Gabinius Recaptures Egypt for Ptolemy XII
PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (Auletes). Restored, 55-51 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 10.36 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint. Dated RY 28 (54/3 BC) . Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis around neck / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; to left, L KH (date) above Isis headdress; ΠA to right. Svoronos 1837; SNG Copenhagen 395. Good VF, toned, light porosity and metal fissures. Rare.
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos, nicknamed Auletes (the flute-player), was a son of Ptolemy IX. In 80 BC, he succeeded Ptolemy XI to the throne of Egypt. By now Rome was the arbiter of Egyptian affairs, and annexed both Libya and Cyprus. At the height of his success in 59 BC, after paying bribes to Caesar and Pompey, a formal alliance was formed and his name inscribed into the list of friends and allies of the people of Rome. But in 58 BC Auletes was forced by the Alexandrian mob to flee to Rome. He finally recovered his throne by paying to Roman general Aulus Gabinius 10,000 talents to invade Egypt in 55 BC. Then he reigned on until he fell ill in 51 BC, when he chose his daughter Cleopatra VII as his coregent.
