Editing Cleopatra (section)

==Ancestry==
{{see also|Ethnicity of Cleopatra}}
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| footer = Left: A [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic bust]] of [[Ptolemy I Soter]], now in the [[Louvre]], Paris{{pb}}Right: A bust of [[Seleucus I Nicator]], a [[Roman sculpture|Roman copy]] of a Greek original, from the [[Villa of the Papyri]], [[Herculaneum]], and now in the [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples]]
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| footer = A likely sculpture of [[Cleopatra V Tryphaena]] (also known as [[Cleopatra VI]]), 1st century BC, from Lower Egypt, now in the [[Musée Saint-Raymond]]{{sfnp|Musée Saint-Raymond}}
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Cleopatra belonged to the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian Greek]] dynasty of the [[Ptolemies]],{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=15–16}}{{sfnp|Jones|2006|pp=xiii, 3, 279}}{{sfnp|Southern|2009|p=43}}<ref group="note">For further information on Cleopatra's Macedonian Greek lineage, see {{harvtxt|Pucci|2011|p=201}}, {{harvtxt|Grant|1972|pp=3–5}}, {{harvtxt|Burstein|2004|pp=3, 34, 36, 43, 63–64}} and {{harvtxt|Royster|2003|pp=47–49}}.</ref> their [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European origins]] tracing back to [[northern Greece]].{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=1, 23}} Through her father, she was a descendant of two [[Somatophylakes|prominent companions]] of [[Alexander the Great]] of [[History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]]: the general [[Ptolemy I Soter]], founder of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, and [[Seleucus I Nicator]], the Macedonian Greek founder of the [[Seleucid Empire]] of West Asia.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=15–16}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=3, 34, 36, 51}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=23, 37–42}}<ref group="note">For further information and validation of the foundation of Hellenistic Egypt by Alexander the Great and Cleopatra's ancestry stretching back to Ptolemy I Soter, see {{harvtxt|Grant|1972|pp=7–8}} and {{harvtxt|Jones|2006|p=3}}.</ref> While Cleopatra's [[paternal line]] can be traced, the identity of her mother is uncertain.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=15–16, 164–166}}{{sfnp|Jones|2006|p=xiii}}{{sfnp|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=273}}<ref group="note">For further information, see {{harvtxt|Grant|1972|pp=3–4}} and {{harvtxt|Burstein|2004|p=11}}.</ref> She was presumably the daughter of [[Cleopatra V Tryphaena]],<ref group="note" name="cleopatra v or vi">{{harvtxt|Grant|1972|pp=3–4, 17}}, {{harvtxt|Fletcher|2008|pp=69, 74, 76}}, {{harvtxt|Jones|2006|p=xiii}}, {{harvtxt|Preston|2009|p=22}}, {{harvtxt|Schiff|2011|p=28}} and {{harvtxt|Burstein|2004|p=11}} label the wife of [[Ptolemy XII Auletes]] as Cleopatra V Tryphaena, while {{harvtxt|Dodson|Hilton|2004|pp=268–269, 273}} and {{harvtxt|Roller|2010|p=18}} call her Cleopatra VI Tryphaena, due to the confusion in primary sources conflating these two figures, who may have been one and the same. As explained by {{harvtxt|Whitehorne|1994|p=182}}, Cleopatra VI may have actually been a daughter of Ptolemy XII who appeared in 58 BC to rule jointly with her alleged sister [[Berenice IV]] (while Ptolemy XII was exiled and living in Rome), whereas Ptolemy XII's wife Cleopatra V perhaps died as early as the winter of 69–68 BC, when she disappears from historical records. {{harvtxt|Roller|2010|pp=18–19}} assumes that Ptolemy XII's wife, who he numbers as Cleopatra VI, was merely absent from the court for a decade after being expelled for an unknown reason, eventually ruling jointly with her daughter Berenice IV. {{harvtxt|Fletcher|2008|p=76}} explains that the Alexandrians deposed Ptolemy XII and installed "his eldest daughter, Berenike IV, and as co-ruler recalled Cleopatra V Tryphaena from 10 years' exile from the court. Although later historians assumed she must have been another of Auletes' daughters and numbered her 'Cleopatra VI', it seems she was simply the fifth one returning to replace her brother and former husband Auletes."