OR
THE WIERD FACE WHICH LAUNCHED A LOT OF SHIPS
(Warning - extended length, even if you do like charioteers)
One of the reasons I have never watched ‘Game of Thrones’ is
that I believe reality always trumps fantasy. Our brains cannot
conceive of original ideas, they must be stimulated by the
environment first. Hence GofT and the pillars of pulp generated by
Ken Follet and his ilk hold no attraction for me*. The mesh of
stories I am about to recount, I believe, bears this out.
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| Throne of Games |
Ancient galleys sailed all over the ancient world, between the
smallest island and the largest empire. They took part in great
events, more we have a hint of, many more remain unknown. Pursuing
their wake through history can also lead one into some obscure and
frustrating and fantastic corners of the ancient world.
Running some
obscure references to the galley navy of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of
Egypt to earth, my eye wandered several paragraphs off point and I
was lost…...
(cue discussion on ‘The Father of Lies and his offspring.Not now! Ed.)
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| Whoooooaa! This one is going to be a wild ride !!!!!! |
Banned literature is always exciting. Proving that banning will never
work and open discussion of ideas and true freedom of speech is the
inevitable and correct position to hold. In 448AD the Emperor
Theodosius II banned a book and ordered all copies burnt. Because the
work was banned it also instigated a storm of refutation and thirty
Christian scholars obliged in securing its immortality by generating
screeds of text discussing why it was sooooo wrong. Thus we have have
record of an obscure work which might otherwise have faded unremarked
from history. The work was ‘Kata Christianon - Adversus Christianos
– Against a Christian’. Written by a disgruntled semi-retired
philosopher, Porphyrius of Tyre. He was maybe also a disgruntled
ex-Christian.
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| I am certainly not Adversus Christie ;) |
Porphyrius’ hobby horse was that Christian texts were
often faked-up by recasting history as prophecy. This realisation
forced him to baulk at accepting the now dominant belief Hence ‘Kata
Christianon’ which, like a kata-pelta, was intended to pierce
through the new cult with deadly effect. Theodosius’ ban was
indication that P. was fairly well on target, indeed, Gibbon and
later scholars now follow the sour philosopher’s proposal as fact.
A major pillar of Porphyrius’ thesis was that the Book of Daniel
was written by a scribe who recounted recent events from his own time
and then Tardis’ed them back to Daniel’s time to give a pleasing
but anachronistic prophetic effect. These events involved the armies
and fleets of the Successors and the political and palace intrigues
of their rival dynasties – eat your heart out GofT fans. Yes, the
Bible does have such fun military and internecine stuff within it
which deals with not only the remote pre-history of Bronze-Age
shepherds but also the battles and personalities of the Classical
World – at least in the pre-Hippy part. The pseudo-Daniel wrote
circa 165BC and his ‘prophesy’ deals with the rise and fall of
empires around and about Israel before his time.
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| GofT or Bible ? Difficult to see difference... |
Now we must paddle furiously away from the whirlpool of ‘Bible’
scholarship and keep focussed on the Successors. What caught my eye
was the references to events in ‘the empire of the little horned
monster’ and ‘the empire of the three-horned monster’. These
were the Seleucids and the Ptolemies respectively. These empires had
to clash in the area of the Holy Lands and hence the interest from
Jewish prophetics. My pursuit of the answer to why had a Seleukid fleet invaded its own territory under a widowed queen was begining to get a solution....
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| Anything GofT can do Bible can alsoeeeeeezzz(cat typed the last bit) |
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Several naval clashes between these Successor kingdoms took place in
connection with what could be called The Divorce Wars’. These were
fought, not over access to children or at the instigation of
money-grubbing lawyers, but between the erstwhile Band of Brothers that had surrounded Alexander and with armies and navies over access to
territory and who owned what after the traumatic break-up of
Alexander’s legacy.
