Maeonius

Regnal name
	Imperator Caesar Maeonius Augustus

Maeonius
Maeonius
	Emperor of Palmyra
	Maeonius from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum
Emperor of the Palmyrene Empire
Reign	267
Predecessor	Title created
Successor	Vaballathus
Regnal name
	Imperator Caesar Maeonius Augustus
House	House of Odaenathus

Maeonius (d. 266/267), or Maconius, was a short-lived Roman usurper.

Zenobia sentences to death Maeonius, the murderer of her husband Odaenathus, end of 16th century, Bruxelles manufacture

Life

He was the nephew (according to Zonaras xii.24) or the cousin (according to Historia Augusta, which lists him among the Thirty Tyrants) of Odaenathus of Palmyra, who had taken control of the Eastern provinces after the defeat and capture of Emperor Valerian by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire.

According to Historia Augusta, Maeonius killed Odaenathus and his son Hairan during a celebration, because of a conspiracy organized by Zenobia, wife of Odaenathus, who wanted her sons to succeed her husband instead of Hairan (who was the son of Odaenathus by another woman). According to Gibbon, the murder was revenge for a short confinement imposed on Maeonius by Odaenathus for being disrespectful.

Zonaras tells that Maeonius was killed immediately after the murder of Odaenathus, while Historia has Maeonius proclaiming himself emperor, with Zenobia having had him soon killed, in order to take the power for herself.

References

Gibbon, Edward, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, "Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. -- Part III."
The Lives of the Thirty Pretenders, at LacusCurtius

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