| Berenice I | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort ofEgypt | |
 Berenice I fromPromptuarii Iconum Insigniorum | |
| Born | c. 340 BC Macedonia |
| Died | between 279 and 268 BC Egypt |
| Spouse | Philip, a Macedonian nobleman Ptolemy I Soter |
| Issue | WithPhilip: Magas King of Cyrene Antigone (later queen of Epirus) Theoxena WithPtolemy I Soter: Arsinoe II Philotera Ptolemy II Philadelphus |
| Dynasty | Ptolemaic |
| Father | Magas |
| Mother | Antigone |
Berenice I (Ancient Greek:Βερενίκη; c. 340 BC – between 279 and 268 BC) was Queen of Egypt by marriage toPtolemy I Soter. She became the second queen, afterEurydice, of thePtolemaic dynasty ofEgypt.
Berenice was originally fromEordaea.[1] She was the daughter of princessAntigone of Macedon, and an obscure local, aMacedonian nobleman calledMagas.[2] Her maternal grandfather was a nobleman calledCassander who was the brother ofAntipater, the regent for Alexander's empire,[2] and through her mother was a relation to his family.
In 325 BC, Berenice married an obscure local nobleman and military officer calledPhilip.[2] Philip was previously married and had other children.
Through her first marriage, she became the mother of KingMagas of Cyrene,Antigone, who married KingPyrrhus of Epirus; and a daughter calledTheoxena.[2]
Magas dedicated an inscription to himself and his father, when he served as a priest ofApollo.[3] Pyrrhus gave her name to a new city calledBerenicis.
Philip died around 318 BC.
After the death of her first husband, Berenice travelled to Egypt with her children as a lady-in-waiting for her mother's first cousinEurydice who was the wife of Ptolemy I. Ptolemy I was one of the generals of KingAlexander the Great and founder of thePtolemaic dynasty ofAncient Egypt.
Berenice became involved in a relationship with Ptolemy I, who married her in 317 BC. Berenice became the mother ofArsinoe II,Philotera, and a son,Ptolemy II Philadelphus.[3]
Her son Ptolemy II was recognized as his father's heir in preference to Eurydice's children to Ptolemy I.
During his reign, Ptolemy II built a port on theRed Sea and named itBerenice after his mother.
After she died, Ptolemy II and laterPtolemy IV Philopator decreed divine honors to her (Theocritus,Idylls xv. and xvii.).[3]
With her first spouse Philip, she became the mother of:[2]
With her second spouse Ptolemy I, she became the mother of:[3]
Intriguingly, thanks to Posidippus (AB 88), we now know that Berenice, like her second husband Ptolemy I, may have been from Eordaea too.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Berenice".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 769.
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