Vabalathus, usurper, 268-272. Antoninianus (Bronze, 20 mm, 3.64 g, 12 h), Antiochia, March-May 272. IM C VHABALATHVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Vabalathus to right, seen from behind.
Rev. IVЄNVS AVG (sic!) Hercules standing front, head to right, leaning on club with his right hand and holding apples in his left; lion skin draped over his left arm; in upper right field, star. Bland 19. Cohen 4 var. (no star). RIC 4 var. (star to left). RIC V online 3117. Rare and among the finest known antoniniani of this usurper. A very attractive example with a sharp portrait and a lovely dark patina. Very minor traces of corrosion
, otherwise, extremely fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
Vabalathus was the son of Odenathus, King of Palmyra - an oasis settlement in the Syrian desert - and his queen, Zenobia. After his father and older brother were killed during a period of unrest, he ascended the throne of Palmyra in 267 at about eight years old, with his mother serving as regent.
Zenobia had greater ambitions than merely ruling Palmyra; she began issuing coins bearing both Aurelian’s and Vabalathus' names at the mint in Antioch. Preoccupied with the breakaway Gallic Empire, Aurelian initially left the Palmyrene kingdom undisturbed. However, once he turned his attention eastward to deal with the Palmyrenes - sometime in late 271 or early 272 - Zenobia ordered the mint to strike coins bearing only her name and that of Vabalathus, omitting Aurelian entirely.
This coin, which identifies Vabalathus as Augustus, must have been issued after Aurelian set out for the East. It is an exceptional example, featuring a full and sharp strike with excellent surfaces. The depiction of Herakles, shown with his club and holding the Apples of the Hesperides, references his eleventh labor: retrieving the golden apples that Gaia gifted to Hera as a wedding present, which were guarded by the hundred-headed dragon, Ladon.
After Aurelian defeated the Palmyrenes and captured both Vabalathus and his mother, he returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph, intending to parade them in chains. However, along the way, Vabalathus - just about fifteen years old - died. Whether he was assassinated or succumbed to natural causes remains unknown. Zenobia, meanwhile, settled in Rome and eventually married a Roman senator
