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Ptolemy XII Auletes

Ptolemy XII Auletes ("the flutist") or Neos Dionysos ("new Dionysus"): king of the Ptolemaic Empire, ruled from 80 to 58 and from 55 to 51.

Relatives

Ptolemy XII Auletes

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 Mithridatic War: king Mithridates VI Eupator 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 Mithridates.
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
Statue of a king named Ptolemy; the cartouche mentions his surname "Neos Dionysos", allowing identification with Ptolemy XII Auletes and Ptolemy XV Caesarion

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, breaks off a campaign in support of the Parthian king Mithradates IV, and 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.

Egyptian title: Iwaenpanetjernehem Setepptah Irmaat; ankhdjet meryptah siese ("Son of the avenging god, Chosen by Ptah, Dispenser of justice; may he live forever, beloved of Ptah, son of Isis"; "avenging god" is the common translation of Soter, the surname of Ptolemy IX, but also refers to the god Horus, the reborn Osiris/Dionysus)

Succeeded by: Cleopatra VII

Information on the web

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