</ref> the sister-wife of Ptolemy XII who had previously given birth to their daughter Berenice IV.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=18}}{{sfnp|Jones|2006|p=xiii}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=11, 75}}<ref group="note">For further information, see {{harvtxt|Fletcher|2008|pp=69, 74, 76}}. Contrary to other sources cited here, {{harvtxt|Dodson|Hilton|2004|pp=268–269, 273}} refer to [[Cleopatra V Tryphaena]] as a possible cousin or sister of Ptolemy XII Auletes.</ref>

[[Cleopatra I Syra]] was the only member of the Ptolemaic dynasty known for certain to have introduced some non-Greek ancestry.{{sfnp|Grant|1972|p=5}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=56, 73}} Her mother [[Laodice III]] was a daughter born to King [[Mithridates II of Pontus]], a Persian of the [[Mithridatic dynasty]], and his wife [[Laodice (wife of Mithridates II of Pontus)|Laodice]] who had a mixed Greek-Persian heritage.{{sfnp|McGing|2016}} Cleopatra I Syra's father [[Antiochus III the Great]] was a descendant of Queen [[Apama]], the [[Sogdia]]n [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] wife of Seleucus I Nicator.{{sfnp|Grant|1972|p=5}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=56, 73}}{{sfnp|Lendering|2020}}<ref group="note">For the Sogdian ancestry of Apama, wife of Seleucus I Nicator, see {{harvtxt|Holt|1989|pp=64–65, footnote 63}}.</ref> It is generally believed that the Ptolemies did not intermarry with native [[Egyptians]].{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|p=73}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=69–70}}<ref group="note">As explained by {{harvtxt|Burstein|2004|pp=47–50}}, the main ethnic groups of Ptolemaic Egypt were Egyptians, [[Greeks]], and Jews, each of whom were legally segregated, living in different residential quarters and forbidden to intermarry with one another in the multicultural cities of [[Alexandria]], [[Naucratis]], and [[Ptolemais Hermiou]]. It had been speculated in some circles that [[Pasherienptah III]], the [[High Priest of Ptah]] at [[Memphis, Egypt]], was Cleopatra's half-cousin, speculation which has been recently refuted by {{harvtxt|Cheshire|2011|pp=20–30}}.</ref> [[Michael Grant (classicist)|Michael Grant]] asserts that there is only one known Egyptian mistress of a Ptolemy and no known Egyptian wife of a Ptolemy, further arguing that Cleopatra probably did not have any Egyptian ancestry and "would have described herself as Greek".{{sfnp|Grant|1972|p=5}}<ref group="note">{{harvtxt|Grant|1972|p=5}} argues that Cleopatra's grandmother, i.e. the mother of Ptolemy XII, might have been a [[Syrian]] (though conceding that "it is possible she was also partly Greek"), but almost certainly not an Egyptian because there is only one known Egyptian mistress of a Ptolemaic ruler throughout their entire dynasty.</ref>

[[Stacy Schiff]] writes that Cleopatra was a Macedonian Greek with some Persian ancestry, arguing that it was rare for the Ptolemies to have an Egyptian mistress.