Ptolemy II Philadelphus

"Ptolemy II" and "Ptolemy Philadelphus" redirect here. For the Greek prince and client king, seePtolemy II of Telmessos.For the medieval Italian count, seePtolemy II of Tusculum.For the son of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, seePtolemy Philadelphus (son of Cleopatra).

Ptolemy II Philadelphus(Ancient Greek:Πτολεμαῖος Φιλάδελφος,Ptolemaîos Philádelphos,"Ptolemy, sibling-lover"; 309 – 28 January 246 BC) was thepharaohofPtolemaic Egyptfrom 284 to 246 BC. He was the son ofPtolemy I,theMacedonian Greekgeneral ofAlexander the Greatwho founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom after thedeath of Alexander,and QueenBerenice I,originally fromMacedon.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus
Bust of Ptolemy II,National Archaeological Museum, Naples
Pharaoh
Kingof thePtolemaic Kingdom
Reign	28 March 284 – 28 January 246 BC
Predecessor	Ptolemy I
Successor	Ptolemy III
Royal titulary Horus name ḥwnw-ḳni Hunu qeni Brave youth Nebty name wr-pḥty Wer pehty Great of strength Golden Horus sḫꜤ-n-sw it.f Sekhaen su itef Whose father enthroned him Prenomen (Praenomen) wsr-kꜢ-rꜤ mrj-jmn Weserkare Meryamun The strong one of the ka of Ra, beloved of Amun Nomen ptwꜢlwmys Petualumys Ptolemaios
Consorts	Arsinoe I Arsinoe II
Children	With Arsinoe I: Ptolemy III Lysimachus Berenice, Queen of Syria With Bilistiche: Ptolemy Andromachou
Father	Ptolemy I
Mother	Berenice I
Born	c.309 BC Kos
Died	28 January 246 BC (aged 62–63)
Dynasty	Ptolemaic dynasty

During Ptolemy II's reign, the material and literary splendour of theAlexandriancourt was at its height. He promoted theMuseumandLibrary of Alexandria.In addition to Egypt, Ptolemy's empire encompassed much of theAegeanandLevant.He pursued an aggressive and expansionist foreign policy with mixed success. From 275 to 271 BC, he led the Ptolemaic Kingdom against the rivalSeleucid Empirein theFirst Syrian Warand extended Ptolemaic power intoCiliciaandCaria,but lost control ofCyrenaicaafter the defection of his half-brotherMagas.In theChremonidean War(c. 267–261 BC), Ptolemy confrontedAntigonid Macedoniafor control of the Aegean and suffered serious setbacks. This was followed by aSecond Syrian War(260–253 BC) against the Seleucid empire, in which many of the gains from the first war were lost.

Early life

Coin depicting Ptolemy II's parents Ptolemy I and Berenice I (left), and Ptolemy II and his sister-wife Arsinoe II (right)

Ptolemy II was the son ofPtolemy Iand his third wife,Berenice I.He was born on the island ofKosin 309/308 BC, during his father's invasion of the Aegean in theFourth Diadoch War.He had two full sisters,Arsinoe IIandPhilotera.Ptolemy was educated by a number of the most distinguished intellectuals of the age, includingPhilitas of CosandStrato of Lampsacus.

Ptolemy II had numerous half-siblings.Two of his father's sons by his previous marriage toEurydice,Ptolemy KeraunosandMeleager,became kings ofMacedonia.The children by his mother Berenice's first marriage toPhilipincludedMagas of CyreneandAntigone,the wife ofPyrrhus of Epirus.

At Ptolemy II's birth, his older half-brother Ptolemy Keraunos was the heir presumptive. As Ptolemy II grew older a struggle for the succession developed between them, which culminated in Ptolemy Keraunos' departure from Egypt around 287 BC. On 28 March 284 BC, Ptolemy I had Ptolemy II declared king, formally elevating him to the status of co-regent.

In contemporary documents, Ptolemy is usually referred to as "King Ptolemy son of Ptolemy" to distinguish him from his father. The co-regency between Ptolemy II and his father continued until the latter's death in April–June 282 BC. One ancient account claims that Ptolemy II murdered his father, but other sources say that he died of old age, which is more likely given that he was in his mid-eighties.

Reign

Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II depicted on theGonzaga Cameoin theHermitage Museum,St. Petersburg.

