Family tree Homs » Ptolemy I Soter Pharaoh of Egypt (Ptolemy I Soter) "Πτολεμαίος Α' Σωτήρ της Αιγύπτου" Pharaoh of Egypt (± 367-± 284)

Personal data Ptolemy I Soter Pharaoh of Egypt (Ptolemy I Soter) "Πτολεμαίος Α' Σωτήρ της Αιγύπτου" Pharaoh of Egypt 

• Nickname is Πτολεμαίος Α' Σωτήρ της Αιγύπτου.
• He was born about -367 in Macedonia.
• Profession: .
• He died about -284 in Alexandria, Egypt.
• A child of Phillip II "The One Eye" of Macedonia and Arsinoë I of Macedonia
• This information was last updated on February 19, 2012.

Household of Ptolemy I Soter Pharaoh of Egypt (Ptolemy I Soter) "Πτολεμαίος Α' Σωτήρ της Αιγύπτου" Pharaoh of Egypt

He is married to Berenice I of Macedonia.

They got married about -317 at Egypt.

Child(ren):

1. Ptolemy II Philadelphos Pharoah of Egypt Pharoah of Egypt  ± 308-246 

Notes about Ptolemy I Soter Pharaoh of Egypt (Ptolemy I Soter) "Πτολεμαίος Α' Σωτήρ της Αιγύπτου" Pharaoh of Egypt

Event: Ruled 305 - 282 BC, Pharaoh of Egypt 2
Event: Throne Name Mery-amun Setep-en-re 3
Note:
Ptolemy I SOTER (Greek: Saviour) (b. 367/366 or 364 BC, Macedonia--d.283/282, Egypt), Macedonian general of Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (323-285 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which reigned longer than any other dynasty established on the soil of the Alexandrian empire and only succumbed to the Romans in 30 BC.
Early life and career.
Ptolemy was the son of the nobleman Lagus, a native of the Macedoniandistrict of Eordaea whose family was undistinguished until Ptolemy's time, and of Arsinoe, who was related to the Macedonian Argead dynasty. He was probably educated as a page at the royal court of Macedonia,where he became closely associated with Alexander. He was exiled in 337, along with other companions of the crown prince. When he returned,after Alexander's accession to the throne in 336, he joined the King's bodyguard, took part in Alexander's European campaigns of 336-335, and in the fall of 330 was appointed personal bodyguard (somatophylax)to Alexander; in this capacity he captured the assassin of Darius III, the Persian emperor, in 329. He was closely associated with Alexander during the advance through the Persian highland. As a result of Ptolemy's successful military performance on the way from Bactria (in northeastern Afghanistan) to the Indus River (327-325), he became commander (trierarchos) of the Macedonian fleet on the Hydaspes (modern Jhelum in India). Alexander decorated him several times for his deeds and married him to the Persian Artacama at the mass wedding at Susa, the Persian capital, which was the crowning event of Alexander's policy of merging the Macedonian and Iranian populations.
Satrap of Egypt.
Ptolemy, who distinguished himself as a cautious and trustworthy troop commander under Alexander, also proved to be a politician of unusual diplomatic and strategic ability in the long series of struggles over the throne that broke out after Alexander's death in 323. Convincedfrom the outset that the generals could not maintain the unity of Alexander's empire, he proposed during the council at Babylon, which followed Alexander's death, that the satrapies (the provinces of the huge empire) be divided among the generals. He became satrap of Egypt, withthe adjacent Libyan and Arabian regions, and methodically took advantage of the geographic isolation of the Nile territory to make it a great Hellenistic power. He took steps to improve internal administrationand to acquire several external possessions in Cyrenaica (the easternmost part of Libya), Cyprus, and Syria and on the coast of Asia Minor;these, he hoped, would guarantee him military security. Although he pursued a friendly policy toward Greece that secured his political influence there, he also succeeded in winning over the native Egyptian population.
In 322 Ptolemy, taking advantage of internal disturbances, acquired the African Hellenic towns of Cyrenaica. In 322-321, as a member of a coalition of "successors" (diadochoi) of Alexander, he fought against Perdiccas, the ruler (chiliarchos) of the Asiatic region of the empire.The coalition was victorious and Perdiccas died during the fighting. Ptolemy's diplomatic talent was put to the test during this war. When the satrapies were redistributed at Triparadisus in northern Syria, Antipater, the general of the European region, became regent of the Macedonian empire and Ptolemy was confirmed in possession of Egypt and Cyrene. He further strengthened his position by marrying Eurydice, the third daughter of Antipater.
About 317 he married Berenice I, the granddaughter of Cassander, the son of Antipater. Cassander, at his father's death in 319, refused to accept his father's successor, made war upon him, seized part of the empire, and in 305 assumed the title of king of Macedonia. In the coalition war of 315-311, Ptolemy obtained possession of Cyprus. In this war he scored his most important victory in the battle near Gaza in 312, in which the Egyptian contingents were decisive. But war broke out anew in 310, and he lost Cyprus again in 306. He temporarily lost Cyrene as well and was unable to hold the important Greek positions of Corinth and neighbouring Sicyon and Megara, which he had captured in 308.He ultimately suffered overwhelming defeat in 306 in the naval battlenear Salamis on Cyprus. The victor in this battle, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who was assisted by his son, Demetrius Poliorcetes, assumed the title of king in 306. The remaining satraps, led by Ptolemy after he successfully resisted Antigonus' attack on Egypt, also took the title of king in 305-304.
