Cleopatra IV1, daughter of Ptolemy VIII2 and Cleopatra III3, born c. 138/1354. She married at least twice5.
Cleopatra IV first married her brother Ptolemy IX, before he became king of Egypt6, in c. 119/87, by whom she probably had at least one son7.1; she is here identified8 as the mother of Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus9, marriage forcibly divorced by Cleopatra III10 probably early in 11511.
Cleopatra IV second married, as his first known wife, Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, king of Syria12, c. 11413, by whom she presumably had one son, Antiochus X Eusebes14. The marriage was terminated by her murder in the sanctuary of Daphne near Antioch by orders of her sister Tryphaena15 in 11216.
Cleopatra IV was posthumously incorporated in the dynastic cult as the Qea FiladelfoV17.
[1] PP VI 14519. Gr: Kleopatra. Ý
[2] Inferred from Justin 39.3, where she is stated to be a daughter of Cleopatra III and sister of Ptolemy IX. Ý
[3] Justin 39.3. Ý
[4] Inferred from the likely date of her marriage to Ptolemy IX and the estimated birthdates of Ptolemy X and Tryphaena.
pdem Tor. Botti 8, cited in W. Clarysse & G. van der Veken, The Eponymous Priests of Ptolemaic Egypt 51, names a priestess of "Cleopatra the daughter" in the city of Ptolemais in year 33 of Ptolemy VIII = 138/7. Clarysse & van der Veken suggested that this daughter was Cleopatra IV, which would imply that she was born in 138 or earlier. However, the same priesthood is also attested in pdem Berlin 3113, dated 14 Pharmouthi year 29 = 8 May 141 which would place her birth in 141 or earlier. But the same papyrus attests that at this date her parents were not yet married, and in any case it would be extremely unusual for an infant daughter to be given her own priesthood; the only example I can think of is the posthumous priesthood for Berenice daughter of Ptolemy III. This priesthood is now generally understood as an early priesthood of Cleopatra III. See discussion under Cleopatra III.
It may be possible to narrow the estimate for the birth date. If Berenice, wife of Psherenptah II, is also a daughter of Cleopatra III, then she was almost certainly younger than Cleopatra IV since it was Cleopatra IV who Ptolemy IX first married. But Berenice was probably born in or before 137/6, based on the birthdate of her son, which would confine the birthdate of Cleopatra IV to 138. However, there is no longer any evidence that Berenice was a daughter of Ptolemy VIII. Ý
[5] A. Bouché-Leclercq, Histoire des Lagides II 93 n. 1, considered the possibility that Cleopatra IV had married Ptolemy X during her stay in Cyprus following her divorce (Justin 39.3) and was thereby the mother of Ptolemy XI. This seems most unlikely, as Bouché-Leclercq noted, loc. cit. and II 117 n. 2, since the stay was certainly very brief, and since Ptolemy XI appears to have been an adolescent in 88, when kidnapped by Mithridates VI from Cos and given a "royal education" by him (Appian, Bell. Civ. 1.11.102). Ý
[6] Justin 39.3. Ý
[7] Inferred from the likely birth date of Ptolemy XII, which occurs during the time his father was strategos of Cyprus. Therefore, his parents must have become married at the time his father was sent there to be strategos and nauarcoV, and probably shortly before. Cleopatra's ability to raise a fleet in Cyprus after her divorce (Justin 39.3) indicates that she was already well known there, presumably due to her husband's duties as nauarcoV. Ý
[7.1] I.e. the son who was eponymous priest in 109/8, ex officio a son of Selene. Ý
[8] See analysis under Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus. Ý
[9] She is often supposed to be the mother of Berenice III. See discussion under Berenice III for arguments against this theory. Ý
[10] Justin 39.3. Ý
[11] The date is inferred from the statement in Justin 39.3 that Cleopatra III made the divorce a precondition of accepting Ptolemy IX as coregent (presumably on the death of Cleopatra II), and from the likely fact that Ptolemy of Cyprus was born before the divorce. Ý
[12] Justin 39.3. Ý
