Berenice of Cilicia
Encyclopedia
Berenice of Cilicia, also known as Julia Berenice and sometimes spelled Bernice (28 AD – ?), was a Jewish client queen
of the Roman Empire
during the second half of the 1st century. Berenice was a member of the Herodian Dynasty
, who ruled the Roman province of Judaea
between 39 BC and 92 AD. She was the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I
, and sister of King Herod Agrippa II
.
What little is known about the life and background of Berenice has been handed down to us through the New Testament book of Acts, the 25th chapter. Also the early historian Flavius Josephus, who detailed a history of the Jewish people and wrote an account of the Jewish Rebellion
of 67. It is for her tumultuous love life however that Berenice is primarily known today. After a number of failed marriage
s throughout the 40s, she spent much of the remainder of her life at court of her brother Agrippa II, amidst rumors the two were carrying on an incest
uous relationship. During the First Jewish-Roman War
, she began a love affair with the future emperor
Titus Flavius Vespasianus
. Her unpopularity among the Romans however compelled Titus to dismiss Berenice upon his accession as emperor in 79. When he died two years later, so did Berenice disappear from the historical record.
and Cypros, as granddaughter to Aristobulus IV
and great-granddaughter to Herod the Great
. Her elder brother was Agrippa II
(b. 27), and her younger sisters were Mariamne
(b. 34) and Drusilla
(b. 38). According to Josephus
, there was also a younger brother called Drusus, who died before his teens. Her family constituted part of what is known as the Herodian Dynasty
, who ruled the Judaea Province between 39 BC and 92.
Josephus
records three short-lived marriages in Berenice's life, the first which took place sometime between 41 and 43, to Marcus Julius Alexander
, brother of Tiberius Julius Alexander
and son of Alexander the Alabarch
of Alexandria
. On his early death in 44, she was married to her father's brother, Herod of Chalcis
, with whom she had two sons, Berenicianus and Hyrcanus. When he died in 48, she lived with her brother Agrippa for several years until she married Polemon II of Pontus, king of Cilicia
, who she subsequently deserted again. According to Josephus, Berenice requested this marriage to dispel rumors that she and her brother were carrying on an incest
uous relationship, with Polemon being persuaded to this union mostly on account of her wealth. However the marriage did not last and she soon returned to the court of her brother. Josephus was not the only ancient writer to suggest incestuous relations between Berenice and Agrippa. Juvenal
, in his sixth satire
, outright claims that they were lovers. Whether this was based on truth remains unknown. Berenice indeed spent much of her life at the court of Agrippa, and by all accounts shared almost equal power. Popular rumors may also have been fueled by the fact that Agrippa himself never married during his lifetime.
Like her brother, Berenice was a client queen
, allowed to rule parts of the Roman Empire in present-day Syria
. The Acts of the Apostles
records that during this time, in 60, Paul of Tarsus
appeared before their court at Caesarea.
In 64 emperor Nero
appointed Gessius Florus
as procurator of the Judaea Province. During his administration, the Jews were systematically discriminated in favour of the Greek population of the region. Tensions quickly rose to civil unrest when Florus plundered the treasury of the Temple
of Jerusalem under the guise of imperial taxes. Following riots, the instigators were arrested and crucified
by the Romans. Appalled at the treatment of her countrymen, Berenice travelled to Jerusalem in 66 to personally petition Florus to spare the Jews, but not only did he refuse to comply with her requests, Berenice herself was nearly killed during skirmishes in the city. Likewise a plea for assistance to the legate of Syria
, Cestius Gallus
, met with no response.
To prevent Jewish violence from further escalating, Agrippa assembled the populace and delivered a tearful speech to the crowd in the company of his sister, but the Jews alienated their sympathies when the insurgents burned down their palaces. They fled the city to Galilee
where they later gave themselves up to the Romans. Meanwhile Cestius Gallus moved into the region with the twelfth legion
, but was unable to restore order and suffered defeat at the battle of Beth-Horon
, forcing the Romans to retreat from Jerusalem.
