Syria 62
(1985): 263-69.
2  General studies of Rome in the east include F. Millar, The Roman Near East,
31 B.C.-A.D. 337 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993); and B. Isaac,
The Limits of Empire, rev. ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).  Cf. W.
2
confederation into an urban community with a social hierarchy that was
distinctively Mediterranean in its makeup, where public affairs were conducted in
the style of Mediterranean urbanism, and finally into a community that could
successfully compete with neighboring imperial powers.
Writing in the first century C.E., the Roman writer Pliny presented Palmyra
within its ecological niche, while also providing a political context for the
community?s early development:
Palmyra, a city famous for its position, the richness of its soil, and its
pleasant waters, incorporates fields encircled on all sides by a vast
circuit of sand; and, as though removed by the  natural order from
other lands, and enjoying a separate lot between two supreme
empires, that of the Romans and that of the Parthians, in times of
discord, it is always the first concern on both sides.1
Pliny may never have visited Palmyra, and the source of his information was no
doubt outdated by a generation or more, but his depiction of the settlement
nonetheless retained some contemporary relevance.  Indeed, from the Augustan
period on, Palmyra had flourished in the borderland between two great empires. 
The Romans maintained a powerful presence to the west of Palmyra,2 and toward
Ball, Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire (London: Routledge,
2000), who provides a more art historical overview stressing eastern influences on
western cultural development.
3 General studies of the Parthians and Sassanians include M. Colledge, The
Parthians (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967); N. C. Debevoise,  A Political
History of Parthia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938); J. Gag?, La
Mont?e des Sassanides et l?heure de Palmyre (Paris: A. Michel, 1964); and R. Frye,
The History of Ancient Iran (Munich: C. H. Beck, 1984).
4 The available ancient evidence and modern scholarship are heavily biased
toward a Roman perspective with respect to frontier strategy.  See, for instance, M.
Bertinelli, Roma e l?oriente: Strategia, economia, societ? e cultura nelle relazioni
politiche fra Roma, la Giudea e l?Iran, 2nd ed., Problemi e ricerche di storia antica,
no. 7 (Rome: <<L?Erma>> di Bretschneider, 1979); N. Hodgson, ?The East as Part of
the Wider Roman Imperial Frontier Policy,? in The Eastern Frontier of the Roman
Empire, 2 vols., edited by D. French and C. Lightfoot, B. A. R.  International
Series, no. 55 (Oxford: British Archaeology Reports, 1989), 177-89; E. Luttwak,
The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1976); and P. Freeman and D. L. Kennedy, eds., The Defence of the Roman
and Byzantine Near East, B. A. R. International Series, no. 297 (Oxford: British
Archaeology Reports, 1986).
5  Important studies of the eastern trade include J. Miller, The Spice Trade of
the Roman Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969); M. Charlesworth,
Trade-Routes and Commerce of the Roman Empire, rev. ed. (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1974); M. Raschke, ?New Studies in Roman Trade with the
3
the east the Parthians prevailed until their eventual overthrow by the Sassanian
Persians in 224 C.E.3  Palmyra was closely connected with the strategic and
commercial interests of both empires, and, though isolated in the Syrian desert, the
city and its territory bridged the distance between them.4  Palmyra became, as Pliny
perceived, a center of interaction and exchange, a crossroads between east and west. 
As a community comprised largely of merchants, the Palmyrenes prospered in their
role of supporting and protecting the flow of caravan traffic between east and west.5 
East,? ANRW 2.9.2 (1978): 604-1378; E. Martin, Cargoes of the East: The Ports,
Trade, and Culture of the Arabian Seas and Western Indian Ocean (London: Elm
Tree Books, 1978); and S. Sidebotham, Roman Economic Policy in the Erythra
Thalassa, 30 B.C. - A.D. 217, Mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava,
Supplement no. 91 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1986). More recently, see G. Young, Rome?s
Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 B.C. - A.D. 305
(London & New York: Routledge, 2001).  For more a comprehensive assessment of
Palmyra?s role in the eastern trade, see J. Teixidor, Un Port romaine du d?sert:
Palmyre et son commerce d?Auguste ? Caracalla, Semitica, no. 34 (Paris: Librairie
d?Am?rique et d?Orient, 1984).  More generally, see M. Gawlikowski, ?Palmyra
and its Caravan Trade,? in International Colloquium on Palmyra and the Silk Road,
AAAS, no. 42 (Damascus: Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, 1996),
139-45; and J. F. Healey, ?Palmyra and the Arabian Gulf Trade,? Aram 8 (1996):
33-37.
6  For instance, on relations between Palmyra and Dura Europos, see L. Dirven,
The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1999); and idem, ?The Nature of the Trade between Palmyra
and Dura-Europos,? Aram 8 (1996): 39-54.  See also M. Gawlikowski, ?Palmyre et
l?Euphrate,? Syria 60 (1983): 53-68.
4
They secured their trading interests by policing the routes across the desert and by
maintaining strong diplomatic and commercial ties with other communities abroad.6 
The Palmyrenes, a secure and stable presence in an otherwise volatile desert
frontier, controlled not only the movement of material goods across the frontier but
the exchange of information as well.
In evaluating the ecological niche to which Pliny refers, the modern
situation seems comparable.  The oasis of Palmyra is situated in the middle of the
Syrian desert, midway between Damascus, ca. 200 kilometers to the southwest, and
Dura Europos, ca. 230 kilometers to the east on the banks of the Euphrates river.  A
vast circuit of sand surrounds Palmyra, and the oasis appears from any approach as
7  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1939, no. 180.  Emesa, or modern Hama, lies ca. 150
kilometers west of Palmyra.
5
a large, isolated island of palms (fig. 4).  Moreover, its climate is typical of desert
environments.  The days are very hot and evenings are cool.  Also, although wells
are today the primary source of water, the oasis is not without springs.  The Efqa
spring, for instance, which was the main water source for irrigation in antiquity,
dried up only in the nineteenth century as a result of tectonic activity.  Furthermore,
Palmyra is near the limit of the zone of 200 millimeter rainfall.  Thus it lies in an
area of limited agricultural viability.  Springs and wells, then, chiefly sustain
Palmyra?s agricultural programs, which center upon date production.
The territory of ancient Palmyra was vast (fig. 5).  Some sixty kilometers
southwest of Palmyra, at Qasr el-Heir el-Gharbi, the limit of Palmyrene territory
touched upon that of the city of Emesa, identified by a boundary marker with the
following inscription: fin[es]| inter | Hadriano[s] | Palmyrenos | et | [He]mesenos.7 
The territorial boundary is also demarcated roughly 75 kilometers northwest of
Palmyra at Khirbet el-Bilaas, which lies along the road from Palmyra to Apamea at
the northwest edge of the Jebel Chaar and the Jebel Bilaas.  A column discovered at
the site from the reigns of Trajan and Antoninus Pius bears three separate
inscriptions, one of which refers to a rescript by Creticus Silanus, the legatus pro
praetore of Syria in 11-17 C.E., which established the ?limits of Palmyrene
8  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1939, no. 179.
9  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1939, no. 0178.  J. F. Matthews, ?The Tax Law of
Palmyra: Evidence for Economic History in a City of the Roman East,? JRS 74
(1984): 162, suggests the likely restoration of [Apam]enorum, given the space
available for restoring the missing letters.
10   P2810: dkyr ?bgr br | ?lmn br zbdbwl | dy ?t? br? qs
. t? b ?s | t.rt.gwt yrh. y.  For
commentary, see J. Starcky, ?Une Inscription palmyr?nienne trouv?e pr?s de
l?Euphrate,? Syria 40 (1963): 47-55.  The Palmyrene term qs. h also bears the
meaning of a ?military unit,? so another possible translation for dy ?t? br? qs. t? b ?s |
t.rt.gwt yrh. y would be, ?who came at the head (or lead) of a military unit during the
campaign of Yarhai (or when Yarhai was strat gos).  See D. R. Hillers and E.
Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1996), 407, s.v. ?qs. h.?
6
territory? (fines regionis Palmyrenae).8  It is, however, unclear to what city the
adjoining territory belonged.  On the same column, a second inscription identifies
the locale as the ?arable fields of the city of . . .? ([a]rva civitat[is] | [. . .]enorum),
which could be restored as [Hemes]enorum (Emesa), [Apam]enorum (Apamea), or
as [Palmyr]enorum, though this latter reading is far less likely because of
inadequate space for supplementing the letters.9  The eastern territorial limits,
unfortunately, are more difficult to define.  There are no boundary markers east or
southeast of Palmyra, and we have only vague references to territorial limits in two
Palmyrene inscriptions.  One was found near the Euphrates valley (south of Dura
Europos) in the vicinity of the Iraq Petroleum Company Station T-1.  The undated
inscription reads: ?May Abgar be remembered, son of Shalman son of Zabdibol,
who came to the end of the boundaries when Yarhai was strat gos.?10  More
important is an undated inscription from the Qa?ara depression roughly 200
11  P2730.  Again, this may rather refer to men in a military unit; see n. 10
above.  For the inscription, see p. 154, n. 96 below.  On the routes to the south, see
E. Will, ?Palmyre et les routes de la soie,? in International Colloquium on Palmyra
and the Silk Road, 125-28.  See also R. Dussaud, ?La Palmyr?ne et l?exploration de
M. Alois Musil,? Syria 10 (1929): 52-62.
12  See Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 163.
13  See p. 105 below.
7
kilometers southeast of Palmyra, which identifies a group of ?harvesters? (h. sdy?)
with a certain Abgar, son of Hairan, at the ?border? (qs. t?).11  These two texts, then,
suggest that boundaries to the east of Palmyra were not imaginary but real. 
Matthews, on the other hand, maintains that no territorial boundaries existed to the
east of Palmyra.  He claims, rather, that the Palmyrenes sought only to command
strategic resources, such as water, and their associated settlements.12  This view,  I
would argue, ignores the essence of Roman provincial organization and the
administration of cities and their territories.  Roman involvement in establishing the
territorial boundaries of Palmyra is evident, most likely as a measure to assess the
tax burden of the city, and the presence of boundary markers to the west does not
exclude their presence to the east.  The Palmyrene tariff inscription indicates that
the taxes collected by the city derived from the traffic in commodities across all of
its territorial borders.13  For example, the tax on camels brought into Palmyrene
territory at its borders was carefully regulated, and it hardly needs emphasis that
most of our evidence of camels entering the territory of Palmyra relates to that of
14  The taxes throughout the tariff inscription are assessed according to the type
of goods, their weight as related to their method of containment, and their means of
transport.  For a discussion of the caravan trade, see pp. 159-69 below.
15  For discussions of the Parthian and Roman cultural influences, see M.
Colledge, ?Parthian Cultural Elements at Roman Palmyra,? Mesopotamia 22
(1987): 19-28; idem, ?Roman Influence in the Art of Palmyra,? in International
8
the eastern trade and the arrival of caravans from the east.14  This suggests, then,
that an administrative zone existed to the east, demarcated by territorial boundaries,
which the city maintained above all for purposes of taxation.  Thus, Palmyrene
territory was vast, stretching from its western boundaries with Emesa and Apamea
to its eastern boundaries, perhaps as far as the Euphrates.
As Pliny observed, Palmyra was strategically situated between the Roman
and Parthian empires, which provided a context for Palmyra?s communal
development.  The Palmyrenes were masters of the desert, for instance, and their
command over its resources attracted Roman and Parthian interests, whether
motivated by commercial or military concerns.  The Palmyrenes also maintained
strong foreign relations in communities and with officials of both empires. 
Furthermore, experiences of Palmyrenes abroad, whether in the Parthian or Roman
Empires, included their exposure to diverse cultural habits, many of which they
adopted and imported to their native city.  Remotely, then, in the Syrian desert, the
Palmyrenes forged their own very distinctive cultural identities, individually and
communally, which were a striking blend of Roman, Iranian, and Arab
characteristics.15  In this light, I offer here an analysis of two aspects of Palmyrene
Colloquium on Palmyra and the Silk Road, 363-70; and I. A. Richmond, ?Palmyra
under the Aegis of Rome,? JRS 53 (1963): 43-54.  On the mosaics, see J. Balty,
?Composantes classiques et orientales dans les mosa?ques de Palmyre,? in
International Colloquium on Palmyra and the Silk Road, 407-16.
16  General studies of sedentarization and of relations between pastoral and
settled communities include C. Nelson, ed., The Desert and the Sown: Nomads in
the Wider Society, Research Series, no. 21 (Berkeley: Institute of International
Studies, 1973); P. C. Salzman, ed., When Nomads Settle: Processes of
Sedentarization as Adaptation and Response (New York: Praeger Publishers,
1980); J. G. Galaty and D. L. Johnson, eds., Settling the Desert (New York: Gordon
and Breach Science Publishers, 1981); and M. J. Casimir and A. Rao, eds., Mobility
and Territoriality: Social and Spatial Boundaries among Foragers, Fishers,
9
civilization during the first three centuries of the Common Era.  These are the
emergence and subsequent development of Palmyra as a commercial and political
community in the desert frontier between Rome and Parthia (and later Sassanian
Persia), and the making of Palmyrenes.  This study is thus concerned with the
creation, structure, and maintenance of Palmyrene identity and that of Palmyra as
an urban community in a volatile frontier zone. 
The history of Palmyra?s communal development, from its humble origins
as an oasis community to its rise to prominence as a cosmopolitan center under
Roman patronage, would be wholly obscure were it not for the archaeological and
epigraphic materials that testify to Palmyrene achievements and prosperity at home
and abroad.  These, complemented by the literary evidence, also provide insight
into the relatively obscure historical process of sedentarization and of the
relationships between pastoral and sedentary communities in the Roman Near
East.16  Aided by an apparent influx of pastoral groups, the community of Palmyra
Pastoralists, and Peripatetics (New York: St. Martin?s Press, 1992).  On the
reversal of the process of sedentarization, nomadization, particularly in relation to
the role of central states, see W. Caskel, ?The Bedouization of Arabia,? in Studies
in Islamic Cultural History, edited by G. von Grunebaum, Memoirs of the
American Anthropological Association, no. 76 (Menshasha, WI: George Banta,
1954), 36-46; W. Lancaster and F. Lancaster, ?Thoughts on the Bedouization of
Arabia,? Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 18 (1988): 51-62; and
idem, ?Tribal Formation in the Arabian Peninsula,? Arabian Archaeology and
Epigraphy 3 (1992): 145-72.  More generally on bedouin life and culture, see W.
Dostal, ?The Evolution of Bedouin Life,? Studi semitici 2 (1959): 11-34.
17  This constant interaction between settled and pastoral peoples is reflected in
Palmyrene religion, as elaborated, for instance, in J. Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1979); and idem, ?Cultes tribaux et religion civique ? Palmyre,?
Revue de l?histoire des Religions 197 (1980): 277-87.  See also D. P. Crouch, ?A
Note on the Population and Area of Palmyra,? MUSJ 47 (1972): 241-50; D.
Schlumberger, La Palmyr?ne du nord-ouest, Biblioth?que arch?ologique et
historique, no. 49 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1951); and idem, ?Bornes fronti?res de la
Palmyr?ne,? Syria 20 (1939): 43-73.
10
grew over the course of the first few centuries C.E.  The oasis and city were focal
points of interaction between settled and pastoral peoples, where many of the
former had been themselves pastoralists in the recent past.17  Indeed, Palmyra owed
its distinctiveness as a desert community in part to such interaction.  Also,
Palmyra?s unique historical development was due to various interrelated factors,
such as its mastery of the desert, the extension of its influence over pastoral peoples
of the steppe, and the quasi-independence which the city enjoyed as a result of its
relative isolation in a frontier zone between empires.
Thus my intent is to examine the expression of Palmyrene identity, both in
an individual and corporate sense, in inhabited space, as evident in archaeological
remains, inscriptions, and literary sources.  I intend to examine Palmyra within two
18 See discussion by J. Ch. Balty, ?Palmyre entre orient et occident:
Acculturation et r?sistances,? in International Colloquium on Palmyra and the Silk
Road, 437-41; and H. Seyrig, ?L?Incorporation de Palmyre ? l?Empire romain,?
Syria 13 (1932): 266-77. 
11
contexts for the purposes of analysis.  One regards Palmyra as peripheral to the
centers of Roman and Parthian power, yet more bound at the communal level by
Roman authority.  Situated remotely between these imperial powers, where it
enjoyed a privata sors, Palmyra?s communal and urban development were
nevertheless largely dependent on political relations between these states, on their
respective imperial ambitions in the frontier zone, and on specific imperial attitudes
toward the indigenous communities of the region.18  The second looks at Palmyra as
a center of its own network of power and influence, in which the Palmyrenes
maintained an array of social, economic, political, and cultural relations with a host
of ?others? that shaped the city?s historical development and gave great
distinctiveness to their corporate and individual identities.  It was this interplay of
identities that gave Palmyrene history its distinctive character.  This study thus
serves as a contribution to Roman frontier studies by joining the diplomatic and
political history of the Roman and Parthian empires with the historical ethnography
of Palmyra as a frontier community.
What are Identity and Community?
Before I begin, however, there is the issue of semantics.  It is necessary, for
instance, to clarify what I mean by the terms identity and community.  Such
19  The literature on the topic is vast and growing and the issues addressed are
pertinent to any historical analysis.  For recent discussions, see A. Giddens,
Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age (Cambridge:
Polity Press, 1991); C. Calhoun, ed., Social Theory and the Politics of Identity
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1994); M. Castells, The Power of Identity, The Information
Age: Economy, Society, and Culture, vol. 2 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998); and A.
Smith, ed., Ethnicity and Nationalism, International Studies in Sociology and
Social Anthropology, vol. 60 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992).
12
clarification will also help to set the theoretical framework for this study of identity
and community at Roman Palmyra.  Currently, there is little agreement among
scholars about what either term means, but there are properties intrinsic to each that
can be elaborated.  For the most part, understanding these properties involves some
illumination of their symbolic contexts, and the recognition that the generation and
maintenance of identity and community occur at the level of the individual, in a
person?s cooperative and competitive associations with others, and in the manner in
which a person classifies his or her environment into categories of sameness and
difference.  This is an anthropological interpretation of identity and community that
ultimately serves to illuminate the social landscape for historical reconstruction. 
In modern settings, scholars have come increasingly to contemplate the
meaning of social and cultural identity.19  Why the interest?  Why has it become so
important, almost fashionable, to study how social and cultural boundaries are
generated?  Does this contemplation reflect reaction on the part of the social actor
involved?  Focus on identity may be, as many now argue, a product of nationalism
and the dual processes of globalization and modernization, which tend to blur
20  See, for instance, E. Gellner, Nations and Nationalism (Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press, 1983); and Z. Mach, Symbols, Conflict, and Identity: Essays in
Political Anthropology (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 95-
171.  More specifically on the impact of globalization and modernization, see
Castells, Power of Identity, 5-109; and J. Campbell and A. Rew, eds., Identity and
Affect: Experiences of Identity in a Globalizing World, Anthropology, Culture, and
Society (London: Pluto Press, 1999).
21  This is evident in the vast literature on ethnogenesis: see, for example, the
synthetic discussion by J. M. Hall, Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1997), 26-33. See also, J. Leman, The Dynamics of
Emerging Ethnicities: Immigrant and Indigenous Ethnogenesis in Confrontation
(Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1998); J. Edwards, Language, Society, and
Identity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1985); and E. Roosens, Creating Ethnicity: The
Process of Ethnogenesis, Frontiers of Anthropology, vol. 5 (Newbury Park: Sage
Publications, 1989).
22  See, for instance, I. Malkin, ?Introduction,? in Ancient Perceptions of Greek
Ethnicity (Washington: Center for Hellenic Studies, 2001), 1-28.
13
cultural boundaries over time.20  It may represent fear of cultural uniformity, as
individuals and groups seek to preserve their uniqueness, by force if necessary, in a
climate of progressive homogenization.  In varying contexts, a number of
commonalities have been emphasized for the creation of distinctiveness.  Language,
gender, race, and shared religious association, for example, have all been employed
to generate inclusive and exclusive frameworks for social action.21  But, while it
may be true that such frameworks are more keenly highlighted today, the interest in
social and cultural identity is not itself a modern phenomenon.22 
Unfortunately, the pseudo-enlightenment of the postmodern era has
23  I say this specifically from a historian?s perspective and as a strong advocate
of the position that the historian?s task is to reconstruct (objectively and not
subjectively) the events of the past in past terms.  Our task is not to impose any
moral or political agenda onto the evidence, and not to force the evidence to
support a dialectic employed to substantiate contemporary discourse that denies
historical objectivity.  On the negative impact of posmodernist discourse in the
humanities, and specifically on the discipline of history, see R. Evans, In Defense of
History (London: Granta Books, 1997); and K. Windschuttle, The Killing of
History: How Literary Critics and Social Theorists are Murdering our Past (San
Francisco: Encounter Books, 1996).
24  This is particularly evident among the essays in R. Laurence and J. Berry,
eds., Cultural Identity in the Roman Empire (London: Routledge, 1998).  See also
G. J. Oliver, ed., The Epigraphy of Death: Studies in the History and Society of
Greece and Rome (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000).
25  See n. 19 above.
14
obscured our understanding of identity, whether in ancient or modern contexts.23 
Who are we in relation to other social groups?  Who am I in relation to other
individuals?  These are old, basic questions that structure identity.  They have been
asked repeatedly in many different situations and settings, both wittingly and not. 
And, importantly, responses to these questions can be grasped.  Symbolic imprints
of constructed identities are apparent in our literary, archaeological, and epigraphic
sources.24  As we attempt to grasp these, objectivity is a prime concern.  We must
determine that the identities apparent in the sources are themselves contemporary
constructions by the social actors involved rather than our own projections of
identities onto the evidence.  To promote objectivity, scholars have clarified the
concept of identity, debating at length about how identities are constructed,
maintained, dissolved, and recreated in different contexts.25  Anthropologists and
26  Mach, Symbols, Conflict, and Identity, 5.
15
sociologists have led these debates, while the more cautious historians have
followed.  The results have been rewarding.  We are now more closely integrated
with the past than ever before, and the historical enterprise itself holds far greater
contemporary relevance than ever.
What, then, defines identity? As we conceive of identity, certain aspects
seem basic.  Identity derives from an awareness that every object of our perception
or person has a basic property or essence, and that these properties can be classified,
based on their characteristics, into categories of sameness or difference.  Identity,
then, is a result of classification, whether based on inherent or apparent qualities.  It
is also clear that before an object can be classified it must first be internalized by
the one engaged in the process of identification.  Identity is thus formed in action,
?or rather interaction, in the process of exchange of messages which we send,
receive, and interpret until a general, relatively coherent image is achieved.?26  The
process of identification is, therefore, dynamic, interpretive, and contextual, and
identity itself is a social construct.
How does one define oneself, either individually or socially, and how might
a person be defined by others?  A catalog of distinctions may be compiled, one that
stresses social or cultural preferences, but this would only provide a snapshot of
how one might be identified at any given moment.  Identity is not static.  Who I am
today may be very different from who I will be tomorrow or next year.  Indeed,
27  Mach, Symbols, Conflict, and Identity, 9.
28  For a discussion of the distinction between personal and group identity, see
H. Tajfel, ?Introduction,? in Social Identity and Intergroup Relations, European
Studies in Social Psychology, edited by H. Tajfel (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1982), 1-11.
16
personal identity adjusts as responses to external stimuli accumulate.  Such
experiences actually shape the symbolic framework that influences the processes of
identification and classification.  Identity, in fact, is contingent on particular
settings and contexts, no less than on the perceptions and evaluations of the
identifier.  Also, identity ?is always defined in relation to a partner and to his or her
identity, and therefore the same person or group may assume and express a different
identity in different situations.?27  Given that identity is dynamic, interpretive, and
contextual, it follows that a plurality of identities may exist for individuals and
groups at any given moment.  The key, then, to our understanding of how one might
define himself or herself, or be defined by others, lies in our elaboration of each
specific context at particular moments and the manner by which the social actors
themselves engage in the process of identification.
How are we to define identity in specific historical contexts, a task
complicated by the fact that an individual or group may have multiple identities at
any given moment?28  If we are to examine, for instance, the identity of a first
century C.E. male living in Palmyra, Syria, what steps must we take?  A first step
would be to generate a catalog of apparent qualities or characteristics, such as age,
29  Castells, Power of Identity, 6-7.
17
social status, and profession.  Then, by recognizing that identity is created in
relation to other social partners, we might map these characteristics onto the social
world of our subject in order to see how they relate to his contemporaries. 
Basically, we are seeking how our subject is similar to and different from his
contemporaries who are themselves, in varying degrees, similar to and different
from him.  The whole process generates a multiplicity of possible identities, some
more apparent than others.  We can narrow the scope by recognizing that within
this world of individuals several identities might overlap, generally in terms of
shared qualities or interests, and associations may form.  Then, the discussion of
group identities in social contexts becomes more feasible.  As a final step, we must
determine, with some measure of objectivity, whether the identities we arrive at are
those defined internally by our subject, or whether these are externally defined by
his contemporaries (or perhaps even imposed on the subject by our own arbitration
of the evidence).
It helps to recognize that all identity is constructed, and the social
construction of identity, from an anthropological perspective, always takes place in
a context of power relationships.29  This means the establishment of relations
between a dominant individual or group and a subordinate one, wherein the
constructed identity itself ?serves as a justification and legitimization of relations
30  Mach, Symbols, Conflict, and Identity, 6.
31  See, for instance, F. Barth, ?Introduction,? in Ethnic Groups and
Boundaries: The Social Organization of Cultural Difference, edited by F. Barth
(Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1969), 9-38.
18
between people and groups and of a social order in general.?30  In other words,
identity informs the relations between an individual and his or her social
environment.  These relations can vary.  They can be political, economic, cultural,
or an array of other possibilities or combinations.  Also in the context of power
relationships, identity is negotiable.  Since, as I have noted, identity is formed in
action, any restriction on freedom of action or any limitation on the zone of activity
for any social actor effectively narrows the range of possible identities that might be
formed.  Often, boundaries are established to demarcate these zones and to
guarantee specific activities within prescribed limits.31  Boundaries are rarely static
but normally fluid and negotiable.  They form in the context of power relationships
and thus serve to delineate and sustain identities.
Boundaries, then, which can be real or perceived, define group identities
and establish patterns of interaction among groups.  As Cohen states, a boundary
encapsulates the identity of a community and, like the identity of an individual,
arises from social interaction.  ?Boundaries,? he explains, ?are marked because
communities interact in some way or other with entities from which they are, or
32  A. P. Cohen, The Symbolic Construction of Community (London: Tavistock,
1985), 12.
33  An intriguing exposition on this theme is provided by E. Sampson,
Celebrating the Other: A Dialogic Account of Human Nature (Boulder: Westview
Press, 1993).
34  Mach, Symbols, Conflict, and Identity, 14.
19
wish to be, distinguished.?32  Thus, boundaries, while set up in the course of
constructing group identities, result from a process of mutual identification and
classification, as members from diverse groups seek to preserve their own apparent
distinctiveness.  In other words, identities are constructed around a network of
meaningful contexts, often of a symbolic nature (e.g., political ideology, language,
ritual), and boundaries function to protect this network from outside manipulation,
whether direct or indirect.  Boundaries thus serve to maintain group identities,
generating contexts in which ?the others? are consistently defined and divisions
between ?us? and ?them? are drawn.33  Where they exist, there can be antagonism
and conflict, but generally, ?partners of social relations . . . adapt to each other,
establish relatively stable norms of contacts, and coexist on terms which depend on
the balance of power between them.?34  Boundaries thus inform the power
relationships between groups.
Different boundaries enclose different types of social entity.  As I have
discussed, identity is a dynamic, interpretive, and contextual phenomenon, and a
multiplicity of identities can exist for an individual or group at any given moment. 
20
In addition to this, social identities form at local, regional, and national levels. 
Some boundaries, for instance, are generated within local communities in order to
regulate relations between individuals and groups in a shared communal context. 
These boundaries might encapsulate group identities based, for instance, on lineage,
wealth, professional or religious association, or race.  Other boundaries are
generated on the peripheries of established communities in order to regulate
relations between groups in broader regional contexts, e.g., between cities or
between cities and states.  Such boundaries generally encapsulate larger social
entities whose identities are more culturally derived, while political and economic
factors also play important roles.
How are boundaries negotiated, given that these serve to support distinct
group identities, and since identities are themselves constructed through a process
by which individuals internalize and classify objects of their environment?  Who is
involved in the process of communication across boundaries that sustains particular
divides between social entities?  In other words, who assigns the boundaries?  The
answers are apparent in the network of power relationships that support group
identities.  Since boundaries represent, as it were, a balance of power between
individuals and groups, the terms by which boundaries are generated tend,
generally, to favor those who are strongest in any given context.  We can thus gain
insight into the construction and maintenance of boundaries within and between
communities by analyzing the apparent strengths each possesses relative to the
21
other and by identifying those who appear to monopolize power at local and
regional levels.
I have examined very generally how personal and group identity are
constructed and maintained, but what about community?  What do we mean when
we refer to community?  Quite simply, we may regard as community an association
of individuals or groups that inhabits a specific locale and generally pursues
common interests.  Moreover, a community is comprised of individuals and groups
in daily interaction, and the uniqueness of the community is related to the
distinctiveness of their various identities, which tend to be multifarious.  As I have
discussed, identity is basically a symbolic construction in a social context generated
and accepted at the individual level.  Also, when individuals form associations,
often with others for cooperative or competitive purposes, they tend to develop
group identities that determine levels of participation or exclusion.  Generally, as
individuals and groups interact, boundaries form to maintain the distinctiveness of
each, and these boundaries tend to reflect the power relationships between
individuals and groups.  Community may then be regarded as the sum of the
various individuals and groups comprised therein and of the boundaries generated
by their interaction.  Often, the community may take on a more political aspect in
order to regulate the power relationships that generated such boundaries in the first
place.  Finally, since identity serves to generate social order, each community may
be regarded as having its own unique identity that defines collective association and
35 For issues of identity and Romanization, see G. Woolf, Becoming Roman:
The Origins of Provincial Civilization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1999); idem, ?Beyond Romans and Natives,? World Archaeology 28, no. 3 (1997):
339-50.  Cf. J. Webster, ?Creolizing the Roman Provinces,? AJA 105 (2001): 209-
25.
36  Though outside Roman provincial authority, we find similar phenomena
further to the east on the fringes of Roman influence, at Edessa for instance.  See S.
Ross, Roman Edessa: Politics and Culture on the Eastern Fringes of the Roman
Empire, 114-242 C.E. (London: Routledge, 2001), 5-45.
22
participation.
A Framework for Constructing Palmyrene Identity and Community
Isolated in an oasis in the Syrian desert, the Palmyrenes constructed and
maintained a distinctive social and group identity in a community setting that
persisted for more than two centuries.  They did so in the no man?s land between
two great empires, that of Parthians to the east and the Romans to the west, whose
relations with one another were only intermittently peaceful.  Between these two
empires, the Palmyrenes were a constant source of tension for each, most likely for
reasons of frontier security.  As the Romans advanced further and further eastward,
even to the point of launching military campaigns south along the Euphrates, and as
Palmyra became more firmly incorporated into the Roman orbit of direct power and
influence as a result of imperialist expansion, Palmyrene cultural identity
persisted.35  This is reflected, for instance, in the continued use of the Palmyrene
dialect of Aramaic as a formal language of government and administration
alongside Greek.36  This was itself a unique feature of Palmyrene society
23
unparalleled elsewhere in the Roman Empire.  
How is it that an indigenous culture could emerge and thrive so remarkably
and for so long in an environment of expansionist imperialism?  As mentioned, I
propose to answer this question through an analysis of Palmyrene identity and
community at the local, provincial, and international levels.  This project requires a
suitable framework for analysis.
In our discussion of identity, we have seen that all identity is formed in an
individual process of internalization and classification, and that the process of
identification is itself an active one, dynamic, interpretive, and contextual.  Thus, an
analysis of Palmyrene identity must first take place at the local and personal level. 
It must begin with the individual social actors themselves in order to elucidate
interaction between them.  As a paradigm, we may follow the analytical approach
outlined above in constructing the identity of a hypothetical first century C.E. male
from Palmyra.  Aware of the fact that identity is formed in the context of power
relationships, we must identify those individuals or groups who appear more or less
dominant in the social order.  These have the power to generate and sustain social
boundaries or at least to regulate where particular boundaries are set.  An overview
of personal and group identities, then, forms the basis of an analysis of Palmyra as a
community.
Palmyra, however, existed as a community within an interactive matrix of
regional identities.  We may begin to explore these by analyzing first the boundary
37  See R. D. Sullivan, ?The Dynasty of Emesa,? ANRW 2.8 (1977): 198-219;
and Millar, Roman Near East, 300-309.
24
between city and territory.  What were the relationships between those who dwelled
within the city and those who populated the countryside, whether as pastoralists or
as inhabitants of towns and villages within the territorium, or subject countryside,
of Palmyra?  Regional identities may also be examined based on boundaries
between territories and other cities.  For example, what were the relations between
Palmyra and Emesa, the nearest city to the west of Palmyra, which played an
important historical role regionally and internationally during the period of
Palmyrene prosperity?  Once the seat of a local dynasty and client of the Romans in
the first century C.E., Emesa grew to become an impressive urban center and the
home of an imperial dynasty in the late second and early third centuries C.E.37 
Furthermore, since we have seen that a multiplicity of identities can exist for
individuals and groups at any given moment, we must explore all of these
relationships as they are manifested culturally, economically, politically, and
socially.
Identity and community at Palmyra were also shaped by its geographic
position and relations with its imperial neighbors.  I propose that we analyze these
relations from two perspectives.  First is the role of Palmyra as a frontier
community and the imperial attitudes, both Parthian and Roman, toward the city
and its people.  What functions, for instance, did the community and its people
25
serve in a frontier zone that was politically volatile, economically lucrative, socially
stratified, and culturally mixed?  Another perspective is Palmyrenes abroad, within
both the Parthian and the Roman Empires, and the manner in which many seem to
have preserved their identities and cultural distinctiveness in foreign contexts. 
From either perspective, we must recognize that identity is formed in action, or
rather during interaction with others.  Since the Palmyrenes both created and
maintained a distinctive identity in the Syrian desert, their freedom of action must
have been remarkable.  The Romans and Parthians apparently were comfortable
with an arrangement that permitted the Palmyrenes to operate virtually without
hindrance within both Roman and Parthian territory.  It remains to explore what
these arrangements were and how they may have been modified over time.  At any
rate, it is clear that when limits were imposed on the Palmyrenes? freedom to
sustain their individual and corporate identities, their distinctiveness as a
community soon faded.  This clearly happened when the Sassanian Persians gained
power in the east.
State Formation at Roman Palmyra
The foregoing discussion of identity and community, as I will demonstrate
in the following chapter, creates a framework for an analysis of tribalism at Palmyra
and within its rural hinterland, which, in turn, will permit a synthetic treatment of
Palmyrene state formation.  Relationships between tribes, as a unique form of
community, and states are complex, upon which elaboration is required.  In this
38  See discussion by E. Service, Origins of the State and Civilization: The
Process of Cultural Evolution (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1975), 3-22. For a
more concise summary on theories of the state, see L. Krader, Formation of the
State (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1968), 22-28.  On the relationships between tribes
and states, see M. Sahlins, Tribesmen (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1968), 4-13.
39  Several examples from the Roman Near East may be presented, which
include the Nabataeans, Emesenes, and others.  With regard to the Nabataeans, see
G. W. Bowersock, Roman Arabia (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1983), 14-23.  For the most part, there are no synthetic works that elaborate on the
process of state formation among Arab tribal groups in the Roman Near East.
26
section, I seek only to provide an overview of these relationships in a general
discussion on state formation that focuses on Roman Palmyra and its development
as a tribal society. 
Most scholars view the tribe, a distinctive form of group identity, and the
state as stages in an evolutionary process in which primitive societies become more
complex as egalitarian social and political organization becomes more
hierarchical.38  In this anthropological view, chiefdoms, which often form through
the consolidation or coalescence of tribes, are routinely regarded as an intermediate
stage in the formation of states.  Examples of chiefdoms abound in the ancient
world, but these need not be elaborated here.39  It suffices to recognize that
leadership, exemplified by the role of the chief, or the emergence of hierarchical
institutions of other sorts (see below), were pivotal to state development. 
Moreover, tribes or tribal leaders coalesced to form chiefdoms for various reasons,
which included the need to combat seasonal hardships, to mediate feuds among
tribal members, to distribute surplus production, or for territorial expansion by
40  P. S. Khoury and J. Kostiner, ?Introduction: Tribes and the Complexities of
State Formation in the Middle East,? in Tribes and State Formation in the Middle
East, edited by P. S. Khoury and J. Kostiner (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1990), 7.
41  See also R. Tapper, ?Anthropologists, Historians, and Tribespeople on Tribe
and State Formation in the Middle East,? in Tribes and State Formation in the
Middle East, 52.
27
conquest.  Accordingly, should we accept this view, an analysis of tribal structures
or identities in their political and social contexts, and as they developed over time,
is important for the study of state formation.  
Not everyone, however, holds an evolutionary view of state formation from
tribal origins.  Some scholars prefer, for instance, to emphasize the coexistence of
tribes and states and their common association.  As Khoury and Kostiner suggest,
?over time, states accommodate tribes in varying degrees of social integration and
political participation.  As tribes also change over time and form a variety of social
categories within a state, they maintain varying levels of autonomy and
subordination.?40  They stress the fact that tribal and state formation are indeed
interrelated, particularly in political contexts.41  From this position, which has
influenced this study, the origins of the state among politically disparate tribes are
revealed as dynamic and actual. This view appears to explain the dynamics of state
formation less as an evolutionary process in which tribes are inexorably linked than
as a process of social and political development controlled through human decision
and intent.  Further, this view illuminates the nature of the relationships of power
42  Summarized by Krader, Formation of the State, 26-28.
43  For instance, see Khoury and Kostiner, ?Introduction: Tribes and the
Complexities of State Formation in the Middle East,? 3; and A. Banuazizi and M.
Weiner, eds., The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and
Pakistan (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1986), 7.  Cf. See Tapper,
?Anthropologists, Historians, and Tribespeople,? 50.
44  As outlined and discussed by A. d?Entr?ves, The Notion of the State: An
Introduction to Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967), 1-11.
28
and authority among coexisting tribes and states.
Ultimately, the problem with state formation lies in our definition of the
state.  Proposed definitions vary widely.42  For the purposes of this study, the state
will be viewed as a social organism associated with a particular bounded territory,
within which it exercises the central and highest political authority over society.43 
In general terms, it helps to regard the state as ?force, power, and authority.?44  The
state is force in that it exists by virtue of its ability to monopolize instruments of
force in society, both material and psychological.  The state is power when it
applies force under the qualification of law.  Once force is qualified as power under
the law, the state becomes legitimate as authority.  Thus, the state is an autonomous
organization that exercises power and authority within prescribed territorial and
lawful limits with a monopoly of force.  Individuals and groups within society,
then, in their recognition of the state, must decide whether to accept or reject its
authority in the governance of their actions through force or the threat of force.
As definitions of the state vary, so do explanations of why states form in the
45  See Krader, Formation of the State, 26-28.  Cf. d?Entr?ves, The Notion of
the State, 71-102.
46  Krader, Formation of the State, 27.
47  See M. van Creveld, The Rise and Decline of the State (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1999), 1-2, whose methods are best applied in
analyses of modern nation-states.
29
first place.  Although the scope of our inquiry into Palmyrene state formation does
not require a full evaluation of these issues, some remarks are warranted.  To begin
with, I am inclined to agree with Krader?s view that states form in stratified and
complex societies, where stratification is marked by the development of hierarchy
in social, economic, and political organization (based on status, prestige, or wealth),
and complexity is marked by the existence of non-kinship units of association (e.g.,
villages, townships, collegia) in cooperative or competitive coexistence.45  Further,
in most societies, those who comprise the higher social stratum tend to exercise the
most control over these associations.  Thus Krader observes that ?the hierarchical
order of society in which the state is formed, the hierarchical order of the state
organization, and the role of the state in maintaining the hierarchical order of
society, all are interrelated,?46 since the power of the state is usually in the hands of
the social elite.  While it seems valid to examine state formation in pre-modern
settings in similar terms, Martin van Creveld has argued recently that the state, as
an abstract entity, is a modern construct not applicable to any discussion of periods
before the Middle Ages.47  This view, however, features an irrelevant distinction
48  See, for instance, M. H. Hansen, ed., The Polis and City-State: An Ancient
Concept and its Modern Equivavlent (Symposium, January 9, 1998), Acts of the
Copenhagen Polis Centre, vol. 5 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1997), 114-23.  Cf. I.
Morris, ?The Early Polis as City and State,? in City and Country in the Ancient
World, edited by J. Rich and A. Wallace-Hadrill (London: Routledge, 1991), 25-57.
49  See B. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and
Spread of Nationalism, 2nd ed. (London: Verso, 1991).
50  I. Morris, Burial and Ancient Society: The Rise of the Greek City-State
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 3.
30
between government and state and the unnecessary opinion that states are best
studied as corporations in the most modern sense of the term.  Krader?s analysis of
state formation, in fact, applies to ancient contexts.  We may, for instance, study the
rise of the Greek polis along the same lines.  We need only to caution ourselves to
make clear the distinction between what we now regard as nation-states in the
modern era and city-states (poleis) in the ancient world.48
The ancient Greek polis was not an ?imagined community,? in the sense
that Benedict Anderson characterizes the modern nation.49  It was a tangible
community, in which its inhabitants engaged in face-to-face association on a daily
basis.  According to Morris, the polis ?was almost a stateless society, autonomous
from all dominant class interests by being isomorphic with the citizen body.  The
citizens were the state . . . [and] the source of all authority was . . . the community .
. . [and] force was located in the citizen body as a whole.?50  The maintenance of
internal security and external defense, accordingly, were communal responsibilities. 
In Aristotelian terms, the polis formed a natural association for men who were, after
51  Aristotle Politics 1.4.
52  These included many cities founded by Alexander himself.  For a treatment
of the sources, see P. M. Fraser, Cities of Alexander the Great (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1996).
53  See F. W. Walbank, The Hellenistic World, rev. ed. (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1992), 46-59 and 141-58.
31
all, political creatures.51  The polis was sovereign and held priority over any
individual and all households.  Even in wider political contexts, such as with the
federations of states that developed later (see below), Greek poleis were remarkable
for their staunch independence and competitiveness.
But, the Greek polis as described by Aristotle and as realized by his
predecessors was an ideal (if not archaic) form that underwent change.  After the
conquests and death of Alexander the Great, his generals and successors
incorporated many independent Greek poleis into their fledgling kingdoms.52  Many
other poleis willingly sacrificed their independence and incorporated themselves
into federations, which emerged to counterbalance the centralized authority of the
Hellenistic monarchies.  The two most important federal states were in Achaea and
Aetolia.  This rise in regionalism led to more broadly based associations and
alliances among the various poleis.  It also represented a shift in power away from
individual city-states.  These no longer monopolized the forces of their respective
communities.  Rather, the forces of state were concentrated in the hands of the
monarchs or federal assemblies.53 Nevertheless, the poleis retained nominal
54  It was, in fact, the duty of a king to be seen as an advocate for the freedom
of Greek communities within his territories.  See, for instance, G. Shipley, The
Greek World after Alexander, 323 - 30 B.C. (London: Routledge, 2000), 73-86.
55  See Walbank, Hellenistic World, 143-45.
56  See Shipley, Greek World after Alexander, 59-107.  Cf. M. Sartre, L?Orient
romain: Provinces et soci?t?s provinciales en M?diterran?e orientale d?Auguste
aux S?v?res (31 avant J.-C. - 235 apr?s J.-C.) (Paris: Seuil, 1991), 121-26.
57  G. Woolf, ?The Roman Urbanization of the East,? in The Early Roman
Empire in the East, edited by S. Alcock (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), 3.
58  See M. H. Hansen, ed., The Polis as an Urban Centre and as a Political
Community (Symposium August, 29-31 1996), Acts of the Copenhagen Polis
Centre, vol. 4 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1997).
32
independence, measured largely by the rights and privileges each had been
granted.54  The competitiveness and divisiveness between poleis also persisted.55  
When the Romans advanced into Greece and the Near East, they
incorporated Greek communities into their system of rule, whether directly or
indirectly, without significant disruption of the political climate.  The Romans
adopted the legacy of Hellenistic rule in the region, which had been based mostly
on personal relationships between communities and rulers.56  The Romans even
encouraged the Greek polis as a model in the founding of new communities in the
Near East.57
I will examine state formation at Roman Palmyra largely in these terms, as
the development of a political community with the institutional structure of a
polis.58  The Greek nature of the Palmyra?s institutions, in fact, is evident in its
59 For instance, see I. Browning, Palmyra (London: Chatto & Windus, 1979); J.
Starcky and M. Gawlikowski, Palmyre, ?dition revue et augment?e des nouvelles
d?couvertes (Paris: Librairie d?Am?rique et d?Orient, 1985); E. Will, Les
Palmyr?niens: La Venise des sables (Ier si?cle avant- III?me si?cle apr?s J.-C.)
(Paris: A. Colin, 1992); G. Degeorge, Palmyre: M?tropole du d?sert (Paris: Libr.
33
tripartite governmental structure of magistrates, council, and assembly, fully
developed in the first century C.E. at the latest.  I will discuss Palmyra?s
institutional development in Chapter 5, where I will also examine Roman influence
on the social, political, and economic structures of the Palmyrene community.  It
suffices, for the moment, to recognize that Palmyra resembled a polis in most
respects, although clear influences from societies further to the east are apparent in
its communal structure and development.  For the most part, the Palmyrenes
incorporated these influences, operating with relative freedom in the development
of their community and the structure and maintenance of their individual and
corporate identities.  The Palmyrenes were sufficiently isolated from the centers of
Roman and Parthian imperial power, but their community, as a hybrid form of the
Greek polis, was itself a regional center of force and power in a politically sensitive
frontier zone.
Palmyrene Studies
There are no detailed studies that explore the collective issues of Palmyrene
identity, community, and state formation.  In fact, few monographic studies exist
about Palmyra and its communal development, and most provide only general
treatments of the evidence.59 
S?guier: Archimbaud, 1987); and  R. Stoneman, Palmyra and Its Empire (Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992).  
60  See Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, with references to other
collections incorporated in their work.  See also D. R. Hillers, ?Notes on Palmyrene
Aramaic Texts,? Aram 7 (1995): 73-88.  On the language of the inscriptions, see J.
Cantineau, Grammaire du palmyr?nien ?pigraphique, Publications de l?Institut
d??tudes Orientales de la Facult? des Lettres d?Alger, no. 4 (Osnabr?ck: O. Zeller,
1935); and idem, Le Dialecte arabe de Palmyre, 2 vols. (Beirut: Institut Fran?ais de
Damas, 1934).
61  Important synthetic studies include M. Gawlikowski, Le Temple
palmyr?nien: ?tude d??pigraphie et de topographie historique (Warsaw: PWN-
?ditions scientifiques de Pologne, 1973); and M. Colledge, The Art of Palmyra
(London: Thames and Hudson, 1976).  For more specialized studies on Palmyrene
sculpture and reliefs, see A. Sadurska, ?L?Art et la soci?t?: Recherches
iconologiques sur la sculpture fun?raire de Palmyre,? in International Colloquium
on Palmyra and the Silk Road, 285-88; A. Sadurska and A. Bounni, Les Sculptures
fun?raires de Palmyre, Supplementi alla RdA, no. 13 (Rome: G. Bretschneider,
1994); and W. Schottroff, Palmyrenische Grabreliefs (Frankfurt am Main:
Liebieghaus, 1979). 
62  See M. Gawlikowski, ?Dieux de Palmyre,? ANRW 2.18.4 (1990): 2605-58;
H. J. W.  Drijvers, The Religion of Palmyra, Iconography of Religions, vol. 15:
Mesopotamia and the Near East, no. 15 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976); Teixidor,
Pantheon of Palmyra; and J. F?vrier, La Religion des Palmyr?niens (Paris:
Librairie philosophique J. Vrin., 1931).
34
For the most part, Palmyrene studies have focused on four main themes. 
First, and most importantly, the vast majority of what has been published consists
of collections, interpretations, and commentaries of Palmyrene epigraphy, such as
the corpus of Palmyrene Aramaic inscriptions recently published by Hillers and
Cussini;60 second, a great deal of work, both historical and archaeological, focuses
on Palmyrene art and architecture;61 third, a wealth of information is available on
Palmyrene religion;62 and fourth, there are works that treat the events of the third
63  Cf. Stoneman, Palmyra and Its Empire, who provides an excellent review of
the evidence.  See also M. H. Dodgeon and S. N. C. Lieu, The Roman Eastern
Frontier and the Persian Wars (AD 226-363): A Documentary History (London:
Routledge, 1994).
64  H. J. W. Drijvers, ?Hatra, Palmyra und Edessa: die St?dte der syrisch-
mesopotamischen W?ste in politischer, kulturgeschichtlicher und
religiongeschichtlicher Beleuchtung,? ANRW 2.8 (1977): 799-906, provides a
useful summary of the sources.  See also Dodgeon and Lieu, Roman Eastern
Frontier, 68-110.
35
century and the specific careers of Odenathus and Zenobia at the expense of
engaging in any sort of comprehensive analysis of Palmyra as a community and its
development over the course of the first two centuries of the Common Era.63  What
is missing in this literature, in fact, is a proper historical analysis of the extant data,
archaeological, epigraphic, and literary sources, in which the Palmyrene community
and its origins are the focus.
Sources
Literary sources about Roman Palmyra are sparse but useful.64  Among
narrative sources, Josephus in the first century C.E, and Appian and Pliny the
Younger in the second century, all make passing references to Palmyra in their
narratives, and all provide a glimpse into the social and economic development of
the community in the first century.  When these are combined with other narrative
sources, including Strabo in the first century C.E., Tacitus and Suetonius in the
second, Cassius Dio and Herodian in the third, roughly a century before the
scandalous Historia Augusta was supposedly published, a more comprehensive
65  There is some dispute over which language depends on the transcription of
the other.  For the view that the Greek is subordinate to the Aramaic, see H. J. W.
Drijvers, ?Greek and Aramaic in Palmyrene Inscriptions,? in Studia Aramaica: New
Sources and New Approaches, edited by M. Geller, J. Greenfield, and M.
Weitzman, Journal of Semitic Studies, Supplement no. 4 (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1995), 31-42.
66  See Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts.
67  The best treatment of the Greek text remains that of Matthews, ?Tax Law of
Palmyra,? 157-80.  See also commentary on the Aramaic portion of the tariff by J.
36
understanding of Palmyra?s communal development emerges.  These sources also
provide an important point of reference for the evaluation of the archaeological and
epigraphic data.
Since narrative sources lack detail, however, the basis of this study is the
growing corpus of epigraphic material.  A substantial number of inscriptions have
been recovered at Palmyra.  In the most recently published corpus, there are 2832
inscriptions in Palmyrene Aramaic, including twenty-one bilinguals in Palmyrene
and Greek,65 nine in Palmyrene and Latin, and two trilinguals in Palmyrene, Greek,
and Latin.66  In addition there are a few unilingual Latin and Greek texts.  These
inscriptions cover an array of situations and contexts.  The corpus just mentioned
classifies 1357 inscriptions as funerary, 503 as dedicatory, 183 as honorific, and
five as legal, while 103 are unclassified and forty-nine are described simply as
graffiti.  Most of the inscriptions are short and consist of only a few fragmentary
lines mentioning a name.  In contrast, there is the tariff inscription, which provides
a wealth of data on Palmyra?s regional economy.67  Moreover, there is a large of
Teixidor, ?Le Tarif de Palmyre: I. Un Commentaire de la version palmyr?nienne,?
Aula orientalis 1 (1983): 235-52. 
68  On the tesserae from Palmyra, see R. du Mesnil du Buisson,  Les Tess?res et
les monnaies de Palmyre (planches) (Paris: Biblioth?que Nationale, 1944); idem,
Les Tess?res et les monnaies de Palmyre (texte) (Paris: Biblioth?que Nationale,
1962); and H. Ingholt, H. Seyrig, and J. Starcky, Recueil des tess?res de Palmyre,
Biblioth?que arch?ologique et historique, no. 58 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1955).
69  See p. 59 below.
70  See, for instance, D. Schlumberger, ?L?Inscription d?Herodien, remarques
sur l?histoire des princes de Palmyre,? Bulletin d??tudes orientales 9 (1942-43):
35-50; and M. Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? Syria 62 (1985): 251-61.
37
corpus of 633 inscribed tesserae, small clay tokens utilized to gain entrance to
banquets and other gatherings.68  The vast majority of the tesserae, however, are
uninscribed but no less important because of their art historical value.  Whether
public or private, these inscriptions are central to any analysis of Palmyrene
identity, community, and state formation.  Tomb inscriptions, for example, identify
individuals, families, and tribes; and the tombs themselves attest to efforts to
maintain group coherence, in the practice (for example) of family and associates of
the deceased congregating at the tomb for cultic meals.69  Also, honorific and
dedicatory inscriptions provide valuable insights into the community?s
infrastructure and civic operations.  These reveal the personal achievements of the
more prominent Palmyrenes as public figures at home and abroad.70  These also
reveal the relationships of power and dependence that these citizens promoted in
order to create a social hierarchy typical of a Mediterranean polis.  
71  Discussed by H. Seyrig, ?Palmyra and the East,? JRS 40 (1950): 3.  For the
Palmyrene clothing habits, see idem, ?Armes et costumes iraniens de Palmyre,?
Syria 18 (1937): 4-26; and A. Taha, ?Men?s Costume in Palmyra,? AAS 32 (1982):
117-32.  More generally, on textiles from Palmyra, see R. Pfister, Nouveaux textiles
de Palmyre d?couverts par le Service des antiquit?s du Haut-commissariat de la
R?publique fran?aise dans la n?cropole de Palmyre (tour d??lahbel) (Paris:
?ditions d?art et d?histoire, 1937); and A. Stauffer, ?Textiles from Palmyra: Local
Production and the Import and Imitation of Chinese Silk Weavings,? in
International Colloquium on Palmyra and the Silk Road, 425-30.
38
The archaeology of Palmyra complements the epigraphy, since the
inscriptions must be interpreted within their original contexts in order to be
understood fully.  Also, the archaeological record speaks volumes about Pamyrene
identity and community, and how these were constructed and maintained.  From the
smallest pottery sherd, which may or may not indicate cultural and economic
contacts abroad, to the largest urban edifice, these are all artifacts of Palmyra?s
communal development.  These assert the uniqueness of Palmyrene identity and
community.  Among the material evidence, for example, the sculptural remains are
significant, because they provide snapshots of the Palmyrenes intended for public
display (fig. 6).  Further, they provide visual documentation of the cultural
symbiosis that distinguished the Palmyrene community.  This symbiosis can be
seen, for example, in the funerary reliefs that reveal family members reclining
together in which some are dressed as Romans and others are wearing Parthian
attire.71  While such evidence raises many questions about the nature of Palmyrene
identity and its public expression, it also serves to highlight the role of the
Palmyrenes as cultural pioneers in a frontier zone.  Culturally, they may have
72 For instance, see E. Fr?zouls, ?A Propos de l?architecture domestique ?
Palmyre,? Kt ma 1 (1976): 29-52.
73  Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, provides an excellent synthesis of the
monumental remains of Palmyra from religious contexts.  On the funerary
monuments, see the synthetic treatment by M. Gawlikowski, Monuments fun?raires
de Palmyre, Travaux du Centre d?Arch?ologie M?diterran?enne de l?Acad?mie
Polonaise des Sciences, no. 9 (Warsaw: PWN-?ditions scientifiques de Pologne,
1970).  More specific investigations of the funerary remains include T. Higuchi,
Tombs A and C Southeast Necropolis Palmyra Syria: Surveyed in 1990-92,
Publication of Research Center for Silk Roadology, vol. 1 (Nara Japan: Research
Center for Silk Roadology, 1994); and A. Sadurska, Le Tombeau de famille de
?Alain?, Palmyre, no. 7, edited by K. Michalowski (Warsaw: PWN-?ditions
39
become more Roman than Parthian, or perhaps, as some would judge, more
Parthian than Roman, but by adopting from their neighbors specific cultural habits
that were deemed most suitable to their own circumstance, and by grafting these
onto their own cultural norms, the Palmyrenes emerged, in the end, as distinctively
Palmyrene.  Moreover, the architectural remains reveal information about urban
development and associated processes of community formation.  The urban
landscape includes monumental temples, a theater, colonnaded streets, an agora,
and other public buildings, in addition to a variety of tombs, that attest to the
community?s aspirations and achievements (fig. 4).  There are also the domestic
structures that reveal an aristocratic lifestyle attuned to Mediterranean values.72  Yet
the domestic quarters of the city have been largely neglected by archaeologists,
particularly those sectors not inhabited by the well-to-do.  In fact, systematic
excavations have concentrated on the monumental remains within the city and on
the tombs just beyond the civic boundary.73  While the data is weighted in this
scientifiques de Pologne, 1977).
74  See E. Littmann, ?Safa-Inschriften,? in M?langes syriens offerts ? monsieur
Ren? Dussaud, vol. 2, Biblioth?que arch?ologique et historique, no. 30 (Paris: P.
Geuthner, 1939), 661-71; idem, Semitic Inscriptions, Publications of an American
Archaeological Expedition to Syria in 1899-1900, pt. 4 (New York: The Century
Co., 1904); idem, Thamud und Safa: Studien zur altnordarabischen
Inschriftenkunde, Abhandlungen f?r die Kunde des Morgenlandes, vol. 25, no. 1
(Leipzig: Kommissionsverlag F. A. Brockhaus, 1940); A. Jamme, Safaitic Notes
(Washington: [s.n.], 1970);  W. G. Oxtoby, Some Inscriptions of the Safaitic
Bedouin, American Oriental Series, no. 50 (New Haven: American Oriental
Society, 1968); and F. V. Winnett and G. L. Harding, Inscriptions from Fifty
Safaitic Cairns (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978).
75  M. C. A. MacDonald, ?Nomads and the H
. awra
%n in the Late Hellenistic and
Roman Periods: A Reassessment of the Epigraphic Evidence,? Syria 70 (1993):
303-413, provides a synthetic analysis of this data.  See also M. Sartre, ?Tribus et
clans dans le Hawran antique,? Syria 59 (1982): 77-91. Further discussions of the
rural landscape may be found in J. -M. Dentzer, ed., Hauran I: Recherches
arch?ologiques sur la Syrie du sud ? l??poque hell?nistique et romaine, 2 vols.,
Biblioth?que arch?ologique et historique, no. 124 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1985).
40
manner, it is, nonetheless, sufficient to examine how the civic environment evolved
over time. 
In addition to evidence from the city, a substantial number of pre-Islamic
graffiti abounds in the desert region around Palmyra.74  These texts are important
for the details they provide of the social landscape of Palmyra?s hinterland.  Most
are shorthand accounts of local conflicts (largely between the pastoralists
themselves) or laments of dire resources and of the parched landscape.75 
Frequently, these reveal the tensions between the desert and the sown, in a region
where the cultivation of crops is complicated by the harsh arid environment and
competition over limited resources.  Above all, these texts provide a contemporary
41
context for Palmyra?s communal development, because there was constant
interaction between the Palmyrenes settled in the oasis and the pastoralists of the
countryside.  These also provide a framework for an analysis of Palmyra?s earliest
development when the community was in the first stages of communal expansion.
To sum up, archaeological and epigraphic sources provide the bulk of the
material available for this study.  These sources are not mutually exclusive, but
complementary.  In fact, no inscription can be understood fully outside of its
physical context, and no building or sculptural artifact can be assessed fully without
an accompanying inscription to provide proof of identity, function, and patronage. 
Therefore, in order for these sources to be assessed properly in relation to Palmyra?s
communal development, it is important that they be evaluated within their original
contexts as their creators intended.  As mentioned, for instance, one objective of
this study is to assess how the Palmyrenes built their city, which must be judged
from the physical remains.  The civic architecture must be evaluated in relation to
the physical landscape and in association with other architectural remains.  Further,
the inscriptions must be placed in their monumental contexts relative to the urban
topography.  It is insufficient simply to read an honorary inscription, and only a
slight enhancement of understanding to know that the inscription is from a statue
base of a prominent citizen whose career or public benefactions become apparent in
it.  The knowledge that the statue and its associated inscription were set up along a
public thoroughfare (fig. 7) to honor a public figure among many others is critical
42
to understanding how the inscription together with the statue functioned in a
communal setting.  It is also clear from reliefs that banquets were often held within
the tombs erected on the outskirts of the city, and this explains the function of the
inscriptions in these tombs.  Thus, interpreting inscriptions in their urban contexts
reveals communal activities, and it is from the elucidation of these activities that
personal and group identities can be understood in their civic contexts.
Finally, just as the archaeological and epigraphic sources can only be
assessed properly within their urban contexts, Palmyra as a community and an
urban center must be evaluated within its environmental and geographical setting
and with relation to outlying peripheral settlements and other urban centers. 
Accordingly, we must assess carefully Palmyra?s hinterland in order to learn about
resource distribution and subsistence strategies.  We must also analyze the nature of
the interaction between the desert and the sown and the local processes that shaped
Palmyra?s development in a desert frontier.  This will allow us to elaborate on how
the regional environment conditioned the strategies for economic subsistence or
advancement, and how these strategies in turn affected individual or corporate
identities at Palmyra, as they evolved in non-civic as well as civic settings.
Summary of Palmyra?s History and Urban Development
I have thus far provided only a cursory treatment of Palmyra?s history,
stressing mainly its geographic situation between the Roman and Parthian (later
Persian) Empires and describing its ecological niche.  I have also, in my review of
76  For studies of Palmyra?s urban development, see D. Schlumberger, ??tudes
sur Palmyre, I. Le D?veloppement urbain de Palmyre,? Berytus 2 (1935): 149-62;
E. Fr?zouls, ?Questions d?urbanisme palmyr?nien,? in Palmyre: Bilan et
perspectives (Colloque de Strasbourg [18-20 octobre 1973] ? la m?moire de
Daniel Schlumberger et de Henri Seyrig) (Strasbourg: AECR, 1976), 191-207; and
Browning, Palmyra, 77-214.
77  Only recently have excavations intent on documenting the Hellenistic
settlement commenced, see A. Schmidt-Colinet and K. al-As?ad, ?Archaeological
News from Hellenistic Palmyra,? Parthica 4 (2002): 157-66; and idem, ?Zur
Urbanistik des hellenistischen Palmyra. Ein Vorbericht,? Damaszener Mitteilungen
12 (2000): 61-93.  See also P. Collart, ?Le R?le de Palmyre ? l??poque hell?nistique
et romaine d?apr?s les d?couvertes r?centes,? Atti del settimo Congresso
internazionale di archeologia classica 1 (1961): 427-35.
78  For the evidence, see Schmidt-Colinet and al-As?ad, ?Zur Urbanistik des
hellenistischen Palmyra,? 61-63.  For a general discussion on the Hellenistic origins
43
archaeological sources for this study, discussed the urban monuments of Palmyra as
artifacts of community formation without providing much in terms of a
chronological context for their development.  At present, I wish to give a summary
of Palmyra?s history together with its urban development.76  This will provide a
much needed framework for the chapters that follow.
My focus is on Palmyra primarily during the Roman period, because most
of our evidence for the formation of a Palmyrene identity and that of community at
the oasis is no earlier than the last half of the first century B.C.E.77  From the first
half of the first century B.C.E. and earlier, the evidence is too fragmented and of
little value for making anything but broad generalizations about settlement at the
oasis, though it is clear that people lived there, presumably Aramaeans mixed with
Arabs.78  Pompey?s annexation of Syria in 64 B.C.E., apparently, had little effect on
of Palmyra, see Will, Les Palmyr?niens, 33-38.
79  See Appian Bella civilia 5.9.
80  We must take into account that Appian wrote this narrative in the second
century C.E., when Palmyra was near the peak of its urban development.
44
Palmyra, since there is nothing on record.  The first documented encounter between
Romans and Palmyrenes, in fact, was in 41 B.C.E. when the Roman general Mark
Antony raided the settlement.79  Ostensibly, Antony?s intent was to punish the
Palmyrenes for their persistence in assuming a neutral position between the
Romans and Parthians.  According to Appian, however, Antony solely wanted to
plunder the city in order to enrich his horsemen.  His attack, nonetheless, was in
vain.  The Palmyrenes were forewarned, and they transported themselves and their
property hastily to the opposite bank of the Euphrates.  Then, Antony?s men, when
they entered Palmyra and found nothing, retreated.  An important implication of
this account is that the wealth of the Palmyrenes was moveable, which would
suggest that the settlement itself, whether as yet it qualified as a polis or not, was
perhaps at a primitive stage in its development.  It may, in fact, though Appian
refers to it as a polis, only have qualified as a substantial village at the time, an
assessment that the archaeology of Palmyra thus far supports.80  Importantly, at this
early stage in Palmyrene history, the seeds for Palmyra?s future prosperity had been
planted.  According to Appian, the Palmyrenes, ?being merchants, bring the
81  Appian Bella civilia 5.9: ?:B@D@4 ( D ?<J,H 6@:\.@LF4 :?< ?6 A,DF <
J  z3<*46  ? z!DV$4" *4"J\2,<J"4 *z ?< J? {CT:"\T<.
82  I will discuss in Chapter 3 reasons for population growth at Palmyra.
83  P0270.  On the excavations of the temple of Bel, see H. Seyrig, R. Amy, and
E. Will, Le Temple de B?l ? Palmyre, 2 vols., Biblioth?que arch?ologique et
historique, no. 83 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1975).
84  P1352.
45
products of India and Arabia from Persia and distribute them in Roman territory.?81  
Following 27 B.C.E., the emperor Augustus brought peace and security to
the Roman state, and in 20 B.C.E. he established peaceful relations with the
Parthians.  Concurrently, set in her Syrian niche, Palmyra began to prosper.  The
cornerstone of Palmyrene prosperity was trade, and Palmyra at this time established
or confirmed trade relations with distant emporia such as Seleucia on the Tigris and
Babylon.  Then, as wealth channeled into the city and as Palmyra?s population
began to grow, monumental building activity was initiated.82  The earliest record for
the monumentalization of Palmyra is in a bilingual building inscription, in Greek
and Aramaic, from 19 C.E., which commemorates a statue to a certain Yedibel, son
of Azizu, for his contributions to the construction of the temple of Bel (figs. 8 and
9).83  Greek and Palmyrene merchants in Seleucia on the Tigris sponsored the
dedication.  Merchants in Babylon similarly honored a certain Malku, son of Nesha,
in 24 C.E. for his own contributions.84  Actually, these references are to the building
of the cella, or central sanctuary, of the temple, which we know was completed in
85  See P1347.
86  On the excavations of the temple of Baalshamin, see P. Collart and J. Vicari,
Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n ? Palmyre, vol. 1-2: Topographie et architecture,
Bibliotheca Helvetica Romana, no. 10 (Rome: Institut Suisse de Rome, 1969); P.
Collart, ?Le Sanctuaire de Baalshem?n,? Archeologia 16 (1967): 52-56; C. Dunant,
Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n ? Palmyre, vol. 3: Les Inscriptions, Mission
arch?ologique suisse en Syrie, 1954-1966 (Rome: Institut Suisse de Rome, 1971);
R. Fellman, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n ? Palmyre, vol. 5: Die Grabanlage,
Mission arch?ologique suisse en Syrie, 1954-1966 (Rome: Institut Suisse de Rome,
1970); and R. Fellman and C. Dunant, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n ? Palmyre,
vol. 6: Kleinfunde objets divers, Mission arch?ologique suisse en Syrie, 1954-1966
(Rome: Institut Suisse de Rome, 1975).
87  An inscription from 23 C.E., for instance, records the dedication of two
columns to the god Baalshamin by three women; see P0167.  For the dedication of
the early sanctuary in 67 C.E., see P0158.
88  See n. 8 above.
46
32 C.E.85  Moreover, during construction of the temple of Bel, a temple precinct
was being planned for the god Baalshamin north of the town.86  Work on the
colonnades in the temple of Baalshamin dates back to 23 C.E., and an early
sanctuary appeared by 67 C.E.87  The existing sanctuary was not dedicated until 132
C.E. (fig. 10).  This early building activity, as I have noted, coincides roughly with
the time during which the Romans directly involved themselves in establishing the
limits of Palmyrene territory (regio Palmyrena), between 11 and 17 C.E., and
during which, perhaps, they incorporated Palmyra into their empire.88  Augustus
had died in 14 C.E., and his adopted son, Tiberius, became the new emperor.  In 18
C.E. Tiberius sent his adopted son Germanicus to the Near East for purposes of
provincial reorganization and to settle contentions over the rule of Armenia.  While
89  For a summary of Germanicus? activities in the East, see Tacitus Annales
2.43-58.
90  P2754.
91  For discussion, see H. Seyrig, ?L?Incorporation de Palmyre ? l?Empire
romain,? 267-68; and M. Schuol, Die Charakene: Ein mesopotamisches K?nigreich
in hellenistisch-parthischer Zeit, Oriens et occidens, no. 1 (Stuttgart: F. Steiner,
2000), 47-48.
47
in Syria, Germanicus received an embassy from the king of the Parthians,
Artabanus III, requesting that peaceful relations between the two empires be
confirmed.89  Whether the two leaders ever met has not been established, but
Germanicus, concurrently, sought to establish friendly relations with the Parthian
vassal state of Mesene using a Palmyrene envoy.  An undated and badly preserved
inscription records the event, which mentions a Palmyrene ([td]mry?) surnamed
Alexandros whom Germanicus sent to a certain Orabzes of Mesene and to
Sampsigeramus, king of Emesa.90  While we presume that diplomatic activities
were involved, it is also likely that economic motives played a role, since the
Palmyrenes, as merchants, maintained various commercial contacts in the Parthian
Empire, a subject to which I will return in Chapter 6.91  Furthermore, whether
Germanicus ever visited Palmyra cannot be confirmed, although the evidence
presuming that such a visit occurred is suggestive.  P0259, the Palmyrene tariff
inscription, for instance, refers to some pronouncement regarding tax assessments
that Germanicus made in a letter addressed to a certain Statilius, perhaps a Roman
92  See P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.102-5; and P0259 (Tariff): Greek 181-84. 
See also Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 128, n. 30.
93  P0591.  Chrysanthus, a Roman citizen, may have been a Roman publicanus
collecting Roman indirect taxes or tribute as opposed to a local contractor for city
taxes.  For discussion, see Millar, Roman Near East, 324.  On the suggestion that
the Palmyrenes probably paid tribute to Rome throughout the first two centuries
C.E., see A. H. M. Jones, Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1937), 458, n. 52.
94  Inventaire 9.2.
48
procurator in Syria.92  Further Roman involvement in the economy of Palmyra is
suggested by a trilingual (Latin, Greek, and Palmyrene) sepulchral inscription,
which dates to 58 C.E., in which L. Spedius Chrysanthus is given the title of mks?,
or tax-collector in Palmyrene.93  Also, sometime before Germanicus? death in 19
C.E., the imperial legate of the legio X Fretensis, Minucius Rufus, had statues set
up in the temple of Bel to honor Germanicus, his brother Drusus, and Tiberius, all
of whom were designated as imperatores.94  Thus this evidence, while it records
direct Roman involvement in the affairs of Palmyra, also suggests the likelihood
that Palmyra at the time had become officially a part of the Roman Empire.  
Nevertheless, Palmyra still enjoyed a privileged status and was permitted to
continue the use of its own language in official contexts and to support security
forces which safeguarded its territorial and commercial interests.
In the second half of the first century C.E., there was increased Roman
involvement in the affairs of Palmyra coupled with accelerated building activity in
the city.  A milestone inscription from Arak in Syria, for instance, records the
95  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1933, no. 205; Seyrig, ?L?Incorporation de Palmyre ?
l?Empire romain,? 276-77.  For the elder Trajan in the Near East, see G. W.
Bowersock, ?Syria under Vespasian,? JRS 63 (1973): 133-138.
96  See P1375 (75/76 C.E.) and P1376 (81 C.E.).  See also H. Seyrig, ?Rapport
sommaire sur les fouilles de l?agora de Palmyre,? CRAIBL (1940): 240.
97  See Bowersock, ?Syria under Vespasian,? 137.
98  For the dedication of the sanctuary, see P1561.  R. du Mesnil du Buisson,
?Premi?re campagne de fouilles ? Palmyre,? CRAIBL (1966): 165-69, provides a
brief account of the excavations of the sanctuary.  See also T. Kaizer, The Religious
Life of Palmyra: A Study of the Social Patterns of Worship in the Roman Period,
Oriens et occidens, no. 4 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2002), 108-16.  For the
suggestion that the early walls were constructed during Tiberius? reign, see D. Van
49
completion of a road from Palmyra northwest to Sura on the Euphrates by Marcus
Ulpius Traianus, then legatus of Syria and father of the future emperor Trajan.95 
This confirmed Palmyra?s position within Rome?s sphere of direct influence, by
integrating the city closely into the eastern provincial structure.  This road
construction also coincided with the earliest inscriptions from the agora of Palmyra,
the central market and meeting place of the Palmyrenes, which date from 75/76 and
81 C.E. (fig. 11).96  Concurrently, as Bowersock suggests, the Palmyrenes, perhaps
at Roman instigation, attempted to enclose their city with a fortification wall.97  The
wall itself encloses a substantial area south of a shallow wadi that runs through the
ancient site.  The wall pre-dates 89 C.E., when a sanctuary to the god Belhammon
was completed on the top of Jebel Muntar, the ridge which commands the Efqa
spring, and post-dates 41 B.C.E., when Antony found the city undefended and,
presumably, without walls.98  Elsewhere in the city north of the ancient settlement,
Berchem, ?Le Premier rempart de Palmyre,? CRAIBL (1970): 235-37.  In general,
see M. Gawlikowski, ?Les D?fenses de Palmyre,? Syria 51 (1974): 231-42.
99  On the excavation of the temple of Nabu, see A. Bounni, ?Le Sanctuaire de
Nab? ? Palmyre,? in Petra and the Caravan Cities, edited by F. Zayadine (Amman:
Department of Antiquities, 1990), 157-67.  For further discussion and references,
see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 89 and 116-24.
100  Hadrian?s imperial visit is mentioned in P0305 from 130/31 C.E.  See
Millar, Roman Near East, 106.
50
construction of the temple of Nabu probably began in the last quarter of the first
century C.E., as did the building of the temple of Arsu southwest of the agora.99 
While these projects were initiated, embellishments of the temples of Bel and
Baalshamin continued.  All of this evidence thus suggests that, in the last half of the
first century C.E., Palmyra became increasingly embedded in Rome?s sphere of
influence, and the Romans, apparently, established conditions conducive to urban
growth to which the Palmyrenes responded.
Palmyra?s urban development peaked in the first half of the second century
C.E., when most of the monuments preserved today were constructed.  This
coincided with Hadrian?s imperial visit to Palmyra in 129/30 C.E.100  Hadrian had
reversed the expansionist policies of his predecessor, Trajan, who campaigned
against the Parthians from 114 until his death in 117 C.E.  Trajan?s war with Parthia
may have destabilized Palmyra?s eastern trade, since there are no caravan
inscriptions of the second century earlier than 131 C.E.   Hadrian?s decision, then,
to advance peace with the Parthians and to stabilize the region perhaps benefitted
101  See P1374.  The Palmyrene tariff of 137 C.E. identifies the city in
Palmyrene as Hadrian?s Tadmor (hdryn? tdmr); see P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.1.
102  On the suggestion that Palmyra became a civitas libera under Hadrian, see
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 47; Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 175,
n. 10; and H. Seyrig, ?Le Statut de Palmyre,? Syria 22 (1941), 155-74.  For
opposing views, see Millar, Roman Near East, 324-25; and Isaac, Limits of Empire,
143, with additional literature cited.  I will discuss the institutional situation at
Palmyra more fully in Chapter 5.
103  See College, Art of Palmyra, 88-89.  On the excavations of the temple of
Allat, see M. Gawlikowski, ?Le Temple d?Allat ? Palmyre,? Revue arch?ologique
(1977): 253-74; idem, ?R?flexions sur la chronologie du sanctuaire d?Allat ?
Palmyre,? Damaszener Mitteilungen 1 (1983): 59-68; and idem, ?Le Sanctuaire
d?Allat ? Palmyre. Aper?u pr?liminaire,? AAS 33 (1983): 179-98.  For further
discussion, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 99-108.
51
Palmyra?s commercial endeavors, profits from which financed the
monumentalization of the city.  Furthermore, above all, Hadrian promoted
Hellenism throughout the region.  The response at Palmyra was to adopt the civic
name of Hadriana Palmyra, attested for the first time in the earliest caravan
inscription of the second century.101  Also, it has been suggested that Hadrian
granted Palmyra its freedom, making it a civitas libera, which would have relieved
the city of its fiscal responsibilities to Rome, but the evidence is inconclusive.102  In
short, Hadrian provided a situation conducive to urban expansion in a distinctively
Greek fashion.  The theater (fig. 11) was built at this time adjacent to the ongoing
construction of the temple of Nabu and concurrent with the building of the temple
of Allat (fig. 12).103  In addition, the central cella of the temple of Baalshamin was
completed in 132 C.E. and embellishments of the temple of Bel and of the agora
104  For the dedication of the temple of Baalshamin in 132 C.E. by Male
Agrippa, see P0305.
105  For the evidence of the Roman garrison, see Seyrig, ?Textes relatifs ? la
garnison romaine de Palmyre,? Syria 14 (1933): 152-68.  See also below, Chapter
6.
106  The war was a counteroffensive against the aggressive campaigns of
Vologeses IV in Armenia and Roman Syria.  For further discussion, see Millar,
Roman Near East, 111-15; and below, Chapter 3.
107  For the baths dedicated to the gods Aglibol and Malakbel in 182 C.E., for
which we have no archaeological evidence, see H. Ingholt, ?Inscriptions and
Sculptures from Palmyra, I,? Berytus 3 (1936): 109-12, no. 11.  See also J. Milik,
D?dicaces faites par des dieux (Palmyre, Hatra, Tyr) et des thiases s?mitiques ?
52
continued.104  Construction also began of the Great Colonnade that connected the
temple of Bel to the new theater and to the developing, monumental core of the city
(fig 4).  Thus, as the evidence suggests, in the first half of the second century C.E.
the Palmyrenes clearly had the impetus to build on a monumental scale, which they
did under increasing Roman influence.
The late second century C.E. was a period of consolidation and completion
of ongoing projects, rather than a period of great expansion, while Roman interests
in the city were confirmed with the imposition of a military garrison.105  A major
war broke out between the Romans and Parthians from 162 to 165 C.E., when
Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius were emperors, and this significantly disrupted
Palmyra?s caravan trade.106  Nevertheless, at this time, both the temple of Nabu and
the temple of Allat were completed and baths dedicated to the gods Aglibol and
Malakbel were constructed.107  Also, the latest evidence we have of building
l??poque romaine, Recherches d??pigraphie proche-orientale, vol. 1 (Paris: P.
Geuthner, 1972), 31-32; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 128-29.
108  See P0260.
109  M. Baranski, ?The Great Colonnade at Palmyra Reconsidered,? Aram 7
(1995): 37-42, argues that the central section of the Great Colonnade, between the
Tetrapylon and the temple of Nabu, was constructed in the second half of the third
century C.E. in order to organize pre-existing urban space.  See also M.
Zuchowska, ?Quelques remarques sur la Grande Colonnade ? Palmyre,? Bulletin
d??tudes orientales 52 (2000): 187-93.
110  For a discussion of Palmyra as a Roman colony, see F. Millar, ?The Roman
Coloniae of the Near East: A Study of Cultural Relations,? in Roman Eastern
Policy and Other Studies in Roman History: Proceedings of a Colloquium at
Tv?rminne, 2-3 October 1987, edited by H. Solin and M. Kajava (Helsinki: Finnish
Society of Sciences and Letters, 1990), 42-46; and idem, Roman Near East, 143-44
53
activity in the temple of Bel dates from 175 C.E., when the temple precinct had
probably reached its final, monumental form.108  Furthermore, near the close of the
century, embellishments along the Great Colonnade
included the construction of the Monumental Arch (fig. 13) and the Tetrapylon (fig.
14), monuments which both articulated bends in the Great Colonnade and which
were primarily ornamental.109  By the close of the century, Palmyra admittedly
reached the apogee of its urban development.
Finally, the third century C.E. was a period of great transition for Palmyra,
politically, socially, and economically.  It was also a period of diminished urban
development.  Palmyra adopted new institutions and became a Roman colonia in
this period, a privilege granted either by Septimius Severus (193-211 C.E.) or by
Caracalla (211-17 C.E.).110  The Severans were, for the most part, a North
and 326-27.
111  On Severus? attack of Ctesiphon, see Cassius Dio 75.9.1-4, SHA Severus
16.2; Herodian 3.9.9-11.  For a general account of the Parthian Wars of Septimius
Severus, see A. R. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, rev. ed. (1988;
reprint, New York: Routledge, 1999), 129-34. On the Parthian Wars of Caracalla,
see Cassius Dio 78.1 and Herodian 4.9.10.
112  See M. Gawlikowski, ?Palmyra and its Caravan Trade,? 139-45.
113  See pp. 324-36 below.
114  See P1378.  See also H. Ingholt, ?Deux inscriptions bilingues de Palmyre,?
Syria 13 (1932): 289-92.
54
African/Near Eastern dynasty with eastern tendencies.  They were linked to
neighboring Emesa through family ties, and their foreign policy with respect to the
Parthians was aggressive.  Between 194 and 217 C.E., for instance, the Severans
launched three invasions of Parthia, actually sacking the capital in 197 C.E.111 
These events, apparently, did not stop the caravans of Palmyra, though the trade
seems to have been reduced.112  Yet the wars and their aftermaths certainly created
conditions of regional insecurity, to which the Palmyrenes responded by
strengthening their own military abilities.113  Commands against nomadic bandits of
the desert, largely to safeguard the caravans, are attested as early as 199 C.E., and
the threat of banditry probably did not diminish over the course of the third century,
as is perhaps suggested by the increased significance of the post of strat gus, or
general, in this period.114  The Severans clearly favored Palmyra and its strategic
role in the desert.  The Palmyrenes, in turn, paid tribute to the dynasty by setting up
115  See Inventaire 10.64.
116  The imperial visit is attested in a bilingual inscription from 242/43 C.E.;
see P0278.
117  On the elite housing near the temple of Bel, see Browning, Palmyra, 99.
118  On Palmyra as a m trokol?neia, see P0287, P0288, and P1369.
119  See Gag?, La Mont?e des Sassanides, 157-64.
55
a series of portraits of Septimius Severus and the imperial family above a
monumental gate into the agora.115  The relationship between Palmyra and the
Severan dynasty was strengthened by the emperor Severus Alexander?s visit to the
city before his death in 235 C.E.116  Meanwhile, the pace of monumentalization
within Palmyra diminished.  Apart from the addition of elite housing in the city,
especially in the area of the temple of Bel, there was little new civic development
beyond sculptural embellishments.117
The last half of the third century C.E. witnessed limited urban development
as the city, which had advanced to the rank of metrocolony, reached the apogee of
its involvement in Roman affairs.118  The Sassanid Persians, who had succeeded the
Parthians in 224 C.E., proved far more aggressive and expansionist than their
predecessors.119  The founder of the Sassanid dynasty, Ardashir I, campaigned
against the Romans from 230 to 232 C.E., but his successor, Shapur I, proved more
vehement in his aggressive tendencies.  Between 243 and 260 C.E., Shapur
launched three large-scale campaigns into Roman territory, eventually capturing the
120  Petrus Patricius frag. 10, FHG vol. 4, 187.  For discussion, see pp. 404-11
below.
121  See J. Chabot, ?Un Corrector totius orientis dans les inscriptions de
Palmyre,? CRAIBL (1930): 312-18; J. Cantineau, ?Un Restitutor orientis dans les
inscriptions de Palmyra,? Journal asiatique 222 (1933): 217-33; S. Swain, ?Greek
into Palmyrene: Odaenathus as ?Corrector Totius Orientis??? ZPE 99 (1993): 157-
64; and Will, Les Palmyr?niens, 179-81.  The title ?King of kings? was held by
Odenathus? son Vaballathus and, perhaps, was applied to Odenathus only
posthumously.  For discussion, see Millar, Roman Near East, 159-73; D. Potter,
?Palmyra and Rome: Odenathus? Titulature and the Use of the Imperium Maius,?
ZPE 113 (1996): 271-85; and U. Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich (Stuttgart:
Franz Steiner, 2001), 146-61 and 176-85.
122  On the murder of Odenathus, see now Hartmann, Das palmyrenische
Teilreich, 218-31.
56
Roman emperor Valerian.  The Roman state, meanwhile, was in a state of disarray,
a condition that had persisted after the death of Severus Alexander in 235 C.E. 
Following Valerian?s capture, Odenathus of Palmyra, at the head of an army
Palmyrenes, peasants, and dispossessed soldiers who had survived the Persian
raids, mounted a successful counter-offensive against Shapur.  It was rumored
beforehand that Odenathus approached Shapur with lavish gifts, perhaps intent on
buying peace or securing Palmyra?s trade interests, but the offer was scoffed at and
rejected.120  At any rate, Odenathus? repeated military successes earned him the title
of corrector totius orientis, which he received from the emperor Gallienus, and,
posthumously, the Persian title ?King of kings.?121  His murder in 267 C.E. left his
wife Zenobia and their son Vaballathus in a position of great power, both locally
within Palmyra and regionally.122  The events between Zenobia?s rise to power and
123  See Browning, Palmyra, 156.
124  See R. Amy and H. Seyrig, ?Recherches dans la n?cropole de Palmyre,?
Syria 17 (1936): 229-66; and A. Sadurska, ?Nouvelles recherches dans la n?cropole
ouest de Palmyre,? In Palmyre: Bilan et perspectives, 11-32.
57
the eventual sack of Palmyra by the emperor Aurelian in 272 C.E. have been
documented and discussed at length by other authors and need not be repeated here. 
Surprisingly in this period, Palmyra experienced little urban development on a
monumental scale.  In fact, it suffices only to mention that the wall paralleling the
wadi west of the agora, which delimited the late Roman and Byzantine city, was
probably a result of Diocletian?s effort to reinforce the defenses of Palmyra in the
late third century C.E., although the suggestion that Zenobia constructed it,
presumably setting it up hastily before Aurelian advanced upon the city, remains.123 
Thus far, the narrative presented here of Palmyra?s history together with its
urban development has centered on the city of the living, having reserved for now a
more synthetic treatment of the monumentalization of the ?city of the dead?
