Ptolemy III Euergetes

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Ptolemy III Euergetes
Ptolemy IV
Royal titulary
Horus name
ḥkn-nṯrw-rmṯ-ḥr.f
Khekenetjeruremetj-heref
The one over whom gods and people have rejoiced
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Second Horus name:
ḥkn-nṯrw-rmṯ-ḥr.f m-šsp.f-nsyt-m-Ꜥ-jt.f
Hekenetjeruremetj-heref emshesepefnesytemaitef
The one over whom gods and people have rejoiced
when he has received the kingship from his father's hand

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t		 iiG20t
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G5
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p		 D40
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G5
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M		 O42Z9
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Nebty name
ḳn nḏtj-nṯrw jnb-mnḫ-n-tꜢmrj
Qen nedjtinetjeru inebmenekhentamery
The brave one who has protected the gods, a potent wall for The Beloved Land
G16
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O49 O5
Golden Horus
wr-pḥtj jrj-Ꜣḫt nb-ḥꜢbw-sd-mi-ptḥ-tꜢ-ṯnn jty-mi-rꜤ
Werpehty iryakhut nebkhabusedmiptah-tatenen itymire
Whose might is great, doing that which is beneficial,
Lord of the years of Jubilee like Ptah Ta-Tjenen, a ruler like Ra
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Prenomen  (Praenomen)
jwꜤ-n-nṯrwj-snwj stp.n-rꜤ sḫm-Ꜥnḫ-n-jmn
iwa-en-senwy netjerwy, setep-en-ra sekhem-ankh-en-imen[2]
Heir of the Twin Gods, Chosen of Re, Living Image of Amun[2]
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T22 T34 nTrT22T34 nTr F44
n		 C12C2stp
n		 sxmanxS3
Nomen
ptwlmys Ꜥnḫ-ḏt mrj-ptḥ
Petolemys ankhdjet meryptah
Ptolemy, who lives eternally, beloved of Ptah
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Consort
Ptolemy II
MotherArsinoe I
Bornc. 280 BC[1]
Kos or Egypt
DiedNovember/December 222 BC (aged c. 58)[1]
BurialAlexandria
DynastyPtolemaic dynasty

Ptolemy III Euergetes (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης, romanized: Ptolemaios Euergetes, "Ptolemy the Benefactor"; c. 280 – November/December 222 BC) was the third pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its military and economic power during his kingship, as initiated by his father Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

Ptolemy III was the eldest son of

Ptolemy IV
.

Background and early life

Ptolemy III was born some time around 280 BC, as the eldest son of

Thera in the Aegean, rather than in Egypt.[5][1] His tutors included the poet and polymath Apollonius of Rhodes, later head of the Library of Alexandria.[6]

From 267 BC, a figure known as Ptolemy "the Son" was co-regent with Ptolemy II. He led naval forces in the

a son of Arsinoe II by Lysimachus.[7][notes 1] Around the time of the rebellion, Ptolemy II legitimised the children of Arsinoe I by having them posthumously adopted by Arsinoe II.[4]

In the late 250s BC, Ptolemy II arranged the engagement of Ptolemy III to Berenice, the sole child of Ptolemy II's half-brother King Magas of Cyrene.[8] The decision to single Ptolemy III out for this marriage indicates that, by this time, he was the heir presumptive. On his father's death, Ptolemy III succeeded him without issue, taking the throne on 28 January 246 BC.[1]

Reign

Cyrenaica (246 BC)

Berenice II
, the wife and half-cousin of Ptolemy III

Cyrene had been the first Ptolemaic territory outside Egypt, but Magas had rebelled against Ptolemy II and declared himself king of Cyrenaica in 276 BC. The aforementioned engagement of Ptolemy III to Berenice had been intended to lead to the reunification of Egypt and Cyrene after Magas' death. However, when Magas died in 250 BC, 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.[9] A republican government, led by two Cyrenaeans named Ecdelus and Demophanes, controlled Cyrene for four years.[10]

It was only with Ptolemy III's accession in 246 BC, that the wedding of Ptolemy III and Berenice seems to have actually taken place. Ptolemaic authority over Cyrene was forcefully reasserted. Two new port cities were established, named

Ptolemais and Berenice (modern Tolmeita and Benghazi) after the dynastic couple. The cities of Cyrenaica were unified in a League overseen by the king, as a way of balancing the cities' desire for political autonomy against the Ptolemaic desire for control.[11]

Third Syrian War (246–241 BC)

Seleucus II
Main article:
Third Syrian War

In July 246 BC,

Berenice. Antiochus II and Berenice had a son named Antiochus, who was still an infant when his father died. A succession dispute broke out immediately after Antiochus II's death. Ptolemy III quickly invaded Syria in support of his sister and her son, marking the beginning of the Third Syrian War (also known as the Laodicean War).[12][13]

An account of the initial phase of this war, written by Ptolemy III himself, is preserved on the

Asia Minor, while the widowed Queen Berenice was in Antioch. The latter quickly seized control of Cilicia to prevent Laodice I from entering Syria. Meanwhile, Ptolemy III marched along the Levantine coast encountering minimal resistance. The cities of Seleucia and Antioch surrendered to him without a fight in late autumn.[14] At Antioch, Ptolemy III went to the royal palace to plan his next moves with Berenice in person, only to discover that she and her young son had been murdered.[15][13]

