Ptolemies

  • Ptolemy IV Philopater

    It’s high time I continued posting the series about the Ptolemies. I’ve gotten distracted posting about so many other subjects! Ptolemy IV Philopater Excerpted from Olympos in Egypt   Ptolemy IV was born in 245 or 244 BCE. Already as a young man he was being called Philopater, “He who loves his father”. I couldn’t

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  • Ptolemy III Euergetes

    Ptolemy III, who was given the title Euergetes, “Benefactor”, was born in 284 BCE. Euergetes married Berenike II of Cyrene (whom he was not related to). They had six children, including Ptolemy IV Philopater, who succeeded him. He was 30 years old when he became Pharaoh. His Egyptian title, which I’m never going to even

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  • Ptolemy II Philadelphus

      Although Ptolemy II later married his sister Arsinoe in the Egyptian tradition, his first wife is also named Arsinoe (It’s nearly impossible to keep them all separate!). Historians call his first wife Arsinoe I and his sister Arsinoe II in an effort to differentiate them. It was his first wife who bore him his

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  • Who was Ptolemy Soter?

    This was originally published on the Neos Alexandriaqwebsite, but I thought it would be good to re-post it here too, since there is little information about Ptolemy out there.   Who was Ptolemy Soter? by Amanda Artemisia Forrester [Excerpted from the author’s class “Olympos in Egypt: An Introduction to the History of Alexandria, the Ptolemies,

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