(necropolis) that developed to memorialize the deceased.124  Burials, which in fact
exist all around the oasis, concentrate northwest, southwest, and southeast of the
city.  To the northwest, the distinctive Valley of the Tombs attracts the most
attention (fig. 15).  The monumentalization of these areas happened in three
overlapping phases according to the types of burials constructed, from tower tombs,
125  The most recent discussion of the evidence is that of A. Schmidt-Colinet,
?The Tomb Architecture at Palmyra and its Decoration,? in Early Roman Empire in
the East, 157-77.  See also idem, ?L?Architecture fun?raire de Palmyre,? in
Archeologie et histoire de la Syrie, vol. 2: La Syrie de l??poque ach?m?nide ?
l?av?nement de l?Islam, edited by J. -M. Dentzer and W. Orthmann, Schriften zur
vorderasiatischen Arch?ologie, no. 1 (Saarbr?cken: Saarbr?cker Druckerei und
Verlag, 1989), 447-56; and Gawlikowski,  Monuments fun?raires.
126  See M. Gawlikowski, ?Classement, chronologie et ?volution de la Tour
fun?raire ? Palmyre,? Etudes et Travaux 3 (1969): 168-91; and E. Will, ?La Toure
fun?raire de Palmyre,? Syria 26 (1949): 87-116.
127  P0457.
128  See Schmidt-Colinet, ?Tomb Architecture at Palmyra,? 161-63.  See also B.
Filarska, ?tudes sur le d?cor architectural ? Palmyre, edited by K. Mikalowski and
T. Dzierzykray-Rogalski, ?tudes palmyr?niennes, no. 3 (Warsaw: PWN: Editions
scientifiques de Pologne, 1967); and Sadurska, ?L?Art et la soci?t?,? 11-23.
129  Ibid., 161.
58
underground tombs, or hypogea, and temple or house tombs.125  Tower tombs are
the oldest and predominate in the northwest necropolis (fig. 16).126  The oldest dates
to 9 B.C.E., which is that built for a certain Atenatan by his sons, who were all
members of an important Palmyrene tribal group, the bny myt?.127  These tower
tombs were impressive, large, and ornately decorated.128  Their construction was
continuous until 128 C.E., interestingly one year before the adventus of the emperor
Hadrian in 129/30 C.E.  Because tower tombs seem to have represented an
indigenous tradition, Schmidt-Colinet has suggested that their discontinuation
represented a ?reorientation of the Palmyrene upper class towards the west,?129 an
assessment that seems accurate.
130  See Colledge, Art of Palmyra, 60; and Schmidt-Colinet, ?Tomb
Architecture at Palmyra,? 163.
131  Colledge, Art of Palmyra, 59.
132  See Schmidt-Colinet, ?Tomb Architecture at Palmyra,? 165-70;
Gawlikowski,  Monuments fun?raires, 129-46; and Colledge, Art of Palmyra, 60-
61.
133  See Schmidt-Colinet, ?Tomb Architecture at Palmyra,? 165.
59
Hypogea were built from around the last quarter of the first century C.E.,
and their construction continued until at least 232 C.E.  These underground
chambers were ornately carved and decorated, and some had monumental
sarcophagi installed, which were sometimes arranged around three walls to form a
triclinium, the arrangement for a Roman dining room (fig. 17).130  In a few cases, an
underground chamber was attached to an existing tower, although most hypogea
were separate constructions.131
The most elaborate of all funerary monuments were the temple tombs or
house tombs constructed at Palmyra between 143 and 253 C.E., which essentially
replaced the tower tombs as the standard form of burial among the elite.132  In them
the dead were interred either in loculi or in sarcophagi set on stone benches along
the walls (fig. 18).  Some tombs also had an open peristyle courtyard in their center. 
Significantly, these tombs bear close affiliation with western architectural
traditions, although eastern Parthian elements, e.g. in funerary sculpture and temple
decoration, were incorporated in the building tradition.133  In reference to Tomb No.
134  Ibid.
60
36, Schmidt-Colinet suggests that the ?building testifies to the obvious social,
economic, and cultural power of its commissioner, as well as his desire to
demonstrate political and religious ambitions.?134  Apparently, because these tombs
post-date Hadrian?s visit when Roman influence on the city was more direct and
immediate, the tendency was to mimic closely western cultural habits.  Palmyrenes
were, perhaps, attempting to appear more Roman without entirely abandoning
indigenous habits.
Finally, it must be stressed that much of what we know of Palmyrene
society derives from inscriptions found in these various tombs.  As I will discuss in
Chapter 4, the funerary inscriptions provide a great deal of information pertaining
to family relationships at Palmyra.  For example, whereas honorific or dedicatory
inscriptions from the city itself provide greater information on social relations
between individuals and groups not related by kinship and blood, the funerary
inscriptions overwhelmingly provide the opposite view.  We see in these texts
familial relations also, which permits a broader analysis of Palmyrene society.
To sum up, Palmyra?s history from the first to third century C.E. is best
reviewed in the context of Rome?s gradual influence on and then control over of the
city, as measured against the relative independence the city seemed to have enjoyed
throughout this period.  This history involved the eventual empowerment of a
Palmyrene aristocracy attuned to Mediterranean values, who conscientiously sought
61
to transform their city to fit Roman cultural norms while preserving many
indigenous components.  Palmyra?s urban development, then, was partly a response
to Roman power and influence.  The impetus behind this development may have
been the desire of the Palmyrene aristocracy to communicate with the imperial core. 
Visits by individual emperors, first Hadrian and then Severus Alexander, no doubt
further encouraged Palmyrene aspirations to become Roman.
Summary of Chapters
This study is arranged in seven topical and chronological chapters.  Chapter
1 has framed the argument and established the theoretical basis for discussing
identity, community, and state formation.  It also provides a critical overview of the
sources and summarizes the state of research in Palmyrene studies.  Chapter 2
examines the nature of tribalism at Palmyra and the relationship between city and
countryside in the structure and maintenance of tribal identities.  I regard this
relationship to be more mutualistic than antagonistic, taking issue with the
conception of sedentarization as a unidirectional process in which nomads settled
and abandoned their pastoral connections.  The Palmyrene community consisted of
interdependent associations of individuals and groups bonded by familial and tribal
relations that permeated the city boundary.
Chapters 3-5 form the heart of the dissertation.  Chapter 3 is an analysis of
the mechanisms that facilitated growth of community at Palmyra.  I emphasize the
role of Palmyra both as a center for religious associations and a nexus of economic
62
activity.  I also focus on the power networks generated by those who directed the
religious and economic life of the community.  Chapter 4 treats Palmyrene social
relations following communal development.  I explore personal and group identity
through a comprehensive review of the daily face-to-face interactions among
individuals and groups.  I discuss the structure of the Palmyrene family and the role
of women, slaves, freedmen, tradesmen, and craftsmen in local society.  Chapter 5
explores the development of civic institutions at Palmyra that controlled social,
economic, political, and cultural relations within the city and its hinterland.  I
discuss the institutional development of Palmyra as a hybrid form of the Greek
polis and later a Roman colonia, the emergence of political institutions that
regulated Palmyrene social relations, and the development of less formal networks
of friendship and patronage.
Chapter 6 moves beyond Palmyra to study the structure and maintenance of
Palmyrene identity in foreign contexts.  I detail the various mechanisms the
Palmyrenes employed to generate and preserve their uniqueness, individually and
collectively, as their social and cultural boundaries expanded.  My initial focus is on
the Palmyrene community of Dura Europos, for whom we have the greatest
evidence.  I then proceed to discuss the Palmyrene merchants communities abroad
and, finally, the evidence of Palmyrenes in foreign services, notably those who
served in numeri, or ethnic military units, throughout the Roman Empire.
Chapter 7 concludes my dissertation.  In it, I discuss the regional
63
significance of Palmyra as a frontier community, its gradual incorporation into the
Roman world, and its eventual bid for empire.  I also respond synthetically to the
issue of Palmyra?s cultural distinctiveness.  Essentially, Palmyra retained its
indigenous character, despite foreign influences and civic transformations.  The
Palmyrenes were pioneers in their ability to adopt and assimilate foreign customs
and traits without losing their own cultural integrity.
1  F. Millar, ?Empire, Community, and Culture in the Roman Near East:
Greeks, Syrians, Jews and Arabs,? Journal of Jewish Studies 38 (1987): 143-64;
and idem, Roman Near East, 319 and 331.
2  See Finkelstein and Perevolotsky, ?Processes of Sedentarization and
Nomadization in the History of Sinai and the Negev,? BASOR 279 (1990): 68.
64
Chapter 2: Tribes and Tribalism
Introduction
Fergus Millar states that Palmyra represents an archetypical example of
Arab sedentarization in the Near East, claiming that the Palmyrenes shifted from a
true nomadic society to a settled one.1  This assessment, though perhaps accurate,
requires qualification.  To begin with, scholars do have a tendency to divide desert
populations into two distinct segments, pastoral nomads and sedentary groups, but
this rigid dichotomy rarely conforms to reality.2  Most desert environments, in fact,
sustain an interactive mix of individuals and groups involved in agricultural or
pastoral modes of production, or in both concurrently.  These may be categorized as
agriculturalists, agro-pastoralists, pastoralists who engage in dry farming, or pure
nomads.  The complexities of classification in such contexts are evident, and in no
case is it clear that the subsistence strategies employed represent intermediate
3  Cf. J. Teixidor, ?Nomadisme et s?dentarisation en Palmyr?ne,? in Soci?t?s
urbaines, soci?t?s rurales dans l?Asie Mineure et la Syrie hell?nistiques et
romaines (Actes du colloque organis? ? Strasbourg, novembre 1985), edited by E.
Fr?zouls (Strasbourg: AECR, 1987), 49-55; and M. Gawlikowski, ?Les Arabes de
Syrie dans l?antiquit?,? in Immigration and Emigration within the Ancient Near
East: Festschrift E. Lipinski, edited by K. van Lerberghe and A. Schoors (Leuven:
Uitgeverij Peeters en Departement Ori?ntalistiek, 1995), 83-92.
65
stages in an active transformation toward more or less nomadic or sedentary
lifestyles.  The tendency, then, to regard ?sedentarization? as a unidirectional
process, often dichotomized with ?nomadization,? must be rejected.  Yet, the
notion, gleaned from examination of Palmyra?s art and epigraphy, that the core of
Palmyrene society consisted of Arab nomadic tribes who came over the course of
time, chiefly in the first century B.C.E., to settle at the oasis, where they
encountered other less nomadic or sedentarized inhabitants of the site, cannot be
discounted.3  Why this settlement happened is not clear, though I suggest in Chapter
3 that economic and religious factors were involved.  Also, there seems to be no
evidence to suggest that this slow integration was anything but peaceful.  The
implications are, nonetheless, obvious.  On the one hand, Palmyra, from its earliest
stages of communal development, was primarily a tribal society deeply influenced
by nomadic or bedouin traditions, and, on the other, the Palmyrene?s subsistence
strategies prior to the formation of community at the oasis centered on pastoralism,
which persisted as a mainstay of the economy long afterwards.  Furthermore, a
central debated issue in Palmyrene studies is the extent to which, as settlement at
the oasis increased, tribal identities in the city evolved from their primordial
4 Preliminary work in this area has already been attempted.  See, for instance,
H. MacAdam, ?Strabo, Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy of Alexandria: Three Views of
Ancient Arabia and its Peoples,? in L?Arabie pr?islamique et son environnement
historique et culturel: Actes du Colloque de Strasbourg, 24-27 juin 1987, edited by
T. Fahd, Travaux du Centre de Recherche sur le Proche-Orient et la Gr?ce
Antiques, no. 10 (Strasbourg: Universit? des Sciences Humaines de Strasbourg,
1989), 289-320.
66
foundations, i.e. kinship ties, to more superficial ones, e.g. civic co-residence.
In this chapter I will discuss tribalism and the tribal nature of Palmyrene
society.  Also, I will assess the pastoral component of the Palmyrene countryside
and discuss the social and economic relations between Palmyra and its hinterland. 
My main objective is to provide a framework for a discussion of communal
development at Palmyra as a kinship based society, in addition to elucidating the
relationship between the Palmyrenes and the people of the steppe, who employed
an array of subsistence strategies, and their shared identities.  This will entail a
comprehensive analysis of the structure of pastoral society itself using
anthropological perspectives.  Also, I will examine documentary sources in order to
ascertain how outsiders tended to conceive of these pastoralists.  What, for instance,
was the Greek and Roman opinion of the Arabs, sk nitai, Saracens, or pastoral
nomads in general,4 and how did these people relate to other indigenous inhabitants
of the region, whether settled or nomadic, and to one another?  Further, I will also
examine, in terms of relationships of power, how individuals within familial or
tribal groups presented their identities to one another and how these identities were
read by the wider community.  I will also contest here the extent to which tribal
5  See, for instance, W. Lancaster and F. Lancaster, ?Tribal Formation in the
Arabian Peninsula,? Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 3 (1992): 145-72.
67
identities at Palmyra transformed from their primordial foundations as kinship
based groups, if at all, during Palmyra?s urban growth, a subject upon which I will
return in much more detail in Chapter 5.
Conceiving Tribes and Tribalism
In our understanding of Palmyra as a tribal society, our conceptualization of
?tribes? is clearly important.  To begin with, tribal membership confers identity
upon individuals.  This, in turn, gives them access to a cultural infrastructure
around which communities form.5  How we perceive of the early tribal contingents
of Palmyra, in terms of their structure and their interrelationships, frames our own
conceptions of Palmyrene identity and community.  Unfortunately, we are in no
position to understand fully how Palmyrene tribal structures were built or
maintained.  Our sources are virtually silent.  Nonetheless, we can gain some
insights by examining what fragmentary bits of information there are that depict
tribal relations within Palmyra, and by reviewing this information in light of
contemporary epigraphic data from the broader region that depict more vividly
tribal activities and identities.  We can also promote this discussion by drawing on
modern ethnographic studies of tribal identities and activities under relatively
similar climatic and environmental conditions.
But first, what is a tribe?  Or, to put it another way, what constitutes a tribal
6  See discussion by P. Khoury and J. Kostiner, ?Introduction: Tribes and the
Complexities of State Formation in the Middle East,? in Tribes and State
Formation in the Middle East, 4-6.
7   R. Tapper, ?Anthropologists, Historians, and Tribespeople on Tribe and
State Formation in the Middle East,? in Tribes and State Formation in the Middle
East, 50-51.  Cf. E. Marx, ?The Tribe as a Unit of Subsistence: Nomadic
Pastoralism in the Middle East,? American Anthropologist 79 (1977): 343.
8  See now  H. Scheffler, Filiation and Affiliation (Boulder: Westview Press,
2001).
9  Marx, ?The Tribe as a Unit of Subsistence,? 343-63.
68
society?  These are difficult questions to answer.  Anthropologists and historians
disagree over how such terms as ?tribe? or ?tribal? are to be defined, and both have
employed these terms to describe various distinct social formations and social
contexts.6  Usually, the tribe is treated as both a cultural-linguistic unit and as a type
of political unit defined by territory.7  Also, in most cases, tribes are designated as
groups in which kinship and descent play primary roles in processes of political and
social organization that are generally characterized as tribal in nature.8  An
alternative to these classifications, according to Marx, would be to view tribal
formations not as products of descent or politics, but rather as products of the
environment and the subsistence patterns dictated within particular ecological
zones.9  Marx views the tribe as ?a social aggregate of pastoral nomads who jointly
exploit an area providing subsistence over numerous seasons . . . [the tribe] is a
kind of political organization, in the sense that it controls territory and permits
10  Ibid., 358.
11  See Tapper,  ?Anthropologists, Historians, and Tribespeople,? 58.
12  Khoury and Kostiner, ?Introduction,? 6.
13  See, for instance, D. Bates, ?The Role of the State in Peasant-Nomad
Mutualism,? Anthropological Quarterly 44 (1971): 109-31.  See also M. Fried, The
Notion of Tribe (Menlo Park: Cummings Publishing Co., 1975), who views tribes
created in this manner as ?secondary,? whereas ?pristine? tribes are created through
myth and legend.
14  For discussion, see Sartre, ?Tribus et clans dans le Hawran,? 77-91.  There
are no detailed studies of the artificial development of tribal groups in the Roman
Near East.
69
members access to the resources in its various parts.?10  Yet, for Marx, kinship and
territory continue to serve as cohesive factors in social organization at group levels.
The problem of defining tribes derives largely from their multifarious
origins.  In some instances, tribes may form by the willing coalescence of tribal
segments, such as families and clans.  The ideology of tribal existence, in fact, is
often based on kinship, but there are occasions when shared interest, advantage, and
service form the real basis for tribal formation and solidarity.11  In other instances,
tribes may form directly through state intervention.12  As power relations fluctuate,
and the need for administrative control of a specified territory increases, states can,
and often do, intervene to superimpose their own organizational frameworks onto
local societies, which may or may not accommodate or reflect existing realities.13 
Such artificial development of tribes took place, apparently, in various communities
of the Roman Near East.14
15  See Marx, ?The Tribe as a Unit of Subsistence,? 355-58.
70
However tribes are defined?and no consensus is forthcoming?we must be
cautious not to explore their structure solely at the group or corporate level.  To be
sure, tribes are social groups, but these form through the coalescence of individuals
and families, mostly in agreement, in an environment of shared experiences. 
Kinship, cultural or religious preferences, subsistence strategies, and territory can
all serve to support a tribal identity.  The problem, then, becomes not so much one
of defining the ?tribe? as it is one of identifying the commonalities that bond
individuals and families into large corporate units in the first place.
What sort of commonalities might serve to create cohesion between
individuals and groups and generate a tribal infrastructure?  First of all, it seems
that subsistence strategies in areas of marginal resources do serve to support
unification and cooperation among individuals and groups, whether of common
descent or not.  This may appear to have arisen from needs to manage pasture and
water and to coordinate defensive schemes against poachers.  Often, however,
cooperation devolves into competition.  This is usually the case when resources are
near depletion, usually the supply of water, or when tribal contingents are displaced
and a particular ecological subsistence zone is invaded.15  Also, among individuals
and groups within a given subsistence zone, access to available resources is rarely
balanced.  Usually, power relationships exist that communicate status and privilege,
which appear necessary to regulate resource exploitation. Personal networks of
16  As shown by A. Cohen, Arab Border Villages in Israel (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1965).
71
power, whether formed through close association by marriage, kinship, or
friendship, tend to acquire regulatory authority in given territories.
Power relationships fluctuate over time.  Consequently, tribal affiliations are
continuously modified to recreate the status quo when power fluctuations occur.  In
some instances, tribal affiliations may break down altogether, or may at least be
modified sufficiently so as not to reflect their primordial nature.  Presented with a
different social, economic, or political environment, for instance, where privileges
and security are assured through associations no longer managed by the tribe,
individuals and families may realign their allegiances with little hesitation.16  The
same transformation may occur at the corporate level, if influences on the tribe or
on tribal leaders are greater than the tribal organization can withstand.  Either tribes
disintegrate or they are reconstituted to face new realities based on new assurances. 
At other times, tribes might coalesce even further and form larger corporate groups
or confederations.  Tribal conglomerations provide more bountiful material for
discussing tribal relationships in wider social and political contexts, since the
influence of external agents cannot be discounted in processes that effect such
change.
Finally, in reaction to scholars who equate tribalism with nomadism and
pastoralism, Richard Tapper warns that ?there is little in either pastoralism as a
17  Tapper, ?Anthropologists, Historians, and Tribespeople,? 54.
72
production system or nomadism as a way of living that necessarily leads to
organization in ?tribes,? whether defined politically in terms of territory . . . or
culturally in terms of descent.?17  We may explore Palmyra?s communal
development in terms of the sedentarization of Arab tribes and the subsequent
transformation of their tribal ethos as decreasingly nomadic, but the results would
be insufficient without greater elaboration and elucidation of the nature of
Palmyrene tribal organization and development.  As I will show, tribal affiliations
clearly affected communal structures at Palmyra.  These established the framework
for interaction and participation in the social, economic, and political arenas.  An
analysis then of tribal identities at Palmyra, in terms of how these were created and
maintained, dissolved, and reconstituted, is key to any discussion of Palmyrene
communal development and social relations.  Moreover, since these identities were
formed in the context of power relationships, we can elucidate further the nature of
the developed Palmyrene community by examining who negotiated power and how.
Family and Tribal Structure at Palmyra
For Palmyrene communal relations, inscriptions are our primary source of
information.  These employ a terminology that reveals the importance of kinship
and descent in the structure and maintenance of individual and group identity at
Palmyra.  In fact, familial and tribal relationships are cast consistently in
genealogical terms from the first through third centuries C.E.  Thus, in order to
18  See Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 399-400, s.v. ?ph
. d.? 
73
understand tribalism at Palmyra, we must examine the genealogical designations
found in the inscriptions more closely to discover how individuals defined their
collective associations, whether in familial or tribal contexts, and the power
relations involved.
The terminology Palmyrenes used to denote familial and tribal relations was
varied, and, while the terminology was consistently cast in genealogical terms, the
inconsistent use of specific expressions to denote kinship affiliation now
complicates any classification of the evidence.  For example, the standard
Palmyrene term for denoting the tribe was ph. d, and a typical expression to indicate
that someone was ?a member of tribe X,? is dy mn ph. d bny X, or literally, ?who is
of the tribe of the sons of X.?18  As I will discuss further below, too often this
expression was limited simply to ?bny X? or ?dy mn bny X? so that we have to infer
that tribal identities likewise were intended even when ph. d does not appear.  The
Greek inscriptions, though less ambiguous, shed little light on the situation.  The
equivalent expression for tribe in Greek, for example, is phyl , which occurs with
only five known groups designated as tribes in Palmyrene, but again we must infer
from the Palmyrene equivalents that these were kinship based groups (see below). 
The only clear indication in Greek that we are dealing with a descent group,
perhaps at the level of clan, is the identification of someone as ?eggen s X,?
literally, ?born of the same race, or a natural descendant, of X,? which occurs only
19  See p. 81 below.
20  P0644: h
. bl h. gt | brt bwlh. ? | ?tntn | ?h. ytwr | ?m ?qm? | brt dynys | s. ?dy w?m |
?t?qb | br ?dy.  Cf. P0096 (see also H. Ingholt, ?Inscriptions and Sculptures from
Palmyra, II,? Berytus 5 [1938]: 127) and P0101.
74
in a series of inscriptions from 179 C.E. that indicate ancestry to a certain
Zabdib?l.19  Despite this variation, however, the fact remains that tribal identities
were cast solely in genealogical terms, which would seem that these groups
remained predominately kinship based.  An analysis of the genealogies
demonstrates this.
Immediate familial relations figure most prominently in the inscriptions. 
Individuals at Palmyra derived their identities, for instance, in direct relation to
their parents, grandparents, and other ancestors, and, occasionally, in relation to
their siblings or those of their parents or grandparents.  The expressions br or brt,
which are translated in genealogies respectively as ?son of? or ?daughter of,?
appear consistently.  The genealogies provided often span several generations, and
these are almost always tracked along the male line since the Palmyrene family was
patrilinear.  Women also figure prominently in the inscriptions, but it is generally
alongside their male counterparts, whether sons, fathers, or brothers.  A funerary
relief now at the Louvre, for example, represents Hagat, daughter of Bolha
Atenatan Ahitur, mother of Aqme, daughter of Dionysios Sadai, and mother of
Ataqab, son of Shadai.20  Also, at the end of many genealogical designations,
relationships between individuals with a common ancestry are denoted by the
21  See P0306.  The text reads: h
E yrn br yrhE  | br tym? whE byby br | yrhE  br hE yrn
bny ?nwbt.
22  For the bny mqymw, see P0543, P1506, P1509, and P2822 (see also K.
As?ad and J. Teixidor, ?Quelques inscriptions palmyr?niennes in?dites,? Syria 62
[1985]: 277, no. 7).  For the bny mlkw, see P0044, P0045, P0048, P0050 (see also
H. Ingholt, ?Five Dated Tombs from Palmyra,? Berytus 2 [1935]: 91-99), P0064,
P0178, P0324, P0471, P0612, P1525, and P1786.
23  P0562.  The text reads: ywlys ?wrlys bwlm? br zbdbwl br bwlm? nyny? rh
. qt
lywl? ?wrly? ?g? w?lm? | bny ?lm? br tym? br nbwmr h. lh.
75
ubiquitous term bny, often translated as ?sons of? and preceding the name of a
remote ancestor.  This usage does not designate a tribe, or at least not always.  For
example, according to P0306, Hairan, son of Yarhai, son of Taima, and Habibi, son
of Yarhai, son of Hairan, who jointly set up a statue on a column console in 157
C.E. to honor their friend Marcus Ulpius Yarhai, son of Hairan Abgar, are likely to
have been distant cousins whose grandfathers were the sons of a certain Anubat
(bny ?nwbt).21  Many attestations of the bny mqymw and the bny mlkw must be
treated likewise as designations of immediate familial relations.22  There are also
instances when the term bny is employed not in its usual sense as the ?sons of? but
more accurately to denote the relationship of male and female siblings as the
?children of? a particular parent.  This is apparent, for instance, in a inscription of
229 C.E. that records the cession of part of a tomb (Tower 70) by Julius Aurelius
Bolma to Julia Aurelia Oga and to Shalma, children of Shalma (bny ?lm?), son of
Taima, children of his maternal uncle.23  Furthermore, there is one instance when
the reference is not to the sons, or more generally even to the children, but
24  P0168: byrh
.  t.bt ?nt 363 | ?mwd? dnh qrbt ?mtlt b[r]t | br?? br ?tntn dy mn bnt
myt? | ?tt tym? br blh. zy br zbdbl dy | mn ph. d bny m?zyn lb?l?mn ?lh? | t.b? w?kr? ?l
h. yyh wh. yy bnyh | w?h. yh.  We may contrast this example with several other
enigmatic inscriptions that exclude familial recognition of women altogether and
emphasize solely that of male progeny.  For instance, Gawlikowski, Monuments
fun?raires de Palmyre, 184-85, notes that bnwhy often should be rendered
?children? in view of those texts that explicitly refer to bnwhy dkry?, ?those who are
males:? see P0024, P0511, P0570 (dkr), P1216, and P2760.  Ingholt, ?Five Dated
Tombs from Palmyra,? 60-62, prefers to render bnwhy as ?sons? and regards the
emphasis on male children as a rhetorical device to show which of the heirs was
preferred.
25  The Palmyrene expression byt ?b, which means literally, ?father?s house,?
may have held the meaning of a clan; see p.191, n. 28 below.
26  See Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 349, s.v. ?br.?  There are
instances, however, where bny denotes the proper name of an individual, Banai. 
See, for instance, P0218, P0470, P0794, P0795, P0796, P0947, P1073, P1074, and
P1517.
76
specifically to the daughters of a distant relative.  According to P1068, in 52 C.E.,
Amtallat, daughter of Baraa, son of Atenatan, who is of the daughters of Mita (dy
mn bnt myt?), wife of Taima, son of Belhazai son of Zabdibel, who is of the tribe of
the bny m?zyn (dy mn ph. d bny m?zyn), dedicated a column to the god Baalshamin.24 
As is clear in this inscription (P0168), the genealogies found in these texts
often go beyond identifications with immediate kin and include associations with
other social entities such as clans, used here in the sense of extended family units,
or tribes, which still employ kinship terminology to denote membership.25  The
term bny, for instance, which usually bears the meaning of ?sons of? or, more
generally, ?children of,? as I have noted, is frequently to be understood as
?members of? to designate clan or tribal identities (see below).26  Judging from this
27  Literally, dy mn bny X should be translated as ?who is of (belongs to) the
sons of X,? and dy mn ph. d bny X as ?who is of (belongs to) the tribe of the sons of
X.?
28  This summation includes P1134, which refers to dy mn ph
. z bny kmr?.
77
consistent use of kinship terminology, the clear implication is that these groups
were predominately kinship based.  At present, the Palmyrene corpus includes 96
names which are preceded by the expression bny (Table 1).  Most of these,
however, denote relationships to immediate familial units and must not be regarded
as designations for tribal affiliations, as the examples given above of the bny ?nwbt,
the bny mlkw, and the bny mqymw make clear.  As noted, when tribal identities are
intended in Palmyrene, the association is usually expressed as dy mn bny X or dy
mn ph. d bny X, which we often translate as ?who is a member of X? or ?who is a
member of the tribe (ph. d) of X,? respectively.27  There are 43 Palmyrene
inscriptions that employ the expression dy mn bny X, and seventeen are known that
refer to dy mn ph. d bny X.28  Table 2 provides a listing of the known clans and tribal
groupings from Palmyra based on these references.
Again, the consistent use of kinship terminology to denote social relations at
Palmyra, whether to indicate immediate familial relations or to designate extended
social groups such as clans or tribes, makes it difficult to distinguish between any
one of these larger groups.  Many designated by the expressions dy mn bny X or dy
mn ph. d bny X, for instance, are also referred to simply as bny X.  We are assisted
with making the proper identifications by the frequency of certain expressions in
78
Table 1: Palmyrene Tribal or Familial Associations
1. bny ?dynt
2. bny ?wtk?
3. bny ?lh?? 
4. bny ?nwbt 
5. bny ??ylmy
6. bny ??ly
7. bny bwdl?
8. bny bwlh. ?
9. bny bwly
10. bny bwl??
11. bny bwn?
12. bny bwr?
13. bny bh. r
14. bny blnwry
15. bny bl?wry
16. bny b??
17. bny brkyw
18. bny brnbw
19. bny br?th 
20. bny br?m?
21. bny gd?
22. bny gdybwl (dy
mn phE d)
23. bny gwg?
24. bny gwgw
25. bny grmn?
26. bny h. gg
27. bny h. ggw
28. bny h. t.ry (dy mn)
29. bny h. yrn
30. bny h. kym
31. bny h. l?
32. bny h. nwr (or bny
h. nwd)
33. bny h. ??
34. bny khnbw (dy
mn phE d)
35. bny kmr? (phyle) 
([X]@:"D?<@4)
(dy mn phE z)
36. bny knbt (d[y
mn] phE d)
37. bny lwy
38. bny l?m?
39. bny mgdt (dy mn
phE d)
40. bny mzy?
41. bny my??
42. bny myt? (phyle)
(dy mn phE d)
43. bny mkn?
44. bny mlkw
45. bny m?zyn (dy
mn phE d)
46. bny mqymw
47. bny m?kn?
48. bny mtbwl
(phyle) (9"2-
2"$T8\@4) (dy
mn phE d)
49. bny nbwzbd
50. bny nbwm?
51. bny nwrbl
52. bny n??
53. bny skn?
54. bny  ?bd[.]
55. bny ?gylw
56. bny ?grwd (dy
mn)
57. bny ?wydlt
58. bny ?lyy
59. bny ?sr
60. bny ??t[rg]?
61. bny ?tn?tn
62. bny ?t?qb (dy kl
gbr mn)
63. bny ?tr (dy mn
phE d)
64. bny pt.rt
65. bny qs. myt
66. bny r??mhr
67. bny rb?l
68. bny s. ?dy
69. bny ?z?
70. bny ?lm
71. bny ?mwn
72. bny ?m?wn
73. bny ?m?r/?m?d (.
. .d]y mn phE d)
74. bny ??d?
75. bny ??dw
76. bny ??dy
77. bny ??rn?
78. bny tym?
79. bny tymrs. w
80. bny tym??
81. bny whby
82. bny whblt
83. bny ydy?bl
84. bny ywlys
85. bny ymlkw
86. bny y?qwb
87. bny yrh. bwl?
88. bny yrh. y
89. bny y?w?l?
90. bny ytr?
91. bny zbdbwl (@?
?((X<@LH -"$-
*4$T8,\T<)
92. bny zbd?th
93. bny zbwd
94. bny zbyd?
95. bny zgwg
96. bny zmr? ([. . .]
mn phE d)
97. NL8?H
58"L*4V*@H
98. NL8?H
9"(,D0< <
79
Table 2.  Known Palmyrene Clans and Tribal Associations
1. bny gdybwl (dy mn phE d)
2. bny h. t.ry (dy mn)
3. bny khnbw (dy mn phE d)
4. bny kmr?  (phyle)  ([X]@:"D?<@4) (dy mn phE z)
5. bny knbt  (d[y mn] phE d)
6. bny mgdt (dy mn phE d)
7. bny myt?  (phyle) (dy mn phE d)
8. bny m?zyn (dy mn phE d)
9. bny mtbwl (phyle) (9"22"$T8\@4) (dy mn phE d)
10. bny ?grwd (dy mn)
11. bny ?t?qb  (dy kl gbr mn)
12. bny ?tr (dy mn phE d)
13. bny ?m?r/?m?d- (. . .d]y mn phE d)
14. bny zbdbwl (@? ?( (X<@LH -"$*4$T8,\T<)
15. bny zmr? ([. . .] mn phE d)
16. NL8?H 58"L*4V*@H
17. NL8?H z9"(,D0< <
29  P1134, P1352, and P1353.
30  P1063.  See Milik, D?dicaces, 36.
31  P1356, and P2801.  See also M. Rodinson, ?Une Inscription trilingue de
Palmyre,? Syria 27 (1950): 137-42.  The latter is trilingual in Latin, Greek, and
Palmyrene, and the relevant Latin designation reads: palmirenus phyles mithenon.
32  NL8? 9"<2(")$T8,\T<: see P0270 and P0271.  NL8? 9"22"$T8\T<:
see P0543 and Inventaire 3.24; see also Cantineau, Inscriptions palmyr?niennes,
no. 52.
80
Palmyrene, whether they are accompanied by equivalent expressions in Greek or
Latin, and by the context of the inscription itself.  More difficult, however, is
assessing the relative size of a particular social group and determining whether the
association exceeds that of the family or clan and represents a tribal group,
generally taken to be an amalgamation of families and clans in a single corporate
unit.
We can be more sure of Palmyrene tribal associations when these are
rendered in the Greek portion of bilingual texts with the expression phyl .   Known
examples are listed in Table 2.  The bny kmr?, who are designated in Greek both as
of the ?tribe of the Khomar noi? (NL8? X@:"D0< <)29 and as of the ?tribe of the
Kh?neitoi? (NL8? OT<,4J <),30 the bny myt?,31 and the bny mtbwl32 are the only
groups expressly distinguished as tribes in both Palmyrene and Greek.  Two
additional tribes appear in Greek inscriptions without Palmyrene equivalents, the
Klaudiad tribe (NL8? 58"L*4V*@H) and the ?tribe of the Mager noi? (NL8?
33  NL8? 9"(,D0< <: see P0469.  NL8? 58"L*4V*@H: see P0471.
34  As suggested by the designation of a member of the Roman imperial family. 
The Palmyrene text of P0471, which makes no mention of tribal affiliation, reads:
qbr? dnh wm?rt? dy bn? | mlkw br mqymw b[r] b[wlbr]k h. wml | lh wlbnwhy wl?h. why
lyqrhn | dy ?lm? ?nt 391, ?this tomb and hypogeum is that which Malku, son of
Moqimu, son of Bolbarak Haumal, built for himself, his children, and his brothers,
in their honor, forever, the year 391 (79/80 C.E.).?  Also, as noted, throughout
Palmyrene history dates were given in the Seleucid Era, starting from October 312
B.C.E.  Thus 391 of the Seleucid Era corresponds to 79/80 of the Common Era.
35  See Milik, D?dicaces, 259-61.
81
9"(,D0< <).33  The former, from a funerary inscription of 79 C.E. that records
the erection of a tower tomb by Malku, son of Moqimu, son of Bolbarak Haumal,
hints of direct Roman influence in tribal formation.34  Unfortunately, we know so
little of this tribe that this one reference cannot be placed into any more meaningful
context.  Perhaps, as Milik suggests, the Klaudiad tribe was foreign to Palmyra,
having come from a community elsewhere in Syria or Phoenicia where it probably
adopted its name from a member of the Augustan dynasty.35  But, this is pure
speculation.  It may well have been an indigenous development, perhaps suggesting
that tribal identities at Palmyra were somewhat malleable.
The use of the Greek term genos also characterizes a social group based on
descent, which may be either a clan or a tribe.  A series of honorific inscriptions
from one of the colonnaded cross-streets, for instance, each dating to 179 C.E.,
refer to the natural descendants of Zabdib?l (@? ?((X<@LH -"$*4$T8,\T<)
having set up statues in honor of members of their clan or tribe.  Among those
36  See P0296, P0297, and P0299.
37  P0298.
38  P0263.
39  P1425.
40  For dy mn ph
. d bny gdybwl, see P2801.  For dy mn ph. d bny ?grwd, see
P1226.02.
82
whom the bny zbdbwl honor were Alaine, son of Hairan, son of Alaine Sephera,
and his nephews, Yad , son of Sharaiku, and Hairan, son of Sharaiku.36  Chief
honors, in fact, went to Sharaiku himself, son of Hairan, son of Alaine Sephera,
who received a statue dedicated by the council of Palmyra, for his having set up
seven columns replete with their ornamentation along with a bronze brazier.37 
These are the only occurrences of the Greek term genos used to designate extended
familial groups.  In other instances, proper nouns are used in the Greek texts to
denote tribes or clans.  Known examples, in addition to those mentioned, are the
bny gdybwl (@? ?"**,4$f84@4)38 and the bny ?grwd (@? !(D@L*Z<@4),39 both of
whom are designated as tribes in Palmyrene.40  
Moreover, since tribal identities were indeed malleable, we must address the
hypothetical issue of an apparent shift from tribal affiliations based predominately
on kinship to those based more on territorial co-residence within the city.  This
view, recently supported by Dirven, suggests direct Roman involvement in
institutional reforms of the later first century C.E. that included the reorganization
41  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 22-28.  See also D. Schlumberger,
?Les quatre tribes de Palmyre,? Syria 48 (1971): 121-33; and Gawlikowski, Le
Temple palmyr?nien, 45-52.  The ?four tribes of Palmyra? are mentioned in P1063
(see Milik, D?dicaces, 36), P1378, and P2769.  The four sanctuaries are mentioned
in both P0197 and Drijvers, ?Greek and Aramaic in Palmyrene Inscriptions,? 34-38,
pl. 2.
83
of the body politic, for political and administrative reasons, into four regions
headed by four tribes headquartered in four distinct urban sanctuaries.41  This
hypothesis, however, remains unproved.  This development, in fact, I will argue
was an indigenous one, and influence by Roman authorities may have been only
indirect.  I will discuss the enigmatic evidence for this reform in Chapter 5, where
my attention will be on the civic institutions of Palmyra.  There I will argue that the
organization of four tribes as an institutional body was an indigenous response,
based on pre-existing social structures, to political, social, and economic crises that
began in late second century C.E.  At this time, it is sufficient only to mention that
the evidence does not support the contention that tribal affiliations completely lost
their essential character as kin-based associations.  Moreover, even though four
tribes apparently came to dominate public affairs, headquartered in four sanctuaries,
there is no evidence to suggest that incorporation of other clans or tribes into any
one of these four, on the assumption that all known tribes at Palmyra came to
associate themselves with one of these four, depended upon territorial co-residence. 
As I will discuss in Chapter 5, not all of the four sanctuaries have been identified
archaeologically on the ground, so their ?neighborhoods? cannot be assessed.  This
42  P0297, P2144, and P2147.
43  P0324.
44  P1504, P1509, P1942, and P1944.
45  P2766.  For their association with the god Bel, see P1067; with the gods Bel
and Yarhibol, see P1347 and P1352.
46  P1099.  For their association with Baalshamin, see P0168 .
47  P1429 and P1539.
48  The bny ?grwd built a sanctuary to the god on top of Jebel Munta northwest
of the temple of Bel.  For the dedication, see P1561.
84
view, then, of a hypothetical shift in the primordial basis of tribal relations is simply
a modern construct to give meaning to some very enigmatic data.
While the tribes of Palmyra were predominately kin-based associations,
shared cult was an important factor in establishing tribal identities.  In fact, many of
the clans or tribal groups that we can identify prioritized worship of one or more
deities and monopolized the administration of their respective cults.  Close
associations, for instance, appear to have existed between the bny zbdbwl and the
god Shamash,42 who also had adherents among the bny mgdt;43 the bny kmr? and the
gods Aglibol and Malakbel,44 in addition to Herta and Nanai;45 the bny myt? and the
god Yarhibol;46 the bny zmr? and the gods Shadrafa and Du?anat;47 the bny ?grwd
and the god Belhammon;48 and between the bny m?zyn and the goddess Allat and
49  For the association of the bny m?zyn with the god Baalshamin, see P0158,
P0168, P0169, P0180, P0329, and P1130; with Allat, see P1941; and with
Baalshamin and Durahlun, see P0164, P0170, P0179, P0193, and P0194.
50  See P0305.
51  Discussed by Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 1-28.
52  See P0197, P0262, P0274, P0279, P0294, P0309, P1062 (see also Milik,
D?dicaces, 13), P1397, P1412, and P1419.
53  See P0177, P0326, and P2279.
85
the gods Baalshamin and Durahlun.49  The bny  ydy?bl were also associated with the
cult of the god Baalshamin.50  Moreover, many of the cults of these deities were
shared with the god Bel and hosted in his sanctuary.51  I explore the civic cult of Bel
more fully in the following chapter, where I examine the role of Palmyra as a cult
center and discuss how shared religious experiences facilitated community
formation.  At present it is important simply to recognize this communal aspect of
paganism to be an essential feature of Palmyrene tribalism.
Finally, in terms of kinship terminology, not every occurrence of bny
precedes the name of a remote ancestor and serves to denote familial relations or
tribal membership based on shared kinship.  The term is also used to designate
collective membership in an association defined by shared interests or activities. 
Most popular at Palmyra, given the status of trade ventures to the economy of the
city, are the bny ?yrt?, or members of caravans.52  There are also the bny mrzhE ?, or
members of symposia devoted to the various gods and goddesses of the city.53 
54  Cities: see P0305 and P1062.  Villages: see P1746.
86
Moreover, residents of particular communities, whether of cities (bny mdynth)
within the Palmyrene hinterland or abroad, or of villages (bny qyrt), are attested
similarly in terms of their collective association.54  I will discuss the communal
nature of these Palmyrene associations more fully in Chapter 4.
To sum up, there appear to have been at least 17 substantial clans or tribes
at Palmyra.  By all appearance, these were predominately kin-based associations. 
They are identified in Palmyrene texts, for instance, by the expressions dy mn bny X
or dy mn ph. d bny X, and occasionally by the single expression bny.  It is often
difficult, however, to distinguish between immediate familial relations, extended
familial relations or clans, or even the more complex social grouping of tribes. 
When these are rendered in the Greek texts with the term phyl , we can more safely
assume that tribal affiliations are intended.
Furthermore, the genealogies found in the inscriptions, as I have noted,
denote both familial and tribal relationships.  But what is their further significance? 
How do these increase our understanding of Palmyrene social relations more
generally, especially of how power was negotiated in the community?
At the level of the household, the evidence is explicit.  Primarily, the
Palmyrene family was patriarchal.  Every Palmyrene male was the head of his own
household, inheritance followed the male line, and wives were obligated to live
with their husbands.  The Palmyrene household, in fact, consisted of the husband,
55  This is a common feature of tribal society.  For instance, see Dijkstra, Life
and Loyalty, 12-14.
56  See Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 81-170.
87
who, in classical terms, may be regarded as a pater familias, along with the wife,
children, slaves, and others, such as freed slaves bound to the family by necessity or
obligation.  We should not lose sight of this basic household organization in our
efforts to understand the nature of tribalism at Palmyra.  As I will discuss more
fully in Chapter 4, it shows similarities to familial organization in other
Mediterranean communities. 
Beyond immediate families, as has been suggested for societies with a tribal
social structure, genealogies may have designated larger kinship based groups and
have established an individual?s status and position in them.55  At Palmyra, for
example, genealogies identified immediate and extended family relations; and, as
Dijkstra suggests, they also designated clans, or groups of associated families. 
Supposedly, this was the case when names appeared consecutively in genealogies
without any associative connections between them (e.g. ?bn,? ?bt,? or ?bny?) and
the last name became a clan designation.56  In these situations, identifying oneself
with a remote ancestor may have enhanced one?s social position.  It would have
defined clan membership, on the one hand, but it would also have established a
direct line of descent from a distant relative, who, by virtue of being named, likely
held a perceived position of social prominence.  Any status once assumed by the
57  P0278.
58  P0282 and P0294.  Cf. P0261 and P0262: wqm br?hwn, ?and was their
leader.?  For archemporos, see P0282 and P0288.  For synodiarch s, see P0197,
P0262, P0294, P1360, and P1419. Alternatively, see P1373 for r? ?yr? ?caravan
leader.?
59  P0292 and P0293.
60  P1918 and P1919.
61  P2033, P2036, P2037, P2038, P2039, and P2041.  For brbnwt mzh
. wt
(during the term as symposiarch), see P0265, P1358, P2040, and P2743 (see also H.
Ingholt, ?Un Nouveau thiase palmyr?nien,? Syria 7 [1926]: 129).  Cf. P1357 and
Inventaire 9.27.
88
ancestor may then have been regarded as inheritable.  Furthermore, the lengthening
of genealogies may also have bonded disparate clans together, based on principles
of kinship, as they identified themselves, perhaps only superficially, with an
eponymous ancestor to legitimate their collective organization.
There is some evidence for power relations at the familial and tribal levels
of social organization at Palmyra.  The enigmatic expression rb?, for instance, the
emphatic form of the adjective rb, appears in thirty inscriptions attached to the
names of individuals (see below).  The term has been variously translated.   In its
adjectival form, there are several examples of rb attached to a substantive to denote
leadership.  For example, we find rb ?wq for ?chief of the market? (agoranomos),57
rb ?yrt? for ?chief of the caravan? (archemporos, or synodiarch s),58 rb h. yl? for
?chief of the army? (strat lat s),59 rb ?yn for ?chief of the spring,?60 and rb mrzh. ?
for ?chief of the symposium? (symposiarch s).61  By contrast, in its emphatic form
62  See Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 408-409, s.v. ?rb.?
63  P0044, P0045, P0048, P0049, and P0050.
64  P2184 (see also Ingholt, Seyrig, and Starcky, Recueil des tess?res de
Palmyre, no. 184, pl. x): t[b]?wt | bny ?lm | rb?.
89
the connotation seems not to be one of leadership but of status or maturity.  When
attached to a name in a genealogy, for instance, rb? is usually translated as ?the
Great,? or ?the Elder,? as opposed to ?Chief.?62  Invariably, the term conveys the
sense of preeminence.  Depending on its usage, whether in familial or occupational
contexts, the term indicates an individual?s position of power in relation to a
particular social group.  We only need to examine the various occurrences of the
emphatic or adjectival rb? when attached to personal names in the inscriptions to
determine how it may be best translated in specific social contexts.
There are many occurrences of the term rb? in a genealogical context
attached either to the first or second name in a person?s designation.  Along the
portal of the tomb of Malku, for instance, five inscriptions appear in which rb? is
attached to the second name of a genealogy.  Each of these is the concession of part
of the tomb by the children of Malku rb?, son of the Malku who built the
structure.63  There are other instances where rb? appears attached to the second
name of a genealogy.  On the reverse of a tessera, for example, we find inscribed
?Ta[b]ut, the sons of (bny) Shalam rb??; the obverse depicts a loaded camel along
with the divine name Arsu.64  Also, an important inscription on an altar reads: 
65  P0335: lmr? ?lm? t
.b? wrh. mn? | mwd? m?ny br mlkw rb? br m?ny | r?wm? ?l
h. [y]why wh. y[y] b[n]why w?h. why | byrh.  ?bt. ?nt [4/5]46.
66  P1871.
67  P1760.
68  P0544.
69  P0923.  See also P0922 for his brother who died in 141 C.E.  We might also
include here P1506, a fragmentary stone block on which is inscribed, ?[. . .] rb? son
of Zabdibol Arima.?
70  P0110.
90
To the Lord of the World, the Good and Merciful, Manai, son of
Malku rb?, son of Manai Ruma, offers praise, for his life, the life of
his sons and of his brothers, in the month Shebat, the year [5]46 (or
[4]46) (February 235 or 135 C.E.).65 
 Moreover, a relief of Bolha, son of Nabushuri rb? rests in the hypogeum of Bolha
in the southwest necropolis of Palmyra.66  In other instances, however, rb? appears
attached to the first name in a genealogy, as on a relief of Habibi rb?, son of
Yarhibola, son of Nurbel;67 on an inscribed relief fragment now in Copenhagen that
mentions Elahsha rb?, son of Moqimu Zebaida Elahsha Sadai;68 and on a funerary
bust of Taimarsu rb?, son of Ataqab, son of Yedibel, son of Ataqab Aqabai, who
lived to be 76 years of age, having died in 162 C.E.69  Furthermore, there is mention
of Zabda rb? from a graffito on the wall of the hypogeum of Abdaastur in the
southwest necropolis of Palmyra.70  Finally, we find on the obverse of a tessera,
below an image of two gods flanking an altar, mention of Taimarsu Ogeilu, and, on
the reverse, an image of a priest reclining on a couch, below which are five priests
71  P2227.  See also H. Ingholt, ?Some Sculptures from the Tomb of Malk? at
Palmyra,? in M?langes offerts ? Kazimierz Michalowski, edited by M. Bernhard
(Warsaw: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1966), 471-72.
72  See Ingholt, ?Some Sculptures from the Tomb of Malk?,? 471.  With rb? in
its emphatic state, this would seem unlikely.
73  Fragmentary attestations to rb? at the end of genealogies where we cannot
determine the actual individual designated include P0646 and P2359.
74  P0463 (cf. Gawlikowski, Monuments fun?raires de Palmyre, fondation no.
6).  The text reads: kytwt | br tymrs. w br kytwt br tym? rb? dy mn ph. d bny | [mt]bwl.
75  P1901: [b]?dr ?nt 529 | bryk ?mh l?lm? | t
.b? wrh. mn? ?bd | [w]mwd? ml? br |
?g? ns? rb?.
76  P1929.
91
and the following inscription: Ataqab rb?.71  Ingholt, who synthesized most of this
data, suggests that the appearance of rb? on this tessera probably refers to the status
of  Ataqab as a high priest.72
More often, rb? appears at the end of genealogies.  The list of such
occurrences is extensive.73  In a foundation inscription from tower tomb 44 in the
Valley of the Tombs, for instance, the owner is identified as ?Kitut, son of
Taimarsu, son of Kitut, son of Taima rb?, who is of the tribe of the bny mtbwl.?74 
We find further examples of rb? at the end of a genealogy on an altar dedicated in
218 C.E. to ?The One Whose Name Is Blessed, the Good and the Merciful,? by
Mal  son of Oga Nesha rb?;75 on altar fragments recovered in the area of the Camp
of Diocletian, which mention Matanai son of Qainu son of Attai rb?;76 on a statue
base in honor of Zabdibol, son of Abaihan, son of Zabdibol, son of Lishamsh, son
77  P1584.  The text reads: s
. lm? dnh dy zbdbwl br ?byhn | br zbdbwl br l?m? br
mkn? | rb? dy mn ph. d bny mtbwl.
78  P1167.
79  P0501.
80  P0467.
81  P0645.
82  P0634: tym? | br h
. lpt? | br tymrs. w | br h. lpt? | br ?m?wn | dy mtqrh | qwqh.  |
rb?.
83  P1019 (see also N. Saliby, ?L?Hypog?e de Sassan fils de Mal? ? Palmyre.
Mit einem bibliographischen Anhang von Klaus Parlasca,? Damaszener
Mitteilungen 6 [1992]: no. 5): h. bl ssn br ml? rb?; and P1043 (see also Saliby,
?L?Hypog?e de Sassan,? no. 33): ?qmt brt brwq[?] br tym?? ?tt bl?wry br mt.y rb?
h. bl.
92
of Makna rb?, who is of the tribe of the bny mtbwl;77 and on a funerary stele that
mentions Malku, son of zbd?y rb?.78  More frequently, we find rb? at the end of
genealogies on funerary busts.  One refers to Shagal, daughter of Shakaiei, son of
Shalman, son of Taimarsu rb?.79  On two separate busts now in the British Museum
we can identify Moqimu, the son of Gadaia Ataqab Zabda rb?,80 and Taibol, son of
Lishamsh Taibol rb?.81  On a bust in Geneva, we find reference to a certain Taima,
son of Halaphata, son of Taimarsu, son of Halaphata, son of Shema?n, who is
called Qoqah rb?.82  On a bust from the southeast necropolis, we find Sassan, son of
Mal , identified as the owner of a hypogeum, within which another bust has been
recovered with the inscription, ?Aqamata, daughter of Baruq[a], son of Taimsha,
wife of Belshurai, son of Mattai rb?, alas!?83  Furthermore, on a bust once in Aleppo
84  See Ingholt, ?Some Sculptures from the Tomb of Malk?,? 473; and J.
Chabot, ?Glanures palmyr?niennes,? Journal asiatique 12 (1918): 282, no. 6.
85  See P0208 and P0209.
86  Perhaps used in the sense of ?our grandfather.?  See Hillers and Cussini,
Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 333, s.v. ??b.?  Cf. Milik, D?dicaces, 98-99.  Dunant, Le
Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n, 76-77, translates ?bwn rb? as ?our father, Rabba,?
although he admits that ?the Elder? may be an alternative.  Cf. Inventaire 11, 48-49,
no. 81, where Teixidor also suggests that rb? be interpreted as a proper name.
87  Ingholt, ?Some Sculptures from the Tomb of Malk?,? 473-76.
93
but now lost there is mention of a certain Ashtur Gadnabu rb?.84  Other examples of
rb? occurring at the end of a genealogy include graffiti etched on plaster from the
temple of Baalshamin, which serves to memorialize several individuals, among
them Abinu rb?and Yedibel rb?, the latter of whom is mentioned again in a
fragmentary inscription on a stone block from the same site.85  These attestations to
Yedibel are of particular interest since he is described as rb? as well as ?bwn rb?,
which may be translated as ?our ancestor.?86
There is some uncertainty about the translation of rb? in genealogical
contexts.  Ingholt, for instance, who reviewed this evidence, concludes that rb?, as it
appears in each of these genealogies, must mean ?the Elder? as opposed to ?the
Great,? which he had suggested earlier.87   He observes that occurrences of rb? may
represent the name of an ancestor or instances of unusual longevity, but that the
term is applied also to distinguish between individuals with the same name and
88  He does, however, cite numerous examples of where father and son bear the
same name.  See ibid., 473, n. 70.
89  P0862: s
. lm mlkw br h. ggw br | mlkw q?y?? dy | dyr? h. bl whdyr? | ?tth h. bl.  In
contrast, there are cases where we find individuals designated as ?the Younger,?
and we assume that the distinction is based on age relative to an older counterpart.  
This is indicated by the term t.ly, as inscribed on the interior wall of tower tomb 13
within the Valley of the Tombs, where we find the following inscription: ?Image of
Manai, the younger, son of Vaballathus, son of [. . .]? (P0491: s. lm m?ny br t.ly? br
whblt br [. . .]).  This term also appears on an altar set up by Hairan, the Younger
([h. ]yrn  t.ly?), in 219 C.E. to the Anonymous God of Palmyra (see P1442).  The
term z?wr also conveys the meaning of ?the Younger,? as on the relief of a certain
Mal  in Copenhagen (see F. Hvidberg-Hansen and G. Ploug, Palmyra Samlingen:
Katalog, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek [Copenhagen: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1993], no.
62; and P1633: ml? z?wr?).
90  See Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 184, n. 35.  See also J. Segal, ?A Syriac Seal
Inscription,? Iraq 49 (1967): 8, who emphasizes the religious functions implied by
the term.
94
lineage.  Yet, he cites no specific examples to support this particular contention.88 
There is no firm evidence, for instance, in any of the examples given above of other
individuals with the same name and lineage from whom the individuals designated
as rb? must be distinguished.  The term q?y??, in fact, conveys the sense of ?the
Elder? in Palmyrene.  For example, we find on a funerary bust in the Louvre an
inscription bracketed in a tabula ansata: ?Image of Malku, son of Hagegu, son of
Malku, the elder of the community, alas!  And Hadira, his wife, alas!?89 
Interestingly, q?y?? appears often in inscriptions from Hatra as a title to denote
either religious or civic functions.90  Perhaps, then, we may regard Malku as a priest
or symposiarch, or even as a prominent member of the boul  or city council.
Instead of meaning ?the Elder,? it is possible that rb? in all of the known
91  Ingholt,  ?Some Sculptures from the Tomb of Malk?,? 471-72.
92  See P0292 and P0293.
93  J. Segal, ?Arabs at Hatra and the Vicinity: Marginalia on New Aramaic
Texts,? Journal of Semitic Studies 31, no. 1 (1986), 59.
94  See P0208 and P0209.  For the interpretation, see Hillers and Cussini,
Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 333, s.v. ??b.? 
95
Palmyrene examples actually retains the basic meaning of ?the Chief,? as Ingholt
himself suggests in reference to the priest Ataqab rb? of P2227.91  This is clearly the
case in two inscriptions of 271 C.E., where Septimius Zabai, a general of the army
(rb h. yl), is distinguished from Septimius Zabda, a chief general of the army (rb h. yl
rb?).92  Furthermore, in the Arab community of Hatra, Segal believes that the chiefs
of tribal groups were consistently designated by the term rb?.93  Such may be the
case at Palmyra as well.  In fact, we may have evidence to suggest that rb?, as the
designation of a position of status in society, was inheritable.  From a memorial
inscribed on a stone block from the temple of Baalshamin, for instance, which is
dated to 11 C.E., we find mention of Vaballathus, son of Matanai, son of Gadarsu,
son of Matanai, son of Qainu, son of Attai, son of Yedibel, who may well be the
same Yedibel designated later in the same inscription as ?the elder, our ancestor
(?)? (rb? ?bwn rb?) as well as in P0209.94  Several generations later, in 115 C.E.,
Gadarsu, son of Yarhai, son of Gadarsu, son of Attai, set up an altar on which he
mentions an idol of the ?Lady of the Temple? erected earlier by Matanai, son of
95  See P1929.  Cf. Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 123, who prefers to read for ?son
of Attai? the proper name Baratai. See also Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos,
84-85.
96  We must, however, bear in mind that genealogies frequently overlap.  See
Ingholt, ?Some Sculptures from the Tomb of Malk?,? 473-76.
97  These texts are also discussed at length by M.Gawlikowski, ?Le Premier
temple d?Allat,? in Resurrecting the Past: A Joint Tribute to Adnan Bounni, edited
by P. Matthiae, M. Loon, and H. Weiss (Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het
Nabije Oosten, 1990), 101-8, who suggests that Yedibel and his son Attai must be
regarded, respectively, as patriarchs of their clan.
96
Qainu, son of Atai rb?.95  Could this Matanai be the same as the individual
mentioned in the inscription above of 11 C.E.?96  Perhaps.  If so, then the status or
position of chief (rb?), or whatever it is that rb? denotes, appears to have passed
from the father Yedibel to his son Attai.97
However we choose to regard rb? in these inscriptions, whether as a generic
designation for ?the Elder? or ?the Great,? or as a more specific identification of
status and position in society as a ?chief? of sorts, each appearance of the term
seems to reflect a relationship of power within the community.  At the familial
level, a sense of priority and preeminence between individuals is apparent, which
perhaps identifies someone within the household, in Roman terms, with superior
potestas or power over others.  More often, though, the term appears in a genealogy
attached to the name of an ancestor of the individual testified by the inscription. 
Such cases may reflect the attempts of individuals to increase their own status and
prestige by identifying themselves publicly with an ancestor of clear distinction,
97
whose memory may still resonate within the community.  At the level of the tribe,
or that of clans or extended families, rb? may serve as a title to reflect social
distinction, or perhaps civic or religious obligation as a tribal elder.  We find tribal
chiefs at Hatra identified by the title rb?, for instance.  If a similar function may be
assumed at Palmyra for those styled rb?, then we have in this case an interesting
example of tribalism represented in an urban context.  We can gain a more
complete understanding of tribalism within Palmyra by examining the
manifestation of tribal identities more broadly in the Syrian countryside.  
City and Countryside
In order to advance our understanding of tribalism at Palmyra, it is essential
to examine how tribalism manifested itself in the Palmyrene countryside and to
discuss the integrated nature of the city and its hinterland, particularly the manner in
which the former managed tribal activity in the latter.  To begin with, while there is
agreement that social groups in desert environments tend to be organized in tribes,
there is, as I have noted above, considerable debate about what is meant by ?tribe?
or ?tribal,? because their meanings change in different contexts.  This is especially
true regarding degrees of settlement or subsistence strategies.  For example, in the
desert frontier where Palmyra is set the tendency is to speak of social relations as a
dichotomy between the desert and the sown, that is, between the interaction of
nomads and sedentary peoples, but this approach has led to generalizations that are
often imprecise and misleading and prevents a full appreciation of the integrated
98  For example, see J. Dentzer, ?D?velopement et culture de la Syrie du sud
dans la p?riode pr?provinciale,? in Hauran I: Recherches arch?ologiques sur la
Syrie du Sud ? l??poque hell?nistique et romaine, vol. 1, edited by J. Dentzer,
Biblioth?que arch?ologique et historique, no. 124 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1985), 387-
420. (especially p. 399).  This is the central issue behind the debate between E.
Banning, ?Peasants, Pastoralists and the Pax Romana: Mutualism in the Southern
Highlands of Jordan,? BASOR 261 (1986): 25-47; and S. T. Parker, ?Peasants,
Pastoralists, and Pax Romana: A Different View,? BASOR 265 (1987): 35-51.  See
also E. Banning, ?De bello paceque: A Reply to Parker,? BASOR 265 (1987): 52-
55.
99  For example, see R. Dussaud, La P?n?tration des Arabes en Syrie avant
l?Islam (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1955).  Indeed, such infiltration of nomads into regions
of increased fertility in antiquity and the security issues involved are common
themes in Roman frontier studies; see S. T. Parker, Romans and Saracens: A
98
nature of desert cities and their hinterlands.  What is lacking in discussions of social
relations in the desert frontier is the manner in which tribal identities permeated the
desert and the sown.  Even among disparate tribal groups, while they may not share
identities, they may recognize common traditions, which provides a context for
communal interaction.  In this sense I would argue that it is necessary to challenge
the popular notion that relations between nomads, if in fact there were true nomads
in the region, and sedentaries were marked by competition and conflict as opposed
to cooperation and more peaceful interaction.98  I would also challenge the tendency
to delineate regional zones of activity based on agricultural viability, as defined by
ecological or political variables, where nomads are viewed as those from outside
persistently pressuring the boundaries, because, in fact, it is nearly impossible to
validate that nomads, though I prefer to use the term pastoralists, were not in the
agricultural zone in the first place.99  When there was infiltration by external tribal
History of the Arabian Frontier (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1986), who views
the nomadic menace as the central reason for the Roman military presence along
the eastern frontier; and idem, ?The Nature of Rome?s Arabian Frontier,? in Roman
Frontier Studies 1989, Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Roman
Frontier Studies, edited by V. Maxfield and M. Dobson (Exeter: University of
Exeter Press, 1991), 498-504.  B. Isaac, Limits of Empire, however, views the
nomadic threat to be of little significance.  See also D. Graf, ?Rome and the
Saracens: Reassessing the Nomadic Menace,? in L?Arabie pr?islamique et son
environnement historique et culturel: Actes du Colloque de Strasbourg, 24-27 juin
1987, edited by T. Fahd (Strasbourg: Universit? des Sciences Humaines de
Strasbourg, 1989), 341-400, whose views align closely with those of Isaac.
99
groups, only in isolated cases, it happened generally under harsh climatic
conditions, economic stress, or political pressure.  The Palmyrene evidence indeed
supports this assessment.  It suggests mutual cooperation between the inhabitants of
the city, the villages of the Palmyrene hinterland, and the pastoralists of the
countryside, at least through the first century C.E.  Only in the late second century
C.E. and beyond did their relationships breakdown somewhat, when, for instance,
banditry increased, which happened under great social, economic, and political
stress mostly beyond Palmyrene control.  I will discuss this breakdown, its causes
and its effects, more fully in subsequent chapters.  For now, I will examine how
tribalism manifested itself in the Palmyrene countryside and how the city managed
this tribal activity.
The evidence for this discussion, however, is fragmentary and allows for
only a general analysis.  For example, we have very little direct evidence for the
range of subsistence patterns discussed here, from agriculturalists, agro-pastoralists,
to pure pastoralists.  Evidence for the latter is particularly evasive since
100  See Schlumberger, La Palmyr?ne du nord-ouest, 1-5. To the southwest of
Palmyra, see T. Bauzou, ??pigraphie et toponymie: Le Cas de la Palmyr?ne du
Sud-Ouest,? Syria 70 (1993): 27-50.
100
archaeological remains of pastoralism tend to be overlooked; thus we are reliant on
comparative analogy with evidence from neighboring desert areas, not necessarily
archaeological but also epigraphic and literary.  The presumption of course is that
the different groups on the desert fringe developed similar patterns of behavior
conditioned by their ecological setting.  The archaeological evidence for
agriculture, however, is more abundant, especially to the north and west of Palmyra
(fig. 5).100  Though a desert community, Palmyra included agricultural lands and
villages within its hinterland.  Importantly, in these villages, whose inhabitants
were probably also organized into tribes, Palmyrene was the predominate language
used, which suggests strong and personal links to Palmyra itself.  Also, according to
Schlumberger the economic subsistence patterns among the villagers never rested
solely on agriculture but combined with pastoralism, which illustrated the close
integration of this rural population of Palmyrenes with the steppe.  Furthermore,
although we know little of who owned the lands that were farmed or grazed, most
of the land may have belonged to the city, because we know the city generally
managed the patterns of land use.  This would then indicate that it was essentially
tribal territory.  I will discuss the implications of this observation below in my
assessment of tribalism in the Palmyrene countryside, especially regarding
economic subsistence patterns and their management.
101  See MacAdam, ?Strabo, Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy,? 289-320.
102  See G. Tate, ?The Syrian Countryside During the Roman Era,? in Early
Roman Empire in the East, 55-57.
103  MacAdam, ?Strabo, Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy,? 297-98.
104  Strabo Geographia 16.3.1: ?< 8LBD@?H PTD\@4H *4  J H  <L*D\"H,
(,TD(@ <J,H :?< ? @ *?< ? :46DV, <@: H *? ?P@<J,H B"<J@*"B <
2D,::VJT<, 6"? :V84FJ" 6":Z8T<.
101
But first, in order to provide an initial social and historical context for the
evidence of tribalism in this region, we should recognize a bias generated by
ancient authors that still resonates, one that regards individuals and groups who are
less settled as uncivilized.  Both Strabo and Pliny expounded this view.101  While
they agreed that the Syrian countryside was divided between sedentary peoples, on
the one hand, and nomads and bandits, on the other, they clearly favored the
virtuosity of the former over the latter.102  Also, both described these peoples, for
the most part, as Arabs, and they distinguished between them based on their
perceived stage of political development.103  According to these authors, the least
developed and most problematic in terms of loyalty were the sk nitai (E60<?J"4 @?
<@:V*,H), Arab pastoralists who dwelled in the Syrian desert and grouped
themselves in small bands ?in wretched, waterless territories, farming little or none,
but herding various animals, particularly camels.?104  Strabo did not make this
distinction between Arabs and sk nitai simply because he considered the former
105  For instance, see I. Shahid, Rome and the Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the
Study of Byzantium and the Arabs (Washington: Dumbarton Oaks, 1984), 55, n.19. 
See also P. Briant, ?tat et pasteurs au Moyen-Orient ancien (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1982), 113-25; and Gawlikowski, ?Syrian Desert
Under the Romans,? in Early Roman Empire in the East, 41.
106  A. Khazanov, Nomads and the Outside World (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1984), 202.
102
sedentary and the latter nomads, a view commonly put forth.105  Strabo also, while a
geographer, lacked the keen ethnographic insight over which modern historians and
anthropologists delight.  The sk nitai, in fact, were not strictly nomads, at least in
the modern sense of the term since some engaged in dry-farming on a limited scale,
though primarily they were pastoralists.  They were one element in a complex
social and economic network that involved various subsistence strategies, which
included agriculture, trade, and pastoralism, just as the transhumant pastoralists
who dwelled in or near the villages of Palmyra?s hinterland to the north and west
were.
An examination of the interrelationships between agriculture and
pastoralism illuminates regional tribalism and the integrated nature of Palmyra and
its hinterland.  These two modes of economic subsistence are intimately connected,
and, as Khazanov observes, an economy based on the latter ?is not infrequently an
economy of relatively high involvement in the market.?106  Assessing various
scholarly contributions on the theme of ?pastoral economies in classical antiquity,?
Whittaker drew the conclusion that pastoralism, in fact, ?must always start from
107  C. Whittaker, ?Introduction,? in Pastoral Economies in Classical Antiquity,
Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, Supplement no. 14
(Cambridge: Cambridge Philological Society, 1988), 3, with references to
contributors.
108  We may add to this assessment of the role of pastoralists the provision of
animals to support urban and rural cults, to supply armies with food and wool, and
to serve as scouts in remote areas.
109  See J. Black-Michaud, Sheep and Land: The Economics of Power in a
Tribal Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
103
agriculture.?107  Competition and conflict between agriculturalists and pastoralists
might arise over resources, especially water in arid environments, but this does not
deny the interdependency of the two groups.  The former, whether based in villages,
townships, or cities, relied on the raw materials and animal products that
pastoralists provided (e.g., wool, milk products, meat), in addition to their labor and
mules at the harvest and for plowing and transportation of removable resources and
commodities between communities (e.g., wood for fuel, trade goods).108  
Concurrently, they supplied pastoralists with flour, barley, pulses, poultry, and
various products of handicraft.  This is not an exhaustive assessment but suffices to
leave the impression of the interdependence between agriculturalists and
pastoralists.  More importantly, rarely were these occupations exclusive of one
another.109  Many farmers, for instance, engaged in limited pastoralism, and herders,
conversely, engaged in limited agriculture, which tends to be the case in areas of
marginal resources.  In fact, Strabo?s observation that the sk nitai are known to
110  See n. 104 above.
104
farm on a limited basis is a case in point.110  The situation around Palmyra was
likely to have been comparable.
Palmyra had a mixed economy based on agriculture, pastoralism, and trade,
which indicates its social and economic integration with its rural hinterland.  The
problem with assessing any of this economic activity, however, is a lack of data on
patterns of land tenure in the countryside.  The question of how much of the land
was public versus private simply cannot be answered.  One would expect that the
aristocrats of the city owned vast stretches of land in the countryside, particularly in
fertile areas, perhaps even renting plots out, but there is no compelling evidence to
suggest that this was the case.  Instead, the city itself probably possessed the most
land, as its collection of grazing dues on pasture lands would suggest (see below). 
It is also likely that much of the land remained essentially tribal, whether
administered by the city directly, through the various tribal sanctuaries that emerged
over the course of time (see pp. 308-13 below), or by some other means.  The
implication, then, would be that the tribes drawn to Palmyra from the countryside
retained power and possession of their lands, whether by their own means or
through various public institutions that they helped to develop and over which they
retained control.  The city was certainly a hub of interaction for individuals and
groups of diverse backgrounds.  It provided an environment of shared cult and a
central market for the exchange of goods, in addition to being a focal point for
111  The tariff inscription (P0259) was discovered inscribed on a single stone
block in Palmyra in 1882.  It was subsequently cut into four sections and
transported to Leningrad, and now it is part of the collection of the Hermitage
Museum.  The inscription was published in its entirety in 1926 by J. Chabot in CIS
2.3913, who provided a Latin translation and commentary on the Palmyrene text. 
Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 157-58 and 174-78, summarizes the various
editions of the texts and provides an English translation of the Greek text. 
Teixidor, ?Le Tarif de Palmyre,? 235-52, provides a French translation and
commentary of the Palmyrene text, which is reprinted in idem, Un Port romaine du
d?sert, 99-104.  Both the Greek and Palmyrene versions were edited and provided
with a full commentary and concordance by I. Shifman, Pal?mirskii poshlinnyi tarif
(Moscow: Izd-vo ?Nauka,? 1980).
105
coordinating settlement activity and subsistence strategies in the countryside.  In
this sense, Palmyra was a true classical city in that it managed its own territory
through public institutions that the Palmyrene tribes supported.  Though the
evidence is sparse, this may have been true in the second century B.C.E.  It became
progressively more evident as the city developed from the first century B.C.E. to
the mid-third century C.E.  
Aspects of Palmyra?s land tenure patterns, mixed economy, and the
interchanges between city and countryside are manifested in the bilingual (Greek
and Palmyrene) tariff inscription.111  The tariff, published in 137 C.E. by the council
of the city of Palmyra, regulated the dues levied on goods brought into and exported
from Palmyra and its hinterland, as well as on services provided within the city. 
Not surprisingly, then, the law alludes to the question of grazing rights in the
territorium of the city.  It distinguishes between those who graze their animals in
the territory, who pay no dues for grazing rights, and those who cross into
112  P0259 (Tariff): Greek 233-37: z+<<?:4@< FL<,NT<Z20 :? *,?<
BDVFF,[4< ?6J?H J <] | J,8 <? [J] < *? ?B? <@:?< :,J"(@:X<T< [,?H
A"8|:LD0<?< 2D,::VJT< ?N,\8,F2"4? P"D"[6J0]|D\F"F2"4 J  2DX::"J"
? < 2X8fi   *0:@[F4f<0H] | ?>XFJT.  Cf. P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene II.149.  See
discussion by Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 173.
106
Palmyrene territory from outside for the same purpose, and who must therefore pay
for the privilege; indeed, according to one clause, officials were empowered to
capture and brand any animals conveyed into Palmyrene territory without proper
registration:
It has been agreed that payment for grazing rights is not to be
exacted [in addition to the normal?] taxes; but for animals brought
into Palmyrene territory for the purpose of grazing, the payment is
due.  The tax collector may have the animals branded, if he so
wishes.112
This is direct evidence of an official attempt to protect the interests of Palmyrene
tribal pastoralists (no less than the land on which grazing occurred) by the
regulation of resource distribution in the hinterland.  
This regulation also sheds light on a group of inscriptions that demonstrate
regional interaction between Palmyrenes and tribal pastoralists.  The inscriptions
are in both Palmyrene and Safaitic.  They date to 98 C.E. and come from Wadi
Rijelat Umm-Kubar, in the desert ca. 50 kilometers southwest of Hadita on the
Euphrates, near Wadi Hauran.  The texts mention a certain Zebaida, son of Haumal,
presumably a Palmyrene, who led a small party of men, of mixed Palmyrene and
Arabic nomenclature, into the area where they pitched their tents and pastured their
113  See F. Safar, ?Inscriptions from Wadi Hauran,? Sumer 20 (1964): 9-27
(P2732, P2733, P2734, P2735, P2736, P2737, P2738, P2739, P2740, P2741, and
P2742).  Note the strange dating formula of the year to Zebaida himself, especially
in the Safaitic.  Cf. P2810, which does not provide a date but references the term of
Yarhai as strat gos.  M. Gawlikowski, ?Le Commerce de Palmyre sur terre et sur
eau,? in L?Arabie et ses mers bordieres: S?minaire de recherche 1985-1986, edited
by J. -F. Salles (Lyon: GS-Maison de l?Orient, 1980), 169; and idem, ?The Roman
Frontier on the Euphrates,? Mesopotamia 22 (1987), 80, proposes to identify these
inscriptions as evidence for the route of the caravan trade between Palmyra and the
Euphrates.  This may be, or, as I have mentioned above, it may be the case that this
evidence reflects Palmyra?s administrative activities in monitoring pastoralist
movement.
114  For a critical evaluation, see M. MacDonald, ?Nomads and the H
. awra
%n,?
303-413.  Unfortunately, a clear definition of the community the authors of the
Safaitic texts represent is lacking.  According to MacDonald, the term ?Safaitic? is
a misnomer and refers to the script itself and the dialect which it expresses rather
than any homogenous community of bedouins or tribes.  A useful introduction to
the Safaitic texts remains that of Oxtoby, Some Inscriptions of the Safaitic Bedouin,
1-8.
107
animals.113 It is unclear, in this instance, whether Zebaida and his men camped in
order to tend their sheep or to pasture their camels, or whether perhaps Zebaida
alone was present in a more official capacity to regulate or monitor the pastoral
activities in the area.   The enigmatic authors of the Safaitic texts, who remain at
the center of every debate concerning the nature of relations between individuals
and groups more or less sedentary in the Roman Near East, were themselves tribal
pastoralists.114  This is evident in the remains of their inscriptions and graffiti from
the desert, in which many actually identified their tribal affiliations.  Safaitic
inscriptions, in fact, increase in number the greater the distance from settled
115  As observed by Littmann, Semitic Inscriptions, 104; cf.  MacDonald,
?Nomads and the H. awra%n,? 311.
116  See MacDonald, ?Nomads and the H
. awra
%n,? 313-14 and 328, who
emphasizes that most of the raids depicted were not against settlements but other
trial pastoralists, with only few exceptions (see especially p. 314, n. 72).  Also, on
inter-tribal raiding among pastoralists, see W. Lancaster and F. Lancaster,
?Thoughts on the Bedouinization of Arabia,? Proceedings of the Seminar for
Arabian Studies 18 (1988): 51-62.
117  For a straightforward assessment of these illustrations, see MacDonald,
?Nomads and the H. awra%n,? 327-28.
108
communities.115  The bulk come from the basalt desert (h. arra) of southern
Syria?south of Damascus?and northeastern Jordan known as the Hauran, and
from the desert of  northern Saudi Arabia (fig. 1).  Inscribed as graffiti on large
basalt boulders, they typify the lifestyle of the tribal pastoralist.  Most are the
personal names of the authors themselves accompanied by their genealogies,
apparently for the sake of remembrance.  Many record blessings and appeals for
prosperity, relief, or security, generally by invoking a deity for the benefit of the
author.  Also, many record a range of curses against anyone who should efface the
texts.  Furthermore, the authors frequently mention their activities, whether
migrating, pasturing their herds of camels and sheep, or limited sowing of grain. 
They also mention raids, the bulk of which would have been directed against fellow
pastoralists rather than settlements or caravans, which surely were targeted as
well.116  Finally, many of the texts are accompanied by illustrations, generally of
sheep, goat, horses, camels, wild animals, and men armed for the hunt.117  Taken as
118  Graf, ?Rome and the Saracens,? 368; Sartre, L?Orient romain, 333; and
idem, ?Transhumance, ?conomie et soci?t? de montagne en Syrie du sud,? in La
Montagne dans l?antiquit? (Actes du Colloque de la SOPHAU, Pau (Mai 1990),
Cahiers de l?Universit? de Pau, no. 23 (Pau: Publications de l?Universit? de Pau,
1992), 43-44.
119  For instance, see Dussaud, La P?n?tration des Arabes en Syrie, 62, who
views the authors of the Safaitic texts as in the process of sedentarization; see also
Ryckmans, ?Langues et ?critures s?mitiques,? Dictionaire de la Bible, Supplem?nt,
fasc. 25 (1952), cols. 322-25; and J. Milik, ?La Tribu des Bani ?Amrat en Jordanie
de l??poque grecque et romaine,? ADAJ 24 (1980): 41-54.
109
a whole, then, this evidence from Wadi Rijelat Umm-Kubar reinforces the
integrated nature of Palmyra and its countryside, in addition to providing potential
proof for the civic management of tribal contingents in the desert.
Furthermore, while the Safaitic texts reflect a pastoral society in the
isolation of the desert, it is  noteworthy that their authors were not completely
dissociated from the settled communities of the region and further afield.  Both
Graf and Sartre express the view that the authors of these texts had their homes and
families in the Hauran (mainly in the vicinity of the Jebel Hauran southeast of
Damascus), and that they traveled eastward into the h. arra only during their
seasonal migrations.118  In fact, the view has had wide support that the authors of
the Safaitic texts are to be identified either as part of the settled population of the
region engaged in pastoralism or as pastoralists in the late stages of
sedentarization.119  MacDonald, however, who rejects this notion categorically,
maintains that the authors of the Safaitic texts were almost exclusively nomads with
120  MacDonald, ?Nomads and the H
. awra
%n,? 311-22 and 342. 
121  In response to Sartre?s question, ?pourquoi les ?crit-on dans le d?sert et pas
dans les villages s?dentaires?? (?Transhumance, ?conomie et soci?t?,? 45),
MacDonald responds quite simply, ?because they lived in the desert and not in the
villages? (?Nomads and the H. awra%n,? 312).  For a list of texts found in settlements
and critical remarks, see MacDonald, ?Nomads and the H. awra%n,? 311, n. 50.  For
texts that mention the Hauran, with commentary provided, see ibid., 339-42.
122  Several texts include references to Roman territory and the Romans.  For
instance, CIS 5.4866 refers to ?the year of the struggle between rm and the
Nabataeans? (snt wsq bn rm nbt.); CIS 5.4448 refers to ?the year the Persians fought
the ?l rm at Bos. ra? (snt h. rb h mdy ?l rm b bs. r[y] qt.rz); and Littmann, Safa?tic
Inscriptions, no. 406 mentions ?the year wdn escaped from rm? (snt ngy wdn m
rm).  MacDonald, ?Nomads and the H. awra%n, 328-34, provides of summary of
relevant texts.  Cf. Graf, ?Rome and the Saracens,? 375-80.
123  For references to Palmyra in Safaitic texts, see CIS 5.0663, 5.1649, 5.1664,
5.1665; Littmann, Safa?tic Inscriptions, no. 717; and Winnett and Harding,
Inscriptions from Fifty Safaitic Cairns, no. 2833a.  For Safaitic texts from the
hinterland of Palmyra, see  H. Ingholt, J. Starcky, and G. Ryckmans, ?Recueil
110
little to no contact with the settlements in the Hauran.120  According to him, they
dwelled, for the most part, in the eastern h. arra, and migrated more frequently into
the true desert further to the east and southeast.  Admittedly, the virtual absence of
any Safaitic texts from the villages of the Jebel Hauran supports MacDonald?s
view, as does the infrequent and doubtful mention of the Hauran in known texts.121 
Nonetheless, the provenance and content of the Safaitic texts suggests that their
authors did not live in complete isolation from the settled areas.  They were aware,
for instance, of external events and often used them to date their texts.122 
Furthermore, we can confirm that they visited regional urban centers such as
Palmyra,123 as well as major towns such as Rushayda,124 Umm el-Jimal,125 and Dura
?pigraphique,? in Schlumberger, La Palmyr?ne du nord-ouest, nos. 2 quarter, 21
bis, 34 ter, 54 (b), 60, 63 bis, 63 quarter, 80, 81 a-c, and 82 a-b.
124  See Sartre, ?Transhumance, ?conomie et soci?t?,? 41.
125  See Littmann, Safa?tic Inscriptions, 1269-79.
126  See CIS 5.5175, CIS 5.5177, CIS 5.5179, and CIS 5.5180.
127  See J. Calzini Gysens, ?Graffiti safaitici a Pompei,? Dialoghi di
archeologia 5, no. 1 (1987): 107-17.
111
Europos,126 and that they did not abstain from more adventurous travels further
abroad, as far afield, in fact, as Pompeii in Italy.127
The point to be stressed is that the authors of the Safaitic texts, who were
predominately tribal pastoralists, lived in close association with the inhabitants of
the villages, towns, and cities of Roman Syria.  The extent of their interaction in
these areas cannot be gauged accurately, since the evidence remains fragmentary
and sparse.  But, to be sure, they were a prominent component of the regional,
indigenous society.  Moreover, the various groups, among both the pastoralists and
agriculturalists, were, as elaborated above, interdependent upon one another
economically.  Also, all seem to have shared similar social structures that were
tribally based.  Thus the cultural infrastructure around which their communities
formed were akin.  At Palmyra, set deep in the desert in an environment where
agriculturalists, agro-pastoralists, and pastoralists interacted, this economic
interdependency and social and cultural kinship permeated city and countryside.
128  Discussed by Millar, Roman Near East, 429.  More generally on
dimorphism, see F. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1981), chapter 1.
112
Conclusion 
To sum up, we now recognize that most of the communities of Roman Syria
(and Arabia for that matter) supported social structures that were essentially tribal. 
The tendency has been to identify this tribalism as an artifact of sorts, having
survived the process of sedentarization, again as if this were a unidirectional
transition.  In some instances, however, tribal identities were actually shared
between individuals in communities of the agricultural zone and those of the
steppe, which seems to exemplify the well-attested phenomenon of
?dimorphism.?128  Indeed, tribalism reflects the commonalities between individuals
and groups in an environment sufficiently harsh to require greater effort and
cooperation to acquire and maintain even the basic necessities of life.  The harsh
environment also promoted greater competition over what few resources were
available, which might have turned to conflict and thereby required corporate
measures to maintain security and peace.  As mentioned, tribal membership
conferred identity upon individuals, which, in turn, gave them access to a cultural
infrastructure around which communities formed.  We can identify the impact of
the local ecology upon the type of culture developed in a particular society, as in the
case of Palmyra, where we recognize the intimate integration of the city and the
countryside discussed in Chapter 1 and elaborated upon here.  When we speak of
113
local communities, then, it is inadequate to regard them as simply a group of
?sedentaries? associated with a particular village, town, or city, but instead they
were diverse individuals and groups amalgamated together in an environment of
shared experiences, each practicing different strategies for basic subsistence, but
still in common association.  The communities thus formed consisted of an
interactive mix of individuals and groups bonded, in many instances, by familial
and tribal relations, but also by their employment in various occupations, including
pastoralism, farming, and mercantilism, which were, ultimately, interdependent
upon one another. 
1  Again, we must be careful to avoid couching Palmyra?s communal
development in terms of a dichotomy between the desert and the sown and that of
the sedentarization of nomads.  As stressed in the previous chapter, relations
between city and countryside were highly integrated.  And, in many cases, peasants,
whether in villages, towns, or cities, shared tribal identities with pastoralists, whose
presence in any given settlement may have been sporadic at best.  We cannot
measure with any accuracy the frequency of interaction between these communities,
but it is apparent that both lived in close association and interdependence.  Also, an
increase in the urban population of Palmyra does not necessarily correlate to an
114
Chapter 3: Growth of Community
Introduction
The early communal development of Palmyra involved the gradual buildup
of the population as individuals from among pastoral groups of the Palmyrene
hinterland settled in the city, a process that began in the second century B.C.E., if
not earlier, and peaked in the first and early second centuries C.E.  This begs the
question of motivation.  Why did these individuals, mostly Arab pastoralists,
migrate to Palmyra in the first place, accompanied, in due course, by a swell of
immigrants from communities further afield than the Palmyrene hinterland?  What
were their personal motivations?  What social or economic incentives prompted
them?  Also, what sort of relationships structured associations between city and
countryside in the context of community growth and urbanization?1  How did this
equal decline among pastoralists in the countryside.  We simply lack the data for
such assessments.
