She was herself about eighteen.

They were both too young to govern; they could only reign.

The affairs of the kingdom were, accordingly, conducted by two ministers whom their father had designated.

These ministers were Pothinus, a eunuch, who was a sort of secretary of state, and Achillas, the commander-in-chief of the armies.
Thus, though Cleopatra, by these events, became nominally a queen, her real accession to the throne was not yet accomplished.

There were still many difficulties and dangers to be passed through, before the period arrived when she became really a sovereign.