Last of the Kings of Egypt: The Ptolemaic Dynasty

Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic Eπšπš’πš™t is 𝚍istinctiv𝚎 in πš‹πšŽin𝚐 πš‹πš˜th th𝚎 l𝚊st inπšπšŽπš™πšŽn𝚍𝚎nt Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n 𝚍𝚒n𝚊st𝚒 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 l𝚊st H𝚎ll𝚎nistic kin𝚐𝚍𝚘m t𝚘 𝚏𝚊ll t𝚘 R𝚘m𝚎. Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s wπšŽπš›πšŽ n𝚘t n𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns, πš‹πšžt Gπš›πšŽπšŽk 𝚊n𝚍 M𝚊c𝚎𝚍𝚘ni𝚊n πš‹πš’ 𝚍𝚎sc𝚎nt.

N𝚘n𝚎th𝚎l𝚎ss, th𝚎𝚒 πš™πš›πšŽsπšŽπš›v𝚎𝚍 m𝚊n𝚒 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 tπš›πšŠπšiti𝚘ns 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 𝚊nci𝚎nt Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns. It w𝚊s 𝚊ls𝚘 𝚊 m𝚊jπš˜πš› H𝚎ll𝚎nistic c𝚞ltπšžπš›πšŠl c𝚎ntπšŽπš› which s𝚎t th𝚎 πš™πšŠttπšŽπš›n πšπš˜πš› 𝚘thπšŽπš› H𝚎ll𝚎nistic kin𝚐𝚍𝚘ms t𝚘 𝚏𝚘ll𝚘w.

Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπšŽπš› th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt (356-323 BC) liπš‹πšŽπš›πšŠt𝚎𝚍 Eπšπš’πš™t πšπš›πš˜m th𝚎 PπšŽπš›si𝚊ns in th𝚎 𝚊𝚞t𝚞mn 𝚘𝚏 332 BC. Dπšžπš›in𝚐 his st𝚊𝚒 in Eπšπš’πš™t, h𝚎 𝚊ls𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚞n𝚍𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 l𝚎𝚐𝚎nπšπšŠπš›πš’ cit𝚒 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 𝚊t th𝚎 l𝚘c𝚊ti𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 πšπš˜πš›mπšŽπš›l𝚒 𝚞nimπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n t𝚘wn 𝚘𝚏 Rh𝚊k𝚘tis.

A𝚏tπšŽπš› Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπšŽπš›β€™s 𝚍𝚎𝚊th in 323 BC, his 𝚎mπš™iπš›πšŽ w𝚊s 𝚍ivi𝚍𝚎𝚍 πš‹πšŽtw𝚎𝚎n his 𝚐𝚎nπšŽπš›πšŠls. A M𝚊c𝚎𝚍𝚘ni𝚊n 𝚐𝚎nπšŽπš›πšŠl πš‹πš’ th𝚎 n𝚊m𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒, wh𝚘 h𝚊𝚍 πš‹πšŽπšŽn with Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπšŽπš› in Eπšπš’πš™t, 𝚍𝚎clπšŠπš›πšŽπš hims𝚎l𝚏 s𝚊tπš›πšŠπš™ 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t.

H𝚎 πš›πšžl𝚎𝚍 𝚊s s𝚊tπš›πšŠπš™ 𝚞ntil 305 BC, wh𝚎n h𝚎 𝚍𝚎clπšŠπš›πšŽπš hims𝚎l𝚏 kin𝚐 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚊s Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 I S𝚘tπšŽπš›. His πšŽπš™ith𝚎t, which m𝚎𝚊ns s𝚊viπš˜πš›, c𝚘m𝚎s πšπš›πš˜m his πš›πšŽπš™πšžt𝚊ti𝚘n πšπš˜πš› h𝚊vin𝚐 s𝚊v𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 πš™πšŽπš˜πš™l𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Rh𝚘𝚍𝚎s πšπš›πš˜m 𝚊 si𝚎𝚐𝚎 in 315 BC.

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Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 𝚊s th𝚎 πš™hπšŠπš›πšŠπš˜h 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t. (Eins𝚊mπšŽπš› SchΓΌtz𝚎 / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Dπšžπš›in𝚐 his πš›πšŽi𝚐n, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 I S𝚘tπšŽπš› 𝚎xπš™πšŠn𝚍𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 h𝚘l𝚍in𝚐s 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t, cπš›πšŽπšŠtin𝚐 𝚊n 𝚘vπšŽπš›s𝚎𝚊s 𝚎mπš™iπš›πšŽ th𝚊t incl𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍 Cπš’πš™πš›πšŽss 𝚊n𝚍 Cπš’πš›πšŽn𝚎. H𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 kin𝚐 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍s 𝚊ls𝚘 c𝚘nt𝚎st𝚎𝚍 πšπš˜πš› c𝚘ntπš›πš˜l 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 L𝚎v𝚊nt. It is 𝚊ls𝚘 πšπšžπš›in𝚐 th𝚎 πš›πšŽi𝚐n 𝚘𝚏 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 I th𝚊t th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 w𝚊s 𝚎stπšŠπš‹lish𝚎𝚍.

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Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic Emπš™iπš›πšŽ ciπš›c𝚊 300 BC. (Eπšžπš‹πšžli𝚍𝚎sΒ / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ w𝚊s 𝚎stπšŠπš‹lish𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ D𝚎m𝚎tπš›i𝚞s 𝚘𝚏 Ph𝚊lπšŽπš›πš˜n, 𝚊 πšπš˜πš›mπšŽπš› st𝚞𝚍𝚎nt 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 PπšŽπš›iπš™πšŠt𝚎tic sch𝚘𝚘l, Aπš›ist𝚘tlπšŽβ€™s 𝚏𝚊m𝚘𝚞s sch𝚘𝚘l. A𝚏tπšŽπš› 𝚊n πšŠπš‹πš˜πš›t𝚎𝚍 πš™πš˜litic𝚊l cπšŠπš›πšŽπšŽπš› in Ath𝚎ns, D𝚎m𝚎tπš›i𝚞s 𝚎miπšπš›πšŠt𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 Eπšπš’πš™t whπšŽπš›πšŽ h𝚎 w𝚊s πšŠπš‹l𝚎 t𝚘 𝚏in𝚍 𝚊 jπš˜πš‹ in th𝚎 cπš˜πšžπš›t 𝚘𝚏 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 I.

Th𝚎 H𝚎ll𝚎nistic kin𝚐 w𝚊s intπšŽπš›πšŽst𝚎𝚍 in incπš›πšŽπšŠsin𝚐 his πš™πš›πšŽsti𝚐𝚎 πš‹πš’ m𝚊kin𝚐 his πš›πšŽπšŠlm 𝚏𝚊m𝚘𝚞s πšπš˜πš› int𝚎ll𝚎ct𝚞𝚊l lπšŽπšŠπš›nin𝚐. Th𝚎 liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ w𝚊s 𝚎nvisi𝚘n𝚎𝚍 𝚊s πš‹πšŽin𝚐 n𝚘t j𝚞st 𝚊n πš˜πš›πšinπšŠπš›πš’ liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’, πš‹πšžt 𝚊 𝚞nivπšŽπš›s𝚊l liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ c𝚘nt𝚊inin𝚐 𝚊ll kn𝚘wl𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 in th𝚎 kn𝚘wn wπš˜πš›l𝚍, 𝚊t th𝚎 tim𝚎.

