Ptolemy i soter related to cleopatra

King of Egypt, –88 BC

Ptolemy X Alexander I^{[note 1]} (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Ἀλέξανδρος, Ptolemaĩos Aléxandros) was the Ptolemaic king of Cyprus from BC until BC and of Egypt from BC until his death in 88 BC. He ruled in co-regency with his mother Cleopatra III as Ptolemy Philometor Soter^[a] until BC, and then with his niece and wife Berenice III as Ptolemy Philadelphus.^[b] He was a son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III, and younger brother of Ptolemy IX.

His birth name was probably Alexander.

Ptolemy X was the second son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III. When Ptolemy VIII died in BC, Ptolemy IX became king with Cleopatra III as his co-regent and Alexander was sent to Cyprus to serve as governor. However, in –13 BC, he declared himself king. Cleopatra III quarrelled with Ptolemy IX and arranged for Alexander to return to Egypt in BC and replace his brother as co-regent (with modern sources calling him Ptolemy X).

During his reign, Ptolemy X had to fight against his brother Ptolemy IX to maintain control over the Egyptian throne. Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X fought a war against Ptolemy IX in the Hasmonean kingdom (– BC), in which Ptolemy X successfully prevented his brother from invading Egypt. In BC, he had his mother murdered, married his niece Berenice III, and appointed his new wife as co-regent.

An Egyptian uprising in 91 BC caused Ptolemy X to lose control of the south of the country. In 88 BC, the people expelled him from Alexandria, recalling Ptolemy IX to the throne. Ptolemy X raised an army with Roman help and invaded Cyprus, but was killed.

Background and early life

Ptolemy X, born Alexander, was a member of the GreekPtolemaic dynasty of Egypt.

When King Ptolemy V had died in BC, he had left three children: Ptolemy VI, Cleopatra II, and Ptolemy VIII. All three ruled together from BC until BC, when Ptolemy VIII expelled his brother from power. In BC, he was expelled in turn and forced to withdraw to Cyrene. However, when Ptolemy VI died in BC, Ptolemy VIII was invited back to Egypt to serve as king, marrying his sister Cleopatra II (who had previously been married to Ptolemy VI).

The relationship between Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II rapidly deteriorated, especially when Ptolemy VIII took Cleopatra III, the daughter of Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II), as a second wife. The conflict eventually led to a civil war with Cleopatra II on one side and Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III on the other (– BC). Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III were victorious, but reconciled with Cleopatra II and restored her as co-regent in BC.^[2]

Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III had two sons and three daughters.

The eldest son was Ptolemy IX, who was born around –3 BC and became the heir to the throne c.&#;&#;BC, during the civil war with Cleopatra II. Their second son, known as Ptolemy X, was born around BC – it is possible that the Horus name that he later assumed indicates that he was born in –39 BC.^[1] He is referred to as Ptolemy Alexander in a number of ancient sources, but never in documentary sources like papyri.

It is likely that Alexander was his birth name.

Governor and king of Cyprus (– BC)

On 28 June , Ptolemy VIII died. According to Justin, Ptolemy VIII's will left Cleopatra III in charge of Egypt, with the right to choose either her elder son, Ptolemy, or her younger son, Alexander, as her co-regent. Justin further claims that Cleopatra III wanted to choose Alexander, but the people of Alexandria rioted and forced her to choose Ptolemy.^[3]Pausanias implies that Cleopatra III's request to send Ptolemy IX to Cyprus in BC had been intended to get him out of the way in order to enable Ptolemy X's succession.^[4] Some historians have found this account plausible.^[5] Others have argued that it is a false account that was invented by Cleopatra III at a later date.^[6] At any rate, Cleopatra II, Cleopatra III, and Ptolemy IX became the co-rulers of Egypt.

They are listed together (in that order) as co-rulers in surviving papyrus documents from October BC.^[5] Meanwhile, Alexander was sent to Cyprus to serve as governor of the island.

Cleopatra II died some time before April BC and at this point Cleopatra III became the dominant force in the government of Egypt.