King of Egypt.
After naming himself king, Ptolemy's first concern was the continuingwar with Antigonus, which was now focussed on the island of Rhodes. In 304 Ptolemy aided the inhabitants of Rhodes against Antigonus and was accorded the divine title Soter (Saviour), which he was commonly called from that time. The dissolution of Alexander's empire was broughtto a close with the battle near Ipsus in Asia Minor in 301. During this battle Antigonus was defeated by the other kings. This led to the attempt by the remaining successors of Alexander to define their kingdoms. For this reason a dispute arose between Ptolemy and Seleucus I Nicator of Babylon over Syria, particularly the southern Syrian ports, which served as terminal points for the caravan routes. This quarrel, however, was temporarily settled peacefully through compromise. In addition to Coele Syria (Palestine), Ptolemy apparently also occupied Pamphylia, Lycia, and part of Pisidia in southern Asia Minor.
During the last 15 years of his reign, because of the defeats he suffered between 308 and 306, Ptolemy preferred to secure and expand his empire through a policy of alliances and marriages rather than through warfare. In 300 he concluded an alliance with Lysimachus of Thrace (modern Bulgaria) and gave him his daughter Arsinoe II in marriage in 299/298. At approximately the same time he married his stepdaughter Theoxena to Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse (southeastern Sicily). About296 he made peace with Demetrius Poliorcetes, to whom he betrothed his daughter Ptolemais. To Pyrrhus of Epirus, Demetrius' brother-in-law, who was at the Egyptian court as a hostage, he gave his stepdaughter Antigone. He finally brought rebellious Cyrene into subjection in 298, and in approximately 294 he gained control over Cyprus and the Phoenician coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon.
In a last coalition war in 288-286, in which Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Pyrrhus opposed Demetrius, the Egyptian fleet participated decisively in the liberation of Athens from Macedonian occupation. During this war Ptolemy obtained the protectorate over the League of Islanders, which was established by Antigonus Monophthalmus in 315 and included most of the Greek islands in the Aegean. Egypt's maritime supremacy in the Mediterranean in the ensuing decades was based on this alliance.
Ptolemy was able to evaluate the chaotic international situation of this post-Alexandrian era, which was characterized by constantly renewed wars with shifting alliances and coalitions, in realistic politicalterms. Adhering to a basically defensive foreign policy, he secured Egypt against external enemies and expanded it by means of directly controlled foreign possessions and hegemonic administrations. He did not,however, neglect to devote attention to the internal organization of the country and to provide for a successor. In 290 he made his wife Berenice queen of Egypt and in 285 (possibly on June 26) appointed his younger son Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who was born to Berenice in 308, co-regent and successor. The provision for the succession, which was based on examples from the time of the pharaohs, made possible a peaceful transition when Ptolemy died in the winter of 283-282. The early Ptolemies were occupied with the economic exploitation of Egypt, but, because of the lack of first-hand information, the details of Ptolemy's participation in the process cannot be determined. It is certain, however, that discrimination against the Egyptians took place during his reign. The only town he founded was Ptolemais in Upper Egypt. He probably placed Macedonian military commanders alongside the Egyptian provincial administrators and intervened unobtrusively in legal and financial affairs. In order to regulate the latter, he introduced coinage, which until that time was unknown in Egypt.
He found it necessary from the outset, however, to pursue a conciliatory policy toward the Egyptians, since Egyptians had to be recruited for his army, which initially numbered only 4,000 men. Ptolemy won overthe Egyptians through the establishment in Memphis of the Sarapis cult, which fused the Egyptian and Greek religions; through restoration of the temples of the pharaohs, which had been destroyed by the Persians; and through gifts to the ancient Egyptian gods and patronage of the Egyptian nobility and priesthood. Finally, he founded the Museum (Mouseion), a common workplace for scholars and artists, and establishedthe famous library at Alexandria. Besides being a patron of the arts and sciences, he was a writer himself. In the last few years of his life Ptolemy wrote a generally reliable history of Alexander's campaigns. Although it is now lost, it can be largely reconstructed through the extensive use made of it later by the historian Arrian.
Several times during his life Ptolemy was proclaimed a deity by certain classes of people. After his death he was raised to the level of a god by all the Egyptians.

