User:ChristineDB/sandbox

Wikipedia page of Arsinoe IV of Egypt (Ptolemaic Queen) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsinoe_IV_of_Egypt

Want to expand on the history, include more detail about her role in the Alexandrian Civil War taking from Cassius Dio as well as Julius Caesar's own account. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/42*.html#40 http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/alexandrian.html

Since theories about Arsinoe's tomb being the Octagon, located in Ephesus, have faced a lot of criticism due to lack of discernible evidence and the fact that most of these claims are cited in a BBC Documentary "Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer", if they are to be cited in the article I think criticisms should be included as well to emphasize that these claims may be fact but may also just be theories instead of presenting only one side of the argument. For example, the age of whoever the skeleton belongs to at the time of their death seems to be too young to be that of Arsinoe (although we don't actually know when she was born, she was likely to be a lot older than 15-18 years of age if she had played an integral role in the civil war 7 years prior), the skull has been missing since WWII and an archaeologist from the 1920s saying that it looked African is not enough to be considered real evidence. Also, no DNA test could be completed because the bones had been handled too many times and thus samples were contaminated. It could also very well be her, considering that the tomb is just one of five inside of the city walls, which was an honour reserved for people of great importance, and the tomb sports Egyptian motifs and bears a resemblance to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which was the site of one of her greatest victories during the Alexandrian Civil War. https://rogueclassicism.com/2009/03/15/cleopatra-arsinoe-and-the-implications/ http://www.livescience.com/27459-cleopatra-sister-discovery-controversy.html

Changes

- Ptolemy XIII - little is known about her early life, she was the fourth of six children born to Ptolemy XII, whether she shared a mother with Cleopatra or with Ptolemy is unknown, although it has often been assumed that she was Cleopatra’s half-sister - change date of birth to unknown - Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria in August or September 48 BC, pursuing his rival Pompey, whom he had defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in August 48 BC. Cleopatra smuggled herself back inside the city in a rug, and Caesar sided with her faction. He organized a reconciliatory banquet between Ptolemy and Cleopatra - Caesar gifted Cyprus to Arsinoe as a show of peace and declared Ptolemy and Cleopatra to be co-rulers of Egypt - The General Achillas began besieging Alexandria, and Arsinoe escaped with her mentor Ganymedes and joined his faction. After a minor dispute she had him executed and placed Ganymedes in charge of the army. - Successes included contaminating the channels that provided water to the city, which Caesar countered by digging into the limestone bedrock, which was porous and produced wells of water - Caesar tried to receive aid from Mithridates through the harbour, but they couldn’t land because their ships were dashed on the rocks, so they retreated and instead made their way to Alexandria by land - The Romans are driven back to the city and away from the water by the Egyptians, they set fire to the docks to drive away the Egyptians - The fire spreads and consumes the Library of Alexandria - During the commotion, Caesar took his opportunity to seize the Lighthouse of Pharos, only to be driven away by the Egyptians, as he swam for safety he threw off his purple cloak to make a quick getaway, which was taken by the Egyptians and hoisted over the battlements as a symbol of their victory - The Egyptians began to argue amongst themselves, and Arsinoe was traded for Ptolemy under a pretext of peace, but he continued the war until Mithridates arrived by land and broke the enemy lines - Pursued, Ptolemy drowned trying to cross the Nile, and Arsinoe was taken prisoner and transferred to Rome

- Would have been between the ages of 8 and 14 if the skeleton was hers - It is known that she was born after Cleopatra in 69 BC and before Ptolemy in 61 BC, her birth is unknown but is estimated to be between 68 and 63 BC, which would have made her between the ages of 15 and 20 at the time of the war - tomb stood over 50 feet tall, and is only one of five tombs inside the city walls and the only one’s who’s occupant was female, which would have made her a woman of great importance