Cleopatra IV

Cleopatra IV was a queen of the Ptolemaic Dynasty who reigned briefly alongside her brother-husband Ptolemy IX Lathyros from about 116 BC to 115 BC, with dates uncertain by about a year. She was the daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III.

Her time in power was exceptionally short and unstable. Her formidable mother, Cleopatra III, opposed her marriage and insisted that Ptolemy IX set her aside in favour of her sister Cleopatra Selene I. Forced out of Alexandria, Cleopatra IV left Egypt and forged an alliance in Syria by marrying the Seleucid king Antiochus IX Cyzicenus. She became entangled in the Seleucid civil war and died violently in Antioch soon afterwards, where she was buried.

Because her reign lasted barely a year, Cleopatra IV left no surviving royal monuments in Egypt. Historians know her primarily through references in classical historical accounts, including the works of ancient writers documenting the complicated dynastic disputes of the Hellenistic eastern Mediterranean.

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