Ptolemy Soter

Hellenistic general and ruler (r. 305-285 b.c.e.)

• Born: 367 or 366 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: The canton of Eordaea, Macedonia (now in Greece)
• Died: 283 or 282 b.c.e.
• Place of death: Alexandria, Egypt

A companion of Alexander the Great during the conquest of the Persian Empire, Ptolemy came to rule Egypt shortly after Alexander died—first as a satrap under Philip III and Alexander IV, and after the extinction of the Argead royal family as a king in his own right. Ptolemy thereby founded the dynasty that ruled Egypt until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 b.c.e.

Early Life

The origins of Ptolemy Soter (TOL-uh-mee SOH-tuhr) are obscure—and were so even in his lifetime, when jokes were made about his grandfather’s lack of distinction. Ptolemy’s father was named Lagus, although in order to enhance his legitimacy among the Macedonians he later ruled in Egypt, rumor maintained that he was an illegitimate son of Philip II of Macedonia (382-336 b.c.e.) and thus that he was the half brother of Alexander the Great (356-323 b.c.e.). Ptolemy’s mother was named Arsinoe, and she may have been distantly related to the Argead house, the royal line of Macedonian kings of which Philip was a member. Ptolemy was born in Eordaea, a region in western Macedonia that was firmly brought within the political orbit of the Argead royal house only during the reign of Philip II.

Ptolemy probably came to live at the Argead court in the 350’s b.c.e. (after Philip’s victory over an Illyrian coalition that threatened Macedonia from the northwest), as Eordaea then fell under direct Argead rule. In order to control the newly incorporated cantons of Upper Macedonia, Philip invited the sons of aristocratic western families to his court at Pella. These youths served as royal pages, responsible for (among other things) the protection of the king’s person. The honor associated with becoming a member of the pages was augmented by the military, political, and cultural educational opportunities available at court. The selection of royal pages, however, served not only to redirect the loyalty of young aristocrats but also to provide the king with hostages in order to secure the good behavior of their families.

Ptolemy is first mentioned in ancient sources with respect to the so-called Pixodarus affair. In 337 b.c.e., as Philip was searching for political connections in Asia as a prelude to his proposed attack on the Persian Empire, he made diplomatic contact with the satrap of Caria, Pixodarus, to whose daughter he betrothed his handicapped son, Philip III Arrhidaeus. At the time of this initiative, Alexander the Great was temporarily alienated from his father as a result of Philip’s last marriage and was in self-imposed exile.

When Alexander learned of Philip’s move, he was afraid that Philip had jeopardized his own status as heir to the throne. As a result, Alexander rashly interfered with Philip’s plans by offering himself to Pixodarus in lieu of Arrhidaeus. The Carian was delighted with the proposed substitution, but Philip was not. On learning of Alexander’s obstruction, Philip both broke off diplomatic contact with Pixodarus and severely chastised his son. In the wake of Philip’s anger, several of Alexander’s associates, including Ptolemy, were exiled from Macedonia.

Many have seen Ptolemy’s exile as a result of his long-standing intimacy with Alexander, but such a close friendship between the two is doubtful since Ptolemy was eleven years older than Philip’s heir—almost as close in age to Philip as he was to Alexander. By the 330’s b.c.e. Philip seemed to have appointed Ptolemy as a counselor to Alexander, with a responsibility to advise the son according to the interests of the father. When Alexander embarrassed Philip in the Pixodarus affair, the king drove out of Macedonia those who had failed him. Fortunately for Ptolemy, Philip was assassinated in 336 b.c.e., and when Alexander became king, he brought home those who had suffered exile.

Life’s Work

Although Ptolemy accompanied Alexander into Asia, he did so initially in a minor capacity—proving that Ptolemy had not been an intimate of Alexander. Ptolemy’s first command came in 330 b.c.e., when he led one of several units at the battle that gave the Macedonians access to Persia proper. Ptolemy became a figure of the first rank shortly afterward, when he replaced a certain Demetrius as one of Alexander’s seven eminent bodyguards, whose duty it was to wait closely on the king in matters of consequence. Ptolemy further distinguished himself in 329, when he personally brought to Alexander Bessus, Alexander’s last rival for the Persian throne.

Having attained Alexander’s confidence, Ptolemy alternated his service at the side of the king with independent assignments. In 328 he commanded one of five columns as Alexander drove into Sogdiana, in 327 he was instrumental in the capture of the fortress of Chorienes, and, while the Macedonians campaigned along the Indus River (327-325 b.c.e.), Ptolemy often led both Macedonian and mercenary troops. Alexander’s return to Susa in 324 brought Ptolemy military honors, his first wife (the Persian Artacama), and additional commands in coordination with Alexander.

