General Notes

[2280151.ged]
Appointed 290 BC, Queen of Egypt 2
Note:
Berenice I (fl. c. 317-c. 275 BC), queen of Egypt, third wife of Ptolemy
I Soter, and mother of Arsinoe II and Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
Berenice arrived in Egypt in the retinue of Eurydice, Ptolemy's second
queen, whom he married as part of a political agreement with her father,
Antipater of Macedonia. About 317 Ptolemy married Berenice. Probably
because she was not of royal blood, a genealogy was fabricated to make
her a half sister of the king. In 308 Berenice gave birth to Ptolemy II
Philadelphus, and in 290 Ptolemy made her queen of Egypt. In 285 Ptolemy
II was made coregent and successor to his father, bypassing Eurydice's
children. Ptolemy II's second wife was his sister Arsinoe II, also the
child of Berenice. [Encyclopædia Britannica CD '97, BERENICE I]
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Berenice, daughter of Lagus, [was the] wife of an obscure Macedonian
solider and subsequently of Ptolemy Soter, with whose bride, Eurydice,
she came to Egypt as a lady in waiting. Her son, Ptolemy Philadelphus,
was recognized as heir over the heads of Eurydice's children. So great
was her ability and her influence that Pyrrhus of Epirus gave the name
Berenicis to a new city. Her son Philadelphus decreed divine honours to
her on her death.