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For the bishop of Lyon, see Saint Pothinus.
Pothinus
Born
c. 90 BC
Died
48 or 47 BC (aged c. 43)
Alexandria, Egypt
Pothinus or Potheinos (Greek: Ποθεινός;[1] early 1st century BC – 48 or 47 BC), a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra, thus starting a civil war, and for having Pompey decapitated and presenting the severed head to Julius Caesar according to some sources.
When Ptolemy XII died in 51 BC, his will stated that Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII were to become co-rulers of Egypt, with the Roman Republic as their guardians. Ptolemy XIII was underage and Pothinus was appointed as his regent. The general Achillas and the rhetorician Theodotus of Chios were also guardians of the Egyptian king. When Ptolemy and Cleopatra were elevated to the status of senior rulers, Pothinus was maintained as the former's regent. Most Egyptologists believed that Pothinus used his influence to turn Ptolemy against Cleopatra[citation needed]. In the spring of 48 BC, Ptolemy, under Pothinus' guidance, attempted to depose Cleopatra in order to become sole ruler while Pothinus planned to act as the power behind the throne. They gained control of Alexandria, then the capital of Egypt, and forced Cleopatra out of the city. She soon organized her own army and a civil war began in Egypt, while Arsinoe IV also began to claim the throne for herself.
Rome was also enveloped in civil war, and after his defeat in the Battle of Pharsalus, Pompey sought asylum in Egypt. Initially, Pothinus pretended to have accepted his request, but on 29 September 48 BC, Pothinus had the general murdered, hoping to win favor with Julius Caesar, who had defeated Pompey. When Caesar arrived, he was presented with the head of Pompey, but he responded with grief and disgust and ordered that Pompey's body be located and given a proper Roman funeral. Pothinus had neglected to note that Caesar had been granting clemency to his enemies, including Cassius, Cicero, and Brutus. Cleopatra used Pothinus's mistake to gain favor with Caesar and eventually became his lover.
Caesar then arranged for the execution of Pothinus and the marriage of Cleopatra to Ptolemy. In the last chapter of Commentaries on the Civil War, however, it is described that Pothinus arranged for Achillas to attack Alexandria and upon sending a message not to hesitate but to fulfill the plan, the messengers were exposed, whereupon Caesar had Pothinus imprisoned and killed, probably with a knife. His death occurred during the ten-month Siege of Alexandria.
the status of senior rulers, Pothinus was maintained as the former's regent. Most Egyptologists believed that Pothinus used his influence to turn Ptolemy...
them while Pothinus was bishop of Lyons, and Irenæus, who had been sent there by Polycarp out of Asia, was a priest of that city. Pothinus died at the...
along with her, although the eunuch Pothinus acted as regent for him. In the spring of 48 BC, Ptolemy XIII and Pothinus attempted to depose Cleopatra due...
Pothinus, under the choir of the church of St. Nizier, was destroyed in 1884. But there are still revered at Lyon the prison cell of Saint Pothinus,...
Pompey at the suggestion of the eunuch Pothinus and Theodotus of Chios. Achillas subsequently joined Pothinus in resisting Caesar, and having had the...
place in Lyon. Returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus and became the second bishop of Lyon. During the religious peace which...
was Bishop of Lyon near the end of the 2nd century and he claimed Saint Pothinus was his predecessor. The Council of Arles in 314 is considered a forerunner...
cannibalism. Forty-eight Christians are martyred in Lyon (Saint Blandina and Pothinus, bishop of Lyon, are among them). Second Marcomannic War: Marcus Aurelius...
Butler, Alban. "St. Pothinus, Bishop, Sanctus, Attalus, Blandina, &c., Martyrs of Lyons", Lives of the Saints, Vol.VI, 1866 Pothinus may also have known...
century when Irenaeus detailed the deaths of ninety-year-old bishop Saint Pothinus of Lugdunum (Lyon) and other martyrs of the 177 AD persecution in Lyon...
supported Ptolemy XIII and his three influential guardians and advisors, Pothinus, Achillas, and Theodotus of Chios. In the spring of 49 BC Gnaeus Pompeius...
Gaul to be established in Lugdunum in the 2nd century, led by a bishop Pothinus—who probably was Greek. In 177 it also became the first in Gaul to suffer...
with Pothinus, a figure of uncertain historicity alleged by Irenaeus to have been the first bishop of Lyon. The similarity of the name Pothinus and the...
on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The cathedral was founded by Saint Pothinus and Saint Irenaeus, the first two bishops of Lyon. The cathedral is also...
the Roman Senate (approximate date). Decebalus becomes king of Dacia. Pothinus, bishop of Lyon (approximate date) Rupilia Faustina, Roman noblewoman (approximate...
support traditional Egyptian religious cults. Ptolemy XIII's regents, Pothinus and Achillas, led the cause against her. After Caesar's successful invasion...
persecution in Lyons with a group of other Christians, including Saint Pothinus and Saint Blandina. He is venerated by the Roman Catholic Church as a martyr...
Harrison in the 1979 revival of Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra in the role of Pothinus. Other shows include roles in The Iceman Cometh, with Jason Robards Jr...
and Septimius Severus. Local saints from this period include Blandina, Pothinus, and Epipodius, among others. The Greek Irenaeus was the second bishop...
established in Lugdunum some time in the 2nd century was led by a bishop named Pothinus from Asia Minor. In the first two centuries of the Christian era, it was...
found in Roman Martyrology Potentian 300s 390 found in Roman Martyrology Pothinus c. 87 AD 177 found in Roman Martyrology Bishop of Lyon Praejectus 625 25...
of 51 BC). The most powerful of these men was the eunuch and minister Pothinus, the second in rank was the commander-in-chief Achillas and finally in...
destroyed until 1793. Saint Foutin, by assimilation of the name of Pothin (Pothinus), first bishop of Lyon, to the verb foutre (“to fuck”). People worshipped...
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