115
settlement affect the structure and maintenance of personal and group identity,
whether in the city or countryside?  Such questions, though rhetorical, shape any
discussion of the growth of community at Palmyra and the process of urbanization. 
In this chapter, I intend to discuss the two chief factors that attracted individuals
and groups to Palmyra.  In the first instance, I will elaborate on Palmyra?s
longstanding status as a center for common religious association (and shared cult)
in the Syrian desert, to which many of the countryside were naturally and
customarily drawn.  I will then examine how and why the Palmyrenes, in relation to
their patterns of settlement, opted no longer to employ strategies for economic
subsistence as pastoralists or agriculturalists in a village or rural setting, but rather
entrepreneurial  strategies for their own personal and group advancement within an
urban setting.  In this instance, I will elaborate on the growth of Palmyra?a primacy
as an economic center in the Near East.
The Nature of Community at Palmyra
I presented an anthropological framework for a general study of the creation
and maintenance of identity and community in Chapter 1.  The current discussion,
however, requires a more focused examination of community specifically derived
from the Palmyrene evidence.  This  will provide a better context for the discussion
in this chapter of the two primary factors that led to community formation at
116
Palmyra, the cultic and economic significance of the settlement.
In general terms, community at Palmyra consisted of individuals and groups
in collective association, whether for cooperative or competitive reasons.  Set
within a chronological framework, however, the Palmyrene community evolved as
Palmyra developed.  Changes occurred in the power relationships and
organizational structures that shaped communal relations.  As Palmyra developed
into a polis from the first century B.C.E. onward, for instance, a subject I will
revisit in Chapter 5, an aristocracy emerged attuned to Mediterranean values and
attracted to Roman customs.  This is apparent in the monumentalization of the city,
which peaked in the second century C.E. with the construction of the Great
Colonnade (fig. 7) and nearby structures, as the elite of Palmyra engaged in
standard acts of civic euergetism.  On occasion, the city itself, though generally at
the behest of its elite members, engaged in acts of architectural or sculptural
embellishment.  Such acts provided structure to social relations in the city, showing
that those empowered to make decisions for public benefaction did so.  
For a discussion of community formation at Palmyra, then, we must
recognize that the available evidence overwhelmingly derives from contexts related
to Palmyrene urbanization and the city?s institutional development as a polis. 
Again, the evidence is primarily epigraphic.  In their public, monumental contexts,
numerous inscriptions, in both Palmyrene and Greek, refer explicitly to the
Palmyrene community, in terms of a collective political and social identity.  Set in a
2  P2636.   K. al-As?ad and M. Gawlikowski, ?Le P?age ? Palmyre en 11 CE,?
Semitica 41-42 (1991): 163-72, make the suggestion that the text refers to a tax on
camels.  The text, however, is problematic and may refer to a wall constructed from
the revenues of men from the remote settlement of Gamla on the Euphrates; see, for
instance, ibid., 164-66; and Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 353, s.v.
?gmly.?  For a different reading, see B. Aggoula, ?Les Mots blw et blwy? dans une
inscription palmyr?nienne,? Syria 71 (1994): 415-17, who finds the inscription as
evidence of a separate cemetery of camel-drivers at Palmyra.
3  P1353.
117
chronological context, this evidence illuminates community formation.
A Palmyrene inscription from 10 C.E. is the earliest reference to the
Palmyrenes as a community.  The inscription was found in 1989 in a garden of the
oasis southwest of the ancient settlement.  The text refers to a wall (ktl) and,
apparently, relates to a tax on camels brought into the city proper and somehow
connected to the ?funds of the people of Palmyra? (blw | gbl tdmry?).2  The
Palmyrene term for people, gbl, appears again in a bilingual inscription from 25
C.E. honoring a certain Malku, son of Nesha, who was a member of the bny kmr?, a
prominent Palmyrene tribe.  His statue was dedicated by the people of Palmyra (gbl
tdmry?), rendered in Greek by A"8:LD0< <   *?:@H.3  The last known
occurrence of the term gbl is in a bilingual text of 51 C.E. honoring a certain
Moqimu, son of Ogeilu.  ?All the people of Palmyra? (gbl tdmry? klhn), according
to the Palmyrene text, sponsored the dedication, while the Greek text identifies the
sponsor most likely as ?the city of the Palmyrenes? ([A"8:LD0]< < ?
4  P0269.
118
[B]?[84H]).4  Significantly, both Malku in 25 C.E. and Moqimu in 51 C.E. were
honored for their contributions toward the construction of the temple of Bel (figs. 8
and 9), which, as I will discuss below, was the single most important monument
indicating community formation.
Equating the Palmyrene word for people, gbl, with the Greek term d mos at
this stage in Palmyra?s history would seem to suggest a political formation.  We
tend, for instance, to regard occurrences of the Greek d mos in the context of the
polis as representing a group of citizens assembled for political ends?thus the
classic translation of d mos as a people?s assembly.  Yet, as I will discuss in
Chapter 5, Palmyra in the early first century C.E., by all appearances, still was at a
primitive stage in its development as a city with a constitution.  The d mos at the
time probably did not yet refer a formal political institution.  Indeed, the word
d mos may well have been used here to identify the ?people? of Palmyra more
generically as a collective association as a community of citizens.  The earliest
reference, in fact, to the d mos of the Palmyrenes is in a bilingual inscription from
24 C.E., on a column console in the temple of Bel, honoring the same Malku, son
of Nesha.  According to the Palmyrene text, ?all the merchants who are in the city
of Babylon,? (t[g]ry? klhwn dy bmdynt bbl) sponsored the dedication, whereas the
Greek text identifies the sponsor solely as the d mos of the Palmyrenes
5  P1352.
6  This became a standard transliteration.  Basically, this was a formulaic
expression.  It should not be taken to assume that actual power rested with the
assembly of citizens to enact decrees, although it may have sanctioned them.  For
discussion, see A. H. M. Jones, The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940), 177-79.
7  Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933), 174-76, restores the Latin text to read: bu[le
et civi]tas Palmyrenorum.  See also Millar, Roman Near East, 324.
8  See pp. 279-89 below.
119
(A"8:LD0< <   *?:@H).5  Furthermore, the sense of d mos as a community of
citizens rather than as a political assembly seems to be confirmed in a trilingual
inscription from 74 C.E., in which a council or boul  is first attested at Palmyra. 
The Greek text reads, ?? [$@L8]? 6"?   [*?:@H],? which the Palmyrene
transliterates, for the first time, as bwl? wdms.6  The Latin text, interestingly,
transliterates the Greek boul  but translates d mos as the ?civitas of the
Palmyrenes,? which would suggest a reference to the state at large, or perhaps the
community of citizens as a whole, as opposed to any formal political assembly.7 
Finally, whatever Palmyra?s institutional situation may have been in the first
century C.E., the institutions typical of a standard Greek polis were established by
the early second century, which included not only a council and assembly but also a
number of high offices.8
Thus our evidence for community formation at Palmyra is from inscriptions
that indicate shared identity as a community of citizens.  Those named gbl or d mos
120
were collectively the people of Palmyra.  Further, the architectural and sculptural
embellishment of the city reflected the emerging social order and power structures. 
These monuments crystallized community forming processes.  The honors, for
instance, bestowed upon Malku, son of Nesha for his public munificence, in
particular his contributions to the construction of the temple of Bel, which was the
chief sanctuary and the center of cult activity in the city, indicate communal
cooperation and participation in polis life (see below).  Also, in terms of
community formation, it is the development of the temple of Bel that most reflected
the nature of Palmyra as a center for shared religious association.  Moreover, it was
mostly as an economic center that Palmyra acquired the wealth to fund such
building projects in the first place.
Palmyra as Religious Center
Common religious association bridged city and countryside, and, unified by
shared cults, many were drawn to Palmyra, whether for permanent settlement or
otherwise.  The gods surely favored the oasis, or so popular opinion would have
been inclined to believe.  One of few permanent water sources in the Syrian desert,
the oasis of Palmyra was known for its fertility and pleasantness, and it served as a
locus for human interaction, particularly in cultic contexts, in all known periods. 
The oldest physical remains that testify to human activity at the site, in fact, were
9  See R. Du Mesnil du Buisson, ?Premi?re campagne de fouilles ? Palmyre,?
CRAIBL (1966): 160-62.
10  See Schmidt-Colinet and al-As?ad, ?Zur Urbanistik des hellenistischen
Palmyra,? 61-73; Will, Les Palmyr?niens, 33-38; D. Van Berchem, ?Le Plan de
Palmyre,? in Palmyre: Bilan et perspectives, 168-70.
11  Indeed, set as a crossroads between peoples and cultures, Palmyra was
essentially a community of migrants.   This cultural complexity that resulted is
discussed at length in Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, vii-x.
121
found near the central spring of the oasis, the source called Efqa.9  Moreover, the
Hellenistic settlement, which was probably just a substantial village, was
discovered between the spring and the temple of Bel, the central civic sanctuary of
the Palmyrene community from the first through third centuries C.E.10  When
Augustus gained supreme power in 27 B.C.E., the settled population of this remote
Syrian oasis had already achieved a certain measure of cultural complexity. 
Amorites, Aramaeans, and Arabs had all come, in this order, to settle at the oasis,
and their assimilation and acculturation into its community are reflected in the
complex religious associations that emerged as a result.11  
As a center for shared cult, then, Palmyra served the needs of a diverse
population.  Many migrated to the oasis from outlying settlements at varying
distances and joined the indigenous community, while others, mostly Arabs, were
drawn to the settlement as a refuge from the surrounding desert.  No doubt their
reasons for migration were as diverse as the cultural backgrounds of the migrants
themselves.  Moreover, by all appearances, each group brought its own gods, as the
12  Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 1-114; Drijvers, Religion of Palmyra, 9-22;
and College, Art of Palmyra, 24-25.
13  On the cults of the tutelary deities, see Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 77-
100.
14  For general remarks on the problems of approaching Palmyrene religion, see
Kaizer, Religion of Palmyra, 24-27.
122
long list of deities of the Palmyrene pantheon attests.  For example, Bel, Belti,
Nabu, Nergal, and Nanai are of Babylonian origin; Baalshamin and Belhammon
seem to be from Phoenicia; Ishtar and Atargatis are Aramaean; Shadrafa and
Elqonera are probably Canaanite; and Arab deities include Shamash, Allat, Abgal,
Manawat, and a host of others.12  Also popular were the protecting spirits of a
particular place or people, referred to as individual Gad or genii (gny?).13  Much of
the religion of the Palmyrenes remains enigmatic, due to the absence of texts that
illuminate communal reasoning in theology and mythology.14  Thus it is difficult to
assess the manner in which associations and alliances in the divine realm
manifested social realities in the Palmyrene community.  For instance, we can turn
to the inscriptions, to the tesserae or tokens that permitted entrance to sacred
banquets, or to sculpted statuary and reliefs, but these are open to interpretation and
are frequently of insufficient detail to be useful.  Nonetheless, while we cannot
illuminate the details of the assimilation of diverse peoples and their personal
beliefs into the communal life of the oasis, a general assessment of this process can
be made.
15  Syncretism is the process by which elements from one culture are taken over
by another.  These elements are then reinterpreted to make sense in a new cultural
framework with different power structures.  For comments on syncretism at
Palmyra, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 24-27.  See also J. Webster,
?Necessary Comparisons: A Post-Colonial Approach to Religious Syncretism in the
Roman Provinces,? World Archaeology 28, no. 3 (1997): 324-38, who advocates a
study of syncretism through comparative analogy.  For a general discussion, see C.
Stewart, ?Relocating Syncretism in Social Science Discourse,? in Syncretism and
the Commerce of Symbols, edited by G. Ajmar (G?teborg, Sweden: IASSA, 1995),
13-37; and R. Shaw and C. Stewart, ?Introduction: Problematizing Syncretism,? in
Syncretism / Antisyncretism: The Politics of Religious Synthesis, edited by C.
Stewart and R. Shaw (London: Routledge, 1994), 1-26.
123
I will examine in this section Palmyra?s role as a religious center in the
Syrian desert.  Diverse peoples, having migrated to the oasis whether for permanent
settlement or otherwise, generated and sustained a complex environment for shared
religious association.  This development was one aspect of community formation.  I
will examine how Palmyra functioned as a cult center in the context of community
growth, primarily, by discussing the evidence we have for the foundation of the
temple of Bel and the various cultic associations attached to it.  This will include an
overview of the cults of Yarhibol and Aglibol, gods associated with Bel in a divine
triad.
We can elucidate the role of Palmyra as a cult center, in relation to
settlement activity at the site and the growth of community, by examining more
closely the physical evolution of the temple of Bel and the observance of ritual and
cult within its sacred precinct, particularly as this evidence reflects religious
syncretism.15  The temple, as it exists today, is a massive complex.  It consists of an
16  The temenos measures ca. 202 m NS x 282 m EW.  Nothing remains of the
propylaeum, which was replaced, as an inscription above the entrance attests, by an
Islamic citadel in 1132-33 C.E. (see Inventaire 9.54).  For a detailed description of
the temple, see Browning, Palmyra, 99-128. 
17  Most of the early evidence comes from a foundation wall in the court of the
present temenos, summarized by Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 56-60.
18  For a recent discussion of the historical and architectural development of the
temple of Bel in the Common Era, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 67-79;
and Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 51-57.
124
enclosed temenos or paved court with a propylaeum or monumental gated entrance
along its west side.16  The cella of the temple, the actual shrine of the god,
surrounded by a peristyle of Corinthian columns, lies on a platform in the middle of
the temenos and to which a large stepped platform leads.  Within the cella are two
adytons or inner shrines.  Communal, cultic features in the courtyard of the temenos
before the cella include the remains of a large basin, an altar, and a dining hall,
along with a building with niches.  Also, in the northwest corner of the temenos lies
a ramp along which animals were brought into the temple precinct for ritual
slaughter.  The entire temple complex rests on a low-lying tell whose stratification
goes back to the third millennium.17
The existing temple of Bel was not conceived of or completed as a single
building project.18  It went through various phases of construction that lasted nearly
a century during the formative years of the Palmyrene community.  The earliest
inscription we have recording building activity, most likely of the cella, is bilingual
19  P0270.  Cf. P0271, a bilingual honorific inscription from the temple of Bel
that records this same Yedibel having dedicated a statue to his father Azizu in 17
C.E.  He is identified in the Greek text of this inscription specifically as a
?Palmyrene from the tribe of the Manth(a)b?leioi? (A"8:LD0<?< NL8?H
9"<2$T8g\T<).
20  P1352: mn dy ?pr lhwn bkl gns klh w?[d]r bnyn? | dy h[y]kl? dy bl wyhb mn
kysh dy l? ?bdh | ?n?.
21  P1353: [mn d]y ?pr lhwn wlmh
. wzhwn wlbt ?lhyhwn.
125
in Greek and Aramaic and dates to 19 C.E.19  The inscription commemorates a
statue to Yedibel, son of Azizu, specifically identified as a Palmyrene of the tribe of
the bny mtbwl.  Palmyrene and Greek merchants in Seleucia on the Tigris, because
of Yedibel?s contributions to the construction of the temple of Bel, sponsored the
dedication.  Construction continued into 24 C.E., according to P1352 referred to
above, which honors Malku, son of Nesha, of the bny kmr?.  The inscription states
that ?he had helped them in everything and he helped with the construction of the
temple of Bel and he gave from his own funds more than anyone before him.?20  In
25 C.E., as noted, the treasurers and the ?people? (gbl / d mos) of Palmyra honored
Malku with a second statue in the temple precinct ?because he was pleasing to
them, to their city, and to the house of their gods.?21  Significantly, a few years
earlier in 21 C.E., the brother of Malku, a certain Hashash, also received a
commemorative statue in the precinct of the temple.  Both the bny mtbwl and the
bny kmr? set up the statue to Hashash  ?because he was their leader and made peace
22  P0261: mn [dy] qm | br?hwn w?bd ?lm? bynyhwn wprns | brmnhwn bkl [s
. ]bw
klh rb? wz?r?.
23  See the cautionary remarks by Millar, Roman Near East, 322, followed by
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 44.
24  The fact that he assisted both the bny kmr? and the bny mtbwl in all things
great and small does not discount, perhaps, that he assisted with economic disputes
over expenditures or aesthetic disputes over the temple?s decoration and
embellishments.
25  According to P0268 a certain Ogeilu, son of Taimai, of the bny kmr?
received a statue in the temple complex.  Other tribal groups associated with the
temple of Bel include the bny myt? (see P1356 and P2762; see also Cantineau,
?Tadmorea,? [1933], 175-76, no. 2b), the bny zbdbwl (see P0269), and the bny ?m?r
or ?m?d (see P1355).
126
between them and assisted them in everything, great and small.?22  This inscription
traditionally has been interpreted as evidence of two distinct tribal groups settling
down, one or both may or may not have been ethically Arab, who gradually
developed a collective identity as Palmyrenes.23  The inscription may also, more
simply, relate to Hashash?s role in spearheading the cooperative economic endeavor
of constructing the temple in the first place and his assistance in settling disputes
that may have arisen in association with the temple?s construction.24  This would
indicate, then, that the construction activity was a collective effort, partly driven by
the shared interests of both the bny kmr? and the bny mtbwl, while other tribal
groups also contributed.25  In 32 C.E. another member of the bny kmr?, a certain
Lishamsh, son of Taibol, consecrated the completion of the cella of the temple,
26  See P1347.  The inscription dates to 45 C.E. and records the dedication of a
statue to Lishamsh by his children. M. Pietrzykowski, Adyta  wi ty?
palmyre?skich: Studium funkcji i formy, edited by M. Gawlikowski (Warszawa:
Uniwesytet Warszawski, Instytut Archeologii, 1997), 134, suggests that the
dedication of 32 C.E. was of the north adyton, arguing that the south adyton was
built some twenty years later.  See also Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 68-70.
27  P0263.  For a discussion of the identification of the gate and doors referred
to in this inscription, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 68; and Gawlikowski,
Le Temple palmyr?nien, 73.
28  P0260: bbslq? rbt? | dy bt bl / ?< J? :g(V8fi $"F486? | J@  %Z8@L.
127
dedicated to the divine triad of Bel, Yarhibol, and Aglibol.26  Though the central
sanctuary was completed in the middle of the first century C.E., construction of the
temple complex continued into the second.  In 108 C.E., the Gaddeib?lioi, or bny
gdybwl, honored a benefactor because he had made for them the gate and doors,
presumably of the cella.27  As late as 175 C.E., a certain Yarhibola and his cousin
Awida received statues from the council and the people (bwl? wdms) for their
having paid for six brazen doors for the ?great portico of the house of Bel.?28
The evidence thus shows that the construction of the temple of Bel was a
cooperative venture among different tribal groups at a time when the inhabitants of
the oasis were expressing themselves, epigraphically at least, as sharing a common
identity as Palmyrenes.  This process of community formation, in fact, had begun
long before construction of the existing temple.  A common sanctuary, or holy
precinct, for instance, was established before the consecration of the monumental
temple of Bel in 32 C.E., which accommodated communal worship among the
29  On the temple in the Hellenistic period, see Gawlikowski, Le Temple
palmyr?nien, 53-66.
30  P1524: byrh
.  t?ry ?nt 2 | 69 ?qym[w] kmry? | dy bl s. lm? dnh lgrymy | br
nbwzbd dy mn ph. d | bny khnbw[l].  For the interpretation of khnbw[l] as the ?priests
of Bol,? see Milik, D?dicaces, 31 and 55, as opposed to the ?priest of Nabu?
suggested by Starcky in Inventaire 11.100.  See also Gawlikowski, Le Temple
palmyr?nien, 35-36, for support of Starcky.  For further discussion, see Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 46, n. 28.  On excavations carried out in the temple
of Bel, see Seyrig, Amy, and Will, Le Temple de B?l, 7-40; and Teixidor, Pantheon
of Palmyra, 3-4.
31  For Herta, Nanai, and Reshef, see P2766; for Yarhibol, see P2768, P2774,
and P2775; for Belhammon and Manawat, see P1461 and P1523; for the ?daughter
of Bel? (brt bl), see P2723 (see also J. Starcky, ?Inscriptions archa?ques de
128
inhabitants of the oasis.29  From the foundation wall of this early sanctuary, an
archaic inscription confirms the worship of Bel in the first century B.C.E.,
presumably on the same site upon which the Palmyrenes built the later temple.  The
inscription reads:
In the month Tishri, the year 269 (October 44 B.C.E.), the priests of
Bel erected this statue to Goraimai son of Nebuzabad, of the tribe of
the bny khnbw[l].30
Beyond this evidence of the existence of a priesthood to the god Bel, we know little
of the nature of his cult in this early period, whether of its regulations or rituals. 
We do know, however, that Bel shared his sacred precinct with a host of other
deities.  Archaic inscriptions from foundation trenches of this early sanctuary, in
addition to Bel, refer to the gods Herta, Nanai, Reshef, Yarhibol, Belhammon,
Manawat, the ?daughter of Bel? (brt bl), ?the goddess? (??tr?), Belastor, ?the
demons? (?dy?), and Baaltak.31  Apparently, these gods were the patron deities of
Palmyre,? in Studi orientalistici in onore di Giorgio Levi della Vida [Rome:
Instituto per l?Oriente, 1956], 512); for ?the goddess?(??tr?), see P1511; for Belastor
and ?the demons? (?dy?), see P2749 (cf.  P2780); and for Baaltak, see P2750.
32  For instance, see P2774, P2749, P2766, and P2768.
33  For the ?house of Bel? (bt bl), see P0260 and P1358.
34  P1353: [b]yrh
.  sywn ?nt 336 s. lm? dnh dy | [ml]kw br n?? br bwlh. ? h. ?? dy mn
bny kmr? | [dy] ?qymw lh ?nw? ?nw?t? wgbl tdmry? | [mn d]y ?pr lhwn wlmh. wzhwn
129
specific groups in residence at Palmyra or of those in transit, and the holy precinct
of Bel served as a focal point for the integration of their respective cults into the
communal life of the oasis.  In some instances, these people built shrines and altars
around the temenos to honor their gods.32  This evidence, though not abundant,
confirms the communal aspects of worship at Palmyra and illuminates the temple of
Bel as a center for shared cult.
Even before its consecration in 32 C.E., the Palmyrenes themselves
regarded the temple of Bel, or ?house of Bel? (bt bl) as it was also regarded, as a
communal sanctuary and as a center for common worship (figs. 8 and 9).33  By 25
C.E., as I have noted above, the temple of Bel had assumed the epithet, ?the house
of the gods? (bt ?lhy?).  The inscription is worth quoting in full:
Palmyrene: In the month Siwan, the year 336 (June 25 C.E.), this
statue is that of Malku, son of Nesha, son of Bolha Hashash, of the
bny kmr?, which was erected for him by the treasurers and the people
of the Palmyrenes, because he was agreeable to them, to their city
and to the house of their gods.
Greek: (To) Maliko (son of) Nesa (son of) B?la (son of) Asasos, of
the tribe of the Komar noi, the treasurers and the d mos of the
Palmyrenes (made this) on account of his benevolence.34
wlbt ?lhyhwn / 9V84P@< ;gF  J@  %T8V" J@  z!FV|F@L NL8?H O@:"D0< <
@?  D(LD@|J@:\"4 6"? A"8:LD0< <   *?:@H | g <@\"H ?<g6".  
35  P0269. See also Milik, D?dicaces, 154. 
36  P2749.
130
Similarly, P0269 of 51 C.E., set up in honor of Moqimu, son of Ogeilu, for his
contribution of cultic items, refers to the temple of Bel as the ?house of the gods?
(bt ?lhyn).35  We find another reference to the bt ?lhyn in an inscription of 48/49
C.E. from a few years earlier, in which members of the bny myt? honor the god
Belastor with a portico in the temple precinct.36  These texts show that for the
community of Palmyra the temple of Bel was the house of their own gods.  The
temple made it possible for the Palmyrenes from diverse backgrounds and different
tribal affiliations to locate their religious observances into a one cult center.  This
common location facilitated community formation.  The temple provided a unified
cohesive setting that framed, perhaps even appeased, social, political, and cultural
differences.
There is also evidence to suggest that the priests of Bel were organized in an
inter-tribal thiasos in the Common Era, which strengthens the argument for
communal aspects of worship at the temple.  From the foundations of the
Hellenistic temple of Bel, three undated stone fragments, which may form part of a
single inscription, seem to comprise one of the so-called sacred laws of the
community.  Twice these fragments refer to the individuals named in the text as
37  The texts are P2774, P2775, and P1521.  It may be that P2775 and P1521, as
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 56-58, suggests, join with P2774 to form a
single inscription.  Cf. Milik, D?dicaces, 300-309.  Also, Gawlikowski,
?Tadmorean,? 97, rejects the suggestion of Milik, D?dicaces, 28-90, that P2767 be
included in the reconstruction as well.  More recently, for a discussion of these
texts, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 172-75.  On the inter-tribal nature of
the priests of Bel, see Milik, D?dicaces, 109-10. 
38  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 28-29 and 46-47, also advocates the
inter-tribal nature of the priesthood of Bel.
131
Palmyrenes.37  The suggestion that they formed an inter-tribal thiasos is based on
the onomastics, which reflects different cultural backgrounds, and on the collective
identification of the persons as Palmyrenes, though tribal affiliations are not given
for any of the individuals mentioned in these texts.  In light of the fact that we know
of various individuals of different tribal affiliations honored with statues in the
temple precinct, and that we know that the temple served the entire Palmyrene
community, the suggestion that its organization was tribally based is a compelling
one.38
The evidence thus shows that the construction of the temple of Bel was a
cooperative venture among different tribal groups.  It also shows that this building
activity coincided with the time that the inhabitants of the oasis began to express
themselves, epigraphically at least, as sharing a common identity as Palmyrenes. 
As a focal point for religious observance, then, the temple of Bel served the needs
of the entire Palmyrene community and enhanced the role of Palmyra as a regional
cult center.  Moreover, in its role as a cult center, the temple of Bel served to unify
39  See Schlumberger, La Palmyr?ne du nord-ouest, 124-28.
40  On the cult of Yarhibol at Palmyra, see Gawlikowski, Le Temple
palmyr?nien, 112-20; idem, ?Les Dieux de Palmyre,? 2616-19; Teixidor, Pantheon
of Palmyra, 29-34; Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 47-51; and Kaizer,
Religious Life of Palmyra, 143-48.
41  For the etymology, see S. Dalley, ?Bel at Palmyra and Elsewhere in the
Parthian Period,? Aram 7 (1995): 140; Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 145; and
Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 48, n. 37.
132
city and countryside.  Since tribal affiliations were maintained among individuals
and families in both civic and rural contexts, as discussed in Chapter 2, attendance
at festivals and other celebrations hosted by the temple would have served to
strengthen social cohesion despite one?s particular residence.  In such a way,
common religious association strengthened social solidarity, tribal and otherwise. 
And while there appears to have been a preference for Bel in the city and that of
Arab and local deities in the countryside, as observed to the northwest of Palmyra,
there were few exclusions of any god from either milieu.39  Such preference simply
highlights the civic aspects of the sanctuary of Bel and the urban nature of his cult.
The cult of the god Yarhibol also illuminates community formation at
Palmyra and the integration of city and countryside.40  As mentioned, the earliest
human activity attested at Palmyra is at the Efqa spring, which seemed to have had
a divine presence, presumably that of Yarhibol, otherwise known as ?Lord of the
Spring.?41  On an altar now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, for instance,
42  P0322.
43  P0410 and P0411.
44  P1099: yrh
. bwl ?lh? | t.b? ms. b? dy | ?yn? ?bd bny myt? q?t.?.  For discussion, see
Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 233-35.
45  For discussion, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 143-48.
133
we find inscribed ?to the Gad of the blessed spring? (lgd? dy ?yn? brykt?).42  In
addition, there are two altars dedicated to the ?idol of the spring? (ms. b? dy ?yn?)
now in the Palmyra Museum, both of which refer specifically to the ?priest of the
idol? (?pkl? ms. b?), who is not identified and there is nothing to suggest his social
status or the nature of the cult over which he presided.43  We identify the Gad or
ms. b? of the spring with the god Yarhibol based on the text of an inscription from
Dura Europos that reads, ?Yarhibol, the good god, sacred stone of the spring, set up
by the bny myt?, the archers.?44  As for the relationship between the cult of Yarhibol
and urbanization, it is relevant that one of the earliest sanctuaries at Palmyra was
that of Yarhibol, located in the vicinity of the Efqa, which likely served as a center
for common religious association among many who were attracted to the oasis in
the first place.  Unfortunately, the remains of the sanctuary have not been
discovered, and all the evidence we have of it and of the cult of Yarhibol is
epigraphic and conjectural.45  P2774 provides a reference to a ?dwelling? (dwr?) of
Yarhibol, but whether this refers to a sanctuary near the Efqa is not certain.  The
only structures identified at the spring are in an inscription of 205 C.E., which
46   P1919: [b]rbnwt ?yn? dy bwlh
. ? br h. yrn br | ?t?qb h. wml dy ?h. d yrh. bwl ?lh? |
bn? bnyn? dnh dy ?yn wktl? dy qd[m] | bt gb? wktl? dy br? w?bd ktl? dy | [l]bn? byrh.
nysn ?nt 516 | wdkyr t[y]m?? br m?[.] tym?? blyd[?] | [w]h. yrn b[r] mqym[w mlk]w dy
?h. d lh bwlh. ? dnh rb ?yn. [On the right face] w?bd bwlh. ? dnh ?lt? dh mn kysh ?l |
h. ywhy wh. yy bnwhy w?h. why.  See also D. al-Hassani and J. Starcky, ?Autels
palmyr?niens d?couverts pr?s de la source Efca (suite),? AAS 7 (1957): 111-14.  Cf.
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 115-16.
47  P1622: ?lt? dy ?bd | mlkw br | mrbn? | lyrh
. bwl | l?q? l?r[q] | lgd? dy qrt[?] |
l?lh? ?kr[?] | ?nt 52[. . .] | byrh.  nysn.
134
reads:
[Front] While curator of the spring, Bolha, son of Hairan, son of
Ataqab Haumal, whom the god Yarhibol had chosen, built this
structure of the spring, and the wall that is before the pool, and the
outer wall, and wall of bricks (?), in the month Nisan, the year 516
(April 205 C.E.).  May Taima?a, son of M[. . .] (son of) Taimaa
B?liados (and) Hairan, son of Moqimu [and Malk]u, whom Bolha,
curator of the spring, had chosen.
[On the right face] And Bolha made this altar at his own expense for
his life and the lives of his children and his brothers.46
This text documents a late stage of urbanization at Palmyra, but it nonetheless
indicates the continued significance of the Efqa spring as a water source and
Yarhibol?s divine associations with it.  It may be that the waters of the Efqa were
used primarily for irrigation and that Yarhibol?s protection of the spring by
association extended to the cultivated fields.  Although discovered in a village 28
km northwest of Palmyra, an altar was dedicated ?to Yarhibol, to the irrigator of the
earth, to the Gad of the village, to the rewarding god.?47  Traditionally, however,
Yarhibol was a god of oracles and justice, who later developed into a solar deity as
48  For Yarhibol as one of the triad of Bel and as a god of justice and oracles,
see Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 31-34.
49  Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 34, who also stresses the civic importance
of Yarhibol.
50  P1067.  For commentary, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 199-
202.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 304 and 369; Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 2-3;
and Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 318-20, no. 916, pl. 55, 1.
135
one of the triad of Bel.48  Interestingly, Teixidor claims that the preference for
Yarhibol as a sun god, as opposed to the Arab deity Shamash, who was also
worshiped at Palmyra, stems from the fact that Yarhibol had already been installed
at Palmyra as a traditional god of justice by the Aramaeans long before Arab
immigration to the oasis.49  
Yarhibol?s public association with the god Bel likewise manifests his
importance to community formation at Palmyra, both in terms of urbanization and
polis development.  The oldest known Palmyrene inscription from Dura Europos,
which dates to 33 B.C.E., attests to the antiquity of this divine association.  It
records the construction and dedication of a shrine to the gods Bel and Yarhibol by
Zabdibol, son of Baayahu, of the bny gdybwl, and Malku, son of Ramu, of the bny
kmr?.50  This dedication in Palmyrene, though it was made in Dura Europos,
remains a quintessential example of the development of community through joint
acts.  As a testament of cooperation between two individuals from different tribes,
according to Dirven, the association between the gods Bel and Yarhibol and their
joint cult appears to have been of a communal nature and more socially cohesive
51  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 43.
52  P2768.
53  P0265: s
. lm? dnh dy zbyd? br ??dw | tym?m? dy ?bdt lh bwl? | [ly]qrh wshd lh
yrh. bwl ?lh? | brbnwt mrzh. wth dy kmry bl | byrh.  nysn ?nt 428.
136
than common worship at the tribal level.51  At Palmyra, both the bny kmr? and the
bny gdybwl contributed to the construction of the temple of Bel.  Also, while
Yarhibol was among the gods worshiped in the sacred precinct that preceded
construction activity of the new temple, perhaps either the bny kmr? or the bny
gdybwl, or both, facilitated Yarhibol?s elevation into the divine triad with Bel.52 
The prominent role Yarhibol played in the community, in association with Bel, is
reflected in the following inscription on a column console in the temple of Bel:
This statue is that of Zebaida, son of Soadu Taimashamas, which the
council made for him in his honor, and the god Yarhibol gave a
testimony concerning him (wshd lh yrh. bwl ?lh?), during his term as
symposiarch of the priests of Bel (brbnwt mrzh. wth dy kmry bl), in
the month of Nisan, the year 428 (April 117 C.E.).53
A public testimony given by the god Yarhibol Zebaida during his term as
symposiarch of the priests of Bel clearly reflected the close association between the
two gods and Yarhibol?s communal significance.
We know little of Yarhibol?s cult or of who maintained it before the
Common Era.  Nevertheless, in the first century C.E. and progressively more so in
the second, as the city of Palmyra developed and as its community grew, Yarhibol
became more of a communal deity with a significant public role to play in
54   P1917 (162 C.E.), P1918 (162 C.E.), P1919 (205 C.E.), and P1557 (206
C.E.).  Perhaps the source of the spring was in the same location in antiquity as it is
today, deep in the cave at Efqa.
55  P1063.  For discussion, see Ingholt, ?Deux inscriptions bilingues de
Palmyre,? 279; Milik, D?dicaces, 36-37; Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 27-
28; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 46-47 and 147.
137
Palmyrene society.  As noted, in his role as patron and tutelary deity of the Efqa
spring, Yarhibol appointed curators to safeguard the source of the spring and its
associated sanctuary.  The inscription quoted above honoring Zebaida in 117 C.E. is
the earliest known example.  Curatorial appointments are also attested in 162 C.E.
and in the early third century C.E.54  We can assume, then, that this was an
important public post, since the discharge from the spring would have required
regulation if it was to support, for instance, public irrigation projects.  Furthermore,
near the close of the second century C.E. and into the early third, Yarhibol?s role as
a god of the city manifested itself in his numerous testimonies to public officials.  A
bilingual inscription of 198 C.E., for instance, identifies a certain Aelius Bora, son
of  Titus Aelius Ogeilu, who received a statue by decree of the council and the
people (bwl? wdms) and at the expense of the bny kmr?, and whom the Greek text
states also received a testimony from Yarhibol, the ancestral god, because of
Aelius? services to the state.55  Similarly, the Greek text of a fragmentary inscription
of 193 C.E., presumably from the agora, records the testimony of Yarhibol, again
identified as the ancestral god, to an unspecified public official who completed his
56  P1398.  The Greek reads:  H 6"?  B? z3"D4$[f]8@L | [J@  B]"JD[ ]@L
2[,]@  :"DJ[L]|D02?<"4.  See also H. Seyrig, ?Inscriptions grecques de l?agora
de Palmyre,? Syria 22 (1941): 246-48.
57  P0278.
58  See also P1415.  As these inscriptions suggest, in addition to P1099,
Yarhibol?s popularity among Palmyrene soldiers grew over the course of the second
century C.E. 
138
term as strat gos and chief of the market (agoranomos).56  The latest inscription in
which Yarhibol gave a testimony is bilingual in Palmyrene and Greek and dates to
242 C.E.  The inscription is on a column console along the Great Colonnade and
honors Julius Aurelius Zabdila, who had served as strat gos when the emperor
Alexander Severus visited the city in 229 C.E., who had assisted the Roman general
Rutilius Crispinus, commander of the vexillationes in the city, and who had saved
the city great sums of money in his capacity as agoranomos.  Due to his public
munificence, Zabdila received testimonies from the god Yarhibol, the Roman
prefect Julius Priscus, and the city of Palmyra itself.57  In most cases, the
individuals to whom Yarhibol gave his testimony had all served as strat goi, or
generals of the Palmyrene militia, which was a very important official post in the
late second and third centuries C.E., and many also had served the city as
agoranomoi.58  Furthermore, as the cult of Yarhibol increased in public
significance, the god himself retained his ancestral character.  He is never identified
with any Greek deity, as others Palmyrene gods were, and his name was
59  See Milik, D?dicaces, 44-46.
60  See H. Seyrig, ?B?l de Palmyre,? Syria 48 (1971): 89-94.  Cf. Gawlikowski,
?Dieux de Palmyre,? 2611 and 2625, who rejects the notion of a triad altogether.
61  As observed by Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 48.
139
consistently transcribed in Greek inscriptions.59  He was also from the late second
century onward consistently called in Greek an ancestral god (patr?ios theos).  Why
suddenly the Palmyrenes began confirming Yarhibol as ancestral is not known, but
it may be significant that it occurred at a late stage of community development
when the Palmyrenes began to experience numerous hardships due to wars and
plague (see below).
Thus the importance of Yarhibol as an ancestral god of the Palmyrenes
stems from his position as guardian of the Efqa spring.  From a regional
perspective, people were naturally drawn to the oasis, but in particular to the spring
as a source of water.  The oldest settlement activity at Palmyra is attested here, and,
not surprisingly, the spring became a center of religious observance.  Although we
know little of the early cult of Yarhibol or the nature of his sanctuary, his later
association with Bel, chief god of the Palmyrene pantheon, as one of the triad,
suggests his importance to the community.60  Moreover, the orientation of the
temple of Bel, the entrance of which faces the spring, in addition to the location of
Palmyrene settlement in the Hellenistic period, also suggest the importance of the
Efqa spring and the sanctuary of Yarhibol at the site.61
62  On the cult of Aglibol and Malakbel, see Milik, D?dicaces, 1-77; Teixidor,
Pantheon of Palmyra, 34-52; Gawlikowski, ?Dieux de Palmyre,? 2620-21 and
2630-32; Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 60-63; and Kaizer, Religious Life
of Palmyra, 124-43.
63  P0315.  See Milik, D?dicaces, 62.
64  P1942.  Milik, D?dicaces, 76, who reads the date as 22/23 C.E.  See also
Gawlikowski, Recueil d?inscriptions palmyr?niennes, no. 159, who prefers the late
date, followed by Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 130.
65  P1509.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 75.
140
As the third member of the triad alongside Bel and Yarhibol, the moon god
Aglibol and his cult further attest that Palmyra was a religious center, bridging city
and countryside, and the role of shared religious association in community
formation.  The evidence, again, is primarily epigraphic.  The earliest inscription
associates Aglibol with the sun god Malakbel, whose joint cult appears closely
associated with the bny kmr?.62  The inscription is from 17 B.C.E.  It commemorates
the erection of a statue by the gods Aglibol and Malakbel and the bny kmr? to a
certain woman by the name of Attam.63  Similarly, in a bilingual inscription from
122/23 C.E. the divine pair and the bny kmr? sponsor a dedication to a certain
Manai to reward his piety.64  P1509 also records a dedication sponsored by both the
bny kmr? and the gods Aglibol and Malakbel.65  Furthermore, several inscriptions
identify the bny kmr? or individuals of this group themselves making donations to
the two gods or honoring those who did so.  In an inscription from the late first or
early second century C.E., the bny kmr? honored a certain Yarhibola, for instance,
66  P1944.  See also M. Gawlikowski, ?Nouvelles inscriptions du camp de
Diocl?tien,? Syria 47 (1970): 319-25; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 128.
67  Ingholt, ?Inscriptions and Sculptures from Palmyra, I,? Berytus 3 (1936):
109-12, no. 11.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 31-32; and Kaizer, Religious Life of
Palmyra, 128-29.  The tribe referred to as the Kh?neitoi in Greek is the same as the
bny kmr?; see P1063.
68  P1504.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 38.
69  For a discussion of other groups worshiping Aglibol and Malakbel, see
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 130.
70  Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 35.
141
identified as a ?heater of water? (mh. m my?), for his apparent consecration of a
garden to the two gods.66  In 182 C.E., a certain Thomallachis, daughter of
Haddoudanos, of the tribe of the Kh?neitoi, contributed 2500 denarii towards the
construction of the bath of Aglibol and Malakbel and was honored for her
benefaction.67  Finally, an undated inscription now in the Palmyra Museum
identifies a member of the bny kmr? having dedicated a column to the two gods.68 
While the bny kmr? were not the only social group at Palmyra to worship Aglibol
and Malakbel, they were certainly the most active.69  Teixidor interprets the
evidence of these two gods as suggesting strong Phoenician and Aramaic influences
within the Palmyrene community, and claims that Aglibol and Malakbel were
?committed to vegetation and to the welfare of the flocks, which makes their cult
more suitable to the mores of settled tribes than those of nomads.?70  I doubt that it
is necessary to strike such a dichotomy between sedentaries and nomads, but the
71  Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 139.
72  The relevant texts are P0197, P0314, P1505, and P1944; see also Drijvers,
?Greek and Aramaic in Palmyrene Inscriptions,? 34-38.  For a recent discussion of
the sanctuary and the evidence for it, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 124-28. 
See also Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 49-50.  Representations of the
sanctuary include a tessera depicting two altars with an ox to the left and a cypress
to the right (Ingholt, Seyrig, and Starcky, Recueil des tess?res de Palmyre, no. 162)
and a relief in the peristyle of the cella of the temple of Bel (see Seyrig, Amy, and
142
evidence does suggest that the bny kmr?, who apparently managed the cult of the
two gods, should be regarded as an old tribe with indigenous ties to the oasis.  Their
role in community formation probably centered on their devotion to Aglibol and
Malakbel, as the bny kmr? persisted in maintaining the cult of these gods and in
advancing its civic recognition.  This is evident in the elevation of Aglibol as one of
the divine triad, confirmed by the dedication of the temple of Bel in 32 C.E.  In the
formative period of community development, the bny kmr?, as Kaizer observes,
?formed one of the most important groups within the society of Palmyra, [and they]
managed to have one of their own ?ancestral? deities worshiped alongside the
important gods Bel and Yarhibol in a ?new formation.??71 This ?new formation?
thus reflected existing social and cultural realities?as groups became progressively
?Palmyrene,? so did their gods.
The cult of the gods Aglibol and Malakbel also pertains to urbanization at
Palmyra, since we know that they shared a sanctuary known as the ?Sacred Garden?
(gnt? ?lym) or the ?Grove? in Palmyrene (hlss), or the ?Sacred Wood? in Greek
(alsos).72  The epigraphic evidence for this sanctuary all dates to the second century
Will, Le Temple de B?l , 86, pls. 42, 2 and 43, 1, Album 89).
73  This is evident in the two inscriptions from the second century C.E. that
refer to the four sanctuaries of the city; see P0197 and Drijvers, ?Greek and
Aramaic in Palmyrene Inscriptions,? 34-38.
74  P1553: byrh
.  ?bt. ?nt 340 qrbw ?w?wn wl?m? bny tymrs. w br h. t.y[t.] gb?t? w?lt?
?ln l?glbwl wlmlkbl ?lhy?.
143
C.E., which further illuminates the monumentalization of the city as a community
formative process.  As I will examine in the Chapter 5, at the time the sanctuary of
Aglibol and Malakbel was one of four principle sanctuaries of the city that gained
prominence.73  It seems, however, that a sanctuary to these gods may also have
existed in the first century C.E.  Aglibol and Malakbel are identified in an
inscription from 29 C.E., for instance, on the rim of a large crater that probably
served to mix wine for ritual banquets or symposia.  The inscription reads:
In the month Shebat, the year 340 (February 29 C.E.), Shema?n and
Lishamsh, sons of Taimarsu, son of Hattait, offered this mixing-
vessel and altar to Aglibol and Malakbel, the gods.74
Also an altar inscription from 34 C.E. lists members of a religious confraternity or
thiasos, identified in Palmyrene as bny mrzh. ?, devoted to these gods and possibly
united for attendance at a symposium:
[In the month] Shebat, the year 345 (February 34 C.E.), [the bny
m]rzh. ? erected this altar to Aglibol and Malakbel, the gods: Wahbai,
son of Atenuri Awida; Hagegu, son of Zabdilah Komar ;
Nabuzabad, son of Malku Matanai; Taimu, son of Ogeilu Rabbat;
Malku, son of Yarhibola Hattai; Yarhibola, son of Taimarsu Abruq;
Zabdibol, son of Yedibel Elahu; Ogeilu, son of Nurai Zabdibel;
75  P0326: [byrh
. ] ?bt. ?nt 345 ?lt? dh [?bdw] | [bny m]rzh. ? ?ln l?glbwl wlmlkbl
?lh[y?] | [wh]by br ?tnwry ?wdw wh. ggw br zbdlh kmr? | [wn]bwzbd br mlkw mtn?
wtymw br ?gylw rbbt | [w]mlkw br yrh. bwl? h. ty wyrh. bwl? br tymrs. w | ?brwq
wzbdbwl br ydy?bl ?lhw w?gylw br | nwry zbdbl wmlkw br mqymw tym?md.  See
also Milik, D?dicaces, 119; Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 40; and Kaizer,
Religious Life of Palmyra, 133.
76  See Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 40.
144
Malku, son of Moqimu Taimaamad.75
Teixidor observes that the names mentioned in this inscription show a mix of
Aramaeans and Arabs, and he suggests, accordingly, that ethnic divisions within the
community must have become blurred prior to 34 C.E.76  Whether the Palmyrenes
would have perceived such ethic distinctions amongst themselves in the first place
is unanswerable.  What is apparent, though, is that the cult of Aglibol and
Malakbel, while administered by the bny kmr?, embraced the entire community
from the first century C.E. onward, owing perhaps to its antiquity.  Also, the
symposium attached to the cult of these gods, in addition to other religious
symposia at Palmyra, were community-forming events, providing opportune
moments for cooperative social union and shared cult.
Community formation at Palmyra was intimately connected to the role of
the city as a center for shared religious association.  Many were drawn to Palmyra,
for permanent settlement or otherwise, where they participated in the religious life
of the oasis.  Whether for festivals or feasts, the attraction was apparent.  Also,
many drawn to Palmyra maintained close ties to those in the countryside, where
145
they often either imported or exported divinity.  Thus, shared cult bridged city and
countryside, and many of the gods imported into Palmyra found their residence in
the house of Bel, the central urban sanctuary.  Shared cult, in fact, facilitated and
provided structure for community development.  Finally, as one facet of
urbanization, we should recognize that the sanctuaries and cults within the city,
including the temple of Bel dedicated in 32 C.E., developed their monumental
aspects in consequence of increased settlement at the site and as one of the more
apparent byproducts of community formation.  How the Palmyrenes funded this
monumentalization of their city will be treated in the second part of this chapter.
Palmyra as Economic Center
The growth of community at Palmyra, in addition to the role of the city as a
center for shared religious association, depended on the city?s attraction as a center
for economic opportunity, which was due primarily to the caravan trade.  Many
were drawn to Palmyra, whether from the surrounding hinterland or beyond, 
whether for permanent settlement or transient visits, because the city was a hub of
economic significance.  As a center of consumption, the city was a central market
for goods produced regionally and an emporium for exotic goods derived from the
caravan trade.  Furthermore, the wealth generated through long distance trade and
the local exchange of goods enriched the local elite who funded most of the
building projects that gave Palmyra its monumental character.  In this sense too, the
urbanization of Palmyra provides a valuable framework for an analysis of
146
community formation.  I will contrast in Chapter 4 the aristocrats who sponsored
this monumentalization of Palmyra with the supporting artisans and craftsmen, who
found in Palmyra an excellent market for their skills and labors.  I will attend now
to the factors that facilitated Palmyra?s development into a consumer city and a
center for economic opportunity within the context of community formation.  I will
begin this analysis at the local level, primarily in terms of the interrelationship
between the city and its hinterland, and of the various factors that may have
inspired migration to the oasis.  This will entail a careful examination of the
Palmyrene tariff inscription, perhaps the single most important document for
understanding Palmyra?s local economy.  I will then carry the analysis to the
regional or provincial level, for the commercial position of Palmyra had important
and transparent effects on its urban development and the growth of community at
the site, particularly in social stratification.  What is most apparent in this context,
as the literature on Palmyra emphasizes, is the obvious significance of the caravan
trade to the city?s economy and the attraction to trade among both the urban and
rural population.
Bowersock observes that ?the urbanization of Roman Syria may be
described overall as due fundamentally to the economic requirements of the villages
and to the religious needs of their inhabitants.  The society of the cities was
essentially designed at the outset to provide services for the residents of the large
77  G. W. Bowersock, ?Social and Economic History of Syria under the Roman
Empire,? in Arch?ologie et histoire de la Syrie, vol. 2: La Syrie de l??poque
ach?m?nide ? l?av?nement de l?Islam, edited by J. -M. Dentzer and W. Orthmann
(Saarbr?cken: Saarbr?cker Druckerei und Verlag, 1989), 67.  See also Millar,
Roman Near East, 299, who states that Palmyra ?cannot be understood simply as an
isolated oasis, but, like almost all other cities, as the most important point in a
terrain of villages.?
147
territories.?77  Though I would caution against comparing Palmyra too generally
with other urban centers in Syria, because of its relative isolation in the desert, its
vast hinterland, and its unique communal development, Bowersock?s assessment is
essentially correct.  In the remoteness of the desert, Palmyra served primarily as an
important economic and administrative center.  The urbanization of Palmyra, in
fact, and the advent of monumental construction in the period of the late Roman
Republic, stemmed directly from the wealth the community gained through
commerce.  Palmyra was an important nexus on an east-west route that supported
caravan traffic and trade in exotic goods.  In addition to the primary function of the
city as an economic center, Palmyra also served a secondary function as an
administrative center providing services (e.g. organizing common cult, resolving
legal disputes) to all of its inhabitants and to those of the countryside, both peasants
and pastoralists.  Indeed, as Palmyra grew more prosperous after the first century
B.C.E., as the urban population grew and a body of aristocrats and powerful
merchants emerged, and as the city developed gradually its monumental urban
aspect, a dependency between city and countryside became apparent.
As I will show, Palmyra?s growth and prosperity as a community depended
148
on its management of the human and material resources within its hinterland. 
Conversely, peasants in villages and pastoralists in rural areas were attracted to
Palmyra as an economic and administrative center.  They relied, for instance, on the
security provided through the city?s administration and on the economic
opportunities that Palmyra afforded.  For example, though industry may have
centered in the villages, Palmyra, as a consumer city, was a central market for
manufactured goods.  It also attracted skilled labor to build the monuments the elite
funded.  Most importantly, though, Palmyra?s growth and prosperity depended on
its command over the desert caravan trade, from which the economic benefits were
immense.  The evidence even suggests that those of the countryside not merely
supported the trade ventures of the Palmyrene community, but actively participated
in them as well and, with some variation, shared in their profits (see below).  This
enhances our understanding of the interrelationship between city and countryside
that characterized Palmyrene communal development.  Thus, we can best
illuminate the growth of community at Palmyra, initially, through an analysis of the
role of the city both as a locus for economic activity and as an administrative center,
particularly in an analysis of the services the city provided that supported the
domestic economy and rural population.  Ultimately, the growth of community at
Palmyra was tied to the caravan trade and the opportunities for advancement this
trade supported.
The single most important document for the study of the domestic economy
78  The basic fact is that the tariff inscription illuminates above all the local
economy of Palmyra.  See discussion by Seyrig, ?Le Statut de Palmyre,? 155-75;
and Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 172-73.
79  The word translated here by ?fiscal area? is in Palmyrene lmn?, which is a
transliteration of the Greek lim n, a fairly explicit term for a harbor or port. 
Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 175, translates lmn? as ?exchange? and stresses
the close association with Latin portus, as a place where a portorium was exacted.
Cf. Teixidor, Un Port romaine du d?sert, 59.  But, as M. Rostovtzeff, ?Seleucid
Babylonia,? YCS 3 (1932): 79-80, argues, lim n had taken on the sense of a ?tax
district? already in the Hellenistic period, which is the meaning applied here.
Bowersock, ?Social and Economic History,? 71, agrees with Rostovtzeff on this
issue.
80  P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.1: nmws? dy mks? dy lmn? dy hdryn? tdmr
w?ynt? dy my? [dy ?y]ls qysr.  Aelius Caesar referred to here is the emperor Hadrian
himself.
149
of Palmyra is the Palmyrene tariff inscription.78  The tax law, published in 137 C.E.,
was drawn up in Greek and Palmyrene by order of the council of the city of
Palmyra.  It was intended as a revision of an older tariff, part of which appears in
the newer version.  As we have it, the tariff is preserved in four large panels which,
when discovered in Palmyra in 1882, once comprised a single stone block.  The
Palmyrene text inscribed at the top of the central panels identifies the document as
?the tax law of the fiscal area79 of Hadriana Tadmor and of the water sources of
Aelius Caesar.?80  Its basic purpose was to regulate the taxation scheme of the city
in order to avoid disputes between the tax collectors and the merchants, craftsmen,
pastoralists, farmers, and all others from whom taxes were owed.  It regulated the
flow of goods brought into or exported from the city and its territory.  It also
regulated important local resources such as salt and water, in addition to services
81  As indicated in the justification for the tax on grasses or fodder; see P0259
(Tariff): Palmyrene, II.122.
82  P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.63-65.  Additional resources or commodities
that appear in the tax law include olive oil, wine, animal fat, salt fish, wheat, and
pinecones. 
83  On the importance of salt to the Mediterranean economy and social
development, see P. Horden and N. Purcell, The Corrupting Sea: A Study of
Mediterranean History (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000), 195-200.
84  Today, however, there are regulations that prevent salt exploitation from this
area primarily because of the excessive amount of water required to generate
150
provided in the city (e.g., prostitution).  Everything that could be sold for profit,
apparently, was liable to be taxed and required regulation.81 
Fortunately, because of the tariff inscription, we are well-informed of the
care that the city, as a center of administration,  took to support the domestic
economy and to sustain communal development.  First of all, this took the form of
the city?s direct management of regional resources; the two most important of
which that required regulation were water and salt, as the preamble to the old
Palmyrene tariff attests: 
Tax law of Tadmor and the water sources and of the salt which is in
the city and its borders, according to the agreement made in the
presence of Marinus the governor.82
Water and salt are obviously important for basic human survival in a desert
environment.83  Salt was extracted from the sabkha, or mud-flat, region to the south
of the oasis, though no archaeological evidence has been found of this activity (figs.
4 and 5).84  The tariff inscription, however, is very explicit regarding the
deposits.  
85  P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.130-36: ?l mlh
. ? | q?t[? ?]th. zy ly dy b?tr dy dms
thw? | mtzbn? b?tr dy mtkn?yn wmn mn tdmry? | yzbn lh. ?[h. ]th yhw? yhb lmdy? ?sr
?yt.lq[?] | hyk bnmws? w?p mks? [m]lh. ? dy hwy? | btdmr hyk bh[. . .]? ?py ?sr yhw? |
mtqbl wl[tdmry]? yhw? mzbn hyk ?yd?.  For a discussion of the salt trade in Palmyra,
see Teixidor, ?Le Tarif de Palmyre,? 243-46.
86  See P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.69-73.  The text states that ?good [salt]
will be taxed an assarius per modius of sixteen sextarii, and what is requested will
be given to them for use, and those who [ . . . ] pay for each modius, according to
this law, [two] sesterces.  Those who buy salt either in Palmyra or in the territory of
the Palmyrenes, he will measure it out to [the tax collector] according to the
modius, one assarius?: [mlh. ] t.b [ytg]b? ?sr? h. d lmdy? dy qst.wn | ??r w[?]t [w]m? dy
ytb ?? ytn [lh]n lt?my?? | w[dy] l? y[ . . . y]pr? lkl md? mn nm[ws]? dnh sst.rt.yn [trn] |
md dy yhw? lh mlh.  btd[mr ?w bth. w]m? d[y] | t[dmry]? ykylnh l[mks]? [?]py mdy?
b?sr? h. d.  Cf. P0259 (Tariff): Greek 116-20.
87  For other springs in the area, see D. Crouch, ?The Water System of
Palmyra,? Studia Palmyrenskie 6-7 (1975), 153-58.
151
management and taxation of salt resources.  The new law of 137 C.E. reads:
As for salt, it seems to me that it should be sold in the public place
where the people assemble, and any Palmyrene who buys it for his
own use will pay one Italian assarius for each modius, as is written
in the law.  The tax on salt which is found at Palmyra must be
exacted in assarii, as in [that law], and the salt put on sale to the
Palmyrenes, according to custom.85
This amended the old law that apparently distinguished salt bought in Palmyra
versus that which was purchased in the territory of the Palmyrenes ([bth. w]m? d[y] |
t[dmry]?).86  Water was necessary to sustain population growth.  Palmyrenes tapped
groundwater by means of  wells or exploited surface discharges from springs.  For
example, the Efqa spring was a primary water source for the ancient city.87  They
exploited surface runoff from sporadic rainfall by capturing the rain water in
88  Schlumberger, La Palmyr?ne du nord-ouest, 129-34.
89  See Crouch, ?The Water System of Palmyra,? 151-86.
90  At Qas
. r el-H. eir, for instance; see Schlumberger, ?Bornes fronti?res de la
Palmyr?ne,? Syria 20 (1939): 43-73; idem, ?Les Fouilles de Qasr el-Heir el-Gharbi
(1936-1938): Rapport pr?liminaire,? Syria 20 (1939): 195-238 and 324-73.  Cf. A.
Musil, Palmyrena: A Topographical Itinerary, American Geographical Society
Oriental Explorations and Studies, no. 4, edited by J. Wright (New York: American
Geographical Society, 1928), 135-37.
91  See Crouch, ?The Water System of Palmyra,? 160-73.
152
cisterns or reservoirs.  According to Schlumberger, the settlements in the hills and
mountains northwest of Palmyra relied more on cisterns than those settlements in
the valleys, which depended on springs.88 Cisterns, wells, springs, aqueducts,
underground chains of wells (foggaras), fountains, water pipes, and sewage lines
together comprised the water management system of Palmyra and its hinterland.89 
Owing to the fieldwork of Schlumberger, we are well-informed about this system to
the west and north of Palmyra.90  Within Palmyra, Dora Crouch has documented the
elaborate water management system with attention given to the exploitation of
regional water resources for urban use.  The evidence she presents of aqueducts and
foggaras extending many kilometers from the city highlights the integrated nature
of city and countryside and the city?s need to regulate and safeguard these rural
water resources.91  Finally, it is clear from this evidence that the water management
system, urban and rural, developed in conjunction with the growth of the Palmyrene
community.  Indeed, the demand for water corresponded to need, and the city of
92  See, for instance, Will, Les Palmyr?niens, 122-24; and Starcky and
Gawlikowski, Palmyre, 14-27.
93  See Schlumberger, La Palmyr?ne du nord-ouest, 129-34.
94   For fines regionis Palmyrenae, see L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1939, no. 0179;
and for arva civitatis, see L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1939, no. 0178.  This evidence
validates Strabo?s observation of the importance of farming to the economy of the
Syrian countryside; see Strabo Geographia 16.749.
95  See p. 5 above.
153
Palmyra required the most, both for subsistence and conspicuous use such as in
baths and in the gardens of private residences.92  Palmyra?s need for water, in
addition to its demand for salt, in fact, grew as its population increased.
Water also enabled agriculture which supported the urban and rural
population, and the tariff inscription is very explicit about Palmyra?s management
and taxation of locally derived or imported produce.  Unfortunately, there have
been few attempts to explore archaeologically Palmyra?s agricultural regime,
whether of the oasis or of the countryside.  The single exception is Schlumberger?s
work to the northwest of Palmyra, and the archaeological evidence he presents finds
support epigraphically.93  From Khirbet el-Bilaas about seventy five kilometers
northwest of Palmyra, for instance, an inscribed column drum was found that
identifies the boundaries of the territory of the Palmyrenes, the fines regionis
Palmyrenae, as well as, possibly, ?arable fields of the city? ([ a]rva civitat[is]).94 
Elsewhere, as I discussed in Chapter 1, the boundaries of Palmyra?s territory are
difficult to define, though they may have extended as far as the Euphrates.95 
96  P2730: dkyryn wbrykyn | h
. s. dy? ?ln dy hww | ?m ?bgr br h. yrn | bqs. t? tnn ?lm |
tymy br tymy br blyhb | yrh. y br tymrs. w br ?t.? | mlkw br nbwl? br ?qzmn | mqymw
m?zyn krwz? | ?bgr br ml? br zbd?th | dkyr mhr br ?t??t.  For discussion and
commentary, see J. Teixidor, ?Deux inscriptions palmyr?niennes du mus?e de
Bagdad,? Syria 40 (1963): 33-37.  Cf. idem, ?Three Inscriptions in the Iraq
Museum,? Sumer 18 (1962): 63-65, where Teixidor provides ?settlers? as a
translation for h. sdy?.  For significance, see Bowersock, Social and Economic
History, 68.
97  See pp. 106-11 above.
154
Southeast of the city, the desert expanse was populated mainly by pastoralists, but,
as I have discussed in Chapter 2, it would not have been unnatural of them to
engage in limited farming where and when appropriate, such as in wadi beds or
along sabkhas, areas that retain residual rainfall and where groundwater levels are
generally high.  In one such area, the Qa?ara depression roughly 200 kilometers
southeast of Palmyra, a Palmyrene inscription was found that identifies a group of
?harvesters? (h. sdy?).  The text reads:
Be remembered and blessed these harvesters who were with Abgar,
son of Hairan at the border, here.  Peace! Taimai, son of Taimai, son
of Belyahab; Yarhai, son of Taimarsu, son of Shat ; Malku, son of
Nabula, son of Aqzaman; Moqimu (of the tribe of) m?zyn, the
herald; Abgar, son of Mal , son of Zabdath.  Be remembered Maher
son of Atashat.96
While this text shows Palmyrenes engaged in agricultural activity far from Palmyra,
other related texts were found including many Safaitic ones that suggest
cooperation with and among pastoralists.97  This evidence further highlights the
integration of city and countryside, and it demonstrates the cooperative action, in
particular that related to food production, necessary to sustain community
98  P0259 (Tariff): Greek 187-97: J < $DTJ < J? 6"(J ) J?< <?:@< J@ 
(?:@L *0<[VD4@<] | ,?FJ0:4 BDVFF,F2"4  J"< ?>T2,< J <  DT<
155
development.
Within its territorial limits, Palmyra monopolized power and exercised
authoritative control, providing security and assurances to the residents of the
countryside, all of whom worked to support the domestic economy.  It is clear from
the Palmyrene tariff, for instance, that boundary maintenance, both civic and
territorial, was of great importance to Palmyra?s ability to regulate the exploitation
and distribution of regional resources.  Trade and transport in the hinterland of
Palmyra were strictly monitored, and taxes were collected when appropriate. 
Indeed, their ability to support this administrative activity was a sure sign of
community formation and polis development.  Yet, though it seems that the
Palmyrenes sought to manage local resources for the economic benefit of their city,
they seemed not to have neglected the welfare of the peasants and pastoralists
dwelling in the hinterland, with whom they maintained close ties.  This is apparent
in the following pronouncement of the regional governor, the legatus pro praetore,
preserved in the Palmyrene tariff, which reads:
As for provisions, I decree that a tax of one denarius should be
exacted according to the law for each load imported from outside the
borders of Palmyra or exported there; but those who convey
provisions to the villages or from them should be exempt, according
to the concession made to them . . . As for camels, if they are
brought in from outside the borders whether loaded or unloaded, one
denarius is due for each camel according to the law, as was
confirmed also by the excellent Corbulo in his letter to Barbarus.98
,?FV[(0J"4] | ? ?>V(0J"4.  J@ H *? ,?H PTD\" ?  B? J < [PT]|D\T<
6"J"6@:\.@<J"H  J,8,?H , <"4, ?H 6"? FL<,Nf|<0F,<. . .6":Z8T< ?V< J,
6,<"? ?V< J, ?<(@:@4 ,?FV(T<J"4 ?>T2,< | J <  DT< ?N,\8,J"4 *0<VD4@<
'6VFJ0H 6"J  J?< | <?:@< ?H 6"? 5@LD$@b8T<   6DVJ4FJ@H ?F0:4|fF"J@
?< J? BD?H #VD$"D@< ?B4FJ@8?.  Cf. P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene II.109-13 and
118-23.  The legatus in question was probably Gaius Licinius Mucianus, governor
of Syria in 67-69 C.E., as Seyrig, ?Le Statut de Palmyre,? 165-67, suggests.  See
also Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 179, n. 28.
99  See P0259 (Tariff): Greek 233-37; Palmyrene II.149.  For discussion, see p.
106 above.
156
The concern for the welfare of the villages is thus obvious, with the concession that
no charges would be owed on produce conveyed to and from the villages within the
territory of Palmyra, which differed considerably from the conditions set at the
borders.  This illuminates the special relationship that existed between the city and
the villages of the hinterland and the steps taken to stimulate the domestic
economy.  A similar relationship also existed between the city and the pastoralists
of the countryside.  The city took care to distinguish between those engaged in
pastoralism within its territory, whose rights were carefully protected, from those
without.  As noted, the tariff states explicitly that no payments were to be exacted
for grazing rights from those indigenous to the region, although payment was owed
from those who brought animals into the territory of the city for the purpose of
grazing.99  All of this evidence illustrates the integration of Palmyra with its
hinterland, and it demonstrates the active role the city played to protect and manage
the exploitation of its regional resources.  In particular, the city took care not to
neglect the economic requirements of the peasants and pastoralists, whether in
157
villages or otherwise, within its territory.  Indeed, the city provided the security
necessary to ensure that competition over regional resources did not devolve into
conflict, although, as I will discuss in Chapter 5, peace was never a certainty,
particularly in the turbulent years of the late second and early third centuries C.E. 
Nevertheless, it is evident that the city under the leadership of its elite members set
the conditions that fostered communal growth as an economic and administrative
center.
Thus Palmyra in its organizational capacity as a polis took care to provide
services and support to the rural population, those engaged primarily in both
agriculture and pastoralism.  The peasants and pastoralists of the countryside, in
turn, provided goods and services to the city.  The relationship between city and
countryside, then, was integrative and supported the growth of community.  Also,
while direct control over the exploitation of regional resources benefitted the city
financially, rural communities would also have benefitted since competition over
limited resources would have been less acute due to the city?s dominance. 
Furthermore, the city served both as an important regional market and as a regional
center of justice capable of handling legal disputes over such issues as local
taxation and property rights.  Because of this people gravitated to the city. 
Meanwhile, power and authority emanated from Palmyra, and force, or at least the
threat of force, guaranteed compliance with civic interests.  For instance, the
regulation of resources requires control over them, which the Palmyrenes
100  Gawlikowski, ?Arabes de Syrie,? 84-85.
158
maintained with diligence, and it was, then, as a guarantor of peace and security in
the countryside that the city made its most important contribution to the domestic
economy and its own communal development.
While Palmyra prospered because of the revenues from its expansive
hinterland and the agricultural and pastoral activities carried out in it, the city
accrued greater wealth as a result of commerce and through trade which, in turn,
fostered community growth and urbanization.  Again, people were drawn to
Palmyra because it was an economic and administrative center, in particular for the
hope it offered some of social and economic advancement through involvement in
its lucrative trade network.  This would explain why a significant part of the
population of Palmyra, presumably, shifted into occupations that supported the
caravan trade (fig. 19).  For example, according to Gawlikowski, the Arab
contingent of Palmyra?s population multiplied considerably in the first century
C.E.100  This contingent included, for instance, the pastoralists who kept watch over
the pack animals required for extended land transport (figs. 20 and 21), in addition
to the more settled inhabitants of the various communities within Palmyrene
territory and abroad who maintained lines of communication, contacts, and
supplies.  All performed acts, in one form or another, that supported Palmyrene
trade, and all seem to have benefitted.  In fact, in most cases, those who supported
the trade, irrespective of residence, publically regarded themselves as Palmyrenes
101  For instance, the civic measures taken to ensure the safety of the caravans
will be discussed in Chapter 5, which presents a comprehensive analysis of
community at Palmyra in terms of the development of its civic institutions. 
Moreover, Chapter 6 provides a more synthetic treatment of Palmyrenes abroad in
pursuit of commercial endeavors, while focusing on how they managed to maintain
their social and cultural identity as Palmyrenes in foreign contexts.
102  See Schmidt-Colinet and As?ad, ?Zur Urbanistik des hellenistischen
Palmyra,? 81-93; and idem, ?Archeological News from Hellenistic Palmyra,? 165-
159
and openly supported Palmyra?s urban growth.  In this sense, then, the growth of a
Palmyrene community was closely linked to the caravan trade, and much of the
wealth accrued from this trade, whether by the city directly or by private means,
was channeled into building projects for the embellishment of Palmyra.  My
intention, however, is not to provide here an exhaustive treatment of the Palmyrene
caravan trade, aspects of which will recur in later discussions, but rather to examine
its impact specifically on community growth (and decline) and the urbanization of
Palmyra.101  
To begin with, a brief historical sketch of the caravan trade will illuminate
its impact on community formation at Palmyra and highlight the city?s role as an
economic center.  Already in the Hellenistic period, Palmyra was a nexus of trade. 
During recent excavations of the Hellenistic settlement, imported ceramics were
found which included amphorae from as early as the end of the third century B.C.E. 
The total pottery corpus included material imported into Palmyra from as far afield
to the west as Egypt, north Africa, Greece, and Palestine, and to east from Parthian
Mesopotamia.102  The amphorae suggest the importation of such items as wine,
66.
103  Appian Bella civilia 5.9.
104  See n. 100 above.
160
olive oil, and possibly garum or salted fish.  We may assume, then, that other
perishable goods were imported into the settlement in less durable containers,
although there is no evidence of exports in this early period.  After the battle of
Philippi in 41 B.C.E., the Roman general Mark Antony decided to sack and plunder
Palmyra, suspecting of course that the city possessed great wealth because it had
assumed a direct role in the eastern trade.  Appian, for example, who records the
episode, mentions that the Palmyrenes were direct marketers of Indian and Arabian
goods in the first century B.C.E.103  The Palmyrenes learned of Antony?s impending
attack in advance and retreated quickly to the opposite bank of the Euphrates in
Parthian territory.  Upon entering the city, Antony found nothing of value.  This
account, then, suggests that the Palmyrenes, though engaged in trade, were mobile
and their wealth portable.  It may also suggest that Palmyra itself had not yet
reached the formative stage of a polis and may have been nothing more than a
substantial village in the first century B.C.E.  Community development then
intensified in the first century C.E. when, as outlined at the beginning of this
chapter, Palmyra emerged as a polis.  Again, as Gawlikowski notes, this coincided
with an influx of Arabs in the urban population.104  This development was also
concurrent with the earliest stages of urbanization at Palmyra, when the city began
161
to acquire its monumental aspect, as observed earlier with the construction of the
temple of Bel.  Most important for illuminating the significance of the caravan trade
to community formation at Palmyra and urbanization, however, was the
development of the agora in the mid-first century C.E.  This important monumental
feature of the city bears the quality and appearance of a caravanserai.  It was a an
excellent area for staging caravans and for distributing goods.  It also provided a
good backdrop for the monumental display of honorific portraits to the local
notables who facilitated the caravan trade.  Then, over the course of two centuries
the Palmyrene community grew, increasing in importance as an economic center,
and, as the epigraphy attests, monumental construction activity practically never
abated.  The inscriptions which I will discuss below show that wealth derived from
the caravan trade contributed significantly to the growth of community and urban
development.
Several inscriptions from Palmyra and its hinterland, emphasizing the role
of the city as a commercial nexus, refer directly to the caravan trade and of the
involvement of notable Palmyrene merchants in the monumentalization of their city
through architectural and sculptural embellishments.  The earliest published
inscription that relates to the caravan trade is bilingual in Palmyrene and Greek and
dates to 19 C.E.  As I have noted, it records the dedication of a statue that the
Palmyrene merchants in Seleucia on the Tigris made, in conjunction with their
Greek colleagues, to a certain Yedibel, son of Azizu, a Palmyrene of the tribe of the
105   P0270.  This is the only mention of Seleucia in the corpus of inscriptions. 
See p. 125 above.
106   P1352.  See p. 118 above.
107  In addition to the texts mentioned below, Inventaire 10.19 refers in Greek
to Spasinous Charax but, due to its fragmentary state, lacks any indication of the
individual honored or of date.  On Mesene, see D. Potts, ?Arabia and the Kingdom
of Characene,? in Araby the Blest, edited by D. Potts (Copenhagen: Museum
Tusculanum Press, 1988), 137-67.  I will discuss this community further in Chapter
6.
108  P1584.
109  P1376.
162
bny mtbwl, because of his contributions to the construction of the temple of Bel.105 
Similarly, Malku, son of Nesha, who was honored in 24 C.E., received a statue to
honor his contribution to the construction of the temple of Bel.  In this instance,
Palmyrene merchants in Babylon sponsored the dedication.106  Furthermore,
numerous inscriptions of the first two centuries C.E. mention direct communication
and trade between Palmyra and the major port of Spasinou Charax in Mesene, now
lower Iraq, where Palmyrenes themselves maintained a small community (fig. 1).107 
In 50 C.E. (or 70 C.E.), for example, Palmyrene merchants in this remote port
honored with a statue at Palmyra a certain Zabdibol, son of Abaihan, son of
Zabdibol, son of Lishamsh, son of Makna rb?, of the tribe of the bny mtbwl.108 
Similarly, another Zabdibol, a member of the bny m?zyn, was honored in the agora
at Palmyra with a statue by Palmyrene merchants upon their return from Spasinou
Charax in 81 C.E.109  Other statues in the agora at Palmyra were dedicated to
110  See P1366 (88 or 28 C.E.), P0309 (89 or 189 C.E.), P1374 (131 C.E.),
P1397 (135 C.E.), P1412 (140 C.E.), P1411 (156 C.E.), P1399 (157 C.E.), P1409
(159 C.E.), P1373 (161 C.E.), and P0294 (193 C.E.).   P1397 (135 C.E.) records the
dedication of a statue to Roman centurion, Julius Maximus, which a certain Marcus
Ulpius Abgar and members of a caravan from Spasinous Charax set up;
111  P0197.
112  P0262 (142 C.E.), P1419 (150 C.E.), and Drijvers, ?Greek and Aramaic in
Palmyrene Inscriptions,? 31-42 (144 C.E.).
113  P0295.
114  P0279.
163
important individuals by caravan members or Palmyrene merchants associated with
Spasinous Charax in 88 (or 28); in 89 (or 189); in 131; in 135; in 140, when the
merchants passed through the remote emporium of Vologesias; in 156; in 157; in
159; in 161; and in 193 C.E.110  Several dedications record trade relations between
Palmyra and Vologesias, the earliest of which is from 132 C.E.111  Others include
dedications in 142, in 144, and in 150 C.E.112  As the lack of relevant epigraphic
data attests, Palmyra?s caravan trade seems to have declined in the later second
century C.E.  When the caravans resumed in the early third century C.E.,
Vologesias was their destination.  An honorific inscription set up in 210 C.E. along
the Great Colonnade, for instance, associates a certain Yaddai with Vologesias.113 
Also, in 247 C.E., the merchants who descended to Vologesias with Julius Aurelius
Zebaida, son of Moqimu, son of Zebaida, honored him with a statue in the Great
Colonnade.114  Many of these texts will be discussed in later sections because they
115  See also P0307, in which he is honored by merchants but the text is too
fragmentary to identify their association.  Also, in addition to the texts mentioned,
Marcus Ulpius Yarhai also appears in P1395, P1396, P1397, and P1422, the
significance of which will be discussed in the following chapter as evidence of
social relations at Palmyra and abroad.
116  P0306.
117  P1403.  The Greek text of  P2763 alludes to another sea voyage from
Scythia, but the text is too fragmentary to allow further elaboration of the individual
honored, or of who the shipwrights were, see Milik, D?dicaces, 32; Inventaire
10.91; Inventaire 10.95; and Cantinuea, ?Tadmorea,? Syria 14 (1933): 187.  Also,
in a relationship characteristic of classical patronage, Marcus Ulpius Yarhai is again
honored in 159 C.E. by a certain Haddudan, son of Haddudan Firmon, for his
having given this individual assistance in Spasinous Charax, see Cantinuea,
?Tadmorea,? Syria 19 (1938): 75.
164
reveal important details about the nature of Palmyrene social and political
relationships at home and abroad.  
Among the inscriptions, some Palmyrenes appear exceptional as citizens
and facilitators of the caravan trade.  These were the elite who prompted the
architectural and sculptural embellishment of the city.  One individual associated
with the eastern trade, and particularly that which passed through the remote
emporium of Spasinou Charax, was Marcus Ulpius Yarhai, the recipient of honors
in the dedications of 156, 157, and 159 C.E., who had an impressive career further
distinguished by dedications in his honor.115  He received recognition by merchants
in the Parthian city of Choumana in 157 C.E., for example;116 and in the same year,
merchants who had returned from Scythia by sea (in the boat of Honaino, son of
Haddudan) erected a statue to him in the agora at Palmyra (fig. 22).117  A near
118  P0197.  The tendency is to translate qdns rb as ?great danger? but the
essence of 6\<*L<@H in Greek may retain the alternative meaning of a risk or
venture, or perhaps an experiment of sorts, which could imply that Soados assisted
in some manner that benefitted the caravan economically and not necessarily
militarily.
119  Drijvers, ?Greek and Aramaic in Palmyrene Inscriptions,? 31-42.   For a
dedication to Soados from 145 C.E. sponsored by the council and the people, see p.
167 below.
165
contemporary of Marcus Ulpius Yarhai, the Palmyrene Soados, son of B?liados,
son of Soados, was similarly honored for his services that supported Palmyra?s
caravan trade.  Soados was well connected in the remote emporium of Vologesias,
a Parthian city south of Babylon.  The earliest reference to Vologesias, in fact, is in
an inscription from 132 C.E. once displayed in the courtyard of the temple of
Baalshamin.  This important inscription records the erection of four statues at
Palmyra to Soados, son of B?liados, which were sponsored by members of the
caravan upon their return from Vologesias, when Hagegu, son of Yarhibola and
Taimarsu, son of Taimarsu, were chiefs of the caravan.   Soados, son of B?liados,
was honored for his having saved the caravan from a ?great risky endeavor? (qdns
rb) and for his having given assistance to the merchants, caravans, and to the
citizens in Vologesias.118  Soados was honored again with four statues in 144 C.E.
by a caravan of Palmyrenes having arrived from Vologesias.119  Another prominent
Palmyrene, Nesha, son of Hala, son of Nesha, was twice honored for his role in the
caravan trade with Vologesias.  In 142 C.E., merchants erected a statue in the
temple of Bel to honor Nesha for his role as chief of their caravan from Phorat and
120  P0262.
121  P1419.
166
Vologesias.120  Nesha was again honored with a statue (in the agora) in 150 C.E. for
his having served as chief of the caravan that descended to Vologesias by members
of the same.121  
This impressive body of evidence documents the caravan trade of Palmyra
and highlights its public nature.  These inscriptions record the public honors the
benefactors, local notables who facilitated the trade, received from the merchants or
the caravan members who profited.  Without exception, this involved the
dedication of statues in public places, which contributed to Palmyra?s sculptural
and architectural embellishment.  For the development of community, these actions
were clear acknowledgments of the power and influence that certain individuals
within the community possessed and of the dependency that others, specifically
groups of merchants, had on them.  Thus social and economic ascendancy is
apparent among individuals connected to the caravan trade.
While it was common for Palmyrene merchants, whether at Palmyra or in
remote emporia, as well as for members of caravans, to erect statues to their
benefactors, to such prominent individuals as, for instance, Marcus Ulpius Yarhai
and Soados, son of B?liados, the city of Palmyra itself also sponsored dedications
to those whose services supporting the caravans enhanced the city?s role as a
commercial nexus.  This attests directly to the public significance of the caravan
122  P1421.
123  P1414.  His public dedication was probably associated with his role in
leading an embassy to a certain king Worod of Elymaide (?).  Also, there is mention
in the Greek text of the governors Bruttius Praesens and of Julius M[. . .].  For an
individual with the patrimony of A?bei identified as an arch?n of [Maish]an, see M.
Rostovtzeff, ?Une Nouvelle inscription caravani?re de Palmyre,? Berytus 2 (1935):
143-48; and D. Schlumberger, ?Palmyre et la M?s?ne,? Syria 38 (1961): 256-60. 
See also Chapter 6.
124  Palmyrene: P1062.  Greek: SEG VII.35; see also R. Mouterde and A.
Poidebard, ?La Voie antique des caravanes entre Palmyre et H?t, au IIe si?cle ap. J.-
C.,? Syria 12 (1931): 101-15.
167
trade to the city and its development.  In fact, the earliest record of the council
bestowing an honor upon a citizen is in a bilingual inscription in Greek and
Palmyrene of  86 C.E. dedicated to a certain Yarhai for his benevolence and
attentiveness to the merchants.122  Most likely, however, this inscription, which was
found in a pit in the agora, represents an honor to Yarhai for his presumed public
role as controller of the market.  In 138 C.E., the council of Palmyra also honored
Yarhibola, son of Lishamsh, (son of) Aabei, with a statue in the agora in 138 C.E.
for his having assisted merchants from Spasinous Charax.123  In later inscriptions it
is the council and the people combined who sponsored the erection of statues to
important public figures in honor of their contributions to the caravan trade. 
Soados, son of B?liados, for example, received four statues at Palmyra in 145 C.E.,
which the council and the people had set up for him at public expense, in addition
to separate statues in the caravanserai of Gennaes, in Spasinous Charax, and in
Vologesias.124  Also, the four statues that Ogeilu, son of Maqqai (son of) Ogeilu,
125  P1378.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 23 and 258.
126  P0282.  Cf. P1360, which may also be of the third century C.E.
127  P0288.  The career of Septimius Worod is discussed more fully in the
following chapter.
168
received in 199 C.E., which were set up by the four principal tribes of Palmyra,
were ordered by the council and the people.125  Most examples, however, are of the
third century C.E.  In 257 C.E., for instance, Julius Aurelius Shalamallat, son of
Mal , son of Abdai, chief of the caravan, received a statue in his honor,126 and in
266 C.E., the council and the people similarly honored the renowned Septimius
Worod.127  These dedications sponsored by the city to its leading citizens and
merchants are not numerous.  Nevertheless, they do indicate the public nature of the
caravan trade and suggest that great economic benefits accrued from this trade. 
Furthermore, these dedications highlight the extensive connections powerful
Palmyrene notables maintained in distant communities to support the caravan trade
and the role of Palmyra as a commercial nexus. 
Thus all of this evidence attests that the caravan trade was important to the
community of Palmyra and to its urban development.  The inscriptions discussed
above are all honorific, and their appearance in urban contexts highlights the public
nature of the caravan trade and the significance of Palmyra as an economic center. 
As I discussed earlier in this chapter, community formation and urbanization were
interrelated processes, and as I would stress here, population growth was linked to
169
Palmyra?s role as a commercial nexus, since many were drawn to Palmyra,
apparently, because of the economic opportunities the city afforded.  In terms of
urban growth, the various monuments of the city that arose served a variety of
communal needs, and as the community expanded over the course of three centuries
these needs increased.  Thus the monumentalization of Palmyra was a product of
communal growth, and many of Palmyra?s architectural and sculptural
embellishments were financed by elite individuals or groups enriched by
commercial endeavors mostly associated with the caravan trade.
Moreover, I would argue that the growth and decline of the community at
Palmyra can be ?read? from the chronology of the caravan trade as outlined in the
inscriptions presented above.  This chronology also mimics more or less intensive
phases of building activity within the city.  For example, only six inscriptions date
firmly to the first century C.E., which may represent the fact that Palmyrene
influence and contacts in foreign contexts were less developed yet expanding. 
Profits gained through trade with Babylon and Spasinous Charax were channeled
into building projects at Palmyra, as inscriptions recording the construction of the
temple of Bel attest.  Construction of the agora in the first century C.E. also attests
to the expanding significance of the caravan trade.  Interestingly, the inscriptions
that attest to Palmyrene caravans overwhelmingly date between 131 and 161 C.E. 
This is most likely due to the pacification of the eastern frontier and the expansion
of foreign relations under Hadrian and his successors, and prior to the aggressive
128  For more on the activities of Volegeses IV and relevant dates, see D. Potter,
?The Inscriptions on the Bronze Herakles from Mesene: Vologeses IV?s War with
Rome and the Date of Tacitus? Annales,? ZPE 88 (1991): 277-90.
129  For instance, see Starcky and Gawlikowski, Palmyre 74-83; and
Gawlikowski, ?Palmyra and its Caravan Trade,? 141.
130  For a general treatment of the events, see Millar, Roman Near East, 111-12;
Colledge, Parthians, 166-69; and Debevoise, Political History of Parthia, 249-53.
170
eastern policies of Marcus Aurelius and his colleague Lucius Verus to counter the
more aggressive activities of the Parthian ruler Vologeses IV.128  After 161 C.E., the
caravans seem to have ended, and there is no further indication that they resumed
until 193 C.E.  Thereafter, the caravans are attested, but only sporadically, until 266
C.E., when, apparently, they ceased altogether.  
If this outline is valid, there seems to have been a thirty-two year gap in the
caravan trade between 161 C.E. and 193 C.E.  General opinion on this issue is that
the aggressive tendencies of Vologeses IV, Parthian ruler from 147 to 191 C.E.,
were at fault.129  In 162 C.E., Vologeses IV invaded Armenia, where he replaced its
ruler with an Arsacid prince.  He then invaded Syria.  This precipitated a Roman
response, which came in 163 C.E. with the recapture of Armenia and Rome?s
subsequent penetration into Parthian territory down the Euphrates over the next few
years.130  While such conflict apparently halted caravan traffic?as we would
expect?for a short time, it does not explain adequately why the caravan trade took
so long to resume once again, more than thirty years later.  I would argue that this
gap of more than thirty years reflects some sort of decline in the Palmyrene
131  On the Antonine plague, as it is generally regarded, see the insightful
discussion by R. Duncan-Jones, ?The Impact of the Antonine Plague,? JRA 9
(1996): 108-36; cf. W. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples (1976; reprint, New York:
Anchor Books, 1998), 130-34.
