Laodice (3), Seleucid queen, consort of Antiochus (3) III

Laodice was the daughter of Mithradates II of Pontos and Laodice, daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochus II. In c. 222 BCE, she married Antiochus III and was proclaimed queen. As a Seleucid queen, she was present at the battle of Raphia in 217 BCE between her husband and Ptolemy IV. By acting as a benefactor and engaging in humanitarian initiatives in Asia Minor, she contributed to the political relationship between the Seleucids and local institutions. Because of her patronage, she received honours from cities. In 193 BCE, Laodice was the first Seleucid queen to have a ruler cult that mirrored that of her husband and his ancestors. The cult was established by Antiochus III and was to be managed by eponymous high priestesses. Laodice gave birth to two Seleucid kings, Seleucus IV and Antiochus IV, and a Seleucid queen also named Laodice. Her daughter Cleopatra married Ptolemy V. Although Antiochus III remarried in 192 BCE, she remained the only Seleucid queen. During the reign of her son Seleucus IV she appears in inscriptions as queen mother, after the king and before her daughter,