Cleopatra Selene

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Cleopatra Selene ( Greek  Κλεοπάτρα ἡ Σελήνη ; also Cleopatra Selene II. Or Cleopatra VIII.) (* 40 BC; † in the 1st century BC or in the 1st century ) was a Ptolemaic princess, the only daughter of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII and the Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius as well as the twin sister of Alexander Helios . After the double suicide of her parents in 30 BC Because of her defeat against Octavian (later Emperor Augustus ) Cleopatra Selene was brought up by Octavian's sister Octavia and was raised by Augustus around 20 BC. Married to Juba II . At his side she ruled as queen over Mauritania .

Lineage and Early Life

Around the autumn of 40 BC Cleopatra VII gave birth to the twins Alexander and Cleopatra. Her father was the queen's lover, Marcus Antonius, who lived in the winter of 41/40 BC. Had stayed with her in Egypt. Like their younger brother Ptolemy Philadelphus, the twins were born by Mark Antony in 36 BC. Chr. - after the resumption of his relationship with the Ptolemaic queen - recognized as his children. Cleopatra received her nickname Selene (= "moon") probably only now (36 BC). Even Cleopatra V. had received the same nickname; in addition, the moon was the star of Isis , whose incarnation Cleopatra VII considered herself. Selene was the equivalent of the nickname Helios (= "sun"), which Cleopatra Selene's brother Alexander led.

According to Plutarch and Cassius Dio , Antonius is said to have been in an autumn 34 BC The impressive event held in the gymnasium of Alexandria in the 4th century BC proclaimed his underage children from Cleopatra to be rulers of large areas (so-called "donations of Alexandria"). Cassius Dio states that Cleopatra Selene was made queen of Cyrene , while this country, according to Plutarch, was subordinated to Cleopatra VII and Cleopatra Selene received nothing. Werner Huss considers the latter version to be the more likely. According to the coin findings, the military part in the administration of Cyrenaica remained under Roman control, whereas Cleopatra VII. From 37/36 BC. BC exercised civil administration there.

After the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra VII in the battle of Actium against Octavian (September 2, 31 BC) and her double suicide after the victor entered Egypt (August 30 BC), Cleopatra became Selene and her two Brothers Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus spared by Octavian and taken to Italy. When in August 29 BC The triumphal procession of the future Princeps held in Rome at least Cleopatra Selene and her twin brother were listed as a trophy; perhaps her younger brother did not have to attend this spectacle. Then Cleopatra Selene and her siblings came into the care of Octavian's sister Octavia, who she raised in her house together with the other children of Antonius.

Marriage to Juba of Mauritania

Coin of Juba and Cleopatra

While the further fate of Alexander Helios and Ptolemaios Philadelphos is in the dark due to a lack of tradition, Cleopatra Selene is known to have lived between 25 and 20 BC. Was given by Augustus to the wife of Juba, who was raised to King of Mauritania, who also grew up in the care of Octavia. Krinagoras wrote an epigram for their wedding. The earliest surviving coin depicting Juba and Cleopatra Selene dates from 20/19 BC. Through their marriage Cleopatra Selene became queen of Mauritania. Sometimes she minted coins together with her husband, sometimes for herself. On these coins, which show her as a power-conscious ruler in the Ptolemaic family tradition, she is often depicted as Isis and bears the title of a basilissa ("queen"). Juba renamed his new capital Caesarea (today Cherchell , Algeria ) in honor of the Roman emperor and made it a cultural center based on the model of Alexandria; here he also had Egyptian works of art transferred.

A son of Juba and Cleopatra Selene was named Ptolemy . His date of birth is very uncertain; the period from 19 to 5 BC is considered. It appears on Juba's coins since 5 AD. Furthermore, Cleopatra Selene may have had a daughter to whom an Athenian inscription could refer, which mentions an unnamed "daughter of King Juba". Some ancient historians identify this presumed daughter of Cleopatra Selene with Drusilla , described by Tacitus as the granddaughter of Cleopatra VII and the triumvir Mark Antony , who married the Jewish procurator Mark Antony Felix , while Christopher Bennett considers this Drusilla to be a daughter of Cleopatra Selene’s son Ptolemy.

death

Royal Mausoleum of Mauritania in Tipasa (Algeria), burial place of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene

The year of death of Cleopatra Selene is not known. In any case, Juba married Glaphyra , the daughter of King Archelaos of Cappadocia and widow of Alexander , who lived around 7 BC for the second time . Was executed by his own father, Herod the Great . Juba could have entered into this marriage during a presumed stay in the east, where he might have accompanied Gaius Caesar , around 1 AD. Presumably this brief marriage was divorced when Juba returned to Mauritania around AD 4. Some researchers believe that Cleopatra Selene died before Juba's marriage to Glaphyra. An epigram of the Krinagoras, which is related to her death, connects this with a lunar eclipse . If it is not just a matter of poetic freedom and Cleopatra Selene's death actually took place before Juba's second marriage, it is most likely the one on March 23, 5 BC. Occurred, from Mauritania acted from visible lunar eclipse. For example, Christopher Bennett takes about 5 BC as the year of Cleopatra Selene's death. Chr.

