Editing Cleopatra Thea

{{Short description|Queen of the Seleucid Empire from 126 to 121 BC}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Gold coin of Cleopatra Thea as wife of Alexander I Balas.jpg
| caption      = Gold coin of Cleopatra, [[Ptolemais in Phoenicia|Ake]] mint
| succession   = [[Queen regnant of Syria]]
| moretext     = ([[Seleucid Empire]])
| reign        = 126–121 BC
| coronation   = 126 BC
| predecessor  = [[Demetrius II Nicator|Demetrius II]], [[Alexander II Zabinas|Alexander II]]
| pre-type     = Predecessors
| successor    = [[Antiochus VIII]]
| regent       = [[Seleucus V]] (126–125 BC)<br/>Antiochus VIII (125–121 BC)
| reg-type     = Co-rulers
| regent1      = Alexander II (126–123 BC)
| reg-type1    = Contender
| succession2  = [[List of Syrian monarchs|Queen consort of Syria]]
| moretext2    = (Seleucid Empire)
| reign2       = 150 BC–126 BC
| reign-type2  = Tenure
| coronation2  = 150 BC
| cor-type2    = [[Coronation]]
| birth_date   = c. 164 BC
| birth_place  = [[Egypt]]
| death_date   = 121 BC
| spouses      = {{plainlist|
* [[Alexander Balas|Alexander I]]
* [[Demetrius II Nicator|Demetrius II]]
* [[Antiochus VII]]}}
| consort      = yes
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Antiochus VI]]
*[[Seleucus V]]
*[[Antiochus VIII]]
*[[Antiochus IX]]{{efn|Other children with [[Antiochus VII]] besides [[Antiochus IX]] may include another son named Antiochus, a son named Seleucus and one or two daughters named Laodice.}}}}
| dynasty     = [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]]
| father       = [[Ptolemy VI]] 
| mother       = [[Cleopatra II]]
}}

'''Cleopatra I''' or '''Cleopatra Thea''' ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Κλεοπάτρα Θεά}}, which means "Cleopatra the Goddess"; c. 164 – 121 BC), surnamed '''Eueteria''' ({{lang|grc|εὐετηρῐ́ᾱ}} {{lit|good-harvest/fruitful season}}) was a ruler of the [[Hellenistic]] [[Seleucid Empire]]. She was [[queen consort]] of Syria from 150 to about 125 BC as the wife of three Kings of [[Syria (region)|Syria]]: [[Alexander Balas]], [[Demetrius II Nicator]], and [[Antiochus VII Sidetes]]. She ruled Syria from 125 BC after the death of Demetrius II Nicator, eventually in co-regency with her son [[Antiochus VIII Grypus]] until 121 or 120 BC.<ref name="DH">Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004</ref><ref name="CB">[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Egypt/ptolemies/thea_fr.htm Cleopatra Thea] by Chris Bennett</ref>

==Biography==

===Childhood===
Cleopatra Thea was born, probably ca. 164 BC, to [[Ptolemy VI]] and [[Cleopatra II]], and grew up in Egypt. She may have been engaged to her uncle Ptolemy VIII, king of Cyrene, in 154, but he eventually married her sister Cleopatra III.

===Queen of Alexander Balas ===
[[File:AlexanderIBalasAndCleopatraThea.jpg|thumb|Alexander Balas and Cleopatra Thea]]
In 152 BC, her father, who had come into conflict with the Seleucid king [[Demetrius I Soter]], chose to promote [[Antiochus IV]]'s son [[Alexander Balas]] against him and supported him with troops and officers. When Alexander triumphed over Demetrius in 150 BC, he requested Ptolemy's daughter as a warranty of alliance. The two kings met, amid sumptuous ceremonies, in [[Ptolemais Akko]], and Alexander received Cleopatra in marriage.<ref>[[I Maccabees]] 10.48-10.58</ref> The marriage soon produced a son named [[Antiochus VI Dionysus|Antiochus Dionysus]].<ref name="Maccabees11"/>

