Read Online Cleopatra the Great by Joann Fletcher - Free Book Online
Authors: Joann Fletcher
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feature was the likely inspiration for his personal badge, the eagle, which became the Ptolemiesâ emblem and is still the central motif of Egyptâs national flag.
By November 311 BC Alexandria was sufficiently complete to become the new royal capital, its position on a coastline with few discernible features marked by plans for a huge lighthouse on Pharos Island. Connected to the mainland by a mile-long causeway, the cityâs harbour would then be divided into an eastern and western side, while a third, smaller harbour linking the Mediterranean to Lake Mareotis and the Nile would give access to the rest of Egypt.
The cityâs Greek and Jewish citizens settled in various parts of the city, but the Egyptians preferred the western sector which they called Raqed, Greek Rhakotis, meaning âbuilding siteâ. They also referred to their new Greek neighbours as the âgirdlewearersâ, although the distinct lack of ethnic tension was maintained through a unique system of Greek, Egyptian and Jewish laws rather than imposing Greek legislation on the native population. The same toleration was extended to religion when Ptolemy combined the Egyptian Serapis â the ancient combination of Osiris and Apis â with the Greek gods Zeus, Asklepios and Hades to create a Greek-looking deity of Egyptian origin acceptable to all as state god. Although Serapisâ cult centre became the most prominent of Alexandriaâs many temples, Ptolemy I also planned a Macedonian-style Temple of the Muses or Mouseion (Museum) in which knowledge was elevated to a religion. This great research centre, funded by the crown, would house leading academics whose research would benefit the kingdom and enhance its status abroad. It would have its own library under the care of Aristotleâs former student Demetrios of Phaleron, whose failing eyesight, restored by entreaties to Serapis, was a glowing endorsement for his patronâs new state god.
Ptolemy I also employed a team of Greek and Egyptian experts to advise on matters of culture and religion, and, as the new regime continued to build and renovate temples throughout Egypt, ancient land creation schemes were revived to increase productivity and provide land for veteran troops. With the settlers housed in new Greek towns, existing Egyptian settlements took new names based on the Greek divinity closest to the local cult. So, as places such as ancient Henen-nesut became âHerakleopolisâ, city of Herakles, Shedet âKrokodilopolisâ, city of the crocodile and Edfu âApollonopolisâ, âcity of Apolloâ, ancient Egypt slowly disappeared beneath the emerging kingdom of the Ptolemies.
During a long and well-travelled career Ptolemy I had fathered large numbers of children. A short-lived marriage to a Persian noblewoman named Artakama and affairs with several courtesans were followed by marriage to Antipatrosâ daughter Eurydike and then Antipatrosâ grand-niece Berenike, who became âthe most powerful of Ptolemy Iâs wives and the one with the most virtues and intelligenceâ. Despite having at least nine children by other women, including six with Eurydike, those born to Berenike I would form the basis of the dynasty. When Eurydike and their eldest son Ptolemy Keraunos (âLightningâ) were exiled in 287 BC the old king made his genial younger son Ptolemy II his co-regent, allowing him to spend his remaining years pottering about his palace. Finally dying in his bed at the age of eighty-four, the last of the great Successors, Ptolemy I had lived half a century longer than his beloved Alexander but was buried with him. Following his orders to be cremated according to Macedonian custom, Ptolemy Iâs ashes were gathered up and placed in the newly completed alabaster tomb when Ptolemy II âbrought down from Memphis the corpse of Alexanderâ for joint interment.
The late king had already arranged a wife for
By November 311 BC Alexandria was sufficiently complete to become the new royal capital, its position on a coastline with few discernible features marked by plans for a huge lighthouse on Pharos Island. Connected to the mainland by a mile-long causeway, the cityâs harbour would then be divided into an eastern and western side, while a third, smaller harbour linking the Mediterranean to Lake Mareotis and the Nile would give access to the rest of Egypt.
The cityâs Greek and Jewish citizens settled in various parts of the city, but the Egyptians preferred the western sector which they called Raqed, Greek Rhakotis, meaning âbuilding siteâ. They also referred to their new Greek neighbours as the âgirdlewearersâ, although the distinct lack of ethnic tension was maintained through a unique system of Greek, Egyptian and Jewish laws rather than imposing Greek legislation on the native population. The same toleration was extended to religion when Ptolemy combined the Egyptian Serapis â the ancient combination of Osiris and Apis â with the Greek gods Zeus, Asklepios and Hades to create a Greek-looking deity of Egyptian origin acceptable to all as state god. Although Serapisâ cult centre became the most prominent of Alexandriaâs many temples, Ptolemy I also planned a Macedonian-style Temple of the Muses or Mouseion (Museum) in which knowledge was elevated to a religion. This great research centre, funded by the crown, would house leading academics whose research would benefit the kingdom and enhance its status abroad. It would have its own library under the care of Aristotleâs former student Demetrios of Phaleron, whose failing eyesight, restored by entreaties to Serapis, was a glowing endorsement for his patronâs new state god.
Ptolemy I also employed a team of Greek and Egyptian experts to advise on matters of culture and religion, and, as the new regime continued to build and renovate temples throughout Egypt, ancient land creation schemes were revived to increase productivity and provide land for veteran troops. With the settlers housed in new Greek towns, existing Egyptian settlements took new names based on the Greek divinity closest to the local cult. So, as places such as ancient Henen-nesut became âHerakleopolisâ, city of Herakles, Shedet âKrokodilopolisâ, city of the crocodile and Edfu âApollonopolisâ, âcity of Apolloâ, ancient Egypt slowly disappeared beneath the emerging kingdom of the Ptolemies.
During a long and well-travelled career Ptolemy I had fathered large numbers of children. A short-lived marriage to a Persian noblewoman named Artakama and affairs with several courtesans were followed by marriage to Antipatrosâ daughter Eurydike and then Antipatrosâ grand-niece Berenike, who became âthe most powerful of Ptolemy Iâs wives and the one with the most virtues and intelligenceâ. Despite having at least nine children by other women, including six with Eurydike, those born to Berenike I would form the basis of the dynasty. When Eurydike and their eldest son Ptolemy Keraunos (âLightningâ) were exiled in 287 BC the old king made his genial younger son Ptolemy II his co-regent, allowing him to spend his remaining years pottering about his palace. Finally dying in his bed at the age of eighty-four, the last of the great Successors, Ptolemy I had lived half a century longer than his beloved Alexander but was buried with him. Following his orders to be cremated according to Macedonian custom, Ptolemy Iâs ashes were gathered up and placed in the newly completed alabaster tomb when Ptolemy II âbrought down from Memphis the corpse of Alexanderâ for joint interment.
The late king had already arranged a wife for
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