daughter of Ptolemy Auletes king of Egypt, and eldest sister of the famous Cleopatra, ascended the throne on the deposition of her father by the Alexandrians, b.c. 58. Berenice, in order to support her authority, married Seleucus the brother of Antiochus XIII., king of Syria; but soon growing weary of her choice, she caused Seleucus to be put to death. She then married Archelaus, whom Pompey had made king of Comana in Pontus; but a few months afterwards Ptolemy was reinstated by the Romans, and Berenice and Archelaus were slain, b.c. 55. (Liv. Epit. 109; Dion Cass. xxxix. 55-58.)

Berenice, wife of Ptolemy Euergetes king of Egypt, cut off her hair in pursuance of a vow, and consecrated it in the temple of Venus. This deposit having disappeared, Conon the mathematician, in compliment to the queen, declared that her locks had been conveyed to heaven, and composed the constellation which to this day is called Coma Berenices. Callimachus celebrated the hair of Berenice in a poem, of which only a few lines are extant; it still exists however in the translation of Catullus.

Berenice, daughter of Costobarus, and of Salome the sister of Herod the Great, was first married to Aristobulus, son of the same Herod and of Mariamne. The cruel Herod having put his son to death, Berenice married a second time; and again became a widow, but whether or not by similar means it is not said. She accompanied her mother to Rome, where she enjoyed the favour of Augustus, and the friendship of Antonia the wife of Drusus, which ultimately proved of great service to her son Agrippa.

Beronica, grand-daughter of the preceding, and daughter of Agrippa I., king of Judaea, acquired a discreditable celebrity by her amours. She was betrothed to one Marcus, but he died before the marriage was consummated. Soon after she married her uncle Herod, who, at the desire of Agrippa, his brother and father-in-law, was created king of Chalcis by the Emperor Claudius. On the death of her husband, a.d. 48, she lived for a considerable time with her brother Agrippa, with whom it was rumoured that she committed incest. To avoid this scandal, she offered herself in marriage to Polemon, king of Cilicia, provided he would change his religion. He accepted her offer, was circumcised, and married her. But Berenice soon left him, and returned to Agrippa, with whom she was still living when St Paul appeared before him at Cesarea, a.d. 62. She seconded her brother in his attempt to prevent the desolation of Judaea, and at the risk of her own life interceded with Florus to spare her miserable countrymen. This artful woman drew Titus into her snare; but the murmurs of the Roman people opposed an obstacle to their contemplated marriage, and she became the concubine of the emperor.

Beresina, or Berezina, a river of Russia, rising in the north of the province of Minsk, and falling into the Dnieper, after a course of 200 miles. It is connected with the Dwina by a canal, which thus establishes a communication between the Black Sea and the Baltic. The passage of the Beresina is celebrated as one of the most disastrous events in the retreat of Napoleon from Moscow. See France.