Event: Ruled 305 - 282 BC, Pharaoh of Egypt 2
Event: Throne Name Mery-amun Setep-en-re 3
Note:
Ptolemy I SOTER (Greek: Saviour) (b. 367/366 or 364 BC, Macedonia--d.283/282, Egypt), Macedonian general of Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (323-285 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which reigned longer than any other dynasty established on the soil of the Alexandrian empire and only succumbed to the Romans in 30 BC.
Early life and career.
Ptolemy was the son of the nobleman Lagus, a native of the Macedoniandistrict of Eordaea whose family was undistinguished until Ptolemy's time, and of Arsinoe, who was related to the Macedonian Argead dynasty. He was probably educated as a page at the royal court of Macedonia,where he became closely associated with Alexander. He was exiled in 337, along with other companions of the crown prince. When he returned,after Alexander's accession to the throne in 336, he joined the King's bodyguard, took part in Alexander's European campaigns of 336-335, and in the fall of 330 was appointed personal bodyguard (somatophylax)to Alexander; in this capacity he captured the assassin of Darius III, the Persian emperor, in 329. He was closely associated with Alexander during the advance through the Persian highland. As a result of Ptolemy's successful military performance on the way from Bactria (in northeastern Afghanistan) to the Indus River (327-325), he became commander (trierarchos) of the Macedonian fleet on the Hydaspes (modern Jhelum in India). Alexander decorated him several times for his deeds and married him to the Persian Artacama at the mass wedding at Susa, the Persian capital, which was the crowning event of Alexander's policy of merging the Macedonian and Iranian populations.
Satrap of Egypt.
Ptolemy, who distinguished himself as a cautious and trustworthy troop commander under Alexander, also proved to be a politician of unusual diplomatic and strategic ability in the long series of struggles over the throne that broke out after Alexander's death in 323. Convincedfrom the outset that the generals could not maintain the unity of Alexander's empire, he proposed during the council at Babylon, which followed Alexander's death, that the satrapies (the provinces of the huge empire) be divided among the generals. He became satrap of Egypt, withthe adjacent Libyan and Arabian regions, and methodically took advantage of the geographic isolation of the Nile territory to make it a great Hellenistic power. He took steps to improve internal administrationand to acquire several external possessions in Cyrenaica (the easternmost part of Libya), Cyprus, and Syria and on the coast of Asia Minor;these, he hoped, would guarantee him military security. Although he pursued a friendly policy toward Greece that secured his political influence there, he also succeeded in winning over the native Egyptian population.
In 322 Ptolemy, taking advantage of internal disturbances, acquired the African Hellenic towns of Cyrenaica. In 322-321, as a member of a coalition of "successors" (diadochoi) of Alexander, he fought against Perdiccas, the ruler (chiliarchos) of the Asiatic region of the empire.The coalition was victorious and Perdiccas died during the fighting. Ptolemy's diplomatic talent was put to the test during this war. When the satrapies were redistributed at Triparadisus in northern Syria, Antipater, the general of the European region, became regent of the Macedonian empire and Ptolemy was confirmed in possession of Egypt and Cyrene. He further strengthened his position by marrying Eurydice, the third daughter of Antipater.
About 317 he married Berenice I, the granddaughter of Cassander, the son of Antipater. Cassander, at his father's death in 319, refused to accept his father's successor, made war upon him, seized part of the empire, and in 305 assumed the title of king of Macedonia. In the coalition war of 315-311, Ptolemy obtained possession of Cyprus. In this war he scored his most important victory in the battle near Gaza in 312, in which the Egyptian contingents were decisive. But war broke out anew in 310, and he lost Cyprus again in 306. He temporarily lost Cyrene as well and was unable to hold the important Greek positions of Corinth and neighbouring Sicyon and Megara, which he had captured in 308.He ultimately suffered overwhelming defeat in 306 in the naval battlenear Salamis on Cyprus. The victor in this battle, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who was assisted by his son, Demetrius Poliorcetes, assumed the title of king in 306. The remaining satraps, led by Ptolemy after he successfully resisted Antigonus' attack on Egypt, also took the title of king in 305-304.
King of Egypt.
After naming himself king, Ptolemy's first concern was the continuingwar with Antigonus, which was now focussed on the island of Rhodes. In 304 Ptolemy aided the inhabitants of Rhodes against Antigonus and was accorded the divine title Soter (Saviour), which he was commonly called from that time. The dissolution of Alexander's empire was broughtto a close with the battle near Ipsus in Asia Minor in 301. During this battle Antigonus was defeated by the other kings. This led to the attempt by the remaining successors of Alexander to define their kingdoms. For this reason a dispute arose between Ptolemy and Seleucus I Nicator of Babylon over Syria, particularly the southern Syrian ports, which served as terminal points for the caravan routes. This quarrel, however, was temporarily settled peacefully through compromise. In addition to Coele Syria (Palestine), Ptolemy apparently also occupied Pamphylia, Lycia, and part of Pisidia in southern Asia Minor.
During the last 15 years of his reign, because of the defeats he suffered between 308 and 306, Ptolemy preferred to secure and expand his empire through a policy of alliances and marriages rather than through warfare. In 300 he concluded an alliance with Lysimachus of Thrace (modern Bulgaria) and gave him his daughter Arsinoe II in marriage in 299/298. At approximately the same time he married his stepdaughter Theoxena to Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse (southeastern Sicily). About296 he made peace with Demetrius Poliorcetes, to whom he betrothed his daughter Ptolemais. To Pyrrhus of Epirus, Demetrius' brother-in-law, who was at the Egyptian court as a hostage, he gave his stepdaughter Antigone. He finally brought rebellious Cyrene into subjection in 298, and in approximately 294 he gained control over Cyprus and the Phoenician coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon.
In a last coalition war in 288-286, in which Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Pyrrhus opposed Demetrius, the Egyptian fleet participated decisively in the liberation of Athens from Macedonian occupation. During this war Ptolemy obtained the protectorate over the League of Islanders, which was established by Antigonus Monophthalmus in 315 and included most of the Greek islands in the Aegean. Egypt's maritime supremacy in the Mediterranean in the ensuing decades was based on this alliance.
Ptolemy was able to evaluate the chaotic international situation of this post-Alexandrian era, which was characterized by constantly renewed wars with shifting alliances and coalitions, in realistic politicalterms. Adhering to a basically defensive foreign policy, he secured Egypt against external enemies and expanded it by means of directly controlled foreign possessions and hegemonic administrations. He did not,however, neglect to devote attention to the internal organization of the country and to provide for a successor. In 290 he made his wife Berenice queen of Egypt and in 285 (possibly on June 26) appointed his younger son Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who was born to Berenice in 308, co-regent and successor. The provision for the succession, which was based on examples from the time of the pharaohs, made possible a peaceful transition when Ptolemy died in the winter of 283-282. The early Ptolemies were occupied with the economic exploitation of Egypt, but, because of the lack of first-hand information, the details of Ptolemy's participation in the process cannot be determined. It is certain, however, that discrimination against the Egyptians took place during his reign. The only town he founded was Ptolemais in Upper Egypt. He probably placed Macedonian military commanders alongside the Egyptian provincial administrators and intervened unobtrusively in legal and financial affairs. In order to regulate the latter, he introduced coinage, which until that time was unknown in Egypt.
He found it necessary from the outset, however, to pursue a conciliatory policy toward the Egyptians, since Egyptians had to be recruited for his army, which initially numbered only 4,000 men. Ptolemy won overthe Egyptians through the establishment in Memphis of the Sarapis cult, which fused the Egyptian and Greek religions; through restoration of the temples of the pharaohs, which had been destroyed by the Persians; and through gifts to the ancient Egyptian gods and patronage of the Egyptian nobility and priesthood. Finally, he founded the Museum (Mouseion), a common workplace for scholars and artists, and establishedthe famous library at Alexandria. Besides being a patron of the arts and sciences, he was a writer himself. In the last few years of his life Ptolemy wrote a generally reliable history of Alexander's campaigns. Although it is now lost, it can be largely reconstructed through the extensive use made of it later by the historian Arrian.
Several times during his life Ptolemy was proclaimed a deity by certain classes of people. After his death he was raised to the level of a god by all the Egyptians.

