Berenice

Berenice (bĕrənīˈsē), b. c.340 B.C., d. 281 or 271 B.C., consort and half-sister of Ptolemy I, king of ancient Egypt. A Macedonian, she was the widow of Philip, one of the officers of Alexander the Great, and was by this marriage the mother of Magas, king of Cyrene; Antigone, wife of Pyrrhus of Epirus; and Theoxena, wife of Agathocles, ruler of Syracuse. Berenice, whose portrait appears with that of Ptolemy on many medals, was the mother by him of Ptolemy II and Arsinoë II.

Berenice, c.273–21 B.C., queen of ancient Cyrene and Egypt. She was the daughter and successor of King Magas of Cyrene. In 247 B.C. she married Ptolemy III, thereby effectively annexing Cyrene to Egypt. According to Callimachus and Catullus, he named a constellation after her, Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices). After her husband's death she ruled jointly with their son, Ptolemy IV, until he had her put to death.

Berenice, c.280–46 B.C., queen-consort of ancient Syria; wife of Antiochus II. She was called Berenice Syra. She was the daughter of Ptolemy II, and her marriage (252) to Antiochus II marked a temporary cessation in the wars between the Egyptian monarchs and the Seleucids. On the death of Antiochus, however, Laodice I, the king's divorced first wife, brought about the death of Berenice and her infant son before Berenice's brother, Ptolemy III, could arrive. New war resulted.

Berenice, fl. 6 B.C., Jewish princess; daughter of Costobarus and Salome, sister of Herod the Great (see under Herod). She was married to her cousin Aristobulus and bore him a son, Herod Agrippa I. She was accused of having instigated the murder of her husband by Herod the Great in 6 B.C. Later she married Theudion, a brother-in-law of Herod the Great. After Theudion was put to death for plotting against Herod, she married Archelaus.

Berenice, b. c.A.D. 28, Jewish princess; daughter of Herod Agrippa I (see under Herod). A very beautiful woman, she was often involved in intrigue. After her first husband died, she was married to her uncle Herod of Chalcis. After his death (A.D. 48) she lived in incest with her brother, Herod Agrippa II, causing some scandal. Her third husband was the Cilician king Polemon II, whom she abandoned, returning to Herod Agrippa II. She and her brother sided with Rome in its struggle with Judaea. The emperor Titus apparently planned to marry her, but the Romans' great dislike of the Jews forced him to withdraw from the match. Titus' dilemma is the subject of Racine's play Bérénice.

Berenice, city of ancient Cyrenaica: see Benghazi.

Berenice or Berenike, city of ancient Egypt, on the Red Sea. Founded by Ptolemy II and named in his mother's honor, it commanded the trade with Arabia and India, flourishing from the 3d cent. B.C. to the 4th cent. Its harbor subsequently silted up.