Chapter VIII · CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PTOLEMIES, EXTRACTED FROM VARIOUS AUTHORS.

i. EXTRACT from Porphyry, an author of the age of Diocletian, as quoted in Scaliger’s Eusebius, and probably thence in the Armenian translation.

Alexander, the Macedonian, died in the CXIVth Olympiad, after a reign of 12 years in the whole: and was succeeded in his kingdom by Aridaeus, whose name was changed to Philip, being brother to Alexander, by another mother; for he was the son of Philip by Philinna of Larissa: and after a reign of seven years, he was killed in Macedonia, by Polysperchon the son of Antipater.

Now Ptolemy the son of Arsinoe and of Lagus, after one year of this reign, by an appointment derived from Philip, was sent as a Satrap into Egypt; which he governed in this capacity for 17 years, and afterwards, with Royal authority, for 23; so that the number of all the years of his government, to the time of his death, became 40; but since he retired from the government two years before, in favour of his son Ptolemy Philadelphus, and considered himself as a subject of his son, who had been crowned in his place, the years of this first Ptolemy, called Soter, are reckoned not 40, but 38 only.

He was succeeded by his son, surnamed, as already mentioned, Philadelphus, who reigned two years during his fathers’ life, and thirty [six] afterwards, so that his whole reign occupied, like his father’s, 38 years.

In the third place, the throne was ascended by Ptolemy surnamed Evergetes, who reigned 25 years.

In the fourth by Ptolemy called Philopator, whose reign was in the whole 17 years.

After him, the fifth Ptolemy was surnamed Epiphanes, and reigned 24 years.

Epiphanes had two sons, both named Ptolemy, who reigned after him; the elder was surnamed Philometor, and the younger Evergetes the second; their reigns together occupy a period of 64 years. We have placed this as a single number, because, as they were at variance with each other, and reigned alternately, the dates were necessarily confounded. For Philometor first reigned eleven years alone; but when Antiochus made war upon Egypt, and deprived him of his crown, the Alexandrians committed the government to the charge of his younger brother; and, having driven back Antiochus, set Philometor at liberty. They then numbered the year the [twelfth] of Philometor and the first of Evergetes; and this system was continued till the seventeenth: but from the eighteenth forwards, the years are attributed to Philometor alone.

For the elder, having been expelled from his kingdom by the younger, was restored by the Romans; and he retained the crown of Egypt, leaving his brother the dominion of Libya, and continued to reign alone for 18 years. He died in Syria, having conquered that country: Evergetes being then recalled from Cyrene, and proclaimed King, continued to number the years of his reign from his first accession to the crown; so that having reigned [29] years after the death of his brother, he extended his dates to 54: for the 36th year of Philometor, which should have been called his 1st, he determined to make the 25th. In the whole therefore we have 64: first 35 of Philometor, and the remainder of Evergetes: but the subdivision may lead to confusion.

Now Ptolemy Evergetes the second had two sons, called Ptolemy, by Cleopatra; the elder Soter, and the younger [Alexander]. The elder was proclaimed king by his mother: and appearing to be obsequious to her wishes, he was beloved for a certain time: but when, in the tenth year of his reign, he put to death the friends of his parents, he was deposed by his mother for his cruelty, and driven as a fugitive into Cyprus.

The mother then sent for her younger son from Pelusium, and proclaimed him sovereign together with herself; so that they reigned in common, the dates of public acts being referred to both: and the year was called the eleventh of Cleopatra, and the eighth of Ptolemy Alexander: comprehending the time as a part of his reign, which began with the fourth year of his brother; during which he reigned in Cyprus: and this custom continued during the whole of the life of Cleopatra: but after her death the epoch of Alexander alone was employed; and, though he actually held the sceptre for eighteen years only, from the time of his return to Alexandria, he appears, in his public records, as having reigned twenty six. In his nineteenth year, having quarrelled with his troops, he went out into the country in order to raise a force to control them; but they pursuing him, under the command of Tyrrhus, a relation of the royal family, engaged him by sea, and compelled him to fly, with his wife and daughter, to Myrae, a city of Lycia: whence crossing over to Cyprus, and being attacked by Chaereas, who had the command of the hostile fleet, he was killed in battle.

