# Cleopatra Selene II (Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη)
**Cleopatra Selene II** (Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη Βʹ; 40 BC – c. 5 BC) was the daughter of Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the Roman triumvir [Mark Antony](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-antony), and after her marriage to Juba II she ruled as queen of [Mauretania](https://www.edgepedia.org/mauretania), a client kingdom of Rome in northwest Africa.[1](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb14578209m) She was the only child of Cleopatra VII and Antony to reach adulthood, and through her son Ptolemy she carried the Ptolemaic line into the first century AD.[2](https://www.ancient-origins.net/articles/cleopatra-selene)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth and family | Born in 40 BC at Alexandria, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony; Greek name Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη Βʹ[1](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb14578209m) |
| Death of her parents | Taken to Rome after Octavian defeated her parents in 30 BC, and raised in the household of Octavia, Octavian's sister[3](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/) |
| Marriage | Wed Juba II, king of Mauretania, between 25 and 20 BC; a joint coin of the couple dated 20/19 BC gives the latest possible date for the wedding[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/anth-pal-9-235-juba-ii-cleopatra-selene-and-the-course-of-the-nile/E3F847DFCF1564DC0C998913FD37F8D0) |
| Reign | Client-queen of Mauretania from about 25 BC, ruling from the capital Caesarea (formerly Iol)[5](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra_Selene_II/) |
| Child | Son Ptolemy of Mauretania, born around 10 BCE, the last of the Ptolemaic royal line[5](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra_Selene_II/) |
| Death | Probably around 5 BC at Caesarea; one scholarly estimate places it in 4–3 BC[1](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb14578209m) • [6](https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/Bennett/ptolemies/selene_ii.htm) |
## Childhood in defeat
Cleopatra Selene was born in [Alexandria](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandria) in 40 BC, in the last generation of the Hellenistic monarchs of Egypt.[1](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb14578209m) • [7](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/greek/rulers/cyrene/cleopatra-selene-ii/) Her mother named her children after celestial bodies, and her brother [Alexander Helios](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-helios) is named alongside her in accounts of the family.[8](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/uncovering-the-life-of-cleopatras-daughter) In autumn 34 BC, at the [Donations of Alexandria](https://www.edgepedia.org/donations-of-alexandria), she may have been declared queen of Cyrene, a nominal title conferring claims to Cyrenaica and Libya that she never actually exercised.[6](https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/Bennett/ptolemies/selene_ii.htm) • [7](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/greek/rulers/cyrene/cleopatra-selene-ii/)
When Octavian defeated her parents and annexed Egypt in 30 BC, Selene was taken to Rome.[3](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/) She was placed in the household of Octavia, the emperor's sister, who also raised the children of Antony by his earlier marriages; the future Juba II, orphaned when [Julius Caesar](https://www.edgepedia.org/julius-caesar) defeated his father in 46 BC and paraded in Caesar's triumph, grew up under the same roof.[3](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/) • [8](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/uncovering-the-life-of-cleopatras-daughter) Both children of defeated kings were thus raised and educated as Romans, groomed to rule on Rome's behalf.[3](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/)
## Marriage and the Mauretanian throne
Octavia arranged Selene's marriage to Juba II, and Augustus sanctioned the union.[8](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/uncovering-the-life-of-cleopatras-daughter) • [4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/anth-pal-9-235-juba-ii-cleopatra-selene-and-the-course-of-the-nile/E3F847DFCF1564DC0C998913FD37F8D0) The precise date is not fixed by the literary sources: the chronology places the wedding between 25 and 20 BC, and a coin bearing the heads of Juba and Cleopatra Selene dated to 20/19 BC provides a terminus ante quem (a date before which an event must have occurred).[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/anth-pal-9-235-juba-ii-cleopatra-selene-and-the-course-of-the-nile/E3F847DFCF1564DC0C998913FD37F8D0) A Greek epigram of the *Anthologia Palatina* (9.235), generally agreed to refer to this marriage, links the royal houses of Egypt and Libya; its authorship is attributed to the poet Crinagoras of Mytilene.[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/anth-pal-9-235-juba-ii-cleopatra-selene-and-the-course-of-the-nile/E3F847DFCF1564DC0C998913FD37F8D0)
After the wedding, Augustus appointed the couple as client-kings of Mauretania, a wealthy region in northwest Africa, so that they ruled jointly in Rome's name.[5](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra_Selene_II/) • [3](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/) The old capital Iol was renamed Caesarea in honor of the emperor, and the royal court was established there.[9](https://idus.us.es/bitstreams/0140935e-e07d-4351-9640-ddd0083f24dd/download) Mauretania's size and lack of internal organization meant that effective government depended on coordinated decisions at court and on building administrative capacity.[10](https://notablepeopleproject.org/cleopatra_selene_ii)
## A Ptolemaic queen in Africa
**Cultural inheritance.** Cleopatra Selene II maintained the Ptolemaic line and memory during her reign, at a time when Augustan policy generally portrayed her mother as an enemy of Rome.[8](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/uncovering-the-life-of-cleopatras-daughter) • [5](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra_Selene_II/) She brought advisers, scholars, and artists from her mother's Alexandrian milieu to serve at Caesarea, and her influence is particularly visible in Juba II's scholarship on African history and geography.[10](https://notablepeopleproject.org/cleopatra_selene_ii) • [5](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra_Selene_II/) She referred back to her Ptolemaic heritage throughout her life, and through her the [Ptolemaic dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/ptolemaic-dynasty) survived as long as she lived.