Laodice III (Greek: Λαοδίκη, Laodikē) also known as Laodika, was a princess of Pontus and a Seleucid queen.
Laodice married Antiochus III around 221 BC in a ceremony at Zeugma and named queen at Antioch.
A clay seal impression is thought to show Antiochus the son in the foreground, with Laodice in the background, suggesting that she overtly displayed her power as ruler during her regency.
Philanthropic action was typical of Hellenistic queens as a way to further their power and assert their position, particularly in the religious sphere, but Laodice was unusually active and her donations addressed political problems and targeted depopulation and poverty by focusing on food and marriage.
[18] In Iasos, the city had suffered the loss of its traditional laws, its freedom, depopulation and poverty as well as an earthquake.
[19] In 196 BC Laodice donated 10000 medimnus of wheat, the profits of which were to be used to ensure each woman getting married a dowry of three hundred Antiochian drachmai.
[24] In Sardis, an altar was made and dedicated to Laodice, and there was an annual festival with a sacrifice for the queen, king and children.
There were sacrifices made to the king and queen during an annual celebration, Antiocheia Kai Laodikeia, with a banquet dedicated to the royal couple.
[24] An agora was built in the port with a fountain dedicated to Laodice, the water of which was to be used for civic sacrifices, funeral rituals, and bathwater for brides to be.
[27] The honours were meant to be “for the rest of time” but stopped after 189 BC when Antiochus was defeated by the Romans leading to the Treaty of Apamea.
[24] There was a religious festival on the birthday of the queen, in the month of Aphrodision, during which there would be a procession of the betrothed, dressed in white.
[31] A royal cult was modelled on the worship of the gods, with a sacrifice, a procession of citizens wearing wreaths and their best clothes, and then competitions.
[36] This has led historians to interpret the cult as a way of recognising Laodice for her management of the kingdom during the absence of the king.
[41] The royal children may have been moved to assert the sacredness of Laodice and her position as queen due to the second marriage by Antiochus.