Ptolemy Eupator was the son of Ptolemy VI Philometor and Cleopatra II, and for a short time in 152 BCE, he reigned as co-ruler on Cyprus with his father. It is thought that Ptolemy Eupator died in August of that same year.
Eupator is attested on a few documents and inscriptions: he is mentioned in a demotic papyrus held by the British Museum and referenced as a priest of the cult of Alexander during 158–157 BCE, and he was a co-regent with his father in 152 BCE. He also appears in a list of deified Ptolemies. Eupator was probably aged 12 or 13 when he died.
When he was first discovered, there was a theory that he was an elder brother of his father and reigned before him. As a result, some 19th-century texts count Ptolemy Philometor as “Ptolemy VII” (instead of “Ptolemy VI“) and increment the numbers of all later Ptolemies by one until “Ptolemy XV Caesarion” (instead of “Ptolemy XV”). The epithets, which have come down from antiquity, are unchanged. The discovery of his tomb in Cyprus was announced in 2017.
