Ptolemy Eupator

Who is 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.

Eupator is attested on small number of documents and inscriptions: he is mentioned in a demotic papyrus held by the British Museum, is referenced as a priest during 158-157 BCE, and that he was a co-regent with his father in 152 BCE. Eupator was probably aged 12 or 13 when he died. He also appears in a list of deified Ptolemies.

When he was first discovered, there was a theory that he was an elder brother of his father, and reigned before him. As a result, some 19th-century texts count Ptolemy Philometor as "Ptolemy VII", and increment the numbers of all later Ptolemies by one until "Ptolemy XVI Caesarion". The epithets, which have come down from antiquity, are unchanged.