Predecessors of Cleopatra

by Leigh North

Ptolemy Epiphanes seems less odious than his predecessor, but as he grew to manhood, he, too, was accused of cruel murders, among them that of his tutor Aristomenes, to whose care it seems as if he must have owed much. The cartouch of Ptolemy V. is said to be the most rarely found on Ptolemic buildings. He also worked at Edfu and Philæ, the “so-called chapel of Aesculapius,” at the latter place having an inscription declaring it to be founded by “Ptolemy Epiphanes and Cleopatra and their son, to Imhotep, the son of Ptah.” In modern times a temple said to be built by them, at Antæpolis, was undermined and destroyed by the Nile.

The king died, murdered by poison by some of his courtiers, while still a young man, in his twenty-ninth year and twenty-fifth of his reign, and was succeeded by his son under the guardianship of his mother. Whether the queen deeply mourned her husband or whether his increasing vices had alienated her from him we cannot say. She was doubtless an ambitious woman and not averse to holding the reins of power. There are coins of hers issued during her regency. She is there called queen, which is not the case with all the wives of the different kings, and appears as Isis (though with a less conventional face than some), wearing a corn wreath, above which are a globe and horns. A copper coin gives her as Isis with long curls and a band with corn. She seems to have been an able ruler and survived her husband some eight years, dying in 174 B. C. before she had fairly entered on middle life. There were several children of this marriage, and, as if for the bewilderment of students, the sons are called Ptolemy and the daughter Cleopatra. During the queen’s regency Egypt seems to have remained peaceful and we have no revolting tales of murder or general bloodshed.

The matter of succession now became somewhat involved, so often was it disputed and so frequently divided between rival claimants. Mahaffy says, “From henceforth we have almost constantly rival brothers asserting themselves in turn, queen mothers controlling their king sons—intestine feuds and bloodshed in the royal house, till the stormy end of the dynasty with the daring Cleopatra VI.”

Some call Philometer the VI and some the VII. If the latter there was probably an elder brother, Ptolemy Eupator, thus called the VI, who survived his father but for a brief period, being nominally king, and then died. Certain it is that the Syrian Cleopatra I was regent and that one of her sons, Philometor, succeeded to the actual power, 173 B. C. He reverted to the earlier customs and married his sister Cleopatra, who then became the second queen of the name. This union is believed to have taken place a year after the death of his mother in 173 B. C. Perhaps had she lived she might have arranged for a different connection.

The peaceful period of the regency of Cleopatra I. now came to an end and Egypt prepared to seize the lands which had furnished the dowry of the late queen, the three powers, Egypt, Syria and Rome being involved, the two first in active warfare. This resulted in the capture and imprisonment of the Egyptian king by the Syrian monarch, Antiochus IV at a battle which occurred on the borders of Egypt. The people of Alexandria, who it is said spoke more completely the voice of Egypt than Paris does of France, made a counter move by raising to the throne the younger brother, a lad of fifteen or sixteen, who took the name of Euergetes II, later called Physcon, the “pot bellied” or “the fat,” Ptolemy VI, and who in his proportions accentuated the usual liberal outline of the Ptolemy race. The youth proved strong and ambitious enough to hold on to the power thus secured and never willingly relaxed his grasp.

Antiochus then attacked Alexandria with the nominal purpose of restoring Philometer. Through their mother the young kings were of course related to the invader, but the relationship seems to have had little effect in preventing a contest. Different authorities give different names and numbers to the various Ptolemy kings and we have taken Mahaffy, who has devoted much time to the study of this period, as our special guide.

Antiochus IV finally left Philometer at Memphis and returned home. The latter, apparently seeing the folly of a divided sovereignty and realizing that he would no longer be recognized as sole king, made overtures to his brother and, owing, it is said, to the mediation of their sister Cleopatra, they came to terms in 170 B. C. This compact roused Antiochus IV. to a renewed attack. The beseeching embassies of the Ptolemies to Rome, however, finally produced an effect and Antiochus was ordered to withdraw and the powerful Romans virtually held a sort of protectorate over Egypt till they finally and absolutely absorbed it. The embassies of Philometer and Cleopatra II professed that they were more indebted to the Senate and people of Rome, than to their own parents, more than to the immortal gods since by their help they had been relieved from Antiochus, and Rome seemed disposed to keep up the agreeable sentiment, as their embassy is recorded as having brought a purple gown and vest and an ivory chair to King Philometer, and an embroidered gown and a purple robe for Queen Cleopatra II.

The king and queen are spoken of in all solemn datings as “gods Philopatores.” On the walls of the temple at Der el Medineh there are pictures of Ptolemy VII and IX and Cleopatra II, and a Syrian coin of Philometer gives a strong head and face. There are inscriptions relating to Ptolemy Philometer, wife and children, in Nubia. It was after the Romans restored Philometer to Egypt that he and his queen made their solemn progress to Memphis.

Some of the so-called “friends of the king” tried to make trouble between the brothers and to induce the younger to slay the elder, implying that Philometer had designs upon him. But in this instance Euergetes, usually regarded with abhorrence, showed himself at his best and dismissed suspicions and to prove their harmony went with his brother in royal apparel to show themselves to the people. A quarrel, however, eventually broke out between them, Philometer was expelled and threw himself on the protection of the Romans, who were thus continually able to interfere in the affairs of Egypt. The Romans decreed that the kingdom should be divided between the two, which of course gave satisfaction to neither, and Euergetes II went to Rome to protest against the division. An interesting and almost an amusing episode is connected with this visit when, it is said, Euergetes asked Cornelia, the mother of the Gracci, to marry him. The lady, however, declined, “probably,” says one writer, “she held him in such esteem as an English noblewoman now would hold an Indian Rajah proposing marriage.”

The quarrels and fighting between the two brothers continued, but finally Euergetes attacked Cyprus which had been adjudged by the Romans to Philometer, and was forced to surrender. Philometer now showed himself the generous one, for he forgave Euergetes, restored him to Cyrene and for the last eight or nine years of his reign remained at peace with him.