Arsinoe
II, born in 316 B.C.E.
She
Is the daughter of Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice I, She was the youngest of 4
children, her other siblings included Ptolemy II, Philotera, and Argaios. Her life as a female Hellenistic power house
began early at the age of 15 with her marriage to Lysimachus.
She
was married to Lysimachus, the king of Thrace about 300B.C in her 15th year and
she gave birth to three sons “Ptolemy, Ausemachus and Philip also to ensure the
throne for her children, she ordered to poison her husband’s eldest son .And
after the death of Lysimachus in the battle which was in 281B.C,she married her
half-brother.
Arsinoe
II married her half-brother Ptolemy Keraunos at an unknown date. This was
purely based on two people who were hungry for power. Arsinoe was able to rule
jointly with Keraunos over the territory that use to be Lysimachus’ after the
death of Seleucus. Arsinoe began to believe that her husband was trying to
overshadow her and gain more power so she began to conspire to have him
assassinated. Keraunos found about her plans and had her 2 sons, Lysimachus and
Philip, murdered. Arsinoe fled and eventually ended up in Egypt. Shortly after
she left Keraunos was over taken and killed by Gaulic invaders.
Ptolemy
Keraunos who was the son of Ptolemy I from his first wife Eurydice and this marriage was for political reasons
as both of them claimed to inherit the throne of Macedonia and Thrace for
himself. Ptolemy Keraunos killed two of Arsinoe sons who were given birth from
Lysimachus “Ausemachus and Philip”, but the eldest one succeeded to flee
towards the north.
After
Arsinoe II ended up in Egypt she spread rumors and managed to have her brother,
Ptolemy II, banish his wife Arsinoe I. After her banishment Ptolemy II and
Arsinoe II married and took the name Philadelphus, sibling-lovers. Arsinoe’s
father Ptolemy I had claimed the family descended from Zeus through his son
Heracles. This propaganda helped to correlate Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II with
Zeus and Hera as sibling rulers. Any decisions that were to be made about the
kingdom was done by both of them together. This is partly due to the idea that
Arsinoe was not only Ptolemy II’s wife but also his older sister and the idea
that you must listen to your older siblings was extant in the Egyptian world.
Arsinoe was able to have dealings in court protocol as well as the affairs of
the state. Because of her other two marriages she was able to deal with foreign
affairs as well. Ptolemy II gave the Fayuum region to Arsinoe to rule over. The
Greeks attribute her actions to events leading to the Chremonidean War, even
though it took place after her death. Arsinoe had convinced Ptolemy II to
co-rule with her remaining son and join the Chremonidean Alliance against
Antigonus II Gonatas. She also influenced an alliance with Athens and Sparta.
The couple never had children of their own but they both had children from
previous marriages that were able to be heirs to the throne. The circumstances
surrounding Arsinoe’s death are unknown but she passed away in 270 B.C.E. only
7 years after her marriage to Ptolemy II.