Apame (wife of Magas)

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Apame (also Apama , Greek  Ἀπάμα ; * around 291 BC; † after 249 BC) was a Syriac-Greek princess from the Seleucid dynasty and the wife of King Magas of Cyrene .

Life

Apame was a daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochus I and Stratonike as well as the sister of Antiochus II. According to Eusebius of Caesarea she had an older sister and her parents around 293 BC. And they got married around 275 BC. Married (see below), her date of birth is likely to be around 291 BC. To be set.

Apame was married to King Magas of Cyrene. Their wedding took place before the outbreak of the First Syrian War and is often dated to around 275 BC. Dated. The marriage served Magas to obtain the support of the Seleucids against his stepbrother, the Egyptian King Ptolemy II , who now saw himself threatened by a two-front war. However, Magas failed to march on Alexandria , and in the end he continued to rule only in Cyrene, but maintained tense relations with Ptolemy II for a good twenty years.

Most likely Apame was the mother of Magas' only daughter Berenike II. Although the Roman historian Iustinus gives Berenike's mother the name Arsinoe , it is likely either an oversight of Justin or after her marriage to Magas Apame had the more common one in the Ptolemaic dynasty Assumed the name Arsinoe. A scholion on a Callimachus fragment also expressly describes Berenike as the daughter of Magas and Apame.

Shortly before his death (probably around 250 BC) Magas tried to find a reconciliation with Ptolemy II, who wanted to reunite his empire with the economically strong Cyrene and therefore gladly accepted the offer of his half-brother. To consolidate this rapprochement, Magas' daughter Berenike was betrothed to Ptolemy (III) , the son and heir to the throne of Ptolemy II. The connection had been initiated against the will of Apame, who, as a Syrian princess, refused to join Kyrenes with the Ptolemaic empire; after all, the main aim of their own marriage was to keep Cyrene as an independent country that would support the Seleucids politically. After Magas' death, she therefore tried to torpedo her daughter's planned marriage to the Ptolemaic prince by breaking off Berenike's engagement and looking for a new husband for her. In the absence of suitable Seleucid applicants, Apame made contact with the Antigonid dynasty and offered Berenike's hand to Prince Demetrios the Beautiful , a stepbrother of the Macedonian King Antigonus II Gonatas . The decisive factor for this choice was, among other things, that the Antigonids were pro-Seleucid and Antigonos Gonatas was also hostile to Ptolemy II. So Apame could count on Macedonian help to maintain the relative independence of Kyrenes. Demetrios immediately accepted the marriage offer.

After Demetrios the Handsome had traveled to Cyrene and married Berenike, however, he had a love affair with the 40-year-old Apame. This relationship became public and not only aroused Berenike's anger, but also angered the soldiers and the population. The Egyptian Crown Prince was able to enjoy increasing popularity in Cyrene. A conspiracy developed against Demetrios, who was murdered in Apame's bed (around 249/48 BC). But Berenike made sure that her mother didn't suffer any harm. As a result, Berenike celebrated her wedding with Ptolemy (III). No information is available about Apame's later life.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Pausanias 1, 7, 3; Porphyrios with Eusebius of Caesarea , Chronicle 1, 249 ed. Schoene.
  2. ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea, Chronik 1, 249 ed. Schoene.
  3. ↑ Ulrich Wilcken : Apama 3). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2662.
  4. ^ Pausanias 1, 7, 3.
  5. ↑ So z. B. Hans Volkmann : Apama 3). In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Col. 419.
  6. ↑ Günther Hölbl , History of the Ptolemy Empire , p. 36; Werner Huss , Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr. , P. 266ff.
  7. ↑ Justinus 26, 3, 3 and 26, 3, 7.
  8. ↑ Callimachus, fragment 110 in P. Oxy. XX 2258.
  9. ↑ Chris Bennett, Apama / Arsinoe , note 6
  10. ↑ Justin 26: 3, 2.
  11. ↑ Justin 26: 3, 3f .; on this Günther Hölbl, Geschichte des Ptolemäerreiches , p. 44; Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr. , P. 333f.
  12. ↑ Iustinus 26, 3, 4-8 (whose report on Pompey Trogus should go back to Phylarchus ); Catullus 66, 25-28; on this Günther Hölbl, Geschichte des Ptolemäerreiches , p. 44; Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr. , P. 334.
personal data
SURNAME Apame
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Apama
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochus I, wife of King Magas of Cyrene
DATE OF BIRTH around 291 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 249 BC Chr.