PTOLEILEUS SOTER. 



PTOLEsfcEUS PHILADELPHUS. 



knowledge. He was nude count and rchitcr to Leo the Great, or 

 the Thrariau (who reigned from A.n. 457 to 474), and wa so much 

 beloved by thi emperor and the people that the senate let up a 

 statue for him in the baths of Zeuxippua, built by Severn*. (Malelai, 

 In Tit* Leoni*,*) Isidore of Oasa, called by others the Pelu.iote, 

 who floariehed in the time of Justinian, saw another erected to him 

 at Athens (I'hotiua, { 659); and thU author give* a farther account 

 of him, that he was an Alexandrian, though hia family was originally 

 derived from Damascus; that he bad a great experience in phynic, and 

 did many wonderful cures ; that in hi* practice he frequently ordered 

 clysters and suppositories ; that in surgery he seldom made use of fire 

 or the knife, and was no friend to bleeding. He was preferred to all 

 the modern physicians by his scholar Asclepiodotus, who grew famous 

 for reviving the use of white hellebore, which in that time had grown 

 quite out of vogue, and was not so much as known to Jacobus himself. 

 Suidas is still larger in his praise of this Jacobus, and says he attained 

 to a perfect knowledge in physic, both in theory and practice ; that 

 be excelled all his contemporaries, that he might be compared to the 

 ancienta, and was superior to many of them ; that he was beloved and 

 adored by his patients, who thought him inspired by heaven ; that 

 they bad au implicit faith in him, because they never found hia 



Alexandria, which is mentioned by several ancient writers (Tacitus, 

 ' Hist,' iv. 84, and commentators), and which was accompanied with 

 great solemnity, seems to have been accomplished in order to establish 

 the worship of a deity which might prove acceptable to both nations. 



Ptolemy gave great encouragement to learning and science. He 

 wrote himself a history of the wars of Alexander, which appears to 

 have been a work of considerable merit, and which supplied Arrian, in 

 conjunction with the narrative of Aristobulus, with the materials for 

 hia history. He invited many scholars and philosophers from Greece, 

 of whom the most celebrated was Demetrius Phalereu* [UEMKTRIUS], 

 who was received by him with the greatest distinction. Ha also 

 invited Theophrastua (Diog. Laert ii. 37), and received Stilpo (Diog. 

 Laert ii. 116), who had been banished from Athens for his religious 

 opinions. In fact, Ptolemy extended his patronage to all persons of 

 learning, independent of their religious and philosophical opinions. 

 He laid the foundations of that school of learning for which Alexandria 

 became afterwards so celebrated ; and he probably commenced making 

 collections for the public library which was regularly established by 

 his son. 



Ptolemy Soter wta first married to Eurydice, tho daughter of 



prognostic fail. Such au eagerness had he for improving his own art, 

 that they thought the soul of vKsculapius was transfused into him." 

 To thU account by Freind, it should be added that (apparently to 

 increase liis influence over his patients) he pretended to be able to 

 divine their thoughts as' well as to distinguish their diseases. Some 

 of his medical preparations are preserved by Alexander Trallianus 

 (pp. 64S, 649), but he does not appear to have left any works behind 

 him. {See also Kiihn, 'Additam. ad Elench. Medioor. Veterum a 

 J. A. Fabricio in BibL Gr. Exhibitum,' 4to, Lips., 1838, Fascic. xvii.) 



I. PTOLEMAUS (nToA/xSioj), surnamed SOTER, or 'preserver,' 

 the founder of the dynasty of Greek kings in Egypt, frequently called 

 the Lagidte, was one of the ablest of the generals of Alexander the 

 Great. He is commonly called the son of Lagus, but, according to 

 the Macedonians, lie was the son of Philip and grandson of Amyntas, 

 but was called the son of Lagus, because his mother was given for 

 wife to Lagus by Philip, though sho was then with child. (Paus., 

 L % 1 1) 



In the division of the provinces on the death of Alexander (ac. 823), 

 Egypt was assigned to Ptolemy, who soon took measures to erect it 

 into an independent kingdom. He put to death Cleomenes, who had 

 been appointed satrap of Kgypt by Alexander, chiefly because he was 

 well disposed to Perdiccas (1'auc., i. C, 3), and obtained by his death 

 an immense sum of money, which Cleomenes had collected during his 

 administration. With this money, which amounted, according to 

 Diodonis (xviii. 14), to 8000 talents, he collected a large army. In the 

 first or second year of his rule he took the city of Cyrcne and added 

 the Cyrenaica to his dominions. He also obtained possession of the 

 dead body of Alexander, which it had been resolved in the council at 

 llabylon to transport to vKgic in Macedonia. It was first carried to 

 Memphif, and afterwards to Alexandria. 



In the year lie. 321 Perdiccas invaded Kgypt, but he lost 2000 men 

 in attempting to cross the Nile, and was subsequently murdered in 

 his tent by his own troops. [I'ERDICCAS.] A few years afterwards 

 Ptolemy bad to encounter a more formidable rival in Antigonns, who 

 was rapidly increasing in power; and in B.C. 316 he entered into an 

 alliance with Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysiinacbus, to resist the ambi- 

 tious projects of Antigonus. In the long war which followed, and of 

 which an account is given in the article ANTIGONUS, Ptolemy took an 

 active part. It was continued till B.C. 312, when a general treaty was 

 made, by which Ptolemy obtained possession of Kgypt and the adja- 

 cent districts. Ptolemy however was the first to break this treaty in 

 the following year ; and the war was again renewed, and carried on 

 with various success, till the defeat and death of Antigonus, at the 

 battle of Ipsus (ac. 801), secured to Ptolemy the undisturbed pos- 

 session of Egypt. 



