Ptolemaic Kingdom: Ptolemaïk

Ptolemaic Kingdom
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (/ˌtɒlɪˈmeɪ.ɪk/; Koinē Greek:

Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία, romanized: Ptolemaïkḕ basileía)[4] was an Ptolemaic Kingdom
ancient Hellenistic state based in Egypt. It was founded in 305 Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία
BC by Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander the Great, and Ptolemaïkḕ basileía
lasted until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC.[5] Ruling for
305 BC – 30 BC
nearly three centuries, the Ptolemies were the longest and final
Egyptian dynasty of ancient origin.
Alexander the Great conquered Persian-controlled Egypt in 332

BC during his campaigns against the Achaemenid Empire. After
Alexander's death in 323 BC, his empire quickly unraveled amid
competing claims by the diadochi, his closest friends and
companions. Ptolemy, a Macedonian Greek who was one of Eagle of Zeus[1]
on the Ptolemaic coin
Alexander's most trusted generals and confidants, won control of
Egypt from his rivals and declared himself pharaoh.[Note 1][6][7]
Alexandria, a Greek polis founded by Alexander, became the
capital city and a major center of Greek culture, learning, and
trade for the next several centuries. Following the Syrian Wars
with the Seleucid Empire, a rival Hellenistic state, the Ptolemaic
Kingdom expanded its territory to include eastern Libya, the
Sinai, and northern Nubia.
To legitimize their rule and gain recognition from native

Egyptians, the Ptolemies adopted the title of the pharaoh and had
themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and
Ptolemaic Egypt circa 235 BC. The
dress; otherwise, the monarchy rigorously maintained its green areas were lost to the Seleucid
Hellenistic character and traditions.[5] The kingdom had a Empire thirty five years later.
complex government bureaucracy that exploited the country's Capital Alexandria
vast economic resources to the benefit of a Greek ruling class,
which dominated military, political, and economic affairs, and Common languages Greek (official)
which rarely integrated into Egyptian society and culture. Native Egyptian
Egyptians maintained power over local and religious institutions,
Religion Cult of
and only gradually accrued power in the bureaucracy, provided Alexander the
they Hellenized.[8] Beginning with Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Great within
Ptolemies began to adopt Egyptian customs, such as marrying Greco-
their siblings per the Osiris myth, and participating in Egyptian Egyptian
religious life. New temples were built, older ones restored, and syncretism
(official)
royal patronage lavished on the priesthood.
Egyptian
polytheism
From the mid third century, Ptolemaic Egypt was the wealthiest
(common),
and most powerful of Alexander's successor states, and the
Greek
leading example of Hellenistic civilization.[8] Beginning in the polytheism[2]
mid second century, dynastic strife and a series of foreign wars Judaism
weakened the kingdom, and it became increasingly reliant on the
Hermeticism
Roman Republic. Under Cleopatra VII, who sought to restore
Local beliefs
Ptolemaic power, Egypt became entangled in a Roman civil war,
which ultimately led to its conquest by Rome as the last Government Hellenistic
independent Hellenistic state. Roman Egypt became one of monarchy
Rome's richest provinces and a center of Hellenistic culture, with Pharaoh
Greek remaining the main language of government until the • 305–283 BC Ptolemy I
Muslim conquest in 641 AD. Alexandria would remain one of Soter (first)
the leading cities of the Mediterranean well into the late Middle • 51–30 BC Cleopatra VII
Ages.[9] (last)
Historical era Classical

antiquity
• Established 305 BC
Contents • Disestablished 30 BC
History Population
Background • 150 BCE 4.9–7.5
Establishment million[3]
Rise Currency Greek
Ptolemy I Drachma
Ptolemy II Preceded by Succeeded
Ptolemy III Euergetes by
Decline Macedonian Roman
Ptolemy IV Empire Egypt
Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Ptolemy VI Late Period of
ancient Egypt
Philometor
Later Ptolemies
Final years
Cleopatra VII
Roman rule
Culture
Kunst
Religion
Society
Coinage
Military
Army
Navy
Cities
Naucratis
Alexandria
Ptolemais
Demographics
Jews
Arabs
Agriculture
List of Ptolemaic rulers
See also
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
History
The Ptolemaic reign in Egypt is one of the best-documented time periods of the Hellenistic era, due to the
discovery of a wealth of papyri and ostraca written in Koine Greek and Egyptian.[10]
Background
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, invaded Egypt,

which at the time was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire known as
the Thirty-first Dynasty under Emperor Artaxerxes III.[11] He visited
Memphis, and travelled to the oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis. The
oracle declared him to be the son of Amun.
Alexander conciliated the Egyptians by the respect he showed for

their religion, but he appointed Macedonians to virtually all the senior
posts in the country, and founded a new Greek city, Alexandria, to be
the new capital. The wealth of Egypt could now be harnessed for
Alexander's conquest of the rest of the Achaemenid Empire. Early in
331 BC he was ready to depart, and led his forces away to Phoenicia.
He left Cleomenes of Naucratis as the ruling nomarch to control Ptolemy as Pharaoh of Egypt, British
Egypt in his absence. Alexander never returned to Egypt. Museum, London
Establishment
Following Alexander's death in Babylon in 323 BC,[12] a succession crisis