Emperor Nero
then appointed Vespasian
to put down the rebellion, who landed in Judaea with fifth
and tenth legions
in 67. He was later joined by his son Titus
at Ptolemais
, who brought with him the fifteenth legion
. With a strength of 60,000 professional soldiers, the Romans quickly swept across Galilee and by 69 marched on Jerusalem.
during the conflict, and later in 69, the Year of the Four Emperors
—when the Roman Empire saw the quick succession of the emperors Galba
, Otho
and Vitellius
—Berenice reportedly used all her wealth and influence to support Vespasian on his campaign to become emperor. When Vespasian was declared emperor on December 21 of 69, Titus was left in Judaea to finish putting down the rebellion. The war ended in 70 with the destruction of the Second Temple and the sack of Jerusalem, with approximately 1 million dead, and 97,000 taken captive by the Romans. Triumphant, Titus returned to Rome to assist his father in the government, while Berenice stayed behind in Judaea.
It took four years until they reunited, when she and Agrippa came to Rome in 75. The reasons for this long absence are unclear, but have been linked to possible opposition to her presence by Gaius Licinius Mucianus, a political ally of emperor Vespasian who died sometime between 72 and 78. Agrippa was given the rank of praetor
, while Berenice resumed her relationship with Titus, living with him at the palace and reportedly acting in every respect as his wife. The ancient historian Cassius Dio writes that Berenice was at the height of her power during this time, and if it can be any indication as to how influential she was, Quintilian
records an anecdote
in his Institutio Oratoria where, to his astonishment, he found himself pleading a case on Berenice's behalf where she herself presided as the judge
. The Roman populace however perceived the Eastern Queen as an intrusive outsider, and when the pair was publicly denounced by Cynics in the theatre, Titus caved in to the pressure and sent her away.
Upon the accession of Titus as emperor in 79, she returned to Rome, but was quickly dismissed amidst a number of popular measures of Titus to restore his reputation with the populace. It is possible that he intended to send for her at a more convenient time. However after reigning barely two years as emperor, he suddenly died on September 13, 81.
It is not known what happened to Berenice after her final dismissal from Rome. Her brother Agrippa died around 92, and with him the Herodian Dynasty came to an end.
In modern history, her aspirations as a potential empress of Rome have led to her being described as a 'miniature Cleopatra'.
, is mentioned in The Assassins of Rome
and plays a fairly prominent role in Lion Feuchtwanger's historical novel, Josephus
(Der Jüdische Krieg).
The love story between Berenice and Titus is also the premise of La clemenza di Tito
(1734), an Italian opera by Antonio Caldara
(mus.) and Pietro Metastasio (libr.), later set to music by more than 40 other composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse
(1735), Giuseppe Arena (1738), Francesco Corradini (1747), Christoph Willibald Gluck
(1752), Andrea Adolfati
(1753), Niccolò Jommelli
(1753), Ignaz Holzbauer
(1757), Vincenzo Legrezio Ciampi (1757), Gioacchino Cocchi
(1760), Marcello Bernardini
(1768), Andrea Bernasconi
(1768), Pasquale Anfossi
(1769), and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1791). More recently it was used as the backdrop for the Caroline Lawrence
novels the Assassins of Rome and the Enemies of Jupiter. Lindsey Davis
mentions it, though without making it the central plot line in novels such as Saturnalia
. It is also the stimulus for the new ballet piece by Kim Brandstrup, 'Invitus Invitam' which premiered in the Royal Opera House
in October 2010.
Client state
Client state is one of several terms used to describe the economic, political and/or military subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs...
of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
during the second half of the 1st century. Berenice was a member of the Herodian Dynasty
Herodian Dynasty
The Herodian Dynasty was a Jewish dynasty of Idumean descent, client Kings of Roman Judaea Province between 37 BCE and 92 CE.- Origin :During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus 134-104 BCE, Israel conquered Edom and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism.The Edomites were integrated...
, who ruled the Roman province of Judaea
Iudaea Province
Judaea or Iudaea are terms used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...
between 39 BC and 92 AD. She was the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I
Agrippa I
Agrippa I also known as Herod Agrippa or simply Herod , King of the Jews, was the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, so named in honour of Roman statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the...
