King Ptolemy Philadelphia. Ptolemy II Philadelphus - Ptolemaic Dynasty - Dynasties of Ancient Egypt - Catalog of articles - Ancient East

Ptolemy I Soter and the founding of the Lagid dynasty

The Egyptian kingdom, the main part of which was the Nile Valley protected by deserts and to which, to the west of the Nile, belonged the Greek Pentapolis (Cyrenaica) and neighboring parts of Africa, in the east at times Palestine, Phenicia, Lebanon, Kelesyria, Anti-Lebanon and part of the rest of Syria, replete with cedar forests, Anti-Lebanon and part of the rest of Syria to Damascus and further, often the island of Cyprus, which dominates the sea, achieved very high material well-being under the first Ptolemies (or Lagids). Already the first Lagides, Ptolemy Soter (“Savior”) [d. 283] laid the foundation for everything on which the greatness of Egypt rested: he formed a large army and a strong fleet, established a strictly defined order in administration, finance and legal proceedings under the unlimited power of the king, provided patronage to scientific activity, which later had as its center the famous Museum, connected with the royal palace, a huge building in which a huge library was located and scientists and poets lived.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus

The son and heir of Ptolemy Soter, Ptolemy Philadelphus developed and strengthened what his father had begun. He expanded the state: he went far to Ethiopia (in 264 - 258), contributed to the destruction of the rule of the priests in Meroe (I, 186), brought this state into contact with the world of Greek culture, conquered the troglodytic (Abyssinian) coast, conquered the Sabeans and Homerites of the southern Arabia. He opened the way for Egyptian merchants to trade with the north-west, concluding an alliance with Rome after the removal of Pyrrhus from Italy; this gave eastern goods free access to Italian harbors (page 168). He surrounded himself with a magnificent court, incredibly luxurious, decorated his capital, made it the center of all those mental and material pleasures that can be delivered by wealth and education.

Under Ptolemy Philadelphus, the amount of money lying in the royal treasury extended to 740,000,000 Egyptian talents (more than 825 million rubles); income increased to 14,800 talents (more than 16,500,000 rubles); Egypt's wealth was so great that even Carthage made loans in Alexandria. The army and fleet were huge. Ptolemy Philadelphus had 200,000 infantry, 40,000 cavalry, 300 elephants, 2,000 war chariots, 1,500 warships, 800 yachts, luxuriously decorated with gold and silver, 2,000 small ships, and a supply of weapons for 300,000 soldiers. There were garrisons throughout the state, keeping everything submissive to the king. Theocritus, praising Ptolemy Philadelphus. said: “The beautiful king Ptolemy rules over rich Egypt, in which there are other cities; parts of Arabia and Phenicia serve him; he commands Syria, Line and the Ethiopian land; the Pamphylians, the spear-wielding Cilicians, the Lycians, the warlike Carians, the Cyclades islands obey his commands - because his fleet is powerful, and all the shores and seas and noisy rivers are submissive to his power. He has many horse and foot soldiers, dressed in shiny armor. But the people work peacefully, in calm security, because enemy warriors do not come to the Nile with a wild cry to plunder villages, and enemies do not jump out of ships onto the shore of Egypt to disturb the herds. Ptolemy, a skilled warrior, guards vast fields; a brave king, he carefully protects the possessions inherited from his father and increases them with his acquisitions.”

Ptolemy II Philadelphus (presumably)

Ptolemy Philadelphus loved concerns about the internal affairs of the kingdom more than war, but did not miss opportunities to increase his possessions. He took Phenicia and Palestine from the second king of the Seleucid dynasty, because of which there were many wars between the Egyptian and Syrian kings, took possession of the lands of the southern coast of Asia Minor: Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia and Caria, and to strengthen his rule over them he founded new cities ( Berenice, Philadelphia and Arsinoe in Lycia), tried to secure his conquests from attacks with treaties and marriage ties.

As a pledge of peace with the Syrian king Antiochus II, he gave him his daughter, the beautiful Berenice. She was sent to Antioch with a brilliant retinue. But out of love for Berenice, Antiochus drove away his former wife, Laodice and her children. But when he went to Asia Minor the following year, Laodice managed to become close to him again; she wanted to take revenge, poisoned the king in Ephesus, delivered the throne to her son Seleucus II, called Kallinikos (“victorious”), and then inhumanly killed the hated Berenice and all her followers. The bodyguard bribed by Laodice killed the baby, the son of Berenice; the mother, in a rage of despair, threw a stone at the murderer and killed him, and she herself was killed, by order of Laodice, in the Daphnian sanctuary. The news of his daughter's terrible death hastened Philadelphus's death.

