Ptolemæus VIII., surnamed Lathyrus, from an excrescence like a pea on the nose, succeeded his father Physcon as king of Egypt. He had no sooner ascended the throne, than his mother Cleopatra, who reigned conjointly with him, expelled him to Cyprus, and placed the crown on the head of his brother Ptolemy Alexander, her favourite son. Lathyrus, banished from Egypt, became king of Cyprus; and soon after he appeared at the head of a large army, to make war against Alexander Jannæus king of Judæa, through whose assistance and intrigue he had been expelled by Cleopatra. The Jewish monarch was conquered, and 50,000 of his men were left on the field of battle. Lathyrus, after he had exercised the greatest cruelty upon the Jews, and made vain attempts to recover the kingdom of Egypt, retired to Cyprus till the death of his brother Alexander restored him to his native dominions. Some of the cities of Egypt refused to acknowledge him as their sovereign; and Thebes, for its obstinacy, was closely besieged for three successive years, and from a powerful and populous city, it was reduced to ruins. In the latter part of his reign Lathyrus was called upon to assist the Romans with a navy for the conquest of Athens; but Lucullus, who had been sent to obtain the wanted supply, though received with kingly honours, was dismissed with evasive and unsatisfactory answers, and the monarch refused to part with troops which he deemed necessary to preserve the peace of his kingdom. Lathyrus died 81 years before the christian era, after a reign of 36 years since the death of his father Physcon, 11 of which he had passed with his mother Cleopatra on the Egyptian throne, 18 in Cyprus, and seven after his mother’s death. He was succeeded by his only daughter Cleopatra, whom Alexander the son of Ptolemy Alexander, by means of the dictator Sylla, soon after married and murdered. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities.—Justin, bk. 39.—Plutarch, Lucullus.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.
Ptolemæus IX. See: [Alexander Ptolemy I.]
Ptolemæus X. See: [Alexander Ptolemy II.]
Ptolemæus XI. See: [Alexander Ptolemy III.]
Ptolemæus XII., the illegitimate son of Lathyrus, ascended the throne of Egypt at the death of Alexander III. He received the surname of Auletes, because he played skilfully on the flute. His rise showed great marks of prudence and circumspection; and as his predecessor by his will had left the kingdom of Egypt to the Romans, Auletes knew that he could not be firmly established on his throne without the approbation of the Roman senate. He was successful in his applications, and Cæsar, who was then consul, and in want of money, established his succession, and granted him the alliance of the Romans, after he had received the enormous sum of about 1,162,500l. sterling. But these measures rendered him unpopular at home, and when he had suffered the Romans quietly to take possession of Cyprus, the Egyptians revolted, and Auletes was obliged to fly from his kingdom, and seek protection among the most powerful of his allies. His complaints were heard at Rome, at first with indifference, and the murder of 100 noblemen of Alexandria, whom the Egyptians had sent to justify their proceedings before the Roman senate, rendered him unpopular and suspected. Pompey, however, supported his cause, and the senators decreed to re-establish Auletes on his throne; but as they proceeded slowly in the execution of their plans, the monarch retired from Rome to Ephesus, where he lay concealed for some time in the temple of Diana. During his absence from Alexandria, his daughter Berenice had made herself absolute, and established herself on the throne by a marriage with Archelaus, a priest of Bellona’s temple at Comana; but she was soon driven from Egypt, when Gabinius, at the head of a Roman army, approached to replace Auletes on his throne. Auletes was no sooner restored to power, than he [♦]sacrificed to his ambition his daughter Berenice, and behaved with the greatest ingratitude and perfidy to Rabirius, a Roman who had supplied him with money when expelled from his kingdom. Auletes died four years after his restoration, about 51 years before the christian era. He left two sons and two daughters; and by his will ordered the eldest of his sons to marry the eldest of his sisters, and to ascend with her the vacant throne. As these children were young, the dying monarch recommended them to the protection and paternal care of the Romans, and accordingly Pompey the Great was appointed by the senate to be their patron and their guardian. Their reign was as turbulent as that of their predecessors, and it is remarkable for no uncommon events, only we may observe that the young queen was the Cleopatra who soon after became so celebrated as being the mistress of Julius Cæsar, the wife of Marcus Antony, and the last of the Egyptian monarchs of the family of Lagus. Cicero, For Rabirius.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Dio Cassius, bk. 39.—Appian, Civil Wars.