erupted among his generals. Initially, Perdiccas ruled the empire as regent for
Alexander's half-brother Arrhidaeus, who became Philip III of Macedon, and
then as regent for both Philip III and Alexander's infant son Alexander IV of
Macedon, who had not been born at the time of his father's death. Perdiccas
appointed Ptolemy, one of Alexander's closest companions, to be satrap of
Egypt. Ptolemy ruled Egypt from 323 BC, nominally in the name of the joint
kings Philip III and Alexander IV. However, as Alexander the Great's empire
disintegrated, Ptolemy soon established himself as ruler in his own right.
Ptolemy successfully defended Egypt against an invasion by Perdiccas in 321
BC, and consolidated his position in Egypt and the surrounding areas during
the Wars of the Diadochi (322–301 BC). In 305 BC, Ptolemy took the title of A bust depicting Pharaoh
King. As Ptolemy I Soter ("Saviour"), he founded the Ptolemaic dynasty that Ptolemy II Philadelphus
was to rule Egypt for nearly 300 years. 309–246 BC
All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy, while princesses
and queens preferred the names Cleopatra, Arsinoë and Berenice. Because the Ptolemaic kings adopted the
Egyptian custom of marrying their sisters, many of the kings ruled jointly with their spouses, who were also of
the royal house. This custom made Ptolemaic politics confusingly incestuous, and the later Ptolemies were
increasingly feeble. The only Ptolemaic Queens to officially rule on their own were Berenice III and Berenice
IV. Cleopatra V did co-rule, but it was with another female, Berenice IV. Cleopatra VII officially co-ruled
with Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, Ptolemy XIV, and Ptolemy XV, but effectively, she ruled Egypt alone.
The early Ptolemies did not disturb the religion or the customs of the Egyptians. They built magnificent new
temples for the Egyptian gods and soon adopted the outward display of the pharaohs of old. Rulers such as
Ptolemy I Soter respected the Egyptian people and recognized the importance of their religion and traditions.
During the reign of Ptolemies II and III, thousands of Macedonian veterans were rewarded with grants of farm
lands, and Macedonians were planted in colonies and garrisons or settled themselves in villages throughout the
country. Upper Egypt, farthest from the centre of government, was less immediately affected, even though
Ptolemy I established the Greek colony of Ptolemais Hermiou to be its capital. But within a century, Greek
influence had spread through the country and intermarriage had produced a large Greco-Egyptian educated
class. Nevertheless, the Greeks always remained a privileged minority in Ptolemaic Egypt. They lived under
Greek law, received a Greek education, were tried in Greek courts, and were citizens of Greek cities.[13] There
was not a strong attempt to assimilate Greeks into Egyptian culture.
Rise
Ptolemy I
The first part of Ptolemy I's reign was dominated by the Wars of the Diadochi between the various successor
states to the empire of Alexander. His first objective was to hold his position in Egypt securely, and secondly
to increase his domain. Within a few years he had gained control of Libya, Coele-Syria (including Judea), and
Cyprus. When Antigonus, ruler of Syria, tried to reunite Alexander's empire, Ptolemy joined the coalition
against him. In 312 BC, allied with Seleucus, the ruler of Babylonia, he defeated Demetrius, the son of
Antigonus, in the battle of Gaza.
In 311 BC, a peace was concluded between the combatants, but in 309 BC war broke out again, and Ptolemy
occupied Corinth and other parts of Greece, although he lost Cyprus after a naval battle in 306 BC. Antigonus
then tried to invade Egypt but Ptolemy held the frontier against him. When the coalition was renewed against
Antigonus in 302 BC, Ptolemy joined it, but neither he nor his army were present when Antigonus was
defeated and killed at Ipsus. He had instead taken the opportunity to secure Coele-Syria and Palestine, in
breach of the agreement assigning it to Seleucus, thereby setting the scene for the future Syrian Wars.[14]
Thereafter Ptolemy tried to stay out of land wars, but he retook Cyprus in 295 BC.
Feeling the kingdom was now secure, Ptolemy shared rule with his son Ptolemy II by Queen Berenice in 285
BC. He then may have devoted his retirement to writing a history of the campaigns of Alexander—which
unfortunately was lost but was a principal source for the later work of Arrian. Ptolemy I died in 283 BC at the
age of 84. He left a stable and well-governed kingdom to his son.
Ptolemy II
Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who succeeded his father as pharaoh of Egypt in 283 BC,[15] was a peaceful and
cultured pharaoh, though unlike his father was no great warrior. Fortunately, Ptolemy I had left Egypt strong
and prosperous; three years of campaigning in the First Syrian War made the Ptolemies masters of the eastern
Mediterranean, controlling the Aegean islands (the Nesiotic League) and the coastal districts of Cilicia,
Pamphylia, Lycia and Caria. However, some of these territories were lost near the end of his reign as a result
of the Second Syrian War. In the 270s BC, Ptolemy II defeated the Kingdom of Kush in war, gaining the
Ptolemies free access to Kushite territory and control of important gold deposits south of Egypt known as
Dodekasoinos.[16] As a result, the Ptolemies established hunting stations and ports as far south as Port Sudan,
from where raiding parties containing hundreds of men searched for war elephants.[16] Hellenistic culture
would acquire an important influence on Kush at this time.[16]
Ptolemy II was an eager patron of scholarship, funding the expansion of the Library of Alexandria and
patronising scientific research. Poets like Callimachus, Theocritus, Apollonius of Rhodes, Posidippus were
provided with stipends and produced masterpieces of Hellenistic poetry, including panegyrics in honour of the
Ptolemaic family. Other scholars operating under Ptolemy's aegis included the mathematician Euclid and the
astronomer Aristarchus. Ptolemy is thought to have commissioned Manetho to compose his Aegyptiaca, an
account of Egyptian history, perhaps intended to make Egyptian culture intelligible to its new rulers.[17]
Ptolemy's first wife, Arsinoe I, daughter of Lysimachus, was the mother of his legitimate children. After her
repudiation he followed Egyptian custom and married his sister, Arsinoe II, beginning a practice that, while
pleasing to the Egyptian population, had serious consequences in later reigns. The material and literary
splendour of the Alexandrian court was at its height under Ptolemy II. Callimachus, keeper of the Library of
Alexandria, Theocritus, and a host of other poets, glorified the Ptolemaic family. Ptolemy himself was eager to
increase the library and to patronise scientific research. He spent lavishly on making Alexandria the economic,
artistic and intellectual capital of the Hellenistic world. The academies and libraries of Alexandria proved vital
in preserving much Greek literary heritage.
Ptolemy III Euergetes
Ptolemy III Euergetes ("the Benefactor") succeeded his father in 246

BC. He abandoned his predecessors' policy of keeping out of the
wars of the other Macedonian successor kingdoms, and plunged into
the Third Syrian War (246–241 BC) with the Seleucid Empire of
Syria, when his sister, Queen Berenice, and her son were murdered
in a dynastic dispute. Ptolemy marched triumphantly into the heart of
the Seleucid realm, as far as Babylonia, while his fleets in the
Aegean Sea made fresh conquests as far north as Thrace.
This victory marked the zenith of the Ptolemaic power. Seleucus II

Callinicus kept his throne, but Egyptian fleets controlled most of the
coasts of Anatolia and Greece. After this triumph Ptolemy no longer
Coin depicting Pharaoh Ptolemy III engaged actively in war, although he supported the enemies of
Euergetes. Ptolemaic Kingdom. Macedon in Greek politics. His domestic policy differed from his
father's in that he patronised the native Egyptian religion more
liberally: he left larger traces among the Egyptian monuments. In this
his reign marks the gradual Egyptianisation of the Ptolemies.
Ptolemy III continued his predecessor's sponsorship of scholarship and literature. The Great Library in the
Musaeum was supplemented by a second library built in the Serapeum. He was said to have had every book
unloaded in the Alexandria docks seized and copied, returning the copies to their owners and keeping the
originals for the Library.[18] It is said that he borrowed the official manuscripts of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides from Athens and forfeited the considerable deposit he paid for them in order to keep them for the
Library rather than returning them. The most distinguished scholar at Ptolemy III's court was the polymath and
geographer Eratosthenes, most noted for his remarkably accurate calculation of the circumference of the world.
Other prominent scholars include the mathematicians Conon of Samos and Apollonius of Perge.[17]
Ptolemy III financed construction projects at temples across Egypt. The most significant of these was the
Temple of Horus at Edfu, one of the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian temple architecture and now the best-
preserved of all Egyptian temples. Ptolemy III initiated construction on it on 23 August 237 BC. Work
continued for most of the Ptolemaic dynasty; the main temple was finished in the reign of his son, Ptolemy IV,
in 212 BC, and the full complex was only completed in 142 BC, during the reign of Ptolemy VIII, while the
reliefs on the great pylon were finished in the reign of Ptolemy XII.
Decline
Ptolemy IV
Ptolemaic Empire in 200 BC, alongside

neighboring powers.
Ring of Ptolemy VI
In 221 BC, Ptolemy III died and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy IV Philometor as Egyptian
Philopator, a weak king whose rule precipitated the decline of the Ptolemaic pharaoh. Louvre Museum.
Kingdom. His reign was inaugurated by the murder of his mother, and he was
always under the influence of royal favourites, who controlled the
government. Nevertheless, his ministers were able to make serious preparations to meet the attacks of
Antiochus III the Great on Coele-Syria, and the great Egyptian victory of Raphia in 217 BC secured the
kingdom. A sign of the domestic weakness of his reign was the rebellions by native Egyptians that took away
over half the country for over 20 years. Philopator was devoted to orgiastic religions and to literature. He
married his sister Arsinoë, but was ruled by his mistress Agathoclea.
Like his predecessors, Ptolemy IV presented himself as a typical Egyptian Pharaoh and actively supported the
Egyptian priestly elite through donations and temple construction. Ptolemy III had introduced an important
innovation in 238 BC by holding a synod of all the priests of Egypt at Canopus. Ptolemy IV continued this
tradition by holding his own synod at Memphis in 217 BC, after the victory celebrations of the Fourth Syrian
War. The result of this synod was the Raphia Decree, issued on 15 November 217 BC and preserved in three
copies. Like other Ptolemaic decrees, the decree was inscribed in hieroglyphs, Demotic, and Koine Greek.
The decree records the military success of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III and their benefactions to the Egyptian
priestly elite. Throughout, Ptolemy IV is presented as taking on the role of Horus who avenges his father by
defeating the forces of disorder led by the god Set. In return, the priests undertook to erect a statue group in
each of their temples, depicting the god of the temple presenting a sword of victory to Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe
III. A five-day festival was inaugurated in honour of the Theoi Philopatores and their victory. The decree thus
seems to represent a successful marriage of Egyptian Pharaonic ideology and religion with the Hellenistic
Greek ideology of the victorious king and his ruler cult.[19]
Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Ptolemy VI Philometor
Ptolemy V Epiphanes, son of Philopator and Arsinoë, was a child when he came to the throne, and a series of
regents ran the kingdom. Antiochus III the Great of The Seleucid Empire and Philip V of Macedon made a
compact to seize the Ptolemaic possessions. Philip seized several islands and places in Caria and Thrace, while
the battle of Panium in 200 BC transferred Coele-Syria from Ptolemaic to Seleucid control. After this defeat
Egypt formed an alliance with the rising power in the Mediterranean, Rome. Once he reached adulthood
Epiphanes became a tyrant, before his early death in 180 BC. He was succeeded by his infant son Ptolemy VI
Philometor.
In 170 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes invaded Egypt and
captured Philometor, installing him at Memphis as a
puppet king. Philometor's younger brother (later Ptolemy
VIII Physcon) was installed as king by the Ptolemaic
court in Alexandria. When Antiochus withdrew, the
brothers agreed to reign jointly with their sister Cleopatra
II. They soon fell out, however, and quarrels between the
two brothers allowed Rome to interfere and to steadily
increase its influence in Egypt. Philometor eventually
regained the throne. In 145 BC, he was killed in the
Battle of Antioch.
Throughout the 160s and 150s BC, Ptolemy VI has also