, and sister of King Herod Agrippa II
Agrippa II
Agrippa II , son of Agrippa I, and like him originally named Marcus Julius Agrippa, was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great, thus last of the Herodians. He was the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla...
.
What little is known about the life and background of Berenice has been handed down to us through the New Testament book of Acts, the 25th chapter. Also the early historian Flavius Josephus, who detailed a history of the Jewish people and wrote an account of the Jewish Rebellion
First Jewish-Roman War
The First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...
of 67. It is for her tumultuous love life however that Berenice is primarily known today. After a number of failed marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
s throughout the 40s, she spent much of the remainder of her life at court of her brother Agrippa II, amidst rumors the two were carrying on an incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous relationship. During the First Jewish-Roman War
First Jewish-Roman War
The First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...
, she began a love affair with the future emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Titus Flavius Vespasianus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
. Her unpopularity among the Romans however compelled Titus to dismiss Berenice upon his accession as emperor in 79. When he died two years later, so did Berenice disappear from the historical record.
Early life
Berenice was born in 28 to Herod AgrippaAgrippa I
Agrippa I also known as Herod Agrippa or simply Herod , King of the Jews, was the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, so named in honour of Roman statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the...
and Cypros, as granddaughter to Aristobulus IV
Aristobulus IV
Aristobulus IV was a prince of Judea from the Herodian dynasty, and was married to his cousin, Berenice, daughter of Costobar and Salome...
and great-granddaughter to Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
. Her elder brother was Agrippa II
Agrippa II
Agrippa II , son of Agrippa I, and like him originally named Marcus Julius Agrippa, was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great, thus last of the Herodians. He was the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla...
(b. 27), and her younger sisters were Mariamne
Mariamne (daughter of Herod Agrippa I)
Mariamne was a daughter of King Herod Agrippa I. She was betrothed by her father to Gaius Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes, first son of King Antiochus IV of Commagene, but this marriage had not yet been enacted upon her father's death. Her brother Agrippa II enacted the marriage once he had...
(b. 34) and Drusilla
Drusilla (daughter of Agrippa I)
Drusilla was a daughter of Herod Agrippa I and thus sister to Berenice, Mariamne and Herod Agrippa II.-First marriage:She was six years of age at the time of her father's death at Caesarea in 44...
(b. 38). According to Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, there was also a younger brother called Drusus, who died before his teens. Her family constituted part of what is known as the Herodian Dynasty
Herodian Dynasty
The Herodian Dynasty was a Jewish dynasty of Idumean descent, client Kings of Roman Judaea Province between 37 BCE and 92 CE.- Origin :During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus 134-104 BCE, Israel conquered Edom and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism.The Edomites were integrated...
, who ruled the Judaea Province between 39 BC and 92.
Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
records three short-lived marriages in Berenice's life, the first which took place sometime between 41 and 43, to Marcus Julius Alexander
Marcus Julius Alexander
Marcus Julius Alexander was a distinguished and wealthy Alexandrian Jewish Merchant.-Ancestry and Family:...
, brother of Tiberius Julius Alexander
Tiberius Julius Alexander
Tiberius Julius Alexander was an equestrian governor and general in the Roman Empire. Born into a wealthy Jewish family of Alexandria but abandoning or neglecting the Jewish religion, he rose to become procurator of Judea under Claudius...
and son of Alexander the Alabarch
Alexander the Alabarch
Alexander the Alabarch, full name Tiberius Julius Alexander Major was an Alexandrian Jewish aristocrat who was one of the pro-Roman leaders of the Alexandrian Jewish community and one of the brothers of the exegete and philosopher Philo.-Ancestry and family:Alexander was born and raised in...
of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. On his early death in 44, she was married to her father's brother, Herod of Chalcis
Herod of Chalcis
Herod of Chalcis , also known as Herod V, was a son of Aristobulus IV, and the grandson of Herod the Great, Roman client king of Judaea. He was the brother of Herod Agrippa I and Herodias....