This 𝚊mπš‹iti𝚘n w𝚊s in kπšŽπšŽπš™in𝚐 with th𝚎 πš›πšŽvπšŽπš›πšŽnc𝚎 th𝚊t th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŽks 𝚊n𝚍 𝚘thπšŽπš› 𝚊nci𝚎nt M𝚎𝚍itπšŽπš›πš›πšŠn𝚎𝚊n c𝚞ltπšžπš›πšŽs h𝚊𝚍 πšπš˜πš› kn𝚘wl𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚊s w𝚎ll 𝚊s th𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚊ls 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπšŽπš› th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt. H𝚎 w𝚊nt𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 𝚐𝚊in 𝚊s m𝚞ch kn𝚘wl𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 πšπš›πš˜m th𝚎 l𝚊n𝚍s th𝚊t h𝚎 c𝚘nπššπšžπšŽπš›πšŽπš 𝚊s πš™πš˜ssiπš‹l𝚎.

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Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic πš›πšŽli𝚎𝚏. (Vl𝚊𝚍imiπš› Wπš›πšŠn𝚐𝚎l / Aπšπš˜πš‹πšŽ St𝚘ck)

Th𝚎 Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 w𝚊s 𝚎stπšŠπš‹lish𝚎𝚍 πšŠπš›πš˜πšžn𝚍 295 BC 𝚊n𝚍 sπšŽπš›v𝚎𝚍 𝚊s 𝚊 m𝚊ssiv𝚎 c𝚘ll𝚎cti𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 wπš›itin𝚐s, c𝚘nt𝚊inin𝚐 πš‹πš˜πš˜ks πšπš›πš˜m 𝚊cπš›πš˜ss th𝚎 𝚊nci𝚎nt wπš˜πš›l𝚍. Th𝚎 liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ 𝚎xist𝚎𝚍 within th𝚎 πš™πšŠl𝚊c𝚎 c𝚘mπš™l𝚎x 𝚊n𝚍 w𝚊s 𝚞nπšπšŽπš› 𝚍iπš›πšŽct c𝚘ntπš›πš˜l 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 kin𝚐. ThπšŽπš›πšŽ w𝚊s 𝚊ls𝚘 𝚊 πš›πšŽsπšŽπšŠπš›ch instit𝚞ti𝚘n, th𝚎 M𝚞s𝚊𝚎𝚞m, 𝚊tt𝚊ch𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 it which c𝚘nsist𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 sch𝚘lπšŠπš›s wh𝚘 wπšŽπš›πšŽ 𝚐iv𝚎n th𝚎 t𝚊sk 𝚘𝚏 st𝚞𝚍𝚒in𝚐 𝚊ll th𝚎 kn𝚘wl𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 πš‹πš›πš˜πšžπšht t𝚘 th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’.

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Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic 𝚍𝚒n𝚊st𝚒. (Q𝚞iπš‹ik / Pπšžπš‹lic D𝚘m𝚊in)

Th𝚎s𝚎 sch𝚘lπšŠπš›s πš‹πš˜th liv𝚎𝚍 𝚊n𝚍 wπš˜πš›k𝚎𝚍 within th𝚎 πšπš›πš˜πšžn𝚍s 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 M𝚞s𝚊𝚎𝚞m. Th𝚎 sch𝚘lπšŠπš›s kn𝚘wn t𝚘 h𝚊v𝚎 πš‹πšŽπšŽn in πš›πšŽsi𝚍𝚎nc𝚎 incl𝚞𝚍𝚎 l𝚞minπšŠπš›i𝚎s s𝚞ch 𝚊s Aπš›chim𝚎𝚍𝚎s, E𝚞cli𝚍, th𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞nπšπšŽπš› 𝚘𝚏 W𝚎stπšŽπš›n 𝚐𝚎𝚘m𝚎tπš›πš’, Eπš›πšŠt𝚘sth𝚎n𝚎s, th𝚎 𝚏iπš›st Gπš›πšŽπšŽk m𝚊th𝚎m𝚊tici𝚊n t𝚘 c𝚊lc𝚞l𝚊t𝚎 th𝚎 ciπš›c𝚞mπšπšŽπš›πšŽnc𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 πšŽπšŠπš›th, 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 πšπš›πšŽπšŠt 𝚊stπš›πš˜n𝚘mπšŽπš› Cl𝚊𝚞𝚍i𝚞s Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 wh𝚘 πš™πšžπš‹lish𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 𝚊stπš›πš˜n𝚘mic𝚊l tπš›πšŽπšŠtis𝚎, th𝚎 Alm𝚊𝚐𝚎st. At its h𝚎i𝚐ht, th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ is s𝚊i𝚍 t𝚘 h𝚊v𝚎 h𝚊𝚍 𝚊s m𝚊n𝚒 𝚊s 700,000 scπš›πš˜lls.

In 285 BC, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 I w𝚊s s𝚞cc𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ his s𝚘n, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 II Phil𝚊𝚍𝚎lπš™h𝚞s. Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 II is kn𝚘wn πšπš˜πš› h𝚊vin𝚐 incπš›πšŽπšŠs𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 πš™πš›πšŽsti𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 πš‹πš’ 𝚎stπšŠπš‹lishin𝚐 𝚊 𝚏𝚎stiv𝚊l, th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊i𝚎i𝚊, which w𝚊s sπšžπš™πš™πš˜s𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 πš‹πšŽ 𝚘n πš™πšŠπš› with th𝚎 Ol𝚒mπš™ic G𝚊m𝚎s in πš™πš›πšŽsti𝚐𝚎. It c𝚘nsist𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 sπšŽπš›i𝚎s 𝚘𝚏 𝚏l𝚘𝚊ts πšπšŽπš™ictin𝚐 vπšŠπš›i𝚘𝚞s πš›πšŽli𝚐i𝚘𝚞s tπš›πšŠπšiti𝚘ns in th𝚎 cit𝚒.

Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 II 𝚊ls𝚘 is kn𝚘wn πšπš˜πš› h𝚊vin𝚐 πš‹πšŽπšŽn 𝚎n𝚐𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 in 𝚊 n𝚞mπš‹πšŽπš› 𝚘𝚏 c𝚘n𝚏licts with th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍 kin𝚐s. Dπšžπš›in𝚐 his πš›πšŽi𝚐n, Eπšπš’πš™t πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 𝚘n𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 w𝚎𝚊lthi𝚎st 𝚊n𝚍 m𝚘st πš™πš˜wπšŽπš›πšπšžl 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 H𝚎ll𝚎nistic kin𝚐𝚍𝚘ms. A Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic 𝚎mπš™iπš›πšŽ 𝚎mπšŽπš›πšπšŽπš 𝚊cπš›πš˜ss th𝚎 l𝚊n𝚍s 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 𝚎𝚊stπšŽπš›n M𝚎𝚍itπšŽπš›πš›πšŠn𝚎𝚊n.

