Rome and Persia by Adrian Goldsworthy

Author:Adrian Goldsworthy [Goldsworthy, Adrian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2023-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

Inscriptions express thanks to the men who organized the great caravans, sometimes on behalf of all or some of the wider community and its tribes, as well as the men who led them, guided them, escorted them, and protected them. Thus the council, people, and the four tribes honoured Ogelos, the son of Makkaios, grandson of Ogelos, great-grandson of Agegos, and great-great-grandson of Sewiras, for the assistance provided by his ‘valour and courage’ and ‘because of his frequent expeditions against the nomads’. He had supervised and guarded caravans, spending his own wealth to serve the community with ‘brilliance and glory’. The language is that of proclamations in many a Greco-Roman city, but whereas other inscriptions tended to praise a man for service as priest or magistrate or for paying for building works, staging games and festivals, or securing favourable decisions from governor or emperor, Palmyrenes valued more martial achievements, albeit in the service of commerce. Most inscriptions do not go into as much detail over the nature of the services required to protect the caravans. One from the second century thanks a Roman centurion, without telling us how he had the opportunity to assist, whether he commanded a detachment in the area by chance or design, or even if he was an ambassador with his escort who accompanied a caravan for convenience.17

Palmyrenes organized themselves to fight if it was necessary to ensure the safety of the caravans. Sculptures depict warriors who rode camels and travelled well-armed to deal with any problems. The aim was not to fight for the sake of it but to ensure safe passage, and in scale this probably meant hundreds or at least no more than a couple of thousand fighting men willing to serve as guards some of the time. This was not an army or even militia, in either scale or intention, and instead gave the Palmyrenes protection that was under their control to a far greater degree than any Roman troops stationed in the city and the wider area. At least as important was the fact that these escorts could travel beyond the empire without being seen as invaders. The ability to get along with others, or at least convince them that it was more beneficial to cooperate than not, drove Palmyrene success, and it is amazing just how far afield people from this one city spread. Apart from the Palmyrenes living in Babylonia and Characene, there were Palmyrenes in the Arabian Gulf in communities independent of Parthia and Rome. Palmyrene merchants operated in the Red Sea ports of Egypt, where they hired passage in ships owned and captained by Palmyrenes to cross the waters to India. There are signs that the relationship between Palmyrenes and Jewish communities was often good, as one widely scattered population worked with another to oil the wheels of commerce. The rise of the Sasanian dynasty may have presented a challenge to Palmyrene interests, as a more forceful expression of central power and Ardashir I’s and Shapur I’s

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