Odaenathus

Septimius Odaenathus was the hereditary prince of Palmyra who rose to preeminence during the crisis of the third century. When the Persian Sasanian King of Kings Shapur I captured the Roman Emperor Valerian in 260, Odaenathus mobilized Palmyra's elite cataphract heavy cavalry and archers to counter the invasion.

Odaenathus routed the Persian forces, pursued Shapur back to his capital at Ctesiphon, and was declared dux and imperator by Emperor Gallienus, becoming de facto sovereign of the entire Roman East. He ruled with visionary authority until he was assassinated in Emesa in 267, paving the way for his queen Zenobia to seize supreme power.