ABSTRACT
Promotion of the Ptolemaic royal cause did not end with the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC. Cleopatra's eldest son, Caesarion, disappears from the historical record and was no doubt eliminated by Octavian – if not personally, then by his supporters. Mark Antony's children were, however, spared. Octavia, Mark Antony's widow and sister of Octavian, brought up the three remaining children but, like Caesarion, the boys Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphos are not mentioned as adults, although it is thought that Cleopatra Selene took them with her to Mauritania. The princess was married to a client king of Rome, Juba II of Mauritania (modern Algeria), and moved to the capital Cherchel. Cleopatra Selene and Juba II had one child, a boy named Ptolemy who suffered a fate that was familiar to his Egyptian ancestors: he was murdered. In true Ptolemaic fashion he died on account of his party dress which, it was claimed, enraged the emperor Caligula because it was better than the Roman's own attire. In reality the emperor's half-cousin (for he too was descended from Mark Antony) posed a political threat.
