Seventh Macedonian ruler of Egypt. Since
the oldest son of Ptolemy
V & Cleopatra I was
still a youngster when his father died (180
BCE), his mother acted as
regent until her own death (177
BCE). Though Ptolemy VI was deified at age
10 & married to his sister [Cleopatra
II] at age 16, he remained a puppet of court eunuchs who recklessly
challenged his Seleucid uncle [Antiochus
IV] for control of Palestine. Not only did that invasion fail,
it prompted Antiochus to invade Egypt twice (170 & 168
BCE). Antiochus withdrew from Egypt
only because of Roman pressure, leaving Ptolemy VI
& his younger brother Ptolemy
VIII Physcon as co-rulers. Four years later, however, the living
god-king [now age 22] was driven from Alexandria by his younger sibling.
Rome intervened again to settle the feud between its nominal allies by
dividing the Ptolemaic kingdom. As first-born, Philometor retained control
of Egypt proper, while Physcon was given Cyrene [Libya]. Cyprus,
however, remained a prize contested among the sibling rivals & their
Seleucid cousin, Demetrius
I. After thwarting his brother's attempt to seize Cyprus (154
BCE),
Ptolemy VI countered the Seleucid threat by giving shelter & support
to Demetrius' challenger, Alexander
Balas. Balas' defeat of Demetrius (150 BCE) prompted Ptolemy to
marry his daughter, Cleopatra
Thea, to the victor. But when Balas attempted to assassinate his
father-in-law during the latter's visit to Syria (148
BCE), Ptolemy
reclaimed his daughter & married her to Balas' bitter rival, Demetrius
II. While his forces soundly defeated Balas (145
BCE), Ptolemy
himself died soon after the battle from head wounds suffered in a fall
from his horse.
While Ptolemy VI was neither a strong
ruler nor a conqueror, he proved to be a pivotal figure in the events
that gave rise to the Maccabean revolt & made an independent Jewish
state possible. For he provoked Antiochus IV to tighten his control on Judea
& later fueled the feuds among Antiochus' successors. Jews
regarded him as a supporter for permitting a Jewish temple to be
erected at Leontopolis [Tell el-Yahudiyeh, Egypt] & favoring Alexandrian Jews against
Samaritan opponents.
References:
Josephus,
Antiquities 12.235,
243, 387; 13.62-82, 103-120, 20:236.
_____, War 1.31-33,
7.423-426.
Polybius, Histories
28.12, 19-21; 29.23,
26-27.
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