11. It Was Unfortunate for This Child King That His Mother Trusted His Uncle-Stepfather, Who Was Also Her Brother-Husband
The three-way joint rule agreement of Ptolemy VI, his wife-sister Cleopatra II, and their brother Ptolemy VIII Potbelly, was complicated and icky. It did not take long for the situation to get even more complicated and icky, and for the deal to collapse. It was an unstable arrangement that lent itself to intrigues, conspiracies, betrayals, and further destabilized Egypt. Ptolemy Potbelly was not in Egypt when his brother Ptolemy VI died in 145 BC. Their sister Cleopatra II, the deceased king’s wife, promptly declared her child son as King Ptolemy VII.
When Potbelly returned, he convinced his widowed sister to marry him instead, and promised that the sibling-spouses would rule jointly. It was unfortunate for the child king Ptolemy VII that his mother trusted her brother-husband to keep his word. Ptolemy Potbelly double-crossed his sister/ new wife in the worst way possible. During their wedding feast, Potbelly had his new wife’s son and his nephew, Ptolemy VII, murdered. He also reneged on the promise to rule jointly with his sister-wife and declared himself sole ruler.