reasserted Ptolemaic control over the northern part of
Nubia. This achievement is heavily advertised at the
Temple of Isis at Philae, which was granted the tax
revenues of the Dodecaschoenus region in 157 BC. A mosaic from Thmuis (Mendes), Egypt, created
Decorations on the first pylon of the Temple of Isis at by the Hellenistic artist Sophilos (signature) in
Philae emphasise the Ptolemaic claim to rule the whole of about 200 BC, now in the Greco-Roman Museum
Nubia. The aforementioned inscription regarding the in Alexandria, Egypt; the woman depicted is
priests of Mandulis shows that some Nubian leaders at Queen Berenice II (who ruled jointly with her
least were paying tribute to the Ptolemaic treasury in this husband Ptolemy III Euergetes) as the
period. In order to secure the region, the strategos of personification of Alexandria, with her crown
Upper Egypt, Boethus, founded two new cities, named showing a ship's prow, while she sports an anchor-
Philometris and Cleopatra in honour of the royal shaped brooch for her robes, symbols of the
couple.[21][22] Ptolemaic Kingdom's naval prowess and
successes in the Mediterranean Sea.[20]
Later Ptolemies
After Ptolemy VI's death a series of civil wars and feuds between the members of the Ptolemaic dynasty
started and would last for over a century. Philometor was succeeded by yet another infant, his son Ptolemy VII
Neos Philopator. But Physcon soon returned, killed his young nephew, seized the throne and as Ptolemy VIII
soon proved himself a cruel tyrant. On his death in 116 BC he left the kingdom to his wife Cleopatra III and
her son Ptolemy IX Philometor Soter II. The young king was driven out by his mother in 107 BC, who
reigned jointly with Euergetes's youngest son Ptolemy X Alexander I. In 88 BC Ptolemy IX again returned to
the throne, and retained it until his death in 80 BC. He was succeeded by Ptolemy XI Alexander II, the son of
Ptolemy X. He was lynched by the Alexandrian mob after murdering his stepmother, who was also his cousin,
aunt and wife. These sordid dynastic quarrels left Egypt so weakened that the country became a de facto
protectorate of Rome, which had by now absorbed most of the Greek world.
Ptolemy XI was succeeded by a son of Ptolemy IX, Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos, nicknamed Auletes, the
flute-player. By now Rome was the arbiter of Egyptian affairs, and annexed both Libya and Cyprus. In 58 BC
Auletes was driven out by the Alexandrian mob, but the Romans restored him to power three years later. He
died in 51 BC, leaving the kingdom to his ten-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughter, Ptolemy XIII
Theos Philopator and Cleopatra VII, who reigned jointly as husband and wife.
Final years
Cleopatra VII
Cleopatra VII ascended the Egyptian throne at the age of seventeen
upon the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos. She
reigned as queen "philopator" and pharaoh with various male co-
regents from 51 to 30 BC when she died at the age of 39.
The demise of the Ptolemies' power coincided with the growing

dominance of the Roman Republic. With one empire after another
falling to Macedon and the Seleucid empire, the Ptolemies had had
little choice but to ally with the Romans, a pact that lasted over 150
years. By Ptolemy XII's time, Rome had achieved a massive amount
of influence over Egyptian politics and finances to the point that he
declared the Roman senate the guardian of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. He
Coin of Cleopatra VII, with her
had paid vast sums of Egyptian wealth and resources in tribute to the
image [23] Romans in order to regain and secure his throne following the
rebellion and brief coup led by his older daughters, Tryphaena and
Berenice IV. Both daughters were killed in Auletes' reclaiming of his
throne; Tryphaena by assassination and Berenice by execution, leaving Cleopatra VII as the oldest surviving
child of Ptolemy Auletes. Traditionally, Ptolemaic royal siblings were married to one another on ascension to
the throne. These marriages sometimes produced children, and other times were only a ceremonial union to
consolidate political power. Ptolemy Auletes expressed his wish for Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII to
marry and rule jointly in his will, in which the Roman senate was named as executor, giving Rome further
control over the Ptolemies and, thereby, the fate of Egypt as a nation.
After the death of their father, Cleopatra VII and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII inherited the throne and
were married. Their marriage was only nominal, however, and their relationship soon degenerated. Cleopatra
was stripped of authority and title by Ptolemy XIII's advisors, who held considerable influence over the young
king. Fleeing into exile, Cleopatra would attempt to raise an army to reclaim the throne.
Julius Caesar left Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC in order to quell the looming civil war, as war in Egypt,
which was one of Rome's greatest suppliers of grain and other expensive goods, would have had a detrimental
effect on trade with Rome, especially on Rome's working-class citizens. During his stay in the Alexandrian
palace, he received 22-year-old Cleopatra, allegedly carried to him in secret wrapped in a carpet. Caesar
agreed to support Cleopatra's claim to the throne. Ptolemy XIII and his advisors fled the palace, turning the
Egyptian forces loyal to the throne against Caesar and Cleopatra, who barricaded themselves in the palace
complex until Roman reinforcements could arrive to combat the rebellion, known afterward as the battles in
Alexandria. Ptolemy XIII's forces were ultimately defeated at the Battle of the Nile and the king was killed in
the conflict, reportedly drowning in the Nile while attempting to flee with his remaining army.
In the summer of 47 BC, having married her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, Cleopatra embarked with Caesar
for a two-month trip along the Nile. Together, they visited Dendara, where Cleopatra was being worshiped as
pharaoh, an honor beyond Caesar's reach. They became lovers, and she bore him a son, Caesarion. In 45 BC,
Cleopatra and Caesarion left Alexandria for Rome, where they stayed in a palace built by Caesar in their
honor.
In 44 BC, Caesar was murdered in Rome by several Senators. With his death, Rome split between supporters
of Mark Antony and Octavian. When Mark Antony seemed to prevail, Cleopatra supported him and, shortly
after, they too became lovers and eventually married in Egypt (though their marriage was never recognized by
Roman law, as Antony was married to a Roman woman). Their union produced three children; the twins
Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios, and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphos.
Mark Antony's alliance with Cleopatra angered Rome even more. Branded a power-hungry enchantress by the
Romans, she was accused of seducing Antony to further her conquest of Rome. Further outrage followed at
the donations of Alexandria ceremony in autumn of 34 BC in which Tarsus, Cyrene, Crete, Cyprus, and
Judaea were all to be given as client
monarchies to Antony's children by
Cleopatra. In his will Antony
expressed his desire to be buried in
Alexandria, rather than taken to
Rome in the event of his death,
which Octavian used against Antony,
sowing further dissent in the Roman
populace.
Octavian was quick to declare war on