===Queen of Demetrius II===
In 147 BC, Demetrius Soter's son [[Demetrius II Nicator|Demetrius II]] invaded Cilicia. Two years later Ptolemy VI brought his army into Syria, ostensibly to help Alexander Balas fight the invaders. Having installed garrisons in the Seleucid coastal cities, he eventually betrayed Alexander outright by seizing Antioch. There he reunited with Cleopatra. In accordance with her father's new political program, she divorced Alexander and married Demetrius II instead.<ref name="Maccabees11">[[I Maccabees]] 11.1-11.19</ref> The marriage deal stated that Ptolemy would help Demetrius take the throne from Alexander; in exchange, Egypt would receive the province of Coele-Syria, which had been Seleucid territory since [[Antiochus III Megas|Antiochus III]] took it from [[Ptolemy V]] in 200 BC. Alexander quelled the Cilician revolt and returned home, confronting Ptolemy and Demetrius in the plain of the river Oeneparas, close to Antioch. In the ensuing battle, Alexander was defeated and Ptolemy was wounded so badly that he died a few days later. Demetrius repudiated his alliance with Egypt and expelled or massacred all of Ptolemy's garrisons in Syria as far as Gaza, reinstating a fragile Seleucid control over the province. The Syrians had hostile memories of his father, and he faced rebellions in Antioch as soon as 144 BC. Demetrius instituted purges, but these aggravated the discontent instead of stifling it. 

Diodotus, a former general of Alexander and probable participant in the Antiochene rebellion, abducted Cleopatra's first son [[Antiochus VI Dionysus|Antiochus VI]] and used him as a figurehead for a secessionist kingdom in Coele-Syria. In 142/1 BC, Diodotus murdered the boy and proclaimed himself as king. During these years of brutal civil war, Cleopatra and Demetrius had at least three children, Seleucus, Antiochus and a daughter called Laodike.

===Queen of Antiochus VII ===
In 139 BC, Demetrius II was captured in battle against the kingdom of [[Parthia]], which held him prisoner until 129 BC. Diodotus took the opportunity to conquer all of the Seleucid kingdom except the city of Seleucia in Pieria, where Cleopatra sought refuge. She sent for Demetrius's younger brother, [[Antiochus VII Sidetes]], proposing that he should marry her and become the new king. Accepting the offer, Antiochus VII defeated and killed Diodotus in 138 BC, ending the civil wars which had been ongoing since 152. Cleopatra Thea had at least one son with the king, [[Antiochus IX Cyzicenus]]. The names of any other children are uncertain.

During his reign, Cleopatra's third husband reestablished Seleucid authority in the kingdom west of the Euphrates. Between 134 and 130 BC he waged a war to reclaim all the satrapies his predecessors had lost to the Parthians. The Parthian king [[Phraates II]] decided to release Demetrius II, who had been married to his sister Rhodogune, and to send him to Syria, thus provoking a civil war between the brothers and compelling Antiochus VII to retreat. In the winter of 130/129 Phraates killed Antiochus in an ambush near Ectabane, but Demetrius managed to enter his kingdom before the Parthians could retrieve him.

Cleopatra received Demetrius peaceably, but took the precaution of sending Antiochus IX (her son by Antiochus VII) to [[Cyzicus]], out of the king's immediate reach; she was said to be secretly furious at Demetrius taking a Parthian wife and having children with her.<ref name="DH"/><ref name="CB"/> In 128 BC, Demetrius took an army to Egypt to help Cleopatra's mother, Cleopatra II, with her ongoing struggle against her brother and husband [[Ptolemy VIII Physcon]].<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_viii_fr.htm Cleopatra II] by Chris Bennett</ref> He was forced to retreat near Pelousion because his soldiers refused to obey him, and Cleopatra Thea, then in Antioch, rebelled against him and established her son Antiochus as king. In the same year, Antioch was occupied by [[Alexander II Zabinas]], a false child of Alexander Balas sent with troops by Ptolemy to wage war against Demetrius in Syria. Cleopatra Thea fled the city, and probably went to Ptolemais, where she had married Alexander Balas some twenty years earlier.

During the period between 128 and 125, while Demetrius was fighting against Alexander, Cleopatra remained in Ptolemais, probably with her two sons by Demetrius, Seleucus and Antiochus. In 125 Demetrius was completely defeated near Damascus by Alexander and his Egyptian allies, and also fled to Ptolemais. Cleopatra refused to admit him to the city; he went instead to Tyre, where the local Seleucid administrator killed him on Cleopatra's orders.<ref name="DH"/><ref name="CB"/>

===Co-ruler of Antiochus VIII===
[[File:Seleucidi, cleopatra tea e suo figlio antioco VIII, tetradracma, 121-120 ac.JPG|thumb|Coin of Cleopatra Thea and Antiochus VIII]]
Demetrius' elder son, Seleucus, proclaimed himself the new king with the name Seleucus V, but Cleopatra Thea had him executed by archers soon after. From 125 BC to 121 BC Cleopatra ruled Syria, sharing the throne with her son, [[Antiochus VIII Grypus]], whom she had proclaimed king in Antioch in 128 BC. Antiochus VIII was married to [[Tryphaena]], the daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III.<ref name="CB"/><ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Egypt/ptolemies/tryphaena_fr.htm Tryphanea] by Chris Bennett</ref> 
Cleopatra Thea thus procured an Egyptian alliance, causing Ptolemy to turn against Alexander II (whom he had previously supported as a means of keeping the Seleucids preoccupied with civil war). By 123 BC Alexander II had been defeated and executed, Cleopatra and Grypus remaining joint rulers in Cilicia, Syria and Northern Mesopotamia.

