Apama III et IV, reines de Bithynie et princesses de Syrie ? Note de prosopographie séleucide

T. STASSER, « Apama III et IV, reines de Bithynie et princesses de Syrie ? Note de prosopographie séleucide », Res Antiquae 12, Bruxelles, 2015.

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Since the 19th century, historians have assumed that Apama III and IV, respective wives of kings Prusias I and Prusias II of Bithynia, were Antigonid Macedonian princesses. They relied on a series of sources that did indeed seem convincing. It seems to me, however, rather unlikely that the Antigonid Macedonian kings would have given two of their daughters the Persian name Apama. Apama is a Persian name, passed on by marriage through the Seleucids of Syria, and there is no supposed reason why Demetrius II and Philip of Macedon would have given one of their daughters the name of the founding mother of the Seleucids since she was not an ancestor of theirs. The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative hypothesis based on an examination of the sources, the onomastics and the naming of the royal children, and the matrimonial strategies of Hellenistic rulers.

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