Ptolemy XII Auletes

Ptolemy XII Auletes, born Ptolemy Neos Dionysos, ruled Egypt during a turbulent period from about 80 BC to 51 BC, with dates uncertain by about a year. He was an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX Lathyros and took the throne following the lynching of Ptolemy XI Alexander II. His reign was defined by the looming power of the Roman Republic, which increasingly treated Egypt as a client territory.

To safeguard his crown from Roman annexation, Ptolemy XII spent vast fortunes bribing influential Roman politicians, including Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. These enormous expenditures severely indebted the crown and forced him to raise taxes, provoking widespread hostility among his Egyptian subjects. In 58 BC, an uprising in Alexandria drove him from Egypt. His daughter Berenice IV assumed power in his absence, but Ptolemy XII travelled to Rome and successfully bribed a Roman army to restore him to his throne in 55 BC. Upon his return, he executed Berenice and ruled until his death in 51 BC, designating his daughter Cleopatra VII and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII as his joint successors.

Despite chronic financial distress, Ptolemy XII maintained an ambitious programme of traditional temple construction in Upper Egypt. He completed major decorative programmes on the entrance pylon of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, depicting himself striking enemies in the style of ancient pharaohs. He was also responsible for constructing the main body of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera and adding significant structures to the island temple complex of Isis at Philae.

Ptolemy XII is well known to historians through Roman political correspondence, classical histories, demotic contracts, and vast temple carvings. He was buried in the royal necropolis at Alexandria, though his tomb has not been discovered.

Monuments

• Dendera Temple of Hathor main building
• Edfu Temple pylon decorations
• Philae Temple additions

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