Grypus became less controllable as he grew up, and in 121 BC Cleopatra Thea decided to eliminate him. She offered him a cup of poisoned wine, but Grypus guessed her intention and forced her to drink the wine, which killed her.<ref name="CB"/> Grypus's sole reign was peaceful until ca. 114 BC, when Cleopatra Thea's other son, Antiochus IX, returned to Syria to claim the throne and civil war started again.

==Family==

Cleopatra Thea was a daughter of [[Ptolemy VI Philometor]] and [[Cleopatra II]] of Egypt. She had two brothers named [[Ptolemy Eupator]] and Ptolemy respectively. Her sister [[Cleopatra III]] was Queen of Egypt and married to [[Ptolemy VIII]], an uncle, who had been a former co-ruler of Cleopatra Thea's parents. It is possible that Berenice, the fiancée of [[Attalus III]], king of [[Pergamum]], is another sister.<ref name="CB"/>

Cleopatra Thea married three times:
* [[Alexander Balas]] in about 150 BC. This union produced [[Antiochus VI Dionysus]].<ref name="DH"/><ref name="CB"/> Alexander Balas was neither popular, nor an efficient ruler. The marriage was dissolved by her father.<ref name="CB"/> Alexander Balas died in battle against Demetrius II of Syria in 145 BC.<ref name="DH"/>
* [[Demetrius II Nicator]] in 145 BC. Demetrius became a captive of the Parthians from 139 to 129 BC. He was assassinated in Tyre in 125 BC on Cleopatra Thea's orders.<ref name="DH"/><ref name="CB"/> Demetrius and Cleopatra Thea had at least two sons–[[Seleucus V Philometor]], who was killed by his mother for taking the crown without her permission; and [[Antiochus VIII Grypus]], who eventually killed his mother in turn. They also had a daughter Laodice, whom [[Phraates II of Parthia]] captured and later married for her beauty.<ref name="ogden-dinasties">{{cite book|last1=Ogden|first1=Daniel|title=Polygamy Prostitutes and Death. The Hellenistic Dynasties|date=1999|publisher=Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd.|location=London|isbn=07156-29301|page=150}}</ref>
* [[Antiochus VII Sidetes]], Demetrius' younger brother, in 137 BC after Demetrius was captured by the Parthians. Cleopatra and Antiochus VII had at least one son: [[Antiochus IX Cyzicenus]]. They also likely had two other sons named Antiochus and Seleucus and one or two daughters named Laodice.<ref name="DH"/><ref name="CB"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Asia}}
* [[List of Syrian monarchs]]
* [[Timeline of Syrian history]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Ptolemaic Dynasty]]||c. 164 BC||121 BC}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Laodice V]] or Apama}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid Queen]] <small>([[Queen Consort of Syria]])</small>|years=150&ndash;126 BC
|regent1=[[Alexander Balas]] <small>(150–145 BC)</small>
|regent2=[[Demetrius II Nicator]] <small>(145–139 BC, 129–126 BC)</small>
|regent3=[[Antiochus VII Sidetes]] <small>(138–129 BC)</small>
}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Tryphaena]] and [[Cleopatra IV]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Demetrius II Nicator]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid Queen]] <small>([[Queen Regnant of Syria]])</small>|years=125&ndash;121 BC
|regent1=[[Seleucus V Philometor]] (126-125 BC)
|regent2=[[Antiochus VIII Grypus]] (126–121 BC)}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Antiochus VIII Grypus]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Hellenistic rulers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleopatra Thea}}
[[Category:160s BC births]]
[[Category:121 BC deaths]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Seleucid monarchs]]
[[Category:Ptolemaic princesses]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC queens regnant]]
[[Category:Deaths by poisoning]]
[[Category:Women in the Old Testament apocrypha]]
[[Category:Seleucid royal consorts]]
[[Category:People in the deuterocanonical books]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek queens regnant]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]
[[Category:Remarried queens consort]]
[[Category:Queen mothers]]