The Last Ptolemy

The Last Ptolemy

      Today marks the anniversary of the death well, execution, of Caesarion, the last member of the Ptolemiac Dynasty.

      Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar was the son of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar. As one of the final acts of the civil war fought between Octavian (ultimately Caesar Augustus) and Mark Antony, Octavian’s forces captured Alexandria and with it Egypt. Thereafter, Mark Antony and Cleopatra each committed suicide.  When subsequently captured by Octavian's forces, Caesarion was executed, thereby bringing to an end the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

      Ptolemy had been a companion to and a general of Alexander the Great. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Ptolemy and the other generals fought for control of portions of Alexander’s empire. In 305 BC, Ptolemy declared himself the new Pharaoh of Egypt. His family would rule until the death of Caesarion in 30 BC.

      So ended the Ptolemiac Dynasty in Egypt.