The Alexandrians, after his flight, sent an embassy to the elder Ptolemy, Soter [or Lathurus], inviting him back from Cyprus, to take possession of the kingdom. During the seven years and six months that he survived, after his return, the whole time that had elapsed since the death of his father was attributed to his reign: so that the number of years became 35, and six months, of which, however, only 17 and six months properly belonged to him, in the two separate portions of his reign: while the second brother, Alexander, had reigned 18 in the intermediate time: and although these could not be effaced from the annals, they suppressed them as far as it was in their power; since he had offended them by some alliance with the Jews. They do not therefore reckon these years separately, but attribute the whole 36 to the elder brother, omitting again to assign to Cleopatra, the daughter of the elder, and wife of the younger brother, who took possession of the government after her father’s death, the six months that she reigned, which were a part of the 36th year. Nor did they distinguish by the name of the Alexander, that succeeded her, the nineteen days that he retained the crown.

This Alexander was the son of the younger brother, Ptolemy Alexander, and the step son of Cleopatra; he was residing at Rome, and the Egyptian dynasty failing of male heirs, he came by invitation to Alexandria, and married this same Cleopatra [his step mother]; and having deprived her by force of her authority, he put her to death after 19 days, and was himself killed in the Gymnasium, by the guards, whom his barbarity had disgusted.

Alexander the second was succeeded by Ptolemy, who was called Neus Dionysus, or the young Bacchus, the son of Ptolemy Soter, and the brother of the Cleopatra last mentioned: his reign continued for 29 years.

His daughter Cleopatra was the last of the family of the Lagidae, and the years assigned to her reign are 22.

Neither did these different reigns fill up the whole series of years from beginning to end in a regular order, but several of them were intermixed with the others. For, in the time of Dionysus, three years are attributed to his two daughters, Cleopatra Tryphaena, and Berenice; a year conjointly, and two years, after the death of Cleopatra Tryphaena, to Berenice alone; because in this interval Ptolemy was gone to Rome, and was spending his time there, while his daughters, as if he were not about to return, took possession of the government for themselves; Berenice having also called in to a share of her dominion some men who were her relations: until Ptolemy, returning from Rome, and forgetting the indulgence due to a daughter, took offence at her conduct, and deprived her of life.

The first years of the reign of his successor Cleopatra were also referred to her in common with her elder brother Ptolemy; and the following to other persons, for this reason: Ptolemy Neus Dionysus, [or Auletes], left at his death four children, two Ptolemies, and Cleopatra, and Arsinoe; appointing as his successors his two elder children, Ptolemy and Cleopatra; they were considered as joint sovereigns for four years, and would have remained so; but that Ptolemy, having departed from his father’s commands, and resolved to keep the whole power in his own hands, it was his fate to be slain in a sea fight near the coasts of Egypt, by Julius Caesar, who took part with Cleopatra.

After the destruction of this Ptolemy, Cleopatra’s younger brother, also named Ptolemy, was placed on the throne with his sister, by Caesar’s decree, and the year was called the fifth of Cleopatra, and the first of Ptolemy: and this custom continued till his death, for two more years. But when he had been destroyed by the arts of Cleopatra, in his fourth year and in the eighth of his sister, the subsequent years were distinguished by the name of Cleopatra alone, as far as fifteen. The sixteenth was named also the first, since, after the death of Lysimachus, king of Chalcis in Syria, the “Autocrator” Marc Antony gave Chalcis and all the neighbouring country to Cleopatra; and from this time the remaining years of her reign, as far as the 22nd, which was the last, were reckoned in the same manner, with an additional number, the 22nd having been called also the 7th, [as the Armenian has very properly read, for the 27th].

