Berenike the younger

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Berenice the Younger (* about 285-280 v. Chr .; † around 246 v. Chr. In Antioch ) was a daughter of the Egyptian king Ptolemy II. And his wife Arsinoe I .

Life

Berenike was born by her father to strengthen the peace after the Second Syrian War in early 252 BC. Married the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II , to whom she brought a large dowry (hence her epithet phernephóros = "dowry bearer"), presumably instead of reparation payments . Ptolemy II personally accompanied his daughter to Pelusion , the minister Apollonios then brought her to the Egyptian border north of Sidon , where she was received by the Syrian king and married soon afterwards. Antiochus II had previously separated from his previous wife Laodike , who withdrew to western Asia Minor , but did not want to accept her disempowerment in the long run. Berenike always received Nile water from her father , which had a pleasant taste.

Berenike gave birth to her husband a son, who was probably called Antiochus and who became heir apparent. But in 246 BC Antiochus II died under unexplained circumstances in Ephesus when he was staying with his ex-wife Laodike. This claimed that the Seleucid king disinherited the son of Berenike shortly before his death and had again appointed her eldest son Seleukos II as his successor; on the other hand, the Egyptian opposition spread that Laodike had poisoned her ex-husband and forged his will. Laodike ordered her followers to kill Berenike and her little son, who resided in the capital, Antioch . However, Berenike found out about her rival's plans and withdrew with her young son to the suburb of Daphne, which was easy to defend even without a large army. She also asked her brother, the Egyptian king Ptolemy III, by messenger . , for help and requested reinforcements from Asia Minor. This is how the Third Syrian War broke out. The two noble Antiochenes Gennaios and Ikadion, partisans of Laodike, were able to seize Berenike's son and had him killed, apparently in Antioch. It seems unlikely that Berenike would have taken cruel revenge on Gennaios, as Valerius Maximus tells, since Gennaius was later also involved in the murder of Berenike after Porphyrios. In any case, the Ptolemaic woman followed the advice of her personal physician Aristarchus to come to terms with the murderers of her child in order to save her own life. Under oath that she would be spared, she quartered herself in a secure part of the palace and was given a Celtic bodyguard, but was soon murdered in breach of her promise. The servants Panariste, Mania and Gethosyne took care of the burial of Berenike, but claimed to the Syrian people that she was still alive and recovering by placing a doppelganger in her bed in her place, and waited for the arrival of the Egyptian king. In the name of his sister who was supposedly still alive, he then made some useful arrangements for him.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scholia to Theocritus 17,128.
  2. ↑ Porphyrios at Felix Jacoby in: The fragments of the Greek historians . (FGrH) No. 260, F 43.
  3. ↑ Porphyrios, FGrH 260 F 43; Polyainos 8.50; Phylarchos , FGrH 81 F 24 in Athenaios 13,593d; Appian , Syriaca 65,344 f .; Pliny , Natural History 7.53; Valerius Maximus 9.14 ext. 1.
  4. ↑ Justin 27,1,5.
  5. ↑ Porphyrios, FGrH 260, F 43; Valerius Maximus 9.10 ext. 1; Polyainos 8.50; Appian, Syriaca 65,345; Justin 27.1.2.
  6. ↑ so Polyainos 8.50.
personal data
SURNAME Berenike the younger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Egyptian queen
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH around 246 BC Chr.
Place of death Antioch on the Orontes