General Notes

Note:
Note: Ptolemy III (282?-221 bc), called Ptolemy Euergetes("benefactor"), king of Egypt (246-221 bc), the son of PtolemyII. He reunited Cyrenaica and Egypt, invaded the SeleucidKingdom of Syria to avenge the murder of his sister and herinfant son, the heir to the Seleucid throne, and establishedEgyptian naval predominance in the Aegean Sea. Ptolemy III was aliberal patron of the arts and added to the collection of theAlexandrian library. His rule marked the height of Egyptianpower, prosperity, and wealth under the Ptolemies.

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Ptolemy III EUERGETES

(Greek: Benefactor) (fl. 246-221 BC), Macedonian king of Egypt,son of Ptolemy II; he reunited Egypt and Cyrenaica andsuccessfully waged the Third Syrian War against the Seleucidkingdom.

Almost nothing is known of Ptolemy's youth before 245, when,following a long engagement, he married Berenice II, thedaughter of Magas, king of Cyrene; thereby he reunited Egypt andCyrenaica, which had been divided since 258. Shortly after hisaccession and marriage, Ptolemy invaded Coele Syria, to avengethe murder of his sister, the widow of the Seleucid kingAntiochus II. Ptolemy's navy, perhaps aided by rebels in thecities, advanced against Seleucus II's forces as far as Thrace,across the Hellespont, and also captured some islands off theAsia Minor coast, but were checked c. 245. Meanwhile, Ptolemy,with the army, penetrated deep into Mesopotamia, reaching atleast Seleucia on the Tigris, near Babylon. According toclassical sources he was compelled to halt his advance becauseof domestic troubles. Famine and a low Nile, as well as thehostile alliance between Macedonia, Seleucid Syria, and Rhodes,were perhaps additional reasons. The war in Asia Minor and theAegean intensified as the Achaean League, one of the Greekconfederations, allied itself to Egypt, while Seleucus IIsecured two allies in the Black Sea region. Ptolemy was pushedout of Mesopotamia and part of North Syria in 242-241, and thenext year peace was finally achieved. Ptolemy managed to keepthe Orontes River region and Antioch, both in Syria; Ephesus, inAsia Minor; and Thrace and perhaps also Cilicia.

Within Egypt, Ptolemy continued the colonization of al-Fayyum(the oasis-like depression southwest of Cairo), which his fatherhad developed. He also reformed the calendar, adopting 311 asthe first year of a "Ptolemaic Era." The Canopus decree, adeclaration published by a synod of Egyptian priests, suggeststhat the true duration of the year (365 1/4 days) was nowrecognized, for an extra day was added to the calendar everyfour years. The new calendar failed, however, to achieve popularacceptance. The priests and classical sources also creditedPtolemy with the restoration of the divine statues plunderedfrom the temples during Persian rule. In addition, the Kinginitiated construction at Edfu, the Upper Egyptian site of agreat Ptolemaic temple, and made donations to other temples.

Ptolemy avoided involvement in the wars that continued to plagueSyria and Macedonia. He did, however, send aid to Rhodes, afterearthquakes devastated the island, but he refrained fromsubsidizing the schemes of the Spartan king against Macedonia,though he granted him asylum in 222. In Asia Minor, when apretender to one of the kingdoms, who was the instigator of muchof the trouble there, sought asylum in Ptolemaic territory,Ptolemy promptly interned him. His policy was to maintain anequilibrium of power, guaranteeing the safety of his ownterritory. After declaring his son his successor, Ptolemy died,leaving Egypt at the peak of its political power, and internallystable and prosperous. Ptolemy III's reign is discussed in W.W.Tarn's Hellenistic Civilisation (3rd ed., 1952) and in the firstvolume of A. Bouche Leclercq's Histoire des Lagides (1903).