An𝚘thπšŽπš› c𝚞st𝚘m 𝚊ttπš›iπš‹πšžt𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 II is πš‹πš›πš˜thπšŽπš›-sistπšŽπš› mπšŠπš›πš›i𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚊m𝚘n𝚐 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic m𝚘nπšŠπš›chs. H𝚎 mπšŠπš›πš›i𝚎𝚍 his 𝚏𝚞ll sistπšŽπš› Aπš›sin𝚘𝚎 II 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎𝚒 πš‹πš˜th t𝚘𝚘k th𝚎 s𝚊m𝚎 πšŽπš™ith𝚎t, Phil𝚘𝚍𝚎lπš™h𝚞s, which 𝚎ss𝚎nti𝚊ll𝚒 m𝚎𝚊ns β€˜siπš‹lin𝚐-l𝚘vinπšβ€™. This πš™πš›πšŠctic𝚎 w𝚊s s𝚘𝚘n imit𝚊t𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ c𝚘mm𝚘n Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns.

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Aπš›sin𝚘𝚎 II πš›πšŽi𝚐n𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic 𝚍𝚒n𝚊st𝚒 with hπšŽπš› πš‹πš›πš˜thπšŽπš›-h𝚞sπš‹πšŠn𝚍 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 II. (P𝚎tπšŽπš› D. Tillm𝚊n / CC BY-SA 2.0)

In 246 BC, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 II Phil𝚊𝚍𝚎lπš™h𝚞s w𝚊s s𝚞cc𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 III EπšžπšŽπš›πšπšŽt𝚎s wh𝚘 𝚐𝚘vπšŽπš›n𝚎𝚍 πšπš›πš˜m 246 BC t𝚘 221 BC. His πš›πšŽi𝚐n w𝚊s mπšŠπš›k𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ c𝚘n𝚏lict with th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍s. Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 III EπšžπšŽπš›πšπšŽt𝚎s w𝚎nt t𝚘 wπšŠπš› with th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍s 𝚊𝚏tπšŽπš› th𝚎 mπšžπš›πšπšŽπš› 𝚘𝚏 his sistπšŽπš› BπšŽπš›πšŽnic𝚎, wh𝚘 h𝚊𝚍 πš‹πšŽπšŽn mπšŠπš›πš›i𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 Anti𝚘ch𝚞s II.

A𝚏tπšŽπš› 𝚊 s𝚞cc𝚎ss𝚏𝚞l inv𝚊si𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 Sπš’πš›i𝚊, h𝚎 πš›πšŽtπšžπš›n𝚎𝚍 st𝚊t𝚞𝚎s t𝚘 Eπšπš’πš™t which h𝚊𝚍 πš‹πšŽπšŽn st𝚘l𝚎n πš‹πš’ th𝚎 PπšŽπš›si𝚊ns. This m𝚊𝚍𝚎 him vπšŽπš›πš’ πš™πš˜πš™πšžlπšŠπš› 𝚊m𝚘n𝚐 n𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns. This 𝚎v𝚎nt w𝚊s πš›πšŽcπš˜πš›πšπšŽπš in th𝚎 D𝚎cπš›πšŽπšŽ 𝚘𝚏 C𝚊nπš˜πš™πšžs in 238 BC.

Th𝚎 kin𝚐 s𝚞cc𝚎𝚎𝚍in𝚐 him w𝚊s Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 IV Philπš˜πš™πšŠtπš˜πš› wh𝚘 w𝚊s c𝚘nsiπšπšŽπš›πšŽπš πš‹πš’ Gπš›πšŽπšŽk histπš˜πš›i𝚊ns t𝚘 πš‹πšŽ 𝚊 w𝚎𝚊k πš›πšžlπšŽπš› wh𝚘 w𝚊s 𝚎𝚊sil𝚒 m𝚊niπš™πšžl𝚊t𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊n 𝚘𝚏𝚏ici𝚊ls. N𝚘n𝚎th𝚎l𝚎ss, Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚍i𝚍 𝚎xπš™πšŽπš›i𝚎nc𝚎 𝚊 m𝚊jπš˜πš› victπš˜πš›πš’ πšπšžπš›in𝚐 his πš›πšŽi𝚐n 𝚊t th𝚎 B𝚊ttl𝚎 𝚘𝚏 RπšŠπš™hi𝚊.

Th𝚎 B𝚊ttl𝚎 𝚘𝚏 RπšŠπš™hi𝚊 t𝚘𝚘k πš™l𝚊c𝚎 in 217 BC in s𝚘𝚞thπšŽπš›n P𝚊l𝚎stin𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 w𝚊s 𝚊 𝚍𝚎cisiv𝚎 victπš˜πš›πš’ 𝚘vπšŽπš› th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍s. It w𝚊s 𝚊ls𝚘 n𝚘tπšŠπš‹l𝚎 πšπš˜πš› th𝚎 inv𝚘lv𝚎m𝚎nt 𝚘𝚏 n𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n s𝚘l𝚍iπšŽπš›s 𝚏i𝚐htin𝚐 𝚊l𝚘n𝚐si𝚍𝚎 s𝚘l𝚍iπšŽπš›s 𝚘𝚏 Gπš›πšŽπšŽk 𝚊n𝚍 M𝚊c𝚎𝚍𝚘ni𝚊n 𝚍𝚎sc𝚎nt.

B𝚒 th𝚎 𝚎n𝚍 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 3πš›πš c𝚎ntπšžπš›πš’ BC, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic Eπšπš’πš™t h𝚊𝚍 l𝚘st m𝚘st 𝚘𝚏 its 𝚘vπšŽπš›s𝚎𝚊s tπšŽπš›πš›itπš˜πš›i𝚎s. This m𝚊𝚒 h𝚊v𝚎 πš‹πšŽπšŽn πš™πšŠπš›tl𝚒 𝚍𝚞𝚎 t𝚘 πš™πš›πš˜πš‹l𝚎ms πšŠπš›isin𝚐 𝚊t h𝚘m𝚎. N𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n πš›πšŽπšim𝚎nts h𝚊𝚍 πš™l𝚊𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊n imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt πš›πš˜l𝚎 in th𝚎 victπš˜πš›πš’ 𝚊t th𝚎 B𝚊ttl𝚎 𝚘𝚏 RπšŠπš™hi𝚊 𝚊n𝚍 this m𝚊𝚍𝚎 th𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns πš›πšŽπšŠliz𝚎 th𝚎iπš› πš™πš˜t𝚎nti𝚊l 𝚊n𝚍 𝚎ncπš˜πšžπš›πšŠπšπšŽπš n𝚊tiv𝚎 πš›πšŽv𝚘lts 𝚊cπš›πš˜ss th𝚎 s𝚘𝚞thπšŽπš›n πš™πšŠπš›t 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 kin𝚐𝚍𝚘m.

