Queen Zenobia found on the banks of the Araxes by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry 1850. In the perio
Queen Zenobia found on the banks of the Araxes by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry 1850. In the period from 51 to 53 AD, Rhadamistus (Hradamizd), son of the king of neighbouring Iberia, Pharsman and his second wife Dadana, reigned in Armenia. Rhadamistus was married to the daughter of Mihrdat the Iberian, called Zenobia. She was the queen of Armenia for about two or three years. When the future king of Armenia, Tiridates I with Parthian support entered Armenia, Rhadamistus had to step down from the throne and flee the country. The historian Tacitus, in Book 12, Section 51 of his work Annals, writes: Swift horses were all that saved Rhadamistus. They carried him and his wife away. But she was pregnant. At first she endured the journey as best she could, for terror of her enemies and love of her husband. But the continuous galloping soon shook and jarred her so terribly that she begged to be rescued from the humiliation of captivity by an honorable death. Rhadamistus admired her courage: sick with fear of leaving her to someone else, he embraced, comforted and encouraged her. But he was a man of violence; and finally in the vehemence of his love, he drew his saber, stabbed her, dragged her to the bank of the Arax River, and hurled her in, so that not even her corpse should be taken. Then he rode full speed to his own land of Iberia (Georgia). But Zenobia was found by shepherds in a backwater. She lived; she was still breathing. Concluding from her noble appearance that she was someone distinguished, they bandaged her wound an applied rustic remedies. When they learned her name and story, they took her to the city of Artaxata (Artashat). From there she was officially conducted to King Tiridates I, who received her kindly and gave her royal honors. The historic sources say that Zenobia soon gave birth to a son, who later reigned in Iberia as King Pharsman II (From 100 to 114 AD) According to the historian Leo, Zenobia lived in Tiridates’ court until her death. Source: Queens of the Armenians, 150 Biographies based on history and legend (2001), Hayk Khachatrian. -- source link