132  For Chinese accounts of the plague, see F. Hirth, China and the Roman
Orient (Leipzig: G. Hirth, 1885; New York: Paragon, 1966), 175.  Also, on
relations between Rome and China, see J. Ferguson, ?China and Rome,? ANRW
2.9.2 (1978): 581-603.  Many Roman soldiers died in Parthia when the plague
initially broke out; see Cassius Dio  71.2.4.  Those who survived the retreat from
Parthia carried the disease to the Roman world where it reached the Rhine and
Gaul; see Ammianus Marcellinus 23.6.24.  Additional sources in Duncan-Jones,
?Impact of the Antonine Plague,? 118-20.
133  Cassius Dio 72.14.3-4; Herodian 1.12.1.
134  Summarized by Duncan-Jones, ?Impact of the Antonine Plague,? 120-21.
171
community, but due to what?  One possible factor may have been the
Mediterranean-wide impact of the plague that struck Roman forces while on
campaign in Parthia, in the region of Babylon, in 165 C.E. (fig. 1).131  Its effects
were devastating, as it was widespread and of long duration (165-89 C.E.).  The
plague probably came from further east and may be related to the eastern trade. 
Reports of the plague in China, for instance, date as early as 161 C.E., and Roman
forces brought the plague home after campaigning in Parthia, where it spread
rapidly throughout the Empire and endured for decades.132  As late as 189 C.E., the
plague was reported in Rome.133  Unfortunately, its impact on the general
population is difficult to assess, but modern estimates hold that many communities
lost nearly a third to half of their populations.134  Accordingly, we would expect to
find such eastern communities that lay along the path of the Roman legions
172
returning from Parthia, or those with close ties to the communities where the plague
is said to have broken out, to have had some exposure to the disease.  Though we
have no direct evidence, it is likely, then, that the plague struck Palmyra.  If not at
Palmyra, the plague almost certainly affected Palmyrenes living abroad in the
communities where it initially erupted.  The decline in trade, then, may reflect the
loss of life among the very Palmyrenes who supported the vast trade network that
extended down the Euphrates, and whose ships traveled to Scythia.  Such losses
may well explain a decline in caravan trade not directly related to political affairs
between Rome and Parthia.  Nevertheless, since our intent is to examine Palmyra as
an economic center as related to the growth of community at the site (to the extent
that the caravan trade facilitated communal development), such incidents as the
plague of 165 C.E., if we choose to regard Palmyra and Palmyrenes as having been
affected in some way, would have had a negative impact on growth and resulted in
population decline.
Finally, we can observe that a broad cross-section of the Palmyrene
community was supported by and benefitted from the caravan trade, at least when
the trade routes were operational.  Thus the caravan trade supported the economic
growth and subsistence of Palmyra.  The powerful patrons at Palmyra and within
the various emporia in Roman and Parthian (later Persian) territories, those whose
investments financed many of the caravans, surely benefitted most of all.  They not
only invested in the commodities transported but also contributed to the supply and
135  See p. 250 below.
173
protection of the caravans.  Also, those who led the caravans and those hired to
guard them benefitted as well, although their position and status in society were
probably far less than the local notables funding the endeavor.  We can deduce this
from the fact that caravan leaders often bestowed honors upon their patrons, which
required some disposable wealth in the first place, or had honors bestowed upon
their patrons by the community.  In addition, the humble but no less influential
merchants at home and abroad, who daily maintained face-to-face contacts with
foreigners, benefitted from the profits derived from trade, particularly as the
recipients of rewards and assistance bestowed upon them by powerful patrons.  In
recognition of this generosity, these merchants consistently returned honors upon
their patrons.  We may also add to this list the far more humble pastoralists whose
task was to care for the pack animals in on and off seasons.  The caravan trade thus
benefitted many individuals at Palmyra and abroad, who may be differentiated with
respect to their occupations and social positions. According to their collective
interests, they gathered in common association in order to pursue a commercial
endeavor which yielded mutual benefits to them all.  Ultimately, the communities
that sponsored this trade and supported the responsible individuals reaped huge
rewards, because those who profited tended to channel portions of their wealth into
public projects of civic embellishment, architectural and sculptural.  This was
classical euergetism, a topic to which I will return in Chapter 4.135  The urbanization
174
of Palmyra, then, must be understood in such a context.
Moreover, while the economy of Roman Palmyra was based on trade,
agriculture, and pastoralism, these supported a range of economic opportunities
within the city that drew people to Palmyra, a major center of consumption.  These
opportunities are apparent in a range of occupations at Palmyra that we may classify
in terms of craft and industry, and which are best identified by their productive
output.  A cursory list includes pottery, glassware, textiles, sculpture, jewelry,
coinage, woodwork, and foodstuffs.  In addition to material evidence from
archaeology, the tariff inscription is very informative for illuminating craft
production and industry in the villages of Palmyra?s hinterland and perhaps in the
city of Palmyra itself, particularly when taxes are listed for specific merchandise
likely to have been produced locally.  We must, then, recognize that a diverse
population existed within the city employed in a wide range of occupations,
whether manufacturing goods or selling them.  Their collective association and
interaction within a communal context will form the basis of discussion for the
following chapter.
Conclusion
To sum up, the growth of community at Palmyra and its vibrancy were the
result of the city?s importance as an economic and religious center in the Syrian
desert.  At the peak of its prosperity, one scholar believes that the population of
Palmyra may well have reached around 150,000-200,000 individuals in the second
136  See D. Crouch, ?A Note on the Population and Area of Palmyra,? 241-50. 
See also Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 170-71.
137  See E. Savino, Citt? di frontiera nell?Impero romano: Forme della
romanizzazione da Augusto ai Severi, Pragmateiai 1 (Bari: Edipuglia, 1999), 69-
75.
175
century C.E., a figure that does not include the inhabitants of the countryside.136 
This calculation, however, seems excessive.  A more modest estimate for the same
period, according to a recent calculation, is that Palmyra accommodated from
40,000 to 60,000 people in the city, with an additional population of 250,000 in the
wider hinterland.137  Whatever the figures were, the population of Palmyra in the
second century C.E. was clearly substantial, which was a radical change from the
village community that grew up near the Efqa spring in the first century B.C.E.  I
have examined the presumed factors that attracted people to the oasis in the first
place, mainly in terms of the cultic significance of the site as a center for shared
religious association, but also in terms of the city both as a locus for economic
opportunity and an administrative center.  The caravan trade, with its apparent
promise of profits and rewards, was, perhaps, the most attractive aspect of Palmyra. 
Moreover, it seems probable that individuals were drawn to the city in order to
connect in some way with the network of associations that supported the caravan
trade so that they themselves might extract some benefits.  In any event, the growth
of community at Palmyra extended the framework for the construction and
maintenance of individual and group identity.  The complex network of these
176
various identities forms the topic of the next chapter.
177
Chapter 4: Social Identities
Introduction
As the Palmyrene community grew, social diversity within the city
increased.  I examined in the previous chapter two important factors that instigated
the growth of community at Palmyra: the attraction of the city both as a religious
center and as a locus for economic opportunity.  But once groups and individuals
settled in the city, what structured their social identities in civic contexts.  As I
discussed in Chapter 1, identity is constructed in relation to others.  Indeed, those
who settled in the city, who formed the community, shared a range of similarities
and differences with one another.  Each had his or her own personal identity, and
each had his or her own network of associations with others.  Personal and group
identity at Palmyra, in fact, are revealed by the nature and the composition of the
interactions between the various individuals and groups who peopled the
settlement.
In addition, from a village settlement in the first century B.C.E. Palmyra
developed over the course of three centuries into an impressive urban community
replete with monumental architecture, amenities, and the social and political
178
institutions characteristic of large cities.  This transformation from village to city
set Palmyra within a broader cultural, political, economic, and social milieu of
generally like-minded people dwelling in other cities of comparable status in the
Near East.  Differences, however, were noticeable and inherent, for instance the
distinct cults or the varied social backgrounds from those of the inhabitants of other
cities.  The Palmyrenes, nonetheless, as their community expanded, embedded
themselves in this broader world and increasingly became attuned to Mediterranean
values and customs.  They did so, however, without fully abandoning ancestral
habits and their eastern tendencies, since they continued to maintain relations in
both Parthian and Roman territories.  Still the greatest influence on the social life of
the city seems to have been directed from the west.
Indeed, this transformation from village to city had direct and transparent
effects on the social life of the city, evidence for which can be gleaned from the
epigraphy.  Familial associations, apparently, took preeminence over clan and tribal
identities, though the latter were staunchly supported.  Also, voluntary associations
formed that were unique to city life and apparently Mediterranean in their
conception and organization.  I intend in this chapter to analyze the epigraphy for
evidence of social diversity within Palmyra and the extent to which Greek and
Roman customs influenced Palmyrene social development.  My method will be to
outline the various categories of social organization and involvement in the life of
the community, beginning with the Palmyrene family and moving on to the roles of
1  L. Stone, Kinship and Gender: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (Boulder: Westview
Press, 2000), 5.
179
women, slaves, freedmen and freedwomen, occupational groups, and, finally,
ending with an analysis of voluntary associations and the prevalence of ritual
dining.  Furthermore, I will introduce here cursorily the nature of the power
relations, specifically patronage and friendship, that governed personal and group
interaction within the Palmyrene community.
The Palmyrene Family
Humans are social creatures.  They live in groups in association with one
another, and the social organization of individuals and groups is connected to their
conceptions of relatedness.  These may be based on a diverse set of criteria. 
Descent, residence, shared occupation, and social status, along with a host of other
aspects of life on which to base distinctions, whether real or perceived, can serve as
bases for forming social groups.  Yet, among such criteria, some hold greater
relevance than others.  In virtually every social context, for instance, kinship, as
defined by relationships between individuals based on marriage or descent, has
universal significance.1  It is through relationships based on kinship that families
form.  At Palmyra, the basic unit in social organization was the family, which in its
simplest form consisted of the father, mother, and children, if any. 
 I discussed in Chapter 2 the role of genealogies in mapping out familial
relations.  Descent, I observed, was patrilineal, since it followed links along the
2  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 22-28.
3  For the anthropological terminology on the various forms of residence, see
Stone, Kinship and Gender, 15-17.
180
male line.  But where the family physically resided in relation to other kin, in terms
of spatially aggregate groups, is a far more problematic issue that affects the extent
to which we can compare familial relations at Palmyra with those of other
communities.  Dirven asserts that the Palmyrene family was patrilocal, which she
takes to mean that wives went to live with their husbands.2  In the Mediterranean
world, this seems obvious, but it is also misleading.  Patrilocal residence generally
refers to situations in which a married couple live at or near the parental home of
the groom.  I can find no evidence in the inscriptions to support this notion. 
Moreover, there is no evidence to contest the possibility that the typical Palmyrene
family was either virilocal, meaning that wives moved to the location of their
husbands wherever they might be living, or that they were neolocal, meaning that
the married couple moved to a new location altogether, not necessarily one in close
spatial proximity to either parental home.3  Unfortunately, we lack the data to make
any assessment of who lived where in relation to different units of agnatic or
cognatic kin.  Thus, the prevalence of extended family units living in close spatial
proximity is uncertain, although the presence of large aristocratic houses may
suggest this to be the case on a limited scale (see below).  Also, while there is no
conclusive evidence to suggest that the Palmyrene household consisted of several
4  For a general introduction to the domestic space of Palmyra, see Fr?zouls, ?A
Propos de l?architecture domestique ? Palmyre,? 29-52, who suggests on p. 31 that
additional domestic areas may lie east of the temple of Baalshamin and beyond the
181
large nuclear families living under the authority and in the same or near the
household of a elderly patriarch, mature sons may well have maintained households
independent of their fathers, and brothers may have resided independent of one
another, though again where they lived in relation to one another cannot be
determined.  This lack of evidence for residential locality limits any analysis of
familial relations above the level of the nuclear family, though personal
relationships existed between siblings and their relations (see below).  Moreover
this lack of evidence limits the scope of any cross-cultural comparison of
Palmyrene familial relations with those of other communities.
This deficiency of residential data stems from the lack of archaeological
investigations of domestic housing within the city, and the meager evidence
available favors solely an analysis of aristocratic living.  Indeed, whether these
families were patrilocal, virilocal, or neolocal, the archaeological evidence of the
homes excavated to date shows that at least some lived lifestyles attuned to Greek
and Roman lifestyles.  This is evident, for example, in the architectural style and
ornamentation of the known housing.  Only three areas of domestic housing within
the city have been investigated, one north of the Great Colonnade and the
Tetrapylon, another southeast of the theater, and the third east of the temple of Bel
(fig. 3).4  The domestic structures north of the Great Colonnade lie in a zoned area
city walls.  See also Browning, Palmyra, 99.
5  See Fr?zouls, ?A Propos de l?architecture domestique ? Palmyre,? 51.  For
the urban development of this area in the second century C.E., see pp. 48-53 above.
6  A. Gabriel, ??Recherches arch?ologiques ? Palmyra,? Syria 7 (1926): 71-92.
7  J. W. Graham, ?The Origins and Interrelations of the Greek House and the
Roman House,? Phoenix 20 (1966): 17, suggests that this feature is an archetypical
example of Greek houses as Vitruvius De architectura 4.7 describes.
182
with clearly planned streets, which probably suggests their development in the
second century C.E.5  Albert Gabriel, who examined a dozen houses there in 1925,
provides a short review of the data.6  For the most part, the houses follow the
conventional Hellenistic arrangement of a peristyle court surrounding a spacious
courtyard with a large room at one end corresponding to a Greek oikos, the
principal living area.  Gabriel?s House 35 provides an excellent example (fig. 23). 
The structure is organized around a spacious courtyard measuring 16.80 meters on a
side.  The oikos is to the north divided into a main living chamber with two
flanking rooms, and additional rooms align against the east and west walls of the
house with an entrance from the east through two small vestibules, which
emphasizes the private nature of the home.  What may be a pastas, or porch, is set
before the oikos, which highlights the Hellenistic style of the house.7  In contrast to
House 35, the domestic structures southeast of the theater and those east of the
temple of Bel are larger and more opulent.  The most famous are the latter, the
house of Achilles, which covers an area of nearly 1000 square meters, and the
8  For a full description of the mosaics, see H. Stern, Les Mosa?ques des
maisons d?Achille et de Cassiop?e ? Palmyre, Biblioth?que arch?ologique et
historique, no. 101 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1977).
9  See Stern, Les Mosa?ques des maisons d?Achille et de Cassiop?e, 25-42.
10  It is noteworthy that these great houses were constructed literally adjacent to
the temple of Bel, the central civic sanctuary, which would suggest a prominent
status for the aristocratic families residing in them.
183
house of Cassiopeia, so-called because of the rich mosaics discovered within them
(fig. 24).8  The iconographic details of these mosaics suggest that whoever crafted
them was heavily versed in Greek tradition, according to Henri Stern, who dates
them to the third century based on comparison of their subject and craftsmanship
with other mosaics in the Roman Near East.9  Indeed, the grandeur of these
structures, which qualify more as villas than as houses, the elaboration of their
architectural plans, and their artistic embellishments, indicate that their aristocratic
owners were genuinely attuned to the elite customs of a broader Mediterranean
milieu.  Also, the sheer size of some of these houses may suggest that extended
familial units resided within them, but again this remains conjectural.10  
With this better understanding of nuclear families and the evidence for the
lifestyles of some of the elite, we can move on to examine a second level of social
organization at Palmyra, the Palmyrene household.  Indeed, every nuclear family
comprised a household, but the level of incorporation was greater than father,
mother, and children.  Slaves, for instance, and others living in the house would
have been included as well.  In one particular case, a slave was sufficiently regarded
11  P0464: [byrh
.  sywn] ?nt 352 | [s. lmy? ?ln] dy kytwt br | [tymrs. w wdy my?]? brt |
[mlkw ?tt]h wdy l?m? | [brh wdy ?lmn] brh wdy | mlkw ?lymh.  See also P0463 for
the genealogies.
12  For example, see P0379, P0393, and P1445.  See also Hillers and Cussini,
Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 346, s.v. ?by.? 
13  For example, see P0318, P0382, P0394, P0400, P1446, P1448, P1452,
P1900, P1911, and P1920.
184
as a member of the immediate family of his master to merit inclusion in the family
tomb.  In Tower 44 in the Valley of the Tombs, for example, an inscription dated
44 C.E. refers to the images of a certain Kitut and to those of his household:
[In the month Siwan], the year 355 (June 44 C.E.), [these statues are
those] of Kitut, son of [Taimarsu, and of Maisha], daughter of
[Malku], his wife, and of Lishamsh, [his son, and of Shalman], his
son, and of Malku, his slave.11
The Palmyrene expression for ?members of the household? is bny byth (bt),12 and,
more often, we find emphasis on including ?every single member? (bny byth
klhwn).13  This emphasis on everyone may be interpreted to include all those in the
house and who were dependent upon the father, which would have included
children and slaves.  It may, in addition, refer to related kin residing in different
households.  Furthermore, these examples are from altars, so the associated cultic
context provides partial evidence for the fact that social cohesion was achieved by
shared religious observance within households or between related familial members
in separate residences.  Finally, the overt structure of the Palmyrene household
seems compatible with that of other Mediterranean communities.
14  In general, on the ownership of tombs, see J. M. C. Toynbee, Death and
Burial in the Roman World (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971), 73-
91.
15  P1787.  Similarly, see P1784.
185
Despite uncertainty as to where individual family members resided,
relations between them were strikingly close.  Indeed, a strong sense of kinship
pervaded Palmyrene society.  Brothers, sisters, uncles, cousins, and grandparents
are frequently attested or commemorated in the inscriptions, which indicates the
significance of lineage groups as unique social entities.  The closeness between and
among families, for example, is evident in the various funerary monuments, which
served primarily the burial needs of related kin.  Thus, at least in death we can be
more certain of where members of familial groups resided.  The construction of
these monuments was often a collective endeavor that siblings supported for their
immediate families.  Since their construction was an expensive enterprise, it was
not uncommon to share the costs with a brother or some other close relative.14 
Wealthy individuals also constructed funerary monuments at their own expense,
generally to serve the burial needs of their children and the children of their
children, but uncles, cousins, and brothers often appear among the list of
commemorative recipients as well.  We see this, for instance, in P1787, which
records the construction of a family tomb by Lishamsh, son of Moqimu, son of
Harshu, in 123 C.E. for his children, his brothers, and his cousins, and in which he
had buried his sister Shaba and Hanat his wife.15  The fact that many families or
16  P1909: bryk ?mh l?lm? | t
.b? wrh. mn? ?bd | wmwd? h. yrn br yml? | mqymw ?l
h. ywhy | wh. y? ?bwhy wddh | w?h. why ?nt 555.  For additional dedications to the
Anonymous God which commemorate kin, in particular brothers, see P0344,
P0402, P1002, P1435, P1436, P1442, P1447, P1455, P1619, P1898, P1900, P1902,
P1904, P1906, P1907, and P1914.  For P1619, see also J. Starcky, ?Autour d?une
d?dicace palmyr?nienne ? Sadrafa et ? Du?anat,? Syria 26 (1949): 52.  Similarly,
but where the dedication is to the ?Lady of the Temple,? see P1928 and P1929; and
where the dedication is to Belastor, see P2780 and P2781.
17  See P0335.  Similarly, see P1918.
18  See P0179.  See also P2798.
186
lineage groups shared funerary properties in common and that they inherited
privileges to be buried within them exemplifies their closeness and cohesion.
Lineage ties also appear in religious contexts, particularly on altars as
families worshiped common deities, which again shows how shared cult can
reinforce social relationships.  On an altar found near the Efqa spring, a dedication
of 243 C.E. to the Anonymous God reads:
The One Whose Name Is Blessed, the Good and Merciful.  Made in
thanksgiving, Hairan, son of Yaml  , for his life and the life his
father and that of his uncle and of his brother(s), the year 555.16
Similarly, on an altar from 135 C.E., Manai, son of Malku rb?, son of Manai Ruma
(r?wm?) renders praise to the Lord of the World, the Good, and the Merciful (lmr?
?lm? t.b? wrh. mn?), for his life, that of his sons, and of his brothers.17  Also, to the
gods Baalshamin, Durahlun and to Rahim, and to the Gad of Yedibel, Hairan, son
of Ogeilu Aitibel, a member of the bny m?zyn, dedicated an altar in 62 C.E. for his
life, that of his sons, and of his brothers.18  Likewise in 63 C.E., Baraa, son of
19  See P0992: byrh
.  ?lwl ?nt 3 | 75 ?lwt? ?[n] | qrb br?? br mqymw br | twry br
br?? dy mn bny | mtbwl l?rs. w wlqsmy? | [w]lbnt?l ?lhy? t.by? ?l | h. yy mqymw ?bwhy
wh. ywhy | wh. yy bnwhy [wh. yy] w?h. wy.  See also K. al-As?ad and J. Teixidor, ?Un
Culte arabe pr?islamique ? Palmyre d?apr?s une inscription in?dite,? CRAIBL
(1985): 286-93.
20  P0324: [b]yrh
.  ?lwl ?nt 380|+16 h. mn? dnh w?lt? dh | [?]bdw wqrbw l?m?
wzbyd? | bny mlkw br ydy?bl br n?? | dy mtqr? br ?bdbl dy mn | ph. d bny mgdt l?m? |
?lh byt ?bwhn ?l | h. yyhwn wh. yy ?h. yh[wn] | wbnyhwn.
187
Moqimu, son of Turai, son of Baraa, a member of the bny mtbwl, offered altars in
the temple of Arsu to the patron god of the temple, to Qasmaia and to the daughters
of El, the good gods, for the life of his father, his own life, and the lives of his sons
and brothers.19  Communal worship of an ancestral god among close kin is also
evident on an altar dedicated in 85 C.E. to the god Shamash now at Oxford in the
Ashmolean Museum.  The inscription reads: 
In the month Elul, the year 396 (September, 85 C.E.), Lishamsh and
Zebaida, sons of Malku, son of Yedibel, son of Nesha, who is called
the son of Abdibel (dy mtqr? br ?bdbl), who is a member of the tribe
(dy mn ph. d) of the bny mgrt, have made and offered for Shamash,
the god of the house of their fathers (byt ?b), this shrine and this altar
(h. mn? dnh w?lt? dh) for the life of themselves and the life of their
brothers and sons.20
Significantly, this inscription illustrates the manner in which a single pious act
could reinforce a social relationship between siblings, familial associations with a
common ancestor three generations removed, perhaps a clan identity, and,
ultimately, a tribal identity.  Indeed, while the dedication may have provided
Lishamsh and Zebaida with a sense of piety, it also confirmed various social
boundaries that each brother maintained?specifically by establishing social
21  See P0334.
22  See P0562.
23  P0071.  Cf. P0398.
188
identities based on family and tribal associations.  In addition to men, women also
commemorated their families, those of their fathers and their husbands.  The
daughter of Malku, son of Wahballat, and wife of Malku, son of Oga, for instance,
dedicated an altar in 89 C.E. (possibly 189 C.E.) to the god Baalshamin, for her life,
that of her children, and that of the children of her brother.21  Thus the evidence
attests the importance of lineage, especially in religious contexts, since shared cults,
which exemplify incorporation and cooperation, tend to confirm social
relationships.  Uniquely, the inscriptions span the entire period covered in this
study, which means that familial relationships, even ancestral ones, remained
significant in a Palmyrene?s perceived social identity.
Furthermore, it is important to note that lineage solidarity was not restricted
to kin solely descended along the male line.  It was also not exclusive to active
religious contexts.  In some late examples, maternal uncles and cousins on the
mother?s side are attested.  Julius Aurelius Bolma, for instance, twice ceded (in 229
and again in 234 C.E.) a portion of his tomb to the children of his maternal uncle.22 
In 251 C.E., Seleukos, son of Theophilos, son of Seleukos transferred ten niches
within the exedra of his tomb to Yarhibola, son of Sabeina, the army veteran, son of
Taima, his maternal uncle.23  Among patrilineal descent groups such as those at
24  See Stone, Kinship and Gender, 73.
25  See M. Bettini, Anthropology and Roman Culture: Kinship, Time, Images of
the Soul, translated by J. van Sickle (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1991), 39-66.
189
Palmyra, some scholars maintain that a sense of formality and duty existed in
relationships traced patrilineally, which was ?often offset by informal, warm, and
affectionate relationships traced through the mother?especially those between a
male and his mother?s brother.?24  This has been observed in ancient Rome, for
instance.25  Unfortunately, the type of evidence that we have at Palmyra, primarily
epigraphic, does not permit us fully to assess relations among members of
immediate familial groups, that is, between and among family units.  They appear
to have been cooperative and congenial, but relations as such tend to be
memorialized more often on stone than competitive and conflicted ones.
Clans and tribes provide the remaining categories of social organization at
Palmyra based on kinship, whether real or perceived.  I discussed the nature of
tribes and tribal identities in Chapter 2, and I will have more to say regarding these
in the following chapter.  For now, I will examine clan identity at Palmyra, as well
as make the distinction between clan and lineage.  
The basic difference between clan and lineage ?is that lineages are
perceived by the peoples themselves as grounded in known or presumed
genealogical connections, whereas clans mark an identity of general relatedness and
26  Stone, Kinship and Gender, 68.
27  See, for instance, Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 12-14 and 81-170.
190
common descent.?26  Clan associations can be mapped with ease but are difficult to
confirm.  We can generate clan identities, for instance, directly from the
genealogies, as shown in Chapter 2.  Presumably, the mapping of one?s ancestry to
several preceding generations served at each stage to generate broader kin-based
associations with other social groups.  For those who acknowledged a common
ancestor along their lineage chains, then, beyond that of a grandfather, relatedness
must have seemed apparent.  But this observation must remain hypothetical.  The
brothers Lishamsh and Zebaida, who dedicated an altar to Shamash in 85 C.E. and
who confirmed their tribal affiliation by identifying their great-grandfather Nesha as
a member of the tribe of the bny mgrt, for example, may be regarded as belonging
to a clan, as descendants of their grandfather Yedibel, only if we claim that the
genealogy is not based on known or presumed kinship ties, which it appears to be. 
Indeed, more often Palmyrenes identified themselves in the context of immediate
familial relations.  It was common, for example, to record one?s identity in a lineage
linked to a paternal grandfather, or perhaps great-grandfather, but why the
genealogy would be extended further cannot be answered.  As has been suggested,
perhaps it did involve a conscious effort to generate prestige of some sort, whether
economically, politically, or socially motivated, and to bind other social groups to
one?s own, a tradition common among bedouin groups.27  Yet still the closest
28  There is no specific term for ?clan? in Palmyrene, though the expression byt
?b, literally meaning ?father?s house,? may be so translated (see Hillers and Cussini,
Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 347, s.v. ?byt ?b?).  I would argue, however, that byt ?b
does not bear the same definition of a clan identity as I have presented it.  The
single occurrence of byt ?b is in P0324 which from the context of the inscription
refers to an ancestral deity; see p. 187 above.  Furthermore, as noted in Chapter 2,
the Greek term genos also characterizes a social group based on descent, which may
be either a clan or a tribe.  The translation of the term in Palmyrene, however, is
simply bny; see P0296, P0297, P0298, and P0299.
29  See p. 76 above.
191
associations were maintained between brothers, sisters, and their offspring, that is,
between individuals closely descended from one another, usually within a
generation.  At times, classificatory designations provide evidence of extended
familial associations such as clans, as when the term bny appears before the name
of a remote ancestor.28  But, as I have noted, the same term appears often to denote
tribal identities as well, which further complicates our understanding of clan
identities at Palmyra and how clan affiliations operated outside of close familial
associations.29
Above all the epigraphy highlights the significance of the family as a basic
unit of social organization at Palmyra.  Extended families and clans, however,
while these existed, are more difficult to identify because of a lack of explicit
evidence.  Even the archaeology of domestic houses within Palmyra, which remains
limited, is sufficient only to suggest that the Palmyrene family in the second and
third century C.E., at least among the wealthy, favored western culture.  We know
nothing, for example, of the occupancy of these homes, except that the nuclear
192
family may have been the basic social unit within each.  Indeed, according to the
epigraphy, throughout the period under discussion the Palmyrenes consistently
emphasized immediate familial relations, both of the nuclear family and of the
household.  Since the evidence is primarily from urban contexts, this may suggest
that the city fostered more intimate relationships between close kin than those
between more distance relatives, perhaps, as a conjecture, because subsistence
living required lower levels of cooperation in the city.  When larger familial
associations or lineage groups appear, the contexts tend to support group cohesion,
such as when individuals and groups shared cult or held burial rites in common. 
Finally, as social organisms organized patriarchally, Palmyrene families seem not to
be too dissimilar from families in other communities of the Roman Near East. 
Comparison of how families perpetuated themselves through marriages, the
primary method of generating extended families and clans, will further illuminate
this point. 
Marriages Patterns
Marriage is a common feature of most developed societies.  Marriage
unifies unrelated or related people and creates in-laws.  Just as marriage generates
the nuclear family, for example, it also generates immediate familial associations
through the joining of the two discrete family units of each couple.  Further, in
patrilineal descent groups, marriage serves in many cases to legitimize children.  At
Palmyra, for the most part, marriage patterns supported kin solidarity.  These varied
30  Cf. B. Shaw and R. Saller, ?Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society?,? Man,
New Series 19.3 (1984): 432-44, who make the argument, at least for the western
Roman Empire, that close-kin marriages were rare among aristocrats and those less
affluent.
31  See P. Garnsey, Social Status and Legal Privilege in the Roman Empire
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970), throughout.
193
significantly.  Marriages, for instance, were both exogamous, meaning unions
outside of one?s particular group, and endogamous, unions within ones?s group. 
Furthermore, cross-cousin and parallel cousin marriages at Palmyra were not
uncommon.30  I will examine now the marriage patterns at Palmyra, and in
particular how and why marriages were carried out between and among distinct
groups.  I will then discuss where Palmyrene marriage patterns fit within a broader
cultural milieu.
When we speak of endogamous and exogamous marriages at Palmyra, we
must be clear about the specific groups to which the rules of inclusion and
exclusion applied.  Such rules had a direct bearing on a number of important issues
pertaining to group maintenance.  Issues of inheritance were particularly acute. 
Wealth, status, privilege, power, and authority could all be transmitted through
marriage.  They could also be enhanced or depleted through their transmission.31  It
is important, also, to recognize that different rules may have applied to different
social entities, whether it is a religious group, a descent group, or a language group,
for instance, among a host of possibilities.  Furthermore, from the perspective of the
individuals involved, since they may have been affiliated with more than a single
32  Stone, Kinship and Gender, 202.
33  See B. Pasternak, Introduction to Kinship and Social Organization
(Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976), 69.
34  See, for instance, Stone, Kinship and Gender, 205-7.
194
group at any given moment, various rules of marriage may have applied
simultaneously.  Therefore, we must assess carefully the associations involved
between individuals and groups and prioritize the influence of each.  It is doubtful
that we can reveal fully the marriages patterns at Palmyra, however.  The best that
we can hope to achieve is a general outline of what the situation was, and from that
we can speculate on the causes.
As noted, marriages can be exogamous or endogamous.  Among patrilineal
descent groups, the tendency is to be exogamous; that is, marriages occur among
individuals who do not share a common paternal ancestor.  The rules of exogamy
are such that groups are forced ?to look beyond themselves for spouses and develop
alliances with other groups.?32  Indeed, exogamous marriages tend to promote
interdependency between independent groups and to facilitate cooperative
intergroup relationships.33  We may note, however, that if two groups are in
conflict, marriage does not necessarily lead to a resolution of the issues involved.34 
Endogamy, on the other hand, among patrilineal descent groups represents patterns
of marriage in which individuals do share a common paternal ancestor.  In societies
influenced by pastoral traditions, those in which descent is traced patrilineally,
35  See, for instance, Pasternak, Introduction to Kinship, 74-77, and the
discussion that follows.
36  For example, see H. Rosenfeld, ?An Analysis of Marriage Statistics for a
Moslem and Christian Arab Village,? International Archives of Ethnography 48
(1957): 32-62.
37  F. Barth, ?Father?s Brother?s Daughter Marriage in Kurdistan,?
Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 10 (1954): 171.
38  Pasternak, Introduction to Kinship, 74.
39  Ibid., 76.
195
endogamy is a characteristic feature, in particular the practice of parallel cousin
marriages joining the children of two same sex siblings.  Such marriages, for
example, are common among Arab pastoralists, a phenomenon that sociologists and
anthropologists cannot adequately explain.35  Rosenfeld emphasizes the economic
incentives for intermarriage, and he speculates that parallel cousin relations serve to
keep property intact by locking it within the kin group.36  Barth, on the other hand,
in reference to the Kurds, suggests that parallel cousin marriages serve a more
important role in ?solidifying the minimal lineage as a corporate group in factional
struggle.?37  Thus, ?an ambitious man may use parallel cousin marriage to solidify,
politically, his close patrilineal relatives.?38  Within a patrilineal descent group
engaged actively in parallel cousin marriages for more than three generations,
however, the practice tends to be divisive and diminishes group solidarity.39  In
contrast, cross-cousin marriages, which involve the espousal of the children of
siblings who are of the opposite sex, are another method of forming alliances with
40  See Pasternak, Introduction to Kinship, 69-74; and Stone, Kinship and
Gender, 200-207.
41  For examples, see the genealogies provided in Sadurska and Bounni, Les
Sculptures fun?raires de Palmyre, 11, 23-24, 38, 42-43, 70-72, 91, 102, 113, 118,
122-3, 137, 142, 150, and 172.
42  P0168.  Note that the Palmyrene text actually reads, ?Amtallat, daughter of
Baraa, son of Atenatan, who is of the daughters of Mita? (?mtlt b[r]t | br?? br ?tntn
dy mn bnt myt?), as opposed to bny myt?, ?sons of Mita.?
43  P2801.  See also discussion by Rodinson, ?Une Inscription trilingue de
Palmyre,? 137-42.
196
closely associated descent groups.40  I will present now evidence that illustrates
exogamous and endogamous marriage patterns at Palmyra, and I will then elaborate
on its significance.
At Palmyra, it seems, marriages were, for the most part, exogamous, and the
tendency was to marry within a particular class or social group based on rank or
distinction.41  Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that marriages served as a
form of social alliance between groups.  For example, this seems to be the case at
the tribal level with the marriage between Amtallat, daughter of Baraa, son of
Atenatan, of the bny myt?, and Taima, son of Belhazai, son of Zabdibel, of the tribe
of the bny m?zyn, attested in an inscription dated to 52 C.E.42  Also, P2801
commemorates the renowned Hairan, son of Buna, son of Rabbel, son of Buna, son
of Atenatan, son of Taimai, of the tribe of the bny myt?, and his mother, Baaltega,
daughter of Belshurai, of the tribe of bny gdybwl.43  Both texts correspond to a
period of great change in the history of the city, particularly in terms of its
44  See P0261, an honorific inscription found in the temple of Bel, which dates
to 21 C.E. and records the erection of a statue of Hashash, son of Nesha, son of
Bolha Hashash, by the bny kmr? and the bny mtbwl, because he made peace
between them and assisted them in all of their affairs.
45  See P2664-73.  In fact, this was a second marriage for Oga.  He was also
married to a certain Shalmat, daughter of Shamshigeram, whose relations were
buried in the same tomb.  For the genealogy of Shalmat, daughter of
Shamshigeram, see Sadurska and Bounni, Les Sculptures fun?raires de Palmyre,
23.
46  See P0498.
197
institutional development, and both correspond roughly to the time when we know
of tribal conflicts within the community.44  These marriages, then, would have
facilitated cooperative inter-tribal relationships and may have ameliorated ongoing
conflicts or prevented potential ones from occurring.  Moreover, at the familial
level, exogamous cross-cousin marriages, a means by which to form alliances with
closely associated descent groups, were practiced at Palmyra.  Cross-cousin
marriages are evident in the funerary inscriptions from the hypogeum of Artaban,
son of Oga (tomb 5 in the southeast necropolis), for example.  The founder of the
tomb, Oga, son of Artaban, son of Oga, whose mother was Hertabu, daughter of
Bara, was married to his first cousin Barrata, daughter of Yarhai, son of Bara.  Thus
Hertabu and Yarhai were siblings.45  In addition, from the tomb of Elahbel and his
brothers (Tower 13) in the Valley of the Tombs, it seems that one of the brothers,
Malku, married the daughter of his father?s sister, Attai.46  Thus exogamous
marriages, whether of a cross-cousin or not, were common at Palmyra and reveal
47  P0486.
48  See P0501.
49  See P0494 and P0507.
50  See P0495 and P0500.
51  See P0496 and P0505.
52  See P0497.
198
important aspects, as noted, of social interaction within the community. 
Endogamous parallel cousin marriages, on the other hand, were practiced
among some of the Palmyrene elite.  The most striking examples derive from the
tomb of Elahbel and his brothers (Tower 13) in the Valley of the Tombs.  The
foundation inscription dates to 103 C.E. and records the erection of the tomb by
Elahbel, Manai, Shakaiei, and Malku, sons of Wahballat, son of Manai Elahbel (fig.
25).47  Their mother was probably Shagal, daughter of Shakaiei, son of Shalman,
son of Taimarsu rb?.48 Among the brothers, Malku had a son, Wahballat, who
married his cousin Shagal, daughter of Elahbel;49 and Belaqab, the son of Elahbel,
married his cousin Shagal, daughter of Shakaiei.50  Another daughter born to
Shakaiei, Amta, married her cousin, Wahballat, son of Manai, her uncle.51 
Curiously, one of the four brothers, Shakaiei, appears to have married his niece,
Amta, the daughter of his brother Elahbel.52  Furthermore, in the hypogeum of
Shalmallat, son of Malku, in the Valley of the Tombs, an ornate funerary bust
depicts Hana, daughter of Barikei, son of Nabuzabad, who was married to her first
53  P1830.  See also Sadurska and Bounni, Les Sculptures fun?raires de
Palmyre, 159-60, no. 209, fig. 160.
54  See P2637 and P0121-26.  See also M. Gawlikowski, ?Palmyrena,? Berytus
19 (1970): 77-80, no. 7, sub 7.
199
cousin, Barikei, son of Nebuzabad, son of Nebuzabad.53  Also, in hypogeum no. 3
of the southeast necropolis, a funerary bust of a young woman was found identified
as Salmat, (daughter of) Tama, and the wife of Sharaiku, her cousin, who was the
son of Belhazai.  In this situation, Tama and Belhazai were apparently brothers,
both sons of a certain Malku.54  This is not an exhaustive summary of known
examples from Palmyra, but it does show that endogamous parallel cousin
marriages were practiced by members of Palmyrene society, which may reflect a
continuation of pastoral customs.  Admittedly, though, the evidence is biased in that
it represents only a fraction of the elite of Palmyra.  Nonetheless, the marriage
patterns among the elite are significant, because these individuals were the arbiters
of power and authority within the community.
An important question remains.  To what extent did marriage patterns and
familial structures at Palmyra mimic those of a wider cultural milieu, or were they
local phenomena and particular to Palmyrene tribalism?  As I have discussed in the
previous section, family structures seem to have been comparable, and I would
argue that marriage patterns were likewise. Given the progressive expansion of
Roman influence on the political structures of the Palmyrene community (detailed
in the next chapter), however, the question may be rephrased to address Rome?s
55  For a summation of individuals at Palmyra granted Roman citizenship, see
D. Schlumberger, ?Les Gentilices romains des Palmyr?niens,? Bulletin d??tudes
orientales 9 (1942): 66-79.
56  Milik, D?dicaces, 163.
200
potential influence on the social structure of traditional familial associations.  Is it
valid, for instance, to examine Palmyrene familial relations in the same context as
the Roman familia or domus? Again unfortunately, the same limitation exists.  A
paucity of data hinders any comparative analysis.  Among non-aristocratic groups,
for example, only general remarks can be offered but with little substantiation.  The
legal aspects of family relationships are the most difficult to grasp, in particular the
makeup and management of power relations within family units.  Can we regard the
position and authority of the father in a Palmyrene family as similar to that of a
paterfamilias in a Roman family?  In a few cases, such comparisons seem valid, but
again only among the Palmyrene aristocracy.  For example, a comparative approach
is possible among those families who, for whatever reasons before 212 C.E.,
became Roman citizens.55
The aristocratic family of Elahbel and his brothers, Manai, Shakaiei, and
Malku, all sons of Wahballat, son of Manai Elahbel, were among those Palmyrenes
for whom marriage alliances forged even closer associations in a manner akin to the
Roman aristocracy.  Elahbel himself became a Roman citizen in the reign of Trajan,
as indicated in an honorific inscription from the temple of Nabu where he is
addressed as Marcus Ulpius Elahbel, Sergia.56  He was among only a handful of the
57  Perhaps modeled on Roman marriage patterns, those of the Julio-Claudians,
for instance.  See Stone, Kinship and Gender, 208-28.
201
local elite to enjoy Roman citizenship at the time, and he merits our attention as an
ambitious, somewhat resourceful individual.  Consider, for instance, the marriage
patterns discussed above.  As head of his branch of the family, Elahbel married one
daughter to the son of his brother Malku, another daughter to his brother Shakaiei,
and his son to a daughter of this same Shakaiei.  Furthermore, Shakaiei himself also
had a daughter, perhaps from the union with his niece, who betrothed Wahballat,
son of his fourth brother Manai.  We can only speculate on what prompted this
fusion of patrilineal descent groups.  What seems apparent, though, given his
elevated social status as a Roman, is the likelihood that Elahbel sponsored the
initiative to bind the patrilineal descendants of his brothers to himself, thereby
enhancing his own position within the family.57  Moreover, such intermarriage
would have facilitated the decision of Elahbel to lock properties within the kinship
group.  However we choose to interpret this evidence, though, we must add the
qualification that the situation with Elahbel and his brothers may have been unique
at Palmyra, even among the Palmyrene aristocracy.  Interestingly, Elahbel acted
both as a Palmyrene and a Roman citizen.
Thus the marriage patterns at Palmyra varied.  Though exogamous
marriages seem to have predominated, endogamous marriages, whether among
aristocrats or perhaps among others steeped in pastoral traditions, were not
58  On the role of women more generally in the Roman world, see S. B.
Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity
(1975; reprint, New York: Schocken Books, 1995), 149-226.  See also idem,
202
uncommon.  Moreover, none of these patterns of marriage seem to be peculiar to
Palmyra, though motivations behind specific unions would have differed depending
upon varying contexts.  These marriage patterns, nonetheless, illuminate the power
relations between and among kinship groups and the nature and method by which
alliances might be forged or dissolved to promote economic, social, or political
ambitions.  In this sense, since we are dealing with social groups organized on the
basis of descent, it is important to analyze the role of women at Palmyra, both
within familial contexts and outside of them.
Women at Palmyra
As in all communities, the most obvious social distinction at Palmyra was
that between men and women.  The former dominated Palmyrene society.  The
latter maintained prestige and prominence in their social roles as mothers, wives,
and daughters of men of greater or lesser importance.  Where social status was
clearly important, women were an integral part of the political and economic life of
Palmyra, because they exerted power and influence comparable to their male
counterparts.  Women, as well as men, contributed to the architectural and
sculptural embellishment of Palmyra throughout the city?s history.  I present here a
short review of women as a distinct social group within Palmyra and I discuss their
role and status in Palmyrene society, both in the home and in public.58
?Women?s Identity and the Family in the Classical Polis,? in Women in Antiquity:
New Assessments, edited by R. Hawley and B. Levick (London: Routledge, 1995),
111-21.
59  See C. Finlayson, ?Veil, Turban and Headpiece: Funerary Portraits and
Female Status at Palmyra? (Ph.D. diss., University of Iowa, 1998), 754-60.  Her
theory is based on the observations among Arab tribes of W. R. Smith, Kinship and
Marriage in Early Arabia, new ed. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1903).
203
The basic Palmyrene household, as I have mentioned, consisted of a
husband, wife, and children and slaves, if any.  How these households came into
being may be discerned from the marriage patterns discussed above.  But what was
the role of women, generally, in the context of marriages?  Women were clearly
important in the forging of alliances between distinct social groups, although we do
not have sufficient information to elaborate fully on why such unions were forged. 
The cooperative aspects of most marriages, nonetheless, seem obvious.  Also of
interest is the extent to which women were subordinated in the betrothal process, if
at all.  Based on a handful of funerary portraits of women with their children in the
tombs of their fathers, Cynthia Finlayson recently argued that mot?a marriages were
practiced at Palmyra, which means that women had the option to contract a
marriage with a male sexual partner for reproductive purposes.59  In this
arrangement, the woman remained in the home of her father and children conceived
during the contract did not belong to the husband.  This seems to stretch the
evidence, however.  I doubt that we can discern in any case why some women had
their remains placed in their father?s tomb and not in that of a spouse.  Also, since
60  See Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, 86.
61  For example, see Colledge, Art of Palmyra, pls. 61-62 and 102; Sadurska
and Bounni. Les Sculptures fun?raires de Palmyre, figs. 222, 237, 246-48, and 249;
and A. Schmidt-Colinet, Das Tempelgrab Nr. 36 in Palmyra: Studien zur
palmyrenischen Grabarchitektur und ihrer Ausstattung, vol. 2, Damaszener
Forschungen no. 4 (Mainz am Rhein: P. von Zabern, 1992), figs. 71a and 73a.
62  See Sadurska and Bounni, Les Sculptures fun?raires de Palmyre, fig. 247.
204
these contracts tended to be verbal, the potential of discovering written evidence for
them is low.60  The suggestion that mot?a marriages were practiced at Palmyra,
then, is hypothetical, though intriguing nonetheless.  If true, it would certainly
illuminate an indigenous aspect of Palmyrene society that reflects bedouin
traditions.  At any rate, whether marriages were contracted or not, or whether some
households were permanent or not, women at Palmyra were mostly honored for
their social roles as wives and mothers.
Because Palmyrene society was patriarchal, women held subordinate roles
to their husbands and fathers in familial associations.  The inferior status of women
is evident in the funerary reliefs on sarcophagi.  For example, there are numerous
examples of males depicted as large figures reclining on a couch, with their
respective wives depicted much smaller and seated honorably at their feet (fig.
26).61  Occasionally, the husband?s mother appears in these depictions in the same
position as the wife but seated on the opposite side of her daughter-in-law.62  There
are, however, reliefs that depict the position and size of husbands and wives
equally, which would suggest that women indeed were empowered somewhat
63  See Sadurska and Bounni, Les Sculptures fun?raires de Palmyre, figs. 246
and 247; and Schmidt-Colinet, Das Tempelgrab Nr. 36 in Palmyra, fig. 71a.
64  See P0167 and P0168.
65  Finlayson, ?Veil, Turban and Headpiece,? 754.
205
within the household (fig. 27).  This is clear in those reliefs that depict children in
positions subordinate to both parents, generally behind them and much smaller (fig.
26).  Interestingly, in these reliefs children seem to have been regarded equally,
whether they were male or female, since neither tends to dominate in position or
stature.63
Despite the patriarchal aspects of Palmyrene society, maternal connections
were important for extended group interaction. Occasionally, women listed their
brothers as beneficiaries after their sons.64  This suggests that each maintained a
strong link to her original family, or clan, which would imply that the privileges
and protection afforded due to continued association with maternal kin passed on to
her offspring.  Finlayson makes this argument in relation to the matriarchal pattern
of Palmyrene headdresses in funerary reliefs.65 While headdress types and styles
may have marked a social identity based on kinship, however, this theory assumes
that dress patterns systematically signaled clan or tribal affiliations or displayed
efforts to maintain lineage ties.  Also, relief portraits of Palmyrene women appear
often in the tombs of their husbands, but no less frequently in the tombs of their
paternal kin.  Further, even in a more public setting, bonds among a woman?s
66  P1417.
67  P0315.  On the date, see Milik, D?dicaces, 62.
68  P0300.
206
familial relations might be reinforced.  A striking example is a double console in
situ in the agora.  The inscription on the console, bilingual in Palmyrene and Greek,
records the dedication of two statues which a certain Hagga set up for her father,
Taima, son of Halaphata Barath  Allatai, and her brother Halaphata.66  In this
instance, then, and perhaps often at Palmyra maternal lineage groups were
recognized and supported.
Furthermore, while most women were clearly subordinate to their husbands,
and, before their betrothal, to their fathers, they still might attain positions of social
and economic prominence, as reflected in the dedications they made and the honors
they received.  In a few cases, women received statues in their honor
acknowledging their achievements and contributions to the community.  For
example, a fragmentary inscription found in a garden near the Efqa spring
commemorates a statue to Attam, the wife of a certain Bolha, which was set up to
her in 17 B.C.E. by the gods Aglibol and Malakbel and the bny kmr?.67  Also,
Sharaiku, son of Hairan, set up a statue in 179 C.E. to honor his deceased wife,
Martai, daughter of Yad , son of Wahballat, son of Shema?n (?m?wn).68  Moreover,
the famed Zenobia herself, not surprisingly, was honored with a statue set up in 271
C.E. along the colonnaded street and adjacent to a statue of her deceased husband,
69  Zenobia: see P0293; Odenathus: see P0292.
70  See E. Cussini, ?Transfer of Property at Palmyra,? Aram 7 (1995): 246.
71  See Colledge, Art of Palmyra, pl. 107.
72  Ingholt, ?Inscriptions and Sculptures from Palmyra, I,? 109, no. 11.
73  P0167.
207
Odenathus.69  Each of these women was an important public figure.  Moreover,
although women were subordinate to their fathers and husbands, some managed to
gain a measure of independence.  Women at Palmyra, for example, had the right to
own property and to dispose of it, apparently, at their discretion.70  Thus some had
an economic basis upon which to contribute to the embellishment of the city as
benefactors, and funerary portraits of women reclining on couches in banquet
scenes would seem to depict such privileged individuals (fig. 28).71  Indeed, several
examples of civic euergetism among women at Palmyra may be cited.  According
to a Greek inscription found near the temple of Bel and dated to 182 C.E. those of
the tribe of the Kh?neitoi honored a certain Thomallachis, (daughter of)
Haddoudanos, (son of) Yarhib?leos, for having given 2500 denarii for the building
of the baths of the gods Aglibol and Malakbel.72  Also, for the embellishment of the
temple of Baalshamin in 23 C.E., Atai and Shabhai, daughters of Shahara, and Atta,
daughter of Perdash, set up two columns to Baalshamin, the good god, for the life
of themselves, their sons, and their brothers.73  Similarly, as we have seen, a certain
Amtallat, daughter of Baraa, set up a column to Baalshamin, the good and generous
74  See n. 42 above.
75  Among the altars dedicated by women at Palmyra, see P0334, P0356,
P0373, and P1001.  See also P0065, a votive plaque that mentions a certain
Aqamata, daughter of Mal , invoking the Anonymous God in completion of a vow.
76  Cf. Sadurska, ?L?Art et la soci?t?,? 285-88, who attempts to recognize
priestesses in certain reliefs.
208
god, for her life and the lives of her sons and brothers.74  This evidence of major
dedications offered by women at Palmyra is exceptional.  More often, especially in
religious contexts, women sponsored minor dedications, especially small altars for
burning incense.75  Importantly, whether for public or private benefaction, women
at Palmyra enjoyed sufficient prominence to afford such dedications.
I have elaborated so far on the social roles of women primarily as wives and
mothers.  What of the various other occupations in which women at Palmyra
engaged, not necessarily in the homes but outside of them?  What of the minority of
women who performed important social roles, for instance as priestesses and
prostitutes?  
With regard to the role of women in Palmyrene religion, generally, and as
priestesses, in particular, I can draw few conclusions.  The evidence is too sparse. 
There are no inscriptions that detail the actions of women as priestesses in religious
contexts.76  Moreover, there seem to be no portraits that convincingly depict
priestesses per se, whereas their male counterparts are easily distinguished by their
77  See Drijvers, Religion of Palmyra, 22.  More recently, see Kaizer, Religious
Life of Palmyra, 235-36.
78  Seyrig, Amy, and Will, Le Temple de B?l, 89-90, pl. 42, Album 91 and 143. 
Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 82, suggests a date of 80 C.E. for this relief.
79  For the interpretation of the horse or donkey in this relief as a divine
medium, see H. Seyrig, ?Bas-reliefs monumentaux du temple de B?l ? Palmyre,?
Syria 15 (1934): 165.
80  E. Ruprechtsberger, Palmyra: Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur der syrischen
Oasenstadt: Einf?hrende Beitr?ge und Katalog zur Ausstellung, Linzer
arch?ologische Forschungen, vol. 16 (Linz: Gutenberg, 1987), 314, no. 37.  For
209
priestly headgear, the so-called modus (fig. 6).77  Yet, there are depictions of
women in sacrificial or processional contexts, which confirms their participation in
the religious life of the community.  For example, a relief on the cross-beam of the
peristyle south of the entrance to the cella of the temple of Bel depicts the popular
scene of a religious procession attended by women entirely swathed in ritual veils
(fig. 29).78  The procession centers on a camel bearing a cloaked pavilion, which
probably housed the idol, led by a driver partially leaning on his staff and holding
the camel?s reins.  A donkey or horse, with reins trailing on the ground, wanders
ahead of the camel driver, perhaps under divine guidance.79  This completes the
lower scene.  Above, on the same relief, a second scene depicts additional women
swathed in veils (fig. 30).  Dirven suggests that this relief records the arrival of the
goddess Allat in Palmyra, a thesis supported by the discovery of a similar scene on
a fragmentary relief from Allat?s temple, which also depicts a group of veiled
women following a camel (fig. 31).80  The reverse depicts what may be a cult statue
discussion, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 83-4.
81  Will, Les Palmyr?niens, 109-10.
82  More generally, see R. de Vaux, ?Sur le voile des femmes dans l?Orient
ancien,? Revue Biblique 44 (1935): 407-23.
83  J. Sabeh, ?Sculptures palmyr?niennes in?dites du Mus?e de Damas,? AAS 3
(1953): 17-18, pl. 1.1.
84  H. Seyrig, ?Sculptures palmyr?niennes archa?ques,? Syria 22 (1941): 32-33,
fig. 2.  See also M. Morehart, ?Early Sculpture at Palmyra,? Berytus 12 (1956): 56-
57, fig. 2.
210
conveyed by a wagon, probably an image of the goddess.  Will examines the
appearance in these reliefs of completely veiled women.81  He suggests that the
costume represents that of a specific ethnic group at Palmyra, presumably of Arab
origin given the association with Allat, and offers the possibility that all Palmyrene
women dressed themselves in this manner during processional rites.82 
Unfortunately, the evidence is insufficient to permit either conclusion.
In addition, images of women appear in various other reliefs that depict
their role in the religious life of the community.  Several fragmentary reliefs
associated with the temple of Bel may be cited.  One presents a woman in profile
wearing a simple tunic and cloak, part of which is draped over her left arm, and
carrying a jug;  to her right stands a man in similar dress beside an altar, holding an
incense box and a libation jug.83  A second relief depicts a women in profile, with
her right hand raised in worship.  A man in profile stands before her holding a
libation jug over a pyre, and the mutilated figure of a second male is to his right.84 
85  Found in the agora, but presumably from the temple of Bel and connected to
the aforementioned reliefs.  See Seyrig, ?Sculptures palmyr?niennes archa?ques,?
32-33, pl. 1.1.
86  Artemidorus Onirocriticon. 2.3.
211
A larger, better preserved relief depicts a procession toward a sacrificing priest who
is holding an incense box and libation jug in his left hand and casting incense onto
an altar with his right (fig. 32).85  A priestly figure approaches the altar from the
right offering a crown or wreath, followed by two women, each wearing a tunic and
cloak like those of the men, but partly veiled.  The first carries an incense burner in
her upraised right hand, while the second carries an upraised two-handled cup. 
This sculptural evidence indicates that women performed important roles in the
religious life of the community, but without liturgical texts or other written sources
a critical assessment of these roles is nearly impossible.
Among the women of Palmyra, those generally depicted in portraits come
from aristocratic families.  Their opulent dress and jewelry betray their privileged
social status.  But not all women of Palmyra were affluent.  Clearly, women of
lesser means filled the streets of the city, some dressed more or less opulently. 
Consider, for instance, the inspired words of Artemidorus, ?to dream of wearing
colorful and flowery clothing is a good thing for a woman if she is rich, or a
courtesan, since courtesans, because of their profession, and rich women, because
of their lives of luxury, wear flowery clothing.?86
As in all ancient cities, there were prostitutes at Palmyra.  We know from
87  P0259 (Tariff): Greek 75-79.
88  Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 177.  For a more complete discussion on
the rate of the tax, see T. A. J. McGinn, Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law in
Ancient Rome (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 282-86, who argues that
the tax was assessed daily.
89  For a lucid study of the role of prostitution in Classical Athens, see J.
Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens
(New York: St. Martin?s Press, 1998).
212
the Palmyrene tariff that their activities were subject to taxation, and it seems
evident that a hierarchy existed among the various prostitutes based on the value of
their labor.87   Some charged more than others.  For example, those who received
six asses for their services each owed six asses to the tax collector, and, similarly,
those who received eight asses for their services owed eight asses.  Among the
more prominent prostitutes, those who received one denarius or more for their
services each owed one denarius in taxes.  Presumably, these taxes were assessed
monthly.88  This hierarchy among the prostitutes subject to taxation is clear, but
beyond that, our knowledge of the nature of prostitution at Palmyra is slight.89 
Archaeologically, no brothels have been identified (though the site remains only
partially excavated), but these probably existed.  The least we can say is that some
organization of prostitution is apparent.  We may consider, for instance, the
Palmyrene section of the tariff that records the tax on slave girls (lymh?).  It declares
that ?the tax collector will exact from slave girls who take a tax of one denarius or
more, a tax of one denarius for each woman; and if she receives less, he will exact
90  P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.125-127: mks? dy ?lymt? hyk dy nmws? mwh
. ?
p?qt | hw mks? yg[b? mk]s? mn ?lymt? dy ?qln dnr | ?w ytyr l?t[t? dn]r whn h. syr thwh
?ql?.
91  H. Dessau, ?Der Steuertarif von Palmyra,? Hermes 19 (1884): 517-18.  See
also McGinn, Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law, 284; and Matthews, ?Tax Law
of Palmyra,? 180.  Palmyrene lymh? is the equivalent of the Greek hetaira, meaning
a prostitute, as shown in P0259 (Tariff): Greek 203.  Cf.  P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene
II.74, which employs the Palmyrene term znyh to designate a prostitute.
92  McGinn, Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law, 284.
213
whatever sum she receives.?90  Prostitutes are clearly meant here, whom Dessau
suggests were the slaves of a leno or pimp.91  If correct, this supports the notion that
there was organized prostitution at Palmyra, although it remains possible that some
women operated as private entrepreneurs.  Moreover, in terms of their tax
liabilities, McGinn points out that these were equivalent for both pimps and
prostitutes throughout the Roman Empire.92
Prostitution was one of many occupations in which women, particularly
those among the lower classes, might engage at Palmyra.  Unfortunately, the nature
of our evidence does not permit any elaboration of women?s other occupations.  For
instance, as discussed below, we know of bakers, weavers, fullers, and vendors,
among others, at Palmyra, but there is no indication that women filled these
positions, however probable.  The recent discovery of a funerary relief of a woman
holding a stylus, or writing implement, is an indication of literacy and suggests that
some women may have worked as scribes (fig. 33).  Whatever their occupations
were, we might presume that employment opportunities were dictated by their
214
social class, whether enslaved or free.
Thus an obvious social distinction existed at Palmyra based on gender. 
Males dominated Palmyrene society; women were subordinates.  This was, in fact,
a social reality in most ancient communities and throughout Palmyra?s history. 
Nevertheless, whether in the home or in the streets, women were not stripped
completely of power.  Women were matriarchs of their respective homes who
could, potentially, yield great influence on their male relations.  Outside of the
home, as I have noted, women were active in the religious and secular life of the
city.  Women of means contributed to the sculptural and architectural
embellishment of Palmyra not unlike their male counterparts.  Women of lesser
means filled the streets of the city as vendors or prostitutes pandering to the
lascivious needs of others.  Clearly, the status among women varied as did their
social roles.  Because of limitations in the evidence, I have discussed here only the
most common roles of wives, mothers, priestesses, and prostitutes.  I reserve for the
conclusion a discussion of how a single women, Zenobia, could arise in the third
century C.E. and claim the title of queen.
Slaves, Freedmen, and Freedwomen
Slaves and those manumitted from slavery, who comprised distinct social
groups at Palmyra, operated in the general framework of the familial associations
outlined above.  A discussion of these individuals, slaves, freedmen, and
freedwomen, in fact, completes our discussion of the Palmyrene household.
93  For definitions of slavery, see P. Garnsey, Ideas of Slavery from Aristotle to
Augustine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 1-2; and M. Finley,
Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology (New York: Viking Press, 1980), 67-92.
94  Gaius Institutes 1.52: in potestate itaque sunt servi dominorum.  quae
quidem potestas iuris gentium est: nam apud omnes peraeque gentes animadvertere
possumus dominis in servos vitae necisque potestatem esse, et quodcumque per
servum adquiritur, id domino adquiritur.
95  Garnsey, Ideas of Slavery, 1-2.
215
There is nothing to suggest that slavery at Palmyra was any different than in
other parts of the Mediterranean world.93  Slaves were incorporated into the
household as property, and the heads of households held absolute authority?the
power of life and death included?over the person and the labor of their slaves.94 
According to Peter Garnsey, this is the most basic component of slavery.  He adds
two others.  Slaves were kinless, ?stripped of [their] old social identity in the
process of capture, sale and deracination, and denied the capacity to forge new
bonds of kinship through marriage alliance.?95  The social identity of slaves, then,
was bound to that of their owners, to whom they were perpetually obligated and
owed service.  
Within the household, slaves were absorbed by domestic service.  Occupied
primarily as the personal servants of their masters within the home (fig. 28), many
slaves were employed outside the home as well in their master?s interest.  In some
instances, slaves were entrusted with secretarial and managerial positions.  More
often, though, slaves were employed in agriculture and industry, again to the sole
96  See discussion by A. H. M. Jones, ?Slavery in the Ancient World,? in
Slavery in Classical Antiquity, edited by M. I. Finley (Cambridge: W. Heffer &
Sons, 1956), 1-15.
97  Libanius Oratio 31.11.
98  P0259 (Tariff): Greek 1-8; Palmyrene, II.2-6, 86.
216
benefit of their masters.96  In fact, slaves were fully integrated into the work force. 
They worked alongside free laborers, with whom they shared membership in the
same voluntary associations.  
The prevalence of slavery at Palmyra is difficult to gauge.  Can we assume,
for instance, the presence of at least one slave in each Palmyrene household, at least
within those not gripped by poverty?  It was not uncommon for even the poorest in
ancient society to possess a slave.  At Antioch in the fourth century C.E., for
instance, Libanius illuminates this fact as he pleas for his lecturers, who, despite
their extreme poverty, still have two or three slaves.97  At Palmyra, however, the
evidence is too sparse and fragmented to make any such assessment.  To my
knowledge, only four inscriptions speak of slaves or servants.  Most important is
the tariff that records the traffic in slaves.  Taxes are due from those importing
slaves into Palmyra or the borders of Palmyra, from those selling slaves (a
distinction is drawn between regular and veteran slaves), and from those who opt to
export slaves purchased at Palmyra.98  The rate of taxation, at twenty-two denarii
per head for imported slaves, suggests that the slave trade was a lucrative
enterprise.  But still this does not inform us that every household possessed a slave. 
99  P1677.
100  P0464.
101  P1358.
102  For example, see F. O. Hvidberg-Hansen, The Palmyrene Inscriptions: Ny
Carlsberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1998), nos. 85 and
126; and Colledge, Art of Palmyra, figs. 75 and 94
217
The remaining three inscriptions, which speak of slaves or servants, are even less
useful in this regard.  One is on an altar from the temple of Abgal at Khirbet
Semrin.  It was dedicated in 270 C.E. by Shalman, servant of Ogeilu Kilai?n, in
fulfillment of a vow to the helpful genie and in remembrance of his brothers,
Qamla, Taima, and Soadu.99  This inscription illustrates the importance of kinship
ties since Shalman, despite his enslavement, sought openly to remember his family
connections.  The second inscription, quoted above, refers to Malku the slave of a
certain Kitut.100  The third inscription dates to 272 C.E. and does not refer to
domestic servants at all, but rather it mentions slaves (or oblates) (t.ly?) of the
temple of Bel.101  This is the only reference to temple slaves at Palmyra.  Finally,
while the epigraphic evidence is meager, a greater number of sculptural
representations of slaves or servants may further suggest the prevalence of this
social institution at Palmyra.102  
We are somewhat better informed of those manumitted from slavery,
however.  Freedmen and freedwomen are attested in several inscriptions, mostly
from funerary contexts.  Who were these individuals?  What were their roles in the
103  Gaius Institutes 1.9-11: et quidem summa divisio de iure personarum haec
est quod omnes homines aut liberi sunt aut servi.  rursus liberorum hominum alii
ingenui sunt alii libertini.  ingenui sunt qui liberi nati sunt; libertini qui ex iusta
servitute manumissi sunt.
104  A. M. Duff, Freedmen in the Early Roman Empire (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1928), 36-49.  See also  P. Garnsey and R. Saller, The Roman
Empire: Economy, Society and Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1971), 120-21.
218
city?  Also, what were their relationships with their former owners, and with
others?
The Roman law of persons distinguished between individuals who were
either free or slaves.  Among the former, there was a distinction between those who
were freed (libertini) and those who were free-born (ingenui).103  Once Palmyra
became a Roman colonia in the late second or early third century C.E., we can
assume that similar legal distinctions prevailed there as well, and perhaps
beforehand among families who enjoyed the privilege of Roman citizenship.  Also
in Roman law, whatever the manner of manumission, customs dictated that freed
slaves remain obligated to their former owners.  Such obligation was called
obsequium and officium.  In turn, former owners extended their protection over
their freed slaves.  The rules of patronage, in fact, governed the relationships
between former owners and their freed slaves.  Yet a freed slave was more than an
ordinary client.  He remained intimately connected to the household of his former
owners.  As Duff observes, ?the relation of patron to freedman approximated to that
of father to son.?104  This familial relationship was reinforced by the fact that
105  P1247.
106  P0050.
107  P0049.
219
freedwomen of whatever age and freedmen under the age of twenty were under the
guardianship (tutela and cura) of their patrons.  Unfortunately, except for third
century C.E. contexts, we cannot be certain of the applicability of Roman legal
distinctions and regulations within Palmyra.
Nonetheless, what would have been the social status of a freedman or
freedwoman?  As I have discussed, there was in Roman contexts a social and legal
distinction between freed and free-born individuals.  At Palmyra, freed slaves
identified themselves as such.  Even the children of freed slaves identified the
servile origins of their parents.  For example, on a funerary relief fragment now in
the Palmyra Museum, a certain Ogeilu is identified as the son of Yarhai, freedman
(br h. r?) of Hairan.105  Also, two inscriptions from the family tomb of Malku rb?
record the cession of three niches in 213 and 214 C.E., respectively, to Julius
Aurelius Agrippa, who is identified as the son of a certain Agathap?s, freedman of
Heliodoros Yarhibola,106 and to Julius Aurelius Ogeilu, the son of a certain
Aphrahat, freedman of Zabdibol.107  P1624 informs us that Julius Aurelius Ogeilu
was illiterate and that he and the same Julius Aurelius Agrippa mentioned above
formed a partnership in 214 C.E. to manage the area of the tomb between their
108  P1624.  See also H. Ingholt, ?Palmyrene Inscription from the Tomb of
Malku,? MUSJ 38 (1962): 106.  The Palmyrene actually identifies the individual as
Julius, son of Aurelius Ogeilu, but this would seem to be in error given the date of
the inscription.
109  P0050.
110  P0044.
111  The evidence is summarized by Schlumberger, ?Les Gentilices romains,?
66-79.
220
respective niches.108  Curiously, the family of Malku rb? appears to have favored
former slaves.  Earlier in 186 C.E., for instance, Nurbel (identified as Julius
Aurelius Nurbel in 213 C.E.)109 and his sister Aqamata Habba ceded a portion of
their family tomb to a certain Nahashtab, freedman of Hannata Wahbai Halaphata,
and Ruhabel, freedman of Amatshalma, who was herself a freedwoman of Shagal,
daughter of Zebaida.110  Whether one?s identification as a freedman or a
freedwoman, or the son or daughter of someone once enslaved, had any impact on
the status of the individual concerned is difficult to detect.  Most likely, by virtue of
identifying oneself as once enslaved (or in direct relation to a former slave), some
sort of social stigma of one?s former position remained.  This identification may
also have shielded the individual from possible re-enslavement.
After 212 C.E. and the issuance of the Constitutio Antoniniana, many freed
slaves, or the children of freed slaves, boasted of their newly acquired status as
Roman citizens by adopting the praenomen of Julius (or Julia) and the nomen of
Aurelius (or Aurelia).111  Both P0049 and P0050, cited above, are examples. 
112  P1142.
113  P2725.  See also M. Gawlikowski, ?Trois inscriptions fun?raires des camps
de Diocl?tien,? Studia Palmyrenskie 6-7 (1975): 131-32.
114  P0072.
115  P0075.
221
Moreover, in 232 C.E., a certain freedman named Julius Aurelius Hermes had
sufficient wealth to build a hypogeum for himself and for Julia Aurelia Thaim ,
freedwoman of Aurelia Aqme, daughter of Antiochos Olaiphos, and her children.112 
In 242 C.E., another freedwoman of Aurelia Aqme, Julia Aurleia Pharima, ceded
part of a tomb to a certain Julius Aurelius Zabdibol.113  Both P0072 of 186 C.E. and
P0075 of 228 C.E. provide the most conspicuous example of freedman receiving
Roman citizenship and benefitting from his new status.  The former records on a
door lintel the cession made by Lishamsh, son of Lishamsh, and by Amdai, son of
Yedibel, half-brothers (sons of the same mother), of a portion of the family tomb to
a certain Wardan, freedman of Antiochos Raphabol.114  The latter records (42 years
later) the cession of a portion of the same tomb by this same Wardan, now having
adopted the nomen Aurelius, to a certain Aurelius Malku, son of Shalman.115  In this
instance, Wardan probably adopted the new name as a boast after he had received
citizenship in 212 C.E.
Furthermore, though the evidence is admittedly slight, it appears that
freedmen and freedwomen of Palmyra, at least in some instances, maintained close
116  P1896.
117  P1894.
222
connections to the families of their former owners.  In the hypogeum of Bolha, for
example, an inscription records that the freedmen of the family (bny h. ry) were
included among the benefactors of the construction.116  They were given burial rites. 
Also, a certain Hermes, freedman of Malku, is depicted on a sarcophagus in the
northern exedra of the same tomb.117  As noted, it would not have been uncommon
for freedmen or freedwomen to remain intimately connected to the households of
their former owners.
This sums up our evidence for the position and status of slaves, freedmen,
and freedwomen at Palmyra.  For the most part, it appears that their position was
akin to that of their counterparts in Roman and Hellenistic society.  Perhaps this is
because the earliest dated inscription mentioning either a slave or a freed slave is of
143 C.E. (most are of the late second and early third century C.E.), after the civic
institutions of Palmyra had become more comparable with those of other
Mediterranean communities (see Chapter 5).  Even among the undated inscriptions
there are none to suggest that slaves were not integral components of the Palmyrene
household, or that those freed from slavery did not retain important connections
with their former owners in a manner that mimicked Roman patronage. 
Unfortunately, the fragmented nature of the evidence does not permit any further
elaboration of the mechanisms that governed relations between slaves and their
118  Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 173.
223
owners, the manner by which slaves obtained their freedom, or the subsequent
relations between freed slaves and their former owners.  Nonetheless, slaves,
freedmen, and freedwomen were socially distinct.  In the sense that they identified
themselves in relation to their servile present or past, they accordingly set
boundaries that demarcated themselves in a socially stratified environment.
Occupational Identities
By the second century C.E. and perhaps earlier, Palmyra was a
cosmopolitan city supported by a host of individuals variously occupied.  The
streets buzzed with activity, commerce and industry flourished, and Palmyra
prospered.  The business of gainful employment was, I suspect, common among
other Mediterranean communities and, as I have discussed in Chapter 3 in the
context of Palmyra as an economic center, a feature that attracted civic settlement. 
I present here an overview of the occupational groups known to have existed in the
city based on epigraphic evidence.  Importantly for this study, occupation provided
a framework for the construction of a social identity above kinship relations.  As I
will show in the following section, occupation also provided a framework for the
development of voluntary associations, a community of like-minded individuals
mutually supporting one another.
From the tariff inscription, as Matthews points out, we gain the ?impression
of the normal economic and social life of a middle-eastern city.?118  Workshops
119  Apparently a loan word from the Greek pantop?lion; see Matthews, ?Tax
Law of Palmyra,? 177, n. 18.
120  P0259 (Tariff): Greek 139.  Cf. P0259 (Tariff): Greek 86-7; Palmyrene,
II.57.
121  The obverse of one tessera, P2042, depicts a smith at work.  For workers of
gold and silver, see P0291.  See also n. 148 below.
122  See p. 231 below.
123  P0415.  Cf. P0259 (Tariff): Palmyrene, II.102-3, which refers to the tax on
?butchers? or ?sacrificial victims? (qsb?).  On the problematic interpretation of
qsb?, see M. Zahrnt, ?Zum Fiskalgesetz von Palmyra und zur Geschichte der Stadt
in hadrianischer Zeit,? ZPE 62 (1986): 283, n. 18.  Cf. A. Piganiol, ?Observations
sur le tarif de Palmyre,? Revue historique 195 (1945): 10-24.
124  P1458.  See also B. Aggoula, ?Remarques sur l?inventaire des inscriptions
de Palmyre, Fasc XI et XII,? Semitica 29 (1979): 113.
224
(ergast ria) of various sorts, particularly those dealing in leather goods, and
bazaars (pt.ply)119 abounded in the city.  Venders filled the streets, selling oil, wine,
salt, salted fish, animal fat, various articles of clothing, leathers and skins, among a
host of materials and goods derived from the regional environment.  There was a
legal distinction between tailors (h. yt.?) who operated from fixed workshops and
those who moved about the city selling clothing.120 Who manned the workshops? 
In addition to the metal-smiths,121 shoemakers occupied shops, as did makers of
rafts (or inflatable skins),122 and perhaps even a certain Maqqai, a butcher (t.bh. ?)
who dedicated an altar to the Anonymous God, operated out of one of these local
workshops.123  Similarly, a certain Basa, a baker who also dedicated an altar to the
Anonymous God, may have had a shop in the city.124  Sculptors (glwp?) are also
125  For Palmyrene sculptors employed outside the city, see P1719 and P1113.
126  P0320.  See also Ingholt, Studier over Palmyrensk Skulptur (Copenhagen:
C. A. Reitzels, 1928), 42-47, no. 22, who provides a date of 213 C.E. for the
inscription.
127  P1941.  For a discussion of the text, see Milik, D?dicaces, 79-82; and
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 250-51.  P1410, a fragmentary inscription from
the agora, mentions an unnamed sculptor.
128  P0005.  See Sabeh, ?Sculptures palmyr?niennes in?dites,? 19.  See also
P0617 and P0618.
225
attested at Palmyra, and they probably had shops in the city as well.125  One
sculptor, a certain Yarhai, etched a short remembrance of himself at the end of a
dedication to the two gods Arsu and Azizu, which Baalai son of Yarhibola, a priest
of Azizu, sponsored.126  Similarly, Halipha, son of Yarhai Elahu, the sculptor,
identifies himself at the end of an inscription that commemorates a statue in honor
of a certain Zabdilah of the bny m?zyn, which was set up for him by the goddess
Allat and the bny nwrbl.127  Furthermore, some craftsmen inherited their trade,
perhaps even their workshops or family business, from their fathers.  For example,
a fragmentary relief dated 148 C.E. and now in the Damascus National Museum
portrays a certain Moqimu, the master craftsman, son of Nurbel, son of Zabda, the
master craftsman (?mn?) next to his wife, Tadmor.128  A second relief dated 146
C.E. and now in New York?s Metropolitan Museum of Art also depicts Tadmor,
wife of Moqimu, whose father Nurbel, in this instance, is described as a master
129  P0614.  For related evidence, see P0615, P0616, P0619, P0620, and P0621.
130  At Dura Europos, for instance, as recorded on a stele, ?the people of the
suq? or ?market vendors? (bny ?qqt?) made a dedication to the gods Asharu and
Shaad, which suggests that they functioned as a corporate group.  See Gawlikowski,
Le Temple palmyr?nien, 32-33.  For discussion and alternate translations, see
Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 321-24.
131  For dedications supported by merchants and traders, see P0262, P0279,
P0306, P1352, P1366, P1373, P1374, P1376, P1403, P1409, P1584, Inventaire
10.19, and Inventaire 10.97.  Merchants are mentioned in P0197, P0282, P0288,
P1062, P1378, P1414, and P1421.
132  For general details, see O. M. van Nijf, Civic World of Professional
Associations, Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology, vol. 17
226
craftsman.129  Moreover, in far less specific terms, merchants (tgr?) of all types
populated the streets and workshops of Palmyra, in particular within the agora.130 
Attested most are those involved in the caravan trade, which is not at all surprising. 
They either set up statues themselves and made dedications to honor their patrons,
those benefactors who protected the caravans and aided Palmyrene merchants at
home and abroad, or they are themselves mentioned in such dedications.131  All of
these people populated the industrial and commercial sectors of the city.
Not everyone in the city in need of employment occupied him or herself in
commerce and industry, however.  Other professions are attested that might have
served to support occupational identities or acted as bases for collective association. 
The more educated, for instance, might pursue careers as teachers (sbr?) or
physicians (?sy?), professions that were socially heterogenous and to which
individuals of varied social status were attracted.132  As van Nijf emphasizes,
(Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1997), 171-76.
133  Ibid., 173.
134  P1349.  The inscription is bilingual and the Greek employs the term
kath g t s for the designation of ?teacher,? which also carries the sense of ?one
who leads or guides.?  According to Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts,
391, s.v. ?sbr,? the exact sense of sbr remains uncertain.
135  P0094.  See also Gawlikowski, Monuments fun?raires de Palmyre, 191, no.
26.  For the date of Nurbel and his depiction on a stele, see Ingholt, ?Some
Sculptures from the Tomb of Malk?,? 460-63.
136  See P1218, which identifies the tomb as that of Malku, son of Malku, son
of Nurbel, the physician.
227
?despite their social heterogeneity, physicians and teachers presented themselves,
and were recognized, as status groups in society which could act and merit
privileges collectively.?133  We can say little regarding the position of teachers at
Palmyra.  The only inscription that mentions a teacher of any sort is on a stone slab
in the temple of Bel, which served as a memorial to a certain Antiochus, generically
identified as ?the teacher? (sbr?).134  We are only slightly better informed regarding
physicians at Palmyra.  The best known is Nurbel, the physician, who lived in the
mid-first century C.E., and whose son, Abdaastur, built a tomb for himself in 98
C.E.135 Malku, the grandson of this same physician, constructed an elaborate tomb
for himself and his family in 120 C.E., the inscriptions from which provide a long
history of Nurbel?s descendants.136  Several examples record cessions of part of the
ancestral tomb of Malku, son of Malku, son of Nurbel, the physician, by the
137  These texts span the years from 186 to 214 C.E.; see P0044 (186 C.E.),
P0045 (186 C.E.), P0050 (186 C.E.), P0048 (213 C.E.), and P0049 (214 C.E.).
138  See P0874, which identifies Habba, daughter of Mal , the physician.
139  Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 153, n. 88, reads the inscription as a dedication
to the Anonymous God and to Wadda, an Arabian deity.
140  P1558.  
141  Suggested by the enigmatic expression wl?b?t? dy wd? in P1558, which
Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 361, s.v. ?wd,? translate as ?and for
the seven of the friends.?  Cf. J. Teixidor, ?L?Inscription palmyr?nienne Inv. XII,
45,? Semitica 30 (1980): 61-62, who translates the phrase as ?et pour
l??panouissement des amis.?  See also Aggoula, ?Remarques sur l?inventaire des
inscriptions de Palmyre,? 116.
228
children of Malku rb?, son of the same Malku who constructed the tomb.137  The
daughter of another physician is depicted on a funerary relief now in the collection
of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.138  Furthermore, an inscription on a stone
slab found near the Efqa spring mentions a dedication to the Anonymous God in
243 C.E., and ?to the friends who are the chosen ones of the temple of Bel? (lwd?
dy ?h. dy hykl? d[y] bl),139 by a certain Malku, son of Moqimu, a personal (or private)
physician (?sy? gwy?).140  It is, in fact, unclear exactly what meaning gwy? conveys
in this instance, whether it refers to a private, personal, or perhaps a trusted
physician of an inner circle of friends.141  Nonetheless, however we choose to
describe Malku the physician, his association with the temple of Bel clearly
attaches some prominence to him.  This reinforces the somewhat socially
ambiguous class physicians and teachers comprised in antiquity, at Palmyra and
142  For a recent discussion, see van Nijf, Civic World of Professional
Associations, throughout.  See also S. G. Wilson, ?Voluntary Associations: An
Overview,? in Voluntary Associations in the Graeco-Roman World, edited by J. S.
Kloppenborg and S. G. Wilson (London: Routledge, 1996), 1-15.
229
elsewhere.  Whether they formed common associations at Palmyra is impossible to
detect in the available evidence.
Thus the varied nature of Palmyra is apparent from the host of occupations
that supported life within the city.  In commerce, industry, education, or medicine, a
plethora of individuals supported themselves, some more prosperous than others. 
Importantly, these occupations provided their own frameworks for identity
construction that permeated kinship relations.  Nurbel?s assertion of being a
physician, for example, was a social stamp that marked him out as different from
others, even in familial contexts.  It remains to examine the extent to which
individuals used their occupations as a basis for forming social groups.  To what
extent, for example, did they group themselves collectively in voluntary
associations?
Voluntary Associations and Ritual Dining
Voluntary associations (collegia) played a vital role in the social
development of cities in the Roman East, and Palmyra was no exception.142  They
were one of many social organisms that regulated personal and group interaction. 
Importantly, these provided access to social engagement for individuals whose
direct participation in civic affairs would otherwise have been diminished because
143  Garnsey and Saller, Roman Empire, 156-58.
144  See R. MacMullen, Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284 (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1974), 57-87.
230
of their inferior class or status.  Voluntary associations were essentially mutual aid
societies for the benefit of their members, individuals of humble or moderate
means.143  Whether organized around the cult of a specific deity or formed around a
common trade or shared interest, these associations provided basic necessities for
their members.  Most common was the provision of burial for their dead, although
there is no evidence that voluntary associations at Palmyra operated in such a
capacity.  These also organized banquets for the living, a common feature of
Palmyrene society.  Socially and legally, voluntary associations operated as single
group entities and their members shared a common identity.  The corporate unit
itself was treated as an individual.  In most communities, for example, these
associations often had seats together in the theater, but I cannot confirm this to be
true at Palmyra.  Also, since the wealthy often patronized associations, members of
associations, as a group of individuals of humble or moderate means sharing a
common social identity, were granted access to a social network that allowed
interaction with more elite individuals and groups.  Thus, as a group integrated in a
system of patronage, members of associations participated in the fundamental social
networks of civic life.144
Four inscriptions of 257/58 C.E. mention explicitly voluntary associations
145  For discussion of these texts, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 215-20. 
See also Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 251-61; and Milik, D?dicaces,
159-60.
146  See H. Seyrig, ?Les Fils du roi Odainat,? AAS 13 (1963): 161.  The text
reads: [E,BJ\:4@<] !?DV<0< J?< | 8":BD?J"J@< L??< z?*"4|<V2@L J@ 
8":BD@|JVJ@L  B"J46@  J? | FL:B?F4@< F6LJ(X)T< 6"?  F6@<"LJ@|B@4 <
J?< BVJDT<" | ?J@LH 569.  See also Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 254,
no. 5; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 217.  On the askonautopoios as
builders of inflatable goatskins, see Seyrig, ?Les Fils du roi Odainat,? 159-66.
231
among craftsmen at Palmyra, each of which records honors bestowed upon
Odenathus or his son Hairan for their patronage.145  On a console along the Great
Colonnade, the first inscription, in Greek only, records a dedication to Septimius
Hairan, son of Odenathus.  It reads:
[To Septimius] Hairan, the illustrious son of Odenathus, the
illustrious consul, (erected by) the symposium of shoemakers (or
leather-workers) and makers of leather rafts (FL:B?F4@< F6LJXT<
6"?  F6@<"LJ@B@4 <), for their patron, the year 569 (257/58
C.E.).146
The second inscription, also on a console along the Great Colonnade, is bilingual in
Palmyrene and Greek and records the dedication of a statue to Septimius
Odenathus, the illustrious consul, in his honor by an association of metalworkers of
gold and silver:
Greek: [To] Sep[timius Odenathus], the illustrious consul, (erected
by) the association (syntechnia) of workers of gold and silver, (to
their) lord, the year 569, the month Xandikos (April, 258 C.E.).
Palmyrene: Statue of Septimius Odenathus, the illustrious consul,
our lord (mr?), which the association (tgm?) of smiths, workers of
gold and silver, set up for him, in the month Nisan, the year 569
147  P0291: E,B[J\:4@< z?*"\<"2@<] | J?< 8":[BD?J"J@<  B"J46]?< |
FL<J,[P<\" J < PDLF@P]?T< | 6"?  D(L[D@6?BT< J]?< *,FB?J0 | J,4:?H
PVD4< [?J]@LH 569 | :0<,? ="<*46? / s. lm spt.myws ?dynt | nhyr? hpt.yq? mrn dy |
?qym lh tgm? dy qyny? | ?bd? dnb? wksp? lyqrh | byrh.  nysn ?nt 569.  See also
Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 255, no. 9; and Kaizer, Religious Life of
Palmyra, 216.
148  See Dunant, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n, 66-67, no. 52; Milik,
D?dicaces, 160-61; Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 255, no. 7; and
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 217.  Dunant, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n, 67,
identifies kovetoi as a geographical or ethnic name.  Milik, D?dicaces, 159, on the
other hand, identifies kovetoi with the transliterated Palmyrene term qynt? which he
translates as ?first-class players on the lyre.?  Gawlikowski, Le Temple
palmyr?nien, 36, prefers to translate the terms as ?metallurgists.?  For discussion,
see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 219, n. 22.
149  Inventaire 12.37.  See also Dunant, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n, 66, n. 2,
fig. 2, who identifies ouannoi as a geographical or ethnic name; Gawlikowski, ?Les
Princes de Palmyre,? 255, no. 8, who translates the term as ?winnower? but without
commentary; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 217-18 and 219, n. 23 for
discussion.