In 253BC the Second Ptolemaic-Seleucid War was concluded. Ptolemy II
Philadelphos decided that he had to negotiate or lose all his
overseas posessions in Asia Minor one by one to Antiochos II
Theos. His genius manoeuvre was to disguise reparative payments
and acknowledgement of defeat as the payment of a dowry to Antochos
along with the gift of his daughter as wife. The Seleucid and
Ptolemaic thrones would thereby be united after the resultant heir of
Antiochos, also with Ptolemaic blood, was crowned and the two
kingdoms would go forward in peace. With bunnies.
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| Left: Ptolemy II Philadelphos Right : Antiochos II Theos |
Antichos got his epithet 'Theos' or 'The God', during the early stages of the war when he got rid of Timarchos the tyrant of Miletus and was thus a sviour from heaven for them.
Philadelphos epithet is less illustrious. It has been suggested it was ascibed to him as 'sister lover' - a reference to the supposed Ptolematic tradition of incestuous marriage.
Conveniently for Ptolemy, Antiochos had recently become estranged
from his queen, the mother of his two sons. Laodike. Laodike was of
pedigree stock and married Antichos before he became king. She bore
him two sons. All was not rosy, however, and Antiochos dumped her
some time during the war. Hell hath no fury like a
queen-with-two-kids-to-support-and-good-connections scorned.
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| Laodike : Berenike : Berenike ? |
It probably did not help that the interloper was a foreign
demi-goddess who was an atheletic beauty and younger to boot. Ptolemy
II Philadelphos’ daughter was a certain Berenike. And so was his
wife. And so was his first baby daughter who died. Without putting
numbers and epithets on everybody this situation can quickly get out
of hand, and indeed, this was what had led to my confusion. The
confusion that led to me trying to unravel the web of Ptolemies and
Berenikes which was interfering with my understanding of the Syrian
Wars. (not the Roman-Syrian Wars, you understand, just make
that absolutely clear!). Several modern authors have come unstuck in
this, literally, incestuous Ptolemaic family jungle.
Berenike, daughter of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe was born circa 275BC.
The name means ‘Bringer of Victory’ and has its modern
counterparts in Bernice and the latinised Veronica.Her older sister
Berenike who had died in infancy, luckily for our confusion. She was brought up with
all the advantages of the richest court in the Mediterranean. She was
not cloistered away. On the contrary, she became a renowned athlete
and competed in public, possibly starkers.
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| Degas kept the ladies covered. 'The Young Spartans' |
In 261 she competed at the
Nemean games and the Isthmian games. These took place in the Argolid
and near Corinth . Along with the Olympic and Pythian games they were part
of the cycle of Pan-Hellenic games which united the Greeks in
religious observance and personal and political competition. There
was probably also gambling in the wings. Now, Berenike’s mother
was, thankfully, not called Berenike, but her grandmother was.
Berenike I, the wife of Ptolemy I Soter. Berenike I was also an
Amazon and had won in chariot racing at the Olympiad. Berenike,
daughter of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe continued this tradition.
It is interesting that Berenike I was from Cyrene in Libya and the
Libyans were one of the last peoples to use chariots in warfare.
There was some ethnic proclivity in the line for racing with chariots
maybe. The chariot of the Greek games was either 2-horse or 4-horse
version.
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| Quadriga : and Beyonce-Berenice -Easily confused..... |
Berenike, daughter of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe I won with a
quadriga, the 4-horse type at the 131st Olympian games in
256BC. The vehicle was extremely light and gave little protection.
They raced around a long track with turns at each end to make the
circuit. Women could participate unlike most of the games which were
barred to even female spectators. The charioteer should be light and
a young woman ideal in this respect, Berenike, daughter of Ptolemy II
and Arsinoe I was not an adult when she competed. She was accompanied
to Greece by her father who could have ‘competed’ in the usual
way by putting his vehicle and driver in the competition. Owners
rarely partiook of the dangerous sport. But it is unlikely that
Berenike daughter of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe I at that age, 18 or so,
owned horses and driver. The image of a bronzed naked girl zooming
along in a chariot with her hair flying may be appealing but it is
inaccurate. Charioteers wore a long protective garment secured by
straps. Ah, well.
