Ptolemy VI Philometor was a king of Egypt from the Ptolemaic period

Ptolemaic dynasty

The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...

. He reigned from 180 to 145 BC.

Ptolemy succeeded in 180 at the age of about 6 and ruled jointly with his mother, Cleopatra I, until her death in 176 BC. The following year he married his sister, Cleopatra II.

In 170 BC, Antiochus IV

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne....

 began the sixth Syrian War and invaded Egypt twice. He was crowned as its king in 168, but abandoned his claim on the orders of the Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

.

From 169–164, Egypt was ruled by a triumvirate consisting of Ptolemy, his sister-queen and his younger brother known as Ptolemy VIII Physcon

Ptolemy VIII Physcon

Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II , nicknamed , Phúskōn, Physcon for his obesity, was a king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. His complicated career started in 170 BC, when Antiochus IV Epiphanes invaded Egypt, captured his brother Ptolemy VI Philometor and let him continue as a puppet monarch...

. In 164 he was driven out by his brother and went to Rome

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 to seek support, which he received from Cato

Cato the Elder

Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...

. He was restored the following year by the intervention of the Alexandrians and ruled uneasily, cruelly suppressing frequent rebellions.

In 152 BC, he briefly ruled jointly with one of his sons, known as Ptolemy Eupator

Ptolemy Eupator

Ptolemy Eupator was the son of Ptolemy VI Philometor and Cleopatra II, and for a short time in 152 BCE reigned as co-ruler with his father. It is thought that Ptolemy Eupator died in August of that same year....

, but it is thought that Ptolemy Eupator died that same year.

In 145 BC he died of battle wounds received against Alexander Balas of Syria.

External links

• Ptolemy Philometor at LacusCurtius — (Chapter IX of E. R. Bevan's House of Ptolemy, 1923)
• Ptolemy VI — (Egyptian Royal Genealogy)
• Ptolemy VI Philometor entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith