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wishesofeternity · 15 days

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"The concentration of Stratonike’s public appearance within the Antigonid milieu introduces a frisson to the notion of her voiceless compliance with Seleukos’ schemes for dynastic succession. In her public appearances on Delos she is distant from her affines; in her own words she was the daughter of a king and a queen, not wife of two kings. Clearly the evidence is not fulsome and does not provide the personal motivations for such decisions or the emotional attachments present in these relationships, and neither can we say that Stratonike never attended to Seleukid interests nor Apama to Baktrian ones. The Antiochos Cylinder’s portrayal of Stratonike shows that her persona as divinely appealing consort got good traction in Babylonia, at least, and she could have exploited it elsewhere.”

-Gillian Ramsey, "The Diplomacy of Seleukid Women: Apama and Stratonike", "Seleukid Royal Women," (edited by Altay Coşkun and Alex McAuley)

#stratonike #historicwomendaily #seleukid empire #hellenistic period #ancient history #history #This is the main reason I became interested in her as a historical figure to begin with #She's primarily known as a romantic figure for her two marriages to a king and her stepson #and is a passive and voiceless one throughout it all #but if you dig a little deeper there's clear evidence of immense agency and power that the romantic stories have obscured #The political motivations behind her second marriage - and what that suggests of her - is obviously the most striking #But also because of how she officially defined herself by her natal family rather than the one she married into #(and this is after her father had literally been defeated and captured by the Seleukids mind you)#even more strikingly the Babylonian astronomical diary clearly implies that the way she conducted her activities was more akin to #an individual ruler in her own right #It's a very intriguing combination - and the complete opposite of the romantic figure she's commonly known as #tho ofc as this says the evidence isn't fulsome; she was clearly involved in Seleukid affairs as well #even apart from the cylinder #her donations at Delos were in Apollo and Artemis temples which fit the image she and Antiochus's marriage was constructed around

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