| Berenice II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Octodrachma of Berenice II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Queen regnant of Cyrenaica | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 258–247/246 BCE[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Magas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Annexed by Ptolemaic Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Co-rulers | Magas (until 250 BCE) Demetrius the Fair (250–249 BCE) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contender | Koinon (249–246 BCE) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Queen ofEgypt[a] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 246–221 B.C.E.[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Co-rulers | Ptolemy III (246–222 BCE) Ptolemy IV (222–221 BCE) (possibly) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vizier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | c. 267/266 BCE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 221 BCE (aged 45 or 46) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Demetrius the Fair Ptolemy III Euergetes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issue | Ptolemy IV Arsinoe III Alexander Magas of Egypt Berenice | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Ptolemaic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Magas of Cyrene | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Apama II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Berenice II Euergetis (267 or 266 – 221 BCE;Greek:Βερενίκη Ευεργέτις,Berenikē Euergetis, "Berenice the Benefactress"[4]) wasqueen regnant ofCyrenaica from 258 to 246 BCE and queen ofPtolemaic Egypt from 246 to 222 BCE as the wife ofPtolemy III. She is sometimes considered co-regent of her Ptolemaic husband.[a]
She marriedDemetrius the Fair, thus giving him the throne of Cyrenaica, on the death of her fatherMagas in 250/249 BCE. After a short power struggle with her mother, Berenice married her half-cousin Ptolemy III, the third ruler of thePtolemaic kingdom. This marriage led to the re-incorporation of Cyrenaica into the Ptolemaic empire. As queen of Egypt, Berenice participated actively in government, was incorporated into the Ptolemaic state cult alongside her husband and worshipped as a goddess in her own right. She is best known for sacrificing her hair as a votive offering, which led to the constellationComa Berenices being named after her. Berenice was murdered by the regentSosibius shortly after the accession of her sonPtolemy IV Philopator in 221 BCE.
Cyrenaica had been incorporated into the Ptolemaic realm in 323 BCE, byPtolemy I Soter shortly after the death ofAlexander the Great. The region proved difficult to control and around 300 BCE, Ptolemy I entrusted the region toMagas, son of his wifeBerenice I by an earlier marriage. After Ptolemy I's death, Magas asserted his independence and engaged in warfare with his successorPtolemy II Philadelphus. Around 275 BCE, Magas marriedApama, who came from theSeleucid dynasty, which had become enemies of the Ptolemies.[7] Berenice II was their only child. When Ptolemy II renewed his efforts to reach a settlement with Magas of Cyrene in the late 250s BCE, it was agreed that Berenice would be married to her half-cousin, the futurePtolemy III, who was Ptolemy II's heir.[8][9]
The astronomerGaius Julius Hyginus claims that when Berenice's father and his troops were routed in battle, Berenice mounted a horse, rallied the remaining forces, killed many of the enemy, and drove the rest to retreat.[10] The veracity of this story is unclear and the battle in question is not otherwise attested, but "it is not on the face of it impossible."[11]
Berenice was hailedbasilissa (queen) on coins even in her father's lifetime.[12] There are Cyrenean coins with the portrait of queen, the legend ΒΕΡΕΝΙΚΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ (Berenice Basilissa), and themonogram of Magas. It is evidently more plausible that the queen's identity is Magas's daughter Berenice II rather than Magas's mother Berenice I, because the portrait is youthful and unveiled, meaning unmarried.[13] According to coins of Berenice, the accession of Berenice as queen of Cyrene was in 258 BCE.[14]
King Magas died in circa 250 BCE. At this point, Berenice's mother Apama refused to honour the marriage agreement with the Ptolemies and invited anAntigonid prince, Demetrius the Fair to Cyrene to marry Berenice instead. With Apama's help, Demetrius seized control of the city. Allegedly, Demetrius and Apama became lovers. Berenice is said to have discovered them in bed together and had him assassinated. Apama was spared.[15] After Demetrius' assassination Cyrene was engulfed in civil unrest, and the control of Cyrene was entrusted to a republican government (Koinon), led by two Cyrenaeans named Ecdelus and Demophanes, until Berenice's actual wedding to Ptolemy III in 246 BCE after his accession to the throne.[9][16][17]
Berenice married Ptolemy III in 246 BCE after his accession to the throne.[16] This brought Cyrenaica back into the Ptolemaic realm, where it would remain until her great-great-grandsonPtolemy Apion left it to theRoman Republic in his will in 96 BCE.
