Ptolemaic dynasty

This article is about the royal family. For the territorial state over which it ruled, see Ptolemaic Kingdom.

Ptolemy I Soter.

The Ptolemaic dynasty /ˌtɒləˈmeɪ.ᵻk/ (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖοι, Ptolemaioi), sometimes also known as the Lagids /ˈlædʒᵻdz/ or Lagidae /ˈlædʒᵻˌdiː/ (Ancient Greek: Λαγίδαι, Lagidai, after Lagus, Ptolemy I's father), was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. They were the last dynasty of ancient Egypt.

Ptolemy, one of the seven somatophylakes (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.

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 apparent suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt.

Ptolemaic rulers and consorts

Dates in brackets represent the regnal dates of the Ptolemaic pharaohs. 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 (51–30 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.

• Ptolemy I Soter (303–285 BC) married first (probably) Thaïs, secondly Artakama, thirdly Eurydice and finally Berenice I
• Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 BC) married Arsinoe I, then Arsinoe II Philadelphus; ruled jointly with Ptolemy I Epigone (267–259 BC)
• Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221 BC) married Berenice II
• Ptolemy IV Philopator (221–203 BC) married Arsinoe III
• Ptolemy V Epiphanes (203–181 BC) married Cleopatra I
• Ptolemy VI Philometor (181–164 BC, 163–145 BC) married Cleopatra II, briefly ruled jointly with Ptolemy Eupator in 152 BC
• Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator (never reigned)
• Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon) (170–163 BC, 145–116 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 (131–127 BC), in opposition to Ptolemy VIII
• Cleopatra III Philometor Soteira Dikaiosyne Nikephoros (Kokke) (116–101 BC) ruled jointly with Ptolemy IX (116–107 BC) and Ptolemy X (107–101 BC)
• Ptolemy IX Soter II (Lathyros) (116–107 BC, 88–81 BC as Soter II) married Cleopatra IV then Cleopatra Selene; ruled jointly with Cleopatra III in his first reign
• Ptolemy X Alexander I (107–88 BC) married Cleopatra Selene then Berenice III; ruled jointly with Cleopatra III till 101 BC
• Berenice III Philopator (81–80 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) (80–58 BC, 55–51 BC) married Cleopatra V Tryphaena
• Cleopatra V Tryphaena (58–57 BC) ruled jointly with Berenice IV Epiphaneia (58–55 BC) and Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (58 BC)
• Cleopatra VII Philopator (51–30 BC) ruled jointly with Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (51–47 BC), Ptolemy XIV (47–44 BC) and Ptolemy XV Caesarion (44–30 BC).
• Arsinoe IV (48–47 BC) in opposition to Cleopatra VII

Ptolemaic family tree

Ptolemaic family tree

Other members of the Ptolemaic dynasty

• Ptolemy Keraunos (died 279 BC) - eldest son of Ptolemy I Soter. Eventually became king of Macedon.
• Ptolemy Apion (died 96 BC) - son of Ptolemy VIII Physcon. Made king of Cyrenaica. Bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome.
• Ptolemy Philadelphus (born 36 BC) - son of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII.
• Ptolemy of Mauretania (died AD 40) - son of Juba II of Mauretania and Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. King of Mauretania.

Medical analysis

Contemporaries describe a number of the Ptolemaic dynasty as extremely obese, whilst sculptures and coins reveal prominent eyes and swollen necks. Familial Graves' disease could explain the swollen necks and eye prominence (exophthalmos), although this is unlikely to occur in the presence of morbid obesity.

In view of the familial nature of these findings, members of this dynasty likely suffered from a multi-organ fibrotic condition such as Erdheim–Chester disease or a familial multifocal fibrosclerosis where thyroiditis, obesity and ocular proptosis may have all occurred concurrently.

Gallery of images

• 

  Ptolemy of Macedon founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

• 

  Ptolemy II

• 

  Ptolemy III

• 

  Ptolemy IV

• 

  Ptolemy V

• 

  Ptolemy VI

• 

  Cleopatra II (right)

• 

  Ptolemy VIII

• 

  Ptolemy IX

• 

  Ptolemy X

• 

  Ptolemy XI

• 

  Ptolemy XII

• 

  Ptolemy XIII and Isis

• 

  Ptolemy XIV

• 

  Cleopatra VII

• 

  Ptolemy XV, commonly called Caesarion.

See also

• List of Seleucid rulers
• Hellenistic period
• History of ancient Egypt
• Donations of Alexandria
• Ptolemaic Decrees
• List of Ptolemaic pharaohs

Further reading

• Susan Stephens, Seeing Double. Intercultural Poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria (Berkeley, 2002).
• A. Lampela, Rome and the Ptolemies of Egypt. The development of their political relations 273-80 B.C. (Helsinki, 1998).
• J. G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305-30 BC (Princeton, 2009).

External links

• Livius.org: Ptolemies — by Jona Lendering.