Ptolemy Apion or simply known as Apion (; between 150 BC and 145 BC – 96 BC) was the last Greek
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
of
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...
who separated it from the
Ptolemaic Kingdom
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, and in his
last will
A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distribut ...
bequeathed his country to
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. He was a member of the
Ptolemaic dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty (; , ''Ptolemaioi''), also known as the Lagid dynasty (, ''Lagidai''; after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. ...
.
Biography
Apion was the son of
Ptolemy VIII Physcon
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon (, ''Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs Tryphōn'', "Ptolemy the Benefactor, the Opulent"; c. 184 BC – 28 June 116 BC), nicknamed Physcon (, ''Physkōn'', "Fatty"), was a king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. He was ...
, king of Egypt (170-165, 145-132, and 127-116) and king of Cyrene and Cyprus (163-116 BC), by a concubine. Apion's mother is often identified with Eirene, who was his mistress around 147 BC,
but there is no evidence for this.
Ptolemy Apion was apparently given Cyrene as a separate kingdom ca. 105-101 BC.
Nothing is recorded of Ptolemy's reign of Cyrenaica. Some scholars have doubted that he ever actually reigned.
[*] Ptolemy died in 96 BC without heirs. In Ptolemy's will, he left Cyrenaica and his ancestral royal estates to the rule of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
.
References
*
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
, ''Annals'' xiv. 14–65)
*
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Apion, Ptolemy
Kings of Cyrene
Ptolemaic dynasty
2nd-century BC births
96 BC deaths
Year of birth unknown
2nd-century BC Greek people
1st-century BC Greek people