Ptolemaica. Per una ‘rilettura’ dei monumenti di Cirene al tempo degli Evergeti Tolemeo III e Tolemeo VIII

The historical-political context of Cyrene around the mid-3rd century BC high lights the central role played by Ptolemy III Euergetes I and especially by his wife Berenice II, daughter of King Magas, formerly Basilissa of Cyrene, in the building activity in the city. There are four most representative monuments, even if architecturally less conspicuous, which require in-depth examination. The first is the Naval Monument erected in the Agora. A new reading of this monument is possible thanks to the identification of Isis Euploia in the statue that surmounts the bow, and of Arsinoe II in the busts of Isis-Io. The monument was aimed at glorifying the naval power of the Lagides and the victory of the First Syriac War by the Philadelphoi. At the same time, the triumph of Ptolemy III in the Third Syriac War was indirectly celebrated. Moreover, the eusebeia of Berenice II toward the deified adoptive mother Arsinoe II was clearly revealed to the inhabitants of the city. The so-called “Relief of Aphrodite”, part of a naiskos by the Ipetral Temple of Demetra and Kore in the Agora, is another piece of evidence of the deification of Arsinoe, there identified with the representation of the goddess Aphrodite, as attested by conspicuous elements. Therefore, the new queen of Egypt, Berenice II, was once again indirectly celebrated through a highly refined political operation. The “Myrtle Enclosure” represents the third monument to look at. It was in the heart of the Sanctuary of Apollo and stood as a ‘memory’ of the ierogamia between Apollo and the Nymph Cyrene. Moreover, it alluded allegorically to the marriage of the Theoi Euergetai Ptolemy III and Berenice II via a propagandistic reading of the myths of the foundation of the polis. The reference to the mythical events was boosted by a punctual recall of the pedimental decoration of the Temple of Apollo, as attested also by the figured freeze of the Portland Vase. Finally, the Circular Tomb N1 represents a further decisive testimony to the dynastic ideology promoted by the two kings and particularly by the Basilissa. In addition to the exceptional value of its funerary equipment, the marble statue originally placed on the top of the roof is significant. Thanks to its style, it can be recognised as a prototype of the Isis Euploia of the Naval Monument. This and other elements of particular importance allow us to attribute the tomb to the deified King Magas, whose cult is attested in Cyrene inscriptions. Furthermore, we can interpret the erection of the tomb as the first relevant stage of the political legitimacy programme promoted by Ptolemy III and above all by Berenice II. Another Euergetes, Ptolemy VIII, reigning over Cyrene in the second half of the 2nd century BC, left a decisive mark for the subsequent development of the polis. Euergetes II started an intense urban planning activity and realized monumental enterprises of the main Alexandrian tradition. Among them, the erection of the great Gymnasium-Ptolemaion ranks among the most magnificent architectural works of this kind created in the Mediterranean metropolises under or in connection with the Lagid power. The outstanding monument represents the new political centre of the city, the seat of the economic transactions, and, above all, the ideal centre of the cult of the sovereign, as attested by its Roman transformation into the Caesareum (Augustan Age) and then the Forum (Flavian Age) of Cyrene. Moreover, Euergetes II converted the most ancient Isiac Sanctuary on the Acropolis in the Sanctuary of Isis and Serapis. This was another monumental intervention of ‘international’ scope, according to a Mediterranean-wide and well-known dynastic ideology. Therefore the two Euergetes, Ptolemy III and Ptolemy VIII, promoted decisively the diffusion of the cult of the kings and were strongly involved in the historical, political, and cultural environment of the first Greek colony of Libya