Cleopatra VI of Egypt

Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Τρύφαινα) was an Egyptian Ptolemaic queen. She may be identical with Cleopatra V.

There were at least two, perhaps three Ptolemaic women called Cleopatra Tryphaena:

Tryphaena, daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III

Tryphaena was a sister of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, Ptolemy X Alexander I, Cleopatra IV and Cleopatra Selene.[1][2] If this Tryphaena also bore the name Cleopatra, has not been attested. This Tryphaena may have been born in early 140 or 141 BC. She married Antiochus VIII Grypus, king of Syria, in 124 BC, and bore him five sons: Seleucus VI Epiphanes, the twin Antiochus XI Epiphanes and Philip I Philadelphus, Demetrius III Eucaerus, and Antiochus XII Dionysus. The couple also had a daughter called Laodice. Tryphaena was killed in Antioch (Greek: Αντιόχεια), capital of Syria, by Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, as a revenge for his own wife's (Cleopatra IV) death by the orders of her sister Tryphaena (in 111 BC).[3]

Cleopatra V Tryphaena, wife of Ptolemy XII Auletes

Cleopatra V Tryphaena was a Queen of Egypt until her mysterious disappearance from the records in 69 BC. If, as some scholars believe, her disappearance is attributable to her death, then it must be assumed that she had a daughter also called Cleopatra Tryphaena.[1]

Cleopatra Tryphaena, daughter of Cleopatra V and Ptolemy XII Auletes

She is called Cleopatra VI Tryphaena by some modern historians[4] and she would have been an older sister of the famous Cleopatra VII.[1] If so, her birth year would correctly be c. 75 BC. The only instance she is mentioned in historical sources is by Porphyry. He says that when Ptolemy XII fled to Rome to avoid an uprising in Alexandria against him (in 58 BC), Berenice IV took control of Ptolemaic Egypt and ruled alongside her sister, Cleopatra Tryphaena.[5][6] Strabo, however, states that Ptolemy had three daughters, of whom only the eldest (Berenice) was legitimate.[7] This suggests that the Cleopatra Tryphaena referred to by Porphyry may have been Ptolemy's wife, not his daughter. Some, though not all, experts now identify Cleopatra VI with Cleopatra V of Egypt, Ptolemy's wife.[4]

References

1. Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2004. ISBN 0-500-05128-3
2. Brian Kritt (April 2002), "Numismatic Evidence for a New Seleucid King: Seleucus (VII) Philometor", The Celator, 16 (4), archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
3. Justin, Epitoma historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi, pp. 39.2.3, 39.3.4–12, our only source for these events.
4. Tyldesley, Joyce (2006), Thames & Hudson, p. 200, ISBN 0-500-05145-3.
5. Porphyry, cited by Felix Jacoby, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, no. 260 F 2, 14
6. Eusebius of Caesarea, Chronicle, Schoene, p. 167.
7. Strabo, Geographica, University of Chicago, p. 17.1.11.

Cleopatra VI of Egypt Ptolemaic dynasty Born: ca. 75 BC Died: 57 BC
Regnal titles
Preceded by Ptolemy XII	Pharaoh of Egypt 58 BC-57 BC with Berenice IV	Succeeded by Berenice IV