Apama II, sometimes known as Apame II ( grc, Ἀπάμα, about c. 292 BC–sometime after 249 BC) was a Syrian
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
princess of the
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
, queen of
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
by marriage to King
Magas of Cyrene
Magas of Cyrene ( el, Μάγας ὁ Κυρηναῖος; born before 317 BC – 250 BC, ruled 276 BC – 250 BC) was a Greek King of Cyrenaica. Through his mother’s second marriage to Ptolemy I he became a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He man ...
.
Life
Apama II was a daughter of the second Seleucid king
Antiochus I Soter
Antiochus I Soter ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος Σωτήρ, ''Antíochos Sōtér''; "Antiochus the Saviour"; c. 324/32 June 261 BC) was a Greek king of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus succeeded his father Seleucus I Nicator in 281 BC and reigned du ...
, who was of
Greek Macedonian Macedonian Greek or Greek Macedonian may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Macedonia (Greece), a region in Greece
*Macedonians (Greeks), the Greek people of Macedonia
* Greeks in North Macedonia, those living as a minority in the neighbo ...
and
Persian descent, and
Stratonice, a queen of Greek Macedonian descent. Her siblings included
Stratonice of Macedon Stratonice ( el, Στρατονίκη, ''Stratoníkē''; lived in the 3rd century BC) of Macedonia was the daughter of Stratonice of Syria and of the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter (281–261 BC). She was married to Demetrius II (239–229 ...
and the Seleucid King
Antiochus II Theos
Antiochus II Theos ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος Θεός, ; 286 – July 246 BC) was a Greek king of the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic Seleucid Empire who reigned from 261 to 246 BC. He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of ...
. Her paternal grandparents were the first Seleucid King
Seleucus I Nicator
Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the po ...
and his wife Queen
Apama
Apama ( grc, Ἀπάμα, Apáma), sometimes known as Apama I or Apame I, was a Sogdian noblewoman and the wife of the first ruler of the Seleucid Empire, Seleucus I Nicator. They married at Susa in 324 BC. According to Arrian, Apama was the da ...
I, and her maternal grandparents were
Antigonid
The Antigonid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιγονίδαι) was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic dynasty of Dorians, Dorian Greek provenance, descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-Eyed") that ruled main ...
King
Demetrius I of Macedon
Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to the Antigonid dynast ...
and his wife Queen
Phila
Phila may refer to a shortened name for the City of Philadelphia, U.S.
It may also refer to:
*Phila of Elimeia, sister of Derdas and wife of Philip II of Macedon
*Phila (daughter of Antipater), wife of Balacrus, Craterus and Demetrius Poliorcetes ...
. Apama was the namesake of her paternal grandmother and paternal aunt. Apama was born and raised in the Seleucid Empire.
Queen of Cyrene
Around 275 BC, Apama married her maternal third cousin the Greek King
Magas of Cyrene
Magas of Cyrene ( el, Μάγας ὁ Κυρηναῖος; born before 317 BC – 250 BC, ruled 276 BC – 250 BC) was a Greek King of Cyrenaica. Through his mother’s second marriage to Ptolemy I he became a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He man ...
. The maternal grandmothers of Apama and Magas were paternal first cousins. The fathers of their grandmothers were brothers.
Apama is sometimes known as Arsinoe. After she married Magas, there is a possibility Apama changed her name to Arsinoe, which was a more familiar Ptolemaic name. Apama was related to the Ptolemaic dynasty through marriage and was a distant relative of
Eurydice of Egypt
Eurydice ( grc, Εὐρυδίκη) third known wife to Ptolemy I Soter and as such a queen of Egypt
Life
Eurydice (ca. 330-post 279 BCE) is thought to be the youngest of Antipater's known daughters. Her wedding date and repudiation date are a ...
and
Berenice I of Egypt
Berenice I ( grc-gre, Βερενίκη; c. 340 BC – between 279 and 268 BC) was Queen of Egypt by marriage to Ptolemy I Soter. She became the second queen, after Eurydice, of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.
Life Family
Berenice was originally f ...
, who were among the various wives of
Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedon ...
.
Although her marriage to Magas was a dynastic one, Antiochus I arranged this marriage to occur as a part of a political alliance between him and Magas to invade
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. Through her marriage to Magas, Apama became Queen of Cyrenaica. In Cyrenaica, there is a surviving honorific inscription dedicated to Apama, as a monarch and wife of Magas.
After 270 BC, Apama bore Magas a daughter called
Berenice II
Berenice II Euergetis (267 or 266 BC – 221 BC; , '' Berenikē Euergetis'', "Berenice the Benefactress") was queen regnant of Cyrenaica from 258 BC to 246 BC and co-regent queen of Ptolemaic Egypt from 246 BC to 222 BC as the wife of Ptolemy III ...
,
[ ] who would be their only known child. In 250 BC, Magas and Apama had betrothed Berenice II to her paternal cousin and
Ptolemaic prince Ptolemy III Euergetes
, predecessor = Ptolemy II
, successor = Ptolemy IV
, nebty = ''ḳn nḏtj-nṯrw jnb-mnḫ-n-tꜢmrj'Qen nedjtinetjeru inebmenekhentamery''The brave one who has protected the gods, a potent wall for The Beloved Land
, nebty_hiero ...
. Magas and the father of Ptolemy III, were maternal half brothers.
Reign of daughter
Either in 250 BC or 249 BC, Magas had died. Apama had become a widow and powerful in Cyrene as the mother of the heiress of Cyrene, her daughter Berenice. In order to protect Cyrenaica from the
Ptolemaic dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic ...
, Apama summoned her maternal uncle the Greek Macedonian prince
Demetrius the Fair
Demetrius I the Fair or the Handsome ( gr, Δημήτριος ὁ Καλός, c. 285 BC–249 BC), known in modern ancient historical sources as Demetrius of Cyrene, was a Hellenistic king of Cyrene, who succeeded Magas I.
Family
Dem ...
[ to Cyrenaica. Apama offered Demetrius her daughter in marriage to him; in return he would become king. Demetrius agreed to his niece’s request and married her daughter. When Demetrius became king, there was no opposition in his rise to the throne, but he became ambitious to the point of recklessness.
Sometime after Demetrius married his great niece, Apama and Demetrius became lovers.] Berenice became jealous of her mother’s affair with her husband. She argued with both her mother and her husband and led a coup against Demetrius who died in Apama’s arms. The poem ''Coma Berenices'' by Greek poet Callimachus
Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide variety ...
(lost, but known in a Latin translation or paraphrase by Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...
), apparently refers to her supporters killing of Demetrius: "Let me remind you how stout-hearted you were even as a young girl: have you forgotten the brave deed by which you gained a royal marriage?"
After the death of Demetrius, Cyrenaica became a part of the Ptolemaic Empire.[ Berenice II left Cyrenaica and travelled to Egypt where she married her cousin Ptolemy III and through her marriage became Queen of Egypt.][ Apama's ultimate fate is unknown. It is possible she travelled with Berenice II to Alexandria, where eventually she settled with her daughter and her family.
]
References
Sources
* Heckel W., ''Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2006
* https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apame/apame_ii.html
* http://www.virtualreligion.net/iho/antigonus_3.html
* https://www.livius.org/be-bm/berenice/berenice_ii.html
* http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110716100103/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/apama-arsinoe_fr.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apama 02
3rd-century BC women
3rd-century BC Greek people
Seleucid princesses
Queens consort of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Cyrenean Greeks