| Cleopatra Selene | |
|---|---|
 Jugate bronze coin depicting Cleopatra Selene in the foreground with her son Antiochus XIII in the background | |
| Queen consort of Egypt | |
| Tenure | 115–107 BC 107–102 BC |
| Queen consort of Syria | |
| Tenure | 102–96 BC 95 BC 95–92 BC |
| Queen regnant of Syria | |
| Reign | 82–69 BC (also regent for her co-monarch Antiochus XIII between 82 and 75 BC) |
| Predecessors | Antiochus XII Philip I |
| Successor | Antiochus XIII |
| Co-ruler | Antiochus XIII |
| Born | c. 135–130 BC |
| Died | 69 BC Seleucia (now Adıyaman, Turkey) |
| Spouses |
|
| Issue Detail | Antiochus XIII |
| Dynasty | Ptolemaic (by birth) Seleucid (by marriage) |
| Father | Ptolemy VIII |
| Mother | Cleopatra III |
Cleopatra Selene (‹See Tfd›Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; c. between 135 and 130 – 69 BC) was the Queen consort of Egypt (Cleopatra Selene or Cleopatra V Selene) from 115 to 102 BC, the Queen consort of Syria from 102 to 92 BC, and the monarch of Syria (Cleopatra II) from 82 to 69 BC.[1] The daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III of Egypt, Cleopatra Selene was favoured by her mother and became a pawn in Cleopatra III's political manoeuvres.[2] In 115 BC, Cleopatra III forced her son Ptolemy IX to divorce his sister-wife Cleopatra IV, and chose Cleopatra Selene as the new queen consort of Egypt. Tension between the king and his mother grew and ended with his expulsion from Egypt, leaving Cleopatra Selene behind; she probably then married the new king, her other brother Ptolemy X.
Following the marriage of the Syrian Seleucid princess Cleopatra I to Ptolemy V of Egypt, dynastic marriages between the two kingdoms became common. In 102 BC, Cleopatra III decided to establish an alliance with her nephew Antiochus VIII of Syria; Cleopatra Selene was sent as his bride. After his assassination in 96 BC, she married his brother and rival Antiochus IX. Cleopatra Selene lost her new husband in 95 BC and married a final time to Antiochus IX's son Antiochus X, who disappeared from the records and is presumed to have died in 92 BC, but may have remained in power until 89/88 BC (224 SE (Seleucid year)).[note 1] Cleopatra Selene then hid somewhere in the kingdom with her children. Eventually, Syria split between the sons of Antiochus VIII with Philip I ruling in the Syrian capital Antioch and Antiochus XII in the southern city Damascus.
Cleopatra Selene had many children by several husbands. Probably following the death of Antiochus XII in 230 SE (83/82 BC), she declared Antiochus XIII, her son by Antiochus X, king, and seems to have declared herself co-ruler; they claimed Antioch following Philip I's death. But the people of Antioch and the governor of Damascus, exhausted by the Seleucids' civil wars, invited foreign monarchs to rule them: Tigranes II of Armenia took Antioch, while Aretas III of Nabataea took Damascus. Cleopatra Selene controlled several coastal towns until Tigranes II besieged her in 69 BC in Ptolemais; the Armenian king captured the queen and later executed her.
- ^ Salisbury, Joyce E. (16 May 2001). Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient World. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-57607-585-2.
- ^ Lightman, Marjorie; Lightman, Benjamin (2008). A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-0794-3.
- ^ Biers 1992, p. 13.
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