Ptolemy III Euergetes

Philadelphus's successor, Ptolemy III [Evergetes, 247–221], who adhered to his father's policies in everything, went to Syria to avenge his sister. Shortly before that, he married Berenice, Queen of Cyrene, who killed her first husband, Demetrius the Beautiful, son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, who had betrayed her. At the beginning of the war, she promised to bring her beautiful hair as a gift to the gods if her husband returned victorious. The husband returned; she cut off her hair and brought it to the temple. They disappeared; the astronomer Conon announced that they were transferred by the gods to heaven, and gave one of the constellations the name “Hair of Veronica.”

We know very little about the war of Ptolemy III with Syria, the third Syrian war, as about the first two. It lasted three years and shook the weak Syrian kingdom. Ptolemy expanded the borders of his possessions far to the north and east, and paved new routes for Egyptian trade. The Adul inscription, in which he, following the example of the pharaohs, boastfully lists his exploits, says: “The great Ptolemy went to Asia with foot and horse troops, with a fleet, with troglodytic and Ethiopian elephants, which his father and he captured in these countries and trained military service in Egypt. Having conquered with his troops and elephants all the lands to the Euphrates, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Ionia, the Hellespont and Thrace and their kings, he crossed the Euphrates, conquered Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Susiana, Persis, Media and the rest of the land to Bactriana, and, having ordered to find all the shrines, taken from Egypt by the Persians, and taken to Egypt along with other treasures, he sent his troops along the canals...” (along the canals of the lower Euphrates and Tigris). This is the campaign about which the prophet Daniel says: “The branch will rise from its root” - the murdered daughter of the southern king, i.e., Berenki - “will come to the army and enter the fortifications of the northern king, and will act in them, and will become stronger; even their gods, their graven images with their precious vessels, silver and gold, he will take captive to Egypt” (Dan. XI, 7, 8). The booty taken by Ptolemy was truly enormous: 40,000 talents of silver, 2,500 precious statues and vessels. In gratitude for the fact that he returned to the Egyptian temples the sacred things taken from them by Cambyses and Ochus, the Egyptians gave him the title of “benefactor” (in Greek translation, “Evergeta”), which was an epithet of the god Osiris. – The Syrian king, whose forces were weakened by discord in the state, concluded a truce for ten years, agreeing to leave Phoenicia, Palestine and the southern coast of Asia Minor in the power of the winner. Egypt under Euergetes was, in the words of Polybius, “like a strong body with arms spread wide.”

Ptolemy IV Philopator (Tryphon) and Ptolemy V Epiphanes

Under Ptolemy Philopator or Tryphon (“Reveler”), cruel and depraved, the decline of the Egyptian kingdom begins. A long war with Antiochus III, king of Syria, ruined the state and... Although the Egyptians were victorious at Raphia (see below), Philopator ended up losing his possessions in Lebanon and Asia Minor. In addition, the Romans acquired a reason to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt. After the death of Philopator, the influence of the Romans increased: they took over the guardianship of his infant successor, Ptolemy Epiphanes, and the following Egyptian kings were completely dependent on the Romans. Fertile Egypt was important to them because they received a lot of grain from there.

Under the first three Ptolemies, Egypt was a powerful state, and its new capital, Alexandria, became a center of arts, a rich city, surpassing in its splendor the capitals of the pharaohs, Memphis and Thebes. Trade and industry flourished in Egypt. The favorable position of the country greatly contributed to this. Egypt traded with Arabia and India; was corrected, making the Necho Canal navigable again (1,195); Egyptian caravans sailed through the desert to the peoples of the south and west, the Egyptian fleet cleared the Mediterranean Sea of ​​robbers, and many Egyptian merchant ships sailed through it; cities and trading posts were founded on the shores of the Red [Red] Sea; commercially important Phenicia, Palestine, the southern coast of Asia Minor, many islands, including Samos and the Cyclades, were annexed to the Ptolemaic kingdom; even in Thrace, port cities were conquered (Enos, Maronea, Lysimachia). The main figures of culture and industry in Egypt were the Greeks, who settled throughout the country, especially in the cities; under their influence, the natives abandoned their previous stubborn immobility of life and took part in new types of activities. But the first Ptolemies carried out the reforms very carefully, so as not to arouse displeasure among the people, full of prejudices and attached to antiquity. They did not make drastic reforms, showed respect to the Egyptian priests, temples, laws, left intact the hierarchical structure, division into castes, native worship, preserved the division of Egypt into regions (nomes), introduced, according to legend, by Sesostris and was in close connection with the agrarian structure of a densely populated country. Religion under the Ptolemies was a fusion of Greek elements with native ones. Its basis was the service of Serapis and Isis, which received magnificent forms; The Greek cult of underground deities was transferred to this service (I, 149). – Alexandria became the center of cosmopolitan literature, which absorbed elements of the civilization of all cultural peoples, spread them throughout the civilized world and, thus, developed from all previous national cultures one common to all civilized peoples. – Greek became the language of the court, administration and legal proceedings in Egypt.

