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Laodice IV | |
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Head Priestess of the Seleucid Empire | |
Queen consort of the Seleucid Empire | |
Tenure | 196–193 BC (with Laodice III) |
Predecessor | Laodice III |
Successor | Laodice III |
Queen consort of the Seleucid Empire | |
Tenure | 187–175 BC |
Predecessor | Euboea |
Successor | Herself |
Queen consort of the Seleucid Empire | |
Tenure | 175–163 BC |
Predecessor | Herself |
Successor | Unknown (Antiochus V Eupator unmarried, consort of Timarchus unknown) |
Born | Seleucid Empire |
Spouse | |
Issue | |
Dynasty | Seleucid |
Father | Antiochus III the Great |
Mother | Laodice III |
Occupation | Priestess |
Laodice IV (flourished second half 3rd century BC and first half 2nd century BC) was a Greek princess, head priestess and a queen of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus III appointed Laodice in 193 BC, as the chief priestess of the state cult dedicated to her mother Laodice III in Media. She later was married to three kings of the Seleucid Empire --all her brothers.
She was one of the daughters and among the children born to the Seleucid Monarchs Antiochus III the Great and Laodice III. [1] Her paternal grandparents were the former Seleucid Monarchs Seleucus II Callinicus and Laodice II, while her maternal grandparents were King Mithridates II of Pontus and his wife Laodice.
The parents of Laodice IV were first cousins, because her paternal grandfather and her maternal grandmother were brother and sister, and were among the children of Antiochus II Theos and Laodice I. [2] She was born and raised in the Seleucid Empire. Laodice was commemorated with an honorific inscription dedicated to her at Delos. [3]
Ancestors of Laodice IV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In 196 BC, her eldest brother, crown prince Antiochus, was appointed by her father to succeed him. [5] In that year Laodice was married to him. The marriage of Laodice IV and Antiochus was the first sibling marriage to occur in the Seleucid dynasty. [3] From their sibling union Laodice IV bore Antiochus a daughter called Nysa. [6] Antiochus III appointed Laodice in 193 BC as the chief priestess of the state cult dedicated to her mother Laodice III in Media. [6] [3] Later that year, her brother-husband died. The family, particularly Antiochus III, grieved his death. [3]
Antiochus III arranged for her to marry again, this time to her second eldest brother Seleucus IV Philopator. [6] In their union, they had three children: two sons, Antiochus and Demetrius I Soter, and a daughter named Laodice V. [6] In 187 BC, Antiochus III died and Seleucus IV succeeded their father. He became the Seleucid King while Laodice IV became the Seleucid Queen. They reigned as the Seleucid imperial couple from 187 BC until 175 BC, when Seleucus IV died. [6] There is no surviving record on how Laodice IV reigned as queen or how her contemporaries viewed her. Briefly in 175 BC, Laodice's first son was King. [7] There are surviving coins dating from 175 BC that show portraits of Laodice IV and her first son with Seleucus IV, Antiochus, making them the first Seleucid King and Queen depicted on coins. [7]
After the death of Seleucus IV, Laodice married for the third time her youngest brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who succeeded his second eldest brother as King. Antiochus IV co-ruled with his nephew Antiochus and adopted him as his son, but had him assassinated in 170 BC. [7] Laodice bore Antiochus IV two children: a son, Antiochus V Eupator, and a daughter, Laodice VI. [6] When Laodice's youngest brother and first son co-ruled, her second son Demetrius I Soter was sent as a political hostage to Rome. When Antiochus IV died, the first son of Laodice IV and Antiochus IV, Antiochus V Eupator succeeded his father as Seleucid King. [6]
Seleucus IV Philopator, ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Nearer Iran.
Antiochus II Theos was a Greek king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire who reigned from 261 to 246 BC. He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC. He was the younger son of Antiochus I and princess Stratonice, the daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes.
Seleucus II Callinicus Pogon, was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 246 BC to 225 BC. Faced with multiple enemies on various fronts, and not always successful militarily, his reign was a time of great turmoil and fragmentation for the Seleucid Empire, before its eventual restoration under his second son and eventual successor, Antiochus III.
