A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

584 PTOLEMAEUS. PTOLEMAE US.
battle of Ipsus, and after advancing into Coele- trios soon removed all cause of apprehension.
Syria, and making himself master of part of that (Plut. Demetr. 44, Pyrrh. ]0, 11; Justin. xvi. 2.)
country and of Phoenicia, he was alarmed by a It is probable that the latter years of his reign
false report of the victory of Antigonus, and with- were devoted almost entirely to the arts of peace,
drew into Egypt. (Diod. -xx. 106, 113; Justin. and to promoting the internal prosperity of his
xv. 2, 4.) dominions. But his advancing age now warned
The defeat and death of Antigonus (B. c. 301) him of the necessity of providing for the succession
altogether altered the relations of the allied to his throne.
monarchs. -Seleucus was now become almost as Ptolemy was at this time the father of three
formidable as Antigonus had been, and the pos- legitimate sons, of whom the two eldest, Ptolemy
session of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, which were surnamed Ceraunus, and Meleager, were the offclaimed by Ptolemy as the price of his adhesion to spring of Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater,
the coalition, and by Seleucus as part of the allotted while the youngest, also named Ptolemy (afterreward of his victory, was near producing an im- wards surnamed Philadelphus) was the child of
mediate breach between the two. Seleucus appears his latest and most beloved wife, Berenice. His
to have waived his pretensions for a time, but ulti- attachment to Berenice, as well as the favourable
mately obtained possession (in what manner we opinion he had formed of the character of the
know not) of the disputed provinces. (Diod. xxi. young man himself, now led him to conceive the
Exc. Vat. pp. 42, 43; Polyb. v. 67.) Meanwhile, project of bestowing the crown upon the last of
their mutual jealousy led them to form new alli- these three princes, to the exclusion of his elder
ances with the other monarchs; and while Seleucus brothers. Such a design met with vehement
married Stratonice, the daughter of Demetrius, opposition from Demetrius the Phalerian, who
Ptolemy sought to strengthen his connection with now held a high place in the counsels and favour
Lysimachus, by giving that monarch his daughter of Ptolemy: but the king, nevertheless, determined
Arsinoe in marriage. At the same time he did to carry it into execution, and even resolved to
not refuse to be reconciled, in appearance at least, to secure the throne to his favourite son by establishDemetrius,to whom he even gave Ptolemais, another ing him on it in his own lifetime. In the year
of his daughters, for a wife. An alliance was at B. c. 285 accordingly, he himself announced to the f
the same time concluded between them, and assembled people of Alexandria that he had ceased
Pyrrhus, the fugitive heir to the throne of Epeirus, to reign, and transferred the sovereign authority to
was placed at the Egyptian court by Demetrius, his youngest son, whom he presented to them as
as a hostage for his fidelity. their king. His choice was received, we are told,
The young prince quickly rose to a high place with the utmost favour, and the accession of the
in the favour of Ptolemy, who gave him his step- new monarch was celebrated with festivities and
daughter Antigone in marriage, and conceived the processions on a scale of unparalleled magnificence,
design of raising him up as a rival to Demetrius. during which the aged monarch himself appeared
His nominal alliance with the latter did not prevent among the officers and attendants of his son.
him from furnishing all the support in his power to (Justin. xvi. 2; Athen. v. p. 196, 203.) Nothing
the Greek cities which were opposed to him, on occurred to interrupt the harmony which subsisted
occasion of the expedition of Demetrius to Greece between them from this time till the death of the
in B. C. 297: and the following year he took the elder Ptolemy, which took place about two years
opportunity to create a formidable diversion by after, B. c. 283. His reign is variously estimated
sending Pyrrhus, at the head of a small force, to at thirty-eight or forty years, according as we
Epeirus, where the young prince quickly established include or not these two years which followed his
himself upon the throne. (Plut. Demetr. 32, 33, abdication. (Porphyr. ap. Euseb. Armn. pp. 113,
Pyrrh. 4, 5; Pans. i. 6. ~ 8.) 114; Joseph. Ant. xii. 2.) He was not only
The next year (B. c. 295) he took advantage of honoured by his son with a splendid funeral; but
Demetrius being still engaged in the affairs of his body was deposited in the magnificent edifice
Greece, to recover the important island of Cyprus. which had been erected as the mausoleum of
This he quickly reduced, with the exception of Alexander; and divine honours were paid to him
Salamis, where Phila, the wife of Demetrius, held in common with the great conqueror. (Theocr.
out for a long time, but her husband's attention Idyll. xvii. 16-19; Strab. xvii. p. 794.)
being now wholly engrossed by the prospects which The character of Ptolemy has been generally
had opened to him in Macedonia [DEMETRIUS], represented in a very favourable light by historians,
he was unable to render her any assistance, and and there is no doubt that if we compare him with
she was ultimately compelled to surrender to his contemporary and rival potentates he appears
Ptolemy. The whole island thus fell into the to deserve the praises bestowed upon his mildness
power of the king, and became from henceforth and moderation. But it is only with this important
an integral portion of the Egyptian monarchy. qualification that they can be admitted: for there
(Plut. Demetr. 35, 38.) are many evidences, such as the barbarous murder of
It is not till after the lapse of a considerable Nicocles [NIcocLES],and the execution of Ptolemy,
interval that we again find Ptolemy engaging the nephew of Antigonus [see above, p. 565, No. 7],
actively in foreign war. But he could not remain that he did not shrink from any measure that he
an indifferent spectator of the events which placed deemed requisite in order to carry out the objects of
his old enemy Demetrius on the throne of Mace. his ambition. But the long-sighted prudence, by
donia: and in B. c. 287 we find him once more which he seems to have been pre-eminently distinjoining in a league with Lysimachus and Seleucus guished among his contemporaries, led him to confine
against the object of their common enmity. The that ambition within more rational bounds than most
part taken by Ptolemy in the war that followed of his rivals. He appears to have been the only one
~was, however, limited to the sending a fleet to the among the generals of Alexander who foresaw from
Aegaean: and the defeat and captivity of Deme- the first that the empire of that conqueror must ill