A second group of researchers, however, suspects that Cleopatra Selene did not pass away until 5/6 AD. Finally, there is a third, even later dating approach to around 18 AD. This is based on a coin find made in Ksar, Morocco in 1907 , which also includes Jubas coins from 11 to 17 AD and undated coins with portraits of the heads owned by Juba and Cleopatra Selene. Ancient historians who prefer Cleopatra Selene to be the year of death around 18 AD consider it plausible that she was still alive at the time these coins were minted and that Juba resumed her marriage after he separated from Glaphyra and returned to Mauritania. Cleopatra Selene previously acted as regent of Mauritania during Juba's stay in the east and issued her own coins. Against such a late date of death, among other things, speaks that Juba either had divorced Cleopatra Selene before his marriage to Glaphyra or, contrary to Roman and Hellenistic custom, Glaphyra should have married in bigamy and that on the first coins of Jubas, on which his son Ptolemy also appears (5 AD), any symbolism associated with Cleopatra Selene, such as the Egyptian crocodile, is missing. The coins discovered in Ksar could also be posthumous issues; Likewise, Cleopatra Selene's emission of independent coins could also be explained by the fact that she had an autonomous right to coin. Overall, the date of her death remains controversial and therefore unknown for the time being.

Queen Zenobia of Palmyra is said to be descended from Cleopatra VII, Dido and Semiramis , whereby Cleopatra Selene would also be one of her ancestors.

Trivia

The two moons Cleoselene (also S / 2008 (216) 2 or Cleopatra II) and Alexhelios (also S / 2008 (216) 1 or Cleopatra I) of the minor planet (216) were named Cleopatra after Cleopatra Selene and her twin brother Alexander Helios .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Plutarch , Antonius 36, 5; Cassius Dio , Roman History 49, 32, 4.
  2. ↑ Several ancient authors prove that Selene was Cleopatra's surname (Plutarch, Antonius 36, 5; Cassius Dio, Roman History 50, 25, 4 and 51, 21, 8; Suetonius , Caligula 26, 1; Eusebius of Caesarea , Chronicle 2, 140f. Ed. Schoene), as well as coin certificates.
  3. ↑ Michael Grant : Cleopatra. P. 200f.
  4. ^ Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 49, 41, 3.
  5. ^ Plutarch, Antonius 54, 6.
  6. ↑ Werner Huss: Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr. P. 740, note 63.
  7. ↑ Christoph Schäfer : Cleopatra. P. 154.
  8. ^ Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 51, 21, 8; Eusebius of Caesarea, Chronicle 2, 140f. ed. Schoene.
  9. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 87, 1.
  10. ^ Plutarch, Antonius 87, 2; Cassius Dio, Roman History 51, 15, 6; Suetonius, Caligula 26, 1; Strabon , Geôgraphiká 17, 828; Suda , s. Iobas .
  11. ↑ Anthologia Palatina 9, 235.
  12. ↑ J. Mazard: Corpus Nummorum Numidiae Mauretaniaeque. No. 357.
  13. ^ Günther Hölbl : History of the Ptolemaic Empire. P. 227.
  14. ↑ Suetonius, Caligula 26, 1; Cassius Dio, Roman History 59, 25, 1.
  15. ^ Walter Ameling : Ptolemaios [24]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01480-0 , Sp. 551 .: Ptolemy's date of birth between 19 and 14 BC Chr .; Duane W. Roller, The World of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene , p. 256: Date of birth 13 to 9 BC. Chr .; Christopher Bennett ( Cleopatra Selene , note 9 ): Date of birth 10 to 5 BC. Chr .; Hans Volkmann : Ptolemaios 34). In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 1224 .: Date of birth 6/5 v. Chr.
  16. ↑ Inscriptiones Graecae (IG) II² 3439.
  17. ^ Tacitus, Histories 5, 9.
  18. ↑ So z. B. Felix Staehelin : Cleopatra 23). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XI, 1, Stuttgart 1921, Col. 784.
  19. ↑ Christopher Bennett: Cleopatra Selene. Note 10 .
  20. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus , Jüdische Antiquities 17, 349f .; Jewish War 2, 115; OGIS 363.
  21. ^ Felix Staehelin: Cleopatra 23). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XI, 1, Stuttgart 1921, Col. 785.
  22. ↑ Anthologia Palatina 7, 633.
  23. ↑ a b Christopher Bennett, Cleopatra Selene , note 12 .
  24. ^ Felix Staehelin: Cleopatra 23). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XI, 1, Stuttgart 1921, Col. 785.
  25. ↑ Historia Augusta , Tyranni Triginta 27, 1 and 30, 2.
  26. ↑ MPC 73983 ( 2.2 MB )
personal data
SURNAME Cleopatra Selene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cleopatra VIII .; Cleopatra Selene II.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Daughter of Cleopatra VII and Marcus Antonius, Queen of Mauritania by marriage
DATE OF BIRTH 40 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH between around 5 BC Chr. And 18