Tolemy began to rule the country during his father’s lifetime. Having fallen in love with Arsinoe, his own sister on both his father's and mother's sides, he married her, doing something that was in no way allowed among the Macedonians, but which was customary among the Egyptians over whom he ruled. For his love for his sister-wife he was nicknamed Philadelph. Ptolemy II received an excellent education, but was prone to effeminacy and cruelty.

He killed his brother Argei, who allegedly encroached on his life. He also transported the ashes from Memphis to Alexandria. Ptolemy also killed another brother, born of Eurydice, noticing that he was encouraging the inhabitants of Cyprus to fall away from Egypt.

In foreign policy, he tried to avoid fighting and acted through deft interventions and negotiations.

In 280 BC. e., taking advantage of the difficult situation of the Syrian kingdom, Ptolemy took away the southernmost regions of Syria and even captured Damascus. Ptolemy's brother on the mother of Berenice I, Magas, who thanks to her received governorship in Cyrene and betrothed his daughter to the son of Philadelphus, in 274 BC. e. led an army from Cyrene to Egypt. Ptolemy, having strengthened the passes, expected the advance of the Cyrene troops, but Magas never attacked him, since he was forced to conquer the nomadic Libyan tribes that had fallen away from him. Ptolemy wanted to pursue him, but he also could not do this due to the outbreak of an uprising of Galatian mercenaries. Magas was not satisfied with this and dragged the Asian king into the war. In 265 BC. e. Ptolemy sent his fleet to the shores of Greece to act against the Macedonian king. But this fleet was defeated at Kos.

After the second Syrian war (266-263), Ptolemy retained Phenicia, Lycia, Caria and many coastal cities (eg Kaun, Ephesus). He intervened in the affairs of Greece in order to acquire the Cyclades islands and prevent the rise of Macedonia (the so-called Chremonid War, 266).

Ptolemy's children were born not from his sister Arsinoe, but from the daughter of Lysimachus. His sister died childless. According to Strabo, Ptolemy was distinguished by curiosity and, due to bodily weakness, was constantly looking for new entertainment and amusements.

In commercial matters, he also maintained relations with Rome: from there he obtained raw goods that were processed in Egyptian factories. At his court we meet many famous scientists and poets of that time (Callimachus, Theocritus, Manetho, Eratosthenes, Zoilus, etc.). Ptolemy II was a great bibliophile; under him, the public library increased so much that a new one was founded at the museum. He tried to collect in it and translate into Greek all the books that existed in the world. The number of books in this unique repository allegedly reached half a million copies. Among others, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek.

Interested in the fate of the Jewish people, Ptolemy ordered the release of 100,000 prisoners taken by his father from Judea. He erected many luxurious buildings, built cities, organized festivals, restored and decorated the southern temple between Luxor and Karnak.

The murder of his daughter Berenice, given in marriage to, caused the Third Syrian War (247-239), which was started and ended by his successor and son -.

Judea under Ptolemaic rule

Ptolemy I Lagus

After many years of unrest, the lands of Western Asia and North Africa were divided between two Greek commanders: Egypt and Judea remained with Ptolemy I, and Syria, Asia Minor and Babylonia went to the military leader Seleucus. Alexandria of Egypt was chosen as the capital of the Ptolemies, and Antioch, in Asia Minor, for the Seleucids. The Syrian rulers from the clan of Seleucus could not come to terms with the idea that Judea had fallen to the Egyptians, and were always looking for an opportunity to reconquer this land.

