Table Of Content

A r s i n o ë o f E g y p t a n d M ac e d o n WOMEN IN ANTIQUITY Series Editors: Ronnie Ancona and Sarah B. Pomeroy Th is book series provides compact and accessible introductions to the life and historical times of women from the ancient world. Approaching ancient history and culture broadly, the series selects fi gures from the earliest of times to late antiquity. Cleopatra A Biography Duane W. Roller Clodia Metelli Th e Tribune’s Sister Marilyn B. Skinner Galla Placidia Th e Last Roman Empress Hagith Sivan Arsinoë of Egypt and Macedon A Royal Life Elizabeth Donnelly Carney A R S I N O Ë O F E G Y P T A N D M A C E D O N A R O Y A L L I F E Elizabeth Donnelly Carney 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly, 1947– Arsinoë of Egypt and Macedon : a royal life / Elizabeth Donnelly Carney. p. cm.—(Women in antiquity) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-536551-1—ISBN 978-0-19-536552-8—ISBN 978-0-19-971101-7 1. Arsinoe II, Queen, consort of Ptolemy II, King of Egypt, ca. 316–270 b.c. 2. Egypt—History—332–30 b.c. 3. Egypt—Kings and rulers—Biography. 4. Greece—History—Macedonian Hegemony, 323–281 b.c. 5. Macedonia—History—Diadochi, 323–276 b.c. 6. Th race—Kings and rulers—Biography. I. Title. II. Series: Women in antiquity. DT92.C37 2013 932.021092—dc23 2012023599 1 3 5 7 9 2 4 6 8 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper In Memoriam John Francis Oates This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Timeline xiii Genealogical Tables xv Map of eastern Mediterranean xvii Introduction 1 one Arsinoë’s Background and Youth: 318/14–300 1 1 two Arsinoë as the Wife of Lysimachus: ca . 300–281 3 1 three A rsinoë and Ptolemy Ceraunus: 281–279–76 4 9 four Arsinoë’s Return to Egypt and Marriage to Ptolemy II: 279–275 6 5 five A rsinoë II as Wife of Ptolemy II: ca . 275–270 (268) 8 3 six Arsinoë’s Aft erlife 1 06 Important People in the Life of Arsinoë II 135 Appendix: Sources and Assessment of Arsinoë II’s Career 137 Notes 147 Glossary 179 Bibliography 181 Index 203 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I owe special thanks to the editors of the Women in Antiquity series, Ronnie Ancona and Sarah Pomeroy, for encouraging me to return to the topic of Arsinoë II. Stefan Vranka, Oxford University Press’s editor for Classics, Ancient History, and Archaeology was a close reader of the original manuscript and made many helpful suggestions, and his editorial assistant, Sarah Pirovitz, proved invaluable time and again. Since I spend most of my scholarly time in ancient Macedonia, embracing a project that involved Ptolemaic Egypt as well put new demands on my knowledge and under- standing of people and events, and I owe a debt to many people who helped me. Let me start with the man to whom this volume is dedicated, John Francis Oates, my beloved teacher (and dissertation director) who fi rst acquainted me with Arsinoë II. My last conversation with him was about her since, at the time, I had just refocused on her and was writing a paper that dealt with her and other royal women for the fi rst Edinburgh Hellenistic conference in 2006. Indeed, I owe a special debt to the conveners of that conference, Andrew Erskine and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, for their helpful comments (as well as those of Stephanie Winder). Th e second (2011) Edinburgh conference on Helle- nistic Courts helped me to understand Arsinoë’s court life better than before and also enabled me to meet many scholars I had previously known only from their work. Sylvia Barbantani has been immensely helpful in acquainting me with scholarship dealing with Alexandrian poetry, as has Kathryn Gutzwiller. Sabine Müller and Branko von Oppen- heim saved me from chronological confusion and illuminated many aspects of Ptole- maic Egypt. My visit to the University of Waterloo, as part of the program for its Institute for Hellenistic Studies, enabled me to pick the brains of all there, but Craig Hardiman and Sheila Ager were particularly helpful. Daniel Ogden listened to numerous com- plaints about the problem of Ptolemy the Son and helped me to come up with a title for the present volume. Conversations with Stan Burstein, Jenny Roberts, and Olga Palagia contributed to the completion of this work. As always, I am indebted to my colleagues and especially to my husband, Bill Aarnes, and my daughter, Emma Aarnes, both of whom have listened to my numerous rants about Ptolemaic chronology and, writers both, tried to keep me centered on the story of this particular royal woman.