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| Charioteers with gown and harness : Delphi(left) Motya(right) ..and a pair of socks, apparently |
Such victories by a young royal woman would have resounded round the
Hellenic world and no doubt contributed to Antiochos II’s
willingness to enter the compact that ended the Syrian War. A nubile
charioteer to replace his steely matron. Another key factor was the
dowry. This can have been a disguised reparation paid by Ptolemy. We
know it was of considerable size. So considerable that Berenike,
daughter of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe I at last got her own epithet and
we can identify her better in her own right.She became known
henceforth as Berenike Phernophorus -Dowry Bearer. This gives slight
relief, however, because she was subsequently also known as ‘Syra’
- the Syrian.
Anyway this princess is escorted to the Syrian border city at
Pelusion – north of Tyre – with a massive dowry. Antiochos
married her with according pomp and they all lived happily
ever after for a short while. Berenike Phernophorus bore a
son, Antiochos ( Oh God ! Its starting again!). He was declared heir
to Antiochos II Theos. Hell broke loose.
( I warned you this was long...) INTERVAL FOR THE FATIGUED HERE
We
know not why but Antiochos II Theos got cold feet with respect to his
new dynastic marriage. A rather spooky possibility as to the reason
why has surfaced in recent years. It is a story which reminds one of
the celebrated disappointment of Henry VII and Anne of Cleves. The
reports of her beauty and her Amazon personality may have given
false expectations that the reality could not live up to.
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| But Sire, her eyes bulgeth not and her neck is veritably slim. Nor raceth she with a cart and 4 horses. Just give her one for England ? |
As with Henry Antiochos
may have had course to retort the princess was ‘nothing
so fair as she had been reported’. Mystery surrounds the reasons
for Henry and Anne’s lack of attraction. Recently, however, a
suggestion has been made which could explain that of their
Hellenistic counterparts.
The
Egyptian royalty married within a limited range and brothers even
married sisters after the time of Berenike. Marriage between cousins
or closer can bring genetic diseases to the fore. Many portraits of
Ptolemaic royalty seem to show some characteristics which have been
interpreted by specialists as evidence of chronic disease. Coins and
mosaics show thick necks, and bulging eyes. Later literary references
say the men were overweight. This equates with Graves’ Disease - Toxic Diffuse Goitre -
which gives the following symptoms
irritability,
muscle weakness, sleeping problems, a fast heartbeat, poor tolerance
of heat, diarrhea, and unintentional weight loss.Other symptoms may
include thickening of the skin on the shins, known as pretibial
myxedema, and eye bulging, a condition caused by Graves'
ophthalmopathy
(Wikipedia)
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| Left to Right : Not Berenice, 2 Ptolemies and their Queens, BereniceII (maybe) |
Something
called Erdheim-Chester Disease is also indicated
People
with Erdheim-Chester disease often have bone pain, especially in the
lower legs and upper arms, due to an abnormal increase in bone
density (osteosclerosis). Damage to the pituitary gland (a structure
at the base of the brain that produces several hormones, including a
hormone that controls the amount of water released in the urine) may
result in hormonal problems such as a condition called diabetes
insipidus that leads to excessive urination. Abnormally high pressure
of the cerebrospinal fluid within the skull (intracranial
hypertension) caused by accumulation of histiocytes in the brain may
result in headaches, seizures, cognitive impairment, or problems with
movement or sensation. People with this condition can also have
shortness of breath, heart or kidney disease, protruding eyes
(exophthalmos), skin growths, or inability to conceive a child
(infertility). Affected individuals may also experience fever, night
sweats, fatigue, weakness, and weight loss.
(U.S.
National Library of Medicine)
Could
this be some of the explanation for Antichous waning passion ? As the
girl was getting older she would have been exhibiting more severe
symptoms,.
