[Head of a Ptolemaic Queen, Brooklyn Museum, source: Wikimedia Commons]
Cleopatra Selene, originally known only as Selene was the daughter of Cleopatra III and Ptolemy VIII. She took the royal name Cleopatra when her mother had her marry her brother Ptolemy IX Soter as his second wife after her elder sister Cleopatra IV. The marriage lasted at least eight years and may have resulted in one child, Berenike III.* They may or may not have divorced when Ptolemy was deposed in favor of his younger brother, whom she may or may not have next married.
In 103, she once again followed in the steps of an elder sister, Cleopatra Tryphaena, who in this case had died rather than been divorced, and married Antiochos VIII Grypus, king of Syria. They were married only five years before he died. Cleopatra remained in power though, next marrying Antiochos IX Cyzicenus. Whether or not she had children with either of these husbands is unclear. When he was killed, she married his rival, Antiochos X Eusebes, by whom she had two sons.
After the death of her last husband, Cleopatra took over, ruling as regent for her two sons. Meanwhile, back in Egypt, the question of the succession reared its head. There were no legitimate male heirs in the male line. Cleopatra seized her chance and pushed for her one of her own sons to inherit. Instead, the ruling elite decided to legitimize one of Ptolemy IX’s illegitimate sons and make him king. Cleopatra appealed to Rome to no avail.
Her reign ended not when her elder son came of age, but when the Armenian king Tigranes II overran the Seleukid kingdom. Cleopatra found herself besieged in Ptolemais.** She was captured and executed a few years later in 69 BCE.
*It’s also possible that Berenike was her sister Cleopatra IV’s daughter, but it appears less likely.
**Later known as Acre
Strabo, Geography 16.2.3 - Lacus Curtius
Appian, Syrian Wars 11.69 - Perseus
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 13.16.4 - Perseus
Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus 39.3 - Forumromanum.org
Cleopatra Selene - Egyptian Royal Genealogy
Cleopatra V Selene - Livius.org