Editing Alexander Helios (section)

==Life==
[[File:The twins of Cleopatra and Mark Antony - Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II.png|thumb|Alexander Helios with his twin sister, adorned by Egyptian and Greek cultural references, e.g. [[Cleopatra Selene II]] is crowned with a crescent Moon, referring to her namesake the lunar deity.]] 
Alexander Helios was born and educated in [[History of Alexandria#Ptolemaic Period|Alexandria]]. He was the second of Cleopatra's three sons, [[Caesarion]] being the oldest. In late 34 BC, at the [[Donations of Alexandria]], Alexander Helios, aged six, was dressed in a Median costume and was given the title king of Kings and the ruler of [[Armenia#Antiquity|Armenia]], [[Atropatene|Media]], [[Parthia]] and any countries yet to be discovered between the [[Euphrates]] and Indus Rivers, .<ref>{{Cite book |last=History |first=Hourly |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatralifefro0000hist/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=six |title=Cleopatra: A Life From Beginning to End |date=2017 |page=32|isbn=978-1-9797-5184-1 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Prudence |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatralastpha0000jone/page/n1/mode/1up?view=theater&q=Alexander+ |title=Cleopatra: the last pharaoh |date=2006 |page=96 |isbn=978-1-904950-25-7 |language=En}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hughes-Hallett |first=Lucy |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatrahistori0000hugh_k2y9/page/98/mode/1up?view=theater&q=Alexander+ |title=Cleopatra: histories, dreams and distortions |date=1991 |page=99|isbn=978-0-06-092093-7 }}</ref> although most of this territory stood outside of their control at that time.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Antony'' 54.6-9; [[Cassius Dio]] xlix. 41.1-3; [[Livy]], ''periochae'' 131</ref> These areas were, in fact, already ruled by [[Artaxias II]] of Armenia (who had been elected King that same year after Antony captured his father [[Artavasdes II of Armenia|Artavasdes II]]), [[Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene]] and [[Phraates IV]] of [[Parthia]]. In 33 BC, Alexander was engaged to his distant relative [[Iotapa (daughter of Artavasdes I)|Iotapa]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Egypt/ptolemies/affilates/aff_ptolemies.htm |title=Ptolemaic Dynasty Affiliates |website=www.tyndalehouse.com |access-date=2017-06-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716100716/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Egypt/ptolemies/affilates/aff_ptolemies.htm |archivedate=2011-07-16 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Southern |first=Pat |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatra0000sout?view=theater |title=Cleopatra |date=2007 |page=168 |isbn=978-0-7524-4336-2 |language=En}}</ref> a princess of Media [[Atropatene]] and daughter of [[Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene|Artavasdes I]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weigall |first=Arthur |url=https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofcleop00weig/page/n338/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=lotapa |title=The life and times of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt |date=1914 |page=332}}</ref> However, Mark Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by [[Octavian]] at the [[Battle of Actium]] in 31 BC. The next year, they committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt. Iotapa left Egypt to return to her father and later married her maternal cousin King [[Mithridates III of Commagene]], who was of Armenian and Greek descent.<ref>Cassius Dio xlix. 40.2; xlix. 44.1-4; li. 16.2; Plutarch, ''Antony'' 53.12</ref>

When Octavian conquered Egypt he spared Alexander but took him, his sister and his brother, [[Ptolemy Philadelphus (son of Cleopatra)|Ptolemy Philadelphus]], from Egypt to [[Rome]]. Octavian celebrated his military triumph in Rome by parading the children in heavy gold chains in the streets behind an effigy of their mother clutching an asp to her arm. It is unclear whether Ptolemy Philadelphus survived the journey to Rome, as [[Cassius Dio]] mentions the twins only in his ''History of Rome''.<ref>Cassius Dio li. 21.8</ref> Octavian gave the children to [[Octavia Minor]], his elder sister and a former wife of Mark Antony, to be raised under her guardianship in Rome. They were generously received by Octavia, who educated them with her own children.<ref>Plutarch, ''Antony'' 87.1; [[Suetonius]], ''Augustus'' 17.5</ref>

===Later life===
The fate of Alexander Helios is unknown. [[Plutarch]], [[Cassius Dio]] and [[Suetonius]] state that Octavian killed Antony's son [[Marcus Antonius Antyllus]] and Cleopatra's son with Julius Caesar, [[Caesarion]].<ref>Plutarch, ''Antony'' 81.1 - 82.1; 87.1; Cassius Dio li. 15.5; Suetonius, ''Augustus'' 17.5</ref> The only further mention of Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus comes from Cassius Dio, who states that when their sister, Cleopatra Selene II, married King [[Juba II]] [25 BC], Octavian (by then named Augustus) spared the lives of Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus as a favor to the couple.<ref>Cassius Dio li. 15.6; compare Plutarch, ''Antony'' 87.1-2</ref> After Helios arrives in Rome he disappears from historical records.