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| After the medical stuff: Less easily confused with Beyonce.... |
Another
factor was that in the winter of 246BC Ptolemy II Philadelphos gave
up the ghost. There was no longer the physical presence of the man
who persuaded him to marry the bug-eyed charioteer and Antiochous II
Theos possible saw the merits of keeping his ties local to his
kingdom and the advantages of two growing sons by Laodike as
potential successors rather than a, possibly bug-eyed, foreign infant
whose mother he was pressured to accept. Laodice
was, as we have already said, a noblewoman of an old and great family
and
she could not be expected to have remained inactive in trying to
insert her offspring back into the line of succession. She was a
tough cookie who would not stop at foul means to get her way.
Whatever
the reason, the fact was that Antiochos II Theos became reconciled
with Laodike and he joined Laodike at her palace in Ephesus to
declare their oldest son, Seleukos Kallinikos, heir. No doubt they
had a splendid second honeymoon but it did not last for long. Being
cast-off like used clothing did not sit well with Mrs Antiochos. She
fumed quietly and then an unfortunate event occurred at Ephesus.
Antiochos II Theos passed mysteriously away, leaving his son with
Laodike, Seleukos II Kallinikos as king. Heart attack, poison, who
knows ?!
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| Been there, done that... |
But
not so fast ! The benighted Egyptian girl was also made of stern
stuff. The same guts which helped her steer four fearsome horses
round the stadium to victory now gave her the resources to react, for
Berenike, daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphos and Arsinoe I, also
known as Syra and Phernophorus, was ensconced in Antioch. Antioch on
the Orontes, the capital, not to be confused with any of the other 15
Antiochs, was no ordinary place. It was a city at the heart of the
Seleukid Mediterranean territories, was well fortified and lay on the
river with access out to the Mediterranean.
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| Reconstruction of Antioch-on-the-Orontes |
Further down the river
lay the Seleukid naval base of Seleukia Pieria. Berenike, daughter
of Ptolemy II Philadelphos and Arsinoe I, also known as Syra and
Phernophorus, maintained the loyalty of the forces in this area, a
difficult thing for a young foreign princess to do, now deserted by
her king husband. From within her palace Berenike...ditto.. declared
her own son Antiochos as rightful heir. And not without support. Even
the governor of Ephesus, Laodike’s stronghold, declared for her
and ran off to Egypt. She , Berenike Syra, then organised a naval
expedition which gained her faction the strategic initiative. Cilicia
Trachea, had always been a Ptolemaic province until lost after the
Second Syrian War and Berenike counted on snatching it back to form a
larger core to her holdings against the inevitable Seleukid
counter-strike. Her expedition took Cilician Soloi and snaffled the
treasury of the province before it could be spirited away to Ephesus.
Things were looking up and her brother, newly crowned Ptolemy III
(not to be confused with…all the other Ptolemies) assembled a great
force to come to her support.
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| Pop-eyed, maybe but still able to launch a lot of ships |
The
war had well and truly started and it can be called the Third Syrian
War, between Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleukid kingdom. More
innovative, or maybe easily-bored historians, have called this
conflict the Laodikean War. This gives a better characterisation of
the events as a catfight while Antiochous II was dead and Ptolemy II
in Egypt.
Berenike
Phernophorus now stood in good stead. She had an army, a navy, two
key provinces of the kingdom and the 7
th Egyptian Cavalry
on the way. Unfortunately she was living in one of the most dangerous
environments ever known to man. A royal palace of an eastern dynastic
court. Laodike, not above ‘alternative’ methods as we have seen,
still had tentacles which could reach the length of the Seleukid
lands. Berenike took precautions. She engaged Galatian mercenaries as
trusted guards and ensured her citadel was not accessible to dubious
officials or military.
These precautions were not enough, however, and a group of assassins managed to break in to the palace and strike down Berenice.
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| Japanese version of similar events |
Tragedy!
Oh tempore! Oh mores! But all was not yet lost. Berenike …ditto…
had several trusted and resourceful ladies-in-waiting. As the
assassins struck the women fought back and several were cut down
defending their mistress. The successful but startled attackers beat
a retreat before ensuring their handiwork was complete and the result
broadcast. Berenike’s grieving ladies now sprang into action.
