Hi there. You're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast. Episode 105, the Sixth Syrian War and Day of Eleusis.

In September 180, Queen Cleopatra Ira Ira found herself alone.

A princess of the Seleucan house by birth, her marriage to Ptolemy the 5th of Egypt came to an end when the 30-year-old ruler suddenly died, with rumors claiming he was poisoned at the hands of his ministers.

For the second time in a row, the premature death of their king left the dynasty in a precarious

state, with Cleopatra left to safeguard her three very young children from the

machinations of the court until they came of age and could stand on their own. She knew that she

was going to have to remain steadfast. The last time this scenario happened, Queen Arsenaway

III was murdered by her ambitious ministers only days after Ptolemy 4th himself had passed,

leaving Ptolemy V a puppet ruler for much of his early life.

Cleopatra would not suffer from the same fate.

Shortly after her husband's demise, the young Ptolemy 6 was crowned king, but Cleopatra

was appointed the title of Queen

Regent, the first royal lady of her dynasty to do so.

It was not merely a ceremonial position, but in fact gave her the power equal to that of

the king, and in this case superseded her son.

Between 180 and 176, all surviving documents list Cleopatra first, then followed by

Ptolemy after, demonstrating her primacy in official matters. The prominence of her position is reflected

in the terminology used in Egyptian documents. From various inscriptions and decrees, we know she bore a horace name, the female horace,

and was proclaimed as the female pharaoh. Such conventions have only been applied for

Baranike the second Eurigetus, and it is worth pointing out that these Egyptian titles have been

given while Tullullim the V was still alive, so the transition

of power to Cleopatra seems to have been an easy one.

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