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THE BIRTH-DATE of ARSINOE II PHILADELPHUS* Ever Since

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THE BIRTH-DATE of ARSINOE II PHILADELPHUS* Ever Since THE BIRTH-DATE OF ARSINOE II PHILADELPHUS* Abstract: This article examines the modern assumption that Arsinoe II was born ca. 316 — and argues that her birth cannot be dated more precisely than between 320/19 and 312/1. More importantly, I intend to reveal the dubious rationale underlying scholarly assumptions about (royal) marriageable age and marital relations. Historians appear reluc- tant to accept, on the one hand, that Arsinoe may have been as young as twelve when she married Lysimachus, and, on the other hand, that Ptolemy I may well have married Berenice I around the same time as Eurydice. I will further explore the implications of post- or ante-dating Arsinoe’s birth in relation to her position at the courts of Lysimachus and Ptolemy II. This note may thus serve as a general warning about the intricacies of the marital behavior of the (early-) Hellenistic dynasties. Ever since Droysen, historians accept practically as a matter of fact that Arsinoe II, daughter of Ptolemy Soter and Berenice, was born ca. 316 BCE. Some authors in fact state without any qualifications that she was born in 316.1 This article intends not so much to prove that, as an approximation, this conventional birth-date is incorrect, but rather that it simplifies the issue and is thus misleading. This date namely hides a fairly wide margin of deviation on either side, as we will see that Arsinoe’s birth may have occurred four or five years before or after 316/5 BCE. Though it is impos- sible to determine the exact date of Arsinoe’s birth, my object is instead to grasp the implications of post- or antedating her birth-date, while unearth- ing the underlying assumptions in modern scholarship. As such, the present note is part of a revision of the paradigm of Arsinoe II — that is to say, a rethinking of the scholarly interpretation of this early-Hellenistic queen. The earliest date of Arsinoe’s life that is known with reasonable cer- tainty is that of her marriage to Lysimachus (361/51-281 BCE).2 Plutarch * For comments, suggestions and corrections, I am very grateful to Chris Bennett (Vis- iting Scholar, UCSD), Elizabeth Carney (Clemson University), Sarah B. Pomeroy (Dis- tinguished Professor of Classics and History, Emerita, Hunter College and the Graduate School, CUNY), and Dorothy Thompson (Girton College, University of Cambridge). In the following, references to Bennett’s online articles on http://www.tyndalehouse.com/ Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemies.htm will be cited s.v. the individual entries. Thanks are also due to this journal’s anonymous reviewers. 1 Burstein (1982) 198, (2004) 74 (stating inadvertently that she was born in Cos); Hölbl (2001) 24. 2 Memn. FGrHist 434 F4.9-10; Paus. 1.10.3-4; Just. 15.4.24; RE s.v. ‘Arsinoë’ no. 26, II.1 1282; Rohde (1876) 75 n. 1; Droysen (1878) II.2 236; Mahaffy (1899) 76; Bouché-Leclercq (1903-07) I 85; Beloch (1912-27) IV.2 180; Bevan (1927) 36; Longega (1968) 16, 18; Seibert (1967) 74, 95; Lund (1992) 88; Ogden (1999) 59; Huß (2001) 200; Dmitriev (2007); also see: Bennett s.v. ‘Arsinoe II,’ n. 3. Ancient Society 42, 61-69. doi: 10.2143/AS.42.0.2172287 © 2012 by Ancient Society. All rights reserved. 995510_AncientSociety_42_03.indd5510_AncientSociety_42_03.indd 6611 33/10/12/10/12 009:019:01 62 B. VAN OPPEN DE RUITER (Demetr. 31) relates that some time after the Battle of Ipsus (301 BCE), Seleucus wished to form an alliance with Demetrius, because Lysimachus had already married Arsinoe and his son Agathocles was married to Lysandra, Ptolemy’s daughter with Eurydice. Lysandra, however, could only have married Agathocles after the death of her first husband, Alexander (in 294 BCE), son of Cassander. Moreover, Pausanias (1.9.6) asserts that Agathocles’ marriage took place after Lysimachus’ campaign against the Thracian Getae, which is usually dated to ca. 293/2 BCE.3 To Plutarch’s rather imprecise reference we can add, though, that Arsinoe gave birth to three sons of Lysimachus, the oldest of whom, also called Ptolemy, was born no later than 298 BCE.4 It may thus be inferred that she was married to Lysimachus some time before 298 BCE. Historians generally assume that Arsinoe must have been at least fifteen years old when she married Lysimachus.5 That, at least, seems to be the underlying rationale of Droysen’s statement that she must have been born no later than 316.6 However, Seibert has shown that Hellenistic prin- cesses were married off as early as twelve years of age.7 Assuming that she married Lysimachus ca. 300/299 BCE, Arsinoe’s birth could be as late as ca. 312/11 BCE — i.e., some four or five years later than the date normally given by modern historians. Scholars are perhaps reluctant to accept that Arsinoe gave birth to Lysimachus’ child at such an early age, 3 Dmitriev (2007). 