Action that was at once macabre and pragmatic. One with a likeness to
Berenike (pop-eyes, thick neck ?) took to the bed and declared for
the court from under a blood-stained veil ‘I’m not dead,I think
I’m going to get better’. Meanwhile the assassins procured a boy
who was the spit of Antiochos and showed him from a suitably high and
distant balcony. They hoped to prove they had not been so dastardly as they had in fact been, and to show that the line of succession was still intact for a Seleucid kingdom. But this which only served to prove the
Ptolemaic claim was
still alive and kicking. The Ptolemaic faction remained coherent and
loyal under a regent and then transferred its affections to Ptolemy
III when the dastardly Laodike’s triumph was eventually revealed.
Now
Ptolemy III made a bold move. He sailed into Seleukia Piereia with a
fleet, and gained the enthusiastic support of the city officials and
forces. The Ptolemaic faction now had the two main Seleukid cities in
the Mediterranean in their hands. Berenike invited him over to
Antioch on the Orontes and again he met a rapturous welcome. But
there was a worm in the bud. On entering the palace to greet his
sister, Ptolemy found that she and her young son had shortly before
been murdered by assassins sent by Antiochos ‘grieving’ widow.
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| Another who fought on after his death. Great film !!!!!! |
Now.
With a foreign army deep in its territory, the Seleukid kingdom began
to fight back and, somehwhat uncharacteristically for the Ptolemies,
so did the Gypos.Fighting went Ptolemy’s way and he gad the
allegiance of the satraps from the Taurus mountains to the borders of
India. But he decided to quit while he was ahead (oh those Ptolemies
!…). Or did he? In fact, we learn that while on the verge of
conquering the Seleukid kingdom, his own was falling apart. The Greek
upper crust in Egypt had a turbulent relationship with the common
native population and open revolt broke out. Duty called and Ptolemy
returned to crush the peasants. To wind matters up in a suitable
politically acceptable manner in 245BC he took the title ‘Euergetes’
or ‘Benefactor’ to hint at all the good he had done by liberating
the Seleukid population, and scuttled home. He became later also
known as ‘Tryphon’ or ‘The Magnificent’ on the grounds of his
sumptuous tastes.
The
Laodikean War sputtered on but had an inevitable conclusion. Egypt
could never hope to hold territory in the Seleukid heartland –
Ptolemaic military performance on land was generally lacklustre - and
once the Berenike illusion was revealed the kingdom united around
Seleukos II. The Seleukid kingdom was put back together more or less
as it had been.
But
neither did Ptolemy lose. Ptolematic naval power overshadowed that of
the Seleukids and coastal teritories , naval bases and cities from
Thrace to Cilicia came into Ptolemaic hands. Even Laodike’s base of
Ephesus was taken and held by the Ptolemic faction. That must have
stung.
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| Sea trade routes |
In
241BC peace was agreed. The chairs, and even a table or two had been
rearranged but the titanic kingdoms remained to continue their
respective declines beneath history’s waves. It would take a couple
of centuries, but they were on their way down from this point on.
This high watermark for the Ptolemaic naval hegemony saw them with
bases in Seleukia-Pieria, Cilicia Trachea, Pamphylia(soon lost),
Lycia, Caria, Ionia, the Dardanelles and Thrace. This meant their
trade routes were secure and thus their economy. The sea and the
desert of the Sinai ensured they remained invulnerable from land
attack.
The
disconsolate brother completed his revenge, though, in 236BC when his
forces captured the Seleukid Black Widow and put her to death.
The
Berenike Chronicles are not, however, finished. It is a truth
universally acknowledged that a Ptolemy in possession of a vast
kingdom is in need of a Berenike. So he got one.
Ptolemy
III Euergetes had married a Cyreneian princess, named Berenike. She
reigned with him as Berenike II. They even had two daughters, one of
whom was, inevitably, called Berenike.
Now,
this Berenike II was no shrinking violet. She had earlier been
married to a Macedonian prince, Demetrius ‘The Fair’, who was,
however, Unfair and had an Affair with Berenike’s mum. Accompanied
by assassins, Berenike bearded Demetrius in bed with his mum-in-law
and watched as he was chopped to bits alongside her screaming mother.
