Grand-daughter of Ptolemy V Epiphanes
& Cleopatra I
Daughter of Ptolemy VI Philometor & his sister
Cleopatra II
Wife of Alexander Balas, Demetrius
II & Antiochus VII
Mother of Antiochus VI,
Antiochus VIII & Antiochus
IX.
As scion of both Ptolemaic & Seleucid
dynasties, Cleopatra Thea was the prize for royal pretenders & a key
pawn in the political intrigues of the second half of the 2nd c.
BCE. Her father Ptolemy VI married her to the usurper Alexander
Balas who had slain the Seleucid ruler Demetrius
I (150
BCE). But later, when he learned of his son-in-law's intrigue,
Ptolemy reclaimed his daughter & married her to Balas' 16 year old
Seleucid rival, Demetrius II (146
BCE). When Demetrius was taken hostage by the Parthians, his younger brother Antiochus
VII claimed her as his wife. When
Antiochus was himself killed (129
BCE), she was reclaimed by
Demetrius. After Demetrius was killed (125
BCE) Cleopatra ruled as
regent for Antiochus VIII who was still a minor. The civil war that led to her
many marriages deepened in the
sibling rivalry between her children & their offspring.
References: Josephus,
Antiquities 13.221-222,
268, 271.
1 Macc 10:57-58;
11:1-11.
Justin, Epitome
39.2-4.
Appian,
History of Rome: Syrian Wars 68-69.
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