A History of the Ptolemaic Empire

by H÷lbl; Gnnther

• ISBN13: 9780415201452
• ISBN10: 0415201454
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Ptolemaic rule in Egypt began with the death of Alexander in 323 BC and continued until the tragic deaths of Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BC. Dr. Holbl provides an integrated and compelling narrative of the political and religious history of these three centuries. He writes as an authority both on Egyptian religion and archaeology and on the demotic texts, as well as on the Greek sources. His work commands the whole field of Ptolemaic history and encompasses the most up-to-date findings of scholars in several fields and has occasioned many revisions of long held scholarly views.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	x
Foreword	xii
Preface	xiv
Acknowledgements	xv
List of abbreviations and references	xvi
Introduction	1	(6)
PART I The beginning and the golden age of Ptolemaic rule	7	(118)
Alexander the Great and Ptolemy I Soter (332--282)	9	(26)
Alexander and Egypt (332--323)	9	(5)
Ptolemy the satrap (323--306)	14	(6)
The rule of Ptolemy I Soter as King (306/4-283/2)	20	(15)
The empire under the second and third Ptolemies (282-222)	35	(42)
Political development under Ptolemy II Philadelphos (282-246)	35	(11)
Politics and imperial history under Ptolemy III Euergetes I (236-222)	46	(8)
Ptolemaic activities outside the eastern Mediterranean	54	(4)
Situation within the empire	58	(8)
Main elements of the policies of the second and third Ptolemies	66	(11)
Royal ideology and religious policy from Alexander the Great to Ptolemy III	77	(48)
The pharaoh -- Egyptian priests and temples	77	(13)
Basileus, Hellenistic ruler cult and the Greek gods	90	(8)
The search for values to bind together the peoples of the kingdom	98	(27)
PART II Change and decline of the Hellenistic state of the Ptolomies	125	(54)
Foreign policy and dynastic history from Ptolemy IV to the `Day of Eleusis' (221-168)	127	(26)
Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-204) and the Fourth Syrian War (219--217)	127	(7)
Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204-180) and the loss of the eastern Mediterranean empire	134	(9)
The first years of Ptolemy VI Philometor and the Sixth Syrian War (180-168)	143	(10)
Domestic resistance and the Pharaonic state in Thebes (206-186)	153	(7)
The sacred kingship from Ptolemy IV until the early years of Ptolemy VI	160	(19)
Egyptian building at the time of Philopator and Epiphanes	160	(2)
Priestly decrees and worship of the Ptolemies in the Egyptian community	162	(7)
Greek cults of the Ptolemies and dynastic gods	169	(10)
PART III The Ptolemic kingdom under the shadow of Roman power	179	(139)
History of the kingdom and dynasty from the withdrawal of Antiochos IV to the interlude of Ptolemy XI (168-80)	181	(41)
Ptolemy VI Philometor (until 145)	181	(13)
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II and his two queens Cleopatra II and III (145-116)	194	(10)
Dynastic power struggles at the turn of the century: Ptolemy IX, X and XI (116-80)	204	(18)
The final period: Egypt in the political designs of Roman leaders (80-30)	222	(35)
Ptolemy XII neos Dionysos (80-51)	222	(9)
Cleopatra VII Philopator (51-30)	231	(26)
Religious culture and divine kingship from Ptolemy VI to Cleopatra VII	257	(61)
The pharaoh and the Egyptian sanctuaries	257	(28)
The Hellenistic king and the offices of the eponymous priests from Ptolemy VI to the last years of Ptolemy IX	285	(4)
Divine rule under Cleopatra VII	289	(29)
Epilogue Fundamentals of the development of the Ptolemaic kingdom	304	(9)
Bibliographical supplement	313	(5)
Appendix Overview of the events discussed in the history of the Ptolemaic kingdom	318
Stemma 1 The Ptolemic family to Ptolemy V	354
Stemma 2 The Ptolemic family from Ptolemy V to the end of their history	356
Stemma 3 Marriage ties between the Ptolemaic women and the Seleukid court beginning in the mid-second century	358
Index
Names of people and gods	360
Geographic terms	367
General index	371
Map 1 The Ptolemaic empire as a great power in the eastern Mediterranean basin	374
Map 2 Ptolemaic Egypt	376
Map 3 Alexandria in 30 BC	378