Ptolemy IX Soter II (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaĩos Sōtḗr “Ptolemy the Saviour”), commonly nicknamed Lathyros (Λάθυρος, Láthuros “chickpea”), was twice king of Ptolemaic Egypt. The son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III, he reigned as Ptolemy Philometor Soter in joint rule with his grandmother Cleopatra II and mother Cleopatra III from 116 to 107 BC, and then again as Ptolemy Soter from 88 to 81 BC. Ptolemy IX became the heir apparent after the murder of his half-brother Ptolemy Memphites in 130 BC, during a civil war between Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II. On his father's death in 116 BC, he became co-regent with Cleopatra II (until 115 BC) and with Cleopatra III. He eventually quarrelled with his mother and in 107 BC, she deposed him and replaced him with his younger brother, Ptolemy X. However, Ptolemy IX succeeded in seizing control of Cyprus. From there he invaded Judaea, but was prevented by Ptolemy X from invading Egypt (103–102 BC). In 88 BC, the Alexandrians expelled Ptolemy X and restored Ptolemy IX to the throne. He reigned alone until 81 BC, when he appointed his daughter Berenice III as co-regent shortly before his own death. She succeeded him as ruler.
When the Ptolemaic king Ptolemy V died in 180 BC, he left three children: Ptolemy VI, Cleopatra II, and Ptolemy VIII. All three ruled together from 169 BC until 164 BC, when Ptolemy VIII expelled his brother from power. In 163 BC, he was expelled in turn and forced to withdraw to Cyrene. However, when Ptolemy VI died in 145 BC, Ptolemy VIII was invited back to Egypt to serve as king, marrying his sister Cleopatra II, also sister and widow of Ptolemy VI. The relationship between Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II rapidly deteriorated, especially when Ptolemy VIII took Cleopatra III, 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 (132–126 BC). Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III were victorious, but reconciled with Cleopatra II and restored her as co-regent in 124 BC.
Ptolemy IX was the son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III. The exact date of his birth is a bit unclear. As pharaoh, his Horus name was “Distinguished through his birth together with the living Apis; twin in his birthplace with the son of Isis,” which seems to indicate that he was born in the same year as an Apis bull, i.e., 143/142 BC. This would put his birth two years before his parents' marriage, which took place in 141 BC. Some historians, like Günther Hölbl, consider this insuperable and propose to place his birth in 140 or 139 BC instead.
Initially, Ptolemy IX was not the heir to the throne – that was Ptolemy Memphites, the son of Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II, who was roughly the same age as him. In 134/133 BC, Ptolemy IX served as the annual priest of Alexander the Great, the year after Ptolemy Memphites had done the same. However, in 130 BC, during the civil war, Cleopatra II attempted to have Ptolemy Memphites crowned as her co-ruler, so Ptolemy VIII had him murdered, leaving Ptolemy IX as the heir.
Around 117 BC, Ptolemy IX was sent to Cyprus, reportedly at his mother's request, where he served as governor of the island (strategos, nauarchos, archiereus, archikynegos). Shortly before this he had married his sister Cleopatra IV, who probably gave birth to two sons while the couple was on Cyprus: the future Ptolemy XII in 117 BC and Ptolemy, future king of Cyprus, circa 116 BC.
![Probable bust of Ptolemy IX (or X)[1]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Head_of_a_Ptolemy_-_Getty_Museum_%2883.AA.330%29.jpg/250px-Head_of_a_Ptolemy_-_Getty_Museum_%2883.AA.330%29.jpg)
Probable bust of Ptolemy IX (or X)
Ptolemy X Alexander I (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Ἀλέξανδρος, Ptolemaĩos Aléxandros) was the Ptolemaic king of Cyprus from 114 BC until 107 BC and of Egypt from 107 BC until his death in 88 BC. He ruled in co-regency with his mother Cleopatra III as Ptolemy Philometor Soter until 101 BC, and then with his niece and wife Berenice III as Ptolemy Philadelphus. 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 116 BC, Ptolemy IX became king with Cleopatra III as his co-regent, and Alexander was sent to Cyprus to serve as governor. However, in 114–113 BC, he declared himself king. Cleopatra III quarrelled with Ptolemy IX and arranged for Alexander to return to Egypt in 107 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 (103–102 BC), in which Ptolemy X prevented his brother from invading Egypt. In 101 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.
