Ptolemy began the construction of Pharos, a li… [14] However, he did send great assistance to Rhodes when it was besieged by Demetrius (305/304). The Kingdom finally ended in 30 BC when Cleopatra VII died with the Roman conquest of Egypt.. She became the last in a dynasty of Macedonian rulers founded by Ptolemy, who served as general under Alexander the Great during his conquest of Egypt in 332 B.C. Emeritus Professor of Ancient History, Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. Anson, Edward M (Summer 1986). Ptolemy made contributions to astronomy, mathematics, geography, musical theory, and optics. On his deathbed, Alexander the Great wished to be buried at the Temple of Zeus Ammon in the Siwa Oasis of ancient Libya instead of the royal tombs of Aigai in Macedon. Perdiccas appears to have suspected Ptolemy of aiming for the throne himself, and may have decided that Ptolemy was his most dangerous rival. Ptolemy I Soter (/ˈtɒləmi/; Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a companion and historian of Alexander the Great of the Kingdom of Macedon in northern Greece who became ruler of Egypt, part of Alexander's former empire. [28], Ptolemy's lost history was long considered an objective work, distinguished by its straightforward honesty and sobriety,[14] but more recent work has called this assessment into question. He later married Eurydice, daughter of the Macedonian regent Antipater; their sons Ptolemy Keraunos and Meleager ruled in turn as kings of Macedon. Ptolemy I Soter : Sheila Ager : 9780415727600 We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. "Diodorus and the Date of Triparadeisus". Posts about Ptolemy I Soter written by M J Mann. Cleopatra was a daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, a descendant of Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander The Great’s generals and the founder of the Ptolemaic line in Egypt. Afterwards he joined a coalition against Perdiccas, the royal regent over Philip III of Macedon. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Her mother was believed to be Cleopatra V Tryphaena, the king’s wife, and quite possibly his half-sister. He also had built the Library of Alexandria. Ptolemy led no further overseas expeditions against Antigonus. [3] Shrewd and cautious, he had a compact and well-ordered realm to show at the end of forty years of war. He was born in 367 or 366 BCE in Makedonia, meaning he would have already been in his early 40s when he became Pharaoh of Egypt. He took steps to improve internal administration and to acquire several external possessions in Cyrenaica (the easternmost part of Libya), Cyprus, and Syria and on the coast of Asia Minor; these, he hoped, would guarantee him military security. About 317 he married Berenice I, the granddaughter of Cassander, the son of Antipater. Ptolemy's complete loss of Cyprus followed. Ptolemy I may have married Thaïs, his mistress during the life of Alexander; he is known to have married the Persian noblewoman Artakama on Alexander's orders. He was exiled in 337, along with other companions of the crown prince. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the second to last Hellenistic state and the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC). Probably because he wanted to pre-empt Perdiccas, the imperial regent, from staking his claim in this way, Ptolemy took great pains in acquiring the body of Alexander the Great. [24], Ptolemy himself wrote an eyewitness history of Alexander's campaigns (now lost). was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, and biographer of Alexander.. Born in the upper Macedonian region of Eordaia to the Macedonian nobleman Lagos and Arsinoë, Ptolemy grew up in … In 306, a great fleet under Demetrius attacked Cyprus, and Ptolemy's brother Menelaus was defeated and captured in another decisive Battle of Salamis.