[♦] ‘sacrified’ replaced with ‘sacrificed’
Ptolemæus XIII., surnamed Dionysius or Bacchus, ascended the throne of Egypt conjointly with his sister Cleopatra, whom he had married, according to the directions of his father Auletes. He was under the care and protection of Pompey the Great [See: [Ptolemæus XII.]], but the wickedness and avarice of his ministers soon obliged him to reign independent. He was then in the 13th year of his age, when his guardian, after the fatal battle of Pharsalia, came to the shores of Egypt, and claimed his protection. He refused to grant the required assistance, and by the advice of his ministers he basely murdered Pompey, after he had brought him to shore under the mask of friendship and cordiality. To curry the favour of the conqueror of Pharsalia, Ptolemy cut off the head of Pompey; but Cæsar turned with indignation from such perfidy, and when he arrived at Alexandria, he found the king of Egypt as faithless to his cause as to that of his fallen enemy. Cæsar sat as judge to hear the various claims of the brother and sister to the throne; and to satisfy the people, he ordered the will of Auletes to be read, and confirmed Ptolemy and Cleopatra in the possession of Egypt, and appointed the two younger children masters of the island of Cyprus. This fair and candid decision might have left no room for dissatisfaction, but Ptolemy was governed by cruel and avaricious ministers, and therefore he refused to acknowledge Cæsar as a judge or a mediator. The Roman enforced his authority by arms, and three victories were obtained over the Egyptian forces. Ptolemy, who had been for some time a prisoner in the hands of Cæsar, now headed his armies; but a defeat was fatal, and as he attempted to save his life by flight, he was drowned in the Nile, about 46 years before Christ, and three years and eight months after the death of Auletes. Cleopatra, at the death of her brother, became sole mistress of Egypt; but as the Egyptians were no friends to female government, Cæsar obliged her to marry her younger brother Ptolemy, who was then in the 11th year of his age. Appian, Civil Wars.—Cæsar, Alexandrine War.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Josephus, Antiquities.—Dio Cassius.—Plutarch, Antonius, &c.—Suetonius Cæsar.
Ptolemæus Apion, king of Cyrene, was the illegitimate son of Ptolemy Physcon. After a reign of 20 years he died; and as he had no children, he made the Romans heirs of his dominions. The Romans presented his subjects with their independence. Livy, bk. 70.——Ceraunus, a son of Ptolemy Soter by Eurydice the daughter of Antipater. Unable to succeed to the throne of Egypt, Ceraunus fled to the court of Seleucus, where he was received with friendly marks of attention. Seleucus was then king of Macedonia, an empire which he had lately acquired by the death of Lysimachus in a battle in Phrygia; but his reign was short, and Ceraunus perfidiously murdered him and ascended his throne, 280 B.C. The murderer, however, could not be firmly established in Macedonia, as long as Arsinoe the widow and the children of Lysimachus were alive, and entitled to claim his kingdom as the lawful possession of their father. To remove these obstacles, Ceraunus made offers of marriage to Arsinoe, who was his own sister. The queen at first refused, but the protestations and solemn promises of the usurper at last prevailed upon her to consent. The nuptials, however, were no sooner celebrated, than Ceraunus murdered the two young princes, and confirmed his usurpation by rapine and cruelty. But now three powerful princes claimed the kingdom of Macedonia as their own: Antiochus the son of Seleucus; Antigonus the son of Demetrius; and Pyrrhus the king of Epirus. These enemies, however, were soon removed; Ceraunus conquered Antigonus in the field of battle, and stopped the hostilities of his two other rivals by promises and money. He did not long remain inactive; a barbarian army of Gauls claimed a tribute from him, and the monarch immediately marched to meet them in the field. The battle was long and bloody. The Macedonians might have obtained the victory, if Ceraunus had shown more prudence. He was thrown down from his elephant, and taken prisoner by the enemy, who immediately tore his body to pieces. Ptolemy had been king of Macedonia only 18 months. Justin, bk. 24, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 10.