|
|
Greco Roman History
--- Ptolemy --- |
| |
| Ptolemy Soter who founded the Ptolemaic
Dynasty that ruled the country for the next 300 years. Ptolemy, who had
been Alexander’s boyhood friend, acted as the satrap of Egypt for
Alexander’s two immediate successors - Philip, his brother, and Alexander
IV, his son. But both were murdered, and Ptolemy ruled as virtual king,
answerable only to Perdiccas, Alexander’s regent. Ptolemy, however, wanted
complete control of the country In order to gain political and religious
advantage, Ptolemy ordered his men to seize Alexander’s body and bury it
in Alexandria. |
| Perdiccas, who wanted to bury Alexander’s
body in Macedonia, was furious and he immediately marched against Ptolemy
but he was defeated. When the turmoil ended, Ptolemy had added Palestine
and Lower Syria to the Egyptian Empire. In order to forge a link with the
old line of pharaohs, he married the daughter of Nectanebo II, and began
the usual pharaonic ritual of building temples, towns, and monuments. The
best known of them was the Pharos, or lighthouse, of Alexandria, which
became one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. |
| |
|
|
<<
Back to
Greco Roman History |
| |
|
