Maeonius

Maeonius(died 267), orMaconius,was ausurperwho, according to theHistoria Augusta,briefly ruled over Palmyra. He is included in the list of theThirty Tyrants.

Maeonius from thePromptuarii Iconum Insigniorum

Zenobia sentences to death Maeonius, the murderer of her husband Odaenathus,end of 16th century, Bruxelles manufacture

Life

He was the nephew (according toZonarasxii.24) or the cousin (according toHistoria Augusta) ofOdaenathusofPalmyra,who had taken control of the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire after the defeat in battle and capture of EmperorValerianbyShapur Iof theSasanian Empire.

According toHistoria Augusta,Maeonius killed Odaenathus and his son Hairan during a celebration, because of a conspiracy organised byZenobia,wife of Odaenathus, who wanted her sons to succeed her husband instead of Hairan (who was the son of Odaenathus by another woman). According to Gibbon, the murder was revenge for a short confinement imposed on Maeonius by Odaenathus for being disrespectful.

Zonaras tells that Maeonius was killed immediately after the murder of Odaenathus, whileHistoriahas Maeonius proclaiming himself emperor, with Zenobia having him soon killed, in order to take the power for herself.

References

• George C. Brauer (1975).The Age of the Soldier Emperors: Imperial Rome, A.D. 244-284.Noyes Press. p.163.ISBN978-0-8155-5036-5.
• Gibbon, Edward,The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire,"Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. -- Part III."
• The Lives of the Thirty Pretenders,at LacusCurtius