Septimius HerodianusorHairan I(Palmyrene Aramaic:𐡧𐡩𐡴𐡭,Ḥairan;c.240 – 267) was a son and co-king ofOdaenathusofPalmyra.Through his father's marriage toZenobia,Hairan I had two half-brothers,Hairan II[1]andVaballathus.
| Hairan I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tesseradepicting Hairan with his Greek name Herodian. | |||||
| King of Kings of Palmyra | |||||
| Reign | 263 – 267 | ||||
| Predecessor | Odaenathus(as sole king) | ||||
| Successor | Vaballathus | ||||
| Co-ruler | Odaenathus | ||||
| Born | c.240 | ||||
| Died | 267 | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Odaenathus | ||||
| Father | Odaenathus | ||||
Life
editHairan was born to Odaenathus and his first wife, whose name is unknown, and he was chosen early in his father's career to be his successor. In 251 he was mentioned in an inscription together with his father as senators and exarchs of Palmyra. Hairan was crowned king by his father; the evidence for the crowning is a dedication found inscribed on a statue base from Palmyra which is undated.[2]However, the dedication was made bySeptimius Worodas the duumviri of Palmyra, an office occupied by Worod between 263 and 264. Hence, the coronation took place c. 263.[3]The dedication implied that Hairan defeated a Persian army on theOrontes River.[4]
The inscription celebrating Hairan's coronation called him Herodianus.[5]It is possible that Hairan of the 251 inscription is not the same as Herodianus of the 263 dedication,[5]but this is not accepted by Udo Hartmann who concludes that the reason for the difference in the spelling is due to the language used in the inscription (Herodianus being the Greek version),[6]meaning that Odaenathus' eldest son and co-king was Hairan Herodianus.[7]
Hairan was probably murdered with his father in 267. It is uncertain who murdered them. The Byzantine chroniclerJoannes Zonaraswrote that a cousinMaeoniuswas the murderer while the unreliableHistoria Augustasuggested that Odaenathus' wife Zenobia was an instigator. Another possibility is that the murders were organized by EmperorGallienuswho feared that Odaenathus was becoming too powerful.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Richard Stoneman (1994).Palmyra and Its Empire: Zenobia's Revolt Against Rome.University of Michigan Press. p. 114.ISBN0472083155.
- ^Michael H. Dodgeon,Samuel N. C. Lieu(2002).The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363: A Documentary History.Routledge. p. 77.ISBN9781134961139.
- ^Udo Hartmann (2001).Das palmyrenische Teilreich(in German). Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 178.ISBN9783515078009.
- ^Michael H. Dodgeon,Samuel N. C. Lieu(2002).The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363: A Documentary History.Routledge. p. 370.ISBN9781134961139.
- ^abPat Southern (2008).Empress Zenobia: Palmyra's Rebel Queen.Bloomsbury. p. 8.ISBN9781441173515.
- ^Alaric Watson (2004).Aurelian and the Third Century.Routledge. p. 58.ISBN9781134908158.
- ^Pat Southern (2008).Empress Zenobia: Palmyra's Rebel Queen.Bloomsbury. p. 9.ISBN9781441173515.
Sources
edit- Thorsten Fleck:Das Sonderreich von Palmyra. Seine Geschichte im Spiegel der römischen Münzprägung.In: Geldgeschichtliche Nachrichten 199 (September 2000), pp 245–252.
- Udo Hartmann:Das palmyrenische Teilreich (Oriens et Occidens2).Stuttgart 2001.
- Ted Kaizer:Odaenathus von Palmyra.In:Michael Sommer(Hg.):Politische Morde. Vom Altertum bis zur Gegenwart.Darmstadt 2005, pp 73–79.