Laodice of the Sameans

Laodice was a Queen of an unknown Kingdom in Asia. She lived at the time of the Seleucid king of Syria Antiochus X Eusebes who reigned 95 BC-92 or 88 BC.

Historical account

Laodice is known from the work of the first century historian Josephus. In about 92 BC, she sent a petition to Antiochus X Eusebes of Syria asking for help against Parthia. In response, Antiochus X marched against the Parthians but was killed in battle.[1]

The people and kingdom

The name of the tribe

It is hard to identify the people of Laodice;[2] each of the surviving manuscripts containing Josephus' work transmits a different version.[3] There are two names and different varieties of them depending on the manuscript.[4] In the Codex Leidensis (Lugdunensis), it is Γαλιχηνών (Gileadites).[note 1][4] The Codex Palatinus (Vaticanus) Graecus has the name Σαμηνών;[3] this rendering was used by Benedikt Niese in his edition of the work of Josephus.[9] Josef Dobiáš stated that the Niese's version is more plausible,[10] and this has become the academic consensus; Σαμηνών is rendered in English, depending on the historian, as Sameans, Sameni or Samenians.[4]

Identification and location

Σαμηνών from the Codex Palatinus is similar to the name of a people mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium as the Σαμηνώί,[3] or Σαμηνoί (Dobiáš rendered it in French as Samènes);[11] Stephanus described them as Arabian nomadic people,[3] and Dobiáš accepted that the Σαμηνών are the same as the Σαμηνoί (Samènes); thus Laodice was the queen of an Arab tribe.[11][12] Bernhard Moritz rendered the people mentioned by Stephanus as the Samenoi, and identified them with the Samnei,[13] (Samnaei in the rendition of Dobiáš), who were an Arab tribe of southern Arabia according to Pliny the Elder; Dobiáš is sceptical about Moritz' identification.[11]

Notes

1. William Whiston gave Gileadites as the name's form in his English translation of the work of Josephus;[5] he used the Latin translation of the Dutch classicist Siwart Haverkamp,[6] who in turn used masuscripts including the Codex Leidensis.[7] Haverkamp had Laodice Galadenorum regina in his translation from Greek to Latin.[8]

References

Citations

1. Burgess, Michael. "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress – The Rise and Fall of Cleopatra II Selene, Seleukid Queen of Syria". sfagn.info. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
2. Sievers 1986, p. 134.
3. Olbrycht 2009, p. 166.
4. Dumitru 2016, p. 264.
5. Josephus 1833, p. 421.
6. Josephus 1833, p. I.
7. Zumpt 1872, p. IV.
8. Josephus 1726, p. 671.
9. Josephus 1892, p. 219.
10. Dobiáš 1931, p. 222.
11. Dobiáš 1931, p. 223.
12. Olbrycht 2009, p. 181.
13. Moritz 1920, p. 2126, 2127.

Sources

• Moritz, Bernhard (1920). Realencyclopädie Der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft. second (in German). IA, Halbband 2 (Saale-Sarmathon). Georg Wissowa. ISBN 978-3-476-01100-8. OCLC 255341043.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2009). "Mithridates VI Eupator and Iran". In Højte, Jakob Munk (ed.). Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom. Black Sea Studies. 9. Aarhus University Press. ISBN 978-8-779-34443-3. ISSN 1903-4873.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Dobiáš, Josef (1931). "Les Premiers Rapports des Romains avec les Parthes et L'occupation de la Syrie". Archiv Orientální (in French). Czechoslovak Oriental Institute. 3. ISSN 0044-8699.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Josephus (1892) [c. 94]. Niese, Benedikt (ed.). Flavii Iosephi Opera (in Greek). 3. Berolini Apud Weidmannos. OCLC 769813475.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Josephus (1726) [c. 94]. Haverkamp, Siwart; John, Hudson (eds.). Flavii Josephi. Quae Reperiri Potuerunt, Opera Omnia. Graece Et Latine, Cum Notis & Nova Versione, Joannis Hudsoni, S.T.P. (in Latin). Amstelaedami. Lugd. Bat. Ultrajecti. Apud R. & G. Wetstenios Sam. Luchtmans. Jacobum Broedelet. OCLC 20470894.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Zumpt, Karl Gottlob (1872). "Preface". C. Sallustii Crispi. De Bello Catilinario Et Jugurthio. William and Robert Chambers. OCLC 864774181.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Josephus (1833) [c. 94]. Burder, Samuel (ed.). The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish Historian. Translated by Whiston, William. Kimber & Sharpless. OCLC 970897884.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Sievers, Joseph (1986). "Antiochus X". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopaedia Iranica. 2. Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0-710-09110-9. ISSN 2330-4804.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Dumitru, Adrian (2016). "Kleopatra Selene: A Look at the Moon and Her Bright Side". In Coşkun, Altay; McAuley, Alex (eds.). Seleukid Royal Women: Creation, Representation and Distortion of Hellenistic Queenship in the Seleukid Empire. Historia – Einzelschriften. 240. Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 978-3-515-11295-6. ISSN 0071-7665.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

See also

• Laodice (disambiguation)