Laodice was a Queen of an unknown Kingdom in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. She lived at the time of the

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 of Syria Antiochus X Eusebes who reigned 95 BC-92 or 88 BC.

Historical account

Laodice is known from the work of the first century historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

. In about 92 BC, she sent a petition to Antiochus X Eusebes of Syria asking for help against

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

. In response, Antiochus X marched against the Parthians but was killed in battle.

The people and kingdom

The name of the tribe

It is hard to identify the people of Laodice; each of the surviving manuscripts containing Josephus' work transmits a different version. There are two names and different varieties of them depending on the manuscript. In the Codex Leidensis (Lugdunensis), it is ''Γαλιχηνών'' ( Gileadites). The Codex Palatinus (Vaticanus) Graecus has the name ''Σαμηνών''; this rendering was used by Benedikt Niese in his edition of the work of Josephus. Josef Dobiáš stated that the Niese's version is more plausible, and this has become the academic consensus; Σαμηνών is rendered in English, depending on the historian, as Sameans, Sameni or Samenians.

Identification and location

Σαμηνών from the Codex Palatinus is similar to the name of a people mentioned by

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethn ...

as the ''Σαμηνώί'', or ''Σαμηνoί'' (Dobiáš rendered it in French as Samènes); Stephanus described them as

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

nomadic people, and Dobiáš accepted that the Σαμηνών are the same as the Σαμηνoί (Samènes); thus Laodice was the queen of an Arab tribe.

Bernhard Moritz Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar * Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 194 ...

rendered the people mentioned by Stephanus as the Samenoi, and identified them with the Samnei, (Samnaei in the rendition of Dobiáš), who were an Arab tribe of southern

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...

according to

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

; Dobiáš is sceptical about Moritz' identification.

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* * * * * * * * * {{refend Ancient queens regnant Year of birth missing Year of death missing 2nd-century BC women rulers 1st-century BC women rulers