Cleopatra I was the daughter of
Antiochus III the Great, King of the
Seleucid Empire, and Queen
Laodice III.
Queen In 197 BC,
Antiochus III had captured a number of cities in
Asia Minor previously under the control of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. The Romans supported the Egyptian interests, when they negotiated with the
Seleucid king in Lysimachia in 196 BC. In response, Antiochus III indicated his willingness to make peace with
Ptolemy V and to have his daughter Cleopatra I marry Ptolemy V. They were betrothed in 195 BC and their marriage took place in 193 BC in
Raphia. At that time Ptolemy V was about 16 years and Cleopatra I about 10 years old. Later on, Egypt's
Ptolemaic kings were to argue that Cleopatra I had received
Coele-Syria as her dowry and, therefore, this territory again belonged to Egypt. It is not clear if this was the case. However, in practice, Coele-Syria remained a Seleucid possession after the
Battle of Panium in 198 BC. In
Alexandria, Cleopatra I was referred to as
the Syrian. As part of the Ptolemaic cult she was honoured with her husband as
Theoi Epiphaneis. In line with ancient Egyptian tradition of
sibling marriage, she was also named sister (,
adelphḗ) of Ptolemy V. A synod of priests held at
Memphis in 185 BC granted Cleopatra all the honours that had been given to Ptolemy V in 196 BC (inscribed on the bilingual
Greek-
Egyptian Rosetta Stone). Cleopatra also held title of vizier as one of only two known Ptolemaic queens to did so (the first one being
Berenice II of Egypt). Just before his death, Ptolemy V had been planning a new war against the Seleucid kingdom, but Cleopatra immediately ended the war preparations and pursued a peaceful policy, because of her own Seleucid roots and because a war would have threatened her hold on power. Cleopatra probably died in late 178 or early 177 BC, though some scholars place her death in late 176 BC. The pair were unable or unwilling to prevent the deterioration of relations with the Seleucid kingdom which culminated in the disastrous
Sixth Syrian War. ==Issue==