(click to enlarge)
Arsinoe II, coin, 270 – 250 ; in the British Museum (credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum)
(born
c. 316 — died July 270
BC) Queen of
Thrace (300 – 281) and Egypt (277 – 270). Daughter of
Ptolemy I Soter, she married the king of Thrace (300) and tried to have her son made heir instead of Agathocles, the king's son by an earlier marriage. Agathocles sought help from
Seleucids, causing a war in which Arsinoe's husband was killed in battle. Her half brother, who took power in Thrace and Macedonia, cajoled her into marrying him and then promptly killed her two younger sons. She fled to Alexandria, ousted the wife of her brother
Ptolemy II, and married him (
c. 277); like the pharaohs, the two were called "Philadelphoi" ("Sibling-Loving"). She wielded great power and shared many honours with Ptolemy, including deification while alive.
For more information on Arsinoe II, visit Britannica.com.
