Theodoros ( grc, Θεόδωρος), son of Seleucus and Artemo I was a

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

governor of

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 geo ...

and admiral in the second century BC.

Life

Theodorus was named after his maternal grandfather. His mother served in the priestly role of ''

kanephoros The Kanephoros (, , pl. Kanephoroi (Greek: ); latinate plural form Canephorae; lit. "Basket Bearers") was an honorific office given to unmarried young women in ancient Greece, which involved the privilege of leading the procession to sacrifice at ...

'' ('basket-bearer') of the deified

Arsinoe II Arsinoë II ( grc-koi, Ἀρσινόη, 316 BC – unknown date between July 270 and 260 BC) was a Ptolemaic queen and co-regent of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of ancient Egypt. She was given the Egyptian title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", makin ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

in 177/6 BC. He was born before 143 BC, since he dedicated a statue of the officers of the Ptolemaic garrison on Cyprus in that year. From 142 to 131 BC, Theodorus commanded the garrison at Salamis. His father served as governor of the island at that time and was followed in that role by

Crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain under ...

(131–124 BC). After the end of the Ptolemaic civil war in 124 BC, Theodorus was appointed governor (''

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...

'') of Cyprus and admiral (''

nauarchos Navarch ( el, ναύαρχος, ) is an Anglicisation of a Greek word meaning "leader of the ships", which in some states became the title of an office equivalent to that of a modern admiral. Historical usage Not all states gave their naval ...

''). He is named in these roles repeatedly in the dedicatory inscriptions of many statues set up on Cyprus between 124 and 118 BC by Cypriot dignitaries and Ptolemaic military officials. In the first inscription, Theodorus is referred to with the expansive title of '' strategos autokrator'', which suggests the extraordinary military responsibilities of the role, which he received from his predecessor Crocus, as a result of the civil war between Ptolemy VIII and

Cleopatra II Cleopatra II (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα; c. 185 BC – 116/115 BC) was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt who ruled from 175 to 115 BC with two successive brother-husbands and her daughter—often in rivalry with her brother Ptolemy VIII. She co- ...

. In all other inscriptions, the qualification ''autokrator'' is absent, since this military power was withdrawn from the role by Ptolemy VIII after the end of the civil war. In older scholarship, it was claimed that Theodorus died in 118 BC, but then his name was found in a papyrus document dated to 105/4 BC, in which he is named as priest of the "beneficent and mother-loving goddess" (

Cleopatra III 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 ...

) for life and as leader of the council of Alexandria (''exegetes''). In this priestly role he was succeeded by

Helenus of Cyrene Helenos ( grc, Ἕλενος) was a Ptolemaic governor of Cyprus in the second century BC. He came from Cyrene and was the son of either a man called Apollonius or of Apollodorus the ''epistrategos'' of Thebais. Helenus joined the service of Ptole ...

, who was also his successor as governor of Cyprus.

Family

Theodorus was married to his niece Olympias and had a son and three daughters with her, all of whom held priesthoods: * Demetrius, priest of Cleopatra III ('' hieros polos'' ='sacred foal'- 107/106 and 105/104 BC). * Polycratia, priestess ('' athlophoros'') in 116/115 and 107/106 BC. * Artemo III/Ariadne, priestess ('' stephanephoros'' ='crown bearer') in 116/115 BC. * Theodoris, priestess ('' phōsphoros''='light bearer') of Cleopatra III.PP III 5144.

References

Bibliography

* Roger S. Bagnall: ''The Administration of the Ptolemaic possessions outside Egypt'', In: Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition, Vol. 4 (1976), pp. 259–260. * Willy Clarysse, E. van 't Dack: "Prosopographia Ptolemaica III: Le clergé, le notariat, les tribunaux, no. 4984-8040" (PP III) ''Studia Hellenstica.'' 11 (1956). * Willy Clarysse: "Prosopographia Ptolemaica IX: Addenda et Corrigenda au volume III." (PP III/IX) ''Studia Hellenistica.'' 25 (1981). * L. Koenen: "Kleopatra III. als Priesterin des Alexanderkultes (P. Colon. inv. nr. 5063)," ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' 5 (1970) pp. 61–84. * T. B. Mitford: "Seleucus and Theodorus," ''Opuscula Atheniensia'', Vol. 1 (1953), pp. 130–171. * T. B. Mitford: "The Hellenistic Inscriptions of Old Paphos." ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'' 56 (1961), pp. 1–41. {{s-end Ancient Greek statesmen 2nd-century BC births 2nd-century BC deaths Ptolemaic admirals Ptolemaic governors of Cyprus 2nd-century BC Greek people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown