Alexander Helios
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| Alexander Helios | |
|---|---|
Prince of  Bronze statuette identified as Alexander Helios, mid-1st century BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art | |
| Born | 40 BC (presumed, exact date unknown) Alexandria, Egypt |
| Died | possibly between 29 and 25 BC Rome, Roman Empire |
| Dynasty | Ptolemaic |
| Father | Mark Antony |
| Mother | Cleopatra VII Philopator |
Alexander Helios (
fraternal twin sister was Cleopatra Selene II. Cleopatra named her son after Alexander the Great. His second name in Ancient Greek means "Sun"; this was the counterpart of his twin sister's second name Selene (Σελήνη), meaning "Moon".[2]
Life
Alexander Helios was born and educated in
Octavian at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The next year, they committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt. Iotapa left Egypt to return to her father and later married her maternal cousin King Mithridates III of Commagene, who was of Armenian and Greek descent.[5]
When Octavian conquered Egypt, he spared Alexander, but took him, his sister and his brother,
Octavia Minor, his elder sister and a former wife of Mark Antony, to be raised under her guardianship in Rome. They were generously received by Octavia, who educated them with her own children.[7]
Later life
The fate of Alexander Helios is unknown. Plutarch, Cassius Dio and Suetonius state that Octavian killed Antony's son Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Cleopatra's son with Julius Caesar, Caesarion.[8] The only further mention of Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus comes from Cassius Dio, who states that when their sister Cleopatra Selene II married King Juba II, Octavian (then named Augustus) spared the lives of Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus as a favor to the couple.[9] After Helios arrived in Rome, he disappears from historical records.
See also
- List of people who disappeared
References
- ^ D. W. Roller, The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene, 2003, p. 77
- ^ Mason, Charles Peter (1867). "Alexander". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 112. Archived from the original on 2007-04-05.
- ^ Plutarch, Antony 54.6-9; Cassius Dio xlix. 41.1-3; Livy, periochae 131
- ^ "Ptolemaic Dynasty Affiliates". www.tyndalehouse.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
- ^ Cassius Dio xlix. 40.2; xlix. 44.1-4; li. 16.2; Plutarch, Antony 53.12
- ^ Cassius Dio li. 21.8
- ^ Plutarch, Antony 87.1; Suetonius, Augustus 17.5
- ^ Plutarch, Antony 81.1 - 82.1; 87.1; Cassius Dio li. 15.5; Suetonius, Augustus 17.5
- ^ Cassius Dio li. 15.6; compare Plutarch, Antony 87.1-2
Sources
- "Alexander Helios". Archived from the original on 2003-11-02.
- Cleopatra Selene II & Juba II
- Plutarch - Antony