The death of Alexander at Babylon in 323 precipitated a constitutional crisis, since the only male Argead living was the mentally deficient Arrhidaeus. Alexander’s son by Roxana, Alexander IV (r. 323-311 b.c.e.), would be born several months after his father’s passing. Perdiccas (365-321 b.c.e.), the officer to whom the dying Alexander had given his signet ring in a gesture of unknown significance, dominated the discussions concerning succession and advised the Macedonians to accept an interregnum until it could be determined whether Roxana would give birth to a son. Along with others, Ptolemy objected to the unprecedented leadership role Perdiccas had delegated himself. Dissension infected the Macedonian army until a compromise averting civil war was adopted. It was agreed that the throne should go to Arrhidaeus (who was given the throne name of Philip III, r. 323-317 b.c.e.), until such time as Roxana gave birth to a son. When that eventuality occurred, a dual monarchy was established. Since neither king was competent, both were put under the protection of Perdiccas. There followed a general distribution of satrapies in which Ptolemy received Egypt.

Once in Egypt, Ptolemy asserted control over the satrapy and extended his authority to incorporate the region around Cyrene. He then used his considerable resources to challenge the authority of Perdiccas. His first open act of defiance concerned the body of Alexander the Great. Whether the Macedonians originally meant to bury Alexander in Macedonia or at the oracular shrine of Amen located at the oasis of Siwah in the Egyptian desert, when Alexander’s funeral procession reached Syria, Ptolemy diverted the remains to Memphis, where they were enshrined until the late 280’s b.c.e., when they were transferred to a complex in Alexandria. Perdiccas saw the appropriation of Alexander’s corpse as a rejection of his own authority and in 321 b.c.e. led an expedition to Egypt against Ptolemy.

By this time, others had begun to question the ambitions of Perdiccas, and a coalition including especially Ptolemy, Antipater (397-319 b.c.e.), and Antigonus (382-301 b.c.e.) formed to strip Perdiccas of his office. In the resulting war, Perdiccas failed miserably in an attempt to force his way into Egypt and was assassinated by his own men for his failure. Ptolemy thereafter successfully appealed to the Macedonians of Perdiccas’s army and persuaded many of them to settle in Egypt. Ptolemy refused the option of replacing Perdiccas as the guardian of the kings, preferring to retain his Egyptian base.

Although Perdiccas was dead, Eumenes (362-316 b.c.e.), his most important ally, remained free in Asia. In response to this new situation, a redistribution of satrapies occurred at Triparadisus. Ptolemy again received Egypt, while Antipater returned to Macedonia with the kings and Antigonus waged war against Eumenes. Ptolemy anchored an expanded influence by taking Antipater’s daughter, Eurydice, as a second wife. (A third, Berenice I, was culled from Eurydice’s retinue. Ptolemy’s polygamy had a precedent in the Argead house.)

The death of Antipater in 319 b.c.e. initiated a new era. The royal family split behind the claims of the two kings, and a civil war erupted. Eventually, both kings were murdered: Philip III by Olympias in 317, and Alexander IV by Antipater’s son Cassander (c. 358-297 b.c.e.) in 311. Through inscriptions and coins, however, it is known that Ptolemy remained loyal to the kings of the Argead house until they were no more. Despite his professed Argead loyalties, Ptolemy continued to secure Egypt at the expense of rivals. In particular, he seized the coast of Palestine in order to safeguard the only viable access to Egypt by land.

In addition to these problems, Antigonus’s success and ultimate victory over Eumenes in 316 destabilized the balance of power that had been established among the Macedonian officers at Triparadisus. High-handed actions, such as Antigonus’s expulsion of Seleucus I Nicator (358/354-281 b.c.e.) from his Babylonian satrapy, created a fear of a second Perdiccas. An alliance consisting of Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachus (c. 360-281 b.c.e.), and Seleucus demanded that Antigonus surrender his authority. When Antigonus refused, war erupted anew. This conflict continued intermittently until Antigonus was killed at a battle near Ipsus in 301. Ptolemy saw action in Palestine, where he defeated Demetrius (336-283 b.c.e.), the son of Antigonus, at a battle near Gaza in 312, and amid the confusion built the beginnings of a maritime empire in the eastern Mediterranean.

Although this period saw the expansion of Ptolemy’s influence, most of his early gains beyond Egypt were tenuously held and setbacks occurred. For example, in 306, Demetrius defeated the Ptolemaic navy off the island of Cyprus in an action so decisive that both he and his father subsequently claimed the title of “king.” Once Antigonus and Demetrius claimed the royal mantle from the defunct Argead house, others followed suit, including Ptolemy in 305.

After Ipsus, Ptolemy reestablished influence abroad, retaking Cyprus and actively engaging in Aegean affairs. His occupation of Palestine after 301, however, precipitated a series of wars with the Seleucids in the third century. These civil wars established a rough balance among the emerging powers of Macedonia, Egypt, and Seleucid Asia. This balance was constantly under strain and ever shifting in its precise makeup, composed as it was of infant dynasties seeking legitimacy and leverage.

