ABSTRACT
Cleopatra Thea was a member of the Seleucid basileia (“monarchy”) from 150 until her death in 121 during the reign of four kings and three usurpers. Thanks to Cleopatra’s agency, the Seleucid dynasty was able to transition through three political crises, and, in 125, to unify the kingdom of Syria once again and for the last time. A Ptolemaic princess by birth, she entered the Seleucid dynasty marrying three among all of the male rulers and leaders contending for the throne at the end of the second century, and was member of three Seleucid royal couples. All of the unions sprang from the need to achieve political and military stability in the Seleucid kingdom. Calibrating the accounts of post-Hellenistic ancient authors against the documentary evidence, both epigraphic and numismatic, this paper reconsiders the evidence of the three Seleucid couples related to Cleopatra Thea, exploring questions about the gender roles of the couples, the legal status of the royal couple, and the impact of the solidity of the couple on the kingdom. It sheds light on the functioning and the representation of the late Hellenistic royal couple, and on its relation with shifting external political factors: by ultimately examining the complex political identity of the royal couple beyond the family dimension, the study considers how it influenced and was influenced by the policy of the Seleucid Empire.