Antony and Cleopatra while public
opinion of Antony was low. Their
Relief of Ptolemaic Queen naval forces met at Actium, where
Cleopatra VII and the forces of Marcus Vipsanius
Caesarion, Dendera Temple, Agrippa defeated the navy of
Egypt. Cleopatra and Antony. Octavian
waited for a year before he claimed
Egypt as a Roman province. He
arrived in Alexandria and easily defeated Mark Antony's remaining
forces outside the city. Facing certain death at the hands of Octavian,
Antony attempted suicide by falling on his own sword, but survived
briefly. He was taken by his remaining soldiers to Cleopatra, who had
barricaded herself in her mausoleum, where he died soon after.
Knowing that she would be taken to Rome to be paraded in Ptolemy XII, father of Cleopatra VII,
Octavian's triumph (and likely executed thereafter), Cleopatra and her making offerings to Egyptian Gods,
handmaidens committed suicide on 12 August 30 BC. Legend and in the Temple of Hathor, Dendera,
Egypt
Left image: Cleopatra VII bust in the Altes Museum, Antikensammlung Berlin, Roman artwork, 1st century BC
Right: bust of Cleopatra VII, dated 40–30 BC, Vatican Museums, showing her with a 'melon' hairstyle and
Hellenistic royal diadem worn over her head
numerous ancient sources claim that she died by way of the venomous bite of an asp, though others state that
she used poison, or that Octavian ordered her death himself.
Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar, nominally succeeded Cleopatra until his capture and supposed execution
in the weeks after his mother's death. Cleopatra's children by Antony were spared by Octavian and given to
his sister (and Antony's Roman wife) Octavia Minor, to be raised in her household. No further mention is
made of Cleopatra and Antony's sons in the known historical texts of that time, but their daughter Cleopatra
Selene was eventually married through arrangement by Octavian into the Mauretanian royal line, one of
Rome's many client monarchies. Through Cleopatra Selene's offspring the Ptolemaic line intermarried back
into the Roman nobility for centuries.
With the deaths of Cleopatra and Caesarion, the dynasty of Ptolemies and the entirety of pharaonic Egypt
came to an end. Alexandria remained the capital of the country, but Egypt itself became a Roman province.
Octavian became the sole ruler of Rome and began converting it into a monarchy, the Roman Empire.
Roman rule
Under Roman rule, Egypt was governed by a prefect selected by the emperor
from the Equestrian class and not a governor from the Senatorial order, to
prevent interference by the Roman Senate. The main Roman interest in Egypt
was always the reliable delivery of grain to the city of Rome. To this end the
Roman administration made no change to the Ptolemaic system of
government, although Romans replaced Greeks in the highest offices. But
Greeks continued to staff most of the administrative offices and Greek
remained the language of government except at the highest levels. Unlike the
Greeks, the Romans did not settle in Egypt in large numbers. Culture,
education and civic life largely remained Greek throughout the Roman period.
The Romans, like the Ptolemies, respected and protected Egyptian religion
and customs, although the cult of the Roman state and of the Emperor was Bust of Roman Nobleman,
gradually introduced. c. 30 BC – 50 AD, 54.51,
Brooklyn Museum
Culture
Ptolemy I, perhaps with advice from Demetrius of Phalerum, founded
the Library of Alexandria,[24] a research centre located in the royal
sector of the city. Its scholars were housed in the same sector and
funded by Ptolemaic rulers.[24] The chief librarian served also as the
crown prince's tutor.[25] For the first hundred and fifty years of its
existence, the library drew the top Greek scholars from all over the
Hellenistic world.[25] It was a key academic, literary and scientific
centre in antiquity.[26]
Greek culture had a long but minor presence in Egypt long before Ptolemaic mosaic of a dog and
Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria. It began when askos wine vessel from Hellenistic
Greek colonists, encouraged by many Pharaohs, set up the trading Egypt, dated 200–150 BC, Greco-
Roman Museum of Alexandria,
post of Naucratis. As Egypt came under foreign domination and
Egypt
decline, the Pharaohs depended on the Greeks as mercenaries and
even advisors. When the Persians took over Egypt, Naucratis
remained an important Greek port and the colonist population were
used as mercenaries by both the rebel Egyptian princes and the Persian kings, who later gave them land grants,
spreading Greek culture into the valley of the Nile. When Alexander the Great arrived, he established
Alexandria on the site of the Persian fort of Rhakortis. Following Alexander's death, control passed into the
hands of the Lagid (Ptolemaic) Dynasty; they built Greek cities across their empire and gave land grants across
Egypt to the veterans of their many military conflicts. Hellenistic civilization continued to thrive even after
Rome annexed Egypt after the battle of Actium and did not decline until the Islamic conquests.
Head Attributed to Arsinoe II, Marble Head of a Ptolemaic

depicted as an Egyptian divinity Queen
Two depictions of Arsinoe II. The left is in the more traditional Egyptian style, and the right is in a more
Hellenistic style.
Kunst
Ptolemaic art was produced during the reign of the Ptolemaic Rulers (304–30 BC), and was concentrated
primarily within the bounds of the Ptolemaic Empire.[27][28] At first, artworks existed separately in either the
Egyptian or the Hellenistic style, but over time, these characteristics began to combine. The continuation of the
Egyptian art style evidences the Ptolemies' commitment to maintaining Egyptian customs. This strategy not
only helped to legitimize their rule, but also placated the general population.[29] Greek-style art was also
created during this time and existed in parallel to the more traditional Egyptian art, which could not be altered
significantly without changing its intrinsic, primarily-religious function.[30] Art found outside of Egypt itself,
though within the Ptolemaic Kingdom, sometimes used Egyptian iconography as it had been used previously,
and sometimes adapted it.[31][32]
For example, the faience sistrum inscribed with the name of Ptolemy has some deceptively Greek
characteristics, such as the scrolls at the top. However, there are many examples of nearly identical sistrums
and columns dating all the way to Dynasty 18 in the New Kingdom. It is, therefore, purely Egyptian in style.
Aside from the name of the king, there are other features that specifically date this to the Ptolemaic period.
Most distinctively is the color of the faience. Apple green, deep blue, and lavender-blue are the three colors
most frequently used during this period, a shift from the characteristic blue of the earlier kingdoms.[33] This
sistrum appears to be an intermediate hue, which fits with its date at the beginning of the Ptolemaic empire.
During the reign of Ptolemy II, Arsinoe II was deified either as stand-alone goddesses or as a personification
of another divine figure and given their own sanctuaries and festivals in association to both Egyptian and
Hellenistic gods (such as Isis of Egypt and Hera of Greece).[35] For example, Head Attributed to Arsinoe II
deified her as an Egyptian goddess. However, the Marble head of a Ptolemaic queen deified Arsinoe II as
Hera.[35] Coins from this period also show Arsinoe II with a diadem that is solely worn by goddesses and
deified royal women.[36]
The Statuette of Arsinoe II was created c. 150–100 BC, well after her
death, as a part of her own specific posthumous cult which was
started by her husband Ptolemy II. The figure also exemplifies the
fusing of Greek and Egyptian art. Although the backpillar and the
goddess's striding pose is distinctively Egyptian, the cornucopia she
holds and her hairstyle are both Greek in style. The rounded eyes,
prominent lips, and overall youthful features show Greek influence as
well.[38]
Despite the unification of Greek and Egyptian elements in the

intermediate Ptolemaic period, the Ptolemaic Kingdom also featured
prominent temple construction as a continuation of developments
based on Egyptian art tradition from the Thirtieth Dynasty.[39][40]
Such behavior expanded the rulers' social and political capital and
demonstrated their loyalty toward Egyptian deities, to the satisfaction
of the local people.[41] Temples remained very New Kingdom and
Late Period Egyptian in style though resources were oftentimes Faience sistrum with head of Hathor
provided by foreign powers.[39] Temples were models of the cosmic with bovine ears from the reign of
world with basic plans retaining the pylon, open court, hypostyle Ptolemy I.[33] Color is intermediate
halls, and dark and centrally located sanctuary.[39] However, ways of between traditional Egyptian color to
presenting text on columns and reliefs became formal and rigid during colors more characteristic of
the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Scenes were often framed with textual Ptolemaic-era faience.[34]
inscriptions, with a higher text to image ratio than seen previously
during the New Kingdom.[39] For example, a relief in the temple of
Kom Ombo is separated from other scenes by two vertical columns of
texts. The figures in the scenes are smooth, rounded, and high relief, a
style continued throughout the 30th Dynasty. The relief represents the
interaction between the Ptolemaic kings and the Egyptian deities,
which legitimized their rule in Egypt .[37]
In Ptolemaic art, the idealism seen in the art of previous dynasties

