著者

井上 文則

出版者

史学研究会 (京都大学大学院文学研究科内)

雑誌

史林 (ISSN:03869369)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.90, no.5, pp.733-748, 2007-09-01

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In this article, I try to reconstruct the career of Odaenathus, the famous ruler of Palmyra who actually governed the Roman East in the mid-third century. According to inscriptional evidence, he was called hypatikos in Greek in the years 257/258 and then mtqnn'dy mdnh'klh in Palmyrene during the period of the emperor Gallienus' sole reign (260-268). What does hypatikos mean in terms of Roman institutions of government? The same question applies to mtqnn'dy mdnh'klh. Recently, D. S. Potter has attempted to provide answers to these questions. Concerning hypatikos, he proposed that it meant that Odaenatus was given the title ornamenta consularia. Most scholars, such as M. Gawlikowski and F. Millar, have thought that hypatikos meant consular governor and consequently Odaenathus was the governor of the Roman province Syria Phoenice. Of these two theories, I support the latter because I believe the emperor Valerian (235-260) adopted two new policies to defend the Empire effectively: firstly, the appointment of able persons, regardless of social status, to posts that had traditionally been reserved for senators and secondly, the division of responsibility for defensive measures to collective bodies like the Tetrarchy. In the context of these new policies, Odaenathus must have taken responsibility to defend the Syrian frontiers as a governor from 256, when Valerian left Syria for Asia Minor in response to the attack of the Borani. Next, in regard to mtqnn'dy mdnh'klh, Potter considered it to mean corrector, which was a government post bestowed by Gallienus. On the other hand, some scholars consider it the equivalent of the Roman title restitutor that Gallienus conferred on Odaenathus. Which is the correct interpretation on mtqnn'dy mdnh'klh? The latter is a more appealing explanation, but I cannot fully agree with that theory. For the Palmyrenes, mtqnn'dy mdnh'klh was merely a symbolic title, referring to the supreme ruler of the East, tike mlk mlk' (king of kings). It is likely that Odaenathus arbitrarily adopted this title and that it was not officially conferred by Gallienus. Therefore, mtqnn'dy mdnh'klh is not related to the position of Odaenathus in the Roman institutional framework. To reconstruct the career of Odaenathus after his term as governor, we must rely on Zonaras, the Byzantine annalist of the 12th century. Zonaras says that Odaenathus was first appointed strategos of the East by Gallienus in 260 and then strategos of the Entire East in 261. From this evidence, we can deduce the fact that Gallienus conferred the military command over the Eastern provinces on Odaenathus by expanding the areas under his control in stages. In sum, Odaenathus was first appointed governor of the Roman province Syria Phoenice by Valerian in 257/258, then strategos of the East by Gallienus in 260, and finally strategos of the Entire East in 261. We find a similar case in M. Cornelius Octavianus. When he was the governor of the Roman province Mauretania Caesariensis in the reign of Valerian, he was conferred military command over the whole of northern Africa as dux Per African Numidiam Mauretaniamque to suppress the insurrection in Africa.