Ptolemaic dynasty

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This article is about the royal family. For the territorial state over which it ruled, see Ptolemaic Kingdom.
Ptolemaic Dynasty
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Country Ancient Egypt, Macedonia, Mauretania
Titles Pharaoh, King of Macedonia, King of Mauretania
Founded 305 BC
Founder Ptolemy I Soter
Final ruler Cleopatra VIII
Current head extinct
Ethnicity Greek
Ptolemy I Soter.
Dynasties of Ancient Egypt
All years (rightmost column) are BC (BCE)

The Ptolemaic dynasty /ˌtɒləˈmeɪ.ᵻk/ (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖοι, Ptolemaioi), sometimes also known as the Lagids /ˈlædʒᵻdz/ or Lagidae /ˈlædʒᵻˌdiː/ (Ancient Greek: Λαγίδαι, Lagidai, after Lagus, Ptolemy I's father), was a Macedonian[1][2][3][4][5] royal family, originating from Macedon, which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 to 30 BC. They were the last dynasty of ancient Egypt.

Ptolemy, one of the seven somatophylakes (bodyguards) who served as Alexander the Great's generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself Ptolemy I, later known as Sōter "Saviour".

The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC.

All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens regnant, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII, known for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and Mark Antony. Her apparent suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt.

Ptolemaic rulers and consorts[edit]

Dates in brackets represent the regnal dates of the Ptolemaic pharaohs. They frequently ruled jointly with their wives, who were often also their sisters. Several queens exercised regal authority. Of these, one of the last and most famous was Cleopatra ("Cleopatra VII Philopator", 51–30 BC), with her two brothers and her son serving as successive nominal co-rulers. Several systems exist for numbering the later rulers; the one used here is the one most widely used by modern scholars.

Ptolemaic family tree[edit]

Other members of the Ptolemaic dynasty[edit]

Medical analysis[edit]

Contemporaries describe a number of the Ptolemaic dynasty members as extremely obese, whilst sculptures and coins reveal prominent eyes and swollen necks. Familial Graves' disease could explain the swollen necks and eye prominence (exophthalmos), although this is unlikely to occur in the presence of morbid obesity.

In view of the familial nature of these findings, members of this dynasty likely suffered from a multi-organ fibrotic condition such as Erdheim–Chester disease or a familial multifocal fibrosclerosis where thyroiditis, obesity and ocular proptosis may have all occurred concurrently.[7]

Gallery of images[edit]

  • Ptolemy of Macedon founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

  • Ptolemy II

  • Ptolemy III

  • Ptolemy IV

  • Ptolemy V

  • Ptolemy VI

  • Cleopatra II (right)

  • Ptolemy VIII

  • Ptolemy IX

  • Ptolemy X

  • Ptolemy XI

  • Ptolemy XII

  • Ptolemy XIII and Isis

  • Ptolemy XIV

  • Cleopatra VII

  • Ptolemy XV, commonly called Caesarion.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jones, Prudence J. (2006). Cleopatra: A Sourcebook. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 14. They were members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Macedonians, who ruled Egypt after the death of its conqueror, Alexander the Great. 
  2. ^ Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1990). Women in Hellenistic Egypt. Wayne State University Press. p. 16. while Ptolemaic Egypt was a monarchy with a Greek ruling class. 
  3. ^ Redford, Donald B., ed. (2000). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. Cleopatra VII was born to Ptolemy XII Auletes (80–57 BCE, ruled 55–51 BCE) and Cleopatra, both parents being Macedonian Greeks. 
  4. ^ Bard, Kathryn A., ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge. p. 488. Ptolemaic kings were still crowned at Memphis and the city was popularly regarded as the Egyptian rival to Alexandria, founded by the Macedonians. 
  5. ^ Bard, Kathryn A., ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge. p. 687. During the Ptolemaic period, when Egypt was governed by rulers of Greek descent... 
  6. ^ Wasson, Donald (February 3, 2012). "Ptolemy I". Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 1, 2016. 
  7. ^ Ashrafian, Hutan (2005). "Familial proptosis and obesity in the Ptolemies". J. R. Soc. Med. 98 (2): 85–86. 

Further reading[edit]

  • Susan Stephens, Seeing Double. Intercultural Poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria (Berkeley, 2002).
  • A. Lampela, Rome and the Ptolemies of Egypt. The development of their political relations 273-80 B.C. (Helsinki, 1998).
  • J. G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305-30 BC (Princeton, 2009).

External links[edit]


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