Cleopatra IV ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα) was Queen of
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 Medit ...
briefly from 116 to 115 BC, jointly with her husband
Ptolemy IX Lathyros
Ptolemy IX Soter II Ptolemy IX also took the same title 'Soter' as Ptolemy I. In older references and in more recent references by the German historian Huss, Ptolemy IX may be numbered VIII. ( el, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτ ...
. She later became
queen consort of
Syria as the wife of
Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
Antiochus IX Eusebes Cyzicenus ( gr, Ἀντίοχος Εὐσεβής Κυζικηνός, "Antiochus the Pious, the Cyzicene") was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom. He was the son of Antiochus VII Sidetes and Cleopatra Thea. .
[Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004]
Biography
Queen of Egypt
Cleopatra IV was the daughter of
Ptolemy VIII Physcon
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης Τρύφων, ''Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs Tryphon'' "Ptolemy the Benefactor; c. 184 BC – 28 June 116 BC), nicknamed Physcon ( "Fatty"), was a king of the Ptolema ...
and
Cleopatra III of Egypt
Cleopatra III ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα; c.160–101 BC) was a queen of Egypt. She ruled at first with her mother Cleopatra II and husband Ptolemy VIII from 142 to 131 BC and again from 127 to 116 BC. She then ruled with her sons Ptolem ...
. She was born between 138 and 135 BC. She was the sister of
Ptolemy IX
Ptolemy IX Soter II Ptolemy IX also took the same title 'Soter' as Ptolemy I. In older references and in more recent references by the German historian Huss, Ptolemy IX may be numbered VIII. ( el, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτ ...
,
Ptolemy X
Ptolemy X Alexander I ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Ἀλέξανδρος, ''Ptolemaĩos Aléxandros'') was King of Egypt from 107 BC till his death in 88 BC, in co-regency with his mother Cleopatra III as Ptolemy Philometor Soter until 101 BC, and ...
,
Cleopatra Selene I
Cleopatra II Selene ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; – 69 BC) was the Queen consort of Egypt from 115 to 102 BC, the Queen consort of Syria from 102–92 BC, and the monarch of Syria from 82 to 69 BC. The daughter of Ptolemy VIII ...
and
Tryphaena
Tryphaena ( el, Τρύφαινα; c. 141 BC111 BC) was a Ptolemaic princess. She married the Seleucid king Antiochus VIII Grypus and was queen of Syria (124–111 BC).
Biography Early life and Queen of Syria
It is often assumed that 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
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus Philopator Philadelphus ( grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος Νέος Διόνυσος Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλάδελφος, Ptolemaios Neos Dionysos Philopatōr Philadelphos; – 51 BC) was a pharaoh of the Ptolemaic ...
and
Ptolemy of Cyprus
Ptolemy of Cyprus was the king of Cyprus c. 80-58 BC. He was the younger brother of Ptolemy XII Auletes, king of Egypt, and, like him, an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX Lathyros. He was also the uncle of Cleopatra VII.
Reign over Cyprus
He appear ...
, although an unnamed concubine could be the mother of these two men as well.
[Cleopatra IV](_blank)
by Chris Bennett.
In c. 115 BC Cleopatra III forced Cleopatra IV and Ptolemy IX to divorce. She replaced Cleopatra IV with her sister Cleopatra Selene.
Queen of Syria and death
After her forced divorce, Cleopatra IV fled Egypt and went to
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
, where she married
Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
Antiochus IX Eusebes Cyzicenus ( gr, Ἀντίοχος Εὐσεβής Κυζικηνός, "Antiochus the Pious, the Cyzicene") was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom. He was the son of Antiochus VII Sidetes and Cleopatra Thea. and brought him the army of his half brother
Seleucid
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 ...
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.
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
Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator ( grc, Ἀντίοχος Εὐσεβής Φιλοπάτωρ; – 92 or 88 BC) was a Seleucid monarch who reigned as King of Syria during the Hellenistic period between 95 BC and 92 BC or 89/88 BC (224 ...
("the Pious").
[Chris Bennett]
''Arsinoe IV''
/ref> 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
* List of Syrian monarchs
The title King of Syria appeared in the second century BC in referring to the Seleucid kings who ruled the entirety of the region of Syria. It was also used to refer to Aramean kings in the Greek translations of the Old Testament, mainly indicati ...
* Timeline of Syrian history
__NOTOC__
This is a timeline of Syrian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Syria and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Syria.
Millennia: 1st ...
References
External links
Cleopatra IV
at Livius.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleopatra 04 of Egypt
112 BC deaths
2nd-century BC births
2nd-century BC Pharaohs
2nd-century BC rulers in Africa
2nd-century BC women rulers
2nd-century BC Egyptian people
Pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ancient Egyptian queens regnant
Cleopatra 4
Seleucid royal consorts
Female pharaohs
Remarried royal consorts
2nd-century BC Egyptian women