Arsinoe I and Arsinoe II

The fall-out from the succession conflict between Ptolemy II and Ptolemy Keraunos continued even after Ptolemy II's accession. The conflict was probably the reason why Ptolemy executed two of his brothers, probably full brothers of Keraunos, in 281 BC.Keraunos himself had gone to the court ofLysimachus,who ruledThraceand westernAsia Minorfollowing his expulsion from Egypt. Lysimachus' court was divided on the question of supporting Keraunos. On the one hand, Lysimachus himself had been married to Ptolemy II's full sister, Arsinoe II, since 300 BC. On the other hand, Lysimachus' heir,Agathocles,was married to Keraunos' full sisterLysandra.Lysimachus chose to support Ptolemy II and sealed that decision at some point between 284 and 281 BC by marrying his daughterArsinoe Ito Ptolemy II.

Continued conflict over the issue within his kingdom led to the execution of Agathocles and the collapse of Lysimachus' kingdom in 281 BC. Around 279 BC, Arsinoe II returned to Egypt, where she clashed with her sister-in-law Arsinoe I. Some time after 275 BC, Arsinoe I was charged with conspiracy and exiled toCoptos.Probably in 273/2 BC, Ptolemy married his older sister, Arsinoe II. As a result, both were given the epithet "Philadelphoi" (Koinē Greek:Φιλάδελφοι"Sibling-lovers" ). While sibling-marriage conformed to the traditional practice of the Egyptianpharaohs,it was shocking to the Greeks, who considered itincestuous.Sotades,a poet who mocked the marriage, was exiled and assassinated.The marriage may not have been consummated, since it produced no children.Another poetTheocritusdefended the marriage by comparing it to the marriage of the godsZeusand his older sisterHera.The marriage provided a model which was followed by most subsequent Ptolemaic monarchs.

The three children of Arsinoe I, who included the futurePtolemy III,seem to have been removed from the succession after their mother's fall.Ptolemy II seems to have adopted Arsinoe II's son by Lysimachus, also namedPtolemy,as his heir, eventually promoting him to co-regent in 267 BC, the year after Arsinoe II's death. He retained that position until his rebellion in 259 BC.Around the time of the rebellion, Ptolemy II legitimised the children of Arsinoe I by having them posthumously adopted by Arsinoe II.

Conflict with Seleucids and Cyrene (281–275 BC)

Coin of Antiochus I

Ptolemy I had originally supported the establishment of his friendSeleucus Ias ruler ofMesopotamia,but relations had cooled after theBattle of Ipsosin 301 BC, when both kings claimedSyria.At that time, Ptolemy I had occupied the southern portion of the region,Coele Syria,up to theEleutherus river,while Seleucus established control over the territory north of that point. As long as the two kings lived, this dispute did not lead to war, but with the death of Ptolemy I in 282 and of Seleucus I in 281 BC that changed.

Seleucus I's sonAntiochus Ispent several years fighting to re-establish control over his father's empire. Ptolemy II took advantage of this to expand his realm at Seleucid expense. The acquisitions of the Ptolemaic kingdom at this time can be traced inepigraphicsources and seem to includeSamos,Miletus,Caria,Lycia,Pamphylia,and perhapsCilicia.Antiochus I acquiesced to these losses in 279 BC, but began to build up his forces for a rematch.

Antiochus did this by pursuing ties with Ptolemy II's maternal half-brother, Magas, who had been governor ofCyrenaicasince around 300 BC and had declared himself king ofCyrenesometime after Ptolemy I's death. Around 275 BC Antiochus entered into an alliance with Magas by marrying his daughterApamato him.Shortly thereafter, Magas invaded Egypt, marching on Alexandria, but he was forced to turn back whenLibyannomads launched an attack on Cyrene. At this same moment, Ptolemy's own forces were hamstrung. He had hired 4,000Galatianmercenaries, but soon after their arrival the Gauls mutinied and so Ptolemy marooned them on a deserted island in theNilewhere "they perished at one another's hands or by famine."This victory was celebrated on a grand scale. Several of Ptolemy's contemporary kings had fought serious wars against Gallic invasions in Greece and Asia Minor, and Ptolemy presented his own victory as equivalent to theirs.

Around this time Ptolemy was also ostensibly considering some military action inPre-Islamic Arabia,and so sentAristonto reconnoiter the western coast of Arabia.