From Cleopatra the government devolved to Octavius Caesar, called also Augustus, who overcame the power of Egypt in the battle of Actium, the second year of the CLXXXIVth Olympiad. And from the first year of the CXIth Olympiad, when Aridaeus Philippus [or rather Alexander], the son of Philip, took possession of the government, to the second of the CLXXXIVth, there are 73 Olympiads and a year, or 293 years. And so many are the years of the sovereigns that reigned in Alexandria, to the time of the death of Cleopatra.

ii. Blair’s Chronology of the Ptolemies.

Year of Nab. Olympiad. B. C.

413 CXI, year 1 336 Aug. Alexander succeeds Philip.

426 CXIV, 2 323 Apr. 21; Alexander dies: Ptolemy S. 1.

464 CXXIII, 4 285 39 Ptolemy Soter.

465 CXXIV, 1 284 1 } Ptolemy Philadelphus.

502 CXXXIII, 2 247 38

503 3 246 1 } Ptolemy Evergetes.

527 CXXXIX, 3 222 25

528 4 221 1 } Ptolemy Philopator.

544 CXLIII, 4 205 17

545 CXLIV, 1 204 1 } Ptolemy Epiphanes.

568 CXLIX, 4 181 24

569 CL, 1 180 1 } Ptolemy Philometor.

579 CLII, 3 170 11

580 4 169 12 Ptolemy [Eupator.]

600 CLVII, 4 149 35 Ptolemy Philometor.

604 CLVIII, 4 145 1 } Ptolemy [Eupator.]

632 CLXV, 4 117 21

633 CLXVI, 1 116 9 } Ptolemy Lathurus and Cleopatra.

642 CLXVIII, 2 107 10

643 2 106 1 } Cleopatra and Alexander.

660 CLXXII, 4 89 18

661 CLXXIII, 1 88 1 } Ptolemy Lathurus.

667 CLXXIV, 3 82 7

668 4 81 [1] Cleopatra II, 6 months: Alexander II, 19 days.

669 CLXXV, 1 80 1 } Ptolemy Alexander III.

683 CLXXVIII, 3 66 15

684 4 65 1 } Ptolemy Auletes.

697 CLXXXII, 1 52 14

698 2 51 1 } Ptolemy Dionysius II, and Cleopatra III.

702 CLXXXIII, 2 47 5

703 3 46 1 } Cleopatra III, Ptolemy, jun.

704 4 45 2

705 CLXXXIV, 1 44 3 Ptolemy dies, leaving Cleopatra III.

719 CLXXXVII, 3 30 17 Sept. 2. Battle of Actium. Augustus makes Egypt a Roman Province.

iii. Chronology of the Ptolemies, according to Champollion Figeac. Annales des Lagides, 2 v. 8. Par. 1819.

B. C.

323 May 30, Death of Alexander, Nab. 424 Ol. CXIII, 4.

323 Oct. Ptolemy Soter arrives in Egypt.

285 End. 39 Ptolemy places Philadelphus on the throne.

284 Nov. 2 1 Philadelphus.

246 Sum. 38 : 1 of Evergetes.

221 Sum. 25 : 1 of Philopator.

204 March 29, 17 : 1 of Epiphanes.

180 March 24 : 1 of Philometor.

146 Aut. 35 : 1 of Evergetes II. [Eupator.]

117 Oct. 29 : 1 of Lathurus.

107 Sum. 10 Lathurus expelled; Alexander reigns.

88 Sum. 29 Lathurus restored: Alexander dies.

81 Middle 36 : 1 Lathurus dies, Berenice reigns 6 months: Alexander II.

72 Beg. 8 : 1 Ptolemy Auletes, “22 years” only.

51 Spr. “22” : 1 Cleopatra with her brother Ptolemy.

47 July 5 of Cleopatra: 1 of Ptolemy the younger.

44 July 8 Ptolemy poisoned early in the year.

41 Jul 11 Caesarion takes the title of king; [the Neocaesar of the Hieroglyphical alphabet.]

30 Sept. 2 22 Battle of Actium.

29 Aug. 1 22 Cleopatra kills herself. Egypt a Roman Province.

iv. Mr. St. Martin’s Chronology of the Ptolemies. Recherches sur la Mort d’Alexandre, 8 Par. 1820.