——An illegitimate son of Ptolemy Lathyrus king of Cyprus, of which he was tyrannically dispossessed by the Romans. Cato was at the head of the forces which were sent against Ptolemy by the senate, and the Roman general proposed to the monarch to retire from the throne, and to pass the rest of his days in the obscure office of high priest in the temple of Venus at Paphos. This offer was rejected with the indignation which it merited, and the monarch poisoned himself at the approach of the enemy. The treasures found in the island amounted to the enormous sum of 1,356,250l. sterling, which were carried to Rome by the conquerors. Plutarch, Cato.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 9.—Florus, bk. 3.——A man who attempted to make himself king of Macedonia, in opposition to Perdiccas. He was expelled by Pelopidas.——A son of Pyrrhus king of Epirus, by Antigone the daughter of Berenice. He was left governor of Epirus, when Pyrrhus went to Italy to assist the Tarentines against the Romans, where he presided with great prudence and moderation. He was killed, bravely fighting in the expedition which Pyrrhus undertook against Sparta and Argos.——A eunuch, by whose friendly assistance Mithridates the Great saved his life after a battle with Lucullus.——A king of Epirus, who died very young as he was marching an army against the Ætolians, who had seized part of his dominions. Justin, bk. 28.——A king of Chalcidica in Syria, about 30 years before Christ. He opposed Pompey when he invaded Syria, but he was defeated in the attempt, and the conqueror spared his life only upon receiving 1000 talents. Josephus, Antiquities, bk. 13.——A nephew of Antigonus, who commanded an army in the Peloponnesus. He revolted from his uncle to Cassander, and some time after he attempted to bribe the soldiers of Ptolemy Lagus king of Egypt, who had invited him to his camp. He was seized and imprisoned for his treachery, and the Egyptian monarch at last ordered him to drink hemlock.——A son of Seleucus, killed in the celebrated battle which was fought at Issus, between Darius and Alexander the Great.——A son of Juba, made king of Mauritania. He was son of Cleopatra Selene the daughter of Marcus Antony, and the celebrated Cleopatra. He was put to death by Caius Caligula. Dio Cassius.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11.——A friend of Otho.——A favourite of Antiochus king of Syria. He was surnamed Macron.——A Jew, famous for his cruelty and avarice. He was for some time governor of Jericho, about 135 years before Christ.——A powerful Jew during the troubles which disturbed the peace of Judæa, in the reign of Augustus.——A son of Antony by Cleopatra, surnamed Philadelphus by his father, and made master of Phœnicia, Syria, and all the territories of Asia Minor, which were situated between the Ægean and the Euphrates. Plutarch, Antonius.——A general of Herod king of Judæa.——A son of Chrysermus, who visited Cleomenes king of Sparta, when imprisoned in Egypt.——A governor of Alexandria, put to death by Cleomenes.——Claudius, a celebrated geographer and astrologer in the reign of Adrian and Antoninus. He was a native of Alexandria, or, according to others, of Pelusium, and on account of his great learning, he received the name of most wise, and most divine, among the Greeks. In his system of the world, he places the earth in the centre of the universe, a doctrine universally believed and adopted till the 16th century, when it was confuted and rejected by Copernicus. His geography is valued for its learning, and the very useful information which he gives. Besides his system and his geography Ptolemy wrote other books, in one of which he gives an account of the fixed stars, of 1022 of which he mentions the certain and definite longitude and latitude. The best edition of Ptolemy’s geography is that of Bertius, folio, Amsterdam, 1618, and that of his treatise de Judiciis Astrologicis by Camerarii, 4to, 1555; and of the Harmonica, 4to, Wallis, Oxford, 1683.
Ptolemāis, a town of Thebais in Egypt, called after the Ptolemies, who beautified it. There was also another city of the same name in the territories of Cyrene. It was situate on the sea-coast, and, according to some, it was the same as Barce. See: [Barce].——A city of Palestine, called also Acon. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 3, ch. 8.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 73.—Strabo, bk. 14, &c.
Ptoly̆cus, a statuary of Corcyra, pupil to Critias the Athenian. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 3.