Sunday story # 4 - The descendants of Anthony and Cleopatra
During Cleopatra and Antony's battles with Octavian Ceasar, Cleopatra sent their children to Thebes. After the death of both parents and half-brother Caesarion, the oldest son Alexander Helios (sun) and the only daughter Cleopatra Selene (moon) were twins and thus technically the rulers of Egypt, so the children were brought to Rome via Alexandria. During Octavian's triumph in Rome, he paraded the twins dressed as the moon and the sun in heavy golden chains, behind an effigy of their mother clutching an asp to her arm. The chains were so heavy that the children were unable to walk in them, eliciting unexpected sympathy from many of the Roman onlookers. Selene and her two brothers were placed in the household of Octavian's sister, Octavia the Younger, the former wife of Anthony. The two sons, the said Alexander and his younger brother Ptolemy Philadelphos, disappeared from the historical record without explanation early on, probably falling victim to illness during childhood.
Cleopatra Selene being their only remaining child not only survived into adulthood but became an important and influential political figure in her own right. Her upbringing in the household of Octavia meant that she was raised among relatives, including many of her paternal half-siblings. In the Donations of Antioch and of Alexandria, she was made queen of Cyrenaica and Libya. She eventually married King Juba II of Numibia and had great influence in the country's government decisions, especially regarding trade and construction projects. In 25 BC, Octavian now emperor Augustus decided to confer on Juba II and Selene the newly created client kingdom of Mauretania since Numidia was, after a brief period of status as the Roman client kingdom under king Juba II (30 - 25 BC) once again directly annexed to the Roman Empire as the part of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis.
The young rulers renamed their new capital Caesarea (modern Cherchell, Algeria), in honor of the Emperor. During their reign, the country became extremely wealthy. It was a vast territory, but lacked organization. Cleopatra Selene is said to have exercised great influence on the policies which Juba promoted. She imported many important advisers, scholars, and artists from her mother's royal court in Alexandria to serve in Caesarea. Through the couple's influence, the Mauretanian kingdom flourished. The couple ruled Mauretania for almost two decades until Cleopatra's death at the age of 35. The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania in modern Algeria, was built in her and Juba's honour east of Caesarea, was dedicated to the couple as the "King and Queen of Mauretania" and still visible today. Juba died some 15 years later in 23. The couple had a son and successor, Ptolemy of Mauretania. Through their granddaughter Drusilla, the Ptolemaic line intermarried into Roman nobility for many generations.
Julia Drusilla (38–79) was a princess of the Roman client kingdom of Mauretania in North Africa. She was the only child of King Ptolemy of Mauretania, killed by emperor Caligula, and thus also a great-granddaughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Her father was executed while visiting Rome in 40, Mauretania was annexed by the Roman empire thereafter, and later became two Roman provinces. The history repeating itself here, Julia Drusilla was probably raised in the Imperial Family, and around 53, the Emperor Claudius arranged for her to marry Marcus Antonius Felix, a Greek freedman who was the Roman Governor of Judea. Between 54 to 56, the Greek Felix divorced Drusilla as he fell in love with and married the Herodian princess with the same name.
However, in 56 Drusilla married her distant relative King Sohaemus of Emesa (modern Homs). He was the Priest of the Syrian Sun God, known in Aramaic as El-Gebal from 54 to 73. Through the marriage, Drusilla became Queen consort of the Roman client kingdom of Emesa. Drusilla and Sohaemus had a son, Gaius Julius Alexion, also known as Alexio II, who later succeeded his father as Emesene Priest King. The name Alexion is a variant of the ancient Greek name Alexander. It was a dynastic name in the Emesani Royal Family, the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty, and perhaps Alexion's parents named him an intent to recover their heritage and connections to Alexander the Great. Alexion was after all a descendant of those Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties, and thus a distant relative of Alexander the Great through his paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather. He was was a contemporary of the ruling Emperor Vespasian.
A descendant of Alexion's is the Emesene high priest Gaius Julius Bassianus, who was the father of Empress Julia Domna and another possible descendant of his was the Palmyrene Queen of the 3rd century Zenobia. The said Bassianus was a member of the Royal family of Emesa which was a part of the Arab aristocracy in this still client kingdom of the Roman Empire. The beginning of his priesthood is unknown, but by 187 he was a high priest at Emesa. He introduced the then Roman Emperor Severus to his two daughters. His elder daughter Julia Maesa was married to a Syrian noble Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus and they had two daughters: Julia Soaemias Bassiana and Julia Avita Mamaea. His younger daughter Julia Domna was not married. Severus and Domna were married not so long there afterwards. Domna bore Severus two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (188-217) and Publius Septimius Geta (189-211). Caracalla and Geta would both become future Roman Emperors and heirs to their father.
After Caracalla's death, Julia Maesa's grandson became emperor, Elagabalus, whom she prevailed to adopt another grandson, the son of Julia Avita Mamaea, who took the name Alexander Severus and eventually became emperor himself. Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (208–235) was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222 and himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy. Between 211 and 217 the Roman emperor Caracalla made Emesa into a Roman Colony, as this was partly due to the Severan dynasty's relations with and connections to Emesa in the past, and partly due to the influence and rule of the Emesene dynasty.