Ptolemy IX was forced to divorce his sister-wife Cleopatra IV, who went off and married the Seleucid king Antiochus IX (r.

Ptolemy biography alexander Ptolemy I Soter (born / bce, Macedonia—died /, Egypt) was a Macedonian general of Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (– bce) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which reigned longer than any other dynasty established on the soil of the Alexandrian empire and only succumbed to the Romans in 30 bce.

–95 BC), whose mother Cleopatra Thea^[7] was Cleopatra III's sister.^[8] Her new husband was waging a war against his half-brother Antiochus VIII (r. –96 BC), who was married to Cleopatra IV's elder sister Tryphaena. On the way to meet Antiochus IX, Cleopatra IV stopped in Cyprus, where she recruited an army and seized control of the Cypriot fleet, in order to aid Antiochus IX.^[9] Perhaps as a result of this, in – BC, Alexander proclaimed himself 'King of Cyprus', openly declaring his opposition to Ptolemy IX.^[1][5]

In autumn BC, a new conflict broke out between Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX.

Pausanias claims that Cleopatra III wounded a number of her own eunuch servants and displayed them to the people as evidence that her son had attempted to have her assassinated, causing the Alexandrians to riot and expel Ptolemy IX from the city.^[10][11]

King of Egypt (–88 BC)

Accession

While this conflict was taking place, Alexander had left Cyprus and sailed to Pelusium.

Cleopatra III had him brought to Alexandria and placed on the throne as her new co-regent in September BC.^[12] Cleopatra III seems to have dominated the new government even more thoroughly than she had during the reign of Ptolemy IX. Because of the means by which he came to the throne, he was given the derisory nickname Pareisactus (Greek: παρείσακτος, pareísaktos, "smuggled in").^[13][1] Another nickname given to him ho Cocces (the son of Cocce), seems to refer to his mother's dominance, but the exact meaning of the name thereby given to his mother, Cocce, is unclear.

It may mean cuckoo, in which case this nickname too refers to the way in which his mother had brought him to the kingship. Other interpretations are 'son of the scarlet lady' or 'son of the cunt'.^[1] In general, Ptolemy X was slotted into the role that his brother had previously held. He married his brother's wife, Cleopatra Selene, who was also his sister.^[14] He assumed the epithet that had previously been borne by his brother, Philometor Soter (Mother-loving Saviour) and took his brother's place in the dynastic cult, in which he and his mother were worshipped as the Theoi Philometores Soteres (Mother-loving Saviour Gods).^[1] Ptolemy X served as the annual Priest of Alexander and the Ptolemies for – BC and – BC – as his brother had for every year since BC.^[1] In – BC, Cleopatra III assumed the priesthood for herself.^[12]

War with Ptolemy IX and intervention in Judaea

After his expulsion from Alexandria, Ptolemy IX had gone to Cyprus.

Forces loyal to Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X expelled him, but he mounted another invasion of Cyprus in BC, which succeeded in conquering the island.^[15] Cyrene had initially remained under Ptolemy IX's control, but some time after BC and before BC, a third brother, Ptolemy Apion gained control of the region.

Justin claims that the territory had originally been left to Apion in Ptolemy VIII's will, but it is not clear whether this was true or a post facto invention.^[3] It is unclear whether Apion was aligned with either Ptolemy IX or Ptolemy X. One sign that he was a free agent may be the will which he published.

This will left all his territories to Rome in the event that he died without heirs, a method which was often used by Hellenistic kings to prevent rivals from attempting to depose or assassinate them. He actually did die without heirs in 96 BC, meaning that Rome inherited the territory.^[16][17]

In BC, the new Hasmonean King of Judaea, Alexander Jannaeus, attacked Ptolemais Akko.

Ptolemy IX responded by invading Judaea.^[18] Fearing that Ptolemy IX was planning to use Judaea as a springboard for an invasion of Egypt, Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X invaded Judaea themselves. Ptolemy X invaded Phoenicia by sea and then marched inland to Damascus, while Cleopatra III besieged Ptolemais Akko. Ptolemy IX attempted to slip past them and into Egypt, but Ptolemy X managed to rush back and stop him.

