The 17th century saw a blossoming of learning. Unlike today the fields of interest were broad and people with an interest in physical science would also study natural sciences as well as history. The well to do would frequently embark on a grand tour of Europe and beyond to enhance their education.
An example of this is Edmund Halley (1656-1742) best known today as an astronomer, mathematician and physicist. In 1691 he journeyed to the remains of Palmyra, located in modern Syria with three companions, Abednego Seller, Edward Bernard and Thomas Smith as part of a larger expedition led by William Halifax. It was at this time that Halley faced the animosity of the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, and the Anglican Church questioned his religious views, largely on the grounds that he had doubted the Earth's age as given in the Bible.
He recorded his Palmyrene visit in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London in 1695, where he writes something on Vaballathus and the coins he produced. He wrote (sic),
“In this appears also the great Utility of Coins to illustrate Matters of History: for by them alone ‘tis made out there was such a Prince as Waballathus, Vopiscus singly mentioning him by the name Balbatus: And from the same Coins it appears, that Odenathus had the Title of Augustus four years and Waballathus six at least; and that the First Year of Aurelian was the fourth of Waballathus.”
Two combinations of Vaballathus and Aurelian tetradrachm years are recorded in RPC, Vaballathus 4/Aurelian 1, and Vaballathus 5/ Aurelian 2. The later sole coins of Vaballathus are only recorded as year 5, so it is unclear where Halley gets six years from.
Halley also cites the coins of Antioch of Roman type that pair the busts of Aurelian and Vaballathus, although he follows Jean Hardouin’s reading of his titles as VCRIMDOR (VICE CAESARIS RECTOR IMPERII ORIENTIS), instead of VCRIMDR (VIR CLARISSIMUS REX IMPERATOR DUX ROMANORUM).
