PTOLEMAIS 



Ptolexnais OR ACE. Ancient 

 city of Phoenicia. Lying S. of 

 Tyre, it is now known as Acre (q.v. ) 

 Ptolemy OR CLAUDIUS PTOLE- 

 MAEUS (fl. A. D. 127-51). Egyptian 

 astronomer and geographer. The 

 dates of his birth and death are 

 unknown, all that is certain being 

 that he conducted his observations 

 in Alexandria during the reigns of 

 Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. 



Ptolemy was one of the most 

 eminent scientific men of the 

 ancient world. He not only co- 

 ordinated the scientific know- 

 ledge of his time but added to it 

 results of his own which have stood 

 to the present day. His doctrines 

 were incorporated in his great 

 work in 13 volumes, called by the 

 Arabs the Almagest (q.v.). 



In what must be regarded 

 as one of the greatest works of 

 the ancients, Ptolemy treats of 

 the positions and motions of the 

 earth, moon, sun, and stars, and 

 makes and proves the statement 

 that the earth is a sphere. His work 

 contains theorems and problems in 

 trigonometry and geometry which 

 are of fundamental importance, the 

 length of the year, a catalogue of 

 stars of the N. hemisphere, motions 

 of the planets, etc. 



As a geographer, Ptolemy was as 

 celebrated as he was as an astrono- 

 mer and mathematician. His 

 Geographike Syntaxis dominated 

 its own particular sphere as his 

 Almagest did astronomy, and 

 Ptolemy's concept of the world 

 held till the 15th century. It was 

 the first attempt to place geo- 

 graphy on a scientific basis. He 

 laid down the latitude and longi- 

 tude of places and constructed 

 maps of the known inhabited 

 world on a mathematical basis far 

 in advance of his time. See Astro- 

 nomy ; Map ; Ptolemaic System. 

 Consult also Works, ed. J. L. 

 Heiberg, 1895-1907; Geographia, 

 ed. C. F. A. Nobbe, 1842-45, 

 Claudius Ptolemy and the Nile, W. 

 D. Cooley, 1854; Ancient India des- 

 cribed by Ptolemy, J. W. McCrindle, 

 1885; The Geography of Ptolemy 

 Elucidated, T. G. Ryland, 1893. 

 Ptolemy I Soter (367-283 B.C. ). 

 King of Egypt. He was one of the 

 favourite generals of Alexander 

 the Great, at 

 whose death in 

 323 he became 

 satrap of Egypt, 

 and in 305 as- 

 sumed the kingly 

 title, thus inaug- 

 urating the Pto- 

 lemaic dynasty, 

 which lasted until 

 30 B.C. After his 

 father he was called Ptolemy Lagi. 

 The aid sent in 304 to Rhodes, when 



Ptolemy I Soter, 

 King of Egypt 



From a coin 



6384 



besieged by Demetrius Poliorceles, 

 earned for him the name Soter 

 (Gr., saviour). Soter founded Pto- 

 lemais in Upper Egypt, as a rival 

 to Thebes, undertook many over- 

 seas adventures, and twice occupied 

 Jerusalem. He fostered the com- 

 mercial and intellectual interests 

 of his capital at Alexandria, built 

 the Serapeum, and planned the 

 famous library and museum, where 

 under his auspices Euclid taught 

 mathematics. In 285 he abdicated. 

 and died two years later. 



Ptolemy II Philadelphia 

 (308-246 B.C.) King of Egypt. 

 Born in Cos, a younger son of 



he 



Ptolemy II Philadel- 

 pbus. King of Egypt 



From a bronze bust 



succeeded on 

 his father 

 Soter's abdi- 

 cation in 285. 

 Establishing 

 sea -command 

 in the Medit- 

 erranean, he 

 annexed 

 Coele-Syria 

 and Phoeni- 

 cia, and fost- 

 ered trade 

 with Somaliland. He opened a 

 canal from the Nile to the Red 

 Sea, and founded in his mother's 

 honour the port of Berenice. He 

 maintained diplomatic relations 

 with the Indian emperor Asoka, 

 completed the lighthouse on the 

 Pharos islet at Alexandria, and 

 built the great pylon at Philae. 