Invasion of Nubia (c. 275 BC)

Ptolemy clashed with the kingdom ofNubia,located to the south of Egypt, over the territory known as theTriakontaschoinos('thirty-mile land'). This was the stretch of the Nile river between theFirst CataractatSyeneand theSecond CataractatWadi Halfa(the whole area is now submerged underLake Nasser). The region may have been used by the Nubians as a base for raids on southern Egypt.Around 275 BC, Ptolemaic forces invaded Nubia and annexed the northern twelve miles of this territory, subsequently known as theDodekaschoinos('twelve-mile land').The conquest was publicly celebrated in thepanegyriccourt poetry ofTheocritusand by the erection of a long list of Nubian districts at theTemple of Isisat Philae, near Syene.The conquered territory included the rich gold mines atWadi Allaqi,where Ptolemy founded a city called Berenice Panchrysus and instituted a large-scale mining programme.The region's gold production was a key contributor to the prosperity and power of the Ptolemaic empire in the third century BC.

First Syrian war (274–271 BC)

Main article:First Syrian war

Probably in response to the alliance with Magas, Ptolemy declared war on Antiochus I in 274 BC by invading Seleucid Syria. After some initial success, Ptolemy's forces were defeated in battle by Antiochus and forced to retreat back to Egypt. Invasion was imminent and Ptolemy and Arsinoe spent the winter of 274/3 BC reinforcing the defences in the easternNile Delta.However, the expected Seleucid invasion never took place. The Seleucid forces were afflicted by economic problems and an outbreak of plague. In 271 BC, Antiochus abandoned the war and agreed to peace, with a return to thestatus quo ante bellum.This was celebrated in Egypt as a great victory, both in Greek poetry, such as Theocritus'Idyll17 and by the Egyptian priesthood in thePithom stele.

Colonisation of the Red Sea

Arsinoe

Philotera

Myos Hormos

Berenice Troglodytica

Berenice

class=notpageimage|

Key Ptolemaic bases in the Red Sea

Ptolemy revived earlier Egyptian programmes to access theRed Sea.Acanalfrom the Nile nearBubastisto theGulf of Suez– viaPithom,Lake Timsahand theBitter Lakes– had been dug byDarius Iin the sixth century BC. However, by Ptolemy's time it had silted up. He had it cleared and restored to operation in 270/269 BC – an act which is commemorated in the Pithom Stele. The city ofArsinoewas established at the mouth of the canal on the Gulf of Suez. From there, two exploratory missions were sent down the east and west coasts of the Red Sea all the way down to theBab-el-Mandeb.The leaders of these missions established a chain of 270 harbour bases along the coasts, some of which grew to be important commercial centres.

Along the Egyptian coast,Philotera,Myos Hormos,andBerenice Troglodyticawould become important termini of caravan routes running through the Egyptian desert and key ports for theIndian Ocean tradewhich began to develop over the next three centuries. Even further south wasPtolemais Theron(possibly located near the modernPort Sudan), which was used as a base for capturing elephants. The adults were killed for theirivory,the children were captured to be trained aswar elephants.

On the east coast of the sea, the key settlements were Berenice (modernAqaba/Eilat)and Ampelone (near modernJeddah). These settlements allowed the Ptolemies access to the western end of the caravan routes of theincensetrade, run by theNabataeans,who became close allies of the Ptolemaic empire.

Chremonidean war (267–261 BC)

Coin ofAntigonus II

Main article:Chremonidean war

Throughout the early period of Ptolemy II's reign, Egypt was the preeminent naval power in the eastern Mediterranean. The Ptolemaic sphere of power extended over theCycladestoSamothracein the northern Aegean. Ptolemaic naval forces even entered theBlack Sea,waging a campaign in support of the free city ofByzantion.Ptolemy was able to pursue this interventionist policy without any challenge because a long-running civil war inMacedonhad left a power vacuum in the northern Aegean. This vacuum was threatened afterAntigonus IIfirmly established himself as king of Macedon in 272 BC. As Antigonus expanded his power through mainland Greece, Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II positioned themselves as defenders of 'Greek freedom' from Macedonian aggression. Ptolemy forged alliances with the two most powerful Greek cities,AthensandSparta.