232
(April, 258 C.E.).147
The remaining two inscriptions further honor Odenathus.  On a column console in a
portico north of the temple of Baalshamin, an inscription records the dedication of a
statue to Odenathus by an association presumably of metallurgists (FL:B?F4@<
J < 6@<,J <).148  Another inscription, somewhat fragmented and discovered out
of its original context near the Tetrapylon, records the dedication of a statue to the
same distinguished consul by an association identified as the ouannoi (FL:B?F4@<
J < @L"<< <).149  Unfortunately, both the FL:B?F4@< J < 6@<,J < and the
FL:B?F4@< J < @L"<< < remain enigmatic associations, although, as Kaizer
150  Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 218.
233
suggests, they were likely to have been organizations of craftsmen as well.150
Whether other voluntary associations based on shared occupations in craft
and industry existed at Palmyra cannot be confirmed, however probable.  As I have
noted, numerous occupational groups were present in the city and each potentially
could have formed the basis of an association.  At any rate, it is interesting that the
only evidence for voluntary associations among craftsmen is of the mid-third
century C.E., a time of crisis in the Roman East and transformation for Palmyra. 
What this signifies, if anything, is not clear.  It is also unclear what led Odenathus
and his son to act as patrons to these groups, though it is evidence of their concern
for the economic well-being of these craftsmen and for that of the city, a topic to
which I will return in Chapter 7.  What is important, nonetheless, is that these
associations provided a unique social context for the development of identities that
may have risen above kinship, particularly since craft workshops tended to
aggregate in set areas of the city and individuals might then have associated with
their neighbors with whom they shared at least one commonality in their profession.
The voluntary associations at Palmyra were, for the most part, however,
religious clubs, or thiasoi, organized around the cults of specific deities, which
would have provided a cultic context for shared identities.  In the inscriptions of
Palmyra, however, there is no set terminology to denote these various cult
151  For a thorough discussion of the terminology of dining and drinking
societies at Palmyra, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 220-34.
152  P0326.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 119; and Kaizer, Religious Life of
Palmyra, 133.
153  P0177.  For the members of the mrzh
. , see P0178.
154  C. Dunant, ?Nouvelles tess?res de Palmyre,? Syria 36 (1959): 105, no. 12;
and P2807.
155  P2279.
156  P2033: kmry? dy [bl] (obverse); h
. yrn ?tnwry | s. lmy rb mrzh.  (reverse).
234
associations.151  Chief among the Palmyrene terms used to designate a religious
club is mrzh. .  An inscription from 34 C.E. provides an early example, in which nine
men are identified as the members of a mrzh.  (bny mrzh. ?) who dedicated an altar to
the gods Aglibol and Malakbel.152  Later in 67 C.E., members of a mrzh.  offered a
banquet hall (smk) to the gods Baalshamin, whose temple received the
consecration, and to Durahlun.153 More frequently, though, religious clubs are
identified on various tesserae, small clay tokens required for entrance into ritual
meals.  Dunant published one that refers to a mrzh.  to the goddesses Baaltak and
Taima.154  There is also a reference on a tessera to a mrzh.  of the god Nabu.155  On
another tessera, the reverse reads, ?Hairan Atenuri Salmai, chief (rb) of the mrzh. ?
and depicts a priest reclining.  The obverse of this same tessera reads ?the priests of
[Bel]? (kmry? dy [bl]) and depicts two priests reclining.156  More often, however,
there is mention of cultic associations on tesserae where the term mrzh.  is used to
157  For example, see P2036-41.  The general opinion is that these tesserae
ought to be associated with the mrzh.  of the priests of Bel since they all derive from
the temple of Bel.  See, for instance, Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 229, n. 78.
158  P1128: ms
. by? ?ln ?bd smg? br yrh. y mn kysh ws. b[.] | brbnwt mrzh. wth byrh.
?[yr] ywm 16 l?lm? ?l h. yw[hy].  See also H. Drijvers, ?De Matre inter leones
sedente: Iconography and Character of the Arab Goddess All?t,? in Hommages ?
Maarten J. Vermaseren: Recueil d??tudes offert par les auteurs de la s?rie ?tudes
pr?liminaires aux religions orientales dans l?Empire romain ? Maarten J.
Vermaseren ? l?occasion de son soixanti?me anniversaire le 7 avril 1978, edited by
M. Vermaseren, M. de Boer, and T. Edridge, vol. 1 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978), 331-
51, plate 73.  Whether the cultic association that Samga presided over was that of
Allat or Bel remains uncertain; see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 230-31.
159  See Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 406, s.v. ?qhyh.?  The
tesserae mentioned are P2284-87.  Cf. Milik, D?dicaces, 160, who suggests ?lyre
players? as the interpretation of qnyt?, supported by the identification of Nabu with
Apollo.  Recently, E. Lipi?ski, ?Maqlu) ta?, qinita? et plug qdu? ? Palmyre,? in
Intertestamental Essays in Honour of J?zef Tadeusz Milik (Krak?w: Enigma Press,
1992), 308-10, suggested that qnyt? refers to a sacred payment in kind consumed
during banquets.  For further discussion, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra,
219.
235
identify officials presiding over the banquets (either in terms such as ?chief of the
symposium? [rb mrzh. ?] or ?during the term as symposiarch? [brbnwt mrzh. ?]) but
with no indication as to which divinity the cultic gathering was associated.157  This
is true of P1128, a Palmyrene inscription on a relief that reads, ?these images were
made (by) Samga, son of Yarhai, at his own expense and he painted (them), during
his presidency of the mrzh. , in the month Iyar, the sixteenth day, forever, for his
life.?158  In addition, Hillers and Cussini interpret the enigmatic expression qnyt
nbw, which appears on four tesserae, as the association of Nabu, but this
interpretation remains problematic.159  Another enigmatic term is ?gn, which is
160  See, for instance, Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 334, s.v.
??gn.?  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 108-19, who convincingly argued that ?gn must
refer to the ?crater? used during ritual meals for holding or mixing wine and water. 
The term, for example, appears inscribed on the side of a stone crater from the
Palmyrene hinterland, see P1714.  See also Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 225. 
For a discussion of ?gn in Nabataean contexts, see J. F. Healey, The Religion of the
Nabataeans: A Conspectus, Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, vol. 136
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2001), 167.  
161  See, for instance, P0316.  Cf. P1357, with restoration of text in Kaizer,
Religious Life of Palmyra, 233.  Also discussed more fully below.
162  Strabo Geographia 16.4.26.
236
often translated as ?symposium? and thus a gathering for dining and drinking.160 
The Greek term symposion, meanwhile, which appears to specify voluntary
associations, may have denoted religious clubs as well, but indirectly rather than
directly.  When reference is made to the official presiding over a particular banquet,
for example, he is usually described as the symposiarchos or translated in
Palmyrene as the rb mrzh. ?.161  More often, however, the term symposion  appears to
denote the actual setting or facility in which religious associations dined and drank,
a banquet hall perhaps (see below).  Interestingly, such ambiguity in the
terminology is absent from Strabo, when in his description of the Nabataeans he
adheres to the standard definition of symposion  as the banquet itself.162 Yet, despite
the difficulty with the terminology, religious clubs at Palmyra were undoubtedly
numerous and a mainstay of the Palmyrene communal experience.  They provided a
shared identity in a community setting.  They were examples of social cohesion.
While associations organized themselves around the cults of specific deities,
163   See D. Tarrier, ?Banquets rituels en Palmyr?ne et en Nabat?ne,? Aram 7
(1995): 165-82.  More generally, on dining with the dead, see H. Lindsay, ?Eating
with the Dead: The Roman Funerary Banquet,? in Meals in a Social Context:
Aspects of the Communal Meal in the Hellenistic and Roman World, edited by I.
Nielsen and H. Nielsen, Aarhus Studies in Mediterranean Antiquity, no. 1 (Aarhus:
Aarhus University Press, 1998), 67-80.  See also van Nijf, Civic World of
Professional Associations, 53-54.
164  Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 221.
165  Public banquets were highly structured affairs with strict rules and
regulations.  One of the most comprehensive inscriptions (preserved in three
fragments) that establishes the guidelines for a ritual banquet was discovered in
1972 at the northern city wall (P0991).  It concerns a banquet presided over by the
priests of Belastor and Baalshamin.  The inscription reads:
In the month Adar (March), the year 3[. . .], | the priests of Belastor
and of Baal[shamin? . . .] | someone amongst them, the days on
237
they mostly assembled for purposes of drinking and dining, which reflected social
solidarity above all.  As the epigraphy attests, banquets were numerous.  Some may
have been secular gatherings of family or friends, but most were overwhelmingly
cultic in nature and festive as the religious and social life of Palmyra joined,
perhaps in funerary contexts as families, friends, and colleagues assembled to honor
the dead or more often in communal settings at temples or other sacred grounds.163 
As Kaizer remarks, ?ritual dining and drinking . . . fulfilled certain functions of
redistributing material goods and exchanging immaterial concepts within a wider
society, and accordingly participation could have a wide range of effects on the way
in which worshippers conceived their position within that society.?164  Public
episodes of festive dining and drinking (no less than private banquets), in fact,
reflected and supported the existing social order.165  Public banquets, for example,
which there will be ban[quets . . . the members of] (ywm? dy yhwn
sm[ky? . . . gbr? dy])| the mrzh.  who will be their leader for the burnt-
offering | [. . .] but the man who will be chosen as [their] leader [. . .]
| three Tyrian selas (?) of gold (to the treasury?) (s[l?n] 3 s. ry ldhb?)
and whoever among them [. . .] | in the ?drwn? an agreement written
on [. . .] | and whoever will collect their votes (?) will make known
(?) (wmn dy y?d ?bynyhwn yh. w l [. . .]) to [. . .] | who will be chosen
to be in charge of the gold and will be entrusted (?) (wyhym[n]) [. . .]
| who is entrusted for his year?s term and also they established [that
no-]one will be entitled [. . .] | an oath by/in the ?drwn? and whoever
swears by/in the h. mn (shrine?) owes a penalty of d[enarii (?) . . . and
they also] | established that for any man of the bny ?t?qb who steals
from the house of B[elastor?] [. . .] | over him who owes a penalty of
denarii, in gold (to the treasury?) (ldhb?) and after seven [. . .] | the
member (gbr?) will be entitled to [participate?] (ygwr) in the
drinking in the ?drwn? until [. . .] | that if it is necessary to distribute
food (?) (?pr) at the house of Bel and the bny ?t?qb, the priests (bny
?t?qb kmry) [. . .] | or to give to Belastor anything that he measures
out to the members (gbr?) of [the mrzh.  . . .] | measures out in the
midst of the inner group (?) to the account (?) and nothing else (?)
(ymd ms. ?t gw? ?l [h. ?]bn? wmd?n ?h. rn l?ym[. . .]) [. . .] | to make
inquiry and to inform [on who] have sinned (?) (h. t.yw) and to do [. .
.] | anyone who [. . .] and whoever [. . . . . .]
This inscription reflects not merely the strict regulations adhered to but also the
cooperative nature of religious clubs.  For the text, see P0991 and Kaizer, Religious
Life of Palmyra, 168-69.  J. Teixidor, ?Le Thiase de B?lastor et de Beelsham?n
d?apr?s une inscription r?cemment d?couverte ? Palmyre,? CRAIBL (1981): 306-14,
who initially published the inscriptions suggests a date in the early first century
C.E. 
166  See van Nijf, Civic World of Professional Associations, 109-11, who
emphasizes the manner in which banquets supported the existing social hierarchy in
their detailed regulations.
238
were often funded by the great and wealthy of the city, whose sponsorship many
regard as yet another facet in the system of patronage that prevailed in the ancient
city under Roman influence (see below).166  Moreover, in that these festive
occasions were communal events, the patronage of drinking and dining societies
167  For a comprehensive review of the terminology, see Kaizer, Religious Life
of Palmyra, 220-29.
168  Numerous other facilities complemented these dining halls and with their
attendant staff provided for the easy management of public banquets.  Most
sanctuaries were equipped with kitchens and areas for storage.  In 6 B.C.E., for
example, the priests of Herta honored a certain Ogeilu, son of Aidaan, of the bny
kmr?, for his having offered, along with part of a portico, three other features that
seem to be interpreted as a parlor (m?l?), a building for cultic slaughtering (bt
nh. ry?), and a dining hall ([?d]rn?); see P2766; Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? Syria 17
[1936]: 26-71, no. 17; Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 60-62; Milik,
D?dicaces, 219-21; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 76-77).  Kitchens were
also important as staging areas for cultic meals; see, for instance, Kaizer, Religious
Life of Palmyra, 111 and 188-89.  For example, one interesting inscription of 243
C.E. (P2743) honors the symposiarch Yarhai Agrippa and refers to a certain Zabai,
son of Shada, ?the one in charge of the house of the kettles (i.e. kitchen)? (dy hw ?l
bt dwd?), in addition to a certain Yarhibola, ?the one who mixes? (mmzgn?),
presumably wine; see also Ingholt, ?Un Nouveau thiase palmyr?nien,? 129.  For
tesserae that mention the distribution of wine, see Kaizer, Religious Life of
239
mimicked the public benefactions of aristocrats to their communities.  This was true
at Palmyra as in every other Mediterranean city.  
Moreover, in areas both sacred and profane, the setting for these public
banquets was visible and structured, which also highlighted the cooperative
communal nature of the festivities.  The terminology for the location in which
banquets took place varies from the Palmyrene smk or ?drwn to the Greek
symposion.167  These terms themselves can have varied meanings, e.g. symposion
can be taken to mean a voluntary association, a drinking party, or a dining hall, so
the context of each inscription must be evaluated carefully in order to understand
the correct use of specific terms.  At any rate, most banquet halls were associated
with temple complexes.168  One example mentions the dedication of a banquet hall
Palmyra, 190, n. 94.  Additional personnel for facilitating banquets would have
included bakers, butchers, cupbearers, musicians, smiths, among a host of others,
all joined for a common festive occasion as part of a single religious family.  For
discussion, see J. Teixidor, The Pagan God: Popular Religion in the Greco-Roman
Near East (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977), 133-35; and, more
generally, R. MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1981), 42-48.
169  See n. 153 above.
170  P1571.  See also Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 127; and Gawlikowski, Le
Temple palmyr?nien, 92-93.  The Greek text of the same inscription identifies
Baalshamin as Zeus, the Highest and Listening. 
171  See Ingholt, ?Inscriptions and Sculpture from Palmyra, I,? 105-6, no. 10,
who suggests that this may have been a dedication to either Baalshamin or the
Anonymous God of Palmyra, who is often associated with Baalshamin.  See also
Milik, D?dicaces, 149.  For further discussion of this divine association, see
Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 115-19.
240
(smk) to the gods Baalshamin and Durahlun.169  This inscription remains in situ on a
low bench north of the cella of the temple of Baalshamin and illuminates how this
area of the temple functioned as a setting for ritual banquets.  Also, the Palmyrene
text of a bilingual inscription records the dedication of an altar and a banquet hall
(?l[t]? dh wsmk?) to the god Baalshamin.170  Similarly, a fragmentary Greek
inscription found near the Efqa spring mentions the erection of an altar and a
symposion to Zeus, but this does not confirm Baalshamin as the divine recipient of
the dedication.171  This is true of another fragmentary Greek inscription published
by Seyrig, which mentions a symposion dedicated to Zeus, the Highest and
172  H. Seyrig, ?Nouveaux monuments palmyr?niens des cultes de B?l et de
Baalsham?n,? Syria 14 (1933): 276.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 144-45; and Kaizer,
Religious Life of Palmyra, 226-27.
173  See E. Will, ?Les Salles de banquet de Palmyre et d?autres lieux,? Topoi 7
(1997): 873-87.  A list of tesserae associated with Bel may be found in Ingholt,
Seyrig, and Starcky, Recueil des tess?res de Palmyre, 192-93.
174  P1131 provides the only example of ?drwn? transliterated into the Greek
andr?n.  See also Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 80-81; and E. Will, ?Le
D?veloppement urbain de Palmyra: T?moinages ?pigraphiques anciens et
nouveaux,? Syria 60 (1983): 69-71. 
175  See n. 164 above.  For further discussion of the evidence which identifies
?drwn? in the Palmyrene texts, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 224.
241
Greatest, which could refer to Bel.172  To my knowledge, however, there is no
explicit mention of a banquet hall or symposion attached to the temple of Bel, but
there is archaeological evidence and the numerous tesserae do suggest festive
gatherings occurred at the temple.173  Furthermore, as a banquet hall or dining room,
symposion  bears the same meaning as ?drwn in Palmyrene, which is a
transliteration of the Greek andr?n, a room for men.174  The terminology itself
reflects the Hellenistic ambience in which Palmyra took shape.  Further, P0991, an
inscription which regulated the symposium of the priests of Belastor and
Baalshamin and established guidelines for the men who participated in the drinking,
is interesting in that the  term ?drwn appears multiple times.175  Moreover, in
addition to those banquet halls attached to temple complexes, two have been
discovered elsewhere in the city.  One is along the Great Colonnade between the
temple of Bel and the Monumental Arch and the other is adjacent to the southwest
176  For the banquet hall along the colonnade, see A. Bounni and M. Saliby,
?Six nouveaux emplacements fouill?s ? Palmyre (1963-1964),? AAS 15 (1965):
121-38.  For the banquet hall in the agora, see Seyrig, ?Rapport sommaire sur les de
l?agora,? 237-49.
177  Hairan Atenuri Salmai, who is depicted on a tessera reclining at a banquet
and identified as rb mrzh. , is one such individual who served as the symposiarch of
242
corner of the agora (fig. 11).176  Unfortunately, we know nothing of the festivities at
these ?secular? establishments, so such questions as to who met there, on what
occasions, and for what purpose must remain unanswered.  Nevertheless, whether
in these secular settings or in temple precincts, the public banquets were
cooperative and an overt display of social solidarity.
Among all the religious clubs at Palmyra, the cult association devoted to the
communal worship of Bel far surpassed all others in significance, and those who
led the symposium of the priests of Bel held a position of social preeminence.  As I
discussed in Chapter 3, Bel was a city god for all Palmyrenes, and his sanctuary was
shared with all other Palmyrene gods.  Thus festivals and banquets associated with
the temple of Bel were community endeavors that aggregated individuals together
as Palmyrenes, despite the fact that these people maintained a plethora of other
social identities, whether based on kinship or some other group association. 
Accordingly, the symposiarchy of the priesthood of Bel became one of the most
prestigious civic posts at Palmyra, with the primary responsibility of organizing
public festivals and ritual banquets.  Numerous cases may be cited of prominent
individuals who served as the symposiarch of the priests of Bel.177  For example, in
the priests of Bel; see P2033.
178  P0265.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 228-29.
179  P1357.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 254, who identifies the emperor referred
to as Pescennius Niger.
180  For further discussion, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 233-34.
181  See Jones, Greek City, 229.
243
117 C.E. the council set up a statue for Zebaida, son of Soadu Taimashamas, who
had received testimonial from the god Yarhibol, during his term as symposiarch of
the priests of Bel (brbnwt mrzh. wth dy kmry bl).178  Also, much later in 193 C.E.,
while symposiarch of the priests of Bel, a certain Malku, surnamed Mezabbana, set
up at his own expense a statue to honor the Roman emperor, which we learn from a
bilingual inscription.179  The Greek text identifies Malku as both a chief priest
(archiereus) and symposiarch (symposiarchos), which may suggest that the posts
were not necessarily the same.180  These examples would suggest also that the post
was a lucrative one available to the most prestigious and wealthy aristocrats.181 
Importantly, since Bel?s was the central civic sanctuary, those who served as
symposiarch spoke for the community and represented the city in their actions.  As I
will discuss in the following section, an ethic of reciprocity permeated Palmyrene
society; thus the honors Malku bestowed upon the emperor, for example, may be
interpreted as an expression of loyalty and a gesture of hope for reciprocal
benefaction, not necessarily for Malku himself but for his city.  Similarly, in 203
182  P0316.  On the relationship between the Palmyrene aristocracy and the
Severan family, see H. E. Herzig and A. Schmidt-Colinet, ?Two recently
discovered Latin inscriptions from Palmyra,? Damaszener Mitteilungen 5 (1991):
68-69.
183  P1358 and P2812.  See also M. Gawlikowski, ?Inscriptions de Palmyre,?
Syria 48 (1971): 412-21; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 232-33.  The father
of this Haddudan may be the same Ogeilu Maqqai who honored the illustrious
Odenathus with a major dedication years earlier; see P2753.
184  P2743: brbnwt mrzh
. wt yrh. y ?grp? yrh. y | ydy?bl ?g? y?t dy ?m? ?lhy? wytb ?l |
qsm? ?t? klh w?sq h. mr? ?tyq? | lkmry? ?t? klh mn byth wh. mr bzqyn | l? ?yty mn m?rb?. 
See also H. Ingholt, ?Les Thiases ? Palmyre d?apr?s une inscription in?dite,?
CRAIBL (1925): 355-61; and idem, ?Un Nouveau thiase palmyr?nien,? 128-41.  It
is possible that the wine came from the Euphrates region.  For wh. mr bzqyn | l? ?yty
244
C.E., a certain Shalma, son of another Malku, while symposiarch of the priests of
Bel, honored the imperial family of Septimius Severus with statues set up at his
own expense.182  Likewise, the Roman senator Septimius Haddudan, son of Ogeilu
Maqqai, who had served two terms as symposiarch of the priesthood of Bel in 272
and again in 273 C.E., in some capacity ?helped the troops of Aurelian Caesar our
Lord? (dy ?dr [h. yl? dy] | [?]wrlynws qsr [m]r[n]?).183  Furthermore, while a lucrative
post, we know nothing of the procedures by which individuals were elected or
appointed to the symposiarchy.  Presumably, the process was highly competitive.
Perhaps in order to serve individuals had to make promises of personal benefaction
to the temple and its priesthood.  For example, in 243 C.E., the symposiarch Yarhai
Agrippa was honored, ?because he served the gods and presided over the divination
throughout the year and because he brought matured wine for the priests throughout
the year from his house, and the wine in skins was not from the west.?184  His
mn m?rb?, Milik, D?dicaces, 153, reads ?and the wine (was) in skins, it was not
mixed.?  See also Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 190, n. 93.  It is unclear,
however, if this was the symposiarchy of the priesthood of Bel.
185  P0288: {/ $@L[8? 6"?   *?]:@H | G,BJ\:[4@< ? @Df*0<] J?<
6DV|J4FJ@< ?[B\JD@B@<] E,$"FJ@  | *@L60<[VD4@<, *4]6,@*?J0< | J?H
:0JD[@6@8T]<,\"H, 6"?   | <"6@:\F"<[J" J] H FL<@*\"H | ?> ?*\T<, 6"?
:"DJLD02X<J" |  B? J <  DP,:B?DT< | 6"? 8":BD H FJD"J0(ZF"<J" | 6"?
 (@D"<@:ZF"<J" J?H " J?H | :0JD@6@8T<,\"H, 6"? B8,?FJ" | @?6@2,<
 <"8fF"<J", 6"?  DXF"< | J" J? J, " J? $@L8? 6"? J? *Z:  | 6"? <L<,?
8":BD H FL:B@F\"D|P@< J < J@[  2,@ ] )4?H #Z8@L ?,|DXT<,  [(<,\"H
6"?] J,4:?H ?<,|6,<, ?J[@LH .@N? :0]<,? ="<*46?.
245
personal expenditure, then, despite the likelihood that the temple maintained its
own treasury, may have resulted from an obligation connected to his original
appointment, but this is hypothetical.  Importantly, though, the inscription does
indicate that the term of service was annual, which would have enabled others to
attain the post.  Finally, the full significance of the symposiarchy of the priesthood
of Bel is evident from a Greek honorific inscription of 267 C.E. to the eminent
Septimius Worod during his tenure in office.  The inscription reads:
The council and people set up this statue to Septimius Worod, most
excellent procurator of Augustus, ducenarius, law-giver
(dikeodot s) of the metrokol?neia, who brought back the caravans
from his own purse, who has received (worthy) testimony from the
chiefs of the merchants, who brilliantly served as strat gos and as
agoranomos of the same metrokol?neia, who spent great sums from
his own personal fortune, who has been pleasing to the council and
the people, and who now, with brilliance, serves as symposiarch of
the priests of the god Zeus Bel, on account of his integrity and
honor, in the year [577], in the month Xandikos.  (April 266/67
C.E.).185
Clearly, the inclusion of symposiarch of the priests of the god Bel in such a long list
186  A long inscription from the temple of Allat, which is dated to 137 C.E. and
commemorates a statue set up for an unknown child of a certain Aakai by the
goddess Allat herself and the bny nwrbl, provides a good example of individual
religious pluralism.  The inscription records the patronage of this one Palmyrene,
who, some ten years prior to the date of the dedication, had a bowl of gold and
silver made for ?his goddess? Allat (l?lt ??tr? ?lhth | mh. d? dy dhb? wksp?); for Bel,
Yarhibol, Aglibol, and Astarte, the good and generous gods, he had a bowl made
completely of gold (lbl wlyrh. bwl wl?glbwl wl??trt | ?lhy? t.by? w?kry? mh. d? dy klh
dhb); and to the gods Baalshamin and Durahlun and the goddess Belti he offered a
silver bowl (qrb lb?l?mn wdrh. lwn | wlblty ??tr? mh. d? dy ksp?); see H. J. W. Drijvers,
?Inscriptions from All?t?s Sanctuary,? Aram 7 (1995): 111.  It seems that all the
bowls were intended for a special occasion designated in the inscription as ?the h. lq
on the twelfth day of Siwan (June)? (lh. lq lywm ??r? wtrn bsywn).  The h. lq, Drijvers
suggests, was the occasion when certain civic and religious officials were elected at
Palmyra on one particular day in June, and the bowls served as receptacles for the
casting of lots.  Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 251-52, provides an alternative
translation for the h. lq, based on the associated root in Syriac, as the time during
which divination occurred. 
246
of honors and positions of merit testifies to its public importance.  Also, this
position must have had some personal significance to Septimius Worod himself as
one of many stages in his cursus honorum.  Importantly, the fact that Worod
attained the post late in his distinguished career suggests that the symposiarchy of
the priesthood of Bel was truly a prestigious office.
While individuals patronized numerous cults simultaneously, the civic cult
of Bel remained preeminent in the religious life of the community at Palmyra.186 
What, then, was the relationship between the association based on the cult of Bel
and those of other deities at Palmyra?  Milik views the relationship as hierarchical,
in the sense that the cultic association of the priesthood of Bel superseded all others
at Palmyra and that the symposiarch of the priests of Bel stood also at the head of
187  Milik, D?dicaces, 110.
188  See p. 131 above. See also Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 28-29
and 46-47, who advocates the inter-tribal nature of the priesthood of Bel.
189  See p. 129 above.
247
all other cultic associations in the city. According to Milik:
Dans la vie pratique ce fait de l?association du patron divin d?un
thiase au ?grand dieu Zeus B?l? se traduisait par le contr?le
administratif du symposiarque de B?l, qui s?excer?ait sur tous les
symposia de la ville.  Il n??tait pas seulement rabb marzeh. ? des
pr?tres de B?l, mais aussi rabb marzeh. ?, ?chef de (tous les) thiases?,
et il disposait d?un bureau appropri? qui s?appelait bt qsm?, ?maison
des distributions?.187
This view, however, seems to presuppose that individuals did not participate in
multiple religious associations simultaneously, which seems not to have been the
case.  Nevertheless, the likelihood that the symposiarch of Bel superceded all other
symposia of the city highlights the religious pluralism discussed in Chapter 3.  It
would also seem to reflect the inter-tribal character of the priesthood of Bel.188 
Indeed, the temple of Bel was a communal sanctuary for all Palmyrenes, the setting
for cultic festivals and celebrations.  As I have noted, the temple of Bel was
considered by the Palmyrenes themselves as the ?house of their gods? (bt ?lhyhn).189 
It was a civic sanctuary in which tribal deities co-mingled (figs. 8 and 9).  When the
Palmyrenes assembled in the temple of Bel for purposes of ritual dining, however,
it is not clear how they organized themselves.  Perhaps they congregated in distinct
areas based on their specific cultic allegiances, whether familial, tribal, or based on
248
some voluntary association.  Unfortunately, since individuals could patronize
numerous cults simultaneously, we do not know how they would have prioritized
their participation during cultic events at the temple of Bel in light of the
involvement in other associations.  Most importantly, though, the civic nature of the
cultic association of the god Bel cannot be discounted, and the symposiarchy of the
priesthood of Bel, perhaps the most important annual post in the religious life of the
community, held great political significance and superseded cultic associations
based more on familial or tribal affiliations.
To sum up, voluntary associations at Palmyra, especially religious clubs
devoted to the cults of specific deities, were numerous.  As mutual aid societies,
these provided a shared group identity for their individual members.  Above all,
these reflected social solidarity as bodies of cooperative association.  Most often,
these associations met during festive events for purposes of ritual dining and their
organization was hierarchical.  Leading each, for example, was a symposiarchos or
rb mrzh. ?, the respective patron of his association.  The most important among these
was the symposiarch of Bel, a position for which most aristocrats likely competed. 
As symposiarch of Bel, one represented his city as patron and, apparently, directed
all other symposia.  Indeed, power and prestige awaited any who attained the
position.  
Friends and Patrons
I conclude with a brief analysis of the informal power relationships that both
190  See p. 30 above.
249
generated and helped to maintain social identities between different individuals and
groups.  I refer to the network of dependency relations based on principles of
patronage as well as the more (or less) equal relations between friends and
colleagues.  I have stressed at the outset that in an analysis of state formation at
Palmyra, in its development as a Greek polis, we must not regard Palmyra as an
?imagined community,? in the sense that Benedict Anderson characterizes the
modern nation, but rather as a real and tangible community, in which its inhabitants
engaged in face-to-face association on a daily basis.190  An analysis of this sort
reveals the most about power relationships within the community, which, in turn,
informs us concerning the structure and maintenance of identity and community. 
Essentially, we gain a sense of how the ?haves? of the community acquired and
maintained their privileged status and how the ?have nots? struggled to improve
their lot, generally in their drive to associate with the well-to-do.  In this way,
Palmyra shared a great deal with other communities in the Roman Near East.
To begin with, an ethic of reciprocity permeated Greek and Roman society,
which the Palmyrenes seem to have borrowed.  One who receives must give in
return, whether of goods or services.  This was true of individuals, groups, and
states.  In the structured, communal environment of the polis, this exchange was
equitable only in the sense that one offered in return goods or services that one
theoretically had the means to provide.  The humble classes, for instance, would
191  See Garnsey and Saller, Roman Empire, 32-34.
192  Ibid., 101-2.
193  The classic studies are P. Veyne, Le Pain et le cirque: Sociologie historique
d?un pluralisme politique (Paris: Seuil, 1976); and P. Gauthier, Les Cit?s grecques
et leurs bienfaiteurs (IVe-Ier si?cle avant J.-C.), Bulletin de correspondance
hell?nique, suppl?ment 12 (Athens: Ecole Fran?aise d?Ath?nes, 1985).  The latter
defines euergetism as ?l?action, l?influence et le prestige des notables, citoyens et
?trangers, au sein des cit?s? (Gauthier, Les Cit?s grecques, 1).  See also Dijkstra,
Life and Loyalty, 23-28.  For a discussion of civic euergetism at Palmyra, see J. -B.
Yon, ?Euergetism and Urbanism in Palmyra,? in Recent Research in Late-Antique
Urbanism, edited by L. Lavan, JRA Supplementary Series, no. 42 (Portsmouth,
R.I.: JRA, 2001), 173-81.
250
never have been expected to fund public works, unlike the wealthy and powerful,
whose resources were consistently tapped by the state.  In exchanges between
individuals and their communities, indeed, this ethnic of reciprocity became
institutionalized in a system of liturgies.  Basically, men of substance were
obligated to serve the state at their own expense, which, ultimately, rendered
legitimate their control of local society and politics.191  Also, this system of liturgies
channeled the competitive tendencies of the rich, in their pursuit of offices, honors,
and prestige, to the benefit of their community.  This spirit of competition, in fact,
often pervaded the civic consciousness sufficiently to inspire a rich benefactor
(euerget s) to give voluntarily.  Euergetism, ?the public display of generosity by
individuals,?192 was a significant byproduct of elite competition that led to the
embellishment of the classical city in the Roman Near East.193  It also reflected an
ethic of reciprocity that governed relationships between individuals and their
194  See, for instance, R. Saller, ?Patronage and Friendship in Early Imperial
Rome: Drawing the Distinction,? in Patronage in Ancient Society, edited by A.
Wallace-Hadrill, Leicester-Nottingham Studies in Ancient Society, vol. 1 (London:
Routledge, 1989), 49-62.
195  See R. Saller, Personal Patronage under the Early Empire (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1982), 1; and T. Johnson and C. Dandeker,
?Patronage: Relation and System,? in Patronage in Ancient Society, 224.  For
further discussion, see Wallace-Hadrill, ?Patronage in Roman Society: from
Republic to Empire,? in Patronage in Ancient Society, 63-87.
196  For discussion, see D. Konstan, Friendship in the Classical World
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); and P. Burton, ?Amicitia in
Roman Social and International Relations, (350 - 146 B.C.)? (Ph.D. diss.,
University of Maryland, College Park, 2000).
251
communities.  Indeed, Palmyra is a living museum of these practices.
Furthermore, the same ethos governed personal relationships, such as those
between friends or patrons and clients.  We distinguish between friendship and
patronage based on the social statuses of the individuals involved and the resources
available to each, which dictates their capacity to engage in reciprocal exchange.194 
A convenient definition of patronage, for example, is that it is an asymmetric
friendship relation between men of unequal status and resources of some duration
that involves a reciprocal exchange of goods and services.195  This may be
distinguished from friendship, generally, in the sense that the individuals involved
as friends tend to be of comparable status, although some may yield greater or
lesser power and influence.196  Also, it seems that individuals entered into these
197  See, for instance, P. Garnsey and G. Woolf, ?Patronage of the Rural Poor in
the Roman World,? in Patronage in Ancient Society, 153-70.
198  I omit from this analysis the evidence of patronage between individuals and
the greater community that falls within the range of the system of liturgies and of
civic euergetism.
252
relationships, more or less, voluntarily.197  Conceptually, the notion that these
personal exchange relationships were voluntary, despite apparent inequalities in
social rank and power, helped to prevent them from becoming overtly exploitative. 
In the maintenance of these social networks, the myth, more or less apparent, was
that everyone benefitted.
Networks of patronage and friendship, in addition to social networks
generated through kinship, integrated Palmyrene society at home and abroad.  It is
tempting to regard this as a truism and characteristic of most, if not all, ancient
societies.  What is the evidence from Palmyra, though, and can we place it into any
meaningful context?
In terms of patronage and friendship as personal relationships of reciprocal
exchange, the epigraphic evidence is limited to the second and third centuries C.E.
and largely to relationships between Palmyrenes and foreigners or between
Palmyrenes and their compatriots with perceived power and influence abroad.198  In
147 C.E., for instance, the renowned Soados, son of B liados, who was honored by
his city on numerous occasions, received a statue set up by his friend (philos, rh. m)
199  P0115.  See also Gawlikowski, ?Palmyrena,? 66, no. 1.
200  See P0306 and P1396.
201  See P0307, P1399, P1403, P1409, and P1411.
202  P1422.
203  Inventaire 10.108.  Cf. Inventaire 10.109, which records a statue dedicated
to the same Marcus Acilius Athenodoros, set up for him by the council and the
people on account of his excellence as a citizen.
204  For the ala Herculania, see Inventaire 10.117; and for the legio III Gallica,
see Inventaire 10.1.
253
Yarhai, son of Ogeilu, son of Taimha.199  Similarly, in 157/58 C.E., Marcus Ulpius
Yarhai received two statues in the agora set up by individuals who denoted
themselves as his friends.200  These statues were among many others set up between
156 and 158 C.E. to honor this same great man by Palmyrene merchants and
caravans.201  At about the same time, Marcus Ulpius Yarhai himself dedicated a
statue to a Roman military officer, a prefect of the ala I [Ulpia] dromedariorum
Palmyrenorum, whom he designated as his friend (J?< '"LJ@  N\8@<).202  Also,
an undated text from the agora records that a certain Marcus Ulpius Malchos set up
a statue to honor his friend and compatriot Marcus Aeilius Athenodoros, who is
identified as a tribune of the cohors I Ulpia Petraeorum.203  In addition, two
fragmentary texts from the agora record statues of a soldier of the ala Herculania
and a centurion of the legio III Gallica set up by individuals who regarded
themselves as ?friends? of these men.204
205  For philos, see P0283 and P0285; for philos and prostat s, see P0286,
P0287, and P0289.
206  Cf. Inventaire 3.18, which records the city honoring a certain Septimius
Apsaios as both a citizen and protector/patron (E,BJ. }!R"4@< J?< B@8,\J0< |
6"? BD@FJVJ0< ? B?84H).  The Palmyrene equivalent of prostat s is qywm, or
?patron,? and in each of the bilingual inscriptions (P0286, P0287, and P0289)
philos and prostat s is translated as rh. mh wqywmh, or ?friend and patron.?  A
number of texts, however, employ the Palmyrene term gr, which may be translated
as either a client, patron, or, more generally, as a host; see Hillers and Cussini,
Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 354, s.v. ?gr.?  The only example that employs
terminology comparable to rh. mh wqywmh is a dedicatory inscription (P0319) on an
altar set up by a Nabataean soldier for his god Shaialqawm [?y??lqwm], in which he
identifies a certain Zebaida, son of Shema?n, son of Belaqab, as his ?host/patron
and friend? (gyrh wrh. mh).  Cf. P0318, P0381, and P0574.
207  See Garnsey and Saller, Roman Empire, 151-54; Saller, Personal
Patronage, 1; and J. Nicols, ?Pliny and the Patronage of Communities,? Hermes
108 (1980): 365-85, who discusses the formal and informal aspects of classical
patronage.
254
The specific language of patronage, at times coupled with that of friendship,
only begins in the third century C.E.  For example, numerous statues were set up in
the third century C.E. in honor of Septimius Worod, the illustrious senator, by
individuals identifying him either as their friend (philos) or as both their friend and
patron (prostat s).205  Interestingly, these are the only examples of an individual
designated as a prostat s at Palmyra in terms of personal relations.206  Since these
examples all date to the period after Palmyra was elevated to the status of a Roman
colony, the question at hand is whether we may regard a prostat s as comparable to
a Roman patronus, which had a strict technical meaning and status in Roman
law.207  Epigraphically, the Greek term patr?n as an equivalent of the Roman
208  P0290.
209  For discussion with references, see p. 231 above.
210  See P0291.  Cf. P0292 (271 C.E.), which describes Odenathus as a ?lord?
or master (mrn), and P0293, which identifies his wife, Zenobia, as a despoina.
255
patronus appears only four times at Palmyra.  On a column along the Great
Colonnade, an inscription dated to 251 C.E. honors Septimius Hairan, son of
Odenathus, who is described as a senator and exarchos or ?chief? of Palmyra, as
well as a patron to the Roman legionary soldier who sponsored the dedication.208 
This is the only example of the term patr?n used to denote a relationship between
individuals.  The other texts, which all date to 257/58 C.E., are dedications by
voluntary associations within the city, the FL:B?F4@< J < @L"<< < and the
FL:B?F4@< J < 6@<,J < to their patron Septimius Odenathus, and the
FL:B?F4@< F6LJXT< 6"?  F6@<"LJ@B@4 < to their patron Septimius Hairan,
son of Odenathus.209  It is noteworthy that in a similar text, one in which Odenathus
is honored by an association of goldsmiths and silversmiths, he is identified not as
their patron but more explicitly, in an obvious relationship of power, as their master
(despotas) or ?lord? (mrn), which is a vivid reflection of his exalted status in the
community.210  In all of these examples, it is significant that the language of
patronage is limited to third century C.E. contexts after Palmyra had adopted a
colonial constitution, and the only individuals who are referred to as patrons,
whether of individuals or groups, happen to be the most powerful men within the
211  P1395.
212  P1424.
256
community at the time.  It is also noteworthy that the only examples that employ the
Greek term patr?n as a transliteration of the Roman patronus happen to be in
dedications to Palmyrenes who had attained the exalted rank and status of Roman
senator.  Thus it is clear that while Palmyra in the first and second centuries C.E.
had adopted Hellenistic social patterns, which they grafted onto their own
indigenous forms, in the third century the evidence points more specifically to their
becoming more culturally Roman.
Finally, there are a handful of texts that further reflect an ethic of reciprocity
but are unique in that they employ the language of public benefaction in personal
contexts.  An honorific inscription from the agora, for instance, which dates to 157
C.E., identifies a certain Thaimeis, son of Thaimarsos, having set up a statue to his
benefactor (euerget s), the renowned Marcus Ulpius Yarhai.211  Similarly, in an
undated text retrieved from the agora, Zebeidas, Abdas and Abdaasth?r s, sons of a
certain Nesha, dedicated a statue to Gaius Licinius Flavianus Malichos, son of
Burrus, whom they regarded as their benefactor.212  Also on a column along the
Great Colonnade, a Greek inscription honors a certain Gaius Sedatius Velleius
Priscus Macrinus, who is identified as an honest and just protector (s?t r) and a
benefactor to Mannos, surnamed Mezabbanas, son of Thaim , who sponsored the
213  Inventaire 3.23 (CIG 4494).  Cf. Inventaire 10.34, which records a statue
set up by the council and the people to an imperial legate, Fulvius Titianus, who is
identified as a ?protector and benefactor of the city? ([FTJ?D"] | 6"? , ,D(XJ0<
J?H [B?8,TH]).
214  For instance, see P0260, P0276, P0277, P0278, P0298, P1359, P1404, and
P1414; see also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 174-75, no. 2b; and Inventaire
10.59.
215  For instance, see P0260, P0270, P1375, P1384, P1389, P1407, P1415, and
P1421.
216  See Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1938): 76; Inventaire 3.18; Inventaire 9.23;
and P1423.
257
dedication.213  More often, we expect to find dedications of this sort sponsored by
the city to honor its great men.  In commemoration of their benefactions to the
community, for example, civic euergetai are conventionally described as lovers of
the fatherland or their city (philopatrin, rh. ym mh. wzh),214 lovers of honor
(philoteimia),215 or, more generally, they are acknowledged for their excellence as
citizens.216
To sum up, an ethic of reciprocity apparently structured social relations at
Palmyra, which is visible in the networks of patronage and friendship attested
epigraphically.  Most of the inscriptions are honorific and reflect reciprocal
exchanges between individuals and the community.  They serve as a public
expression of honor and exaltation of a benefactor or euerget s.  Relationships of
patronage and friendship between individuals are attested as well, but we are less
certain of what motivated the various individual dedications to compatriots or to
258
foreign dignitaries, mostly military men.  Clearly, an important aspect of civic life
was to associate oneself with someone who might be perceived to have the power
and resources to be of assistance should the need ever arise.  Such associations
would also have increased an individual?s social prestige.  More importantly,
though, is the question of whether an increase in informal relationships that fell
outside the range of associations based on kinship is, possibly, a byproduct of
Palmyra?s communal development.  The answer is unclear.  It is, however, of great
interest that ?formal? patronage relationships do not to appear epigraphically until
the third century C.E., which would suggest greater Roman influence upon
Palmyrene social institutions.
Conclusion
At Palmyra over the course of the first three centuries C.E., individuals
interacted with one another in a progressively cosmopolitan communal context. 
Indeed, a complex network of interactions among individuals and groups, some
more or less familiar with one another, defined the Palmyrene communal
experience.  Personal and group identities were structured within such a network, in
that limits of inclusion and exclusion defined the boundaries that supported
particular identities.  As we have seen, the basic social unit at Palmyra, above the
level of the individual, was the family, followed by extended familial groups such
as clans and tribes.  Relationships based on principles of kinship (both real and
artificial), in fact, dominated social organization within the community.  Other
259
social groups emerged as well, not necessarily organized around principles of
kinship, in conjunction with Palmyra?s urban development and social stratification. 
Various voluntary associations (collegia), for example, most notably religious clubs
(thiasoi), formed to organize further individual and group incorporation and
participation within the Palmyrene community.  Thus the city hosted a plethora of
personal and group identities, some more prominent than others. 
In this chapter I examined social identities at Palmyra and the extent to
which these were comparable to other Mediterranean communities.  I began with a
discussion of the nuclear family as the basic social unit.  I then discussed marriage
patterns and the role of women in Palmyrene society both in their homes and
outside of them.  From the Palmyrene family I turned to the Palmyrene household,
which incorporated slaves and those freed from slavery.  Extended familial
groupings such as clans and tribes, to which I will return in the subsequent chapter,
were treated briefly here so as not to repeat information presented already in
Chapter 2.  Nevertheless, the evidence assembled here is sufficient to show that
kinship remained a primary component of every Palmyrene?s social identity.  Next,
I examined the numerous associations that formed at Palmyra.  These included
occupational groups, which, by all appearances, did not reflect familial or tribal
loyalties, and religious clubs based on the cults of specific deities, some tribal in
nature.  My discussion of the various associations at Palmyra focused on their
functions as social groups assembled for purposes of dining and drinking.  Such
260
atmospheres of communal interaction, hierarchical in nature, provided ample
support for the generation of social boundaries between individuals and groups and
the subsequent maintenance of their respective identities.  Where one sat at a
banquet, assuming of course one had the right to attend, reflected one?s social status
vis-?-vis the ?others? of the community.  Finally, I concluded with a review of the
informal power relationships of friendship and patronage that structured personal
and group interaction.  I have shown that by the third century C.E. and supported by
its colonial status Palmyra adopted a more openly ?Roman? character, as opposed
to its ?Palmyrene? or ?Greek? aspects in the preceding centuries.  This is apparent
in the patronage relationships that developed in response to the city?s growth.  For
example, clearly something had changed when the friends and patrons of preceding
centuries were supplanted by at least one individual whom one would have
expected to regard as lord or master.  Power within the city had shifted.  Fewer and
fewer men dominated communal affairs.  These men, indeed, were empowered to
determine the rules of inclusion and exclusion that generated and sustained personal
and group identities within the city, at familial levels and otherwise.
Finally, a number of other social relations at Palmyra will or have been
examined in other chapters.  For example, Relationships between those settled
within the oasis and the pastoralists of the Palmyrene countryside were detailed
more fully in Chapter 2.  Moreover, there was a whole class of individuals resident
in the city who undoubtedly influenced its cultural development, namely, the host
261
of foreigners, soldiers and civilians, who resided within the oasis at various dates
and for different lengths of time.  I will discuss these individuals and groups, in
addition to their influence on Palmyrene society, more fully in Chapter 6 when I
examine civic development and the growth of community at Palmyra in a regional
and provincial context. 
262
Chapter 5: Civic Institutions
Introduction
In the preceding chapters I discussed various factors that influenced the
growth of community at Palmyra and the social relations that evolved as the
community expanded, in order to provide an preliminary understanding of how
personal and group identities were structured and maintained.  I have emphasized
throughout that personal and group identities were marked by the boundaries that
were themselves regulated through relationships of power and authority between
individuals and groups.  The emergence of a Palmyrene state, then, marked an
advanced stage in the development of community and a collective identity, because
the state, as I stressed in Chapter 1, essentially operated as an autonomous organism
that exercised power and authority within prescribed territorial and lawful limits
and held a monopoly on force.  Furthermore, by exercising its authority, the state,
essentially the authoritative presence of the city?s elite, established a host of
boundaries that generated and supported a range of social identities.  In this way,
the state, mainly in how it structured and wielded its power and authority, was
central to the manner in which personal and group identities were constructed,
263
maintained, dissolved, and reconstituted at Palmyra.  
In this chapter I will examine the infrastructure of the Palmyrene state
through an analysis of its civic institutions.  My goal is to elucidate how Palmyra?s
civic institutions regulated social, economic, political, and cultural relations within
the city, in its hinterland, and beyond, and how these affected Palmyrene
urbanization and the growth of community.  To begin with, I will examine the
institutional development of Palmyra as a hybrid of the Greek polis and the
emergence of formal institutions designed to regulate personal and group activity. 
These institutions were the governing bodies of the community, which included the
city council (boul ), the assembly (d mos), and an array of magistracies.  Further, I
will present this examination in the context of the emergence and possible
transformation of a collective ?Palmyrene? civic identity taking into account
increasing Roman influence upon the city from the first to third centuries C.E.  I
will then discuss the development of the ?four tribes? of Palmyra as a social and
political organism, while I examine concurrently the issues of tribal versus civic
constructions of identity and forms of worship at Palmyra.  I will conclude with an
analysis of Palmyrene military institutions as an obvious manifestation of the city?s
power and authority.
City and Citizenship
In Chapter 3 I stressed that any study of community formation at Palmyra
must recognize that the available evidence derives primarily from contexts related
264
to Palmyrene urbanism and the city?s institutional development as a polis.  I
reinforced this assessment with a short discussion of the nature of community at
Palmyra that reviewed the terminology for communal formations.  I intend here and
in the following section to expand upon this discussion by examining Palmyra?s
growth as a hybrid of the Greek polis and, eventually, its reconstitution as a Roman
colonia.  My interest again lies in the emergence of Palmyra?s civic institutions and
the manner in which these affected the growth of a citizenry willing to identify
themselves collectively as ?Palmyrenes.?  What, for instance, did it mean to
identify oneself as a citizen of Palmyra, when and how did this framework for a
group identity begin, and with what forms and in what manner did emerging civic
institutions, which were increasingly influenced by the Romans, structure and
maintain this civic identity?
The evidence that specifically identifies Palmyra as a polis in Greek or the
people of Palmyra as citizens of their city (poleit s) is not extensive, although it
spans three centuries of communal development and illustrates continuous Roman
influence on the city.  The earliest reference seems to be in a bilingual inscription of
51 C.E. on a column console in the temple of Bel.  The inscription commemorates a
statue to a certain Moqimu, son of Ogeilu, for his generous donations to the ?house
of the gods? (bt lhy), set up for him by ?all the people of the Palmyra? (gbl tdmry
klhn), or, according to the Greek text, ?the city of the Palmyrenes?
1  P0269.
2  See p. 118 above.
3  See Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 174-75, no. 2b.  The inscription honors
a certain Hairan for being pious (euseb s) and one who loves his country
(philopatrin).  The Palmyrene?s use of the Latin term civitas, which equates the
city-state with the sum of its citizens, as a substitute for the Greek d mos is such a
broad designation that it suggests that no organized political assembly, as a
representative cross-section of the population, existed at all and that the citizenry in
their totality acted as one political body under the council?s leadership; see p. 119
above.
265
([A"8:LD0]< < ? [B]?[84H]).1  The people of Palmyra constituted the d mos, a
term which probably referred at this time to the community of Palmyrene citizens
as opposed to an institutionalized political assembly.2  
A trilingual inscription from 74 C.E. appears to confirm this assessment. 
Whereas the Greek and Palmyrene portions of the inscription refer both to the boul 
and to the d mos, the Latin text, apparently, transliterates the former as bule and
translates d mos as the civitas, or community of citizens, of the Palmyrenes.3  This
is an excellent example of Roman influence on Palmyra?s political formation,
because, I would argue, the designation civitas Palmyrenorum suggests that the
Palmyrenes sought consciously to identify themselves in the wider urbanized and
political world of the Romans.  Indeed, this coincided with the time when the
legatus of Syria, Marcus Ulpius Traianus, had completed road construction that
placed Palmyra within Syria?s provincial infrastructure, and also during the time in
4  See p. 49, n. 95 above.
5  See P1422.  There are other references to Palmyra as a polis in Greek that
honor Roman citizens or military officials.  For example, a certain Marcus Acilius
Ath nod?ros, son of Acilius Mokimos, of the tribe Sergia, who served as tribune of
the legio X Fretensis and tribune of the cohors I Ulpia Petraeorum, was honored
(probably in the second century C.E.) by the council and the people for his having
been pious and patriotic toward the city in every respect (BV[<J" J?] B?8,4
. <J" , F,$? 6"? [N48?]B"JD4<); see Inventaire 10.109.  Similarly, in the third
century C.E., Julius Aurelius Neboumaios also received honors from the council
and the people, because he had been ?pleasing to the city? ( DXF"<[J"] J?
B?8,4); see P1360.  
266
which the agora was being developed.4  Interestingly, this inscription of 74 C.E. is
the earliest attestation of the boul  of Palmyra, which would indicate that the elite
members of Palmyrene society had formally begun to consolidate power into their
hands, perhaps in response to more direct and frequent relations with Roman
officials.  These relations intensified in the second and third centuries C.E.
especially with the arrival of a Roman garrison.  An important example of increased
Roman influence on the city, one in which Palmyra is depicted as a polis in Greek,
is in a bilingual inscription from the agora that records honors received by a prefect
of the cohors I Augusta Thracum equitata, who was described as ?a citizen of the
city of the Palmyrenes? ([B@8,\J0]< J?H A"8:LD0[<] < B?8,TH).5  Yet the
most conspicuous example of Palmyra designated in Greek as a polis, one that
manifests Roman influence on the city in the late second or early third century C.E.
as well as the city?s efforts to flirt with the imperial core, is from the agora and
6  Inventaire 10.67: z3@L8\"< 9"?F"< z3@L8\"H | E,$"FJ?H  *,8N?< | ?
B?84H.
7  P0312.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 82-85; and Kaizer, Religious Life of
Palmyra, 100-101.
267
reads, ?the City (honors) Julia Maesa, sister of Julia Augusta.?6  The effort to win
over the Severans was not in vain, because the city was in fact soon rewarded. 
Palmyra was transformed from a Greek polis into a Roman colonia, a clear product
of centuries of Roman influence upon and interest in the city.  No longer referring
to itself as a polis, the city began to transliterate its new status directly from the
Latin colonia into kol?neia in Greek and qlny? in Palmyrene.
Concurrent with the emergence and development of Palmyra as a polis,
individuals and groups began to express a common socio-political identity as
citizens of their city.  The importance of citizenship is obvious in that it defined an
individual?s ability to participate in the active life of the community.  Presumably,
citizenship was determined by birth as opposed to residence.  We need to observe,
however, that in most cases the distinction cannot be made between a political
identity of being a ?Palmyrene? versus an ethnic identity of the same.  For example,
in 64 C.E. the goddess Allat and those identified as ?Palmyrenes? (A"8:LD0<@\ /
tdmry?) of the tribe of the bny m?zyn set up a statue and a column to honor a fellow
tribal member, a certain Salamallathos.7  Although these tribesmen identified
themselves as Palmyrenes, we can only assume that this reflected their recognition
of being citizens of Palmyra.  Conversely, as I will show in Chapter 6, numerous
8  A similar problem exists in Jewish contexts because Jewish identity can have
both an ethnic and a geographic basis; for discussion, see S. J. D. Cohen, The
Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, and Uncertainties (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1999), 70-81.
9  P2778 in situ from the temple of Bel at Palmyra.  See also J. Cantineau,
?Tadmorea,? (1938): 76, no. 29.
10  P1422.
268
instances of people identifying themselves as Palmyrenes in foreign contexts would
suggest ethnic self-recognition.  For example, P0270 of 19 C.E. records that
?Palmyrene traders? and their Greek colleagues ([?:B]@[D]@4 A"[8:LD0<@? 6"?
~+880<],H) in Seleucia (bslwky?) set up a statue to honor their chief Yedibel, son
of Azizu, a member of the bny mtbwl and, according to the Greek text of the
inscription, a Palmyrene, because he assisted with the construction of the temple of
Bel at Palmyra.  In this instance, the designation ?Palmyrene? would seem to have
been an ethnic distinction juxtaposed with ?Greek.?8  We can be certain that
citizenship is referred to when the language is explicit, which happens only in
Greek.  In 84 C.E., for example, a certain Abgar, son of Patroclus, also called
Astourga, son of Lekeisou, was honored by the council with a statue for his having
been, among other things, a good ?citizen? (poleit s).9  Likewise, in the second
century C.E., a Roman praefectus was honored specifically as ?a citizen of the city
of the Palmyrenes? ([B@8,\J0]< J?H A"8:LD0[<] < B?8,TH)10 at about the
same time that the city itself honored Septimius Aphaios as both a citizen and
11  Inventaire 3.18: E,BJ. }!N"4@< J?< B@8,\J0< | 6"? BD@FJVJ@< ?
B?84H, ?the City (honors) Septimius Aphaios, a citizen and protector.?
12  P1423.  Generosity as a citizen, as I discussed in Chapter 4, fell within the
framework of classical euergetism, a clear example of which occurred in 131 C.E.
when Mal  (also called Agrippa), son of Yarhai, received a statue by order of the
council and the people, because, during the adventus of the emperor Hadrian, he
provided oil to the citizens of Palmyra and to the strangers accompanying the
emperor, and because he provided fully for the hospitable reception of the imperial
troops; see P0305, and Dunant, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n, no. 44.
13  P1374: [{!*]D4"<?< A"8:LD0<?<. Also, curiously, the Greek text of a
bilingual inscription on a stele discovered in Trastevere, Rome, and dated to 236
C.E. records a dedication made to the gods Aglibol and Malakbel by a certain
Aurelius Heliodorus Antiochus, who identified himself as a {!*D4"<?H
A"8:LD0<?H (see P0247).  Cf. Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 39, n. 25, who
draws attention to the peculiarity of this inscription in that it was produced some
thirty years after Palmyra was made into a colonia.  For discussion of the titles, see
M. Boatwright, Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire (Princeton: Princeton
269
protector/patron (prostat s).11  Also, the council and the people together set up in
108 C.E. along  the Great Colonnade a statue to a certain Gaius Julius Hairan, son
of Elahbel, whom they identified in Greek as a ?pious and generous citizen?
(, F,$? 6"? N48?J,4:@< B@8,\J0<).12  
Interestingly, the adventus of the emperor Hadrian in the early second
century C.E. marked a partial transition in Palmyra?s political self-expression, when
individuals began to recognize themselves as citizens of Hadriana Palmyra.  In 131
C.E., for example, according to the Greek text of a bilingual inscription in the
agora, merchants from Spasinou Charax in the kingdom of Mesene honored their
patron Yarhai, son of Nebozabad, whom they identified specifically as a citizen of
Hadriana Palmyra.13  Again, this confirms Roman influence on Palmyra?s civic
University Press, 2000), 104-5.
14  Inventaire 9.23.
270
identity.  Occasionally, citizenship was extended to foreigners, including Romans. 
A fragmentary inscription from the west portico of the temple of Bel, for example,
honors a certain G. Vibius Celer, Roman commander of the ala based in the city
(date uncertain), in which he is identified as both a citizen and colleague on the city
council.14  Thus as Palmyra developed as a polis, individuals and groups within the
city began to express openly their citizenship status.  This affirmation was
significant, because it defined their presence as members of the civic community.  It
was also an acknowledgment of the city?s governance over their communal affairs. 
Yet, although the city served as a frame of reference for the construction of a new
socio-political identity, there is no firm evidence to suggest that other identities
such as those based on kinship were ever supplanted.
A common Palmyrene identity was also expressed in Palmyra?s hinterland,
which reflects the integration of city and countryside (fig. 5).  From  Qaryatein,
Syria, for example, a settlement about 110 kilometers southwest of Palmyra en
route to Damascus, an inscription was found that records a dedication of 146 C.E.
made by a group of five brothers to the local god of the village.  The inscription
reads: 
In the year 457, in the month Kanun (November, 145 C.E.), this
column and the roof that is on top of it, made (by) Zabdibol and
Atenur and Malku and Amru and Yedibel, sons of Barshamash, son
15  P0257: b[?]nt 457 (146 C.E.) | byrh
.  qnyn ?mwd? | dn? wtt.lyl? dl?l | mnh ?bdw
zbdbwl | w?tnwr wmlkw w?mrw | wydy?bl bny br?m? | br zbdbwl tdmry? [dy] | bnzly
l?lh? rb? | dnzly ?l h. yyhn wh. [yy] | bnyhn wh. yy blh. y | brt ?mrw ?mhn.  See also
Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 125, n. 100; Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 135-
36; and Milik, D?dicaces, 89.
16  See Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 125; and Dijkstra, Life and
Loyalty, 136.
17  Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty, 136.
18  See Millar, Roman Near East, 299-300.
271
of Zabdibol, the Palmyrenes (who are) in Nazala, for the great god of
Nazala, for the life of themselves and the life of their sons and the
life of Belhai, daughter of Amru, their mother.15
This inscription represents more than an instance of individuals identifying
themselves as Palmyrenes, however.  Both Dirven and Dijkstra stress the fact that
these band of brothers sought to integrate themselves and to settle in their new
community, while at the same time preserving their own identities as Palmyrenes.16 
Moreover, Dijkstra ventures to claim that:
since they and their sons act as chief beneficiaries, in answering the
dedication, the blessings of the Great God of Nazala guarantee their
longed for social integration.  Certainly, five brothers and their sons,
together with their wives and daughters, clients and slaves,
constitutes a whole clan, which had moved from Palmyra,
presumably to try their fortune elsewhere.17
This may be a compelling assessment.  We know little of the relationship between
Palmyra and the village of Nazala, however, except to note that the latter lay within
the territorium or hinterland of Palmyra and housed an important local cult.18  In
fact, it is equally plausible that the family of Barshamash were patrons of the local
272
cult without their having been permanent residents of the village.  It is also possible
that this family (and I see no evidence of a ?clan? inclusive of clients and slaves)
was originally from Nazala where they may well have retained kin but resided in
Palmyra, whether for most or all of the year.  Perhaps some members of the family
split their residence between both communities.  Still, it remains significant that,
wherever their primary residence, whether at Palmyra or in its hinterland, these
individuals considered themselves primarily Palmyrenes.  Again, however, whether
this was an assertion of citizenship attested beyond the city or of an ethnicity cannot
be determined.
Thus, concomitant with Palmyra?s growth as a polis, the development of a
Palmyrene civic identity began probably in the first century B.C.E. and flourished
in the first century C.E. and afterwards.  This does not imply, however, that a
shared communal identity did not exist among those inhabiting the oasis before
Palmyra became a city.  A key difference between pre-urban and urban identity
would have been in the institutions that regulated communal affairs.  Once Palmyra
was settled and grew as a polis, these insitutions would have provided a host of new
restrictions and opportunities for the city and its citizens, whether for economic,
social, or political advancement.  Moreover, it is clear that Palmyra?s development
as a polis was due primarily to Roman influence, although I would stop short of
suggesting where the impetus for this development originated.  Quite possibly, the
Palmyrenes themselves sought to form a city in order to participate in wider cultural
19  See M. Sartre, ?Palmyre, cit? grecque,? in International Colloquium on
Palmyra and the Silk Road, 385-405, and for the following discussion on the
institutional development of Palmyra.
273
contexts, with other cities and with their imperial neighbors, for instance.  At any
rate, the process of city formation gave shape to a unique communal identity that
was distinctively Palmyrene.  An important question remains, however.  How did
this communal identity as Palmyrenes change, if at all, over the course of three
centuries and Palmyra?s evolution as a polis?  I will respond to this question by
reviewing the evidence for Palmyra?s institutional development and city
governance.
Government and Institutions
There remains debate over the institutional development of Palmyra as a
Greek polis.19  The problem lies in estimating the ?Greekness? of Palmyra, versus,
for example, its ?Roman? or eastern aspects.  Institutionally, Palmyra may have
become a ?Greek? city by at least 74 C.E. , in that by this date there is evidence that
it possessed both a council (boul ) and allegedly an assembly (d mos), in addition
to a group of magistracies.  Nearly three generations would pass, however, before
the ?Greekness? of Palmyra manifested itself outwardly in terms of the city?s urban
development.  For example, noticeably absent at Palmyra until the development of
a theater in the mid-second century C.E. was a setting for agonistic performances,
20  Stressed by G. W. Bowersock, Hellenism in Late Antiquity (Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 1990), 7.  On the general process of Palmyrene
urbanization, see Savino, Citt? di frontiera nell?impero romano, 47-93.  More
specifically on Palmyra?s urban development, see Schlumberger, ??tudes sur
Palmyre, I,? 149-62; van Berchem, ?Le Plan de Palmyre,? 165-73; and Fr?zouls,
?Questions d?urbanisme palmyr?nie,? 191-207.
274
whether in athletics, music, or poetry.20  This illuminates an important civic context
of community formation and allows us to question how Palmyra evolved culturally
in relation to its political transformation.  In this section I intend to focus on the
latter.  I will analyze the development of Palmyra as a hybrid of the Greek polis,
which later transformed into a Roman colonia, through a careful review of the
city?s institutional structure and methods of governance.  Since the constitution of
any city is the makeup and organization of its public officials, the politically
privileged elite who ruled, I will discuss the various political bodies of the
Palmyrene state beginning with the citizen assembly.
We know very little about the alleged assembly of Palmyrene citizens if
there was one.  When did the political assembly form, how did it evolve, where did
it meet, what was its organization, and what powers did it possess beyond
ratification of public honors?  In response to these questions, we can only speculate. 
Some hints as to when the assembly developed seems to be embedded in the
evidence that I presented in Chapter 3, which illuminates community formation at
Palmyra.  Again, however, the terminology is obscure, since we have to deal with a
number of expressions that seem to equate with one another, e.g. the ?people of
21  P2636.  This difficult text, which may relate to a tax on camels driven into
the city, refers to the ?funds of all the people of Palmyra? (blw  gbl tdmry? klhwn). 
For discussion, see p. 117, n. 2 above.
22  P1353.  See p. 129, n. 34 above.
23  P1352.
24  P0269.  See n. 1 above.
275
Palmyra? (gbl tdmry?), the d mos, or the polis itself.  Reference to the ?people of
Palmyra? first appears in an inscription of 10 C.E., which is also the earliest
evidence for a community treasury.21  In 25 C.E. the people of Palmyra or gbl
tdmry?, which the Greek text renders as A"8:LD0< <   *?:@H, in cooperation
with the ?men of the treasury? (?nw? ?nw?t?) or treasurers (argurotomiai) set up a
statue to honor their fellow citizen Malku, son of Nesha, of the bny kmr?.22  A year
earlier in 24 C.E., this same Malku received a statue erected by ?all the merchants
in the city of Babylon? (t[g]ry? klhwn dy bmdynt bbl), who are themselves
identified in the Greek text of the bilingual as A"8:LD0< <   *?:@H.23  In this
instance, it may be that the d mos meeting in assembly ratified publicly an honor
sponsored by the merchants in Babylon.  The ambiguous nature of the gbl or the
d mos of Palmyra is reflected in a bilingual inscription of 51 C.E. that probably
associates ?all the people of Palmyra? (gbl tdmry? klhn) with the city (? [B]?[84H])
itself, and in a trilingual inscription of 74 C.E. that translates d mos as civitas in
Latin.24  The evidence seems to suggest that the city of Palmyra was the sum of its
citizens, and that the popular assembly of the Palmyrenes included only those who
25  On the economy, see n. 2 above, which refers to the ?funds? (blw) of the
Palmyrenes.  The cultic aspect may be seen in three fragmented and undated
inscriptions from the foundations of the Hellenistic temple of Bel, which seem to
form part of a single inscription that comprises one of the so-called sacred laws of
the community and twice refers to the individuals named in the text as Palmyrenes. 
The texts are P2774, P2775, and P1521.  See also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1936):
351-53, nos. 25 and 26; and Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 56-58, who
suggests that these form part of a single inscription.  Cf. Milik, D?dicaces, 300-309. 
More recently, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 172-74.  These Palmyrenes
clearly acted in a collective manner for some cultic purpose.  On the role of the city
secretary, see p. 281 below.
26  On the declining significance of citizen assemblies in the Roman period, see
A. H. M. Jones, The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1940), 177-78.
276
were politically privileged, specifically the merchants notables.  Where they met
cannot be stated for certain.  The assembly of citizens most likely convened in the
temple of Bel, or in other local sanctuaries, as well as in the theater once this was
constructed in the second century C.E.  Also, since Palmyra was a tribal society, we
would expect that its citizenry was organized accordingly.  As I will discuss in the
next section, this is apparent in the social organization in the second century C.E. of
the ?four tribes? of the city.  Finally, the evidence suggests that ?all the people of
Palmyra,? in their initial gatherings as a community, met for reasons related to
issues of the economy and perhaps of cult under the leadership of the city
secretary.25  Yet their responsibilities probably went no further than ratifying
decisions made by its leading citizens, the tribal leaders and urban elite, men who
would have constituted the boul  or city council.26
The political organization at Palmyra became more attuned to that of a
27  See Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 174, no. 2b.  For a general discussion
of the boul  at Palmyra, see Sartre, ?Palmyre, cit? grecque,? 388-90.
28  See Jones, Greek City, 164-65 and 176-78.
29  The list of references is extensive.  Briefly, for the council acting
independently, see P0268, P0298, P1375, P1384, P1387, P1389, P1392, P1408,
P1414, P1421, Inventaire 10.37, Inventaire 10.46, and Inventaire 10.60.  Also, for
enactments of the council and the people (bwl wdms), see P0197, P0260, P0267,
P0276, P0277, P0278, P0280, P0281, P0282, P0284, P0288, P0305, P1063, P1359,
P1360, P1368, P1370, P1378, P1382, P1407, P1415, P1423, P2769, Inventaire 3.5,
Inventaire 3.26, Inventaire 9.23, Inventaire 10.14, Inventaire 10.34, Inventaire
10.55, Inventaire 10.59, Inventaire 10.80, Inventaire 10.109, Inventaire 10.120, and
Inventaire 12.20; see also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 175. 
277
Greek city institutionally with the first evidence of a council (boul ) in 74 C.E.27 
This was essentially the governing body of the city which carried out various
important responsibilities.  For example, if comparisons may be drawn with
Mediterranean communities further afield, the council probably supervised public
works contracts (construction, maintenance, and repair), appointed magistrates,
approved expenditures of civic funds, and managed the collection of taxes.28  In
theory, the assembly of citizens was politically empowered.  Actual control over the
state, however, rested with the council comprised of the local elite, which most
often acted in the name of the d mos without calling it together.  Often at Palmyra,
the council is attested granting honors to leading citizens and benefactors, based on
their own authority but generally in conjunction with the assembly.29  This is
represented by the standard decree formula ?*@>, J? $@L8? 6"? J? *Z: , ?it
was enacted by the council and the people.?  The formulation itself, Hellenistic 
30  Libanius Orationes 48.3, for example, suggests that the average size of city
councils in Syria is about 600 men.
31  P0283 of 258/59 C.E.  On the career of Septimius Worod, see p. 289 below. 
The only other reference to a bouleut s is that of P1373, which honors Marcus
Aemilius Marcianus Asklepiades, a member of the city council of Antioch, which
was set up by merchants from Spasinou Charax in the agora at Palmyra.
32  In addition to the examples cited in the text, Inventaire 10.59, a fragmentary
Greek inscription, may refer to a synedros at Palmyra.
278
in its inception, stemmed from the recognition that the d mos required leadership
through the council, essentially the ruling body of the state.  The council probably
consisted of at least 600 men, although this figure is hypothetical.30  Moreover,
when the council was formed, it is likely that its members were those of the local
elite, whether elders or heads of important families or clans, or perhaps tribal
chiefs.  Surprisingly, there are few instances of a Palmyrene identified specifically
as a council member.  Neither the Palmyrene term bylwt. or the Greek bouleut s
appear in the inscriptions to designate any local individual as a council member
until the mid-third century C.E.  Even then, each term occurs only once inscribed
on a column along the Great Colonnade commemorating Aurelius (Septimius)
Worod, where he is identified both as an equestrian and a council member of
Palmyra (?BB46?< 6"? $@L8,LJ?< A"8:LD0<?< / ?wrlys [w]rwd hpq? wbylwt.? 
tdmry?).31  In a few instances, however, the Greek term synedros, which also
denotes membership on the council, is used in commemorations of individual
service to the community.32  A bilingual inscription in situ on a wall console in the
33  P1384.
34  P1389.
35  Teixidor, Un Port romaine du d?sert, 63-64.
36  For discussion, see Sartre, ?Palmyre, cit? grecque,? 389.
37  Inventaire 9.23
279
agora, for instance, records the council having set up a statue to the son of a certain
Taimarsu, son of Malku, on account of his piety and generosity as a councillor
(,[ ]F,$? [6"? N48?J,4:]@< [F]b<,*D@<).33  The council member Hagegu, son
of Yarhai, son of Oga, was honored similarly in 112 C.E.34  Teixidor, however,
contends that the synedros was not a council member at all but rather the
representative of the Roman governor in attendance at sessions of the city council.35 
Yet this contention seems not to be supported by the evidence.36  In one exceptional
case, though, a certain Vibius Celer, who was identified as the ?prefect of the ala
(stationed) here? (?B"DP@< J?H ?<2V*, ,?80H) was also described both as a
citizen (poleit n) and as a council member (synedron).37  The fact that Vibius Celer
was a citizen is significant, because it highlights the incorporation of Romans into
the city?s citizenry and Roman involvement in Palmyra?s civic institutions.  It also
illuminates the demography of the city, since veterans of the Roman units
garrisoned in the city were likely to remain and assume roles as prominent citizens,
which would have expanded the pool of candidates for high office.
  The council required leadership so a president (proedros / plhdrwt?) was
38  P0259 (Tariff): Greek I(a): 2; Palmyrene, I.1.
39  See Inventaire 10.45: -0<@[$\]@L BD@X*D[@L].
40  Inventaire 10.55: [? $@L8? 6"]?   *?:@H | 9V8P@< #"DX" J@ 
9"|8\P@L J@  E0:"v"\@L BD@,|*D,bF"<J"  (< H 6"? ?B4F|Z:TH 6"?
:"DJLD02X<J"  |[B]? !?JD\@L E,@LZD@L J@[ ] | 8":BD@JVJ@L ?(,:?<@[H] |
[?J@LH . . . 7]f@L.  See also Seyrig, ?Inscriptions grecques de l?agora de Palmyre,?
244-46, who suggests a Severan date for the inscription.
41  P1387.
280
appointed to supervise its activities and perhaps that of the assembly of citizens as
well.  The ratification of the Palmyrene tariff in 137 C.E., for example, was at a
?statutory meeting of the council? ($@L8?H <@:\:@L  (@:X<0H) during the
presidency of B?nneos, son of B?nneos, son of Hairanos (z,B? #T<<X@LH
#T<<X@LH J@  !?DV<@L BD@X*D@L).38  Another proedros, a certain Zenobios, is
mentioned in a fragmentary Greek inscription from the agora, but his term in office
cannot be dated.39  Also from the agora, an important Greek inscription was found
in which the council and the people honored a certain Malchos (son of) Barea, son
of Malichos, son of S manaios, ?who served as president of the council with
integrity and honor and who received the testimony of Aetrius Severus, the
distinguished governor.?40  Presidency over the council is also indicated by the
Palmyrene term mwtbh, as suggested by two additional inscriptions from the agora. 
One identifies a certain Elahbel, son of Elahbel, son of Zabdibol, whom the council
honored with a statue during his term as president (bmwtbh).41  The other
inscription dates to 119 C.E. and also records honors bestowed upon an
42  P1408.
43  For discussion of procedures, see Jones, Greek City, 179-88.
44  P0259 (Tariff): Greek I(a): 2-3; Palmyrene, I.2.
45  P0305.  See also Dunant, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n, no. 44.  Cf. P2756,
which refers to an individual, whose name cannot be restored, serving more than a
single term as secretary.  See also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 177, no. 3.
46  See n. 12 above.
281
unidentified individual, the son of a certain Malku, during his presidency.42 
Unfortunately, we know nothing of how the president of the council was appointed
or of the term of his office.  It is possible that he was either appointed by the
preceding president or selected by the council itself, perhaps followed by the
approval of the assembly.43
Another magistracy within the council held by individuals of prominence
was that of  secretary (grammateus / grmws), whose authority extended to the
assembly as well.  The Palmyrene tariff, for instance, identifies Alexandros, son of
Alexandros, son of Philopater, as secretary of both the council and the assembly
(z!8,>V<*D@L z!8,>V<*D@L J@  M48@BVJ@D@H (D"::"JXTH $@L8?H 6"?
*Z:@L).44  Six years earlier in 131 C.E., the council and the people honored the
prestigious Mal , surnamed Agrippa, son of Yarhai, for his having served two
terms as secretary.45  In fact, it was in his capacity as secretary that Mal  secured
appropriate provisions and made all formal arrangements for the reception of the
emperor Hadrian and his entourage, acts which surely enhanced his public status.46 
47  P1375.
48  P1370.
49  P0259 (Tariff): Greek I(a): 3-4, 8, 12; Palmyrene, I.2, 7, 10.
50  P0259 (Tariff): Greek I(a): 12; Palmyrene, I.11.
282
The office of secretary seems to have developed concurrently with the formation of
the council, since the earliest reference to a grammateus at Palmyra is from a
bilingual inscription of 75 C.E. in the agora, which commemorated a statue to a
certain Zabdilah, son of Shamshigeram Iyusha, the secretary, for his generosity and
demonstrable zeal toward the city and for having performed his secretarial
functions with integrity.47  Another inscription from the agora provides the latest
attested date of the public office.  This inscription is from 218 C.E., and in it a
certain Taibol is honored for his having served the community as a grammateus and
for his generosity.48  Again, although there is evidence of the public office of
secretary and its responsibilities, we know nothing of how the position was filled,
whether individuals were elected or appointed and by whom.
The Greek character of Palmyra?s political structure is further attested in the
list of offices mentioned in the Palmyrene tariff.  In addition to those of proedros
and grammateus, these include two archons (archontes / ?rkwny?),49 public
advocates or syndics (syndikoi / sdqy?),50 and the board of ten municipal officials
concerned with local taxation and financial transactions within the city, the
51  P0259 (Tariff): Greek I(a): 8, 12; Palmyrene, I.7, 10.  For discussion of the
dekapr?toi, see Jones, Greek City, 139-40 and 327, n. 85; and Matthews, ?Tax Law
of Palmyra,? 174, n. 5.
52  P0187: . . . [b]ny m?zyn klhn lmn dy yh. dnh [ . . . ] | [ . . . ] dy yhwh ?rkwn mn
[b]ny m[?zyn . . . ], ?all the [b]ny m?zyn, to whomever he will choose . . . who was
an arch?n of the [b]ny m[?zyn].?  See also Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien,
43; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 167-68.
53  See Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 43-44, with reference to P2759
and P2760.  See also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 183-84, no. 7a-b.  For the
possible restoration of bt rk in P2774, see Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1936): 351-52,
no. 25.
54  See  Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 347, s.v. ?byt ?rk?.?  See
also Sartre, ?Palmyre, cit? grecque,? 391, who agrees with this assessment.
283
dekapr?toi or ??rt?, i.e. the ten leading men of the state.51  The syndikoi and the
dekapr?toi appear in no other text from Palmyra.  There is, however, mention of an
arch?n from a Palmyrene inscription on a cross-beam from the temple of
Baalshamin.52  This fragmentary text refers to a congregation of the bny m?zyn
involved in selection procedures and an arch?n appointed from among them.  It
seems evident, however, that the arch?n referred to in this case was probably not
one of the civic magistrates but rather the leader of a specific cult group associated
with the temple of Baalshamin.  Also, there may have been an edifice in which the
city?s archons operated.  According to Gawlikowski, two Palmyrene texts (P2759
and P2760) refer to the ?house of the archons? (bt ?rk?).53  Hillers and Cussini,
however, among others, prefer to identify the bt ?rk? with the ?house of the
archives? or, more simply, as ?the public records.?54  P2759, in fact, mentions
55  P2759: ktb bt ?rk?.  See also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 183, no. 7a. 
For discussion, see Jones, Greek City, 239-40.
56  For a discussion of the Nabataean evidence, see J. F. Healey, The Nabataean
Tomb Inscriptions of Mada?in Salih, Journal of Semitic Studies, Supplement no. 1
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 41-43.
57  On the social importance of liturgies, see Sartre, L?Orient romain, 139-47. 
See also, in the Palmyrene context, Teixidor, Un Port romaine du d?sert, 95.
58  P1406: [. . . qr]t
.st.s wgmssyrks [. . . | . . . ?wt.]qrt.wr ?t.nynys q[sr . . . | . . .
y]qrh b?rgwn? [. . . | . . .] rh. ym md[yth . . . | . . .], ?. . . excellent and gymnasiarch . . .
the Emperor Antoninus C[aesar . . .] . . . honor of the purple . . . who loves his [city
284
specifically a document (ktb) in the bt ?rk?, and it is not unusual for a Greek city to
have an official repository for public and private records.55  Generally, temple
precincts were a favorite place for depositing official documents (e.g., deeds,
contracts, wills).56  So far, however, no edifice has been found at Palmyra that
might be interpreted as either a public archive or an office for the archons.  At any
rate, mention of these various magistracies in the Tariff, although their duties are
not elaborated upon, gives us a sense of how Palmyra developed as a Greek city.
There were various other civic posts available to individuals at Palmyra to
advance their social prestige, many of which would have been, more or less,
liturgical in nature, and these further highlight the Greek character of the city.57  We
know, for instance, of a gymnasiarch (gmnsyrks) at Palmyra from a fragmentary
inscription discovered in the agora.  This interesting text refers also to a reigning
emperor, Antoninus or Hadrian, and, vaguely, to some honor associated with the
?purple? (?rgwn).58  Importantly, the presence of a gymnasium as a center for
. . .].?
59  According to Jones, Greek City, 220, ?any barbarian community which
aspired to the status of a Greek city must found a gymnasium.?
60  The texts are, from the earliest to the latest, P1398 (193 C.E.), P0288 (242
C.E.), and P0278 (267 C.E.).  P1415 and Inventaire 12.29 belong to this same
group but are not dated.
61  Briefly, see Ingholt, ?Varia Tadmorea,? in Palmyre: Bilan et perspectives,
124-27, who distinguishes between the strat goi and the archons at Palmyra.
285
physical and intellectual education was a key Hellenistic feature of Palmyra?s
institutions in this period.59  Another position of civic importance was that of
agoranomos (rb ?wq), or chief of the market, who ensured the equitable exchange
of goods.  There are few texts that identify individuals having served as overseers
of the market, and those we have date to the late second and early third century C.E. 
The earliest is a bilingual inscription of 193 C.E. from a rampart southeast of the
agora, while the latest inscription is of 267 C.E. and currently in situ along the
Great Colonnade.60  These official positions were common in Greek poleis, and to
the extent that they were honors and not burdens, it was not unusual for individuals
to compete for them in order to advance their social prestige.  We cannot be certain,
however, how acute the competition at Palmyra may have been.
Yet, among all civic posts at Palmyra and most common in Greek poleis,
that of strat gos (?st.rt.g) possessed the most immediate and viable access to power
and authority.61  Initially, the title denoted leadership over the Palmyrene military
(see below), as is evident in a series of texts that range in date from the late first to
62  P2732.  See also Safar, ?Inscriptions from Wadi Hauran,? 13, no. 1.  Cf.
P2810, another Palmyrene text (undated) from the same vicinity that refers to the
time when Yarhai was strat gos.
63  P1085: ?tpny ?st
.r[t.g]? | br zbd?h dy ?l q?t.? dy bdwr?.  See also Dura
Preliminary Report 7-8, 82-84, no. 845.  For a recent discussion, see Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 262-63, nos. 27-28.
64  See Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 84-85, 97-98, no. 846.  For a recent
discussion, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 264-65, no. 29.
65  P1063.  For the text of the inscription and further references, see n. 97
below.  See also P1398 of 293 C.E., which, according to Seyrig, ?Inscriptions
grecques de l?agora de Palmyre,? 246-47, may honor an unnamed individual for his
having served as strat gos in addition to his service as agoranomos.
286
the late second century C.E.  In 98 C.E., for instance, Zebaida, son of Haumal,
presumably a Palmyrene, led a small group as strat gos into the distant Wadi
Rijelat Umm-Kubar near Wadi Hauran, which is roughly 50 kilometers southwest
of Hadita on the Euphrates.62  There was also a detachment of Palmyrene soldiers at
Dura Europos whose leaders were identified as strat goi.  A small Mithraic relief
of 169 C.E., for example, bears an inscription indicating that it was made by
Atpanai, the strat gos, son of Zabdea, who was commander of the archers based at
Dura.63  Also, a relief dated to 170/71 C.E. identifies a certain Zenobios as
?strat gos of the archers? (FJD"J0(?H J@>@J <).64  From Palmyra itself, a
bilingual inscription dated to 198 C.E. (cited below) found east of the temple of Bel
identifies a certain Aelius Bora, son of Titus Aelius Ogeilu, ?who very often served
as strat gos? (FJD"J0(ZF"<J" B8,4FJV64H) and ?who made peace in the
territory of the city? (dy ?bd ?lm? bth. wmy mdyt?).65  Another bilingual inscription
66  P1378.  See n. 98 below for the text and further references.
67  There is a possible Greek translation of the Latin term duumvir in a bilingual
inscription of 254 C.E. (P0280), but this is not surprising given that Palmyra was a
Roman colonia at the time.  The Palmyrene text indicates that a certain Julius
287
found outside the agora identifies the likely source for such uneasiness in the
countryside (cited below), encountered by the strat goi of Palmyra at the close of
the second and throughout the third century C.E.  The inscription commemorates a
statue set up by the council and the people of Palmyra in honor of a certain Ogeilu,
son of Maqqai, (son of) Ogeilu, who, in addition to his support of the Palmyrene
merchants and caravans, held many military commands ?against the nomads?
(6"J  J < <@:V*T<).66  Thus the official post of strat gos, which was common
in Greek communities, was one of the most important at Palmyra.  Although we do
not know the criteria for their appointment, it is certain that strat goi as military
commanders wielded great power and authority, perhaps in the city but certainly in
the countryside.
After the grant of Roman colonia status to Palmyra under Severus, or more
probably under Caracalla early in the third century C.E., the city retained much of
its Greek character despite its new institutional status.  Even the terminology
designating its public officials remained largely unchanged.  For example, while
there is no further evidence for the archonship,  strat gos or ?st.rt.g came to
designate one of the annual pair of magistrates, the duumviri, who headed the new
colonial constitution.67  The earliest reference is in an honorific Greek inscription
Aurelius Oga, surnamed Seleukos, was honored by the council and the people for
having pleased them during his term as strat gos (w?pr lhwn b?st.rt.gwth), while the
Greek text gives the title for this office as dua[ndrikos].  For further discussion, see
Ingholt, ?Varia Tadmorea,? 125, n. 130; and Millar, ?Roman Coloniae,? 44.
68  Inventaire 3.5.  A strat gos is also mentioned in a fragmentary Palmyrene
text (P2757) discovered at Umm es-Selabikh, near where Wadi el-Miyah intersects
the caravan track between Palmyra and Hit and dated to 225 C.E.  Unfortunately,
the individual is not identified, although he is mentioned as strat gos of Ana and
Gamla along with his successor, a certain Kapatut.  Whether we should interpret
this individual as a commander of a military unit or as one of the two strat goi of
Palmyra is not clear, although the former seems most likely; see, for instance,
Sartre, ?Palmyre, cit? grecque,? 392.
