Cleopatra III.

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Name of Cleopatra III.
Cleopatra-III-at-Kom-Ombo.jpg
Depiction of Cleopatra III. in the temple of Kom Ombo
Horus name
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D36 		nb
N19
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Nebet-taui-kanechet
Nb (t) -t3wj-k3nḫt
mistress and strong bull of the two countries

Cleopatra III. Euergetis (* between 160 and 155 BC; † October 101 BC ) was a queen of Egypt from the Ptolemaic dynasty and is considered one of the most power-conscious and ruthless members of this family. She was the daughter of the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI. and his sister Cleopatra II.

Marriage to Ptolemy VIII

Before December 146 BC BC created Ptolemy VI. an eponymous priesthood for Cleopatra III. in Ptolemais in Upper Egypt . Such a cult for a princess who was not yet a queen is unique in the history of the Ptolemies. After the death of Ptolemy VI. (145 BC) Cleopatra II married her second brother Ptolemy VIII , whose favor, however, quickly won her daughter. Probably between May 141 and January 140 BC. The wedding of Cleopatra III took place. and her uncle Ptolemy VIII instead, who entered into a second marriage without separating from his first wife. Allegedly Ptolemy VIII had raped his niece beforehand. In addition to love, the procreation of further children - Cleopatra II was already over 40 years old - may have been a reason for marriage for the king, who previously had only one heir to the throne. After their marriage, Cleopatra III became. Equal queen next to her mother and included in the cult of theoí Euergétai ("benefactor gods "). In the surviving papyri from this period, Cleopatra II is usually referred to as adelphé (sister), her daughter Cleopatra III. referred to as the king's gyné (wife). Only the latter received the cult title theá Euergétis and was thus upgraded compared to her mother as well as by the creation of another priesthood in Ptolemais for her.

This double marriage undoubtedly created tension and jealousy between mother and daughter. There was finally a civil war between Cleopatra II on the one hand and her daughter and her brother husband on the other; the latter two were made in early 130 BC. Expelled to Cyprus . When Ptolemy VIII made rapid progress in the reconquest of Egypt, he appointed counterpriest to the priest of Alexander , who supported Cleopatra II. Also a new priest named Hieropolos was now for Cleopatra III. used, which in this context was referred to as "great Isis , the mother of gods" and should be placed propagandistically above her mother, who is also divinely venerated by priests. The identification of the queen with the most important Egyptian goddess Isis goes further here than with all earlier Ptolemaic queens: even the living basilissa (queen) is regarded as a pure goddess with no earthly part. The Egyptians should support her as the incarnation of Isis against her mother.

After the conquest of Alexandria by Ptolemy VIII and the temporary expulsion of Cleopatra II, the three rulers were reconciled in 124 BC. BC, at least outwardly, and ruled together again, as can be seen from the dating formulas.

Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III had the following children:

Reign with Ptolemy IX.

When Ptolemy VIII died (June 28, 116 BC), his will came into effect, according to Cleopatra III. with the one of her two sons she preferred to rule and the Cyrenaica to his illegitimate son Ptolemaios Apion , Cyprus probably to the son who did not participate in the rule. In doing so, the king had given his younger wife a lot of power, contrary to tradition, according to which the older son should automatically follow. Her older son Ptolemy IX. Not friendly, she tried to make the younger, probably more docile son Ptolemy X. co-regent, but was prevented from doing so by her mother Cleopatra II, who, with the help of the army and people of Alexandria, succeeded in getting the older son Cleopatra III. was involved in the rule; Cleopatra II, her daughter and her older grandson now formed a triple government and were venerated as theoí Philométores Sóteres ; Ptolemy X received Cyprus.

Around the end of 116 BC Cleopatra II died and only Cleopatra III appears in the papyri. and her son as ruler, still with the cult title theoí Philométores Sóteres , which should signal continuity.

