Overview
Title: Seleukid Royal Women: Creation, Representation and Distortion of Hellenistic Queenship in the Seleukid Empire
Editors: Dr. Altay Coşkun (University of Waterloo), Dr. Alex McAuley (Cardiff University)
Date: 2017
Imprint: Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart
Series: Historia Einzelschriften, vol. 240
Language: English
ISBN: 978-3515112956
Extent: 322 pages
Summary
The study of royal women has become one of the most dynamic fields of inquiry into the Hellenistic world (ca. 336–30 BCE), fundamentally reshaping modern understandings of gender, power, and political agency in antiquity. While recent scholarship has paid considerable attention to the queens of the Ptolemaic, Antigonid, and Argead dynasties, Seleukid Royal Women is the first volume devoted exclusively to the women of the Seleukid dynasty and its client kingdoms.
Born or married into a ruling house that governed a vast, culturally diverse empire stretching from western Asia Minor to Central Asia, Seleukid royal women occupied a unique position at the intersection of dynastic politics, diplomacy, and cultural mediation. As bearers of royal legitimacy and symbols of dynastic continuity, they played a crucial role in shaping the political culture and historical memory of an empire that bridged East and West.
The contributions assembled in this volume offer a systematic analysis of the creation, representation, and distortion of Seleukid queenship across visual, literary, and documentary sources. Avoiding Eurocentric frameworks, the essays engage seriously with the multicultural realities of the Seleukid world, examining royal women in dialogue with traditions from Persia, Bactria, Judaea, and the broader Hellenistic Mediterranean. Together, they establish this collection as a landmark contribution to the study of ancient queenship and female power.
“This collection of essays is an excellent step toward correcting the long neglect of Seleukid queens. Despite the scarcity and bias of the surviving sources, the contributors succeed in offering nuanced and methodologically rigorous interpretations of royal female power, diplomacy, and representation in the Seleukid Empire.”
— Branko F. van Oppen de Ruiter, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements — Altay Coşkun & Alex McAuley
Introduction — Altay Coşkun & Alex McAuley
Part I: Experimenting with the Role of the Royal Consort
- The Making of a Queen: Seleukos I and His Wives — Ann-Cathrin Harders
- Apama and Stratonike: Marriage and Legitimacy — David Engels & Kyle Erickson
- Seleukid Love and Power: Stratonike I — Eran Almagor
- The Diplomacy of Seleukid Women: Apama and Stratonike — Gillian Ramsey
Part II: Representation, Visibility, and Distortion of Queenship
- Laodike I and Dynastic Conflict — Altay Coşkun
- The Fate of Kleopatra Tryphaina — Brett Bartlett
- Female Seleukid Portraits: Where Are They? — Sheila Ager & Craig Hardiman
Part III: Dynastic Intermarriage and Queenship on the Periphery
- Apama of Kyrene — Alex McAuley
- Marriage Diplomacy in the Seleukid Far East — Richard Wenghofer & Del John Houle
- Royal Women and Kingship at Nemrut Dağı — Rolf Strootman
- Hasmonean Women and Hellenistic Influence — Julia Wilker
- Kleopatra Selene and the End of the Seleukids — Adrian G. Dumitru
Back Matter
- Consolidated Bibliography
- Indices
- Genealogical Tables
About the Editors
Dr. Altay Coşkun is Professor of Classical Studies and Director of the Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on Hellenistic kingdoms, royal ideology, Roman diplomacy, and citizenship.
Dr. Alex McAuley is Lecturer in Hellenistic History at Cardiff University. His work centers on Greek political culture, federalism, and the cities and dynasties of the Hellenistic Mediterranean.
Topics / Subjects
- Hellenistic History
- Royal Women and Queenship
- Seleukid Empire
- Gender and Power in Antiquity
- Dynastic Politics
Bibliographic Data
- Publication date: January 2017
- Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag
- Pages: 322
- ISBN: 978-3515112956