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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Ptolemy Biography PTOLEMY I (c.367-283 B.C.), surnamed SOTER (the preserver), was a Macedonian, the reputed son of Lagus. He displayed marked ability as a soldier and was one of Alexander the Great's favorite generals in his Eastern campaigns. On the death of Alexander (323 B.C.) and the division of his possessions, Egypt and Libya fell to the share of Ptolemy and, while nominally only satrap of these provinces, he was from the first virtually an independent ruler. From this time until about the close of the century he was engaged almost continuously in wars with the various successors of Alexander the Great, in defense of his Kingdom or province. In 306 B.C. he became King in name as well as in fact. Under his able rule Egypt became a power of the first rank. Palestine and southern Phoenicia Cyprus, Libya, and Cyrene were included in her possessions, and Egyptian influence was paramount in the Mediterranean. The new capital, Alexandria, soon became the foremost city of the world. The famous museum and library founded by Ptolemy I attracted scholars to Alexandria from all parts of the Hellenistic world. The King himself was the author of a history of Alexander the Great, used by Arrian (about 134 A.D.) in the composition of his Anabasis. Ptolemy was a wise administrator and skillfully reconciled the opposing interests of his Greek and Egyptian subjects. In 285 B.C., after a successful reign, he passed over the head of his eldest (legitimate) son, Ptolemy Ceraunus, by Eurydice, whom he had repudiated, and abdicated in favor of his son, Ptolemy II. The New International Encyclopaedia Vol. XIX (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 341. |