Arsinoe IV of Egypt

c. 68/63–41 BCE

Arsinoe IV was a Ptolemaic princess, a younger sister of Cleopatra VII, who became a rival claimant during the Alexandrian War. In 48 BCE Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt amid a civil conflict between Cleopatra and their brother Ptolemy XIII. Arsinoe escaped from the royal quarter controlled by Caesar and joined the opposing Egyptian forces, where she was proclaimed queen. Her position gave the anti-Caesarian side a member of the dynasty around whom resistance could be organised.

Arsinoe soon became entangled in disputes among her own commanders, including the general Achillas and the eunuch Ganymedes. After Caesar’s forces prevailed and Ptolemy XIII died, Arsinoe was taken to Rome and displayed in Caesar’s triumph, but her life was spared. She later lived in sanctuary at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. In 41 or 40 BCE, at Cleopatra’s request and with Mark Antony’s authority, Arsinoe was executed there, removing a surviving dynastic rival to Cleopatra’s rule.

In Simon Turney’s Marius’ Mules XII, Caesar arrives in Egypt after Pompey’s murder and becomes entangled in the struggle between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII. In Margaret George’s The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Told as Cleopatra VII’s own memoir, the novel follows the last Ptolemaic queen from childhood in an unstable royal household to her struggle for sole control of Egypt.

Periods

Periods linked to Arsinoe IV of Egypt

Alexandrian War48–47 BCE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Arsinoe IV of Egypt (1 series)

Marius’ Mules in Order

by Simon Turney 17 books 4.6(34,619)

The Marius’ Mules series follows Marcus Falerius Fronto and Caesar’s legions from the invasion of Gaul to the destruction of the Roman Republic. Battles recorded in Caesar’s commentaries are viewed through officers and soldiers who must endure the practical cost of his ambition, while conspiracies in Rome steadily…