Ptolemy XIII Philopator1, son of Ptolemy XII2 probably by Cleopatra V3, born in 62 or 614, succeeded Ptolemy XII as coregent in association with Cleopatra VII spring 515, made senior ruler early in year 3, c. October 506 under the regency of Potheinus7, probably not attested as a victor at the Basileia in Lebadaeia7.1, expelled Cleopatra VII from Egypt in spring 488, reassociated with Cleopatra VII by Julius Caesar in c. Kal.-a.d. VIII Id. Nov. AUC 706 = c. 25-30 August 489, probably married Cleopatra VII at this time10, joined with his sister Arsinoe IV to depose Cleopatra VII11 mid December AUC 706 = early October 4812, drowned while crossing the Nile a.d. VI Kal. Apr. AUC 707 = 13 January 4713. There were no children by the marriage.
No Egyptian titulary is known for him.
-
Lucan 8.465-7: The end of September is around the fall equinox on the Julian calendar, but in late July in A.U.C. 706 = 48 B.C. This datum proves that ancient sources sometimes misinterpreted the dates according to Julian conventions.
- Plutarch,
Symposiaca 8.1
and Velleius
Paterculus 2.53: Those who say that he died on the day before
his birthday are correct. Those who say he died on his birthday
interpret his death date (a.d. III Kal. Oct.) according to the Julian
calendar, while knowing (probably from Geek sources, which counted
the days of the month sequentially) that his birthday was the 29th
day of September.
- Dio
Cassius 42.5: The date is correct -- he died on the anniversary
of the first day of the triumph over Mithridates.
- Plutarch,
Camillus 19.7:
Knowing that Pompey's birthday was on the 29th day of September, and
that he died on a.d. III Kal. Oct., Plutarch interpreted the latter
date according to the Julian calendar, making it 29 September.
- Plutarch, Pompey 79.4: Knowing that Pompey's birthday was on the 29th day of September, and that he died on the anniversary of his triumph, Plutarch took the date of the triumph to be prid. Kal. Oct., perhaps because this was the acme of the triumph, and then misinterpreted this date according to the Julian calendar.
[1] PP VI 14561. Gr: PtolemaioV Filopatwr. For the name Ptolemy: Caesar, Civil Wars 3.103. The numbering as Ptolemy XIII follows the convention of RE and is today standard. He is sometimes numbered as "Ptolemy XII" or "Ptolemy XIV" in older works. The epithet Philopator is attested in gr Medinet Habu 44; for the dating of this graffito to Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII rather than Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra V (H. J. Thissen, ZPE 27 (1977) 181), see M. Chauveau, Akten des 21. Internationalen Papyrologenkongresses Berlin 1995 I 163, 168f. and discussion under Arsinoe IV. Ý
[2] Caesar, Civil Wars 3.108. Ý
[3] See discussion under Ptolemy XII. Ý
[4] Appian, Civil Wars 2.84, says he was 13 years old when Pompey was murdered.
Although it is clear that Pompey was murdered in A.U.C. 706 = 48 B.C., the precise date is uncertain. Plutarch, Pompey 79.4 dates it to the day after his birthday, aged 59 and 1 day, but Plutarch, Camillus 19.7 says it was on his birthday, and Plutarch, Symposiaca 8.1 says that some say he was killed on his birthday while others say it was the day before. Other sources are as follows: Lucan 8.465-7 dates his murder to about the fall equinox; Velleius Paterculus 2.53 says he died aged 58 on the eve of his birthday, while Dio Cassius 42.5 says that he died aged 58 on the anniversary of his triumph over Mithridates and the pirates.
Pliny, NH 37.13 states that Pompey displayed some fabulous jewels in this triumph on prid. Kal. Oct., which was the anniversary of his birth; Pliny, NH 7.26 dates the triumph to a.d. III Kal. Oct. The apparent contradiction is explained by Plutarch, Pompey 45.1, who states that the triumph, which was celebrated in 61, lasted two days, and that at the time he was "nearly 40" (Plutarch, Pompey 46.1), though in fact he must have celebrated his 46th birthday in that year; Velleius Paterculus 2.40.3 confirms the duration of the triumph, as does Appian, Mith. 116 (who gives Pompey's age at the time as 35).
The confusion evidently arises from the fact that all these sources wrote after the Julian reform, which changed the length of September from 29 to 30 days. In the pre-Julian calendar, a.d. III Kal. Oct and prid. Kal. Oct. were the 28th and 29th days of September; in the Julian calendar, they were the 29th and 30th days of September. If we takes Pliny's date to be correct for Pompey's birthday, and date his death to a.d. III Kal. Oct., the previous day, where both dates are interpreted according to the pre-Julian calendar, we can reconcile the data as follows:
On this basis, we can date Pompey's death to a.d. III Kal. Oct. A.U.C. 706 = 23 July 48 B.C. However, as far as the age of Ptolemy XIII is concerned it matters little whether he died on this day or the next (or even the day after): he was born between late July 62 and late July 61. Ý
[5] Porphyry, in Eusebius, Chronicorum I (ed. Schoene) 167, Prol. Trogus 40, Strabo 17.1.11. For the date see discussion under Ptolemy XII. In the first year Cleopatra VII is named alone as queen. Ý
[6] BGU 8.1730, a prostagma from "the king and queen" dated 23 Phaophi year 3 (=27 October 50); pdemCairo 30616 a and b, dated to 13 Phamenoth year 3 (=15 March 49) and gr Medinet Habu 44, dated to 14 Thoth year 5 (= 17 September 48), both in the reigns of king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra the father-loving gods. For the issues in interpreting the dates of these documents see the discussion under Arsinoe IV. Ý
[7] Caesar, Civil Wars 3.108. Nothing is known of his family. He was executed shortly after the settlement imposd by Caesar when he was caught in corespondence with the forces beseiging Casear in the royal palace. Ý
[7.1] See discussion under Ptolemy XII. Ý
[8] Caesar, Civil Wars 3.103 states that she had been expelled from Egypt "a few months before" the murder of Pompey in July 48. She may have left Alexandria for Upper Egypt some time previously -- see the discussion under Arsinoe IV. Ý
[9] Caesar, Civil Wars 3.108. The date is an estimate achieved by dead reckoning. Caesar arrived in Alexandria three days after the murder of Pompey, on a.d. VI Non. Oct. -- Livy, Periochae 112.4, with analysis by P. Graindor, La Guerre d'Alexandrie 19. After a few days calming riots, he summoned Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII to Alexandria for judgement. Travel time for sending messages between Alexandria and the armies then encamped at Pelusium must have been three days or less, since Caesar was greeted upon his arrival in Alexandria with the gift of Pompey's head, but there may have been more than one exchange of messages. Thus, Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII must have both arrived by mid-late October (Roman), giving late October/early November (Roman) = late August/early September (Julian) for the likely date of Caesar's settlement.