115 BC Created Cleopatra III. three other eponymous priestess offices for themselves: a Stephanephóros (wreath-bearer), a Phosphóros (torch-bearer) and a Hiéreia (priestess) for the Cleopatra Philometor Sóteira Dikaiosyne Nikephóros ; with the last three epithets, standing for an ideal king (savior, justice, victor), she wanted to tie in with Isis again. Her mother seems to have posthumously excluded her from the imperial cult and thus imposed a damnatio memoriae on her out of hatred .

In the documents Cleopatra III. called before her son and thus dominated the government. Beginning with Cleopatra I one can observe that the Ptolemaic women seized more and more power in comparison to the men, a development that culminated in the rule of the famous Cleopatra VII .

The Queen Mother also enforced 115 BC BC that Ptolemy IX. divorced his sister wife Cleopatra IV and married his younger sister Cleopatra V. Selene, who was probably more manageable than the strong-willed Cleopatra IV. She fled to Syria and married the Seleucid Antiochus IX. who thus became the enemy of Cleopatra III. has been.

Apparently in August and September 115 BC traveled BC not only Ptolemy IX, but also his mother and wife in the south of Egypt to the border of Ethiopia, as an inscription shows. The priests in Elephantine and Philae were given special consideration by the royal family through financial and territorial commitments. At the Nile Festival of Elephantine Ptolemy IX played. the traditional pharaoh role. The whole trip was supposed to demonstrate that the government was quite stable.

116/115 BC Chr. Commissioned Cleopatra III. the Eudoxos from Kyzikos with a second trip to India.

Even if mother and son ruled together for the next few years, their relationship might not have been the best. Since the written sources for this time are extremely sparse, research seeks to tap into these tensions from papyri and other files. Otto and Bengtson assume based on such evidence that Cleopatra III. her older son from October 110 to February 109 BC Replaced by Ptolemy X. in the rule, as well from March to May 108 BC. BC This assumption is no longer shared for the first time; but from the latter period there is probably an inscription which the Cyrenaians addressed to the king and his sister; apparently Ptolemy IX. and Cleopatra V withdrew to Cyrenaica before their mother (Ptolemy Apion may not have ruled Cyrenaica until after 102 BC). Werner Huss ( Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC , p. 634) also assumes a military conflict between mother and son on the basis of a fragment of Diodor's history ( Bibliothéke historiké '34 /35, 20), whereby he is Alexandria conquered, but forgave his mother and returned to the previous division of power.

A major point of conflict at this time (around 109/108 BC) was that Ptolemy IX. against the will of his mother Antiochus IX. with 6,000 men against the Jewish high priest I. Hyrcanus supported.

Reign with Ptolemy X.

In October 107 BC Was Ptolemy IX. finally expelled by his mother. Porphyrios claims that Ptolemy IX. murdered his parents' friends in the tenth year of his reign and was chased away by his mother for his cruelty. In the case of Iustinus ( Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 4, 1) and Pausanias ( Helládos Periēgēsis 1, 9, 2), on the other hand, the opposite of Cleopatra III. Negative literature has its say: she was no longer able to control her increasingly independent son and incited the Alexandrians against him; loyal eunuchs who had wounded themselves were sent out and falsely claimed that their injuries were linked to an assassination attempt by Ptolemy IX. against his mother together. Research in general has more faith in the Cleopatra-reluctant tradition.

This time Cleopatra III. draw the Alexandrians to their side, and Ptolemy IX. had to flee to Cyprus, while his wife Cleopatra V. Selene and her two sons had to stay in Alexandria. Her favorite son Ptolemy X, who in the meantime had traveled from Cyprus to Pelusion , she now elevated to co-regent instead of his older brother as a puppet, as his Egyptian title underscores.

Now, to herald the new era, a new (double) counting of the years of government began: the eleventh year of Cleopatra III. was equated with the eighth year of Ptolemy X. The cult title of theoí Philométores Sotéres has now passed to this new team of rulers . For Cleopatra III. A fifth (!) priesthood was established in the Alexandrian Ptolemaic cult (first, as this priest in 107/106, the strategist of Cyprus, Helenos , is attested). Initially, Ptolemy X was the successor of his brother Alexander priest until his domineering mother 105/104 BC. Chr. Even this highest male priesthood took over and thus disregarded every tradition.

