CENOBIA, CENOBIE. Zenobia, fl. third century A.D., was the widow and successor of Odaenathus, king of Palmyra. She became one of the most powerful rulers in the Near East. After her husband's death, Zenobia reversed his policies of friendship to Rome and attacked parts of the Roman Empire, subduing Egypt and Syria. She cultivated Persians instead of Romans as allies after she defeated King Shapur of Persia. She took the name Augusta for herself and dressed her sons in the regalia of the Roman emperors. The emperor Aurelian decided to win back the conquered states of Egypt and Syria and attacked Zenobia in 272. She was captured as she attempted to flee to the Persians, and Aurelian forced her to walk in his triumphal march. She then lived in a villa near Tivoli until her death. Boccaccio emphasizes her manly qualities of courage in leading her soldiers in battle, her continence, and her victories in De claris mulieribus XCVIII, and in De casibus virorum illustrium VIII.6.
The Monk narrates a life of Cenobia, MkT 2247-2374, closely following Boccaccio's portraits. [Aurelian: Claudius1: Galien: Hermanno: Odenake: Sapor: Thymalao]
Cenobia and Cenobie are OF variants; Cenobia occurs initially, MkT 2247, and Cenobie appears medially with initial stress, MkT 2355.