69  P0278.
70  P1415: . . . 6"[?] ? "FX  B"JD? " J@  B F"H 8,4J@LD(\"H
?6J,8XF"<J4 . . . , ?. . . and to his father Ouaseos, for their having performed all
the liturgies . . .? 
288
from the Great Colonnade, which identifies Julius Aurelius Seiba Atheakabas and
Titianus Athenodorus as strat goi in the year 536 (224/25 C.E.).68  More
specifically, according to a bilingual inscription of 242/43 C.E. in situ from the
Great Colonnade, a certain Julius Aurelius Z nobius, who was also called Zabdilas,
was honored for having served as ?strat gos of the colony? (?st.rt.g lqlny?) during
the adventus of the emperor Severus Alexander a decade beforehand.69  Similarly,
in an undated text from the agora, Julius Aurelius Malku, son of Washu, was
honored for his service as strat gos of the colony (FJD"J0[(ZF"<J" J?H
6@8T<,\"H] / [b? st.rt.gwt? dy] qlny?) and for having performed, along with his
father, all the public liturgies.70  Three other texts specifically identify the eminent
Septimius Worod as a former strat gos of the colony of Palmyra, but it is the sum
71  The texts are Inventaire 3.3, P0285, and P0288.  Inventaire 3.3 is an
honorific dedication of 260/62 C.E. to Hairan, son of Odenathus, king of kings, for
his victory over the Persians, sponsored by Julius Aurelius Septimius Worod,
strat gos of the colony, and his colleague.  For restorations of the text, see
Schlumberger, ?L?Inscription d?Herodien,? 35 and 60; and Gawlikowski, ?Les
Princes de Palmyre,? 255, no. 10.  See also Schlumberger, ?Vorod l?agoranome,?
339.  P0285 is from the Great Colonnade and dates to 262 C.E.  In it Worod is
identified as procurator ducenarius of the emperor ([6DVJ4FJ]@< ?B\JD@[B@<
E,$"FJ@  *]@L60<VD4@<) and strat gos of the distinguished colony
([FJD"J]0(?H [J?H] 8":BD@JV J0H 6@8T<,\"H).
72  Dikeodot s would seem to imply some role in the judicial affairs of the
community.  For discussion, see E. Will, ?A Propos de quelques inscriptions
palmyr?niennes: Le Cas de Septimus Vor?d,? Syria 73 (1996): 113-14.
73  P0288.
289
of all of his public service that most highlights the liturgical system at Palmyra and
the preservation of the city?s Greek character.71  The latest inscription is from the
Great Colonnade, which was set up by the council and the people of Palmyra in
266/67 C.E. to honor Septimius Worod for his long career in public service, in
which he is identified as the eminent procurator ducenarius of Augustus,
dikeodot s of the metrokol?neia,72 as someone who received high praises from the
chiefs of the caravans, a former strat gos, a former agoranomos of the same
metrokol?neia, and as the current symposiarch of the priests of Bel.73
Indeed, highlighting the public career of Septimius Worod raises several
important issues regarding Palmyra?s institutional development, particularly when
viewed alongside the illustrious careers of his contemporaries, notably the family of
Septimius Odenathus.  From a political standpoint, Palmyra was a Greek city
74  Millar, Roman Near East, 144.
75  See n. 31 above.
76  For strat gos, see Inventaire 3.3; for strat gos and procurator ducenarius,
see P0285; and for procurator ducenarius, see P0284.
77  See P0287 (265 C.E.), P0286 (264 [267(?)] C.E.), and P0289 (267 C.E.). 
See also P0453, a fragmentary text that reads only, ?Worod, argapet.?
78  P0288.
290
throughout the late first and second centuries C.E., but what was the basic character
of the civic community in the third century?  What were its social and cultural
aspects?  Indeed, Millar stresses the difficulty in understanding what Palmyra ?was?
in the third century since it was ?to be ?Oriental,? ?Greek,? and ?Roman? all at
once.?74  This is reflected, for instance, in the list of public posts held by Septimius
Worod.  In an inscription from 258/59 C.E., for example, Worod is honored as an
equestrian and a member of the city-council (bouleut s).75  Then, in three texts
dating from 260/61 to 262 C.E., he is identified as strat gos of the colony and as
procurator ducenarius;76 in three texts dating from 265 to 267 C.E., he is identified
both as procurator ducenarius and as argapet (argapet s / ?rgbt.);77 and, as shown
above, his public titles listed in an inscription of 266/67 C.E. included procurator
ducenarius, dikeodot s, strat gos, agoranomos, and symposiarch.78  Among the
public posts held by Worod, only those of dikeodot s and argapet s seem irregular. 
Mommsen has argued that the two terms are synonymous and that they later derived
79  See T. Mommsen, R?mische Geschichte, vol. 5 (Berlin: Weidmann
Buchhandlung, 1874), 434, no. 1.  See also Schlumberger, ?Vorod l?agoranome,?
Syria 49 (1972): 340, n. 4; and idem, ?L?Inscription d?Herodien,? 61.  Cf. Will, ?A
Propos de quelques inscriptions palmyr?niennes,? 114, n. 24.  The term arkapat s
appears in a transaction from Dura Europos, a Greek parchment of the second
century C.E. from the village of Paliga; see Dura Final Report 5.1, no. 20; and H.
M. Cotton, W. E. H. Cockle, and F. Millar, ?The Papyrology of the Roman Near
East: A Survey,? JRS 85 (1995): 223, no. 166.
80  See, for instance, Millar ?Roman Coloniae,? 45.  See also Kaizer, Religious
Life of Palmyra, 49, n. 69, who translates the term argapet as ?commander of the
fortress.?
81  For discussion, see Swain, ?Greek into Palmyrene,? 157-64.
291
from the Persian title that designated the ?governor of a city.?79  It remains,
however, uncertain what this would have meant within Palmyra?s institutional
structure, though it clearly signified Worod as a leading figure in the community.80 
What is noteworthy, nonetheless, in the context of Septimius Worod as an
argapet s, is that Persian traditions and political terminology had been incorporated
into Palmyra?s civic organization.  Indeed, Palmyra was an intermediary between
empires and responded to both western, which happened to be the greatest, and
eastern influences upon its civic structure and institutions.81
A contemporary of Worod, Septimius Odenathus, who married Zenobia,
had a somewhat more irregular public career but one that highlighted Palmyrene
incorporation into the Roman world.  According to a bilingual inscription of 252
C.E. from the Great Colonnade, Odenathus held the rank of a Roman senator
82  Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 257, no. 13.  See also K. al-As?ad
and M. Gawlikowski, ?New Honorific Inscriptions in the Great Colonnade of
Palmyra,? AAAS 36 (1986): 169, no. 10; and, for r? dy tdmwr, see Cantineau,
?Textes palmyr?niens provenant de la fouille du temple de B?l.? 138, no. 17.  Cf.
P0558, an undated text which refers to ?Septimius Odenathus, the illustrious
senator? (E,BJ\:4@H z?*"\v"2@H   8":BD?J"J@H FL<680J[46?H]), who has
been thought to signify the father of the renowned Odenathus who married Zenobia.
The same uncertainty is connected to the Septimius Odenathus mentioned on a
statue base from the Roman colony of Tyre.  For the inscription, see M. Ch?hab,
?Tyr ? l??poque romaine,? MUSJ 38 (1962): 19-20; and Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes
de Palmyre,? 254, no. 3.  For discussion, with the previous identifications, see G.
W. Bowersock, ?Roman Senators from the Near East: Syria, Judaea, Arabia,
Mesopotamia,? Tituli 5 (1982): 651-68; and Ingholt, ?Varia Tadmorea,? 130-36. 
For revisions, see Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 251-61.
83  See P0290 of 251 C.E.
84  For discussion, see Millar, Roman Near East, 157-58.  An undated
inscription (P2753) discovered in the gardens near the temple of Bel also identifies
Odenathus as r? dy tdmwr.  For restoration of the text, see Cantineau, ?Textes
palmyr?niens provenant de la fouille du temple de B?l,? Syria 12 (1931): 138, no.
292
(lamprotatos) in addition to that of exarchos or ?chief of Palmyra? (r? dy tdmwr).82 
According to an inscription of 251 C.E. also from the Great Colonnade, Odenathus
shared senatorial rank with his son, Septimius Hairan.83  These honorific
inscriptions, which bear the titular distinctions of Odenathus and his son, and the
fact that the dedication to Hairan was set up by a centurion from the adjacent
province of Arabia, signify that the family of Odenathus had attained real
prominence, within the city and beyond.  Unfortunately, we are at a loss as to what
the title of exarchos (r? dy tdmwr) actually meant, whether it signified a military
command distinct from the Roman army or perhaps designated the fact that
Odenathus and his son, at the time, held a priestly office at Palmyra.84  By 257/58
17; Milik, D?dicaces, 317; Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 78; and idem,
?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 253.
85  The inscriptions of 257/58 C.E. include 1) one from the Great Colonnade set
up by the FL:B?F4@v F6LJXTv 6"?  F6@v"LJ@B@4 v (see Seyrig, ?Les Fils du
roi Odainat,? 161); 2) one on a column console in a portico north of the temple of
Baalshamin set up by the FL:B?F4@< J < 6@<,J <, see Dunant, Le Sanctuaire
de Baalsham?n, 66, no. 52; and Milik, D?dicaces, 160-61; and 3) another set up by
the FL:B?F4@< J < @L"<< < (see Inventaire 12.37).  Also, two other inscriptions
from the Great Colonnade identify Odenathus as a hypatikos (see text in Seyrig,
?Les Fils du roi Odainat,? 161, which identifies the dedicant as Worod, the
bouleut s, but the inscription is undated; and P0291, which dates to April, 258
C.E.)  See also Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,? 254-55, nos. 5-9; and
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 215-17.  On the ubiquitous nature of the term
hypatikos in the context of Odenathus and Palmyra in the third century C.E., and
the possibility that he was legatus of the province, see Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes
de Palmyre,? 258-61; and Millar, Roman Near East, 165-67.  For further
discussion, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 104-5.
86  See, for instance, Millar, Roman Near East, 165.  Cf. D. S. Potter, Prophecy
and History in the Crisis of the Roman Empire: A Historical Commentary on the
Thirteenth Book of the Sibylline Oracle (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990),
388-89.
293
C.E., Odenathus had another ubiquitous title, that of hypatikos (hpyq?), the
equivalent of consularis in Latin, which would suggest that he had become the
legatus of the province Syria Phoenice under the authority of the Roman emperor.85 
Interestingly, P0291, which dates to April 258 C.E., identifies Odenathus as a local
?lord? or ?master? (despot s / mrn), but, as I mentioned in Chapter 4, this probably
referred to some special relationship with the professional association that
sponsored the dedication as opposed to his domination over the city.86  At any rate,
from this date until his assassination in 267/68 C.E., Odenathus extended his
political presence in the region and accumulated more prestigious titles.  As I will
87  For discussion, see pp. 404-11 below.
88  See p. 255 above.
89  For the evidence, see D. Schlumberger, ?Les Gentilices romains,? 53-82.
294
discuss in the final chapter, he did so mostly in reaction to regional instability in the
wake of the Shapur?s capture of the emperor Valerian in 260 C.E.87  Indeed, the
career of Odenathus, more than that of any of his fellow citizens, crystallized
Palmyra?s progressive integration into the Roman state that accelerated in the third
century C.E.  Surely his status as a Roman senator was not lost upon his
contemporaries, those who understood the power and authority he wielded and
especially those who regarded him, in purely Roman fashion, as their patron.88
Thus, after the elevation in Palmyra?s civic status to that of a Roman
colonia, the issue of Palmyra?s ?Greekness? is obscured.  A new, largely Roman
aspect pervaded the community.  In the third century C.E., for instance, the city
became infused with prominent individuals and families who had adopted the two
Roman imperial nomina of Julius and Aurelius, while a few among them had
adopted the name Septimius as well.89  Curiously, though, soon after Palmyra
became a Roman colonia, Latin disappeared altogether as a language of public
expression, while Palmyrene and Greek continued unabated.  Although the Latin
term colonia itself was transliterated in Greek as kol?neia, with the equivalent
transliteration in Palmyrene as qlny?, the public offices of the Roman colonia did
not adopt Roman titles, but retained their local ones.  The strat goi, for instance,
90  For further discussion, see Millar, ?Roman Coloniae,? 42-46.
91  The only other Roman senator attested at Palmyra is a certain Septimius
Haddudan, who was a supporter of the emperor Aurelian in 272 C.E.; see P1358
and P2812, both discussed by Gawlikowski, ?Inscriptions de Palmyre,? 413-20. 
For a senatorial list and further discussion, see Bowersock, ?Roman Senators from
the Near East,? 651-68.
295
came to designate the duumviri of the colonial constitution, and the agoranomos or
rb ?wq equated with the office of aedilis.90  Furthermore, the third century
witnessed the first appearance of a Palmyrene, Septimius Odenathus, having
advanced to the rank of a Roman senator.91  His career, in addition to that of
Septimius Worod, exemplified Palmyra?s progressive integration into the Roman
Empire and the cooperation of its leading citizens with imperial officials, although
it would be legitimate to question whether the positions held by these men were not
more exceptional than customary.  Furthermore, such cooperation with Roman
authorities was neither new or unusual.  
An eastern aspect, however, also pervaded the Palmyrene community, no
doubt influenced by their extensive and continued contact with fellow citizens and
colleagues in Parthian and Persian territories.  In terms of Palmyra?s civic
organization and its institutional development, as I have noted, the Palmyrenes
looked not only to the west but also to the east.  This was also true of Palmyra?s
social and cultural development.  In fact, as the third century progressed and the
Palmyrenes adopted more and more Roman ideals and norms, they also maintained
certain indigenous and eastern habits, such as their dress and language.  This
92  See, for instance, Colledge, Art of Palmyra; and idem, ?Parthian Cultural
Elements,? 19-28.  Cf. idem, ?Roman Influence in the Art of Palmyra,? 363-70; and
H. Ingholt, Palmyrene and Gandharan Sculpture: An Exhibition Illustrating the
Cultural Interrelations between the Parthian Empire and its Neighbors West and
East, Palmyra and Gandhara, October 14 through November 14, 1954 (Yale
University: Art Gallery, 1954).
93  As a precursor to this discussion, it is important to note the futility of
separating the secular from the religious aspects of communal life in pagan society. 
Gods, men, and women all existed in the same social context, and all were
subjected to the same principles of social organization.  Rank and status prevailed. 
296
eastern gaze, in the face of progressive Roman influence, is best illuminated in the
cultural habits exhibited in Palmyrene art.92
Yet, there were elements regarding Palmyra?s civic organization that
remained distinctive and unique to the Palmyrene community, which reflected its
development in an environment where tribal and familial associations remained
strong and fundamental to the structure and maintenance of personal and group
identity.  The civic institutions of Palmyra, in fact, were not entirely divorced from
the primordial relationships that bonded individuals and groups to one another,
particularly those based on kinship, whether real or perceived.  We may examine
these relationships, for instance, in the civic structure of the Palmyrene tribes and
their respective sanctuaries.
Four Tribes, Four Sanctuaries
Another central civic institution of Palmyra which will shed further light on
the city?s urbanization and community development is its organization into four
tribes associated with four or five of the city?s major sanctuaries.93  Various
Ethnic origins were also important, since ancestral and local deities tended to retain
their communal preeminence, just as individuals and families tended to highlight
their civic ancestry in order to enhance their social prestige.  Furthermore, the same
dichotomies and prejudices existed between urban and rural inhabitants, whether of
gods or men.  Those of the countryside, for instance, were consistently regarded as
crude and simple in their ways.  Regardless, city and countryside were integrated. 
Civic gods often acquired rural sanctuaries, just as rural gods and their respective
cults often were established in towns and cities.  Similar residence patterns can be
observed at Palmyra, among individuals and families who maintained social links
to the countryside.  Most supported the caravan trade, as discussed in Chapter 2. 
Furthermore, while social relations between city and countryside were managed at
the civic level, tribal relationships remained essential in both settings.  Indeed, the
tendency to view developments within the city as independent of rural influences
and outside of a regional context, in a situation, for instance, where tribal
affiliations were maintained consistently between city and countryside, is
misguided.
297
interpretations have been put forth regarding the emergence and development of the
?four tribes? as a distinct social and political entity.  For the most part, these
interpretations have hinged on two fundamental and interconnected issues.  First,
there is the issue of whether the four tribes were artificial, in response to which
scholars have concentrated their assessments of the presumed influences that led to
this social development, particularly the extent to which it reflected Roman
involvement in Palmyrene affairs.  A second related issue is the impact of this
reorganization on existing social structures.  As the city developed, for instance, did
the adoption of a civic identity, as Palmyrenes structured into four tribal groups,
effect relationships between families, clans, and tribes that were more traditional
and primordial?  Generally, it has been suggested that in the first century C.E.
Palmyrene tribal bonds lost their primal character and traditional relationships
94  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 25-26.  Cf. Schlumberger, ?Les
Quatre tribus,? 121-33, who argues along the same lines.
298
between members of a tribe based on kin and blood were superseded by civic bonds
based on territorial co-residence within the city.  Thus the ?four tribes? were
nothing more than artificially derived civic tribes that, apart from name only, bore
no real connection to previous tribal groups.  Dirven, for example, remains a strong
proponent of this view.  She argues that those Palmyrene tribes that are identified as
phylai in the Greek texts, in fact, were:
. . . new and artificial constructions based upon territorial co-
residence.  During the reign of Nero (54-68 C.E.) the city was
divided arbitrarily into four quarters . . . Each quarter was named
after one of the existing Palmyrene clans . . . Each neighborhood was
assigned an extant sanctuary, which probably functioned as a focal
point for the clan that gave its name to the quarter . . . Eventually the
four ?tribes? and the clans existed side by side.  In the course of time,
however, the civic ?tribes? replaced the multitude of clans that had
formerly characterized Palmyra?s social landscape . . . Although
kinship terminology remained popular to denote social relations in
Palmyra, the notion of the clan lost its importance in the second
century CE, and disappeared almost completely in the subsequent
century, as the result of an ongoing process of urbanization in which
the city gradually replaced the clan as the most important frame of
reference.  Eventually, the original genealogical connotations of the
?tribes? became blurred and only the civic connotation remained:
saying that you belonged to one of the four ?tribes? or that you were
an inhabitant of Palmyra were two ways of saying the same thing.94
To a certain extent, this is a valid assessment, but only in the sense that the city did
emerge as one of many ?frames of reference? in the development of group identity. 
All else is conjectural.  In fact, there is no direct evidence of any arbitrary division
of the city into four separate districts, neither in the reign of Nero nor later, which
95  See also Chapter 2, n. 41 above.  Dirven stresses the thesis advanced by
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 26-52.  Both emphasizes the artificial
development of the four tribes in a civic context specifically to meet the needs of
the municipal government (whatever these may have been).
299
were administered by four generic ?tribes? each from four different sanctuaries,
only one (perhaps two) of which has been discovered and excavated.95 
My goal now is to present the evidence regarding the existence of the ?four
tribes? and the tribal sanctuaries of the city.  I will place this material into its proper
chronological context and then discuss it in relation to the ongoing debate regarding
tribal versus civic forms of worship within the city.  I will argue that the
Palmyrenes did not lose their core identities based upon kinship and blood as their
civic identities strengthened, but that a different interpretation is warranted to
explain the emergence of the ?four tribes? as a distinct social organism.  While the
?four tribes? may have developed during a period of increased Roman influence on
the city, they did not appear until the second century C.E. when they emerged from
pre-existing social structures and under very unique social and economic
conditions.  In this section I will discuss what these conditions were and describe
the pre-existing social structures out of which the ?four tribes? grew.  I will show
that the development of the four tribes did not represent any arbitrary reorganization
of the citizenry for political reasons.  Instead, the development was related to issues
of trade and increased military activity, when the Palmyrenes were responding in
the second century C.E. to regional pressures of insecurity and commercial decline.
96  P2769: [ . . . | . . . yr]h
. bwl? [ . . . | . . .] l?m? [ . . . ] | w? [ . . . ]yn[ . . . ]?br[ . . .
]lh | w?ml bswmh shdt lh bdgm bwl? wdms [ . . . ] | lwt hygmn? bqblyn ?rb?? w?bd lh
[ . . . ] | s. lm mrkb swsy s. lm bt bl[ . . . ] | nh. ? w?p ?m yqr? dy bwl? wdms ?bd lh [?rb?] |
ph. zy? ph. z ph. z bt ?lhyh s. lm dy nh. ? lyqrh bdyl dy ?pr | [ . . . ] byrh.  knwn ?nt 483 / [ . .
. ] | T[ . . . ]B@[ . . . ] | B"[ . . . ] [?]< J? 5"4F"D,\  ?N?  BB@<  <[*D4V]<J" ?
?< *[?] | J? J@  %Z8@L ?,D?  <*D4V<J" ?<@:"[J4 $]@L[8?H 6"?] | *Z:@L ?
6"? *4  R0N4F:VJT< 6"? ?F[ . . . ]D,T< ?[:"D]|JbD0F"< B"D  z!@L4*\  J?
*4"F0:@JVJ  |  BV[DP]  ? "? *? J[?]H B[?]8,[T]H JXFF"D,H NL8"? '6VF[J0]
| ?< ?[*\  ?,D?  <*D\"<]J"  <Z(,4D,< J,4:?H 6"? $,8J\FJ@L
300
Only three inscriptions refer to the ?four tribes? explicitly.  All date to the
second half of the second century C.E. and all are bilingual in Greek and
Palmyrene.  The oldest inscription is from the temple of Baalshamin and dates to
171 C.E.  Interestingly, the Greek text of this inscription deviates from the standard
formulation of the ?four tribes? and refers instead to the ?four tribes of the city,? as
quoted below:
Palmyrene: [ . . . ] Yarhibol [ . . . ] Lishamsh [ . . .  . . . ] and he
labored personally, the council and the people testified on his behalf
by decree (shdt lh bdgm) [ . . . ] with the governor on four occasions
(?) (lwt hygmn? bqblyn ?rb??) and made for him [ . . . ] an equestrian
statue (s. lm mrkb swsy), a statue in the house of Bel (?), (a statue) of
bronze, and also, with the honor (?) of the council and the people
(?m yqr? dy bwl? wdms), the four tribes made for him, each tribe in
the house of their god, a statue of bronze (?bd lh [?rb?] ph. zy? ph. z ph. z
bt ?lhyh s. lm dy nh. ?), in his honor, because he did good [ . . . ], in the
month Kanun, the year 483 (November, 171 C.E.).
Greek: [ . . . the fatherland (patris) has set up] in the Kaisareion an
equestrian statue, and in the temple of Bel a statue, in the name of
the council and the people, and by decree through testimonials (6"?
*4  R0N4F:VJT< 6"? ?F[J@]DXT<) they witnessed before Avidius
Cassius, the distinguished governor; and the four tribes of the city
("? *? J[?]H B[?]8,[T]H JXFF"D,H NL8"?), each in their own
sanctuary (?< ?[*\  ?,D?]), set up a statue, in his honor and for his
most excellent political action (or citizenship) (politeumatos) [ . . . ],
the month Dios (November).96
B@84J,b|[:"J@H PVD4< . . . ] :0<?H ),4@L.  See also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,?
(1936): 277-82, no. 20; Dunant, Le Sanctuaire de Baalsham?n, no. 48;
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 26-27; Milik, D?dicaces, 309-12; and
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 44-46.
97  P1063: mn twh
. yt bwl? wdms s. lm? dnh dy ?lys | bwr? br t.yt.s ?lys ?gylw ?st.rt.g?
dy | ?bd ?lm? bth. wmy mdyt? wl? ?h. [y]s np?h | ?l mdyth dy ?qymw lh bny kmr? nwyt
??wr | ph. z? bt ?lhyhwn lyqrh byrh.  ?bt. ?nt 509 / [ . . . | . . . | . . . ] | ,?D0<ZH
6"J"FJ"2X<J"  B? J, | 9"<,48\@L M@bF6@L 6"? ? ,<4*\@L | {C?LN@L
 B"J46 < 6"?  B@ J?H B"|JD\*@H 6"? B@88?< FB@L*?< 6"?  <*D,\|"<
?<*,4>V:,<@< 6"? FJD"J0(ZF"<J" | B8,4FJV64H 6"? J?< " J?<  <*D,\"< |
6"?  D,J?< FfF"<J" 6"? ?Bz @ J@4H :"D|JLD02X<J"  B? J, {3"D4$f8@L
J@  B"J|D\@L 2,@  6"? J < ?(0F":X<T< 6"?  B@ | J?H B"JD\*@H
R0N\F:"F4 ?Nz @ H  :,4$@:X|<0 " J?< ? B"JD\H J H BDXB@LF"H " J? |
J,4: H ?R0N\F"J@ ?N4BB@<  <*D4V<J" 6"? | "? JXFF"D,H NL8"? ?< ?*\@4H
?,D@?H ?> ?*\T< |  <*D4V<J"H JXFF"D,H  < J@ J@< OT<,4|J < NL8Z  D,J?H
6"?  <*D,\"H ?<,6,< ?J|@LH 1M A,D,4J\@L 5+.  See also Ingholt, ?Deux
inscriptions bilingues de Palmyre,? 279; Milik, D?dicaces, 36-37; Gawlikowski, Le
301
The second text was discovered east of the temple of Bel and dates to 198 C.E.:
Palmyrene: By decree of the council and the people, this statue of
Aelius Bora, son of Titus Aelius Ogeilu, the strat gos, who made
peace in the territory of the city (dy ?bd ?lm? bth. wmy mdyt?), and
who did not spare himself for his city, the bny kmr? set up for him,
just as (?) the rest of the tribes in the house of their gods (nwyt ??wr
ph. z? bt ?lhyhwn), in his honor, in the month Shebat, the year 509
(February, 198 C.E.).
Greek: [ . . .  because he] made a settlement of peace (he was
honored) by Maneilios Phouskos and Venidios Rouphos, the
consulares, and by the fatherland (patridos), and (because) he
displayed much zeal and courage, and (because) very often he served
as strat gos, and (because) he preserved the same courage and
excellence, and with regard to these he is witnessed by Yarhibol, the
ancestral god, and by commanders and by the decrees of the
fatherland, and in exchange for these things the fatherland (patris)
voted fitting honors for him, an equestrian statue, and the four tribes
in their own sanctuaries, at their own expense, four statues, of which
this one (was set up by) the tribe of the Kh?neitoi (NL8Z
OT<,4J <), on account of his excellence and courage, the year 509,
Peritios 25 (February, 198 C.E.).97 
Temple palmyr?nien, 27-28; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 46-47.
98  P1378: btwh
. yt bwl? wdms | s. lmy? ?ln ?rb?tyhwn dy ?gylw br mqy ?gylw |
?wyr? | dy ?bd lh ?rb? ph. zy? lyqrh bdyl dy ?pr | lhwn b?st.rt.gwn ?gy?n wbs. ryh. yn |
w?yryn dy slq bhn ?qly dy ?pq mn kysh | nqpn rbrbn wsy? tgry? bkl s. bw klh | w?bd
plt.y? ?byh. yt wnhwryt byrh.  | tbt ?nt 501 / AD@FJV(:"J4 $@L8?H 6"? *Z:@L | "?
JXFF"D,H NL8"? z?(08@< 9"66"4@L J@  z?(08@L J@  z!(,(@L | J@ 
E,@L4D" *4?  D,J?< B F"< 6"?  <*D,\"< 6"? *4  J H FL<,P,?H J H | 6"J 
J < <@:V*T< FJD"J0(\"H FL<"DV:,<@< 6"? J@?H ?<|B?D@4H 6"? J"?H
FL<@*\"4H  ,? J?<  FNV84"< B"D"FP?<J" ?< BVF"4H | FL<@*4"DP\"4H 6"?
B@88  6"? *4  J" J" ?> ?*\T<  <"8fF"<J" 6"? B |F"< B@8,4J\"<
8":BD H 6"? ?<*?>TH ?6J,[8XF"<J"] J,4:?H PVD4< ?J@LH 4[N]?.  See also
302
The latest inscription to mention the four tribes was found near the agora.  The
inscription, which dates to 199 C.E., records a decree of the council and the people
authorizing the four tribes to set up statues in honor of a certain Ogeilu, son of
Maqqai.  Of interest is the common association between Ogeilu and the four tribes
in activities related to the caravan trade:
Palmyrene: By decree of the council and the people, these four
statues are those of Ogeilu, son of Maqqai Ogeilu Shewira, which
the four tribes made for him, in his honor, because he did good to
them on many campaigns and enterprises (?) (b?st.rt.gwn ?gy?n
wbs. ryh. yn) and caravans on which he accompanied them (w?yryn dy
slq bhn), because he spent, of his own funds, great sums, and he
helped the merchants in every affair (wsy? tgry? bkl s. bw klh), and he
conducted his public life (?) (plt.y?) in a praiseworthy and brilliant
manner, in the month Tebet, the year 510 (January, 199 C.E.).
Greek: By command of the council and the people, the four tribes
(set up for) Og los, son of Makkaios, son of Og los, son of Agegos,
son of Sewiras, because of (his) complete excellence and courage,
and because he engaged in unceasing campaigns against the nomads
and always provided security (J?<  FNV84"< B"D"FP?<J") for
the merchants and the caravans, in all of his commands of the
caravans, and because he spent much on these from his personal
resources, and he led his entire public life brilliantly and in high
esteem, in his honor, the year 510 (199 C.E.).98
Ingholt, ?Deux inscriptions bilingues de Palmyre,? 279; Gawlikowski, Le Temple
palmyr?nien, 28-29; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 47-48.
99  Schlumberger, ?Les Quatre tribus,? 121-33.
100  For instance, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 25; and
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 47.
303
Several observations may be made regarding these inscriptions and their content,
but we must not interpret them too loosely.  They illuminate a situation unique to
the last quarter of the second century C.E.  They reveal nothing of institutional
reforms under the reign of Nero, except that they highlight the appearance and
legislative operations of the Palmyrene council.
Despite this evidence, the actual formation of the ?four tribes of the city?
remains an enigmatic issue.  According to Schlumberger, the ?four tribes? together
formed the civic body of Palmyra, but this assessment is only partially valid.99 
Indeed, while the four tribes may be regarded as a single social entity comprised of
four distinct and independent groups, there is a clear distinction between the ?four
tribes of the city? and the d mos of Palmyra as a political entity.  For example, the
inscriptions cited above clearly distinguish between the boul , the d mos, and the
four phylae.  Moreover, there is the issue of the artificiality of the four tribes.  Were
they formed arbitrarily and solely to meet the official needs of the municipal
government, perhaps in relationship to the development of the council in the first
century C.E.?100  This seems unlikely, and, as Teixidor has stressed, inconsistent
101  See Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 36, who points out that ?the existence
of four sanctuaries was a fact of national history that cannot be minimized. The
sanctuaries were shrines of ancestral gods whose preeminence in the life of the city
could not have been a result of an issue settled by a decree of the Palmyrene
Assembly.?
102  See R. R. Smith, ?Cultural Choice and Political Identity in Honorific
Portrait Statues in the Greek East in the Second Century A.D.,? JRS 88 (1998): 64.
304
with the evidence.101  Indeed, we cannot separate the religious aspects of the ?four
tribes of the city, each in their own sanctuary,? from their political, social, or
economic roles, at least between 171 and 199 C.E.  In order to understand their
formation, we may need to ask a different set of questions.  Why, for instance, is
their no mention of the ?four tribes? as a corporate entity before and after these
dates?  What might explain their appearance only in the late second century C.E.,
and specifically in contexts that relate to military commands, the protection of
caravans, and in relationships with Roman officials?  We may gain some insights
by examining the evidence in relation to other communal and regional
developments.
An examination of the economic and political conditions revealed by these
inscriptions provides a preliminary basis for their interpretation and the appearance
of the ?four tribes.?  To begin with, it is significant that the inscriptions of 171 and
198 C.E. record the only known dedications of equestrian statues at Palmyra.  The
dedication of such equestrian depictions, as opposed to standing, full-length
portraits was an unusual practice reserved for the social and political elite.102  It is
103  Only two inscriptions refer explicitly to the existence of the imperial cult at
Palmyra.  The oldest is P2769 of 171 C.E. quoted above.  The second text, which
dates to the second half of the second century C.E. is heavily damaged but refers to
the temple of the Sebastoi ([<"]?< J < E,$"FJ <); see now Kaizer, Religious Life
of Palmyra, 149.  The inscription was originally published by K. Michalowski,
Palmyre: Fouilles Polonaises, 1959 (Warsaw: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo
Naukowe, 1960), 208-209, no. 2.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 315-16; and
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 100,  no. 5.  To judge from another damaged
inscription, the imperial cult seems to have been established at Palmyra as early as
166 C.E., although there is no direct mention of a temple.  This inscription is of
interest, because it records the occupation of a certain individual, whose name is
beyond restoration, as both a high-priest and symposiarch of the god Bel and a
priest of the Sebastoi (?,D, H *? 6"? J < [E,$"FJ <]); it also records the fact that
305
also noteworthy that both inscriptions of the 190?s highlight disturbances in the
Palmyrene countryside and emphasize the important public role of these individuals
as strat goi and as leaders of caravans.  In the Palmyrene version of the text from
198 C.E., for instance, Aelius Bora is honored especially for his having established
?peace in the territory of the city? (?lm? bth. wmy mdyt?), and in the following year
Ogeilu is honored for his numerous campaigns against the nomads.  In other words,
these individuals served with distinction as local commanders of Palmyrene forces
(see below), who maintained peace and security in the countryside and facilitated
the safe passage of caravans.  Furthermore, the imperial testimonies and the
placement of one of the equestrian statues (that of the unknown individual of
P2769) in the Kaisareion of Palmyra, the local temple of the imperial cult,
highlights the recognition that these individuals received outside of their local
context, in actions that benefitted the Roman authorities as well as their
community.103  Indeed, P2769, which records testimonies given before Avidius
the same individual had statues erected to the emperors Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus, with whom he had correspondence; see G. W. Bowersock, ?A New
Antonine Inscription from the Syrian Desert,? Chiron 6 (1976): 349-55.  According
to Bowersock, who restored the text, the individual concerned must have been a
priest of the imperial cult, since ?an approach to the emperors and a letter from
them, probably of a testimonial character and with reference to maintaining a cult,
make it exceedingly likely? (ibid., 353).
104  For discussion, see Millar, Roman Near East, 115-18.  On the career of
Avidius Cassius, see M. L. Astarita, Avidio Cassio (Rome: Edizioni di storia e
letteratura, 1983); and R. Syme, ?Avidius Cassius: His Rank, Age, and Quality,? in
Roman Papers, vol. 5 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1988), 689-701.
105  Inventaire 9.22 (= ILS 8869).
306
Cassius, the consular governor, was set up only four years before this same Roman
official made an abortive bid for empire, when he proclaimed himself emperor in
175 C.E. after receiving a false report of the death of Marcus Aurelius.104  Thus
from a local perspective, these inscriptions illuminate a period of regional
insecurity and increased Roman involvement in the affairs of the city.
This, then, was the historical and social setting within which the ?four
tribes? became socially relevant.  As noted above, the ?four tribes? as a social and
political entity first appeared in the Antonine period, during the reigns of Lucius
Verus and Marcus Aurelius.  This coincides with the earliest evidence we have of a
Roman garrison in the city, a Greek inscription of 167 C.E. from the temple of Bel
that honors the praefectus of the ala Herculiana of Thracians, Julius Julianus.105  At
about the same time, as I have noted, another praefectus Vibius Celer was honored
106  Inventaire 9.23.  See p. 279 above.
107  For the evidence, see Seyrig, ?Textes relatifs ? la garnison romaine,? 152-
68; and J. -P. Rey-Coquais, ?Syrie romaine, de Pomp?e ? Diocl?tien,? JRS 68
(1978): 68-69.
108  See n. 103 above.
307
and described as both a citizen (poleit s) and a council member (synedros).106  In
fact, from this period onwards, numerous inscriptions attest to the Roman military
presence in the city and more active involvement of Roman authorities in civic
affairs.107  Of greater interest, though, and perhaps related to the presence of Roman
forces, was the introduction of the imperial cult into the city, probably under the
emperors Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius.108  Moreover, there was a decline in
the caravan trade, as suggested by the lack of caravan inscriptions between the years
161 and 193 C.E. perhaps resulting from a general rise in regional insecurity.  This
was concurrent with the Parthian War of Lucius Verus, after which the plague
probably ravaged Palmyrene trading interests in communities all along the
Euphrates (see pp. 171-72 above).  Ultimately, the events of the late second century
C.E. would have generated a great deal of stress on the civic institutions of
Palmyra, as the city and its inhabitants gradually lost a measure of their
independence in the face of increased Roman activity in the region and Rome?s
involvement in Palmyrene affairs.  Indeed, since Hadrian?s visit to the city
sometime before 131 C.E., elite Palmyrenes began increasingly to flirt with the
assumption of Roman identities.  Thus the ?four tribes? emerged in a setting of both
109  For instance, see Schlumberger, ?Les Quatre tribus,? 132.
110  See pp. 80-81 above.
308
local and regional insecurity and of expanding Roman interests in the city and in
the surrounding countryside.  It was a period of intense social, economic, and
political stress and transition. 
Furthermore, by reviewing the existing structures from which these ?four
tribes? emerged, I will show that they did not appear arbitrarily or without
precedent.  As indicated in P2769 of 171 C.E. and P1063 of 198 C.E., for example,
each of the four tribes of the city had its own sanctuary which housed its respective
gods.  Shared religious affiliation, then, served to support tribal identities.  This was
a longstanding reality, in Palmyra and elsewhere.  As I discussed in Chapter 3,
shared cult was one of the earliest factors that united families and clans who had
migrated to the city, when many had also conveyed their deities and cults in the first
place.  Indeed, Palmyra hosted many tribal groups, only one of which, the
Kh?neitoi, was ever designated in the inscriptions as one of the ?four tribes.? 
Based on this identification, scholars have assumed that the other three tribes are to
be equated with those groups also identified as phylai in the Greek texts.109  As I
have outlined in Chapter 2, in addition to the NL8? X@:"D0< < (= NL8?
OT<,4J < / bny kmr?), these are the NL8? 9420< < (bny myt?), the NL8?
9"22"$T8?T< (= NL8? 9"<2["]$T8,?T< / bny mtbwl), the NL8?
9"(,D0< < (perhaps the bny m?zyn), and the NL8? 58"L*4V*@H.110  The NL8Z
111  See P0471.  The NL8Z 58"L*4VH is attested only once in a funerary
context recording the foundation of a tower in the northwest necropolis, and it is
never associated with a specific sanctuary at Palmyra.  In fact, this designation may
have been an honorific title given to a local citizen for remarkable achievements in
military or commercial endeavors, as recognized by Roman authorities, or perhaps
it represents the acquisition of Roman citizenship.  See, for instance, P. Piersimoni,
?The Palmyrene Prosopography? (Ph.D. diss., University College, London, 1995),
253.  Milik, D?dicaces, 259-61, regards the Claudiad tribe as foreign to Palmyra, to
which it came having adopted the generic tribal from a member of the Augustan
dynasty.  On the other hand, Sartre, ?Palmyre, cit? grecque,? 387, argues that this
tribe represents the renaming of an indigenous Palmyrene tribe before the death of
Nero in 54 C.E.
112  Bowersock, ?Social and Economic History,? 67, states that ?the four tribes
of Palmyra are best explained as having their roots in religious commitments and
the establishment of particular temples in four quarters within the city.  In short, the
social structure of the cities reflects the preexisting religious organization of Syrian
tribes, and hence the establishment of temples and shrines in these cities . . . cannot
be viewed as an attempt to reorganize, disrupt, or relocate the indigenous
population.?
309
58"L*4VH, however, was apparently an artificial tribe and may be discounted in
this assessment.111  Nonetheless, the fact remains that each of the other tribes listed
above all had a longstanding presence in the city and each seems to have retained
its primary familial associations.112  In fact, there is nothing to suggest that they had
abandoned bonds based on kinship and blood.  Moreover, as the aforementioned
inscriptions attest, these major tribes were based in tribal sanctuaries, each of which
took decades to construct and embellish, and their respective cults were probably
shared by numerous lesser tribal groups.
Thus I would argue that the system of  ?four tribes? of Palmyra as a social
formation developed in a religious context from tribal sanctuaries already in
113  P0197: . . . ?< B@88@?H 6"? [:,(V8@4H] | 6"4D@?H (<0F\TH 6["?
N48@J,\:TH] | B"D"FJV<J" J@?H ?:B?[D@4H 6"? J"?H] | FL<@*\["]4H 6"? J@?H
?< ? @8@("F4V[*4] | B@8,\J"4H 6"? B[V]<J@J,  N,4*ZF"<J" | [R]LP?H 6"?
@ F\"H  B?D J < J? B"JD\*4 | *4"N[,]D?<[J]T< 6"? *4  J@ J@ *?(:"F4 |
6"? R[0N\F]:"F4 6"?  <*D4 F4 *0:@F\@4H | 6"? ?[B4FJ@8]"?H 6"?
*4"JV(:"J4 A@$846\@L | 9"D6[X88@L J@  *4"F]0:@JVJ@L 6LD\@L |
 B"J46[@  J,J,4:0]:X<@< *4"FfF"<J" | *? 6"? J?< [BD@FN]VJTH  B?
? @8@("4F4V[*@H] | B"D"(,<@:X<[0< FL<]@*\"< ?6 J@  | B,D4FJV<J@H
" [J]?< :,(V8@L 64<*b<@L | ? " J? FL<@*\" [ D,J]?H 6"?
:,("8@|ND@Fb<0H [6"? , F,$,\"H ?<,6]" " J@  |  <*D[4V<J"H JXFF"D"H
 <XFJ0F], ?<["] | :?[< ?]<J" 2[" ?< ?,D? )4?H] ?<" *? | [?]< ?,D?  8F,4
?<" *? [?]< ?,[D?] }!D,@H | 6"? J?< JXJ"DJ@< ?< ?,D? z!J"D(VJ,4@H | *4 
310
existence in the first half of the second century C.E.  I assume that these sanctuaries
are to be identified in two bilingual inscriptions dated to 132 and 144 C.E.,
respectively, both of which record that statues were set up in honor of a certain
Soados, son of B?liados, son of Soados, in four separate structures.  The oldest
inscription identifies Soados as pious (euseb s) and a lover of the fatherland
(philopatris), who (after the Greek text):
. . . in many and (great) opportunities, showed himself sincere and
munificent, to the merchants, to the caravans, and to the citizens in
Vologesias, who was always unsparing in spirit and substance in
matters of importance to the fatherland, and for this was honored
with decrees and with positive proposals (?) (*?(:"F4 6"?
R[0N\F]:"F4) and with public statues and with letters and a
proclamation from Publius Marcellus, the most distinguished lord
consular governor, because recently he saved the caravan which
came down from Vologesias from the great risk/danger surrounding
it.  The same caravan [emphasis added], because of his excellence,
greatness of mind, and piety, set up four statues of him, one here in
the temple of Zeus, one in the sacred grove, one in the temple of
Ares, and the fourth in the temple of Artagatis, through the agency
of Agegos, son of Iarib?leos, and Thaimarsos, son of Thaimarsos,
the caravan leaders; the year 443; the month Peritios (February 132
C.E.).113
!(,(@L 3"D4$T8,@LH 6"? 1"4:"DF@L J@  1"4:"DF@L FL<@*4VDPT< ? ?J@LH
[(]:L? :0<?H A,D4J\@L.  See also Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 30;
Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 167; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 60-
62.
114  For a discussion of the evidence pertaining to the temple of Allat, see
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 99-108; for the temple of Baalshamin, see ibid.,
79-88; for the temple of Arsu, see ibid., 116-24; for the sacred grove of Aglibol and
Malakbel, see ibid., 124-43; and for the temple of Ataraathe or Atargatis, see ibid.,
153-54.
115  The Palmyrene version identifies this group as ?Abdallat Ahitaia and the
robbers who were assembled? (?bdlt ?h. yty? wgy?y? dy kn?).
311
According to the Palmyrene version, which is incomplete, the four sanctuaries
correspond to the house of Baalshamin (fig. 10), the house of Arsu, the sacred
grove, and the house of Ataraathe (?tr?th).  Among these, only three are identified in
the second inscription of 141 C.E., the sacred grove (presumably of Aglibol and
Malakbel), the house of Arsu, and the house of Ataraathe.  There is no mention of
the sanctuary of Baalshamin, but rather a fourth statue is set up in the house of Allat
or Athena (fig. 12).114  In these sanctuaries, according to the Greek text of the
inscription from 141 C.E., the caravan of all Palmyrenes (FL<@*\" BV<JT<
A"8:LD0< <) that returned recently from Vologesias had set up four statues:
. . . next to the first four statues set up by the first caravan for
Soados, son of B?liados, son of Soados, son of Thaimisamsos, pious
and a lover of the fatherland, through his benevolence and greatness
of mind towards the citizens in every way adorned with excellence
and with great honors the caravan of all Palmyrenes . . . because he
set out in a distinguished manner taking with him a large force and
opposed [Ab]dallathos of Eeithe and the (robbers) [brought together
by him from [ . . . ],115  who for a long time were lying in wait to
116  . . . B"DV J@?H BDfJ@4H | JXFF"DF4  <*D4 F4 J@?H  <,(,D2,?F4 |  B?
J?H BDfJ0H FL<@*\"H G@V*  %T84V*@LH | J@  G@V*@L J@  1"4:4FV:F@L
, F,$,? 6"? N48@|B"JD\*4 J? *4  J?< " J@  , <@4"< 6"?
:,("8@|ND@Fb<0< J?< BD?H J@ H B@8,\J"H B"<J? | JD?B  6,6@F:0:X< 
 D,J"?H 6"? :,(\F|J"4H J,4:"?H  <XFJ0F,< ?  B? z?8@("F\"H  <"|$ F"
FL<@*\" BV<JT< A"8:LD0< < ?B,? | BD@fD:0F,< ?B4FZ:TH B"D"8"$?<
:[,]|2? '"LJ@  B@88?< *b<":4< 6"?  <JXFJ[0] | [z!$]*"88V2  z+,42Z< 
6"? J@?H  B? " J@  FL<"P2,?F4  B? B . . . | *[ . . . ?]D4@?H J@?H ?B? PD?<@<
?<,*D,bF"F4  *46?F"4 J?< F[L<@*\"<] | [ . . . ] BD@F*4XFTF,<  LJ@ H *4 
J@ J@  <X(,4D"< " J? | [J@ H  <*D4V<J"H] J,4:?H PVD4<
FL<@*4"DP@b<JT< 9"80 EL:T<@L | [ . . . 6"? z+]<<4$Z8@L EL:T<@L J@ 
%".,60 ?J@LH ,<L? :0[<?H] )"4F\@<.  For the text, see Drijvers, ?Greek and
Aramaic in Palmyrene Inscriptions,? 34-38; and Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra,
62-63.
312
harm the  . . . ] (and) he preserved them.116
The Palmyrene version corresponds closely to the Greek text, although there is a
clearer indication that the caravan which made the dedication had been organized at
the civic level, since it is described as the ?caravan of the whole of Palmyra? ([?yrt?
dy] tdmr klh).  Moreover, these two inscriptions illustrate conditions in the city and
countryside that required immediate communal responses.  As observed above,
there was banditry in the countryside and cooperation among the citizenry was
necessary to keep the trade alive.  Interestingly, this cooperation spawned from the
cultic contexts of at least five urban sanctuaries.
It is important to note that any correlation between the sanctuaries identified
in the texts of 132 and 141 C.E. with the less specific references to the ?four tribes?
of the city and their unidentified sanctuaries in the texts of 171, 193, and 198 C.E.
is hypothetical.  In fact, the sanctuaries mentioned in the earlier texts are not
117  See n. 109 above.
118  For a review of the evidence, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 64-66.
313
described as belonging to any Palmyrene tribe.  Without this specification, scholars
have inferred their tribal status and associated them with the aforementioned four
tribes attested in Greek at Palmyra, namely the NL8? X@:"D0< < (= NL8?
OT<,4J < / bny kmr?), NL8? 9420< < (bny myt?), NL8? 9"22"$T8?T< (=
NL8? 9"<2(")$T8,?T< / bny mtbwl), and the NL8? 9"(,D0< < or the bny
m?zyn.117  This inference has been based on the numerous accounts in the epigraphy
of tribal groups or members associating themselves with specific cults and
sanctuaries.  Thus it would seem that the bny kmr? were patrons of the sacred grove
of Aglibol and Malakbel, the bny myt? of the temple of Atargatis, the bny mtbwl of
the temple of Arsu, and the bny m?zyn of both the temple of Baalshamin and the
temple of Allat.118  This all remains hypothetical, however likely it might be.
Indeed, a review of the history of cult worship at Palmyra and of the
relationship between tribal and civic forms of worship should elucidate the
association of specific tribes with particular sanctuaries.  As I discussed in Chapter
3, the oasis of Palmyra naturally served as a cult center to which individuals and
groups of diverse backgrounds, some more or less indigenous to the region, were
attracted.  Also, individuals, families, and other groups, whether based on kinship
or otherwise, brought with them when they migrated to the city their ancestral gods
and traditional modes of worship.  Generally, since shared religious affiliation
314
served to support a common identity, we would expect that the foundation of tribal
sanctuaries and the maintenance of their respective cults allowed certain primordial
bonds and a common identity to persist; and in fact, the association of particular
familial and tribal groups with certain sanctuaries, as mentioned, suggests that this
was the case.  Meanwhile, in the earliest stages of community formation, the temple
of Bel was founded as a communal sanctuary to house all the gods and cult idols of
the tribes and clans associated with the oasis and its hinterland who were drawn to
the city.  In this context, the temple and cult of Bel served the needs of the
community of Palmyrenes (gbl tdmry?), since it was more civic in nature.  The
preservation of group identity, whether of family, clan, or tribe, however, demanded
that traditional modes of worship not be entirely abandoned.  The rich and powerful
who headed the clans and tribes required mechanisms to ensure the proper
maintenance of their respective groups, not entirely dependent on the city and its
institutions.  Independent tribal sanctuaries, then, would have maintained group
identity of the sort that bonded individuals at a primordial level.  These would not
have replaced or even competed with the cult of the temple of Bel, but rather these
would have given variety to the religious life of the city that reflected the diverse
religious needs of its population.
Moreover, I would argue that the act of sponsoring independent sanctuaries,
whether by an individual or by a particular clan or tribe, was a means of creating
and displaying social power and prestige.  Thus, these ?tribal? sanctuaries serving
315
communal needs enhanced community life in the city.  They helped to establish
boundaries that delimited individual and group identity within the community.  For
example, it was as a ?Palmyrene? that one attended banquets and festivals at the
temple of Bel, but it was as a ?Palmyrene? and something ?other? that one attended
to the cult of the independent tribal sanctuaries.  Yet pagan religion was quite fluid
and clearly reflected the society in which it operated.  Individuals often patronized
numerous sanctuaries and cults concurrently.  Thus, the particular deity worshiped
in any given context was not an ethnic marker of the individual worshiper, although
it suggested the particular ancestry of the individual or group that sponsored the cult
initially.  Indeed, the religious experience, which was not exclusive, was embedded
within the social fabric of the city, particularly in the sense that relations of
dependence were generated between those who monopolized the rituals and cult of
a specific sanctuary and those who were empowered only to share the experience. 
Families, clans, tribes, or whoever sponsored the introduction of a particular god
and his cult into the city, as a display of their power and prestige, would have
sought to retain their pre-eminence in the corresponding associations.  The tribal
sanctuaries provided a backdrop for this to happen.  Indeed, the connection between
tribal affiliations and these sanctuaries was undoubtedly long-standing and natural. 
Understanding this connection provides a religious context for the emergence in the
late second century C.E. of the ?four tribes? as a distinct social body.
In addition, a more thorough review of the economic context within which
119  See n. 116 above.
316
the ?four tribes? of the city emerged as a social organism, each tribe in its own
sanctuary, further illuminates how and why they arose when they did.  I begin with
a discussion of the social status of the individuals and groups who sponsored the
introduction of tribal cults into the city and, specifically, of the primary source of
their wealth.  Essentially, Palmyra flourished due to trade, and the elite of the city
were, first and foremost, powerful merchants.  This is only part of the narrative,
however.  Clearly, trade supported the growth of community and the urbanization
of Palmyra.  It also enhanced the position and status of those individuals and groups
directly involved, particularly those in positions of authority, who were the first to
profit and had the means to engage in public euergetism.
What needs further elaboration, however, is the organization of this trade
and its relationship, if any, to institutional developments within the city.  There is
evidence to suggest that in many if not most cases the organization of the caravan
trade at Palmyra was a civic enterprise.  The inscription of 144 C.E. quoted above
refers specifically to the ?caravan of all the Palmyrenes? (FL<@*\" BV<JT<
A"8:LD0< <), which, according to the Palmyrene text of the same inscription,
corresponded with ?the caravan of all (or the whole) of Tadmor? ([?yrt? dy] | tdmr
klh).119  Also, the numerous benefactions to individuals on account of their
assistance to the caravans by the Palmyrene council further suggests that these were
120  Hence, Gawlikowski, ?Palmyra and its Caravan Trade,? 140.
317
common civic enterprises.120  This need not have been the case exclusively, though,
since individuals and small groups may likewise have transported goods in modest
amounts, although specific figures are lacking to determine what could be
transported and in what quantities to make smaller enterprises profitable. 
Nonetheless, the majority of the caravans would have been quite large and
burdensome, both due to logistical convenience and in order to maximize profits. 
Such ventures would have required a great deal of support and maintenance, which
could explain civic involvement.  The question remains, however, what social or
institutional body within the city, if any, acted as overseer of the caravan trade. 
Current evidence suggests strongly that the caravans, for the most part, were
communal endeavors and were managed through the same social and economic
framework that supported the tribal sanctuaries of the city, a body of four
individuals or groups.  By contrast, in the first century C.E., this would have been
the task of the Palmyrenes as a whole who assembled in the sacred precinct of the
temple of Bel on festive occasions, or in some other communal forum.  In the late
second century C.E., ?four tribes? with their associated families and clans took on
the same function, operating from various sanctuaries in the city, but these tribes
maintained, nonetheless, a collective association with the civic cult of Bel.  P1378
of 199 C.E. is particularly revealing in this regard, because it records the dedication
by the ?four tribes? of four statues to Ogeilu, son of Maqqai, ?because he did good
121  See n. 98 above.
122  P1062.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 13-14; Gawlikowski, Le Temple
palmyr?nien, 47; Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 166-67; and Mouterde and
Poidebard, ?La Voie antique des caravanes entre Palmyre et H?t,? 101-15.
318
to them on many campaigns (b?st.rt.gwn ?gy?n) and enterprises (?) (wbs. ryh. yn) and
caravans on which he accompanied them (w?yryn dy slq bhn).?121  In fact, every
inscription that identifies the ?four tribes? highlights the public role of the
individuals honored in their support of the caravans and the merchants.  The
inscriptions of 132 and 144 C.E., for example, which honor Soados, son of
B?liados, for his assistance and zeal, support this hypothesis.  Each documents that
Soados received four statues set up by a single association of caravan members (bny
?yrt?) in four distinct sanctuaries of the city.  In addition, a bilingual inscription of
145 C.E., discovered at the remote site of Umm al-Amad, identifies this same
Soados as the only Palmyrene ever to receive four statues ?in the tetradeion of the
city? (?< J? J,JD"*,\  J?H B?8,@H) set up at public expense and records further
honors by the council and the people of three additional statues in Palmyrene
communities abroad, at Spasinou Charax, at Vologesias, and at the caravaserai at
Gennaes.122  The four statues in the tetradeion of the city, apparently, would have
been distinct from the statues set up earlier in the various sanctuaries.  Exactly what
or where the tetradeion of the city was cannot be answered.  To my knowledge, the
word does not occur elsewhere, and in this context would seem to refer to the
123  See Matthews, ?Tax Law of Palmyra,? 166-67.  Cf. P1383, a fragment from
the agora that identifies Soados, son of B?liados ([E]@"*@< #[T84"*@LH],
[??d]wbr bl[yd?]).
124  P2634.  See also M. Gawlikowski, ?Les Comptes d?un homme d?affaires
dans une tour fun?raire ? Palmyre,? Semitica 36 (1986): 87-99.  The context of the
inscription makes any interpretation speculative.
319
?square? of the city.  Quite possibly the tetradeion may be identified as the agora.123 
This would support the communal nature of the caravans.  Also, it may be that the
tetradeion ought to be associated with the ?four tribes? in some manner, perhaps
representing a civic space within which the tribes met.
Further evidence that the caravan trade, in some instances, was managed by
a body of four (either individuals or groups) derives from an enigmatic inscription
on the interior wall of Tower 70 in the Valley of the Tombs.  The Palmyrene text
specifies four accounts (?rbw?? mkyl) and then proceeds to list various investments
in terms of capital deposited and the interest or profit gained in one month.
Gawlikowski associates these with rates on mercantile loans to support the caravan
trade, but, I propose an alternate hypothesis, that they were a calculation of the
division of profits into four categories depending upon the contributions made by
four different individuals or groups.124  Furthermore, four treasurers are attested at
Palmyra (see below).  It is possible that these officials may have been
representatives of the ?four tribes? and may well have managed the accounts that
supported the caravans financed by the city.
Finally, among the earliest institutions developed at Palmyra, which was
125  P0340.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 292-93.
126  See, for instance, van Berchem, ?Le Plan de Palmyre,? 172-3, who regards
the four treasurers as the first magistrates of the Palmyrene people who represented
the ?four tribes? as early as 25 C.E.  See also Sartre, ?Palmyre, cit? grecque,? 399,
n. 36.  Cf. Milik, D?dicaces, 293, who proposes that these altars from al-Karasi
testify to a decision of the community to introduce a new municipal cult into the
city, but without convincing justification for his conjecture: ?. . . les d?dicaces d?el
Ker?si sont les premi?res de ce genre et t?moignent d?une d?cision religieuse de la
320
related to the cultic and economic interests of the community and the emergence of
Palmyra as a polis, was the treasury (?nw?h).  As revealed in P1353 and clearly in
their cooperative relationship with the people of Plamyra (gbl tdmry?), the ?men of
the treasury? (?nw? ?nw?t?) or treasurers (argurotomiai) were important public
figures as early as 25 C.E.  A dedication of 114 C.E., P0340, which was discovered
on three (or four) identical altars at the town of al-Karasi in the territorium of
Palmyra on the road from Homs, repeats reference to the office of treasurer at
Palmyra.  The altars were dedicated, according to the Greek text, to Zeus, the
Highest and Attentive ()4?  R\FJ  6"? ?B06? ), which the Palmyrene text
identifies as the Anonymous God (bryk ?mh l?lm?), by the city (polis / mdynt?) itself
?from silver (contained in) the treasury during their terms as treasurer? (mn ksp
?nw?t? b?nw?t?).  Interestingly, four Palmyrenes are then named treasurers, Zebaida,
son of Taimaamad, Moqimu, son of Yarhibola, Yarhai, son of Nurbel, and Annai,
son of Malku.125  The fact that four treasurers are mentioned has led some to argue
that these represented the ?four tribes? of the city based in four specific
sanctuaries.126  Indeed, for there to have been a treasurer to handle the funds of each
ville d?introduire un culte tout particulier, essentiellement municipal, sans lieux de
culte et sans clerg?, un ph?nom?ne exceptionnel dans l?histoire des religions.?  For
the same criticism, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 199-200, n. 144.
127  See, for instance, P0991.  See also Teixidor, ?Le Thiase de B?lastor et de
Beelsham?n,? 306-14.  Also, for example, an altar currently in the Palmyra
Museum bears an inscription (P1620) indicating that it was set up at the expense of
the treasury, which may have been that of a particular sanctuary.  See Starcky,
?Autour d?une d?dicace palmyr?nienne,? 43-85.
128  P2015.
129  P2042: ?nw?[t]? | dy bl | bwlyd? | mhrdt.
321
sanctuary would not have been unusual.  Similarly, religious clubs and professional
associations often had their own treasurers to ensure proper handling of funds in the
purchasing of foodstuffs and wine for ritual banquets, among other
responsibilities.127  
Any monetary activity of the tribal sanctuaries, however, would have been
secondary to that regulated by the civic treasury housed in the temple of Bel, the
existence of which is suggested by a small rectangular tessera from the temple
which has ?the city? (krk?) inscribed on the obverse, and, on the reverse, ?the
treasury? (?nw?t?).128  More convincing, though, for the existence of civic treasury is
a unique tessera from the temple of Bel that depicts on its obverse a smith at work,
while the reverse reads, ?the treasury of Bel, Boliada Maherdat.?129  In fact, it would
have been customary for such an important civic institution as the treasury, which
controlled public revenues, to have been housed in the most important civic
130  For instance, see Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 185; and D. Hillers,
?Palmyrene Aramaic Inscriptions and the Old Testament, Especially Amos 2:8,?
Zeitschrift f?r Althebraistik 8 (1995): 55-62.
322
sanctuary, the temple of Bel.130  I would argue, then, in light of the public nature of
P0340, which suggests that the post of treasurer was a civic one, that the treasury
referred to was that housed in the temple of Bel perhaps headed by the dekapr?toi. 
Also, the presumed association of the four treasurers with the ?four tribes? seems
valid once we recognize that these were positions connected to pre-existing tribal
sanctuaries, from which the ?four tribes? as a social and political entity would
eventually emerge.  Based in their respective sanctuaries, these individuals indeed
would have managed the financial affairs of the city, convening when appropriate
to honor its leading citizens and supporting its commercial endeavors.
To sum up, until more evidence is brought to light, the relationship between
civic and tribal cults within the city, the identification and location of the various
sanctuaries of the city, as well as their organization and management, and the
institutional or civic character of the ?four tribes,? will remain enigmatic.  I have
attempted only to highlight the peculiarities inherent in the evidence, particularly in
relation to the ?four tribes? of the city and their respective sanctuaries.  More
specifically, I have emphasized the fact that all the evidence derives from second
century C.E. contexts and should be interpreted in relation to contemporary events. 
The tendency has been to relate the appearance of the ?four tribes? to a civic
reorganization associated with Palmyra?s institutional development as a Greek
131  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 74.
323
polis.  I do not necessarily disagree with this view except to note that they seem not
to have appeared as a corporate unit until the late second century C.E. and even
then there is no evidence whatsoever for any redistricting of the city.  I would also
argue that this development occurred neither arbitrarily nor without precedent. 
Instead, the emergence of the ?four tribes? operating as a single social organism
ought to be examined in its proper second century C.E. context.  The ?four tribes?
developed in reaction to new social and economic realities.  Indeed, as the city was
pressured from without, due to wars and increased banditry, among other factors, its
response from within was to change to meet new challenges.  I would argue, in fact,
that the development of the ?four tribes? as an apparently institutional body was a
thoughtful transition based on the existing religious orientation of the community
and perhaps the management of civic finances.  Also, the association probably
formed in response to the needs of the caravan trade.  As conditions in the
countryside, deteriorated more concerted group action to organize and manage the
public caravans arose.  Finally, I disagree with Dirven when she states that
?representatives of the four ?tribes? or [civic] quarters constituted the boul?, and
together represented the city of Palmyra . . . however, although the four ?tribes? and
their gods had civic connotations, they were not civic institutions, a role confined to
the Palmyrene council and the temple of Bel.?131  The ?four tribes,? in my view,
meeting in their respective sanctuaries, in the tetradeion or agora, or in the temple
132  On civic militias in the Roman Empire, see Isaac, Limits of Empire, 326-27;
and E. Birley, ?Local Militias in the Roman Empire,? in Bonner Historia-Augusta
Colloquium 1972/1974, edited by A. Alf?ldi and J. Straub (Bonn: R. Habelt
Verlag., 1976), 65-73.
324
of Bel for that matter which housed all Palmyrene gods, comprised collectively an
important civic institution that, at least before the mid-second century C.E., was
quite active in the economic and religious affairs of the city.
Palmyra?s Military and Caravan Guards
The military was also an important civic institution.  Palmyra?s military
projected Palmyrene power and influence beyond the city and contributed to the
maintenance of Palmyrene identity and community, whether at home or abroad.  It
ensured regional security in the Palmyrene countryside, mainly in the desert zone
toward the Euphrates where it exercised the greatest force.  By monitoring and
safeguarding human traffic within its territorial limits, Palmyra?s military
guaranteed civic prosperity.132  The existence of a Palmyrene military raises
important questions regarding the relationship between these troops and Roman and
Parthian/Persian forces with whom they had direct contact.  Why was this
apparently independent military capacity tolerated?  As a response to this question,
I will examine now the evidence for Palmyra?s military.  I will discuss the function
of these forces in the desert zone as well as the relationships that ensued between
the Palmyrenes and their imperial neighbors in light of Palmyra?s sustained military
might.
133  This distinction was recently suggested by Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade,
157-66.
134  The post of synodiarch or that the archemporos would appear to have been
public duties or perhaps liturgies that clearly generated power, prestige, and
influence for the individuals involved.  Yet Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 156,
goes too far in his estimation that those who performed the public liturgy of
synodiarch comprised a ?distinct? social class, although they were individuals of
noticeable power and wealth.
135  See n. 113 above.
325
First of all, a distinction may be made between Palmyra?s military and what
would seem to have been armed guards privately employed, or employed at public
expense, on a temporary basis for the immediate protection of caravans.133  The
latter would have been commanded by the synodiarchs or the archemporoi, the
patrons, protectors, and leaders of the caravans, who at times are attested as having
?saved? or ?protected? the caravans from harm.134  Several examples may be cited. 
As I quoted above, for instance, P0197, a bilingual inscription of 132 C.E. from the
agora, honors Soados, son of B?liados, for his having saved the caravan from
Vologesias from a great danger or risk that had confronted it.135  We have no more
specific information from this text to identify the nature of the threat endangering
the caravan, though it was apparently endemic and related to banditry.  The Greek
inscription of 144 C.E. (P0197) quoted above, for example, records that this same
Soados received honors from a caravan of all the Palmyrenes, because he himself
had assembled a large force and protected the caravan from a certain Abdallat and
136    See Drijvers, ?Greek and Aramaic in Palmyrene Inscriptions,? 34-38;
Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 62-63.  See also, nn. 115 and 116 above.  What
is not indicated in this inscription is whether Soados operated in the capacity of a
public official or as a private citizen.
137  See Isaac, Limits of Empire, 145-47.
326
his band of robbers who were awaiting in ambush to attack.136  Unfortunately, we
know nothing of the composition of the forces Soados used to safeguard certain
caravans or of their recruitment.  Perhaps he recruited them at his own expense, or
with the assistance of the city, for the immediate task of assuring the safety of the
caravans.  This would distinguish them from the military forces under permanent
arms.  
The examples quoted above reveal that a potential danger in the desert, at
least in the second century C.E. and later, was well-organized banditry.  More
sporadic hazards awaited the caravans traversing the desert at the same time from
regional pastoralists and nomadic groups, perhaps destitute and with a sure eye to
securing quick booty.  To these the Palmyrenes responded militarily.137  For the
most part, such pastoral groups cooperated with the maintenance of a peaceful
status quo: indeed, they formed the core of the Palmyrene population.  Increased
regional insecurity at the close of the second century, however, required more
active desert patrols to ensure safe conditions for travel and transport.  For example,
as I quoted above, P1378 of 199 C.E. records honors granted by the council and the
people to a certain Ogeilu, son of Maqqai, for his distinguished service and for his
138  P1378.  See n. 98 above.
139  P1063.  See n. 97 above.
327
many successful campaigns against nomadic groups.138  A year earlier, Aelius Bora,
son of Titus Aelius Ogeilu, a strat gos who established peace in the territories of
the city, received honors from the council and the people of Palmyra for his
patriotism.  Apparently, Aelius Bora acted under the supervision of the consular
governors Manilius Fuscus and Venidius Rufus.139  It is striking that no evidence
exists from the first century C.E. suggesting discontent among pastoralists in the
countryside that necessitated military responses.  Clearly Rome?s eastern wars of
the second century C.E., or perhaps a decline in the numbers of caravans that
traversed the desert in the last quarter of the same century, which would have
limited economic opportunities for everyone, had negative effects.  Tensions
between city and countryside grew in this period, particularly in the desert among
those engaged in pastoralism who were probably surviving at basic levels of
subsistence.  In order to control tensions, the Palmyrenes opted for a sustained
military presence in the desert.
The private caravan guards or mercenaries were apparently distinct from the
regular military forces that the people of Palmyra supported to safeguard the
Palmyrene countryside and the city?s commercial interests further afield.  Palmyra?s
military maintained garrisons at various strategic locations, primarily along routes
of communication and trade, especially along the Euphrates.  From 117 to at least
140  For a full discussion of the Palmyrene community at Dura Europos, see pp.
341-63 below.
141  For the history of Ana, see D. L. Kennedy, ?Ana on the Euphrates in the
Roman Period,? Iraq 48 (1986): 103-4; and D. L. Kennedy and A. Northedge, ?The
History of ?Ana, Classical Sources,? in Excavation at )}na, Iraq Archaeological
Reports, vol. 1, edited by A. Northedge, et al. (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1988),
6-8.
142  P0319.
143  P0200: mqy? dy ?qym lh pr?y? b?br[?] | dy gml? w?n?.
144  P2757.  See also Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1933): 178-80.  For the route
between Palmyra and Hit, see n. 68 above.
328
162 C.E., for example, Palmyra supported a garrison of soldiers at Dura Europos,
which predated the Roman occupation of the city attested by 164 C.E.140  The
Palmyrenes also maintained a garrison to the south on the island of Ana in the
Euphrates (fig. 1).141  The earliest reference to this garrison is found in a dedication
dated to 132 C.E. by a Nabataean, who identified himself in Palmyrene as ?a
horseman [in] Hirta in the camp at Ana? (pr?  [b]h. yrt? wbm?ryt? dy ?n?), of two
altars to his native deity and in remembrance of his patron and friend, a certain
Zebaida, son of Shema?n, son of Belaqab.142  Another inscription, perhaps of 188
C.E., refers to the horsemen of ?the detachment of Ana and of Gamla? who erected
a statue in Palmyra to a certain Zaba, son of Maqqaia.143  Furthermore, an
unidentified individual is identified as a strat gos of Ana and Gamla in an
inscription of 225 C.E. discovered at Umm es-Selabikh on the route between
Palmyra and Hit.144  Palmyrene forces probably also occupied outposts at Bijan and
145  For example, on Bijan, see M. Gawlikowski, ?Bijan in the Euphrates,?
Sumer 42 (1985): 15-26.  On Kifrin, see A. Invernizzi, ?Kifrin,? Archiv f?r
Orientforschung 29 (1983): 207-9; idem, ?Researches in Kifrin: ?Al-Qadissiya Dam
Project,? Sumer 42 (1985): 22-26; idem, ?Kifrin and the Euphrates Limes,? in
Defence of the Roman and Byzantine Near East, 357-81; idem, ?Kifrin,?
Mesopotamia 21 (1986): 53-84; idem, ?Kifrin,? Archiv f?r Orientforschung 34
(1987): 156-66.
329
Kifrin, two forts in the Middle Euphrates in the vicinity of Ana (fig. 1).145  The
presence of these forces along the Euphrates would suggest their involvement with
Palmyra?s caravan trade.  They certainly represented and supported Palmyrene
interests abroad.
Indeed, although this evidence is meager, it indicates that the city of
Palmyra maintained adequate forces to garrison various outposts and to safeguard
communication and trade along a portion of the Euphrates and perhaps along
primary routes through the desert to the east.  These forces were visibly active in
the second and early third centuries C.E., although we should not discount the
existence of military forces in the first century.  We know nothing of how these
troops were recruited, however, or for how long they served.  Furthermore, the fact
that such military force existed at all, thus allowing the city of Palmyra to extend its
power and authority into the countryside and beyond, raises some interesting
questions regarding the range of its operations and how Palmyrene soldiers
interacted with others.  To what extent, for instance, did the Romans and Parthians
permit independent military operations in their zones of effective control?  Also,
what relations did Palmyrene forces maintain with imperial troops from either side
146  For the archaeological evidence of Roman activity north and northeast of
Palmyra, see M. Konrad, ?Research on the Roman and Early Byzantine Frontier in
North Syria,? JRA 12 (1999): 392-410.
147  See p. 6, n. 8 above.
148  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1933, no. 205.  For discussion, see Gawlikowski,
?Palmyre et l?Euphrate,? 59-60; and Isaac, Limits of Empire, 35.
149  See Millar, Roman Near East, 83-84.  See also Seyrig, ?L?Incorporation de
Palmyre ? l?Empire romain,? 266-77.
330
of the frontier?
From the Roman viewpoint, the answer seems clear.  Primarily south and
east of the city, the Palmyrenes were allowed to patrol the desert and maintain
outposts that supported regional security, ultimately under the authority of the
consular governor of Syria.  This was a logistic relief to Rome.  To the north and
west, on the other hand, the Romans seem to have restricted Palmyrene operations
to the same extent that they limited Palmyra?s territorial boundaries.146  As I
discussed in Chapter 1, Creticus Silanus, the legatus of Syria, set Palmyra?s
territorial limits west of the city as early as 11-17 C.E.147  By 75 C.E., the Romans
constructed a road that connected Palmyra to Sura on the Euphrates, as indicated on
a milestone discovered at al-?Arak roughly 27 kilometers northeast of the city,
which suggests that a similar Roman road connected Palmyra with Damascus and
perhaps extended to the Mediterranean coast as well.148 More clearly, this road
construction marked the incorporation of Palmyra into Rome?s provincial system
and military zone of operations.149  
150  Inventaire 9.23, for instance, identifies a certain Vibius Celer as ?prefect of
the ala (stationed) here,? who is honored by the council and the people of Palmyra
as a citizen and colleague.  See p. 279 above.  The unit may have been the ala I
Thracum Herculiana, attested at Palmyra from 167 C.E.; see Inventaire 9.22, which
honors Julius Julianus, a commander of this ala.
151  For the evidence see Seyrig, ?Textes relatifs ? la garnison romaine? 152-68;
and Rey-Coquais, ?Syrie romaine,? 68-69.  For amendments discounting the
existence of a numerus Vocontiorum, see M. Speidel, ?Numerus or Ala
Vocontiorum at Palmyra?? in Roman Army Studies, vol. 1 (Amsterdam: J. C.
Gieben, 1984), 167-69.  See also Millar, Roman Near East, 135.
152  P1373.
331
The arrival of an auxiliary ala in the mid-second century C.E. confirmed
Roman strategic interests in the city.150  For the remainder of the century, Palmyra
retained at least one Roman ala as a garrison, which was replaced in the third
century C.E. by a partly mounted cohort, the cohors I Flavia Chalcidenorum.151 
Ultimately, this Roman military presence would have made its local commander a
spokesperson of the imperial court and given him some oversight of Palmyrene
affairs.  It would have been in the interests of Rome, for instance, to safeguard and
manage the collection of tolls (portoria) on the caravan trade coming through
Palmyra.  Thus the Roman garrison would surely have backed the activities of
Marcus Aemilius Marcianus Asklepiades, a town-councillor of Antioch and a
?quarter-collector? (tetart?n s) of caravan revenues, who was honored in 161 C.E.
with a statue in the agora of Palmyra,152 as well as the activities of Lucius Antonius
Callistratus, another collector of the ?fourth? who, according to a trilingual
153  P1413.  See also P2824, another trilingual inscription of the same Lucius
Antonius Callistratus published by As?ad and Teixidor, ?Quelques inscriptions
palmyr?niennes in?dites,? 279, no. 9.
154  Appian Bella civilia 5.9.  For discussion, see Debevoise, Political History
of Parthia, 108.
332
inscription of 174 C.E., was honored by his agent, a certain Galenus.153  Also, while
a Roman garrison was present at Palmyra, we can be certain that the disposition of
Palmyrene forces fell under the purview of its commander.  On many occasions,
Palmyrene strat goi of the city?s military or others who gave protection or
leadership to the caravans, the synodiarchs or the archemporoi for instance,
received honor and recognition from the governor of the province.  Clearly, then,
the actions of these Palmyrene military leaders were viewed as beneficial and vital
to Roman interests.  Moreover, while the Palmyrene military was an important civic
institution, by virtue of the fact that it exercised force beyond the city, it came under
the purview of Roman officials and thus was most affected by the Roman presence,
especially in the second and third centuries C.E.
What of the operation of Palmyrene forces in Parthian territory?  This is a
disputed matter.  Nominally, in the early stages of Palmyra?s civic development in
the first century B.C.E., the Parthians seem to have regarded the Palmyrenes as
friends and allies, if not the community itself as a constituent of its empire.  The
Parthians treated Antony?s raid on Palmyra in 41 B.C.E., for example, as a clear act
of war, and conflict ensued the following year.154  Rome?s gradual expansion
155  On the Parthian wars of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, see A. R.
Birley, Marcus Aurelius: A Biography, rev. ed. (1987; reprint, London: Routledge,
2000), 121-26, 128-31, 140; and Millar, Roman Near East, 111-15.
156  See p. 54, n.111 above.
157  See p. 341 below.
333
eastward and increasing influence over Palmyrene affairs, however, may have
altered this perception.  Under Augustus, a diplomatic settlement was reached
between the two empires in 1 C.E. that remained nominally intact until Trajan
launched his ambitious (though unsuccessful) war of aggression to conquer the
Parthians between 114 and 117 C.E.  Episodic breakdowns in diplomacy and
conflict between the two states occupied most of the second century.  Major wars
broke out in 162-65 C.E., when Lucius Verus launched a counter-offensive against
the aggression of Vologases IV in Armenia and Roman Syria, during which time
the Romans sacked Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital155 and in 194-217 C.E., when
three invasions were launched by the Severan emperors, first by Septimius Severus,
who sacked Ctesiphon in 197 C.E., and later by his son Caracalla.156  
In this political context, then, we must explain Palmyrene military actions in
areas supposedly under Parthian control, specifically in and around Dura Europos
and to the south along the Euphrates, between 117 and 162 C.E. (or until 164 C.E.
when the Romans captured Dura and then established their own patrols of the
region).  After Trajan?s withdrawal from this region of the Euphrates, the Parthians
regained control of Dura.157  The political fate of settlements south of Dura,
158  See, for instance, Rostovtzeff, ?Les Inscriptions caravani?res de Palmyre,?
in M?langes Gustave Glotz, vol. 2 (Paris: Les Presses universitaires de France,
1932), 805-7; Kennedy, ?Ana on the Euphrates,? 104.
159  This problem concerned both F. Cumont, Fouilles de Doura-Europos
(1922-1923) (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1926), xl; and Rostovtzeff, ?Inscriptions
caravani?res de Palmyre,? 805-7.  Cf. E. Will, ?Marchands et chefs de caravane ?
Palmyre,? Syria 34 (1957): 267, who suggests that all Palmyrene military activity
beyond the limits of Palmyra?s territory was conducted solely by private guards
employed to protect the caravans and not by any organized civic military.  See also
Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 158.
160  Gawlikowski, ?Palmyre et l?Euphrate,? 60.  See also Young, Rome?s
Eastern Trade, 165-66.
334
however, specifically that of Ana, remains uncertain.  It is probable that the
Parthians concurrently took possession of Ana and surrounding settlements as well,
but the evidence is inconclusive.  If this were the case, then the presence of
Palmyrene troops at Dura and to the south would have been sanctioned by Parthian
authorities, perhaps in recognition that these forces were to provide nominal
security for these settlements and to facilitate caravan trade across the frontier.158 
Would the Parthians, however, have viewed these Palmyrene forces as components
of the Roman military apparatus, and thus undoubtedly as a threat to their power
and authority in the region?159  Most scholars presume yes.  Thus Gawlikowski
argues that after Trajan?s withdrawal from the region the Romans retained control
over Ana and nearby settlements either by agreement or because the Parthians
failed to reoccupy them.160  Accordingly, we may account for the presence of
Palmyrene forces in the area by concluding that Roman authorities granted to them
161  See p. 344 below.  According to P1405, a bilingual Greek and Palmyrene
inscription from Palmyra, a certain Marcus Ulpius Abgar served as a prefect of
Palmyrene archers in 141 C.E.; we know nothing more specific about these forces,
however.
162  See n. 334 above.
335
the mandate to patrol the area.  This does little, however, to explain the Parthian
ability to gain control of Dura in the same period, or the appearance of Palmyrene
archers in the city presumably as early as 150 C.E.161  In response to this dilemma,
Gawlikowski, followed by Young, dismisses any appearance of Palmyrene forces in
Dura prior to the Parthian campaign of Lucius Verus in 164 C.E.162  This, then,
allows all evidence of such forces to be interpreted within the framework of Roman
interests and foreign policy; quite simply, Palmyrene forces garrisoned the city at
the behest of Rome, only to be incorporated later into regular Roman army units. 
Thus the evidence of Palmyra?s military and its role with respect to Roman
and Parthian foreign policy remains open to debate.  The notion that the Palmyrene
forces of Dura were present to safeguard the caravan trade, for instance, has been
questioned.  These forces did, however, serve a practical function by patrolling the
desert region to the south and east of Palmyra as far as the Euphrates.  The regional
security that these forces provided benefitted Rome and Parthia by relieving them
from any investment of state resources for comparable tasks.  Palmyra benefitted
from the protection and deliverance of the caravans, a task its military performed at
the behest of their native city and its people and under their own commanders or
163  At any rate, what can be certain is that these forces, whether privately
employed or organized by the city, contributed to Palmyra?s regional security, and,
to the extent that the caravans received sufficient protection for their safe return,
ultimately contributed to the city?s prosperity and growth.
336
strat goi.  These apparently complemented the private guards hired more or less as
mercenaries for the immediate protection of the caravans by powerful aristocrats
within the city, individuals who often personally led the caravans as synodiarchs or
archemporoi.  Yet, the presence of these guards must be inferred from the
evidence.163  As far as Palmyra?s military is concerned, these forces represented the
extension of Palmyrene power and authority into the desert, which may provide a
partial explanation for increased Roman interest in and influence upon the city. 
Nonetheless, whether authorized or sanctioned by Roman or Parthian authorities,
these forces confirmed Palmyrene interests in their zone of operations.  They were
instruments of power and prestige that confirmed Palmyra?s supremacy in the
desert and commercial interests beyond.
Conclusion
Throughout the first three centuries C.E., as the Palmyrene community
expanded, a series of transformations affected its social and political fabric.  At the
beginning of this chapter, I raised the one key issue that problematizes Palmyra?s
civic development.  It is our estimation of the ?Greekness? of the Palmyrene
community, which I examined primarily in relation to Palmyra?s institutional
development as a polis, versus its ?Roman? or eastern aspects.  In some respects,
337
the adventus of the emperor Hadrian in the early second century C.E. marked the
pinnacle of Palmyra?s growth as a Greek community, and it crystallized Roman
interest in and influence upon the city.  Then, in the Severan age and, in particular,
after the constitutio Antoniniana of 212 C.E., Palmyra clearly became more Roman
as its citizenry began assuming Roman identities and patterns of behavior. 
Palmyra?s elevation to the status of a Roman colony at this time facilitated this
transformation.  Concurrent with all of this, an indigenous Palmyrene identity and
culture persisted, which was manifested in language, art, and to a certain extent in
its political structures.
In this chapter I examined these transformations.  By focusing on the
evolution of Palmyra?s civic institutions, from its magistracies to its military, I
established a framework for assessing Palmyrene urbanization and communal
development.  For the most part, the Palmyrenes were apt to assimilate social and
political influences of both western and eastern derivation.  They did so with
surprising efficiency.  In the process, they developed a unique communal identity,
which, as I will show in the following chapter, they maintained in foreign settings. 
Also, as the city and population grew, the civic ideal adjusted accordingly.  New
political institutions emerged as the city developed, institutionally, into a Greek city
and then into a Roman colonia, which affected existing social and economic
frameworks for personal and group interaction.  It is difficult, however, to measure
this impact.  We can see, for example, the advancement of a civic identity with
338
numerous episodes of individuals and groups asserting themselves as being
?Palmyrenes.?  Thus the city itself became an important point of reference for a
communal identity.  It is difficult at times, however, to know if the assertion of
being a ?Palmyrene? had a geographic or an ethnic basis, with the distinction being
that of a political versus an ethnic identity.  Nonetheless, in most cases it would
seem to have referred to a civic identity, but whether this displaced traditional
modes of constructing identities based on kinship associations cannot be confirmed
and seems unlikely.  As I have noted, arguments for this type of transformation
based on analyses of the evidence of the ?four tribes? in their respective sanctuaries,
in my view, fall short of making the case.  It is best not to divorce the evidence
from its context.  What the evidence of the ?four tribes? and their respective
suggests is a social transformation somehow required by the shifting needs of the
caravan trade as prompted by altered economic and political conditions in the
second century C.E.  In fact, I would argue that kinship never ceased to be the core
of self-identification.  I would, however, suggest that the city emerged in the first
century C.E. as an alternate point of reference in the expression of one?s identity,
which became particularly relevant as Palmyra grew and contact with foreigners
increased, notably Romans in the city.  In this context, the civic institutions of
Palmyra provided structure to this ?Palmyrene? identity and facilitated in its
maintenance.
339
Chapter 6: Palmyrene Identity and Community Abroad
Introduction
The discussion thus far has focused on the city of Palmyra and its hinterland
and how personal and group identity were structured and maintained within these
limits.  A key contribution, however, to the emergence and subsequent maintenance
of a self-awareness or self-assertion of being a ?Palmyrene? was the progressive
expansion of Palmyrene activity abroad, where consistent interaction with
foreigners generated distinct boundaries between Palmyrene expatriates and a host
of ?others? with whom cultural tendencies may or may not have been shared.  In
these settings Palmyrenes asserted emphatically their social and cultural identities.
In this chapter I will examine the structure and maintenance of Palmyrene
identity and community abroad.  My analysis is more functional, in terms of
Palmyrenes? activities abroad, rather than geographical, though the latter is
pertinent and guides the narrative.  The reason for this is that all of the evidence for
the Palmyrene presence abroad fits neatly within three basic functional contexts,
economic, military, and political.  Palmyrenes were acting as merchants, soldiers,
retired or otherwise, and as diplomats, or in other positions of political authority.  I
340
would not discount that Palmyrenes ventured abroad for other reasons, however.  I
only stress that the evidence for their activities in other contexts has mostly
vanished.  This analysis has geographic relevance primarily in commercial contexts. 
In merchant communities along the Euphrates, for example, commitments and
attachments to Palmyra were the strongest, perhaps due to proximity but clearly
because of the central role trade played in Palmyra?s prosperity.  
