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Ptolemy III Euergetes
"Ptolemy the Benefactor"; c. 280 – November/December 222 was the
third king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222 . The Ptolemaic
Kingdom reached the height of its power during his reign. Ptolemy III was the
eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife Arsinoe I. When
Ptolemy III was young, his mother was disgraced and he was removed from the
succession. He was restored as heir to the throne in the late 250s and
succeeded his father as king without issue in 246 . On his succession, Ptolemy
married Berenice II, reigning queen of Cyrenaica, thereby bringing her
territory into the Ptolemaic realm. In the Third Syrian War (246-241 ), Ptolemy
III invaded the Seleucid empire and won a near total victory, but was forced to
abandon the campaign as a result of an uprising in Egypt. In the aftermath of
this rebellion, Ptolemy forged a closer bond with the Egyptian priestly elite,
which was codified in the Canopus decree of 238 and set a trend for Ptolemaic
power in Egypt for the rest of the dynasty. In the Aegean, Ptolemy suffered a
major setback when his fleet was defeated by the Antigonids at the Battle of
Andros around 245 , but he continued to offer financial support to their
opponents in mainland Greece for the rest of his reign. At his death, Ptolemy
was succeeded by his eldest son, Ptolemy IV Philopator.
Background and early life:
Ptolemy III was born some time around 280 , as the eldest son of Ptolemy II of
Egypt and his first wife, Arsinoe I, daughter of King Lysimachus of Thrace. His
father had become co-regent of Egypt in 284 and sole ruler in 282 . Around 279
, the collapse of Lysimachus' kingdom led to the return to Egypt of Ptolemy
II's sister Arsinoe II, who had been married to Lysimachus. A conflict quickly
broke out between Arsinoe I and Arsinoe II. Sometime after 275 , Arsinoe I was
charged with conspiracy and exiled to Coptos. When Ptolemy married Arsinoe II
(probably in 273/2 ), her victory in this conflict was complete. As children of
Arsinoe I, Ptolemy III and his two siblings seem to have been removed from the
succession after their mother's fall. This political background may explain why
Ptolemy III seems to have been raised on Thera in the Aegean, rather than in
Egypt. Ptolemy's tutors included the poet and polymath Apollonius of Rhodes,
later head of the Library of Alexandria. From 267 , a figure known as Ptolemy
"the Son" was co-regent with Ptolemy II. He led naval forces in the
Chremonidean war (267-261 ), but revolted in 259 at the beginning of the Second
Syrian War and was removed from the co-regency. Some scholars have identified
this individual with Ptolemy III. This seems unlikely, since Ptolemy III was
probably too young to lead forces in the 260s and does not seem to have
suffered any of the negative consequences that would be expected if he had
revolted from his father in 259.
Chris Bennett has argued that Ptolemy "the Son" was a son of Arsinoe
II by Lysimachus. Around the time of the rebellion, Ptolemy II legitimised the
children of Arsinoe I by having them posthumously adopted by Arsinoe II. In the
late 250s , Ptolemy II arranged the engagement of Ptolemy III to Berenice, the
sole child of King Magas of Cyrene. 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.
Reign:
Cyrenaica (246)
Cyrene had been the first Ptolemaic territory outside Egypt, but Magas had
rebelled against Ptolemy II and declared himself king of Cyrenaica in 276 . 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 , 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. A republican government, led by two Cyrenaeans named
Ecdelus and Demophanes controlled Cyrene for four years. It was only with
Ptolemy III's accession in 246 , 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.
Third Syrian War (246-241)
Main article: Third Syrian War:
In July 246 , Antiochus II Theos, king of the Seleucid empire died suddenly. By
his first wife Laodice I, Antiochus had had a son, Seleucus II, who was about
19 years old in 246 . However, in 253 , he had agreed to repudiate Laodice and
marry Ptolemy III's eldest sister Berenice Phernophorus. By her, he had another
son, named Antiochus, who was still an infant in 246 . 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 Gurob
papyrus. At the outbreak of war, Laodice and Seleucus were based in western
Asia Minor, while Berenice Phernophorus was in Antioch. The latter quickly
seized control of Cilicia to prevent Laodice 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 .[16] In light of this
success, Ptolemy III may have been crowned 'Great King' of Asia.[17] Early in
245 , Ptolemy 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]
Egyptian Revolt (245 ):
At this point however, Ptolemy received notice that a revolt had broken out in
Egypt and he was forced to return home to suppress it.[20] By July 245 , the
Seleucids had recaptured Mesopotamia.[21] The Egyptian revolt is significant as
the first of a series of native Egyptian uprisings which would trouble Egypt
for the next century. One reason for this revolt was the heavy tax-burdens
placed on the people of Egypt by Ptolemy III's war in Syria. Furthermore,
papyri records indicate that the inundation of the Nile river failed in 245 ,
resulting in famine.[19] 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 .[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 Adulis, vastly exaggerated Ptolemy's conquests,
claiming even Bactria among his conquests. At the new year in 243 , Ptolemy
incorporated himself and his wife into the Ptolemaic state cult, to be
worshipped as the Theoi Euergetai (Benefactor Gods), in honour of his
restoration to Egypt of statues found in the Seleucid territories, which had
been seized by the Persians.[18][19] End of the war There may also have been a
second theatre to this war in the Aegean. A general Ptolemy son of Andromachus
(possibly an illegitimate son of Ptolemy II) captured Ephesus from the
Seleucids in 246 . At an uncertain date around 245 , he fought a sea-battle at
Andros against Antigonus II Gonatas, King of 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 . He was subsequently
assassinated at Ephesus by Thracian soldiers under his control.[23][24] The
only further action known from the war is some fighting near Damascus in 242
.[25] Shortly after this, in 241 , 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.[26]
Later reign (241-222):
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 , this included
Antiochus Hierax, the younger brother of Seleucus II, who rebelled against his
brother and established his own separate kingdom in Asia Minor. Ptolemy III
sent military forces to support him only when a group of Galatian mercenaries
rebelled against him[27] but is likely to have supported him more tacitly
throughout his conflict with Seleucus. He offered similar support to Attalus I,
the dynast of 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 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.[28] Mainland Greece and the
Cleomenean War Greece around the time of the Cleomenean War Ptolemy III
maintained his father's hostile policy to Macedonia. This probably involved
direct conflict with Antigonus II during the Third Syrian War, but after the
defeat at Andros in c. 245 , Ptolemy III seems to have returned to the policy
of indirect opposition, financing enemies of the Antigonids in mainland Greece.