Event: Ruled 305 - 282 BC, Pharaoh of Egypt 2
Event: Throne Name Mery-amun Setep-en-re 3
Note:
Ptolemy I SOTER (Greek: Saviour) (b. 367/366 or 364 BC, Macedonia--d.283/282, Egypt), Macedonian general of Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (323-285 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which reigned longer than any other dynasty established on the soil of the Alexandrian empire and only succumbed to the Romans in 30 BC.
Early life and career.
Ptolemy was the son of the nobleman Lagus, a native of the Macedoniandistrict of Eordaea whose family was undistinguished until Ptolemy's time, and of Arsinoe, who was related to the Macedonian Argead dynasty. He was probably educated as a page at the royal court of Macedonia,where he became closely associated with Alexander. He was exiled in 337, along with other companions of the crown prince. When he returned,after Alexander's accession to the throne in 336, he joined the King's bodyguard, took part in Alexander's European campaigns of 336-335, and in the fall of 330 was appointed personal bodyguard (somatophylax)to Alexander; in this capacity he captured the assassin of Darius III, the Persian emperor, in 329. He was closely associated with Alexander during the advance through the Persian highland. As a result of Ptolemy's successful military performance on the way from Bactria (in northeastern Afghanistan) to the Indus River (327-325), he became commander (trierarchos) of the Macedonian fleet on the Hydaspes (modern Jhelum in India). Alexander decorated him several times for his deeds and married him to the Persian Artacama at the mass wedding at Susa, the Persian capital, which was the crowning event of Alexander's policy of merging the Macedonian and Iranian populations.
Satrap of Egypt.
Ptolemy, who distinguished himself as a cautious and trustworthy troop commander under Alexander, also proved to be a politician of unusual diplomatic and strategic ability in the long series of struggles over the throne that broke out after Alexander's death in 323. Convincedfrom the outset that the generals could not maintain the unity of Alexander's empire, he proposed during the council at Babylon, which followed Alexander's death, that the satrapies (the provinces of the huge empire) be divided among the generals. He became satrap of Egypt, withthe adjacent Libyan and Arabian regions, and methodically took advantage of the geographic isolation of the Nile territory to make it a great Hellenistic power. He took steps to improve internal administrationand to acquire several external possessions in Cyrenaica (the easternmost part of Libya), Cyprus, and Syria and on the coast of Asia Minor;these, he hoped, would guarantee him military security. Although he pursued a friendly policy toward Greece that secured his political influence there, he also succeeded in winning over the native Egyptian population.
In 322 Ptolemy, taking advantage of internal disturbances, acquired the African Hellenic towns of Cyrenaica. In 322-321, as a member of a coalition of "successors" (diadochoi) of Alexander, he fought against Perdiccas, the ruler (chiliarchos) of the Asiatic region of the empire.The coalition was victorious and Perdiccas died during the fighting. Ptolemy's diplomatic talent was put to the test during this war. When the satrapies were redistributed at Triparadisus in northern Syria, Antipater, the general of the European region, became regent of the Macedonian empire and Ptolemy was confirmed in possession of Egypt and Cyrene. He further strengthened his position by marrying Eurydice, the third daughter of Antipater.
About 317 he married Berenice I, the granddaughter of Cassander, the son of Antipater. Cassander, at his father's death in 319, refused to accept his father's successor, made war upon him, seized part of the empire, and in 305 assumed the title of king of Macedonia. In the coalition war of 315-311, Ptolemy obtained possession of Cyprus. In this war he scored his most important victory in the battle near Gaza in 312, in which the Egyptian contingents were decisive. But war broke out anew in 310, and he lost Cyprus again in 306. He temporarily lost Cyrene as well and was unable to hold the important Greek positions of Corinth and neighbouring Sicyon and Megara, which he had captured in 308.He ultimately suffered overwhelming defeat in 306 in the naval battlenear Salamis on Cyprus. The victor in this battle, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who was assisted by his son, Demetrius Poliorcetes, assumed the title of king in 306. The remaining satraps, led by Ptolemy after he successfully resisted Antigonus' attack on Egypt, also took the title of king in 305-304.
King of Egypt.
After naming himself king, Ptolemy's first concern was the continuingwar with Antigonus, which was now focussed on the island of Rhodes. In 304 Ptolemy aided the inhabitants of Rhodes against Antigonus and was accorded the divine title Soter (Saviour), which he was commonly called from that time. The dissolution of Alexander's empire was broughtto a close with the battle near Ipsus in Asia Minor in 301. During this battle Antigonus was defeated by the other kings. This led to the attempt by the remaining successors of Alexander to define their kingdoms. For this reason a dispute arose between Ptolemy and Seleucus I Nicator of Babylon over Syria, particularly the southern Syrian ports, which served as terminal points for the caravan routes. This quarrel, however, was temporarily settled peacefully through compromise. In addition to Coele Syria (Palestine), Ptolemy apparently also occupied Pamphylia, Lycia, and part of Pisidia in southern Asia Minor.
During the last 15 years of his reign, because of the defeats he suffered between 308 and 306, Ptolemy preferred to secure and expand his empire through a policy of alliances and marriages rather than through warfare. In 300 he concluded an alliance with Lysimachus of Thrace (modern Bulgaria) and gave him his daughter Arsinoe II in marriage in 299/298. At approximately the same time he married his stepdaughter Theoxena to Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse (southeastern Sicily). About296 he made peace with Demetrius Poliorcetes, to whom he betrothed his daughter Ptolemais. To Pyrrhus of Epirus, Demetrius' brother-in-law, who was at the Egyptian court as a hostage, he gave his stepdaughter Antigone. He finally brought rebellious Cyrene into subjection in 298, and in approximately 294 he gained control over Cyprus and the Phoenician coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon.
In a last coalition war in 288-286, in which Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Pyrrhus opposed Demetrius, the Egyptian fleet participated decisively in the liberation of Athens from Macedonian occupation. During this war Ptolemy obtained the protectorate over the League of Islanders, which was established by Antigonus Monophthalmus in 315 and included most of the Greek islands in the Aegean. Egypt's maritime supremacy in the Mediterranean in the ensuing decades was based on this alliance.
Ptolemy was able to evaluate the chaotic international situation of this post-Alexandrian era, which was characterized by constantly renewed wars with shifting alliances and coalitions, in realistic politicalterms. Adhering to a basically defensive foreign policy, he secured Egypt against external enemies and expanded it by means of directly controlled foreign possessions and hegemonic administrations. He did not,however, neglect to devote attention to the internal organization of the country and to provide for a successor. In 290 he made his wife Berenice queen of Egypt and in 285 (possibly on June 26) appointed his younger son Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who was born to Berenice in 308, co-regent and successor. The provision for the succession, which was based on examples from the time of the pharaohs, made possible a peaceful transition when Ptolemy died in the winter of 283-282. The early Ptolemies were occupied with the economic exploitation of Egypt, but, because of the lack of first-hand information, the details of Ptolemy's participation in the process cannot be determined. It is certain, however, that discrimination against the Egyptians took place during his reign. The only town he founded was Ptolemais in Upper Egypt. He probably placed Macedonian military commanders alongside the Egyptian provincial administrators and intervened unobtrusively in legal and financial affairs. In order to regulate the latter, he introduced coinage, which until that time was unknown in Egypt.
He found it necessary from the outset, however, to pursue a conciliatory policy toward the Egyptians, since Egyptians had to be recruited for his army, which initially numbered only 4,000 men. Ptolemy won overthe Egyptians through the establishment in Memphis of the Sarapis cult, which fused the Egyptian and Greek religions; through restoration of the temples of the pharaohs, which had been destroyed by the Persians; and through gifts to the ancient Egyptian gods and patronage of the Egyptian nobility and priesthood. Finally, he founded the Museum (Mouseion), a common workplace for scholars and artists, and establishedthe famous library at Alexandria. Besides being a patron of the arts and sciences, he was a writer himself. In the last few years of his life Ptolemy wrote a generally reliable history of Alexander's campaigns. Although it is now lost, it can be largely reconstructed through the extensive use made of it later by the historian Arrian.
Several times during his life Ptolemy was proclaimed a deity by certain classes of people. After his death he was raised to the level of a god by all the Egyptians.