His first wife, Arsinoe I, daughter 

 of Lysimachus of Thrace, was 

 banished in favour of his own 

 sister, Lysimachus' widow, Arsinoe 

 II. He wedded her, and, at her 

 death in 270, deified her as Phila- 

 delphus (Gr., loving a brother or 

 sister), a title afterwards attached 

 to himself also. In her honour 

 he reclaimed land in the Fayum, 

 calling it the Arsinoite nome. 



Ptolemy III Euergetes (281- 

 221 B.C.). King of Egypt. Elder 

 son of Arsinoe' I, he succeeded his 

 father Phila- 

 delphus in 

 246, and by 

 marrying 

 Berenice, 

 daughter of 

 Ptolemy 

 Soter's step- 

 son M a g a s, 



aica to Egypt. 



He overran 

 the Seleucian kingdom to Babylon 

 and Susa, bringing back many 

 Egyptian deities carried away by 

 Cambyses. Hence he and his 

 consort were deified with the 

 title Euergetae (Gr., benefactors), 

 and the decree of Canopus (q.v.) 

 was promulgated in their honour. 



PTOLEMY 



During his reign Ptolemaic sea 

 power reached its acme. The 

 splendid Edfu temple and a pylon 

 at Karnak (q.v.) were founded by 

 him. See Eratosthenes. 



Ptolemy V Epiphanes (209- 

 181 B.C.). King of Egypt. Suc- 

 ceeding his father Ptolemy IV 

 Philopator in 

 205, under 

 guardians, his 

 minority was 

 marked by the 

 invasion of 

 Egypt's over- 

 seas posses- 

 sions by Anti- 

 Ptolemy V Epiphanes, ochus the Great 

 King of Egypt and Philip 



From a coin 



and Philip V 

 of Mace don. 

 of Rome con- 



Ptolemy VI Philo- 

 metor, King of Egypt 



From a bronze butt 



The intervention 

 firmed to the Seleucid king Coele- 

 Syria and Phoenicia. Epiphanes 

 (Gr., illustrious) was declared of age 

 in 197. He wedded a daughter of 

 An tiochus, Cleopatra I, who brought 

 as a dowry the revenues of Coele- 

 Syria and Palestine. The financial 

 measures associated with a projected 

 Syrian campaign led to his death 

 by poisoning. See Rosetta Stone. 



Ptolemy VI Philometor (186- 

 145 B.C.). King of Egypt. Son of 

 Cleopatra I, he succeeded his 

 f a t h e r E p i- 

 phanes in 181, 

 under his 

 mother's re- 

 gency until her 

 death about 

 173. The inva- 

 sion of Egypt 

 by Antiochus 

 IV Epiphanes, 

 and the cap- 

 ture of Philo- 

 metor at Mem- 

 phis, are referred to in Dan. 11. 

 His younger brother, nicknamed 

 Physcon (Gr., obese), was pro- 

 claimed king in 170, and for the 

 rest of the reign there was inter- 

 mittent rivalry between them, 

 each being supported in turn by 

 Rome. Shortly after being pro- 

 claimed king of Syria, Philometor 

 fell in battle near Antioch. 



Ptolemy X Soter II (d. 80 

 B.C.). King of Egypt. Son of Cleo- 

 patra III, he succeeded his father 

 Phvscon at his 

 death in 116. 

 He was for- 

 merly ranked 

 as Ptolemy 

 VIII, but as 

 two other Pto- 

 lemies, Eupa- 

 tor and Neos 

 Philopator 

 who were per- 

 haps both sons 

 ofPhilometor 

 reigned between Epiphanes and 



tto.emy X Soter II 

 King 31 Egypt 



From a bronze tiusl 



