This put me a little out, but I began to make other inquiries in regard to his astronomical knowledge, when a member of the company, who had never as yet opened his mouth, whispered in my ear, that for information on this head, I had better consult Ptolemy (whoever
Ptolemy is), as well as one Plutarch de facie lunae.
Historians examine several of the many ways
Ptolemy I Soter created himself after the death of Alexander the Great and he had seized power in Egypt.
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was founded in 305 BC by
Ptolemy I Soter (Macedonian General), who declared himself pharaoh of Egypt and created thepowerful Hellenistic dynasty that ruled an area stretching from southern Syria to Cyrene and south to Nubia.
After his death Berenice took her children to Egypt and married the first Greek Pharoah,
Ptolemy I. In 299BC Pyrrhus of Epirus was sent as a hostage to Egypt but found favour with Ptolemy and married Antigone.
Cleopatra's father's family was not Egyptian at all--they were Greek Macedonians, descended from
Ptolemy I, a Greek general for Alexander the Great.
I will argue here that the crocodile was specifically selected for Cleopatra Selene by Cleopatra VII, and that this selection was intended to recall a significant event that occurred at the foundation of the Ptolemaic dynasty, and comprised part of a wider strategy of reconstituting the empire of
Ptolemy I Soter and Ptolemy II Philadelphos.
After many conflicts among families, Cyrenaica in 322 BC came under the control of the Greek general
Ptolemy I and his dynasty.
The latter was probably set up in 266 B.C., and was strategically positioned not far from portraits of
Ptolemy I, Antigonos the One-Eyed, and his son, Demetrios Poliorketes.
PTOLEMY I agree that Earth is the center of the universe.
But it was under Alexander's successor,
Ptolemy I, that Alexandria really began to flower.
It is not even certain whether they were founded by
Ptolemy I or II, although it is most likely that they were set up under the first Ptolemy and developed under the second.(1) But paucity of evidence has not prevented debate.(2) My concern here is not with the form of these institutions, but rather with the fact of their existence at all.
Ptolemy I - the king of Egypt who founded the Macedonian dynasty in Egypt; a close friend and general of Alexander the Great who took charge of Egypt after Alexander died (circa 367-285 BC)