Hi
Who were the Cleopatras before Cleopatra VII. Were they all descendants of the Ptolemy line? Who were Cleopatras 1-VI. I haven’t been able to find out anything online.
I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
Yes looks like they were apart from the first who married in.
Cleopatra is a Greek name. I think Alexander, Ptolemy’s old boss, had a sister called Cleopatra. And the Ptolemies were, of course, very big on incest.
Right - Cleopatra I was a Seleucid and didn’t enter the picture until the reign of Ptolemy V, so the name was introduced from outside the dynasty and was a late addition to the list of regnal names. There just was a lot of them and given the numerous incestuous marriages that appeared thereafter, you ended up with a lot of queens. Though perhaps not as many as is usually supposed. There is for example some confusion over whether Cleopatra V and Cleopatra VI might have been the same person.
As noted it is an old name associated with the Macedonian Greeks, where it had origins in mythology. Cleopatra of Macedon was Alexander the Great’s only known full sibling ( he had a few other half-siblings ). Her father Philip Of Macedon also had a wife named Cleopatra Eurydike ( not her mother ).
“The” Cleopatra (Cleopatra VII) of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony fame was the only one of the lot who was actually fluent in Egyptian.
Does anyone know anything about the following Cleopatras (see link below) who would have been the future Cleopatra VII’s contemporaries. I’ve been trying to find out something regarding a banishment or exile of the future Cleopatra VII and here father by Cleopatra V or VI during the future Cleopatra’s childhood/early years. Is there any truth to that?
Cleopatra V Tryphaena (58–57 BC) ruled jointly with Berenice IV Epiphaneia (58–55 BC) and Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (58 BC)
Sort of, but not exactly. Ptolemy XII was apparently expelled by an Alexandrian faction in 59 or 58 for a variety of reasons including both his generally extortionate policies and a pro-Roman bent that had in part expressed itself in his placid acquiescence towards the Roman annexation of Egyptian Cyprus ( the flash point that directly precipitated his ouster ). He seems to have left his wife ( Cleopatra V/VI ) and eldest daughter Berenice behind as co-regents, willingly or otherwise. Within a year Cleopatra was dead ( maybe murdered ) and Berenice, prompted no doubt by the same aristocratic faction that had expelled Ptolemy, acquired first one, then a second husband ( she despised the first and apparently had him killed ).
Ultimately Ptolemy bribed his Roman buddies and numerous creditors ( who stood to lose out if he didn’t regain power ) into forcibly restoring him to the throne and Berenice paid the final price for her ambitions. His other two daughters had been pre-adolescent when this first went down, his sons infants - Cleopatra was all of 14 when Ptolemy was restored in 55. None of them would have been in any position to play any part in the political machinations. Cleopatra VII may or may not have accompanied Ptolemy in his exile, but if she did it would have been for no special reason in of herself - due to her age she was not much more of a potential threat at that point as a pawn than her younger sister and probably less so than her infant brothers.
Thanks Tamerlane. Really helpful.
davidmich