continues, with some alterations. Women are portrayed as more
youthful, and men begin to be portrayed in a range from idealistic to
realistic.[18][25] An example of realistic portrayal is the Berlin Green Relief from the temple of Kom Ombo
Head, which shows the non-idealistic facial features with vertical lines depicting Ptolemy VIII receiving the
above the bridge of the nose, lines at the corners of the eyes and sed symbol from Horus.[37]
between the nose and the mouth.[26] The influence of Greek art was
shown in an emphasis on the face that was not previously present in
Egyptian art and incorporation of Greek elements into an Egyptian setting: individualistic hairstyles, the oval
face, “round [and] deeply set” eyes, and the small, tucked mouth closer to the nose.[27] Early portraits of the
Ptolemies featured large and radiant eyes in association to the rulers’ divinity as well as general notions of
abundance.[42]
Religion
When Ptolemy I Soter made himself king of Egypt, he created a new god, Serapis, to garner support from both
Greeks and Egyptians. Serapis was the patron god of Ptolemaic Egypt, combining the Egyptian gods Apis and
Osiris with the Greek deities Zeus, Hades, Asklepios, Dionysos, and Helios; he had powers over fertility, the
sun, funerary rites, and medicine. His growth and popularity reflected a deliberate policy by the Ptolemaic
state, and was characteristic of the dynasty's use of Egyptian religion to legitimize their rule and strengthen
their control.
The cult of Serapis included
the worship of the new
Ptolemaic line of pharaohs;
the newly established
Hellenistic capital of
Alexandria supplanted
Memphis as the preeminent
religious city. Ptolemy I also
promoted the cult of the
deified Alexander, who
became the state god of the Temple of Kom Ombo constructed in
Ptolemaic kingdom. Many Upper Egypt in 180–47 BC by the
Gold coin with visage of Arsinoe II rulers also promoted Ptolemies and modified by the
wearing divine diadem individual cults of Romans. It is a double temple with
personality, including two sets of structures dedicated to
celebrations at Egyptian two separate deities.
temples.
Because the monarchy remained staunchly Hellenistic, despite otherwise co-opting Egyptian faith traditions,
religion during this period was highly syncretic. The wife of Ptolemy II, Arsinoe II, was often depicted in the
form of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, but she wore the crown of lower Egypt, with ram's horns, ostrich
feathers, and other traditional Egyptian indicators of royalty and/or deification; she wore the vulture headdress
only on the religious portion of a relief. Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemaic line, was often depicted with
characteristics of the goddess Isis; she usually had either a small throne as her headdress or the more traditional
sun disk between two horns.[43] Reflecting Greek preferences, the traditional table for offerings disappeared
from reliefs during the Ptolemaic period, while male gods were no longer portrayed with tails, so as to make
them more human-like in accordance with the Hellenistic tradition.
Nevertheless, the Ptolemies remained generally supportive of the Egyptian

religion, which always remained key to their legitimacy. Egyptian priests and
other religious authorities enjoyed royal patronage and support, more or less
retaining their historical privileged status. Temples remained the focal point of
social, economic, and cultural life; the first three reigns of the dynasty were
characterized by rigorous temple building, including the completion of
projects left over from the previous dynasty; many older or neglected
structures were restored or enhanced.[44] The Ptolemies generally adhered to
traditional architectural styles and motifs. In many respects, the Egyptian
religion thrived: temples became centers of learning and literature in the
traditional Egyptian style.[44] The worship of Isis and Horus became more
Bronze allegorical group of a
popular, as did the practice of offering animal mummies.
Ptolemy (identifiable by his
Memphis, while no longer the center of power, became the second city after
diadem) overcoming an
adversary, in Hellenistic
Alexandria, and enjoyed considerable influence; its High Priests of Ptah, an
style, ca early 2nd century ancient Egyptian creator god, held considerable sway among the priesthood
BC (Walters Art Museum) and even with the Ptolemaic kings. Saqqara, the city's necropolis, was a
leading center of worship of Apis bull, which had become integrated into the
national mythos. The Ptolemies also lavished attention on Hermopolis, the
cult center of Thoth, building a Hellenistic-style temple in his honor. Thebes continued to be a major religious
center and home to a powerful priesthood; it also enjoyed royal development, namely of the Karnak complex
devoted to the Osiris and Khonsu. The city's temples and communities prosperous, while a new Ptolemaic
style of cemeteries were built.[44]
A common stele that appears during the Ptolemaic Dynasty is the cippus, a type of religious object produced
for the purpose of protecting individuals. These magical stelae were made of various materials such as
limestone, chlorite schist, and metagreywacke, and were connected with matters of health and safety. Cippi
during the Ptolemaic Period generally featured the child form of the Egyptian god Horus, Horpakhered. This
portrayal refers to the myth of Horus triumphing over dangerous animals in the marshes of Khemmis with
magic power (also known as Akhmim).[45][46]
Society
Ptolemaic Egypt was highly stratified in terms of both class and

language. More than any previous foreign rulers, the Ptolemies
retained or co-opted many aspects of the Egyptian social order, using
Egyptian religion, traditions, and political structures to increase their
own power and wealth.
Characteristic Indian etched
As before, peasant farmers remained the vast majority of the carnelian bead, found in Ptolemaic
population, while agricultural land and produce were owned directly Period excavations at Saft el Henna.
by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. This is a marker of trade relations
Macedonians and other Greeks now formed the new upper classes, with India. Petrie Museum.
replacing the old native aristocracy. A complex state bureaucracy was
established to manage and extract Egypt's vast wealth for the benefit
of the Ptolemies and the landed gentry.
Greeks held virtually all the political and economic power, while native Egyptians generally occupied only the
lower posts; over time, Egyptians who spoke Greek were able to advance further and many individuals
identified as "Greek" were of Egyptian descent. Eventually, a bilingual and bicultural social class emerged in
Ptolemaic Egypt.[47] Priests and other religious officials remained overwhelmingly Egyptian, and continued to
enjoy royal patronage and social prestige, as the Ptolemies' relied on the Egyptian faith to legitimize their rule
and placate the populace.
Although Egypt was a prosperous kingdom, with the Ptolemies lavishing patronage through religious
monuments and public works, the native population enjoyed few benefits; wealth and power remained
overwhelmingly in the hands of Greeks. Subsequently, uprising and social unrest were frequent, especially by
the early third century BC. Egyptian nationalism reached a peak in the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221–
205 BC), when a succession of native self-proclaimed "pharoah" gained control over one district. This was
only curtailed nineteen years later when Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205–181 BC) succeeded in subduing them,
though underlying grievances were never extinguished, and riots erupted again later in the dynasty.
Coinage
Ptolemaic Egypt produced extensive series of coinage in gold, silver

and bronze. These included issues of large coins in all three metals,
most notably gold pentadrachm and octadrachm, and silver
tetradrachm, decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm.
Example of a large Ptolemaic bronze
coin minted during the reign of
Military Ptolemy V.
The military of Ptolemaic Egypt is considered to have been one of the