The Athenian politicianChremonidesforged a further alliance with Sparta in 269 BC.In late 268 BC, Chremonides declared war on Antigonus II. The Ptolemaic admiralPatroclussailed into the Aegean in 267 BC and established a base on the island ofKeos.From there, he sailed toAtticain 266 BC. The plan seems to have been for him to rendezvous with the Spartan army and then use their combined forces to isolate and expel the Antigonid garrisons atSounionandPiraeuswhich held the Athenians in check. However, the Spartan army was unable to break through to Attica and the plan failed.In 265/4 BC, the Spartan kingAreus Ionce again tried to cross theIsthmus of Corinthand aid the beleaguered Athenians, but Antigonus II concentrated his forces against him and defeated the Spartans, with Areus himself among the dead.After a prolonged siege, the Athenians were forced to surrender to Antigonus in early 261 BC. Chremonides and his brother Glaucon, who were responsible for the Athenian participation in the war, fled to Alexandria, where Ptolemy welcomed them into his court.

Keos

Methana

Itanos

Thera

Battle of Kos

class=notpageimage|

Key Ptolemaic strongholds in the Aegean Sea after the Chremonidean War

Despite the presence of Patroclus and his fleet, it appears that Ptolemy II hesitated to fully commit himself to the conflict in mainland Greece. The reasons for this reluctance are unclear, but it appears that, especially in the last years of the war, Ptolemaic involvement was limited to financial support for the Greek city-states and naval assistance.Gunther Hölbl argues that the Ptolemaic focus was on the eastern Aegean, where naval forces under the command of Ptolemy II's nephew and co-regent Ptolemy took control ofEphesusand perhapsLesbosin 262 BC.The end of Ptolemaic involvement may be related to theBattle of Kos,whose chronology is much disputed by modern scholars. Almost nothing is known about the events of the battle, except that Antigonus II, although outnumbered, led his fleet to defeat Ptolemy's unnamed commanders. Some scholars, such as Hans Hauben, argue that Kos belongs to the Chremonidean War and was fought around 262/1 BC, with Patroclus in command of the Ptolemaic fleet. Others, however, place the battle around 255 BC, at the time of theSecond Syrian War.

The Chremonidean War and the Battle of Kos marked the end of absolute Ptolemaicthalassocracyin the Aegean.TheLeague of the Islanders,which had been controlled by the Ptolemies and used by them to manage the Cycladic islands seems to have dissolved in the aftermath of the war. However, the conflict did not mean the complete end of the Ptolemaic presence in the Aegean. On the contrary, the naval bases established during the war at Keos andMethanaendured until the end of the third century BC, while those atThera,andItanosinCreteremained bulwarks of Ptolemaic sea power until 145 BC.

Second Syrian war (260–253 BC)

Coin ofAntiochus II

Main article:Second Syrian War

Around 260 BC, war broke out once more between Ptolemy II and the Seleucid realm, now ruled byAntiochus II.The cause of this war seems to have been the two kings' competing claims to the cities of western Asia Minor, particularly Miletus and Ephesus. Its outbreak seems to be connected to the revolt of Ptolemy II's co-regent Ptolemy, who had been leading the Ptolemaic naval forces against Antigonus II. The younger Ptolemy and an associate took control of the Ptolemaic territories in western Asia Minor and the Aegean. Antiochus II took advantage of this upset to declare war on Ptolemy II and he was joined by theRhodians.

The course of this war is very unclear, with the chronological and causal relationship of events attested at different times and in different theatres being open to debate.

• Between 259 and 255 BC, the Ptolemaic navy, commanded by Chremonides, was defeated in a sea battle at Ephesus. Antiochus II then took control of the Ptolemaic cities inIonia:Ephesus, Miletus, andSamos.Epigraphic evidence shows that this was complete by 254/3 BC.
• Ptolemy II himself invaded Syria in 257 BC. We do not know what the outcome of this invasion was. At the end of the war, Ptolemy had lost sections of Pamphylia and Cilicia, but none of the Syrian territory south of the Eleutheros River.
• It is possible, but not certain, that Antigonus was still at war with Ptolemy II during this period and that his great naval victory over Ptolemy at the Battle of Kos (mentioned above) took place in 255 BC within the context of the Second Syrian War.

In 253 BC, Ptolemy negotiated a peace treaty, in which he conceded large amounts of territory in Asia Minor to Antiochus. The peace was sealed by Antiochus' marriage to Ptolemy's daughterBerenice,which took place in 252 BC. Ptolemy presented large indemnity payments to the Seleucids as thedowryconnected to this wedding.

