Laodice I (flourished 3rd century BC, died before 236 BC) was an Anatolian noblewoman who was a close relative of the early Seleucid Dynasty and was the first wife of the Seleucid Greek King Antiochus II Theos. [1]
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Laodice was a woman of Greek Macedonian and Persian descent. According to Eusebius of Caesarea (1.251), she was a daughter of Achaeus by an unnamed Greek mother. Her father Achaeus was a wealthy nobleman who owned estates in Anatolia. Her family had power in Anatolia with strong royal connections. [2] She had one sister: Antiochis[3] and two brothers: Alexander[4] and Andromachus. [5]
Her father Achaeus was the second son of King Seleucus I Nicator and his first wife Apama I. [6] [7] Her name implies a strong Seleucid connection[8], as she was the namesake of her paternal aunt and her paternal great grandmother of this name.
Her birth date is unknown[9] and little is known on her early life. Laodice I married her paternal first cousin Antiochus II Theos before 266 BC as his first wife. [10] She married Antiochus II before he was the heir to the Seleucid throne. [11]
When her paternal uncle Antiochus I Soter died in 261 BC, Antiochus II succeeded his father. Through her marriage Laodice I became a Seleucid Queen. Little is known on her relationship with Antiochus II. Laodice I bore her cousin-husband two sons: Seleucus II Callinicus, Antiochus Hierax and three daughters: Apama, Stratonice of Cappadocia and Laodice. [12]
In 252 BC after the Second Syrian War, Antiochus II was obliged to make peace with the Egyptian Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Antiochus II made peace with the Pharaoh by divorcing Laodice I and marrying the daughter of Ptolemy II, Berenice as his second wife with the understanding that any children born from their union will inherit the Seleucid throne. [13]
Although Laodice I was no longer a Queen or the wife of a King, Laodice was still a very powerful and political influential figure. In her divorce settlement, Antiochus II gave Laodice I various land grants throughout Anatolia which are known through inscriptions. [14] Laodice I owned a large estate in the Hellespont [15], other properties near Cyzicus[16], Ilion and in Caria. [17] In a royal record at Sardis mentions her land titles were to be kept as royal land in disposal in grants or sales. [18]
In a clause in her divorce settlement with Antiochus II, Laodice I was allowed to sell or donate land in which she had the right to choose which attachment of a city were to be passed on to the new landlord, unless Laodice I had taken care of the matter herself. [19] Antiochus II gave her, a grace period to settle matters on her land before she decided whether to hold on to the land or depose it. [20] She may have been given the revenue of two harvests with which to pay a nominal purchase price to set at the valuation of the land for tax purposes. [21] When Laodice I was able to make payment, the land she intended to purchase could remain part of royal land and couldn’t be made as a part of an attachment to a city. The only one who could order to reallocate or rearrange land lots was the King. [22]
When Laodice I sold a land attachment, the new owner was not permitted to remove it from the city or attach it to another. As she was a former Queen and former wife of a King, as a part of a land sale she possessed everything on the land that was transferred to her during the sale. She collected revenue from annual agriculture harvests and other forms from her lands. Antiochus II on one occasion, exemption Laodice I a complete property tax exemption. [23]
During Antiochus II’s marriage to Berenice, she born him a son called Antiochus. Laodice I lived at Ephesus. [24] On January 28 246 BC, Ptolemy II had died[25] and was succeeded by Ptolemy III Euergetes. After the death of Ptolemy II, Antiochus II left his second family in Antioch and returned to Laodice I. Antiochus II named his first son with Laodice I as his successor to the throne. [26]
In July 246 BC Antiochus II had died, leaving a confusing dynastic situation. Seleucus II succeeded his father as King and his brother Antiochus Hierax was named co-ruler in Sardis. They lived with Laodice I at Ephesus. [27] Laodice I probably fearing a second repudiation had Antiochus II’s second wife and their son murdered in the late summer of 246 BC. [28]
The brother of Berenice, Ptolemy III out of his outrage declared war and invaded the Seleucid Empire. The deaths of Ptolemy III’s sister and nephew were firmly grounded and were a part of the cause Third Syrian War also known as the ‘Laodicean War’ or the ‘War of Laodice’. [29] Ptolemy III had captured Laodice I and had her killed. [30] Before she died and during the war while Seleucus II was fighting Ptolemy III, Laodice I supported the revolt of her second son against her first son. This occurred in 244 BC which caused a civil war for the next 17 years between Seleucus II and Antiochus Hierax. [31] Afterwards little is known on her and as she died before 236 BC. In the years 247 BC and 237 BC, there were two honorific inscriptions dedicated to her which has survived in Babylon. [32]