best of the Hellenistic period, benefiting from the kingdom's vast resources and its ability to adapt to changing
circumstances.[48] The Ptolemaic military initially served a defensive purpose, primarily against competing
diadochi claimants and rival Hellenistic states like the Seleucid Empire. By the reign of Ptolemy III (246 to
222 BC), its role was more imperialistic, helping extend Ptolemaic control or influence over Cyrenaica, Coele-
Syria, and Cyprus, as well as over cities in Anatolia, southern Thrace, the Aegean islands, and Crete. The
military expanded and secured these territories while continuing its primary function of protecting Egypt; its
main garrisons were in Alexandria, Pelusium in the Delta, and Elephantine in Upper Egypt. The Ptolemies
also relied on the military to assert and maintain their control over Egypt, often by virtue of their presence.
Soldiers served in several units of the royal guard and were mobilized against uprisings and dynastic usurpers,
both of which became increasingly common. Members of the army, such as the machimoi (low ranking native
soldiers) were sometimes recruited as guards for officials, or even to help enforce tax collection.[49]
Army
The Ptolemies maintained a standing army throughout their reign,

made up of both professional soldiers (including mercenaries) and
recruits. From the very beginning the Ptolemaic army
demonstrated considerable resourcefulness and adaptability. In his
fight for control over Egypt, Ptolemy I had relied on a
combination of imported Greek troops, mercenaries, native
Egyptians, and even prisoners of war.[50] The army was Hellenistic soldiers in tunic, 100 BC,
characterized by its diversity and maintained records of its troops' detail of the Nile mosaic of Palestrina.
national origins, or patris.[51] In addition to Egypt itself, soldiers
were recruited from Macedonia, Cyrenaica (modern Libya),
mainland Greece, the Aegean, Asia Minor, and Thrace; overseas territories were often garrisoned with local
soldiers.[52]
By the second and first centuries, increasing warfare and expansion, coupled with reduced Greek immigration,
led to increasing reliance on native Egyptians; however, Greeks retained the higher ranks of royal guards,
officers, and generals.[53] Though present in the military from its founding, native troops were sometimes
looked down upon and distrusted due to their reputation for disloyalty and tendency to aid local revolts;[54]
however, they were well regarded as fighters, and beginning with the reforms of Ptolemy V in the early third
century, they appeared more frequently as officers and cavalrymen.[55] Egyptian soldiers also enjoyed a
socioeconomic status higher than the average native.[56]
To obtain reliable and loyal soldiers, the Ptolemies developed several strategies that leveraged their ample
financial resources and even Egypt's historical reputation for wealth; royal propaganda could be evidenced in a
line by the poet Theocritus, "Ptolemy is the best paymaster a free man could have".[57] Mercenaries were paid
a salary (misthos) of cash and grain rations; an infantryman in the third century earned about one silver
drachma daily. This attracted recruits from across the eastern Mediterranean, who were sometimes referred to
misthophoroi xenoi — literally "foreigners paid with a salary". By the second and first century, misthophoroi
were mainly recruited within Egypt, notably among the Egyptian population. Soldiers were also given land
grants called kleroi, whose size varied according to the military rank and unit, as well as stathmoi, or
residences, which were sometimes in the home of local inhabitants; men who settled in Egypt through these
grants were known as cleruchs. At least from about 230 BC, these land grants were provided to machimoi,
lower ranking infantry usually of Egyptian origin, who received smaller lots comparable to traditional land
allotments in Egypt.[58] Kleroi grants could be extensive: a cavalryman could receive at least 70 arouras of
land, equal to about 178,920 square metres, and as much as 100 arouras; infantrymen could expect 30 or 25
arouras and machimoi at least five auroras, considered enough for one family.[59] The lucrative nature of
military service under the Ptolemies appeared to have been effective at ensuring loyalty. Few mutinies and
revolts are recorded, and even rebellious troops would be placated with land grants and other incentives.[60]
As in other Hellenistic states, the Ptolemaic army inherited the doctrines and organization of Macedonia, albeit
with some variations over time.[61] The core of the army consisted of cavalry and infantry; as under
Alexander, cavalry played a larger role both numerically and tactically, while the Macedonian phalanx served
as the primary infantry formation. The multiethnic nature of the Ptolemaic army was an official organizational
principle: soldiers were evidently trained and utilized based on their national origin; Cretans generally served
as archers, Libyans as heavy infantry, and Thracians as cavalry.[62] Similarly, units were grouped and
equipped based on ethnicity. Nevertheless, different nationalities were trained to fight together, and most
officers were of Greek or Macedonian origin, which allowed for a degree of cohesion and coordination.
Military leadership and the figure of the king and queen were central for ensuring unity and morale among
multiethnic troops; at the battle of Raphai, the presence of Ptolemy was reportedly critical in maintaining and
boosting the fighting spirit of both Greek and Egyptians soldiers.[63]
Navy
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was considered a major naval power in the eastern Mediterranean.[64] Some modern
historians characterize Egypt during this period as a thalassocracy, owing to its innovation of "traditional styles
of Mediterranean sea power", which allowed its rulers to "exert power and influence in unprecedented
ways".[65] With territories and vassals spread across the eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus, Crete, the
Aegean islands, and Thrace, the Ptolemies required a large navy to defend against enemies like the Seleucids
and Macedonians.[66] The Ptolemaic navy also protected the kingdom's lucrative maritime trade and engaged
in antipiracy measures, including along the Nile.[67]
Like the army, the origins and traditions of the Ptolemaic navy were rooted in the wars following the death of
Alexander in 320 BC. Various diadochi competed for naval supremacy over the Aegean and eastern
Mediterranean,[68] and Ptolemy I founded the navy to help defend Egypt and consolidate his control against
invading rivals.[69] He and his immediate successors turned to developing the navy to project power overseas,
rather than build a land empire in Greece or Asia.[70] Notwithstanding an early crushing defeat at the Battle of
Salamis in 306 BC, the Ptolemaic navy became the dominant maritime force in the Aegean and eastern
Mediterranean for the next several decades. Ptolemy II maintained his father's policy of making Egypt the
preeminent naval power in the region; during his reign (283 to 246 BC), the Ptolemaic navy became the
largest in the Hellenistic world and had some of the largest warships ever built in antiquity.[71] The navy
reached its height following the victory of Ptolemy II during the First Syrian War (274–271 BC), succeeding
in repelling both Seleucid and Macedonian control of the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean.[72] During
the subsequent Chremonidean War, the Ptolemaic navy succeeded in blockading Macedonia and containing its
imperial ambitions to mainland Greece.[73]
Beginning with the Second Syrian War (260–253 BC), the navy suffered a series of defeats and declined in
military importance, which coincided with the loss of Egypt's overseas possessions and the erosion of its
maritime hegemony. The navy was relegated primarily to a protective and antipiracy role for the next two
centuries, until its partial revival under Cleopatra VII, who sought to restore Ptolemaic naval supremacy amid
the rise of Rome as a major Mediterranean power.[74] Egyptian naval forces took part in the decisive battle of
Actium during the final war of the Roman Republic, but once again suffered a defeat that culminated with the
end of Ptolemaic rule.
At its apex under Ptolemy II, the Ptolemaic navy may have had as many as 336 warships,[75] with Ptolemy II
reportedly having at his disposal more than 4,000 ships (including transports and allied vessels).[76]
Maintaining a fleet of this size would have been costly, and reflected the vast wealth and resources of the
kingdom.[77] The main naval bases were at Alexandria and Nea Paphos in Cyprus. The navy operated
throughout the eastern Mediterranean, Aegean Sea, and Levantine Sea, and along the Nile, patrolling as far as
the Red Sea towards the Indian Ocean.[78] Accordingly, naval forces were divided into four fleets: the
Alexandrian,[79] Aegean,[80] Red Sea,[81] and Nile River.[82]
Cities
While ruling Egypt, the Ptolemaic Dynasty
built many Greek settlements throughout their
Empire, to either Hellenize new conquered
peoples or reinforce the area. Egypt had only
three main Greek cities—Alexandria,
Naucratis, and Ptolemais.
Naucratis
Of the three Greek cities, Naucratis, although

