Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PTOLEMY

(Gk. Ptolemaíos)

Ptolemy II with his sister and wife Arsinoë II. Ptolemaic cameo (278 b.c.e.) cut out of the nine layers of an Indian sardonyx; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.)

1. Ptolemy I Soter ([323]305-282 b.c.e.) was a worthy founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty (his father was Lagus, which is why the dynasty is sometimes called the Lagids). He was a true polymath, not only being a general and strategist of considerable ability but also a statesman and a man of learning and culture, and apparently even a good drinking companion. He wrote a history of Alexander’s conquests which still serves as the basis of the most reliable account extant, and he perhaps began the famous library of Alexandria (the Museon), though possibly this was done by his son. Shortly after Alexander’s death he established himself in Egypt, and during the 40-year period of military and political maneuvering (the period of the Diadochi or “Successors” to Alexander), he played his cards well, with one clear aim: to preserve Egypt as his fiefdom, and in this he succeeded well. He aided Seleucus I in returning to Babylon after the latter was driven out by Antigonus. This is why when Ptolemy seized southern Syria and Palestine after the battle of Ipsus in 301 Seleucus did not press his legitimate claim to the territory. Ptolemy took the title king in 305 or 304.

2. Ptolemy II Philadelphus ([285]282-246) had a long reign in which he pursued cultural as well as political matters, such as building the famous lighthouse Pharos and bringing the library of Alexandria to completion, if he did not begin it. Known most widely as the Ptolemy of the Letter of Aristeas, he established diplomatic relations with Rome, who was engaged in the First Punic War with Carthage (264-241). His attempts to influence events in the Aegean area were thwarted by the Macedonian king Antigonus Gonatas (283-239) in the Chremonidean War (267-261). We know little of the First Syrian War (274-271) with Antiochus I (281-261), but some Egyptian holdings in Asia were lost in the Second Syrian War (ca. 260-253) with Antiochus II (261-246). Ptolemy II made peace with Antiochus by giving him his daughter Berenice Syra in marriage (which led to disastrous consequences for Antiochus’ son Seleucus II). Ptolemy divorced his first wife to marry his sister Arsinoë, a strong and independent woman, though her influence on her brother has often been exaggerated. Ptolemy’s reign has regularly been interpreted in idyllic terms as one of economic prosperity as well as cultural achievement, but recent studies have suggested that his fiscal policies were in fact disastrous, spending more than the economy could sustain, and led to the financial crisis in his son’s reign.

3. Ptolemy III Euergetes I (246-221) began his career by putting down a revolt in Cyrenaica while still crown prince. Shortly after taking the throne, he received an urgent message for help from his sister Berenice. She had married Antiochus II but after his death she was under siege from Antiochus’ first wife. Ptolemy took an army to her aid but found she had already been killed. He used the occasion to take Antioch, then to move on eastward to take Babylon and Seleucia-on-the-Tigris and perhaps even other areas (the Third Syrian War, 246-241). However, he was forced to make peace with Seleucus II and return home when a number of low Nile floods produced a famine in Egypt.

4. Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-204) is generally regarded as a weak ruler under domination of palace functionaries, though some recent scholars have evaluated his reign more positively. Regardless of this, his main achievement was to defeat Antiochus III at the battle of Raphia in the Fourth Syrian War (219-217), though in order to do so he used native Egyptian troops. This was thought to lay the ground for future civil disorders since the Egyptians naturally expected some civic rights in return, though some recent scholars think this is exaggerated. The battle of Raphia and a possibly authentic visit to Jerusalem are mentioned in 3 Macc. 1.

5. Ptolemy V Theos Epiphanes (204-180) was a minor for the first 15 years of his reign, and Egypt suffered considerably during this time including loss of most territories in the Aegean and Asia Minor. The main event was the loss of Palestine and southern Syria to Antiochus III in 200. An agreement was finally sealed with a marriage to Cleopatra I, a daughter of Antiochus. His coronation is the event described on the Rosetta Stone. Ptolemy V had not given up his claim to the Syria possessions, however, but was assassinated before he could do anything about it.

6.-15. Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-145) was only a young boy when he came to the throne, but his regents planned an invasion of Anitochus IV’s realm which they launched ca. 170. Antiochus was victorious and made Ptolemy his ward; the regents then put his brother Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon) (145-116) on the throne where he ruled jointly with Ptolemy VI and the latter’s sister-wife Cleopatra II for several years. This cooperation led to another invasion by Antiochus in 168, but this time the Romans warned the Seleucid king off. Ptolemy VI then ruled alone, though his younger brother was given Cyrenaica. After Philometor’s death, Euergetes took the throne, becoming guardian to Philometor’s son Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator but soon had him executed. His two wives, Cleopatra II and Cleopatra III (mother and daughter), become rivals. Cleopatra II drove him out of Egypt for a number of years, during which time she reigned in his stead, but he soon returned and established an uneasy truce with his wives.