Ptolemy I Soter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ptolemy I Soter (Greek: ?t??eµa??? S?t?? Ptolemaios Soter, 367 BC—283 BC) was a Macedonian general who became the ruler of Egypt (323 BC—283 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. In 305 BC he took the title of King.
Bust of Ptolemy Soter, British Museum, London
Enlarge
Bust of Ptolemy Soter, British Museum, London

He was the son of Arsinoe of Macedonia -- either by her husband Lagus, a Macedonian nobleman, or by her lover, Philip II of Macedon. Ptolemy was one of Alexander the Great's most trusted generals, and among the seven "body-guards" attached to his person. He was a few years older than Alexander, and his intimate friend since childhood. He may even have been in the group of noble teenagers tutored by Aristotle. He was with Alexander from his first campaigns, and played a principal part in the later campaigns in Afghanistan and India. At the Susa marriage festival in 324, Alexander had him marry the Persian princess Artacama, but we find no further mention of her. Later, after Alexander's death, Ptolemy married Thaïs, the famous Athenian hetaera and one of Alexander's companions in his conquest of the ancient world. Thaïs became his queen in Egypt, and even after he divorced her, she reportedly remained his friend, and kept the title of queen while in Memphis.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Successor of Alexander
* 2 See also
* 3 Notes
* 4 External links

[edit]

Successor of Alexander

When Alexander died in 323, Ptolemy is said to have instigated the resettlement of the empire made at Babylon. He was now appointed satrap of Egypt, under the nominal kings Philip Arrhidaeus and the infant Alexander IV; the former satrap, the Greek Cleomenes, stayed on as his deputy. Ptolemy quickly moved, without authorization, to subjugate Cyrenaica.

By custom, kings in Macedonia asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Probably because he wanted to pre-empt Perdiccas, the imperial regent, from staking his claim in this way, Ptolemy took great pains in getting his hands on the body of Alexander the Great, placing it temporarily in Memphis. Ptolemy then openly joined the coalition against Perdiccas. Perdiccas appears to have suspected Ptolemy of aiming for the throne himself, and maybe decided that Ptolemy was his most dangerous rival. Ptolemy executed Cleomenes for spying on behalf of Perdiccas — this removed the chief check on his authority, and allowed Ptolemy to obtain the huge sum that Cleomenes had accumulated. [1]
The taking of Jerusalem by Ptolemy Soter ca. 320 BC, by Jean Fouquet
Enlarge
The taking of Jerusalem by Ptolemy Soter ca. 320 BC, by Jean Fouquet

In 321, Perdiccas invaded Egypt. Ptolemy decided to defend the Nile, and Perdiccas's attempt to force it ended in fiasco, with the loss of 2000 men. This was a fatal blow to Perdiccas' reputation, and he was murdered in his tent by two of his subordinates. Ptolemy immediately crossed the Nile, to provide supplies to what had the day before been an enemy army. Ptolemy was offered the regency in place of Perdiccas; but he declined[2]. Ptolemy was consistent in his policy of securing a power base, while never succumbing to the temptation of risking all to succeed Alexander.[3]

In the long wars that followed between the different Diadochi, Ptolemy's first goal was to hold Egypt securely, and his second was to secure control in the outlying areas: Cyrenaica and Cyprus, as well as Syria, including the province of Judea. His first occupation of Syria was in 318, and he established at the same time a protectorate over the petty kings of Cyprus. When Antigonus One-Eye, master of Asia in 315, showed dangerous ambitions, Ptolemy joined the coalition against him, and on the outbreak of war, evacuated Syria. In Cyprus, he fought the partisans of Antigonus, and re-conquered the island (313). A revolt in Cyrene was crushed the same year.
Silver coin depicting Ptolemy I (r. 305 - 283),
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Silver coin depicting Ptolemy I (r. 305 - 283),

In 312, Ptolemy and Seleucus, the fugitive satrap of Babylonia, both invaded Syria, and defeated Demetrius Poliorcetes ("sieger of cities"), the son of Antigonus, in the Battle of Gaza. Again he occupied Syria, and again—after only a few months, when Demetrius had won a battle over his general, and Antigonus entered Syria in force—he evacuated it. In 311, a peace was concluded between the combatants. Soon after this, the surviving 13-year-old king, Alexander IV, was murdered in Macedonia, leaving the satrap of Egypt absolutely his own master. The peace did not last long, and in 309 Ptolemy personally commanded a fleet that detached the coastal towns of Lycia and Caria from Antigonus, then crossed into Greece, where he took possession of Corinth, Sicyon and Megara (308 BC). In 306, a great fleet under Demetrius attacked Cyprus, and Ptolemy's brother Menelaus was defeated and captured in another decisive Battle of Salamis. Ptolemy's complete loss of Cyprus followed.

The satraps Antigonus and Demetrius now each assumed the title of king; Ptolemy, as well as Cassander, Lysimachus and Seleucus I Nicator, responded by doing the same. In the winter of 306 BC, Antigonus tried to follow up his victory in Cyprus by invading Egypt; but Ptolemy was strongest there, and successfully held the frontier against him. Ptolemy led no further overseas expeditions against Antigonus. However, he did send great assistance to Rhodes when it was besieged by Demetrius (305/304),. Once rescued, the Rhodians instituted a festival to worship Ptolemy as Soter ("saviour").

When the coalition against Antigonus was renewed in 302, Ptolemy joined it, and invaded Syria a third time, while Antigonus was engaged with Lysimachus in Asia Minor. On hearing a report that Antigonus had won a decisive victory there, he once again evacuated Syria. But when the news came that Antigonus had been defeated and slain by Lysimachus and Seleucus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301, he occupied Syria a fourth time.

The other members of the coalition had assigned all Syria to Seleucus, after what they regarded as Ptolemy's desertion, and for the next hundred years, the question of the ownership of southern Syria (ie, Judea) produced recurring warfare between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties. Henceforth, Ptolemy seems to have mingled as little as possible in the rivalries between Asia Minor and Greece; he lost what he held in Greece, but reconquered Cyprus in 295/294. Cyrene, after a series of rebellions, was finally subjugated about 300 and placed under his stepson Magas.

