Berenice I | |
---|---|
Queen of Egypt | |
Born | c. 340 BC Macedonia |
Died | between 279 and 268 BC Egypt |
Spouse |
Philip, a Macedonian nobleman Ptolemy I Soter |
Issue | With
Philip: Magas King of Cyrene Antigone (later queen of Epirus) Theoxena With Ptolemy I Soter: Arsinoe II Philotera Ptolemy II Philadelphus |
Dynasty | Ptolemaic |
Father | Magas |
Mother | Antigone |
Berenice I ( Greek: Βερενίκη; c. 340 BC – between 279 and 268 BC) was Queen of Egypt by marriage to Ptolemy I Soter. She became the second queen, after Eurydice, of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.
Berenice was originally from Eordaea. [1] She was the daughter of princess Antigone of Macedon, and an obscure local, a Macedonian nobleman called Magas. [2] Her maternal grandfather was a nobleman called Cassander who was the brother of Antipater, 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 called Philip. [2] Philip was previously married and had other children.
Through her first marriage, she became the mother of King Magas of Cyrene, Antigone, who married King Pyrrhus of Epirus; and a daughter called Theoxena. [2]
Magas dedicated an inscription to himself and his father, when he served as a priest of Apollo. [3] Pyrrhus gave her name to a new city called Berenicis.
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 cousin Eurydice who was the wife of Ptolemy I. Ptolemy I was one of the generals of King Alexander the Great and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
Berenice became involved in a relationship with Ptolemy I, who married her in 317 BC. Berenice became the mother of Arsinoe 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 the Red Sea and named it Berenice after his mother.
After she died, Ptolemy II and later Ptolemy 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.