P. Graindor, La Guerre d'Alexandrie 35 n. 2 notes that Caesar was still consul when he issued the summons (Caesar, Civil Wars 3.107) but issued the judgement as dictator (Livy, Periochae 112.6). This should set a terminus post quem, but unfortunately we have no independent source giving the exact date at which the dictatorship formally became effective. One would guess either Id. Oct. or Kal. Nov. For a terminus ante quem, we have Caesar's note that he was forced to stay in Alexandria at the time of the judgement by the Etesian winds (Caesar, Civil Wars 3.107), which, according to Claudius Ptolemy, could regularly be expected to stop on 31 August = a.d. VII Id. Nov. on the unreformed calendar in 48 -- see P. Graindor, La Guerre d'Alexandrie 71. Either way, we end up in late August 48. Ý
[10] I.e. on the occasion of the settlement imposed by Caesar. Dio Cassius 42.35. But see discussion under Cleopatra VII. Ý
[11] pseudo-Caesar, Alexandrian Wars 24. Ý
[12] Again, the date can only be estimated by dead reckoning -- see P. Graindor, La Guerre d'Alexandrie 89ff. The narrative of pseudo-Caesar, Alexandrian Wars 9-24 suggests that the release of the king happened a couple of weeks after the arrival of reinforcements from the 37th Legion that Caesar had summoned during the riots that had broken out on his arrival in Alexandria (Caesar, Civil Wars 3.107). The receipt of the message by Domitius Calvinus was presumably delayed somewhat by the Etesian winds (Caesar, Civil Wars 3.107), but was reasonably received within 2-3 weeks -- i.e. by late October (Roman). Upon receipt, Calvinus detached two legions to Caesar's support (pseudo-Caesar, Alexandrian Wars 34). Another 2-3 weeks can be allowed to organise the redirection and the transport and to reach the embarkation port. Arrival in Alexandrian waters presumably occurred about a week after that. Thus, the start of December (Roman) seems the safest estimate, placing the release of Ptolemy XIII in mid December, corresponding to early October (Julian). Ý
[13] pseudo-Caesar, Alexandrian Wars 31. Strabo 17.1.11 claims that Caesar had him put to death, but this is generally not believed. The date is given as a.d. VI Kal. Apr. in the Fasti Caeretani and the Fasti Maffeiani. On the interpretation of the record of the Fasti Caeretani as conquest of the Alexandrians rather than the submission of Alexandria, see P. Graindor in Mélanges Paul Thomas 364. That the date is in the unreformed Roman calendar is proved by P. Graindor, La Guerre d'Alexandrie 21f. as follows: The Fasti Maffeiani gives the date of Caesar's final victory over Pharnaces as a.d. IV Non. Sextilis. Cicero, Epistolares Ad Familiares 14.20, dated Kal. Oct. 707 AUC = 15 July 47, tells us that he was then free to return from Brindisium to Rome, based on permission that Caesar, having returned to Italy, had given him shortly before. Therefore the entries of the Fasti Maffeiani and the Fasti Caeretani are dated by the unreformed Roman calendar. Ý
Update Notes:
11 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
28 Feb 2002: Split into separate entry
12 May 2002: Corrected Roman and Egyptian date
equations as necessary
30 June 2002: Expanded on the conversions for the
unreformed Roman calendar in 47. Corrected Roman and Egyptian date
equations again as necessary
3 July 2002: Expanded the discussion on 708/46.
15 Jan 2003: Expanded the disission n 708/46 to cover
Scaliger's attribution of 444 days to this year.
18 May 2003: Refined & corrected Macrobius Xref to
give bookmark for 443 day 708/46
18 June 2003: Updated Xrefs to online translations of
Caesarian sources
23 Oct 2003: Added Xref to online Appian
24 Feb 2004: Added Xrefs to online Strabo, Prol Trogus
13 Sep 2004: Add Xref to online Eusebius
19 Oct 2004: Changed Periochae Xref to Lendering translation
19 Oct 2004: Removed redundant discussion of Roman chronology.
13 Jan 2005: Add Xref to discussion of the "King
Ptolemy Philopator" who was a victor at the Basileia.
19 Jan 2005: Updated Xrefs on Alexandrian Wars to
ForumRomanum edition
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcription
7 Dec 2010: Fix broken Perseus & DDbDP links
18 Dec 2011: Correct discussion of
Pompey's date of death -- thanks to Jim Scott for pointing out
the issue and the associated subtleties, and sources
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