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Ancient Egypt > Egyptian Dynasties > Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt
Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt
Bust of Ptolemy Soter in the British Museum in London. Ptolemy I Soter: Founder of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Macedonian general under Alexander the Great who became ruler of Egypt (323 BC-283 BC) and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In 305/4 BC he took the title of king.
Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 BC – 30 BC) was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, originally sharing power with her father Ptolemy XII and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV; eventually gaining sole rule of Egypt.
Cleopatra II (or III) of Egypt, Louvre. The queen (and briefly sole ruler) of Ptolemaic Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy V and Cleopatra I. |
The Ptolemaic Dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father, Lagus) was a Hellenistic Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC.
Ptolemy, a somatophylax, one of the seven bodyguards who served as Alexander the Great's generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" (saviour). The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC.
The Dynasty History
The Ptolemaic dynasty was founded by Ptolemy son of Lagus, a general of Alexander the Great. On Alexander's death in 323 he was appointed satrap of Egypt, and eventually declared himself king in 304. The dynasty lasted until the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30, an episode which is still one of the best-known chapters of ancient Egypt history.
The intervening period is one which is, by comparison to most of pharaonic Egypt, very well, if not fully coherently, documented. While Ptolemy I and Cleopatra VII are perhaps the best-known rulers, most of the Ptolemaic kings and queens emerge as distinctive and interesting (if not necessarily attractive) individuals. Ptolemaic Egypt was one of the two great powers of the Hellenistic East for most of its existence. During this period Egyptian armies ranged further east and further north than at any other time in Egyptian history. Alexandria was the center of the Hellenistic intellectual world. The period also saw the final flowering of pharaonic Egyptian art and architecture. Many of the great temples we see today, at Edfu, Esna, Kom Ombo, Dendera, Philae and elsewhere, are basically Ptolemaic monuments.
The Ptolemaic era is unjustly neglected. Both Egyptophiles and Hellenists have traditionally seen it as decadent, a judgement that in my opinion has no basis. The last major general survey written in English appeared in 1927. The number of Ptolemaic scholars is small, and very few universities have specialist departments. However, in recent years significant surveys have appeared, particularly in German, and one of these has been translated into English. Additionally, the exciting discoveries of sunken cities in the waters off Alexandria have attracted world-wide attention. |
All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII, known for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and Mark Antony. Her suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt.
The dates in brackets are regnal dates for the kings. They frequently ruled jointly with their wives, who were often also their sisters. Several queens exercised regal authority, but the most famous and successful was Cleopatra VII (51 BC-30 BC), with her two brothers and her son as successive nominal co-rulers. Several systems exist for numbering the later rulers; the one used here is the one most widely used by modern scholars. Dates are years of reign.
- Ptolemy I Soter (305 BC-282 BC) married first (probably) Thais, secondly Artakama, thirdly Eurydice and finally Berenice I
- Ptolemy II Philadelphus (284 BC-246 BC) married Arsinoe I, then Arsinoe II Philadelphus; ruled jointly with Ptolemy the Son (267 BC-259 BC)
- Ptolemy III Euergetes (246 BC-222 BC) married Berenice II
- Ptolemy IV Philopator (222 BC-204 BC) married Arsinoe III
- Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204 BC-180 BC) married Cleopatra I
- Ptolemy VI Philometor (180 BC-164 BC, 163 BC-145 BC) married Cleopatra II, briefly ruled jointly with Ptolemy Eupator in 152 BC
- Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator (never reigned)
- Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon) (170 BC-163 BC, 145 BC-116 BC) married Cleopatra II then Cleopatra III; temporarily expelled from Alexandria by Cleopatra II between 131 BC and 127 BC, reconciled with her in 124 BC.
- Cleopatra II Philometora Soteira (131 BC-127 BC), in opposition to Ptolemy VIII
- Cleopatra III Philometor Soteira Dikaiosyne Nikephoros (Kokke) (116 BC-101 BC) ruled jointly with Ptolemy IX (116 BC-107 BC) and Ptolemy X (107 BC-101 BC)
- Ptolemy IX Soter II (Lathyros) (116 BC-107 BC, 88 BC-81 BC as Soter II) married Cleopatra IV then Cleopatra Selene; ruled jointly with Cleopatra III in his first reign
- Ptolemy X Alexander I (107 BC-88 BC) married Cleopatra Selene then Berenice III; ruled jointly with Cleopatra III till 101 BC
- Berenice III Philopator (81 BC-80 BC)
- Ptolemy XI Alexander II (80 BC) married and ruled jointly with Berenice III before murdering her; ruled alone for 19 days after that.
- Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (Auletes) (80 BC-58 BC, 55 BC-51 BC) married Cleopatra V Tryphaena
- Cleopatra V Tryphaena (58 BC-57 BC) ruled jointly with Berenice IV Epiphaneia (58 BC-55 BC)
- Cleopatra VII Philopator (51 BC-30 BC) ruled jointly with Ptolemy XIII (51 BC-47 BC), Ptolemy XIV (47 BC-44 BC) and Ptolemy XV Caesarion (44 BC-30 BC).
- Arsinoe IV (48 BC-47 BC) in opposition to Cleopatra VII
Ptolemaic family tree. Many of the relationships shown in this tree are controversial. |
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