I begin this analysis of Palmyrene identity and community abroad with a
discussion of the Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, for whom our evidence is the most
abundant.  My analysis focuses on both military and civilian groups.  For the latter,
I discuss the surprising lack of evidence that these were merchants, which
presumably they were, and I review the evidence for supposed commercial
connections between Palmyra and Dura.  As I will show, in whatever manner the
Palmyrenes of Dura occupied themselves, they nonetheless constructed a social
context that reveals their integration and cooperation with their Durene neighbors,
perhaps because of strong commercial relations.  In fact, the fates of the Palmyrene
and Durene communities were intertwined, and this fact received cultic expression,
which geographical proximity certainly facilitated.  From Dura I proceed to analyze
the activities of Palmyrene merchants abroad in both Roman and Parthian
territories.  These were clearly involved with Palmyra?s caravan trade, and their
relations with their home community were close and personal.  Finally, I conclude
this chapter with a thorough examination of Palmyrenes operating under foreign
1  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, is now the standard work on this
subject, although she focuses on the nature of religious interaction within the
community.
2  For a brief sketch of the history of Dura, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-
Europos, 1-17.  Ammianus Marcellinus (23.5.8 and 24.1.5), writing in the second
half of the fourth century C.E., observed the ruined city and referred to it as a
desertum oppidum and as Duram desertam.  On the brief Roman occupation of
Dura in 115/16 C.E., see Dura Preliminary Report 4, 56-68, no. 167; and Dura
Preliminary Report 6, 480-82.  See also Millar, Roman Near East, 102.
341
employ, as diplomats, local rulers, and soldiers.  I analyze the manner in which
these individuals preserved their native identities abroad.  Generally, throughout
this chapter I emphasize three important factors that allow us to see how the
Palmyrenes managed to maintain distinct social and cultural identities abroad. 
These factors were the tendency of Palmyrenes to import their native cults into
foreign settings, their persistence use of the Palmyrene dialect as a means of
communication, and the profound attachments various individuals maintained with
Palmyra?s commercial interests.
The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos
Apart from Palmyra, the community of Palmyrenes in Dura-Europos is the
best documented.1  Dura-Europos was founded on the Euphrates by Greeks in ca.
300 B.C.E., conquered by Parthians in 113 B.C.E., held briefly by the Romans in
115 C.E. and then continuously from 164 until 256/57 C.E., when Dura fell to the
Sassanid Persians (fig. 34).  The city was abandoned soon afterwards.2  Palmyrene
civilians are first attested at Dura in 33 B.C.E., when two individuals, Zabdibol, son
3  P1067.  See also Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 319-20, pl. 55, 1, no. 916;
and Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 199-202.
342
of Baayahu, of the bny gdybwl, and Malku, son of Ramu, of the bny kmr?, founded
a sanctuary for their native gods Bel and Yarhibol on a plateau outside the city-
walls.3  Palmyrene soldiers joined the community near the mid-second century C.E. 
The presence of Palmyrene soldiers and civilians in Dura then remained permanent
until the city was abandoned in the mid-third century C.E.  Their fate afterwards is
not known.
What the Palmyrenes were doing at Dura for nearly three centuries is
unclear, though they had a distinct cultural presence.  Presumably they were there in
contexts related to Palmyra?s trade.  There is no evidence whatsoever, however, of
commercial relations between the two cities.  Any assessment, then, of what
Palmyrenes were doing at Dura must be based on inference.  What is clear is that
the Palmyrenes soldiers and civilians in Dura maintained their distinct communal
identity throughout the period of their residence.  I will examine in this section how
they did this and address possible reasons for it.  Essentially, the Palmyrenes of
Dura-Europos preserved their civic and tribal identities through their language,
religious affiliations, and presumed economic activity.  They also operated as a
community representative of Palmyra in their communications with their Durene
neighbors.  By showing that the cities had two fates, though intertwined, they fixed
a clear boundary that marked themselves as distinct from their neighbors.
4  See F. Millar, ?Dura-Europos under Parthian Rule,? in Das Partherreich und
seine Zeugnisse: The Arsacid Empire - Sources and Documentation.  Beitr?ge des
internationalen Colloquiums, Eutin (27.-30. Juni 1996), edited by J. Wieseh?fer
(Stuttgart: F. Steiner, 1998), 476-80, who stresses the fact that no ?Semitic?
language other than Palmyrene appears in a public context before 164 C.E.
343
The Palmyrene dedication of 33 B.C.E. to the gods Bel and Yarhibol thus
establishes a Palmyrene civilian presence at Dura.  The dedication itself, of interest
as the earliest dated inscription from Dura, is expressly important because it was
inscribed in Palmyrene and it reveals the manner in which cult worship was used to
support a communal identity.  The normal language of the city, at least in written
expression, was Greek.  The use of Palmyrene, then, as the only other established
language of public inscriptions at Dura, suggests that the settlement lay clearly
within the zone of direct Palmyrene influence, both before and after the Roman
annexation of 164 C.E.4  The dedication also represents a concerted effort among
Palmyrenes not to assimilate fully into the indigenous community, but rather to
maintain a distinct communal identity in a foreign context.  Their bringing native
Palmyrene cults to Dura emphasizes this point.  Bel and Yarhibol were certainly the
two most important communal deities worshiped at Palmyra, and their presence at
Dura in Palmyrene contexts suggests profound home attachments.  Finally, this
dedication reflects the preservation of tribal identities beyond the boundaries of
Palmyra itself, which suggests that these identities were fundamental to Palmyrene
social organization abroad.  This one inscription, then, establishes the linguistic and
religious contexts for identity maintenance.  As I will discuss below, the
5  For the excavation of the temple of of Zeus Kyrios-Baalshamin, see Dura
Preliminary Report 7-8, 284-92; and for the temple of the Gadd , see Dura
Preliminary Report 7-8, 218-58.
6  See Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 248-54.
344
commercial context, which one would presume to be the most apparent, is more
elusive.  
Palmyrene civilians also frequented two later sanctuaries at Dura, the temple
of Zeus Kyrios-Baalshamin and the temple of the Gadd , both inside the city walls,
both of which supported their community abroad.5  For example, both sanctuaries
further reflect Palmyrene linguistic and religious continuity with their native
community, since each was founded by Palmyrenes for the worship of indigenous
deities.  The temple of the Gadd  was unique because the cult of the Gad of
Tadmor was observed equally alongside that of the Gad of Dura, the significance of
which I will discuss below since it showed that the two communities were
integrated.  In addition, the Palmyrene gods Malakbel and Yarhibol received cult in
the temple of the Gadd .6  All of this cult activity suggests that the Palmyrene
community of Dura was strong and enduring.
Civilians aside, Palmyrene soldiers were themselves socially involved in the
community of Dura where they retained likewise their native tribal and civic
identities.  None of the relevant evidence, however, dates earlier than the mid-
second century C.E., when archers (q?t.?) of the bny myt?, who apparently were
present before the Romans annexed Dura in 164 C.E., made a dedication in
7  P1099: yrh
. bwl ?lh? | t
.b? ms
. b? dy | ?yn? ?bd bny | myt? q?t.?, ?Yarhibol, the
good god, sacred stone of the spring, set up by the bny myt?, the archers.?  See also
Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 279-82, pl. 35, no. 909, dated to 150 C.E. by the
editors; and Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 233-35 and 253-54, pl. 6.  For
the evidence of the bny myt? at Palmyra, see Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien,
37-38; and al-As?ad and Gawlikowski, ?Le P?age ? Palmyre,? 163-72.
8  P1085.  See also Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 83-84, no. 845; and Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 262?63.
9  Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 84-85, no. 846; and Dirven, Palmyrenes of
Dura-Europos, 264-65.
10  For discussion, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 260-72.
345
Palmyrene to the god Yarhibol.7  These archers were commanded by a strat gos
perhaps appointed at Palmyra.  A Palmyrene dedication of 168 C.E., for example,
identifies a certain Atpanai as the strat gos (?st.r[t.g]?) ?in command of the archers
who (are) in Dura? (dy ?l q?t.? dy bdwr?).8  Likewise, according to a Greek
inscription of 170/71 C.E., a Palmyrene named Z nobios was ?strat gos of the
archers? (FJD"J0(?H J@>@J <) based in the city.9  Together, these inscriptions
suggest that this military detachment of Palmyrene archers was a regular one that
was installed sometime in the second century C.E.  Also, the inscriptions of 168
and 170/71 C.E. were found in the mithraeum at Dura, a location which obviously
reflected Roman influence upon these troops after 164 C.E.10  Nevertheless, one
problem associated with the presence of these Palmyrene forces, both before and
after the Roman annexation, is that we nothing regarding their fate.  Most likely
they were incorporated into the regular Roman auxiliary cohors XX Palmyrenorum,
11  For the evidence, see J. F. Gilliam ?The Roman Army in Dura,? in Dura
Final Report 5.1, 22-46.  More recently, on the history of this unit, see D. L.
Kennedy, ?The cohors X Palmyrenorum at Dura Europos,? in The Roman and
Byzantine Army in the East: Proceedings of a Colloqium Held at the Jagiellonian
University, Krak?w in September 1992, edited by E. Dabrowa (Krak?w: Drukarnia
Uniwersytetu Jagiello?skiego, 1994), 89-98.
346
a milliary unit with dromedarii, or camel riders, attached to centuries of infantry. 
Extensive records of the cohors XX Palmyrenorum have been recovered from Dura
that testify to its existence from 208 to 256/57 C.E.11  The incorporation of
Palmyrene troops into a regular auxiliary unit of the Roman army, if indeed this
happened, meant that their presence served primarily Roman interests, not
necessarily those of Palmyra.  Interestingly, this transformation coincided closely
with that of Palmyra?s institutional status into a Roman colonia.  A second more
profound problem that scholars confront is the explanation of why Palmyrene
troops were stationed in Dura in the first place.  The orthodox view that they were
present to safeguard the Palmyrene caravan trade has been called into question,
primarily in assessments of known caravan routes and the presumed direction of
traffic, manner of transport, and the type of goods conveyed, whether by land or
river.  As I will argue below, the presence of these forces would seem to have had
some commercial significance.  For now, it is sufficient to stress that their
dedications in Palmyrene, their continued devotion to their god Yarhibol, and their
preservation of tribal identities, reflected deep attachments to their native Palmyra,
which persisted even after the Romans took control over Dura.
12  For recent discussions of the history of the temple of Bel in the necropolis,
see S. Downey, Mesopotamian Religious Architecture: Alexander through the
Parthians (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988), 96-99; and Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 199-211.
13  Downey, Mesopotamian Religious Architecture, 98.
347
Beyond inference it is nearly impossible to establish a commercial context
for the Palmyrene military and civilian occupation of Dura Europos, which might
illuminate why the Palmyrene cultural presence remained strong and enduring.  For
example, it is unclear whether the Palmyrenes who dedicated the sanctuary to the
gods Bel and Yarhibol in 33 B.C. E were merchants or not.  This was the earliest of
the Palmyrene sanctuaries at Dura and it was set in the same location where the
necropolis of the city later developed.12  The location of this temple outside the city
walls is unique and, according to Downey, may reflect a decision of the authorities
of Dura not to permit the Palmyrenes to build a temple to their gods within the city
proper, an interpretation which, however, cannot be substantiated.13  Dirven, on the
other hand, suggests that the architectural layout of the temple is key to
understanding its placement and function outside the city.  Since there is an
enclosure attached to the sanctuary which contains a cistern, she interprets these as
constituting part of a larger complex that served as a place for the respite of animals
and their attendants.  According to Dirven,
such resting places were normally situated outside the city and the
function of the building therefore readily explains its location.  Both
merchants and soldiers possessed animals, and consequently we may
assume that the temple was built for one or both of these two
14  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 32.
15  For a summary of the evidence, see ibid., 32, n. 130.
16  Ibid., 33.
348
groups.14
This is not a compelling argument, since it seems doubtful that animals were owned
exclusively by merchants and soldiers, or that these individuals alone required
places of rest outside city walls.  More likely, the cistern served the needs of its
clientele in the service of the temple cult, in a manner not dissimilar to cisterns in
most other pagan sanctuaries whatever their location.  Somewhat more compelling,
on the other hand, as Dirven stresses, is the fact that the inscription of 33 B.C.E.
identifies the dedicants as members of two important tribal groups in Palmyra, the
bny gdybwl and the bny kmr?.  Since other members of these Palmyrene tribes were
involved in the caravan trade, it is tempting to make the same correlation here.15 
Clearly this cannot be confirmed.  
We also know very little of the Palmyrene civilians who observed cult in the
temple of Zeus Kyrios-Baalshamin or in the temple of the Gadd , whether they
were primarily merchants or not.  Dirven, however, may be correct to conjecture
that the temple of Zeus Kyrios-Baalshamin was founded by immigrants from
Palmyra ?attracted by the favorable economic situation in Dura-Europos in the first
century C.E.?16  This observation is based on the location of the temple when it was
founded, sometime around 28 C.E., in a vacant area of the city against the
17  The date of 28/29 C.E. is from an inscription on the wall above the altar that
reads, ?Roumes made (this), the year 340 (28/29 C.E.)? ({C@b:0H | ?B?,4 | ?J@LH
:J?), which is not specific as to when the temple was constructed; see Dura
Preliminary Report 7-8, 307, no. 914; and Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos,
211-12, no. 4.  On the foundation of the temple and its subsequent history, see Dura
Preliminary Report 5, 98-130.  A temple to the foreign deity Aphlad, the god of the
village of Anath on the Euphrates, was also founded by a migrant community in the
same area in 54 C.E.; see Dura Preliminary Report 5, 112-13, no. 416.
18  The god Zeus Kyrios-Baalshamin is identified on the relief in a bilingual
(Palmyrene and Greek) inscription of 32 C.E. that names the dedicant as a certain
Seleukos in Greek or Bar[)at]eh in Palmyrene; see P1089.  See also Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 212-18; and Teixidor, Pantheon of Palmyra, 18-25.
19  For the suggestion, see Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 220.  On the early
temple of the Gadd  before the reconstruction in the 150?s C.E., see Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 223-28.
349
southwest perimeter wall that was presumably earmarked for migrant settlement
and the establishment of foreign cults.17  The choice of deities in fact may reveal
something of the productive activities of the Palmyrenes who sponsored their cults. 
Baalshamin, for instance, was worshiped as a rain and fertility god among both
pastoralists and agriculturalists of the Syrian steppe, and it is informative that a bas-
relief from the temple of Zeus Kyrios-Baalshamin depicts the god seated with a
sheaves of grain in his right hand.18  Perhaps, then, the Palmyrene civilians of Dura
were engaged in the local economy in contexts associated with agricultural
production, but this is hypothetical.  Furthermore, it stretches the evidence to
presuppose that the foundation of a Palmyrene temple near the bazaar of the city, on
a spot later occupied by the temple of the Gadd , identifies the sponsoring
individuals as merchants.19  Proximity of a sanctuary to a market does not indicate
20  On the lineage, see P0558, which identifies a certain Nasur as the great-
grandfather of Septimius Odenathus.  It may be noted that the name ns. wr is very
rare in Palmyrene onomastics; see J. K. Stark, Personal Names in Palmyrene
Inscriptions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), 40 and 100.  For discussion
of the aristocratic background of the family, see Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 257,
n. 31; M. Gawlikowski, ?A Propos des reliefs du temple des Gadd? ? Palmyre,?
Berytus 18 (1969): 109; idem, ?Les Princes des Palmyre,? 160; and Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 232-33, who provides an excellent overview of the
evidence.
350
the occupations of its respective clients.  In addition, although later inscriptions
from the sanctuary, after its reconstruction around 150 C.E. and the installation of
cult to the Gadd  of Palmyra and Dura, indicate that its embellishment was
financed by members of a family who claimed descent from a certain Nasur,
presumably of an aristocratic Palmyrene lineage linked perhaps to the family of the
renowned Septimius Odenathus, their elite status does not imply that they were
merchants.20  Again, however, this cannot be confirmed.  What is certain regarding
all of this evidence is that the individuals who established these sanctuaries
communicated in their native tongue, continued worship of native deities, and
sought cooperative relations with their Durene neighbors.  
Thus a commercial context for interpreting the Palmyrene civilian presence
at Dura in relation to their maintenance of distinct social and cultural identities
remains elusive.  Presumably most were merchants, an assessment based on our
understanding of the importance of trade to the Palmyrene economy and the known
presence of Palmyrene merchants in other communities along the Euphrates (see
below).  There is no epigraphic evidence to support this, however.  In fact, to my
21  P1086.  See also Dura Preliminary Report 6, 238-40; and Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 321-25, who reads, ?people of the suq,? after
Gawlikowski, Le Temple palmyr?nien, 32-33.
22  For instance, Cantineau, ?Tadmorea,? (1938): 164, proposes the reading bny
?qqt?, which he translates as ?inhabitants of the street.?  Alternatively, du Mesnil du
Buisson, Inventaire de Doura-Europos, 12, no. 20, followed by P1086, reads the
personal name bny?m mt?.  Milik, D?dicaces, 342, reads bny ?qmt?, following Dura
Preliminary Report 6, 238-40, and interprets those who made the dedication as an
association of workers of animal hides.
23  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 31.
351
knowledge, only one scrap of direct evidence suggests the presence of merchants at
Dura, which is a Palmyrene inscription on the base of a stele representing a
standing figure alongside another figure on horseback.  The inscription was found
near Tower Tomb 18 at Dura and records a dedication to the gods Asharu and
Shaad made by the bny ?qqt?, or, as Gawlikowski interprets it, the ?people of the
market,? that is, market vendors.21  The restoration and interpretation of this
problematic text, however, remain debated.22  Ultimately, any assessment of
Palmyrene civilians in Dura as merchants is based solely on inference.  According
to Dirven, for instance, 
the assumption [emphasis added ] that the Palmyrene community at
this time was involved in mercantile activities is supported by the
location of their sanctuaries and what is known of the background of
the people who contributed to their building.23 
 As I have noted, this generalization is not entirely borne out by the evidence. 
Nevertheless, I would not suggest that Palmyrene merchants were absent from
Dura; common sense would dictate otherwise.  I do, however, emphasize that we
352
must respect the limits of the evidence and not presume too much.  Among the
Palmyrene civilian population of Dura, for instance, which apparently comprised a
small community to judge from the size of their sanctuaries, all we can say is that
some individuals were sufficiently wealthy to patronize and attend to the cult of
local sanctuaries that were devoted to native deities and tended, more or less, to
include their particular social group.  Perhaps this alone was sufficient for the
maintenance of their native tribal and civic identities.  With respect to their roles as
merchants representing Palmyra, we can only examine the evidence for the nature
of the commercial activities in which these individuals might have been engaged,
which itself is sufficiently vague. 
Ironically, despite an abundance of evidence for the Palmyrene community
in Dura, much of what they were doing there remains enigmatic.  What is clear,
however, is that the Palmyrenes maintained deep affiliations with their home
community, and, in light of the proximity of the two cities, personal contacts
perhaps as well.  It is also clear that the evidence from the temple of the Gadd 
represents conscious attempts made by Palmyrenes to integrate into the Durene
community while preserving their native identities.  Perhaps again due to proximity,
relationships between the Palmyrene and Durene communities were cooperative
and equitable.  Indeed, understanding what these relationships were, or may have
been, illuminates further the maintenance of Palmyrene identity abroad. 
Furthermore, despite the lack of evidence to assess precisely what the Palmyrene
24  See Dirven, ?Trade between Palmyra and Dura-Europos,? 39-54.
25  For instance, see Cumont, Fouilles de Doura-Europos, xxxix - xlix; M.
Rostovzeff, Caravan Cities, translated by D. T. Rice and T. T. Rice (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1932; New York: AMS Press, 1971), 91-119 and 153-
216.  For further references, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 34, n. 133. 
26  See Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 35.  For a presumed ancient route
leading southwest of Dura in the direction of the Wadi es-Swab, see P. Leriche, ?La
Porte de Palmyre ? Doura-Europos,? in International Colloquium on Palmyra and
the Silk Road, 245-52.  For discussion, see also Dirven, ?Trade between Palmyra
and Dura-Europos,? 42-43.
353
civilians and soldiers Dura were doing, they probably did support commercial
relations between their city of residence and Palmyra.  Based on the assumption that
this was true, opinions vary concerning what these relations may have been.24  The
central problem is the presumed extent of Dura?s involvement in Palmyra?s caravan
trade.  Either there was complete or partial involvement in the caravan trade, or
none at all.
Since the discovery of Dura, and during early excavations of the site,
scholars consistently interpreted Dura Europos as a ?caravan city.?25  If this was the
case, the Palmyrene civilians must have been merchants engaged in the caravan
trade, and the soldiers in the city were charged with the protection of caravans.  As I
have noted, however, neither situation can be proved.  Moreover, although it is only
a short distance between Palmyra and Dura, no caravan track has been documented
that connected these two settlements.26  It seems in fact that the principal caravan
route between Palmyra and the Euphrates lay some 300 kilometers south of Dura,
27  For the role of Palmyrene forces stationed at Dura, see below.  The caravan
route between Hit and Palmyra was investigated by A. Poidebard, La Trace de
Rome dans le d?sert de Syrie: Le Limes de Trajan ? la conqu?te arabe; recherches
a?riennes (1925-1932) (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1934), 105-14.  See also Mouterde and
Poidebard, ?La Voie antique des caravanes entre Palmyre et H?t,? 101-15.  The
trade connection between Palmyra and Hit is discussed further by Teixidor, Un Port
romaine du d?sert, 23-26; and Gawlikowski, ?Palmyre et l?Euphrate,? 58-61.
28  See pp. 328-29 above.
29  See Gawlikowski, ?Le Commerce de Palmyre,? 169; and idem, ?Palmyre et
l?Euphrate,? 53-68.
30  See p. 107, n. 113 above.
31  As Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 35-40 recently argued.
354
near the village of Hit.27  This begs the question, then, of what was the function of
the Palmyrene garrisons attested in other Euphrates communities south of Dura but
north of Hit, noticeably in the area of Ana at the forts of Kifrin and Bijan, not to
mention Palmyrene forces in Dura itself (fig. 1).28  Presumably, as Gawlikowski
suggests, the navigability of the Euphrates upstream ceased at Hit, which explains
the prevalence of caravan traffic from there to Palmyra, although Ana may have
been an alternative northern terminus where goods were unloaded.29  This would
explain, then, Palmyrene activity in the remote desert region bordering Ana and Hit
near Wadi Hauran as supporting the caravan trade.30  Gawlikowski adds the
possibility that Dura was not entirely excluded from the caravan trade, by
emphasizing the navigability of the Euphrates downstream from there.31  Thus
Palmyrene traders of long-distance goods may have used Dura-Europos as a point
32  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 34-40, provides a recent assessment
of the issue of local versus long-distance trade between Dura and Palmyra.  The
thesis that Dura was not connected to the caravan trade has several proponents; see
D. Schlumberger, review of Caravan Cities: Petra, Jerash, Palmyra, Dura, by M.
Rostovtzeff, Gnomon 11 (1935): 87-93; Will, ?Marchands et chefs,? 262-77; and
Teixidor, Un Port romaine du d?sert, 23-26.
33  See p. 105, n. 111 above.
34  See, for instance, Dura Preliminary Report 4, 86, no. 200, which refers to
bread, grain, barley, and wine to be shipped to Sura on the Euphrates up the river.
For other graffiti from the ?House of the Archives? or the ?House of Nebuchelus,?
see Dura Preliminary Report 4, 79-135.  For example, one Greek graffito of
355
of departure only.  This hypothesis allows us to regard the Palmyrene civilians of
Dura as not entirely divorced from the caravan trade, though their role may have
been limited to facilitating exports.  Neither hypothesis, however, whether of
complete or partial involvement in the caravan trade, can be proved.
Alternatively, as opposed to long-distance trade, the Palmyrenes of Dura
may have been engaged in local exchanges between the two cities.32  Yet again, no
extant document or inscription speaks exclusively of the local trade between these
two communities.  If there was local trade, any analysis of it would require
assessments of the production of resources available to each and the provisions for
import and export.  Both cities, for instance, were regional centers of agricultural
production, and both communities exchanged goods within and beyond there
territories.  For Palmyra, this is evident from the tariff inscription;33 while at Dura,
numerous papyri and parchment fragments speak of local production and exchange
of a variety of goods, with wine being the chief export.34  In this context it is
interest identifies a certain Malchus as a partner in the purchase of wine to be
shipped to a place called Barnabela, meaning ?built by Bel,? see Dura Preliminary
Report 4, 122-23, no. 245.  The area was indeed rich in wine; see Xenophon
Anabasis 1.4.19.  For general remarks on the economic life of Dura as revealed in
the parchments and papyri, see Dura Final Report 5.1, 8-9.  For further discussion,
see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 38-39; and N. Pollard, Soldiers, Cities,
and Civilians in Roman Syria (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000),
184-85.
35  See p. 244, n. 184 above.
36  Millar, Roman Near East, 445-52.
37  See Dura Preliminary Report 2, 172-77.
38  For the population of Palmyra, see p. 175, n. 136 above.
356
interesting that an inscription of 243 C.E., during a rare period of peace in the east,
refers specifically to wine not brought into Palmyra ?in skins from the west? (?yty
mn ?rb?).35  Thus a likely eastern source for this wine would have been from Dura
or from some other community along the Euphrates.  Furthermore, as Millar has
stressed, the city of Dura was an administrative and political focal point in a chain
of villages stretching along the Euphrates.36  It is reasonable to assume that the
commercial interests of Dura and its residents were not entirely limited to
populations along the river but extended to regions of the steppe as well, as
suggested by a handful of Safaitic graffiti attested in the city.37  Furthermore, at
Palmyra, it is doubtful local production was sufficient to support the resident
population, particularly at the peak of its urban growth in the second century C.E.38 
For example, an amendment to the Palmyrene tariff in the second century C.E.
39  P0259 (Tariff): Greek 89-91; Palmyrene, II.59-60.  See J. F?vrier, Essai sur
l?histoire politique et ?conomique de Palmyre (Paris: Librairie philosophique J.
Vrin, 1931), 40-41.
40  For discussion, see Dirven, ?Trade between Palmyra and Dura-Europos,?
41-42.
357
shows that custom dues on goods coming from outside the region of Palmyra were
reduced, which suggests that a concerted effort was made by the authorities to
stimulate imports.39  Perhaps insufficient agricultural yields to support an increasing
population prompted this decision.40  The need to procure agricultural products
from external sources, whether for subsistence or otherwise, must have been great. 
Thus from the Palmyrene perspective, Dura would have been viewed as a good
source of external supply.
If we assume then that there was commerce between Palmyra and Dura,
which was probably the case for goods locally produced, what role did Palmyrene
forces based in Dura play in relation to it?  The assumption that they were present
to safeguard lucrative caravans is a compelling one.  If the trade was more
mundane, however, such as the exchange of local goods, one might question the
need for a sustained military presence.  In order to understand why the military was
there we need to do two things.  First, the evidence must be reviewed in its second
century C.E. context, when regional insecurity prompted several administrative
adjustments within Palmyra itself to sustain its own commercial endeavors.  Thus,
whether the concern was with local or long-distance trade, the need to protect the
41  See p. 7 above.
358
movement of goods through the desert was especially acute at the same time the
Palmyrene military appeared at Dura.  Second, we need to recognize that the
military did more than police caravan routes, for it also managed Palmyra?s borders. 
As I discussed in Chapter 1, the eastern borders of Palmyra seem to have stretched
as far as the Euphrates.41  In light of the fact that Dura Europos is the closest
settlement due east of Palmyra on the Euphrates, and nothing but desert lay between
them, I would suggest that the territoria of the two cities touched upon one another,
perhaps even within a short distance of Dura.  Thus, the Palmyrene forces at Dura
may have been present to monitor and to tax local goods shipped from the city
westward, as the tariff mandates.  Certainly any goods headed in that direction were
bound for Palmyra, or, if not, to minor settlements in Palmyra?s hinterland.  Also,
their presence would have shielded Dura itself from potential raids by bandits in the
desert.  All of this, nonetheless, though likely, remains hypothetical.
Ultimately, any assessment of the activities of the Palmyrene civilians or
soldiers of Dura must remain speculative unless new evidence is brought to light. 
What is clear, however, is that they were careful to maintain their personal and
group identities in a foreign setting, although a commercial context for identity
maintenance cannot be confirmed.  They also generated distinct social boundaries
between themselves and their Durene neighbors, and while doing so they made sure
not to spark animosities.  Indeed, they sought cooperation and asserted that their
42  See Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 258-60, pl. 33; and Dirven, Palmyrenes
of Dura-Europos, 245-47 for additional references. See also Teixidor, Pantheon of
Palmyra, 92-94. Inscriptions on the relief are P1094-96.
43  See Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 260-62, pl. 34; and Dirven, Palmyrenes
of Dura-Europos, 247-48 for additional references.  Inscriptions on the relief are
P1097-98.
44  See Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 247; and Dura Final Report
3.1.2, 253-55.
359
two communities shared similar destinies and the same fortune.
A spirit of cooperative destinies and intertwined fates between Dura and
Palmyra is most apparent in the various depictions of the personified fortunes of the
two communities set side by side.  The earliest example is from the temple of the
Gadd , so-called by archaeologists because of the two cult reliefs discovered in it. 
One depicts the Gad of Dura (gd? dy dwr?), represented as a male deity flanked by
eagles; standing to his right is Seleukos Nikator, founder of the Hellenistic city, and
to his left is the priest Hairan, son of Malku, who dedicated the relief in 159 C.E.
(fig. 35).42  The other relief depicts the Gad of Tadmor (gd? dy tdmwr) flanked by a
lion on her left side (fig. 36).  Nike, the personification of victory, stands further to
her left posed to crown the seated deity; on her right stands the same priest, Hairan,
son of Malku, identified further as the grandson of a certain Nasur.43  Both reliefs, it
seems, were shaped by Palmyrene craftsmen probably at workshops in Palmyra and
transported to Dura.44  There is a recess for a third relief, but nine limestone
fragments discovered during excavations do not permit any conclusive
45  Dirven Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 249-53, discusses these fragments in
detail. Presumably, these fragments depict Malakbel, who may have served as the
tutelary deity of the temple, but the evidence is not conclusive.  For discussion and
references, see Gawlikowski, ?A Propos des reliefs du temple des Gadd? ?
Palmyre,? 107; Colledge, Art of Palmyra, 227; and Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-
Europos, 158-59.
46  For critical comments regarding the identification of the temple of Zeus,
formerly called the temple of the Palmyrene Gods or the temple of Bel, see Millar,
?Dura-Europos under Parthian Rule,? 482.
47  For the discovery and further discussion of the frescoes, see F. Cumont,
?Rapport sur une mission ? S?lih?yeh sur l?Euphrate,? CRAIBL (1923): 27, pl. 48; J.
H. Breasted, Oriental Forerunners of Byzantine Painting: First-century Wall
Paintings from the Fortress of Dura on the Middle Euphrates (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1924), 95-100, pls. 21-22; Cumont, Fouilles de Doura-Europos,
89-114, pls. 49-51; M. Rostovtzeff, Dura-Europos and its Art (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1938), 71-72; A. Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1973), 42-45, fig. 12; and Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-
Europos, 302-7, pl. 13.
360
identification of the deity represented.  It is also uncertain which of the three reliefs
occupied the central position and thus which god served as the tutelary deity of the
sanctuary.45  
The reliefs from the temple of the Gadd  find their counterparts in the
frescoes from the temple of Zeus dated around 239 C.E.46  These represent
sacrifices by Julius Terentius, the tribune of the Roman auxiliary cohors XX
Palmyrenorum, his regiment, and the priest Them s, son of Mokimos, before three
unidentified Palmyrene deities.47  In the same scene are the tyche of Palmyra and
the tyche of Dura, who appear seated in the section of the painting below the
Palmyrene gods to the left and right, respectively, of a large flower.  Both
48  For an overview of the history of the temple and for further references, see
Downey, Mesopotamian Religious Architecture, 105-10.  For the Palmyrene
evidence from the temple, see Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 293-314. On
the tyche of Antioch, see T. Dohrn, Die Tyche von Antiochia (Berlin: Gebr. Mann,
1960), 1-61; and M. Stansbury-O?Donnell ?Reflections of Tyche of Antioch in
Literary Sources and on Coins,? in An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and
Roman Art, edited by S. B. Matheson (New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery,
1994), 50-63.
49  As suggested by Cumont, Fouilles de Doura-Europos, 97-98.
50  For a general discussion of the Classical tyche, see S. B. Matheson, ?The
Goddess Tyche,? in An Obsession with Fortune, 18-33.  On the correlation between
361
representations are modeled on the famous tyche of Antioch by the Hellenistic
sculptor Eutychides.48  Both are seated, depicted frontally, and wearing mural
crowns.  The tyche of Palmyra has her right hand resting on her right knee holding
an object that is not discernible.  Her left hand rests on the head of a lion.  At her
feet there is a naked young woman shown swimming, upon whose shoulder the
tyche rests her right foot.  The young woman cups her right breast with her right
hand, while her left hand is extends forward.  She probably personifies the Efqa
spring at Palmyra.  In contrast, the tyche of Dura has her left hand resting on the
head of a naked male figure, presumably an aquatic figure or a personification of
the colony.49  Her right foot rests on the shoulders of a male figure swimming, most
likely a personification of the Euphrates.  Importantly, this representation of the two
tychai is striking in that neither appears subordinate to the other.  They are equals,
reflecting the cooperative communal relations between the two cities and the
beneficent presence of the Palmyrenes themselves in Dura.50
?civic identity? and tyche, see P. B. F. J. Broucke, ?Tyche and the Fortune of Cities
in the Greek and Roman World,? in An Obsession with Fortune, 34-49.
51  See n. 7 above.
52  Dura Preliminary Report 7-8, 277, no. 906.
362
It should be noted, however, that these depictions of the tychai of Dura and
Palmyra from the temples of Zeus and of the Gadd  were related to the Palmyrene
military presence within the city.  In the temple of the Gadd , for instance, a fourth
relief was discovered in the same room as the others that depicts on a stele the god
Yarhibol in military dress; the accompanying inscription identifies the dedicants as
the bny myt?, the archers.51  Also from the temple of the Gadd , a Latin inscription
on a monumental base identifies the cohors XX Palmyrenorum, which may be
earlier than the depiction of Julius Terentius and his regiment from the temple of
Zeus.52  What this signifies is not clear.  It may be, in addition to denoting
cooperative destinies and intertwined fates, that the depiction of the tutelary deities
of Dura and Palmyra in military contexts legitimatized the presence of Palmyrene
forces in the city.  At the least, it gave the Palmyrenes cause to partake in the
religious life of Dura, equally alongside Durenes, without sacrificing their own
native identities and attachments to their home community. 
All of this evidence presented above thus suggests that the relationships
between Palmyra and Dura Europos and between their citizens were close and
personal.  Proximity between the two settlements, whose boundaries perhaps
363
touched upon one another, may have facilitated this closeness.  Also, the evidence
suggests that their relationships were cooperative and equitable.  Why this was so
cannot be answered with any certainty, although mutually beneficial commercial
relations and perhaps the military protection Palmyrene forces afforded Dura and its
citizens played significant roles.  Despite any uncertainty over what the Palmyrenes
of Dura were doing there or why, they were uniquely successful at asserting their
native tribal and civic identities, through their importation of indigenous cult and
continued use of Palmyrene.  Also, while they asserted their distinctiveness, they
expressed to their Durene neighbors a belief that their two communities were
dependent upon one another and shared a common fate.  As I will show in Chapter
7, the significance of this outlook was manifested in the mid-third century C.E.,
after Persian forces destroyed Dura Europos and its Palmyrene community, and the
imminent threat of Palmyra?s own destruction seemed close at hand.
Palmyrene Merchants Abroad
Palmyrene merchants journeyed throughout the Parthian and Roman
empires, as they sought new markets, goods, customers, and contacts.  Indeed, from
the beginning of the first to the close of the second century C.E., the Palmyrenes
had formed an expansive social and commercial network that extended from Britain
to India.  Their focus, apparently, was on acquiring exotic goods from the East,
most notably silks, aromatics, spices, and the like, and distributing them in Roman
53  For general references to the eastern trade, see p. 3, n. 5 above. Appian Bella
civilia 5.9 informs us that the Palmyrenes marketed Indian and Arabian goods from
Persia.  On the demand for eastern goods in the Roman Empire, see E. H.
Warmington, The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India (London:
Curzon Press, 1974.), 315-18; Miller, Spice Trade, 219-23 and 229-30; J. Thorley,
?The Development of Trade between the Roman Empire and the East under
Augustus,? Greece & Rome 16 (1969): 209-23; idem, ?The Silk Trade between
China and the Roman Empire at its Height, circa AD 90-130,? Greece & Rome 18
(1971): 71-80; and Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 14.
364
territory to the west, where the demand for such goods was especially great.53 
Indeed, while this trade contributed to Palmyra?s prosperity, enabling the
embellishment of its urban landscape, its real success was the ability to maintain the
dedication of its merchant population to their mother city in settings abroad. 
Wherever Palmyrene merchants ventured, they asserted their native identities and
maintained primordial links to their home city.  They continued to speak their
native language, worship native gods, and communicate with their home
community, at times even contributing to the sculptural and architectural
embellishment of Palmyra from abroad.
The key to Palmyra?s commercial success, which the dedication of its native
merchants facilitated, was the development and maintenance of a commercial artery
that connected the city itself with the Persian Gulf via the Euphrates river.  Dura
Europos may have been a commercial nexus, but the evidence is inconclusive.  For
sure, however, from Hit southwards the Palmyrenes established bases of operation
to support its trade.  Palmyrene commercial interests expanded on this route from
the first to third century C.E.  Importantly, the conditions that mandated safe and
54  Ctesiphon, 19 C.E., see P0270. Babylon, 24 C.E., see P1352.  In addition to
being the two earliest inscriptions to refer specifically to the Palmyrene caravan
trade, they are the only references to Palmyrene merchants in these two
communities.  We would assume, however, that even if the merchants left these
cities in the mid-first century C.E. then some commercial contacts would still have
been maintained. 
365
rewarding trade ventures along the Euphrates also provided a productive climate for
interactive and cooperative social relations between Palmyrenes and ?others?
abroad that facilitated the maintenance of Palmyrene identity.  For example, the
earliest of the caravan inscriptions describe what appear to be Palmyrene merchant
communities in Seleucia, across the Tigris from the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon,
and in Babylon a short distance to the south on the Euphrates.  The inscriptions date
to 19 and 24 C.E., respectively.54  Both are of special interest to the issue of identity
maintenance in foreign contexts, since each honors separate benefactors to the
construction of the temple of Bel at Palmyra, which suggests a deep attachment to
the home community.  More importantly, though, the inscription of 19 C.E. refers
specifically to both ?Greek? and ?Palmyrene? merchants acting in a cooperative
manner, which illustrates a definitive communal boundary that set the Palmyrenes
apart from the general population of Seleucia, perhaps in the same manner that
Palmyrenes distinguished themselves from the Durene neighbors.  Later in the first
and second centuries C.E., Palmyrenes merchants established themselves in other
communities along the Euphrates down to the Persian Gulf.  Within the kingdom of
Mesene, located on the lower Euphrates, Palmyrene merchants supporting the
55  For Vologesias, see A. Maricq, ?Volog?sias, le emporium de Ct?siphon,?
Syria 36 (1959): 264-76.  On the Arabian connections with Spasinou Charax and
the kingdom of Characene, see Potts, ?Arabia and the Kingdom of Characene,?
137-67; and idem, ?The Roman Relationship with the Persicus sinus from the Rise
of Spasinou Charax (127 BC) to the Reign of Shapur II (AD 309-379),? in Early
Roman Empire in the East, 89-107. See also Schuol, Die Charakene, 47-90, 380-
87.  On Mesene, see p. 162, n. 107 above.
56  For a discussion of the evidence, see J. Schwartz, ?Les Palmyr?niens et
l??gypte,? Bulletin de la Soci?t? Royale d?Arch?ologie d?Alexandrie 40 (1953): 63-
81.
366
caravan trade are attested in Vologesias, Phorath, and Spasinou Charax (fig. 1).55 
Furthermore, as we have seen, Palmyrene merchants, not content with the
acquisition and distribution of goods within the Parthian kingdom, equipped and
manned ships that sailed to far off Scythia.  We know all of this because of the
Palmyrene tendency to express their identity abroad and to retain deep attachments
to their native city of Palmyra.
Palmyrene merchants also established bases in Egypt, where they furthered
their trade activity with Arabia and India and opened new avenues for the
importation of goods into the Roman Empire.56   In the second century C.E.
Palmyrene merchants founded a community at Coptos, where they participated in
the Red Sea trade, as attested by the following Greek inscription honoring a certain
Zabdala:
. . . Zabdala, son of Salmanos, (also called?) Aneina, of the Hadrian
Palmyrene sailors of the Red Sea, (who) set up, fresh from the
foundations, the propylaea, the three stoas, and the atria, all from
his own funds, for his friendship and distinction, the Hadrian
57  J. Bingen, ?Une D?dicace de marchands palmyr?niens ? Coptos,? Chronique
d?Egypte 59 (1984): 355-58: [ . ]5I!5 ? I?;![ . . . . . ] | @. F. 4@< -"$*V8"
E"8:V|<@L 6"? z!<,. <" {!*D4"|< < A"8:LD0< < | <"L68ZDT<
z+DL2D"46 < |  <"FJZF"<J"  B? 2,:,8\@L | J? BD@Bb8". [4. ]@<.  6"? J H
FJ@L H | JD,?H 6"? J  2LDf. [:]". J" ?6 6"4|<?H J  BV<J" ?6 J < ?*\T< |
" J@  N48@6"("2\"H PVD4< | [{!]*D4"<@? A"8:LD0<@? FL<. |X:B@D@4 J?<
N\8@<.  See also A. Bernand, Les Portes du d?sert: Recueil des inscriptions
grecques d?Antinooupolis, Tentyris, Koptos, Apollonopolis Parva et Apollonopolis
Magna (Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1984), 262-
63, pl. 62, no. 103; and Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 80-81.
58  See A. J. Reinarch, ?Rapport sur les fouilles de Koptos: Deuxi?me
campagne, janvier-f?vrier 1911,? Bulletin de la Soci?t? Fran?aise des Fouilles
Arch?ologiques 3 (1912): 64-65.  Cf. H. Seyrig, ?Le Pr?tendu fondouq palmyr?nien
de Coptos,? Syria 49 (1972): 121-25, who disputes this assessment and highlights
their local context.  On ?frontality? in Palmyrene art, see Colledge, Art of Palmyra,
126-28.
367
Palmyrenes, his companions, (honor) their friend.57
According to Reinach, the building associated with this inscription may have been
the headquarters of a Palmyrene collegia, or a religious club of some sort where
Palmyrene merchants gathered with their compatriots, a unit of Palmyrene archers
stationed at the site (see below).  He based this assessment, in association with the
aforementioned inscription, on the discovery at the site of twelve stelai that exhibit
portraits exemplifying typical Palmyrene ?frontality? despite their Egyptian
workmanship.58  We may know little pertaining to the original purpose or context of
the stelai, but the communal organization illustrated in the inscription is clear.  The
Palmyrene merchants acted collectively to honor one of their own who operated as
a benefactor and patron to their community, all the while asserting his and their
political and social identities as Palmyrenes.  Furthermore, it is interesting in this
59  P0256.
60  From Palmyra, there is mention of a certain Julius Aurelius Maqqai, son of
Zabdibol, (son of) Maqqai within the Tower of Atenatan; see P0024 and P0025. 
Also from Palmyra, in the hypogeum of Julius Aurelius Mal , there is mention of a
Julius Aurelius Maqqai, son of Yarhai; see P0028 (Ingholt, ?Five Dated Tombs
from Palmyra,? 77, no. 3); and a Julius Aurelius Hairan, son of Maqqai; see P0042
and P0043.  P1216 identifies the three brothers Julius Aurelius Nurai, Zabdibol,
and Ogeilu, all sons of Maqqai.  On the frequency of the Palmyrene name Maqqai
(mqy), see Stark, Personal Names, 35.
61  For the evidence, see Schlumberger, ?Les Gentilices romains,? 72-79. 
Curiously, Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 81, maintains that the inscription should
be dated between 160 and 212 C.E.
368
context that the inscription is not bilingual in Greek and Palmyrene, which would
have been a more evident assertion of the cultural identity of these Palmyrene
merchants and would have generated a more distinctive social boundary between
themselves and their neighbors, predominately Egyptian Greeks.  There was also a
community of Palmyrene merchants at Dendarah in Egypt, downstream from
Coptos.  We know of their presence from a fragmentary inscription discovered at
the site, which is bilingual in Greek and Palmyrene and is now held in the
Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.59 The inscription, perhaps sponsored by fellow
merchants (emporoi), seems to honor an individual who had adopted the imperial
nomina of Julius and Aurelius and who either descended from a certain Maqqai or
he himself bore that name.60  Since most Palmyrene inscriptions that bear the same
imperial nomina date to the early third century C.E., we may assume that this one
does as well.61
62  See p. 229, 230 above.
369
The internal organization of these Palmyrene merchant communities is a
difficult subject to address, since our evidence is limited to honorific inscriptions. 
Perhaps, as discussed in Chapter 4, some were organized into collegia.62  The
possibility that the merchants of Coptos were organized as a voluntary association,
for example, has already been addressed, although, as noted, the evidence is not
sufficient to make the case definitively.  For the most part, these merchant
communities would appear to have been egalitarian in the sense that they acted
cooperatively on many occasions and jointly made dedications to their leaders or
patrons.  It was not unusual, for instance, for collegia of all sorts to honor their
patrons in such a way.  Also, some organization seems implied by the distribution
or dispersal of wealth held collectively.  Unfortunately, what we lack is
demographic or statistical data on the size or net worth of these communities.  How
many Palmyrene merchants resided at Coptos, for example, or in the various
emporia flanking the Euphrates river?  What resources did they have at their
disposal?  Moreover, to what extent did they act truly with independence, or were
they ultimately bound by the economic interests of their native city or of powerful
patrons therein?  While we are not able to answer these questions with any
precision, we can at least appreciate the settlement and activities of these merchants
abroad and the prosperous conditions they generated for themselves and their native
communities.  In foreign settings they preserved their identities and acted uniquely
370
as Palmyrenes.
Apart from these Palmyrene merchant communities in Egypt and along the
Euphrates in Parthian territory, we lack further data to determine where or to what
extent Palmyrene merchants ventured abroad, opening foreign markets and trade to
their native community.  Their preoccupation, it is clear, pertained to the trade in
eastern goods, which explains the predominance of the evidence from the east;
while in the west, the Palmyrenes sought primarily markets for the distribution of
these goods (as I will discuss, Palmyrene merchants were probably in Rome). 
There are, however, limitations on the extent to which we can assess Palmyrene
merchant activity in the Roman Empire.  There is a possibility that Rome?s
placement of Palmyrene units (numeri) abroad facilitated access to new markets. 
For example, it may not be a coincidence that the only firm evidence of a
Palmyrene merchant community outside of Syria comes from Egypt, where a
numerus of Palmyrene archers happened also to have been stationed (see below). 
As I will show, the activities of Palmyrenes soldiers elsewhere in the Empire may
well have facilitated the expansion of the city?s commercial network, together with
the settlement and trade ventures of Palmyrene merchants abroad and the tendency
of soldiers to settlement upon retirement in regions where they served.
Palmyrenes in Foreign Services
As discussed, Palmyrenes effectively supported and maintained their
distinctive cultural identity in settings abroad, where they interacted with ?others,?
63  P2754.  See also Cantineau, ?Textes palmyr?niens provenant de la fouille du
Temple de B?l,? 139-41, no. 18.  See p. 47, n. 90 above.
371
individually and communally, with whom they may have shared little or no social
or cultural affinities.  Daily they confronted situations that facilitated the fabrication
of social boundaries that objectified their distinctiveness, in itself strengthened by
their attachments to their home community.  For example, they often persisted in
using their native language wherever they traveled, a fact that should not be
neglected in this analysis.  Yet, Palmyrene activity abroad was not limited solely to
its civilian merchant population in economic contexts.  Within the Roman and
Parthian empires, Palmyrenes were engaged in the affairs of both states in other
political and social contexts.  As diplomats, ambassadors, or soldiers, Palmyrenes,
individually and collectively, further sustained their identities abroad.
The evidence of Palmyrene activity in foreign diplomacy is not substantial. 
It is, nonetheless, of great significance.  In the first quarter of the first century C.E.,
according to a fragmentary inscription presumably from the temple of Bel within
Palmyra, Germanicus, proconsul and nephew of Tiberius, commissioned a
Palmyrene individual surnamed Alexandros to go as an envoy to the king of
Mesene.63  Unfortunately, the purpose of his visit is not mentioned, although we
may speculate that it was of both a political and an economic nature, confirming,
perhaps, Rome?s regional priorities and Palmyra?s trade interests.  Furthermore,
mention of Sampsigeramus, the supreme king of Emesa to the west of Palmyra, in
64  P1414.  See also Seyrig, ?Deux inscriptions grecques de Palmyre,? Syria 18
(1937): 369-72; idem, ?Inscriptions grecques de l?agora de Palmyre,? 255-58; and J.
Cantineau, ?La Susiane dans une inscription palmyr?nienne,? in M?langes syriens
offerts ? monsieur Ren? Dussaud, vol. 1 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1939), 277-79.  For
more on Susa, see G. Le Rider, Suse sous les S?leucides et les Parthes: Les
Trouvailles mon?taires et l?histoire de la ville (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1965), 426-29.
65  The inscription identifies [C.] Bruttius Praesens, who, according to Seyrig,
?Deux inscriptions grecques de Palmyre,? 369-70, was also governor of the
province of Syria.  E. Dabrowa, The Governors of Roman Syria from Augustus to
Septimius Severus, Antiquitas: Reihe 1, Abhandlungen zur alten Geschichte, no. 45
(Bonn: Dr. Rudolph Habelt GmbH, 1998), 215-16, however, summarizing the
debate regarding the career of this senator, contends that he was merely a special
envoy dispatched to the province by Hadrian.  The inscription also identifies [Sex.]
Julius M[aior], whose governorship seems to date firmly from 136 to 141 C.E., see
idem, 97-103.
372
the same inscription suggests the diplomatic nature of the mission of Alexandros. 
Similarly, in the second century C.E., a certain Yarhibola, son of Lishamsh, also
served the Romans as a foreign envoy.  An honorific inscription of 138 C.E. from
the agora at Palmyra, for instance, attests the many occasions he gave assistance to
the merchants of Spasinou Charax as well as for his having led a diplomatic
mission to Susa, the capital of the kingdom of Elymais.64  For his public service,
Yarhibola also received testimonials from the consular governor of the province of
Syria and his colleagues.65  What these individuals, Alexandros and Yarhibola, have
in common is that each served the interests of Rome as foreign diplomats, and
perhaps no less the economic interests of their native Palmyra.  To what extent their
activities were self-motivated cannot be ascertained from the evidence, however. 
Teixidor speculates that Alexandros himself was a financier of caravans with
66  Teixidor, Un Port romaine du d?sert, 11.
67  P1374.  See also Seyrig, ?Inscriptions grecques de l?agora de Palmyre,? 252-
53, no. 21bis.  For more on Thilouna, see D. Potts, The Arabian Gulf in Antiquity,
vol. 2 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), 147-48.
373
preexisting connections and resources in Mesene, which seems probable.66 
Certainly, this would characterize Yarhibola, who maintained his role as patron to
the merchants of Spasinou Charax by assisting them at every opportunity.  In light
of their connections abroad and with (perhaps) more than adequate resources at
their disposal, they were ideal candidates for the appointment of foreign envoys for
the Roman government.  Also, both individuals were among the elite whose ties to
Palmyra were close and personal, and whose commercial interests sustained
Palmyrene identity and community abroad.
Palmyrene aristocrats also managed to secure administrative posts within
Parthia, which represented the expansion and solidification of their diplomatic
power and influence abroad.  Primarily, these posts were filled within the kingdom
of Mesene.  On a column console in the agora, for instance, a well-preserved
inscription in situ honors a certain Yarhai, son of Nabuzabad, identified as a citizen
of Hadriana Palmyra, and attests his appointment as satrap of Thilouna (modern
Bahrain) by the king of Mesene, Mithridates, from his capital of Spasinous
Charax.67  In this instance, the emphasis on the citizenship of Yarhai is an important
affirmation of his political identity, despite his involvement in the local
administration of a foreign state.  Also, the fact that the Palmyrene merchants of
68  P1412.  See also Seyrig, ?Inscriptions grecques de l?agora de Palmyre,? 252-
53, no. 21.
69  For a caravan to Palmyra from Phorath via Vologesias, see P0262.
70  Schlumberger, ?Palmyre et la M?s?ne,? 256-60.
71  P1062 (see also Milik, D?dicaces, 12-14).  The text indicates that Soados
?built and dedicated in Vologesias a naos of the Sebastoi? (6"? 6J\F"<J" | [?]<
z?8@("[F4V*4 <"?< J < E],$"FJ < 6["?] 6["]24|,DfF"<[J" . . . ]).  Cf.
Mouterde and Poidebard, ?La Voie antique des caravanes entre Palmyre et H?t,?
105-15.  See also Kaizer, Religious Life of Palmyra, 150-51; and Matthews, ?Tax
Law of Palmyra,? 166-67.  Perhaps, as Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 144-45,
374
Spasinou Charax set up this inscription suggests that Yarhai used his position of
authority within Mesene to their benefit, although no specific benefactions are
listed.  Similarly, in 140 C.E., according to fragments of an inscription from outside
the agora, an unidentified individual (related to a certain Alexandros) seems to be
identified as an arch?n of Phorath, an emporium north of Spasinou Charax on the
Euphrates (fig. 1).68  The inscription itself was set up by the members of the caravan
(synodia) that had returned from Spasinous Charax to Palmyra via Vologesias, so it
is likely that they were assisted en route by this individual as they passed Phorath.69 
Likewise, another Palmyrene, identified as an arch?n of Maisan (i.e. Mesene), was
honored for having favored his city and its merchants abroad.70  Even the renowned
Soados, son of B?liados, who received honors on numerous occasions from the city
of Palmyra and its caravans, appears at times to have resided in Vologesias where
he held some position of authority (dynasteia), embodied  in his ability to sponsor
the foundation of a temple to the Augusti within the city.71
suggests, we should view the career abroad of Marcus Ulpius Yarhai, who
facilitated mercantile ventures in Spasinous Charax, similarly; there is, however, no
evidence to suggest this.
72  See F. Pennacchietti, ?L?Inscrizione bilingue greco-parthica dell?Eracle di
Seleucia,? Mesopotamia 22 (1987): 169-85.  On Roman influence in Mesene, see
G. W. Bowersock, ?La M?s?ne (Mais?n) Antonine,? in L?Arabie pr?islamique et
son environnement historique et culturel: Actes du Colloque de Strasbourg, 24-27
juin 1987, edited by T. Fahd (Strasbourg: Universit? des sciences humaines de
Strasbourg, 1989), 159-68; P. Bernard, ?Vicissitudes au gr? de l?histoire d?une
statue en bronze d?H?racl?s entre S?leucie du Tigre et la M?s?ne? Journal des
Savants (1990): 3-68; and Potter, ?Inscriptions on the Bronze Herakles,? 277-90. 
For relations between Mesene and Palmyra, see Schlumberger, ?Palmyre et la
M?s?ne,? 256-60; and Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 143-48.
73  For an enlightened discussion of the relationship between the imperial cult
and political power, see S. R. F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial
Cult in Asia Minor (1984; reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998),
239-48.
375
Unfortunately, we can say very little about the personal interests and
loyalties of these Palmyrenes who appear active in the local administration of lower
Mesopotamia under the kings of Mesene.  They served as foreign administrators,
but we are not able to elaborate on the nature of their responsibilities.  Also, since
all of this evidence seems to be of the mid-second century C.E., between the
Parthian Wars of Trajan and Lucius Verus, when the kingdom of Mesene may have
been a client state of the Roman Empire, it is difficult to assess the extent that these
individuals pursued (more or less overtly) specifically Roman interests.72  The
foundation of a temple to the Augusti within Vologesias no doubt eases this
uncertainty.  This act was as much a statement of religious loyalty as it was one of
social, cultural, and political affiliation.73  We also know that these individuals
376
utilized their power and influence in a number of cases specifically to benefit their
compatriots, Palmyrenes either living in or journeying through the region, which
facilitated the maintenance of Palmyrene identity and community abroad.  This
support included their assistance to Palmyrene merchants.  Indeed, the honors they
received in their native community of Palmyra attests to their patronage abroad. 
This evidence also attests to their multiple loyalties - to the kings of Mesene, the
Romans, themselves in their assertion of their Palmyrene identities, their native city
of Palmyra, and to their compatriots, at home and abroad. 
The issue of political loyalty is of special relevance in a discussion of
Palmyrenes in the service of Rome, specifically as constituents of the Roman army. 
Indeed, whether as Roman soldiers or as auxiliary troops, Palmyrenes, for the most
part, supported Roman interests (at least before the reign of Zenobia, who altered
drastically the political climate in the mid-third century C.E.).  Also, wherever they
served, Palmyrenes were apt to maintain cultural distinctions between themselves
and their neighbors.  In most cases, it seems, they insisted on retaining the use of
their own language and they continued the worship of  their own gods, all of which
supported their Palmyrene identity abroad.  A discussion of the evidence follows.
The recruitment of Palmyrenes into the Roman imperial army began under
Trajan, perhaps in connection with his imperial ambitions toward (and subsequent
war with) Parthia.  Primary evidence includes an inscription on a console fragment
from the agora, which records a dedication by the renowned Marcus Ulpius Yarhai
74  P1422.  See p. 253 above.  See also Starcky and Gawlikowski, Palmyre, 46. 
A military diploma, CIL 16.106, attests the presence of an ala Ulpia dromendaria
in Syria at about the same time.
75  These are 1) CIL 16.68 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1936, no. 7; 1935, no. 3;
1925, no. 76; and IDR 1, no. 6 [Porolissum, 120 C.E.]); 2) RMD 1, no. 17 (=
L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1959, no. 31; 1958, no. 30; and IDR 1.5 [C| ei, 120 C.E.]);
3) RMD 1, no. 27 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1967, no. 395; and IDR 1.8 [Tibiscum,
126 C.E.]); and 4) RMD 1, no. 28 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1977, no. 696; and IDR
1.9 [Tibiscum, 126 C.E.]).
76  On the unusual enlistment of these Palmyrene soldiers, see J. C. Mann, ?The
?Palmyrene? Diplomas,? Appendix II in RMD 2, 217-19.
377
to his friend (J?< '"LJ@  N\8@<), ?a citizen of the city of Palmyra? ([B@8,\J0]<
J?H A"8:LD0|[<] < B?8,TH) and a Roman military officer, who held the post,
among others, of prefect of the ala I [Ulpia] dromedariorum Palmyrenorum.74 
While the unit was raised probably in the decade or so before Trajan?s war with
Parthia, the inscription itself would seem to date to the 150?s, at about the same
time that Marcus Ulpius Yarhai himself was most active abroad.  Furthermore, four
military diplomas from the 120?s (two of 120 C.E. and two of 126 C.E.) record
Roman citizenship granted to Palmyrene archers who, after their recruitment under
Trajan, had completed their service in the Roman province of Dacia.75  While these
soldiers discharged in 120 C.E. were recruited under Trajan, perhaps for an
extraordinary six-year enlistment before his Parthian War, their transfer to Dacia
was probably due to Hadrian?s reorganization of Roman assets in the east.76 
Indeed, Hadrian seems to have increased the enlistment of Palmyrene units and
dispersed their units to strategic settings outside of Syria, where, in addition to
77  See H. T. Rowell, ?Numerus,? in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclop?die 17
(1937), 2549-52.
78  For discussion, see L. Bianchi, ?I Palmyreni in Dacia: Comunit? e tradizioni
religiose,? Dialoghi di archeologia 5, no. 1 (1987): 87-95.
79  See Mann, ?The ?Palmyrene? Diplomas,? 219, n. 10.
80  See Southern, ?The Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 125.
378
Dacia, they are known from Egypt and Africa.77
Outside of Syria, the Palmyrenes within the Roman province of Dacia are
the best documented epigraphically.78  Most of the evidence is from Porolissum and
Tibiscum, where units of Palmyrene archers (numeri Palmyreni sagittarii) were
based.  We have already mentioned Roman military diplomata discovered in Dacia
from the 120?s.  As noted, Trajan raised the troops discharged in 120 C.E. from
within Syria, sometime before 114 C.E., and Hadrian transferred them to Dacia in
ca. 118 C.E.  This is reflected in their identification as ?Palmyrene archers from
Syria who are (based) in Dacia Superior? (Palmyrenis sagittariis ex Syria qui sunt
in Dacia Superiore).  The omission of the provincial origin ex Syria of the men
discharged in 126 C.E. suggests that their recruitment was directly to Dacia without
any term of service in Syria.79  Unfortunately, we do not know how these forces
were accommodated upon their arrival in Dacia; we also know nothing of the size
of their units or the legal status of their formations.80 It seems that these Palmyrenes
initially formed a single unit, not yet regarded as a numerus, that was later divided
into multiple garrisons based at strategic sites within Dacia, where they came to be
81  See H. Callies, ?Die Fremden Truppen im r?mischen Heer des Prinzipats
und die sogenannten nationalen Numeri,? BRGK 45 (1964): 130-227; and Southern,
?The Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 89-90.
82  See L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1944, no. 56: n[umerus] Pal[myrenorum]
Porol[issensium] sag[ittariorum] c[ivium] R[omanorum]; 1947, no. 170; 1960, no.
219; 1971, no. 389; 1979, no. 501g; 1980, no. 755 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1977,
no. 666); CIL 3.803; 3.837; and ILS 9472.
83  See IDR 3.1.134-35, 3.1.136 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1983, 795), 3.1.142
(= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1983, no. 797; and 1967, no. 393), 3.1.147 (?), 3.1.152 (=
CIL 3.14216), 3.1.153, 3.1.154 (= CIL 3.7999 and P0251; cf. CIS 2.3906), 3.1.155,
3.1.160, 3.1.164, 3.1.167 (= P0994), 3.1.170, 3.1.176, 3.1.181 (= L?Ann?e
?pigraphique 1999, no. 1295), 3.1.212, and 3.1.256a.  See also L?Ann?e
?pigraphique 1967, no. 395; 1971, no. 404d; 1971, no. 405 (= L?Ann?e
?pigraphique 1977, no. 694); and 1977, no. 695.
84  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1914, no. 102: D(is) M(anibus) | Mucatra | Brasi
miles| n(umeri) Palmyren(orum) | Tibiscensium | vixit annis XXXVIIII | Mucapor
Mucatral | heres contubern(ali) | carissimo posuit. Cf. IDR 5/2.559.
85  CIL 3.1471 (= IDR 3.2.366) and IDR 3.2.416.  See Bianchi, ?I Palmireni in
Dacia,? 88; and Southern, ?The Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 137.  In
addition, there is a possible reference to a numerus Palmyrenorum from Vistea in
Dacia; see L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1991, no. 1333f: N(umerus?) P(almyrenorum?).
379
called numeri and where they adopted secondary names based on their geopolitical
residence.81  A few inscriptions, for instance, identify the numerus Palmyrenorum
Porolissensium at Porolissum.82  Others inscriptions attest the unit based at
Timiscum, the numerus Palmyrenorum Tibiscensium, most of which are funerary
epithets.83  A detachment of Palmyrene archers from this latter unit was also at
Apulum (Alba Julia) in modern Transylvania, where a soldier set up a funerary stele
to his distinguished comrade, a certain Mucatra, son of Brasus.84  An analogous unit
seems to have been based at Optatiana as well, stationed alongside a milliary ala.85  
86  For a summary of the debate, see Southern, ?The Numeri of the Roman
Imperial Army,? 81-140.
87  The numeri consisted of a mix of infantry and cavalry; see ibid., 102-3.
88  CIL 3.803.
89  CIL 3.908 provides the only evidence that this indeed happened, which
attests the cohors I Palmyrenorum Porolissensium.  The relevant text of the
inscription reads: CH " ? " P(almyrenorum) " P(orolissensium).
380
How did these ethnic units maintain their integrity, which would have
supported the maintenance of their indigenous identities, and what was their
operational mandate?  The latter question is the most difficult to answer since
generally the status and function of numeri in Roman military organization and
provincial administration remain contentious subjects.86  Judging from their area of
deployment in Dacia, we may assume that the Palmyrene numeri performed a key
role in frontier defense; they may also have assisted with the policing of the
province.87  With regard to the integrity of their units, the Palmyrene numeri seem
to have maintained their status as ethnic units into the early third century C.E.  A
funerary stele from Porolissum, for instance, which a certain Aurelius Maximus set
up to his brother Aurelius Justinus, attests the numerus Palmyreorum
Porolissensium.88  The inscription, although not dated, was probably set up after the
constitutio Antoniniana in 212 C.E., when the adoption of name Aurelius became
common.  Apparently then, after Palmyra was granted colonial status, these various
numeri were converted into regular Roman formations.89  Furthermore, recruitment
90  For discussion, see Mann, ?The ?Palmyrene? Diplomas,? 217-19; and
Southern, ?The Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 90.  Indeed, by the end of
the second century C.E., Roman names (many with mixed Palmyrene
nomenclature) appear more frequently in the inscriptions.  Thes individuals may
have been descendants of retired veterans.  See Callies ?Die Fremden Truppen in
r?mischen Heer,? 191.  In particular, see L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1971, no. 389, an
epithet of a veteran along with members of his immediate family.
91  See n. 84 above.
92  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1960, no. 219.
381
patterns may also have facilitated unit integrity.  As I discussed above, for example,
upon their arrival in Dacia, the Palmyreni sagittarii ex Syria were probably all
Palmyrene natives who received Roman citizenship upon their discharge in 120
C.E.  Those discharged in 126 C.E., many of whom were probably also Palmyrenes
but directly recruited into Dacia seem also to have included individuals recruited
locally, either from among foreigners or descendants of Palmyrene veterans.90  As
the inscription cited above attests, soldiers at Tibiscum with Thracian names
suggests recruitment of non-Palmyrenes;91 similarly, an inscription from Porolissum
attests a soldier in a Palmyrene unit with either a Dacian or a Thracian name.92 
Most likely these individuals were progeny of Palmyrenes and indigenous natives,
and the tendency was probably to continue recruitment from within the expatriate
community.  The fact these units maintained their integrity as ethnic forces
operating as Palmyrenes would seem to suggest this.
Unit integrity is one issue, while the preservation of a distinct social and
cultural identity is another.  Beyond general remarks regarding the recruitment
93  IDR 3.1.154 (= CIL 3.7999 and P0251).  On the importance of literacy in
Palmyrene and Latin among soldiers abroad, see Millar, Roman Near East, 328-29. 
See also IDR 3.1.142 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1967, no. 393; and 1983, no. 797).
94  It may be that the tendency to use Latin, rather, reflects a present need to
communicate among the ranks and to understand the orders of commanding
officers.
382
patterns for the Palmyrene numeri, we must observe that the core of these units
remained Palmyrene.  Many of the soldiers retained the use of their native language,
but many must also have been knowledgeable of Latin (sufficient enough to adopt
loan-words, for instance).  On one occasion, a soldier from the unit at Tibiscum
transliterated his rank from the Latin optio into Palmyrene as hptyn.93  Whether this
reflects an impetus among the individuals concerned to be more Roman than
Palmyrene is not evident, although Latin is by far more frequent in the
inscriptions.94  For sure, those discharged in 120 and later in 126 C.E. received
Roman citizenship; most also adopted the name Aelius.  More importantly, though,
many of these Palmyrene veterans remained in Dacia as civilians where they
embedded themselves in the local society.  They did so as Romans, but with the
social and cultural presence of Palmyrenes. 
As soldiers and civilians, then, the Palmyrenes of Dacia intermingled with
the local population in the communities where they were based.  Some even
integrated within the local aristocracy.  Nevertheless, amid all of this social
interaction, their importation of native gods and preservation of indigenous cult, no
less than the preservation of their language, facilitated the maintenance of a distinct
95  See Bianchi, ?I Palmyreni in Dacia,? 87-95.
96  CIL 3.7954 (= IDR 3.2.18; ILS 4341; and L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1960, no.
371; see also L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1968, no. 445): Diis Patriis | Malagbel et
Bebellaha|mon et Benefal et Mana|vat P(ublius) Ael(ius) Theimes IIviral(is) |
col(oniae) templum fecit solo et | inpendio suo pro se suisq(ue) | omnibus ob pietate
ipsorum | circa se iussus ab ipsis fecit | et culinam subiunxit. See also Kaizer,
Religious Life of Palmyra, 111-12.  Theimes also made a dedication of a marble
statue to Aesc(ulapio) et Hygiae; see CIL 3.7896 (= IDR 3.2.152).  For the statue,
see D. Alicu, C. Pop, and V. Wollmann, Figured Monuments from Ulpia Traiana
Sarmizegetusa, B. A. R. International Series, no. 55 (Oxford: British
Archaeological Reports, 1979), 68, no. 7, pl. 3.  A funerary altar from
Sarmizegetusa (IDR 3.2.369 = CIL 3.12587) identifies Theimes as having been
IIvir[al(is)] col(oniae) D[ac(icae)] | Sar[miz(egetusae)] and a retired veteran of the
cohors I Vindelicorum.  Also, on the same altar are listed several of his Palmyrene
colleagues, including a certain Publius Aelius Bericio and Publius Aelius Zabdibol.
97  See Stark, Personal Names, 54-55.  On the Latinization of Syrian names, see
H. Solin, ?Juden und Syrer im westlichen Teil der r?mischen Welt. Eine ethnisch-
demographische Studie mit besonderer Ber?cksichtigung der sprachlichen
Zust?nde,? ANRW 2.29.2 (1983): 781-83.
383
Palmyrene cultural identity.95  At Sarmizegetusa, the capital of the province and a
Roman colony, for example, a certain Publius Aelius Theimes, in his capacity as
duumviralis, constructed a temple to the gods Malagbel (Malakbel), Bebellahamon
(Belh. ammon), Benefal (?), and Manavat (Manawat); he also added a kitchen
undoubtedly for facilitating ritual banquets.96  Theimes does not explicitly identify
himself as a Palmyrene, but the name itself seems to be the Latin transliteration of
the Palmyrene name tym? which, together with the Greek transliteration Thaim s,
appears frequently at Palmyra.97  Also, the fact that he constructed a temple to
Palmyrene gods, especially Malakbel, suggests strongly a Palmyrene context. 
Indeed, several inscriptions from Sarmizegetusa and elsewhere in Dacia attest the
98  Sarmizegetusa: see IDR 3.2.262 (= CIL 3.7955), 3.2.263 (?) (= L?Ann?e
?pigraphique 1959, no. 301: MALA<LA>[gbeli]), 3.2.264 (= CIL 3.12580), and
3.2.484: . . . CVLT[ores . . . Ma]|LAGB[eli . . . Pro]|CULU[s] . . . See also IDR
3.2.265 (= CIL 3.7956).  Tibiscum: see IDR 3.1.142 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique
1983, no. 797 and 1967, no. 393) and 3.1.143 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1983, no.
798, which suggests joining IDR 3.1.148).  Cf. IDR 3.2.20 (= L?Ann?e
?pigraphique 1927, no. 56), that identifies priests at Sarmizegetusa in a Palmyrene
context.
99  IDR 3.1.137.  The same individual set up an altar to the Jupiter, the Best and
Greatest (Jovus Optimus Maximus); see IDR 3.1.138.
100  CIL 3.1108 (= IDR 3/5.1.103; ILS 4344): Deo Soli | Hierobolo | Aur(elius)
Bas|sinus dec(urio) | col(oniae) Aequens(is) | sacerd(os) nu|minum v(otum) s(olvit)
l(ibens) m(erito).
384
cult of Malakbel, which indicates some communal organization among Palmyrene
expatriates.98  In addition, at Tibiscum there is evidence of a cult to the Palmyrene
god Yarhibol, with emphasis on his solar qualities.  A certain Aurelius Laecanius
Paulinus, for instance, another veteran of the cohors I Vindelicorum (a former
custos armorum) and a decurion of the colony of Sarmizegetusa, erected an altar to
the sun god Ierhaboli (Yarhibol).99  While Paulinus himself was probably not from
Palmyra, some Palmyrene influence seems implicit in his pious act.  There was also
a cult of the god Yarhibol at Apulum, attested by two altars dedicated to the deity. 
One identifies a certain Aurelius Bassinus as a priest (sacerdos) and a decurion of
the colony of Aequum (in Dalmatia); the dedication reads deo Soli Hierobolo.100 
The other altar also identifies a priest, a certain Aelius Nisa, and the divine recipient
101  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1977, no. 661 (= IDR 3/5.1.102): Deo |
[H]ierhibol(i) | Ael(ius) Nisa | sacerd(os) | posuit.
102  IDR 3.1.134: Bel[o] deo Palmyr(eno) | Ae[l(ius) Z]abdibol | ar[m]orum
cus(tos) | e[x nu]mero | Pal[myrenoru]m | [v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens)] m(erito).  See
also L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1971, no. 405 (= ibid., 1977, no. 694).
103  L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1980, no. 755 (= ibid., 1977, no. 666): deo patrio
Belo n(umerus) Pal(myrenorum) sagit(tariorum).  See also I. Piso, ?Beitr?ge zu den
Fasten Dakiens im 3. Jahrhundert,? ZPE 40 (1980): 277-82.
104  See Bianchi, ?I Palmyreni in Dacia,? 91, no. 14.
385
as Ierhibol.101  The Palmyrene god Bel also received cult in Dacia.  At Tibiscum, for
instance, a certain Aelius Zabdibol, a custos armorum of the numerus
Palmyrenorum based in the city, erected an altar to Bel, the supreme god of his
native Palmyra.102  A sanctuary to Bel is also attested at Porolissum, where a certain
Gaius Julius Septimius Castinus, a centurion of the legio V Macedonica and
presumably commander (cura agens) of the numerus of Palmyrene archers based in
the city, paid cult to their native god Bel.103  Also at Porolissum, a Palmyrene priest
of the numerus Palmyreorum Porolissensium is attested on an altar dedicated to
Jupiter, perhaps to be identified with Bel.104  Finally, it is clear from all of these
examples that Palmyrenes participated in the pagan life of the communities where
they resided, but they did so in a manner that asserted their indigenous character
and their group identity as Palmyrenes.
The preservation and maintenance of Palmyrene cult in Dacia can be viewed
as a product of the presence of Palmyrene soldiers integrated in the local society,
105  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 183.
106  ILS 9173 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1896, no. 35; and 1900, no. 197): D(is)
M(anibus) s(acrum) | Agrippa Themi | [f]il(ius) Palmyra q(ui) f(uit) | [|(centurio)]
coh(ortis) III Thra|[c]um Syr(ia) item |[t]ranslatu[s] | [i]n coh(ortem) I
Ch(a)lci|denor(um) iusso | [I]mp(eratoris) curam | [e]git Palmyr(enorum) |
[s]ag(ittariorum) ann(orum) X | militavit ann(os) | [X]XIII vix(it) an(nos) LV | [---
]es lib(ertus) et pro(curator).  See also Starcky and Gawlikowski, Palmyre, 46.
386
whether serving actively in the various numeri of the province or as retired
veterans.  The prevalence of the gods Malakbel and Yarhibol and the maintenance
of their cults, according to Dirven, favor military contexts.105 Similar patterns
appear in north Africa (Numidia), Egypt, and elsewhere abroad where Palmyrene
soldiers were based.  
For example, the evidence of Palmyrene soldiers in north Africa is less
abundant than the Dacian material but equally significant.  In the Roman province
of Numidia (modern Algeria), Palmyrene forces were stationed primarily at el-
Kantara, but the date of their arrival remains contested.  A controversial inscription
from the site reads: 
To the shades of the dead, Agrippa, son of Theme, the Palmyrene,
who was [centurion] of the cohors III Thracum Syriaca, who then
transferred to the cohors I Chalcidenorum, by order of the emperor;
he was given charge over the Palmyrene archers for 10 years, he
served 23 years, he lived for 55 years . . . (made by) . . his freedman
and procurator.106
Unfortunately, the emperor under whose orders Agrippa executed his transfer is not
named, so the date must be conjectured; since imperator is in the singular, scholars
107  For the debate regarding the date of the inscription, see Southern, ?The
Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 90-91.
108  For discussion of the numerus Palmyrenorum in Numidia, see Callies, ?Die
Fremden Truppen im r?mischen Heer des Prinzipats,? 200-201; and Southern, ?The
Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 90-92.  One inscription from the reign of
Severus Alexander (222-35 C.E.) identifies the unit as the n(umerus)
P(almyrenorum) Sev(erianorum);, see CIL 8.8795 (= CIL 8.18020 and L?Ann?e
?pigraphique 1940, no. 148).  See also L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1940, no. 150:
N(umerus) Pal(myrenorum) Seve(rianorum).
109  See Southern, ?The Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 90-92, who
contends that Palmyrene forces probably arrived in Numidia under Hadrian.
110  P0255.
387
have suggested that the reference is to Antoninus Pius, Commodus, or Severus.107 
Also, the Palmyrene archers appear with no unit specification, so we must assume
that these troops comprised the numerus Palmyrenorum attested in several
inscriptions from the site, most of the third century C.E.108  Yet, the transfer of the
numerus Palmyrenorum to Numidia, it now seems, predated the Severan period and
must be assigned to the middle of the second century, perhaps under Hadrian or
Antoninus Pius.109  It is frequently argued, for instance, that Palmyrene archers were
based in Numidia before 150 C.E., when, according to an inscribed stele from
Lambaesis, the capital of the province, a certain Moqimu, son of Shema?n, died. 
The inscription, however, which is bilingual in Latin and Palmyrene, does not refer
to Moqimu as a soldier at all and it mentions no military unit in which he may have
served; the Latin text only identifies Moqimu specifically as a Palmyrene.110  He
111  As suggested by Southern, ?The Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,? 91,
n. 76.
112  See L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1980, no. 954 (= ibid., 1941, no. 156).  For
discussion, see L. Leschi, ?Autour de l?amphith??tre de Lamb?se,? Libyca 11
(1954): 178-81.
113  E. Albertini, ?Inscriptions d?el Kantara,? Revue africaine 72 (1931): 204-6,
no. 8 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1980, no. 953; and 1933, no. 42;): Deo Malagbel[o]
| pro salute d(ominorum) n(ostrorum) Imp[p(eratorum)] | A(ulo) Iuli[o Pi]son[e]
leg(ato) Augg(ustorum) pr(o) p[r(aetore)] | T(itus) Cl(audius) [.]i[.]ius |(centurio)
[[leg(ionis) III]] Aug(ustae).
114  See L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1926, no. 144.
115  El Gahra: see CIL 8.18026 (= L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1992, no. 1856) under
Gordian III.  On the Palmyrene presence at Messad, see G. -C. Picard, Castellum
Dimmidi (Paris: E. de Boccard, 1944), 103-5 and 199, with inscriptions nos. 8-10
and 23.
388
may have been a civilian only, perhaps a merchant.111  Nevertheless, an inscription
probably of 169 C.E. definitely attests the numerus Palmyenorum at el-Kantara.112 
Later, in 177/78 C.E., a legionary centurion dedicated an altar there to the
Palmyrene god Malagbel (Malakbel), whose cult in Numidia suggests the presence
of Palmyrene soldiers.113  The numerus Palmyrenorum was still at el-Kantara under
Septimius Severus.114  They were later split up, however, presumably during the
reign of Severus Alexander, and posted elsewhere, with garrisons attested at
Messad and El Gahra.115
The situation in north Africa seems comparable to that discussed in Dacia in
terms of unit integrity and recruitment patterns, both of which facilitated the
preservation of a Palmyrene cultural identity.  To some extent, Palmyrene soldiers
116  On the nature and function of Roman forces in Numidia, see E. W. B.
Fentress, Numidia and the Roman Army: Social, Military and Economic Aspects of
the Frontier Zone, B. A. R. International Series, no. 53 (Oxford: British
Archaeological Reports, 1979), 61-174.
117  J. Mann, ?A Note on the Numeri,? Hermes 82 (1954): 505.
118  For discussion, see Southern, ?The Numeri of the Roman Imperial Army,?
91-92.
389
must have played a key role in frontier defense.  Their primary task, however,
would seem to have been the monitoring of pastoral migrations and policing the
routes of communication and trade.116  Also, given the geophysical and
environmental similarities of Numidia to their native province of Syria, they
probably performed these tasks with marked efficiency and familiarity (a fact
perhaps not lost on Roman authorities).  The Palmyrene soldiers also seem to have
formed a relatively closed community.  According to Mann, the numerus at el-
Kantara probably ?formed a hereditary and mainly non-Roman group.?117  This
assumes, however, that Palmyrenes from the east were recruited directly into the
numerus or that its ranks were replenished from among descendants of veterans of
the unit who had settled locally.  The evidence is inconclusive.  It is no less
uncertain, if at all, that local Africans were themselves recruited to fill the ranks of
the numerus.118  Again, however, as in Dacia, recruitment was probably among
progeny which would explain the unit?s ability to maintain its Palmyrene character.
Furthermore, and again as in Dacia, the most cohesive aspect of the
Palmyrene community in Numidia, in addition to the continued use of their native
119  Four bilingual inscriptions in Latin and Palmyrene have come from
Numidia; see P0253, P0255, P0990, and Albertini, ?Inscriptions d?el Kantara,? 220,
no. 29.  See also the funerary inscription, P0254, in Palmyrene, only in memory of
Raphael, son of Nesha (rp?l br n??), which was discovered in el-Kantara.  See also
J. -B. Chabot, ?Nouvelle inscription palmyr?nienne d?Afrique,? CRAIBL (1932):
265-69.
120  See CIL 8.2497 and 8.8795 (= CIL 8.18020 and L?Ann?e ?pigraphique
1940, no. 148); see also Albertini, ?Inscriptions d?el Kantara,? 204-6, no. 8 (=
L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1980, no. 953; and 1933, no. 42); L?Ann?e ?pigraphique
1933, no. 43 (= Albertini, ?Inscriptions d?el Kantara,? 206-7, no. 9); and 1901, no.
114.
121  Messad: see L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1940, no. 147; 1940, no. 149; 1940, no.
150; CIL 8.8795 (= CIL 8.18020 and L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1940, no. 148); and
Picard, Castellum Dimmidi, 186-87, no. 9.  See also Picard, Castellum Dimmidi,
187, no. 10.  El-Ghara: see CIL 8.18024.
122  See L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1967, no. 572a; and 1920, no. 35.  Both
inscriptions mention cultores of the god.  On the cult of Yarhibol in North Africa,
see Milik, D?dicaces, 45-46; and M. Janon, ?Cultores dei Ierhobolis iuniores,?
Bulletin d?arch?ologie alg?rienne 2 (1966-1967): 219-30.
123  CIL 8.17621.  For discussion, see Milik, D?dicaces, 46.  Alternatively, the
deity may read Torchobol.
390
language, was the maintenance of indigenous cults, specifically those to the gods
Malakbel and Yarhibol.119  The cult of Malakbel is first attested in el-Kantara.120 
From there, presumably, it spread to el-Ghara and Messad with the Palmyrenes
soldiers who had been sent to garrison these settlements in the third century C.E.121 
The cult of Yarhibol is further attested in Lambaesis, again in a military context.122 
Also, an inscription from Ain Zaoui presumably attests the cult of Yarhibol; the
divine name mentioned is Iorchobol.123  Finally, an inscription from Tripolitana
attests the cult of Yarhibol, identified as a solar deity, in association with the
124  See O. Brogan and J. Reynolds, ?Seven New Inscriptions from
Tripolitania,? Papers of the British School at Rome 28 (1960): 51, no. 1, pl. 17a. 
The cohors I Syrorum is attested in L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1892, no. 13 from
Lambaesis.
125  See Sidebotham, Roman Economic Policy, 95-96.
126  See Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 182, n. 90.
127  Ibid., 104.
128  IGRR 1.1169.  See also Rowell, ?Numerus,? 2549-52.
391
presence of a vexillation of the legio III Augusta and among soldiers of a cohort of
Syrian archers, probably cohors I Syrorum from Lambaesis.124  In each of these
cases, the importation of native cult would have preserved their indigenous
identities.
The situation is remarkably similar in Egypt, where Palmyrene soldiers are
attested at Coptos and Berenike, where they also imported native cults.125  The
Palmyrene soldiers at Berenike, for example, accompanied (perhaps installed) the
cult of Yarhibol.  According to a bilingual inscription from the site in Greek and
Palmyrene, a statue to the god was made by an otherwise anonymous sculptor
named Barikei.126  This inscription also seems to identify Yarhibol as the tyche of
the Palmyrene military unit based at Berenike.127 At Coptos, where Palmyrene
soldiers are also attested, the god received cult as well.  In 216 C.E., for instance, a
soldier of the Palmyrene archers based there, a certain M. Aur lios B lakabos,
dedicated an altar to the god Yarhibol.128  Surprising, though, is the complete lack
129  CIL 6.31036 (= ILS 4338).  See also L?Ann?e ?pigraphique 1908, no. 64.
130  P0247.  For discussion of the iconography of the relief, see Colledge, Art of
Palmyra, 231; and Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 60-63. The Greek text of
the accompanying inscription identifies the gods Aglibol and Malakbel as
?ancestral deities? (z!(84$f8  6"4 9"8"P$Z8  B"JD @4H 2,@?H).
392
of evidence of any cult to the god Malakbel in Egypt, concerning which there is no
satisfactory explanation.  Nonetheless, the evidence available from Egypt
exemplifies the role of cult worship in the maintenance of a collective Palmyrene
identity and distinctiveness in a foreign setting.  This was not necessarily limited to
military contexts, however, since, with the presence of Palmyrene merchants, as
discussed above, soldiers and civilians interacted.
Elsewhere in the Roman Empire, the evidence of Palmyrene soldiers and
civilians is not abundant, but it is of no less significance.  Again, the patterns are
similar.  An inscription in the Museo Capitolino in Rome, for instance, records the
dedication of a Palmyrene soldier to the god Malakbel.129  In addition, among
Palmyrene civilians in Rome, the cult of Malakbel is well attested by two major
dedications.  One is a relief sculpture produced in Italy that depicts the gods
Malakbel and Aglibol side by side; the former deity is depicted in eastern dress
clasping the right hand of a cuirassed Aglibol.130  The dedication was set up in 236
C.E. by an individual from Hadriana Palmyra, a certain Aurelius Heliodorus
Antiochus, identified in the Palmyrene text as Yarhai, son of Haliphai, son of
Yarhai, son of Lishamsh Soadu.  The other dedication, more famous because of its
131  Suggested by Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, 55.
132  Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 177.