Cleopatra III. sent a naval command against Cyprus, Ptolemy IX. defeated and taken prisoner, but who escaped and escaped to Seleukeia Pieria ; therefore the queen had the chief of her squadron executed. Cleopatra III. then instigated an assassination attempt against her exiled son, but it failed. 106/105 BC. BC Ptolemy IX. Cyprus returned and was able to repel new invasion attempts by his mother, as some of her generals (apart from the Jewish brothers Chelkias and Ananias ) overflowed to him.

Tensions between Cleopatra III probably soon developed. and her younger son, who apparently lived around 105/104 BC. Fled, but could be persuaded to return

Battle against Ptolemy IX. in Syria

103-101 BC In BC Cleopatra fought her older son on Seleucid soil with Jewish support; the warring brothers Antiochus VIII and Antiochus IX. were more or less degraded to watching. When the Jewish high priest and king Alexander Iannaios in early 103 BC BC Ptolemais (today Akko ) besieged, the inhabitants turned to Ptolemy IX for help, who promised to win a new staging area for a reconquest of Egypt. But quickly the citizens of the threatened city of someone else thought about it and wanted to fight Iannaios alone, to avoid the wrath of Cleopatra III. to draw.

As Ptolemy IX. but soon appeared, Alexander Iannaios negotiated a pact with him, but secretly tried Cleopatra III. to move to fight her son. The Cypriot king saw through the double game, invaded Judea and defeated Iannaios at Asophon on the Jordan ; Ptolemais also fell into his hands

Startled by this success of her son, Cleopatra III decided. to intervene. The Jews Chelkias and Ananias became their troop leaders. Ptolemy IX should be fought in Koile Syria and at the same time the withdrawal to Cyprus cut off. To be on the safe side, Cleopatra III. bring their grandchildren ( Ptolemy XI. , Ptolemy XII. and Ptolemy of Cyprus ), their treasures and their wills to the Asclepius sanctuary on the island of Kos . The Queen Mother also sought the support of Antiochus VIII, to whom she (probably 103 BC) sent her daughter Cleopatra V. Selene as wife and auxiliary troops.

In the summer of 103 BC Cleopatra III, Chelkias and Ananias marched as leaders of the land army against Ptolemy, where Ptolemy X sailed with the fleet to take this important city united. Around the beginning of 102 BC. The conquest succeeded, in which the Egyptian general Petimuthes may have played a major role, as the inscription on his statue in Karnak shows. It can also be seen from it that Egyptian commanders took part in the war, not just Jews, as Josephus suggests.

During the siege of Ptolemaïs, the army of Cleopatra III. to have been divided into three parts. Chelkias hurried with the largest of these army groups, Ptolemy IX. after, who advanced rapidly against Egypt, which was now only weakly defended; however, the Jewish general died during the pursuit march. The second army column should be under the direction of Ananias and Cleopatra III. Besieged Ptolemaïs and destroyed them after taking them. Alexander Iannaios came there to pay homage to the Queen Mother. The idea of ​​some high-ranking Egyptians to reincorporate Judea into the Ptolemaic Empire was successfully countered by Ananias, pointing out that such a move would incite the Ptolemies the hatred of all Jews. Instead, Cleopatra III made a pact with Iannaios , perhaps also taking into account the fact that Judea was allied with the world power Rome . In the meantime Ptolemy X had evidently marched against Damascus with the third army division .

