Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/71

PTOLEMY I. PTOLEMY II. 63 expired the legitimate line of the Ptolemies. Ptolemy XL, Nothus or the Bastard, also called Auletes or the Flute Player (80-51), an ille- gitimate son of Lathyrus, was one of the worst of the Ptolemies, and his reign was marked by complications with the Romans, whom he courted. He was expelled in 58, and restored in 55 by A. Gabinius, proconsul in Syria, for a bribe of 10,000 talents. Ptolemy XII. (51-48), his son, ruled in conjunction with his sister Cleopatra VI., whom he expelled in 49 ; for this the Eomans made war, and he was lost in attempting to escape. Ptolemy XIII., Puer, younger brother of the last, married his sister, widow of Ptolemy XII., and was poisoned by her in 43. With him closes the line, although some reckon CaBsarion, the son of Cleopatra by Cajsar, as Ptolemy XIV. (See CLEOPATRA.) PTOLEMY I., surnamed SOTEE, son of Lagus, and founder of the GraBCO-Egyptian dynasty, born near the court of Philip of Macedon in 367 B. C., died in Alexandria in 283. His mother Arsinoe had been a concubine of Philip, and many therefore supposed him to be his eon. He was one of the principal generals of Alexander the Great in his Asiatic campaigns. After the death of Alexander in 323, he be- came governor of Egypt during the nominal reigns of Philip Arrhidseus and Alexander IV., and the regency of Perdiccas. One of his first acts was to put to death Cleornenes, who as receiver general of tributes had amassed an enormous fortune, and was a partisan of Per- diccas. In 322 he annexed the city and province of Cyrene. To oppose Perdiccas, he leagued in 321 with Antigonus, Antipater, and Craterus. Perdiccas invaded Egypt, but Ptolemy defeated him and prevented him from crossing the Nile. Subsequently, when Perdiccas was murdered by his own soldiers, Ptolemy sent wine and provisions to the invading army, and so won them that they offered him the regency, which he declined. In 320 he seized upon Phoenicia and Ccele-Syria, and it was probably during this expedition that he took possession of Jeru- salem without opposition by attacking it on the sabbath. To resist Antigonus, he formed a coalition in 316 with Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus ; and after a struggle of four years, during which he lost Phosnicia, peace was concluded (311). In 310 Ptolemy renewed hostilities under the pretext that Antigonus had violated the treaty by keeping his garri- sons in the Greek cities of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands, and in the long war which followed he lost Cyprus by his defeat in the sea fight near Salamis in 306. Antigonus as- sumed the title of king, and Ptolemy followed his example. Demetrius, the son of Antigonus and conqueror of Salamis, now invaded Egypt, but, baffled at the banks of the Nile, turned his arms against Khodes, which had refused to join in the attack. Ptolemy eTnabled it to hold out by furnishing troops and provisions, and out of gratitude the Rhodians gave him the title of saviour (Soter). The death of Antigonus at 689 VOL. xiv. 5 the battle of Ipsus in 301 terminated the war, and added Syria and Palestine to Ptolemy's dominions ; and in 295 Cyprus was recovered. In 287 he was in league with Seleucus and Lysimachus against Demetrius, but the rest of his reign was peaceful. He made Memphis his capital, took measures to promote the happi- ness of his Egyptian subjects, revived their ancient religious and political constitution, and restored to the priestly caste some of its for- mer privileges. He showed equal toleration to the Jews and the Greeks, and great numbers of both, among them scholars of the greatest renown, were attracted to Alexandria. He laid the foundation of literary institutions, the most celebrated of which were a library and a museum, a kind of university whose profes- sors and teachers were supported at the public expense. Ptolemy wrote a history of the wars of Alexander. He wished his youngest son Ptolemy Philadelphus, the offspring of his fa- vorite wife Berenice, to succeed him, to the exclusion of his elder son by his former wife Eurydice, and effected his purpose by abdica- ting in his favor in 285, continuing however to exercise sovereignty until his death. PTOLEMY II., surnamed PHILADELPHUS, king of Egypt, youngest son of the preceding by Berenice, born in the island of Cos in 309 B. 0., died in Alexandria in 247. He was carefully educated, and was thoroughly imbued with his father's policy. He cleared Upper Egypt of robbers, penetrated Ethiopia, establishing traf- fic with the tribes, and opened southern Africa to the Alexandrian merchants. To command the Red sea, he founded Arsinoe (near Suez), and connected it with Alexandria by restoring and completing the canal begun by Necho. He constructed the ports of Myos-Hormos and Berenice, and connected the latter .with Coptos on the Nile by a road 258 m. long across the desert. The museum founded by his father was improved by the addition of botanical and zoological gardens, works of art were collected from Greece, and large additions were made to the library. (See ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY.) He spent vast sums on public works, built the celebrated lighthouse on the island of Pharos, and erected a magnificent royal mausoleum, to which he removed the remains of Alexan- der the Great from Memphis. The most dis- tinguished poets, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers resided at his capital. For the use of the Alexandrian Jews, the Septua- gint version of the Hebrew Scriptures is said to have been made by his command. His reign was disturbed by the revolt of his half brother Magas, viceroy of Cyrene, who suc- ceeded in maintaining his independence ; and by a contest with Syria for the possession of Phoenicia and Coele-Syria, which was kept up at intervals till near the close of his life, when these provinces at last remained in his posses- sion. He took part several times in the affairs of Greece, maintaining an unfriendly attitude toward Macedon, and established relations of