Ptolemaic Period
Ptolemy IX Soter II (Lathyros)
Ptolemaic kings · 305-30 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Ptolemy IX Soter II, nicknamed Lathyros ("chickpea"), owed both his marriages and his eventual removal from power to the will of his own mother, Cleopatra III, who treated him as a useful placeholder for as long as it suited her political plans. Further detail: UCL Digital Egypt.
Dating: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
A throne, and a wife, chosen by his mother
When Ptolemy VIII died in 116 BCE, Cleopatra III reportedly wanted her younger son, Ptolemy X, to take the throne, but rioting in Alexandria forced her to accept Ptolemy IX instead, and even then she insisted on ruling alongside him as senior co-regent. She soon compelled him to divorce his sister-wife, Cleopatra IV, so he could marry an even younger, more compliant sister, Cleopatra Selene, while the discarded Cleopatra IV was married off to the Seleucid king Antiochus IX.
Pushed aside once he was no longer needed
Ancient sources suggest Cleopatra III had wanted Ptolemy X on the throne from the start and used an earlier posting of Ptolemy IX to Cyprus partly to clear the way for his brother. The final break came in 107 BCE, when Cleopatra III, after years of tension with her elder son, formally deposed him and installed Ptolemy X in his place. Ptolemy IX did not disappear quietly, however: he held on to Cyprus as his own power base and would later return to reclaim the Egyptian throne after his brother's own reign collapsed.
Sources for this profile
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- University College London. Kings of Ptolemaic Egypt.
- UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Chronology. UCLA.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.