of Odaenathus as a "mighty and fearful lion, breathing much flame". Second Persian campaign 266 and war in Anatolia The primary sources are silent regarding events following the first Persian campaign, but this is an indication of the peace that prevailed and that the Persians had ceased being a threat to the Roman East. The evidence for the second campaign is meager; Zosimus is the only one to mention it specifically. A passage in the thirteenth Sibylline Oracle is interpreted by Hartmann as an indication of a second offensive. With the rise of the Sassanid dynasty, Palmyrene trade caravans to the East diminished with only three recorded after 224. The last caravan returned to Palmyra in 266, and this was probably facilitated by the campaign, which probably took place in 266. The King marched directly to Ctesiphon, but he had to break off the siege and march north to face an influx of Germanic raiders attacking Anatolia. The Romans used the designation "Scythian" to denote many tribes, regardless of their ethnic origin, and sometimes the term would be interchangeable with Goths. The tribes attacking Anatolia were probably the Heruli who built ships to cross the Black Sea in 267 and ravaged the coasts of Bithynia and Pontus, besieging Heraclea Pontica. According to the eighth-century historian George Syncellus, Odaenathus arrived at Anatolia with Herodianus and headed to Heraclea but the riders were already gone, having loaded their ships with booty. Many perished, perhaps in a sea battle with Odaenathus' forces, or possibly they were shipwrecked. Assassination Odaenathus was assassinated, together with Herodianus, in late 267. The date is debated and some scholars propose 266 or 268, but Vaballathus dated the first year of his reign between August 267 and August 268, making late 267 the most probable date. The assassination took place in either Anatolia or Syria. There is no consensus on the manner, perpetrator or the motive behind the act. According to Syncellus, Odaenathus was assassinated near Heraclea Pontica by an assassin also named Odaenathus who was killed by the King's bodyguard. Zosimus states that Odaenathus was killed by conspirators near Emesa at a friend's birthday party without naming the killer. The twelfth-century historian Zonaras attributed the crime to a nephew of Odaenathus but did not give a name. The Anonymus post Dionem also does not name the assassin. The Augustan History claims that a cousin of the King named