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Ladice or Ladice of Cyrene (Greek: Λαδική, fl. 548 BC to 526 BC) was a Greek Cyrenaean princess and a member of the Battiad dynasty. She married the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II. When Amasis died in 526 BC, she returned from Egypt back to Cyrene, in modern-day Libya.
Ladice's was the daughter of Battus III, King of Cyrene, and his wife Queen Pheretima. Her brother would be the future sixth Greek Cyrenaean king Arcesilaus III. Although her maternal grandparents are unknown, her paternal grandparents were the fourth Greek Cyrenaean king Arcesilaus II and Greek Cyrenaean queen Eryxo. Although her father is considered to have been Battus III, Herodotus suggests that, based on other accounts, her father could have been Arcesilaus II or Critobulus, one of the leading Greek Cyrenaean citizens.
She married Amasis II, pharaoh of Egypt. It is unknown whether they had any children but through her marriage, Ladice had at least two stepsons Prince Amose and Psamtik III.
Battus III allied with Pharaoh Amasis II to protect Cyrenaica from the local Libyan population and its aristocracy. Battus allowed Amasis to select a Greek woman from Cyrenaica to marry him. Amasis chose Battus' daughter Ladice. Ladice and Amasis married in Cyrene.
When Ladice married Amasis, she became a member of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. Ladice is not well known in ancient Egyptian history and her name has not been found on any monuments from the time. Nor is she mentioned on any Egyptian inscriptions from the period. However, her marriage to Amasis encouraged cultural and trade interactions between Egypt and its neighbours on the Mediterranean.
According to Herodotus, it was said that when Amasis and Ladice returned to his palace in Sais, Egypt, their marriage, for a while, was not consummated. Every time Amasis went to bed with Ladice, he was unable to have intercourse with her, although he did with his other wives. Amasis thought that Ladice might have bewitched him and formally accused Ladice. If she was found guilty, the punishment would have been the death penalty. She denied the charge, but to no effect. Ladice prayed to the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, promising to dedicate a statue to her in Cyrene if the goddess saved her life and her marriage. The goddess answered her prayer and her marriage was consummated and the pharaoh fell deeply in love with her. [1] Amasis withdrew his accusation against Ladice. Ladice ordered a statue to be made in the image of Aphrodite and she sent the statue to Cyrene, where it was placed looking outward from the city. The statue was still there in the time of Herodotus.
When Amasis died in 526 BC, Psamtik III became pharaoh and ruled until 525 BC, when king Cambyses II of Persia conquered Egypt. When Cambyses discovered who Ladice was, he sent her safely from Egypt back to Cyrene. After her return to Cyrene, no more is known about Ladice.
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Amasis II or Ahmose II was a pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest.
Cambyses II was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great and his mother was Cassandane. His relatively brief reign was marked by his conquests in North Africa, notably Egypt, which he conquered after his victory over the Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik III at the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC. After having established himself in Egypt, he expanded the empire's holdings in Africa, including the conquest of Cyrenaica. In the spring of 522 BC, Cambyses hurriedly left Egypt to deal with a rebellion in Persia.
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, a pharaoh of Egypt, the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years. Apries is also called Hophra in Jeremiah 44:30.
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Critola was a Libyan Greek princess of Cyrenaica and its capital Cyrene and was a member of the Battiad dynasty.
Battus II of Cyrene, sometimes called Eudaimon or the Latin equivalent Felix, was the third Greek king of Cyrenaica and Cyrene and a member of the Battiad dynasty.
Arcesilaus II of Cyrene, surnamed the Oppressor, the Severe or the Harsh, was the fourth Greek king of Cyrenaica and was a member of the Battiad dynasty. It was from his reign that the dynasty began to decline in power and influence.
Eryxo was a Greek woman, who was a Queen of Cyrenaica and was a member of The Battiads dynasty, the family that ruled Cyrenaica and Cyrene. From the ancient Greek sources, she appears to be the first Greek Cyrenaean Queen mentioned from the dynasty.
Battus III of Cyrene, surnamed The Lame was the fifth Greek Cyrenaean king and a member of the Battiad dynasty.
Arcesilaus III of Cyrene was the sixth Greek Cyrenaean King and was a member of the Battiad dynasty. He succeeded his father as king of Cyrene in 530 BC, ruling until he was killed by Cyrenaean exiles around 515 BC.
Pheretima or Pheretime, was the wife of the Greek Cyrenaean King Battus III and the last recorded queen of the Battiad dynasty in Cyrenaica. She was regent of Cyrene in place of her son, Arcesilaus III of Cyrene, circa 518–515 BC.
Battus IV of Cyrene surnamed The Handsome or The Fair was the seventh and second to last Greek king of Cyrenaica of the Battiad dynasty. He was the first Cyrenaean king to rule as a client king under the Persian Empire.
Arcesilaus IV of Cyrene was the eighth King of Cyrene and last king of the Battiad dynasty. He served as a client king under Persian authority.
The Battle of Pelusium was the first major battle between the Achaemenid Empire and Egypt. This decisive battle transferred the throne of the Pharaohs to Cambyses II of Persia, marking the beginning of the Achaemenid Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt. It was fought in 525 BC near Pelusium, an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to the south-east of the modern Port Said. The battle was preceded and followed by sieges at Gaza and Memphis.
Demonax was an ancient Greek lawmaker of the style of Solon and Lycurgus, known for reforming the constitution of the Cyrenaeans.
Learchus was an adviser in the government of the Kingdom of Cyrenaica during the reign of king Arcesilaus II. Learchus is best known for perpetrating the murder of this very same Arcesilaus II.
Phanes of Halicarnassus was a wise council man, a tactician, and a mercenary from Halicarnassus, serving the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II. Most of what history recounts of Phanes is from the account of Herodotus in his grand historical text, the Histories. According to Herodotus, Phanes of Halicarnassus was "a resourceful man and a brave fighter" serving Amasis II on matters of state, and was well connected within the Egyptian pharaoh's troops. Phanes of Halicarnassus was also very well respected within the military and royal community of Egypt.
The first Achaemenid conquest of Egypt took place in 525 BCE, leading to the foundation of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the "First Egyptian Satrapy". Egypt thus became a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire until 404 while still maintaining Egyptian royalty customs and positions. The conquest was led by Cambyses II, who defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Pelusium, and crowned himself pharaoh. Achaemenid rule was disestablished upon the rebellion and crowning of Amyrtaeus as Pharaoh. A second period of Achaemenid rule in Egypt occurred under the Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt.
