Cleopatra Thea
| Cleopatra Thea | |
|---|---|
| Cleopatra the Goddess | |
 |
|
| Seleucid Queen (Queen Consort of Syria) | |
| Tenure | 150 BC–126 BC |
| Predecessor | Laodice V |
| Regents |
Alexander Balas (150–145 BC) Demetrius II Nicator (145–139 BC) Antiochus VII Sidetes (138–129 BC) Demetrius II Nicator (129–126 BC) |
| Seleucid Queen (Queen Regnant of Syria) | |
| Tenure | 125–121 BC |
| Successor | Tryphaena |
| Co-regents |
Seleucus V Philometor (126–125 BC) Antiochus VIII Grypus (125–121 BC) |
| Born | ca. 164 BC Egypt |
| Died | 121 BC |
| Spouse | |
| Issue |
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| Royal House | Ptolemaic Dynasty |
| Father | Ptolemy VI |
| Mother | Cleopatra II |
Cleopatra Thea (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά, which means "Cleopatra the Goddess"; c. 164 – 121 BC) surnamed Eueteria (i.e., "good-harvest/fruitful season") was the ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. She ruled Syria from 125 BC after the death of Demetrius II Nicator. She eventually ruled in co-regency with her son Antiochus VIII Grypus until 121 or 120 BC.
Cleopatra Thea grew up in Egypt as the daughter of Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II. She was probably born ca. 164 BC. She may have been engaged to her uncle Ptolemy VIII king of Cyrene in 154, but he eventually married her sister Cleopatra III. In 150 BC she married Alexander Balas in a sumptuous ceremony at Ptolemais Akko. The marriage produced a son named Antiochus VI Dionysus.
In 145 BC her father invaded Syria, defeated Alexander Balas in battle and remarried her to Demetrius II, only to die a few days later. Demetrius set himself up as co-ruler with the young boy Antiochus VI, but may have killed him in 142 BC.
In 139 BC Demetrius II was captured fighting against the Parthians and was held prisoner by them until 129 BC. After Demetrius was captured, his younger brother, Antiochus VII Sidetes, who was raised in the city of Side in Pamphylia, came to Syria and took the throne, marrying Cleopatra Thea in 138 BC. Cleopatra Thea bore him at least one son, Antiochus IX Cyzicenus. The names of any other children are uncertain.
In 129 BC, the Parthians released Demetrius II, as a political manoeuvre against Sidetes, to claim his throne and his wife.
That same year Sidetes was killed fighting the Parthians. Cleopatra had taken the precaution of sending Antiochus IX (her son by Antiochus VII) to Cyzicus in Asia Minor (hence his surname). Demetrius returned home and regained his throne, taking Cleopatra Thea as his wife by his side.
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Wikipedia