Antiochus III the Great was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 223 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the rest of western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC. Rising to the throne at the age of eighteen in April/June 223 BC, his early campaigns against the Ptolemaic Kingdom were unsuccessful, but in the following years Antiochus gained several military victories and substantially expanded the empire's territory. His traditional designation, the Great, reflects an epithet he assumed. He also assumed the title Basileus Megas, the traditional title of the Persian kings. A militarily active ruler, Antiochus restored much of the territory of the Seleucid Empire, before suffering a serious setback, towards the end of his reign, in his war against Rome.
Cleopatra I or Cleopatra Thea, surnamed Eueteria was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. She was queen consort of Syria from 150 to about 125 BC as the wife of three Syrian kings: Alexander Balas, Demetrius II Nicator, and Antiochus VII Sidetes. She ruled Syria from 125 BC after the death of Demetrius II Nicator, eventually in co-regency with her son Antiochus VIII Grypus until 121 or 120 BC.
Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator was a Seleucid monarch who reigned as King of Syria during the Hellenistic period between 95 BC and 92 BC or 89/88 BC. He was the son of Antiochus IX and perhaps his Egyptian wife Cleopatra IV. Eusebes lived during a period of general disintegration in Seleucid Syria, characterized by civil wars, foreign interference by Ptolemaic Egypt and incursions by the Parthians. Antiochus IX was killed in 95 BC at the hands of Seleucus VI, the son of his half-brother and rival Antiochus VIII. Antiochus X then went to the city of Aradus where he declared himself king. He avenged his father by defeating Seleucus VI, who was eventually killed.
Laodice I was a Greek noblewoman of Anatolia who was a close relative of the early Seleucid dynasty and was the first wife of the Seleucid Greek King Antiochus II Theos.
Pharnaces I was the fifth king of Pontus. Of Persian and Greek ancestry, he was the son of King Mithridates III of Pontus and his wife Laodice, whom he succeeded on the throne. Pharnaces had two siblings: a brother called Mithridates IV of Pontus and a sister called Laodice who both succeeded Pharnaces. He was born and raised in the Kingdom of Pontus.
Mithridates II, third king of Pontus and son of Ariobarzanes, whom he succeeded on the throne.
Laodice III also known as Laodika, was a princess of Pontus and a Seleucid queen. She was regent for her first born son, Antiochus, during the Anabase expedition of her husband, Antiochus III the Great, between 212 and 206 BC. Antiochus III created a royal cult dedicated to her in 193 BC. In 192 BC she was pushed out of political life due to her husband's remarriage. Her last known activities are documented in 177–176 BC and relate to the court of her son, Seleucus IV.
Achaeus was a Seleucid nobleman and was the second son born to King and founder of the Seleucid Empire Seleucus I Nicator and Sogdian noblewoman Apama I.
Stratonice was a princess of the Seleucid Empire. She was one of the daughters born to the Seleucid Monarchs Antiochus II Theos and Laodice I. Among her brothers was the Seleucid King Seleucus II Callinicus and prince Antiochus Hierax.
Laodice was a Greek Princess of the Seleucid Empire. She was one of the daughters and youngest child born to the Seleucid Monarchs Antiochus II Theos and Laodice I. Among her siblings were her brothers Seleucus II Callinicus and Antiochus Hierax. Laodice was born and raised in the Seleucid Empire.
Antiochus was a Seleucid prince, first-born child to the Seleucid monarchs Antiochus III the Great and Laodice III, and his father's first heir.
Laodice V was a Seleucid princess. Through marriage to Perseus king of Macedon she was a Queen of the ruling Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia and possibly later of the Seleucid dynasty.
Laodice was a Greek Princess from the Seleucid Empire and the wife of King Mithridates III of Pontus.
Nysa or Nyssa was a Greek Seleucid princess and a queen of the Kingdom of Pontus.
Laodice VI was a Greek Seleucid princess and through marriage was a queen of the Kingdom of Pontus.
Alexander was a Greek nobleman of Anatolia and served as a Seleucid official.
Berenice also known as Berenike, was a Greek Princess from Asia Minor who was a distant relative of the Seleucid Monarch Antiochus III the Great.