In 285, Ptolemy abdicated in favour of one of his younger sons by Berenice -- Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who had been co-regent for three years. His eldest (legitimate) son, Ptolemy Ceraunus, whose mother, Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater, had been repudiated, fled to the court of Lysimachus. Ptolemy I Soter died in 283 at the age of 84. Shrewd and cautious, he had a compact and well-ordered realm to show at the end of forty years of war. His reputation for bonhomie and liberality attached the floating soldier-class of Macedonians and Greeks to his service, and was not insignificant; nor did he wholly neglect conciliation of the natives. He was a ready patron of letters, founding the Great Library of Alexandria. He himself wrote a history of Alexander's campaigns that has not survived. This used to be considered an objective work, distinguished by its straightforward honesty and sobriety. However, Ptolemy is considered to have exaggerated his own role, and to have had propagandist aims in writing his History. Although now lost, it was a principal source for the surviving account by Arrian of Nicomedia.
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See also

* Ptolemaic period - period of Egyptian history during the Ptolemaic dynasty.
* Ptolemais - towns and cities named after members of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

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Notes

1. ^ Alexander to Actium: Peter Green pp 13-14
2. ^ Peter Green p14
3. ^ Peter Green pp 119

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External links

* Ptolemy Soter I at LacusCurtius — (Chapter II of E. R Bevan's House of Ptolemy, 1923)
* Ptolemy I (at Egyptian Royal Genealogy, with genealogical table)
* Livius, Ptolemy I Soter by Jona Lendering
* A genealogical tree of Ptolemy, though not necessarily reliable
* Ptolemy I Soter’s self-promotion in his history of Alexander the Great

Preceded by:
Alexander IV of Macedon Pharaoh
305 BC – 283 BC Succeeded by:
Ptolemy II Philadelphus

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

{geni:occupation} General in Alexander the Great's army, Pharaoh Of Egypt, [ Ptolemiad ]

{geni:about_me} http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_I_Soter

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_I_Soter

Ptolemy I Soter, was a half brother of Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia and served under him as a Macedonian General. He later acquired the title of King of Egypt (born circa 367 BC, died circa 283 BC).

Arsinoe of Macedonia (Greek: Ἀρσινόη; lived 4th century BC) was the mother of Ptolemy I Soter (323 BC – 283 BC), king of Egypt. She was originally a concubine of Philip II, king of Macedon, and it is said she was given by Philip to Lagus, a Macedonian, while she was pregnant with Ptolemy. Ptolemy I Soter was regarded by the Macedonians as the son of Philip II.

Ptolemy I Soter I (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaĩos Sōtḗr, i.e. Ptolemy (pronounced /ˈtɒləmi/) the Savior, c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (323 BC – 283 BC) and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In 305/4 BC he took the title of pharaoh.

His mother was Arsinoe of Macedon, and, while his father is unknown, ancient sources variously describe him either as the son of Lagus, a Macedonian nobleman, or as an illegitimate son of Philip II of Macedon (which, if true would have made Ptolemy the half-brother of Alexander). Ptolemy was one of Alexander's most trusted generals, and was among the seven somatophylakes (bodyguards) attached to his person. He was a few years older than Alexander, and had been his intimate friend since childhood. He may even have been in the group of noble teenagers tutored by Aristotle.[citation needed]

Ptolemy served with Alexander from his first campaigns, and played a principal part in the later campaigns in Afghanistan and India. At the Susa marriage festival in 324, Alexander had Ptolemy married the Persian princess Artakama. Ptolemy also had a consort in Thaïs, the Athenian hetaera and one of Alexander's companions in his conquest of the ancient world.

Successor of Alexander

When Alexander died in 323 BC Ptolemy is said to have instigated the resettlement of the empire made at Babylon. Through the Partition of Babylon, he was appointed satrap of Egypt, under the nominal kings Philip Arrhidaeus and the infant Alexander IV; the former satrap, the Greek Cleomenes, stayed on as his deputy. Ptolemy quickly moved, without authorization, to subjugate Cyrenaica.

By custom, kings in Macedonia asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Probably because he wanted to pre-empt Perdiccas, the imperial regent, from staking his claim in this way, Ptolemy took great pains in acquiring the body of Alexander the Great, placing it temporarily in Memphis, Egypt. Ptolemy then openly joined the coalition against Perdiccas. Perdiccas appears to have suspected Ptolemy of aiming for the throne himself, and may have decided that Ptolemy was his most dangerous rival. Ptolemy executed Cleomenes for spying on behalf of Perdiccas — this removed the chief check on his authority, and allowed Ptolemy to obtain the huge sum that Cleomenes had accumulated.[1]

Rivalry and wars

In 321, Perdiccas invaded Egypt. Ptolemy decided to defend the Nile, and Perdiccas's attempt to force it ended in fiasco, with the loss of 2000 men. This was a fatal blow to Perdiccas' reputation, and he was murdered in his tent by two of his subordinates. Ptolemy immediately crossed the Nile, to provide supplies to what had the day before been an enemy army. Ptolemy was offered the regency in place of Perdiccas; but he declined.[2] Ptolemy was consistent in his policy of securing a power base, while never succumbing to the temptation of risking all to succeed Alexander.[3]

In the long wars that followed between the different Diadochi, Ptolemy's first goal was to hold Egypt securely, and his second was to secure control in the outlying areas: Cyrenaica and Cyprus, as well as Syria, including the province of Judea. His first occupation of Syria was in 318, and he established at the same time a protectorate over the petty kings of Cyprus. When Antigonus One-Eye, master of Asia in 315, showed dangerous ambitions, Ptolemy joined the coalition against him, and on the outbreak of war, evacuated Syria. In Cyprus, he fought the partisans of Antigonus, and re-conquered the island (313). A revolt in Cyrene was crushed the same year.

In 312, Ptolemy and Seleucus, the fugitive satrap of Babylonia, both invaded Syria, and defeated Demetrius Poliorcetes ("besieger of cities"), the son of Antigonus, in the Battle of Gaza. Again he occupied Syria, and again—after only a few months, when Demetrius had won a battle over his general, and Antigonus entered Syria in force—he evacuated it. In 311, a peace was concluded between the combatants. Soon after this, the surviving 13-year-old king, Alexander IV, was murdered in Macedonia, leaving the satrap of Egypt absolutely his own master. The peace did not last long, and in 309 Ptolemy personally commanded a fleet that detached the coastal towns of Lycia and Caria from Antigonus, then crossed into Greece, where he took possession of Corinth, Sicyon and Megara (308 BC). In 306, a great fleet under Demetrius attacked Cyprus, and Ptolemy's brother Menelaus was defeated and captured in another decisive Battle of Salamis. Ptolemy's complete loss of Cyprus followed.

The satraps Antigonus and Demetrius now each assumed the title of king; Ptolemy, as well as Cassander, Lysimachus and Seleucus I Nicator, responded by doing the same. In the winter of 306 BC, Antigonus tried to follow up his victory in Cyprus by invading Egypt; but Ptolemy was strongest there, and successfully held the frontier against him. Ptolemy led no further overseas expeditions against Antigonus. However, he did send great assistance to Rhodes when it was besieged by Demetrius (305/304). Pausanius reports that the grateful Rhodians bestowed the name Soter ("saviour") upon him as a result of lifting the siege. This account is generally accepted by modern scholars, although the earliest datable mention of it is from coins issued by Ptolemy II in 263 BC.