After the war was over, in July 253 BC Ptolemy travelled toMemphis.There he rewarded his soldiers by distributing large plots of land that had been reclaimed fromLake Moerisin theFayyumto them as estates (kleroi). The area was established as a new nome, named the Arsinoite nome, in honour of the long-dead Arsinoe II.

Later reign and death (252–246 BC)

After the Second Syrian War, Ptolemy refocused his attention on the Aegean and mainland Greece. Some time around 250 BC, his forces defeated Antigonus in a naval battle at an uncertain location.InDelos,Ptolemy established a festival, called thePtolemaiain 249 BC, which advertised continued Ptolemaic investment and involvement in theCyclades,even though political control seems to have been lost by this time. Around the same time, Ptolemy was convinced to pay large subsidies to theAchaean Leagueby their envoyAratus of Sicyon.The Achaean League was a relatively small collection of minor city-states in the northwesternPeloponneseat this date, but with the help of Ptolemy's money, over the next forty years Aratus would expand the League to encompass nearly the whole of the Peloponnese and transform it into a serous threat to Antigonid power in mainland Greece.

Also in the late 250s BC, Ptolemy renewed his efforts to reach a settlement with his brother Magas. It was agreed that Ptolemy II's heir, Ptolemy III, would marry Magas' sole child,Berenice.On Magas' death in 250 BC, however, Berenice's mother Apame refused to honour the agreement and invited an Antigonid prince,Demetrius the Fair,to Cyrene to marry Berenice instead. With Apame's help, Demetrius seized control of the city, but he was assassinated by Berenice.A republican government led by two Cyrenaeans named Ecdelus and Demophanes controlled Cyrene until Berenice married Ptolemy III in 246 BC after his accession to the throne.

Ptolemy died on 28 January 246 BC and was succeeded by Ptolemy III without incident.

Regime

Plaque depicting King Ptolemy II and Queen Arsinoe II from their temple atTanis,now in theBritish Museum.

Ruler cult

Ptolemy II was responsible for the transformation of thecult of Alexander the Greatwhich had been established by Ptolemy I into a state cult of the Ptolemaic dynasty. At the start of his sole reign, Ptolemy II deified his father. He deified his mother Berenice I as well after her death in the 270s. The couple were worshipped as a pair, theTheoi Soteres(Saviour Gods). Around 272 BC, Ptolemy II promoted himself and his sister-wife Arsinoe II to divine status as theTheoi Adelphoi(Sibling Gods).

Theeponymous priestof the deified Alexander, who served annually and whose name was used to date all official documents, became the 'Priest of Alexander and the Theoi Adelphoi'. Each subsequent royal couple would be added to the priest's title until the late second century BC. In artistic depictions, Ptolemy II was often depicted with divine attributes, namely the club ofHeraclesand the elephant-scalp headdress associated with Alexander the Great, while Arsinoe was shown carrying a pair ofcornucopiaewith a small ram's horn behind her ear.

Ptolemy also instituted cults for a number of relatives. Following her death around 269 BC, Arsinoe II was honoured with a separate cult in her own right, with every temple in Egypt required to include a statue of her as a 'temple-sharing deity' alongside the sanctuary's main god. Her cult would prove extremely popular in Egypt throughout the Ptolemaic period. Ptolemy's other sisterPhiloteraalso received a cult. Even Ptolemy's mistressBilistichereceived sanctuaries in which she was identified with the goddessAphrodite.

A festival, called thePtolemaia,was held in Ptolemy I's honour at Alexandria every four years from 279/278 BC. The festival provided an opportunity for Ptolemy II to showcase the splendour, wealth, and reach of the Ptolemaic empire. One of the Ptolemaia festivals from the 270s BC was described by the historianCallixenus of Rhodesand part of his account survives, giving a sense of the enormous scale of the event. The festival included a feast for 130 people in a vast royal pavilion and athletic competitions. The highlight was a Grand Procession, composed on a number of individual processions in honour of each of the gods, beginning with theMorning Star,followed by theTheoi Soteres,and culminating with the Evening Star. The procession forDionysusalone contained dozens offestival floats,each pulled by hundreds of people, including a four-metre high statue of Dionysus himself, several vast wine-sacks and winekrateres,a range oftableauxof mythological or allegorical scenes, many withautomata,and hundreds of people dressed in costume assatyrs,sileni,andmaenads.Twenty-four chariots drawn by elephants were followed by a procession of lions, leopards, panthers, camels, antelopes, wild asses, ostriches, a bear, a giraffe and a rhinoceros.

