Ptolemy XII Auletes

Relatives:

• Father: Ptolemy IX Soter
• Mother: an Egyptian lady
• First wife: his sister, Cleopatra VI Tryphaena
  • Daughter: Berenice IV
• Second wife: an Egyptian lady from a Memphite priestly family
  • Daughters: Cleopatra VII, Arsinoe IV
  • Sons: Ptolemy XIII, Ptolemy XIV

Main deeds:

• 28 June 116: Death of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, 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.
• After 115: Birth of Ptolemy XII Auletes, son of king Ptolemy IX Soter
• October 107: Ptolemy IX is forced to flee to Cyprus, leaving his wives and children behind; Ptolemy X Alexander becomes co-ruler
• 103: Antiochus IX Cyzicenus supports the Samarians against the Hasmonaean king John Hyrcanus of Judaea; Ptolemy IX Soter supports Antiochus, hoping that Judaea will be a first step to a return to Egypt.
• 103: Ptolemy X Alexander sends all Ptolemaic children to Kos, where they are safe.
• 89: Outbreak of the Second Mithradatic War: king Mithridates VI of Pontus attacks the Roman possessions in Asia
• 88: Ptolemy XII Auletes and the other princes are handed over to Mithridates. At the same time, Ptolemy IX Soter replaces Ptolemy X Alexander, who is killed soon after.
• 84: Ptolemy XII Auletes is engaged to a daughter of Mithradates.
• 80: Death of Ptolemy IX Soter; he is succeeded by a Roman appointee, Ptolemy XI Alexander, but this king is lynched almost immediately after his arrival in Alexandria.
• Before 11 September 80, Ptolemy XII Auletes has been recognized as king.
• 80/79: He marries his sister, Cleopatra VI Tryphaena.
• 26 March 76: traditional coronation as pharaoh; he embarks upon a policy of improving the position of the native population, and marries to an Egyptian lady
• 76: Birth of Berenice IV
• 70/69: Birth of Cleopatra VII
• Fall of Cleopatra VI Tryphaena
• 67: The Roman commander Pompey the Great is in the east, fighting against Cilician pirates, king Mithridates VI of Pontus (Third Mithridatic War), and tribes in Armenia.
• 65: Although Ptolemy XII supports Pompey, Rome discusses the annexation of Egypt
• 64: End of the Seleucid Empire; it becomes a Roman province (Syria)
• 63: Pompey conquers Judaea (more...); revolts in Egypt
• 61: Birth of Ptolemy XIII
• 59: Ptolemy XII Auletes promises 6,000 talents to Pompey and Julius Caesar (consul in 59), and is recognized as 'ally and fried of the Roman nation'; amnesty for the rebels in Egypt
• c.59: Birth of Ptolemy XIV
• 58: Rome annexes Cyprus; riots in Alexandria; Ptolemy is forced to flee (September); the new ruler of Egypt is Berenice IV
• 57: Ptolemy visits Cyprus and Rome, but is unable to obtain support; he goes to Ephesus
• 56/55: The Roman governor in Syria, Aulus Gabinius, bribed by Ptolemy XII and encouraged by Pompey, agrees to support Ptolemy, who is in Alexandria in March 55; a Roman military unit supports the king. Berenice is executed in July.
• 52: Cleopatra VII made co-ruler
• February/March 51: Death.

Information on the web:

• E.R. Bevan, The House of Ptolemy (1927), chapter 12.