its commercial importance was reduced with
the founding of Alexandria, continued in a
quiet way its life as a Greek city-state. During
Egyptian faience torso of a the interval between the death of Alexander Detailed map of the
king, for an applique on and Ptolemy's assumption of the style of Ptolemaic Egypt.
wood king, it even issued an autonomous coinage.
And the number of Greek men of letters
during the Ptolemaic and Roman period, who were citizens of Naucratis,
proves that in the sphere of Hellenic culture Naucratis held to its traditions. Ptolemy II bestowed his care upon
Naucratis. He built a large structure of limestone, about 100 metres (330 ft) long and 18 metres (59 ft) wide, to
fill up the broken entrance to the great Temenos; he strengthened the great block of chambers in the Temenos,
and re-established them. At the time when Sir Flinders Petrie wrote the words just quoted the great Temenos
was identified with the Hellenion. But Mr. Edgar has recently pointed out that the building connected with it
was an Egyptian temple, not a Greek building. Naucratis, therefore, in spite of its general Hellenic character,
had an Egyptian element. That the city flourished in Ptolemaic times "we may see by the quantity of imported
amphorae, of which the handles stamped at Rhodes and elsewhere are found so abundantly." The Zeno papyri
show that it was the chief port of call on the inland voyage from Memphis to Alexandria, as well as a
stopping-place on the land-route from Pelusium to the capital. It was attached, in the administrative system, to
the Saïte nome.
Alexandria
A major Mediterranean port of Egypt, in ancient times and still today,

Alexandria was founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great. According to
Plutarch, the Alexandrians believed that Alexander the Great's motivation to
build the city was his wish to "found a large and populous Greek city that
should bear his name." Located 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of the Nile's
westernmost mouth, the city was immune to the silt deposits that persistently
choked harbors along the river. Alexandria became the capital of the
Hellenized Egypt of King Ptolemy I (reigned 323–283 BC). Under the
wealthy Ptolemaic Dynasty, the city soon surpassed Athens as the cultural
center of the Hellenic world.
Laid out on a grid pattern, Alexandria occupied a stretch of land between the
sea to the north and Lake Mareotis to the south; a man-made causeway, over
three-quarters of a mile long, extended north to the sheltering island of Pharos, Alexander the Great, 356–
thus forming a double harbor, east and west. On the east was the main harbor, 323 BC Brooklyn Museum
called the Great Harbor; it faced the city's chief buildings, including the royal
palace and the famous Library and Museum. At the Great Harbor's mouth, on an outcropping of Pharos, stood
the lighthouse, built c. 280 BC. Now vanished, the lighthouse was reckoned as one of the Seven Wonders of
the World for its unsurpassed height (perhaps 140 metres or 460 ft); it was a square, fenestrated tower, topped
with a metal fire basket and a statue of Zeus the Savior.
The Library, at that time the largest in the world, contained several hundred thousand volumes and housed and
employed scholars and poets. A similar scholarly complex was the Museum (Mouseion, "hall of the Muses").
During Alexandria's brief literary golden period, c. 280–240 BC, the Library subsidized three poets—
Callimachus, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Theocritus—whose work now represents the best of Hellenistic
literature. Among other thinkers associated with the Library or other Alexandrian patronage were the
mathematician Euclid (c. 300 BC), the inventor Archimedes (287 BC – c. 212 BC), and the polymath
Eratosthenes (c. 225 BC).[83]
Cosmopolitan and flourishing, Alexandria possessed a varied population of Greeks, Egyptians and other
Oriental peoples, including a sizable minority of Jews, who had their own city quarter. Periodic conflicts
occurred between Jews and ethnic Greeks. According to Strabo, Alexandria had been inhabited during
Polybius' lifetime by local Egyptians, foreign mercenaries and the tribe of the Alexandrians, whose origin and
customs Polybius identified as Greek.
The city enjoyed a calm political history under the Ptolemies. It passed, with the rest of Egypt, into Roman
hands in 30 BC, and became the second city of the Roman Empire.
Ptolemais
The second Greek city founded after the conquest of Egypt was Ptolemais,
400 miles (640 km) up the Nile, where there was a native village called Psoï,
in the nome called after the ancient Egyptian city of Thinis. If Alexandria
perpetuated the name and cult of the great Alexander, Ptolemais was to
perpetuate the name and cult of the founder of the Ptolemaic time. Framed in
by the barren hills of the Nile Valley and the Egyptian sky, here a Greek city
arose, with its public buildings and temples and theatre, no doubt exhibiting
the regular architectural forms associated with Greek culture, with a citizen-
body Greek in blood, and the institutions of a Greek city. If there is some
doubt whether Alexandria possessed a council and assembly, there is none in
regard to Ptolemais. It was more possible for the kings to allow a measure of A detail of the Nile mosaic
self-government to a people removed at that distance from the ordinary of Palestrina, showing
residence of the court. We have still, inscribed on stone, decrees passed in the Ptolemaic Egypt c. 100 BC
assembly of the people of Ptolemais, couched in the regular forms of Greek
political tradition: It seemed good to the boule and to the demos: Hermas son
of Doreon, of the deme Megisteus, was the proposer: Whereas the prytaneis who were colleagues with
Dionysius the son of Musaeus in the 8th year, etc.
Demographics
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was diverse and cosmopolitan. Beginning under Ptolemy I Soter, Macedonians and
other Greeks were given land grants and allowed to settle with their families, encouraging tens of thousands of
Greek mercenaries and soldiers to immigrate where they became a landed class of royal soldiers.[84] Greeks
soon became the dominant elite; native Egyptians, though always the majority, generally occupied lower posts
in the Ptolemaic government. Over time, the Greeks in Egypt became somewhat homogenized and the cultural
distinctions between immigrants from different regions of Greece became blurred.[85]
Many Jews were imported from neighboring Judea by the thousands
for being renowned fighters, also establishing an important
community. Other foreign groups settled from across the ancient
world, usually as cleruchs who had been granted land in exchange for
military service.
Of the many foreign groups who had come to settle in Egypt, the
Greeks, were the most privileged. They were partly spread as
allotment-holders over the country, forming social groups, in the
country towns and villages, side by side with the native population,
partly gathered in the three Greek cities, the old Naucratis, founded
before 600 BC (in the interval of Egyptian independence after the
expulsion of the Assyrians and before the coming of the Persians),
and the two new cities, Alexandria by the sea, and Ptolemais in Upper
Egypt. Alexander and his Seleucid successors founded many Greek
cities all over their dominions.
Greek culture was so much bound up with the life of the city-state that
any king who wanted to present himself to the world as a genuine
champion of Hellenism had to do something in this direction, but the
king of Egypt, ambitious to shine as a Hellene, would find Greek A stele of Dioskourides, dated 2nd
cities, with their republican tradition and aspirations to independence, century BC, showing a Ptolemaic
inconvenient elements in a country that lent itself, as no other did, to thureophoros soldier. It is a
bureaucratic centralization. The Ptolemies therefore limited the characteristic example of the
number of Greek city-states in Egypt to Alexandria, Ptolemais, and "Romanization" of the Ptolemaic
Naucratis. army.
Outside of Egypt, the Ptolemies exercised control over Greek cities in

Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and on the coasts and islands of the Aegean, but they were smaller than Greek poleis in
Egypt. There were indeed country towns with names such as Ptolemais, Arsinoe, and Berenice, in which
Greek communities existed with a certain social life and there were similar groups of Greeks in many of the
old Egyptian towns, but they were not communities with the political forms of a city-state. Yet if they had no
place of political assembly, they often had their own gymnasium, the essential sign of Hellenism, serving
something of the purpose of a university for the young men. Far up the Nile at Ombi a gymnasium of the local
Greeks was found in 136–135 BC, which passed resolutions and corresponded with the king. Also, in 123
BC, when there was trouble in Upper Egypt between the towns of Crocodilopolis and Hermonthis, the
negotiators sent from Crocodilopolis were the young men attached to the gymnasium, who, according to the
Greek tradition, ate bread and salt with the negotiators from the other town. All the Greek dialects of the Greek
world gradually became assimilated in the Koine Greek dialect that was the common language of the
Hellenistic world. Generally, the Greeks of Ptolemaic Egypt felt like representatives of a higher civilization but
were curious about the native culture of Egypt.
Jews
The Jews who lived in Egypt had originally immigrated from the Southern Levant. The Jews absorbed Greek,
the dominant language of Egypt at the time, and heavily mixed it with Hebrew.[86] The Septuagint, the Greek
translation of the Jewish scriptures, appeared and was written by seventy Jewish Translators who were
requested and delighted to accept the task of translating Jewish sacred texts into Greek for Ptolemy II.[87] That
is confirmed by historian Flavius Josephus, who writes that Ptolemy, desirous to collect every book in the
habitable earth, applied Demetrius Phalereus to the task of organizing an effort with the Jewish high priests to
translate the Jewish books of the Law for his library.[88] Josephus thus places the origins of the Septuagint in
the 3rd century BC, when Demetrius and Ptolemy II lived. According to one Jewish legend, the seventy wrote
their translations independently from memory, and the resultant works were
identical at every letter. However, Josephus states they worked together
arguing over the translation and finished the work in 72 days. Josephus goes
into great detail on the elaborate preparations and regal treatment of the 70
elders of the tribes of Israel chosen to accomplish the task in his Antiquities of
the Jews Book 12, chapter 2, which is dedicated to the description of this
famous event. [89]
Arabs
In 1990, more than 2,000 papyri written by Zeno of Caunus from the time of
Ptolemy II Philadelphus were discovered, which contained at least 19
references to Arabs in the area between the Nile and the Red Sea, and
mentioned their jobs as police officers in charge of "ten person units", and
some others were mentioned as shepherds.[90] Arabs in the Ptolemaic
kingdom had provided camel convoys to the armies of some Ptolemaic Ptolemaic Era bust of a
leaders during their invasions, but they had allegiance to none of the man, circa 300–250 BC,
kingdoms of Egypt or Syria, and they managed to raid and attack both sides Altes Museum
of the conflict between the Ptolemaic Kingdom and its enemies.[91][92]
Agriculture
The early Ptolemies increased cultivatable land through irrigation and land reclamation. The Ptolemies drained
the marshes of the Faiyum to create a new province of cultivatable land.[93] They also introduced crops such
as durum wheat and intensified the production of goods such as wool. Wine production increased dramatically
during the Ptolemaic period, as the new Greek ruling class greatly preferred wine to the beer traditionally
produced in Egypt. Vines from regions like Crete were planted in Egypt in an attempt to produce Greek
wines.[94]
List of Ptolemaic rulers
See also
Antipatrid dynasty
Antigonid dynasty
Cup of the Ptolemies
Dryton and Apollonia Archive
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Greek and Roman Egypt
Indo-Greeks
Kingdom of Pontus
Notes
1. Scholars also argue that the kingdom was founded in 304 BC because of different use of
calendars: Ptolemy crowned himself in 304 BC on the ancient Egyptian calendar but in 305 BC
on the ancient Macedonian calendar; to resolve the issue, the year 305/4 was counted as the
first year of Ptolemaic Kingdom in Demotic papyri.
References
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Waterborne Power., (Cambridge University Press, 2013), 10.
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Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 2 ed. J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver, (Cambridge
University Press, 1979), 154.
3. Steven Snape (16 March 2019). "Estimating Population in Ancient Egypt" (https://brewminate.c
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4. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, 18.21.9
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place/ancient-Egypt). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
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14. Grabbe 2008, p. 268: In a treaty of 301, this region was assigned to Seleucus; however,
Ptolemy had just seized it and refused to return it. Because Ptolemy had been very helpful to
Seleucus in the past, the latter did not press his claim, but the Seleucid empire continued to
regard the region as rightfully theirs. The result was the series of Syrian Wars in which the
Seleucids attempted to take the territory back.
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17. Hölbl 2001, pp. 63–65
18. Galen Commentary on the Epidemics 3.17.1.606
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20. Fletcher 2008, pp. 246–247, image plates and captions
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36. Pomeroy, Sarah (1990). Women in Hellenistic Egypt: From Alexander to Cleopatra. Detroit:
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38. "Statuette of Arsinoe II for her Posthumous Cult | Ptolemaic Period | The Met" (https://www.met
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ptol/hd_ptol.htm
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Army,” Classical Quarterly 63 (2013): 209–236, 222–223; P.Tebt. I 121, with Andrew Monson,
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1977): 87 and note 1.
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Ptolemaic Army". The Classical Quarterly 63 (01), p. 225, doi:10.1017/S000983881200064X
59. Dorothy J. Crawford, Kerkeosiris: An Egyptian village in the Ptolemaic period (Cambridge:
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60. Michel M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: A Selection of
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Greece and Rome (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1924), 128.
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__LpAhXnUd8KHZE0D0c4ChDoATAEegQIChAB#v=onepage&q=ptolemaic%20navy&f=fals
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Retrieved April 6, 2015.
Fletcher, Joann (2008), Cleopatra the Great: The Woman Behind the Legend (https://books.goo
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Further reading
Bingen, Jean. Hellenistic Egypt. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007 (hardcover,
ISBN 0-7486-1578-4; paperback, ISBN 0-7486-1579-2). Hellenistic Egypt: Monarchy, Society,
Economy, Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007 (hardcover, ISBN 0-520-
25141-5; paperback, ISBN 0-520-25142-3).
Bowman, Alan Keir. 1996. Egypt After the Pharaohs: 332 BC–AD 642; From Alexander to the
Arab Conquest. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press
Chauveau, Michel. 2000. Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra: History and Society under the
Ptolemies. Translated by David Lorton. Ithaca: Cornell University Press
Ellis, Simon P. 1992. Graeco-Roman Egypt. Shire Egyptology 17, ser. ed. Barbara G. Adams.
Aylesbury: Shire Publications, ltd.
Hölbl, Günther. 2001. A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. Translated by Tina Saavedra. London:
Routledge Ltd.
Lloyd, Alan Brian. 2000. "The Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BC)". In The Oxford History of Ancient
Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 395–421
Susan Stephens, Seeing Double. Intercultural Poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria (Berkeley,
2002).
A. Lampela, Rome and the Ptolemies of Egypt. The development of their political relations 273-
80 B.C. (Helsinki, 1998).
J. G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305–30 BC (Princeton, 2009).
External links
Map of Ptolemaic Egypt, circa 270 BC (https://web.archive.org/web/20120324082551/http://ww
w.unc.edu/awmc/downloads/aegyptusPtolSml.jpg)
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Ptolemaic Kingdom

The Ptolemaic Kingdom (/ˌtɒlɪˈmeɪ.ɪk/; Koinē Greek:

Alexander the Great conquered Persian-controlled Egypt in 332

To legitimize their rule and gain recognition from native

Historical era Classical

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, invaded Egypt,

Alexander conciliated the Egyptians by the respect he showed for

Following Alexander's death in Babylon in 323 BC,[12] a succession crisis

Ptolemy III Euergetes

Ptolemy III Euergetes ("the Benefactor") succeeded his father in 246

This victory marked the zenith of the Ptolemaic power. Seleucus II

Ptolemaic Empire in 200 BC, alongside

Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Ptolemy VI Philometor

Throughout the 160s and 150s BC, Ptolemy VI has also

The demise of the Ptolemies' power coincided with the growing

Octavian was quick to declare war on

Head Attributed to Arsinoe II, Marble Head of a Ptolemaic

Despite the unification of Greek and Egyptian elements in the

In Ptolemaic art, the idealism seen in the art of previous dynasties

Nevertheless, the Ptolemies remained generally supportive of the Egyptian

Ptolemaic Egypt was highly stratified in terms of both class and

Ptolemaic Egypt produced extensive series of coinage in gold, silver

The military of Ptolemaic Egypt is considered to have been one of the

The Ptolemies maintained a standing army throughout their reign,

Of the three Greek cities, Naucratis, although

A major Mediterranean port of Egypt, in ancient times and still today,

Outside of Egypt, the Ptolemies exercised control over Greek cities in

List of Ptolemaic rulers

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