Cleopatra

Before there was a Cleopatra in Egypt there was Cleopatra of Macedon, the sister of Alexander the Great and a strong player in early Hellenistic politics. The name Cleopatra brings to mind Greco-Egyptian princesses, but the name was once stock for Macedonian princesses. The most notable of them may be she who is now often known as Cleopatra of Macedon, in equal measure described as an unfortunate pawn and a prudent strategist.

Cleopatra was the daughter of King Philip II by his Molossian wife Olympias, which would make her the full-sister of Alexander the Great. Little is known about her early life, but Cleopatra was most likely raised at the Macedonian court and lived there until her marriage.

Although Cleopatra’s marriage is highly notable, it is unlikely to have been arranged for her benefit. Philip II had made some poor choices and was seeking to atone for them. When he married his seventh wife, a Macedonian noblewoman named Cleopatra, he had let her relatives imply that Alexander was not the natural heir and even a bastard son on account of his foreign mother. A spat ensued after which Alexander and his mother stormed out of the hall and out of the country.

By creating a lavish stately wedding for Cleopatra, his daughter by Olympias, Philip hoped to reconcile and minimise the risk of being assassinated by his wife and his heir. He gave her to a foreign king, more specifically the brother of Olympias, who was king of the Molossians at Epirus. This Alexander of Epirus was also, notably, one of Philip’s many previous lovers. Olympias and Alexander came for the wedding. Philip, on the other hand, never left. He was assassinated then and there.

Cleopatra soon gave her uncle-husband two children, Cadmeia and Neoptolemus, after which he went to Italy on a military campaign, Cleopatra was sole regent and the religious head of state in her husband’s stead. It was a power previously unknown to a woman of the Macedon royal house, and her kinship with Alexander the Great at this point the king of Macedon may have influenced that decision.

On the other hand, the women of Epirus had always held more power than those of Macedon. When her husband died still campaigning in Italy, Cleopatra simply remained regent and religious head of state until her son came of age.