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Cleopatra Thea

Cleopatria Thea ("the goddess"): Ptolemaic princess and Seleucid queen, ruled from 125 to 121.

Successor of: Demetrius II Nicator

Relatives

Father: Ptolemy VI Philometor
Mother: Cleopatra II
Partners:
1. 154: engaged to Ptolemy VIII Physcon
2. 150: Alexander I Balas
  - Son: Antiochus VI Dionysus
3. 146: Demetrius II Nicator
  - Seleucus V
  - Laodice (?), married to Phraates II of Parthia
  - Antiochus VIII Grypus
4. 138: Antiochus VII Sidetes
1. - Antiochus IX Cyzicenus

Main deeds

Cleopatra Thea and Alexander Balas

June 150: The usurper Alexander I Balas defeats Demetrius I Soter near Antioch; one of his officers, Diodotus, makes sure that Alexander can capture the capital
150: Ptolemy VI Philometor marries Cleopatra to Alexander I Balas; the wedding takes place in Ptolemais
147: Cleopatra gives birth to Alexander's son Antiochus VI Dionysus
146: Cleopatra leaves her husband and remarries with Demetrius II Nicator; her father Ptolemy supports Demetrius' claim to the throne; civil war
145/144: End of Alexander Balas; his supporter Diodotus saves the two year old son of Alexander and Cleopatra
Cleopatra continues to support Demetrius; they have at least three children (Seleucus, a daughter, Antiochus VIII); meanwhile Diodotus and Cleopatra's son Antiochus VI are building an independent kingdom
141 or 140: Diodotus kills the boy and proclaims himself king, calling himself Tryphon
July/August 138: Cleopatra's husband Demetrius taken captive by the Parthian king Mithradates I the Great (r.165-132), who has conquered Media, Babylonia, and Elam
After August 138: Antiochus VII Sidetes, seizes power in the Seleucid Empire; he marries to Cleopatra
Antiochus VII overcomes Diodotus Tryphon, who commits suicide
Antiochus VII and Cleopatra have a son, Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
130: Antiochus successfully fights a war against the Parthians, and demands full restoration of all Seleucid territories in Iran
129: the Parthians defeat Antiochus VII (who commits suicide) and allow Demetrius II, who is still their captive, to return to his old kingdom, which has by now been reduced to Syria and Cilicia
Demetrius concludes a marriage alliance with Parthia: his daughter marries to Phraates, he himself marries Phraates' sister Rhodogyne
128?: Demetrius tries to intervene in the Egyptian civil war, supporting Cleopatra II, the mother of Cleopatra Thea
Ptolemy VIII supports Alexander II Zabinas, a rebel in the Seleucid Empire
125: When Demetrius wages war against Alexander II Zabinas, he is killed near Damascus
Cleopatra and other courtiers must make a decision about the next king. There are three candidates:
1. Seleucus V (son of Cleopatra and Demetrius)
2. Antiochus VIII Grypus (son of Cleopatra and Demetrius)
3. Antiochus IX Cyzicenus (son of Cleopatra and Antiochus VII)
Seleucus tries to become sole ruler, but is killed; our sources blame Cleopatra
Antiochus VIII Grypus and Cleopatra share the throne
121: Antiochus forces Cleopatra to commit suicide

Succeeded by: sole rule of Antiochus VIII Grypus

Sources

1 Maccabees 10-11
Appian of Alexandria, Syrian Wars, 68-69
Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 13.80-92, 109-115, 221