Ptolemaic Courtiers

Three of the most influential men in the court of King Ptolemy XIII of Egypt.

From left to Right:
Pothinus, Theodotus and Achillas

Pothinus was a eunuch and regent for Ptolemy XIII.
Theodotus of Chios was the rhetoric tutor of Ptolemy XIII.
Achillas was the General of the Egyptian army.

These three men were responsible for turning Ptolemy XIII against his older sister, and co-ruler, Cleopatra VII. The three of them succeeded in having Cleopatra banished from the palace and she went into hiding. As a result, these three men became the effective rulers of Egypt, through their influence over King Ptolemy (who at that point was about 11).

They were also responsible for the murder of Gnaeus Pompey Magnus a few years later. As a result, however, Gaius Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt, put Cleopatra on the throne, and these three men ended up dead: Pothinus was executed on the orders of Caesar; Achillas was murdered by Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe, and her tutor, Ganymedes; Theodotus escaped from Egypt only to be crucified at a later date by Marcus Junius Brutus.

The (somewhat gaudy) costumes I have given them are a mixture of Greek and Egyptian designs; since the Ptolemaic Dynasty were Macedonian Greek, their royal court would have actually appeared more Greek than Egyptian – but I thought it might be nice to have them augment their costumes with a little bit of Egyptian affectation.