4 Just. 24.3.5 records the age of Arsinoe’s younger sons as 16 and 13 at the time of their death (ca. 281/0 BCE); if the eldest was at least 18 at the time, he must have been born no later than (18 + 280 =) 298 BCE; thus her children with Lysimachus were all born two or three years apart: Ptolemy (299/8-post 239), Lysimachus (297/6-281/0), Philip (294/3- 281/0); Rohde (1876) 75 n. 1; Heinen (1972) 9-10; Lund (1992) 197-198; Ogden (1999) 59. 5 Droysen, infra; RE s.v ‘Arsinoe’ no. 26, II.1 1282; Strack (1987) 193 n. 10 (“Arsinoe II ist geboren um 316, da sie um 300 mit Lysimachus verheiratet wird”); Mahaffy (1899) 76 (Arsinoe “must have been born not later than 316 B.C., for she became the wife of Lysimachus in 301-300”); Niese (1893-1903) II 100 n. 1 (“Ihre Ehe mit Lysimachos wurde etwa 300… geschlossen; sie muss also mannbar gewesen sein”); Bouché-Leclercq (1903-07) I 85 (“alors âgée de seize ans tout au plus”); Bevan (1927) 52 (“born at the latest in 315, since she was married to Lysimachus about 300”); Mar- curdy (1932) 112 (“Arsinoe was married when only fifteen or sixteen to the king of Thrace, Lysimachus”); Longega (1968) 15 n. 4, 16, 18; Bengtson (1975) 113; Pomeroy (1984) 14 (Arsinoe “was wed at about the age of sixteen”). 6 Droysen (1877) III.2 236, “[Arsinoë] ist spätestens, wie diese Heirat lehrt, 316 geboren.” 7 Seibert (1967) 123; cf. Greenwalt (1988) (suggesting from the available evidence that Argead women were generally married in their late teens to early twenties); Bagnall and Frier (1994) 111-116 (concluding that in Roman Egypt most women married during their late teens); Scheidel (2007) (showing that elite women in Imperial Rome were usu- ally married in their early teens). 995510_AncientSociety_42_03.indd5510_AncientSociety_42_03.indd 6622 33/10/12/10/12 009:019:01 THE BIRTH-DATE OF ARSINOE II PHILADELPHUS 63 especially since he was about sixty years old at the time of their wedding. Personal reluctance aside, we have to realize that in the ancient world a girl’s marriageable age was usually related to her ability to bear children. Girls generally married much younger in the ancient Greek world than in modern times, and often bore several children while still teenagers.8 The average age of menarche (first menstrual period) after which a girl nor- mally reaches fertility tends to be influenced by social, environmental, psychological and nutritional factors that are not exactly understood.9 Ancient medical works indicate, however, that girls were expected to have reached this age by thirteen or fourteen, recognizing individual excep- tions.10 Assuming that Arsinoe’s first child was born no later than 298 BCE, her birth could then be dated ca. 312 BCE. In short, the only secure date ante quem for the birth of Arsinoe is somewhere around 312 BCE.11 Some historians furthermore believe that Arsinoe could not have been born much before 317 BCE.12 This argument is based on the assumptions that Ptolemy I could not have married Arsinoe’s mother Berenice much earlier, and that Lysimachus would not have wed an illegitimate daugh- ter of Ptolemy.13 Berenice arrived at Ptolemy’s court with Eurydice, her first cousin once removed.14 As Ptolemy was offered Eurydice in mar- riage by her father Antipater (around 321/0 BCE), it might be surmised that it would have insulted Antipater if Ptolemy maintained a liaison besides Eurydice.15 Not only was Ptolemy married before, to Thais and Artacama (without any evidence that he repudiated them), but when 8 Lacey (1968) 106-107, 110-112; Pomeroy (1975) 62-65, (1984) 83-123; Just (1989) 40-75; Patterson (1991) 48-61; Greenwalt (1988) 95 n. 16 (with ref.); Bagnall & Frier (1994) 111-159; Blundell (1995) 66-71, 119-124, 198-200. 9 Wood (1994) 401-439, esp. fig. 9.5 (I owe this reference to Walter Scheidel); Thomas et al. (2001) 271-290. 10 Arist., Hist. Anim. 7.1, 581A; Amundsen & Diers (1969) 125-132 (with ref.). 11 General demographic statistics cannot tells us, though, as Dorothy Thompson points out (personal correspondence), whether Arsinoe would have been physically capable of successfully giving birth to her first son at the age of thirteen; cf. Bagnall & Frier (1994) 112 (discussing an exceptional case of a woman giving birth at thirteen). 12 RE s.v. ‘Berenike’ no. 9, III.1 282; ibid. s.v. ‘Ptolemaios’ no. 18, XXIII.1 1611; Strack (1897) 181, 190; Beloch (1912-27) IV.2 180-181; Bevan (1927) 52; Macurdy (1932) 105-107; Bengtson (1975) 24, 32-33; Will (1979-82) I 88, 102; Ellis (1994) 42-43; Whitehorne (1994) 68, 114; also see: Bennett s.v.
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