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, who had taken control of the Eastern provinces after the defeat and capture of Emperor Valerian by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire.
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Gibbon, Edward, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, "Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. -- Part III."