Cleopatra Selene II

Cleopatra Selene II (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; late 40 BC – ca. 6 BC), also known as Cleopatra VIII of Egypt or Cleopatra VIII, was a Ptolemaic Princess and was the only daughter to Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. She was the fraternal twin of Ptolemaic prince Alexander Helios. Her second name in ancient and modern Greek means moon, being the counterpart of her twin brother‘s second name Helios, meaning sun. She was of Greek and Roman heritage. Cleopatra was born, raised and educated in Alexandria, Egypt. In 36 BC in the Donations of Antioch and in late 34 BC during the Donations of Alexandria, she was made ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya.

Early life

Cleopatra had two full brothers, Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphos. Her mother also had an older son, Caesarion, and her father had five children with previous wives.

Her parents, Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII, were defeated by Octavian (future Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus), during a naval battle at Actium, Greece in 31 BC. In 30 BC, her parents committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt. Octavian captured Cleopatra and her brothers and took them from Egypt to Italy. Octavian celebrated his military triumph in Rome by parading the three orphans in heavy golden chains in the streets. The chains were so heavy that they could not walk, eliciting sympathy from many of the Roman onlookers. Octavian gave the siblings to Octavia Minor to be raised in her household in Rome. Octavia Minor, who became their guardian, was Octavian's second eldest sister and was their father's former wife.

Cleopatra Selene

Cleopatra Selene may refer to:

Cleopatra Selene I

Cleopatra Selene I (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; c. 135/130 – 69 BC) was the daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon by his niece Cleopatra III of Egypt. She was the wife of three different kings; including queen consort to Ptolemy IX Lathyros of Egypt, and later queen of Syria.

Originally she was named Selene, only adding the Ptolemaic throne name Cleopatra after her marriage with Lathyros. whom she married after his wife, her sister Cleopatra IV, was forced out by her mother. (115 BC). Selene was not, however, made co-ruler, unlike many of the sister-wives of Ptolemaic kings.

She bore Lathyros at least one daughter, Berenice III and two sons, including Ptolemy XII and possibly another son, also named Ptolemy.

In 107 BC, as relations deteriorated between Lathyros and his mother and co-ruler, Cleopatra III, he was forced to leave Egypt and his wife, first to Cyprus to raise an army, and then to south Syria from whence he tried, in 103 BC, to invade Egypt.

In the meantime, Cleopatra III established an alliance with one of the warring Syrian kings, Antiochus VIII Grypus, giving him Cleopatra Selene I as his wife. (His previous wife, (Cleopatra?) Tryphaena, Cleopatra Selene's I older sister, had been killed in 111 BC by his stepbrother Antiochus IX Cyzicenus).