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Sister-Queens in the High Hellenistic Period is a cutting-edge exploration of ancient queenship and the significance of family politics in the dysfunctional dynasties of the late Hellenistic world.
This volume, the first full-length study of Kleopatra III and Kleopatra Thea and their careers as queens of Egypt and Syria, thoroughly examines the roles and ideology of royal daughters, wives, and queens in Egypt, the ancient Near East, and ancient Israel and provides a comprehensive study of the iconography, public image, and titles of each queen and their cultural precedents. In addition, this book also offers an introduction to the critical concept of the 'High Hellenistic Period' and the maturation of royal female power in the second century BCE.
Sister-Queens in the High Hellenistic Period is suitable for students and scholars in ancient history, Egyptology, classics, and gender studies, as well as the general reader interested in ancient queenship, ancient Egypt, the Hellenistic world, and gender in antiquity.
List of contents
Introduction, 1. The Importance of Being Ptolemaic: Royal Women in Context, 2. Princesses to Queens, 3. Mothers, Wives, Queens, 4. Queenship in Name; Queenship Through Image; Queenship in Practice, 5. Fast-Forward: The Pent kontaetia, Epilogue.
About the author
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones holds the Chair in Ancient History at Cardiff University. He has published widely on Hellenistic, Greek, and Persian history as well as on gender studies and reception studies. His latest book is
Persians: the Age of the Great Kings (2022).
Alex McAuley is Senior Lecturer in Hellenistic History at Cardiff University. He is the co-editor of
Seleukid Royal Women (2016) and
Ethnos and Koinon (2019), and has published widely on the Hellenistic dynasties, Greek civic culture, and the reception of Antiquity in film and television.
Summary
This first full-length study of sister-queens Kleopatra II and Kleopatra Thea explores the roles and ideology of ancient queensship and the significance of family politics in the dysfunctional dynasties of the late Hellenistic world. Suitable for students and scholars of Egyptology, gender in antiquity, and ancient history.
