Ptolemy XIV of Egypt


Ptolemy XIV, was a son of Ptolemy XII of Egypt and one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.

Biography

Following the death of his older brother Ptolemy XIII of Egypt on January 13, 47 BC, and according to his will, he was proclaimed Pharaoh and co-ruler by their older sister and remaining Pharaoh, Cleopatra VII of Egypt. He was about 12 years old when he acceded to the throne. He and his older sister, Cleopatra, were married, but Cleopatra continued to act as lover of Roman dictator Julius Caesar. Ptolemy is considered to have reigned in name only, as a concession to Egyptian tradition, with Cleopatra keeping actual authority.
On March 15, 44 BC Caesar was murdered in Rome by a group of conspirators whose most notable members were Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. Ptolemy soon followed him in death. An inscription mentioning him as alive was dated at July 26, 44 BC. It has been assumed but remains uncertain that Cleopatra poisoned her co-ruler, with aconite, to replace him with his nephew Ptolemy XV Caesarion, her son by Caesar who was proclaimed co-ruler on September 2, 44 BC and whom his mother intended to support as successor of his father.

Ancestry