Nabon B. C.

424 324 June 22 Death of Alexander Ol. CXIII, 4.

323 Nov. 8 Ptolemy Soter governor of Egypt, 17 years.

306 Nov. 1 Ptolemy Soter king; reigns 21 years.

285 Nov. 7 Soter and his son Philadelphus reign, 2 years.

283 Oct. 17 Philadelphus; reigns alone 36 years.

247 Nov. 8 Ptolemy Evergetes; reigns 25 years.

222 Nov. 2 Ptolemy Philopator; reigns 17 years.

“210 Oct. 9 Ptolemy Epiphanes associated in the crown.”

“208 Oct. 28 First year named after Epiphanes with his father.”

205 Oct. 13 Epiphanes reigns alone, 24 years.

199 March 28 Anticipated coronation of Epiphanes.

181 Oct. 28 Ptolemy Philometor reigns alone 11 years.

170 Oct. 29 With Evergetes II. [Eupator] 6 years.

164 Oct. 21 Alone again, 18 years; Evergetes at Cyrene.

146 Nov. 2 Evergetes II. alone 29 years.

117 Nov. 10 Soter II. [Lathurus] with Cleopatra 10 years.

114 Nov. 8 Alexander I. reigns 7 years in Cyprus.

107 Oct. 21 Alexander reigns 18 years: Soter in Cyprus.

89 Nov. 1 Soter II. restored, reigns 8 years.

82 Oct. 17 Last of Soter: Berenice reigns 6 months; Alexander II. 19 days.

81 Nov. 4 Ptolemy Auletes; reigns 29 years.

59 Feb. 24 In the Roman year beginning this day, Auletes was acknowledged king by the Senate.

58 Feb. 14 He was driven out of Egypt after this day, which was the beginning of a Roman year.

58 Oct. 21 Cleopatra Tryphaena and Berenice; 1 year.

57 Nov. 7 Berenice; 2 years with Cybiosactes and Archelaus.

55 May 2 Auletes had been re-established.

52 Nov. 12 Cleopatra with the elder Ptolemy; 4 years.

48 June 29 Battle of Pharsalia.

47 Feb. 6 Alexandria taken by Caesar; death of Ptolemy.

47 Oct. 18 Cleopatra with the younger Ptolemy.

44 Oct. 15 Cleopatra alone; 14 years.

31 Sept. 2 Battle of Actium.

Oct. 21 Last year of Cleopatra begins.

30 Aug. 1 Alexandria taken by Augustus: end of the Lagidae.

Mr. St. Martin being the latest chronologist, that has examined these dates, I have thought it right to insert his table, which I suppose to be correct in the principal part of its foundation, although I cannot readily believe that he is right in attributing to the Ptolemies the observance of the Macedonian year rather than of the Egyptian. He says that in Egypt, as all the world knows, the years of the sovereigns were reckoned from the first day of the year, in which they took the reins of government: meaning by this the first day of the Macedonian year: it appears, however, unquestionable from almost every inscription and manuscript found in Egypt, which exhibits a date, that the Egyptian months and years were employed almost exclusively in that country. It happens, however, that about the time in question, the beginning of these years did not vary very exorbitantly from each other: the Egyptian year having begun in September, October, November or December: and the Macedonian, according to Mr. St. Martin, in October or November.

v. Genealogy of the Ptolemies, from Champollion Figeac I, p. 231.