Ptolemy IX could not penetrate far into Egypt, and Cleopatra III. sent troops in time (led by Ptolemy X?) to the Nile country, who drove their older son away. In February 102 BC Ptolemy X was with his army in Pelusion and protected it from his brother, who now withdrew to Cyprus.

death

Cleopatra also returned to Egypt, but left parts of her troops until September 102 BC. In Ptolemaïs as a deterrent to Ptolemy IX. stationed. Soon after, in October 101 BC. BC, she died. According to some ancient authors, she was murdered by her younger son because she supposedly wanted to have him killed first. Although this portrayal has sometimes been questioned, it is not unlikely. The conflicts could have escalated through a more self-confident demeanor of the son, who perhaps felt strengthened by his war successes, towards his mother and her apparently excessive lust for power.

literature

to Cleopatra III.
further reading
  • Walter GA Otto , Hermann Bengtson : On the history of the decline of the Ptolemaic empire. A contribution to the reigns of the 8th and 9th Ptolemies. Publishing house of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Munich 1938.
  • E. van't Dack et al: The Judaean-Syrian-Egyptian Conflict of 103-101 BC A multilingual dossier concerning a war of sceptres (= Collectanea Hellenistica. 1). Paleis der Academiën, Brussels 1989.
  • John Edwin George Whitehorne: Cleopatras. Routledge, London / New York 1994, ISBN 978-0-415-05806-3 , pp. 121-148.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Iustinus , Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 38, 8, 5; Livy , Ab urbe condita librorum periochae 59; among others
  2. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 606; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 169; 173; 261.
  3. ↑ Diodor , Bibliothéke historiké '33, 6; 33, 12; Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 38, 8, 11; Livy, Ab urbe condita librorum periochae 59.
  4. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 624; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 177; 261.
  5. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 615; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 179.
  6. ↑ Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 3, 1; 39, 5, 2.
  7. ↑ Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 3, 2; Pausanias , Helládos Periēgēsis 1, 9, 1f .; Porphyrios in Felix Jacoby , The Fragments of the Greek Historians (FGrHist.), No. 260 F 2, 8.
  8. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 627ff .; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 183f.
  9. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 630; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 184.
  10. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 639f .; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 184; 263.
  11. ↑ Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 185.
  12. ↑ Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 3, 2f.
  13. ^ Inscriptiones Graecae (IG) Thèbes / Syène 244.
  14. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 632; Werner Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 184f.
  15. ↑ Poseidonios , FGrHist. 87 F 28, 4f. at Strabon , Geographika 2, 99.
  16. ^ Walter GA Otto, Hermann Bengtson: To the history of the decline of the Ptolemy empire. A contribution to the reigns of the 8th and 9th Ptolemies , pp. 162ff .; 174.
  17. ^ Supplementum epigraphicum Graecum (SEG) IX 5.
  18. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus , Jüdische Antiquities 13, 274; 13, 278f.
  19. ↑ Porphyrios, FGrHist. 260 F 2, 8.
  20. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 635.
  21. ^ Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 4, 1; Pausanias, Helládos Periēgēsis 1, 9, 2.
  22. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 644f .; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 187; 263.
  23. ↑ Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké '34 /35, 39a; Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 4, 2. 4-6.
  24. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 13, 287; 13, 328; 13, 331; 13, 358.
  25. ↑ Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 4, 3; on this Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 646.
  26. ↑ Main source for this war: Josephus, Jüdische Altertümer 13, 324-364.
  27. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 13, 324; 13, 328-331.
  28. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 13, 332-347.
  29. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 13, 348f .; Appian , Mithridatius 23; 115; 117.
  30. ^ Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 4, 4.
  31. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 649f .; Günther Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire , p. 188.
  32. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 13, 351.
  33. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 13, 353-355.
  34. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 13, 351f. 358; Stele Louvre inv. 3709.
  35. ↑ Poseidonios, FGrHist. 87 F 26; Iustinus, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi 39, 4, 5f .; Pausanias, Helládos Periēgēsis 1, 9, 3; among others
  36. ↑ Werner Huss, Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332-30 BC Chr. , P. 652.
personal data
SURNAME Cleopatra III.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cleopatra III. Euergetis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Regent of Egypt
DATE OF BIRTH between 160 BC BC and 155 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH October 101 BC Chr.