, with whom she had two sons, Berenicianus and Hyrcanus. When he died in 48, she lived with her brother Agrippa for several years until she married Polemon II of Pontus, king of Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
, who she subsequently deserted again. According to Josephus, Berenice requested this marriage to dispel rumors that she and her brother were carrying on an incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous relationship, with Polemon being persuaded to this union mostly on account of her wealth. However the marriage did not last and she soon returned to the court of her brother. Josephus was not the only ancient writer to suggest incestuous relations between Berenice and Agrippa. Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
, in his sixth satire
Satire VI
Satire VI is the most famous of the sixteen Satires by the Roman author Juvenal written in the late 1st or early 2nd century. In English translation, this satire is often titled something in the vein of Against Women due to the most obvious reading of its content...
, outright claims that they were lovers. Whether this was based on truth remains unknown. Berenice indeed spent much of her life at the court of Agrippa, and by all accounts shared almost equal power. Popular rumors may also have been fueled by the fact that Agrippa himself never married during his lifetime.
Like her brother, Berenice was a client queen
Client state
Client state is one of several terms used to describe the economic, political and/or military subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs...
, allowed to rule parts of the Roman Empire in present-day Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. The Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
records that during this time, in 60, Paul of Tarsus
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
appeared before their court at Caesarea.
Great Jewish revolt
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
appointed Gessius Florus
Gessius Florus
Gessius Florus was the Roman procurator of Judea from 64 until 66. Born in Clazomenae, Florus was appointed to replace Lucceius Albinus as procurator by the Emperor Nero due to his wife's friendship with Nero's wife Poppaea...
as procurator of the Judaea Province. During his administration, the Jews were systematically discriminated in favour of the Greek population of the region. Tensions quickly rose to civil unrest when Florus plundered the treasury of the Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
of Jerusalem under the guise of imperial taxes. Following riots, the instigators were arrested and crucified
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
by the Romans. Appalled at the treatment of her countrymen, Berenice travelled to Jerusalem in 66 to personally petition Florus to spare the Jews, but not only did he refuse to comply with her requests, Berenice herself was nearly killed during skirmishes in the city. Likewise a plea for assistance to the legate of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Cestius Gallus
Cestius Gallus
Gaius Cestius Gallus was the son of a consul in ancient Rome and himself a suffect consul in 42.He was legate of Syria from 63 or 65. He marched into Judea in 66 in an attempt to restore calm at the outset of the Great Jewish Revolt...
, met with no response.
To prevent Jewish violence from further escalating, Agrippa assembled the populace and delivered a tearful speech to the crowd in the company of his sister, but the Jews alienated their sympathies when the insurgents burned down their palaces. They fled the city to Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
where they later gave themselves up to the Romans. Meanwhile Cestius Gallus moved into the region with the twelfth legion
Legio XII Fulminata
Legio duodecima Fulminata , also known as Paterna, Victrix, Antiqua, Certa Constans, and Galliena, was a Roman legion, levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC and which accompanied him during the Gallic wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the...
, but was unable to restore order and suffered defeat at the battle of Beth-Horon
Beth-horon
Bethoron was the name for two adjacent towns, Bethoron Elyon , and Bethoron Tahton , named for the Egypto-Canaanite deity Horon mentioned in Ugaritic literature and other texts...
, forcing the Romans to retreat from Jerusalem.
Emperor Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
then appointed Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
to put down the rebellion, who landed in Judaea with fifth
Legio V Macedonica
Legio quinta Macedonica was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Octavian in 43 BC, and it was stationed in Moesia at least until 5th century. Its symbol was the bull, but the eagle was used as well...
and tenth legions
Legio X Fretensis
Legio X Fretensis was a Roman legion levied by Augustus Caesar in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic...
in 67. He was later joined by his son Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
at Ptolemais
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
, who brought with him the fifteenth legion
Legio XV Apollinaris
Legio quinta decima Apollinaris was a Roman legion. It was recruited by Octavian in 41/40 BC. The emblem of this legion was probably a picture of Apollo, or of one of his holy animals....
