Hotephres (84 BC-) was a Greek merchant who lived on the Philadelphia Farm in Faiyum, Ptolemaic Egypt during the 1st century BC. He served as an informant for Apollodorus the Sicilian during the Alexandrine Civil War.
Biography[]
Hotephres was born in Krokodilopolis, Faiyum, Ptolemaic Egypt in 84 BC to a Greek family, and he was given an Egyptian name. He was a skilled warrior before becoming an adventurer, and he met his wife Khenut on one of his adventures and settled down on an estate in Euhemeria. Hotephres originallly wanted to stay with his ship, but the inheritance was forced on him, and Hotephres disliked his duties. At the Euhemeria estate, Khenut gave birth to Shadya, their only child. Hotephres soon became a wealthy merchant with estates both in Euhemeria and Philadelphia. In 49 BC, Khenut talked Hotephres into becoming an informant for Cleopatra's right-hand man Apollodorus the Sicilian, who sought information on the corrupt nomarch, Berenike the Crocodile. Hotephres went on the run after stealing a ledger from Berenike, and he lived on the run aboard his trade ship on Lake Moeris. In 48 BC, he met the medjay Bayek, who promised to aid him with his hunt. However, Berenike's soldiers searched Khenut's villa and discovered that Shadya was hiding the ledger, so they arrested Khenut and Shadya and drowned Shadya in the lake after taking the ledger from her. Hotephres was devastated, but he promised to help Bayek in any way he could, and he suggested that two of the men responsible were red-haired gladiators from the Krokodilopolis Arena. Bayek interrogated the Gallic gladiators Diovicos and Viridovix and discovered that "the Crocodile" Hotephres and Bayek were hunting was Berenike. Hotephres then led Bayek to the Kerkesoucha Granary to assassinate Berenike before returning to his farm and sleeping with a mistress. When Bayek arrived, he was disgusted by Hotephres' cheating on his wife, but Hotephres explained that his wife had lost her feelings for him, and he led Bayek to see her sobbing at Shadya's shrine. Hotephres helped Bayek assassinate the Captain Andronikos Miskilis, who had marked Khenut for death, and he identified the Captain's seal as belonging to Fort Boubastos. Hotephres helped Bayek launch a popular revolt against the commander, freeing Faiyum of Ptolemy's corrupt rule.