Ptolemy Eupator: A Brief Co-Regent of the Ptolemaic Dynasty

Introduction

Ptolemy Eupator was a short-lived prince of the Ptolemaic dynasty, the eldest son of Ptolemy VI Philometor and Cleopatra II. He appears in the record as Alexander priest in 158/157 BC and is attested in demotic and Greek papyri and inscriptions. Papyrus dating shows he was raised to joint rule by his father between 3 February and 5 April 152 BC, and inscriptions from Cyprus refer to a “King Ptolemy God Eupator,” indicating a brief co-regency there in 152 BC. He is thought to have been roughly twelve or thirteen years old at his death, which is conventionally placed before 31 August 152 BC, probably in August of that year.

Evidence for Ptolemy Eupator’s career is limited to a small number of documentary and epigraphic sources. These establish his role as Alexander priest, his elevation to co-regent in 152 BC, and his inclusion among the deified Ptolemies, where his name appears before that of his father. Some modern scholars interpret the Cypriot inscriptions and related notices as showing he was sent to govern Cyprus as a royal representative; other scholars dispute that reading. His premature death ended his brief joint rule; he predeceased Ptolemy VI and was subsequently listed among the dynasty’s deified members. Later antiquarian and modern genealogical lists were affected by his inclusion, producing temporary confusion in the numeric ordering of later Ptolemies. A tomb on Cyprus identified as his was announced in 2017.