. With a strength of 60,000 professional soldiers, the Romans quickly swept across Galilee and by 69 marched on Jerusalem.
Affair with Titus
It was during this time that Berenice met and fell in love with Titus, who was eleven years her junior. The Herodians sided with the FlaviansFlavian dynasty
The Flavian dynasty was a Roman Imperial Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian , and his two sons Titus and Domitian . The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
during the conflict, and later in 69, the Year of the Four Emperors
Year of the Four Emperors
The Year of the Four Emperors was a year in the history of the Roman Empire, AD 69, in which four emperors ruled in a remarkable succession. These four emperors were Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian....
—when the Roman Empire saw the quick succession of the emperors Galba
Galba
Galba , was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex...
, Otho
Otho
Otho , was Roman Emperor for three months, from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the four emperors.- Birth and lineage :...
and Vitellius
Vitellius
Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
—Berenice reportedly used all her wealth and influence to support Vespasian on his campaign to become emperor. When Vespasian was declared emperor on December 21 of 69, Titus was left in Judaea to finish putting down the rebellion. The war ended in 70 with the destruction of the Second Temple and the sack of Jerusalem, with approximately 1 million dead, and 97,000 taken captive by the Romans. Triumphant, Titus returned to Rome to assist his father in the government, while Berenice stayed behind in Judaea.
It took four years until they reunited, when she and Agrippa came to Rome in 75. The reasons for this long absence are unclear, but have been linked to possible opposition to her presence by Gaius Licinius Mucianus, a political ally of emperor Vespasian who died sometime between 72 and 78. Agrippa was given the rank of praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
, while Berenice resumed her relationship with Titus, living with him at the palace and reportedly acting in every respect as his wife. The ancient historian Cassius Dio writes that Berenice was at the height of her power during this time, and if it can be any indication as to how influential she was, Quintilian
Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus was a Roman rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing...
records an anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
in his Institutio Oratoria where, to his astonishment, he found himself pleading a case on Berenice's behalf where she herself presided as the judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
. The Roman populace however perceived the Eastern Queen as an intrusive outsider, and when the pair was publicly denounced by Cynics in the theatre, Titus caved in to the pressure and sent her away.
Upon the accession of Titus as emperor in 79, she returned to Rome, but was quickly dismissed amidst a number of popular measures of Titus to restore his reputation with the populace. It is possible that he intended to send for her at a more convenient time. However after reigning barely two years as emperor, he suddenly died on September 13, 81.
It is not known what happened to Berenice after her final dismissal from Rome. Her brother Agrippa died around 92, and with him the Herodian Dynasty came to an end.
In modern history, her aspirations as a potential empress of Rome have led to her being described as a 'miniature Cleopatra'.
Berenice in books
Berenice appears in the Roman Mysteries book series. She shows up in The Enemies of JupiterThe Enemies of Jupiter
The Enemies of Jupiter is a children's historical novel by Caroline Lawrence published on 6 November, 2003 by Orion Books. It is the seventh book of the Roman Mysteries series.-Plot introduction:...
, is mentioned in The Assassins of Rome
The Assassins of Rome
The Assassins of Rome is a children's historical novel by Caroline Lawrence published on 17 October 2002 by Orion Books. It is the fourth book of The Roman Mysteries series.-Plot introduction:The novel is set in Ostia and Rome in September AD 79...
and plays a fairly prominent role in Lion Feuchtwanger's historical novel, Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
(Der Jüdische Krieg).
Berenice in the arts
From the 17th century to contemporary times, there has been a long tradition of works of art (novels, dramas, operas, etc.) devoted to Berenice and her affair with the Roman Emperor Titus. The list includes:- Lettres de Bérénice à Titus (1642), a French novel by Madeleine de ScudéryMadeleine de ScudéryMadeleine de Scudéry , often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer. She was the younger sister of author Georges de Scudéry.-Biography:...