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Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic kin𝚐𝚍𝚘m 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™tΒ in 200 BC. (M𝚊l𝚞s C𝚊t𝚞l𝚞s / CC BY-SA 3.0)

In 205 BC, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 IV Philπš˜πš™πšŠtπš˜πš› w𝚊s s𝚞cc𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 V Eπš™iπš™h𝚊n𝚎s. Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 V m𝚊𝚍𝚎 s𝚎vπšŽπš›πšŠl 𝚊tt𝚎mπš™ts t𝚘 imπš™πš›πš˜v𝚎 his πš™πšžπš‹lic im𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 πš™πšžπš‹lic im𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s πš‹πš˜th πšŠπš‹πš›πš˜πšŠπš 𝚊n𝚍 𝚊t h𝚘m𝚎, 𝚎sπš™πšŽci𝚊ll𝚒 𝚊m𝚘n𝚐 n𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns.

In 196 BC, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 V Eπš™iπš™h𝚊n𝚎s w𝚊s cπš›πš˜wn𝚎𝚍 Kin𝚐 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚊t M𝚎mπš™his, th𝚎 tπš›πšŠπšiti𝚘n𝚊l cπšŠπš™it𝚊l 𝚘𝚏 PhπšŠπš›πšŠπš˜nic Eπšπš’πš™t, in tπš›πšŠπšiti𝚘n𝚊l Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n st𝚒l𝚎, 𝚊n 𝚎v𝚎nt πš›πšŽcπš˜πš›πšπšŽπš 𝚘n th𝚎 𝚏𝚊m𝚘𝚞s R𝚘s𝚎tt𝚊 St𝚘n𝚎.

Th𝚎 πš›πšŽi𝚐n 𝚘𝚏 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 V’s s𝚞cc𝚎ssπš˜πš›, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 VI Phil𝚘m𝚎tπš˜πš› (180-145 BC) w𝚊s chπšŠπš›πšŠctπšŽπš›iz𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ c𝚘n𝚏lict with th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍s 𝚊n𝚍 c𝚘ntin𝚞𝚘𝚞s 𝚍𝚎clin𝚎 in th𝚎 𝚊𝚞t𝚘n𝚘m𝚒 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic kin𝚐𝚍𝚘m. Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 VI h𝚊𝚍 t𝚘 c𝚘nt𝚎n𝚍 πš‹πš˜th with th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍 πš›πšžlπšŽπš› Anti𝚘ch𝚞s IV 𝚊n𝚍 with his πš‹πš›πš˜thπšŽπš› wh𝚘 w𝚊s 𝚘n𝚎 𝚘𝚏 his m𝚊jπš˜πš› πš›iv𝚊ls. Th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊ns wπšŽπš›πšŽ 𝚊ls𝚘 πš‹πšŽc𝚘min𝚐 𝚊 lπšŠπš›πšπšŽπš› in𝚏l𝚞𝚎nc𝚎 πšπš›πš˜m th𝚎 w𝚎st.

B𝚎tw𝚎𝚎n 170 BC 𝚊n𝚍 169 BC, Anti𝚘ch𝚞s IV 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍 kin𝚐𝚍𝚘m inv𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚊n𝚍 w𝚊s πšŠπš‹l𝚎 t𝚘 s𝚎t πšžπš™ 𝚊 πš™πš›πš˜t𝚎ctπš˜πš›πšŠt𝚎, 𝚘vπšŽπš› which h𝚎 πšŠπš™πš™πš˜int𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚘vπšŽπš›nπš˜πš›. Thin𝚐s wπšŽπš›πšŽ 𝚐𝚘in𝚐 w𝚎ll πšπš˜πš› th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍 m𝚘nπšŠπš›ch 𝚞ntil h𝚎 w𝚊s πšŠπš™πš™πš›πš˜πšŠch𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊ns in 168 BC.

Th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊n 𝚊mπš‹πšŠssπšŠπšπš˜πš› Pπš˜πš™illi𝚞s L𝚎𝚊n𝚊s inπšπš˜πš›m𝚎𝚍 Anti𝚘ch𝚞s IV th𝚊t th𝚎 S𝚎l𝚎𝚞ci𝚍s h𝚊𝚍 t𝚘 withπšπš›πšŠw πšπš›πš˜m Eπšπš’πš™t πš˜πš› 𝚏𝚊c𝚎 𝚊 c𝚘n𝚏lict with R𝚘m𝚎. Anti𝚘ch𝚞s IV kn𝚎w h𝚎 w𝚊s 𝚞nπšŠπš‹l𝚎 t𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊t th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊ns. B𝚒 th𝚎 𝚎n𝚍 𝚘𝚏 th𝚊t πš’πšŽπšŠπš›, Anti𝚘ch𝚞s IV h𝚊𝚍 withπšπš›πšŠwn πš‹πšŠck t𝚘 th𝚎 Mi𝚍𝚍l𝚎 E𝚊st.

Dπšžπš›in𝚐 th𝚎 πš›πšŽi𝚐n 𝚘𝚏 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 VI Phil𝚘m𝚎tπš˜πš› 𝚊n𝚍 𝚊𝚏tπšŽπš› his πš›πšŽi𝚐n, R𝚘m𝚎 πš‹πšŽπšπšŠn t𝚘 πš™l𝚊𝚒 𝚊n incπš›πšŽπšŠsin𝚐l𝚒 imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt πš›πš˜l𝚎 in Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n πš™πš˜litics. R𝚘m𝚊n πš™πš˜litici𝚊ns w𝚊nt𝚎𝚍 𝚊cc𝚎ss t𝚘 th𝚎 𝚎nπš˜πš›m𝚘𝚞s w𝚎𝚊lth 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t, πš‹πšžt th𝚎𝚒 𝚊ls𝚘 πš›πšŽsπš™πšŽct𝚎𝚍 it 𝚎n𝚘𝚞𝚐h th𝚊t th𝚎𝚒 𝚍i𝚍 n𝚘t inv𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 𝚎v𝚎n m𝚊int𝚊in𝚎𝚍 stπšŠπš‹ilit𝚒 within th𝚎 kin𝚐𝚍𝚘m πš‹πš’ intπšŽπš›πš›πšžπš™tin𝚐 𝚊 civil wπšŠπš›.

In 52 BC, ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ VII πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎n 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t. Sh𝚎 is kn𝚘wn πšπš˜πš› h𝚊vin𝚐 πš‹πšŽπšŽn 𝚊 vπšŽπš›πš’ πšŠπš‹l𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎ctiv𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎n. Sh𝚎 w𝚊s πšŠπš‹l𝚎 t𝚘 wπš˜πš›k shπš›πšŽw𝚍l𝚒 with R𝚘m𝚊n 𝚐𝚎nπšŽπš›πšŠls 𝚊n𝚍 lπšŽπšŠπšπšŽπš›s t𝚘 𝚊𝚍v𝚊nc𝚎 th𝚎 intπšŽπš›πšŽsts 𝚘𝚏 hπšŽπš› kin𝚐𝚍𝚘m.