Most of the animals were in pairs - as many as eight pairs of ostriches - and although the ordinary chariots were likely led by a single elephant, others which carried a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) golden statue may have been led by four.At the end of the whole procession marched a military force numbering 57,600 infantry and 23,200 cavalry. Over 2,000talentswere distributed to attendees as largesse.

Although this ruler cult was centred on Alexandria, it was propagated throughout the Ptolemaic empire. TheNesiotic League,which contained the Aegean islands under Ptolemaic control, held its own Ptolemaia festival atDelosfrom the early 270s BC. Priests and festivals are also attested onCyprusatLapethos,atMethymnaonLesbos,onThera,and possibly atLimyrainLycia.

Pharaonic ideology and Egyptian religion

This granite statue depicts Ptolemy II in the traditional canon ofancient Egyptian art.Walters Art Museum,Baltimore.

Ptolemy II followed the example of his father in making an effort to present himself in the guise of a traditional Egyptianpharaohand to support the Egyptian priestly elite. Twohieroglyphicstelae commemorate Ptolemy's activities in this context. TheMendes stelecelebrates Ptolemy's performance of rituals in honour of the ram godBanebdjedetatMendes,shortly after his accession. ThePithom stelerecords the inauguration of a temple atPithomby Ptolemy, in 279 BC on his royal jubilee. Both stelae record his achievements in terms of traditional Pharaonic virtues. Particularly stressed is the recovery of religious statuary from the Seleucids through military action in 274 BC – a rhetorical claim which cast the Seleucids in the role of earlier national enemies like theHyksos,Assyrians,and Persians.

Sebennytos

Pithom

Tanis

Saqqara

Akhmin

Koptos

Dendera

Karnak

Philae

class=notpageimage|

Sites of construction work under Ptolemy II

As part of his patronage of Egyptian religion and the priestly elite, Ptolemy II financed large-scale building works at temples throughout Egypt. Ptolemy ordered the erection of the core of the Temple of Isis atPhilaewas erected in his reign and assigned the tax income from the newly conqueredDodekaschoinosregion to the temple. Although the temple had existed since the sixth century BC, it was Ptolemy's sponsorship that converted it into one of the most important in Egypt.

In addition, Ptolemy initiated work at a number of other sites, including (from north to south):

• Decorative work on the Temple ofAnhur-ShuatSebennytosand the nearby Temple of Isis atBehbeit El Hagar;
• Temple of Horus atTanis;
• Temple of Arsinoe atPithom;
• Anubeion in theSerapeumatSaqqara;
• Restoration of the Temple of Min atAkhmin;
• Temple of Min and Isisat Koptos;
• Expansion of thebirth houseof theDendera Temple complex;
• Decorative work on the Temple of Opet at Karnak and the northpylonof thePrecinct of MutatKarnak,Thebes.

Administration

Ptolemaic Egypt was administered by a complicated bureaucratic structure. It is possible that much of the structure had already been developed in the reign of Ptolemy I, but evidence for it – chiefly in the form of documentarypapyri– only exists from the reign of Ptolemy II. At the top of the hierarchy, in Alexandria, there were a small group of officials, drawn from the king'sphiloi(friends). These included theepistolographos('letter-writer', responsible for diplomacy), thehypomnematographos('memo-writer' or the chief secretary), theepi ton prostagmaton('in charge of commands', who produced the drafts of royal edicts), the key generals, and thedioiketes('household manager', who was in charge of taxation and provincial administration). Thedioiketesfor most of Ptolemy II's reign wasApollonius(262–245 BC). The enormous archive of his personal secretary,Zenon of Kaunos,happens to have survived. As a result, it is the administration of the countryside that is best known to modern scholarship.

The whole of Egypt was divided into thirty-nine districts, callednomes(portions), whose names and borders had remained roughly the same since early Pharaonic times. Within each nome, there were three officials: thenomarch(nome-leader) who was in charge of agricultural production, theoikonomos(household steward) who was in charge of finances, and thebasilikos grammateus(royal secretary), who was in charge of land surveying and record-keeping. All three of these officials answered to thedioiketesand held equal rank, the idea being that each would act as a check on the others and thus prevent officials from developing regional power bases that might threaten the power of the king. Each village had akomarch(village-leader) and akomogrammateus(village-secretary), who reported to the nomarch and thebasilikos grammateusrespectively.

