The Sources on the Oriental Expeditions of Aurelian

Only two quite broad reports about the expedition of emperor Aurelian in 272/273 to re-establish Rome’s control in the eastern provinces – that had been conquered by Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, during her brief reign – have been transmitted to us: Zosimus and the biography inn the Historia Augusta. Here both narratives, that show affinities as much as divergencies, are analysed. Although the most popular opinion maintains that these texts have more than one source, on the contrary, I will show that they shared one and the same source, which was almost contemporary to the events narrated. The divergencies in the texts were inserted only later on.