But the Egyptian kings kept Judea under their rule for a long time.

Historians claim that Ptolemy I Lagus treated the conquered peoples fairly. He settled the captives taken from Judea in Alexandria and granted them all civil rights. He appointed capable Jewish warriors as commanders of the army and entrusted them with the protection of fortresses. Many voluntarily came from Judea to Egypt and settled there. But the Egyptians themselves were hostile to the Jews, as foreigners who came to their country along with the Greek conquerors.

In Judea itself, Ptolemy I left for the inhabitants the same freedom of government as under the Persians. The high priest was in charge of internal affairs with the help of the Sanhedrin.

The High Priest was Judah's representative to the Egyptian government, responsible for the timely payment of taxes and maintaining peace in Eretz Israel.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Septuagint - translation of the seventy
The translators received a brilliant reception. The king talked a lot with them and was amazed at their wisdom. The scientists were given a palace on the island of Pharos, not far from Alexandria, and there, in complete silence, they began their work. According to one of the existing legends, everyone received a separate room and could not communicate while working with other translators. At the end of the work, it turned out that all 70 translations were exactly the same.
Another legend tells that the translators constantly consulted with each other, discussing for a long time the details of the translation of the Holy text.

The translation was presented to Ptolemy II in the presence of the elders of the Egyptian Jews.

These elders asked permission to copy the translation to distribute it in their communities, where the Jews mostly spoke Greek. Many of them could no longer read the Torah in their native language. Later translations of the remaining books of the Tanakh were made. Through these translations, the Hellenistic world discovered a completely different religion, culture and philosophy. Subsequently, this translation received the name "Septuagint" - "translation of the seventy."

Until now, the attitude towards this event in the Jewish world is ambiguous. Some believe that the translation of the Torah ensured its dissemination in the Hellenistic world and had a great influence on it. In addition, the translation of the Torah into Greek made it possible for Jews who had lost knowledge of their language to remain faithful to the religion of their ancestors.

Others consider the translation of the Torah a catastrophic event in the life of the Jewish people. In their opinion, a book was revealed to the world that God gave only to the Jewish people. Let us add that texts like Holy Scripture cannot be accurately translated into any other language.

Ptolemy III Euergetes

Under Ptolemy III Euergetes, who ruled 246-221. BC BC, Judea was in great danger. The Syrian kings wanted to reclaim Judea. They won over the high priest and the nobles and persuaded them to refuse payments to the Egyptian king. Ptolemy III sent an envoy to Judea with a strict demand for the immediate payment of 20 talents of silver (1 talent 21.5 kg), threatening to punish the disobedient.
Ptolemy III appointed Joseph as chief tax collector in Palestine. A detachment of 2,000 soldiers was placed at his disposal. For twenty-two years Yosef was in charge of collecting taxes and diligently fulfilled his duties. During this time, he not only significantly enriched the Egyptian treasury, but also enriched himself. As a royal commissioner, he had great influence on the management of affairs in Judea and contributed to the establishment of Greek order in it. Jews from wealthy strata of society began to increasingly imitate the life of the Greeks, indulged in luxury and idleness, and increasingly moved away from Jewish customs.

Ptolemy IV Philopator

Hostility towards Jews first appeared under Ptolemy IV Philopator, who reigned from 221-205. BC e. The Syrian king Antiochus III the Great threatened Judea. He had already taken possession of Galilee and the lands east of the Jordan. Ptolemy IV managed to defeat the Syrians and return the conquered lands. Contemporaries believed that after this successful battle, Ptolemy IV could launch a successful offensive and take all the lands from Antiochus III. But the king loved fun and holidays more than military campaigns.

Ambassadors from the Jewish people came to congratulate the Egyptian king on his victory.

Tradition says that the king expressed a desire to visit Jerusalem and make a sacrifice in the Temple.

Soon Ptolemy IV arrived in Jerusalem and climbed the Temple Mount. Having entered the front rooms of the Temple, he wanted to go further to the Holy of Holies, where by law only the high priests were allowed access. Neither the requests of the clergy, nor the murmur of the assembled people could change his intentions. Josephus says that as soon as the king stepped on the threshold of the sacred rest, his legs gave way and he fell exhausted, so that he had to be carried out of the Temple in his arms. Since then, according to legend, he hated the Jews and their faith.

