BERLIN — When I was 13, I used to skip school and head to the public library for a day of escape and exploration. One day, I found a lurid romance novel set in ancient times called Zenobia. I was introduced to a "raven-haired" beauty of a desert kingdom, Palmyra, and her love affair with a Roman who was part of the empire trying to conquer it.I scoured the library's history books, obsessed with knowing more. Eventually, I found her in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales — he described Zenobia's valor as a warrior queen, standing up to Rome before her capture by Emperor Aurelian. I was hooked. I had to learn more about Zenobia. I had to see where she lived. A decade later, I did.
