Table Of Contenti
Power Couples in Antiquity
Everyone can name a couple made up of famous, rich, or powerful partners,
who cultivate a joint media image which is stronger than either of their indi-
vidual identities. Since the 1980s they have been known as “power couples”.
Yet while the term is recent, the concept is not. More than 2,000 years ago,
Greeks and Romans became aware of the media potential of couples and
used it as an instrument to reinforce political power. Notable examples are
Philip II of Macedonia and Olympias, Cleopatra and Mark Antony, or the
Emperor Augustus and his wife Livia.
Power Couples in Antiquity brings together the reflections of ten specialists
on Greek and Roman power couples from the fourth century BCE to the first
century CE. It is focused on the birth and the development of the “ruling
couple” in the Hellenistic Greek kingdoms and in Rome between the end of
the Republic and the beginning of the Empire. By taking some emblematic
cases, this book analyses the redistribution of public and private roles within
these couples, examines the sentimental bonds or the relations of domination
established between partners, explores how these relationships played out in
private, and highlights the many common points between ancient and con-
temporary power couples. This book offers a fascinating insight into power
dynamics in the ancient world, exploring not only the subtleties within these
often complex relationships, but also their relationships with their subjects
through the cultivation and manipulation of their joint public image.
Anne Bielman Sánchez has been Professor of Ancient History at the
University of Lausanne, Switzerland, since 2005. Her research focuses
on social problematics, especially on female public activities in the Greek
Hellenistic world and in the Republican Roman world: queens, priestesses,
female magistrates, and benefactors. Works include Inventer le pouvoir
féminin: Cléopâtre I et Cléopâtre II, reines d’Egypte au IIe s. av. J.-C . (2015,
co-a uthored with Giuseppina Lenzo) and Femmes influentes dans le monde
hellénistique et à Rome (2016, co- edited with Isabelle Cogitore and Anne
Kolb). From 2016 to 2019, she is leading a project funded by the Swiss
National Fund for Scientific Research (FNS) that explores the phenomena of
“couples” in Greco- Roman antiquity.
ii
Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies
Titles include:
The Greek and Roman Trophy
From Battlefield Marker to Icon of Power
Lauren Kinnee
Rethinking ‘Authority’ in Late Antiquity
Authorship, Law, and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition
Edited by A. J. Berkovitz and Mark Letteney
Thinking the Greeks
A Volume in Honour of James M. Redfield
Edited by Bruce M. King and Lillian Doherty
Pushing the Boundaries of Historia
Edited by Mary C. English and Lee M. Fratantuono
Greek Myth and the Bible
Bruce Louden
Combined Warfare in Ancient Greece
From Homer to Alexander the Great and his Successors
Graham Wrightson
Power Couples in Antiquity
Transversal Perspectives
Edited by Anne Bielman Sánchez
The Extramercantile Economies of Greek and Roman Cities
New Perspectives on the Economic History of Classical Antiquity
Edited by David B. Hollander, Thomas R. Blanton IV, and John T. Fitzgerald
For more information on this series, visit: https://w ww.routledge.com/
classicalstudies/ series/ RMCS
ii i
Power Couples in Antiquity
Transversal Perspectives
Edited by Anne Bielman Sánchez
iv
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Anne Bielman Sánchez; individual chapters,
the contributors
The right of Anne Bielman Sánchez to be identified as the author of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978- 1- 138- 57526- 4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 351- 27244- 5 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Newgen Publishing UK
v
Contents
List of figures vii
List of contributors x
Introduction: power couples: from antiquity to
the contemporary world 1
ANNE BIELMAN SÁNCHEZ
1 An exceptional Argead couple: Philip II and Olympias 16
ELIZABETH CARNEY
2 Looking for the Seleucid couple 32
MARIE WIDMER
3 A change of husband: Cleopatra Thea, stability and
dynamism of Hellenistic royal couples (150– 129 BCE) 42
MONICA D’AGOSTINI
4 Marital crises or institutional crises? Two Ptolemaic
couples under the spotlight 69
ANNE BIELMAN SÁNCHEZ AND VIRGINIE JOLITON
5 The magistrate and the queen: Antony and Cleopatra 99
MARIE- CLAIRE FERRIÈS
6 Mark Antony and the women at his side 116
ANN- CATHRIN HARDERS
7 An exceptional and eternal couple: Augustus and Livia 136
FRANCESCA CENERINI
vi
vi Contents
8 A love poet’s script for an Augustan power couple:
Propertius 4.11 151
JUDITH P. HALLETT
9 Claudius and his wives: the normality of the
exceptional? 166
THOMAS SPÄTH
10 Power couples in antiquity: an initial survey 179
ANNE BIELMAN SÁNCHEZ
Index 209
vi i
Figures
3.1 Silver tetradrachm (32 mm, 16.85 g, 12h) from Ptolemais/
Acco. Obverse: Jugate busts right of Cleopatra, in
the foreground, wearing diadem, kalathos, and veil,
and Alexander Balas, wearing diadem; cornucopia
behind her shoulder; in field left, A above cornucopia.