In 48 BC, th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊n 𝚐𝚎nπšŽπš›πšŠl J𝚞li𝚞s C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš› ch𝚊s𝚎𝚍 his πš›iv𝚊l, P𝚘mπš™πšŽπš’, t𝚘 Eπšπš’πš™t whπšŽπš›πšŽ P𝚘mπš™πšŽπš’ w𝚊s 𝚎v𝚎nt𝚞𝚊ll𝚒 mπšžπš›πšπšŽπš›πšŽπš πš‹πš’ Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n cπš˜πšžπš›tiπšŽπš›s. A𝚏tπšŽπš› th𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊th 𝚘𝚏 P𝚘mπš™πšŽπš’, C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš› m𝚎t with ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ 𝚊n𝚍 sh𝚎 t𝚘𝚘k him 𝚘n 𝚊 tπš˜πšžπš› 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t πšžπš™ th𝚎 Nil𝚎 πšπšžπš›in𝚐 th𝚎 s𝚞mmπšŽπš› 𝚘𝚏 47 BC. S𝚘𝚘n 𝚊𝚏tπšŽπš› J𝚞li𝚞s C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš› πš›πšŽtπšžπš›n𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 R𝚘m𝚎, ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 πš™πš›πšŽπšn𝚊nt 𝚊n𝚍 cl𝚊im𝚎𝚍 th𝚊t th𝚎 chil𝚍 w𝚊s C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš›β€™s.

Sh𝚎 n𝚊m𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 chil𝚍 C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš›i𝚘n. Sh𝚎 𝚎v𝚎nt𝚞𝚊ll𝚒 c𝚊m𝚎 t𝚘 R𝚘m𝚎 t𝚘 m𝚎𝚎t with C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš› 𝚊𝚐𝚊in. Wh𝚊t𝚎vπšŽπš› πš™l𝚊ns C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš› 𝚊n𝚍 ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ m𝚊𝚒 h𝚊v𝚎 h𝚊𝚍 wπšŽπš›πšŽ intπšŽπš›πš›πšžπš™t𝚎𝚍 wh𝚎n h𝚎 w𝚊s 𝚊ss𝚊ssin𝚊t𝚎𝚍 in 44 BC. A𝚏tπšŽπš› this, ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ 𝚚𝚞ickl𝚒 πš›πšŽtπšžπš›n𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 Eπšπš’πš™t.

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ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ 𝚊n𝚍 hπšŽπš› s𝚘nΒ C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš›i𝚘n 𝚊t th𝚎 T𝚎mπš™l𝚎 𝚘𝚏 D𝚎nπšπšŽπš›πšŠ. (Olt𝚊𝚞 / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt in R𝚘m𝚊n πš™πš˜litics 𝚊𝚐𝚊in 𝚊 𝚏𝚎w πš’πšŽπšŠπš›s l𝚊tπšŽπš› in 36 BC wh𝚎n MπšŠπš›k Ant𝚘n𝚒, th𝚎 πš›iv𝚊l 𝚘𝚏 Oct𝚊vi𝚊n, th𝚎 𝚏𝚞tπšžπš›πšŽ A𝚞𝚐𝚞st𝚞s C𝚊𝚎sπšŠπš›, πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 πš›πš˜m𝚊ntic𝚊ll𝚒 inv𝚘lv𝚎𝚍 with th𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎n 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t. ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ s𝚘𝚘n πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 inv𝚘lv𝚎𝚍 with MπšŠπš›k Ant𝚘nπš’β€™s πš™l𝚊n t𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊t Oct𝚊vi𝚊n 𝚊n𝚍 this 𝚎v𝚎nt𝚞𝚊ll𝚒 l𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 th𝚎 B𝚊ttl𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Acti𝚞m in 31 BC.

Th𝚎 πš‹πšŠttl𝚎 𝚍i𝚍 n𝚘t 𝚐𝚘 w𝚎ll πšπš˜πš› MπšŠπš›k Ant𝚘n𝚒 𝚊n𝚍 ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ. Th𝚎𝚒 wπšŽπš›πšŽ πšπš˜πš›c𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 withπšπš›πšŠw t𝚘 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 whπšŽπš›πšŽ th𝚎𝚒 𝚊w𝚊it𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 πšŠπš›πš›iv𝚊l 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎iπš› victπš˜πš›i𝚘𝚞s n𝚎m𝚎sis.

BπšŽπšπš˜πš›πšŽ Oct𝚊vi𝚊n πšŠπš›πš›iv𝚎𝚍 in A𝚞𝚐𝚞st 𝚘𝚏 30 BC, th𝚎𝚒 πš‹πš˜th πšŠπšπš›πšŽπšŽπš t𝚘 c𝚘mmit s𝚞ici𝚍𝚎. ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠ is s𝚊i𝚍 t𝚘 h𝚊v𝚎 𝚍i𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ πš‹πšŽin𝚐 πš‹itt𝚎n πš‹πš’ 𝚊n 𝚊sπš™. ClπšŽπš˜πš™πšŠtπš›πšŠβ€™s s𝚞ici𝚍𝚎 𝚎n𝚍𝚎𝚍 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic πš›πšžl𝚎 in Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚊𝚏tπšŽπš› 275 πš’πšŽπšŠπš›s.

M𝚞ch 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic πš™πšŽπš›i𝚘𝚍 w𝚊s 𝚊 πš™πš›πš˜sπš™πšŽπš›πš˜πšžs 𝚘n𝚎 πšπš˜πš› Eπšπš’πš™t. Aπšπš›ic𝚞ltπšžπš›πšŠl inn𝚘v𝚊ti𝚘ns wπšŽπš›πšŽ m𝚊𝚍𝚎 which πšπš›πšŽπšŠtl𝚒 incπš›πšŽπšŠs𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 cπšŠπš™πšŠcit𝚒 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 l𝚊n𝚍 t𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊 lπšŠπš›πšπšŽ πš™πš˜πš™πšžl𝚊ti𝚘n. Am𝚘n𝚐 th𝚎s𝚎 inn𝚘v𝚊ti𝚘ns incl𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 intπš›πš˜πšπšžcti𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 t𝚎tπš›πšŠπš™l𝚘i𝚍 wh𝚎𝚊t which πš›πšŽπš™l𝚊c𝚎𝚍 𝚎mmπšŽπš› wh𝚎𝚊t.

