Arsinoë III.

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bust of Queen Arsinoë III. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Arsinoë III. (* probably between November 246 and June 245 BC; † 204 BC ) was the wife of her brother Ptolemaios IV. a queen of Egypt (220-204 BC) from the Ptolemaic dynasty .

Life

Arsinoë III. was a daughter of Ptolemy III. and Berenike II. She had several siblings, including the brothers Ptolemaios IV and Magas as well as the young deceased sister Berenike († 238 BC). After the end of 222 BC Ptolemy III died. Berenike II., Magas and other members of the royal family were murdered at the instigation of the influential Minister Sosibios .

Before October / November 220 BC Arsinoë III married. with her brother Ptolemy IV. At his side she took in 217 BC At the battle of Raphia against the Seleucid king Antiochus III. took part and encouraged the armed forces through speeches before the start of the fight. After the Ptolemaic victory she stayed with Ptolemy IV in Koilesyria for three months and then returned with him to Alexandria .

The royal couple was accepted as Theoi Philopatores (= "father-loving gods") in the Ptolemaic ruler cult. Arsinoë III. appears in sacrificial scenes on native Egyptian monuments on an equal footing with her brother husband. In honorary inscriptions from Koilesyria, Arsinoë III. named as Thea Philopator next to Ptolemy IV, the Theos Philopator . The fourth Ptolemaic worshiped Isis in particular and sought to approximate the figure of his wife in the cultic area to that of this ancient Egyptian goddess. He was also together with Arsinoë III. related to the divine couple Isis and Serapis . So on the bilingual founding boards of an Alexandrian temple for Serapis and Isis, following the naming of these gods, the royal couple is also listed as "father-loving gods".

During the Second Punic War , Ptolemy IV was neutral towards the warring parties Rome and Carthage . He got 210 BC BC by Roman envoys visiting who asked for the renewal of friendship and among others Arsinoë III. presented expensive robes as gifts. The Ptolemaic king maintained close relations with Boeotia ; Statues were erected for him and his sister wife in the city sanctuary of Oropos .

210 BC BC gave birth to Arsinoë III. her royal brother her only child, who later became Ptolemy V. Shortly after his birth, this son was named co-gentleman by his father.

The relationship of Arsinoë III. to her brother consort seems to have been overshadowed by his affair with his mistress Agathokleia . The Greek historian Polybios regrets the queen because she was "orphaned". However, it is not certain whether the ruling couple actually had such tense relationships with one another. In any case, Ptolemy IV did not prohibit any public honors for his sister and should not have disregarded them - contrary to what the late antique historian John of Antioch claims -.

The more exact circumstances of death of the probably in the summer of 204 BC Ptolemy IV and his wife, who died in BC, are unknown due to the incomplete state of preservation of Polybius' history. In any case, Polybios states that the Minister Sosibios had Arsinoë III. get rid of, the actual murder was carried out by Philammon . The Roman historian Justinus claims, however, that Ptolemy IV murdered his wife and that after he died his death was kept secret for a long time. Possibly Arsinoë III came. by a set fire that burned down part of the palace. Mostly it is assumed in modern research that Arsinoë III. after the death of Ptolemy IV. wanted to take over the reign of the empire for their underage son Ptolemy V and was therefore killed on behalf of Sosibios and Agathocles , who intended to run the government themselves.

When Sosibios and Agathocles publicly announced the death of the king and his wife, they appointed the underage Ptolemy V as the new king, presented an allegedly forged testament to Ptolemy IV, ordering them to be his guardians, and showed them two urns containing the mortal remains of the ruling couple contained and were buried. However, according to Polybios, one urn did not contain the remains of Arsinoë, but only spices. Now the true fate of Arsinoë has also become generally known and has sadly touched numerous Alexandrians. Sosibios died soon afterwards, but Agathocles was able to exercise the reign for a good year before he became about October 203 BC. Was murdered by a fanatical crowd together with his sister Agathokleia and other relatives. At this time, former friends of Arsinoë learned that their murderer Philammon had returned from Cyrene to Alexandria three days earlier , whereupon they killed him and his family. 199/198 BC Was the office of an eponymous priestess for Arsinoë III. created in the Alexandrian Ptolemaic cult.

literature

Web links

Commons : Arsinoë III.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Chris Bennett, Arsinoe III. , Note 3
  2. ↑ Polybios 15:25 , 2.
  3. ↑ Polybios 5, 34, 1; 5, 36, 1; 15, 25, 1f .; among others
  4. ^ Walter Ameling : Arsinoe [II 4]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 2, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01472-X , Sp. 39.
  5. ↑ Polybios 5, 83, 3 and 5, 84, 1; 3. Book of the Maccabees 1, 4.
  6. ↑ Polybios 5, 87, 6.
  7. ^ Günther Hölbl , History of the Ptolemy Empire , pp. 149 and 151; Werner Huss , Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr. , P. 453f.
  8. ↑ Titus Livius 27, 4, 10 (with the wrong designation of Arsinoë III as Cleopatra ).
  9. ^ Wilhelm Dittenberger , Orientis Graeci inscriptiones selectae (OGIS) I 81; on this Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr. , P. 412f. with note 48.
  10. ↑ Iustinus 30, 2, 6 (who incorrectly calls Arsinoë Eurydice ).
  11. ↑ Polybios 15, 25, 9.
  12. ↑ Johannes von Antiochia, Fragment 54 in Karl Müller et al., Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum (FHG), Vol. 4 (1851), p. 558.
  13. ↑ So Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC. Chr. , P. 465 with note 10.
  14. ↑ Polybios 15, 25, 2; 15, 25, 12; 15, 26a, 1.
  15. ↑ Justinus 30, 1, 7 and 30, 2, 6.
  16. ↑ See Johannes von Antiochia, Fragment 54, FHG Vol. 4, p. 558.
  17. ↑ So z. B. Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 119 and Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC. Chr. , P. 474f .; see. Christopher Bennett, Ptolemy IV , note 9
  18. ↑ Polybios 15:25 , 3-10.
  19. ↑ Polybios 15, 33, 11f.
  20. ^ Günther Hölbl, Geschichte des Ptolemäerreiches , p. 152; Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr. , P. 530.
personal data
SURNAME Arsinoë III.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arsinoe III.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Queen of Egypt
DATE OF BIRTH 246 BC BC or 245 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 204 BC Chr.