Emesa had grown immense and became one of the most important cities in the Roman East. Despite the Emesenes being a warlike people, they exported wheat, grapes and olives throughout the Roman world, and the city was part of the Eastern trade route which stretched from the mainland to the coast, which benefited the local and the Roman economy. The Emesenes sent many men into the Roman legions and contributed mainly heavily in archers for the auxiliaries of the imperial army. In modern Syria, Emesa has retained its local significance as it is the market centre for surrounding villages, and one indeed wonders if any of Cleopatra's descendants are still alive there too
Cleopatra Selene being their only remaining child not only survived into adulthood but became an important and influential political figure in her own right. Her upbringing in the household of Octavia meant that she was raised among relatives, including many of her paternal half-siblings. In the Donations of Antioch and of Alexandria, she was made queen of Cyrenaica and Libya. She eventually married King Juba II of Numibia and had great influence in the country's government decisions, especially regarding trade and construction projects. In 25 BC, Octavian now emperor Augustus decided to confer on Juba II and Selene the newly created client kingdom of Mauretania since Numidia was, after a brief period of status as the Roman client kingdom under king Juba II (30 - 25 BC) once again directly annexed to the Roman Empire as the part of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis.
The young rulers renamed their new capital Caesarea (modern Cherchell, Algeria), in honor of the Emperor. During their reign, the country became extremely wealthy. It was a vast territory, but lacked organization. Cleopatra Selene is said to have exercised great influence on the policies which Juba promoted. She imported many important advisers, scholars, and artists from her mother's royal court in Alexandria to serve in Caesarea. Through the couple's influence, the Mauretanian kingdom flourished. The couple ruled Mauretania for almost two decades until Cleopatra's death at the age of 35. The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania in modern Algeria, was built in her and Juba's honour east of Caesarea, was dedicated to the couple as the "King and Queen of Mauretania" and still visible today. Juba died some 15 years later in 23. The couple had a son and successor, Ptolemy of Mauretania. Through their granddaughter Drusilla, the Ptolemaic line intermarried into Roman nobility for many generations.
Julia Drusilla (38–79) was a princess of the Roman client kingdom of Mauretania in North Africa. She was the only child of King Ptolemy of Mauretania, killed by emperor Caligula, and thus also a great-granddaughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Her father was executed while visiting Rome in 40, Mauretania was annexed by the Roman empire thereafter, and later became two Roman provinces. The history repeating itself here, Julia Drusilla was probably raised in the Imperial Family, and around 53, the Emperor Claudius arranged for her to marry Marcus Antonius Felix, a Greek freedman who was the Roman Governor of Judea. Between 54 to 56, the Greek Felix divorced Drusilla as he fell in love with and married the Herodian princess with the same name.
However, in 56 Drusilla married her distant relative King Sohaemus of Emesa (modern Homs). He was the Priest of the Syrian Sun God, known in Aramaic as El-Gebal from 54 to 73. Through the marriage, Drusilla became Queen consort of the Roman client kingdom of Emesa. Drusilla and Sohaemus had a son, Gaius Julius Alexion, also known as Alexio II, who later succeeded his father as Emesene Priest King. The name Alexion is a variant of the ancient Greek name Alexander. It was a dynastic name in the Emesani Royal Family, the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty, and perhaps Alexion's parents named him an intent to recover their heritage and connections to Alexander the Great. Alexion was after all a descendant of those Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties, and thus a distant relative of Alexander the Great through his paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather. He was was a contemporary of the ruling Emperor Vespasian.
A descendant of Alexion's is the Emesene high priest Gaius Julius Bassianus, who was the father of Empress Julia Domna and another possible descendant of his was the Palmyrene Queen of the 3rd century Zenobia. The said Bassianus was a member of the Royal family of Emesa which was a part of the Arab aristocracy in this still client kingdom of the Roman Empire. The beginning of his priesthood is unknown, but by 187 he was a high priest at Emesa. He introduced the then Roman Emperor Severus to his two daughters. His elder daughter Julia Maesa was married to a Syrian noble Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus and they had two daughters: Julia Soaemias Bassiana and Julia Avita Mamaea. His younger daughter Julia Domna was not married. Severus and Domna were married not so long there afterwards. Domna bore Severus two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (188-217) and Publius Septimius Geta (189-211). Caracalla and Geta would both become future Roman Emperors and heirs to their father.
After Caracalla's death, Julia Maesa's grandson became emperor, Elagabalus, whom she prevailed to adopt another grandson, the son of Julia Avita Mamaea, who took the name Alexander Severus and eventually became emperor himself. Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (208–235) was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222 and himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy. Between 211 and 217 the Roman emperor Caracalla made Emesa into a Roman Colony, as this was partly due to the Severan dynasty's relations with and connections to Emesa in the past, and partly due to the influence and rule of the Emesene dynasty.
Emesa had grown immense and became one of the most important cities in the Roman East. Despite the Emesenes being a warlike people, they exported wheat, grapes and olives throughout the Roman world, and the city was part of the Eastern trade route which stretched from the mainland to the coast, which benefited the local and the Roman economy. The Emesenes sent many men into the Roman legions and contributed mainly heavily in archers for the auxiliaries of the imperial army. In modern Syria, Emesa has retained its local significance as it is the market centre for surrounding villages, and one indeed wonders if any of Cleopatra's descendants are still alive there too