[13] Justin 39.3 says that the fleet which Cleopatra IV brought to Antiochus IX from Cyprus was the factor that allowed him to open up his civil war against his half-brother Antiochus VIII. From the coins (A. R. Bellinger, The End of the Seleucids 87ff), the start of the civil war between Antiochus VIII and Antiochus IX can be dated to the latter part of the year 199 SE = 114/3, which is the date for the earliest coins of Antiochus IX from Antioch, i.e. to 113. Therefore she must have brought the fleet to him the previous year, i.e. in early 114. Ý
[14] Antiochus X is identified as the son of Antiochus IX in Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 13.13.4, Porphyry in Eusebius, Chronicorum I (ed. Schoene) 259, Appian, Syriaca 11.69, but his mother is unnamed. She cannot have been Cleopatra Selene, who married Antiochus IX only shortly before his death. She is widely said, without qualification, to have been his only other known wife, i.e. Cleopatra IV, e.g. A. Bouché-Leclercq, Histoire des Séleucides 418, 644, R. D. Sullivan, Near Eastern Royalty and Rome 65. However, J. D. Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazeteer 32f., just as baldly states that Antiochus X was the son of Antiochus IX by an unknown first wife who was not Cleopatra IV; P. Green, From Alexander to Actium 735 makes the same assertion. Neither side has provided any justification that I have been able to locate. At a guess, this proposal arises because the minimum age difference between Antiochus X and his wife Cleopatra Selene is around 17 years if he was the son of Cleopatra IV. However, I see no disqualification in this since Cleopatra Selene was still likely to have been in her mid 30s at the time of the marriage, and hence I see no chronological difficulty in making Antiochus X the son of Cleopatra IV. In the absence of any positive disqualification I believe she remains the most reasonable presumption.
For the reign of Antiochus X see discussion under Selene. Ý
[15] Justin 39.3 says that her hands were hacked off while she clung to the statue of the goddess for protection, so that she could be taken outside to be killed. Ý
[16] See discussion under Tryphaena. Ý
[17] C. R. Lepsius, Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien IV 49a, Text 102 = J. de Morgan et. al. Catalogue des monuments et inscriptions de l'Egypte antique Kom Ombos I 141 no 183, 152 no 200. This is a list of the eponymous gods dating from the reign of Ptolemy XII. At the end it lists: the gods Philometor (i.e. Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II), the god Eupator (i.e. Ptolemy Eupator), the god Neos Philopator (i.e. Ptolemy Memphites), the three gods Euergetes (i.e. Ptolemy VIII, Cleopatra II again, and Cleopatra III), the goddess Philadelphos, the god Soter (i.e. Ptolemy IX) and the goddess Philopator (i.e. Berenice III). Lepsius identified the goddess Philadelphos as a second instance of Cleopatra III, but she is never otherwise so attested. M. Chauveau, In Memoriam Quaegebeur 1263, while noting that other eponymous lists of the period are known which certainly contain errors, points out that none of these involves the creation of a new god. Rather, she must have a real queen, who predeceased Ptolemy IX and can therefore only have been Cleopatra IV. Chauveau argues that she must have been introduced into the cult by Ptolemy IX in his second reign, and cites in support the fact that Ptolemy IX himself is at one point called FiladelfoV. Ý
Update Notes:
11 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
25 Feb 2002: Split into separate entry
23 Aug 2003: Added Xrefs to online Justin
23 Oct 2003: Added Xrefs to online Appian and
(partial) Porphyry
24 Feb 2004: Added Xref to onle Bellinger
26 Feb 2004: Added commentary on the priesthood of
"the king's daughter Cleopatra" as evidence of Cleopatra IV
in 138
13 Sep 2004: Add Xref to online Eusebius
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcription
26 Nov 2006: Note that Cleopatra IV was probably
nother of the eponymous priest regardless of his identity with
Ptolemy XII
7 June 2008: Link his maternity to a discussion of
chronology of Antiochus X
28 Nov 2010: Fix broken Perseus links
7 Aug 2012: Note that Berenice
wife of HPM Psherenptah was probably not Cleopatra IV's sister
Website © Chris Bennett, 2001-2012 -- All rights reserved