Cleopatra I Syra was born about 204 B.C. She was the daughter of Antiochus III the Great, who was a Seleucid king. She married Ptolemy V, who was the King of Egypt. She had three children, Cleopatra II, Ptolemy VI, and Ptolemy VIII. She became the queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. After the death of her husband, she ruled Egypt on behalf of her son Ptolemy VI. She was known as the first Ptolemaic Queen to rule alone. In the short time that she ruled she was able to bring peace to the Egyptian region.



Antiochus III, was the father of Cleopatra I. He was a very ambitious man who had his eyes set on conquering Syria and Egypt. Antiochus III took advantage of the chaos in Egypt and began a war against them in 219 B.C., but he didn’t invade Egypt right away. In the meantime, the Egyptian army was getting stronger. In 217 B.C., Ptolemy IV, the Egyptian King, defeated Antiochus in the Battle of Raphia. He took control of Coele-Syria, but he didn’t go any further and try to take control of the rest of Antiochus’ empire.


The Ptolemaic Kingdom began to weaken and the Egyptians began to revolt. Ptolemy IV died in 204 B.C., leaving as his heir, Ptolemy V. Ptolemy V was just a child, and Antiochus took advantage of this. In 203 B.C., he conspired with Philip V of Macedon to take over the Ptolemaic Empire. Antiochus’ army beat the Egyptian army in the Battle of Panium in 201 B.C., and he regained control of Coele-Syria. So in order to establish peace in Egypt, Ptolemy V made a deal with Antiochus and married his daughter, Cleopatra I. They were married in 194 B.C. in Raphia. Ptolemy V was 16 years old, and Cleopatra I was 10. As a dowry, Cleopatra I received Coele-Syria, and this land once again belonged to Egypt.


Together, Cleopatra I and Ptolemy V had three children. They had two sons Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII, and a daughter Cleopatra II. In 182 B.C., Ptolemy V plans on attacking the Seleucid Empire. In 180 B.C., in order to prevent this war, Ptolemy V is murdered and his son Ptolemy VI becomes the heir to the throne. His mother, Cleopatra I, rules on his behalf. She quickly ended the plans to attack the Seleucid Empire, which was ruled by her brother Seleucus IV. Cleopatra did not rule for very long, she died in 176 B.C.



Although there was not much written about Cleopatra I, we know that she was very instrumental in bringing peace to Egypt on several occasions. First, when she married Ptolemy V, and second, while she ruled for her son Ptolemy VI. In both occasions, Egypt was in turmoil and chaos, and Cleopatra I was able to bring peace to that region.