PTOLEMIES. – Nine kings (of the “Lagid” dynasty) of Hellenistic Egypt, from 305 to 51 B.C., bore the name of Ptolemaios; Daniel 11:4-29 alludes to the first six Ptolemies. Some of their exploits are mentioned in 1 and 2 Maccabees.
PTOLEMY I SOTER, son of Lagos (who gave his name to the dynasty), a noble Macedonian, was a companion of Alexander the Great on his expedition to the East; at the conqueror’s death (323) he obtained the satrapy and then (305) the throne of Egypt. Daniel 11:5, after alluding to Alexander, refers to Ptolemy I as the “king of the south”; it adds that one of the princes would be more powerful than he, and thus alludes to the relations between Ptolemy I and the Seleucids (q.v.) in connection with the dominion over Palestine, a constant source of discord between the two dynasties, which passed back and forth between them with varying fortunes. Already in 312 he had conquered Palestine with Seleucus Nicator, defeating Demetrius, son of Antigonus, at Gaza; but in 311 he had to withdraw, and only reoccupied it in 301 after the battle of Ipsus.
PTOLEMY II PHILADELPHUS, born to Ptolemy I and Berenice in 309-308 at Cos, succeeded his father in 285; he first married his sister Arsinoe I and then his sister Arsinoe II; he especially promoted the arts and literature, while his generals proceeded to strengthen his power in the Mediterranean. Daniel 11:6 alludes to the marriage between Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy II, and Antiochus II of Syria; the dowry was Coele-Syria, but after the death of the Philadelphus, Berenice was repudiated by her husband and put to death by Laodice I, the first wife of Antiochus, whom he had taken back to himself.
PTOLEMY III EUERGETES I, son of the Philadelphus and Arsinoe I, ascended the throne in 246 and immediately undertook an expedition against the king of Syria to free his sister Berenice, who was still alive at the time; after the captive’s death, the expedition was carried through to completion and the king of Egypt defeated his rival, but internal disturbances forced him to withdraw, once again abandoning Coele-Syria to the Seleucids; Daniel 11:7-9 alludes to this.
At his death in 221 he was succeeded by his son PTOLEMY IV PHILOPATOR, who resumed the war against Syria; by defeating the opposing king at Raphia in 217, he restored for a time the balance of contending forces (cf. Dan. 11:10-12).
He was followed in 205-204 by PTOLEMY V EPIPHANES, then a child of five; when he later married Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus, in 193-192, he received Coele-Syria as his wife’s dowry (cf. Dan. 11:13-20; 1 Macc. 10:51-58).
In 181 he was succeeded by his son PTOLEMY VI PHILOMETOR, very young, under the tutelage of his mother; after the mother’s death, Antiochus IV (q.v.) of Syria took advantage of the opportunity to begin a new war against Egypt in 169, reoccupying Coele-Syria and advancing as far as Alexandria; the Romans intervened, but Coele-Syria remained with the Seleucids (cf. Dan. 11:21-45; 2 Macc. 4:21).
The Alexandrians then placed on the throne the brother of Ptolemy VI under the name of PTOLEMY VII EUERGETES II (NEOTEROS), later called Physcon (φύσχων, “pot-bellied”) for his obesity. But when Antiochus IV then became a supporter of Ptolemy VI, he invaded Egypt; after the king of Syria withdrew, the two brothers came to an agreement, and when Antiochus IV returned to Egypt in 168 he was stopped by the Romans. New discord then arose between the two Ptolemies, with various vicissitudes, which among other things led Ptolemy VII to make a will in favor of the Romans; a copy of this testament has recently come to light at Cyrene in a surviving inscription. After the death of Antiochus IV (164), when the succession to the throne of Syria of the child Antiochus V, supported by the Romans, was opposed by Demetrius, son of Seleucus IV, who usurped the throne in 161-160, the Romans set against him Alexander Bala (q.v.), who found support in Egypt with Ptolemy VI and among the Jews (Jonathan). At this point the narrative of 1 Macc. 11:1-10 intervenes: Alexander Bala, having defeated and killed Demetrius, succeeded in arranging his marriage with a Cleopatra, daughter of Ptolemy VI; but then, since Ptolemy VI had become reconciled with Demetrius II Nicanor, son of the previously killed Demetrius, and had opposed Bala, the young bride was taken from Bala and given to Demetrius II; subsequently Ptolemy entered Antioch and defeated Bala, who was later killed by an Arab (1 Macc. 11:17). Ptolemy VI was in turn killed, and Demetrius II regained the kingdom.
The biblical narrative no longer concerns itself further with the fortunes of the Ptolemies, of whom it suffices here to recall that in 145, at the death of Ptolemy VI, his brother Ptolemy VII married the widow Cleopatra II, but then preferred Cleopatra III, daughter of Ptolemy VI; Cleopatra II, however, drove him from Alexandria in 130; in 127, however, he regained the throne and died in 116. He was followed by PTOLEMY VIII SOTER, called LATHYROS, son of Ptolemy VII and Cleopatra III, whose life was made difficult by Cleopatra II and by the younger of her sons, Ptolemy Alexander; after the death of Ptolemy VIII (80), PTOLEMY IX, called NEOPHILOPATOR, PHILADELPHUS, AULETES, an illegitimate son of the preceding, who in 59 was forced by the Alexandrians to take refuge in Rome, while his daughter Berenice remained on the throne, having married the adventurer Archelaus; in 55, therefore, the Romans brought back the Auletes with an army to Egypt and stationed a garrison there. After the death of the Auletes in 51, Cleopatra VII ascended the throne, who in the final conflict with Rome, as the ally of Antony, gave the Romans the pretext to conquer Egypt.