Information about these events was preserved for us by the Third Book of Maccabees, which was written by an Egyptian Jew and dedicated to the Jews of this country during the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator. The main goal of the author of the book was to exalt the Temple, to tell about manifestations of Divine power, and not to present strict historical facts. That is why the book is more like a literary work and not all the events described in it can be considered scientifically confirmed.

The hostilities between Egypt and Syria brought with them death and ruin for the inhabitants of Eretz Israel. Even when military operations were not carried out on its territory, economic losses were enormous. Armies of warriors, accompanied by endless convoys, merchants, women, children and the soldiers' own slaves, captured cities, stole supplies, and plundered villages. With the usual strength of armies of 80,000 foot soldiers and 8,000 horsemen, Eretz Israel was forced to feed about 300,000 people and a huge number of livestock - horses, donkeys, mules and camels.

The entire population was required to pay taxes on land and crops, which reached 1/3 of the grain harvest and 1/2 of the fruit harvest. Under Greek rule, the position of slaves also changed. If previously a person became dependent on a local owner for debts and remained to live in his settlement, now the sale of slaves outside Eretz Israel has become a mass phenomenon.

But along with the conquerors, technical improvements also came to Judea.

The primitive hand mill, in which grain was ground with a stone millstone, was supplanted by the Greek mill, in which manual labor was necessary only at the beginning of the work.

At the same time, oil pressing machines and presses for wine production appeared. The vertical loom also appears. The water was raised using a gate and an “endless” rope. Perhaps some improvements to the plow date back to this time.

Serious changes took place in pottery - potters began to work on a wheel, which was driven by their feet. Hands are freed to create exquisite shapes. For poorer buyers, potters began to cover clay products with glaze - and they could hardly be distinguished from the silver and gold dishes that were in fashion among aristocrats.

Even the lighting has changed. Traditionally in Palestine, an open saucer was used, the edge of which was slightly curved to support the wick - oil was poured into the saucer, and the lamp was ready. Now “Greek lamps” began to appear - small, black-glazed, with a wick attachment, they burned longer, saved oil and wicks, and were safer.
Questions for the chapter
1. Try to identify historical and mythical elements in the story about the creation of the translation of the Torah into Greek.
2. Find out from the teacher of tradition what other opinions exist regarding the translation of the books of Tanakh into Greek.
4. Who was the main opponent of the Ptolemies in the struggle for possession of Judea?
5. Tell us about the main occupations of the Jews of Eretz Israel.
6. Find on the map the capital of the Ptolemaic kingdom of the Seleucid kingdom.

Historical sources

Greek historian Agafarchides on the reasons for the fall of Jerusalem

When reading the passage, pay attention to the attitude of the historian Agafarchid to the observance of the Torah by the Jews.

[…] There is a people called Jews, who, possessing the fortified and large city of Jerusalem, allowed it to be occupied by Ptolemy only because they did not want to take up arms. It was as a result of such untimely and inappropriate superstition that they had to prefer such a harsh despot. […]
Josephus Flavius

1. What is Agatharchides’ attitude towards Ptolemy Lagus? Explain your assumption.

Description of the capture of Jerusalem by Josephus

Compare this passage with the description of Agatharchides.

[…] Ptolemy also mastered Jerusalem by cunning and deceit, namely, having entered the city on Saturday under the pretext of making a sacrifice, he did not encounter the slightest obstacle from the Jews (they did not at all expect him to be an enemy) and as a result, that they did not suspect anything and spent this day in carefree fun, easily took possession of the city and began to brutally rule over it. […]
Josephus Flavius
Jewish antiquities. Book 12, 1:1.

1. How does this description differ from the previous one?
2. How does it characterize Ptolemy I?

Description of the settlement of Alexandria in Egypt by Jews

As you read the passage, pay attention to the situation of the captives in Alexandria.

[…] Then Ptolemy, having taken captive a multitude of people from the mountainous part of Judea, from the outskirts of Jerusalem, […] led them all to Egypt and settled them here.
Josephus Flavius
Jewish antiquities. Book 12, 1:1.

When he learned that the inhabitants of Jerusalem were particularly reliable in keeping their oaths and keeping their word […] he placed many of them in garrisons and made them equal in rights with the Alexandrian Macedonians, and took an oath from them that they would maintain this loyalty as well to his descendants.