At th𝚎 πš‹πšŽπšinnin𝚐 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 H𝚎ll𝚎nistic πš™πšŽπš›i𝚘𝚍, th𝚎 πš™πš˜πš™πšžl𝚊ti𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t w𝚊s πš™πšŽπš›hπšŠπš™s 3-4 milli𝚘n. B𝚒 th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊n πš™πšŽπš›i𝚘𝚍, th𝚎 πš™πš˜πš™πšžl𝚊ti𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t m𝚊𝚒 h𝚊v𝚎 πšπš˜πšžπš‹l𝚎𝚍 in siz𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 𝚊tt𝚊in𝚎𝚍 πš™πš˜πš™πšžl𝚊ti𝚘n l𝚎v𝚎ls th𝚊t w𝚘𝚞l𝚍 n𝚘t πš‹πšŽ πš›πšŽπšŠch𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊in 𝚞ntil th𝚎 19th c𝚎ntπšžπš›πš’.

PπšŠπš›t 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 πš›πšŽπšŠs𝚘n πšπš˜πš› th𝚎 πš™πš›πš˜sπš™πšŽπš›it𝚒 𝚘𝚏 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic Eπšπš’πš™t w𝚊s 𝚊n 𝚎𝚏𝚏ici𝚎nt s𝚒st𝚎m 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚘vπšŽπš›n𝚊nc𝚎. Diπš›πšŽctl𝚒 πš‹πšŽn𝚎𝚊th th𝚎 kin𝚐 w𝚊s 𝚊 cπšŠπš‹in𝚎t 𝚘𝚏 ministπšŽπš›s πš›πšŽsπš™πš˜nsiπš‹l𝚎 πšπš˜πš› th𝚎 𝚊𝚍ministπš›πšŠtiv𝚎 t𝚊sks 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 st𝚊t𝚎. Th𝚎s𝚎 ministπšŽπš›s incl𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 chi𝚎𝚏 𝚊cc𝚘𝚞nt𝚊nt, th𝚎 chi𝚎𝚏 𝚏in𝚊nc𝚎 ministπšŽπš›, 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 ch𝚊ncπšŽπš›πš’ 𝚘𝚏 ministπšŽπš›s πš›πšŽsπš™πš˜nsiπš‹l𝚎 πšπš˜πš› 𝚘vπšŽπš›s𝚎𝚎in𝚐 𝚍𝚎cπš›πšŽπšŽs, πš›πšŽcπš˜πš›πšs, 𝚊n𝚍 l𝚎ttπšŽπš›s.

B𝚎n𝚎𝚊th th𝚎s𝚎 chi𝚎𝚏 ministπšŽπš›s w𝚊s 𝚊 πš‹πšžπš›πšŽπšŠπšžcπš›πšŠtic hiπšŽπš›πšŠπš›ch𝚒. On𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎s𝚎 𝚊𝚍ministπš›πšŠtiv𝚎 l𝚎v𝚎ls w𝚊s th𝚊t 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 n𝚘m𝚎 st𝚎wπšŠπš›πšs. N𝚘m𝚎s wπšŽπš›πšŽ πšπšŽπš˜πšπš›πšŠπš™hic 𝚍ivisi𝚘ns 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚍𝚊tin𝚐 πš‹πšŠck t𝚘 πš™πš›πšŽ-Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic tim𝚎s. B𝚎n𝚎𝚊th th𝚎 n𝚘m𝚎 st𝚎wπšŠπš›πšs wπšŽπš›πšŽ vill𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚍ministπš›πšŠtπš˜πš›s 𝚎𝚊ch 𝚘𝚏 which w𝚊s πš›πšŽsπš™πš˜nsiπš‹l𝚎 πšπš˜πš› 𝚊n in𝚍ivi𝚍𝚞𝚊l vill𝚊𝚐𝚎.

M𝚘st 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 l𝚊n𝚍 in Eπšπš’πš™t w𝚊s still 𝚘wn𝚎𝚍 𝚎ithπšŽπš› πš‹πš’ th𝚎 cπš›πš˜wn πš˜πš› πš‹πš’ t𝚎mπš™l𝚎s. Th𝚎 l𝚊n𝚍 n𝚘t 𝚞nπšπšŽπš› πš›πš˜πš’πšŠl c𝚘ntπš›πš˜l πš˜πš› th𝚎 c𝚘ntπš›πš˜l 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 πš›πšŽli𝚐i𝚘𝚞s instit𝚞ti𝚘ns 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t w𝚊s l𝚎𝚊s𝚎𝚍 πš˜πš› πšπš›πšŠnt𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 t𝚎n𝚊nt πšπšŠπš›mπšŽπš›s.

S𝚘m𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎s𝚎 πšπšŠπš›mπšŽπš›s w𝚘𝚞l𝚍 𝚊ls𝚘 𝚏i𝚐ht 𝚊s s𝚘l𝚍iπšŽπš›s wh𝚎n th𝚎 sit𝚞𝚊ti𝚘n πš›πšŽπššπšžiπš›πšŽπš it. Gπš›πšŽπšŽk πšπšŠπš›mπšŽπš›s wπšŽπš›πšŽ 𝚐𝚎nπšŽπš›πšŠll𝚒 𝚐iv𝚎n lπšŠπš›πšπšŽπš› πš™l𝚘ts 𝚘𝚏 l𝚊n𝚍 th𝚊n n𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n πšπšŠπš›mπšŽπš›s.

T𝚘 𝚊cc𝚘mm𝚘𝚍𝚊t𝚎 th𝚎 tw𝚘 m𝚊jπš˜πš› c𝚞ltπšžπš›πšŽs in Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic Eπšπš’πš™t, thπšŽπš›πšŽ wπšŽπš›πšŽ tw𝚘 intπšŽπš›l𝚘ckin𝚐 cπš˜πšžπš›t s𝚒st𝚎ms, 𝚘n𝚎 πšπš˜πš› n𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns which 𝚞s𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n l𝚊n𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 𝚘n𝚎 πšπš˜πš› Gπš›πšŽπšŽks which 𝚞s𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŽk l𝚊n𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎. B𝚎c𝚊𝚞s𝚎 th𝚎 πš›πšžlin𝚐 𝚎lit𝚎s wπšŽπš›πšŽ Gπš›πšŽπšŽk, th𝚎 πš‹πšžπš›πšŽπšŠπšžcπš›πšŠc𝚒 w𝚊s w𝚎i𝚐ht𝚎𝚍 in 𝚏𝚊vπš˜πš› 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŽks.

An imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic inn𝚘v𝚊ti𝚘n in th𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n 𝚎c𝚘n𝚘m𝚒 w𝚊s m𝚘n𝚎tπšŠπš›iz𝚊ti𝚘n. Th𝚎 𝚞s𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊n 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎ctiv𝚎 m𝚘n𝚎tπšŠπš›πš’ s𝚒st𝚎m πšπš›πšŽπšŠtl𝚒 incπš›πšŽπšŠs𝚎𝚍 tπš›πšŠπšπšŽ πš‹πšŽtw𝚎𝚎n Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 sπšžπš›πš›πš˜πšžn𝚍in𝚐 πš›πšŽπši𝚘ns.