When the coalition against Antigonus was renewed in 302, Ptolemy joined it, and invaded Syria a third time, while Antigonus was engaged with Lysimachus in Asia Minor. On hearing a report that Antigonus had won a decisive victory there, he once again evacuated Syria. But when the news came that Antigonus had been defeated and slain by Lysimachus and Seleucus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301, he occupied Syria a fourth time.

The other members of the coalition had assigned all Syria to Seleucus, after what they regarded as Ptolemy's desertion, and for the next hundred years, the question of the ownership of southern Syria (i.e., Judea) produced recurring warfare between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties. Henceforth, Ptolemy seems to have mingled as little as possible in the rivalries between Asia Minor and Greece; he lost what he held in Greece, but reconquered Cyprus in 295/294. Cyrene, after a series of rebellions, was finally subjugated about 300 and placed under his stepson Magas.

[edit] Successor

In 289, Ptolemy made his son by Berenice -- Ptolemy II Philadelphus-- his co-regent. His eldest (legitimate) son, Ptolemy Keraunos, whose mother, Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater, had been repudiated, fled to the court of Lysimachus. Ptolemy I Soter died in 283 at the age of 84. Shrewd and cautious, he had a compact and well-ordered realm to show at the end of forty years of war. His reputation for bonhomie and liberality attached the floating soldier-class of Macedonians and Greeks to his service, and was not insignificant; nor did he wholly neglect conciliation of the natives. He was a ready patron of letters, founding the Great Library of Alexandria. He himself wrote a history of Alexander's campaigns that has not survived. This used to be considered an objective work, distinguished by its straightforward honesty and sobriety. However, Ptolemy may have exaggerated his own role, and had propagandist aims in writing his History. Although now lost, it was a principal source for the surviving account by Arrian of Nicomedia.

Euclid

Ptolemy personally sponsored the great mathematician Euclid, but found Euclid's seminal work, the Elements, too difficult to study, so he asked if there were an easier way to master it. Euclid famously quipped: "Sire, there is no Royal Road to Geometry.

Ptolemy I (367?-283 bc), called Ptolemy Soter ("preserver"), king of Egypt
(323-285 bc), founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The son of Lagus, a
Macedonian of common birth, Ptolemy was a general in the army of Alexander
the Great and took a leading part in Alexander's later campaigns in Asia.
On the death of Alexander in 323 bc, his empire was divided among the
Diadochi (successors) by the imperial regent Perdiccas (365-321 bc) and
Ptolemy was appointed satrap of Egypt and Libya. He was from the first an
independent ruler, engaging in long wars with other Macedonian chiefs in
order to secure and extend his rule. Ptolemy was prevented from holding
Cyprus and parts of Greece, but he resisted invasions of Egypt and Rhodes
and occupied Palestine and Cyrenaica. In 305 bc he assumed the title of
king. Alexandria was his capital, and he founded the famous Alexandrian
library. He was the author of a lost history of the campaigns of
Alexander. In 285 bc Ptolemy I abdicated in favor of one of his younger
sons.

The generals who succeed Alexander are Antigonus Cyclops orMonophthalmus, so-called because he lost an eye in battle, and his sonDemetrius Poliocertes, Antipater and his son Cassander, Seleucus,Ptolemy, Eumenes and Lysimachus. They argue bitterly among themselves foreach is determined to build a Hellenistic or Greek monarchy on the ruinsof Alexander's empire.

Ptolemy, son of a Macedonian nobleman and the most trusted of Alexander'sgenerals, was among the seven bodyguards attached to his person. In thedivision of the empire, Ptolemy takes Egypt as the safest and farthestplace to establish a dynasty. He even manages to carry off the body ofAlexander from Babylon to Egypt in order to bury him in Alexandria andthus enhance his own position.

Later Ptolemy mints a gold coin at Alexandria on which we see a car drawnby four elephants. Perhaps this is an attempt made by him to representAlexander's funeral cortege that included elephants.

Antipater establishes himself in Macedon. He dies soon after and issucceeded by Cassander, his son.

Seleucus Nicator, a youth of twenty-three of age when he accompaniesAlexander to Asia, wins distinction in the Indian campaign. Seleucus isgiven the government of the Babylonian satrapy.

Antigonus defeats Eumenes, installed as satrap of Cappadocia, and has himput to death. He thus gets rid of his most dangerous rival. OstensiblyAntigonus and his son Demetrius Poliocertes hope to reunify Alexander'scollapsing empire but for their own purposes. Antigonus also controlsparts of Greece, Asia Minor and Syria.

Lysimachus sets himself up in Thrace.

Military clashes eventually occur as each tries to encroach on theother's territory. Ptolemy annexes Phoenicia to his possessions andplaces garrisons in the Phoenician port cities. Antigonus too decides toenlarge his territory and set himself up as king of Asia Minor.

Returning from successful wars in Babylonia, Antigonus easily takes overthe cities of Phoenicia but meets with firm resistance from Tyre.Seventeen years have passed since Alexander took Tyre and the city hasrecovered rapidly. Antigonus has few ships as Ptolemy is holding allPhoenician vessels and their crews in Egypt, so he decides to build afleet of his own. He camps before Tyre, summons all the kings of thePhoenician cities and the viceroys of Syria and demands them to assisthim in building ships.

Antigonus blockades Tyre by land. He establishes three shipyards, one atTripolis, one at Byblos, one at Sidon. Diodorus Siculus records thatAntigonus collects wood-cutters, sawyers and shipwrights from all regionsand has wood carried from the mountains of Lebanon to the sea. Eightthousand men are employed to cut and saw the timber; one thousand pairsof draught animals are used to transport it. "This mountain range",Diodorus (19.58.3-5) writes, "extends along the territory of Tripolis,Byblos and Sidon and is covered with cedar and cypress trees of wonderfulbeauty and size." We thus have a description of the extent of theluxuriant forests covering the mountains of Lebanon about two thousandthree hundred years ago.

After a siege of fifteen months, Tyre is taken by Antigonus. He allowsPtolemy's garrison to leave and establishes his own in the city.

In order to enhance their personal prestige, Alexander's successorsstrike their own coins. On the obverse of his early silver coinage,Ptolemy has engraved the head of the newly deified Alexander with thesacred ram's horns of Ammon and an elephant headdress. Alexander's name,not his, appears on the reverse of his coins.

On the coins of Seleucus, Alexander is portrayed as the god Dionysuswearing a helmet covered with panther skin adorned with a bull's ear andhorns.

