Palmyra

Read by Paul Welford.

Palmyra.

It burst upon us all at once.

Palmyra in the desert, a chaos of golden pillars in the glow of the setting sun.

We had been riding all day towards an indefinite shape on the horizon.

Slowly it had resolved itself into a barrier of yellow rock, with dark lines becoming distinguishable against it.

And there it lay, the desert-girt city, in the unutterable lonely magnificence of its reckless confusion.

We drew rein under the triumphal arch.

It lasts 14 years.

Meanwhile, in Palmyra, it was effectively running the East.

So effectively, in Rome 260, Rome controlled Italy, the Balkans, North Africa, and not much else.

And then walks in Gallienus, who ruled jointly with his father Valerian from 253 and alone from 260 to 268.

And in that time, he did something close to a miracle.

He beat back the Germanic invasion of Italy.

He destroyed Palmyra and captured Zenobia, reportedly parading her throughout Rome in golden chains at his triumph.

He reabsorbed the Gallic Empire, ending the 14-year secession of the West.

These towns became fantastically wealthy.

One, Palmyra, was particularly important because all of the incense and silk that traveled to Rome had to go through Palmyra.

Silk was so popular among the Roman elite that the Roman Senate repeatedly tried to ban it, complaining about trade imbalances caused by the silk trade and also that silk was inadequately modest.

To quote Seneca the Younger, And yet, all attempts to ban silk failed, which speaks to how much, even in the ancient world, wealth shaped governance.

This made the Palmyrene contingent both impossible to ignore and difficult to dislodge.

Aurelian opted for a full frontal assault with his infantry, who had yet to see action on the battlefield in the war against Palmyra.

The legionaries formed the famed Testudo formation and attacked up the steep slopes, battling their way up the hill under a heavy rain of missiles, including darts and stones.

With their shields closed together over their heads, Aurelian's infantry made the ascent without suffering heavy losses.

Both commanders stationed their cavalry on the flanks and infantry in the center.

The Palmyrene cavalry arm was superior not only because of their armor, but also their superior numbers.

In addition to their clibonari, the Palmyrenes probably also employed elite Ossonian armored horse archers and Palmyra's local light cavalry and dromedary archer units.

Again, the Roman Emperor took the initiative.

So call upon Allat to bring them back together.

Another one, "He set off on a journey for Palmyra.

So, O Allat, may he be secure." Palmyra was the great caravan city to the north, and this traveler doesn't know if he'll make it back.

So this is the texture of Allat's role in these inscriptions.

Lost sheep, reunions with people you miss, safe arrival to a destination.

These inscriptions show us several types of ritual, including standardized prayers, pilgrimage, and sacrifice.

Let's start with prayer.

By now you've heard a lot of these prayers: the lost sheep, the lamb for a sister, longing for your lover during the month of Shubat, the journey to Palmyra, the cattle freezing to death in early summer.

Borrar identidad.

Palmyra.

God, those columns.

I've seen the photographs, the before and after, and it still doesn't feel real.

Los nazaríes que lo construyeron venían de una tradición que conecta directamente con Siria, con el Levante, con toda esa región.

Cuando caminas por la Alhambra, caminas por una extensión de esa civilización.

So when Palmyra gets blown up, or when the souk in Aleppo burns, Spain has skin in the game too, in a sense.

This isn't distant history.

Mm-hmm.

But this is someone who ruled over Palmyra, over Syria, not quite in her own right.

She was doing it as the regent for her son, who was very young at the time.

Now, she's somebody who takes on the might of the Roman Empire.

And, and that's a Roman narrative.

Mm.

I don't think that's true of a narrative in, in Syria or in Palmyra.

They were used to women owning property, maintaining accounts, you know, doing all sorts of things.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, read by Paul Welford.

Palmyra.

It burst upon us all at once.

Palmyra, in the desert, a chaos of golden pillars in the glow of the setting sun.

We had been riding all day towards an indefinite shape on the horizon.

Slowly it had resolved itself into a barrier of yellow rock with dark lines becoming distinguishable against it.

And there it lay, the desert-girt city, in the unutterable lonely magnificence of its reckless confusion.

We drew rein under the triumphal arch.

And if you've seen episode 97 and 98, The Baal Cycle Part 1 and Part 2, which is in Syria, you will understand how incredible this entire area really is.

Cyprus and all of these necropolises in the middle of the sea are right off the coast of Syria, next to Lebanon and Damascus, right next to Palmyra, where we have located the Temple of Baal, only 62 miles from each other.

These are all places that nobody was teaching us in History 101, 102, or any other number they want to come up with, all by design.

This is the true history that we are exposing, sites that give away the previous civilization.

Our community is growing faster and faster.

People want to know the truth now more than ever.

Where you see the same thing in Palmyra, with the Palmyra Necropolis, where it is famous for its elaborate tombs, including tower tombs, the hypogeum of course, like we have shown, and house tombs, with many of the tombs looted yet again, damaged again, especially in our timeline during recent conflicts.

Do you see the trend yet? It is estimated that thousands of individuals from the old world were originally buried here.

"What those Gold Star families have given resonates right here every single day, touching his heart." End quote.

Before Hegseth spoke, Nunn recognized the families of Sergeant William Nathaniel "Nate" Howard of Marshalltown and Sergeant Staff Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar of Des Moines, Iowa National Guard soldiers killed December thirteenth, two thousand twenty-five in Palmyra, Syria, in an attack by a gunman associated with I- with ISIS.

Nunn brought members of both families on stage and presented them with the Iowa Medal of Merit, created to recognize Iowans for their courage, dedication, and service, and who have shown unwavering commitment to excellence and their invaluable role in making Iowa a better place.

Hegseth said the deaths of Howard and Torres-Tovar prompted Operation Hawkeye Strike, a US military response targeting ISIS members responsible for the attack.