The most prominent of these was the Achaian League, a federation of Greek
city-states in the Peloponnese that were united by their opposition to Macedon.
From 243 , Ptolemy III was the nominal leader (hegemon) and military commander
of the League[29] and supplied them with a yearly payment.[30] After 240 ,
Ptolemy also forged an alliance with the Aetolian League in northwest
Greece.[31] From 238 to 234 , the two leagues waged the Demetrian War against
Macedon with Ptolemaic financial support.[32]
However, in 229 , the Cleomenean War (229-222 ) broke out between the Achaian
League and Cleomenes III of Sparta. As a result, in 226 , Aratos of Sicyon the
leader of the Achaian League forged an alliance with the Macedonian king
Antigonus III Doson. 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 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 , 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 the queen.[33] The Athenians instituted a state religious cult in
which Ptolemy III and Berenice were worshipped as gods, including a festival,
the Ptolemaia. The centre of the cult was the Ptolemaion, which also served as
the gymnasium where the Athenian youth were educated.[34] Cleomenes suffered
serious defeats in 223 and Ptolemy III abandoned his support for him in the
next year - probably as a result of an agreement with Antigonus. Ptolemy III
seems to have been unwilling to commit actual troops to Greece, particularly as
the threat of renewed war with the Seleucids was looming. Cleomenes was
defeated and forced to flee to Alexandria, where Ptolemy III offered him
hospitality and promised to help restore him to power.[35] However, these
promises were not fulfilled, and the Cleomenian War would in fact be the last
time that the Ptolemies intervened in mainland Greece.[34] Death In November or
December 222 , shortly after Cleomenes' arrival in Egypt and Magas' failure in
Asia Minor, Ptolemy III died of natural causes.[36][2] He was succeeded by his
son Ptolemy IV Philopator without incident.
Regime:
Pharaonic ideology and Egyptian religion:
Ptolemy III built on the efforts of his predecessors to conform to the
traditional model of the Egyptian Pharaoh. He was responsible for the first
known example of a series of decrees published as trilingual inscriptions on
massive stone blocks in Ancient Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and demotic.
Earlier decrees, like the Satrap stele and the Mendes stele had been in
hieroglyphs alone and had been directed at single individual sanctuaries. By
contrast, Ptolemy III's Canopus decree was the product of a special synod of
all the priests of Egypt, which was held in 238 . The decree instituted a
number of reforms and represents the establishment of a full partnership
between Ptolemy III as Pharaoh and the Egyptian priestly elite. This
partnership would endure until the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty. In the decree,
the Egyptian priesthood praise Ptolemy as a perfect Pharaoh. They emphasise
Ptolemy's support of the priesthood, his military success in defending Egypt
and in restoring religious artefacts supposedly held by the Seleucids, and his
good governance, especially an incident when Ptolemy imported, at his own
expense, a vast amount of grain to compensate for a weak inundation. The rest
of the decree consists of reforms to the priestly orders (phylai). The decree
also added a leap day to the Egyptian calendar of 365 days, and instituted
related changes in festivals. Ptolemy's infant daughter Berenice died during
the synod and the stele arranges for her deification and ongoing worship.
Further decrees would be issued by priestly synods under Ptolemy's successors.
