Cleopatra V Selene

Relatives:

• Father: Ptolemy VIII Physcon
• Mother: Cleopatra III
• First husband: her brother Ptolemy IX Soter
  • Two sons
• Second husband: Antiochus VIII Grypus
  • Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator
  • Antiochus XI Epiphanes Philadelphus
  • Demetrius III Eucaerus
  • Philip I Philadelphus
  • Antiochus XII Dionysus
  • Laodice Thea Philadelphus (married to Mithradates I Callinicus of Commagene)
• Third husband: Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
• Fourth husband: Antiochus X Eusebes
  • Antiochus XIII Asiaticus
  • Seleucus Cybiosactes

Main deeds:

• c.135: Born
• 28 June 116: Death of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, who is succeeded by Cleopatra III. She wants to rule with her youngest son Ptolemy X Alexander, but the Alexandrines force her to accept her elder son, Ptolemy IX Soter, as co-ruler.
• April 115: Cleopatra V Selene marries Ptolemy IX Soter, who has just divorced his first wife, Cleopatra IV. The relation between the young king Ptolemy IX and the queen-mother Cleopatra III is complicated.
• March 108: Ptolemy IX is forced to flee to Cyrene, and leaves behind his wife and two children. He returns not much later.
• October 107: Ptolemy IX again flees, this time to Cyprus, again leaving Cleopatra V Selene and the children behind. He is unable to return and the marriage is dissolved.
• Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X Alexander seek support from the Seleucid king Antiochus VIII Grypus against Ptolemy IX.
• 103: Cleopatra V Selene marries Antiochus. They have several children: Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator; Antiochus XI Epiphanes Philadelphus; Demetrius III Eucaerus; Philip I Philadelphus; Antiochus XII Dionysus; Laodice Thea Philadelphus.
• 101: Death of Cleopatra III. In Egypt, Ptolemy X Alexander remains sole ruler.
• 96: Death of Antiochus VIII (natural causes). Because Antiochus VIII was involved in a conflict with his relative Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, which must end, Cleopatra marries her deceased husband's rival.
• Early 95: Her son Seleucus does not accept this, builds an army and defeats his stepfather, who is killed. A son of Antiochus IX, Antiochus X Eusebes, avenges his father; Seleucus is killed.
• Late 95: Cleopatra Selene marries Antiochus X. They have two sons (Antiochus XIII Asiaticus and Seleucus Cybiosactes).
• After the death of her last husband (in 92 or 83), Cleopatra Selene lives in Cilicia, where she educates her sons; Philip I acts as king.
• 88: Death of Ptolemy X; return of Ptolemy IX Soter.
• 83: Tigranes II the Great of Armenia conquers the remains of the Seleucid Empire, but leaves Cilicia in peace.
• After the death of Antiochus XII (ruler in Damascus), the Nabataean Arabs gain control of Damascus; later, Cleopatra appears to have ruled the city.
• 80: In Egypt, Ptolemy IX dies; he is succeeded by Ptolemy XI Alexander, who is immediately replaced by Ptolemy XII. Cleopatra V Selene demands the throne for her Seleucid sons.
• 69: Tigranes arrests Cleopatra Selene and orders her execution.

Literature

• O.D. Hoover, "Dethroning Seleucus VII Philometor (Cybiosactes): Epigraphical Arguments against a Late Seleucid Monarch" in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 151 (2005) 95-99