Women and the early development of royal power in the Hellenistic East

One of the more striking features of the Hellenistic period is the emergence of royal dynasties whose female members are often conspicuous for their active and politically significant participation in their dynasties\u27 affairs. While the Ptolemaic dynasty may claim the most famous examples of such royal women, the Seleukid dynasty did present royal women with similar opportunities. Indeed, the prominence of royal women throughout the extant record indicates that their position and activities should be understood as well-integrated into the creation and functioning of each dynasty. In seeking to establish themselves as monarchs and “invent” their own dynasties, the Successors of Alexander the Great were necessarily influenced by the dynastic arrangements of those who had come before them. In the case of the Seleukids, this included not only the Macedonian dynasty of Alexander, but also the dynasties of the Persian Empire and Anatolia. The process of inventing royal status and legitimacy led the Seleukids to adopt and adapt features of these other dynastic traditions to suit their own circumstances and needs. The queen\u27s place—her public image as much as her involvement in politically significant activities—was central to this overall project of creating a royal dynasty and proving its legitimacy. It is thus through an examination of the roles of women in the dynasties which influenced the Seleukids that we can begin to see both the precedents on which the Seleukids drew and the role the newly formed dynasty needed its women to play