Under one of the kings of the thirtieth dynasty, Agesilaus of Sparta was invited to command the Egyptian army. It is said that on his arrival the Egyptians were taken by surprise to find so renowned a king and warrior ‘a little deformed old man, clad in mean attire, and regardless of show and luxury,’ who ‘would sit carelessly upon the grass amongst his soldiers.’[104] At any rate they only intrusted him with the command of the mercenaries. Angry at the affront, the Spartan king supported a rival prince, who displaced Takos, the reigning sovereign, and assumed his place. This king, Nectanebus (361 b.c.), was the last of the long line of kings that opens with king Mena.
Ochus, a cruel but energetic sovereign, succeeded Artaxerxes ii. on the Persian throne; the energies of Greece were concentrated in the struggle against Philip of Macedon. Ochus invaded Egypt with an immense army (ten thousand of whom were Greek mercenaries!). Nectanebus was an incompetent general, but, confident of his own ability, he commanded in person the army of Egyptians and Greek mercenaries, who encountered the Persians at Pelusium. He was defeated, and instantly fled to Memphis; on hearing of the further progress of the enemy, he quitted Memphis and fled southward, until he reached the safe shelter of the Ethiopian land. With this hurried and ignominious retreat, the ancient monarchy of Egypt ceased to be. Deprived of their king and leader, the people at once submitted (about 340 b.c.).
But the Persian conquerors only ruled for twelve years longer—years of danger and distress for their country. Greece had been subjugated by Macedon, and Alexander, son of Philip, rapidly conquered the Persian provinces. Egypt alone remained; in 332 b.c., he entered that country, where he met with no resistance, but was rather hailed as a deliverer. He went to Memphis, where he offered sacrifice to the Apis. Alexander also visited the temple of Amen (of Zeus Ammon, the Greeks called it), in the oasis, twelve days’ journey from Memphis, and in the heart of the desert. This temple was of great renown in antiquity, and its oracle was consulted far and wide. The conqueror was received by the priests with the most flattering assurances. He was the ‘son of Zeus,’ they told him, and should ‘pursue his career of victory until he was taken to the gods.’
Before quitting Egypt, Alexander planned the foundation of the city that was destined to be so famed in after times both as an emporium of trade and as a school of learning and philosophy—Alexandria.
The battle of Arbela decided the fate of the Persian monarchy. But Alexander did not live to rule long over the empire he had won; on his death his dominions were divided amongst his successors. Egypt fell to the Ptolemies, and remained under their rule for three hundred years, until 30 b.c., when it became a Roman province.
Sphinx.