cleopatra's father was a client ruler of the roman republic. when the romans annexed cyprus and drove ptolemy xii's brother ptolemy of cyprus to commit suicide rather than go into exile, ptolemy xii became unpopular with the masses in egypt for remaining silent and offering no reaction to the events. he and a daughter, ostensibly cleopatra and not arsinoe iv, were exiled from egypt during a revolt. this allowed cleopatra's older sister berenice iv to claim the throne in 58 bc, ruling jointly with her mother cleopatra vi tryphaena. ptolemy xii and cleopatra traveled first to roman italy. in the alban hills (outside rome), they stayed at the villa of their roman patron, the triumvir pompey the great. after ptolemy xii orchestrated the assassinations of berenice iv's diplomats in rome, seeking to gain roman favor, he and cleopatra left the city's hostile environment and settled at ephesus in anatolia.