After the death of the legitimate heir to the throne, the illegitimate son of Lathyrus, Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos Auletes, ascended in 80 BC.
To complete the royal couple he married his sister Cleopatra V Tryphaena. At the same time a younger brother of him was declared as king of Cyprus.
Now the Roman power was increasing to the extent that the issue of Auletes' rightfulness to the power was stirred up in Rome. Rome debated whether it should annex Egypt for that reason or not.

In 58 BC and as a result of people's hatred for Auletes because of his brutality and the harsh taxes he imposed, he was expelled from Alexandria to Rome.

Berenice IV, the eldest daughter of Auletes, declared herself the sole regent of Egypt. She then married Seleucus Kybiosaktes and had him strangled few days after the marriage. So she married Archelaus and they both ruled for 4 years. During this period Auletes was attempting to get the support of the Roman senate.

After paying off Julius Caesar, famous Roman statesman, and a Syrian proconsul, Auletes finally received the support he needed represented by the Roman recognition of him as a king and providing him with a backing Roman army.

Finally Auletes returned in Egypt in 55 BC after eliminating Archelaus, his stepson. The first thing he did was to execute his daughter. Then he ruled Egypt for another 4 years till his death with the support of Roman protecting forces.

Auletes left 2 sons; Ptolemy XIII, Ptolemy XIV, and 3 daughter: Arsinoe IV, Cleopatra VI and the famous Cleopatra VII. Cleopatra was the eldest so she ascended the throne short time after the death of her father in 51 BC.