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Cleopatra Selene


Octavia

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I believe that they were all killed, so as to ensure that there would be no heirs to cause trouble later on. As for 3 kids...I thought she had 3 kids with Julius Caesar, not Marcus Antonius?

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Salve!

 

Nope, Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator had four known children, one of them with Julius Caesar (Ptolemy XV Caesar aka Caesarion) and three with Mark Antony, a couple of twins ( Alexander Helios "Sun" and Cleopatra Selene "Moon") and Ptolemy Philadelphus. Only Cesarion was killed by Octavius ("One Caesar is enough").

 

Here is the account of their fate by Cassius Dio(Book 51):

"5 Such were these two (Antony and Cleopatra) and such was their end. Of their children, Antyllus was slain immediately, though he was betrothed to the daughter of Caesar and had taken refuge in his father's shrine, which Cleopatra had built; and Caesarion while fleeing to Ethiopia was overtaken on the road and murdered. Cleopatra (Selene) was married to Juba (II of Numidia), the son of Juba; for to this man who had been brought up in Italy and had been with him on campaigns, Caesar gave both the maid and the kingdom of his fathers, and as a favour to them spared the lives of Alexander and Ptolemy. "

 

And here is it by Plutarch (Life of Antony)

"87 Antony left seven children by his three wives, of whom Antyllus, the eldest, was the only one who was put to death by Caesar; the rest were taken up by Octavia and reared with her own children. Cleopatra, the daughter of Cleopatra, Octavia gave in marriage to Juba, the most accomplished of kings".

 

Juba and Cleopatra returned to Numidia but were forced to leave it and move to Mauretania, which flourished under their rule. Their children were Cleopatra (possible), Ptolemy and Drusilla This Ptolemy was the last king of Mauritania and had very bad luck with his cousin, the emperor Gaius (Caligula).

 

Here, Suetonius (Life of Caligula):

"35 ... After inviting Ptolemy... to come from his kingdom and receiving him with honour, he suddenly had him executed for no other reason than that when giving a gladiatorial show, he noticed that Ptolemy on entering the theatre attracted general attention by the splendour of his purple cloak."

 

The famous queen Zenobia of Palmyra (III Century AD) was supposedly descendant from Ptolemy of Mauritania.

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Curiously this is what I've been working on the past few months. In my forthcoming novel, The Beggar of Volubilis, my four kid detectives travel by caravan from Sabratha to Volubilis, which was one of the capital cities of Mauretania Tingitana, ruled by Juba II and Cleopatra Selene, (the daughter of Cleo and Anthony). My gang are travelling with a troupe of pantomime actors, one of whom may or may not be Cleopatra Selene's grand-daughter.

 

If you saw the final episodes of HBO's Rome, you saw the little twins Selene and Helios arrive to be fostered by Octavia, sister of Augustus, (the screenwriters ignored their third child). Octavia was a good mother to them, and also to Anthony's children by his previous marriages!

 

What is fascinating to me is that one of Octavia's two daughters by Anthony became Nero's great-grandmother.

 

You can see a family tree I drew HERE. Actually I've just updated it and need to put up my latest version.

 

Enjoy!

 

Flavia

Edited by Flavia Gemina
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Salve, guys and Ladies!

 

As you were saying:

julio20claudianvl4.gif

 

What a great chart! Asclepiades, can you link to an enlarged image of this?

 

-- Nephele

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What a great chart! Asclepiades, can you link to an enlarged image of this?

 

-- Nephele

 

Salve, Lady N!

 

Glad you like it. Sorry, the original pic is of the same length.

 

I think it would be easier if you first download this chart and then you enlarge it; that worked perfectly for me.

 

Let me know if you have any problem with this procedure.

 

Cheers and good luck!

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Very interesting story, Flavia. I've never seen the hbo's rome. Is there any way I can see the last episode of that? Very interesting.

 

Check TV guide listings for a repeat, Claudia. It only finished in the UK last week. Failing that, HBO's Rome will be out on DVD soon. But I wouldn't look for much veracity. The program-makers show the twins aged about 5 when they arrive in Rome. In fact, they were 10 when their parents died. They were paraded in Octavian's triumph in Rome, I believe.

 

Flavia

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