Chapitre VI. Deux femmes de pouvoir chez les Lagides : Cléopâtre I et Cléopâtre II (IIe siècle av. J.-C.)

Abstract

The contribution focuses on Cleopatra I, daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochos III and wife of the Lagid king Ptolemy V, and on their daughter Cleopatra II. These two queens radically transformed the relationships between women and power in Ptolemaic Egypt. In 180 BC, Cleopatra I was put at the head of a joint rule including her under-aged son, Ptolemy VI. The official protocols and the divine epithet of the young boy confirmed the preeminency of Cleopatra I : she took over the royal authority between 180 and 177. Cleopatra II was part of six joint rules between 170 and 115, with her brothers Ptolemy VI and/or Ptolemy VIII ; she ruled alone over Alexandria and some other Egyptian cities during the civil war, between 132 et 127. Her place in the protocols and in the dynastic cult, as well as the titles she wore on the temples reliefs show the evolution of her institutional position and underline her legitimating capacity. She took part in the management of the kingdom, together with her co-ruler(s), or alone during the civil war. Nonetheless, the political action of these queens was largely underestimated outside the Egyptian kingdom.