{{sfnp|Schiff|2011|pp=2, 42}}<ref group="note">{{harvtxt|Schiff|2011|p=42}} further argues that, considering Cleopatra's ancestry, she was not dark-skinned, though notes Cleopatra was likely not among the Ptolemies with fair features, and instead would have been honey-skinned, citing as evidence that her relatives were described as such and it "would have presumably applied to her as well." {{harvtxt|Goldsworthy|2010|pp=127, 128}} agrees to this, contending that Cleopatra, having Macedonian blood with a little Syrian, was probably not dark-skinned (as Roman propaganda never mentions it), writing "fairer skin is marginally more likely considering her ancestry," though also notes she could have had a "darker more Mediterranean complexion" because of her mixed ancestry. {{harvtxt|Grant|1972|p=5}} agrees to Goldsworthy's latter speculation of her skin color, that though almost certainly not Egyptian, Cleopatra had a darker complexion due to being Greek mixed with Persian and possible Syrian ancestry. {{harvtxt|Preston|2009|p=77}} agrees with Grant that, considering this ancestry, Cleopatra was "almost certainly dark-haired and olive-skinned." {{harvtxt|Bradford|2000|p=14}} contends that it is "reasonable to infer" Cleopatra had dark hair and "pale olive skin."</ref> [[Duane W. Roller]] speculates that Cleopatra could have been the daughter of a theoretical half-Macedonian-Greek, half-Egyptian woman from [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] in northern Egypt belonging to a family of priests dedicated to [[Ptah]] (a hypothesis not generally accepted in scholarship),<ref group="note">For further information on the identity of Cleopatra's mother, see {{harvtxt|Burstein|2004|p=11}}, {{harvtxt|Fletcher|2008|p=73}}, {{harvtxt|Goldsworthy|2010|pp=127, 128}}, {{harvtxt|Grant|1972|p=4}}, {{harvtxt|Roller|2010|pp=165–166}} and {{harvtxt|Bennett|1997|pp=39–66}}. [[Joann Fletcher]] finds this hypothesis to be dubious and lacking evidence. [[Stanley M. Burstein]] claims that strong circumstantial evidence suggests Cleopatra's mother could have been a member of the [[High Priest of Ptah|priestly family of Ptah]], but that historians generally assume her mother was Cleopatra V Tryphaena, wife of Ptolemy XII. [[Adrian Goldsworthy]] dismisses the idea of Cleopatra's mother being a member of an Egyptian priestly family as "pure conjecture," adding that either Cleopatra V or a concubine "probably of Greek origin" would be Cleopatra VII's mother. [[Michael Grant (classicist)|Michael Grant]] contends that Cleopatra V was most likely Cleopatra VII's mother. [[Duane W. Roller]] notes that while Cleopatra could have been the daughter of the priestly family of Ptah, the other main candidate would be Cleopatra VI, maintaining the uncertainty stems from Cleopatra V/VI's "loss of favor" that "obscured the issue." He also posits that Cleopatra being the only known ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty to speak Egyptian, along with her daughter [[Cleopatra Selene II]] as Queen of Mauretania publicly honoring the native Egyptian elite, both lend credence to the priestly class mistress hypothesis for maternity. Christopher Bennett points out that with Cleopatra VII having a birthdate of 69 BC, she was "certainly conceived before Cleopatra V disappears from the record" and thus it follows that Cleopatra V had to be the mother of Cleopatra VII. He further argues that this fact alone, among others he discusses, is "sufficient to dispose" of the argument of a hypothetical Egyptian Memphite aristocrat as the mother of Cleopatra VII. Part of Burstein's and Roller's argument rests on a speculated earlier marriage between Psenptais II and a certain "Berenice", once argued to possibly be a daughter of [[Ptolemy VIII]]. However, this speculation was refuted by Egyptologist Wendy Cheshire, which was later validated by papyrologist Sandra Lippert. See {{harvtxt|Cheshire|2011|pp=20–30}} and {{harvtxt|Lippert|2013|pp=33–48}}.</ref> but contends that whatever Cleopatra's ancestry, she valued her Greek Ptolemaic heritage the most.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=15, 18, 166}}<ref group="note">{{harvtxt|Schiff|2011|pp=2}} concurs with this, concluding that Cleopatra "upheld the family tradition." As noted by {{harvtxt|Dudley|1960|pp=57}}, Cleopatra and her family were "the successor[s] to the native Pharaohs, exploiting through a highly organized bureaucracy the great natural resources of the Nile Valley."</ref> [[Ernle Bradford]] writes that Cleopatra challenged Rome not as an Egyptian woman "but as a civilized Greek".{{sfnp|Bradford|2000|p=17}}

