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Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt
Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes
– King: 145-116 B.C.
Bronze 25mm (13.30 grams) Alexandria mint in Egypt
References: Svoronos 1629; Weiser –; SNG Copenhagen 661; Noeske –; DCA 56
Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right.
ΠTOΛEMAIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ, eagle standing left on thunderbolt
with closed wings; lotus flower in field to left.
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.jpg/220px-Zeus_Ammon_(Antikensammlung_München).jpg)
Zeus Ammon. Ammon was a surname of Zeus or Jupiter. The Greeks of the lower
Nile Delta and Cyrenaica combined features of supreme god
Zeus with features of the
Egyptian god Ammon-Ra.
Alexander the Great styled himself the son of Zeus-Ammon; his successors,
the kings of the Seleukid Kingdom and those of Cyrenaica have, on coins,
their heads adorned with the horns of a ram, or of Ammon, the symbol of
their dominion over Libya. This deity appears on a great number of coins and
engraved marbles. The Egyptians, for whom he was a popular divinity,
regarded him as the author of fecundity and generation. The same belief was
later introduced to the Romans who worshipped Ammon as the preserver of
nature.
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Greek:
Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης, Ptolemaĩos
Euergétēs) (c. 182 BC – June 26, 116 BC), nicknamed
Φύσκων, Physcon, was a king
of the
Ptolemaic dynasty
in
Egypt
.
Origins
Ptolemy VIII’s complicated political career started in 170 BC. This is when
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
of the
Seleucid Empire
invaded and captured King
Ptolemy VI Philometor
and all of Egypt, with
the exception of the city of
Alexandria
. Antiochus allowed Ptolemy VI to
continue as a
puppet monarch
. Meanwhile, the people of
Alexandria chose Ptolemy Euergetes, his younger brother, as king. Euergetes was
popularly known as “Physkōn“, latinized as Physcon, meaning
sausage, potbelly or bladder, due to his obesity. Instead of taking up arms
against one another, the brothers decided to co-rule Egypt.
Antiochus’ withdrawal and the joint rule
Stele
(monument) attributed to
Ptolemy VIII, glorifying his rule and describing his support of
Egyptian gods. The stele was written in
Egyptian hieroglyphs
as well as
Greek.
After Antiochus withdrew from the area in 168 BC due to threats from
Rome
, Physcon agreed to jointly rule Egypt in a
triumvirate with Philometor and
Cleopatra II
(Philometor’s wife and their
sister). This arrangement led to continuous intrigues, lasting until October 164
BC, when Philometor traveled to
Rome to appear before the
Senate
, who were somewhat agreeable with the
arrangement. However, areas under Physcon’s sole rule were not satisfied with
the arrangement, and in May 163 BC the two brothers agreed to an altering of the
original partition. This left Physcon in charge of
Cyrenaica
.
Although the arrangement lasted until Philometor’s death in 145 BC, it did
not end the power struggles.
Designs on Cyprus
Physcon convinced the Roman Senate to back his claims on
Cyprus
, but Philometor opposed this. Physcon’s
attempt to conquer the island failed (161 BC) and the Senate sent Philometor’s
ambassadors home.
Attempt to assassinate
In the period 156 BC—155 BC, Philometor tried to have Physcon assassinated
but failed. This time, Physcon went to Rome, displaying the scars he had
received in the attempt. Despite opposition from
Cato the Elder
(an ally of Philometor), he
received the Senate’s support and further resources for another attempt on
Cyprus. During his time in Rome he met
Cornelia Africana
(who had been recently
widowed following the death of her husband,
Tiberius Gracchus Major
), and asked for her
hand in marriage, which she refused.
The second attempt on Cyprus also failed. Philometor captured and held
Physcon prisoner, but spared him; offering him instead the hand of his daughter,
Cleopatra Thea
, and sent them back to
Cyrenaica.
Marriage to
Cleopatra II
When Philometor died on a campaign in 145 BC, Cleopatra II quickly had her
son proclaimed King
Ptolemy VII
. Physcon, however, returned from
battle and proposed joint rule and marriage with Cleopatra II, both of which she
accepted. He had the younger Ptolemy assassinated during the wedding feast and
claimed the throne himself, as “Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II” (a name deliberately
recalling his ancestor
Ptolemy III Euergetes
), and had himself
proclaimed pharaoh
in 144 BC.
Revenge and intrigues
In 145 BC, Physcon took his revenge on the intellectuals of Alexandria who
had opposed him, including
Aristarchus of Samothrace
and
Apollodorus of Athens
. He engaged in mass
purges and expulsions, leaving Alexandria a changed city.
“He expelled all intellectuals: philologists, philosophers, professors of
geometry, musicians, painters, schoolteachers, physicians and others, with
the result that these brought ‘education to Greeks and barbarians
elsewhere,’ as mentioned by an author who may have been one of the king’s
victims” —Menecles of Barca.
Physcon seduced and married
Cleopatra III
(his wife’s daughter) without
divorcing Cleopatra II, who became infuriated. By 132 or 131 BC, the people of
Alexandria had rioted and set fire to the royal palace. Physcon, Cleopatra III,
and their children escaped to Cyprus; while Cleopatra II had their
twelve-year-old son, Ptolemy Memphitis, acclaimed as king. Physcon was able to
get hold of the boy, killed him, and sent the dismembered pieces back to
Cleopatra.
Civil war
The ensuing civil war pitted Cleopatra’s city of Alexandria against the rest
of the country, who supported Physcon. Growing desperate, Cleopatra offered the
throne of Egypt to the Seleucid king
Demetrius II Nicator
, but his forces could get
no further than Pelusium
. By 127 BC, Cleopatra fled to
Syria
. Alexandria held out for another year.
After further political maneuvering, Cleopatra II did end up back in Egypt in
124 BC. A formal amnesty decree followed in 118 BC, but it was insufficient to
improve the government’s relationship with the whole country. The Romans were
forced to intervene in Egypt 116 BC.
Later rule
About 124 BC, Physcon sent his second daughter by Cleopatra III,
Tryphaena
, to marry
Antiochus VIII Philometor
.
Physcon died in 116 BC. He left the throne to
Cleopatra III
and one of her sons, whichever
she preferred. She wished to have her younger son,
Alexander
, reign with her; but the people of
Alexandria wanted her older son,
Philometer Soter
, the governor of Cyprus, to be
her choice. She reluctantly complied, with Philometer Soter taking the name
“Ptolemy IX” and ruling for a time at her side.
The
Ptolemaic Kingdom
was a
Hellenistic
kingdom based in
Egypt
. It was ruled by the
Ptolemaic dynasty
which started with
Ptolemy I Soter
‘s accession after the death of
Alexander the Great
in 323 BC- and which ended
with the death of
Cleopatra VII
and the
Roman conquest
in 30 BC.
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was founded in 305 BC by
Ptolemy I Soter
, who declared himself
Pharaoh
of Egypt and created a powerful
Hellenistic
dynasty that ruled an area
stretching from southern Seleukid Kingdom
to
Cyrene
and south to
Nubia
.
Alexandria
became the capital city and a major
center of Greek culture and trade. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian
populace, they named themselves the successors to the Pharaohs. The later
Ptolemies took on Egyptian traditions by marrying their siblings, had themselves
portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participated in
Egyptian religious life. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were
involved in foreign and
civil wars
that led to the decline of the
kingdom and its final
annexation
by
Rome
. Hellenistic culture continued to thrive
in Egypt throughout the
Roman
and
Byzantine
periods until the
Muslim conquest
.
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