Ptolemy IX Soter

Relatives:

• Father: Ptolemy VIII Physcon
• Mother: Cleopatra III
• First wife: his sister Cleopatra IV
  • Daughter: Cleopatra Berenice III (married to Ptolemy X Alexander)
• Second wife: his sister Cleopatra V Selene
  • Two sons
• Third wife: an Egyptian lady
• Sons: Ptolemy XII Auletes, Ptolemy of Cyprus
• Daughter: Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (married to Ptolemy XII)
• Fourth wife: his daughter Cleopatra Berenice III

Main deeds:

• 140/139: Birth
• 132-127: During the civil war between Ptolemy VIII and his mother Cleopatra II, Ptolemy's wife Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX live on Cyprus.
• Marriage to his sister Cleopatra IV
• Later, Ptolemy IX is made governor of Cyprus.
• 28 June 116: Death of Ptolemy VIII, who is succeeded by Cleopatra III. She wants to rule with Ptolemy X Alexander, but the Alexandrines force her to accept Ptolemy IX Soter, who is fourteen years old, as co-ruler.
• March 115: he divorces Cleopatra IV and marries Cleopatra V Selene
• October 110-February 109: Ptolemy X replaces Ptolemy IX as co-ruler
• March 108: Ptolemy X briefly replaces Ptolemy IX (who flees to Cyrene), but this second attempt is a failure too, and Ptolemy IX returns
• October 107: Ptolemy IX flees to Cyprus, leaving Cleopatra V Selene and his children behind; Ptolemy X Alexander becomes co-ruler of Cleopatra III.
• A naval expedition from Alexandria forces Ptolemy to flee to Seleucia, but he soon returns.
• Cleopatra V Selene marries to the Seleucid king Antiochus VIII Grypus
• 103: Antiochus IX Cyzicenus supports the Samarians against the Hasmonaean king John Hyrcanus of Judaea; Ptolemy IX supports Antiochus, hoping that Judaea will be a first step to a return to Egypt.
• Ptolemy X Alexander invades Judaea, reaches Damascus, and returns
• 20 February 102: Cleopatra III defeats Ptolemy IX Soter near Pelusium
• 26 October 101: Ptolemy X Alexander orders the killing of Cleopatra and continues as sole ruler
• The Seleucid civil war has by now become intertwined with the conflict in the Ptolemaic Empire:
  
  • Antiochus VIII Grypus, son of Demetrius II Nicator and Cleopatra Thea, and married to Cleopatra V Selene, is in control of the northern part of the Seleucid Empire and is supported by Ptolemy X Alexander
  • Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, son of Antiochus VII Sidetes and Cleopatra Thea, is supported by Ptolemy IX Soter Lathyros; they control the southern part of the empire
• 96: Death of Antiochus VIII; Cleopatra V Selene marries to Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
• A son of Antiochus VIII, Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator, defeats Antiochus IX, who is killed; Cleopatra V Selene -again widow- marries Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator, who defeats Seleucus VI.
• 94: In this chaos, Ptolemy IX supports relatives of Seleucus VI, the brothers Demetrius III Eucaerus and Philip I Philadelphus, who establish a realm in Damascus.
• 91: Revolt in the Thebaid
• 88: Ptolemy X Alexander expelled from Alexandria; Ptolemy IX returns (May), defeats Ptolemy X (October), and visits Memphis (November); restores order in the Thebaid. He marries his daughter Cleopatra Berenice III
• December 81: death

Information on the web:

• E.R. Bevan, The House of Ptolemy (1927), chapter 11.