The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Berenice, b. c.340 B.C., d. 281 or 271 B.C., consort and half sister of Ptolemy I, king of ancient Egypt
(brn´s) (KEY) , b. c.340 B.C., d. 281 or 271 B.C., consort and half sister of Ptolemy I, king of ancient Egypt. A Macedonian, she was the widow of Philip, one of the officers of Alexander the Great, and was by this marriage the mother of Magas, king of Cyrene; Antigone, wife of Pyrrhus of Epirus; and Theoxena, wife of Agathocles, ruler of Syracuse. Berenice, whose portrait appears with that of Ptolemy on many medals, was the mother by him of Ptolemy II and Arsinoë II.