- Bérénice (1648–50), a French novel by Jean Regnauld de Segrais
- Tite (1660), a French drama by Jean MagnonJean Magnon-Selected works:*Le Gran Tamerlan et Bejezet , on Tamerlane and Bayezid I*Tite , tragi-comedy on the life of Titus and his affair with Berenice*Zénobie, Reyne de Palmire , tragedy on the life of Zenobia-External links:...
- Il Tito (1666), an Italian opera by Antonio CestiAntonio CestiAntonio Cesti , known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, he was also a singer , and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".- Biography :...
(mus.) and Nicola Beregani (libr.) - BéréniceBéréniceBerenice is a five-act tragedy by the French 17th-century playwright Jean Racine. Berenice was not played often between the 17th and the 20th centuries. Today it is one of Racine's more popular plays, after Phèdre, Andromaque and Britannicus.It was first performed in 1670...
(1670), a French drama by Jean RacineJean RacineJean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition... - Tite et Bérénice (1670), a French drama by Pierre CorneillePierre CorneillePierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
- Titus and Berenice (1676), an English drama by Thomas OtwayThomas OtwayThomas Otway was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for Venice Preserv'd, or A Plot Discover'd .-Life:...
- Tito e Berenice (1714), an Italian opera by Antonio CaldaraAntonio CaldaraAntonio Caldara was an Italian Baroque composer.Caldara was born in Venice , the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi...
(mus.) and Carlo Sigismondo Capace (libr.) - Berenice (1725), an Italian opera by Giuseppe Maria OrlandiniGiuseppe Maria OrlandiniGiuseppe Maria Orlandini was an Italian baroque composer particularly known for his more than 40 operas and intermezzos...
(mus.) and Benedetto Pasqualigo (libr.). Also set to music by Niccolò Vito Piccinni (1766) - Tito e Berenice (1776), an Italian opera by Raimondo Mei (mus.) and Carlo Giuseppe Lanfranchi-Rossi (libr.)
- Tito e Berenice (1782), a ballet by Paolino Franchi (chor.)
- Tito; o, La partenza di Berenice (1790), a ballet by Domenico Maria Gaspero Angiolini (mus. and chor.)
- Tito e Berenice (1793), an Italian opera by Sebastiano Nasolini (mus.) and Giuseppe Maria Foppa (libr.)
- Tito che abbandona Berenice (1828), a painting by Giuseppe BezzuoliGiuseppe BezzuoliGiuseppe Bezzuoli was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period, active in Milan, Rome, and his native city of Florence....
- Titus et Bérénice (1860), a French opera by Leon-Gustave-Cyprien Gastinel (mus.) and Edouard Fournier (libr.)
- Berenice (1890), a German novel by Heinrich Vollrat Schumacher
- Bérénice (1909), a French opera by Lucien-Denis-Gabriel-Alberic Magnard (mus. and libr.)
- Titus und die Jüdin (1911), a German drama by Hans Kyser
- Lost Diaries: From the Diary of Emperor Titus (1913), an English novel by Maurice BaringMaurice BaringMaurice Baring was an English man of letters, known as a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator and essayist, and also as a travel writer and war correspondent...
- Bérénice, l’Hérodienne (1919), a French drama by Albert du Bois
- Bérénice (1920), incidental music by Marcel Samuel-RousseauMarcel Samuel-RousseauMarcel Samuel-Rousseau was a French composer, organist, and opera director. He studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire and was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1905. He was the organist at Saint-Séverin from 1919–1922 and president of the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique...
- Berenice (1922), an English drama by John MasefieldJohn MasefieldJohn Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
- Bérénice (1934), a French parody by Noel Ouden
- Berinikah (1945), a Hebrew drama by Eisig Silberschlag and Carl de Haas
- Le reine de Césarée (1954), a French drama by Robert BrasillachRobert BrasillachRobert Brasillach was a French author and journalist. Brasillach is best known as the editor of Je suis partout, a nationalist newspaper which came to advocate various fascist movements and supported Jacques Doriot...