This same woman was a famous horse rider and also won competitions at
the Pan-Hellenic games. Something in the blood as well as genetic
defects… Her horse riding had also stood her in good stead when she
had rallied her father’s fleeing troops at a battle in Libya. She
mounted a horse and rode among them pleading with they return to the
fight. They did so. She was obviously not a Berenike to be trifled
with.
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| Disney. But she is in a desert. |
When
Ptolemy III sailed off to the Laodikean War, Berenike took the wise
precaution of sacrifcing to the gods for his safe return. She cut off
her hair, a long lock or plait must be presumed, surely not all of it? and had it dedicated it at the temple of Aphrodite in Zephyrium,
Cilicia. After the war concluded successfully and Ptolemy had
returned it was discovered the lock was missing. The only explanation
could be that the goddess had accepted the offering in return for
granting Berenike II’s wish.
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| The trick-cyclist explanation. Or, 'because it suited at the time' |
Such an eventuality could not be
allowed to go unremarked, indeed, un-propogandised, and neither could
a budding astonomer let such a chance go amiss. Conon of Samos, maths
and star wizard, had defined a new constellation low in the sky and
he dubbed it ‘Berenike’s Locks’ in tribute both to the queen’s
divine protection and his own cleverness. The story was an emotional
hit as well as a scientific one, as the poet Callimachus debuted his
poem ‘Coma Berenices’ at the same occasion Conon revealed the new
constellation. We no longer have
Callimachus’ poem but we do have Catullus’ version written later
in Latin as a tribute and covering the same ground. Here is a taste
of the thing….
My arrival changed the heavens, so the golden crown
from Ariadne’s brow might not be fixed alone
in the bright sky: but, so that I too might shine,
a faithful spoil of that golden hair, the goddess
passing, wet from the flood, to the gods’ temple,
placed me as a new constellation among the old.
For, touching the Virgin’s stars and the savage Lion,
joined to Callisto daughter of Lycaon,
I fall towards the west, leading slow Bootës,
who merges tardily with the deep Ocean.
But though the footsteps of the gods touch me by night,
light still returns me to the ancient sea.
The
constellation was not such a success, however, because later star
maps sometimes missed Conon’s efforts out, considering he had just
stolen a bit of Leo and Bootes for his own purposes.
But today Coma
Berenices is a feature of our star maps. I cannot resist mentioning
that during the 16th century the constellation was often
referred to as ‘Berenike’s Bush’. Just where, exactly, the hair
was taken from is actually unspecified in the ancient sources. Beat
that, Game of Thrones !
Berenike
II has also left us with other important visual legacies. This woman
obviously made a strong visual impression in her lifetime or she was
a narcissist. Maybe both. In any case it is unusual to be able to see the face, although somewhat stylised, of a character from ancient history.
Coins with her likeness are some of the finest minted in the ancient world.
This beautiful mosiac from Alexndria was initially considered to be a personification of the city but is now recognised as a portrait of Berenice II. It was made as a copy of a fine wall-painting.
And from Pompeii comes a fine wall painting which was itself maybe a copy of an Egyptian or Greek original. The picture comes from the Villa Boscoreale. It shows the great queen with her lyre.
And finally, also from Villa Boscoreale, we have the Egyptian-Greek princess who became queen of the Seleukid kingdom. The teenage charioteer whose marriage ended a war and started another. The resolute mother who launched a fleet on a military campaign and was murdered along with her young son on the orders of the vengeful Laodike, but who lived on after her death to maintain the Ptolemaic faction in Syria. Her murderer had probably just poisoned her husband Antiochous II, in order to replace him with her previously ousted son. Game of Thrones? mere child's play in comparison.
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Berenike Phernophoros, also Syra : Daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphos
The motif on the shield, symbolic of her attempts to shield herself and him, is her young son. |
(That’s
enough Berenikes, Ed.)
P.S. This is long and complicated but I am still not sure if I have the whole picture !!!!!
