elcctra:BADASS WOMEN OF THE ANCIENT WORLD: ARSINOE II (316 - CA 260 BC)Arsinoe was daughter of Ptole
elcctra:BADASS WOMEN OF THE ANCIENT WORLD: ARSINOE II (316 - CA 260 BC)Arsinoe was daughter of Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander The Great’s closest friends and the one to succeed him as pharaoh of Egypt after Alexander’s death. She had an eventful life, was queen of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedonia and eventually became co-ruler of Egypt with her brother-husband Ptolemy II.Arsinoe was married three times. The first marriage was to Lysimachus, king of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedonia, a man much older than her, to whom she bore three sons. Because of her important relationship to Egypt, Arsinoe held great influence during that time. After Lysimachus’ death she married her half brother Ptolemy Keraunos (marriage between half siblings was allowed by Greek law, as long as they had different mothers), a marriage that was purely political, as Keraunos wanted to control the regions held by Arsinoe’s late husband. The relationship between the half siblings was tense from the start and eventually Keraunos had two of her sons killed, causing Arsinoe to flee from court.Arsinoe then went to Egypt, seeking the protection of her full brother Ptolemy II, who had succeeded their father as pharaoh. Shocking the Greek aristocracy, she convinced Ptolemy to accuse his first wife of treason, banish her, and marry Arsinoe instead, reinstalling the costume of marriage between siblings, common for the native dynasties of Egypt. This pattern would be followed by the next Ptolemaic kings and queens.As queen of Egypt, Arsinoe was a co-ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt at its height. During her brother’s rule the construction of the famous Alexandrian Lighthouse was finished, the Museum and Library of Alexandria were promoted, and the country flourished.After her death, the devastated Ptolemy continued to refer to her on official documents and issue coins with her. She was also deified by her brother and her cult was so popular that it endured even in Roman times. Arsinoe was the first of the many powerful and independent queens her dynasty would produce, including the famous Cleopatra. -- source link
#history egyptian#history macedonian#type gif#user connie