Rather than accept defeat in the face of this setback, Ptolemy III continued his campaign through Syria and into Mesopotamia, where he conquered Babylon at the end of 246 or beginning of 245 BC.[16] In light of this success, he may have been crowned 'Great King' of Asia.[17] Early in 245 BC, he established a governor of the land 'on the other side' of the Euphrates, indicating an intention to permanently incorporate the region into the Ptolemaic kingdom.[18][19]

A statue that may represent Ptolemy III in Pharaonic guise

At this point however, Ptolemy III received notice that a revolt had broken out in Egypt and he was forced to return home to suppress it.

Climate proxy studies suggest that this resulted from changes of the monsoon pattern at the time, resulting from a volcanic eruption which took place in 247 BC.[22]

After his return to Egypt and suppression of the revolt, Ptolemy III made an effort to present himself as a victorious king in both Egyptian and Greek cultural contexts. Official propaganda, like OGIS 54, an inscription set up in

Persians.[18][19]

There may also have been a second theatre to this war in the Aegean. The general Ptolemy Andromachou, ostensibly an illegitimate son of Ptolemy II and the half-brother of Ptolemy III,

Macedon, in which the Ptolemaic forces were defeated. It appears that he then led an invasion of Thrace, where Maroneia and Aenus were under Ptolemaic control as of 243 BC. Ptolemy Andromachou was subsequently assassinated at Ephesus by Thracian soldiers under his control.[26][27]

The only further action known from the war is some fighting near Damascus in 242 BC.[28] Shortly after this, in 241 BC, Ptolemy made peace with the Seleucids, retaining all the conquered territory in Asia Minor and northern Syria. Nearly the whole Mediterranean coast from Maroneia in Thrace to the Syrtis in Libya was now under Ptolemaic control. One of the most significant acquisitions was Seleucia Pieria, the port of Antioch, whose loss was a significant economic and logistical set-back for the Seleucids.[29]

Later reign (241–222 BC)

The conclusion of the Third Syrian War marked the end of military intervention in the Seleucid territories, but Ptolemy III continued to offer covert financial assistance to the opponents of Seleucus II. From 241 BC, this included

Pergamum, who took advantage of this civil conflict to expand his territories in northwestern Asia Minor. When the Seleucid general Achaeus was sent in 223 BC to reconquer the territories in Asia Minor that had been lost to Attalus, Ptolemy III sent his son Magas with a military force to aid Attalus, but he was unable to prevent Attalus' defeat.[31]

Greece around the time of the Cleomenean War

Ptolemy III maintained his father's hostile policy to

Achaian League, a federation of Greek city-states in the Peloponnese that were united by their opposition to Macedon. From 243 BC, Ptolemy III was the nominal leader (hegemon) and military commander of the League[32] and supplied them with a yearly payment.[33] After 240 BC, Ptolemy also forged an alliance with the Aetolian League in northwest Greece.[34] From 238 to 234 BC, the two leagues waged the Demetrian War against Macedon with Ptolemaic financial support.[35]

However, in 229 BC, the

Antigonus III. Ptolemy III responded by immediately breaking off relations with the Achaian League and redirecting his financial support to Sparta. Most of the rest of the Greek states were brought under the Macedonian umbrella in 224 BC when Antigonus established the "Hellenic League". However Aetolia and Athens remained hostile to Macedon and redoubled their allegiance to Ptolemy III. In Athens, in 224 BC, extensive honours were granted to Ptolemy III to entrench their alliance with him, including the creation of a new tribe named Ptolemais in his honour and a new deme named Berenicidae in honour of Queen Berenice II.[36] The Athenians instituted a state religious cult in which Ptolemy III and Berenice II were worshipped as gods, including a festival, the Ptolemaia. The centre of the cult was the Ptolemaion,[37] which also served as the gymnasium where young male citizens undertook civic and military training.[38]

Cleomenes III suffered serious defeats in 223 BC and Ptolemy III abandoned his support for him in the next year – probably as a result of an agreement with Antigonus. The Egyptian king seems to have been unwilling to commit actual troops to Greece, particularly as the threat of renewed war with the Seleucids was looming. Cleomenes III was defeated and forced to flee to Alexandria, where Ptolemy III offered him hospitality and promised to help restore him to power.[39] However, these promises were not fulfilled, and the Cleomenian War would in fact be the last time that the Ptolemies intervened in mainland Greece.[37]

In November or December 222 BC, shortly after Cleomenes' arrival in Egypt and Magas' failure in Asia Minor, Ptolemy III died of natural causes.

Ptolemy IV
without incident.

Regime

Pharaonic ideology and Egyptian religion

Temple of Horus at Edfu
, constructed under Ptolemy III

Ptolemy III built on the efforts of his predecessors to conform to the traditional model of the Egyptian

Ptolemy V
in 196 BC.