From this time to hi* death Ptolemy devoted all his energies to 

 develop the resources and promote the prosperity of his kingdom. 

 Under his wise government and that of his successor, Alexandria 

 became, as its great founder had anticipated, the first commercial city 

 in the world, and the place from which Europe was supplied with tho 

 rich merchandise of the East As his subjects consisted of two distinct 

 nations the Egyptians and Greeks it was the policy of Ptolemy and 

 bis successors to amalgamate these races as much as possible. Ptolemy, 

 being a Greek, introduced Greek habits and customs and also the 

 Greek religion into Egypt; but, like bis great master Alexander, 

 be carefully avoided offending the prejudices of bis new subjects, and 

 adopted to a certain extent the Kgyption forms of worship. He and 

 bis successors conciliated the favour of their subjects by the respect 

 which they paid to the ancient Egyptian priesthood, and also by con- 

 tributing largely to the restoration of the ancient monuments of the 

 country. Ha also introduced the most complete religious toleration 

 among all bis subject*. The troubled state of Palestine and the 

 growmu commerce of Alexandria induced many Jews to settle in bis 

 dominions ; and tho same toleration was granted to the Jewith syna- 

 gogue as to tho temples of IsU and Jupiter. Ptolemy seems to have 

 been desirous of uniting as much as possible the Egyptian and Greek 

 religions; and bis removal of the statue of Sorapis from Pontui to 



Antipater, by whom he hod children ; but he left hU dominions to a 



ounger son, Ptolemy Philadelphun, whom he had by Berenice (Paus., 

 6, 8; Justin, xvi. 2 ; Plin., 'Hist Nat,' xxxvii. 32). [BERWICK.] 

 HU eldest son, Ptolemy Ceraunui, murdered Seleucus, B.C. 280, and 

 obtained possession of the king lorn of Macedonia. He only reigned 

 however for about a year, and fell in battle with the Gauls. (Paus., i. 

 16, 2 ; x, 19, 4 ; Strabo, xiii. p. 623 ; Justin, xxiv. 6.) 



Ptolemy Soter assumed the title of king, B.C. 306 (Diod., xx. 58 ; 

 Plutarch, 'Demetr.' a 18); and died at the age of 84 (Lucian. 

 'Macrob.,' c. 12), B.C. 283, forty years after the death of Alexander. All 

 the ancient writers agree in representing Ptolemy as a prince of the 

 greatest wisdom, prudence, and generosity ; and there is a saying of 

 hia reported by ^Elian('Var. Hist.,' xiii. 12), worthy of Alexander, 

 " that it was better to make rich than to bo rich." 



Coin of Ptolemy and Berenice. 

 British Museum. Actual size. Gold. 



The two heads to the right are Ptolemy Soter and hi> wife Berenice. The 

 two heads to the left arc Ptolemy Philadelphia and his staler aud wife Arsinoe. 



II. PTOLEMJEUS, surnamed PHILADELPHUS, or the 'brother, 

 loving,' succeeded his father, n.c. 283, but was associated with him in 

 the government two years previously. He followed the example of 

 his father in the encouragement of learning ; and he maintained with 

 great liberality many distinguished philosophers and poets, of whom 

 the most celebrated were Theocritus, Lycophron, and Callimachus. 

 He established tho public library, which was probably commenced by 

 his father, and also founded a museum for the promotion of learning 

 and the support of learned men. Some modern writers attribute the 

 foundation of this museum to Ptolemy Soter, but Athcmcus (v. p. 

 203) distinctly ascribes it to Philadelphus. (Clinton, 'Fasti Hell.,' 

 iii. p. 880.) We learn from Strabo (xvii p. 794) that the museum 

 formed port of the palace, and that it contained cloisters or porticos, 

 a public theatre or lecture-room, and a largo hall, where the learned 

 men who belonged to it dined together. The museum was supported 

 by a common fund, supplied apparently from the public treasury; 

 and the whole institution was under the superintendence of a , 

 who was appointed by the king, and, after Egypt formed a province 

 of the Roman empire, by the Cscsar. Attached to the museum there 

 were botanical and zoological gardens. (Philostr., ' Apollon.,' vi. 24 ; 

 Athen., xiv. p. 654.) The institution was enlarged by the Emperor 

 Claudius. (Suet, ' Claud.,' o. 42, with Cosanbou's ' Note.') 



Ptolemy Philadelphus showed the same favour to the Jews as his 

 father had done ; and it was under his auspices that the Hebrew 

 Bible was translated into Greek. Josephus (' Antiq.,' xii. 2, 12) has 

 piven us an account of tho entertainment at which Ptolemy received 

 the translators ; and which is interesting, as it affords us some idea of 

 the literary parties which the king appears to have frequently given. 

 The king sat at the bead of tho table, and the guests on each side. 

 The usual priests, heralds, &c. were sent away, and grace was said by 

 one of the translators at the command of the king. This gracn or 

 prayer was received with loud applause by the whole company. After 

 supper the king began to philosophise, and asked every one of bis 

 guests a philosophical question. 



The treasures and resources of Philadelphus were very great 

 Much of tho wealth which he possessed was, without doubt, owing to 

 his possessing the trade with India and other parts of Eastern Asia, lie 

 also used every effort to extend the trade of Alexandria; he obtained 