[…]

1. What qualities of the people of Jerusalem are noted in the passage?

Book of Maccabees III about Ptolemy IV's visit to the Temple
As you read the passage, pay attention to how Ptolemy's attitude toward the sanctity of the Temple changed.
11. He was told that he should not do this, for it was not permissible for anyone from his own people to enter there, not even for priests, but only for one high priest who rules over all, and that only once a year; but he didn’t want to listen.
12. They read the law to him, but even then he did not abandon his intention, saying that he must enter: let them be deprived of this honor, but not me, and asked why, when he entered the Temple, none of those present prevented him ?
13. And when someone imprudently said that it was done badly, he answered, since it had already been done, then should he not enter, whether they want it or not. […]
22. But, full of insolence and neglecting everything, he was already taking a step forward in order to completely fulfill what had been said before.
23. Seeing this, those who were with him began to call upon the Almighty together with us, so that He would help in the present need and would not allow such a lawless, arrogant act. […]
25. It seemed that not only the people, but also the very walls and all the foundations were groaning, as if already dying for the desecration of the sacred place. […]
Book of Maccabees III, 1:9-25

1. Find words in the text that show the author’s attitude to current events.
2. Why was Ptolemy IV so eager to get into the sanctuary of the Jewish Temple?

With o. Cos and the Peripatetic Philosopher from Lampsaka. Other prominent scientists and collaborators were apparently involved in the education of Ptolemy Philadelphus, created in 295 BC. on the initiative And .

IN Ptolemy II Philadelphus (possibly on his birthday) was appointed by decree as co-ruler of Egypt instead of the rightful heir to the throne, son After death in- the sole ruler of Egypt.

In order to strengthen personal power, he not only pursued a policy of opposing and isolating the legitimate heir, who was in exile, but also killed his brothers (from other marriages of his father Ptolemy Soter) Argedaeus, accused of plotting against the king, and a rebel (name not preserved) on the . Cyprus.

He sought to continue his father's policy of strengthening dominance at sea and access to key trading centers of the North African and Asia Minor coasts. However, in 282 BC. Cyrenaica falls away from Egypt, where Philadelph's mother's son from his first marriage is in power. In 275/4 BC. makes an attempt to attack Egypt, but instead is forced to conquer the nomadic Libyan tribes that have fallen away from him.

In 280 BC. Ptolemy Philadelphus conquers the subordinate southern regions of Syria, including Damascus. In 278, Miletus became an Egyptian possession.

In 274 BC. The First Syrian War begins between Ptolemy II Philadelphus and for dominance in Syria and Phenicia, the struggle for which continues with varying success throughout the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

During the Chremonidean War between and Macedonia, Egypt acts as the main ally of the Athenians in their fight against. However, Ptolemy Philadelphus' attempts to increase his influence in mainland Greece ended in failure. INdestroys the Egyptian fleet off the island of Kos, and 263/2 BC. captures and destroys the walls of the city. The undivided dominance of the Ptolemaic fleet in the eastern Mediterranean comes to an end.

Despite some foreign policy failures during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, Egypt's political and economic position was strengthened. This is facilitated by the rather successful pragmatic internal policy of the young tsar. Ptolemy Philadelphus continues his father's course in national politics. One of the first acts of Ptolemy Philadelphus on the throne (even during the period of joint rule) was the liberation of about 100 thousand Jews captured and resettled in Egypt during the reign of, as well as organizing the translation into Greek of the sacred books of the Jews -. This translation was carried out under the guidance of, who advised the young king to read books about royal power and the art of ruling, for “the books contain what friends do not dare say to the kings’ faces.”

Continued his father's course A to transform the capital of the state into one of the largest centers of trade and crafts of the Hellenistic world. To achieve this goal, during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the canal between the Red Sea and the Nile was thoroughly renewed, and the construction of port facilities, including the famous one, was completed. In the economic sphere, the role of the state, whose monopoly was land and crafts, was extremely large. There was also a policy of distributing land plots to large nobles. The income of the royal treasury was truly fabulous. A significant part of it was spent on maintaining a magnificent court, army, navy, colossal bureaucratic apparatus, and on subsidies to priests and temples.

At the same time, Ptolemy Philadelphus paid great attention to the development of sciences and arts. It was the time of his reign that was the time of heyday and for the maintenance of which significant sums were allocated. The king showed a personal interest in replenishing the book fund, which by the beginning of the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus amounted to about 200 thousand books. He bought from the Athenians copies of the ancient tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and also personally wrote to the kings, with many of whom he was related, so that they would send him everything that was available from the works of poets, historians, orators, and doctors. On behalf of Ptolemy Philadelphus, a catalog was compiled - the famous “Tables” in 120 scroll books.

