AE Circa 360-330/25 BCE
Æ 19mm, 6.16g
Vertical thunderbolt on shield
R/ Vertical thunderbolt within wreath
SNG Copenhagen 53.
Ex Bertolami Auction 44 (Sep 2017)
Kleopatra of Macedon was the real Kleopatra of history – not the “other” Kleopatra who made a name for herself from her famous companions, but otherwise led the country to ruin. As the full sister of Alexander the Great, she was more than a match for her contemporaries, and she was perhaps the only woman at her time to run a kingdom. Unfortunately, bad things just kept happening to her.
It all started at what should have been a happy and festive wedding to Alexander I. Her father, Philip II, had set it up as an alliance, but he was murdered at the wedding, which completely ruined the festive atmosphere.
In 334 BCE, her husband, perhaps feeling jealous about the success of her brother, set out to Italy where he managed to piss pretty much everyone off and get killed. By Epirote tradition, Kleopatra was now in charge. For the next several years, she took over full ownership of the kingdom. Although this coin was minted for some time before she took charge, it’s possible she minted it and this is the closest coin I could find to her reign.
However, being the only woman in charge of a country in Greece certainly must have been difficult, and Kleopatra had larger aspirations. She knew her best advantage was her hand, as any man married to her would have a legitimate claim to Alexander‘s empire.
She chose Leonnatos, who was daring and skilled and ambitious and who promptly was killed in battle. Next up was Perdikkas, with whom things weren’t even setup before he was assassinated by his own troops.
Kassander then asked for her hand, but her mother Olympias hated him and there was that nasty rumor that he’d poisoned her brother, so she declined. Next up were Lysimachos and Antigonos. Both were powerful, but they were also ancient, so she passed. Still, she decided to head closer to the action in Sardis, but was then held there by Antigonos.
Finally, Ptolemy offered to marry her, and that felt like a decent option. Yes. He was old, but his kingdom was well-defended and she was more than a match for his other wives. Sadly, upon learning of the plan, Antigonos executed her, since a union with Ptolemy was too great a threat.