Rome and the East
the province of Syria Coele.^139 Like the parallel termcentenarius(a procurator
with a salary of , sesterces per annum),^140 however, it is also attested in
use at Palmyra, being one of the many titles of a prominent Palmyrene, Septi-
mius Vorodes.^141 Moreover, but for a crucial textual difficulty, there would be
confirmation from Cyprian for the notion that bishops might combine with
their office the holding of an imperial procuratorship. In hisOn Those Who
Lapsed, , Cyprian writes: ‘‘The bishops...spurningadivineprocurator-
ship, become procurators of worldly kings [so SW; of worldly affairs, R],
neglecting their episcopal thrones and deserting the people.’’
The logic of the passage seems to demand the reading ‘‘affairs’’; there is
nothing else in it which refers in any way to the emperors, and the other
activities of the delinquent bishops seem to represent entirely private profi-
teering. This evidence can therefore not be adduced in support.
Moreover, whatever interpretation is given to the crucial passage of the
synodal letter, one thing is clear—namely, that it contains no reference to
Palmyra or its rulers. This may now seem hardly surprising for, as we have
seen (text to nn. – above), it was written before the period from which
we have any evidence of a Palmyrene military presence in Antioch, and in
a period when no other evidence proves a general Palmyrene patronage of
the Syrian cities. None the less, the connection with Palmyra, missing in the
letter, is duly supplied by later Christian sources. Tabulated in chronological
order, they are as follows:^142
. Athanasius,Historia Arianorum, : ‘‘Zenobia was a Jew and she
patronised Paul of Samosata’’ (c. ). (Cf. also the fragment, possibly of
Athanasius, inPGXXVI, .)
. Filastrius,Diversarum haereseon liber,/(CSELXXXVIII, ;
CCLIX, ): ‘‘He preached that Christ was a just man, not a real
God...hencehehimself also taught Zenobia, at that time a queen
[regina] in the East, to become a Jew’’ (–).
. John Chrysostom,Hom. in Joannem(PGLIX, col. ): ‘‘For not
unwittingly, but knowing full well, he transgressed, suffering the same
thing as the Jews. For like the latter, who looking to men gave up the
soundness of the faith, although on the one hand, knowing that he is
the sole begotten son of God, on the other hand, not acknowledging
. Pflaum,Carrières.
. See Schlumberger (n. ), –.
.OGIS IGRIII, ;OGIS IGRIII, ;IGRIII, ; cf. H. Ingholt,
‘‘Inscriptions and Sculptures from Palmyra,’’Berytus (): –.
. Cf. Loofs (n. ), ; Bardy (n. ), ff.