Lysimachus in his turn presents on his coins the diademed head ofAlexander, deified, wearing the sacred horns of Ammon. When Alexanderconquered Egypt, he was hailed by the high-priest of Ammon as the son ofthe god and Alexander's generals are determined to let no one forget it.

In 305 B.C. Antigonus and his son Demetrius assume the title of king.Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachus and Seleucus react to the challenge bydoing the same. Henceforth the effigies of these men, wearing theMacedonian diadem, appear on their gold and silver coins. Their patrongods appear on the reverse. This ushurs in the age of royal portraiture.

The battle of lpsus in Phrygia in 301, called the "battle of the kings",signals the great military clash between Alexander's generals. The warelephant plays an important role in the outcome of this battle and is thesymbol of military strength. The armies of Seleucus and Lysimachus withone hundred and fifty elephants cut off the infantry of Antigonus, leftmortally wounded on the battlefield.

Notwithstanding, his son Demetrius rules Phoenicia until 287 when it onceagain passes back to Ptolemy. It remains a dependency of the Ptolemiesfor nearly seventy years. In the year 285 Alexander's empire is neatlydivided between three of his former generals, Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucusin Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, and Lysimachus in Thrace.

At his death at the age of eight-four Ptolemy leaves behind him a wellorganized kingdom and the great library at Alexandria. He is succeeded byhis son, Ptolemy 11 Philadelphus (285-246).

The persistent lug of war between Ptolemies and Seleucids over Phoenicia,Syria and Palestine also results in great cultural changes in the region.Phoenician is discarded as a literary language and is replaced by Greek.Greek religious practices and beliefs take root but at the same time aPhoenician god travels south to Egypt and is honored with great pomp inAlexandria.

Byblos is the center for the worship of Adonis, a youth of great beauty,loved by Aphrodite. In legendary tradition, Adonis is hunting the wildboar one day in the company of Aphrodite at Afka, the source of a riverhigh up in the mountains of Lebanon. The boar turns on him and gores histhigh. Adonis dies of the wound as his blood flows into the river turningthe waters red and the anemones in the river valley scarlet. Aphroditeappeals to Zeus, king of the gods, to bring her lover back to life. Zeuspities the youth and allows him to pass part of the year on earth, theother part underground in Hades. His death is mourned annually at Byblos.He returns in the spring time to the upper world and there is greatrejoicing. Adonis in Phoenician means "lord" and is the title given tothe young god of vegetation.

Theocritus, a Greek poet born in Syracuse c. 315 B.C., lived inAlexandria in the time of Ptolemy if Philadelphus. In his Idyll 15 hedescribes how the Festival of Adonis is celebrated in the city. On thefirst day a great procession forms as women and children pour out intothe crowded streets to watch. Adonis has come back to life for a briefreunion with Aphrodite and there is great rejoicing. The second day isone of mourning as the women bewail the god's departure once again forthe underworld.

In Alexandria, Adonis is represented by a graceful statue reclining on asilver couch in a temporary bower ornamented with birds and cupids. He isportrayed as a beautiful youth and the women cluster around him as he iscarried through the streets in the procession. The crowd enters the royalpalace as part of the ceremony is performed there. Praises are sung toQueen Berenice, the mother of Philadelphus and Arsinoë, his sister-wife,one way of eulogizing the family of Ptolemy who patronize the festival.

On the second day the women lament the departure of the youthful god. Atthe end of the festival the statue of Adonis is carried outside the cityand flung into the sea amidst the wailing and weeping of the women.

The years roll by...

In Egypt descendants of Ptolemy rule at Alexandria, one after the other.In Syria a line of Seleucid kings, usurpers and imposters alike, sit onthe throne of Antioch.

The Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great (223-187) makes Phoenicia abattlefield in his wars against the Ptolemies. Antiochus III drives theforces of Ptolemy IV Philopator out of Syria, takes Tyre and Acre(Ptolemais) and even threatens Egypt. In the following years the citiesof Phoenicia pass back and forth between the two powers. In 196 B.C.Phoenicia and Coele Syria (the Bekaa valley) pass into the possession ofthe Seleucid kings. The Phoenician cities welcome the change, for theestablishment and commercial expansion of Alexandria is a threat to theircommerce.

The discovery in 1897 of several painted funerary stelae in a gardensouth of Sidon point to the presence of Greek mercenaries in the armiesof the Seleucids during the second century B.C. These soldiers of fortunefrom the Greek mainland and cities of Asia Minor died here while onactive duty and were laid to rest forever in foreign land. The stelaetoday are exposed in the Archaeological Museum, Istanbul.

The Seleucid monarchy is now in a state of chronic civil war. In thestruggle to seize the throne between the usurper Tryphon and AntiochusVII Sidetes during the latter part of the second century B.C., thesituation becomes so unbearable that merchants of Beirut desert the cityand open commercial establishments on the Greek island of Delos wherethey conduct a flourishing business.

But in the West the rise of Rome presents a danger. The Italian wars of91-83 B.C. keep the Romans at home. The chaotic conditions in Syriapermit Tigranes 11 the Great, king of Armenia, to overrun Cappadocia andexpel one of the last feeble representatives of the Seleucid monarchy. By83 B.C. Tigranes sits on the throne at Antioch and his frontier extendsto Mount Lebanon.

In 69 B.C. the Roman general Lucullus arrives in the East, crosses theEuphrates in pursuit of Tigranes and invades Armenia. However his armydoes not support him so he withdraws to Asia Minor.

Pompey replaces Lucullus in 66 B.C. Syria is taken out of the hands ofthe Seleucids once and for all on the ground that they have virtuallyceased to rule. Pompey turns the districts of the Seleucid territory,including Phoenicia, Syria and Palestine into a new province named"Syria". Although this political move consolidates Roman authority in theEast and increases the annual revenue of the Roman treasury, in return ameasure of security is given to the peoples of the region that they hadnot enjoyed since the conquests of Alexander. Anarchy and piracy isbrought under control and the cities of Phoenicia turn to the sea andtrade.

SOTER; A GENERAL OF ALEXANDER (THE GREAT); (MOTHER PROBABLY A CONCUBINE); HAD
SEVERAL ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN; ABDICATED 285 BC & ESTABLISHED A NEW EGYPTIAN
DYNASTY (323 BC-30 BC) LASTING UNTIL THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA VII (SUCCEEDED BY
HIS SON PTOLEMY II PHILADELPHUS)

He was one of the generals of Alexander the Great.

He was one of the generals of Alexander the Great.

SOURCE NOTES:
!INDIVIDUAL GENERAL RESEARCH NOTES:
King of Egypt

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