Cleopatra II

 

 

These busts of a Ptolemaic Egyptian queen likely depict Cleopatra II or her daughter Cleopatra III. (Left image from Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Right image from the Louvre Museum, Paris)

Cleopatra II was the daughter of Ptolemy V and likely Cleopatra I. If she was the daughter of Cleopatra I, she was a full sister of Ptolemy VI Philometor and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon; otherwise she was their half-sister. She would eventually marry both of her brothers, in turn.^[1][2]

Following the death of their mother, Cleopatra I, in 177/6 BC, Cleopatra II was married to her brother Ptolemy VI Philometor in c. 175 BC. Cleopatra II, Ptolemy VI and their younger brother, Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Physcon, were co-rulers of Egypt from 170 BC to 164 BC.^[1][3]

In 169–168 BC, the siblings' maternal uncle Antiochus IV of Syria invaded Egypt. Ptolemy VI Philometor briefly joined Antiochus IV outside Alexandria in 169 BC, then turned against him in alliance with his siblings. Antiochus IV was finally induced to give up his attempt to take over Egypt by Roman intervention.^[4] In 164 BC Cleopatra II and her husband were temporarily deposed by Ptolemy VIII, but were restored to power in 163 BC. After this, Ptolemy VIII was removed from the co-regency in Egypt and made king of Cyrene.^[5][6]

Ptolemy VI died on campaign in Syria in 145 BC. Cleopatra II agreed to marry her younger brother, Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Physcon, who ascended the throne.^[1][7] According to Justin, Ptolemy VIII murdered Ptolemy, the surviving son of Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II,^[8] on his marriage to Cleopatra II, but new evidence shows he survived as a potential heir and served as eponymous priest of Alexander the Great in c. 143 BC; he was eliminated by his uncle sometime later.^[9] Cleopatra II bore Ptolemy VIII a new heir, Ptolemy Memphites, in c. 143 BC.^[10][11]

Between 142 BC and 139 BC Ptolemy VIII married Cleopatra's younger daughter, his niece Cleopatra III.^[7][12] She quickly produced two sons, the future kings Ptolemy IX Soter and Ptolemy XI Alexander, and three daughters.^[13] These developments are assumed to have increased the pre-existing rivalry between Cleopatra II and Ptolemy VIII.^[14]

Cleopatra II led a rebellion against Ptolemy VIII in 132/1 BC, and drove him and Cleopatra III out of Alexandria at the end of 131 BC.^[1] At this time Ptolemy VIII is said to have had Ptolemy Memphites, his son by his older sister, Cleopatra II, dismembered and his head, hands and feet sent to Cleopatra II in Alexandria as a birthday present.^[15][16]

Cleopatra II ruled in Alexandria as sole ruler until 127 BC. Ptolemy VIII had retained the allegiance of parts of Egypt and gradually expanded his control from there. In 127 BC, he took over Alexandria, Cleopatra II being forced to flee to Syria, where she joined her daughter Cleopatra Thea and her son-in-law Demetrius II Nicator. The latter was unable to offer effective support to his mother-in-law, as Ptolemy VIII pitted against him a rival for the Seleucid throne.^[17]

 

A public reconciliation of Cleopatra II and Ptolemy VIII was declared in 124 BC. After this she ruled jointly with her brother and daughter until June 116 BC when Ptolemy died. Among amnesty decrees seeking to heal the conflicts stirred by the recent civil war, Cleopatra II's murdered son Ptolemy Memphites was deified as the God Neos Philopator in 118 BC.^[7][18]

Ptolemy VIII left the kingdom to be ruled by Cleopatra III and one of their sons. At the wishes of the Alexandrians, Cleopatra III chose Ptolemy Lathyros, her elder son, as her co-ruler.^[1] However, Cleopatra II retained seniority in the ruling triumvirate.^[19]

Cleopatra II disappeared from historical records sometime around October 116 BC.^[7] She is believed to have died in about 116 or 115 BC.^[1][7]

With Ptolemy VI she had at least four children,^[2][7][20] and possibly an additional daughter Berenice:^[1]

• Ptolemy Eupator, born in 166 BC. Became co-regent with his father for a short time, but died at a young age in c. 152 BC.
• Cleopatra Thea, born in c. 164 BC. She married Alexander Balas, Demetrius II Nicator and Antiochus VII Sidetes. Murdered by her son in c. 120 BC.
• Perhaps Berenice, born between 163 and 160 BC. Died young in c. 150 BC.
• Cleopatra III, born between 160 and 155 BC. Married to her uncle Ptolemy VIII.
• Ptolemy, born c. 152 BC. Murdered after 143 BC by Ptolemy VIII.

Ptolemy VIII and his older sister, Cleopatra II, are thought to have had at least one son,^[1][2]

• Ptolemy Memphites, born between 144 and 142 BC. According to recent research, Ptolemy Memphites is identical to Ptolemy Neos Philopator, deified in 118 BC.^[21]

• Cleopatra II was titled Philometor ("Mother-loving [Goddess]") as spouse of her brother and co-ruler Ptolemy VI Philometor, in 175–164 and 163–145 BC.
• Cleopatra II was titled Euergetis ("Benefactor [Goddess]") as spouse of her brother and co-ruler Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Physcon, in 145–132/1 and 124–116 BC.
• Cleopatra II was titled Philometor Soteira ("Mother-loving Savior [Goddess]") during her sole reign in 132/1–127 BC and again as senior monarch in 116–116/5 BC.

• Bielman, A., "Stéréotypes et réalités du pouvoir politique féminin: la guerre civile en Égypte entre 132 et 124 av. J.-C.," EuGeStA 7 (2017) 84-114.
• Chauveau, M., "Encore Ptolémée «VII» et le dieu Neos Philopatôr!," Revue d’Égyptologie 51 (2000) 257-261.
• Dodson, A., and D. Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, London, 2004.
• Errington, R. M., A History of the Hellenistic World 323-30 BC, Malden, MA, 2008.
• Green, P., From Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, Berkeley, 1990.
• Hölbl, G., A History of the Ptolemaic Empire, London, 2001.