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Ptolemy XI Neos Dionysos Theos Philopator Theos
Philadelphos (Greek: Πτολεμαίος Νέος Διόνυσος Θέος
Φιλοπάτωρ Θεός Φιλάδελφος, New Dionysus, God Beloved
of his Father, God Beloved of his Brother) (117 BC –
51 BC) was of Macedonian descent and son of Ptolemy
VIII Soter II . His mother is unknown. He was king
of Egypt from 80 BC to 58 BC and from 55 BC until
his death in 51 BC. He was more commonly known as
"Auletes" (The Flutist), or "Nothos" (The Bastard).
In 80 BC, Ptolemy XI succeeded Ptolemy X to the
throne of Egypt. The latter had been lynched by an
angry crowd, after he had killed his popular
coregent Berenice III, who was incidentally also a
daughter of Ptolemy VIII Soter II. When Ptolemy X
died without a male heir, the only available male
descendents of the Ptolemy I lineage were the
illegitimate sons of Ptolemy VIII by an unknown
Alexandrian Greek concubine (Clayton, 1994). The
boys were living in exile in Sinope, at the court of
Mithridates VI, King of Pontus. The eldest of the
boys was proclaimed king as Ptolemy XII Neos
Dionysos and married his sister, Tryphaena.
At first, Ptolemy XI was coregent with his sister
Cleopatra VI Tryphaina and his wife Cleopatra V
Tryphaena, but the former mysteriously disappears
from the records in 69 BC.
Ptolemy XI's personal cult name (Neos Dionysos)
earned him the ridiculing sobriquet Auletes (flute
player) — as we learn from Strabo's writing (Strabo
XVII, 1, 11):
Now all at kings after the third Ptolemy, being
corrupted by luxurious living, have administered the
affairs of government badly, but worst of all the
fourth, seventh, and the last, Auletes, who, apart
from his general licentiousness, practised the
accompaniment of choruses with the flute, and upon
this he prided himself so much that he would not
hesitate to celebrate contests in the royal palace,
and at these contests would come forward to vie with
the opposing contestants.
The first pylon at Edfu Temple was decorated by
Ptolemy XI in 57 BC with figures of himself smiting
the enemy.During his reign, Ptolemy XI tried to
secure his own fate and the fate of his dynasty by
means of a pro-Roman policy. At the height of his
success in 59 BC, after paying substantial bribes to
Julius Caesar and Pompey, a formal alliance was
formed (foedera) and his name was inscribed into the
list of friends and allies of the people of Rome
(amici et socii populi Romani). However in 58 BC
after he failed to comment on the Roman conquest of
Cyprus, a territory ruled by his brother, he was
forced to flee to Rome. His daughter Berenice IV
became his successor.
From Rome he prosecuted his restitution, finding
favor with his old ally Pompey but meeting some
opposition with certain members of the Senate. Dio
Cassius reports that a group of 100 men were sent as
envoys from Egypt to make their case to the Romans
against Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy had most of these
killed before they reached Rome. He finally
recovered his throne by paying Aulus Gabinius 10,000
talents to invade Egypt in 55 BC. Berenice was
executed. From then on he reigned until he fell ill
in 51 BC.
Soon before his death he chose his daughter
Cleopatra VII as his coregent. In his will he
declared that she and her brother Ptolemy XII should
rule the kingdom together. To safeguard his
interests, he made the people of Rome executors of
his will.
Auletes means pipes-player, and refers to his
chubby cheeks (a Ptolemaic family trait ), like the
inflated cheeks of a pipe-player.
References
- Strabo 12.3.34 and 17.1.11
- Dio Cassius 39.12 - 39.14, 39.55 - 39.58
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