CLEOPATRA II

(c. 185–116 BC)

   Daughter of Ptolemy V and Cleopatra I and wife of Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII. She was married to her brother, Ptolemy VI, in April 176 BC and declared joint ruler of Egypt in 170 BC in the face of the threat of invasion by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV. When her husband was captured by the enemy, she and her younger brother, Ptolemy VIII, held out in Alexandria. Antiochus IV was forced to abandon Egypt under Roman pressure, and the joint rule of the three siblings was restored. In 164 BC, civil war broke out between the brothers, and Ptolemy VIII was expelled to Cyrene. Cleopatra II bore four children to Ptolemy VI, including Ptolemy Eupator, Ptolemy VII, Cleopatra Thea, and Cleopatra III. Her husband was killed in 145 BC, and she briefly acted as regent for her son, Ptolemy VII, until power was seized by her brother, Ptolemy VIII, who married her and murdered her son. Cleopatra bore her new husband one son, Ptolemy Memphites, but he soon preferred her daughter Cleopatra III. Civil war broke out between the spouses in 132 BC during which Ptolemy VIII murdered his son, Memphites, before regaining control in 130 BC. Peace was eventually restored between the spouses in 124 BC, when Cleopatra II was recognized as senior queen. She is last recorded in 116 BC having survived her second husband.