- Berenice, Princess of Judea (1959), an English novel by Leon Kolb
- Mission to Claudies (1963), an English novel by Leon Kolb
- Agrippa’s Daughter (1964), an English novel by Howard Melvin Fast
- La pourpre de Judée: ou, Les délices du genre humain (1967), a French novel by Maurice ClavelMaurice ClavelMaurice Clavel is a French writer, journalist and philosopher born on November 10, 1920 in Frontignan and who died on April 23, 1979 in Asquins .-Youth:...
- Bérénice (1968), a French TV-film by Piere-Alain Jolivet
- Tito y Berenice (1970), a Spanish drama by Rene MarquesRené MarquesRené Marqués was a renowned Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright.-Early years:Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo...
- Bérénice (1983), a French TV-film by Raoul RuizRaoul RuizRaúl Ernesto Ruiz Pino was a Chilean filmmaker.Ruiz spent some years at the Catholic University of Santa Fe, Argentina's cinema school. Back in Chile, he directed his first feature film Tres tristes tigres in the late 1960s, winning the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival...
- Cross Triumphant, The (1898), a hitorical fiction novel by Florence M. Kingsley
The love story between Berenice and Titus is also the premise of La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
(1734), an Italian opera by Antonio Caldara
Antonio Caldara
Antonio Caldara was an Italian Baroque composer.Caldara was born in Venice , the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi...
(mus.) and Pietro Metastasio (libr.), later set to music by more than 40 other composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music...
(1735), Giuseppe Arena (1738), Francesco Corradini (1747), Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
(1752), Andrea Adolfati
Andrea Adolfati
Andrea Adolfati was an Italian composer who is particularly remembered for his output of opera serias. His works are generally conventional and stylistically similar to the operas of his teacher Baldassare Galuppi...
(1753), Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli was an Italian composer. He was born in Aversa and died in Naples. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he made important changes to opera and reduced the importance of star singers.-Early life:Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and...
(1753), Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer was a composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the Sturm und Drang "movement" of German art and literature.Holzbauer was born in Vienna...
(1757), Vincenzo Legrezio Ciampi (1757), Gioacchino Cocchi
Gioacchino Cocchi
Gioacchino Cocchi was an Italian composer.He was particularly famous for his theatre music . His first works were performed at Naples and Rome. From 1750 to 1757 he stayed in Venice, where he became chapel master of the Ospedale degli Incurabili . He also taught composition to Andrea Luchesi...
(1760), Marcello Bernardini
Marcello Bernardini
Marcello Bernardini was an Italian composer and librettist. Little is known of him, save that he wrote 37 operas in his career...
(1768), Andrea Bernasconi
Andrea Bernasconi
Andrea Bernasconi was an Italian composer. He began his career in his native country as a composer of operas. In 1755 he was appointed to the post of Kapellmeister at the Bavarian court in Munich where he produced several more operas successfully and a few symphonies. After 1772 his compositional...
(1768), Pasquale Anfossi
Pasquale Anfossi
Bonifacio Domenico Pasquale Anfossi was an Italian opera composer. Born in Taggia, Liguria, he studied with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, and worked mainly in London, Venice and Rome....
(1769), and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
(1791). More recently it was used as the backdrop for the Caroline Lawrence
Caroline Lawrence
Caroline Lawrence is an English American author, best known for The Roman Mysteries series of historical novels for children. The series is about a Roman girl called Flavia and her three friends: Nubia , Jonathan and Lupus...
novels the Assassins of Rome and the Enemies of Jupiter. Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis is an English historical novelist, best known as the author of the Falco series of crime stories set in ancient Rome and its empire.-Biography:...
mentions it, though without making it the central plot line in novels such as Saturnalia
Saturnalia (book)
Saturnalia is a crime novel by Lindsey Davis.-Plot introduction:Set in Rome Saturnalia stars Marcus Didius Falco, Informer and Imperial Agent...
. It is also the stimulus for the new ballet piece by Kim Brandstrup, 'Invitus Invitam' which premiered in the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in October 2010.
Primary sources
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, English translation
- Josephus, The War of the Jews, Book II, English translation
- Tacitus, Histories, Book 2, English translation
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 65, Chapter 15, English translation
- "The 'New Cleopatra' and the Jewish Tax" Biblical Archaeology Society