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ
ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ. Zeus seated on throne left, sceptre in his left
hand, holding Nike standing facing with spread wings in his
outstretched right hand. NAC Auction 29 Lot 220, 11. May
2005 (cf. https:// www.acsearch.info/ search.html?id=221994).
Photo courtesy of Numismatica Ars Classica, http:// www.
arsclassicacoins.com/ 45
3.2 Silver tetradrachm (27 mm, 15.97 g., 12h) from Seleucia
on the Tigris. Obverse: Jugate busts right of Demetrius
I diademed, and Laodice draped and wearing stephane.
Fillet border. Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ. Tyche
seated left on backless throne supported by winged tritoness,
holding short sceptre in the right hand and cornucopia.
Dotted border. Palm branch in outer left field and ΗΡ ligate
and in outer right field Ρ retrograde. In exergue, ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ.
NAC Auction 100 Lot 167, 29. May 2017 (cf. https:// www.
acsearch.info/ search.html?id=3886009). Photo courtesy of
Numismatica Ars Classica, http:// www.arsclassicacoins.com/ 46
3.3 Gold stater (18.5mm, 8.54 g, 1g) from Ptolemais/ Acco.
Obverse: Diademed and veiled bust of Cleopatra Thea
right, wearing stephane and single- pendant earring. Border
of dots. Reverse: BAΣIΛIΣΣHΣ KΛEOΠATPAΣ (curving),
filleted double cornucopia bound with diadem. Border of
dots. CNG Auction Triton XIX Lot 2072, 6 January 2016
(cf. https:// www.cngcoins.com/ Coin.aspx?CoinID=301240).
Photo courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://
www.cngcoins.com/ 47
viii
viii List of figures
3.4 Gold stater (27 mm, 27.80 g, 12h) from Ptolemais/ Acco
251– 250 BCE. Obverse: Diademed and veiled head of
Arsinoe II right, with stephane. Reverse: AΡΣINOHΣ
ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ (curving), filleted double cornucopia
bound with diadem. In field, LE - PT ligate Border of dots.
NAC Auction 66 Lot 79, 17. Oct. 2012 (cf. https:// www.
acsearch.info/s earch.html?id=1390199). Photo courtesy of
Numismatica Ars Classica, http:// www.arsclassicacoins.com/ 48
4.1 The genealogical stemma for Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III 70
4.2a Upper register of the Raphia Decree stele (from Pithom),
with Arsinoe III as Isis standing to the left of her brother-
spouse Ptolemy IV mounted on horseback and pointing his
spear at a prisoner. Cairo Museum. Photo G. Lenzo 72
4.2b Reconstruction drawing (freely inspired) of the upper register
of the Raphia Decree stele. Drawing: Marquita Volken 73
4.3 Localisation of the representations of Arsinoe III at Edfu
dating from the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator 78
4.4 Genealogical stemma of the Ptolemaic royalty in the second
century; names in bold indicate involvement in the civil war
of 132– 124 BCE 86
6.1 Aureus (22 mm, 8.01 g, 1 h), unknown mint, 39 BCE,
M. Antonius. Obverse: M·ANTON·IMP·III·VIR·R·P·C.
Head of M. Antonius, right; border of dots. Reverse: Head
of Octavia, right. RRC 527,1. (Cf. http://i kmk.smb.museum/
object?id=18202297). Photo courtesy of Münzkabinett,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, object no. 18202297. Picture by
D. Sonnenwald 125
6.2 Sestertius, bronze (37 mm, 19.75 g, 6 h), from Corinth (?),
38– 37 BCE, M. Antonius and L. Sempronius Atratinus.
