Cleopatra III in the context of "Cleopatra Selene of Syria"

Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Νέος Διόνυσος, romanized: Ptolemaios Neos Dionysos, lit. 'Ptolemy the new Dionysus' c. 117 – 51 BC) was a king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt who ruled from 80 to 58 BC and then again from 55 BC until his death in 51 BC. He was commonly known as Auletes (Αὐλητής, "the Flautist"), referring to his love of playing the flute in Dionysian festivals. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, he was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.

Ptolemy XII was an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX by an uncertain mother. In 116 BC, Ptolemy IX became co-regent with his mother, Cleopatra III. However, due to a civil war against his mother and his brother, Ptolemy X, he was exiled in 107 BC. Cleopatra III sent her grandsons to Kos in 103 BC. They were captured by Mithridates VI of Pontus probably in 88 BC. After the killing of his cousin Ptolemy XI, Ptolemy XII was recalled from Pontus and proclaimed pharaoh, while his brother, also named Ptolemy, was installed as king of Cyprus.

Ptolemy IX Soter II (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaĩos Sōtḗr 'Ptolemy the Saviour'), commonly nicknamed Lathyros (Λάθυρος, Láthuros 'chickpea'), was twice king of Ptolemaic Egypt. The son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III; he reigned as Ptolemy Philometor Soter in joint rule with his grandmother Cleopatra II and mother Cleopatra III from 116 to 107 BC, and then again as Ptolemy Soter from 88 to 81 BC. Ptolemy IX became the heir apparent after the murder of his half-brother Ptolemy Memphites in 130 BC, during a civil war between Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II. On his father's death in 116 BC, he became co-regent with Cleopatra II (until 115 BC) and with Cleopatra III. He eventually quarrelled with his mother and in 107 BC, she deposed him and replaced him with his younger brother, Ptolemy X. However, Ptolemy IX succeeded in seizing control of Cyprus. From there he invaded Judaea, but was prevented by Ptolemy X from invading Egypt (103–102 BC). In 88 BC, the Alexandrians expelled Ptolemy X and restored Ptolemy IX to the throne. He reigned alone until 81 BC, when he appointed his daughter Berenice III as co-regent shortly before his own death. She succeeded him as ruler.

Ptolemy X Alexander I (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Ἀλέξανδρος, Ptolemaĩos Aléxandros) was the Ptolemaic king of Cyprus from 114 BC until 107 BC and of Egypt from 107 BC until his death in 88 BC. He ruled in co-regency with his mother Cleopatra III as Ptolemy Philometor Soter until 101 BC, and then with his niece and wife Berenice III as Ptolemy Philadelphus. He was a son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III, and younger brother of Ptolemy IX. His birth name was probably Alexander.

Ptolemy X was the second son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III. When Ptolemy VIII died in 116 BC, Ptolemy IX became king with Cleopatra III as his co-regent and Alexander was sent to Cyprus to serve as governor. However, in 114–113 BC, he declared himself king. Cleopatra III quarrelled with Ptolemy IX and arranged for Alexander to return to Egypt in 107 BC and replace his brother as co-regent (with modern sources calling him Ptolemy X).

Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλομήτωρ Σώτειρα, Kleopatra Philomētōr Sōteira; c. 185 BC – 116/115 BC) was Queen consort of Ptolemaic Egypt from 175 to 170 BC as wife of Ptolemy VI Philometor, and then Queen regnant since 170 BC as co-ruler with her two successive brother-husbands, her daughter, and her grandson.

She co-ruled during her first reign since 170 until 164 BC, with Ptolemy VI Philometor, her first husband and the older of her brothers, and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, her younger brother. During her second reign she co-ruled again with Ptolemy VI from 163 BC until his death in 145 BC. She then ruled with her younger brother, Ptolemy VIII, whom she married, and her daughter Cleopatra III. She was sole ruler of Egypt from 131 BC to 127 BC. Her final reign from 124 BC to 116/5 BC was also spent in coregency with Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III.