Eirene
Eirene1, daughter of Ptolemy I and Thais2, married to Eunostos king of Soli in Cyprus3 c. 3204.
[1] PP VI 14507. Gr: Eirhnh. Ý
[2] Athenaeus 13.576e. Ý
[3] Athenaeus 13.576e. Ý
[4] Based on Athenaeus' statement that Ptolemy married Thais after the death of Alexander, Schiff (RE VI (1907) 1138f.) inferred that Eirene must have been born after 323, and that her marriage to Eunostos must therefore have taken place after 307. But there is no necessity to assume that Eirene was born after Thais' marriage. Moreover, Ptolemy seized Cyprus in 311 (Parian Marble 118 (archonship of Simonides) (FGrH 239 B.17, M. M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest 40 (21.17)), and dissolved most if not all of the Cypriot kingdoms, placing them firstly under control of Nicocreon king of Salamis, then, after the latter's death a year later, his brother Menelaus, and in 306 losing control of the island altogether to Demetrius Poliorcetes (Parian Marble 122 (archonship of Anaxicrates) (FGrH 239 B.21, M. M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest 40 (21.21)). The only point in this record where it makes sense for Ptolemy to marry his daughter to a king of Soli is at the beginning, very soon after the death of the probable father of Eunostos, Pasicrates of Soli, who was certainly a leading Cypriot king. At this time it is clearly advantageous to Ptolemy to bind a leading Cypriot kingdom to him. But there is no evidence that Soli held this status at a later date; the whole tenor of Ptolemaic policy as it evolved was to favour unification under Ptolemaic control based at Salamis. The coins which can be reasonably attributed to Eunostos all appear to have been made before 310, since they are of Attic weight, which was displaced by the Rhodian standard at that date (G. F. Hill, The History of Cyprus I 165 n. 2, 180 n. 3), suggesting that Soli was effectively dissolved along with the other kingdoms in 311. Ý
Update Notes:
8-9 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
12 Feb 2002: Split out into separate entry
24 Feb 2004: Added Xref to online Parian Marble
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcriptionWebsite © Chris Bennett, 2001-2007 -- All rights reserved