Agathokleia (Ptolemy IV's concubine)

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Agathokleia († probably October 203 BC in Alexandria ) was a concubine of the Egyptian king Ptolemy IV.

Life

Agathokleia was probably the daughter of Oinanthe of her first husband Agathokles. In addition to two sisters of unknown names, Agathokleia had a brother who was also called Agathocles and - in addition to Sosibios - gained significant influence on the shaping of Ptolemy IV's policy. Your contemporary, the historian Polybios (around 200 BC - around 120 BC), the main source of Agathokleia's life, used a source that was very hostile towards Agathocles and his family for his historical work. Accordingly, he paints Agathokleia and her brother in gloomy colors.

Originally, Agathokleia is said to have been a dancer from Samos . When she rose to become Ptolemy IV's mistress - allegedly through her mother's domination - she made herself completely submissive to Pharaoh and exerted great influence on him. The sources characterize her as a rival of Queen Arsinoë III. 215 BC She is described by several papyri as the owner of Nile boats. Such property was reserved exclusively for women of very high social status. 213/212 BC Agathokleia probably exercised the respected office of a Kanephore of the Arsinoë.

When Ptolemy IV died (probably in the middle of 204 BC), Arsinoë III sought out. to enforce when taking power over Sosibios and Agathocles. But on their orders she was murdered by Philammon . Sosibios and Agathocles now held the reign of the underage king Ptolemy V , who was entrusted by Agathocles to the care of his sister Agathokleia and his mother Oinanthe.

After the early death of Sosibios, Agathocles was sole ruler, but did not understand how to win the sympathy of the population; many mourned the murdered queen. When the strategist Tlepolemos around October 203 BC As he advanced with his troops against Alexandria and at the same time riots broke out in the capital, Agathocles holed himself up with some family members, including Agathokleia, and the little king in a wing of the palace. “Macedonian” soldiers, however, stormed the palace and forced Ptolemy V's surrender. At first, the fallen regent and his relatives remained undisturbed and withdrew to their private homes. A raging crowd gathered in the stadium demanded that they be held accountable. Agathocles was dragged in handcuff and immediately stabbed to death. This was followed by the naked Agathokleia, her sisters and other family members, most recently her mother Oinanthe, who had fled to a temple. They were all handed over to fanatical people, who bit them, beat them and tore their limbs out while they were alive. So Agathokleia and her clan fell victim to a cruel lynching.

literature

Web link

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Plutarch , Kleomenes 33, 2.
  2. ↑ Walter Ameling (DNP 1, col. 237) identifies Agathokleia's father with Agathocles , the son of Lysimachos . Werner Huss ( Egypt in Hellenistic Time , p. 460), who assumes that Agathokleia's family came from a low background and rose under Ptolemy IV, is different .
  3. ↑ Plutarch, Moralia 753d.
  4. ↑ Polybios 14, 11, 5 and ö .; Strabon 17, 795; Plutarch, Kleomenes 33, 2; Justin 30, 1, 7; 30, 2, 3ff .; among others
  5. ^ So W. Ameling (DNP 1, col. 237). W. Huss ( Egypt in Hellenistic Time , p. 465f.), On the other hand, dates these papyri to the year 227 BC. Chr.
  6. ^ W. Huss, Egypt in Hellenistic Time , p. 470.
  7. ↑ Polybios 15, 25, 12; the late antique historian John of Antioch (Fragment 54 in C. Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG), IV 558) ascribes the guilt for the death of Arsinoës III. however, to Agathokleia (apparently similar to Justinus 30, 2, 7).
  8. ↑ Polybios 15:25 , 12.
  9. ↑ Polybios 15, 30-33; Justin 30, 2, 7 claims that the female relatives of Agathocles were crucified.
personal data
SURNAME Agathokleia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ptolemy IV's concubine
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: October 203 BC Chr.
Place of death Alexandria