General Notes

[2280151.ged]
Birth: in 308 BC, Island of Cos [Kos, Greece]
Death: in 246 BC 1
Event: Ancestor M
Event: Ruled 285 - 246 BC, Pharaoh of Egypt 1
Event: Throne Name User-ka-en-ra Mery-amun 2
Note:
Ptolemy II PHILADELPHUS (Greek: Brother-loving) (b. 308 BC, Cos--d. 246),
king of Egypt (285-246 BC), second king of the Ptolemaic dynasty, who
extended his power by skillful diplomacy, developed agriculture and
commerce, and made Alexandria a leading centre of the arts and sciences.
Life
Reigning at first with his father, Ptolemy I Soter, he became sole ruler
in 283-282 and purged his family of possible rivals. This dynastic strife
led also to the banishment of his first wife, Arsinoe I, daughter of King
Lysimachus of Thrace. Ptolemy then married his sister, Arsinoe II, an
event that shocked Greek public opinion but was celebrated by the
Alexandrian court poets. Taking advantage of the difficulties of the
rival kingdoms of the Seleucids and Antigonids, Ptolemy II extended his
rule in Syria, Asia Minor, and the Aegean at their expense and asserted
at the same time his influence in Ethiopia and Arabia. Egyptian embassies
to Rome as well as to India reflect the wide range of Ptolemy's political
and commercial interests.
While a new war with the Seleucids (from 274 to 270) did not affect the
basic position of the rival kingdoms, the so-called Chremonidean War
(268?-261), stirred up by Ptolemy against Antigonus II Gonatas, king of
Macedonia, resulted in the weakening of Ptolemaic influence in the Aegean
and brought about near disaster to Ptolemy's allies Athens and Sparta.
Ptolemy was no more successful in the Second Syrian War (c. 260-253),
fought against the coalition of the Seleucid king Antiochus II and
Antigonus Gonatas. The unsuccessful course of the military operations was
compensated for, to a certain degree, by the diplomatic skill of Ptolemy,
who first managed to lure Antigonus into concluding a separate peace
(255) and then brought the war with the Seleucid Empire to an end by
marrying his daughter, Berenice--provided with a huge dowry--to his foe
Antiochus II. The magnitude of this political masterstroke can be gauged
by the fact that Antiochus, before marrying the Ptolemaic princess, had
to dismiss his former wife, Laodice. Thus freed for the moment from
Seleucid opposition and sustained by the considerable financial means
provided by the Egyptian economy, Ptolemy II devoted himself again to
Greece and aroused new adversaries to Antigonid Macedonia. While the
Macedonian forces were bogged down in Greece, Ptolemy reasserted his
influence in the Aegean, making good the setback suffered during the
Chremonidean War. He further improved his position by arranging for the
marriage of his son (and later successor) Ptolemy III Euergetes to the
daughter of King Magas of Cyrene, who had proved so far a very
troublesome neighbour. Not aiming at outright hegemony (even less
imperialistic conquest) in the Hellenistic world of the eastern
Mediterranean, Ptolemy II tried nonetheless to secure for Egypt as good a
position as possible, holding at large his rivals beyond a wide buffer
zone of foreign possessions. Without being completely successful, he
managed to let his allies bear the brunt of the heaviest reverses,
healing his own military wounds with diplomatic remedies. The influence
on Ptolemy of his wife and sister Arsinoe II, particularly in foreign
affairs, was certainly substantial, though not as extensive as claimed by
some contemporary authors.
Influence.
Ptolemy II's record in domestic affairs is no less impressive. From
pharaonic times onward, agriculture and the work of artisans in Egypt had
been highly organized. Under Ptolemy's supervision and with the help of
Greek administrators, this system developed into a kind of planned
economy. The peasant masses of the Nile Valley provided cheap labour, so
that the introduction