Laodice (sister-wife of Mithridates IV of Pontus)
Encyclopedia
Family and Ancestry
Laodice was of Greek MacedonianMacedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and Persian ancestry
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
. She was the daughter of the Monarchs Laodice
Laodice (wife of Mithridates III of Pontus)
Laodice was a Greek Princess from the Seleucid Empire and the wife of the King Mithridates III of Pontus....
and Mithridates III of Pontus
Mithridates III of Pontus
Mithridates III was the fourth King of Pontus, son of Mithridates II of Pontus and Laodice. Mithridates had two sisters who were Laodice III the first wife of the Seleucid King Antiochus III the Great and Laodice of Pontus. He may have ruled in an uncertain period between 220 BC and 183 BC...
. Her brothers were Mithridates IV of Pontus
Mithridates IV of Pontus
Mithridates IV of Pontus or known by his full name Mithridates Philopator Philadelphus was a prince and sixth King of the Kingdom of Pontus....
and Pharnaces I of Pontus
Pharnaces I of Pontus
Pharnaces I , fifth king of Pontus and was of Persian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. He was the son of King Mithridates III of Pontus and his wife Laodice, whom he succeeded on the throne. Pharnaces had two siblings: a brother called Mithridates IV of Pontus and a sister called Laodice who...
who served as Kings of Pontus after the death of their parents. Laodice was born and raised in the Kingdom of Pontus.
Queen
The ancient sources do not mention anything about Laodice. She is only known through surviving coins, statues and inscriptions. At some point, Laodice married her brother Mithridates IV of PontusMithridates IV of Pontus
Mithridates IV of Pontus or known by his full name Mithridates Philopator Philadelphus was a prince and sixth King of the Kingdom of Pontus....
. She appears to have no children with her husband.
Surviving coins that were issued by Laodice and coins that were joint issued by her with Mithridates IV, shows she reigned as Queen of Pontus
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...
with her brother sometime c. 162 BC until in the 150s BC. From the coinage, it makes it very likely that Laodice was co-regent with Mithridates IV. Coins from the joint rule of Laodice and Mithridates IV display a fine double portrait and they adapted a Ptolemaic model
Ptolemaic dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...
for coinage.
An example of a coin from their joint rule is one side is a draped bust of Mithridates IV and Laodice. On the reverse side, shows their royal titles in Greek ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΙΘΡΑΔΑΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΗΣ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΩΝ which means of King Mithridates and Queen Laodice Philadelphoi. Philadelphoi is the plural for the Greek word Philadelphus which means sibling-loving. On the side of their royal titles, presents Mithridates IV and Laodice struck in the image of the Greek Patron Gods Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
and Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
. Zeus and Hera are standing facing front. Hera is holding a sceptre in the right hand, while Zeus laureate holds a sceptre in his right hand and a thunderbolt in his left hand. The choice of coinage is a declaration of Hellenism.
On the coins she issued herself, her royal title in Greek on coinage is ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΗΣ, which means of Queen Laodice. Other silver coins in her issue has her royal titled initialled. One coin she issued has a veiled bust of her on one side and on the other side presents her royal Greek title with her being struck in the image of Hera. Hera is standing facing front; she wears a long dress and holds a sceptre in her right hand.
Another coin she issued has her one side in a veiled bust and on the reverse having her Greek royal title ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΗΣ - ΕΠΙΘΑΝΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ which means of Queen Laodice Epifanous and Philadelphus. On the side of her royal title shows a double cornucopia and a six rayed star. Laodice is the only queen to make the epithet Epifanous on a Greek coin. She was honored with a statue and an inscription on the Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
island of Delos
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
.
According to the surviving evidence, Laodice was a well-connected figure and perhaps a well-known identity in ancient Greek and Persian societies. She appears to have been a monarch of some influence and distinction, which may had considerable power. She seems to have been religious, patriotic of her Greek and Persian ancestry, who ruled justly and fairly for both societies.
Sources
- B.C. McGing, The foreign policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus, BRILL, 1986
- M. Getzel, Hellenistic settlements in Europe, the islands and Asia Minor, Cohen University of California Press, 1995
- The First Royal Coinage of Pontos (from Mithridates III to Mithridates V), Francois de Callatay
- The Dynastic History of the Hellenistic Monarchies of Asia Minor According to Chorography of George Synkellos by Oleg L. Gabelko