Arsinoe IV

Arsinoe IV (68 BC or 67 BC - 41 BC) was one of the last queens of Egypt, belonging to the Ptolemaic dynasty. She was the fourth daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, sister therefore of Ptolemy XIII (Ptolemy Teos Filópator I), of the famous Cleopatra VII and of Ptolemy XIV (Ptolemy Teos Filópator II). She was a key figure in the civil wars of late Ptolemaic Egypt.

Cleopatra

When his father died, rule passed to Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra jointly, but Ptolemy deposed his sister and wife and forced him into exile to Alexandria and later to Syria from where he planned to organize a force to later attack Egypt and recapture the land. throne.

Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria on October 2, 48 B.C. C. with a force of 4,000 men, while he was chasing Pompey to try to end the Roman civil war. At that time Arsinoe was in Syria with her older sister; it seems that Cleopatra took her with her as a preventative measure, since shortly afterwards Caesar comments briefly about Arsinoe IV in his Bellum Civile that:

"The youngest daughter of King Tolomeo had hopes of occupying the throne then vacant."

Despite the fact that Pompey had already died when Caesar arrived in Egypt, the latter ended up staying there when he found out about the political situation in the country: before Ptolemy XII died, he had designated the Roman Empire as guardian of his children, so Caesar decided to join Cleopatra's forces, who had returned to Alexandria to ask for their help in exchange for financial rewards. This event (the union of Cleopatra and Caesar to enthrone the former in Egypt) aroused such a popular reaction that the palace was besieged. Ptolemy Philopator urged the rebels to punish her sister (calling her & # 34; a traitor & # 34; publicly) and Caesar was forced to make concessions when he found himself in such a situation. About these moments the Roman historian Dio Cassio notes:

"Caesar lives prey to such a panic that he not only renounces the annexation of any territory, but yields to Egypt part of his."

The territory Dio refers to was the island of Cyprus, which was finally ceded to be governed jointly by Arsinoe and his younger brother Ptolemy Teos Philopator II. However, said title was rather honorific, since Arsinoe was not really allowed to leave the palace in Alexandria; later he managed to escape from the capital with his trusted man, Ganymede, joining the army that Aquilas commanded against the Roman invaders, and taking the title of Pharaoh. In the skirmishes between the Egyptian and Roman forces, the latter ended up causing one of the great fires that the Library of Alexandria suffered.

Pharaoh Queen

At this point, Arsinoe IV was apparently of paramount importance to the resistance, since he managed to organize it and raise its morale due to the fact that they now felt endorsed by a legitimate member of the royal family (Ptolemy XIII had been dethroned, Cleopatra VII was in in cahoots with Julius Caesar and Ptolemy XIV (whom Arsinoe herself had tried to protect) was just a child. Of this fact Cassius Dio also tells us:

"They named her queen and now that they had a member of the Ptolomeo family to follow, they started the war with the greatest upheaval."

Under his command the Egyptians achieved some initial victories, going so far as to corner Julius Caesar and his forces in Alexandria, a fact that has been stressed as remarkable due to the fact that Arsinoe was around twenty years old and Caesar was an experienced tactician.

However, the truth seems to be that she was advised by Ganymede, her tutor. In fact, after facing Ganymede and Aquilas, Arsinoe ordered the execution of the latter and put the former in command of the troops, and it is known that Ganymede actually achieved some victories against the Romans, although Arsinoe did take a leading role in the strategy later..

However, opponents of Arsinoe IV in the ranks of the Egyptian resistance conspired against her (probably Ganymede himself was involved), and negotiated with the Romans to exchange a possible peace treaty for Ptolemy XIII. Initially the Romans stalled for time in negotiations, and later simply let Ptolemy go to divide the Egyptians between his supporters and those of Arsinoe IV. Between the confusion and the time gained, Caesar was able to receive new forces from Asia Minor sent by Domitius Calvino. Said forces consisted of the XXXVII Legion, which in the past had fought for Pompey and now had surrendered to Caesar. With this, the Romans managed to definitively defeat the Egyptians. On March 27, 47 B.C. C. a final battle took place after which Ganymede fled, Ptolemy XIII was killed and Arsinoe was captured by the Romans.

The series of events that goes from the beginning of the popular revolt that put Caesar in siege until this last battle is known as the Alexandrian Wars.

After his victory, Caesar enthroned Cleopatra in Egypt and made her rule jointly with her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, who must have been around 12 years old. Cleopatra married Ptolemy XIV, but she had him killed some five years later so she could rule alone.

Prisoner in Rome

It is a myth that Arsinoe was Caesar's lover and had a son by him. It is said that this is the reason why she was initially saved from death by being sent to Rome as a prisoner. In Rome she was forced to march in chains in the triumphal parade in honor of Caesar and, as was tradition, the execution by strangulation was planned for after the parade (the Gallic leader Vercingetorix was also executed during these celebrations in honor of Caesar). It seems that in the same parade Arsinoe caused the pity of some of the spectators and provoked some criticism against César due to the fact that she was too young and too woman, reasons for which she could have won popular forgiveness. Likewise, it has come to be assumed that it was Caesar himself who decided to "keep it"; in case unforeseen events occurred in Egypt and she had to require a legitimate heir.

Later, he took refuge in the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, in an attempt to flee from his own sister Cleopatra, whom he feared. After Caesar's death, she was executed in Miletus by Mark Antony, at the instigation of Cleopatra, after which the only remaining Ptolemies were Cleopatra and her son Ptolemy XV Caesar.

Study of his remains

In 1904, an uninscribed tomb 13 meters high was discovered in Ephesus, within which lay the remains of a young woman matching those of Arsinoe (about 20 years of age at the date of death). The remains were studied by anthropologist Josef Weninger of the Institute of Human Biology of the University of Vienna in the 1950s, but nothing could be confirmed at that time.

In 1994 the Viennese archaeologist Hilke Thür dated the tomb to the first century BC, which supported the idea that the remains were those of Arsinoe; however, when the skull was requested from the Institute of Human Biology for further study, it could not be found at that institution and the remains were officially considered lost.

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