Reigns. Names and Descriptions. Reigned. Death. Wives. Children.

I. SOTER. Son of Lagos and Arsinoe, first governor, then King. 39y. 5m. Natural. 1.

2. [Arsinoe.]

3. Eurydice, d. of Antipater. Ceraunus: seized the crown of Macedonia.

4. Berenice died old. Philadelphus: succeeded him.

II. PHILADELPHUS. Son of Soter and Berenice. 37y. 11m. Natural. 1. Arsinoe d. of Lysimachus, and of his sister. Evergetes.

2. Arsinoe, her mother. None.

III. EVERGETES: Tryphon; son of Philadelphus and Arsinoe. 25y. Poisoned by his son. Berenice, daughter of Magas. Philopator. Magas: put to death by his brother. Arsinoe.

IV. PHILOPATOR: Gallus; son of Evergetes and Berenice. 16y. 5m. Natural. Arsinoe his sister: killed by her husband. Epiphanes.

V. EPIPHANES. Son of Philopator and Arsinoe. 24y. Poisoned. Cleopatra, d. of the king of Syria, survived him 8y. Philometor. Cacergetes. Cleopatra.

VI. PHILOMETOR. Son of Epiphanes and Cleopatra. 11y.

VII. EVERGETES II: Physcon Cacergetes. Philologus. [Eupator.] Brother of Philometor. 4y.

VIII. PHILOMETOR and EVERGETES. 2 y.

IX. PHILOMETOR. 18 y. Fall from his horse. Cleopatra his sister. A son: killed by his uncle. Cleop. Cocce.

X. EVERGETES II. 29 y. Natural. 1. Cleopatra, his brother’s widow, repudiated. Memphites killed by his father. Lathurus.

2. Cleopatra Cocce, her daughter. Alexander Tryphaena: married Antiochus. Cleopatra: m. Lathurus, k. by Tryph. Selene: m. Lathurus; afterwards Antiochus.

XI. SOTER II: Lathurus: Pothinus. With Cleopatra Cocee, his mother. 10 y. (Deposed.) 1. Cleopatra, his sister. repudiated. Berenice.

2. Selene: repudiated, and given to Antiochus.

3. A concubine. Auletes. Another son, who reigned in Cyprus, and killed himself. Cleopatra.

XII. ALEXANDER. Parisactes; his brother. With Cleopatra Cocee. 17y. 6m. Killed in battle, after killing his mother. Uncertain. Alexander II. A daughter: killed with him.

XIII. SOTER II, again. 8y. Natural.

XIV. BERENICE, daughter of Soter. 6m. Killed by Alexander II.

XV. ALEXANDER II. Son of Alexander. “8y. 3m.” [19 d.] “Dies at Tyre.” Berenice; whom he killed.

XVI. NEUS DIONYSUS: Auletes. Natural son of Lathurus. “16y.” Cleopatra. Berenice. Cleopatra. Ptolemy: dr. Ptolemy: pois. Arsinoe, left Egypt.

XVII. BERENICE, daughter of Auletes. 2y. Killed by her father.

XVIII. AULETES. 2y. Natural.

XIX. PTOLEMY the elder and Cleopatra, children of Auletes. 3y. Drowned after a battle. Cleopatra his sister.

XX. PTOLEMY the younger and Cleopatra. 4y. 6m. Poisoned by his wife. Cleopatra his sister.

XXI. CLEOPATRA, alone. 14y. 3m. Killed herself. By Julius Caesar. Caesarion.

By Antony. A son. A son. A daughter: carried in triumph by Augustus.

vi. Approximate dates of the various Reigns; according to Porphyry and to the Medals.

