Zenobia

Zenobia (c. 240-274 CE) was queen of the Palmyrene Empire in present-day Syria, who ruled as regent for her young son Vaballathus following the assassination of her husband, King Odaenathus, around 267 CE. Claiming descent from Cleopatra, she led a rapid military expansion that brought Egypt, much of Anatolia and the Levant under Palmyrene control, in effect breaking away from the Roman Empire despite formally holding her territories as a Roman client. Her expansion provoked a decisive Roman response under Emperor Aurelian, who defeated her forces, captured Palmyra in 272-273 CE, and took Zenobia captive to Rome, where later tradition holds she lived out her life; she remains one of antiquity's most celebrated warrior queens.