Ptolemy XI Alexander II

Ptolemy XI Alexander II was a king of the Ptolemaic Dynasty who reigned for less than a month in 80 BC, with dates uncertain by about a year. He was the son of Ptolemy X Alexander I. Raised partly in exile on the island of Kos and later in Rome, he returned to Egypt with the backing of the Roman dictator Sulla following the death of Ptolemy IX Lathyros.

Rome installed Ptolemy XI on the Egyptian throne on the condition that he marry his stepmother and cousin, the ruling queen Berenice III. Berenice was deeply popular with the Alexandrian populace, but Ptolemy XI resented sharing power. Nineteen days into the joint reign, he had Berenice murdered. The outraged citizens of Alexandria stormed the royal palace, dragged the young king to the city gymnasium, and lynched him.

Ptolemy XI left no monuments, buildings, or temple reliefs due to the brevity of his reign. Scholars know him entirely through classical Greek and Roman historians who recorded the chaotic succession crises and growing Roman domination of late Ptolemaic Egypt. He was buried in Alexandria in an unknown location.

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