Images The great columnade The theater of Palmyra The tetrapilon The temple of Baal Shamin

Under King Odenathus, Palmyra became very rich and important. His wife, Zenobia, decided, after his assassination at Homs in 268 A.D., to make of Palmyra an independent kingdom. Queen Zenobia reformed her army with the local police and drove away the Romans from Syria. She sent her troops towards North and South, towards Anatolia and Aleppo. Her troops arrived as far as Egypt, even if they only remained there for three years. The independent kingdom of Palmyra lasted 5 years.