245, Lot: 209. Estimate $100. Sold for $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon). Second reign, 145-116 BC. Æ (31mm, 22.32 g, 11h). Uncertain mint in Cyprus. Head of Zeus-Ammon right, wearing tainia / Eagle standing right on thunderbolt, with wings spread. Svoronos 1653; SNG Copenhagen -; Noeske 286-8. Good Fine, brown patina.

Ptolemy VIII Eurgetes II first rose to the throne with the Seleukid invasion of Egypt in 170 BC. During the conflict Antiochos IV captured the young Ptolemy VI Philometer, controlling him as a puppet king and causing Eurgetes to be proclaimed in the unconquered city of Alexandreia. Combined Seleukid and Ptolemaic forces laid siege to the city until Roman ambassadors convinced them to cease. With the withdrawal of Antiochos’ army, Ptolemy VI was left to rule from Memphis, effectively dividing the kingdom. Yet this situation did not last long and the two Ptolemies reconciled their differences to unite against the foreign aggressor. Again Antiochos attacked Egpyt and again Roman envoys convinced him to withdraw. The two kings enjoyed a peaceful joint rule for a time after the invasion.

Eurgetes proved unpopular among his subjects as a result of his harsh rule, and was given the derisive nickname Physcon (“potbelly”). With the death of Philometer in 145 BC his tyranny went unchecked. Supporters of the former joint-king were expelled or executed, interrupting the thriving intellectual life of Alexandreia. Eurgetes regretted this effect and later sought to aid the academic community in the city by banning the export of papyrus. As a result of the persecutions, the remainder of the reign was plagued by perennial coups and uprisings.