133  For instance, see Colledge, Art of Palmyra, 231. The enigmatic Latin text,
CIL 6.710, reads: Soli sanctissimo sacrum | Ti(berius) Claudius Felix et | Claudia
Helpis et | Ti(berius) Claudius Alypus fil(ius) eorum | votum solverunt libens merito
| Calbienses de coh(ort) III.  For a recent discussion of the Latin inscription, see G.
Houston, ?The Altar from Rome with Inscriptions to Sol and Malakbel,? Syria 67
(1990): 189-93.  The iconography and the inscriptions are also discussed in detail
by Dirven, Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 175-80, with references.
134  P0248: ?lt? dh lmlkbl wl?lhy tdmr | qrb t
.brys qlwdys plqs | wtdmry? l?lhyhn
?lm.
393
extensive reliefs and rich iconographic detail, is the marble altar dedicated,
according to its accompanying Latin inscription, to Sol Sanctissimus, which
Tiberius Claudius Felix, Claudia Helpis, and their son, Tiberius Claudius Alypus
sponsored in fulfillment of a vow.  Most enigmatic is the fifth line of the Latin text,
which has been translated variously as ?Calbienses of the third cohort,?131 ?the third
courtyard in the apartment house of Galba,?132 and ?the third cohort of employees at
the granaries of Galba (horrea Galbae).?133  The accompanying Palmyrene text,
however, is more straightforward.  It reads:
This altar to Malakbel and to the gods of Palmyra: Tiberius Claudius
Felix and the Palmyrenes offered it to their gods.134
Unfortunately, we know very little of the historical context of this monument or of
its patrons.  The Latin text lists only the family of Tiberius Claudius Felix as the
dedicants, all of whom were Romans.  The Palmyrene text, on the other hand,
identifies Tiberius Claudius Felix without family members but alongside an
135  For discussion, see E. E. Schneider, ?Il Sanctuario di Bel e delle divinit? di
Palmira: Comunit? e tradizioni religiose dei Palmireni a Roma,? Dialoghi di
archeologia 5, no. 1 (1987): 69-85.
136  P0249
137  See P0266.  See also Milik, D?dicaces, 166-68.
394
unspecified community of Palmyrenes.  It is not clear whether Tiberius Claudius
Felix himself was Palmyrene.  He was the lead sponsor of the dedication, though,
and presumably the patron of a Palmyrene community in Rome, perhaps an
association of merchants.  As we have seen above in relation to Palmyrene
merchants communities in Parthia, this would not have been unusual or
unexpected.  In addition, this evidence reflects a general pattern of behavior among
the community of Palmyrenes in Rome that allowed the preservation of their social
and cultural identities, embodied in the importation into their foreign residence of
their peculiar language and indigenous cult practices to their native gods.135  
Three fragmentary inscriptions from Rome further attest the adherence to
native cult practices by Palmyrene expatriates.  One inscription is bilingual in
Greek and Palmyrene and attests the dedication of a sanctuary in Rome to the
Palmyrene ancestral gods Bel, Aglibol, and Yarhibol.136  The dedication was made
by a certain Makkaios, son of Mal , and his compatriot, Soadu, son of Taima (son
of) Lishamshai.  Interestingly, in 127 C.E., this second dedicant had a statue set up
for his father in the temple of Bel at Palmyra, which confirms in this instance the
maintenance of primordial attachments abroad.137  The remaining inscriptions,
138  See CIL 6.50 (=  Moretti, Inscriptiones, no. 117; ILS 4334; IG 14.969; and
IGR 1.43) and 6.51 (=  Moretti, Inscriptiones, no. 118; IG 14.970; and IGR 1.44). 
For commentary, see ?Schneider, ?Il Sanctuario di Bel,? 70-73.  For discussion of
the relationship between Bel and Malakbel in this specific case, see Dirven,
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos, 173, n. 59.
139  For discussion, see J. M. C. Toynbee, Art in Roman Britain (London,
1962), 160, no. 87, pl. 85; and idem, Art in Britain under the Romans (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1964), 199-200 and 206.
140  P0246 (CIS 2.3901; and R. G. Collingwood and R. P. Wright, Roman
Inscriptions of Britain, vol. 1, [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965], no. 1065):
rgyn? bt h. ry br)t? h. bl.  The Latin text reads: D(is) M(anibus) Regina liberta et
coniuge | Barat(h)es Palmyrenus natione | Catuallauna an(norum) XXX.  The use
of natio here is curious.  It indicates that Regina was a member of the natio of the
Catuvellaunians, a British tribe, although the association with Barate?s identity as a
Palmyrene is possible.
395
which record dedications to the gods Bel and Malakbel in Latin and Greek, were
both sponsored by the same individuals, one of whom was a Palmyrene who bore
the name Heliodorus.138  This evidence further attests the presence of a Palmyrene
sanctuary in Rome from the early second to the mid-third century C.E. and the long
maintenance of indigenous cult by Palmyrene expatriates abroad.
The last bit of evidence that illuminates the Palmyrene identity maintenance
abroad derives from Britain and consists of two funerary stele from South Shields
at the mouth of the river Tyne.  One stele depicts a Catuvellaunian freedwoman,
Regina, set up in her memory by her husband, the Palmyrene Barates, a soldier
serving in the Roman unit at the site.139  The epitaph is in Latin and Palmyrene; the
latter reads, ?Regina, daughter of freedom, Barates, alas!?140  The other stele depicts
a certain Maurentanian freedman by the name of Victor reclining on a couch at a
141  See Collingwood and Wright, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, vol. 1, no.
1064.
142  Colledge, Art of Palmyra, 233.  For discussion, see S. R. Tufi, ?Le Due
stele funerarie <<Palmirene>> di Arbeia (South Shields) sul vallo di Adriano,?
Dialoghi di archeologia 5, no. 1 (1987): 97-100.
396
funerary banquet.  There is no evidence to suggest that this Victor had any
Palmyrene connections.  This is suggested only by the craftsmanship of his funerary
stele.141  Indeed, according to Colledge, ?these two reliefs were carved by one
sculptor, trained originally at an important Syrian centre?doubtless Palmyra
itself?who had moved westwards and adapted his repertoire somewhat to his new
surroundings, but who continued to reveal his origins through his choices of
figures, motifs, and techniques.?142  Barates probably had an affinity for this artisan,
since both were affiliated with Syrian traditions.  More importantly, though, Barates
clearly sought to emphasize his social and cultural identity through this individual,
by employing his native Palmyrene script in the epithet and by asserting his
Palmyrene identity in the Latin inscription.  In the event, for instance, that someone
questioned the oddity of the writing, they could examine the Latin text (assuming
competence to read, of course) and immediately recognize that the individual
responsible was a Palmyrene.
A last category of evidence to which Barates, the Palmyrene in Britain,
would seem to belong, again related to the Palmyrene presence in the Roman
Empire and the maintenance of identity, is that of Palmyrenes enrolled in or
143  Inventaire 10.108.  See p. page 253 above.
144  Inventaire 10.109.
145  Inventaire 10.24.
146  CIL 16.78 (= RMD 1, 286-87, no. 165).
397
commanding Roman army units.  The evidence is sparse and sporadic, but of
immeasurable value in our estimation of social advancement through military
service for Rome.  In the agora at Palmyra, for instance, a certain Marcus Acilius
Ath nod?ros, son of Acilius Mokimos, of the tribe Sergia, who served as tribune of
the legio X Fretensis and tribune of the cohors I Ulpia Petraeorum, received a
statue set up by his friend, Marcus Ulpius Malchos.143  Both men, clearly, were
Palmyrenes and Roman citizens.  Also, Marcus Acilius Ath nod?ros himself
received honors from the council and the people of Palmyra for his piousness and
patriotism toward his city.144  Marcus Ulpius Malchos himself was honored with a
statue in the temple of Bel, which his five children, all of whom inherited Roman
citizenship, had set up for him according to his wishes; the accompanying
inscription states that their father had accomplished with distinction the three
equestrian posts (strateiai).145  In Moesia inferior, according to a military diploma
of 134 C.E., a certain Marcus Acilius Alexander, identified specifically as a
Palmyrene, commanded the cohors I Claudiae Sugambrorum.146  In addition, a
fragmentary inscription from Sarmizegetusa in Dacia attests a Palmyrene as
147  See IDR 3.2.348.  For discussion, see Seyrig, ?Inscriptions grecques de
l?agora de Palmyre,? 229; and Starcky and Gawlikowski, Palmyre, 47.
148  P1405.  See also Seyrig, ?Inscriptions grecques de l?agora de Palmyre,?
231, no. 3.
149  Inventaire 10.79; and Seyrig, ?Inscriptions grecques de l?agora de
Palmyre,? 231, no. 4.  Also, as I have noted (above, n.106), Agrippa, son of Theme,
the Palmyrene, commanded a comparable unit in Numidia.
398
praefectus of the cohors I Augusta Thracum (or cohors I Augusta Ituraeorum).147 
Furthermore, in 141 C.E., an unnamed centurion, in cooperation his brother(s), set
up a statue in the agora to honor their Palmyrene father, a certain Marcus Ulpius
Abgar, himself a prefect of a corps of Palmyrene archers (?B"P@< | A"8:LD0< [<
J@]>@J <).148  These archers under the command of Abgar may have been raised
and supported by Roman authorities, having operated in a manner equivalent to the
rasing of Palmyrene numeri elsewhere in the Empire, but the evidence is
inconclusive.  Alternately, they may have formed a component of the Palmyra?s
military.  Regardless, Palmyrenes are attested abroad in command of Palmyrene
forces under Roman mandate and supporting Roman interests.  Also, from far
afield, they often maintained primordial attachments to their native home.  A
certain Titus Aelius, for example, commanded a unit of archers in Dacia during the
reign of Antonius Pius, which is known only from the fact that his unit honored him
with a statue at Palmyra in the agora.149  Furthermore, for many who became
Roman citizens as a result of military service or otherwise, the transition apparently
did not detract from the identities as Palmyrenes.
399
This evidence of Palmyrenes in military service for Rome, whether as basic
soldiers or as commanding officers of Palmyrene or Roman forces, reveals
interesting patterns with regard to the structure and maintenance of Palmyrene
identity and community.  The recruitment of Palmyrenes into numeri, specialized
units with an ethnic basis, and the transfer of these forces abroad, where they
interacted with foreign populations, supported the maintenance of a distinct group
identity.  In such situations, the social and cultural boundaries that distinguished
Palmyrenes from ?others? were manifested.  Communal endeavors to maintain a
distinct cultural presence in a foreign setting, for example, evident among
Palmyrene soldiers and civilians, was embodied in the continued worship of native
gods.  Indeed, given the public nature of pagan cult, the spread of Palmyrene
religion among expatriates in Egypt, Numidia, Dacia, and Rome would have
generated clear distinctions between themselves and their foreign neighbors.  In
addition, the maintenance of community was supported by the fact that soldiers
upon their retirement tended to reside in the areas in which they had served, which
provided an element of continuity to their communal organization.  Conversely, this
provided an element of change as well, since veterans began to integrate into the
indigenous societies where they had served; some even incorporated themselves
within the provincial elite and adopted roles as local patrons.  Furthermore, in some
cases, the impetus to sustain a distinct social identity was of individual derivation. 
The choice to retain Palmyrene as a language of public expression is the most
400
obvious example.  Moreover, the examples are numerous of individuals asserting
their social identity as Palmyrenes in public inscriptions, a practice not unusual, for
instance, among individuals who had attained Roman citizenship.  This practice
was particularly prevalent among Palmyrene military officers in Roman units.  They
served Rome, but they did so as Palmyrenes.
Conclusion
Beyond Palmyra, various mechanisms supported the construction and
maintenance of a distinct Palmyrene social and cultural identity.  Contact with
foreigners, for instance, whether in the city, immediate countryside, or beyond,
provided a constructive context in which social boundaries arose.  Such boundaries,
by default, emphasized distinctive features of the individuals or groups in question,
which then served both to structure and maintain their identities.  These features, as
I have noted, included, among others, native cult associations to indigenous gods
and the continued use of Palmyrene as a prominent language in public contexts.
In this chapter, I examined the various activities and situations in which
Palmyrenes found themselves abroad.  I focused initially on the Palmyrene presence
in Dura Europos, where the evidence of their activity is the most extensive.  At
length I examined the commercial nature of their activity at Dura within the
framework of the maintenance of their personal and group identities.  Also, in both
military and civilian contexts I examined how the Palmyrenes structured their
communal relations and supported their distinctiveness in a socially and culturally
401
mixed environment.  A short discussion followed of Palmyrene merchants abroad,
which focused on their activities in the Parthian Empire where the evidence is more
abundant than in the west  As I have emphasized throughout this study, trade was
the basis of Palmyrene civic prosperity.  Palmyrene merchants established colonies
in areas directly supporting the trade in exotic goods, in communities along the
Euphrates and Egypt primarily.  I examined the internal organization of these
merchant communities briefly and the manner by which they maintained direct
social relations with Palmyra.  I showed that the bonds to their native community
were strong and enduring, and were supported by powerful Palmyrene individuals
at home and abroad and by their extension of patronage to these merchant
communities.  Indeed, shared commercial endeavors that supported Palmyra?s
caravan trade sustained these merchant enclaves and helped with the preservation of
their group identity.
Only to the west does the commercial aspect of Palmyrene activity abroad in
foreign employ become obscure, since the evidence is largely confined to military
contexts.  Palmyrenes were employed as soldiers in special ethnic units (numeri) for
most of the second century, only to be integrated or transformed into regular Roman
units of alae and cohortes in the third century C.E.  As I have discussed, the ethnic
basis of these numeri gave structure to and facilitated the maintenance of a common
group identity, by providing a framework for the continued worship of native gods
and the use of a common language.  Since these Palmyrene units were based in
402
locations far removed from their native Syria (in Britain, Numidia, Egypt, and
Dacia), the impetus to retain primordial attachments abroad was probably great. 
Furthermore, in many cases, individuals were granted Roman citizenship upon their
retirement from service, and many of these veterans opted to settle in the areas
where they had served.  Some seem to have moved to Rome.  The best evidence is
from Dacia, where some individuals proceeded as civilians to integrate fully into
local Dacian society and, in unique cases, to rank among the local elite.  In
positions to wield social and political power, these individuals were opportunely
situated to patronize their Palmyrene expatriates, among military and civilian
groups.  In particular, they were well-equipped to sustain their native cults, which
preserved position and status for themselves and supported their distinctiveness
(alongside that of their colleagues) in a foreign setting, as ritual and cult delineated
definite social boundaries.  Yet, the extent that Palmyrene activity in the Roman
Empire (as opposed to the Parthian Empire) supported Palmyra?s commercial
interests is not known, except in Egypt and perhaps Rome where merchants are
attested.  It can only be assumed that military service abroad extended social and
economic relations and provided greater access to different markets.  Since most
Palmyrenes seem to have maintained communications with their native city, it
would have been untypical of them not to have capitalized on their situation in
some manner.
1  For the narrative sources, see Dodgeon and Lieu, Roman Eastern Frontier, 9-
33.
2  Cassius Dio 80.3.  Cf. Herodian 6.2.2.0
3  The campaign in the 240?s presumably was a war of defense against the
Romans, see Maricq, RGDS lines 6-9.  For sources on the Persian campaign into
403
Chapter 7: Conclusions
Odenathus, Zenobia, and the Crisis of Identity 
In 224 C.E. the Persian king Ardashir won a decisive victory over
Artabanus V, the last effective Parthian monarch.  This marked the foundation of
the Sassanian Dynasty and the introduction of a new ideology of rule.1  Not content
with the diplomatic and economic relations upheld by their predecessors, the
Sassanian lords sought to reconstitute the old Persian Empire and to reclaim all the
lands once controlled by the legendary Darius and his son Xerxes.2  It was a noble
vision, though arrogant, which Ardashir?s son, Shapur, pursued vigorously.  His
task proved difficult, however.  The opposition was not a loose network of Greek
poleis but the coordinated might of the Romans and their allies, to whom Shapur
was an effective and powerful enemy.  Shapur campaigned successfully against the
Romans in the early 240?s, and around 252 or 253 C.E. he actually sacked Antioch.3
Roman territory in 252 or 253 C.E. and the sack of Antioch, see Dodgeon and Lieu,
Roman Eastern Frontier, 49-57.  For the date of Shapur?s second campaign, see
discussion by Millar, Roman Near East, 159; and Isaac, Limits of Empire, 31, n.79.
4  Petrus Patricius frag. 10, FHG vol. 4, 187.  Translation is that of S. N. C.
Lieu; see Dodgeon and Lieu, Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, 68-69,
no. 4.1.3.  For discussion, see Bowersock, Roman Arabia, 130.  On the problem of
the date for this presumed meeting, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich,
135-37.
404
Sometime in the middle of the third century C.E., in reaction to the demise
of the Parthians and in the wake of Shapur?s military successes, the renowned
Septimius Odenathus of Palmyra:
paid [much] court to Shapur as one who had greatly surpassed the
Romans.  Wanting to lead him on, he sent magnificent gifts and
other goods which Persia was not rich in, conveying them by camels. 
He also sent letters expressing entreaty and saying that he had done
nothing against the Persians.  Shapur, however, instructed the slaves
who received the gifts to throw them into the river and tore up and
crushed the letters.  ?Who is he,? he declared, ?and how has he dared
to write letters to his master?  If then he wants to obtain a lighter
punishment, let him know that I shall destroy him and his people and
his land.?4
Assuming this exchange occurred, probably before 259/60 C.E. (see below), in
what capacity did Odenathus approach Shapur?  Did he present himself as a Roman
supported by his senatorial rank and concerned with Roman interests, or did he
present himself primarily as a leading citizen of Palmyra, a community whose vital
economic interests were threatened by the new Persian regime?  Indeed, was he
attempting to establish diplomatic relations between Palmyra and the Persians
comparable to the amicable relations the Palmyrenes enjoyed with the Parthians for
405
centuries?  Conversely, from Shapur?s perspective, was the threat to destroy
Odenathus, his land, and his people directed specifically at Palmyrenes, whose
communities in Persian territory Shapur eventually displaced, or was this threat
directed more broadly at the Romans?  Perhaps Palmyrenes and Romans were
largely indistinguishable by this time.  Institutionally, Palmyra was a Roman city
and its inhabitants were Roman citizens, but what this meant in terms of Palmyrene
foreign relations is difficult to assess.  Perhaps Shapur was aware, for the most part,
of the Palmyrene bias in favor of the Romans, and he measured his response to
Odenathus accordingly.
Indeed, the text reveals vividly the framework that structured Palmyra?s
civic and communal development, at home and abroad, and the drastic changes that
followed the rise of the Sassanid Persians.  As I have discussed, the caravan trade
was central to Palmyrene community formation and urban prosperity.  The caravan
trade, apparently, also provided the impetus that led to extensive Palmyrene
settlement in communities throughout the Parthian Empire, primarily along the
Euphrates down to the head of the Persian Gulf.  In all of these communities,
Palmyra?s commercial success depended upon amicable relations between
Palmyrenes and their Parthian neighbors.  The collapse of Parthia followed by
Persian aggression and open hostility toward these communities and their
merchants crippled commercial endeavors throughout the region.   For the
Palmyrenes, their raison d?etre was in jeopardy.  For Palmyra, its prosperity was at
5  See P0279.
406
stake.  Quite possibly, then, in this context Odenathus may have approached
Shapur.  He came as a Palmyrene aware of the crippling economic conditions
imposed upon his city and its people, and he sought to reestablish a status quo that
his community had enjoyed with the Parthians for centuries.  Amicable relations
with the Persians, however, were not at all in prospect.  Odenathus was rebuffed,
perhaps, because Shapur was keenly aware of Palmyra?s Roman character and
western tendencies.  Neutrality was not an option.  For Odenathus and his fellow
Palmyrenes, then, the critical moment for reassessment and reaction had arrived if
their city was to weather the Persian storm.
The evidence from the caravan inscriptions supports this assessment.  After
the rise of the Persians in 224 C.E. only three caravans are known to have returned
from the east, one in 247 C.E. during the reign of Philip the Arab, who had
negotiated a peace treaty with the Persians three years earlier, a cessation of
hostilities that would end in 252 or 253 C.E.;5 a second in 257/58 C.E., at the same
that Odenathus and his son received numerous honors from craftsmen within
Palmyra, perhaps associated with the Palmyrene embassy to Shapur after he
destroyed Dura Europos in 256 C.E., and shortly before Shapur?s most decisive
campaign into Roman territory which ended with the capture of the Roman emperor
6  See P0282.  For sources on Shapur?s third campaign and the capture of
Valerian, see Dodgeon and Lieu, Roman Eastern Frontier, 58-67.  For discussion,
see Millar, Roman Near East, 159-73; and Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich,
129-40.
7  See P0288.  For sources on Odenathus? campaigns against the Persians, see
Dodgeon and Lieu, Roman Eastern Frontier, 71-77.  For discussion, see Hartmann,
Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 215-17.
8  See p.292, n. 82 above.  It is not clear when Odenathus was given the title
exarchos, although it was probably in the 240?s.  For a general discussion, see
Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 86-102.
9  See Millar, Roman Near East, 157-58, who also suggests that the titles may
have been used to designate a Roman priesthood.  On the military connotation of
407
Valerian in 259/60 C.E.;6 and a third in 266/67 C.E. in the wake of Odenathus? own
victories against the Persians which led him down the Euphrates as far as
Ctesiphon.7  Clearly, Palmyra?s commercial interests in the third century C.E. were
adversely affected by Persian aggression and directly related to the state of political
affairs between Rome and Persia.
The titles Odenathus assumed during this period also mirrored the
deteriorating state of affairs for the Palmyrene community and the city?s need to
redefine itself in an environment of change and persistent conflict.  In 252 C.E., for
example, Odenathus was identified as the leader or chief of Tadmor (r? dy tdmwr),
or exarchos in Greek.8  Admittedly, we do not know what these titles meant,
although it would seem that Odenathus had assumed a prominent political and
military role in the community, especially in light of his activities in subsequent
years.9  Interestingly, he shared these titles with his son, Septimius Harian.10  Yet
the term exarchos, see H. J. Mason, Greek Terms for Roman Institutions: A Lexicon
and Analysis, American Studies in Papyrology, vol. 13 (Toronto: Hakkert, 1974),
43; and on that of the Palmyrene term r?, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische
Teilreich, 93, n. 122.
10  See P0290, an inscription of 251 C.E. set up in honor of Septimius Hairan
by a Roman soldier in the legion at Bostra.  Hartmann, Das palmyrenische
Teilreich, 102, suggests that the assumption of these titles by father and son is
evidence for the establishment of dynastic rule (Herrscherdynastie) at Palmyra.
11  On the critical state of affairs at Palmyra, see now Hartmann, Das
palmyrenische Teilreich, 76-85.  See also Gawlikowski, ?Les Princes de Palmyre,?
261.
12  See Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 80-81.
408
under what conditions did this happen?  What would have prompted the city itself
to recognize one of its citizens, no less than this man?s son, as chief among others? 
The implication, I suggest, is that the city did so in the face of regional political and
economic crises.11  Odenathus and his son thus became the spokesmen of Palmyra,
perhaps because of their social prominence as Roman senators.  Thus it would have
been as a leading citizen of Palmyra that Odenathus, ever watchful of Palmyrene
interests, approached Shapur.  Again, the impetus for such a visit may have been
Shapur?s destruction of Palmyrene communities all along the Euphrates.  Ana, for
example, was destroyed in 252/53 and Dura in 256 C.E.12  The latter no doubt
confirmed Shapur?s animosity toward the Palmyrenes, whose community in Dura
certainly would have suffered during the Persian siege.  By 257/58 C.E. Odenathus
also assumed the Roman title of hypatikos, the equivalent of consularis, which
suggests that he had become governor of the province, but it remains uncertain
13  For instance, the title may indicate that he had been appointed suffect consul
by the emperor and served as governor of the province, or perhaps the title was
more ornamental and reflected a formal position of power within Palmyra itself. 
For discussion, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 104, n. 167.
14  We know very little of the disposition of Odenathus? forces at the time. 
Festus Breviarium 23, Jerome Chronicon 221 (Helm), and Orosius Historia 7.22.12
all describe Odeanthus as having collected a band of peasants (agrestium manu),
predominately Syrian according to Festus.  Zosimus 1.39.1 adds that Odenathus
also included within his ranks the remnants of the Roman legions in the East. 
Presumably, his army also included any Palmyrene forces the city supported.  For
discussion, see Will, Les Palmyr?niens, 181-82.
409
whether he was mainly a Palmyrene or Roman official.13  At this stage, with many
Palmyrene communities abroad destroyed, perhaps Odenathus and his compatriots
had realized that their only means of surviving the Persian onslaughts and restoring
commercial contacts abroad was to identify fully with the Romans.  At any rate his
titles expressed the position of Odenathus iin purely Roman terms.
When Shapur resumed campaigning in 259/60 C.E., and after his capture of
the Roman emperor Valerian in Mesopotamia, the Palmyrenes, led by Odenathus,
reacted.  With an army of Palmyrene soldiers, Syrian peasants, and whatever
Roman forces would join his ranks, Odenathus drove back the Persians.14  Despite
his successful campaigning, Odenathus failed to retrieve the emperor but
nonetheless humbled Shapur?s arrogance.  There followed a second campaign in
262 C.E. when Odenathus managed to recover most of Mesopotamia for the
Romans; and in 266 or 267 C.E., Odenathus advanced deep into Persian territory
15  For the various accounts, see Dodgeon and Lieu, Roman Eastern Frontier,
71-77.  The campaign of 266 or 267 C.E. is implied by Zosimus 1.39.1-2, who
states that Odenathus twice besieged Ctesiphon after 262 C.E. and once shortly
before his death.  The same is implied by Syncellus Chronographica 1.712.
16  See p. 56, n. 121 above.  Restitutor totius Orientis is taken from P0292 as
the translation of mtqnn? dy mdnh. ? klh; for discussion, see Cantineau, ?Un
Restitutor orientis,? 222 (1933): 217-33.  As ?King of kings,? see P0292 and
P0317.
17  See P0293.
18  If more was known concerning the circumstances surrounding his death,
better insight might be gained with respect to Zenobia?s subsequent actions or
reactions, and to what extent his assassination affected relations between Palmyra
410
and attempted directly to seize Ctesiphon.15  This push down the Euphrates
probably facilitated the Palmyrene caravan of 266 C.E.  Finally, in recognition of
these exploits to advance frontier security, Odenathus was apparently honored with
further titles that acknowledged his preeminence in the Near East, such as ?restorer
of the entire Orient? (restitutor totius Orientis) and ?King of kings? (mlk mlk?), the
latter a title traditionally assumed by the Persian rulers.16  Such titles will have
emphasized Palmyra?s position between Roma and Persia.  The only decisive
evidence for the title ?King of kings,? however, dates to 271 C.E., when his wife
Zenobia was on her own campaign to legitimate her imperial ambitions.17  Any
further plans Odenathus may have had of extending Palmyrene or Roman influence
into Persia, or of securing a more favorable position for himself or Palmyra within
the Roman Empire, were cut short by his murder, alongside that of his son,
Septimius Hairan, in 267/68 C.E.18  Odenathus had brought Palmyra through some
and Rome.  Sources on this matter are confusing and contradictory, based largely
on rumor and hearsay.  One version of the assassination implicates the emperor
Gallienus, who apparently grew concerned over Odenathus? increasing power,
while Zenobia?s subsequent actions simply translated as revenge for the death of
her husband (see Petrus Patricius frag. 7, FHG vol. 4, 195; cf. John of Antioch frag.
152.2, FHG vol. 4, 599).  Various other versions relate the assassination to internal
family disputes: Zenobia herself is implicated in one account (see SHA Tyranni
Triginta 15.5-6 and 17.1-3; SHA Gallienus 13.1; Zonaras 12.24; Syncellus
Chronographica 1.716-17; and Zosimus 1.39.2).  For the sources, see Dodgeon and
Lieu, Roman Eastern Frontier, 80-82.  For discussion, see Hartmann, Das
palmyrenische Teilreich, 218-30.
411
troublesome times.
I have suggested that Odenathus, before he ever took an aggressive stance
against Shapur, approached the Persian king primarily as a Palmyrene mindful of
Palmyra and Palmyrene trade interests in Persia.  Yet Odenathus was a Roman
senator with regional influence.  Also, Palmyra itself at the time was a Roman
colonia, although despite this status the city was unique among others.  While
under the aegis of Rome, Palmyra nonetheless retained some independence because
of its isolation in the desert.  A more comprehensive response, then, to the initial
question of whether Odenathus presumably had approached Shapur as a Palmyrene
or a Roman would be that he did so in all likelihood as both, only that the welfare
of his native community seems to have held pride of place.
The events that followed the death of Odenathus are complex.  At some
time before 269/70 C.E., his wife and son, Zenobia and Vaballathus, assumed from
both eastern and western perspectives positions of exceptional power.  An undated
inscription, for example, on a milestone in Palmyrene territory west of the city on
19  P0317.  The inscription probably dates before Palmyra?s eventual expansion
westward, as Millar, Roman Near East, 171-72, suggests.  The Palmyrene term
?pnrtt.? is a transcription of the Greek epanorth?t s, the equivalent of the Latin
corrector.  For discussion, see C. Clermont-Ganneau, ?Odeinat et Vaballat, rois de
Palmyre, et leur titre romain de corrector,? Revue biblique 29 (1920): 382-419.  See
also F. Millar, ?Paul of Samosata, Zenobia and Aurelian: The Church, Local
Culture and Political Allegiance in Third-Century Syria,? JRS 61 (1971): 9-10.
20  For the evidence, see Dodgeon and Lieu, Roman Eastern Frontier, 83-89.
21  On the extension of Palmyrene power in Arabia, see Malalas 12, p. 299,
who claims that Zenobia invaded to avenge the death of her husband and slew the
dux of the province.  For further discussion, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische
Teilreich, 278-88.  For the chronology, see Millar, ?Paul of Samosata,? 9.
412
the road to Damascus or Emesa, identifies Zenobia as ?queen? (basilissa) and
Vaballathus as both ?King of kings? (mlk mlk?) and ?corrector of the entire East?
(?pnrtt.? dy mdnh. ? klh).19  In this instance I would argue that the assumption of royal
titles made sense only with respect to the extension of Palmyrene power and
influence into Persian territory, where Odenathus had earlier established Palmyrene
dominance.  It was, perhaps, an assertion of Palmyrene interests in the East.  Soon,
however, Zenobia and her son turned westward, but what motivated their decision
to do so remains contested.  The various accounts are late, fragmentary, and even
contradictory at times, so it is generally difficult to discern fact from fiction.20
It is, nonetheless, evident that Palmyrene forces took immediate steps to
seize Egypt in 269/70 C.E., and they secured control over Arabia in the process.21 
Potentially, there were two motivating factors behind the Palmyrene invasion of
22  See J. Schwartz, ?L?Empire romain et le commerce oriental,? Annales 15
(1960): 18-44.
23  For discussion, see Young, Rome?s Eastern Trade, 180-82.
24  Perhaps in this same context the Palmyrenes attacked Bostra in Syria.  See
IGLS 13.1.9107, which records the destruction of the temple of Jupiter Hammon by
the ?Palmyrene enemies? (a Pa[l]myrenis hostibu[s]).
25  On the supplying of foodstuffs in the Roman Empire, see Garnsey and
Saller, Roman Empire, 83-103.
26  See Potter, Prophecy and History, 394.
413
Egypt.  Commercial interests may have prompted the invasion.22  As noted, there
was a significant decline in the long-distance trade via the Euphrates as a result of 
the Persian Wars.23  Meanwhile, commercial goods continued to arrive at Red Sea
ports, and, as noted in Chapter 6, Palmyrene merchants in the region were certainly
aware of and supported this trade.  Thus the desire to assume direct control over
this commerce and to open new markets may have prompted the invasion.24
On the other hand, the seizure of Egypt may have been clearly an attempt to
assert dynastic rule in the Near East.  Egypt was after all central to the food supply
of the Roman state and power and dominance awaited anyone who controlled it.25 
Initially, the Palmyrenes may have sought to maintain their dominant position in the
region, which Odenathus certainly had achieved, as opposed to expanding it.26  But
their dominance expanded nonetheless.  Presumably after the Egyptian campaign,
the Palmyrenes took control over northern Syria, which included the great city of
27  As argued by Millar, ?Paul of Samosata,? 9.
28  Zosimus 1.50.1.
29  For instance, see Stoneman, Palmyra and Its Empire, 161; and Young,
Rome?s Eastern Trade, 180.
30  See Malalas 12, p. 299.
31  Millar, Roman Near East, 173 and 334-35, suggests that Zenobia?s actions
in fact reflected an abortive claim to the Empire.
414
Antioch.27  Palmyrene supremacy eventually spread to Galatia, and thus the
Palmyrenes held all of Asia Minor east of Ankara.28  This move into Galatia, it is
claimed, challenges the notion that the Palmyrenes were motivated by commercial
interests.29  This is not necessarily true, if we presume that the Palmyrenes were
also commercially driven by a desire to gain access to foreign markets.  In addition,
the move into Galatia may have reflected Palmyrene interest in the Black Sea trade. 
Nevertheless, while the Palmyrenes may have intended to expand their domination
further westward, fate intervened in the person of an angered and perhaps anxious
Roman emperor, Aurelian, who had assumed power soon after the death of
Claudius II in 270 C.E. and thus after the Palmyrenes gained control over Egypt.30  
The expansion of Palmyrene power and dominance under Zenobia and
Vaballathus raises the issue of whether it represented a local ethnic movement
against Rome, a bid for independence and hegemony over Syria and the Near East,
or was it an abortive claim to the Empire by notable Romans hailing from a Roman
city?31  In other words, did Zenobia and her son, and behind them the forces of
32  For what follows, see the discussion by see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische
Teilreich, 242-59. 
33  See n. 19 above.
415
Palmyra, act primarily as Palmyrenes or as Romans?  Since narrative sources are
late and unreliable for establishing a context illuminating personal motives,
scholars have turned to the epigraphy and the numismatic evidence for answers. 
Basically, the attempt has been made to determine when and in what manner the
Palmyrenes propagandized and legitimized their rule, as revealed, for instance, by
the titles their leaders assumed and asserted locally on coins and through
inscriptions.32  Presumably before 270 C.E., for example, Zenobia regarded herself
as ?queen? (basilissa), and Vaballathus  styled himself ?King of kings? (mlk mlk?)
and ?corrector of the entire East? (?pnrtt.? dy mdnh. ? klh), titles which he purportedly
inherited from his father.33  The implication of this is that Zenobia and her son were
the supreme rulers of Palmyra acting in their city?s interests.  Also, the dual
designation of ?King of kings? and corrector, I would suggest, legitimized the
extension of Palmyrene domination to the east and west, respectively.
In 270 C.E. Vaballathus  began assuming the Roman titles of vir clarissimus
(the most illustrious ruler), consul, dux Romanorum, strat gos of the Romans, and
imperator, while he apparently dropped the title of corrector and began designating
himself as ?king,? or rex in Latin rather than as ?King of kings.?  Clearly by this
time, Vaballathus sought recognition and legitimacy from Roman authorities, in
34  For the evidence, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 248, n. 16. 
Similarly from Judaea, milestones found north of Scythopolis record, ?Vaballatho |
Athenodoro | VC Regi Cons | Imp Duc Roma|norum;? see Isaac, Limits of Empire,
223, n. 22; and Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 248-49, n. 17.  See also T.
Bauzou, ?Deux milliaires inedits de Vaballath en Jordanie du Nord,? in The
Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, 1-8.
35  See, for example, P. Oxy. 2908 2:20-26: (?J@LH) "t ! J@6DVJ@D@H
5"\F"D@H | 7@L6\@L )@:4JJ\@L ! D084"<@  + F,$@ H | + JLP@ H
E,$"FJ@  6"? z3@L8\@L | ! D08\@  E,BJ4:\@L ? "$"8V2@L |
z!20<@*fD@L J@  8":BD@JVJ@L $"F48XTH |  BVJ@L " J@6DVJ@D@H
FJD"J0(@  {CT:"\T(<) | I $4.  Cf. P. Oxy. 1264.  For discussion with
references, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich, 249-50, ns. 18-20.
416
particular from the emperor Aurelian, since the title imperator was an overt claim
to imperial rank.  Coins struck in Antioch, papyri from Egypt, and milestone
inscriptions from Arabia and Syria tell the story.  For example, milestone
inscriptions from along Trajan?s new highway (via nova) from between Bostra and
Philadelphia (modern Amman) record Vaballathus as L. Julius Aurelius Septimius
Baballathus Athenodorus v(ir) c(larissimus) rex co(n)s(ul) imperator dux
Romanorum.34  Papyri from Egypt, those which are dated by the regnal years of
both Aurelian and Vaballathus, present a more obvious attempt on the part of the
latter to gain legitimacy.  These style Aurelian in a dominant position as,
?Imperator Caesar Lucius Domitius Aurelianus Pius Felix Augustus,? whereas
Vaballathus is identified without the title of Augustus as, ?Julius Aurelius
Septimius Vaballathus Athenodoros, illustrious king, consul, imperator, strat gos
of the Romans.?35  Similarly, coins struck in Antioch in this period bear portraits of
both Aurleian and Vaballathus; the former is identified as Augustus on the reverse
36  The standard formulation was, according to RIC 5.1, 308, nr. 381: IMP C
AVRELIANVS AVG | VABALATHVS VCRIMDR = Imp(erator) C(aesar)
Aurelianus Aug(ustus) | Vabalathus V(ir) C(larissimus) R(ex) Im(perator) D(ux)
R(omanorum).  For other references, see Hartmann, Das palmyrenische Teilreich,
251-53, ns. 27-28 and 30.
37  ILS 8924: Im[p]. Caesari L. Iulio | Aurelio Septimio | Vaballatho |
Athenodoro Per|sico Maximo Ara|bico Maximo Adia|benico Maximo Pio | Felici
Inuicto Au[g].
38  See H. Seyrig,?Vhabalathus Augustus,? in M?langes offerts ? Kazimierz
Michalowski, edited by M. -L. Bernhard (Warsaw: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo
Naukowe, 1966), 659-62; and Millar, Roman Near East, 172.
417
of the coins, whereas on the obverse Vaballathus is depicted with the lesser titles of
king (rex), imperator, and dux Romanorum.36  In all such examples, it is clear that
Vaballathus had yet to deviate from the hope of imperial recognition, with which
Palmyrene power and dominance in the region would have been secured.  
Only near the end of 271 and in 272 C.E. did Vaballthus break from this
pattern of acknowledging his subordinate position to Aurelian and assume direct
imperial authority by styling himself as Augustus.  A milestone from along the
Trajan?s via nova publicizes the usurpation: 
To the Emperor Caesar L. Julius Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus
Athenodoros Persicus Maximus Arabicus Maximus Adiabenicus
Maximus Pius Felix Invictus Augustus.37 
Also, at Antioch coins were struck that excluded Aurelian altogether and designated
Vaballathus as Augustus along with his mother Zenobia as Augusta.38  It would
seem that Zenobia and Vaballathus assumed imperial authority because prior
attempts to legitimize and to gain official recognition of their dominance in the
39  Isaac, Limits of Empire, 223.
40  Zosimus 1.59.1 reports that a son of Zenobia accompanied Aurelian, but he
does specify whether it was Vaballathus or not.  Purportedly, Zenobia had other
children through her union with Odenathus.  SHA Gallienus 13.2 names two sons,
Herennianus and Timolaus, while SHA Aurelian 38.1 identifies Vaballathus,
Herennianus, and Timolaus.  For further discussion of the evidence and the issues
involved, see Seyrig, ?Les Fils du roi Odainat,? 159-72.  Cf. Potter, Prophecy and
History, 386-88.
418
region were reproached by the emperor.  Indeed, it may be that Aurelian had
already set out for the East, which then forced the transition.  Unfortunately, the
evidence is insufficient to understand what the strategic aims of Zenobia and her
son were.  In fact, as Isaac emphasizes, it was probably naive in the first place to
think that Palmyrene domination over Egypt was anything but an ?irrevocable step
making reconciliation with the emperor impossible.?39  At any rate, what appeared
as clear usurpation to Aurelian met with stiff resistence.  The emperor Aurelian
came to the East later in 272 C.E., when he defeated Palmyrene forces at Antioch
and Emesa and besieged Palmyra itself.  Palmyra eventually fell after the Romans
captured Zenobia, who had attempted an escape to the Persians.  The fate of
Vaballathus is not known, but it is doubtful that Aurelian allowed the youth to be
spared.40
With the evidence of the Palmyrene ?revolt? in mind, we may now address
the question of whether Palmyrene operations deep within Roman territory
represented a separatist movement to establish Palmyrene dominance over Syria or
all of the Near East, or whether it was an abortive bid of Palmyra?s rulers as
41  Zonaras 12.27; and Zosimus 1.54-56.
419
Romans to seize the Empire.  According to Millar, the facts themselves suggest that
the latter was the case.  I agree, but point out that the claim to imperial power came
only after spectacular military success.  Surely in 271/272 C.E., by declaring
themselves Augusti, Vaballathus and Zenobia sought imperial power in Roman
terms.  What was meant earlier, however, when they clung to the titles of king and
queen, which would have had no real relevance in the Roman state among Roman
citizens?  Unfortunately, the answers are as vague as any personal motives that we
may hope to assign to Zenobia and her son, although their assumption of these titles
should not be removed entirely from their Palmyrene contexts.  Hence, the initial
impetus to move westward, especially into Egypt, may have been prompted by the
desire to expand Palmyrene commerce, which would indicate that Palmyra?s
prosperity was a main concern.  If Zenobia and her son embraced a separatist revolt,
they acted not just as Palmyrenes, or primarily as Romans, but as both.
Finally, the epilogue to the Palmyrene ?revolt? illuminates the strength of
the Palmyrene community.  After deposing Zenobia, Aurelian initially spared the
city.41  After the capture of Zenobia, however, and upon his return to Europe, within
the year perhaps, Aurelian had received word of a second Palmyrene uprising.  Led
by a local citizen, Septimius Apsaios, a group primarily of Palmyrenes, who sought
perhaps to restore Palmyra to a position of regional importance, began tempting a
certain Marcellinus, whom Aurelian posted as prefect of Mesopotamia and Rector
42  Zosimus 1.59-61.
43  According to SHA Aurelian 30.4-5, the Palmyrenes promoted a certain
Achilleus, presumably a kinsman of Zenobia.  The anonymous source goes on to
describe how the Palmyrenes murdered a certain Sandario, commander of the
Roman garrison there, along with six hundred of his archers.
44Inventaire 3.18: E,BJ. }!R"4@< J?< B@8,\J0< | 6"? BD@FJVJ0< ?
B?84H.
420
of the East, to usurp imperial power.42  Cautious and hesitant, Marcellinus delayed
responding to the Palmyrenes, which aggravated their impatience.  When they
insisted upon an answer, Marcellinus would provide only ambiguous ones, all the
while concealing the fact that he had informed Aurelian of their plans.  With their
patience exhausted, the Palmyrenes reacted by elevating one of their own to the
rank of Augustus, a certain Antiochus.43  Aurelian, meanwhile, was quick to return
to the city and put down the revolt, presumably even dismissing Antiochus
afterwards as someone of little importance.  The fate of Septimius Apsaios is not
known, but his faithfulness to Palmyra was memorialized by the following
inscription set up along the Great Colonnade:
The City to Septimius Apsaios, citizen and protector.44
In a final assessment I would not discount the possibility that Septimius Apsaios,
not to mention his colleagues, acted partly out of his own self-interest, but neither
would I dismiss the notion that he also acted out of communal-interest, as a
Palmyrene faced with the civic crisis of displacement from the broader social and
commercial networks that had made the city what it was.  For his good citizenship
421
and his self-identification with Palmyra, he was appropriately honored.  At this
point, however, this meant very little.  The community of the Palmyrenes had
breached faith with both Rome and Persia as a neutral entity between the Empires. 
Soon Palmyra would fade into obscurity. 
Retrospect and Broader Implications 
 Thus, in the dramatic careers of Odenathus and Zenobia, a conflict of
identities helped bring a dramatic end to the spectacular achievement of Palmyra. 
My aim in this study has been to identify the factors that led various tribal groups to
establish a city in the first century B.C.E. and then to illuminate the subsequent
processes of urban development and community transformation.  I framed this
entire study within an analysis of the structure and maintenance of personal and
group identity, in the city, in the countryside, and further afield, as well as within a
discussion of the development of the state as a hybrid of the Greek polis, thus a
community of citizens in face-to-face contact.  I sought to elaborate upon how the
Palmyrenes managed to form a community that typified Mediterranean social and
political structures while retaining indigenous elements that made them culturally
distinct.
I examined in Chapter 2 how the Palmyrenes constructed personal and
group identity upon clans and tribes of primordial origin, by analyzing tribalism
both at Palmyra and in its territory.  Initially, I contested the popular conceptions of
sedentarization and nomadization as unidirectional processes, and I stressed that
422
subsistence strategies based on agriculture or pastoralism tended to overlap, even
within the same tribal groups, and that relations between their members tended to
be mutualistic rather than antagonistic.  Tribalism at Palmyra, in fact, reflected
commonalities between individuals and groups generated in an environment
sufficiently harsh to require greater effort and cooperation in order to acquire the
basic necessities of life.  The harsh environment also promoted greater competition
over what few resources were available, which might have turned to conflict and
thereby required more concerted measures to maintain security and peace. 
Furthermore, I emphasized that Palmyra remained distinctly a tribal society
throughout its history, and that membership in a particular tribe conferred identity
upon those individuals involved.  This in turn provided a cultural infrastructure
around which their community grew.  
Chapters 3-5 formed the heart of this study.  I examined in Chapter 3 the
mechanisms of community formation.  I emphasized the role of the city as both a
religious and an economic center.  Indeed, individuals and groups were naturally
and customarily drawn to Palmyra as a cult center in the Syrian desert, perhaps
through most of the settlement history of the oasis.  The cultic atmosphere provided
social cohesion.  Then, beginning in the first century C.E., more people settled in
Palmyra because of the economic opportunities that the city afforded, especially
participation in the caravan trade.  This was a lucrative enterprise that enriched
those involved in it and largely financed the architectural and sculptural
423
embellishment of the city.  
I examined in Chapter 4 Palmyrene social relations that followed
community formation.  I explored personal and group identity through a
comprehensive review of the daily face-to-face interactions among individuals and
groups, and I attempted to put Palmyrene social relations in broader Mediterranean
contexts.  I emphasized the importance of kinship as the basic framework for
identity construction, and I examined related issues such as family structure,
marriage patterns, and the roles of women, freedmen, freedwomen, and slaves in
Palmyrene society.  I then reviewed non-kinship groups such as religious clubs and
occupational groups in the city?s social organization.  I concluded Chapter 4 with
an assessment of friendship and patronage at Palmyra and the manner in which
these power relationships structured personal and group interaction.  These
reflected an ethic of reciprocity in Palmyrene society, which resulted from
communal expansion and increased relationships between Palmyrenes and
foreigners, primarily Romans.  In fact, the introduction of a formal Roman system
of patronage in the third century C.E., not to discount informal patronage systems
in preceding centuries, marked a clear shift in Palmyra?s social development.  This
placed upon the Palmyrene community a unique cultural stamp, the imprint of
which highlighted Palmyra?s incorporation in the Roman world.
I discussed in Chapter 5 the development of Palmyra?s civic institutions that
regulated social, economic, political, and cultural relations within the city and its
424
hinterland.  I began with the development of Palmyra as a hybrid form of the Greek
polis and of the formation of a distinct ?Palmyrene? identity and citizenship.  I then
discussed Palmyra?s institutional development first into a classic Greek polis and
then into a Roman colonia.  Throughout, I stressed Rome?s increasing power over
and influence upon the city.  I also reviewed the evidence for the ?four tribes? of
Palmyra as a distinct social organism, but I rejected the common view that the ?four
tribes? were an artificial creation that occurred under Roman influence.  Instead I
identified their appearance as a natural communal reaction to an economic and
political crisis in the second century C.E. that required greater group collaboration
among pre-existing tribal entities.  I concluded Chapter 5 with a discussion of
Palmyra?s military as a distinct civic institution that embodied the power of the
Palmyrene state.  
Chapter 6 moved beyond Palmyra and its hinterland to examine how
Palmyrene identity and community were structured and maintained abroad.  I
focused initially on the Palmyrene community of Dura Europos, for whom we have
the greatest evidence, and I demonstrated how Dura and Palmyra intertwined their
fates through affiliation of their respective tutelary deities.  I then discussed the
Palmyrene merchant communities abroad, especially those in the Parthian Empire,
which promoted the caravan trade and Palmyra?s urban development.  I concluded
with a discussion of Palmyrenes in foreign services, notably those who served in
numeri, or ethnic military units, throughout the Roman Empire.  I emphasized in
425
Chapter 6 that the Palmyrenes were quite successful at sustaining their identities
and cultural distinctiveness in foreign contexts.  They did so by maintaining social
and economic connections to their native community.  They also imported their
Palmyrene gods into their foreign residences in order to sustain themselves as a
unified people while settled abroad.  
To sum up, in this study I have shown that through almost three centuries
the Palmyrenes, whether at home or abroad, never lost their cultural integrity and
distinctiveness.  In fact, Palmyra represents a rare example of a tribal society that
made the transition from a nomadic, or semi-nomadic, to a more settled way of life,
while retaining strong pastoral connections.  Whatever the circumstances were that
brought about this transition, it is significant that it occurred so soon after the
Romans established their presence in the Near East.  Trade was certainly a factor. 
Also, as an urban community, the Palmyrenes were in a better position to engage in
more meaningful and profitable relations with the Romans, who were predisposed
to focus their attention and resources on people in cities as opposed to ?barbarians?
living on the fringes of civilization.  Yet while the Romans provided a context for
the urbanization of Palmyra in Mediterranean style, the Palmyrenes themselves
initiated and promoted a new and distinct communal identity.  Cultural influence
from the east also had an impact on Palmyra?s communal development.  Indeed, the
same tribes that coalesced at Palmyra also established communities in a number of
important cities in Parthia, and the cultural influences derived from these contacts
426
were numerous.  In this manner, between Rome and Parthia, the Palmyrenes
formulated and maintained a distinct cultural identity.  Their success may be
attributed to their semi-autonomy in the frontier between the two empires, which
set all the conditions necessary to generate a cultural distinctiveness as Palmyrenes
that was, as I will discuss further below, ?Greek,? ?Roman,? ?Parthian,? and native
all at once.
Finally, this study has contributed broadly to scholarship in Palmyrene, Near
Eastern, and frontier studies.  In the field of Palmyrene studies, by examining the
epigraphic evidence in its monumental contexts, I have presented a composite
image of communal development at Palmyra that highlights indigenous responses
to social, economic, and political change.  I have also provided a more
comprehensive context for identity construction and maintenance, by demonstrating
the persistence of identities based on blood and kinship and their compatibility with
those based on locality of residence.  Ultimately, I have provided a social, political,
and historical context for the interpretation of material associated with the
Palmyrene community.  
In the broader field of Near Eastern studies, I have illuminated the
ubiquitous process of sedentarization and outlined the development of a Semitic
city on the fringes of the Roman Near East.  In the process of building a
community, Palmyrene social and political structures reflected native features, as
well as Greek, Roman, and Parthian ones.  These structures, in fact, governed the
45  Millar, Roman Near East, 225.
427
shape and maintenance of Palmyrene identity, which reflected all external stimuli.  
Fergus Millar asserts that ?a social and economic history of the Near East in
the Roman period cannot be written.?45  This is true partly because we lack
sufficient case studies to permit broader assessments of social and economic
developments in the Near East.  Oddly enough, Palmyra is unique among
communities in the Near East for many reasons but in particular because of the
wealth of historical and archaeological evidence the city provides.  It is indeed
possible to write a social and economic history of Palmyra, as I hope to have
demonstrated.  Furthermore, when set in broader regional contexts, the Palmyrene
evidence can illuminate general historical processes that reflect Near Eastern
society and economy.  
This study also contributes to frontier studies and the issue of cultural
negotiation in regional settings.  I have emphasized throughout this work, which is
essentially an historical ethnography of Palmyra as a frontier community, the social
and cultural distinctiveness the Palmyrenes achieved during the growth of their
community.  This happened while confronting Rome?s expanding power and
influence.  Indeed, the growth of Palmyra as a city, which began probably in the
first century B.C.E., was facilitated by Roman authorities such as Creticus Silanus,
who fixed Palmyra?s territorial boundaries, and Germanicus early in the reign of
Tiberius.  Then road construction in the last quarter of the first century C.E. brought
46  Isaac, Limits of Empire, 2.
428
Palmyra into Rome?s provincial network and gave Roman forces ease of access to
the oasis.  The imperial visit of Hadrian, the living embodiment of Roman power
and authority, early in the second century C.E. confirmed Roman interests in the
city, both as a source of revenue and as an indirect means of policing the desert to
assure regional security.  By the close of the second century C.E., a Roman garrison
was installed in the city, perhaps under Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius, along
with the imperial cult, which set Palmyra firmly within Rome?s administrative
network.  Finally, in the third century C.E. Palmyra was confirmed to be a Roman
city, having been granted the institutional status of a colonia, and its free citizens,
certainly after the Constitutio Antoniniana of 212 C.E., legally became Romans.
In a broader context, according to Isaac, ?the Roman Empire grew by
conquering and absorbing neighboring peoples, one after the other.  The subjects in
the provinces lost their identity as peoples and became, if they were lucky, Roman
citizens.?46  As I have noted, however, the Palmyrenes clearly did not lose their
identity as a people.  Rather they managed to preserve this identity while
simultaneously becoming Roman.  This was possible because Palmyra was a
community isolated in the desert and on the periphery of the Empire.  Because of its
setting, as Pliny had noted in the first century C.E., Palmyra enjoyed a privata sors,
a separate fate, between empires.  Palmyra was the archetypical frontier community.
The study of Roman frontiers traditionally has centered on the Roman army,
47  See, for instance, W. S. Hanson, ?The Nature and Function of Roman
Frontiers,? in Barbarians and Romans in North-West Europe, edited by J. Barrett,
et al., B. A. R. International Series, no. 471 (Oxford: British Archaeological
Reports, 1989), 55-63.  For discussion, see H. Elton, Frontiers of the Roman
Empire (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996), 1-9.
48  For the East, see S. Gregory, Roman Military Architecture on the Eastern
Frontier (Amsterdam: A. Hakkert, 1995).
429
as the instrument of imperium or power, and its deployment.  The tendency has
been to regard frontiers as explicitly military, where a frontier is defined chiefly by
the presence of imperial forces and their fortifications.47  In terms of function, the
frontier served both as a safeguard against external enemies (whether perceived or
real) and, not least of all, as a staging area for the expansion of the Roman
imperium.  One challenge to scholars has been to determine the scope of either of
these functions, whether the components of any frontier system represented
defensive tactics, offensive tactics, or both.  Studies which emphasize the nature
and function of military architecture within a frontier zone represent one important
response to the challenge.48 
While no study of the Roman frontier can dismiss the significance of the
army, which, after all, represented the Roman Empire in the provinces and was
essential to the imperial administration, neither should any study ignore the
indigenous elements that comprised Roman frontiers and their distinctive features. 
Frontier regions varied significantly one from another, and this variation depended
on a number of factors.  Differences in climate and topography contributed, on the
49  C. R. Whittaker, Frontiers of the Roman Empire (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1994).
50  See ibid., 10-30.
51  This is also the essence of the argument by B. Isaac, ?An Open Frontier,? in
Fronti?res d?empire: Nature et signification des fronti?res romaines (Actes de la
Table ronde internationale de Nemours, 21-22-23 mai 1992), edited by P. Brun, S.
E. van der Leeuw, and C. R. Whittaker,  M?moires du Mus?e de Pr?histoire d?Ile-
de-France, no 5 (Nemours: Editions de l?Association pour la Promotion de la
Recherche arch?ologique en Ile-de-France, 1993), 105-14.
430
one hand, and the customs, traditions, language, and religion of native populations,
only to name a few aspects, did so as well.  Awareness of this diversity gives room
for the development of more integrative models for the study of frontier regions. 
Whittaker?s The Frontiers of the Roman Empire represents an important
contribution in this direction.49  Whittaker is interested in the Roman ideology of
frontiers, which he shows to be the result of a cosmology that combined a Roman
perception of space, defined in terms of harmony, order, regularity and
accessibility, with an assertion of power and control over areas not under direct
imperial control.  Whittaker argues that the Romans adhered to the ideology of
propagatio imperii and imperium sine fine, which suggests that they perceived of
an empire without limits, and he illustrates how externae gentes, peoples beyond
imperial control, were themselves treated as though they were in fact subjects of the
Empire.50  His thesis represents a growing trend not to view frontiers as simple
demarcations between Romans and barbarians but as zones of social, economic, or
cultural interactivity or diffusion.51  While Whittaker admits that there were limits
52  See also Elton, Frontiers of the Roman Empire, 2-9.
53  The literature on the topic is vast and no doubt will continue to increase so
long as the issues of acculturation and assimilation maintain contemporary
relevance.  For a survey of the issues with references to earlier works, see M.
Millett, ?Romanization: Historical Issues and Archaeological Interpretations,? in
The Early Roman Empire in the West, edited by T. Blagg and M. Millett (Oxford:
431
to imperial expansion, his emphasis is less on the boundaries of direct Roman
control than on the zones within which the Romans exercised their influence.52
The manner in which Rome exercised its control over or influence upon
Palmyra is difficult to assess, but the effects seem obvious.  Palmyra developed as a
community increasingly attuned to Mediterranean values and customs.  Palmyrenes
were clearly more Roman in the third century C.E. than they had been in the first or
second.  Indeed, as the community developed over time, patterns of Roman
behavior emerged among its citizenry, especially among the ruling elite.  This
reflected the dual processes of homogenization and cultural convergence, as the
Palmyrenes gradually became less differentiated from Romans.  To a certain extent,
this was Romanization.  There were, however, anomalies that made Palmyra
unique.  Its language, art, military capacity, and foreign relations, as I have
discussed, all contributed to the preservation of a unique Palmyrene identity.  How
are we to explain this?  What did it mean for the Palmyrenes to ?become Roman,?
and was it necessarily the case that to ?become Roman? meant that one lost all
sense of being something other? 
Romanization is still a problematic topic.53  Essentially, it was a process?
Oxbow Books, 1990), 35-41; and Webster, ?Creolizing the Provinces,? 209-17.
54  See Garnsey and Saller, Roman Empire, 194; and R. MacMullen,
Romanization in the Time of Augustus (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000),
1-19.  See also Millar, Roman Near East, 526-27.
432
traditionally expressed in such terms as assimilation and acculturation that took
place at the periphery?by which indigenous peoples were incorporated into the
Roman Empire.  In other words, they ?became Romans.? The Roman army was one
link between center and periphery, and just as its role on the Roman frontier is
debated, so too is its role as a catalyst for cultural change.  Most scholars assume
that the Roman army was central to the homogenization of the Empire.54  They
emphasize the high visibility and integration of the army in the provinces, the daily
contacts between soldiers and civilians, and the role of the army in mediating
between the imperial government and civilian populations.  The army facilitated the
spread of Latin to the provinces and contributed to the development of the
provincial infrastructure.  As the builder of bridges, roads, and other public works,
the army facilitated the social and economic integration of the provinces.  The army
also incorporated provincials of diverse cultural backgrounds into its ranks,
imposing upon them a single institutional framework that clearly defined their
status and duties, and having them serve wherever the ruling power selected.  In
this sense, the bulk of the Roman army consisted of provincials who, by virtue of
their service, were themselves assimilated and acculturated in Roman fashion.  
Interestingly, the Palmyrene evidence complicates this assessment, since
55  See Woolf, ?Beyond Romans and Natives,? 347.
56  Ibid.  See also idem, Becoming Roman, 238-49.
433
some Palmyrenes served in the Roman army and became Roman while others, as I
discussed in Chapter 6, took care to preserve their native identities.  This leads to a
central debate regarding Romanization, which is the extent to which the Romans
actively assimilated and acculturated provincial populations as opposed to the
provincials Romanizing themselves by deliberately adopting the cultural habits of
their conquerors.55  I will suggest here, however, as I have in Chapter 2, that our
tendency to regard any process as unidirectional detracts from a full understanding
of the dynamics involved.  Cultural identities were, in fact, fluid and negotiable,
and the processes of acculturation and assimilation were active concurrently among
Romans and provincials alike.
For example, in his study of Roman Gaul, Greg Woolf similarly opted to
change the assumptions made in the debates concerning Romanization.56  Rather
than presenting the situation as that of one culture assimilating or adopting the
habits of another, the Romans and the Gauls collaborated in the development of a
totally new provincial culture.  Also, according to Woolf, it appeared that this
collaboration took place primarily between Roman authorities and a newly formed
Gallo-Roman aristocracy.  Both recognized that Roman culture was in itself a
negotiable concept.  What each of them sought from the interactive experience was
the cultural competence necessary to take part in the process of deciding what
57  See Millar, Roman Near East, 225-35; and idem, ?Ethnic Identity in the
Roman Near East, 325 - 450: Language, Religion, and Culture,? Mediterranean
Archaeology 11 (1998) 159-176.
58  Millar, Roman Near East, 521.
434
Roman culture, as a shared, provincial culture, would be. 
In a similar manner the Palmyrenes, through the ruling elite who were the
arbiters of power, negotiated a unique cultural identity, by becoming Roman while
remaining Palmyrene.  There was, however, one noticeable difference.  The
Palmyrenes, being in the frontier between Empires, incorporated cultural influences
that derived from the east as well as from the west.  To be a Palmyrene, then, was to
be ?native,? ?Parthian,? ?Greek,? and ?Roman? all at once.  Indeed, a Palmyrene
cultural identity seems to have been embedded in a network of complementing or
competing identities as defined by different affiliations and agendas among
individuals or groups in both indigenous and non-indigenous contexts.  This
supports Millar?s emphasis on the complexity and malleability of communal
identities in the Near East.57  Millar also notes that two profound effects on the
regional culture of the Near East were the step by step advance into the region of
the Roman army, as an important agent of cultural change, and the suppression of
local, independent identities.  He maintains that ?the effect of Roman rule was to
produce a steadily more uniform world of Graeco-Roman cities.?58  There was
indeed a predominance of Graeco-Roman urban culture spread throughout the
Roman Near East, which Palmyra?s urban development exemplified.  Yet the
435
suppression of an independent Palmyrene identity did not occur so long as it
complemented Roman power structures.  Only when it became politically
competitive did it succumb.
Again in Pliny?s description of Palmyra as enjoying a separate fate between
two Empires, we must appreciate how integral the city and its citizens were to the
prosperity and security of both.  Surrounded by a vast sea sand, Palmyrenes had
mastered the desert.  They controlled its routes, its water reserves, and managed the
activities of its tribal contingents.  Also, by policing the desert the Palmyrenes
relieved Rome and Parthia of the same burden and secured for themselves a
dominant position in the lucrative caravan trade.  Revenues from this trade, at the
behest of merchant notables, principally financed the embellishment of the oasis
into a spectacular example of a Hellenistic/Roman city.  Meanwhile, the
Palmyrenes negotiated a new cultural identity that reflected their new civic
lifestyles, but they retained nonetheless their eastern tendencies and a sense of
presence within their desert environment.  They maintained their tribal orientations
and desert traditions.  In the period of this book, the Palmyrenes became, and
remained, Palmyrenes.
436
Figures
437
Fig
ur
e 1
: G
en
era
l M
ap
 of
 th
e N
ea
r E
ast
438
Fig
ur
e 2
: S
ate
llit
e I
ma
ge
 of
 Pa
lm
yr
a?
no
rth
 at
 to
p (
[C
] C
NE
S/S
PO
T 
Im
ag
e 1
99
2-1
99
4)
439
Fig
ur
e 3
: C
ity
 Pl
an
 of
 Pa
lm
yr
a (
co
ur
tes
y o
f W
ale
ed
 al
-A
s?a
d)
440
Figure 4: Ancient city of Palmyra looking southeast.  Note the oasis in the
immediate background and the sabkha in the distance.
441
Fig
ure
 5:
 Te
rri
tor
y o
f P
alm
yra
 (a
fte
r M
att
he
ws
, ?
Ta
x L
aw
 of
 Pa
lm
yra
,? 
16
3, 
ma
p 2
)
442
Figure 6: Statue of unidentified Palmyrene
male (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum)
443
Figure 7: Great Colonnade looking north.  Note the presence of consoles on the
columns, on which statues of the Palmyrene elite were set.  Honorific inscriptions
identifying these individuals were generally inscribed on the face of the console or
on the column below it.
444
Figure 8: Temple of Bel looking west.  Note the date palms of the oasis in the
foreground.
445
Figure 9: Sanctuary of Bel in the temple precinct looking east
446
Figure 10: Sanctuary of Baalshamin looking north.  Note the presence of consoles
on the columns supporting the roof of the sanctuary, on which statues of the
temple?s benefactors were displayed.
447
Figure 11: Aerial view of the restored theater and of the agora looking west
(photograph by Waleed al-As?ad)
448
Figure 12: Temple of Allat looking south.  Note the Great Colonnade leading to the
temple of Bel in the background.
449
Figure 13: Monumental Arch looking northwest.  The arch masks a sharp bend in
the colonnade.
450
Figure 14: Tetrapylon looking north.  The monument marks an intersection of two
colonnaded streets.  Its columns, one of which is original, are of pink granite
shipped from Egypt.
451
Figure 15: Valley of the Tombs looking west.  The visible tower tombs are among the
oldest monuments at Palmyra.  Also present though not visible in the photograph are
the numerous hypogea which replaced the tower tombs as the preferred method of
burial in the second century C.E.
452
Figure 16: Tower tombs looking southwest
453
Figure 17: Monumental sarcophagi from the hypogeum of the three brothers
depicting a typical triclinium arrangement that mimics a Roman dining setting.
454
Figure 18: Loculi in the hypogeum of Artaban
455
Figure 19: Palmyrene merchants (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum).  Note their
distinctive native dress.
456
Figure 20: Palmyrene camel relief (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum)
457
Figure 21: Camels at Palmyra today 
458
Figure 22: Palmyrene ship with long oars, perhaps for navigating up the Euphrates
(courtesy of the Palmyra Museum).
459
Figure 23: House 35 at Palmyra (after Gabriel, ??Recherches
arch?ologiques ? Palmyra,? pl. 15)
460
Figure 24: Mosaic from the house of Cassiopeia highlighting Greek cultural
inclinations among the Palmyrene elite (courtesy of the National Museum,
Damascus, Syria)
461
Fig
ure
 25
: G
en
eal
og
ica
l c
ha
rt s
ho
wi
ng
 th
e d
esc
en
da
nts
 of
 M
an
ai 
Ela
hb
el.
  N
ote
 th
e e
nd
og
am
ou
s p
ara
lle
l c
ou
sin
ma
rri
ag
es.
462
Figure 26: Palmyrene funerary sarcophagus from the hypogeum of Bolha in the
southwest necropolis depicting as the central figure a certain Nabushuri, son of
Ogeilu, whose father is depicted on his right (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum). 
The woman sitting at the feet of Nabushuri is Aqme, daughter of a certain Baratai,
presumably his wife and clearly in a subordinate position.  The children, who are
set in smaller relief in the background, are not identified.
463
Figure 27: Relief of reclining Palmyrene couple, a certain Mal  (right) and Bolaya
(left), from the southeast necropolis (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum)
464
Figure 28: Relief of reclining Palmyrene woman with servant (courtesy
of the National Museum, Damascus, Syria)
465
Figure 29: Right side of relief of a processional scene from the temple of Bel.  Note
the train of women swathed in veils.
466
Figure 30: Left side of relief of processional scene from the temple of Bel.  Note
the veiled women in the upper-left scene.
467
Figure 31: Relief of a Palmyrene sacrificial scene from the temple
of Allat depicting veiled women in procession, perhaps priestesses
(courtesy of the Palmyra Museum)
468
Figure 32: Archaic relief from the agora that depicts two veiled
women in a sacrificial scene (courtesy of the Palmyra Museum). 
The woman on the far right holds a two-handled cup, and before
her another woman holds what appears to be a incense burner.
469
Figure 33: Relief of an unidentified Palmyrene woman with a stylus (courtesy
of the Palmyra Museum)
470
Figure 34: View of Euphrates from Dura Europos looking south.  Note the
agricultural fields along the bank of the river.
471
Figure 35: Relief of 159 C.E. depicting the Gad of Dura Europos
(courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection)
472
Figure 36: Relief of 159 C.E. depicting the Gad of Palmyra (courtesy of Yale
University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection)
473
Figure 37: Fresco depicting in the lower left scene the tychai of Palmyra and Dura
Europos (courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection).  The
tychai in addition to three other Palmyrene deities receive a sacrifice from the
tribune Julius Terentius alongside members of the cohors XX Palmyrenorum and
the priest Them s, son of Mokimos (courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-
Europos Collection)
474
475
Appendix I: Index of Palmyrene Aramaic Texts
PAT #
0005 ...........................................................225
0024 ........................................................76, 368
0025 ...........................................................368
0028 ...........................................................368
0042 ...........................................................368
0043 ...........................................................368
0044 .................................................75, 89, 220, 228
0045 .....................................................75, 89, 228
0048 .....................................................75, 89, 228
0049 ....................................................89, 219, 228
0050 .............................................75, 89, 219, 220, 228
0064 ............................................................75
0065 ...........................................................208
0071 ...........................................................188
0072 ...........................................................221
0075 ...........................................................221
476
0094 ...........................................................227
0096 ............................................................74
0101 ............................................................74
0110 ............................................................90
0115 ...........................................................253
0121 ...........................................................199
0122 ...........................................................199
0123 ...........................................................199
0124 ...........................................................199
0125 ...........................................................199
0126 ...........................................................199
0158 ............................................................46
0164 ............................................................85
0167 ....................................................46, 205, 207
0168 ..............................................76, 84, 85, 196, 205
0169 ............................................................85
0170 ............................................................85
0177 ........................................................85, 234
0178 ........................................................75, 234
0179 ........................................................85, 186
0180 ............................................................85
477
0187 ...........................................................283
0193 ............................................................85
0194 ............................................................85
0197 ......................83, 85, 88, 142, 143, 163, 165, 226, 277, 310, 325
0200 ...........................................................328
0208 .........................................................93, 95
0209 .........................................................93, 95
0218 ............................................................76
0246 ...........................................................395
0247 .......................................................269, 392
0248 ...........................................................393
0249 ...........................................................394
0251 .......................................................379, 382
0253 ...........................................................390
0254 ...........................................................390
0255 .......................................................387, 390
0256 ...........................................................368
0257 ...........................................................271
0259 ......... 47, 48, 51, 105, 106, 149-151, 155, 156, 212, 213, 216, 224, 280-
283, 357
0260 ............................................53, 127, 129, 257, 277
478
0261 ....................................................88, 126, 197
0262 .........................................85, 88, 163, 166, 226, 374
0263 ........................................................82, 127
0265 ....................................................88, 136, 243
0266 ...........................................................394
0267 ...........................................................277
0268 .......................................................126, 277
0269 ...........................................117, 126, 130, 265, 275
0270 .....................................45, 80, 125, 162, 257, 268, 365
0271 ........................................................80, 125
0274 ............................................................85
0276 .......................................................257, 277
0277 .......................................................257, 277
0278 .....................................55, 88, 138, 257, 277, 285, 288
0279 ................................................85, 163, 226, 406
0280 .......................................................277, 287
0281 ...........................................................277
0282 ............................................88, 168, 226, 277, 407
0283 .......................................................254, 278
0284 .......................................................277, 290
0285 ...................................................254, 289, 290
479
0286 .......................................................254, 290
0287 ....................................................55, 254, 290
0288 .........................55, 88, 168, 226, 245, 277, 285, 289, 290, 407
0289 .......................................................254, 290
0290 ...................................................255, 292, 408
0291 ...............................................224, 232, 255, 293
0292 .............................................88, 95, 207, 255, 410
0293 .............................................88, 95, 207, 255, 410
0294 .....................................................85, 88, 163
0295 ...........................................................163
0296 ........................................................82, 191
0297 .....................................................82, 84, 191
0298 ................................................82, 191, 257, 277
0299 ........................................................82, 191
0300 ...........................................................206
0305 .......................................50, 52, 85, 86, 269, 277, 281
0306 ................................................75, 164, 226, 253
0307 .......................................................164, 253
0309 ........................................................85, 163
0312 ...........................................................267
0314 ...........................................................142
480
0315 .......................................................140, 206
0316 .......................................................236, 244
0317 .......................................................410, 412
0318 .......................................................184, 254
0319 .......................................................254, 328
0320 ...........................................................225
0322 ...........................................................133
0324 .................................................75, 84, 187, 191
0326 ....................................................85, 144, 234
0329 ............................................................85
0334 .......................................................188, 208
0335 ........................................................90, 186
0340 .......................................................320, 322
0344 ...........................................................186
0356 ...........................................................208
0373 ...........................................................208
0379 ...........................................................184
0381 ...........................................................254
0382 ...........................................................184
0393 ...........................................................184
0394 ...........................................................184
481
0398 ...........................................................188
0400 ...........................................................184
0402 ...........................................................186
0410 ...........................................................133
0411 ...........................................................133
0415 ...........................................................224
0453 ...........................................................290
0457 ............................................................58
0463 ........................................................91, 184
0464 .......................................................184, 217
0467 ............................................................92
0469 ............................................................80
0470 ............................................................76
0471 ..................................................75, 80, 81, 309
0486 ...........................................................198
0491 ............................................................94
0494 ...........................................................198
0495 ...........................................................198
0496 ...........................................................198
0497 ...........................................................198
0498 ...........................................................197
482
0500 ...........................................................198
0501 ........................................................92, 198
0505 ...........................................................198
0507 ...........................................................198
0510 ............................................................76
0511 ............................................................76
0543 .........................................................75, 80
0544 ............................................................90
0558 .......................................................292, 350
0562 ........................................................75, 188
0570 ............................................................76
0574 ...........................................................254
0591 ............................................................48
0612 ............................................................75
0614 ...........................................................226
0615 ...........................................................226
0616 ...........................................................226
0617 ...........................................................225
0618 ...........................................................225
0619 ...........................................................226
0620 ...........................................................226
483
0621 ...........................................................226
0634 ............................................................92
0644 ............................................................74
0645 ............................................................92
0646 ............................................................91
0794 ............................................................76
0795 ............................................................76
0796 ............................................................76
0862 ............................................................94
0874 ...........................................................228
0922 ............................................................90
0923 ............................................................90
0947 ............................................................76
0990 ...........................................................390
0991 ...............................................237, 238, 241, 321
0992 ...........................................................187
0994 ...........................................................379
1001 ...........................................................208
1002 ...........................................................186
1019 ............................................................92
1043 ............................................................92
484
1062 .........................................85, 86, 167, 226, 318, 374
1063 .............................80, 83, 137, 141, 277, 286, 301, 308, 327
1067 ....................................................84, 135, 342
1068 ............................................................76
1073 ............................................................76
1074 ............................................................76
1085 .......................................................286, 345
1086 ...........................................................351
1089 ...........................................................349
1094 ...........................................................359
1095 ...........................................................359
1096 ...........................................................359
1097 ...........................................................359
1098 ...........................................................359
1099 ................................................84, 133, 138, 345
1113 ...........................................................225
1128 ...........................................................235
1130 ............................................................85
1131 ...........................................................241
1134 .........................................................77, 80
1142 ...........................................................221
485
1167 ............................................................92
1216 ........................................................76, 368
1218 ...........................................................227
1226.02 ..........................................................82
1247 ...........................................................219
1347 .....................................................46, 84, 127
1349 ...........................................................227
1352 ..............................45, 80, 84, 119, 125, 162, 226, 275, 365
1353 ........................................80, 117, 125, 129, 275, 320
1355 ...........................................................126
1356 ........................................................80, 126
1357 ....................................................88, 236, 243
1358 ............................................88, 129, 217, 244, 295
1359 .......................................................257, 277
1360 ................................................88, 168, 266, 277
1366 .......................................................163, 226
1368 ...........................................................277
1369 ............................................................55
1370 .......................................................277, 282
1373 ............................................88, 163, 226, 278, 331
1374 ............................................51, 163, 226, 269, 373
486
1375 ................................................49, 257, 277, 282
1376 ....................................................49, 162, 226
1378 .........................54, 83, 168, 226, 277, 287, 302, 317, 326, 327
1382 ...........................................................277
1383 ...........................................................319
1384 ...................................................257, 277, 279
1387 .......................................................277, 280
1389 ...................................................257, 277, 279
1392 ...........................................................277
1395 .......................................................164, 256
1396 .......................................................164, 253
1397 ....................................................85, 163, 164
1398 ...................................................138, 285, 286
1399 .......................................................163, 253
1403 ...................................................164, 226, 253
1404 ...........................................................257
1405 .......................................................335, 398
1406 ...........................................................284
1407 .......................................................257, 277
1408 .......................................................277, 281
1409 ...................................................163, 226, 253
487
1410 ...........................................................225
1411 .......................................................163, 253
1412 ....................................................85, 163, 374
1413 ...........................................................332
1414 ...........................................167, 226, 257, 277, 372
1415 ...........................................138, 257, 277, 285, 288
1417 ...........................................................206
1419 .................................................85, 88, 163, 166
1421 ...............................................167, 226, 257, 277
1422 ...........................................164, 253, 266, 268, 377
1423 ...................................................257, 269, 277
1424 ...........................................................256
1425 ............................................................82
1429 ............................................................84
1435 ...........................................................186
1436 ...........................................................186
1442 ........................................................94, 186
1445 ...........................................................184
1446 ...........................................................184
1447 ...........................................................186
1448 ...........................................................184
488
1452 ...........................................................184
1455 ...........................................................186
1458 ...........................................................224
1461 ...........................................................128
1504 ........................................................84, 141
1505 ...........................................................142
1506 .........................................................75, 90
1509 .....................................................75, 84, 140
1511 ...........................................................129
1517 ............................................................76
1521 .......................................................131, 276
1523 ...........................................................128
1524 ...........................................................128
1525 ............................................................75
1539 ............................................................84
1553 ...........................................................143
1557 ...........................................................137
1558 ...........................................................228
1561 ......................................................49, 84, 85
1571 ...........................................................240
1584 ....................................................92, 162, 226
489
1619 ...........................................................186
1620 ...........................................................321
1622 ...........................................................134
1624 .......................................................219, 220
1633 ............................................................94
1677 ...........................................................217
1714 ...........................................................236
1719 ...........................................................225
1746 ............................................................86
1760 ............................................................90
1784 ...........................................................185
1786 ............................................................75
1787 ...........................................................185
1830 ...........................................................199
1871 ............................................................90
1894 ...........................................................222
1896 ...........................................................222
1898 ...........................................................186
1900 .......................................................184, 186
1901 ............................................................91
1902 ...........................................................186
490
1904 ...........................................................186
1906 ...........................................................186
1907 ...........................................................186
1909 ...........................................................186
1911 ...........................................................184
1914 ...........................................................186
1917 ...........................................................137
1918 ....................................................88, 137, 186
1919 ....................................................88, 134, 137
1920 ...........................................................184
1928 ...........................................................186
1929 .....................................................91, 96, 186
1941 ........................................................85, 225
1942 ........................................................84, 140
1944 ....................................................84, 141, 142
2015 ...........................................................321
2033 ....................................................88, 234, 243
2036 ........................................................88, 235
2037 ........................................................88, 235
2038 ........................................................88, 235
2039 ........................................................88, 235
491
2040 ........................................................88, 235
2041 ........................................................88, 235
2042 .......................................................224, 321
2144 ............................................................84
2147 ............................................................84
2184 ............................................................89
2227 .........................................................91, 95
2279 ........................................................85, 234
2284 ...........................................................235
2285 ...........................................................235
2286 ...........................................................235
2287 ...........................................................235
2359 ............................................................91
2634 ...........................................................319
2636 .......................................................117, 275
2637 ...........................................................199
2664 ...........................................................197
2665 ...........................................................197
2666 ...........................................................197
2667 ...........................................................197
2668 ...........................................................197
492
2669 ...........................................................197
2670 ...........................................................197
2671 ...........................................................197
2672 ...........................................................197
2673 ...........................................................197
2723 ...........................................................128
2725 ...........................................................221
2730 .........................................................7, 154
2732 .......................................................107, 286
2733 ...........................................................107
2734 ...........................................................107
2735 ...........................................................107
2736 ...........................................................107
2737 ...........................................................107
2738 ...........................................................107
2739 ...........................................................107
2740 ...........................................................107
2741 ...........................................................107
2742 ...........................................................107
2743 ....................................................88, 239, 244
2749 .......................................................129, 130
493
2750 ...........................................................129
2753 .......................................................244, 292
2754 ........................................................47, 371
2756 ...........................................................281
2757 .......................................................288, 328
2759 .......................................................283, 284
2760 ...........................................................283
2762 ...........................................................126
2763 ...........................................................164
2766 ................................................84, 128, 129, 239
2767 ...........................................................131
2768 .......................................................129, 136
2769 ............................................83, 277, 300, 305, 308
2774 .......................................128, 129, 131, 133, 276, 283
2775 ...................................................128, 131, 276
2778 ...........................................................268
2780 .......................................................129, 186
2781 ...........................................................186
2798 ...........................................................186
2801 .....................................................80, 82, 196
2807 ...........................................................234
494
2810 .....................................................6, 107, 286
2812 .......................................................244, 295
2822 ............................................................75
2824 ...........................................................332
495
Appendix II: Short Concordance of Text References (Inventaire des
inscriptions de Palmyre, Corpus inscriptionum semiticarum, and PAT sigla)
PAT Inventaire CIS
0246 2.3901
0247 2.3902
0248 2.3903
0249 2.3904
0251 2.3906
0253 2.3908
0254 2.3908bis
0255 2.3909
0256 2.3910
0257 2.3911
0259 2.3913
0260 9.25 2.3914
0261 9.13 2.3915
0262 9.14a 2.3916
0263 9.15 2.3917
0265 9.19 2.3919
0266 9.32 2.3920
0267 9.31 2.3921
PAT Inventaire CIS
496
0268 9.9 2.3922
0269 9.8 2.3923
0270 9.6a 2.3924
0271 9.6b 2.3925
0274 2.3928
0276 2.2 2.3930 
0277 2.3 2.3931
0278 3.22 2.3932
0279 3.21 2.3933
0280 3.14 2.3934
0281 3.15 2.3935
0282 3.13 2.3936
0283 3.12 2.3937
0284 3.11 2.3938
0285 3.10 2.3939
0286 3.9 2.3940
0287 3.8 2.3941
0288 3.7 2.3942
0289 3.6 2.3943
0290 3.16 2.3944
0291 3.17 2.3945
0292 3.19 2.3946
0293 3.20 2.3947
0294 3.28 2.3948
PAT Inventaire CIS
497
0295 3.29 2.3949
0296 5.1 2.3950
0297 5.2 2.3951
0298 5.3 2.3952
0299 5.4 2.3953
0300 5.5 2.3954
0305 I.2 2.3959
0306 10.87-88 2.3960
0307 10.89 2.3961
0309 10.47 2.3963
0312 2.1 2.3966
0314 2.3968
0315 11.84 2.3969
0316 2.3970
0317 2.3971
0318 2.3972
0319 2.3973
0320 2.3974
0322 2.3976
0324 2.3978
0326 2.3980
0329 2.3983
0334 6.3 2.3988
0335 6.9 2.3989
PAT Inventaire CIS
498
0340 2.3994
0344 6.5 2.3998
0356 11.23 2.4010
0373 2.4027
0379 2.4033
0381 11.15 2.4035
0382 2.4036
0393 2.4047
0394 2.4048
0398 2.4052
0400 2.4054
0402 2.4056
0410 2.4064
0411 2.4065
0415 2.4069
0453 2.4105ter
0463 4.18a 2.4115
0464 4.18b 2.4115bis
0467 2.4118
0469 8.75 2.4120
0470 4.5 2.4121
0471 V2.6a 2.4122
0486 4.27a 2.4134
0491 4.27l 2.4139
PAT Inventaire CIS
499
0494 4.27e 2.4142
0495 4.27f 2.4143
0496 4.27g 2.4144
0497 4.27m 2.4145
0498 4.27n 2.4146
0500 4.27p 2.4148
0501 4.27q 2.4149
0505 4.27u 2.4153
0507 4.27w 2.4155
0510 2.4158
0511 2.4159
0543 4.2 2.4187
0544 2.4188
0558 8.55 2.4202
0562 4.1a 2.4206
0570 2.4214
0574 2.4218
0591 8.57 2.4235
0612 2.4256
0614 2.4258
0615 2.4259
0616 2.4260
0617 2.4261
0618 2.4261bis
PAT Inventaire CIS
500
0619 2.4262
0620 2.4263
0621 2.4264
0634 2.4277
0644 2.4287
0645 2.4288
0646 2.4289
0794 2.4434
0795 2.4435
0796 2.4436
0862 2.4501
0874 2.4513
0922 2.4561
0923 2.4562
0947 2.4586
1130 1.5
1131 3.2 
1134 4.7a
1142 4.13
1167 8.7
1216 8.58
1218 8.60
1226.02 8.71
1247 8.94
PAT Inventaire CIS
501
1347 9.1
1349 9.4a-b
1352 9.11
1353 9.12
1355 9.16
1356 9.20
1357 9.26
1358 9.28
1359 9.29
1360 9.30
1366 10.7
1368 10.11
1370 10.13
1373 10.29
1374 10.38
1375 10.39
1376 10.40
1378 10.44
1382 10.54
1383 10.56
1384 10.57
1387 10.63
1389 10.69
1392 10.74
PAT Inventaire CIS
502
1395 10.77
1396 10.78
1397 10.81
1398 10.85
1399 10.90
1403 10.96
1404 10.98
1405 10.99
1406 10.102
1407 10.105
1408 10.106
1409 10.107
1410 10.110
1411 10.111
1412 10.112
1413 10.113
1414 10.114
1415 10.115
1417 10.119
1419 10.124
1421 10.127
1422 10.128
1423 10.129
1424 10.130
PAT Inventaire CIS
503
1425 10.131
1429 10.145
1435 11.6
1436 11.7
1442 11.13
1445 11.16
1446 11.17
1447 11.19
1448 11.20
1452 11.25
1455 11.28
1458 11.32
1461 11.35
1504 11.79
1505 11.80
1506 11.81
1509 11.85
1511 11.87
1517 11.93
1521 11.97
1523 11.99
1524 11.100
1525 12.1
1539 12.22
PAT Inventaire CIS
504
1553 12.39
1557 12.44
1558 12.45
1561 12.48
505
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