Ptolemy IX spent the winter encamped at Gaza, before deciding to sail back to Cyprus in early BC.^[17] During this conflict, Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X made an alliance with the Seleucid king Antiochus VIII Grypus. He was still waging his own civil war against his brother Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, who had previously received support from Ptolemy IX.

To seal the alliance with Antiochus VIII, Cleopatra forced Ptolemy X to divorce his sister-wife, Cleopatra Selene, and remarried her to Antiochus.^[19][14]

Reign with Berenice III

In September BC, Cleopatra disappears from official documents. Justin reports that Ptolemy X had her murdered, when he realised that she was intending to kill him.^[19] In October of the same year, Ptolemy married his niece Berenice III, daughter of Ptolemy IX and Cleopatra Selene and appointed her co-regent.^[1] Ptolemy X changed his own epithet to Philadelphos (Sibling-lover) and the couple were brought into the dynastic cult as the Theoi Philadelphoi (Sibling-loving gods).^[20][17]

In 91 BC, a rebellion broke out in Upper Egypt.

This rebellion was the latest in a series of native Egyptian uprisings in the region, following those of Hugronaphor (– BC) and Harsiesi (– BC). It is unknown what the name of the rebellion's leader was or whether he claimed the title of Pharaoh, as earlier rebel leaders had.

Ptolemy biography alexander the great Ptolemy I Soter (/ ˈ t ɒ l əm i /; Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr, "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. BC – January BC) was a Macedonian Greek [2] general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt.

The rebels gained control of Thebes and were supported by the Theban priests. Their forces are also attested in Latopolis and Pathyris. The rebellion also meant that the Ptolemies lost contact with the Triacontaschoenus region (Lower Nubia). Meroe took control of the region and retained it until the Roman period.^[21]

Around May 88 BC, Alexandrians and the army turned against Ptolemy X and expelled him.

Porphyry reports that the rebellion was a result of anger at Ptolemy's friendliness with the Jews.^[22]Strabo says that Ptolemy X was expelled because he melted down the golden sarcophagus of Alexander the Great and replaced it with one made out of glass.^[23] The Alexandrians invited Ptolemy IX to return to Alexandria and retake the throne, which he did.

Biography claudius ptolemy

Ptolemy biography alexander graham

Ptolemy biography geography

Ptolemy X and Berenice gathered a naval force to recapture the kingdom, but were defeated in battle. Ptolemy X recruited a second force at Myra, invaded Cyprus, and was killed.^[24][1][25]

In the process of recruiting this final force, Ptolemy X had taken out a loan from the Roman Republic.

It seems that providing collateral for this loan involved producing a will, which left Egypt to the Roman Republic in the event of his death without an heir.^[26] The Romans chose not to take advantage of this will after Ptolemy's death, but did not outright reject it, either. The possibility of Roman intervention hung over Ptolemy XII for the rest of his reign and forced him to adopt a highly deferential posture with the Romans.^[25]

Marriage and issue

Ptolemy X probably married his sister Cleopatra Selene on taking the throne in BC.

She had previously been married to Ptolemy IX. They probably had one son, Ptolemy XI before she was remarried to Antiochus VIII in /02 BC.^[27][14] After he murdered Cleopatra III, Ptolemy X married Berenice III, who was probably the daughter of Ptolemy IX and Cleopatra Selene (thus, Ptolemy X's step-daughter and niece), in October BC.^[28] They probably had one daughter, Cleopatra V.^[20]

Name	Image	Birth	Death	Notes
Ptolemy XI	c.&#;&#;BC	April 80 BC	Co-regent with his mother Berenice III for a few days in April 80 BC.
Cleopatra V	c. –95 BC	57 BC	Married her cousin Ptolemy XII and co-regent with him from BC, co-regent with her daughter Berenice IV BC.

Ancestry

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Hölbl, Günther ().

  A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. London & New York: Routledge. pp.&#;– & – ISBN&#;.

External links