B. C. Ptolemy Soter.

323 1

322 2

321 3

320 4

319 5

318 6

317 7

316 8

315 9

314 10

313 11

312 12

311 13

310 14

309 15

308 16

307 17

306 18

305 19

304 20

303 21

302 22

301 23

300 24

299 25

298 26

297 27

296 28

295 29

294 30

293 31

292 32

291 33

290 34

289 35

288 36

287 37

286 38

Soter and Philadelphus

285 39

284 40

Philadelphus

283 41

282 42

281 43

280 44

279 45

278 46

277 47

276 48

275 49

274 50

273 51

272 52

271 53

270 54

269 55

268 56

{ 57?

267 19?

266 20

265 21

264 22

263 23

262 24

261 25

260 26

259 27

258 28

257 29

256 30

255 31

254 32

253 33

252 34

251 35

250 36

249 37

248 38

Evergetes.

247 1

246 2

245 3

244 4

243 5

242 6

241 7

240 8

239 9

238 11

237 10

236 12

235 13

234 14

233 15

232 16

231 17

230 18

229 19

228 20

227 21

226 22

225 23

224 24

223 25

Philopator.

222 1

221 2

220 3

219 4

218 5

217 6

216 7

215 8

214 9

213 10

212 11

211 12

210 13

209 14

Philopator and Epiphanes.

208 15

207 16

206 17

Epiphanes.

205 1

204 2

203 3

202 4

201 5

200 6

199 7

198 8

197 9

196 10

195 11

194 12

193 13

192 14

191 15

190 16

189 17

188 18

187 19

186 20

185 21

184 22

183 23

182 24

Philometor.

181 1

180 2

179 3

178 4

177 5

176 6

175 7

174 8

173 9

172 10

171 11

Philometor and Evergetes II.

170 12-1

169 13-2

168 14-3

167 15-4

166 16-5

165 17-6

Philometor.

164 18

163 19

162 20

161 21

160 22

159 23

158 24

157 25

156 26

155 27

154 28

153 29

152 30

151 31

150 32

149 33

148 34

147 35

146 36

Evergetes II.

146 25

145 26

144 27

143 28

142 29

141 30

140 31

139 32

138 33

137 34

136 35

135 36

134 37

133 38

132 39

131 40

130 41

129 42

128 43

127 44

126 45

125 46

124 47

123 48

122 49

121 50

120 51

119 52

118 53

117 54

Lathurus and Cleopatra.

117 1

116 2

115 3

114 4

113 5

112 6

111 7

110 8

109 9

108 10

Cleopatra and Alexander.

107 11-8

106 12-9

105 13-10

104 14-11

103 15-12

102 16-13

101 17-14

100 18-15

99 19-16

98 20-17

97 21-18

96 22-19

95 23-20

94 24-21

93 25-22

92 26-23

91 27-24

90 28-25

Alexander.

89 26

88 27

Lathurus.

88 30

87 31

86 32

85 33

84 34

83 35

82 36

81 37?

Berenice.

81 1

Alexander II.

81 1

Auletes.

81 1

80 2

79 3

78 4

77 5

76 6

75 7

74 8

73 9

72 10

71 11

70 12

69 13

68 14

67 15

66 16

65 17

64 18

63 19

62 20

61 21

60 22

59 23

58 24

Cleopatra and Berenice.

57 1

Berenice.

56 1

55 2

Auletes.

54 28

53 29

Cleopatra and Ptolemy.

52 1

51 2

50 3

49 4

Cleopatra and Ptolemy, jun.

48 5-1

47 6-2

46 7-3

45 8-4

44 9

43 10

42 11

41 12

40 13

39 14

38 15

37 16-1

36 17-2

35 18-3

34 19-4

33 20-5

32 21-6

31 22-7

OMISSION IN CHAPTER VI.

Page 115. At the end, add. To administer these rites, and to renew these offerings, at least as often as could be required, was apparently the duty of the priests, and they were no doubt amply remunerated for their attentions, by the families of the deceased, in the form of the “collections,” which are the objects of sale in Mr. Grey’s papyrus. The deed was registered 19 days after its execution.