The Ptolemaic kings before Ptolemy III, his grandfather

golden Horus name, Neb khab-used mi ptah-tatenen (Lord of the Jubilee-festivals as well as Ptah Tatjenen).[41]

class=notpageimage|
Sites of construction work under Ptolemy III

Ptolemy III financed construction projects at temples across Egypt. The most significant of these was the

Ptolemy XII
. Other construction work took place at a range of sites, including (from north to south):

Scholarship and culture

Ptolemy III continued his predecessor's sponsorship of scholarship and literature. The

Apollonius of Perge.[46]

Red Sea trade

Ptolemy III's reign was also marked by trade with other contemporaneous polities. In the 1930s, excavations by Mattingly at a fortress close to

Mamluk Sultanate coins.[47]

Marriage and issue

Ptolemy III married his half-cousin Berenice of Cyrene in 244/243 BC. Their children were:

Name Image Birth Death Notes
Arsinoe III
 246/5 BC 204 BC Married her brother Ptolemy IV in 220 BC.
Ptolemy IV
 May/June 244 BC July/August 204 BC King of Egypt from 222 to 204 BC.
A son July/August 243 BC Perhaps 221 BC Name unknown, possibly 'Lysimachus'. He was probably killed in or before the political purge of 221 BC.[48]
Alexander September/October 242 BC Perhaps 221 BC He was probably killed in or before the political purge of 221 BC.[49]
Magas November/December 241 BC 221 BC Scalded to death in his bath by Theogos or Theodotus, at the orders of Ptolemy IV.[50]
Berenice January/February 239 BC February/March 238 BC Posthumously deified on 7 March 238 BC by the
Canopus Decree, as Berenice Anasse Parthenon (Berenice, mistress of virgins).[51]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ This identification of Ptolemy son of Lysimachus, with Ptolemy the Son who is attested as Ptolemy II's co-regent is argued in detail by Chris Bennett. Other scholars have identified the co-regent as an illegitimate or otherwise unknown son of Ptolemy II.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy III". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b Ronald J. Leprohon, The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary, Society of Biblical Literature (2013), p. 190.
  3. ^ Hölbl 2001, p. 36
  4. ^ a b Bennett, Chris. "Arsinoe II". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  5. ^ IG XII.3 464
  6. ^ Hölbl 2001, p. 63
  7. ^ Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy "the son"". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  8. ^ Justin 26.3.2
  9. ^ Justin 26.3.3–6; Catullus 66.25–28
  10. ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 44–46
  11. ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 46–47
  12. ^ Bevan
  13. ^ a b Hölbl 2001, p. 48
  14. ^ Gurob Papyrus
  15. ^ Justin Epitome of Pompeius Trogus 27.1, Polyaenus Stratagems 8.50
  16. ^ Ptolemy III chronicle; Appian, Syriaca 11.65.
  17. OGIS
    54 (the 'Adulis inscription').
  18. ^ a b Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 11.7–9
  19. ^ a b c Hölbl 2001, p. 49
  20. FGrH
    260 F43
  21. ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 49–50
  22. ^ "Volcanic eruptions linked to social unrest in Ancient Egypt". EurekAlert. 2017.
  23. ^ Pfeiffer, Stefan: Griechische und lateinische Inschriften zum Ptolemäerreich und zur römischen Provinz Aegyptus. Münster: Lit, 2015, p. 56-61.
  24. S2CID 245042574
    .
  25. ^ Ptolemy Andromachou by Chris Bennett
  26. ^ P. Haun 6; Athenaeus Deipnosophistae 13.593a
  27. ^ Hölbl 2001, p. 50
  28. FGrH
    260 F 32.8
  29. ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 50–51
  30. FGrH
    260 F32.8
  31. ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 53–4
  32. ^ Plutarch Life of Aratus 24.4
  33. ^ Plutarch Life of Aratus 41.5
  34. ^ Frontinus Stratagems 2.6.5; P. Haun. 6
  35. ^ Hölbl 2001, p. 51
  36. ^ Pausanias 1.5.5; Stephanus of Byzantium sv. Βερενικίδαι
  37. ^ a b Hölbl 2001, p. 52
  38. ^ Pélékidis, Ch. (1962). Histoire de l'éphébie attique des origines à 31 av. J.-C. pp. 263–64.
  39. ^ Plutarch, Life of Cleomenes 29–32
  40. ^ Polybius 2.71.3; Justin 29.1 claims that Ptolemy III was murdered by his son, but this is probably slander.
  41. ^ Holbl 2001, pp. 80–81
  42. ^ a b c d e f Holbl 2001, pp. 86–87
  43. ISBN 9780500283967
    .
  44. ^ Galen Commentary on the Epidemics 3.17.1.606
  45. ^ El-Abbadi, Mostafa. "Library of Alexandria". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  46. ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 63–65
  47. ISBN 3110071754
    . Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  48. ^ Lysimachus by Chris Bennett
  49. ^ Alexander by Chris Bennett
  50. ^ Magas by Chris Bennett
  51. ^ Berenice by Chris Bennett

Bibliography

External links
Ptolemy III Euergetes
Born: Unknown Died: 222 BC
Preceded by Pharaoh of Egypt
246–222 BC 		Succeeded by