Zenobia: The Queen Who Refused to Bow

Celebrating Women's History Month with a badass a day.

Imagine this: a woman, draped in the finest silks, standing atop the walls of Palmyra, gazing out at an empire she built with her own hands. Behind her, a city pulses with life—markets bustling, scholars debating, artists creating. Ahead of her, the Roman Empire looms, vast and unyielding. But Zenobia doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t bow. She doesn’t back down.

Zenobia wasn’t just a queen; she was a force of nature. Born in the 3rd century in Palmyra, a desert oasis that thrived on trade and culture, she was sharp, ambitious, and utterly fearless. When her husband, King Odaenathus, was assassinated, most expected her to fade into the background, to let the men handle the messy business of ruling. But Zenobia wasn’t most people.

She stepped forward, ruling as regent for her young son, and immediately set about expanding her kingdom. Egypt, Anatolia, much of the eastern Roman Empire—she claimed them all. Her empire stretched from the sands of Syria to the Nile, a testament to her vision and he…