Queen Berenice

Tal Ilan, PhD (1991), Hebrew University Jerusalem is professor of Jewish Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. She is the editor of A Feminist Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud; and the author of Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity (four volumes).

• AcknowledgementsIntroduction1 Methodology1 Chronology2 Silencing3 Disparagement2 Berenice’s Foremothers: A Long Line of Hasmonean and Herodian Queens1 Simon the Hasmonean’s Nameless Wife, Berenice’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother (ca. 180 BCE–135 BCE)2 John Hyrcanus I’s Nameless Wife, Berenice’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother (ca. 155 BCE–104 BCE)3 Salina Alexandra, Judah Aristobulus I’s Widow, Berenice’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Aunt (ca. 140 BCE–ca. 90 BCE)4 Queen Shelamzion-Alexandra, Berenice’s Great-Great-Great- Great-Grandmother (140 BCE–67 BCE)5 Aristobulus II’s Wife, Berenice’s Great-Great-Great-Grandmother (ca. 90–ca. 50 BCE)6 Alexandra, Berenice’s Great-Great-Grandmother (ca. 70 BCE– 26 BCE)7 Miriam the Hasmonean, Berenice’s Paternal Great-Grandmother (53–29 BCE)8 Salome, Herod’s Sister, Berenice’s Maternal Great-Grandmother (ca. 60 BCE–12 CE)9 Berenice, Aristobulus IV’s Wife, Berenice’s Grandmother (ca. 33 BCE–23 CE)10 Herodias, Berenice’s Paternal Aunt (ca. 10 BCE–ca. 50 CE)11 Cypros, Berenice’s Mother (ca. 10–ca. 50 CE)3 Berenice’s Early Years1 Judea 28–42 CE2 Alexandria 42–44 CE3 Chalcis3.1.1  Herod of Chalcis3.1.2  Agrippa I’s Death3.1.3  Mother Berenice3.1.4  Herod of Chalcis’ Death3.2.1  Queen of Chalcis3.2.2  Brother and Sister (on Killer-Wives and Homosexuality)4 Caesarea-Philippi/Cilicia/Jerusalem (54 CE–66 CE)4.1.1  Herodian Women Divorcing Their Husbands4.1.2  Foreign Dignitaries Converting to Judaism for the Sake of a Herodian Marriage4.1.3  Jealousy4.1.4  Incest4 The War with Rome 66–73 CE1 Jerusalem 66 CE1.1.1  Excursus: Berenice and Judaism2 Caesarea-Philippi 66–70 CE5 Berenice in Rome1 The Roman Way of Telling the Story of the Berenice-Titus Romance1.2.1  Catamites and Eunuchs1.2.2  “Cleopatra Minor”1.2.3  Invitus invitam1.2.4  Excursus: Rome’s Cleopatra2 Other Information about Berenice in Rome6 Berenice’s End: Reception History and Fiction1 Berenice of Sardinia2 The French School3 The Jewish Interpretation4 But She Came Back to (or Stayed in) Rome5 A Final Speculation7 Julia Crispina, Berenice’s (Female) DescendantTwo Conclusions1 The Men in Her Life2 The First CenturyAppendixBerenice’s TimelineBibliographyIndex