Obverse: [M ANT IMP TER COS] DES ITER [ET TER
III VIR - R P C]. [ANT, MP ligated]. Head of M. Marcus
Antonius, right. Vis- à- vis bust of Octavia, left. Reverse:
[L ATRATINVS AVGVR] COS DE[SIG]. Quadriga of
hippocamps, right, steered by Antonius and Octavia as
Poseidon and Amphitrite; below one rectangular object
(astragal?) and stamp Δ. RPC I 1453. (Cf. http:// ikmk.
smb.museum/o bject?id=18215869). Photo courtesy
of Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, object
no. 18215869. Picture by D. Sonnenwald 126
6.3 Tressis, bronze (31mm, 16.73 g, 6h), from Corinth (?), 38– 37
BCE, M. Antonius and L. Sempronius Atratinus. Obverse: M
ANT IMP TER COS [DES ITER ET TER III VIR R P C].
[ANT, MP ligated]. Jugate busts of M. Antonius, in front,
and C. Iulius Caesar (Octavianus), behind, right. Vis- à- vis
bust of Octavia, left. Reverse: L ATRA- TINVS AVGVR
ix
List of figures ix
COS DESIG. Three galleys under sail, right. Lituus above,
below stamp Γ and triskeles. RPC I 1454,2. (Cf. http://
ikmk.smb.museum/ object?id=18215870). Photo courtesy
of Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, object
no. 18215870. Picture by D. Sonnenwald 127
6.4 Cistophorus, silver (28 mm, 11.61 g, 12 h), from Ephesus
(?), c. 39 BCE. Obverse: M ANTONIVS IMP COS DESIG
ITER ET TERT. Jugate busts of M. Antonius, wreathed in
ivy, in front, and Octavia, behind, right. Reverse: III
VIR - R P C. Dionysus standing on cista mystica, left,
with a thyrsus in his left hand and a kantharos in his right
hand; flanked by twisting snakes. RPC I 2202. (Cf. http://
ikmk.smb.museum/ object?id=18200378). Photo courtesy
of Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, object
no. 18200378. Picture by L.- J. Lübke (Lübke and Wiedemann) 129
8.1 The genealogical stemma for Paullus Aemilius Lepidus and
his wife Cornelia 153
x
Contributors
Anne Bielman Sánchez has been Professor of Ancient History at the
University of Lausanne, Switzerland, since 2005. Her research focuses
on social problematics, especially on female public activities in the Greek
Hellenistic world and in the Republican Roman world: queens, priestesses,
female magistrates, and benefactors. Works include Inventer le pouvoir
féminin: Cléopâtre I et Cléopâtre II, reines d’Egypte au IIe s. av. J.- C. (2015,
co- authored with Giuseppina Lenzo) and Femmes influentes dans le monde
hellénistique et à Rome (2016, co-e d. with Isabelle Cogitore and Anne
Kolb). From 2016 to 2019, she is leading a project funded by the Swiss
National Fund for Scientific Research (FNS) that explores the phenom-
enon of “couples” in Greco- Roman antiquity.
Elizabeth Carney is Carol K. Brown Endowed Scholar in Humanities at
Clemson University, USA. Her scholarship has often dealt with Macedonian
monarchy (King and Court in Macedonia: Rivalry, Treason and Conspiracy,
2015) and the relationship of royal women to Hellenistic monarchy (Women
and Monarchy in Ancient Macedonia, 2000; Olympias, Mother of Alexander
the Great, 2006; Arsinoe of Egypt and Macedon: A Royal Life, 2013). She
is currently working on a study of the public role and image of Eurydice,
mother of Philip II.
Francesca Cenerini is Full Professor of Roman History and Epigraphy and
Roman Institutions at the University of Bologna, Italy. Her main area of
specialisation is Ancient History. In particular, her research interests address
the representation of the female condition in the Roman Age by analysis of
the epigraphic documentation. This line of investigation has produced many
articles published both in scientific and informative journals, in miscellaneous
volumes, in proceedings of conferences, and in two monographs: La donna
romana. Modelli e realta (2002; 2nd ext. ed. 2009, repr. 2013); Dive e donne.
Mogli, madri, glie e sorelle degli imperatori romani da Augusto a Commodo
(2009). In 2016 she co- edited (with Francesca Rohr Vio, University of
Venice) Matronae in domo et in re publica agentes. Spazi e occasioni dell’azione
femminile nel mondo romano tra tarda repubblica e primo impero. In the same
year she published an essay entitled “Il matrimonio con un’Augusta: forma