Under Ptolemy Philadelphus, a tomb was built in, and his body was transferred from Memphis to. Under him, the beginning of the deification of the kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty was laid, cults were founded And I, parents of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

The marriages of Ptolemy II Philadelphus were also not least aimed at strengthening the power of the Ptolemaic dynasty and personally Ptolemy II Philadelphus on the Egyptian throne. His first wife was the daughter of Diadochi, whose marriage was apparently concluded in 288 BC. when the coalition of four kings took shape,, And

Eordea is an area in Upper (that is, in mountainous) Macedonia, which, according to some ancient authors, was inhabited by the Illyrian tribe eords. However, by the time of the king's reign Philip II the natives there were considered the same Macedonians as everyone else. It was from Eordea that he came Lagos](according to one version, this name means Hare, but it’s just that the evil parents could call the boy that - great HZ, although it could be a nickname, but also, um, not the most heroic), the person is actually quite unknown, because, as often happens, he came into the spotlight historians only after death, through the efforts of his son. Well, since in those ancient times it was somehow not comme il faut for great kings to descend from small people, the personalities of their ancestors were more quickly overgrown with legends than with reliable information. In general, there lived Lag from Eordea, either just a man, or an “aristocrat”, or even a tribal prince of the Eordeans - this can never be reliably established.

Philip[os] II - Ptolemy's unreliable father

And Lag had a wife Arsinoe. According to one of the versions, which is very similar to the lie that was invented to ensure the future pharaoh's royal descent, she was the concubine of Philip II, whom he gave to Lag as soon as the girl became pregnant from him. And according to this version, it turned out that the son born into the family Ptolemy[os](warrior - from polemos, war) - the bastard of the king and the brother of the princes Alexander[os]a And Arride[yos]ya(future kings Alexander III And Philip III). However, many historians strongly doubt the reliability of this “legend of the Egyptian peoples”. According to another version, Arsinoe was simply a princess from the clan Argeadov, to which the kings of Macedonia also belonged, so that the son inherited the legitimacy of his attacks on monarchy from her. However, there is a high probability that, like Lagus, Arsinoe was “just a woman” whose son was lucky.

The boy was born somewhere between 367 and 360 (hereinafter all dates are BC) - historians argue, the data varies. Besides him, at least one more son of Lagus and Arsinoe is known - Menelaus[os]. There is a version that after the death of Arsinoe, Lagus remarried Antigone, niece Antipater, famous commander of Kings Philip II and Alexander III and regent of Macedonia. And in this marriage she was born Berenice, half-sister and future second wife of Ptolemy, queen of Egypt. However, other sources call the father of Berenice I a certain Magician. In general, everything in their family was promiscuity, complicated and complicated...

Ptolemy I Lagides (giga-tyts)

So, Ptolemy Lagid had every reason to claim that his illustrious ancestors began with him. However, he spent the first 20-25 years of his life in the shadows, not particularly standing out as a faithful servant of Tsarevich Alexander and one of his closest friends. They fled together from the wrath of Philip II to Epirus, and when the prince returned and became king, Ptolemy entered the “inner circle.” At first Eastern campaign He only twice “gets into the annals” - he was mentioned during the battle of Issus among the “second-line commanders”, and in the battle of the Persian Gate, at the head of 3000 soldiers, he distinguished himself somewhat ambiguously - he captured the Persian camp.

For these, or for any other, merits in 330, the “childhood friend” was appointed one of the king’s 7 (or 10) bodyguards - somatophylaxes, replacing someone executed on charges of conspiracy and treason Philotou, son of Parmenides. These people were not just guards of the monarch, but his closest assistants, and almost everyone (who survived the campaigns and battles) made a good career. So Ptolemy waited for his chance - when in 329 satrap bacteria Bess[os] killed the Persian king Darius III Kodomana and proclaimed himself king Artaxerxes V, Alexander sent Ptolemy after him (for the new king, like a hare, rushed to run away to Sogdiana). Who managed to capture the last representative of the dynasty Achaemenid and deliver him alive to his master, who ordered the usurper to be executed.

Alexander III of Macedon, Ptolemy's faithful master