Ptolemy X, born Alexander, was a member of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. When King Ptolemy V died in 180 BC, he left three children: Ptolemy VI, Cleopatra II, and Ptolemy VIII. All three ruled together from 169 BC until 164 BC, when Ptolemy VIII expelled his brother from power. In 163 BC, he was expelled in turn and forced to withdraw to Cyrene. However, when Ptolemy VI died in 145 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, 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 (132–126 BC). Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III were victorious, but reconciled with Cleopatra II and restored her as co-regent in 124 BC.
Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III had two sons and three daughters. The eldest son was Ptolemy IX, born around 144–143 BC, who became the heir to the throne around 130 BC during the civil war with Cleopatra II. Their second son, known as Ptolemy X, was born around 140 BC; it is possible that the Horus name he later assumed indicates he was born in 140–139 BC. 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.
After his expulsion from Alexandria, Ptolemy IX went to Cyprus. Forces loyal to Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X expelled him, but he mounted another invasion of Cyprus in 106 BC, which succeeded in conquering the island. Cyrene initially remained under Ptolemy IX's control, but sometime after 105 BC and before 100 BC, a third brother, Ptolemy Apion, gained control of the region. Justin claims the territory had originally been left to Apion in Ptolemy VIII's will, but it is unclear whether this was true or a post facto invention. 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 he published, which left all his territories to Rome if he died without heirs—a method often used by Hellenistic kings to prevent rivals from attempting to depose or assassinate them. He did die without heirs in 96 BC, meaning Rome inherited the territory.
In 103 BC, the new Hasmonean king of Judaea, Alexander Jannaeus, attacked Ptolemais Akko. Ptolemy IX responded by invading Judaea. 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 stop him. Ptolemy IX spent the winter encamped at Gaza before deciding to sail back to Cyprus in early 102 BC. During this conflict, Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X allied with Seleucid king Antiochus VIII, who was waging a civil war against his brother Antiochus IX, previously supported by Ptolemy IX. To seal the alliance, Cleopatra forced Ptolemy X to divorce his sister-wife Cleopatra Selene and remarried her to Antiochus VIII.
In September 101 BC, Cleopatra disappears from official documents. Justin reports that Ptolemy X had her murdered when he realized she intended to kill him. In October of the same year, he married his niece Berenice III, daughter of Ptolemy IX and Cleopatra Selene, and appointed her co-regent. Ptolemy X changed his epithet to Philadelphos (“Sibling-lover”) and the couple were incorporated into the dynastic cult as the Theoi Philadelphoi (Sibling-loving gods).
In 91 BC, a rebellion broke out in Upper Egypt. The rebels gained control of Thebes and were supported by Theban priests. They also held Latopolis and Pathyris. The rebellion caused the Ptolemies to lose contact with the Triakontaschoinos region (Lower Nubia), which came under the control of Meroë until the Roman period.
Around May 88 BC, Alexandrians and the army turned against Ptolemy X and expelled him. Porphyry reports the rebellion resulted from anger at Ptolemy's friendliness with the Jews. Strabo adds that Ptolemy X was expelled because he melted down the golden sarcophagus of Alexander the Great and replaced it with one made of glass. The Alexandrians invited Ptolemy IX to return to Alexandria, which he did. Ptolemy X and Berenice gathered a naval force to recapture the kingdom but were defeated. Ptolemy X recruited a second force at Myra, invaded Cyprus, and was killed.
During the recruitment of his final force, Ptolemy X took out a loan from the Roman Republic. Providing collateral involved producing a will leaving Egypt to Rome if he died without an heir. The Romans chose not to enforce this will after his death but did not outright reject it. The possibility of Roman intervention remained a factor for Ptolemy IX for the rest of his reign, forcing him into a deferential posture with Rome.
Head of Ptolemy X, from Egypt, Ptolemaic period, 2nd century BC. Neues Museum, Germany