After Ptolemy VIII’s death the two Cleopatras again became rivals, each apparently championing one of the two sons, though Cleopatra III became the main player and reigned jointly with each son in turn. The elder son Ptolemy IX Soter II (Lathyrus) (116-107, 88-80) ruled first but was displaced by his younger brother Ptolemy X Alexander I (107-88) and set up his own rule in Cyprus. In the meantime, an illegitimate son of Ptolemy VIII named Ptolemy Apion took up rule in Cyrenaica. At his death in 96, his will left the region to Rome. Ptolemy X also decided to leave Egypt to Rome in his will; however, he was driven from Egypt by a revolt (dying soon afterward), and Ptolemy IX returned to take up his second period of rulership. An embassy from Rome came in 86 and was well received, but the Romans were impressed only by Egypt’s apparent wealth.

When Ptolemy IX died, the Romans now began the first of a series of increasing interventions in Egypt. Ptolemy IX’s half sister Berenice took the throne, but the Romans sent as king a son of Ptolemy X (and stepson of Berenice), Ptolemy XI Alexander II, who murdered Berenice. However, the Alexandrians in turn quickly assassinated him. A son of Ptolemy IX, Ptolemy XII Neo Dionysys (Auletes) (80-58, 55-51) took over rule, apparently without Roman intervention, but Rome was an ever present power to be reckoned with. Pompey did not interfere in his activities in the east in 65-63; nevertheless, he took control of territory right up to Egypt’s border. When Rome took over Cyprus, Ptolemy XII was driven out by his own people and his daughter Berenice ruled in his place. He sought Roman help and retook his throne, after which he had his daughter killed. (The one who brought him back to Egypt was Gabinius, who was accompanied by Antipater the father of Herod the Great.)

When Ptolemy XII died, he left instructions that his daughter Cleopatra VII (51-30) should marry her younger brother Ptolemy XIII (51-47). Cleopatra worked hard to strengthen her relations within her own country and became the only Ptolemy to speak the Egyptian language; however, she was only 17 and was opposed by powerful functionaries. She fled to Syria, and the Romans became involved in her attempt to regain her throne. Ptolemy XIII was killed in the fighting, and Cleopatra ruled jointly with her younger brother Ptolemy XIV (47-44) until she had him assassinated. Her involvement with Caesar and later Mark Antony demonstrated her skill in manipulating circumstances to gain the best deal for Egypt in a difficult period. This included regaining Cyprus for Egypt. She was also a major thorn in the side of Herod and would probably have had him disposed if he had not been so useful to Mark Antony. Nevertheless, the Romans as a whole opposed her, so when Mark Antony was defeated in Actium in 31 b.c.e. she had nowhere else to turn and committed suicide. She had associated her son Ptolemy XV Caesar (Caesarion) (36-30) with her on the throne, claiming that Julius Caesar was his father. He was executed on Octavian’s orders.

Bibliography. CAH2, esp. 7/1: The Hellenistic World, ed. F. W. Walbank et al. (Cambridge, 1984); 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 b.c., ed. A. E. Astin et al. (Cambridge, 1989); 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 b.c., ed. J. A. Crook, A. Lintott, and E. Rawson (Cambridge, 1994); N. Davis and C. M. Kraay, The Hellenistic Kingdoms: Portrait Coins and History (London, 1973).

Lester L. Grabbe

16. The son of Dositheus and father of Lysimachus who, during the reign of Ptolemy IX and Cleopatra III, brought to Alexandria the Letter about Purim (Add. Esth. 11:1).

17. The son of Abubas and son-in-law of the high priest; governor of the region N of the Dead Sea (“the plain of Jericho”). Led by ambition, he ambushed and murdered his father-in-law Simon Maccabeus and two of Simon’s sons, Mattathias and Judas, during a feast at Dok (1 Macc. 16:11-17). Enraged by this vile act and the perpetrator’s boastfulness, John Hyrcanus retaliated, slaying Ptolemy and his cohorts (1 Macc. 16:18-22).

18. Ptolemy Macron, son of Dorymenes. Appointed governor of Cyprus by Ptolemy Vi, he transferred his loyalties to the Seleucid Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Bribed by Menelaus, he convinced Antiochus to clear the priest of complicity in Lysimachus’ plundering of the temple (1 Macc. 4:45-47). Regarded as a traitor for his pro-Jewish stance, he committed suicide (1 Macc. 10:12-13; but cf. 8:8-9).