Through this system, a chain of command was created which ran from the king all the way down to each of the three thousand villages of Egypt. Each nome also had its ownstrategos(general), who was in charge of the troops settled in the nome and answered directly to the king.

A key goal of this administrative system was to extract as much wealth as possible from the land, so that it could be deployed for royal purposes, particularly war. It achieved this goal with greatest efficiency under Ptolemy II.

Particular measures to increase efficiency and income are attested from the start of the Second Syrian War. A decree, known as theRevenue Laws Papyruswas issued in 259 BC to increase tax yields. It is one of our key pieces of evidence for the intended operation of the Ptolemaic tax system. The papyrus establishes a regime oftax farming(telonia) for wine, fruit, andcastor oil.

Private individuals paid the king a lump sum up front for the right to oversee the collection of the taxes (though the actual collection was carried out by royal officials). The tax farmers received any excess from the collected taxes as profit.

This decree was followed in 258 BC by a 'General Inventory' in which the whole of Egypt was surveyed to determine the quantity of different types of land, irrigation, canals, and forests within the kingdom and the amount of income that could be levied from it.Efforts were made to increase the amount of arable land in Egypt, particularly by reclaiming large amounts of land fromLake Moerisin theFayyum.Ptolemy distributed this land to the Ptolemaic soldiers as agricultural estates in 253 BC.

The Zenon papyri also record experiments by thedioiketesApollonius to establish cash crop regimes, particularly growing castor oil, with mixed success. In addition to these measures focused on agriculture, Ptolemy II also established extensive gold mining operations, in Nubia at Wadi Allaqi and in the eastern desert atAbu Zawal.

Gold octodrachm of Ptolemy II, from Alexandria mint, c. 272 BC. Obverse shows the jugate busts of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II. The Greek legend reads: ΑΔΕΛΦΩΝ, "adelphōn ",meaning "of siblings".

Scholarship and culture

Ptolemy II was an eager patron of scholarship, funding the expansion of theLibrary of Alexandriaand patronising scientific research. Poets likeCallimachus,Theocritus,Apollonius of Rhodes,andPosidippuswere provided with stipends and produced masterpieces of Hellenistic poetry, including panegyrics in honour of the Ptolemaic family. Other scholars operating under Ptolemy's aegis included the mathematicianEuclidand the astronomerAristarchus.Ptolemy is thought to have commissionedManethoto compose hisAegyptiaca,an account of Egyptian history, perhaps intended to make Egyptian culture intelligible to its new rulers.

A tradition preserved in thepseudepigraphicalLetter of Aristeaspresents Ptolemy as the driving force behind the translation of theHebrew Bibleinto Greek as theSeptuagint.This account contains several anachronisms and is unlikely to be true.The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is likely to have taken place among the Jews of Alexandria, but the role of Ptolemy II is unclear and only thePentateuchis likely to have been translated during his reign.

Relations with the western Mediterranean

Ptolemy II and KingHiero II of Syracuseare regularly referred to as having enjoyed particularly close relations. There is substantial evidence for the exchange of goods and ideas between Syracuse and Alexandria. Hiero seems to have modelled various aspects of his royal self-representation and perhaps his tax system, theLex Hieronicaon Ptolemaic models. Two of the luminaries of Ptolemy II's court, the poetTheocritusand the mathematician and engineerArchimedescame from and eventually returned to Syracuse.Numismatic evidence seems to indicate that Ptolemy II funded Hiero II's original rise to power – a series of Ptolemaic bronze coins known as the 'Galatian shield without Sigma' minted between 271 and 265 BC, have been shown to have been minted in Sicily itself, on the basis of their style, flan shape, die axes, weight and find spots. The first set seem to have been minted by a Ptolemaic mint, perhaps left there in 276 BC afterPyrrhus of Epirus' withdrawal from Sicily. They are succeeded by a series that seems to have been minted by the regular Syracusan mint, perhaps on the outbreak of theFirst Punic Warin 265 BC.

Ptolemy II cultivated good relations withCarthage,in contrast to his father, who seems to have gone to war with them at least once. One reason for this may have been the desire to outflank Magas of Cyrene, who shared a border with the Carthaginian empire at theAltars of Philaeni.Ptolemy was also the first Egyptian ruler to enter into formal relations with theRoman Republic.An embassy from Ptolemy visited the city of Rome in 273 BC and established a relationship of friendship (Latin:amicitia).These two friendships were tested in 264 BC, when theFirst Punic Warbroke out between Carthage and Rome, but Ptolemy II remained studiously neutral in the conflict, refusing a direct Carthaginian request for financial assistance.