[11](https://casa-kvsa.org.za/legacy/2010/AC53-15-Draycott.pdf) • [12](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Dtoledo1301936096%26disposition%3Dinline)
Coins carried the message. Selene issued coins in her own name alongside her husband's, and the language split is telling: her legends were overwhelmingly in Greek, reading *Basilissa Cleopatra* (Queen [Cleopatra](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleopatra)), while Juba's legends were mostly in Latin.[12](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Dtoledo1301936096%26disposition%3Dinline) • [13](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra%255FSelene%255FII/) Her coins carried the crescent moon, a symbol of the cult of Isis to which her mother had a strong bond, and the crocodile, an image drawn from the Ptolemaic tradition that later also appeared on coinage alluding to her.[12](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Dtoledo1301936096%26disposition%3Dinline) • [14](https://journals.co.za/doi/10.10520/EJC127756) Portraits on her coinage show the same stylized features across issues: curly hair swept back, deep-set eyes, a thick neck, a hooked nose, and a strong chin.[15](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/1/Andrew_Kenrick_thesis_May_2023.pdf)
**Ruling in her own right.** The extent of her independent authority is debated, but the coin record suggests real power. Coinage bearing her title and image is dated to AD 11–17, a period when Juba II was away from the kingdom; many historians have concluded that this points to Cleopatra Selene II ruling Mauretania in her own right, or as regent during the king's absence.[16](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=toledo1301936096&disposition=inline)
## Succession and legacy
Around 10 BCE, Selene gave birth to Ptolemy, named in the tradition of her birth dynasty rather than Juba's Numidian line.[13](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra%255FSelene%255FII/) • [17](https://ir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/17967/thesis_demarre_mea.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1) She probably died around 5 BC, at Caesarea.[1](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb14578209m) Some coinage carrying her image has been read as a posthumous minting commemorating her reign, perhaps connected with the succession of her son.[13](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra%255FSelene%255FII/)
Ptolemy succeeded as the last client-king of Mauretania. After the emperor Caligula executed him, Rome annexed the kingdom in AD 40 and made Caesarea the capital of the new province of Mauretania Caesariensis.[18](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah16033.pub2) With Ptolemy's death the Ptolemaic royal line ended, so that the dynasty founded by Ptolemy I, a general of [Alexander the Great](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-the-great), ran through Cleopatra Selene II's son to its close.[16](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=toledo1301936096&disposition=inline)
Her memory persisted unevenly in antiquity and has been revived periodically in literature and modern scholarship; recent studies of her coinage and iconography treat her as an independent political actor who chose to express her identity as a Ptolemaic queen while governing a Roman client kingdom.[7](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/greek/rulers/cyrene/cleopatra-selene-ii/) • [19](https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/graduate/Cleopatra-Selene-The-Iconography-and-Cultural/9924354987201921)
## References
1. [Notice de personne “Cléopâtre Séléné II (0040 av. J.-C.–0005? ; reine de Maurétanie)”, Bibliothèque nationale de France](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb14578209m)
2. [Cleopatra Selene, Serene Queen of Mauritania, Ancient Origins](https://www.ancient-origins.net/articles/cleopatra-selene)
3. [Kenrick, Andrew (2023). African kings, Roman rule: The life of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene of Mauretania. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/)
4. [Braund, D. (1984). Anth. Pal. 9. 235: Juba II, Cleopatra Selene and the Course of the Nile. The Classical Quarterly 34(1), 175–178](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/anth-pal-9-235-juba-ii-cleopatra-selene-and-the-course-of-the-nile/E3F847DFCF1564DC0C998913FD37F8D0)
5. [Cleopatra Selene II, World History Encyclopedia](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra_Selene_II/)
6. [Bennett, C. Cleopatra Selene, queen of Mauretania, Ptolemies chronology, Trismegistos](https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/Bennett/ptolemies/selene_ii.htm)
7. [Cleopatra Selene II: Queen and Cultural Bridge in Roman North Africa, Ancient History Sites](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/greek/rulers/cyrene/cleopatra-selene-ii/)
8. [What Happened to Cleopatra's Children With Marc Antony?, National Geographic](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/uncovering-the-life-of-cleopatras-daughter)
9. [Carmina Latina epigraphica of Caesarea Mauritaniae](https://idus.us.es/bitstreams/0140935e-e07d-4351-9640-ddd0083f24dd/download)
10. [Cleopatra Selene II, Notable People Project](https://notablepeopleproject.org/cleopatra_selene_ii)
11. [Draycott, J. Acta Classica LIII (2010) 211–217](https://casa-kvsa.org.za/legacy/2010/AC53-15-Draycott.pdf)
12. [Sewell-Lasater, T. thesis (University of Toledo, OhioLINK)](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=toledo1301936096&disposition=inline)
13. [Cleopatra Selene II, World History Encyclopedia (coinage section)](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra%255FSelene%255FII/)
14. [The symbol of Cleopatra Selene: reading crocodiles on coins in the late Republic and early Principate, Acta Classica](https://journals.co.za/doi/10.10520/EJC127756)
15. [Kenrick, Andrew (2023). Thesis full text, University of East Anglia](https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92541/1/Andrew_Kenrick_thesis_May_2023.pdf)
16. [Sewell-Lasater, T. thesis (University of Toledo, OhioLINK), regency section](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Dtoledo1301936096%26disposition%3Dinline)
17. [De Marre, M. Marriage for the Roman African Woman, University of South Africa thesis](https://ir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/17967/thesis_demarre_mea.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
18. [Leveau, P. Caesarea Mauretaniae, Wiley Encyclopedia of Ancient History](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah16033.pub2)
19. [DeRouen, D. Cleopatra Selene: The Iconography and Cultural Inheritance of Cleopatra's Daughter, Brandeis University](https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/graduate/Cleopatra-Selene-The-Iconography-and-Cultural/9924354987201921)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Royal consorts and dynastic families › Queens and empresses consort › Medieval and early modern consorts*
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