Lucius Julius Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus was born and raised in the city of Palmyra, an oasis settlement in the Syrian Desert in 259 to the king of kings of Palmyra, Odaenathus, and his second wife, the queen consort of Palmyra, Zenobia. Vaballathus is the Latinized form of his Palmyrene name, Wahballāt, "Gift of Allāt". As the Arabian goddess Allāt came to be identified with Athena, he used Athenodorus as the Greek form of his name.[2] He had a half-brother, Hairan I, born from his father and another woman, who reigned as co-king of kings with his father, and a lesser-known brother, Hairan II. He also might have had other brothers, who were mentioned in (and only known from) the Historia Augusta, Herennianus and Timolaus.[3] Herennianus may be Hairan; while Timolaus is probably a fabrication.[4]
In 267, a relative, perhaps a cousin of his father named Maeonius, murdered Odaenathus and his half-brother Hairan I. The unreliable Historia Augusta lists Maeonius as one of the "Thirty Tyrants" that claimed imperial power during Gallienus' reign. However, this is most likely an invention; according to the chronicler Joannes Zonaras, Maeonius was executed immediately after the murder.[5] With Odaenathus and his oldest son dead, the succession came to his younger son, Vaballathus. The young Vaballathus was made king (rex clarissimus imperator dux Romanorum, "illustrious King of Kings" and corrector totius orientis) of the Palmyrene Empire at eight years old. Being too young to rule, his mother Zenobia ruled as queen regent and was the de facto ruler of Palmyra.
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