On the steps of a sacred temple, Cleopatra's feud with her sister came to a blood-soaked end

“People go to Ephesus today and there is pretty much just a single column that’s left standing,” says historian Bettany Hughes, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast.

“It’s a bit marshy, it feels a little bit neglected. But what you are looking down on is just the inner sanctuary of this extraordinary temple.”

Earthquakes and centuries of decay might have reduced it to crumbled ruins, but in the 1st century BC, the temple was one of the most sacred places in the ancient world – which makes what happened there to Cleopatra’s younger sister, Arsinoe IV, all the more extraordinary.

Cleopatra and Arsinoe: a dynasty built on blood

The Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt from the death of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC until Cleopatra’s own fall in 30 BC, was notorious for its brutality.

Brothers and sisters often married each other in imitation of the ancient pharaohs of a bygone era. But such intimacy didn’t prevent family members from murdering, exiling or poisoning one another to secure power.

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The Ptolemaic dynasty was infamous for turning siblings into rivals. Cleopatra herself had to fight her own brothers and sisters to secure the throne. Her younger brother Ptolemy XIII initially ruled alongside her, but the two soon fell into open conflict.

In 48 BC, Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria while pursuing his enemy Pompey during Rome’s civil war. Drawn into Egypt’s dynastic struggle, he chose to support Cleopatra’s claim. The city erupted into what became known as the Alexandrian War, a chaotic siege fought between Caesar’s troops, Cleopatra’s supporters, and Ptolemy XIII’s forces. During the fighting, Ptolemy was forced to flee after his defeat at the battle of the Nile and then drowned in the river.

Afterward, Cleopatra ruled jointly with another brother, Ptolemy XIV, but he died only a few years later in suspicious circumstances, leaving her sole ruler.

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Arsinoe IV: a sister turned rival

Amid this conflict, Cleopatra’s younger sister Arsinoe IV emerged as another claimant. She had herself proclaimed queen in opposition to Cleopatra and, at one point, even commanded Egyptian troops against Caesar’s forces. For a brief time, she was celebrated in Alexandria as a symbol of resistance.

When Caesar eventually brought the fighting under control and secured Cleopatra’s throne, Arsinoe was captured. Remarkably, he spared her life, sending her into exile at Ephesus instead of executing her – a decision that would later come back to haunt Cleopatra.

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Nevertheless, by the 40s BC, Cleopatra’s position was secure thanks to her alliance with Mark Antony, one of the most powerful men in Rome. Arsinoe, however, remained a thorny problem. As long as she lived, Cleopatra’s opponents might use her as a political pawn.

The goddess of Ephesus

If Arsinoe hoped anywhere could protect her, it was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

“The Artemis who was worshiped in Ephesus was an Eastern Artemis, a direct descendant of the great nature goddesses of the eastern world. As soon as you see an image [of her] you realize just how feisty she is,” Hughes explains.

Unlike the Greek huntress Artemis or the Roman Diana, the Ephesian goddess was depicted as a motherly figure, associated with fertility and protection. Her sanctuary had a long tradition of offering asylum.

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“People go to the Temple of Artemis to seek sanctuary,” say Hughes, who adds that this included some famous names.

“Some of the murderers of Julius Caesar, and during the great Persian wars at the time of the Classical Greeks, the children of Xerxes are taken there and are hidden in the temple,” Hughes notes.

The temple itself was immense – four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens – and its right of asylum was respected across the Mediterranean. For Arsinoe, it seemed the one place even Cleopatra could not touch her.

“Arsinoe knows that the goddess offers people sanctuary, particularly women,” says Hughes. “So Arsinoe IV thinks … where in the world can I go where I’ll be safe? I’ll go to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.”

Murder on the temple steps

At first, Arsinoe’s gamble worked. She was granted sanctuary, her life formally protected by Artemis. But Cleopatra was determined.

“Arsinoe is given sanctuary in the temple, but even the great Goddess Artemis is not a match for Cleopatra,” say Hughes.

“We don’t know exactly what happened. We don’t know whether she threatened somebody or bribed them, but somehow Arsinoe is pulled out of the temple and murdered on the temple steps on the order of Cleopatra,” Hughes explains.

The act was shocking not just for its violence but for its setting. To kill on the steps of the Temple of Artemis was to trample one of the most sacred laws of the ancient Mediterranean.

Why it shocked the ancient world

For centuries, sanctuary at Ephesus had been respected. Even violent criminals and defeated kings could claim the goddess’s protection. To drag Arsinoe out of the temple and execute her was unprecedented.

“It was a sanctuary, but not if you’re up against a character who does not like ‘no’ for an answer like Cleopatra,” Hughes remarks.

The exact details remain mysterious. Did Antony’s soldiers storm the temple? Were the priests bribed or threatened? Did local officials collude in favour of Cleopatra? The sources are unclear.

All that is clear is that Arsinoe was pulled from the temple and murdered on its steps – and that the outrage echoed across the ancient world.

The ancient politics of murder

Why take such a risk? For Cleopatra, the answer was survival. With Antony at her side, she had to secure Egypt’s throne and prevent any rival claimant from undermining her. Arsinoe’s very existence threatened that.

Unlike Cleopatra, whose dramatic suicide in 30 BC ended the Ptolemaic dynasty, Arsinoe slipped into history as both victim and symbol. Later writers cast her as the innocent sister destroyed by Cleopatra’s ambition. In modern culture, she often appears as Cleopatra’s tragic foil.

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Archaeology has even revived her story. In the early 20th century, a tomb in Ephesus was claimed by some to be Arsinoe’s final resting place, though this remains disputed.

The murder of Arsinoe IV on the steps of the Temple of Artemis remains an infamous episode from antiquity. Today, only a single column rises above the marshy ground where the temple once stood. But that belies the centuries of incredible stories that the structure played host and witness to.

This article is based on an interview with Bettay Hughes, speaking to Rachel Dinning on the HistoryExtra podcast. Listen to the full conversation.