The best-known examples are the Decree of Memphis, about 218 , passed by his
son, Ptolemy IV, as well as the famous Rosetta Stone erected by Ptolemy
Epiphanes, his grandson, in 196 . The earlier Ptolemies had followed the lead
of Alexander the Great in prioritising the worship of Amun, worshipped at
Karnak in Thebes among the Egyptian deities. With Ptolemy III the focus shifted
strongly to Ptah, worshipped at Memphis. Ptah's earthly avatar, the Apis bull
came to play a crucial role in royal new year festivals and coronation
festivals. This new focus is referenced by two elements of Ptolemy III's
Pharaonic titulary: his nomen which included the phrase Mery-Ptah (beloved of
Ptah), and his golden Horus name, Neb khab-used mi ptah-tatenen (Lord of the
Jubilee-festivals as well as Ptah Tatjenen).[37]
Ptolemy III financed construction projects at temples across Egypt. The most
significant of these was the Temple of Horus at Edfu, one of the masterpieces
of ancient Egyptian temple architecture and now the best-preserved of all
Egyptian temples. Ptolemy III initiated construction on it on 23 August 237.
Work continued for most of the Ptolemaic dynasty; the main temple was finished
in the reign of his son, Ptolemy IV, in 231 , and the full complex was only
completed in 142 , during the reign of Ptolemy VIII, while the reliefs on the
great pylon were finished in the reign of Ptolemy XII. Other construction work
took place at a range of sites, including (from north to south): Serapeum at
Alexandria Temple of Osiris at Canopus;[38] Decorative work on the Temple of
Isis at Behbeit El Hagar, near Sebennytos;[38] A sacred lake in the Temple of
Montu at Medamud;[38] The Gateway of Ptolemy III in the Temple of Khonsu and
decorative work on the Temple of Opet at Karnak Thebes.[38][39] Temple of Khnum
at Esna A birth house at the Temple of Isis at Philae.[38]
Scholarship and culture:
Ptolemy III continued his predecessor's sponsorship of scholarship and
literature. The Great Library in the Musaeum was supplemented by a second
library built in the Serapeum. He was said to have had every book unloaded in
the Alexandria docks seized and copied, returning the copies to their owners
and keeping the originals for the Library.[40] It is said that he borrowed the
official manuscripts of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides from Athens and
forfeited the considerable deposit he paid for them in order to keep them for
the Library rather than returning them. The most distinguished scholar at
Ptolemy III's court was the polymath and geographer Eratosthenes, most noted
for his remarkably accurate calculation of the circumference of the world.
Other prominent scholars include the mathematicians Conon of Samos and
Apollonius of Perge.[41] 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 Port Dunford (the likely Nikon of antiquity)
in present-day southern Somalia yielded a number of Ptolemaic coins. Among
these pieces were 17 copper coins from the reigns of Ptolemy III to Ptolemy V,
as well as late Imperial Rome and Mamluk Sultanate coins.[42]
Marriage and issue:
Ptolemy III married his cousin Berenice of Cyrene in 244/243.
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Ptolemy III Euergetes, (Greek: Benefactor)
(flourished 246–221 bce), Macedonian king of Egypt, son of Ptolemy II; he
reunited Egypt and Cyrenaica and successfully waged the Third Syrian War
against the Seleucid kingdom. Almost nothing is known of Ptolemy’s youth
before 245, when, following a long engagement, he married Berenice II, the
daughter of Magas, king of Cyrene; thereby he reunited Egypt and Cyrenaica,
which had been divided since 258. Shortly after his accession and marriage,
Ptolemy invaded Coele Syria, to avenge the murder of his sister, the widow of
the Seleucid king Antiochus II. Ptolemy’s navy, perhaps aided by rebels in
the cities, advanced against Seleucus II’s forces as far as Thrace, across
the Hellespont, and also captured some islands off the Asia Minor coast, but
were checked c. 245. Meanwhile, Ptolemy, with the army, penetrated deep into
Mesopotamia, reaching at least Seleucia on the Tigris, near Babylon. According
to classical sources he was compelled to halt his advance because of domestic
troubles. Famine and a low Nile, as well as the hostile alliance between
Macedonia, Seleucid Syria, and Rhodes, were perhaps additional reasons. The war
in Asia Minor and the Aegean intensified as the Achaean League, one of the
Greek confederations, allied itself to Egypt, while Seleucus II secured two
allies in the Black Sea region. Ptolemy was pushed out of Mesopotamia and part
of North Syria in 242–241, and the next year peace was finally achieved.
Ptolemy managed to keep the Orontes River region and Antioch, both in Syria;
Ephesus, in Asia Minor; and Thrace and perhaps also Cilicia. Within Egypt,
Ptolemy continued the colonization of al-Fayyum (the oasis-like depression
southwest of Cairo), which his father had developed. He also reformed the
calendar, adopting 311 as the first year of a “Ptolemaic Era.” The
Canopus decree, a declaration published by a synod of Egyptian priests,
suggests that the true duration of the year (365 1/4 days) was now recognized,
for an extra day was added to the calendar every four years. The new calendar
failed, however, to achieve popular acceptance. The priests and classical
sources also credited Ptolemy with the restoration of the divine statues
plundered from the temples during Persian rule. In addition, the King initiated
construction at Edfu, the Upper Egyptian site of a great Ptolemaic temple, and
made donations to other temples.
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