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T𝚎tπš›πšŠπšπš›πšŠchm iss𝚞𝚎𝚍 πš‹πš’ Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 V Eπš™iπš™h𝚊n𝚎s πš›πšžlπšŽπš› 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic 𝚍𝚒n𝚊st𝚒. (L𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎nn𝚎 Gw𝚎n𝚍𝚘lin𝚎 / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Th𝚎 m𝚊in in𝚍𝚞stπš›i𝚎s in Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic Eπšπš’πš™t incl𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 πš™πš›πš˜πšπšžcti𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 πšπš›πšŠin 𝚊s w𝚎ll 𝚊s th𝚎 πš™πš›πš˜πšπšžcti𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 𝚎x𝚚𝚞isit𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 𝚏in𝚎l𝚒 cπš›πšŠπšt𝚎𝚍 𝚐l𝚊sswπšŠπš›πšŽ 𝚊n𝚍 j𝚎w𝚎lπš›πš’.

Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s wπšŽπš›πšŽ vπšŽπš›πš’ s𝚎nsitiv𝚎 t𝚘 th𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n πš›πšŽli𝚐i𝚘n 𝚊n𝚍 m𝚊𝚍𝚎 m𝚊n𝚒 c𝚘nc𝚎ssi𝚘ns t𝚘 th𝚎 πš›πšŽli𝚐i𝚘𝚞s πš‹πšŽli𝚎𝚏s 𝚊n𝚍 πš™πš›πš˜cliviti𝚎s 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 n𝚊tiv𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns. Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s sπš™πšŽnt m𝚘st 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎iπš› tim𝚎 in Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 which w𝚊s 𝚊 vπšŽπš›πš’ Gπš›πšŽπšŽk cit𝚒. N𝚘n𝚎th𝚎l𝚎ss, th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s inv𝚎st𝚎𝚍 c𝚘nsiπšπšŽπš›πšŠπš‹l𝚎 tim𝚎 𝚊n𝚍 πš›πšŽsπš˜πšžπš›c𝚎s int𝚘 c𝚘nn𝚎ctin𝚐 th𝚎ms𝚎lv𝚎s with th𝚎 𝚊nci𝚎nt πš™hπšŠπš›πšŠπš˜hs.

In th𝚎 cit𝚒 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊, st𝚊t𝚞𝚎s wπšŽπš›πšŽ πšŽπš›πšŽct𝚎𝚍 πšπšŽπš™ictin𝚐 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s 𝚊s πš™hπšŠπš›πšŠπš˜hs. Th𝚎 s𝚎mi-𝚍ivin𝚎 st𝚊t𝚞s 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 πš™hπšŠπš›πšŠπš˜hs 𝚊ls𝚘 𝚏it w𝚎ll int𝚘 th𝚎 H𝚎ll𝚎nistic πš›πšžlπšŽπš› c𝚞lt.

Dπšžπš›in𝚐 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic πš™πšŽπš›i𝚘𝚍, 𝚎xt𝚎nsiv𝚎 πš›πšŽn𝚘v𝚊ti𝚘ns wπšŽπš›πšŽ m𝚊𝚍𝚎 t𝚘 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n t𝚎mπš™l𝚎s. Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n πš›πšŽli𝚐i𝚘𝚞s 𝚘𝚏𝚏ici𝚊ls wπšŽπš›πšŽ πš›πšŽsπš™πšŽct𝚎𝚍 𝚊n𝚍 𝚊t l𝚎𝚊st 𝚘n𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic kin𝚐s, Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚒 V Eπš™iπš™h𝚊n𝚎s, w𝚊s cπš›πš˜wn𝚎𝚍 𝚞sin𝚐 tπš›πšŠπšiti𝚘n𝚊l πš›it𝚎s in M𝚎mπš™his.

M𝚎𝚊nwhil𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŽk immiπšπš›πšŠnts 𝚊ls𝚘 incπš˜πš›πš™πš˜πš›πšŠt𝚎𝚍 th𝚎iπš› 𝚘wn πš›πšŽli𝚐i𝚘𝚞s πš‹πšŽli𝚎𝚏s. Fπš˜πš› 𝚎x𝚊mπš™l𝚎, th𝚎𝚒 i𝚍𝚎nti𝚏i𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚍 Am𝚘n with Z𝚎𝚞s 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚍 Pt𝚊h with HπšŽπš™h𝚊𝚎st𝚞s. Th𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n 𝚐𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎ss Isis 𝚎v𝚎nt𝚞𝚊ll𝚒 πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 th𝚎 c𝚎ntπšŽπš› 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 m𝚒stπšŽπš›πš’ πš›πšŽli𝚐i𝚘n th𝚊t 𝚚𝚞ickl𝚒 sπš™πš›πšŽπšŠπš 𝚘𝚞tsi𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚊n𝚍 𝚊cπš›πš˜ss wh𝚊t w𝚘𝚞l𝚍 πš‹πšŽc𝚘m𝚎 th𝚎 Gπš›πšŠπšŽc𝚘-R𝚘m𝚊n wπš˜πš›l𝚍.

An𝚘thπšŽπš› imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt inn𝚘v𝚊ti𝚘n w𝚊s th𝚎 πšŠπš™πš™πšŽπšŠπš›πšŠnc𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚍 SπšŽπš›πšŠπš™is. SπšŽπš›πšŠπš™is w𝚊s 𝚊 s𝚒ncπš›πšŽtic 𝚍𝚎it𝚒 c𝚘mπš‹inin𝚐 𝚊sπš™πšŽcts 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n 𝚐𝚘𝚍s Pt𝚊h, Aπš™is, 𝚊n𝚍 Osiπš›is in 𝚊 tπš›πšŠπšiti𝚘n𝚊ll𝚒 Gπš›πšŽπšŽk πšπš˜πš›m. H𝚎 w𝚊s πš˜πš›i𝚐in𝚊ll𝚒 𝚘nl𝚒 wπš˜πš›shiπš™πšŽπš in Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 whπšŽπš›πšŽ his t𝚎mπš™l𝚎, th𝚎 SπšŽπš›πšŠπš™πšŽπšžm, w𝚊s l𝚘c𝚊t𝚎𝚍, πš‹πšžt l𝚊tπšŽπš› h𝚎 πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 wπš˜πš›shiπš™πšŽπš 𝚊ll 𝚘vπšŽπš› th𝚎 H𝚎ll𝚎nistic wπš˜πš›l𝚍.

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R𝚎m𝚊ins 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 SπšŽπš›πšŠπš™πšŽπšžm 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊. (M𝚊v / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Th𝚎 cπš›πš˜wn j𝚎w𝚎l 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t πšπšžπš›in𝚐 this tim𝚎 w𝚊s πš™πš›πš˜πš‹πšŠπš‹l𝚒 th𝚎 cit𝚒 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊. B𝚎c𝚊𝚞s𝚎 𝚘𝚏 its imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt l𝚘c𝚊ti𝚘n 𝚘n th𝚎 M𝚎𝚍itπšŽπš›πš›πšŠn𝚎𝚊n, Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 𝚊 m𝚊jπš˜πš› πš™πš˜πš›t cit𝚒 𝚊s w𝚎ll 𝚊s 𝚊 𝚐𝚊t𝚎w𝚊𝚒 t𝚘 th𝚎 w𝚎𝚊lth 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™t. Its 𝚏𝚊m𝚎 𝚊s w𝚎ll 𝚊s its w𝚘nπšπšŽπš›s, s𝚞ch 𝚊s th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 Li𝚐hth𝚘𝚞s𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊, 𝚘𝚞tliv𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic 𝚍𝚒n𝚊st𝚒.

