Maeonius

Zenobia sentenced Maeonius, the murderer of her husband Odaenathus, to death , end of the 16th century, Brussels

Maeonius (also Maconius ; † 267 in Herakleia Pontike or [less likely] in Emesa ) was allegedly a Roman usurper in Syria for a short time .

According to Johannes Zonaras (who wrote centuries after the events) Maeonius was the nephew, according to the Historia Augusta the cousin of Odaenathus , who ruled over the Roman provinces of the Orient after Valerian's defeat by the Persians . He is counted among the thirty tyrants , but a number of them are fictitious. Since the Historia Augusta is generally regarded as not very reliable (especially with regard to the events during the so-called Imperial Crisis of the 3rd century ), the credibility of the information about Maeonius is rated as very low in research. Perhaps the anonymous author of the Historia Augusta was familiar with the name Maeonius, if he was a historical person. All other statements are to be regarded as fiction.

According to the Historia Augusta , Maeonius killed Odaenathus and his son Herodianus at a banquet. The murder is said to have been instigated by Zenobia , the wife of Odaenathus, in order to secure the succession of her own son Vaballathus (Herodianus was the son of another woman). Zonaras reports that Maeonius was killed by his bodyguards immediately after Odaenathus was murdered. The Historia Augusta According to Maeonius called itself emperor before Zenobia removed it to yourself to come to power. However, as I said, this information should only be treated with great care.

swell

• Historia Augusta , Thirty Tyrants 17
• Johannes Zonaras , Epitome Historion , 12:24

literature

• Udo Hartmann : The Palmyrene Partial Kingdom. Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07800-2 .

Remarks

1. ↑ Hartmann, Das Palmyrenische Teilreich , p. 21.
2. ↑ Hartmann, Das Palmyrenische Teilreich , pp. 222f.