She took over the Palmyrene army and ran wild with it. Her husband had
never entirely made it clear whether he was fighting for the Romans or
for himself. He was probably waiting to see how quickly the Romans
recovered before he challenged them openly, and the Romans weren't
going to press the issue until they rebuilt their shattered army and
decided among themselves who was in charge. At first Zenobia was vague
on her intentions
as well, but finally threw off all pretense and began openly conquering
Roman territory north and south,
into Asia Minor and Egypt, assembling the largest independent kingdom
seen in this part of the world in several centuries. 