In 244 or 243 BCE, Berenice and her husband were incorporated into the Ptolemaic state cults and worshipped as theTheoi Euergetai (Benefactor Gods), alongsideAlexander the Great and the earlier Ptolemies.[16][20] Berenice was also worshipped as a goddess on her own,Thea Euergetis (Benefactor Goddess). She was often equated withAphrodite andIsis and came to be particularly associated with protection against shipwrecks. Most of the evidence for this cult derives from the reign of Ptolemy IV or later, but a cult in her honour is attested in theFayyum in Ptolemy III's reign.[21] This cult closely parallels that offered to her mother-in-law,Arsinoe II, who was also equated with Aphrodite and Isis, and associated with protection from shipwrecks. The parallelism is also presented on the gold coinage minted posthumously in honour of the two queens. The coinage of Arsinoe II bears a pair ofcornucopiae on the reverse side, while that of Berenice bears a single cornucopia.
Berenice was also granted the title ofvizier, highlighting her position as king's advisor.[22]
Berenice's divinity is closely connected with the story of "Berenice's Lock". According to this story, Berenice vowed to sacrifice her long hair as avotive offering if Ptolemy III returned safely from battle during theThird Syrian War. She dedicated her tresses to and placed them in thetemple at Cape Zephyrium inAlexandria, whereArsinoe II was worshipped as Aphrodite, but the next morning the tresses had disappeared.Conon of Samos, the court astronomer identified a constellation as the missing hair, claiming that Aphrodite had placed it in the sky as an acknowledgement of Berenice's sacrifice. The constellation is known to this day asComa Berenices (Latin for 'Berenice's Lock').[23] It is unclear whether this event took place before or after Ptolemy's return; Branko van Oppen de Ruiter suggests that it happened after Ptolemy's return (around March–June or May 245 BCE).[24] This episode served to link Berenice with the goddess Isis in her role as goddess of rebirth, since she was meant to have dedicated a lock of her own hair atKoptos in mourning for her husbandOsiris.[25][21]
The story was widely propagated by the Ptolemaic court.Seals were produced depicting Berenice with a shaved head and the attributes of Isis/Demeter.[26][21] The poetCallimachus, who was based in the Ptolemaic court, celebrated the event in a poem,The Lock of Berenice, of which only a few lines remain.[27] The first century BCE Roman poetCatullus produced a loose translation or adaptation of the poem inLatin,[28] and a prose summary appears inHyginus'De astronomia.[10][23] The story was popular in the early modern period when it was illustrated by manyneoclassical painters.
Berenice entered a chariot team in theNemean Games of 243 or 241 BCE and was victorious. The success is celebrated in another poem by Callimachus'Victory of Berenice. This poem connects Berenice withIo, a lover of Zeus in Greek mythology, who was also connected with Isis by contemporary Greeks.[29][21] When she won in the four-horse chariot race at the Olympics in the early third century BCE, she commissioned an epigram by the poetPosidippus in which she explicitly claimed to have "stolen" the fame (κῦδος) ofCynisca.[30] Her epigram was included in the so-calledGreek Anthology, which also indicates its continuing relevance long after the victory itself.[31]
Ptolemy III died in late 222 BCE and was succeeded by his son by Berenice,Ptolemy IV Philopator. Berenice died soon after, in early 221 BCE.Polybius states that she was poisoned, as part of a general purge of the royal family by the new king's regentSosibius.[32][16] She continued to be venerated in the state ruler cult. By 211 BCE, she had her own priestess, theathlophorus ('prize-bearer'), who marched in processions inAlexandria behind the priest of Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies, and thecanephorus of the deifiedArsinoe II.[11]
The city ofEuesperides (now the Libyan city ofBenghazi) was renamed Berenice in her honour, a name it retained until the Middle Ages.
The asteroid653 Berenike, discovered in 1907, also is named after Queen Berenice.[33]
With Ptolemy III she had the following children:[34]
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsinoe III |  | 246/5 BCE | 204 BCE | Married her brother Ptolemy IV in 220 BCE. |
| Ptolemy IV Philopator |  | May/June 244 BCE | July/August 204 BCE | King of Egypt from 222 - 204 BCE. |
| A son | July/August 243 BCE | Perhaps 221 BCE | Name unknown, possibly 'Lysimachus'. He was probably killed in or before the political purge of 221 BCE.[35] | |
| Alexander | September/October 242 BCE | Perhaps 221 BCE | He was probably killed in or before the political purge of 221 BCE.[36] | |
| Magas | November/December 241 BCE | 221 BCE | Scalded to death in his bath by Theogos or Theodotus, at the orders of Ptolemy IV.[37] | |
| Berenice | January/February 239 BCE | February/March 238 BCE | Posthumously deified on 7 March 238 BCE by theCanopus Decree, as Berenice Anasse Parthenon (Berenice, mistress of virgins).[38] |
i. Queen Regnant of Cyrenaïca, ʙ.ᴄ. 258–247.
Remarkably, Berenice was hailedbasilissa on coins even in her father's lifetime,
This review brings us to the accession of Berenice as queen of Cyrene, B.C. 258. Her coinage will be considered later (p. xlv.).
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
