Cleopatra VI of Egypt

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Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Τρύφαινα) was an Egyptian Ptolemaic queen.

Her parentage is disputed, and she may, in fact, be three separate individuals:

• the daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III, sister of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, Ptolemy X Alexander, Cleopatra IV and Cleopatra Selene I .(Cleopatra V's parentage is disputed; she's also called the daughter of Mithridates of Pontus.) This Cleopatra VI may have been born in early 140 or 141 BC. She married Antiochus VIII Grypus, king of Syria, in 124 BC, and bore him five sons: Seleucus VI Epiphanes, the twin Antiochus XI Epiphanes and Philip I Philadelphus, Demetrius III Eucaerus, and Antiochus XII Dionysus. She was killed in Antioch (greek : Αντιόχεια), capital of Syria, by Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, as a revenge for his own wife's death by her husband Grypus. Of course, this Cleopatra never ruled in Egypt, but in Syria, so, normally she can not be Cleopatra VI (the sixth queen of Egypt with the name Cleopatra).
• the daughter of Ptolemy IX Soter II Lathyros and an unknown Egyptian woman or Cleopatra Selene I . If so, she was also the sister/wife of Ptolemy XII Auletes and possibly a sister of a Cleopatra V. This Cleopatra VI would have been born c. 125 BC. As the second wife of her brother Ptolemy Auletes, Cleopatra VI Tryphaena had a daughter Arsinoe and two sons Ptolemy Philometor and Ptolemy Philopater. She was co-regent with her brother and sister, until her mysterious disappearance from the records in 69 BC. Of course, this Cleopatra, whose existence is not certified, was never a queen, but a queen consort, so she also normally cannot be Cleopatra VI.
• the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, which would make her an older sister of the famous Cleopatra VII. If so, her birth year would correctly be c. 75 BC. Some sources say she died as a child. Others say that when Ptolemy XII fled to Rome to avoid an uprising in Alexandria against him, she and her sister Berenice IV took control of Ptolemaic Egypt. At the time she had become very powerful in Egypt, mainly due to the failure of Ptolemy XII to save Cyprus from the Romans, which caused his unpopularity. Cleopatra VI Trypaena then died in 57 BC of unknown reasons, although it is believed that Berenice IV poisoned her. When her father later regained power he had Berenice IV executed. This Cleopatra is generally believed to be Cleopatra VI Tryphaena.

Preceded by: Ptolemy XII	Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt with Ptolemy XII	Succeeded by: Cleopatra V and Berenice IV

References

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Last updated on Friday June 27, 2008 at 13:40:56 PDT (GMT -0700)
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