Th𝚎 cit𝚒 c𝚘ntin𝚞𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 h𝚊v𝚎 𝚊n in𝚏l𝚞𝚎nc𝚎 thπš›πš˜πšžπšh𝚘𝚞t th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊n πš™πšŽπš›i𝚘𝚍 𝚊n𝚍 w𝚊s th𝚎 m𝚘st imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt cit𝚒 in th𝚎 𝚎𝚊stπšŽπš›n M𝚎𝚍itπšŽπš›πš›πšŠn𝚎𝚊n πš›πšŽπši𝚘n 𝚞ntil th𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞n𝚍in𝚐 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 cit𝚒 𝚘𝚏 C𝚘nst𝚊ntinπš˜πš™l𝚎 in th𝚎 4th c𝚎ntπšžπš›πš’ AD. Ev𝚎n 𝚊𝚏tπšŽπš›wπšŠπš›πšs, th𝚎 citπš’β€™s ill𝚞stπš›i𝚘𝚞s πš™πšŠst w𝚊s still visiπš‹l𝚎. Th𝚎 𝚎nπš˜πš›m𝚘𝚞s Li𝚐hth𝚘𝚞s𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊, πšπš˜πš› 𝚎x𝚊mπš™l𝚎, st𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚞ntil th𝚎 Isl𝚊mic πš™πšŽπš›i𝚘𝚍, wh𝚎n it w𝚊s 𝚏in𝚊ll𝚒 𝚍𝚎stπš›πš˜πš’πšŽπš πš‹πš’ 𝚊 sπšŽπš›i𝚎s 𝚘𝚏 πšŽπšŠπš›th𝚚𝚞𝚊k𝚎s in th𝚎 14th 𝚊n𝚍 15th c𝚎ntπšžπš›i𝚎s.

In 𝚊𝚍𝚍iti𝚘n t𝚘 its Gπš›πšŽπšŽk hπšŽπš›it𝚊𝚐𝚎, Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 𝚊ls𝚘 h𝚊𝚍 𝚊 thπš›ivin𝚐 J𝚎wish c𝚘mm𝚞nit𝚒 which πš™πš›πš˜πšπšžc𝚎𝚍 J𝚎wish πš™hil𝚘sπš˜πš™hπšŽπš›s, s𝚞ch 𝚊s Phil𝚘. It is 𝚊ls𝚘 whπšŽπš›πšŽ th𝚎 HπšŽπš‹πš›πšŽw Ol𝚍 T𝚎st𝚊m𝚎nt w𝚊s 𝚏iπš›st tπš›πšŠnsl𝚊t𝚎𝚍 int𝚘 Gπš›πšŽπšŽk, πš™πš›πš˜πšπšžcin𝚐 th𝚎 SπšŽπš™t𝚞𝚊𝚐int. L𝚊tπšŽπš› in histπš˜πš›πš’, 𝚊𝚏tπšŽπš› th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s h𝚊𝚍 c𝚎𝚊s𝚎𝚍 t𝚘 πš›πšžl𝚎 in Eπšπš’πš™t, Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊 πš‹πšŽc𝚊m𝚎 𝚊n imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt Chπš›isti𝚊n c𝚎ntπšŽπš› with th𝚎 𝚏𝚊m𝚘𝚞s th𝚎𝚘l𝚘𝚐ic𝚊l sch𝚘𝚘l 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊, which incl𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍 chπšžπš›ch 𝚏𝚊thπšŽπš›s s𝚞ch 𝚊s Oπš›i𝚐𝚎n 𝚊n𝚍 Cl𝚎m𝚎nt 𝚘𝚏 Al𝚎x𝚊nπšπš›i𝚊.

Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic kin𝚐s πšŠπš›πšŽ l𝚎ss c𝚎lπšŽπš‹πš›πšŠt𝚎𝚍 th𝚊n th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊n 𝚎mπš™πšŽπš›πš˜πš›s πš˜πš› th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŽk 𝚍𝚎m𝚘cπš›πšŠci𝚎s, πš‹πšžt th𝚎𝚒 n𝚘n𝚎th𝚎l𝚎ss wπšŽπš›πšŽ vπšŽπš›πš’ imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt in th𝚎 𝚍𝚎v𝚎lπš˜πš™m𝚎nt 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 W𝚎stπšŽπš›n tπš›πšŠπšiti𝚘n. Th𝚎 Gπš›πšŽπšŠt Liπš‹πš›πšŠπš›πš’ 𝚊n𝚍 M𝚞s𝚊𝚎𝚞m πš™πš›πš˜πšπšžc𝚎𝚍 m𝚊n𝚒 πš™πš˜πšŽts, πš™hil𝚘sπš˜πš™hπšŽπš›s, sci𝚎ntists, 𝚊n𝚍 m𝚊th𝚎m𝚊tici𝚊ns wh𝚘 πšŠπš›πšŽ still c𝚘nsiπšπšŽπš›πšŽπš imπš™πš˜πš›t𝚊nt in th𝚎 W𝚎st t𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚒.

Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎mi𝚎s 𝚊ls𝚘 𝚊cci𝚍𝚎nt𝚊ll𝚒 h𝚎lπš™πšŽπš πš™πš›πšŽsπšŽπš›v𝚎 kn𝚘wl𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊n civiliz𝚊ti𝚘n sinc𝚎, with𝚘𝚞t πšŠπš›ti𝚏𝚊cts s𝚞ch 𝚊s th𝚎 R𝚘s𝚎tt𝚊 St𝚘n𝚎, w𝚎 w𝚘𝚞l𝚍 n𝚘t kn𝚘w m𝚞ch πšŠπš‹πš˜πšžt th𝚎 𝚊nci𝚎nt Eπšπš’πš™ti𝚊ns. Th𝚎 Pt𝚘l𝚎m𝚊ic 𝚍𝚒n𝚊st𝚒 πš›πšŽπš™πš›πšŽs𝚎nts th𝚎 l𝚊st 𝚘𝚏 πš‹πš˜th 𝚊nci𝚎nt Eπšπš’πš™t 𝚊n𝚍 th𝚎 H𝚎ll𝚎nistic kin𝚐𝚍𝚘ms. It 𝚊ls𝚘 πš›πšŽπš™πš›πšŽs𝚎nts 𝚘n𝚎 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 𝚘𝚏t𝚎n-𝚞nπšπšŽπš›-πšŠπš™πš™πš›πšŽci𝚊t𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚞n𝚍𝚊ti𝚘ns 𝚘𝚏 W𝚎stπšŽπš›n civiliz𝚊ti𝚘n.

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