Relations with India

Ptolemy is recorded byPliny the Elderas having sent an ambassador namedDionysiusto theMauryancourt atPataliputrain India,probably to EmperorAshoka:

"But [India] has been treated of by several other Greek writers who resided at the courts of Indian kings, such, for instance, asMegasthenes,and byDionysius,who was sent thither by [Ptolemy II] Philadelphus, expressly for the purpose: all of whom have enlarged upon the power and vast resources of these nations. "Pliny the Elder," The Natural History ", Chap. 21

He is also mentioned in theEdicts of Ashokaas a recipient of theBuddhistproselytism of Ashoka:

Now it is conquest byDhammathat Beloved-Servant-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it [conquest by Dhamma] has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni. Rock Edict Nb13 (S. Dhammika)

Marriages and issue

Ptolemy married Arsinoe I, daughter of Lysimachus, between 284 and 281 BC. She was the mother of his legitimate children:

Name	Image	Birth	Death	Notes
Ptolemy III		c. 285–275 BC	October/December 222 BC	Succeeded his father as king in 246 BC.
Lysimachus			221 BC
Berenice		c. 275 BC?	September/October 246 BC	Married the Seleucid kingAntiochus II.

Ptolemy II repudiated Arsinoe I in the 270s BC. Probably in 273 or 272 BC,he married his sister Arsinoe II, widow of Lysimachus. They had no offspring, but in the 260s BC, the children of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe I were legally declared to be Arsinoe II's children.

Ptolemy II also had severalconcubinesandmistresses,including Agathoclea (?),Aglais(?) daughter of Megacles, thecup-bearerCleino, Didyme, theChianharpplayer Glauce, the flautistMnesis,the actress Myrtion, the flautist Pothine andStratonice.With a woman namedBilistichehe is said to have had an illegitimate son named Ptolemy Andromachou.

See also

• Alexandrian Pleiad
• Library of Alexandria
• Ptolemaic period– period of Egyptian history during the Ptolemaic dynasty
• Ptolemais (disambiguation)– towns and cities named after members of the Ptolemaic dynasty
• Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations

Bibliography

• Clayton, Peter A. (2006).Chronicles of the Pharaohs: the reign-by-reign record of the rulers and dynasties of ancient Egypt.Thames & Hudson.ISBN0-500-28628-0.
• Dorival, Gilles (2021).The Septuagint from Alexandria to Constantinople: canon, New Testament, Church fathers, catenae(First ed.). Oxford.ISBN9780192898098.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Grainger, John D. (2010).The Syrian Wars.Brill. pp.281–328.ISBN9789004180505.
• Gruen, Erich S. (2016).The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism Essays on Early Jewish Literature and History.Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.ISBN978-3-11-037555-8.JSTORj.ctvbkjxph.
• Hauben, Hans (2013)."Callicrates of Samos and Patroclus of Macedon, champions of Ptolemaic thalassocracy".In Buraselis, Kostas; Stefanou, Mary; Thompson, Dorothy J. (eds.).The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile: Studies in Waterborne Power.Cambridge University Press. pp. 39–65.ISBN9781107033351.
• Hazzard, R. A. (2000).Imagination of a Monarchy: Studies in Ptolemaic Propaganda.Toronto; London: University of Toronto Press.
• Hölbl, Günther (2001).A History of the Ptolemaic Empire.London & New York: Routledge. pp. 143–152 & 181–194.ISBN0415201454.
• Marquaille, Céline (2008)."The Foreign Policy of Ptolemy II".In McKechnie, Paul R.; Guillaume, Philippe (eds.).Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his World.Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp. 39–64.ISBN9789004170896.
• Mookerji, Radha Kumud(1988) [first published in 1966],Chandragupta Maurya and his times(4th ed.),Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN81-208-0433-3
• O'Neil, James L. (2008)."A Re-Examination of the Chremonidean War".In McKechnie, Paul R.; Guillaume, Philippe (eds.).Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his World.Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp. 65–90.ISBN9789004170896.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Ptolemies".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 616–618.

External links

• Ptolemy Philadelphus at LacusCurtius— (Chapter III of E. R Bevan'sHouse of Ptolemy,1923)
• Ptolemy II Philadelphusentry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
• the Great Mendes Stele of Ptolemy II