Cleopatra IV
Queen of Egypt
Reign116–115 BC
Coronation116 BC
PredecessorPtolemy VIII
Cleopatra III
SuccessorPtolemy IX
Cleopatra III
Co-rulersPtolemy IX
Cleopatra III
Seleucid Queen
Tenure114–112 BC (in opposition to queen consort Tryphaena)
Coronation114 BC
Bornc. 138 – 135 BC
Died112 BC (aged 22–26)
Spouse
  • Ptolemy IX (c. 119/118 BC–c. 115 BC)
  • Antiochus IX (married c. 115–12 BC)
Issue
DynastyPtolemaic
FatherPtolemy VIII Physcon
MotherCleopatra III of Egypt

Cleopatra IV (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα) was Queen of Egypt briefly from 116 to 115 BC, jointly with her husband Ptolemy IX Lathyros. She later became queen consort of the Seleucid king of Syria as the wife of Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.[1][2]

Biography

Queen of Egypt

Cleopatra IV was the daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III of Egypt. She was born between 138 and 135 BC. She was the sister of Ptolemy IX, Ptolemy X, Cleopatra Selene I and Tryphaena.

Cleopatra IV married her brother Ptolemy IX when he was still a prince in c. 119/118 BC. Cleopatra IV may be the mother of Ptolemy XII Auletes and Ptolemy of Cyprus, although an unnamed concubine could be the mother of these two men as well.[1]

In c. 115 BC Cleopatra III forced Cleopatra IV and Ptolemy IX to divorce. She replaced Cleopatra IV with her sister Cleopatra Selene.[3]

Queen of Syria and death

After her forced divorce, Cleopatra IV fled Egypt and went to Cyprus, where she married Antiochus IX Cyzicenus and brought him the army of his half brother Seleucid King Antiochus VIII Grypus of Syria, which she had convinced to follow her. Grypus fought Cyzicenus and eventually chased him to Antioch. Grypus was married to Cleopatra IV's sister Tryphaena. Tryphaena decided that Cleopatra IV should die and over the protests of her husband summoned some soldiers and had Cleopatra IV murdered in the sanctuary of Daphne in Antioch.[2][4]

In his comprehensive website about Ptolemaic genealogy, Christopher Bennett also notes the possibility that Cleopatra IV, from her brief marriage to Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, may have been the mother of the later Seleucid monarch, Antiochus X Eusebes ("the Pious").[5] Antiochus X would go on to marry Cleopatra IV's younger sister, Cleopatra Selene, thus making him the spouse of a woman who was his stepmother (Selene married both of her sisters' widowers, Grypus and Cyzicenus, before marrying Eusebes) and perhaps his maternal aunt.

Ancestry

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Cleopatra IV by Chris Bennett.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004
  3. ↑ Justin 39, 3, 2.
  4. ↑ Justin 39, 3, 3-11.
  5. ↑ Chris Bennett: Arsinoe IV
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