Egypt also claimed Ptolemy’s attention. He inherited an efficient bureaucratic apparatus of great antiquity, capable of funneling great wealth to his coffers. Nevertheless, Ptolemy could not afford to rely on the loyalty of native Egyptians. Rather, he grafted a new Greco-Macedonian aristocracy onto the existing political structure. Recruitment was a major concern, and Ptolemy made every effort to attract Greek mercenaries, military colonists, and professionals accomplished in administration. The wealth of Egypt made possible these initiatives, and each recruit was guaranteed a respectable status as long as Ptolemy remained secure.

In part to unify these enlistees of varied background, Ptolemy combined elements of the Egyptian worship of Osiris and Apis to manufacture the cult of a new deity: Serapis. Traditionally, religion helped to define the parameters of Greek political communities, and the invented Serapis successfully drew Ptolemy’s immigrants together. In addition, in an age of emerging ruler cults, Ptolemy posthumously was worshiped as a god (indeed, to the Egyptians, who worshiped him as pharaoh, he was naturally considered divine), receiving the epithet “Soter” (savior) from the Rhodians for his naval protection.

Under Ptolemy, Alexandria became the foremost city of the Hellenistic world. Planned on a grand scale, it held architectural wonders and became the greatest literary and intellectual center of the age, with its focus being the great museum and library complex. In 288, after decades of molding Egypt to his liking, Ptolemy shared royal authority with a son by Berenice, Ptolemy II, better known as Ptolemy Philadelphus. Ptolemy Soter died in 283 or 282 b.c.e. at the age of eighty-four.

Significance

Ptolemy Soter was the one great link between Greece’s classical age—characterized by its narrow geographical orientation and exclusive appreciation of the Greek cultural heritage—and the Hellenistic age, with its expanded horizons. He took advantage of the opportunities presented by the moment to rise as far as hard work could take him and was instrumental in combining Hellenistic traditions with those of the Orient—a mixture that was a hallmark of the Hellenistic period. Not the most talented of Alexander’s successors in military affairs, Ptolemy nevertheless understood, even better than Alexander himself, how long-term stability depended on the careful selection of a defendable base coupled with a steady consolidation of resources. His success can be appreciated best once it is realized that he alone of the officers who received assignments in Babylon in 323 b.c.e. passed his legacy on to his descendants. He did more than politically anchor Egypt in a time of unprecedented change: Because of his patronage, which brought so many fertile minds to Alexandria, he was also able to shape the cultural experience that would dominate the civilized Western world for hundreds of years.

The range of Ptolemy’s talents is not fully appreciated until it is realized that he was not only an active ruler and a cultural patron but also a historian of note. Late in life, he wrote an account of Alexander’s conquests based not only on his own observations but also on important written sources (including a journal that detailed the king’s activities on a daily basis, at least for the end of Alexander’s reign). Although Ptolemy’s account was slanted in his own favor, no other eyewitness account of the Macedonian conquest can claim greater objectivity. No longer extant, Ptolemy’s work was one of the principal sources used in the second century c.e. by Arrian, whose history is the best extant account of Alexander’s life. Without Ptolemy’s attention to detail, present knowledge about Alexander would be considerably less accurate.

Bibliography

Bowman, Alan K. Egypt After the Pharaohs. 1986. Reprint. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. This work is a broad introduction to Egypt between the conquests of Alexander and the Arabs. As such, it covers the Ptolemaic period, especially insofar as its political and social institutions evolved.

Ellis, Walter M. Ptolemy of Egypt. New York: Routledge, 1995. A thorough, detailed biography of Ptolemy and his role in the formation of Hellenistic society.

Fraser, Peter Marshall. Ptolemaic Alexandria. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972. The authoritative study of the Ptolemaic capital and virtually every institution associated with the Macedonian presence in Egypt. An essential work for anyone interested in how Ptolemy developed the infrastructure of his realm.

Holbl, Gunther. A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. Translated by Tine Saavedra. New York: Routledge, 2000. Ptolemy Soter is covered in part 1 of this study. Includes bibliography, index, and maps.

Shipley, Graham. The Greek World After Alexander, 323-30 B.C. New York: Routledge, 2000. This overview of the Hellenistic world provides insight into the complicated interrelationships between Alexander’s heirs. Includes some extremely useful dynastic tables and genealogical charts, as well as index and bibliography.

Turner, E. G. “Ptolemaic Egypt.” The Hellenistic World. Vol. 7 in The Cambridge Ancient History. 2d ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1984. A review of Ptolemy’s accomplishment in Egypt, with special attention devoted to the domestic difficulties associated with stabilization of Macedonian authority.

Walbank, R. W. The Hellenistic World. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993. One of the best introductions to the period in English, especially insofar as it traces the emergence of Hellenistic kingdoms.