Claims that Cleopatra was an [[illegitimate]] child never appeared in Roman propaganda against her.{{sfnp|Grant|1972|p=4}}{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=165}}<ref group="note">{{harvtxt|Grant|1972|p=4}} argues that if Cleopatra had been illegitimate, her "numerous Roman enemies would have revealed this to the world."</ref> Strabo was the only ancient historian who claimed that Ptolemy XII's children born after Berenice IV, including Cleopatra, were illegitimate.{{sfnp|Grant|1972|p=4}}{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=165}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=11, 69}} Cleopatra V (or VI) was expelled from the court of Ptolemy XII in late 69 BC, a few months after the birth of Cleopatra, while Ptolemy XII's three younger children were all born during the absence of his wife.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=18–19}} The high degree of [[inbreeding]] among the Ptolemies is also illustrated by Cleopatra's immediate ancestry, of which a reconstruction is shown below.<ref group="note" name="family tree">The family tree and short discussions of the individuals can be found in {{harvtxt|Dodson|Hilton|2004|pp=268–281}}. Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton refer to Cleopatra V as Cleopatra VI and [[Cleopatra Selene of Syria]] is called Cleopatra V Selene. Dotted lines in the chart below indicate possible but disputed parentage.</ref>

The family tree given below also lists Cleopatra V as a daughter of [[Ptolemy X Alexander I]] and [[Berenice III]]. This would make her a cousin of her husband, Ptolemy XII, but she could have been a daughter of [[Ptolemy IX Lathyros]], which would have made her a sister-wife of Ptolemy XII instead.{{sfnp|Dodson|Hilton|2004|pp=268–269, 273}}{{sfnp|Grant|1972|p=4}} The confused accounts in ancient primary sources have also led scholars to number Ptolemy XII's wife as either Cleopatra V or Cleopatra VI; the latter may have actually been a daughter of Ptolemy XII. Fletcher and John Whitehorne assert that this is a possible indication Cleopatra V had died in 69 BC rather than reappearing as a co-ruler with Berenice IV in 58 BC (during Ptolemy XII's exile in Rome).{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|p=76}}{{sfnp|Whitehorne|1994|p=182}}

{{chart/start|align=center|summary=Cleopatra VII's father was likely the brother or cousin, but possibly the uncle, of Cleopatra V, Cleopatra VII's presumed mother. Cleopatra had at least one [[avuncular marriage|uncle/niece relationship]] (up to three) and at least one [[sibling marriage|brother/sister relationship]] (also up to three) in her ancestry going back to a single set of either great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents (Ptolemy V and Cleopatra I), depending on how the ancestry was traced.}}
{{chart| | |PTOLEMY5|y|CLEO1|PTOLEMY5=[[Ptolemy V Epiphanes]]|CLEO1=[[Cleopatra I Syra]]}}
{{chart| | |,|-|-|+|-|-|-|.}}
{{chart| | |!| |PTOLEMY6|y|CLEO2|PTOLEMY6=[[Ptolemy VI Philometor]]|CLEO2=[[Cleopatra II]]}}
{{chart| | |!| | | | |!|}}
{{chart| |PTOLEMY8|y|~|CLEO3|PTOLEMY8=[[Ptolemy VIII Physcon]]|CLEO3=[[Cleopatra III]]}}
{{chart| |,|-|v|^|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| }}
{{chart| |!|CLEOSELENE|-|PTOLEMY9|-|CLEO4|CLEOSELENE=[[Cleopatra Selene of Syria]]|PTOLEMY9=[[Ptolemy IX Lathyros]]|CLEO4=[[Cleopatra IV]]}}
{{chart| |!| |Y|T|,|-|^|-|.|S|Z}}
{{chart|PTOLEMY10|r|BERENICE3| | |!|Q|PTOLEMY10=[[Ptolemy X Alexander I]]|BERENICE3=[[Berenice III]]}}
{{chart| | | |Q|S|P|P|P|P|p|Q}}
{{chart| | |CLEO5|~|~|~|PTOLEMY12|CLEO5=[[Cleopatra V Tryphaena]]|PTOLEMY12=[[Ptolemy XII Auletes]]}}
{{chart| | | |Y|P|P|P|P|T|!}}
{{chart| | | | | | | | |CLEO7|CLEO7='''Cleopatra VII'''}}
{{chart/end}}